DANGER-PRONE DARCY

One chilly autumn morning, Percy was puffing along the line with a special load in tow.

"A-Are we almost there yet, Percy?" Alfie the Excavator called through chattering teeth on a well wagon behind Percy, "I-I'm freezing back here!"

"Almost!" Percy called back, rounding a bend before braking alongside a large site where the rest of the Pack were working.

"Here we are, Alfie!" Alfie sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Percy." The little excavator rolled off the well wagon and towards the site, leaving Percy to whistle and roll away. However, Alfie had barely moved one wheel turn onto the dirt when he heard a stern voice.

"Oh no you don't! Not one careless move on my nice, flat ground! Do you know how long it took to make this so perfect?" Alfie looked up to see Brenda the Bulldozer trundle up to him with an expectant glare. Alfie smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Brenda. But what's going on?"

"We're building a new road!" Jack explained, reversing alongside him, "All we have to do now is get through that rock over there." The three looked to the rockface that blocked the current planned road. Alfie's eyes widened.

"All that? Do we have any dynamite?"

"We won't need dynamite, or so Miss Jenny says," remarked Oliver from nearby, "There's a new machine that's coming that'll make quick work of that rock." Alfie raised an eyebrow.

"What sort of machine can do that?"

"Who knows? Maybe they can explode whenever they want!" Jack mused.

"Or perhaps they're so strong they can simply push the whole cliff out of the way, making the whole site flat in an instant!" Brenda sighed wistfully. Alfie gulped; he didn't like the sound of such a powerful machine.

Meanwhile, on another part of the island, Nia was rolling into Brendam Docks, looking up at Cranky.

"Good afternoon, Cranky! How is my special coming along?" she asked. Cranky grunted.

"There's nothing 'special' about this. It's just a machine," he muttered, lifting a yellow vehicle with a prominent drill from a ship's hull. The vehicle pouted at Cranky.

"I'm not just a machine, you know. I'm a tunnel-boring machine!" Cranky rolled his eyes as he began lowering her down.

"Of course you are." Nia was much more impressed as the large machine was placed on her well wagon.

"You're certainly the first tunnel-boring machine I've ever seen. Welcome to Sodor!"

"Why, thank you! Nice to know one of you is friendly," the machine replied, earning a snort from Cranky. Nia smirked.

"Don't worry about it; most of us aren't as cranky as Cranky. Oh! I'm Nia, by the way."

"And I'm Darcy! I was told I'll be working for the Sodor Construction Company?"

"Yes! I'll be taking you to them now!" Nia whistled and rolled away with Darcy, leaving Cranky to watch them leave in disinterest.

As the Pack were working to prepare the site for their new recruit, Alfie found himself becoming increasingly uneasy.

"T-They won't really be able to… explode, will they, Oliver?" he whispered hoarsely. Oliver chuckled.

"Of course not, Alfie. Jack just has a big imagination. Now come on, let's keep digging what we can. That'll keep your mind off things." However, as Oliver continued to clear earth away from the rockface, Alfie could only stare at the rock ahead of him. Suddenly, there was a loud whistle. Alfie jumped and turned frantically, only to see Nia rolling up to the site.

"See, Darcy? From what Thomas has told me, those machines over there are all very friendly. Except Max and Monty - he was very explicit about that." The machine on the well wagon behind her smiled.

"Oh, really? Well, that's a relief. Hello everyone!" Darcy called, waving her drill at the Pack. Two dump trucks only gave her a dismissive look, but a front loader, a turquoise bulldozer and a brown excavator rolled up to her in awe.

"Wow!" Jack gasped in amazement, "You're the new recruit? Incredible!"

"Not quite what I expected, but still looks useful," added Brenda. Darcy grinned, but couldn't help noticing Alfie behind them, staring at her drill in pure terror. Her grin wavered and she was about to say something when Miss Jenny pulled up in her land rover. She walked up to the group, delighted.

"Ah, I see you've all met our new member of the team! Everyone, this is Darcy!" She turned to Darcy.

"Now, Darcy, why don't you explain what you can do?"

"I'm a tunnel digger! I dig tunnels! Rather self-explanatory, really." Alfie blinked, snapping out of his terror, and rolled up to Miss Jenny.

"M-Miss Jenny, we don't really need another digger. We already have me, Jack, Oliver. Ne-"

"While we may have quite a few diggers already, Alfie," Miss Jenny cut in, "I think you'll find that Darcy is a very special kind of digger." Alfie gulped as Darcy made eye contact with him. Miss Jenny didn't notice as she turned to the rest of the Pack.

"Now, I want you all to continue clearing the site as best you can. Back to work!"

"Yes, Miss Jenny," chorused the machines, and they went back to work, with Alfie hurrying away from Darcy as quickly as he could. Miss Jenny turned to Nia and Darcy.

"You've arrived a bit early, so unfortunately we're not quite ready for you just yet, Darcy. While you wait, why don't you watch how our team works?" Miss Jenny suggested, walking back towards the rockface to check in on her team. Darcy chuckled weakly before looking down at the ground.

Darcy was soon unloaded from her well wagon, and she watched from the side as the rest of the Pack were working. She felt rather left out, but that wasn't her main concern. Every so often, she noticed Alfie turn to look at her before quickly turning away and, if possible, hiding behind something.

"You alright over there?" Darcy finally called, "I can help you if you want."

"N-No th-thanks!" Alfie stammered, "W-We've got it all under control!" Darcy raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? I can give you a demonstration if you'd like!" A pair of goggles slid down over Darcy's eyes.

"See? I just protect my eyes from dust and rubble, and then…" Darcy began to move her spinning drill, right into Max's path.

"Whoa!" the dump truck cried, swerving to avoid the obstacle. Darcy gasped, moving her drill back into its original position. Max screeched to a halt, nearly tipping over. He glared back furiously.

"Watch out, Darcy! You need to keep out of the way!"

"Yeah! Know your place, you boring machine!" sneered Monty as he passed with some earth.

"Boring! I get it! Good one, Monty!" Max laughed as he followed. Darcy watched in dismay as the dump trucks cackled away. Alfie, however, was absolutely terrified.

"D-Did you s-see that, O-Oliver? S-She could've torn M-Max's dumper off! We c-can't have her as part of the team. S-She's dangerous!"

"Oh, she didn't mean to, Alfie. She's still young; besides, she'll learn to be just as careful as the rest of us in due time," Oliver replied. Alfie gaped; he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"S-She has a spinning drill, Oliver! That can never be safe!"

"She's safe enough for Miss Jenny to not mind, and that's good enough for me," remarked Brenda as she trundled by, "Anyway, we need her to dig the tunnel through the rock. It's not as if any of us are strong enough to do it." To Brenda and Oliver's surprise, Alfie began knocking his shovel against the rockface.

"Y-Yes we are! If we all work together, we w-won't need that dangerous machine around!" Brenda and Oliver shared a worried glance.

From her spot, Darcy could soon hear the sound of Alfie frantically trying to chisel the rockface with his shovel. Darcy winced.

"Oh dear… He really doesn't want me here, does he?"

"Who doesn't want you?" Darcy looked to see Nia braking to a halt nearby with a goods train. Darcy sighed.

"That little excavator over there. I think you both have never seen a tunnel digger before, but he seems to think I'm dangerous. I'm… not, am I?"

"Of course you're not! That excavator seems very silly; I'm surprised Thomas didn't mention that about him. Maybe because they have that in common…" Nia chuckled at her own wit, but Darcy was still downcast, so Nia hastily went on.

"Anyway, you're going to dig that tunnel soon, aren't you? You can show him that you're useful then! I'll be here to watch too, if that helps." Darcy smiled.

"It does; thanks, Nia."

"Alfie, what on earth are you doing?" Darcy and Nia looked to see Miss Jenny walking up to Alfie, who was still scraping his shovel against the rockface.

"D-Digging the tunnel, Miss Jenny, just like you wanted! You don't need that… dangerous machine, ma'am. You can just use us!" Miss Jenny heaved a long sigh.

"Alfie, you've not made a single dent in that rock, and we have a deadline to keep to. Darcy can handle it and be safe too. Now, move out of the way so Darcy can get into position, please." Alfie grimaced, about to protest when Miss Jenny crossed her arms. The excavator sighed and reversed from the rockface. MIss Jenny turned to Darcy.

"Darcy, we're ready for you!" she called. Nia smirked at Darcy.

"Well, what do you know? Show that excavator just what you can do!" Darcy grinned.

The Pack stood by as Darcy advanced towards the rockface, with her goggles over her eyes and her drill steady. Alfie watched anxiously as Darcy's drill began to spin. Darcy smirked.

"Aim and… DRILL!" she shouted as her drill began easily cutting away at the rock. Alfie and Jack gaped as Darcy had soon disappeared into the tunnel that she had created.

"Did… Did she just do that?" Max spluttered.

"Of course she did!" chuckled Nia from the rails nearby, "Sbe is a very special digger, after all." The dump trucks shared a glance. On the other side of the rockface, Darcy emerged from the tunnel, rocks flying everywhere.

"Now that felt good." She quickly reversed back through her tunnel and to the site again, where she was greeted with Nia, Jack and Brenda enthusiastically cheering.

"You were absolutely amazing, Darcy! I've never seen anyone so strong!" Jack gushed.

"Oh, it was nothing, really. It's just what I do!"

"Maybe, but you were great, Darcy. A perfect demonstration if I ever saw one," smiled Miss Jenny, "Now then. Since our recruit has opened up a path for us, let us go and keep working on that road!"

"I want to be the first one through!" Jack grinned and took off towards the tunnel. Brenda and Oliver followed eagerly, leaving Alfie noticeably quiet. Darcy looked hesitant for a moment but quietly approached him.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Alfie, I really didn't mean to. My drill is a bit intimidating, I suppose." Alfie's nervousness seemed to fade at this and was quickly replaced with guilt.

"No… I'm sorry, Darcy. I shouldn't have made you feel unwanted. You're a really useful tunnel digger."

"And you're a really useful excavator! Just leave the rock to me from now on, okay?" Darcy winked and Alfie laughed as the two rolled away together towards the tunnel. Nia watched the scene, rather impressed.

"All's well that ends well," she mused, "Perhaps I was wrong to judge that little excavator so soon." She whistled and continued on with her delivery. However, there were two that were still unhappy - Max and Monty, who glared at Darcy with suspicion as she rolled into the tunnel after Alfie. That, however, is another story…

Author's Note: Last adaptation was probably the last Season 22 one I do (for at least a long time), now this one is likely the last Season 23 one. With a new title suggested by fellow writer and good friend Chase the Ferroequinologist (please check him out, he does incredible work and is releasing a new set of stories as this is published) and a new second lead character, this story's quite different from the original First Day on Sodor!. The decision to center it around Alfie as well as Darcy comes from not only Alfie having a bit of a nervous streak in the Pack episodes, but also because he's been sorely neglected since his return, and I think the poor little guy deserves better. This story confirms Darcy and Brenda as being a part of my AU, although I'm not necessarily sure about the former's standing position in it in the long term, but that's a problem for another day. Brenda, however, is a character I was really pessimistic about on announcement but have grown to love since, mainly due to Out of Site. This doesn't mean that Byron is gone from my AU, though; we'll see what the future holds in store for him. This story's also made me glad I've incorporated Nia into my AU, because writing her's surprisingly a ton of fun. That sense of wit and teasing nature really brings out a lot of fun interactions, and I hope to continue that with her in the future. Don't worry, she'll pop up in an original story in due time. I think I've rambled long enough; both another adaptation and a couple originals are in the works, so look out for those soon!