Lily steamed off to Kirk Ronan, deep in her thoughts.

"It wasn't my fault, it wasn't my fault," she said to herself.

"What wasn't your fault?" asked her driver.

"N-N-Nothing," stammered Lily.

"Ok…" her driver was getting suspicious, but said nothing more. Upon arrival at Kirk Ronan, she pulled into the engine shed, which was empty. The crew got out and walked up to her front.

"I don't know why you'd want us to take you here," said the driver, "but I wish you well. Goodnight, dear."

And with that, the crew left. Lily was all alone, thinking about what had happened to Emily.

"I-It was an accident…I didn't make her…"

"Didnae mak' wha dae whit?" asked an unfamiliar voice. Lily was taken by surprise

"Who's there?!" she shrieked.

"I dinnae ken whit ye're sae gormless aboot," chuckled the voice. "Ah've been staunin' neist tae ye since ye cam' in here."

Lily looked to her left, and saw a small green box-shaped tank engine with four wheels and no cab.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Bless me, wee engine, 'fore ye go askin' someone their name, why dinna ye tell 'em yer ain first?" the engine chuckled.

"Don't know when you became my mother," huffed Lily.

"Weel, ma name is Neil. Ah've bided on this island since the eighteen sixties. Noo 'at Ah've tauld ma name, tell me yers, lassie."

"I'm Lily. A modern express engine from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway."

"Than why hae ye cam doon here, Lily? Surely, a big modern engine like yersel wad raither spen the nicht at Vicarstown instead o' a laigh, run-doon branch line shed sic as this yin, lassie."

"I…I just felt like it!" snapped Lily.

"I dinnae believe ye: it's clear ye huv somethin' on yer mind, I kin see it in yer een," said Neil.

"Well what would you know?! You're a small boxy engine! You aren't useful for anything!"

"Wee, aye, but nae unworthy: I dae plenty o' wark oan this railway. My main job is tae tak' slate frae Crovans Gate aw the way doon til haur."

"You're kidding me, right?" Lily asked. "There's no way you have enough coal and water to make such a journey!"

"Size isnae awthin, lassie," said Neil. "After a', ye'd dae damage tae the raills o' a wee branch line like the yin that gan tae Elsbridge: thae raills and briges wadnae be able tae haud yer weight. A wee engine like masel could cross thae easy wi' nae bother."

"I'm tired," said Lily with a yawn. "I'm going to sleep, don't disturb me anymore."

And with that, she shut her eyes and went to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, Neil was nowhere to be seen.

"Some imagination I've got," she said. Her crew soon arrived and started preparing her for the day. As she sat there raising up steam, she was still deep in thought. The Harbourmaster came up to her.

"Some empty trucks are needed at Crovan's Gate," he said. "Since you're the only engine I see here, you'll take them."

Lily didn't say anything. She didn't grumble, she didn't complain, she just silently buffered up to the trucks. Her crew found this odd.

"You're awfully quiet today," her driver remarked. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine, everything's fine," said Lily.

"If you say so," said the driver. Lily didn't reply: she just steamed off when the guard blew his whistle.

This didn't change throughout the whole journey, and it seemed to be affecting her: she was running poorly and not making as much steam. The driver stopped at Kellsthorpe Road in an attempt to build more, but Lily didn't seem to be trying.

"Come on, Lily!" encouraged her driver. "I know you can make more steam!""

"I…I…"

"What's wrong girl?" asked the fireman.

"Nothing, nothing at all, I'm fine."

"Rubbish! You've been steaming poorly, more so than usual. That obviously means…"

"I TOLD YOU I'M FINE!"

Suddenly, her steam-pressure rose up and her safety valve blew off!

"Ah, there we go," said the driver. "That's more like it."

Lily set off once more.

As she approached Crovan's Gate, she heard Neil's voice once more.

"If I'm hearing voices that aren't there when I'm awake," she said to herself, "I need to get my smokebox examined."

"I wouldn't say you didn't try, Neil," said Skarloey. Lily's eyes widened when she heard this. She braked to a halt, and looked to her left. There, standing on the standard gauge transfer sidings talking to Skarloey, was Neil!

"N-N-NEIL?!"

"Ah, hullo there, Lily. Sa lovely tae see ye again."

"But..how are you…I thought…"

"I wis a fleech o' yer ain heid?" laughed Neil.

"Well, uh…yes."

"Not really surprised," said Skarloey. "Neil is rather unusual-looking, it's more common than you think."

"You know him?"

"Neil was the engine who brought me here when I first arrived in 1864," Skarloey answered. "Kirk Ronan didn't have cranes back then, so I was unloaded using the derricks of the ship that brought me from Whitehaven, the P.S. Cumberland Road."

"Wee Skarloey didnae hae a cab back in those days either, cabs werenae aw that common back then."

"So why don't you have a cab?" asked Lily.

"Nae need fur yin, pure an' simple," answered Neil. For some reason, Lily couldn't help but feel intrigued by this old engine. Normally, she disliked the sight of engines older and more ancient than her, but Neil…she couldn't explain it, but something about him was captivating!

"Now that you know Neil is real," said Skarloey, "it's time to ask the obvious question: what made you decide to spend the night at Kirk Ronan instead of Vicarstown?"

Lily hesitated, trying to think of an excuse.

"Well, I, uh…extra shipments of…war things, I was called in to shunt them."

"Surely," said Skarloey, "they could've spared Thomas or Edward to come down and do that job: big modern engines like you aren't built for shunting."

Lily blushed: she had told Skarloey that the previous year. To hear Skarloey throw her words back at her…it was rather unnerving.

"Well..what do you know?! All you do is shunt!"

"Not when I have no steam," Skarloey replied. "Such as right now: Rheneas is taking a turn today."

"Aye, he's richt, Lillie: nae ingine can be useful withoot a fire in their firebox," said Neil.

"Driver, what's my next job?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure," said her driver. "I'll leave you with these two and find out."

He parked Lily's trucks in the exchange siding, moved her where Neil was previously, then left her to talk to the Yardmaster. Neil pulled up in front of her once she was in his previous position.

"While we wait fer yer crew tae come back, let's hae mair o' a gab," he said. Lily rolled her eyes, but Neil took no notice. "I a'ready telt ye how lang ah'v been here, bit whit aboot ye? How lang hae ye been oan Sodor?"

"Since last year," Lily answered. "I was bought by the NWR around November."

"Hoo did ye fin' life oan yer auld railway, Lily?" asked Neil. Lily hesitated, seemingly unwilling to answer. "Ye must be a braw steemer if yer owners hae decidit tae send ye here. The Fuistie Director only brings in engines wi' grand performances, an' sends lazy yins awa."

"Well, yes, I'm a great steamer," said Lily slowly. Neil and Skarloey looked at each other: they clearly noticed this.

"That's definitely the sign of somebody who has had issues," said Skarloey to Neil, making sure it was loud enough for Lily to overhear.

"I don't have issues! Just because I was subject to a number of modifications to improve steaming, including enlarged blast pipes and an air duct running to the front and rear of the ashpan in order to improve combustion doesn't mean I have issues!"

"AHA!" Skarloey called out. "You do have problems: poor steaming and sluggish running."

"Well, what do you know?!" snapped Lily. "You didn't live where I did, being bullied by better-steaming engines! I had to learn to stand up for myself back home on the Lanky, and here! If anybody sees me as weak, they'll all bully me again!"

Lily began breathing heavily.

"Sae that's it, yer the way ye are because yer auld workmates didna treat ye weel at aw. Weel, ma dear Lily, lemme tell ye this: if ye keep actin' rude and horrid, and ne'er own up tae yer sins, ye're nae better than thae engines."

Lily didn't say anything: she began to ponder Neil's words.

"I ken whit it's like tae be uncofident: Ah used tae hae twa brithers, but baith hae syne been scrapped. Ah wis feart the same wid happen tae me. Luckily, the Fat Director saw yaise fir me and whan the North Western wis formed, he allowed me tae keep daein slate rins tae Kirk Ronan. There's nae need tae hide yer uncofidence here: honesty is the best wey tae get roon in life."

Again, Lily didn't say anything: she began to ponder Neil's words and slowly started to feel guilty.

Her driver seemed to be gone for a long time. When he finally returned, he had news for Lily.

"Sir Topham Hatt needs you to pull a special train from Vicarstown," he told her.

"No sir, I need to speak with him and the other engines directly," said Lily. Neil moved out of her way and Lily steamed off. As she did so, he and Skarloey looked at each other, and grinned.

At Vicarstown, she made a special request to the Fat Director, who agreed to it. The rest of the day was rather uneventful, Lily rehearsing in her mind what she would say when she got back to the sheds.

When night fell, she went onto the turntable, facing the other engines and the Fat Director.

"Well Lily, you brought us all here," said the Fat Director. "Now then, what did you want to say."

Lily took a deep breath, and told them everything: she told them about the problems with steaming her class had, how the other engines on the Lanky treated her and her siblings because of it. She even confessed to being the one who caused Emily to derail.

"I didn't come here so you guys could forgive me," she finished. "But I'm tired of living here in lies. I'm sorry."

The others stared in amazement! Did Lily just say she was sorry?!

"Lily, what brought this on?" Edward asked.

"A green cabless tank engine named Neil," Lily answered. "He talked to me and helped me realise what I did was no better than those other engines." She began to cry.

"I don't blame you," said the Fat Director. "I can't say I'm happy you caused Emily's derailment, but I'm proud that you owned up to being the mastermind. It seems Edward and I were right: you did have insecurities."

"Lily, I forgive you," said Edward with a smile.

"M-M-Me too," stuttered Thomas.

"You do?!" Lily asked.

"Well, you did admit to being behind Emily's derailment," Edward said. "I don't think we can expect you to change who you are, but it would be nice if you could stop talking about being more modern."

"I forgive you too," said Luci. Lily slowly smiled.

"Thank you, I promise," she said, and turned to the Fat Director. "What's the next goods train going out? I'd like to take it."

From then on, Lily slowly started to change. She still hates goods trains, and is still a jerk, but she stopped blaming others for her problems and no longer talks about being more modern. Lily even stopped going on strike whenever she had to take a goods train, and also became much kinder as the years went on. While this is an improvement, I have a feeling she won't fully lose her mean streak. Do you?