Twilight came downstairs to check on Wolf. He was fast asleep, still in the same corner, in the middle of a small lake of tears. Twilight's horn glowed, and a mop came to life, wiping up the tears. Then, her horn glowed again, and a blanket levitated onto Wolf. She sighed, then went to write the letter she wasn't sure she wanted to write.

Dear Princess Celestia......

- - - - -

Planet Gift, July 29th, 2659, 16:39 hrs

Wolf stood above a lone grave on top of a hill, under the shade of a large evergreen. On the gravestone was the image of a soaring hawk. Below the image, one letter and three numbers.

“H392”

Wolf could hear footsteps, someone was coming. He turned around, and he saw her, her bright green eyes staring at him, her long, golden hair dancing in the wind.

“Cougar......”

“Wolf, I'm so sorry. I know what he meant to you, you were friends since day one.”

“He died in my arms Cougar.....he was staring right at me the whole time.”

“I know, I heard.”

Both Wolf and Cougar were silent for a moment. Then Cougar gave him a much needed hug, then broke the silence.

“Come on. They need us back at HQ.”

Wolf didn't answer. He stood over the grave, and out of Cougar's view, shed a single tear onto the gravestone. Then he whispered:

“Goodbye Hawk.”

All of a sudden, a hawk came and sat atop the gravestone. It gave off two quick screeches to Wolf, who was sure he heard the hawk say:

“Goodbye Wolf.”

- - - - -

Wolf woke up eight hours later.It was night time,he could tell by the silence in both the library and outside.He soon discovered that he had a blanket around him, and there were no tears on the ground.

- - - - -

Of course, who knows how long I've been out?

- - - - -

He got up, and looked out the window. It was pitch black, save for a few lights that were still on. Wolf opened the front door, and left the library.

* * * * *

Wolf had walked outside of town. The moon began to rise. Wolf looked at it, and he saw it.

A hill with a large evergreen on it. Wolf couldn't believe his eyes. It looked exactly like the hill that Hawk was buried on. He climbed the hill, and stood above the spot where he remembered the grave to be. He stared at the ground for a few minutes, then reached into the neck of his uniform, and pulled out something he had concealed from everyone else. It was a necklace, with a howling wolf on one side, and a cougar on the other. He tightened his grip on it, and he whispered.

“Cougar....”

He left the hill in complete silence. It was obvious that if he stayed longer, he would begin to cry again.

* * * * *

He came to the top of another hill, and looked down. The Red Dawn remained there, as if it was waiting for Wolf to return. He came to the same door he first came out of. He walked through the empty titanium halls, until he finally arrived at the bridge. A voice from out of nowhere.

“Welcome back Major. I was worried that you were lost, or worse.”

“I'm fine Samantha.”

“You seem hungry. Shall I prepare a meal for you?”

Wolf remembered the food he ate on the battlefield. It was horrible, but it was food, and he had to stay strong. But, he had a new home, with much better food than anything he had in the war.

“No. Initiate ship lockdown.”

“Major?”

“You heard me Sam. Initiate lockdown.”

“Affirmative. Initiating lockdown.”

Wolf proceeded to leave the bridge, until something caught his eye. He looked at it more closely. It was a pistol.He picked it up, and took out the magazine to see if it was loaded.

It was. He looked near where he found the pistol, and found the extra mags he put there. He put the initial mag back in, and turned on the safety, put the pistol in a small slot on his suit, obviously meant for sidearms. He put the extra ammo in the pocket next to it, then left the ship.

* * * * *

Within the hour, Wolf was back at the library. He took out the weapon, and slid it under the couch.The extra ammo followed. He then climbed on top of the couch, and went to sleep again.

The next morning....

Wolf woke up bright and early, at the crack of dawn to be exact. He made sure to make as little noise as possible as he left. He didn't want to wake anyone up. Easy enough. He had his fair share of stealth ops during the war. He left the library without a peep. He shut the door as slowly as he could, making almost no noise at all.

* * * * *

Ponyville hospital. It was the first time Wolf had come to it without being gravely injured. He quickly entered the hospital, looking for Nurse Redheart. He went through the ward where he was, and he found his old bed, now taken. Big Mac was still in the bed right next to his. He wasn't asleep,he was wide awake, reading a book. He looked up and saw the human standing right next to him.

“Morning.”

“Strange, you don't look critically injured.”

Both laughed.

“How have you been Mac?”

“Good, I should be back on my hooves in a week or so.”

“Good to hear. Hey, have you seen Nurse Redheart around?”

“Eeyup, she left to check on somepony else, she should be back soon.”

“Need some company?”

“Always.”

The two began talking again. Then Big Mac opened up to Wolf and admitted that he was in love with Rainbow Dash.

“I want to tell her, but I just act so stupid when I'm around her. I actually walked into an apple tree branch while we were walking through the orchards.”

“Tell her while you can buddy. You won't get a second chance.”

Big Mac smiled at him, then he asked.

“So, did you have a special somepony?”

Wolf went silent. His mind was wandering.

“Cougar......”

- - - - -

Planet Gift, August 13th, 2659,13:42 hrs.

Gunfire and explosions could be heard from all sides. Wolf looked to his right. A large tank passed by him. It was a Cerberus main battle-tank. The Cerberus's main armament, a 210 mm cannon, was more than a match for most Spinar vehicles, as well as the various 'heavy' classes. It's secondary armament, a 24 mm machine gun, could easily overcome most Spinar infantry. This one was painted gray, probably to give it some camouflage amongst the rubble. Someone called out to Wolf. He turned, and there she was. Cougar, in full armor, with a M-72 Assault Rifle in her hands, running towards him, taking shots at a bunker a kilometer away.

“Come on Wolf! We have to keep moving! The tank's not going to wait for us!”

Wolf shook his head.

“I'm coming!”

Cougar turned and began to run away.

Wolf looked down at the ground for a moment, as if to recollect his thoughts. When he looked back up, Cougar was lying on the ground, a large spike sticking out of her armor.

“COUGAR!”

He opened fire and emptied his clip at the bunker. He ran towards Cougar, dived and rolled to avoid Spinar fire. He knelt above Cougar and he yanked her helmet off. She was alive, gasping for breath.

"Damn it Cougar, not you too!"

"Wolf...I'm so sorry..."

"No, you're going to make it, you hear me?!"

"Wolf..."

"Damn it, stay with me!"

He gazed into her eyes, she could see the fear in his own.

"You always talked too much..."

With her last ounce of strength, Cougar lunged forward and kissed him, like she wanted to do for so long now. Wolf was caught off guard. He jerked back a litte as his eyes shot open, but they slowly began to close again as he returned the kiss. They remained there, their lips locked together in their first....and last embrace. Cougar broke the kiss, smiled weakly...and let go.

- - - - -

Wolf closed his eyes tightly, as if he was in pain.

“No.”

Big Mac knew that something was wrong. He decided to drop the subject. Nurse Redheart came to check on Big Mac, and found Wolf with him.

“Well, this is a suprise. What can I do for you?”

“I left my armor and my rifle here. I was wondering if I could pick them up.”

“Of course, they're over here.”

Nurse Redheart directed Wolf to the corner of the room. There lay his armor and his rifle, and another sidearm, just like he was told. He looked at the armors side. there was a large hole.

“We didn't know if we should try to fix it or not. Hope you don't mind.”

“It's alright.”

An orange stallion burst into the hospital. He was almost out of breath. He tried to say something, before he collapsed from exhaustion. Wolf and Nurse Redheart rushed to him. He was panting heavily.

“Calm down,what happened?”

“They're.....They're coming!”

He raised his hoof and pointed at the window. Wolf looked out of it, and could see a large cloud of dust rising. He put his helmet on, and adjusted the visor to zoom in on the cloud. Then he saw it. A horde of fully armored dogs. Wolf immediately began to put his armor on. Within a few minutes, Wolf was fully armed and ready for battle. With the rifle in his hands, he said one thing before bursting out the door.

“Here we go....”

End chapter 4.