A/N: A short crossover between My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Thomas and Friends, as requested by kristanelprime23. I hope you enjoy!
...
Several years had passed since the time the Magic Railroad had come into jeopardy, and Burnett Stone had since passed away due to a heart attack. Lily and Patch grieved for him- although morose, he was a good man- and he often let Patch help him around the workshop before telling him about Lady. Patch never had someone care about him before, as his parents never showed him love or affection.
Lily missed her grandfather deeply. What made it more painful for her was the knowledge that he was buried wearing her friendship bracelet that she made for him during the Magic Railroad 'campaign'.
Stacey Jones missed her friend also, and she retired from the station, saying that she would always love the railway, but age could not treat her kindly enough to keep running Shining Time as before. As a result, Lily and Patch felt the responsibility to keep up their friends' legacies.
Lily took over for Stacey Jones, and she kept a now ageing Mutt and Junior company- Mr. Conductor had also retired and left his cousin in charge of the station, as there were no sons and no brothers to do that for him.
Patch took on the responsibility of looking after Lady and keeping her well maintained. He also ran the workshop, due to Burnett having taught him many things during his time here.
...
The two children were no longer children, but it was at the tender age of fifteen that the duo not only came to recognise feelings of more than friendship for each other, but also that another adventure with Thomas and Lady was looming nigh, though neither realised this.
According to Patch, the latter began at 3:05PM, as he was organising the workshop for the first time since Burnett's death.
It was that time when he discovered a box- buried at the back of Burnett's workbench. It was wooden, with beautiful ornate patterns across the lid- of dragons, horses and of six strange symbols in a silver oval on the top of the lid: a diamond, a rainbow thunderbolt coming out of a cloud, an apple, a butterfly, and a balloon were in a circle, with a shining six pointed star in the centre.
"What does it mean?" Patch wondered. He carried the box over to Lady and set it down on the floor beside her. Oil covered fingers hooked to the lip of the lid, and Patch lifted it up.
What he saw astounded him.
Papers of all sorts filled the box. Patch lifted one out- it was a faded train timetable. Even with the ink fading away, the boy reckoned it didn't belong to Sodor or Shining Time.
The next item was a letter. It read
'Dear Burnett,
We are most sorry to hear of Tasha's death. She was a wonderful and kind lady-pray may you find healing soon, so you may look back on your memories of her to be treasured, rather than suppressed in grief.
It has been a while since you came to visit us, Burnett. Pray, do feel welcome to do so. You are our friend- as is Lady, of course. Her friends miss her very much, and would love to see you and her again.
We look forward to seeing you,
With kind regards,
Celestia and Luna- Controllers of the Equestrian Railway'
Patch frowned as he placed the letter beside the timetable- perhaps that was what it was for.
Next, he fished out a beautiful, ceremonial golden steam engine, engraved 'To our most treasured friend and hero, Burnett Stone, from the Equestrian Railway.'
Patch was even more bemused by now- in all his time being Burnett's mentee, he had never heard of the Equestrian Railway being mentioned. Come to think of it, where was the Equestrian Railway?
The teenage boy hoped a map was here- instead, he found an envelope with two silver shining train tickets inside and a guard's whistle.
At last, he found a map- it was on an island known as the Northern Island, and it was, unsurprisingly, north of Sodor.
'Hm, better show Lily this,' he thought. He put most of the papers back- except for the letter, the whistle, the statue, map, whistle and tickets.
Which, strangely, had no date on them.