Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day on the Island of Sodor, the engine swerve cheerful and were going about their work, at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas and Edward were just talking about the old days when they heard an engine pull in, when they looked, they saw it was William, “Hey guys.” He greeted them.
“Oh hey William.” Edward greeted him, “How are you doing?” He asked, “Feeling a bit tired.” William replied as he backed down into a berth, “What were you two talking about?” He asked, “Oh, we were just talking about the old days, before all of this came to be.” Thomas responded, William was intrigued by this.
“Pardon me for asking, but…can you tell me stories about the early days after the Northwestern Railway, or more accurately, about you and Thomas during those times.” William asked, Thomas and Edward just beamed, “Of course.” Edward replied and with that, they began telling William their stories.
—
“After me and Thomas finished up the railway and it was opened, other engines would arrive on Sodor, those including Henry and Gordon and some other locomotives.” Edward explained, “I used to act as the station pilot for the bigger engines and boy…did I hate it.” Thomas laughed, this puzzled William, “Then how did you get your branchline?” He asked, “You’ll find out later.” Thomas responded.
With that, Edward started again, “As the other engines came along, I started getting used less until I was left in the shed, waiting to be used, as I waited, the other big engines would tease me about it.” Edward said.
The big engines were gathered around, talking at the sheds, meanwhile, Edward sat there, just watching on, Gordon then spoke up to Edward, “Heh, the driver won’t choose you again, he wants bigger and stronger engines like us.” He laughed, “Oh well, I don’t know, we could very well choose me.” Edward replied.
This made the other engines laugh, “Oh please, how would he ever choose you, you’re all worn out and old, unlike us.” 99486 said, “Exactly, your chances of being used are slim to none.” 56785 commented, they once again burst into laughter when the crews came up, as they were getting ready , they saw just how sad Edward was and felt sorry for him.
They came up to him, “You feeling alright old bud?” The Driver asked, “Yeah, just feeling a bit tired.” Edward replied, the Driver just smiled, “Are you feeling tired enough to pull the first train?” He asked, this took the other engines by surprise, “What…um no, I’m not.” Edward responded, “Good engine, let’s get you fired up then.” The crew said.
The Fireman lit his engine and Edward was ready to go, “Peep, peep, see you all later.” He said to them kindly, but the others were still baffled, “Am I dreaming?” 56785 asked, “N-No, you’re not.” Henry responded, Gordon was cross, “Well that’s just great.” He moaned.
—
Edward backed down onto the coaches and was ready to go, the coaches were happy to see Edward, “It’s nice to see you again.” They said, Edward chuckled, “And it’s nice to see you girls again.” Edward chuckled, with that, the Guard blew his whistle and they were off, Edward enjoyed the experience all day.
Later that night, Edward was resting at the sheds with the other engines, he was still beaming, “Driver said I’m going out tomorrow, what do you think of that?” He asked, Gordon just scoffed, “I say he’s making a big mistake.” Gordon muttered, Edward didn’t hear him as he had fallen right to sleep, excited for tomorrow.