(WARNING: The following chapter is VERY dark at times. Nightmares, and other PTSD related issues are described in graphic detail, as are some of Leopard's past experiences. You have been warned!)

Even though most of those in Battalion 4009 were married, or engaged by the time that the Winter of 2029-30 set in, all was not well in paradise. PTSD, and all of the health issues that came with it, continued to dog all of us. Everyone had it, and some of the symptoms were similar, but yet no two cases were the same.

For some, it became hard to tell the difference between blowing garbage, and a tossed grenade. What was Ponies cheering, and what was civilians screaming for help. The difference between your wife/fiance/marefriend gently touching you in bed, and an enemy coming to take your life.

It wasn't uncommon at odd hours of the night to hear Battalion 4009 members racing about the streets of Ponyville, trying to get to the train so that they could race off to their next battle. Even I myself had this happen a number of times. One night, I was working at my desk in my office, when all of a sudden, I heard an alarm off in the distance. I listened closer, and I also heard the sounds of other soldiers racing about. I knew what that meant. Battle stations!

As quickly as I could, I grabbed my weapons, pulled on my uniform, and raced out to the railyard.

When I arrived there a few minutes later, alarms were going off, and while Battalion 4009 was loading up onto Iron Glory, the crew of the Battleship Express were trying to get the train ready to go again.

Suddenly, Don came running up to the railyard. "What in the world is going on out here?!" I could see that he was wearing his pajamas.

We all saluted. "Sir, awaiting your orders, Sir!"

Don sighed. "Guys, there are no orders. The war's been over for almost 5 months now. Your orders are to stand down!"

When Don said that, we all froze where we were. Then reality came flooding back to us. We were in the Old Railyard, and all around us was the under construction Imperial War Museum. The Caribou and Zebras were gone, and would never return. Equestria was safe, and it was 2:22am.

Instead of being angry though, Don more than sympathized with all of us. He too had come running a number of times himself. For an hour or so longer, we sat on the train, and had a group therapy session. We discussed what struggles we were dealing with in our daily lives because of the wars, and how we were coping. Our wives/fiances/marefriends, fresh from running and flying from their bedrooms, joined us as well.

We would have a number of these sessions over the months and years following the war. PTSD would dog us for the rest of our lives. There were some things that were broken that just couldn't ever fully be repaired.

Like I mentioned before, PTSD affected all of us differently. Guys like Don struggled with bad memories, and keeping his mind anchored in the present. Todd suffered from fits of sadness, as well as survivor's guilt. Alex had issues with schizophrenia, paranoia, and nightmares. Guys like Dan and Cole suffered from paranoia and nightmares, as well as flashbacks.

Even guys like Jim had problems. In fact, what so few people realize about Jim was that he was actually married. He had a wife, and she lived on the train. None of us ever saw her though, as she was extremely timid, and her mind was all but gone due to losing all of her kids and grandkids in the World Wars. Quietly, some referred to her as "The Shadow on the Train". I saw her a few times, but only for a few seconds. When he wasn't taking care of the train, Jim was taking care of his wife, Melanie.

And me? What do I struggle with? Nightmares, flashbacks, and even hallucinations in a few cases. Memories of the past refused to leave me be. Night after night HE continued to torment me. He plagued my dreams, and would not let me forget who he was.

It was horrible, it was almost nightly, and it wouldn't end. "NOOOO!!!!! GWAH!!!! GET OFF OF ME!!!" I screamed, grabbing at the neck of the being lying on my chest. "YOU'LL NEVER GET ME AGAIN!!!"

"Stud?! STUD!!! WAKE UP!!!!"

I suddenly came to myself again. I was in Dash's bed, sweating profusely, while Dash and Spitfire were trying to make sure I was ok. I then looked down, and I realized that the being that I grabbed and tried to strangle was Daring! Like she usually did, she slept lying on my chest, and in my nightmare-induced panic, I saw that she was the monster from my dream, and I tried to strangle her!

"Oh gosh! Daring! Are you ok!!?!"

She pulled my hands off of her. "Yeah! Yeah.....I'm......fine Stud........" I could tell that she was visibly shaken up.

I held her close. "I'm so.....so sorry Babe. I....d-didn't know!"

Spitfire then felt something wet on the sheets next to her. She looked down, and sure enough, the sheets under us were soaked. "Eww! Stud, you wet the bed!"

I looked down, and sure enough, I was sitting on sheets soaked with sweat and urine. My fur and skin were wet as well. All I could do was bury my face in my hands and start sobbing.

"Do you need to wear diapers again Stud? This bed-wetting is getting ridiculous!"

Dash came to my defense. "Hey, back off Spits, right now! These nightmares that Stud keeps having are FAR WORSE than ordinary nightmares, or even night-terrors. His are fueled by PTSD, as well as the memories, and experiences of the wars. He fought through an attempted coup, 4 World Wars, a cold war, AND the Imperial War! Leave him be! Hell YOU'D be a bed-wetter too if you saw even a FRACTION of what this guy has been through!"

Spitfire knew that Dash was right, and she sighed. "Yeah, and I'm.....sorry Stud. But this is just getting so....frustrating! WHY can't you get a handle on these nightmares?! It's so GROSS waking up soaked in your pee!"

I didn't answer right away.

Dash then spoke up. "She's right Stud, we HAVE to talk about this! Night after night you refuse to tell us what you dream about, and night after night, (with some exceptions) is like this! We're all woken up by you screaming, trying to hurt yourself and/or us, and these days you keep wetting the bed!"

No answer.

"Stud, PLEASE talk to me! You're my husband, and I HAVE to help you get through this! You HAVE to tell me what's wrong!"

I finally looked up at her. "Just......help me get out of here, we'll get the sheets to the washing machine, then shower, maybe relax in the hot tub, and then I'll tell you everything. I agree too, 25 year old guys have NO BUSINESS wetting beds!"

Dash nodded slowly, and after she, Spitfire and Daring all got up, we stripped the bed, flipped the mattress over, took the sheets to the washing machine, put them in, put in the detergent, and started up the machine. Then we each got a quick rinse in the shower, before heading to the pool room. The time was almost 2:45am, and it was dark in there. The moonlight shone through the windows, creating eerie reflections of the water on the walls.

"Don't....turn on the lights please. Just.....turn on the small lights in the pool and hot tub. I want it to be dark."

Dash nodded. "Sure, whatever you say Stud." She did so, and then we all got into the hot tub.

All of us were nude as always, and once we were settled, we all just sat in silence. I kept looking down at the water, and still seemed to be trying to get a grip on myself.

Daring then took my hands gently into her own. "Please Stud, tell us what keeps happening to you. I WANT to help you!"

I sighed. "What I'm about to tell you DOES NOT leave this room. NOBODY else needs to know the truth of what I'm about to tell you."

Dash, Spitfire and Daring all looked at each other before nodding slowly. I did have to leave for a brief moment to get a few visual aides, but once I came back and they were ready, I began my tale.

"Does the name, 'Sally Face' ring any bells? Ever heard anyone from Battalion 4009 talking about him?"

Spitfire and Daring shook their heads, but Dash nodded. "Wait, do you mean that saboteur? The guy with the mask, and the blue pigtails?"

I nodded. "Yes, him. This is what he looked like at that time." I then held up a picture of several members of Battalion 4009 posing near the train, and pointed to one who was wearing a Battalion 4009 field uniform. He had blue hair that was in pigtails, but what really unnerved my mares was his face. He was wearing what appeared to be a white mask.

"What's up with the mask Stud?" Spitfire asked.

"It's not a mask Spitsy, it's a prosthetic. A prosthetic face, to be exact."

"And was THAT why he was called 'Face'?"

"I believe so Dash, but I don't know. However, what I do know was that Face and I had a past together that I'd forgotten about. Truth is, I always had this strange feeling that I'd seen him before he was a part of Battalion 4009, but yet I could never place him. Never that is, until one day it finally clicked. Face, and Sally, the 'pet' of General Stacy, were one and the same!"

"Um, what now?"

"Sally was the pet of General Stacy, the other of Empress Demetria's 2 adopted daughters. He was living in Las Vegas with Stacy at the same time that I was adopted by Demetria and given to Carla!"

"What?!" My mares were shocked.

"Are you sure Stud?" Spitfire asked.

I showed them a picture. In it was Carla in a bikini, Stacy nude, and in front of them were myself and a REALLY freaky looking figure. He was wearing a black smock, and he did have blue hair, but his face was covered by a small pink mask. Behind the mask, bandages were visible as well. He was also really anorexic looking, and he was much smaller than I was.

"This is one of the only pictures of all 4 of us together. Stacy and Carla hated each other even worse than Face and I hated each other. I never forget a face though, and those eyes.......those eyes.......staring at me from behind that mask! I NEVER forgot the eyes!"

"Ok, but I'm getting confused. What does Sally.....Face, or whatever his name is, have to do with your PTSD?"

I sighed. "To know the answer to that Spitsy, we'll have to go WAY back to Las Vegas, In March of 2026. Demetria brought me to Vegas on March 15th, and I met Face for the first time about a week later, but I didn't REALLY get to know him until a few days after this........"

"Hey, you."

"Hmm?" I looked up from what I was doing. Currently, I was vacuuming the carpets up on Level 11 of the Luxor. I thought that I was alone with my thoughts.

"Over here."

I half turned, and there leaning against a wall behind me, stood Sally. He was wearing his usual black smock, and I saw that he was barefoot. As usual, bandages covered his face and parts of his head, and his blue hair hung down to his shoulders.

"Can I.....help you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, can you?"

I always felt EXTREMELY uneasy around Sally. There was definitely something wrong with him, and I knew that it went deeper than Shell Shock. He was always just.....there. Lurking about; watching, waiting. I suspected that he may be an up and coming psychopath, but yet I had no solid proof of anything.

"I don't know, what do you need?"

He didn't answer.

"Ok, I don't have all day here. Mom wants these floors vacuumed, so that's what I'll do. Plus, isn't Stacy be wondering where you are?"

"Oh, she knows where I am."

"Great. Now move along so that I can vacuum." I started the vacuum that I was using back up, and after re-securing it to my back, I put the nozzle and brush to the floor again, and began to vacuum once again.

To my growing unease though, Sally just continued to watch me. He never moved, and never said anything, but yet his eyes never left me. I was glad when I was done with that floor, and could head on up to Level 12.

"What was his deal Stud?"

I sighed. "That's the thing Spitsy. To some, Sally, or 'Face' as he was also known, was seen as a sniveling, freaky, blue haired, pigtail wearing little shit who was mentally broken, but yet in reality, he had something MUCH worse than Shell Shock. I now know that he was easily a sociopath, with perhaps a streak of psychopath as well. He was VERY manipulative, and knew how to get what he wanted. Remember, he was a spy before he was a saboteur. He kept spying for Stacy, just WAITING to give her something that she could tell her Mom about. However, Sally was FAR from perfect. If he wasn't shell-shocked, he would have been MUCH more dangerous. However, because he was, he didn't always take delight in doing his mistress's bidding. He did have bouts of insanity and Shell Shock, and that just made him dangerous."

"Did he ever do anything REALLY bad?" Daring asked.

"I'm getting to that. For now though, it's enough to say that yes, yes he did."

"What happened next though?"

I sighed, before continuing my story.

Like I always did for just about everything, I talked to Carla about him.

"There's something SEVERELY wrong with him Leopard, you need to stay away from him! That.....thing, should have been killed off a LONG time ago!"

"But, who is he? And where did he come from?"

Carla shrugged. "Who he is? To hell if I'd know! As for where he came from, Stacy LITERALLY plucked him out of a gutter in St. Louis! NOTHING is known about him, and his medical records are EXTREMELY poor! Very weak and sickly, and most likely without Stacy's care, he would have died already!"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, he sounds like a real mess alright! I'll try and stay away from him if I can."

I had every intention of doing just that, but yet Face was looking for trouble. Time and time again he would try and antagonize me, and then come crying to Stacy when I came for his ass. I would then get into trouble, and Demetria would hear about it, before sternly telling Stacy to keep a better eye on Sally.

"I don't blame Leopard, I blame YOU Stacy! You openly encourage him to antagonize Leopard, and somehow it's Leopard's fault when he hits back! This is the last time I want to hear about it. From now on, if Sally antagonizes Leopard again, it's his own funeral. If Leopard f@#ks him up, then it's your own damn fault!"

For a while after this, Sally did behave himself, until one day, right in front of Carla and Demetria in fact, he actually threw a soda can at me! It hit me in the side of the head, and one look at Demetria told me that I had the go-ahead to beat Sally up.

"Alright, that’s it, get your ass back here!" He took off running, and I began to chase him through the Luxor. "How DARE you throw that can at me?! Just because you can move your stick legs faster doesn't mean that I’m not gonna outrun you and kick your ass! Come here you little bitch! Your ass is MINE!!!! GET OVER HERE!!!!"

Eventually, I wrestled him to the ground, pinned him, and beat the crap out of him! I also tried to rip the bandages on his face off, but it was as if they were held on with superglue! In the end, I bloodied him up a bit, and warned him that MUCH WORSE was waiting for him in the future if he acted out again! I then left him for Stacy to find.

Dash giggled a bit. "Wow Stud, Sally sounded like a real WIMP!!!"

I nodded. "Yeah, although some of this was due to his poor physical health. The rest of it though was his failure to learn how to fight."

"But what happened after this though?" Daring asked. "Did he ever try anything like this again?"

I shook he head. "Oddly enough, he didn't. In fact, for a time after this, Sally seemed to be a lot more friendly. Also, he did have his bandages removed, and replaced with a small pink face mask. This same mask was his first prosthetic face." I then showed them another picture of Sally. In it, he and I were wearing our smocks, and hugging each other. We were both looking at the camera, and I was resting my chin on the top of his head. I looked to be tired in the picture, and Face's mask was in a perpetual state of no emotion.

"Huh? What's the story behind this one? I thought that you and Face were mortal enemies!"

"We were. This one took a HECK of a lot of bribery to pull off!"

My mares laughed, and I resumed my story.

"Hey Leopard."

"Hmm? Oh, hey Sally. What's up?"

"Eh, not too much, and you?"

I sighed. "Well, just trying to wrap up my work for the day. I'm almost done with the vacuuming, and then all I have to do is dust the statues in the lobby."

He nodded. "Hmm, sounds boring. Well, I won't keep you from it, I just wanted to say hi." He then began to walk back in the direction of Stacy's room. "See you around Leopard!"

"Yeah, see you around Sally." I then got back to work.

For the next month or so, there were no problems from Face. Unfortunately though, this was merely the calm before the storm.

I can STILL remember that night. It's forever etched into my memory. May 30th, 2026. It was thunderstorming that night, and most in the palace were asleep. I had been 'playing' with Carla in her room, and we decided to take a break.

"Hey Leopard?"

"Yeah Sweetheart?"

"Could you maybe go and get me some grape soda from the refrigerators down on 7? I REALLY want some!"

I nodded, before pulling my smock back on. "Sure thing Babe. I'll be right back!" I then went to grab her the soda.

As I walked barefoot through the halls of the Palace Luxor, I saw that they were almost deserted. They were also very dimly lit, and from the lights outside of the exterior windows, I saw rain hitting them, and occasionally there would come a bright flash of lightning.

"It's so weird", I muttered. "It's almost like I'm all alone in here!" I did pass a few guards, but all in all, the palace did seem to be deserted.

Eventually, I made it to Level 7. After retrieving 2 bottles of grape soda from the refrigerator, I held them in both hands while I began to make my journey back up to Level 16 where Carla's room was. Little did I suspect though just what lay ahead, and how seriously it would affect my mental psyche.

Suddenly though, the lights in that area went out. before I could move, the backup lights came on, although they were dim.

"Great, minor power outage. Now it looks like I'll be taking the stairs!" I almost always took the stairs anyway, as I did NOT trust elevators anymore, ESPECIALLY with Futas maintaining them! It was just too easy to make a death look like an accident.

As I got close to the stairwell though, I suddenly heard what sounded like muffled screaming. I ignored it, as that was a sound heard all too often under the Futa Empire. Suddenly though, a door up ahead of me in the hallway towards the end on the right suddenly opened, and someone fell out into the hallway! I made the move to go and see what was wrong, but thanks to flashes of lightning, as well as lights outside of the palace coming through the window at the end of the hallway, I saw that not only was the figure a Futa guard, but also that she was tied up, and looked like she'd been stabbed! She also had a gag in her mouth, and was screaming and thrashing about!

Before I could help her though, from the same room, another figure stepped out into the hallway. I instantly recognized him. Sally. He was wearing his usual black smock, as well as his pink mask. I also saw that he was barefoot, his blue hair looked really messed up, and that he was covered in blood! In his right hand, which was protected by a thick glove, was a huge chunk of broken glass! Blood was dripping from the chunk of glass, and it was then that I realized what I was seeing happen less than 10 feet in front of me.

Face then stepped up to the guard, and as I watched, he slashed and stabbed her to death with the glass! Blood splattered everywhere, and soon the guard was dead. Sally didn't care though, and continued to hack her apart. After what felt like hours, he was finally done, and stood back up again.

I was literally frozen to the spot. I couldn't scream, I couldn't move, I couldn't do ANYTHING! I'd dropped the 2 bottles of soda that I'd been holding, and they fell to the carpeted floor next to me. My skin was dead white, and I was sweating profusely. Then, to my absolute horror, Face turned, and saw me staring at him. His blue eyes locked with mine, and I knew that I was as good as dead; I had just witnessed him MURDER somebody right in front of me!

Even though he was wearing that god-awful mask, I knew that he was smirking at me. Then, he began to move slowly towards me. I tried to move, I tried to scream, I tried to do anything, but it was as if I'd turned to stone. This was it, I knew that it was over. I survived WW3, WW4, WW5, and part of WW6, only to be murdered during the Second Cold War for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw my entire life flash before my eyes, and in truth, my life sucked ass!

Face came right up to me, but then he stopped. For a few moments, he just stared up at me. I looked into his eyes, but yet for some reason, they appeared soft. I was still unable to do anything. He was still holding the glass chunk, but yet he made no move to use it.

Suddenly though, Sally reached up a hand, and removed his mask. Due to the dim lighting, I couldn't make out too much of his face, although now I could see that he was indeed faintly smirking. His face also seemed to be scarred and burned. Face them grabbed the front of my smock with his free hand, before pulling himself up a bit, and after standing on his tiptoes, he kissed me gently on the mouth.

"Mmm, there." He whispered once he'd broken the kiss, "Now this can be our little secret Leopard. You didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything, and I'll let you live. Got it?"

"Y-yes....." I whispered faintly.

He then placed a hand on my cheek, leaving behind a bloody smear. "Good." He then kissed me again. "Wow, you have really soft lips, AND you're a good kisser!" He then let go of me, and after hugging me one more time, he began to walk away down the hallway behind me.

"Just remember Leopard, you didn't see ANYTHING! You were NEVER here, got it?"

I nodded slowly.

"Good. Oh, and if you snitch on me, you will NEVER live to rue the day!" He then began to giggle maniacally, and I blacked out right then and there.

When I finished, I looked back up at my wives. All of them were extremely pale, and looked like they were ready to throw up.

"You.......witnessed him MURDER somepony?!?!?!" Spitfire then grabbed a nearby bowl for drinks, and threw up into it.

"That's HORRIBLE Stud!" Dash looked like she was about to cry. "No WONDER you always lived in fear of him! He had the perfect blackmail to use against you, and you couldn't do anything about it!"

"Is that.....the end of the story?" Daring asked nervously.

I shook my head. "Close, but not quite. I was unconscious for 13 hours after I blacked out. Carla told me that I was found in the stairwell, and that I'd seemingly tripped in the dark, and fell down the stairs before hitting my head.

Later that same day, reports were around the palace that a guard had been found stabbed to death with a chunk of glass. Nobody had seen anything, and there were no suspects."

"So Face killed that guard, but who was she? And why did he do it?"

"Well Spits, her name was Velma Nelson, and she was a Captain in Demetria's Palace Guards. As it turns out though, she'd seen Stacy plotting to overthrow Demetria at some point, so Stacy sent Face to shut her up for good. In reality, Face was told to just push her down the stairs and make it look like an accident, NOT stab her to death!"

"And THIS....is what you keep dreaming about Stud?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes. Flashbacks of that night, as well as dreams of Face coming to make good on his promise to kill me. For the rest of my time in Vegas, Face was ALWAYS watching me, just WAITING for his chance to murder me for talking! I even woke up to him staring at me from time to time! Carla began to get worried for me, but yet I never told her what I was really feeling. I knew that if I even so much as HINTED at what happened, both of us were as good as dead. Face also used his power over me to try and start a relationship with me. He failed, (thank God!) but yet it was so scary knowing that I was alive only because he chose not to kill me."

"But that's what's confusing me Stud, WHY did he let you live?! You were a witness!"

I shrugged. "Still to this day Daring, I don't know. Most likely, I never will. Also, now that I've finally told you guys all about this, I feel MUCH better! Time and time again in my dreams, Face warned me what was going to happen if I told anyone. Now that I've told you guys though, I feel like his power over me is FINALLY broken!"

Then, for the first time in almost 5 years, I breathed a sigh of relief. NO LONGER would Face be tormenting me, as his last grip of power over me was FINALLY broken!

Dash then thought of something else. "But wait a minute Stud, if Face really was the saboteur who almost destroyed the Battleship Express, and you had this kind of history with him, why were you unable to recognize him?"

I sighed. "A very good question Dash, and the answer has several factors to it. Firstly, he didn't look the same anymore. Where before he'd been tiny, and seemingly anorexic, he was now much taller, and slightly bigger than before. Also, his mask was white instead of pink, and he didn't always wear his hair in pigtails. He also sounded different, but this could have been due to a voice-changer for all I know.

Next, almost a year and a half had passed since the incident, and I'd done literally EVERYTHING in my power to block it out; I FORCED myself to forget. And lastly, Battalion 4009 was pretty big. Even though he was there, I extremely rarely, if ever, saw him. However, for some reason whenever I did see him, I felt that there was something familiar about him. I was never fully able to place what it was, but yet I KNEW that I'd seen him somewhere before.

After his attempt to blow up the train though, THEN I remembered who he was! Closure finally seemed to come with his death at the Battle of Boise, Idaho, but yet in my dreams, he continued to torment me. He did take a break on some nights, but over and over again in my dreams he would catch me, and make me pay for telling what I'd seen!"

My wives then hugged me. "Yes, but now that you've told us, and because Face is dead, he can NEVER hurt you again! You're free; now and forevermore!"

I hugged them back. "I love you guys! Thanks for being there for me, and for listening to me, and helping me get through this. Hopefully, this is the end of the bed-wetting, and the end for at least some of the PTSD-nightmares."

"We hope so too Stud."

We continued to talk for a little while longer, until getting out of the hot tub, drying off, taking quick showers, before grabbing the sheets out of the dryer, putting them back on the bed, and laying down to sleep.

With my wives snuggled up close to me, and Face no longer having any power over me, I slept very comfortably for the rest of the night.

Throughout the rest of the Winter of 2029-30, my nightmares did indeed get somewhat better. No more bed-wetting, and no more nightmares about Face. I still did have PTSD-induced nightmares though, but whenever I did, my wives were always there to help me through them. We'd usually talk about them, and they'd offer me encouragement and support.

Also, I found another way to cope as well. Even though I had never done it before, I took up painting. I became a talented painter, but yet my paintings were VERY dark, as I painted what I saw in my head while I was having a PTSD episode. They were somewhat distorted scenes of battlefields, full of soldiers and blood. One example would be "Battle of the Great Plains." In it, bluish-gray American troops fought against black, almost skeletal soldiers with red glowing eyes in a field of dirt. Blood was all around, there were bodies on the ground, and explosions in the background.

My most infamous painting though, was also my finest. "The Monster Within", was set in Dash's bathroom. In it, I was facing away from the viewer, standing in front of the sink, looking into the bathroom mirror. I was shirtless, but I was wearing pajama pants. My reflection though was not my own. Looking back at me was a terrifying figure with mangy black hair, a torn and dirtied field uniform that had bloodstains on it, as well as hands with claws for fingernails! The creature's face was covered by my old Kitsune mask, but there were bloody "tears" flowing from out of the mask's eyeholes, and blood was also seen dripping from underneath the mask as well. The eyes of the face behind the mask were blood-red, and seemed to be glowing.

Standing behind the creature in the mirror was none other than Face himself. He was wearing his old black smock, and looked just like he did the night he murdered Captain Velma. He was holding up a piece of paper that was backwards, but when viewed through the mirror read, "See? We're really not so different, are we Leopard?"

I painted this picture to show others that we really weren't all that different to the enemies that we were fighting; the only real difference was what we were fighting for.

I never sold any of my paintings, and due to their creepy, and oftentimes downright terrifying content, none of my wives let me display them, and the War Museum didn't want them for their collection either. In the end, I covered them in plastic to preserve them, before placing them into storage in Dash's basement. I did continue to paint a few new pictures every now and again, until finally I painted one that was display-worthy.

It was a painting of our Big Boy 4009 under steam in the Wasatch Mountains, pulling the Battleship Express behind her. The Battleship Express was climbing up Sherman Hill in Wyoming, on her way to liberate Laramie, WY. When completed, I sold my painted to the War Museum for a “whopping” 50 bits, and it was added to the collection.

Through it all though, very few people knew that I could paint. Only those close to me did, and still in my own opinion, I couldn't do it very well. I saw it as a coping mechanism for PTSD, although my work speaks for itself.

In the Spring of 2030, shortly before Don's wedding to Twilight, the time had come to fire up Big Boy 4009 again. She had been sitting cold since December, and now we had to fire her up again for a maintenance run.

We had to make sure that everything on her was sound, and that she would run smoothly. Alex, Todd and myself were selected to drive the train for it's maintenance run, and all while we worked, a number of Ponies came by to watch us. These included Applejack, Fluttershy, Dash, Spitfire and even Daring, although as always, she was dressed as AK Yearling.

"I still CANNOT believe how BIG their engine is! Spitfire was saying.

Dash smirked. "Well, it's not called a 'Big Boy' for nothing! It did earn that nickname!"

Daring too was impressed. "I think that it's certainly a VERY impressive specimen of a steam locomotive. It's massive size really serves to compliment its ability to haul large amounts of freight up steep grades. It's huge, but yet surprisingly simplistic."

She then walked close to the engine. "Excuse me?"

I looked down at her. "Yeah Da.....erhm, Miss Yearling?"

"I was wondering if you could give me the specifications of your engine."

I nodded. "Certainly! For starters, she's 136 feet long end to end, stands 25 feet tall, weighs 1.2 million pounds empty, has a 4-8-8-4 wheel configuration, and has a design speed of 80mph. She was also designed to be able to pull a 5 mile long train on flat ground, as well as a 3 mile long train through mountains. Her tender can hold 25 tons of coal, and 25,000 gallons of water!"

Daring began to write in her notebook, so as to have this information for later. "Well, she was DEFINITELY made to haul freight! But yet, where were these engines made? Who made them, and where did their name come from?"

"Well, these engines were made by the American Locomotive Company, or ALCO, for the Union Pacific Railroad. From 1941-1944, a total of 25 Big Boys were made, including ours. The Big Boys were the 4000 Series of locomotives, but yet when they were first built, nopony knew what to call them. On paper, they were supposed to be called the 'Wasatch Class', after the Wasatch Mountains in Utah, but according to the story, an ALCO employee chalked the words 'Big Boy' onto the front of the first locomotive, 4000, and the name stuck. Big Boys were in service from 1941, all the way to the last train that was hauled by one in 1959, before being pulled from service for good in 1960."

"Wow, that's amazing! But what about the war years? How did this engine come to haul the Battleship Express?"

"Another good question Miss Yearling. Well, the truth is, our engine was never completed, and was found abandoned in a shed in Cheyenne, WY, in 2018. Due to funding being available following the successful restoration of Big Boy 4014, as well as Challenger 3985 and UP 844, Union Pacific decided to finish the locomotive for static display purposes.

Because of this, she was made to burn coal instead of oil, and it seemed unlikely that she was ever going to run. A test was performed on her in September of 2018, and she did perform as expected, before being put on display at the railway museum in Cheyenne, right next to her sister locomotive Big Boy 4004.

Also, fun fact. Up until that point, she'd never been given a number! She was referred to as the 'Unfinished Big Boy'. Eventually though, she, like the rest of the Big Boys, was given the number '40' to mark her as a 4000 Series locomotive. She was then given the numbers '09' to mark her as the 9th steam locomotive restored by Union Pacific. Henceforth, she was called 'Big Boy 4009' even though the 'real' 4009 was scrapped a long time ago."

Daring then looked up at me. "And, any chance of my being able to see the cab Stu.....phm....Captain Leopard?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes, and it should be very interesting, as we were just about to fire her up!"

Daring then nodded, before coming over to climb up into the cab.

Once she was up there, as was Alex, we began to go over the firing up procedure. There was so much to go over, so many gauges and valves to check, and so much to look over and test. Also while we were working, the tender was being filled with coal and water again, as the tender had been emptied and winterized after our run to get the war prisoners.

"Ready Alex?"

"Yep. Let's start this baby up again, shall we?"

"Yep!" We then got ready to work.

While Daring watched, Alex first opened up the firebox doors, and peered inside. Everything had already been inspected, but yet it was just force of habit for him. Then he used his Magic to grab a large pile of scrap wood, as well as dead wood from Sweet Apple Acres that was sitting next to the train. After putting them inside the firebox, with my help, he took a rag, dipped it in oil, and after taking out his zippo lighter, he lit the rag, and tossed it inside. Soon, the pile of wood was burning.

"Hey, wait a minute! I thought that this engine ran on coal! Why'd you throw in wood?"

Alex turned to her. "Because Miss Yearling, we need a hot fire going in the firebox first. Once this pile gets going, I'll add more coal until it's hot enough to start boiling water into steam before turning on the auger."

"Um auger? What auger?"

Alex pointed to the tender. "At the very bottom of the tender is an auger that brings coal into the firebox. While in operation, a Big Boy uses coal MUCH faster than a human fireman can shovel it on. If it were just me, I could barely keep up steam for the whistle! Now all I have to do is control the auger, as well as work with water and fuel gauges, instead of having to shovel coal on."

Daring then turned to me. "Also, speaking of the whistle, isn't it broken, and instead makes an eerie, Banshee-like shriek?"

I nodded. "Yes, although, during the Winter, Jim and a number of other engineers finally got around to doing something; they made the Big Boy a brand-new whistle! Now, in addition to her 'War Whistle', she also has a proper Big Boy whistle as well. Now we can save the 'War Whistle' for war time, and have a regular whistle for the rest of it."

Daring nodded slowly. "Wow. Yeah, that will be interesting to see, or rather hear!" She then watched us continue our work.

Soon, Alex was shoveling coal into the firebox, while I worked with the blower and other controls. The water was beginning to come to a boil, and soon it was time to turn on the auger. Alex did so, and coal began to be brought from the tender to the firebox.

"And how long does it take to build up enough steam to move the engine?"

I sighed. "Eh, well, it can take a few hours actually."

"What?!"

"Yeah. Although remember, these ARE steam locomotives! They can take a long time to get ready. I know that it's the same way for Equestrian locomotives, as I've talked to some of their train crews as well."

"So, I'll have to wait that long to see it in operation?"

I nodded. "While there is a way to fire it up faster for wartime, since we're no longer at war, you will have to wait at least an hour. In the meantime though, feel free to watch us get everything ready to go!" I then turned back to the backhead, as did Alex.

Daring continued to watch us, as well as take notes.

"Hey Miss Yearling, can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly Alex."

"Are you REALLY the author of all the Daring Do books?"

She laughed a bit. "Yes, the very same!"

"And why are you here? Is Daring Do about to meet the crew of the Battleship Express?"

Daring nodded a bit. "Actually, you're mostly correct. I was planning on a sort of crossover story where Daring Do did indeed meet the crew of the Battleship Express, and learned from them their stories of courage, sacrifice, and of the battles that they fought. It was going to be a memorial tribute to the Imperial War, and I just wanted to be able to experience it all firsthand myself before I began writing."

Alex thought about that. "Wow, that actually sounds pretty cool. Too bad that would just be a story though. What I wouldn't give to ACTUALLY meet Daring Do in person!"

Both Daring and I shot each other a quick glance, as well as a smirk. If only Alex knew the strange irony of what he'd just said!

Eventually, it was indeed time to go. Todd joined us up in the cab, and Daring took a seat behind me. Since this was just a maintenance run, we would only be pulling a few freight cars that were usually pulled by Iron Glory behind us.

Once we we were ready, I picked up my radio. "Ponyville Dispatch, this is UP Big Boy 4009, we're ready to depart."

"UP Big Boy 4009, this is Ponyville Dispatch. Destination and cargo, over."

"PD, we're just hauling 6 empty boxcars, and one caboose. Our destination is simply a few laps around Ponyville for a maintenance run."

"Ok, roger that 4009. You're all clear to depart, over."

"Ok, thank you PD, Big Boy 4009 out."

I then began to ring the bell, and I also blew the whistle a few times. Sure enough, instead of the usual banshee-like scream, there was only a deep, baritone whistle.

"Wow, so THAT'S what it's supposed to sound like?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and that's what the original whistle used to sound like too, but then during the train's final training mission, the whistle got hit by a series of stray bullets. We meant to fix it, but yet it just sounded so cool! Eventually, it just became too iconic to repair. Now though, we have the best of both worlds!"

Then, I slowly opened the throttle, and Big Boy 4009 began to move forwards once more. The chugging of her 4 pistons was broken only by her bell, as well as her whistle.

"There was NEVER another engine like Big Boy, and most likely there never will be again. She had a claim to be the largest steam locomotive of all time, but yet so did a few other locomotives as well. The jury's still out on the whole debate, but if you ask me, it's DEFINITELY Big Boy!"

Daring shrugged a bit. "Well, if you say so Stud. But what I CAN tell you is that even if Big Boy isn't the largest steam locomotive on Earth, she IS the largest steam locomotive in Equestria, HANDS DOWN!!!"

"Yeah, you've got that right Daring! She's the biggest, and most likely always will be!"

Soon, we were out of the railyard, and back out onto the main line.

Daring greatly enjoyed our excursion trip. She learned so much about the Big Boy and how it worked, and even for a brief bit, like Dash and Luna before her, I let her drive! It was only a brief bit, as per regulations, but she still REALLY enjoyed it.

"Wow, thanks Captain Leopard! This will REALLY come in handy for the book! (The same book that you'll help me write!)"

"Eh, you're welcome Miss Yearling. It's always a pleasure to cater to the fans who genuinely care about railway history. I'm glad that you enjoyed it."

We continued on for a while longer, but eventually we did have to return to the railyard. Construction on the museum was going to be beginning again soon, and there were other duties to attend to as well.

Before she left though, AK Yearling did get to meet other fans of her work on the Battleship Express, and she even took the time to sign books, and other Daring Do merchandise as well. I even heard that she was asked to sign a Daring Do waifu/body-pillow, and she said that although she did sign it, she gave the guy who owned it a REALLY dirty look! (Was it me? No! Why would I own a body pillow of Daring Do, when I have the REAL one at home?! *cough* It was Don, *cough*!)

We all got back to work, knowing that soon it would be time for Don's wedding, with the remainder of the weddings soon to follow. It was also during this time that Daring was putting the finishing touches of her plans for the adventure that she was going to take me on, but that's another story..........

And, with that quick turnaround, I present to you Chapter 18! Yes, I KNOW that it was rather dark, but I knew that it was time to begin to put some of the PTSD issues to rest. They're still a problem sure, but it was time to begin to give those of Battalion 4009 some closure, and help burying the past.

Also, yes, I KNOW that the story with Leopard and Face was weird, but yet it had to be done! Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and are ready for the next one.

What will happen next? What is this "great adventure that Daring Do is going to be taking Leopard on? Where will they be going, and what will they be looking for? And what's Life been up to? Has she figured out how to get her "ultimate revenge" on Leopard yet?

(And Yes, The Futas WILL have more chapters devoted to them in the future, and the Wabash Cannonball WILL be making a physical appearance! When will this happen? All I can say is, soon. The Wabash Cannonball will appear first, and get its own chapter. Which chapter this will be I don't know, but I can tell you that it will be in the early to mid 20's. The Futas won't be coming back until towards the very end of the story, but they WILL appear, so please do not fret!)

In the meantime, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 19!

ScarFox out for now!