The engines present at the Dieselworks were in stunned silence. There she was, the engine that they all feared and hoped to never meet, and she was crying. This was not what they expected.
Daniella knew all too well that engines that were in bad shape like Dante was usually don't recover. Still, she wasn't ready to give up on him. As the mechanics did everything they could for him, Daniella stayed by his side, ignoring the stares from the others as she continually encouraged him.
Finally, after several tense hours, Dante stopped choking and gasping. Exhausted from the ordeal, he soon fell asleep.
As the others were far too busy staring at Daniella, no one noticed that Diesel 10 had returned, and had been sitting quietly at the entrance to the main shed for quite some time. He had overheard the workmen talking about how Dante had been treated, and he was by no means happy. Finally, Daniella spotted him, and let out a gasp.
"Yes, Dani, it's me," Diesel 10 spoke, and all eyes turned to him.
"You know her?!" Dart exclaimed.
"Of course I know her! She's my sister!" Diesel 10 blurted out, and the other diesels gasped.
Daniella let out a sigh. "I'm not a psycho-murdering monster. That much should be obvious by now."
Diesel 10, however, grinded the jaws of his claw together, seemingly irritated by something. "I'll be back. You stay here and keep an eye on Dante," he said, before leaving.
By now, it was nighttime, and all the engines at Tidmouth sheds were sleeping peacefully. That is, until they were rudely awakened by a loud, blaring horn. The steam engines all woke with a start, and saw an angry Diesel 10 sitting on the turntable, clanking his claw and glaring daggers at them. Before any of them had a chance to say anything, Diesel 10 let into them.
"I have had enough! I'll have you know that engine you've been relentlessly picking on is my cousin, and because of the way he's been treated, HE NEARLY DIED!" Diesel 10 shouted.
The steam engines cringed. They hadn't seen Diesel 10 this angry in a very long time, and everyone was well aware of his bad temper.
"Diesel 10's cousin?!" Gordon said, unable to hide the disgust in his voice.
"Isn't that just what we all needed! Another steam-hating diesel! And a stupid one at that!" James scoffed.
Diesel 10 growled threateningly at them. "You wonder why I despise you blated teapots?! That should be bloody obvious! You're all a bunch of narrow-minded, ignorant, racist, judgmental pricks!" he snapped.
The engines at Tidmouth gasped. They had been expecting Diesel 10 to tell them they were outdated and should all be replaced, not this.
"You lot are the most vile, disgusting, bunch of utterly heartless, prejudiced hypocrites!" Diesel 10 spat, "I've seen it too many times to count! A much hated steam engine gets scrapped, and the others all mourn! But if a reviled diesel meets the same fate, your kind rejoices!" He said venomously.
The steam engines were in stunned silence, none of them dared interrupt Diesel 10's angry rant. Though many of them didn't want to admit it, he had a point.
"If a diesel sets a wheel out of line here, you never forgive them! No matter what they do to change, to improve their behavior, you lot hold it against them! Forever! Yet you'll happily forgive steam engines that behave in ways far worse than most of us would dare!" Diesel 10 paused for a second, clanking his claw in anger. "The way you treat those who are different than you disgusts me! And yet you always get all the glory! Everyone loves you," he said caustically, "Despite the fact you're a bunch of horrid, heartless, monsters who only care about yourselves! Thinking you're the center of the universe and such! Acting like the only way to be a proper engine is to be a steam engine!" Diesel 10 spat angrily. "You rusty old kettles had better treat my cousin decently, and if you're incapable of that, which most of you are, you leave him well enough alone! Or else you'll have Pinchy to answer to!" Diesel 10 clanked his claw threateningly before reversing off of the turntable, glaring daggers at the steam engines until he was out of sight.
After a long moment of stunned silence, Edward spoke. "I know a couple of you probably won't like this," he said, casting glances at James and Gordon, "but Diesel 10…he has a point. He's not completely right, not all steam engines are like that…but think about it, look how we tend to behave upon meeting diesels," he said.
"Pah! That's because they're dirty, devious—" James started.
"James!" Emily interrupted. "Not all of them are like that, as a matter of fact…most aren't. Look how many nice diesels are on Sodor. There's only four who act devious, and even then, they aren't that way all the time,"
Of course, once the Fat Controller heard that some of his engines were still picking on the newcomer, he was more than cross. Bill and Ben got quite the lecture, and were not allowed to leave the china clay pits for three weeks. James now had to pull trucks and work at the smelters for an extra week, and he was not allowed to go to the wash down until his punishment was over.
At the Dieselworks, after Diesel 10 had stormed back in and rather noisily returned to his shed, Diesel stayed outside, looking guilty. He remembered how he had treated Dante that day, and he felt terrible. Granted, he had been having quite a rough day when Dante had bumped into him, but he knew that he shouldn't have lashed out like he had.
Diesel headed to the quarry, deciding to sleep there. He told himself that it was because Daniella was present, and if she found out about that…he didn't want to know what she would do to him. Yet, there was another reason; one that he didn't want to admit, even to himself. He was afraid that Dante would never forgive him, and that he had unwittingly made another enemy due to his big mouth.