Thomas and Friends: a New Generation

by The Blue EM2

Chapter 3-Ambitious but Rubbish

Sunny made her way up into the harbour, skating along as best she could despite the rush of people hurrying in the other direction. The mass of people was like a reservoir emptying out before her, flowing as far away as they could from whatever this 'monster' was.

"Sunny, are you crazy?" shouted somebody else. "Go the other way and avoid that thing! It's a sight so horrendous that it cannot be described!"

Sunny decided to ignore him, and continued to the station. The main rule of trying to find something people were scared of was to follow the screaming and work back from there. And the epicentre of the screaming was the railway station. She jumped up the steps and onto the platform, coolly rolling past the booking office and under the canopy of Falmouth Docks, where she stopped to remove her roller blades.

Sitting in the platform was something indeed. Sunny's eyes went wide when she saw it.

It was a small, squat, black tank engine. It had short, angular side tanks, sat upon the tops of the frames. These ran about as far as the dome atop the large boiler. The bufferbeams hung down at the front and back of the engine, and a complex mess of pipework ran up and down the boiler.

On top of the wheels sat a pair of squat outside cylinders, and behind them was a complex mix of valve gear for forward and backward travel. The engine was certainly not one intended to operate at speed at all. It was also painted black, with a strange emblem on the tanks. It looked like a ferret standing upright that was holding a wheel, standing atop a crown.

But this wasn't the most notable feature of the engine.

The engine had a face.

Sunny looked at it. The engine looked at her. And then the engine said something.

"This doesn't look like the right place, Izzy."

Seconds later there was movement in the cab, and moments after the movement started a person stuck her head out of the cab.

"Hmmm," she said. "I knew we should have taken that left turn at Newton Abbot!"

She hopped out of the cab and landed on the platform with a thud. She was about Sunny's height, with purplish pink skin and intense eyes, of a pinkish or purplish shade. Her hair was varying shades of blue and hung in messy curls down her back and a series of awkward bangs on her forehead. There was a small thing in her hair, and she was currently wearing a blue boilersuit.

Seconds later she noticed Sunny standing there, gawping. The girl then bounded over. "Hi new friend! My name's Izzy!"

Before Sunny could react, the girl took her arm and started shaking it so hard it nearly came off.

"Err, hi!" Sunny replied, trying to disengage contact. "What brings you two to Falmouth?"

The tank engine looked over. "Great. We're seriously lost, aren't we?"

Izzy nodded. "Yep. I'm Izzy, and this is Porter!"

"Although 'Mrs Sense of Direction' might be more appropriate," 'Porter' grumbled.

"Miss. I'm not married." Izzy turned her attention back to Sunny. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sunny," Sunny replied.

Izzy squee'd. "That's a lovely name! I know we'll get along just fine!" She began hopping up and down on the spot.

"That's pretty normal for her," Porter noted.

Suddenly, the attention of all three was drawn by a noise from the platform. A large mob of people had started to assemble, with none other than Phyllis Cloverleaf at the helm. They looked very cross.

"There it is!" said somebody, a voice that Sunny recognised as one of the people who had fled. "There's the monster!"

Phyllis straightened her jacket. "I want all three of you to come quietly. You are under arrest."

Sunny said one word in response. "RUN!"

Izzy and Sunny leaped onto the footplate. Izzy frantically wound Porter's reverser to full reverse and released his brakes, starting to back out of the station. Porter's wheels spun with the amount of force acquired, whilst Sunny hung out of the side of the cab, spotting a switch up ahead.

"Run for that switch! Full steam ahead!"

Izzy nodded, keeping Porter's steam up and Sunny jumped off. She sprinted to the switch and changed it, the points creaking as they shifted to the other track. Porter thundered over and they rolled down the hill, Sunny having jumped on in the meantime.

"Where does this go?" Izzy asked.

"Down into the docks! There's a route we can take to get out of here!" Sunny replied.

Porter came to a stop in the siding at the bottom to let Sunny change the switches again, before she rejoined the footplate as Porter surged forward.

"Slight problem up ahead!" Porter said. "People are moving some trucks into our way!"

"Don't slow down!" Sunny called. "If you slow down, they'll get an opening!"

Izzy kept Porter's regulator full open as he rumbled along at twenty miles an hour. This might not seem fast, but on the trackwork of the dockyard it was perilously fast. He collided with the trucks, which rolled into a series of sidings, the points bending under their movement and crashing into the buffers.

Porter seemed pleased with the results. "I AM A SHUNTING GOD!"

As they steamed round a bend, Izzy took something out of her pocket and offered it to Sunny. "Cornish Pasty?"

"Why are you offering me a Cornish Pasty?" Sunny asked. "Haven't we got bigger things to worry about?"

"I just figured that, as a Cornish person, you might want one."

Sunny facepalmed. "Cornish people eat other things, you know!"

Izzy saw this was high time to change the subject. "So, why are all these people chasing us anyway? Seems an odd thing to do."

"They're terrified!" Sunny replied. "They've never seen a Non-Faceless Vehicle before, and are simply scared. If we stop, they may arrest us and try to destroy Porter. So keep moving!"

Izzy sighed. "That's rude."

Porter rattled through a loop, meaning he was now going the other way. Police cars raced down the dockside in an effort to run down the tank engine. "Look, the rozzers are here!"

"Rozzers?" Sunny asked.

"Means policeman. Don't you southerners speak English?"

Porter rejoined the main alignment and was heading forward. Sunny spotted the next switch and got down to set it, throwing the lever just in time as the tank engine rumbled into another switchback.

Porter backed into the next siding, in readiness for switching directions again, but he was momentarily distracted, as was Izzy.

"Look over there. They have cinemas here."

Izzy looked delighted. "I've been wanting to see that!"

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed from down below, and Porter came to an abrupt stop. Izzy applied more regulator, but it seemed to be having no effect. "Why aren't we moving?"

Sunny ran over. "Wheel clamp securing the rear wheels in place!" she called back.

Several members of the CCF sprinted into position and Hitch drove down on a quadbike, stopping it and getting into position. "Ladies and gentlemen, calm down!" he said. "The problem is over! The issue is dealt with. Now if you could step back and let the professionals handle this."

Sunny looked up to Izzy. "Wait for my signal. Keep a hand on the regulator and another on the brakes."

"I only have two hands, so that rather limits me," Izzy replied.

Hitch looked to Sunny, who was stepping closer to the button meant to release the clamp. "No."

Sunny stepped closer.

Hitch began to walk towards her. "Now now, let's not do anything stupid, shall we?"

Sunny began to lift her foot.

"No. Don't you dare."

Sunny gave him a glare that would melt a glacier. Hitch, however, didn't yield.

"Sunny, I'm warning you. Don't do something stupid!"

Sunny smiled. "Oh yeah. Stupid this."

She stomped down on the button, which released the clamp.

"NOW!"

Izzy advanced Porter's regulator to full and released his brakes. Sunny jumped on as the tank engine shot forward like a bullet, straight towards the cars that were blocking the line in front of them. Anybody but a teenager could see the gap was too narrow for them to fit through.

Unfortunately for everybody involved, Izzy was a teenager. Porter slammed into the cars and sent them flying, crashing to the side as the tank engine rolled down the next hill.

"Ooh, pretty," Porter commented. "There's a nice lighthouse up ahead that the tracks lead to."

"That's my house," Sunny said. "We can stable you in the siding outside and hopefully you can stay safe there. Sorry for such a hectic first day around Falmouth."

"Oh, so that's what this town is called!" Izzy said. "Has a nice ring to it. At least that doesn't get perpetually mispronounced, unlike some of the places where I'm from."

Izzy brought Porter to a stop and applied his brakes, leaving him sitting inside a small shed. Sunny got off the footplate first and retrieved her keys, ready to head into her house.

Author's Note:

For those who were expecting the engine to be Thomas, sorry to disappoint you. Instead, we get my interpretation of the character of Porter, who in this continuity is a Fowler 2F Dock Tank.

Porter's personality and mannerisms are modelled on British motorsports presenter Richard Hammond, or rather the persona he used during his time on the BBC TV Series Top Gear between 2002 and 2015.

Izzy Moonbow's appearance is based on this piece of fanart.

What do you guys think will happen next? Let me know in the comments!

Comments

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

You chose a good engine to use for Porter. And boy, what a crazy chase sequence!

"Hmmm," she said. "I knew we should have taken that left turn at Newton Abbot!"

Bugs Bunny reference anyone?

Izzy nodded, keeping Porter's steam up and Sunny jumped off. She sprinted to the switch and changed it, the points creaking as they shifted to the other track. Porter thundered over and they rolled down the hill, Sunny having jumped on in the meantime.

Wasn't Sunny wearing roller blades before?

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Izzy nodded. "Yep. I'm Izzy, and this is Porter!"

Huh, wasn't expecting Porter would be the first Thomas character we'd encounter, but I'll take it.

Oh wait, this isn't the porter from T&F I know!

"Although 'Mrs Sense of Direction' might me more appropriate," 'Porter' grumbled.

be*

"There it is!" said somebody, a voice that Sunny recognised as one of the people who had fled. "There's the monster!"

Trains are not monsters.

Porter seemed pleased with the results. "I AM A SHUNTING GOD!"

Lol

Sunny facepalmed. "Cornish people eat other things, you know!"

Ok?

"They're terrified!" Sunny replied. "They've never seen a Non-Faceless Vehicle before, and are simply scared. If we stop, they may arrest us and try to destroy Porter. So keep moving!"

Makes no sense why they should be afraid if they're harmless.

"Means policeman. Don't you southerners speak English?"

Never heard rozzers in my life.

[The Blue EM2]

11417454
1. That is indeed correct.

2. I've added some text to fix that plot hole. Thanks for spotting that.

[The Blue EM2]

11417504
1. Thanks for spotting that.

2. Top Gear references for the win.

3. That's a nod to common cultural stereotyping in the UK.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11417912
Not a problem.

[TheSodorRailways]

Well, what if Season 13-16 were part of the Brenner era?

[TwilightSparkleStudios]

TBH, I didn't expect to see Porter, as this universe seems to be more realistic, and Porter isn't a British engine, but after reading the author's notes, I feel more relieved, as Porter's original American basis was changed to a British basis.

[The Blue EM2]

11417926
Indeed.

[The Blue EM2]

11417961
That'd be different.

[The Blue EM2]

11418347
Apart from merch, I'll admit I have no clue why non-UK engines or non-prototypical locos started turning up on Sodor. I'd excuse S100s and S160s, as those actually operated in the UK and were built to British loading guage, but there's no excuse for K4s or the two streamliners to turn up.