Despite being teased for it, Edward is pleased with his small size. In exchange for not being able to pull large trains like the ones Henry and Gordon take, Edward is better suited for navigating the shunting yard. Taking advantage of this, he shunts the trains that the bigger engines take on long journeys. Unfortunately, this quickly began to interfere with his own work.
"Late again!" Gordon muttered one day. "This is the fourth time this week, Edward! if this keeps up, the passengers will say this is a bad railway!"
"Well, excuse me for having to shunt your coaches, Gordon. Maybe if you shunted your own trains, I wouldn't always be late with mine."
"Gordon? Shunt? Don't be ridiculous!" His driver laughed. "Gordon's too awesome for shunting. Maybe you need to step up your game, old timer!"
Applejack hopped out of Edward's cab and angrily approached Gordon's driver. "Well Reyna, ah know you an' Gordon can't get through the shuntin' yard as easily as Eddie, but you could at least wait right outside it to take yer own dang coaches to the platform!"
"Don't call me 'Reyna!' It's 'Rainbow Dash' thank you very much! And me and Gordon wouldn't have to wait outside the yard if you just moved faster!"
The argument between the two drivers quickly devolved into a shouting match. The passengers looked on and prepared to run if things became physical. Edward tried to calm the two down while Gordon looked on with disinterest.
"Quiet!" A new voice rang out.
Applejack and Rainbow froze and turned to see their boss, Celestia Hatt.
"This is no way to act in front of the passengers or in general. Now, what was this about?"
Neither woman answered.
"Well?"
"If I may, Miss Celestia?" Gordon spoke up. "This all happened because Edward has been late all week."
Edward shot the big engine a glare. "Only because I have to shunt Gordon and Henry's trains when I'm between jobs, ma'am. I'm afraid the work is becoming too much for me."
Celestia thought for a moment. "I suppose you're right Edward. What we need is a dedicated station pilot. I'll head to the mainland next week to see if I can find one. Until then, I'll try to lighten your workload."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"And as for you two," she said, turning to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Please do not let this happen again. This is a railway, not a playground."
"Yes ma'am," the two said quietly.
"It's about time we got another engine," Henry said that evening. "If one of us broke down, the other two would have a hard time keeping up with the workload."
"Pah!" Gordon snorted. "The workload isn't the problem."
"Lemme guess," Apple Bloom muttered as she dropped the fire, "Edward is?"
"Exactly! If Edward didn't take his time getting our trains ready, we wouldn't need another engine."
Edward sighed. "Don't bother arguing with him, Apple Bloom. I doubt anything would get him to stop."
"But it's not right! Why does Gordon get to put you down all the time and act like some big shot! Yer twice as useful as he is!"
"It's because that Rainbow Dash keeps feedin' his ego," Applejack sighed. "Ah swear, that girl wouldn't know humility if it smacked her in the face."
"Why don't we talk about something other than Gordon?" Henry puffed. "What do you think the new engine will be like?"
"A hard worker," Edward said.
"Someone humble would be nice."
Apple Bloom chuckled. "Maybe they can put Gordon in his place."
The speculation surrounding the new engine continued until Celestia left for the mainland. She boarded Gordon's train early that morning and sighed as the countryside whizzed by. Though she'd never admit it to the anyone, she preferred Edward's slower pace to Gordon's breakneck speed.
A few hours later, Celestia found herself in a small goods yard on the Mainland. She explained her situation to the manager and was told she could look around. The engines eyed her, hoping she would pick them. Eventually, she saw a small teal engine. He had six small wheels, a short stumpy funny, a short stumpy boiler, and a short stumpy dome.
"Oh, you don't want that one," the manager said dismissively. "He's still fresh out of the workshops. His crew's pretty new too. His driver's pretty antisocial, too."
Celestia paid him no mind and approached the little engine. "What's your name?"
"I t-technically h-haven't got o-one, ma'am," he stuttered nervously. "But my fireman's taken to calling me 'Thomas.'"
"Hello, ma'am." A young woman with purple and pink hair stepped out of Thomas' cab. "I'm Thomas' driver Tara. And this is his fireman and my brother Spike."
Spike leaned out of the cab and waved.
Celestia smiled and waved back. "So, are you three hard workers?"
"We try to be, ma'am. But we're still trying to get the hang of shunting."
"There's an engine on my railway who can teach you everything you need to know. That is, if you're willing to come work for me."
Tara, Spike, and Thomas thought for a moment. While their current home was nice, the other engines and staff members were noisy and rude.
"We'll do it!" The three said together.
The older woman grinned. "I was hoping you would say that."
A few days later, Thomas and his crew arrived on Sodor.
"Wow," the little engine puffed. "It's so different from our old railway."
"It's a little quaint, don't you think?" Tara asked.
"I think it's nice," Spike sighed. "It certainly beats that noisy goods yard."
A shrill whistle pierced the air as a blue tender engine puffed into the yard.
"You must be the new engine," he said cheerfully.
"Th-that's me," Thomas stammered.
"Are you Edward?" Tara asked.
"That's me! And this is my crew Apple Bloom and Applejack."
"They're just nicknames, in case y'all were wonderin'," Applejack joked. "We're really called Jackie and Abigail."
"Now, I believe Miss Celestia said you were in need of some shunting lessons?"
Thomas blushed in embarrassment. "Yes. I'm afraid that I'm still pretty new."
"No worries! We all have to start somewhere. Come along then. We can start with handling Henry's next train."
For the next few hours, Thomas worked hard to help prepare the trains for the other engines. While he did make mistakes, Edward was patient and made sure to point out his mistakes. In between breaks, Tara made sure to write down each tip Edward gave them. The Apple sisters had tried to talk to her, but she hardly paid them any attention.
"Sorry about her," Spike said as the sun began to set. "She's always kept to herself. But I promise she's really nice when she opens up."
Thankfully, Applejack was understanding. "We'll take yer word for it, Sugarcube. Now come on. We still hafta show y'all Tidmouth Sheds.
Thomas felt nervous as he approached the sheds. They weren't much bigger than the ones at his old home, but the unfamiliar engines inside seemed to make it look large and imposing.
"Gordon, Henry," Edward puffed, "say hello to Thomas and his crew."
Gordon eyed the tank engine suspiciously. "This is our new station pilot? He looks even weaker than Edward."
Applejack covered her sister's mouth before an argument could break out.
"I think he seems nice," Henry said, hoping to stop Gordon from crushing the poor engine's self-esteem. "Although he'll have to be repainted."
"Repainted?" Thomas wasn't sure about that.
"Miss Celestia prefers all of us to be the colors of the North Western Railway. You can chose between green and blue, although I have heard rumors that she wants to experiment with red."
"And you'll get a new number," Scootaloo chimed in. "We've been in need of a new number one!"
"What happened to the old one?" Spike asked.
"Taken out of service," Edward sighed. "Each of us was brought in to replace the old coffee pot engines."
"Hence the reason why we have numbers two, three, and four, but not one," finished Henry.
"Hopefully, that'll change soon," a new voice chimed in. Celestia smiled as she greeted her workforce. "Tara, I hope you, Spike, and Thomas had a productive first day."
"Oh, we did, ma'am. Edward taught as much about shunting as he could."
"Wonderful! And I hope you've been getting along with your coworkers." She shot a pointed look at Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"Not really, Miss Celestia," Spike piped up. "We haven't really had the chance to sit down and chat."
"Well, I hope you do soon. Communication is key for a railway to function properly."
As Celestia and the engine crews began to discuss tomorrow's schedule, Gordon shot another glance at the new engine.
"Make sure not to get in the way, little Thomas."
Thomas grinned cheekily. The big engine wouldn't be acting so rude soon.
But I shan't say anymore, or I will spoil the next story.