A few months after his incident with the snowdrift, Thomas was waiting at a junction when a bus arrived.
"Hello," said the bus. "I'm Bertie."
"And I'm his driver. The name's Vincent, but you can call me 'Flash.'"
"I'm Thomas. And this is my driver Twilight, and my fireman Spike. Together, we run this branchline."
Bertie thought for a moment. "Thomas? Now where do I know that name. Oh, that's right! You got stuck in the snow and Terence and I had to rescue you and your passengers! I've come to help with your passengers today."
Thomas seethed indignantly. "I don't need your help. I can go much faster than you!"
"You can't."
"I can!"
"You can't!"
"I can!"
A competitive glint shone in Bertie's eyes. "How about a race? The first one to Ffarquhar Station wins."
"You're on!'
"Not so fast, Thomas," Twilight said. "What would Miss Celestia say if she found out we were racing."
"But Twilight," Spike said, subtly winking at Thomas. "If we win the race, we'll be able to reach the station far earlier than usual. Don't you think Celestia would pleased that we worked so efficiently?"
Twilight thought for a moment. "I'm almost positive this is just a trick to get me onto agreeing, but you also make a good point. Let's do it!"
Flash and Twilight managed to get the stationmaster to agree to start them off and soon, the two vehicles were lined up together.
"Are you ready?"
Thomas braced himself. It was rare that he was given the chance to go fast.
"Go!"
Bertie shot off like a rocket while Thomas started at a crawl.
"Can't we go any faster?" Spike asked impatiently. "At this rate, we'll never be able to catch up!"
"Don't you worry," replied Thomas. "We've got this in the bag."
Thomas could never start off quickly, but soon began to pick up speed. Bertie had already gotten very far ahead, but there was one thing he hadn't accounted for:
The level crossing.
As Thomas approached the crossing, he saw Bertie fuming at the gates.
"Good-bye, Bertie!" Thomas said as he sailed gaily through.
"Stupid right of way," muttered Bertie.
"Don't worry, Bertie," Flash said. "We'll catch up to them in no time!"
After that, the road left the railway and they couldn't see Bertie, but this didn't make Thomas any less determined to win.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Then they had to stop at Dryaw Station to left of passengers.
"Peep, peep, peep! Get in quickly please!"
Word had traveled down the line about the race, and the passengers were very excited to see who would win. The guard's whistle blew and Thomas started as quickly as he could. They soon approached a road bridge that hung over the railway and saw Bertie tooting his horn triumphantly.
"See ya later, Thomas!"
"Oh deary me, oh deary me!" panted the little engine.
"Steady now, Thomas," called Twilight. "We'll beat Bertie yet!"
"We'll beat Bertie yet, we'll beat Bertie yet," sang the coaches.
Thomas puffed harder than he ever had before. At least until-
"Oh bother! There's a station."
Thomas pulled to a stop to let his passengers off and saw Bertie grinning smugly.
"I'd love to stay and chat," he tooted, "but I've got a race to win!"
And Bertie pulled off chuckling to himself.
"Oh dear," moaned Thomas. "We've lost."
Spike glared at where the bus had been as he topped off Thomas' tank.
"No, he hasn't! We'll race by him so fast, he won't even know what happened!"
Thomas grinned. "You're right, Spike! Let's go!"
And Thomas puffed off, more determined than ever to win.
As they crossed the bridge where Thomas had gone fishing, they heard an impatient honk, honk! And there was Bertie waiting at the traffic lights!
"Yes!" cheered Spike and Twilight together.
The light quickly turned green and Bertie raced after Thomas again.
"He's catching up!" cried Clarabel.
"Not for long," said Twilight as she opened the regulator as wide as she could.
Thomas tore through the tunnel as though his future depended on it while Bertie was stuck climbing the hill it had been burrowed into.
"We've done it, we've done it!" panted Thomas.
"Hooray, hooray!" cried the coaches.
Soon, they came screeching into Ffarquhar Station and halted just in front of the buffers.
Everyone cheered for Thomas loudly as they could, and for Bertie once he pulled into the station.
"That was a good race," the red bus panted. "But to beat you over that hill, I'll have to grow wings and fly like an aeroplane!"
Flash exited his bus and congratulated Twilight and Spike.
"You two were amazing!" he said.
"Thanks," Twilight replied. "You and Bertie did pretty well yourselves."
Thomas and Bertie are now good friends and keep each other very busy. They often talk about their race, but Bertie and Flash's manager says that the passengers don't like being bounced around like peas in a frying pan. And Miss Hatt has warned Thomas and his crew not to race at dangerous speeds. So although, between you me, they'd like to have another race, but I don't think they will.
Do you?