//------------------------------//
// Misty Brightdawn's Amazing Maze 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: Halloween Havoc 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Misty Brightdawn couldn't be happier. She cheerily rolled down the main street of Swanage, with her roller blades clattering against the cobblestones as she sped along.

She glanced over to one side to see the sea, which was something that still continued to thrill her no matter how many times she saw it. It probably also helped that the town had a superb chippy, one that tended to get swarmed with guests whenever a train arrived at the station.

She sighed contentedly as she rattled along. Only a year ago it seemed as though she would never have a happy life. Even though being thrown from a train rather shook up her up and showed her that trusting Opaline was an error, finding these new friends had really changed her life. The roller blades on which she rode had been gifted to her by Sunny. Zipp had helped her with settling in with life, and Hitch (who had an oddly specific knowledge of stuffed toys) had helped her populate her room. Izzy's arts and crafts had been a fun way of being creative, and Pipp had even taken her out shopping for new clothes (although Misty had simply bought similar things in considerably better shape; her old clothes were pretty tatty and on the verge of falling apart at points).

As she whizzed along, people waved as she rolled along. She rolled to a stop next to the metal barrier before the water and glanced down with a happy smile. This had truly changed her life. And is was something she was thankful for, now and always.

And as was often the case in these parts, Misty suddenly felt a familiar sensation that she was used to in this neck of the woods as musical instruments began playing in the background. It was the old tradition of a musical number.

To her surprise, her friends suddenly appeared behind her. And began to sing.

"You've got…/
You've got us!" Izzy said rhythmically, for some reason, before being the first to sing to this invisible backing music.

"If you're down, down, down — just look up, up, up/
You know that I got you, even when it's tough!
If you're down, down, down — get back up, up, up/
Never on your own, 'cause you've got us!"

Misty still found the fact that songs started up at random a bit alarming, but knew that she had to go along with it to get it over with. Thank the Maker that she'd agreed to taking singing lessons.

"Take a look a little closer now/ (Closer now)
Things turned out a little different than how I thought/
I thought they would!"

Suddenly Izzy took over again, putting her arm around Misty's shoulder.

"If you have hope, then let me hear it (Hear it!)
If you have sparkle, we can cheer it (Cheer it!)
It ain't over when you have each other!"

Then everybody together once again.

"If you're down, down, down — just look up, up, up/
You know that I got you, even when it's tough!
If you're down, down, down — get back up, up, up/
Never on your own, 'cause you've got us!"

Izzy took over vocal responsibility again.

"If you ever feel like givin' up/ (Givin' up)
You just need to find a helping hand who can/
Make you sparkle again!"

Once more they switched vocal responsibilities again.

"If you have a wish, then let me hear it (Hear it!)
If you have a dream, then we believe it (We believe it!)
It ain't over when you have each other!"

Just then, the chorus fired up again.

"If you're down, down, down — just look up, up, up/
You know that I got you, even when it's tough/
If you're down, down, down — get back up, up, up/
Never on your own, 'cause you've got us!
If you're down, down, down — just look up, up, up/
You know that I got you, even when it's tough/
If you're down, down, down — get back up, up, up/
Never on your own, 'cause you've got us!"

Misty glanced about to see nobody in the town seemed to have noticed the impromptu musical number, and then indicated towards Purbeck House. "Come on!"

Izzy grinned! "Let's go guys, we sparkle together!"

"You've got, you've got/
You've got us!"

The crew scarpered before any policemen could fine them, and sped off in their own directions. Unlike the others, Misty currently didn't have any railway work to do. Bellerophon had been temporarily stopped to have his wheel tires checked, so she was occupying her time doing other things.

As she arrived at Purbeck House, an enormous Jacobean pile built in the Renaissance Style, she saw that there were several sidings sitting on the side of the station. These were full of old lines of disused rolling stock. And this gave her an idea.

She arrived at the door and took her roller blades off, putting them neatly at the door before stepping inside. She glanced about inside the vast vintage pile, seeing portraits and wooden panelling which conveyed the sense of history the family had. "Imagine knowing your entire family tree that far back," she said to herself. "And I don't even have a clue who I really am." Household staff continued to bustle back and forth as she looked up at the images above.

Just then, Lady Haven came down the stairs, a large file in her hands. "Hello Misty!" she said. "Did you have fun in town?"

"Yes, Lady Haven," Misty replied. Although the Duchess had become something of a mother figure to her, Misty was still reluctant to call her by her first name despite her Ladyship's insistance. "I've actually had an idea. You know how it's Halloween?"

"Indeed, we had the party not long ago," Lady Haven replied, as she popped the file down on a table. "Hopefully next year will go better."

Misty smiled. "Well, I noticed some old rolling stock in the yard. I was thinking I could turn that into a scare maze and, well, thrill people with railway themed scares."

Lady Haven consulted her map. "The ones in the old goods yard, correct?"

Misty nodded.

"Well, there shouldn't be too much of a problem there. I shall dispatch some workers to help you in a bit. But first I've got all sorts of things to clear up. Harvest time on the estates always brings so much work, keeping track of what we leased to who and all that."

Misty nodded. "Well, I won't disturb you any longer!"





That night, the Mane 5 gathered where Misty had asked them. "I wonder what she's got in store for us?" Zipp asked.

"I hope it's good!" Pipp said, rubbing her hands together with glee. "I love scary stuff done well, and if it's a maze, well, that's perfect!"

Just then, Misty arrived, clad in vintage clothing which wouldn't look out of place in the Edwardian age. "Good evening," she said, brandishing a lantern as she did so. "Are you here for the tour?"

"Yes, we are," Sunny replied. "Kindly show us the way."

"I will," Misty replied, and she set off into the yard, with the others following. The battered rolling stock around them only added to the mysterious air that was being built. "The story began over one hundred years ago, on a night much like tonight. At Seven, an overnight sleeper train was preparing to depart for Waterloo, and soon got the all clear to depart."

"I believe you mean the right away," Hitch corrected.

"Thanks!" Misty replied. "Anyway, the train set off up the line, but the authorities soon realised something was wrong when it had failed to arrive at Wareham at the booked time. At the same time, reports of fire spread from nearby Corfe Castle, and a rescue team was sent to investigate."

She raised her lantern, to show the damaged coaches. "What they found was horrifying. The engine was wrecked, and the wooden coaches- well, some of them had been reduced to matchwood. Others were found with parts missing, but there was one consistent pattern to the accident- there were no survivors. The remaining coaches were dragged down here and left in these sidings, where they have stayed ever since, haunted by the ghosts of the dearly departed." She raised her light. "Follow me, and I shall show you to the secret part of the story nobody tells you."

"These are just coaches waiting for restoration," Zipp said. "They've been here for years."

"Zipp!" Pipp hissed.

"What?"

"At least TRY to immerse yourself in the narrative!"

As they stepped through the yard, they soon found ghosts jumping out at them from hidden locations. "Oh, did I mention the coaches are haunted by the ghosts of the passengers who died in the crash?"

"That must be a lot of ghosts," Sunny said, who glanced about warily. "Quite where this is going I have no idea."





They soon came to a series of vertical steps cut down into the ground as a spiral staircase. Misty popped open the lid. "Follow me," she said. "We can head down here and find another way out, as our path seems to be blocked."

"Watch your step, and don't get the hem dirty," Pipp said. "The Edwardian Ball is a big deal around here."

Once they had finished descending the steps, Hitch spoke up. "It's pretty dark down here. There's potential for serious health and safety problems if there' no light. What if we trip on stuff?"

Misty used her lantern to look around, and found some switches. "Perfect!" She threw them, and suddenly the entire corridor was illuminated, revealing a spooky corridor with stone lined walls and a selection of cells.

"Where are we?" Izzy asked.

"I think we may have found the lab," Misty said.

"The lab?" Zipp said, raising an eyebrow in a quizzical manner.

"Legend has it that a mad scientist did experiments down here, and that the results are still down here. In fact, we should walk carefuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Misty was suddenly pulled sideways by something that had emerged from a tunnel.

"Misty!" Sunny shouted, and looked down the corridor, switching on her phone's flashlight to try and see. But there was nothing down the tunnel. "Now what do we do?"

Pipp glanced up. "Follow the signs, of course!"

"What signs?"

"The signs that indicate this way to the exit, of course!"

As they made their way through the tunnel, all sorts of spooky things began to happen. Ghosts floated down from above. Skeletons stood up and walked over to the bars, speaking nonsense as they did so. Portraits had eyes that moved. It was all very strange.

Zipp still seemed unimpressed. "This is only tangentially connected to the train stuff earlier."





Misty looked on from the control room with a smile. "Time to liven this one up a bit, I think." She then pushed a button marked TRAIN.

Lights began to flash on one of the tunnels, and suddenly a locomotive horn blared out of the darkness. The sound created the illusion of a train racing past.

"Time to release the skeletons!"





Pipp, meanwhile, was taking photos of the interior. "Hmm," she said. "These cobwebs look very familiar. I'm pretty certain I used these at the last Halloween party."

A zombie walked up behind her to try and jumpscare her, but she saw him approaching through the front camera and stepped out of the way. "Are they even trying now?"

Meanwhile, things had reached farcical proportions in other parts of the tunnels. Sunny and Zipp appeared to be doing their best impression of Scooby Doo, dashing back and forth between different tangentially connected doors. "How are we even doing this?" Sunny panted, starting to run out of breath.

"Beats me!" Zipp replied. "Nothing down here makes sense!"

Hitch, on the other hand, had found some stairs, and began to climb them. "This should be a way out." He glanced back. "This way!"

The others were glad to end the madness, and climbed the stairs as well- arriving in Purbeck House. "What?" Zipp said.

"Oh! It was the basement under our house the whole time!" Pipp said. "I thought it looked familiar."

They followed the signs to the exit, and found Misty standing there. "Hey guys! How was that for a scare maze!"

Pipp grinned. "I've done a lot of these, including Alton Towers one year, but this was pretty good for a first attempt. Nice work, Misty!"

"Though you may need some helpers based on the queue," Izzy pointed out.

Misty looked at them. "You guys wouldn't mind helping out?"





Misty sighed as she glanced about the workshop she had for the project. Overall things had gone pretty well for her first attempt at a scare maze. Her eyes glanced over a small doll sitting on the mantlepiece.

"Looks like I found a use for you after all, Madame Taffytail," she smiled, as she began sketching a device. "Hello everybody... I want to play a game..."