Thomas & Friends Equestria Girls - Gold Dust and Harmony

Chapters

1 The Island of Sodor
2 An Unwelcome Return
3 Friends and Enemies
4 A Big Problem
5 Plans Emerging
6 Secrets and Schemes
7 Troubles and Greetings
9 Solving the Mystery
10 Friendship is Magic
8 Muffle Mountain Secrets

1 The Island of Sodor

I believe that most folks – like yourselves – understand that on a train journey, great adventure may never be very far away, and that long after the sound of a train whistle has vanished, its romance will be safe in every human heart – whatever the age, whatever the time. Most folks are happy to know this – sadly, a few are not – which is a pity because that's all it takes to cause a lot of trouble to some of the most precious things in life.

This is the story about trains, six teenage girls, and the legends that brought them together, as they were meant to be.

Every story, like a railway, has its heroes. Our number one hero is Thomas the tank engine, a cheeky E2 class tank engine painted blue with red stripes, and a yellow number one on his tanks. He lives on the Island of Sodor, running on the North Western under the supervision of Sir Topham Hatt.

There's no place like Sodor and if you have the imagination that I think you do, you're about to find out why…

***

Knapford is the biggest station on the North Western Railway. With a large canopy, the station has got six tracks total, four being through tracks and the other two being terminal tracks. There's a refreshment kiosk, engine driver's common room, an M.C. BUNN café and bookstall.

A big blue 4-6-2 tender engine stood at platform 1 with four green and custard yellow express coaches. This is Gordon, the experimental A0 Pacific based off the A1/A3s of the London and North Eastern Railway, and the North Western Railway's number four engine.

Gordon was speaking with a teenage girl at sixteen. Her hair was streaked red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, she had cerise colored eyes, a short-sleeved blue jacket, black track shorts, blue tennis shoes with white soles and laces, her socks were red, yellow and blue, and she wore a white T-shirt with a blue, yellow and red lightning bolt with a cloud.

Now this girl is one of the six teenagers I mentioned earlier; her birth name is Rayne Dash, but everyone calls her Rainbow Dash because of her hair colors. She doesn't mind it though; the name fit to her.

This morning, Gordon was waiting impatiently for Thomas to arrive with passengers from his branchline. Rainbow Dash stood on platform 3.

"Where is that Thomas? He's late!"

"Ah, come on, G," said Rainbow Dash, "don't ya think you're over-reacting?"

"When Thomas is late, I am late," Gordon explained in annoyance, "and when I'm late, the passengers complain. And if the passengers complain, what happens to the railway then?"

"You'd probably end up pulling goods as a result," Rainbow Dash muttered.

"Don't remind me of that, please!" spluttered Gordon indignantly. He then looked at the clock, and after the minute hand reached XII (twelve in Roman numerals), he began counting the seconds that Thomas was late.

"One, two, three, four, five, six…"

PEEP PEEP!

"Seven, eight… Practicing your numbers, Gordon? That's a good engine!"

Gordon rolled his eyes and sighed. Thomas backed down onto platform three running bunker first, pulling two brown coaches with four wheels each. The composite coach was named Annie, and the brake coach Clarabel.

"I was counting how many seconds late you were, little Thomas," said Gordon grandly.

"Yeah, what took so long?" asked Rainbow Dash, "I've got a practice to play at Ffarquhar!"

"It wasn't our fault," said Annie, who was in front.

"A cow strayed on our line and we had to wait for the farmer to take it away," added Clarabel, who was coupled in front of Thomas.

"Well, what does that sign say?" Gordon asked, looking up at a large sign above him. It had the Hitchcockian image of Sir Topham Hatt, whose trademark is his daily attire of an English top hat.

Thomas was uncoupled from Clarabel so he could look at the sign and read. "'North Western Railway – really reliable and right on time! Signed, head of the Railway – Sir Topham Hatt.'"

"I thought he was the Fat Controller," said Rainbow Dash, confused.

"He is, young Rainbow," said Gordon reproachfully.

"That's what we call him," explained Thomas, "but others prefer to call him 'Sir Topham Hatt', like the sign reads. Oh, and it also says 'Sorry for any inconvenience during repairs. We are making this a better railway'."

Soon Thomas had run around his coaches and was coupled up to Annie, ready for his return trip to Ffarquhar. It was clear from their surroundings that repair work to the tracks and buffers was underway.

"Now if you'll excuse me," said Thomas to Gordon, "I'm to meet up with Miss Celestia. She'll be taking care of us while the Fat Controller has a very important short holiday."

"Personally," scoffed Gordon, letting off steam, "I think we can handle ourselves, little Thomas."

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a large diesel rolled through fast between Gordon and Thomas. He had a very unfriendly look on his face as he kicked up dust into the air, dirtying the two engines' smart blue paint. Rainbow Dash and several passengers were startled by the diesel's unexpected arrival and fell onto the platform.

"Oh goodness gracious," Annie and Clarabel exclaimed in fright.

"What was that?" remarked Rainbow Dash, standing up and dusting herself off.

"That just arrived," explained Thomas, "and I've heard of him – his name is Diesel 10. Ten out of ten for devious deeds, brutal strength, and for being a big bully from thirty years ago. The Fat Controller sent him to help us North Western engines – steam and diesel alike – but Diesel 10's behaving like he hates us. We should all have to be very careful."

"Now that you mention it," said Gordon after his guard's whistle sounded, "perhaps we do need Miss Celestia here after all – and on time too!"

Gordon pulled out of Knapford Station with his express, the Wild Nor'Wester. Soon Rainbow Dash and other passengers boarded Annie and Clarabel, and then Thomas set off as well.

At Wellsworth, a blue 4-4-0 tender engine stopped beside an orchard with a general goods train. This engine is Edward, the North Western Railway's number two, and the oldest running engine on the line. He spotted a green traction engine approaching him with a cartload of apples. His name is Trevor; Edward and the vicar of Wellsworth had helped to save him from scrap years before.

"Morning, Trevor," called Edward.

"Good morning, Edward," Trevor called back.

"I see you're helping the Apple-Smith family with tending to the apples," Edward commented.

"Indeed he is, Edward partner," said a young woman hauling a basket of apples, "we've got plenty to harvest!"

This girl is Jacqueline Apple-Smith; a fifteen year old girl with blonde hair tied to a ponytail, green eyes, freckles, slightly tannish skin, a rolled-up white cowgirl shirt with a green vest, blue jeans, brown cowgirl boots with two red apples on each, a belt with a red apple for a buckle, and she wore a Stetson hat on her head.

Jacqueline mostly goes by "Applejack", and like Rainbow Dash, she's another of the six teenage girls. Her family, the Apple-Smiths, came from America and had moved to the orchard at Wellsworth before Applejack was born, and they have lived and worked there since at Wellsworth Apple Acres, but it is mostly known to many as Sweet Apple Acres.

"Good to see you, Applejack," smiled Edward, "how's the family?"

"Apple Bloom's doin' pretty darn good," replied Applejack, "Big Macintosh is becomin' a bit more open, and Granny Smith's gettin' her urge to walk on two feet again!"

"That is good news from your family," said Edward.

"Indeed it is," agreed Applejack, "well, it was nice talkin' to ya again, Edward, but Ah got some work to do!"

"As do I. Good day, Applejack. Goodbye, Trevor." And with that, Edward puffed away once Gordon had passed with the express.

There's a forest between Cronk and Killdane, and that morning, a girl of fifteen was observing the peaceful scenery. She had long light pink hair, cyan eyes, a white butterfly clip on her hair, wore a white sleeveless top, a light green skirt with three pink butterflies on it, light green sandals and pink socks.

This girl is Florence Sherry, more commonly known as Fluttershy. She lives at a cottage on the outskirts of Cronk and has a love for animals. She's the third of the six girls alongside Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

As Fluttershy was enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest, she heard the sounds of a steam engine approaching light engine. This is Henry; a 4-6-0 green tender engine and the North Western Railway's number three. When he first came to Sodor, he was prone to illness and needed special coal to steam properly. After a crash, he was rebuilt and Henry now steams well again, but very recently, he was put back on special coal not long after a dunking in the sea.

Henry's driver, Ted, made some arrangements with the signalman to stop by the forest for a while after his day's work. This forest in particular happens to be Henry's favorite.

"Hello, Fluttershy," the big green engine said as he backed onto a siding.

"Oh, morning, Henry," Fluttershy replied, "isn't it a beautiful day today?"

"Indeed it is," Henry smiled, "my driver's just made arrangements for us to stay for a bit here and admire the scenery."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Fluttershy, "how is your coal situation doing?"

"Still on the special coal, sadly," replied Henry, "I no longer needed it since my accident with the Flying Kipper, but since that dive, my problems have come back."

"Oh, that's a pity," said Fluttershy sympathetically.

"I know," frowned Henry, "I hope I'll be able to burn regular coal again soon."

"Don't worry, Henry," said Fluttershy kindly, "I'm sure one day you'll be back to regular coal."

At the dockyards of Brendam, a red 2-6-0 tender engine with black wheels was moaning. This engine is James, the North Western Railway's number five, with yellow lining on his boiler and firebox, black lining on his cab, wheel splashers and tender, and a shiny brass dome. James is a bit temperamental and has a tendency to over-dramatize, and his temper can be as red as his paint.

"Why do I have to take a dirty goods train instead of a splendid passenger train?" he grumbled to no one in particular.

"I, for one, would recognize that complaining anywhere," said a female voice. James knew who that voice belonged to.

This here is Aurora Belle, more commonly known by Rarity. She is a seventeen year old girl with purple-indigo hair, blue eyes, wore two golden wrist bracelets, a pale blue top, a light purple skirt with three lozenge diamonds on it, a purple belt with a light blue buckle, and dark purple boots. Rarity is yet another of the six girls in our story with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy.

"Hello, Rarity," said James, "what are you doing here at the docks?"

"I was just coming by to see if some new fabric for my clothes has arrived yet," Rarity explained, "oh, and I can't help but notice how splendid your red paint looks in the sunlight."

"Thank you," James grinned, before frowning again, "but it's unfair that I must pull a dirty goods train instead of a passenger train."

"Why, James," said Rarity, "goods are just as important as passengers, even though I'm more into fashion, even I know that, and so should you. Sodor doesn't just rely on passengers to keep running."

Inside, James knew Rarity had a point; he was built to be a mixed-traffic engine.

"You're right, Rarity," he said at last, "but I wish it didn't have to be so dirty."

"As do I, James," replied Rarity, shaking her head, "as do I."

"Well, I'd best be going," said James, after his guard's whistle sounded, "take care!"

"Oh, yes, goodbye James!" called Rarity, waving as he went.

There is a harbor at Knapford where goods trains come from Anopha Quarry on Thomas' branchline. A green 0-4-0 saddle tank engine was arranging stone trucks in place. This is Percy, the North Western Railway's number six. He came to Sodor when the big engines went on strike to shunt their trains, but when the harbor was being built, Percy came to help on Thomas' branchline and run the line on goods duties since.

Just then, Percy heard the sound of a bell ringing, and a brown 0-6-0 tram engine with gray sideplates came into view pulling stone trucks from Ffarquhar. This quaint little engine is named Toby, the number seven of North Western Railway. He lived north of Sodor on a tramway terminating at Arlesdale End, but when Thomas got into trouble with a policeman, Toby was brought to the North Western with his coach Henrietta, not long after the Fat Controller's father once went on holiday.

"Hello, Percy," called Toby as he stopped alongside the green saddle tank engine, "you're looking worried."

"Tonight, I've to go to the scrapyards," moaned Percy, "I hate going there, especially at night!"

"I wouldn't worry about it," assured Toby, "the Fat Controller had sent away Arry and Bert since they nearly got Stepney scrapped."

At that moment, they heard a stirring.

"W-what was that?" asked Percy.

"I don't know," answered Toby, "but it sounds like it came from over there."

In the direction Toby was looking was a wooden crate. The crate shook and suddenly, it burst open in a stream of confetti! Percy jumped in surprise, bumping the trucks from behind him.

"Surprise!"

"Pinkie Pie, that wasn't funny!" said Toby sternly.

The girl in question, Pinkie Pie, is fourteen years old, with curly raspberry hair, light blue eyes, a white t-shirt with blue sleeves and a pink heart in the middle, pink shorts with three balloons (two blue, one yellow) on the right leg, and blue shoes with pink soles. Like the four girls I mentioned earlier, she's one of the six teenage girls of the story. Her full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, but she prefers that everyone call her Pinkie for short.

"Aw, come on now," she said, "I was just trying to turn Percy's frown upside down with a surprise!"

"I'm upset because I have to work at the scrapyards tonight," sad Percy, "it's very scary at night."

"Oh, that reminds me," said Toby, "I'm coming too."

"That's a relief," smiled Percy, "it'll be better than going alone."

"Don't worry, Percy," said Pinkie, "if you get scared, try laughing at the scary stuff and you'll feel better, just like what Nana Pie would tell me when I was a little girl."

"Okay then, Pinkie," said Percy, "I'll give it a try."

"Well, we best be going," said Toby, "goodbye, Pinkie and thanks for the advice."

"Oh, it's no problem," smiled Pinkie, "I just love seeing my friends happy!"

Remember Thomas mentioning that Miss Celestia would take care of the engines while the Fat Controller was away? You do? Well then, I'll tell you about her.

Miss Celestia is the woman with all the sparkle and she knows the North Western engines very well. She's a woman in her late thirties with pink hair streaked with cobalt blue, turquoise and cerulean, light magenta eyes, a pale gold button front jacket, a purple and white shirt underneath her jacket, purple trousers and pale gold shoes.

Miss Celestia is a kind, well-mannered woman with a source of wisdom in the time of emergency, but she can be strict when she needs to be, such as when someone goofs off instead of doing as they're told. She lives somewhere near Knapford, but not very close to the railway.

She and her younger sister Luna (more on her later) have a special way of getting to and from places rather quickly. This is possible because of gold dust; it used by the sisters contained inside special conductor's whistles. By blowing the whistles, they can "sparkle" out to wherever they need to be multiple times until they need to sound their whistles again.

With the two sisters around Sodor, there is peace and harmony across the island – a land of goodwill where you can take a breath of fresh air and feel free. I think you'd love to come here where your dreams can come true.

By this point, you may be thinking, "who is the sixth girl alongside Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity?" Well, I'm about to introduce you to her…

The sixth girl lives at a small house in the country near Elsbridge, not very close to the railway lines. This girl is sixteen years old with purple eyes, sapphire hair with violet and rose streaks, a light blue button school-girl shirt with a pink bow, a purple skirt with a pink six-pointed star surrounded by five white sparkles on it, black shoes and pink socks.

I'm that girl; my name is Twyla Sparkle, but everyone calls me Twilight. I live with my parents Tanya Velvet and Nigel Liddon Sparkle (commonly nicknamed Twilight Velvet and Night Light, respectively) and my adopted younger brother Spike.

Spike is twelve years old with spiky green hair, green eyes, a light purple jacket, purple shorts, a lime green t-shirt, and purple tennis shoes. When he was a baby, his parents abandoned him on our doorstep, and I was the first to notice him wrapped in a blanket in a basket with a stuffed dragon toy. Since then, my parents adopted him as their second son, and he's been my best friend since.

Back to me; I see the magic no one else has time for, like the lovely reflections of light on a rainy day. Soon, I would be off to visit my older brother Shining Armor and sister-in-law (and childhood babysitter) Cadance on Muffle Mountain, north of Peel Godred.

Right at the moment, I was looking at a picture of my older brother and Cadance dancing in their wedding clothes, with other people looking, and it had been taken about three years ago.

"I remember this picture," I told my mom, "it was after their wedding." I took a closer look at the picture; one of the onlookers had dark cerulean blue hair with holes in it – gelled, perhaps? – and she had an angry look on her face.

"Hey, isn't that Quinn Chryssa?" I asked. I showed the picture to Mom, and she too looked at the cerulean hared girl in the background.

"Yes, it is, Twilight," she told me, "but she goes by the pseudonym of 'Chrysalis'. She was a very nasty girl, your older brother said. Chrysalis tried to sabotage his wedding with Cadance, and not long after, she destroyed something very precious to Shining Armor. He never said what it was, and nor did Cadance."

I sighed. "He's been so sad since after his wedding," I replied, "and he doesn't come here to see us, even me…"

When I was much younger, Shining Armor was my B.B.B.F.F. (Big Brother Best Friend Forever, in case you're wondering) and he was such a happy young boy then. I looked at pictures of him and me from our youth; the day I was born, Spike's first birthday, celebrating Cadance's birthday, their graduation from Elsbridge Secondary School, and a photo of our family from their wedding. I smiled, tears forming in my eyes, but I tried not to cry.

"Maybe a visit will cheer him up," Mom said, putting her arm around me, "have you made him and Cadance something?"

"Yes," I replied, "I'm making them a friendship bracelet each… but I'd rather stay here with you," I added sadly.

"I know, dear." Mom gave me a hug and I returned it.

"I can't forget Smarty Pants either," I said, looking at a doll on a shelf. Smarty Pants is the name of the doll Shining Armor gave me when I was a toddler, and I've never let go of her since, even when Spike was adopted.

Then my dad came in with Spike; both were carrying cardboard boxes filled with paper.

"Boy, these boxes are heavy," groaned Spike.

"I know, boy," said our dad, "but we must sort through them."

Mom and I decided to pitch in and help Dad and Spike out. Very shortly, Mom came across a drawing.

"Look at this, dear," she told her husband, "you won't believe what I've found! It must be one of Shining's childhood drawings. There's his signature," she added, pointing at the name in the lower right corner.

"Is that him as a little boy?" asked Spike.

"It really is," I said, mesmerized. I hadn't seen the drawing in years.

"It's hard to believe he used to be that happy," Mom smiled.

"Oh, our son had a wonderful smile," said Dad, "and he loved railways too, one of his many passions."

My smile slowly faded into frown. Railways were a passion to my B.B.B.F.F., along with Cadance and I. I was longing to see him again.

So now you've met me, the other five girls, Miss Celestia, and Thomas. But whether we all meet each other depends on the story I'm about to tell…

2 An Unwelcome Return

Tidmouth Sheds are the main locomotive sheds on the North Western Railway. There are eight berths to house eight locomotives. On the leftmost berth close to a siding sat James after taking his goods from Brendam.

Right now, the red engine was in a sour mood, and a fly buzzing around him didn't improve his temper either.

"Shoo fly!" snapped James, "Buzz off!"

Thomas was backing down into the siding next to James' shed after taking a slow goods train from Ffarquhar. However, he wasn't paying attention to where he was chuffing and hit the buffers quite roughly.

"Botheration!" he cried as his eyes spun in surprise.

"You weren't concentrating, Thomas," scolded James, slightly amused, "lucky for you that the buffers were there."

"That's what buffers are for – to stop accidents," said Thomas, "that's why the workmen are repairing them. What are you doing in the sheds, James?"

"I got into an argument with Henry," grumbled James, "he criticized me for not wanting to get my paint dirty, and I talked back to him for needing special coal again. The Fat Controller heard this and told me to stay in the sheds until I could think of all the ways to be really useful. Then I can come out again."

"He's just trying to make this a better railway for us," assured Thomas, "the Fat Controller says the harder us North Western engines work, the less he'll need engines on the other railway to help."

"Help you?! Ha!"

Thomas and James jumped and looked to their left; while Thomas had been talking, he hadn't noticed a diesel creep up alongside him. He was a Class 42 Warship painted olive green with tan stripes on his sides. This was the diesel Thomas and Gordon encountered earlier at Knapford Station.

"Diesel 10…" said Thomas crossly.

"You'll always need help," Diesel 10 sneered, "because steam engines are cowardly, cranky, worn-out hunks of metal who couldn't hurt a fly!"

That comment was hurled at James, the fly still bugging him even more.

"No we're not!"

"Yes you are."

"Aren't!"

"Are!"

"Silence!"

The argument stopped when a hand caught the fly, crushing it. The hand belonged to Sir Topham Hatt, who'd heard everything. He shot a stern glare at Diesel 10.

"I want you on your best behavior, Diesel 10," he said severely, "Miss Celestia will inform me on your behavior and I will decide whether or not you will be allowed on my railway again. Understood?"

"Not to worry, sir," Diesel 10 smirked, "I'll try me best to stay on my best behavior."

"I should hope so," said Sir Topham Hatt, and on that note, he turned on his heel and walked away. After he had left, Diesel 10 turned to Thomas and James.

"Things are going to change around here, puffballs!" he grinned, "Right, driver!"

At that moment, Diesel 10's side door opened up, revealing…

"Discord?!"

"Well, who were you expecting?" came a reply, "George Carlin?"

Discord was a man somewhere in his late forties with reddish-brown eyes, dark gray hair tied into a ponytail at the back, light gray eyebrows and goatee, wore a yellow business shirt with a blue necktie, a brown vest, red and light brown vertical striped trousers, a dark pink belt, a green right boot and light brown left boot. His facial hair made him bear a striking resemblance to John de Lancie.

His real name was Richard Cory, but he goes by the moniker Discord instead. He was once boyfriend to Miss Celestia, but there was a breakup that nobody was sure about.

"What are you doing as Diesel 10's driver?" asked Thomas.

"Hey, a guy's gotta make a living, ya know," retorted Discord.

"Yeah, and let me tell ya something else," continued Diesel 10, "we're not here to work for Fat Hatt; we're gonna dominate and destroy you! When we're done with our plan, you'll be nothing but a pile of useless scrap!"

With that, Discord climbed back into the cab and Diesel 10 snaked away, laughing evilly.

"Big bully!" snapped James furiously.

"We're really useful engines!" Thomas called as the big diesel left, "diesels like you won't dominate or destroy us! We won't let you, and neither will Miss Celestia. I'm off to fetch her now!"

Shortly afterward, Thomas puffed away, leaving alone a stunned James.

"Who'd even let a nut-job like him be a driver anyway?" he asked to no one in particular.

Killdane Station is the junction to the Peel Godred electric branchline. It makes two stops at Abbey and Kirk Machan, the latter serving a junction to a mountain railway. A teenage boy of seventeen was working on a new welcome sign with the help of a map of Sodor.

Like myself, Miss Celestia, and the five girls, he plays an important role in the story as well. He has blue hair, cornflower blue eyes, wears a black jacket with a horizontal white and red stripe across, a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes with white soles. On his T-shirt is a two-tone sapphire blue shield behind a yellow lightning bolt. His name is Flann Sentry, but he goes by Flash Sentry instead.

"There we go; the paintjob's finished!" he said with a satisfied smile, "I reckon this is the best welcome sign I've ever painted. This map of Sodor really helped out a lot."

Then Flash heard a distant whistle; he knew it was a certain blue express engine thundering down the line, and could hear whistles sooner than they heard themselves.

Down the line, Gordon was thundering along with the express, making the return journey to Knapford from Barrow-in-Furness, at the other end of the mainline connecting to the other railway.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he panted to the coaches. Up ahead, he noticed something rather out of place; a motorcyclist in black.

Before Gordon could say anything, he noticed that he and the motorcyclist where heading for a crossing without gates!

"Brakes, driver!" Gordon cried, and brakes hard as he could, whistling loudly and scaring a flock of birds out of a tree above him. The motorcyclist passed on by without looking, and thankfully, the big express engine missed her.

"Watch where you're going!" Gordon shouted crossly to the motorcyclist, "You could've caused an accident or worse!"

After the near calamity, Gordon's brakes were released and he carried on down the mainline, still shaken.

"That was a close call," remarked Gordon's driver.

"That motorcyclist has no respect for railway safety," agreed the fireman.

Soon enough, Gordon steamed into Killdane station. Flash noticed that the big express engine was still shaken up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Some crazy motorcyclist ran out in front of me and almost caused an accident," explained Gordon, "that person was lucky I was able to have my brakes applied or worse…"

"I know what you mean," said Flash. Then he remembered something and brought the map out. "What are these mysterious shadowy lines from Peel Godred to Vicarstown? They look like railway tracks, but I can't see any other lines other than what you engines travel on."

"It's a mystery," said Gordon, "one of the things that make Sodor so…"

"Magical?" Flash guessed.

"Eeyup," replied Gordon, "I must be hanging around Big Macintosh lately."

This caused engine, crew and boy to laugh a bit.

"Well, I'm off to Muffle Mountain," said Flash, "I promised Shining Armor and Cadance I'd clean out their yard today."

"Do they ever give you a smile?" asked Gordon's driver.

"Cadance, sometimes. But Shining Armor, not as much," Flash shrugged, "but he doesn't scare my horse either. So I don't think he's a bad man; I think he's sad…"

I can guess why, Gordon thought to himself.

"I serve the Fat Controller proud," he said, "but you and your horse can pretty much cover every acre on Sodor."

"We sure do," agreed Flash.

"Well, I and other engines can only stick to rails," added Gordon, "so it'd help to keep your eyes open for a stranger."

"Oh, I will," said Flash, "thanks for the tip, Gordon." And with that he walked off the platform, mounted on his horse, (which was tied to a pole at the time) and rode away.

At Wellsworth, Big Macintosh was making his way to the station. He was a nineteen year old man with ginger hair, green eyes, freckles, a red jacket with a brown collar, a white T-shirt, blue jeans, a belt, and red tennis shoes with white soles. His full name is Macintosh Apple-Smith, but most call him Big Macintosh or simply Big Mac for short because of his large, muscular body structure. With him was a female dog with black eyes, tangelo fur with patches of white, and a red neckcollar. Her name is Winona, and like Miss Celestia, she plays a big role in the story.

Trevor had broken down and Big Macintosh needed to phone for some help. As he climbed the station ramp, he realized he wasn't alone. On the platform with her arms crossed was Chrysalis, the motorcyclist Gordon had encountered earlier. Winona growled at the mysterious woman.

She was a woman in her mid-twenties with dark cerulean hair, moderate green eyes, very deep opal eyeshadow, wore a dark gray button front corset trimmed with turquoise, a dark cerulean skirt trimmed with turquoise, black boots, and she had taken off her jacket, helmet and goggles, which were now sitting on her motorcycle. Chrysalis didn't look very friendly.

"You must be Big Macintosh, I presume," she sneered, "do you know who I am?"

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh, and spoke matter-of-factly, "yer Quinn Chrysalis and ya left Sodor a coupla of years ago."

"And now I'm back with a simple question," the mean woman scowled, "where's Shining Armor and Cadance?"

"Wherever they wanna be," said Big Macinosh firmly. Winona growled and barked in agreement.

"Shut up, you stupid mutt!" Chrysalis snapped at Winona, before returning her focus to Big Macintosh, "Anyway, playing innocent, like the rest of this pathetic railway, eh? It's not gonna work, Macintosh! I'll find them one way or another!"

"Eeyup, there's innocence in this railway, alright," said Big Macintosh, "and it would be best if ya left it be."

Chrysalis just turned and left, but not without taking a swing at a basket of flowers on the way.

"Ignorant woman," muttered Big Macintosh, picking up the flowers, "she wouldn't know the truth even if it were looking her in the face."

BARK! BARK!

At that moment, Fluttershy walked up to the platform.

"Oh my!" she gasped, "What happened to the flowers?"

"Knocked over by someone who doesn't belong here," Big Macintosh explained, "her name is Quinn Chrysalis and she refuses to believe in magic."

"I better put these in some water," said Fluttershy, accepting the flowers and racing off.

Chrysalis isn't the only one who doesn't fit in with Sodor; another example comes in the form of three teenage girls, and no, those three are not amongst me and the other five girls. Their names are Sunset Shimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, and Lillian Dust, or by her moniker, Lightning Dust.

Sunset Shimmer is the leader of the three, aged seventeen with vivid crimson hair streaked with yellow stripes, cyan eyes, a purple shirt with a red and yellow shimmering sun on it, a black jacket, orange jeans, and black boots. Cruel and manipulative, pretty much everyone fears her.

Trixie is a girl of sixteen with dark purple eyes, pale cornflower blue hair with even paler cornflower blue streaks, a blue hoodie with light blue stars on the elbows, a sleeveless purple dress with a magic wand and crescent moon on it, and blue boots. With over-the-top boasting, she often refers to herself as "the Great and Powerful Trixie."

Lightning Dust is also at the age of sixteen with amber hair streaked with gold stripes, gamboge eyes, a light blue jacket with yellow and orange stars on it, a pale blue T-shirt with a lightning bolt on it, white shorts, and blue tennis shoes. Lightning Dust loves putting herself to the limit and is extremely reckless.

These three girls might have little in common, but there's one thing all three can agree with – they hate steam engines. At the moment they were down at Brendam Docks, observing an emerald green 4-2-2 tender engine shunting trucks into place.

This engine is Emily, a replica of a Great Northern Railway Stirling Single, and the North Western Railway's number twelve. She arrived on Sodor back in 1986 to run passenger services on Thomas' branchline and the mainline, but is often found on goods trains as well. She's a kind friendly sort, often a big sister to the smaller engines, but she can tense sometimes.

As Emily was shunting trucks, she heard the three girls begin to make fun of her.

"It's no wonder your sisters were replaced," Sunset Shimmer taunted at Emily, "your big wheels never made you strong enough!"

"Yeah, look at her," Lightning Dust snickered, "she's so old, she makes my grandma run like a cheetah!"

This made the girls laugh, but Emily was quite angry. "I'd rather have big wheels than a rotten personality!" she snapped at the trio.

"Well, at least Trixie doesn't have some silly Scottish accent," sniffed Trixie, "they make it hard for others you understand you!"

At that moment, Thomas puffed in, having been given orders to help Emily at the docks before collecting Miss Celestia.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Those girls were making fun of me wheels and accent," Emily fumed.

"How dare you make fun of her!" Thomas snapped crossly, "If you got no business being in a serious environment, then I suggest you go away!" And he wheeshed steam at them, soaking the trio from head to toe.

"Good work there, Thomas," chuckled his driver.

"Have it your way, steam kettle," fumed Sunset, and the three girls sulked off.

"Thanks for the help, Thomas," Emily smiled.

"You're welcome, Emily," Thomas replied, "it wasn't very nice of Sunset Shimmer and her friends to make fun of you like that."

"You can say that again," agreed Emily, "I have no idea why they hate us steam engines."

"Nor do I," said Thomas, "but once I'm done here, I'm picking up Miss Celestia."

"Well, good luck with that, Thomas," said Emily.

"Thank you, Emily." As soon as he was uncoupled from his train, Thomas puffed off to fetch Miss Celestia.

At Knapford Station, Chrysalis was rifling through a stack of Sodor Times newspapers, hoping to find one with Shining Armor's address. Soon she found what she was looking for.

"Aha!" she declared, before writing down the address on a piece of paper, "I found you now…"

At that moment, a paperboy came to collect the papers.

"Oi!" he cried to Chrysalis when he saw her with the papers, "I'm meant to deliver those!"

"Whatever," Chrysalis said, getting up, "I found what I needed anyway." And with that, she walked down the station ramp, leaving the paper boy with a mess.

At that moment, Miss Celestia was preparing for her assignment when her sister Luna came in. Luna is a woman around her late twenties with light azure hair with moderate sapphire blue streaks, moderate cyan eyes, wore a light purple T-shirt with a white collar with a dark blue crescent moon on the collar, a dark purple belt around her shirt with a silver buckle, dark blue trousers and silver shoes. Keep in mind she's important to the story as well like her sister.

"Hello, sister," Luna said to Celestia, noticing the elder sister getting ready. "Important day today?"

"Oh, it is a very important day," said Miss Celestia proudly, "Sir Topham Hatt has given me a big responsibility, and for the very first time! He's told me that a new diesel has arrived and I have to make sure that he behaves himself."

Miss Celestia then went silent, tapping her pockets making sure she had everything she needed, including her toolkit for emergency repairs.

"So you're to be in charge of the North Western while he's gone?" Luna asked, "Congrats."

"Thank you, Luna," her sister replied, "I best be off now. For some reason, I'm having problems with my sparkle…"

Before Luna could reply, Miss Celestia then sounded her conductor's whistle, and disappeared rather slowly in a cloud of gold dust.

At Peel Godred station, Applejack was dropping off some crates of apple cider for the town brought in by one of the electric engines. She'd brought Winona with her, and right now, the little brown dog was barking at something in the distance.

"What's the matter, girl?" asked Applejack after setting down a crate. Then she looked in the direction Winona was barking.

"Muffle Mountain?" Winona barked as if saying "yes."

"What can ya see about Muffle Mountain that no one else can, Winona?" asked Applejack, "It can't be a reason that Chrysalis is back on Sodor, right?"

Earlier, Big Macintosh had told his younger sister about Chrysalis' return to Sodor, and it had stuck in Applejack's mind for some time. Winona whined and grunted, as if trying to say something.

"Now what kind of an answer is that?" Applejack chuckled, "You often sense trouble before many of us do, and yer instincts are usually right." Then she sighed, "It's too bad Ah don't speak dog."

Winona whimpered quietly.

Meanwhile, back at Elsbridge, I was making final preparations for mine and Spike's journey to visit Shining Armor and Cadance. At the moment, I was finishing off Shining's friendship bracelet, having already finished Cadance's.

"Well, that's it, Shining," I said once I was done, "I hope you'll like… and I hope it'll fit." I sighed. "And I hope it'll help to make you and Cadance happy again too…"

I looked over at an acoustic guitar resting on my drawers. I had gotten it for my thirteenth birthday some time before the wedding. Since then, I'd become a trained guitarist, and over time, I'd given my guitar a bit of a repaint. I'd painted it lavender and given it a pink six-pointed star surrounded by five sparkles, just like on my skirts and shorts.

I stood up, lifted my guitar from its resting place, sat down on my bed again and played a short tune to myself.

Now you might be thinking about Shining Armor and Cadance, right? You've heard of them, but haven't actually seen them yet. Well, we'll fix that…

Miss Celestia didn't know that on Muffle Mountain, Shining Armor could provide the answer to her problems with her sparkle… if only he knew how.

Shining Armor, my older brother, is twenty-four with cerulean eyes, long sapphire blue hair with streaks of cerulean and dark phthalo blue, a dark blue jacket with a pink six-pointed star over a purple shield on the left breast with three blue stars above the shield, blue jeans, and tennis shoes. His real name is Simon Armstrong Sparkle.

Cadance is twenty-three with violet hair with rose and pale gold streaks, light purple eyes, wears a white tank top with a yellow collar, a teal crystal heart within golden lace on her shirt, a pink waistband, a shin-length light blue skirt, and pink tennis shoes. Her full name is Mi Amore Cadenza Sparkle.

The couple was in what seemed to be a workshop hidden in Muffle Mountain. Shining Armor sat on a bench, a remorseful look on his face. As he continued this sad look, a memory seeped into his brain…

A young Shining Armor, roughly about ten or eleven of age, sat down as an unknown figure spoke to him. On the rails near them was a small steam engine.

"It's good that you like trains," the figure said, "our family has a little engine that lives in this mountain and travels on her own railway which has wonderful energy because of her. Without her, the island of Sodor will vanish. Now that I've shown you her, I must leave for a long time. For now, guard her well, Simon Armstrong Sparkle…"

In the present day, Shining Armor looked back up at the painting.

"But I didn't guard you well," he said sadly, "I'm sorry I let you down, Lady… I let down the magic…"

As he hung his head in shame, Cadance put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Looking back in the past?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah… I still feel this is my fault," her husband sighed, "if it hadn't been for me…"

"Now, stop saying that," said Cadance, "you're a nice, sweet person. Everybody makes mistakes." She paused, noticing her husband didn't answer. "Come on, we'd better get home," she said.

3 Friends and Enemies

Later in the afternoon, Percy and Toby were collecting their trucks at the scrapyards. Having finished their jobs early, they were prepared to leave.

"We're lucky not to come here at nightfall," said Percy, "it makes the scrapyards scary…"

"Remember what Pinkie said about laughing at scary stuff?" asked Toby.

"Yes, I do," said Percy, "but aren't broken steam engine parts scary? And if I laughed at them, wouldn't it seem… sadistic? I mean, they're engines who got scrapped years ago!"

"I know," said Toby, "but there's nothing we can do about it now."

Then there was a flaming sound as the furnace fires ignited, giving Percy a fright, and he bumped his trucks.

"Must be brave, must be brave," he muttered, and tried his best to laugh it off, but he could barely smile, let alone laugh.

"Calm down, Percy," assured Toby, "it's just the flames. We must do our best to make the Fat Controller proud while he's on holiday."

"Yes," agreed Percy, "Emily told me earlier that Miss Celestia is looking after us for the time being."

As the two friends were talking, neither noticed they were being spotted by two gray diesel shunters with six wheels each. One of them had a purple front and cab, named Splatter, and the other had an olive front and cab, named Dodge. Right now, the two diesels had been eavesdropping on their conversation, and they grinned stupidly.

"Did you hear that?" Splatter asked.

"Fatty's away for a while," grinned Dodge.

"Let's tell the boss," they said together, and they rumbled away unnoticed.

"Miss Celestia, where are you? You're usually on time."

Thomas was worried as he searched down the line light engine. It usually didn't take Miss Celestia long to arrive. Then suddenly, he saw something sparkling at a signalbox and Miss Celestia appeared on the balcony of the signalbox waving.

"Oh, Miss Celestia!" remarked Thomas in relief, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Thomas, I'm fine," Miss Celestia answered, "but sometimes, everything happens at once. I have to see Sir Topham Hatt to get my orders right away." Then she rubbed her leg. "The journey keeps getting bumpier and bumpier."

"Does it?"

Celestia then sparkled into Thomas' cab, where she was welcomed by the driver and fireman.

"We're glad you're here, Miss Celestia," said Thomas' driver.

"We were wondering when you'd be in charge for a while," agreed the fireman.

"A big bully diesel has arrived," said Thomas nervously, "he's behaving very badly and the Fat Controller won't like that at all."

"Sir Topham Hatt's already warned me about Diesel 10," said Miss Celestia, "so don't worry, Thomas."

Thomas smiled a bit, but he hadn't mentioned to her who Diesel 10's driver was…

"Look at that! It really captures the real us!"

"How beautiful, driver! I could cry."

Diesel 10 was on a siding next to a large boulder. He and Discord were admiring their work in awe; on it was two faces carved in their respective images.

"Ah, boss?"

"Yeah, we're here."

The large diesel and his driver cleared their throats as Splatter and Dodge rolled.

"So, what did you get, Spladge?" asked Diesel 10 bluntly.

"Er… it's Splatter."

"And… and Dodge."

"He hasn't the time for both names!" snapped Discord. Splatter and Dodge rolled their eyes; it was clear who was in charge.

"Well, we just heard that Fatty is gone for a while," said Splatter.

"Yeah," agreed Dodge, "heard it from a green caterpillar and garden shed on wheels."

"So Fat Hatt's on holiday, eh?" said Diesel 10, "Excellent work, Spladge!" The two shunters rolled their eyes.

"Now, boys," said Discord, "while the boss…"

"Isn't that you?" asked Splatter.

"He means Fat Hatt," sighed Diesel 10 in annoyance.

"Exactly," said Discord, "while the boss – Sir Topham Hatt – is away, the cats – that's us – will play, and we'll catch our mice!"

Splatter and Dodge stared in confusion.

"Erm… say it in English?" asked Dodge.

Diesel 10 growled in annoyance at their stupidity. "We're going to make life a misery for those steaming heaps of trash-on-wheels," he explained, "this island doesn't need them, it needs us – more and more of us! There's no need for steam engines these days. They're history!"

"You and I are on the same page," smiled Discord approvingly, "see, you two? You can learn from him."

"Ah, there's one small problem there, boss," said Splatter.

"What's that?" asked Diesel 10.

Then they spotted Thomas passing by with Miss Celestia on board.

"Him and her," said Dodge.

"How did that woman get here?" asked Diesel 10.

"We don't know," said Splatter.

"But she is taking care of things while… ah, Fatty's gone."

"She's not taking care of everything – we will," smirked Discord, "Celestia and the blue puffball won't be smiling for long! Allow me to introduce Diesel 10's secret weapon…"

Suddenly, a hatch on top of Diesel 10's rood opened and out of it emerged a large, mechanical claw!

"An experiment conducted by yours truly," Discord explained proudly.

Diesel 10 lifted his claw high above them, the claw snapping open and shut. However, their presentation turned into an undignified joke as the claw suddenly dropped and hit Diesel 10 on the head!

"OW! I hate it when this happens!"

"I don't think he meant to do that," Splatter and Dodge snickered to each other.

Thomas and Miss Celestia had seen everything, but they hadn't heard what Discord and the diesels were plotting.

"I don't think it sounded good," said Thomas.

"Don't worry about it, Thomas," assured Miss Celestia, "I'll just pop in and out with my sparkle wherever he goes and keep him in order!"

Thomas smiled and puffed along the line.

I hope, Miss Celestia thought anxiously to herself.

At Ffarquhar, a summer party was taking place. Some of the guests were the five teenage girls, Spike, and myself.

"I'm not sure about attending a party the day before we see Shining Armor," I admitted to Spike.

"Don't worry about it, Twi," Spike encouraged, "at least have some fun every now and then, you know; make new friends."

"I'll try," I said bravely. Back then, I wasn't really known for bonding socially with others besides my family. Breathing deeply and closing my eyes, I opened the door slowly. No sooner had I turned the door when…

"Hiya!"

"Wah!"

I jumped back in surprise as a hyperactive Pinkie Pie stood in front of us with her usual cheerful smile.

"I'm Pinkie Pie," the pink haired girl said, "what's your name?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," I said at last, "and this is my adopted brother, Spike. Whose party is this, anyway?"

"I threw it myself," Pinkie replied happily, "I just love throwing parties and making friends happy!"

"Come on, Twilight," insisted Spike, "let's join the fun."

So we headed inside to the party.

"Ah, beautiful…" Spike said in awe.

"I agree," I said, "the decorations look stunning."

"No, not the decorations… her…" The "her" Spike was referring to was Rarity, who was talking with Applejack.

"I must say, Applejack," she said, "it was very nice of Pinkie Pie to throw this party and invite us."

"Ah agree right there, partner," said Applejack, "but did ya really need to get all dressed up for a simple fun party?"

"Spike?" I tried to get his attention by shaking him on the shoulder, but his eyes were glued to Rarity. Then they noticed me and came to say hello.

"Er, sorry about my brother," I said sheepishly, "but anyway, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and…"

Before I could finish, Applejack grabbed my right hand and shook it quite strongly.

"Well, howdy-do there, Twilight!" she remarked while shaking, "Name's Applejack. We Apples sure do love makin' new friends."

"Ah-ah-ah, gre-ea-ea-eat!" I said, my hand still being shaken hard.

"I'm sorry about that, darling," said Rarity, trying to get me to stop shaking, "oh dear! Your hair is an absolute mess now! This simply cannot do."

Before I could protest, Rarity began to give me a hairdo.

"Spike!" I cried, "A little help here?" But he didn't take his gaze off of Rarity and levitated after.

"Man, she's so pretty…"

"Heads up!"

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a rainbow blur crashed into me. The blur was Rainbow Dash, holding onto a football.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly as she helped me up.

After Rainbow helped me back to my feet, I heard what sounded like crying from outside, and I rushed to the scene.

"Where's she gone off to?" asked Applejack.

I spotted the trio of mean girls bullying a crying Fluttershy.

"You're so pathetic and feeble," Sunset mocked, "it's no wonder all your friends are stray animals."

"It's also no wonder she'll never get a boyfriend," Lightning Dust added.

"And why she never gets invited anywhere enjoyable," grinned Trixie.

This made me angry; how dare they bully someone so innocent! I wasn't going to stand for it any longer.

"How dare you speak to her that way!" I shouted angrily at the trio.

"What did you say?" Sunset scowled crossly.

"I said, 'how dare you speak to her that way'!" I repeated, "You three better leave her alone… or else."

"You must be new here," Sunset sniffed, "my friends and I can talk to anyone any way we want." But she, Lightning Dust and Trixie walked away, but not without giving us a sneer.

"I… I c-can't believe you did that!" Fluttershy remarked, still shaken up.

"Well, I wasn't gonna let them bully someone and get away with it," I said, "anyway, I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?"

"I'm… Fluttershy…" she said quietly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"It's Fluttershy…" she squeaked even more quietly.

"I… didn't quite hear that."

"Fluttershy just let out a nervous little squeak and hid her face behind her hair. At that moment, Spike came out.

"Oh my gosh!" In an instant, Fluttershy's timid behavior seemed to melt away as she pushed me aside and held Spike's head in her hands. "Who is this young fella?"

"That's Spike," I said, getting back up, "my adopted brother."

"Ohh, he's so cute!" Fluttershy squeaked as she began to hug Spike.

"Well, well, well…"

I rolled my eyes as Spike seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting.

"If you don't mind me bringing this up," I said, "but who were those girls tormenting you anyway?"

Fluttershy brought Spike and I back inside where we found the other four girls gathered there too.

"Those gals who were tormenting Fluttershy are the biggest bullies round Sodor," Applejack explained, "Sunset Shimmer's their leader and practically everyone's afraid of her."

"Who are the two other girls?" I asked.

"They're Lightning Dust and Trixie," said Rainbow Dash, "Lightning Dust loves pushing herself to her limits when it comes to being the best and she doesn't care about the risks to other people."

"And Trixie acts like she's the greatest thing since sliced bread," added Rarity, "not to mention her habit of speaking in the third person."

"Yikes," said Spike, "they sound pretty dangerous…"

"You're not kidding," said Pinkie Pie, appearing behind Spike, "not only that, but they also hate steam engines."

"Why?" I asked.

"No one knows for sure," Applejack replied, "no reason for it, though."

"Dear Miss Celestia,

Where were you? My wife said we couldn't miss our little holiday. I will telephone to make sure you have arrived and received this.

Signed, Sir Topham Hatt."

No sooner did she stop reading when the telephone rang. Miss Celestia quickly picked it up.

"Knapford Station, North Western Railway. Miss Celestia speaking."

"Miss Celestia?"

"Sir Topham Hatt, sir."

"Yes, indeed. Good afternoon, Miss Celestia."

"And a good afternoon to you too, sir."

"I see you've made it, finally."

"Apologizes for being late, sir. I had a bit of trouble with my sparkle."

"Just watch out for Diesel 10."

"Of course, sir. And I'll be sure to keep an eye on James' behavior."

"Not to mention Henry's health; I've had to put him back on special coal since his dunking at the coastal route."

"Understood, sir. I'll do my best to keep the North Western running in your absence."

"And remember our three R's…"

"Yes, sir! Reading, writing, and arithmetic!"

"What?! Not *those** three R's!*"

"Ah! Sorry. I meant I'll be responsible… reliable… and really useful, sir."

"That's better."

"Goodbye, sir."

Miss Celestia then hung up the phone and attempted to sparkle out. But nothing happened, much to her surprise.

"Hmm, odd," she said, "I should still be good for a few more sparkles. I'll try my spare supply…" But when she reached into her pocket, it was empty.

"Oh no!" she cried, "I forgot my emergency supply!" Then she had a thought. "I must be losing my touch. It's best to try again."

So she sounded her whistle again and sparkled off.

"Wobbly wheels!"

"You're only jealous, James," sighed Thomas.

The red engine was feeling claustrophobic at Tidmouth Sheds and was taking it out on Thomas. Emily and three other engines were also at the sheds. One of them was a green pannier tank engine with six black wheels. His name is Montague, the North Western Railway's number eight, and a tank engine of the Great Western Railway. Everyone calls him Duck because of his supposed waddle.

The other two engines were identical 0-6-0 black tender engines of Scottish design; their respective names and numbers are Donald nine, and Douglas ten.

"What are you complaining about now, James?" groaned Emily.

"It's just not fair!" snapped James, "I should have been the one to collect Miss Celestia! Not Thomas!"

"We all took her at some point or another," said Duck, "why should it make a difference?"

"Aye," agreed Donald, "yer just thinkin' o' reasons tae complain."

"Well, collecting Miss Celestia is an important job!" retorted James, "Important jobs are for big engines."

"James is right," said Gordon, backing down next to him, "he is a big engine, after all… well, technically, middle-sized."

"Oi!"

"And you, Thomas, are small," continued Gordon, ignoring James' snap, "small, small, small, teenie-weenie-weenie. I am a big blue engine who knows everything."

"Bossy sprockets!" Thomas hated it when the others teased him for being small.

"Why can't you two leave Thomas alone?" snapped Emily crossly, "He's a hard working engine and does his best to help others."

"Emily's right," agreed Duck, "and you're a big blue engine who knows everything, Gordon? Ha! You don't know how to climb hills and you're helped by an 'old iron' named Edward!"

This prompted laughter from the other engines, even Thomas. Gordon was too embarrassed to say anymore. "Ohh… the indignity…"

Then the engines spotted a flickering shower of gold dust appear in front of them.

"Haud yer wheesht," said Douglas, "there's yon Miss Celestia."

"Good day, everyone," said Miss Celestia once she materialized, "is everyone pleased to see me?"

"Yes, madam," the engines all said together.

"Glad to hear that," said Miss Celestia, "now as you know, I'm to be in charge while Sir Topham Hatt-"

"The Fat Controller," corrected Gordon.

"…whatever any of us likes to call him," Celestia continued, acknowledging Gordon, "is away. I'd like you all to behave yourselves and be really useful."

"Yes madam," said the engines.

"James, you can come out now," Miss Celestia said to the red engine, "I'd like you to help with Mavis at Centre Island Quarry."

James hated getting dirty, but he was at least happy to come out again.

"Thomas and Emily will be doing passenger runs on the branchline," continued Miss Celestia, "Gordon, you'd best get ready for your express. Duck shall arrange your coaches."

"Right away, madam," said the Great Western pannier tank engine, "all shipshape and Swindon fashion!"

"Not this again," muttered Gordon.

Thomas set off to collect Annie and Clarabel.

"Little engines can do big things," he said to himself, "especially if they have nice blue paint like me."

"He's been saying it since his days as a pilot for Knapford," muttered Gordon again.

Meanwhile, James was making his way to Centre Island Quarry. The quarry itself was on Thomas' branchline, just beyond Ffarquhar and through a quarry tramway. Years before, Toby was the only engine allowed to run to the quarry, but since Thomas' incident with the policeman, the law was found to be out of date, so all engines are allowed to go Centre Island Quarry now.

Bigger engines like Gordon and Henry were not allowed on Thomas' branchline, but since others like Edward, Emily and James were within the weight limit, they were allowed to.

"Why did I have to get this job?" James grumbled, "Percy and Oliver are more suited for a job like this!"

James didn't know that the diesels Splatter and Dodge had been watching him.

"That scarlet screwball's in a bad mood," chuckled Splatter.

"It'll get worse when Harold the flopper chopper flies by and makes him all dirty," Dodge sneered.

James soon arrived at Centre Island Quarry. Waiting for him was a black diesel shunter with hazard stripes on her front and back, and six wheels hidden by sideplates and cowcatchers like Toby. This diesel is Mavis, and unlike the North Western steam engines, she is owned by the Ffarquhar Quarry Company, and is their first engine.

"Hello, James," said Mavis cheerfully, "what brings you here?"

"Miss Celestia said I was to work here today," James groaned.

"She's in charge while the Fat Controller's away, correct?"

"How'd you deduce that?"

"I heard it from Daisy who'd heard it from Toby."

Just then, two tank engine twins pulled up. Both were painted yellow with red lining, had red wheels, and had nameplates so everyone could tell who was Bill, and who was Ben. The twins normally worked at the Sodor China Clay Works near Brendam, but have occasionally helped Mavis out at the quarry.

"Look here, Ben," said Bill cheekily, "it's James!"

"I thought he hated being dirty," teased Ben, "maybe he's changed his mind and wants to be a quarry engine instead!"

James felt very angry and his face went red as his paint as the twins laughed.

"Let me tell you-!" he began.

"Just ignore them," soothed Mavis, "they're only being cheeky."

Just then, they heard a whirring and saw a white helicopter with a red stripe on his sides hovering by them. This was Harold.

"Routine flyby chaps, hello!"

By this point, Splatter and Dodge had shown up just in time to watch everything.

"Rusty red scrap iron's gonna look stupid," giggled Splatter.

"Let's start laughing now!" said Dodge, and they did in a really silly way.

The winds from Harold's blades created a dust bowl covering James, Mavis and the twins with quarry dust!

"Oops. Sorry, troops! Bit of a dust up; love to stay and clean up. Got to go! Bye now!"

By that point, Splatter and Dodge's amusement was cut short when the dust bowl flew towards the diesels and dirtied their paintwork as well!

"Did you mean to look like that?" asked Splatter.

"Ah, no, you?" asked Dodge.

"Er, neither did I."

"My beautiful paintwork!" wailed James, "It's ruined! Ruined, I tell you… RUINED!"

Meanwhile, while of this was happening, back at Muffle Mountain, Shining Armor and Cadance were making their way up to their house when they spotted someone waiting for them.

"Oh no…"

"What is it, Shining?"

"Is that who we think it is…?"

"So, I've found you again, Shining Armor and Cadance Sparkle," Chrysalis sneered.

"And you've finally returned, as we always felt you would," retorted Shining Armor.

"Now where is that engine?"

"We'll never tell you that," said Cadance firmly, "you're far too filled with hatred for her and for the island as well!"

"No, I'm not," insisted Chrysalis, "I just think magic means nothing to me."

Shining Armor and Cadance didn't reply and went inside the house, quickly slamming the door before Chrysalis could get in.

"You can't hide that engine forever!" the mean woman shouted, "I've found you, soon I'll find her, and have vengeance for taking away something from me!"

Shining Armor and Cadance listened to Chrysalis' outside ranting.

"It makes me wish she hadn't come back," Shining Armor said.

"So do I," agreed Cadance, "the island of Sodor is no place for a horrible person like her."

Eventually, Chrysalis got tried of ranting, seeing as neither would listen to her, and she stormed off in a sulk, jumped onto her motorbike, and rode off.

Back at Ffarquhar, the party had ended and Spike and I were getting ready to head home.

"Man, that was some party," said Spike, "I had a good time. How about you, Twilight?"

"It was alright," I admitted.

"At least you made some new friends," Spike added.

"Very true," I said hesitantly, "I just hope I don't run into the three jerks again."

"I'm glad I got to meet Rarity," Spike said dreamily, "I wonder if she's single…"

I rolled my eyes, and thought to myself; Honestly, Spike – I know you've got a crush on her, but need I remind you we're visiting Shining Armor and Cadance? Can you save your obsession with her for when our visit's done, *please?!***

"Ah, come on, Twilight," Spike said, "we'd better get home."

I nodded and we headed towards the bus stop.

4 A Big Problem

Later that evening, the engines were getting ready for sleep at Tidmouth Sheds. Gordon, Henry, James, Donald and Douglas normally slept there, sometimes with Edward, Duck, and Emily. Tonight, however, Edward was sleeping at Brendam with Bill and Ben, Duck was sleeping at Arlesburgh with a tank engine named Oliver, and Emily slept on her own Knapford Sheds.

In their places were Thomas, Percy and Toby, who normally slept at the branchline sheds at Tidmouth, but they were undergoing repairs so they were welcomed here at Tidmouth. Tonight would've been peaceful, but a certain red tender engine was moaning about his miserable day…

"What a day I've had to suffer!" James grumbled, "First I have to take a goods train, then I get shut up in the sheds, then I go to the quarry, then Harold dirties my paintwork, and now people had to laugh at me! It's disgusting!"

"James, would you do us a favor and shut up?!" Henry yelled in frustration, "I swear, your paintwork is all you complain about!"

"At least I don't need special coal to steam properly!" retorted James.

"You can both shut up," snapped Thomas, who was getting annoyed, "for big engines, you're acting like little tank engines!"

"Take that back!" argued Henry.

"Don't speak to him like that!" retorted Percy, "If I wasn't in steam—!"

"All four of you, be quiet!" Toby shouted angrily, "I'm ashamed of you; acting so childish! Every engine needs his or her sleep, and arguing with each other isn't helping."

"If my paint was nice and shiny—"

"Well, the fact is, it isn't James. I'm sure you'll get a wash first thing in the morning. We have a long day ahead of us after all."

"I certainly hope so," James groaned.

"Aye, we best lighten oop," said Donald, "cause I hear someone coomin' in."

"Who might that be?" asked Douglas.

That someone was Miss Celestia. She was wearing light purple colored pajamas. Fortunately for the engines, she hadn't heard the argument.

"I'll be spending the night here," she told the engines, "that way, I can keep an eye out in case Diesel 10 comes around for trouble."

"Thank goodness for that," remarked Gordon.

Before long, the engines were fast asleep, but Miss Celestia was awake on a makeshift bed she had made.

"Nothing like a bedtime drink of hot chocolate," she said to herself. She held a mug in one hand, a thermos of hot chocolate in the other.

Unbeknownst to her and the engines, Diesel 10 had sneaked up beside the sheds.

"Alright, boy," said Discord, "time to feast your little bucket of badness!"

Right now, Tidmouth Sheds were subject to repairs as well. A piece of tarpaulin swung loose from a ladder at one end. Diesel 10's roof opened to reveal his claw, and Discord positioned it to grab the tarpaulin.

Miss Celestia tasted her hot chocolate, and then frowned.

"Just a little sweeter, I think…"

She poured in a spoonful of sugar, and then tasted it again.

"Ah! Now that's better."

All of a sudden, Diesel 10's claw yanked the tarpaulin off! Debris flew everywhere!

"Bust my buffers!" cried Thomas, who had woken up, "It's Diesel 10!"

"Diesel 10-?! Oh no!"

The other engines had woken up as well, and they gaped in horror as the villains cackled.

"Long time, no see, Celestia!"

"Discord…" Celestia glared angrily.

"We've got a plan, and you're not in it!"

Diesel 10 moved his claw in for the kill.

"You can't catch me, Diesel 10!" Celestia cried as she grabbed her conductor's whistle and blew it. But instead of disappearing, she only sparkled for a bit. Surprised, she tried again, but got the same results.

Diesel 10 cackled again. "Losing your sparkle, eh? Ha ha ha! What perfect timing!"

Just as it seemed she was trapped, Celestia quickly grabbed the bag of sugar and held it up to Diesel 10 as if she were holding a cross up to the devil himself.

"Agh!" cried Diesel 10 in terror, "Is that-?!"

"That's right, it's sugar, Diesel 10!" Celestia said firmly, "And if I pour this in your tank, it'll seize you up for good!"

"What's going on here?"

At that moment, they heard the sound of a diesel horn, and a long green diesel with a Co-Bo wheel arrangement came in from the distance pulling a night goods train. This diesel is BoCo, a friend of Edward and the tank engine twins.

"And why, pray tell, are you attacking my friends, Diesel 10?" BoCo asked sternly.

"These puffballs are your friends?!" Diesel 10 snapped, "Traitors like you shall pay for your insolence someday!"

"You'll be the one paying for threatening them if you don't get a move on," retorted BoCo firmly, "now beat it, or else I shall report you to the authorities, and they'd love a good talk with you."

As much as they loved bothering the steam engines, Diesel 10 and Discord agreed they did not want to deal with the authorities. So they backed off.

"Make the most of tonight, Twinkle Toes," Diesel 10 snarled, "because you won't like tomorrow!"

"Nor will those tin kettles!" Discord called in agreement. BoCo watched as the clawed diesel rolled away.

"Is everyone alright?" BoCo asked with concern.

"We're alright now, BoCo," said Thomas, "just a little shaken up."

"Well, I better tell the workmen about this," said BoCo, setting off, "they won't be happy…" And he rumbled away with his trucks clattering behind him.

After he'd left, Celestia looked at her whistle.

"Miss Celestia, but what happened to your sparkle?" asked Thomas.

"I don't know, Thomas. I'll have to sleep on it."

"On your sparkle?" Thomas asked, confused.

"No, Thomas… but on the problem of what happened to it…"

"But Miss Celestia," said Percy, "without your sparkle, you won't be able to help us anymore…"

"Not only that," put in James, "but you might not be able to hide from Diesel 10 and Discord."

"I'll solve the problem," said Celestia reassuringly, "you just go to sleep now."

"Easy for you to say…" Percy muttered as he went to sleep.

Meanwhile at Muffle Mountain, Chrysalis had returned with a pickaxe.

"They think they can hide that engine from me?" she sneered, "I'll show them!"

Then she began to dig away at the landscape. While she dug, she didn't notice Flash Sentry and his horse nearby. The horse sensed danger and backed away.

"That must be the motorcyclist Gordon warned me about," Flash said to himself. With that, he rode back towards the nearest station. Thankfully, Chrysalis hadn't noticed him.

Flash rode all the way to Peel Godred where Big Macintosh was making a nightly delivery of apples.

"Big Mac!" he called, "I saw a woman digging in Muffle Mountain for something. I have a feeling she's the stranger Gordon warned me about."

"Chrysalis?"

"I believe so," replied Flash, "I was lucky she didn't spot me."

"Thanks fer tellin' me," said Big Macintosh.

Winona, who was with Big Macintosh as the time, started barked in the direction of Muffle Mountain again.

"What's with Winona?" asked Flash.

"No idea," said Big Macintosh, "Applejack says she was doing that earlier in the day."

"You don't think this has anything to do with Shining Armor and Cadance, do you?"

Back at Tidmouth Sheds, everyone was asleep once again, even Celestia. Unfortunately, no one realized that Diesel 10 had crept back. His claw was holding a funnel of ash, and it moved along until it was directly over Thomas' funnel. Through the broken roof, ash poured into Thomas' funnel, but he was too fast asleep to notice.

Suddenly, Celestia began mumbling in her sleep.

"Sparkle… gold dust… magic… buffers… railway… buffers…"

Diesel 10 heard the word "buffers" and eased off to listen more. The noise startled Percy, who woke up in time to hear the word "buffers" again.

"Gold dust… valley… family…" Celestia continued mumbling. As she stopped mumbling, a dream came to her…

The figure of a mysterious person could be seen. Right above the person were six floating orbs. As they glowed, the person sparkled and decomposited gold dust on a bush on Muffle Mountain, along a trail from the mountain and through a meadow as beautiful flowers began to grow.

"The family told me," said Celestia's voice, "as long as there's a railway, there will be energy… As long as there is gold dust, there will be harmony… The family told me we have made sure that our railway is safe, we have made sure our gold dust will last forever, and you will never have to worry…"

Another vision showed what looked like Knapford Station, but abandoned and left to ruin. The rails were ripped up and in their places were smooth roads.

In a huge pile, at Vicarstown, lay the scrapped remains of all the steam engines, each one looking as miserable and lifeless as the next – a very heartbreaking sight.

Overlooking the remains of this once beautiful place was Pinkie Pie. Her hair had fallen straight and flat, and she had the most miserable face you could ever see.

"The magic is all gone…" she said sadly as a tear fell down the side of her face; she almost wanted to cry.

Suddenly, Celestia woke up in shock.

"What's gone wrong with our railway…? Our universe is in great danger – I've got to find more gold dust! I hope someone can help us out…!"

The following morning, the engines prepared to get ready for their jobs of the day. Henry had left earlier that morning to pull the Flying Kipper. James, however, was still upset.

"I'm such a filthy mess," he groaned.

"Here he goes again…" Donald muttered quietly.

At that moment, Rarity arrived.

"Good morning, engines," she greeted, "Miss Celestia… what's happened to the shed wall?"

"We received a nasty visit from Diesel 10," Miss Celestia explained.

"I see… Oh my stars, James! Look at your red paint!"

"I know," said James mournfully, "I'm a disgrace to splendid engines everywhere!"

"Over-acting wimp," muttered Gordon. No one had heard him.

"Miss Celestia," said Rarity, "would it be alright if I offered to clean James before his first trains of the day? We wouldn't want him to be dirty for his passengers, would we?"

"We engines get dirty every day," muttered Douglas.

"As long as you don't mind getting dirty yourself," Miss Celestia said, "then yes, you may clean James."

"As much as I dislike being dirty, I must help my friend," Rarity said determinedly.

With that, she set of to fetch a scrub brush, a ladder, and some soapy water. Whilst Rarity cleaned James, Miss Celestia gave the other engines their jobs.

"Gordon, express duties as usual today," she began, "James, you're in charge of the local service after you're clean. Percy and Toby have coal train duties while Douglas is doing Percy's mail runs. Donald, you're taking a goods train to Vicarstown. Thomas, you and Emily have branchline passenger duties."

Soon, the engines began to set off for work whilst Rarity continued cleaning James fast as she could, since cleaning locomotives was not an easy task. As the engines went about their work, Thomas' whistle sounded, but it didn't sound right to him…

"That's odd," murmured Thomas, "my whistle was fine the day before…"

"That noise is just dreadful," groaned Rarity, sticking a finger in her ear, "you can't go out if your whistle sounds like that, can you?"

"It's not very safe to do so," added James. Then he noticed Miss Celestia looking rather tired.

"Miss Celestia, why do you look so tired?" he asked, "Is it because I'm red? Diesel 10 says red is a very tiring color, but red looks so nice against the snow…" Then he had a terrible thought. "It's not me, is it?"

"Oh, no, of course not James," Miss Celestia replied kindly, "I think that red is bright and cheerful."

"Oh, thank you."

"Just like my sparkle… or at least it was, and it must be again…"

Miss Celestia seemed to be thinking for a bit when a thought struck her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, James; I've got to go to Crovan's Gate to search for something important," she said at last.

"Would you like one of us to take you there?" Thomas asked.

If Diesel 10 sees me riding in Thomas, Miss Celestia thought, he would know I'm out of gold dust, and that would be a dreadful thought…

"I think I'll be fine sparkling there, Thomas," Miss Celestia said at last, "but I think it would be best if you went along just to make sure. Daisy shall do your work today."

With that, she sounded her conductor's whistle, and after some difficulty, sparkled out.

By that point, James' paint shone once more. "Finished at last," said Rarity triumphantly, "there you go, James; shiny and clean once again."

"Thank you, Rarity," James smiled, "now I'm a splendid engine once again." And with that, he puffed onto the turntable once it was positioned for him. As James left, he heard a sneeze…

"ATISHOO!"

The sneeze had come from Thomas, and ashes had flown out of his funnel.

"Say it, don't spray it, Thomas," James said. The ashes landed close to James, but fortunately, they didn't get him dirty.

"Sorry," coughed Thomas, "still got ashes in my funnel…" He sounded his whistle; it was the perfect pitch.

"Now that's better." And with that, Thomas set off as well.

Crovan's Gate is the terminus between the North Western and Skarloey Railways, where the narrow gauge engines live and work. Nearby the station was the Steamworks where the engines go for repairs, overhauls, or restoration. Although it was called the Sodor Steamworks, diesels have been repaired there as well.

The Skarloey Railway is home to five tank engines, one diesel, and one tender engine. The first tank engine is a 0-4-2 saddle tank painted red with white and gold lining; his name is Skarloey. The second tank engine is a 0-4-0 well tank painted vermilion with gold and black lining; his name is Rheneas. The third tank engine is a 0-4-2 saddle tank painted blue with red and yellow lining; his name is Sir Handel. The fourth tank engine is a 0-4-2 saddle tank painted dark green with red and yellow lining, and unlike Skarloey and Sir Handel, he had a Giesl Ejector funnel; his name is Peter Sam. The fifth tank engine is a 0-4-0 well tank painted yellow with black and gold lining; his name is Duncan, the Skarloey Railway's number six. The railway's diesel is painted orange with yellow lining and white lettering; his name is Rusty, named for Ruston and Hornsby, and is the railway's number five.

The railway's tender engine is a 0-4-0 saddle tank and tender painted brown with yellow lining, and has two red plaques on either side of his saddle tank with the word "DUKE" in gold. This engine is Duke, named after his grace, the Duke of Sodor. Years before, he, Peter Sam and Sir Handel worked on their own little railway far from the Skarloey Railway. Back then, Peter Sam was called Stuart and Sir Handel Falcon, named for their respective locomotive works, but they like their new names better. Unlike Rusty and the five tank engines, Duke has no official number.

Sometimes a trio of pre-teen girls came to the sheds to share their adventures, listen to stories, or just help in cleaning the engines. Apple Bloom is a girl of eleven with bright red-rose hair, gamboge eyes, a light crimson bow in her hair, wore a green T-shirt, blue denim overalls, and orange boots. Her real name is Blossom Apple-Smith, and she's the younger sister of Applejack and Big Macintosh. Apple Bloom's best friends are Susie "Sweetie" Belle, Rarity's little sister, and Scottie Lou "Scootaloo".

Sweetie Belle is a girl of eleven with grayish mulberry hair with grayish rose streaks, pale green eyes, wore a magenta short sleeved jacket, a white tank top with pale rose horizontal stripes, a purple waist belt, a long pale yellow skirt, and rose-colored shoes. Scootaloo is a girl of twelve with cerise hair, grayish purple eyes, wore a white t-shirt underneath a dark gray short sleeved hoodie, dark green shorts, and black boots. She had a blue plank on four wheels with a handlebar attached, giving her the nickname "Scootaloo."

Together the three girls are known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Back to our story; the waterfall Miss Celestia had mentioned earlier was located beyond Crovan's Gate close to one of the stations on the Skarloey Railway. Edward had arrived at Crovan's Gate with a stopping passenger train.

"Hello, Edward," said Skarloey, "how are things on the Fat Controller's railway?"

"BoCo told me that Diesel 10 attacked Tidmouth sheds last night," Edward explained.

"That's wrong!" cried Rheneas, "That Diesel 10 is a right bully, he is, from what I heard."

"What's important," said Duke wisely, "is that we all stand up on our wheels against Diesel 10."

"You're right, Duke," said Edward, "it's lucky he doesn't know that the lost engine of the legend really exists."

"What engine?"

"What legend?"

"What're ya'll talkin' 'bout?"

The engines looked and noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had heard everything.

"Should we tell them?" Rheneas whispered to Skarloey.

The engines looked at the trio as Skarloey cleared his throat. "The legend of a steam engine whose magic makes her more powerful than Diesel 10 could ever be," he explained, "very few have seen her."

"It's been said that she's the reason Sodor is the way it is," added Rheneas, "if anything bad were to happen to her, life as we know it would cease to be."

"That is why it's important that Diesel 10 never discovers her existence," finished Edward.

"Then we should find her first," said Peter Sam.

This gave the Cutie Mark Crusaders an idea.

"Maybe we should look for that lost engine," suggested Scootaloo.

"Ha! Three kids like you finding a lost engine?" laughed Duncan, "Please."

"Duncan, don't be rude to them!" Rusty hissed.

"Ya actually think we can't do it?" Apple Bloom sounded insulted.

"Well, not to sound rude," said Sir Handel, "but how are you even going to find the lost engine? You don't know where she is; no one does."

"Sir Handel!" scolded Rusty.

"What? I'm just saying."

"Well, I still think it would be a fun adventure," said Sweetie Belle, "so what are we waiting for?"

"Cutie Mark Crusader Engine Rescuers! YAY!" The three girls jumped into the air and gave each other high fives.

The engines simply chuckled; these three were always going on silly adventures. At that moment, Miss Celestia sparkled into view. The narrow gauge engines and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were surprised.

"Miss Celestia, madam," said Skarloey, "this is a surprise."

"What brings you here?" asked Rheneas.

"I need to get to the waterfall at Rheneas," explained Miss Celestia.

"He's right there," said Peter Sam, not quite understanding, "is that why you came all the way here?"

"No, Stuart," chuckled Duke, "she means the station at Rheneas."

"Exactly, Duke," said Miss Celestia, "Rheneas here is named for the station, which comes from the ancient Sudric language meaning 'divided waterfall'."

"Makes more sense," said Duncan.

"I could take you there," offered Peter Sam.

"That's very kind of you to offer, Peter Sam," said Miss Celestia. And with that, she climbed into the little green engine's cab and Peter Sam set off.

As they made their way closer to the station near the waterfall, Peter Sam ground to a halt. He was so eager to help Miss Celestia that he had forgotten to take on more coal.

"Oh, bother!" he groaned, "I'm very sorry, Miss Celestia."

"Don't worry about it," she said while the driver went to phone for help, "you've saved me a ton of walking already. Looks like I'll need to carry on by foot."

And so she continued her journey on foot, leaving behind Peter Sam, who still felt guilty.

"I hope she'll be alright," Peter Sam murmured.

After what seemed like an hour, Miss Celestia looked around to see where she was.

"Where's the waterfall?" she pondered, "Isn't it where I'm supposed to be…?"

Miss Celestia decided to try and sparkle herself there, but when she sounded her whistle, nothing happened. She tried again; still nothing. Out of disappointment, she sat down on a nearby boulder.

"Now my gold dust really is all gone," she realized, "and if I can't find the source for making more, I know how bad the consequences will be. I saw them in my dream last night."

With that knowledge, Miss Celestia stood up once again and made her way through another thick bush when she finally arrived at the waterfall. Unfortunately, she was at the bottom instead of the top.

"Ugh… I have to get to the top, and that's what I've been told," she decided, and began to climb, "the family said I'd find the clue to the source of my gold dust at the top of Rheneas. Why did they stop at the clue? Why not just tell me the source and be done with it? I'm the wrong age for… Ah!"

Without any warning, Miss Celestia had lost her grip, but despite the setback, she kept climbing until finally, she reached the top.

"Thank goodness," she sighed, "I think I see something in that crevice." Slowly, she reached her hand in and grasped hold of a piece of paper. She unfurled it and read it out loud.

"Stoke up the Magic in the Mountain and the Lady will smile… Then watch the Swirls that spin so Well…"

But before Miss Celestia could see if there was more than that, she slipped.

"Woah!"

She fell down the waterfall with a splash! Fortunately, Miss Celestia was unhurt, but she was very wet when she crawled out.

"Well, that was not an enjoyable experience," she said. She looked to make sure she still had the clue, but gasped when she saw it was gone.

"Oh, drat!" she groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead, "I've run out of gold dust and lost the clue to the secret of the source…"

Miss Celestia struggled to remember the clue. "Mountain… smile… what else? Curls… tin… no, that's not right… Ohh! If only there were someone else who had gold dust too…"

Suddenly, she had an idea.

"I have to make a phone call," she said, standing up.

5 Plans Emerging

Thomas was chuffing fast as his wheels could let him, for it was a long way to Crovan's Gate. He was wheel to wheel with Bertie, a friendly red bus who loved having races.

"I'm going to win this time, Thomas!" called Bertie.

"No you're not," the blue engine chuckled, and the two friends raced on.

Suddenly, Thomas had to stop at a level crossing for a green steamroller to pass. His name is George, and he is grumpy and rude to trains alike.

"Bother," groaned Thomas, "morning, George."

"Slow down, you useless blue puffball!" the steamroller snapped rudely.

"Bad luck, Thomas!" tooted Bertie as he raced by.

Once George had rolled clear of the crossing gates, they opened up for Thomas who sped off after Bertie.

"Railways are no good!" George shouted, "Pull 'em up; turn 'em into roads!"

"That'll never happen, George," Thomas shouted back. Despite how rude George seemed, the engines felt that deep down, he was a softie.

Whilst all of this was going on, at Knapford station, Spike and I had arrived with our luggage to catch the local running to Barrow-in-Furness. Our stop would be at Killdane, where would ride on the branchline all the way to Peel Godred. I was wearing a light purple and white sweater vest and jeans, whilst Spike had on a light purple T-shirt underneath a light green hoodie and jeans.

"The local service from Knapford to Barrow will depart from platform five," said the station announcer, "the Wild Nor'Wester will depart from platform three. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform."

"Well, looks like this is it," said Spike.

"Our train is being pulled by the North Western's number five," I said, "which one is number five?"

The number five we were in search for was James, who had backed down onto his coaches on platform five. Gordon stood on platform three with the Wild Nor'Wester.

All of a sudden, we heard barking and looked; barking at us was Winona. She and Applejack were there dropping off a delivery of apples.

"Hey, isn't that Applejack's dog?" asked Spike.

"What's Winona doing here?" I wondered.

Winona barked again and turned her head towards the platform where Gordon stood.

"I think she could be telling us where number five is," said Spike, and followed Winona.

Shrugging to myself, I followed Spike. Winona's tail wagged and her friendly face assured me that she knew what she was doing.

"Is this the train pulled by number five?" I asked Winona, who barked once. I knew this was dog speak for "yes."

"Well, I hope you're right," I said, patting her head, and I boarded the coach with Spike following behind.

Winona felt very pleased with herself. She had put us on the wrong train, but she knew she was doing so for the right reasons. She ran up to the last coach of the train and jumped in without anyone seeing her.

At the front of the train, however, Gordon wasn't happy.

"What's the problem, G?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"My fireman's just taken ill," explained Gordon.

"The relief fireman hasn't shown up either," said the driver, "and our train is due to leave any minute. What now?"

"Why don't I be the fireman? Er, firewoman, in this case?" suggest Rainbow Dash.

Gordon and his driver were rather surprised by her offer.

"That's kind of you to offer," said Gordon, "but haven't you got a football game to attend?"

"It's been rescheduled till tomorrow," Rainbow Dash explained, "after all, aren't passengers important?"

"She's got a point," said the driver. So Rainbow Dash was allowed in the cab after explaining to the stationmaster. The guard's whistle sounded and the green flag waved; Gordon started off.

"Well, we're on our way to Shining Armor and Cadance's," I said to Spike.

"Yeah, but it makes me wish we went to somewhere magical," he sighed. Little did we know how much that wish would come true…

Back at Crovan's Gate, the little engines were having a meeting. Peter Sam had been brought back by Rusty after the former's earlier mishap.

"I can't believe ye lost Miss Celesita!" snapped Duncan, "What are we gonna dae now? Probably sit here and rust tae nothin' because of ye, Peter Sam!"

"Oh, we'll all just get destroyed for sure!" Sir Handel panicked, "We need help – who'll give it to us now?!"

"Sir Handel, just calm down," Duke was saying, "and Duncan, Peter Sam didn't mean to lose her; Miss Celestia continued on by foot anyway. Besides, we should help each other, and that's what the Fat Controller would expect for engines big and small."

"Pity he went 'way in the first place…" muttered Duncan.

Just then, Thomas puffed in.

"Where's Miss Celestia?" he asked the little engines, "She said I was to meet with her here at Crovan's Gate."

"Actually, Thomas," said Peter Sam, still sheepish, "I ran out of coal before I reached Rheneas station near the waterfall, and she carried on without me by foot."

"She's lost?" Thomas gasped, "Oh no! Her sparkle must be all gone!"

"I should've filled up on coal," said Peter Sam sadly.

"It wasn't your fault," assured Rheneas.

Suddenly, Thomas sneezed again.

"Oh no," cried Sir Handel, "now Thomas is getting ill… oh no!"

"Be quiet, Sir Handel," said Skarloey firmly.

"I still got a few ashes up my funnel," said Thomas, "but I'm actually feeling better than earlier, Sir Handel. We have to find Miss Celestia before Diesel 10 does."

"I agree," said Duke, "and hopefully before he decides to look for the lost engine."

"Lost engine?" asked Thomas.

Skarloey told Thomas what he had told the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What none of the engines knew, however, was that Sunset Shimmer had secretly been listening in on their conversation.

"So there's some mysterious magic engine, eh?" she said deviously to herself. Before anyone could spot her, she slipped away.

Meanwhile, Miss Celesita was rummaging through the vegetation, looking for a bellflower. Soon enough, she found one and picked it up like an old-fashioned telephone.

"I only hope Luna can answer me," she said to herself.

Luna was far away off Sodor on another railway, looking over some steam engines and diesels. Suddenly, a telephone went off. Luna picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Luna. Luna, where are you?"

"I'm on the mainland," Luna replied.

"You've got to get back to the island of Sodor right now!" said Celestia urgently, "I've run out of gold dust, and because of that, I'm losing my energy as well! Our universe is in serious trouble."

"That is dreadful news, sister! When should I get here?"

"As soon as you can. You have to help me find the source of our gold dust."

"I hate to bring bad news, but I've used up most my gold dust already…"

"What?!" Celestia had a look of disbelief on her face.

"Then go to my place first," she said, "in my room, in a box in the closet are the Elements of Harmony. They might come in handy. Then on the bottom left of the box is a small compartment. In that compartment, you'll find my emergency whistle with the last of my supply. Please take care of it, Luna, ad whatever you do…" she started to whisper, "don't talk to anyone about the magic buffers!"

"Understood, sister. But where can we find the source?"

Before Celestia could answer, the bellflower had wilted, and all Luna could hear was ringing.

Luna sighed. "I better come as fast as I can," she said to herself.

Meanwhile, Gordon was thundering down the mainline while Rainbow Dash worked hard as his temporary firewoman. She had never ridden in an engine's cab before, and the thought of speeding down the line was an exciting experience for her.

In the coaches, Spike and I looked out and waited for the train to stop at Killdane.

"There's our stop!" Spike said, pointing to the station outside, "We must be really early."

I was prepared to put on my backpack the moment our train came to a complete stop, but Gordon never did, and he kept on going past Killdane.

"That can't be right," I said in surprise, "our train isn't stopping!"

"Are we really on the right train?" asked Spike. I didn't have an answer to Spike's question; I was just as puzzled as he was.

The journey from Killdane to Crovan's Gate was very quiet; other than passing a station at Kellsthorpe Road, Spike and I saw nothing but green, green, and more green. At some point, I could swear I saw a teenage boy with blue hair riding a dun furred horse with a brown mane.

Spike and I found the silence rather spooky, so to soothe our nerves, I took out my guitar and played to break our silence, picking up the rhythm of the train wheels, but the silence overwhelmed my playing and I stopped.

"I wish we could stop," I said at last, "do you know where our journey is taking us?"

"No idea," said Spike, "I wish I knew."

Meanwhile at Arlesburgh, Douglas had finished with a goods train and was on the turntable to get turned around. Near him a green 0-4-2 tank engine; this is Oliver, the engine Douglas had saved from scrap years before, and the North Western Railway's number eleven. With him was a Great Western brakevan named Toad, who had also been saved from scrap by Douglas.

"Hello, Douglas," said Oliver, "we heard from James you had a run in with Diesel 10 last night."

"I hope he didn't do anything bad to you, Mr. Douglas," said Toad, "that would be dreadful if that were the case."

"Nae, he didn't," said Douglas, "but he did give us steamers a good fright."

Unknown to the trio, George the steamroller had rolled up. He watched enviously as Douglas began to spin on the turntable.

"Charming sight, isn't it? So soothing."

George was startled by the voice. He turned and saw Diesel 10 next to him.

"Oh, great," the steamroller grumbled, "another engine to deal with!"

"Fear not," said Diesel 10, "we're on your side."

George raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Then Splatter and Dodge rolled up alongside the clawed diesel.

"Picture this, George," said Discord, getting out of Diesel 10's cab, "having your own roller rink for your wheels only. Goodbye turntable, hello roller rink – just for George forever circling it in balletic bliss…"

As George took in this offer, he began to have a vision…

George was in a large roller rink where the turntable used to be. As he rolled around it, he was greeted by cheers from people coming to watch him, while engines like Donald and Douglas would be scowling crossly in disgust.

"So what am I to do?" asked George, snapping back to reality.

"We don't need steam engines," explained Diesel 10, "they need buffers at the end of the tracks to stop them from crashing. So we'll destroy the buffers, and when the steam engines are destroyed as well, we can build them up again for ourselves!"

Splatter and Dodge listened with glee, while George looked dismayed, but didn't object.

"We don't need Celestia either," Discord said, continuing where Diesel 10 left off, "she'll just be a problem to our plan. She's able to teleport with her whistle, and has something to do with buffers. We heard her talking about them in her sleep, an even better reason to destroy them. Then we'll make your dreams come true, George. Deal?"

"Deal," George said, a bit reluctantly.

"Excellent, and remember our motto," said Diesel 10, "They add, we subtract."

At that moment, Trixie and Lightning Dust came up.

"We happened to hear you talking about causing trouble for those steam engines," said Lightning Dust, "we wish to help with that."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Splatter.

"They're just teenage girls," added Dodge.

"Who are you calling 'just teenage girls'?!" snapped Trixie, "We hate steam engines as much as you do."

"Join the club, girls," Diesel 10 grinned, "you'll be excellent allies along with George here, right?"

"Erm, yes… Diesel…"

"Remember our motto, George; they add, we subtract – say it."

"They add, we subtract," George repeated, "but what do we subtract?"

Diesel 10 groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"We eliminate the buffers, the steam engines, and Celetisa," explained Discord.

"Oh," said George, "gotcha."

Unknown to Diesel 10, Apple Bloom had gone with Applejack to make another delivery of apples and overheard the plan.

"Oh, no," she whispered, "that big bully Diesel 10 wants George to help hurt the steam engines. And is that Lighnin' Dust and Trixie he's enlisted?"

Apple Bloom was worried, and so was Applejack, but for a different reason.

"Winona?" the older sister called, "Where are ya, girl?"

"Applejack," her younger sister said, "I heard Diesel 10's enlisted George, Lightning Dust and Trixie to cause trouble fer our steam engine friends!"

"What?" asked Applejack, "First Winona goes missin', and now Diesel 10's enlisted help for his so-called schemes?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"We ought to go warn the engines." And with that, the sisters set off.

"Come on, Trixie," said Lightning Dust, "let's tell Sunset about the plan."

"Oh, yes, Lightning," agreed Trixie, "she would love to help make life a misery for the steam engines!"

Speaking of whom, Sunset Shimmer was making her way to the nearest station when she came across Chrysalis.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Just a drifter who's come back," answered Chrysalis.

"Well, what do you want?" asked Sunset.

"I've come back to find a steam engine," Chrysalis replied.

"Easy enough," Sunset shrugged, "they're everywhere around here."

"Yes, but not the one I want," said Chrysalis, "she escaped me once before and is most likely hiding in Muffle Mountain. I intend to find her so I can destroy her!"

The two didn't notice Sweetie Belle eavesdropping on them. Rarity brought her along to do some shopping for some dresses she was working on.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle cried once her older sister came back, "I heard Sunset Shimmer talking to some mean lady that wants to destroy a steam engine."

"That's awful!" exclaimed Rarity, "Being rude to us and our friends is bad enough, but trying to destroy an innocent steam engine? Oh, of all the worst things that could happen… this is the! WORST! POSSIBLE! *THING!!***"

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes; Rarity had this huge habit of becoming over-dramatic. Fortunately, Chrysalis and Sunset hadn't heard Rarity's dramatizing.

"We need to warn someone," said Sweetie Belle.

"If this engine you want to destroy is who I think it is," Sunset said with a devious grin, "then I'd be willing to help."

"Excellent," said Chrysalis darkly.

Meanwhile, at Crovan's Gate, Gordon steamed to a stop with the Wild Nor'Wester. Spike and I looked out the window of our coach.

"Crovan's Gate?" I wondered, "Why have we stopped here?"

Then we heard a familiar barking and saw Winona.

"Her again?" asked Spike, "Why is she following us?"

"I don't know," I said, "but I think she wants us to get off here."

No sooner had we gotten out of the coach when Rainbow Dash got out of Gordon's cab. To my shock, she was covered in coal dust.

"Hey guys," she waved to us.

"What's happened to you, Rainbow Dash?" I exclaimed, "You're covered in coal dust!"

"Gordon's fireman took ill, the relief man was late, and so I volunteered to help, "said Rainbow Dash, "can't let the passengers down, after all."

"Is Gordon the driver of this engine?" asked Spike.

"Gordon is the engine," said Rainbow Dash.

"What, never seen a talking train before?" asked a male voice.

Spike and I jumped in surprise as the big express engine spoke.

"Who said that?!" cried Spike.

"That would be me," Gordon said, "the engine that's in front of you, perhaps?"

Spike and I looked up at the big engine in front of us.

"S-sorry," I said nervously, "I've never seen an engine talk since we don't live close to the railways."

Spike then noticed the large number four on Gordon's tender.

"We definitely got on the wrong train," he said.

"How'd that happen?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"We were led by Winona," I admitted. The little dog barked cheerfully.

"Applejack's gonna be wondering where you are," Rainbow Dash said to Winona.

"What I don't know is why she wanted us to come here," said Spike.

Suddenly, just before us, Luna appeared in a shower of gold dust, dusting herself off.

"Oh, botheration," she said, looking around, "this isn't Knapford. I don't know how to do this… Who does sister think I am, Houdini?" Then she noticed us.

"Oh, hello there," she said, "who might you be?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," I said, "that's my younger brother Spike—"

"And I'm Rainbow Dash," the athletic girl interrupted me, "who are you?"

"I'm Luna," the twenty-something woman replied, and then looked around, "did I drop some sunglasses around here?"

I shrugged, humming an "I don't know."

"Ah well," said Luna, "good day then." With that, she disappeared again. I then noticed some gold dust on the ground where she was and got some on my fingers."

"What is this stuff?" I wondered.

Miss Celestia had been trying her best to make it back to Crovan's Gate by foot, but she had ended up lost and was now lying under a bridge before the tunnel before Glennock.

"Why did I take my gold dust for granted?" she said quietly, "I can't help without it… What is the source of my gold dust…?" Then she heard the sounds of a steam engine puffing over the bridge.

"Is someone there?" It was Rheneas with a passenger train.

"Rheneas? Is that you?" Miss Celestia called weakly. But Rheneas didn't reply; he couldn't hear her.

"Rheneas?" Still, no answer. Celestia lay on the grass sadly, a tear in her eye.

"How can I possibly say that I'm really useful now?" she said sadly.

Meanwhile, the mean trio met up once again.

"Where have you two been?" Sunset asked.

"We've met up with a diesel and his driver that hate steam engines just like we three," said Trixie.

"We're gonna help them cause trouble for the steam engines by helping to smash the buffers," added Lightning Dust, "where have you been?"

"Some mysterious lady needed my help in finding some lost steam engine hidden away on Muffle Mountain," Sunset replied.

"And you agreed to help her?" asked Trixie.

"Of course," said Sunset, "I've heard tales about this steam engine she's after and believe it's no ordinary one. As long as she exists, so do the other steam engines." Then a devious smile appeared on her face. "But if she can be destroyed…"

"Destroyed?" asked Lightning Dust.

"As in, hurt?" Trixie added.

"Yes, destroyed as in hurt," Sunset sighed.

"So…" said Lightning Dust, "by destroying this seam engine, all the other steam engines will be destroyed as well?"

"Exactly."

"But just in case that doesn't work," said Trixie, "what say we help with Diesel 10's plan as well?"

"Oh, of course I will," said Sunset, "anything to cause trouble for those stupid puffballs."

At Muffle Mountain, Shining Armor was on the telephone, sounding very worried.

"Alright. If you see them, please call me. Thank you." With that, he hung up and turned to Cadance. "Twilight and Spike didn't make it to the station."

"You don't think Chrysalis got to them first, do you?" Cadance asked worriedly.

"I hope not," said Shining Armor, "it's bad enough she destroyed one thing precious to me. I don't want to lose another."

Cadance wrapped her arms around her husband in an attempt to relax him.

Back at Crovan's Gate, Spike and I were still waiting around. As we waited, we got a chance to speak with the narrow gauge engines. Suddenly, ("Winona!") we saw Applejack come to the platform. Winona was pleased to see her mistress.

"Ah was worried sick about ya, gal," Applejack said, petting Winona. Then she noticed Spike and I.

"Hey, Applejack," I said.

"Howdy, Twilight. Spike," said Applejack, "weren't ya supposed to be on the local to Killdane?"

"We were supposed to be," said Spike, "but Winona got us on the wrong train."

"Somethin' strange must be goin' on here," muttered Applejack. Then she turned to us again.

"Never mind now; Big Macintosh and Ah can give ya a lift to Muffle Mountain."

"We really appreciate it," I smiled, "best news I've heard all day, other than meeting talking trains for the first time."

Big Macintosh's lorry (the British nickname for a truck, in case you're wondering) was close to the station so we didn't walk long.

In the lorry, Big Macintosh was driving, because he was old enough to drive. Applejack sat in front with him and had Winona on her lap. Spike and I sat in the back. As we went down the road, I thought of something.

"Did you know my brother and sister-in-law?" I asked Applejack.

"Big Macintosh here did," replied Applejack, "Ah found out about them through 'im."

"Eeyup."

"I think Shining Armor liked nickname Cadance 'Lady'," said Spike.

"Lady?" Applejack asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, I heard them say that name one time when they were talking," said Spike. Right now, I was looking at the photograph of Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding, with Chrysalis in the background.

And speaking of whom, Shining Armor and Cadance were at a crossing near Peel Godred waiting for us when Chrysalis pulled up on her motorcycle.

"I didn't find her," she sneered.

"You never will," said Shining Armor firmly, "even if you did, she'd be of no use to you now."

"You're a liar, Shining Armor!" snapped Chrysalis.

"Why are you so obsessed with finding her anyway?" asked Cadance.

"You took something away from me, and soon I'll take something from you!" Chrysalis snarled, but before she could say anymore, she saw Big Macintosh's lorry pull up and she drove up.

"Who was that crazy woman?" asked Spike, watching Chrysalis drive away.

"Someone who likes to cause trouble," said Big Macintosh.

"Could Ah borrow that picture?" asked Applejack, "Ah promise to take care of it."

I handed her the photo and she accepted it. Soon the lorry stopped and we all stepped out. As I got out of the lorry, gold dust residue from my jeans drifted into the air, falling in a little puddle on the ground at the crossroads.

"Twilight, Spike," said Shining Armor, noticing us.

"Hi, B.B.B.F.F.," I said, "sorry we're late." And I explained to them what had happened.

"What matters is that you're alright," smiled Cadance. We said goodbye and thank you to Big Macintosh and Applejack, as well as Winona, and the Apple siblings drove off. Soon we got into Shining Armor's car and set off to his and Cadance's house.

6 Secrets and Schemes

Meanwhile, at the yards, George was near a set of buffers ready to smash them, but his driver would not allow it.

"I don't care what those bullies offer you," he scolded, "but I'm not letting you help them with their selfish deeds!"

"Oh, really?" said a voice from behind.

George's driver jumped. "Who said that?" he demanded. No sooner had he turned around…

WHAM!

A fist punched him and sent him flying to the ground; the fist belonged to Sunset Shimmer, who'd been convinced by Trixie and Lightning Dust to help Diesel 10 while they helped Chrysalis.

"Right, steamroller…"

"George."

"George, right. But anyway, let's smash some buffers!"

Sunset drove George to the set of buffers, and they were smashed to bits. As he did so, Diesel 10 rolled up alongside, Splatter and Dodge next to him; the look on George's face meant he was in for a severe reprimanding.

"One set of buffers smashed isn't enough, George," said Diesel 10.

"Yeah, remember our motto," said Splatter.

"They go up, we come down," added Dodge.

Diesel 10 groaned in irritation. "No, you blithering idiots!" he shouted, his claw snapping wildly at them, "They add, we subtract! Can't you morons do anything right?!"

Splatter and Dodge gulped nervously.

"Sooner or later," Discord told George, "you'll hit the buffers that are so precious to Celestia. Destroy, George."

George started to have second doubts; this wasn't really his scene.

"But I might hurt something… or someone," he said.

"So what?" Sunset scoffed, "The steam engines are gonna crash anyway."

"Good point, I suppose," said George.

Meanwhile, at Wellsworth, BoCo was holding a meeting with Mavis and Daisy. Daisy is a single-unit diesel railcar painted bright green with yellow lining and makeup on her face; eyelashes, red lipstick, blush and blue eyeshadow, almost similar to Rarity. She had come to the Ffarquhar branchline after Thomas had an accident involving the stationmaster's house. Although lazy and stubborn to start with, Daisy has mellowed out and has become a really useful engine since.

"So why were we called out here, BoCo?" asked Daisy.

"I've gather both of you girls here because like me," said BoCo, "you're the only diesels on Sodor who don't want to hurt the steam engines."

Then he explained to them about Diesel 10.

"I heard from Toby about the attack at Tidmouth Sheds earlier that morning," said Mavis, "I haven't met Diesel 10 yet, but I did meet with those creeps Splatter and Dodge."

"What were they like?" asked Daisy.

"Let's say they're not the brightest tools in the shed," explained Mavis, "I heard they're also enlisting help from other diesels."

"Other diesels?" asked BoCo, "Oh dear…"

"What's the matter?" asked Daisy, "Who are the other diesels?"

"Two of them who were at odds with Duck, and two of them who nearly got Stepney scrapped…"

"You don't mean…?"

"I do mean," said BoCo grimly.

At the Vicarstown Rolling Bridge, the four diesels BoCo had mentioned were rolling over to Sodor. One of them was long and green with yellow ends and the number 261. This diesel once came to Sodor during Stepney's visit years ago.

With D261 were three diesel shunters similar to Splatter and Dodge; two of them were greenish gray with hazard stripes on their fronts and rears and yellow cabs, and both had "SODOR IRONWORKS" written on their sides in white. These diesels were Arry and Bert, the same diesels who nearly got Stepney scrapped. Bert had stubble on his face.

The third diesel shunter was painted black; this was Diesel, who'd come to Sodor in trial years before and told lies about Duck to Gordon, Henry and James.

"Can't wait to meet up with other diesels," said Arry.

"And then we can cause trouble for the steam engines," added Bert.

"With steamers out of the way," said Diesel, "that fat tub of lard will finally see that diesels are far superior and we will rule!"

Not too far away, Miss Celestia had come across some standard gauge tracks, looking for civilization. She was cold, tired and miserable, and she didn't know how long she'd been walking and looked at her watch.

"Dinner time," she said with alarm in her voice, "where's Luna when I need her help the most…?"

Then she heard the sounds of diesel horns honking in the distance.

"Oh no," she said with worry. Then Miss Celestia saw the diesels approaching and quickly hid in a bush. Fortunately, they hadn't spotted her.

"That was a close call," she sighed in relief, and looking both ways to see no trains were coming, Miss Celesita hastily crossed the tracks to the other side.

Back at Muffle Mountain, we'd finally arrived at Shining Armor and Cadance's house. It was a rather small cottage that sort of blended in with the background. On the journey, I found it rather surprising that Shining Armor (who was driving at the time) hadn't said a word, let alone strike up a conversation.

"We met with our friend Rainbow Dash at Crovan's Gate," I was saying, "and this woman named Luna – she had dark hair and…" I trailed off, unsure of what so say next.

"She appeared and disappeared with gold dust," Spike finished for me.

Neither Cadance nor Shining Armor replied.

"Could you believe that?" I asked finally.

"I only believe what I see," Shining Armor muttered, but loud enough for us to hear.

Spike and I said no more; who were we to risk an argument?

That evening at the dinner table, we all were rather quiet eating our dinner of spaghetti. Not wanting to eat I awkward silence, I spoke up.

"Why'd you move out here?" I asked, "Don't you like trains anymore?"

"It's just more peaceful here," Shining Armor said quietly.

"But wouldn't you still be able to hear the trains go by?" I asked.

"I fixed that too," said Shining Armor, "this part of the mountain muffles the sounds of trains, hence the name Muffle Mountain."

"Clever," Spike commented.

Briefly, I stood up and got a couple of things out of my pocket; the friendship bracelets I made him and Cadance.

"I made these for you two," I said.

"Why, thank you, Twilight," said Cadance, smiling, "how thoughtful."

After dinner was a little game of Go Fish; me and Cadance against Shining Armor and Spike. It was fun, but I really wished Shining Armor would have smiled a bit more. Before long, nightfall had come across the Sudrian countryside, and it was time for myself and Spike to go to bed.

In the guest room made for me, I was just buttoning up my lavender pajama top when I heard a knock on the door.

"Twilight, could I come in?" Cadance's voice called.

"Yes," I replied, "I just buttoned up my pajama top."

I opened the door and allowed Cadance in.

"I wanted to talk to you," she said, "it's about this Luna person you mentioned earlier."

I nodded to show I understood. "Do you know her?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, I do," she replied, "she's one of my aunts."

My eyes were wide with surprise; how come I never knew about this until now?

"I waited to tell you about her because I didn't want Shining Armor to get upset," Cadance explained. I was eager to know more, and asked her to continue.

"When I was a little girl," Cadance began, "Aunt Luna told me a story about something called the Elements of Harmony."

I was confused. "Elements of Harmony?"

"They're six supernatural artifacts representing subjective aspects of harmony," Cadance explained, "they are Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic."

"Magic?" I repeated, surprised.

"Yes," replied Cadance, "out of the six, it is the most powerful element."

Then she wished me good night, and left the room, closing the door behind her. I was left alone in my temporary room, but before I could climb into bed, I heard the sounds of an engine whistle.

Quietly, I walked to the window, opening the shutters just a tad. The moon was shining brightly in the sky, and my heart was filled with curiosity and puzzlement; how could I hear a whistle in the valley if the mountain was supposed to muffle the sound of trains from the other side?

I wondered if I was the only one to hear it. Fortunately, I wasn't. Flash was outside with his horse. He heard the whistle as well and looked around curiously.

At another part of Muffle Mountain, Chrysalis was digging into the cutting with help from Lightning Dust and Trixie, who said Sunset was "busy that evening." They were completely oblivious to the sound Flash and I heard.

Back in the house, Shining Armor looked up when he heard the whistle too. The sound seemed to rejuvenate him and caused him to lay back with a little smile. Cadance could also hear it and smiled as she saw her smiling husband.

As the sound of the whistle echoed on Muffle Mountain, at Sweet Apple Acres, the other five teenagers and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were having a meeting. Edward and Toby were also there.

"What is this all about?" asked Toby.

"Apple Bloom's overheard Diesel 10 makin' a deal with George to smash all the buffers," said Applejack.

"And Sweetie Belle heard Sunset Shimmer offer to help some mysterious woman to destroy an engine hiding in Muffle Mountain," added Rarity.

"I saw Twilight earlier that day at Crovan's Gate," said Rainbow Dash, "she and Spike were meant to stop at Killdane and ride up the electric branchline to Peel Godred close to Muffle Mountain."

"Oh, my," said Fluttershy nervously.

"Not to mention, for some reason though, Winona had them get on Gordon's train instead," added Rainbow Dash.

"Why would a dog lead two humans to the wrong train?" asked Scootaloo.

"I don't know," said Rarity, "it's very strange."

"Maybe she knows something's wrong," Fluttershy suggested quietly.

"Could be," said Applejack, "she's been barkin' towards Muffle Mountain for the past two days."

Applejack then remembered the picture I gave her and took it out of her jeans pocket.

"Ah think it might also have somethin' ta do with 'er," she said, pointing to Chrysalis in the picture.

"Chrysalis was a very serious enemy to Shining Armor and Cadance," said Big Macintosh, who was with the girls at the time, "she quarreled with them over an engine and after that, she left Sodor and we never saw her again… until now."

"Did you ever see the engine?" asked Fluttershy.

"Nnope, never," said Big Macintosh, "but Ah believe she was – or is, if she still exists – precious to Shining Armor and the island. He's had four passions in his life – Cadance, Twilight, trains, and the island."

"I think I know which engine you're talking about," said Edward.

"Who?" the girls asked curiously.

"When I was first new to the railway," explained Edward, "I met a small tank engine with the word 'Lady' on her sides in gold. She seemed very kind and we had a bit of a chat.

"Did you ever see her again?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sadly not," replied Edward mournfully, "but from what I've heard, if anything bad happened to her, then life on Sodor's railways as we know them would cease to be."

"You know," said Toby, looking at a nearby tree, "now that I think about it, that tree over there's losing its blossoms and it's not even October yet."

Applejack looked surprised.

"He's right," she said, "Something's goin' on, and it ain't good."

"Nnope."

Just then, Edward and Toby heard the rumble of diesel engines in the distance.

"What on earth?" asked Edward. Then suddenly, three diesel shunters and one long green diesel rumbled past the blue tender engine and Toby, startling them both.

"Get out of our way, old timers!" the green diesel sneered, "We got business here!"

"But my buffers!" exclaimed Toby once the diesels were out of earshot, "That was Diesel, Arry, Bert, and Bowler!"

"Bowler" was the nickname D261 gained ever since a bowler hat got sucked into his air intake during Stepney's stay on the North Western Railway. He hated it.

"What are they doing here?" wondered Edward.

"Whatever it is," said Rainbow Dash, "it can't be good."

"C'mon, Toby," said Applejack, climbing into the tram engine's cab, "we better see what's goin' on!"

"Are you sure about this?" asked Fluttershy worriedly, "You could get hurt…"

"That ain't important," said Applejack, "we gotta make sure them diesels ain't gonna hurt our friends."

So Toby set off down the line after the diesels.

"We can't keep up with them," he said, "they're too far away and faster than us. Well, Bowler is, but still…"

"And by the looks of it, they're going to the smelters," said the tram engine's driver.

"We'll have to try a shortcut through Knapford," suggested the fireman, "but that line is closed for maintenance."

"Isn't there another route?" asked Applejack.

"Well, there is one," said Toby, "but we never really use the shortcut as it goes over an old wooden bridge. It isn't very safe and we've been warned not to use it."

"Then that's where we'll go," said Applejack, "it's our only chance of catchin' them varmint diesels!"

"What?!" cried Toby, "Are you out of your mind? I'd end up on a tightrope again with no engine to help me!"

"Just trust me, Toby," said Applejack, "you and your crew will be fine."

Toby wasn't sure, but he decided that Applejack had a point. So they went down the track towards the old bridge after informing the signalman.

The bridge was just how Toby imagined it, and the strong river beneath it made him nervous. It almost reminded him of his near-miss with some trucks and how Mavis saved him from a potentially nasty accident.

"Ya can do it, Toby!" Applejack encouraged, "Just don't look down!"

Cautiously, Toby crossed over the bridge foot by foot. It creaked underneath his weight, but Toby pressed bravely on until at last, he reached the other side.

"I made it," he gasped triumphantly.

Applejack smiled. "See, I told ya you'd be okay," she said.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Percy were busy taking the mail train. Oliver was also assisting them so there wouldn't be as much for them to take down the Little Western.

At Knapford, Thomas and Percy were talking, unaware that Diesel 10 and Discord were in a nearby shed listening in to their conversation. Toby and Applejack, who were still going after Bowler and the diesel shunters, spotted Diesel 10 and the tram engine stopped before him.

"All three of us are on time with our mail trains, Thomas," said Percy, "Miss Celestia would be pleased with us."

"If we could find her," sighed Thomas.

"Say, Thomas," said Percy, "I was thinking; how does Miss Celestia travel around here?"

"By gold dust," replied Thomas, "why do you ask?"

"Well," said Percy, "you told me about a lost engine you heard about from the little engines. And if there's a lost engine, maybe there's a lost railway as well – Miss Celestia's railway!"

"The journey gets bumpier and bumpier from what she told me," said Thomas.

"Oh, she talked about buffers in her sleep last night," remarked Percy, "buffers are at the end of a railway track, and do you know what I think, Thomas?"

"No, what?"

"I think that's how Miss Celestia travels around here – on a secret railway!"

"But if Miss Celestia has lost her gold dust," said Thomas, "maybe this railway is losing its magic too… And where is the entrance, anyway?"

"I don't know," said Percy.

Diesel 10 sneaked away while the two tank engines talked, but Thomas heard the sound of his engine rumbling.

"Oh my… I think Diesel 10 and Discord are around here!"

Suddenly, he heard a bell, and Toby appeared alongside with Applejack on board.

"I'm sorry, you two, but I think Diesel 10 heard every word you said," said Toby, "so we're going after him to see what he does next. You'd better carry on and get the mail delivered."

"You're very brave, Toby," smiled Percy, watching his friend puff away.

"Ah, Diesel 10 ain't gonna bother with an old engine like Toby," said Applejack, "he thinks he's scrap already, and people think country folk ain't too bright!"

"What do you mean, you couldn't find Twinkle Toes?" Diesel 10 snarled to Splatter and Dodge.

"But… but finding a person like her…" began Splatter.

"Is a bit like finding a haystack in a needle," added Dodge.

"That's a needle in a haystack, you fools!" retorted Discord, "And it can't possibly be hard to find her with her attire and hair!"

Then they heard the sound of four diesel horns as Diesel, Arry, Bert and Bowler rolled up alongside.

"We are here, 10," said Diesel in his oily tone.

"Excellent," grinned Diesel 10.

Toby and Applejack were quietly hidden on a siding by a pile of scrap.

"There they are," whispered Toby. Then suddenly, George rumbled in being driven by Sunset Shimmer.

"Sunset Shimmer?" whispered Applejack, "What's she doin', drivin' George?"

"Shh," hushed Toby, "listen…"

"Come in, and join the party, George and Sunset," said Diesel 10.

"Hooray!" cheered Splatter, "We're gonna have a party!"

"I love parties," said Dodge, "who's got the balloons?"

Toby and Applejack were puzzled by Splatter and Dodge's utter stupidity.

"What?"

"Correction – join the party that's over," sad Discord, "just like Celestia's magic railway is going to be over – gone, and the buffers busted."

Splatter, Dodge and even George looked terrified. Toby and Applejack scowled angrily.

"George and Sunset Shimmer will take opportunity of smashing all the buffers until we come across the ones to that magic railway," continued Discord, "and the so called 'lost engine'. We aren't sure of the entrance's location, so they'll smash them all just to be safe…"

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

"And where do we come in?" added Bert.

"You four, along with Spladge, will do whatever's possible to cause trouble for the steam engines," said Diesel 10, "and as for me… It's time to finally put Twinkle Toes' lights out, for this is a job… for the boss!"

From Toby and Applejack's point of view, they could see Diesel 10's claw emerge from his roof, snapping three times.

"Right, Applejack, it's time," whispered Toby bravely, "we have to delay and distract them! Any ideas?"

"I yodel, and you ring yer bell."

"Right."

There was silence for a few seconds, other than the villains cackling. Then…

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

"Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!"

"It's the old teapot!" shouted Diesel 10.

"And that crazy cowgirl!" exclaimed Sunset.

Suddenly, out of distraction, Diesel 10's claw swung aside and knocked into one of the poles holding the shed, causing it to fall on the villains, who were annoyed at having a roof fall on them. Bowler was in a panicky state because he was dusty.

"Errg!" he shrieked, "Dust! Getitoff, getitoff, getitoff!"

Then Diesel 10's claw burst through the roof… literally. Toby, his crew, and Applejack chuckled at the mess the villains were in.

"Oooh, I hate when this happens!" snarled Diesel 10 as his claw snapped wildly.

"That was a good show," chuckled Toby as he puffed away.

"Yeah, and who says country folk ain't bright?" agreed Applejack, "Looks like Sunset Shimmer and her new friends ain't that bright at all, especially not Diesel 10!"

"Er, boss?" said Dodge, "Did you mean to let the roof fall in?"

"All the way in?" added Splatter.

"Grrrr!" Diesel 10 snarled, "I always mean what I do, you rattletraps!"

Diesel 10 was in a dump, but the steam engines were still right on track. The following morning, Thomas was at Crovan's Gate when he noticed Henry on a siding.

"Good morning, Henry," he called, "what's the matter?"

"I've got boiler ache, Thomas," groaned Henry, "I need a change of coal. There's six trucks with fresh coal waiting for me up at Vicarstown… If Miss Celestia was here, I'm sure she'd ask you to…"

"Say no more, Henry," said Thomas kindly, "of course I'll fetch them for you to make you feel better."

"Thank you, Thomas," Henry called.

At that moment, Fluttershy came up.

"Oh my, Henry," she said, "you don't look very well."

"I've got boiler ache," Henry replied, "but Thomas is gonna pick up some coal for me."

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that," Fluttershy said. With that, she leaned on Henry's bufferbeam and gave him a hug. (Just so you know, Henry's smokebox was cooled.) "I hope you feel better."

Henry smiled. "I think I'm starting to feel a little better," he said, "thanks, Fluttershy."

"You're welcome," Fluttershy smiled, "sometimes, all we need is a little kindness."

Meanwhile, Thomas was busy shunting the coal trucks to take to Henry. He and his crew had no idea the sixth truck wasn't coupled properly. The sixth truck found himself rolling along backwards, and saw he was headed toward an old set of buffers obscured by bramble!

"Oh no!" the truck cried as he rolled through the buffers and magically disappeared.

Thomas was completely oblivious to what had happened, and he set off with five trucks and a brakevan.

"I wish we could make Miss Celestia feel better by finding her," he said to his crew.

"So do we, Thomas," said the fireman.

"We better hope she isn't hurt," agreed the driver.

7 Troubles and Greetings

Meanwhile near Ballahoo, Miss Celestia had struggled to the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper was the name of a large viaduct that spanned over the river. The viaduct acts as a sort of shortcut to the mainline, but if one were to be out of action, the other would be the best option. As Miss Celestia walked along, she heard the sound of an engine approaching.

"Thomas?" she asked in anticipation, "Can that be you…?"

But as the engine got closer, it wasn't the sound of a steam engine. She turned around only to face…

"Diesel 10?!"

"Hello, Twinkle Toes!" the large diesel growled, "Remember us?"

Miss Celestia quickly tried to run up the hill, but she stumbled.

"Fat Hatt won't have much use for you looking like that," Discord smirked, "oh, and you forgotten the sugar, did you? Bad mistake for you!"

With that, Discord controlled Diesel 10's claw to reach for Celestia, who was still trying to escape. All of a sudden, Diesel 10's claw grasped Celestia like King Kong grasping the girl.

"Gotcha!" he said triumphantly. He then began to roll slowly onto the viaduct. From her perspective, Miss Celestia could see some loose bricks falling from the Big Dipper.

"No, Diesel 10!" she called, "This viaduct is unsafe!"

"We'll do what we want, and you'll do what we want too!" snapped Diesel 10.

"You could've been with me," sneered Discord, "but instead, you chose to work with those out of date puffballs!"

Diesel 10 then stopped and swung his claw over the river.

"Alright, Twinkle Toes," he said, "we know about the buffers."

"And we know about your magic railway," added Discord, "now tell us where the buffers are. NOW!"

"Never!" snapped Miss Celesita. She appeared to be looking for something. After a few moments of struggling, she pulled out a pair of pliers.

"Alright," she told herself, inspecting the cables on the claw, "one wire releases, and the other tightens. I hope I choose the right one…"

Miss Celestia reached for a wire and cut it with the pliers. Yes, the claw released!

"Too late, Diesel 10!"

Diesel 10 growled as he catapulted Miss Celestia from his claw's grasp, sending her flying into the air! Miss Celestia yelled as she flew in the air, landing close to a windmill near a forest roughly ten miles away on some sacks filled with flour!

Fortunately, Miss Celestia was alright, with minor injuries.

"Phew," she said, dusting herself off and standing up, "talk about a perfect landing… Oh, Luna, I hope you're thinking of my safety… but where are you?"

At Brendam Docks, Sunset Shimmer was holding a meeting with Trixie and Lightning Dust.

"You actually got stuck under a roof?" snickered Lightning Dust, "Not very bright of you."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie would never do anything so stupid like that," agreed Trixie.

"That wasn't my fault!" Sunset snapped angrily, "It was that old teapot and cowgirl Applejack who caused Diesel 10 to bring the roof down!"

She was so angry she picked up a rock and threw it at a crate Cranky the crane was carrying. The crate slipped off and crashed down on them! The three mean girls were covered in fruit and vegetables.

"Ugh!" cried Trixie, "Trixie's hair is ruined!"

Unfortunately for them, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders had seen it all and laughed.

"Shut up!" snapped Lightning Dust, "That wasn't funny!"

"It sure looked funny to me," chuckled Rainbow Dash.

"Ah've heard them be called fruity before," laughed Apple Bloom, "but this is ridiculous!"

The three mean girls growled angrily. This caused the Cutie Mark Crusaders to race off with the mean girls in pursuit, with Scootaloo on her scooter.

"Get back here, you little brats!" Sunset yelled angrily.

"Ya'll leave our sisters alone, ya varmints!" Applejack shouted, waving her fist at the bullies.

"If they harm so much as one hair on Sweetie Belle," said Rarity, "I swear, I will certainly-"

"Hang in there, Scootaloo!" interrupted Rainbow Dash.

The groups split up; Sunset went after Apple Bloom, Trixie after Sweetie Belle, and Lightning Dust after Scootaloo. Apple Bloom was able to evade her pursuer by the piles of crates.

"Ya can't catch me!" she chuckled.

Sweetie Belle easily shook Trixie off her tail; all she had to do was point and say, "Look! A crate full of peanut butter crackers!" and Trixie was drooling like a dog.

Scootaloo was doing her best to outrace Lightning Dust. She came closer and closer to the pier when she skidded her scooter to a stop. Lightning Dust, however, couldn't stop in time and fell into the water with a splash!

"Get me out of here!" she yelled, splashing around.

"I think it serves you right," Cranky called down to her, "you ruined my fruits and vegetables and you tried to harm innocent girls."

"Ah warned them," said Applejack.

"Thank goodness you're safe," gasped Rarity, hugging Sweetie Belle.

"That was so cool how you tricked Lightning Dust!" Rainbow Dash said, high-fiving Scootaloo.

Later, Thomas and Percy were shunting when Henry went by.

"Hello, Henry," called Thomas, "you're feeling better."

"It's the new coal you brought me," the big green tender engine smiled, "thanks, Thomas!"

"But what happened to the last coal truck?" asked Percy, "Henry said there were six trucks of coal, right?"

"Yes, but I don't know what happened to the sixth truck," said Thomas, "it disappeared while I was near an old set of buffers at Vicarstown… as if by magic."

Then the two tank engines had a realization.

"So that's the entrance to the magic railway," they said.

Suddenly, they heard the rumble of a diesel engine, and then a familiar black diesel shunter creeped into the yard.

"Diesel!" Thomas and Percy exclaimed together.

"What are you doing here?" asked Thomas crossly.

"Some friends have invited me back," Diesel said in his oily voice, "and I'm not the only one to come back."

Before either tank engine could respond, two more horns sounded and Arry and Bert rolled up alongside Diesel.

"What are you doing here?" gasped Percy, "The Fat Controller got rid of your after you tried to scrap Stepney!"

"We came back for revenge," said Arry.

"Bowler would be here by now," grumbled Bert, "but he's at the washdown complaining because of dust. Wuss."

"You don't belong here!" snapped Thomas, "When Miss Celestia finds out, you'll be in big trouble!"

"Yeah? Well, Miss Celestia ain't around to stop us, is she?" said Arry.

"So we can do whatever we want!" added Bert.

"See you at the scrapyard, puffballs!" Diesel snickered as they rolled away.

Thomas and Percy could not believe it.

"Putting up with Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge was bad enough," groaned Thomas.

"But with those other bad diesels back," said Percy, "it'll be way worse."

"Driver, should we find Miss Celestia and restore order?" asked Thomas, "We can't let Diesel 10 and his gang get away with it!"

"No we can't," agreed his driver, "we'll have to find her at once!"

"Oh, and Percy," said Thomas, "you can help protect the buffers from Diesel 10 and George."

"Me?!" squeaked Percy, "But why me?"

"Because you're a brave engine, Percy," said Thomas, puffing away.

"Oh… I forgot…"

"What's wrong, Percy?"

Percy looked down and noticed Pinkie Pie next to his bufferbeam.

"Ah!" he gasped, "Where'd you spring from?"

"From the end of the siding, silly," Pinkie giggled, "what's with the frown?"

Percy told her about the returning diesels and about having to guard the magic buffers.

"Aw, don't worry, Percy," Pinkie said, "when life gets you down, all you gotta do is just laugh it off and you'll feel better."

Percy let out a little smile. "Thanks for the tip, Pinkie," he said.

Meanwhile, back at Brendam Docks, not long after the mess Sunset Shimmer and her gang had been cleaned up, Diesel 10 held a meeting with Splatter and Dodge. The clawed diesel was looking quite bad tempered.

"Er, so boss-" began Splatter.

"How come you let Twinkle Toes escape?" finished Dodge.

"I, er, I did it on purpose," Diesel 10 faltered, trying to look tough.

"Indeed," Discord added, "we were merely testing to see if she could escape…"

"Did they mean to say that?" Splatter and Dodge asked each other.

Diesel 10 snarled in anger and positioned his claw to take a swipe at the two shunters, who hastily backed off.

"Alright!" he snarled, smashing some nearby oil drums with his claw as if they were beer cars. "Playtime's over, Spladge!"

"Uh oh…"

"Time for the next lesson; how to stop being stupid!"

Cranky had just begun lifting the ruptured oil drums when they began to leak, all over Diesel 10! Now he was oily mad.

"Well, that's gonna ruin my facial," he grumbled.

Just then, two whistles sounded, and Bill and Ben rolled in. When they saw what had happened to Diesel 10, they couldn't help but laugh.

"Who's that oily box on wheels?" giggled Bill.

"That's Diesel 10," chuckled Ben, "didn't you know?"

"It looks like Diesel 10," said Bill, "but he would never do something as stupid as that."

Diesel 10 growled angrily and snapped his claw at the twins, who backed away, feeling intimidated.

"I think we should go, Bill," said Ben.

"Right you are," agreed Bill, and the twins chuffed away quickly.

Meanwhile, at Muffle Mountain, Spike and I were relaxing on the hillside. The day was lovely, but we were kind of bored. To cure my boredom, I was reading a book.

"Sure is boring around here," Spike sighed, "maybe if Rarity were to visit…"

"I don't know about that, Spike," I said, "I mean, she probably lives miles away from where Shining Armor and Cadance do."

"I guess," said Spike, "but I wish there were something to do."

As I got up, I tripped and ended up rolling down the hill until I was upside down at the bottom.

"Whoa!" said a voice, "You okay?"

The owner of the voice offered me a hand, which I took gratefully. As I was helped back to my feet, I recognized it was the person who was riding his horse on a field yesterday.

"Took quite a tumble there, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess I did," I said sheepishly, "I'm Twilight. Do you live around here?"

"Sort of. I come out here and help Shining Armor. I'm Flash Sentry, by the way."

Just then, Spike ran down to check up on me.

"Look out!" I called, but he tripped and landed flat on his face in the grass.

"I'm okay," remarked Spike, picking himself up and spitting out the blades of grass he had collected in his mouth.

"That's my adopted brother Spike," I said to Flash, "oh, and Shining Armor happens to be my big brother."

"I see. But if you don't mind me asking," Flash said, "did you happen to hear an engine's whistle out here last night?"

"Er, I think so," said Spike.

"Yes, I have heard a whistle," I replied, "why do you ask?"

Flash smiled. "Then it wasn't just me," he said.

Just then, Shining Armor walked up.

"Morning Flash," he said.

"Good morning, Shining Armor," Flash replied, "I'm heading over to Vicarstown for a while. Can Twilight and Spike come with, if they want to?"

"I'd like to," I said, smiling. Spike nodded in agreement.

"They can go," said Shining Armor, "just be back by sunset."

I was surprised; he actually let us come with Flash?

"Do you want to come as well?" I offered.

Shining Armor paused before replying. "I never go there now…" he said quietly, but loud enough for the three of us to hear him.

I was disappointed to watch him go and not come with.

"So," said Flash, "Ever ride on a horse before?"

"No," I said.

"Neither have I," said Spike.

"Well, it's not that hard," Flash explained, "you just get up and ride."

So all three of us climbed onto his horse one by one; first Flash, then me, and then Spike. Soon, all three of us were riding on the back of Flash's horse. The horse galloped around a lake near Culdee Fell, known as Loey Machan, translating from ancient Sudric, "Machan's Lake". I noticed Flash observing something.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"The birds aren't making their nests in those trees," said Flash, "in the summer, they would have done so by now."

I looked and saw Flash was right. How peculiar, I thought. Soon the horse splashed through the puddle containing the bit of gold dust that came off my fingers.

"I've always wanted to travel this way," said Flash, "we're following some shadowy lines I saw on a map. They're like railway tracks but without any rails."

I observed the field Flash's horse was beginning to ride on; although the field was filled with flowers and grass, there were two almost imperceptible thin straight lines where no flowers grew. Flash was right; it was like a railway track with no rails, and no sleepers, for that matter.

Suddenly, Flash's horse tossed his head about and swished his tail, urging his rider to go faster, so Flash let him, and all of a sudden, we were thundering along as if driven by a current of energy! It was a joyous feeling which sadly ceased as fast as it began.

"What was that about?" exclaimed Spike.

"I don't know," said Flash, "if they are railway tracks, they must be magic ones… But why did the energy stop?"

"That is strange," I said. Nevertheless, the horse galloped on at a normal pace.

At Vicarstown station, Gordon was waiting with the express. Chrysalis was close by loading a mysterious box onto her motorcycle.

"It looks like we might be getting a storm," said Gordon, "hopefully, it'll pass, like you should be…" He looked at Chrysalis when he said that. The guard's whistle sounded and Gordon steamed away.

The big engine's words cut no cloth with Chrysalis, who simply gazed at Gordon as he pulled away with the express. She looked at the mountain in the distance.

"I am passing through," she sneered, "right through into Muffle Mountain, and then BANG!" She gestured an explosion. "No more protector, no more precious engine. There is no such thing as magic!"

As she drove off, the box she had on her motorcycle was labeled "dynamite". After she'd left, we soon came in into Vicarstown. Flash stopped the horse by the station.

"I've got some errands to run," he said, "I'll see both of you later."

"Thanks, Flash," I said.

Spike and I jumped off his horse and waved goodbye as he rode off. After he left, we heard a female voice singing.

"You hear that?" asked Spike.

Then suddenly, in a shower of gold dust, Luna materialized. I immediately recognized her.

"Luna?" I was surprised.

"Twilight and Spike," she exclaimed, "I'd given up on meeting you again."

"What's going on?" asked Spike.

"I'm off to locate my sister Celestia," said Luna, "I overslept so I'm in a bit of a hurry. Would you like to come along?"

"What do you think, Spike?"

"Yeah, I like the idea!" Spike nodded in agreement.

"Okay then," I said, "can we be back by sunset?"

"Hope so," said Luna. Under her arm was a small wooden box.

"What's in there?" asked Spike, pointing at the box.

"It's best I tell you later," said Luna, "we better be off."

"But how can we find your sister before sunset?" I asked.

"I know a shortcut," replied Luna.

"A shortcut?" Spike asked.

I noticed Luna was in deep thought. "There's three of us," I heard her mutter, "it'll take almost all my gold dust, and this is sister's emergency supply…"

I then noticed some more gold dust on the station platform where Luna's feet were and scooped up as much as I could.

"Can I keep a little bit of this?" I asked her.

"Be my guest," smiled Luna, "I'll hold onto it for you."

She popped the gold dust into her pocket and gave a small bow.

"Alright," she said, "here goes…"

She took both whistles and blew them simultaneously. Suddenly, all three of us were wrapped in gold dust and vanished.

We found ourselves floating down a lone, overgrown railway line. It looked abandoned and surrounded by thorny trees.

"This is quite bouncy, isn't it?!" cried Spike.

"Indeed," agreed Luna.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Our family's secret railway," explained Luna, "or rather, it was. I don't think it's going to last much longer. It'll vanish like the engine."

"What engine?" asked Spike.

"The engine who used to travel on this railway," replied Luna, "sister and I never saw it, and we don't know what happened to it."

As we continued down the bumpy line, we passed the coal truck Thomas had lost earlier.

"What's that doing there?" I asked.

"Never mind," said Luna, "here come the buffers."

Up ahead of us was a set of buffers. We were coming closer!

"Brace yourself!" Luna shouted, and suddenly, we slid through the buffers as if by magic!

Whoosh!

We then found ourselves on the ground.

"Where are we now?" I asked.

"Knapford Station, of course," said Luna. She then pointed towards the station close by. I recognized it straight away as he same station where Spike and I got on the wrong train yesterday.

Just then, we heard a whistle and Thomas was puffing into the station with Annie and Clarabel.

"Annie! Clarabel!" Thomas cried as he pulled in, "There's Miss Celestia! We found her!" But his smile faded as he got closer. "Oh, bother. It's Luna…"

As Thomas stopped by the platform, Luna, Spike and I got closer. This was either my second or third encounter with talking trains.

"Hello, Thomas," said Luna, "I hadn't seen you since your missing Christmas tree caper years ago."

"Yes," said Thomas, "I remember it because not too long after the party, you stuffed party poppers down my funnel!"

"Oh, come now," chuckled Luna, "I was a teenager then, and we were just having a laugh."

"Hmph," sniffed Thomas, "you did."

"You're talking to each other," I said.

"Of course we are," said Luna, "oh, and Twilight, Spike? This is Thomas, the number one engine on the North Western Railway. Thomas, this is Twilight Sparkle and her adopted brother Spike. Now where's my sister?"

"Hi," I said to the blue tank engine.

"Hello, Twilight. Spike," replied Thomas, "how come I've never seen you two before?"

"We don't live very close to the railways," said Spike.

"Well, what brings you here?" asked Thomas.

"We're here to look for my sister," explained Luna. Then she spoke to Thomas' crew. "I must ask that we take Thomas to locate my sister Celestia," she said.

"We would like to help," said Thomas' driver, "but we've got a passenger train."

"We can't leave them stranded now, can we?" added the fireman.

Just then, they heard a whistle and Oliver steamed up, light engine.

"Oliver," called Thomas, "would you mind taking my passengers for me?"

"I would like to help, but I'm taking a goods train to the Little Western with Toad," Oliver replied.

"Is Douglas available?" asked Thomas.

"I think so," said Oliver.

So Douglas was arranged to take Annie and Clarabel while Thomas took Luna, Spike and I to find Miss Celestia.

"Good luck, Thomas," the coaches called as he puffed away light engine.

Thomas chuffed across the mainline seeing if we could find Miss Celestia. As we got closer to a windmill between Kellsthorpe Road and Crovan's Gate, I noticed something.

"What's that sparkling at the windmill?" I asked.

"Why, Twilight, it's my sister!" exclaimed Luna.

"Miss Celestia!" exclaimed Thomas excitedly.

"Thomas!" Miss Celestia was pleased to see the little engine.

"Thank goodness you're safe," said Thomas' driver.

"We thought something bad had happened," added the fireman.

9 Solving the Mystery

When the light faded, Thomas and his crew didn't know where we were.

"Twilight? Where are we?" asked Thomas.

"Muffle Mountain, Thomas," I replied.

"I think I feel a… a little dizzy," groaned Thomas.

"I'll be back," I said, "Spike, you stay here with Thomas and his crew."

"Eh, okay… I guess…"

"Coal, Twilight," Thomas called to me, "coal from the North Western Railway – please remember. I think it's important."

"I will." And with that, I ran down the mountain.

"It's getting windy up here…" moaned Thomas.

Coincidentally, Chrysalis was at Muffle Mountain too, setting up the dynamite. She didn't know that Spike, Thomas, and his crew were already there. Once she was ready, she took up the plunger and set it off!

BOOOOOM!

"Oh!" groaned Thomas, "What was that?!"

Suddenly, the cliff they were on gave away, and Thomas began to roll down the mountainside!

"Bust my boiler!" he cried. Spike, the driver and fireman hung on for dear life!

"Jane, stop this crazy thing!" cried Spike.

At the bottom of the mountain, I saw Flash come in on his horse.

"Where's Shining Armor?" I gasped, "Can you take me to him?"

"Jump up!"

"I knew I could count on you, Flash," I smiled.

Meanwhile, Thomas was still going down the mountain out of control. He sped down right past a bewildered Chrysalis. Recovering from the surprise, she gave chase.

"You're not real," scowled Chrysalis, "you're a toy, a big blue toy! I could control you any way I like!"

Thomas' fireman spotted Chrysalis.

"Stay away from our engine, you harpy!" he shouted, and began swinging his shovel at her.

"How dare you attempt to hit a lady!" she snarled.

Suddenly as Thomas got onto straight land, a whoosh was heard, and he started going under the ground! Chrysalis was caught in his wake and was flown off her motorcycle into the light as well.

Spike, Thomas, his crew, and Chrysalis found themselves on another branch of the magic railway.

"Is that crazy woman behind us?" asked the driver.

The fireman looked back and saw Chrysalis floating along the magic railway.

"We better get rid of her!" exclaimed Thomas. His crew and Spike agreed, and soon the little blue tank engine puffed fast as he could. The three people aboard his cab were clinging on for dear life, because the track was bumpy, but they were hoping to get Chrysalis off their tail.

Chrysalis was bumped around like a shirt tumbling in a dryer. She didn't like this at all.

"Stop!" she cried as she was bounced around, "I command you to stop!"

"Sorry, crazy woman," called Thomas, "but I'm calling the shots here!"

Back in the workshop, Shining Armor was looking at some blueprints when…

"Shining Armor! Cadance!"

"Oh, Twilight!" he gasped, "I'm so glad to see you."

"I was at Crovan's Gate," I said, "and these narrow gauge engines say you might have been around Sodor before. But Miss Celestia is really ill, Luna's in danger, and I had to leave Spike and Thomas behind. Please help me…"

As I said those last three words, I turned to face the purple 0-4-0 tank engine in front of me.

"We'd like to help, Twilight," said Cadance softly, "but nothing seems to work."

I heard Cadance, but my focus was to the faceless tank engine. Then I could see the workshop led into where Spike and I came from in the magic railway.

"This is the lost engine from long ago, isn't it?" I asked, facing them once more, "Now we can go back and help Miss Celestia and Luna."

"I'm sorry, Twilight," said Shining Armor, "but we don't know how to because we can't make her steam."

As my brother's words sunk in, part of Miss Celestia's clue to her gold dust came to me…

Stoke up the Magic in the Mountain and the Lady will smile…

Then I realized that I knew the answer!

"Lady…" I said, reading the name on the engine's sidetank, "Is that her name?"

"Yes," said Shining Armor.

"Coal!" I said, "Special coal from the North Western Railway! That's what Lady needs."

I looked over at Flash, who was examining his horse's hooves. They were all covered in gold dust.

"Flash," I called to him, "while we were in the magic railway, we passed a coal truck. Do you think you can fetch it?"

"Of course I will." And with that, Flash rode off on his horse.

Back on the North Western Railway, Diesel 10 was still racing along with Luna on his roof. As they got closer to Barrow, Diesel 10 noticed Splatter and Dodge in a siding.

"Why haven't you two destroyed those buffers yet?!" the big diesel roared.

"We were gonna get to it," said Splatter.

"But that steamroller turned against us," finished Dodge.

"You two are working for the wrong side!" Luna called as Diesel 10 roared past.

"Does she mean that?" asked Dodge.

At last, Diesel 10 was approaching the smelter's shed at the scrapyards.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Luna gasped to herself, "I'm sorry, sister, that I haven't been responsible, reliable, or really useful, but I will be!"

As Diesel 10 roared into the smelter's shed, there ahead of them was a very shocked James! He had been turned around and was preparing to back down onto his trucks on the opposite line. Diesel 10 screeched to a halt as Luna was catapulted into the air and landed on James' roof!

"James," gasped Luna, "thank goodness you're here!"

Frantically, Luna sat up and pulled out her conductor's whistle. She blew on it, but no gold dust came!

"Aha!" said Diesel 10, raising his claw, "So you've lost your sparkle too, huh?" He cackled maniacally. "End of the line, Twinkle Toes!"

"Oh no," gasped Luna, "it's empty!"

"Here we go!" said Discord, "Into the smelting pit!"

"Luna, what are we going to do?!" cried James. His crew was also in a panic, and they felt like sitting ducks.

"I'll think of something!" cried Luna.

They were getting closer and closer to the buffers.

"That's it now," said Diesel 10 in a devious manner.

Suddenly, Luna remembered the gold dust she had promised to hold on to for me.

"I'll find you some more, Twilight," she said to herself, "I promise, but if I'm going to be any help at all, it's now or never. I've got to use up the rest of this stuff!"

She dug into her pockets and poured the remaining gold dust into her whistle. At that point, James had just backed into the buffers. Since he was still moving, the buffers fell into the smelting pit.

"Are you ready?" asked Discord.

"No we're not!" snapped James.

"James the brains, get us out of here!" exclaimed Luna, and with one blow on the whistle, gold dust surrounded her and James and they disappeared!

"Now we are!" remarked James as he disappeared.

"What the-?!" cried Discord.

"I thought they'd run out-?!" Diesel 10 spluttered.

James and Luna rematerialized at Vicarstown.

"Huzzah!" cheered Luna, "Good has triumphed over the wicked!"

"Hoo-yah!" said James in excitement.

"That was close," said his driver.

"I thought we were goners," added the fireman.

Luna climbed off James' roof, into the red engine's cab, and then jumped off the footplate.

"Thank you for the lift, James," she said, "now I must find my sister."

Luna looked and noticed they were not alone. They had arrived on a siding near Vicarstown. There watching them were Percy, Edward, Gordon, Henry, Toby, Emily, Duck, Miss Celestia, Big Macintosh, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the other five girls.

"Sorry I took so long getting back, sister," Luna said to Miss Celestia, and explained everything.

"Luna, we're both out of gold dust, aren't we?" asked Miss Celestia.

Luna looked at her own whistle, and nodded sadly in agreement. "Bankrupt…"

Suddenly, Arry and Bert rumbled in.

"What are you two doing here?" asked Gordon crossly.

"We've come to cause trouble for you steamers," said Arry.

"You said that yesterday!" called Percy.

"Well, we never got around to it until now," said Bert, "now we're gonna smash them magic buffers."

The diesels rumbled off towards the magic buffers.

"You shall not get away with this!" shouted Luna.

Before anyone could say anything, Luna scrambled up to a hill close to the buffers and began to push a boulder. But it was too heavy. Thankfully for her, Arry and Bert had begun arguing over who should smash the buffers.

Just then George arrived, his driver having recovered from the punch and had taken control once again. George could see what was going on and wanted to help stop Arry and Bert.

James spotted George. "Well, go ahead and push the boulder," he called, "just don't smash the buffers!"

George trundled up to the top as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast at all.

"Can we be of assistance, miss?" his driver asked Luna.

"Yes, please," she gasped, "we must stop those diesels from smashing the buffers!"

George rolled up and pushed the boulder with all his might until the boulder rolled down the hill in the direction of Arry and Bert, away from the magic buffers.

"Look out below!" called George.

Arry and Bert were shocked at the sight of a large boulder charging towards them and oiled backwards fast as they could into another siding! Arry braked before hitting the buffers, but Bert rammed into him and the two diesels hit the buffers with a crash!

"Watch it, clumsy wheels!" snapped Arry.

Then the boulder rolled in front of them, blocking them from getting out. Arry and Bert were trapped like rats.

"This is your fault, idiot!" said Arry crossly.

"No, it was yours!" argued Bert.

"Huzzah!" cheered Luna, "The fun has been doubled!"

Everyone else cheered, but Fluttershy was concerned.

"I hope Twilight, Spike and Thomas are okay," she said with worry.

Meanwhile in the magic railway, Flash and his horse had finally found the coal truck. He fixed a rope between the horse and the truck, made sure it was tight, and he made his journey back.

"Woah!" the truck shouted, "Take it easy with your horse, will you?!"

"Sorry about that!" Flash called to the truck.

Back in the workshop, Shining Armor and Cadance were getting Lady ready for her journey. As I watched them, a question came to mind.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about Lady?" I asked.

"I felt I'd let everyone down," said Shining Armor, "most of all, Cadance's family; they chose me to be Lady's driver."

"Why did Chrysalis call you a liar?"

"She never believed anything we said was true," said Cadance.

"Did you ever get to take a ride on Lady?" I asked Cadance.

Shining Armor gave a sad sigh. "Chrysalis and Sombra crashed Lady before I had the chance to take Cadance on a ride," he said, "I wanted this to be our Shining Time."

I was puzzled. "Shining Time?"

"A wonderful journey," said Cadance, "when the wheels turn and the rails shine. It was always going to be tomorrow; tomorrow Lady would work, and tomorrow would be perfect…"

"But eventually," finished Shining Armor, "we gave up on tomorrow…"

"Please don't," I begged, putting my hand out to my brother, "don't give up on today too…"

Shining Armor remembered something and pulled out the friendship bracelet I had made for him and put it on his wrist. And in that moment, he gave a wonderful smile for the first time since his wedding.

Just then, we saw Flash and his horse pulling the missing coal truck.

"Twilight, Shining, and Cadance," he called, "I've got the coal."

Before long, Lady's bunker had been filled with the special coal. Shining Armor then began to shovel some into the firebox. Once Lady had steam up, smoke billowed out of her funnel, her headlamps flickered on, and Shining Armor blew the whistle. With me, Cadance and Flash aboard with him in the cab, Lady slowly began to move from her siding into the tunnel, leaving the empty coal truck behind.

"Hey! What about me?!"

Before long, Lady was puffing down the magic railway.

"Stoke up the Magic in the Mountain and the Lady will smile," I said to myself, "that's part of Miss Celestia's clue to her gold dust. But what else is there?"

"Twilight, look!"

Flash had me go to the back of Lady so I could see what he was talking about. The rails were beginning to turn gold as shavings flew from behind Lady.

"The railway's getting its energy back," Flash said in amazement.

Shavings of all the colors of the rainbow fell behind Lady as she puffed along the magic railway, and I caught some of them in my backpack. The yellow sky hiding behind the trees was turning green.

"Well, Lady," said Shining Armor, "the lights are all green now; green for glory."

"I'm so glad we finally got to have this journey," Cadance smiled.

"So am I," said Shining Armor, "and I'm glad Twilight's with us too."

I smiled and gave my brother and sister-in-law a hug. The twisted, thorny trees disappeared and in their place was a beautiful green meadow before a blue sky. And with a golden flash, Lady's face reappeared on her smokebox door.

"So Shining Armor, you didn't forget about magic," she said happily, "it's safe inside you."

Shining Armor and Cadance smiled hearing this. As Lady continued down the magic railway, we heard another whistle.

"Thomas!" I said excitedly.

"You've found her!" exclaimed the little blue tank engine, "And she's beautiful!"

"She looks amazing!" cried Spike from his cab, and waved to us. We waved back at him.

By that point, the branchline where Thomas was on met the magic railway's main line. He was still bumping along, but as Lady's wake of shimmering shavings settled on the rusty track, Thomas gained traction and sped up.

Within minutes, Lady charged through the magic buffers.

"We're back at Vicarstown," I said, "stop at the halt."

At the halt waiting for us was Miss Celestia, Luna, Big Macintosh, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the other five girls. The rest of the Steam Team and Duck were there as well.

As soon as we got out of Lady's cab, everyone came to greet us.

"Miss Celestia," I said, "this is my brother Shining Armor."

"Why would I not know my nephew-in-law?" Miss Celestia grinned.

I was surprised.

"You mean you're Cadance's aunt as well?" I asked.

"Indeed," replied Miss Celestia, "didn't Shining Armor mention that to you?"

"Ah, no I haven't," he admitted.

"He's been a little upset for a while," Cadance explained. We knew why, don't we?

"Luna," Miss Celestia said to her sister as she gestured to Lady, "do you realize who this is?"

"Is this the lost engine?" Luna said in surprise.

"Indeed I am," replied Lady.

"It is great to see you again," smiled Edward.

"It has been a long time, Edward," said Lady.

"You two know each other?" asked Fluttershy.

"Of course," said Edward, "I was the one who helped bring her to Muffle Mountain for hiding."

"Wait a minute," said James, "you knew where she was this whole time?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"It was a promise to Cadance's father and Shining Armor," said Edward.

"Plus I didn't want to risk someone else wanting to harm Lady," added Shining Armor, "so it had to be kept secret; only Cadance knew."

"Where's Thomas and Spike?" asked Rarity.

"Oh, they'll show up any minute through the buffers," I said.

"Not so fast!" said a voice.

We all looked to find Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, and Lightning Dust walk into view. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo huddled together nervously, Fluttershy squeaked in fright, and Flash glared angrily at them.

"What are you doing here?" he asked crossly.

"We want the Elements of Harmony," said Sunset.

"Why do you want them?" I asked, "But more importantly, how do you know they exist?"

"I read about them in a book," said Sunset, "and why do I want them? I want power!"

"Why should we give them to you?" Miss Celestia asked firmly, "You don't deserve them."

"If you don't," said Lightning Dust, "then we smash those magic buffers!" And she showed a sledgehammer, causing everyone to go into a panic!

"You wouldn't!" cried Toby.

"You must be mad!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

Suddenly with a whoosh, Thomas shot out from the magic buffers with his crew and Spike still on board.

"We're back!" he called to the others.

While this distracted the others, Sunset saw the opportunity to sneak behind Miss Celestia and grabbed the box containing the Elements of Harmony without anyone noticing her.

"Aha! There's the blue puffball!"

Suddenly Diesel 10 appeared, as if from nowhere.

"And look who he's with," added Discord.

"Spladge!" called Diesel 10, "Come and destroy!" The two shunters had been following Diesel 10 but stopped.

"No!" they said firmly.

"You do it yourself," said Splatter, "we don't like you!"

"We tired of you pushing us around!" agreed Dodge.

"Ah, who needs you, Spladge?" growled Diesel 10.

Edward rolled onto the line ahead of Diesel 10, much to everyone's shock.

"What are you doing, Edward?!" cried Gordon.

"Are ya trying to get yerself hurt?!" exclaimed Applejack.

"Leave them alone, Diesel 10!" Edward said firmly, "You don't have to do all of this and instead realize that steam engines and diesels are equal."

"Get out of my way, old tin kettle!" shouted Diesel 10, and without warning, he knocked Edward off the rails with his giant claw, much to everyone's horror!

"You big… ugly… MONSTER!" shouted Percy furiously.

"How dare you strike an innocent engine!" snapped Rarity.

At that moment, Chrysalis shot out from the magic buffers, landing on top of Diesel 10's roof!

"That makes three of us," grinned Discord.

"Run Lady, quickly!" cried Thomas, "And I'm going to help you!"

"So am I, Lady," said Shining Armor, jumping into Lady's cab, "I let you down once, and I'm not letting it happen again!"

"And I'm going with," said Cadance, joining her husband.

Thomas and Lady raced away.

"Watch out for the Big Dipper!" called Miss Celestia, "It's dangerous!"

"I'll get you, Shining Armor!" snarled Chrysalis, "And that engine too!"

"No you won't, Chryslais!" called Shining Armor.

"The magic you refuse to believe in will get the better of you!" added Cadance.

"Be careful!" I called with worry. Suddenly, Miss Celestia noticed something.

"The Elements of Harmony!" she cried, "They're gone!"

"Spike's missing too!" added Rarity.

"Oh no, he's still in Thomas' cab!" I realized. Then suddenly came an explosion and a beam of magical energy shot into the sky!

"What's that?!" exclaimed Apple Bloom.

The beam faded and floating towards us was…

"Sunset Shimmer?!" Fluttershy squeaked.

Sunset now had crimson skin, had a yellow, crimson and black sleeveless dress on, red devil wings, black boots, her haircut was spiked up, had a matching crimson and yellow tail, goblin ears, fangs, a gnarled horn on her forehead, and black eyes with cyan irises.

"Ah," she said evilly, "so much power, and it's all mine!"

Next to Sunset appeared what looked like Lightning Dust and Trixie transformed as well. Lightning Dust's form had wings like Sunset, but her body was green. Trixie's form also had a gnarled horn but her body was blue.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is now even more Great and Powerful!" Trixie cried proudly. Lightning Dust rolled her eyes.

"I'll get you, blue puffball!" snarled Diesel 10.

"No you won't!" Thomas responded cheekily. Spike leaned out of the cab and blew a raspberry at the clawed diesel.

Up ahead, Diesel was shunting on a siding.

"Diesel!" called Diesel 10, "Help me take out those puffballs!"

"I may be devious, but I'd never hurt a person!" snapped Diesel, "So do it yourself!"

Diesel 10 snarled, his claw snapping wildly.

"Why do I have to everything around here?!" he snarled as they neared Henry's tunnel.

Thomas and Lady shot right through, but Diesel 10 had to lower his claw first. As they passed the washdown, Bowler could be seen covered in suds.

"Oi, Bowler!" called Diesel 10, "Wanna help destroy these puffballs?"

"Do it yourself!" sniffed Bowler, "Can't you see I'm being cleaned?"

"Grrr!" snarled Diesel 10. By now, he, Thomas and Lady were switched onto the branchline leading into Ballahoo.

"Hey Cadance!" Chrysalis called out, taking off her gloves, "The gloves are off!" and she threw them to the side and did some sort of fighting gesture.

Back at Vicarstown, Sunset and her transformed cronies were preparing their next move.

"Now that we're powerful," she said, "I think the first thing we should do it get rid of all these useless steam engines!"

"You're crazy!" exclaimed Henry.

"Ya don't say!" Trixie said psychotically.

"Steam will never vanish on Sodor!" said Rainbow Dash, "You may try and hurt us, but you'll never get rid of steam power!"

"That's a good idea," said Lightning Dust, "let's get rid of you six first!"

Sunset formed a large ball of magic energy in her hands and threw it towards us! The six of us huddled together expecting the worst. Everyone else shut their eyes!

10 Friendship is Magic

Suddenly, a shield of purple magic energy formed around us, stopping the blast.

"What?!"

I opened my eyes and grinned.

"I guess the Elements of Harmony won't work against their bearers," I said.

"How is this possible?!" screamed Trixie.

"The Elements of Harmony won't obey you," said Miss Celestia, "because they don't belong to you. But I know who they really belong to…"

With that, a beam of white light enveloped the six of us.

"Applejack, who reassured Toby in the face of danger, represents the Element of Honesty. Fluttershy, who comforted Henry when he was ill, represents the Element of Kindness. Pinkie Pie, who helped Percy banish fear by giggling in evil's face represents the Element of Laughter. Rarity, who offered to give James a washdown, represents the Element of Generosity. And Rainbow Dash, who was firewoman to Gordon when the reliefman was late, represents the Element of Loyalty."

"But that's only five," said Lightning Dust.

"Not quite," I said, "after going through the magic railway, and all the time I spent here, I learned so many things over the past few days – one is that nothing is more important than the magic of friendship. That's why I have the Element of Magic!"

Suddenly, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash gained golden necklaces with their respective elements in them. I, on the other hand, gained a golden tiara with my element in it. Our hair had become longer and stopped close towards our legs before being tied up, making them look kind of like pony tails.

Our skin colors changed as well; mine was light purple, Applejack's was light gamboge, Fluttershy's was pale yellow, Pinkie's was… well, light pink, Rarity's was a very light gray, and Rainbow Dash's was a light blue. Rainbow and Fluttershy gained wings, Rarity and I gained unicorn horns, but all six of us gained pony-like ears.

"Woah!" exclaimed Flash.

"They're all colorful!" cried Apple Bloom.

Meanwhile, Thomas, Lady and Diesel 10 were just coming to Ballahoo station when the signalman spotted them. Lady was switched onto the track leading to Norramby, but Thomas and Diesel 10 were instead switched onto the track leading to Crovan's Gate, right over the Big Dipper! The viaduct was starting to fall apart as more stones came loose.

"We're not gonna make it!" cried Thomas.

"Thomas! Be careful!" shouted Cadance. Quickly, Shining Armor reversed Lady off the track leading to Norramby, and backed her towards Ballahoo. Diesel 10 hadn't spotted her, and nor had Chrysalis.

Spike looked towards Diesel 10, his claw reaching out to get Thomas, then towards the viaduct, which a hole had opened. It was now or never!

"Come on, Thomas!" he shouted, "Little engines can do big things!"

Before the driver could stop him, Spike opened the regulator to maximum, and Diesel 10's claw just missed Thomas, who'd sped ahead!

"Pretty fast for a puffball," Diesel 10 sneered.

The viaduct crumbled as Thomas crossed, but the little blue engine heroically jumped the gap, more of the viaduct collapsing behind him! Diesel 10 could just see the gap, but it was too late for him to stop as the brakes were applied!

"It's every man for himself!" cried Discord as he jumped clear.

"Nooooooo!" Diesel 10 shouted as the track he was on gave way. Chrysalis slid off of his roof as well, both landing into a barge filled with sludge!

"SLUDGE!" Chrysalis scowled, "I hate sludge!"

Up above, Discord was hanging onto a rail, struggling to get back on his feet.

"Help me!" he cried, "Anyone!" But before he could react, his grip gave away, screaming as he fell until he landed in the barge.

"Ah well," he shrugged, "nice time of the year for a cruise…" And he chuckled nervously, but stopped when he spotted a very livid Chrysalis glaring at him. Before he could say anything, Chrysalis dove at him and began to violently beat him up.

"I'll get that blue puffball one day…" Diesel 10 snarled as the sludge covered villains were towed away.

Back at Vicarstown, the other battle was about to end. All six of us had gathered close together forming a heart, and shot a large rainbow beam at the mean girls.

"No! NOOOOOOO!" screamed Sunset, "Whatever is happening?!"

"I'll tell you what's happening," I grinned, "the Magic of Friendship!"

The rainbow beam circled the mean girls and a bright light enveloped everything. When the light faded, the three mean girls were back to normal on the ground.

"That was incredible!" cried Sweetie Belle.

"I've never seen a human transform like that before," remarked Duck.

"Neither have I," said Emily.

At that moment, Lady steamed back into Vicarstown with Shining Armor and Cadance still aboard her cab.

"Thank goodness you're safe," called Edward, "if I were back on the rails, I might whistle in delight."

"Where's Thomas and Spike?" asked Percy, "Are they okay?"

"We're not exactly sure," said Cadance, "we last saw them crossing over the viaduct and then that diesel with a claw fell off."

Then there was the sound of sirens and the police arrived.

"There she is, officer," said George's driver, pointing at Sunset, "that's the young lady who stole my steamroller!"

"You've used nothing but deception and trickery to get your way, Sunset Shimmer," I said firmly, "but in the end, it was your downfall."

Sunset looked up at us and, surprisingly, she looked rather teary-eyed and sad.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't know there was another way…"

"The magic of friendship isn't just in these elements," I said, "it's everywhere; you can either seek it out or be alone."

"But… but all I've ever done is caused trouble," Sunset sniffed, "I don't even know the first thing about friendship."

"I bet we could teach you," I said.

"They're not the only criminals," said Luna.

Luna then concentrated on her necklace and as if by magic, Discord and Chrysalis showed up, still covered in sludge.

"Arrest those two, officer," Luna said to a policeman.

"What's the charge?" he asked.

"Discord assisted Diesel 10 in causing harm to the railway, and for attempting to push me and James into the smelter's pit," said Luna, "and Chrysalis here nearly put all of Sodor in jeopardy by attempting to destroy the lost engine of the magic railway."

"That woman's crazy!" exclaimed Discord, referring to Chrysalis, "She punched me in the face, I swear!"

The two were then taken away by the police to await their punishment. Miss Celesita looked at her sister in surprise.

"How did they manage to appear from nowhere?" she asked.

"I've just discovered I can do that with this," said Luna modestly, holding up her necklace.

"If we ever last long enough," said Miss Celestia, looking up to the sky, "that might come in useful again… someday."

"I think that explains why Diesel 10 is over there on that siding," said Gordon.

The big express engine was right; nearby on a siding was a battered and sludge covered Diesel 10. He didn't look so tough now, especially as Miss Celestia was now looking crossly at him.

"You shall stay where you are for now, Diesel 10," she said firmly, "when Sir Topham Hatt returns, he shall decide your fate!"

Diesel 10 couldn't say anything; the look of horror on his face did the talking for him. Then Miss Celestia turned to the three mean girls.

"As for you three," she said sternly, "you can wait in the station for Sir Topham Hatt's return so he can decide your punishments as well."

Sunset, Trixie and Lightning Dust gulped nervously as two police officers led them to the station building.

"I'm really expecting an apology for last spring's debacle they caused some time soon," said Rarity.

"Hopefully, one day," said Fluttershy, "they'll be better people."

"Flash," I said, "how do you know of Sunset Shimmer?"

"I used to date her," admitted Flash, "back then, I thought she was nice, but when she revealed her true colors, I practically broke up with her."

"Ah'm sorry ya had to date someone heartless like her, partner," said Applejack.

"Where's Thomas?" asked Pinkie Pie, "Shouldn't he and Spike be back by now?"

We'd been so focused on the villains we'd nearly forgot Thomas and Spike hadn't shown up at all. Some of us began to fear the worst…

"I do hope they're alright," said Rarity. Even the engines began to worry.

"Maybe he got into an accident," moaned Percy.

"If so, then I feel bad for teasing him now," said Gordon.

In the distance, we could see a workman's coach, two cranes and two flatbeds coming into view.

"What's the breakdown train doing here?" asked Henry, "And who's pushing it?"

Henry's second question was on our minds as well; it was only until we heard the whistle, and it could only belong to one blue tank engine…

"It's Thomas!" cried Percy, "He's alright!"

Sure enough, it was Thomas, pushing the breakdown train with a very similar green haired boy waving to us…

"Spike!" I cried excitedly, "You're alright as well!"

This was a signal for a chorus of excited whistles from the steam engines.

"We were so worried about you," said Emily, "what took you so long?"

Before Thomas could say, Pinkie interjected.

"After the Big Dipper collapsed, you went straight to Crovan's Gate, where Spike and your crew explained everything to the stationmaster, then you picked up the breakdown train to bring Edward back onto the rails again!" she said in one breath, "Right?!"

We all looked at Pinkie in surprise.

"How'd you know that?" asked Spike.

"Just a hunch," Pinkie shrugged.

Before long, the two cranes lifted Edward back onto the rails. The blue tender engine suffered a few dents here and there, some scrapes on his sides, his funnel bent out of shape, and there was a large dent in his boiler.

"Not to worry, Edward," said Lady.

With that, the golden engine closed her eyes, and a golden aura enveloped Edward. When it faded, he looked good as new.

"How did you do that?" exclaimed James.

"I used my magic," explained Lady, "plus, it was a token of gratitude for giving me and Thomas time to escape."

Edward smiled.

"But Miss Celestia," said Thomas, "you still don't have your gold dust."

"I think she will soon, Thomas," replied Lady.

"Miss Celestia," I asked, "can you try and remember the rest of the clue to the gold dust?"

I was now scooping out the shavings from the backpack, reciting the first part of the clue, "Stoke up the Magic in the Mountain and the Lady will smile…"

"I remember," smiled Miss Celesita, and then continued from where I left off, "Then watch the Swirls that spin so Well…"

"Swirls; just like all the wonderful shavings around Lady when we were on the railway," said Flash.

"Lady must be the source of our gold dust," remarked Luna.

"Is there anything else?" I asked.

"Of course there is!" said Pinkie, "So Well… a well means water!"

"Maybe there's a well at the Walney Channel," I suggested.

"Let's go and see," said Flash.

So off we set; as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had wings, they flew. Miss Celestia and Luna joined Shining Armor and Cadance in Lady, Spike and I went with Thomas, and Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack went with Edward. Big Macintosh, Flash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders followed the rest of us by foot.

As the well bucket was brought to the surface, we noticed a piece of paper floating in it.

"What's this?" I asked, picking it up.

"It's the clue I lost at Rheneas waterfall," said Miss Celestia. She took the paper and read the last bit of it.

"As the Waterfalls, so shall the Gold Dust be plentiful, then…" she paused, chuckling, "So that's why the clue was in the waterfall," she said.

Rarity filled a bottle with water from the bucket while Fluttershy handed me a small bowl to put the shavings in. When the water was added, I mixed the two together a bit, shaking them around as if panning for gold.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Now throw it into the air," said Miss Celestia.

"Alright," I said, "here goes…"

I threw the mixture into the air with all my might, and within seconds, it changed into…

"Gold dust!" we all yelled in excitement. There was a wondrous cloud of gold dust against the blue sky!

Miss Celestia and Luna held out their whistles, gold dust being sucked into them. After that was taken care of, a bellflower rang, and Miss Celestia answered.

"Hello?"

"Is this Miss Celestia?"

"Oh, yes, Sir Topham Hatt, sir!"

"Oh, good. I'm making this call to inform you I'm coming back from holiday."

"You're on your way back right now? Splendid news; we'll all be at Vicarstown to welcome you."

"Now how are things going on my railway? Is everything alright?"

"Right now, everything is under control. Of course, in your absence, there has been some trouble. I'll fill you in on it when you get back."

"I see. So I shall see you then."

"Goodbye, sir."

With that, Miss Celestia hung up.

"I just remembered," said Luna, taking my hand and pouring a small pile of gold dust into it, "I had to use the batch you wanted me to hold on to in order to get out of a mess."

With that, we all began heading back to Vicarstown.

"So aunt Celestia," said Cadance, "how else can we help?"

"You mean you don't want to live isolated from the railways anymore?" I asked.

"After you helped us make Lady steam again, not anymore," said Shining Armor.

"We're probably gonna find somewhere closer to the railway to live now that Chrysalis is behind bars," added Cadance.

"But what about Lady?" I asked, "I mean, B.B.B.F.F., you're her guardian after all."

"We'll make arrangements so that Lady can still be with us and have her own shed," said Shining Armor.

"Here," I said, pouring some of the gold dust into their hands, "I'd like you to have this."

"Why, how sweet of you, Twilight," said Shining Armor, "here, let me see Smarty Pants."

I got Smarty Pants out of my backpack, and then Shining Armor and Cadance poured their gold dust onto it.

"There," he said smiling, "now we'll always remember our Shining Time…"

Then as all three of us joined in a hug, Smarty Pants briefly glowed rainbow colors.

When Sir Topham Hatt – or the Fat Controller, according to the engines – made his return at Vicarstown, everyone of us explained what had happened. After he understood everyone's side of the story, he first dealt with Diesel 10; his word with the big diesel was short, but not sweet.

"I shall send you back to the other railway first thing tomorrow morning!" he had said. Diesel 10 was too shocked to respond, and I tell you – the look of horror on face was priceless!

When the Fat Controller had a word with Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, and Lightning Dust, he was disgusted by their unacceptable behavior. The three girls, of course, were cringing as he stated how their reckless behavior caused confusion and delay. For their punishment, they had to serve four months of community service for the North Western Railway starting with helping to repair the buffers they'd help Diesel 10 smash.

Needless to say, they weren't happy with the news, but at least I knew they ought to be lucky not to go to prison.

Speaking of prison, Chrysalis and Discord had been sentenced to prison for their crimes against the North Western Railway and all of Sodor; Chrysalis got ten years while Discord got a lighter punishment of only three years.

George had confessed to helping Diesel 10 with his scheme, but seeing how he learned his lesson, the Fat Controller decided to let this one go.

As it turned out for Splatter and Dodge, they'd been brought to Sodor to see if they could behave better at the scrapyards than Arry and Bert did. They too were given another chance when the Fat Controller heard how they turned against Diesel 10, and now they work as shunters for Crovan's Gate Steamworks.

As for Bowler, Diesel, Arry and Bert, they were sent back to the other railway for returning to Sodor without permission.

But enough talk of the bad guys of our story; let's move on to what happened to us, the good guys, afterward, shall we? Starting with Shining Armor and Cadance…

They became official members of the North Western Railway and relocated to a house closer to the railway. Shining Armor became Thomas' new driver while Cadance was given her own conductor's whistle and learned to travel by gold dust like her aunts.

The five girls and I haven't changed much – physically, of course. When we took off our respective Elements, mine and Rarity's horns and Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's wings all vanished, our ears returned to normal as did our skin colors and hair lengths.

All six of us began spending more time together since these last few days, even Spike had worked up the courage to ask Rarity out… but that's a different story altogether. We also started spending more time with the engines by visiting them whenever we got the chance.

As for me and Flash, we began to bond as well. Some might say we'd start dating… but again, that's another story altogether.

***

TWENTY YEARS LATER – 2012

"…and that's the story of how it all happened twenty years ago."

Thirty-six year old Twilight Sparkle-Sentry smiled as she held her children together looking over the family scrapbook on a field near Ffarquhar. Her oldest son of twelve, Dustin Charles Sentry had his father's blue hair and eyes, a light purple t-shirt with a dark blue shield on it, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. He is commonly known as Dusk Charger.

Dusk's younger twin sisters were both the age of seven; Violet Gloria "Velvet Glow" Sentry had her mother's hair and eyes, a light orange top with a magical spark and lightning bolt on it, a white skirt and red shoes. Twinkle Scout Sentry had her mother's hairstyle, but it was blue like her father's. She also had his blue eyes, wore a pink t-shirt with orange shorts and blue tennis shoes.

"Wow, mom," said Velvet, "that sounded like a lot of fun."

"I really liked how mommy and her friends defeated those meanie girls," said Twinkle, playing with Smarty Pants.

Twilight chuckled and hugged her daughter. "I liked that part too, sweetie," she smiled.

"It would be nice to work on the railways and get to meet Thomas like you did," said Dusk.

"Maybe one day," said Twilight, "but until then, it's best to stick the model trains we have at home."

They continued looking at more pictures in the scrapbook. Some contained pictures of Twilight, her friends and the Sodor engines, while others were about her family and Flash. There were even some postcards of various railways in the United Kingdom from Luna, and Shining Armor's drawing he did as a young boy.

Then they came to a picture of Winona. With the family was a dog that looked like her, but it was a boy instead of a girl.

"That's your great-grandmother Winona, William," Twilight told the dog, "she made sure Spike and I got on the wrong train for the right reason."

The dog barked happily.

"There's a good boy, Will," Dusk chuckled, scratching behind the dog's ears, William enjoying every moment of it.

At that moment, a thirty-seven year old Flash Sentry walked up, having finished tending to the horses. He bent over and kissed his wife.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked.

"We were just going through some pictures, dear," said Twilight. Then she turned to the kids.

"Come along now," she said, "uncle Spike and Aunt Rarity will be worried if we're late for dinner."

As they stood up, there was the familiar sound a steam whistle everyone knew.

"That must be Thomas!" Twinkle squeaked excitedly, and began waving her hand quickly, her siblings and parents following suit.

Thomas was chuffing by on the branchline with his evening train to Knapford pulling Annie and Clarabel. He had changed in appearance years before, for he now had a flat running plate as opposed to the front dip he had before.

In his cab was a forty-four year old Shining Armor, wearing the traditional driver's uniform; blue trousers, a black tie, a white shirt with a blue jacket over it, and a blue cap. On his jacket's left breast pocket was a pink six-pointed star over a purple shield with three blue stars above the shield.

"It's uncle Shining Armor!" the children cried happily.

Shining Armor pulled on the chain blowing Thomas' whistle and waved back at his sister's family. The family waved until Thomas was out of earshot.

And so we've come to the happy end of our story. Sometimes, all it takes is a little train to remind us that magic is timeless, and always worth the hopes of its existence. That little train today was Thomas the tank engine, and he proved how little engines really can do big things.

THE END

8 Muffle Mountain Secrets

Thomas went onto a siding off the mainline, and then I, Spike and Luna jumped off.

"Hello, sister," said Luna, "enjoying the sun?"

"No, Luna, I am not," said Miss Celestia firmly, "in fact, I just landed her after escaping a heavy metal monster and his equally crazy driver! Where have you been?"

"Er, is your sparkle back, Miss Celestia?" asked Thomas.

"No, Thomas, it isn't," said Miss Celestia, "however, I found the clue… but I can't remember it…"

"Bother."

"I say, sister, you look terrible," said Luna, "why don't we get more gold dust, since I used yours up, and then we can go home?"

"Listen to me, Luna; I've got bad news…"

But before Miss Celestia could continue, there was the sound of a telephone ringing.

"I'll go get it," she said, but Luna got to the bellflower first.

"Hello?"

"Is Miss Celestia there?"

"Er, no. This is her sister, Luna."

"Oh, I see."

"Who is this?"

"This is Sir Topham Hatt."

"Oh, hello, Hattie…"

Miss Celestia winced. Spike snickered at Luna's nickname for the Fat Controller until I glared at him to stop.

"What?! Now is Miss Celestia there? I need to speak to her!"

"Don't worry; she's around here somewhere."

Luna chuckled as she handed Miss Celestia the bellflower, the older sister squirming with embarrassment.

"Yes, Sir Topham Hatt, sir?"

"I hadn't seen Luna since Christmas years ago. Now why is she such a smart-aleck?"

"Oh, no, sir, she was just trying to be friendly."

"You call that friendly? She seemed to act like a dog!"

"No, she's not a dog. Er… well, let's just say she's an unruly puppy in need of a good trainer."

Miss Celestia gave her sister a stern glare; Luna shrugged innocently.

"I see. Should I be concerned about the safety of my railway?"

"No, nothing to worry about, sir. Everything is fine."

"Very well. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, sir."

With that, Miss Celestia hung the bellflower up.

"Ah, sister," said Luna, "this is Twilight Sparkle and her adopted brother Spike. They're staying with their older brother Shining Armor and our niece Cadance."

Miss Celestia seemed pleased to meet us.

"Hello, Twilight," she said, "hello, Spike."

While we were talking, Luna grabbed onto one of the windmill's sails, leaving the box near us.

"Luna? Luna?"

Suddenly, we looked up and saw Luna on the windmill's sails having fun.

"Luna, what are you doing up here?" asked Miss Celestia, "Come down! It's too windy!"

"This is just like the funfair!" called Luna, "Give me two seconds! Whoo-hoo!"

"Two seconds is all it takes for you to land in trouble!" Miss Celestia called back.

How right she was. Suddenly, the wind picked up causing the sails to spin faster and faster until Luna was flung clean off!"

"Aaaahh!"

"LUNA!"

We watched helplessly as Luna was flung through the air and landed onto the roof of Diesel 10!

"Aha!" he said deviously, "Twinkle Toes' baby sister!"

"What a surprise," Discord said, "we may have lost Celestia, but now we have her sister!"

"I demand that you stop and let me off at once!" commanded Luna.

"You're in no position of making demands, missy," said Diesel 10, "so just enjoy the ride and hang on tight!"

"Oh dear," said Thomas, "Diesel 10 has highjacked her!"

"What's gonna happen to Luna now?" asked Spike with worry.

"Well, my family is pretty good at getting out of trouble," said Miss Celestia, "eventually."

"I don't know what eventually means," said Thomas, "but it sounds very, very long."

"Eventually means that something will happen sooner or later," I explained.

Spike then noticed the box Luna had left behind.

"What's in there?" he asked.

Miss Celestia saw the box and picked it up.

"This box," she said, "contains the Elements of Harmony."

"Elements of Harmony?" asked Thomas. His question was also what I was thinking, and I reflected on what Cadance told me last night.

"My sister-in-law Cadance told me about them," I said, "they're six supernatural artifacts representing subjective aspects of harmony; Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic."

"I've never heard of them until now," said Thomas.

"I suggest we find somewhere to camp out for the night," said Miss Celestia, climbing into Thomas' cab.

Spike and I climbed aboard as well and Thomas puffed away. Soon we had to stop at a signal to let another train pass. There, I could see the other five girls. I leaned out and waved.

"Twilight?" asked Fluttershy, "What are you doing here in Thomas' cab?"

"We were looking for Miss Celestia," explained Thomas, "but we've found her and ended up losing Luna."

"Luna? The woman Twilight and I met yesterday?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The very same," said Spike. He blushed a bit when he noticed Rarity.

"She's also my sister," explained Miss Celestia, "now we need a place to camp out for the night."

"Ah think Ah know a place," said Applejack, "Ah'll get Big Macintosh to give us a lift there."

Back at Muffle Mountain, the sun had already begun to set. Flash Sentry came up by himself. Shining Armor and Cadance were looking out at the valley and saw him.

"Where's Twilight and Spike?" Shining Armor asked.

"I wish I knew," sighed Flash, sounding defeated, "I'm sorry, but they weren't at the station when I went back for them…"

There was silence before Cadance spoke up.

"It's not your fault," she said in an assuring way, "we'll find them."

Flash felt reassured hearing this. As the couple headed back to the house, he gained courage.

"Last night, I heard an engine's whistle around here," he said.

"You heard wrong, Flash," Shining Armor said quickly.

Flash was surprised. "But Twilight heard it too…" But he was alone… or so he thought. Suddenly, he heard a whisper.

"You don't hear wrong, do you?" it hissed, "Where exactly did you hear that whistle?"

Flash knew this voice was trouble, and his instincts were right. Without hesitation, he ran towards his horse, jumped on, and raced away as Chrysalis jumped out of the bushes and started chasing him, but the horse was much faster.

"You can run, but you can't hide, boy!" she sneered as Flash and his horse galloped into the distance.

Flash's horse didn't stop galloping until they arrived safely at Vicarstown. Henry was there with his last passenger train of the day.

"What's the rush, Flash?" he asked.

"Oh, Henry, thank goodness I found you," the teenage boy panted, "I'm sure Shining Armor and Cadance know the secret of Muffle Mountain. There's an engine in there, but now – because of me – Chrysalis knows it too, and she's putting us all in great danger. And I don't know where Twilight is!"

"Oh my!" said Henry, "This is very serious. Thank you for telling me."

Later that evening, Percy was making his way to the magic buffers.

"I am brave, I am brave," he said to himself, "Thomas says I'm brave, so I'm brave."

The nighttime fog made everything seem spookier, but Percy remembered what Pinkie Pie had told him…

"When life gets you down, all you gotta do is just laugh it off and you'll feel better…"

So Percy decided to laugh at the spooky scenery. He was beginning to feel better. But as he got closer to the buffers, his smile dropped.

"Shiver my pistons!" he cried, "There's Splatter and Dodge."

"Sunset Shimmer and George are with them," added his driver.

"And they've found the buffers," said the fireman.

"What are they doing here?" wondered Percy, "And why is Sunset driving George?" The little green engine could also see a new road covering old tracks, and it was dangerously close to the buffers.

"See those buffers?" said Splatter, "They're next."

"The boss wants the job done fast," added Dodge, "start now."

"And if I refuse?" asked George.

"I'll tell Diesel 10 and he'll personally rip you to a pile of scrap!" Sunset scowled.

"Uh, does she mean that?" asked Splatter.

"I think so," said Dodge.

"Alright, George," said Sunset, "smash those buffers!" She then began to drive George towards the buffers, but the steamroller stopped.

"No!" he said firmly.

"What?!"

"I don't want a roller rink anymore," snapped George, "and I don't want to hurt innocent people!" Then he turned to Splatter and Dodge. "If you want to destroy those buffers so badly, then do it yourselves!"

With that he began to trundle away. Sunset tried to stop him, but George's will was too strong.

"Who needs him anyway?" said Splatter.

"Yeah," said Dodge, "let's do it."

But suddenly an owl hooted, startling the two diesels.

"Er, let's do it tomorrow," said Dodge.

"Yeah, tomorrow's good," agreed Splatter.

"We must warn Thomas," gasped Percy and he puffed away, having heard and seen quite enough.

Meanwhile, we had set up at Crovan's Gate for our little camp out. Spike was sitting by Rarity and was hugged by Fluttershy who still thought he was cute. Miss Celestia was doing her best to keep me cheerful. She could tell I was worried about being late for my brother and sister-in-law.

"Miss Celestia," I said, looking at the nighttime sky, "I was supposed to be back by sunset."

"You know, Twilight," she replied, "perhaps Shining Armor can guess where you are."

"He can?"

"Maybe," said Miss Celestia, "because I think he's been all around Sodor himself long ago. And if he can help, I wish he'd hurry. I haven't told Luna this, but soon, she'll grow as weak as I am."

"That sounds terrible," said Fluttershy.

"Luna said there used to be an engine that traveled on the Magic Railway," said Spike, "if we could find it, maybe it can help."

"Oh, that engine disappeared," sighed Miss Celestia, "never to be seen or heard from again."

"What a bummer," groaned Rainbow Dash.

"Aw, let's not be all gloomy," said Pinkie Pie, "who wants another cupcake?"

"Actually, something just came to me," I said, "Miss Celestia, I heard a train whistle last night, and it sounded like it was coming from Muffle Mountain near my brother's cottage."

"Mountain?" Miss Celestia wondered, then she perked up, "I've just remembered a part of the clue; Stoke up the Magic in the Mountain and the Lady will smile…"

But her smile didn't last.

"But that's not the entire clue, Twilight," she said, "and I know your brother can help if he would just believe that he could…"

I looked down, and the word "Lady" slipped into my mind. "Lady…?"

Meanwhile, back at Muffle Mountain, Shining Armor and Cadance were going back into the workshop. Instead of last time, they went a little further.

"Well Lady," sighed Shining Armor, "what are we to do?"

Cadance flipped a light switch and now everything was visible, including what he was talking to. It was a reddish-purple tank engine with four wheels and gold head lamps on the front footplate. The engine also had buffers, smokebox and funnel top, dome and whistles, side rods, lining and her name on each side all in gold. Its cab roof, lower funnel section and footplate were also painted a very dark purple.

Unlike the engines on the North Western and Skarloey Railways, this engine had no face on its smokebox. Known only to Shining Armor and Cadance, the engine was vital to the magic that kept Sodor's spirit alive.

As the two looked at the engine, they heard voices from their past.

"One day, Cadance, I'm going to drive this engine, and I'll take you with me."

"Promise you will, Shining Armor. Promise?"

"I promise…"

Then suddenly, they heard a scuffle. They hoped it wouldn't be Chrysalis, but when they turned, much to their relief and surprise, the person coming in was…

"Flash?"

"How did you find us?" asked Cadance.

"I found the entrance ages ago," admitted Flash, "but I would never tell anybody."

Shining Armor felt relieved. Then Flash spotted the engine.

"So it is true," he said in awe, "we did hear an engine in the mountain."

"All mountains have their secrets," said Shining Armor, "that wouldn't surprise someone like you."

Flash walked around the engine, looking at it in wonderment.

"You can help dust her off," said Cadance, tossing him a rag. As he polished the engine, he read the name on its side.

"Lady…"

"That's her name," said Shining Armor.

"Why is she locked up?" asked Flash.

"She's not," said Shining Armor, "she's safe from harm… or was."

"Why does Chrysalis want to harm her?" asked Flash.

"When we were in secondary school," began Cadance. "Quinn Chryssa was angry because she didn't want to believe in magic and she was jealous that Shining Armor and I were in love. So she took revenge."

"She and a friend of hers, Kingsley Sombra," Shining Armor said, continuing from where his wife left off, "they found Lady and Quinn, now going by Chrysalis, threatened to destroy her if I didn't let them driver her. I gave in to bullies. They drove her, used up all her coal, then they made her go too fast, and Lady crashed. Chrysalis and I survived with degree of injury, but Sombra…"

"He was killed in the crash," Cadance finished, "after Sombra's death, Chrysalis ran away, vowing revenge on Shining Armor for taking him away from her."

"And then we brought Lady here to a new hiding spot," said Shining Armor, "I tried my best to fix her up, but I was never able to make up for the mistake I made." He gently reached his hand out to the engine. "She's as precious as gold, Flash…"

"Well, she can whistle," said a puzzled Flash, "I've heard her."

"So have we," said Cadance, "it's because she's magic."

"Nothing, sadly, has changed," added Shining Armor, "Chrysalis has no compassion and no imagination. It's the same with Sombra when he was alive."

On the wall behind Lady, Flash could see a map of a railway line running from Peel Godred to Vicarstown, and realized it was in the same configuration as those appearing on shadowy lines on his map of Sodor.

"This must be the map of the magic railway," he remarked, "but the energy is fading away… Twilight, Spike and I were traveling on the ground right above it!"

"The railway needs Lady," said Shining Armor, "but we don't know her special secret. And we need to know it now more than ever."

"Because of Twilight and Spike?"

"Yes, because of Twilight and Spike."

Diesel 10 was racing through the countryside with Luna on his roof. She was treating this like fun. Diesel 10 tried to grab her with his claw, but she kept ducking out of the way. This also happened when he went through Henry's tunnel. Diesel 10 began to yell in annoyance as he was switched onto the track leading to Norramby.

"Not enjoying the exercise, Diesel 10?" Luna chuckled, "Maybe you should take up surfing. It's much more relaxing!"

Diesel 10 shrieked angrily again as he hurtled past Ballahoo onto the track leading to Norramby.

Back at Crovan's Gate, Percy had arrived to tell Thomas what he saw and heard. Edward was passing by and noticed the commotion. So did the Skarloey engines and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"So Thomas," said Percy, "we have to get Twilight and Spike back to their brother now in case Diesel 10 gets ride of the magic railway!"

"But how can they go without gold dust?" asked Thomas.

"There is the route from Killdane to Peel Godred," said Applejack, "but that line's only run by electric engines and Ah don't think the line runs at night."

"So there's no other way for them to get back?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"There is," said Miss Celestia, "but only in the lost engine."

"It is a shame too," added Skarloey, "that the lost engine has disappeared."

"Indeed," agreed Edward, "and without her, the magic railway will eventually fade away."

"And then Sodor might fade away too," said Rheneas, "but that's only if something bad were to happen to her."

"We're all goners!" panicked Sir Handel, "No more, ceased to be, gone to meet our makers, stiff, bereft of life, run down the curtain and-!"

"Sir Handel!" the other little engines scolded.

"That panicking would never suit his grace," said Duke.

"Granpuff's right," said Peter Sam, "we have to remain calm."

"How can we stay calm when we're in danger of disappearing?" asked Duncan.

"Y'all can't disappear," protested Apple Bloom.

"Yeah!" said Scootaloo, "You're tough engines."

"So not only is Sodor in danger," said Applejack, "but Twilight and Spike can't get home?"

"I'm afraid so," said Miss Celestia, "unless…"

"Unless?" Thomas asked nervously. He had a bad feeling what Miss Celestia was about to say.

"Thomas, can you take Twilight and Spike?"

"Through the magic buffers?!" Thomas asked, an appalled expression on his face, "Why don't you do it, Edward? You're much wiser than me…"

"Oh, no thank you," said Edward politely, "it would be a good idea for you to do it, Thomas."

"Why me?" asked Thomas.

"Because you're a brave engine," replied Edward, "and after all, you're always saying little engines can do big things."

"But what if I go on the railway and my wheels don't work?"

"And if they do?" asked Miss Celestia.

"What if… erm…?"

"Yes?"

"What if it's dark and cold? How will I be able to get back again?"

"It will be bumpy, but you'll be able to make it back here, because you're a really useful engine and you'll find a way."

"Miss Celestia is right, Thomas," agreed Skarloey, "you'll be fine. You've always been encouraging to us, and now it's our turn."

"Come on, Thomas," said Percy, "you're always saying little engines can do big things – so can you!"

"You can do it, Thomas!" cheered Pinkie.

"We believe in ya," said Applejack.

"Um, go Thomas," Fluttershy said shyly, "we have faith in you…"

"Show them how awesome steam engines can be!" said Rainbow Dash, "Ah, no offense, Rusty."

"None taken," said the little orange diesel, "but seriously, teach those bad diesels what you steam engines are made of, anyway!"

"Show them what a really useful engine such as yourself can do," encouraged Rarity.

Thomas looked around him. Everyone was counting on him, even me and Spike. He was rather nervous and worried that something bad would happen. He was just a simple tank engine, and now, he possibly had the fate of Sodor on his buffers. After what felt like ages, he made his decision.

"I'll try…" he said bravely. Before long, Thomas set off with Spike and I in his cab.

It was quiet and dark as Thomas puffed along the Sudrian countryside light engine. He chuffed through Henry's tunnel and past Vicarstown station to the where the magic buffers stood.

"I promise I'll get you two back to your brother," he said to Spike and me.

The magic buffers were right ahead of us now. Thomas had been told that in order to go through them, he had to just charge through without braking.

"Little engines can do big things!" he said, charging towards the buffers and shut his eyes!

Whoosh!

"It is dark," remarked Thomas, "and cold and bumpy… but I'm not afraid!"

Then we began to pass the coal truck from earlier.

"Hey!" cried Thomas, "There's the missing coal truck! I'll have to remember to bring it back for Henry later."

"It's about time someone showed up!" remarked the truck, "I've been in here for hours!"

"Oh, sorry," said Thomas, "we didn't know where you were until now. But we'll come back for you for sure!"

"Don't hurry!" the truck called, "I wasn't planning on going anywhere!"

Soon we came to a fork in the path.

"Aw, man, which way do we go?" asked Spike.

"I'll look this way," I said, "Spike, you look that way."

So we headed off, Thomas left behind with only his driver and fireman… or so he thought. There was the sound of an engine approaching.

"Hello?" Thomas called nervously, "Who's there?"

Suddenly, from out of the darkness came Lady. She looked just like she did in Shining Armor's workshop, only she had a face.

"Wh-who are you?" Thomas asked anxiously, "Can you possibly be…?"

"Yes," said Lady kindly, "I am the lost engine of the magic railway."

"You are the engine lost from long ago!" exclaimed Thomas, "But I've never seen you before…"

"That's because I've been hidden for years," explained Lady, "I would only go out if I was certain it was safe."

"But why have you come to me?" Thomas asked, "Everyone's been wondering where you were."

But before Lady could answer, she began to disappear.

"Wait, don't go!" called Thomas.

"Who were you talking to?" Spike and I had just returned. He had looked at the right track and I had looked at the left track.

"Erm, my driver and fireman?" said Thomas sheepishly.

"Right," I said.

"Which way can we go?" asked the tank engine's driver.

"Let's take the left track," I suggested, "what do you think, Spike?"

"Yeah, I agree with Twilight," said Spike, "the track I went down seems to go on for miles."

We climbed back into Thomas and set off down the left track. As he chuffed along the magic railway, on either side of him appeared to be dark caverns and ahead of us seemed to be a huge wall of granite.

"Now what?" asked Spike.

But before anyone could respond, the wall melted at the center, big enough to let an engine through into the light, and suddenly, Thomas' wheels began to spin faster and faster!

"Whoa!" he cried, "Here we go!" And he shut his eyes tightly, the rest of us following suit.