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Thomas' Wonderful Life
Season 2, Episode X
Thomas'WonderfulLife
Air date December 24th, 2019 (abbreviated version)
December 31st, 2020 (full version)
Written by Semaj5nodorg4
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Thomas’ Wonderful Life is the Christmas special of the second season of the Many Adventures on the Island of Sodor.

Plot

Part I

It was Christmas time on the Island of Sodor. All over the island, people were busily preparing for the special day. The engines were especially busy carrying people and parcels to all of their destinations and making sure everything was running right on time. However, no engine was doing this more than Thomas, for Christmas is his favorite time of the year and he does everything he can to make sure everyone stays happy and jolly for the holiday season. He also loves this time of year as Sir Topham Hatt often gives him special jobs to help with the holiday preparations and they tend to be the most important ones. Some of the other engines get jealous and think Thomas gets too much attention around this time of year, but they're happy that at least everyone has a special job for Christmas and as long as Thomas knows what he's doing, they're happy that he's being a really useful engine.

It was the day before Christmas Eve and all the engines at Tidmouth Sheds were excited. Their annual Christmas party was taking place at Knapford Station the next night and there were still lots to do to prepare for it. All of them were wondering what their jobs would be.

"Ooh, I do hope there will still be lots of letters and parcels for me to deliver," chuffed Percy. "There's so many that need to go out around this time of year and I love doing it."

"Well while you're doing that," puffed James, "I will probably be bringing lots of guests to the party. Sir Topham Hatt is sure to give me that job and the passengers will love to have a splendid red engine like me taking them."

"Well they might James," said Annie, "or they would want to ride in nice splendid coaches like me and Clarabel too."

"Oh yes, they definitely would," agreed Clarabel. "I do hope we can have them again this year."

"Nonsense," grumbled Gordon. "I have a better chance of getting that job than any of you. A big, express engine like me is more capable of taking a lot of passengers. You'll probably just be taking coal to the station buildings, James, and you will be sitting on a siding watching me, Annie and Clarabel! Ha, ha!" James and the coaches scoffed.

"Well I hope I get to collect the Christmas decorations for the party," said Emily. "That's very special too and I love seeing all the twinkling lights and colors."

"That's true Emily," said Thomas, "but the most special of all will be collecting the Christmas tree. I've collected that many times in the past and I'm sure I'll get that job again too."

"Huh," grunted Gordon. "Considering how many jobs Sir Topham Hatt gives you around Christmas, Thomas, you'll probably get every special job needed for the party again, like you always do. You could share them you know." The other engines frowned.

"Oh lighten up, Gordon," chuffed Edward. "Even you know Thomas doesn't get all the special jobs around Christmas. We all have them and Sir Topham Hatt doesn't choose favorites either."

"Hmm, says you Edward," muttered Gordon, "but I wouldn't be surprised if little Thomas gets all the special ones for the party and we get the mediocre ones again. It happens nearly every Christmas and it's not fair to the rest of us that Thomas gets the special ones and we don't."

"Yeah, Gordon's right," agreed James. "We all get the small jobs and Thomas gets the ones that are most important, all because he's a 'really useful engine' and Sir Topham Hatt's favorite number one engine. It's not fair."

Thomas was annoyed. "All of that is certainly not true," he said firmly. "I don't always get the special jobs and you all have gotten plenty of them during previous years as well. You two particularly probably haven't gotten much because you're always boasting and complaining. So try to lighten up and be merry and jolly, then perhaps you'll get a special job." Gordon and James glared.

"Well, looks like we're about to find out for sure if any of us get a special job," chuffed Henry. "Look who's here." The engines all looked and saw Sir Topham Hatt had arrived.

"Good morning engines," he announced. "Glad to see you all are awake. Now there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before tomorrow night's party, but there is still other work as well and I need you all to work very hard between now and tomorrow night. So that being said, I have decided to have all but one of you do your regular work and one of you to help with the party preparations."

The engines were excited. "Who's the lucky engine, sir?" asked James. "Is it me?"

"Or me," grunted Gordon.

"Or me!" Percy chimed in.

"Now, now settle down," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Ahem, I have given it a lot of thought and I decided the engine I trust the most to help with the preparations is…Thomas." The engines gasped.

Thomas was pleased. "Me, sir?"

"Yes, you Thomas," replied Sir Topham Hatt. "You are always keen to help around Christmas time and you are very reliable too and I know I can count on you." Thomas beamed. "Now here's all your jobs: first, I need you to go to the docks in a little while and collect all the Christmas decorations from Brendam Docks and take them to Knapford station for decorating. Next, while the station is being set up, I need you to collect the special invitations for the party from the mail depot and deliver them to each station and town around the island. Lastly, and the most special of all, I need you to collect the Christmas tree from the orchard and…the Star of Knapford from the docks and take them to Knapford as well." Thomas and the others were amazed.

"The Star of Knapford? Wow, that is special. Thank you sir!" said Thomas. "I won't let you down. I'll get those jobs done in no time."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you will, Thomas," said Sir Topham Hatt, "but I must warn you this might be a lot of work for you, as everything needs to be done before the end of the day. So you might need help with your jobs and I advise you ask for help when you absolutely need it and not try to do everything yourself even when you're struggling, which I know you tend to do sometimes. Can I trust you to do all of that?"

"Uh, yes sir, o-of course, sir," chuffed Thomas. "I'll ask for help if I need it. You can count on that too. I promise."

"Very good," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Also, I will send another engine to do your work on your branchline today as well. As for the rest of you, carry on with your regular jobs and good luck today. It'll be busy, but just think: tomorrow night is Christmas Eve and it's the party and we can all celebrate together. So work hard today and be really useful. Good-bye now."

"Good-bye, sir," said the engines, then Sir Topham Hatt got into his car and drove away.

After he left, Thomas felt very excited indeed. "Wow! Collecting the decorations, and the invitations, and the Christmas tree, and the Star of Knapford? This is great! I've never been given so many jobs in one day. This is definitely going to be a busy one and I can't wait to get started."

However, not all the engines were impressed. "Hmph, exactly what I said before: always the favorite around Christmas and always gets the special jobs," huffed Gordon.

"You're certainly right about that now, Gordon," agreed James jealously. "Literally all the special jobs and all for the party. I highly doubt he can do everything on his own. He'll probably have an accident first before he completes anything and that's almost a guarantee."

"Quite right, James," added Gordon. "Now if he asks for help, then maybe, there's a chance there won't be any trouble, but given how high and mighty he and Sir Topham Hatt think of him, that's not going to happen. So in other words, the party is bound to be doomed tomorrow night and everything will be ruined." The engines gasped, and Thomas was cross, and a little hurt.

"Alright, that's enough!" ordered Edward. "Shame on two. That's no way to speak to Thomas. He is reliable and you know it. Now why don't you both make yourselves useful, and get to work, and stop bad mouthing other engines for a change?"

Gordon and James scoffed. "Pfff, fine Edward. Whatever you say," grumbled James.

"Yes, Edward, we'll go," muttered Gordon, "but I will say this: we should be making sure little Thomas knows what he's doing all the same, or else, who knows what will happen." Then with that, he left the sheds and James followed after.

After they left, the other engines were cross with them for the way they treated Thomas.

"Well I must say that was very harsh of them to say all those things," huffed Emily.

"Yes, how dare they speak about our Thomas like that," added Annie crossly.

"Quite unneeded and extremely rude," added Clarabel.

"I'll say," agreed Henry. "I knew they were jealous, but they definitely took their jealousy way too far this time."

"And there was absolutely no need to say all those things about Thomas," added Percy, then he turned to Thomas. "And don't you worry Thomas. We trust you and know you're a really reliable and useful engine."

"Thank you, Percy," smiled Thomas. "I appreciate that. I wasn't too offended by what they said anyway. I've done many jobs in the past and I completed them on time as well. So I'll show them and prove I can do that once again today with all my jobs."

The engines were a little concerned. "Well, that's good to hear you're thinking positively," chuffed Edward, "but all the same, those are quite a few jobs for you, Thomas. So I suggest you consider you consider asking for help anyway if you find yourself struggling and falling behind in your work."

"Yes, I know Edward, don't worry," replied Thomas. "I've been in those situations before and I've asked for help then, but these are jobs related to Christmas and I'm always reliable with them, so I can handle all these jobs by myself."

“Well, if you’re sure about that, then very well, Thomas,” said Edward. “We’re just trying to look out for you and make sure you know what you are doing, that’s all.”

“Thank you, Edward,” said Thomas. “I think I know what I’m doing and you all needn’t worry.”

“Well, in case you do need help, we’ll be happy to do so,” added Percy. “I could certainly help you with the mail, you know. There must be a lot of invitations and I’ll be happy to help you deliver them.”

“And I could help you if the tree and star if they are too heavy for you,” puffed Henry.

“And I could help you with delivering the decorations if they’re too much,” Emily chimed in.

“Thank you all very much for the offers,” puffed Thomas, “but really, I’m sure I will be fine and won’t need help. I’ll certainly let you know if I need it, but right now, I must be heading off to the docks. So I’ll see you all later. Good-bye!” Then with that, Thomas puffed excitedly away to the docks.

The other engines were still a little concerned. “Does anyone think Thomas really knows what he’s doing?” Asked Emily.

“Well, I believe he thinks he knows what he’s doing,” chuffed Edward, “but I’m not sure he is absolutely certain about it. He does tend to think he can handle everything by himself, but that doesn’t always work out in the end. So I’m not entirely sure myself.”

“Me too,” agree Henry. “I hope he does know what he’s doing and doesn’t get in trouble. Sometimes he gets everything done, and other times he doesn’t, so who knows what’s going to happen.”

“Well I think Thomas can do it,” said Percy. “He is pretty reliable when it comes to Christmas jobs, so I’m sure he can do it, but all the same, I just hope nothing bad happens and he really can handle all his jobs, or else trouble might happen like Gordon and James said. What do you think, Annie and Clarabel?”

"Oh, who knows with our Thomas," chuffed Annie. "Sometimes, he's true to his word and sometimes, he isn't. You can never tell with that cheeky tank engine."

"Yes, I agree," said Clarabel. "Though I hope in this case he is true to his word and doesn't cause a mess or anything."

“Well, I think we don’t need to worry about this right now,” soothed Edward “I think the best way to settle this topic is to stop thinking about it and get to work instead. We all have jobs ourselves you know and Sir Topham Hatt is counting on us, so let’s get started.” The others agreed, and they soon were on their way to work.

Meanwhile, word about Thomas’ specials had spread along the line, and down at the docks, the dockside team were talking excitedly about Thomas.

“Oh how special it is,” chuffed Carly. “Thomas getting all those special jobs for the party. How lucky he is to have all those jobs. I’m sure he must feel very proud.”

“Har-har! I bet he is, lass,” agreed Salty. “Young Thomas is always raring to help out at this time of year, so I’m sure he is more than excited to be given the chance to help with setting up the Christmas party, and I for one am excited for tomorrow night's caroling too, har, har, har, har!"

“Well, I heard Thomas is well on his way right now,” chuffed Porter. “So it sounds like he is definitely excited about it and can’t wait to collect the decorations.”

“And good thing I’m here to get them ready for him,” Franklin chimed in. “I’ll have them ready and waiting for him in no time.”

“Huh, well if you ask me,” huffed Cranky, “I personally think Thomas gets too much attention at this time of year. Just because he’s engine number one, doesn’t mean he is the number one engine and he shouldn’t get all the jobs that others want. It’s not fair to the other engines.”

“Arr, that’s not true, Cranky,” denied Salty. “Everyone gets a special job around Christmas and even you know that, captain. Sir Topham Hatt just happened to give Thomas some extra special ones, but everyone else plays a special part in this Christmas season too and they’re all equally important.”

“Salty’s right, Cranky,” added Carly. “So lighten, chuck, and just be merry and jolly and you’ll feel better.” Cranky just scoffed.

“Well I’m with Cranky on this one,” came a voice. Then suddenly, Diesel came biffing and bashing his way into view. “Thomas does get too much attention around this time of year and barely any other engine gets anything, especially me. I mean, what’s so bad about giving me a special? I enjoy the Christmas season too and want to help out, so why can’t I have a special job too? It’s a disgraceful.”

“Oh come now, Diesel,” grunted Salty. “Don’t you start too. We already got one big Scrooge here…" looking up at Cranky "…and we don’t need two of them here either.”

“Yeah, so just calm down, Diesel,” added Franklin. “Just because you don’t have a job related to the Christmas party doesn’t mean you don’t have any work either. So just be happy that at least you’re still working and being really useful.”

“Huh, still not exactly the same though,” grunted Diesel. “Even just one little job regarding the party would be nice.”

“Well Diesel,” chuffed Porter. “Unfortunately you don’t have one and the best think to do is not think about and get back to work instead. Besides it’s not like you could do anything about it.” The others agreed, then they went back to work.

Then Diesel got an idea, and sniggered. “Or can I?” He said deviously to himself, then he slinked away.

A little while later, Franklin had finished loading all the decorations Cranky had unloaded from the ship into Thomas’ trucks. “There we go, all done,” Franklin said. “Now to move onto the next job.” Then he drove away.

Diesel, hiding in the Sodor Shipping Company Building, saw Franklin had finished and got an idea. He looked around to see if anyone was looking, then when he saw no one was, he charged forward and banged the trucks together hard. Then he hurt a cracking noise coming from inside the trucks and quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed. No one did, and Diesel get pleased.

“Well, there goes the decorations,” he chuckled quietly to himself, “and everyone will think it was Thomas who broke them. He, he. This will show him.” Then at that point, Thomas himself showed up.

“Hello everyone,” he whistled, “and Merry Christmas. Oh, hello Diesel. A little strange seeing you here. What exactly are you doing at the end of my train?”

“Uhhhhh, just getting it ready for you, of course,” smiled Diesel, in a false way. “Yeah, I’m feeling the Christmas spirit today and wanted to help out, so I decided to get your train ready for you Thomas. Are you happy about that?”

Thomas was more puzzled than happy, but he conceded. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Thank Diesel, that was very kind of you.”

“No problem,” chuffed Diesel. “Well, must be heading off now. Still got lots to do and no time to waste. See ya!” Then he hurried back into the Sodor Shipping Company building again.

Thomas was get even more puzzled, but just shrugged. “Hmm. At least he’s not being like Gordon and James,” he thought, then he puffed away.

Diesel sniggered from inside the building as he watch Thomas leave, then he rolled away, unaware that Cranky had seen him laughing, and became suspicious.

Soon Thomas was well on his way to Knapford feeling confident and cheerful. “Well, I collected the decorations in one piece and everything has been going well so far,” he chuffed to himself. “So I think everything is under control.” And he continued on to the station.

At Knapford, Sir Topham Hatt and some workmen were waiting patiently and eagerly for Thomas to arrive. Then they saw Thomas in the distance and were pleased. “Ah Thomas, there you are,” said Sir Topham Hatt. “Right on time.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Thomas.

“Well, gentlemen,” said Sir Topham. “Here are the decorations for the station, as promised. You can start as soon as you’re...” But when the workmen opened the truck doors, they were shocked. The decorations for the station itself were alright, but nearly all the ornaments needed for the tree were broken to pieces. Sir Topham Hatt was disappointed. “Oh dear, oh dear. This is not good. These were specially made for the tree and now they’re ruined. Thomas, what happened when you collected them? You didn’t bump the trucks when you collected them, did you?”

Thomas thought for moment. “I don’t think I did, sir,” he replied. “I’m pretty sure I was most gentle with them and didn’t bump them at all, but I guess I wasn’t paying attention at one point and bumped them too hard anyway. I’m sorry about this, sir.”

Sir Topham Hatt sighed. “Oh well, at least the decorations for the station are fine and I can always place an order for more ornaments to come in before tomorrow night. So it’s alright, Thomas, but try to be careful next time.”

“Yes sir, I promise,” smiled Thomas, feeling relieved.

“Good,” said Sir Topham Hatt. “Now run along now and collect the invitations. People will be looking for them very soon, I expect. So make sure you deliver them safely and on time.”

“Yes sir, right away sir,” said Thomas. “I’ll get right to it.” Then Thomas puffed excitedly and eagerly away to the mail depot.

Meanwhile, Diesel was roaming along the mainline, feeling proud of what he did back at the docks. Then he came across a signal and heard the signalman talking to a workman.

“From what I heard, Thomas arrived at the station and all the ornaments were damaged,” said the workman, “but miraculously, Sir Topham Hatt said he’s going to place a new order for ornaments and they’ll get here before the party at Knapford.”

“Really?” Said the signalman. “Well, that’s pretty lucky. Glad to hear Thomas is alright and everything is still on track for the party. Hopefully nothing else will happen.”

Diesel growled when he heard this. “Grrrrr! My plan failed,” he grumbled to himself. “What else can I do to get him in trouble?”

“Oh, so speaking of the party,” added the signalman, “did you get your invitation yet?”

“No not yet,” replied the workman. “I think Thomas’ next job is to deliver them to each station around the island, so we should be getting ours this afternoon.”

This gave Diesel another devious idea. “Aha,” he said cheekily to himself, the. He hurried off to the mail depot.

When he arrived at the depot, Diesel could see the mail workers were finishing loading up all the sacks of mail into Thomas’ mail coaches. He listened to what the workers were saying.

“Are all the sacks being loaded into the right coaches?” The depot manager asked one of the workers.

“Yes sir,” the worker replied. “All the sacks are in the right coaches and are assigned to their correct destination. All ready for Thomas when he arrives too.”

“Good,” said the manager. “Now come along. We got other mail to sort in the meantime. I’ll check back with Thomas when he gets here.” So once the workers were finished loading, they went back into the depot building and sorted other mail.

Diesel saw his chance and quickly got to work. As quietly and carefully as he could, he rearranged the mail coaches so that Thomas would deliver the mail and invitations to all the wrong locations. After a little while, Diesel had rearranged the coaches and felt pleased.

“Ha, ha! Thomas is sure to get in trouble now,” he thought deviously. Then he heard Thomas’ whistle in the distance, and he quickly rushed away before anyone would see him.

Thomas soon puffed in the depot and backed up to the mail coaches. The depot manager came out to see him.

“Ah there you are, Thomas,” he said. “Glad you made it. All the mail and invitations are all stacked in loaded in your vans and are set for their right destination. Make sure you deliver them safely. We want to make sure everyone gets their invitations on time.”

“Yes sir, it will be no problem,” replied Thomas confidently. “I’ll have the invitations delivered in no time. You can certainly count on me.” Then with that, Thomas whistled good-bye and set off, completely unaware of what Diesel did to his train.

Soon Thomas was going all around the island and delivering the mail and invitations to all the stations and villages around Sodor, feeling very confident and sure that he wouldn’t mess up this time. As he was delivering, he came across  Terence the tractor clearing the nearby roads.

“Hello Thomas,” he greeted cheerfully. “Good to see you. Enjoying your day?”

“Oh yes, definitely, Terence,” replied Thomas. “I’ve been helping out with the preparations for the Christmas party and now I’m delivering the invitations to everyone on Sodor.”

“Ooh, well that sounds exciting,” chuffed Terence. “Well, I won’t hold you up in that case and let you get back to delivering them. Good luck with all the preparations by the way, and don’t go running into any snowdrifts, you hear?”

Thomas smiled. “I won’t, Terence, I promise. I won’t make that mistake again.”

"That's good," chuckled Terence. "Otherwise, you would probably need me or Donald and Douglas to pull you out again. Right, fellas?"

Thomas looked over and saw Donald and Douglas coming from the other direction, clearing away snow too. "You're right there Terence," replied Donald. "It wouldn't be a problem to pull him out again, so if he gets stuck we'll pull him out."

"Aye, and hopefully he doesn't," added Douglas, "because it would be pretty embarrassing if he did it again."

"Oh really?" said Donald. "And the whole stationmaster accident wasn't embarrassing enough?"

"Och aye! Almost forgot about that on, Donnie," chuckled Douglas. "Ha! Ha! That was quite an experience for him." And the twins and even Terence laughed.

Even Thomas couldn't help smiling. "Ha, ha. Very funny everyone," he said modestly. "Well, I better get back to delivering the mail. People are still waiting on their invitations. So good-bye everyone."

"Good-bye, Thomas," called Terence and the twins, then Thomas puffed away.

Thomas was making good time with his deliveries and in no time, he had all the invitations delivered and was heading back to Knapford. He felt very pleased with himself and confident he delivered the invitations to the right places.

When he arrived back at Knapford Station Yards, he went to the water tower to be filled with water. Then he saw Annie and Clarabel in a siding.

"Oh hello, Thomas," said Annie. "How are you doing with everything? Are you enjoying your day?"

"Oh yes, very much, Annie," replied Thomas. "A little busy, but nothing I can't handle."

"Oh well, that's good to hear," said Annie. "Well keep it up in that case."

"Yes, we're rooting for you, and wishing you the best of luck," added Clarabel.

Thomas smiled, just then Percy puff in.

"Hello Thomas," said Percy. "How are you doing so far? Are you managing all your jobs all by yourself? Do you need any help?"

"No thank you, Percy," puffed Thomas proudly. "I'm managing all my jobs well. Had a little trouble when I was delivering the decorations, but I just finished delivering all the mail and invitations to each of the stations and I'm sure I did an excellent job this time."

"Oh, well that's good, I guess," chuffed Percy, who felt a little disappointed that Thomas had already delivered the mail.

Just then Sir Topham Hatt came walking over to them, looking cross. "Thomas, what happened? I just received several phone calls from many stationmasters and people around the island saying they got wrong invitations. Did you deliver them to the right stations?"

Thomas was very surprised. "I'm sure I did, sir," he replied. "The manager at the mail depot said they were all in the right vans and going to the right places when I collected them and I'm sure I delivered them to the right places. So I honestly don't know what happened, sir. I thought everything went alright."

"Hmmm, I see," said Sir Topham Hatt slowly, then he thought for a moment and answered. "Are you sure you can handle all the jobs I gave you, Thomas? This is twice now you've made a mistake and I don't want another one to happen between now and tomorrow night. I could always get another engine to help you."

Thomas paused then answered. "No, sir, you don't have to do that. I can handle the rest of my jobs this time. In fact, if it's alright with you, I'll go around the island fix my mail mistake and take all the invitations to the right stations and won't make another mistake."

Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "Very well, Thomas. If you're sure you can do that, then alright, but keep in mind you still need to collect the Christmas tree and the Star of Knapford too and you cannot be late with that."

"Yes sir, I know," replied Thomas. "I'll get to them as soon as I'm done with the mail."

"Alright, but please get going," said Sir Topham sternly. "I'm counting on you, Thomas, and make no more mistakes."

"Yes sir," said Thomas, then Sir Topham Hatt went back to his office.

Percy was worried for his friend. "Thomas, are you absolutely sure you can handle all of that? All those jobs sound like they are a lot for you and I would be happy to help you out if you want."

"No thank you, Percy," grumbled Thomas. "These were my mistakes and my jobs and I can fix them by myself. So I can handle everything and all is under control, thank you very much and I don't need anyone's help. So good-bye, Percy." Then after he was filled up with water, Thomas huffed away to fix his mistake.

"Oh dear, that's not a good sign," sighed Annie.

"Yes, sounds like Thomas is getting a little too eager about his jobs," added Clarabel. "I do hope he'll be alright."

"Same here," agreed Annie. "What do you think, Percy?"

But Percy was feeling upset and a little left out. "Oh Thomas," he puffed. "I really hope you know what you're doing."

Soon Thomas was back out on the mainline and rushing everywhere trying to fix the mail situation. It was a lot of hard work as Thomas had to remember where he delivered the wrong invitations and where they really needed to go, but he did his best and tried to fix it as much as possible.

As he was rushing around, he came across Bertie the bus, who was excited when he saw Thomas rushing.

"Hello Thomas," he said cheerfully. "You look like you're in a bit of a hurry. Everything alright?"

"Yes, everything's fine, Bertie," replied Thomas panting. "Just trying to fix a little mistake I made."

"Oh, well that's good to hear," chuffed Bertie. "Say, since you're rushing around, care for a little race right now?"

"Sorry Bertie, I can't right now," huffed Thomas. "I still got a lot to do today and cannot go racing around. Maybe some other time. Good-bye." Then Thomas hurried on.

"Okay, well good luck, Thomas, and be careful now," called Bertie.

Thomas was taking a little longer than expected to fix his issue and was starting to run a little late. Luckily, after some time, he finally managed to get all the invitations to the right destinations and felt pleased, but now he was behind schedule, so he puffed as quickly as he could to his next job. As he was rushing, he came across Sir Topham Hatt again.

"Thomas, have you finally fix the mail issue?" he asked sternly.

"Yes sir, I just finished it a little while ago," replied Thomas. "Going to collect the tree and the star of Knapford now."

"Well, don't worry about the tree right now," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I'm afraid you took so long with the invitations, that I had to send Percy to get the tree instead. You were running behind so much, that you wouldn't have enough time to collect the tree and the star, Thomas, so that's why I had Percy help you." Thomas was disappointed and a little cross about this, as he wanted to take both. "So now, you have only enough time to collect the Star of Knapford from the docks, and this time, don't be late or make a mistake."

"Yes sir, I know sir," huffed Thomas. "I won't let you down this time."

"Good," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Now please hurry. I want everything at Knapford before the day is done, so please don't let me down." Then with that, Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Diesel was arriving at Knapford station, feeling proud of himself. "He, he, he. Sounds like Thomas is in trouble for sure now," he thought to himself. "Delivering all the mail to the wrong stations and causing confusion and delay. This will teach him to take all the special jobs." Then he saw Percy and Paxton sitting at the platform and heard them talking.

"…and then, Thomas said he could handle everything by himself and didn't need help and went off to get all the invitations to the right destinations," Percy told Paxton.

"Really?" chuffed Paxton. "He thought he could do that? Wow, that's some confidence Thomas has. I wonder if he did it."

"Well, from what I heard, he did," replied Percy, "but he took so long with fixing that issue, that he was running late and Sir Topham Hatt had me collect the tree instead of him and now he's collecting the Star of Knapford." Percy sighed. "I know he's my friend, Paxton, but I think Thomas does way too much sometimes and needs to learn to share his work if it's too much for him."

"Yeah, that would be nice if he did that," agreed Paxton, "but at least he's being really useful all the same, so I think he knows what he's doing most of the time."

When Diesel heard this, he was furious. "Grrrr! Even that wasn't enough to get him in trouble," he grumbled to himself. "How was that even possible? There was no way he could have fixed that and…" Then Diesel looked over and saw the Christmas tree was standing up inside the station on platform one. Then he heard James coming in with a train of oil tankers.

"Huh, oil," grumbled James. "Definitely not one of the jobs I wanted to do today. This is disgraceful. I should be doing something related to the party instead of this and…" But as James was complaining, Diesel got another plan.

"Yes, this should work this time," he thought deviously, and so he went over the points and switched onto James' track, then he charged backwards and bashed into the back of James' train.

"Ow! Hey! Watch where you're going you clumsy diesel!" yelled James.

"Oops, sorry James," said Diesel. "Didn't see you there. Should make yourself heard more so others won't bump into you." Then Diesel chuckled.

James just glared. "What is that diesel's problem?" he muttered to himself. But unbeknownst to James, Percy and Paxton, Diesel's bump had damaged one of the tankers and was now leaking oil on the tracks, leading right into platform one of the station. Diesel saw and was delighted. "Now let's see Thomas get out of this one," he chuffed to himself, then rolled away.

Percy and Paxton saw Diesel leave. "Do you have any idea what that Diesel gets up to sometimes?" Percy asked Paxton.

"Honestly, I don't," chuffed Paxton. "He's just…being Diesel, I guess. That's usually what I assume." Percy just shrugged.

Meanwhile, Thomas had finally fussed back to the docks to collect the Star of Knapford. He was pleased to see the star, but knew he had to hurry, so he quickly buffered up to the star's low loader.

"Whoa, easy there, Thomas me hardie," chuffed Salty. "This is no heavy object you know. Har-har, so you better be careful."

"Yes Salty, I know," puffed Thomas. "I'll be careful. I must go now. I'm in a bit of a hurry right now. Good-bye."

"Oh wait, Thomas! I actually have something to tell you about earlier," called Cranky.

"No time, Cranky," called Thomas back. "I'm running on a tight schedule right now. Tell me later." Then Thomas raced out of the docks. Cranky was annoyed, but a little worried too.

Thomas was racing as fast as he could to Knapford with the star in tow. He was determined to get there time and not let Sir Topham Hatt down again. His wheels were pounding the rails and his pistons were pumping, but he was also not being very careful too.

As he was racing, he came across Toby and Henrietta. They were very surprised to see Thomas going so fast.

"Whoa! Easy there, Thomas. Slow down," called Toby. "No need to go so fast. Knapford is not far away from here you know."

"I know, Toby, but I'm running late," called Thomas. "So I have to go fast to make up time."

"Well, you should slow down anyway," cautioned Henrietta, "because I thought I saw something on the tracks leading into the station, so please be careful." But Thomas was too far away to hear her at this point.

At last, Thomas could see Knapford junction in the distance. "Oh thank goodness," he thought. "Right on time and no trouble this time as well."

Then there was trouble. Thomas tried to slow down, but he didn’t notice the oily rails until it was too late. His wheels slipped and skidded along them and couldn’t stop. He tried to drop sand on the rails, but to no avail. Then to make matters worse, Thomas looked ahead and saw Percy was on his line at the platform.

“Percy! Get out of my way! I can’t stop!” Cried Thomas.

Percy was surprised, and tried to back up in time, but it was too late. Thomas came sliding in too fast and bumped into Percy hard.

“Ouch!” Exclaimed the engines.

Luckily, Thomas stopped, but then there was more trouble: the impact of the bump had caused the Star of Knapford to come loose from the low loader and was now teetered dangerous. It rocked from side to side, then it finally tipped over...right into the Christmas tree. It knocked the tree over and the tree caught some of the lights and garland the workmen had set up and pull them down. Then a chain reaction of disaster spread across the whole station.

Luckily no one was hurt, but after everything settled, the whole station was in a huge mess. Broken lights and torn garland lay everywhere, the Christmas tree was ruined, all the ornaments were broken, and the Star of Knapford was heavily damaged. It was a disaster.

Thomas was worried. Then to make matters worse, there coming out of his office, was Sir Topham Hatt, who was furious.

“Thomas! What on earth did you do?” He thundered.

“Sir, I can explain,” stammered Thomas. “You see, I was trying to make up for lost time and-and I was hurrying around, then I-I came across some oily tracks, s-so I tried to stop, but then I slid and, uh, well...huh, this happened. I’m very sorry sir. I didn’t mean to do it.”

Sir Topham Hatt sighed. “I know you didn’t Thomas, but look at this mess. The tree is ruined, the Star of Knapford is damaged, and all the lights and garland are laying everywhere. This is a disaster. Ooh, why didn’t you ask for help, Thomas? I told you to do so if this was too much for you and you completely ignored my warnings.”

Thomas was most upset. “I’m sorry, sir. I just wanted to prove that I could handle everything for the party, so I didn’t ask for help. I thought it would be easy for me too, but it actually wasn’t. I’m truly sorry, sir, and I promise I won’t do it again.”

“Well, based on the mess, Thomas, you won’t have to worry about doing anything again,” sighed Sir Topham Hatt, “because I’ve decided to cancel the party.”

Thomas was shocked. “Sir!?”

“Yes, I’m afraid it’s too late to order more decorations and they wouldn’t arrive in time before tomorrow night,” explained Sir Topham Hatt. “Also, the sun is setting and it would take too long to clean up this mess before tomorrow night as well. So I’m sorry, Thomas, but I’ve made up my mind. If you had listen to me in the first place, then this wouldn’t have happened. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make other arrangements.” Then Sir Topham Hatt walked sternly back into his office.

Thomas felt very ashamed indeed, and to make matters worse, there he saw Gordon, James, and Percy all glaring at him, indicating they heard and seen everything.

“Looks like you were right all along, Gordon,” chuffed James. “Thomas thought he could do everything, and then proved he clearly couldn’t and ruined everything instead.”

“Quite right, James,” agreed Gordon. “I warned him and everyone else that something like this would happen and they clearly didn’t listen to me and now, the party is ruined and canceled. Almost exactly what I was expecting too, and once again, Thomas has proven how much of a favorite, clumsy, tank engine he is and does nothing but cause trouble.”

Thomas was cross. "I didn't do this on purpose," he huffed crossly. "It was all an accident and you know it. I just came in too fast and the rails were oily."

"Say what you want, Thomas," huffed James, "but we all know the truth about this, and you can't deny that this is all your fault."

"No it's not!" hissed Thomas. "Percy, you know I didn’t mean to cause this, don't you?"

But Percy was cross too. "I want to say yes, but given that you declined my offer to help you with your jobs, this is your fault. I thought we were friends, Thomas, and friends accept help from each other, but you didn't and that was very hurtful, and now look what has happened. Maybe these two are right: you are the favorite around Christmas and get way too much attention and it always goes to your smokebox, then you cause trouble. Frankly, I can't even look at you right now." To prove it, Percy deliberately looked away from Thomas.

Thomas was shocked and flabbergasted. "But…but…but Percy, I…I didn't mean to…" he stuttered.

"Can't you take a hint?" grumbled Gordon. "We're cross with you for what you have done, Thomas. You can't deny that you caused this mess at this point, so you might as well accept it, and move on."

Thomas didn't know what to say, but he saw how cross everyone was with him, and saw that Annie and Clarabel were sitting outside the station and were even cross with him too, so he finally conceded and accepted it. "Yes, you're right, it was my fault. I feel very ashamed about all of this and wished I never did it. I am very sorry, everyone, but I can understand that you won't accept it right now. So instead, I'll just leave get out of your hair." Then with that, Thomas hurried out of the station and disappeared. Diesel, who had been listening outside of the station, sniggered with pride.

Thomas was so ashamed and embarrassed, that he didn't even go back to Tidmouth Sheds, for he knew everyone else would be cross with him too. So instead, he decided to run away. He puffed to some of the loneliest areas of the island, where no one could find him. At last, by the time it was dark, Thomas picked a spot and parked himself. He felt cold, lonely, embarrassed and very upset. He never felt so down before.

"Ooh, why did I think I could handle everything today?" he thought to himself. "I should have known better than to do that. I should have accept everyone's help, then none of this would have happen and the party would still happen. Oh, what a silly engine I am." Then he thought about Gordon, James, and Percy's words. "Maybe they are right: I do cause trouble many times throughout my life. I fell down that mine, I crashed into that stationmaster's house, I caused that tower to collapse at Great Waterton, and I caused so much confusion and delay when the Harwick branchline was being constructed." Thomas sighed mournfully. "Maybe it would have been best if I never came to Sodor in the first place. Then everyone would have better lives and there wouldn't be so much trouble on this island." Then eventually, Thomas drifted off to sleep, still feeling quite depressed.

Thomas was soon fast asleep, dreaming of everyone laughing at him and saying he causes nothing but trouble. Then suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew past his funnel. Thomas woke up with a startle. He looked around to see if anyone was there.

“Huh, that was strange,” he thought, and began going back to sleep.

Then, no sooner had he started sleeping again, when another gust wind blew past him. Thomas was quite surprised. He looked around again to see if anyone was there.

“Hello?” He called. “Is anyone there?” No one replied. Thomas was getting very puzzled indeed. “Something strange is going on here,” he thought.

Suddenly, he heard a voice. “Ah, there you are. I was wondering where you got to.”

Thomas was very surprised and confused. Then suddenly, a bright cloud of what seemed to be gold dust appeared, and from it, came a small man in a conductor’s uniform. Thomas was shocked and amazed.

“Aha, hello Thomas,” said the man. “Good to see you. I was hoping I could find you before it was too late.”

Thomas was confused. “Um, who are you?” He asked.

“Oh I’m sorry, I should’ve introduced myself in the first place,” said the man. “My name is Mr. Conductor. Let’s just say I’m an old friend and here to help you out.”

“Okay,” said Thomas. “But...help me out with what exactly?”

“Well, with your problem, of course,” replied Mr. Conductor. “Now, I heard that you wished you never came to Sodor. Is that correct?”

Thomas sighed. “Yes, that’s right,” he puffed. “After I pretty much ruined the Christmas party, everyone says I cause too much trouble and that’s all I do. So now I think it would have been best if I never came to Sodor in the first place, then there wouldn’t be so much chaos here.”

“Mmmmm,” murmured Mr. Conductor. “Well, Thomas my friend, I know you had a rough day, but I wouldn’t say such things if I were you. You may not believe it right now, but you made many people and engines’ lives better with you presence and you are a very positive impact on everyone.”

Thomas scoffed. “Yeah right. After today, I’m sure I made everyone’s lives worse. So I doubt anyone even wants to see me. Even my friend Percy said he doesn’t want to look at me right now. So if you’re trying to help me, Mr. Clarence, er Conductor, then I’m sorry, but it’s not working and I’m sticking to what I said about wishing I never came to Sodor and everyone’s lives would be better.”

Mr. Conductor thought for a moment, then he had an idea. “Hmmm, alright Thomas, tell you what? I think I can make that wish of yours come true.”

Thomas was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“You think everything would be better without you?” Said Mr. Conductor. “Well, I can show you how different everything would be if you had never come to Sodor in the first place.”

Thomas laughed. “Ha! How can you make that happen? That’s impossible to do. I mean, no offense sir, but even a magician couldn’t make something like that happen.”

“Oh don’t you worry,” chuckled Mr. Conductor. “You would be surprised what I can do. You just go back to sleep now and you’ll see what happens in the morning. Good night, Thomas.” Then Mr. Conductor blew his whistle and disappeared in a cloud of gold dust.

Thomas didn’t believe him. “Pah, what a silly man. Thinking he can make me see how different Sodor would be without me. What a joke. I bet everything will still be the same in the morning. Just wait and see,” he thought, then he went back to sleep.

Part II

The next morning, Thomas woke up feeling bright and cheerful again. Then he remembered what Mr. Conductor had said and looked around to see if anything changed. He looked and looked, but everything looked the same to him.

Thomas chuckled. "I knew it," he puffed. "That magical man was just saying that stuff to scare me. Of course he couldn't do something like that. No one can. I'm sure when I get back to Knapford, everyone will recognize me." Then he remembered something else. "Oh, but they'll probably also remember what I did yesterday and still be cross. Oh well, might as well just get back to work and hopefully, things will blow over and go back to normal." Then Thomas set off back to Knapford.

On his way there, Thomas was still looking around to see if anything had changed over night, but still everything looked exactly the same as it did yesterday. Thomas grinned, thinking he was being very smart.

At last, he arrived back at Knapford. He looked over at the station and most surprised to see that it was clean. The tree, the star, and all the lights and garland were gone and were nowhere to be seen.

Thomas was a little confused. "Wow, Sir Topham Hatt must have sent an expert cleaning team to get all that up," he thought. Then he saw Annie and Clarabel in their siding in the yard. Thomas was pleased to see them.

"Hello ladies," he whistled as he backed up to them. "Good to see you again. I hope you had a good night's sleep and ready for a hard day's work. I know I made a mess yesterday, but I hope we can move on from this and…"

"Uh, excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?" exclaimed Annie.

Thomas stopped. "Um, coupling up to you two and preparing to take you out for our usual run?" he replied puzzledly.

"'Usual run'?" said Annie. "I'm sorry, but what are you talking about, youngster? We have never seen you before."

"What's going on, Annie?" called Clarabel. "Who are you talking to?"

"Some little blue tank engine who claims he has pulled us before," replied Annie, "but I'm not sure he knows who he's talking to."

Thomas was surprised. He didn't know what was going on. Then he had an idea. "Okay, I see what's happening," he chuffed. "You two are mad that I didn't take you out yesterday and spent all day preparing for the Christmas party, aren't you? Well, it's alright and you don't have to be mad anymore. I'm sorry and I'm ready to take you out now."

Annie and Clarabel were most confused. "Listen little tank engine. I'm not sure what you're talking about, but we really don't know who you are, never seen you before, and we don't belong to any engine."

"Yes, we're regular branchline coaches and we go with any engine that needs us," added Clarabel. Then they heard a whistle. "Huh, even if it's that rough riding James."

Thomas was shocked. Then James came into view. "Herrrrrrre's James!" he proudly announced. Then he saw Thomas sitting in front of Annie and Clarabel. "Um, excuse me, but I think you're in front of my coaches, thank you. So could you please, you know, move and get out of my way?"

Thomas grunted. "Your coaches? They haven't been your coaches ever since your big accident with those trucks years ago. They belong to me and you know it, James."

James was confused. "Um, okay, I don't know who you think you are and why you think all that is true, but I've been taking these coaches for years and I haven’t seen you once. Now please, for the last time: move."

Thomas was cross, then he moved out of the way for the sake of arguing. "James, are you still cross with me about yesterday? Because I told you I was sorry and if you're still jealous about me getting all the special jobs, then all I can say is get over it at this point. Now could you please stop being cross with me?"

"Look you," huffed James. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but I think you got the wrong engine here. I don't know about any special jobs or being cross with you. Also, if you're talking about that accident I had with my old wooden brakes, then I've never seen you there either. I don't know how you know that by the way, but please don't remember that."

Thomas couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Oh come on, James. You know what happened. I tried to stop you, but I couldn't, then I got the breakdown train to help you back on the rails, then I helped you to the Steamworks where you got new brakes and new paintwork, and then I got Annie and Clarabel as a reward and my own branchline too. You remember that, don't you?"

James gave Thomas a very puzzled expression. "Not even a little bit," he said. "After that accident, someone else came to rescue me, and yes I got my new red paint and new brakes, but I continued taking Annie and Clarabel since then and I don't know what branchline you're talking about, but no one got one of those after that. So thank you for wasting my time there, little guy, but I must be off now. Good-bye." Then James puffed away with Annie and Clarabel.

"Pah! Can you believe that engine?" he muttered to the coaches. "I've never met someone as strange as him. What a silly engine he must be."

"I cannot believe I'm saying this, but you're right James," agreed Annie. "Quite a silly one indeed."

"I couldn't agree more," added Clarabel, and they were gone.

Thomas was both cross and puzzled at the same time at what just happened. "What has gotten into them?" he wondered.

Just then, he saw Edward, Gordon, and Henry puffing into the yards, and felt relieved. "Oh thank goodness you three are here," he chuffed.

The three engines were confused. "I'm sorry?" asked Edward.

"Oh, it's James, Annie, and Clarabel," explained Thomas. "They've been acting strange today and are pretending they don't know who I am. I'm thinking they're still cross with me about yesterday and are taking it too personally."

Gordon, Henry, and Edward looked at each other. "Um, begging your pardon there, but we don't know who you are either," chuffed Henry.

Thomas jumped. "What? Oh come on, not you three as well. Sure you remember me. I'm Thomas, remember?"

"Mmm, that name doesn't sound familiar to me," chuffed Edward. "Does it to you two?"

"Hmph, not me," grunted Gordon.

"Or me," added Henry.

"Oh sure you do," said Thomas. "Gordon, you remember you tried to teach me a lesson about being cheeky and dragged me along with the express?" Gordon gave him a blank stare. "Okay, but you remember pulling me out of a mine though, right?"

Gordon paused for a moment. "Mmm, no I don't remember any of that," he said.

Thomas groaned. "Okay, but Henry, you remember how you were afraid of the rain and then I helped you overcome your fear of it, right?"

Henry wasn't sure. "Sorry, but that never happened as far as I know," he chuffed, "and I'm still a little afraid of the rain too, by the way."

"Mmmmm!" grumbled Thomas. "Alright but Edward, you remember me for sure, right? You taught me how to be a really useful engine when I first arrived on the island and you taught me right from wrong and helped me a lot. You got to remember that, don't you?"

"Um, no I'm sorry, young fella, but I don't remember any of that," sighed Edward. "Are you sure you talking about us and not three other engines?"

"No, I'm talking about you three specifically," huffed Thomas. "What is wrong with you three? How come you don't remember any of that?"

"I think the question is, what is wrong with you?" retorted Gordon. "Look little tank engine, we've never seen you before and we have no idea what you are talking about, so why don't move along and stay out of our way?"

Thomas was cross. "Fine, I get it. You all are still mad at me too, I see. Well I'll go and find someone who isn't and still 'remembers' me, like they should." Then Thomas hurried out of the yard, leaving the three tender engines confused.

As he was puffing along, Thomas was trying to figure out what was going on. "What is with everyone today?" he wondered. "Why are they acting like they don't know me? They can't still be that cross with me, can they?" Then as he was approaching Knapford Yards, he saw Percy shunting. "Percy! He's sure to remember me. He wouldn't stay cross with me for that long. I'll go talk to him," Thomas thought, and hurried to catch with his friend.

"Percy! Percy!" he called as he caught up with him. "Oh am I glad to see you. Something very strange has been happening today. Gordon, James, Edward, Henry, and even Annie and Clarabel are all saying they don't know who I am. I don't know what kind of game they're playing, but it's honestly making me feel a little uncomfortable."

Percy looked nervous. "Um, who are you? And why are you telling me all this? I'm just here shunting trains for other engines. Are you trying to say you want to help me?"

Thomas gasped. "What? No, no, Percy. Don't tell me you're playing their game too? Come on, I'm your best friend, remember?"

Percy was confused. "Um, I've never seen you before and I don't have many friends. All I do is work in this shunting yard as a station pilot and get trains ready for the mainline engines and don't talk too much to them."

Thomas was shocked. "Wait, did you say you're a station pilot? Since when were you that?"

"Um, since…ever?" replied Percy puzzledly. "I've been in this position ever since I came to the railway because there were no other tank engines around to do this work."

Thomas couldn't believe what he heard. "What? No tank engines? What are you saying? I was the station pilot around here before you arrived, Percy, and I'm a tank engine too. What's going on here?"

"I have no idea and I don't know what you're talking about, um…you," replied Percy. "Look, I need to get back to work, so are you going to help me or not?"

Thomas didn't know what to think. "I…I…I need to figure out what's happening around here." Then he hurried out of the yard.

Percy frowned. "I'll take that as a 'no', I guess," he puffed.

Thomas was soon out racing along the mainline, trying to figure out what was going on. "This cannot be happening," he thought. "How is it that so many of my friends don't know me? This has got to be a dream or something."

Then saw Bertie the bus riding on the road next to the railway. Thomas tried to catch up with him. "Bertie! Bertie! You remember me, don't you? We had a race together and I beat you and we've been teasing and racing each other ever since. You have to remember that, don't you?"

Bertie scoffed. "Look pal, I never had a race with any of you engines, and even if you offered, I wouldn't accept it because I want nothing to do with railways. They overtake the road and try to put us buses out of business. So I don't know who are, buddy, and don't know what you're talking about, but good day." Then Bertie turned off an exit and disappeared.

Thomas was shocked. Then he saw Terence the tractor in a nearby field and decided to ask him. "Terence! Please tell me you remember. I made fun of your caterpillar tracks the first time we met, then you proved how useful they were when you pulled me out of a snowdrift and now, I think they're really useful. You got to remember that, don't you? Please say do."

Terence paused for a moment. "Um, sorry there, fella, but I don't remember any of that, nor do I remember you. Though I appreciate the compliment about my caterpillar wheels. That's one of the nicest things anyone ever said to me." Thomas couldn't believe this either, then he raced off to find someone else.

Along the way, he came across Emily and tried to convince her too.

"Uh…I have no idea what you're talking about, but I never saved Oliver from getting hit by any engine before," she told him. "So I think you got the wrong engine here, buddy, and should probably talk to someone who would know that." Then Emily puffed away. Thomas grumbled, and continued on looking.

Later he came across Donald and Douglas and they said the same thing. "What?" exclaimed Donald. "We saved you twice? Once from a stationmaster's house and a snowdrift? Ho! Ho! Dougie, are you hearing this?"

"Aye, sounds like we got quite a character here," chuckled Douglas. "Sounds like he's a wee but of clumsy ox, don't he, Donnie?"

"That's what I was thinking," laughed Donald. "Look here, laddy. No offense, but we've rescued many engines before, but not one of them was you. So we're sorry, but you may want to keep finding the engines who helped you with those accidents."

"Aye, and be careful not to run into any snowbanks or houses while you're at it," added Douglas, then the twins puffed away laughing. Thomas was cross, and went about his journey once again.

Thomas came across many engines, vehicles, and people along his journey, but each and everyone of them all said they had never seen him before nor do they remember any of the experiences Thomas mentioned to them. Thomas was growing more and more worried about this and very concerned.

That afternoon, he came to a quiet spot among some trees, and tried to understand what was happening. "I've talked to nearly everyone on Sodor today," he puffed, "but not a one of them said they knew who I am. What is going on here and how come no one remembers me? Something very strange is happening today and I'm determined to find out."

Then suddenly, the gold dust cloud appeared and then Mr. Conductor showed up again. "So Thomas, how has you're day been going?" he asked. "Anything interesting happen?"

"Huh, well I wouldn't say 'interesting'," huffed Thomas, "but I would say worrying. It seems like everyone is pretending they don't know me today and I don't know why. It's like they're all still mad at me for the accident at Knapford yesterday."

"Mmm, I see," said Mr. Conductor. "Well, Thomas, they're not pretending nor do they know about that accident because it never happened."

Thomas was puzzled. "What do you mean? Of course it did. I caused it so I would remember."

"True, but that would have been if you were around to cause it," added Mr. Conductor.

Thomas even more puzzled. "What are you talking about, sir?"

"Remember what you wished for last night?" reminded Mr. Conductor. "You said you wished you never came to Sodor because you thought you caused nothing but trouble, and I said I could make that happen…and I did. So today, you've been experiencing that wish, Thomas."

Thomas paused for a moment, and gasped. "Wait! So you're saying the reason why nobody recognizes me…is because I never came to Sodor at all?"

"That's correct, my friend," replied Mr. Conductor. "So you got the chance to see what Sodor was like without you today, and after experiencing that, how do you feel?"

Thomas didn't know what to say, but he thought for a moment, and answered. "Well…pretty left out, actually," he sighed. "I can't believe how different Sodor is without me. I had no idea that so much had changed when I was around. Now it doesn't feel like the Sodor I'm used to being on."

"Well, I did warn you not to say such things last night, Thomas," chuffed Mr. Conductor, "but you seemed pretty sincere with your words, so I thought you should see how different Sodor was without you for yourself."

Thomas felt depressed. He was beginning to regret saying he wished he never came to Sodor. "Just out of curiosity, Mr. Conductor, although I already saw a lot, what else has changed without my presence?"

Mr. Conductor sighed. "Well, without you Thomas, many of your friends never came to Sodor or were never found. Like Stanley, since you never found Great Waterton, Ryan, because the expansion up to Harwick never happened and you didn't fall into the cavern, Daisy, because you never ran into that stationmaster's house, Hiro and Glynn are still abandoned because you weren't around to find them, and…" he paused reluctantly, "…Toby and Henrietta never came because you never had that issue with the policeman on your branchline."

Thomas was shocked. "No! That can't be true! Especially not Toby and Henrietta. That's a shame. I can't believe they're not here on Sodor." Then he thought about his branchline, and gulped. "What else happened, sir?" he asked nervously.

Mr. Conductor frowned. "You're not going to like it, Thomas, but besides some of you friends never coming to Sodor, something much worse happened. After Glynn, was taken out of service, Sir Topham Hatt couldn't find any other engine to take care of your branchline, and so after a while……he decided to shut it down."

Thomas was horrified. "No! No, no, no! That cannot be true. I don't believe you. My branchline is too valuable to be shut down. I want to see it for myself to see if that's true."

Mr. Conductor sighed. "Very well, Thomas, but I've seen how it looks now and you're not going to like it." Then he climbed up into Thomas' cab and they hurried off for Thomas' branchline.

After a while, they were approaching the area where the branchline started, but when they got there, they could go no further. The track was barricaded up and there were trees, bushes, and all sorts of overgrown things laying across the tracks. It clearly looked like it had been abandoned years ago.

Thomas was heartbroken at the sight of this time. "No, this cannot be happening. Not my branchline. It can't be shut down like this."

"I'm sorry, Thomas," sighed Mr. Conductor, "but this along with everything else you experienced today happened without your presence. You really had a huge impact on everyone, Thomas. Without you, this island is a much rather dark and depressing place and hardly anyone is happy. Your bright, cheery, and cheeky personality always made everyone's days and lives better and everyone got along better too. Now everyone is just plain mean and nasty to each other."

Thomas was so upset about all of this, he began to cry. Then he thought for a moment, and spoke. "I don't want Sodor to be like this anymore. I want my old life back."

Mr. Conductor turned and looked at Thomas. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I said I want my old life back," said Thomas firmly. "I take back everything I said last night. I just don't want to be in this world anymore and I want to go back to the way things were when I was on Sodor and be with engines who know and like me."

Mr. Conductor smiled. "I thought you may say that," he chuffed. "I thought all you needed was a to see something in a different way and I happy to hear that. So, in that case…" Then all of a sudden, a huge gust of wind started blowing around them. They were quite surprised.

"In that case…what?" called Thomas through the gale.

Mr. Conductor tried to stand against the wind, but he couldn't fight back. It was to strong for him. "In that case!!" he called. "Jut say…I…need……help!!!" Then suddenly the wind blew so hard, that Mr. Conductor vanished in a cloud of gold dust again.

Thomas was surprised. "Wait! No! Come back, Mr. C! I need you! I can't back without you!" But there was no reply and the wind kept blowing fiercely around him. Thomas was worried now, but he remembered what Mr. Conductor said. So shutting his eyes tightly, he began chanting loudly: "I need help! I need help! I need help!! Please, I need help!!!" And he continued doing it until something happened.

So far, nothing did and Thomas was beginning to doubt himself as he continued chanting, but then suddenly…snow hit in the face and Thomas stopped chanting and opened his eyes.

"Huh? What? W-w-what's happening!?" he exclaimed bewilderedly. Then he looked around and saw Harold the helicopter hovering overhead.

"Oops, sorry about that, old chap," he chuffed. "Didn't mean to wake you up like that. I guess too much wind from my blades caused that snow to fly at you, but still glad I found you, Thomas."

Thomas stared for a moment, then realized something. "Did…did you just call me, Thomas?" he asked Harold.

"Well…yes of course, I did," chuckled Harold. "Is there any other blue tank engine on Sodor with that name? Yes, I've been searching everywhere for you all night, little chap. Sir Topham Hatt was worried about you after you apparently ran away last night and he wanted to talk to you about something before Christmas Eve ends. Luckily, I found your driver and fireman wandering around here from above and they showed me where you were. So now, I think you may want to head back to Knapford and see what Sir Topham Hatt wants."

Thomas' eyes widened, then he smiled brightly. "I'm back!!" he exclaimed happily. "It was just a dream! I have my old life back again! Ha! Ha! This is great!!! Oh, I can't wait to see everyone again."

Harold was puzzled. "Um, are you alright there, Thomas?" he asked.

"Oh yes, never been better, Harold," replied Thomas proudly. "I'm on my way now. So good-bye! Oh, and now I remember, Merry Christmas!" Then Thomas raced off.

"Oh, well Merry Christmas to you too, old chap!" called Harold, then he took off back into the sky.

Thomas was so happy that everything was just a dream and things were back to normal, that he didn't go directly to Knapford and went all around Sodor to see everyone and wish them a Merry Christmas. First, he saw Edward and Henry in the distance and whistled loudly at them.

"Merry Christmas, Edward and Henry!" he shouted. "Great to see you again!"

Edward and Henry were most surprised, but were happy to see Thomas so happy.

"Merry Christmas, Thomas!" called Henry back.

"Yes Merry Christmas indeed!" called Edward as well. "Nice to see you again too, Thomas!"

Then Thomas saw Emily collecting passengers at Kellsthorpe Road station and came racing up excitedly. "Merry Christmas Emily!" he whistled cheerily.

Emily jumped in surprise, but when she saw Thomas, she smiled. "Merry Christmas, Thomas!" she whistled back. "Nice to see you again too, by the way!" Then Thomas disappeared.

Next, Thomas came to an area where the road and rail ran beside each other, and then he saw Bertie coming up alongside. "Bertie! Nice to see you again, old friend!" whistled Thomas.

"Nice to see you too, old timer!" chuckled Bertie. "Care for a race this time? Or are you still busy like yesterday?"

"Sorry Bertie, still busy and have to take care of a few things, but the next time I have free time, we'll race for sure," promised Thomas. "In the meantime, Merry Christmas and see you later!"

"Oh ho, alright, well Merry Christmas and see you later too!" called Bertie cheerfully. "And good luck to you as well!"

Then Thomas saw Donald and Douglas taking on water with Terence plowing nearby, and he raced towards them too.

"Merry Christmas, Donald! Douglas! And Terence!" he whistled cheerfully. "Glad to see you all again!"

The twins and Terence were surprised, but joyfully answered back.

"Merry Christmas to you too, lad!" called Donald and Douglas.

"Yes, Merry Christmas indeed!" called Terence, then he saw there was a snowbank on Thomas' line. "Oh! Watch out for that…!" But Thomas plowed right through the bank with a hard pow! The others were surprised.

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" called Thomas excitedly, and he kept going.

The twins and Terence were surprised. "How on earth was that wee little bugger able to do that!?" exclaimed Donald.

"I know," chuffed Douglas. "Even we can't do that together. I guess all that Christmas spirit must have given him an energy boost or something."

"Sure seems like it did," chuffed Terence, but they were happy to see Thomas happy nonetheless.

Thomas was soon running all over the island and wishing everyone he saw a Merry Christmas. Everyone was, of course, very surprised about this, but were happy to see Thomas was being so cheery and that he was found.

Thomas even went to see if the engines that had been missing were still around too. So first, he raced up to the Harwick branchline and when he got to Arlesburgh Yard, he was relieved to see Ryan and Daisy there. He whistled excitedly to them, "Merry Christmas, you two!", and raced off, leaving Ryan and Daisy a little surprised and confused.

Next, he saw Hiro coming up and whistled excitedly to him. "Merry Christmas, Hiro!" Hiro was most surprised, but gave Thomas a cheerful whistle in return.

Then, Thomas raced past Great Waterton and was relieved to see that it was in a good state, and even better, was relieved to see Stanley puffing by as well.

"Merry Christmas, Stanley!" Thomas whistled, and continued on. Stanley gave him a friendly whistle back.

Then Thomas raced all the way up to Ulfstead Castle to see if Glynn was there. When he arrived up there, he was relieved to see Glynn and whistled excitedly to him. "Merry Christmas Glynn! Happy to see you as always!" Then Thomas raced away. Glynn was most surprised too and didn't know what to think, but still gave Thomas a friendly whistle in return as well.

Soon Thomas was nearly at Knapford station, but before he got there, he was most relieved to see Toby and Henrietta again.

"Oh, Toby and Henrietta," he sighed. "I'm so glad to see you again and to see you're alright."

Toby and Henrietta were surprised. "Well, we're glad to see you again too, Thomas," chuffed Toby, "but where else would we be?"

"Oh…somewhere completely different right now, let's just say that," chuckled Thomas. "I'm just glad you too are here with us on Sodor."

"Oh, well thank you very much, Thomas," smiled Toby, still a little confused. "We're glad to be here too."

"Yes, we are," agreed Henrietta. "Oh! But you may want to get to Knapford now. Sir Topham Hatt is still looking for you."

"Oh right! I almost forgot," exclaimed Thomas. "I'll head there right now. Good-bye you too, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, Thomas!" called Toby and Henrietta, then Thomas raced off once more.

At last, Thomas was approaching Knapford station. He was pleased to see it and that Gordon, James, and Percy were all there, but then realized he was on the same track as Percy again. "Uh oh!" he thought, and quickly slammed on his brakes.

Sir Topham Hatt was on the platform and saw Thomas coming in too fast. "Whoa! Whoa!! Thomas! Thomas, slow down!" he cried.

Thomas tried as hard as he could to stop, then he and everyone shut their eyes fearing the worst, but luckily this time, Thomas stopped, and a few feet away from Percy's buffers.

Thomas opened his eyes, and was relieved. "Phew, I'm sorry about that, sir, and Percy," he puffed. "I guess I was little excited to be back, that's all. I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright, Thomas," soothed Sir Topham Hatt after opening his eyes. "Right now, all I care about is seeing you back again and in one piece. You had all of us worried when you ran away last night and I think I speak for all of us when I say we're pleased to have you back. Right, Gordon, James, and Percy?"

"Yes sir, we are," replied the engines.

Thomas was surprised. "Really? You are? You-you're not cross with me?"

"No not anymore," chuffed Gordon.

"We just wanted to make sure you were alright at this point," added James.

"And we're happy to see that you are," finished Percy.

This made Thomas feel happy. "I'm happy to be back too. I'm sorry for running away last night too. I just thought you all were too cross with me about this mess yesterday, so I decided to run away and get away from everyone, that's all."

"Well…that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, Thomas," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I found out last night from a few engines and people that yesterday's events were not all your fault."

Thomas was surprised. "Beg pardon, sir? They weren't?"

"No," said Sir Topham Hatt. "In fact, someone set you up for those incidents yesterday and I can't believe I didn't realize it before, but the engine most responsible for everything…was Diesel."

"Diesel?!?!" exclaimed Thomas loudly.

"Yes, Thomas, him," replied Sir Topham Hatt. "Percy and Paxton told me they saw Diesel bumping into James' oil tankers yesterday and the leaking oil had caused you to come into the station too fast and that's why this mess happened."

"Also, I found out the mail and invitation incident wasn't your fault either," added Percy. "I stopped by the mail depot last night and some of the workers said they saw Diesel rearranging the mail coaches around. So that's why you delivered everything to wrong places yesterday." Thomas was surprised.

"And lastly," chuffed James, "the decorations and ornaments incident wasn't your fault either. I heard from Cranky that he saw and heard Diesel bashing the trucks together and deliberately broke them, so he made it look like it was you who did that."

Thomas was shocked and cross at the same time. "Ooh, that Diesel!" he grumbled. "It all makes sense now. I knew I couldn't have done all of that. Huh, when I see him again…"

"You will not do anything to him," Sir Topham Hatt cut in sharply. "Besides, I've already talked with him and I believe he has something to say to you. Don't you, Diesel?"

Then at that point, Diesel rolled into the station looking mournful. "Yes sir," he grunted. "Thomas, I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for you yesterday. I was just jealous that you got all the special jobs and I didn't have any. So I decided to take matters into my own buffers and try to get you in trouble for them, but now I realized that was a big mistake and I shouldn't have done that. So again, I'm sorry for everything."

Thomas was still a little cross with Diesel, but was happy that he apologized. "Thank you for owning up to it, Diesel. I'm still not happy about what you did, but I'm just glad that it wasn't me who did all of that."

"Well, you know," chuffed Gordon, "while we're on that subject, we also want to apologize to you too, Thomas."

"Yes," agreed James. "We're sorry for the way we treated you yesterday. Like Diesel, we were jealous that you were given so many special jobs for the party and we didn't really mean what we said about you."

"Indeed," said Gordon. "You don't always cause accidents, Thomas, and you are a hardworking engine, and a really useful one at that. Also, you are not Sir Topham's favorite around Christmas time as well, because like you said: everyone is. So yes, we are sorry for those things." Thomas smiled.

"And I'm sorry for what I said too," added Percy. "I was just cross about the whole mail situation and that you turned down my offer, Thomas. We are still friends and even if we upset each other sometimes, friends stay together to the end, no matter what happens."

Thomas smiled happily. "Thank you everyone, and you are all certainly forgiven. I'm mainly happy to see you guys again and that things are back to normal." The engines and Sir Topham Hatt were puzzled. "Uh, it's a long story and I'll tell you later," stammered Thomas, "but now, it's my turn to say sorry. I shouldn't have been so conceited with my jobs and should have asked for help too. Even if Diesel hadn't caused so much trouble for me, I probably would've ended up in a similar accident like this one. So I'm sorry that I didn't ask for help and ruined everything for the party. I just wish it could still happen even if today is Christmas Eve, but that's impossible at this point."

"Mmm, so that's the other thing I wanted to mention," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "After much thinking and consideration, I've decided to actually not cancel the party after all."

The engines gasped in surprise. "Really, sir?" they said in unison.

"Yes, that's right," said Sir Topham Hatt proudly. "After I heard about Thomas running away, I decided to see if it was possible to order new decorations and have everything repaired before tonight, and luckily, it is possible. The new decorations will be here soon, the Star of Knapford can be repaired, and a new Christmas tree is at the orchard right now."

The engines were delighted. "Hooray!" they cheered.

"That is great news sir," said Thomas happily. "Thank you for making it happen." Then he thought of something. "Also, sir, if it's alright with you, I think this time, just to make sure another disaster doesn't happen…I think I need help this time."

"You 'think'?" pondered Sir Topham Hatt.

"Mmm, actually I do need help, I meant to say," chuffed Thomas. "All of this is going to require a lot help and we need everyone's help to make this happen."

Sir Topham Hatt chuckled. "That's absolutely fine, Thomas. I was even going to tell you that as well. Having each of my engines helping out with this will be perfect."

Then at that point, the rest of the Steam Team appeared, all ready and willing to help out.

"We're ready when you are, sir, and Thomas," Edward said proudly.

"Excellent," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Now this will take a lot of work, but with everyone's help, we can make our Christmas Eve party happen after all. Can I count on all of you?"

"Yes sir!" replied the engines.

"Even me, sir?" asked Diesel excitedly.

"No, you'll be delivering coal to all the stations with Paxton, Diesel," grunted Sir Topham Hatt. Diesel groaned.

"Ha, ha," chuckled James under his breath.

"But you can still attend the party," added Sir Topham Hatt, "as long as you don't cause anymore trouble."

"Yes sir, I promise you that this time for sure," said Diesel proudly, even though he still didn't want to take coal.

Soon all the engines were working extra hard to make the party happen. Edward and Toby helped with clearing the station of broken lights and damaged garland. Emily and James went to collect the new decorations from the docks. Henry collected the new Christmas tree and the repaired Star of Knapford. Gordon went around collecting many important passengers for the party. Lastly, Thomas and Percy went quickly around Sodor delivering mail to each of the stations, letting people know that the party was still on, and this time, there were no mistakes.

Thomas even had Annie and Clarabel help out with the mail too. "Oh, this is undignified for us," grumbled Annie. "We are not mail coaches, we are passenger coaches and we take people."

"Oh, stop it Annie," huffed Clarabel. "Just be happy we're helping with the party and that we're finally back with Thomas again."

"Yes, that's true, it is nice to help and being with Thomas again is quite nice," admitted Annie.

Thomas smiled. "And it's definitely nice to be back with you too as well," he chuffed proudly.

Then they saw Diesel and Paxton pass by with their coal train. "Oh cheer up, Diesel," called Paxton cheerfully. "We're almost done with this you know. Just think how many people will be please they will have nice warm stations to wait in for when they go home tonight."

"Grrrrr," grumbled Diesel. "Alright Paxton, you win. Let's get going in that case."

"That's the spirit," chuffed Paxton. "That's the jolly, old Diesel I know." Then they continued on. Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel laughed as they passed by.

It was hard work trying to prepare everything in time for the party, but everyone was doing their best and working hard. At last, by early evening and after nearly a full day of preparations, Knapford station was finally redecorated and ready for the party. Lights and garlands lit up the station, the Star of Knapford shone brightly above the station, and the Christmas tree looked magnificent with all of its new decorations and ornaments. The steam team looked at the station and were most impressed.

Thomas was very happy. "We did it!" he cheered. "It was hard work, but we fixed everything and we can have our annual Christmas Eve party after all!" The engines whistled and cheered in delightment. "And thank you all for helping this time too," added Thomas. "I couldn't have done all of this without you and having help certainly makes a difference."

The engines all smiled. "And thank you for letting us help you this time too, Thomas," smiled Edward. "It was a pleasure to help and the station certainly does look much better now. I think we can all agree we are definitely looking forward to the party later tonight." The engines all agreed.

"So am I," came a voice. It was Sir Topham Hatt. He came out of his office, dressed as Santa Claus. "Well everyone, I must say I am very impressed with you all. The station looks magnificent and definitely better than before. I'm proud of you for putting in the extra work to make the party happen after all. Well done, everyone."

"Thank you, sir," replied the engines.

"And Thomas," added Sir Topham Hatt. "Thank you for asking for help this time too. Glad to see you learned your lesson…again, and I'm proud of your wise decision. You truly are a really useful engine, like everyone else."

Thomas beamed proudly. "Thank you very much, sir," he said proudly.

"Now everyone," continued Sir Topham Hatt. "The party will begin soon, so please go get ready and make sure everyone is here on time. I want this to be an extra special occasion."

"Yes sir, right away sir," replied the engines, and they hurried off to get everyone ready for the party.

That night, the whole station was dark and quiet. There wasn't a sound to be heard. Then, Sir Topham Hatt's voice sounded out: "One! Two! Three!" And all at once, the station was filled with lights and decorations. Everything glowed everywhere and it was a magnificent sight. Everyone and every engine who was there ooed and awed at the station and were most impressed.

Then Sir Topham Hatt stood at the podium in front of the station and began talking. "Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and engines. I want to welcome each and everyone of you to this year's annual Christmas Eve party. Now as some of you may know, this party almost didn't happen due to a few incidents the day before, but thanks to Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends and a few last minute plans, we managed to do the impossible and fixed everything in time for tonight after all. So let's give a round of applause to them for their hard work today." Everyone cheered and the other engines whistled for them. "Oh, and speaking of Thomas," added Sir Topham Hatt, "I am especially happy to have him back again after going missing last night. It just wouldn't be the same if we didn't have him here with us tonight." Thomas beamed and blushed. "And I will say this as well," continued Sir Topham. "I may trust Thomas with a number of jobs, but he and his fellow engines have proven today that everyone needs help now and then and everything can get done and completed when everyone works together. So I say we should all give three cheers for Thomas the tank engine and his really useful friends! Hip! Hip!"

"Hooray!" cheered everyone, and they cheered and cheered. Thomas and the other engines were pleased and Thomas was the happiest of all.

"Now without further ado, let's move on to some much needing caroling," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Salty, do you mind starting us off?"

"Aye-aye, sir, happy to do so! Har, har, har, har!" chuckled Salty. "Ahem. Ooooooooohhhhhh…we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas…"

"We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!" everyone else joined in, and the caroling continued and the partying began.

As everyone was doing so, Thomas whispered to Percy. "You know Percy? I have to admit, even though I do tend to do too much sometimes, I'm glad that I always have friends to help me and they are always there to make me feel better if I'm ever in trouble or upset, and lastly, I'm very happy to be here on Sodor too."

Percy smiled. "Glad to hear you say that, Thomas, and you know? You're the same exact way to us as well. Your always there to help us and make us feel better if we're ever in distress and you look out for us too. You really do make everyone feel better, Thomas, and without you, who knows what Sodor would be like."

"Oh I can you right now, Percy," puffed Thomas. "It would not be good. Believe me, I had a dream last night that proved it and you don't want to know what happened."

Percy was a little confused, but then he chuckled. "Well, I'll take your word for it, Thomas," he puffed. "Come on, let's join in the carols." Then Percy joined in with everyone else singing.

Thomas, however, thought for a moment and looked up at the sky. He saw there were many twinkling stars everywhere and the moon shining bright. He paused, then whispered under his breath. "Thank you for all your help, Mr. Conductor. If it hadn't been for you, I would still be in denial. I realize now that many people and engines' lives are much better when I'm around and I'm very pleased to have such a wonderful life here on the Island of Sodor. So Merry Christmas, Mr. C, and I hope to see you again in my dreams some day." Then a shooting star flew overhead and Thomas was sure he saw what looked like gold dust coming from the star too. He had a good feeling that somehow, Mr. Conductor heard his wish.

"Um, Thomas?" asked Percy. "Who were you just talking to?"

"Oh, let's just say I was thanking an old friend somewhere out there for all his help and wishing him a Merry Christmas," chuffed Thomas.

"Oh, okay," smiled Percy.

"Now come on, Percy," said Thomas jollily. "Let's continue with the carols like you said and let's enjoy this very Merry Christmas Eve."

"Suits me, Thomas," agreed Percy

Then together, the two friends joined in with the rest of the caroling, and sang the night away too, and as they were, Thomas had to admit, he couldn't think of being anywhere else in the world than being with his friends and family right here on the Island of Sodor.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • This special is based on the 1946 Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.
    • During their first meeting, Thomas even mistakenly calls Mr. Conductor "Clarence" at one point, referencing the angel of the same name from the movie who helped George Bailey with his problem. Mr. Conductor's role in this special is also based on Clarence's role as well.
  • Numerous references to television series episodes and specials are made throughout the special. All of which include:
    • Thomas and Gordon, Thomas and the Breakdown Train, Thomas, Terence and the Snow, Thomas and Bertie, Thomas in Trouble, Down the Mine, Thomas Comes to Breakfast, Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree, Emily's New Coaches, The Christmas Coffeepot, The Great Discovery, Hero of the Rails, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, and The Adventure Begins.
  • Ringo Starr’s version of Mr. Conductor is portrayed in this special.
  • Going canonically by the television series, this special makes the return's a of a few things:
    • Great Waterton's first appearance since the twelfth season television series episode, "Best Friends.
    • The Star of Knapford's first appearance since the fourteenth season television series episode, Merry Winter Wish.
  • This special has had numerous changes over the years:
    • In December 2018, it was originally going to be published, but was initially cancelled due to story complications and production delays.
    • In December 2019, after much thought, the author decided to bring it back and publish it, but in an abbreviated format.
    • In December 2020, due to popular demand, the author published a full version of the special.

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