Back in Ponyville, completely unaware of what lay far to the West, all of us of the Battleship Express, Battalion 4009, and the rest of the Ponies, were still milling about. Some Ponies had left, but others still remained.

Don was talking to the Princesses. "Now then, the question is, where can we move our train? It obviously can't stay here, as it's blocking rail traffic, however, wherever we move it to must also be long enough to hold the train."

Celestia thought about that. "Yes, I do believe that you are right Major. I think that for the time being, you can move your train to the Old Railyard, on the outskirts of Ponyville. That old train yard isn't not really used anymore now that a new railyard was built a few years ago, and the tracks would be long enough to hold your train."

"Wow. Yes, I think that that could work."

Celestia then asked Don another question. "Also Major, your train is so popular around here, and so many Ponies seem to want to see it. I have begun considering designs for a museum to maybe one day be built here in Ponyville dedicated to the Imperial War. Would you possibly be interested in maybe opening your train to the public for tours? I know that it would be the highlight of the museum."

Don was shocked. He'd never really thought about the Battleship Express being put on display. Eventually though, he sighed. "Well, if that were to happen Princess, there are a number of criteria that would have to be met."

"Like what, for example?"

"Like how the train cannot be on static display, and must be ready to be put back into service should the need arise. It must also be maintained in pristine, fully-operational condition, ready to go at a moment's notice. Also, all weapons will have to be made dormant, and all ammunition removed from the train, and stored in a VERY safe place. Also, more repair work, and a number of other things would have to be done in order to make the train safe for the public. The way I see it, the train would need it's own wing of the museum, and it would have to be in a long sort of garage, with doors on both ends so that it can roll in and roll out as needed.

I know that my crew and I would be more than happy to maintain our train in that museum, and I know that it would be the highlight of the museum tour. However, making it safe for active display will take some time, and even while being displayed, the train will be in 'active reserve', and must be ready to move out again."

Celestia thought about that. "Hmm, well, you are all military people, and know what you're doing, and I was thinking about creating a Foreign Legion for Equestria, as there were a number of Griffons, Diamond Dogs, Minotaurs, and other non-native Equestrians who have petitioned to serve in the military before, but were turned down because they were not native-born. I would be willing to offer all of Battalion 4009 full Equestrian Citizenship, provided of course that you pass the proper tests, and become the backbone of the Foreign Legion."

Don didn't know what to say. Princess Celestia was offering all of Battalion 4009 free Equestrian Citizenship, provided of course that they passed the tests, as well as become the backbone of the new Foreign Legion.

"Gosh.....um, I don't even know what to say right now Princess. This just.....seems to good to be true."

Celestia nodded. "Yes, I know that it can be a lot to take in, although you don't have to worry about anything right away. I'll still need time to talk this over with my sister Luna, as well as work with a few other officials to create the Foreign Legion, but by Saturday, which is the night of the ball, everything should be ready to go."

"Well, I'll have to talk this over with the rest of the crew, but I don't think that they'll have too many objections. However, I do know that some of them were looking to maybe get away from the military, and start a new civilian life."

"That can be fixed as well. There can be active military, and active reserves. The active reserves would only be called for in a time of emergency, very much like your train."

Don shrugged. "Again, I don't know what to say Princess, aside from thank you."

"Don't thank me Major. If anything, I should be thanking you, and the rest of Battalion 4009. If you Humans wouldn't have intervened when you did, the war would most likely have turned extremely nasty very fast. We may not have survived."

"It's just our job Princess. We're soldiers, so serving is just what we do."

"And I and my Ponies thank you for it very much."

Don then sighed, and looked back over the train platform. All across it, Ponies and train crew were mixing and mingling. It was a perfect world, but yet, Don just didn't feel right inside. Something seemed....off.

"What could be wrong?" He wondered. After thinking it over, he finally had an answer; the urgency of war was missing. There was no need to rush to the next battle. The war was over, but yet, it wasn't.

"I......need to go sit down for a second." Don then walked over to a bench, and sat down, before burying his face into his hands. He also seemed to be sobbing gently.

"What's.....wrong with the Major?" Cadence asked.

Celestia sighed sadly. "Although the Imperial War may be over Cadence, I fear that for them, the real war may be only just beginning."

Cadence knew all too well what her aunt was referring to. She'd seen it all too many times herself when she visited the wounded soldiers in the hospital. PTSD, or as it was more commonly known, Shell Shock, was a condition that seemed to effect most, if not all of those who had seen combat, and we were seemingly no different. Our battles would be internal, but they would be just as serious as the physical ones. To move on, we would have to learn to cope in a world where war had an end.

Twilight went over to see if she could comfort Don.

"Shh, it's ok Don, I'm here for you." She hugged him gently. "The war's over. Nothing is going to happen."

"Easy for you to say", Don muttered. "You only had to see the Imperial War. Some of the rest of us saw the Forgotten War, WW3-6, the Second Cold War, and now the Imperial War. The wars were almost non-stop, and with only a few years between them. It was hell Twilight, HELL!!!!"

With Twilight's help, Don was eventually able to get a grip on himself. He hugged her back. "Thanks Twilight. I don't know what I would do without you. I'm slightly OCD, so without you, I would most likely just snap, and not bounce back."

Twilight nodded. "I know, and that's why I love you Don. You're just like me. I'm slightly OCD as well, and you need me in your life to help you cope, so that's what I'm here for, to help you."

"And you're doing such a marvelous job of it as well Twi." They then hugged for a little bit longer.

Once Don was feeling better, Celestia asked him something. "Um, M-Major?"

"Yes Princess?"

"I was wondering, what would it take.....for myself, my sister Luna, and my niece Cadence, to maybe go for a ride on your train? I've been extremely curious as to see what that would be like, as I've always wanted to see just what kind of raw power lay behind one of these Big Boy locomotives."

Don looked at her curiously. "I don't know Princess, that's more of a question for Leopard, and/or Jim. Most likely though, they would say yes, and I don't see a problem with it. HOWEVER, I would STRONGLY recommend that all of you wear coveralls, or something along those lines, as being on the train, especially in the cab of the engine while it's in operation, can be extremely dirty."

"Yes, I do believe that you are right Major. Do you have any that the three of us could borrow?"

"Yes, I think that we do. Now then, what to do about a crew for this excursion run....." Don then looked over towards the cab of the Big Boy. Seeing it to be empty, he scanned the platform, trying to see if he could see any engine crew. He spotted Alex sitting with Applejack, sharing what looked to be a pie with her, Todd talking to Fluttershy and Rarity, although he didn't see where I was.

"Hey Alex?"

"Oh, yes Major?"

"Where'd Leopard go?"

Alex jerked a finger towards the back of the station. "He's back there."

"Huh? What's he doing back there?"

Alex smirked. "He's f@#king Rainbow Dash."

Don put a hand over his face. "Alex, just stop!" Don then grabbed his radio. "Leopard, Where are you?"

After a few moments, a reply came. "I'm....mmm....right here Don!"

"What, are you doing right now? And if you're having sex, I'll snap your neck!"

"NO! No, Dash and I were just sharing a tender moment! Just some kissing, nothing more!"

Don then saw me step out from the back of the Station. Dash was holding my hand, and behind us Don also saw Captain Spitfire.

"And, where are you right now?" Don then waved to me. "Oh, there you are." I walked over to see what he wanted. Don also called over Alex and Todd.

When he saw us, he looked us over. "Ok you three, I have a very important job for you. The 3 Princesses want to see the Big Boy in action, and I do NOT want to disappoint them!"

"What did you have in mind Don?" I asked.

"Well, I want you to first uncouple the train after the second crew bunk car, or 6 cars in. That's all we're going to need for this run. Leopard, you're driving, Alex, you're fireman, and Todd, you're the brakeman."

We all nodded. "Yes Sir."

"Where are we going though Sir?" Todd asked.

Don shrugged. "Wherever the Princesses decide to go. It's all up to them."

We all nodded, and got the Big Boy ready to go again.

While Todd uncoupled the train 6 cars in, Alex and I, joined by Dash and Applejack, began to get the train ready to go again. This required very little doing, as the train was almost ready to go again already.

"Ok Don, we're all ready to go."

"Ok, roger that. Stand by, the Princesses are coming up there!"

Once they'd dressed in coveralls that Jim had loaned them, the 3 Princesses began to walk up to the engine's cab.

"I still cannot get over how BIG this train is Auntie Celestia! The engine alone is a leviathan!"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, I know. It had to be, as it wouldn't be able to haul heavy freight otherwise."

All 3 of them then reached the cab. (By this point, Dash and AJ went back to sit with Don, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity for the excursion trip).

"Um, how do we even get up there?"

I looked out of the right-side window. "Just climb up the ladder on the front of the tender. Or, if you don't want to do that, then you can just fly up."

"Ok, hold on, here we come."

The Princesses then climbed up the ladder, and once they were up in the cab, all 3 of them gasped in shock. The inside of the cab was just as massive as the rest of the engine!

"Whoa! Even the inside of this engine is huge! I mean just look at its backhead!" Luna pointed to it.

"Quite correct Dear Sister, it is indeed a mountain of pipes, levers, valves, gauges, and other controls! How do you even know how to work all of this?!"

I smiled. "Well, like I've said before, it's all thanks to Jim. He taught all of us engine crew how to drive the Big Boy. Now then, if all of you will please take your seats behind us, we can get underway."

"Certainly Captain Leopard!" Celestia then sat behind Alex, Luna sat behind me, and Cadence sat in the spare seat next to Todd.

"Ok, I'll just radio Don." I grabbed my radio. "Hey Don, are you guys ready back there?"

"Affirmative Leopard, we're all ready!"

"Ok, good. Standby, here we go."

I then put down my radio, and first, I released the engine's brakes. Then, after releasing the brakes on the rest of the train, I blew the whistle, and with some chugging, and a massive cloud of smoke and steam, Big Boy 4009 began to move forwards once again.

Once we were rolling away from Ponyville, Luna turned to me. "Um, Captain Leopard?"

"Yes Princess?"

"Why does your train's whistle sound like that? I mean, it sounds like a Banshee's shriek!"

I chuckled a bit. "That's one of the most common questions of all time. The truth is, the whistle assembly was damaged a a series of stray bullets during our final training mission in December of 2026. We never repaired it because it sounded so terrifying. Long term, we have thought about building a proper Big Boy whistle so that she'll have her 'War Whistle', as well as a normal one, but we've never had the time to work on it. At least, not until now."

"And how fast can this engine go?"

I shrugged. "Theoretically, according to the designers, Big Boys could go 80mph, however this has never been tested."

"Well, what's the fastest that you've ever gone then?"

"Eh, well, for brief periods, we've managed to hit 70, but we've never really tried to make her go faster than that. We had much bigger fish to fry!"

Celestia looked at me. "Plus, around here, there's too much rail traffic for the most part. We'd have to set aside time for a speed trial."

I blew the whistle 3 times as we passed a crossing. "Yeah, so for now, I'll just keep her moving at a cool 35mph."

"One more question that I've had for a while. back when you were first showing us your train, you said that this engine should have been called '4025', instead of '4009'. What exactly did you mean by that?"

I sighed. "Well, basically, in the mid 1940's, after locomotive 4024 was finished and put into service, ALCO, the American Locomotive Company, began work on one final Big Boy locomotive. The engine was given the same design as the first of the 2 classes of 10 Big Boys, although it was never completed, nor was it ever officially given a number. Eventually, the roughly 50% complete engine was moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and left to rust. Eventually, in year 2018, the engine's remains were discovered, and following the success of 4014's restoration, it was decided to complete the engine's construction. Just after the engine was completed though, the series of World Wars began. It was STILL never given a number, but it was eventually decided by those who crewed her to give her the numbers '40', because she was a part of the 4000 Series of locomotives, and '09', because she was the 9th engine fully restored by Union Pacific once they'd started restoring engines again. So she was called '4009', instead of '4025.' Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. It sounds like a project that was cancelled, then later completed, before being pressed into military service. And she's the only operating Big Boy left?"

"Eh, well, 4014 was moved to safety in Pennsylvania, although it's still in a special underground bunker if I recall correctly. I don't know if it can still run anymore or not. I'm also not sure on the current operational status of some of the other 7 surviving Big Boys. I know that 4004, 4005, 4006, 4017, 4018, and 4023 all still around though, even if the former 3 don't run anymore, and the latter 3 were used to haul troops and war material in WW6."

"Wait. That's only 6 Big Boys. You said that there were 7."

I sighed. "Big Boy 4012; an unsolved mystery. In a nutshell, Big Boy 4012 was housed at Steamtown USA, a railroad museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but she disappeared sometime during WW4. Her fate is still unknown, and her current whereabouts, whether still existing or scrapped, are a VERY hotly debated mystery."

Celestia nodded, and then the excursion run continued.

Once we'd made the loop around Ponyville and were on our way back, Luna nudged my shoulder a bit.

"Yes?"

"Well Captain........eh, I was wondering. I've gotten to see you drive, but can I drive?"

I half-turned to look at her. "Eh, I don't know if we're allowed to do that. Alex and I let our marefriends drive for a bit, and Don yelled at us for it. But I guess that I could ask him." I grabbed my radio. "Hey Don, are you there?"

"Yeah Leopard, what is it?"

"The Princesses are asking for a turn with driving the Big Boy. What should I tell them?"

Don was silent for a bit. Finally though, he said, "Well, if you're responsible, then I don't really see a problem with it."

"Ok, roger that."

I then turned back to the Princesses. "Ok, so who wants to drive, who wants to be the fireman, and who wants to be the brakeman?"

After talking it over for a bit, Luna wanted to drive, while Cadence wanted to be the fireman, and Celestia decided on brakeman.

"Ok then, we'll do this just like we did with Dash and Applejack." I then got up from the engineer's seat, and after giving Luna my gloves and hat, she took over the controls, while Cadence did likewise with Alex. Todd and Celestia just sat back and watched, although Todd did film the ordeal.

"And now, like Dash before you, you are now driving the largest locomotive to ever ride the rails! You Princess Luna, have just become the 2nd mare ever to do so. Dash still holds 1st."

"Just as you Cadence have become the 2nd mare fireman. Applejack was 1st."

"This is just so.......incredible! I can't imagine you boys having to do this during combat though."

"And just hope that you never have to. Combat was the most stressful time for us all, and not all of us from the engine crews have lived to tell about it. I've lost 2 engine guards, and 1 brakeman, Tertiary lost an engineer, 2 fireman, and 3 engine guards as well. I don't know about Primary Crew though."

Todd sighed. "It was so bad that I actually developed schizophrenia because of it. This is most of the reason that I'm timid, and can be scared easily. Nevertheless though, I did my duty as 2nd brakeman, but it always haunted me to think that I was promoted to replace the previous Secondary Brakeman who died, Tyler Boris."

"We all have something caused by PTSD." I added quietly. "Todd has schizophrenia, Don has OCD, Jim’s a workaholic, Alex has something that was never fully diagnosed, and I have nightmares."

I sighed, and tried to carry on, but the haunting memories seemed to drain the fun out of our excursion trip.

Eventually, about 3 hours later, we all pulled back into Ponyville Station. Then, when the rest of the train was reattached to the engine, Joe and Frank moved it over to the Old Railyard, where it would remain until further notice.

"Thank you so much for showing us your Big Boy, and how it works. We really appreciate it."

I smiled. "You're welcome Princess Celestia. It was my pleasure to show you, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence. I'm just glad that you all enjoyed yourselves."

They all nodded. "Yes, we certainly did. We'll have to do this again sometime."

"Yeah we will, won't we?"

Once they were off of the train, Don, and the Mane 6 were standing on the station platform again. By this point, everypony had gone home, or about their business, including most of the parents and family.

Don looked at all of them. "So, what did you guys think? Well, for those who haven't already been on the train that is."

Fluttershy smiled. "It was actually really nice. Your train sure did provide a nice, smooth ride. I really enjoyed myself."

Rarity was talking nonstop about how awful and ugly the interior decor was. "Oh, the interior is just as bad as the exterior! So much drab brown and gray! Oh WHY would anypony do this?!"

Don sighed. "Because this was a war train, built for fighting a war. It was built for utility, not luxury. Please try to remember that."

"Oh yeah, right. I keep forgetting."

Dash suddenly felt something wet nudge her hand. "What the....?" She looked down and saw Aurora. "Oh, hey Aurora."

"Hello Dash. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty good. Stud just took us and the Princesses on an excursion trip on the Big Boy."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. I tried to get on board the train, but I didn't get on board in time."

Dash was about to reply to this, but something, or rather somepony, interrupted her.

"Hey Dashie....."

Dash tensed. "Oh Celestia no, not him!"

Dash slowly turned around, and there, standing on the platform, was the one Pony that she prayed that she would never see again. It was Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy's hippie brother, who stalked her to no end.

"What do you want Zephyr? I thought that I told you that I never wanted to see you again!"

He smirked. "Well, YOU may not have wanted to see me again, but I'VE always wanted to see you again!"

Aurora then began to bark.

"Aww, since when did you get a dog?"

"She's not mine, Aurora belongs to my coltfriend, Captain Leopard."

"Your......coltfriend?" No, no, no! You don't have another coltfriend besides me!"

While all of this was happening, Don just stood there.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" Twilight asked.

Don smirked. "Because I'm going to let Leopard deal with him. And don't look now, but here he comes!"

Don then pointed to me walking briskly towards Zephyr, and he and the others knew that shit was about to get REAL!

"Will you please leave Zephyr? I don't like you, end of story!"

"Aww....but..."

"HEY! Dash said leave her alone, so you'd better do it buddy!"

Zephyr looked around to see who said that.

"Um, down here."

He looked down, and to his shock, all he saw was Aurora. "Wait, you can TALK?!"

"Oh yes, I can talk, and if you don't leave Dash alone, I'm going to do a lot more than talk; I'm going to BITE!!!" Aurora then looked behind Zephyr. "Or rather, I won't bite, but my Master, Dash's coltfriend will!"

"What now?"

"She means ME, you dolt!" A voice behind him growled.

Zephyr turned to look, and to his horror, the figure standing behind him was head and shoulders taller than he was! He wore a Battalion 4009 soldier's uniform with a helmet, as well as a red and white Kitsune mask over his face. Zephyr could see that he meant business, and was NOT fooling around!

"Now then, before I REALLY lose my shit and throw down, you need to leave, NOW! Dash doesn't want anything to do with you, and I don't want to waste energy kicking your ass, so BEAT IT!"

I could clearly see that Zephyr was shaking in his boots. In fact, he was so scared that he actually peed his pants! I didn't even have to touch him, and he pissed himself! He then ran off crying, vowing to get me back for stealing Dash from him.

"Oh yeah? Next time bring a protein shake with you ya hippie!" I then laughed a bit.

Dash came up and hugged me. "Mmm, thanks Stud, you're the best!"

I hugged her back. "No need to thank me Dash. He was bothering you, and as an Alpha Male, I was simply protecting what was mine. If he wants you, he's gonna have to fight me, and if he does that, he'll most likely be spending the rest of his life in a hospital!"

Fluttershy did run after her brother, although she did tell Dash to drop by her house later to pick up Tank.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about him! Yeah, I'll do that Fluttershy, thanks for reminding me!"

"You're welcome Dash!"

Dash and I then shrugged, and walked off the station platform. I was holding Dash's hand with my right hand, and Aurora's leash with my left.

As we walked, Don looked at us, and shook his head. "I don't care who you are, but love him or hate him, you will NEVER be as badass as Captain Leopard! He's got it all where it counts, and he's quite clearly reaping the results of that!"

Twilight sighed. "He and Rainbow Dash are almost mirror images of each other. They both act the same, they seem to like most of the same things, they both love adventure, and they have very similar personalities. Perhaps that's why they have such great chemistry together."

"Maybe so Twilight. It would definitely make sense."

By the time that the sun began to go down, some of us had dinner with the families of our marefriends, but all too soon, it was time to call it a night. This led to a very interesting debate. Some of our marefriends wanted us to stay with them, but yet, we felt duty-bound to stay with the train.

Eventually, Don settled the debate. "Ok, here's how I see this. I think that maybe some of us are clinging to the train a little bit TOO closely. Some of us need to learn to branch out a little bit. If your marefriend invites you to stay with them, then you should take them up on their offer. I'm going with Twilight to the Golden Oak library, Dan is going to be staying with Pinkie Pie, and Cole and Missy will be staying with them as well. Alex was invited over to Sweet Apple Acres, and Todd was asked by Fluttershy to stay at her cottage to help with her animals."

"Ahem!"

Don sighed. "And Captain Leopard was invited to stay with Rainbow Dash in her cloud house."

"And if we do accept, what will tomorrow look like?"

Don looked at all of us. "To be perfectly honest guys, for the rest of this week, up until the Victory Ball, for once in my life, I don't know. I still don't know how to react to this complete lack of war, or any fighting at all, and I don't know what to do. However, I still suggest that all of you return to the train by 11am, and we'll figure this out from there. In the meantime though, I release all of you from your duties. HOWEVER, please, for the love of Celestia, DO NOT do anything that I wouldn't do! I'm not joking here, DO NOT do anything stupid!"

We all saluted. "Sir, yes Sir!"

He nodded. "Good."

And then we all went our separate ways. Jim was the highest ranking officer in charge of the train, and most of the crew stayed with it. The rest of us though went with our marefriends to hopefully begin a new chapter in adjusting to life after the war.

While Dash went to retrieve Tank from Fluttershy, I was busy packing my duffel bags with items that I would need. I grabbed my clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, fur brushes, other toiletries, some paperwork, as well as a few other odds and ends. I also packed up all of Aurora's stuff as well.

"This feels so....weird Master. It almost feels like we're abandoning this place!"

I nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know what you mean Aurora. However, we're beginning a new chapter in our lives now. Like Don said, we need to begin to find lives outside of the train. The war is over, and now we have to learn to move on."

Aurora sighed, and then, once we were all ready, Dash came back to help show us the way. I was unable to fly due to my duffel bags being heavy and unstable, so I was forced to walk.

Eventually, after walking through Ponyville, Aurora and I suddenly found ourselves at the edge of a field on the edge of town.

"Well, we're here Stud, home sweet home!"

I looked up, and when I did, I could only stare in surprise. Sure enough, way up in the sky, was a house made out of clouds! From where I was standing, I could see that it was 3 stories tall, and had rainbow waterfalls around it! The door had Dash's cutie-mark above it, and it looked absolutely amazing.

Dash smirked. "Hey, when you two pick your jaws up off of the ground, feel free to come on up!" She then flew up to her house.

"Um Dash, how are we gonna do this? Aurora can't fly."

She looked down at me. "Well, can you carry her?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but I'm going to have to make a few trips. However, once I get her up there, won't she just fall through the clouds?"

Dash shook her head. "No, she'll be just fine. Twilight and the gang come up here every now and again, plus Tank's always wandering around as well, so yeah, it's safe. Provided of course that she stays away from the edges!"

Aurora nodded. "No problems there, I don't want to die!"

I then turned to her. "I'm going to get our stuff up there first Aurora, and then I'm going to come back for you. Will that work?"

"Sure, but just don't take too long. I wanna see what it's like up there!"

"You got it Aurora!"

I then grabbed the first of my two duffel bags, and hauled it up to Dash's house. When I arrived up there, I found sort of stairs built into the clouds. The clouds felt squishy, but because I was a flyer, they held my weight with ease.

"It's still so weird that I can walk on clouds", I muttered. "I just can't get over it!"

Dash then unlocked her front door, and opened it. "You can just set your bags down here in the entryway Stud!"

I then stepped up to the door, and peaked inside. I don't know what I was expecting, but while the exterior of Dash's house seemed to be made of clouds, the interior really reminded me of the Battleship Express. The floors and walls were solid, and there were columns here and there as well. To my right was a statue of a Wonderbolt, and there were Wonderbolt posters on the walls as well. Almost everything was either bluish-green, white, or gray. I also saw several doors leading off in different directions, as well as stairs leading up.

For the time being, I shrugged, and set my bags down next to the Wonderbolt Statue. I then went back for Aurora. When I reached her, with some difficulty given how big and heavy she was, I piked her up, and she wrapped all 4 of her limbs, as well as her tail around me as well.

"Just hang on tight Aurora. Total airtime should only be about 2 minutes at the most. It'll be over before you know it."

She looked at me. "Over? Why would I want it to be over? I love flying! I've always wanted to try it. Now, I'll kinda get to do it!"

I looked at her a bit curiously. Up until that moment, I had never in my life even heard Aurora mention that she liked flying. In fact, I didn't even know how she KNEW that she liked flying! "Unless it was something that they trained her with at that military base before I found her, then I don't know how she would know that she loves flying." Nevertheless though, I quickly took off, and flew up with Aurora to Dash's house.

When we arrived up there a minute or so later, I brought her up to the front door, before setting her down inside of the entryway. I quickly glanced at my watch. The time was now 8pm.

"Whew! That was a lot of work! Anyway, we're up here now Dash, so now what?"

"Now we have the moment of truth. How will our pets react to meeting each other?"

I saw that Dash was holding Tank. She then set him on the floor.

"So, that's your tortoise Dash?" Aurora asked.

"Yep, this is Tank, the coolest tortoise ever!"

Aurora then got up, and circled around Tank for a bit. Tank just stared at her. "So, can he talk?"

"Nope. You seem to be the only non-sentient animal here in Equestria who can."

"I AM sentient though, and no, I do NOT want to eat that tortoise!" Aurora then walked slowly over to Tank, before sniffing him a little. Tank just stared up at her.

"I don't get it. Out of all of the pets that you could have gotten, you picked a tortoise. I won't ask why, but I just think that it's a little bit odd."

Dash looked at her. "Um, odd? You're a talking wolf. If anypony's 'odd' here, it's you!"

"Technically, I'm part wolf, part husky, and part German shepherd. However, I have more wolf in me than anything else."

Dash just shrugged. "Ok. Well, let's get you two settled in, at least for the time being, and then we can have some fun before it's time to sleep!"

I looked at Dash curiously. "Um, what exactly do you mean by 'fun'?"

She smirked at me. "Oh, I think that you're going to enjoy it Stud!"

If what I was expecting was something dirty, I was sadly mistaken. Dash's idea of fun was watching a few movies on her couch, cuddling on said couch, as well as eating some junk food. We also read a couple of Daring Do books, (Dash got me HOOKED on those!) and read a few magazines as well. All while we were having fun, Aurora went to sleep early, (her bed was placed in the living room corner), as did Tank, (he slept in Dash's room).

"Hmm, this is so nice Stud. It's almost like we're a young, married couple!"

I sighed as well. "Yeah, I know what you mean Dash. This is so nice. I actually get to enjoy myself for once, without the fear of getting shot at!"

Dash giggled a bit. "Yeah, that's nice for a change!"

We both then cuddled for a little while longer, until at last, it was time for bed.

Ok, well, this chapter has so far proven to be longer than I thought that it was going to be, so i'm going to have to add a Part 2. Don't worry though, it won't be NEARLY as long as this one, and it won't contain any sex either. However, it will be somewhat sad, and involve more issues with PTSD. So you have been warned.

I hope that you really enjoyed this chapter, as it's hopefully begun to set the mood for some of the chapters that will follow this one.

As always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all in Part 2!

ScarFox out for now!