By the next morning, word of what had happened in Hilden was all over the Caribou Empire. There was mass panic in the streets of the towns, cities, and villages that the Caribou still controlled. Caribou of all ages were waiting for any news from their king in Donneth.

When the reports came to Danin, he met with Rodin and Stuggs.

"What, in the BLOODY F@#K happened out there last night?!"

Both of the generals looked first at each other, and then back at Danin.

"I.....don't know, My King. I did not witness this event myself. However, I do know that 13,000 Caribou did not just die by themselves, and we have CONFIRMED eyewitness testimony of what happened, but my question is, WHO, or WHAT, WERE THOSE THINGS?!?!?!"

"I know what they were. They....were the dead returning, My King", Stuggs reported. "We killed them in the snow, and now they have returned, as Harbingers of our doom! I saw them here in Donneth. They were our doom!"

Rodin looked at him. "Oh yeah, well if they were so ‘undead’, then why did they just retreat like that?" Rodin was trying to put on his brave/skeptical face to mask the extreme fear that he felt inside.

"Because they were testing us Rodin. That was just playful teasing. They were just toying with us to see how we would react. Now that they know that they can destroy us, gods help us all."

"So, how do we prevent this from happening again?! I need ACTUAL ANSWERS here people!"

The generals looked at their king. "Well", Rodin answered, "If it were me, I would have to say that we keep a watchful eye on this, and be ready to hit back if any of those Harbingers should choose to strike again."

They continued to talk about this for a long time, with everyone having their own opinions and ideas. At Danin's absolute insistence, Colonel Bruno dispatched more Griffons to see about finding the train's wreckage. Still, they had nothing to report.

"There's still nothing out here, King Danin. Like we've said before, they're DEAD!!! We'll find their bodies, and the train when the snow melts, but the Black Leviathan is no more!"

Danin sighed, before returning to his meeting with Stuggs and Rodin.

Back on the Battleship Express, the success of last night's mission was still being felt. However, that was about to give way to an even bigger plan, which Don, Jim, Shining, and I revealed to the Princesses.

"Ok, so here's our latest plan. They still think that we're dead, and from what we've been picking up from them, the Caribou are close to absolute PANIC over last night's mission. From what I can see, we need to push this to the max. We need to make them so scared of us 'Undead Harbingers', as they call us, that they not only piss and crap themselves, but also perhaps literally scare them to death."

Celestia and Luna looked at each other. "Oh? And how were you planning on accomplishing this Major?"

Jim took the mic. "That's where myself, and my specialists come in Princess, as well as General Shining, and the other Unicorns who are skilled with illusion Magic. With the train still not having been found, I think that the time has come for us to make its presence felt again, only this time, it will scare them even further."

Luna spoke up. "Ok, I have a guess as to what you guys might have in mind, but please, do tell, what is your plan?"

"Well, the plan is for us to first cover all lights on the train with greenish-blue reflectors. This will serve to provide an eerie light source. Next, thanks to some tinkering with chemicals taken from the Zebras, we've created a series of bricks that can be burned in the Big Boy's firebox, and when they are, they will produce an eerie, bluish-green smoke. Also, similar chemicals will be dumped into the Big Boy's water tanks, so that all steam and exhaust water will come out the same color as well."

Next, Shining took up the explanation. "Next comes the REALLY fun part! For those of us who have become especially gifted with illusion Magic, the plan is for us to make the Battleship Express literally look like she's just come back from the dead. We'll make everything appear old, and worn out. Parts of the train will be rusty, and very dirty, and other parts will be broken, or even missing. We'll also make it look like the boiler exploded during the crash, so that there's no possible way that the engine could be running! We'll make it look like not only did it come from the crash, but it will have also spent the entire Winter buried in the snow. But that's not even the best part. For a while, for the most dramatic effects, we will even be able to make the entire train 'vanish' by cloaking it in shadow spells!"

Celestia and Luna both looked at each other. They were both well and truly shocked by what they had just heard. Never before had psychological warfare on that scale ever even been attempted. But yet, at the same time, we all had a well-laid out plan, and had the means to execute it, in addition to having the abilities to actually pull it off.

Finally, Celestia said, "I've said it before, but I'll say it again. You Humans never CEASE to amaze me! Your plans are so daring, so...unorthodox, but yet, they've always delivered smashing results! I guess that I'll just have to see it for myself to believe it!"

Don looked back at the camera. "So....does this mean that we can go through with the plan?"

The Princesses nodded. "Yes, by all means! This will make for some AMAZING viewing!"

"Ok then Princesses, we'll get to work on this right away. It'll take another day or so until we're all ready, but when we are, you'll be the first to know!"

"Ok, roger that Major!" We then terminated the call, and got to work.

The next day or so involved all of us working together under Jim and Shining's supervision to get everything ready. The Big Boy's water supply was fully tainted with the chemicals for the water, and the bricks were made ready to be thrown into the firebox. Across the rest of the train, the bluish-green reflectors were being placed over all visible lights, both internal, and external, and other minor modifications were made to the train as well. That night, July 23rd, 2029, in the dead of the same Winter that took its 'life', the Battleship Express was going to make its 'ghostly' return!

I was sitting with Don, working out the final details of the plan. "So, how are we going to do this Don?"

Don pointed to a map. "Well, from what we've found, Donneth is surrounded by 2 other fortress cities, Carlon, and Danton. However, close to these cities are a series of train tracks that have been abandoned for a while. They're all rusty and old, and they run from close to us, to all the way past Donneth, to a bend that our scouts reported has become impassible!"

I was confused. "Huh? What do you mean, 'impassible'?"

"I mean that the tracks are broken. They've seemingly split clompletely apart due to age, and there's no way that a train could pass over them!"

I smirked. "Except for a 'ghost train'!" I then saw something else. "But wait a minute though, if those tracks end, how are we going to be able to disappear?"

Don pointed to a small junction. "Right here. This junction lies right inside of the city's blind spots. My plan is for the train to roll to that junction, 'vanish', then head down this track into the woods, where the Unicorns mask it. Others also work to mask the junction from view. If my assumptions are correct, then a scouting team will be sent to investigate, and all that they will find will be a destroyed section of track, and no wreckage!"

I nodded in approval. "Just like always Don, your plans are absolute genius! And I think that this will be the best one yet, so let's make it count!"

We all then began to finish all of our preparations for the real thing, which was slated to begin in less than 12 hours.

Once night fell, we all waited a while longer for the operation to begin. All of us who could possibly be visible were dressed up like we'd been in a serious railroad accident, and then froze to death in the snow. Our uniforms were torn and tattered, and blood was streaked on us. Some of us were missing limbs, eyes, chunks of flesh, or even a combination of the before-mentioned 3, while others had metal shrapnel impaled into us! For Todd and Alex, they were painted up to look like they'd just went through a boiler explosion. They now had hideous burns, and Alex was even missing a good chunk of his head! I was once again dressed up like I had been the previous night.

Once we were all ready, Don began to give the orders. "Ok people, this is it. This is what we've rehearsed for, and now that the Princesses are watching us, we've got to make this look good!" He then switched frequencies. "Leopard?"

"Yes Don?"

"Throw in the special logs, and then open the valves to let the tainted water flow. For the rest of you, turn the lights on, and for Shining and Co. start working your Magic, literally!"

"Yes Sir!" We all replied.

Alex then popped in the logs, while I worked with the valves to get the water laced with the chemicals to flow through the boiler. Next, all across the train, the lights began to glow; an eerie, bluish-green, very ghostly glow. Next, the train suddenly seemingly went through a massive transformation. Now, a good chunk of the boiler was missing, the train was faded, dirty, rusty, worn out, bent, dented in, parts were broken, and it all looked like it had been buried in the snow all Winter. Blood could be seen dripping from a few corners, chunks of other things were missing as well, and the entire train looked to be in no condition to ride the rails.

"Nice work Shining and Co!" Don and the others complemented when they saw how amazing the train looked. "Illusion magic is so amazing! All of this looks real, but it isn't!"

Then, the greenish-blue smoke appeared, followed by the greenish-blue steam.

"This is so amazing that it would make the folks over at the MacKamey Manor Haunted House so damn jealous! They would KILL to see something like this!" He then picked up his radio. "Leopard, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here Don."

"Ok, well, the time is 12:35am, and it's time for the Battleship Express to rise from her grave, and stalk her victims from the rails!"

I smirked. "Heh, roger that Don! Oh, and can I blow the whistle?"

"Eh, wait until we get away from this side line, and then you can. Not too far ahead of us is a tunnel. When we come out of that tunnel, we become the TRUE Harbingers of Death!"

"Roger that Don!" Just before I opened the throttle though, I had a final request. "Hey DELCI?"

"Yes Sir?"

"Do, you actually have any 'ghost train' music?"

DELCI looked through her records. "Eh, I found this!"

I facepalmed. "Not THAT one DELCI! Try and find something else!"

She sighed. "Ok, fine! I'll keep looking!" She found something else. "This is all I could find Sir. I found other songs, but they didn't fit the mood."

I sighed. "Fine, just stick with the first one then. It's better than nothing, but PLEASE keep the volume low, and internal only! We DO NOT want to give ourselves away!"

"Ok, roger that!" DELCI then played the 1st song.

"Ok then people, here we go!" I then opened up the throttle, and slowly, rustily, and creakily, with sounds coming from parts that had not moved in a very long time, the Battleship Express moved out once again; this time, to seek revenge from those who had slain her.

After a number of minutes of travel, we reached that tunnel that Don had been talking about. Sure enough, we went in one side, and when we emerged from the other side, we were fully in character. We were now the Undead Harbingers, driving the ghost of the Battleship Express, and our mission was to seek vengeance on those who had killed us!

We rolled along, letting our train do its thing. For the longest time though, our presence seemingly went unnoticed. Nobody seemed to see the large ghost train that was passing so close to them. Nobody that was, until we reached Garrison 13, one of the garrisons outside of the Donneth area.

Suddenly, something triggered an alarm. "Huh? What's that?"

"I don't know, it almost sounded like an engine!"

"But that can't be! There aren't any more trains running tonight!"

Suddenly though, from out of the fog close to their garrison, they suddenly heard a sound that none of them had ever heard before. It sounded like a train's whistle, but it was distorted, and sounded like a Banshee's shriek!

"Good GODS!!! WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?!"

Then, before any of those close by could answer, from out of the fog, a large shape appeared, followed by ghostly, glowing lights. It looked like a train, but it looked like it had wrecked!

Suddenly, the soldier who spotted the train went dead white. He knew what it was. "BLACK LEVIATHAN!!!!" He screamed. "IT'S BACK!!!" He then died of cardiac arrest. The others in the garrison watched in absolute shock as the ghostly form of the Black Leviathan went by them. They were so scared, but if they needed any further convincing, from somewhere inside the train, 9 figures suddenly leaped. They were the Undead Harbingers, and were back to make their presence felt. They hit the garrison, and those that they didn't kill, or died of fright, killed themselves! Just before the last of them died though, he sent a message through to General Rodin.

"GENERAL?! GENERAL, ARE YOU THERE!?!?!! IT'S BACK, THE BLACK LEVIATHAN IS BACK FROM THE GRAVE!!!!! IT'S HERE TO......" Then, the soldier with the radio was suddenly grabbed, and had his neck broken by a Harbinger, and the transmission was cut off.

In Donneth itself, out on a balcony in the Imperial Palace, Danin was still talking to General Stuggs, and General Rodin, when all of a sudden, Rodin got a call from Garrison 13. All 3 of them listened in horror to the soldier's report, before it suddenly ended.

"Um, General, what was that all about?"

Rodin looked worried. "I don't know Sir. I hope that it was nothing too serious."

"Um, that sounded pretty serious to me General. Plus, in the aftermath of last night, I think that claims like that should really be taken seriously. That certainly didn't sound like a prank."

Rodin nodded. "Yes, My King." He then picked up his communicator. "Hello Garrison 13? This is General Rodin. Please repeat your message, over."

No reply came.

"Hello?! If this was supposed to be a prank, it is NOT FUNNY, and whoever is responsible for this, will be SEVERELY PUNISHED!!!"

Still, there was no answer.

Suddenly though, from a ways in the distance, Stuggs thought that he heard something. "Huh? What was that?" He walked over to the edge of the balcony to get a better look. From where he was standing, he could see the old rail lines that ran outside of the city, maybe a quarter mile away. "That's.....strange." He thought to himself, "I could have sworn that I heard a train. Must have been hearing things." He was about to turn back to Danin and Rodin, but then, the sound came again, only this time, it was plain as day. "Ok, now that was definitely a train. However, those old train tracks are abandoned, and even if they weren't, there shouldn't be any trains running this late at night!"

Unfortunately for him though, there WAS a train running along those old rails that night, and that train was about to cause more panic than Donald Trump did when he won the 2016 Presidential Election! Just as Stuggs was turning his head away again, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, what he saw, made his blood run cold.

"MY KING, GENERAL RODIN, LOOK!!!!!!" He frantically pointed to something outside of the city.

When the two of them looked, what they saw scared them worse than anything that they had ever seen before.

"I-I-IT CAN'T BE!!!!!!!"

But sure enough, it was. There, out on the old tracks, running along at a fair rate of speed, was the Battleship Express, and it was glowing! From out of its smokestacks, as well as from its pistons and other parts came clouds of greenish-blue smoke and steam. Also, from the rest of the train came greenish-blue glowing lights! The train also looked like it had been through a traumatic crash, and had been left to rot in the snow for several months.

All 3 of the Caribou Leaders, as well as other citizens and soldiers in and around Donneth, Carlon, and Danton saw it, and when they did, they absolutely panicked! Caribou poured out into the streets, and began to run in all directions, screaming about how doom was soon to be upon them.

Suddenly though, before their very eyes, the train suddenly vanished! Just *poof!* Gone into seemingly thin air! Danin immediately ordered scouts who were willing to follow the tracks, and see where they led. (Meanwhile, we had gotten the train out of sight onto that track in the woods, and after masking the train, as well as the junction, we waited to see what would happen next.)

When Danin received the report from the scouts, he was horrified. "WHAT?!?!?!? WHAT DO THEY MEAN THAT THE TRACKS JUST END?!?!?!"

Rodin sighed. "From what they found, the old tracks do continue, but at a bend in the woods, the tracks were all broken apart. There's no way that the train could have backed up and gotten away without us seeing it, they couldn't have gone on with the broken tracks, and they couldn't have crashed because there's no wreckage!" Rodin was starting to freak out as well.

"It makes no sense! If that was a real train, then where did it go?!"

"I don't know, My King."

"IT WASN'T A REAL TRAIN!!!! THAT WAS THE GHOST OF THE BLACK LEVIATHAN!!!!! THEY'VE COME BACK TO GET US FOR WHAT WE DID TO THEM!!!!"

Rodin tried to come up with a logical explanation, but given the evidence, he was unable to. It made absolutely no sense. He didn't believe in ghosts, (at least, not yet!) but yet, if that train wasn't a ghost, then how did it disappear into thin air?!

He had no ideas at all, but after Danin suffered a fainting spell, he and Stuggs had to help him back inside of the palace.

Once he'd recovered, Danin shook his head. "I.....can't take this anymore! Staying here to deal with the Humans while they were alive was bad enough, but UNDEAD HARBINGERS AND GHOST TRAINS?!?!?! I have to leave!"

Stuggs looked like he was going to say something, but Rodin cut him off. "My King, do you have a contingency plan in place for your evacuation?"

Danin sighed. "To an extent, yes. The plan was for me, my staff, and my most important advisers and servants to head for our southernmost stronghold, Bryerton. I now see that you and Stuggs will have to remain behind to protect the home front, but that leaves us with another problem; I need someone else to stay here, and hold down Donneth!"

Now Stuggs could see that Danin was about to leave him behind to face Death while he saved his own sorry ass. In his mind, he began to make plans to surrender when the time came, even if that meant surrendering to the Undead Harbingers.

"Um, My King, who did you have in mind to be your replacement?"

Danin frowned. "Well, he'll have to be someone expendable, someone I hate, someone who would be able to fight if given the chance, and someone who would be willing to die for the cause."

"Yes, My King, but who could that be?" Both Rodin and Stuggs were praying to the Heavens that Danin didn't choose them.

Danin frowned in deep thought. "Well", He said at last. "Whatever happened to my bastard brother?"

"Um, do you mean Dactyl, My King?"

"YES!!! DACTYL!!!! Where is he?!"

Now it was Rodin's turn to frown. He knew all too well how much of a pain up the ass Dactyl had been. He hated the bastard just as much, if not more than Danin did.

"Well, My King, according to my records, he is still locked up in prison."

Danin thought back to his brother, Dactyl. Dactyl had been a general, as well as a prince, until their father had died. Then he tried to seize the throne for himself. Danin wouldn't have that, so after having him arrested by his guards, he had him locked up in prison, where he could never seize power again. All mentions of him were erased from the records, so it was as if he never existed. (Everyone knew that he was in prison, but they really didn't care). Nearly 9 years separated the 2 of them, but for Danin, even though he was older, Dactyl still did look a lot like him. "And he would be the perfect choice of a candidate for my replacement. I don't have the guts to kill him myself, but maybe now I won't have to!"

However, Rodin didn't like this plan. "Um, My King, just in case you have forgotten, Dactyl is not mentally well. He is schizophrenic, and has other mental ailments. He is not fit to rule. He tried to seize power from you once, and could easily do it again!"

Danin turned to Rodin. "But at the same time though, he looks almost exactly like me, and he's definitely expendable! He'll be nothing more than a puppet in my hands while I rule from Bryerton, at least until this all blows over."

Rodin sighed. "So, do you want me to go and fetch him?"

Danin nodded slowly with a cruel smirk. "Yes, go and bring him! It's high time that I see my 'dear little brother' again!"

Rodin sighed, and then headed off to Brimstone Prison, the toughest, and most secure prison that the Caribou had.

After the "package", had been collected, he was taken to the Imperial Palace.

"Come on Rod, why are you doing this?"

"Shut up Dac! Your brother just wants to talk to you!"

Dactyl scoffed. "Psh! NOW he suddenly wants to see me again? Why? Is the war going so badly for him that he needs ME to cover his ass? I thought that the Humans were all dead!"

Rodin nodded. "Eh, pretty much, yeah. And we thought that they were, but now they seem to have returned as Undead Harbingers."

Dactyl laughed, and before long was brought in front of Danin. When he saw him, Danin could see that even prison had still not really changed his brother at all. He was still 6'3, 210lbs, with dark brown fur, dark hair, a full rack of antlers, and a lot of muscles.

"So, we meet again, 'brother', or should I even call you that anymore?"

Danin smirked a bit. "Yeah, it's nice to see you again too Dactyl. It's nice to see that prison hasn't really changed you too much."

"Heh, depends on what you mean by 'changed', Brother!"

Danin shut that conversation down right then and there. "Ok, if you mean that you're gay now, I DO NOT want to hear about it! And how much did Rodin tell you before he brought you here?"

Dactyl smirked. "He told me that you guys were getting your asses handed to you by Humans, ghosts, and harbingers! He also said something about me being reinstated as a prince, as well as a general."

"Yes, and you will be; if you prove yourself worthy, that is. You see Dac, I need your help. With the war going the way that it is, I'm needed in the south, but yet, I still need someone to hold down the fort up here. Bryerton needs my help the most, so I will be leaving for there tonight, and you will be in charge of Donneth, Carlon, and Danton. Someone needs to stop these harbingers and their ghost train. Do you think that you are up for the challenge?"

Truth be told, in addition to having some mental health issues, Dactyl was also rather naive. He didn't really question why Danin suddenly wanted to leave him in charge, or even why his brother was leaving at all. He was just glad to be out of prison, and back in power.

"Heh, don't worry Brother, you can count on me!"

Danin smirked to himself. "Good. Very good! I will also leave General Rodin in charge of Carlon, while General Stuggs will be in charge of Danton. And while you will be in charge of Donneth, it will be the job of ALL 3 of you to protect this place! Do you understand?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes Sir."

"Yes, My King."

"Good."

Danin then began to pack up so that he could leave. Originally, he planned on taking Cole, Dash, and Pinkie with him, but then he thought that it would be too much of a hassle. Instead, he decided to just leave them where they were.

"Hey, does this mean that I have access to your harem Brother?"

Danin glared at him. "Yes, and no. Yes, you are in charge of them, and you must take care of them, but no, you cannot f@#k them! They still represent an incredibly powerful investment to me, and if I EVER find out that you mistreated them in ANY WAY, I will find out, and it will be right back to jail for you!"

Dactyl shrugged. "Yeah, fine, whatever. I'll take care of them. Just do whatever you have to do on your end, and I'll handle things from here."

Danin nodded, and after leaving his brother with a set of instructions, as well as a rather large list of do's and don't's, he, as well as his advisers, and servants, as well as a few soldiers assigned to protect him, led by Sergeant Dothan from the Battle of Ponyville, Danin made his retreat to Bryerton by train, leaving his brother Dactyl behind, most likely to die.

For the Battleship Express, we had no idea that Danin peeled out on us. However, what we did have, was a heck of a lot of fun playing Undead Harbingers. Night after night we went out, caused a panic, and then disappeared seemingly into thin air.

Dactyl was getting worried. "Ok, now this is some spooky shit right here! Danin never told me nothing about no ghost train like this!"

"Your orders, Prince Dactyl?" Rodin asked.

"We have to stop that thing from striking again!"

"But, Sir, how do we stop something not of this world?"

Before Dactyl could answer though, something else decided to rear its ugly head. From up in the night sky, the 9 Undead Harbingers decided to make their presence in Donneth felt once again. With their ungodly shrieking, glowing yellow or red eyes, and tattered uniforms, as well as their seeming invincibility, they wreaked absolute havoc on the city.

Once again, my plan was to try and reach Dash and the other hostages. Time and time again we tried to get inside of the palace, only to be thwarted by armed guards, falling debris, and even janitors with brooms!

"GET OUT OF HERE YOU FILTHY HARBINGER!!!!"

I promptly sank my teeth, including my fangs, deep into his arm, tearing away at his flesh!

"GWAAAAHHHH!!!!!" He screamed. I then smirked, and after wiping his blood off with the back of my hand, I went for his neck! After finding his windpipe, I was able to bite just hard enough to rupture it, before leaving him to choke on his own blood. I then rushed past him, and made it inside of the palace.

"Dash? Dash!" I yelled. "Where are you?!" I didn't receive a response.

For nearly 15 minutes, I went up and down the long corridors of the palace, looking for some sign of any of the hostages, but alas, I could find none. Little did I suspect though that at one point in my journey, I was standing literally 1 floor above where the harem chamber was.

Eventually, a series of guards armed with flamethrowers drove me back outside.

"FOOLS!!!! I shrieked at them, "DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR PUNY FLAMES WILL STOP ME?!?!?!” I then launched a series of deadly projectile grenades from a launcher on my wrist into a nearby building. The explosion that occurred inside of that building sent debris flying in all directions, and at least wounded the guards with the flamethrowers. Then, with an evil laugh, and a vow to return, we all flew off into the night, and disappeared from sight.

When Dactyl ordered a search for bodies, 978 were found dead by us, while a further 153 were discovered to have killed themselves. After that, Dactyl was finally beginning to realize that the only reason that Danin let him out of prison was to have him deal with a problem that was killing Caribou at an alarming rate so that he could run and save his own sorry ass.

"Well, I might as well make the most of this." He turned to one of the guards. "Guard?"

"Um, yes Sir?"

"Please bring me the two female captives of Danin's hostages."

"Um, ok, but what do you want me to do with the male?"

"Eh, leave him be. And once you're out of the harem chamber, close it up again, and don't let anyone in again until these 'Undead Harbingers' have been dealt with. Food and water will still be delivered, but nobody will be allowed in, or out!"

The guard nodded, and went to fulfill his boss's wishes.

Meanwhile, down in the harem chamber, Winston was in there, making his usual rounds.

"Hey Winston? There was a lot of commotion upstairs last night, as well as for the past couple of nights. What's going on?"

Winston looked at Cole with a bit of a worried look. "Well, actually, I was hoping that you would be able to tell me." He then explained in full detail about everything, from the sightings of the train, to the Undead Harbingers, to the various attacks on towns and cities, including Donneth. "They were even in the palace last night! They were driven back by guards, but they vowed to return!"

Cole thought about that. Then, he smiled. "Heh, then that means that they're still on target for taking Donneth! They're all still alive, and are using 'being dead' to their advantage!"

"So, psychological warfare?"

"Yes. The more scared that they can make the Caribou, the better! These attacks are causing internal riots, panic, and confusion. If my predictions are correct, then one day very soon, they will attack."

Winston was maybe about to reply to this, but before he could, the doors were suddenly unlocked, and several guards entered.

They went straight for Cole, Dash, Pinkie, and Missy. After pushing Winston out of the way, they grabbed Dash and Pinkie.

"By the order of Prince Dactyl, you are to be taken to him so that he may look at you!"

"Hey, let them go!" Cole tried to help them, as did Winston, but they were both shoved back.

"NO!!! DON'T TAKE US AWAY FROM COLE AND MISSY!!!!!" Pinkie screamed. She was then gagged, as was Dash, as Dash kept trying to bite her captors.

Once they were out of the room, they locked the doors.

"Hey! What the....?!?!?!" Winston went over to the doors. "HEY, OPEN THESE DOORS!!!! I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LOCKED IN HERE!!!"

"By the order of Prince Dactyl, brother of King Danin, these doors are to be locked, and not opened until the threats from the Undead Harbingers has been dealt with! Do not worry though, food and water will still be provided." The guards then left, dragging Dash and Pinkie with them.

"F@#KING, F@#K!!!!" Winston yelled. He banged on the doors for a while longer, but eventually he ran out of steam. He then went back to Cole and Missy.

"Well, I guess that my only hope now is you Cole. I'm locked in here, and only you can save me if the Humans come."

"Which I will do. You've proven yourself worthy Winston. I will do my best to save your life."

"Just as I will too." Missy added.

Winston hugged them both. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

Cole nodded, but then he sighed. "Yeah, but now let's just hope that this 'Prince Dactyl' guy doesn't hurt Pinkie or Dash, and that my comrades hurry up and save us all!"

Meanwhile, upstairs, Dash and Pinkie were taken back to the throne room. When they arrived, they expected to see King Danin, but to their shock, sitting on the throne was a younger, scruffier-looking version of him dressed in grey armor and brown pants.

He smirked a bit when he saw them. "So, you must be the slaves that my brother stole from Zakia! Wow, you're really cute!"

Pinkie and Dash both looked at each other, confused.

"Oh, I see that you were never told. Well, my name is Dactyl. My brother, King Danin, left me in charge of Donneth while he went to help secure our southern border near Bryerton. He left me in charge of YOU as well, and even though I'm not really allowed to touch you, I'd still like to keep you close at hand."

At his command, leashes were attached to Dash and Pinkie's collars and were then attached to the throne.

"There, now I can keep a close eye on you, and get a good look whenever I want!"

Dash and Pinkie both looked at each other. They knew that their sanity was running out. How much longer could they hold out until they finally snapped? How much worse of a "master" would Dactyl be than Danin? Would liberation ever come for them?

Unknown to them though, maybe 10 miles away from Donneth, inside of an abandoned mountain tunnel, a ghostly beast of a train lurked in the darkness. Its crew's eyes were set towards Donneth, which they would attack in less than a day. They knew that the final showdown was near, and that its consequences were going to decide the fate of not only the hostages, but also those of the Caribou themselves.

Author's Note

And, here was Chapter 23! So now that the "Ghost Train", has made its presence known, and the "Undead Harbingers" have returned as well. Also, Danin has a brother named Dactyl, and now he's in charge of Donneth. Will be be any better of a leader than Danin was? And with the Battle of Donneth imminent, how will that go? Will we finally rescue the hostages, and give the Caribou their just deserts, or will Dash just be moved away again? Also, with Sombra seemingly getting stronger all the time, how much longer will it be before he tries to break free of me? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned, and I'll tell you!

Meanwhile, as always, comemnts, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all in Chapter 24, which will begin the final climactic battles of the Imperial War!

ScarFox out for now!