//------------------------------// // Pop goes the Diesel // Story: Thomas and Friends: The Retold Adventures // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// Duck the Great Western Engine, as you can probably imagine, is very proud of being Great Western, and talks endlessly about it. But it is not all idle chatter, as he is a hard worker too, and both he and Apple Bloom keep the yard moving like clockwork. It was a splendid day. The sun shone, the rails gleamed, and the coaches and trucks behaved as they were moved about the yard. The passengers even stopped complaining, which was an impressive achievement (something that is yet to be replicated on Southern Rail). But the engines got cross at having to work hard. "C'mon engines!" Apple Bloom called. "Hustle yer bustle! These here trucks ain't gonna move themselves!" "Precisely!" Duck called. "There are two ways of doing things; the Great Western Way, and the Wrong Way. I'm Great Western and-" "Don't we all know it!" the others commented. They were getting tired of how incredibly cheerful Duck and Apple Bloom were, and still hadn't forgiven them for when they had made Sir Toppham Hatt shout at them for causing a disturbance. One day, Sir Toppham Hatt came to greet the engines, and began to speak. "Hello everyone!" he called. "We have a new engine arriving on trial today. He will be here in a moment." Suddenly, a loud horn echoed through the yard, followed by a strange rumbling noise. Over the pointwork, and back onto the turntable, rolled a most strange engine. It looked like a tank engine, but it didn't sound like one! It had a cab at the back, and a great long body running forward to a radiator grill, where pipes and grab handles radiated all around, connecting onto different parts of the engine. He was painted completely black, and had a symbol of a lion standing over a wheel on his sides, under which sat the words 'BRITISH RAILWAYS'. He had a big, oily grin on his face, and made a rumbling noise, not to mention made a strange smell. "This is Diesel," said Sir Toppham Hatt. "Imaginative name, I know, but it's his name. I want you to make him feel welcome here. He's on trial, as is his driver, so please, Duck, Apple Bloom, show them our ways and how we do things." Diesel smiled. "Good morning," he said, in an oily voice that echoed of sarcasm and respect (though how the two fitted together was unclear). "I'm pleased to meet you, Duck, Apple Bloom. Is that James, and Henry, and Gordon too? As well as their drivers, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash? I am delighted to meet such famous engines. Blue Peter told me about you when he stayed at Bounds Green depot a few years ago." Something felt off to Duck. Something seemed as if this engine was trying too hard to earn their trust. But the other engines took no notice, and were flattered. "Oh, he has such good manners," they said. "We are pleased to have him in our yard!" Duck soon encountered obvious problems with Diesel. Due to his limited gearing, he struggled to keep up with Duck, and could only go at 16 miles an hour. "Hurry up!" Duck shouted. "Take a break, will you?" asked his driver, a girl whom Duck found immensely irritating. As they rolled to a stop, the driver hopped out of Diesel's cab and walked over to Duck. She had grey skin, and similarly grey hair done up in a pleated ponytail. Her purple eyes darted about suspiciously, and she wore purple boots, a pink skirt with a white stripe at the bottom, a purple blouse with a white undershirt, off of which a strange pendant hung, and had blue glasses over her eyes. Apparently, her name was Sylvia Spencer, but most people called her Silver Spoon due to her pendant, and the fact she'd been born into wealth. Or, as the idiom goes, 'born with a silver spoon in her mouth'. "Indeed," Diesel added. "Your honourable fat cont-" "SIR TOPPHAM HATT TO YOU!" Duck boomed. Diesel continued, without batting an eyelid. "Your worthy Sir Toppham Hatt thinks both me and Silver need to learn. We diesels don't need to learn, as we know everything." "Do you know how a triple chocolate fudge cake is made?" Pinkie Pie asked, as Percy passed. Diesel just ignored her. "We come to a yard, and our very prescence makes a yard better. We are revolutionary!" "Oh yeah?" Apple Bloom asked. "Well, explain how so many steam engines are still in use in industry!" she showed Silver a picture on her phone. The rich girl laughed in that annoying way she did. "What is that, a giant orange?" she asked. "Besides, steam engines are so last week. Want a fun ride, go with a diesel electric." "Oh!" said Duck. "If you are so revo-thing-a-gummy, why don't you go and collect my trucks? I'll go get Gordon's coaches, so that'll save time." And he puffed away. Silver Spoon snorted. "Silly Pannier Tank! He's not a gummy bear!" When Duck returned, he discovered Diesel had got into difficulties. In the yard is an old siding. In it are trucks that have not been touched in a long time, and have faulty brakes. Diesel was pulling with all his might, but the trucks would not move. "FORWARD!" he shouted. The trucks screeched in agony. "We can't move! We won't move!" Silver glanced behind her. "Oh yeah?" she asked. "Let's see how you like 35,000 horsepower!" She pulled the throttle back on the control column to full power. "We can't move! We won't move!" the trucks shrieked again, their brakes starting to fall apart as Diesel's engine roared. The equipment fell from the wheels and got stuck in the sleepers. Eventually, the parts sheered off completely falling into the sleepers. Diesel shot forward as the couplings broke into pieces, before stopping a few seconds later. But Duck had seen it all, and sat there laughing. He rolled forward to chat to Diesel. "Thanks for arranging the trucks for me, Diesel!" he called. "I must go now. Have fun!" Apple Bloom grinned as well. "Seems ya don't know what yer doin', do ya?" she asked. "If ya did, you'd know those trucks ain't been touched for years. So don't go near 'em!" "Nope!" Duck said. "But we took all this trouble!" Diesel exclaimed. "You never asked!" Duck laughed. "As Apple Bloom put it, you should have already known that, being revo-whatever it was you said. Goodbye!" When Duck went, Diesel and Silver Spoon had to clean up the mess. The trucks laughed rudely, and sang songs. "Trucks are waiting in the Yard; Tackling them with ease'll "Show the world what I can do," Gaily boasts the Diesel. In and out he creeps about Like a big black weasel When he pulls the wrong ones out – Pop goes the Diesel!" Diesel simply roared at them, and pulled the mess away. Silver, on the other hand, took out her phone and navigated to an app. "Soon, I'll be the one laughing, farm girl," she said grimly.