Thomas & Equestria Girls: Welcome to Canterlot High

by LPFanFic


Chapter 11: Revealing The Truth

Thomas & Equestria Girls:
Welcome To Canterlot High

Chapter 11: Revealing The Truth

Sunset, Twilight and the others spent all morning looking for Thomas during their first few classes but he didn't seem to be in any of them. Fluttershy at one point thought she saw him during cooking class but mistook him for someone else wearing all blue. His absence so far from Canterlot High began to worry Sunset Shimmer again when she didn't see Thomas in any of her classes. She convinced herself that the others hopefully ran into him. Otherwise, if he isn't at Canterlot perhaps he's somewhere else. Whatever the case, everyone was eager to look for him and hoped he was still active and safe by the time they find him.

It was now time for lunch, which meant everyone gets to meet up and eat in the cafeteria or elsewhere and hang out with friends. The girls all left their classes feeling fruitless in their search. But the day wasn't over yet as there were still more classes to attend, which meant a better possibility that Thomas could be in either one of them. Everyone but Rainbow Dash met near the entrance where they made a plan to look for Thomas around the halls and other rooms they haven't been in or don't have classes for. Before branching off, the girls all got a text message from Rainbow Dash urgently telling everyone to come meet her in the band room. She had found Thomas!


The girls rushed over to the band room as quickly as possible with Sunset leading the charge. They barged in and saw standing in the middle of the room Rainbow Dash with Thomas looking worn out. Everyone beamed with joy and ran over to him.

"Thomas!" they all called.

Thomas was happy to see his friends again and smiled at everyone kindly greeting him. His breathing slowed just a tad as he was now more energized to see everyone happily talking and throwing questions at him. They quickly noticed Thomas was out of breath and panting. Sunset was the first one to point this out.

"What's wrong with him?!" she asked anxiously. "Is it the gold sparkles again?"

"More like gym class," Rainbow Dash said nudging Thomas' shoulder. "I found him there playing basketball. The other students were giving him a hard time so I stepped in and helped whipped their sorry butts in a friendly game of 2 on 5 at basketball!"

"Just you and Thomas?" Fluttershy said in disbelief.

"Eh, it was mostly me doing all the work. But Thomas caught on after I quickly showed him a few basics. Those other students didn't know what hit 'em after that!"

"Wow, Thomas. I'm impressed," Sunset said.

Thomas panted, "Good, because I am not doing whatever I just did in there again."

"What you did was called a Lay up. Also, you can't expect to be amazing right away on your first try," Rainbow Dash said. "It takes a lot of skill and dedication to get good at mastering a sport. With a lot more practice and motivation, you'll be on top of your game before you know it."

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash. But I think I'd rather pull a heavy goods train than try any of that again."

Thomas' eyes shot open upon realizing what he had just said. Everyone looked at each other puzzled, then back to Thomas wondering what in the world he meant by pulling a goods train.

"I mean, uh. I'm gotta go get a drink."

He hurried to the doors. Thomas knew may have just blown his cover and needed to get away from them before they start asking questions.

"I have some water here if you like," Twilight said holding out a bottle.

Thomas stopped before the door and turned to face Twilight Sparkle happily waiting for him to accept her bottled water. Not wanting to be rude and turn down her offer, he forced himself a grin, walked over to Twilight and took the water bottle.

"Thank you, Twilight."

Twilight beamed happily. He then drank from the bottle until it was completely empty, feeling much more refreshed. Thomas handed back the bottle to Twilight's dismay of seeing it empty.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said realizing he dranked all her water.

Twilight shook her head. "It's fine. I can always refill it by the fountain."

Now that Thomas was reunited with the girls, Sunset was the first to approach Thomas and confront him about his sudden departure yesterday. But not before asking him what that weird comment he made seconds ago.

"So, what did you mean when you said you'd rather pull a goods train?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash said. "And what's the deal with you taking off last night?"

"I'm really sorry, everyone," he said earnestly. "It was getting late and I just had to get going, that's all."

"Ugh! Honestly, dear," Rarity said. "We were all dreadfully worried about you!"

"Running Off In The Middle Of The Night Without Letting Us Know You Were Okay Was Totally Not Cool!" Pinkie Pie said.

"You could've gone and blacked out again," Applejack said sternly. "What's so important that you had to leave right before tellin' any of us why you were knocked unconscious yesterday?"

"Wait," Twilight remembered. "Thomas said he had to prevent another accident like the one that happened to him yesterday."

"Oh, yeah. I did say that, didn't I?" Thomas said sheepishly. "Well, I did. But it's all better now. Really."

The girls eyed him suspiciously. Thomas continued to smile meekly.

"I mean it. I really don't know what that shadow thing was. It's never happened to me before."

"Are you sure you don't you know anything?" Twilight asked.

"Cause it seems like you do," Spike said.

Thomas didn't say anything. He honestly didn't know what happened to him but then thought of the Gold Dust flowing through him and assumed maybe they were the cause for his blackout. But he wasn't willing to tell them that. But since Thomas merely gave away the fact he was urgently trying to prevent another accident like the one he had only made the girls doubtful in what Thomas is saying.

"We didn't know where you were," Fluttershy said. "If Rainbow Dash hadn't found you, we would've spent the whole day looking of you."

"Really? You were going to do that?"

Fluttershy nodded. Thomas had no idea how much he made them all worry. Since Thomas planned to stay at Canterlot High a bit longer, he realized that he didn't have to say goodbye or leave out why he left in such a hurry last night. This filled him with contrite now that he understood how distressed his friends all looked. Even so, Thomas didn't want to reveal what he is and why he's here. There was no knowing what they would think of him if they all found out he's really a talking tank engine on a mission to find a magical train.

Sunset chimed back in. "We're concerned about you, Thomas. Sure, we've only known each other for like a day, but it was enough for all of us to see what a good person you are. We don't want anything bad happening to you, especially after seeing what you went through last night. So leaving us abruptly without any further detail and why you even had to leave at all left us more than a little on edge."

Thomas went over and sat down on a long row of steps connected to the wall and slouched his shoulders. He felt genuinely guilty.

"We want to help anyway we can," Sunset continued. "But we can't do that if you don't tell us what's going on."

He looked at everyone showing nothing but concern towards him. Despite how bad he feels about keeping secrets from his new friends, who appear to be more than understandable if they actually knew what he is, there was apart of Thomas that curdled his stomach when the idea of giving away his secret might result in the others thinking he was crazy and making up stories just for attention. The thought of Sunset Shimmer and the girls turning their back on him because of that assumption prevented him from wanting to reveal his important job. And so, he kept silent, only giving them a slight shrug.

The girls were now getting annoyed with Thomas's silence. Sunset walked over and leaned in close to Thomas with piercing, surveying eyes.

"Don't know anything, huh? Fine," She said frustratingly.

She then went over and pulled out a locket from her bag then opened it in front of him. Thomas instantly recognized the glittery substance known only to him as Gold Dust. He nearly gasped, roughly jumping out his seat upon gazing at them in shock.

"We found these gold sparkles on the floor where your sweater was laying. If I didn't know any better, I'd say these were responsible for what they did to you. Am I right?"

He still didn't say anything, and continued looking back nervously at Sunset and the Gold Dust.

"You know what this stuff is, don't you?" She asked sternly.

Thomas felt confronted. His heart was racing and his breathing became heavy again. There no way of explaining to Sunset Shimmer and the others what he knows about the Gold Dust, not that he knew of. He already felt terrible not saying anything and wasn't about to lie right in front of them again. This was something he couldn't avoid, and very likely had to speak up about soon or else it could get worse from here. Thomas didn't know what to do next.

Before anyone could say anything else, Twilight reached in her bag to grab the jar of Gold Dust. But, didn't find anything in there except Spike who was poking out of the bag while the others were having their conversation. Spike jumped out as Twilight searched vigorously through her backpack by emptying everything out and trying to shake the backpack upside down to dump out all the remaining items left. Her magic tracker bounces onto the floor and rolled on it's back.

"Oh No! It's gone!" she called. "It's all gone!"

Everyone was alerted to Twilight who got up and attentively searched the room.

"What's Gone?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"The gold sparkles I had inside the jar! It's missing!"

Thomas and the girls all gasped.

"How did you lose it?" Rarity asked.

"I sat it down after Pinkie Pie used some of it to teleport outside," Twilight explained tensely. "I guess I got distracted by all of the excitement and forgot to put it away."

"Sweet tarnation!" Applejack said. "Alright everyone, search the room it's gotta be here somewhere."

The girls looked all over but weren't having any luck. Thomas stayed seated where he was with Sunset Shimmer glaring at him suspiciously. All he could do was muster a smile even though Sunset and the others were not having it.

"I definitely don't remember putting it in my bag," Twilight said.

"It couldn't have teleported out of your backpack then," Fluttershy said. "Unless it teleported out of this room?"

"Allow me to sniff it out," Spike suggested confidently.

He trotted over to Sunset asking to smell the Gold Dust she had in her locket. Sunset leans down and holds the locket up to Spike's nose who then starts sniffing it a couple of times. However, there wasn't a distinct enough smell that he could latch on to and track the source of where it is.

"Well?" Sunset asked.

He tried sniffing around the room for the Gold Dust's scent to no avail.

"Hrm, I'm not getting anything. This stuff has no scent. All I'm smelling is the locket."

Then Twilight Sparkle remembered something. "Wait a minute."

She runs over to her backpack and grabs the magic tracking device laying on the floor. All the girls notice this knowing they were now in luck. Thomas had no idea what she was holding or what it was and stared with narrowed eyes at the alien looking gadget like some kind of outer worldly item. Twilight turns on the tracker and without a second of silence, the blinker goes off turning the pink ridges into the same shade of gold it did when the locket detected magic back at The Sweet Shoppe Café.

"Girls look, it's turning gold again," Twilight said curiously.

It became apparent to the others that the Gold Dust were the cause of Twilight's device blinking a different color other than pink. Explaining their recent encounter with the sparkles coming in full circle again.

She followed where the gold light was blinking leading towards the exit but then redirecting around back into the room. Everyone watched, anticipating where it might lead to and wondering if it's coming from somewhere in the band room or elsewhere in the school. Watching vigilantly as the gold light changes directions, the blinking light points Twilight to her right leading up to the wide row of steps. The beeping from the device grew louder as she got closer to the magic source. Eventually she found it. The beeping noise intensifies, indicating that the device has found the magic's origin, and it was coming from Thomas. Twilight looked up to see the light was blinking directly at Thomas shifting himself away from the device. Everyone's eyes shot open for a good second before realizing that Thomas was with out a doubt hiding something from them, going from shock to undoubtedly suspicious.

"What's that thing doing?" Thomas asked closing his ears.

Instead of getting an answer, Applejack approached then sets her foot on the steps and leaned in on a startled Thomas.

"Enough with the small talk. What're you hidin' from us?!"

"Yeah! And Don't Try Anything Sneaky 'Cause We're On To You Buster!" Pinkie Pie said wearing a deerstalker cap and holding a magnifying glass directly at Thomas.

"Just tell us, Thomas," Rarity said sincerely. "What do we have to do to show you can trust us?"

Everyone was talking all at once, begging and confronting Thomas to speak up. Finally, he couldn't keep himself silent or avoid the conversation anymore and gave them an answer.

"Because you won't believe me!" he yelled.

The girls stopped talking and stared at him. Thomas locked his knees under his arms.

"If I told you what's going on, you'd all think I was making it up. It's crazy and confusing and even I can't understand it. I don't want anyone to think I'm making up stories just so I can get attention or something like that. You all seem like amazing friends. I don't want that to change or lose your friendship just because I'm not normal."

The girls looked at each other feeling terrible for both Thomas and for being so direct. They could see Thomas was genuinely upset about his secret after burring his face in his legs. Everyone gathered around and sat next to Thomas. Sunset Shimmer and Applejack sat beside him, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash sat on their knees facing him. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Rarity sat behind Thomas, who looked up to see them all sitting close by and gazing sympathetically at him.

"Thomas," Sunset stated placing her hand on his, "We're only trying to understand what you're going through because we care about you."

"You do?" Thomas asked. "Even though we barely know each other?"

"I Know Who You Are," Pinkie Pie said. "You're A Friendly And Fun Person!"

"And we don't have to know each other to see if there's any way we can help at all," Rarity said.

"Especially if that person nearly blacked out," Rainbow Dash commented.

"Even though I'm still having a little trouble now," Fluttershy said. "I remember a time were I almost could never speak to anyone until I met all my friends. That was when I realized that my closest friends were the few people I can talk about anything with."

This reminded Thomas of Percy weirdly enough.

"Fluttershy's right, Thomas," Applejack said. "We're your friends now, which means whatever you got goin' on in your life, it shouldn't feel like a burden to keep it from us."

"It's better to tell someone who can understand," Twilight said. "And who will help you understand."

"No matter what happens afterwards," Rarity said. "We will always remain by your side, biggie or no biggie."

Sunset smiled. "So, If you have something you need to say, we're all ears."

There was a warm and fuzzy feeling inside Thomas that he couldn't quite explain to himself. He felt happy and safe. At first it could've been just his warm boiler. But knowing he's a person now and not a tank engine left him wondering why and how he felt this way. After talking with the girls and hearing them reassure Thomas of their understanding, he knew then that that's what it was. There was no judgement to be had with them. and that fuzzy feeling was just his relief. Seeing the girls act so supportive and benevolent, Thomas knew he had to tell them. There's no sense in hiding who he is or what his mission is anymore. It's time that he spoke up and told the truth.

Thomas sighed, building up all his courage.

"Okay," He said quietly.

The girls leaned in ready to hear what he's about to say.

"See, the thing is," Thomas started but then was interrupted, by Pinkie Pie.

"You're A Talking Locomotive From A Railway Of Other Talking Trains That's On An Magical Island Really Really Far Away, Like On Another World Far Away, And You Were Sent Here To Look For An Engine Who Keeps Your Home Alive And Protected Using Magic Sparkles, And Without Their Magic it Causes All Sorts Of Bad Things To Happen, Which Is Why You Need To Find Them Because If They're Not Running The Magical Railroad That Connects Both Our Worlds Then Someone Else May Have Control Over The Magic And That Can Be Either Really Good Or Really Awful, So Unless You Bring Them Back On Time Before Any Of That Happens We Could All Be In Serious Trouble!" Pinkie sqees.

Thomas was slack jawed.

"How accurate is she?" Rainbow Dash asks nonchalantly.

"Very," he said speechlessly.

"Oh, And There's Also Talking Vehicles, Ships, Cranes, Aircrafts, And Rolling Stock! Whatever That Means." Pinkie Shrugged.

"So, you're actually a train?" Sunset asked.

"A talking train!" Fluttershy said.

"From a magical Island filled with other means of transportation who can speak?" Rarity asked.

"And you're here lookin' for a magical locomotive that went missin'?" Applejack asked.

Thomas nodded sheepishly. Despite what they all said to him, he braced himself in case they didn't believe what Pinkie Pie just told him; which he still couldn't deduce how she knew all of that and then some.

"That… is… Awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.

Thomas was surprised but then quickly became cheerful when he was ecstatically bombarded with questions after questions about what it's like to be an engine and more about the Island of Sodor. They all wanted to know how different his world is, how or if he can drive on his own, or how engines are able to talk. Thomas answered most of them as well as confirming everything he told them prior about Sodor and what he and his friends do there were in deed true, minus information about him being a tank engine.

Sunset Shimmer was the most surprised by Thomas' reveal. Given how she was the first one to meet him and get a sense what kind of person he is right off the bat, everything odd or off about him earlier made complete sense now; to her and the others. The constant determination to work, the unfamiliarity with their environment and inventions was all because he was from a completely different world from theirs. Sunset only knew Equestria and Canterlot High to be the only existing worlds as far as she's ever known, now she's found out there's another place and it's inhabitant by talking trains, and that Thomas is one of those talking trains. Suddenly the connection between Canterlot High and Equestria didn't seem so minimal anymore.

"Hey, Sunset Shimmer is from another world too," Spike mentioned. "She came here from a kingdom of magical ponies."

Thomas looked at Sunset Shimmer very surprised. He thought he was the only thing that ever crossed other onto worlds. To find out he met yet another person from another world boggled his head. Sunset didn't know how to react, especially when being put on the spot. She kind of hoped to tell Thomas herself later on in a less direct manner. Now that the cat's out of the bag, she just told Thomas what she is while rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh. Uh, yeah. I forgot to mention that I'm also actually a unicorn from a place called Equestria," she said sheepishly.

"You're a, pony?" he asked baffled by this reveal.

"A Magical Pony!" Pinkie Pie said.

Thomas was inquisitive. "And you use to live in a place called, Equestria? What is that?"

"It's An Entire Kingdom Filled With Talking Ponies And Other Magical Creatures. We Didn't Know About It Until Our Other Friend Named Twilight Sparkle From Equestria Came To Stop-"

Before Pinkie could go on, Sunset waved her hands vigorously, indicating Pinkie Pie to stop talking.

"What?" she asked shrugging her shoulders.

"The point is," Sunset continued. "There's another place similar to here but inhabited by pony counterparts of ourselves. It's, just as confusing as it sounds. The Twilight Sparkle from Equestria came here looking for a stolen crown which ended up filling this world with magic."

"Wait, there's magic in this place too?!" Thomas said.

He was still mind mindbogglingly confused. A land where talking ponies live, a place virtually similar to Canterlot High, and it's all filled with magic. This was so much to take in for Thomas, but he was intrigued either way despite how crazy it sounded; not that he could judge seeing where he comes from. He also couldn't believe that there was at one point another Twilight Sparkle in Canterlot High, or that there's pony counterparts of all the girls living in yet another strange place he never knew existed until now.

"Guess we should've started with that, huh?" Twilight Sparkle said regarding their confrontation earlier.

"Maybe we should've," Sunset sighed. "Sorry for not telling you sooner. I wasn't sure how you'd react to the fact that I'm really a pony from a magical land. Looks like there was more to both of us than meets the eye."

Thomas smiled then twiddled his fingers. "So, you're a magical pony, huh?"

Sunset nodded.

"Wow. This is all so amazing! I never Imagined meeting more than one person from other worlds. Or getting an actual chance to visit one. Thank you for telling me, Sunset."

The two smiled to each other happy now they knew more about each other. A world of magical talking ponies was a first for him. Suddenly the world beyond Sodor felt a lot bigger than ever before. He didn't know what to make of Sunset being a pony, but he wanted to learn more about Equestria regardless and what kind of life Sunset Shimmer had there.

"I still can't believe you're from a place that's not Equestria," Twilight said. "This leaves open a whole wide tabulation of possibilities for other worlds that could be interconnected to Canterlot!"

"Just like I can't believe you're actually a pony where you're from," Thomas said to Sunset.

"Magical ponies, talkin' locomotives, next fella we meet will probably be a car robot from outer space," Applejack joked.

"Also, how is a land filled with talking trains put off by a talking dog?" Spike asked Thomas.

"We don't have animals that speak on Sodor."

Fluttershy slouched her shoulders.

"Just your typical wild life that takes up most of the island second only to us engines of course."

"How many animals are there on Sodor?" Fluttershy asked.

Being an avid animal lover, Fluttershy absolutely adores all kinds of creatures small and cute, big or fluffy. She wanted to know all about the animals living on Sodor.

"A whole bunch! Too many forests to count. There's just acres and acres of them."

A wide eyed Fluttershy happily beamed with joy while listening to Thomas go on about animals on Sodor and how it has lost of forestry with all sorts of wild life in them. When Thomas was close to finishing his sentence Fluttershy grabs the collar of his shirt with an intense grip and leans in close.

"Take me there. Now!" She said passionately.

Thomas didn't know whether to be freighted, put off, or legitimately comply with her request. Realizing her abrasiveness, Fluttershy shamefully lets go and brushes off Thomas' shirt.

"I'm so sorry."

"That's okay, Fluttershy!" Thomas said. "You know, I bet you and Henry would get along great if you're that passionate about wildlife."

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Henry. He's my friend, along with all the other engines of Sodor. There's Gordon, James, Edward, Toby, Emily, and my best friend Percy."

"The one you deliver mail with," Twilight stated.

"That's him."

"Well, now that we know you're a talking train from another world," Rarity said. "Would you mind telling us what those gold sparkles are?"

Sunset Shimmer handed Thomas her locket. He opens it and examines the collection of Sparkles inside.

"These are called Gold Dust."

"Gold Dust?" they all said.

"Yep. The engine I'm looking for can generate Gold Dust. It's how she powers our land and keeps it alive. Along with any other world connected to the Magic Railroad, the land in where she operates. You said you found this off my sweater?"

Sunset Shimmer nodded.

"There was more than that," said a disgruntled Twilight. "But now it's gone. And it's all my fault."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm sure the janitor probably found it and took it to the lost and found."

The girls went back to asking more questions about Gold Dust and what Thomas knew about them.

"What were you doing carrying Gold Dust on you?" Fluttershy asked.

"It was the only way for me to get here. You see, me and Percy went to visit the Magic Buffers when we found out they weren't working at first."

Thomas went on about gold dust and how it's used to travel from the Island of Sodor over to other places. He explained how the Magic Buffers connecting his land to the Magic Railroad led him to find his way here, bursting through the Wondercolt Statue's base in the school's center courtyard. The girls have seen and done some pretty amazing and crazy things ever since magic came into their lives. To hear that there are other worlds out there beyond Equestria that also contained magic was astonishing to hear.

He continued going over everything starting with the day he discovered the Magic Buffers weren't working, from Lady's disappearance to Mr. Conductor asking him to find her and giving up his Sparkles so that he can pass through the buffers, to ending up here in Canterlot High, struggling with the experience he's had so far being a human and so on. And the girls all happily listened, usually alternating from confused, amazed, worried, or determined. Thomas felt much better getting this all out, because now he had friends at Canterlot High who were eager to hear what he had to say. Knowing fully well that the girls all have experience with magic somehow, he was more confident than ever that he's found the right group of friends who were willing to lend a hand.


To Be Continued.