Equestrian Railway Tales

by Sudrian Engineer

Sleep Deprived Railroading

Thomas often grumbled because he was not allowed to pull passenger trains

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The day after Thomas got the all clear from the Works, he was back working in the yard. There weren't as many trains that day, so Edward was working with him, "So Thomas, how are you feeling?" Edward asked.

"Much better now that I can stretch my wheels. It's really nice after sitting in one spot for so long." Thomas replied.

"That's good to hear. You know, I think you're almost ready to start working with trucks, son."

The tank engine had a confused look at the last word. "Uhm, what did you say?" He asked.

"Ah, my bad. I guess Troy's accent may be rubbing off on me." laughed Edward. Troy, being mischievous as ever, decided to fan the flame a little.

"Hey, don't you go blaming this on me! Ah'm innocent!" he said. Matthew just laughed louder, falling onto the floor of Thomas' cab.

"Oh my Celestia, Matthew, are you okay?!" Twilight gasped out.

The boy was still laughing but managed to get a few words out, "Y-yeah. T-too F-funny."

Twilight just rolled her eyes, "I swear, you're almost as crazy as Troy."

Suddenly he stopped laughing and stood straight up, speaking in a serious, yet condescending, tone. "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight... Packed deep down inside me is randomness 10 times as much as Troy."

"Oy, them's fightin words, lad!" Troy called from Edwards cab.

"You know it's true," he yelled in return.

"We'll see come April Fools, won't we?" Troy replied. Edward shuddered at that, and was sure every engine on the Northwestern just felt a shiver run through their boiler. Every engine, that is, except Thomas. He wasn't sure what was so bad about it. Edward saw the confusion on the young engine's face and decided to inform him of what was coming.

"Thomas, when these two get together for April Fools day, things get hectic. These two almost shut down the entire railway last year." the old engine said.

His eyes filled with wonder and a smile grew on his face, "The whole Island? Wow, that sounds like fun, can I watch?"

Troy just laughed at that, "Boy, if you want, you can participate." The little engine's eyes widened in excitement. Troy looked over to Thomas's cab, "Hey Matt. This year is going to be fun."

The man simply agreed. Later that night, Thomas was asking Henry and Edward about the rest of the island. "You guys get to pull trains all over the island. What's it like?" he asked.

Edward smiled and began to describe it. "It is a magical place. The skies are blue, it is like a storybook land wonder.”

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you old timer?" said Henry. But Edward took no notice. Especially when he noticed the look in Thomas's eyes.

He simply continued, smiling, "The sun almost always smiles with valleys as green as can be."

"Do you think I'll get to see it? I can't wait to pull trains like you do!"

“Of course you can. Someday. As for now, you need to get some sleep. We've got another hard day's work ahead of us tomorrow."

The tank engine giggled and fell asleep, dreaming of the Island. The next morning, pulling trains was all Thomas could think about. Or talk about. Slowly, Matthew got annoyed, but also didn't want the other engines ro be rude, "Hey Thomas," he said calmly.

"Yes?"

"I know your excited, I do. But, you are starting to get very annoying."

"Oh. Sorry." replied Thomas.

"It is ok, just try to tone it down. You know first hand, or buffer in this case, that not all the engines are as kind or understanding as Edward." Thomas couldn't help but shudder as he remembered what Gordon had done. Even now, he was still scared of the big Express engine. "You can talk to us about it, but tone it down like I said, ok?"

"Ok."

Unbeknownst to them, Henry had already backed down onto the train and had heard the conversation. 'He's a bit annoying, but he's still learning. Once he's had time to learn, I'm sure he'll make a fine engine.' Henry thought to himself.

Throughout the rest of the day, Thomas only mentioned wanting to see the island rarely as he continued to do his work. The other engines were impressed and relieved that Thomas was able to talk about something other than pulling trains. At the end of the day, as he was being driven into the sheds, he was talking about wanting to pull a train, but stopped as he say a few of the others looking annoyed. Troy, seeing the looks Thomas was getting, decided to nip the problem in the bud.
"Somethin on yer mind, lad?" he asked.

The engine blushed and spoke, "Oh, uhm. Kinda, but I don't wanna annoy anyone."

Troy just glanced at the others and said

"Ah, they can all blow it out their funnels." There was a collective gasp at that.

"N-now see here!" Gordon spluttered. Before he could continue, Troy just flashed a rude gesture at him and kept going.

"Thomas, ya can't please everybody. Yer gonna annoy folks, that's just the way of it. But, at the same time, Ah do kinda get where they're comin from. Ya gotta watch yaself. Though it is kinda sad that these 'mature' engines are so easily annoyed by a kid." He finished with a sideways glance at the rest of the engines. The engine made a noise of agrement and thought for a bit, considering the man's words.

"Do me a solid, would ya guys?" Troy asked. "Try to set a good example for the kid. After all, he's also learnin from watchin all of you."

Gordon mostly spluttered, but seemed to have a small hint of thought in his expression. Soon, a very familiar, yet feeble whistle sounded as Henry came up to the turntable. Troy looked over at Matthew, "You heard that, right? That's not a good sign."

The man nodded and went over to talk to Henry's driver.

"Evening Matthew" greeted the driver.

"Hey Linus, what's the matter with ole number 3?"

Linus just sighed, "The usual, I'm afraid. The ole boy is having trouble keeping steam again."

"Ah, I see, well Troy and I can take it from here, you get home, I know your sister is expecting a call tonight"

"Thanks Matthew. Heaven knows how she worries."

"Tell Lucy I said hi"

"I will. Good night Matthew."

Matthew waved to Linus, then, once the turntable was done rotating, he hopped in Henry's cab and drove the sickly engine to his shed. Troy walked up as Henry made it into the shed.

"Looks like another long night, huh?"

Matthew just nodded, "Girls, think you can teleport home, me and Troy need to do some work on Henry"

"Can we help?" asked Twilight.

"You can try, but you girls probably want to get some sleep"

Twilight looked over at Spike and sighed in defeat, "Alright girls, let's go."

Matthew and Troy waved before getting to work, "Alright Matt, you know the routine. Ah'll get the toolbox, you go get the coffee started."

The two men had a small table and a coffee pot set up in the back of the sheds in the event of nights like this. About an hour later, there was a purple flash of light as Twilight teleported back. She found Troy and Matthew in Henry's cab, with Troy halfway in the firebox and Matthew passing him the tools.

"Hi Troy! Hi Matthew!" she said. Both men jumped, followed by a lounge clang from the firebox and a storm of cursing. Matthew, in a brief bit of anger, hopped out of the cab and smacked Twilight's back.

"You maybe be a magic pony but you DO NOT teleport where you know people are working with a steam engine. What if we were testing him and your flash made one of us fall out and get run over..."

"Kinda hard fer a train to move when all the bits are taken apart. Also, violence is my schtick, get yer own." Troy said holding his forehead.

"Violence is usable by me when my friends are hurt"

"Well, no one's hurt aside from a headache, and being overly enthusiastic is hardly a slapping offense. But why ARE you here, Twilight?"

"Yes... WHY?"

"I... I just wanted to help."

"You are suppose to be home..."

"Let er help. From what Ah hear, this ain't exactly her first all nighter. Though it'll definitely be her toughest. May as well grab some coffee Twilight. We're here till sunrise."

Matthew sighed and agreed. The trio worked hard almost all night, it wasn't until 1am when they stopped for sleep. The next morning, despite the group's best efforts, Henry still felt ill.

"Well, we've done all we can do." Troy said groggily. "C'mon you lot, time to fire up the engines."

The other drivers and girls looked at them worriedly. Troy chuckled, "Don't you worry none. Ah dunno bout those two, but gimme a few minutes and a lot of caffeine and Ah'll be right as rain."

Twi and Matthew shook their heads before firing Thomas up for the morning. Henry usually pulled the first train in the morning, and this thought was running through Thomas's mind as Matthew and Twilight worked to get him ready. Soon, at the station, Matthew was driving Thomas around to shunt.

"Come along! Come along!" Thomas fussed.

"There's plenty of time! There's plenty of time!" grumbled the coaches.

"Calm down Thomas, we do have plenty of time," Matthew said between yawns.

As they reached the platform, Thomas just got even more excited, "Let's go around to the front now!" he said.

"Thomas, we can't, we have to see if the other workmen managed to get Henry fixed," Twilight answered.

"Alright." Thomas sighed.

They waited and waited. The people got in. The conductor and stationmaster walked up and down. The porters banged the doors. But still, Henry didn't come. During all of this, Thomas just got more and more excited. Soon, the racket drew Sir Tophamm Hatt's attention, and he came to see what was the matter.

"Where is Henry?," He asked, confused.

"He's not feeling well sir," said Twilight.

"Then find another engine!" He ordered.

Matthew yawned, sighing, "There's only Thomas, sir."

"You'll have to do it then, Thomas. Be quick, now!" Sir Tophamm said. So Thomas ran round to the front at once.

Matthew sighed, "Be patient now Thomas, wait until everything is ready."
In their sleep deprived state, neither Twilight or Matthew remembered to get out and couple Thomas to the train. Soon, the whistle for Edward, who was taking a freight train, was blown. Hearing that, Thomas's crew thought that was them and started. Thomas, being so excited, didn't realise he had left the coaches behind. Between the tired crew and the excited engine, none of them heard the calls from the station to stop. Nor did they hear calls from a bridge they went over, or the first 2 signal boxes they passed. But soon, they came to a signal set to danger.
"Bother." thought Thomas. "And I was going so nicely too."

He let out an angry "peep peep" on his whistle.

A signal man walked up and spoke, "Hello Thomas, what are you doing here?"

"I'm pulling a train, don't you see it?" Thomas replied.

"Well where are your coaches then?" asked the signalman.

The trio gasped and looked back, Thomas' face falling instantly. "We... We must have left them behind." Thomas said.

"Well, I'd say your best bet is to hurry back and fetch them." the signalman replied.
And they did just that, Thomas starting to sob.

Back at the station, Troy was wondering how HE had gotten stuck with dealing with the crowd.

"Is this some kind of joke?!"

"Why did that foolish little engine leave the ENTIRE TRAIN?!"

"THIS RAILWAY IS A JOKE!"

"I WANT MY MONEY BACK!"

"Would everyone please just SHUT UP!!" Troy roared. This was met with instant silence "Okay. Now. What happened, was an honest mistake. The engine's crew and myself were up all night last night trying to get Henry feeling better, so they probably made a couple rookie mistakes. We do apologize, and word has already been sent down the line to stop them and send them back. So if you'll all just calm down, they'll be back soon, and we can get you on your way. Ya bunch o assholes."
As the crowd started to argue back, Thomas returned. As they saw the tears running down his face, they couldn't be cross anymore.

"Bout damn time y'all made it back." Troy said to the crew. "Apparently, after this, Ah hafta babysit you two for the rest of the day."

Matthew had tears in his eyes as well. "No you don't, not me at least," He said sadly. He got out of the cab and started to walk away. Troy just grabbed his collar and held him there.

"Now you listen to me." he said, his voice low and serious. "If you think I'm going to let you give up, you've got another thing coming. Now get back in that cab, get that engine ready to start while I go couple him to the train." Troy sighed. "Look. The only reason Ah'm taggin along is because Fluttershy can handle the local runs without me, and you two are still half asleep. If it makes ya feel any better, Ah'll be rejoining my crew later today after you've woken up. Like Ah told the jackasses, Ah mean passengers, it was an honest mistake."

Surprising him and everyone who knew him, he punched Troy in the shoulder before running off before he could be caught, "Dammit!" Troy swore, running after him.

Twilight yelled after, "GET BACK HERE TROY, WORRY ABOUT HIM LATER!”

"Not happening!" he responded.

Enveloping him in her magic, Twilight lifted him and floated him back to Thomas. "He needs time to cool down anyways."

Troy struggled for a few minutes before he just sighed. "As long as this doesn't come back to bite us." he said. 'Looks like Ah need to double down on mah training' he thought to himself. "Let me go get Thomas hooked up, and we'll get this train rolling"

Soon they were off, Meanwhile Fluttershy and Edward, who had finished a round of shunting, saw Matthew run past, "Hm? Has something happened at the station?" Edward asked. But Fluttershy was too worried to answer and flew after him. "Fluttershy! Come back here! You're going to leave me without a driver!"

She blushed and returned, "S-sorry."

"It's okay, But don't forget you have an important job." admonished the old engine. She nodded and they got back to work. Later that evening, the other engines were laughing at Thomas.

"Look, there's Thomas, who wanted to pull a train! But forgot about the coaches." laughed Gordon.

Henry laughed as well, "What's next, leaving his shed without a driver or firemare."
Thomas was on the verge of tears. All laughter stopped abruptly however when a knife embedded itself in Henry's buffer beam.

"Fancy that funny do ya?" Troy asked from his spot on top of Edward's cab. "I seem to recall a certain green engine that was supposed to be in front of those coaches instead of Thomas but was too sick." He jumped down and grabbed the knife before walking out. "Ah'm goin to look for Matthew. Behave."

Henry grunted in pain and surprise, the others watching shocked. Edward sighed.
"We really need to talk to him about that anger problem. However,he does make a valid point. The child is still new, and his crew were sleep deprived. What's your excuses for Gordon's Hill and Henry's Tunnel, hm?"

The ponies laughed as the two engines spluttered and stuttered. Matthew was at his home, having recently woken from a nap, and crying. He was surprised by a loud banging at the door.

"Alright Matthew Hope. You open this damn door! Ah know yer in there!" Matthew did nothing, he was only silent, "If you don't open the door, I WILL kick it down!"

While it didn't open, there was the tell-tale click of it unlocking. Troy sighed, "Fair enough." It didn't take long to find Matthew after that. "Alright, Ah know yer sensitive, but damn, man. The big man put me in charge as a safety precaution, not because yer not capable."

"BUT I HAVE CAUSED ALL THE RECENT PROBLEMS!"

"Actually, that would be Henry. His designer if you want to get into technicalities."

"Gordon on his hill, I was the driver. Henry in the tunnel, me. Gordon's safety valve, me. I was driving Thomas when Gordon pulled him, and I was driving him today, ALL ME"

"In order: Gordon was being a brat, Henry was being stupid, mechanical issue, Gordon was being a brat, and as Ah said, Henry, technically his designer."

"I am the one who pulled Thomas' lever."

"And? Engines have a multi-man crew for a reason. Things happen. Quit trying to take the blame."

Matthew just sighed and stopped talking, tired of arguing.

"Look, just be ready in the morning, alright? Ah'll be by to pick you up at the usual time."

Matthew sighed without answering and left, heading to his bedroom.

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But for a long time afterwards the other engines laughed at Thomas, and said: "Look, there's Thomas, who wanted to pull a train but forgot all about the coaches!"

Comments

[Even Evil Has Standards]

A character named Linus has a sister named Lucy. Ha.

[Sudrian Engineer]

9382778
You got the reference, wonderful

[masterblotart]

any plan on next chapter?

[Sudrian Engineer]

9395230
Very soon