Chapter 3

At the Sodor Search and Rescue Center, the other engines waited for Thomas and Hiro to arrive. Hiro came over.

"Where's Thomas?" asked Henry.

"I bet he went to brag at the Diesels," Toby laughed.

But Hiro wheeshed with worry. "I found Thomas' trucks abandoned on a siding. Thomas is missing!"

Percy's wheels began to wobble. "Oh, no…"

"Now, we must find him! We will need all engines to help!"

"How are we going to find him?" Gordon asked.

Hiro thought. Then, an idea popped into his pistons. "Split into teams of two. Gordon, you look with James along the main line. Edward and Henry, check the Steamworks in case he was found and repaired. Emily, Toby, you two ask the Logging Locos at Misty Island. Percy, you're with me. We're going to inspect the Dieselworks just in case."

With the teams formed, and the plan set, the engines pumped their pistons and began searching for Thomas.

Back in Ponyville, Thomas and Twilight Sparkle were walking along the path. Spike rode on Thomas' back as he pulled out a piece of paper. "Summer Sun Festival Official Overseer's Checklist:" he read aloud. "First on the list is… banquet preparations at Sweet Apple Acres."

Soon, the three arrived at a large apple farm. Once they walked in through the gates, they saw a peach-colored pony with a light yellow mane and tail. She kicked a nearby tree with all her might, and apples fell off the branches into the baskets below. Then, she saw the tree visitors and smiled warmly.

The blue pony was the first to speak. "Hello. I'm Thomas, and this is Twilight and Spike. We—!"

But before he could finish, the peach-colored one grabbed a hoof from each pony and shook them both rather violently. "Well, howdy do, Thomas and Twilight. A pleasure making your acquaintances," she said. "I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making new friends."

"F-f-friends?!" But Twilight didn't want to be friends with Applejack. She wanted to get to the library as fast she could.

Then Applejack let them both go. "So, what can I do ya for?"

"Well," Twilight began after she collected herself, "we are here to supervise preparations for the festival. And you're in charge of the food, aren't you?"

"We sure sugar are! Would ya care to sample some?" she offered.

Thomas felt his stomach. "Well, I am a little hungry."

Twilight agreed. "As long as it doesn't take too long…"

But it would. As soon as they agreed, Applejack rang a nearby triangle. "Soup's on, everypony!"

Faster than the other three could react, a large number of ponies galloped into the area. They carried Thomas, Twilight and Spike to a large table.

"Now," Applejack said, "why don't I introduce y'all to the Apple Family?"

"Thanks, but we should really get going." But Twilight was too late.

"This here's Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp…" and with every pony she introduced, a different dish was placed on the table, until had food piled high. "…Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith." At last, she introduced them all. Then... "C'mon, apples! Y'all know this one!"

Applejack: "We travel the road of generations,
joined by a common bond.
We sing our song across the pony nation,
From Equestria to beyond."

Chorus: "We're Apples forever, Apples together.
We're family, but so much more.
No matter what comes, we will face the weather;
We're Apples to the Core!"
Big Macintosh: "Eeyup!"

Apple Bloom: "There's no place that I'd rather be
Than right here, with my family.
Friends all around come to join and see,
As we sing out across the land!"

Chorus: "We're Apples forever, Apples together.
We're family, but so much more.
No matter what comes, we will face the weather;
We're Apples to the Core!"
Big Macintosh: "Eeyup!"

Granny Smith: "We're peas in a pod; we're thick as thieves.
Any cliché you can throw at me.
We're here for each other, through thick and thin,
You're always welcome with your Apple kin.
Wheeeeee!"

Thomas liked the Apple Family already. He even added his own verse just in time.

Thomas: "You're more fun than shunting Troublesome Trucks,
And I feel like coming here was not just luck.
The love I feel leaves me so awestruck,
That I want to stay here all day!"
Applejack: "All right!"

Thomas and Chorus: "We're Apples forever, Apples together.
We're family, but so much more.
No matter what comes, we will face the weather;
We're Apples to the Core!"
Big Macintosh: "Eeyup!"

Applejack laughed. "Well, I can't say I know what 'Troublesome Trucks' are, but I'd say y'all are already part of the family." And that made Thomas smile.

Twilight chucked nervously. Now, she was more than ready to leave. "Okay. Well, I can see the food situation is handled, so well be on our way."

Apple Bloom looked up at Twilight. "Aren't ya gonna stay for brunch?" she asked sadly.

"Sorry, but we have an awful lot to do," she replied, which made everyone else upset. And she was just about to start leaving, when Thomas stepped on her tail, stopping her.

"If you insist…" he said cheekily. While he was still hungry, he also wanted Twilight to make some friends.

The Apple Family cheered with pleasure. But Twilight was annoyed.

At the Sodor Steamworks, Annie and Clarabel were losing both patience and hope. They were certain that Thomas was sent to the Smelter's Yard. The thought made them rattle their wheels.

Victor and Kevin were there. They were trying to soothe their stress. Then, the little crane saw something blue outside. But i was a little too far to see. He thought it was Thomas. "At ease, girls! You're back in business."

"Oh, is Thomas back?" asked Clarabel.

"Thank goodness!" added Annie.

But the shape turned out to be Edward. Henry came behind him. "Is Thomas here?" they asked.

"No, we thought he was dueling Diesel 10," Kevin replied.

"He was... but he's missing!"

This only made Annie and Clarabel even more worried.

Then, BoCo the diesel railcar hummed in. He was pulling Mavis the quarry diesel.

"Hello, my friends," said Victor. "What are you doing here? We don't normally repair diesels."

"I know," replied BoCo. "But Den and Dart aren't at the Dieselworks for some reason. And Mavis blew her safety valve. Perhaps you could fix it?"

"Don't worry, Mavis," Victor told her. "Just because we don't normally repair diesels doesn't mean we can't."

As Victor and Kevin worked on Mavis, Edward and Henry told BoCo about the missing tank engine. He agreed to help them find him, and off they went to continue their search.

Meanwhile, in Equestria, the three went back into town. Thomas and Spike walked down the path cheerfully. They were both happy with Applejack's hospitality. But Twilight groaned. She had too much to eat.

Spike pulled out the list again. "Food's taken care of. Next is weather." He looked up at the sky. "There should be a Pegasus girl named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds."

Thomas and Twilight looked up. Above them were more clouds than they could count. "Well, she isn't doing a good job, is she?" asked the latter.

Suddenly, a blur of color ran into her and drove her into a nearby mud puddle. Mud splattered all over Twilight. And Thomas. And Spike as well. A light blue Pegasus pony with a rainbow-colored mane and tail stood up from the mess. She looked at Twilight and chuckled nervously. "Uh… excuse me?"

Twilight didn't answer. She was cross.

The Pegasus pony looked up. "Here. Let me help you guys." She brought a dark cloud over and started jumping on it. Water dumped all over the three. Too much water. "Oops… how about this? My very own 'Rain-Blow Dry!'" She quickly circled around them, engulfing them in a tornado of color. When it all cleared, they were all dry and clean.

But Twilight's mane and tail were all tangled up. The other three found it very silly. They fell to the floor laughing. "Very funny," Twilight said smugly. "Rainbow Dash, I presume?"

"The one and only," she replied as she started to fly again. "Why? You heard of me?"

"I heard you're supposed to keep the sky clear," she answered, annoyed at the flying pony.

"Let me handle this." The blue unicorn pony turned to Rainbow Dash. "I'm Thomas, and this is Twilight Sparkle. The princess sent us here to check on the weather."

"Yeah, yeah. That'll be a snap." Rainbow Dash laid down on a cloud. "I'll get to that as soon as I'm done practicing."

"Practicing? For what?" Thomas asked.

"The Wonder-Bolts!" she pointed to a poster on a nearby building. "They're going to perform at the festival, and it's been my lifelong dream to become one of them!"

Then, Twilight decided to be a little cheeky. "The Wonder-Bolts? As in the most talented flyers in all of Equestria?"

"The few and the proud!" she answered.

"Please… they would never accept a Pegasus who can't keep the sky clear for one measly day," she teased.

"Hey, I could get rid of all the clouds in ten seconds flat," Rainbow Dash protested.

"Prove it."

This made her cross. In no time at all, she flew dashed through the air, biffing, bashing, and blasting the clouds away. Ten seconds later, they were all gone. Rainbow Dash hovered overhead. "What I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I never leave Ponyville hanging."

Thomas and Spike were amazed. Twilight stood dazed and surprised.

"You should see the look on your face," Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I think we're going to be fast friends. Pun intended."

But Twilight didn't want to be friends with Rainbow Dash. She wanted to get to the library as fast as she could.

"Got to go. The Wonder-Bolts will be here any minute." And Rainbow Dash dashed away.

"She's amazing!" Spike said. Then he messed with Twilight's hair a little and held in his laughter. The pony girl groaned and she started walking away. "Wait! It's kind of pretty once you get used to it!"

Thomas liked Rainbow Dash already. 'If only Gordon was that fast with the Express…' he thought.

Meanwhile, Gordon thundered down the main line. James rattled behind him. There they found the abandoned freight train. The big blue engine asked the freight cars where Thomas was.

"We can show you! We can show you!" But secretly, the freight cars were lying. Hector didn't know this.

So James and Gordon were both coupled up to the trucks, and off they went. They raced around the island. When they came over to Gordon's Hill, the trucks put on their brakes. "Pull back! Pull back!"

"Stop that!" Gordon ordered. "This is urgent!"

"Sorry, Gordon," said the trucks, replying. "We won't hold back anymore!" And as soon as they said that, they reached the top. Then they pushed as hard as they could. "On! On! Faster! Faster!"

Gordon and James roared down the hill and up the next. They put on their brakes hard until they were back at a steady pace. But the Troublesome Trucks were biffing and bashing all the way to the Shunting Yards.

James was cross. "This is getting us nowhere! Where's Thomas?!"

The Troublesome Trucks were aware that the red engine was onto them. So… "We don't know! We just wanted some fun!"

"All that for nothing?!" James was cross. He biffed them hard and left.

Gordon looked back at the Troublesome Trucks as he left. "O-o-o-o-o-o-oh, the indignity…"

"Decorations!" Spike read from the list. He and the two ponies wandered into Town Hall. There were banners, ribbons, and many other decorations throughout the main hall alone. "Beautiful…" the dragon said in awe.

"Very beautiful," Thomas agreed. "So much color."

"Not the decorations. Her…" Spike pointed to the other end of the hall.

There stood a white unicorn pony with a purple curly mane and tail. She was looking through some ribbons with her magic to place on the last pillar in front of her.

Thomas watched as she used her magic. He looking at his horn, and was worried. He didn't know how to use magic at all. He began to think he would be called out on this.

Spike started checking his body. "How're my spines? Are they straight?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. She and the blue pony approached the white one. "Hello. I'm Thomas."

"Just a moment, please?" she asked. "I'm in the zone, as 'twere." So Twilight and Thomas waited a very brief few seconds. At last, she found the right one… "Ah, yes!" ...and she tied it to the pillar in a bow. "Sparkles always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you are a talent," she said to herself. Then Rarity looked at the three and gasped at Twilight. "Oh, my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?"

"Oh, you mean my mane?" she asked. "Well, it's a long story. We're just here to check on the decorations, and then we'll be out of your hair."

"Out of my hair? What about your hair?" Rarity gently started to push Twilight from behind.

"Wait! Where are we going? Help!" Twilight exclaimed.

Spike slowly followed the two girls, only interested in the white one. Thomas laughed as he followed.

Later, at a small boutique, Rarity zipped to and fro putting different outfits on Twilight. But not one seemed to satisfy her. Twilight grew tired and a little annoyed. At last, she found the right outfit. With her mane and tail back to the way they once were, the purple pony girl now wore what looked like a white saddle embedded in gems.

"Now go on, my dear. You were telling me where you're from," Rarity then tugged on the straps with her teeth to tighten the saddle.

The saddle became too tight for Twilight. She found it hard to breathe. "I've... been... sent... from... Canterlot... to..." Before she could finish, Rarity let go out of shock. She flew through the curtain and crashed onto Thomas.

"Canterlot?!" Rarity's eyes glistened with glee. "Oh, I'm so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it," she continued as she leaned close to Twilight. "We're going to be the best of friends, you and I."

But Twilight didn't want to be friends with Rarity. She wanted to get to the library as fast as she could.

The white one looked at the large gem under Twilight's neck. "Emerald?! What was I thinking? Let me get both of you some rubies, and maybe some fur dye." And she trotted away.

"What... did she say?" asked Thomas.

The two looked at Rarity, and then at each other. Twilight quickly threw off the saddle and ran for the door. "I'm out of here!"

"Right behind you!" Thomas picked up Spike and ran after her. For once, they were in agreement.