Equestria Girls: The Railway Stories

by friggin normie

Edward Helps Out

Author's Note:

Before we get started, I want to give a quick shoutout to The Blue EM2. Without his story, Thomas and Friends: The Retold Adventures, I wouldn't have written this. Speaking of which, if this story ends up being a little too similar to that one, please tell me. The last thing I want to do is rip off somebody else's work.

And before I forget, the human characters live by what I like to call 'anime biology.' They all retain their usual hair and eye colors but all have normal skin tones (I'll leave it up to interpretation as to who's what). With that being said, enjoy!

Far away on the Isle of Man is a little island called Sodor. Travelling to the island is like travelling to the past. Instead of the hustle and bustle of the big cities on the mainland, Sodor is full of cozy little villages. And instead of large railways run by high speed diesels, the island has a little steam railway known as the North Western. The railway is run by three tender engines: Henry, Gordon, and the focus of today's story, Edward.

Edward was the oldest among the three engines, as well as the smallest. He wasn't as big or as strong as his coworkers, and was often left in the sheds as a result.

"Driver won't choose you again," the other two would laugh. "They want big, strong engines like us!"

The old engine tried to ignore them, but weeks of their mockery had left him feeling hopeless.

One morning, as Gordon and Henry were being fired up, two women approached the shed. They were both dressed in the NWR's standard engine crew uniforms. The taller of the two had long, pale blonde hair, while the other had cherry red hair with a pink bow.

"Hello?" The taller of the two asked. "Is this Tidmouth Sheds?"

The three engines were confused. The woman had spoken with a Southern twang.

"Erm, yes," Edward answered unsteadily.

"Perfect!" The shorter one cheered. "Now, which one of y'all is Edward?"

"I am," the blue engine answered again. "But who are you two?"

"Yer new crew!" The taller one said again. "Mah name's Jackie. And this here's mah sister Abigail."

"But you can call us Applejack and Apple Bloom! Ah'm yer new fireman - well, firewoman, and mah sister's yer new driver!"

Edward grinned from buffer to buffer! Finally! After weeks of being shut up in the sheds, he was finally getting back to work. The old engine was so excited to be working again that he didn't hear Gordon and Henry's protests at being left behind.

---

Edward quickly shunted his coaches and headed for the platform.

"Oh Edward," the coaches tittered. "We're so pleased to be working with you again! Those big engines are far too rough with us!"

Apple Bloom was just as excited as her engine. "When do we get ta leave?" She asked for the umpteenth time. "Ah can't wait for everybody ta see us flyin' down the line!"

Her sister sighed. "We can leave as soon as the guard blows his whistle. But I ain't seen hide nor hair of him all mornin'."

"Oh well," Edward chuckled. "These things happen sometimes. Why don't we get to know each other better while we wait."

"Beats sittin' 'round here twiddlin' our thumbs," Apple Bloom groaned. "Ah bet yer wonderin' what two Americans are doin' here on yer island."

"The thought might have crossed my mind."

Applejack laughed. "Well, me an' Apple Bloom grew up on an apple farm back in the states. But It's been hit by a bad case of apple blight fer the past couple years."

"Oh dear."

"'Oh dear' is right! So me, Apple Bloom, an' our brother Mac moved out here, got our trainin' and joined the railway so we could send money home to help the family."

"But we coulda started work sooner if we had just fibbed and said ah was twenty instead of waitin'."

"And like ah said the last forty times ya said that, we don't lie in this family! 'Specially when it comes to work!"

Before the two could start a full blown argument, the guard came shouting and blowing his whistle.

"About time," Apple Bloom muttered. "Any longer an' we woulda been late!"

Edward said nothing and pulled out of the station as quickly as he could. Not even the fear of being late could ruin his good mood.

---

That evening at the shed, Edward spoke endlessly of his day out. Despite how much he teased the older engine, Henry was happy that Edward had gotten his time to shine. On the other buffer, Gordon couldn't stand it.

"I'm surprised you can be so cheerful," Gordon grunted. "I'd be worried about being late this morning if I were you. If anything, it proves just how slow and out of date you are."

Edward grinned cheekily. "What's wrong Gordon? Upset that none of the attention was on you today?"

"Don't be silly! An old engine like you could never take away from the sight of a grand engine like me! Just you wait, old timer. Tomorrow, everyone will see me flying down the line with the express. No one will notice you."

"Gordon?" Henry chuckled.

"What?"

"Edward fell asleep while you were talking."

And indeed the old engine had.

---

The next morning, Gordon was still boasting.

"Just wait until you see me flying down the line, Edward. Now that will be a splendid sight."

Edward paid him no mind, and left to go shunt in the yard.

The old engine had always enjoyed shunting. He would sneak up behind the trucks and give them a bump!

"Oh, oh, oh!" They would cry. "Whatever is happening?!"

Applejack and Apple Bloom didn't see the appeal, but were glad that Edward was enjoying himself.

Edward played until there were no more trucks and sat in a siding to rest. Not long after, he heard the loud of bellow of Gordon's whistle.

The big blue engine was scowling deeply. Instead of nice, shining coaches, he was hauling a long line of dirty trucks.

"A goods train, a goods train," he muttered. "The shame of it! Oh, the shame of it!"

Applejack laughed. "Well, shoot! An' here he said he was gonna fly down the line with the express!"

"Ah've seen snails go faster than he is!" Apple Bloom chuckled.

"He certainly showed me!" Edward joined in.

The three friends laughed until a signalman walked up.

"Gordon's stuck on the hill. Would you mind giving him a push?"

Apple Bloom giggled. "We're never lettin' him live this down, right?"

"Nope!"

---

When they arrived, Gordon was in the middle of an argument with his crew.

"I can't do it!" He puffed.

"Yes, you can!" His driver cried. She groaned and pulled at the ends of her rainbow colored hair.

"You're just not trying!" His fireman - er, firewoman - agreed.

"No, I can't! These silly trucks hold an engine back so. Now, if they were coaches..."

A shrill whistle blew in the distance.

"We're here to help!" Edward called.

"Edward?!" Gordon and his driver cried.

"Why couldn't they have gotten Henry?" The big engine groaned. "Edward's much too small to be of any use!"

"If he's banking us, we'll be here all day!"

The firewoman sighed and went to speak to Edward's crew.

"Sorry about Gordon. He can kind of be, well..."

"An ego-fueled nincompoop?" Apple Bloom offered.

"I was gonna say a jerk, but that works too. The name's Madeline, but you can call me Scootaloo."

"Apple Bloom. So, would ya mind gettin' them to reverse down the hill so we can get goin'?"

"No problem!"

---

Gordon begrudgingly reversed down the hill.

"It's no use, it's no use."

"Chin up, Gordon. We'll get you over the hill in no time!"

The big engine rolled his eyes as he felt the pressure grow on the back of his buffers.

"Honestly, you could at least help! I can't push the train and you at the same time!"

"It's no good," Gordon moaned as the train got moving. "We can't do it, we can't do it!"

"We can do it, we can do it!" Edward pushed and puffed with all his might.

Working hard, the snorting engines slowly made their way up the hill.

"We can do it, we will do it!"

And before Gordon knew it, he reached the top of the hill!

"I've done it! I've done it!" He cheered as he raced down the other side.

He had forgotten all about poor Edward, and the old engine was left puffing and wheezing as he tried to catch up. Soon, he reached to the goods yard and stopped at the water tower for a long drink.

"Ah can't believe that big blue show off left without even sayin' 'thank you'!" Applejack growled. "But we're mighty proud of ya, Eddie. Tonight, Ah'll get some brushes and repaint you ta look even grander than the other engines!"

Edward was too tired to reply, but gave her a grateful smile in return.

Comments

[The Blue EM2]

Before we get started, I want to give a quick shoutout to The Blue EM2. Without his story, Thomas and Friends: The Retold Adventures, I wouldn't have written this.

Aww, thank you.