//------------------------------//
// The Plot Thickens 
// Story: Thomas, Twilight, and the Magic Railway 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

The next morning, Thomas came to a stop in the yards at Arlesburgh. He wasn't entirely sure why he was there; Autumn's dissappearance had meant that the engines and their drivers had largely had to figure out their instructions on their own. He then noticed Henry sitting on a siding, looking mournful. "Hello Henry!" he called. "Are you OK?"

"No," Henry replied sadly. "I've got boiler ache and steaming problems."

"Henry had a bad lot of coal lately," Fluttershy informed them, looking out from within the cab. "As a result, he's not burning very well. There's some trucks over there with local coal that ought to burn a bit better. Could you help us out?"

"Of course!" said Thomas. "Anything for a friend. Besides, how hard can collecting some trucks be?"





Thomas soon discovered that it could be very hard indeed. The previous night, the depot crew had scattered the trucks all over the yard, which meant that it took Thomas ages to find the coal trucks, which were buried deep within other sets of trucks, which themselves had to be moved in order to make the trucks accessible. After what felt like several hours of shunting, Thomas was finally ready to go.

"I'm ready when you are, Twilight!" he called.

"Let's go!" Twilight replied, and pulled on the regulator. There was a slight delay in the steam chest and the brakes, and the train was sat on a steep gradient. Thomas rolled forward and gently hit the trucks, before starting off up the hill. However, the sixth truck was not coupled properly, and promptly flew down the hill and into some buffers, suddenly vanishing in a flash of rainbow light.

Thomas saw nothing, and stopped higher up the yard with the trucks. "All six coal wagons, ready for duty!" he said.

Duck rolled up alongside him. "Six?" he asked. "You may need to practice your numbers again; there are only five!"

Twilight looked out, and began to count. "One, two, three, four, fi-" She shook her head. "Let's count them backwards. Six, five, four, three, tw-" She shook her head. "This makes no sense, I'm certain we marshalled six!"

"Oh well," Henry interjected. "There's more than enough coal there for us to get moving."





Somehow, Autumn Blaze had found her way onto the viaduct, having walked an untold distance across the island at this point. She paused for breath, only to hear and feel the rails humming and vibrating. "There's a train approaching!" she said. "If I can flag them down, I can get back to Knapford (hopefully), and present my findings!"

The rumbling of a Maybach engine and a harsh diesel horn killed those hopes. "It's Diesel 10!" she cried, and ran onto the bridge.

"I see your skills in perception have not failed you," Diesel 10 said sarcastically, as he rolled onto the bridge. Autumn ran as fast as she could, but she couldn't outrun a Western Hydraulic, and she was suddenly scooped up by a massive grabber, which began to pull her up and into the air. Diesel 10 advanced slowly over the bridge, and then stopped on the centre span. "I've got you now, twinkle toes, and soon I'll have that blue puffball too."

Storm King opened the door of Diesel 10's cab. "And then, we can take the lost engine and exact revenge! Not to mention get a proper place for diesels to live, of course."

There was a loud cracking noise. Autumn looked down and gasped. "Back off of the viaduct!" she cried. "It was never designed to take the weight of a stationary locomotive, and it's starting to give way!"

The diesel simply laughed. "I can do whatever I want, and that means you have to do whatever I want as well. This is easier than dealing with those brats at Crovan's Gate, after all."

Autumn struggled as hard as she could in Diesel 10's vice-like grip. But it was hard to move with several pounds of crushing force pressing down on you. In one sudden motion, she produced a pair of pliers from a pocket on her skirt. She slowly pulled them up, and suddenly saw that the hydraulic system for the claw had two wires. One was red and the other was green. The reason for the different colours was for the ease of the maintenance team. One wire carried the fluid that closed the grabber, and the other released it.

"Which one, which one?" she wheezed to herself, having a hard time breathing for reasons that I would hope would be obvious to the reader. "I can't fail now; if I do, the entire world is at risk!" With one motion, she cut the red wire. "LET ME GO!"'

The sudden loss of pressure to the claw caused the arm to jerk upwards into the air and the claw to release. Autumn hurtled through the air like a meteor and flew for what like felt for hours, before she suddenly landed in an open field on top of a pile of mattresses.

"Well, it was certainly convenient that somebody put those there," she said, getting up and dusting herself off. Moments later, a whistle sounded, and Oliver pulled up next to the field.

"Ah!" he said. "These are the mattresses that the waste dump wanted collecting. How did they get here?"

"Are you OK, Miss Autumn?" Scootaloo asked, looking perplexed.

"I'm quite alright, but this world may not be if I can't get into contact with somebody," Autumn replied. She took out her phone and smiled. "Yes! I'm back in coverage."





Sunset sat alone outside of Sombra's house, the boredom clear on her face. There was nothing to do in Ruddington apart from the railway, and that wasn't even operating today. She had asked if she could go into town on the tram, but Sombra had flatly refused, much to the confusion of Meadowbrook. As she sat curled up against the wall, next to a nondescript tree that had clearly seen better days, when Winona tore past them, barking loudly. Sunset jumped up in confusion, not noticing a small amount of golden stuff landing on the ground. Sombra poked his head out of the door.

"Was that a dog I heard?" he asked.

"Yes, but it's gone now," Sunset replied.

Sombra nodded, and stepped outside, closing the door behind him for what must have been the first time in days. He walked over to the tree and sighed. "I must get this tree removed," he said. "It's looking pretty awful." He was completely oblivious to the coating of gold dust on the branches, and only looked back when he heard a record playing.

"Isn't that the tune you and mom danced to not long before you got married?" Sunset asked.

"Yes."

"Why is it problematic for you?"

Sombra's eyes narrowed. "That's none of your business." He turned around and went back inside.

Just then, another voice joined them. "Excuse me?" said a male voice. Sunset turned to look right at Caramel. "Have ya seen a dog anywhere near here?"

"One ran by a few minutes ago," Sunset replied. As if on cue, Winona appeared and barked happily in front of Caramel.

"Ah don't think Ah ain't see ya none," Caramel said. "Ah'm Caramel, Ah'm a local here? Ya may have seen me down at the station."

"Sunset," Sunset replied. "I'm here hopefully on a temporary basis until the family I usually live with find more space in London."

"Ya live in London?" Caramel exclaimed, astonished. "How'd ya end up here?"

"I got on the wrong train."

The two teens began laughing, before the door opened again. Sombra looked out. "Hello, Caramel."

"Hi Mr Sombra. Ah'm headin' into Nottin'ham and was wondrin' if there were anythin' ya needed."

"No," Sombra replied.

"Can I go with him?" Sunset asked. "No offence, but there's not a lot to do here."

"Yes," Sombra answered, equally abruptly. "Be back before sunset."





Having purchased some lunch on their way, Caramel and Sunset sat in University Park enjoying a picnic, whilst the twin shadows of the Trent and Portland buildings loomed over the park. Some ducks were currently in the process of taking off, whilst, in the lake, a few fish swam around.

In the distance, the roar of an HST starting off from the station could be heard. Caramel stopped to listen, and then continued. "And so, the birds usually live here year round. The park was part of the former Boot estate, and when he gave the land ta the city they incorporated it inta the university."

Sunset them had a revelation. "I heard a train moving through the Ruddington area last night. But Dad told me the line stops at 50 Steps."

"It does," Caramel replied. "But Ah've heard that train too. "It's always heard outside of operatin' hours on the Great Central, and most people in town have reported hearin' it too."

"Then why can't Sombra hear it?" Sunset asked.

"Maybe he's choosin' not too," Caramel sighed. "But Ah noticed on the map that strange black lines are marked in on the old Great Central alignment towards Victoria. Those are invisible railroad lines, but why are they there? And who built them?"





Storm King leaned against a lamppost in town as On Time exited the Ruddington station site to get something from his car. Thunder thundered overhead and the skies were overcast. As he walked past, he spoke to him. "The weather's predicted to get worse," he said. "You'd best be getting under cover, Storm King," he added, and continued walking.

Storm King simply smiled. "All I have to do now is wait. And then the lost engine will be mine!"





Completely unaware of what was going on, Sunset and Caramel stopped at the station. "Ah have some errands to run," Caramel explained, "but Ah'll be back later. See ya!"

Sunset waved to him as he left. This place finally seemed vaguely interesting. Her musing was suddenly caught short when Juniper suddenly appeared. "HI!" the other girl called.

Sunset turned to her casually. "Hello," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready to go to Sodor!" Juniper replied. "Wanna come with me?"

Sunset glanced at the clock. "As long as we're back before Sunset."

"They'll barely even notice you're gone!"

The pair headed for the buffers at Fifty Steps, when suddenly three figures fell out of the portal and landed on the ground.

"Whose idea was it to have a tea break next to the buffers?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Look at chicken brain over there!" Apple Bloom retorted.

"Who are you calling a chicken brain?!" Scootaloo snapped.

"Are you three OK?" asked Juniper. The Crusaders looked up at the new pair, rather confused.

"This may seem obvious," Sweetie Belle said slowly, "but I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."