Thomas and Friends: the New Adventures

by The Blue EM2

The VIP

The day begins early on the railway. Stations to clean, tickets to sell, ashpits to clean out, all the necessary and proper jobs required in running a railway. The sun had just opened his tired eye upon the world as Twilight and her friends beavered about at Tidmouth sheds, getting the engines ready for the day.

"Ugh, it's so early!" Rainbow Dash complained, as she lit Gordon's fire. "Good thing I'm not needed until later."

"Ah'm always up at 5 in the mornin' without fail," Applejack explained.

"Good heavens, that's a bit early, isn't it?" Edward asked. "My first train to Brendam isn't until 10 or so."

"It's just how mah body clock works, that's all."

"I could scarcely imagine getting up at that time," Rarity sighed. "But being really useful does rather take its toll on you. I've asked Miss Pommel to take care of the shop for me. Sweetie Belle's already down at Arlesburgh, waking Stepney up."

"And I'm always splendid!" James proclaimed. "So that's that! The passengers will be pleased to see a shiny red engine on the front of their trains."

"You did stock up on bootlaces and newspaper, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. The entire shed erupted into laughter as Rarity and James tried to hide from view.

Suddenly, a car pulled up outside Tidmouth Sheds, and Sir Toppham Hatt stepped onto a pile of massive LEGO bricks. He then began to address the engines. "Good morning everyone!" he called. "Now then, I want all of you to be on your very best behaviour. Network Rail is giving us a formal inspection, and they are not only seeing how we perform, they are also examining the quality of our facilities and the state of the track. So go easy on the rails. They are sending two VIPs."

"What's a VIP?" asked Percy.

"A VIP is a Very Important Person," Gordon explained. "I presume these two VIPs are employees of the Department of Transport."

"Two of their track inspection officers, nontheless," Sir Toppham Hatt said.

"I suppose you want me to collect them," Gordon offered.

"There's no need. They're coming on their own train, the Flying Banana."

"WHAT?" Gordon exclaimed.

"How is a banana flying?" Pinkie asked. "That's almost as ridiculous as there being a portal in a magical high school that connects to a pony world where we all have doubles of ourselves!"

Henry looked over in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"That does sound like the plot of a film," Fluttershy admitted.

---

Meanwhile, a High Speed Train set departed from Vicarstown. It was five coaches long, and had two power cars at either end, both smiling as they rolled along. It was also painted completely yellow, and had the Network Rail logo on the side, along with the text Improving your Railway.

This is the New Measurement Train, or the Flying Banana due to its yellow colour scheme. Inside, workers and track crew were reading data off of computer screens and monitors. Overseeing it all was a woman in her fourties with very light pink skin and hair in blue, turquoise, pink, and green strands. She had purple eyes, and wore purple suit trousers, a pair of golden heels, a white shirt with a purple stripe along the centre, and a golden jacket with an emblem of the sun on it. This was Miss Celestia, the head of the New Measurement Team.

"Good work, everyone!" she said. "The track is in superb condition so far." She then walked forward to the lead power car and opened the access door, donning ear defenders to protect her ears from the deafening sound of the MTU engine. She reached the door, opened it, and stepped into the cab, where another woman was sat at the controls.

This woman wore a purple formal shirt with a white collar, into which was set an image of a crescent moon. She also wore a dark blue belt with a silver buckle, dark blue pants, a pair of white heels with pink trim, and she also had light blue skin, hair in two contrasting shades of blue, one darker than the other, and light blue eyes. This was Miss Luna, the driver of the Flying Banana, and Celestia's younger sister.

"How's it going?" Celestia called.

"We should be in Knapford relatively soon," Luna replied. "This island isn't that large. We'll have covered all of it by tomorrow, I think."

"Remember, doing the job accurately is more important than doing it fast."

"Of course." The line was clear ahead as the Flying Banana flew past Edward coming off a connecting line. Unfortunately, the signalman at Wellsworth was inexperienced, and had not been told of the Flying Banana's prescence. Thinking the next train would be Edward bound for Brendam, he had set the points appropriately, and was rather confused when a long yellow thing approached.

The AWS beeped in the cab as Luna cancelled the request. "What's going on? Why are we being routed off the main line?"

The Flying Banana slowed to take the branch, and rolled onto it. Celestia facepalmed. "And the railway was looking so good too. Amateurs."

After a long, protracted journey, the Flying Banana came to a stop in the China Clay Pits. Celestia got out to try and figure out where they were.

"Good afternoon!" said Derek. "I've never seen your train here before. Is it new?"

"We were meant to be going to Knapford, but got sent onto the wrong line," Celestia replied, already looking a bit annoyed. "Oh well. We might as well monitor the track whilst we're here."

---

The Flying Banana finally got to Knapford four hours late. Sir Toppham Hatt was there to greet them. "Good afternoon!" he said. "Welcome to Knapford, I hope you had a pleasant journey."

Celestia nodded. "Sort of. The track is in good condition from what we've done so far, but your signalman could do with some training on where trains are meant to be routed? The NMT got routed onto a freight working which I think was meant for another engine."

"Oh," said Sir Toppham Hatt. "Well, I am sorry. Are you planning on staying?"

"We need to inspect everything to ensure it is up to scratch," Luna replied. "Starting with the tea shop. My sister and I could do with a cup of tea after all that, and the Flying Banana lacks a catering coach."

"We'd happily pull another coach!" said one of the power cars.

---

So, the two sisters went about inspecting everything. The stations, the tea shops (cake sales were through the roof), and all the operational aspects. Every point, every signal box, every signal, all was inspected. Even operations were monitored, but this had disastrous consequences. The engines were under such pressure to perform well that they began to make mistakes. It all started when James undershot the platform at Wellsworth station and had to pull forward in order to get all the coaches in.

"What happened there?" James asked.

"Clearly the brake handle was applied too harshly and too early," Rarity replied. "I daresay this won't look too good on the record."

"Yeah, try stopping in the platform next time," Rainbow Dash suggested from Gordon's footplate.

"Says the engine whose coaches aren't even in the platform," James replied.

Meanwhile, on the Arlesburgh Branch, a jammed switch resulted in a faulty signal report. A notice had been put out to treat the signal as red, but Apple Bloom hadn't noticed this and went through it anyway, desparate to make up lost time. Duck thundered along, until he saw Oliver approaching! Apple Bloom slammed on his brakes, and brought him to a stop seconds before a crash occurred.

"Watch where you're going!" Scootaloo shouted. "You nearly caused an accident!"

"The points were set fer us!" Apple Bloom replied. "Not fer you."

"I had a green signal."

"No ya didn't, we did."

"Did."

"Didn't."

"DID!"

"DIDN'T!"

"Why did you even come onto the line? There's a warning notice about that signal being faulty!" Oliver said.

"There are two ways of doing things, Oliver, the-"

"I'm Great Western too, in case you've forgotten. And going through faulty signals without stopping is most certainly the wrong way!"

"Is it now? You had the-"

"Just stop fighting!" Stepney said, as he moved out of the yard. "Duck, back up to the signal and let Oliver on his way. Then you can come onto the track."

"Besides," Sweetie Belle said, "we're gonna be in a lot of trouble when word of this gets out."

All across the island, things were going wrong. Thomas was being refilled at the coaling plant, but stopped short of the loading point, resulting in Twilight being covered in coal. "Hey!" she shouted. "The coal is meant to go in the bunker, then the firebox, not straight from the chute into the firebox!"

"Oops."

---

That evening, Miss Celestia was not impressed. "Sir Toppham Hatt, your railway is a complete and utter shambles. Inadequate provision for interlocking, trains constantly stopping in the wrong places-"

"Not to mention the SPAD violation we had on the Arlesburgh line," Luna added, "which almost resulted in a head on collision."

"I am seriously considering advising the government to strip the North Western Railway of the franchise," Celestia finished.

The engines gasped in horror. "You can't do that!" Thomas exclaimed.

"What'd happen to Sir Toppham Hatt?" Rarity exclaimed. "Why, he'd be out of a job and homeless!"

"Miss Celestia, please reconsider!" Duck asked. "Don't punish Sir Toppham Hatt for our mistakes! We were so stressed and trying to do our best that we couldn't concentrate properly!"

"And that near miss were mah fault," Apple Bloom said quietly.

Celestia's face softened. "I understand. However, I feel my inspection wasn't quite complete. There were still two tearooms to do, weren't there, Luna?"

"Yes, there were!" Luna replied. "To which end, we shall stay another day, and see the railway as it is meant to be run."

The next day, the engines and their drivers worked very hard to keep the railway running properly, as a proper railway should. That evening, Miss Celestia gave the North Western Railway a clean bill of health, and everybody agreed that the engines of Sodor were really useful engines.

Author's Note:

This story is loosely based on Spencer's VIP, an episode of the 18th season. However, I have made some adjustments to bring the story in line with plausibility, as most of the nonsense that occurs in the episode would be avoided if the railway had Automatic Warning System correctly installed...

Comments

[JimmyHook19]

The Flying Banana

Excuse me for a sec.

-steps outside and bursts out laughing- BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD XD XD

-comes back and is still laughing- that's a very funny train name. :3

[Banshee531]

Wondered when those two were gonna show up. Bit of a weird episode, but I can dig it.

[KRMebius]

Celestia and luna are Railway inspectors ... yikes at least they're finally in the story

[The Blue EM2]

10247383
rickinghamphotography.co.uk/gallery3/var/albums/Railway/Class-43-HST/New-Measurement-Train-NMT/IMG_3722.jpg?m=1504382704

[The Blue EM2]

10247385

10247390
Thanks.

[The Blue EM2]

10247729
I thought the job would suit them. Besides, them taking the roles of Mr Conductor and Junior was previously done by Gold Dust and Harmony, so I could hardly use them there.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"It's just how mah body clock works, that's all."

Same, these days my body is telling me to wake up at 7am as that's the time I normally get up each morning.

"You did stock up on bootlaces and newspaper, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. The entire shed erupted into laughter as Rarity and James tried to hide from view.

Lmao!!! 🤣

Suddenly, a car pulled up outside Tidmouth Sheds, and Sir Toppham Hatt stepped onto a pile of massive LEGO bricks. He then began to address the engines. "Good morning everyone!" he called. "Now then, I want all of you to be on your very best behaviour. Network Rail is giving us a formal inspection, and they are not only seeing how we perform, they are also examining the quality of our facilities and the state of the track. So go easy on the rails. They are sending two VIPs."

Again with the Legos.

"There's no need. They're coming on their own train, the Flying Banana."

Seriously, all of the names of a train, why flying banana.

"How is a banana flying?" Pinkie asked. "That's almost as ridiculous as there being a portal in a magical high school that connects to a pony world where we all have doubles of ourselves!"

And just when I thought things weren't gonna get weirder. Thx Pinkie.

This is the New Measurement Train, or the Flying Banana due to its yellow colour scheme. Inside, workers and track crew were reading data off of computer screens and monitors. Overseeing it all was a woman in her fourties with very light pink skin and hair in blue, turquoise, pink, and green strands. She had purple eyes, and wore purple suit trousers, a pair of golden heels, a white shirt with a purple stripe along the centre, and a golden jacket with an emblem of the sun on it. This was Miss Celestia, the head of the New Measurement Team.

https://m.

"I'm Great Western too, in case you've forgotten. And going through faulty signals without stopping is most certainly the wrong way!"

Indeed. 😠

All across the island, things were going wrong. Thomas was being refilled at the coaling plant, but stopped short of the loading point, resulting in Twilight being covered in coal. "Hey!" she shouted. "The coal is meant to go in the bunker, then the firebox, not straight from the chute into the firebox!"

The next day, the engines and their drivers worked very hard to keep the railway running properly, as a proper railway should. That evening, Miss Celestia gave the North Western Railway a clean bill of health, and everybody agreed that the engines of Sodor were really useful engines.

That was too close. 😓