Later on that day after the battle, at maybe close to 1pm, the rest of the crew in the Secondary Crew Bunk Car, Alex, Todd, Fred, and Andy, suddenly became aware of loud shouting and screaming coming from my room. Alex and Fred were sleeping, Todd was eating, and Andy was listening to music. They all came scrambling when they heard my screams, and they heard what sounded like me arguing very loudly with somebody.

"Out! OUT, OUT, OUT, GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!!" I screamed. My door then opened, and a cyan blue mare with a rainbow colored mane and tail was suddenly thrown out into the hallway!

"AND STAY OUT!!!!" I then slammed the door, and seemingly jammed a chair under the knob.

It was then that the others realized that the mare was my admirer, Rainbow Dash, and that she was naked!

"Oh gosh!"

They all averted their eyes, and either looked away, or like Todd and Andy, just straight up left.

Dash then got up, and began to pound on my door. "HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!!!! I'M STILL NAKED!!!! GIVE ME MY CLOTHES BACK!!!!"

My door then opened, some clothes got tossed out, and then the door slammed again. Alex and Fred then heard the sounds of what sounded like me crying.

"Shit, shit, shit!!!!" Dash muttered as she pulled her clothes back on again.

Once she was done, she suddenly seemed to notice me crying.

"Hey, what's wrong Stud? Are you ok?"

"GO AWAY!!!! I.....I don't want to talk right now! Plus, you have Spitfire as a marefriend! Go.......bother her for a while!"

Dash had had enough. I kept constantly pushing her away, and Dash could tell that I liked her, so I shouldn't be pushing her away. Dash decided that it was high time that she knew why.

"Ok, first of all, I didn't really mean that when I said that. I was just trying to scare you. Secondly though, what is wrong with you Stud? Why are you so hostile to me? Why do you seem to keep shutting everypony out? What are you so afraid of?"

"LOSS!!!!!” I finally screamed at the absolute top of my lungs. "I PUSH EVERYONE AWAY, BECAUSE I CAN'T STAND TO LOSE ANYONE AGAIN!!!!!" I then kept moved away from the door, but I continued to cry very loudly. Dash kept trying to talk to me, but I never answered her.

She turned to look down the hallway, but by that point, both Alex and Fred had fled. (They knew by that point that whenever I became emotionally combustible like that, I needed to defuse by myself, and I could potentially hurt anyone who tried to intervene.)

Dash knew that she would have to ask someone else for the answers that she do desperately sought.

"If he won't tell me, then I guess I'll go find the one person on this train who hopefully can!"

Dash then made herself presentable, and went to go see Major Don.

In the Common Room, Alex and Fred were in shock.

"Gosh Fred. What.........what in the hell just HAPPENED out there?"

Fred shrugged. "I dunno Alex. However, if I had to guess, Miss Dash wanted to get "up close and personal" with Leopard, and I guess he didn't want any of it. I guess that she got naked, he woke up, saw her, flipped out, and threw her out of his room."

"Yeah, but how did she even get in there? Leopard always locks his door."

"Yeah, but I think that the lock to his room may be broken. I think that it was damaged during the Battle of Phoenix, but I'm not sure." Fred then put a hand over his face. "This is all my fault. She asked me where his room was and I told her. If I'd know that this was going to happen, I never would have told her!"

Alex stared at Fred in shock. However, he knew that Fred had meant no harm, and had most likely not even remembered about the door lock being broken until just then.

"I just hope that Leopard'll be ok. Remember, he did try to commit suicide after Lilly died, and when he thought that Jim was dead, he launched a nuclear attack! Now, I'm afraid that he'll snap completely."

Fred was maybe going to reply to that, but he didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything.

A few minutes later, there came a knock on Major Don's office door.

"Who is it?"

"Um, my name is Rainbow Dash. May I come in please? I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah, I guess so. Come on in."

Dash opened the door, and found herself inside a small office. There was a desk, several filing cabinets, a computer, a mini fridge, and a few cabinets. There were also maps, charts, and other office supplies and equipment. Major Don was sitting at the desk, writing on a document in front of him.

He looked up at her. "Eh, you can take a seat if you want."

She sat down on a chair, and pulled it a little bit closer to the desk.

"So, what can I do for you Miss Dash, although, if this turns into a question/answer session involving Captain Leopard, I really don't want to hear about it."

Dash looked down at the floor. Finally, she took a deep breath, and looked back up at the Major. "Well Sir, I guess that this would be considered a question/answer session, but not in the way that you would think! The truth is, I'm actually worried for Captain Leopard."

Don looked at her suspiciously. "What do you mean by 'worried'?"

"I mean, why does he shut everypony out? What is his deal? Why does it seem like he hates everypony?"

When Don heard that, his face turned rather pale, and he sat back in his chair. "Who told you about this?" He asked at last.

Dash then told him about what happened earlier, excluding of course the little details, like that she was naked in my room for example!

Don buried his face into his hands. "Miss Dash, please close the door. What I'm about to tell you, is for your ears alone."

Dash got the feeling that what the Major was about to tell her was not going to be good. Nevertheless though, she wanted answers, so she did what Don wanted.

Once the door was closed, Dash sat back down. "Why did I have to do that Major Don?"

"Because, what I’m about to tell you will change not only how you see Captain Leopard, but the rest of us as well. And I'm only going to tell you this, if you solemnly swear to keep this to yourself, and never tell another living soul. Do you understand?"

Dash nodded. "Yeah, but what happens if I do tell somepony else?"

In response, Don reached under his desk, and pulled out an M1911. He cocked it, and set it on the desk in front of him. "Do you really want to know, or do you get the picture?"

Dash's eyes got really wide. "Yep, clear as glass! I won't tell anypony!"

"Good." Don then took the gun, uncocked it, and put it back under his desk where he found it. "Now then, as I was saying, what I'm about to tell you is some pretty serious stuff. The truth is, I really don't know much about Captain Leopard at all. Heck, I don't even know what his real name is. However, from what I have pieced together over the years, I think forms a fairly complete puzzle of his life. He was born in the year 2005 in Iowa. He was adopted, and lived with his family. Then, in 2016, a violent domestic skirmish known as the "Forgotten War", happened. It engulfed America for about a year, Leopard had something to do with it, and the Americans won. After that though, came WW3...." Don then explained WW3, and how I was promoted to a sergeant, and led my soldiers to victory.

"After that though, he was promoted to lieutenant, and then WW4 happened. This is a topic I'm not comfortable talking about, at all, so I will leave details intentionally blank. During WW4, Leopard was one of many selected for 'Project Sterling ', which was supposed to turn humans into Human-Wolf Super-Soldiers. Unfortunately though, the project went horribly wrong. Instead of full super-soldiers, people like Leopard, or 'Scar', as he was known as back then, became like they are today, Humans, but with wolf-like features, including ears, tails, eyes that can see in almost total darkness, and having full wolf features from the waist down, including legs, paws with claws, and even.....um,...w-wolf genitals."

Dash was shocked. She wanted to know more, but Don didn't want to talk about it. Instead, he skipped through WW4, and WW5. After that, he explained the first part of WW6.

"Scar was now a captain, and was promoted to help lead Firestorm Battalion, which was stationed in Sue Falls, South Dakota. Long story short, the battalion was wiped out at the war's end, with Leopard, and our Second Brakeman, Todd Davis, being the only survivors. They were all held in a 'Futa Care Center' until they had recovered, and were sold to a Futa mistress. From what I heard, Leopard's first Mistress was so horrible. She abused him and her other slaves mercilessly, and kept them working on her ranch in North Dakota. Finally, the authorities intervened, and Scar was sent to a care and rehabilitation unit until he could recover, and be adopted again, only this time, there would be a much more intense vetting process."

Don went on to explain that I was actually adopted by Demetria herself, and was taken to live in Vegas. (The story that I told to Alex and Todd was at least loosely based in fact, but I made up a LOT of the details!)

"He worked as a sort of janitor, cleaning the Imperial palace. Little known to everyone else though, Demetria had adopted him as a sort of 'son/pet'. It was her who affectionately gave him the nickname 'Leopard', thanks to the dark patches of fur on his back, resembling leopard spots. For nearly a year, he lived with her, and was seemingly very happy. However, his joy was not to last. Less than a year before the Cold War ended, there was an attempted coup. Demetria's forces prevailed, but Leopard was captured, and sold to a ranch in Kansas."

Don then explained in a nutshell the events leading up to the creation of the Battleship Express, and most of the events in WW6, leading up to the battle of Vegas, including Lilly's death. "Lilly was his third wife. He adored her, and she was his whole world. She was the only real 'family' that he had left. After her death, Leopard lost his mind. After a failed suicide attempt, and an attempt by a Futa agent to blow up the Big Boy, which injured him further, Leopard started wearing that Kitsune mask, which was his wedding gift to him from Lilly. He wears it to remember her by. That's why he shuts the world out Dash. His mind is now so fragile, he cannot tolerate anymore loss. This is why he pushes everyone away. If they die, it could be the end of the last of his sanity. However, that's where I need you you step in."

"Um, how do I do that Sir?"

"Well, for starters, you've already done something that none of us ever could; you actually got through to him! I was beginning to think that Leopard couldn't feel any emotions besides anger, sadness, hate, and loneliness anymore, but when I saw you with him up on that pillbox, I could tell that you were getting through to him! He only pushed you away because if he were to lose you, it would be the end of him. I think that he actually does like you, but he doesn't show it. That's what he meant when he called himself a 'Tsundere'. He meant that he was stone cold at first, but if you could navigate the hazardous labyrinth to his heart, and he genuinely loved and trusted you, then he would love you to the absolute bitter end no matter what. Human-wolves like him have most of the mental attributes of wolves as well, including loyalty. Wolves mate for life, and he would love you to the bitter end, as that's just his nature."

"Ok, but how do I step in? I'm still slightly confused."

"Oh yeah, right. Sorry, I do tend to ramble a bit. Anyway, it's not really healthy for him to just have Aurora as a companion, he needs another female in his life. Because of his past experiences, he doesn't really trust anyone outside of his brothers in arms. He, like all of us, has PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as 'Shell Shock'. It's pushing him to the absolute breaking point. If he doesn't experience love again soon like what he felt with Lilly, then I'm afraid that he'll completely shut down, and that'll be the end of him. Captain Leopard will be gone forever, replaced by a dead shell. Everything will still be functioning, but he'll have no personality, no emotions, no feelings, no will to live, nothing. You have to get through to him Dash, before it's too late."

It was then that Dash realized just how critical her interactions with me were. She was my last hope of ever living a normal life again. If she couldn't reach me, then nobody ever would be able to.

"I'll try my best, Major Don. I'll do whatever I can to try and reach him."

Don nodded. "I know that you will Dash. A bit later on today, I'll draw you up an enlistment form, so that you can join the Battleship Express as a crew member, so as to be closer to him."

"Wait. You mean, I'll actually be able to join the Battleship Express?!"

"Yes, that is of course, if you are allowed to. Aren't you a Wonderbolt?"

"Yes, but I think that because of the war at hand, I would be able to switch services."

Don nodded. "Ok then, I guess that I could draw you up an enlistment form."

Dash scrunched her face up. "So awesome!"

She then thanked Major Don, before leaving his office to check in with Twilight and the others.

Meanwhile outside of the train, some of the crew and soldiers who were able were operating our tractors, bulldozers, and loaders to help clear away the rubble of the battle, while others were assisting with the repair work on damaged buildings, and filling in holes in the roads, and surrounding area. Still others, all of them highly-trained technicians, were using special scanning equipment, and were scanning around, hunting for undetonated ordnance.

"Undetonated ordnance is the most dangerous thing post-battle.” One of the technicians said later. “So many people have died from land-mines, missiles, shells, grenades, torpedoes, and other dud ammunition that can explode without warning!”

So far, they had found 11 shells, 4 grenades, and 2 missiles that had failed to explode. (We didn't use landmines, and no bombs were dropped.) By the end of the day, 2 more shells, and some dropped bullets would be found, before the battlefield had the "BORS (Battlefield Ordnance Removal Squad) Stamp of Approval”.

The cleanup and repair work was going remarkably well. So well in fact, that even Princess Luna was impressed. "I commend you Humans. With your tools, and your abilities, the cleanup of Ponyville is going much faster than I believed it would."

The leader of the cleanup crew, Lt. Miles Bolton, nodded. "Thank you Princess. However, this is just routine for us now. After every battle, after everything was secure, our first job was to find all of the undetonated ordnance, and dispose of it safely. After that, we would always break out the tractors, bulldozers, loaders, and even excavators, and start cleaning up the mess, as well as restore utilities like power, water, internet, phone services, and gas. It would often take days, and we would almost always be called away for the next battle before the job was complete, however, if it hadn't been for our extreme emphasis on cleaning up the battlefields, most of the American cities that we liberated would most likely still be uninhabitable today due to the rubble, and undetonated ordnance."

Luna was very surprised. "They talk about this like it's normal!", She thought. Then she thought back to the conversations that she, her sister, and her niece had had with Don and I the previous day. "I guess that for them, this IS normal. They're trying to build a better future for others, at great cost to themselves."

Luna continued to watch as the work progressed.

Later on that day, after I'd fully recomposed myself, I took a shower, cleaned up my uniform, put it back on, re-made my bed, fed Aurora, and then put my Kitsune mask back on.

"The name's Mask. Fox-Mask!" I said, laughing a little at my pun.

Then, after putting a leash on Aurora, I went to attend a meeting with Don, Jim, and other officers. When I arrived at the Tertiary Command Center at the back of the train, (which since it had never really been used at all had been partially converted into space for a large meeting) I saw Don, Jim, 1st engineer Joe Dixon, all of the weapons officers, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence, General Shining Armor, as well as the Elements of Harmony. We all took our seats, and Don stepped up to the podium at the front of the room. (I also stayed on the opposite side of the room from Rainbow Dash!)

"Good afternoon everyone, and 'everypony' as you would say, and I would like to welcome you all to this meeting. I know that we have a lot to cover, so I will try to keep this brief. First of all, Princess Celestia, I know that I said before that we would not be allowed to intervene unless we were directly threatened. However, the events of both last night, and the previous afternoon, have changed all of that. With confirmation given by interrogated prisoners, we now know that yes, the Battleship Express is now a factor in the enemy's war plan."

There was some murmuring in the room.

"According to one 'General Stuggs', the plan was to capture our train, kill the officers, and take everyone else prisoner. The train would then be stripped, and everything would be examined, so that the technology could be replicated, and possibly even mass-produced!"

Now there were angry shouts. Jim had to shout to restore order.

"Anyway, as I was saying, now that we have been directly threatened, by the power vested in all of us officers in charge of the Battleship Express as given to us by our superiors, I now push that we join this war on the side of Equestria, and fight to destroy the Imperial Alliance!"

Now there were cheers.

"However! It must still be put to a vote! In a case of declaring war, the vote MUST be unanimous!"

Ballots were then passed around to all of the Battleship Express officers who were present. One by one, we all went to the table up front next to the podium, wrote out our vote, and then cast it. Once everyone had voted, we all took our seats again, and the mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare, and Lt. Daryl Meers of Iron Glory, since they were considered a 3rd party, counted up all of the votes, not once, not twice, but 3 times, before coming to a conclusion, writing it down on another form, folding the form up, and handing it to Don before taking their seats again.

Once the room was quiet, Don spoke again. "As I'm sure that all of you know, our future lies with how we've voted today. If we voted for war, then we must be prepared to deal with the consequences, same as if we voted against the war. And now, as I'm sure you've all been waiting for, the results of the voting."

The room was so quiet that the only sounds that could be heard were the buzzing of the overhead lights, and breathing. Don then took the form, and unfolded it. He could read the entire form, except for a flap at the bottom that covered the final results.

He then took a deep breath. "Ok, here we go. By the power vested in us as officers of the RWD, in all authority given to us by our superiors, the President of the United States, and by God Himself, we have voted today, by a margin of 75-0....." Don then lifted the flap.

".....TO DECLARE WAR ON THE IMPERIAL ALLIANCE!!!!!!"

The room erupted into applause and cheering so loud that it not only rattled the windows, but also shook the entire train car!

"So what this means Princesses", Don shouted over the din, "Is that we stand with you in this war, and are willing to do whatever it takes to make the Caribou and Zebras surrender!"

"That's great Major, but don't you all need to sign a declaration of war first?!"

"Yes!" Don then motioned to Jim, and he used a siren to get the noise level down. Once everyone and everypony had quieted down again, Don took a deep breath. "However, now that we have voted to declare war, we all need to sign a declaration of war. With help from the Princesses, and from Jim and those responsible for keeping official documents and records on the train, we have done just that, and drawn up a declaration."

One of the archival officers in question then brought the declaration forwards to the table at the front. First, Don signed it, then Jim, and then the officer. Then, one by one, the rest of us came up, and signed the declaration as well.

"Once we have all signed this, we will keep the original, however, the Princesses have agreed to use their magic to create two additional copies, perfect duplicates of the original, that will be sent to both King Danin of the Caribou Empire, and Overlord Zakia of the Zebra Empire. This declaration makes our position very clear to them. They will either surrender, disarm themselves, and leave Equestrian territory forever, or they will be MADE to do so. As it also states, we are willing and able to use any and all force necessary to get the job done. We will never back down, and we will never surrender!"

When it came my turn to sign the declaration, I picked up the pen provided, and signed my name. As I was turning to go back to my seat, I saw Rainbow Dash give me a thumbs up, as well as smile and wink at me. "Gosh, she's really weird", I thought. I then took my seat again.

Once the declaration was fully signed, and the two copies had been made, Don looked to the back of the room. "Bring in the selected prisoners!"

We were all shocked. "Wait, prisoners? What prisoners?"

Then, from the back of the room, 4 figures were dragged into the meeting room. All 4 were chained, and under heavy guard, and all of their weapons and armor were gone. To my shock, I recognized all of them. The two Caribou were General Stuggs and Sergeant Dothan, and the two Zebras were Ambassador Corlia, and a Zebra corporal named Stevia!

"Bring them up here!"

The prisoners were dragged up to Don's podium.

"What are you gonna do to us Kid?" Stuggs sneered. "Kill us?"

Don gave him a look to kill. Then, in a cold voice, completely devoid of emotion, he said, "No, I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to do something much, much worse."

Now Stuggs wasn't smirking anymore. "And what's that, Major?"

"I'm going to let you live! I mean, after all, SOMEBODY'S going to have to deliver these war declarations to King Danin and Overlord Zakia! Any volunteers?"

The prisoners all knew what that meant. They had failed in their duties, and failure meant death. For the Caribou, Danin had already told them that if they failed again, they would face a fate worse than death. Couple in bringing a most likely vulgar and rude war declaration from the enemy? Spending an eternity burning in Tartarus would be like a picnic compared to what Danin would do to them! For the Zebras, they knew that their best shot was having their harems taken away, and then being slowly skinned alive, then having their muscles peeled off, and then having their vital organs removed, until at last they died. Couple a war declaration from the enemy to that? Their minds didn't even dare think about what would result from that.

"NO, PLEASE!!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!! PLEASE DON'T SEND US BACK TO OUR MASTERS!!!!"

Don however wasn't listening. "Roll up the declarations, and bind them to General Stuggs, and Ambassador Corlia! Make sure that they cannot reach them!"

"Yes Sir!"

Stuggs and Corlia were then seized, and in addition to already being chained to the point of immobility, now had the declarations attached to the backs of their necks as well. Dothan and Stevia could do nothing, as they were also chained up to the point of immobility as well.

"Now, bring me the other two!"

"Yes Sir!"

Dothan and Stevia were then brought forwards. Don held up two more rolled documents. "Oh, did you really think that you two were off the hook that easily? These right here are letters that I've written to your leaders, telling them EXACTLY what I think of them, and their ways of doing things! I've used the worst, most graphic words and phrases that I could think of to describe your DESPICABLE and BARBARIC cultures! Now you will bring these to your leaders as well!"

As they were held down and had the documents tied to them as well, I couldn't help but absolutely marvel at Don's savageness.

"He's really gone and done it now!" I thought. "You'd have to not only have balls of pure steel to do what he's doing, but you'd also have to be ABSOLUTELY certain of a victory, because if you failed, then the enemy would do things to you that would defy the imagination!"

Once everything was ready, Don looked back over the room. "Ok Princesses, and Twilight, now that these filth are all strapped to their 'special mail', are you ready to help me return them to sender?"

The princesses all smirked. "Oh yes, Major Don. My sister and I, as well as my niece and faithful student, have been waiting for this day for a long, long time!"

Don nodded. "Excellent!"

The prisoners were then carried outside, and placed on the ground. Dothan and Stuggs were placed together, as were Corlia and Stevia. It was decided that Celestia and Twilight would send the Caribou to Danin, while Luna and Cadence would send the Zebras to Zakia.

Just before they could do so though, Don had another idea. "Wait! Here's a thought, what if we switched this up a little?"

Twilight looked at him. "Huh? What do you mean Don?"

"I mean, what if we sent the Zebras to Danin, and the Caribou to Zakia? Of course, we'd have to switch the letters carried by Dothan and Stevia in order for them to get to where they need to be, but would that be doable?"

Twilight smirked darkly at him. "Oh, I like the way that you think Don! Let's do it!"

"NO, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!!!! I WAS JUST A SOLDIER!!! WE ALL WERE!!!! WE WERE JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS!!!!"

Don looked at them. "I would believe you General Stuggs, however, when we raided your forward hq, we recovered maps and documents drawn up by you yourself, revealing your true plans. So no, I have to do this. However, look at it this way, Maybe Zakia will show you mercy, or maybe he won't, it's all up to him. Same with you two Zebras being sent to Danin. Maybe he'll be wanting Stuggs and Dothan back so that he can torture them himself, so maybe he'll be willing to trade you for his Caribou!"

The prisoners continued to plea, but their blubbering fell on deaf ears.

With the approval from the other two princesses, and as the rest of us watched from the train, the letters were switched, and once everything was all set, using their magic, and with the prisoners still screaming about how they DIDN'T want to be sent to the other's overlord, in a blinding flash of white light, the two groups were sent on their way via teleportation.

"So what do you think'll happen now Don?" Jim asked him.

Don shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know Jim. However, I do know that we did more than just stir up a hornet's nest today. That's why we have to win this war now, we just have to! If we fail, God save us all! After the declarations, as well as what I said in those letters, facing Death will be the least of our concerns!"

We all agreed to that, and while some left to return to their duty stations, the rest of us all met back inside the Tertiary Command Center, both to discuss further plans for the war, and to await a reply from our enemies.

Author's Note

Whew! I just set a new record, two chapters in one day? Wow! So, now that Battalion 4009 has joined the Equestrians in declaring war on the Imperial Alliance, how will the war go? Will they be able to make a difference, and if so, how long will the war last? Also, what about the prisoners? How will Danin and Zakia react to getting EACH OTHERS'S prisoners? And how will they react to not only the war declarations, but also the letters? Well, you know the drill, you have to keep reading to find out!

Meanwhile, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 8!

ScarFox out for now!