Diesel and Silver Spoon were sulking. The trucks had witnessed all that had happened in the yard a few days earlier, and would not stop singing rudely about it.
"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!"
They even began to sing it in a round!
"Trucks are waiting-
Trucks are waiting-
Trucks are waiting-"
Eventually, Duck had enough. He was sick and tired of Diesel getting so much abuse from the trucks, and decided to do something about it. He charged into the back of the trucks. "SHUT UP!" he roared.
Apple Bloom looked around her. "Ah jolly hope nobody on Common Sense Media heard that," she said.
"What?" Duck asked. "What's Common Sense Media?"
"Ah, never mind," Apple Bloom replied. "At least the trucks are quiet now."
"Sorry about the trucks, Diesel," Duck told them. "That's no way to treat any engine at all, nor their driver."
Silver dropped Diesel's window, and looked out. "Well, that's not much consolation if you look on YouTube," she said, with a video entitled 'Diesel Shunter Fails' currently open. Their mistake was on the internet for all to see.
"Besides, it's all your fault," Diesel said angrily. "You made them laugh at me."
"That's nonsense!" Henry stated. "We may have our differences, but on the whole we respect one another, and would never do anything as horrid as share secrets with the trucks, or spill dirty laundry online for all to see. That would simply be dis-dis-!"
"Disgraceful!" said Gordon.
"Disgusting!" put in James.
"Despicable!" finished Henry.
Diesel hated Duck, and Silver Spoon hated Apple Bloom. Both of them wanted them sent away. Luckily, they already had a plan in that regard. In the few days that they had been there, they had been busy collecting dirt on the engines and people of the island, and planned to use it in a most despicable way. Diesel, on the other hand, planned to tell lies about Duck, and the next morning put his plan into action.
"Good morning," he said slimiliy to the trucks (is slimily a verb? It is now). "I see you all like jokes. Well, you made a good joke about me yesterday. I laughed and laughed. Duck told me one about Gordon, and I'll tell you as well, but don't tell Gordon I told you." And he told them that, and many other things.
The trucks burst out laughing. "Oh, that is a good one! Gordon will be most cross with Duck for bumping us. Let's tell him and pay Duck out!"
The engines were laughed at rudely as they steamed past, and soon they found out why.
"Disgraceful!" said Gordon.
"Disgusting!" put in James.
"Despicable!" finished Henry. "To think that a fellow engine we trusted would do something so horrible and heinous!"
Just then, the phones of their drivers beeped, and Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity all checked their Facebook updates. What they saw horrified them.
"Horrible! Just horrible!" Rarity exclaimed.
Fluttershy said nothing, but simply burst into tears.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, gripped the reverser handle on Gordon's footplate so hard her fingers went white. "Just wait until those two get back," she growled. "They'll learn what happens when you mess with us."
"I concur!" called Gordon.
"Likewise!" said Henry.
"Agreed!" James called. "They'll learn what happens when you spill secrets!"
Later that day, Duck returned to the shed. He and Apple Bloom had had a hard day. The trucks had been badly behaved and rude, and he simply wanted a rest before going out again that evening. He made his way to the shed, but suddenly found that his path was blocked ahead of him! "What's going on here?" he asked.
"You're not coming in, secret stealer!" Gordon boomed.
Apple Bloom was confused. "What's goin' on?" she asked. Suddenly, her phone buzzed, and she checked it. It was a Facebook update, and she opened it to see what it was. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw it. It was a post from a page called 'Anon-a-Miss', which featured as its avatar a crude caricature of herself. Not only that, the page was full of images and secrets.
Gordon the domeless engine! Doesn't he look stupid!
Rainbow Dash; test failer. Learn how to spell!
Henry is so scared of rain he hid in a tunnel once! Do you really want this engine pulling you on your commute?
Fluttershy singing fail!
James the red engine? More like James the rusty!
Learn how to sew, Rarity!
No sooner had she seen this, then she found herself staring into the face of an angry Rainbow Dash.
Later, Sir Toppham Hatt arrived, to hear a commotion going on.
"YOU SPILLED THOSE SECRETS!" Gordon boomed.
"I DID NOT!" Duck boomed back.
"You so did!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "You were around when all those things were discussed, so only you know about them!"
"That's completely ridiculous!" Apple Bloom shot back.
"What's going on here?" Sir Toppham Hatt called.
Rarity pointed. "This here ruffian posted personal information of ours and then called us rude names! Duck did the same!"
"HE CALLED ME A GALLOPING SAUSAGE!" Gordon shouted.
"Rusty red scrap iron!" James added.
"I'm old square wheels!" Henry said sadly.
"Well, Duck?" Sir Toppham Hatt asked.
Duck paused for a moment. "I only wish, Sir, that I'd thought of those names myself. If the dome fits-"
"It weren't us!" Apple Bloom blurted out, trying to prevent Duck from making the situation any worse than it already was.
"Oh come on!" Rainbow Dash shouted again. "When is that little brat gonna stop lying to you? She's Anon-a-Miss!"
Diesel then chimed in. "I must say sir," he said, "that I cannot understand it. That Duck and Apple Bloom of all engines and people would do such a thing; I am grieved, but know nothing."
Sir Toppham Hatt turned back to them. "It's probably best that the two of you go to work at Wellsworth for a while. I'm certain Applejack and Edward will be happy to see you, and hopefully this nonsense will blow over soon."
Apple Bloom, by this point, was choking back sobs. Nobody believed them. "O-OK sir," she stammered, trying desperately not to cry as she got back on Duck's footplate. They headed off for Wellsworth, whilst Diesel and Silver Spoon smirked in triumph.