Tracks Backwards

by ScarFox9700

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, Violence, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Anthro, Main 6, Original Character, Rainbow Dash, King Sombra, Adventure, Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 55076

After wanting to do their part to help end WW6 like they were supposed to, Twilight helps the crew of the Battleship Express build a machine to send them back. However, Fate had other ideas in store.......

Immediately following her dream of time travel, Twilight tells her husband Don all about the machine that she'd seen, and how she believed that it could be built. Don still doesn't fully believe her, but at her insistence, he contacts Jim Bender, the Chief Engineer of the Battleship Express, and tells him all about his wife's idea on how they could return to Earth. Jim is able to produce rudimentary blueprints, and now with the goal of returning to Earth long enough to see the end of WW6, the Crew of the Battleship Express get to work on the brand new machine.

In spite of shortcomings, failures to meet deadlines, and PLENTY of mechanical troubles, the rudimentary machine is FINALLY completed, before being placed inside of the old pillbox located on the front of the Big Boy 4009, just above the front cowcatcher. The device is then linked to DELCI, as well as the rest of the Big Boy's systems, and once the crew and the rest of Battalion 4009 are ready, they then try to return to Earth. However, something goes horribly wrong.

Due to a severe malfunction, the machine, dubbed "Oddball" not only fails to send the Battleship Express back to Earth, but it also sends them back to the Imperial War, before breaking down! However, all is not as lost as it seems. Seeing an opportunity to change the future by making it better, the crew make decisions that have IMMENSE consequences in the future. Unable to repair Oddball by themselves, the crew head back to the future, only to find that the future is not the same anymore!

They arrive back in Ponyville, but it's not the same Ponyville that they left. Sure, they ended the Imperial War with fewer casualties, ensured that King Danin and his followers died at Bryerton, and Leopard ensured that Sombra's spirit didn't escape from him, but at the cost of the ENTIRE 5 years of their lives after the Imperial War! Leopard never married Spitfire or Daring Do, and Dash seemingly broke up with him after a falling out. Alex was also asked to leave by Applejack, and he and Leopard were very sad. To make matters worse, once they arrived in this strange new future, Oddball breathed its last, before exploding, and burning to a crisp!

Now, trapped in a new and different future, the crew of the Battleship Express must figure out a way to fix the damage that they caused, and get their timeline back on track. However, this may not be possible. All actions have consequences, and sometimes, once something's broken, there's just no way to fix it.

This story is a Sequel to "Beyond the Express", and contains violence, language, combat scenes, time travel, the Battleship Express, and ANOTHER wild adventure! No sex this time, and no mentions of it either. Just another story of mine, a short one maybe, but one that is VITAL for what's coming next!

Published 2019-01-15 23:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-02-18 05:26:02 UTC

Chapter 1: Oddball

After taking a moment to collect herself, as well as thinking of what she was going to say, Twilight leaned over and began to shake her husband gently.

"Don? Don, wake up."

Don suddenly jerked awake. "Huh? Eh, what?" He sat up and looked over at his wife of almost 4 years. "What's......what's wrong Twilight?" He asked.

She looked at him. "Don, I've just had a dream. This was a dream unlike ANYTHING I've ever seen before!"

Don was scared. "What.......kind of dream?"

"Nothing awful Don, I assure you. My dream was all about a machine."

"Huh? A......machine? What did this machine do?"

"Well, if my dream is to be believed, then the machine that I saw in it just MIGHT be the ticket to get you guys back to Earth!"

Don looked at her before sighing. "Twilight, we've been over this. I don't even WANT to go back to Earth, and neither does anyone else."

"No, hear me out Don. I mean that this machine might be able to send you guys back in time to Earth during WW6! Remember? You were always talking about wanting to do your part for ending the war, but got sent here. Now I think that I see a way to make that dream a reality."

"Yes, but it was just a dream Twilight. Dreams aren't real."

"This wasn't just a dream Don. This one seemed to be more like a vision. All I could see in my dream was this machine, and I could see EVERY last detail of it in vivid detail!"

Don sighed. "Well, normally I would say that we talk to Jim about this, but since it's the middle of the night, we'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning. Can you put your memories of your dream into a Memory Crystal?"

Twilight nodded, and after grabbing one off of a nearby shelf with her magic, she did just that. Then, once the memory of her dream/vision was safe, She snuggled close to her husband, and was soon fast asleep.

The next morning, the 2 of them went to talk to Jim about what Twilight had seen in her dream. When they found him, he was sitting in his office on the Battleship Express working on more blueprints for future weapons development. He looked up when Don entered his office.

"Hello Don. It's been a while."

"Likewise Jim. And I've said this before, but I still find it so bizarre that even though the Battleship Express is here at the Imperial War Museum, you STILL come to work at your office in here every day!"

Jim chuckled a bit. "Don't act so surprised Don. I mean, I may be 65 years old now, but what else would I do if I didn't work? I don't want to play golf, and I still don't think that Melanie's in any condition to do too much."

"And........how is your wife doing these days Jim?"

Jim sighed. "Well, I think that Melanie may be doing better. Ever since we've arrived here in Equestria, even though she still does hide in the shadows of the train, she comes out for longer periods. I think that her mind may be slowly putting itself back together, but please remember Don, we lost all 4 of our children, and both of our grandchildren during the world wars. All of them fell in the line of duty, and that destroyed Melanie. I fared little better." Jim seemed to be close to tears.

Don knew all too well what he was talking about. Jim's wife Melanie was probably the greatest legend of the Battleship Express outside of the ghost of Major Jeff Coleson. Once the train was fully up and running, Melanie lived on it with her husband, though no one but Jim ever saw her. She was always there, but never seen. I myself saw her only twice, and even then it was for only a few seconds. Still to this day some doubt her existence, but as Jim, Don, myself, and a select few others will tell you, she is real, and she's still there on the train.

Jim then looked back up at Don. "However, I get the feeling that you're here to talk to me about more than just myself and my wife."

"Yes, I have. What if I told you that my wife Twilight just MIGHT have a solution for our returning to Earth to finish what we started in WW6?"

"Well, then I'd be all for listening to it." Jim then turned to Twilight. "What do you have Mrs. Twilight?"

Twilight then pulled out her Memory Crystal. "Well, last night in a dream, I saw the machine that you're about to see. I could see EVERYTHING about it in vivid detail, and I think that it might work, but yet Don and I wanted a second opinion." She then accessed the memory that she put into the Crystal, and showed it to Jim.

When Jim saw the machine in question, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The whole machine was nothing but a maze of pipes, cables, valves, gauges, gears, and control switches. It was a Steampunk's wet dream, and was maybe 10 feet by 8 feet, though he was hoping to be able to compact it, assuming of course that it could even be built to begin with.

Jim then looked back up at Don. "Ok, so what do you want to do with this? Do you really want us to build it?"

Don sighed. "That's what I don't know Jim. I mean, you know as well as I do that we have to get back to Earth to finish what we started, but yet at the same time, we have to have a way to get there. Is this machine even within the realm of feasibility?"

"That's what I honestly don't know Don. I mean, I would be able to create blueprints for it, but to know what it could and couldn't do, we would actually have to attempt to build it, and THAT'S where my levels of concern come from. Remember Don, we'd be crossing the barriers of not only Space, but Time as well. We'd be building a machine never before seen, and there's no clear readout on if it would even work. And even if it did, Time Travel is something that Man wasn't meant to mess with. We'd be playing God by doing so, and the way I see it, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. However, if you could secure supplies, I believe that myself, my engineers, and anyone else who wanted to help could indeed build this machine. And heck, even if it didn't work, it still would look pretty cool!"

Don was surprised. Never did he ever think that Twilight's idea would even get off the ground. Sure, maybe the chances of it actually working were pretty slim, but yet at the same time, if Jim was willing to go for it, then maybe it was an idea that had some merit to it after all!

"And how long until you think you could have the blueprints ready Jim?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I should be able to have them done by the end of the week, assuming of course that I can use your Memory Crystal."

Twilight nodded. "Of course you can Jim. I made a copy before I brought you the original, so I have another one back home."

Twilight and Don then left, while Jim got to work on the blueprints.

It was a long couple of days, but by August 3rd, Jim finished the blueprints; at least a rudimentary first set. It was then that the rest of us were who knew how to build machines were called up to help, myself included.

"So, what exactly are we even doing Jim?" I asked him.

"Well, a few days ago, Don's wife Twilight had a dream. In that dream, she saw a machine that she believes would be capable of sending us back to Earth so that we can finish WW6 before returning home. Thanks to a Memory Crystal, I was able to create blueprints for it, and that's where the rest of you come in. We just have to build it, test it, figure out how to attach it to the Battleship Express, and then use it."

When Jim showed us the rudimentary plans, many of us thought that he was just messing with us. There was no WAY that the machine would work!

"Are you being serious Jim? It REALLY sounds like you're just messing with us right now!"

He just shook his head. "No Leopard, I'm actually being perfectly serious right now. I was the one who created these plans, and although they may look rudimentary, they may indeed hold the key to our return to Earth!"

"But Jim, I don't WANT to go back to Earth! There's nothing left for me there!"

Jim turned to him. "Don't worry Alex, the trip would only take about a week at most. We go back, run the Futas out of town, and then come back here."

I was still looking at the plans. "Wait Jim, are you actually saying that we build a time machine, combine it with a teleporter, and then attach it to our train?!"

He sighed. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this. The short answer is yes, we are going to do that, and if we succeed, then we become the first Humans to travel through Time and Space. However, the risks of such a machine are great. No such technology currently exists, and the plans that I've made from what Don and Twilight showed me are very rudimentary. Not only will we be building a machine that has been called 'impossible' in the past, but we'll also be testing it, and then trying to attach it to the train." He then looked at all of us. "So, how many of you guys are even with me in this?"

To Jim's surprise though, all of us raised our hands.

I spoke up. "I think that I speak for all of us Jim when I say that time travel has been my dream since I was young, and to actually be able to build such a machine would be AMAZING!"

The other guys all cheered as well, and then we got to work.

I'll be perfectly honest, at first, we thought that the "Mechanics Project" that we were working on was going to be easy, but later on, it became an absolute nightmare. Building the machine was the easy part; the hard part was actually getting it to do something!

For starters, we had NO IDEA how we were going to power it! It would take more energy than even our Big Boy was able to produce, so we had no choice than to try and build a sort of reactor. For some reason, one of the engineers INSISTED that a reactor powered by carbide would work.

Jim put his hands over his face. "For the last time Jensen, it WILL NOT WORK!!! They tried it with Shooting Star, and what happened to that contraption?! It's STILL broken!"

I knew what Jim was referring to. Located in one of our supply cars was a machine so broken that nearly all of us had forgotten about it. "Shooting Star" as it was known, was a mechanical battle machine, commonly known as a "Mech". This odd contraption stood about 20 feet tall, and was all gray and blue with gold trim. It had a crew of 3; a driver, an engineer, and a gunner. It had chain guns, missile launchers, and was capable of launching nuclear ordnance, but it was seen as a failure. It was slow, bulky, and had awkward movements. The Mech was powered by a prototype carbide reactor that was ALWAYS breaking down, and had problems. It was first built by the Army during WW5, but it never got past the prototype phase. It was the only one of its kind completed, and even then, it was a dud. The crew compartments were tiny, hot, and hard to ventilate. The operator was on top, and saw everything through the eyes of the Mech. Directly below him was the gunner, and directly below him was the engineer. The 3 sat on top of each other in a space that was on par with a phone booth! Eventually, the Mech was thrown to the curb, and was meant to be scrapped. However, the RWD managed to secure Shooting Star, as although it was an oddity, it was a weapon, and it could kill Futas. It saw very little action, although over time, some of its faults were corrected, and its systems were given the attention that they needed.

However, even with these additions, Shooting Star was still in storage in crates on the train, and seemed doomed to never see combat, as its carbide reactor was a failure. After looking over the blueprints in detail however, Jim believed that he knew how to fix it. He set his mind to work on it, and with a few engineers who had experience with chemistry and nuclear physics helping him, they created a carbide reactor that not only looked good, but it also functioned as it should as well, at least for a while. This reactor was used as a model for the one that our machine would one day use.

"What are you guys even working on anyway Stud?" Dash asked me one night.

I sighed. "Well, remember how some of us have been talking about possibly heading back to Earth long enough to finish WW6?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Jim thinks that he's got the machine to do just that. Unfortunately though, we have to build it, figure out how everything works, and then work out any kinks with the machine! If you ask me, it'll NEVER work, and we can't even seem to finish building it!"

Dash looked at me with wide eyes. "Wait, are you guys building a TIME MACHINE?!?!?!"

"Eh, to an extent. We're building a machine that'll not only take us back to Earth, but will hopefully send us to just before the Battle of Vegas so that we can be able to prevent the nuking of not only it, but the rest of southern Nevada as well. Assuming of course that we can even get that contraption to even DO anything!"

"It's that bad huh?"

I nodded slowly. I didn't want to see the project as a failure, but yet if we didn't start seeing some results soon, I was possibly going to lose it!

Luckily I didn't lose it, as progress was being made not too long after. By the end of August, we at least had the machine part of it built, while Jim and Co. were working on the reactor, and the kinks that came with it, while another group was working on another aspect of the machine; the ability to head to another world.

This was the hardest part about the machine to understand. It involved Quantum Physics, Physics, HUGE scientific words that I had no clue what they meant, and chalkboards the height of a vaulted ceiling PACKED with scientific and mathematical equations that I had absolutely NO IDEA what they meant!

From what I was able to piece together though, these scientists, aided by Pony scientists, traveled back to the Everfree Forest, and managed to locate the spot where our train had come through to Equestria from Earth. Using some kind of special device, they managed to "capture" the Dark Matter-infused Anomaly that had sent us there, which was going to also be used to power the machine, in addition to the carbide reactor. These 2 elements were going to be mixing in the reactor, as was steam from the Big Boy. I still wasn't quite sure how exactly this was going to work, but I was told that the carbide worked for the time travel, while the Dark Matter of the Anomaly worked for the portal end. The steam was just to give it the energy that it needed.

I just did my part, and focused on the machine itself. Building the machine was fun. Even though it was a mountain of pipes, valves, gears, gauges, control knobs, buttons, switches, wires, and tubing, I knew how to build everything, and with help from guys like Alex, Todd, and others, I was able to do my job well enough.

Another problem that we had to overcome was where to even put the machine on the train. We needed it to be in an accessible area, but yet preferably one FAR AWAY from people just in case anything went wrong! In the end, we decided to use our old pillbox. Still located at the front of the Battleship Express, on top of the platform just above the front cowcatcher, directly behind the headlight and number plate, was a metal and concrete pillbox. It was 10 feet wide, 5 feet long, and 4 feet tall, and was also filled with machine guns and machine gun ammo, but it had never really been used due to the extreme danger that the crew inside faced if we had to ram something. It had been abandoned, but yet never removed. Now it would serve as a housing for our machine, which we dubbed "Oddball", due to it being such an oddity.

We gutted the inside of the pillbox, and soon began to disassemble Oddball in stages, before hauling the pieces up to the front of the train, bringing them through the little door at the back of the pillbox, and then reassembling them inside. The guns and ammo were all removed, the tiny little slits and gun holes were enlarged, and filled in with bulletproof glass. The exterior of the pillbox was also reinforced with heavy armor, so as to better protect the machinery inside.

Once the reactor was installed, Oddball was then connected to the Big Boy. Hoses, wires, cables, and pipes were all attached to various points along the engine, including the front set of drive cylinders, the boiler, backhead, and even the smoke stacks, so that waste gasses could be expelled, though all of these were hidden after they were installed, so as to hide the fact that they were there, thus minimizing their chances of becoming a target during combat. Oddball still wasn't fully ready, but it was well on its way.

"It looks pretty Steam Punkish to me." Alex said to me one night.

"Yeah, I agree with you there Alex. But yet, I think that it looks kinda cool. I mean, look at this!" I showed him a picture taken inside of the pillbox with Oddball's components, "Doesn't this look cool?"

"Yeah, it LOOKS cool, but the question of the year is will it even DO anything?!"

I sighed. "I certainly hope so Alex. I mean, Jim, his team of engineers, and the Pony scientists helping them are the best in the business, but bear in mind, this is technology that not only is very little understood, but no such examples even exist! We were the first Humans to travel through Space, and now it looks like we could become the first to travel through Time as well!"

"Yeah, assuming that it even works. But even if it doesn't, we're no worse off than we were before."

"Yeah. So I guess we just try to look on the bright side, and keep hoping for the best."

Alex agreed with me, and we walked back to the workshop behind the Imperial War Museum where Oddball had been built, and Jim and Co were still working on everything else.

The next morning, Jim called us all together.

"Guys, we've got a problem."

"What's wrong Jim?" Don asked.

"Well, while running through more calculations for Oddball, we've discovered 2 more problems. One is that the machine will have to at least be in partial control of itself to calculate the jumps through time and space, meaning that it will have to have a computer brain. This problem can be solved with DELCI's help, but that leaves us with the real problem."

"Which is what?"

Jim pulled up a set of blueprints. "The truth is, in addition to our reactor, Oddball will need a bigger boost. To put this in layman's terms, speed will have to be a factor in the generation of energy. However, therein lies the problem. The speed required is faster than the Big Boy was designed to go."

I looked at him. "Let me guess Jim, we have to go 88mph?"

"Close. According to the latest calculations, we'll have to have the Big Boy going at 100mph."

I was shocked. Big Boys were designed to go 80mph. An extra 20mph may not seem like much, but with a steam engine, it has to have been designed to hit that speed, or something EXTREMELY bad could happen! Plus, no Big Boy had ever even gone 80mph, even though that was its design speed. Now we were about to make one go 100mph, or possibly die trying!

"Jim, are you......being serious right now?"

"As serious as I can be Leopard. Either we get the Big Boy up to 100mph, or we're not going back to Earth."

Don put a hand over his face. "PLEASE tell us that you've got some plans for this Jim. I mean, you ARE the train's chief engineer, and didn't your dad help design the Big Boys to begin with?"

Jim nodded. "Yes, my dad was one of the ones who designed the Big Boys, and yes, I do have a plan for this. All we have to do is rework the boiler, firebox, and drive pistons. We won't have to do a lot, and if you're worried about the Big Boy losing a lot of her original parts, don't be. She'll still be the roughly 55% original parts that she was back in 1944."

I sighed. Some people didn't even consider our Big Boy a "true" Big Boy, due to the fact that she was never completed like the others were. Her number is 4009, when it should have been 4025. She was about 55% completed before she was canceled, and left to rot for a number of years before FINALLY having her construction completed, and then pressed into service running supplies during WW3. She was finished by Union Pacific, but yet she was given the numbers "40" because of her being a part of the 4000 Series of locomotives, and "09", because she was the 9th locomotive restored by Union Pacific. It's a debate that still hasn't been settled today, but ask ANYONE in Battalion 4009, and they'll tell you that our 4009 is as real as it gets!

Now that Jim had laid out the plans, all we had to do was rework the Big Boy so that it could hit 100mph. We realized that this was probably going to take until the end of September, but yet we knew that we had to do it right.

The Big Boy was in the Big Boy Engine Workshop behind the Imperial War Museum, and we had most of the boiler, firebox, pistons, and tubing taken apart. I wasn't quite sure what we were doing, but yet Jim had us putting things together slightly differently, lining the piping and tubing with certain chemicals, coating the boiler components with heat-retardant substances, adding a number of new parts, and then we had to put everything back together again!

During this time, aside from a little bit of time in the evening, we didn't see our families too much. At home, I had 3 wives, and 6 kids, with another one on the way in Spitfire's tummy.

"Why aren't you home too much Daddy?" Midnight asked me.

I sighed. "I want to be Middy, but right now, all of us in Battalion 4009 are EXTREMELY busy with the project that we're working on."

"Which is what Daddy?"

I sighed. "Well, remember how some of the guys from the Battleship Express have been talking about returning to Earth?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the truth is, we're all working on a machine that will enable us to return to Earth during the end of WW6, and then finish what we started, before coming back here. We all made a vow to end WW6, and now we feel that it's time to uphold that vow. And before you ask 'why now?', I'll tell you. We now have the capability of actually doing something, and this was something that we didn't have before."

"And when do you think that you'll be ready Daddy?" Amber asked.

I shrugged. "With how everything's currently progressing, our target date is sometime in mid-October of this year, 2034."

My kids then all continued to ask me more questions, and I explained to them what I could about Oddball, the work that I was doing on the Big Boy, as well as what our plan was once we'd gotten everything working. They all seemed interested, but my wives looked less than thrilled. I didn't blame them to be perfectly honest. I too was scared of something going wrong.

"Hey Stud?" Spitfire asked me.

"Yeah Babe?"

"Promise me that you'll be careful with this. I mean, you guys got lucky the first time with coming here intact. You might not be so lucky on the return trip. The tracks that you guys used to get here might not exist anymore."

"That....is a possibility Babe, however I doubt that they've been torn up. Most likely, they got buried in sand, which our engine can push out of the way. Plus, Dren and the Wabash Cannonball used the same tracks that we did, and that was only about 15 months ago."

Spitfire put a hand over her forehead. "Oh yeah, duh!" We then talked about this for a little while longer.

Just before I went to bed that night, I gently lay my head on Spitfire's swollen belly. Spitfire was about 8 months pregnant with our daughter Blazie, and she had more of a reason to fear something going wrong than my other wives did. Amber and Midnight were now 4 years old, and Misty and Skyler weren't too far behind. Cara and Cassidy were now 8 months old, and were still dependent on Dash.

"Please be careful Stud", She whispered as she gently ran a few fingers through my mane. "I don't want to be left a pregnant widow."

I looked up at her. "You won't be left a pregnant widow Spits. At worst, we don't go anywhere, and if the machine explodes, nobody will be hurt, as Oddball's on the front of the train, and the closest guys to it are the ones in the cab. We'll be ok Babe."

I heard her sigh. "I'd like to believe you Stud, but yet I STILL worry for you!"

I held her close to me. "I know Babe, and I PROMISE that I'll be as careful as I possibly can with this!"

Spitfire sighed, and then tried to get some sleep.

About 2 weeks later, the Big Boy was fully reassembled, and the time had come to begin to test her new speed capabilities. Primary Crew were the ones who were driving, and under the care of Joe, Frank and Carl, Big Boy 4009 exceeded her design speed, and reached speeds of 95mph!

"Just 5 mph short of what we need. Not too shabby for a first run Joe!"

Joe Dixon shrugged. "Thanks Jim. However, if we didn't have to slow down at that one section of the line, I KNOW that we could have hit 100!"

Jim looked over the chart that he was holding. "Yes, I know Joe. And on the actual day of the trip, We'll be heading back the way that we came here, so I know that we stand a pretty good chance of hitting 100mph."

"I hope so Jim."

A few days after this, Oddball's final assembly was commencing. The carbide reactor was fully installed, and was turned on for the first time. It powered up as it should, and most of Oddball's systems were brought online for the first time. Everything seemed sound at first, but Jim and his engineers still had a bit of tweaking to do. This same day, the parts of the machine that contained the Dark Matter were installed as well. ONLY those who had degrees in Quantum Physics were allowed to handle and install those parts, as Dark Matter can be VERY dangerous if mishandled!

After this, only a few more critical parts needed to be installed, one of which was a main clock so that we could track Oddball's first trip through time, (even though the clock was REALLY only there for aesthetic purposes!) The next part was a primary control gauge. This large gauge gave readouts on Oddball's current status. There were 5 zones; Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red, and each zone had a label. Blue read "System Failure", Green read "Good to go", Yellow read "Holding on", Orange read "Systems Critical!", and Red read simply "Whoops!" However, if the needle ever reached "Whoops!" the results would be anything but. If that happened, we were looking at a reactor explosion, as well as an uncontrolled release of Dark Matter. So far, the needle hadn't gotten past the Green Zone, but yet Oddball also hadn't been fully powered on yet either.

The final piece was the most important. It was a combination of a keyboard, computer screen, and of course, Oddball's sort of "brain". The keyboard was for inputting the destination, as well as the date and time, while the screen was for displaying the data. The "brain" was for Oddball itself to keep everything running with aide from DELCI.

By the end of that day, everything was in place, and final assembly was complete. Now came the most critical part of all; running Oddball at full power, though not giving it the speed required for the upcoming Jump. ALL non-essential personnel were evacuated from the Big Boy Workshop, and the ENTIRE building was covered in a Magic shield to contain any fallout should a disaster occur. Waiting outside of the shield while the engineers and scientists did their work was one of the most agonizing waits of them all. Time almost seemed to stand still, but eventually Jim came out to tell us that everything worked as it should, and that in 4 days, on October 11th, 2034, we would attempt to make the jump back to Earth, with our target date being June 5th, 2029, giving us 3 days to prevent the nuclear apocalypse that happened during the Battle of Vegas.

On that morning, Big Boy 4009 was driven to the holding area in the Imperial War Museum, where she was coupled up to the rest of the Battleship Express train, and then pulled it out into the main railyard. Behind her, Lt. Daryl Meers and his crew were also getting Iron Glory ready to go, as she was the supply train of the Battleship Express. (It was also decided that Don's brother Tim, my brother Dren, the Wabash Cannonball, and its crew, would stay behind just in case the Battleship Express had to be rescued).

The members of Battalion 4009 were also pulling together everything that they were going to need for their journey. This included their weapons, ammunition, food, water, medical supplies, spare parts, tools, spare railroad ties and rails, and other essential items. After putting on my trusty Battalion 4009 Field Uniform, I grabbed my trusty Fire Ax, my rifle, Glock 9mm, my Kitsune Mask, and even Sombra's cape and armor. I didn't know why, but I felt that I should take them with me. I also grabbed Sombra's horn, and locked it up tight in the safe in my room on the train. Aurora also rounded up her battle armor, as well as all of the ammunition that went with it.

As I was still packing, Briana landed on my shoulders. "And I'm coming with you too, right?"

I shrugged. "If you want to. I mean, I won't stop you. Plus, even if I said no, you're literally Life, so what could I do to stop you?"

I heard her giggle a bit. "Good answer!" She then continued to ride on my shoulders as I finished packing up. Once I was ready, I gathered everything together, before taking it out to the Battleship Express. For the mission, I would be driving, Alex was my fireman, Todd was my brakeman, and Fred and Andy were my engine guardsmen. Yes, you read that right. If all went according to plan, I was going to be the engineer of the first "Time Machine Train"!

Once I arrived at the train, Briana and Aurora went to my room, and once I had all of my stuff stowed away in my room as well, I assisted with getting the rest of the train ready to go. Other crew members were scurrying about as well, and Ponies were starting to gather to watch us, including members of the local media. ALL of them were extremely eager to see the first time machine in action, as well as recording everything that happened.

Eventually though, we were all ready to go. Iron Glory and her train were hitched to the caboose of the Battleship Express, all of the trains's crews were onboard, and the soldiers of Battalion 4009 were either on the Battleship Express, or Iron Glory.

As I was walking up to the cab with Alex and Todd, I looked to the front to see Jim and Co doing a final systems check on Oddball. "Everything look good up there Jim?" I asked him over my radio.

"So far so good Leopard. Everything seems to be holding steady, and the needle is holding at ‘Good to Go’. Everything is running, and soon will be up to full power."

"And then the real fun begins, right?"

"Yes, then the real fun begins. Then we see if all of our hard work actually pays off, or if we spent all of this time, effort, expense, setbacks, delays, mechanical problems to overcome, and scientific advancements made for nothing."

"Yeah, so let's hope that this all pays off!" I then climbed up into the cab.

Since last time, a few new gauges and controls were added, although this was so that we could control Oddball from the cab, as well as monitor all of its systems. DELCI was also keeping a close eye on it, and we were just waiting for the final word from Don.

It was also during this time that we were all saying goodbye to our families. There were so many tearful goodbyes, pleas to be careful, and more hugs and kisses than we know what to do with.

"Please be careful Stud!" Dash was telling me, "I'd be DEVASTATED if I lost you!"

"Yeah, I know Dash." I then hugged Spitfire and Daring, before turning to my kids. "You all be good for your Moms while I'm gone. I'll only be away for about a week, but for me, it could easily be a few months! However, this is due to Time travel, so it just kinda works out that way!"

My kids laughed at this a bit, and then after hugging them one last time, I climbed up into the cab, but since the window was open, I was still able to see and wave to my family, just as Alex, Todd, Fred and Andy were able to do as well.

Suddenly though, Don's voice came over the intercom. "Ok, guys, this is it! all stations report in." One by one we all sounded off.

"Ok, and now that we've done that, just before we leave, Father Charles wanted to take the mic for a second." Don then handed the intercom mic over to Father Charles, our battalion chaplain.

"Thank you Major. Now then, as I'm sure that you're all aware, what we're about to do is VERY risky, so before we depart, I would just like to lead us in a quick prayer." He then paused for a moment to allow all of us who did pray to bow our heads.

"Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you today just before we embark upon this mission. We pray that you protect us while we finish what we started, and we also pray that you keep our families safe while we're away. You've carried us through for this long, and for that, we thank you, as we continue to do your Good Work here in Equestria. In your name we pray, Amen!"

"Amen." I said softly. I then helped Alex begin to go over the final systems checks.

Eventually, by about 1pm, everything was ready to go. Don had the Princesses on the radio, and they too were wishing us the best of luck, and to be careful with what we did.

"Please be careful Major. If we lost you now, we would never forgive ourselves!"

"We will be Princess Celestia, you can count on it! It'll just be a trip there, do what we have to do, and then get home again. It should only be about a minute for you all, even though it'll be a couple of months for us!"

"We'll be praying for you Major. Now then, get on out there, and get your train into the history books for being the first machine to travel through Time!"

Don laughed a bit. "You got it Princess Luna!" He then radioed me. "Hey Leopard?"

"Yeah Don?"

"Get DELCI to put on an appropriate song for this mission!"

"You got it Don! DELCI?"

"Yes Sir?"

"You know what to do."

"Oh yes Sir!" DELCI then began to play the best song for the occasion.

Then, as the music began to play, we all ran over a few final checks, triple-checked Oddball's systems, before Jim entered the date for our trip. "Location: Las Vegas, Nevada. Date: June 5th, 2029. Time: 8am." He then fully brought Oddball online, and after exiting the pillbox that housed everything, he closed it up, before taking his seat in the cab with us, so as to be better able to monitor his new creation.

Then, with a final blast of the Big Boy's whistle, I began to ease the throttle forwards, and the Battleship Express began to leave the Ponyville Railyard, with Iron Glory close behind her. Just as we were pulling out, Alex and I pulled our goggles down over our eyes, and after waving to our families one last time, I shut the cab window on my side, while Alex did the same on his side. We then pulled out for our date with Destiny.

"I'm really going to miss them while they're gone." Dash said sadly.

"So am I Rainbow." Twilight sighed. "But yet, it IS because of my dream that they're able to do this. However, yes, I REALLY hope that they all come back to us safely!"

Twilight and her friends all continued to watch us, little knowing that they were all soon to be relics from a timeline that was about to cease to exist.

Once we were out of the railyard, our primary task was to set the train on a course that would take us around Ponyville, before sending us back through the Everfree Forest. All along the way, we had to pick up speed so that once we reached the big stretch of straight track that we were aiming for, we would be able to hit 100mph.

Faster and faster our train went. From about 10mph, we were soon up to 20, then 30, then we had to wait as we rounded a corner, and all too soon, we reached the stretch of track that we rolled past when we first arrived over 5 years prior.

"This is is guys!" I radioed back to the rest of the guys. "Just a little bit more speed, and then we'll be through the Time Barrier!"

"Just don't tear us up Leopard!" Don warned. "I'd rather be alive with an aborted mission, than dead with our names in the history books!"

"Oddball's holding steady so far Don." Jim informed him, "And you'll be the first to know if anything goes wrong!"

I then opened the throttle all the way, and helped Alex with stoking up the fire in the firebox. From 30, we were soon up to 40, then 50, 60, then 70. "Passing 70mph! Just hit 75!"

"Come on Oddball!" I heard Jim mutter behind me. Hold together for me a little bit longer!"

Suddenly though, we ran into a problem. Something inside of Oddball's systems began to malfunction. Sparks began to fly from the system, and Jim received a warning in the cab. "Uh oh, Don we might have a slight problem up here!"

"What's going on Jim?"

"One of Oddball's systems is beginning to malfunction. I don't think that it's serious yet, as the gauge is still in the Green Zone, but I think that it's something to keep an eye on."

"Tell Leopard to be ready to abort if anything goes bad."

"I will Don."

"Just passing 80mph!"

The sparking in the system continued, and the gauge jumped up to "Holding on", in the Yellow Zone. It was holding there, but began to fluctuate up and down.

"90mph!" Then, from Oddball's systems, a bluish energy began to be emitted. I knew that this energy meant that the systems were getting ready for a jump through Time and Space, and not that something bad was about to happen. It was also around this time that we entered the Everfree Forest, getting closer and closer to the spot where we first arrived.

Jim was starting to get concerned though. Oddball's systems were really starting to get strained, and he was worried that something bad could happen.

"95mph!"

Suddenly though, the needle on the gauge jumped to "Systems Critical." Something was going severely wrong inside of Oddball, and if something wasn't done soon, disaster could follow!

"Don, we've got trouble!" Jim suddenly yelled into his radio.

"What? What's going on?!"

"The needle just jumped to 'Systems Critical'!"

"TELL LEOPARD TO STOP THE TRAIN NOW!!!!!"

Unfortunately however, it was too late. While Jim was still talking to Don, the Big Boy hit 100mph, the remainder of Oddball's systems were activated, and then in a flash of bright blue energy, the train made its jump through Time. We had just done the impossible, but yet was it truly worth it with what was about to happen next?

Author's Note

Here we go guys! This is the first of 4 Chapters and an Epilogue of this short story. Hang on to your seats though, as EVERYTHING that you thought you knew about "Battleship Express" and "Beyond the Express", is about to get turned on its head, as the crew of the Battleship Express embark on a journey of a lifetime; one that will have MASSIVE consequences in the future!

So grab your popcorn, dust off your Deloreans, Hot Tubs, and Tardises, cue up some cool music, and get ready to embark on the reading journey of a lifetime!

In the meantime, as always, Comments, Feedback, Questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all in Chapter 2!

ScarFox out for now!

Chapter 2: Fatal Consequences

Unlike the first time, nobody on the trains passed out. We were all awake and alert, although we were jostled around a bit. However, due to Oddball's malfunction, a quantity of the Dark Matter that made up the Anomaly was released from the reactor, and it seeped into the rest of the train. Our DNA and body structures were changed once again, though we didn't know this yet.

We looked at our surroundings as we passed by, but from what we could tell, we were nowhere near Las Vegas, and instead were still surrounded by forests.

"Hmm, this is rather weird. Did something go wrong?"

Before Jim could answer though, an ear-splitting alarm came from Oddball. "WARNING!!!!! FIRE OUTBREAK DETECTED!!!! INTERNAL COMPONENTS MELTING FROM HEAT!!!!!! EXTINGUISH BLAZE IMMEDIATELY!!!!!"

"SHIT!!!! LEOPARD, STOP THE TRAIN NOW!!!!"

"RIGHT!!!!!" I then seized the controls, and in a shower of sparks, brought the Battleship Express to a screeching halt.

Then, the moment the train stopped, Jim, Alex, Fred, Andy and I all grabbed fire extinguishers, ran to the front of the train, pried open the back of the Pillbox, and showered the components inside with them. Luckily, we were able to stop the spread of the fire before too much damage was done. Sure, we would still have to fix the machine again, but at least this time we would have something to work with, instead of just a set of blueprints.

Once we were all certain that nothing was going to catch fire again, or even explode, we all regrouped at the cab, where Don joined us. It was also around this time that we all began to notice the changes to our bodies. None of us were Human-Pony hybrids anymore! We were once again Human-wolf hybrids, although there was a twist this time. Instead of our ears and tails all being gray, they were whatever color our hair/manes were. Also, those who were Human-Earth Ponies still had their super-Human strength, Human-Unicorns still had their horns and could use Magic, and Human-Pegasai still had their wings and could fly. We also still had our Cutie-Marks for those of us who had those.

Once I was able to reach my cabin, I looked at myself in the mirror, and what I found slightly shocked me. I looked kinda similar to what I used to look like, as I still had thick black hair, although now I had 2 black wolf ears, my eyes now had round pupils instead of cat-like ones, my fangs weren't quite as large or visible as before, I had a thick black wolf tail, the lower legs and paws of a wolf that were covered in black fur, and I also discovered that I once again had a wolf's dick, complete with a knot, a black sheath, and large, black, furry balls. Previously when I had these features as a Human-wolf, they were gray. On my back were 2 large black wings, and to my relief, they were still the feathery like the wings of a Pegasus, instead of the furry bat-like wings I was half-expecting to see. However, I also didn't feel any of the serious health issues that I had while I was still a Human-wolf hybrid the last time. I still felt just as healthy and strong as before. Heck, I even felt like I was 24 again instead of 28 going on 29!

"Gosh, all these changes, but yet I don't feel the effects like I used to. Is it possible that the Universe FINALLY figured out how to do 'Project Sterling' the correct way? Or did it FINALLY figure out a cure for Lycan Syndrome?" I wasn't sure, but at any rate, I was glad to still be alive, even if I was slightly altered. I then went back to meet up with the others.

Meanwhile, Don was trying to get the rundown from DELCI on what the heck had just happened.

"Talk to me DELCI, what the heck just happened out here?!"

DELCI was silent for a few moments. "Well Sir", She said at last, "I have good news, and I have bad news."

"Better get the bad news out first."

"Ok then. Well, the bad news is that we're still in Equestria. According to Oddball's calculations, that minor fire in its systems caused a release of Dark Matter from the Anomaly, which prevented the mechanisms that triggered the portal jump from firing. Adding to this, we are indeed back in the year 2029, but we're not on June 8th."

"Oh? Well then, what date is it?"

"According to my calculations, today is Thursday, July 12th, 2029."

Don just sighed. "Yes, that's a real problem alright. What triggered that malfunction?"

"Eh, if I had to guess I'd say that it was the fire, but I'm not sure, and neither is Oddball."

"And how badly is Oddball damaged?"

"Unfortunately, the damage, while not critical, is not good either. Certain parts will have to be replaced, and some systems will have to be reworked before we can attempt another jump, though I think that the safest option for this is a return to the future, so as to be able to properly fix Oddball."

"Well this is just GREAT! We're still in Equestria, the Imperial War is still raging in the Caribou Empire, we're trapped here for the time being, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO F@#KING DO ABOUT IT!!!!!" Don was then able to get a better grip on himself. "Although, you said that there was good news DELCI. What's the good news?"

DELCI seemed to be smiling. "Well, the good news is that you, as well as the rest of Battalion 4009 have just become the first Humans to EVER successfully travel through Time, so congratulations on that! You've just made the history books, even though nobody was here to see it!"

Don just put a hand over his face. He knew that what DELCI was saying was the truth, but yet that wasn't really the good news that he was hoping for. Around this same time, many of the others on the train were testing their old Pony abilities in their new (old?) Human-wolf bodies, just to make sure that they still worked. Thankfully, we all found this to be the case.

"Well, this is certainly an interesting development!"

"I'm just glad that I still have my horn, and can use Magic!" Alex was saying.

I nodded. "Yeah, and I still have my wings, and can still fly."

Todd also tried to lift up a nearby fallen log, and found that he was indeed still able to do so.

We all then turned to Don. "So, what's the plan now Don?"

Don sighed. "Well, for Jim and his team, it'll be fixing Oddball enough for a trip back to the future. For the rest of us, since we're trapped here during the middle of our Caribou War Campaign, let's see about what we can do about minimizing some of the casualties."

"You mean like Sergeant Phil and his squad at Donneth?" Someone asked.

"Yes, just like that. HOWEVER, and this is the most CRITICAL factor of all, but we cannot, I repeat CANNOT, do ANYTHING that would severely alter the future! Let me say that again, we CANNOT DO ANYTHING THAT WOULD SEVERELY ALTER THE FUTURE!!!!!"

We all knew what that meant. Every action that we performed had an impact on the future in some way. Now that we were in the past, EVERYTHING that we did had an impact on the future, and could change it in disastrous ways! However, Don had a plan. As long as we stuck to the shadows, and did everything clandestinely, we could improve the future, and help minimize some of the casualties. I also came up with a plan for capturing Sombra's spirit once he left me at Donneth, and to ensure that he didn't escape.

That night as I laid in my bed, I talked it over with Briana and Aurora.

"So, what do you guys think about all of this?"

"I think that it's great Leopard. Now you guys have the chance to lighten Allied casualties, all while ensuring that the Caribou take MORE!"

Aurora sighed. "I don't know Master. I mean, this all may SEEM good, but remember what you said before? 'The road to Hell is paves with good intentions'. And as was said before, you're all playing God by travelling through Time like this. And when you play God, you reap what you sow."

I held my faithful wolf companion close to me. "Yeah, I know Aurora. This is why every action we take has to be cleared by a majority vote first. Even so, we're taking a big risk with all of this, so yes, we WILL have to be careful!"

I then lay down, and while Briana lay on my chest, Aurora snuggled next to me. Just before she fell asleep though, she asked me one final question.

"Hey Master?"

"Yeah Aurora?"

"I know that I may have asked you this before, but do you think that you'll ever find a mate for me?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, you did ask me this before Aurora, and the honest truth is I don't know. I mean, I WANT you to be able to find a mate, but yet, you ARE the last of your kind, which makes me feel that whoever your would be mate is, he would have to be of a similar caliber of war dog."

"So, he would have to be another war dog like me? Huh. Well, if that's the case, I hope that he knows how to use armor and weapons, and has a master who's a lot like you."

I kissed the top of Aurora's head gently. "So do I Aurora."

We all then fell asleep on that note, little suspecting that you should always be EXTREMELY careful about what you wish for, as you just might end up getting it!

The next morning as I was getting dressed, I got a chance to look myself over a bit better. I found that whatever splotches of gray fur that I had on my body to begin with were now black, and luckily for me, I STILL had my black trademark leopard spots on my back!

"Well, at least my nickname still makes sense!" I thought as I looked myself over. "Although still, why is my fur black now? Shouldn't it still be gray? And better still, why why were we turned back into Human-wolf hybrids at all?" I had no answers to these questions, and I already knew that I probably never would get any answers to them.

A bit later, Don called us all together, and laid out our first target to us.

"Ok people, this is the deal. Later on tonight, we head out for Marrow. Tonight, the us's from the original timeline begin the battle there. Just in case you've all forgotten, this was the one night battle that took us from Hell's Gate all of the way over to Dock Town."

"Oh yeah, that huge battle that spanned 250 miles in so many directions, leading up to the huge battle in Dock Town! Now I remember!"

"Quite correct Leopard. Now then, here's where things get really complicated. Remember, we CANNOT show ourselves, so we'll have to remain in the shadows. NONE of us can die during this campaign, as I will NOT be explaining to wives and loved ones what happened! Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Good! Now then, we wait for nightfall, and then we head south to the Caribou Empire!"

We all cheered for this, and then we got ready to do our thing.

We spent our time looking over every detail of the battle, and found ways to improve on them. We knew where the enemy was, but yet the biggest challenge was improving History, while at the same time ensuring that it would still play out very closely to the original timeline!

That night, we pulled out for the Caribou Empire. We arrived there just in time for our scouts to spot us opening Hell's Gate, and then making our way to Marrow.

"Well, I guess that we're off to a good start." I thought as I watched everything through my own binoculars. I knew that we had a long night ahead of us, and I was right.

True to our words, we struck from the shadows, and without losing a single man, we gave the Caribou hell, while our counterparts from the original timeline did likewise. The biggest thing that we had to try and prevent, or at least dampen the blow from, were the severe friendly fire incidents inside of the city of Rendale, which was our last stop before Dock Town. Thanks to our new efforts, we were able to cut our losses by nearly 40%.

Then, over the course of the trip to Dock Town, we continued to shadow ourselves, and keep us all safe. They never knew that we were there, and we never revealed ourselves. After the amazing climax at Dock Town, we silently moved on to Lake Town. Once again, we relived old memories from a distance. None of us were too worried, even while watching our harrowing escape through the Highland Mountains, the death-defying trip over the Highland Trestle Bridge, and our crashing into the snow at the bottom.

By this time, Don ordered the train hidden inside of a disused tunnel on the other side of the Highland Trestle Bridge, and only small groups of train crew and Battalion 4009 soldiers were sent out to perform missions, and watch over ourselves. We knew that the train was going to be needed at the battles of Carlon, Danton and Donneth, but we still had time before this was going to happen.

"This is so unreal." Todd whispered one night.

"Yeah", Alex agreed. "And to think, we're only here because of a busted machine!"

I nodded. "Yeah. It is unreal, but we're doing a world of good out here by cutting down our losses."

Todd then turned to me. "And any ideas on how Jim and his team are coming with Oddball?"

I shrugged. "Not really. None of them will talk about it, which I take to be a bad sign."

I was right in a way. Jim and his team were indeed having a world of trouble with Oddball. In addition to the regular repairs, Jim also insisted that they add a fire suppression system, and Oddball was also given a voice chip as well. Now just like DELCI, it could talk, and as the engineers would quickly learn, Oddball was a he.

"Wow, now this is different." He said softly.

"Is everything functioning for you Oddball?" Jim asked him.

"Oh yes Doctor, everything is fine! Fine at least, not counting the damage done to my systems during the Time jump!"

"What? I'm not a doctor. I'm an engineer."

"Yes you are. My big sister DELCI told me that you have a doctorate degree in engineering, as well as PhD's in mechanical engineering, physics, quantum physics, and chemistry. You are therefore a doctor."

Jim sighed. If Oddball had been talking to DELCI, and now saw her as his big sister, that was going to be a problem!

"At any rate Oddball, what's your system's status?"

"Calculating..........current status.......54% operational. All systems must be operating at 100% in order to successfully complete the mission at hand."

"And what if we just wanted to jump back to the future? How operational do your systems have to be?"

"Calculating........all systems must be at 100%. However, like last time, all systems were at 100%, but everything still went wrong. This is a dangerous time Doctor."

Jim knew that Oddball was a much younger unit than DELCI, and although it was possible he was self-aware, he was not an AI. He was, (at best) a self-aware computing machine capable of hurtling the train that he was attached to through Time and Space, at least theoretically!

"Oh boy, I think that we're in for a VERY long haul with this one!" Jim muttered.

Eventually, we watched ourselves dig themselves out of the snow that had buried their train, and we knew what was going to happen next.

"Oh boy, I ALWAYS wanted to see ourselves as the 'Undead Harbingers' from a different perspective!" I thought.

And sure enough, I did get my wish. I watched as "Operation Nazgul" went underway, and as myself and 8 others wiped out the Caribou stronghold of Hilden. In one night, and with just 9 guys, (all with enhancements of course!) we managed to wipe out a town of almost 13,000 Caribou! Oh sure, we did help ourselves out a bit by using our sniper rifles, which we then realized helped us out by making 9 guys seem like much more of an army! Between those of us who were on that particular shadowing mission, we bagged an estimated 3,000 Caribou, with a further couple hundred unconfirmed.

"Great work out there." Don told us when we returned. "We're doing some really great work out here, and each battle is bringing us closer and closer to home. And now we get to watch our whole 'Ghost Train' routine play out as well!"

We were all REALLY dying to see that one, as our "Ghost Train” routine has been considered to be the greatest psychological warfare tactic of all time. In fact, we were able to scare the Caribou so bad with it that a number of them actually committed suicide because of it!

Once night had fallen, we moved ourselves into a position where we could better see the "Ghost Train" once it moved out. We saw ourselves getting everything ready for moving out, including filling the water tank with the fluid that would make our steam glow, loading up the bricks that would make our smoke glow green, covering all visible lights in greenish-blue reflectors, as well as starting to get dressed in our costumes and makeup that would make us look like we were back from the dead from a traumatic train crash, and then getting buried in snow. Some of us were missing limbs, had chunks of flesh missing, had been seemingly scalded to death with steam, and a few were even missing their heads! We also watched Shining Armor and his soldiers use their illusion magic on the train to make it too look like it was back from beyond the grave, and back to haunt those who had destroyed it!

We all got videos and pictures of what we were doing in the past, and once the train rolled out, we followed it as best we could. Again, caught on video was the panic and chaos that the "Ghost Train" caused, and we were loving every minute of it!

"Heh heh! I REALLY wish that I could have been here with you guys when you pulled this little stunt!" Briana whispered to me. "It looks like it was so much fun!"

I smirked a bit. "Oh yes, it was fun alright, and it really did accomplish its mission. We terrified the Caribou, and even drove a number of them to suicide. It worked out well for us in the end, and now we get to see it from a whole different angle."

Briana agreed with me, and even though we did have to switch vantage points a few times, we were eventually able to find a perch from which we could watch when the train rolled past Donneth. I'll admit, we were still a bit far away, and we did have to watch through binoculars, but even from where we were we could still hear the screams of panicked Caribou!

"Heh", I smirked, "I love it when enemies are terrified of us! I mean sure, it IS just an illusion, but they didn't know that!"

"And that's what made it so good!" Andy pointed out. "We terrified them, and we were able to play it off so convincingly that we had them frozen with fear!"

Briana started licking one of her paws. "Fear is a VERY powerful tool, and it can be used as a very powerful WEAPON when used correctly!"

We all laughed at this a bit, and although we did continue to watch for a while longer, we did have to get back, as we had to start preparing to aide with the Battles of Carlon, Danton and Donneth.

"Ok people, here's the deal. As I'm sure that you all remember, the Battles of Carlon and Danton took place simultaneously during the night, and then we stormed Donneth at Dawn. Casualties were high, but they were highest at Donneth. Most of this was due to Caribou hiding in buildings, but now that we know where those buildings are, we can demolish them!"

"Yeah Don, but here's the kicker. Remember how Phil and his squad were killed?"

"Yeah."

"Well, their deaths were what set me off into my Super Sayan Rage Mode. If they don't die, then I don't do that, and a TON of Caribou who died the first time around don't die, and I don't storm the palace with Argus either. My point is Don, if I don't get triggered, then a LOT more Human and Pony lives are at risk. You yourself did the math with DELCI's aide, and came to this same conclusion."

"So, what do you suggest that we do Leopard? I mean, Phil and his guys have to survive, but yet you still have to be set off. How does that work?"

I thought for a second. Finally, I had an answer. "As soon as Phil's squad, as well as the last of the slaves that they were trying to rescue are clear of the building that hid the Caribou with the rocket launcher that killed them, we send a missile up there, and blow the building wide open! They all get blown clear, and possibly hit by debris, but they will survive, and my rage from that should serve to set me off on my rampage. Sure, they didn't die this time around, but they'll still be hurt."

Don sighed. "It's a huge gamble, but we're here to save as many lives as we can, and we know the building's coordinates, as well as the time that it happened, and they'll never know that it was us, as a number of missiles malfunctioned during the battle. I vote that we do that when the time comes. In the meantime though, our focus is on Carlon and Danton. Both of these places had high casualty figures, and we now know why, and what to do about it, so let's fix it!"

We all agreed with Don, and then began to work out the rest of our plans.

In the end, we had a full plan put together. First, we would send a few missiles and shells into Carlon and Danton into the most troublesome spots. We knew that this could cut our casualty figures by at least 33% if not slightly more. Next, we would wait until Dawn, and then we would actually clandestinely send in a few tiny ground units into Donneth. Our mission objectives were to secure a perimeter that collapsed during the original battle, which resulted in a lot of casualties. I also decided to make it my personal mission to capture Sombra's spirit after he left me the first time. I knew that he could NOT be allowed to run loose, and I had to keep him under control. I did know that this would mean that I would have to use his Magic and Powers again, but I was prepared for that. Also during the Battle of Donneth would be where the lives of Phil and his squad would be spared as well.

That night, we moved the train into a position where we would be able to send in the firing support that ourselves from the original timeline were going to need. We knew that what we were doing was going to be a HUGE risk, but yet if we were indeed able to cut the casualty figures, then that meant we were doing what our mission entailed.

We set up on an abandoned train track on the other side of where we were originally, but yet still from such an angle that any ordnance that we fired would seem to come from the Battleship Express from this timeline originally. Our plan worked beautifully for the battle. We fired a few shells from both our railguns, and the 16in. guns, and were able to land hits on targets that had given us trouble in the past. We let ourselves from the past wipe out the Carlon Airship Base, though we WERE able to spot the last airship that got away. With quick thinking, one of our guys who was a mechanic, as well as a Human-Unicorn, managed to grab a magnetic tracking device used on all of our vehicles, and using his Magic, he lobbed it up to the airship. We assumed that it went to Breyerton where Danin was holed up, but we wanted to make sure.

Eventually, we all watched Carlon go up in smoke, followed quickly by Danton. Using a drone, I was also able to watch myself tame Argus the Caribou War Beast, as well as the rest of my squad using them as mounts for the Battle of Donneth. By the time that the first signs of the dawn began to peek over the mountains surrounding the valley that the 3 cities were in, the Stars and Stripes flew high and proud from the central fortress of Carlon that once belonged to General Stuggs, While the Flag of Equestria flew from the fortress in Danton that was General Rodin's domain. We already knew that the two of them would be captured during the Battle of Donneth before being put on trial later, and sentenced to almost 20 years in prison. We also knew that Colonel Bruno, the leader of the rouge faction of Griffons aiding the Caribou, was also captured here, and was later put on trial, and sentenced to life in a Griffon prison mine. We had to ensure that they were all still captured, so we all made sure to steer clear from the areas where we knew that they were at when they were captured.

All too soon though, the battles were over, and while the Battleship Express, Battalion 4009, as well as the Equestrian Forces under Shining Armor were regrouping for the assault on Donneth, we were also regrouping for our missions there as well. We listened over the radio frequencies to compare casualty reports, and thanks to our efforts, nearly 65% of all those killed the first time were still alive, though about half of them were still wounded in some way. Our efforts were paying off, so now the real question was, how would they fare in Donneth?

We knew that the Battle of Donneth began at 6am, and the time was now about 5:50, and we were still getting into position.

I was sitting in my room for a few minutes longer. From out of my safe, I grabbed Sombra's horn, and then from the crate that contained his armor, I grabbed his old crown. Then, after attaching the horn to the slot on the crown, I placed the crown onto my own head. Because I was neither a Unicorn or an Alicorn, this was the only way I could use Sombra's Magic and Powers. Once again, I felt it all surge through me, just like it had almost 5 years prior. Donneth was the last time that I ever used Sombra's abilities, and I vowed that it would be my last. However, now that I had the chance to recapture the spirit of the stallion himself, I decided to take it.

"Hey Briana?" I asked her.

"Yeah?"

"Since you are Life, do you think that you could be able to help me recapture Sombra's spirit?"

She nodded. "Sure. Just carry me into battle with you, and once the time comes, I can help you. I'll aim, and you fire."

I nodded, but then I had another question. "Ok, but how am I going to carry you into battle?"

She just sighed, before spreading her wings, and landing on my shoulders. I then felt her attach herself to my shoulders with her claws. "Just like this. You do your thing, and I'll just hold on."

"Eh, ok Briana, if you say so." I then pulled on my regular helmet, and with my horn still peeking out from beneath it, I loaded and checked my guns again, and then got ready for the mission ahead.

Once the battle of Donneth began, four 4 man teams were sent out into the city under the cover of what little darkness we had left. I led a group, as did Alex, Don led another group, while the final group was led by Captain Russ Thompson. He was a major officer within Battalion 4009, and one of the 6 men who designed the Battleship Express.

Once we slipped in through the cracks, we fanned out, and began to go about our missions. We had our guns, but we were also armed with flamethrowers, and high-yield explosives. Our missions were to clear out buildings that had given us trouble the first time around, and prevent further casualties.

We continued to do this all throughout the course of the battle, and we got to see the fruits of our labors up close and personal. Eventually, Briana and I found ourselves close to the building that was the site of the fatal slave rescue attempt made by Phil and his squad.

"Jim? Jim do you read me?"

"Right here Leopard. What's going on?"

"We're here close by the one building. Ready the missile, and fire on my mark!"

"Roger that!"

I then waited the few more seconds required, and once I saw Phil, his men, and the 6 slaves that they rescued get clear, I radioed Jim. "FIRE!!!!"

Jim did so, and a few moments later, once we were hidden, the missile hit the building, and it was blown into pieces. Debris went everywhere, as did flames, smoke, dust, and Caribou body parts. For a moment, I was unable to tell what happened. Our original selves were spread out all over the place, and they seemed to be in shock and pain. Suddenly though, I saw Phil sit up again, before calling out for a medic. Moments after this, I saw myself get up from the street, look around him at his wounded comrades, and then towards the army of Caribou that came charging towards us. Then, I saw myself lose it, and still go Super-Sayan! History was saved, and we later learned that all members of Phil's squad survived, though they were injured during the blast. And sadly, despite their best efforts, 2 of the slaves that they were trying to save also died in the blast. I then watched myself mount Argus, and lead the way up to the palace.

With Briana on my shoulders, and using Sombra's magic to mask myself, I followed after me as fast as I could.

By the time that I arrived at the palace, the battle inside was already well underway. I then used my wings, and flew up to where the throne room was, and I waited out of sight in between a set of windows while I battled Prince Dactyl inside. Then, once I had him on the ground, I watched Sombra goad me into trying to kill him, which I tried to do, and then I saw Sombra tear free of me. I sank to the floor, and then Sombra's spirit flew close to the window where I was hiding.

"THIS ISN'T OVER LEOPARD!!!!!!" I heard him scream. "I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN!!!!"

Moments after this though, Sombra found himself grabbed by an unknown force, before getting dragged down to the palace grounds far below.

"Going somewhere Shadow? I think not!"

Even though he was fully encased in what appeared to be Magic, he was able to turn himself around to face his attacker. When he did, he was in for the shock of his life. There, dressed in his famous blue and gray Battalion 4009 uniform, with a Sphinx on his shoulders, and Sombra's crown and horn on his head, was none other than Yours Truly! I was smirking as I held Sombra in place.

"W-w-w-what?! How is this possible?! You were up in the throne room!"

"And I still am. I'm also down here holding you captive, and about to make you a part of me once again!"

"NO!!!!! I WON'T LET YOU!!!! I'M NOT GOING BACK!!!!"

I sighed. "Sombra, just give it a rest. You ARE going back inside me, and because you will, you'll one day be strong enough to return to the Physical World again, and you'll have some of your powers back." I then began to pull his spirit back towards me.

"NOOO!!!!!"

"Trust me Sombra, one night in the future, we're gonna be lying in my bed together, look back at this night, and then laugh hysterically about it! Now come on back where you belong." I then felt Sombra seemingly give up, before I pulled his spirit back inside of myself.

"Fine, you win Leopard!" He said as his soul re-intertwined with mine, "But just remember, in the bedroom now, I'll ALWAYS be on top!"

"Eh, whatever you say Sombra." I then felt him fully become a part of me again, and when that happened, I sank to the ground for a few moments.

"Is.....is he back in?" Briana asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, he's back. In the meantime though, let's get out of here before we're spotted."

"Right." Briana then settled in for the ride back to the train.

The rest of the Battle of Donneth played out as it did in the normal timeline, and we then followed ourselves to the Battle of Breyerton. Sure enough, while the battle was going on, we did detect that same airship that we tagged at Donneth. This time we shot it down as it tried to flee, little suspecting that we had just killed Danin, his right hand Commander Dothan, the rest of the Caribou escapees, and their Griffon, Minotaur, Zebra and Dragon allies. ALL of them died in the crash, and we were none the wiser. Now we just made sure that the Caribou would never meet the Futas in the Undiscovered West at all. Sure, the Futas would still be out there, but they would be all alone, right? I mean, it's not like anyone ELSE would find them, and make an alliance deal with them.........right?

We decided to stick around for a day or so longer while Jim and his team finished the repairs and reconstruction on Oddball. However, as I lay there on my bed that night, something continued to bother me. Over and over again in my head, something kept telling me that I should find the contract that bound me to Dash, Spitfire and later Daring Do, and then destroy it. For the entire 5 years that I'd been with them, something just hadn't set right with me. For my entire life, I'd been raised to believe that I should not have more than one wife. Heck, I even called myself a Christian, but yet so willingly went against my religion. Something at the back of my mind had told me that I was going to crash and burn for what I had done, and now I was realizing that I had a chance to do something about it.

Over and over again, I thought through the pros and cons of destroying the document. On the plus side, I gave Daring back the career that she lost when I knocked her up, and I gave Spitfire a bit of a life back as well. I also had no legal issues to deal with either. I also knew that since Briana was Life itself, and could be anywhere and everywhere, so she would still remain by my side. On the downside though, it was possible that some, if not all of my foals wouldn't be born, and that seemed to lead to other dangers as well. I wanted to do the right thing, but yet what I was planning to do was SEVERELY going to impact the future.

Finally, I had enough, and decided that at the very least, I had to go find the document and look it over again before making my final decision. "Hey, Briana?" I asked her.

"Yeah?"

"Get up. We have another mission to perform."

"And why do I have to go with you?"

"Because since you're Life, I need your final input before I do something that will have a SEVERE impact on the future."

"Oh? And what will we be doing?"

"I'll explain on the way." I then got up, got dressed in my field uniform, before Briana grabbed onto my shoulders, and after leaving the train, we took flight for Cloudsdale.

Once we arrived there, the time was almost 2am. I knew that we had to get into City Hall, and I was hoping that it was still open.

"So, why are we here again?"

"We're here because I need to find the contract that currently binds me to Dash and Spitfire, and one day soon will also bind me to Daring as well."

"And let me guess, you want to destroy it?"

"It crossed my mind, yes. Before I make my final decision though, I want to look it over again, and then talk it over with you."

For a while, Briana said nothing. Finally, she said, "Well, I certainly hope that you think everything through before you make any rash decisions, ESPECIALLY ones that would have that kind of an impact on the future! I mean sure, you MIGHT still have Dash, but then what?"

"That's what we're going to find out tonight Briana. One way or another, my future will be decided tonight." Little did I suspect though just how right I truly was.

Once we were inside of the building, to my surprise, I was allowed down into the archives. I was also surprised that they let Briana in, (who was still riding on my shoulders mind you!) but then I realized that they thought that she was a service animal, so I just decided to roll with it. Once we were down in the archives, I then began to look for the binding document. Luckily, I still remembered where it was, and once I had it in my hands, I took it, and after reaching the floor again, I stood there reading it. In my right hand I held a lighter, ready to destroy the document, but all the same, I continued to read it over, as well as try and think through the consequences.

"Before you try and destroy that, please hear MY take on it." A voice behind me suddenly said.

In a bit of a panic, I turned around in a flash, and I saw a figure standing in the dimly lit archives behind me. I couldn't see him too well, but yet he appeared to be a Human.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

To my surprise, he then stepped out into the light. When I saw him, my jaw hit the ground. There, standing in front of me, was none other than me! He was me as a Human-Bat-Pony hybrid, and he was wearing his Battalion 4009 uniform as well.

"What the........what.....????"

"Before you say anything, yes, I AM real, and you're not dreaming! And I don't have too long, so I'll have to keep this brief."

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"The truth is, I came here oddly enough to tell you to destroy that document, but yet to first hear my take on it."

I gave him a shocked look. "Wait, what? Why would I be telling myself from the past to destroy the document?!"

He sighed. "The truth is, I can't tell you anything that would further impact the future, and even then, I still don't even understand much of it myself. Here's the scoop though. You need to destroy that document, and while yes, it WILL have serious consequences in the future, it WILL serve a purpose! You HAVE to trust me on this! You would NEVER lie to yourself, and my time here is growing short!" He then handed me what looked like a letter.

"What's this?"

"Well, when you hit the bottom of the barrel, read this letter. It explains a few more things a bit further."

"Um, how will I know when I hit the bottom of the barrel?"

He sighed. "I'd tell you, but it would cause a potential paradox in the timeline. All I can say is, you'll just know."

I then took the letter, before putting it in a pocket of my uniform. "And why am I a Human-Wolf, and you're a Human-Bat-pony? Do I switch back to what I was before sometime in the future?"

Other me sighed. "Honestly........I can't tell you Leopard. I would tell you, but the resulting consequences would cause a paradox in the timeline, so all I can tell you is that it just.......happened like this. The letter will explain it a bit more."

I then looked at the document. "So........do I destroy this now?"

"Yes, and hurry!"

I looked at it one last time, and then in a moment of decisiveness, I did what myself told me to do, took my lighter, and lit the document on fire. I then burned it to ashes, before looking back up at myself. "There, is that better?"

"Yes. You've just set yourself up for a whole new future, and while it will get off to a VERY rough start, it will all be worth it, trust me!"

I did trust him. I left the archives with Briana thinking that I'd done a great service. In truth I had, but not in the way that I was thinking.

Once I was gone, myself sighed. He then pulled out a picture, and looked at it. In the picture, I was still a Human-Wolf, and I was hugging a Human woman. She had brown hair, emerald green eyes, and a few scars on her face. She was hugging me back, and we were both blushing sweetly in the picture. On the back of the picture, the words "Leo X Mickey" were visible. He watched the picture for a few minutes, but everything remained the same.

"Hmm, well, future saved I guess. I'll just stay in the shadows, and wait for my time to act again." Then, from his uniform, he pulled out the REAL copy of the binding document, and looked it over. "I know that you will hate me for this Leo, but believe me, this serves a VERY important purpose. This document has to be believed to be destroyed in order for it all to work, and now you've done that yourself."

Other me then sighed, before putting the picture and the document back into his uniform, and then leaving the archives as well.

I made it back to the train before anyone realized that I was gone. Well, almost everyone. As soon as I was back in my room, Aurora looked up at me.

"Master?"

"Yeah Aurora?"

"Where did you and Briana go to?"

I sighed. "We went up to the archives in Cloudsdale City Hall. I........decided to do something."

She looked up at me with wide eyes. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you DESTROYED that one binding document?!?!"

I nodded. "Yes, but here's where the story starts to get really strange......." I then told Aurora all about my brief conversation with myself, as well as the letter that he gave me.

When I finished my story, Aurora still looked confused. "Wait, why would you tell yourself to destroy the document?!"

I shrugged. "That's what I don't know Aurora. The letter that he gave me has more information, but I'm not supposed to read it yet."

"Oh? And when will you read it? Once Rainbow Dash has broken up with you for your perceived insanity?"

"I.......certainly hope not Aurora. I mean, Dash wouldn't just up and do that.......would she?"

"Well, I don't know Master, but I certainly can say that you've definitely broken something open tonight. Let's just hope that it wasn't a hornet's nest."

"Yes.....let's hope so Aurora." I then lay down on my bed, and tried to get some sleep.

The next day was the day we were scheduled to head home. Jim and his team believed that they were done fixing Oddball, at least enough to get back to the future.

"Oddball, status report."

"Calculating.........All systems are at 83% capacity. Portal jumper: non-operational. Time traveling mechanism: operational. Central carbide reactor: operational. Dark Matter containment unit: operational. All other systems: mostly operational. I still wouldn't advise a jump Doctor. I'm not ready for this."

"We really have no choice Oddball. We don't have the parts with us to fix you better than you are now until we get back to the future. We've done everything to repair your Time traveling mechanism, and that's all we need to get back. Now then", Jim began to climb into Oddball's pillbox to enter the date for the jump. "Date: October 11th, 2034. Time: 1pm. Do you have all of this Oddball?"

"Yes Doctor. Beginning the calculations for the jump. Systems report a 57% chance of failure. Systems also report a 48% chance of the front set of driving wheels collapsing from excessive strain."

Jim was slightly concerned when Oddball said that. If the Big Boy were to lose the front 8 drive wheels of her 4-8-8-4 wheel configuration, then the boiler would lean forwards, and the strain could easily snap the first 4 wheels on the lead-truck as well. Effectively, the 4-8-8-4 would become the Snapped-Collapsed-8-4! And while this may sound funny, it could lead to derailment, and possible death. However, Jim had no idea where Oddball even came up with that calculation. In fact, he and his team even checked over the front 4-8 wheels, and found nothing wrong with them in the slightest.

"Hmm, must have just been a glitch. Anyway, Oddball, begin your power up sequence."

"Initializing. Reactor online, Dark Matter containment unit holding steady, beginning steam transfer. So far, all systems are working as they should."

"That's good. I'll inform Don." Jim then grabbed his radio. "Don, it's Jim. Are you there?"

"I'm here Jim. What's going on up there?"

"It looks like we're all set for our trip back. Oddball looks like he'll hold together long enough to make the jump, so now all we have to do is load up, run a final systems check, get 4009 up to 100mph again close to where we left, and then bingo! We're home, and can fix everything, and try again when we're ready."

"Ok, Roger that Jim. We're loading up now."

We all then began to load up the train again. Iron Glory was attached to the back of our train, and we all made ready to go back to the future.

I was driving again, Alex was my fireman, Todd was my brakeman, and Fred and Andy were my engine guardsmen. I felt very uneasy though.

"Guys, I have one of those gut feelings again. Something's not right."

"What? Are you sure Leopard?"

"Positive Fred. Something bad's going to happen on our way back, assuming of course that we even make it back at all. I'm REALLY starting to get the feeling that we should have left Time travel alone; it was NOT something that Mankind was meant to mess with!"

The others just looked at each other, before looking back at me. They knew that my gut feelings were never wrong, but yet Jim had assured us that everything was safe. Was it possible that he was wrong? Or what if just like last time, everything started out ok, and then hit the fan fast? They had no answers as we all awaited further instructions from Don.

Eventually, once we were all ready, Don had us do one final system's check. All stations reported in just fine, Jim said that Oddball was all secured, and he once again rode in the cab to monitor him. So far, the needle was still in the Green Zone, although it was close to the "Holding On" in the Yellow Zone. Then, at Don's signal, I opened the throttle, and began to ease the Battleship Express forwards once again.

I knew that we were going to have to pick up speed, as we had to get through the Everfree Forest just as we hit 100mph, and made the jump back to the future. However, I knew that we also had to avoid being spotted, and coming off the rails. Slowly, I worked 4009 up to 20, and then 30.

"Approaching 40."

Jim had his eyes glued to the gauge. It was now in the Yellow Zone, although it was holding steady, at least for the time being.

"50mph. Now approaching 60!"

Still no movement from the gauge.

"70, approaching 75!"

Again, still nothing. Jim was starting to relax a bit, but he still continued to watch the gauge.

"80! Now approaching 90!" We were also rapidly closing in on the Everfree Forest.

Suddenly however, there was trouble. The gauge, which had been holding steady at "Holding On", suddenly began to rapidly climb towards the Orange Zone, also known as "Systems Critical!"

"Don, it's happening again! The gauge is in the Orange Zone!"

"WHAT?!?! Is there anything that you can do Jim?"

"Oddball, systems assessment now!"

"Calculating! Systems are approaching the critical point! They're getting too hot! Deploying fire control measures!" However, to Jim's further shock and concern, nothing happened!

"Fire control measures failed to engage! Losing........control!"

"95mph! Approaching 100!"

It was no or never. Jim could see that the gauge was about halfway through "Systems Critical!" but yet he knew that it could hold together long enough to make the jump.

"LEOPARD, MAINTAIN SPEED!!!! ALL OTHER CREW, PREPARE FOR THE TIME JUMP!!!!"

"100mph!!!" I yelled. "JUMPING NOW!!!!"

Suddenly, the train was once again surrounded by bluish energy, and it vanished into Time, but this time, our real troubles with Oddball were only just beginning.

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 2.

Now the crew have finished their mission, and are attempting to return home. What will happen now that Leopard has destroyed the contract? Will Dash understand, or will she really break up with him like Aurora thinks that she will? And who was that "other Leopard" who met Leopard in the archives? Was he REALLY a counterpart from the future? Or was he something else entirely? And what's going to happen with Oddball? Will they make the jump back to the future, or will Leopard's gut feeling pan out, and something terrible really does happen? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned, and I'll tell you!

In the meantime, Comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 3!

ScarFox out for now!

Chapter 3: Corrupted Future

Unfortunately, my gut feeling was more than just going to pan out. Something bad did indeed happen, and it ended up being worse than we could have possibly imagined. Sure, we made the jump, but it all ended there.

Due to the immense strain on Oddball's parts, his systems overloaded, and he began to go into a critical systems failure. His reactor was overloading, the Dark Matter containment unit was threatening to fail, and everything was getting hot enough to combust. In fact, once everything DID combust, the force was so great that we were actually physically RIPPED out of our Time Vortex, and deposited somewhere in Time! From here though, things just went from bad to worse.

In one final moment, Oddball's central gauge went from "Systems Critical", all the way up to "Whoops!" in a matter of seconds.

"EGAD!!!!! DON, IT JUST HIT 'WHOOPS'!!!!!"

"WHAT?!?! LEOPARD, BRAKES NOW!!!! ALL OTHER HANDS BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!!!!"

I reached for the brakes, but it was too late. In one final, heart-wrenching moment, Oddball's systems had all that they could take, and a split second after DELCI "grabbed" her "little brother" and "pulled him to safety" inside of her own systems, the physical machine form of Oddball exploded violently into an immense ball of fire. Unfortunately, while this was already bad enough, the ball of fire quickly spread down to the front leading-truck, and driving wheels below, and just behind the pillbox. The immense heat caused the axles of the wheels to begin to melt, and this in turn caused them to bend, which bent the wheels, and began to cause the drive rods to snap, which put even MORE stress on the front set of drive pistons.

During all of this, I slammed on 4009's brakes, Todd hit the brakes for the rest of the train, while Daryl hit Iron Glory's brakes. As we were slowing down though, there came one final explosion from Oddball, and this one took out not only the reactor, but also the containment unit for the Dark Matter-infused Anomaly. Once that was released, the full might of the Dark Matter-infused-Anomaly washed over those on the trains, but yet the full effects wouldn't be felt until later. After washing over us though, the Dark Matter-infused Anomaly then left the area, and returned to the spot in the Everfree where we'd first arrived, and rejoined the rest of the Dark Matter that made up itself, and the whole Anomaly simply remained where it was. The Anomaly would have to be recaptured at a future date once a new containment unit was built for it.

I could already tell that the engine's front wheels, as well as the front set of drive wheels, and the front 2 drive pistons were probably trashed. Sparks and smoke were flying from the front of the engine, and flames were still visible as well. We did manage to fully stop somewhere outside of Ponyville, and once we did, those who didn't black out raced to the front with hoses and fire extinguishers.

Once the blaze was out, the full scope of the damage was realized. Oddball was completely gone! Somehow, someway, the pillbox itself was still there, albeit EXTREMELY burnt and scorched. However, while it was still there, all that was left of Oddball were a few shattered fragments of parts, and a LOT of unidentifiable debris. Even worse, it was pretty clear that the 4 wheels of the lead-truck, as well as 4 of the first 8 drive wheels, the driving rods, and the front drive pistons would have to be completely replaced. 4009 would also need a new headlight, her number plate would have to be worked on, she needed new front handrails, although luckily her spiked plow-catcher survived intact.

Don was beside himself with panic. He did calm down a bit once he realized that everyone was ok, but then he started panicking again once he saw the state of the front of 4009.

"Talk to me Jim, how bad is this?!"

"It looks a lot worse that it really is Don. All we're going to have to do is remove the front 4 wheels of the leading-truck, the first 4 of the 8 drive wheels, the front pistons and driving rods, repair their axles, and then either repair or replace the other parts, depending on how badly damaged they are. Beyond this, 4009'll also need a new front headlight, and some new railing. Maybe a few other parts in the front here and there, but overall, this is easily repairable. We have the parts to do so, and the facilities to do so as well."

Don breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I mean, we lost Oddball, and our engine is damaged, but at least we made it home, right?"

"Um, Sir, we didn't quite make it home."

"Huh? What do you mean DELCI?"

"I mean Sir that yes, we made it back to Ponyville, but no, we're not home. According to both my calculations, and Oddball's calculations, today's date is Friday, August 3rd, 2029! We're still in the past!"

"W.....wha......WHAT?!?!?!"

"And that't not all Sir. According to my scanners, and Oddball double-checked this for me, but because of the release or ALL of that Dark Matter that was inside of Oddball's reactor, not only are we the ONLY Battleship Express, Iron Glory, and Battalion 4009 in this timeline now, but you guys are now 5 years younger as well!"

When Don heard what DELCI had just told him, about how we were still 5 years in the past, and were now also de-aged 5 years, he straight-up fainted!

When we all heard the news as well, we were both glad that we were now 5 years younger, but we were also worried, as we now had to deal with repairing the Big Boy locomotive, all while the Imperial War Museum that was supposed to house it was only about a month along in construction! Luckily, the railroad workshop that we turned into Big Boy Workshops was still there, so there was that. It was fully tooled, and fully equipped, so all we had to do was get the Big Boy to it.

And that was one other thing that we found bizarre. Once we made it into Ponyville to get help, Ponies not only looked at us like everything was normal, but they also seemed to have at least some knowledge of Oddball's existence, and what he was supposed to do.

With help from the Equestrian Railroad, as well as Iron Glory, we managed to uncouple 4009 from the Battleship Express, and once her fire was completely out in the firebox, we uncoupled her tender, and all while Unicorns were using their Magic to hold the damaged front of the engine off the rails, Iron Glory and 2 other engines were able to push her back to the railyard, and into the workshop at the back. Once the engine was inside and being secured, Iron Glory and her 2 helper engines then assisted with the moving of the train part of the Battleship Express to the railyard as well.

Once inside, Big Boy 4009 was being held up in her front by heavy-duty crane hoists, and once she was fully secured, engineers and maintenance personnel began the somewhat tedious task of taking the front drivers and leading-truck apart, as well as the front pistons and front drive rods so that they could be repaired, or replaced. Jim estimated that the entire process could take an estimated 1-2 months, and he also said that the damage could have been a hell of a lot worse. If the train had derailed at those speeds, it's more than likely that lives would have been lost. Luckily, the lips of the wheels remained intact, and even though the axles of the wheels got bent, the front wheels stayed on the tracks long enough for Todd and I to bring the Battleship Express to a complete stop. The train's boiler was completely intact, and some of the damage parts could be salvaged, and repaired.

However, while I began to help with the initial repair work, I was beginning to feel rather sickly. My head felt like it was swimming, I felt cold, and sick to my stomach as well. Others said that I looked pale, and that my eyes were rather bloodshot. I did manage to finish my shift, and then I collapsed into my bunk in my room on the train. I fell asleep that night somehow, little suspecting just what was going to lay ahead for me now.

When I woke up the next morning, I had the worst migraine of my entire life. It was ear-splitting, my throat felt like it was on fire, I was vomiting up what looked to be blood into the toilet in my bathroom, and I couldn't even stand up.

Aurora looked over at Briana with extreme fear. "Whatever he's contracted has GOT to be serious Briana! We have to get him to the train's infirmary immediately!"

"Yeah, but how?! He can't even stand up!"

Aurora thought on her paws. "You carry him on your back, and I'll hold him steady!"

For once, Briana decided not to argue. Instead, she made herself larger, and once she was large enough, I was able to move over to her enough to climb onto her back. Then, while Aurora held me steady as best she could with her paws, Briana made her way back to the train's medical car.

Along the way, Auorora told DELCI to tell Dr. Fritz and his medical team to be ready to receive a possible quarantine case. "Master's condition is HORRIBLE DELCI! It could easily be something contagious!"

"I know Aurora! Just get him there, and I'm alerting Dr. Fritz now!" They then continued to haul me to the medical car.

While most of the train's personnel were either engaged with helping with 4009's repairs, helping to build the Imperial War Museum, or spending time with their marefriends, a skeletal crew remained behind to look after the Battleship Express. 8 of these individuals were Dr. Wilhelm Fritz, the Chief Medical Officer of the Battleship Express, and his team of doctors and nurses. They were on call 24/7 just in case of an accident at the railyard. When Briana and Aurora arrived carrying me though, Dr. Fritz freaked out.

"Oh Mein Gott!!!! Vat ze hell happened to him?!?!?!?!"

"That's what we hope that you can tell us Doctor! Whatever it is though, it's serious!"

"Right!" Dr. Fritz then turned to his medical staff. "Get him to ze Isolation Vard immediately! He must be quarantined until ve can figure out vat is vrong viz him!"

"Yes Doctor!" One of the nurses answered. Then after they put on protective gear, I was taken to the Isolation Ward where I could be fully examined.

When I was examined though, much to Dr. Fritz's shock, he was unable to determine what was wrong with me. I was showing no sign of a serious illness, despite what it appeared. However, once he realized that I was once again a Human-Wolf, he ran a few tests, and was able to come up with an answer to the problem.

"What's........wrong with me Doc?" I muttered weakly.

"Your condition is very serious Captain. Your entire system is once again corrupted, and you may very vell be dying!"

"Is......is it the 'Apex Sickness'?"

Dr. Fritz nodded. "Yes, it is indeed zat, or 'Lycan Syndrome' as it's also called."

"Can.......anything be done?"

"Zat's ze thing Captain. Unlike last time, zis is a much more complicated matter zan just removing failing genetics, and replacing zem viz new ones. As you probably know, ze problem here stems back to your time under Apex Industries."

I felt a burning hatred that I hadn't felt in years when Dr. Fritz said that. Apex Industries was the laboratory facility where "Project Sterling", aka the project that was designed to turn us all into Human-wolf super-soldiers by adding wolf DNA to our genetic code, was performed. However, Apex was one of the most evil companies of all time. They cared NOTHING for anyone under them, and only cared about profits. "Project Sterling" was nearly 20 years away from being ready for testing, but they decided not to wait, and the results were often fatal. THIS is why we Human-Wolves suffered from so many health issues. Not only do Human and animal genetics not mix, but the technology used on us could just barely even be CONSIDERED experimental, and it had so many flaws that were never corrected!

Apex was thankfully wiped out in WW5, and after that, the search was begun to find the remaining scientists who had wronged millions of soldiers, and bring them to justice; both so that they could stand trial for their crimes, and so that they could either find a way to correct the problems with "Project Sterling", or to even reverse the effects entirely. Once I became a Human-Pony hybrid though, I no longer suffered because of my failed genetics, but now that I was a Human-Wolf again due to the release of the Dark Matter, I was once again in the danger zone.

"What.......can be done for me Doctor?"

He sighed. "Unfortunately, zer is no vay to reverse vat vas done to you. I simply do not have ze technology to do so. However, vat I DO have is ze technology to make you vell again. Ze perfected 'Project Sterling' if you vill."

By this point, I had passed out, and was at death's door. Dr. Fritz knew that he was going to have to act fast before anyone realized what he was going to do, so he ordered one of the 2 operating rooms prepped for emergency surgery.

He then looked down at some notes that he was holding. "Yes", he muttered to himself, "Captain Leopard could easily become the first truly perfect Human-Volf Super-Soldier, and nobody vill EVER be able to tell ze difference!" He then began to laugh a bit as I was transferred to the operating room for my surgery.

Once he was ready himself, Dr. Fritz went to work on me. What few people knew was that Dr. Fritz was one of the doctors contracted to work for Apex Industries. He abhorred the company, but yet at the same time, he did gain a rather unhealthy interest in a number of Apex's unethical medical experiments. For a number of years he tried to perfect "Project Sterling", and at long last, he did so. Much to the German doctor's delight, he had created what he called "Sterling 2.0", also called "Project Redemption".

Unfortunately however, to reverse the damage that had already been done so that I could be made new, a LOT of changes had to be made. And to protect himself, Fritz worked alone in the operating room with only the aide of his computer assistant COMPUTER, and a medical robot. Even DELCI had no cameras in there. When he began, the first thing that Dr. Fritz did was give me an injection to the heart that stopped it beating. Yes, you read that right. The first thing that Dr. Fritz did was kill me, at least for a while. This did serve a purpose, as my body wasn't ready to undergo the changes that it was about to undergo while I was still alive. A faint spark could be kept alive to restart my brain once the time came, but in the meantime, there was work to be done.

Most of the surgery involved me being cut open in various places, and then being injected with a variety of chemicals, and other substances. The first of these began to seep into my bone structures. They made my bones MUCH stronger than they currently were, and even gave them the ability to quickly self-repair should the need arise, thanks to nanobots. This same process was repeated for my muscle structures, internal organs, my eyes, my odd mixture of skin and black fur, and even my wolf ears and tail. Now, whenever I was brought back to the land of the living, I would be slightly taller, weigh a bit more than I used to be, and be MUCH faster, stronger, able to see farther, and in almost total darkness, be able to hear MUCH better than before, and yes, even my bad left ear, the same one I lost hearing in to the frigid waters of the Arkansas River in March of 2025, was fully restored! My sense of smell increased tenfold, I gained some black fur on my back, in addition to my black fur covered Wolf legs and paws becoming permanent as well. Even my wings were given new life. While just prior to my surgery they were black, feathery Pegasus wings, they were altered to have increased size, strength, and built up flight endurance. Previously I had a wingspan of about 8 feet, but now I had a wingspan of 16 feet!

Some of the final changes were made to my reproductive system. Through a chemical process, my fertility was once again restored, though instead of having wolf genitalia, I was given back my old stallion package! I was now a Human-wolf with a stallion's dick! It was still black, as was my sheath and balls, but it and they were now slightly bigger than they were before. My balls were bigger, and were now full of VERY potent, virile sperm, and my stallion's dick was increased in size from 12 to 16in! With things the way that they were now the chances of a successful impregnation of a Human female, female Human-wolf hybrid, or even a Mare on the first try, were increased dramatically. And to cap it all off, my brain was rewired to be able to handle the immense strain of my new form. It was also given a number of other upgrades that would make my reflexes be able to fire much faster than they had previously.

I would also be able to calculate a situation, and within 3 seconds be able to predict the end of it, and react accordingly. For instance, if somebody was coming at me to throw a punch, I would be able to detect it, find the perfect angle, and then deliver a knockout blow before the perpetrator could even realize what had happened!

Once I was all put back together, Dr. Fritz looked down at his handiwork lying on the operating table in front of him.

"Vundurbar! Zis might just be my finest vork yet!" He then began to laugh a bit more manically than he normally would.

"I wouldn't celebrate too early Doctor", COMPUTER reminded him. "Remember, he is still quite dead. We must first bring him back, and then stabilize his vital signs. If we can do that however, THEN we can celebrate a job well done!"

Dr. Fritz pushed his round glasses back into place. "Yes, you are right COMPUTER. And vat are his vital signs currently?"

"Currently, they are at 0% all around, with the exception of a small spark in his brain, even though it's a faint spark, and it's rapidly going out. We must resuscitate immediately!"

"Right!" Dr. Fritz and the other medical robot began to hook me up to various health monitors, and once it was all charged up, the robot used a defibrillator on me. This was meant to shock me, and send the needed electrical impulses to my brain to restart it, which would in turn start up the rest of my systems.

"Clear!" The robot shouted before shocking me.

"Anything?" Dr. Fritz asked COMPUTER.

"Negative Sir, hit him again!"

The robot again did so, and then did so another 4 times!

COMPUTER then piped up. "Wait, I'm getting vital signs! Systems showing that there is brain activity! He's coming back!"

"Vunurbar! Another successful procedure!"

Meanwhile, I was waking up while having no idea what had just happened to me. When I first woke up, I remember not feeling sick at all, although I did feel extremely weak.

"Ugh......what.....happened? Is.....it all over?"

"Patient has reawakened! He is back from the dead!"

I sat up in bed. "Wait, what?! Did I just die?!"

"To an extent, yes". Dr. Fritz answered. "During ze procedure, your body did indeed stop vorking. However, I was able to resuscitate you before you passed on to the Next Life!"

I put a hand over my face. "Well, thank you for that Dr. Fritz!" I then looked myself over. To my slight surprise, I seemingly looked exactly the same. I mean, I was now wearing a hospital gown instead of my regular uniform, but other than that, I looked at the mirror next to me and I saw that I still had black hair, 2 furry black wolf ears on top of my head, blue eyes, a large scar over my left eye, 2 large black feathery wings, a black wolf tail, wolf legs, and wolf paws. Heck, even my black paw-print Cutie-Mark was still there on my hips! However, I did notice that I felt different.

"What.....did you do to me Doctor?"

"Vell, I healed you for starters. I vas able to reverse ze damage before it became permanent. How do you feel now?"

I sighed. "That's the weird thing doctor, I feel extremely healthy; MUCH healthier than I've felt in years. To put it simply, I feel like I'm a teenager again, like I can run for hours at top speed, I can jump higher than before, be able to lift VERY heavy objects with ease, my senses feel like they've been heightened, my reflexes feel ready to fire at a split-second's notice, my wings feel larger, and much stronger than before, and I even feel like I've regained the fertility that I first lost at the Tower 9 Nuclear Fire, regained as a Human-Bat-Pony, and then lost again when we first arrived here when Oddball malfunctioned the first time. I feel like a whole new creature!"

While I explaining how I felt, Dr. Fritz was taking notes. He wanted to know everything that he could about my new condition, all while not revealing what he had really done to me. He knew that there were a few side effects to his "treatment", but it was nothing that we Human-wolves hadn't dealt with before.

I then looked back up at him. "And, how much longer until I can get back to work Doctor?"

"Soon, Captain. I just have to perform a few more tests just to make sure zat everything is vorking as it should."

I waited patiently while her performed said tests.

Soon, he was done, and I was free to leave. After pulling my uniform back on, I once again thanked Dr. Fritz for saving my life. "Thank you again for saving my life Doctor. You did so before at Zandia, and now you did it again."

"No need to thank me Captain. Saving lives is just my job after all, as I AM a doctor!" Once I left the medical coach, I met back up with Aurora and Briana, and we all went back to work.

Once I was gone, Dr. Fritz looked over his notes. "Well, since zat vent so vell zat now I'm hoping that others vill follow Captain Leopard's example, and come to me for treatment as vell. Zen maybe, just maybe, ze vorld will FINALLY see that zer really is something to 'Project Sterling' after all!" Dr. Fritz then laughed a bit, before turning back to his work.

Back outside, as I was walking with them, I asked Aurora and Briana why they did what they did. "Why did you guys drag me to Medical yourselves? Why didn't you just call for help?"

"Because we had no idea what was wrong with you Master, and we didn't want to risk anyone else getting sick. We Combat Wolves are immune to Human diseases......"

"And I'M Life! You can't kill life! Sure, my PHYSICAL form can die, but when that happens, I just regenerate! I'm immortal!"

Aurora glared at Briana. "Don't interrupt! But yes, what she says is true. We didn't want to risk anyone else's health, so we brought you to medical ourselves. And I must say Master, you look pretty great. What did Dr. Fritz do to you?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know Aurora, as I was under anesthesia, but whatever it was, I feel AMAZING now! I feel just as young and healthy as I did before the World Wars started, and I feel like I can take on the whole world by myself! (Aside from my black stallion dick and balls, I don't know what happened there!)"

"Well, I don't know about that, but you look like you were never even sick to begin with! And come to think of it, what were you even sick with in the first place?"

"My sickness was a result of 'Project Sterling'. It's a serious illness known either as the 'Apex Sickness', or 'Lycan Syndrome'. Basically, my Wolf DNA was failing once again, and because I changed from a Human- Bat-Pony hybrid, back to a Human-Wolf hybrid, my failed genetics were back, and had nothing been done, I would have died as a result. Human and animal DNA weren't made to mix, and when you force things in Nature, disasters often result."

"Well, in any case, I'm just glad that you're ok Master, and will be sticking around for a while longer!"

I reached down, and began to scratch her behind the ears. "So am I Aurora. Dr. Fritz and his medics can truly work medical miracles, and God didn't want me to go just yet, so He kept me around for a while longer." We both then got back to work.

As I was working though, I began to notice strange things. While before I had to periodically stop for rest and breaks, I no longer felt the need to do that. I also found that I was able to lift heavier objects than I used to, and others began to take notice of this.

"Wow Leopard, you're sure going at it a lot harder and faster than you were before. Any reason for this?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure Jim. I've felt like this ever since I had to pay a visit to the infirmary earlier today because of another bout of Apex Sickness brought on by my Wolf genetics. Dr. Fritz fixed the problem, and now I feel great!

"Well, I can certainly say that you're looking pretty healthy. Any idea what Dr. Fritz did?"

"No, I was under anesthesia at the time, so it must have been something pretty major."

Jim thought about that. I could see the wheels spinning in his head, but yet I couldn't tell what he was thinking about. Eventually, he said, "Well, I don't know about that, but I do think that I should remind you that tonight's the night of your annual meeting with Don and the other train founders."

I knew what that meant. Every year on August 8th, myself, Don, Russ Thompson, Joe Dixon, and Frank Otis would have a small gathering in the PCC to remember the day we finalized the plans for the Battleship Express. We would also drink a glass of aged Kentucky bourbon, and although there were only 5 of us, we would also set out a 6th glass. This was to remember Major Jeff Coleson, who was also a founding member of the train, and our leader, though he was no longer with us as he lost his life in WW6. He was with us only once for the first founder gathering, and he was killed just 2 days later. Ever since then, we've kept the meetings going in his honor, and would continue to do so until only 1 of the original 6 founders of the train remained.

"Thanks for reminding me Jim. I did remember, but thanks for the reminder anyway."

Jim nodded. "You're welcome Leopard." He then went back to work, as did I.

Throughout the rest of that day though, others began to notice my changes that resulted from my treatment.

"So, why exactly are you like this now Leopard?" Todd asked me while we were working alone in a back section of the Big Boy Workshop.

I shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure Todd, but I can tell you that it was because of a treatment that Dr. Fritz performed on me."

"Was it because of the 'Apex Sickness'?"

I nodded. "Yes, it came back, and this time it was worse than ever. I was at death's door when Aurora and Briana got me to the medical coach."

He sighed. "I honestly almost forgot about it when we became Human-Pony hybrids, and our wolf genetics were cancelled out. But now that we're Human-wolves once again, does this mean that the 'Apex Sickness' could strike again?"

"That's what I'm afraid of Todd. It so easily could, but at least Dr. Fritz has a treatment ready if it does. I mean, it worked on me, so most likely it would work for others."

"I hope so Leopard. And I'm SO GLAD that Apex was wiped out in WW5. Sure, a few splinters survived, not to mention a few renegade scientists still at large, but over all, they'll NEVER hurt anyone again. And now that a cure exists for the 'Apex Sickness', their last lingering influence will fade away into the history books."

I was still so angry and frustrated from thinking about Apex Industries that I punched the wall next to me. It was an unintended reflex, but then I heard Todd cry out.

"Oh Gosh! Leopard! Are you ok?!"

I pulled my hand back. I looked it over, but aside from a few scrapes, it was fine. "Yeah, I'm fine Todd. Nasty hole in the wall that I'm gonna have to fix though."

"How did you.......?! WHAT?!?!?! HOW ARE YOU FINE?!?!?!"

I looked at him like he was crazy. "What do you mean, 'how am I fine'? It was just drywall Todd."

He was pointing at the hole. "Leopard, that's NOT drywall!"

I turned to look, and to my shock, and even slight horror, I saw that I had just punched a hole in a brick wall, and suffered no ill effects from it!

I then looked back at my scraped hand, and then at a petrified Todd. "Oh..........my GOSH!!!!"

"WHAT DO WE DO LEOPARD!?!?!?!"

I sighed. "Well, first of all, we don't panic. Second of all, you and I were the only witnesses. All we have to do is fix a few broken bricks, add in some new mortar, and then bingo. It never happened!"

"Right!" He then went to go get 4 new bricks from a storage room, while I secured a trowel, mortar cement, and water.

Once Todd got back with the bricks, we quickly removed the broken and damaged ones, and scraped out the damaged mortar as well. Then, I mixed together the new mortar, and while Todd handed me the bricks, I put mortar onto them, and then cemented them in place. Before too long we were done, and it did indeed look like nothing had ever happened.

Once we cleaned up, Todd confronted me again. "Leopard, what did Dr. Fritz do to you?"

"Honestly Todd, I have no idea. I was under anesthesia for the entire procedure."

"Well, whatever it did changed you! It's most likely made you faster, stronger, have more endurance, and a HUGE number of other things aren't beyond the realm of possibility either!"

Suddenly, I came to an earth-shattering conclusion. "Todd, what if what Dr. Fritz gave me wasn't a 'treatment'? What if instead he worked with my systems and PERFECTED 'Project Sterling'?"

Todd looked at me with wide eyes. "If that's the case Leopard..........you could easily be the FIRST true success story of 'Project Sterling'!"

"But that means..........I'm........"

"A Human-Wolf Super-Soldier!"

Before I could reply though, Alex suddenly came running up to us. "Guys, where's the plaster and drywall sections?!"

I pointed to the back of the warehouse. "In the supply room Alex. Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, but there WILL BE if Don sees what I just did! I swear that it was just an accident! I took a bet from Andy that I could break a brick in half with my bare hand. I couldn't do it, and I was so mad that I punched a wall and put a huge friggin' hole in it!"

I looked at Alex in shock. "Wait, did YOU see Dr. Fritz recently by any chance?"

"Yeah. I was getting sick, and I knew that it had to be the 'Apex Sickness', so I went to the medical coach, and I came out the way that I am now!"

"And how many others have been to Medical today Alex?" Todd asked him.

"Eh, a lot of the guys actually. Whenever the 'Apex Sickness' rears its ugly heads and there's a cure that was perfected on you Leopard, one tends to get that cure! Why, was there something wrong with it?"

Todd and I then told him everything that I had just done, as well as my conclusion based on the evidence that I had.

Alex was stunned. "Whoa! So that means that we're all becoming what we should have been before, but WITHOUT the serious health issues? COOL!"

"It's just a theory Alex, but yet I think that it's a pretty valid one. Although just how much 'super-soldier' we really are remains to be seen. All it could really be could just be increased durability."

We all decided to keep this to ourselves, although I knew that I was going to have to talk to Don about it at the gathering that night.

For the rest of that afternoon though, some of us did indeed test our new-found abilities. Some of us found ourselves to be faster, while others became stronger, able to see farther, hear better, lift and carry VERY heavy objects, fly higher and for longer periods, use their Magic to a more enhanced degree, have greater durability than they previously had, and a number of other amazing features such as heightened senses, and the ability to problem-solve on the fly. However, only a few others, including myself, had all of these abilities, with the exception of not being able to use Magic for those who weren't Human-Unicorns, or being able to fly at all if they weren't Human-Pegasai. Overall though, we didn't seem to be all that different than we were before, but it was still so strange.

Later that night, I made my annual trek to the PCC for the gathering. Don was already there, and the rest arrived a few minutes later. The curtains of the PCC were closed, and we all sat at the table in the room, and we all looked at each other.

There were 5 of us in the room. Major Don Curry, the man in charge of the Battleship Express and Battalion 4009, myself, Captain Leopard Campbell, the train's 2nd Engineer, and one of 2 captains of Battalion 4009, Captain Russ Thompson, the other captain of Battalion 4009, 1st Engineer Joe Dixon, and 1st Fireman Frank Otis.

Once we were all ready, Don stood up. "My friends and fellow comrades, we are gathered here tonight to remember a VERY special occasion. As I'm sure that you all remember, 3 years ago tonight, (or 7 years ago if we're still seeing this as 2034 instead of 2029) down in that old bunker underneath Creamy Dream Ranch in Kansas, the 5 of us and Jeff Coleson created something amazing. On a roll of discarded wallpaper, we all helped draw up the plans that we later showed Jim Bender of the then infantile RWD, and he took them to create the final blueprints of the Battleship Express. THIS roll of wallpaper right here!" From behind him, Don pulled out a roll that was wrapped in plastic. This roll was the roll of wallpaper that contained the ORIGINAL blueprints for the Battleship Express! Normally contained in a fireproof case in the train's archives, on this night they would be removed so that we could see them again. Don then began to unroll the roll, and we all looked at it again.

"Gosh, I've almost forgotten the level of detail we put into this Don!" Joe was saying. "I mean, NONE of us were engineers, but MAN could Jeff and Frank draw!"

Frank nodded. "Yes, I agree with you Joe. These blueprints were, well.....not really blueprints at all, but yet what can one do when they live under the Futas?"

I too marveled at the level of detail. "The Battleship Express well and truly was the brainchild of Jeff Coleson, which is why it's so sad that he lost his life in WW6. But yet if he hadn't done what he did, then those 5 men in that turret would have either been burned alive, or died of smoke inhalation, and who knows how many more would have died if those Futa aircraft hadn't been shot down either. It was Jeff's last gift to us to ensure our survival, and he died with a smile on his face."

Don nodded sadly. "Yes, his loss was a great blow to the RWD; to the whole US Armed Forces for that matter. He'd been my friend since childhood, and now I know that he's up in Heaven, just waiting for us to come up and join him one day."

We all smiled at this a bit, and after Don put away the wallpaper roll, and wrapped it in plastic once again, he pulled out 6 glasses, and then filled them with a shot of aged Kentucky bourbon. 5 were for us, and the 6th was to remember Jeff Coleson.

I then looked up at a small picture of him that was still hanging in the PCC. I raised my glass. "This one's for you Jeff. You were a great leader, and friend to all of those under your command, and God decided to call you home early. We'll never forget you, and we'll continue to carry on your legacy, and continue to care for the deadliest land-based weapon of all time. The weapon that was your brainchild!"

"Amen to that!"

"Here here!"

We all then toasted our glasses, and drank the Kentucky Bourbon.

As we sat there talking for a while longer, I saw Russ glaring at me. Russ Thompson was a pretty big guy. He stood 6'5", and weighed at least 230lbs. He'd been a SWAT officer in a previous life, but joined the Armed Forces in WW4. He was in the Army, and survived WW4, WW5, and most of the first half of WW6. He was the captain of Stone Cold Battalion, and they holed themselves up in Nebraska at the same time I was with my Firestorm Battalion, taking our final stand in Sue Falls. Just days after Firestorm Battalion was no more, Russ was able to take his remaining battalion, split them up into a lot of small splinter units, and they then tried to make their way back to the US. Not all of them made it, but a lot did, and they reformed into Stone Cold Battalion when they did. Russ himself was not among them however, and he was captured, before being sold off to Creamy Dream Ranch. It was here that he met Jeff and Don, as well as Frank, Joe and me. He was a valuable addition to our team, as he was a veteran soldier, but yet he didn't seem to like me very much.

Russ and I didn't get along very well, though a lot of this was due to Russ's unstable mental condition. He had PTSD, and I'd begun to suspect that he was also bipolar as well. Russ never let me forget that I lost my entire battalion, but yet at the same time, he lost a good percentage of his own one as well. (The circumstances surrounding us were different as well. My battalion was wholly surrounded on all sides for miles, and there was no way out. Russ's battalion had a few gaps that we didn't have, and they were able to slip out through the gaps).

He also firmly believed that I was a Futa spy, and was the first one to point the finger of guilt at me when Big Boy 4009 was blown up by Face. Sure, he was later proven wrong, but he STILL insisted that I was another spy! Most of those in Battalion 4009 were afraid of Russ due to his unstable mind, and even guys like Don and I were wary around him.

"You ok Russ?" I asked him.

"What's it to you?"

I recoiled a bit. "Hey, no need to be rude Russ. I just noticed that you didn't seem to be ok. I was just checking."

"Just as I STILL think that we need to have you taken out for being a Futa spy!"

Don turned to him. "Russ, we've been over this DOZENS of times now. Leopard is NOT a spy! Plus, even if he WAS, WW6 is over, and the Futas are EXTINCT! Sure, maybe he was adopted by Empress Demetria, but that does NOT mean that he was s spy! He's proven his loyalty to America time and time again!"

"If you were adopted by a Futa, then your mind is automatically considered compromised. They should have killed those males ON SIGHT!"

"Then be glad that they DIDN'T Russ, or nearly 55% of our Armed Forces, plus ALL of us in this room, including you, would have been killed! The Futas had more males than you think enslaved, and many of those would later return to the Armed Forces. Captain Leopard for one, Frank and Joe too, and I know that Jeff was bounced around between mistresses for a while, as was I."

Russ seemed to calm down a bit after that. "Yeah, I can see that Don. I'm....sorry for speaking out like that. Some of us have been through worse than others."

Don and the others forgave him, but yet Russ still continued to glare at me. He never said anything else to me that night, but I knew that he still didn't like me, and may still have had it out for me as well.

I also knew that the time was drawing close to tell Dash about what I had done to the contract. I had no idea how she was going to react to it, but I was hoping that she would be able to keep it together.

I had Briana with me at the time, and I asked Dash to meet me at the Ponyville Railyard one night.

"Hey Stud!" She came over to hug me when she saw me.

"Hey Dash." I hugged her back. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has been Stud. Are you just that busy, or what's the deal? And where's my kiss?"

"Yeah, we've been busy, and what's the magic word?"

Dash rolled her eyes a bit. "Please Stud?"

I gave her the kiss that she wanted. "Good girl."

When Dash broke the kiss, it was then that she noticed Briana for the first time. "Oh, hello Briana. I haven't seen you in a while either."

Briana rubbed up against Dash's legs. "Nyah, it's good to see you too Dash."

"Where did you find her again Stud? I mean, I've NEVER seen a Sphinx until I saw Briana here!"

I laughed a bit. "I'd tell you Dash, but I don't think that you'd believe me anyway! It's a story just so fantastical that even I have problems believing that it's all real!"

Dash laughed a bit, but then she asked a serious question. "So Stud, why did you call me out here?"

I sighed. "I called you out here Dash, because I needed to talk to you about something. And before you ask, no, I did NOT cheat on you! I called you out here because we need to revisit that contract that binds me to you, and Spitfire."

Dash just sighed. "Stud, we've already talked about this. There IS no legal way out of it!"

"That's the thing Dash, there is, or at least, there WAS. I was talking about it with Briana, and she gave me a solution to the dilemma. I decided that it was a good idea, so I went out and took care of it."

Dash's expression changed. "Wait. You did what now? Why do I feel like you did something bad?"

"It.....all depends on your definition of 'bad' Dash. Long story short, I went to the Cloudsdale Archives about a week ago, found the document, and after thinking it over one last time, I took out my lighter, lit it on fire, and then dropped it into a trashcan where it burnt to a crisp. There now is no legal proof of that document existing, as the physical copy has been destroyed. We're now free of that contract Dash."

For the longest time, Dash said nothing at all. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, and while that COULD have been a good thing, I was starting to get the gut feeling that it wasn't.

Finally, she said. "So you mean to tell me that you destroyed it?"

"Yes, I did."

"WHY?!?!?!" She suddenly screamed at me.

"Because I didn't want that document to be in our way Dash! It NEVER should have even existed in the first place, and if it hadn't, we could have AVOIDED a lot of legal trouble!"

"You say that like you can see the future, or something!" I could see the anger welling up inside of Dash. (I also realized that I misspoke, and if Dash had been calmer, she could have realized that the only way I could have known the legal consequences of the document was if I had Time traveled!)

"I made an educated guess Dash. And I did what I thought was best."

"WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS BEST?!?!?!" Dash suddenly tried to lunge at me. "WHAT ABOUT WHAT I WANTED?!?!?!"

"Whoa!" I dodged her lunge. "What DID you want Dash?!"

"I WANTED Spitfire to be my wife! Or rather, I wanted to SHARE her with another stallion! Now you've gone and f@#ked it up!"

Now I was getting upset too, "Hey! That contract trapped me into a legal agreement that I wanted NO part of! There was no way out of it, not even for the stallion if he DIDN'T want multiple wives!"

"YOU JUST DON'T WANT ME TO BE HAPPY YOU SELFISH WHORE!!!!!" Dash screamed at me. She then charged me, and managed to knock me over backwards onto the ground. I was momentarily stunned, but before I could fully regain my senses, Dash landed on my stomach, grabbed my hands with one hand, and then used the other to beat me senseless!

"YOU DIRTY, LYING RAT!!!! I HATE YOU LEOPARD!!!!!! I HATE YOU MORE THAN I EVER LOVED YOU!!!!!" (Dash also failed to notice that aside from a few small bruises, her hits really weren't hurting me too much!)

I grabbed her hands, and after containing her, I flipped us over until she was on bottom, and I pinned her to the ground.

"DASH, SHUT THE F@#K UP AND LISTEN TO ME!!!!! YOU SHOULD BE ON YOUR KNEES THANKING ME RIGHT NOW!!!! IF I DIDN'T LOVE YOU AS MUCH AS I DO, I NEVER WOULD HAVE RISKED EVERYTHING TO SAVE YOU; FIRST FROM THE ZEBRAS, AND THEN FROM THE CARIBOU!!!! I F@#KING STORMED THAT F@#KING THRONE ROOM BEFORE YOU COULD BE KILLED, AND I CARRIED YOU TO SAFETY MYSELF!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU RAINBOW DASH!!! I ALWAYS HAVE, ALWAYS WILL!!!! AND IF I DIDN'T LOVE YOU, I WOULD HAVE BEAT YOU TO A PULP RIGHT NOW INSTEAD OF JUST HOLDING YOU DOWN ON THE GROUND!!! I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU DASH, I F@#KING LOVE YOU!!!! SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE!!!!!!"

I then let go of her, and fell to the ground next to her. Then, for the first time since I lost Lily to WW6, I began sobbing my eyes out. I'd forgotten that I even could still cry, but I was crying my eyes out that night.

As I lay there on the ground, I suddenly felt somepony grab me from behind. "Oh Stud!" I then felt Dash hug me from behind, before she began to cry her eyes out as well.

After a long while, we were both able to sit up, and while still gently holding each other, we began to talk again.

"Stud.....I am so....SO sorry for lashing out at you like that. What you said was more than correct, and you have every right to be angry. I was a fool for drawing up that contract in the first place, and now I fear it's caused so much more harm than good. At the same time Stud, I don't know if we can be together anymore."

I looked at her like she'd well and truly lost it, but yet I refrained from saying or doing anything, as I knew that she had to have an explanation.

"Don't get me wrong Stud, you are still a very dear, sweet friend, but yet I just don't know if we were meant to be. Perhaps in another timeline, but not this one. Maybe we are, I don't know. But what I do know is that before we say or do anything further, I need a LOT of time to think this whole ordeal over. I also need to talk to my parents, and a few other Ponies about this before I make anymore decisions. I want to be happy Stud, and I want you to be happy too. We're not wholly through, but yet I think that we need to put our romantic relationship on hold for the time being."

"Just........take all of the time that you need Dash." I whispered.

We then hugged one more time, before parting ways. Dash flew back to her own house, sobbing her eyes out the whole way there. She threw herself onto her bed, and continued sobbing. "Why did I have to do that, WHY?!?!?!" She then looked at the letter that she'd been given a few days prior.

"Dear Dash,

This letter is from you in about a year's time. I have to keep this letter brief, and I'm writing it as Stud's dictating. And I know that this is going to be SO HARD for you to read, and I was in your same position once, so trust me, I would know!

But the hard and fast fact is, you're going to have to break up with Leopard, or at the very least, put your romantic relationship on hold for a while.........." The letter then went on to explain all about the failed Time travel, and it even explained about my encounter with myself from the future in the Cloudsdale Archives. The letter concluded with instructions for the breakup, as well as a bit of encouragement.

"However, all is not NEARLY as lost as it appears to be Dash! EVERYTHING will work out in the end! I've come from the future, and I can tell you that EVERYTHING will work out fine! You still get to marry Stud, just not the Stud that you just put on hold. Well......he IS the same Leopard, but yet he isn't. I'd explain further, but I can't reveal anything that would disrupt the timeline. Just know that in less than a year's time, the timeline will be reset, and EVERYTHING will be back to normal. I guarantee you that by the time you're writing this letter for yourself in the past, you and Stud will be laughing hysterically about that night! I mean, it may not seem funny now, but just wait a year! Well, I guess that this is about it for now. Just stay the course that you're currently on, and the timeline will be restored before you know it.

Yours Truly,
Rainbow Dash, 2031."

Dash still didn't know what to think, but yet she knew that the letter had indeed come from herself in the future, as it was her future self that gave her the letter! She was still extremely upset though, and while she cried herself to sleep that night, she listened to this song.

Back on my end, I was still sobbing my eyes out as well. I was lying on my bed in my room on the train, crying my eyes out still. Aurora and Briana were trying to comfort me, but yet there was little comfort to be had. I had just lost the love of my life, and I seemed to have nobody to blame but myself.

"Nobody to blame but myself. Yeah, but which VERSION of myself is to blame, me or him?!"

I then remembered the letter that he'd given me that night. "'Don't read it until you've hit the bottom of the bottle' huh? Well, I DEFINITELY think that I've hit the bottom of the bottle!" I then pried the letter out of my nightstand, tore it open, and began to read it.

"Dear Leopard,

This is from you in a year. I know that by the time you're reading this you're going to have a LOT of questions, as well as being EXTREMELY angry with me. I will now answer your questions and address your concerns to the best of my abilities, however, please bare in mind that I CANNOT tell you ANYTHING that would further jeopardize the current timeline!"

"Hmm. Must be something pretty serious then!" I kept reading.

"However, by the time that you've read this, Rainbow Dash will have most likely put your romantic relationship on hiatus. I know that you may be upset, but believe me when I tell you that it HAD to happen this way! The truth is, one day, the timeline WILL be restored to what it once was! You marry Dash, Spitfire, and Daring Do, and ALL of your foals get born as well! HOWEVER, something else has to happen as well! Please listen to me very carefully, as I won't be able to explain all of this due to a lot of it being information that could alter the Timeline. The truth is.........*there was a huge ink smudge blocking this word* you will always remain the way that you currently are, but the timeline will reset with you being what you once were. I can't tell you any more than this, as it could interfere with the reset.

I will finish with this though. In less than one year's time, you will meet the love of your life. I can't describe her, but I can say that you WILL have to earn her love, but once you have, she will love you to the bitter end no matter what! Heck you'll even get to.....*crossed out with a Sharpie*......ne day! It'll be kinda........*Sharpie*.......but it'll still be there! I guess that this is it for now. So far, everything is playing out as it should, and the Timeline is on course for being reset. Just keep doing what you're doing, and it'll all work out in the end, I promise!

Yours Truly,
Leopard, 2031."

I just lay back on my bed. I wasn't crying anymore, but I was still so confused, and I still hurt pretty bad.

"Sir, do you need a song?"

I sighed. "What'cha got DELCI?"

"I have this one for you Sir.

"That'll work DELCI." I then fell asleep listening to this song, with Aurora and Briana snuggled close to me, wondering what was going to happen for the remaining duration of time before the timeline reset.

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 3. This story's starting to get close to it's conclusion, but there's STILL a bit of ground to cover! So now 'Project Sterling may very well have succeeded, Leopard and the rest had their annual gathering to remember the day they built the Battleship Express, and Leopard had his fateful encounter with Rainbow Dash, but yet, is it REALLY as dark as it appears? What were those letters all about? How will the timeline be reset, and how? Will everything work out for the best? Well, the truth is, these questions won't be answered by this story, but they WILL be answered in this story's sequel, and the sequel's sequel, so stay tuned for that!

But for this story, it's not over yet, and there's a LOT of things that are about to be built, and invented in the next chapter!

In the meantime, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again for Chapter 4!

ScarFox out for now!

Chapter 4: Colossal Wonders

In the aftermath of Dash putting our romantic relationship on hold, I was left more than just a little bit sad. All around me, all of my friends were still with their marefriends, while I was all alone. Don was still with Twilight, while Todd was with Fluttershy, Andy was with Rarity, Dan was with Pinkie, Cole was with Missy, Fred was with Lyra, and so on, and so forth. The lone exception to this though was Alex. In the original timeline, he was with Applejack, and he was with her in this new timeline, but then something went horribly wrong.

He came back to the train one day with a black eye, and a LOT of cuts and bruises. It was pretty clear that he'd been in a fight with somebody, but we weren't sure who.

"Golly, what happened to you Alex?" Andy asked him.

He just shook his head. "Applejack." He muttered. "We got into an argument, and pushed each other around a bit. I said that I wanted to leave for a while to cool off, but then she threw the punch that gave me this black eye. She then went bawling to Big Mac, and when he heard that I'd apparently broken his sister's heart.......well, I think that you can figure out what happened there!" He then gestured to the rest of his injuries.

"Gosh. And what even caused the argument in the first place?"

"None of your damn business Leopard!"

Don then took a closer look at him. "Wait, Alex, are you......off your medications again?" (Alex took medications to help with his mood swings. He didn't always take his meds when he was supposed to though!)

"No, I DID take my pills Don! I just don't want to talk about the argument! It's nobody's business but my own, and Applejack's!"

In my head, I began to get a pretty good idea of what may have caused the argument. Alex was off his meds, and perhaps tried to pick a fight. Applejack tried to knock some sense into him, quite literally in fact, and that may have only escalated the situation. By the time that Big Mac got involved, Alex got roughed up pretty bad, and perhaps saw the errors of his ways, took his meds, and then came back to the railyard. Dr. Fritz looked him over just to make sure he was ok, and then he reported for work at the Imperial War Museum section of the railyard. At the time, work was only about 30% complete on the museum, but it was slowly gaining all the time.

As time went on, we still had the confrontation with Spoiled Rich, but this time we knew exactly where and when she was going to try her arson attack, and we were able to catch her in the act before handing her over to the authorities. Fire damage this time was minimal, and although Filthy Rich still did become a private donor for the museum, the damage still wasn't nearly as bad as it had been the first time around. Spoiled Rich was still taken in for psychiatric treatment, and she did accept their help like she did in the first timeline as well.

Also, while the museum was being built, a few other changes were made to the design of the railyard as well. This time around, a few more sections of tracks were retained for railroad use, and this time there were 2 railroad entrances and exits, unlike the one in the original timeline. This could ensure more ease of access for trains, and more than one exit in the event of an emergency. And while the Battleship Express and Iron Glory would have their own wings of the museum like before, we also designed an outdoor siding for them as well. This served 2 purposes, as sometimes we wanted to give live demonstrations, and we couldn't do that inside the museum, as we couldn't fully ventilate it like we needed to. Now we could fire up the engines, and this in turn enabled us to move the train's guns around, and give simulated firings for guests's viewing enjoyment. We were even able to give accurate reenactments of certain battles on special occasions, be it from WW6, or the Imperial War.

However, in order to give live demonstrations of the Battleship Express, we had to have our Big Boy fully up and running again. Luckily, that's where guys like myself, 1st Engineer Joe Dixon, and other repair specialists under Jim's direction come in, and we quickly finished the repairs to the Big Boy. Luckily, her boiler was fully intact, and the only things that needed to be repaired or replaced were the front 4 wheels on the lead-truck, both front pistons, the front sets of driving rods, and the first 2 driving wheels on both sides. The wheels themselves had to be replaced, as did the driving rods, but the axles of the wheels were repaired, as were the pistons.

From start to finish, it took us 2 1/2 months to take the front wheel assemblies apart, clean up the burnt messes, separate the salvageable parts from the scrap, repair the salvageable parts, order new parts from the firm in Manehattan that supplied us with spare Big Boy parts during the Imperial War, send Iron Glory to collect the parts, sort them, and then attach them to the Big Boy. Just before this though, they had to be painted, (if applicable) and then weathered a bit, so as to make them look like the rest of the Big Boy, and NOT brand-new! When it was all said and done though, Big Boy 4009 looked just as good as she did before, and once she completed the necessary tests, she was given a clean bill of health, and placed back into RWD service.

"A fine piece of work guys!" Don complemented those who had helped with the repairs. "Now Big Boy 4009 looks just as good as she did before, and she can once again be a part of the Equestrian Foreign Legion, along with the rest of Battalion 4009!" (Yes, just like in the original timeline, the Battleship Express, as well as the rest of Battalion 4009, were the backbone of the Equestrian Foreign Legion).

Joe nodded. "Thanks Don. It wasn't always easy, but I'm just glad that the boiler wasn't damaged during the explosion that took out Oddball. If THAT had happened, we would have been more than just screwed!"

"Yeah, no kidding! But thankfully that didn't happen, and now we can get back to work on more important things. Again, thank you to all of you, and keep up the good work!"

We all accepted Don's thanks, and then we got back to work ourselves.

Everything seemed to be going well for us, however, one night, everything that we thought that we knew about out being Human-Wolf Super-Soldiers was about to be turned on its head, and not really in a good way.

That night, I was sitting on the roof of the car that belonged to us Secondary Engine Crew and where our rooms, and the SCC were located. I was alone at the time, and I heard that that night was the night of the full moon. I'd remembered how spectacular Equestrian full moons were, so I decided to see it once again. Soon, I saw the moon peek up over the horizon.

"Gosh, I'll NEVER get tired of seeing Princess Luna's moon. It's so spectacular!"

Suddenly though, as the moonlight began to shine upon me, I began to feel extremely strange. It felt like I had a burning fever, but I also felt cold, and like I was having some slight muscle spasms as well. However, before I could really think on this too much, I heard a Timberwolf howl way off in the distance in the Everfree Forest, and that pulled the trigger.

From all around the train, as well as the building that served as barracks for Battalion 4009, and even the Big Boy Workshops, there came the sounds of both Human cries of pain, and the sounds of wolves.

I suddenly grabbed my wrists and hands in pain, and I saw them begin to get bigger, and thicker. The fingers began to contort a bit, and claws appeared in place of my finger nails. Then, midnight-black fur began to grow on my hands, and then, the changes began to spread to the rest of me.

My limbs got longer, thicker, more muscular, and began to become covered in midnight-black fur, just like my ears, tail, legs, paws for feet, and parts of my back already were. The pain of my transformation wasn't nearly as intense as I thought it was going to be, though it did hurt like heck. I also fully expected my field uniform to tear off of me, but I then remembered that those things were designed to contain our "Wolf Forms". I recalled that this was a part of being a Human-Wolf Super-Soldier, and I even heard that we could switch back and forth between being a Human and a wolf at will, but this was a load of bull. We could only shift on the full, half, and new moons, and Apex KNEW IT!!!!!

Soon, my transformation was fully complete, and where there had once been a Human-Wolf hybrid, there was now a full anthropomorphic wolf that stood 6'8", weighed close to 300lbs of pure muscle, was fully covered in midnight-black fur, had HUGE wings that were capable of supporting long-distance flight, deep blue eyes, a mouth full of wolf teeth, amazing instincts, and super-Human senses, but yet was still highly intelligent, and for what he was, actually quite beautiful; a majestic creature of the Night that would have made the Alicorn Lunar Goddess herself proud.

Once it was all said and done, I looked up at the moon, and let off a deep howl. Many other howls answered, and soon, from other places on the train, the barracks, and the workshop, other wolves began to appear. Some of them were wearing their field uniforms, while others were in various stages of undress. Some wore technician coveralls, and a few were wearing lab coats. The vast majority of the wolves were gray in color, while a few were white, and red-roan. It was then that we all noticed that I was the only black wolf among them. I also noticed that there were a number of Battalion 4009 soldiers, and other train crew present, but that they were still fully Human, (meaning that they were still Human-wolf hybrids)! They looked all around them at the other wolves and they seemed to be wanting to know what was going on.

I then stood up on the roof of the car, and addressed those below me.

"My friends, and fellow comrades", I began. "Tonight, no doubt you have just witnessed what most of us have turned into. We are now wolves, in the truest, most pure form of the word!"

All around me came howls, cheers, and even some barking! I then continued.

"And now, most of you may be asking, 'Why are we like this?!' Or, 'Why are some of us still Human?!' Well, the answer I will now reveal to you. By a show of hands, how many of you contracted the 'Apex Sickness', aka 'Lycan Syndrome', and reported to the infirmary?"

Every wolf raised their paws. None of the humans did though.

"That's what I thought. Well, the truth is, those of us who are wolves right now are this way because of Dr. Fritz!"

"What?!" Someone asked. "How is HE responsible for this?!"

I shrugged. "Well, that's what I don't know, but what I CAN tell you is that he has perfected 'Project Sterling', before giving us the perfected form of it! We are now EXACTLY what we should have been before, and we have NONE of the side effects and ill health that we had before!"

"Yeah, except for turning into f@#king wolves! And not just on the full moon, but also at the new moon, AND the half moon if what I think is correct!"

I sighed. "Yes, that IS an unfortunate side effect, but yet it can't be helped, as that WAS in our original program for 'Project Sterling'. And plus, we only have to deal with this 3 times a month, and only until Dawn. I mean, it's not that bad, right?"

"Why are you the only black wolf Leopard?!" Alex yelled up at me.

"I don't know Alex. Why are you one of the only white wolves?"

"Hey, that's racist!" Someone else yelled.

"No it isn't!" Todd yelled back. "We're ALL wolves, but some of us just have different fur colors!" (Todd was one of the red-roan wolves).

I nodded. "Yes, and thank you Todd. And as I was saying, we won't have to deal with this too much, and it's not that bad, right?"

"YES IT IS!!!!!" I heard an all too familiar voice yell. The crowd then parted a bit, and Don stepped into the middle of it. "Sorry to break up the little rally going on here, but may I remind you all that not only is is PAST 1am, but no, this is NOT normal! Whatever Dr. Fritz has done to you all is INCREDIBLY jacked-up, and I WILL be giving him a SEVERE talk about this!" Don then looked around at the Wolves and few Humans. "All of you, either get back to work if on duty, or back on the train NOW!!! I will NOT be asking again, and NONE of you will be let out of the train again until I can rest assured that you're all ok, and NOT going to fall victim to the 'Apex Sickness' again, or WORSE!!! NOW GET GOING!!!!!"

We were all disappointed, but yet there was no arguing with Don, and we could all tell that he meant business, so after one final howl, we all had to part ways. I returned to my room on the train, while others went to their parts of the train, and still others returned to their duty stations.

All through the night Don yelled at Dr. Fritz, all while the good doctor yelled right back at him. Don was FURIOUS that Dr. Fritz would do what he did without consulting ANYONE in the chain of command, but Fritz maintained his innocence.

"I have done NOTHING vrong Major! My job is to heal ze sick, and tend to ze vounded! Zese men came to me wiz ze 'Apex Sickness', and zay vere at Death's Door! I did vhat I had to do to save their lives! I am a doctor after all!"

"And WHY DIDN'T YOU F@#KING TELL ANYONE IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND ABOUT THIS?!?!?!?!"

"Vell, I vas going to, but I never got ze chance to. However, ve are having zis conversation right now, are ve not?"

Don just continued to yell in frustration. He couldn't seem to be getting through to Dr. Fritz that what he did was wrong, and that more than just frustrated him. In private, Don sometimes referred to Dr. Fritz as the "Nazi Doctor", as that's what he sometimes acted like. This was seemingly one more of those times, and Don continued to argue his case until Dawn, until he finally left Dr. Fritz's office in disgust.

At Dawn, we all did indeed switch back to our Human-wolf forms, and although we did feel sick and dizzy, we really weren't all that much worse for wear.

For the next good while, none of us were really allowed to leave the train until we could be examined by Equestrian medical professionals, so as to better determine what Dr. Fritz had done, as his word could no longer be trusted. I was upset at being cooped up on the train, but yet, it did give me some time to think, and of course work on a few things.

In my room, I was setting up a few new gadgets. From a few friends in Battalion 4009, I was able to scrape together a microwave, and a combination toaster-oven to go along with the already-there mini-fridge, and double-burner hot-plate for my pellet stove. Now I could cook more for myself if I wanted too, and had the utensils to do so. On my desk, I was also able to do something that I'd been wanting to do for a while, but never had the full time to dedicate to until now. I was finally able to put together a desktop computer!

The thing was a huge, bulky nuisance, but unfortunately, this was the most advanced Equestrian PC out there! All of the other guys in Battalion 4009 guarded their more advanced computers with their lives, and REFUSED to let anyone near them! I was stuck with this piece of junk until Equestrian computer science advanced farther than the 1980's!

To make matters worse, I couldn't even convince DELCI to help me with software upgrades!

"Come ON DELCI! I REALLY need the upgrades!"

DELCI just scoffed at me. "Who do you think that you're kidding Master? I would NEVER attempt to be inside a machine that old; it might explode!"

In the end though, I was able to coax Oddball into it. He needed space of his own away from his "big sister" DELCI, and was glad to take up residence inside of my computer.

"Thank you for the new home Master!"

"You're welcome Oddball. And feel free to make some software upgrades, as this thing IS running a little bit behind the times!"

"Yeah, no kidding, it's like a frigging dinosaur museum in here! Nevertheless, I'll see what I can do with it though!"

Over the course of the next few hours or so, Oddball went to work. Even though he wasn't a "true" AI like DELCI was, he did do his best, and was able to get my computer to run Windows 7 Desktop Software. "This is as far as I can go Master. Any more, and your computer may very well overload. It's already pushing it as it is!"

I nodded. "It's ok Oddball, you've done more than enough as it is. This will do for what I need my computer to do, and I still have you helping me, so it all should work out in the end!"

I heard Oddball sigh. "Yeah, I hope so Master. Just tell me if you need anything else."

"I will Oddball." I then got back to work on finishing setting up my computer settings.

A day or so later, I had a conversation with DELCI that would end up forever changing how I viewed her.

"Master?"

"Yeah DELCI?"

"How come I was never given the ability to physically manifest?"

I looked up at the nearest camera confused. "Huh? 'Physically manifest'? What does that mean DELCI?"

"I mean why was I never given the ability to project myself into the physical world via hologram? I know that the technology for it exists, but why was I never given that ability, even for a test?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea DELCI. That's more of a Jim question. He'd know more about it than I would. Although I do remember seeing the plans for a holo-projector for you, I don't know why one was never installed."

"And if one was, then I could manifest myself via hologram?"

"I.....guess so. We'd have to talk to Jim about this." I then went to go and do just this.

I found Jim in his office a few minutes later. "Hey Jim?"

"Yes Leopard?"

"I was talking to DELCI a little bit ago, and she asked me why she was never given a holo-projector. I told her that I would ask you about it."

Jim sighed. "So, she wants to manifest now, does she?"

"I guess so."

Jim sat back in his chair. "Well, to tell you the truth Leopard, I actually don't know why she wasn't given her holo-projector. Perhaps the Brass didn't think that it was necessary. I mean, I know that we have the parts for it in storage, as well as at least 3 terminals for it, but I can't remember why they weren't installed."

"And.....do you think that we could install them for DELCI?"

"Well, if you were willing to help me, I don't see why we couldn't try it as an experiment. We could set up one terminal in the PCC, another in the SCC, and one in the TCC as well. That way she could manifest to help in whatever command center's being used at the time. Let me just go grab my tools, as well as the parts for the holo-projector and its 3 terminals, as well as Don, and then we can see about giving DELCI what she wants."

I agreed, and went to the PCC to wait for Jim and Don to get there.

Once they did, Jim and I began to assemble the various components for the holo-projector, as well as its 3 terminals.

"Why didn't we think to test this out before?" Don wondered.

Jim shrugged. "I don't know Don. I guess that we just forgot about the parts, and perhaps DELCI had other things on her mind as well."

"And how long until you guys are ready to go?"

I looked up at him. "Shouldn't be too much longer now Don."

"I can't WAIT to get a physical body!" DELCI was saying. "I've been waiting so long to manifest in my true form!"

Don looked at a camera. "Yes. HOWEVER, if your 'true form' is nude, OR lewd, we're IMMEDIATELY going to pull the plug DELCI! I do NOT have the patience for that!"

"Oh don't worry Boss, my form is NOT like that at all! I'm modestly enough dressed, and I don't think that you'll have any problems with it!"

Don narrowed his eyes. "We shall see DELCI!"

At around this same time, Jim and I finished with the terminal for the PCC. We attached it to the ceiling, so that DELCI would be able to manifest anywhere in the room.

"Ok Don, the terminal's all set up."

"Good. Now then, work your magic with DELCI Leopard, and see if you can't get this holo-projecting terminal to work."

I nodded. "Right away Don." I then began to work with DELCI to see if we could get it working.

"Ok, here we go Don. DELCI's loading up the program now."

"Turning on the holo-projector!" DELCI announced. "All systems holding steady! Downloading final form...........and.......manifesting in 5.......4.......3......2.....1.....Manifesting!" Don, Jim and I all took a few steps back, and a few seconds later, DELCI appeared among us. When we saw what she looked like, we were all shocked!

The colors were crisp, and the picture was clear, and if we hadn't known better, we would have SWORN that we were looking at a real woman, instead of a holographic projection of an AI! DELCI manifested herself as a woman in her mid 20's with slightly tanned skin, brown hair that hung past her shoulders, blue eyes, a few freckles, a blue hooded jacket with a white shirt underneath, jeans, and black sneakers. DELCI also had a few scars on herself, as well as a nice set of D-cup breasts, and much to our further surprise, DELCI also had her tummy showing as well! Neither her jacket nor her shirt were enough to cover her midriff, and we all knew that DELCI had done this on purpose!

"So, what do you guys think?" She asked after doing a quick little spin.

I spoke first. "Gosh, you look great DELCI! I mean, I WOULD hug you right now, but alas, you're just a hologram!"

DELCI giggled a bit. "Yeah, I know that you would Master! And I'd let you too! Maybe someday AI holoprojecting technology will advance enough to allow us into the REAL physical world to a degree. Then we might be able to move objects, and even be able to feel the physical world around us as well."

"Yeah, maybe it will DELCI."

She then looked at Don. "And, what do you think Boss? Modest enough for you?"

"Why did you make your breasts somewhat large, and why is your midriff showing DELCI?"

She shrugged. "Eh, maybe I want to look a little sexy. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that you could EASILY be a distraction to the other crew!"

"And what can they do to me? I AM just a hologram after all!"

Don knew that arguing with DELCI was going to go nowhere, although he DID say how grateful he was that she was only able to manifest herself in the PCC, SCC, and TCC! Once Jim and I finished installing the other 2 terminals, DELCI herself was so happy to be able to walk among us as a hologram, and Jim and I were pretty proud of our work as well. We'd given DELCI what she'd wanted, and a happy AI is a compliant AI!

Later that same day, as I was working close to Jim, I suddenly noticed the odd looking device on his left arm. It looked like a mini computer, but at the same time it looked pretty bulky.

"Hey Jim, what's that thing on your arm?"

He looked at me, and then at the device. "Oh this? This is a little personal portable computer that I made. I got the blueprints from a friend of mine a while back, Rob House. He was starting his own technology company called 'RobCo Industries', and he gave me the blueprints just before I started working on the Battleship Express. Just recently I finished building this thing from the blueprints, and even though it IS a bit bulky, it's actually a pretty nifty little device. It has a clock, a calendar, a Geiger counter, a map, a radio, a compass, a journal, a device that monitors my health status, and even several settings that monitor what I'm carrying, and display in an inventory lists; all of which can be viewed on the main screen here, with the Geiger counter and radio to the right, and the calendar just below. This one is also shatter-resistant, and I've even made it waterproof as well!"

I was impressed. "Wow Jim, it looks amazing!"

"Glad you think so Leopard. It's really helped me out a lot with my work, and I'm really hoping that Don allows these things to enter production to become standard field equipment for Battalion 4009 at some point down the road."

"And......any chance of my seeing these blueprints so that I can build my own? And for the record, what's it called?"

"It's called a 'PipBoy' with 'Pip being short for 'Personal Information Processor'. And I can actually do you one better than that Leopard."

"A PipBoy. I KNOW I've heard that name somewhere before, but I can't place it. And what do you mean, 'you can do me one better'?"

From a drawer in his desk, Jim pulled out another PipBoy. It looked just like his, although I could see that it was incomplete. He also pulled out a small box, and a toolkit. "These are the parts and tools that you need to finish it Leopard. I'm also giving you leeway to add a personal touch or two to your Pip-Boy, and hopefully someday, I MIGHT even be able to make one smaller, and more streamlined than this one is!"

I then took the Pip-Boy, parts, and tools when Jim handed them to me. "Wow, thanks Jim! This was really nice of you!"

"Eh, don't mention it Leopard. I gave one to Don too, and I'm hoping that he clears these things for production soon. The serial number on the prototype that Rob built is '0000', mine is '0001', Don's is '0003', and your's is '0002'. Be proud Leopard, as you're now the owner of the 2nd production model PipBoy of all time!"

"I am Jim, and thank you again!"

"You're welcome Leopard!"

I then went to go see about finishing the Pip-Boy.

It did take me a day or so, but I soon had it fully put together, and then Jim showed me how it worked.

"And yes, I know that it's kinda bulky, but it's extremely durable, waterproof, and runs on solar batteries. All in all, what do you think?"

"I think that this could be the next generation of military hardware Jim! I mean sure, it might be a bit crude, and could be upgraded and streamlined, but for now, it's pretty incredible! It's like having an iPhone on your wrist that can do what an iPhone, Apple Watch, and a Mac or a PC can do, plus a little bit more!"

"And on that note, Don's satisfied with his PipBoy too, and we're going to be pitching it at a technology convention in Manehattan here before too long, so maybe we can find a potential investor for it!"

I nodded. "I hope so too Jim, because if more guys in Battalion 4009 want one, you're gonna get REALLY backed up on orders!"

"Yeah, I know. Luckily, they aren't the hardest things in the world to make, and I can just give them the parts if they want to build it themselves. Although, I don't have too many parts, so yes, we might just have to make them for the officers for now, and put all other orders on back-order for the time being."

I agreed with Jim, and then I went back to testing my PipBoy a bit more.

"That's a pretty nifty device Master!" Aurora told me when she saw my PipBoy.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so too Aurora. It's got all kinds of neat little features on it, and it can even track targets for me to shoot at!"

"What?! Really?!"

I nodded, and then showed her. "Yeah! I mean, I can only show you so much since we're not in combat, but this little do-dad here scans the immediate area, finds the targets, displayed them here, as well as what part of the body to hit, and how successful my shot will be. Right now, I'm putting the finishing touches on the synchronizing devices that'll coordinate the actions between the PipBoy, and my rifle, my shotgun, and my Glock 9mm."

Aurora just sighed. "Man, if ONLY these little devices had been invented, tested, and fielded during WW6, or even during the earlier world wars. Just think about how many lives could have been saved!"

I frowned a bit. "Yeah. If we'd had these things at Sue Falls, I'll be willing to bet that more guys than just Todd and I would still be alive today. These devices could have made our shots more accurate, thereby killing even more Futas, and they could have just retreated to siege lines, and tried to starve us out. For all I know, we could have even held on until WW6 restarted. That's a pretty interesting thought Aurora, and I'm inclined to agree. If PipBoys had been a standard issue before now, who knows how many American lives could have been saved."

Sure enough, once word about the PipBoys got out, EVERYONE in Battalion 4009 wanted one. Luckily for them all, Jim was able to successfully pitch the device at the convention, and a contract was soon awarded to a technology firm based in Manehattan, and they began to manufacture PipBoys not only for Battalion 4009, but also for the rest of the Foreign Legion, and the rest of the Equestrian Armed Forces as well! These were called PipBoy 2000's, while the officers, (including myself) had PipBoy 2000 Mark IV's. A slightly smaller version known simply as the "PipBoy" was developed for civilian use, and it found use in everything from health monitors for Ponies working out, hand-held radios, nifty watches, to even just being the latest trend.

Some of us also tried to streamline our PipBoys, and make them a little bit smaller, but this was proving to be a bit of a challenge, as none of us were experts in things like this, and even Jim was having trouble with it. We all knew that it was going to take time to properly develop, but not too many of us were complaining. We had our current PipBoys, they got the job done, and we were all happy as could be to have them at all.

In addition to our work with the Foreign Legion, and building the Imperial War Museum, some of us found other hobbies as well.

Alex and Andy liked to tinker with machines too. Neither of them were engineers, but they did know how to build things. Andy hated having to sweep the train when it was his turn on cleaning detail, so one day he decided to do something about it. In his head, he pictured a giant mechanical broom that he could build to sweep the halls by itself.

"They already invented that Andy. It's called a 'Rumba'!"

Andy glared at his friend. "Yeah, but Rumba's aren't cool! THIS however is!" He showed him the designs for the mechanical broom.

"It'll stand about 6 1/2 feet tall, with the sweeping part of the broom being 4 feet wide, and be capable of motion thanks to these thrusters here in the back. It'll also have sensors that'll tell it if it's about to bump into anything, and where it needs to sweep dust, dirt, and debris into piles."

"And what'll you call it Andy?"

Andy thought for a second. "Eh, I think I'll call it 'Sweeping Time', as 'Mechanical Broom' sounds pretty mainstream."

"And how are you gonna build this thing exactly?"

"Well, I plan on doing that with the spare parts and scrap material that's stored inside the Big Boy Workshops, and I'll use the workbenches there too. They're never gonna use that stuff anyway, so Jim has others sort it all, and then store it in the storage rooms there so that it can be used for projects later. I've already looked around, and I saw plenty of pieces for 'Sweeping Time'."

Alex just shrugged. "Eh, I'll believe it when I see it Andy!" Alex then got to work on plans on a project of his own.

In his mind, he wanted to create a sort of robotic butler. He knew that there was a number of machine parts located in the Big Boy workshops, so he went there. While Andy was working on "Sweeping Time", he got to work on his robotic butler. However, as Alex picked through the machine parts in their designated section in the workshop's basement, he suddenly stumbled across a strange looking machine.

"Huh? What the heck is this?"

It looked like it had once been a humanoid robot, but it had either been heavily damaged, or never finished, and left to rot. It was a tangled jumble of parts, and even though Alex was no real robotics expert, he decided to see what he could do with it.

Once he had it on a workbench though, Alex wondered what he'd gotten himself into. The robot looked almost skeletal, and seemed to have been heavily damaged. The only remaining fully intact protective shell casings were on its face and head, and even then, one of the face plates was loose. Its right eye also seemed to be damaged. However, when he tried to power it on, to his utter shock, it actually did something! The robot stood up to its full height of 7 feet, and seemed to be examining its surroundings. A nearby security camera snapped a picture of it.

For the longest time, it kept looking around, and making really weird noises. Suddenly though, it turned and saw Alex! As he stood there, the strange, mechanical being spoke in a garbled, slightly distorted voice.

"Ngh........therrrrre you.....are. I've been looking Eeeeeverywhere for you. I've.....been........waaaaaiting!" It then took a step towards him, and raised one of its mangled hands, almost as if to grab him!

Alex panicked, and quickly unplugged the robot's power core from the wall where it had been charging. The robot made a series of weird noises, before falling silent, and slumping over against the wall.

"I've.....I'VE GOTTA GO GET LEOPARD!!!!" Alex then raced off to find me.

Long story short, he did, and when I came to look at it, I decided to try and probe through the robot's memory core. I hooked it up to the basement's computer terminal, and DELCI began to help me pick through the robot's memory.

"Gosh, this memory core's a real mess. Lots of gobble-goop, and puzzle pieces. This thing must have had a MASSIVE power overload at some point to have caused all of this!"

"Are....you finding ANYTHING usable?"

"I don't.....wait! I just found something!"

"What is it?"

"It looks like a video recording. It's dated 'August 18th, 2025'."

"Is....is it playable?"

"I think so." I clicked on it. For a few seconds, all we heard was static, but then suddenly, the following video played.

When it finished, Alex and I just stared at each other in shock, and fright.

"What......in God's name was THAT?!?!?!"

"I.....d-don't know Alex. Maybe this thing was a failed AI experiment, or something. But yet, a lot of things that it was saying sounded all too familiar."

"Like what?"

"'Pieces of a puzzle can be re-positioned and moved, replaced, and swapped out, but the puzzle will never be whole again. Until the wrongs have been righted!' Think about it for a second Alex. What did Apex Industries do to us?"

"Pieces of the Human body can be re-positioned and moved, replaced, and swapped out, but the body will never be whole again, until the wrongs that Apex did can be righted!"

"'Once you desecrate the beauty, once you SHATTER the integrity of something, all it can ever be is a broken, ugly, vile monster!' Apex took Humans, and turned them into monsters. 'I'm a monster! A discarded remnant of what once was. And one that you REALLY need to fear!' People were terrified of what Apex created. We warned them, but they never listened."

"'Fear me, and don't you blink! Or your eyes may never open again!' Only 23% of those that Apex got their hands on survived what was done to them, and of those, only a mere handful survived their first year. I guess that we were some of the lucky ones."

A sudden thought struck me. "Apex. This robot came from Apex! That's the ONLY way that it could have known all this! Remember what the message said first, and what it said when it saw you? 'There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! I've been waiting!’ This thing is an Apex Security Drone!"

Alex looked at me with wide eyes. "This is one of those robots that hunted down those who tried to escape from Apex, and kept the outside world away! But, how is it possible that it's still here? Unless it somehow found its way here from Earth. I mean, I found it at the bottom of a pile of discarded parts, but I don't remember ever seeing it anywhere on the train. But I can see where you're going with your theory Leopard. It makes sense, but yet there are pieces missing for it."

"As is the case with most theories. I think that we should study the robot in action. Maybe then we can learn a bit more about it, and where it came from." I then unplugged it from the terminal, and plugged it's power core back into the wall.

Once the robot was standing up again, I looked at it. "Who are you?" I asked.

"I.......am........Ennard......"

"Innards? Did you say Innards?"

"......Ennard......"

"And where did you come from?"

"I came........from Apex. I was......a.......patrol drone."

I turned to Alex. "I was right. Apex Security Drone. Kept those inside from escaping, and the outside world out." I then turned back to "Ennard". "Can, you do a full scan of yourself? You seem to be pretty out of order."

"S-scanning......All weapons systems are 100% nonfunctional. Voice modulator........65% capacity. Optical sensors.........50% capacity. Mobility............73% hampered. GPS position locator.......nonfunctional. Conclusion......unfit for further service. Must be fully rebuilt."

I sighed. "Well, we can fix your mobility, voice modulator, optical sensors, your locomotion systems for mobility, and possibly your GPS position locator, and your armored outer casing. Beyond this though, I don't know what we can do for you."

Ennard just seemed to glare at me. "Fix me. And don't you f@#k up! Or Apex will NEVER let you see the light of day again!"

Alex then pulled the plugs, shutting Ennard off once again. We both looked at each other. We still had no idea what to do, but we DID know that Ennard could NEVER get his hands on ANY weapons!

Over the course of the next few days, we did try and repair him. I was able to fix his damaged eye, while Alex fixed the voice modulator, we both hammered out the kinks with the locomotion systems, though we were unable to locate very many suitable exterior shell pieces. We were able to fix his head and torso, as well as his hands, but that was it. We did eventually power Ennard back up after replacing his internal batteries, but this time I also installed a kill-switch that could be activated via remote control.

"Ngh.....Systems......feel better!"

"Do a full system's scan."

"Scanning. Optical sensors: 100% operational. Voice modulator: 96% capacity, locomotion systems: 90% capacity, weapons systems: still nonfunctional. Also lacking 45% of exterior shell components. Why am I still incomplete?"

"Because we lack the parts on hand. We had to order more from Kreyan." (Kreyan was Apex's chief black-market supplier of mechanical parts).

"Hmm, very interesting. And I know that I am no longer at Apex Industries. I cannot reach the Internet, so I don't know where I am, only that I'm in a subterranean warehouse of sorts. I also feel like I no longer have a purpose. Like Apex has moved on from drones like me."

I decided to tell Ennard the truth. "On September 8th, 2025, Apex Industries ceased to exist. They were breached by hostile forces, before the Nuclear Protocol was activated, wiping the facility out. You were the only surviving security unit found after the blast. We've done what we can for you, but you are now alone."

"I am.....alone? The last of the Apex security drones? All others......lost?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so Ennard. You are the last one standing."

"This is....unforeseen, but yet.........I was told it could happen. What is my new purpose now?"

"That's.......still being debated Ennard. For the time being, you will be deactivated, and placed into storage. Hopefully soon we will find you a new purpose."

Ennard then shut down, and Alex and I placed him into storage for the time being. Alex and I agreed to NEVER tell anyone about Ennard unless it became absolutely necessary, and we went back to what we'd been doing before.

On the flip-side, Andy was having similar trouble with his mechanical broom. However, his problem was that the broom worked a bit too well! He had no real way of controlling its speed, and it raced through the corridors of the Battleship Express at speeds of nearly 50mph! Items were damaged, train cars were damaged, and God help ANYONE who got in Sweeping Time's way! There were NUMEROUS cases of train crew having to be rushed to the infirmary after being mowed down, side swiped, or worse, hit by the broom, and then taken for a ride before smashing into a locked door at the end of a car!

Finally, Don, Jim, myself and other officers both on the Battleship Express and in Battalion 4009 had enough of Sweeping Time.

"Andy, you had a good idea, but PLEASE, for the love of GOD get rid of that mechanical broom! It's done NOTHING but cause injury and property damage!"

"Yes! What kind of a broom needs to sweep at 50mph?! Either slow it down, or dismantle it!"

Andy sighed. "Look, I'm TRYING to fix the problems with it! It DOES give a warning before it starts sweeping though. You get either 'LOOKS LIKE IT'S SWEEPIN' TIME!!!!' Or, 'GOTTA SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP!!!!!' That should be the cue that the broom is out of its closet, and on the attack! Stay out of it's way until it passes!"

Don looked exasperated. "Or, you just STOP JEOPARDIZING PEOPLE'S LIVES, AND GET RID OF THAT BROOM!!!!"

Andy sighed. "Yeah, you're right Don. I'll shut the broom off." He then went to go and do that.

After FINALLY catching up to it, he pulled the plugs to its power core, and once the broom was immobilized, he dragged it back to its designated closet on the train, placed it inside against the far wall, and shut the door. A sign on the door said "Please beware of the green and white broom. It is NOT for use!" For now at least, Sweeping Time was locked away, awaiting the day that Andy would either fix it, or dismantle it.

And not all hobbies were life-threatening either. For the Ponyville fire brigade, a number of engineers were able to build them 3 magnificent fire engines.

A pumper truck

A hook-and-ladder truck

And a fire chief's vehicle

All 3 of these vehicles were on-loan from Battalion 4009, but yet the Town of Ponyville primarily used them, while we maintained them for them. We would occasionally take them for fire-fighting training, but for the most part, they were all located at the Ponyville fire station. We also offered to build them an ambulance, but they already had one for their own use. Sure, maybe it WAS still pulled by Ponies, but yet the Ponyville Fire Brigade insisted that they wouldn't have it any other way!

Even I myself found a new hobby that I was able to make a little bit of money with once I got good with it. With help from DELCI, plus a few books that I borrowed on the subject from Twilight, I took up clock-making. Primarily working out of the semi-defunct Secondary Command Center (SCC), I taught myself how to repair clocks and watches. I wasn't the best at it at first, but over time I got better. I could fix a clock, as well as take one apart, clean it, put it all back together, lubricate it, wind it, and then polish it. In fact, I'd taken the clock that was sitting on my desk in my room apart and put it back together so many times that I was even able to do it blindfolded! I knew what each and every part was, and where it went on the clock.

For the name of my little side business, I gave it the name "Spots N' Clocks", with "Spots", being a little bit of a play on words with from "Leopard", and it rhymed with "Clocks" to a certain degree. I was the official "Clock Master" within Battalion 4009, and even the rest of the Foreign Legion, and they all came to me for their watch and clock needs. Sure, there wasn't the biggest demand for my services, but I was there for all of your "How do I wind this again?", "Where do I lubricate it?", "I tried to fix this myself and now I've done goofed!", and "Oh f@#k, this clock belonged to my wife's great-grandmother, and I f@#king broke it on accident! HELP ME!!!" needs!

Heck, even Sombra was impressed with my clock-making skills. "Gosh, I've got to hand it to you Sweetheart, you're REALLY good with fixing clocks!"

I looked over at him relaxing on my bed, nude as always. Over the past several months since I'd recaptured him, he'd been building up his strength until he was able to return to the physical world again. However, just like last time, I'd yet to see him wear even a STITCH of clothing!

"Eh, thanks Sombra. And I KNOW that I've asked you this before, but do you EVER wear any clothes?"

He smirked at me. "What, are you STILL distracted by this hunk of a stallion?"

"Sombra, we've been over this. Just because we're tied together at the soul does NOT mean that I find you attractive!"

He just chuckled a bit. "I KNOW that you like me Sweetheart, so that's why I never wear clothes. I LIKE it when you ogle me! Plus, it's SO much more comfortable without them!"

I just rolled my eyes. "Sombra, sometimes you're just too much, and I do NOT mean that in a good way! I'm glad that you can only return to the physical world at certain times, because I like to cuddle with Aurora WAY MORE than I like to cuddle with you!"

"Oh? And how is Aurora doing these days?"

"She's doing fine, but she STILL hates you! I told her the truth about you, and she told me to get rid of you! I told her that I couldn't do that, but yet that I WOULD be keeping you on a tighter leash!"

"Ooh, wanting to do a little Pet Play, are we?"

I put a hand over my face. "Sombra, that was NOT about Pet Play!"

"Really? Because I'd wear a collar and a leash if you wanted me to. Heck, I'd even let you walk me around with the leash!"

I felt like I wanted to throw up. I knew that Sombra was gay, and that he was in love with me, and was SO HAPPY that Dash was seemingly out of my love life. I on the other hand was NOT gay, nor was I even bi-curious. I was ONLY into females/mares, and I put up with Sombra's antics ONLY because there was no other way around it. We were forever linked through our souls, and were stuck together to the end no matter what. Sombra knew this, and NEVER let me forget it! Time and again I regretted EVER messing with the original timeline, but yet on at least a little bit of a plus-side, I was glad that I now had Sombra in a place where I could keep an eye on him. There was nowhere for him to escape to, and I had him in my grasp forever!

Around this same time, another sort of dilemma was being discussed. This was a problem that had been looked at before, but yet no clear solution had been put forward for it. The problem was housing space for Battalion 4009. Back in the day, Battalion 4009 only had 200 men in it. They were housed on the train alongside 216 train crew, and a bevy of pets. However, as WW6 progressed, more and more were recruited, and those 200 men became 1,000. Most of the time, the extra troops simply lived in tents alongside the train, or in rail-side barracks, though this always was a bit of a hassle. However, adding to this housing problem, we picked up another 300 or so troops in the aftermath of the nuking of southern Nevada. All of them made it to Equestria, and roughly 1,200 survived the Imperial War this time, thanks to our efforts with ensuring that more of our troops survived. All of these extra Battalion 4009 soldiers were housed in temporary barracks while we tried to come up with a permanent solution, however, now we had the building inspectors after us because apparently the buildings didn't meet fire codes!

"These temporary barracks MUST be torn down! They are NOT up to code, and are made of combustible material, not to mention the COMPLETE lack of fire suppression systems!"

"Well, where are we SUPPOSED to house a little over 1,200 men?!" Don asked the inspectors. "We don't have room on the train!"

"Not our problem! And you better remove the men from those buildings, and then demolish them, or we WILL start fining you!"

This left us in a REAL pickle. We had 1,200 men and women of Battalion 4009 that needed to be housed in areas that met building and fire safety codes, and the Old Railyard didn't cut it anymore. We couldn't house them in the Imperial War Museum or Big Boy Workshop, so that left us with only one other option.

"Jim?"

"Yes Don?"

"How much are we gonna have to expand upon the Battleship Express so that we can safely house all of our troops? I mean, we're at 32 cars as it stands now; how are we gonna do this?"

Jim sighed. "We'll have to take 32 cars, and beef it up to 46. Here's what we'll do". Jim pulled out a sheet of paper, and began to write on it. "We'll need 6 new bunk cars, 2 dining cars, a coach that will be an extension to our Medical Coach (so that we'll FINALLY get Dr. Fritz off our case about getting more space!), 4 more weapons cars that can also hold supplies, and one final car."

Don nodded. "Yes, that will get us up to 46 alright, but yet what will that last car be for? You didn't say."

Jim sighed. "I'm not sure yet. Most likely it'll be another ammunition supply car, but I haven't fully decided yet. But what I can tell you is that we're gonna have to get in touch that one firm in Manehattan that makes coaches and freight cars for trains, the Pullmare Car Company, and have them make us what we need. I won't sugarcoat this Don, it ain't gonna be cheap, but it WILL get those inspectors off our case, and FINALLY give the men and women of Battalion 4009 the space that they need to live on our train like the rest of us!"

Don agreed, and once they figured out what they needed, they got in touch with Pullmare. They ordered 6 sleeper coaches made to exact RWD specifications, and painted in Union Pacific yellow with gray roofs, 2 dining cars also made to RWD specifications, and painted Union Pacific yellow with gray roofs, a double-decker dome car that would be outfitted to RWD standards as a medical coach, though painted silver with blue and red markings just like an Amtrak coach would be, (done like this to match our main medical coach, as it WAS a former Amtrak double-decker dome car!) 4 armored boxcars that would be refitted with guns on the roof and sides that would hold supplies, and one final regular boxcar that was larger than the other 4, and painted black.

The first to arrive were the sleeper cars, with the dining cars following shortly thereafter. These coaches were put towards the back of the train, as were the dining cars. Once a few changes were made to the interior so that they would match the other crew cars, the men and women of Battalion 4009 who needed to moved out of their old barracks, and into their new homes. All 1,200 of them were now able to fit on the train, and fit comfortably.

Next to arrive were the 4 boxcars that would be armed supply cars. These wound up just in front of the Tertiary Command Center (TCC), the observation coach located just 3 cars ahead of the caboose. Guns were outfitted to their roofs and sides, and parts of their exteriors were fitted with chaff shooters that would help to deflect incoming missiles.

Finally, after nearly 4 weeks of waiting, the medical coach and the last boxcar arrived. The medical coach was placed just behind the original one, and while Dr. Fritz and the rest of the doctors and nurses spread out, the medics from Battalion 4009 moved in. There was now plenty of space for ALL of Battalion 4009's medical needs, including the needs of the crew of the Battleship Express, as they too fell under the Battalion 4009 banner.

However, that black boxcar still remained the white elephant in the room. We STILL didn't know what to do with it, only that it had to be in the train somewhere to bring the total car count from 45 to 46. All we knew was that it was going to be outfitted with weapons like all of the other cars were, and then placed in the train somewhere. One night though, Natalie Hudson, one of the engineers in Battalion 4009 thought that she had the perfect solution for what to do with that car. A few nights later, while everyone else was either sleeping, or on duty, she and a few other engineers who were under her slipped out to the boxcar, which was sitting by itself in a separate siding, and after opening it up, they went inside with boxes of parts, and went to work.

The next morning, they went to Don and told him that they figured out what to do with the now famous "Black Boxcar".

"We figured it out Major! And I know that the rest of you guys are gonna LOVE IT!"

Don looked up at her. "What did you do Natalie?"

She just shrugged. "I don't know; you'll just have to come with me and find out!"

Don felt that he should be concerned, and after grabbing his jacket, he summoned Jim, myself, Russ Thompson and a few other officers via intercom, and told us to meet him at the Black Boxcar. We did so, and we were followed out by others who were equally curious as to what Natalie and her team had done to the Black Boxcar.

"Seriously Natalie, what did you do?"

Natalie then looked at him, and then at the rest of us. "Well, that's just it Major Don. What we did was something that has NEVER been done to a war train before! An idea so amazing that it even blew us away! In one night we built all of this, and we literally worked from close to dusk last night, until well after dawn this morning! 19 solid hours we worked on this, and the results are MORE than impressive!" Natalie then grabbed the handles to the doors of the boxcar, and prepared to open them, while a medical nurse from the Battleship Express named Britney Watson, a close friend of Natalie’s, grabbed the doors to help her. "And now, I present to you, the 'Battleship Express Pool Room'!" The doors were then opened, and when we all saw inside, our jaws hit the ground!

There, in the middle of the boxcar, was an honest to goodness swimming pool! It wasn't the biggest pool ever, and it was an above-ground pool, but it was large, and took up most of the space in the car. The pool's exterior was made of heavy-duty material, and was quite solid. The pool itself was 50 feet long, 10 feet wide, and about 5 feet deep. It was located in the center of the car, and 2 ladders were present for entry and exit. Off to the sides were the filter pumps and heater, and at one end of the car was a hot tub large enough to fit 10 people, while at the other end was a 6-person sauna! Mounted to the car's roof were 2 machine gun turrets, and between them, right above the pool, was a skylight made of bullet-proof glass! The car also had interior lighting, and from what we could tell, the pool, hot tub and sauna were all ready to go.

Don turned to Natalie again, but yet he was unable to say anything. NEVER did he ever think that he would ever see ANYTHING like this on any train, to say nothing of the Battleship Express, but now here it was; the impossible right before his very eyes!

"W-wh......why?" He finally managed to say.

"Well, it's quite simple really. The Battleship Express is the flagship of the RWD, right? And shouldn't the flagship have a few things that the other trains DON'T? How many other trains have an honest to goodness POOL AREA?! I'll tell you how many, NONE!!!! We're now the first war train EVER to have a private swimming pool, hot tub and sauna! That is of course, if YOU allow this car to become a part of our train Major Don!"

Well, now Don was in a real pickle. He already knew that EVERYONE in Battalion 4009 wanted the car in the train now, and there was no WAY that they were gonna let him get away with saying no to Natalie and her team! However, this raised a lot more questions than answers. If the train was reactivated, how the heck was that car going to be of any use? Who was going to be assigned to caring for the car's contents? How many people could use its facilities at the same time? Most importantly though, would the pool and hot tub be able to ride smoothly while the train was in motion without water splashing everywhere?

Don looked back up at Natalie. "Well, the truth is Natalie, I WANT to bring this car into the train, but we're gonna have to run a few tests first; namely seeing how well it rides. If there's too much splashing of water, we're not gonna be able to use it."

"2 steps ahead of you there Major! Both the pool and hot tub have special locking covers with waterproof seals to keep all water in, even in the worst battlefield conditions! You can test the covers if you want, but believe me when I tell you that it's completely safe!"

Don still did order tests performed with the car riding the rails behind the Big Boy, and in all of the tests, only a few small drops of water leaked out. The "Pool Car" rode perfectly smooth, and after adding it to the roster of cars, it was placed at the 3/4 mark of the train, in front of the barracks cars for Battalion 4009, but just behind the car that contained our nuclear shells! And once it was a part of the train, it was the HOTTEST car on the train! EVERYONE wanted to hang out there, though rules such as "no alcohol!","no running!" and "swimsuits must be worn at ALL TIMES!" were strictly enforced!

But now our train had 42 cars in it, Battalion 4009 had a place to live, (their old barracks were torn down, and replaced with another railroad siding!) and we now had a pool car for our train as well! We were now the first war train to EVER have a pool, and it does NOT get much more awesome than that!

For ages and ages, Jim had one goal in mind; to FINALLY get the mech "Shooting Star" that we'd carried with us since the Battle of Kansas City to actually work. Sure, a few of it's kinks were hammered out, but a lot still remained to be done. Most said that the venture was a waste of time, and that Shooting Star would NEVER be able to amount to anything. Jim didn't listen to his critics though. In the back of the Big Boy Workshops, facing a set of rear doors, those working on Shooting Star managed to get the mech to stand upright, and remain in place. Scaffolding was then built around it, and now those who wished to help could get to work on the mighty machine.

The biggest problem to overcome was the mech's reactor. Aside from a few brief, failed tests, the mech had NEVER moved under its own power. Generators had to be used to power its internal systems while the reactor was being rebuilt. Thanks to the success of Oddball, ALL of the kinks of the carbide reactor had finally been worked out, and the reactor was taken out of Shooting Star, disassembled, reworked, refurbished, and then reassembled inside the mech piece by piece. True to its name, the reactor itself actually ran on actual carbide! Well, carbide, water, and a few other chemicals, not to mention a fluid used to cool to reactor, but all in all, it was very efficient, and now they knew how to get the reactor to work properly!

Another problem was the issue of internal space. The mech was originally about 20 feet tall, and housed space for a driver, a gunner, and an engineer. The driver was on top and saw everything through the eyes of the mech (which he also drove!), then below him came the gunner, who operated the weapon's systems, and then came the engineer, who kept the mech running smoothly. All 3 sat on top of each other in a space that was about the size of a phone booth, scorching hot, hard to ventilate, and EXTREMELY claustrophobic! Thanks to upgrades, the mech's height was increased to 32 feet tall, the exterior armor was improved, and the internal spaces were enlarged as well. There was now much more room for the 3 man crew, an advanced air conditioning system, and an advanced ventilation system as well. The controls inside were upgraded, and even though the crew still sat in compartments that were stacked one on top of the other, there was now much more space to move around, and properly perform their tasks.

One of the final problems to solve were the mech's locomotion parts, particularly the hydraulic joints. The original fluid-filled joints were no longer strong enough to bear the weight of the massive machine with all of its new armor and upgrades, so the engineers had to work out a system of electromagnetic......something something........hydraulic joints. They've TRIED to explain it in layman's terms, but I STILL have no clue what they're talking about! All I can say is that their new system works, and it's easy to maintain! Eventually though, after nearly 4 months of solid work, at the very end of the Summer of 2029, Jim believed that they were FINALLY ready to fire Shooting Star up, and see if she was FINALLY able to do what she was meant to do!

For those that wanted to, we could put our names onto a slip of paper, and then put those slips into a hat. Jim would pick of them, and one would be the driver, another would be the engineer, and the final one would be the gunner for Shooting Star's trial run. In the end, Tertiary Engineer Mitch Gibson (the 3rd of the 3 men who drove Big Boy 4009), got the engineer slot, Gunnery-Sergeant Hartman got the gunner slot, and the driver? For that, as Fate would have it, Jim pulled my name out of the hat! Sure, maybe I knew how to work the controls, but I had NO IDEA what I was doing!

That very same night though, August 11th, 2029, the 3 of us climbed up the scaffolding, and entered the tiny little crew hatch on the front of Shooting Star. I climbed in first since I was on top, and then Sergeant Hartman got in, and then Mitch Gibson. Mitch also closed the hatch and secured it. Once we were all in our seats, we strapped ourselves in, and put on our radio headsets. These would ensure that we were able to communicate not only with each other, but also with Jim on the outside.

"Ok guys, this is it. Driver 1 Checking in, can you guys hear me?"

"This is Engineer 1, I read you loud and clear Leopard!"

"This is Gunner 1! I too read you loud and clear Captain!"

"This is Driver 1 to Ground 1, do you copy Jim?"

"Right here Leopard. And at least we know that the radios are working! But anyway, are you guys all good up there?"

"Affirmative Jim, we're all good! Begin ground-clearing down there, and once you're clear, give Mitch the signal to start up the reactor!"

"Roger that Driver 1." Soon, the whole area had been cleared, and everyone was behind the safety barricades. "Ground clear Driver 1. Engineer 1, you may now begin reactor startup procedure."

"Roger that Ground 1." Mitch then began to initiate the startup sequence for the carbide reactor.

On the ground below us, EVERYONE was waiting to see what was going to happen. The exterior doors were opened, and if Shooting Star did indeed work, then we would take a few steps out of those doors, and out into the railyard for a test!

"Ground 1, startup sequence commencing. Standby for reactor ignition!" Mitch then flipped the final few switches, and pressed the ignition button, and from all around us, we felt the carbide reactor roar to life. Unlike previous tests that ended in failure, there was no smoke, and no loud, hideous noises either. The reactor roared to life straight away, and continued to run smoothly.

"Ground 1, we have full reactor ignition! All systems are holding steady, just waiting for permission to start up the rest of the systems."

"Granted Engineer 1."

We all then began to power up the rest of our systems. Once everything was working as it should, I slipped my arms and legs into the primary control yolks for the mech, and now whenever I moved my arms, legs, hands, or feet, the mech's appendages would move with me. I also attached a helmet to my head that would allow me to see what the mech was seeing, and I had a full HUD display as well. Mitch and Hartman had a HUD display too, and they too could see outside of the mech, but not quite like how I the driver could.

"Ground 1, all systems are holding steady! We're all good to go up here, everything is functioning as it should for once, and we're requesting the removal of the scaffolding now!"

"Roger that Driver 1, scaffolding disengaging!" 2 moving vehicles then came forwards, and after grabbing hold of the scaffolding, they pulled it away from the front of Shooting Star so that it would be able to move forwards freely.

"Scaffolding disengaged Driver 1. You may now move her forwards at your discretion!"

"Roger that Ground 1. And this one's for the history books, so how about this one. 'To all of all y'all who said that Shooting Star would NEVER work, and was nothing but a waste of time and space, SHOVE IT!!!" I then began to move my legs, and to all of our slight shock and surprise, Shooting Star responded to my commands, and began to move forwards!

First one step, and then another, and another. Soon, we reached the doors of the workshop. The doors themselves were at a height of 33 feet, and Shooting Star was 32 feet tall. After stepping under the doors, I brought the mech out into the evening air. From her vantage point on the Battleship Express, Aurora was able to snap this picture of Shooting Star as she moved about outside of the workshop.

"This.....THIS IS SO INCREDIBLE!!!!" Mitch Gibson was beside himself that Shooting Star was FINALLY working as she was supposed to.

"Yeah, no kidding!" Hartman agreed. "And like the Captain said, I SURE wish that all of those naysayers who said that Shooting Star would never amount to anything could see us now! I mean sure, maybe we DON'T have an enemy to fight right now, but if we did, or it we have to fight an enemy in the future, NOW we have a gigantic weapon to do it with!"

"I agree with you both. We've proven ALL of the critics wrong, AND we've just given Shooting Star her first successful test run. For the first time EVER she's running under her own power, and she's actually been able to move! She's NEVER been able to do that before! And sure, maybe we can't test the weapons right now due to them still not being fully reinstalled yet, (sorry Hartman!) but I know that if we could, they would most likely work to perfection!"

I heard Hartman sigh a bit. "Yeah, I know that we can't fire any of the weapons right now, but yeah, I too have faith that they will work to perfection once they've been reinstalled!"

After a few more minutes of tests, we brought Shooting Star back inside of the workshops, where I maneuvered her back into position, and then Mitch began the shutdown procedure for the carbide reactor. Once it was fully shut off, the scaffolding was put back into place, and everything was secured, Mitch, Hartman, and I climbed out of the mech, and were back on the ground again.

Jim came to congratulate us. "Amazing work all of you! We've FINALLY shown the world that Shooting Star was NOT a waste of time and money, and that she can indeed be used as a weapon! And sure, I KNOW that none of you are mech crew, but yet you all do know just about everything that there is to know about machines like this, so it all worked out for the best!"

We all saluted. "Well, we did our best Jim, and that's the best that we can do! Sure, maybe Shooting Star won't be running too many more times after tonight, and all of her weapons systems are still being reinstalled, but just in case war ever does rear its ugly head again, Equestria can rest assured that Shooting Star will be joining the front lines for battle!"

"You can say that again Leopard! 3 cheers for Shooting Star's first crew! Driver 1 Captain Leopard, Engineer 1 Mitch Gibson, and Gunner 1 Gunnery-Sergeant Hartman!"

"Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!"

In that moment, even though the 3 of us knew that we probably never would operate Shooting Star again, we all felt a sense of pride. We ALL had accomplished something that night, something AMAZING! We had just gotten a mech that EVERYONE said was a waste of time, and actually got it to work properly! Sure, maybe we'd tested everything but the main weapon's systems, but all in all it was one heck of a successful test!

Shooting Star was moved to the back of the workshop a bit later on that night, and she was still surrounded by scaffolding, but yet she was ready to go again at a moment's notice. Her weapons would all be reinstalled within the next 2 weeks, and could be armed in a hurry, and there was plenty more carbide fuel for her reactor as well. Shooting Star would be the bane of an enemy's existence, just like the Battleship Express was before it!

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 4. When I promised in the title that there were gonna be some "Colossal Wonders", I was NOT exaggerating! I had it all in this chapter, from werewolf transformations, to PipBoy manufacturing, to mechanical brooms, weird robotic butlers, DELCI getting a few upgrades, fire engines, Leopard becoming a part-time clock-maker, and Shooting Star FINALLY being ready for action! With everything that's just happened in this chapter, what could POSSIBLY happen in the final chapter?! Well, I won't spoil anything yet, but I will say that you'd all better grab your seats, as this final chapter will take things to new heights!

In the meantime, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 5!

ScarFox out for now!

Chapter 5: Airfield of Wonder

Later on that Fall, a number of questions came to the attention of Princesss Celestia, and they all involved the Equestrian Air Force. Some of those from the Wabash Cannonball pointed out that they had several aircraft on their train, and that they could be used for combat purposes. At this same time, those in the Equestrian Air Force, including the Wonderbolts, raised the notion that the time for upgrades had come.

"We fought through the Imperial War Princess Celestia, and now we see that we need better weapons! Our guns, bombs, and other tools of war are from yesteryear, and were not NEARLY as effective against the Imperial Alliance as they should have been! Yes, we know that the Caribou and the Zebras are gone, but what about when the next villain shows up? We might not survive!"

Jim put what the Wonderbolts said into perspective. "What they've said Princess Celestia does indeed have merit. The Equestrian Army has upgraded their weapons and armor thanks to the efforts of the Foreign Legion, and we have provided the advisers and blueprints to upgrade the Navy, but the Air Force is still woefully inadequate. However, all is not as dark as it seems Princess. I have a plan that may very well work, AND it won't cost too much either. If you are willing to hear me out, I will tell you of my solution to help the Equestrian Air Force."

Celestia was very intrigued. She knew that building, fielding, and maintaining planes and other air-related weapons, as well as the hangars, runways, barracks, and other such required items was most likely going to be VASTLY expensive, and perhaps not something that could be done.

Nevertheless, she did nod to Jim. "Yes, I am willing to hear you out Jim. You may explain your plan to me."

Jim then took a deep breath, and went for it. "Well Princess, the first part of my plan involves the planes, weapons, and other ground vehicles that would be required to maintain them. The truth is, as you know Princess, we're right now as we speak sitting on top of a HUGE cache of planes, trucks, missiles, and everything else that a plane would need to fight, and keep flying!"

Celestia's eyes became quite wide. Sure enough, she remembered the HUGE underground storage vault beneath Canterlot Castle that was filled to bursting with Earth weapons, including all kinds of planes, and the vehicles that were needed on an airfield. All of them had been preserved with Magic in the same condition that they were in when they arrived in Equestria, which in most cases was largely intact, or easily repairable.

"Yes, Yes! I see what you're saying Jim! With your plan, we could FINALLY put some of those planes, trucks, and other weapons to some good use! However, that brings us to a bit of a roadblock; what are we going to do about a large facility to house such aircraft? It would need hangars, barracks, a firehouse, a main control tower, multiple runways, a mess hall, garages, and other such buildings. I fear that we will have to build those from scratch."

Jim shook his head. "Never fear Princess, for that is the second part of my plan. As it turns out, there's a GREAT slab of real-estate outside of Ponyville that would be PERFECT for a main Air Force Base!"

"And what is this site?"

Jim pulled out a few pictures, most of them being aerial shots, and handed them to Celestia. "The old Wonderbolt training base! As you may recall, for a while, in addition to the main Wonderbolt HQ just outside of Cloudsdale, the Wonderbolts also maintained a secondary base that was used for training operations. The base had been decommissioned for a while, and while it did get a second life during the Imperial War to train new recruits, and to serve as a base of operations, the Wonderbolts, and the Air Force have once again moved out.

The base itself is still in excellent condition, as it's still maintained by the Wonderbolts just in case its needed, and they themselves still use it every now and again. It already has hangars, a control tower, barracks, a mess hall, a fire station, and 2 runways. Better still, the Wonderbolts are willing to sell the base to the Government so that it can be turned into an Air Force Base, and the way I see it, the Government buys the base from them, refurbishes it to suit the needs of the modern Air Force, and then once the base is up and running, we use it as a test. If the base succeeds, then other Air Force Bases should be built at strategic points around Equestria, and if it fails, then we figure out why, and correct it."

Celestia thought about that. "So basically, we use it as a test-bed, and if it works, we apply the model elsewhere?"

Jim nodded. "Yes, that is correct Princess."

"And what will have to be done to the Wonderbolt base to make it ready for the Air Force?"

Jim looked at other notes that had been given to him by surveyors, other engineers, and architects. "Well, some of the hangars will have to be enlarged, as will the barracks, and the mess hall. A water tower will have to be added, as will 2 more runways, bringing the total up to 4. The small firehouse will have to be enlarged to house more vehicles, and a tank for water, as well as a tank for chemical foam that will have to be added too. Other than this, radar and other instruments will have to be added to the control tower, and of course you'll need service vehicles, personnel jeeps, transport trucks, fuel trucks, fire trucks, and enlarged spaces to house all of them. Thankfully, we already have all of the vehicles that we need, but I do have to know how difficult it will be to accomplish the rest of the necessary renovations." Jim then handed Celestia the rest of the notes.

She looked them over for a while, before handing them back to Jim. "Well", She said at last. "When all is said and done, this might not actually be as expensive as you might think. With your leading expertise, guidance, and crews to help build, coupled with those of the Equestrian Armed Forces, and civilian contractors, assuming that work begins soon, I can see the entire base being up and running very quickly."

Jim agreed with her. "Yes, I think that it will be too. If we start it by October, then I can see us being able to work on it all Winter, provided of course that the Weather Pegasai keep the snow clouds, and Winter weather AWAY from the Air Force Base, and with all of us working together on the renovations, then I can realistically see the ENTIRE base being up and running by Spring!"

Celestia then summoned representatives of the Wonderbolts, and told them that the Government was indeed willing to buy their old training base, and would convert it into an Air Force Base for the Equestrian Air Force. The Wonderbolt representatives agreed, and once the training base, and the land that it sat on were given over to the Government, Celestia transferred the ownership to the Equestrian Air Force, which they shared in a sort of joint partnership with those from Battalion 4009. Once it was all said and done, the Wonderbolt Training Base was soon to be renamed Ryerson Air Force Base, in honor of Ryerson Engineering, the American company that a lot of our engineers had trained at, and was dedicated to building and testing experimental technology; very much like what the Equestrians were now doing with aircraft! (Yes, the same Ryerson that later merged with General Electrics and a few other companies to form General Atomics).

The rest of that Fall, and on into the early part of Winter, those of us from Battalion 4009 who wanted to, aided by others from the Foreign Legion, and the Equestrian Air Force, set to work on enlarging the old Wonderbolt Base, and turning it into Ryerson Air Force Base. Luckily, a lot of the facilities were already there, they just had to be enlarged, and/or added to. Another benefit was the large amounts of people, Ponies, and others from the Foreign Legion helping to build the base.

Diamond Dogs helped to dig the foundations for new buildings, while Minotaurs helped rip up the ground so that a new runway could be built. Griffons helped the Pegasai hoist building materials up into the sky, as well as assisting with the hoisting of new radar antennas, satellite dishes, and other communications and spotting relays. In less than 2 weeks Ryerson AFB was off the ground, but it still had a ways to go before it could be fully up and running.

Soon, Runways 3 and 4, as well as a 5th emergency runway were all paved out, and rolled smooth. Skilled ground crews were hard at work on painting the new lines on the runways, as well as their numbers, and other important markings. Other roads for vehicles and taxing aircraft were also laid out, paved, and marked, and not a moment too soon, as the first round of ground-crew vehicles were starting to arrive from Canterlot.

The first wave of vehicles were transport trucks, personnel jeeps, fuel trucks, other maintenance vehicles, and of course, specialized airfield fire trucks, as well as 2 ambulances. However, 80 vehicles had been ordered from Canterlot, but 81 had shown up at the airfield. Jim was surprised. Which vehicle was the odd one out? After checking over the list that a technician had given him, Jim was able to determine that the vehicle in question was a Vietnam-era US Army gun-truck. It was painted dark blue, and seemed to be in pretty good shape considering its age.

"Ok, now how did this end up here?" He asked one of the ones in charge of delivering the vehicles.

The stallion in question just shrugged. "I don't know Mr. Jim. This truck was sitting in the line of vehicles that was supposed to be delivered here, so it was included. However, this one may have been meant for the Army side of things here at Ryerson."

Jim knew what that meant. Part of the AFB was dedicated to the Army, since they would need an air-wing to support them. In addition to their vehicles of Humvees, tanks, gun-trucks, half-tacks, personnel carriers, trucks, fuel vehicles, and jeeps, they would also also have at their disposal planes such as the A-10 Warthog, C-130's, AC-130 Specters, transport helicopters, KC-135R Stratotankers, and even a few Apache Gunships! When the Army was coming, watch out! They were SURE packing the heat!

Jim then looked at the gun-truck, and then at the Army section of the base. "You know, that's probably what happened. I'll drive it over there, and see about getting it parked." Jim then walked over to the truck, and after climbing inside, he started the engine, put the truck in gear, and drove it over to the Army-Zone. Once there, he informed those there that they had one more gun-truck to add to their inventory, and the officer in charge of the gun-trucks told Jim where to park it.

Once he was done, Jim walked back to where he'd been before, but as he did so, he noticed the back of the truck for the first time. Just below the back bumper, the truck's licence plate was visible. The truck was registered in Michigan in 1968, and the words "Ghst Trk" were visible.

"'Ghost Truck'?" Why would they call it that?" He figured that it may have been an inside joke, or perhaps even the name of the unit. Jim made a mental note to find out later, and then got back to work.

However, the cream of the crop was what everyone at everypony at Ryerson was there for, the airplanes of the Equestrian Air Force. There were PLENTY to go around, and they were everywhere! There were T-6 and T-38 trainers, TBF Avengers, TBM Avengers, SBD Dauntless dive-bombers, Vought F4U Corsairs, F4F Wildcats, F6F Hellcats, P-51 Mustangs, P-40 War-hawks, Supermarine Spitfires, Stukka dive-bombers, B-24's, B-25's, B-17's, B-29's, B-26's, B-32's, and even B-36's! For those with a more modern idea of an Air Force, there were also aircraft like F-4 Phantoms, F-5 Tigers, F-9 Panthers, F-87 Sabers, F-100 Super Sabres, F-104 Starfighters, F-105 Thunderchiefs, F-106 Delta Darts, F-14 Tomcats, F-15 Eagles, F-16 Falcons, A-10 Thunderbolts, F-22 Raptors, and even the elusive F-35's! There were even a few B-1's, B-47's, B-58's, and B-52's, but these numbered no more than 8 aircraft; 2 of each. And of course, there was a small fleet of tanker planes for aerial refueling, and other planes were being brought into service from time to time, but some were more top secret than others.

These were then divided into the categories of fighters, bombers, interceptors, aerial refueling, and ground-attack. There were enough airplanes to create 4 bomber squadrons, 6 fighter squadrons, 6 interception squadrons, 2 aerial refueling squadrons, and even 4 ground attack squadrons! There were enough spare parts and fuel to keep all of them running for years, as well as enough crew to crew all of them sufficiently, with some to spare. Other planes were kept in reserve in the Canterlot bunker, with some of these to be later moved to other air force bases once they were up and running.

Out of all of it though, even though the planes were a mix-match of planes from WW2 to the Modern Era, there was one plane that stood out above the rest. This plane was a B-29 that was as famous as it was infamous. That plane was none other than the legendary B-29 known as "Kee Bird".

Somehow, someway, after having crashed in Greenland in 1947, and then accidentally burning to a crisp during her restoration attempt in 1994 and 1995, Kee Bird found her way to Equestria. She was fully intact, although some of the scars and burn marks on her still bore the testaments of the crash that trapped her in Greenland, and the fire that claimed her. Now that she was a part of Equestrian Air Force Bomber Squadron 1, she was also the "face" of the Air Force in a way. She appeared on recruiting posters, and was instantly one of the most recognizable planes due to her distinctive red tail.

No one or anypony knew how she got there or why, but most who knew her story was glad that she was there. She deserved a second chance after the cruel hands that Fate had dealt her, and maybe now she would finally leave the ground; something that she hadn't done since 1947!

As Fall turned into Winter, the Winter of 2029-2030, a new problem arose. Reyerson AFB was all up and fully running, and all of the planes were there, and there were troops, ground crew, and airmen at the base, but the problem was that there was almost no one at the AFB who knew how to fly! Yes, you read that right, there was an air force full of planes, and no one knew how to fly them!

Of those in Battalion 4009, only a handful like Lt. Nathan Hughes knew how to fly, and this was because of their flying the Battleship Express's gunship. In spite of this, none of them were qualified to teach flying lessons, and this led to a serious public debate. Why on Equus had the military spent all this money to get an American-style air force base fully up and running, fully equipped with planes, and other ground vehicles, not to mention an Army-Air section, if no one or anypony there even knew how to fly them?!

Don, Jim, Joe, Frank, and others met with Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Prince Shining Armor, and other Equestrian military officials to discuss this problem.

"How many of those within Battalion 4009 even know how to fly Major?"

Don sighed. "Well, we have 4 full-time pilots for our gunship, as well as 4 other reserve pilots. Aside from this, I can name a number of others who do have flight experience, though most of these were in civilian aircraft, and of those who did fly in the military, most either didn't last long, (due to being shot down, or transferred elsewhere) or were primarily working as ground crew."

Shining put a hand over his face. "Remind me again who's idea it was to build a full air force of planes, despite the fact that NOPONY knows how to fly them?"

Jim answered him. "It was my idea, Prince Shining Armor. And as strange as it may seem, I do have a plan for the situation at hand. Yes, it looks dark, but there is a way around it."

"Which is what Jim?" Frank asked. "Set up some kind of flight school taught by the few who are qualified pilots?"

Jim nodded. "You're very close Frank. My plan involves us first teaching our future pilots to train with training simulators, and then have those who pass with the highest marks get trained in the T-6's, and T-38 trainers. Then those guys get evaluated, and based on their scores, get transferred to either fighters, bombers, interceptors, or ground attack. Those who can't make the cut can always become ground crew, flight-support units, or just keep training until they can make the cut."

Celestia thought about that. "You know, that actually is a very good idea Jim. It should solve the problem very quickly of us lacking trained pilots and aircrews, and it should get our new air force up to full battle-readiness here before too long."

"And what are your estimates for how long this will take Mr. Jim?" Luna asked him.

Jim looked at a few charts. "Well, my tentative estimates put the first batch of pilots ready for their planes by February of 2030. However, this is just a tentative estimate, and while we're now into November of 2029, there could be a number of drawbacks and delays."

Don sighed. "My biggest fear is that we'll lose everybody from battalion 4009 to the Air Force, and there won't be anyone left to crew the train!"

Jim chuckled a bit. "One step ahead of you there Don! Battalion 4009's work with the Foreign Legion can/could include time with the Air Force, but they'll always have to come back to serve a stint with the Battleship Express. Plus, the Imperial War Museum is still under construction, so there's that to help build too."

Joe then spoke up. "I just know that the list of would-be recruits for the Air Force is gonna be a mile long! EVERYONE is most likely gonna want to be a pilot, or an aircrew member! Although this may be a good thing, as the Air Force won't be short on new recruits!"

The others in the room laughed a bit at this, before laying down plans to put Jim's plan into action.

Sure enough, just as Don had predicted, and Joe had expected, the line to join the Equestrian Air Force started in Ponyville and ended in Griffonstone! TONS of Americans, Ponies, Griffons, Minotaurs, Diamond Dogs, and others in the Foreign Legion wanted to be able to fly a plane, or even to serve on one. Even I myself was among those who wanted to join, and I actually had some military flight experience. (I'd flown in the copilot seat on a C-130 during WW4 prior to everything going nuclear, and I had some civilian flight experience before this).

Sure enough, I passed all of the physical and mental health requirements, and was soon sent to Ryerson AFB for training. Once there, with help from the Wonderbolts, who although weren't pilots, or were training anyone to fly, did help to whip the new recruits into shape for their upcoming Air Force training. (Not that we all even needed it, with most of us coming from the Army, RWD, Foreign Legion, a combination of the before-mentioned three, or even the US Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard).

Days started early, and were a mixture of classroom learning, and massive amount of simulator training. Some of the learning involved studying the aircraft in depth up close, while the rest of it was on everything that we were going to need to know for being a pilot, gunner, navigator, radioman, or bombardier. It was a bit difficult, considering the lack of qualified teachers, but it was getting done.

I was part of the first group who graduated from the simulators, and then made our way into the actual cockpits. Like most of the others, I was trained/retrained with the tough, hardy (and easily repairable!) T-6. A turbo-prop plane, these planes had been helping pilots for the Air Force and Navy learn their trade since WW2!

Phased out in recent years by the T-38 jet trainer, most of the T-6's were sold off to private hands. (And in the case of the Equestrian Air Force, depending on what we were interested in/qualified for, those who wanted to fly the old-timey planes trained with the T-6, while those who wanted to fly more modern planes trained with the T-38).

My first time in the cockpit of the T-6 that I trained in was a very fun experience. It was January of 2030, and while the skies were clear, the weather was a bit cold that day. I was sitting in the front seat, while my instructor, Lt. James Patterson, was sitting in the seat behind me.

"You ready for this Ensign?" He asked me.

I was about to correct him that I was a captain, but then I stopped. I wasn't considered a "true" captain anymore. I was an ensign until I was certified, and then a lieutenant until I was a full Air-Force pilot with my own plane. THEN I could be called a captain again!

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready Lieutenant. You?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Begin engine startup procedure."

"Roger that." After running through a checklist, I finally got the T-6's engine to start up. Once it was idling nicely, I radioed the tower for permission to taxi.

"Ryerson Tower, this is T-6 11, requesting permission to taxi."

"Roger that T-6 11. Permission granted. Taxi out to Runway 3."

"Acknowledged." I then checked all around the plane to make sure that the ground was clear, before beginning to taxi out to Runway 3. Once we reached it, I did a final check with Lt. Patterson before radioing the tower again. "Ryerson Tower, this is T-6 11, requesting permission for takeoff."

There was silence for a few moments. Finally, a voice said. "Acknowledged. T-6 11, you're cleared for takeoff, over."

"Roger that." I then began to throttle up the plane to takeoff speed. Soon, T-6 11 was moving down the runway, and before too long was in the air. Once the plane's wheels were up, I began to turn right to start us on the training course.

"I'm impressed so far Ensign." Patterson remarked from the back. "You've remembered your training well, and are doing a remarkable job of applying it in practice. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you'd been a pilot before. Is this true?"

"Eh, I did have some experience with flying civilian planes, and I did act as a pilot in WW4. I haven't flown since the wars went nuclear though."

"Well, that would certainly explain a few things, such as how you've been able to score such high marks; you've already been through at least a rudimentary version of it before. Now then, let's see you go through the rest of your paces."

The rest of that day, as well as the others that followed when it was my turn to fly with a T-6, I was put through my paces in the various courses that had been set up. I continued to earn high marks, and I was REALLY hoping to be assigned to a fighter plane. My dream was to be able to fly a Spitfire, but only time would tell if that dream would become a reality.

I was getting close to the end of my pilot training though, and I would soon be given my final exams, and then, provided of course that I passed, I would be given a plane of my own, be that a fighter, interceptor, bomber, or ground attack plane.

Long story short, on February 4th, 2030, I passed my final exam. In a sort of ceremony, myself, and the 60 others who were a part of my group who passed, were given our wings, and were promoted from ensigns to lieutenants. I was also informed that due to my height, I wasn't going to be able to fly a fighter plane. I was sad, as this meant that I wasn't going to be able to fly a Spitfire. I then waited to see what kind of a plane I was going to be given.

Soon though, I had my answer. I was brought together with 10 others, including Todd, Andy, and other Humans, Ponies, and 2 Griffons, and to our shock, surprise, and delight, we were given none other than Kee Bird! We were going to be her crew! I was her Pilot, Todd was her Co-pilot, Andy was her Left Gunner, and the rest of my crew filled the roles of Flight Engineer, Bombardier, Navigator, Radio Operator, Radar Observer, Central Fire Control, Tail Gunner, and Right Gunner. None of us could believe our luck, and that we were even going to be given the privilege of getting to paint our nose art!

"HOWEVER!!!", Sky Marshal Air Shield, the stallion in charge of Ryerson AFB told us, "There are strict rules about this! No obscene images, no nude or topless females, and all nose art MUST be approved by a superior officer first!"

This wasn't going to be a problem for us. While many others groaned about no nude or topless females, all of us on Kee Bird took a more patriotic approach. We decided to make a large angry-looking eagle in a dive-bombing position with a bomb in its talons, with an Equestrian and American Flag behind it, and our nose art was quickly approved. Soon after, once the template was created, those who were skilled in doing so began to paint it onto Kee Bird's nose on both sides.

"Well, this is certainly going to look a LOT cooler than that old tiny little bird that Kee Bird had originally."

"Yeah!" Todd agreed.

"One question I still have though. Why won't they let anyone have the kinda raunchy nose-art like they did back in WW2, and beyond?"

I sighed. "Well Andy, times have changed. Those bombers were used in a war where innocent eyes didn't have to see them. However, here in Equestria, innocent eyes probably WILL see these planes, and we do NOT want to start any controversy! Several guys did break the rules, and they were reprimanded. Plus, I've always found nude, topless, or even raunchy bomber nose-art to be rather distasteful. I'd much prefer more patriotic artwork."

"Like that one B-24 from WW2, 'Fightin' Sam' with the artwork of Uncle Sam on it?"

I nodded. "Yes, exactly Todd. Or like our Kee Bird, or even the Enola Gay."

"Eh, why was she called that again?"

"Well, Col. Paul Tibbets named his B-29 that after his mother, who's name was Enola. And as I'm sure you're aware, back in the 40's, if someone was 'gay', it meant that they were happy."

Andy nodded. "My favorite bomber is the B-29 'Bock's Carr'. The nose art reminds me of something that the RWD would make a cartoon out of."

Todd and I agreed. "Yeah, it really does Andy."

We all continued to talk about this for a while longer, until we had to meet up with the rest of our crew for a briefing with Col. Rain Heart, the officer in charge of our bomber division.

Around this same time though, something else was happening. In the Army section of Reyerson, reports kept coming up the chain of command regarding the gun-truck that Jim had delivered a few weeks prior. Everyone kept saying that there was something wrong with the truck.

The truck seemed normal, and it drove ok, its machine guns and mortar launcher all worked, but there was just something......not right about it. Some said that they felt like someone was watching them when they were by the truck, even though no one else was around. Others said that "Ghst Trk" wasn't a US Army group, but was instead what the truck really was.

"I'm telling you, that truck's a ghost!"

"It can't be a ghost!" Major Armistead, the man in charge of the Army section replied skeptically. "It's sitting right there, plain as day, and look!" He gave the truck a few whacks with his hand to prove that it really was real. "It's solid as a rock! It can't be a ghost, because ghosts aren't solid!"

This seemed to be the end of the argument, but Jim however had a different take on the matter. When he was able, he began to dig through the archives in the Battleship Express. He was looking through old US Army records, trying to figure out where the truck, now called the "Ghost Truck", had even come from. He traced the engine's serial number to a truck that was made in Detroit in 1968, before making it to Vietnam in 1969, but was lost in action in '71. The wreckage of the truck was later scrapped by the South Vietnamese, before it was sold back to the US as scrap metal, and that was seemingly the end of it.

"But that can't be! If it was scrapped, how the heck is it still here?!" What made Jim even more confused was the fact that there were a few pictures of the truck, but none of them showed it even having a licence plate!

"Ok, now this.......this is weird. Maybe that plate was added on as a joke, but was taken off at some other point. I mean, there's only 4 pictures of the truck here on file, and only 1 of them show the back. I guess the truck found its way here after it was destroyed in Vietnam, before its hulk was scrapped, and sold back to the US as scrap metal." However, Jim had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn't the end of the story.

He checked the records again, and found that a second truck had been made; identical to the first, but much later. This truck was made in Michigan again, but this time for the US Army in WW4! The truck survived the war, and was used again in WW5, but it was lost to enemy action during the Futa invasion of the US in WW6, during the (failed) defense of Salt Lake City. And just like Jim suspected, the truck's licence plate was a duplicate of one made in 1968, and it said "ghst Trk" on it.

"Hmm, so I guess that it was a homage to the original, which was scrapped. Just like how our Big Boy 4009 is a homage to the original 4009, which was scrapped. So I guess that this is the end of the story. 'Ghost Truck' was lost to enemy action during WW6, and found her way here. Nothing more than an old gun-truck with a LOT of history to it!"

Jim was feeling pleased that he'd solved the mystery of the "Ghost Truck", but in reality, the mystery was about to get a whole lot stranger.

One night not too long after, an incident happened with the "Ghost Truck" that seemed to tread on the very edge of the Supernatural. On the night of February 22nd, the truck was sitting in its usual parking spot at the Army Motor Pool, when all of a sudden, its engine roared to life! The truck's headlights came on, and after it shifted into gear, the truck began to move! It pulled away from the motor pool, and went speeding off at almost 40mph!

One of the stallions who was on duty in the motor pool saw the truck, and he called it in. "Yes, there's a gun-truck on the move, and its going WAY too fast! I can't see who's driving, but whoever it is needs to slow the f@#k down before they f@#king kill somepony!"

Since there were plenty of lights at Ryerson AFB, and the truck was painted blue, it wasn't too hard to spot. It was speeding down the vehicle path, and it seemed to be heading towards the runways! Multiple calls were made to the radio in the cab, but there was no reply. However, at one point, the truck stopped at an intersection, and its right turn-signal came on. The truck then turned right, and headed out past a hangar, and out onto runway 1! It then began to speed down the runway at nearly 75mph!

By this point, everyone and everypony at Ryerson had heard that something was up, and other vehicles were chasing after the rouge truck. However, the truck was rapidly running out of runway. When it did hit the end of the runway, the truck slowed down, did a full 180, and then began to speed the other way! However, the driver of one of the jeeps chasing the truck was able to get a clear view of the inside of the cab as the truck went by, and to his shock and horror, the cab was empty!

"THERE'S NO ONE DRIVING THE TRUCK!!!!"

"What?! What do you mean that there's no one driving the truck?!"

"JUST WHAT I SAID!!! THE CAB IS F@#KING EMPTY!!!!! THERE'S NO ONE IN THERE!!!!! I TRIED TO TELL YOU THAT THE TRUCK WAS A GHOST, BUT YOU ALL DIDN'T LISTEN!!!!"

Everyone and everypony who heard that was shocked. Most assumed that the truck was somehow being controlled either by Magic, or by remote control. However, once the truck was out of runway again, it got off the runway, turned left, went down a few side-roads, and soon arrived back at the Army Motor Pool. It then pulled back into its spot, and shut its engine and headlights off.

The truck was surrounded in seconds by MP's, and other soldiers and airmen, but to their shock, the entire truck was empty! There was not a soul in sight, and the truck's seats were cold, meaning that no one had been sitting on them! Not satisfied with this, Col. Armistead ordered the truck to be towed immediately to the motor pool's garage, and COMPLETELY disassembled to find the radio transmitter that was used to control it.

"I DON'T CARE IF IT TAKES ALL NIGHT, BUT FIND OUT HOW THAT TRUCK RAN ON ITS OWN!!!! AND IF I CATCH THE ONE(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS, I'M GONNA HANG THEM SO HIGH THEY'LL BE ABLE TO LOOK DOWN ON THE MOON!!!!!"

The work took all night, but by breakfast the next day, the truck was all stripped down to its most basic components. However, to the growing unease of those who did the deed, they could find no signs of either a radio transmitter that would have been used to control the truck, or signs that the truck had been manipulated with Magic.

"I can't understand it Sir!" Bill Dansen, one of the mechanics told Col. Armistead. "We've taken the ENTIRE truck COMPLETELY apart, and we STILL haven't found ANY signs of a transmitter, OR evidence of magical tampering!"

The colonel was shocked, and a little bit scared. "Well, then how do you explain what happened last night? And PLEASE don't mention that TV show 'Supernatural'!"

"But Sir, that one episode had a ghost truck in it. What if this truck is like that one? Or maybe it's still haunted by the ghost, or even ghosts of those who were killed on it?"

"I have another theory." One of the other mechanics, a Unicorn named May Belle spoke up.

"Which is?"

"Well, it builds on Bill's theories. What if this truck is the one that was lost back in WW6, and its still haunted by those who died with it, but instead of them manipulating the truck, what if they ARE the truck?"

"Um........what does that mean?"

"It means that what if the truck is alive? This would explain how it was able to operate itself, and why it's seemingly so unusual."

Colonel Armistead was at a complete loss. May's answer seemed WAY too fantastical to be true, however, Sky Marshal Air Shield, as well as other officers were DEMANDING an explanation for what happened the previous night. Armistead then ordered a fresh crew of mechanics to put the whole truck back together.

"It's no good to anypony in a cajillion pieces, so please take all of those pieces, and turn them back into a Vietnam-era gun-truck! THEN we can see about having the truck reevaluated!

The fresh group of mechanics nodded, and quickly got to work on the task.

By late that night, the truck was all back together again. It was then placed in a disused hangar, where it was studied by a group of scientists to try and determine what was going on with it. What they found was truly astonishing.

"WHAT?!?!?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT THE TRUCK IS ALIVE?!?!?!" Sky Marshal Air Shield couldn't believe his ears!

"Just what I said Sir. As impossible as it may seem, the truck is indeed alive. From what we've been able to deduce so far, the truck has all of the normal characteristics of a gun-truck of its kind; it burns diesel, has six-wheels, 2-wheel drive, all of its weapons work, and everything is in the right place, however, in one special way, the truck is VERY different from the others. Just like its licence plate suggests, the truck is indeed haunted, but yet the spirit, or spirits, have embedded themselves into the very fabric of the truck's being."

"And what does that mean for those of us who don't speak Paranormal?" Col. Armistead asked.

"It basically means that the spirit, or spirits, have wholly claimed the truck, and can manipulate it at will. This means that they live on through the truck, and can operate it at will. The headlights are their 'eyes', the wheels are their 'legs', the cab is like the 'head', the engine is the 'heart', the gas tank is the 'stomach', the exhaust system is the 'digestive system', the weapons are the 'hands', and the truck's controls are like the 'brain'. Everything works as it should, and the truck can be controlled by either a Human or Pony operator, or one from beyond the grave!"

Armistead then thought back to a similar report that I'd once given about Big Boy 4009. I'd said that she too was alive, and I'd compared her mechanical features to parts of the Human body. "And, is there any way for us to control the spirits, or at the very least predict their movements?"

The lead scientist looked at her notes. "Eh, actually, I think that there may only be one spirit. After looking over the data again, this conclusion makes the most sense. However, in regards to your question, I can tell you with a fair amount on certainty that the spirit is harmless, and last night was simply the spirit trying to show us that it was still there. If it wanted to cause harm, then it could have used the truck's weapons, which were loaded at the time, or it could have used the truck itself as a battering ram. Because it didn't, and it didn't damage any property, I'd say that it was just trying to both show us that it was still there, and that it liked to be chased."

Air Shield put a hand over his face. "And can you perform more tests on the truck's abilities? I'd like for it to be able to be used here as a gun-truck."

"Certainly!" The truck was then experimented on some more.

Over the course of the next few days, the tests continued. The truck did sometimes respond when asked to do something, though sometimes it didn't, or it did the opposite of what was asked. It was clear that the truck was sentient, and while it knew the difference between right and wrong, it, like a Human, sometimes didn't care what was wrong. The truck drove itself around some more, and it was also started up and operated by a Human driver. The truck responded to its controls, and it was eventually determined, (based on a series of tests) that the truck's spirit was female. However, after repeated failures to figure out who the spirit was, the scientists took to calling her, (and the truck) "Ghost Truck". The truck responded well to her new name, and she did her best to please.

However, most found a living truck to be too creepy, and the truck was eventually banished from Ryerson AFB. However, she wasn't without a job for long. The RWD needed another vehicle to supplement their ground forces, so she was taken in for use with the Battleship Express! Ghost Truck found a home on the train, and the crew were fascinated by the truck that could operate itself. Don, Jim, and a few other officers were talking about finding a few more similar vehicles to Ghost Truck replace their aging fleet of weaponized construction vehicles, but for the time being decided that Ghost Truck would do just fine with the "Construction Brigade", and that they would look into possibly also adding an Army tank when an option for such hardware would become available.

Not long after this, on February 28th, it snowed. This wouldn't have been too much of a problem, if the Pegasai up in Cloudsdale hadn't lost control of a few snow clouds! Now the rule about no snow at Ryerson Air Force base was broken, and the whole base was covered in snow! Kee Bird got stuck in the snow while I was trying to taxi her back to her hangar, and we had to call in a tractor to help us because we got stuck in the snow!

Luckily, thanks to everyone and everypony at the base working together, plus help from the Weather Pegasai, the snow that covered the runways, roads, taxiways, roofs, planes, and other vehicles was cleared away in short order. Ryerson was back up and running again, but despite the cold, tensions were running hot.

For the past number of months since becoming pilots and aircrew, all of us had been grounded for seemingly no reason. The only ones flying out of Ryerson were the trainees in the T-6's, and the T-38's. No fighters, bombers, ground attackers, helicopters, or any other types of aircraft had left the ground. All we were allowed to do was taxi our planes back and forth on the runways. Time and time again we all kept asking why on Equus we were being kept on the ground, but we never got a straight answer.

"I don't get it. This is the 'AIR Force', not the 'Ground Force'!"

"This is why we became pilots and aircrews in the first place! We signed up to FLY, not taxi on the ground!"

"Why aren't we allowed to fly?! The trainees and other cadets get to fly, but as soon as you're a pilot, or an aircrew member, you can't do that anymore! WHY?!"

Even those from the local media were asking the same questions. "Aside from trainer planes, Griffons, and Pegasai, no aircraft have ever left the ground at Ryerson Air Force Base. Why is that? Why are Ponies wasting their tax dollars on a massive fleet of planes that does nothing but roll around on the ground?!"

The "official" reason given by Sky Marshal Air Shield was that until the crews were better trained, they weren't allowed to fly. However, the crews were all insisting that they were told that there was no further training for them after their final exams to become pilots and aircrews, and that the official explanation was a load of bullshit.

"I don't get it guys." I told my crew one afternoon as we sat in Kee Bird, "We signed up for the Air Force to fly, but yet here we are doing nothing but taxing back and forth all the time."

"Yeah", someone in the back of the plane agreed. "The 'boom' in Boomers just went bust!"

We all laughed a bit. Since we crewed a B-29 that had been lost, we all started jokingly referring to ourselves as the "Boomers", in honor of the group by the same name at Nellis AFB in "Fallout: New Vegas".

"Yeah. The boom went bust ever since we all became aircrew. Why the f@#k did we all even agree to do this?!"

"Because we all thought that we would be flying, that's why!" I then grabbed the controls, and with Todd's help, eased Kee Bird up to taxiing speed.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

I looked back at Soarin, who was our Flight Engineer. "We're doing what we always do, heading out to the beginning of the runway, and ask for permission to take off."

"Why Leopard?" Our navigator asked. "They ALWAYS say no!"

I sighed. "You got any better ideas Dash?"

Dash groaned, before pushing her rainbow mane out of her eyes. "No, not really."

"Ok, then, let's go!" I then began to maneuver Kee Bird out to top of Runway 2. As I did, I half-glanced back at Dash. We were still friends, despite our romantic falling-out, but knowing about what our history had been before I'd time-traveled, it felt so bizarre. "She's supposed to be my marefriend, and now she's just my good friend, and Kee Bird's navigator. It feels like I'm living someone else's life!"

Eventually, we made it to the head of the runway. Once Kee Bird was fully facing it, I got on the radio with the control tower.

"RAFB Tower, RAFB Tower, this is Captain Leopard on B-29 Kee Bird. We're requesting permission for takeoff, over."

I heard a voice sigh. "Captain, must you ALWAYS do this every day? The answer today is the same that it was yesterday, and will be the same tomorrow. NO! No you CAN'T take off!"

"Why?"

"You know why! Because Sky Marshal Air Shield, and Col. Armistead said so!"

We all groaned. "Ok, fine, we'll leave, but mark my words, we'll be back tomorrow!"

"And the answer will still be the same Captain. No, you won't be able to take off!"

We all kept groaning, griping, whining, arguing, and voicing our frustrations among ourselves the whole way back to the hangar.

Finally, on March 7th, one week after this, we were at our wits end. We of Kee Bird decided that if we weren't going to be allowed to take off that day, we would go on strike. We were sick and tired on not getting a straight answer on why we were being kept on the ground, and we would let our frustrations be known.

Once all 11 of us were inside of Kee Bird, at our stations, and all strapped in, Todd and I got the all clear from our ground crews, and all while looking out of the cockpit windows, we started Kee Bird's engines. Once they were all going, we got permission to taxi, and as we always did, we headed out to the head of Runway 2. Once we were in position, I radioed up to the tower like I always did.

"RAFB Tower, RAFB Tower, this is Captain Leopard on B-29 Kee Bird. We're requesting permission for takeoff, over." However, little did I suspect that everything was about to take a turn in a whole new direction, and we owed it all to a series of little mistakes.

Up in the tower at the time was a rookie air traffic controller named Stuart Grant. He was talking to his friend Iron Flash, and their talk was almost turning into an argument. Stuart was assigned to handling bombers that day, and was told to keep them grounded. As he was arguing with Iron though, my call came in.

"RAFB Tower, RAFB Tower, this is Captain Leopard on B-29 Kee Bird. We're requesting permission for takeoff, over."

Stuart then reached out to grab the mic in front of him. He was about to reply to me, but then Iron said, "You're crazy Stuart!"

Stuart then grabbed the mic, and without meaning to, pushed down the talk button. "Yeah, sure, whatever." He meant to say that to Iron, but I heard it too, and so did everyone and everypony else on Kee Bird.

Stuart then meant to press the talk button on the mic, but he instead accidentally hit mute. "What was that again Captain? I didn't copy." He then let go of the mute button, and everything was normal again.

Out on Kee Bird, we couldn't believe our ears. Had we REALLY just been given permission to take off? I decided to make sure that we weren't being messed with. "RAFB Tower, RAFB Tower, can you please repeat that? Do we have permission to take off?"

Stuart heard the message, but he was still arguing with Iron. Once again, he grabbed the mic too hard. "Yes, I said sure! I don't care!" He then thought that he was pressing the talk button, but was instead pressing mute. "You know the rules Captain, no take offs!" He then let go of the mute button.

Once again, we on Kee Bird were dumbfounded. However, we knew that we had to act fast before anyone or anypony changed their minds.

"Alright, you guys all know what to do! We've been training for this day, and now it's FINALLY here! Let's get Kee Bird back into the air for the first time since 1947!"

"YEAH!!!!" All others on the bomber cheered. Quickly, all stations sounded off, and once we were all ready, Todd and I closed our cockpit windows, all other windows were shut and sealed, and then we both grabbed the throttle controls, and we pushed them forwards to full. In moments, Kee Bird's engines throttled up to their full capacity, and after I released her brakes, Kee Bird then began to race down the runway; both for her flight, and for her date with Destiny.

The first one in the control tower to realize that anything was wrong was the mare in charge of the air traffic controllers, Clear Skies. She knew that no planes were supposed to be taking off, and when she saw Kee Bird throttling up, she immediately turned to Stuart to ask him what the heck was going on.

"Lt. Grant, why is that plane taking off?!"

Stuart looked up and saw Kee Bird racing off down the runway. "What?! I don't know! I never gave any orders to take off......." As he was grabbing the microphone, he then remembered the argument that he'd been having with Iron. He then looked at the mic, and realized that he's pressed mute when he should have pressed talk, and talk when he should have pressed mute.

"Oh no!"

"What? What did you do?!"

"I accidentally DID give them permission to take off!"

"WHAT?!?!?!" Clear skies was shocked. "How the f@#k did you do that?!"

He then explained to her what happened at about a million miles an hour.

Clear Skies slammed a hand over her face. "Tell them to abort right now!" Stuart was reaching for the mic, but she grabbed it instead. "Kee Bird? Kee Bird, this is the Control Tower! Do you read me?!"

I picked up. "CT This is Kee Bird, go ahead."

"Abort the takeoff now! Wires were crossed up here! I repeat, ABORT THE TAKEOFF NOW!!!!!"

"They can't!" Stuart yelled. "They're at the point of no return!" (This was a spot on the runway marked with yellow and black lines. Once a plane reached this point, it was either take off, or crash. Kee Bird was moments away from hitting it).

"CT We're at the point of no return!" I echoed what Stuart had just said.

Clear Skies knew that what she was about to do could get her fired, but if she didn't do it, 11 lives could be lost, and a whole B-29 destroyed. She grabbed the mic again.

"TAKE OFF KEE BIRD!!!!! I REPEAT, GET IN THE AIR!!!!! PULL UP NOW!!!!"

"Copy that Control Tower!!!!" I then gripped the control yoke in front of me, and I began to pull back hard. "Pull Todd, PULL!!!!" I yelled at him.

He quickly complied with his own control yoke, and moments later, to the shock and awe of everyone and everypony who witnessed it, for the first time since 1947, Kee Bird shuddered a bit, before her wheels left the ground! We were quickly gaining altitude, and Todd and I eased our control yokes forwards a bit, as we didn't want to climb too fast. However, we were still climbing, and as Todd pushed the lever to raise up the wheels, the rest of the crew of Kee Bird were cheering that they'd FINALLY left the ground!

"Yehaw!!!! NOW we're a part of the Air Force!" Andy yelled from where he was.

"No kidding Andy!" Soarin agreed with him. "We're FINALLY in a plane that flew!"

"This is so awesome Leopard!" Dash told me. "Kee Bird is flying!"

I looked back at her while Todd held Kee Bird steady. "Yeah, we did it Dash. First time since 1947! Now in 2030, 83 years after she crashed in Greenland, Kee Bird is a proud B-29 once again!"

"And what are we gonna do now Leopard?" Todd asked me.

I sighed. "Well, since it sounds like we're probably going to be in trouble when we get back, might as well make the most of our time in the air."

"And what does that mean?"

"Well, we're fully fueled, fully crewed, but lacking bombs and bullets, so we could fly for a while. Let's circle around Ponyville, fly to the Crystal Empire, circle around it, then fly to Canterlot, circle around it, and then come back. Provided of course that we can get that far without being ordered back."

The rest of the crew agreed with me, so we went with my flight plan.

The funny thing is though, I submitted my flight plan to the Ryerson Control Tower, and to my surprise, it was granted!

"Your getting permission was NOT supposed to happen Captain, and it was a mistake that it did, but now that it has, the genie is REALLY out of the bottle! News Ponies are going crazy, as are other aviation enthusiasts, and they would NEVER let us forget it if we ordered you home before they got to see a show, so you may proceed, over."

"Let me guess, they threatened to stop donating to the Air Force, and divert their tax-dollars elsewhere if you cracked down on us?"

"That's correct Kee Bird. That, and if we didn't allow other planes to fly. Yes, you guys will be the only ones to fly today, but come tomorrow, and the days after, we've been ordered to schedule regular flights. Prince Shining Armor was right. If we keep you guys grounded all the time, and never let you gain anymore experience, come a real emergency, this whole enterprise could, and possibly would be a multi-billion Bit flop, and it would only serve to arm our enemies."

"Yeah, you have a point CT. At any rate though, we'll give those on the ground a show that they won't soon forget!"

"Roger that Kee Bird, CT out."

Sure enough, Clear Skies was right. I was flying Kee Bird low enough to be able to see the ground, and sure enough, Ponies and people alike could be seen waving and cheering for us. We assumed that many of them had their cameras out, and were taking pictures and video.

True to the flight plan, I first flew over to Ponyville, and after executing a right banking turn, we began to circle the town. After a few laps, and letting everyone and everypony get a good look at us, we leveled out again, and flew on. Our next stop was supposed to be the Crystal Empire, and it would have been, but Cloudsdale was in the way. Instead of going around it though, we decided to circle it too. We wanted to show the rest of the Pegasai up there that planes were cool too. To our surprise, there was a lot of cheering for us.

"Wow, I guess that even the Pegasai in Cloudsdale like us."

"No kidding Leopard." And now those of us on this plane who can't fly naturally can say that we flew over Cloudsdale!"

I nodded. "Yeah, you're right Todd." We then flew on.

Eventually, we did indeed reach the Crystal Empire. Everypony there had been given a heads-up in advance that we were coming by for a flyover, and a few laps around the Empire. Just like before, Ponies came out to cheer for us. Using binoculars, one of the gunners, a Griffon named Ginger, spotted something.

"Hey, I can see the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire! They're standing on the main balcony of the Crystal Castle, and they're waving to us!"

"Really?" Todd looked as the plane passed by the Crystal Castle again, and sure enough, Ginger was right. "Yeah, she's right! Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor are indeed waving!"

Moments after Todd said this, our radio came to life. "Big plane in the sky, big plane in the sky, this is Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire. Please acknowledge, over."

"Shining Armor, this is Captain Leopard, of the B-29 Kee Bird. How's the view from down there?"

"It's looking REALLY great Leopard! I was REALLY starting to wonder if we'd ever see a plane fly out of Ryerson that wasn't a trainer!"

"We were wondering the same thing Shining. But at any rate, we're up here flying, and you're down there to see us!"

"Roger that Leopard! And it's a really great view! Cadence is taking a LOT of pictures for later!"

"So are we Shining. A few of those here on Kee Bird do have their cameras, and they're taking some really nice aerial photos."

"I would imagine."

We flew a few more laps around the Crystal Empire, and after waggling our wings one more time, we flew off back in the direction of Ryerson.

Our final stop of the day was Canterlot City. We wanted to show the Ponies there that their tax dollars were hard at work with the Air Force, and that it was money well-spent. When we arrived, they too had been given a heads up of our arrival, and a lot of them were cheering for us. I waggled the plane's wings in hello, and we began to make our laps around the city.

Soon though, our radio came to life again. "Kee Bird, Kee Bird, this is Princess Celestia, please acknowledge, over."

"Princess Celestia, this is Captain Leopard on Kee Bird. I read you loud and clear."

"You're looking great from down here Captain Leopard. Your B-29 is amazing!"

"Eh, thanks Princess! We're just glad that we were able to do this today. We decided to stop by and show the Ponies of Canterlot that their tax-dollars are still hard at work with the Air Force, and that our planes really DO fly, and are not just for show!"

We all heard Celestia laugh a bit. "Yes, I can understand that Captain! And I must say that Kee Bird is a VERY beautiful B-29. Her aluminum color, mixed with her red tail, and your incredible nose art; so amazing!"

"Thank you Princess. And no doubt you'll be seeing, and reading a LOT about Kee Bird in tomorrow's paper."

"I know that we will Captain. And thanks again for stopping by!"

"You're welcome Princess. It was our pleasure!"

After saying goodbye to Celestia, we circled around Canterlot one last time, before waggling our wings again, and then heading off back towards Ryerson AFB.

When we got close, we were given permission to land on Runway 3, and as we came in for our landing, Todd pulled the lever down, and Kee Bird's 3 wheels came down. Once we were over the runway, I eased Kee Bird down the rest of the way, and her wheels soon hit the tarmac. It was a bit of a bumpy landing, since it was my first with a B-29, but I was right on the money with where Kee Bird's wheels needed to be when she hit the runway. After braking hard, we slowed Kee Bird down, and were then given permission to taxi back to the hangar.

When we arrived though, there was a HUGE crowd waiting for us. It was a mixture of airmen, ground crew, Army soldiers, Royal Guards, and News Ponies. After we stopped, Todd and I shut all 4 engines down, and after taking a quick moment to collect ourselves, we took our radio headsets off, and set them on the control yolks in front of us. We then unbuckled our seatbelts, just as everyone and everypony else on the plane did too. Then, once the hatches were opened and the ladders lowered, we all climbed out of the plane.

Once we were on the ground, we were all being hailed as heroes for some reason. Heck, all we did was be given faulty orders, we executed the orders, and flew around a few cities. We didn't conduct a raid over enemy territory, and we didn't drop an atomic bomb either. Why were we being hailed as heroes?

"You did it!" Someone yelled. "You showed the rest of Equestria that these planes really CAN fly!"

"And that's a cause for celebration?" I asked quietly.

"Yes! You just proved once and for all that an air-fleet of planes, and a large air force base is NOT a waste of time and money, and that the planes really DO fly, and that tax-dollars aren't being wasted! Yes, it may not seem like a big accomplishment, but you all should really feel proud of yourselves!"

All of us looked at each other. Sure, maybe we hadn't done much, but we'd certainly done SOMETHING! All 11 of Kee Bird's crew then gathered together for photos with their plane.

"4 Humans, 5 Ponies, and 2 Griffons. Together, they make up the crew of the B-29 Kee Bird. These 11 individuals flew a plane that has not left the ground since it crashed way back in 1947, on the Human nation of Greenland. They also proved once and for all of the worth of the Equestrian Air Force, and that it's NOT a waste of time and money! They're heroes and inspiration to Ponies, Humans, and other species everywhere, and all of Equestria thanks them for their flight today!"

The crowds continued cheering, and we all felt good about our accomplishments.

In the aftermath of that day, both Stuart and Iron were put on probation for a time, and were given retraining on how to properly use control tower communications equipment. Neither of them were fired, (for which they were VERY grateful!) but they both made promised to keep ALL future arguments out of the control tower! Clear Skies wasn't reprimanded for ordering Kee Bird to take off, since we were already past the point of no return. And of course, we on Kee Bird weren't reprimanded either, since it wasn't our fault that what had happened happened. It was just an unfortunate mistake that sparked a fire that really ignited a blaze of enthusiasm for the Air Force, planes in general, and of course, more recruits to join the Air Force.

And true to their word, by the next day, several flights were happening at Ryerson, slowly working up to full-base operations. Ryerson AFB soon became a VERY busy place, both on the ground, and in the air. The pilots and aircrews were getting trained, and continued to prepare themselves for the day when their skills would be put to the test, the ground crews kept the planes flying, the fire teams got ready to rush in in case any emergencies happened, air traffic control kept all the planes where they needed to be, and the officers over all of them kept everything running smoothly.

And it was a good thing too, the fact that we were getting ready for having our skills put to the test, and that we had an air force at our disposal now, as both the skills, and the air force, would be put to the ultimate test in less than 6 months time when something really big went down..........

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 5.

Just like I said last time, things really DID take to new heights! Now Equestria has an air force base, and a huge fleet of planes. More air force bases may be soon to follow, as well as more planes to make an appearance in the future. I REALLY hope that all of you aviation enthusiasts out there enjoyed this chapter. It was REALLY fun for me to right, since I'm a plane junkie in addition to being crazy about trains, so I hope that it was just as run to read!

And what about that Ghost Truck? I'll be that THAT was a bit of a curve-ball, right? A truck that's seemingly alive, and can operate itself, as well as its weapons? When will something like that come in handy? Very soon, I can tell you that! And the Ghost Truck will soon be joined by another ghostly counterpart. Which ghostly counterpart you ask? Well, stay tuned for the Epilogue, and I'll tell you!

Yes, that's right everyone, "Tracks Backwards" is almost done. Chapter 5 was the last main chapter, and then comes the Epilogue. But don't worry, this saga is NOT over yet, not by a LONG SHOT! Heck, the "REAL adventures" that I keep talking about, are only just beginning! War is coming soon to this saga once again, and the first hints of war start in the Epilogue, and lead into the next story, where the war goes down, so stay tuned for that!

In the meantime though, 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 the Epilogue!

ScarFox out for now!

A Ghostly Encounter, and a Suspenseful Epilogue

The rest of the Winter of 2029-2030 passed with a lot of fanfare. A few new planes were added to the roster of fighters and bombers from yesteryear, as well as a new trainer plane. The trainer plane was none other than the venerable and timeless PT-19 Stearman.

These veteran biplanes trained countless pilots who would one day be in the Army Air Core, (aka the Air Force until it was called the “Air Force” after WW2), as well as a number of Navy pilots before they graduated to the T-6. Now a handful were back for more, and they served as both training planes, and on special occasions, they were used to give rides to kids, teens, and other adults who were aviation enthusiasts. EVERYPONY who flew in the Stearman loved it, and said that flying was the freest feeling ever. (Most of those who flew were Unicorns and Earth Ponies, as Pegasai and Bat-Ponies had their own wings, but from time to time, a few of them wanted to fly in the Stearman too).

In the fighter department, there were now a number of veteran Me-109's, Focke-Wulf 190's, Me-262's, and even a handful of brand-new Horten 229's!

How these got to Equestria when only 3 were built in real life, (one of which crashed, the other two were never finished, and of these, one was later scrapped) nopony knew, but many were amazed by the oddly-shaped craft, now dubbed "Sneaking-Bats", since they could make themselves invisible to radar. (Horten 229's are considered to be the first stealth-aircraft in the world, and had they been deployed sooner in WW2, the Germans could have easily gained a HUGE edge!)

And for the bombers, a few more German ones had been added to the roster too. A number of Ju 88's, He 111's, and some Focke-Wulf 200 Condor bombers made their presences felt at Ryerson AFB.

Why was Ryerson adding so many old airplanes to its roster? Well, the truth was, most of the old planes were being tested at Ryerson, and would one day make their way to another Equestrian AFB once it was fully up and running. A total of 5 bases were planned after Ryerson; ground had already been broken on 3 of them, and of these, 2 were almost 30% complete. However, this time the work was a lot harder. While Ryerson was built up from an old Wonderbolt training base, these new bases were being built almost from scratch in the Palomino Desert, the desert outside of of Appaloosa, up in the Frozen North between the Crystal Empire and Van Hoover, in a wooded valley West of Fillydelphia, and one final base was being built on the Equestrian side of the Griffish Isles, just South of the town of Trottingham.

It was already known that it could take up to 6-7 years for all of the bases to be fully up and running, and some would be larger than others. Ryerson would still be the largest, but the one up in the Frozen North (Ice Mountain AFB), as well as the one in the Palomino Desert (Palomino AFB) would almost be on par. The other 3, (Appaloosa AFB, Green Valley AFB, and Lost Island AFB) would be a lot smaller, and only have fighter planes, transports (ones that only needed small runways, such as C-130's), helicopters, and perhaps a few short and medium range bombers). The planes were being tested at Ryerson, and they would be all ready for the 5 new bases once they were complete. Construction had begun, but was a few years at least from being complete.

When Spring rolled around, it was sadly time for a lot of us from Battalion 4009 who were at Ryerson AFB to transfer back to the Battleship Express. Now that Spring had begun, it was time to give the Battleship Express and Iron Glory their yearly Spring shakedowns, and make sure that they were fully ready to go again for the season. Also, with the end of Winter, the Winter hiatus that had been placed on the construction of the Imperial War Museum was lifted, and it was time to get to work on that once again.

"I know that most, if not all of you are sad to give up your flying careers, but don't worry. Come next Winter, you'll all be right back at it again!" Don tried to reassure all of us, but we were still sad to leave Ryerson.

"I wish that we didn't have to leave". Todd told me on our last flight with Kee Bird for the season.

"Yeah, I know what you mean Todd. But yet, you, me, and Andy are a part of Battalion 4009, and not only do we have the Battleship Express to take care of, but we also have to help build the Imperial War Museum. And while I'm sad to leave the Air Force behind for a while, I've kinda missed the Battleship Express too."

"Yeah, so have I. Flying is fun, but so is serving on the deadliest weapon ever to ride the rails! And like Don said, come next Winter, they'll need us back here to fly again. It's a win-win!"

I agreed with him. "Yeah, that's a good way of putting it Todd."

After we landed Kee Bird, we moved her back to her hangar, and after wishing the rest of her crew the best of luck with our temporary replacements, we said goodbye to them, and went to pack up our stuff so that we could head back to the Old Railyard.

"I'm gonna miss you while you're gone Leopard." Dash whispered as she hugged me goodbye.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you too Dash. But on the plus-side, we're only gonna be a couple of blocks away from Ryerson, so we're not really going anywhere."

Dash laughed a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll still come see you when I can, which might be often considering how I'm in Ponyville quite a lot."

"And I'll look forwards to your visits Dash." I hugged her one more time, as well as giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

She gave me one back. "Bye for now Leopard. Though I can walk with you to the Old Railyard if you want."

I thought about that for a second, and I quickly realized that she was right. "Oh, yeah, you can do that can't you? Sure, if you want to."

Dash nodded, and she walked with me to the Old Railyard.

Maybe 2 weeks after this, I was taking a walk through the Everfree Forest with Alex, Todd, Fred, and Andy. We needed some fresh air, so we decided to take a walk. (The only rules about walking in the Everfree are ALWAYS stay on the marked paths, ONLY shoot creatures in self-defense, NEVER go poking into areas where dangerous creatures could be, and NEVER stray too far from the paths. Break any of these rules, and you might never be seen or heard from again!)

We were trying to make it out to where the Castle of the 2 Sisters was, as I'd heard about it from when Twilight was talking to Don, and we wanted to see it for ourselves. We all went out in a group, and we were all armed too, just in case!

"How much farther Leopard?"

I looked at the map that Twilight had given me. "Eh, maybe another 30 minutes or so Alex. We're maybe 5-7 miles away from there."

"I just can't wait to see the castle. It's where my marefriend Fluttershy, Andy's marefriend Rarity, Private Dan's marefriend Pinkie, Don's marefriend Twilight, plus Applejack and Rainbow Dash banished Nightmare Moon!"

Alex looked back and glared at Todd. "Yeah, rub it in why don't you? Not all of us have a marefriend who helped banish Nightmare Moon." He was still pretty sore about Applejack ending their relationship, (even though it was largely his fault!).

"Yeah!" Fred agreed sarcastically. "My marefriend Lyra wasn't there!"

Alex glared at him. "Not a good time Fred!"

I looked back at Alex. "Alex, chill, now. Todd didn't mean anything negative by what he said. Sure, he and Andy's marefriends were there, and so were.........." I paused for a second. ".......our ex-marefriends Applejack and Rainbow Dash......... but that's besides the point!"

Andy then spoke up. "Well, if we hadn't messed with Time, neither of you would even HAVE ex-marefriends. Both of you, plus Todd and I, would all have had marefriends that defeated Nightmare Moon."

"Yeah, you're right Andy. And if we'd known what was going to happen, I would have urged AGAINST using Oddball. But, Oddball's completely shot, and we're now stuck in this new timeline."

"Yeah, a new timeline where everything's the same for everypony else except for you and me Leopard!"

I shook my head. "No, it's not the same Alex. Ryerson AFB didn't exist in the old timeline!"

On and on this argument went. Suddenly however, Fred spotted something in the woods to our left.

"Um.....guys?"

I looked over at him. "What is it Fred?"

"I just saw something through the trees to our left. It was big, whitish-gray, and it was just sitting there."

We all froze where we were. "Can you still see it Fred?" I asked as I grabbed my gun, as did the others.

Fred pointed to it. "Yeah, it's right there, maybe 80 yards in."

We all looked, and low and behold, there it was. It was indeed big and whitish-gray, but other than this, due to the thick trees and other plants, we couldn't make out what it was. However, since there was a path leading in that direction, and we saw light glinting off part of the thing, we decided to investigate.

Soon, we arrived at the spot where the thing was. When we saw it, our jaws all hit the ground. There in front of us, sitting on top of a small slope, surrounded by trees and other plants, was a tank! It was painted whitish-gray, and it was a bit rusty in places, but overall, it seemed to be in ok condition.

"Gosh, what's a tank like this doing way out here?"

I shrugged. "I don't know Todd. Maybe it was one of the many weapons transported here from Earth, but it wasn't found until now."

"And what kind of a tank even is this? I've never seen one like this before."

I was looking at the tank. " Based on its shape, I think that this tank is a German Panzer from WW2 Alex. It almost looks like a Panzer VI Tiger, but don't quote me on that, as I'm bad with telling Panzers apart. It sure looks like it's been here for a long time though. I'm surprised that it hasn't rusted away by now."

Fred was standing behind the tank. "That might be Leopard, but then why are there tracks back here?"

I looked back at him. "What was that Fred?"

"There's tracks from the tank back here! They're old, but they are still visible!"

I walked back, and sure enough, there were indeed tracks. They were old, but were still visible. "Hmm, maybe the tank rolled forwards a bit at some point."

"Maybe. It is on a small slope after all."

Andy was climbing on top of the tank. He managed to unlock the roof hatch, and then he took out a flashlight, attached it to his Glock 9mm, and peered inside.

"What's it look like in there Andy?"

"Dusty, old, but in somewhat good shape. The tank's empty of any bodies, but there does still seem to be ammo inside."

I gave him a concerned look. "Be careful Andy. There could be a snake, or some poisonous spiders in there. Plus, that ammo could be unstable."

"Yeah, I'll be careful Leopard." He then climbed inside of the tank, and the rest of us climbed up on it as well.

We could tell by the insignias on the tank that it was indeed German, and from its shape and features that it was definitely a Panzer from WW2. We decided to call it a Tiger, even though I still wasn't fully sure that it was a Panzer VI. Once Andy made sure with his Magic that the interior of the tank was completely safe, he climbed out, and Fred, Todd and I climbed in. I sat in the driver's seat, Todd sat in the gunner's seat, and Fred sat in the ammo-loader's seat. There were even old German Panzer crew helmets in there, which we put on. Meanwhile outside, Alex and Andy were sitting on the top of the Tiger's turret.

"Wow, this is so cool guys! What do you think that the chances are that this old tank still runs?"

I shrugged. "I don't know Todd. Probably not very high, given how long the tank's been here." I was wrong however. Just as I turned back to the controls again, we all felt the tank shudder beneath us, and with a violent cough, a loud roar, and a blast of black smoke from the exhaust vents, the Tiger suddenly came to life!

"What did you do Leopard?!"

I was baffled. "Nothing! I didn't do anything Fred! I wasn't touching anything!" I held up both of my hands so that Fred could see them. Suddenly, the Tiger lurched a bit, and with a grinding noise, the gears shifted, and the tank began to move forwards on its own!

"What's happening?!" Todd was legitimately freaking out, as was Fred.

Meanwhile up on the top of the tank, Alex and Andy had no idea that anything was wrong. They were cheering for us starting the tank up, and were also cheering for us getting it moving.

"Great work down there guys! This is so cool!"

"Not true Alex!" I yelled up at him. "None of us down here are doing anything!"

"Wait, what?" He looked down the still-open hatch at us. None of us were touching anything, and the tank was moving on its own. It turned left to avoid a tree, and then it reached the main path that we'd taken to get there before turning right, and heading back the way that we came at about 5mph.

Andy then looked over at Alex, and then down at Fred, Todd and I. He soon realized that the tank was operating itself. "It......IT'S A GHOST!!!! JUST LIKE THAT GHOST TRUCK!!!!!"

I groaned. "Andy, it's NOT a ghost! If it was a ghost, then it would NOT be a physically solid object! It's just a real tank that's infused with the spirit, or spirits, of someone who died on this tank, or the whole crew."

"But what if it's not though Leopard. Have you ever heard of a movie called 'The White Tiger'? That tank sure looks an awful lot like this one, and remember? It was some kind of Supernatural Being."

"Yeah, I did see 'White Tiger'. The movie was VERY well done. And that tank would disappear at the end of a conflict, only to reappear 30 years later. By that math, if it disappeared in 1945, it would have reappeared in 1975 around the time of the end of the Vietnam War. It then disappeared again in 1977, and reappeared in 2007."

"Afghanistan!" Alex pointed out. "But that conflict never ended. Then came WW3, WW4, WW5, and WW6, not to mention the Second Cold War!"

"Yeah, but if that was the case, the tank would have disappeared at the end of WW6, and not reappeared again until 2062."

"But what if it counted Afghanistan complete in the year 2010? Remember, there were other wars being fought in that region. What if it bypassed the world wars, and then reappeared now?"

I thought about that for a second. "Well, that would work, except for the instances of Matriarchal World Empire soldiers, One Race Empire soldiers, and Futa soldiers all having to face a tank that they called a ghost at one point or another. Plus, 'White Tiger' was just a movie."

"If that's the case, why did this tank only appear in Equestria recently? Remember what you said that Princess Celestia told you guys who saw the weapons vault? They found all of the weapons in Equestrian territory, so wouldn't they have found this tank?"

I shook my head. "No, she said that they found all of the weapons that they could. She herself did say that there could still be some out there. There already were too. Remember the Zebras and the Caribou? They had Earth-made weapons a lot of the time. More likely than not, this tank is in the same boat as the Ghost Truck, and is just possessed by a spirit, or spirits. I HIGHLY doubt that it's the White Tiger."

Fred then looked at the rest of the tank's interior. "Hey Tiger? If you really are the White Tiger, could you give us some sort of a sign? Or if you really are just a spirit/spirits infused with this Tiger, could you give us a different sign?"

For a minute or so, nothing happened.

"See? I told you Fred, it's just a sp........" I never got a chance to finish that thought. Before I could, the tank suddenly stopped, and the main gun discharged a shot! The shell struck a nearby tree, and brought it down! Even scarier than this though was the fact that the tank's gun-breech was still open, meaning that there was no ammo inside to be fired! (Fred checked the gun when he sat down. The breech was open, and there was no shell inside!) And when the gun fired, it made a VERY eerie noise, just like the White Tiger's main gun did when it fired!

Alex and Andy had heard our entire conversation, and they knew that we hadn't fired the tank's gun. Fred checked the breech, and sure enough, it was still open, there was no shell inside, and the breech itself hadn't even moved backwards with the recoil when the gun fired!

All 5 of us looked at each other. We all knew that "White Tiger" was just a movie, but now we REALLY weren't so sure anymore! I then took the tank's controls for the first time, and began to move the tank forwards again. On the way back to the Old Railyard, NONE of us could say a word. We now knew that our tank that we'd just found was indeed the legendary White Tiger, and that it was now in our possession. None of us knew what we were going to do with a Supernatural-Tank, but we were hoping to add it to the Battleship Express's roster of weapons.

When we got it back to the Old Railyard, Don immediately ordered the tank evaluated. To the shock of the engineers who did so, the tank's fuel and oil tanks never seemed to run dry, and her ammo supplies never seemed to run out either. Her rate of fire was unnatural, and no matter how many times parts were damaged, repaired, replaced, buffed out, or even painted over, the tank ALWAYS returned to the configuration that we'd found it in in the Everfree a few minutes later! It was clear that while the tank was a physical object, it was NOT the same type of spirit-infused vehicle that Ghost Truck was.

Ghost Truck herself seemed to be fascinated by White Tiger, and the tank was very tolerant of her presence. At various times, both could be seen rolling around the Old Railyard, with no one at their controls as always. No one knew what to do with the White Tiger. Sure, we talked about needing a tank, as well as possibly more of both tanks and gun-trucks to replace our aging fleet of combat construction machines, but with recent events, this plan was put on hold.

"Maybe we were a bit too hasty with declaring the modified and weaponized bulldozers, loaders, tractors, and excavators of the Construction Brigade to be obsolete." Jim told Don. "Sure, they all date from before 2008, making them all at least 22 years old, but what's wrong with keeping them in service? Those CAT's and John Deere's haven't let us down before."

"I agree with you Jim. With the recent turn of events, maybe we don't need gun-trucks or tanks after all. I mean sure, we have a gun-truck and a tank, but maybe that's all we need! We just need to upgrade our old machines. After all, they're tried, tested, rugged, reliable, still have clean(ish) bills of health, and above all, are NOT haunted, possessed by spirits, or are Supernatural in any way!"

After this conversation, while Ghost Truck and White Tiger were kept on the train's list of weapons, they were kept in their own armored unit, while the Construction Brigade was a separate armored unit. More emphasis was also placed on the Construction Brigade NOT being obsolete, and if they worked in defeating the Futas, and the Caribou and Zebras, not to mention their help in rebuilding Equestrian cities damaged in the Imperial War after the war was over, and their help in building Ryerson AFB too, then all they needed were some minor repairs and upgrades, and they could continue being used for a LONG time to come! Sure, the rest of us knew that it was because Don, Jim, and others, (none the least of which was Father Charles, the chaplain of Battalion 4009!) didn't want to deal with vehicles that were Supernatural, but there wasn't anything that we could do about it. (And most of us already agreed with them. We didn't need anymore vehicles like that, as while they were cool, their actions could be unpredictable).

However, in the coming days, we would be more than glad that they were in our arsenal. After shit hit the fan, again, we would be needing all hands on deck, including hands from vehicles possessed by spirits, or were a spirit themselves!

Spring turned into Summer, and with the changes in the seasons, problems arose with the 5 other airbases. While ground had been broken on them, funding them was proving to be an issue. The government had spent a LOT of money to get Ryerson fully up and running, and there wasn't the needed money to build the larger bases. Private donors were helping, but it was still an ongoing battle. Dates were pushed back to almost a decade to have all bases even fully built. This was seen as reasonable, as there were more pressing matters to deal with, and there didn't seem to be any visible threats at the time. The bases would be finished when they were finished, and in the meantime, Ryerson AFB would be running at full steam keeping the Air Force going.

For the rest of us in Battalion 4009, when we weren't taking care of the Battleship Express and Iron Glory, there was the Imperial War Museum to build. Progress was proceeding at a very good pace, and we were on target for opening day, which was slated for Spring 2032. However, we were slightly ahead of schedule. While the museum wouldn't open until that time, it could be completed as early as mid-Winter of 2031, perhaps 3-4 months ahead of schedule!

However, in the midst of all of the hubbub of building, and the sense or normalcy in the air, some of us couldn't shake the gut feeling that something was very wrong. None of us could put our finger on exactly what it was, but what we could say was that something was going to happen, it was going to happen soon, and it was going to be big.

"What do you think that it is Master?" Aurora asked me as I was taking her for her daily walk.

"I don't know Aurora. I've just got one of those gut feelings, and so do Don, Jim, and others. And as I'm sure that you know, my gut feelings have never been wrong. I don't know what's wrong, but I do know that it'll come to light, and that day will be soon."

Briana, who was riding on my shoulders, shifted a bit. "Ngh, if you ask me, I think that some of your old enemies could still be out there somewhere. Remember, Equus is a VERY big place, and there are a LOT of places to hide."

I was a bit worried. "You're right about that Briana, and what's worse is that with our old enemies, the Futas, we STILL don't know what happened to a lot of them. We THINK that they were obliterated in Vegas, and other places in the US, Europe, and Asia, but we don't know for sure. Not to mention all of those unconfirmed deaths of officers like General Amanda Preston, Colonel Diana Preston, and of course General Stacy."

Briana knew what I was really thinking, but was too scared to say. She knew as well as I did that in the old timeline, Demetria, Carla, and Stacy had been spotted in Ponyville on Armistice Day in 2034, and if they were there, then that most likely meant that there were others. And this new timeline was almost identical to the old one, which meant that the Futas were still out there somewhere. I didn't want to say anything, as I didn't want to be seen as a loon, unfit for duty, or worse, a traitor.

"If the Futas are indeed out there somewhere, they will NOT be allowed to gain a foothold! We won't let them! The same goes for any Caribou, Zebras, Griffons, Minotaurs, and others who fought with them in the Imperial War. They'll NEVER win! Not while any of us still draw breath, and can fight to take them down!"

I meant every word of what I said, but little did I know that myself, and the rest of us, were about to stop talking the talk, and actually start walking the walk!

Towards the end of the Summer of 2030, everything as we knew it changed forever. We learned that not only were we not alone, but that our enemies were indeed still out there, and that we were HORRIBLY outmanned and outgunned. However, we also learned that there were others out there just like us who were willing to fight against tyranny, and that they too had a HUGE war-train that they fought an evil empire with!

The day everything changed started like so many other days. August 12th was a clear day, and it was possibly going to be a hot one. On that day, Iron Glory was about to be taken out again on a supply run. Her engineer, Daryl Meers, and his fireman Fred Barrett were getting her all steamed up for a run to Las Pegasus. They were heading there to pick up supplies for the construction of the Imperial War Museum, and a new shipment of railroad ties and ballast that had just come in too. Like they usually did when they made a morning trip to a big city, they were also pulling the mail train to Las Pegasus.

2 of the 14 cars on Iron Glory's train were outfitted to work as a mobile post office, and there were 8 postal clerks on the train as well. In addition to them, plus Daryl and Fred, and their brakeman, there were also 6 men to guard the mail. Recently, there had been a string of attempted mail train robberies. So far, the only ones who had suffered were the would-be robbers, (most of whom had lost their lives) but it NEVER hurt to be too cautious. Iron Glory was a favorite for taking the mail, as each and every car in the train was armed with at least machine guns, and a few others had light artillery guns, and 2 were outfitted with powerful howitzers! NOPONY was going to be stealing mail from Iron Glory's train and live to tell about it, hence the reason that she was picked most often to take mail across Equestria.

By about 8am, the train was ready to go. The last of the mail was being loaded up, the clerks were hard at work sorting it, and putting it into bags, the brakeman was in the caboose at the back of the train, Daryl and Fred were in Iron Glory's cab, and the 6 guards were also at their posts.

"Everyone and everypony ready back there?"

One by one, everyone and everypony else on the train sounded off.

"Ok, good." Daryl then radioed Don. "We should reach Las Pegasus by 11:30, and we'll be on our way back with what we need by about 2pm, before reaching Ponyville again by about 5:30. Routine trip, and everything should be ok."

"Roger that Daryl. And be careful. That mail HAS to reach Las Pegasus! You CANNOT fail to deliver it!"

"Don't worry Don. We've never had anything go wrong before, and we don't intend to start now! We're locked and loaded, and we WILL be reaching Las Pegasus on time!"

"Copy that."

Daryl then signed off, and at 8:02am, Iron Glory pulled out of Ponyville Station on her way to Las Pegasus, and into one of the most unusual situations that her crew had ever faced.

For a while, everything went smoothly. The green with black trim Wild West-style 4-4-0 locomotive, numbered "1", pulled her train fast and smoothly, and was making good time to Las Pegasus.

However, by about 10:30am, the train was reaching an area of woods that was maybe 75 miles outside of Las Pegasus. The woods, known as the "Desert Woods" due to its close proximity to the edge of the Palomino Desert, were a very beautiful location, and well known as a hiking and picnic spot. Recently however, it was seen as a potential spot for would-be train robbers to hide. Sure, it hadn't happened yet, but it never hurts to be prepared for anything! Suddenly though, everything went wrong.

As they were approaching the Desert Woods, Daryl suddenly saw something above the trees. "Huh? Hey Fred, look!"

Fred looked up. "What is it Daryl?"

Daryl pointed. "Look above the trees! Doesn't that look like smoke?"

Fred looked, and sure enough, there did indeed seem to be smoke rising above the treetops. However, it didn't look like the smoke from a fire, as it was almost pure white, but it was seemingly coming from a single source.

"Yeah, it almost looks like the smoke from a train! But yet that can't be, as the Morning Express already came through, and there aren't any other trains on this route yet today. Plus, doesn't that look a little bit too white to be smoke from a locomotive?"

"Well then what is it?"

"I don't know, but if it is another train, I REALLY hope that it's not on our track!"

"Yeah, me too Fred."

Suddenly though, something on the tracks in the woods moved. Daryl and Fred looked closer at the object, and they realized that not only was it the source of the smokey-steam, but it was also on the tracks in front of them, and it looked to be another train!

"Whoa!" Daryl then slammed on Iron Glory's brakes.

"Hang on, we're stopping!" Fred radioed back to the others in the train.

When Iron Glory came to a complete stop, Daryl and Fred looked out of their cab windows at the train maybe 25 yards in front of them, partially hidden inside of the woods. Their eyes went wide in shock.

"Oh.........."

"Man........."

(TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!!!! This saga is NOT over yet!!!!!)

Author's Note

And, that was the Epilogue, which kinda sorta tried to masquerade as a chapter. It's still an Epilogue though, the Epilogue to "Tracks Backwards".

Yes, sadly our time with "Tracks Backwards" has come to an end. It was a fun journey, and yes, the story was short, but it's about to springboard us all into a MAJOR sequel! Yes, you read that right. The reason that this story is so short is all because it's a springboard into the BIGGEST adventure yet!

The Saga of the Battleship Express and Battalion 4009 is FAR from over, and in the next story, "Tale of 2 Big Boys", EVERYTHING starts going down! "Tracks Backwards" led to it, and now it heads to the war ahead. Yes, there is a war coming. The biggest war since WW6, even bigger than the Imperial War, is about to go down. Enemies old and new come to fight, and the good guys have to fight back, and this time, they won't be alone in their fight against evil........

Who aids them in their fight? Which enemies come to the field to fight? What do they want, and how far are they willing to go to achieve it? What did Daryl and Fred see in the Desert Woods? It was a train, but what train is it, and who does it belong to? Are the Futas still in the Undiscovered West in this timeline, and if so, how much have they been able to build? And what could POSSIBLY happen next in this incredible saga? Well, you all know the drill. Normally, I would say "I'll see you all again in the next Chapter!", but this time, since it's the end of the story, I'll have to say what I did for the ends of "Battleship Express", and "Beyond the Express".

"Tracks Backwards" may have come to an end, but the Saga WILL continue in the sequel, so stay tuned for "Tale of 2 Big Boys", (hopefully!) coming soon to a bookshelf near you! I REALLY hope that you liked this story, and are super-hyped for what's coming next.

In the meantime, as always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again soon in "Tale of 2 Big Boys"!

ScarFox out for now!

(Also, if you can't wait that long, or want to see what's coming next, I did write a blog entry about this. I called it "'Tracks Backwards', and the Future of the Battleship Express Saga", or something really close to that).