It didn't take long for Emily to get to the yard. She could hear a familiar puffing and mumbling of a female engine. A Stirling Singles engine was puffing to and from sidings, pushing trucks and freight where they are needed. Emily just smiled happily as the engine puffed around, talking to herself.
"Emmaline!" She called, "Trucks for you!"
The engine looked and quickly puffed over, "Morning Emily! Or is it afternoon?" Emmaline muttered questionably, "Are those trucks for me? Boy, it's messy, did Emmerett and Emiel get you again? Did Emerald save the day? Are you going to pull a train today? Did you crash earlier?"
Emily just chuckled and rolled her eyes at her best friends random questioning. She knew Emmaline since she entered service, and the two got along very well – even though Emily found Emmaline's constant chatty behaviour to be annoying, "Come on Emmaline, I need to get ready for a train to Bawtry."
"Oh!" Emmaline exclaimed, "Can I go too?"
"No Emmaline." Emily laughed, "We need someone to pull a passenger train soon – and your the engine for the job."
"What passenger train?" Emmaline asked, "Is it an important one? Is it an express train?"
"Well, why not go and fetch your coaches and find out." Emily said, "You're a big engine, like me. You can find out."
"Alright!" Emmaline peeped as she puffed off. Emily just chuckled but remembered her train.
"Wait!" Emily cried, whistling loudly, "Which one is my train?"
"OH!" Emmaline laughed, "One's on the left! No, right? Left, right, no, left!"
Emily looked to the right and didn't see any trucks on the right siding. She looked on the left and saw a long train waiting in the siding, and knew that was hers. She laughed a bit before going to couple up to her train. Emily watched as Emmaline puffed off into the distance.
Emily waited as she got coupled up to her train, but then saw two familiar engines puffing over to her, with familiar cheeky expressions. Emily rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Emmerett and Emiel..."
The twins just grinned cheekily, "I'm not Emmerett, I'm Emiel!" Emmerett joked.
"And I'm Emmerett, not Emiel!" Emiel teased.
"Shut up." Emily said firmly, "I have a train to pull to Bawtry, and I do not need any distractions. Go and play your games somewhere else!"
Emmerett and Emiel just laughed at Emily. Emily's face grew red with embarrassment and frustration, "Okay...deep breaths...count to 10...1...2...3" Emily told herself as she slowly went forward, counting in her head as she slowly calmed down.
She didn't notice Emmerett and Emiel wink at each other before slowly following her.
"That Emmerett and Emiel sound like a lot of work..." Thomas said. Emily just sighed as she agreed.
"Tell me about it." Emily said, "They're twins, so double the trouble."
Edward chuckled, "Well, if you have to work with Bill and Ben, then you should know what double trouble is like." The other engines laughed as they agreed.
"What happened next Emily?" James asked.
Soon, Emily puffed by Peterborough station. She whistled happily as she calmed down from her encounter with the troublesome twins. Emerald was on a siding, taking on water, and she watched Emily set off happily. She whistled supportively as she watched Emily roll off into the distance.
She then noticed Emmerett and Emiel puffing behind Emily's trucks, their buffers inches away. Emerald quickly moved forward, stopping the twins going further.
"Alright." She sighed sternly, "What do you two think your doing?"
"Oh, um..." Emmerett muttered.
"We got a train to get at Bawtry!" Emiel asked.
"So we're following Emily!" Emmerett said. And with that, the twins quickly puffed off to catch up with their target. Emerald just watched them suspiciously – she could tell that these troublesome twins were going to be causing trouble.
Emily was happily puffing down the tracks, her tracks rattling behind her. She'd never bump trucks unless they would misbehave, but the trucks always like Emily. They thought she was unique and different to the other engines. They certainly didn't like Emmerett and Emiel, as they would bash them just for fun.
Soon, Emily came up to a red signal and had to stop. She braked gently, and there was no trouble. As she waited patiently for the signal to change, Emily felt a sudden jerk behind her! Like her trucks were pulling her backwards.
"Hey!" Emily cried, "Easy trucks! I don't want to bump you!" The trucks just chattered and tried to reason with Emily, before they felt a sharp bump, pushing Emily forward!
"Hey! Stop that!" Emily shouted impatiently, she felt her patience being tested to the limit, and she was getting even more frustrated. She remembered Emerald's words and tried to count to 10, "1...2...3..."
The trucks quickly tried to reason with Emily – but then they felt another sharp bump! This time, Emily was knocked further forward, passing her signal! Emily growled, "Right!" She huffed, "That does it!"
She harshly rushed backwards, knocking the trucks violently into one another! Then Emily heard a cry in pain from two familiar voices behind her, and Emily just hissed angrily, "You two!"
"Emily! Help!" Emmerett cried!
"Emmerett's off the rails!" Emiel begged!
"Tough luck!" Emily huffed, "You got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out of it!" She huffed angrily and as soon as her signal turned green, she rushed off down the line, not looking back, as the trucks began to mutter angrily and cause a lot of trouble.
Emily felt like breaking down, she was already being teased by the two engines, and now her trucks were misbehaving! And soon, the trucks began to put on their brakes, and Emily was slowly becoming later to her destination!
Soon, Emily arrived at the station in Bawtry, but she was very frustrated. She was 20 minutes late, and she was just glad to get rid of her trucks – until she saw the Stationmaster walk up to her, angrily.
And the day started off so nicely...
"Oh me, oh my..." Henry gasped, "That must've been aweful."
"Those twins were really mean." Percy puffed.
Emily just sighed, "I caused so much confusion and delay, and I didn't even notice."
"But that's not fair." Thomas huffed, "None of that was your fault."
"But it was..." Emily sighed.
Later that afternoon, Emily took her time going back to Peterborough, she was ashamed of herself, and she felt empty inside her boiler. Her driver tried to reassure her, and tell her it wasn't her fault, but nothing brought back Emily's smile.
She slowly rolled into the yard, and saw Emmaline working hard. Emmaline still had her beaming smile on her face, and she was still talking to herself, but none of that was able to make Emily happy.
"Hello Emily!" Emmaline chirped excitedly, "Back from holiday?"
"It wasn't a holiday Emmaline." Emily spoke dully, "I just had a train to pull-"
"I bet it was fun wasn't it? Did you see Emmerett and Emiel? Apparently the Stationmaster is mad about them because they didn't come to pull their train, I think? Oh! And Emerald was looking for you, I wonder why-"
"Will you be quiet!?" Emily lashed out. Emmaline was taken aback by her friend's unusual response.
"E-Emily, what's wrong-"
"YOU! You and your constant questions, and your rambling, and your nonsense! And those twins deserve what they got! I knocked Emmerett off the tracks and left him there! And now none of the trucks trust me, I refuse to talk to Emmerett and Emiel, and now I have to put up with you!" Emily ranted loudly, "Sometimes I wish you would be quiet and never open your mouth again!"
Emmaline was shocked at her friends sudden outburst, her bubbly face soon changed, her eyes were watering and she was looking both angry and upset. She puffed her pistons and quickly rolled away, desperate to get as far away from Emily as possible!
It took a minute to soak in, but Emily gasped when she realised what she said. She wanted to catch up with Emmaline, but she knew she has hurt her feelings. She just sighed in defeat and sulked into a siding, letting her tears fall.
Soon, she heard a familiar whistle, and saw Emerald enter the yard. Emily refused to look up, she was a disgrace in front of Emerald, and she didn't want her to see it. But Emerald saw Emily sulking and quietly approached.
"Emily." She called out quietly, "Emily, can you come out please?"
Emily slowly puffed forward, but she refused to look at her. Emerald could see the sign of defeat and disgrace in Emily's face, but she knew she had to confront her about today's events.
"Emily, what happened earlier?" Emerald asked patiently, "I came by and saw Emmerett derailed. He said you did it. Is that true?"
"Yes..." Emily sulked, till refusing to look up.
"Well, Emily, you know it is wrong to cause a train to derail. It has caused Emmerett and Emiel to miss their train. And I also heard you were late to Bawtry with your train too."
Emily refused to look up, her guilty eyes watering over. Emerald looked over at her calmly.
"Now Emily." She hushed, "I know you. You don't go around derailing engines, and I know you're never late unless there is a valid reason. If you need to talk to someone about how you feel, just tell me."
Emily slowly looked up, in disgrace, "T-They pushed me, and bumped me...and pushed me in front of my signal...I-I tried to stay calm! I really did! B-But they kept bumping me and I-I lost my temper and I...I..." she panicked as she tried to explain.
"Deep breaths." Emerald soothed, "Count to 10." Soon, Emily calmed down enough, and let off steam.
"I-I reversed and bumped into him...and caused him to derail...a-and my trucks started to misbehave too...that's why I was late."
"At least you are being honest." Emerald spoke calmly, "At least now I can explain why the twins were late. They need to apologise for what they have been doing. They've been teasing you for days, and now it is getting beyond the joke."
Emily sighed sadly, "I need to apologise too...but to Emmaline..."
"What happened?"
"I...I lost my temper, and yelled at her...s-she just tried to make me happy and I just threw it all back at her, and I told her to keep quiet and never open her mouth again..."
Emerald looked at Emily, but she wasn't cross, "Now Emily, we all get frustrated now and then, but it's not an excuse to vent it out at engines who have done nothing wrong, or who are trying their best to help you." She explained, "I know Emmaline can sometimes be hard to deal with, but she means no harm. She just wants you to be happy, and she wants to help you smile."
"She probably doesn't want to be friends with me any more..."
"Nonsense. You two are inseparable, do not let this one event shatter your friendship. Apologise, and let it rest. You'll soon get back along alright."
Emily, nervous but desperate, soon left the yard to search for Emmaline. Emerald watched in concern, hoping her lesson sunk into Emily's smokebox.
Sometime later, Emily found Emmaline tucked up in her shed. Emmaline looked very sad, her eyes were focusing on the rails in front of her, she didn't notice the emerald engine backing into her berth beside her.
"Emmaline?"
Emmaline refused to look up at Emily, and kept her mouth shut – as Emily wanted. Emily looked at her sadly.
"Emmaline...I'm sorry."
Emmaline still didn't look.
"I'm so sorry...for yelling at you. I ranted at you, vented all my anger at you, yelled at you...but you were just trying to make me happy...I am really sorry for what I did..."
Emmaline slowly looked up, and saw Emily's remorse in her eyes, as she started to cry.
"I...I hope we can still be friends...I would understand if you don't..."
Then, Emmaline flashed her familiar smile, "Of course I forgive you. I know I can be a nutter at times, but I never meant to make you angry." She spoke happily. Emily suddenly beamed, as she rekindled her friendship with Emmaline. The two engines whistled happily together.
Just then, they saw Emerald puff up to her shed, and behind her – two sorry looking engines, with the face of disgrace on their faces.
"Emily, I believe two certain engines want to apologise." Emerald puffed, looking back at the two guilty twins. Emily looked at them, unsure on how to feel now.
"We're sorry Emily..." Emmerett said.
"We didn't know we hurt your feelings that bad." Emiel carried on.
"We didn't know it caused you to be late."
"We didn't know we almost broke your friendship with Emmaline."
The twins both sighed in guilt, "We're so sorry."
Emily gave a small smile, "I forgive you." As soon as those words struck the twins, they smiled, and whistled proudly.
"Come on, looks like that sunshine is gone – there's room for two more." Emily puffed cheekily. The twins quickly reversed into their berths and soon were warm and comfy with the three female engines.
Emily just sighed in relief, finally releasing the stress of that one day – and letting it go.
All the engines smiled as Emily finished her story. They didn't know anything about Emily before she arrived on Sodor, but now they knew they were able to say they did, and they could understand her sisterly personality around them all.
"Aww, that was sweet!" Thomas whistled happily.
"At least you all learned your lesson that day." Edward smiled.
"Do any of your friends still exist today?" Percy asked.
"Hmm, I know one of them does." Emily answered, "Their at the National Railway Museum, in York."
"We need to go to York as part of our delivery route." Henry puffed, "Maybe we can see them!"
"I can't wait to go to York!" James peeped, "That's where I am from!"
"But right now we need to head towards Doncaster, James." Emily replied with a giggle, making the red engine blush.
"Doncaster." Gordon boomed, "Home to the greatest engines ever built!"
"You and your brothers?" Thomas replied cheekily, but Gordon didn't notice, as the engines puffed towards their next destination.
Doncaster.
And that's another character done ;) So...that means there's three more characters to go! Now, you'll probably guess WHO'S backstory is next, especially if you know your railway history ;) and I won't have to state what basis the engines in the next story are XD If your good with railway history, you can guess.