It was a bright and sunny day on Sodor. Thomas Billinton, along with his two younger sisters Annie and Clarabel, had gotten up and got ready for a new school year. Annie and Clarabel were very excited. "New school year! We'll get to see Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom again!" Annie said with glee. The Cutie mark Girl-scouts were their best friends, they were even in the same year as them. Thomas chuckled.

  "Alright you two, settle down, new school year means more work too, you know." He said to his younger siblings. Clarabel groaned.

  "Thomas, how do you do it?" She asked.

  "Do what?" Thomas replied as he was slipping on his book bag.

  "Be positive all the time." Annie answered for Clarabel.

  "Well, I've got my friends to thank for that, they've always been there for me no matter what." Thomas bent down on one knee to talk to his sisters. "One thing you have to remember about middle school, always be really useful, always be reliable, responsible, and be right on time." Thomas said. Annie nodded. She and Clarabel knew Thomas wanted to be able to drive his own engine one day. he had to take the branch-line train to school. He walked with his sisters to the train station to wait for the train. A whistle blew in the distance. Thomas looked in the direction of it to see Oliver driving a E2 class Billinton style tank engine pulling two coaches behind it. That was Thomas's train. He turned to Annie and Clarabel. "I'll see you after school, you two." He smiled, hugging the both of them. Thomas climbed on the front coach and waved goodbye to his sisters before they got on their train to the middle school.

  "Thomas!" A voice called. It was his best friend, Percy Avonside. He signaled for Thomas to sit next to him. His other friends Henry, Toby, James, Gordon, and Edward were with him. "You exicted for a new year, buddy?" Percy asked, smiling.

  "You said it, Percy." Thomas said. He looked over to the row next to him to see Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie sitting next to each other. Twilight looked in his direction and waved.

  The train came to a stop at the high school. "Sodor High." James sighed. "Never thought we'd make it here, huh guys?" He asked. The others nodded.

  "Well well! Look who it is, Bert!" A voice behind them laughed. A pair of twins appeared behind Thomas and the gang. They both wore yellow and green striped shirts, black pants, and black boots. The only noticeable difference about them was that Bert had a goatee, 'Arry didn't. Both of them had brown eyes and blonde hair. Thomas groaned. 'Arry laughed. "Hey what's wrong, Billinton, you lost?" 'Arry burst out in laughter. Bert did too.

  "Well I guess something's never change, huh Thomas?" Edward asked. Thomas shrugged his back back onto his shoulder and headed off to class. Luckily, he had class with Percy, James, and Gordon for first period. Gym he was stuck with 'Arry and Bert, Diesel, and Diesel 10, his bitter rival from 6th grade.

  "Hello Billinton, are you ready to get pummeled in Dodgeball?" Diesel 10 laughed as he walked up to Thomas. Thomas groaned. When he opened his locker, a letter fell out.

  "What the?" He asked, looking at the letter. It was written in rosy pink ink. Oh no. Thomas thought. There was one person he had tried to avoid a lot back in middle school. The girl's name was Rosie. She was 15 with black hair, blue eyes, and always wore a rosy pink and blue blouse with a matching pink an blue skirt with red and pink sneakers. Thomas saw her and darted for his 3rd period class, with was Algebra. Edward and Twilight were in it with him. At lunch time, Thomas and the gang always sat together.

  "Well, clearly somethings do not change." Gordon huffed as he saw his rival, Spencer Jenkins. Spencer had black hair, brown eyes, always wore a silver suit with a black tie and black dress shoes. As Thomas was eating, he heard a noise outside that sounded like somewhat of a scream.

  "What was that?" Henry asked. The gang raced outside to see what was going on. A girl about 15 with blonde hair was running from a man about 20. Thomas knew he had seen the man somewhere before.

  "Hey!" Thomas called, racing after them. James face-palmed. The girl with blonde hair turned to see Thomas. The man did too. He huffed.

  "You got lucky this time, Stone, just remember next time, you won't get so lucky." He said, racing to his car, and driving away. Thomas looked down. He held out his hand to help the girl up.

  "Thank you." She said. Thomas nodded. "I'm Lady."

  "Nice to meet you, I'm Thomas. These are my friends Gordon, Henry, James, Toby, Edward, and Percy." The rest of Thomas's friends waved. Lady smiled.

The next day, Thomas couldn't stop thinking about who that man was who tried to snatch Lady. I know I've seen him somewhere before. Thomas thought. He decided to dismiss the thought and got ready for Gym class. The coach was named Spitfire. "Alright ladies, listen up!" She said, Spitfire was very athletic, not to mention she coached the Wonderbolts, the school's lead team. "Today's class is a personal favorite of mine, Dodgeball." Spitfire said. Diesel 10 chuckled. "You will be divided into two teams. Thomas and Diesel 10, you're the captains, pick your teammates wisely." Spitfire announced, leaving Thomas and Diesel 10 to pick their teammates. Thomas had picked Percy, Gordon, James, Rainbow Dash and Duck. Diesel 10 picked Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Mavis, and Spencer. Thomas and Diesel 10 had two members to choose from left. Thomas chose Lady. Rosie went over to Diesel 10's team.

"OK, ladies, show me what you got, 3, 2, 1, Dodgeball!" Spitfire blew her whistle and the game started. Diesel picked up about 2 balls and threw them at Rainbow Dash. Thanks to her speed and agility, she was able to dodge both of them. Diesel muttered a silent curse word. He threw another, hitting Percy square in the chest. Percy groaned as he got hit. Gordon hit Diesel square in the face with another ball. Diesel crumpled to the floor. Rainbow Dash high-fived him. Diesel 10 aimed for Thomas.

  "Bring it, Diesel." Thomas taunted. Diesel growled and threw his ball, jaw dropping as Thomas caught it in mid-air.

   "How did you!" Diesel 10 exclaimed.

   "Years of practice." Thomas said, hitting Diesel 10 dead center in the head. Lady cheered. 'Arry saw this as an opportunity to hit Lady. Unfortunately for him, Thomas saw the ball and caught it. 'Arry went to the bench to sit with the other classmates that gotten out.

   "OK, Billinton is too good at Dodgeball." Diesel 10 started, but was interrupted by Spitfire announcing Thomas's team won. Thomas high-fived his teammates. Lady came up to him.

   "You were great on the court, Thomas." She said, one hand on the other behind her back. Thomas smiled. "Hey, I was wondering, do you want to sit together, at lunch?" Lady asked. Diesel 10's jaw dropped.

  "Sure, I'd love to." Thomas replied. Lady smiled, and went into the locker room to get changed for next class. Gordon cheered Thomas as he walked in.

  "Thomas, you were a machine out there, man!" Gordon laughed. "I mean, I've never seen you play Dodgeball like that before!"

  "What's your secret?" Percy asked.

  "Just years of practice, guys." Thomas laughed, slipping his bag on as the bell rang for his next period. Diesel 10 muttered something Thomas didn't hear.

  "Mark my words, Billinton, one day soon, you will be crushed." Diesel 10 muttered.