Thomas was running. Running to Sugarcube Corner.
Pinkie had just made a batch of cookies and if he didn't get there soon, his friends would eat them all.
Twilight and Starlight were working on the portal, and Edward was watching them. He was urged by Percy to come try these cookies, as apparently Percy had made them himself, with Pinkie's supervision. "And they're actually good this time!"
Thomas got to Sugarcube Corner as Edward teleported to the door.
"You're getting really consistent with your teleporting." Thomas noted to Edward as he slowed down to trot.
Edward chuckled lightly. "Starlight said I could be gifted in magic."
Thomas chuckled back, and nudged Edward with an elbow.
"Maybe you are."
The two entered the bakery, and saw their friends already at the counter eating cookies. Gordon, James, Toby, Henry, and Percy were munching away at the cookies, conversing.
"Hey, can't you leave some cookies for the other two blue ponies over here?" Thomas joked.
"Sorry little Thomas, but these cookies are for upstanding engines only." Gordon teased. Thomas chuckled at the joke, and Gordon gave him a cookie. Henry gave Edward a couple cookies and Edward levitated them.
"James here was going on about this dress him and Rarity are making." Henry informed them.
"Kind of boring if you ask me." Toby whispered to Thomas, and Thomas snickered.
James rolled his eyes at Toby as he continued.
"As I was saying, the muted sky blue really worked with the light lime green and pastel yellow. The sequins added only exaggerated the green, really making the design pop."
"Yawn, so boring." Gordon groaned. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Like how well I did with this batch of cookies?" Percy chimed in, eating a cookie in one bite. Henry seconded that, nibbling on the cookie in his hoof.
"Actually, yeah, we should. It's much better than the last batch you tried."
Percy smiled. "Only 13 batches of cookies to greatness!"
"So, how's everyone been doing?" Edward asked, checking up on the team. Percy spoke first.
"Pinkie's been teaching me how to bake cupcakes and cookies. Oh! Did you guys know that the mark on your flank actually means something?"
Thomas smiled. "Yes Percy, it's our cutie marks. It represents a pony's destiny."
"That's what Pinkie told me." Percy responded.
James smirked at himself.
"Well then this bow must be telling the truth, because I'm quite fashionable."
Gordon rolled his eyes at James, and Henry spoke.
"I found out that Fluttershy can talk to animals, which is really neat. She has this animal sanctuary that she runs, and I don't know why but the animals there really like me."
"Well you were one attached to nature." Edward noted.
Toby spoke up. "I worked on the Apple farm. Applejack's dedication is truly admirable. Her siblings are respectable ponies too, especially her older brother. It's fascinating what earth ponies can do with the ground."
"They say all ponies possess magic, but why do earth ponies get the short end of the stick?" Thomas thought aloud.
Gordon answered Edward's roll call.
"It turns out that I'm a naturally gifted flier. I can follow RD's Wonderblot routines fairly well, almost to a T."
Percy laughed lightly. "RD?"
"It's a nickname she uses." Gordon said defensively. He turned the conversation to Edward.
"What about you Edward? What have you and Thomas been up to?"
Edward let Thomas speak first.
"I've been researching the history of Equestria, as well as learning about Twilight and her friends. Apparently they've saved this world like, 14 times!"
"Really?" Toby asked.
Thomas nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, they're practically heroes!"
"Not like they'd need more confirmation of that." Edward said with a smile.
"I've been practicing my magic. I can now teleport longer distances. I've been studying it with Starlight and Twilight, when they're not working on the portal home. When they are, I like to watch and offer my help to them. There's so much we don't know about."
"I'm pleased to hear everypony is taking this so well." Thomas smiled.
"Ah, you said everypony and not everyone Thomas." Percy pointed out. Thomas chuckled.
"Heh, guess I did."
A silence fell upon them. James finished his last cookie.
Suddenly Henry spoke.
"You know, I wonder how Emily's doing right now."
The team seemed to blink in unison.
"She's probably worried sick.." Thomas sighed.
Edward looked down. "And Sir Topham... I can't imagine how he's feeling about us missing."
The team frowned at this, now feeling a little down.
Pinkie came into the bakery, and took in the atmosphere of the room. "What's with the frowny faces ponies?"
"We're feeling a little homesick, I guess." Percy relented.
Pinkie understood this, and felt a little sad for them. "Oh."
Toby agreed with Percy.
"I mean, Equestria is great and all, but we have responsibilities back on Sodor."
Thomas spoke. "Ponyville is a great town to relax and unwind in, but we have to get home soon."
"Well you won't have to wait any longer."
The steam team looked to the door to see Twilight standing there.
"The portal is practically complete. But we will need your assistance."
Thomas took a breath for the group, and nodded.
"Of course."
The room they walked into was a spare library, one in the back of the castle.
There were three portals set up. Two were working and operational, while one was just the portal frame. The working portal frames were bluish-sliver and gold respectively, while the empty frame was a shiny light purple.
Starlight was explaining her work.
"Having done one of these before, it wasn't too hard to create a third one."
The steam team gazed at the portal.
The rest of the main 6 were here as well.
Twilight nodded, and built off of what Starlight said.
"But like the other two, we will need an item that connects back to your world, or something from your world that was brought here, vice versa."
The group looked at each other, and Percy started scratching his head in thought. Then suddenly, he felt a roundish object in his hair. He blinked, and took it out of his hair. In his hoof was a piece of coal. Coal from Sodor.
"What the-?"
Thomas was puzzled.
"How did that get here?"
Percy shrugged. "I don't know, it just- appeared!"
"Perfect." Twilight nodded in approval. Percy gave out his hoof with the coal, and Twilight levitated it into its place atop the portal.
"Now it needs a spark of magic to activate it."
Twilight looked to Starlight, and Starlight looked to Edward.
Edward understood, and was very surprised. He put a hoof to his chest.
"W-wait, me?"
Twilight tilted her head to the portal. "Would you like to try? You've shown great progress the past 3 days."
Edward took a second to blink, and inhaled. He looked at his friends. They were in support of this idea. He exhaled long.
"Alright. I'll give it a try."
He walked up to the portal. Starlight gave some advice.
"All you have to do is shoot a beam at the coal."
He nodded, and needed to take another breath.
He tilted his head down slightly, and readied his horn.
Edward focused, and a beam of violet was shot at the coal. The machine sprang to life, and soon enough there was a working portal inside the frame. Thomas and his friends gasped. Edward looked up, and saw the portal. He felt really proud of himself, and smiled. "It actually worked." He rubbed this head. "Though, it still took a lot of straining."
"Practice makes perfect." Twilight smiled.
"So we can go back now?" Henry asked, a little hope in his voice.
"Give it an hour or two to settle." Starlight said.
Twilight nodded in response. "Since there's nothing on the other side connecting to the Equestrian magic, the portal may be unstable."
James spoke. "So you mean you don't even know if it'll stay open once we go through?"
"That's why Starlight will be on this side of the portal when we travel." Twilight answered.
"We?" Gordon noted the collective term.
Rainbow flew over to him. "Yeah, you didn't think you guys were going back alone?"
"We want to send you off when we know you'll be safe." Fluttershy added.
Edward thought that was rather considerate. The steam team appreciated that. Pinkie jumped up, feeling excited.
"Well, you all have one more hour, so let's make it count!"
And so they did.
While the friends stayed together as a unit this time, Gordon and James went off with Rainbow Dash and Rarity respectively.
Rarity was finishing the dress with James. Rarity was putting some last minute touches on the dress, and James was sowing the blue and green swirl hair piece together.
"I think I've gotten the hang of this." He noted, lifting the sowing needle up, then back down.
Rarity was wearing her glasses, sowing in a small sequin.
"Yes, you certainly do have a talent for the art of fashion."
James stopped sowing for a second, and blinked. He felt himself blush lightly with embarrassment. He started to smirk, offsetting the flattery he felt from the comment.
"I sure do. It's hard to be the only engine on Sodor who's as amazing as me!"
Rarity gave a light chuckle, and turned to him.
"So, is it done yet?"
"Wait a moment..." James squinted as he stitched the last piece. He tied it off, and cut the extra away with some scissors.
"Aaanddd done."
He levitated the accessory into the air, turning to Rarity, proudly presenting it.
"Voila! The hairpiece."
Rarity took it from him, and fitted it to the mannequin.
"Excellent work James. You've done well."
James beamed, looking at their finished product.
"We make a good team, don't we?"
Rarity took a step back, and silently critiqued it.
"I have to agree. Thanks for the help."
"Thank you for letting me help."
The two looked at each other, and simply smiled.
Rainbow Dash and Gordon were cloud busting. One cloud after another dissipated, blue streaks shooting ciss cross across the Ponyville sky. Rainbow was keeping score of how many she cleared.
"73, 74, 75-!"
"Are you always counting how many clouds you've cleared?" Gordon asked.
"Sometimes. Keeps my skill in check and all."
Gordon chuckled lightly, using his wing beats to clear a group of clouds.
'If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's trying to impress me.'
Rainbow Dash finished, and flew over to him. "So are you keeping track?"
Gordon looked behind him.
"I think the empty sky behind me says it all."
Indeed, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. Although...
Rainbow pointed out a few scattered clouds. "Almost empty sky. You missed a few."
Gordon brushed it off.
"A sky with a few miscellaneous clouds isn't anything to scoff at. I'd prefer a day like that actually."
He noticed that the sky behind Rainbow was completely devoid of clouds. He gave a small smile.
"You tired after all of that flying around?"
Rainbow stretched her back.
"Actually, yeah. I think I might have been trying a little too hard."
"So you are trying to impress me?" He said this thought out loud to see what reaction he could get from her.
Rainbow Dash laughed a little, and flew past him.
"Perhaps I am. Now come on, I know a good place where we can relax for a minute."
Gordon followed her to wherever they were going.
"You don't have to do much to impress."
"Hm?" She glanced at him as they flew.
He spoke his mind.
"You're one of the fastest people I've met, you're in a prestigious position being a Wonderbolt, heck, I was even dumbfounded when you told me Pegasi control the weather. Remember, you're talking to someone who comes from a place where "magic" is just fantasy or an illusion."
Rainbow Dash was presently flattered. She responded quickly, a little off topic. "-I guess that's why your friend Edward has been infatuated with the use of magic and how to cast spells?"
Gordon nodded.
"He's lived a long life. We all have actually."
He simply left it at that.
Rainbow Dash grinned, and nudged him in the shoulder.
"Thanks for sharing Big G."
Gordon was pleasantly surprised at this new nickname, but liked it all the same.
The two eventually arrived at the swimming hole, Rainbow's favorite spot in Ponyville to relax and recharge.
They landed on the ground and looked at the water.
"How do you feel about swimming?"
Gordon cringed slightly.
"A lot of us have had.. unpleasant experiences with large bodies of water."
Rainbow smiled.
"And yet we both still need it to function properly."
The two laughed. After a while, they sat down on the shore and looked up to the sky. It was a short moment of peace.
After a while, Rainbow gave a large sigh. Gordon heard this, and glanced to her.
"What's wrong?"
"I guess it's around that time." Rainbow sighed, noting the sun's position in the sky.
"Oh."
He could tell she was disappointed for it to be over. Gordon stood up, giving a smile.
"Hey, didn't you say you're coming with me?"
Rainbow blinked once, and smiled weakly. Gordon nodded.
"It's not over till' it's time to say goodbye."
The friends flew off to join the rest of their friends, waiting at the castle.
"Okay, so like we've said before,"
Twilight was talking as she strapped her satchel on herself. Starlight was helping out, taking some scrolls away from her and empty scrolls to her.
"The connection to your world is still unstable, as there is no grounded connection to Equestria; That we know of or have some sort of control over."
Twilight put the empty scrolls into her satchel, and smiled at the steam team.
"Who knows, maybe we'll find one."
The rest of the mane 6 were also getting their satchels ready.
Spike entered the room, carrying a different scroll.
"I'll have to stay behind, Celestia is not too ecstatic with being yanked out of retirement for stepping in, and I need to catch her up to speed some."
He presented the document to Twilight and she quickly signed it numerous times.
"Thanks Spike, I'm sure she understands."
"Is everypony ready to go?" Starlight asked, standing by the portal.
"I guess so." Percy said, although with a hint of sadness to his voice.
"It was fulfilling and fun. But I'm looking forward to having my engine form back." Toby added, James nodding as Henry spoke.
"Me too, I hope nothing's gone too off the rails back home."
Percy and Pinkie silently laughed at the unintentional pun.
"Ooh, I can't wait to see where you guys live!" Pinkie bounced up to the group.
"And what you actually look like too." Fluttershy came beside her, and the friends lined up.
Thomas quickly looked to Spike. "Hey Spike. Thanks for telling me all about the numerous adventures everypony has had."
Spike simply smiled in return. "It was my pleasure, and hey, you make sure Twilight doesn't get caught in trouble again."
"You may be asking the wrong engine on that one."
Starlight glowed her horn as a farewell to Edward, and he did the same back.
"Are we going yet, or are we just standing here?" Rainbow went to hover in the air, a little impatient.
Twilight turned her head to Thomas, and pointed towards the portal with her head. "Go on, we'll be behind you."
Thomas inhaled audibly, and walked up to the portal. He raised a hoof to it.
"We're coming back to Sodor."
'We're coming back home.'
The friends entered the portal, and appeared on the other side..
.. However, not how they expected it to be.