When Dinky woke up the following morning, she briefly wondered what she was getting herself into. She didn't have the money to get back to Ponyville - her foster parents certainly wouldn't pay for it - and briefly, she wondered whether it was such a good idea. But the poster of Tammy Abraham above her bed, and George Spencer's words the previous afternoon, steeled her resolve.
The biggest problem was being able to afford her ticket back. But fate proved to be generous in that regard. On her way back from school that afternoon, she noticed a job advert in her local newsagent's window. Ten minutes later, she was officially a paperfoal on five bits per week.
When she got back to her room, she looked at the timetable she'd collected from the station. There were five direct trains to Canterlot each day. She quickly crossed off the "Gourmet", the Pullman service which offered lunch and afternoon tea, but was far too expensive and didn't allow unaccompanied foals. The afternoon departure, the Twilight Wayfarer, was more viable, but got into Canterlot late at night when most of the connections had left. The Wind Whistler still carried the risk of her being caught, even though its early afternoon arrival made a connection possible. That just left the two overnight trains. The Firefly was cheaper, but it consisted of seated accommodation and thus she still risked being caught. A cabin on The Thestral, however, meant that that risk was minimal. She also knew that it allowed foals to travel by themselves, having heard a filly at school talking about how she was travelling to Canterlot to visit a relative during half term. Doing the maths, she realised that by the time the school year ended, she'd have more than enough.
"Do you want to go to Chelsea?"
Dinky looked up from her copy of Football Daily, in which she'd been reading the report of Chelsea's 4-2 win against Sheffield United in the FA Cup, to see Blue Day, the colt who'd been at Wembley, standing next to her.
"When?" she asked.
"Next home game."
"But...that's against Man City, it's been sold out for weeks!"
"My uncle can't go," Blue Day replied, "We've got a spare season ticket as a result."
"Count me in."
"Welcome to Stamford Bridge," Kick Off said, "And what a way to start your weekend. Chelsea host leaders Manchester City in a top of the table clash between the two meanest defences in the Premier League..."
Dinky turned a corner and got her first real glimpse of the stadium she'd seen numerous times on TV. It was even more impressive on the outside, with a statue of club legend Peter Osgood outside the West Stand and a brass band playing just outside the gate.
Dinky had had some of her first weeks' wages converted into Pounds at the portal, and bought herself a programme and a copy of the cfcuk fanzine before the group entered the stadium. It was a crisp, clear day, and as far as Dinky was concerned, even a defeat would be better than having to endure another lunch with the head of the Foal Protection Agency having invited herself around for "a check-up" (She was certain that she kept coming to rub salt into the proverbial wounds).
The match got underway, but Chelsea seemed to be less expansive than they usually were, with Manchester City making the early running.
"We don't seem to be attacking as much as usual," Dinky said, as an early shot from Man City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan was saved by Arrizabalaga early on.
"It's common sense," Blue Day's father replied, "If we play our usual attacking football, then we'll be picked off. Better to soak up pressure and hit them on the counter."
Sure enough, Chelsea began to take control of the match, with Kovacic and Pulisic forcing saves from Ederson in the City goal and Tammy Abraham heading over the bar. At the back, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling were kept quiet by Azpilicueta and Emerson, while Rüdiger and Christensen dealt with any central attacks.
However, midway through the first half, the visitors drew first blood. Andreas Christensen headed a cross behind, and Bernardo Silva sent the ball into the area from the corner. Centre-back Eric García slid in and toe-poked the ball over the line to give City the lead. Chelsea looked to respond, but City still led at half time, with Jorginho having made two blocks just before the break.
Man City may have led at half-time, but the second half would belong to Chelsea. In the fiftieth minute, Eric García became the latest player to be caught cold by Tammy Abraham, with the striker then getting past Aymeric Laporte. Ederson came out to meet him, but Abraham sent the ball the other way to level the score.
Midway through the second half, Leroy Sané came on to replace Ilkay Gündogan.
"That's a bit of a gamble," Blue Day's father said, "He's playing with two attacking midfielders, one of whom is a winger, behind the front three. They're liable to be left open like that."
It didn't seem to pay off, however, as Emerson kept Sane just as quiet as he'd kept Bernardo Silva, who had just as little luck against N'Golo Kanté. Raheem Sterling was also replaced by Riyad Mahrez with twelve minutes left.
With six minutes to go, it looked as though the match was headed for a draw, but then Sancho got past De Bruyne and played Kovacic in. Kovacic drove the ball into the path of Pulisic, who let it bounce before lifting it over Ederson and into the net.
Manchester City pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages, but this left them vulnerable on the counter. Deep into stoppage time, Azpilicueta cleared the ball to Pulisic. Pulisic played a long ball to substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi, who outpaced Eric Garcia and took a shot which beat Ederson. It struck the post, but Pulisic tucked the rebound home to put the result beyond doubt.
"You know," Blue Day's father said as they left the stadium, the fans around them chattering excitedly, "We'll also have a spare ticket for the Norwich game if you're interested."
"Of course I am." Dinky replied.
By the time Dinky returned to Stamford Bridge three weeks later, she considered things to be looking up immensely. Her funds were growing by the week (and she was getting a free copy of Football Daily to boot) and, since the Man City game, Chelsea had beaten Benfica 2-0 to squeeze into the quarterfinals of the Champions League (where they'd play Borussia Dortmund) before Pulisic got another brace as he, Abraham and Sancho dismantled Arsenal's defence in the FA Cup sixth round to set up a semi-final with Liverpool. To make things even better, the previous weekend's "check-up" had had to be postponed to this weekend due to "a bad headache", meaning that she'd only had to put up with the bespectacled tan unicorn for about ten minutes before being picked up, Man Utd had lost at Everton the previous evening, and Leicester had beaten Tottenham 2-1 in the lunchtime kick off.
Norwich had won their last three games, including a 3-2 victory over Manchester United at Carrow Road. They even had the first chance, with a shot from Filipe Duda being saved by Arrizabalaga. Tim Krul, in the Norwich goal, also saved Chelsea's first chance from Pulisic, but the rebound fell to Sancho, who was never going to miss.
Arrizabalaga made two saves in four minutes to keep Chelsea in front, but then a Norwich defender messed up a clearance to leave Tammy Abraham with an easy tap-in. Two goals down inside the opening twenty minutes, Norwich simply wilted.
On the stroke of half time, Sancho intercepted a header from Timm Klose and headed it to Abraham, who headed the ball home for Chelsea's third. Abraham nearly got his hat-trick in the 51st minute, but his header was parried by Krul...straight into the path of Sancho, who made it 4-0. Five minutes later, the defence got in on the act, with right-back Reece James curling a free kick around the wall for Chelsea's fifth. Then, with just over 25 minutes left, Sancho received the ball out wide and cut inside, evading Stiepermann before smashing his shot into the top corner from 25 yards out to complete his hat-trick. To make things even better for the Stamford Bridge faithful, Arsenal lost 2-0 at Sheffield United.
The following Saturday, however, was almost the exact opposite. Having to endure yet another visit from Autumn Scamper was bad enough, but she was bound to be unbearable this time around. Whilst Liverpool had beaten Juventus in Turin, Chelsea's away goal in Dortmund had been negated by a 3-1 defeat, including a spectacular goal from prodigy Erling Haaland, Antonio Rüdiger being sent off, and Emerson Palmieri being injured. And sure enough, she was.
"So, winning away in Europe isn't for everyone, is it?" She said, as the food was served, "If only you had a better striker like we do…"
"Abraham's outscored Firmino in the Premier League," Dinky retorted, "and he's scored five more in all competitions so far this season!"
Autumn's eyes narrowed.
"I don't think much of your attitude, Young Lady. Besides, that's why we have Salah and Mané on the wings. Plus, we actually won in midweek - all we need to do against that lot is break the wall down and victory is assured."
Things didn't improve during the meal. Dinky had looked forward to her favourite pudding, but was denied the chance of seconds by Autumn invoking "guests first". She was glad when she was allowed to leave the table to listen to Chelsea's away match against Bournemouth, while the three adults had coffee. Unfortunately, with the game sandwiched between two European Cup matches, Chelsea made heavy weather of it, with none of the swagger from the win against Norwich.
"Well," Autumn said a short while later, "I'd best be off. My train back to Canterlot leaves in less than an hour."
At that moment, on the south coast of England, Christian Pulisic received the ball from Kanté, wriggled into the box, and fired a low shot into the net to put Chelsea in front.
"YES!" exclaimed Dinky, as Juliette Ferrington announced the goal on BBC Radio Equestria.
"I heard that!" Autumn exclaimed from downstairs. Dinky ignored her and continued to chant Pulisic's name.
Chelsea slogged through the rest of the match to grind out a 1-0 win, but they bowed out of the Champions League in a 0-0 draw in the second leg. To make matters worse, their FA Cup hopes then ended in the semis as Roberto Firmino scored the only goal of the game inside 50 seconds.
The following Wednesday, Dinky found herself having to watch Chelsea's next game surrounded by Newcastle fans, who didn't shy away from making their pleasure known when Jonjo Shelvey opened the scoring from 25 yards after 3 minutes. Chelsea responded by piling on the pressure, and got their reward in the 26th minute when Abraham latched onto a long ball and sent a shot rocketing into the net from the edge of the box.
The Blues proceeded to dominate the game, but were let down as their wingers underperformed. Sancho was replaced by Hudson-Odoi at half time, before Giroud replaced Pulisic as Chelsea went with two up top. The latter substitution paid off with ten minutes left, as Giroud headed a free kick to Kanté, who headed the ball into the net. Newcastle couldn't respond, and Chelsea closed out a win. They would drop just two points in their last 6 games - a 2-2 draw at home to Southampton - as they comfortably finished in 3rd and nearly beat Liverpool to 2nd. Tammy Abraham was named PFA Young Player of the Year, and he also jointly won the Golden Boot with Sergio Agüero. The only downside was that Liverpool won both the FA Cup and the Champions League.
Shortly after the Champions League Final, Dinky and Blue Day had decided to take advantage of a sunny bank holiday to have a picnic. Several of the foals at school had teased them about being an item, but they were just friends. They'd chosen a spot overlooking the railway lines out of Coltsborough, watching the trains headed to and from the station and goods yard, whilst they ate their food and talked football.
"...Spencer has said that he is delighted to see both Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham in England's Euro 2020 squad." the announcer on Blue Day's radio was saying.
Dinky watched as a "Britannia" steamed past with an express freight train. With a pang, she noticed that the first six wagons behind the engine were cider tankers from Sweet Apple Acres, followed by three conflats loaded with Barnyard Bargains containers.
"Transfer news now, and Chelsea and Tottenham are rumoured to be interested in signing Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez. Chelsea are also reportedly looking into signing Timo Werner from RB Leipzig…"
"Who would you go for?" Blue Day asked.
"Don't know," Dinky answered, "How about you?"
"Martinez is supposed to be a better finisher," Blue Day said, "But Werner is a good finisher himself, has explosive pace and is more affordable."
Dinky's attention was brought to the song which was now playing on the radio.
"...all I wanted was some way out,
Every evening I'd slip into town,
Stand around by the caution light,
And watch the big trucks rolling by,
To me it was a beautiful sight,
Big wheels in the moonlight…"
A shrill whistle briefly caught her attention as a Merchant Navy accelerated away from the town at the head of the "Gourmet", the lunchtime Pullman service to Canterlot.
"...and I want to see the world before I die,
Now I know that there's a peace I'll never find,
As those big old wheels keep rolling through my mind..."
A/N: In this fic, Equestria's railways are based on British Railways in the late 1950s/early 1960s.
Autumn's remark about breaking the wall down? That's the head of the Foal Protection Agency casually making a joke about the Heysel Stadium Disaster.
Juliette Ferrington is another BBC commentator, often reporting on Premier League matches during Final Score.
A Britannia, or a Standard Class 7, was a type of locomotive designed by Robin Riddles for fast passenger and freight, whilst the "Merchant Navies" were designed by Oliver Bulleid for express passenger services. See here: wikipedia/commons/7/7a/70032_Lord_Tennyson_Manchester_ and here: Trains/Former-Southern-Railway-Lines/i-jTgvNnM/0/b01055bd/L/GMP_Slide1336_35029_Basingstoke_ for examples. The song playing on the radio is "Big Wheels in the Moonlight" by Dan Seals.