Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch sped off through the streets of Falmouth, chasing a large seagull that had taken Pipp's phone from her hands. The bird was pretty fast, so the journey was very hard going on their lungs.
As they sprinted over some tracks and rounded another set of bends, it became clear this was having quite a serious effect on the trio. Sunny was puffing and panting as they kept going. "This... Is... Not... Fun... At... All!" she wheezed as she kept going, determined to keep going despite the lactic acid building up in her legs.
Izzy was having a slightly easier time, but even she was starting to flag. "This isn't easy either!" she said, speeding along as best she could, her face starting to go all sorts of strange colours from the exertion. "At this rate... I... Might... Keel... Over!"
Only Hitch seemed to be having no difficulty, and raced ahead of them at speed. "Yep, this is one of the benefits of an aggressive fitness regime!" he said, as he waved to a fellow cadet. He waved back in return.
Eventually, the others had had enough of all the running and were seriously flagging. As they passed round a bend, Sunny suddenly had a bright idea. "There's... a... tram stop... up... ahead!" she wheezed. "That... may... help!"
"Do they... take... debit... cards?" Izzy panted. "I... don't... have... any... cash!"
The pair stopped as the sign hove into view. They worked hard to catch their breath from all the exertion they had just been through. "I don't know why I left my roller blades at home," Sunny said. "They'd be perfect for this sort of situation."
"I would have suggested we use my moped, but unfortunately I left that back in Bury!" Izzy explained. "But I imagine I could find an alternative set of wheels around here." She gasped as she saw something. "Look!"
"What is it, Izzy?" Sunny asked.
"I see a little silhouetto of a tram!" Izzy called.
And she was right. With a rattle and a roar, the track rumbling from its passage, a double decker tram rattled to a stop at the station. It had curved, streamlined bodywork, and had a tall traction pole extending to the wires. The paintwork was vibrant, consisting of an orange stripe at the bottom, a white section of bodywork, a green section that curved down with the bodywork, and another white section at the top. Black banding separated the individual layers. There was a single headlamp mounted at the bottom of the framework, which was only used at night to avoid blinding people, as it was very bright.
The tram called to them as he rattled to a stop. "Hello, lassies! What brings you two out here today?"
"Runaway phone!" Izzy replied. "Can you take us to the Docksider Housing Project?"
"That's where I'm headed, as it's the end of the line," the tram replied. "Just wait for the driver to open the door and show your passes before boarding."
"Thanks MacTavish!" Sunny said, as the doors slid open. She showed her resident pass before taking a seat on the bottom deck. Izzy boarded moments later and paid for a single, before joining Sunny on the lower deck.
"I'm surprised you didn't go for the upper deck!" Izzy said."
"It's usually busy, as people fight for the seats that look forward," Sunny explained. "We get a decent view from here."
Izzy shrugged. "It's just that people used to go upstairs and have a smoke, and then somebody would speak and they would go into a dream."
Sunny facepalmed. "Izzy, why? Is it National 'Reference Popular Songs Day'?"
"That's on Wednesday!" Izzy said. "I'm just warming up!"
Sunny shook her head. Although she liked Izzy, she was still getting used to many of eccentricities.
Her mind was shaken from this when the bell rang, and the tram pulled forward. The ground below her seemed to shake as the traction motors cut in, and the tram rumbled through the streets of Falmouth. Ever since the return of the magic a few months ago, Falmouth had become a good deal busier, and this put a fair bit of strain on the roads. In an effort to relieve the strain on the town's packed roads, the town council had voted to reopen a section of the old tramway. Unfortunately, the original Falmouth trams had been scrapped a long time ago, so the company had acquired a pair from Scotland that had been built to work on the same track gauge.
And the other one, Fraser, passed them on the other line. "Good morning!" he called. "Lovely day for a tram ride, eh?"
"Can't stop!" MacTavish called. "I've got a runaway phone to get!"
Frazer laughed. "Seems like around here gets stranger with every passing day!"
Hitch was still going strong as he sprinted along the streets, now being close to the end of the tram line. He looked about at the blue skies, noticing no change, before he spotted Bellerophon sitting in a siding. "How'd you get over here?" he asked, as he came to a stop.
"I went the back way," the tank engine replied. "Misty's currently getting a drink. Engine driving is thirsty work!"
Hitch nodded. "I know that the hard way. Rebecca can be challenging enough to operate. But it's part of the charm, I guess." He noticed that the development before him was looming into view, and something was sounding behind him.
He turned around to see MacTavish pulling into the tram stop. "Docksider's Rest, last stop! Please disembark here and wait for the tram to move into the headshunt. Don't forget to swap the seats around before you leave!"
He then saw his friends get off, and walk over. "Running a bit much for you?" he joked.
"We still need to find the runaway phone!" Izzy said as she moved past at a reasonable speed. "Ah! There it is!" She pointed up into the sky to see the pigeon circling overhead, the phone still in its claws.
Seconds later, Pipp and Zipp arrived, having taken a taxi. "Honestly, Pipp, if you hate getting your nails damaged why don't you wear gloves?" Zipp asked. "Plenty of performers do."
"You mean opera gloves?" Pipp asked. "Honestly, sis, don't be so cray cray." She then looked over. "Any luck?"
"It's up there, but we can't get it down!" Sunny said. "If only there was a way to get it down!"
Suddenly, the ground seemed to shake, and Zipp noticed MacTavish's face vanish briefly, before reappearing momentarily. Moments later, she saw Sunny smacking into a bed of plants. "Sunny!" she called, and dashed over to help.
Sunny rolled over, the phone in her hand. "Got it!" she said. "Not sure how I went up in the air though."
"Err, Sunny, you're glowing," Hitch said.
"Aww, thanks," the girl replied.
"No, literally glowing," Hitch clarified.
Sunny sat up, and quickly checked herself over. There seemed to be this orange sheen over her skin, and a pair of translucent wings attached to her back. "Wait, what?"
Sunny reacted to this situation as any person typically would if they found themselves glowing and with a pair of wings where they had no business to be.
Scream.
Hitch almost immediately took charge of the situation. "Sunny, focus on me!"
"How can I?" Sunny responded, breathing heavily. "What's happening to me?"
"Panicking isn't going to help," Hitch replied calmly, pulling her to her feet. "Deep breaths, focus on what makes you happy."
Sunny nodded, and before long seemed to be in a calmer state. With a surge of energy, the orange sheen and her wings seemed to vanish into nothingness.
Suddenly, the door to the house opened, denying them their chance to celebrate. A woman with yellow skin and pink hair emerged from it, her face locked into a scowl. Her piercing yellow eyes conveyed an air of hostility, an impression not conveyed by her choice of a green shirt and slacks coupled with grey shoes. "Brilliant!" she snapped. "Another problem caused by that stupid magic!"
Zipp sighed. "Ma'am, we're sorry for making a mess of your garden, but we were trying to retrieve my sister's phone which had been taken by a seagull."
The woman still looked annoyed. "Call me Posey, not ma'am. I'm not the First Lady. And frankly, the garden is the least of my worries. It's all this talking machinery that's the trouble. And I'm not the only one here with that opinion!"
"What do you mean?" Sunny asked.
"Ever since vehicles began talking, there's been a massive spike in the number of people living in the area. They all have cars and similar vehicles. And it's producing more pollution, which isn't fun when you have asthma!" She showed them her inhaler to make her point. "And think of the children trying to cross the road with all the wannabe Jeremy Clarksons driving about!"
"That's a fair point," Izzy conceded.
"Well, we are working on new emissions rules for the town centre," Sunny explained. "We're planning on banning cars from the area and requiring the use of public transport."
"That may be well and so, but there's been so many delays caused by these talking machines," Posey continued. "People always stop to talk to them, which slows everything down. Do you think I enjoy starting my day having to have a debate about Bach with my BMW?"
"I quite like Bach," Hitch said quietly.
"It is apparent to me that this is not at all safe or good for Cornwall," Posey finished.
"Everybody needs time to learn how to use their abilities, that's all," Sunny said. "Adapting to change takes time. Remember that there used to be a lot of hostility to the railroad, and now people don't think twice about it."
"Well, I'd rather they didn't do it all over the town! I nearly got hit in the face yesterday by a careless passer-by who was too focused on a talking tank engine. There should be restrictions on this, and I shall be raising this with the council!" Posey stepped back into her house. "After you've cleaned up the mess you've made of my garden!"
Sunny sighed as they got to work. "Change isn't easy," she said to herself. "But I'm certain she'll come around to our way of thinking someday."