Duck the Great Western Engine and his driver, Apple Bloom, had worked hard for many years in the yards at Tidmouth, and had done so dilligently, smartly, efficiently, and without so much as a complaint about the workload or the hours. Sometimes it was coaches, and sometimes it was trucks, but no matter what, the old Pannier Tank and his driver always got the work done, day in, day out.
One day, Sir Toppham Hatt came to visit them. "I have noticed," he said to them, "that the two of you have worked very hard for the last few months without rest or complaint. I am very impressed with you both, and have a high opinion of both Great Western engines and the Apple family. As a reward, I would like to offer you two the Arlesburgh branch line for your own. Would you like it?"
It took the two of them approximately three seconds to decide. "Yes please, sir!" said Duck.
"Doin' what Ah love, and workin' out of mah home town?" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Count me in!"
Duck took the duty of running his railway very seriously indeed. The line runs from Tidmouth along the coast, running over steep cliffs, past sandy beaches, and vast, sprawling tunnels cut straight through the rock, to give the line an easy passage alongside the sea. Duck loved every second of exploring the line. Cool sea breezes blew through the air and swirled his steam high into the air and his green paint glistened in the sunlight.
"You know Apple Bloom," he said, "for a brief period I was based out of Newton Abbot shed on the Devon coast. This branch line is almost exactly like that line from Newton Abbot to Exeter St. David's, except in terms of length, of course."
"It reminds me of home," Apple Bloom answered. "Well, at least days out ta Galverston beach. Then thin's got tight and we moved here. Ah well, at least apples and railroad work makes more money than cattle ever did."
"And I suppose it's not as messy, either!" Duck replied.
Apple Bloom laughed. "Ah certainly don't miss shovellin' out cow poop!"
As ever, the two of them worked incredibly hard. Duck would work for most of the day without pause, although the lunch break coincided with a stop at Arlesburgh West, which meant Apple Bloom could head back to Sweet Apple Acres for her lunch. This once took an interesting turn when she found her entire family had turned up on the platform, as they'd decided to join her for lunch instead!
Later, Sir Toppham Hatt began renovating the old station there, and Duck was put to use on the trains of building supplies, whilst Stepney and Sweetie Belle temporarily took over passenger trains. Donald, Douglas, Lyra and Bon-Bon brought building materials down the line whilst Bertie the Bus also helped out with the passenger load. Smoke and dust filled the air during the construction process, which drifted about and annoyed the townsfolk. Sir Toppham Hatt was quick to slow down construction after Granny Smith complained! With two Apples in his employ, he hardly wanted to risk the wrath of their matriarch (though he found Pear Butter to be a jolly soul).
Sir Toppham Hatt stood on the platform as the last component of the overall roof had gone into place when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Well, this'll put Arlesburgh back on the map."
He turned around to see Pear Butter on the platform holding a lunchbox. "Hello Mrs Butter. How can I help you?"
"Could ya give this ta Apple Bloom if ya see her, please?" Pear Butter asked. "She was in such a rush ta get off ta work today she forgot ta collect it."
"Ah, OK then! Listen, about your daughter-"
"What did she do now?" Pear Butter sighed. Apple Bloom was an enthusiastic, hard working, and overall well behaved child. However, she and her friends did tend to get a LITTLE overexited, which had caused a bit of a mess in Arlesburgh town square.
"I wanted to commend her and Duck for their work ethic," Sir Toppham Hatt finished. "OK, there was that incident with the paint truck splattering another engine, but that was clearly an accident and the load had not been secured properly. I approve very strongly of hard work, and she and her engine are the definition of it. Please do send my congratulations."
Pear Butter beamed with pride, the way only a mother can. "Ah'll see ta it that she knows!" she said, and headed away, leaving only a lunchbox.
Duck took his responsibilites for the Arlesburgh branch very seriously indeed, and talked endlessly of it. One night, he spoke with Donald as Apple Bloom was finishing throwing his fire out. "You don't understand Donald," he said. "Sir Toppham Hatt depends on me to keep this line running smoothly."
"What about me?" Stepney asked from an adjacent track. "I work hard here too, remember!"
"Yep!" Sweetie Belle added, as she cleared some more ash from his firebox. "We took the passengers who otherwise would have gone by road. And the roads here are so bad, they would be bounced about like beans on a frying pan!"
"Don't you youngsters know it," Donald grumbled. "Do you ever run out of energy? Now let me sleep."
"I'm Great Western and-"
"QUACK QUACK QUACK!"
"Erm, what?" Apple Bloom asked. "Is there a Duck here?"
"What did you say?" Duck asked.
"Ye heard me," Donald snorted. "All yer endles talkin', 'quack quack', it's like yer egg layin'! Now cut yer wheesht and let an engine sleep!"
"Quack yourself," Duck snapped, as Apple Bloom hopped off his footplate to speak to him.
"Ah heard all of that," she said sadly. "It's about time we taught him and Lyra that ya never mess with an Apple. But what ta do?"
"Here's an idea," Sweetie Belle whispered in her ear. Apple Bloom's face lit up like a Christmas tree when she heard it, and she worked her hardest to supress the giggles. Nothing else was said for about thirty minutes, but when Donald was at last asleep, Apple Bloom came back with an object, and popped it under the water tank cover.
"That'll teach him!" she whispered. The next day, Donald was being refuelled, and Lyra popped the water tank cover open, only to see sitting there was a large white duck. It quacked loudly.
"Now I wonder who did this?" Lyra asked. "I must say, it's a lot of effort for a practical joke. And you saw that one where Rainbow Dash turned the mouths of all the drivers at Tidmouth sheds rainbow coloured!"
"We should do somethin' back," Donald laughed.
The duck was tame, sharing Lyra's food and roaming in the tender. She was quacking here, quacking there, she was quacking everywhere. Quack, quack, choo choo choo, you could say she was a quackaroo!
The other engines teased Donald about it, but eventually the duck got tired of travelling and hopped off at Haultraugh, where it went to a nearby lake.
Lyra then planned to get her own back on Duck, so she snuck into the shed late at night and hid something behind Duck. When Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle clocked on for their shifts the next morning, they couldn't help laughing.
"Look at this!" Sweetie Belle called. "Somebody's left an egg!"
"Now Ah wonder who left these eggs here," Apple Bloom snorted. "They ain't big enough ta be duck eggs!" She picked one up and looked at it. "Empty. Anybody fancy a fry up?"
Lyra wandered in later, and Donald smiled. "Well, well, well Duck. Ye must have layed it in the night!"
Just then the smell of cooking bacon and eggs filled Lyra's nostrils. "Is somebody having a cookout here?"
She climbed onto Donald's footplate and saw Apple Bloom cooking food on a shovel- with her foot as far away from the blower handle as possible this time. "Would ya like some?" she asked. "That was a good prank ya pulled, but next time use bigger eggs."
Duck laughed in the spirit of things. "You win, Donald!" he said. "But one thing's for certain."
"Namely?"
"She'll always be Donald's Duck!"