Meanwhile near Ballahoo, Miss Celestia had struggled to the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper was the name of a large viaduct that spanned over the river. The viaduct acts as a sort of shortcut to the mainline, but if one were to be out of action, the other would be the best option. As Miss Celestia walked along, she heard the sound of an engine approaching.

"Thomas?" she asked in anticipation, "Can that be you…?"

But as the engine got closer, it wasn't the sound of a steam engine. She turned around only to face…

"Diesel 10?!"

"Hello, Twinkle Toes!" the large diesel growled, "Remember us?"

Miss Celestia quickly tried to run up the hill, but she stumbled.

"Fat Hatt won't have much use for you looking like that," Discord smirked, "oh, and you forgotten the sugar, did you? Bad mistake for you!"

With that, Discord controlled Diesel 10's claw to reach for Celestia, who was still trying to escape. All of a sudden, Diesel 10's claw grasped Celestia like King Kong grasping the girl.

"Gotcha!" he said triumphantly. He then began to roll slowly onto the viaduct. From her perspective, Miss Celestia could see some loose bricks falling from the Big Dipper.

"No, Diesel 10!" she called, "This viaduct is unsafe!"

"We'll do what we want, and you'll do what we want too!" snapped Diesel 10.

"You could've been with me," sneered Discord, "but instead, you chose to work with those out of date puffballs!"

Diesel 10 then stopped and swung his claw over the river.

"Alright, Twinkle Toes," he said, "we know about the buffers."

"And we know about your magic railway," added Discord, "now tell us where the buffers are. NOW!"

"Never!" snapped Miss Celesita. She appeared to be looking for something. After a few moments of struggling, she pulled out a pair of pliers.

"Alright," she told herself, inspecting the cables on the claw, "one wire releases, and the other tightens. I hope I choose the right one…"

Miss Celestia reached for a wire and cut it with the pliers. Yes, the claw released!

"Too late, Diesel 10!"

Diesel 10 growled as he catapulted Miss Celestia from his claw's grasp, sending her flying into the air! Miss Celestia yelled as she flew in the air, landing close to a windmill near a forest roughly ten miles away on some sacks filled with flour!

Fortunately, Miss Celestia was alright, with minor injuries.

"Phew," she said, dusting herself off and standing up, "talk about a perfect landing… Oh, Luna, I hope you're thinking of my safety… but where are you?"

At Brendam Docks, Sunset Shimmer was holding a meeting with Trixie and Lightning Dust.

"You actually got stuck under a roof?" snickered Lightning Dust, "Not very bright of you."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie would never do anything so stupid like that," agreed Trixie.

"That wasn't my fault!" Sunset snapped angrily, "It was that old teapot and cowgirl Applejack who caused Diesel 10 to bring the roof down!"

She was so angry she picked up a rock and threw it at a crate Cranky the crane was carrying. The crate slipped off and crashed down on them! The three mean girls were covered in fruit and vegetables.

"Ugh!" cried Trixie, "Trixie's hair is ruined!"

Unfortunately for them, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders had seen it all and laughed.

"Shut up!" snapped Lightning Dust, "That wasn't funny!"

"It sure looked funny to me," chuckled Rainbow Dash.

"Ah've heard them be called fruity before," laughed Apple Bloom, "but this is ridiculous!"

The three mean girls growled angrily. This caused the Cutie Mark Crusaders to race off with the mean girls in pursuit, with Scootaloo on her scooter.

"Get back here, you little brats!" Sunset yelled angrily.

"Ya'll leave our sisters alone, ya varmints!" Applejack shouted, waving her fist at the bullies.

"If they harm so much as one hair on Sweetie Belle," said Rarity, "I swear, I will certainly-"

"Hang in there, Scootaloo!" interrupted Rainbow Dash.

The groups split up; Sunset went after Apple Bloom, Trixie after Sweetie Belle, and Lightning Dust after Scootaloo. Apple Bloom was able to evade her pursuer by the piles of crates.

"Ya can't catch me!" she chuckled.

Sweetie Belle easily shook Trixie off her tail; all she had to do was point and say, "Look! A crate full of peanut butter crackers!" and Trixie was drooling like a dog.

Scootaloo was doing her best to outrace Lightning Dust. She came closer and closer to the pier when she skidded her scooter to a stop. Lightning Dust, however, couldn't stop in time and fell into the water with a splash!

"Get me out of here!" she yelled, splashing around.

"I think it serves you right," Cranky called down to her, "you ruined my fruits and vegetables and you tried to harm innocent girls."

"Ah warned them," said Applejack.

"Thank goodness you're safe," gasped Rarity, hugging Sweetie Belle.

"That was so cool how you tricked Lightning Dust!" Rainbow Dash said, high-fiving Scootaloo.

Later, Thomas and Percy were shunting when Henry went by.

"Hello, Henry," called Thomas, "you're feeling better."

"It's the new coal you brought me," the big green tender engine smiled, "thanks, Thomas!"

"But what happened to the last coal truck?" asked Percy, "Henry said there were six trucks of coal, right?"

"Yes, but I don't know what happened to the sixth truck," said Thomas, "it disappeared while I was near an old set of buffers at Vicarstown… as if by magic."

Then the two tank engines had a realization.

"So that's the entrance to the magic railway," they said.

Suddenly, they heard the rumble of a diesel engine, and then a familiar black diesel shunter creeped into the yard.

"Diesel!" Thomas and Percy exclaimed together.

"What are you doing here?" asked Thomas crossly.

"Some friends have invited me back," Diesel said in his oily voice, "and I'm not the only one to come back."

Before either tank engine could respond, two more horns sounded and Arry and Bert rolled up alongside Diesel.

"What are you doing here?" gasped Percy, "The Fat Controller got rid of your after you tried to scrap Stepney!"

"We came back for revenge," said Arry.

"Bowler would be here by now," grumbled Bert, "but he's at the washdown complaining because of dust. Wuss."

"You don't belong here!" snapped Thomas, "When Miss Celestia finds out, you'll be in big trouble!"

"Yeah? Well, Miss Celestia ain't around to stop us, is she?" said Arry.

"So we can do whatever we want!" added Bert.

"See you at the scrapyard, puffballs!" Diesel snickered as they rolled away.

Thomas and Percy could not believe it.

"Putting up with Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge was bad enough," groaned Thomas.

"But with those other bad diesels back," said Percy, "it'll be way worse."

"Driver, should we find Miss Celestia and restore order?" asked Thomas, "We can't let Diesel 10 and his gang get away with it!"

"No we can't," agreed his driver, "we'll have to find her at once!"

"Oh, and Percy," said Thomas, "you can help protect the buffers from Diesel 10 and George."

"Me?!" squeaked Percy, "But why me?"

"Because you're a brave engine, Percy," said Thomas, puffing away.

"Oh… I forgot…"

"What's wrong, Percy?"

Percy looked down and noticed Pinkie Pie next to his bufferbeam.

"Ah!" he gasped, "Where'd you spring from?"

"From the end of the siding, silly," Pinkie giggled, "what's with the frown?"

Percy told her about the returning diesels and about having to guard the magic buffers.

"Aw, don't worry, Percy," Pinkie said, "when life gets you down, all you gotta do is just laugh it off and you'll feel better."

Percy let out a little smile. "Thanks for the tip, Pinkie," he said.

Meanwhile, back at Brendam Docks, not long after the mess Sunset Shimmer and her gang had been cleaned up, Diesel 10 held a meeting with Splatter and Dodge. The clawed diesel was looking quite bad tempered.

"Er, so boss-" began Splatter.

"How come you let Twinkle Toes escape?" finished Dodge.

"I, er, I did it on purpose," Diesel 10 faltered, trying to look tough.

"Indeed," Discord added, "we were merely testing to see if she could escape…"

"Did they mean to say that?" Splatter and Dodge asked each other.

Diesel 10 snarled in anger and positioned his claw to take a swipe at the two shunters, who hastily backed off.

"Alright!" he snarled, smashing some nearby oil drums with his claw as if they were beer cars. "Playtime's over, Spladge!"

"Uh oh…"

"Time for the next lesson; how to stop being stupid!"

Cranky had just begun lifting the ruptured oil drums when they began to leak, all over Diesel 10! Now he was oily mad.

"Well, that's gonna ruin my facial," he grumbled.

Just then, two whistles sounded, and Bill and Ben rolled in. When they saw what had happened to Diesel 10, they couldn't help but laugh.

"Who's that oily box on wheels?" giggled Bill.

"That's Diesel 10," chuckled Ben, "didn't you know?"

"It looks like Diesel 10," said Bill, "but he would never do something as stupid as that."

Diesel 10 growled angrily and snapped his claw at the twins, who backed away, feeling intimidated.

"I think we should go, Bill," said Ben.

"Right you are," agreed Bill, and the twins chuffed away quickly.

Meanwhile, at Muffle Mountain, Spike and I were relaxing on the hillside. The day was lovely, but we were kind of bored. To cure my boredom, I was reading a book.

"Sure is boring around here," Spike sighed, "maybe if Rarity were to visit…"

"I don't know about that, Spike," I said, "I mean, she probably lives miles away from where Shining Armor and Cadance do."

"I guess," said Spike, "but I wish there were something to do."

As I got up, I tripped and ended up rolling down the hill until I was upside down at the bottom.

"Whoa!" said a voice, "You okay?"

The owner of the voice offered me a hand, which I took gratefully. As I was helped back to my feet, I recognized it was the person who was riding his horse on a field yesterday.

"Took quite a tumble there, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess I did," I said sheepishly, "I'm Twilight. Do you live around here?"

"Sort of. I come out here and help Shining Armor. I'm Flash Sentry, by the way."

Just then, Spike ran down to check up on me.

"Look out!" I called, but he tripped and landed flat on his face in the grass.

"I'm okay," remarked Spike, picking himself up and spitting out the blades of grass he had collected in his mouth.

"That's my adopted brother Spike," I said to Flash, "oh, and Shining Armor happens to be my big brother."

"I see. But if you don't mind me asking," Flash said, "did you happen to hear an engine's whistle out here last night?"

"Er, I think so," said Spike.

"Yes, I have heard a whistle," I replied, "why do you ask?"

Flash smiled. "Then it wasn't just me," he said.

Just then, Shining Armor walked up.

"Morning Flash," he said.

"Good morning, Shining Armor," Flash replied, "I'm heading over to Vicarstown for a while. Can Twilight and Spike come with, if they want to?"

"I'd like to," I said, smiling. Spike nodded in agreement.

"They can go," said Shining Armor, "just be back by sunset."

I was surprised; he actually let us come with Flash?

"Do you want to come as well?" I offered.

Shining Armor paused before replying. "I never go there now…" he said quietly, but loud enough for the three of us to hear him.

I was disappointed to watch him go and not come with.

"So," said Flash, "Ever ride on a horse before?"

"No," I said.

"Neither have I," said Spike.

"Well, it's not that hard," Flash explained, "you just get up and ride."

So all three of us climbed onto his horse one by one; first Flash, then me, and then Spike. Soon, all three of us were riding on the back of Flash's horse. The horse galloped around a lake near Culdee Fell, known as Loey Machan, translating from ancient Sudric, "Machan's Lake". I noticed Flash observing something.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"The birds aren't making their nests in those trees," said Flash, "in the summer, they would have done so by now."

I looked and saw Flash was right. How peculiar, I thought. Soon the horse splashed through the puddle containing the bit of gold dust that came off my fingers.

"I've always wanted to travel this way," said Flash, "we're following some shadowy lines I saw on a map. They're like railway tracks but without any rails."

I observed the field Flash's horse was beginning to ride on; although the field was filled with flowers and grass, there were two almost imperceptible thin straight lines where no flowers grew. Flash was right; it was like a railway track with no rails, and no sleepers, for that matter.

Suddenly, Flash's horse tossed his head about and swished his tail, urging his rider to go faster, so Flash let him, and all of a sudden, we were thundering along as if driven by a current of energy! It was a joyous feeling which sadly ceased as fast as it began.

"What was that about?" exclaimed Spike.

"I don't know," said Flash, "if they are railway tracks, they must be magic ones… But why did the energy stop?"

"That is strange," I said. Nevertheless, the horse galloped on at a normal pace.

At Vicarstown station, Gordon was waiting with the express. Chrysalis was close by loading a mysterious box onto her motorcycle.

"It looks like we might be getting a storm," said Gordon, "hopefully, it'll pass, like you should be…" He looked at Chrysalis when he said that. The guard's whistle sounded and Gordon steamed away.

The big engine's words cut no cloth with Chrysalis, who simply gazed at Gordon as he pulled away with the express. She looked at the mountain in the distance.

"I am passing through," she sneered, "right through into Muffle Mountain, and then BANG!" She gestured an explosion. "No more protector, no more precious engine. There is no such thing as magic!"

As she drove off, the box she had on her motorcycle was labeled "dynamite". After she'd left, we soon came in into Vicarstown. Flash stopped the horse by the station.

"I've got some errands to run," he said, "I'll see both of you later."

"Thanks, Flash," I said.

Spike and I jumped off his horse and waved goodbye as he rode off. After he left, we heard a female voice singing.

"You hear that?" asked Spike.

Then suddenly, in a shower of gold dust, Luna materialized. I immediately recognized her.

"Luna?" I was surprised.

"Twilight and Spike," she exclaimed, "I'd given up on meeting you again."

"What's going on?" asked Spike.

"I'm off to locate my sister Celestia," said Luna, "I overslept so I'm in a bit of a hurry. Would you like to come along?"

"What do you think, Spike?"

"Yeah, I like the idea!" Spike nodded in agreement.

"Okay then," I said, "can we be back by sunset?"

"Hope so," said Luna. Under her arm was a small wooden box.

"What's in there?" asked Spike, pointing at the box.

"It's best I tell you later," said Luna, "we better be off."

"But how can we find your sister before sunset?" I asked.

"I know a shortcut," replied Luna.

"A shortcut?" Spike asked.

I noticed Luna was in deep thought. "There's three of us," I heard her mutter, "it'll take almost all my gold dust, and this is sister's emergency supply…"

I then noticed some more gold dust on the station platform where Luna's feet were and scooped up as much as I could.

"Can I keep a little bit of this?" I asked her.

"Be my guest," smiled Luna, "I'll hold onto it for you."

She popped the gold dust into her pocket and gave a small bow.

"Alright," she said, "here goes…"

She took both whistles and blew them simultaneously. Suddenly, all three of us were wrapped in gold dust and vanished.

We found ourselves floating down a lone, overgrown railway line. It looked abandoned and surrounded by thorny trees.

"This is quite bouncy, isn't it?!" cried Spike.

"Indeed," agreed Luna.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Our family's secret railway," explained Luna, "or rather, it was. I don't think it's going to last much longer. It'll vanish like the engine."

"What engine?" asked Spike.

"The engine who used to travel on this railway," replied Luna, "sister and I never saw it, and we don't know what happened to it."

As we continued down the bumpy line, we passed the coal truck Thomas had lost earlier.

"What's that doing there?" I asked.

"Never mind," said Luna, "here come the buffers."

Up ahead of us was a set of buffers. We were coming closer!

"Brace yourself!" Luna shouted, and suddenly, we slid through the buffers as if by magic!

Whoosh!

We then found ourselves on the ground.

"Where are we now?" I asked.

"Knapford Station, of course," said Luna. She then pointed towards the station close by. I recognized it straight away as he same station where Spike and I got on the wrong train yesterday.

Just then, we heard a whistle and Thomas was puffing into the station with Annie and Clarabel.

"Annie! Clarabel!" Thomas cried as he pulled in, "There's Miss Celestia! We found her!" But his smile faded as he got closer. "Oh, bother. It's Luna…"

As Thomas stopped by the platform, Luna, Spike and I got closer. This was either my second or third encounter with talking trains.

"Hello, Thomas," said Luna, "I hadn't seen you since your missing Christmas tree caper years ago."

"Yes," said Thomas, "I remember it because not too long after the party, you stuffed party poppers down my funnel!"

"Oh, come now," chuckled Luna, "I was a teenager then, and we were just having a laugh."

"Hmph," sniffed Thomas, "you did."

"You're talking to each other," I said.

"Of course we are," said Luna, "oh, and Twilight, Spike? This is Thomas, the number one engine on the North Western Railway. Thomas, this is Twilight Sparkle and her adopted brother Spike. Now where's my sister?"

"Hi," I said to the blue tank engine.

"Hello, Twilight. Spike," replied Thomas, "how come I've never seen you two before?"

"We don't live very close to the railways," said Spike.

"Well, what brings you here?" asked Thomas.

"We're here to look for my sister," explained Luna. Then she spoke to Thomas' crew. "I must ask that we take Thomas to locate my sister Celestia," she said.

"We would like to help," said Thomas' driver, "but we've got a passenger train."

"We can't leave them stranded now, can we?" added the fireman.

Just then, they heard a whistle and Oliver steamed up, light engine.

"Oliver," called Thomas, "would you mind taking my passengers for me?"

"I would like to help, but I'm taking a goods train to the Little Western with Toad," Oliver replied.

"Is Douglas available?" asked Thomas.

"I think so," said Oliver.

So Douglas was arranged to take Annie and Clarabel while Thomas took Luna, Spike and I to find Miss Celestia.

"Good luck, Thomas," the coaches called as he puffed away light engine.

Thomas chuffed across the mainline seeing if we could find Miss Celestia. As we got closer to a windmill between Kellsthorpe Road and Crovan's Gate, I noticed something.

"What's that sparkling at the windmill?" I asked.

"Why, Twilight, it's my sister!" exclaimed Luna.

"Miss Celestia!" exclaimed Thomas excitedly.

"Thomas!" Miss Celestia was pleased to see the little engine.

"Thank goodness you're safe," said Thomas' driver.

"We thought something bad had happened," added the fireman.