Following some of the sexual themes of the last chapter, why not something a little more dorky and safe to balance it out?
Sub-Volume 4 - The Secret War of Sunset Shimmer
Chapter 12 - Me and You (Starr, 2005)
Written by Zack Wanzer, James Riddle and Mike Nicholson
No sooner had Sunset left the school building when Vincent ran up to her.
"Sunset, wait!" he called. "I almost forgot to mention something to you!"
"What's that?" she asked.
"Fictionary, our dad and I are going to be at a model railway show at the convention center tomorrow," Vincent explained. "Did you wanna come with?"
"Is attendance free?" asked Sunset.
"Yep," replied Vincent.
"Then count me in."
"Great," said Vincent. "I'll let them know you're coming."
They parted ways once more; as Vincent waited for the train to arrive, he decided to tell his father as to what was going on. He took out his phone, dialed the number, and held the phone up to his ear.
"Hello, dad?"
"Oh, hey there, Vincent," Page Turner replied through the phone. "Are you heading home right now?"
"Yes," said Vincent. "I asked Sunset if she wanted to come with us tomorrow. She said yes. You don't mind, do you, dad?"
"Of course not," said Page. "The more, the merrier."
"Thanks, dad," said Vincent. "I can't wait for tomorrow."
"Me neither, sport," said Page. "I'll see you when you get home."
"See you."
Just as the call was finished, the train pulled up to the platform. Vincent and several other students boarded, and then the train pulled away from the school.
APRIL 13, 2013
The next morning, Vincent was having breakfast. He was excited for today, and was eating rather quickly.
"Take it easy," said Flash. "You'll get a stomach ache if you eat that quickly."
"Sorry," said Vincent before swallowing. "Just so excited about the day I'm gonna have."
"You excited about Sunset coming with us?" asked Fictionary.
Vincent blushed. "M-maybe."
I thought that spending time with Blossomforth would make him forget Sunset, Flash thought with annoyance. "Don't you feel you spend too much time with Sunset?" he asked out loud.
"I spend just as much time with her as I do with Comet Tail and Twilight," retorted Vincent. "You don't have a problem with that."
Flash didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing. Just then, the doorbell rang. Almost instinctively, Vincent stood up and ran for the door.
"That must be her," he said. He opened the door and there, to his delight, was Sunset Shimmer.
"Am I early?" asked Sunset.
"Not at all," smiled Vincent. "You're just in time for breakfast."
Sunset followed Vincent into the kitchen and sat at the table.
"Hello, everyone," she greeted.
"Hi there, Sunset!" said Fictionary.
"So wonderful to see you, dear," smiled Lullaby.
"Thanks, Mrs. Sentry," said Sunset.
"What up, freeloader?" muttered Flash. "Yeouch!"
Vincent had heard this comment and poked Flash with his fork.
"If you don't have anything nice to say," he muttered, "don't say anything at all!"
Flash grumbled as he rubbed the spot he'd been poked.
"Are... things okay between the two of you?" asked Sunset.
"I suppose so," Vincent shrugged. "I mean, as we get older, we kinda grow apart, y'know?"
"I understand that," said Sunset.
"Flash, you should be nicer to Sunset," scolded Lullaby. "She could be your sister-in-law someday."
Flash, Sunset, and Vincent's eyes widened.
"A-a-actually, Sunset and I aren't really dating," faltered Vincent. "We're just very good friends."
"Sometimes married people start out as good friends," said Lullaby.
No way is my brother marrying that she-demon, thought Flash.
Soon, when breakfast was finished, it was time for the trip to begin. Vincent, Fictionary, and Sunset were seated in Page Turner's van.
"Bye, mom!" waved Fictionary. "Bye, Flash!"
"Take care, you three," said Lullaby. "Make sure you listen to my husband's instructions."
"We will," said Vincent. With that, the van pulled out of the driveway.
Several minutes later, the van finally pulled up outside the Rainbow Falls Convention Center.
"We're here," said Page. Vincent, Sunset and Fictionary got out of the car, and then closed the doors.
"So many people are here," commented Fictionary.
"Must be a really popular show," remarked Sunset.
"I agree," said Vincent. "I wasn't expecting it to be such a huge deal in Rainbow Falls."
"Well, railfans," said Page, "shall we venture?"
"What's a railfan?" asked Sunset. "Sorry if it's a stupid question; I never heard that term before."
"A person who is a fan of railways and trains," explained Vincent. "There was nothing I found stupid about your question, Sunset; it's always good to learn new things."
Sunset smiled.
"C'mon, what're you waiting for?!" cried Fictionary. "Let's go see the trains!" The two then raced after the excited girl.
"Hey, slow down, kids!" called Page. "I don't want any of you to get lost!"
Inside the center, it was a remarkable sight. Model railways could be seen north, south, east and west. There were big layouts, small layouts, medium-sized layouts, and there was even a model railway on the floor.
"It's a railway wonderland!" cried Vincent. "C'mon, Sunset!"
"Whoa! Slow down!" she cried as Vincent took her by the hand and dragged her along, not looking where he was going. Suddenly, they bumped into someone, and all three fell to the ground in surprise.
"Careful, you two," said a familiar voice.
"Math Equation?" exclaimed Vincent, standing up. "Hey there, man! It's been a while."
"Vincent van Colt, you rascal!" chuckled Math Equation, shaking Vincent's hand. "Great to see you again."
"Hi there, Math," said Sunset, recovering from the collision.
"Hi, Sunset," said Math. "So I take it you two are railfans too?"
"Well, Vincent more so," said Sunset. "I can see he's as excited as a kid in a toy store."
"Hi, Math," said Fictionary. "Long time no see."
"Good to see you again, Fictionary." With that, the four friends set out to enjoy the convention.
The first layout the quartet saw was built entirely out of LEGO. It wasn't just the trains that were built from LEGO; the bridges, the tunnels, the stations, the villages, the dockyard, the roundhouse, the road vehicles - everything was LEGO.
"Whoever made this must have been really talented," said Sunset.
"Thanks, miss," said one of the builders. "It wasn't just me, though; the whole thing's a team effort. It took us about two months to assemble."
"Wow," said Vincent. "Any ideas on where this will take you in the future?"
"Who knows?" said the builder. "With LEGO, anything's possible."
One of the LEGO engines on the layout was the Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter series.
"Looks almost like the one in the movies," said Math.
"What type of engine is that?" asked Sunset.
"A Great Western Railway Hall," explained Vincent. "Specifically, No. 5972 Olton Hall."
"Fancy," said Sunset. "It would be neat to see it live someday."
It wasn't just the Hogwarts Express model they saw; the quartet saw models from the official LEGO line including a Classic Train from 1998, a Snow Remover, 1990s rolling stock, a Metroliner, a Santa Fe passenger train - there were even LEGO trains tracing back to 1973!
"That Emerald Night model almost reminds me of Gordon the big engine, only green," said Math.
"I wonder how Gordon would react if the two met," said Fictionary.
"That is one episode of Thomas and Friends I would be interested in seeing," chuckled Vincent. There was some laughter for a few seconds before he and Math looked at each other in surprise, and together they said:
"You like Thomas and Friends too?" The two then laughed and shook hands.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoys it," said Vincent. "So what's your favorite episode?"
"It's Thomas Saves the Day from the first season," Math explained. "What about you?"
"Oh, Percy's Chocolate Crunch is hilarious," said Fictionary. "Percy's my favorite, and I love chocolate."
"Kinda hard to say," said Vincent. "If I had to pick one, it'd probably be Old Iron. What about you, Sunset?"
"It's been ages since I last watched any episodes," admitted Sunset.
"But I can tell you which episode I hated most," said Vincent. "That one where Edward was rude to Rocky for no reason."
"Oh, I know exactly how you feel about that," said Math. "Edward is supposed to be a wise and kind engine. So why was he being rude to someone that was new? Anyway, have you heard about the upcoming special?"
"You mean, King of the Railway?" asked Vincent. "Yes, I have."
"Special?" asked Sunset.
"They're these sort of yearly hour-long movies," explained Vincent, "though really, they feel like extended episodes at times."
"I see," said Sunset.
"Although the worst of them was Day of the Diesels," said Fictionary.
"Oh, don't get me started on that," groaned Vincent.
"So much wasted potential," added Math.
"What was wrong with it?" asked Sunset curiously.
"Where do we begin?" asked Math.
"For one thing," said Vincent, "Thomas made a rather racist sounding comment about diesels, practically saying all diesels were troublemakers."
"That doesn't make him sound like a good role model at all," remarked Sunset.
"Nope," said Vincent. "Next Percy is dumb enough to be convinced that Diesel 10, the villain, is a good guy."
"And I hate seeing Percy being bullied," added Fictionary.
"Then they introduced three new diesels that did barely anything for a couple of years aside being cameos," added Vincent.
"Why introduce characters if they aren't going to be used?" asked Sunset.
"One word; money," said Math.
"Quite a shame," said Sunset.
"Hey, we're at a model train show," said Fictionary. "Shouldn't we be having fun?"
"She's right," said Vincent. "Let's get back to it."
They soon came across a Lionel train layout.
"Look at the size of them!" exclaimed Fictionary. "They're huge!"
"A kitten could fit as the engineer," joked Sunset.
"That would be so adorable!" giggled Fictionary.
Among the engines on the layout was a blue 4-4-4 tender engine with red wheels pulling four blue passenger cars.
"What engine's that?" asked Sunset.
"The Blue Comet," explained Fictionary. "That engine's appeared a lot in mine and Vincent's old videos of I Love Toy Trains."
"Fancy," said Sunset. "What sizes are those trains?"
"There's three gauges," explained Vincent. "G gauge, standard gauge - both of which are roughly the same size - and there's O gauge, which is narrower."
Other trains they saw included The Polar Express, a Pennsylvania GG1, a Big Boy, and even a Thomas the Tank Engine with Annie and Clarabel.
"Thomas!" said Fictionary cheerfully.
"Yup," said Vincent. "Our favorite number one."
"Wouldn't it be nice if Sodor really existed?" asked Fictionary.
"It sure would be," smiled Vincent.
"What's with that third rail?" asked Sunset.
"I'm not much of a Lionel expert," said Vincent, "but I think it has to do with powering the locomotives."
"I see."
"There are some trains in real life with third rails," added Math. "Mostly they're electric engines."
"Sometimes I wish they weren't doing away with steam engines," said Sunset.
"I know the feeling," agreed Vincent. "When it comes to steam engines, they have their own individual personalities that define them. Diesels and electrics are fine, but they don't have the same charm of a steam engine."
"Speaking of, I wonder if there's a Thomas-themed layout around here," said Fictionary, as the Lionel model of said character rolled on by once more.
"Let's go find out," said Sunset. With that, they set off to look.
At last, Fictionary spotted another layout.
"There's one!" she cried happily. Vincent, Sunset and Math came up to what she was looking at.
It was a 6' x 12' layout that was entirely Thomas and Friends themed; within the layout was Knapford Station, Tidmouth Sheds with seven spaces, a signal gantry, a water tower, a coal hopper, a pedestrian bridge, a junction station, a switch tower, a lighthouse, and a windmill. Seven of the engines - Edward, Spencer, Salty, Bill, Ben, Diesel, and Henry - were in Tidmouth Sheds.
There were also several sidings for the engines that weren't running; Thomas with Annie and Clarabel in one, Emily with her coaches in another, Percy with two mail vans and a brakevan on a third, Toby and Mavis with Henrietta on a fourth, and James and Gordon on the fifth siding. Various types of freight cars and coaches cluttered up the remaining sidings.
Donald (No. 9) was running on one of the tracks with four express coaches behind him, whilst Douglas (No. 10) was on the other pulling several types of freight cars and a brakevan. Cranky the crane was nearby some of the sidings, Terence the tractor was in a field, Bertie the bus was behind a railroad crossing, and Harold the helicopter was resting on a custom-made helipad.
"Wow, so many models," commented Sunset.
"I wonder if the narrow gauge engines will appear too," said Math.
"Well, anything's possible," said Vincent. "Maybe they'll make a model of Rosie, Thomas' stalker."
"Stalker?" asked Sunset.
"Thomas declined Rosie's help, but she still followed him anyway," explained Vincent. "A bit like when Blossomforth wants to follow me around."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Sunset.
Soon it was time for lunch. They met up with Page Turner again.
"Hey there, dad," said Vincent. "Sorry about losing you back there."
"It's alright," said Page. "Have you been having fun so far?"
"We have," said Sunset.
"I took the liberty of ordering pizza," said Page.
"Ooh! What toppings?" asked Fictionary.
"I've got pepperoni, Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, Feta cheese, and grilled chicken. I even got Parmesan spuds and garlic breadsticks."
"Yippee!" giggled Sunset. Soon the food arrived.
"Looks like a meal fit for a royal family," remarked Vincent.
"Let's dig in," said Fictionary. With that, the family and guests enjoyed their feast.
"That's delicious," said Math. "Best pizza I've ever had."
Just then, an elderly gentleman came up to their table. "'ullo, Page," he said in a British accent. He looked to be in his early-to-mid 60s with short graying hair and greenish blue eyes.
"You two know each other?" asked Vincent.
"This is your mother's uncle," said Page. "His name is Albert Halsey."
"Pleased to meet you youngsters," said Albert.
"I don't think mom ever mentioned you to us," said Vincent.
"Why didn't she tell us about you?" asked Fictionary.
"Guess some people slip the mind," said Albert.
"So what brings you here?" asked Sunset.
"I heard about the convention so I wanted to join the fun," said Albert. "I also hadn't been to Rainbow Falls since I moved to Liverpool back in '91. Lullaby and I often wrote to each other to catch up on our respective lives; she talks about you, Flash and Fictionary quite a lot, young Vincent."
"She does?" asked Vincent.
"Mm-hmm," said Albert. He then turned to Sunset. "And this must be Sunset Shimmer."
"That I am," said Sunset. "I take it your niece told you about my story?"
"Yes, she did. I'm sorry for what you went through."
"It's a good thing Vincent was able to save me from myself," said Sunset. "Otherwise, I don't know what would have happened."
"Did you wanna join us for lunch?" offered Page.
"Hmm. I don't see why not," said Albert. "Gives me a chance to know my grandniece and grandnephew."
"Yay!" cheered Vincent and Fictionary. With that, Albert sat down to enjoy lunch with his family.
Before long, they had finished their meal.
"That hit the spot," burped Sunset, covering her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh, excuse me."
When all was done, they set back out to do some shopping.
"I wonder what we'll see at the gift shop," said Fictionary.
"Maybe a railway calendar," said Sunset.
"They might have some DVDs on railways," said Vincent. "The possibilities are endless."
Fictionary soon came across a sight that made her beam.
"Look at that!" she cried. "ERTL Thomas models!"
"I haven't seen those in years," remarked Math.
"They've even got one of Golden Thomas," said Vincent.
"Who's that purple engine with the two faces?" asked Sunset. She was holding a packaged model of an engine named Culdee.
"Oh, that's Culdee from the Railway Series books," said Math.
"It's the book series that the show is based upon," added Vincent. "I've often heard Song Cue go on about it."
"Think I could read some of the books?" asked Sunset curiously.
"I think Songs might let you," said Vincent.
"I'd like that," smiled Sunset.
"I remember when some of those books were first coming out," said Albert.
"You were in England at the time?" asked Vincent.
"Indeed I was," said Albert. "Me mum read the books to me when I was little, and when Lullaby was a little girl, I read the stories to her."
"I guess you passed your love for the books onto me and my siblings through our mom," said Vincent.
Albert just smiled; he'd only just met two of his niece's children, but already he was fond of them.
Each made their own purchases; Vincent got the ERTL models of Godred, Culdee, Lord Harry, and Catherine the coach, Fictionary got a couple of I Love Toy Trains DVDs, Math got an old-timey poster for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Sunset got the Thomas and Friends Collection compilation book from 2006. Albert kindly helped them to pay for their purchases.
"What a haul," said Fictionary.
"You said it," said Math.
"I'm surprised you got a poster for the Baltimore and Ohio," remarked Vincent.
"It reminded me of my old home back in Maryland," explained Math.
Vincent then noticed that one of the televisions in the gift shop was playing an episode of Thomas and Friends. This one was of the 2003 episode Emily's New Coaches.
"You know something, Sunset?" asked Vincent.
"What is it, Vincent?"
"I think you have a lot in common with that engine Emily."
"How so?"
"When Emily first came to Sodor," explained Vincent, "she was very sweet and kind to the others, often acting as a big sister figure. A bit like how you started out before Starlight and Trixie bullied you. Then Emily went through a brief period where she was bossy and rude to the others, kinda like your bully phase. But then she began to return to her old personality, just like you."
"You know, I never thought of it that way before," said Sunset. "At first I thought you were going to say it was because both Emily and I have big curves."
"Err..." Vincent blushed upon hearing that. Sunset just chuckled and playfully nudged his shoulder.
"I'm just playing with you," she giggled.
"Oh," sighed Vincent with relief.
"Do you think I'm odd for thinking Thomas and Emily would be a cute couple?" asked Sunset curiously.
"Erm, no, not at all," said Vincent. "To be honest, I kind of feel the same way."
"I'm so glad I'm not the only one," smiled Sunset.
Before long, the convention was ending.
"That was so much fun," said Fictionary.
"It really was," said Math.
"We should do it again sometime," suggested Sunset.
"Yeah," said Math. "Well, I'll see both you and Vincent at school next Monday... or maybe before then." With that, he parted ways with Sunset and the Sentry family.
"I'm so glad we could meet you, great uncle Albert," said Fictionary.
"And I'm happy that I finally got to meet you two," said Albert. "You know, I'd love to meet your older brother Flash as well."
"You think mom would want to see you too?" asked Vincent.
"Oh, she would probably very surprised to see me," said Albert.
"I can imagine," said Vincent. "You haven't seen one another for over twenty years."
Back at the Sentry house, Lullaby Strings was getting things ready for supper.
"I hope they're not taking too long," she said to herself. She looked out the window and saw the van pull up.
"Hmm! They're just in time for supper," she remarked.
As the van came to a stop, Page was the first to step out.
"Right, Albert," he said. "This is where the wife, kids and I live."
"We're not kids anymore, dad," said Vincent. "Well, Fictionary still is."
"Sorry, son," said Page. "Sometimes I forget that."
When Lullaby noticed her uncle Albert, she could not believe her eyes.
"Is that... really him?" she whispered to herself. She stepped outside to get a closer look.
"Uncle Albert?" she asked.
"Lullaby Strings?"
Suddenly, Lullaby raced towards her uncle, screaming in delight.
"Uncle Albert!" she cried whilst hugging him. "It's so wonderful to meet you again!"
"It's great to see you again too, Lullaby," smiled Albert.
"What brings you here?" asked Lullaby.
"I met these youngsters at the convention and thought it would be nice to see you again," said Albert.
"Oh, wait until you meet with Flash," said Lullaby. "Flash!" she called into the house. "There's someone I'd like you to meet!"
"Coming, mom," called Flash. To his relief, Flash didn't see Sunset - she'd gone home to her foster family alone - but he was surprised to see the elderly gentleman amongst his family.
"Who's he?" he asked.
"That's our great uncle Albert," said Fictionary.
"Great uncle?" asked Flash.
"On mom's side," said Vincent.
"You must be Flash," said Albert. "So nice to meet you."
"Same here," said Flash, shaking Albert's hand. "How come we never met you before?"
"Sometimes I like my privacy," explained Albert.
"Would you like to join us for dinner?" asked Lullaby.
"I'd love to."
After dinner, Flash and Vincent had a small chat.
"I've never seen mom that happy before," said Flash.
"Nor have I," said Vincent. "Something doesn't get me though..."
"What is it?" asked Flash.
"If uncle Albert survived Vietnam, why didn't he write any letters to his family?"
"That is an interesting question," said Flash. "Let's pay him a visit."
"We should be gentle with him, though," said Vincent. "The guy's in his 60s, you know."
"Right." With that, the brothers went to the guest room.
Albert was asleep in his room when he heard a knock.
"Come in," he said groggily. Flash and Vincent came in. "Ah, if it isn't my grandnephews," remarked Albert. "What can I do for you?"
"Could we ask you something?" asked Vincent.
"What's this about, boys?" asked Albert.
"You mentioned that you survived the war," said Flash. "Well, if you did, why didn't you come back to your family?"
Albert sighed sadly. He had a feeling he was going to be asked this.
"I was too upset," he admitted. "When I was younger, your grandmother and I didn't get along very well."
Sounds kinda familiar, thought Vincent to himself.
"Before I was drafted," went on Albert, "I told my sister that I hated her. I didn't mean it, but I wasn't thinking right."
"Why?" asked Flash.
"When people are angry or upset, sometimes they say or do things they usually wouldn't do without thinking. I was too worried that my sister would still be angry at me. And I was worried that it was too late of me to make amends."
"It's never too late with family," smiled Vincent. "Right...?"
"Perhaps so," said Albert. Feeling better now that they got answers, Flash and Vincent went back to bed.
FOOTNOTES
The character of Albert Halsey is inspired from the song "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" by Paul and Linda McCartney from Ram. He is also the uncle mentioned in "Out the Blue". Albert has a resemblance to Michael Angelis, and he was suggested by Mike. There are also Uncle Alberts in Only Fools and Horses, Coronation Street, and Mary Poppins.
Several LEGO Train sets from the 1990s are referenced.
