Thomas was not in the most cheerful mood. After he had been teasing Duck quite badly for having some mishaps between food and his driver and firemen, Thomas got a taste of his own teasing when his crew tried cooking bacon in his firebox, only for him to sneeze up the bacon and end up with a rather greasy steamed ham on his nose. Of course, Duck and Emily found it rather funny and said it served Thomas right after he had been so cheeky with Duck. At least Thomas had once again learned not to be so cheeky. But as it would turn out, there was a little food-related trouble in for Emily too.
Two days after Thomas' little incident with those steamed hams, he woke up at Tidmouth Sheds to the sound of giggling. He looked and could see Emily giggling quietly to herself. Thomas felt like he knew why, but still asked.
"What's so funny?"
"You are, Thomas," Emily teased. "All those steamed hams on your smokebox, and on your nose!"
"It's not funny, Emily!" Thomas huffed. "I didn't ask my driver or fireman to cook that bacon in my firebox!"
"If you didn't get so huffed up, your firebox probably wouldn't have burned that bacon…but thank you for giving Duck and I a good laugh," Emily said with a smirk.
Thomas turned away with a frown. But when the Fat Controller arrived, Emily stopped laughing and Thomas looked at him too.
"Thomas, you must collect Annie and Clarabel for passengers throughout this morning," he said. "This afternoon, you have another goods train. And no more steamed hams," he added specifically.
"Yes, sir," Thomas said meekly. Then the Fat Controller turned to the emerald engine.
"Emily, I have a rather…ahem…sweet job for you, pardon me for saying. You must collect a load of chocolate syrup from Mr. Jolly's Chocolate Factory. Shop owners all across the island are most eager to have it on their shelves for everyone to enjoy."
"Chocolate? Very lovely, sir. Glad to have a sweet job," said Emily. And she set off on her way, giving Thomas a playfully teasing smirk. But Thomas didn't smile back, still embarrassed and unhappy with his experience with the bacon as he set off too.
"I truly am sorry, though, Duck," he thought to himself. "Now I know what cooking food can be like…"
Soon, Emily arrived at the factory and took a moment to look at it, remembering the two stories it had to tell. Once, not long before she came to Sodor, Percy had wanted a washdown, but as there was a shortage of water at the time, only one engine could be washed per day. After being covered in coal dust and road dust from the Troublesome Trucks and Harold, Percy managed to find a clean job of delivering sugar to this factory, only to slide along greasy rails and crash right through the factory, getting absolutely covered in chocolate.
"A Chocolate Engine," Emily thought to herself. "Could you imagine such a thing? My poor Percy…"
And the other story this factory had to tell was during an earlier heatwave than the one Emily had to face, when Thomas was kept busy preparing ingredients for more ice cream for the children at the beach. When his truck was loaded with cocoa power, Thomas tried to set off, but with the trucks' brakes unable to come off, the coupling broke and the powder sprayed everywhere.
"Too hot for Thomas," Emily thought to herself as she began to laugh. "And certainly not as funny as those steamed hams!"
"Emily," said her driver. "Take a look. Here's our sweet delivery."
Emily focused again and looked. There were three trucks and a brakevan. Each truck had a few large barrels, each labelled, "Mr. Jolly's Finest Chocolate Syrup." Emily happily coupled to her train and was ready to go.
"Chocolate Express coming through!" she whistled jokingly as she set off with her load.
As she huffed merrily along the line with her chocolate load, Emily felt quite happy. She knew how much everyone loved chocolate. And of course, she saw people sharing it during every Valentine's Day she could remember. But even now, she still couldn't forget about how funny she found it to see Thomas covered in bacon after he was too cheeky to Duck. She began to laugh quietly again as she approached each and every station and delivered some of the chocolate.
"Stay focused, Emily," her driver would say. "We don't want to have an accident ourselves with this chocolate."
"I know, sir," said Emily. "It was just such a hoot to see Thomas with those steamed hams!"
Emily continued on her way, delivering chocolate wherever she had to and was making good time. But as she kept on with her job, she still could not shake those steamed hams out of her mind, keeping her laughs going. Before she knew it, almost all the chocolate had been delivered. Now there was just one barrel left.
"We should be a little careful, Emily," said her driver. "That barrel could roll around in the truck."
"No worries. It's safe enough…not like Thomas' bacon!" Emily laughed.
"Come on now, Emily," said her driver. "A schedule is a schedule."
Emily set off once again with the last barrel of chocolate syrup. She tried her best to stay focused and be careful. But every time she laughed for a few seconds, she unknowingly gained a little speed, making the barrel roll left and right, and bump about a little in the truck.
A bit further down, close to a junction, David was walking along the road beside the line. He had heard about the chocolate deliveries and was eager to get some himself. Then he suddenly heard a whistle and a laugh.
"Emily?" he called. Then he could see her hurrying along. "Emily, look out!"
Emily was so busy chuckling to herself about Thomas, that she didn't notice that the points suddenly jammed, and she swerved off the Main Line, into a siding, and just ahead of her was the signal box. She looked up again was suddenly frightened.
"Oh, no! Oh, no!" she cried, shutting her eyes. "Agh!"
Emily braked hard while David came closer to the line, watching nervously. Then she crashed into the buffers with a hard bang, and the barrel bounced out of the truck.
"You're geniuses!" David declared with relief.
But even as he said that, the barrel sailed through the air and hit the signal box wall. The lid broke off as the barrel bounced off the wall, chocolate syrup shot into the air, and plopped down all over Emily. SPLOSH!
"…Sticky geniuses!" David corrected before he suddenly gaped. "Oh…MY! Emily, my goodness gracious!" He ran down toward her, climbed onto her running plate, trailed his finger along her cheek and took a taste.
Something buzzed inside David, he popped his eyes, jumped down, and smiling from ear to ear, he yelled, "WHAT IS THAT?!"
Emily opened her now gooey eyelids. "Sugar and Fudge, by Sodor!" she bubbled thickly. "I have never...NEVER been this messy!"
Emily the beautiful emerald angel was covered from smokebox to safety valve, in warm, sticky, gooey chocolate syrup! And her face felt just the same. Never in her life did Emily think something like this would happen to her…then suddenly, Emily felt an absolutely amazing taste in her mouth. She had never tasted chocolate before in her life. Aside from the times she and Thomas would kiss to their deepest, the only other two flavours that had touched her tongue were the strawberry jam when she had her blue undercoat, and the fish from her accident with the Flying Kipper. And what she tasted now was so tremendously delicious for a steam engine to experience. She forgot all about being messy for just a moment and immediately fell in love with the amazingly sweet, unequaled taste of chocolate.
"Ohh…oh…my…goodness! Mmm! Mmm, this is such a lovely taste!" she exclaimed happily as she licked her chocolatey lips every which way, feeling more of the outstanding, delicious taste work its magic in her mouth. Emily loved it so much, she began smacking her lips. "Oh-ho-ho-ho…Yummy!"
And almost that quickly, the Fat Controller arrived. Emily stopped endorsing in the chocolate flavour and gasped nervously as she remembered how messy she was, and the mistake of laughing too much. The Fat Controller stepped out of his car, and when he saw Emily, he stopped dead in his tracks. He seemed to freeze right where he was for almost a minute. Then he spoke.
"Emily, you are not to blame for the points failure, but I DO NOT run the chocolate factory."
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," she said, in a rather sticky voice as chocolate oozed out of her mouth and dripped from her lips.
"Oh, well," said her driver. "At least we delivered all the rest of the chocolate." And he told the Fat Controller what had happened.
"I see. Well, Emily, you're an absolute mess," said the Fat Controller. "You look like a sundae, and need a serious washdown. Hopefully, this will be a lesson for you not to get distracted by a few steamed hams!"
"I can vouch for my father's engine, Sir Topham," David inquired. "It was an honest mistake, and all the rest of the chocolate was delivered after all."
"Hmm. Good points, David. We all have accidents. Off you go now, Emily," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," said Emily from beneath the chocolate. After the Fat Controller left, Emily's eyes fell upon David again.
"What are you so happy about, David?" she asked shamefully. "I'm absolutely covered!"
David climbed aboard with a big smile. "Thomas would love to see this!" he chimed.
Luckily, Emily's running boards had protected her wheels from being covered in the syrup, so she could still huff and puff. She sighed sadly as she huffed on her way down the line. She was glad she didn't pass any engines…
As evening just began to fall, Thomas was resting alone in the yards. After his day's work, by now, he felt very sorry for teasing Duck so much. He also began to understand what it must have felt like to tease Duck after being laughed at by Emily. Then Thomas suddenly heard her whistle. He looked up and almost greeted her, but when he saw her current state, his voice stuck in his boiler in a way it never did before. There, huffing toward him was Emily, his beautiful emerald angel, now covered in chocolate syrup! Thomas' eyes popped and his mouth gaped very wide. After five minutes, he finally found his voice.
"Emily…my…my emerald angel! What on Sodor has ever happened to you?!" he blurted suddenly.
"Oh dear! Oh dear, Thomas!" she moaned. "I'm such a mess! I was making my delivery of chocolate syrup from the factory…but was still thinking about your bacon incident…then I hit the buffers after the points failed. The last chocolate barrel flew out and hit the signal box…and look at me! I've never been so messy…so sticky and gooey! I'm a Chocolate Emerald now! I know you'll laugh at me now…I almost deserve it after laughing at you two days ago…"
But Thomas didn't open his gob and laugh like he did with Duck. He was worried for Emily.
"Oh, my dear, Emily," he said gently. "Maybe being laughed at served me right for making fun of Duck. But you know I would never laugh at you. Never. I'm sorry for being cheeky to Duck."
"And I'm sorry for laughing at you, Thomas," said Emily. "Please…can you help me? I feel so silly and so messy."
Thomas looked at Emily again, and suddenly felt his boiler buzz with a rather interesting, romantic…and delectable idea. His heart began racing very fast.
"Help you? Not just help…You…you look good enough to eat!" Thomas hooted.
Emily's embarrassed expression suddenly changed to flattery. "W…what do you mean?" she asked, slowly smiling.
"Hmm…There is something very attractive about you covered in chocolate," admitted Thomas. "You're gonna need quite a washdown…but before that…it would give me great, utmost pleasure to oblige you…and do some of the cleaning…myself."
"Thomas?" asked Emily, feeling her heart begin to race a little too.
"It's only fitting for the situation," David put in as he stepped out of Emily's cab and looked her again. "It is said that chocolate has a special property that triggers the release of endorphins. Gives one the feeling of being in love."
"You don't say," Emily said smoothly, looking in David's direction.
"I can see where this is going. Nothing for me to see here," he smiled sheepishly, and walked quickly away, leaving the two engines in peace.
"Your Chocolate Emerald is served, Tommy. Come get me," Emily whispered sweetly as little trails of chocolate syrup trickled down her face.
Thomas very slowly came closer to Emily, his eyes glued to her chocolate-covered form.
"You…you look so delicious…E-Emily…" he whispered.
He very softly buffered up, opened his mouth, and then, as slowly as he could, he licked her cheek, tasting the chocolate syrup and licking some of it off her face. Such a lovely sweet taste slowly spread over his tongue, and such a peacefully excited whimper came from Emily's chocolate lips.
"Ohh…Cinders and Ashes…E-Emily…" Thomas gasped. "I have never tasted chocolate before in my entire life…"
"Neither have I, Thomas," Emily blushed under the chocolate and licked her lips. "Oh…Yummy…I love it so much…"
"Oh, Emily," Thomas whispered. "Please let me continue to…eat you up…" he finished jokingly and innocently.
Emily smiled widely as Thomas turned to her other cheek and licked slowly. This time, he lapped up the chocolate and felt Emily's lovely cheek. Her cheek's taste of peaches and strawberries and the chocolate syrup together made Thomas shudder very deeply and lick even more chocolate off her face, while Emily was shaking and giggling all the way.
"I love you, Emily…my Chocolate Emerald," Thomas whispered dreamily.
"I love you too, Thomas. Thank you for loving my taste," Emily whispered back.
"Mmm! So this…is chocolate!" Thomas declared as he licked more syrup off her chin.
"Hm-hm! Great, isn't it?" Emily bubbled as a little chocolate dripped off her lips.
Thomas giggled gleefully at her chocolate face and slowly began to suck on her chocolate cheeks, feeling the flavour burst wide open, and making Emily jump and squeal.
"By Jolly, by Sodor! You taste good, Emily!" Thomas whistled.
"Aww, T-Thomas…Your tasting me feels so good...please don't stop…" she whispered.
Thomas obeyed and kept sucking and licking her cheeks for several more minutes, humming with such harmony as the taste of Emily's cheek and the chocolate made his heart soar. He eventually stopped to rest, when he got a little surprise of his own.
Emily suddenly leaned in and kissed Thomas on both cheeks, as close as he could to his lips, leaving two chocolate kiss marks on his face.
"Look at you, Thomas!" she giggled. "A pair of chocolate kisses for you!"
"Oh, Emily," Thomas blushed as he licked his lips over her chocolate kiss marks.
Then he leaned in and suddenly took hold of her lips, kissing her as deeply as he could. As he did, Emily felt more chocolate syrup drip on her tongue. She brought her tongue in toward Thomas', letting them taste the chocolate together in their kiss. It could not be more deliciously harmonious for Thomas and Emily.
After a minute or two, they let go of each other's lips and finally took time to rest. Thomas still smiled from buffer to buffer as a little more chocolate syrup trickled down Emily's cheeks, covering them a little again.
"That was delicious, Emily!" Thomas beamed.
"He-he! Thank you, Thomas," Emily smiled. "I never thought this would happen to me…and be so delectable for both of us!"
For a few minutes, they gazed at each other, still feeling a chocolatey taste in their mouths, until…
"Ahem," said a familiar voice. Both engines looked and saw the Fat Controller. "Come now, Emily. I love an iced bun with a spot of tea as much as anyone does, but you really must get a serious wash now."
By this time, Emily agreed. "Yes, sir. I wouldn't want to become the Emerald Chocolate Crunch after all."
The Fat Controller chuckled. "Of course not, Emily."
So Thomas and Emily huffed straight to the washdown. There, Thomas watched as Emily was hosed, sprayed, scrubbed, brushed and polished. He felt a little disappointed to see all that delectable chocolate slide off of Emily, and it took quite a while to clear away all the chocolate, but after what felt like a rather long time, when the washing was all done, Emily was perfectly emerald and clean again.
"Now, there's my beautiful emerald angel," Thomas beamed happily.
"Look at me, Thomas! I'm emerald again!" Emily cheered happily as she kissed Thomas' lips again.
"I'll never forget this day!" Thomas cheered back. "See you at the sheds, Emily!" And Thomas set off, laughing very happily.
Emily was soon dried off and she set off down the line too, feeling much better. But when she approached Ffarquhar, she stopped when she saw David standing there, with a little jar of chocolate syrup he had managed to buy from a shop in town.
Emily was perfectly clean, but David had one last plan for the Chocolate Emerald that she was a while ago. He came up to Emily with a wink, and dipped a little brush into the chocolate jar…
That night at Tidmouth Sheds, all the engines were asleep, when Emily came onto the turntable, wearing a little feature on her face, and turned to Thomas. She slowly approached him and touched his buffers, making him wake up.
"Have a look Thomas…" she whispered. "Do you like it?"
Thomas looked closer and suddenly smiled. Emily had a chocolate blush on both her cheeks.
"David painted chocolate blushes on me, just for you," she whispered. She very gently pushed him inside his berth, making sure not to wake up the other engines.
"Oh, Emily. My beautiful chocolate emerald angel," Thomas whispered as he licked the blush off her left cheek, gave her a kiss, then licked the right blush off and kissed her there too.
"I love you so much, Emily," he whispered. "Today was such a special one for you and me."
"I love you too, Thomas. So much, my handsome cobalt star," Emily smiled as she gave him a kiss too. And with that, they both fell asleep with a perfect smile together.
I know this definitely one of our most weird and outlandish stories, even by my standards, but it's just something that I thought would be really interesting to try. Will we do something like this again? Maybe at least once more. Anyway, that's gonna be it in terms of stories for the next two or so weeks, so until next time, leave your reviews and we'll see you all later.