It was a cold Christmas Eve night in Barkingburg. A small white terrier was fast asleep in her bed. She was breathing slowly and silently. She was listening for a sound she was afraid she would never hear.

The ringing bells of Santa's sleigh.

JINGLE JINGLE

Sweetie's eyes opened. She turned her attention to the source of the sound and sat up from her bed. She looked towards her window and got up to look, thinking the sound was coming from there. In the process, she rested her paws on top of a radiator heater, which she quickly took off with a silent gasp when the heater burned her paws. Sweetie rubbed her paw on her fogged-up window to have a better view outside. It was snowing. Everything outside was covered in a white blanket of snow. Sweetie wasn't a big fan of the snow. Her small size made it easy for her to get cold quickly. By the castle gates was a snowman built by the Princess. It had a red scarf, stick arms and oven mitts for hands. At least, that is what she could see looking at the snowman from behind.

JINGLE JINGLE

Sweetie turned around. The jingle was now coming from behind her. From her door. Slowly, she began walking to her door. But in doing so, she accidentally kicked a ball she had. It rolled into a metal bowl that was on its side. It let out a loud CLANG, causing Sweetie to stop in her tracks. The bowl jiggled around a big until it came to a quick stop. Sweetie continued her progress towards her door. She opened it and rushed out.

Sweetie ran towards the stairs and went down, stopping at the middle section of the stairs, where another set would lead her down further. From there, she looked at the large living area of the castle, where a big tree was set up. Decorated in ornaments and bright lights. She looked at the base of the tree. To her slight disappointment, there were no presents, the stockings weren't filled, and the cookies and milk were still sitting on a nearby table.

"Whatever." Sweetie sighed to herself. "It's not like I care anyway..."

JINGLE JINGLE

Sweetie turned to the sound. A shadow from a light from another room began walking in. It was big and it had a familiar-looking hat. Sweetie couldn't believe it. Was this really happening? Is she about to see-?

"Alright, Princess. It's time for bed."

Another shadow appeared a much smaller one. Sweetie sighed. It was only the Earl and the Princess. Sweetie shook her head in disappointment as she ran back upstairs to her room. She left a small crack open from her door so she could see what the two would do. The Princess's room was right across from hers.

"Will he be alright all by himself?" The Princess asked as the Earl opened her door.

"He'll be fine, your highness. He's strong enough to take care of himself." The Earl replied.

'Him?' Sweetie wondered.

"I guess..." The Princess started. "But it feels wrong having him guard the crown at this time of year. Especially when he may still need to recover."

'Recover?' Sweetie was now interested in this mysterious person. Whoever they were, they didn't sound like they were in the best condition.

"Earl?" The Princess started as she got into bed. "Is what Sweetie said true?"

"What do you mean, your highness?" The Earl asked.

"She said Santa would have to fly faster than the speed of light to get to every house in one night." The Princess said. "And to hold everyone's presents his sled would be bigger than an ocean liner."

"Sweetie said that?" The Earl said surprised. "She was just kidding you. She knows there's a Santa."

"She said she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure if Santa was for real." The Princess stated.

"Of course Santa's for real. He's as real as Christmas itself." The Earl reassured her. "But he won't come until you're sound asleep, young lady." The Earl tucked her in bed. "Sweet dream, your highness. Santa will be here before you know it. So go to sleep."

The Princess yawned. "Goodnight, Earl."

The Earl turned off the light to her room and shut her door. Sweetie could see a Santa hat hanging from the Earl's waist. A bell is attached to the top. That was the jingling she was hearing. Sweetie backed away from her door. She grabbed a nearby flashlight, turned it on, and opened up a drawer she puts stuff in.

She pulled out a card, a newspaper clipping, and a magazine. The card was of herself in Santa's lap, from a store called Barkingsheimers, but Sweetie's curiosity made her pull on the beard, revealing that it was fake. The pretend Santa had a shocked look on his face.

She put the card away and looked at the newspaper clipping. The headline read "SANTAS ON STRIKE! Department store Santas walkout." There was a picture too. It was of multiple people in Santa costumes holding up signs that read. "Santa is on STRIKE.' She huffed. This was just more proof to her that Santa wasn't real.

She put the newspaper clipping away and looked at the magazine. On the cover was a kid with a shocked look on his face. He was in his pajamas, and he was holding a Santa costume. The magazine was labeled. "The Discovery."

"Mm-Hmm." Sweetie frowned. She turned around, pointing her light to a line of dictionaries she had. She grabbed the book labeled "N-O" and opened it, turned to the words "North Pole." She began reading some keywords that were labeled.

"Stark... Barren." Sweetie turned her attention to a short sentence that was in bold. "Devoid of life." Sweetie sighed. She put the book back where it belongs and lay in her bed. "A holiday about some fat man in a red suit breaking into people's houses and leaving gifts. I wonder what greedy company came up with that?" Sweetie wondered. "'He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake?' Why do people love this creepy stalker?"

Sweetie shook her head. "Whatever. I'm just gonna sleep."

"But it feels wrong having him guard the crown at this time of year. Especially when he may still need to recover."

The words of the Princess were stuck in Sweetie's mind. For some odd reason, she felt a little worried. Someone was guarding the crown on Christmas Eve, and they're not in the best of shape. She had to check it out. She looked over at her vest, pup-pack, and tiara. They were all hanging up on a mini hat hanger. She walked to it and took off her vest, but part of her vest got caught on the end of the hook It ripped a hole on the right side pocket. Small bits of kibble fell out of the pocket and laid everywhere.

"Ugh!" She groaned. "I'll fix it later." She put her vest on, followed by her pup-pack and tiara, and headed out. But at the door, she was stopped by her toy frog, Busby.

"Out of the way, Busby. I'm busy." Sweetie said in an annoyed tone.

"..."

"We can cuddle later. Right now, I need to do some investigating."

"..."

"Oh, relax," Sweetie said. She swatted Busby away. "It's not like I'm gonna disappear on an express train."

Sweetie made her way out. She silently walked down the halls and made her way downstairs. Once she knew she was clear, she hurried her way to the main hall. Where the crown was kept. She got to the hall but didn't go in straight away. She wanted to make sure whoever was there was worth her time. If it was anyone like Claw or some random pup, then it wasn't worth it. She peaked around the corner slowly. The person, er pup, that was guarding the crown was none other than Chase. He was standing there, staring into nothing with his police uniform on. Though there were two long stripes on each side. Something that was new to her. "What is he doing here?" Sweetie wondered. She decided Chase was worth her time and made her way over to him.

"Chase?" Sweetie said softly. Chase turned to the white terrier who was walking up to him. Sweetie stopped inches in front of Chase. Chase hadn't said anything yet. Instead, he just kept on staring at her. "Uhh, Chase."

Chase shook his head. "Sorry. It's just... you're just as pretty as I remember."

Sweetie was surprised, and a bit flustered. She wasn't expecting a compliment from Chase of all pups. "O-Oh... Uhh... T-Thank?"

"Sorry, was that weird to say?" Chase asked, sheepishly putting his paw on his neck.

"N-No. It was just... unexpected." Sweetie admitted. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Adventure Bay celebrating Christmas?"

Chase shook his head. "No. Ryder and the others decided to spend Christmas with their parents."

"That doesn't explain why you're here," Sweetie said. "Do your parents live in Barkingburg?"

"No," Chase sighed. "I don't know my parents. I was abandoned when I was young."

"Oh..." Sweetie's ears flopped down sadly. She didn't know Chase was abandoned. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. It doesn't bother me." Chase told her.

"But why come to Barkingburg to guard the crown? Wouldn't you rather celebrate Christmas?" Sweetie wondered.

"Well..." Chase paused. "Christmas isn't my thing. At least, not anymore, I guess."

Sweetie looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"How do I explain this?" Chase thought aloud. "I guess I should start by explaining this." Chase took off his hat and lowered his head. Sweetie gasped at what she saw. There was a huge scar on the top of Chase's head.

"Chase... what happened?" Sweetie didn't know why, but she became very concerned for the german shepherd.

"I was directing traffic one day during a mission," Chase began. "Before I knew it, I was hit by a drunk driver going 83 mph" (133.5 kph) Sweetie gasped. "I barely survived and... I lost all my memories. But I slowly got them back. Well, not all of them."

"You're still missing some memories?" Sweetie asked. Chase nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, which ones?"

"Christmas," Chase answered. "I can't remember anything about Christmas. The pups said that I loved Christmas, but, I find that hard to believe. I mean, how am I supposed to believe a fat man in a red suit travels around the world in one night, breaking into everyone's houses, and leaving presents for them? It sounds stupid."

"Tell me about it." Sweetie huffed.

"You too?" Chase wondered.

"I stopped believing two years ago. It's just ridiculous." Sweetie said. "Is Christmas the only thing you forgot?"

"There's... one more thing," Chase spoke. "My friend Marshall told me that I liked some pup. Like, in a loving way. He wouldn't tell me who it was. All he said was that their name started with an S. And... I only know two pups whose name starts with an S."

Sweetie's ears perked up. She could feel herself getting flustered again. There's no way Chase liked her in that way, right?"

"W-Well, it's obviously Skye. Why in the world would it be me?" Sweetie said, looking away from him.

"I thought so at first too. But, I don't feel that type of connection with her. So... I started thinking, maybe it was you." Chase told her.

Sweetie blushed. Her heart began to race, and her tail wagged excitedly. 'W-Why do I feel so happy?' Sweetie didn't know why, but for some odd reason, she liked the feeling. "R-Really? Are you sure?"

"Not really, to be honest," Chase admitted. "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up. It was stupid."

"N-No. It's fine," Sweetie told him. She let out a yawn, which Chase found rather cute. Chase noticed how tired Sweetie looked and became a bit worried.

"You should head back to bed Sweetie, it's late," Chase said.

Sweetie nodded. "Yeah... I'll do that," Sweetie took one step away, but the Princess's previous words rang through Sweetie's head again. "Wait..." She turned back to Chase. "When did your accident happen?"

"Around 6 or 7 months ago. Why?" Chase asked.

Sweetie shook her head. "No way you're fully recovered from being hit by a car going that fast. How long have you been doing missions since?"

Chase was silent for a moment. He then spoke up. "This is my first mission."

"Chase, how much have you recovered since your accident?" Sweetie asked.

"Well, my bones have healed. I guess that's a positive," Chase started. "But I'm still sore in a lot of places, and I had to relearn to walk after laying down for so long. So my balance is a bit off."

"That tells me you aren't ready for missions yet," Sweetie deadpanned. "You need to rest Chase, you shouldn't be guarding a crown."

"I'm fine, Sweetie. I'll manage," Chase reassured. But Sweetie wasn't budging.

"Not a chance, Chase. Come on," Sweetie grabbed Chase's collar and started dragging him away from the crown.

"Sweetie, what are you doing?" Chase asked as he regained control of himself.

"Taking you to my room. You're sleeping with me tonight," Sweetie told him. But immediately blushed afterward. So did Chase. "N-Not in that way. I... I can't let you guard a crown while you're still hurt. And I know, you may think I'm doing another trick, but I have standards."

"That's surprising," Chase muttered. But Sweetie heard him and lightly punched him.

"Listen," Sweetie said in a stern tone. "I'm being serious. I never intend on hurting anyone or seeing others hurt. So for the rest of your visit here, you're under my care."

Chase was surprised. He wasn't expecting Sweetie to do something like this. He had always seen her as a greedy and selfish pup. But now he was seeing Sweetie in a new light.

"U-Uhh, what?" Chase said in slight disbelief.

Sweetie blushed and turned away. "L-Like I said. I have standards. If there's anything I hate more fish, bananas, the Duke, and Claw, it's someone being hurt."

"I... wow..." Chase said, still in a bit of shock. "I have to say, I'm a bit surprised."

"Is that a bad thing?" Sweetie asked, turning back to him.

"No, no," Chase replied. "It's just that I wasn't expecting you to say that since you hate me."

"Hate you?" Sweetie looked away from Chase again. She felt an incredible amount of guilt and shame overcome her. "Why would I hate you?"

Chase looked at her with concern. He could see the frown on her face. "Well, I did help prevent you from becoming queen multiple times. I know you hate us for stopping you so many times."

Sweetie sighed. "Yeah, I hate when you and the Paw Patrol stop my plans," She turned back to Chase. "But I can't hate you for being a good pup. Especially when you guys saved my life multiple times. If anything, you should be the one to hate me."

"I..." Chase was silent for a moment. "I won't lie to you, Sweetie. I did. As a police pup, seeing people and pups do crimes is something I hate seeing. But I feel like I went too far with you," Sweetie looked at him, confused. "I've said some things about you that I should've never said. And I should apologize to you for that."

Sweetie shook her head. "You shouldn't need to apologize to me. I should be the one apologizing to you for all the tricks I've done. Especially for using your allergies against you. I should've known better. I know how bad cat allergies can get, yet I went through with it anyway."

"Sweetie, it's fine. I'm around cats a lot more than you think. I'm used to it." Chase reassured.

"But they can get worse, Chase. I could've killed you that day for all I know," Sweetie said, a hint of guilt in her voice. "W-We're getting off track. Just... let me take care of you. Please."

Chase could see that Sweetie really wanted to do this. He wasn't exactly sure why, maybe she wanted to redeem herself, but either way, he couldn't say no to her.

"Well, it would be rude of me to say no," Chase began. "Alright, I'll let you."

Sweetie let out a deep breath. For some reason, she was glad Chase was letting her do this. "Follow me," Sweetie led Chase to her room, but before they went up the stairs, they walked through the large living area of the castle, where the giant Christmas tree sat.

"Whoa," Chase said in amazement. "And I thought the tree at the Lookout was big."

Sweetie giggled at his amazement. She found it cute. "Yeah. Barkingburg likes to go over the top for the holidays," The two walked up the stairs and came across Sweetie's room. Sweetie walked in first, Chase quickly followed.

"I didn't know you had a room. I thought you always slept in your doghouse or your bed by the throne." Chase said.

"I don't usually sleep in here. Only when I want to be alone," Sweetie said. She unzipped her vest and placed it on the ground, along with her tiara and pup-pack. She jumped up onto her bed. Sweetie's bed wasn't a dog bed. It was a king-sized bed for humans. She looked very tiny on it. "Hop on."

"Huh?" Chase said confused. "Oh, so when you said I'm sleeping with you, you actually meant sleep with you."

"Well, duh! If I didn't, then what was the point of bringing you here?" Sweetie said.

"This doesn't feel right. I mean, you're a princess, and I'm just a common pup." Chase said.

"A common pup?" Sweetie questioned. She took a look at Chase's ranking on his uniform.  "You're chief of police. That's far from common."

"Ok. One, you're wrong, this is a detective 1 badge," Chase corrected. "And two, I'm a sergeant officer. I'm only a detective for ultimate rescue missions."

"Whatever," Sweetie said, rolling her eyes. "Being a police pup alone doesn't make you common."

"Ok, but still..." Chase said, still reluctant.

"Aww, what's wrong? Embarrassed to sleep with the royal pup?" Sweetie teased, causing Chase to blush. "Come on. You're a guy. You'd get to brag to the other boys that you slept with royalty."

"I'm... not gonna do that," Chase deadpanned. "Not to mention, they'll get the wrong idea."

Sweetie huffed. "You're no fun. You should let loose more. You know, let a little bad out."

"I'm a cop," Chase said.

"Exactly!" Sweetie smiled. "Don't pretend like you don't know how corrupt police are these days."

Chase sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Alright, I'll get on," Chase jumped onto the bed and sat next to Sweetie.

"Hey, vest off," Sweetie ordered as she swatted his vest. But she immediately regretted it as she instantly felt pain. "Ow! What are you wearing? A brick wall?"

Chase nervously laughed. "Sorry. My vest is bulletproof."

"No kidding," Sweetie huffed. "Well, I'm not sleeping with someone wearing a bulletproof vest. So would you please take it off?"

Chase became tense. "Do I... have to?"

Sweetie's ears perked at the tone of Chase's voice. He sounded nervous and hesitant. "Yeah. You do. Unless you're hiding something from me. Are you?"

"N-No... It's just..." Chase paused. "It's personal."

"Chase, tell me," Sweetie ordered. Chase stayed quiet. Sweetie growled a little. "Fine. If you won't tell me, then I'll just have to see for myself," Sweetie reached to unzip his vest, but Chase quickly backed away from her. Sweetie was about to try again until she took another look at Chase's face. He looked scared like something was about to happen to him. "Chase?"

"I'm not taking it off, Sweetie," Chase told her, raising his voice in a stern but nervous tone. It surprised Sweetie. The only person brave enough to raise their voice at Sweetie was the Princess, and that was only because she was her owner. "I'm sorry for my tone, but I can't take this vest off. I can't."

Sweetie was quiet. Chase was hiding something from her, and she wanted to know what. But what she was doing wasn't helping. It seemed to make things worse.

"Don't apologize," Sweetie said. "I'm sorry. You can keep the vest on, but I want you to lay down so you can sleep."

Chase relaxed and nodded. He kept his vest on, but he did take his hat and pup-pack on. He laid down on one side of the bed, while Sweetie laid on the other. Another wave of guilt overcame Sweetie. She felt awful at what she tried to do.

"I'm sorry," Sweetie apologized again. "I shouldn't have done that."

"It's fine, Sweetie," Chase spoke. "Just... don't do it again. Please."

"I promise."

Satisfied with her response, Chase closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep. Sweetie looked over at a nightstand on her side of the bed. On top was an old analog clock. The time read 9:55 p.m. She yawned and closed her eyes to sleep.

It didn't feel long to Sweetie, for some reason, it was hard to get to sleep. She opened her eyes again and looked at her clock. To her surprise, the time read 11:55 p.m. It had been two hours.

'Did I even sleep?' Sweetie wondered. She felt a bit rested, but she would rather still be asleep. She felt something else though. Something she had felt before many times.

Loneliness.

Sweetie couldn't explain it herself, but for a long time, she's been yearning for someone to take away her loneliness. Sweetie thought sleeping with the Princess would help take this loneliness away, but that never seemed to work. Her loneliness often led her to have restless nights.

'When will it end?' She thought to herself. 'I don't want to feel alone anymore...'

Sweetie tried to fall back asleep. But there was something keeping her up. And it wasn't her loneliness this time. Instead, it was the faint sound of whimpering. Sweetie knew the sound could only come from one pup.

Chase.

She turned to the sleeping shepherd next to her. Chase's paws were twitching and he had a look of fear on his face. It looked like he was having a nightmare. Sweetie became worried. She moved closer to the german shepherd.

"Chase?" She quietly called out. 

"N-No..." Chase muttered in his sleep. "Don't put me down."

Sweetie was shocked by what he said. 'He's having a nightmare...'

"I can... still serve..." He muttered. Tears began to fall from his eyes. "I don't want to go..."

Sweetie felt her heart break into a million pieces. She had never seen Chase so broken before. The things he was saying were hard to swallow. But she didn't exactly know why he was saying those things until something Chase said popped back into her mind.

"I was directing traffic one day during a mission," Chase began. "Before I knew it, I was hit by a drunk driver going 83 mph" (133.5 kph) Sweetie gasped. "I barely survived and... I lost all my memories. But I slowly got them back. Well, not all of them."

"'I barely survived...'" Sweetie repeated to herself. Her eyes went wide. "No... don't tell me. they..." Sweetie turned her attention back to Chase. "They were going to put him down..."

Sweetie could see the pain and fear in Chase's face. She didn't like seeing him like this. She couldn't explain it, but she hated what she was seeing. "I need to do something..." Sweetie thought of ways she could help him, but no good ideas came to her mind. That was until she saw a small gap between Chase's left foreleg and Chase himself. Small enough for him to squeeze next to him. "Maybe..." Sweetie thought about it for a moment, she could feel her face heat up at the thought. "N-No. I can't. Can I?"

Sweetie's thoughts went back through the whole night. Ever since she met up with Chase, she's been strangely comfortable around him. She wasn't angry at him like she usually was whenever they meet. Instead, she felt worried and guilty. She knew Chase has done nothing wrong to her, ever. He was just doing his job. Yet since day one, she's treated him harshly. Even going as far as using his allergies against him. She even trapped him in a secret chamber that had no way of escape. If the rest of the Paw Patrol hadn't come, he could've died in there from starvation and dehydration. She desperately wanted to be queen. But...

Was killing someone worth it?

"No," Sweetie answered herself. She made her decision. Slowly and carefully, she pushed herself through the small gap and laid herself next to Chase. His left foreleg almost wrapped around Sweetie. Her plan somehow worked. Chase stopped twitching and whining. He was peacefully sleeping again. But that wasn't all. Being next to Chase, Sweetie had a sense of security when next to him. Not only that, her loneliness was completely gone.

'You did something to me... I'm not acting like myself,' Sweetie thought to herself. 'You've been making me feel things all night. You're injuries worry me. And... I've been feeling so flustered around you. Especially when you called me pretty...' Sweetie blushed at the recent memory. That weird feeling came back to her.

'I went too far since day one,' Sweetie thought as she stared at the german shepherd's face. 'I should've never done those things to you. Yet still, you went out of your way to save me,' Sweetie thought back at the two instances of when Chase saved her. When she fell from her roadster in the air, Chase caught her with his landing pad. And when she fell from Big Benji, Chase jumped up with his motorcycle and caught her. 'You're always saving someone, but you have no one to save you. Maybe I can be the one to save you. But maybe I'm too late...' Sweetie closed her eyes. 'I hope that one day, you'll let me start over.'

Sweetie soon found herself fast asleep. She felt like she was at peace. She didn't feel alone.

She felt happy.

RUMBLE RUMBLE

The room began to shake. Everything inside began to move and make lots of noise. Chase and Sweetie both woke up, startled at what was happening. The shaking got worse and stuff that was placed on shelves fell to the ground.

"What's going on?" Chase questioned, not even noticing that Sweetie was now next to him.

"I-I'm not sure," Sweetie replied with worry. Was this an earthquake? There wasn't one reported to happen, and Barkingburg rarely got earthquakes.

Their attention was turned to the radiator heater by the window. It began building up more and more pressure, until steam busted from the valve, making a loud whistle noise. Bright lights started shining from the window. The lights were moving like something was passing by. A loud chuffing sound could be heard now as well.

"It's coming from the front of the castle!" Chase exclaimed. He quickly put on his hat and pup-pack and rushed out of the room.

"Chase, wait!" Sweetie yelled. She quickly put on her vest, pup-pack, and tiara and followed Chase. She quickly caught up to him just as Chase was lowering the drawbridge. When it was down, the two ran all the way down the main walkway of the castle. They stopped right at the gates. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Chase. You see this too, right?" Sweetie asked.

"Ok, so I'm not going crazy," Chase replied.

There, parked right in front of Barkingburg castle, was a large express train. The train tender read 'Polar Express'. The two couldn't believe it. An express train. Right in front of them. In an area where trains don't run.

"T-This is impossible. The closest tracks to Barkingburg castle are miles away. How is this here?" Sweetie wondered.

"I'm not sure. But I should talk to the engineer on why he stopped an express train in the middle of the night," Chase said. He began to slowly walk to the front of the train. Sweetie followed close by. Their paws sunk into the snow below. It snowed a lot overnight. Sweetie found herself struggling to walk through the snow due to her small size. As they walked, neither of them noticed a dog stepping down from one of the passenger cars behind them.

"ALL ABOARD!"

Chase and Sweetie jerked around. They could see a silhouette of a dog, but the steam from the train reached all the way back, making it hard to see.

"US!" Chase yelled, pointing at himself and Sweetie.

"ALL ABOARD!" The dog yelled again. He motioned the two to come over. Chase and Sweetie looked at each other and nodded. They began walking over to the mysterious dog that was calling for them. Chase saw that Sweetie was having a difficult time walking through the snow and lowered himself down to her.

"Hop on my back," Chase said.

Sweetie was surprised. "But, Chase, you're sore."

"Just for now. In case he tries something," Chase told her. Reluctantly, Sweetie nodded and climbed on Chase's back. Chase continued on towards the mysterious dog until the two were close enough to see who it was.

It was an adult golden retriever, wearing a conductor's outfit and holding a lamp.

"Well? You coming?" The Conductor asked, staring down at the two pups in front of him.

Chase and Sweetie looked at him confused. "Where?" Chase asked.

"Why, to the North Pole, of course. This is the Polar Express." He boomed. His voice echoed a bit as he motioned to the train next to them.

"The North Pole?" Sweetie questioned.

"I see," Conductor said in a disappointed tone. "Hold this, please." He held the lamp he was holding towards Chase and Sweetie. Sweetie used her claw from her pup-pack to hold the lamp, as Conductor reached inside the passenger car and grabbed a clipboard. "Is this you two?"

He showed the clipboard to Chase and Sweetie. The two were surprised to see their names and picture printed on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard. As well as other information. They both looked back at Conductor and nodded, informing him that it was them.

"Well, it says here no photo with a department-store Santa this year, no letters to Santa. And neither of you two set out milk and cookies. With you making the Princess do it," He said, pointing to Sweetie. "Mm-mm."

He put the clipboard back to where it was and faced the two pups again. "Sounds like this is you two's crucial year. If I were you, I would think about climbing onboard," He said to them in a stern tone. The two of them became nervous as Chase stepped back a bit, Sweetie still on his back.

"Come on, come on, come on. I've got a schedule to keep... Oh." The Conductor pulled out his pocket watch and saw that he needed to get the train going again. Chase and Sweetie didn't move an inch. "Suit yourself." He took the lamp back from Sweetie and waved it out. The train blew two short whistles as it slowly began to move.

"Sweetie, I don't know about you," Chase began. "But I have a feeling we should get on."

"Well," Sweetie thought for a moment. "We got nothing to lose, right? I say we go for it."

"Then you better hang on tight," Chase said as he began running towards the train. Sweetie holding on tightly. The train was picking up speed, but Chase was able to jump onto the stairs of the passenger car. He and Sweetie watched as they started moving away from Barkingburg castle. They could've sworn the snowman in front waved goodbye to them.

"No turning back now," Chase said.

"Certainly not," Sweetie said as she got off of Chase's back. "Umm, thanks."

Chase smiled at her. "No problem."

The two kept on staring outside until they heard someone clearing their throat. They turned to see Conductor, who was motioning them to go inside.

This was just the beginning.

Smile :)