Chapter Text
Diesel woke up. With a smile. Another loop awaited him. He had no idea what he'd do, but he was so happy with the celebration that he didn't mind. Paxton waited for him outside the shed, as always.
'Hello, Diesel!' He greeted.
'Hello, Pax-!'
He stopped.
He gasped.
Did… did he really just hear that? That wasn't right. Every single loop, he was greeted by a cheery 'good morning'. Not a 'hello'!
'Paxton… w-what did you just say?' He asked.
He had to check. For the greeting to finally change could only mean one thing, but he refused to get excited.
'I said, hello Diesel!' Paxton said, as helpful as ever.
'Not… not good morning?'
Diesel was very aware of how crazy he must've sounded. He didn't care. He had to know for sure if his excitement and hope was not for nothing.
'Uh… no?' Paxton replied, highly confused.
'I, uh, seem to have a bit of morning smoke in the generator,' Diesel said. 'What happened yesterday?'
The two seconds it took for Paxton to answer the question were the longest two seconds of Diesel's life. And when that dopey little engine gave his answer…
'The big anniversary celebration, of course!' He said. 'You gave a big speech and everything!'
Diesel's jaw dropped. He had gone to sleep and woke up to the celebration being 'yesterday'. Not a thing that was going to happen. A thing that had already happened the day before, exactly as Diesel remembered it.
'The celebration was yesterday…' He murmured. 'Yesterday…'
It took a good minute for this to truly sink in. Yesterday. The celebration was on yesterday. And yesterday wasn't today. And yesterday could only happen if that day had a tomorrow which was today. This was a lot of confusing words for the simple concept of the next day.
And when it finally sunk in…
'I'M FREE!' He shouted as loudly as he could.
It was enough to make Paxton jump.
'… Free from what?' He asked.
'You wouldn't believe me if I told you!' Diesel said. 'Well, actually, you would. But there's no time to explain! I'M FREE!'
He chugged forward and left a very befuddled Paxton behind.
'I'M FINALLY FREE!' He shouted at the top of his 'lungs'.
He left the dieselworks with a spring in his wheel-turns. Den and Dart passed him by on his way out - on a different section than yesterday! - and both of them looked just as confused as Paxton was. If not more so.
'Uh… what does he mean by that?' Den asked.
'I have no clue,' Dart replied.
Diesel was so delighted that he didn't care what he looked like. He had finally seen tomorrow. The time loop was seemingly over. After living through the same day over a thousand times, he was finally free! How? Why? He didn't care! When he went down a quieter track on his way to Knapford, he looked around to make sure if there were any engines nearby. With no one else around…
'THANK YOU SO MUCH, LORD!' He said. 'Thank you for finally letting me be free! Did you trap me in that loop until I made the day perfect? If so, you're a very clever diesel indeed! And maybe even a little devious too. It certainly worked!'
He couldn't be certain if that was really what happened. The time loop had no explanation at all. For all he knew, it could've just been a very elaborate dream (though a lot of those self-scrapping attempts really did hurt). But the fact that it stopped when he perfected the day surely wasn't a coincidence. Oh well, he didn't really care who or what caused the loop or how or why. None of that mattered.
All that mattered was that he was finally free!
When he arrived at Knapford and saw all the engines in different places than he was used to, he almost fainted. He couldn't even see Rosie or Stanley anywhere - they must've gone back to Vicarstown and Great Waterton respectively. It was just Charlie and Stafford shunting through Knapford yards today.
'Hello, Stafford!' He said. 'Ooh, nice job shunting those coaches.'
'Oh, uh, thank you!' Stafford said, clearly not expecting a compliment from Diesel. 'I've been working hard all day.'
'Well, if you end up running out of batteries and need to be shunted back to the recharger, you let me know!'
Even outside of the loop, he found himself keeping that jovial and helpful attitude. There was no reason to ditch it. Not after he found out that cheering up other engines and helping them was a lot more fun than being a bully.
'And knowing your battery,' He said. 'I'm sure that won't take long.'
Albeit, he wasn't above a little bit of friendly teasing. Lighthearted jabs and occasional insults were just part of the Sodor way. Stafford wasn't offended. He made a face before laughing along. Hey, it was true. His battery was infamously ineffective at times.
'Hey, Diesel!' Charlie said. 'You seem like you're in a good mood, for once. Wanna hear my newest joke?'
Diesel was about to say no, but he decided against it. Now that he was free from that cursed time loop, he wanted to enjoy every second of this brand-new day to its fullest.
'Hmmm, alright,' He said. 'But just this once!'
'Great!' Charlie said, before clearing her throat. 'Hey Diesel, why did the chicken cross the railroad?'
'Uh, to get to the other side?'
'No. To visit the silly engine!'
Diesel blinked at her. Well, that joke made no sense. It didn't help that Charlie was clearly trying her best not to laugh.
'Okay, here's another one!' She said. 'Knock knock!'
Diesel was along for the ride at this point. A new day was a new day, he supposed, and he was still too ecstatic over escaping the loop to care anymore.
'Who's there?' He said, slightly concerned.
'The chicken!'
'The chi-?'
Halfway through asking the question, he got the joke. He must've been making a very funny face, because Charlie couldn't help laughing.
'Oh, you!' Diesel said, in a tone that may have been threatening… if he wasn't busy laughing too.
Diesel continued shunting trucks in Knapford yard for a little while. You'd think he would be sick of it by now, but the different engines going back and forth in different ways made it feel like a whole new place. Man, that loop had really messed with him. Now seeing Charlie moving a line of trucks instead of Rosie was enough to make a brand new experience. He soaked up every second of it.
Soon, he was shunting some express coaches back into a safe place when Gordon finished a run from Vicarstown. The big grand engine needed a long rest after all his hard work, and Diesel was glad to let him have it. Even if a small part of him still wanted to mess with him. Just a little.
He wasn't planning on having a conversation, but Gordon started one for him.
'Thank you, Diesel,' He said, earnestly.
That made Diesel stop. Even after a thousand loops, he had hardly heard that big engine be grateful for anything. It was something Gordon was terrible at admitting. And for something as simple as shunting his coaches? Then Diesel realised that was, obviously, not what Gordon was so grateful for.
'Eh, it was nothing,' Diesel said. 'I just did what any engine would do.'
'It wasn't nothing,' Gordon said. 'You stopped a crash. With how fast Henry and I were going, I… I'm sure that one of us would not have made it out. If Henry was lost in that crash, I…'
His voice trailed off. Diesel tried to ignore that uneasy feeling in his petrol. Even now, the words Gordon spoke at the crash site haunted him. Perhaps they always would.
'Henry, please, just say something…'
Diesel was fine with it staying as something he took to the scrapper's yard. He could live with it. After all, Henry was alive and well. He'd just seen the big guy leaving the station an hour ago! And it would've stayed that way, if it wasn't for one little thing.
'There's just one thing I have to know,' Gordon said. 'How on earth did you know the crash was going to happen?'
Diesel, in an instant, felt like he was being held at scrapping-point.
'Uh, I don't understand what you could mean-' He said.
'You know exactly what I'm talking about,' Gordon said, eyes narrowed. 'I know why you did it. I listened to your whole speech. But I need to know how you knew the crash was going to happen. There's no way anyone could've predicted it. And yet, you rushed into the scene knowing exactly what was going to happen. I have no reason to believe you caused it, let alone could even if you wanted to. So, tell me, how did you know?'
Well, he wasn't getting out of this now. And Gordon wasn't gullible like Paxton or Henry were; he wouldn't believe anything like 'prophetic dreams'. He sat there in silence, trying to come up with a reasonable lie.
Then he stopped.
And sighed.
'Okay, here's the deal,' He said. 'I'll tell you lot tonight, when you're all there at Tidmouth Sheds. It's something you all deserve to hear.'
Gordon groaned. 'What could your story possibly entail that requires such an audience?'
'A lot. A lot more than you could ever imagine.'
'Ugh, fine. If it wasn't for your performance last night, I'd assume that you were setting up an awful trick. But I shall give you the benefit of doubt. Don't waste it.'
Diesel spent the whole day simply appreciating what he had. And not just the fact that he was finally free of that cursed time loop. All the good he had done had carried over. The other engines, especially the steamies, were much nicer around him.
When Duck arrived briefly during a passenger run, he was actually sort of happy - yes, happy - to see Diesel. They couldn't talk long, but it was long enough.
'Thanks again for the help yesterday!' He said. 'If it wasn't for you, I might've been too exhausted to enjoy the celebration. You really helped us out there. And don't think I've forgotten all the chats we had.'
'Uh, you're welcome,' Diesel said, still surprised that Duck was talking to him. 'So, um, dumb question. Does this mean we're… friends now?'
Duck was silent for a few seconds too long.
'Well,' He said. 'I can't say that I can forgive you just yet for what you did to me…' He smiled. 'But yes, I think we might be.'
It left him in a great mood all day. All day, of course, until night fell upon Sodor and all the Tidmouth engines were gathering in the sheds. As always, the seven of them would be gossiping and chatting until it was time for the early-risers to get some shut-eye. Which meant that Diesel had to fulfil his promise to Gordon. Backing out of it wasn't an option. Not when dealing with a grumpy express engine.
So, he soon found himself on the turntable. Looking at all the engines who were staring at him, waiting for him to start talking and explain himself. He could tell that they only allowed this because of the deed he had done yesterday. Oh how he wished that he hadn't forgotten about the signal and didn't have to save Henry himself on that one particular loop. Then, he wouldn't need to try explaining himself.
'So!' He said. 'I'm sure you're wondering how I knew about the crash-'
'Yeah,' James said. 'We are. Don't get me wrong. We're grateful you stopped it. But still. How on earth did you know that was going to happen?'
'Okay, well, here I go. This story is going to sound ridiculous, and the only one here who's going to believe me at all is Henry, but I'll tell you anyway.'
A few engines glanced at Henry at the end of the shed, who looked a little confused as to why he was being singled out like this. With that, Diesel explained himself. He talked all about the time loop he had gotten stuck in, briefly mentioning something about trying to scrap himself before moving onto the actually important thing: the simple fact that the maddening time loop let him know the exact time and place the crash would happen.
'Of course,' He said. 'I'd usually try to get people to fix the signal instead. It wasn't easy because that stupid signal jammed right before the big crash happened. But this time, I, uh… got distracted with the Harwick line. So, I had to go and save him myself.'
Good thing he didn't need to explain the why, at least. By the time he was finished, he was met with the exact response he was expecting: six expressions that ranged from 'huh?' to 'you cannot honestly be expecting us to believe a word of that', and one absolutely horrified engine.
'You got stuck in a time loop?' Henry said. 'Oh, that's horrible!'
And now, there were six baffled expressions being aimed his way instead.
'Ya actually believe that?' Emily asked.
'You must be joking,' Gordon said. 'There's no way that you honestly believe a single word that he just said! Time loops, pah. I'd remember if I was caught in a time loop!'
'Of course I believe him!' Henry said. 'Why wouldn't I?'
'I dunno,' James said. 'Maybe because that was the most unbelievable thing I have ever heard!'
'Exactly! If Diesel was lying, he would've said something much more believable than that. But a time loop is such a ridiculous idea that it must be true!'
'I told you Henry was the only one who'd believe me,' Diesel said.
A few of the other steamies seemed to be buying Henry's logic. It had been the same sort of logic Paxton had used hundreds of loops ago. Diesel could be thankful for that at least. But some were not so easily convinced.
'This is absurd!' Gordon said. 'Time loops, ridiculous.'
'He did know about the crash,' Percy said. 'How else would he know about it?'
'I- He- Certainly not because of a time loop!'
Diesel let out a sigh. 'When you were pulling into Maron station with the express in the early afternoon, you were switched onto a siding by a clumsy signalman. You hit the buffers pretty hard. In fact, you hit the buffers so hard that when you tried to say 'oh the indignity' as usual, all you ended up saying was 'oh in thenity'.
Gordon's face went red. 'How do you know that?!'
'Because I saw it about ten times.'
Thomas couldn't get giggling under his breath. Gordon, realising that he had been beat, pouted and said nothing. Apparently, he was convinced. Maybe.
'And I was stuck in that time loop for a while,' Diesel said, looking down at the rails. 'At least a thousand times, I think. I saw a lot of things. Like Marion breaking another water pipe. Over and over again. But the worst thing that happened in that loop was, without any doubt… that big crash between Gordon and Henry.'
'Thank you again for stopping it,' Edward said. 'Sounds like you had plenty of time to.'
'Oh yeah! I'll have you know I managed to stop it more times than I didn't, once I learned about it. I… I didn't see it happen too many times, but I can remember it all so clearly. A jammed signal led to Gordon and Henry colliding at high speeds. I've never seen a pair of engines so dented before.'
Henry squirmed. So did most of the other engines. A crash between two very fast and very strong engines would be a crash like no other.
'That crash was the main thing I wanted to take care of,' Diesel said. 'No matter what, I tried to put a stop to it. Prevent it in any way I could.'
'But why?' Emily asked. 'Engines crash all the time. We're thankful ya did stop it, but it's not like it would've ruined everything. We're used ta it.'
Diesel winced. 'You don't understand. I had to stop it. Even if I didn't care about the celebration, I couldn't let the crash happen. I couldn't!'
'Why would you care so much about stopping it?' James demanded.
The frustrated diesel let out a long sigh. Well, he had been hoping he wouldn't have to mention that part of the crash, especially with Henry right there, but now he had no choice.
'The crash was horrific,' Diesel said. 'Worse than any crash you've ever seen. Gordon was dented like a boomerang.'
That image made the steamies cringe. Even Gordon couldn't hide the flash of terror that crossed his face. To a human, it was like having your spine bent out of shape.
'Of course,' Diesel said with an eye roll. 'All he did at first was get mad at Henry for crashing into him.'
Henry laughed. 'That certainly sounds like Gordon alright. So, what did I say in response?'
Diesel could feel his insides seizing at the question. He couldn't look at any of the steamies. He just couldn't. One by one, they all slowly realised what he might have been getting at.
'Come on, Diesel!' Thomas said. 'You can't say that Henry didn't say anything. He would've said something in response to Gordon blaming him for the accident.'
'You don't understand,' Diesel said. 'He couldn't have said anything. Because as soon as they collided, he… he…'
He couldn't finish the sentence. Not with all the Tidmouth engines before him. Luckily, he didn't need to. They all understood. Not that they wanted to.
'No…' Emily said. 'I-It can't be. There's no way that Henry…'
'That wouldn't happen,' James said. 'It just wouldn't!'
'Y-You mean to say that…' Henry said, voice wavering. 'T-That I… d-died?'
Diesel said nothing. All the engines were horrified, just as he expected. Even if it had only been one loop, he could still remember how heartbroken everyone was when they found out that day.
'I… I DIED?!' Henry shouted. 'That crash… it k-killed me?! I… I-I don't… I… I-I…'
Just as Diesel predicted, Henry began to huff and puff very quickly. If the other steamies weren't horrified before, they certainly were now.
'Henry, it's okay!' Edward said. 'You're still here with us. None of us can remember any of that, so it's like it never happened.'
'But if it wasn't for Diesel's time loop,' Henry said. 'I could've… I would've…'
'This can't be!' Gordon cried. 'There's… there's no way something like that happened. You must be lying. T-There's no way that Henry died in so many of those loops!' His breath shuddered. 'I must've done something to help him. Surely!'
'You couldn't,' Diesel said. 'He was already gone. But… I can still remember how you took it. After you blamed him for it, you realised that he wasn't talking back and… started begging for him to speak.'
Most of the steamies were quite surprised indeed. They were all so used to Gordon being a jerk to Henry that it was easy to forget that he really did love his green whale 'half-brother' deep down. Only Edward wasn't surprised at all.
'I… I-I can't believe it…' Gordon said, his breath speeding up too. 'If it wasn't for the time loop… i-if you didn't stop it… then Henry would be… he would be…'
Diesel gasped. He couldn't be certain, but he was sure he saw a tear glimmering in that express engine's eye. Hearing the distress in Gordon's voice during the loops he couldn't stop the crash taught him that the big guy really did care, but seeing him about to cry over it was still a mighty shock. Gordon looked over to the big green engine right next to him. It was a hard, long look, as if trying to see if Henry was really there.
'Oh, G-Gordon,' Henry said, looking like he was about to cry too. 'Don't c-cry. I'm… I'm alright. Diesel saved me.'
'I know he did,' Gordon said. 'You're standing right there. But, you died so many times…'
'Times that don't matter,' Emily said. 'Henry's still with us, and he doesn't remember gettin' into all those crashes. It isn't like this changes anythin' for us. So, it's okay. We're all okay.'
Gordon took a deep breath and gathered himself; he was very good at making himself appear 'dignified' again after an emotional display like that.
'Yes, you're right,' He said. 'Because of Diesel, that nasty crash never really happened. Henry's still here, and so am I. And Diesel… t-thank you so much for saving Henry. You'll never understand just how grateful I am.'
Huh, Diesel managed to get that big pompous steam-bag to say thanks to him in such an earnest manner. That was something he never thought was even possible.
'The time loop explains why you changed so much!' Thomas said. 'I thought it was weird that you went from grumbling about the anniversary one day and to giving a big speech the next, but that's only because you had to go through it a thousand times.'
'Who cares how long it really took?' Percy said. 'It looks like Diesel's a changed engine!'
'The real question is,' Edward said. 'Is this nicer, friendlier Diesel going to stick around?'
Diesel looked at all those steamies. All those steamies looked back at him. And he gave them all a soft, genuine smile.
'Yeah,' He said. 'I'm going to stick around.'
Diesel returned to the dieselworks after a hard day at work. Yep, this friendlier Diesel was definitely here to stay. It was set in stone the moment he received genuine gratitude from Gordon, of all engines. This was it, and how it was going to stay. It was impressive what getting caught in a seemingly-endless time loop would do to an engine.
As he settled in his shed, he couldn't help wondering how he was going to navigate brand new days. Seeing all the new things that day alone had been a shock to his systems. A good shock, though. Really, he was just thankful to be out of that cursed loop.
Even though he never figured out what had caused it and probably never would, he couldn't shake the feeling that it had been Lord's doing. A way for him to learn his lesson the hard way. And if so, it certainly worked.
He even explained the time loop to his fellow diesels. If the Tidmouth engines got to know, his 'roommates' oughta know it too.
'Um, what?' Den asked.
'What he means is,' Dart said. '… What?'
Paxton gasped. 'That sounds awful!'
Yep, the exact reactions he expected. He'd explain it a bit better in the morning. Right now, he just wanted to sleep. And look forward to another new day. Or at least, he was going to. But then Sidney spoke up.
'Oh, that explains it!' He said.
'Explains what?' Den asked.
'So I really was living through the same day over and over again! That's why I can remember going to that celebration hundreds of times. Huh, and I just thought my memory was getting worse!'
Everyone stared at him in total shock. But none was more shocked by this revelation than Diesel himself. He was so shocked, in fact, that he couldn't stop himself from shouting as loudly as he could,
'HOW IS SYDNEY THE ONLY OTHER ENGINE WHO REMEMBERS?!'
THE END!