The Slip Coaches
Twilight & Friends
A Thomas & Friends (The Railway Series) & Equestria Girls Crossover
Written by: ThomasZoey3000
Episode 15: The Slip Coaches
Based on the Season 18 Episode "Duck and the Slip Coaches"
Rolling up into the station parking lot of Tidmouth, Sunset Shimmer removed her helmet and looked around at the building. It only seemed like yesterday she was here and planting fire crackers, which turned into a big disaster that nearly destroyed the station. She still felt guilt for the things she did on that day, but by now, the residents of Sodor had forgiven her and many now called her their friend.
With helmet in hand, she walked up to the station and walked over to the ticket booth.
"One adult to Alresdale please," she asked. The person at the booth nodded and produced a ticket. Sunset payed for it, then went over to Platform 4, the very platform her train would be arriving at. As she walked over, she found Rainbow Dash there.
"Hey Dash, what brings you out here?"
"I'm meeting up with Scoots today. She wants to learn some cool tricks on her scooter, and having ridden one when I was a little girl, I decided to teach her." She gave off a scowl though when she saw the engine at the front of the train coming in, "though I wish we weren't travelling with Duck."
Sunset smirked. She knew all too well that Duck and Rainbow Dash were indeed friends, but pretended she didn't know.
As the train stopped, they climbed into Mirabel, one of the Auto Coaches on the train. A few minutes later, the guard's whistle blew and the train pulled out of the station.
"Why are you heading down to Alresdale Sunset?" Rainbow asked. "I thought you'd be at home relaxing."
"I did that over the weekend, but now it's gotten so boring that I couldn't take it anymore," she answered. "So I decided to go for a ride on the Small Railway, plus I heard Jock's back in action, so it'd be good to see that new-built engine again. Plus," she added, "it'll give a chance to not hear Applejack or Twilight grumbling about Thomas."
"Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten about that."
"Well for today, let's do forget about that and just enjoy the day."
On that note, Rainbow Dash happily agreed.
Over half an hour later, the train pulled up to the platform that stood close to the Small Railway. Rainbow Dash walked further back from the other passengers, grumbling about Duck as usual, but unknown to them, she gave him a thumbs up. Duck smirked and gave a quick wink back at her.
Today, the Small Railway was hosting a special family day event with all the engines running, including a happy Jock, another tender engine in a unique yellow. There was also a clown, the Refreshment Lady's stand, a face painting area and a band was playing for the crowd. As she looked to the band, Sunset thought she knew one of the band members.
"That's Flash Sentry," she said to Rainbow Dash.
"Oh yeah, wasn't he your old boyfriend a few years back?"
Sunset sighed and nodded. It was true that the blue haired boy was indeed her boyfriend from a few years ago, but she had always been mean to him and even forced him on some of her adventures, which mostly involved painting graffiti on buildings and smashing out windows of old abandoned buildings. He dumped her just two months before the big event at Tidmouth Station, and ever since, they hadn't spoken to each other.
When the music ended, the crowds cheered before heading off to tend to other events.
"That was totally awesome dude," smiled one of the band members. He smirked as he looked, "I think one has her eyes on you."
Flash looked and gasped, "Sunset?"
"Oh, hi Flash."
She walked up to the stage as he walked to the ledge, "gosh I haven't seen you in a long time. Look at you, you've really grown, and you look different. I like it."
"Thanks." She looked down unhappily. "Listen Flash, about years ago..."
But Flash held up his hand to stop her, "it's alright, I hold no grudge against you. Plus I've been hearing about how you've worked so hard to make up for best mistakes, so how about we just forget about the past and be friends again?"
He held out his hand towards her. Sunset smiled and shook his hand back.
"I'd like that Flash, really I would. I just wish there was something I could do to make up for my behavior to you." A thought suddenly came to her. She remembered that years before, he had a small crush on Twilight. Maybe this could be her way of making it up to him, "say, do you remember a girl named Twilight?"
"Twilight Sparkle? Of course I remember her, I always had a crush on her, and I'm afraid to admit it, but I still do," and he blushed a little.
"Well if you ever are in Ffarquhar, you'll find her there. She came back a few months ago."
"Well...uh, I...I'd have to check on the band schedule to..."
He was given a sudden bump from behind, "you don't need us around to go to Ffarquhar. We're not due to perform till tonight, so call her up and hang out with the girl."
"But Song Note, I can't leave..."
The other band mate groaned, "honestly, do I have to do everything myself?" He grabbed Flash's mobile phone from his pocket and asked Sunset for the number. She gave it to him, and he dialed the number. Flash tried to get the phone away, but it was no use. She picked up and Flash had to respond to her. "Honestly, I'm new to the band, yet I know he can be shy around pretty girls."
"Guess that doesn't include me," sighed Sunset. "Guess I'm not pretty enough."
The band-mate turned to face her, "are you kidding me? You're the most beautiful sight I've seen all day, any guy would be lucky to have you. Heck, I'd bet you have a huge fan-base following you if you were on a TV, or Internet show."
Sunset blushed hearing that.
"Name's Song Note by the way, just moved to Sodor a month ago."
"I'm Sunset Shimmer," she smiled and held out a hand to him, which he shook back. "That was actually quite a sneaky thing you did with Flash, I'm quite impressed."
"It was nothing really, sometimes these guys just need a little push in the right direction."
"Ain't that the truth?" She looked to the band-stand, "say, how about I help you clean up, then if you want, maybe you could join me for a train ride?"
"Ms Shimmer, I'd like that alot," he smiled and bowed to her like a gentleman.
He helped Sunset onto the stage and they set to work at once. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was calling Scootaloo, but learned she was busy due to her room being messy and her family had asked her to clean it up. She wouldn't be able to meet up with Dash till an hour from now. With no other options, she snuck off and went to find Duck.
Duck was resting by the water tower when he saw Dash come over. He looked around, "I think it's safe for us to talk, no one is around to spot us."
Rainbow Dash sighed with relief, "thank goodness for that, so how are things?"
"Can't complain, it's business as usual, and with the Small Railway's Family day going on, our line is proving to be very busy."
Just then, they heard a horn and saw Dennis coming in with only one coach. Then, much to Rainbow Dash's surprise, the coach uncoupled and while Dennis rolled off, it slowed to a gentle stop in the station.
"Oh no, Dennis lost his train!"
Duck laughed, "no he didn't, those are special kind of coaches our branch line has. They are called Slip Coaches."
"Slip Coaches?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
"Oh yes, they are Great Western coaches...oh wait, you probably don't want to hear about that."
Rainbow looked around and smirked, "tell me Duck."
Duck rolled his eyes and chuckled, "very well my young friend. Well on the Great Western, we had these special series of coaches known as Slips. These were used to help speed up passenger services, and they worked wonders. In each, they would have their own guard, brakes and a handle to actually disconnect them while in motion. That way, the engine doesn't need to stop, and the passengers can get where they need to go faster."
At that moment, they heard a whistle and saw Oliver coming in with the other two slip coaches.
"An engine had to be very careful with the Slip Coaches though, otherwise they could overrun the platform, or undershot it. Overall though, Slip Coaches are a perfect answer for a busy railway, though don't ask James if he'll admit it."
"James? What's he got to do with it?"
"Well I can tell you, if you have time."
Rainbow Dash smiled and climbed up till she was sitting on Duck's running board. He smiled, and this was the story he told.
It was the summer of 2014, and the North Western Railway was busier than ever with increasing amount of passengers coming from all over the world. Adding to the amount were many fans of the television show, which the engines heard was proving to be good. The work got so intense that many engines who normally did mixed traffic work were brought in to take passenger runs.
James the Red engine never seemed to mind it at all, since he preferred passenger trains to goods trains. He smiled as fans of the books and show photographed him with their phones.
"I'm not sure I understand all this technology, but who cares as long as I'm famous," he boasted.
Not all the engines at the big station were impressed.
"Honestly James, if you focused on your work as much as you boast, you'd be the most hard working engine on Sodor," grumbled Gordon. "Instead, you annoy the rest of us with your boasting."
"I honestly wish we had some more coaches to help us," sighed Murdoch. He was a former British Railways' 9F Steam Engine with ten driving wheels and painted in orange, "of course then, we'd really struggle at the stations upon starting again."
"You wouldn't have that sort of problem if you had slip coaches," said Duck from his platform.
"Slip Coaches?" Gordon asked with a raised eyebrow. "What in the world are those?"
"Oh don't start!" grumbled James, "you ask and he'll go on and on about the Great Western, and you should know that Gordon since Rainbow Dash complains about him alot."
Duck ignored James' remark and told the others about the Slip Coaches. James was glad though when his guard's whistle blew mid-way and he was allowed to leave. "Thank goodness for that."
When James returned to the sheds that night, he saw the Fat Controller talking with the shed foreman, "I don't know how we're gonna be able to handle all these passengers," he said, "it's not really a matter of not having enough engines, it's the time at the stations waiting for people to get on and off. If only there was a faster way of delivering them to the station."
For some reason, Duck's earlier talk came back into James' head, and a smirk came to his face, "This will make me look like a clever engine, and maybe keep me on passenger services longer." He called out to the Fat Controller, "sir, I know the answer to your problems."
Two days later, the engines awoke to find an interesting surprise in the yards. Along with the regular coaches, there were three coaches that shared similar paintwork to the Auto Coaches. Duck gasped upon seeing them, "I don't believe it, those are my old slip coaches."
"You used to have slip coaches?" Edward asked curiously.
"Indeed Edward, when I wasn't shunting at Paddington, I often took passengers on runs along the Great Western, and those were my coaches back in the day."
"Well then, why don't you go say hello to them?"
But before Duck could, the Fat Controller came into Tidmouth sheds to speak with the engines, "as you all can see, I have bought some slip coaches from the mainland to help us with the increasing passenger traffic. These old coaches have been fully restored by a heritage group, and are eager to begin work right away."
"And I have to admit, they do look grand," thought Duck to himself.
"With these coaches," continued the Fat Controller, "we can now deliver passengers to the stations without having to wait for them to get off, thus saving time. Though I can't take credit for this idea."
Duck smiled, thinking all his talk of the Great Western had inspired the Fat Controller. But he was wrong.
"I have to thank James for telling me all about them."
"James?! What?!" Duck exclaimed.
"And as he was the one to come up with the idea, he will be taking the slip coaches on their first run on our railway." Right on cue, James appeared and backed down onto the coaches. He smirked when he looked to Duck.
"He stole your idea," exclaimed Charlie the Purple tank engine.
Duck sighed, "never mind, those coaches will be of great help to the railway, so it doesn't matter who mentioned them."
"Even still," said Edward as he looked to James' over-excited face, "if he's not careful, he could cause some chaos, and probably some disorder for the railway."
James heard nothing from Edward and puffed off towards the Big Station.
At the station, the passengers were impressed to see the three former Great Western Coaches. Rarity was amongst those people, "my word Jamesy, you look smashing with these coaches."
"Well thank you Rarity. Honestly, I never thought Great Western coaches would look grand behind me, but they do"
The Fat Controller was also on the platform. He called to the passengers, "please make sure you get into the right coach, the one that will be stopping where you want to go, and please remember not to exit the coach until it has come to a complete stop."
"I have to see this operation for myself," said Rarity. "May I ride with you Father?"
Hondo 'Flank' Arkwright nodded and allowed his daughter into the cab. She never minded being in James' cab, since he was her favorite engine. Charlie shunted some other coaches into another platform and he scowled at James.
"Taking things that aren't yours is wrong," he grumbled.
"Oh you've been hanging out with Edward too long," smirked James. The guard's whistle blew and James set off, "besides, it's just an idea, it's not like I'm stealing someone else's coaches."
"I believe you are," grumbled the tank engine.
"Just let it go Charlie," said Stafford the Electric Engine from another platform. "Sooner or later, James will get his just desserts."
And he was right. Although James knew about the unique feature of releasing the coaches without stopping, he was not aware about the speed he needed for each station.
At the first station he needed to stop at, James wasn't slowing down.
"Release the rear coach!"
The guard nodded and undid the hook, but as James sailed through, the coach ran on and overshot the platform. The passengers were now stranded on the main line. At the next station, James went too slow and as he went past, the coach didn't reach the platform.
"Hey!" cried the second slip coach. "We're needed at the platform, not here!"
But James didn't hear the coach, and left, leaving the passengers to find a way off the coach and complain to the station master.
Finally came the third stop. James slowed to a good speed and allowed the last coach to uncouple. The front coach thought he would stop at the right spot, but James saw all the people admiring him and taking his picture, so he slowed down to a crawl. This forced the coach to bump into the back of the tender, giving him a nasty jolt. Poor Rarity, losing her balance fell back into the pile of coal in the tender.
"Oof!" cried James.
"My clothes! They're ruined!" cried Rarity. "Jamesy, what was that for?"
"It's not my fault, that stupid coach bumped me!"
The passengers got out and complained to the stationmaster. A minute later, BoCo the diesel engine arrived with the other two coaches and they were recoupled, but after the treatment they got, they refused to go with James.
"He's either too fast, or too slow," grumbled the rear coach.
"He doesn't know how to work with Slip Coaches," said the middle coach.
"Not one bit," agreed the first coach.
James ignored them and tried to pull them away, but it did no good. They wouldn't budge, this resulted in angry shouts and more complaints. The Fat Controller soon arrived on scene and wasn't happy, "James, this idea of yours was a terrible one. These coaches will simply not do for the railway."
"Don't blame them Sir," said a nearby voice. It was Duck coming up with other coaches, "Slippies need some time getting used to."
The coaches seemed pleased to see Duck, "hello Duck, it's good to see you again. Glad to see you're still in fine working order."
"I could say the same to you dear old slippies," he smiled.
The Fat Controller turned to him, "do you actually know these coaches Duck?"
"Of course Sir, and they have names. Amanda, Christopher and William were my slip coaches on the Great Western Railway, as I was telling James just a couple of days ago."
The Fat Controller turned to James, "so it was Duck's idea, not yours."
"Duck's an old fuddy duddy, no one listens to him, so how else were you suppose to know? Now if these stupid coaches will ever let go of their brakes, I can take them and the passengers where they need to go."
"Actually, we will not be doing that," said Amanda. "Unless that is if we work with Duck."
"That would be smashing," agreed William.
"I think that would be a good idea," smiled the Fat Controller. "James will take over for Duck's train, and Duck will take the Slip Coaches. Maybe then we'll really see an engine that knows how to handle them properly."
"What?! But Sir..."
"And no more showing off James!" snapped the Fat Controller. "Anymore of this, and you'll be back on goods trains faster than you say 'Watch my red paint!' "
James groaned, but didn't argue.
Needless to say, Duck did quite well with the Slip Coaches. He went at the correct speed every time, impressing many passengers each time. And in the yards, he told the other engines of how to handle them properly for when they would get a chance to take the Slip Coaches. Many listened, though it had to be said that James never took them again. The slip coaches wouldn't allow him to take them out anyways.
"You know Stafford, you were right," said Charlie. "James did get his just desserts in the end, though if only his poor attitude can be dealt with for good."
Stafford sighed, "sadly, I think that's something that will have to be dealt with another time."
As for Amanda, William and Christopher, the Fat Controller bought them from the Heritage group, and now proudly run either on the Little Western or the Main Line. They even helped during the Christmas rush of that year.
"But that my dear Rainbow Dash, is a story for another time," Duck concluded.
Rainbow Dash was impressed, "thanks for telling me about them, they are some really cool coaches, and I hope I can have a chance to ride in them one day."
"Well you know where they are, if you ever want to experience that," and he gave a wink.
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" called another voice. She looked to the Small Railway's Wharf and found Scootaloo there with her scooter.
Rainbow quickly pretended to speak meanly to Duck, then stormed away, but not before, behind her back gave a peace sign to him. It was her way of thanking him for the story. Though as she walked away from Duck and towards Scootaloo, she began to think that James, much like Gordon, was getting too big for his wheels and sooner or later, he would get into severe trouble. And how right she would be, but I can't say anymore, or the next story will be spoiled.
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They're gonna have to get over it eventually.
Sure was.
Thx for doing the 2 day edit to when the coaches show up. As much as I like the episode this is based on, I never understood how Sir Topham Hatt managed to find them and have them the very next morning after James told him about it. Nevertheless thx.
He sure will.
You think Thomas and Twilight will forgive each other?
11770750
Hopefully soon & if she does not two things might happen:
One her refusal and attitude might ruin her date with flash or two her trust issues might cause Thomas or one of the others to get hurt in an accident.
11770800
Ooohh....
11770864
Yep, and the same thing might happen with Applejack & Henry.
Cause that will make their friends and families hate them for how they treat Thomas.
11771186
Now that's gonna be a chore for Twilight, Applejack, and Henry.
11771335
Yeah, plus they might lose their jobs or worse be transferred out of sodar. 😱