Thomas and Friends: Secrets of Sodor

by The Blue EM2

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Equestria Girls, Mane 5, Argyle Starshine, Profanity, Violence, Crossover, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Opaline, Queen Haven, Misty, My Little Pony: A New Generation
Length: 47170

Old and New Unite in a Race against Time.

After their superb work on the Island of Sodor back in November, the Mane 5 (and Misty) are invited back to Sodor to help out. Construction work on a new quarry and rail line has led to dramatically increased traffic, but mysterious events, an oddly unsympathetic controller, and numerous other problems conspire to through the Island into chaos. Can our heroes discover the truth about the Secrets of Sodor before the island descends into pandemonium?

Based on the 2015 Thomas and Friends special Legend of the Lost Treasure, and incorparating the plot of the 6th Chapter of Make your Mark as well as the Make your Mark special Secrets of Starlight. Written as part of the 40 years of Thomas and Friends celebrations, and the grand finale of the Opaline arc of the FalmouthVerse.

Published 2024-04-01 12:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-04-26 13:11:50 UTC

Prologue-Our Final Stand

The Island of Sodor, AD43

Preparations were fraught for the oncoming storm. Men hurried about, forming defences and placing stakes into the ground. Swords were sharpened. Bows were readied. Soldiers were drilled upon the hill.

A figure in a brown cloak stopped, and then entered a tent before lowering his hood.

A man, dressed in furs and robes, looked up from the table. "What news, Machan?" he asked.

"Godred, they have arrived," Machan said. "Shane Dooiney brought word. The Romans have docked their ships and their Legions now march toward us."

Godred indicated to a man next to him. "Go to Culdee, and instruct him to pull his line back to us. We will need all the men we can get."

"Can we really hold them off?" Machan asked.

"We have no choice," Godred said, as he rose from his chair. "Sodor is our home, and I'll be damned if I see it fall to an invader."

He stepped outside the tent to address all who were assembled. "Grave news, my fellows. The Romans have arrived and yet march on our location. But have faith! We have chosen our positions well, and shall demonstrate to them that our spirit cannot easily be broken! If we win or lose we shall forge an example for all who seek self determination!

"And if we die this day, we shall die in glory. They shall sing our names forever in the halls of honour, and remember us for eternity. The Romans may want to make slaves of us, but they shall not. We shall not live as slaves! Even if we die, we shall die free men!"

This story is dedicated to every reader who set out on this journey with me.

Fimfiction Proudly Presents

A Story by The Blue EM2

Sponsored by the Guild of Equestrian Railroaders

And Based on an Idea by Thomlight Sparkle

THOMAS AND FRIENDS: SECRETS OF SODOR

Starring the voices of:

Vanessa Hudgens

Kimiko Glenn

Sofia Carson

Liza Koshy

James Marsden

Jane Krakowski

Michael McKean

Bahia Watson

Keith Whickam

Rachel Miller

Theresa Gallagher

Richard Hammond

Jeremy Clarkson

James May

Richard E. Grant

Athena Karkanis

Geoffrey Rush

Nigel Pilkington

Jodie Whittaker

Robert Rackstraw

Tim Curry

Jeremy Irons

Emily Blunt

Zoe Saldana

Hugh Bonneville

John Bellis

and John Hasler as Thomas the Tank Engine

Animation by Boulder Media and Arc Productions

Model Effects and Sequences recorded at Ellstree Studios

A Hasbro and Mattel Co-Production, Copyright MMXXIV

Chapter 1-A Bright and Sunny Morning

It was, as the chapter title suggests, a bright and sunny morning on the Island of Sodor. As was his custom, Thomas the Tank Engine chuffed cheerfully down his branch line with Annie and Clarabel. "Keep an eye out for Bertie!" Thomas called to Clarabel, his eyes filled with glee.

Clarabel rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Thomas. You shouldn't think so much about racing. If you'd only focus on the line instead of wherever Bertie is things would be so much smoother."

Just then, Bertie the Bus called from a bridge running over the line. "Let's have a race, have a race, have a race!"

"Why are you saying it like that?" Spike asked, looking confused.

"It's a reference for older readers," Bertie smiled. "See if you can catch me!" He stopped. "Wait a second. Spike, why is your voice so deep?"

"I went through puberty," Spike replied.

"Oh."

Thomas laughed, unaware of the odd conversation between Spike and Bertie. "Challenge accepted. On your marks, now get set go!"

With that, Twilight advanced Thomas' regulator, and he surged forward, his two coaches rattling along behind him and grumbling the entire way.

"Thomas!" Annie protested. "We are not intended to go this fast!"

"Sure you are!" Thomas snorted. "You're rated for 75 miles an hour, and we're doing well below that, aren't we Twilight?"

Twilight nodded. "About 40 and holding. Should do the trick!"

Thomas smiled as he flew along. "Perhaps you should just give up now, Bertie! I'm going to win!"

"Not of you don't watch the signals, you won't!" Bertie said.

Thomas looked up and spotted the fixed distant coming up. "We'd probably best be slowing down!" he said to Twilight.

"Seeing as the next signal is red, we probably should," Twilight replied, and shut off steam before applying the regulator. Thomas rolled to a stop at the platform.

"Get on quickly please! I'm in a hurry!"

"You're not booked to depart for another three minutes," the guard said, checking his stopwatch. "All of this high speed running will make the passengers most annoyed."

Thomas sat there impatiently, before at last Henry clattered in with a goods train going the other way. At last, the signal changed, and Thomas was on his way once more.

Thomas was certain Bertie had a head start so large he couldn't possibly overtake him, but to his surprise he saw Bertie was stuck behind a construction vehicle. Perfect! Thomas roared past on the line. "Good thing trains don't need overtaking lights, eh Bertie?"

Bertie just scowled in annoyance. "Why can't they just move this big heavy slow stuff by rail and free up roads for buses who need to be somewhere?"

Thomas pulled into Ffarquhar well ahead of Bertie. "That was fun!" he said. "I wonder if any people will appear from nowhere outside the station."

"That must have been a few crazy days," Twilight said.

Annie, however, had the distinct look of disapproval on her face. "Thomas, you should know that Sir Topham Hatt does not approve of racing or speeding!"

"We've been doing this for ages and he doesn't mind!"

"Just because you've been doing something for a long time does not make it right," Clarabel scolded. "The passengers do not enjoy being bounced about like peas on a frying pan, and if they are they complain."

Bertie rumbled in, grumbling. "I'm always getting stuck behind HGV's and construction lorries," he grumbled. "All because of this silly new branchline they're building."

"New branch line?" Twilight asked.

"Yes!" Spike said. "It's going to run from Arlesburgh West to Harwick to tap into the fish trade. well, technically they're relaying an old line that was closed by Beeching rather than building a new one, but let's not split hairs over a technicality eh?"

Annie looked horrified. "If they open a new branch line they might close ours!"

Thomas snorted. "Close our branch line because they've built one that serves an entirely separate section of the island? I don't think so Annie!"

Back on the mainland, hundreds of miles from Sodor, it was all systems go on the Maritime Line. Ships were docking to offload their heavy cargo, or picking up new supplies. Heavy formations of wagons were being propelled across the dockside, the twin exhausts of diesel engines or blasts from steam locomotive chimneys filling up the skyline.

Salty pushed some more heavy fish vans into position on the Eastern Breakwater. "More fish vans for you, me lads!" he called to the dockworkers.

Sunny hopped out to uncouple him as the dock workers began to load fish containers. "Work order says we're to pick up the Mogo vans over there and bring them back with the loaded fish!"

"Sounds good!" Salty said, as he inhaled. "Being back by the sea is always something I've valued. You can take the sea away from the sailor, but you can never take the sea away from the sailor. We will always hear her siren song and return."

"It wouldn't end will for you, I suspect," Sunny said. "It was hard enough getting you running again after the landslide." She hopped back into the cab and put Salty's reverser into reverse, before they began to back up to the next set of sidings.

Out on another portion of the dockside, Porter was moving some explosives vans. "Hot stuff, this!" he shouted. "Explosive stuff, you could say!"

Izzy leaned out of the cab as Porter pushed them to a stop next to a cargo ship. "It'll make quite the bang if handled incorrectly!"

Dock workers slid the doors open and began to load the cargo. This gave Izzy some spare time, so she took out her radio controlled car to work on it. "Now, if I can adjust the speed a little bit on Senor Butterscotch I could make him go really fast!"

"I'm still not sure how you managed to build an entire RC car out of junk," Porter said. "Don't motors expire easily?"

"Only the bodywork is junk," Izzy explained. "The rest of the structure is a custom build from bits I've acquired from hobby shobs. It's good fun if you know what you're doing!"

Over at the station, Bellerophon was pushing another rake of coaches into the platform. "With this volume of traffic we could do with auto operation!" he said.

"That would put shunters out of a job!" Misty said, looking concerned.

"That's a fair point," Bellerophon conceeded. "Where else in the country can you see engines running round their trains or shunting coaching stock? And saying 'preserved railways' doesn't count."

Charles' engine roared to full power as he pulled away with a passenger train. "FEEL THE SPEED!" he said.

Zipp glanced down. "We're doing 15 miles an hour."

"Which is still faster than going at no speed at all."

Sophie reversed into the bay platform with some cattle trucks. "Cattle for unloading!" she called.

Pipp looked out of the cab, then quickly snapped a selfie of herself. "This isn't quite how I'd imagined my life would change, but it's fun nontheless! This really is the bestie life!"

"Bunny bunny, do the bu-"

Pipp swiped the image to one side. "That meme is old." She then frowned at another comment. "Really? The dress I was wearing for that performance is white, not blue!"

A bit later, Sunny popped home for her lunch, as was her custom, and met up with Argyle along the way. "So, how's it going?" Argyle asked.

"Dockside is still moving, somehow," Sunny joked.

Argyle smiled. "That's always good to hear. Things have been fine at the University too, so hopefully nothing too out of the ordinary happens."

As they stepped in through the door, and closed the door, Argyle suddenly spotted a letter on the floor. "A letter? How quaint." He picked it up and walked it over to the table. "And it's not a bill. That's a nice change."

He turned it over to open it, whilst Sunny went to get some plates out and rinse them under the tap. It was a routine they had very well rehearsed.

Argyle opened the letter and looked at it in surprise. "Well, this was unexpected," he said. "It's addressed to you?"

"That is weird," Sunny said, and walked over. She cleared her throat then began to read it aloud.

Dear Sarah Starscout,

I am writing to you to congratulate you on your stellar service to the North Western Railway last Autumn. As such, I have an exciting new opportunity for you and your friends.

I am building a new branch line on the Island of Sodor, and would formally like to invite you and your friends to help out with the construction. Please bring your engines too.

Signed,

Sir Topham Hatt,

North Western Railway General Manager.

Sunny shrugged. "Not often I get called by my birth name."

"It's probably all they had on record," Argyle said, as he went to get some bread. "But being asked to help with a branchline is a great honour. I assume you want to go for the opportunity?"

"Yes please!" Sunny said. "I'll go tell my friends right away!"

Just then her stomach gurgled.

"I'm not having you go anywhere on an empty stomach," Argyle said. "You can tell them this evening."

Sunny skated to a stop at their usual meeting bench outside the engine shed, and slipped into her usual seat. "I've got some great news for you guys!" she said.

"What's cookin', Sunny?" Zipp asked.

"Sir Topham Hatt-"

"For it is he," Pipp added. "What? Just trying to add some flare!"

"-Has invited us to work on the North Western Railway, helping to build a new branchline!" Sunny said excitedly. "He even asked us to bring our engines!"

"I can only wonder how we'll handle the work here and there," Hitch said.

"I can only assume other engines will be deployed to help out here. Besides, a change of scenery is as good a break as any." Pipp smiled. "Knapford has so many boutiques I want to try out! One of the stores had a Livre Cheval on display!"

"A what?" Hitch asked.

"It's a fashion line," Zipp said. "I don't understand a word of it either. Besides, don't you already have loads of clothes?"

"I need to keep the variety up!"

"So, we up for this?" Sunny asked.

"You bet we are!" Misty said.

Sunny hopped out of her seat. "I'll go tell dad right away!" She skated away, punching the air as she did so.

"Oh, not this again!" Twilight complained.

Thomas' fire wasn't building properly. It kept going out, which meant there was not enough steam. And the lack of steam meant that Thomas couldn't move. The fact he was asleep probably didn't help matters.

"Gone fishing..." he said quietly to himself.

About half an hour later, Gordon was waiting for his coaches. He was fuming. "Where is Thomas?" he complained. "He was supposed to have put the coaches in the platform half an hour ago!"

"We're gonna be late now," Rainbow Dash grumbled. "Of course, the passengers will complain either way, but Thomas needs to speed it up a little."

At last the coaches arrived. "Hurry up!" Gordon snapped.

"Hurry up yourself!" Thomas replied.

"That didn't end well for us last time," Twilight pointed out.

"Besides, you know why I can't collect my own coaches," Gordon continued. "My wheelbase is too long for the sidings- I would derail on the points!"

Thomas tuned him out as he began to propel them forwards into the loop. "Call the signals for me!" he said.

Twilight leaned out of the cab. "Signal is green! We're good to get into position for reverse move!"

But as the front of the coaches approached the signal, it suddenly changed from a green aspect to a red aspec. "What the?" Twilight immediately slammed the brakes on, trying to bring the train to a stop.

But even at the relatively low propelling speed of 15 miles an hour they were going too fast to stop. The coaches slammed into the points set against them and derailed, falling into the ballast and blocking the lines.

Thomas blinked. "That didn't go to plan."

Author's Note

Hello, one and all, and welcome back to another Thomas and Friends story. This time, I decided I'd have a crack at adapting one of the most beloved Thomas films, Legend of the Lost Treasure. Originally made to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the publication of The Three Railway Engines, it only seemed fitting to adapt it for the 40th anniversary of Thomas and Friends, the TV show which introduced so many to the Island of Sodor and its quirky inhabitants.

Bertie and Spike's dialogue references the controversy that erupted in the G5 community when Spike returned with a new voice actor. Setting aside the in-universe reason that the character had aged, the primary reason for the new voice actor was that audio recording had moved to Toronto and Cathy Weseluck is based in Vancouver. Tara Strong was able to reprise her role of Twilight Sparkle as, although she was born in Canada. she is based in L.A.

A Mogo van is a type of van designed to transport a car. These vans had doors at the sides and fronts to allow vehicles to drive along the length of the train. As a system it arguably formed the blueprint for Motorail in the 1960s (the rought British equivalent of Amtrak's Autotrain), and more modern car carrying rail services like LeShuttle (which operates car trains in the Channel Tunnel).

Pipp's dialogue briefly references a social media phenomenon around 2014, when nobody on the internet could agree if a dress was blue and black or white and gold. It turned out to be a fascinating case study in the way people perceive colours. The inclusion here also serves as a reference to this story (which I thoroughly recommend you read; it's fantastic).

TEquestria Girls: A New Generation

Equestria Girls

MLP Gen 5

Comedy

Drama

Slice of Life

Having received her teaching degree, Sunset Shimmer is back at CHS to help guide along a new generation with the lessons she's had to learn about magic and friendship.

Human

Sunset Shimmer

Principal Celestia

Mane 5

Opaline

Naughty_Ranko · 85k words  ·  155  4 · 3.2k views

Finally, it appears Thomas is in a bit of a mess. How will he get out of this predicament? You'll have to tune in tomorrow to find out!

Chapter 2-A New Arrival

After a long journey to the construction site, the engines of Falmouth pulled into the construction site to a chorus of cheers. Salty was the first to park up in the shed. "Well, that was a smooth run!" he said.

"That," Charles said, "was because you had me towing you the entire way."

"We did the last bit under our own steam!" Porter protested, as he moved into position.

"That hardly counts," Charles said. "Because this island is small, you did not do many miles under your own power."

"Does it really matter how far we ran under our own power?" Rebecca said, looking surprised. "Well, this is a new bit of the island I've never seen before."

"We were on the other side of it for much of the operation last time," Sophie noted, her engine still running. "It's nice to see some new scenery, and experience Sodor whilst not being blasted at by a nutter in a robot suit."

"Agreed," Bellerophon said. "I wonder if the other engines are still around?"

Just then, a group of workmen arrived. "Hello there!" one of them said. "We need you lot to get to work immediately. Sophie and Charles, we need you two to go and collect some freshly collected rails for laying at the construction site. But that is not all. Much ballast has arrived in the last few days, and we have rather a lot of hoppers to deal with. Salty, Porter, we need you two to process them as soon as possible and get them ready for onward movement by Donald and Douglas."

"On my way, sir!" Sunny said.

"You can count us to follow the three r's!" Izzy said.

"Which are?" asked another worker.

"Reliable, Ready, and Right on Time!"

"I see," they said. "Well, ensure the work is done properly, not quickly."

As the two engines moved off for the shunting yards, Sunny got a buzz on her radio. "Hello?"

"Hey Sunny Bun," her father said. "Your mom and I will go and set up the house we'll be staying in. Catch you later!"

"Sure thing, dad!"

As the diesels were positioned to move off, a large steam shovel rolled through and stopped. "My word!" she said. "What a sight! Charlie, you did it!"

Charles looked very confused. "I don't follow."

"Ah, but you do!" the steam shovel said. "I'm Marion, and the magic engines we passed are magical. Clearly you wished to be something else and it came true! Now to see if I can find a way to make a wish come true!" And she then steamed off towards the dig site.

Charles sighed as the familiar shapes of Donald and Douglas blasted into the yard with loaded ballast hoppers before coming to an abrupt stop.

"Stop bein' pushy!" Donald complained.

"I'm not bein' pushy, Donald!" Douglas replied.

"You pushed me when the signal changed back there!" Donald retorted.

"Didnae."

"Did too!"

"Didnae!"

"Did too!"

"Can we have this argument later?" Bon Bon asked.

"Sure thing, Sweetie Drops."

Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "I've lived on this island for close to a decade now, and people still get my name wrong." She looked over. "Oh! New arrivals!"

Charles glanced over. "You seem like a sensible engine, Douglas. A steam shovel just went through and said something about wishes coming true. Any idea what she's on about?"

Douglas sighed. "Not a clue. Watch it with the handbrakes!"

Back at Knapford station, the last of the damaged coaches were being recovered from the crash scene. Sir Topham Hatt had arrived on the scene, and he looked exceptionally annoyed. Mind you, that was fairly typical when things went wrong on his railway.

"This is quite the mess to clean up," he grumbled. "I really could have done without this." He looked at Thomas with a glare that could melt a glacier. "You are a very naughty engine, Thomas. I thought you knew better than to shunt coaches like this. Has nine years of working with Twilight taught you nothing about how to be useful engine?"

"The signal changed seconds before I got to it!" Thomas protested. "It was green before I was propelling to the station throat and suddenly changed!"

Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "How many times have I heard that story. I've had quite enough of your excuses. It wasn't a faulty signal or damaged points or wind or a bouncing beach ball or Gordon or backing signals or a danger sign or a snapped cable or rain. And not even a magic carpet either!"

"I can vouch for Thomas, actually," Twilight said. "I was watching the signal as well and it changed exactly as he described."

"I don't recall inviting you to speak, Twilight," Sir Topham Hatt said. "The simple fact is the both of you caused this accident, as the signal failure you describe is completely impossible under any circumstances."

Thomas glanced over at Edward, his face in complete and utter disbelief.

"Perhaps," Edward suggested, "we should launch an investigation into what happened?"

"No need," Sir Topham Hatt said. "It's obvious what happened from the CCTV footage." He turned his attention back to Thomas. "Now then, naughty engines are to be punished for their misdeeds, as I cannot trust them until they have proven themselves once more. As such, I am taking away your branchline and Annie and Clarabel until futher notice!"

"WHAT?" Thomas said. "You can't do that!"

"There's absolutely nothing that says I can't," Sir Topham Hatt replied. "And trust me I've done worse. I'm sending you to the construction site for the new branch line. There you will shunt trucks in the sidings and generally be useful once again. That should teach you a lesson about moving stock carefully and properly, and there are no signals for you to ignore either."

He walked off, and Twilight shook her head. "He's not normally like this. What's caused the change?"

Even Gordon was surprised. "I wasn't expecting that harsh of a punishment," he admitted. "I only thought he'd get put on goods trains for a bit."

"Question is," Rainbow Dash said, "who will shunt in the yard until Thomas comes back?"

Back at the worksite, Sophie and Charles pulled in with some rails, and dropped them into the siding. Sophie then moved off to the fuelling pump. Pipp hopped out to get her plugged in.

"Nice weather we're having!" Sophie said.

"I know, right!" Pipp grinned. "Shame dad couldn't come with us this time, but most of us are here, and that's what matters. Besides, I feel I could take on the world!"

As she set the pump running, Pipp produced a microphone from nowhere and decided to give her vocal chords a run. Synth music soon began to flow through local speakers.

"First things first, you gotta look for the spark!
That bit of magic way deep down in your heart!
It's the rhythm that connects us/
When you find it, yeah, now that's a great start! (start, start)
Hey!

"You gotta follow your beat! (beat, beat)
And then soon you will see! (see, see)
You won't have that far to go/
Until your song starts to grow/
All you need is your beat! (your beat, your beat)

"All you need is your beat/ (beat, beat)
(Hey, come on!)
To get them stompin' their feet!
And then the next thing you'll know/
Imagination will flow!
All you need is your beat!
All you need is your beat!

"Whoo!
Bah-dah-dah, bah-dah-dah!
All you need is your beat!
Bah-dah-dah, bah-dah-dah!"

As the music stopped, a group of workmen looked over in confusion. "I don't recall wiring speakers up to play music," he said.

"Clearly a mystery for the ages," said another. "She's certainly got quite the voice, thought."

Even the trucks seemed impressed, as they weren't complaining.

"Let's keep the music up!" Salty said. "After all, a singing workforce is a happy workforce!"

As sea shanties started to flow over the yard, James suddenly rattled in with some trucks. He looked over with a smile when he saw Pipp leaning on Sophie. "Hello Pipp!" he said. "You look splendid!"

"Hi James!" Pipp replied. "Looking totes fab yourself!"

Rarity looked out of the cab. "As much as I appreciate your fashion sense, Pipp, I cannot help but fear your use of English is causing poor grammer.

"Lay off a bit, Rares!" Pipp grinned. "No need to be so formal all the time!"

"But you've been gone for ages!" James said.

"We went home after dealing with Discord," Pipp answered. Her phone suddenly buzzed, and she switched the display. "What's new, Pippsqueaks! The sun is high in the sky and we're feelin' the groove today! Rock your world like never before, folkies!"

Over in the yard, Salty was pushing some some new vehicles. It had been decided, owing to projected traffic volumes, to widen the cut of the line here, as the line was built as single track. In order to lay a second line and avoid bottlenecks, they needed to widen the alignment. Heavy duty explosives was being moved in to complete the task of blasting through the rock.

"Quite a lot of explosives, this!" Salty said. "We could dig our way into Davy Jones' Locker with this lot!"

"I don't think we'll need to go that far," Sunny said. "Harwick will be quite enough." She quickly brushed a hair strand out of her eyes. "Wait a second. I think my braid's come loose."

As she brought the formation to a stop, she got to work on cleaning it up, before noticing something odd. "Huh?"

A shape moved back from the rocks overlooking the building site, and vanished into the undergrowth. "That was weird."

"What was weird?" Salty asked.

"I just saw somebody moving in the rocks up above," Sunny said. "I can't recall any workers being up there."

"They might be needed for positioning the explosives," Salty answered. "They've just finished uncoupling us, by the way."

Sunny nodded and put Salty's engine into reverse. The roar of Salty's engine soon was joined by singing.

"We'll buy one for the bo's'n/
And one for the mates!
We'll buy one for your man of the topsail all day!
We'll buy one for the striker to keep him on game/
And one for the gunner, who's well on his way!
And another round just for good measure!"

Back at Knapford, Twilight had finished packing up her tools and had loaded them onto Thomas' footplate, placing them into the lockbox in the cab. "I don't think I'll be seeing this place again for a while," she said, sadly.

"Why won't they believe us?" Thomas said sadly, as Twilight opened his regulator and brought him out of the yard.

"Hopefully this is only for a short time," Twilight said. "Besides, I need the work."

As they rolled into the yard, a large, boxy tank engine sat there under the coaling tower. He was much bigger than Thomas, and was painted black with red and white lining. His tanks bore the British Railways crest.

Sir Topham Hatt was talking to him. "Now then, Ryan, I want you to work on the Ffarquhar Branchline, as the original engine is indisposed."

"The original engine can hear every word you're saying," said Thomas.

Sir Topham Hatt wheeled around. "Ah! Just setting off, I see. This is Ryan. He will be working your branch line. Now then, Ryan, be smart, drive well, and follow instructions- or you might end up like Thomas here."

Ryan looked over with a cool smile. "I don't think that will be a problem, sir," he said. "Quad Arts were always very easy coaches to handle, and I reckon Midland coaches won't be a problem."

Thomas was aghast. "You replaced me with a Great Northern engine?"

"Now then, let's not let old company rivalries cloud our judgement, shall we?" Ryan smirked. "Enjoy shunting, and do something sensible and get a black coat of paint like me!"

Thomas steamed away. It truly seemed as though things had fallen apart for him. And all in less than 24 hours.

Author's Note

Well, another chapter is here, and the plot is hotting up! With Thomas in disgrace, the construction program underway, and other problems appearing, things are certain to become tense.

Sir Topham Hatt's post-crash speech includes references to many episodes of the TV Series. See if you can identify them all.

Salty's sea shanty is an original composition by Irish musician Colm McGuinness, namely Over and Under. The song is told from the perspctive of a crew looking forward to returning home and having a drink. It's certainly a sentiment I can relate to, having spent long periods away from my homeland.

And finally, a new character:

Ryan is a Great Northern Railway N2 class locomotive. A superheated upgrade of the earlier N1 class, the N2s were built to work heavy commuter trains in and out of King's Cross and on the now-closed Moorgate lines. Ryan's livery here is based on how the engines looked in later service, rather than the innacurate purple livery he gained in the TV series. His running number is also innacurate for the class; 1014 was, in real life, a D9 4-4-0.

Our story shall resume tomorrow, with plenty of stuff going on. See you then!

Chapter 3-With all Their Highs and Lows

Thomas arrived at the construction sight a few hours later, having been delayed by slow running trains. He grumbled as he pulled in. "It's not fair, it's not fair..." he grumbled. "I get everything taken away from me all over something that wasn't my fault! Can this day get any worse?"

"Yes, statistically speaking," Twilight replied. "There could, for instance, be a boulder rolling down the line before us. Or a diesel with a big claw could chase us down a mainline."

"I somehow don't think that's likely," Thomas said, then glanced over to see who was at the rest point. "I believe we've met before," he said to the red diesel.

Salty smiled as he glanced over. "Ahoy, me hearty!" he said. "It be the blue tank engine of legend!"

"Thank you!" Thomas said. "It's nice to find somebody who knows who to talk to engines."

"As a fellow engine, I logically would know," Salty smiled. "Sunny? And old friend is here!"

"Just a second!" a familiar voice replied. Thomas had gotten used to hearing that voice many times during his days in November when Twilight had gone missing. "Need to check calibration of the vacuum brakes!"

A few moments later, Sunny's face popped around the side of the other locomotive, followed by the rest of her body (as a floating head would be a rather bizarre sight to say the least). Her face was already cheerful, but broke out into an enormous grin when she saw Thomas. "Hey Thomas!" she said. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Sure has," Thomas said. "Say, how have things been on the mainland?"

"Pretty good, if somewhat chaotic," Sunny replied, as she sat on Salty's running board. "All sorts of ghosts, repeated encounters with crazy things-"

"Discord?" Thomas asked.

"Thankfully not," Salty said. "Or else we'd be all out to dry with no wind in our sails!"

"Well, when you put it like that," Thomas said, "we've had an easy few months here in comparison. But something very odd happened today."

"I don't think Sunny needs to know about that, Thomas," Twilight said.

"She might be able to cast some light on the odd signal thing we encountered," Thomas said.

"Odd signal thing?" Salty asked. "Now you've got this old sea dog's attention."

"Yeah, that does sound serious," Sunny said. "May I get some context on that situation?"

So Thomas explained to her what had happened at Knapford earlier that day. Safe to say Sunny was a bit surprised. "I've never encountered a fault like that," she admitted. "But then again me and Salty usually work in a yard with no signalling, so we don't have to worry about that."

"It sounded familiar to me, though," Salty said. "Once, a long time ago, there some incorrectly wired signals on the main line, and a disconnected relay was activated by a false electrical signal. Once that happened, a signal went from red green when it shouldn't have done. A train was behind the signal, and it moved off- and crashed into the train in the block in front."

"I hope nobody was hurt," Twilight said.

"Sadly, there were several deaths and many injuries," Salty reported. "All of that caused by some shoddy maintenance work."

Just then, Isaac arrived. "Was there something you needed me to look at?" he asked. "Or is the issue resolved?"

"Nope, it's all good to go," Sunny said. "This is Isaac Moonbow, Izzy's dad."

"I don't believe we interacted," Thomas said. "Nice to meet you, Mr Moonbow."

"Likewise," Isaac replied. "Now, what was that about faulty terminals?"

"Thomas was involved in an accident involving signals at Knapford," Sunny said.

"And it was faulty signals at that!" Thomas said. "The signal changed as I approached it, which shouldn't happen!"

Isaac nodded. "I deal with computer systems on a daily basis as part of my job maintaining and running oil rigs. If the signal system is computer controlled, I might be able to investigate the fault and find out what's going on."

"Please do!" Twilight said. "If nothing else knowing what happened would help greatly with my anxiety."

"Consider it as good as done," Isaac said, and soon he was on his way.

"Thank you so much," Thomas said. "You know, it was strange how quickly he had another engine lined up to replace me. Almost as if this was planned somehow."

Just then, Rebecca steamed in with some fresh hoppers loaded with ballast. "I don't know if I'm coming or going and it's only noon!" she said, with a tired smile. "But it's an interesting return to the past- I used to work ballast trains out of Meldon Quarry back in the day, and those were quite heavy."

"That's where we get most of our ballast from, isn't it?" Salty asked.

"It is," Sunny replied.

There was another sound as Charles returned from the build site- with more loaded hoppers. "Just what we needed," he grumbled.

"What happened Charles?" Rebecca asked.

"There's ground subsidence at the build site," Charles complained. "The ground was shifting as I approached. The construction crews told me to pull back to a safe distance whilst they installed some barriers and safety equipment. They'll carry what they need to the build site and avoid using engines, so they putting up a stop board to tell us where to stop."

"That's quite useful," Twilight said. "Provided the engine in question obeys the stop board. Right, Thomas?"

"You just had to mention that, didn't you?"

The sun continued to move through the sky as the engines continued their day, relatively merry. Thomas was feeling something of a sense of peace here. Far away from Sir Topham Hatt and his wild accusations, Thomas was in the company of friends and engines who saw him as an equal, not an engine to blame when everything went wrong.

Having said that, he was certain Sir Topham Hatt would come to his senses. I mean, he always had in the past. Why would this time be any different?

Isaac looked closely at the display terminal at Knapford south box, which controlled the signalling systems on that side of the station. The display contained all the readings and data he would need to diagnose the problem with the terminal, and so he got to work, typing in the codes he needed to access the data required to crack this puzzle open.

"Right then, let's see what I can find within this system," he said, mainly to himself as he continued to move and process data about to find what he needed to solve the mystery.

At last, he found it, and his eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. "If that had happened on one of the rigs it'd make Piper Alpha look like a firecracker." He quickly ran a program to compile the data, and then indicated to a printer to print out an automatically generated report. Once this was done printing, he exited the lower levels of the signal box.

"Did you find anything, sir?" asked the signalman.

"Yes, and it's not good," Isaac replied. "I'd advise shutting down the box whilst it is investigated."

The signalman nodded. "Understood. Locking out the box and transferring command to Knapford North box. You know sir, it was strange. I thought the interlocking was behaving abnormally this morning. I tried to mention it to Sir Topham Hatt but he brushed me off for some reason."

"How very odd," Isaac said. "I should have more luck- I doubt he'd disregard the words of a trained systems engineer."

Isaac then made his way to the station, and after walking onto the platform stood outside Sir Topham Hatt's office. He then knocked.

"ENTER!"

Isaac entered to see the head of the railway on the phone to somebody. "What do you mean you can't get through? Get some power tools and chop it into bits!"

He placed the phone down, and looked over. "Ah, Mr Moonbow," he said. "Tell me, what did you find?"

Isaac placed the report on his desk. "The signal failed. A malfunction in one of the terminals caused the interlocking to disconnect and a rogue wire resulted in the signal displaying a false green aspect. You need to get the terminal replaxed and the wire resoldered. You should consider yourself very lucky that the accident wasn't more serious- if a loaded train had derailed at speed on those points you could have been looking at a repeat of the Potters Bar crash."

Sir Topham Hatt nodded. "I'll send it to the Office of Rail and Road right away." He smiled. "Enjoy your time on Sodor, Mr Moonbow. Anna enjoyed it here last November."

"Who's Anna?" Isaac asked.

"Your daughter, as in Annabelle, right?"

Isaac shook his head. "She's called Izzy, short for Isabelle." As he left the office, he shook his head. "Weird he should get that one wrong. Izzy's spent far more time here than me."

Sir Topham Hatt closed the door, and looked at the report. "Let's get rid of this," he said, and he dropped it in the shredder.

Back at the worksite, the engines were working with the new parameters. Thomas had been put to work taking explosives to the construction site, as far as the stop board of course. Twilight coupled him to the train, and all seemed to be well at first.

They puffed down the line with the wind whistling along past them at speed. It all seemed like very easy work indeed for them, until of course it stopped being easy.

Twilight looked about. "They said their should be a stop board along the line where the workmen will be waiting," she said. "Eyes on the lookout, Thomas!"

"On it!" Thomas said, although his view was obstructed by his trucks sitting in front of him. He continued to rattle on his way, seeing the scenery roll by. "You know, I hadn't considered how pretty this bit of the island is."

"Eyes on the rails, never mind the view."

"I've heard the story of Duke from Pear, you know."

Just then, as they rolled along, Twilight suddenly felt the ground seem to shift under them. "Wait, where's the stop board?" she asked, confused.

"I can't see one either!" Thomas said. Suddenly, they lurched to one side, and the trucks in front of them tipped over, discarding their cargo onto the ground, which was still shifting. The coupling had broken, but in that moment the explosives onboard detonated, blowing a vast hole in the floor.

Thomas was left hanging precariously over the gap, looking down into a vast cavern. "Cinders and ashes! I'm stuck! HELP!"

A few minutes later, Porter pulled Thomas back. "Thought you'd have had enough of falling down mines, mate," Porter joked.

"Not funny," Thomas said. "I could have fallen in!"

"Well, the stop board was there for a reason," Izzy pointed out. "Trains have to stop at it."

"That's what's weird, though," Twilight said. "There was no stop board at all! If the ground hadn't collapsed we'd have had no clue where to stop!"

"That is strange," Izzy conceded. "There was one a few minutes ago. But why would they remove it?"

Thomas was about to reply, but then saw a strange glow coming from the hole in the ground. "Did you see that?" he asked.

"See what?" Twilight asked.

"Something was glowing under the ground," Thomas said. "Have we found a secret cavern?"

"Perhaps best we let the official investigation handle this," said Twilight, who looked behind her. "We haven't exactly made a good first impression, have we?"

"Seems that way," Thomas sighed. Any moment now he knew the infamous musical cue would play and there would be something about confusion and delay.

At last they came to a stop in the yard, where everybody showed the appropriate level of concern.

But what had been in that cavern? That was all that was on Thomas' mind right now. How could they find out what had been down there?

Author's Note

So, Thomas has met with his Falmouth friends once more, and all seems to be well between them. As previously noted this group of characters blends exceptionally well on screen, which is part of what makes this crossover such a joy to write.

Salty alludes to the Clapham Junction accident, a rail accident that occurred in south London in the late 1980s that was caused by poor maintenance. In a rather spooky twist of fate, Michael Palin had been booked on one of the trains involved in the accident as part of his documentary series Around the World in 80 Days-but was delayed due to missing a ferry the previous day.

Isaac briefly references the Piper Alpha disaster, where an oil platform was destroyed by a fire caused by a malfunctioning gas riser. In terms of damage and lives lost it remains the worst offshore oil disaster in history- with a scale of regional devastation comparable only to the Deepwater Horizon accident 22 years later. He also references the Potters Bar crash, caused when an express train derailed due to poorly maintained rails.

And now we've had the big accident scene from the film. But what was in the ground below them? Find out soon in the next installment of this story!

Chapter 4-Digs and Discoveries

Annie and Clarabel had a sense something wasn't right with this Ryan character based on many factors.

The first was how he slammed into them at speed when backing down onto them. "Ouch!" Annie said. "Be careful, Ryan! We are very important carriages, you know!"

Ryan snorted. "I think you can take a few knocks here and there."

He pulled away with a laugh- far too harshly for their liking. "Not so fast!" Clarabel said. "There's no need to pull away so aggressively. Thomas would know how to do it if he were here."

"Well, he's not, so forget about him, OK?" Ryan said. "Besides, he was too small and too slow. It's about time this railway got a bit of an update to drag it kicking and screaming into the 1920s."

Sure enough, he arrived in the platforms at Knapford, where the passengers were very confused. "What is this big engine?" asked one.

"This isn't Thomas!" said another. "I'm not convinced this is the right platform, Cornelius."

"It looks that way, Jay," said another passenger. "Something very strange is going on here."

"I am your engine for today," Ryan said. "So come with me, and you shall get to your stops on time."

The passengers boarded, still rather confused at the scene. Ryan got underway with a blast of steam and some very rapid acceleration.

"This is far too rough!" complained one. "Tell the driver to accelerate far more cautiously in future!"

They powered out of the station, Ryan cackling to himself. "Time for this place to get an update! All clear for the jazz express!"

Ryan was soon up to speed, and his wheels pounded the rails as he flew along the line. He wasn't quite doing the speed limit, but he was a lot closer to it than Thomas could have gotten.

He skidded to a stop at Knapford Junction, and waited for the passengers to change trains before blasting off again and showcasing the legendary rapid acceleration his class was known for. The passengers weren't entirely happy, though.

"This not so much jazz as bebop!" complained one. "This is far too bumpy for my taste!"

Ryan blasted out of a tunnel, his condensor switching off as he exited- and resulting in an enormous cloud of smoke as he thundered along. Some local farmers were not exactly pleased by the blast of steam.

When Ryan finally made it to the end of the line, the passengers were not happy. "That was one of the roughest train journeys I've ever had!" a passenger grumbled. "I shall be filing a formal complaint with the board of the railway!"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "They'll get used to it. This island does need speeding up, after all."

A figure stepped off his footplate and over to a phone. "Good news," he said. "The disruption plan is underway, and we can begin to confuse our opponents and keep them busy for you."

"Excellent," said a voice on the other end. "Await my arrival."

Back at the crash scene, Sir Topham Hatt had arrived- a few minutes later than usual. Often he was so quick to crash scenes people were convinced he could teleport. "What the blazes has gotten into you?" he demanded. "Are you incapable of doing a simple task without messing it up?"

"It's not my fault, sir!" Thomas protested.

"Oh, here we go again..."

"There were no danger signs or detonators anywhere, and-"

"Not. Another. Word. I've had quite enough of his voice for one day."

"In fairness, when we headed down to rescue him there were no signs either," Porter said. "And I distinctly recall them being there earlier in the day."

"Well, that's because they were probably blown away when Thomas crashed into them!" Sir Topham Hatt replied.

"We do have CCTV footage covering the area if you'd like to review it," Izzy said.

"No need," Sir Topham Hatt said. "Put Thomas in the back of the shed for the rest of the day. If that doesn't make him behave I don't know what will." And just then he had an idea. He turned. "If you can't behave, Thomas, I shall take away your blue coat of paint and have you painted black!"

"Then nobody will know who I am!" Thomas protested.

"Exactly," Sir Topham Hatt said. "A small price to pay, I think."

Porter looked over. "I've been painted black my entire life. It's really not that bad."

"Not really helping, Porter," Twilight said.

"Sir?" called a voice. "We've found something!"

"Thomas' common sense?" Sir Topham Hatt said, and he walked over to the pit. But instead, his eyes widened in surprise. Sitting down there, right before his eyes, was a spectacular cavern, filled with glowing crystals.

"Now what have we found here?" he said, his eyes twinkling with delight. "I had no idea this was here!"

"Were you expecting a cavern, sir?" asked another worker, who seemed equally stunned.

"If my eyes are correct," Sir Topham Hatt said, "we seem to have found a branch of the Sodor Crystal Caverns. The system hasn't been mapped this far yet, so we have a chance to figure out what else might be going on here." He stood up. "We need to plan a diversion around the site, and bring in the archeologists to sort this out."

"Won't we need geologists?" Twilight asked.

"Why are you still here?" Sir Topham Hatt asked.

Sure enough, Thomas sadly puffed back to the shed, Porter in front of him.

"You look like you need cheering up," Izzy said.

"I could do with that, actually," Thomas said. "I don't seem able to live up to Sir Topham Hatt's standards. Perhaps all these years have diminished my usefulness."

"I wouldn't say that!" Salty said, looking over with a kind, toothy grin. "I've worked on many a dockside with many different engines, and we're all useful in our own ways."

"As one of my favourite music groups puts it, we're just members of the Union of Different Kinds," Sunny replied. "It'd be boring if we were all the same."

News of the incident had reached Argyle, and had intrigued him no less. No sooner had he heard the news then he began to conduct research into the new phenomena.

His eyes danced over the information he was looking at. "Oldest known cave formation on the island," he mused. "Well, that might just have been beaten. Isaac would get a field day out of this."

Goldie entered from another room, putting down her mug. "What you looking at?" she asked.

Argyle looked over. "Seems the construction crew made a remarkable discovery," he said. "An incident earlier today revealed a large cavern filled with glowing crystals. And as we know bioluminescence in rock formations is evidence for the presence of gold dust."

Goldie looked surprised. "How would that work? Sorry if these sound like basic questions, but I'll admit I'm not an expert in the field."

"It's OK," Argyle smiled. "I'm only an amateur at this myself. The existance of these patterns suggest something remarkable- that the crystal caverns are a branch of the Magic Railway. That would explain why Sunny ended up where she did during the November trip- the branch terminated there."

"So, some sort of fast travel system like in an RPG?" Goldie asked.

"Pretty much," Argyle said. "Just with fewer rolling D20s, of course. What is even more interesting is that the geology of the cavern closely matches what has been already found at the Tidmouth Crystal Caves, which have been mapped out very well."

He paused. "And that's not all. The map I'm referring to extends out over the water. The tunnels are represented using black lines, and if we look here," he noted, pointing to one line on his map, "it joins up to the caverns perfectly. The Crystal Caverns are part of the Magic Railway- a branch I was previously unaware of."

Goldie peered over his shoulder. "This could allow for instant travel across most of the country."

"For good or for ill," Argyle said. "But there's one line I can't make sense of." He pointed to one extending out to sea from roughly where Alresburgh was, continuing to the edge of the map and abruptly stopping when the map ran out of paper.

"The question is- where does the line stop? How far does the Magic Railway go?"

Goldie's phone buzzed, and she checked it. "See you in a bit, Argyle. I've got another meeting to attend. Please try to keep the volume down."

"Yes ma'am, quiet as a mouse," Argyle replied. Once she was gone he really dug into his research, determined to find the answers to the mysteries. "How many secrets does Sodor still hold?" he said to himself. "And how can I unlock them for the betterment of humanity as a whole?"

He was completely unaware that somebody had become aware of his act. "We need to move the plan forward. Argyle's figured out what the tunnels are."

"On my way," said the voice on the other end.

"Hold fast, me merry lads/
The night is nearin' the end!
No matter the storm, we'll pull her to shore/
We're ramblin' home again!"

A ship pulled into the harbour under the cover of the starlight, and docked at the port to offload cargo.

"I hope the ride wasn't too rough," said the captain to a woman standing on the deck.

"On the contrary you did a superb job," she said, adjusting her shawl. "My family has a past in the nautical world."

She hopped ashore. "Good luck, all of you!"

She made her way across the dock and grabbed some other supplies as she went on her way. She knew precisely where she wanted to head, and opened up a device which was beeping.

"Magic energy traces are this way," she said, and she ducked out of the cover of a lamp and continued on her way. She got some speed up as she ducked past some trucks, which were locked in place with brake blocks.

After waiting for a lorry to pass, she continued on her way, soon leaving the town proper and starting to climb some steps. This stairway was meant to connect the fishing town to the old fisherman's pathway. This had been used in the old days to connect Arlesburgh to Harwick, as fishermen would carry their catch to market in Arlesburgh. The new railway had threatened to eliminate his path, but that seemed to have been brought to a temporary stop.

Luckily, she knew a shortcut to get to where she needed to go. She ducked into a cavern and walked through it, feeling her way along to the end, which emerged next to the railway line.

Waiting for a maintenance gang to go by, she walked past and to the dig site. Truth be told, it wasn't hard to spot it with the bright light show it was giving off day in and day out. She walked over, crouched, and took out another device. This machine beeped as it took a reading, and her eyes lit up with delight at the readings.

"It's even better than I could have imagined!" she said. "The Magic Railway is connected to this area too! Clever old me!"

She closed the device and walked back, stopping next to a rock. She grabbed a radio. "Come in, Boomer."

"Loud and clear, Opaline."

"Those followers of ours have done an even better job than I could have imagined. The caverns are usable, and what we need from them is indeed there. They just might need a little encouragement to get us what we want."

"What would you propose?"

Opaline grinned. "A rather big bang might do the trick. I'm thinking some of the things they have at the construction site might do the trick."

"We'll need to move carefully. The niusance is there too."

"Maintain stealth and do what you can." Opaline closed the radio off. "Honestly, that fool needs to give up on her."

Author's Note

The conversations at Knapford station reference several notable rail tycoons of the 19th Century. Can you identify them all?

Ryan briefly references the Jazz Service, a common nickname for the suburban trains that ran out of Liverpool Street. The nickname derives from the intensity of the service and the brightly coloured destination boards used on the trains. The nickname is still used to allude to modern electric services running to and from Liverpool Street. One of the passengers briefly mentions bebop, a style of jazz known for being very difficult to dance to and play owing to its complexity. Bebop was the favoured jazz of the beatniks, which is why bebop is usually the style playing at the Crystal Tearooms.

The concept of the magic railway running across the globe is inspired by a fanfiction where Thomas ends up at CHS- as a human (I'll leave the logistics of how that would even work to you for a moment). For a long time geologists have suspected cave networks run under the sea- the Channel Tunnel was partly built using them- but that's as much as we really know. Caves, alongside space, are truly the final frontier.

And now Opaline has entered the fight. What could she be planning?

Chapter 5-Just Because We're Small

A little way back from the construction site sits the junction for the Arlesdale Railway, with its distinctive rail transfer hopper to move ballast from the 15 inch trucks to standard gauge wagons. The three engines, Rex, Mike, and Bert, were at work shunting hoppers, whilst Lady Haven had offered to help out there.

"So, what are their names?" she asked Mr Duncan, the manager of the railway.

"The green one is Rex," he said. "The blue one is Bert, and the red one is Mike. Their drivers are Pip, Featherweight, and Twist respectively. Word of advice- don't call them little, Your Ladyship. They tend to get quite offended."

"And quite right too!" Rex said. "Just because we're small doesn't mean we don't work hard! Never overlook a little engine!"

Mr Duncan looked at his watch. "Alas, I must be away for a meeting now," he said. "Can you oversee the yard for a bit?"

"Gladly."

Just then, Sophie backed under the loader with some hoppers. "Are we ready up there?" she asked.

"I'm ready up here!" Bert said. "Are you ready down there?"

"I'm ready down here!" Pipp added.

"So we're ready don there and up here!" Featherweight helpfully clarified, seeming quite amused by the whole spectacle.

After loading was complete, Lady Haven decided to check in. "Pipp?"

"Yes?" two people said, looking at her.

"Oh," she sighed. "You both use the same shorthand."

"Besides, Pip is short for Phillip, far as I know," Pip said.

"It's also short for Phillippa, whis is my name," Pipp said. "Looks like I'm Pipp with three Ps for the rest of the trip."

As Sophie moved away with the ballast, Lady Haven noticed Aurora arriving. "This is going to be a frightfully confusing day," she said. "We've got two people called Pip working here!"

"Yes?" Pip asked.

"Oh, this is getting ridiculous."

Just then, they heard a voice from nearby. "Hey! Move your silly great bucket out of the way!"

The two adults looked over to see Marion the steam shovel blocking the line, her bucket in position behind Mike.

"I only want to make a wish!"

"Go away!"

Marion looked annoyed. "You gave Charlie a wish, and now he's a diesel!"

Twist looked annoyed. "I have abtholutely no clue what the's talking about!"

Lady Haven walked over, and looked rather annoyed. "Marion, could you please stop harrassing the Arlesdale Engines?" she asked.

"But they're magic!" Marion protested. "And I want a wish granted."

Lady Haven had neither sufficient face nor palm for the situation. "There is no such thing as wish granting," she said. "Saying I wish three times in a row does not grant teleportation. And I have no idea where you got this idea about Charles, but he's been a diesel since the day he was built."

Marion's eyes went wide. "Charles? Charlie? They're two different engines!"

"Yes, they are," Lady Haven said. "Glad to clear that confusion up."

Marion puffed away, making some very strange remarks.

Lady Haven sighed. "I would say that's the strangest thing I've ever encountered, but I've been in weirder spots before."

Back at the construction site, the engines were hard at work once more, moving supplies into the sidings for the new and exciting projects that were underway.

Plenty of fresh track had arrived, most of it temporary way for the new route. They'd succesfully figured out a new way around the big hole in the ground, and this required fresh track and ballast. As such, the old rails were being pulled up to avoid further problems.

Salty was coupled to a train of explosives. "High intensity work, this!" he said. "Let's get moving! Now, I don't know many sea shanties about explosives, but-"

His speech was suddenly interrupted by a loud beeping noise. "Whatever is that?"

Sunny got out of the cab to take a look. Her eyes widened in horror at what she saw in the trucks. "The timers on the explosives are counting down!" she said. "If we don't get them moved or defused we'll be blown to smithereens!"

"How long have we got?" Salty asked.

"Two minutes!" Sunny replied.

"Out of the way, Salty!" Thomas called. "I know just where to put it!"

Salty had been coupled at the wrong end of the train, and began to reverse rapidly, combining his power with that of Thomas as they rattled towards the big hole.

"They're all playing pass the parcel!" Salty said.

"Can you blame us when you can hear the parcel ticking?" Twilight answered.

Both engines worked as hard as they could to move the loaded trucks away from the danger site as fast as they could. The beeping noises continued from the trucks as they raced along. "Keep going!" Thomas said.

"Not much else we can do, matey!" Salty said, as they rattled along.

Sunny looked behind her and saw they were passing the danger flag. "Slow down!" she called, as she opened the cab door and stepped onto Salty's footplate. "I'm uncoupling now!"

She grabbed a shunter's pole and unhooked the trucks, before using it to knock a track switch. The points switched over to a temporary way line nearby.

"NOW! FULL BRAKES!"

Salty began to slow down as Thomas slammed his brakes on, the trucks rolling free and away from the danger scene. They rattled into the into the siding before the hole, and slammed through the buffers, falling into the ground below.

It seemed as though they were just in time. About ten seconds later, the explosives detonated, blasting the lower caverns with a series of loud explosions that shook the ground.

"That was quite the bang," Thomas said. "Is everybody OK?"

"I certainly am," Salty said. "Great work Thomas! You saved the day!"

Thomas smiled. "No problem, Salty. Getting a friend out of a scrape is the least I could do. Besides, without your pulling power I doubt I could have gotten that lot moving in time."

"We always lend one another a helping hand," Sunny smiled.

They weren't smiling when they got back to the yard. Sir Topham Hatt had somehow already arrived. And he looked apocalyptically cross.

"THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE! SALTY! WHAT THE DEVIL WERE YOU PLAYING AT?" he boomed, his voice echoing off the nearby rocks. "Racing about like dragsters? Gallivanting about with trucks? Playing with explosives? I thought sending you here would make you more responsible, but it would seem these Cornish engines are nothing but a bad influence!"

"We weren't playing with explosives!" Twilight protested. "They started count-"

"I am talking!"

"And?" Salty asked.

Sir Topham Hatt looked at the diesel. "Any more lip from you and I'll send you to the smelter's yard."

He then turned his attention back to Thomas. "As for you!" he boomed. "I know you already have some ridiculous cock and bull story about how a spaceship triggered the explosives or how a landslide was caused by a bouncing globe- but I don't want to hear a peep out of you. Go to your shed immediately, and you can stay there for the rest of the week whilst I decide what to do with you."

Thomas slunk away, dejected. Anybody observing would have thought they saw tears in his eyes.

Salty, bravely, chose to speak up. "With all due respect, sir, Thom-"

Sir Topham Hatt wheeled around on him so quickly the others jumped. "With all due respect means you shut your mouth and do as you are told! Is that clearly understood?"

The engines exchanged some glances. And with that, the engine crews got out of their engines and began to walk away.

"Where are you lot going?" he boomed.

"On strike!" Sunny replied.

"Oh, so it's that way," Sir Topham Hatt said. "I should have you know I have plenty of experience with engines who have ideas about their station. I am a Baronet, with power over the railway. You are just a silly little girl with high flying ideas but no understanding of how the world really works."

"I run my own business!" Sunny replied. "And Salty and I are very used to handling docksides."

Sir Topham Hatt looked stunned that somebody was holding their own against him. "Unless you and Salty intend to go to the same shed as Thomas, you will return to work this instant! Do you understand?"

"Sorry, I'm not employed by you!" Sunny replied.

Sir Topham Hatt blinked. "What cheek! If I'd spoken to my father like that I'd have been grounded the entire weekend! Somebody needs to teach the current generation manners!"

"I think I'll decide how I parent my own daughter," said a voice, suddenly. Sure enough, Argyle was there. He shook his head, speaking in the same tone of voice one might discuss the weather. "The place really has gone to pot since I was last here."

"Are you say-"

Argyle sighed. "The way you treat your engines is deplorable. Whatever would Sir Charles think?"

Sir Topham Hatt glared after him. "Oh, you'll find out pretty soon," he said. "You lot will regret crossing me."

Lady Haven was surprised to see Pipp and Zipp getting in early. "Hello girls. It's a bit early, isn't it?"

"We've gone on strike," Zipp explained.

"Has something happened?" Lady Haven asked.

"There was an accident at the construction site, and Thomas got blamed for something he didn't do," Pipp replied. "So, in an act of solidarity, and to show our disgust at how Sir Topham Hatt is running things, we've gone on strike until he changes his mind."

Lady Haven nodded. "I will admit he does seem a bit big for his boots. But that's often the case for people in new positions of power, I'm afraid. Move them one or two positions up the ladder and they regard themselves as the biggest fish in the pond. I met him earlier, and he mentioned he was a baronet numerous times in the conversation. Being a gentleman or a lady isn't about throwing titles about. It's how you treat others."

She looked back to her display. "Whilst you were away I did some digging. And I've found evidence the incident with the barriers was sabotage." She clicked a button, and CCTV footage began to play. It showed shadowy figures removing the barriers and warning signs.

"Who would do that?" Pipp asked, shocked. "They're putting people in danger!"

"Whatever is in that cavern," Lady Haven said, "they clearly were using us to unearth it for them free of charge. And with this explosives incident I can only wonder if the same is true- someone, somewhere, is watching our movements and pushing assets into position to boost their own power."

"But who?" Zipp asked.

"That," Lady Haven said, "I do not know yet. I'll need to look deeper. Have you seen Argyle anywhere? I think his expertise on Sodor will be required."

Thomas sad miserably in his shed, looking as the sun set. The yard had fallen completely silent, engines parked in sidings or in another shed, waiting for work to resume or for the strike to end.

He looked at the rails, his face shining back from them. "Nobody wants me," he said quietly. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Twilight sat on his footplate, looking equally down. "It's not fair," she said quietly as well. "None of this is our fault, and yet we're getting the blame. And now our friends are nowhere to be seen?"

"Have you been pushed aside?" a voice said.

"Who's there?" Thomas asked.

"A friend," the voice said, and a woman strode across the tracks. "The way they have treated you is disgusting. You deserve so much better than that Fat Controller of yours and fairweather friends who abandon you at the drop of a hat."

"Can you help us?" Twilight asked.

"I could do with your services," the woman said. "There's a valuable object I need to find near here, and a big, strong engine like you would be ideal."

Thomas smiled. "I'll be glad to help, miss... what's your name?"

The woman smiled. "Opaline."

Author's Note

Welcome back to another chapter, the first of several cliffhanger chapters in this story. Safe to say, we've reached the controversial bit now.

Lady Haven's dialogue near the start briefly references Generation 1 of MLP. Can you spot it? Of course, in that sequence the Pip/Pipp confusion was inevitable as a bit of humour.

The dynamite scene is rather modified from the original film to fit the changed plotline better. I also liked the idea of the affected engine and Thomas working together to avert disaster.

Now then... Sir Topham Hatt. His portrayal in the film, although much closer to how he acts in the books, firmly split the fanbase down the middle. Personally, I wasn't so fond, as his lack of willingness to look into problems and point the finger of blame without investigating first means he comes across as a bad boss. The other engines not standing up for Thomas is also a realistic consequence of workplace bullying; they're clearly scared of suffering the same fate.

Finally... I am aware Thomas being recruited by Opaline seems a bit weird, but he's at his lowest point, seemingly abandoned by those he thought were his friends, browbeaten by a boss, and convinced that the closest he has to a father figure hates him. In such a situation, a person would seek any sort of attachment from anybody.

The story will now pause until Monday, when more secrets shall be revealed.

Chapter 6-Buckets and Spades

The weather had taken a turn for the worse the next day. The rain simply came down horribly, pounding the soil with mountains of heavy, sustained water that made navigation difficult.

Not that this stopped the railway, though. The Cornish engines all sat under cover, looking out on the scene. Their drivers had come to do routine maintenance to stop rust buildup or any unwanted dirt or grime, but this was growing to be a problem eventually.

Pipp did some work on Sophie's axle boxes as she hid from the rain. "This is very wet," she said to herself, working from under a raincoat. "I'm glad I brought this, as this is torrential."

"Tell me about it," Sophie said. She looked out to see work continuing. "Looks like the Fat Hat followed through with his threat."

The strike plan had somewhat fallen apart, as Sodor's vast reserve of engines proved to be very useful for strike breaking and generally causing plans to fall apart. Right now, other engines were doing their work.

Pipp was still at work when suddenly a voice interrupted her. "Oi, you lot! Listen up!"

Pipp turned to face him. "Sheesh, there's no need to be so rude. You could have asked politely!"

The figure, a railway worker, crossed his arms. "Move your engines out of the shed and onto the sidings."

"Why?" Pipp asked. "It's raining. If they're left out in the rain they could get damaged."

"Orders from the top," the worker said. "Directive from Sir Topham Hatt. The new rules state that sheds can only be used by engines who have earned them through a hard days' work. Your engines are not working, so cannot be in the shed as they have not done a hard days' work."

"Seems a bit unreasonable," Pipp sighed.

"Just move them over, that's an order," the worker said.

"What's the magic word?"

What the worker said next was truly bizarre. "I know you noble types think the world owes you stuff because you happen to have the right dad, but the truth is that we run the world now. Your title means nothing. Unless you want to be banned from the North Western Railway for insubordination, get your engines moved- NOW."

Pipp grumbled as she got into the cab. "Honestly, the nerve of that man. If mom has to put up with that daily I have no clue how she copes."

Eventually, all six engines were moved to a siding.

"It's a bit wet here," Bellerophon said. "Rain isn't good for us."

Pipp hopped down from Sophie's cab and began to make her way to a lineside telephone when she suddenly overheard a conversation between Duck and Oliver.

"I just don't understand what came over him," Oliver said. "He's not usually like this."

"I can only assume stress played a part," Duck said, sadly. "But we can only hope he gets over it when this branch line is done." He whistled as he moved off the trucks.

Pipp was about to report this when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and took a look.

I have evidence that proves Thomas and Salty are innocent.

Meet me at the yard this evening.

Zipp.

Pipp nodded. "Gotcha, sis."

The previous night, Thomas had helped propel Opaline's equipment down to the big hole in the ground. He stopped before the barrier and waited for Opaline to finish typing the rope to his front coupling hook.

"Hold in position, Thomas," Opaline said. "I'll drop down the rope and investigate whatever is down here, then come back up and report my findings."

"What exactly are you looking for?" Twilight asked.

Opaline smiled. "Legend has it that lost treasure is in the caverns, and if I can find it, well, I shall send it straight to the local museum. After all, treasure when found belongs partly to the crown and partly to whomever found it. So, if we three find it, we'll get to split some of it between us!"

That did interest Twilight. "That would set me and my parents up quite nicely," she said, thinking of the fancy new home they could afford with all that money.

Opaline smiled. "Good girl. Now, lower me down!"

Thomas moved forward slowly with the rope, shifting the weight gradually downwards until he reached the barrier.

"Hold it!" Opaline called. "That's far enough for now. Now, let me just get this headlamp switched on quickly." She flipped a switch and the cavern was suddenly illuminated from the lamp.

And what was down there stunned her. "This is better than I could have dreamed! Thomas, Twilight, I've found it!"

"The treasure!" Thomas said, with a smile, seeing a strange glow from within the hole in the ground.

"No, the map!" Opaline said. "The map that follows the old prophecy written down by Saint Machan nearly two thousand years ago!"

As the sun started to rise, Thomas pulled Opaline up from the hole, the latter of whom looked very pleased. "The map is a big discovery. With it the treasure is as good as found!"

"What was that about a prophecy, Opaline?" Twilight asked.

"Saint Machan wrote it down in his work Historia et miracula Sorodensis," Opaline said. "Translated out of the original Latin, it reads 'follow the road that leads to your dreams, over the hills and mountains. Look for the skies with stars in their eyes.' With this map we are well on the way to finding it!"

She looked over at the rising sun. "Unfortunately, I have other business to attend to today, but I'll return after nightfall- and then we can go looking for the treasure again. How does that sound!"

"Sounds like great fun!" Thomas said. After all the berating and shouting of the other Fat Hat, Opaline was a person who treated him with genuine kindness and friendliness. This was a nice change.

"Well, see you later!" Opaline headed away and vanished off onto the fisherman's path, ready to return later on. She smiled as she waled along. "Unlimited power is finally in my grasp!"

"So, what did you want to talk about, Zipp?" Sunny asked, as they sat around a table. "Seems the strike isn't going as well as we'd planned."

"There's an understatement," Zipp said. "Look, Sunny, I've been doing some digging and I've found something important. Sir Topham Hatt has already submitted an accident report on the explosives incident."

"What does it say?" Izzy asked.

"Well," Zipp said, "the report states that the timer on the explosives was triggered by rough shunting on Salty's part."

"That's not possible," Sunny said. "We'd only just coupled up when the beeping noise started."

"Agreed, matey!" Salty called, from a nearby siding. "That sounds like a load of utter codswallop!"

Zipp noddd. "So, I decided to do some digging of my own into what was used. The class of explosive in those trucks was Delta Nine, a type manufactured by an American firm. I was able to use mom's contacts to contact them, and find out more about this mystery explosive."

"Did it turn up any leads?" Hitch asked.

"Yes," Zipp said. "It turns out that Delta Nine's detonation sequence cannot be triggered by rough shunting or external forces. It can only be started and stopped with a remote detonator unit- the idea is that the explosives can be triggered without having to be anywhere near them, which is sensible, really."

Pipp looked up. "Zipp, are you saying the explosives were set off deliberately?"

"Yeah," Zipp replied. "Whomever had the detonator set them off on purpose from a distance, no doubt for some nefarious scheme. Had Thomas and Salty not reacted quickly, the situation would have been very messy."

"But instead of finding out who triggered, Sir Topham Hatt-"

"Don't use his title," Pipp said. "He's lost the right to it in my books."

"There's the problem," Hitch said. "Removing a peerage is basically impossible, as only Parliament can do it- and they've got bigger fish to fry right now."

"Anyway," Sunny continued. "But instead of finding out who triggered, Sir Topham Hatt chose to put the blame on us. Why? After all we did to help back in November he uses us as scapegoats? This doesn't make any sense."

"But," Zipp said, placing some documents down. "I do have a lead on who may have planted them. CCTV footage shows a mysterious man standing on the top of the neighbouring hills with a device in his hands, and triggering it before walking away. If we zoom in a bit as in Figure 2, we can see the device is almost identical in design to the detonator used for Delta Nine. This story was also corroborated by a worker at the time."

"You've found enough evidence to clear their names!" Misty said. "Zipp, maybe you should consider a career as a lawyer."

"Not really an option for me," Zipp replied. "I kinda have to be ready to go to step into the role of Duchess, and-"

Just then, a large blast of light came from the hole in the ground.

"Did you see that?" Pipp said. "It came from the hole we blasted in the ground!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sunny asked, getting up. "Let's go take a look!"

The six of them proceeded at reasonable speed over to the hole, stopping before the safety barriers, and looked down into the big hole in the ground.

"Can you believe this?" Hitch said. "It's sparkling down there! This is like something out of a fantasy movie!"

And it was. The cavern was wonderfully illuminated by glowing lights and bioluminescent objects, all of which glowed and twinkled in the morning sun.

"This is incredible," Sunny said. "This confirms this is another branch of the caverns! I have to tell dad right away!"

"I'll take some pictures!" Pipp said, and took out her phone with a smile. "Say chee-"

Suddenly, to their shock, there was an extremely loud bang, and the ground started to shake.

"What was that?" Misty asked.

"Get back from the hole!" Zipp shouted. "Run!"

But it was too late. The ground continued to shake, and the lights from below began to flicker even more aggressively. The ground beneath the girls gave way, and they fell screaming into the ground.

Until their screams were suddenly and abruptly heard no more, accompanied by a series of bright flashes from down below.

Back at the work site, Sir Topham Hatt and his men had already arrived. "Seize the documents and destroy them," Sir Topham Hatt said. "News of this cannot get out."

"Yes sir," said a worker, who got to work collecting up the things Zipp had left behind.

Sir Topham Hatt walked onwards to the scene of the ground collapse, seeing a bit more ground missing and the hole slightly larger. "We'll need to reposition the barriers," he said, choosing instead to monitor the scene from the cliff edge nearby.

He looked down with a smile, seeing the pulsating energy from down below. "Well, we know the portal works and can transport people. This is promising."

Just then, a familiar figure appeared. "All done, as ordered," he said.

"Excellent work, Boomer," Sir Topham Hatt said. "Those perpetual thorns in my side are no longer a threat. You did well."

"Any clue where they ended up?" Boomer asked. "And no problem. I know my way around explosives and similar items, so this was easy."

"Does it matter?" Sir Topham Hatt. "All that matters is those meddling kids can meddle no more. Now the grand plan can finally begin."

He and Boomer looked out to sea and saw the mainland from the cliffs. "That shall all be ours," said Boomer. "Three ruling over a nation- me with her by my side."

Sir Topham Hatt laughed. "After all this time, the Sudrian Empire shall finally rise and dominate the lesser nations of Europe- and everybody shall rue the day they stood against Emperor Topham Hatt."

Author's Note

Well, that was quite the chapter! Thrills, spills, and some chills, plus some new lore.

This rule about apportioning dig spoils is partly true. A portion of any dig found goes to the government, and the remainder can be sold as required-it was quite a bit deal with the Staffordshire Hoard was saved for the nation, for example.

For those who are wondering why STH is seemingly evil- well, it's not him. Back in Topsy Turvy/Reefer Madness we encountered a figure called Emperor Topham Hatt. This is that person.

So, where did the team end up? See if you can guess!

Chapter 7-Far from Home

Izzy was suddenly awakened by a snowflake drifting past her nose. "Hey, that's pretty."

Hitch slowly pushed himself to his feet. "Ow," he groaned. "That's gonna leave a mark." He looked around him. "This sure doesn't look like Kansas anymore."

"Which makes sense, given we were never in Kansas in the first place," Sunny said.

"Figure of speech," Hitch said.

Sunny pointed up. "Look at all those stars! There's virtually no light pollution!"

"And the colour of the sky would suggest it's fairly early in the morning here," Zipp noted. "But the sun was setting when we were in Arlesburgh. If the sun was setting there and the sun is rising here, we're on the other side of the planet!"

Pipp was not too happy. "Urgh! Stupid snow!" she said, kicking it with her boot. "Why does it always have to be unseasonable weather on the other side of a portal? I left all my winter clothing in Falmouth!"

"So, where are we?" Misty asked. "This doesn't look like any place I've ever been before."

"Perhaps more pertinently, how are we going to stay warm?" Hitch asked. "We're not exactly dressed for the weather."

"Thank you!" Pipp said. "The voice of sanity prevails." She took a photo and tried to attach a GeoTag, but her phone beeped at her. "I have no service? But I've got the unlimited plan!"

"Assuming this island has phone service or WiFi at all," Zipp said, "which it probably won't, based on the sky we're somewhere in North America. And North America has its own SIM card systems unlike Europe where mobile networks are standardised."

"So the GeoTag trick won't work," Pipp said, looking defeated. "How are we going to get home?"

"I'm certain we'll find a way home!" Izzy said. "Just follow the yellow brick road!"

"I can't see a yellow brick road," Hitch said.

"I suggest we look around and see if we can find a settlement of some sort," Sunny suggested. "Maybe we can get some clues as to where we are?"

Pipp shrugged. "Perhaps this island has strange eggs on it that produce giant spiders!"

"Don't be silly!" Izzy said. "We're way too far north for that!"

The girls set off into the forest before them, looking around carefully for any obstructions or things that might hinder their journey. Misty seemed fairly chatty. "You know, I've not really had the chance to appreciate snow before. I'd always seen it as the silly soft stuff that inconvenienced people all the time!"

"Huh," Pipp said. "Zipp and I loved to go sledging in the hills around Swanage!"

None of them spotted a mysterious figure hidden in the bushes nearby, who was watching them. She grabbed a radio and began to speak. "We might have trouble," she said. "New arrivals."

"Try to keep them out of the way until the operation is complete," said a voice. "We cannot afford to fail."

"Yes, my lord," the figure replied. "You may have had it easy at the concert, but I can assure you that this time you'll all be leaving this island in plywood boxes."

Back on the Island of Sodor, things had slowed to a crawl. Construction work was going at a snail's pace as engine workers and engines were starting to protest Sir Topham Hatt's actions in other, quite inventive ways. James, for instance, was fully aware of the dangers of going on strike, so he had the bright idea of instead following every safety rule in the book to slow things down.

"Are you sure this will work, James?" Rarity asked.

"Of course it will!" James said. "You can hardly punish somebody for following the rules, can you? Besides, as a splendid engine when have any of my ideas not worked?"

"Well, there's the top hat and the leather bootlace and the incident with the tankers and-"

"Well, apart from those, I have a pretty good track record."

The train pulled into the yard to see the engines from Cornwall driving very erratically.

"Easy with the throttle!" Charles called.

"Apologies, but it's been a while since I was in the driver's seat!" Lady Haven said.

Argyle was, however, having an easier time with Salty. "Nice and smooth into the trucks," he smiled. The engine buffered up extremely smoothly, and the trucks rolled into line very nicely."

"Shall we begin the push?" Salty asked.

"Not yet," Argyle said. "We have to check every tool in the cab is securely held in position before we move, and then we have to switch the portable brewing unit off and then change the settings on the traction motors."

"Is this all really required?" Salty asked.

"It is if the protest is going to work," Argyle said. "Good thing Isaac suggested this!"

Speaking of Isaac, he was looking at some trucks. And standing next to each and every one for several minutes.

"Why are you standing next to trucks for several minutes?" Bellerophon asked.

"Safety rules dictate that each truck must be inspected for at least 3 minutes before it can be moved," Isaac replied. "Just following every rule in the book."

Oliver and Duck were also at work, watching the team at work. They, for some reason, found the whole thing quite amusing.

Goldie checked her phone before getting into Porter's cab. "Messaged them all, straight to voicemail!" she replied. "Should we file a missing persons' report?"

"And no geotagged post for us to follow either," Argyle noted over the radio.

"That would be a good idea," Porter said, "if only the fat hat didn't have the entire island seemingly under his thumb."

Lady Haven suddenly got on the radio. "That's why I decided to bypass the local station and contact Cumbria Police directly with my evidence. That way we avoid any potential local interference."

"Smart move," Argyle noted.

"Thank you."

As more stuff got moved, a helicopter touched down and some people got out, carrying all sort of strange tools.

"All work on the railway is to cease immediately!" he said. "The scene up ahead is a valuable archeological site, and as such we will require your help to survey it properly."

"That will, at least, give us something to do whilst the police investigate," Goldie said to herself.

Ryan skidded to a very rough stop in the platform before blasting his whistle. "Get in quickly please!" he shouted, before the doors began to open and close.

The passengers took to grumbling. "Where does he think he is? King's Cross!"

"This level of rough running is simply unnaceptable!" said another. "I shall complain in official capacity!"

Ryan looked over. "Alright, Karen!" he said. "The manager's not here, by the way!"

More passengers got on, and once the whistle was blown Ryan pulled away with such sudden acceleration that the line was seemingly shaking. The line wasn't used to such a large and powerful tank engine, and the coaches noticed this.

"This is simply awful!" Annie complained.

"Agreed!" Clarabel added. "This conditions are awful! I wish we could have Thomas back!"

"Well, tough, because you're working with me!" Ryan snorted. "I've sped this line up to no end, and made things so much more reliable overall. No late trains thanks to delays!"

He rattled into the junction, and waited for Gordon to pull in with a long, heavy train.

"Hello Ryan," Gordon said. "Bouncing your passengers around like peas in a frying pan again?"

"Been taking the slow route?" Ryan quipped in response. "I'll have you know that A3s were much faster than that climbing out of the Cross. Perhaps some of those innovations should be fitted to you- it'd speed things up no end!"

Gordon spluttered. "Why, you little-"

Just then, the whistle blew, and Ryan pulled away at such speed it looked like a rocket taking off.

Gordon sighed. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Thomas and his work ethic. This new engine is much more powerful, but he's very conceited and rude."

"It's not a good image for the line," Rainbow Dash admitted, as she leaned out of the cab. "But there's not a huge amount we can do apart from continue working. And we'll be held here for a bit if this signal is anything to go by."

At Knapford, Ryan rolled in with the train, smiling. "Right on time!" he said. "Want to run well? Go Great Northern!"

The passengers did not seem to share the same sense of optimism. "I need to be able to get to work with my head straight!" one passenger said. "If my head is like the inside of a cement mixer, I'll be unable to focus!"

"Your head looks fine to me, sunshine!" Ryan quipped, as he backed away from the coaches.

"You'd never get this sort of lip from Thomas," said another passenger. "I'm getting tired of this situation. I'm going to Sir Topham Hatt to file a formal complaint with him, and see if he can get Thomas reinstated on his branch line!"

She pushed open the office door. Sir Topham Hatt looked up from his table. "How may I help you?" he asked.

"These circumstances are simply appalling!" the passnger complained. "Not only does Ryan ride roughly on the rails and accelerate far too quickly, he is also rude to the passengers! He dismissed a passenger's concerns about having a headache from the rough running, and not only that he goes too fast or too slow!"

"I can see why going to slow is a problem, but why is getting somewhere quickly such a problem?" Sir Topham Hatt asked.

"If it means getting there feeling like you've been through a washing machine it most certainly is!" the passenger continued. "The standards have simply gone downhill since I began commuting with the North Western, and if they don't go back to how they used to be I shall switch to the bus! Reinstate Thomas or else!"

Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "Ryan is new to the railway. He's still learning how we do things around here, just as Thomas had to when he was here. I still remember the days when he was yard pilot like it was yesterday." He looked around. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have documents to stack in new orders."

The passenger nodded. "You hd better heed the warning, or else you might see custom dry up." She then slammed the door.

Sir Topham Hatt glanced down to his display as a message rolled in. He clicked on it.

The face of Opaline appeared on the monitor. "Greetings, Emperor. I trust all is going well on Sodor?"

"It is, Your Majesty," the Emperor replied. The plan is proceeding to plan as we intended. The meddling kids are out of the way, and their parents are none the wiser- perfect for our plan to proceed."

"I received news the archeology team arrived," Opaline smiled. "Make sure to put them to good use, will you?"

"Of course. We shall find what we are looking for and report back."

"And what of the engines?"

"Well, after they saw what happened to Thomas they aren't prepared to challenge me. They all do exactly as ordered, precisely when I want them to. Why didn't the original embrace the level of power his position gives him?"

"Not our concern," Opaline said. "What matters is that we recover what we need in order for the plan to commence, and then we shall have power beyond our greatest dreams!" She began laughing.

The Emperor joined in, before abruptly stopping and noticing Opaline looking at him, thoroughly nonplussed. "Is something the matter?"

Opaline rolled her eyes. "If you're going to do an evil laugh alongside me, at least do it in synch." Her face changed. "Oh, and Topham? Keep a close eye on Boomer. I'm concerned. As you probably know he has history with Argyle's wife, and that might jeopardize the operation. Ensure he doesn't do anything idiotic, will you?"

The Emperor nodded. "Your will be done, Opaline."

Author's Note

Well, new local and plenty of new stuff to discuss! Anybody skilled with time zones might be able to figure out where the Mane 6 are, but for those not quite so inclined I shall leave it a mystery.

'Not in Kansas anymore' is a colloquial expression meaning 'out of familiar territory'. It comes from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy has this exact reaction to her home crashing in the Land of Oz.

The engines are conducting what is known as 'work to rule', which involves following every tiny rule in the rulebook. It's an alternative to going on strike- after all, a company cannot fire you for following all the rules.

And it seems that the Emperor and Opaline are working together! Where could this lead?

Chapter 8-Now Put those Working Hands Away

Sunny and her friends continued to make their way across the snowy landscape, their eyes tracking for anything that might help them identify where they were.

"Any idea where we are?" Hitch asked.

"Somewhere very cold!" Pipp said, shivering.

Zipp looked over to make a quip, but could see her sister was legitimately unhappy. As such, she took her own jacket off and gave it to her. "Here you go. This should ward off some of the cold."

"But won't you get cold?" Pipp asked. "I don't want you to be miserable too?"

"Hey, we gotta look out for each other," Zipp said. "Isn't that kinda the point?"

Pipp nodded. "You got that right. But we've been searching a long time. Will we ever find anything?"

"Found something!" Zipp called, as she cleaned some snow off a sign. She then read it aloud. "Welcome to Misty Island. Lumber company jurisdiction beyond this point. Please check in with the office. By order, Oregon Department of Forestry, Salem, OR?"

Hitch looked over. "We're in Oregon? That's in America, isn't it?"

"The United States if we're gonna get technical," Sunny said. "Uncle Moondust is always quick to remind us Canadians are Americans too, as they also live in North America."

"Very true," Izzy said. "I'd like some proper boots; it's a bit slippery in these!"

"We also have a proper paved road," Zipp pointed out. "It's bound to lead to a settlement. Let's go!"

After a few minutes of walking, they found themselves on top of a ridge, looking down over a small town made mostly of wooden buildings. Smoke rose from chimneys dotted across the landscape, and the structures were painted in a picturesque selection of red and orange.

"We've found evidence of human habitation!" Sunny said. "This place looks incredible!"

"More like incredibly empty," Hitch said. "There's nobody around, and the lack of noise suggests not many people. Why would the place be empty at this time of day?"

"Early in the morning?" Izzy reminded him. "They may have gone to work?"

"Good point," Hitch admitted. Still, shall we go and take a look?"

Misty looked worried. "What if Opaline beat us here and removed everybody?"

The crew climbed down from the ridge and began to walk through the town. The lack of sound was eerie. Doors banged on metal frames in the wind. Shutters creaked with the weather. Stoves seemed to be running, but nobody was tending them.

"I'm getting distinct Marie Celeste vibes from this place," Pipp said. "Why would anybody abandon a place like this, especially given where we are?"

"I can hear a radio, so it doesn't seem to be totally deserted," Misty pointed out.

Sunny was about to reply, when suddenly she heard a loud drumbeat. "Can anybody else here somebody playing the drumline from We Will Rock You very fast?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Zipp said. "I think it's coming from near the treeline."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sunny said. "Let's go!"

As they walked away, Misty facepalmed. "Why is everybody walking towards the weird noises instead of away from them?"

Back on Sodor, Thomas was awakened by a whistle. "Hello?"

"Ah, Thomas! You're awake!" said a familiar voice. Sure enough, Opaline emerged from the darkness with her gear. "Glad you could make it."

"I'm always glad to help out a friend," Thomas said. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

Opaline hopped onto the footplate, standing on the opposite side to Twilight. "I think I've located where the treasure is. It's somewhere further along from the big hole in the ground. As I've got quite a bit of heavy equipment you two wouldn't mind giving me a lift?"

"No problem!" Twilight said, as she opened Thomas' regulator. The tank engine moved off quickly, steam puffing from his pistons. Sure enough, they soon arrived at the site, and Opaline got out her tools.

"Time to start digging!" she said, as she looked in the pit. Sure enough, she was down there the entire night, seemingly having dug both everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

As she climbed out of the pit, the sun rising in the sky over Sodor, she voiced her frustration. "Well, there goes our chances of locating the treasure today, although I did find this stick," she said. "The light means I'll have to retreat to elsewhere on the island. But what if somebody beat us to it?"

"How would that be?" Thomas asked.

"We know three groups have been working on the site. There's us, of course, another group of engines, and, of course, the archeological team that arrived shortly after the land collapsed. If we can't find it, then it must be with one of the two other groups. And if the archeological team haven't announced anything they probably don't have it. Therefore, the other engines must have it!"

"But why?" Twilight asked. "What use would a group of engines have for treasure? It's not as if we need to buy anything. All the supplies we need are given to us by the railway."

"Presumably to prevent us from finding it," Opaline countered. "Therefore, we'll need to search the sheds as well, but not now. There's too much light for us to work effectively, so I'll need to return later. Best of luck, you two."

Thomas watched as Opaline walked into the distance, presumably back to the coastal pathway she usually used to travel about. Thomas then sadly returned to his shed, his eyes downcast. He had gambled on finding the treasure to turn things around for him, but even that had gone up the spout.

Twilight brought Thomas to a stop in the shed and threw the fire out before heading away for breakfast.

Neither of them, of course, realised how close they had been to finding the treasure. But that things were about to change quite dramatically for them, with many thrills and spills to come.

They had been so focused on the work, they hadn't spotted the bright flashes of light coming from the pit.

The Mane 6 had finally followed the source of the noise to its origin, and could see an impressive sight. Steam was pouring high into the air from an assembly of machines, some on rails and some not. Several of the engines on scene looked like engines, but had cylinders set at odd angles or doing strange things.

At the centre, workers were processing huge cuts of lumber. A giant buzz saw was chopping a tree in half, and other machines were cutting bits of other wood into planks and useful shapes. Another machine appeared to be shaving the wood as well, presumably to remove splinters and avoid the wood turning into old floorboards.

At the centre of the scene seemed to be some sort of work song. The workers were following the loud beat that was pumping from the centre. At the centre of it all stood a figure whom they assumed was the foreman (or forewoman, should I say). She was, shall we say, a rather broad woman (presumably mostly muscle), with purple skin and white hair. Her green eyes seemed to shine with an unusual quality.

She was the one driving the work song forward.

"Everybody, come on!" she called to the workers. "Time to shine now! You gotta shine now!"

And then she began to sing.

"Hey, put those workin' hands away/
It's time to hit the beat! (hit the beat)
The sun is down, the stars are shooting/
Far as the eye can see! (whoo!)

"Come on over, join the party/
Just have fun with me! (with me)
There ain't nobody here that's watchin'/
Use your magic to believe!

"Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh/
The stars align, the moon is shinin'!
Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh/ (it's shinin', yes, it's shinin')
And can't you feel the night sky hummin'?

"Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh/
It's like it's up there callin' out to me/
(It's callin' out to me)
To me!

"Starshine Time/
We're only gettin' brighter/
We're glowin' up together/
We shine, shine, shine! (we shine)

"Starshine Time!
We're only gettin' brighter/
We're glowin' up together/
We shine, shine, shine!

"I said put those workin' hands away/
We're gettin' in the groove!
We're out here shining brighter/
Than the stars above the moon!

"Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh/
Feels like I'm one with the aurora!
Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh/ (we shine)
The magic's here, it's shining on us!

"Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh/ (so bright, it's shining on us)
It's like it's up there callin' out to me!
To me, yeah!

"Starshine Time/
We're only gettin' brighter/
We're glowin' up together/
We shine, shine, shine! (we shine)

"Starshine Time/
We're only gettin' brighter/
We're glowin' up together/
We shine, shine, shine! (we shine)

"Da, da, da, da, da-da!
Da, da, da, da, da-da!
Da, da, da, da, da-da, da-da/
Da-da-da-da-da!

"Da, da, da, da-da!
Da, da, da, da, da-da!
Da-da-da, da, da, da, da-da, da-da!"

The Mane 6 looked down, stunned, seeing the way in which the music was helping the lumber workers time their actions and move the tools into the correct positions.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Zipp said. "It's just like a sea shanty."

"Wherever you find work, you find work songs," Sunny noted. "Music is a useful tool for conducting tasks to, and a way of telling stories. Song was a popular was of spreading news in an age when literacy rates were much lower than they are today."

Suddenly, some snow slipped from the top of the snowbank, and this caught the attention of the workers below. Work suddenly stopped as the workers looked up.

"Who's that?" said one of the engine, who had connecting rods on his frames despite his odd cylinders.

The large woman who had been singing walked up the bank. "I'll deal with this," she said. Once she was at the top of the snowbank, she looked at them. "I don't believe we've met before," she said.

"We haven't," Misty said.

Pipp glanced over. "That phrase is an alternate way of saying hello, which is considered polite."

"Oh," Misty said. "I guess I'm not too clued up on all the phrases yet."

The large woman smiled. "Welcome to Starlight Ridge, headquarters of the Starlight Ridge Lumber Company. Family owned on Misty Island since 1906!"

"It's certainly an impressive setup you have here," Sunny said. "Is that a heisler back there?"

"A what?" Pipp asked.

"A heisler is a type of logging locomotive designed to run on poorly laid track and shift heavy loads up streep gradients," Sunny explained.

"You're certainly knowledgable on this!" the woman said. "I'm Violet Frost, general manager and lead forewoman. And this is my team."

She indicated to the team. "We've been out working this place for over a century now, and trust me there is plenty of demand for sustainably forested Oregon lumber." She led them down the snowbank and pointed to the engines sitting in the work site.

She started with the heisler. "This is Bash," she said.

"Hello!" Bash said. "You don't sound local."

"We've come a long way," Hitch admitted.

Violet then pointed to another engine, who had lots of vertical cylinders mounted side by side above two trucks. "This is Dash."

"Fancy a race?" he said.

"In your dreams. Heislers are much faster than Shays!"

Violet shook her head. "Sorry about them. They can get quite competitive." She then indicated to the last engine. "And this is Ferdinand, our Climax!"

"That's right!" the engine said, his inclined cylinder continuing to drive a machine.

"Oh, don't mind him, he's just got a verbal tic," Frost explained, looking at her workforce. "I'll give you a tour of Starlight Ridge later, but for now feel free to make yourselves comfortable at the company canteen on Berrow Road. It's got plenty of warm drinks, which I think you'll need as you're not exactly seasonably dressed."

"That we aren't," Pipp shivered.

"Also, one last bit of advice- don't go out at night. Stay indoors, as that's much safer." Violet then smiled and turned back. "Back to work, boys!"

Izzy looked over. "What was that all about?"

Back at the worksite, work had been able to get up and running once more, as the parents were now rather more skilled with operating the engines that their children usually drove. As a result, things were on the move once more.

Argyle was looking about for any signs of danger. He had every reason to be- considering what had happened earlier he was concerned shunting explosives.

Goldie was in the cab with him, keeping an eye on the line from the secondman's position. "The story doesn't make sense," she said.

"Which story?" Argyle asked.

"Sir Topham Hatt claims the explosives incident was caused by rough shunting. That doesn't sound like Sunny at all- she's usually very careful on that front."

"Not to mention explosives usually don't behave like that," Argyle added. "Something about this story just doesn't make sense at all."

Salty was propelling the trucks very slowly towards the danger site, whilst Porter returned with some empties loaded with heavy stone.

"This process produces a lot of rubbish!" Porter said. "There seems to be more than we can move out!"

"Good thing this explosive can clear the mess out!" Salty replied. "Best keep an eye on your wheels!"

"That was odd," Isaac, at the controls of Porter, said.

As work continued, the explosives was shunted into position by Salty, who was then decoupled from the trucks and waited for a moment. The signal was still red, so he couldn't head back to the yard yet.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light from nearby, and Salty looked over. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Argyle asked, his eyes firmly focused on the signal.

Just then, another blast of light came out of the ground, coming from the hole that had opened up in the ground a while earlier. The light was purple, with some white streaks mixed into the formation, which illuminated the nearby rocks in all sorts of interesting colours.

Then another blast of light. Then another.

A warning siren suddenly began to blare. "WARNING. WARNING. ABANDON WORK AREA. ALL WORKERS TO LEAVE AREA IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WARNING. WARNING. ABANDON WORK AREA. ALL WORKERS TO LEAVE AREA IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

Workmen began to dive into the unloaded trucks, keen to escape, and Argyle noticed this. "Take the controls," he said to Goldie. "I'll get Salty coupled up."

Goldie nodded as Argyle jumped out and ran forward. He moved the chain into position and linked it through the hook, then gave the thumbs up. "READY TO PULL!"

They began to accelerate backwards, Argyle holding onto the front stepladder next to the trucks. The men were lying down in the trucks for safety reasons, and wanted to be safe.

As they rocketed backwards, the light grew more intense, but at last they were out of the way and stopped.

Argyle climbed up the truck. "Is everybody alright?"

One of the workers pointed over. "Where did they come from?"

Argyle looked over, and his jaw dropped.

Author's Note

The Marie Celeste was a famous ghost ship found abandoned at sea in the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel was found with most of its fittings intact; precisely what caused the crew to abandon ship or their ultimate fate has never been disclosed.

We Will Rock You is a rock song released by British band Queen in 1977. Written to give an interactive element to their concerts, the song is largely remembered for its distinctive acapella section built entirely on stomps and claps. Starshine Time's opening bears a remarkable resemblance to the song.

As questionable in terms of quality that Misty Island Rescue was, the film was notable for a renewed interest in logging railway from British fans of the show. As such, I have made some changes to the characters involved.

Bash is based on the Heisler design, the last of the major logging designs to enter service. Patented in 1893, the Heisler features two inclined cylinders linked to a central driveshaft, which in turn rotates the wheels. However, only the back wheels of the trucks are linked to the driveshaft, hence why the wheels are linked with connecting rods. 35 survive today in varying states of repair. Bash in particular is based on Cass No. 6, which during the 2010s was a regular performer on passenger services from Durbin, WV.

Dash is a Shay type locomotive, an early generation of logging engine developed by Ethraim Shay in the 1880s. The above image shows a Class C Shay, featuring three cylinders total and three trucks. The gearing gives them incredible power, but Shays are not what you'd call fast-on the Bald Knob climb they rarely get above 10 miles per hour. 115 are preserved today, some being built from bits of multiple locomotives.

Ferdinand is a Climax, the third major design of geared engine. Developed in the 1870s and 1880s, Climaxes are unusual in that they feature a cylinder mounted at a 45 degree angle, and the unusual configuration was one factor in the class' high speed. Around 25 survive today in varying states of repair.

Finally, what in the world have they found at the dig site? Find out more tomorrow!

Chapter 9-Lost in Time

Before Argyle's eyes sat an assembly of engines. Very old engines. In fact, some of the oldest locomotives he had ever seen. They were long, small, and had oddly sloped boilers. They also had long tenders on twin trucks, and large sets of driving wheels coupled to basic valve gear locked into an inside cylinder set.

The first one in the group looked over, painted a dull brown. "Boys, I don't think we're in the West no more."

Argyle was shaken out of his confusion for a moment. "You're American?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," the engine said. "And by voice you are too. I'm Omaha."

Next to him sat another engine like him, painted in similar colours. "I'm Nebraska. The cool one who produces promising results."

"Not so fast," Omaha said.

Another engine further back snorted. "That should be your catchphrase, old timer!" This engine was painted blue and red all over. "Jupiter."

Some of the engines them moved forward to clear space for the others, and the first of them was one of the largest engines seen yet from this group, with ten wheels and large fittings. "Looks like we found a toy railway," he said. "Small and everything." He suddenly spotted Argyle. "Leviathan. Nice to have a fellow American to talk to."

"I'm dual citizenship, actually," Argyle replied. "I was born and live in the UK."

"You mean England?" asked another, a sleek and graceful engine that had just pulled forward. "My name is Antelope." Her voice confirmed her to be famale- a first for this group.

This led to the final engine pulling forward. "Falcon. Need something scouting out, I'm your engine."

By this point, several of the engines were in the yard, and the newer locomotives looked at these new arrivals with amazement.

"Right, who invited all the cowboys?" Porter asked.

"Great, one of those limeys," Omaha said. "Form up until we can figure out where we are. We sure ain't in the west no more."

"You're on the west of Sodor, so you're in the west," Isaac pointed out. "And grammar check; that should be 'we aren't in the west any more'. Your sentence contained a double negative."

Opaline looked down as she saw the scene. "Perfect!" she said. "The explosives blew the ground open and revealed the portal to where the Forgotten Ones were hiding! We're another step closer to victory!"

Boomer then appeared. "I take it the mission was a success," he said.

"Indeed," Opaline replied. "The assets are in position, and we can commence the next stage. I need you to keep an eye on this lot and ensure that this lot don't disrupt my plans. With those meddling kids out of the way it should be simpler, but experience teaches me that the adults are just as capable of throwing a spanner in the works."

Boomer nodded.

"Oh, and Boomer? Don't let Goldie cloud your judgement."

Boomer nodded. "Of course." He went to his binoculars to start observing the scene down below.

Darkness fell over Misty Island. Trying to combat extreme tiredness, the Mane 6 hid inside a high level room and looked down to see what was going on.

"I'm glad they loaned me a coat," Pipp said. "I'm not sure how much longer I'd have coped out there without turning into a block of ice. But the material's quite course. Perhaps I could get Rarity to add a silk lining it might-"

"Shh," Zipp said. "Something's happening down there."

The workers were all marching out of the buildings and forming up in the square, whilst a strange noise played over speakers. A chopper flew in from nearby and touched down on the ground before them, and a figure got out, accompanied by three guards.

The figure in question was a woman with purple skin and some white streaks. This was combined with yellow eyes and a set of white, course gloves. She wore a green shirt, a turquoise coat, and purple heavy duty pants combined with a pair of grey boots.

Sunny's eyes widened. "I recognise that coat," she said. "I've seen it somwhere before."

"But where?" Izzy asked.

The three soldiers placed a strange machine in the centre of the town. The woman frowned. "It took you bumpkins long enough to get out of bed," she said. "Time is a limited resource, and I cannot afford to have you lot waste it."

The figures all stood silent, seemingly entranced by the strange sounds.

The woman looked around. "Wait, where's Violet Frost?"

Two more figures suddenly dragged her out of a building. "Let go of me!"

They dumped Violet in front of Allura. The latter smiled. "Did you really think you could get out of this, Violet? If so you're an even bigger fool than I imagined."

"You just think we're a bunch of dumb country hicks!"

Allura laughed. "You're not doing much to dispell that notion. Fire up the machine, maximum power. Make sure she suffers." She then looked to the other workers. "Now go, and get me what I want!"

The workers all nodded, and then marched off in perfect sync to do whatever they were being compelled to do.

The machine began to play strange music, and two guards held Violet's arms by her sides so she couldn't plug her ears. She writhed in agony- until suddenly her eyes flashed purple, and she stopped resisting.

"Good," Allura said. "Now find me the object which I desire."

Violet nodded as she got up. "Yes, Allura," she said, speaking like a robot. "I will do as you ask." She then walked off in the same direction as the others.

Allura snorted. "These islanders are utter fools. It won't be long until it is ours." She looked to her guards. "Form a perimeter and ensure nothing gets in or out. If anybody does you have authorisation to use lethal force."

The guards nodded, and headed for their posts.

"Wait," Izzy said. "That's Bash over there. He doesn't seem to be affected!"

"Then we can use him to follow the others and find out what's going on!" Zipp said. "Great thinking, Izzy!"

They dashed across out of sight of the guards, and then fired the logging engine up and set off. It was slow going with all the gears, but the workers were in a total trance so didn't hear anything.

At last they found Violet, who was erratically digging at a snowbank. Sunny hopped down to check her. "Violet! Are you OK?"

There was no reply.

Thomas and Twilight were on their way to the waste dump. They had been ordered to take leftover waste from the dig to the dump to clear the way for more machines. Thomas was most unhappy. "From passengers to this. Can this get worse?"

"Don't tempt fate," Twilight said. "But I've been thinking."

"Always a positive trait," Thomas said.

"The new engines didn't just arrive on their own. I've noticed something. All the stuff we've been doing has connected to that hole in the ground. The safety barriers being removed, the explosives falling in there, Opaline taking a look down there- what I'm getting at is, what if these incidents aren't coincidences? What if somebody had been manipulating us from behind the scenes to produce the outcome they want?"

Suddenly, they rounded a bend on the coast route, and there was Opaline, looking out to sea.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Thomas said.

Opaline simply turned around. Her prior joviality was gone, and in its place she looked annoyed. "Where's the treasure?" she asked.

"You mean the engines?" Thomas said. "Well, they're not yours. They are individuals with rights and freedoms, freedoms you have no authority to take."

Opaline looked incensed. "Who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do? You're just a silly little tank engine!"

"He's got more courage and honesty in one wheel than you have in your entire body," Twilight replied.

"And yet you two are so easily manipulated," Opaline said, a cruel smile spreading across her face. "Courage and honesty yes- but also an incredible amount of stupidity."

"Well, enough is enough," Thomas said. "You have no right to those engines, and I'm not helping you anymore! So there!"

Opaline blinked in confusion. "What did you say?"

"I said that you have no right to those engines, and I'm not helping you anymore," Thomas replied.

Opaline growled. It seemed she hadn't foreseen this possibility, and was annoyed as a result. Her eyes darkened as she looked at the tank engine. "Do not test me, little tank engine. I should warn you- those who cross me tend to get crossed out.

Thomas blinked. "Did you just threaten me?"

"Yes. I thought it was obvious."

Boomer was busy spying on the scene when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"You know, I'm really not surprised to see you here."

Boomer dropped his binoculars and glanced to one side to see Goldie standing there. "How did you get here?"

"You're on a public footpath," she pointed out. "It doesn't take much to find them. And you couldn't have picked a more obvious spot to spy on us from."

Boomer looked at her. "You're still pretty bright. But what is it you want?"

Goldie smiled. "How about we bury the hatchet, you and I?"

"What?"

"I've been thinking, and maybe their are benefits to being on the winning team," Goldie smiled. What Boomer didn't realise was she was lying through her teeth. "So, how about you fill me in on this plan and I'll get ready to move."

Boomer smiled. "You've finally seen sense." He stood up. "Right then, all we need to do is get these engines to where they are needed for the plan, and then we can push forward with the plan. Dropping the dynamite into that cavern was only the start- these remote starters are so useful for a plan like this. Then we could open the portal and get them into position, and then harness their power! Opaline will move soon, so you'll have to get ready." Boomer snorted as he finished his sentence. "I hope Argyle can cope with the divorce papers!"

Goldie laughed, a fake laugh. "I think he can. I'll be in contact later." She walked away, and then reached into her pocket and pushed a button.

Once at the bottom of the cliff, she met Argyle. "Did it work?" he asked.

"It went better than expected," Goldie smiled. "I was able to get a full confession out of him. We now know their next move."

"Indeed," Argyle said, as he took her hand. "Seriously, what makes him think you'd leave me for him?"

Goldie placed a hand on Argyle's wedding ring. "Till death us do part."

"Till death us do part." Argyle was briefly silent. "But hopefully that won't be for a long time."

Meanwhile, Misty was trailing another figure with blue skin and purplish hair. He wandered along, his eyes locked forward and seemingly muttering to himself.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

No reply. Misty then had an idea. She reached forward and put her hands over his ears.

In an instant, his entire manner changed. He stopped what he was doing and turned around.

"Huh?" he asked. "Where am I? What am I doing? What is answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything?"

"42," Misty replied. "Look, something really weird is going on here, mister-"

"Comet. Call me Comet."

Misty nodded. "OK, Comet. We want to help you guys. But first you need to tell us what's going on with that weird woman and that machine."

Comet nodded. "Well, she arrived some weeks ago, and ever since then she's been using us to find this thing- something about a staff that can do incredible stuff. That machine is somehow controlling us, as there's huge gaps in our memories." He sighed. "I know it's not the best of introductions, but I'm happy to help bring her down. Consider me on your team."

Author's Note

Well, in the words of Tirek, 'this was unexpected'. New engines have arrived, and through unusual circumstances too. Each of these locos are named in honour of engines that worked on the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s and 1870s.

Omaha was one of two major wood burners used by the Union Pacific, hence the diamond spark arrestor fitted to the chimney. The existence of this engine is often a source of surprise to railway enthusiasts in the UK, as this silhouette is closely associated with Central Pacific. This image is a screenshot from Train Simulator Classic as no photographs of this engine are known to exist.

Nebraska is another 4-4-0 from the era, but very little is known about it. As a result, the livery and technical data has been taken from Northern Central Railroad No. 17, a new build 4-4-0 built in 2013 to original Rogers Locomotive Works specifications.

Jupiter is an engine that needs no introduction, having been part of the Golden Spike ceremony in 1869. For many outside of the United States it is the archetypal American locomotive, and as such appears frequently in pop culture. The image above shows the replica built for Golden Spike National Historic Site in 1969.

Leviathan was built as part of the same order as the other 4-4-0s, and was built in New York before being shipped to Sacramento for final assembly (a massive undertaking as the Panama Canal would not be built for another 40 years). The image above shows the replica built in 1999, which can today be found in Elizabethtown, PA.

Antelope was the engine originally booked to appear at Golden Spike, but it suffered damage in a collision and was unable to appear. Built in 1867, it had a service life of 33 years-not bad, all told.

Falcon was another of the 4-4-0s; the above image is the only known photograph of this engine.

For those wondering how Argyle can have dual citizenship despite having been born in the UK, the United States currently works on the principal that somebody is considered a natural born citizen if one or both of their parents were US citizens (both born in the US and naturalised), irrespective of where the birth actually occurred. As Argyle's parents were both Americans, he thus has American citizenship for the reasons stated above and British citizenship by virtue of being born in the UK. This also applies to Goldie; applying for British citizenship does not require a person to give up US citizenship, and by logical extension Sunny is a dual national as well. This has been citizenship law with The Blue EM2!

In British English, 'cowboy' is a slang term for an American, irrespective of where in the country the person is from. The name derives from the fact the first exposure many British people had to American culture was the Western genre (which was largely shot in Arizona); I will admit my perception of the country is very much shaped by the fact the Southwest was the first part of the country I visited.

And now we are deeper into the mystery! With the island under the control of a mysterious figure, who will emerge victorious?

Chapter 10-With a Little Creativity

The rest of the team had followed Violet as she stumbled across the terrain, seemingly muttering gibberish to herself as she went along. This had simply made them even more confused, as the winter storms seemed to be rolling in, and nobody seemed particularly well dressed for unseasonable winter weather.

Eventually Violet had just stopped before a snowdrift, and had started digging, her shovel swinging erratically back and forth as she worked to pull stuff out of the ground. They'd observed some of this behaviour with the other workers, but Violet seemed to be working especially erratically.

Her shovel struck the snow over and over again at random angles, as if in desparation to try and find something. But nothing seemed to lie under that snowbank, not at least within immediate reach of the surface for her to find.

Pipp just looked over, confused. "Any clue what she's doing? She just seems to be kinda... digging."

"Answered your own question there, Pipp," Zipp said. "Anyway, we need to try and find a way to get through to her, given she hasn't been responding to any external stimuli we've been sending her way."

Izzy smiled. "Hey! I think this'll work!" She jumped in front of the erratically digging woman and began to make lots of silly faces and noises.

Violet, however, didn't notice. She just kept on digging, utterly oblivious to the environment around her. Her shovel kept on moving, almost robotically, and this was very odd indeed for anybody to observe.

Eventually, one of them had a bright idea. As they watched they noticed some of the snow hit Violet's face, and she briefly stumbled. "Huh? What am I... must... find... object... must... find... object..."

Safe to say everybody found this utterly bizarre. Sunny looked at her friends. "The snow seemed to break the trance a little bit. Let's try putting some more on and see if it helps!"

They nodded, and sure enough picked up a large snowball. One of them threw it at Violet, who staggered, looked about in confusion, and simply opened her mouth in surprise. "What am I doing out of bed at this time of night?"

"That's what we want to know too," Hitch said. "Isn't this a really odd time to be out of bed?"

"Tell me about it," Violet said, yawning. "I have no clue why I'm in this, but-" Her eyes widened in shock as she heard footsteps. "GET DOWN!"

The girls hid under a snowbank as the woman from earlier walked past. Violet returned to her robotic motions, or at least as close as she could feign them.

The woman looked over. "Any sign yet, Violet?"

"No, Allura, not yet," said Violet, never making eye contact and instead focusing exclusively on her work. Or at least pretending to.

"Keep digging," Allura replied. "If we don't find it, you know what will happen to you."

"Yes, Allura," Violet replied, focusing once more on the task at hand.

She kept this up even until Allura was well out of earshot. She then glanced to the others. "Coast is clear! Let's get back to Starlight Ridge and then I'll explain everything!"

Inside the main meeting hall of Starlight Ridge, the team had hot drinks and were sat around a fire which blazed in the centre.

"So," Sunny asked, "if you don't mind me asking, how did this all begin?"

Violet hung her head. "It all began when Allura arrived in our town about two months ago, which feels like hundreds of years now. All was so peaceful before she arrived, and we would have tried to resist, were it not for that machine of hers."

"We saw her powering something up," Hitch noted. "Was that the machine you mentioned?"

Violet nodded. "Yes. It's capable of putting people into a trance, where they basically become automatons, unable to think for themselves. It's how she's been using us for so long. All for some stick."

"Stick?" Zipp asked.

"Allura has repeatedly mentioned an object called the Staff of Sacanas. I have no idea how it works or even what it is. But it's clearly important to her, as she's made reference to it opening portals."

Izzy had a brainwave. "I know! We can craft our own portal and use one of the logging engines to power it!"

Violet looked stunned. "You could pull that off?"

Izzy nodded. "I'm a crafting extraordinaire!"

As music faded in from the background, she started to sing.

"I got an idea!
In my mi-i-ind!
With some imagination/
and some t-i-ime!
I'm gonna make it happen!
Oh yeah you'll se-e-e!
It just needs a little magic/
And a little bit of me!

Just then, she began to pick up random objects from the canteen and started sticking them together.

"Can you see it?
Oh yeah, I can see it/
Just follow me vibe/
no, we don't need a blueprint!
Just a little random/
Just a tad chaotic!
But in a bit of time, my buddy, it will be lit!

Izzy then backflipped over to a pile of other equipment, and began to fiddle with it.

"Every little thing, yeah/
Has got a purpose!
Oh buddy can you feel me?
Every little thing yeah/
Just needs a pl-a-ace!
Oh buddy can you hear me?
Every little person has got their own destiny!
And I'm gonna live mine with a little creativity!
With a little creativity!
(Oh buddy)
With a little creativity!

(Come on)

"Please try to minimise the mess you make in here," Violet asked. "We will have to clean this up."

Izzy, however, was unaware, as the others formed backing vocals.

(Ooooh!)
"I got a good feeling!
(Aahh)
In my So-o-o-oul!
(Oooh)
Let's put our heads together!
(Aaahh)
Let's loose contro-o-o-ol!
(Ooooh)
Oh yeah I got that vision!
(Aaaahh)
Told you befo-o-o-ore!
(Ooooh)
I make somethin’ out of nothin’!
(Aaahh)
So here we go-o-o-o!
Can you see it?
Oh yeah, I can see it/
Just follow me vibe/
no, we don't need a blueprint!
Life is random/
Sometimes it’s chaotic/
But in a bit of time, my buddy, it will be lit!

Finally, she began locking some sort of strange device together.

"Every little thing, yeah/
Has got a purpose!
Oh buddy can you feel me?
Every little thing yeah/
Just needs a pl-a-ace!
Oh buddy can you hear me?
Every little pony has got their own destiny/
And I'm gonna live mine with a little creativity!
With a little creativity!
(Oh buddy!)
With a little creativity! (Oh Buddy)
(With creativity)
With a little creativity!"

The others looked in amazement at what she had built. "I think that will do the trick," said Sunny.

On the other side of the world, things could not have been more different. In an underground facility, two engines, both of them with four leading wheels, four driving wheels, and no trailing wheels, were chained in position, with chains looping from the ground round their boilers and back down again.

And their drivers were in a similar situation, being locked in prison cells.

"How are we going to get out, Lava?" asked one of the drivers.

The other driver sighed. "I don't know, Jade, but these manacles are something else. I've never seen something so solid!"

"Maybe you would have if you didn't insist on constantly using all that cowboy technology," said a voice. Both drivers looked up to see a figure in a grey business suit walking towards them.

"Who are you?" demanded one of the engines.

"You're not in any position to demand anything of me, Whirlwind," Opaline said, leaning uncomfortably close to his face. "You see, we run this world. Engines were built to serve us, not the other way around. And sure enough we will run this world. And this world will serve me forever."

"Like hell we'd serve you," said the other engine.

Opaline wheeled around and looked at the other engine with a menacing glare. "Care to repeat that statement, Storm? I can assure you that you're not in a position to make such statements. I do, after all, hold the power of life and death over you."

The engine fell completely silent.

Jade spoke up. "What do you want from us?"

Opaline turned to her. "Isn't it obvious? When somebody takes somebody else to another place it's because they have something the other person wants. And you lot hold the key to a power I need if my plan is to succeed." She looked back at a curved rock sitting on a pedestal. "And this little rock will hold the answer to unlocking the door. I just need a bit of cooperation from you."

Lava rolled his eyes. "You think you can make us give you what you want? Who gave you British the right to run the world?"

Opaline snorted. "Oh, please. Nobility and royalty runs in my blood. We're very good at dealing with a bunch of upstart colonists who clearly don't know their place in the natural order of things." She smiled. "Oh yes. Things will got back to how they should always have been when the world worked properly."

The two engines looked at one another, and seemingly came to an agreement. A blast of energy flew forward from both of them, intent on striking Opaline.

But a strange shield formed around her, protecting Opaline from the energy blast, which dissipated above her and flowed into some vents above.

The two engines looked in shock. "How?" Whirlwind asked.

"I told you, I always come prepared," Opaline said. "Magic is protecting me from all sorts of inconveniences, and it always will. Because only the very best of noble stock can control it. Even if that half breed can somehow use it, but I don't see her being much of a problem in the future." Opaline smiled once more. "But you have both made things so much easier for me."

As she stepped back, music began to play in the background. "Oh, you want a lullaby? Well, I don't see why not."

She walked into the faces of the drivers. Then got uncomfortably close.

"When I walk passed a mirror I scare myself/
I'm the Queen of Mean!
Don't care about anybody other than me/
Isn't that lovely?!"

She stepped back from them, then turned her attention back to the engines.

"Don't ask me to be nice/
I don't want to!
I don't play fair!
I'm giving you the heat you can't handle/
And I don't care!"

She stepped back, and in time with starting the chorus jets of flame roared from the nearby torches, illuminating Opaline in fiery light.

I'm a Villain!"
Glamorous and Mean!
I'm a Villain!
Evil as can be!
I'm a villain!
Make you shiver though your teeth!
Don't you cry now/
It'll all be fine!
I'm a villain!
I'm a villain!"

The flames monentarily turned off, and Opaline stepped back to the platform. Images began to flash across the top of the room, showing Opaline's prior battles and victories.

Hush Little buddy/
Don't say a word!
Or you'll get cursed!
Can you feel the flames getting closer?
Ain't that the worst!
Don't ask me to nice I don't want to/
I don't play fair!
I'm giving you the heat you can't handle!
And I don't care!"

The flames from earlier fired up once more, and Opaline seemed even more crazed than before.

I'm a villain!
Evil as can be!
I'm a villain!
Make you shiver though your teeth!
Don't you cry now/
It'll all be fine!
I'm a villain!
I'm a villain!
Oh, I'm a villain!

She then cackled to herself. "Oh, I'm so scary..."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Come on. This Disney wannabe is trying to scare us?"

Opaline glanced at them. "Well, let me convince you another way." The stone began to shake and glow, and suddenly energy seemed to flow out of the two engines and into the stone.

Within minutes, the faces of the engines were gone, blank smokebox doors left in their place.

Opaline smiled. "A much better use of resources, if I do say so myself."

The two drivers looked on in horror.

Author's Note

This chapter was certainly song heavy, but what's a good villain without a villain song, eh? Both songs have slightly modified lyrics to fit the human setting, but apart from that have been left as is.

Two new engines in this one.

Storm was another loco ordered by the CPRR, and worked alongside the others until the early 1900s. Again, the image is from Train Simulator Classic.

Whirlwind was also from the same order.

The two drivers will probably help you figure out their role in the story. They are essentially standing in for the dragons in this portion of the story.

We shall now take another break over the weekend before resuming on Monday.

Chapter 11-A New Age

Back at the dig site, Argyle was already at work in full historian mode. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, he was utterly intruigued by the new arrivals, and was keen to interview them to find out more information.

So, he made his way to Omaha, who had been parked on a nearby siding and was being tended to by his driver. This driver was blue skin and reddish hair, much of which was arranged vertically in a manner reminiscent of flames. He wore a boilersuit- a sensible choice of clothing for the weather.

Argyle was about to approach him when suddenly he heard a voice behind him. "How about we work together on this one?"

Argyle glanced over his shoulder to see Isaac there behind him. "You sure?"

"There's two of them, and they'll probably both have stuff to contribute. Besides, we have different skillsets on that front."

Argyle nodded. "Well, when you put it that way it makes sense." He changed the page on his notepad and walked closer. "Greetings, you two. I was wondering if I could ask some questions?"

"Fire away," Omaha said. "It's certainly a good time to be asking questions considering all that's changed. What are telephones, for instance?"

Argyle nodded. "We've got a lot of filling in to do." He took out a pencil and prepared to write. "So, the obvious question is- how is an engine from 1869 still around and in working order no less? I know old engines do get preserved, but the rate of survival is pretty low, and few engines survive in working order from that era."

"Well, that's because it is 1869, right?" Omaha asked.

"No, it's 2024," Argyle replied.

"Oh," Omaha said. "We have travelled through time as Falcon suspected. Anyway, I'll fill you in on what we were doing. We were being chased by a group, led by a woman who wants something from us."

"No prizes for guessing who that might be," Argyle mused to himself.

"So, we went into hiding in a canyon," Torch said, the first words he had said the entire time. "But then something strange happened. A glowing portal opened up at the other end of the canyon and we got pulled into it. Before we knew what had happened we ended up in this place, on the other side of the world, and with considerable numbers of British people surrounding us."

"That's rather to be expected when you end up in Britain," Argyle said. "Still, thanks for the info."

"But at least we have an American to talk to," Omaha smiled.

"I'm only American because my dad was. I've lived in the UK my entire life, and probably always will," Argyle said.

Torch shrugged. "Well, you can't convince all of them. Back to work for me. And could somebody find a piano? Music helps me with working."

Isaac glanced to Argyle. "Well, that was an interesting experience to say the least."

"I've never met a person from the literal past," Argyle replied. "I know I'm often accused of living in another time, but that's not really what is meant by that phrase."

On the other side of the yard, Sophie was talking with Jupiter. Jupiter looked amazed at all the technological innovations that had been made in the time that had elapsed since his time. "You have trains with brakes on all the cars?" he asked. "How does that work?"

"We run pipes between the coaches and trucks with vacuum in them," Sophie exclaimed. "These trucks have a vacuum supply onboard as well. The brake system applied automatically if air gets into the system, as the vacuum has been breached."

Jupiter's driver, an orange skinned fellow with blue hair, looked amazed. "So this vacuum thing is a space with no air?" he asked, looking stunned. "I wasn't aware such a thing was even possible!"

"The wonders of modern science," Sophie said. "If my driver was here, she'd show you her phone. Unlike the old days where they were mounted to walls, people carry them around in their pockets and use them to do more than make calls."

Jupiter looked in confusion. "What's a phone?"

Sophie scrambed to come up with an analogy. "Uhhh, it's kinda like a telegraph machine you can carry about with you."

"How miraculous," the driver said. "I'm Tumble, by the way. I'm Jupiter's engineer. I was at his controls during the Golden Spike meetup a few weeks ago."

"A few weeks ago?" Sophie said. "You're time travellers!"

"We sure are," Jupiter said. "And as nice as many of the commodities of this era are it would be nice to get back to our own time at some point. This place is quite nice, but there's a comfort in being in your own time and your own world."

On the other side of the site, Nebraska pulled up alongside Omaha. "I'm not sure this is a good idea, Omaha," he said. "Whilst they seem friendly enough, I'm concerned that they may be wolves in sheep's clothing. We've had to deal with that before, all the train robbers who seem to keep turning up."

Omaha sighed. "I understand your concern, Nebraska, but I don't think this is anything to worry about. We're safe here. Even if we did somehow travel through time and space, these engines and people share our enemy from what I've overheard."

Nebraska's driver, a woman with pink or purple skin and green hair, added her views to the matter. "Can we truly be certain of all this?" she asked. "I mean, for one, an American who chooses to live in England- who would willingly do that?"

"I appreciate your worries, Blaize" Torch replied, "but ultimately remember that myself and Omaha are in charge, not you. And I feel we are safe on the grounds that, as much as this place is alien to us, at least She Who Takes did not follow us here."

Blaize nodded. "Very well, Torch. I'll get to work on ensuring we're ready to move right away."

During the day on Misty Island, most of the island's workforce went back to doing their day jobs, cutting logs and preparing lumber for transit to the mainland. Whilst all this was going on (and it was certain Allura was not around), the rest of the team got to work on getting Izzy's mobile portal assembled. Before long, they had mounted it to a truck and were ready to wheel it out of the workshop.

"I hope your idea works," Violet said. "As far as I can tell, how will you avoid being taken over by the machine she has?"

Sunny smiled. "Glad you asked," she said. "I noticed yesterday the snow has interesting properties, including seemingly rendering you unable to hear the sounds and regain your automonomy. As a result, I asked Izzy to cook up some listening earpieces which block out the sound from the machine yet allow us to hear what Allura is saying."

Izzy passed one to Violet. "This should to the trick," she said. "I also cooked some up for the rest of us, so we can play our part as well."

"Hand to heart," Zipp added. "What? That's been the arc words this entire time!"

Sunny looked sad at hearing that. "And they're probably worried sick over where I am. I wish you were hear, dad. You'd get a field day out of this place."

Hitch, on the other hand, was driving Dash, moving him to be coupled to the stock. "I hope I can figure out these couplers," he said. "They are very odd."

"They're very simple, actually," Bash said. "You push the engine into the stock, and boom! You're instantly coupled. And as we go extremely slowly there's no need for air brakes, so we can run without them. Especially in lumber yards where power is more important than speed."

Hitch nodded. "Seems I still have a fair bit to learn about how things work here."

Later on, he pushed the fake portal into position, and then they waited until nightfall. Sure enough, once the work day had come to an end and everybody had headed off to their homes to sleep, the whirring of chopper blades signalled the return of Allura and her goons, alongside their machine.

To Allura's surprise, Violet was out to greet her. "Your most fine and excellent benedictions, Allura," she said. "I hope the day finds you well."

"It's night, not day," Allura said. "And you lot aren't working fast enough. I don't pay you to stand about gossiping."

"You don't pay us anything, Allura," Violet said. "But no fear on that front. For I found the Staff of Sacanas!"

She held up a large wooden stick and showed it to her. "It is here at last!"

Allura smiled. "Perfect. Now then, let us open the portal and see if it works."

Hitch had been listening in on the entire conversation through an earpiece, and knew this was his cue to fire up Bash's cylinders. They began to work hard, the fake portal being driven by the cylinder mounts and pushing it in a circle.

Allura looked at the portal in surprise. "Such a marvellous sight at last," she said. "Though the portal is a lot noisier than I had imagined. Is it supposed to produce this much noise?"

"We're not sure," Violet said. "After all, we are but humble loggers. We don't specialise much in the functionings of portals and devices for travelling long distances rapidly."

"And you won't need to be," Allura smiled. "We shall be soon out of this place."

Whilst Allura was distracted, Zipp and Sunny snuck around the guard perimeter to try and reach Allura's strange machine. "Look out," Zipp said. "Guard coming our way. Drop down and let him pass."

Sunny nodded and dropped down, letting the guard walk by. Once he was gone, the pair got on the move again, sneaking through the snowy landscape until they, at last, reached the machine, which bubbled and pizzed and made all sorts of strange noises.

"So, how do we turn this thing off?" Sunny asked, confused. "This looks like no machine I've ever seen before."

Zipp looked at it. "The fact it's partly magical is part of the challenge, but we can figure something out." She looked at the plates and control boxes, and moved a lever to see what would happen.

A quick glance about revealed the sound system was lowering in volume, as the nearby workers appeared to be regaining some of their independence.

"Keep trying that!" Sunny said. "This is clearly working!"

So Zipp continued fiddling with the settings to try and achieve a faster effect.

"I don't think you two should be playing with that."

Sunny and Zipp wheeled around to see a guard standing there. He then reached forward and tore their earpieces out, exposing them to the full force of the machine.

Opaline was back at Knapford Station, consulting her information. "Mixed results," she said to herself. "Mixed results. The forgotten ones are back, but we've lost Thomas and Twilight. They would have made excellent minions."

A whistle raised her attention, and she saw Ryan pulling into the station at high speed before stopping violently. "Ahh, perfect. Right on time."

She waited until the passengers had finished getting off, then she walked over to the engine. "I trust the disruption operation is going to plan?" she asked.

"It is, Opaline," Ryan replied. "These passengers are so focused on the rough ride they don't suspect a thing. Our operations on this island are proceeding unimpeded."

"Well, at least a bit of good news," Opaline smiled. But let's not get too confident. I'll need you in Knapford when the time comes. And when that time comes, you have one objective- cause as much chaos as possible."

"Of course, Opaline," Ryan said. "May your glorious reign come soon."

Opaline rubbed her hands with glee. "If events at the digsite are anything to go by, it may come sooner than you expect."

Author's Note

For those surprised by Ryan's behaviour in this story, his personality here is based on an early draft of SLOTLT where he was conceited and arrogant. This persona was dropped in the finished film but curiously survived in the movie's marketing material.

Allura's machine is a reference to the original How to Train your Dragon books, for those of you who have read it. See if you can spot what is being referenced.

Argyle's work is loosely inspired by an early scene in A New Generation, namely Sunny's questioning of Izzy. Seems the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, although Argyle is more socially nuanced.

Chapter 12-Dies Irae

The situation at the construction site was basically stopped. The line's construction was basically an afterthought by this point, and the production of anything was stopped. To absolutely nobody's surprise, the working environment was essentially stopped entirely. Tourists had started to arrive to witness the new arrivals, and the other parts of the system were loaded with more passengers to try and see the new sights. And a geology team was hard at work, trying to make sense of the caverns that had been located, as the various passages running through it were a source of interest for the geology and potholing communities. To nobody's surprise, the world of work had basically ground to a halt. Argyle and Isaac were busy taking extensive technical drawings of the new arrivals, whilst the other tents clattered to the sounds of keyboards and whirr of machinery that was pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge.

Sadly, not everybody saw it that way. Porter sighed as he sat in the siding, next to his fellow engines. "Nothing going on," he said. "Nothing for us to do."

"Well, I suppose that a rest is nice, but the sun is a bit annoying," Sophie admitted.

"And our drivers are still nowhere to be found," Rebecca said sadly. "Where could Hitch be? It's not like him to vanish for long periods of time. Where has he gone? I hope he's OK."

Porter sighed again. "Same with Izzy. I mean Goldie does her best, but it's just not the same, if you know what I mean."

"I know precisely what you mean," Charles said sadly. It had been a long time since anybody had seen him this down, and this was a bit of a shock for those who knew him as this loud, brash, bellicose figure when on a normal working day.

Porter stayed quiet for a second. "Bored and alone. Can't think of a worse combination. You know, I honestly wish something would happen and lift this boredom."

Charles looked over. "I'd be careful about wishing for something to happen," he said.

Porter looked stunned. "Did you just advise me to be careful?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. Why?"

"Where is Charles and what have you done with him?"

Charles sighed. "Please take this seriously, Porter. Every single time somebody, whether or or the drivers, have wished something would happen we usually get propelled into another crazy adventure- which is something I'd prefer we don't get involved in."

There was a moment of silence as well. "Well, when you put it like that-"

"And like the rest of you I miss them." Charles paused, but sounded like he was on the verge of choking up. "Zipp's been gone for a while now, and they all seemed like a permanent fixture of my existence. And now she's gone. I guess it shows nothing lasts forever, eh?"

The other engines stayed silent, out of respect. But they had heard nothing from the other folks for a bit, and wondered where they could be.

The adults had since decamped to the home that Lady Haven had decided to rent for the duration of the stay, and their eyes were glued to a monitor, seeing the images floating across the screen.

"This is like the time we were hunting for the crystals," Argyle said. "We must have watched a lot of CCTV footage that week."

"A shame Robert couldn't be here," Lady Haven replied, "but somebody has to watch the home whilst I'm away. Besides, a change is as good as a rest, so to speak. And we've found something that I think gives us a lead to our missing children."

"What is it?" Aurora asked, brushing some hair out of her eyes and away from her glasses. "For them to vanish with no trace is just unlike them."

"Then we're lucky we found this," Lady Haven said. "It turns out the area around the hole in the ground was being monitored by security cameras, and that somebody entered the system and tried to get the footage deleted. Luckily, somebody had backed it up beforehand and then I was able to use my contacts to access the footage and get it here."

She reached forward and hit play. "It has sound, so we can hear what they're saying."

"Can you believe this? It's sparkling down there! This is like something out of a fantasy movie!"

"This is incredible! This confirms this is another branch of the caverns! I have to tell dad right away!"

"That's Sunny's voice!" Argyle said. "She'd called me only a little while earlier that she was hanging out with her friends for a bit."

"I'll take some pictures! Say chee-"

Suddenly, a loud explosion could be seen in the footage, and the ground below them started to shake.

"What was that?"

"Get back from the hole! Run!"

The ground beneath them gave way and the bright lights only increased in intensity as they fell.

And then the screams abruptly stopped.

Argyle turned to one side. "Excuse me for a moment." He then turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"They didn't vanish in an accident. Somebody tried to get rid of them." Isaac blinked in disbelief. "But who? Or why?"

Goldie was breathing heavily as she processed the scene. "You bastard," she said, firmly. "If any harm has come to Sunny, I'll make you wish you were never born."

Before anybody else could say anything, they heard a noise outside. "I'll go look," Goldie quickly said, and slipped out of the room before following the sound to the kitchen.

Argyle was there, turned away from her. And it was clear that he was crying. "This is all my fault," he said quietly, shuddering between sobs.

"Argyle, this isn't your fault-" Goldie said.

"I'm her father! I'm supposed to keep her safe. If I can't do that what sort of man am I?"

"She's my daughter too. But we're going to find whomever did this, and make them pay for what they've done."

Argyle looked up. "That doesn't make it any easier. She must be so scared!"

Sunny was scared. Her face was contorted as she tried to resist the sound waves entering her brain. "Get... out!" she said, looking over to Zipp. Zipp appeared to be going through a similar experience if her facial expression was anything to go by.

After what felt like hours of struggle, Sunny was no longer able to resist, and her eyes flashed purple as she stood up. "I will do as you ask, Allura," she said, and began to shamble like a zombie towards her friends, her mouth locked in an unnatural grin.

Zipp follows her mere seconds later, her eyes similarly glazed over and smiling in that unnatural way that made Allura's control clear.

Allura looked over from the portal machine and smiled. "All it took was one mistake," she smiled. "And your entire plan fell apart. Now go, my minions, seize the others and stop them!"

The guards nodded, and ran across the field, moving to confront the rest of the Mane 6. They scattered, working to keep their ear equipment in their ears to avoid the strange effects of the machine.

Misty slipped and fell underneath some snow, hiding her temporarily from view, and by logical extension from the guards. Her head down, she began to formulate a plan in her mind to free her friends.

As Pipp ran by, trying to avoid the guards and the brainwashed workers that had been sent to chase her, Misty then spotted a discarded piece of industrial equipment nearby, and grabbed it. It was, to her lack of surprise, quite heavy, and as she grabbed it she finished formulating her plan in her mind. That machine was her target.

She checked her ears and secured the ear defenders in place before making her move. She poked her head up- and then pulled it down to stop Sunny from spotting her. Once that was out of the way, she dashed out of cover and sprinted for the machine. She breathed heavily as she pulled the object along- although she'd been working to improve her physical health, she was hardly an image of heavy physical power herself.

She slipped on some snow but eventually caught herself before stopping next to the machine. Now was her chance. Now she could change things for the better.

She wheeled the machinery up, swung it onto her shoulder, and then set about smashing the machine. Blow after blow hammered down on the machine as it sparked and began to malfunction. Within a few moments, the equipment dropped in pitch as the sound powered down, soon rendering it unable to function. The effect was somewhat reminiscent of a set of bagpipes running out of air, as the sound gradually dropped in pitch and volume until it was completely and totally silent during the events.

Misty panted as she dropped the thing she had grabbed, and looked around to see her friends.

Sunny shook her head, and suddenly spotted the other workers had seemingly broken from the spell. "Quick! Stop Allura!"

The workers, now free from Allura's control, turned on their former oppressor. The guards levelled their weapons at the workers.

"Think you can stop all of us?" Comet shouted. "You'll run out of bullets eventually!"

Allura laughed as her perimeter shrank in size as her soldiers menacingly pointed weapons. "You think you've won? I always knew that portal was a fake. I just needed to gauge your power- especially you, Sunny."

Sunny's eyes widened at that statement. "How do you know me?"

"I've been watching you lot for a long time- ever since February, for a matter of fact. You carry power within you, and the gas incident only proved it. Your resourcefulness and ability to think outside the box only proved to me how effective you can be when working together, and the power of the crystals only ensures this."

Izzy's eyes widened. How did this woman know so much about them?

"The Staff of Sacanas is already mine, and this mission is over." A chopper suddenly flew in overhead, the whirring of the blades sending snow flying and forcing the loggers back, as well as Sunny and her friends. It touched down, and Allura and her troops hopped onboard.

The woman laughed as the blades picked up to take off speed. "You may have wasted precious time in order to slow me down, but in that time how much stronger has Opaline become?'

As the chopper pulled out, flying away into the night sky, Pipp looked over. "Has Opaline been up to something while we've been here?"

"Wouldn't surprise me if she has," Zipp said, who pointed to a glowing light. "Look! A portal! And Arlesburgh's on the other side! We have to get back there!"

"Not arguing with you on that one!" Sunny said, walking to Violet. "Look, I know this is sudden, but Opaline's a threat to our homeland."

"Thank you for your help," Violet said. "We need to clean up here, but we won't forget you. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me!"

Sunny nodded, and with her friends jumped into the portal.

Opaline was being fitted with heavy armour plate and gauntlets, before a helmet was lowered over her head.

"Is the armour secure, your majesty?" asked a soldier.

Opaline shifted about to check the configuration of the plates and cables. "Perfect," she said. "Prepare yourselves. The time has arrived."

She switched on the visor display and switched over to Boomer. "Boomer, report in. Are you ready to initiate the operation?"

"Military assets ready to go. The sleeper units have been informed of their go orders, and are set to receive the code word."

Opaline nodded. "I am about to deploy now, and our forces in the bunker are prepped." She walked over to a display, and pushed a single button. "Time for decades of putting fingers in the right pies to pay off."

"Execute Omega Protocol. Code Word: CULLODEN."

Author's Note

Well, we're into another tense chapter, and the story continues to build. The title of this chapter is Latin, and translates as 'Day of Judgement', which is a fitting title I think for a chapter focused on major revelations.

The security footage plotline is loosely inspired by an episode of Luther, where the only trace the investigators have of a criminal is CCTV footage. This means they are perpetually playing catchup and trying to guess where the crook will strike next.

Opaline's armour looks like this:

Finally, the code word Opaline speaks has a reference to a notable episode in British history. Can you spot it?

Chapter 14-Brother Against Brother

Colonel Haven was most surprised when he suddenly came under fire. The shell streaked over the top of his vehicle and exploded in mid air.

Was it a misfire? A poorly aimed shot? A technical malfunction with one of the vehicles? He switched on his radio to try and get an answer. "All units, all units, this is Anvil Actual. Report misfire or technical fault, over?"

There was no reply.

"I repeat, all units, all units, this is Anvil Actual. Report misfire or technical fault, over?"

He did ultimately get a reply- albeit not in the way he had hoped. An explosion suddenly lit up one of the vehicles next to his, and he looked in shock as it exploded, the vehicle being blown apart by a series of explosions.

The Colonel was most surprised? Were they under attack? The Radar didn't show any threats on screen, so where they could be was a mystery to him. He scanned about as more fire came their way. "Reverse, reverse!"

The driver acknowledged, and the heavy vehicle began to reverse as shells began to fly about the battlefield. Armour was turned towards the threats that were advancing on allied lines- all of them vehicles that had been allies moments before.

As the area started to descend into pandemonium, Colonel Haven grabbed his radio. "Anvil Formation, sound off, over?"

"Anvil 2, good to go, over."

"Anvil 4, ready for battle, over."

"Anvil 5, taking heavy fire, over!"

No response from Anvil 3. Colonel Haven suddenly saw the vehicle that housed Anvil 3 moving towards him.

"Anvil 3, please respond, over."

Only one message came back as a response, one that chilled the Colonel to the bone when he heard it.

"Death to the defenders of the false King! Glory to Opaline!"

Seconds later the hull was lit up with machine gun fire, and a shell flew past and exploded on another tank, cratering the hull with a large explosion.

"Load AP Shell, target vehicle ahead, over!"

"Copy sir, AP in the loader now," the gunner said.

"Track turret to right, 20 degrees!"

The turret swung as the driver moved forward, trying to move the lumbering vehicle faster than the other vehicle's turret could track. The two machines danced about as the turrets continued to follow and a battle raged around them.

"FIRE!"

"ON THE WAY!"

The turret kicked back as the main gun fired, and a shell flew out of the barrel accompanied by a lot of smoke. The shell slammed into the tank that had once been Anvil 3, tearing open the turret and detonating the ammunition store onboard. Within seconds the land was occupied by a smoking wreck.

The Colonel glanced down to his display to see what was happening. All across the region were confused and distorted reports of soldiers firing on one another, and complete chaos seemed to be the norm.

As he looked up and saw two fighter jets engaging one another, both aircraft in the colours of the RAF, the truth became clear to him.

"This is a full blown insurrection! It's obvious that key units are no longer acting as part of the British military."

"Anvil 2 to Anvil Actual, requesting situation update, over?"

Colonel Haven sighed, and nodded. "Anvil Actual to Anvil 2, threats are unclear. Enemy forces appear to be embedded within our own forces. Unless told otherwise all forces are to be considered hostile, over."

"Those were our men-"

"They ceased to be our fellow soldiers when they fired on us!" Colonel Haven replied. "Form up and prepare to move, over."

Just as he gave the order, some very battered light vehicles rolled into position, as well as a pair of Challenger 2s that looked barely operational from the amount of damage they had sustained. "Royal Lancers, reporting for duty, sir."

"I take it you gentlemen came under attack?" Colonel Haven asked.

"Yes, sir. Heavy fire from the enemy. We're all that's left, sir."

The Colonel was about to reply, when suddenly a message began to play over the radio.

"-e Are under heavy fire, over! Reinforcements required urgently, or we will not hold!"

Colonel Haven recognised the voice immediately. "Elizabeth's mixed up in this?" he asked himself. He picked up the microphone once more. "All units, form up on me. We follow the distress call."

The tanks formed up into a column behind the lead vehicle, and then moved off, the mixture of liveries and vehicles showing just how much of a beating they had taken.

Sunny's wings dramatically flared into being as she leaped over a formation of enemy soldiers. She slashed her way through a bunker and charged through a wall to reach her destination.

She spotted her parents fighting back against Boomer, who was wearing some sort of powered armour. Even so, he seemed to lack any real ability to control it properly.

"Take this!"

Argyle ducked before knocking him back. "Missed me!" He then grabbed a discarded rifle and levelled it. "Never bring a knife to a gun fight- especially if said gun user was in the ATC."

Boomer roared before lumbering towards Goldie. "Why won't you take a hint? You're beaten!"

Goldie shook her head as she pulled a baseball bat back. "Do you ever hear the shit that comes out of your mouth?"

"No matter!" Boomer growled, a blade shifting into place on the armour. "I will have you or nobody will!"

He swung- only for Sunny to land in the way and block the blow with an energy gauntlet. Her face was cold, devoid of its usual cheerfulness. "Leave. My. Parents. Alone."

Boomer lunged with the other hand, but Sunny quickly blocked it and knocked him back, firing off an energy blast to send him into a pile of rubble.

Sunny charged to where her parents were. "Come on! Let's go! He won't be stopped forever!"

Goldie nodded. "The less I have to deal with that moron the better."

The team then heard a series of explosions on the other side of the field, and what they saw shocked them.

The ocean was on fire. The seas were aflame, and smoke drifted high into the sky.

Wrecked ships floated lifeless on the waves, damaged, listing. Many were flooding and taking on water, whilst other vessels were struggling to turn or move.

Bodies floated on the waves, and lifeboats drifted about. Explosions echoed in the distance as more combat seemingly continued in the distance.

Purbeck 1 flew above it all, with Purbeck 2 flying by its side. "What happened here?" Thunder asked over the radio.

"Looks like the military turned on itself," Zoom replied, pointing to the scenes in the distance. "There are ships still firing on one another in the distance."

Vessels were indeed continuing to fire on one another on the confusion, clearly caught by surprise by the assault upon them. The fire of the weapons was incredibly intense, preventing anybody from getting a real sense of the ongoing carnage.

"Drop lower and try to avoid being spotted," Thunder continued. "We have no way of knowing who is on what side."

Her concern was confirmed when a ship exploded in the distance, followed by a submarine surfacing a few moments later.

Suddenly, the radio on Purbeck 1 buzzed, and Zoom tuned it. "Message broadcasting on all stations."

"Listen in, all subjects of Britain! Your tyrannical King, the false ruler, has been removed from power. The House of Windsor is no more, and the world is now back under the control of the House of Stuart!

"I, Queen Opaline, am your new ruler now. Anybody who is a loyal subject will cease fighting, and bow down before me. This country went downhill ever since they threw their lot in with some Germans, so I shall restore Great Britain to her rightful place in history!

"Long live the Queen!"

Lord Haven glanced at several of the soldiers. "This is bad."

"Agreed, sir," said one of them. "We'll need to be careful if we're gonna navigate this one."

"I have another reason to be concerned," Lord Haven admitted. "Opaline knows who we are, and not only that we're known to be opposed to her. If she sees us as traitors, we'll be executed. Which is especially concerning as we supported the very revolution that removed Opaline's ancestors from the throne."

Suddenly, the radio buzzed, and they heard a familiar voice.

"We can't hold them! We need reinforcements!"

"Zipp?" Zoom said. "That was Zipp, right?"

"Lock in on the transmission," Lord Haven said. "We have to find them, and fast, or else all hope may be lost."

Zoom turned some dials and switches to focus the equipment, and within a few minutes had found what she thought was the location. "Position locked. Enemy forces on Sodor, near Arlesburgh. Setting course. Thunder, be ready to engage."

"Purbeck 2, copy."

Both choppers flew away over the burning sea, approaching the island of Sodor at speed. They hoped they would get there on time.

Pipp and Zipp never saw what hit them.

One moment they had been helping with manning the defences. A machine gun crew had gone down, so they had manned the gun to assist with the defences. The improvised trench lines were slowly falling from the volume of fire being faced by the enemy, and the two diesels had helped to shunt artillery into position to help.

Unfortunately, it was soon to be for nothing,

"Look!" Pipp shouted. "There's an armoured figure approaching!"

Zipp recognised them. "It's Opaline! Fire on my target!"

A fresh wave of bullets flew forth, but Opaline seemingly was surrounded by some sort of shield. She bounded over the terrain and landed on top of the trench line, ripping the machine gun from its socket and throwing it aside as if it were a children's toy.

"Not so tough now, are you Zara?" she said, before firing off a blast of energy. Both sisters were knocked back to the back of the trench, and lay dazed as Opaline closed in.

Pipp was the first to return to sense. "No! Don't hurt me!"

Opaline smiled. "I'm not interested in a vapid pig like yourself. You really need to lay off on the cookies. No, your entire bloodline stood against me and my ancestors, and now you will di-"

Her speech was suddenly interrupted by something ricocheting off her helmet. "What?"

Another volley of rounds followed- the source being a revolver carried by Lady Haven. "You will not hurt them!"

"Bold words for a woman about to be reminded of her own inadequacy," Opaline said, her hands filling with energy.

Suddenly, a blast of fire knocked her down, and Purbeck 2 roared overhead, firing off rockets into approaching armoured vehicles.

Purbeck 1 levitated into position in front of the defenders, Zoom and her soldiers having grabbed their arms and begun to fire on the approaching threat.

"We're the evac!" Zoom shouted. "Get the Duchess to safety!"

She jumped out to rescue Pipp and Zipp, both of whom were making their way to the chopper, whilst two others helped Lady Haven onto the chopper. Purbeck 2 did another pass to clear the airspace, before a loud bang alerted them.

"Damn! Stray gunfire disabled the gun camera. I'll be firing LOS from now on!"

Once everybody was safely onboard, the engines of Purbeck 1 were pushed to maximum power, and the family were flown away.

"What about Charles and Sophie?" Pipp asked. "We can't leave them behind!"

"We don't have a choice!" Zoom replied.

Opaline was now back on her feet, and made her way over to the two engines. "You two have caused me more trouble than I care to mention," she said. "I may not be able to get the Havens... but I can take both of you as compensation."

Her gauntlets glowed, and energy began to flow into them. Charles and Sophie tried to protest, but the life seemed to be being pulled out of them.

Within moments, only two shells remained, sitting on the side of a battlefield.

Author's Note

This chapter pushes us forward a bit, showing just how global this war has become. Opaline's grand plan is now in motion, and this will impact the story going forward.

The battle scenes are based on numerous sources. The tank battle is modelled on one in the 2014 film Fury, and the flight over the naval battle is based on photos of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. The final scene incorporates elements from the conclusion of Saving Private Ryan, not to mention giving Lady Haven something to do-her pony counterpart was decidedly useless in Chapter 6 of MYM, which considering her actions in the film constitutes badass decay.

And two engines down. Who's next?

Chapter 15-Triumph and Tragedy

Porter sped along as best as he could, his wheels pounding the rails and his cylinders shaking back and forth as he thundered along. "Come on!" he shouted. "Keep the signals green for me!"

The two coaches he was coupled to were loaded with workers, people who were fleeing the battlefield to try and get to safety. It turned out that not everybody wanted to hang about on a battlefield, and as such they were fleeing every conceivable way they could to try and get away from the enemy campaign.

Just as the train joined another line, a truck was rattling alongside the line. Several soldiers were on the back, and one carried a megaphone. "BY THE ORDERS OF QUEEN OPALINE, YOU ARE TO STOP IMMEDIATELY! OBEY THIS ORDER AND YOUR LIFE WILL BE SAFE!"

"Like Hell it will be!" Izzy said, who responded by opening the regulator even further. Porter shot away at speed, bouncing up and down at speeds he was never designed to travel at. The coaches similarly rattled and bounced along, loaded with passengers seeing the world collapse around them.

"Is this what the First World War was like?" Porter asked.

"If so, I'm glad to have missed it!" Izzy said, with a sound of fear in her voice. She leaned out of the cab and saw the truck trying to draw level. "Time to try the escape plan!"

She pulled a lever- and this triggered something on a flatcar coupled to the back of the train. Moments later, a bathtup tipped over and fell onto the bed of the truck, covering those on the bed in some sticky substance.

"Bathtub full of jelly never fails!" Izzy said, as they sped away. "Uncle Alphabittle taught be that trick!"

"I thought you weren't related!" Porter said.

"Uncle in the Northern sense!" Izzy said.

"I see now."

Izzy then checked behind her- and screamed. "RED LIGHT!"

She slammed the brakes on as the train rocketed into a derailing siding, but it was too late. Porter and his coaches left the rails and tipped onto their sides, falling into a ditch and smashing onto the ground with a bang.

All was silent. All was still. And then the groans of the injured began as people tried to evacuate from the train. The soldiers from earlier arrived, still covered in jelly, and surrounded the train.

Izzy recognised them. "Hey, you guys are from PHALANX!" she said.

"No better call than the call of a good payout," the soldier replied. "Are you going to come quietly or will I have to force you?"

"I'll handle this," said a voice, and behind them appeared Opaline. With her was a formation of 1860s locomotives, each without a face.

Opaline stepped up next to Porter. "So remarkable to finally get to see one of the engines that has caused me so much trouble. Any last words?"

"Go to Cashmore."

"My dear, I've already been." Her gauntlets glowed, and magical flowed out of Porter and into Opaline. As Izzy ran, all she saw behind her was the lifeless husk that had once been her engine.

On the other side of the battlefield, Omaha was leading his fellow engines into battle. "Ready the crank guns!" he shouted.

Several coaches then had side doors pop open, and out of them popped rotary barrel weapons.

Torch looked back. "Blaize, you give the word."

Blaize saluted. "Understood. Sir, it has been an honour."

Torch nodded as the formation pulled up on a hill overlooking the battlefield. Most of the team was there- Omaha, Nebraska, Jupiter, Leviathan, Antelope, and Falcon. Each was coupled to a passenger car.

"Let's hope this works," Jupiter said to himself.

Blaize raised her hand. "Steady... fire!"

In that instant, an entire battery of gattling guns opened up, sending a hail of bullets tearing across the landscape and slamming into their foes. Buildings had holes torn in them. Structures were damaged. Soldiers flew everywhere from the unexpected extra layer of weapons fire.

Some of them noticed and turned to return fire, but they were prepared. "Get moving!" Falcon shouted. The engines began to move off in turn, allowing the crews to maintain and focus their fire on the enemy troops on the ground below.

As they flew along the clifftop, they ran into a loop and began to circle round. "Switch the guns to the other side!" Leviathan shouted.

The weapons were swapped over, and the crews prepared to resume fire on the ground with a fresh hail of bullets. Unfortunately, the plan soon began to become unstuck, as up ahead vehicles tried to block the line.

"Child's play," Omaha said, as he impacted the lead truck. His crossbar threw it aside like a toy, causing it to bounce away like a childrens toy haphazardly thrown across the terrain.

With the sheer speed they were doing, laying down any sort of precise fire soon proved to be difficult. Several sets of choppers soon formed up on the side of their formations, trying to stop them.

"Flying machines!" Antelope shouted.

"Keep going!" Jupiter said. "They can't stop us all!"

The engines thundered onto a loop track and were soon routed down into the ground level of the battlefield itself. The line soon began to lead them away from the enemy, with a chunk of the enemy force in pursuit.

Torch got on the radio. "The enemy are chasing us! Hope that gets some of them off your backs!"

"Greatly appreciated!" radioed the voice of that English noblewoman. "We'll need to fall back in short order or else we'll never get out of here."

Torch acknowledged. He'd never expected war to find him here once again, but then again he'd spent much of his life involved in one conflict or another. To be fighting alongside British people with American accents felt a bit strange, but then again they shared the same enemy.

As the formation roared across Sodor, enemy in pursuit, he could only hope reinforcements were coming soon.

Out at sea, well off the coast of Sodor, HMS Duke of York limped through the ocean. Flames burned on the open sea from burnt and destroyed ships, all lost in a sneak attack nobody saw coming. Several ships still afloat had suffered heavy damage, and the task force was a fraction of its full power.

On the deck of the Duke of York, Admiral Seaspray activated his megaphone. "Damage report, over?" he said.

The chief engineer radioed up from the engineering station. "It's not good, sir. We've got an engine leak. The generators are damaged and running at partial capacity. We've finished fighting an onboard fire that damaged the rudder linkage, and we're leaking fuel. The situation could be better, sir, but we'll do our best to patch it up, over."

The Admiral looked out to sea, as the carrier sailed past more burning wrecks. "We were fired on by our own side," he said. "What in the Seven Seas is going on out here?"

"Sir!" shouted a sailor. "HMS Coventry is severely damaged and needs resupply. The Captain of HMS Portsmouth is beaching her on a sandbank to avoid sinking."

"Grim news indeed," the Admiral said, looking back to his display. "I have half an operational taskforce at my disposal, but the Admiralty are oddly quiet. The MoD aren't responding, and although we appear to be free of immediate threats I suspect they'll be back for more."

"Sir, land approaching!" said the ship's captain. "Island of Sodor!"

"If they have a harbour still in loyalist hands, we can attempt to resupply in safer waters," the Admiral noted, averting his eyes from the wrecks of more burning vessels. Not many men bobbed about in the water, and all available lifeboats had been dispatched for rescue duties to pull them out of the water.

He then spotted explosions from the coastline. "Land battle underway. They may need our help. Dispatch recon drone!"

"Aye sir, dispatching recon drone now."

After a few minutes of flight time, the drone hovered above the battlefield, and gave them a view as to the mayhem breaking out below. It was chaos of a sort not seen on British soul in a very long time.

The Admiral was shocked. "Civilians?" he said. "What sort of foe are we fighting that they attack civilians?" He then spotted a familiar face on the ground. "If my eyes do not deceive me, then I recognise that girl in orange."

His mind briefly flashed back to the museum opening all those months ago, before focusing on the task at hand. "Prepare the task force to engage the enemy! Prepare all fighters for launch!"

"That's going to take a few hours, sir," said the Executive Officer. "The deck is covered in scrap and damaged fighters that are in no condition to be launched, and the rest need to be fuelled."

"Push the damaged ones off the edge and get the rest ready for action." The Admiral looked back. "In the meantime, initiate a missile bombardment on my word."

Opaline stepped back from the engine that had once been Porter, rubbing her hands. "Victory grows ever closer," she smiled.

Just then, she heard a familiar puffing sound behind her. "Ah, Bellerophon," she said. "Nice of you to come to your doom."

"We won't let you get away with this!" Bellerophon said defiantly. "My friends showed me the way, and the light will always outshine the darkness!"

"Not unless you get rid of the light source first," Opaline replied. "And I detect the little traitor is with you too. I have a question for you, Misty- was it all worth it, only to end up on the wrong side of history?"

"You can't do this to me or my friends," Misty said, climbing off Bellerophon's footplate and towards Opaline. "They showed me there was a better way, a better world waiting beyond the darkness. They showed me what it meant to care about somebody, and in them I found a true family and my parents!"

"Parent?" Opaline said. "I did all that. I fed and sheltered you, didn't I?"

Bellerophon snorted. "Well done, you did the bare minimum."

"It's kinda sad, really," Misty continued. "All this power, and yet you're still alone. Power can't buy you friendship. Being a good person does. Tell me, Opaline... who do you really have?"

"Plenty of people! Soldiers who have undying loyalty to me!"

"Only through the promise of power. They're on your side because they'll get something out of it. Feeling important. Special. Gaining their own power in the regime you want to build. That's not friendship. That's an alliance of convenience. And that is why I fight."

Opaline looked furious. "You ungrateful little beetle! Kneel before me! NOW! DO IT, YOU TRAITOR!"

"No," Misty said. "You can't betray somebody you're enslaved to. That's the difference between a leader or a tyrant like you. But that still doesn't answer the main question- will you reconsider this? Is all this pain and destruction worth it?"

Opaline looked down, seemingly surprised by this.

"It worked?" Misty said quietly.

"I hope so."

"I have friends, and you can never take that away from me."

Opaline suddenly fired off an energy blast, sending Misty slamming into some trucks, before turning her powers on Bellerophon, draining him utterly.

Opaline's gauntlets glowed with fresh energy as she loomed over Misty, who looked utterly helpless. "That's better. This should remind you who your betters are. Your friends cannot save you, nor can this pathetic world. I am ruler now, and I shall reshape Britain in my image. That's the first lesson you learn from the school of hard knocks. You can't rely on anybody but yourself."

Misty looked up, pleading. "Please don't kill me!"

Opaline laughed. "Kill you? A pathetic worm like you isn't even worthy of my blade. Besides, Misty, you can't suffer if you're dead. Because of you, Bellerophon is gone. I hope you can live with that."

Opaline walked away as Misty quietly wept to herself. Despite her attempts to fix things, she had only made the problem worse.

Author's Note

It is quite common in the north for children to call next door neighbours 'aunt' or 'uncle', even if they are not a blood relative.

Cashmore is a reference to the notorious Newport scrapyard owned by John Cashmore, a facility often referred to by railway enthusiasts as 'the slaughterhouse' owing to the thousands of locomotives scrapped there.

Can you figure out which conflict Torch is alluding to?

HMS Duke of York is based on the Elizabeth Class of aircraft carriers, of which there are currently two; HMS Queen Elizabeth, and HMS Prince of Wales. As the Duke of York is the second in the line of succession, it made logical sense that a hypothetical third carrier in the series would carry this name.

The concluding scene is based on the one from the episode, combined with some dialogue from a story written by a friend.

TI Feel Sorry For You

MLP Gen 5

Drama

Sad

Slice of Life

An alternate ending to “The Roots of All Evil Pt 2.” What if that confrontation between Misty and Opaline in Zephyr Heights went differently? What if Misty was able to break through Opaline’s stubbornness for a moment and actually reform her…?

Death

Alt. Universe

Pipp

Zipp

Opaline

Misty

Admiral Producer · 4.8k words  ·  66  4 · 2.2k views

Opaline turning on Misty is inspired by Ultra Magnus betraying Optimus Prime in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, an anime adaptation of Transformers which aired between 2001 and 2002.

Opaline seems to be working her way through the heroes one by one. What will happen next?

Chapter 16-Behind Enemy Lines

Alphabittle had been given no chance to escape when the invasion first hit. He had been at home, minding his own business when the first explosions rocked Falmouth, and had been caught completely by surprise.

As he looked out at the scenes of chaos before him, of soldiers marching down streets and hunting for survivors, he was very concerned. "Thought I'd finally seen the back of this sort of thing," he commented, before ducking down to ensure that nobody outside could see him.

There was a knock at the door. "IN THE NAME OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN OPALINE, YOU WILL OPEN THE DOOR AT ONCE AND SURRENDER YOURSELF TO THE AUTHORITIES!"

Like Hell I'll do that, Alphabittle thought to himself, and began to make his way upstairs to the loft. He had to move quietly to ensure he wasn't detected, but soon was able to reach the loft without alerting anybody outside the building.

Quietly, he dropped the ladder and climbed up, looking to his left as his head popped through the hole as if he knew where what he was looking for already was. He climbed in and found a box, sliding it back to reveal a box absolutely packed to the brim with gear. A radio, a flashlight, an old military uniform, and even a single revolver he kept for emergencies.

He pulled them out and quickly pulled the uniform on, combined with adding the holster for the revolver to his hip and loading five rounds into the cylinder. Whilst doing so, he caught sight of a photograph at the bottom, so he gave it a look.

It showed him, back when he was in the prime of his life, with his daughter and wife. Long since ex wife, to be exact. His eyes narrowed as they scanned over the woman in the scene. "Faven, if we ever meet again you'd better have a damn good explanation for why you left."

Suddenly, there was a crash from downstairs, and Alphabittle hid behind a column. A soldier climbed the stairs and stopped in the loft, looking about. "Who's there? Come out with your hands up!"

Alphabittle waited. "Right here." He then lunged forward and shoved the soldier back down the ladder, dropping back before the loud bang that signified the soldier hitting the bottom was audible.

Once he was done there, he kicked the skylight open and climbed out before sliding down the roof to the bottom. He dashed along the street, avoiding any and all contact with the enemy. He was, after all, just one man. And one man against an army would not end well, he suspected.

Eventually, he found the road leading out of Falmouth, and found several military vehicles parked, loaded with survivors.

"Sir?" a soldier said with astonishment. "We weren't aware of other survivors!"

"There's still plenty of fight left in this warhorse," Alphabittle replied. "Now then, where are we going?"

"Wherever we are needed," the soldier said. "Now then, sir, if you're joining us we'll be on our way."

Alphabittle nodded as he boarded a truck. "61 and back in battle. Didn't think I'd see this again."

"Go! Go! Go!" Sombra shouted. "Get those heavy guns moved up into position!"

"Sir!" Ashleigh shouted, as she began the work of propelling heavy wagons forward.

The LLF were entrenched near Darlington, the same place where Misty had befriended them all those months ago. With the added power of a new engine, Hurricane, they felt they had a better chance at survival.

Sir Gillemere looked over. "I'll distract them!" he shouted. "INVISIBILITY ON!"

A vast blast of smoke soon covered the battlefield as an improvised smokescreen, impairing the vision of the enemy forces that were approaching their position. They advanced slowly through the fog, trying to figure out where they were.

When suddenly-

"FIRE!"

Suddenly, and without warning, a set of rail guns fired from their mounts on rail wagons. Three of the four shots struck home without trouble, blowing the offending vehicle to pieces with a set of explosions.

On the other side of the field, Fergus propelled a set of wagons forward to block the way. "Take this!" he said.

"DRIVE THEM OUT OF THE ENCAMPMENT!" shouted a voice. "SURRENDER NOW AND YOU WILL BE TREATED KINDLY!"

Radiant Hope did not take kindly to this sentiment. "We'd rather die free than in service of that tyrant you follow!"

"Then die you shall," came the reply. "Bring their remains to the Queen as a gift!"

The enemy redoubled their attack, the roar of engines only accentuating the threat being faced.

"Get those anti tank guns reloaded, now!" Ashleigh shouted. "They're all that's standing between us and our defeat!"

A set of blades thundered overhead as a chopper of some sort moved into position overhead, trying to clear the smoke that Sir Gillemere was producing with its blades.

"Sir Gillemere?" Hurricane called. "This isn't working!"

"I suspect we'll need a miracle to hold them off!" the large express engine replied, as weapons continued to thunder all around him.

Suddenly, it seemed as though his prayers were answered, as they fray was joined by the whine of the engines of jet fighters. They roared in overhead, firing off their payloads at the advancing tanks and destroying them utterly.

Once the silence fell, the survivors looked at one another in astonishment. "Sound off!" Tempest Shadow called.

"Ashleigh, here!"

Fergus, here!"

"Hurricane, here!"

"Sir Gillemere, here!"

"Sombra, here!"

"Radiant Hope, here!"

"Celeano, here!"

Tempest nodded and booted up a communications module built into her armour. "This is not good," she said. "The entire country is under attack from Opaline's forces- and we're losing. Reinforcements needed, pulling back, suffering heavy losses- it's not looking promising for us to say the least."

"There has to be a way we can fight back!" Hurricane said. "We can't just give up here and let them win!"

Tempest focused her ears. "Hang on. Call coming in from Sodor. The speaker is... wait, it's that girl we helped! Misty!"

"She's a friend," said Sir Gillemere. "And the chivalric code of honour states you never leave a friend behind. Forth, noble knights! We must defeat these foes and return peace to the land!"

"Once we're done cleaning the mess from the entrance so we can get out," Ashleigh pointed out.

Knapford had soon born the brunt of the enemy attack.

Twilight glanced about her when she heard the sirens go off. "What's going on?" she asked. "The air raid sirens haven't been used here in nearly a century!"

"That's because your idiocy has brought the future early," said a cold voice, as Ryan rolled into view.

"Ryan!" Thomas said. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ryan said, with a cold smile. "I was sent here to bring about the future. Opaline was destined to rule this land, and it was my duty to ensure such a task was completed. A bit of chaos there, some complaining passengers here- all intended to ensure nobody realised what was really going on. And how ironic is how it really worked and came together."

Thomas' eyes widened in horror. "That Opaline!" he said. "She was the woman we helped at the dig site! What have we done?"

"Helped to bring about a new and glorious age for this country," Ryan replied. "Opaline will run this land well. The collapsing ground, the dynamite in the floor, the new engines- all of that was made possible thanks to you, Thomas. How ironic that the engine who brought this all about was the one most likely to be opposed to her plans. But I must thank you. Your idiocy does make you extremely useful."

Twilight was in a state of shock. "We made this all happen?" she said, in shock and some silence. "What have we done?"

"Look around you," Ryan said, as he suddenly charged. Within moments he had Thomas pinned at the end of a siding, and pushed into some buffers.

Thomas tried to push back, but couldn't.

"This is too easy," Ryan said. "I'm far bigger and stronger than you, after all. You won't escape. At least not before I've had my fun."

He backed up, stopped, and then charged again, smashing into Thomas' front buffer beam and damaging it. "This is for all the engines pushed aside by your desire to be number one! Well, you're not so useful now, are you, you little blue embarrassment?!"

Thomas had no chance to reply before Ryan suddenly backed off. "Looks like you got lucky, Thomas," he said, coldly. "I'm needed elsewhere. But you shan't escape so easily next time. Run, and I may spare you your life."

Thomas needed no prompting, and exited the siding as fast as he could, puffing down the mainline as fast as his wheels could carry him.

He was still trying to process all that he had seen. All of this, all this chaos so far, was his fault.

And there was virtually no chance he was coming back from it.

Hitch sprinted forward over the battlefield, trying to navigate towards his allies. "Fall back!" he shouted. "We cannot hold them!"

Several figures nodded and began to retreat towards allied lines far away. The enemy weren't letting up, though, and were still approaching at speed across the terrain.

Hitch then spotted something on the ground- a weapon he could use. He picked it up, and attached the attached backpack to his back, followed by him adding the main cabling and grabbing the weapon. He then linked the weapon to the cabling, gripped the carry handle, and gave the rotation test handle a quick squeeze.

"Good, it's still working," he said. He checked it over again. "Guys, fall back. I'm going to hold them off."

"Hitch, what are you doing?" Sunny radioed. "There's no way you'll be able to hold them off on your own!"

I'm buying you guys time," Hitch replied, as he raised the weapon and pulled the trigger. The barrels spooled up and within seconds a hail of white hot led was pouring out of the weapon. "Fall back. That's an order. I'll see you on the other side, Sunny."

Protesting from Sunny began, but Hitch simply switched the radio off and continued firing on the approaching troops, cutting them down with expertly laid fire.

"SURRENDER YOUR ARMS!" shouted a soldier, as more soldiers pushed forward.

Hitch shook his head. "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!"

Rounds continued to fly downrange and into the enemy, cutting several of them down in a hail of weapons fire. Hitch never let up the fire though, determined to ensure his friends escaped.

Suddenly, his weapon stopped firing, and the display on it beeped. He looked down, and saw something concerning.

OUT OF AMMUNITION.

He pulled the trigger, and heard the distinctive 'dead man's click'. He had no chance to disconnect the weapon before they were on top of him, knocking him to the floor with a bang.

Hitch pulled a grenade off his belt, released the pin and lever, and rolled it in the direction of the enemy, determined to take a few more of them out. The explosion shook the terrain and blew the land apart, more mud and dirt flying about.

The soldier who had pinned him down was not affected, however. He flipped Hitch over and handcuffed him, before halling him to his feet.

"I imagine Opaline will be glad to have at least one of you meddling kids to add to her collection," he said, with a smirk.

Hitch was led away across the smoking remains of the field where he and his allies had made their final stand against Opaline. He looked sadly, knowing this was it, and the war was lost.

They had lost.

It was all for nothing.

He walked past a familiar light pacific, and saw she had no face.

Opaline had gotten to her.

Truly was this their darkest hour. All seemed lost. The war was over.

Author's Note

The LLF have returned after being absent since Journey Beyond Cornwall, published over a year ago. War has come for them- as they resisted Opaline, in her eyes they must suffer.

Ryan's speech is loosely modelled on the one given by the Doom Legion in The Ending of the End, Part 2. The buffer battle is partly derived from Diesel 10 and James' encounter in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

Hitch quotes a well known American radical during his defence. Can you identify the speaker and where the line is from?

The end of the war is here- but this isn't the end for our heroes, you'll be glad to hear.

Chapter 17-The Light of Hope

Hitch didn't know how long he'd been out for when he finally came to.

He glanced about himself, the world foggy and confusing. Strange shapes swirled in rows around him, and other objects were floating about as well. There were also some metal things in front of him. Some of them were vertical and some of them were horizontal, but none of them looked warm or welcoming.

"Where am I," he said quietly, as he sat up, rubbing his back. "Must've taken quite the hit back there."

"You're precisely where you need to be, Hitch," said another voice, one which he knew all too well.

His vision had finally come back to normal. Hitch saw the last person he had wanted to see standing in front of the gate. "Oh. Opaline."

"Not going to greet your rightful queen with the correct titles, huh?" Opaline replied, now having removed her helmet. "May I remind you that I am Her Britannic Majesty Opaline the First, Queen of the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, the ruler of Wales and Northern Ireland, Defender of the Faith and protector of the Seven Blades."

Hitch shook his head. "Your titles mean nothing to me. You can add as many titles as you want. Doesn't disguise the fact you're a cold, heartless, selfish psycopath. What makes you think you have any right to run us?"

"For the very same reason those pretenders thought they did," Opaline smiled, seemingly not concerned by the accusations Hitch had just levelled. "They think that just because some traitorous MPs wrote to their ancestor they have the right to kick the House of Stuart, who may I remind you were appointed to that position by powers on high, off their throne?" She paused. "And they held their spoils, not through morality or force of spirit or inherent goodness, but because they had more guns than us. A common theme throughout history."

Hitch rolled his eyes. "Great, she's a Jacobite."

"And now they know what it feels like to be the ones with the fewer guns!" Opaline laughed. "I'm already planning my coronation as we speak, and it shall be a glorious and magnificent occasion. Not as if any of those silly fools can stop me."

Hitch leaned forward. "You haven't won, Opaline. We are still here. The light of liberty and freedom will never die so long as people who truly care for the freedom of others continue to live. Men like Thomas Payne, Jeremiah Brandreth, Fergus O'Conner- all of these heroes of freedom could have given up, and yet they struggled on against oppression. What makes you think we won't do the same for you?"

Opaline smiled. "People tend to be unable to fight back when dead. I think it's high time the treason act was enforced again."

Hitch smiled. "You can't shoot everybody, Opaline. And she's still out there. Sunny won't give up."

Opaline snorted. "That little half breed. I'm aware of that, and I'll deal with the traitor in my own time. Besides, she forsook her birthright when she sided with those lesser beings. Make no mistake- only the strong survive in this world, as you're finding out the hard way."

"Not the nicest of terrain, is it?" Ashleigh asked, as the engines of the LLF steamed across Britain.

Many places and buildings were in fire, and the world seemed to be rife with smoke. Sounds of weapons fire had largely fallen silent, but they had to stay with their heads on the swivel in case the enemy made an appearance.

"Just how did it come to this?" Fergus asked quietly.

"This is the day we have all been dreading, my brave fellows," Sir Gillemere said. "Mordred has awoken to reclaim the throne denied to him by King Arthur, and we must all be ready. The final struggle between good and evil, for the fate of England, is upon us, and we must take lance in hand and fight to preserve the right of all people to be free."

"Not quite sure quoting Mallory is appropriate right now," Tempest said, scanning the terrain. She was especially exposed as her engine had no cab, and this made her vulnerable to attack.

They passed a rail yard, full of burning rolling stock. A weapons cache had been set ablaze in order to ensure Opaline's troops didn't get their hands on it. As they rolled past a radio, a broadcast from the BBC revealed that Opaline was in charge, and that all citizens of the Union of Great Britain were to swear an oath of loyalty to her.

"Like we'd do that," Hurricane said. "After what she did to us, I'd be more than happy to see her rot in a prison cell."

"Keep moving," Sombra said. "The line to Sodor comes off to our left, so we'll take it. Our friends need our help, and our help is what we shall give."

A train loaded with tanks began to follow in their direction. The diesel on the front spoke to them. "Are the lions still hunting?" he asked.

"They are indeed," Ashleigh replied. "Join us, the Knights of the Round. Sodor needs our help, and your tanks would help us greatly."

The diesel looked over. "Of course. I don't know how many of us there are, but we shall fight regardless. The only thing required for the victory of evil is good men and engines do nothing."

The column moved off, freshly reinforced by those willing to fight back against the darkness. Although the days were dark for lovers of freedom, it was but darkness. One day it would clear, and the glorious light would return.

As they proceeded on their way, more reinforcements began to join. More and more engines joined the formation, soon turning a small group into a veritable army. A pair of troop trains were soon behind them, and they were making good ground towards Sodor.

The final battle for the future of the world was about to begin.

Far from the chaos of Alresburgh, the shattered heroes of Sodor had regrouped at Ulfstead Castle. Soldiers were maintaining their gear in the ancient courtyards that had withstood many a siege. Soldiers were drilling on the field.

Thunder sat at a bench, his head in his hands. "All is lost," he said to himself.

Zoom walked over. "I won't tolerate that sort of talk, Thunder," she said. "There's always a chance."

Thunder looked up. "Who do you think you're kidding, boss? You saw what Opaline's capable of. There's no way we can win. No way we can fight back. We did what we could but it wasn't enough. We've already lost."

This caught the attention of Lady Haven, who herself walked over. "No, Thunder," she said. "We haven't lost. That's what Opaline wants. To sap us of our spirits and make us surrender before we've even seen the battlefield. No. We can't afford to lose hope. Not now. If we don't fight like there's no tomorrow, their may not be a tomorrow to fight for. We've emerged from darker moments with our heads held high. If the pilots of the Battle of Britain hadn't kept going, we'd be having this conversation in German."

Zoom glanced back. "My great grandfather was one of The Few." She looked at Thunder. "Don't let Opaline get to you. We can show her she is wrong, and put her back where she belongs- the pages of history."

On the other side of the camp, Pipp was trying to rally her subscribers with a pep talk. "I know things look dark and grey out there, but don't give up. There's still a chance to win this. When the shadows of tyranny hung over our shores past we came together to drive the darkness back, and we can do it again. There is a better tomorrow waiting behind the clouds. And when we find it that victory will emerge all the sweeter." She looked over. "Zipp, anything to contribute?"

Zipp, however, seemed to be in a state of despair. She'd given up. "What's the point?" she said. "We did our best and it wasn't enough."

Pipp stepped over. "Whatever happened to the fearless, fire eating, heroic, intelligent Zipp Storm I knew?" she asked. "You'd always be the one inspiring me to keep going in the darkness that surrounded the world. And I know a war is somewhat outside of your comfort zone, but we don't have a choice. We have to keep going. If we give up now, think of all the people we won't be able to help tomorrow, Zipp."

She placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "I know you're upset about Charles, and I'm upset about Sophie too. But if we don't stand together now we may never have a chance to avenge them."

Zipp stood up and looked around. "In which case it is time to fight. Time to find a weapon and hope this plan works out for all of us."

Thomas sat furthest from the others. He was miserable. After all, he felt this was all his fault. If he hadn't helped Opaline she wouldn't be in her position of power.

There was a brief silence as several figures emerged from a building. Some of the soldiers were escorting a figure.

Misty glanced up in surprise. "Sunny?"

It was Sunny. But in place of her usual clothing was a suit of orange armour with purple lining, which looked both sleek and fantastical at the same time. Sunny shifted back a bit. "Maybe we could loosen the back plate slightly."

She stopped in the centre of the courtyard, and quickly coughed. "May I have your attention, please?" she said.

"Why are wearing all that?" a voice asked.

"Because we have to take the fight to Opaline," Sunny replied. "I need protection in case a bullet comes my way."

Izzy looked over, her face unusually serious. "Going back in there could kill you."

Sunny nodded. "Not going back could kill us all. I know which I'd rather take."

"I'd prefer you didn't die at all, actually," Argyle said. "But needs must in times of danger."

Sunny stepped onto a small platform that had been placed down. "My fellow citizens," she said. "I know the day before us is a dark and terrible one. It seems as though the light of hope is gone, and that we have no chance of victory. But I tell you there is."

A member of the crowd suddenly spoke up. "We're up against an entire army, Sunny. Is this really a hill worth dying on?"

Sunny nodded. "2,000 years ago, this island nation was forged when a group of brave souls made their stand against tyranny on a hill. We remember Godred and his followers as heroes and legends- but they didn't start out that way. An unlikely alliance of ordinary people joined forces to take on the world's most powerful empire. And they won. Now we find ourselves tested by a conquerer who would reduce our nation to her personal fiefdom and cast us into chains."

Suddenly, Zipp began to speak as well. "We fight not for material goals or needs- but to be free from destruction. We're fighting for the right to live, to love, to exist. Our numbers may be small, but the fewer of us, the greater share of honour."

"They will speak of us in the halls of glory!" Pipp added, joining the platform. "They shall remember what feats we did this day. And gentlemen in our homeland will think themselves accursed they were not here on this hallowed ground."

Sunny took over once more. "Today, we learned not to trust in steel or iron, but each other! We shall stand up and take the fight to them, and show them the true meaning of courage! So step forth, my brave fellows, and help me save the world!"

The place fell oddly silent. But then, suddenly, to their surprise, a small voice in the crowd began to sing.

"Hey, people, listen to me!
You gotta hear what I'm sayin'!
You've got that sparkle deep inside!
You've got a talent worth displayin'!

Suddenly, the others in the crowd began to join in.

"We just need a little hope!
We just need a little unity!
We just need to find the ma-agic!
That's inside of everybody!

"Sometimes it feels a little hopeless!
But things aren't always what they seem!
Can you feel it? The energy?
Yeah, the power is growing!"

Sunny took up the speech once more. "They may take everything else from us, but they can't take our voices! They can't take us makes us human! They can't take the light of hope away from us! That's the true power that unites us all!"

"Don't look now, things will get better/
So hold my hand 'cause we're growin' together!
We've got the strength to take on whatever/
'Cause we've got the magic, we've got the magic in us!

"So everybody everywhere!
Now is the time to raise your voices!
You know it's time to show your courage, yeah!
And nopony's gonna stop us, no!

'Cause there is hope when we're together/
And it grows stronger when we sing!
So raise our voices in unison!
Raise our voices in harmony, yeah!

"Don't look now, things will get better/
So hold my hand 'cause we're growin' together!
We've got the strength to take on whatever/
'Cause we've got the magic, we've got the magic in us!

"Just take another look, things are getting better!
We're growin' stronger, growin' together!
We'll always have each other forever/
'Cause we've got the magic, we've got the magic in us!"

"Don't look now!" Pipp added, as backing vocals.

"Yeah, we've got the magic, we've got the magic in us!"

"Don't look now!"

"Yeah, we've got the magic, we've got the magic in us!"

"Don't look now!"

"Yeah, we've got the magic, we've got the magic in us!"

"Don't look now!"

"We've got the magic, we've got the magic in us!"

The crowd were incredibly fired up, and went back to their tents to collect supplies and equipment. Banners lifted high from their mounts, and weapons were prepped for duty. Soldiers formed up on the battlefield, ready to march once more.

Armoured vehicles were fired up and loaded with fuel, shells and bullets being placed in loaders and belt boxes. Other equipment was ferried to the front lines, heavy guns were placed onto transport trollies, and road vehicles prepared to move off.

Thomas was coupled to the column, and Sunny took her position at the controls of Salty. "Salty, I know we may not make it back, so I just want to say working with you has been fantastic," Sunny said.

"When you're going through hell, keep going," Salty replied. "I'll gladly give my life for the cause. Let's go and stop Opaline."

Sunny looked out of the cab, and blasted Salty's horn. "TODAY WE ARE CANCELLING THE APOCALYPSE!"

Author's Note

Opaline refers to the Jacobite uprisings of the 17th and 18th centuries, a series of political conflicts with the express objective of returning the House of Stuart to the throne of Britain. Each attempt failed for a number of reasons, but predominantly due to a lack of military support.

Hitch lists some fairly well known British radicals in his speech. Thomas Payne is probably the one my American readers will recognise as he is the author of Common Sense, the text which inspired the American Revolution.

The Few is a common term used to refer to the pilots of Fighter Command who flew during the Battle of Britain in 1940. A symbol of courage and bravery, they are partly the reason the Spitfire is such a beloved icon- it is a symbol of how they gave their tomorrow for our today.

The speech at the end references numerous famous speeches from media. See if you can recognise them all. I also chose to move Magic in Us to this point as I feel it makes more sense as a rallying song before a massive battle. Sunny wearing armour is inspired by the conclusion of Admiral Producer's Redeemed, where Sunny wears a reproduction of Celestia's barding whilst battling Opaline.

TRedeemed

MLP: FiM

MLP: Movie

MLP Gen 5

Dark

Adventure

Slice of Life

The long-anticipated clash has finally arrived. The world’s magic has been destroyed and all hope is gone. With the fate of Equestria hanging in delicate balance, Misty must lead her friends in their final confrontation against Opaline….

Gore

Violence

Suicide / Self Harm

Death

Profanity

Alt. Universe

Izzy Moonbow

Sunny Starscout

Mane 5

Opaline

Misty

Admiral Producer · 84k words  ·  26  5 · 1.8k views

Seriously, read this guy's work. It's nothing short of incredible.

And so, the final battle commences.

Chapter 18-The Faithful Few

Opaline was quite surprised when she suddenly heard noise from the edge of the crater where her soldiers were encamped. "What is that?" she asked.

"Large dust clouds approaching on the horizon!" called a soldier on lookout. "Estimating numbers now!"

"Well, make it quick!" Opaline snapped. "I suspect our friends from earlier are back for another round."

And sure enough, they were. "Ma'am, they're being led by a diesel engine- and the other one! Confirming light armour and several self propelled artillery vehicles- they're seriously well quipped!"

"Form a firing line and prepare to repulse them!" Opaline shouted. "Volleys and steel will drive them back!"

The army was now on the verge of the crater. Sunny leaned out of the cab. "Here we go. Now or never, Salty."

Salty noted this. "If we are to die this day let us die in glory."

Sunny shrugged. "I'd prefer not to die at all, but OK then." She blasted his horn twice, the signal to advance. "CHARGE!"

"FOR SODOR!" the ragtag army called in response. The artillery formed up to begin a bombardment of the crater, whilst many of the other soldiers charged directly into the crater. Bayonets drawn, they charged into a hail of weapons fire.

Sunny and her closest friends led the assault. They had all been equipped with this new armour, and charged into combat. Pipp was helping to coordinate artillery fire, whilst Zipp was leading from the front, barking orders. Although not a Duchess yet, she was the first Haven to lead an entire army into battle in centuries.

Opaline's troops fired off a single close range volley at the attackers, cutting several down in a storm of bullets, then counter charged in response. Before long, bayonet met bayonet at short range, soldiers thrusting and crashing into one another in a desparate attempt to gain the upper hand.

Salty had dropped behind the enemy lines, and was knocking trucks into the way of the enemy troopers, preventing those with longer ranged weapons from drawing line of sight to the allies.

Artillery shells exploded all around the region as batteries on both sides opened up. Lady Haven was helping to direct the allied artillery fire based on the coordinates that Pipp was feeding her. "Maintain fire! Coordinates to follow!"

"Yes ma'am!" shouted one of the gunners. "Shell loaded! Fire for effect!"

A fresh wave of shells slammed down on enemy lines, helping to at least partially break up the chaotic close combat that had erupted in the centre of the battlefield.

Sunny spotted Opaline prowling about, fully powered up and with wings glowing furiously. She smiled. "Now time to give the bait."

She jumped from Salty's cab and in an instant ponied up, a massive blast of light bringing her energy gauntlets into being, and her wings erupted outwards in a shower of energy. "HEY! OPALINE! OVER HERE!"

Opaline swung round. "So, fighting one on one? Why don't you just give up now and surrender!"

Sunny charged in, her arm positioned to turn the energy into a dagger. "I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT!"

Hitch was still locked up in his prison cell, unable to sense where he truly was. He looked about, hoping for some sort of clue as to his current location, but nothing. He groaned as he lay there. He had long since given up on trying to break the bars in front of him, as they were too strong to simply be battered down.

The guard would notice, anyway. He was watching him like a hawk.

Hitch looked at him. "You know they'll try you for treason, right?"

The guard snorted. "Will I? There is no earthly way that we can lose this war. Opaline herself wills it, for the forces of the universe are on our side."

Hitch sighed. "Aren't you scared of being under her thumb?"

"Working for our rightful ruler? Don't pull my leg. We will-"

Suddenly, gunfire opened up down the tunnel, and this was followed by shouting and other confusion. The guard looked towards the noise, and went that way.

Hitch hadn't had time to react, and having said that it wouldn't have helped. After all, the guard wasn't carrying the keys on his belt. Bad for him, I guess.

Hitch knew his chances of getting out were low, so he waited to see what was going on.

Suddenly, the gunfire stopped, and several figures in uniforms pulled closer. Many of them secured the perimeter. They looked to be special forces of some kind based on the gear- Hitch identified several German made rifles and the tactical gear was above what the CCF would be supplied with.

One of their number suddenly produced a key and opened the door for him, letting Hitch out of his captivity. "Thank you, sir," he said.

The figure nodded. "Alphabittle figured you would be held here," he said. "Apparently Opaline is predictable."

"Alphabittle?" Hitch asked. "What's he doing here?"

"A thank you for saving your butt would be nice," Alphabittle said, as he appeared round a corridor.

Hitch nodded. "Thank you, sir, but are you sure you can keep up?"

Alphabittle snorted. "Of course I can keep up! 61 isn't that old!"

That all cleared up, they made their way out of the prison complex, following a vast maze of underground tunnels back towards the surface of the landscape. They had a sense of which way to go- just follow the explosions towards the surface.

They made their way to the surface to witness a large scale battle underway, albeit one more reminiscent of the violence of the trenches than that of the modern day world of covert operations and fighting from the shadows.

Hitch spotted Sunny and Opaline brawling in mid air, exchanging blows furiously. He also noticed something else, something he hadn't seen in a long time.

Sunny looked absolutely pissed off.

"Incoming!" shouted one of the soldiers. "Contacts closing to range!"

Alphabittle passed Hitch a weapons. "How good are you with an MP5?"

"Pretty good, though a DeLisle Carbine would be nice."

The offensive had stalled.

The LLF had been brought to a halt outside Vicarstown by entrenched enemy fire. Weapons were firing and discharging all across the battlefield, and the city had been turned into a fortress. Any urban environment is nightmarish to fight in, as even the most poorly equipped of forces can hold a larger one back for considerable amounts of time in such terrain.

To this end, they had been forced to unload the tanks nearby and effectively use them as artillery. Forward spotters were calling fire down upon the area as shells rained down upon Vicarstown. Either they would shell them into submission or completely flatten their defences.

As buildings had substancial holes blown in them and weapons fire continued to echo, the engines were forced to wait.

"Counter fire from mortars!" shouted Radiant Hope. "Incoming fire!"

A tank commander got on the radio. "Send a team forward to silence those mortars! They're targeting our spotters!"

Radiant Hope looked over. "Tempest, you're up. Take five men and neutralise those mortar positions."

Tempest Shadow nodded and collect her gear. Some armour, a submachine gun, and a few grenades, along with the relevant ammunition required. "This way!" she called to a group of soldiers.

They followed her out of the camp and into the wartorn streets. The streets looked less like a quiet British town and more like the shattered remains of Occupied Europe in WW2. Buildings had holes torn in them, and rubble was spilling onto the street. Explosions from shells boomed all around, and some buildings had fallen into the road already, which was making navigation difficult.

Tempest carefully picked her way over the terrain and motioned her troops forward in the process. "Towards the mortars," she said.

One soldier set up in a building overlooking the square where the morters were positioned, and set up a sniper rifle.

Tempest looked to the others. "Ready grenades."

Each soldier took a grenade off their belt, and prepared to throw.

Tempest switched to her radio. "Switch them off."

"Copy that."

The sniper rifle fired, dropping one of the mortar soldiers.

Tempest looked over. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

She and the other four soldiers all tossed a grenade at once into the mortar pit, causing the grenades to land with deadly accuracy against the enemy. Explosions soon rocked the crater, and once the smoke had cleared Tempest and her soldiers charged in.

The crater was only full of bodies, and those soldiers still alive were soon made short work of by weapons fire from the allies. Tempest pointed. "Disable those mortars."

As another solder stepped forward, she switched to her radio. "Mortars neutralised. Threat to forward spotters neutralised. Withdrawing to siege lines now."

A pop of explosives indicated the mortars were out of action, and they quickly pulled back to the siege lines as the shelling continued. Vicarstown was slowly, surely, being battered into submission.

It was only a matter of time before the defenders surrendered.

Opaline and Sunny brawled at close range, energy blasts and energy blades hammering against one another and causing bright flashes of light. To anybody observing, it was as if two gods were duelling in person in the moral realm.

Opaline took to the air to try and gain the advantage, but Sunny leaped into the air and fired off a blast of energy to throw her back. Blades slammed into each other once more as both of them fought to gain the strategic advantage on the field. The fighting continued onwards through the skies with endless ferocity.

Opaline bellowed at Sunny. "We are meant to rule over these lesser beings! Why would you reject your birthright?"

Sunny snorted. "You think I'd want that? Freedom is the right of all living beings, and nobody has any inherent right to rule anybody- not by accident of birth or anything else! Besides, why would we want a violent monster like you in charge?"

"Says the girl who attacked her own parents and friends," Opaline snorted.

Sunny growled. "I'm not falling for that bullshit again, Opaline. That was your fault. I lead, you command. That's the difference between a leader and a tyrant."

"We aren't that different at all, Sunny," Opaline said. "We both use the magic that flows in our veins to further our own ends. This entire scenario was the result of trying to achieve something you wanted, wasn't it?"

Sunny snorted. "Bringing the crystals together did a lot of good for the world!"

"And just so happened to give you the friends you so desperately craved."

A suddenly blow knocked both of them back to the ground, and they slammed into the floor, mud and dirt flying everywhere. Around them the tide of the battle was turning. Despite numbers being against them, the superior training and combat experience of Opaline's troops was beginning to take the upper hand. Slowly but surely they were being pushed back towards the edge of the crater.

Opaline turned to where Salty was, and smiled. "I thought I'd missed one," she smiled, and drained the diesel of the magic.

"Salty?" Sunny called. As she looked up, she only saw a front radiator grille where a face had once been.

She groaned as she tried to get up, and raised her arm. Only to see the sheen was gone completely.

She checked over her shoulders and suddenly saw her wings phase out. "No! No! Come back! I need you!"

Opaline stalked over. "Seems you still can't control it properly, can you? No real surprise for a half breed like yourself. Never let common blood contaminate the bloodline."

"What are you saying?" Sunny said.

"You fool," Opaline said. "You're distantly related to me. One of your mother's ancestors was Robert Stuart, the son of James I."

Opaline loomed over Sunny, who looked up in dread. "One saying I was always taught as a child is that society is like a tree- although each leaf is individually weak, collectively the tree is strong."

Her hand began to glow with energy. "But every leaf falls from the tree and dies alone. Any last words, Sunny?"

Author's Note

The opening stage of the battle is based on the storming of Redoubt 9, a sub battle of the Siege of Yorktown in which American troops charged downhill into a massive storm of British fire- and still took the fortification. The battle is notable for being the episode that made the reputation of Alexander Hamilton. Some elements are also derived from the Battle of the Crater, an engagement of the American Civil War which saw Union troops charging into a massive crater produced by siege works.

Can any of you identify who Sunny is quoting at the end of the first section?

The DeLisle carbine was a firearm manufactured for commando units of the British Army in WW2. Designed for covert operations, its use of an integrated suppressor and subsonic ammunition made it one of the quietest firearms ever made. Although originals are now quite rare, American manufacturer Valkyrie Arms makes a reproduction; presumably Hitch used one of these. The idea for Hitch to use one was proposed by Thomlight Sparkle 1; apologies in advance for taking so long to incorporate this idea.

The siege of Vicarstown is inspired by WW2 era sieges during the final advance into Europe in 1944 and 1945, combined with elements of the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, a now largely-forgotten Civil War battle which took place at the same time as Gettysburg and yet arguably was more significant as it chopped the Confederacy in half.

It's again not looking good for our heroes. How will they get out of this one? Find out more tomorrow!

Chapter 19-We Got the Magic

Just as Opaline went in for the killing blow, there was a sudden blast of energy. Rainbow light poured from a source somewhere near Sunny, throwing the would be Queen back. "AHHH! WHAT WAS THAT?!"

Sunny began to sit up, and tried to trace the source of the light. Rainbow coloured light had surrounded Opaline, preventing her from moving an inch. Sunny tried to figure out what had just happened. Was it some previous unknown ability she had? A feature of her blended biology? Or was it something else?

She glanced down, and noticed the locket she had been wearing was now open, and some sort of rainbow light was flowing out of it. This very same energy had come into contact with Opaline, and seemed to be what was holding her in place and rendering her unable to move.

Sunny then remembered what Mrs Roselawn had said to her back in Truro, in what seemed like years ago.

"This has long been waiting for one pure of heart. One with hope in their heart. One willing to fight for a better tomorrow. When the stars fall and all seems lost, seven colours shall light the doorway and restore the light. Remember, the one who has friends is the richest of all people, for they are never truly alone."

Sunny surged to her feet, seeing the Rainbow was starting to dissipate. Opaline looked enraged. "What sorcery was that?"

Sunny smiled. "You can take my magic from me, but you can't take what fundamentally makes me... me."

"What would that be?!"

"Hope. Hope for a better future. Hope for everybody to achieve their full potential and earn their happy ending. That's why you and I will never be the same, Opaline. Because I have hope for a better tomorrow, and my friends march by my side!"

As she finished her sentence, there was an intense flash of golden light, and Sunny's energy wings erupted into life once more, and the familiar golden glow emerged over her skin.

Sunny Starscout was back to full charge. "You ready Opaline? Let's dance."

Opaline roared and charged in, energy bladed forged from her gauntlets. "YOU THINK THAT LITTLE TRINKET CAN SAVE YOU? THIS WILL NEVER BE OVER!"

Sunny parried the blows, and both figures repeatedly traded hit after hit, both refusing to give an inch. The resulting blasts of light moved so extremely quickly it was very had for anybody observing to figure out what was going on. As noted before, the resulting fight closely resembled two gods who had fallen to Earth and were fighting for supremacy. And neither was giving an inch.

Sunny, however, seemed to be gaining the upper hand. With a well timed energy blast she hurled Opaline back, who skidded to a stop a few inches away.

Opaline was breathing heavily. "How... what..."

"Tired already?" Sunny smiled. "Because I'm just getting warmed up. You might as well give up. It's over."

Opaline charged, roaring like a demented lion. "NOTHING'S OVER WHILST I'M STILL BREATHING!"

Sunny charged as well. "Then let's finish this!"

Suddenly, a series of explosions echoed from the side of the battlefield. Lady Haven got on the radio. "Explosions confirmed on the side of the field. Can somebody explain what's going on, over?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice came on the radio. "Sorry I'm late, Elizabeth. Tell the men the cavalry's arrived."

"William?" Lady Haven looked up and saw a British Army tank column pulling onto the field. The tanks were battered, but very much operational, and opened fire on targets in the field.

"Guilty as charged. We'll clear these targets up."

Confused assets on the ground were now being attacked from multiple directions, and Opaline's army was now under pressure from multiple directions.

"Press the advantage!" Zipp called. "Open fire!"

The artillery batteries began to boom once again, as near them some more troops began to arrive. Armoured Personnel Carriers deployed onto the field, providing fire support as they began to unload troops onto the battlefield, who engaged the enemy without mercy.

Pipp glanced back, and her eyes widened with surprise when she saw who was arriving. "Look!" she said. "It's our friends from Darlington!"

And it was. A small team of engines was arriving on the field, towing artillery pieces and anti tank guns. Fergus was the first to arrive. "Didn't think I'd be doing artillery tractor duty again, but you never know!" he said.

He and the other engines were uncoupled from the guns and then placed nearby, whilst soldiers took up position on the guns.

"Battery 2 ready to fire. Nominate targets."

Pipp switched to her phone, and scanned over the terrain. She tapped one set of coordinates with heavily dug in forces. "Targets sent. You are clear to engage."

"Copy. Fire for effect!"

The roar of artillery soon joined the chaos and noise of the battlefield, as explosions rained down upon the landscape. This helped to clear the way for the assault troops, who were moving forward to clear the terrain of enemies.

Opaline was in a state of disbelief. "Where did they get all these soldiers from?" she asked, utterly flabbergasted.

"Turns out having friends gives you useful allies in all places," Sunny smiled, as they continued to fight. A formation of helicopters flew overhead, looking for targets.

Unfortunately, the sky was then lit up with flames and lock tones, as hidden batteries opened fire on the helicopters. Most of them were shot down in the process, and those that survived limped back to their origin point.

There was suddenly another radio call. "HMS Duke of York on standby. Aircraft ready for bombing run. Nominate targets, over."

Lady Haven switched back to the radio. "That's a negative, over. Anti Aircraft batteries are in action in the area, over?"

"Copy, holding for batteries to be cleared."

Another radio message arrived. "Anvil Actual, column splitting off to engage anti aircraft targets-"

There was suddenly an explosion, and one of the anti aircraft guns went up in flames.

"What in the-"

Alphabittle and Hitch emerged from the tunnel and onto the battlefield. Before them was a scene of chaos. Hitch noticed his friends on the field. Determined, outnumbered, but still fighting back. The enemy were increasingly moving forward, even if reinforcements were helping to turn the tide of the battle.

A series of loud bangs overhead drew his attention to the skies. Drones had been deployed into the area to act as scouts or as combat assets, but these were being repeatedly shot down. Missiles and bullets streaked through the skies from anti aircraft fire, which was preventing air power from deploying.

"Marksman Anti Aircraft guns!" Alphabittle said. "And some of the Stormers too! I wasn't aware the British Army fielded these machines!"

"Opaline may have picked them up from overseas," Hitch said. "But as long as these are operating, we can't control the air."

Alphabittle nodded. "Good thing I was in the Royal Engineers for a stint." He produced some explosive. "Slap these on the hulls of those vehicles. It'll produce a pretty big bang and light those things up like the Fourth of July."

Hitch nodded. "Who as the detonator?"

"I do," Alphabittle replied. "It's a remote start weapon, so you'll need to be clear of the blast range."

Hitch grabbed his examples and soon got to work, dropping the explosives in convenient places. He placed it on hulls, underneath treads, and to fit on bits of mechanical work. The sheer noise of the explosions from the weapons was allowing him to move basically undetected, as the crews were focused on other things, not to mention all the noise. The ground shook from the force of all the weapons firing, thousands of tons of munitions being expended in sweeping the skies.

Hitch was finally done placing his explosives, and sprinted for the edge of the lines. Alphabittle was almost done planting his, when suddenly a soldier caught him offguard and knocked him to the floor.

Although the man had the drop on him, Alphabittle was soon able to gain the upper hand, bashing the other figure into unconsciousness. He climbed to his feet. "Sweet dreams. I've still got it."

He saw Hitch approaching at speed. "Explosives deployed?"

"Yes sir!" Hitch replied, as he approached. "Let's get out of here!"

Both of them vacated the blast zone and hid on a hill, before waiting. After a few moments, Alphabittle pushed a button.

And in that moment, it was as if New Year's Fireworks had come early. Or late. Depending on your perspective. A series of bright explosions lit up the battlefield as the landscape was blown apart from exploding vehicles, wreckage and rubble flying everywhere.

"Skies are clear," Alphabittle smiled. He then noticed Hitch pulling open a hatch. "What are you doing?"

"There's somebody in here," Hitch said. Once the hatch was open, he shone a torch in. "HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

"Don't shoot!" replied a northern voice.

Hitch's eyes widened in surprise. "How can you be here?"

Back on the other side of the battlefield, Lady Haven saw the anti aircraft batteries explode, and got to her radio. "HMS Duke of York, targets are cleared out. Fire mission to follow. Await coordinates, over?"

"Understood, awaiting targets."

Pipp got to it, marking key clusters of enemy troops for the bombers, before hitting SEND.

Minutes later, the familiar whine of jet engines roared as the aircraft passed overhead, dropping bombs on their targets.

"Bombs away!

"Tally ho!"

"Admiral Seaspray sends his regards."

The explosions helped to clear up the battlefield, and the columns could finally push forward.

Opaline was aware her plan was falling apart, so resorted to desperation. "CHARGE!"

Unfortunately, Sunny was there to block her, and hold her in place. "Not so fast, Opaline. I think there's something you need to give back."

Just then, a shot hit Opaline's armour, and she shook.

"Hey, Sunny. Just helping out."

Sunny was amazed. "Hitch? You're here?"

"Let's just say I've gotten very good at falling off things and surviving."

Sunny focused, as the locket began to glow once more. "Now then, let's make this a bit more fair, shall we? After all, theft never pays!"

The locket seemed to be glowing ever more fiercely, and not only that dragging something out of Opaline. The woman howled as the magic she had stolen was removed from her. "NO! THAT MAGIC IS RIGHTFULLY MINE!"

"Nothing is ours by right," Sunny said. "And as you hurt my friends, the gloves are off."

The magic began to dance through the skies once more, just as it had done nearly two summers ago. Flowing through the skies, it returned to the engines from whom it had been stolen, and they were restored to sentience.

Opaline breathed heavily, feeling the loss of all her power. "What... did... you... do?"

"Only returned what was stolen to its rightful owner," Sunny said. "Now then, will you come quietly?"

Opaline fired a blast to knock Sunny back. "NEVER!"

She ran for the edge of the battlefield and jumped into an engine's cab. "RYAN! COME WITH ME NOW!"

The engine blasted away, off of the battlefield, and towards another location.

Sunny jumped into Salty's cab. "Opaline is escaping. I'm giving chase, over?"

"Understood, Sunny. We'll mop up here."

Sunny gunned the engine and moved the diesel shunter onto the line, and then hit the throttle to chase after Opaline and Ryan.

She gritted her teeth as the chase began. All those who had suffered in this war.

All those Opaline had wronged.

All that had been pushed out of their homes.

And all who had made the ultimate sacrifice against Opaline's army.

This was for them. They would be avenged. Opaline would not get away.

Salty looked around. "Like chasing the Bismarck, this!" he said. "Hopefully we're going the right way!"

"Don't think there's much chance of that," Sunny replied, as she saw the shape of an engine in the distance. It was time to finish this.

Author's Note

The Rainbow of Light is an artefact originally seen all the way back in 1983's Rescue at Midnight Castle, where it is used in the film's finale to defeat Tirek. Its appearance here references its use in Roots of All Evil, Part 2, where it was included as a G1 reference.

'Tell the men the cavalry's arrived' is a colloquial expression meaning that whomever was needed most has arrived. The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but it is often associated with the narrative trope in Western movies of the US Cavalry arriving just in time to save the heroes. A notable real life example of this phenomenon was the siege of Vienna, where a massive cavalry force arrived to break the siege. This incident formed the basis for the Sabaton song Winged Hussars.

Both of the anti aircraft platforms mentioned by Alphabittle are real; the Marksman is currently in service with the Finnish army, and is built using the chassis of an existing tank with a pair of autocannons mounted on the top.

The Alvis Stormer is the standard anti aircraft vehicle in service with the British Army, and is built from the CVR chassis. Featuring eight HVM launchers grouped into two batteries, it serves a similar battlefield purpose to the Stryker SHORAD, and most notably saw service in Ukraine in 2023 under Ukrainian flag.

And now, the final engagement is here? Who will emerge victorious from this battle? Will Opaline escape, or will she finally face the consequences of her actions?

Chapter 20-The Final Chase

Salty thundered down the track, putting every last ounce of power into turning his driving wheels. Luckily for him, it appeared whomever was driving this black tank engine wasn't used to handling steam engines. He wasn't going hugely quickly, truth be told.

Opaline looked out of cab. "More speed, Ryan!"

"That's rather up to you, I'm afraid!" Ryan replied. "You are driving me!"

Opaline growled as she saw Sunny and Salty approaching. "Great! It seems nothing will stop those idiots!" She raised her voice. "This battle may be yours, but the war is far from over!"

"Give it up, Opaline!" Salty shouted. "You've lost! It's over!"

"Nothing's over whilst I'm still breathing!" Opaline snarled.

Sunny smiled confidently. "That's what you said the last time. Didn't end too well for you, did it?"

As they maintained speed, Salty slowly gaining ground, the line began to weave around the coastline. Anybody who had been observing the battle might have seen two locomotives racing along, with one trying to catch the other.

Steam thundered from Ryan's chimney as it seemed Opaline had finally figured out how to get the best performance out of the engine. They flew along, with Salty barely keeping up.

"We need a bit of help!" Salty said.

Suddenly, an unwanted sight flew in from a tunnel. A diesel engine roared in alongside them, and Boomer was at the controls.

"Hello, Salty," Frankie said. "This is just getting started!"

Boomer leaned out. "NOW I'LL GET YOU! I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE YOUR MOTHER, BUT GETTING RID OF YOU WILL BE WORTHY COMPENSATION!"

Sunny snorted. "No you won't, because the magic you refuse to believe in will get the better of you!"

They kept up speed on the line, the two engines roughly level. Then, Frankie began to draw ahead, and the cab door opened.

Sunny suddenly saw something sparking in Boomer's hand. "Is that... dynamite?" she asked.

"Time for you to find out why they call me Boomer!" Boomer laughed, as he tossed the dynamite out of the cab. Salty slammed on his brakes and came to a stop just in time, as the explosion blew a hole in the rails.

"We'll need to switch lines!" he said.

Sunny scanned about and saw a track switch. "On it!" She jumped down from the cab, and ran over to the switch. She then threw it, and then sprinted back to Salty's cab. Once she was safely back in, she gunned the engine in hot pursuit of Boomer.

As they sped along, he and Frankie were nowhere to be seen. "Where did they go?" Salty asked.

"Right behind you, Salty," said a voice. Suddenly, a diesel slammed into them from the rear, and her coupler slipped onto Salty.

"Time to break you apart!" Boomer laughed.

"Oh boy," Sunny said, quietly. Just as Boomer tossed the explosive forward, there was a sudden jerk, and the dynamite flew into the air and over the cliff, where it exploded on the beach.

"What happened?" Salty asked.

Sunny looked back, and saw a sight that warmed her eyes. "Thomas!"

Thomas had coupled up to Frankie, and was holding her back. "I won't let you hurt my friends!" the blue tank engine said.

Twilight leaned out of the cab. "We'll tackle Boomer and Frankie! You two go and catch Opaline!"

Sunny nodded, just as Boomer jumped out of the cab to fight Twilight. Sunny uncoupled Salty, and the pair took off in hot pursuit of Ryan and his driver.

After a few miles' running, they found them. Ryan had just swapped lines, and Opaline fired a blast behind her that changed the track switch.

Salty thundered onto the wrong line, and was soon running level with Ryan. Ryan looked over in disbelief. "Where did you come from?"

"Lincoln, originally," Salty replied. "You ain't bringin' this old sea dog don't that easily."

Opaline growled, and moved the controls once more to speed Ryan up. She grabbed some explosives. "Goodbye Salty! I'd say it's been a blast- but it hasn't!"

The bomb sailed clean over the diesel and exploded further back down the line, leaving another crater behind them.

"This will have one big repair bill!" Sunny said to herself, before leaning out of the cab and focusing her own magic. "Come on... just one shot is all I need!"

As if to comply, her hand began to glow. She aimed at Ryan and fired.

The shot missed, but did strike another track switch. Ryan was switched onto another line- one which had a construction sign on it!

"Ryan! Construction up ahead!" Salty called.

"Very fun- WHAT THE?" Ryan had no chance to react before flying off the rails. He tipped onto his side and skidded along the ground, his paintwork and metal scraping against hard rock as he crashed to a stop in the construction zone.

There was no word from his cab, either, and Sunny brought Salty to a stop. She climbed out of the cab, and walked over to the disaster zone, ready in case Opaline tried anything.

She found her soon enough. Opaline was pulling herself away from the cab, groaning in pain. It seemed as though one of her legs was broken.

She became aware of somebody behind her, and rolled over. Her face shifted from pain to a confident smirk. "Oh, there you are, Sunny. Well, here we are, the final battle. Aren't you going to finish me off?"

Sunny noticed her hand was still glowing, as if to fire off another shot. She closed it, and powered it down. "No."

Opaline blinked. "You've gone soft, Su-"

"Because I think you should face justice for what you've done."

Just then, Sunny's friends arrived. "You did it, Sunny!" Izzy cheered. "You stopped her!"

Sunny turned back. "No, we did it. Hitch, keep an eye on Opaline and ensure she doesn't do anything stupid."

"Yes ma'am!"

Just then, Thomas pulled in. "Well done Sunny!" he called. "Little people and engines truly can do big things!"

Sunny nodded, just as a policeman walked over to Opaline. "You," he said, "are under arrest. And somebody call an ambulance."

Truth be told, the island would not heal overnight. Opaline's coup had lasted for a grand total of 30 hours, but in that time a great deal of damage had been done. Lives had been lost. Families had been torn apart. And towns had been battered.

But the world would rebuild, and the island of Great Britain would heal from the wounds of war.

Before long, once they were medically deemed well enough, the trials of the conspirators began. Opaline and Boomer both faced more than thirty charges each, and to the surprise of nobody both were sentenced to whole life orders behind bars without the possibility of parole. Furthermore, their financial assets were seized, and used to pay for repairing the damage. The Emperor had also been imprisoned and subjected to the same punishment- the true Sir Topham Hatt had resumed his position as head of the railway, and his first act had been to apologise to Thomas for the imposter's actions.

Those surviving soldiers who had been part of the mutiny were put to work repairing all the damage they had caused. Many felt that justice had been served.

A few weeks later, Sunny and her friends had gathered on the waterfront, at their favourite bench just outside the shed. They looked out to sea as the sun began to set in the sky, the sky turning brilliant shades of orange.

"Well, that was a busy few weeks!" Pipp said. "Getting the town back to normal was quite the challenge!"

Hitch nodded. "Agreed. Clearing the park was quite the challenge. They'll be putting up a memorial to everybody who fell in the invasion there. I'll be there at the dedication."

"At least Opaline can't hurt us anymore," Misty said, looking optimistic for the first time in a while. "That means we may experience some years of peace for once."

Zipp looked over. "At least we made new friends along the way. I don't know about you guys, but I'd fancy going back to Misty Island one day and seeing how Violet and Comet are getting on."

"That sounds like a fun idea!" Izzy said, then noticed Sunny looking down. "Everything OK, Sunny?"

Sunny sighed. "I don't know. Obviously it's good that Opaline is gone, but with her out of the way I'm not convinced we'll be safe. What about that Allura woman?"

"She's on the other side of the planet!" Pipp said. "She can't hurt us here!"

Suddenly, a klaxon sounded. "A large shipment's coming in at Truro! Can somebody pick it up?"

"Looks like we're needed!" Hitch said, who began to walk to the shed.

Within minutes, the shed soon sounded to the roars of diesel engines and the hissing of steam.

Charles and Sophie emerged first, heading for Truro. "POWER!" Charles shouted.

Sophie laughed. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that voice again!"

Rebecca followed them a few moments later, and headed for the platforms at Falmouth to pick up some coaches.

Porter and Salty made their way to the dockside. Life in Falmouth wasn't always easy, but they always had their friends by their side.

And they wouldn't have it any other way.

Author's Note

When I started this project back in November of 2022, I never imagined it would reach something of this scale. Instead, this has become one of my longest running and most succesful series on Fimfiction, having attracted a small but loyal following. Strange how the experimental ideas always seem to really take off, huh?

Of course, I cannot take all the credit. Credit is also due to Thomlight Sparkle, with whom I brainstormed much of this setting (as well as granting permission for me to use one of his characters). I formally want to say thank you to both him and all of my readers, as without you guys I would never have gotten to where I am today?

So, is this it for the Falmouth crew? Not a chance.

The Opaline Saga may be over, but that doesn't mean there aren't more tales to tell within the FalmouthVerse. The series will be taking a bit of a break, but shall be returning later this year.

Without any further ado, roll credits!

Credits

THOMAS & FRIENDS: SECRETS OF SODOR

Based on the Railway Series by the Reverend Wlbert Awdry

Thomas and Friends

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls

My Little Pony: a New Generation

And My Little Pony: Make your Mark

Characters created by the Reverend Wlbert Awdry

Lauren Faust

Gillian Berrow

and Thomlight Sparkle 1

Inspired by the works of Thomlight Sparkle 1

Developed for fanfiction by The Blue EM2

Original characters developed by The Blue EM2, Thomlight Sparkle 1, and SciSetShimmerEvan

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons or events that have occurred in reality are entirely coincidental.

VANESSA HUDGENS

TARA STRONG

KIMIKO GLENN

JAMES MARSDEN

LIZA KOSHY

SOFIA CARSON

BAHIA WATSON

JEREMY CLARKSON

KEITH WHICKAM

RICHARD HAMMOND

MICHAEL MCKEAN

JANE KRAKOWSI

GEOFFREY RUSH

AND ATHENA KARKANIS

in

THOMAS & FRIENDS: SECRETS OF SODOR

The interior of Bronzefield Prison was cold, sterile, and white. This was a maximum security prison, where Britain's most dangerous female criminals were held.

Opaline was one of them. Like all prisoners here, she was held in solitary, with only a bed and a desk for company. These walls would be where she would spend the rest of her life.

The door panel slid back and a voice spoke. "You are to address the speaker."

Opaline got to her feet, adjusting her jumpsuit as she did so, ignoring the discomfort from the hand and legcuffs scraping against her legs and wrists. "Well, let's see what he has to say, shall we?"

She walked over, and saw Admiral Seaspray standing on the other side. Two guards had rifles levelled at her to make the point clear- don't try anything. "Well, if it isn't the Admiral. So nice of you to come and visit."

"Was it worth it?" the Admiral asked.

"Oh, it was," Opaline smiled. "I reclaimed the birthright of my family, if only for a day or two. Opulance is sinful, after all, and we all pay for it."

The Admiral shook his head. "Spare me your mind games. Know that, within these walls, you cannot hurt anybody. This is your home now. And with you gone, Britain will be a much more peaceful place."

Opaline leaned over, and gripped the bars of the window. "Oh, is it now? Let me tell you, Admiral... if you thought I was bad, you have no idea what's coming next."

CAST - IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

Jeremy Irons - Godred
Ben Wishaw - Machan
John Hasler - Thomas
Teresa Gallagher - Clarabel, Annie, Sophie
Keith Whickam - Bertie, Salty, Gordon, Emperor Topham Hatt, Edward, Bert, Dash, Sir Topham Hatt
Martin Roach - Spike
Tara Strong - Twilight Sparkle, Goldie Starshine
Vanessa Hudgens - Sunny Starscout
Richard Hammond - Porter
Kimiko Glenn - Izzy Moonbow
Joseph Swash - Bellerophon
Bahia Watson - Misty Brightdawn
Jeremy Clarkson - Captain Charles
Liza Koshy - Zipp Storm
Sofia Carson - Pipp Petals
Michael McKean - Argyle Starshine
James Marsden - Hitch Trailblazer
Ashleigh Ball - Rainbow Dash, Lyra Heartstrings
Rachel Miller - Rebecca
Olivia Colman - Marion
Joe Mills - Donald, Oliver
Robert Rackstraw - Douglas, James, Mr. Duncan
Andrea Libman - Bon Bon
Eddie Redmayne - Ryan
Steve Blum - Isaac Moonbow
Athena Karkanis - Opaline Arcana
Geoffrey Rush - P. T. Boomer
Jane Krakowski - Lady Haven
Tom Stourton - Rex
Richard Ian Cox - Featherweight
Graham Verchere - Pip
Tim Whitnall - Mike
Alexandra Carter - Twist
Steven Kynman - Duck
Julie Lemeux - Allura
Henry Shields - Jeremiah Jobling
Tabitha St. Germain - Rarity
Evany Rosen - Violet Frost
Matt Wilkinson - Bash
Ben Small - Ferdinand
Morgan Freeman - Omaha
Adam Driver - Nebraska
Robert Duvall - Jupiter
Leviathan - Jeff Daniels
Jamie Lee Curtis - Antelope
Denzel Washington - Falcon
Cory Doran - Comet
Josette Jorge - Jade
Kris Siddiqi - Lava
Michael Brandon - Storm
J. K. Simmons - Whirlwind
Matthew Cowlrick - Torch
Julius Cho - Tumble
Louisa Zhu - Blaize Skysong
Gillian Berrow - Zoom Zepyhrwing
Richard E. Grant - Lord Haven
Arturo Hernandez - Thunder Flap
Donald Sumpter - King Charles III
Richard Coyle - Lt. Col. William Haven
Christopher Gaze - Admiral Seaspray
Phil LaMarr - Alphabittle Blossomforth
Jim Miller - Sombra
Lucy Montgomery - Ashleigh
Hugh Bonnevile - Sir Gillemere
Darren Boyd - Fergus
Amanda Martinez - Radiant Hope
John Bellis - Hurricane
Emily Blunt - Tempest Shadow
Zoe Saldana - Celeano
Sophie Colquhoun - Frankie

In a dark room inside a large home, a man sat at a desk and looked at a display. "Well, it seems that little coup failed," he said. "No matter. We learn from the failures of others."

He got up, and after adding a coat atop his suit, and collecting a cane, he walked out of the room and into another room. Inside were two figures. One of them was a large engine, with four leading wheels, six driving wheels, and no trailing wheels. He was painted green, and had the latters L N E R painted on his tender.

The other was a woman, a woman with purple skin and some white streaks. This was combined with yellow eyes and a set of white, course gloves. She wore a green shirt, a turquoise coat, and purple heavy duty pants combined with a pair of grey boots.

"Allura, I trust you have the item I required?" the man said.

"Yes, my lord," Allura replied, and handed the staff to him. "This was dug up on Misty Island as ordered."

The man looked at it. "It's of little use right now," he said. "It needs the Nova Charm to function. Luckily, my contacts are already working on that."

"What would you have me do, my lord?" Allura said.

The man smiled. "Simple. I have orders for you to take Alfred here and make your way south. Those figures you encountered on the Island could cause us further trouble, so I want them monitored. And taken care of, eventually."

"Very well." Allura smiled. "And then-?"

"Yes," the man said. "You shall see your brother again."

Allura boarded Alfred's footplate.

The engine laughed. "I have a score to settle with them. Especially Rebecca."

As he puffed away, the man turned back to his home. "I shall step forward into the limelight," he said. "The world should be ready to face my wrath." He looked at a photograph. "Their forgotten son shall return to punish them. They shall speak my name for all eternity- the name of Sir Percy Armitage-Haven."

And introducing Charles Dance as Alfred

and Henry Shield as Sir Percy Armitage-Haven.

Chapter 13-The Battle for Britain

Unfortunately, the other side of the portal was no more peaceful than the place they had started. As Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, Misty, and Izzy landed on the other side of the portal back on Sodor, they discovered a scenario beyond their worst imagining.

Sodor was no longer a peaceful land where the sky was so blue, a storybook land of wonder. It had devolved into a fully blown warzone.

The sound of gunfire raged in the distance, much of it accompanied by a lot of shouting.

"Where are we?" Sunny asked.

"Not far from where we started!" Zipp shouted. "This way!"

They dashed under part of a tunnel complex, and narrowly avoided an armoured personnel carrier rattling by them towards its enemy. More gunfire echoed from overhead, and as they arrived at an obvious stopping point, they suddenly saw something shocking.

There was no real enemy in combat. Instead, everybody who was shooting and attacking were wearing the uniforms of the British Armed Forces!

"I'm not an expert on things military," Sunny admitted, "but I'm pretty certain these are all British Army units. Are they supposed to be on the same side or something?"

Pipp looked on in confusion. "I was thinking the same thing, unless-"

Zipp was shocked. "It's 1642 all over again," she said. "It's a Civil War!"

"And I think I know who is behind it," Hitch said. "Come on. Let's get going and find our fellows."

As they continued on their way, they found several dead soldiers lying on the floor, seemingly unprepared for being fired upon by their own fellows. Their weapons lay on the floor, and Hitch was quick to pick one up and check the magazine. "Sorry, buddy. But I need this more than you."

He slotted some magazines into a bag he had, and then they continued on their way towards the noise. Explosions roared in the distance from the construction site they had formerly worked at, filling the sky with smoke and light. They charged as quickly as they could to the location of the noise, before stopping to their shock at what they saw from a nearby hill.

Below them, the once familiar construction site had devolved into a scene of chaos. The landscape was now slick with mud, meaning it more closely resembled a WW1 battlefield in many ways. Some crude fortifications had been built from the equipment dumped around the site, and a hill had been turned into a fortification, with some sort of command centre on top of the hill. Two machine gun emplacements were firing on the area down below.

Boomer and his men were down there, sheltering behind rail vehicles. Boomer seemed to be shouting at somebody.

"Is that mom in command?" Pipp asked, in shock.

Sure enough, it was. Lady Haven was visible in the command centre, barking orders to those on the ground.

"We have to get to them!" Zipp said. "Come on!"

Izzy looked worried. "I can only hope things are OK in Falmouth."

Unfortunately, things were not OK in Falmouth. The darkened skies had been accompanied by several former Royal Navy ships appearing off the coastline and starting to shell portions of the town. The beachfront had soon been cleared of buildings as rocket and shell stormed down, flattening buildings and structures.

Much of the shelling also tore holes in the beach, throwing dirt and sand into the air, and mangling the landscape, scarring vibrant yellow sands with dirt and flame, producing some glass in the process.

The coastal defences had barely come online before being destroyed by a formation of bombers.

The Mayor of Falmouth looked on in shock. "What the Hell is going on?" she shouted.

"The town is under attack!" shouted an alderman. "We have to evacuate, now!"

"I'm staying to coordinate the evac attempt," the mayor said. "My ancestors fought against invaders, and I intend to do the same!"

Several of the larger ships then began to unload landing craft, loaded with soldiers and vehicles for the push inland. Support fire blazed from the biggger ships as the landing craft approached.

The Mayor shook her head. "This must have been what Cornwallis must have experienced at Yorktown."

Several of the craft succesfully made landfall, slamming into the shores. The ramps dropped, and several tanks deployed into combat onto the beaches. They rolled over terrain cleared for them by the bombardment, and over rail lines, flattening sections of rail and damaging land as they rolled onto the landscape.

They eventually joined the seafront, and became to move in a column.

The commander looked out of the top for a second, and pointed towards a target. "TOWARDS THE LIGHTHOUSE! SECURE THE ARTEF-"

He was abruptly cut off by an explosion, and a shell bounced off the armour of the tank and richocheted away into the distance.

Suddenly, there was another bang, and it soon became clear where from. A small anti tank gun was firing on them, crewed by members of the local CCF.

"HOLD THE LINE!" a Corporal bellowed. "WE WILL HOLD THEM HERE!"

The tank commander laughed. "They think that can harm a Challenger 3? Gunner, target, left hand side, HE shell."

The turret swung round to point at the anti tank gun, which fired once more.

"FIRE!"

"ON THE WAY!"

A shell flew out of the tank's barrel and impacted the area around the anti tank gun, throwing it and its crew into the air and tossing them around like toys. It was a horrible sight to see- and many of the CCF members didn't get back up. Two crawled away as best they could, trying to get to safety, before a storm of machine gun fire finished them off.

The driver glanced over to the gunner. "You should have let them bleed out. That'll teach them to stand against her Rightful Majesty."

The column began to move up, heading towards its target. "Orders are to link up with the paratroopers. They should be up ahead and ready to assist."

Not even many residential neighbourhoods were safe from the war. Falmouth Manor itself was under assault, as paratroopers had been deployed to capture it. They were currently laying siege to the building, and this was proving to be something of a problem.

The Havens' security forces were currently fighting to hold them off. A group of four had set up a pair of machine guns and were laying down suppressing fire upon the enemy. As the saying goes, any building in a battle can be turned into a fortress, and the walls were holding surprisingly well against the onslaught.

Zoom was on the radio inside the command centre, and looked around. "Work quickly!" she said. "Michaels! Hammond! Go with Thunder and get Purbeck One started up and ready for takeoff! Juarez! Get to the roof and provide covering fire! HE rounds in the L115! I'll find the Duke and get him to safety!"

"YES MA'AM!" they all said, saluting and charging for the locations they had been ordered to go to. Zoom grabbed her P90 submachine gun and made her own way through the corridors, pointing her weapon in case of any intruders. They had no way of knowing if any of them had breached the building yet.

Eventually, she reached the main chambers, and heard voices inside.

"The Queen wants a word with you. Nobles who stand against her aren't taken kindly to."

Zoom kicked the door down and saw a soldier menacing the Duke. There was a risk of collateral if she fired on him, so she charged, slammed him to one side, and tossed him out of the window.

The Duke looked up, his face white as a sheet. "Thank you," he said. "I hardly imagined I'd be threatened again by soldiers in my own home. I thought I'd left that past behind me."

"What matters is that you are safe, Your Lordship," Zoom said. "Follow me. We're evacuating the Manor, and the choppers are on the roof. Let's get out of here."

The pair dashed through corridors, hearing the sounds of gunfire echoing all around them. They dodged and rolled underneath things, before finally making their way to the roof.

Purbeck One's engine was running at full power, ready to take off. Thunder hopped out of the cockpit and jumped into Purbeck 2 to start up its engine.

Two soldiers were providing sniper cover to their fellows from the roof, their bullets consistently finding their mark.

"I recognise the rank insignia of these guys!" Thunder said. "They're Parachute Regiment! They're British!"

Other soldiers dashed across the field and began to jump into choppers to flee the area, and at last everybody was onboard. Purbeck One thundered into the skies, its engines straining from the rapid takeoff. Purbeck Two followed a few seconds later, Thunder spinning up the chaingun to fire on the assault force and filling the ground with explosive holes.

As they thundered away, the town of Falmouth burned. The only structure standing free of the chaos was the Lighthouse itself.

Far removed from the chaos and violence of war, the King of Great Britain had awoken to the news of chaos breaking out across Britain.

"What news?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Your Majesty," said one of his aides. "It would seem our soldiers have turned on one another. Some sort of revolution is underway, and we need to evacuate Buckingham Palace."

The King shook his head. "My Grandfather refused to leave during the Blitz. I don't see why I should leave. I should be setting an example to all my subjects."

"Of foolishness?" asked a voice. Nobody had any time to react before the door to the side of the throne room exploded inwards, and an assault party entered, swiftly taking those inside hostage.

The King looked up at their leader, a woman dressed in some sort of strange armour.

The woman smiled. "Ah, I see you've been keeping my seat warm for me. How kind of you." She glanced around the room. "Of course, the decor isn't to my taste- I always preferred Jacobean influences, but whatever floats your boat."

The King looked at her. "Who the Devil are you?"

The woman smiled. "My name is Opaline Arcana, the last of the House of Stuart, the rightful Kings and Queens of England. My ancestor, James II, was removed from the birthright granted to him by your ancestor, an upstart Dutchman with ideas above his station. May I remind you we British are destined to rule the entire world, with an iron fist if required?"

"All I see is some lunatic in fancy dress," the King said.

Opaline turned, and a jet of energy blasted from her hands, vaporising some plants. "As we were saying? I am here to make demands. You are to hand the throne over to me and renounce the House of Windsor's claim to the throne of England and Scotland, which by neccesity includes Northern Ireland as well."

The King looked at her. "Whatever makes you think I'd do that? It would have taken you years to even have a chance of infiltrating our forces to overthrow the government."

"And I've had decades." Opaline touched a button on her helmet, and a display broadcast from it. The King's eyes widened in horror at what he saw.

"William?"

Opaline smiled. "Turns out infiltrating their security team wasn't as difficult as I would have thought. As you can see they're being held hostage. Hand the throne to me, unless you want a repeat of Ekatingburg."

The King looked aghast. "You monster!"

"Look who's talking," Opaline smiled. "Your ancestors have ordered far, far worse. Who are you to condemn me for giving history a push?"

The King nodded. "Alright. I'll do it. Just don't hurt them, OK?"

Opaline nodded. "You have my word."

The crown was removed from a box and placed on a table. A soldier hauled the King from the throne, and Opaline took her seat on it before removing her helmet. "I have waited for this moment for so long."

The crown was placed upon her head, and she smiled. "Long Live the Queen."

Author's Note

The revolution is well and truly underway, and for those caught in its wrath things cannot be an easy time. In fact, you could say things are getting pretty bad.

The invasion is inspired by many different conflicts. The opening fight is inspired by the desparate defence of Dunkirk conducted by the French Army in 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, whilst the battle of Falmouth is based on the direct assault plan for the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863 (which was never attempted owing to projected casualty levels).

For the firearms enthusiasts in the audience, the L115 is the standard sniper rifle in use with the British Army. A conversion of the Accuracy International AWM, it is chambered in .338 magnum and has a five round magazine.

Opaline briefly references the Ekaterinburg massacre, an incident in the Russian Civil War where the Bolsheviks killed the entire Russian Royal Family. This episode helped to spark international outrage and let to the war intensifying. Opaline also briefly alludes to Lenin's oft-quoted remark that history often needs a push.

For those wondering how Opaline was able to pull off all her shenanigans without the authorities noticing-now you know. Opaline has placed critical allies into important positions, all of whom can tip the scales to ensure she remains undetected.

And with Opaline now the Queen, what horrors may await our heroes? Find out tomorrow!