Christmas had come and gone on the Island of Sodor, and in turn, so had the New Year and the season of winter. But in that three month time gap, something very unexpected happened.

"So, you really think there'll be some new ducklings, Monty?" asked Tasha excitedly.

"It's quite possible," insisted Duck. "My driver says he found a nest with some eggs inside, and Dilly was walking back toward it."

"They must be adorable when they hatch," gasped Tasha. "I've got to see them."

Duck led Tasha along the line until they came to a siding full of long grass.

"Careful not to make too much noise," whispered Duck.

Tasha carefully peered through the tall grass and, true to Duck's word, she could see the nest full of eggs.

"Oh, I do hope they hatch before I have to go," sighed Tasha.

"Don't worry, Lady," said Duck. "Emily still has some parts to go before she's fully restored."

But unfortunately, time wasn't on their side that day.

"Come on, you two," said Duck's driver. "Time to get back to work."

"Oh well," said Tasha. "Maybe tomorrow."

"How about you take Old Slow Coach today?" said Duck. "She'll want to spend as much time with you as possible."

"Good idea, Duck," smiled Tasha. With a cheerful toot of her whistle, Tasha steamed away.

Later, the two engines were at Knapford with Old Slow Coach.

"I can't wait for you to see the new ducklings, Lady," said Duck. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Just then, Tasha's guard's whistle blew.

"See you later, Monty," she called as she puffed away.

"See you, Lady," replied Duck, closing his eyes blissfully.

"Well, someone's on cloud nine today."

"Oh!" Duck jumped to see Diesel coming up with the express coaches for Gordon.

"Oh hello, Diesel," Duck greeted. "I was just enjoying some time with Tasha back on the Little Western. Dilly's laid some eggs and Tasha wants to watch them hatch before she has to go."

"Oh, more cute ducklings on the way," said Diesel excitedly. He glanced around sheepishly to see if anyone else heard that. Thankfully for him, no one did. Then he realized something. "I've never seen you this excited for the ducklings hatching before. So, what's the big difference?"

"Lady will be leaving soon," explained Duck. "And I was hoping that seeing those hatchlings would be a rather heartwarming goodbye present for her."

"Oh," Diesel said with feeling. "I see. And you're calling her by her nickname? Would I be right in assuming this was going deeper than friendship?"

"Uh…" Duck blushed bright red. "I-it's… we've only known each other for…"

"Duck, if there's a difference with you and me, you aren't a very convincing liar."

The Great Western engine sighed in defeat, knowing Diesel was right.

"Okay, I do like her," he admitted. "But… I didn't tell her that. And she didn't either."

"Well, if she's going to be leaving any day now, you've got to tell her before she does," said Diesel firmly.

"I suppose you're right," agreed Duck. "I'll tell her the next chance I get." And he bustled away.

Meanwhile, Tasha and Old Slow Coach had stopped at Tidmouth Hault where Oliver and Toad were waiting with a goods train.

"Hello, Miss Tasha. Miss Coach," greeted Toad.

"Hello, Oliver and Toad," the girls replied.

"How are you doing today?" asked Oliver.

"Pretty good," said Tasha. "Monty says that we'll have a chance to watch the ducklings hatch tomorrow during our next break." She giggled as she imagined herself and Duck doing just that.

"Have you told Mr. Duck how you feel about him yet?" pondered Toad.

"Oh, not yet," said Tasha.

"Well, why not?" asked Oliver. "You've been courting each other for the last couple of months."

"Well… I wasn't sure if this relationship was going to last," sighed Tasha. "I mean, I wasn't going to be part of the railway."

"Well, that's true," said Old Slow Coach, "but some relationships are so strong that long distance doesn't hinder the relationship. You could send letters to each other."

"If you don't tell Mr. Duck soon, you'll have to wait even longer before you get your chance," advised Toad.

Tasha realized her friends were right. She hoped she would have enough time.

Meanwhile, at the Steamworks, the workmen were just putting the finishing touches on Emily. Her new number was being painted inside the middle square on her tender sides in beige with chocolate brown borders.

"There we are," said a workman. "Number twelve of the North Western Railway."

Emily beamed with pride. "Finally, I'm ready for work after so long. Thank you so much!"

"I'm very glad to hear that, Emily," came a cheerful voice. It was Sir Topham Hatt, who had just driven up to see how Emily's progress was getting on.

"Sir!" gasped Emily. "It's good to see you again."

"And you look marvelous, Emily," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "You are to take a train down the main line. Donald has been doing the extra trains down there for the past few months."

"Donald?" asked Emily. "That's odd. I thought Tasha was doing that."

"He said Tasha feels more at home on the Little Western," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I guess it makes sense, considering that was her old branch line." He shrugged. "Anyway, I'd like you to go to Knapford to take a passenger train to Vicarstown."

"Yes, sir," said Emily, and she puffed proudly away for her first job in years.

When Emily arrived at Knapford yards, she looked around for some coaches. Unfortunately, the only ones available were Annie and Clarabel. We know them, of course, to be Thomas' coaches, but Emily had only met the coaches once when they went for refurbishment, and had forgotten they had belonged to Thomas.

"These don't seem to be your type of coaches," said her new driver, "but I suppose they'll do. Mustn't let the passengers down."

"What?! How dare she say we'll do!" snapped Clarabel. "Acting like we're not 'proper' coaches."

"Oh, hush up!" scolded Annie. "She didn't mean anything by it. And you heard her; the passengers can't be kept waiting."

"But whatever will Thomas say?" asked Clarabel. "He doesn't like other engines pulling us without his permission."

"Oh, good point," said Annie. "There should have been other coaches here. We are Thomas' coaches; he chose us himself!"

"I hope he doesn't get too upset…" sighed Clarabel as Emily backed down onto them.

"Alright," she said brightly. "Come along."

The passengers were a bit surprised to see Annie and Clarabel being pulled by a different engine.

"Eh?" said Jack Hodges. "Am I seeing things?"

"I do believe that this is a Stirling single," said a random passenger.

"Well, that's not what I-" He broke off.

"Oh, she's gorgeous!" cried another passenger. "I thought these engines were long gone."

Many more passengers gathered close to get a better look of Emily. A few even took pictures of her. Emily felt rather flattered that she had so many fans on her first day back to work. Alas…

"Ahem!" a voice called out. "Those are my passengers, if you don't mind."

"Oh?" Emily glanced over in surprise. Standing on the track next to her was James the red engine with the red coaches in tow.

"Oh, don't mind James," said Mick. "He always gets jealous whenever another engine is getting more attention than him, y'know."

"I see," said Emily. "Er… Sean, Mick, Harry and Randolph, right? I think I saw you lot getting serviced at the Steamworks."

"Correct, Emily," said Harry. "Good to see you're out and about at last. Do you like Sodor so far?"

"Well, Knapford looks quite grand," said Emily, "and it's good to know not everyone here gets jealous of attention."

James' passengers eventually boarded their train. The guard blew his whistle, and James puffed away.

"Who does that engine think she is?" snorted James. "Trying to steal my passengers like that."

Just then, Randolph got a better view of Emily's train.

"Wait a second, that's Annie and Clarabel!"

"What's she doing with Thomas' coaches?" asked Harry.

"She must have stolen them too!" gasped James. "Oh, Thomas won't like this."

"Don't be silly," scolded Sean. "She probably doesn't even know they're Thomas' coaches."

"Then how do you explain how Thomas took them into the Steamworks one day and she saw them?" asked James. "Before you ask how I know that, Thomas mentioned it when we met up at Elsbridge the following day."

"She must have had a lot on her mind since and probably forgot," insisted Randolph. "We all forget things from time to time."

Before long, it was Emily's turn to depart.

"Alright, let's go." She puffed away, but not before Diesel came in with some non-sentient coaches.

"Okay, Donald, I finally found… what the…" He saw Emily leaving the station with Annie and Clarabel. "Oh no…"

Further up the line, Emily was rather enjoying the scenery of the railway.

"It's so lovely out here," she said. "I don't remember seeing so many great places back on my old line." Eventually, she saw Gordon approaching with the express; both had stopped at Crovan's Gate and were waiting for Rheneas to bring the connecting train.

"So, you're finally out of the works, Emily," said Gordon. "Good to see you."

"Yes," said Emily. "I'm so glad. I just wish Alice were here to see me-"

"Alice?!" gasped Gordon. "Is she a Great Northern Railway Atlantic numbered 288?"

"Yes," said Emily. "Last I saw, she was-"

"I've worked with her at Doncaster," Gordon explained. "She taught me all I know about express trains. She's preserved now, by a Great Northern Railway preservation society, I think."

"Oh, thank heavens," sighed Emily with relief. "At least she was spared my siblings' fate of being scrapped. I taught her how to run express trains too."

"So that's where she gets it from," said Gordon, impressed. "Your coaches have been pretty quiet on the… way up…" Gordon broke off as he glanced over. The first thing he noticed was Annie and Clarabel behind Emily. "Annie, Clarabel, what are you two doing back there?!"

"Well, there was a bit of a complication," said Clarabel. "Long and short, we were 'the only coaches available'."

"Did you at least get Thomas' permission to do this?" asked Gordon.

Emily blinked in surprise. "Thomas? Why…"

"Because we are Thomas' coaches!" cried Annie.

"You took them without his or their permission?!" scolded Gordon. "Don't you know how much Annie and Clarabel mean to Thomas? They were his ever since he was given his branch line!"

Emily didn't know what to say; why had no one mentioned this to her before up to that point? She now felt very embarrassed about the whole situation. But before she could speak, the guard blew his whistle, meaning it was time for Gordon to leave.

"What's going on?" asked Rheneas; he had come up with the old coaches while Gordon was ranting.

"I.. accidentally took Thomas' coaches without asking for his permission…" said Emily meekly.

"Oh dear," sighed Rheneas. "But don't feel too bad. We all make mistakes."

"I feel like this one is too big a mistake to fix…" Emily said quietly as she heard her own guard blow the whistle.

Meanwhile, Thomas had come into Knapford with his trucks.

"Hi, Diesel," he called. "You haven't seen Annie and Clarabel, have you?"

"Er… about that…" Diesel wasn't sure how to break this bit of news to Thomas.

"I left them in the yard while I handled some trucks," Thomas explained. "I would have been back sooner, but the line was blocked."

"I understand that much," said Diesel. "Er… it's a bit of a long story, but I was looking for some coaches to give to Donald for his local train, and just as I found some… Emily was leaving with… er… Annie and Clarabel."

"What?!" gasped Thomas. "But they're my coaches!"

"Well, she probably didn't want to make the passengers complain about delays," insisted Diesel. "You'll just have to use these coaches until Annie and Clarabel are brought back."

But Thomas didn't want to use other coaches. He wanted his coaches. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of an option.

Meanwhile, Emily, Annie and Clarabel had arrived at Vicarstown station, the emerald engine's last stop for the eastbound run. Henry the green engine was in the yards, having just completed a goods run.

"Oh, hello there," he greeted cheerfully. "You must be Emily."

"Indeed I am," Emily sighed unhappily.

"What's the matter?" asked Henry. "Aren't you happy to be back in service?"

"Right now I wish I were still in that scrapyard," Emily moped.

"Oh, don't say that," shuddered Henry. "Come on, tell me what's happening." And so, Emily explained to Henry about the mix up with her taking Annie and Clarabel.

"That wasn't your fault," insisted Henry. "Everyone make mistakes sometimes. Why don't you take them back to Thomas and tell him you're sorry?"

"No!" cried Emily. "I can't face Thomas. Not after what I did on my first day back in service. He might never forgive me. Please, Henry, could you return Annie and Clarabel to him instead?"

"I suppose so," sighed Henry. "But you can't avoid him forever."

With the arrangements made, Henry was coupled up to Annie and Clarabel, and puffed away. Emily, meanwhile, left for the sidings to fill up on coal and water.

"Now where am I going to find some other coaches?" she wondered.

"Did someone say 'coaches'?" came a voice. Emily looked over to where the source of the voice had come from. There, on a siding, were two coaches painted in a similar livery to Hilary, Audrey and Mark on the Kirk Ronan branch line, but they had six wheels each instead of four.

"Oh, hello there," Emily greeted. "Who are you?"

"My name is Martha," said the coach who had spoken up, "and this is my companion Julian."

"Nice to meet you two," said Emily. "I'm Emily. I was just restored today. What are you two doing up here?"

"We've just arrived ourselves," explained Julian, "but no engine's come to take us to Knapford yet."

"I could take you if you'd like," Emily offered. "I'm to take another local train down there myself."

"Much appreciated," complemented Martha. "Anything's better than staying here all day gathering dust."

The Stirling single gently buffered up to the coaches and puffed to the station.

Meanwhile, Thomas was grumbling as pulled the spare coaches down his branch line.

"Don't want new coaches. Don't want new coaches," he sulked. He came to a stop at Elsbridge station when he saw Henry pull into view.

"Hello, Thomas," called Henry. "Would you be interested in trading those coaches for these?"

When Thomas looked at what was behind Henry, his face lit up so brightly you'd think he was a lighthouse.

"Annie! Clarabel!" he cried in delight. "You're both okay! Oh, thank you, Henry!"

Eagerly, Thomas traded coaches with Henry.

"Emily didn't hurt you two, did she?" Thomas asked hastily. "Was she rude? Did she stop at the wrong stations along the way?"

"Absolutely not," insisted Annie. "She was quite gentle as she pulled us, never said a single rude thing, and she stopped at all the correct stations."

"Indeed," said Clarabel. "She was friendly towards everyone she came across. While she is a nice engine, we still missed being pulled by you."

"I missed both of you too," said Thomas as his guard's whistle blew. "Thanks again, Henry."

"Any time, Thomas," called Henry. "I'll be sure to let Emily know you're thankful to have them back."

Eventually, Emily pulled into Knapford with Martha and Julian. The passengers were most impressed.

"Thank you for a splendid ride, Emily," complimented a smartly dressed man. "I'll be sure to tell my associates what a fine railway it is indeed."

"Especially being given a ride by such a grand engine like you," added another passenger.

While Emily was grateful for the praise, deep down, she couldn't shake the shame and embarrassment for the earlier misunderstandings. All she could do was hope it wouldn't jeopardize her new future on the railway.

Speaking of jeopardizing, that evening, Duck was at the sheds, waiting for Tasha to come back. Suddenly, he could hear the sound of an engine approaching.

"This is it," he told himself. "I am going to confess my feelings for her whether I want to or not."

Unfortunately, the whistle wasn't who he was expecting.

"Donald?" he asked quietly.

"Aye, tis me, laddie," the Caledonian engine replied. "Er, hullo, Dook. Aboot that…"

Duck's eyes closed and his heart sank. He had missed his chance…

Author's Comments

And so Emily the Stirling Single begins proper with this adaptation of most of Emily's New Coaches. Well, actually, most of the special is an expanded rewrite of said series seven episode, and this is not the last we'll see of it. I've also included the ending bit from Emily to the Rescue with the titular engine herself getting her number twelve, and unlike the episode where she's given her number just because, Emily has it outright rather than waiting seventeen years to obtain one. I've pretty much retconned the aforementioned series 24 episode as it's pretty much a "jack of all trades, master of none" type episode with no clear direction as to what's going on, and then it just... stops. I've also included a subplot involving Duck and Tasha and how the latter's departure for the Rolling Hills Railway ends up affecting the former. So already, Emily's sullied a reputation that she's yet to actually build up, but hopefully, things will get better for her down the line.

Next time, we witness someone Returning the Favor!