The two new engines rolled up alongside the shed. Both of them had long double frames, and outside cylinders set at an angle. Like Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, they had protruding smokeboxes, but unlike Sweetie Belle had large brass domes. Each had a tender coupled to them, a large cab, and two whistles. One of them was painted pink, with two-tone pink and white lining. The other was painted dark grey, with two-tone grey lining.
The pink one looked at the shed with disdain. “Oh, look at them, Silver Spoon!” she said, in a voice which indicated years of being spoilt. “They’re blank tanks!”
Did I forget to mention that both of them had nameplates? The tank engines introduced previously did not, which explains this comment. There was a certain degree of snootiness to having a nameplate, and those who lacked them were referred to as “blank tanks”.
“Stop it Diamond,” Silver Spoon snapped. “This is their railway after all.”
“Don’t you mean OUR railway?”
“Good morning!” called Cheerilee. Ocellus was with her. “These two engines are Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They came from a railway that closed down recently, so please treat them well.”
As soon as Cheerilee was gone, Diamond rolled forward and blocked the junction leading to the shed. “Listen here!” she shouted. “I will not have blank tanks ordering me around. So, stay out of my way and-”
Silver Spoon whistled loudly. “That is no way to speak to an engine!” she replied.
“You’re siding with the-”
“You can’t use the trick of jumping down my blastpipe again. This is not the old railway, they have their own way of doing things.” Silver rolled up alongside Diamond. “Daddy won’t get you out of it this time.”
Diamond blasted her whistle loudly, and roared off into the distance, steam blasting from her cylinders and generally making a racket.
Silver backed up to the shed. “Sorry about her,” she said. “She was the manager’s favourite at our old railway. He always used her to pull the foreman’s train, and she became conceited as a result.”
Apple Bloom looked over. “Ah hope she don’t do anythin’ stupid,” she replied.
Diamond backed roughly into the coaches with a bang. “Alright, listen up!” she called. “While I’m in charge, we do things my way. Understand?”
The coaches were furious. “We want Sweetie Belle!” they roared.
“Whatever,” Diamond snorted. “These aren’t even proper coaches.”
She pulled forward and stopped in the station, where people were waiting for her. “Look, a new engine!” called a boy.
“She sure is smart!” said another.
Diamond simmered in their praise, and promptly forgot to be angry. She was still annoyed at Silver, though. Who was she to side with those Blank Tanks? It made no sense. Life was an upward trajectory, that was what Filthy Rich had always told her, so why associate yourself with those down at the bottom?
The guard’s whistle went, and Diamond departed from the station. She was much more powerful than the other engines, and as a result the train started off with a jolt. The passengers went flying through the air and landed on the other side of the compartments.
The journey didn’t improve on the way up either. Diamond rode roughly on the rails, and the carriages wobbled and shook as she rumbled up the line. The last station on the line before the quarry was at the top of a steep hill, and ran along a cliff edge. It was here, on the last train of the day, that the coaches decided to play a game.
“Hold back!” they whispered.
The coaches began applying their brakes, which caused the train to slow down. Diamond simply applied more power, but the train continued to slow. Her wheels spun wildly on the grade, and the train ground to an embarrassing halt.
“Stupid coaches!” Diamond exclaimed. But they were stuck there. They had to bring Apple Bloom down from the quarry to help her into the next station, but the return trip was uneventful.
Cheerilee was not pleased. “I have received numerous complaints about the ride quality Diamond!” she snapped. “I was not expecting this of a passenger engine. I expect better of you!”
Diamond behaved well for several days!
But it all went wrong. Diamond was sent up to the quarry to bring a loaded train down the hill. She had no objection to pulling slate wagons; after all, she had done that for many years on her old railway.
It was getting late, and the clouds were forming in the sky. Diamond hurried along the line, hoping to get to cover before it started raining. Alas, the heavens opened, and rain lashed the rails and splattered all over her smokebox.
“I hate rain!” she shouted. “It’ll ruin my paint!”
They then came to a downhill section. Diamond applied her brakes, but the weight of the trucks caused her to start sliding down the hill.
The sound of screeching brake blocks and wagons clanging together could be heard for miles. The train gathered pace uncontrollably, until Diamond’s tender jumped the rails and pulled the entire train off the rails.
Diamond was unhurt, but the load of slate was ruined.
Sweetie Belle towed Diamond back to the shed. Cheerilee was not impressed.
“This careless attitude must stop!” she demanded.
“It was the trucks!” Diamond protested. “Besides, the rain wasn’t my fault!”
“But breaking the speed limit was,” Cheerilee replied. “I shall have you confined to the quarry until I decide what to do with you.” She sternly walked away.
Scootaloo chuckled. “Based on that, it may be better to remain a Blank Tank.”
Diamond seethed with anger.