//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: This Strange World 
// Story: Thomas & Equestria Girls: Welcome to Canterlot High 
// by LPFanFic 
//------------------------------//


Thomas & Equestria Girls:
Welcome To Equestria High


Chapter 5: This Strange World

Thomas had his eyes shut upon impact of the Magic Buffers. When he opened them again, Thomas saw he was now puffing down the Magic Railroad. Or at least, what remains of it. Just as Mr. Conductor predicted, Lady was clearly no longer running the line. There's was nothing here. The line was without any light and consumed in a thick pitch-black ambiance; making it hard to see far a head, where you were going, or even the sight of your hand waving in front of your face. If possible to envision anything in this now gloomy railroad, a tunnel of thorny, woody, lianas vines surrounds every corner of the tracks; leaving enough room like a tunnel for an engine to pass, but not enough to branch out beyond the direction of the tracks due to the hindrance of the sharp thorns poking out of every corner. The only remaining sign of life left within the Magic Railroad was the sound of Thomas' chuffing as he slowly made his way down the line, taking in the desecrated land of magic that once looked bright and cheerful the last time Thomas was in it.

Thomas wanted to find Lady as soon as possible so that he could restore the Railroad back to it's former glory and before he ends up running into Diesel 10, a situation he does not want to run into despite how very likely the chances of it happening are. However, Thomas felt something fortuitous about the line. He couldn't feel the presence of anything else on the Magic Railroad other than his own. Thomas was the only Engine. This became more apparent when suddenly a strange blue light shinned brightly through the thorny walls covering the tracks. The pitch-black pathway before Thomas was now given a glimmer of light to at least make out where the tracks are heading. He didn't know it, but Thomas' connection to the Magic Railroad was more prominent than he realized. With no one else running the Railroad and the power of Gold Dust surging through him, Thomas now has control over the line and possibly it's magic.

"That never happened before," Thomas said pointing out the blue light.

Chuffing down the line, Thomas figured if Lady would end up anywhere, perhaps Muffle Mountain would be the best place she'd be hiding. Last time when Lady disappeared from the line, it was revealed that she was actually being kept safe out in Muffle Mountain. Muffle Mountain was located in the same world as Shining Time Station, home to Mr. Conductor and his Friends. She was hidden by her caretaker Burnett Stone, the man who built her, trying to repair the damage Diesel 10 caused from the very first time he had tried to destroy her, and almost succeeding to.

'That must be where she is now' thought Thomas. 'If Burnett knew she was in danger, he would have taken her back to the mountain to keep her out of harms way.'

With the blue light making things a bit clearer to see, Thomas continued chuffing down the line until he came upon some track switches. One set of tracks veered to the left while the other loomed to the right. Thomas wasn't sure which track he'd taken before to get to Muffle Mountain. He didn't even remember there were other tracks on the line until he remembered Lady bringing it up. The Magic Railroad was just a straight line before too, now there's tracking turning left and right. Thomas had to pick a path. Deciding to chuff down the left tracks, Thomas slowed himself down the more he tried moving straight a head until coming to a complete stop. Backing up to the crossing, Thomas glances towards the right where the tracks lead into a dark pathway. He felt a growing compulsion inside his boiler that was leaning him more towards this direction. Not knowing where he is anymore but enough to still trust his instincts, Thomas chuffed along down to the right; this time without hesitation or need to go back. Thomas could feel somehow, he was meant to go in this direction.

It wasn't until much later while chuffing down the line did Thomas make out what looked like a pare of buffers stationed straight a head of the direction he was puffing towards. Thomas charged into its vicinity, getting ready to make contact with the buffers and whatever was on the other side. Bracing for impact, Thomas whooshed passed the Magic Buffers; opening the golden portal leading him through onto the other side of the railroad.





Gradually opening his eyes, Thomas awoke realizing he must have blacked out when passing through the buffers. Thomas could feel the surface he was laying on was rough and uncomfortable. He was shunned by a bright sunlight glaring through his eyes and the sound of birds chirping alerted him that he was outside. Thomas opened his eyes fully blinded by the light of the sun. As if on some kind of impulse, Thomas raised his Hand to block the rays. It wasn't until he got up on his knees did Thomas quickly figure out something was extremely abnormal about his appearance.

Wide eyed, Thomas slowly looked down over himself. Where normally his eyes would meet his two front buffers from the lower section of Thomas' sights, instead he sees a body being supported by knees bent to keep him in a seated position. Sneaking into Thomas' view were two arms with hands that fiddled about as if acting off the instincts of someone who's just discovered they're in a completely different body not of their own. Beginning to panic, he looked over the arms, the legs, and the facial structures of the face, which thankfully still felt somewhat the same; not a ton, but the eyes, nose, and mouth were still ever prominent on his face. With the addition of visible ears and a soft silky like substance attached on the top of his head where his funnel used to sit. Thomas examined the rest of this alien body; putting together the pieces and concluded he was no longer a Tank Engine, but something entirely out of his element.

Thomas' gripped his face in horror. "I-I'm, I-I'm a, I'm a... PERSON!"

Thomas screamed at the top of his lungs in shock of his new appearance, scaring away a few birds and squirrels near the vicinity. Thomas panted and took a breath after finishing his scream. Feeling the strange sustenance on top of his head he now recognized as human hair, Thomas was still in disbelief that a few minutes ago he was a bright blue tank engine. Now he's every bit as human as Sir Topham Hat. He played around with the long strings of hair until he snapped himself out of it.

"Okay, okay. This is, weird," he said hugging himself. "This is completely, without a doubt, most definitely weird."

Noticing that some of his movements are purely out of impulse, Thomas felt he was going to freak out again. He tried calming himself down while remembering he was still on a very important mission. Thomas shook his head and clenched his fist, still freaked out by such a movement he can do without putting thought into it.

"No. I can't worry about this now. I have a job to do and it's all up to me to get it done."

Thomas then looked around to see where he was. He noticed behind him what appeared be a large, crystal clear base of a statue; though there was no actual statue on top for it to be put in place. He reached over to the surface placing his hand on it. Thomas was surprised to see his hand pushing through the statue's base revealing on the other side to be his left buffer. Overwhelmingly baffled, Thomas pulled his hand out of the portal.

"This must have been where I jumped out from."

Thomas continued searching his surroundings. He then saw a huge, two story purple building with many large glass windows on the first floor and smaller ones on the second. The front entrance had two glass panes embedded with a Star on the bottom glass pane and a horse on the second level. There were golden gargoyles of horse heads stationed on the very top front of the N shaped structure; one in the very middle above the main entrance, and two on each side of the corners. The front campus contained stairs leading up into the main entrance of the building, the statue base centered on concrete walkways the shape of half a circle with a line through it on fields of green grass, and a sign consisting of two horseshoes, with the center horseshoe placed on its side to resemble the letter C standing just at the sidewalk.

"One thing's for certain," Thomas said. "This place definitely isn't Sodor, or Muffle Mountain for that matter."

Alone, frightened, unsure of where he was but determined to save his home, Thomas mustered up all the courage he could and berried all his worries.

"Mr. Conductor is counting on me. He believes I can do this. I am gonna bring Lady home and save the Island of Sodor! And I'm not gonna let minor setbacks,"

Thomas corrected himself after attempting to move one of his legs in order to stand but to no avail, landing back on his butt.

"Okay, major setbacks, get in the way of my mission. Little Engines can do big things, but I can do anything!"

Feeling better after his self pep talk, Thomas clenched his fist again and raised it in the air.

"So, it's time to save Sodor!"

Still on his knees, Thomas used both his arms to reach for the base to his right; grabbing hold and pulling himself towards it. He then climbed up using nothing but his arms carrying the weight of his new body; groaning at every tug of his arms as it became more difficult until bringing himself onto his feet. Standing not nearly as straight, Thomas remained clutched to the base as he was not use to his new body weight yet, causing his legs to wiggle uncontrollably and forcing him to lean on the base for dear life. In the distance, a man walking his dog watches the strange young boy struggle to stand upright. Thomas sees him and smiled awkwardly and waved at him. The man makes a perplexed face and just walks away with his dog avoiding eye contact with Thomas.

Thomas sighed. "Come on, Thomas, you see Sir Topham Hatt walk around all the time. How hard can it be?"

Thomas soon found out as he launched himself forward expecting his legs to naturally carry him across campus; like how his arms are able to move without him thinking, or how Thomas now has to turn his head or twist his body in order to face a direction that couldn't be seen through the corner of his eyes. Instead of strutting along like he's seen people on Sodor do, Thomas falls face first back onto the ground, groaned as the pain swells up.

"Oouuwww!"

He's never experienced this type of pain before. He's been tossed around and such but this was something he had never felt. It was not a good feeling to him at all. He almost couldn't get back up again, resorting to almost giving up entirely by struggling to roll over on his back and just letting himself lay where he is, watching the sun pass through the clouds in the beautiful blue sky.

Thomas couldn't give up though, so he tried again to bring himself back up. Without anything to support him other than his own two legs and the help of his arms, Thomas got up on one knee then used the other to push himself up, discovering how simple it felt to do so. Thomas tried with all his might to keep himself balanced as much as possible. He imagined how Sir Topham Hatt walked and figured he could try imitating that somehow. Thomas Took one step at a time towards the front entrance. With every step he nearly lost his balance more than once, but wised up and figured out his new legs are also ultimately what keeps him from falling.

At the foot of the steps, Thomas grabs hold of the railing for better support as he climbs up the stairs. A few people were casually walking towards the entrance as well. The people appeared to be a much younger age but aren't exactly considered kids to the common eye. This confused Thomas as he was still deducing what the purpose of this building was for. They all stare at Thomas while walking up the stairs with ease and opened one of the doors going in. Thomas finally made it up to the top of the stairs and approached the doors nervously, still trying to keep his balance.

"Alright, you know how doors work. This isn't that hard at all," he said, reassuringly.

Reaching for the handle. Thomas pulls on the doors only to have nothing happen. Thomas tugged and yanked at the door but it still wouldn't open. One of the other doors suddenly opened from the inside and out walked two people talking among themselves. A red-faced Thomas realizes his silliness and pushed on the door letting himself into the strange looking building.





Once inside, Thomas began to get a pretty good idea of where he might be. As he looked around the building he could make out a few distinguishable features that support his theory. He noticed some cloth banners hanging from the second-floor railings sporting the letter C and a few with a horse head on it. In front of him was another set of glass doors leading into a much larger area with long tables and seating. Far ahead to his left near the other set of doors was a glass case with trophies inside. Thomas went up to the case and took a look inside it, still trying not to fall over on the way. Leaning up against the case, Thomas examined the many awards and trophies that were displayed. He could read out a bit of the text written on the plaques; one of them possibly reading the name of this place.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of school perhaps?" Thomas said. "Hmm. Canterlot?"

Thomas looked at the images also on display of some of the people grouped together in a couple of photos. The photos included a soccer team, basketball, fundraising and community projects. Thomas then noted that some of the students here looked a bit off. After backing out of the display case revealing his entire reflection, he saw that he too looked somewhat like the humans here.

At last Thomas was able to get a pretty decent look at his new appearance. His appearance was that of a teenage boy with black shaggy hair, bright blue eyes, and pale blue skin. His attire consisted of a blue and white jersey with a prominent yellow number 1 sewn on the front with red stitching fabric; a sky blue zipper hoodie over the jersey with the inside of the hood being all red, blue trousers and grey converse with red laces and design. Thomas couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What kind of person am I supposed to be?" he said, touching his whole face.

He went back to looking at the trophy case and saw what looked like a shiny tiara. Inscribed along the plaque nested behind the crown were names of the winners for Princess of the Fall Formal election. Consistently the only name that's listed was for someone named Sunset Shimmer, who appeared to have won the crown many years in a row.

"Who's Sunset Shimmer?"

He then noticed another name next to Sunset's; one that was recently won not too long ago according to the dates on the plaque. The name read Twilight Sparkle.

"What's up with these strange names?"

Thomas scratched his head only to immediately stop after becoming freaked out by his impulsive actions.

Suddenly, the loud sound of a bell rings and within seconds the main foyer was flooded with dozens of multi-colored teenagers pouring into the hallways. Thomas shuts his ears when all of a sudden, he found himself tossed and turned about by the many students bumping into him. The people were all brightly colored with unique looking hair styles and attire. They were talking amongst themselves, not paying attention to anything in front of them as they made their way through the halls. Stumbling over himself, Thomas finally managed to escape the overwhelming crowds. He found himself in a hallway that was open enough to better dodge the oncoming groups and individuals speaking all at once. Thomas was confused more than ever over where he was.

Not paying attention as Thomas watched the students passing by him, he then found himself bumping into one of them. Thomas nearly loses his balance falling over before catching himself from landing flat on the ground again. The person he ran into nearly stumbles over too before catching themselves as well. The person Thomas ran into was a girl. She had long, red and brilliant yellow hair, sky blue eyes and amber skin. She was sporting a cropped leather jacket with orange chevrons on the sleeves of her upper arms, a sky blue top with translucent shoulder sleeves and bright yellow hem. Teal pants and high heeled boots with a similar orange arrow pattering. Annoyed, the girl turned to Thomas about to complain until she stops and quickly switches from being annoyed to confused upon seeing the boy. Thomas does the same, turning around to face the girl he ran into, hoping they were okay and weren't mad still. Thankfully, she wasn't anymore. Both stared at each other questionably until they both spoke in unison.

"I'm so sorry."

"No really, it was my fault," both say again.

Noticing they were talking in unison, the two then chuckled together. Thomas hugged his arm while looking back at the crowds of people now settling down.

"I wasn't really looking where I was going," He said.

"Got turned around did you?" she smiled.

"I guess so."

The girl sniggers a little. "Yeah, happens to all of us on our first day."

Thomas and the girl then stared at each other; neither of them not knowing what to say next. He thought the girl looked strange, he thought everyone in this place looked strangely. The humans he was encountering looked nothing like the people back on Sodor. Despite their bizarre appearance however, Thomas felt a fondness for this girl upon viewing her a lot more. The girl wasn't sure what to make of Thomas either. She had never seen him before. Perhaps this was her first time seeing him after all the years she's been here. Whatever the case, there was something about him that made her enamored. She turned her head away, trying to hide her red face the more Thomas looked into her eyes. Smiling to herself, she eyes him without turning her head back.

"We should probably get going."

"Going where?" Thomas asked, tilting his head.

Before an answer was given, an older woman came walking up to them. The woman also appeared differently than how people in Sodor looked. Her hair was long with gradients of pale, light, grayish and pastel mixtures of harlequin, aquamarine, blue, cyan, mulberry and purple. Moderate heliotrope eyes and light magenta gray skin. She wore a pale-yellow blazer with a sun broach over a white and purple shirt, purple pants, pale-yellow dress shoes with darker yellow designs. 'I guess everyone in this world is suppose to look this odd' Thomas thought.

"As much as I encourage new comers to make themselves acquainted here, we also don't want to be late for our classes, now do we?" the woman said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh no, I didn't realize what time it was," the girl looked at her phone. "I'll make my way over now."

"Alright them," the woman smiled. "Now, hurry up before the next bell."

"Thanks, Principal Celestia."

Before running off, the girl shifted back and faced Thomas again.

"I'll, see you around," she waved.

Thomas waved back blissfully. The girl then took off down the halls until she was no longer in sight. Principal Celestia turned her attention to Thomas and inspected him curiously whilst stroking her cheek.

"Hmm. I don't think I've seen you around CHS before."

Caught off guard, Thomas turned and faced her.

"Oh, yeah. I'm not really from here."

"Then you must be a new transfer student."

He wore a perplexed face and blinked, not knowing what she meant.

"You did come here from another high school, didn't you?" she asked again.

"Uh, yes. That's right!" Thomas' eyes shot open. "Wait, did you say, High School?"

She nodded perplexedly.

"I'm in a High School?!" Thomas said, gripping his hair.

He realized his suspicions about this place early were in deed confirmed to be true. There weren't that many high schools back on Sodor and teenagers weren't that common on the island either. Thomas didn't know anything about high school. The only experience Thomas had with school in general was when he occasionally brought children to school on Annie and Clarabel. But high school as on a whole other level.

"Is there a problem?" Celestia asked.

Snapping out of it, Thomas looks back at her.

"N-no, I'm okay, miss?" he said, trying to remember her name.

"Principal Celestia."

Celestia reaches out for a hand shake. Thomas was put off at first. He never had to shake a person's hand before. Reluctantly, Thomas accepted her offering and shook her hand.

"It's always a pleasure having new students at CHS. And despite all the excitement going on lately, it's reassuring to see there are still new comers eager to be a part of the Wondercolt pride."

Not knowing what she's talking about, Thomas just politely smiles as Celestia continues talking while going through some papers on her clipboard.

"I'm sure there's lots of activities that'll peak your interests. We offer the best after school programs for students."

"That's good."

"Now, how have you been enjoying classes so far?"

"Actually, I just got here."

"Oh. Well aren't we a little behind. No matter, let me just double check a few things and we'll send you off to your first class."

"Um, actually," Thomas was interrupted.

"It's uh, Barry, isn't it?" Celestia asked.

"Huh? Oh, no. My name is Thomas."

Celestia looked over her clipboard as if to double check something.

"That doesn't sound right. I'll check in with Vice Principal Luna later and have her fix the names. Right now, we need to get you to class. I'll guide were you need to go for now then have a timetable printed off for you by this week."

"Thanks, but the thing is,"

"And I know just the student who'd be more than happy to give you a tour of the school afterwards. I'll even ask if they'll mind showing you to your classes for the remainder of the week."

Thomas tried explaining that he's not actually a student to no visible avail.

"It's just that,"

"Come on," Celestia ordered. "You're already late as it is."

Thomas sighed and slouched his shoulders. "Yes, Ma'am."

He wasn't about to start protesting against authority figures and instead decided to go along with it. Thomas followed Principal Celestia down the halls passing by a bunch of lockers. He'd never even been inside of a regular school before let alone a high school. He wondered if the strange compartments are supposedly where people keep their belongings. Continuing on, Thomas made sure to keep up with Principal Celestia as each turn brought them down a new area of the school he was all the more curious to look at.





The bell goes off indicating the start of next class, as Thomas and Celestia arrived at their destination.

"This is it."

Celestia pointed at the door leading into a classroom already filled with students.

"Thank you, I guess," Thomas said.

"No problem. This may be your last class for today, but at least attending it should give you a good glimpse at what our school has to offer."

He rubbed his head while looking at the door.

"Okay?" He turns back to her. "But I need to tell you that,"

"Another thing," Celestia, continued.

Thomas slouched in annoyance. He tried explaining to her that he's not a student with no success still.

"I know this is your first day and it can be very intimidating not knowing where you're going, but try and make it to school early next time. We drive our students to strive towards achieving greatness. But in order to do so, they have to learn the importance of arriving on time and giving it their all if they ever hope to discover something about themselves that'll lead them to a brighter future. Think you can do that, Thomas?"

At this point Thomas was beginning to ask himself if he should be telling people why he's even here in the first place. Would they even believe him if he went around telling people that he's actually a tank engine from a far away land of talking locomotives guarded by a Magic Railway that generates Gold Dust? He didn't want to feel sillier than he already is trying to adjust to his new body. So instead, Thomas decided to just play by the rules if he's ever to get any further in finding Lady. He wasn't looking forward to having classes, but he was determined to see through it no matter what the challenge.

"Of course, I can," Thomas said, happily. "I know how important it is to be on time and really useful. You can count on me to get the job done."

"Really useful, huh?" Celestia smiled then patted Thomas' shoulder, "I think you'll fit in just fine here, Thomas."

He smiled back. "Thank you, Principal Celestia,"

Celestia leans up. "And when you're finished, just meet your tour guide near the lobby after class."

"Uh, yeah. Sure thing."

Thomas wasn't so sure if he should have a tour guide showing him around the school. Will there be enough time to search for Lady once he's done? He turned to the door. Before reaching for the handle, Principle Celestia called out to him.

"Oh, one more thing, Thomas."

He stopped a foot in front of the door and looked over his shoulder to Principal Celestia.

"Welcome to Canterlot High!" she said, kindly. "I can already tell you'll make a great addition to our school. Good luck with your class."

Thomas smiled and thanked her again. With no idea what he's getting himself into, he then opened the door leading into what will be the start of a whole new journey Thomas never anticipated to have on his mission to save Sodor, attending high school.





To Be Continued.