When I finally came around again, my head was swimming. I also felt like I had just been hit in the head with a flying object.

"Oh good, he's waking up! Now then, let's see if we can get the truth out of him!"

When I raised my head up, I saw that I was in a dimly lit room. I then realized that I was tied up to a chair in the center of the room.

"What the...?"

"Oh, don't even BOTHER trying to struggle Captain! There's no way out of here! Plus, this whole room is soundproofed, so don't bother screaming either!"

Two figures then stepped out of the dimly lit area in front of me. Both of them were wearing ski-masks, as well as black raincoats.

I looked at them, then at my surroundings. I then sighed. "Well, if you're expecting me to struggle, or scream, you're sadly mistaken. I'm in absolutely no danger whatsoever."

They both looked at me. "What? How could you POSSIBLY know that?!"

"Because, Windy, I'm tied to a chair in the middle of the Tertiary Command Center, or TCC, at the back of the Battleship Express! Oh, and the figure next to you TOTALLY isn't Stormy Flare!"

They both looked at each other, and then back at me. "Oh? Well then, explain your reasoning!"

I shrugged. "Ok, if you insist. As to how I know who you are? Simple. I can see your eyes right now Windy. You have the same eyes as your daughter, Rainbow Dash. Plus, there really aren't too many other mares with cyan fur. You forgot to wear gloves! Plus, I recognize your voice, as remember, we were talking not too long ago. And as for you Stormy, your perfume gave it away. I recognize that as "Flaming Desire", a brand ONLY available in Cloudsdale. Plus, you forgot to cover your tail! Besides Spitfire, I know of no other mares who have a flame-colored tail!"

They both looked at each other. I could tell by their body language that I was dead on the money.

"And how do you know where you are?"

I laughed a bit. "Simple! Did you really think that the dark would confuse me? I'm a Human-Bat-Pony Hybrid; I can see in total darkness! Plus, this room is long, slender, is lined all over with computers and weapons stations, there's a digital map behind you, the back of this car is curved, as it is an observation car, and, to top it all off, the sign over the door says 'TCC'. Which means that Don or Jim let you in here, which also means that they're also watching this entire ordeal on camera, which means that they're in on it as well."

I then looked back up at them. "You see? It was all a matter of simple deduction, being able to read body language, and of course, knowing your surroundings, and adapting to them."

My captors both then sighed, and after turning the lights back on, they took off their ski masks.

"Well, I guess that this was a flop. We were all set to interrogate you, but now? Who knows."

"Yeah, so now, can you please untie me so that I can return to the ball?"

They both looked at me. Finally, Stormy spoke. "Not so fast there Captain! Just because you've figured us out doesn't mean that you're free. Now then, Windy and I would like the truth."

"The truth about what?"

The truth about what REALLY happened with the contract!"

I shook my head. "What your daughters told you is the ABSOLUTE truth! I had NOTHING to do with ANY of it! The race happened 2 years before I even got here!"

Windy frowned. "I don't believe you Captain. And we can always torture a confession out of you!"

I looked at her, and began to laugh darkly.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

"Torture? Do you think that TORTURE scares me anymore?! Girl when I was held prisoner by the Futas, they did things to me that DEFY the imagination! 'Torture', means NOTHING to me now! Absolutely NOTHING!!!!"

The two moms looked at each other. Up until that moment, they thought that their plan was foolproof. After storming off, they got dressed up in black, and waited for me to leave the ball. When I did so, they both snuck up to me, and bonked me with an empty wine bottle. Once I was unconscious, with the help of Dash's Dad, they drug me back to the train. They then revealed their plan to Don, who allowed them to use the TCC as an interrogation room. Bow then waited outside of the TCC, while Windy and Stormy performed the interrogation.

"Well, ok, maybe we can't torture you, but won't you PLEASE tell us why you agreed to it Captain? Even if you were caught in the crossfire between Dash and my Spitfire, why did you agree?"

I sighed. "Because legally, I had no other option. I haven't signed the document that they drew up yet, but I will have to. If I marry without signing it, then the legal hammer WILL come down on me!"

They both saw the truth in my Bat-Pony eyes; I was not lying to them. Maybe I didn't have all of the information, but I was clearly not lying. Eventually, Stormy sighed, and then went over to untie me.

"I apologize for this Captain, I really do. I see now that you had nothing to do with any of this. Also, for the record, I only meant to stun you with that bottle; I never intended to knock you out!"

Once I had my hands free, I felt the back of my head. "Yeah, that kinda bites, and I know that I'll have a headache for a while, but yeah, I guess apologies accepted. And to be perfectly honest, I might have done something similar if I was in your shoes as well!"

"What, really?"

"Eh, it's possible, I suppose. Now then, let's go back to the ball, shall we?"

They both nodded, and once Windy was back with Bow, all 4 of us went back to the ball.

Once we were back inside, the parents left me be to go talk to the other parents. As I was taking a moment to collect myself, Spitfire came running up to me. "Stud! There you are! Where'd you go?!"

I shrugged. "I doubt that you'd believe me if I told you, but if you really want to know, your mom, as well as Dash's mom sort-of kidnapped me, and after bringing me back to the Battleship Express, tried to interrogate me about the 'real truth' behind the legal document that binds you, Dash and I together."

Spitfire sighed. "Yeah, that sounds like something that my mom would do alright! You're not hurt are you?"

I shrugged. "Eh, aside from a bump on the back of my head, I think that I'm ok."

Spitfire nodded, but then she seemed to remember something. "Oh, that's why I was looking for you Stud! Fluttershy's brother's here, and he's been trying to grope Dash!"

"WHAT!?!?!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?!"

"Yeah! It's not good!" Just then she spotted Dash. "There! There he is!"

I turned to look, and sure enough, Dash was backed up against a wall in the corner behind a column, and Zephyr was keeping her there. When I saw that, I began to feel Sombra's magic boiling up inside me again. The rage level was rising high like pressure in a boiler gauge.

I turned to Spitfire. "Spits, look the other way. You didn't see ANYTHING!" I then took flight, and was across the room in an instant.

When I arrived behind Zephyr, he didn't even notice that I was there. Dash however did.

"Come on cutie, all I want is a kiss! I don't bite!"

I then grabbed him by his scrawny neck. "I DO!!!"

He turned to face me. "Oh.....uh...C-Captain Leopard! W-what a n-nice surprise!"

I then began to drag him away. "I warned you Zephyr. You mess with Dash again, I was NOT going to be playing nice!"

I then dragged him into a nearby broom closet, and after shutting off the lights, I began to beat the everlasting crap out of him.

I also bit into something wet, but I knew that it wasn't blood, as it tasted sweet. Then, thanks to my night-vision eyes, I saw that it was a red-cream filled cupcake that Zephyr had been holding. I continued to beat him up. He kept crying out in pain, but in reality, I wasn't even hitting him that hard.

Suddenly though, the door opened and the lights came back on. "Hey, is everything ok in here? I heard a lot of noise!"

I turned, and to my horror, I saw Fluttershy! However, I was still FAR too mad to care. To Fluttershy's horror, it looked like I had a mouth full of blood from her brother, but in reality, it was just the cupcake filling.

"TURN OFF THOSE LIGHTS!!!!" I shrieked.

Fluttershy then saw the cupcake, and knew that I was beating up her brother for bothering Dash. "Um, ok Leopard!" She then shut off the lights, and closed the door again.

I then continued my beat down.

"OH NO, NO WAIT!!!!! I DON'T THINK THAT THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BEND LIKE THAT!!!!"

*Crack!*

"GAAHHH!!!!!"

Eventually, I left the closet. I did leave the lights on, and I knew that I hadn't really hurt Zephyr, but hopefully I did get my point across.

"Remember this well Zephyr", I told him just before I left. "This was just my last warning shot! If you EVER bother Dash again, our NEXT meeting will be much, MUCH worse than this was! Get the picture?!"

"Y-yes Sir!"

"Good!" I then shut the closet door, and after fixing my uniform, I went to rejoin the party.

When I saw Dash again, she was still close to the wall. I immediately went over to her.

"Hey, are you ok Dash?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Did you dispose of the body?"

I shook my head. "No, it didn't quite escalate THAT far, at least, not this time around! I just roughed him up a bit, and told him about what would be in store for him if he ever did anything bad to you again."

"And did he get the message?"

I shrugged. "I certainly hope so, but I'm still not quite sure. At any rate, he knows what's in store if he does it again though!"

Dash laughed a bit, and then asked me if I wanted to dance.

I sighed. "Well, that's the thing Dash. Like I said a little bit earlier, I don't know HOW to dance! I've long forgotten how to!"

Dash smirked at me. "Well, then there's no time like the present to re-learn, so let's go!" Dash then grabbed my hand, and drug me out onto the dance floor.

There were a number of other people and Ponies out there, and I was able to spot a number of familiar faces, including Alex, Todd, and Fred. There was a slow song playing, and Dash held both of my hands gently.

"Now then, did you REALLY forget how to dance, or are you just a little bit rusty?"

I sighed. "More than just a little bit!"

Dash laughed a bit. Then, after taking my left hand into her right, as well as wrapping my right hand around her waist, she wrapped her left arm around my waist. "Now then, just follow my lead Stud, it's going to be easy."

I sighed, but sure enough, I just followed Dash's lead, and my memory began to come back to me. Slowly, I was kinda beginning to remember how to dance.

"That's it Stud, that's it! You're doing it!"

"Yeah I am, aren't I?"

We danced for a while longer until the song ended. Soon after it did though, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned, and behind me stood Spitfire.

"Oh hey Spitsy. What's up?"

"Hey Stud, and I hope you don't mind, but I kinda wanted to be able to dance with you as well."

"Well, sure. Assuming that Dash doesn't mind of course."

Dash shook her head. "Nah, I don't care. I mean, she IS your soon-to-be other wife, so yes she can dance with you." Dash then stepped back, and Spitfire took over where she left off.

"Mind you though Spits, I'm still relearning how to dance. Dash did teach me, but I'm still pretty rusty!"

She giggled a bit. "Heh, I don't mind Stud. Just so that I get to spend a little bit more time with you!"

I laughed a bit as well, and then we danced together for a while.

Suddenly though, just as I twirled Spitfire a bit, I suddenly saw Don motion for me to come over. I also saw him motioning to Alex, Todd, and a few others on the dance floor as well.

"What's going on Stud?"

I shrugged. "I don't know Spitsy. Must be something important though."

While still holding Spitfire's hand, and with Dash following behind me, I made my way over to Don, as did the others that he'd summoned as well. When we arrived, Don was standing with Celestia and Luna.

"What's going on Don? Is something wrong?"

Don shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong. I just called you over here, because Celestia wanted to tell us all something."

We all then looked towards Celestia, who then sighed. "Ok, well, I know that this is going to be a little bit strange for you guys to hear, but well........the truth is, we've actually known about your Earth for a lot longer than we've let on. This is information that we've kept from the public, at least,until you all showed up."

We were surprised. "Wait, what? How did you know that Earth existed? And why didn't you inform the public about it?"

"Well, we didn't inform the public, because we did not wish to frighten them. All that we could find on Earth was war, and the implements of war. And the truth is.......and this is the hardest part of all, but......you weren't the first Humans from Earth to arrive here; you were just the first to arrive ALIVE."

When we heard that, our jaws all literally hit the floor!

"What......does that mean, Princess Celestia?"

She seemed to be close to tears. "It means that.......for a number of years, various pieces of Human technology, all of them weapons in nature, kept turning up in Equestria. All of them were taken to a special storage vault so that they could be studied. A lot of what we got were hand-held weapons, or large rockets and missiles, but every now and again we would get a vehicle that would have contained either a Human occupant, or a group of them. A lot of the time the vehicles would thankfully be empty, but sometimes, they weren't......"

Celestia then went on to tell stories of finding corpses, or even skeletons inside of some of the vehicles. "It was so HORRIBLE! All of the skeletons were still dressed in their uniforms, with helmets, goggles, gloves, boots, and other gear. Some of them even still had traces of hair and beards! We would give the bodies a number, before removing them, and giving them a proper burial. For the longest time after that, we firmly believed that portal travel was what killed these poor souls, so we never attempted it. However, on the day that you all arrived, you proved that theory wrong! You all survived portal travel completely intact! I still don't know how you all did it, but you are now the first LIVING Humans in Equestria!"

When we heard that, all we could do was stare at each other in shock. None of us even had any words to describe what we were feeling. There had been other Humans before us, but they'd all died? How did all of these vehicles and other weapons keep winding up in Equestria?

I then turned to Celestia. "Um Princess, where exactly is this vault with all of the weapons in it?"

She sighed. "It's underneath the castle. I take it that you want to see it?"

Don nodded. "Yes, if it wouldn't be too much of a bother. And maybe we could help you identify what some of the weapons are."

Celestia nodded, and once she was joined by a few other guards, Don, myself, Alex, Todd, and Andy, as well as our marefriends, we all followed her through the castle.

Eventually, after going down a number of flights of stairs, we arrived outside of a massive vault-like door. "WARNING!!! HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INSIDE!!! NO ADMITTANCE WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION!!!!"

Celestia then told the guards guarding the door to stand aside, and once they did so, Celestia used her magic to open up the door. Once the door was opened, Celestia reached around inside, and we heard a series of "clicks". Suddenly, the lights inside of the room came on, and we all stepped inside. When we did so, we could not BELIEVE what we were seeing!

What was beyond those doors wasn't just one room, but it appeared to be a series of MASSIVE concrete rooms. There were numerous bar-lights all along the ceiling to provide light, but what really held our attention was what was in the rooms. Each room contained a single type of weapon, and they were all divided up by where they had come from.

In the first room, all we saw were guns. They were everywhere! On dozens and dozens of tables, were guns of all kinds. Rifles, pistols, semi-autos, full-autos, machine guns, gattling guns, chain guns, everything! If you can name it, it ranged from a single-shot musket from the 1700's onward, and it shot a bullet, it was in there guaranteed! The tables were also divided into types of guns. Some of the tables were labeled, while others were left blank.

The next room was full of helmets. In other rooms, were tanks, airplanes, trucks, jeeps, missiles, rockets, railguns, and other weapons of all kinds, from so many different eras. The Renaissance, the Age of Absolute Monarchs, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the US Civil War, the Spanish-American War, WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Afghan War, the Forgotten War, WW3, WW4, WW5, AND WW6! There was so much, from so many different eras.The United States, France, Imperial Germany, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Imperialist Britain, Empire of Japan, Fascist Italy, Viet-Kong, North Korea, Taliban, ISIS, everyone. It was a war-buff's wet dream come true! There were even a number of atomic weapons in there too.

"Where......did all of this stuff even come from? How did it get here?"

Celestia shrugged. "Very much the same way as your train. One minute, there was nothing, but then, poof! There was something there! It would usually be discovered by a civilian, who would in turn report it to the military, who would secure the item, before encasing it in a special protective field, and transporting it here, where it would be studied. A spell was also cast on it to preserve it as it was, and render it harmless.

However, this was still happening when the Imperial War began. Since nothing ever fell in the same place twice, our biggest fear was the Zebras and Caribou getting their hands on these weapons, and using them against us. However, at one point, about 2 months into the Imperial War, all sightings of foreign weapons just stopped. We couldn't figure out why this was, but we were glad. We already have enough weapons here to most likely cloth and arm every country on Earth, as well as Equus, dozens of times over! We still study it all, but we really don't know what to do with it.

Then, came that fateful day that you arrived. You all arrived at a bit of an awkward time, as the enemy was closing in on Ponyville, and we feared that they may have been using captured technology. Hence the reason that you were attacked initially; we all believed that you were the enemy with stolen weaponry! Eventually however, we learned otherwise, but still, with all that had happened leading up to that, can you really blame us?"

Don shook his head. "No, we really can't. But, it's nice to know that all of this stuff is down here, just in case we would ever have any need of it for a future war."

"Which I pray NEVER happens! Weapons like most of what we've found, we pray that we NEVER have to use! We've found nuclear weapons capable of a 100 megaton yield! Some were inside of aircraft, but others were just found lying on the ground! It was a REALLY scary ordeal handling some of these weapons, and I'm just glad that it's over, at least for now."

After we'd all looked around for a while longer, we all took note of that place, and some of us made mental notes to come back later and study it further.

Once we were back up to the main party area again, we all split back up again. I went with Dash and Spitfire, and we went to talk about what we had just seen.

"Holy cow! That place was AWESOME!!!"

"Yeah, I can't believe that that entire complex existed,and none of us even knew about it!"

I agreed with both of them. "Yeah, so this means that the Princesses knew about us for a long time, but due to the constant string of wars, they never did anything about it. I still wonder how all of that stuff even got here though."

Dash shrugged. "I dunno Stud, but yet this means that Ponies like Lyra really aren't crazy! I remember how for a number of years before you guys showed up, she was always telling us about the 'Humans', and their amazing technology. I always called her crazy, but maybe I shouldn't have!"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, but something that Celestia said still kinda bothers me."

"Oh, and what would that be Stud?"

"Well, remember how she said that some of the tech might have wound up in enemy hands?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, let's just say that all of us were REALLY struggling to explain HOW the Caribou had the kind of modern weapons that they did. Their societies were still emerging from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age; how in the world could they have learned to make modern weapons?! I mean, I now see that you guys just replicated some of what you found, but now I also see that so did the Zebras and the Caribou! THAT's why they wanted our train so badly; it had even MORE advanced weapons than what they had! What they had,was bad enough though, and they were able to replicate it. However, this began another question; what other weapons could still be out there, and where could they have landed? Have any other groups found them, and if so, what did they do with them?"

Neither Dash nor Spitfire had an answer either, but little did I know at the time just how right my question really was.

Way out in the Undiscovered West, the Futas had indeed found some of the technology, and they began to use it rearm themselves. They had plenty of weapons with them from their evacuation from Vegas, but why say no to more weapons?

Demetria herself was also surprised by this. "Where have all of these new weapons and supplies come from?" She asked Danin.

He could only shrug. "I'm afraid that I do not know, Empress Demetria. For a little while, a lot of this stuff landed in my empire as well. My Caribou were able to replicate it, and in a short span of time, we'd retooled to become a modern military. In the end though, we lost everything, except for what we were able to carry with us."

Demetria sighed. She was glad for the new weapons and supplies, but yet at the same time, they didn't have enough places to store them all yet. New Vegas was still only about 45% complete, and the other towns and villages were not much better. Progress was moving onward, and at a faster rate than before, but it would still take time. By the current estimates, it would still take maybe 6-8 years before everything was complete, and her empire was up and running at full capacity.

"I wish that it wouldn't have to take so long, but yet at the same time, we HAVE to get everything right this time! No war means that we can focus full-time on infrastructure, as well as anything domestic. Nobody from the outside world knows that we're even here, so let's hope that it stays that way!"

Demetria then got back to her office, with Danin right behind her.

Back In Canterlot, the ball was winding down. Some of the guests had already gone home, and we of Battalion 4009 were starting to get the train ready for the run back to Ponyville.

Most of the Ponies were saying their goodbyes, and thanking the princesses for the amazing Ball.

"You're all very welcome. This ball was a privilege for me to throw, as it was to celebrate the winning of the Imperial War."

Eventually, all of those heading back to Ponyville were on the train, and after saying their goodbyes to the Princesses, as well as thanking them for Equestrian Citizenship, and their slots in the new Foreign Legion, the Battleship Express pulled out once again.

However, a few individuals were still there in Canterlot. Most of these were those who lived in Canterlot, but there was also myself, Dash, and Spitfire.

"Hey guys, it's not TOO late yet, so how about we head back to my house, and hang out for a while?"

Spitfire nodded. "Sure. I have the day off tomorrow anyway, so yeah I can come."

I shrugged. "Eh, well, I live there too, so OF COURSE I'm coming!"

Dash and Spitfire both laughed at this, and before long, we were all flying back to Dash's house.

Once we arrived there, the first thing that Dash and I did was hang up our ball clothes so that they could be cleaned, and ironed later. Then we both changed into other clothes, and headed down to the living room. Dash wore an oversized T-shirt and black shorts, while I wore shorts and a T-shirt as well. Spitfire did have to make a quick run to the academy for a change of clothes, but once she was back, she was wearing her gym clothes. We all then grabbed some popcorn, and sat down on Dash's couch to watch "Daring Do and the Riddle of the Sphinx".

I sat in the middle, and Dash and Spitfire were on both sides of me. We were all kinda cuddled close together, but none of us minded. We were all friends, and we had to start getting used to living like that, as in the not too distant future, we would all be married, or I would be married to both of them. We still hadn't figured out how that was going to work yet.

All we knew was that an adventure lay ahead for us, and that we were going to take it with the bravest of faces, and see what Life had in store for us. And oh boy, was Life ready to dish out some revenge!

And, that was Chapter 5. Ok, so the whole "kidnapping" thing was a false alarm, as it was just Stormy Flare and Windy Whistles trying to get some answers from me about what the truth of the matter at had was. And now that they both told their parents, what will come of this? Will I REALLY marry both of them, and if so, will it be one ceremony, or 2? And what about that room full of weapons underneath Canterlot? Will that ever have any more roles to play in this story?

And what about the Futas? How long will they continue to live in the shadows with their allies until they make their presence known again? And have we really seen the last of Spoiled Rich's seeming war on the Imperial War Museum Project? Well, as always, stay tuned, and I'll tell you!

Meanwhile, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all in Chapter 6, (Or Chapter 5.5 if you read the "EXPLICIT!!!!" Chapters!)!

ScarFox out for now!