• Published 1st Jan 2020
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Thomas and Friends: The Retold Adventures - The Blue EM2



Picture a Land where the Sky is so Blue, a Storybook Land of Wonder...

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The Deputation

It was snowing heavily on the Island of Sodor. Snow came most years, but it had come early this time, and it fell thicker than was usual. Most engines and their crews hate snow. But Donald, Douglas, Lyra, and Bon-Bon were used to it, to say the least. They had worked regularly on snow clearing trains on the Port Road to Stranraer back in the old days, and as a result knew exactly what to do. One was turned to face the other way, so that one engine faced Vicarstown, and the other faced Tidmouth. Then a coach was coupled between them, and a pair of snowploughs were coupled to the front bufferbeams of both engines. Backwards and forwards they went, up and down the line like soldiers on patrol, fighting a constant battle against the snow.

Of course, this did lead to some tension. Donald led off quite abruptly, jerking the couplings on the coach.

"Stop bein' pully!" Douglas shouted.

"I'm not bein' pully, Douglas!" Donald shot back.

"Ya pulled me when the signal changed!" Douglas retorted.

"You pushed me more like," Donald answered in return.

"Didnae."

"Did too."

"Didnae!"

"Did too!"

Lyra sighed. "Can you PLEASE stop arguing?" she asked. "We have a railway line to clear of snow, and although I appreciate it is cold, all this hot air isn't going to put a dent in the cold!"

That shut them up! At least the snow gave them something to focus on. Sometimes, the drifts were easy to clear, and the snow flew to one side as they raced past with their snowploughs. But some drifts were heavier than most. They charged into one such one, and got stuck. As they backed up, Bon-Bon spotted something.

"Is that... an engine?" she asked, looking at the mass of snow and ice before them.

"Wash sakes Donal'!" called Douglas. "It's Henry, stuck in the snow.!

"Well, at least he isn't crashing into goods trains, is he now?" Donald replied.

"Dinnae fash yerself, Henry!" Douglas called. "We'll soon have ye out! Wait a while!"

Henry was too cold to answer, but Fluttershy spoke up. "O... OK. See you soon." She watched as the two tender engines disappeared into the distance. Later, they brought some men and a steam shovel, and had Henry dug out in no time. Naturally, Henry and Fluttershy were very grateful for the twins saving them, but noticed that the pair, and their drivers, looked glum.

"What's wrong, you four?" Henry asked. "I haven't seen engines so sad in a long time?"

"Sir Toppham Hatt is coming back soon," Lyra explained. "And that means that he's getting ready to get rid of us, after the mess we've made."

"He'll send us back for sure!" Donald and Douglas chorused.

"What a party pooper!" Pinkie said.

"A right shame, if you ask me," Percy added.

"A lot of nonsense about a broken signal box!" Gordon snorted.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash nodded. "It's not as if Sir Toppham Hatt's short of money or anything. Besides, why not just get Network Rail to foot the bill?"

"And that spiteful brakevan too!" James noted. "Good riddance to him, too!"

"He did cause us a lot of trouble," Rarity said, looking quickly at her jacket. "The number of repairs I had to do to my clothes based on technical mishaps he caused was far too much to keep up with."

"Not to mention those two were splendid in the snow," Henry sadly said. "It just isn't fair."

"If they hadn't come to help us," Fluttershy added, "the passengers, Henry, and myself would all be ice cubes by now."

They all agreed to do the YMCA- no, that's not quite right. They all agreed the okie kokie was what it's all about- no, that's not right either! They all agreed to do something, but nobody knew exactly what to do. Later that day, Percy and Pinkie Pie met up with Edward and Applejack in the yard. "Hiya Pinkie!" Applejack called. "Why the long face?"

"The two Scottish engines and their drivers are being sent away," Pinkie explained. "We really don't want that to happen, as they've really helped us out over the last few weeks. Do you have any ideas?"

Edward thought long and hard. "What you need is a deputation," he said.

"What's a deputation?" asked Percy. So, Edward explained.

"A deputation is a place where large amounts of raw materials, equipment, arms, or other supplies are kept until they are needed."

"Eddie, that's a depot," Applejack countered. "A deputation is a type of bomb which explodes under water and which is used especially ta destroy enemy submarines."

"And that's a depth charge," Edward replied. "Ah, I think I've got it now! A deputation is a small group of people who have been asked to speak to someone on behalf of a larger group of people, especially in order to make a complaint."

Percy smiled. "Thanks for the help!" he said, puffing away.

Later that day, Percy ran into the others. "Edward and Applejack say we need a Depastation!" he cried, as he screeched to a stop.

"Erm... of course," said Gordon, not entirely sure what Percy was on about.

"What is a desperation?" Henry asked, equally confused.

"We're despairing!" Lyra and Bon-Bon cried, by this point holding each other.

"It's when engines tell Sir Toppham Hatt something is wrong," Percy said.

"Yes indeedally!" Pinkie exclaimed. "We had a super confusing conversation with Edward and Applejack which saw them going through a dictionary and getting definitions wrong which made absolutely no sense until we got to the correct definition that we actually wanted!"

Rainbow Dash looked over. "Yeah, you need to get off the sugar Pinkie."

"NEVER!"

"Did somebody say something about telling Sir Toppham Hatt?" Duck asked, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Mah parents always say ta tell them if somethin' is wron'," Apple Bloom added.

Silence fell, the letters plummeting downwards and narrowly avoiding hitting the engines. This silence remained there for a very long time, until Gordon spoke up. "I propose," he said, "that Percy be our disputation."

"What?" Percy asked. "I can't! Surely you can't be serious!"

"Shirley works on another railway, Percy," Fluttershy said.

"Besides," Henry said, "it's easy.

"That's settled then!" Gordon smiled, but Percy and Pinkie wished it wasn't.



"Hello Percy!" said Sir Toppham Hatt, from under several layers of winter clothing. "It sure is good to be back on the island again.

Percy was so startled he jumped backwards. "Yes sir! Please sir!" he cried, in shock.

"You look to be in shock," Sir Toppham Hatt said. "Please do tell me what is going on."

"Please sir! They've made me a desperation sir! To talk to you sir!"

"We had a suuuuper long conversation about the issue with the other engines and they all agreed we should talk to you about the problem!" Pinkie added, nearly running out of air in the process.

"Do you mean a Deputation, Percy?" Sir Toppham Hatt asked.

"Yes sir!" Percy exclaimed. "It's Donald and Douglas, sir, and their drivers Lyra and Bon-Bon! They say that if you send them away, sir, they'll be scrapped!"

Sir Toppham Hatt nodded. "I shall adress the issue," he said. And that he did. "All right, everyone," he told the engines. "I had a deputation earlier today, but I do not approve of intereference. Donald and Douglas, I hear that both you and your drivers worked well in the snow. I shall give you both a new coat of paint. What shall that be?"

"Perth blue, if ye widnae mind," Donald said.

"And your names will be painted on you as well," Sir Toppham Hatt added. "Not only that, the names of your drivers shall be written inside your cabs. We'll have no more mistakes."

"Does this mean?" Douglas asked.

Sir Toppham Hatt smiled. "It means..."

Just then, his words were drowned out by a chorus of whistles and strains of the Hallelujah chorus. For the twins, and their drivers, were here to stay.

Author's Note:

Did anybody spot the wtlnetwork reference?

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