Thomas & Equestria Girls:
Welcome To Canterlot High
Chapter 20: The EG Stomp
After classes finished up, Thomas and the girls all met in the band room. They were in quite the predicament. After searching for two days, Thomas finally finds Lady hiding out and posing as a student at CHS. Only, she wasn't going undercover; Lady really thought she was an actual student. Lady doesn't remember Thomas at all. Going so far as to believe her name was actually Mystic Sprinkles and that she was just an ordinary student at Canterlot. When trying to confront her who she really is, it only made her upset, scared, and confused, as Thomas tried to prevent her from walking away only to cause some sort of anomaly inflicted on Lady. Upon contacting her it was as if the Gold Dust inside of Thomas were being transferred back over to Lady. Approaching her head on with accusations of her being at magical talking train that can generate sparkling gold dust only made things worse. She wanted nothing to do with them. And if Lady doesn't want their help, how can they possibly hope to remind her of her duties and bring her back to the Magic Railroad before Diesel 10 has a chance to take away all of her magic?
The girls sat around the band room contemplating.
"Ugh, how does she not know who Thomas is?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"I don't know," Rarity said. "It is the most peculiar enigma."
"Maybe being far away from the Magic Railroad is causing her to lose her memory?" Fluttershy said.
"I think you may be on to something Fluttershy" Twilight Sparkle said.
Applejack chimed in. "What I wanna know is what was with all that magic touch nonsense that happened after Thomas grabbed hold of Lady."
"That was weird," Sunset Shimmer said. "Do you think the Gold Dust inside of Thomas was being transferred over to her perhaps?"
"It could be" Twilight pondered. "If Lady is supposed to be some sort of magic fabricator, then maybe she can also accumulate nearby Gold Dust, depositing them back to it's originator from either a required range or through physical contact."
"So, give and take," Spike said.
"Yeah, I think. I don't know. Magic Gold Dust is so far becoming a lot more confusing than Equestrian magic."
"But Why Can't Lady Remember That She's A Cho-Cho Train?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Like Fluttershy said, maybe being away from the Magic Railroad for too long is the likely hypotheses."
"Thomas, darling? How are you holding up?" Rarity asked.
Everyone looked over at Thomas, who was sitting by the piano on a stool completely confounded. Why didn't Lady remember him? Why wasn't she willing to listen to him after telling her who she really is? He didn't know what to do now. His mission was to find Lady and bring her home. Even though he finally found her, she wasn't interested in going anywhere with him. Thomas just sat motionless, struggling to find a way around this impasse.
"We really messed up" Sunset said slapping her hand on her forehead.
"How were we suppose to know Lady lost her memory? We thought it was just part of her disguise or something." Rainbow Dash said.
"I could've texted and warned one of you on my way up. But then Thomas ran off after her and I had to make sure he was ok."
"Or some of us could've waited like I planned until the other group got there to assess the situation before approaching her," Twilight said.
Everyone except Thomas glares at Pinkie Pie. She looks at everyone wide eyed. Then she hides her arms behind her back chuckling sheepishly to herself.
"Had I known Lady was actually suffering from amnesia I would've tried to approach the situation in a less direct manner. We shouldn't have blurred out all that information to her all at once."
"There was nothing we could've done after that point," Sunset said. "The only thing we can do is figure out a way to restore her memories. But for now, let's try and keep our distances away from Lady for a while. Obviously, our encounter has her all riled up, so running into any of us again would probably make things even worse."
"But, she's all alone," Fluttershy said concerningly. "She doesn't have anyone looking after her. What if Diesel 10 finds her! She doesn't know about him or the Genies plans for her."
"We're looking out for her" Twilight reassured. "From a safe distance, of course. We're not gonna let anything bad happen to her so long as she's within our sights."
"So, we're just gonna spy on her too?" Applejack said.
"I wouldn't say spy necessarily." Rarity said. "More like,"
"Observation!" Twilight beamed finishing her thought.
"Yes, yes, observation of course that's exactly the word I was looking for."
"Just don't speak or bring up anything involving magic and trains around Lady" Sunset said.
"That includes you Thomas," Twilight said turning to him. "I know you want to help her but Sunset is right, we have to keep away from her until we find away to restore her memories. I mean look at it this way, if we're lucky maybe she'll end up recovering her memory on her own If given enough time to."
"Did Lady lose her memories last time she went missin' from the railroad by any chance?" Applejack asked Thomas.
He still wasn't responsive. Everyone was worried.
"Oh dear. He's in his moody tooty phase again," Rarity said.
Sunset walks over to Thomas and sits next to him.
"I just, don't understand. How did this happen?" Thomas said staidly. "We finally found her, we should be going home right about now. But, she doesn't remember me anymore, or the Island of Sodor! And now, she wants nothing to do with me. How am I suppose to bring her back if she doesn't remember Gold Dust or the Magic Railroad?"
"Don't worry Thomas, we're not going to give up on her. Being so direct doesn't always work. Just give her time and if she isn't remembering anything on her own then we'll find a way to fix all this."
Thomas looks at Sunset, then at everyone smiling back at him reassuringly. Lady was in more danger then he thought. Even though he was worried for her, he knew his new friends were true to their word. It was that kind of trust he now had with everyone where he started to feel almost no need to feel helpless anymore. If there was anyone he can rely on at the moment it was all of his new Canterlot friends. They were going to help regain her memory again and keep her safe from harm.
"You promise?" Thomas said looking at Sunset.
"Of course. A Promise is a promise."
Still feeling anxious, Thomas couldn't help but grin back at everyone.
"How did I get so lucky, in finding such an amazing group of friends."
"Right place, right timing?" Spike said jokingly.
Thomas knew he was only fooling and grinned back at him. But maybe Spike was right, was it really the right place at the right time? Sunset smiles wrapping her arm around Thomas's shoulder and leans in for a hug, pressing each others cheek together. Thomas giggled happily feeling much better. Pinkie Pie sneaks up on Thomas and starts rubbing his hair playfully, causing him to laugh even more. Everyone else gathered around Thomas smiling reassuringly at him.
"Right!" Thomas proclaimed. "If we're going to help Lady we need to find away to return her memories back!"
"How do we do that?" Spike asked.
"I don't know?" he said stroking his chin. "She didn't loose her memory last time so I'm not really sure what to do."
"What about Mr. Conductor?" Twilight asked.
"Or her caretaker?" Sunset proposed.
"Would they know what to do?"
Maybe they would know what to do, Thomas thought to himself. But he would have to travel all the way to either Shining Time or Muffle Mountain to ask them.
"You know what? I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's not worry about that now" Rainbow Dash suggested. "We know Lady's here and so far, she's perfectly safe. Okay maybe not perfectly happy right about now, but at the very least she's out of harms way."
"Unless those two knuckleheads find her," Applejack said.
"Oh, I nearly forgot about Splatter & Dodge" Fluttershy said. "They can still find and bring Diesel 10 to her."
Sunset Shimmer peers out the window and sees two heads quickly ducking down before she got a chance to fully see them. It would appear Splatter & Dodge were still keeping a close eye even on her friends.
"Yeah, I wouldn't worry so much about them," she scoffed.
"I guess we could wait and see how things turn out until we come up with a solution of our own on Lady's amnesia restorations," Twilight said.
"So then, what do we do now?" Fluttershy asks.
Sunset then got up and started stretching her arms.
"Maybe all this magic business is starting to feel a little constraining after all. How about we unwind for a little bit and have some fun for today?"
"Oh?" Thomas said. "What did you have in mind Sunset?"
"If you're up for it, I was hoping we can show you how we dance, Canterlot style!"
"Yippee!" Pinkie cheered jumping up and down, "A Dance Party For Thomas!"
Everyone else happily agreed, but Thomas was a bit confused. He looked at Sunset Shimmer wondering what she was implying.
"We've all seen you dance, and as your friend let me be the first to say, you're not very good at it," She grinned cheekily.
"But I've never danced before though."
"Don't worry, we can tell" Spike said humorously.
Thomas slouched uncertainly. "I'm not sure. It sounds really difficult."
Rainbow Dash goes over to Thomas and reaches out her hand for him to take.
"C'mon, it'll be easy. I know at least one dance move we can teach you. Why now give it a shot? You'll never know until you try."
Smiling gratefully, Thomas accepts everyone's offer and grabs Rainbow Dash's hand.
By the time everything was set up and cleared away, Thomas, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle and everyone else stood in the middle of the band room ready to start teaching Thomas how to do a dance move they once did long ago, back when Twilight Sparkle from Equestria came to their world.
Thomas stood in the middle with Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack to his left. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity to his right. He didn't know what kind of dance they had planned for him or what kind of formation he was in, but went along with it anyways hopping it'll make sense when they actually start. Spike operated the music player on the side ready to play the song to go with their dance.
"Alright, we ready?" Rainbow Dash called out.
Everyone nods collectively including Thomas, who still seemed a bit apprehensive about what kind of Dance they'll be showing him.
"Enough talk, let us daunce! Rarity said.
"Hit it!" Rainbow Dash winks at Spike.
He presses play on the music player and the music builds up and begins, playing a poppy, upbeat, but mellow track that had enough rhythm to get everyone eager to start dancing right off the bat.
["Ooh-ooh, yeah!"]
"So uh, what am I doing exactly?" Thomas asked.
"What you're gonna want to do first is the Stomp," Rainbow Dash started. "Cross your arms and then start leaning side to side. While you're doing this, stomp your feet left then right."
Thomas watches as Rainbow Dash crosses her arms and starts leaning side to side while stomping her feet left and right.
"When you do that three times, you move on to the Clap."
"The Clap?"
Sunset chimes in. "Like this, quickly lock your feet together, and then jump out. Then bring your hands together and clap two times, like this."
Sunset brings her feet together and then immediately jumps and spreads them out, clapping her hands in a steady stance.
"Oh Oh, My Turn, My Turn!" Pinkie said. "Stomp Your Right Foot And Punch The Air With Your Right Arm Three Times. And That's How You Do The Cheer!"
"When you got all that," Applejack said, "you should be able to do this."
All of the girls then started doing the dance from the beginning. Crossing their arms and leaning side to side three times alternating between each lateral direction, brining their feet together swiftly then jumping out while clapping their hands two times, then stomping the ground and punching the air above them with their right foot and arm. Some of the girls after words started improvising a little early and did a few dance moves that they haven't taught Thomas yet. Some of them were more elaborate than he could keep up with though he still tried to pay close attention.
["We're Equestria Girls and we're here to shout, that the magic of friendship is what it's all about. We're Equestria Girls standing side by side. Finding the magic of friendship deep inside.
Equestria Girls! Yeah!"]
"There, now you try" Twilight said to Thomas.
He was too confused by everything after the cheer. "…Um."
"Just the parts we showed you" Fluttershy said. "The improvisation you can do after."
"Improvisation?"
"Start with the stomping, then the clapping and finish off with the cheering" Rarity instructed.
"Here, see how I'm moving? Follow along with what I'm doing." Sunset demonstrates the stomp to Thomas.
Thomas then tried doing the dance moves watching Sunset carefully. He started by crossing his arms and stomping his feet left and right. His stomping was out of sync at first and he forgot to lean side to side as he was focusing more on his footing. But as soon as he caught up with Sunset Shimmer he continued on, not even losing his footing once. Both friends smiled at each other now that they were doing the stomp in sync.
"See, It's not that hard."
"You were right! This is pretty fun so far."
"Now Do The Clap!" Pinkie exclaimed.
He does so, tripping over at first until Twilight and Sunset grab hold and prevent Thomas from falling over. Chuckling embarrassingly, Thomas stood straight and tried again, beginning with the stomp then seamlessly transitioning into the clap perfectly. He then tried doing the cheer which was much more simpler and easier to transition into as he did.
"That's it!" Sunset said. "You're on the right track."
"I am?" Thomas gasped, "I am! I'm dancing!"
"Now that you've mastered each step, repeat them all the way through and let you're inner Wondercolt shine!" Rainbow Dash said.
Thomas and the girls then did the dance again, this time synchronizing with each other to a tee. Though Thomas perfected the dance, he still didn't know any of the other dance moves the girls started doing once they finished the cheer. Some did the shuffle, jumped up, stomped their foot again then spun around vigorously. They leaned their hands on their knees and leaned left and right, and some did a pop, lock and drop. He didn't know what to do after the cheer and didn't know whether to also do their moves or not, so instead he repeated the same dance routine that was taught to him.
["We're Equestria Girls and we're here to shout, that the magic of friendship is what it's all about. We're Equestria Girls standing side by side. Finding the magic of friendship deep inside."]
"What do I do after all that?" Thomas asked.
"Now you can improvise," Fluttershy said.
"Which is what?"
"Anything you want. Just make it your own!" Twilight said excitedly.
"Make it my own?"
"Or borrow some of our awesome moves and give it your own spin" Rainbow Dash said break dancing.
["Free to be what we will be,"]
"Then Put It All Together, And Have Some Fun!" Pinkie laughed cheerfully.
Everyone was now perfectly in sync as they all started off with the dance moves flawlessly executing each step and transition. Spike was also dancing along to the song near the music player trying to do a break dance. Thomas laughed as he was having the best time of his life. This made everyone really happy as they passionately danced along with him until branching off and doing their own dance moves. Never has he been able to dance as a tank engine before. He was now beginning to ask himself why engines weren't made to dance. It was so much fun and exciting that everyone should be able to move freely to the sound of music.
["We're Equestria Girls and we're here to shout, that the magic of friendship is what it's all about. We're Equestria Girls and we're here to say, (Oh yeah, we're here to say!) we're gonna see things a different way!"]
Without even realizing, Thomas started doing what Fluttershy said and tried improvising once he finished doing the clap. All the girls and Spike watch Thomas enthusiastically go all out losing himself in the beat of the music. He did some side stepping, head slides, hip rocking, and poor moon walking. Then he tried seeing if he can do some of the others dances moves and transitioned into them. He Jumped in the air, stretching his foot out and reclining it straight back, stomped his feet and then spun around. As he began spinning, he continued doing so at such an incredible speed there was nothing but a blue tornado like blur freely whirling about and not slowing down. Thomas spun off away from the center unable to stop himself. The girls watched worrisome as he was heading straight into a pile of musical equipment pushed off to the side.
["We're Equestria Girls and we're here to shout, that the magic of friendship is what it's all about. We're Equestria Girls and we're here to say, (Oh yeah, we're here to say!) we're gonna see things a different wayyy!
Equestria Girls."]
Everyone winced at Thomas found himself crashing into the pile of music equipment just as the song comes to an end. Laying down on the floor, Thomas was buried underneath many different instrument utilities including violin wands, drumsticks, mini xylophones, maracas, a triangle, and a cymbal placed on top of his head. Luckily no one was hurt. Thomas just sat their dizzy. His fall landed him sitting inside a spare base drum. The girls ran over to check on Thomas hoping he was ok.
After shaking off his dizziness, he looked up at Sunset and everyone viewing him concerningly. But instead of showing any visible pain, Thomas started laughing. It was a slow quite giggle at first, but then became louder and infectious the more he realized what transpired. Everyone tried to hold back their laughter, resorting to a couple of smirks, as they didn't know if Thomas was in any real pain. It lasted as long as expected when Pinkie Pie was the first one to burst into laughter immediately. Unable to hold it in, the other girls and Spike started chuckling and giggling along with their new friend, who thankfully did not seem injured at all. Applejack and Twilight go over and help him back up to his feet with all of them still laughing while doing so, especially Thomas who had to support himself by placing his hands on his knees. They all stood there for a while still chuckling and reflecting on their fun little dance party.
Though they were victorious in finding Lady, there were still complications that prevented Thomas from bringing her home. In order to do so they'll have to find a way to restore her memories either by waiting for it to return on their own, or by figuring out a solution to reinstate it themselves. Despite their turmoil, despite their doubts, fears and worries, Thomas and his Canterlot friends were still having an amazing day. And while it is worth noting that both their worlds are on the line of danger, they weren't going to get anything done that day. There was no sense in sweating over the possible inevitability when all that can be done is make sure Lady is kept away from the diesels and creatures trying to use her magic for evil. Everyone knew that for now it was ok to smile, it was ok to laugh, and it was ok dance.
School was over which meant it was time to leave. Thomas and the others stayed behind for a little while sitting on the steps of the front entrance. They were deciding how they were going to go about watching over Lady and throwing out more ideas on how to jog her memory.
"Wait, if she has no where to go, then that means Lady could be still in the school right now." Thomassaid.
"If she is, at least we can count on her not going anywhere," Rarity said.
Just then, Thomas got up and stood still staring straight down the school's courtyard.
"Thomas?" Sunset said.
His eyes were lidded trying to make out what he was seeing. By the Wondercolt Statue, two figures pop through the portal on the west side of the base. He could barely make out what it was so he got closer, stepping down the steps and walking across campus. Sunset and the others shared looks of confusion. The girls got up as soon as they too noticed people sitting near the portal. Catching up, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Thomas and the others make their way over to the mysterious figures. It wasn't until they came into full view did everyone stand in place once Thomas came to a complete stop. He gazed at them again, this time more able to make out who they were. Much like with Splatter & Dodge, they were people he knew as well. However, he instantly recognized them as two steam engines from Sodor when getting a much better look at them. It was upon seeing a boy in green and a boy in red that Thomas' eyes shot wide open, speechless by who he was seeing.
"James? Percy?!"
To Be Continued.