Later that day, Thomas backed sadly into Tidmouth sheds, a glum expression on his face. He rolled onto the turntable and backed into his berth.
Edward was there to greet him. “Hello Thomas!” he said. “Why the long face?”
The tank engine sighed. “You were right Edward,” he said sadly. “We have made things worse.”
“What happened?” asked the old tender engine.
So, Thomas began. “When Sunset was waiting to catch a train back to Ffarquahar, I scolded her over her treatment of the Crusaders. I told her she was a complete hypocrite over how she’d behaved, and she blew her fuse. I stormed off and well...left her there on the platform.”
Edward listened diligently.
“What I did was out of order, Edward,” Thomas finished. “We have just made things worse.”
Edward laughed. “Thomas, you have nothing to worry about. Friends fall out all the time, but just as easily fall back into line again. Just look at Donald and Douglas, or Bill and Ben!”
“Even over something as serious as Anon-a-Miss?” Thomas asked.
“Even other something that serious,” Edward replied. Then his face became serious. “But I think you owe her an apology.”
“That’s what I’ll do!” said Thomas. “But do you have any idea where she would be now?”
“If I know her, she’ll be stargazing at Ffarquhar. She’s resourceful, and will probably take the bus back.”
Thomas put his cutoff into the forward position. “Shall we set off then?”
“Not so fast.” said Edward. “I have a train of presents to take up to that station. But you can guide me there.”
The night had fallen, and the stars glimmered beautifully in the sky. Thomas and Edward proceeded down the line with the train of vans, loaded with presents for the girls and boys of Ffarquhar village. The snow fell lightly, and the existing blanket was fairly light, so the engines made good time up the branch, although speeds were limited passing over Ellsbridge viaduct as the river had frozen and this was putting pressure on the bridge columns. As they passed along the line, the roads were packed the cars and lorries, all trying to maneuvre across the island’s tight and narrow road network.
“This is why the train is the only way to travel!” called Thomas.
“The only practical way to travel!” Edward laughed.
They waited in the loop at Hackenbeck for Percy to pass with a late passenger train, and then set off into the darkness once more, the lamp illuminating the gloom ahead of them as it did so. At long last, they reached Ffarquhar, where it was now completely dark.
The two engines and their train glided into the platform and came to a smooth and gentle stop. The porters came forward to unload the vans of their cargo, and Thomas moved off his train to the other platform.
“Hello Edward!”
Both the engines looked over to see Sunset Shimmer standing on the platform. “What brings you two out here on Christmas Eve?”
Edward smiled. “We’re bringing a train of presents up the line for the children of Ffarquhar. Sadly, Santa couldn’t fly to Sodor in this weather, and as a result had to drop them off at Vicarstown.”
“I can imagine!” Sunset laughed. “He must need to wrap up warm!”
Edward spoke again. “But that’s not only why we are here.”
Sunset’s face paled. “Is this about Anon-a-Miss? Because me and my friends are over it now.”
“Sunset,” Edward said, “I can see very clearly that some of those wounds are yet to heal. You can’t simply hide them away from others.” He paused. “And, Thomas has something to say to you.”
Thomas puffed forward, and cleared his throatplate. “Sunset, what I said was completely out of order. Nobody should have to go through what you did. You were right, I don’t understand the half of it at all.” The tank engine stopped. “What I’m trying to say is...I’m sorry.”
Sunset stepped over the footbridge and walked next to Thomas. “Thomas, you have nothing to be sorry for. Friends fall out all the time, and you were one of the few who stood by me in those dark days. Besides, you’re my friend, so of course I forgive you.”
Edward smiled. “Dove trovi un amico, trova un tesoro,” he said. “That means, ‘wherever you find a friend, you find a treasure’.”
She sighed. “Besides, I’m no angel myself. I did spend many years here hurting people and hurting their feelings. And I fear it is us who has lost the Christmas spirit.”
“What do you mean?” Thomas asked.
“Ever since I came into the group, they neglected their sisters. It doesn’t justify what they did, but I can understand where they were coming from.” Sunset paused. “And we have simply neglected them further.”
“You mean to say?” Edward asked.
“We went too far,” Sunset nodded. “But as friends, we can still make this right.” She pulled out her phone and began texting.
Friendship Emergency!
Meet at Tidmouth Sheds, 19:00 tonight!
She looked up, and hopped into Thomas’ cab. “Come on Thomas!” she called. “We’ve got Christmas to save!”
They got back to Tidmouth fairly late in the day, and most of the engines returned to their berths...except James.
“Where’s James?” asked Edward.
“We haven’t seen him all day,” Gordon replied. “You know how he felt about this entire affair.”
“I just hope we’ve knocked some sense into them,” said Percy. “Being treated horribly by somebody else doesn’t give you the right to treat them horribly.”
“Indeed,” Henry observed. “I know Fluttershy will come to her senses.”
“Rainbow Dash may be headstrong, but she’s not stupid,” Gordon added. “If a splashing cannot clear her head, I don’t know what will!”
Presently, Toby rolled in with his train, and their friends hopped off of Henrietta. They all looked very sad...except Applejack and Rarity, who were completely absent.
“What’s this about?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I think it relates to Anon-a-Miss,” Fluttershy said quietly.
“Really?” Pinkie Pie asked. “I thought it was about chocolate cupcakes!”
“We’ll be needing some of those,” Percy suggested.
Sunset walked over to her assembled friends. “Girls, it’s time for this to stop.”
“For what to stop?” Pinkie asked.
“I think she means the way we’ve treated the Crusaders.” Fluttershy was quieter than usual.
“I know you’re still upset that they betrayed you,” Sunset told them, “but in isolating and punishing them, we’re only doing the same thing to them that they did to us. I think we need to make it up to them with a surprise.”
“But how?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Scootaloo’s looked in her bedroom in Brendam, Apple Bloom’s being used as forced labour in Arlesburgh, and heaven knows where Sweetie Belle is now!”
“Leave that up to us,” Edward smiled. “We may have a hard time getting Applejack on side, you know how stubborn she can be. And Rarity's just...well, Rarity!”
Sunset turned to the engines. “Well, what are we gonna do?” she asked.
Earlier that day...
Rarity prepared to walk home from the station after a good day decorating. Just then, she heard a familiar chime whistle approaching on from the Tidmouth end of the station.
She turned to see the familiar shape of an L&Y Class 28 approaching down the line with a semi-fast to Vicarstown. The engine whooshed into the platform and came to a stop.
“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE’S JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!” he cried.
“Hello Jamesy,” Rarity said with a smile. “How are you?”
“Not pleased with you,” came the abrupt reply.
“What? Whatever for?”
“Over how the whole issue of the last few weeks has been handled.”
“You mean Anon-a-Miss? But you see-”
“Not even I would exile another person or engine for making fun of my shiny red paint!” James snapped.
“It was more than making fun of your shiny red paint James,” Rarity replied. “Those three did a lot of damage to the island’s reputation.”
“That may be so,” James answered, “but surely forgetting the season is a greater offence! To quote Cliff Richard, “It’s a time of giving, and for forgetting.”
Rarity was taken aback by James’ words as she realised what she had done. “James, I-” she stammered.
“I don’t know about you, but you certainly don’t seem particularly generous when it comes to your own family, yet pile it on with your friends.” James rolled his eyes. “So, here’s the first thing; I’m helping Stepney rescue Sweetie Belle from...wherever it is she is now.”
He stopped, and then suddenly wheeshed, soaking Rarity from head to toe. “And that is from me to you. Merry Christmas!” He then blasted away into the distance.
Rarity looked at the floor, thinking over all James had said, and her actions. “Why does life have to be so ironic?” she asked, before hailing the next train.
Meanwhile, at Vicarstown, Stepney was readying for his long journey. Along the way he had picked up some help in the form of Button Mash, who wanted to help Sweetie Belle. The fact he had a crush on her had nothing to do with it...apparently.
He pushed a train of vans together which would be needed to pull the train of cargo back to Sodor. Suddenly, a whistle distracted his thoughts as he saw James puff over.
“Hello James!” he called. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m going to the mainland with you,” James declared confidently. “Sweetie Belle needs help, and we can give it.”
“I suppose we can use all the help we can get,” Stepney noted, as a goods train roared out of the yard with Murdoch at the head. “Can you take the vans?”
“No problem!” James smiled.
“Wait a minute!” called a voice from nearby. Both engines looked over to see Rarity running toward them.
“Hello Rarity!” called James. “Why are you here!”
“I’ve decided to join you. The way I treated dear Sweetie Belle is simply monstrous,” Rarity replied, climbing aboard James’ footplate. “And I can see you need every pair of hands you can get.”
“Thank you!” Button called from Stepney's footplate. A Stroudley carriage was coupled to the back of the train, and they were set to go.
“Only one problem,” Stepney admitted. “Where do your parents live Rarity?”
Rarity leaned over and told them. James was shocked.
“LOUGHBOROUGH?!”
Sweetie Belle sat in her room, overlooking the Great Central Railway. It was truly sad that it had come to this, effectively torn away from the only home she had ever known and forced to live with parents whom she barely knew, but barely knew her. Ever since she’d arrived since the previous day, they’d ignored her more or less, only letting her out for meals. She’d already had her internet connection cut and her phone had been confiscated, probably in a lockbox somewhere in the house.
She could hear the Santa special departing, with the cheering children on board.
“Oh well,” she thought. "I brought this on myself. I imagine they’ve already forgotten I existed, and Rarity probably forgot she had a sister. I just hope they’re OK.”
She stepped up from her bed, and softly began to sing. A band started up in the background.
“Sometimes you make some friends,
the kind of friends who stay.
Sometimes you make some friends,
and you're the one who goes away.
Sometimes you're the one,
who acts a bit unkind.
You didn't think and you did something,
you can't forget and can't rewind.”
She stepped over to the window, and slid it open, in the hope that the world would hear her.
“I'm sorry, so sorry!
And I don't know what to do.
With you so far away.
I'm sorry, so sorry!
And as soon as I see you,
that's exactly what I'm going to say!
I'm sorry, I hope you're still my friend!
I'm sorry, so sorry, my friends!”
Her mind flooded with happy memories of her time with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.
“Sometimes you make some friends,
the kinds of friends you need.
You try to make them happy,
but... you don't always succeed.
Sometimes you're the one,
who does something that's not OK.
Sometimes you hurt your friends,
and you don't know what to do or say.”
Her heart flooded with hope, as she knew she could make this right.
“So, I'll hold onto hope,
I'll hold on tight,
for a chance to make things right.
I'm looking for you,
I'll come through,
if it takes me all my life!”
As she reached the climax of the song, she stretched out her arms and let rip.
“I'm sorry, so sorry!
And I don't know what to do.
With you so far away.
I'm sorry, so sorry!
And as soon as I see you,
that's exactly what I'm going to say!
I'm sorry, I hope you're still my friends!
I'm sorry, so sorry, my friends!”
She stood for a moment, as the chords died away. Then suddenly, there was a loud bang on the door.
“What did we tell you about singing?” Hondo Flanks snapped.
“To not to,” Sweetie Belle replied.
“Good.” The voice was full of resentment and anger. “We’re going out tonight. Don’t even think about leaving that room or using the TV. The Great Central there should provide you plenty of entertainment.”
“But what will I eat?” Sweetie Belle asked.
The door opened, and Hondo passed her a plate of...something.
“That’ll do you till tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” The door slammed behind him.
Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked out of the window. “I wonder where you are on Christmas Day,” she said. “Especially you Button.”
Her mind turned to escaping. She could easily climb out of the window, and slide down the embankment to get to the station steps. Then she could get to the Midland, and on a train home.
Suddenly, a voice distracted her. "You don’t want to do that.”
She swung around in fright. “Who’s there?” she asked. But nobody was around. But her watch had moved from its usual place, the light on the wall had changed from green to red, and the chair appeared to be occupied.
“Escaping is a foolish idea,” the voice said again. "You may be able to escape from Loughborough, but you cannot escape from your own guilt. It will follow you for the rest of your days.”
Sweetie Belle shook in fright. “Now my own subconscious is talking to me? I must be going mad!”
“Even now your compatriots from Sodor are on their way. Do not go with them. And don’t think twice about staying here. I will know if you change your mind.”
“O-OK!” she stammered.
“Good. Remember...The Shadow knows! Hahahahahahahaha!”
Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he was no longer there. Sweetie Belle went over to the chair and prodded it. She relaxed. Nobody was there.
PEEP PEEP PIPEEP!
Sweetie Belle shrieked and jumped 10 feet in the air, running over to the window. “Who’s there?” she asked.
Outside, the site made her calm down noticeably. For there was a Terrier, painted Improved Engine Green, coupled to one coach and several vans. “Hello Sweetie Belle,” he said.
Her heart filled with joy. “Stepney!” she cried. “You came back for me!”
“That I did,” Stepney smiled. “And so did some others.”
Button popped out of the cab. “Sweetie Belle!” he called.
Sweetie Belle’s heart melted when she saw him. But then James backed through the station with the vans, and Rarity was at the controls.
“Let’s go everyone,” the older girl said. “Sweetie Belle, you’re moving back in with me on Sodor. How do we get inside?”
“Go out via the station exit, turn right, and walk down the road. 2nd house on the right.”
The two humans set off, whilst Stepney and James moved the vans into platform 2. Sweetie Belle, Rarity and Button Mash ferried supplies back and forth from the house to the waiting vans, whilst Stepney marshalled the wagons for ease of loading.
It took them a while to move everything, but there was one item to go.
“Sweetie Belle, where is your phone?” asked Rarity.
“Mom and Dad put it in a lockbox somewhere,” Sweetie Belle replied. “But I was one step ahead of them.” She took a card out of her pocket.
“You removed the SIM card? Clever.” Rarity rummaged around inside her mother’s wardrobe, and found a lockbox.
“What’s the combination?” she thought. Then an idea came to her. Working quickly, she entered in the numbers 1402. The box flew open and there was the phone.
“How’d you figure it out?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“99 times out of 100, people will use a code that is the same as the birthday of a family member,” Rarity explained. “Thus, it was one of our birthdays, and yours seemed most likely given the cluster of digits.”
They headed back to the station, and climbed aboard. Rarity poked her head out of the carriage. “Hey ho, Stepney!” she called. “Away!”
As they sped away, Hondo and Cookie came back in.
“Sweetie Belle?” they called.
Nobody answered.
“Are you there?” they called again.
Hondo went up the stairs and opened the door. The room was empty. Actually, to say the room was empty was an understatement. It looked to have been stripped clean.
“I don’t believe it!” he cried.
“What’s happened?” Cookie asked.
“My dear,” Hondo replied. “Sweetie Belle has run away. It seems she had help.”
“I know where they are heading,” said the strange voice again.
Hondo shook his head. “Sodor,” he sighed. “Shadow, can you get her back?”
“Indeed.”
On their epic run north, the train paused at Sheffield for a rest. The doors opened and the passengers climbed out, firmly in need of a toilet rest.
Rarity stayed with the train whilst Sweetie Belle went first. Stepney glanced around him at the station.
“I don’t like it,” he said. “It’s too quiet.”
“I would expect many more trains at this time of day,” James admitted.
“Stay on your guard,” Button said. “Anything could happen.”
Just then, a loud scream echoed from the station concourse, and Sweetie Belle came tearing out of the WCs toward the train.
“Whatever’s wrong?” Rarity asked.
“The creepy voice is back!” she cried out, running into her sister’s arms.
“What creepy voice?” asked James. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
“There it is again!” Sweetie Belle quivered.
“Wait, I heard it too,” Button said.
“WHO’S THERE?” asked Stepney. But nobody was around.
“You cannot see me,” said the voice to them. "I can cloud the minds of any man or woman. You cannot see me, but heed my words.”
Stepney sighed. “There’s a man with a megaphone over there.”
“But I am the immortal Shadow! No man or woman can see me!”
“There’s a slight snag in your plan,” James noted. “Neither Stepney nor myself are men nor women. We are locomotives.”
“But such a matter is irrelevant! The authorities are descending upon you, this place is not safe for steam engines! The Police shall take you, and those diesels shall tear you apart. Go back to Loughborough while you still can, and you shall be safe. Stay...and face certain death! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Sweetie Belle scrambled aboard Stepney’s footplate, whilst James began to back out of the station.
Stepney pretended to be frightened. “You’re a big bully, Mr Shadow!” he whimpered. “You’ll be sorry!” And just then, he began to back out of the station.
The Shadow nodded. "Good, they have sense in them.”
But no sooner had Stepney vanished out of the station he suddenly came up the other side. “Friend stealer!” he shouted, and began backing up.
But no sooner had he gone, then Stepney appeared on the other side once again, and whistled, before moving back again.
And then Stepney appeared on the other line, whistled, and reversed again.
This went on and on for half an hour, until the Shadow’s eyes nearly popped out.
“STOP! He boomed. "YOU’RE MAKING ME GIDDY!”
Then Stepney passed on his left, and his right, at the same time. He looked in confusion.
“There are two of them?” he asked. Just then a Class 37 with a siren pulled into the platform.
“Where are they?” the diesel asked, as another one pulled up.
“There are two of them,” the Shadow told them. “One went toward Leeds, and the other toward Chester. If we are quick, we can get them.”
The diesels needed no persuading, and immediately set off in pursuit of their targets.
Stepney continued to blaze down the line, with a Class 37 siren blaring behind him. “One clear mile and we’ll have them off our backs!” he cried. But the plan soon backfired, as they were diverted into a loop. The signal was red! Stepney’s brakes screeched on, and he stopped.
The diesel pulled up next to him. “Nice try, Stepney,” he said gruffly.
“Wrong one I’m afraid,” the Terrier replied. “My name’s Freshwater, and that’s a dummy onboard.”
Elsewhere, the other Terrier was leading the Class 37 on a merry chase around Leeds. Through Pontefract and Wakefield he sped, onwards to Church Fenton, and up through York he raced, with the diesel close behind, but unable to take the curves at the same speed.
But all things must end. The Terrier took a bend much too fast, and came off the rails, landing next to the ground.
The Shadow stepped out of the diesel’s cab, and walked over to the Terrier. “I’ve got you now, Sweetie Belle!” he laughed. He looked inside, and suddenly realised he’d been tricked.
“Who are you?” he demanded to the engine.
“My name’s Newport, sir,” the engine replied. “And the girl on the footplate is a lookalike.”
The Shadow roared in frustration. "We'll never catch them now! Confound those Terriers and their tricks!”
Meanwhile, the rescue train was steaming onto Sodor.
“That was a genius plan Stepney!” Sweetie Belle laughed.
“The Shadow may be good,” Stepney said, “but even he cannot tell us apart. More importantly, he cannot be in three places at once!”
The Terrier sighed as he rolled back onto Sodor. They had all come home. But what an adventure it had been!
“All you’ve got to do is wear a smile, and you will find your sun will shine!” he cheered.
But then a loud bonging could be heard from the Vicarstown clock. Sweetie Belle looked out with excietemnt.
“Does that mean?” she asked.
“Yes,” Stepney smiled. “Merry Christmas, Sweetie Belle!”
They arrived at Tidmouth quite late in the day, and Stepney shunted into his berth. Sweetie Belle got out of the cab, to see her friends sleeping in the nearby bunk. She flopped into the bottom one and was fast asleep.
Stepney sighed, seeing his friends back together, and relaxed as dreams reclaimed him.