How Else It Could Have Been

by AaronCottrell97

One night, Thomas and Emily pay a visit to David and Beatrice at Arlesburgh, where they discover that David has been thinking deeply about how certain events that occurred on Sodor before he first arrived could've happened had he actually been present for those events. They all spend the night beside the sea indulging these dramatic, if outlandish possibilities. 200th story!

It had been a few more weeks since Percy was told to help make ready for a Railway Show for Little Engines, only for him to take those words literally and invite all the little engines he could to come to the show, only to find that by "little engines," the Thin Clergyman clarified the matter with model engines. All the same, all the little engines got a fair chance to partake in the show, including Luke and Millie, and Rosie and Stanley, with a first price rosette for Percy to finish it all off on such a merry note.

It was now a perfect and quiet Autumn evening on the Island of Sodor. The sun had just about set in the sky, and there was a cool wave of breeze in the air. Thomas and Emily had been working in harmony and enjoyability for the past few weeks, but during that time, a few things had come up for David as he carried on with his work at Arlesburgh. In light of him and Emily declaring each other to be their best friends, David had found himself beginning to think and imagine a select few things regarding how his life had taken the course that it did to eventually lead him to the Island of Sodor, and his father's engine, which resulted in so many fond and unforgettable memories that nether David nor Emily could have seen coming in the way that they did. But there were also other matters involved in what David had been thinking throughout this period of time. Matters that he knew would have been intensely serious depending on if he had been on Sodor earlier than he was...and this very evening, there would be a great deal to express, imagine and relive for David, his mother, and of course, Thomas and Emily.

After a whole day's work with passengers and goods alike and being really useful, Thomas and Emily had made their way back to Knapford Station and were both feeling proud yet again to meet up for the evening.

"Hello, Emily," Thomas greeted. "Enjoyed your day, did you?"

"I did, Thomas," said Emily. "All my passengers are happy, and my trucks behaved very well. And you?"

"As good as always on my Branch Line," said Thomas. "And here we are again, Emily. Set to spend another evening together. What shall we do tonight?"

"Mm-hm. So we are, Tommy," said Emily. "Hmm...where to go then...hmm...Oh. I think I have the right place in mind, Thomas."

"Where would that be, my love?" Thomas asked.

"Thomas...I'd like to spend tonight at Arlesburgh," said Emily. "It's been a little while since our last visit there together, and I'd like to see what David and Beatrice might be on to. Perhaps they'd like a visit. After all, David's been rather busy over these past few weeks...and I wonder if he's been thinking lately."

"Why do you say that, Emily?" Thomas asked. "Has there been no word from him?"

"Not much, Thomas," said Emily. "And...it's making me wonder just what sort of night we might have...I almost feel like there could be a few stories in store for both of us...and with him too."

"Hmm...that does sound interesting, Emily," said Thomas. "Well, anything to see your best friend must be something special. Let's go then."

"Thank you, Tommy," Emily smiled. "I wonder what might happen tonight."

"Well...we'll just have to wait and see," said Thomas.

And with that, the angel and star made their way through Knapford Yards and on their way to Arlesburgh. As they huffed along side by side and exchanged smiles to each other, they began to wonder how this night would turn out. They didn't know why, but they began to get flickers of feeling like it would be a rather prominent and meaningful night with David and Beatrice. But how and over what subjects was for them to find out in just over an hour. There was quite a night to be experienced not just with the two of them, but with David and Beatrice too.

Just as the stars began to appear in the sky and the moon began to rise overhead, Thomas and Emily made their way to Arlesburgh and huffed more slowly through the village together. It all looked so gentle and peaceful as they looked about the houses and saw a few lights on and some lights out among the various houses...until Thomas and Emily looked ahead and saw David's house.

They stopped together beside his house and could see some lights still on. This told them that David and Beatrice were home and they hadn't gone to bed yet. Thomas and Emily looked to each other, then looked to the house again. They were sure they could see two silhouettes standing together and making little gestures as if they were talking.

Then Emily gave a few little whistles to see if David would notice them. Then they saw a silhouettes stop and look a certain way, then they both moved among the lit windows. Thomas and Emily were sure that David and Beatrice knew they were out there. Then soon enough, the door opened and David and Beatrice came out. They saw Emily and suddenly proceeded rather slowly down the porch steps toward both engines. To Emily's curiosity, David was wearing his naval cutlass and both his silver and gold medals of honour, and holding his Navy Captain's hat in his hand. As for Beatrice, she was wearing her simple but perfect blue dress and was looking quite lovely tonight. Now Thomas and Emily felt more of a sense of stirring and that something would indeed happen tonight surrounding David and his mother...and perhaps there were a few things to be told, and they would find out very soon now.

When David looked at Emily, he had a rather deep, thought-filled expression. It looked as though he had been thinking a great deal about some certain things, and by the way he looked at Emily, she now had a strong sensation that this would be a most prominent night in some way or other.

"Good evening, David and Beatrice," said Thomas. "It's been a few weeks and we've all been busy, but Emily and I thought we'd give you both a visit and see how you're both doing. Is everything going well?"

Beatrice glimpsed to David, then to Thomas. Both Riders knew they'd be seeing Thomas and Emily again once the time was right...and after a few weeks' time of waiting and biding, the time was now right for the two engines to hear everything.

"Hello, Emily," said Beatrice. "We've been doing quite well lately...and it seems your visit is most opportune and perfectly timed tonight. I think you're both in for a certain sort of night. David seems to have picked up a few lines of thought over these past few weeks. Thoughts that he has not yet expressed to anyone. But just this evening, he's been saying today that if he could see you, Emily...he'd like to share it all with you...and I see that you and Thomas are here tonight...and I think we're all in for an interesting evening together.

Thomas and Emily looked at each other, then to David.

"Hello, David...best friend...is everything alright?" Emily asked.

David took a deep look to Emily. His engine and his best friend. He looked at Thomas, then his mother. He had indeed been conjuring up certain thoughts he had interest in sharing with his friends tonight, and he had other little lines of thought deep within his heart that would come to be known in due course later on in the night.

"Hello, Emily...my best friend," he said gently, but solidly. "I've been doing quite well lately. Working hard just like you and Thomas, and still feeling wonderful to have you as my best friend...but over these past few weeks, in light of having you as my best friend, Emily, I've found myself picking up some new thoughts...thoughts I've never expressed before to either you or Thomas. I don't know why I didn't think of them earlier...but now, I'm very glad to see you both here tonight. I think I'd like us to gather together and articulate these certain thoughts."

"What sorts of thoughts, David?" Emily asked.

"Well, to tell you everything clearly...I'd like us to find the perfect place to talk," said David.

"Well...where shall we go to talk this out, David?" Thomas asked. "What's your choice of preference?"

David looked further down toward the sea. "Out by the pier. All four of us. That's the perfect place to be tonight. I have so much to tell tonight."

With that, David got onboard Emily, and Beatrice got onboard Thomas. Then together, they huffed slowly through Arlesburgh, down the various levels, right to the pier where Cap'n Calles' ship and the Sea Emperor stood. Thomas and Emily saw how they both huffed out to the pier side by side until they stopped right at the buffers. Thomas looked to his left and eyed Cap'n Calles' ship, and Emily looked to her right and eyed the Sea Emperor. Then out beyond, they could see the full moon glistening over the shimmering water, far out to the horizon. David and Beatrice then got down from both engines and came up to both engines' bufferbeams, gazing at the sky themselves for a few moments, letting everything sink in and filling them up with shimmering wonder.

"Oh, Emily...it's so beautiful, isn't it?" Thomas breathed.

"Yes, Thomas. Truly amazing," Emily breathed. Then she turned to her best friend. "So...what is this all about, David?"

"Yes, David," said Thomas. "Now that we're at the perfect spot...what do you have to express to us?"

David turned around and looked to Thomas and Emily. Beatrice came alongside David and held his shoulder as he began to speak.

"Everything is set, you two...now I can express all my thoughts. Now...over these past few weeks since Percy's Great Little Railway Show, there have been many things I've been thinking of for quite a while, Emily. Things that I can't help but express to both of you."

"Well, what is it, David?" Emily asked.

"Well...it's mostly about how everything has happened with my course of life on Sodor," said David. "You see, ever since I first came here around four years ago, so much has happened. Particularly between me and you, Emily."

"Of course," said Emily. "The latest significance being you and I declaring each other our best friend."

"Indeed, and that's made us both very happy. But now that we're all here together, I have quite a few things I'd like to express...and imagine with you three."

Thomas and Emily looked to each other again with a tingle in their hearts.

"Imagine? What do you mean, David?" Emily asked.

David looked at Emily, then Thomas as he touched his silver charm.

"Well...I've been waiting for the past few weeks to bring this all forward...now I think the time is right. I'm so glad you came with Thomas too, Emily. You see, this is a subject you two might be familiar with...given that you two explored such a subject only a few days before Thomas went on his very first big world adventure...about how it could have been if your relationship ran a different course than it did. Lately, I've been thinking of a select few lines of events that came and went on Sodor...and I couldn't help but wonder...how else it could have been. I've been wondering what could have been for you, Emily...and Sodor too...if I had come here earlier than I did."

This made Thomas and Emily look to each other with a little jump in their hearts. For a few moments, they suddenly remembered how they themselves had expressed different scenarios together based on how it could have been if their relationship had run a different course than it did and if their relationship would have been any more or less potent than it turned out to be in the end...only a few days before Thomas went on his very first big world adventure. The scenarios they had thought up were truly interesting to think about, but in the end, their relationship had taken the course that it did, and they were both truly happy with how it had turned out up to this given day and so it would go on...now, it was finally David's turn to explore these very thoughts and possibilities to what could have been.

"Oh...w-wow, David..." Emily whispered. "How else it could have been..."

"You've been thinking of how things might have run differently...if you came to Sodor earlier?" Thomas asked with wonder.

David nodded solidly. "That's right, Emily, and Thomas. Just like you two thought of a few certain scenarios, I've thought of a select few events that could have run very differently if I had come here earlier...all of which include you two, the Fat Controller...and a few others too."

"That's right, you two," Beatrice added. "David just started telling me what events he was thinking of...and now he'd like to share them with us, quite confidentially, of course. You see...these thoughts are very deep indeed. Especially given the events he's been thinking of in particular."

"And what events are you referring to, David?" Emily asked.

"I'm talking about if I had not done any goods deliveries with the Sea Emperor," said David. "If I simply took my ship and came to Sodor right after Sailor John's naval downfall. I still would have held the honour of being captain of my own ship, and the way I would have met you and Emily would not have been too different than how we truly did meet once Sailor John was stopped for the last time."

"Hmm. Perhaps it wouldn't have been too different," said Emily. "Although, it must mean you would have reminded me who you were...and it would have made me remember Lawrence as my first driver even before he came to visit us...for the truly only time he ever could."

"I know, Emily," David sighed. "But if I came here right after plunging Sailor John out of the navy...I trust you know what means..."

Thomas thought back and suddenly remembered a little wave of memory. "Do you mean, David...if you were here when...?"

"Yes, Thomas. It makes me wonder what could have been...if I were there to see the time you so unjustly got sent away to Harwick, no thanks to Gordon."

Thomas and Emily looked to each other again and suddenly felt a little twinge of impression jolt their hearts. Given some of the outlandish and daring maneuvers David had performed with Donald and Douglas, the Fat Controller and especially George, this made them wonder indeed just how else it could have been.

"I...I see, David," said Emily. "And...what other events are you thinking of? What else could have been?"

"I wonder what else could have been...if I were there to see you being so terribly whipped about by Sir Topham Hatt, Thomas...if I were here to see Bradford's outrageous zeal about rules and regulations...if I had been there to see Emily's snowball incident for myself and what I might have done upon Donald and Douglas then...if I had been there to see my father's death and what I might have done upon Seymour Murphy...and lastly, what might have happened if Sailor John had crossed paths with me during his Pirate's Vendetta. I have quite the scenarios conjured up...which I'd like us to partake in for a while."

Thomas and Emily now began to feel a certain pound in their boilers. They both knew this would be a very potent and prominent night indeed, and after sharing their stories on how it could have been for their relationship, they had very little idea of what sorts of imagination and visions they were in for tonight. It would be a huge mixture of dedication, fighting, ambition, revenge, chases, close calls, heroism, miracles and quite a bit more.

"By my ringed funnel...this all sounds most intriguingly stirring, David," said Emily. "I don't believe we've ever thought much of what else could have been. Far beyond what Thomas and I imagined what could have been if your relationship ran a different course."

"Now bear in mind, you two," David said with a sense of seriousness and a touch of fear. "These scenarios are very, very outlandish, and I must emphasize that these are strictly fragments of my imagination and since what is done is done, these sorts of imaginations will never come to be. The past is the past and we can't change it. Some parts of these imaginations may be very outlandish and even frightful. When I first heard of these events myself back when they truly happened, they really drove my emotions rather far, but I still wish to articulate what thoughts I have, and show us how far we've truly come in what course time has given us all. So...are you all ready?"

Thomas and Emily slowly began to smile, as did Beatrice. They felt their hearts beginning to race with curiosity and anticipation. They didn't know yet just what David had conjured up in his mind, but whatever it would be, it would certainly be exciting.

"Yes, David. We are," Thomas, Emily and Beatrice all answered together.

"Very well, then," said David. "Let us start from the beginning. Imagine it's just after Thomas and Emily's first anniversary of being truly in love at Knapford Sheds. I came along and introduced myself similarly to how I truly did. We become similar friends to how we truly did, and I get established with the other engines and Sir Topham Hatt...then that fateful day comes along. The Harwick Branch Line is under construction, and Thomas was due to shunt Gordon's coaches. He says Gordon should fetch his own coaches, and Gordon retorts that he's too big to shunt, which is was he silly little tank engines,' are for."

"Then I take his coaches away, run the red signal and narrowly miss Emily as the coaches go derailing everywhere...then through my vague sense of fear of what may happen to me, I try to blame Gordon, Emily and Toby for the accident...and I'm sent away to work on the new Branch Line while Ryan learns how to run a Branch Line on mine."

"I forgive him due to Gordon triggering him and that Thomas was just afraid," said Emily. "But all the same, I know he has to learn a lesson and perhaps it's best that he goes...to which I call Gordon out for being the very same mean and insensitive engine he always was towards me, and that he hasn't changed at all."

"And that is where I come in," said David. "Perhaps if Emily told me what happened, I don't think I would have done too much at first since derailing a whole express is most serious indeed and would deserve repercussion to think about one's actions...but all the same, I would have looked at Gordon very differently. Then after you fell in the cavern, Thomas...and you had the credit of finding that ship robbed from you and given to Rocky, that's when I believe I would start doing things...concerning me and Sir Topham Hatt."

Thomas and Emily looked right at David. Now the imaginations would truly begin. And so the two engines and Beatrice all listened closely as David began...

---

It was the very day that Thomas had been sent off to the Harwick Branch Line Construction after Gordon called Thomas a "silly little tank engine," and provoked him into derailing all the express coaches. Thomas had just had his accident of falling into the unsafe cavern and discovering Cap'n Calles' ship before being hoisted out to a cross Fat Controller who refused to listen to Thomas' explanation of the ship, dismissing it as an excuse and having Emily take him to the Steamworks. Emily had confided in Thomas that she already forgave him for his knack of pinning blame before and that she still loved him. But then Edward came along and said that Rocky found the ship, much to Thomas' outrage.

That evening, at Knapford Station, the Fat Controller had gathered a few of the engines for a little indignation meeting of his own concerning Thomas. Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy and Emily were all there to hear the meeting. David was there too at Platform 1, right beside Emily, and he did not like what he was hearing at all. Ever since he first heard about Thomas being framed by Gordon, he was hoping Thomas would be listened to, and the Fat Controller wasn't taking the slightest notice of Thomas' dire needs right now. He addressed the engines rather stubbornly and inconsiderably about Thomas.

"Everyone! I'm sure you've all heard that Thomas has been most reckless today, upsetting Gordon's express, trying to blame Gordon, Emily and Toby all at once, dumping all the rails and sleepers into that cavern, and rambling about a pirate ship! Although it seems Rocky made a remarkable discovery of a ship himself."

As the Fat Controller spoke, Gordon smirked with secret victory, much to Emily and David's building anger. Edward, Henry and Percy didn't know what to say or think as they all felt a little sorry for Thomas and felt inclined to follow what the Fat Controller said nonetheless. But David and Emily found themselves feeling more and more incensed by what the Fat Controller was saying.

"Now, everyone," the Fat Controller continued. "From today until Thomas returns from the Branch Line Construction and learns his lesson, avoid him! Don't let him see you or seek you out to try and sneak away from Harwick! All he has been doing is conjuring his usual excuses to get out of trouble!"

David couldn't hold back anymore and protested. "Sir Topham, don't you see that Thomas didn't mean any harm falling into that cavern!"

"David, I saw it with my own eyes! He's clearly learned no lesson from this morning's uproar with those coaches!" the Fat Controller retorted.

"He may have upset the express, but Thomas is NOT a liar!" David insisted. "If he says there's a ship down there, then By Sodor, there is a SHIP down there!"

"Are you saying he was right to ignore the danger signs and workmen's warnings and cause even more confusion and delay?!" the Fat Controller rapped.

"No, but it seems that you're only letting your feelings speak louder than the reasons surrounding this given situation for Thomas!"

"Well, Rider! You might be willing to let Thomas get away with excuses, but I'm not!" the Fat Controller retorted.

To this, David stepped right up to the Fat Controller and began backing him toward the station wall as he confronted the Railway Manager.

"Why are you threatened by anyone who merely explains their side of the story?!" David berated rebelliously.

All the engines gasped lightly to David's unexpected move. Especially Emily. To this, the Fat Controller slowly narrowed his eyes and glowered. No one had approached him like this before, be it an engine or person. To him this was a clear sign of challenge to his authority, and he didn't like it one bit. Despite being fairly shorter than David, the Fat Controller stood up straight and spoke back.

"Protect this railway...and stay away from him!" he demanded stubbornly.

David's glare hardened for a few seconds more. Then he swung away with an incensed growl. The other engines decided to leave and not question the situation further, although some of them began to feel doubt in their trust for their controller. Emily stayed and looked at David. He had turned to leave the station, but first, he looked back once more as the Fat Controller returned to his office. Emily could see a look of darkness and even a sense of threat in David's eyes as he remained silent, but full of thought.

"You can't hide forever, Fat Controller," David thought darkly. "If you don't watch your step...I WILL do anything for Thomas...AND Emily if I must!"

Then David bolted out of the station and out of sight, leaving Emily to return to work, just beginning to doubt her trust in her own controller too...

The vision then merged and shapeshifted to the time Thomas, Ryan and all the diggers were in a frenzied panic over the burning dynamite. Emily was at the worksite too, having been worried about Thomas and by David's suggestion, wanted to see how he was doing...and in the given moment, she was in a frenzied panic too to see Thomas and Ryan rushing about with burning dynamite trucks! Thomas was pushing Ryan and the dynamite trucks right along the line, only for the Fat Controller to see it all from his car and misinterpret the situation. David was running along the ridge above, watching the whole scene, while Emily hurried behind her star.

"Thomas! Watch out!" Emily wailed.

"Get Ryan out of there, Thomas!" David yelled down to the two engines.

"Out of the way, Ryan! Thomas ordered.

Ryan backed into a siding and Thomas turned to another workman. "Now!" the workman switched the line, leading Thomas away from Ryan. He saw the cavern barrier just ahead and slowly down, letting the train bump into the barrier and send the dynamite down the cavern. It exploded much to Thomas' relief. He had saved Ryan's life as well as the diggers, who came up behind him and cheered for him.

Emily and David began cheering for Thomas too, which made him feel even more of a proud swell...but not for long.

"THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE!" bellowed an all-too familiar voice. All Thomas could say was, "Uh-oh." On the ridge above him, towering down like Diesel 10 did upon his return was...the Fat Controller. David and Emily heard the voice too and looked from below the ridge, and beside the ridge respectably, seeing the now villainous Controller towering over everyone.

"What are you playing at now?! I thought you could learn to be more responsible if I sent you to work here," he snapped.

"But sir, this time, it's really not my fault. I-"

"No, Thomas!" the Fat Controller pouted. "I've had quite enough of your excuses. GO to your shed immediately! And you can stay there for the rest of the afternoon. And everyone else can get back to work! Especially YOU, Emily! I will NOT have you defending a destructive tank engine now!"

Thomas now felt truly terrible, and Emily was now very angry at her controller. Before the Fat Controller could leave the scene, another voice suddenly split the air.

"TOPHAM!" a voice growled only a few yards beside him. The Fat Controller looked back. "Get away from them!"

"No wisecracks from YOU, Rider!" the Fat Controller pouted. "I'll get them out of there myself!"

And he took his car and drove speedily back down the road, toward the Harwick site, then sped along Thomas and Emily's trail. But David was ready too. He quickly and carefully found a way to maneuver down the ridge and right up to Thomas and Emily to protect them. He glared like a wolf to the trail behind them and seemed ready to fight.

"You saved the day, Thomas. You don't deserve any bullshit like this!" he urged. "I'll protect you, Emily!"

Then suddenly, the Fat Controller's car sped right up beside Thomas and Emily, turned around, then screeched to a halt. Then he came out and began striding toward Thomas with a red face and clenched fists. He seemed ready to almost punch Thomas as he approached closer and closer.

"YOU IRRESPONSIBLE, UNRELIABLE AND REALLY USLESS ENGINE!" he thundered. "GET BACK TO YOUR SHED OR ELSE-!"

The Fat Controller just began to raise his fist, when David rushed in and began pushing him away from Thomas.

"No! Don't!" David yelled as he grabbed the Fat Controller's shoulders and tried to hold him back.

Emily coupled up to Thomas from behind and began pulling him away, but the Fat Controller suddenly gave a yell and power-pushed David away, making him stagger off his feet. Then the Fat Controller turned to the escapees who stopped in their tracks as they had been spotted.

"NO YOU DON'T! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT! BOTH OF YOU ARE NOT LEAVING YOUR SHEDS!"

And the Fat Controller ran and began approaching Emily this time. Before he could yell one more or raise his hand, David suddenly jumped forward again, and tackled the Fat Controller away. The Fat Controller thrashed, yelled and struggled to get to Thomas or Emily, but David's mind was no longer present. Only fire-eyed fury was his conduct now...and he anchored his arm around the Fat Controller's neck, beginning to strangle him! David then began pulling back as hard as he could, making the Fat Controller stagger and fall forward onto the ground, wrestling and fighting even harder to break free of David's grip.

"Thomas! Emily! Get out of here! Back to your Branch Line! You are free! RUN!" David yelled.

Emily began pulling Thomas away and setting off, but in that moment, they heard a hoarse and desperate choke escape the Fat Controller. This made Thomas stop and suddenly realize what was about to happen. Despite everything he had been put through, he couldn't let this happen.

"Wait, David! David, wait!" Thomas urged frightfully.

"David! What are you DOING?!" Emily howled with horror.

"GO NOW!" David roared, anchoring his arm around the Fat Controller's neck even harder.

"Hurry, Thomas! Come on, now, Emily! Hurry!" Donald and Douglas' voices came from behind to usher them out. "Outrun that Topham mongrel!"

And Donald took off back down the line. Douglas merely sneered at the Fat Controller for what he had done to Thomas as he set off too. Thomas and Emily, most reluctantly and frightfully set off down the line after the twins. By this time, the Fat Controller was thrashing about like he never did before as David's grip was starting to take hold. Sir Topham Hatt flailed his arms, he swung, he kicked, he struggled, he heaved. He was running out of breath and his movements were slowing as he was losing this fight, while David steadily came out on top.

Then the Fat Controller began to heave and choke against David's strangle, and when David opened his eyes and saw Thomas was out of sight, he suddenly let go of the Fat Controller with a rough shove and a glare with baring teeth. The fight was over, and all sensations of strength and intense drive forward suddenly stopped. The Fat Controller gasped for air, then began coughing and choking very hoarsely several times over, then heaved in and out, holding his throat for several moments. David glared onward, then breathed very shallowly as he looked up, then froze.

Ryan, Marion, and all the diggers were staring at him with silently shocked faces, at complete loss for thought or words to what they had just seen David almost do. Then David's eyes trailed forward and saw that Emily came back too. Thomas had escaped, but now she was staring with absolute shock and horror too at what her new friend had almost done. It was in that moment, when all adrenaline and determination dissolved from David and began washing over him with absolute anxiety and complete vague insecurity, completely lost now. He didn't know what to do now, or what would happen next.

"Sir Topham...I didn't...I'm sorry, I-"

"I asked YOU to protect this railway," the Fat Controller said with a sense of heartbreak, then anger. "And YOU...betrayed Sodor's Railway."

David could now feel a great and powerful sweep of vagueness overtaking him. One of shame, regret, shock, horror and confusion all at once as he slowly stepped backwards, looking at both his hands and what they had just done...and could have done if fate had run its course just a few seconds more. Then in the next instant, David turned and ran. He ran as fast as his legs would possibly let him run at...while the Fat Controller finally returned to his car and drove back to Knapford to see if Thomas had run back there...while Emily's ponding heart directed her away from the Harwick site, completely lost in a vague cloud of uncertainty herself.

The vision merged and shapeshifted again...to Knapford Station. Emily was huffing back toward the station, when to her surprise and concern, she saw Thomas at the platform...and all the other engines in the Steam Team gathered together. On the platform, Stephen, Bridget, Lady Hatt and Dowager Hatt were all gathered together, and right close by them, David was being held by the shoulder by a policeman. It was quite clear that on his run from Harwick, he had been caught by the police...but he didn't have a father to wallop him soundly at this given moment.

Emily saw Thomas with a shaky expression and all the other engines looking truly shocked by the news they had just heard...and Gordon looked noticeably frightened. Then the Fat Controller returned to Knapford Station, and he was in for a surprise. He saw all the engines, his family and David and the policeman all there at once. As soon as the Fat Controller approached the platform, he saw that his whole family was glaring angrily at him. Then he looked and saw all the engines glaring furiously at him too...all except Gordon, who seemed more and more frightened.

"There you are, you son of a BITCH!" the policeman shouted to the Fat Controller. "You GET OVER here this instant, you red-faced hypocrite!"

"What is this all about?!" the Fat Controller exclaimed. "Why are you all here, giving me most inappropriate expressions?"

"We'll tell you what this is about!" snapped the policeman. "We've all heard what happened at the Harwick Site today, and BOTH of you have a TON of explaining to do! Firstly, we are utterly astounded and outraged by your actions, Mr. Rider! Where on EARTH did you get the idea to attack Sir Topham Hatt like that?!"

David shot a glare of boiling hate to the Fat Controller...then turned to the police and changed his debonair immediately.

"Well, sir. I am truly sorry I ever did that, and I will gladly pay whatever price is placed on me, but with all due respect, I think it's only right that we let Thomas explain the entire truth as to what led up to this point. He's been ignored by his own manager long enough, and as outlandish and outrageous as I may have been just now, I believe we can solve this issue and bring everything clear. IF, and ONLY IF...Thomas can have his say and actually be listened to!"

"Very well, Mr. Rider," said the policeman, still holding onto his shoulder. "Thomas, you may explain everything clearly as to what happened and why, and Sir Topham Hatt, you will NOT interrupt Thomas!"

"Thank you, sir," said Thomas. "But if I may, perhaps Emily may have a say in all this...she's seen some of it too."

Emily heard Thomas and immediately agreed. "As horrific as the event I've just seen with Thomas was...I would be glad to explain everything...and expose the fugitives!"

And so Thomas, Emily and David all explained everything to the policeman, the Hatts and the other engines about everything that had happened and why, starting from Thomas derailing the coaches for Gordon insulting him, to finding the ship and having the credit taken away, to feeling shunned over not being the No. 1 Engine, right up to his heroic rescue of Ryan and the diggers. The whole time this was explained, the policeman, most of the engines and the rest of the Hatts gasped and started looking at Gordon and the Fat Controller alike. Never did any of them think this was all spawned by Gordon's desire to get his own way by bullying, and never did any of them think that Thomas was actually saving Ryan's life, only to be horrendously and almost evilly disowned by the Fat Controller, and almost struck by his controller too, which led to David's spew into action.

As it turned out, David also explained that he was just trying to protect Thomas and Emily from truly unacceptable behaviour from their own controller...and when everything was all explained, the realization began shining through. Gordon was once again feeling so very scared of what would happen to him...and the Fat Controller had never looked and felt so very ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated by his own behaviour. All the engines, especially Thomas and Emily watched as his lips quivered, his eyes watered...then he buried his face into his hands and began to just cry and cry and cry.

"Oh...by my God!" the Fat Controller sobbed. "What have I done? What have I DONE?! Thomas...Oh, God! Thomas! I-I-I'm just SO DISGUSTED by my own behaviour, and I'm SO sorry, Thomas! I'm sorry for being such a dismissive fool towards you! I'm sorry everything I've done to upset you and I never meant for any of this to ever happen! I'm truly so sorry!"

Emily's heart tingled to what she had just heard, hearing her words echo from the Fat Controller unto Thomas after all he had been through. As the Fat Controller broke down into petrified and truly ashamed tears, the policeman took a deep, deep sigh to David as he slowly let go of his shoulder.

"Well, Mr. Rider. This is indeed another tricky situation on all sides, much like Thomas' attack on 'Arry and Bert all for Emily's sake. While we are outraged by your actions, we can't fault you for defending Thomas and Emily from such inexcusable, unjustified and completely uncalled for treatment from his own controller. Perhaps in some ways...you haven't betrayed this railway after all. Sometimes drastic situations call for drastic actions. And since you acted for the sake of protecting an innocent friend...I've decided that you will NOT be subject to SPD confinement. But all the same, you overstepped your own Captain's authority and such actions upon Sir Topham Hatt cannot be overlooked. Therefore, for what it is worth, we have no choice but to ground you, placed under house arrest onboard your own ship, the Sea Emperor. For the next month, you are NOT to leave your ship. Any food or service you require will be brought to you by Arlesburgh's workmen, and if you wish to regain your privileges and move on from what you've done today, this had better not happen again. EVER in your LIFE."

"It won't, sir," David said, bowing his head. "I will never do such a thing again, and I will gladly stay onboard my ship for the next month, as long as it means Thomas can be vindicated and be given justice just like Emily was."

"Of course he shall have that, David. Thank you for your cooperation. And as for YOU, Sir Bertram Topham Hatt...!" the policeman stated loudly.

"What?" the Fat Controller remarked, only to be poked in the chest by his mother.

"You know very well WHAT, young man!" Dowager Hatt sniffed indignantly.

"You're lucky the police didn't decide to arrest you, my short-minded husband!" Lady Hatt berated. "Being so heinously mean to Thomas for saving Ryan's life, INDEED!"

"You should NEVER have gone off attacking Thomas without asking to hear his side of the story first!" David scolded.

"Bad grandfather! Bad, bad!" Stephen and Bridget blurted out, stubbornly pointing to their grandfather.

"Indeed, little ones! Bad Topham! You are a VERY bad little boy!" Dowager scolded. "You're the Abominable Controller beyond any shred of doubt!"

Then all the engines except Gordon and Edward began chanting together.

"Bad Topham! Bad Topham! Bad Topham! Bad Topham!"

Suddenly the policeman blew a shrill whistle, making all the engines stop chanting. Then the Fat Controller stepped forward.

"I know exactly how you all feel," he said submissively. "Especially you, Thomas and Emily. I am so very sorry. I promise all of you, and you above all, Thomas...this will NEVER happen again. And for my share of unheeded strictness...and, admittedly...rudeness towards you, you are free to leave the Harwick site now, and go back to your Branch Line if you wish."

"Oh...well, sir...I do want to be useful and finish the line," said Thomas. "Although I do appreciate your compensation very much."

"I know you do, Thomas," said the Fat Controller. "Whatever you decide is fine by me. And even morso...once the line is done, you're free of any train duties I may have given you for the next few days. I've been an absolute fool, and I know I must pay the price for you to settle this dispute."

In that instant, all senses of misuse, shortchange, injustice and feeling targeted flew right out of Thomas' funnel. Emily felt a great slew of warmth rush through her body too as she and Thomas could now see that their controller was truly remorseful for his actions, as was David.

"Sir Topham...I realize now how wrong I was to do what I did to you," he said shakily. "I...I only did it because the situation as dire...and I...I knew I had to stop you before you said or did something that would probably drive Thomas away from Sodor...perhaps forever...I...I only want to say now...I'm..."

"I know, David," the Fat Controller said solemnly. "But before we leave and move on from this outlandish slew of events...GORDON?!"

Gordon shuddered with shame and defeat.

"I take back everything I said to Thomas...but now it's all upon you! GORDON THE NUMBER 4 ENGINE! WHAT are you playing at NOW?! I thought you had learnt alongside James to respect all of us equally and that if you ever bullied anyone at this magnitude again..."

"Uhh! I-!" Gordon protested.

"NO, Gordon! I will NEVER take ANY excuse from you! Not like Thomas' absolute shining truth I have just learned. If there's ANYONE who truly needs a shed to stay in until further notice...GET BACK TO YOUR SHED, GORDON! And DON'T come out for the rest of the month! You are under shed arrest as it were for all you have caused Thomas to live through over these past few days!"

While Henry took Gordon away to have him locked up in the sheds, all the other engines looked wholesomely to Thomas, who just smiled away proudly as Emily smiled proudly too. Before long, all the engines returned to their business and with that, Thomas' lost honour had been restored...but in a much differently-run course than it was. He and Emily then set off down the line together, just as they had truly done from Brendam Docks in the way this line of events truly played out...

---

And with that, Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice fell out of their little imagination bubble and looked to each other as they felt the cool sea air blowing gently around them. They had gone through just the first line of events David had in mind, and already both engines and Beatrice were both rather gobsmacked and astounded by what David had thought up.

"Cinders and Ashes, David..." Thomas breathed strongly. "That...was intense."

"Oh...holy...By my funnel, David!" Emily breathed strongly too. "I...I do not know what I would have truly done had you gone so far as that!"

"David...I...I don't know what..." Beatrice whispered. "I know you'd NEVER do such things truly. It's all merely imagination and nothing more."

David looked to all his friends and spoke up with a heavy-beating heart.

"Well, I DO know this, Thomas and Emily," said David. "And Mum. That is merely a fragment of my imagination, and if I had truly been here then, I don't think I would have truly gone as far as that. Although, if I were withheld on-board by ship...at least Sailor John wouldn't have crossed paths with me after I got him thrown out of the Navy. Although, he surely might have noticed my ship too and might have changed his naval course, forgetting about Cap'n Calles' ship...I do not know."

"Well, either way, he still would have found the treasure," said Thomas. "He still would have stolen it from the Fat Controller's office and I would have chased him just the same."

"Maybe...what could have been," said David.

And both Riders and both engines let out a deep sigh. This was already turning out to be some night. Then Thoma spoke again.

"So...that's all about what could have been during my Harwick experience," he said. "Now...onto the next little event on how else it could have been. With Bradford the Brakevan. What might have happened then, Emily?"

"Hmm...you're right, Thomas," she replied. "What about Bradford's stay, David? I trust you heard of that line of news at some point?"

"I did hear about it, Emily. I recall hearing that story even on my goods delivering days," said David. "Rather trivial and spiteful it was...and even hypocritical!"

"Hypocritical? What do you mean, David?" Emily asked.

"Well...Bradford's silly rules and regulations made you all late, which made the Fat Controller cross with you...and it's only after you went off without a brakevan, Thomas, and had that accident with Percy...when Sir Topham Hatt stated that following the rules and regulations and staying safe is far more important than being on time...as if being blamed for being late is more important than being on time too!"

"Hmm...sounds like Bradford isn't too different than that Spiteful Brakevan...who Douglas destroyed," Beatrice pondered.

"Hmm...I must admit, David," said Thomas. "Although I knew Bradford was right in that moment...Emily, Henry and I did feel a little hypocrisy from Bradford when he stated how we all appreciated him...and refusing to let us whistle whilst stationary until he decided to let us go ahead."

"Indeed," said Emily. "I still feel a twinge of offense that the Fat Controller got cross with me...and all because Bradford made you drive really slowly after he'd noticed one leaf on the line!"

"Well, Emily," said David. "I wouldn't have been afraid of that overzealous brakevan...and neither would my ship's crew! I conjured up a little thought as to what might have happened with Braford, had I been there myself."

"Hmm...perhaps I can talk little about this too," said Emily. "I've never told anyone what specifically happened with me and Bradford when the Fat Controller was cross with me."

"Well...of course, Emily. Let us intertwine together," said David.

So Thomas and Beatrice began to imagine the next scenario as David and Emily brought it to vivid life...

---

It was the day that Bradford had first come to Sodor and made a most impressive impression on Thomas when it came to how well his trucks behaved under Bradford's command...until it came time to load up with stone at the Blue Mountain Quarry when Bradford pointed out how one of the trucks was overloaded by nine millimetres and when he told Thomas that following the rules and regulations was more important than being on time. As such, Thomas didn't get to the Docks until evening, much to the Fat Controller's indignant displeasure. Braford then gave Whiff an overzealous analysis over filthy rubbish trucks and delayed Henry over a slightly cracked headlamp. When the news reached David, he was indeed incensed by such overzealous nature, as he had put up with it quite a lot in the Navy, and he knew fully well that a railway is a railway, not a boot camp. He then decided to rally his first mate Copper to be ready if anything else happened.

And something did happen the next day...It was before the evening all the engines shared their stories about the brakevan...when Bradford made Emily drive really slowly after he'd noticed one leaf on the line. Emily was not happy in the least. She had seen just how well Thomas' trucks behaved and she had hoped for a better change, but as she had also heard of his delay with Bradford and how the Fat Controller was cross with him, she now foresaw a scolding too...but she would be ready to expose another fugitive.

By the time Emily was finished with Bradford, she was a whole three hours late with her load. The Fat Controller was already furious with Henry for such a big delay, and when he saw how late Emily was, it wasn't much of an exception.

"Emily! You have caused confusion and delay!" he scolded. "First Thomas, then Whiff, then Henry, and now YOU! You're supposed to be eighty-five miles per hour like your basis is. You're usually one of my most sensible engines! But you've been as slow a snails today! Just get back on schedule!"

To this, Emily didn't obey right away. Rather, she retorted rather frustratingly with a loud hiss of steam and a reddening face.

"Ohh! So you're cross with me, and I'M supposed to take the blame for Bradford's behaviour?! I'm only late because Bradford here made me drive REALLY slowly, after he'd noticed ONE LEAF on the line!"

The Fat Controller suddenly looked to the back of the train. "Is...is that true?"

"Yes, sir! It IS!" Emily's driver snapped. "HE'S the one you want!"

"Well, then. So it was YOU, Bradford?" murmured the Fat Controller. "It seems I owe you an apology, Emily. Perhaps I'd better make a certain telephone call to the Mainland...and see what may happen next. Take Bradford back to the yards, Emily. Maybe he can then think a few things over himself."

Emily hissed indignantly and huffed away all the way back to the yards. When this truly happened, Emily had just left Bradford in the yards and returned to Tidmouth Sheds where Henry told his story...but with this sensation on how else it could have been, this vision was different. When Emily returned to the yards, she saw that Thomas, Henry, Percy and James were all gathered there too, looking rather annoyed by everything they had been through. Emily shakily left Bradford on the line beside her and let out a little more.

"I'm ashamed of you, Bradford!" Emily wheeshed. "You are NO different than that Spiteful Brakevan that made Douglas late for his trains and getting HIM blamed! You're lucky I don't bump you about the yards like Donald did that brakevan!"

"Indeed, Bradford!" James hissed indignantly. "You make us clank about like a lot of Old Iron, so slow, you make the Fat Controller wait and blame us all!"

"Our trains are late, and WE are blamed!" Percy protested. "Just like that Spiteful Brakevan!"

"And you're in for big trouble, Bradford!" Thomas hissed. "Emily's new friend David has surely heard all about what you've been doing. The word gets around and you'd better be ready if you're such a military-esque brakevan...David is a soldier and sailor himself! A Captain of his own ship, in fact! He'll have plenty to say and do if he hears what you did to Emily! And maybe his first mate will have a few things for you too, being the captain's most important helper!"

"Hmph! I'll believe in him when I see him!" Bradford retorted. "But all of you do not follow all the rules and regulations! Didn't I tell you all that safety comes first...even with fish and leaves on the line?"

"Bother fish! Bother leaves on the line, and BOTHER Bradford!" Emily wheeshed. "We've been keeping time every day and managed perfectly without you!"

"Without me means without rules and regulations!" Bradford retorted ignorantly. "All this arguing means you're breaking rules by the second! You've all appreciated me so much thus far, and I will NOT stand for any more childish whining such as this!"

Then suddenly another voice came through the air. "Bradford!"

Bradford looked, and there was David, standing like a statue and glaring hard.

"Are...are you...?" Bradford began to ask sternly.

"David Rider? Captain of the Sea Emperor? Yes. And Emily's faithful friend and ally! I've heard all the rubbish you got all these engines into, and after what you've put Emily through, I will NOT stand by while you make innocent engines get in trouble...show me what you've got as a bumping military brakevan...and get away from them!"

"Whatever you say, Rider," Bradford almost smiled with adrenaline. "I was looking for a military challenge anyway."

David then took a sprint and a jump toward the military-esque brakevan...and in a rather unusual and awkward manner, they fell into sportsmanlike combat. No tricks, no weapons, skill against skill alone. David pushed his muscular arms into Bradford's face and began straining and growling with endless effort, almost as if he were trying to push Bradford along the line. But Bradford, being a brakevan with bumping abilities just like trucks did, tried pushing back upon David. Emily and the other engines just gaped with wonder and awkward awe to what was happening. David and Bradford barely moved a millimetre from where they were standing...until David stepped back and gave a fierce charge and shoulder-hit Bradford, making him move just an inch or two from where he was. Brakevans are indeed heavy and need several people to maneuver even just a little bit, but for David to move Bradford even just an inch or two was quite a feat for such a weight. Bradford was admittedly surprised, but began shouting back at David for all the rules and regulations he was breaking...until Samson's whistle came along, followed closely by the Fat Controller's car.

"What's going on HERE?!" the Fat Controller demanded.

"Yes, Bradford! What's going on here?" Samson asked. "Aren't you ready to go home? I was called over from the Mainland."

Emily and the other engines spewed out everything Bradford had put them through, and Samson immediately knew just what Bradford had been up to, as did the Fat Controller.

"Oh...I...I see," said Samson. "Well, perhaps you weren't told soon enough."

"Perhaps not indeed, Samson," said the Fat Controller. "And David! Just exactly what do you think you are doing?"

David then spilled out several more words.

"Putting this overzealous and Spiteful Brakevan in his place for pinning Emily into trouble! You may work wonders with trucks, Bradford, but for the bloody umpteenth time, YOU'VE made my engine late all because YOU made her drive REAL slowly, after you noticed ONE LEAF on the line...and what does that cause her to put up with? Sir Topham Hatt being cross with her...for YOUR actions and slipping away Scot-free! And I am NOT going to STAND for it!"

Bradford almost gave another shout of rules and regulations...when suddenly, to everyone's surprise, three steady-sized rocks came flying through the air, and each one crashed on Bradford's nose in sequence, denting it inwards and making it pulse rather red. Bradford had squeezed his eyes tight in recoil and reaction...until quite a series of laughing ensued from James as Bradford growled to who had thrown those rocks. There was David's first mate Copper, who had been hiding behind one of the yard sheds and was now shooting a glare at the brakevan and tossing a rock up and down in his hand.

"He-he-ha-ha-ha! Nice shot, Copper!" laughed James. But none of the other engines laughed.

"Copper! MOST unacceptable and under-handed!" the Fat Controller scolded.

Bradford was most incensed indeed. "You schoolboy RUNT! You broke my NOSE!"

Before Bradford could say another word, Emily buffered strongly up to him and started reversing along the line toward Samson, more determined than ever to get that brakevan off the island and not have any more overzealous nonsense thrown upon them anymore.

"You're nothing but a screeching and a nose when all is said and done!" Emily burst out. "Spite all of us, will you?! Take THAT!"

And Emily charged strongly with Bradford, shunting him viciously to Samson. Bradford and Samson cried out together as they bumped together. Emily huffed loudly with indignant frustration and David raised his fisted hand and giving a shout of victory as he stepped over and edged angrily to the brakevan.

"Bradford! You're no longer welcome on this railway! LEAVE! And never return!" he demanded hotly.

Bradford glared at David as he was taken away. "You may command your own ship, Rider...but you don't command me or Samson, or any railway!"

Nonetheless, Samson had to return to the Mainland. And so with an anxious look on his face, he took Bradford away, while Thomas, Emily, Henry, Percy and James all glared on. David glared on too until the Fat Controller came striding up toward the young captain, all-too ready to start telling him off for his knack. But David turned and glared at the Railway Manager.

"I protect my father's engine!" David hissed. "You shouldn't have set her up."

And David turned with a flail of his coat and marched away, followed closely by Copper. The Fat Controller had heard David and now that Bradford was finally gone, the Fat Controller began to think a few things over...then he looked to all the engines and began talking and expressing light condolences to them all for how following the rules and regulations and staying safe was far more important than being on time...and that he should have told them all that earlier so perhaps he wouldn't have had to be as cross as he was. After all they had been through, the engines were quite happy to say goodbye to Bradford for a while, and so were the Troublesome Trucks...and of course, David...

---

With that, Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice merged out of another imaginative bubble and looked amongst each other again. This had been yet another little flashback not just with David's imagination but Emily's too.

"Well...that's not nearly as outlandish as my Harwick experience being reimagined with you, David," said Thomas.

"And indeed, what I told the Fat Controller really did happen, Thomas," said Emily. "And for you, David...that sounds like something you might have done. Although, I don't think your first mate would have been that rough. He never would be. I know Bradford meant no wrong to us...but the Fat Controller was a little hypocritical to follow Bradford's words...AFTER Thomas had his accident with Percy."

"Indeed, Emily," said David. "But then again...you could say that him getting swept out to sea with Skiff and ending up marooned on that little spit of land, under the impression he was lost on a deserted island...was some sort of secret comeuppance for such hypocrisy?"

"Hmm. Perhaps, perhaps not," Emily sighed. "Well, there's another segment reimagined as to how else it could have been. I think we know what's coming next...the very event that sparked off the first big, significant line of events between me and David. I think we can all recall how hurt David was when he heard about my incident with Donald and Douglas?"

"Oh, but of course, Emily," said Beatrice. "We all do...but now with us thinking about how else it could have been...what do you think, David?"

David took a deep breath and remembered his year and a half grudge on Donald and Douglas and how he had spewed it out upon them after Thomas left for his first big adventure. He could feel that familiar burn hitting his chest from when he heard Emily's recording from Percy's driver in Tidmouth Sheds. He also remembered reading that very story in the newspaper and feeling so many desires of revenge festering in his mind that very day.

"Well...now that I've long settled that grudge," said David. "I'm almost afraid to wonder...what I might have done if I were on Sodor to see that, when you were caught in the middle of your own brother figures, Emily. This is a rather prominent thought that's been held within me ever since I first heard that news...and perhaps now I can express the very thoughts I foresaw and dreamt of every few nights onboard the Sea Emperor...if I had been there."

Thomas and Emily then swallowed hard to themselves as they prepared to hear yet another segment of potential grudge David could have held on Donald and Douglas...and what he might have done in the end. And so the two engines and two Riders came together and began to put together the next scenario right there...

---

Douglas, Emily and Donald were all working their way along the snowy line with the twenty-five flatbeds full of heavy pipes. Much like the nightmare he had on Sodor before cornering Donald and Douglas at Black Loch with Caitlin, David was on Gordon's Hill when he saw the train coming. He had wondered what it would be like to see Emily with two other engines he knew so much from the storybooks...until the train stopped, and he heard Emily's struggling voice.

"Wait! No! I don't think this is a good idea! PLEASE, you two! I can't hold the train!"

Donald and Douglas came arguing up the hill, one behind the other. The long train of steel pipes began creaking and groaning at the angle of the hill. But the twins weren't listening to Emily. They were too busy arguing while they left poor Emily to hold all the heavy flatbeds on her own.

"Donald! Douglas! Stop! Come back!" David yelled, but the twins took no notice as they began bumping back and forth.

Then to David's horror, the train began to slip down the hill. David could hear Donald and Douglas still arguing back and forth...until he heard Donald and Douglas' voices again.

"Donnie! Are we still moving...or is it...? Oh, no! The train!"

And a giant snowball thundered right past David, giving him such a shock, he lost his footing and landed face first in the snow. When he looked up again, he saw Donald and Douglas rushing down the hill, and that snowball getting bigger and bigger, cascading down the hill toward Emily.

"No!" David yelled as he sprung to his feet and began running down the hill. "Emily! Look out! EMILY!"

Emily was at the back of the train, straining against the weight, when she looked up and gasped. The snowball was coming down...straight for her!

"Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, NOOO!" cried Emily. She cried out again and shut her eyes.

Suddenly, Emily felt a rough bump against her tender and she was lurched over, skidding back a few more feet and puffing up a cloud of smoke and snow before stopping altogether. David cried out in fear himself as he saw this all happen, feeling his heart almost jumping out of his mouth as he kept running down the hill toward his now derailed engine.

Down the hill, the smoke and snow cleared away. Luckily, Emily wasn't hurt, but she was sprawled over in the snow. She herself wasn't too badly off balance, but her tender was completely overturned. Presently, as her driver and fireman rose out of the snow, she heard the twins rushing up and glared at them both. Douglas was feeling frightened now, and in his hear, he tried to save face...like Thomas tried after upsetting Gordon's express. Emily had hoped they'd get straight to helping er, but instead all she got was more quarreling between them...which David caught with his ears as he kept running down the hill.

"It wasnae my fault! Yes, it was! It wasnae! It was! It wasnae! It WAS! It wasnae! IT WAS!"

The shrill whistle followed, silencing both twins...then came the ear-splitting scream of anger, frustration and wrath...which stunned David silent beyond all measures too.

"FOR GOODNESS SAKES, you two!" Emily screamed. "I was trying to help you OUT! You IDIOTS! You...you FOOLS! ARGH, YO-OU IMBECILES! If YOU would just stop arguing for one minute, you'd see it's ME that needs some help now!"

Donald and Douglas just stood there and didn't say a word...until they heard the sound of fast footsteps. Then they all watched with racing hearts as David had ran onto the scene and shot one look at Emily and her sprawled, derailed and almost injured form. Emily looked up at David and saw his look of shock and horror overwhelming him.

"Ohh!" he gasped...then turned right to the twins and yelled as loud as he ever could. "RRAA-AAGH! YOU MURDERERS! BASTARDS!"

David instantly sprang into action and began seizing bits of coal that fell from Emily's tender and throwing them with all his might toward Donald and Douglas' faces, making them yell in pain. Then David charged with all his might toward Donald and Douglas. He drew his naval cutlass true, raised it upward behind his head, and with a loud yell of revenge, he swiped it down and scarred Douglas over his eye! Douglas shouted out in great pain, and but before David could lay a hand on either of them, both twins whistled with alarm and took off back up the hill together and over the top and away.

"Hiding, are we?! GOOD!" David roared.

Emily tried to stop him, to no avail. "David, don't you DA-!"

"QUIET, EMILY!" David roared. "I'm doing this for you! Because AFTER I get my hands on those Scottish Deceivers, upholding the 'Emerald Law,' as it were, will be ALL-TOO EASY!"

And David went sprinting down the line, following Donald and Douglas' trail. Now Emily began to feel less angry and more frightened. What was going to happen to Donald and Douglas? She was indeed intensely cross with both of them for such unacceptable behaviour, but even after they had done something like this, she didn't want to see them get hurt...or even...Emily pushed further thoughts out of her head until Harvey hastily came along and helped her back on track.

As soon as Emily was back on track, she decided to leave the flatbeds and follow Donald and Douglas' trail, as well as David's. She switched to the proper line and raced right over Gordon's Hill without stopping. She couldn't see David anywhere...until she saw Thomas rushing along the line. She hurried right up alongside him and saw he was wearing a look of anger, shock and surprise both at once.

"Thomas! Where are Donald and Douglas?! Where's David?" Emily panicked.

"Donald and Douglas rushed past me very quickly, trying to double back to Brendam Docks and hide from David! I heard them arguing about how they derailed you very badly! With a giant snowball! Well, I'll give THEM some hot words once I find them!"

"Thomas we HAVE to find David!" Emily wailed. "He's chasing them too!"

"Well then, we have to chase Diesel!" Thomas whistled. "I saw David up ahead and flag him down! He's made a deal with Diesel to catch Donald and Douglas! We HAVE to stop them!"

So Thomas and Emily rushed onwards and forwards in the hopes of stopping David before it was too late. They rushed into Brendam Docks again, where this whole mess had started out when Emily was bumped abruptly at the back of that train. Thomas and Emily looked feverishly amongst all the sidings and sections of rail, hoping that Diesel and David hadn't gotten there first. Then Emily looked and saw that Donald and Douglas were hiding excruciatingly in Salty's shed, coupled together.

"Donald and Douglas! Come OUT of there!" Thomas demanded. "Come out and explain what you did to Emily!"

"Thomas! Nae! Not now!" Donald panicked. "Please don't attack us! We didnae mean to cause Emily such an awful accident!"

"And don't expose Donnie and I!" Douglas panicked. "He's sure to see us!"

"Who?" Emily asked.

But right in that moment, Diesel's horn sounded through the Docks. All four steam engines looked and there was Diesel, stopping with a blast of black exhaust right by the shed, then David burst out of his cab with almost a flash of flame in his eyes. Donald and Douglas had been spotted.

"There they are! I've got you both now!" David roared.

"David! Don't! STOP!" Emily wailed.

"Careful, David! PLEASE, NO VIOLENCE!" Thomas shrieked.

Donald and Douglas' crew scrambled to get Donald and Douglas ready to escape, but David sprinted over and scrambled into Douglas' cab, pushing his crew out. Then he Douglas forward, pulling Donald with him until they were right underneath Cranky. David then sprinted and gathered a strong securing system which he hitched Donald and Douglas to. Thomas and Emily watched in horror as David bolted as fast as he could to Cranky and scrambled right up his ladder and into his cab. Then quick as a flash, David worked Cranky's lever and lowered his crane right down to Donald and Douglas, then hoisted them up into the air. Cranky groaned and cried out most painfully to be carrying the weight of two whole tender engines. He may have stopped that ferry with Gator from leaving Sodor, but that nearly pulled him right off into the water. And right now, Cranky could feel his crane arm creaking and groaning very badly, but in this little vision that was being had as to how else it could have been, imagination could go a long way.

"Hey! Let us go!" Donald and Douglas yelled as they dangled dangerously in the air. "Let us go! LET US GO!"

"No," David announced through Cranky's open window. "I will NOT let you go. We've all had quite enough of your arguing and destroying this railway's peace...and my father's engines' Christmas spirit! On my engine's honour, you shall PAY!"

Then David turned Cranky's steering lever to one side, making Cranky spin round and round, with Donald and Douglas flailing through the air on the crane hook. At first, Cranky spun slowly. Then David turned the lever further, making them spin faster and faster, and faster still! Within seconds, Donald and Douglas were almost a continuing circle going round and round Cranky!

Suddenly, David turned another lever, and Cranky's hook came casting downwards. Then David turned the lever further, and as Cranky spun a little further to the left, his crane arm let go of Donald and Douglas. They flew through the air, screaming and yelling in fright as they fell toward the rails. They crashed right down on the rails and tipped left and right until they sprawled right over on their side, feeling a bruising, scraping scathe hit both their boilers.

"Peep...PEEP!" Donald and Douglas wailed in agony.

"Donald! Douglas! No!" Thomas shouted with building fright.

"DAVID! Stop what you're doing! Don't harm my brother figures!" Emily wailed with such desperation and horror to what was happening.

But the turmoil was only beginning. David spun Cranky around again, then turned another lever, casting his hook out like a giant fishing pole and lassoing the twins on their securing system like a cowboy. Then David powered Cranky's hook furiously upwards, pulling Donald and Douglas right back up again, then David spun them violently out to the sea, then lowered Cranky's hook. Donald and Douglas were plummeted right into the sea, being dunked right up to their axles in the ice-cold winter water. Then David began working the levers up, down, left and right as he made Cranky swivel from side to side and reeling his crane hook up and down, splashing Donald and Douglas in and out of the icy water three more times. Donald and Douglas kept yelling out in fright and stinging cold as they came up from the surface, then splashed down again until David lassoed them out once more and finally slowed down, placing them roughly back on the tracks. Donald and Douglas then stood on the line, soaking wet, bewildered, staggered, weary, bemused, and now entering a big freeze of their own. As their wheels felt so very frozen, their faces were almost greyish blue from the cold and they both began shivering and chattering their teeth so strongly, rapidly and uncontrollably.

While this went on, David bolted and slid down Cranky's ladder, back to the ground. Emily was so lost in so many spiraling events and emotions, she couldn't think clearly or even speak. She and Thomas watched with gaping mouths and pounding hearts as David bolted right to a pile of crates by the line, then kicked the crates right over with an incensed yell of wrath and frustration.

But within ten minutes, Thomas, Emily, Donald and Douglas heard more noises, making them look up and see. They all immediately got a sensation that something intense would follow momentarily. There was the Fat Controller's car screeching to a halt right beside the line, having been called by the Arlesburgh Manager who had seen everything. David began pacing infuriatingly up and down among the engines, sweating profusely, red-faced and white-knuckled. He was scarcely on his way toward Emily's cab again when everyone saw the Fat Controller scramble up and scream at the very top of his lungs, having heard all that had just happened, on the line and at the Docks.

"DONALD AND DOUGLAS, YOU THICK-HEADED MORONS! You could have injured Emily when she was trying to help you OUT! You're going BACK to your sheds IMMEDIATELY after repairs! AND DAVID RIDER! UNLESS YOU WANT TO LAND IN SUPER BAD TROUBLE, YOU BRING THEM BACK TO THE STEAMWORKS! YOU BRING THEM BACK NOW! YOU PUT THEM RIGHT!"

"Fine! I'll have them chauffeured to aid, but nonetheless, they DESERVED what they got!" David barked back, sounding intensely angry himself.

The Fat Controller was so incensed by everything he had just heard, he had no more words. He just staggered back to his car and slumped right in his seat, almost set to faint, but managed not to.

Before long, Donald and Douglas, shivering badly and feeling their big freeze steadily growing in their boilers were chauffeured off on Rocky and the Breakdown Train with James and Henry's help, who would then work extra hard to deliver the stray pipes the rest of the way to Vicarstown. But Thomas and especially Emily were lost, bewildered and absolutely staggered beyond any comprehension as to all that had just happened. As the Fat Controller came out of his car once more, Thomas and Emily turned to David, who was now quaking his legs and shaking with indecision and conflict again.

"David...Rider," Emily said very quietly, and almost dangerously. "Why...just...just...why?"

"Where do you get the GALL to do this to Donald and Douglas?!" the Fat Controller demanded.

David's breathing was shaky and conflicted. "Th-they...they could have killed you with that giant snowball, Emily! And you were trying to help them out! They refused to listen to you and they didn't care what happened to you! I was protecting you!"

"What do you mean?" the Fat Controller asked sternly. "I only heard the basics of what happened. I want to know everything!"

To this, Thomas, Emily and David finally gathered themselves together and they all took turns telling the Fat Controller exactly what happened with which engines and what times. They left out no details and the Fat Controller listened very carefully until all was explained. Then he, Thomas and Emily looked directly at David.

"David...why didn't you call me first?" the Fat Controller asked heavily. "You should have come to me when you found out what Donald and Douglas did!"

"Please, David!" Emily pleaded. "It really wasn't worth it to go so far just to defend me!"

"But...isn't that what Thomas did with 'Arry and Bert?" David asked with a little fright over what he had done. "He buried them in the blasting zone just to defend you from terrible names...and so too I'm defending you from such a terrible, traumatic accident! I've never seen that happen to you, Emily! EVER! And I've never heard you scream at such magnitude before! I...I did all of that...be...because I LOVE you, Emily! I love you as my favourite engine on this island and as my father's engine! I don't want anything bad to happen to you!"

To this, Emily felt her tears well up and she began to cry.

"Oh...David...David!" she sobbed sadly and desperately. "David, my dear navy friend! I...I love you too as my friend...but you should NEVER have done all of this! I really love how much you care for me and want me to be safe, but we've already had enough trauma from Thomas' inner demon! PLEASE don't spawn another demon for us to have to overcome! Not after all we did to save Thomas from his! You're a good person, David! Please don't make the same mistakes Thomas did just for me! Donald and Douglas may have caused me plenty of bad trouble, but they DIDN'T deserve ANY of what you just did to them! They were just arguing badly and derailed me! I want you as a friend, David! Not as another demon who only wants to protect me instead of be a friend right back to me! I know you like me, but I want your friendship more than your protection! Please!"

It was in that moment that David felt his conflict overwhelming him. As he saw Emily's lovely face covered in tears and as he heard her whimpers and sobs of fright and sadness over what had all happened today, he slowly turned his view to the line where Donald and Douglas once stood before they were taken to the Steamworks.

"Donald? I...I'm so sorry, Douglas!" David gasped as he looked down the line where they had gone. "What is WRONG WITH ME?!"

Emily looked to Thomas, who stared grimly at her as this was a close reminder to his own inner demon...and perhaps David needed something to be done fast so as to help him stop all vengeful thoughts he had left of Donald and Douglas, and fast. Emily ordered David to come with her right to the Steamworks, and soon they were off, followed closely by Thomas and the Fat Controller.

In the Steamworks, Donald and Douglas were near the furnace to be warmed up again as they were looked over and repairs had been ensuing, while one of the workmen checked Douglas' eye carefully. After what they had just been through after such an undeserving accident to put upon Emily, they were both feeling very ashamed, shocked, frightened and defeated all at the same time. This had been such an outlandish and truly shocking day beyond all accounts, and both twins had indeed been shaken for the better.

"This...this never would have happened if we'd both been at the back," Donald shook with shame.

"Aye...we should have been together at the back in the first place," Douglas shook too.

Unlike what truly happened, neither twin felt any need to argue about anything. They were both far too scared to argue. This had never happened to either of them before, and they could only wonder what would happen next when they saw Emily...and David too. Presently, the warmth of the fire in the furnace made them both nod off and sleep, absolutely overwhelmed by all that had happened.

For a few hours, Donald and Douglas slept long and deeply, only waking up a few times, feeling so drowsy and spent by all that had happened...until some hours later, as evening fell, Emily came huffing gently into the Steamworks, with David in her cab. She had calmed down by this point and wanted to see if her brothers were okay. After what they had done to her, she could tell it was quite by accident...then she saw them both fast asleep unlike they ever had been before.

"Donald? Douglas?" she whispered.

Donald and Douglas slowly opened their eyes and looked to see Emily right there. She looked very worried and sorry for how they looked. They wondered what they could say to each other, but no clear words came to mind. All three engines could tell that something had gone very wrong, and Donald and Douglas knew they had truly gone too far for Emily. She knew too that they had given her a ton of trouble, right before Christmas too. But despite giving her such a fright and such a flash of anger, Emily still didn't want all of this to befall them.

Then suddenly, a few select footsteps were heard in the Steamworks, followed by a quiet click of what sounded like a sword starting to be drawn. Emily felt her heart jump as she had almost forgotten just who she was taking to the Steamworks. Donald and Douglas looked up with quickly widening eyes, and there was David, staring once again like a hawk, almost ready to strike again, his hand clutched on his cutlass. Just seeing the twins again made him feel a feel more rushes of the anger he did before, and he seemed ready to draw.

But when Emily saw him start striding toward the twins, she remembered how Thomas protected those Mainland Trucks from Henry, she saw this as her chance. Before David could walk much closer to Donald and Douglas, Emily rolled forward and held David at bay. At first, David wasn't fazed and tried to get his engine to move aside.

"Come on, Emily. Get out of the way!" David demanded, much like Henry did with Thomas.

But just like Thomas and Henry, Emily wouldn't move. David didn't move either. But he continued to keep his hand clutched firmly on his sword, ready to draw, all too ready to make his move once Emily moved out of the way...but she didn't. David's eyes slowly began to lose their hardened expression as he kept staring silently back at Emily. Her eyes began to soften and her pupils became bigger, shinier and blacker...then they just began to well up with tears again as her lips lowered to a solemn, and almost saddened expression. She blinked once...then uttered it.

"Mmm..." she whimpered.

It sounded almost as if she were Lassie whimpering for her owner to come home...or rather stopping her owner from performing rash actions again.

David's eyes slowly widened and his mouth gaped a little to what Emily was doing, despite all that had happened to her because of Donald and Douglas. David then closed his gape and began looking inward to himself for several moments...then a very low, miserable, shameful, regretful look washed over his face as he comprehended how this was all just a mere accident and that Emily wasn't harmed in the very least. He had massively overreacted and as he relived seeing Emily cry with such despair and desperation over the fact that she wanted a friend and not just a protector from him...that was enough to lower his barriers for the best there could ever be. Very slowly, but surely, his grip on his cutlass softened...then he finally let it go with a quiet and solitary sigh.

Emily took the deepest breath she felt yet, leaning her body upwards, then she let out a deep, deep sigh as she let off a little swirl of steam, feeling so very relieved that she almost felt like she'd fall asleep. She watched as David slowly approached Donald and Douglas and began whispering back and forth to both of them. Emily could tell they were talking about all that had happened that every day, and how very sorry Donald and Douglas were for what they had ended up doing to Emily. After about a whole hour of whispers and exchanges, David stepped away from Donald and Douglas as they looked Emily right in her eyes.

"We're so very sorry, Emily," Donald said sadly. "We never meant to bring aboot any of this trouble upon ye."

"Never," Douglas shook. "And perhaps next time...you must never come between us when we be arguing...Only join us one at a time, or very carefully when we're together."

"Th...thank you, Donald and Douglas," Emily whispered.

"I can never apologize enough times for what I did," David whispered. "Emily here knows just how to hold me at bay...and she has surely vanquished any demons I may have had...and for that, I am forever thankful...for everything she is, does and gives for all of us."

Emily sighed once more as David looked back to her, and on her running plate. Then Emily stood very still as he very softly petted her cheek, now completely transformed for the better. Then he spoke very surely and collectively.

"Well...come on, girl...let's go home," David sighed with remorse. And he returned to her cab and made ready to leave, a sadder and wiser man.

Before Emily left the Steamworks, she looked at Donald and Douglas for a fair while longer...until they both smiled solidly to her. Emily managed to smile back for the closure they had managed to come to, and so it was settled. Next time, Emily knew never to come between two brothers when they were arguing, and David had been disarmed for the very better thanks to Emily's ever-driving desire to have him as a friend...just a friend...maybe even a best friend someday...

---

When Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice dawned back upon the present moment, they heard the Arlesburgh Church clock chiming to the hour it was now...until it chimed twelve times. It was now midnight. So far, this evening had been quite a stirring, provocative and most heavy-handed reign of imagination. Emily had never guessed that David had thoughts such as that when he first heard the news of her accident, and given how he had managed to hold out until he came to Sodor eventually, and given what had ultimately happened, his grudge now seemed very mild.

"I...I have no words, David..." Thomas whispered. "I truly don't..."

"Oh...D-David...that is most certainly a scenario to take into serious consideration!" Emily whispered heavily. "Absolutely shocking...it sounds rather like what happened with us and Class 40...when you scarred his eye. I'm beginning to think it's a very, very good thing that things played out the way they truly did..."

"Emily is very, very right, David," Beatrice added. "This is all very deep for all of us right now."

David looked solidly at Emily, understanding her point perfectly. Then he got on Emily's running plate and held her cheek. As Emily felt his hand on her cheek, she felt a sense of surety beginning to bubble inside her. Thomas felt it too as David spoke.

"I know, Emily...I too am admittedly surprised and shocked that I thought of such dreams and visions myself, but remember, Emily...I'm not talking of what has truly happened. You know it, I know it, Thomas knows it, and Mum knows it. We are merely talking about how else it could have been...and as I said before, what is done is done...what has happened has happened. And with all that has happened...I am very, very happy that my life has indeed taken the course that it did."

Emily heard David's strong, truthful words and felt a sense of surety glowing in her boiler, as did Thomas.

"I know, David," Emily whispered. "And...something I can't help but notice about this little scenario you thought of...despite all that you did to Donald and Douglas in that scenario...and what truly happened with your grudge...you didn't cause them any serious harm. You never endangered them...even if you did come close with Cranky swinging them about."

"I know, Emily," said David. "The reason being...I was a navy man...so was Sailor John...but I? Not a man like HIM."

To this, Thomas, Emily and Beatrice all felt a swivel in their hearts that made them both feel a tingle deep inside them as the moon shone high above them. They began to feel as though all the heavy-handed imagining was done with David for the night. Bur there was still more to be talked about.

"Well, David..." Emily said surely. "I think by holding to your goods deliveries even through knowing all of that between me, Donald and Douglas...you've shown true inner strength to keep going onward...until you came to meet us all truly...and your life took the course that it did...and for all of that, I am very well and truly impressed."

David nodded and patted Emily's cheek.

"Now, everyone," said David. "I believe all the heavy-handed material surrounding particularly me is done...but there are still two more thoughts I've thought of when it comes to how else it could have been...right before I truly came to Sodor...and...I..."

Thomas, Emily and Beatrice watched as David trailed off and sat still on Emily's running plate. Then became very forlorn and sad. He bowed his head and seemed to begin to cry. Emily immediately suspected just what this could be about.

"David...what's the matter?" she asked softly.

"David, what's wrong?" Thomas asked.

David looked up again and suddenly threw his arms around Emily's face, hugging her so closely as if his life depended on it. Emily could hear him crying softly into her hold, and it made Beatrice suspect just what could be coming next. They had almost forgotten the first mention, and now the time to talk about this heavy-handed event had arrived.

"I...I talk of how else it could have been, Emily," David whimpered. "But now the next part...what would I have done...if I were there to see my father visit you, Emily. Seeing him again after leaving the Navy at last...but then what if I were here on Sodor...and ended up hearing of his death...for myself? My own father!"

To this, Thomas and Emily suddenly felt their hearts begin to ache and their eyes began to tear up. Beatrice felt her heart ache very badly as she bowed her head and began to shudder. Thomas and Emily could hear her begin to cry too as she remembered once again how she heard that very news then ended up disappearing from England and Scotland's eye until David and Emily came to find her after twelve whole years.

"Shh...David...Shhh..." Emily whispered as she feebly kissed his cheek a few times over. "We're all here...Lawrence lives on in all of us...he's still with us."

"I...I know, Emily," said David, his voice shaking terribly now. "But...I...I still have that very thought I've thought up tonight...and how it could have been if that were the last time I truly saw him!"

"O...okay, David," Emily whimpered as her tears began to fall. David drew a handkerchief and softly patted Emily's cheeks to dry her tears.

"David...we...we'll hear how else it could have been..." Thomas whimpered. "For you...and for Beatrice..."

And so with heavy hearts, Thomas and Emily clung to the rails. David clung to Emily's cheek as Beatrice held Emily's bufferbeam as they began to imagine how else it could have been...following Emily's wave of nostalgia with Lawrence...then his last express run...

---

It had been three days since Emily's original driver, Lawrence Rider came to visit his engine again. David had come to hear the news and was greatly ecstatic, but stayed hidden for the past few days, too overly excited and nervous to approach his father right away...until the right time would come to express his reunion. Lawrence had been enjoying himself during this time with Emily. Now morning had come to the island. When Lawrence woke up, he felt as though he wanted a chance to ride on a train again. As such, he arranged to ride on Gordon's night express. He had just purchased a ticket at Knapford Station and was quite excited. But what he didn't know was that his son David was right behind the station wall, waiting to be noticed by his father again...and Emily gave a secret wink to David as Lawrence left the ticket window.

"I'll be riding on an express on Sodor, Emily," Lawrence said as he left the platform.

"I hope you enjoy the ride, Lawrence," wished Emily.

"Thank you, dear," said Lawrence. And he turned to leave the station...when a voice suddenly came through the air.

"Hey, Dad!"

Lawrence looked up with a rush in his heart. There...standing right before him, Lawrence saw his son standing right there. David Rider. On Sodor, with his father...with their engine. Lawrence found himself freezing right where he was and not knowing what to make of this.

"I...I must be under a drunken spell...I...I can't believe my very eyes!" he gasped. "Oh, joy! A miracle! David...is...is that you...my son?"

David held his father's shoulder. "Hello, father."

Then the next moment, David and his father came together in such a close hug, each holding each other closer and closer.

"David! How are you?"

"Oh, there's no solid way to star, Dad! I'm done in the Navy," said David. "Perhaps you and I can finally have a chance again, and have I got stories to tell you!"

"Oh, of course! Of course!" Lawrence exclaimed joyously. "I'll be on Gordon's nighttime express tonight. We'll hear your stories when I get back tonight. It will be like old times, David. You and I together again!"

And so it was agreed. David could see it all in his mind that he and his father could finally reconnect properly and have another chance together...but as absolute cruel fate would have it, fate would take a very different course...and inflict such deep, poisoning wounds upon David and Emily. Night came, and David and Emily knew Lawrence would be on Gordon's express, expecting him to be back the next morning...

A morning passed. David and Emily had come by the platform together and saw that Lawrence had not come back. This made them wonder to each other what could have happened. As Thomas and Emily had hoped when this truly happened, David tried to calm himself by saying he must be busy. But then afternoon passed...then a day passed. Two days passed altogether. There was still no word on Lawrence, or his whereabouts. With every few hours that slipped by, David felt himself becoming more and more uncertain. What could be holding up his father after they had come back together again?

"Where is he?" David thought as he walked through Knapford Station on the second afternoon. Then he decided to use the nearest telephone there was to see if he could give a call and see if he could find out his father's whereabouts. He found a phone, turned the dial and began speaking.

"Calling all fathers. Calling all dads...Dad, are you there? ...Dad? Dad? It's David! Hello?"

No answer. David had to hang up and keep wondering on and on into each hour. The truth would eventually come...but with it, some truly poisoned wounds for David to be inflicted with...

At last, it was the second evening. Emily had just returned to the yards after her day's work. She as really wondering about Lawrence and why she had not seen him for two days. She began to worry as she saw David sitting solemnly at the platform the station. He looked to Emily but didn't say a word, feeling most uncertain and even frightened by now if something had happened to his father...then they both heard someone calling her name.

"Emily?" She looked and saw Phelps and Gallagher walking towards her.

When David saw them, he immediately stood up. Maybe they knew what happened to his father.

"Sirs? What are you doing here?" Emily asked.

"Phelps? Gallagher? Where is my father? Have you heard anything about how he is?" David asked.

Phelps and Gallagher looked at David and felt very troubled to tell them the grim news, but they couldn't delay it any further. They'd have to hear it.

"We've been very busy for the past two days, working on another case...about Gordon's express," said Phelps. "But...we have something to tell you. It's urgent."

As soon as Emily and David heard "Gordon's express," they became equally urgent.

"What is it?" asked Emily. "Is it about Lawrence? I haven't see him for the past two days! Do you know anything? How is he?"

Phelps looked down for a moment or two.

"Detectives...PLEASE!" David whispered desperately. "What happened? If he's alive...or...or not...!"

"Please, where is Mr. Rider?" Emily asked urgently. Phelps suddenly looked up again...and held out a driver's hat.

"I'm afraid...Mr. Rider has been lost," he said sadly as he placed the hat on Emily's lamp iron. "He was injected with a morphine syringe...onboard Gordon's express. One of Sailor John's crewmen had stowed away onboard. I'm so sorry, Emily."

Emily had heard everything and felt her heart go very still. Her original driver was gone, just after he came to visit her again. It was quite a shock indeed. Even though she had not seen him for many years, to lose him just after seeing him again was very shaking for her. Phelps and Gallagher removed their hats and bowed their heads, remaining silent. When they looked up again, they saw Emily's eyes beginning to water. Then she began to speak.

"Lawrence Rider was a..." she closed her eyes as two large tears trailed out. "Wonderful driver. The kindest and most relatable driver...that any engine could have...but he knew the risks, as we all do. I'm just so grateful I got to see him again while I still could. Thank you for telling me, sirs. Rest if peace, Lawrence Rider. Amen," she concluded.

With that, she huffed slowly out of the yards...while David just stood there blankly, stunned, shocked and petrified by everything. He had heard just what Phelps and Gallagher had said, and in that moment, he felt so much weight crashing down on his shoulders and heart. So many plans, ideas and opportunities he and his father might have had...not it was all gone. Then David suddenly took off bolting away from the yards until he found Knapford Sheds, threw the doors open, slammed them behind him and collapsed into the corner, breaking down into endless, racking tears. He shut his eyes very tightly shut as he could see it all right there in his head...if he had been there for himself to see his father die in his arms...

David saw himself onboard the derailed express and he pushed and jostled desperately through the stumbled people until he reached the door to the next coach. He kicked the door open and rushed in.

"Dad!" David panicked as he ran into the sleeping carriage.

David could see several passengers had been thrown from their beds, and that Lawrence was obscured by a blanket and a few pillows. David cleared the pillows and blanket away feverishly...and there was his father, lying in the bed with a needle jab in his neck, nearly dead. His breathing was labored and hoarse as he could feel everything shutting down slowly but surely. David felt his heart racing so fast, his vision became blurry and his head began to spin as Lawrence slowly opened his eyes and whispered very, very lowly.

"D...David..."

"Dad...please don't go!" David whimpered despairingly. "Don't...don't go! Damn it, Dad! You CAN'T die! We were going to do SO MUCH!"

"I...I'm sorry, David..." Lawrence whispered. "I don't know...how I didn't come to suspect...Seymour Murphy's treachery. It was him...my body is claimed by this morphine...but for now, I only wish to say...I am now so very happy I got to see my son again...one last time. But now, everything is different...and everything is changed. This is Sailor John's plight. Sodor needs you, David. If Sailor John is any further into his plans...you must stop him, as you did before. Stop him once and for all...for me...Emily will look to you now."

"No! Dad! Please!" David panicked.

"Stop that pirate for good..." Lawrence whispered, drawing the silver charm David had given him. "And my Emily...our Emily...Take care of her...my son."

And he reached and placed it around David's neck again...back with its original owner. To this, David held his father's hand and shut his eyes very tight, swearing silently to never drift away from this promise in the last moments with his father...then David's eyes opened and he gazed into his father's eyes for the last time.

"Take care of her..."

Then for the last time in this lifetime, Mr. Lawrence Rider's eyes closed, and he went eternally still...then just a moment later, David felt the grip on his shoulder fade to nothing...then his father's hand slid away from David's shoulder, drifted downward, then hit the bed with a final bump...and Lawrence Rider never moved again. A sheer wave of stinging realization hit David with almost poisoned force. He gripped his silver charm so hard, the angel's wings and sailboat almost cut into his fingers, thinking all about the years he could have spent with his father...if only he didn't join the Navy. Then David shakily placed his hand on his father's shoulder and lifted him up just a little. After a few moments, David's eyes squeezed tightly shut and his teeth ground together hard as he squeezed his father into his arms in such a tight, departing hug. Then as he looked up again and sensed just who had done this...hearing that very name that his father said, echoing through his head...a great mass of power and uncontrollable fury began to flare within him. Then suddenly, he looked out the open coach door and shrieked out into the night.

"Seymour Murphy! If it's the LAST thing I do, I'll...I'll GET you for this!"

Those were the very words Emily had heard echo through her head with Thomas' voice when she had her accident with Donald and Douglas...but now, these matters were even graver.

And with that, David fell out of his scathing vision and saw he was in Knapford Sheds again. But still he collapsed further to the ground, sobbing relentlessly, just as Emily sobbed in Thomas' hold back at Tidmouth Sheds. Such a vengeance was bubbling and boiling inside David as he knew he could not truly rest until Seymour Murphy would meet his end...in the final little vision to be had regarding how else it could have been...

---

As Thomas, Emily and Beatrice took in everything David had just expressed this very night, all their hearts carried a steady ache in their chests and boilers alike. David looked up to Emily at last, and sniffled very hard as he was still fresh in that tragic mindset.

"Oh...my Lawrence. My dear, dear Lawrence!" Beatrice sobbed profusely.

"Sorry, father...I'm so, so sorry!" David whispered remorsefully.

Thomas and Beatrice then watched with teary eyes as David turned his gaze to Emily's tearful expression. Then he collapsed on Emily's running plate again and buried his face in her cheek, hugging her as close as he could and crying bitterly again. Emily began to cry too as she blinked rather frequently and let her tears fall.

"Oh...oh, God! That was truly sad to think of again, David," Emily whimpered.

"Indeed, Emily. Very, very indeed," David whimpered back. "I...I will never forget when I heard it for myself and quit my contract at sea."

Emily hummed lowly as David softly let go, and seemed a little stronger.

"But you know, Emily," he went on. "Although I never got to see him in that moment I just imagined...it's very, very true that I have held that promise in the purest core of my heart ever since I first came to Sodor...I have taken care of you, and I will never stop doing do. Ever!"

To this, Emily managed to smile through her tears, as did Beatrice. She smiled as her eyes shimmered with tears and the beaming moon above.

"I know you won't David. I know you won't," said Emily. "And he lives on spiritually, as we all know...he never left us."

"Yes, Emily. He never will," David whimpered happily. "Then when I saw him in the flesh at Glenfinnan Viaduct...I...I know he's with us, Emily! I DO know!"

"Yes, David...he is," Beatrice whispered. "And I saw him myself with all of you...at Black Loch!"

A few minutes later, the Riders and engines managed to regain themselves and smile gently to each other.

"Well...we're all here together...secure and safe. You and I, Emily. My beautiful emerald angel and wife," said Thomas.

"Yes, Thomas...my handsome cobalt star and husband," Emily smiled. "And David, my navy mentor and true best friend."

"Yes, Emily. My engine and best friend...and my dear sweet mother," David said as he stepped down and hugged his dear mother.

"Oh, David...I love you so much, my precious son," Beatrice whispered wholesomely.

Then silence befell everyone for a few moments. This night had turned out to be something of an absolute wonder. So much had been imagined and pieced together...and now, as Thomas and Emily looked at the young Navy Captain, they could see a deep and strong look in his eyes. This was it. They had retold several lines of events and how they might have turned out differently if David had been on Sodor earlier...and now the time for conclusion had finally come. There was only one more event to recap as to how else it could have been.

"David...I...I think we've approached the last event to retell," Thomas said purely.

"That, we have, Thomas," said David. "Only one scenario left to imagine as to how else it could have been."

"And what is that, David?" Emily asked.

David took a deep breath then let it out. "Sailor John's Red Sky at Night...Sailor's Delight...and how else it could have been. Sailor John is defeated and well and truly dead...but in light of how my life ran its course up to this point...I cannot help but wonder how it would have turned out...if he saw me one last time..."

Thomas, Emily and Beatrice all took a very deep breath as they heard what David had said. This was the last line of events to imagine differently and now they would hear it all from David's imaginative perspective. In light of hearing such powerful, impressive stories as to how else it could have been, Thomas and Emily simply had to hear how it would have turned out...if David had been there to stop the very pirate that he flushed out of the Navy.

"Alright, Captain David Rider. My navy mentor and best friend. Let's dive in once more," Emily stared purely, her eyes glistening in the moonlight.

And that was exactly what Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice Rider all did together...one more time...on this most prominent night together...

---

Everything that had happened with Sailor John's Pirate Vendetta had now worked itself up to the current point. After Ryan's chase with Diesel 10, Thomas' munitions explosion, the Fat Controller's disappearance and honour among thieves, Emily was now under the grasp of Diesel 10 and Sailor John, and Phelps and Gallagher were on the chase for Seymour Murphy, their cars racing away down the line.

But this time, David was right along with them riding in the back seat and watching endlessly as they kept chasing Murphy onwards and forwards. David had come to learn everything that had been happening over the past few days. Coping with the loss of his father was a terrible burden to bear...and with his father's engine, and therefore his engine now trapped at the Dieselworks along with the Fat Controller, Lady Hatt and Skiff, David was frightened, angry and strongly determined all at once. Determined to hold to his promise to his father and take care of his engine once and for all.

"You CANNOT escape, Murphy!" David yelled as he leaned out of Phelps' car. "My father WILL be avenged! And NO ONE EVER harms MY ENGINE!"

"Who cares?!" Murphy called back.

Only a few miles outside Arlesburgh, the reinforcements Phelps called for had set up road blocks. Police cars were blocking the road. Murphy could see them exiting the cars ready to arrest him, but he would not let this be his end. Just when he was a yard away from the road block, he sharply turned away and drove up along the railway line. Phelps, Gallagher and David too immediately followed after him.

"Whoa, looks like we're going onto the railway!" cried Gallagher.

"Goddammit, he'll kill himself!" exclaimed Phelps.

"It's alright, as long as he don't kill us, I'm okay with it," replied Gallagher.

"And I'm not such the fool to take on Seymour Murphy without a little sharp-headed advantage," David thought as he held onto his naval cutlass.

Then, after narrowly missing Edward and Toby along the line, much to David's shock and urgency, Phelps spoke those words.

"Seymour Murphy!" he shouted. "You may recall saying that...dead men tell no tales?!"

"Maybe!" Murphy yelled back. "What's it to you, overreaching scum!"

David watched as Phelps drew his pistol and took aim, making him suddenly smile with pending victory.

"For the sake of my father...for the sake of MY engine...!" David began.

"This is where the tale...ENDS!" Phelps finished.

And on the last word in his sentence, Phelps shot once more, and blew a tire on Murphy's car. Immediately, he lost control of the car and got caught between the rails and sleepers. The car then turned over and rolled off down the hill, Phelps stopped his car and watched Murphy's car roll around until it suddenly smashed into a tree at the bottom, all while David stared on and on at what had just happened. Phelps got out and ran down the hill, followed closely by David, who was now very sure that his father was now avenged and that he could move onto the final showdown with the very pirate he drew right out of the Navy.

Phelps and Gallagher got to the bottom of the hill with David close behind them. They walked carefully towards the tree...and inside, crushed under the dashboard and leaning just out of the shattered window were the battered and bloody remains of Seymour Murphy.

Phelps panted angrily and triumphantly at this discovery. David did just the same, staring like a hawk at the lifeless form of his father's murderer, feeling such lustful satisfaction coursing through his veins, all while Phelps folded his hands together and looked at the sky.

"Lawrence Rider, you have been avenged," he said. He then looked at the body, and in his anger of such a scandal by this man, he gave the body a vicious kick. "May the Devil himself seal your fate in a fiery grave!"

"I've waited for this moment ever since my father died!" David hissed vengefully.

He then charged up to the car wreck, drew his naval cutlass, rose it into the air, then drove it right in through the window, smashing it even further and covering Seymour Murphy's lifeless body in more shattered glass.

"I want my father back, you son of a bitch!" David whispered vengefully as he kicked Murphy's lifeless form once more.

"Dan!" Gallagher suddenly said. "There's a signal box just down the line! We can alert the Sudrian Military! And bring the reinforcement team along with us!"

"Right away!" nodded Phelps. David followed them back up the hill, then they drove to the signal box and placed the call.

"We've got everything, General! Come to Vicarstown as soon as possible!"

Then Phelps, Gallagher and David all rushed off together to gather their groups...and when they did, they made all haste for Vicarstown. As they sped along, they soon heard the military helicopters coming to arrive on the scene and end the showdown...and although David knew he had a final battle on his hands with the very man he had thrown out of the Navy all those years ago, he now felt a strong sense of assurance and surety that he could now rest, knowing his father's soul was now at true peace.

When David, Phelps and Gallagher arrived at Vicarstown, they were just in time to see Emily rescued on the other side...and Diesel 10's claw had been blown off. David looked out and felt his heart beginning to race. He could see the damage Emily was dealt and was horrified to see such a thing, but at least she'd be repaired. And then...there in the distance...he could see the very man he flushed out of the Navy...only for him to be finished off for the last time, very, very soon. Phelps stopped the car right by the engines, and while David hid under the seats for a few moments, conjuring one more plan, Phelps and Gallagher came out of their car and threw the diary against the ground.

"It's all over, John," he glared. "All of your men are dead."

"How did you escape Murphy's men?" demanded John.

"We shot them all down!" Gallagher added. "We found out everything...right in your little book!"

"Where is Murphy?" snapped John. "He has failed me!"

"...He has failed you for the last time, John," said Phelps, giving a slight wink to Emily. "Lawrence Rider's soul is now at peace...and Seymour Murphy is dead. We shot his tire and sent him hurtling into a tree. Now that your men are all gone...YOU are the last to go down!"

"NEVER! YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ME!" Sailor John suddenly shrieked. He bolted to Emily's cab and drew her fireman's shovel. Three policeman bolted after him as he did this, and before they could arrest him, Sailor John suddenly struck them over the head with the shovel. After that, he made a run for Thomas, and seized his face in fury...while someone else came approaching the pirate.

"And YOU, Thomas!" he shrieked. "YOU'VE shattered everything I EVER could have done! YOU destroyed every shroud of life I ever could have had!"

Suddenly, a rock came flying Sailor John's way and hit him in the shoulder again after the first throw disarmed him of the dynamite.

"NO!" a young man's voice yelled through the air, making Sailor John look up. "I did!"

Sailor John looked up and was confused at first...but something looked eerily familiar about this young man...as if he were someone in the Navy. Someone Sailor John recalled seeing only briefly once or twice on that particular day he lost everything in the Navy himself.

"Now, Sailor John! Take the villain back again that late thou gave Sodor! My father's soul is but a little way above our heads! Staying for thine to keep him company! Either thou, or I, or both must go with him! But yet, as I told you before! I be a man of mercy! Surrender to me now...and I'll let you live...I shall let you live."

Everyone watched as Sailor John's face formed a look of sheer suspicion...then just before if came clear, David spoke again.

"That's right, Sailor John! You lost everything in the Navy due to MY naval maneuver! I'M the one you want!"

The last few words that escaped David's mouth made Sailor John's brain twitch and his heart flip. Then his eyes pulsed just a little wider...as it suddenly became very, very clear as to who he really wanted. It was no longer Thomas, or Emily, or anyone else on Sodor except...

"...The soldier from the Navy!" he whispered very softly. "You're the one...who ensnared me in that whirlpool! That DOES IT, then! Never mind this blue filth or that emerald trollop! You are RIGHT, David Rider! It's YOU I want!"

All focus on Thomas and Emily suddenly flew out of Sailor John's head, and he began to walk toward the navy captain who took everything from him, and filled him with pure rage. Sailor John proceeded slowly at first. Then faster and faster as David drew his naval cutlass and was ready to stop the very man he stopped in the Navy for the last time. Sailor John began flailing the shovel every which way, while David kept blocking and attacking back against the shovel. When it came to combat, these two were rather equal...until Sailor John managed to push David off his feet and step on his hand, impairing David from moving his sword. Thomas, Emily and all the engines gasped with worry. Then David looked up and saw Sailor John smiling villainously.

"It looks like you're out of ideas," the pirate sneered.

With that, he suddenly lunged, ready to strike David down with the shovel, but David suddenly kicked Sailor John's knee, jolting his foot away. David then freed his hand and his cutlass. He jumped upwards again, intercepted Sailor John's next attack, slit the pirate's arm, and flailed the shovel right out of his hands, then held the pirate right at sword point.

"Not quite!" David barked as Phelps came alongside him. David took his radio and called in. "General Malcolm? Is your platoon ready?"

"Right above you, Captain!" Malcolm's voice came through the radio. "Look up!"

David, Sailor John and all the engines looked up...and there were the two military helicopters coming to the rescue, followed closely on the ground by Phelps and Gallagher's car. To this, Sailor John gave a shriek of fury and lunged to attack David once more, raising his fist high. But David seized the pirate's hand, then spun over and under, twisting the pirate's arm right behind his back, then he kicked Sailor John behind the knee, which sent him off his feet, then crashing right on his back.

The Military helicopter began to land close to the engines and the door opened. Sailor John struggled to get back on his feet, but David raised his naval cutlass high into the air, then brought it down, stabbing it into Sailor John's coat, pinning him where he was. Then at that moment, all twenty of General Malcolm's platoon soldiers came charging out with their rifles. Sailor John looked up with boggling eyes as the soldiers came closer. He tried to get up and escape, but he was stuck. He gasped as he saw the naval cutlass holding him there...and when he looked up once more, the last he saw was one of the soldiers stop right at him, raise his wooden rifle stock...then clop Sailor John right on the forehead...and with that, the pirate saw no more, knocked out and defeated at last.

It was in that moment...when all danger faded from Sodor. Silence ensured around everyone as they stared at David and the military standing over Sailor John's unconscious body...and then, such an explosion of sound ensued from everyone there, it was almost deafening. All the engines whistled, cheered and released great clouds of smoke and steam as they appraised David for his victory and how everything had finally come to a close and end now that Sailor John was well and truly defeated.

"Let's hear it for David! The greatest soldier in the whole of Britain!" Emily whistled with overwhelming victory.

"You're KING of the Navy!" Thomas whistled shrilly and victoriously.

And as the cheering and whistling continued, Thomas and Emily buffered together and kissed so many times over by the lips, truly and wholesomely happy now that they had made it through together. Everyone cheered and praised David endlessly as he smiled back at everyone. He knew he would be held in very high honours along with all the other engines. Diesel 10 was soon sent straight off to be confined, then banished. Poetic justice had prevailed. And so this wave of celebration carried on and on for an unknown amount of time...until this one-of-a-kind vision had to come to an end...

---

At last, as the starts glittered more and more over Arlesburgh, as the moon shone it lunar spell down upon the four individuals gathered at that moonlit pier, Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice all dawned back to the present moment once again. Such a powerful, overwhelming wave of wonder, fascination, amazement and astonishment was basking so very strongly in everyone accounted for. David had now expressed all his thoughts clearly and precisely. He had now stated everything he imagined when it came to how else it could have been. It had been a most intriguing and thought-provoking night for all four concerned tonight, and it had indeed spawned a few deep thoughts to themselves and each other. And now that it was over, with the final scenario that had been brought together, Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice all had to admit that they had neve felt anything like this before. There were many exceptional, one-of-a-kind feelings they had felt together, and this was yet another wonderful one of those times.

"And those, my friends...are all the things i think could have been...if I had left the Navy or the Sea Emperor sooner than I did. Well, my very dear mother...Thomas the Tank Engine, the No. 1 Blue Engine of Sodor...and Emily the Stirling Single...my engine and best friend...what do you all think?"

A few more minutes of silence ensued between the two engines and David's mother as they let it all sink right into their hearts and souls. Their eyes glittered in the moonlight, their breathing was strong, wholesome and pure, and when Emily finally spoke...her voice was just like the emerald goddess that she was.

"David Rider...my navy mentor and true best friend!" she whispered purely. "That was all...beyond amazing! Beyond fascinating! Those are all such amazing ways to view how else it could have been...for you, for me, for all of us!"

"Amazing!" Thomas hissed shakily. "Astonishing! Remarkable! Staggering!"

"Absolutely poetic, almost!" Beatrice gleamed. "That last story is indeed a most intriguing thing to think up, isn't it?"

"And the big question now, Emily," said David. "Do...do you think our lives together would have been any more or less prominent if those events did happen...if I did come to Sodor earlier? Please tell me however you view it."

Emily thought for about five full minutes. Then she looked right at David, her eyes gleaming like sapphires as they always did in the stars and moon...then she spoke.

"Well...in some ways...maybe even many ways, it would have been very, very different, David," said Emily. "Some ways maybe better, like you stopping Sailor John yourself with such victory, and maybe keeping Bradford in check would have been alright...but all the others...fighting Sir Topham Hatt for Thomas' justice...sparking off against Donald and Douglas on the instant...aside from how you thought those events up differently, I really do not know what might have happened through those conjured events. But all in all...these are truly provocative turnouts to how else it could have been, David...and it seems to me that maybe your Navy Drive would have been too strong to control, even for me at times."

David couldn't help but look away a little embarrassingly to this. But he looked up again when Emily continued.

"I think you made a very wise choice to deliver goods for the past three years after the Navy...perhaps that gave you a chance to explore your own life until you came and found all of us...and for everything that has turned out in its way, I am so, so happy that your life took the course that it did. I think everything that has happened ever since you first came to Sodor four years ago, it's given everything an absolutely perfect balance. Just like I told Thomas when we thought how it could have been between us, I think that unawares to you and I, we knew exactly what to do and when to do it...which led us to where we are today...my very best friend, David Rider."

To this, David smiled very purely. Emily smiled right back at him. Then Thomas and Beatrice watched as David got on Emily's running plate, petted her soft, lovely cheek, and hugged her face as if she were a big, soft velvet pillow. Then he pressed his lips to her cheek and gave her such a loving kiss which made Emily breath in and lean upwards, then hum very happily as she let off a little warm swirl of steam.

"No one can ever speak as true as you, Emily...my dear sweet Emily," David whispered. "I love you so much, my very best friend."

Then he softly let go and stared into Emily's eyes for a few moments...until he thought of just one little tweak to tip the moment perfectly.

"Hmm. Something's missing here," said David.

Thomas, Emily and Beatrice watched as David reached behind his neck and unclicked his silver charm, then he placed it right around Emily's funnel again.

"Oh, my, Emily. You look pretty as a present," David whispered.

"Oh, David, indeed she does! She looks so lovely with that charm. It's just like a necklace for her!" Thomas beamed.

"Indeed, she does, Thomas," David nodded. "And...oh, Dad would have loved all of this..."

"Well, David. This has been a truly amazing night with you," Thomas smiled proudly. "Such amazing stories of what could have been, just like when Emily and I shared such stories about our relationship. This has been a most impressive night to spend with you and my emerald angel. Such excitement, suspense, tension and indeed...how else it could have been...and as for your father, as we all know...he lives in all of us. He's right next to you, David. He's in Beatrice. He's in Emily. He's all around you. And along with all of us, your father will never let you down."

David looked to Thomas, then Emily, then Beatrice with a solemn, truthful nod as they fell silent again for two as he absorbed these thoughts. Until...

"David..." came a ghostly, echoing voice from the sky.

Everyone looked up. But David looked the most intently. "Father?"

Everyone looked far out to the sky over the ocean...and there he was, slowly appearing more and more vividly through the starry sky and appearing before the two engines and two Riders, ghostly and illuminated as he had always appeared before his engine and son.

"David...you wonderful boy. You brave, brave man...Beatrice...my love and wife...Thomas, you amazing tank engine...and Emily. You wonderful girl. You brave, brave engine. My entire family and two very dearest engines."

"Lawrence!" Beatrice gushed through a torrent of joyful tears. "My pure and only Lawrence!"

"Hello, Lawrence!" Emily gasped happily. "Oh, it's so fascinating to see you again after so long! We've all been here talking of..."

"No need to tell me, Emily," Lawrence echoed. "I know very well what you've all been talking about all night...truly remarkable and stirring subjects to look into. I'm sure you've all had a most stirring night and you're all soon due to go to bed...but before you finish it all up...I so happen to have a little reason for being here. As I've now heard and sensed everything you've been talking about tonight, I sense there is just one more little thing that our David here is still hiding and should probably express to us all."

Thomas, Emily and Beatrice looked at David as he suddenly seemed a little isolated. There was indeed just one more thing he had not yet mentioned. Something as to why he thought up the scenarios that he did.

"What do you mean, Lawrence?" Emily asked.

"Well...I know fully well of just what he thought up between the three of you...rather ambitious and outlandish alternate realities as to how else it would have been...and it makes me wonder if I may help in some small way tonight...David?"

David looked up and saw his father slowly drifting closer as he spoke.

"First, I want to thank you, David," said Lawrence. "It's been a fair while since your adventure with Emily, but I wish to tell you this...I know you showed real loyalty and bravery at the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Nothing but that could have gained you that Captain's hat and that gold medal of honour alongside your silver medal. And second...I sense that there's one other reason you've expressed these scenarios to us...almost as if something is troubling you. Am I right, David? Perhaps you have one more underlying reason as to why you conjured these thoughts on how else it could have been?"

David looked at Emily's driver, then to his mother, then Thomas, then Emily. There was indeed just one other little thing hidden inside him that he had not yet revealed...and he now wanted to see just what his mother and friends would make of this.

"Well...you see, Dad," David said a little unevenly now. "The real reason I thought these scenarios up in such an outlandish and almost brutal way is...well, since I worked in the same Navy category that Sailor John did, and given all that has weaved together...I couldn't help but notice some things, certain...certain similarities between myself and...Sailor John."

Thomas, Emily and Beatrice all stopped where they were and felt their throats pulse a little. None of them knew this was the real reason David thought up such outlandish alternate realities.

"David...why would you think...of yourself...like...?" Emily asked.

"Well...I...Dad, can you help me?" David asked.

"Don't worry, David. And don't worry, Emily...I think I know what this may be," said Lawrence. "Now, David...to answer your little thought...for example...you can ride Skiff to shore with the power of a shark, David. Why? Because...Sailor John could ride Skiff in rather unique and resourceful ways too. If I'm not mistaken, David...I can't help but feel that Sailor John might have passed a few of his traits to you throughout your time in the Navy."

Thomas, Emily and Beatrice heaved light to this as they looked at David.

"Sailor John passed on some of his traits...to me?" he gasped.

"Not intentionally...but yes," said Lawrence.

To this, David straightened himself up and made one more little confession.

"Well...Dad, and Mum, and Thomas and Emily...there is indeed one core reason I thought these scenarios up tonight. You see, over these past few weeks, I finally realized that every now and then, I...I can't help but feel that the reason I had such a strong passion for Emily's well-being, to the point that I took some slightly overstepping actions, is that perhaps I was driven by senses of vendetta, rather like Sailor John...which the more I think about it...could be a minor reason why I didn't wish to come to Sodor in the first dream Emily had of me."

"Oh...David...I...but...how...?" Emily puzzled.

Before Thomas, Emily or Beatrice could wander too deep, Lawrence spoke again.

"Well, David. As proven by select events surrounding you, such as your grudge against Donald and Douglas, barring Diesel from the sheds after Emily's 'too hot,' experience, confronting me over Emily's punishment, travelling through England and Scotland to find your mother, and going so far as to demand banishment of George upon Sir Topham Hatt...it is very clear that you do possess several traits that Sailor John himself prized. Determination, resourcefulness, ambition, daring, and if I may say so, an occasional disregard for Sir Topham Hatt's authority."

David couldn't help but look away to this. But then everyone listened to what Lawrence said next.

"But hear me now, David...there are some very important questions that I must ask you. When it comes to when you did come to Sodor...why did you target Donald and Douglas the way you did while Thomas was away on his adventure? Why did you confront Sir Topham Hatt on Emily's two-week punishment? Why did you scour all of England and Scotland to find your mother? Why did you attack Class 40 and defeat Diesel 10 for the last time? And why then did Sir Topham agree to support your demands?"

David thought long and hard about these questions for about five minutes further in silence. Then he answered them in sequence, one at a time.

"Frist question...because I love Emily with all my heart...because I wanted to protect her from any more accidents like that. Second, because I didn't like seeing her be punished when she was having such a rough time without Thomas. Third, because I wanted the chance to have a family again, not go gallivanting off in search for treasures. Fourth, because a very precious possession of mine was damaged and I nearly lost that photograph to 'the Diesel.' And fifth...Sir Topham Hatt agreed to my demands...because I made those demands for a good cause. For the sake of the other engines, the railway, the roads, and their safety. And to answer the big and broad question as to why I had such ambitious drives and desires to take chances...is because I love Emily, and all her friends too."

"Exactly, David! Exactly! Which makes you different from Sailor John," said Lawrence. "It's not our abilities and traits that show who we really are. It is our choices."

To this, Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice all shuddered deeply to Lawrence's words, agreeing with him in soaring solidarity. Then Lawrence said something else that no one had ever considered before, regarding David's naval cutlass...and just what was on it.

"In fact...I do not know why I didn't tell you this earlier, David...but right now, from what I see right there being worn over your shoulder...if you want crystal-clear proof that you're the most notorious soldier the Navy ever had, then I suggest you look more closely at this."

Lawrence was gesturing toward David's cutlass. David wondered what his father meant by this, and so he gently drew his naval cutlass, holding it carefully by the blade and looking for any little details his father might have meant. Thomas, Emily and Beatrice all looked closer as David slowly turned around, letting them see...until he looked right at the silver guard. Over the years that had passed ever since David first gained this sword from the corporal, along with his black boots, silver charm, silver medal and the Sea Emperor itself, there was one little detail on the cutlass' D-shaped guard that David had given the occasional glimpse to, but never paid definitive heed to. He looked again, then came right up on Emily's running plate...and there, inscribed on the guard was a conspicuous engraving of...

"A galleon ship...like the Sea Emperor," David and Emily whispered. They looked up to his father's spiritual likeness and saw him nodding slowly.

"And it would take a true Navy Captain to earn a blade like that," Lawrence echoed very softly and truthfully. "Such fascinating stories you've all told each other tonight...about how else it could have been. Look inside yourself, David. You are more than what you have become, and more than what you could have been. Your life has run the course that it did over these years, bringing you sheer joy, solidarity, belonging and unity with all your friends, and so it shall go on with you and your friends...and YOUR engine, Emily."

"Father...I want to thank for all your words," said David. "I understand that we can never go back and change what has already become, but I am truly very, very happy with how our lives have shaped up to this day, and so it shall go on. Therefore...what is your message to me tonight?"

Lawrence's voice echoed even more and he almost glowed in the moonlight.

"Remember who you are. You are my son and the one true captain."

Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice all felt their eyes shimmering with tears of overwhelming joy and sacredness. Then Lawrence began to lift away from the pier and into the night sky, slowly fading into the stars and moon.

"Goodbye, father," David said quietly, but surely.

"Not goodbye, David," Lawrence echoed into the night air. "Just until the next time. Remember who you are...remember..."

And at last, Lawrence Rider had become one with the eternal being of Sodor that there was all around Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice. And so with that, the night was concluded. All that had to be told had been told between Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice Rider.

"Wow...goodnight, Lawrence," Thomas smiled. "May you watch over us tonight."

"Yes...my dear Lawrence," Emily whispered wistfully.

"Well...your father speaks ever-true tonight, David," said Beatrice. "It is our choices that shifted and shaped all of our lives to what they are now...and we can all be very happy and very proud of ourselves and each other."

"Well. All's well that ends well," said David. "And on such a magnificent, serene night too. Thank you both, Thomas and Emily. SO much, for joining me tonight for such a night of stirrings, imagination and realization between all of us. We all have these traits...to use them for good, and to be really useful. Determination, resourcefulness, ambition and daring. All those traits are strong in my family. My father had it. I have it...my engine and best friend has it. You, Emily...my engine and true best friend."

To all of this, Thomas and Emily smiled from buffer to buffer as David held Emily's cheeks with both hands, gently massaging her cheeks and making her giggle softly. Then David stood up, then then leaned in and kissed her forehead. Emily hummed and smiled so happily and peacefully until David let go and gently trailed his fingers along her cheek and tickled her.

"Hm-hm-hm! David," Emily tittered.

"So lovely, you two...now, perhaps we should be going home, David," Thomas said as he began to feel tired.

"Mmm...no, Thomas. Ohh..." Emily yawned. "Let's sleep here, right by the seaside...you and I. This is too beautiful and perfect to pass up tonight."

"Oh, Emily...I'd love to," Thomas yawned. "Truly beautiful outside tonight."

"It's beautiful indeed, my dear friends," Beatrice smiled. "And a perfect way to end such a thought-filled night with my perfect son. Well. Have a very good night, Thomas and Emily. Have a wonderful, warm sleep together...and thank you for joining us tonight."

"Goodnight, Emily," David smiled. "Thank you for hearing such moving, deep and powerful stories with your very best friend."

"I loved it all, David...and you and Beatrice have a very good night too," Emily smiled.

"Yes...goodnight to you both, and goodnight to all of Sodor," Thomas yawned.

And Thomas and Emily gently made their way off the pier and to the Arlesburgh turntable, where Emily turned around, then Thomas buffered up to her and brought her right to the very shed they slept in when working with Donald and Douglas, and when they saw and heard those whales.

"Sweet dreams, Emily. I love you, my beautiful emerald angel," Thomas whispered as he kissed her so softly on her lips.

"Sweet dreams, Tommy. I love you, my handsome cobalt star," Emily whispered in turn as she kissed his lips just the same.

And in their house together, David hugged Beatrice and she kissed her son goodnight.

"Sweet dreams, Davey, my perfect little boy," Beatrice gleamed with a smile.

"Sweet dreams, Mum. My dear sweet mother," David smiled back as she left his room and went to bed.

"Goodnight, Thomas and Emily...and father," David whispered once more.

And with that, Thomas, Emily, David and Beatrice Rider all settled in the warmth and safety of their own home and in their shed by the sea, and fell right to sleep. It had been a most prominent night for Thomas, Emily, Beatrice and especially David. After Thomas and Emily had spent that significant night together talking about what could have been if their relationship had taken a different course, tonight had been David's chance to think about what else could have been if his life ran different courses than it did. This had been yet another amazing year so far. So much had come about, changed and shaped Sodor in so many ways this year, it was a true wonder. Life would go onward on the Island of Sodor...and as for Emily, once winter passed with another Christmas and spring would come again...there would be yet another revelation for her. Something that would give her an official title to the railway with a new secondary name among those that she already had...and at last, she would receive her very own number. But not just any number like her temporary No. 1 and "GNR," initials on her tender. This number would be in retrospect to how she could always be counted upon, and she could be indeed.

---

200TH STORY! Goddamn, another monumental milestone conquered, and the perfect way to celebrate this occasion was to make a sequel to the original 100th story "How It Could Have Been", and frankly the fact that we've managed to make one hundred more stories since then is almost unbelievable to me, and there's still more to come in the future. As eluded to at the end, the next story will be "Emily to the Rescue", so Emily will finally receive her number 12 and title of "safety engine". Tell us what you thought of this story, and once again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you all so much for sticking with us for 200 stories, and as always, stay safe.