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Opening Titles286 words
Welcome to Sodor1,933 words
Old Friends, New Foes2,430 words
Autumn Arrives1,652 words
The Siege of Tidmouth2,599 words
Some Help Please?2,446 words
Revelations of the Past1,412 words
The Plot Thickens1,807 words
Dawn of the Sunset2,433 words
Into the Buffers2,162 words
Friendship is Magic1,469 words
Closing Credits283 words

Welcome to Sodor

It's the hero of our story, Thomas! Hello Thomas! Pulling his coaches, Annie and Clarabel!

"Peep peep! Hello!"

And his driver, too, Twilight Sparkle.

"Good morning, everybody! Welcome to the Island of Sodor!"

Indeed. Regular readers will know that Thomas and his friends live on the Island of Sodor, which sits off the coast of England near Barrow in Furness, and occupies a space of sea next to the Isle of Man. Over the last few months, Thomas and his Friends have had many adventures indeed, and the Island's population has increased dramatically, with many new engines and people coming to live there. There truly is no place like Sodor, and if you have the imagination that I think you do, I think you'll see why.

Knapford Station was the hive of activity it has always been, with trains constantly bustling in and out with passengers and trucks. On the far side of the station, Duck set off with a goods train for Arlesburgh West, whilst James headed away for Crovan's Gate with a stopping train, stating something about always needing to be the favourite.

On platform one sat Gordon. He was looking over at the clock, and he seemed very bored indeed. His driver, Rainbow Dash, looked equally bored, and was constantly checking her watch.

"Honestly Dash," Gordon grumbled, "how does Thomas expect me to run the main line express service if he is constantly running late? If he is late, I am late. If I am late, the passengers complain. And I dread to think what will happen if the passengers complain."

"And then they try First Group trains at Barrow," Rainbow Dash added. "Still, being put on goods work due to a late running train hardly sounds fun, if you remember that time we got stuck on the hill and needed to be rescued by Edward."

"I remember that very well, you know," Edward smiled, as he puffed through with some trucks. "I must say, the trucks are behaving much better than they usually do."

"Mornin' Sugarcubes!" Applejack greeted both Gordon and Rainbow Dash. "Boy is it a fine day."

Mercifully, neither of them saw Gordon's red face, and once they were gone, he looked straight back to the station clock. Not sure whether to be embarrassed or annoyed, he settled on the latter, and started counting as the clock struck 10. "3, 4, 5, 6,..."

"7, 8, who do we appreciate?" Thomas said, as he pulled into the platform next to Gordon. "Practicing your numbers, Gordon? That's a good engine."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "I'm counting how many seconds you are late, Thomas. Tell me, what does that sign over there say?" He drew attention to a large poster, which showed a stylised depiction of a steam engine at full tilt, drawn in an art deco style with some quite prominent text on it.

Thomas began to read. "The North Western Railway; really reliable and right on time. Signed; the Managing Director of the North Western Railway Company PLC, Sir Toppham Hatt."

Gordon let out a breath. "Good heavens, I thought you were going to call him the other name."

"The Fat Controller?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"OI!" shouted a voice from a nearby office. "That's Sir Toppham Hatt to you!"

Rainbow, looking noticably chastened, backed away onto the footplate. Thomas, however, continued speaking. "The sign also says 'sorry for any inconveniences during repairs. We are working to make the North Western Railway a better railway'." A quick look around the yard would have revealed that the ballast and buffers in the yard were being repaired, and this was a crucial task for the next few days. "So, Gordon, it is OK to be a few minutes late."

"And it's not as if we could help it, either," Twilight added. "There was a cow on the line and it needed shooing."

"You should have just asked Daisy to do it," Gordon replied. "She's the expert. Luckily, I'm not off for a few more minutes, so there was some leeway for your passengers, but I'm telling you that these delays must stop. It's bad for the railway's image."

"You think it's bad here?" Thomas asked. "Why don't you try Southern Rail, or one of the other train operating companies on the mainland? Our trains may run late sometimes-"

"An interesting choice of words," Gordon interrupted.

"-But at least we don't cancel every single train and leave commuters stranded when one snowflake is forecast on the other side of the planet." Thomas glanced about again, and got ready to go. "Now, if you'll excuse me Gordon, I have been asked by Sir Toppham Hatt to collect the woman who will be caring for us Sir Toppham Hatt goes on a much deserved holiday. He's been working so hard over the past year he's never had a chance to catch a break!"

Gordon snorted. "I think we can look after ourselves. Surely it's not that hard to write a timetable?"

At that moment, a loud roaring noise started up behind them, and a diesel suddenly shot through heading towards Vicarstown, flying past on the centre through track. "OUT OF MY WAY!" the diesel bellowed, and roared into the distance, his engine spewing smoke and growling like a tiger.

Rainbow Dash coughed and spluttered at the sheer amount of black smoke produced. "Bleugh! That was worse than one of Trixie's smoke bombs! You know, the ones she uses when she tries and fails to disappear?"

Gordon looked about, perplexed. "What was that, even? I've never seen a diesel like that before. The sound he made reminds me of Bear somewhat, but surely that wasn't him?"

"It was a Western Hydraulic," Twilight old him, "but I didn't catch the name or number. I also didn't know they ran them in sandstorm livery, either!"

"I don't know about you, but he didn't seem very nice," Thomas said. "We need to be careful. I believe you have priority on the line?"

Just then, the signal dropped, and Rainbow Dash sounded Gordon's whistle. The big engine pulled away with a wheesh and a roar. "Goodbye Thomas, and good luck. Maybe we need someone to help us after all."

Moments later, Thomas set off for his destination, to find the mystery woman.

Many miles away, back on the mainland, is a city called Ruddington, which itself is a suburb of the city of Nottingham, itself a fine and mighty city. Usually associated with the legends of Robin Hood and the band of Merry Men, Nottingham had a rich industrial and railway history, once having boasted a labrynthian maze of railway lines and sidings, as well as no less than TWO main lines. However, today, only one of these main lines remained, the Midland, the Great Central having closed many years ago.

However, those who had remembered the Great Central had not sat idle, and in the fifty odd years since the London Extension had closed, a group of volunteers had worked hard to rebuild the former Great Central line from Ruddington. They had got as far as Loughborough viaduct, where they were currently working to connect with the other Great Central Railway, who frustratingly were less than a mile away on the other side of the Midland, needing bridges and cuttings to reconnect with their southerly neighbours. Never had the saying 'so near and yet so far' seemed so apt.

Ruddington Fields is the headquarters of the northern end of the Great Central Railway, and is a wonderfully kept depot and station, with a ticket office, a nicely kept cafe, engine sheds to visit and explore, not one but TWO miniature railways, and did I forget to mention that they provide train rides every weekend, with four departures a day?

It is here we meet a new character, and boy is she quite the force of nature. This woman has cream skin, wild red hair that cascades in every possible direction, amber eyes, and she wears a green short sleeves shirt with a darker green skirt, as well as grey socks and black shoes. Her name is April Bradford, but many people refer to her as Autumn Blaze, due to the force of her personality, and the fact she is well, a bit... batty.

Many people know her, and she loves helping people. She never expects (or even wants) any reward for what she does, which is why she volunteers at the Great Central, as she can help lots of people. She does whatever they need doing, being it driving the trains, being the guard, selling the tickets, or sometimes even cooking in the cafe! However, she is often so busy that when people try to thank her, she has already vanished off to her next task!

Meanwhile, in a suburb of North London, a young woman, who couldn't have been more than fifteen, sat outside an apartment block whilst more trains rattled past. These train, however, did not have faces, and did not seem to be alive. This young girl had mild amber skin and piercing blue eyes, as well as hair that seemed to be red and yellow in separated strands. She wore a light blue dress with a short yellow skirt that dropped partway down her legs, and light blue leggings which terminated in a pair of grey boots with an orange chevron on the front plate.

Her name is Sally, but almost everybody referred to her as Sunset Shimmer. She had lived in urban environments for her entire life, having lived with her aunt, Stellar Flare, for many years as her parents were too busy, it seemed.

"Sunset!" called Stellar, a woman with light amber skin and dark red hair, as usual dressed in a business suit. Her line of work was in town planning, and she was solely interested in pulling down the old and embracing the new architecture of the world. This caused her to clash often with Firelight, a fellow planner who supported conservation. "Sunset! You need to pack!"

Sunset shrugged, and stepped indoors as the rain began to fall. She started throwing random clothes into her suitcase, as well as filling her rucksack with more random items. She looked back at Stellar. "Why do I have to go away? I'm going to be leaving all my friends behind and going to a place I don't know!"

Stellar sighed, and rubbed Sunset's hair. "Sunset, we both know it was only meant to be temporary. Nothing lasts forever, and with the demands of my work, Sunspot and I can't care for both you and Sunburst. Your parents are lovely people; I'm certain you'll get on fine."

"Yeah, but not lovely enough to actually look after me," Sunset grunted, and lay back on the bedpost. "Why did they send me away? Nobody's ever explained that!"

Stellar sighed, again, and went and got an old photograph, which showed three people; two boys, and one girl. It was in black and white, and so was hard to make out, but nontheless she began to explain. "The two people in the centre, the ones holding hands, are your parents. This was taken at their Prom in Nottingham in the eighties. Apparently they made a stunning couple, but the other person there got jealous and tried to wreck it. Later on, he took something that was very precious to your father, Sunset, and destroyed it. I don't know what, and he's never really said either."

"Maybe I'll find out there," Sunset sighed, and looked out of the window as the rain continued to splatter down on the ground.

Author's Note:

Hello everybody, and welcome. This is my adaptation of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, based quite heavily on the May 1999 draft of the script (the one that should have made it to screen). However, I will be very careful to avoid this turning into a rewrite of Gold Dust and Harmony.

See you tomorrow!

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JimmyHook19

JimmyHook19 #1 · Apr 19th, 2020 · · ·

Sunset shrugged, and stepped indoors as the rain began to fall.

What are the odds though: It's actually raining for me right now as well! :D

SonicStreak5344

SonicStreak5344 #2 · Apr 19th, 2020 · · ·

It will span to the US.

Split Scimitar

Split Scimitar #3 · Apr 19th, 2020 · · ·

On the 2-year anniversary of when I joined the fandom! Legend! Thank you.

Nova Blaze

Nova Blaze #4 · Apr 19th, 2020 · · ·

Well now, isn't this interesting. And calling it now, Celestia is standing in for Mr. Conductor and Luna is standing on for Junior, and Discord is with Diesel 10.

Sudrian Engineer

Sudrian Engineer #5 · Apr 20th, 2020 · · ·

So, correct me if I am wrong, but Sunset is taking the place of Lily?

Comment posted by KRMebius deleted Apr 20th, 2020

KRMebius

KRMebius #7 · Apr 20th, 2020 · · ·

At that moment, a loud roaring noise started up behind them, and a diesel suddenly shot through heading towards Vicarstown, flying past on the centre through track. "OUT OF MY WAY!" the diesel bellowed, and roared into the distance, his engine spewing smoke and growling like a tiger.

Gordon: " Shake and rattle scared out of his mind" diesel 10 is back!! Dude you cut that out aww why?!

Even Evil Has Standards