//------------------------------//
// Applejack's Redemption? 
// Story: Twilight & Friends - The Complete Season 1 
// by ThomasZoey3000 
//------------------------------//


Twilight & Friends

A Thomass & Friends/Equestria Girls Crossover

Written by: ThomasZoey3000

Episode 19: Applejack's Redemption? (2022 Rewrite)


After a short period of time, Starlight Glimmer walked into the big station. At the first platform stood Thomas and his two coaches; Annie and Clarabel. She decided to walk over and talk with him, but she hadn't gone far before she heard a Southern voice call out; "You have some nerve coming here!"

Based on all the conversations she had with Thomas, Starlight was able to determine that the voice belonged to Applejack, one of Thomas' current former friends. She sighed, turned around and sure enough, she saw a country girl standing firmly in place with her arms criss crossed. With her were three other girls; Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

"Well if you must know, I'm here to catch a train to Ffarquhar," Starlight answered simply.

"You shouldn't even be allowed into Ffarquhar," Applejack stated firmly. "Given what you did to kids, animals and other people, you should be either be in your home or in jail!"

"Okay first of all, I did nothing bad to animals, not even my old dog that your friend Sunset Shimmer adopted, and as for people I bullied, yes I did that, but I learned from all that, and given recent events, the only person I went after was Sailor John. Just ask Thomas, he can verify my story."

Applejack's eyes narrowed, "speaking of which, I don't know why you're talking with a troublesome engine like him. Are you trying to give him more bad ideas?"

From where he stood, Thomas only rolled his eyes and didn't respond. By now, he was tired of arguing with Applejack and Twilight.

Starlight knew all too well she wasn't going to get anywhere, so she turned and went to the ticket office. All the while, Applejack's eyes continued to stare at her. But she wasn't alone.

Starlight was mere feet away from the ticket office when she saw a firm woman waiting there.

"Oh, hello mother," she said flatly.

"Don't you 'oh, hello mother' me young lady! You've been away from home for too long, and it's time for you to return to finish serving your punishment!"

"I don't think so, I'm getting tired of being a prisoner in the house I once called home."

"Well I'm sorry you don't like the punishment, but you don't get a choice. You lost that when you attacked that dog."

Starlight growled, "for crying out loud, I did no such thing! I loved that dog to bits, and would never hurt it. If you actually looked into what happened, then you'd really know who was responsible! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my job."

She turned to leave, but her mother would not leave things well enough alone.

"You're coming home, and you'll stay there till we stay fit! Now come here, or I'll force you out of this station!"

By now, everyone in the station was aware of the situation and were looking or listening in to what was going on. Starlight knew this, but didn't care as she continued to the booth. What happened next took everyone by surprise.

"You're coming home right now!" shouted her mother and grabbed Starlight's arm.

Almost instantly, Starlight spun round and smacked her mother in the face with her left hand. Then her voice rose, "no mother! I will not return back to you and father! I'm sick and tired of being treated like rubbish by you two, and I'm sick and tired of the way you blame me for things I didn't do. And I am tired of your stinking attitudes! At least Thomas and my friends all care for me! They don't punish me, and always give me a fair chance. Now, get this through your head - STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!"

Her mother stood there in complete shock, and did nothing as Starlight bought her ticket and boarded Annie. Moments later, the guard's whistle blew and Thomas puffed away from the station.

"Well, that just proves it," Applejack pointed out. "Thomas is a bad influence."

Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked to her in shock, "why do you say that?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh come on, all the time she's spent with him has made her act out against her own family. That chaos they stirred up with Sailor John was just the beginning, they're nothing but trouble, much like Twilight and I have been saying all along."

"Oh give it a rest already!" snapped Fluttershy, catching everyone by surprise. "Yes Thomas is a cheeky engine, but he's always been that way, and yes Starlight used to bully people. Seriously, no one is a Mary Sue. But the way you're talking about them, you make them sound like they're the Dazzlings or the troublesome trucks. Besides," she added, "they've been nothing but honest to us since the Sailor John incident, but if you can't see that through your own eyes, then maybe it's you that's causing trouble."

Rainbow and Rarity stared in shock, they had never heard Fluttershy speak like that. The shy girl turned and walked away. Rarity and Rainbow Dash soon followed after her, leaving Applejack and Starlight's mother standing in shock over what happened.


As night arrived, the engines heard an unfamiliar whistle in the distance, "who's that?" asked Henry. "I've never heard a whistle like that before."

Gordon was listening carefully, "that sounds like an A2 whistle. I used to hear them all the time at Barrow, but not recently."

A short while later, the source of the whistle came into the sheds. It was Tara, the wonderbolt's own engine. She had been repaired, and with permission from the Wonderbolts, she was to stay with the other engines, while James worked with the Wonderbolts.

"Och, sae you're the engine we were told about," smiled Donald. "Tis a pleasure tae meet yae."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, uh Donald is it? And all of you too. I've heard much of all of you from the Thin Clergyman and his son's books, plus the television show."

"How can you watch the show?" Henry asked. "Sheds don't have televisions."

"Well no, but in recent years, the bolts have brought in their laptops and shown me episodes from your show. Quite interesting I have to admit."

The engines were excited with this engine, and asked all about her early days.

"At first, myself and my sisters worked alongside our cousins; the A1 pacifics. I tell you, the thrill of speeding down the mainline is something you just can't get over, not that you want to, without boasting though. It was grand, it was fun and it was like an adventure every time. Mind you, I never turned down a job if they needed me, so I often pulled goods trains."

"That's something our James could learn from you," chuckled Henry.

"Why, doesn't he like goods work?"

"If you knew him like we do, then you'd understand what he's like."

"I see. Well anyways, I worked on throughout the LNER years and into the days of British Railways. It was odd, but never did I give up on my work. One day though, it finally happened." She paused and the engines and crews looked to her with concerned expressions, "my siderods broke off while I was pulling the express train. The train rocked violently, and I thought we'd fly off the tracks, but my driver's quick thinking stopped the train without a single wheel coming off."

"Sadly, after I had been rescued, British Railways used that as an excuse to have me put out of the way to make way for the new diesels. And so, I sat there for years and years, awaiting the day I was to be scrapped - then the worries went away as a man came to see him. He was called Wind Rider and he wanted an engine to pull his special train of flyers; the Wonderbolts."

"I excepted the offer and after being restored, I went across the country pulling their train whenever they needed. I still had a speed limit, as any respectable engine would, but the thrill of pulling such a train put me back in mind to my younger days. And that's it, my history as the wonderbolt's engine."

The engines and crews were quite impressed, though Donald was curious.

"Wasn't tha Night Rider arrested fer puttin' people in danger once?" he asked.

"Sadly yes," Tara sighed, "it was mostly because as other pilots came in, he felt threatened and so, he would fly dangerously, or fib about them to make sure he never lost his place. He was soon overthrown by his daughter; Spitfire, but before he could be dismissed, he flew his plane into the streets and nearly smashed into a building full of people."

"Then, how was he stopped?" Murdoch asked.

"Believe it or not, Soarin' got into the cockpit before the crazy pilot got in, and was able to stop his plan. He went to jail after that, and Soarin' was promoted to second in command."

"Wow," gasped Charlie. "Never have I heard of craziness like that."

"Indeed," agreed Donald. "The closest thin' we've had tae crazy was t'at Sailor John nutjob."

"Sailor John?! Wait, he was here?!" Tara asked in shock. The silence from the other engines gave her the answer she needed. "The bolts dealt with him once before. Not sure if you all know, but he was in the navy once, and they were the ones who trained my wonderbolts. Sailor John was one of those trainers, and while he seemed nice enough by day, the night was when he showed his true colors. One evening, he stole one of the planes to go searching for the lost pirate treasure, but he was stopped by the bolts and the navy."

"It was revealed he did more than that. He often stole from both our groups for use on his searches, and would threaten anyone who found out about his deeds. I was the last to find out, but before he could do anything to me, he was caught by Spitfire who wanted to give me a polish before the next day's run. He tried to put up a fight, but my goodness, can Spitfire fight. She had him pinned down before long, and he was taken away. I hoped it would be forever."

"Well sadly it wasn't," commented Henry. "He was here, but he made the mistake of dealing with Thomas and Starlight Glimmer."

"Really? What did they do?"


While this conversation was going on. Applejack was running to the big station. She was trying to get to her train, but sadly, she tripped before getting there. She scratched her knee badly, but still tried to get into the station.

"I made it," she sighed with relief.

The relief was short lived as the train started to pull out of the station. She tried to catch it, but ended up falling down to the ground.

"Wait! I got a..." but the engine whistled and was gone, "ticket."

"Are you alright Applejack?" called a voice.

As she slowly got up, she looked to the source of the voice. It was Thomas in the nearby siding. His crew were running over towards her.

"I'm fine, just havin' a bad night," she grumbled.

She refused the crew's help at first, but soon found herself struggling to get up, so in the end, the driver and fireman helped her up, and got her over to Thomas.

"I'm not riding with him, not after all the trouble he caused."

The fireman looked to her leg, "you might not have a choice. Your knee is scratched up, and you could've broken something. I'm a part time paramedic, I can help you, but the only way I can do that is if you ride with us."

"It's either that, or you're struggling home on foot," added the Driver. "This is the last passenger train till Midnight."

Silence filled the station, until Thomas broke the silence.

"I know you have your reasons for hating me Applejack, but surely anyone would except help rather than struggle on alone."

Applejack groaned, "fine, but I'm only riding with you to Wellsworth."

With the agreement made, and Applejack was helped into the cab, Thomas set off back to the branch line.

Along the way, the fireman was kept busy shovelling coal, checking the gauges and checking on Applejack's leg. Halfway through the journey, he finally had a response for her.

"Good news, your leg isn't broken, nor do you have a fracture, but it will be sore since you fell to the ground at the station."

"And outside the station too," Applejack groaned.

"Now that's got to hurt," Thomas commented. "I'm just glad you don't need to go to the hospital Applejack."

Applejack said nothing, and with the aid of the fireman was helped to her feet.

All was silent for a while, that was until Thomas spoke up, "you know, I do miss talking with you Applejack. I miss hearing about the goings on at Sweet Apple Acres, and how your family is doing. Most of all though, I miss hearing about how you are doing. Why don't you ever talk with me?"

But Applejack didn't answer. Thomas sighed and carried on till he reached Wellsworth. Edward was there too, having just finished shunting.

"Take care Applejack, hope you recover soon...and I hope we can talk again."

He started again, and was gone by the time Applejack said, "not as long as I live."

"I've heard talk like that before," said Edward. He had heard that remark. "There I say Applejack, you take after your Granny Smith a little too well."

"Now what in tarnation does that mean?"

"She once held a grudge so badly it nearly ruined the bond between Bright Mac and Pear Butter."

"You mean Buttercup, that was my mum's name."

Edward was about to correct her, but decided to wait for another day. "Point is, her grudge for the father of your mother nearly torn your family apart, and ever since, we've not seen your grandfather again. In fact, as I recall, his last words to his daughter were harsh and...well, let's just say he'll never get a chance to speak to her or your father again."

Applejack stood there, trying to fight back the tears in her eyes as she thought about her parents.

"You can hold onto a grudge, much like you can with a favorite apple, but like an apple, the grudge will get rotten over time and soon will disappear, and by then, it's much too late to change things. Which begs the question, is it worth it to hold onto your grudge on Thomas?"

"He's a troublemaker, he's caused confusion, much delay and destruction, he..."

"Is it worth it?" Edward interrupted.

Applejack opened her mouth, but no words came out. She just looked down to the platform in silence. The silence was soon broken as a lorry came up, being driven by Big Mac.

"I got a call from Night Light, he said you had injured yourself. I've come to take you home."

"Thanks Big Mac."

As her brother helped her, Applejack could only look back at Edward. The wise sage he was just stared back at her, making the words repeat in her head; "it is worth it?"

They soon left and Edward went off to collect his next train. He sighed as he left, "one day, I'll have to tell you the story, cause I know Granny Smith never will."


The next day was the grand 70th anniversary celebration for the Thin Clergyman's books. Many engines were lined up for display, booths were set up and many important people had arrived for this important event.

Three people nobody wanted to see were Adagio, Aria and Sonata.

"Why are we here again?" grumbled Aria. "I was about to throw rocks at those toys at Alresdale."

"Because dummy, we're here to deal with their bigger friends," grumbled Adagio. "According to my source, the workers often store five barrels near the station for those diesels, if we take one, we can make the engines slip, making them look foolish and stupid in front of these crowds."

Now Sonata wasn't the brightest girl in the world, but even she knew something was wrong, "your source? Since when do you take suggestions from others? You never even listen to Aria or myself."

"That's because I'm the leader. Plus, you two are stupid."

"Why you!" snapped Aria. She would've attacked Adagio if Sonata hadn't stopped her, "however, my source has a bone to pick with the railway, so when she told me how we can make them look stupid, of course I would take the suggestion. Now come on, let's get to work."

Aria shrugged her shoulders, but Sonata wasn't so sure.

"Uh, maybe I should keep look out so we don't get caught this time."

"We won't, my contact will turn off the CCTV cameras, and everyone is too busy with this silly celebration. But if you want to be a scared girl, then do whatever you want."

Truthfully, Sonata didn't want to do this. Their incident with Percy's runaway had made her and the others unpopular, and the thought of being spoken to like that again scared her.

From where she stood, she watched as Tara stood in front of the express. Gordon meanwhile stood in a siding being looked at by many people. Thomas was nearby too, puffing back and forth with the breakdown train; Judy and Jermome, on a demonstration line. The more she watched the people, the more Sonata began thinking, "how I would like to have real fun."

To pull their plan off, Adagio and Aria stole some engine crew outfits, and a cart. Once they had this, they took the barrel of oil and brought it close to their area. Using rags, they took the oil from the barrel and spread it all over the tracks. To make things worse, Aria jammed the points, leading any unsuspecting engine to Thomas' demonstration line.

"We're done, now we just need to stand back and watch the fun," sniggered Aria.

"Remind me to thank my source for this," added Adagio with a smirk.

Sonata turned to leave, "where are you going?" Aria asked crossly. But before Sonata could answer, Aria responded with; "Off to get another taco? Fine, do whatever you want!"

"That's the plan," but she muttered that to herself.


Later on that day, Apple Bloom and her crusader friends came over to see Thomas.

"I know my sister is too stubborn to say it, but I'd like to say thank you for brining her home last night Thomas," smiled Apple Bloom. "And just so you know, you might have made mistakes in recent times, but I trust you."

"Thank you Apple Bloom."

Starlight Glimmer was with them that day, and invited Apple Bloom and her friends into the cab. They looked in fascination at all the gauges and controls. Next, they were taken to Jerome the crane, but after Apple Bloom had climbed in, they heard a whistle in the distance.

"That would be the express," Thomas commented. "Early today too, hope Gordon won't be cross with Tara."

Tara whistled as she came into the station yard, but as she tried to slow down, she felt her wheels begin to slip. She had run over the oil Adagio and Aria planted over the rails.

"Oh no, look out! I'm slipping!" Tara cried.

People on the platform ran for safety. Then something else happened. In the signalbox, the signalman, seeing what was about to happen, tried to change the points, but found he couldn't. He was about to call for help, when suddenly, he got knocked out cold. A mysterious figure smirked as she watched on as Tara was diverted from the station, and towards Thomas and the breakdown train. 

She bumped him hard, knocking his driver and fireman out of the cab. Starlight ran to catch up, but it was no use as the train was going too fast.

Only one person was left on board, and that was Apple Bloom.

"Wha...wha...what's going on?"

Judy was quick to asset the situation, "we're part of a runaway now!" she called. "And we've got no crews. Sweetie," she called to Apple Bloom, "you'll need to put on the brakes!"

"From where?" she cried.

"From Thomas!"

Apple Bloom looked down to the speeding ground. "I can't do that, we're going too fast!"

"You'll have to, or else we're all going off the tracks!"

Apple Bloom looked scared, but then remembered something Percy once told her and the Crusaders, "being brave is not the same as feeling scared, being brave is what you do, even you do feel scared." And so, gulping and taking a deep breath, she made her way out of the cab of Jerome.

By now, Applejack had arrived to see the events, and that's when she saw the runaway, and her sister.

"What is my sister doing?!" she cried.

Apple Bloom carefully crawled along the side of Jerome, holding onto the railings for dear life. She then ran along the flatbeds and repeated with Judy before, at last, she reached Thomas. She climbed into the cab. She looked to the gauges, and began to grow nervous, "what am I suppose to do?! I don't know..."

"Calm yourself down Apple Bloom," Thomas said softly. "Think back to when you were shown my controls. I know you can do this."

Apple Bloom took in a few deep breaths, and thought hard.

"Okay, sand first," and she turned on the sand, "and now the brakes." She pulled the brake handle, and closed the regulator.

Now it was up to Thomas. He pushed hard with all his strength.

"We will stop! We will stop!" he grunted.

Finally, the train started to slow down and with sand under their wheels, Tara and Thomas stopped before they could reach a tight curve.

"Whew, that was close," panted Thomas. He heard sobbing coming from his cab. He knew it was Apple Bloom, who had overcome fear and faced great danger, and now was crying from nearly getting hurt or worse. "And it's all thanks to you Apple Bloom, thank you so much, you're a real hero."

"I'll second that," smiled Tara. "It was risky, but you were amazing. A true champion if you ask me."

"Not a champion Tara," Thomas corrected. "She's a true Crusader today."

This helped Apple Bloom as the crew and Starlight Glimmer ran up to the engines.


It was soon revealed to Adagio and Aria that while the source was proud of them, she did not turn off the CCTV cameras as promised, and so, they were caught on film. They were soon arrested for trespassing, stealing and endangering lives, again. Sonata, who had done nothing, was free to go.

"Maybe I can try going solo for a while," she thought to herself.

The passengers complained at first about the ordeal, but soon cheered when they heard about Apple Bloom's heroics today.

"Who knows, maybe one day you could be an engine driver," Starlight said to her. "And I'd be honored to be your fireman when that time comes."

Apple Bloom smiled, but not for long as Applejack stormed over.

"You really are a stupid engine Thomas!" she snapped. "You force my sister to run along the breakdown train, and at great speeds too. Rest assured, I'll..."

"Shut up Applejack!" snapped Apple Bloom. "It was Adagio and Aria who caused all this. If I hadn't been encouraged to help, we would've been in a worse situation than what did happen. So really, if you want to blame anyone, blame them! Not Thomas!"

Applejack was once again silent as she looked, first at Thomas, then her sister, and at everyone looking firmly at her.

"Oh, I see."

"Look Applejack, I know you look at me as a troublesome engine who will never change, but clearly I am. After all, would I have taken you home last night? And today, I could've been cheeky and told Apple Bloom to jump or forced her to do something, but I didn't. It was her choice."

"We did encourage her though," added Judy the crane.

"Maybe, but I made the choice to help. I wasn't forced by you, or by Thomas." Apple Bloom turned to Applejack, "nobody is at fault here, except for you for holding a silly grudge against Thomas. Maybe if you spend some time with him, you'll see him in a different light."

Again, silence fell over the yards as all eyes looked to Applejack.

Finally, she spoke, "it's too soon to say if I can trust you Thomas, but it's like a wise engine told me, holding onto a grudge is like holding onto an apple. Overtime it gets rotten, and will soon be gone, meaning it'll be too late. So," she paused and took in a deep breath, "I still don't trust you, but I am willing to try and see if my sister is right about you. Then I'll make up my mind."

Thomas smiled, "honestly, I would like that Applejack. Take all the time you need." Then he thought to himself, "I just wish Twilight would do the same thing."


Not far from where they were, the mysterious figure watched them with a smirk, "so they have more friends now. Well, let's see how well that lasts, for this upcoming Friendship Games will break you all apart." And with a slight cackle, the figure disappeared from the yards.