Rainbow Dash wasn't a bad pet owner; she just forgot that Tank existed half the time. It's not that she didn't love him, but Tank only had to be fed once a week and couldn't outrun corn syrup. It was very easy to lose track of him.

The pegasus was enthralled in the latest Daring Do novel while Tank moved about her bedroom. Had she payed any attention whatsoever, she would have heard the jangle of objects as her pet dragged what appeared to be valuable necklaces and artifacts with his mouth under her bed. She would have also noticed that Tank waddled about as if his center of gravity had been compromised.

"Oh no!"

Tank jumped and retreated inside his shell at Rainbow Dash's exclamation.

"How the hay is Do going to get out of this one? Laser pit trap and robot sharks? You might as well throw in a swarm of bees!"

The turtle heard his owner turn the page and sigh loudly.

"Oh COME ON!"

Tank slowly realized that his owner hadn't yelled at him. He slowly withdrew from his shell and continued to move treasures about Dash's room. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash wasn't a speed reader and he knew it it would take her most of the day to finish the book.

Hours went by with Tank going about his business, every so often forced to retreat back inside his shell on reflex when Rainbow Dash made some loud commentary on the story. The tortoise had just finished preparations when he heard a loud clap as his owner finished her book.

"That was the best Daring Do ever!" Rainbow Dash squealed. She looked out the window to see that the sun was already setting. "Woah, nighttime already?"

It was at this point that she noticed Tank in the middle of her room. Her beloved slow guy stared at her blankly.

"Oh, hey Tank. You need something or...?"

Tank slowly blinked and turned his head toward the door.

"Um, you need to go for a fly?"

If Tank had nodded any slower, moss would have formed on his head.

"Well, it's kinda late, but okay."

Rainbow Dash hopped off her bed and began rooting through her closet to find Tank's flight gear, fighting a mountain of junk to get to it.

"Gala dress? No. Daring Do Fanclub card? No! A Scholar's Guide to Aerodynamics? How did this even—"

Tank hid in his shell to protect himself against the volley of trash Rainbow Dash tossed behind her. When she finally located the contraption that enabled him to fly, the floor had disappeared under a sea of discarded items.

"Found it!" she exclaimed. Rainbow Dash looked over the junk strewn about her room to see Tank’s shell just barely visible between some old comic books. She dug him out of the quasi-landfill and slowly flapped her way to the entrance of her home.

For no particular reason, Rainbow Dash bucked the door open. She kept an awkward grasp on her pet as she slowly hovered outside her door and began to crank the mechanism on Tank’s flying device. The magic within the doodad sprang to life and the little propeller on the machine began to spin.

She let go and fluttered off in one direction. When she turned around to check on him, she saw the tortoise slowly floating off in another path.

"Oh, doing your own thing? That's cool. Just knock on the door when you want back in," the pegasus said, returning back to her cloud home.

Tank used his independence to none-too-gracefully glide across the evening sky, the rattling in his shell even more apparent without a floor to absorb the sound of the ill-gotten loot. He eventually found himself above Ponyville and began to survey the small town.

He scanned the ground for some time until he found the building in question and swooped down with surprising grace. He landed in the backyard of the establishment with a solid thump and looked around to make sure that he hadn't been followed. When all was clear, he tapped once on the back door.

Tank responded with two knocks and the door slowly opened. A paw slithered out and placed a note on the porch before retreating back inside. When it was gone, the door closed with a crash.

"Sweetie Belle!" a voice shouted, "Don't slam the door!"

"It wasn't me!"

Tank’s slow eyes traced each letter of the note in front of him.

Leave the cargo in the tree behind you. Will get to it later.

- O

Tank grunted; he lifted off and slowly hovered to a small oak tree with a very deep knot in the middle. The reptile checked to confirm his solitude, unhinged his shell, and poured from it more treasure than would seem physically possible. It took a few minutes to completely unload his haul and he had to shake himself a few times to empty out one last little turquoise earring.

Tank flew back and inspected his work. Sure enough, the knot was deep enough that the deposit could not be seen by any pony passing by. His mission completed, Tank slowly flew back towards his home.

When Tank arrived back at Rainbow Dash’s cloud house, he could clearly hear his owner’s snores through the walls and over the buzz of his machine. He tilted forward and knocked the front door with his head.

The snores ceased and gave away to hoofsteps before Rainbow Dash opened the door and smiled at Tank as he flew in.

"Hey, Tank. What took ya?"

Tank said nothing and only stared at her with soulful eyes.

"I guess you probably want that stuff off," she said. Her tired brain struggled to remember exactly what strap had to be pulled and in what order to get him out. Finally, she simply gave up and broke the harness with her teeth. When he was free, she held him up up in front of her.

"So, did you have any adventures out there?"

Tank opened his dry mouth and made a noise between a rasp and a sigh.

Dash rolled her eyes. "Eh, who am I kidding?"

Tank was set down and left to his own devices as Rainbow Dash returned to her bedroom. His task had been completed and he rewarded himself with the greatest prize he knew. He withdrew his limbs into his protective shell and fell asleep; snores just as loud as his owner’s soon echoed out from the hole where his head had been.