//------------------------------//
// Dawn of the Sunset 
// Story: Thomas, Twilight, and the Magic Railway 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Sunset and Juniper flew along through the air, apparently transported on nothing but air. The rails sat below them, and golden light and shades of blue and green swirled all around them in the gloom. However, it was not a smooth ride, and they were thrown about as they flew along.

"This is bumpiest crossing I've ever done!" Juniper exclaimed, glancing at her watch. "I need to avoid exhausting my gold dust! There's not much going around, you know!"

"Do you do this often?" Sunset asked. Something in her questioned whether what she was seeing was actually real, and pinched herself to check. Sure enough, it was real. "Were those three girls from the other side?"

"I think so!" Juniper replied. "But I only recognised the redhead. I haven't seen the other two before!" There was another lurch. "Ah! We must have passed under the Irish Sea. We'll soon be there! Of course, I don't think that the railway will last much longer. She'll vanish, along with the engine."

"What engine?" Sunset asked again. Her confusion at only being told all this information was only just apparent.

"The engine that runs on this railway. It vanished before I began working on the Great Central Railway, and I've never seen it as a result!" Just then, they saw a truck off to the side, sitting in a siding. "Hold on a minute, that wasn't there last time."

They bounced some more as they passed over a set of points, and were suddenly spat out of the buffers and into Arlesburgh yard.

"We're here!"

"Where?" Sunset asked.

"Why, the Island of Sodor, of course! This is the Magic Railway! Come on! There's a good hill over there I want to show you!"

Before Sunset could protest, Juniper was dragging her up the hill, where they got a wonderful vantage point of Arlesburgh West. In the distance, Duck pulled away with two auto-trailers, whilst Mike arrived on the Arlesdale Railway with several trucks. Once he was in the yard and the signals were checked, Bert set off with a passenger train.

"What's all the voices?" Sunset asked.

Juniper smiled. "I'm glad you asked. These are some of the last Non-Faceless Vehicles left in the world, and the voices are them talking to one another and having conversations! It's a sight you sadly no longer see on the mainland. And if we don't hurry, Sodor shall succumb to a similar fate too."





Meanwhile, at Tidmouth Docks, several ships had just arrived at the port, meaning it was very busy indeed. Cranes were unloading refrigerated boxes of fruit and vegetables that had come from such exotic places as Holland and Iceland, and were setting the boxes down on the quay. These boxes were then loaded into Type A containers, and then placed on conflats (short for 'container flat'). These wagons were currently being marshalled by Thomas and Stepney, whilst off to the side, Diesel 10 and his minions skulked grumpily.

"We nearly had him too!" Storm King snapped angrily. "We nearly had him were it not for those stupid tweasers!"

"Those pliers caused a fair bit of damage," Suri noted. "It took me ages to fix those wires and get the hydraulic fluid moving again."

"So, tell me boss," Splatter asked, "why did you let Autumn go?"

"Errr," Diesel 10 replied, "I was testing her resolve to see if she would either accept her fate or try to escape. Her cleverness in escaping confirmed we need to change our tactics."

"Did he really?" Dodge asked increduously.

"Can it, you!" Diesel 10 shouted, and swiped at them. However, he missed. His claw crashed into a box on a nearby wagon, and the contents exploded everywhere. The bits of fruit and vegetable rained down, covering everything. It was on the floor. It was on the rails. It was all over the trucks. It was all over Diesel 10, Splatter, Dodge, and their drivers. It was all over Stepney and Sweetie Belle. The only place where there were no fruits and vegetables was the wagons, where it should have been.

"Watch what your doing with that great big arm!" Sweetie Belle shouted, as she backed Stepney up to collect another load of trucks.

"Playtime's over," Diesel 10 snarled. "Now to destroy this place- starting with a green caterpillar with red stripes. That green bug will regret standing against us."

"Thorax?" Coco asked.

Storm King facepalmed. "Percy, you idiot!"





Stepney had finished backing up to the sidings, where Thomas was waiting. "I overheard them talking about getting rid of Autumn. Maybe they have something to do with her disappearing!"

"I hope she's safe," Thomas replied. "We need to find her and help her." His face fell when he saw what a mess the pair were. "What happened?"

"Diesel 10 was having a ragequit and smashed a box full of produce," Sweetie Belle explained. "It got over everything."

"You'd better get cleaned up!" Twilight exclaimed. "Rarity would have a fit if she saw you so messy!"

Moments later, Henry steamed past with his fully marshalled train, whistling majestically into the sky as he set off on his long journey. So good was the firing that he could still be heard many miles away.

"Henry's looking good," said Stepney. "Duck told me you brought him some trucks filled with the best Sudrian coal. Good thing we found that seam, eh?"

"That's another thing that's confusing me," Thomas admitted. "I collected six trucks, but there were only five when I got to Henry. It was like the other one vanished, like magic!"

"Magic?" Sweetie Belle suddenly asked. "You mean that portal thing in the buffers?"

"Sweetie Belle," Twilight asked, "what are you talking about."

"There's a portal in one of the buffers to some place on the mainland that Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and I fell through by mistake. There were two people on the other end, too."

Thomas suddenly clicked what was going on. Autumn, the gold dust, Storm King's words- it all slotted into place. "So that's where Autumn's railway comes out," he smiled.

"Thomas!" called the yard foreman. "You're needed with Annie and Clarabel. The local's failed, and we need you to do an all station's stopping working to Arlesburgh."

"No rest for the weary," Thomas sighed. "Let's go."

"Who will help Stepney in the yard?" asked Twilight.

"Duck's currently on his way, so he'll take over your duties."





Several minutes of stop start working later, Thomas arrived at Arlesburgh West with his passengers, to see two faces he'd never seen before. "Hello!" he called. "I'm Thomas, who are you two?"

"Hi!" Juniper replied. "I'm Juliet, but call me Juniper. This girl's Sunset!"

"Sunset Shimmer," Sunset replied. "Nice to meet you."

"Have you seen Autumn Blaze anywhere?" asked Juniper. "We're looking for her."

"You're not the only one," Thomas admitted. "Now I've got some trucks to take to Vicarstown. Feel free to hitch a lift if you want, as long as the guard's OK with it."





As they puffed down the line, they passed the old windmill at Cronk. Sitting in front of it was Oliver, currently pushing the trucks into the siding, whilst Autumn and Scootaloo were busy moving the pile of old matresses and loading them into the trucks.

"It's a heavy load, this lot!" Autumn called to Scootaloo.

"Yes... it... is!" Scootaloo wheezed. "I don't like to be called lazy, but this is where being scrawny is a real disadvantage!"

"Hello Autumn!" Juniper called, as she hopped out of the brake van. "Did you come here to move matresses specifically?"

"No," Autumn replied. "I landed here whilst escaping from Diesel 10's claw, and somebody had the kindness to put these matresses here to catch my fall! Handy that."

Oliver coughed. "This was a mixup. These matresses were meant to be going to the waste dump, but they got mixed up with a load of flour. I dread to imagine where the flower is now..."





The foreman of the waste dump was very confused when bags of flour were unloaded from the vans. "What on Earth?" he asked.

Lyra looked confused. "Maybe it got shunted incorrectly?" she suggested.

"Ach!" Donald exclaimed. "Ah dinnae trus' that there diesel ta shunt them correctly. Ah'll be back in Arlesburgh tonight, Ah'll give him a piece o' mi mind!"





Meanwhile, back at the windmill, Juniper was listening to Autumn fill her in. "So, this diesel wants to find the lost engine and destroy us all?" she frowned. "But that makes no sense! If he destroys us all, he'll destroy himself!"

"I think logic is not Diesel 10's strong suit," Twilight said dryly. Seconds later, Autumn's phone went, and she went to take the call.

"Hello? Oh, Sir Toppham Hatt, how lovely to hear from you! Oh, yes, of course, that'll be perfect! Oh, I'm just at the windmill right now helping to move some matresses that got left here! Of course sir! See you later, sir!"

She glanced up. "Who's the bacon haired girl?"

"Oh!" Juniper smiled. "She's Sunset Shimmer. She's Sombra and Meadowbrook's daughter."

"I don't think anybody from the other side has ever crossed before apart from me and Juniper," Autumn said, running over and shaking Sunset's hand so enthusiastically it nearly came off. "I'm Autumn Blaze, and it is so, so lovely to meet you."

"Erm, hi!" Sunset replied, not entirely sure how to respond.

"HELP ME!"

They all looked over and suddenly saw Juniper was caught in the sails of the windmill. The sails spun faster and faster, until Juniper was hurled through the air at great speed. She eventually landed- right on top of Diesel 10.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" the Western hydraulic laughed. "I've got you now! If I can't take Autumn, you'll do!"

Juniper just held on for dear life, as she had landed on top of Diesel 10's exhaust ports, and coughed at the smell. "Smells like your hydraulics need some work!"





Sunset looked concerned. "Will she be OK?" she asked, frantically.

"Oh, she'll be fine, trust me," Autumn replied calmly. "She and I have been in many tight spots before, and we're equally good at getting out of them."

Sunset suddenly looked up the sky in shock. "I can't stay!" she said. "If I'm not back by sunset I'll be in so much trouble!"

Autumn sighed. "I don't think the Magic Railway has enough power left to make a return trip," she said sadly. "But I think Sombra knows where to find you. You're not the only member of your family to have travelled down that line."

"He's been here?" Sunset asked.

"Yes. It was a long time ago, but if we can't get back and the railway stops working- I dread to think of the consequences that'll result."





"Where's Sunset?" asked Sombra. The sun was setting in the sky, and there was no sign of her anywhere.

"Ah'm sorry sir!" Caramel exclaimed. "Ah returned ta the station ta get her and she weren't there! Ah ain't got no clue where she went!"

Sombra was silent for a moment. "It's not your fault," he said slowly. "I know exactly where she is."

"Sir, have ya heard an engine whistle outside of operatin' hours?" Caramel asked. "Ya must have, because ya heard a dog bark yesterday with no problems."

Sombra just ignored him, and walked back inside. Caramel turned around, only to see Storm King towering over him.

"Where did you hear that whistle?" he demanded. Caramel took the opportunity to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction. He arrived at the station as the last train of the day pulled in. Flim was waiting to greet the train, and On Time hopped off the footplate as the train stopped.

"Sir! Sir!" Caramel called. "Storm King's askin' about some lost engine, and Ah think Sombra knows somethin' we don't, and we're all in danger, and Sunset's-"

"On Sodor," Flim finished. "But if she hasn't returned, it means only one thing. The portal has stopped working."





On Sodor, Percy was travelling towards the Arlesburgh terminus, with a mission. Thomas has asked him to keep an eye on the buffers that accessed the Magic Railway, but it was dark and stormy, and Percy was scared. "I have to be brave, I have to be brave!" he puffed. "But it's so dark and cold, and the wind is howling around my funnel!"

"Don't worry Percy!" Pinkie smiled. "As long as I'm here, we can blow away the cobwebs and giggle at the ghostie!"

"Thank you Pinkie," Percy replied. They stopped in front of the buffers, suddenly seeing they were not alone. Splatter and Dodge oiled about with demolition equipment. According to Silverstream, Storm King had been planning on using George to destroy the buffers, but they had stopped them from doing so.

"Right then," Dodge said, "How are we meant to destroy these buffers without going through the portal?"

"Oh, you are silly!" said a ghostly voice. "You can never destroy the buffers! No matter how many times you do, they will always come back!"

"W-who's there?" Coco asked, frightened.

"I am the spirit of the buffers!" said the ghostly voice again. "Now you must leave, or else you will pay!"

Splatter and Dodge's wheels began to revolve in reverse, and they shot backwards and into the night. The voice laughed.

"Acting crazy always works," they said. A light shone, and Percy suddenly saw who had been doing it all along. Cozy Glow had been talking into a megaphone to trick them.

"Pinkie!" Percy said. "We need to go and warn the others! If we don't act now, we're in big trouble!"





Thomas, Sunset, and Autumn all sat around a makeshift campfire. Sunset looked worried.

"If I can't get home via the Magic Railway, it'll take hours to get home!" she exclaimed. "Oh, why did I agree to this?"

"You couldn't have known," Thomas said. "We will get you home, but it may take a while."

Autumn, who had been oddly silent, spoke up. "And until we can find the source of the gold dust, we can't reactivate the Magic Railway. And the engine is long gone, too. So it's a non starter."

"Maybe it was those whistles."

Autumn perked up. "Excuse me?"

Sunset glanced at her. "I've been hearing a steam engine whistle at night, well after the Great Central has stopped operating for the day."

Autumn jumped for joy. "She still exists! Stoke up the magic that lies beneath the mountain and the Lady will smile! If we can get Sombra onboard, we can find the lost engine!"