A/N I saw Edward as a big player in this episode and because of how he's close to Thomas, he could reasonably comment on the tank engines' relationship towards each other. In my Thomasverse, his best friend before Percy was Edward. All I can say is somehow Edward found out everything. Imagine what you want that might be.

Hello, it's me, Edward. This is the story of when my fellow tender engines went on strike.

Sir Topham Hatt sat in his office listening to the noise outside. The passengers were angry. The stationmaster came in.

He told our controller, "There's trouble in the shed, sir. Henry was sulking. There's no train and the passengers are saying this is a bad railway."

"Indeed", said Sir Topham Hatt. "We cannot allow that."

He found Gordon, Henry and James looking very cross. However, I didn't mind the lack of a tank engine to be station pilot as much. I think James was following our friends because he's the same length, compared to me.

"Come along, Henry. It's time your train was ready," Sir Topham Hatt said.

"Henry's not going", said Gordon. "We won't shunt like common tank engines. That was Thomas's job. We are important tender engines. You fetch our coaches and we will pull them. Tender engines don't shunt.'

"We'll see about that, "Sir Topham Hatt said to my friends. "No engine on my railway's too important for small jobs."

And he hurried away to find me. I was told by my friends what happened before I arrived on the scene one night when we were talking in the shed.

As Sir Topham Hatt was on the way to finding me, The yard has never been the same since Thomas left to run his branch line, he thought sadly. I was shunting.

"Leave those freight cars please, Edward," said Sir Topham Hatt to me. "I want you to push coaches for me in the yard."

I said, "Thank you, sir. That will be a nice change." I liked shunting, but it was okay to leave the Troublesome Trucks.

He said, "That's a good engine. Off you go, then."

So, I found the coaches for the three engines and that day, the trains ran as usual. But next morning, I looked unhappy. Gordon came clanking past, hissing rudely. My fellow tender engines were bullying me about my willing-ness to shunt.

"Bless me!", said Sir Topham Hatt. "What a noise!"

"They all hiss me, sir", I answered, referring to my fellow tender engines. "They say tender engines don't shunt and last night they said I have black wheels. I haven't, have I, sir?" James, being my same length, was probably just following his friends. Gordon and Henry, I could understand as they're longer than the rest of us tender engines present at the time.

Sir Topham Hatt said assuringly, "No, Edward, you have nice blue ones and I'm proud of you. Tender engines do shunt, but all the same we do need another tank engine here."

I wondered what Thomas would think about a new tank engine. He helped James when he had that accident on his first day being an NWR engine, so I knew his desire to be Really Useful and his heart under that cheeky way of his. The new tank engine told me how it happened after he came to where I was, Sir Topham Hatt picking him.

He went to the workshop and they showed him all sorts of engines. At las,t he saw a smart little green engine with four wheels.

That's the one, he thought. Percy was told this and passed it to me, how Sir Topham Hatt chose him.

Sir Topham Hatt asked the little tank engine, "If I choose you, will you work hard?"

"Oh, sir yes sir," was the reply.

"That's a good engine. I'll call you Percy," Sir Topham Hatt said to his new tank engine.

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Percy said.

And Sir Topham Hatt brought Percy back to the yard.

"Edward," he called. "Here's Percy. Will you show him everything?" As I did so, Percy told me the story of how he became the new tank engine for the railway.

Percy soon learned what to do and we had a happy afternoon. Then Henry came by, hissing as usual.

Wheesh!, went Percy. It was loud. Henry jumped and ran back to the shed.

"How beautifully you wheeshed him!" I laughed. "I can't wheesh like that.

"Oh," said Percy. "That's nothing. You should hear them in the workshop. You have to wheesh loudly to make yourself heard."

Next morning, Thomas arrived.

"Sir Topham Hatt sent me. I expect he wants help," he said to me.

"Sh, sh here he comes," I replied.

Sir Topham Hatt said, "Well done, Thomas, you've been quick. Listen, Henry, Gordon and James are sulking. They say they won't shunt like common tank engines, so I have to shut them up and I want you both to run the line for a little while."

"Common tank engines, indeed," snorted Thomas. "We'll show them." I could tell my mentee was quite displeased by being referred to that way.

Sir Topham Hatt said, "And Percy will help, too."

"Oh, yes sir, please sir," answered Percy.

Thomas and I worked the main line, greeting each other as we passed by. Percy puffed along the branch line. Thomas was anxious about Annie and Clarabel, but both driver and conductor promised to take care of them. He also told me what he thought about not being the only tank engine anymore one time. He said it felt a bit like back on his old railway because that was the last time he had any fellow tank engines in his life. Now, I was his friend, as Henry and James were, but some things we couldn't understand. Like his bunker, which is a tank engine thing. There were fewer trains, but the passengers didn't mind. They knew the other three engines were having a lesson. Gordon, James and Henry were cold, lonely and miserable. They now wished they hadn't been so silly.

A/N I feel more comfortable using US terms in many cases, so I translate some, even with this kind of thing. This is a blend of the books and the show as a base, as I heard the books read on James A Williams YouTube and watched the TV version of this story. I had to justify Edward knowing how Percy came to NWR.