Diamond in the Rough - ThomasNATION Fanstory
January 25, 2025
"My, you're in a good mood, Sonny." smiled Toby. "What's the occasion?"
"The gov's gone and given me the day off," Sonny explained, "so I'm gonna head to my old mine."
"Your old mine?" asked James.
"Yeah, I used to work at a coal mine!" Sonny chuckled. "The Maltby Main Colliery. We used to have an old dream where we was gonna mine for coal, but instead...find a gem!"
"What do you mean a gem?" pondered Toby.
"Aw, you know! A gem! Like a ruby, or an amethyst, or...or maybe one of them fancy topazes. But what we really wanted to find was a diamond!"
"Wow, a diamond!" gasped James. "Can you imagine that? If you found one of those, you'd probably be...the second most splendid engine on Sodor!"
"What? Behind you?"
"Whoa, Sonny," laughed James, "you said it. Not me."
Sonny rolled his eyes. As the guard's whistle blew, he was off to his old mine!
"See ya later, Sonny!" called Toby. "Hope you find a diamond!"
Sonny spent a little bit finding his old mine. He travelled all over the mainland, and had to ask directions once or twice, but it wasn't until he reached the Bridlington goods yard where he had a breakthrough.
"Hey, Ulli!" called out one of the diesels. "You know the way to the...what was it?"
"Maltby Main Colliery."
"...yeah, that. Y'know where it is?"
Ulli thought for a second. "Nope."
"Can't help ya, pal." sneered the diesel. "Hey, why don't ya ask your little crook friends?"
As the diesel raced off laughing, Sonny was about to head off. But then...
"I know where it is." called out Hurricane.
Sonny gasped. "You do?"
Hurricane led Sonny to the Maltby Main Colliery. It was a bit dustier and had a lot more machines than he remembered, but one thing was certain: he was home!
"Wow, it's all grimy, dirty and it smells horrible." Sonny gasped. "It hasn't changed a bit!"
Another engine looked over at Sonny, doing a double-take upon seeing her old friend. "Sonny? Is that you, mate?"
"Amber!" gasped Sonny. "How ya been, mate?"
"Aw, hasn't been too busy without you, Son-ski," Amber chuckled, "but Quentin and Tristan are still hard at work."
"Yeah? How are they?"
"Why don't ya find out?" Amber led Sonny to two other engines, the big and strong Quentin and the small and compact Tristan. "Look alive, boys! Sonny's back!"
"SONNY!" cried Quentin and Tristan.
Sonny was over the moon to be reunited with his old friends. "'Ey, boys! Been a while, eh?"
"I know!" laughed Quentin. "What's it been, six years?"
"I think it's more seven years, three months, two weeks and five days," pondered Tristan, "but who's counting?"
"Yeah...Tristan's missed you."
Sonny laughed. "So, what've I missed then? Did you lads find any diamonds?"
"No," started Amber, "but get this. We've 'ad a breakthrough!"
Sonny gasped. "Well in! How'd you manage that?"
"One of the lads was workin' in the mines," explained Quentin, "and he said he's found something in the ore!"
"We had it analysed by a specialist," Tristan continued, "and it turns out it just so happened to be the classic hydrated amorphous form of silica."
"Yeah, 'e's only gone and found an opal!" Amber smiled.
"Really? That's awesome!" laughed Sonny. "Wait, how'd you get that from hydrated...I've forgotten what it is already."
"I spent a lot a' time with Tristan." Amber chuckled.
"The point is," Quentin continued, "if there was an opal in there, chances are there could be a real live diamond!"
"Well, what are we standin' here for?" declared Sonny. "We're this close to making coal mine history! Let's get to work!"
The four of them spent hours in the mines, delivering miners back and forth from the depths of the colliery. They were warned to steer clear of the third shaft as it was a bit unstable, but that didn't bother them. As the hours passed, the four chums decided to strike up a conversation.
"So, what's Sodor like?" asked Quentin.
"Aw, it's brill." gushed Sonny. "You meet so many nice engines. This one bloke, a little tram named Toby, one of the nicest chaps you'll meet!"
"Isn't Toby the guy who used to run that little tramline?" asked Amber. "I just assumed 'e was an electric engine!"
"Heh. Electric indeed." Tristan chuckled. "Actually, he's a GER Class C48 0-6-0T steam tram."
"Not quite." said Sonny. "He's actually a C53."
"Ah. So close."
"So how long did it take you to realise those two owners of yours were no good?" asked Quentin.
"Yeah, it took me longer than I'm prouder to admit." sighed Sonny. "They used me to steal a bunch of blueprints!"
"What? No way." laughed Amber.
"Yeah. All I wanted to know is what were they gonna do with blueprints?"
"Honestly, I've no idea," laughed Tristan, "but I don't think they would've gotten past the drawing board."
As the four laughed, the coal miners hopped back into the coaches.
"Any luck, lads?" asked Sonny.
"Sorry, Sonny." one of the miners said. "We've looked for ages. No luck."
Sonny sighed, clearly exhausted from the pushing and pulling. "Alright, let's try another mine."
"Can't do that, I'm afraid." said the foreman. "Closing time."
"What?" gasped Sonny. "It's night time?"
"We can try again tomorrow, right?" asked Amber.
"I can't." sighed Sonny. "I'm going back to Sodor tomorrow."
"Oh. Right." frowned Quentin. "Well, there's always next time. Eh?"
Sonny was in his old shed, trying to sleep, but he was still frustrated. It doesn't seem like a big issue, sure, but to Sonny and his friends, finding a diamond in the coal mines was a big deal. It would've proven they were more than they were perceived as. He tried to get back to sleep, but he couldn't...the loud siren and clamoring miners wasn't helping.
"What?" gasped a startled Sonny. "What's going on?"
"It's Campbell!" cried the foreman. "He's stuck in the mine!"
"You're jokin'!" cried Amber. "We cleared everyone out."
"I know," said the foreman, "but I went back in to get my shovel, and there he was, his leg trapped under a rock!"
"What mine is he in?!" cried Quentin.
"He's in the third shaft!" declared the foreman.
"The unstable one?!" cried Sonny. "As in, the one that's about to collapse?"
"Pretty much!"
Sonny thought for a second. "Tristan! How long do you think I have in there?"
"I think that mine has a good five minutes and forty-four seconds!" shouted Tristan.
"I...I think I can make that!" Sonny said as he raced into the shaft.
"SONNY!" cried Quentin. "NO!"
But it was too late, as Sonny was now racing into the mine. It didn't take long for him to find and free Campbell, but it also didn't take long for the shaft to cave in.
"AH!" Sonny screamed. "Back up!"
Sonny's driver kicked it into high gear as he raced backwards down the line, getting hit by several rocks and ores as he sped back into the light and to safety, barely making it as the mine collapsed. The miners cheered as Campbell was taken away to the hospital.
"I thought you said I had five minutes." panted Sonny.
"I may have estimated wrong." chuckled Tristan.
"Wait." gasped Amber. "What's that?"
Sonny noticed a small glimmer in his handrail. It was...a diamond.
"No. Way." gasped Quentin.
"Aw, well in, Son-ski!" laughed Amber. "I had a feelin' you'd find one!"
"Really?" Sonny smiled.
"You wanna keep it, mate?" asked Tristan. "Y'know, as a memento?"
Sonny thought about it, but decided... "Nah, you guys keep it."
"Come on, mate," chuckled Quentin, "think of the bragging rights!"
"Yeah, but this was your dream! You guys keep it."
Sonny's driver handed the diamond to Quentin. "Wow. I don't know what to say...no, really, you lads got anything?"
"Cheers, Sonny." smiled Amber. "We won't forget this."
"Anytime." Sonny replied.
As the sun rose, Sonny was en route back to Sodor. He was gonna miss his old colliery and his mates, but he was nonetheless thrilled to have helped accomplish their biggest dream.
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