In the aftermath of the Imperial War, the crew of the Battleship Express continue to try and rebuild their lives, while a shadowy force works behind the scenes to take them down
At long last, the Imperial War is over. After nearly 2 months of brutal fighting, the Zebra and Caribou Empires have been destroyed. Now, the returning crew of the Battleship Express, as well as the Human soldiers of Battalion 4009 face a whole new set of challenges.
They must now learn to cope in a world without war. A world where they do not need to be on call 24/7 to defend the nation that they've grown to love. They must now learn to adjust to peacetime. However, this will be no easy challenge. PTSD runs rampant among them. It can become hard to tell the difference between a tin can, and an IED. To learn NOT to jump up with a gun at every little sound, and to learn to regain the lives that they lost so many years ago.
They will not be alone on their journey into this brave new world. Right beside them every step of the way will be their beloved marefriends, soon to be wives! Yep, they will also learn to overcome the challenges of married life, building homes, and getting jobs. Also, some, if not most of them, will embark on a journey that NOTHING could have EVER prepared them for; the "joys" of parenthood!
However, behind the scenes, all is not well. A shadowy force has begun to rise up in the Undiscovered West. This force was once the brutal enemies of the Humans, and the cause of WW6. Now back from the grave, this shadowy force, and their new allies, armed with brand-old technology, rises up and attempts to make a name for itself.
This story picks up mere seconds after "Battleship Express" left off. It also contains action, adventure, some comedy, awkward situations, more Big Boy locomotive fun, and more wild adventures!
On a more serious note though, just like it's predecessor, "Battleship Express", this story is rated "M" for language, and of course, scenes involving sex. However, just like last time, some words will be censored, and the sex-scenes will be placed in their own "EXPLICIT!!!!" chapter.
After the disappearance of the Battleship Express from Earth, as well as the disastrous fiasco that was the Battle of Vegas finally blew over, the full scope of the damage was truly unfathomable.
Almost all of Southern Nevada, as well as a lot of the surrounding desert, was just barely habitable. All of the missiles and bombs that were used in "Operation Fireball" had been detonated at a certain altitude to prevent serious fallout, however, the damage was still beyond belief.
An estimated 750,000+ American troops, marines, airmen, and other service personnel lost their lives, with a further 500,000+ wounded, and 100,000+ missing. The Futas were believed to have been lost with complete casualties, and Vegas itself was in rubble-heap ruins, as was nearby Henderson, Nevada. Almost nothing about them were even recognizable, and they, and the desert around them, were radioactive. A lot of the casualties from that day also came from Nellis AFB. The base had been targeted, and several nukes detonated close to it. A few had managed to get to fallout shelters in time, but many others were not so lucky, and they either perished in the blasts, or like the less fortunate, died slowly from the radiation.
Although it had been targeted, the Hoover Dam still stood. Most of the Marines and Night Stalkers inside had been killed or wounded, but the dam itself withstood the test of nuclear war once again. And surprisingly, the cities of Reno and Carson City, which had also been targeted, had managed to escaped almost wholly unscathed. The nukes fell around the desert outside, but the cities themselves, though partially buried in sand, survived almost completely intact.
After Vegas, the war was a foregone conclusion. Without their leaders, and many Futas fighting each other, in less than 2 months after the fighting resumed, they were driven out of their final stronghold on American soil. In less than 2 years, the Futas had been wiped from the face of the Earth. Their genetic filth had been completely cleansed, as had the technology that they had used to turn themselves from women into Futas.
The whole world breathed a sigh of relief when WW6 finally ended in 2032, and no challengers rose up to take the place of the Futa Empire. There was America, Great Britain, the European Union of Free Republics (which was the successor to the EU, and was composed of a lot of countries in Europe), Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and what little remained of Asia. Africa was still uninhabitable after WW4-5, and Canada was partially a northern wilderness, while Mexico was a barren desert, and Central and South America were largely unpopulated jungle regions. Total world population was not known to exceed 3 billion people, and now that the Futas were gone, it was estimated to be closer to 2.5 billion.
However, "Operation Undertail" finally went into effect, and it enabled women who wanted to have children to have multiple births every time they got pregnant. It was met with mixed reactions, but the effects were noticeable. There were more people, and in 5 years, Earth's population would hopefully be over 3 billion again.
For those in America, their nation was the best off. While none of the nation escaped WW6 unscathed, the regions from the East Coast to the Mississippi River fared the best. Civilization hadn't stopped, and life continued as normal. In just 4 years following WW6, most of the US had been rebuilt, and was beginning to thrive again. It was estimated that in less than 20 years (by 2056), the total world GDP would be close to pre-WW4 levels again.
With each passing year, the site around Vegas got less and less radioactive, and methods that had been developed to control radiation were put to use. Eventually, the area had been made safe enough, although it would remain largely uninhabited for a long time to come.
For years after the fact, the final fates of the Battleship Express, as well as its supply train, Iron Glory, remained the greatest unsolved mysteries of the entire war. How could 2 trains like that have just up and vanished? Many searches were performed, and the desert was scoured with all kinds of instruments, but no traces of either train was ever found. Eventually, 2 memorials for their crews were added alongside the Battle of Vegas Memorial, the Nellis AFB Memorial, and the Hoover Dam Memorial, and those who wanted to could make the trek out to see these sites.
Many theories were put forwards regarding what happened to the Battleship Express and Iron Glory, ranging from total disintegration, to even alien abduction. Eventually, the conclusion was reached that the trains were unable to get out of the blast radius in time, and when they were hit by the force of the atomic blasts, they were blown into pieces, and the debris were scattered all around the desert. Then, due to the massive dust and sand storms resulting from the nuclear blasts, their remains were buried in the desert. Somewhere out there, the trains were believed to lie, shattered remnants of their former selves. Their crews were all given up as lost, and the world began to move on. The history books said that they'd been lost in the aftermath of the Battle of Vegas, and most people left it at that.
However, there was another theory put forward. According to a couple of historians and scientists, they believed that the trains had been transported to another dimension. They believed that the trains had crossed over a set of lay-lines that had been activated by the nuclear blasts, and were instantaneously teleported. Most people laughed at this theory, but yet, they still wondered that if the train really had been destroyed, why had no wreckage ever been found? Some parts of the train were even designed to survive a direct nuclear hit, but yet nothing had ever been found. It made no sense.
"But we also never found any wreckage of the USS Cyclops, or Flight 19, not to mention Malaysia Flight 370, so maybe it's just like them; lost forever to time, with no traces except for what we haven't found yet."
It was definitely strange, and many books were written about it, and even a number of documentaries appeared on TV as well. Still though, nobody could come to a solid conclusion.
Heh, if only they knew the truth. If only those scientists and historians knew just how right their teleportation theory was. Sadly, none of them ever really would. Also, most people never would find out what had really happened to the Battleship Express, HOWEVER, one day, a select lucky few would find the answers that they so desperately sought, and it would happen in the most unexpected ways imaginable......
For a while, the Caribou and the Futas walked through the wooded valley. With Demetria leading the way, and the others following her, they seemed to be making good time to wherever they were going.
"Um, Empress Demetria?"
"Yes King Danin?"
"If I may ask, what.....exactly ARE you people? I mean, you look like Humans, but you do not seem to be."
"We, are Hermaphrodites (Herms), and Futas. A Futa or a Herm has most of the physical characteristics of a Human female, except for one exception; they also have male genitalia, and Herms are capable of getting pregnant."
Danin was shocked. "WHAT!?!?! You have male genitals?! How is that even possible?! Were you born like that?!"
Demetria leaned closer to him. "What I'm about to tell you is considered blasphemy. The absolute hard-core truth is that while the older Herms like me were, the younger ones, and the Futas, were not born like this. They became this way in adulthood, thanks to a scientific process. It would take too long to explain exactly what that process is, but it's enough to say that it does indeed work.
However, this has been covered up. The "truth" that most Futas are taught is that their kind has been around since the Dawn of Time, and were made by the Goddess herself to enslave males and females. This is just simply not the case. We've been around for less than 75 years, and my mother, Boudica, was the first Empress of the Futa Empire. Some of us were born as Herms, and others were born female, and became Herms and Futas later on."
Danin looked on in shock. What he had just heard truly scared him. Females who could seemingly change their gender if they wanted to? That didn't fly in the Caribou Empire. To Demetria, he said, "And I'm sorry for your loss to the Humans. You were better than them."
Demetria looked at him. "Once again, this is blasphemy, but no, we were not. The Futa Empire was extremely unstable. I had absolute power, but there were others who sought to take my rule. They worked around me, and became a very powerful bureaucracy. THEY were the cause of WW6, and THEY refused to surrender, even when the writing was on the wall that the war needed to end. The war simply eradicated them from the picture. If all had gone according to plan, then my son, Leopard, would have found us, and we would have surrendered to him, and the rest of the Humans, but alas, it was not to be. We were brought here by mistake."
Danin then looked around him a bit. "And.......where exactly are we going, Empress Demetria?"
"We're going to our city, where we all currently live, and have spent the past 2 months or so building. There we shall decide what to do with all of you."
Danin didn't like the sound of where that was going. Neither did the rest of the Caribou for that matter. Some of them tried to start conversations with nearby Futas, and they were met with mixed results.
One of them tried to talk to a Futa with black hair, and black, cat-like ears. She was rather scarred up, and looked to be pretty messed up under her raincoat.
"So, um, what's your name?"
She glared at him with her one blue eye, and one green eye. "My name, is Rikker. General Stacy Rikker. Leader of all of the Futa military forces."
"And I'm Face." A voice next to Stacy piped up. "Sally Face. But you can just call me Face."
The caribou looked, and to his shock, next to Stacy, was a smaller creature with blue hair, and blue eyes. What was really creepy about the figure though was that he was wearing a white mask that covered his entire face.
"Just like Commander Fox-Face!" The soldier thought. Out loud, he asked, "So, what exactly.....eh, ARE you?"
"Well, unlike all of the others, I'm actually a Human male. I worked as a spy and saboteur against the Americans, however, that's a long story for another time. It's enough for now to say that I was actually able to almost put the Human's worst war train out of the war for good! Isn't that right Mistress Stacy?"
Stacy looked down at him. "Yes, Sweetie, it is." She then began to pet him gently.
"Ugh, it's like he's her little pet or something! Disgusting!" The Caribou winced. Out loud though, he asked, "So, um Stacy did you say? How long have...."
"It's GENERAL STACY TO YOU, YOU FILTH!!!" She suddenly shrieked at him.
"Oh, well um, I'm sorry General Stacy, I'm...."
"SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT!!!!" She then reached down, and pulled out a knife!
"Whoa! No! Stacy, don't!!!!" Face tried to grab the knife away from her.
"STACY RIKKER!!!!" A voice yelled, "You put that knife down right this instant!"
Stacy turned to see Demetria glaring down at her.
"Give me your knife!"
"But Mom...."
"NOW!!!!"
Stacy quickly handed it over.
"Thank you. Now then, someone getting your name wrong is NOT a death sentence! I adopted you, just like I adopted your big sister Carla. I can revoke that adoption at any time. Got it?"
Stacy rolled her eyes. "Yeah Mom, I got it."
"Good." Demetria started to walk away.
"Yeah, you've always liked my f@#king big sister better than me", Stacy muttered, "ESPECIALLY now that she's got that little bastard-brat to take care of!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY STACY?!?!" Demetria was on her in an instant.
"I said that you've always liked Carla better than me!"
"She's not a sick psychopath like what YOU turned into! She's actually pleasant to be around!"
"Yeah, and she's a F@#KING SLUT!!!! That bastard who's name I REFUSE to say got her pregnant, and now she's got a little BASTARD-BRAT to take care of!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT MY SON?!?!" A nearby Herm yelled.
"Shut it Carla, I've got this!" Demetria then turned back to Stacy. "When we get back to New Vegas, you're grounded! Do you hear me?! GROUNDED!!!! You're going to the Brig, and you're NOT coming out until you've had some time to think about this!"
Stacy was then taken under guard so that she couldn't get out of her punishment.
The group then continued moving towards the Futas's city.
After this little bout with Stacy ended, the others in Danin's party were much more scared to talk to the Futas. However, not all of them were nasty like Stacy was.
Dothan was talking to a one with red hair that was in a pony-tail, red cat-like ears, and green eyes. She was also carrying something in a bundle under her raincoat.
"So, I take it that you must be Carla?"
She nodded. "Yeah, General Carla Boudica. But you can just call me Carla, or General, whichever you pick."
"Oh, well, I'm Commander Dothan."
"Nice to meet you Dothan."
The bundle then moved, and some soft crying was heard. Carla then cradled the bundle. "Shh, it's ok Leo, Mommy's here."
"Is that.....a child?"
She nodded. "Want to see?"
Dothan shrugged. "Eh, I guess so." He walked a little bit closer to Carla, and after she'd unzipped her raincoat a bit, to Dothan's surprise, he saw a small child with reddish-brown hair suckling gently from one of Carla's breasts. The child was held inside a sling so that Carla could have both hands free.
"Wow, um, is it a boy, or a girl?"
Carla smiled. "It's a boy. His name is Leo. I named him after his father. Leopard was the cutest, nicest guy I ever knew. Even though we were 'enemies' during WW6, I still loved him. He loved me too, and for the longest time, we tried to have a child together. 2 miscarriages later, I snapped. After having angry-sex one last time, I cut Leopard off. However, a few weeks later, I found out that I was pregnant! Unfortunately though, before I could tell anyone really, during the Battle of Austin, Texas, I was believed to have been killed. In reality though, I was in a coma.
For the rest of WW6, I was in and out of a coma. I knew that I was pregnant, as did others, but what no one knew was if my child was going to survive. Eventually, I woke up, and I gave birth to beautiful Leo here. He was smaller and skinnier than he should have been, but he was alive, and he was my son. However, for nearly a year and a half after that, I was back in a coma. Next thing I know though, I'm sitting upright in a bed, with my mom Demetria holding my son. Mom told me that we were safe, and that she hoped that I would stay awake this time. I still don't know where we are, although nobody else does either."
Dothan shrugged. "Well, I can tell you that we are on the planet Equus, and we're currently in a region known as the Undiscovered West. We're also about as far away from the nation of Equestria as we can possibly get." He then thought of something else. "Wait. I thought that Futas only had male genitalia. How do you have a son?"
Carla sighed. "Well, the truth is, there's actually 2 types of Futas, 'True' Futas, who have just male genitalia, and Hermaphrodites, who actually have both male and female genitalia. I'm a Hermaphrodite, as I have both. This is how I was able to get pregnant. Both types of Futa are needed in order to keep our kind going. However, I just gave birth to a male. The chances of that happening are astronomical; it's almost NEVER happened!"
Dothan shook his head. "Strange. Too strange. It's like Equestrian Magic. Oh how I DESPISE the Equestrians!"
Carla looked at him curiously. "Wait, you don't like the Equestrians?"
Dothan shook his head. "No, we HATE them! They, with the aide of the Humans, AND their war-train, KILLED US ALL! They DESTROYED our Empire! I DESPISE THEM!!!"
Carla could see that she had struck a nerve, so she tried to change to subject. Dothan however seemed perfectly content to keep raving on about the Humans, their war-train, and their officers. Carla learned all about the Black Leviathan, The Kid, Scary Old Guy, Commander Fox-Face, and the Undead Harbingers.
"Wow", She thought as she continued to listen to Dothan, "These Humans must have been pretty bad! But yet, that's the Wabash Cannonball for you. Commander Tim Curry and his soldiers were the WORST! Even worse than Major Don, Leopard, and the Battleship Express! At least in my opinion."
She continued to listen for a while longer.
Eventually, they reached their destination.
"Here we are!" Demetria pointed down at it from the top of the hill that they were on, "My dear King Danin, welcome to New Vegas!"
Danin looked, and he was shocked. Down below them was a city that looked to have been built up from a ruin. There were a number of buildings, including what appeared to be power plants, workshops, warehouses, apartment buildings, a military barracks, shops and stores, and a large pyramid-shaped building in the center.
"Wow, this is really quite the city here Empress. You were really able to build all of this in just 2 months?"
Demetria nodded, but then she shook her head. "Well, yes and no. Some of this was already here, and even though it looks good now, we're still building it, and we have a long ways to go. We're only about 45% done right now."
"And just HOW were you able to build this city?"
"Well, we had supplies on our train, as well as tools, and the land's been furnishing what we need. We've discovered coal, oil, and iron here, and we've dammed up a nearby river to provide water, irrigation, and even hydroelectric power. We're very sophisticated here."
"And what's that pyramid-shaped building in the center?"
Demetria smiled. "That my dear King Danin, is the Palace Luxor. It's my palace where I live. I had it built just like the original Luxor back in Las Vegas, back on Earth. It's very beautiful inside, just the way I remember it."
"So, you've built a new city to replace this 'Las Vegas' that you speak of?"
"Yes, and it was quite the accomplishment. New Vegas is our crowning achievement. We do have a few other towns and villages close by, but they're all still under construction as well. With just 2,000 Futas, all that I was able to bring with me, and in just 2 months, we were able to build all of this."
"And how exactly did you all even get here? I meant to ask you that earlier, but I forgot to. You said that you got here on a train? Which train was that?"
"I'll show you." Demetria then led the way into the city. As the Caribou walked, all around them were Futas hard at work building their empress's city. They would stop and stare at the Caribou, but they made no moves to really do anything.
Eventually, they reached their destination. Demetria led the way to a long, warehouse-like building behind the Luxor. After some of her soldiers opened it up, Demetria stepped inside.
"Come on inside King Danin, and the rest of you. Enter, and be amazed! I now present to you, my personal train, now the largest steam engine in the world!"
The Caribous's jaws hit the floor. There, on a track in the middle of the room, was what they believed to be their worst nightmare!
"THE BLACK LEVIATHAN!!!!!" They screamed. "IT'S BACK!!!!"
Demetria looked at them, and then back at the mountain of black and gray metal that was her personal train. the numbers "3985" were visible on the sides of the engine's cab as well as "Union Pacific" on it's tender.
"Um, what's the 'Black Leviathan'?" She asked Danin.
Danin looked at her. "The Black Leviathan was the Human's war train. I don't know what it was really called, but we called it the Black Leviathan. However, I see now that this is not it. The Black Leviathan had different numbers on it, and it had military hardware as well. This one also has a different wheel configuration."
"Huh, interesting. Well, anyway, this is my personal engine, and train. 'Courtesy' of the Union Pacific Railroad, I give you the Challenger! Now the Largest steam engine around here, and the second largest back on Earth, second only to it's larger cousin, the Big Boy. 3985 here has been my personal engine for the entire time I've been Empress."
"Where, did it come from?" Danin asked.
"That's the interesting thing, it actually came from the scrap yards! It was about to be melted down for steel, but I was looking for a new engine, so I saved it from scrap. After a few modifications, such as making it burn coal again instead of oil due to fuel shortages, I had it put back into service. It's been a really great engine, and it was this engine, and the cars that it pulled, that allowed us to escape."
"And how, exactly did that work?" Danin asked.
Demetria sighed, and let her mind shift back to that day; June 8th, 2029.
Just after 6am, the Battle of Las Vegas began. Demetria herself had been unable to sleep the night before, and now that the battle was raging, she knew that she and the rest had to evacuate. They had all prepared for this, but now that the time had come, she was scared.
Demetria then grabbed the intercom controls. "Attention all personnel still inside of the Palace, attention all personnel still inside of the Palace, this is Empress Demetria speaking. The Battle for Las Vegas has begun, and we all need to leave here, now! All of you, please head to the Central Atrium, and I will meet you there!"
Demetria then hurried to get to the Central Atrium. When she arrived there, she found her servants, advisers, and a number of soldiers and guards.
"Where do we go?!" One of the advisers asked.
"To the basement! We have to get to the Challenger! It'll take us far away from here!" Demetria was leading the way to the basement of the Luxor, where a there existed a secret underground train station. This station, and the tracks that it connected with, were to be used in the event of an emergency evacuation. A train would be waiting for them, and after travelling underground, outside the city the tracks emerged in a hillside, and eventually connected to a main line.
A few days prior, Demetria had given the orders for her personal train, the Challenger, to be made ready to leave at a moment's notice. Hooked to it were a number of cars, ranging from passenger cars, freight cars, a dining car, generator cars, and even weapons cars, 20 in total. The whole train was armed, and had been made to defend the Empress who owned it. However, while the train normally had 20 cars, because of the evacuations, and the need to house more futas, as well as carry essential items, the train gained an additional 15 cars, for a total of 35 for this trip.
Demetria grabbed her radio. "Ginny? Ginny! Are you there?!?"
"I'm here, My Empress. What is it?"
"Is the Challenger ready?"
"Affirmative, My Empress, it is! She's all ready for you! Just come on down, and I'll get you out of here!"
"Roger that, I'm on my way now. Just have it ready, and load up any remaining Futas that you can find! I don't care who they are, but they're coming with us! NOBODY will be left behind!"
Ginny nodded. "It shall be done, My Empress."
Demetria then looked to some of her servants. "Grab whatever you can, in addition to the Essential Items from the palace's archives. Where we're going in California, we're going to need whatever we can get. Grab tools, building materials, carpets, rugs, furniture, anything that we've not already loaded up, and be quick about it!"
"Yes Empress!"
Demetria then looked behind her. She saw Stacy, Face, and Stacy's secretary Rey, but someone was missing. "Wait, where's Carla?! We have to bring her with us!"
Stacy groaned. "Ugh, Mom, she's in a coma. She's gonna die anyway, just let her go!"
Demetria gave her a look to kill. "I WILL NOT be leaving her behind! She's my DAUGHTER!!!! Adopted maybe, but she's YOUR sister!"
"Yeah, but she's in a coma. She's gonna die."
Demetria ignored her. "Go get Carla!" She told her servants who had been caring for Carla while she was in her coma. "Put her on a gurney, and bring all of her health monitors, iv bags, oxygen tanks, everything! And let's step on it; we have to go, NOW!!!"
"Yes Empress!"
Several of them scurried upstairs. When they reached Carla's sort of hospital room, as gently as they could, they picked her up, and placed her on a gurney. Then they also grabbed the bases of her health monitors, iv bags, oxygen tanks, and other equipment, and brought them along as well. Then, after covering Carla with blankets, they began to move her downstairs. The first servant to return to Demetria also handed Carla's infant son to her.
"Shh, it's ok Leo. Grandma Demetria's here to take good care of you."
Carla was then carried down to the train. Demetria held her daughter's hand. "Just hang in there for a little bit longer Carla, you're going to be fine. Soon this war will be over, and Leopard will be back for you. He doesn't know that he has a son yet, but I know that he'll be overjoyed when he does!"
As the last of her servants ran down to the train, the Palace continued to take a number of jarring hits.
One of the guards then turned to her Empress. "My Empress!!! Come on, we've got to get you out of here! The city is lost!"
"Tell me something I don't know!" Demetria yelled as she ran along after her servants, with others behind her.
As they ran, the whole building shook from nearby explosions. Windows shattered, chandeliers, railings, picture frames, dishes, columns, support structures, and other things began to fall down, and the building became more and more unsafe every minute.
"Come on! We have to make it to the train!"
They kept running, but they never made it. Just before they could, a combined hit from the 2nd set of railguns, and the 2nd 16in. guns of the Battleship Express slammed into the Luxor, causing a large section of it to collapse!
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Everyone screamed, as debris fell on top of them.
By the time that the rubble was pulled off of them, 5 advisers, 9 servants, and 3 guards were dead, and a further 9 were wounded. Demetria herself was shockingly unhurt, although completely out cold. As quick as a flash, she and the others, including the wounded, were gently scooped up, and taken down to the basement where the train was waiting.
Once Demetria and the others were all on the train, the leader of the guards ran up to the cab. "Ginny, we've got the Empress, and everyone else! GET US OUT OF HERE, NOW!!!!!"
Ginny nodded. "Right away Minerva!" Ginny then blew the train's whistle, and with a great heave, and a chugging, the Challenger began to move forwards. It rapidly picked up speed as it continued to move through the tunnel that it was in.
Demetria did regain consciousness, although her first thoughts were for Carla, and her infant son Leo. Also, once the train was on it's way, someone went to tell General Stacy what had happened. All of a sudden though, Demetria heard Stacy yell something from the car ahead of where she was, and then, just as the train exited the tunnel in the hills, there was the sound of a massive explosion.
"WHOA!!! WHAT WAS THAT!?!?!"
"It, felt like an nuclear detonation Empress!"
"WHAT!?!?!"
However, before Demetria could really say anything else, from all around the train, there came the loudest explosion that any of them had ever heard. This explosion then turned into extremely violent shaking, which in turn led to the train seemingly derailing!
"GAH, EMPRESS, WE'RE COMING OFF THE RAILS!!!" Ginny screamed.
Suddenly though, a black mass surrounded the train, and then it was gone.
When Demetria came around again, the the car was only lit by its internal lights. She jumped up from where she'd been lying, fully expecting to find a massive train wreck. To her absolute shock however, there was no train wreck to be seen. In fact, nothing looked out of place at all! The train was still moving along, but it was still on the tracks! Also, although her watch said that it was past 9am, it was still dark outside!
"What.......in the world?!" She looked out of the window closest to her. "Where are we? We should be in the deserts of Nevada, but those look like trees! How are we in the middle of a forest?!"
Eventually, Ginny managed to stop the locomotive, and then most of the train's occupants exited the train to examine their new surroundings. They seemed to be in the middle of a forest at Dawn.
"Ok, none of this makes any sense! Where the hell are we, and what happened?!"
"I'll tell you what happened, the Americans nuked us all straight to Hell!" Stacy yelled. "They dropped all of the nuclear weapons that they had on us, and now we've been blown into another dimension!" (Stacy of course was lying through her ass. SHE'D been behind all of the nukes when she initiated "Operation Fireball", but nobody else but Rey knew this).
Demetria shook her head. "That's IMPOSSIBLE!!! The Americans wouldn't do that! They were too afraid to use nuclear weapons!"
For the longest time after this, all of them were arguing about who's fault the nuking was. Stacy and a number of others blamed the Americans, while Demetria and a few others said that they were wrong. Eventually, they knew that they were going to have to adapt to their new surroundings, as they were indeed most likely in another dimension. How that was even possible none of them knew, but according to a few scouts, the area around them seemed to be uninhabited, although there were a number of ruins about as well.
"Ok, well, that's a start. Now then, let's see about building some shelters."
Over the span of the next two months, Demetria oversaw the creation of blueprints that detailed the cities, towns, and villages that were going to be built. From the blueprints, first construction began on the city of New Vegas, then 2 other towns, and 4 villages were being built as well. Their new civilization thrived, and it seemed to be well on it's way to greatness.
When Demetria finished her story, Danin and the other Caribou stared at her in shock. They had never heard a story like that, but if the Humans could have come from Earth by mistake, then maybe the Futas could have as well.
"Wow, um, that's....a pretty amazing story Empress Demetria. You're all very lucky to still be here! However, that also leaves me with one final question. Why do all of you look like cats? Were you always like that?"
Demetria nodded. "Yes, the Goddess has certainly been merciful to us. She spared us all, Carla recovered, and has been out of a coma ever since we arrived here. Mostly, she's been caring for her son, but when you've been in a coma since you were pregnant, and now your son is almost 2 years old, that's a lot of time to be made up!" She then frowned. "However, the Goddess wasn't fully feeling merciful. No, we were not always cat-like. This happened while we were being transported here. How and why, nobody knows, but we've adjusted to it."
Before Danin could reply though, Demetria continued. "Also, I take it that you and your Caribou would also like to ally with us, is that the case?"
Danin nodded. "Yes, Empress Demetria. If it wouldn't be too much of a bother, then yes, we would like to ally with you, as I don't see too much of a way that we could survive on our own. I wish for a treaty to be brokered between us, so that one day, we can attack Equestria, and expand our empire!"
Demetria looked at him with disdain. "Ok, first of all, this is MY empire, not yours! Secondly, we're YEARS away from doing ANYTHING besides building! There's only 2,000 of us in total, and we're all working as hard as we can to rebuild our empire, which could take the next 10 years to complete. ONLY after this is complete would I even CONSIDER expanding outwards! However, if you and your people would be willing to lend us some helping hands, we could be able to get our work done maybe a little bit faster."
"And then, once all of the work was complete, we would attempt to conquer Equestria?"
Demetria shook her head. "No. Then, I would reach out to them, and request to speak to the Humans. I do not wish to harm them anymore, but I want to end hostilities with them. Futas and Americans need not be adversaries. My life-long goal was for males, females, and Futas to be able to live side-by-side with each other while on equal footing. Maybe now I will finally see that dream become a reality."
Danin grumbled. He could see that it was pointless to argue with Demetria, but yet he didn't want to spend the next 10 years building an empire with the Futas. He decided to talk it over with Dothan.
"So what do you think Dothan?"
He shrugged. "Well, I'd say that we broker an alliance with them. They obviously seem to know what they're doing, and maybe, after the empire's construction is complete, then maybe, just maybe, we could get them to warm up to the idea of war with Equestria and the Humans. I know that it'll be a long-shot, but it's our best option right now."
"But spending the next 10 YEARS building a new empire?"
Dothan shrugged. "Hey, the Caribou Empire wasn't built in a day either! These things take time, My King."
Danin looked down at the ground. He knew that what he wanted seemed out of reach at the moment, but maybe an alliance with the Futas could bring it closer. He then went back to Demetria.
"Ok, Empress Demetria, after talking it over, myself and my people have agreed to join your empire. Together, I know that we will be strong and prosperous, and we will build an empire to be proud of!"
Demetria sighed. "If you're looking to impress me King Danin, you're failing; failing miserably. However, my people and I will welcome you to our empire, where you will live under our direction. Most of you will be helping to build New Vegas, although others will be transferred over to the mining town of Comstock, as well as the industrial town of New Cleveland. Once those cities are completed, maybe in the next 4-5 years or so, then we move on to the rest. My empire MUST be self-sustaining, and one day, it will be."
"So, we have an alliance then? If so, PLEASE do not make it an 'Imperial Alliance'! The last time we were in one of those, (during the Imperial War which we just lost!), our partners, the Zebras from the Zebra Empire, ruled by Overlord Zakia, decided to do their own thing, and broke away from the Alliance. We were left behind, as were a number of Griffons, Minotaurs, and even Dragons."
"Wait. Zebras, Griffons, Minotaurs, and DRAGONS!?!?! What kind of a world is this?!"
Danin smirked. "One that's full of beasts of legend, I can tell you that!"
"And I can tell you that our alliance will be a 'Kingdom Alliance'. You will be in charge of your people, while I'm in charge of mine. You will help us, and if you do, you will share in the profits, and other benefits that we manage to reap. You and your people will be well taken care of, and together, the Futa-Caribou Alliance, under the New Futa Empire, will become a powerful force! We will establish a name for ourselves here on this 'Equus', and one day, all of our dreams will come true!"
Demetria, Danin, Dothan, Minerva, Ginny, and others then began to sit down, and write out documents for their new alliance, while other Caribou, and their allies of Griffons, Minotaurs, and Dragons, were taken to various construction sites, and put to work.
The Futa-Caribou Alliance was off to a great start, and the New Futa Empire, was really coming together. Only time would tell what it's future would look like, but at that moment, it seemed to be working out just fine.
Back in Ponyville, completely unaware of what lay far to the West, all of us of the Battleship Express, Battalion 4009, and the rest of the Ponies, were still milling about. Some Ponies had left, but others still remained.
Don was talking to the Princesses. "Now then, the question is, where can we move our train? It obviously can't stay here, as it's blocking rail traffic, however, wherever we move it to must also be long enough to hold the train."
Celestia thought about that. "Yes, I do believe that you are right Major. I think that for the time being, you can move your train to the Old Railyard, on the outskirts of Ponyville. That old train yard isn't not really used anymore now that a new railyard was built a few years ago, and the tracks would be long enough to hold your train."
"Wow. Yes, I think that that could work."
Celestia then asked Don another question. "Also Major, your train is so popular around here, and so many Ponies seem to want to see it. I have begun considering designs for a museum to maybe one day be built here in Ponyville dedicated to the Imperial War. Would you possibly be interested in maybe opening your train to the public for tours? I know that it would be the highlight of the museum."
Don was shocked. He'd never really thought about the Battleship Express being put on display. Eventually though, he sighed. "Well, if that were to happen Princess, there are a number of criteria that would have to be met."
"Like what, for example?"
"Like how the train cannot be on static display, and must be ready to be put back into service should the need arise. It must also be maintained in pristine, fully-operational condition, ready to go at a moment's notice. Also, all weapons will have to be made dormant, and all ammunition removed from the train, and stored in a VERY safe place. Also, more repair work, and a number of other things would have to be done in order to make the train safe for the public. The way I see it, the train would need it's own wing of the museum, and it would have to be in a long sort of garage, with doors on both ends so that it can roll in and roll out as needed.
I know that my crew and I would be more than happy to maintain our train in that museum, and I know that it would be the highlight of the museum tour. However, making it safe for active display will take some time, and even while being displayed, the train will be in 'active reserve', and must be ready to move out again."
Celestia thought about that. "Hmm, well, you are all military people, and know what you're doing, and I was thinking about creating a Foreign Legion for Equestria, as there were a number of Griffons, Diamond Dogs, Minotaurs, and other non-native Equestrians who have petitioned to serve in the military before, but were turned down because they were not native-born. I would be willing to offer all of Battalion 4009 full Equestrian Citizenship, provided of course that you pass the proper tests, and become the backbone of the Foreign Legion."
Don didn't know what to say. Princess Celestia was offering all of Battalion 4009 free Equestrian Citizenship, provided of course that they passed the tests, as well as become the backbone of the new Foreign Legion.
"Gosh.....um, I don't even know what to say right now Princess. This just.....seems to good to be true."
Celestia nodded. "Yes, I know that it can be a lot to take in, although you don't have to worry about anything right away. I'll still need time to talk this over with my sister Luna, as well as work with a few other officials to create the Foreign Legion, but by Saturday, which is the night of the ball, everything should be ready to go."
"Well, I'll have to talk this over with the rest of the crew, but I don't think that they'll have too many objections. However, I do know that some of them were looking to maybe get away from the military, and start a new civilian life."
"That can be fixed as well. There can be active military, and active reserves. The active reserves would only be called for in a time of emergency, very much like your train."
Don shrugged. "Again, I don't know what to say Princess, aside from thank you."
"Don't thank me Major. If anything, I should be thanking you, and the rest of Battalion 4009. If you Humans wouldn't have intervened when you did, the war would most likely have turned extremely nasty very fast. We may not have survived."
"It's just our job Princess. We're soldiers, so serving is just what we do."
"And I and my Ponies thank you for it very much."
Don then sighed, and looked back over the train platform. All across it, Ponies and train crew were mixing and mingling. It was a perfect world, but yet, Don just didn't feel right inside. Something seemed....off.
"What could be wrong?" He wondered. After thinking it over, he finally had an answer; the urgency of war was missing. There was no need to rush to the next battle. The war was over, but yet, it wasn't.
"I......need to go sit down for a second." Don then walked over to a bench, and sat down, before burying his face into his hands. He also seemed to be sobbing gently.
"What's.....wrong with the Major?" Cadence asked.
Celestia sighed sadly. "Although the Imperial War may be over Cadence, I fear that for them, the real war may be only just beginning."
Cadence knew all too well what her aunt was referring to. She'd seen it all too many times herself when she visited the wounded soldiers in the hospital. PTSD, or as it was more commonly known, Shell Shock, was a condition that seemed to effect most, if not all of those who had seen combat, and we were seemingly no different. Our battles would be internal, but they would be just as serious as the physical ones. To move on, we would have to learn to cope in a world where war had an end.
Twilight went over to see if she could comfort Don.
"Shh, it's ok Don, I'm here for you." She hugged him gently. "The war's over. Nothing is going to happen."
"Easy for you to say", Don muttered. "You only had to see the Imperial War. Some of the rest of us saw the Forgotten War, WW3-6, the Second Cold War, and now the Imperial War. The wars were almost non-stop, and with only a few years between them. It was hell Twilight, HELL!!!!"
With Twilight's help, Don was eventually able to get a grip on himself. He hugged her back. "Thanks Twilight. I don't know what I would do without you. I'm slightly OCD, so without you, I would most likely just snap, and not bounce back."
Twilight nodded. "I know, and that's why I love you Don. You're just like me. I'm slightly OCD as well, and you need me in your life to help you cope, so that's what I'm here for, to help you."
"And you're doing such a marvelous job of it as well Twi." They then hugged for a little bit longer.
Once Don was feeling better, Celestia asked him something. "Um, M-Major?"
"Yes Princess?"
"I was wondering, what would it take.....for myself, my sister Luna, and my niece Cadence, to maybe go for a ride on your train? I've been extremely curious as to see what that would be like, as I've always wanted to see just what kind of raw power lay behind one of these Big Boy locomotives."
Don looked at her curiously. "I don't know Princess, that's more of a question for Leopard, and/or Jim. Most likely though, they would say yes, and I don't see a problem with it. HOWEVER, I would STRONGLY recommend that all of you wear coveralls, or something along those lines, as being on the train, especially in the cab of the engine while it's in operation, can be extremely dirty."
"Yes, I do believe that you are right Major. Do you have any that the three of us could borrow?"
"Yes, I think that we do. Now then, what to do about a crew for this excursion run....." Don then looked over towards the cab of the Big Boy. Seeing it to be empty, he scanned the platform, trying to see if he could see any engine crew. He spotted Alex sitting with Applejack, sharing what looked to be a pie with her, Todd talking to Fluttershy and Rarity, although he didn't see where I was.
"Hey Alex?"
"Oh, yes Major?"
"Where'd Leopard go?"
Alex jerked a finger towards the back of the station. "He's back there."
"Huh? What's he doing back there?"
Alex smirked. "He's f@#king Rainbow Dash."
Don put a hand over his face. "Alex, just stop!" Don then grabbed his radio. "Leopard, Where are you?"
After a few moments, a reply came. "I'm....mmm....right here Don!"
"What, are you doing right now? And if you're having sex, I'll snap your neck!"
"NO! No, Dash and I were just sharing a tender moment! Just some kissing, nothing more!"
Don then saw me step out from the back of the Station. Dash was holding my hand, and behind us Don also saw Captain Spitfire.
"And, where are you right now?" Don then waved to me. "Oh, there you are." I walked over to see what he wanted. Don also called over Alex and Todd.
When he saw us, he looked us over. "Ok you three, I have a very important job for you. The 3 Princesses want to see the Big Boy in action, and I do NOT want to disappoint them!"
"What did you have in mind Don?" I asked.
"Well, I want you to first uncouple the train after the second crew bunk car, or 6 cars in. That's all we're going to need for this run. Leopard, you're driving, Alex, you're fireman, and Todd, you're the brakeman."
We all nodded. "Yes Sir."
"Where are we going though Sir?" Todd asked.
Don shrugged. "Wherever the Princesses decide to go. It's all up to them."
We all nodded, and got the Big Boy ready to go again.
While Todd uncoupled the train 6 cars in, Alex and I, joined by Dash and Applejack, began to get the train ready to go again. This required very little doing, as the train was almost ready to go again already.
"Ok Don, we're all ready to go."
"Ok, roger that. Stand by, the Princesses are coming up there!"
Once they'd dressed in coveralls that Jim had loaned them, the 3 Princesses began to walk up to the engine's cab.
"I still cannot get over how BIG this train is Auntie Celestia! The engine alone is a leviathan!"
Celestia nodded. "Yes, I know. It had to be, as it wouldn't be able to haul heavy freight otherwise."
All 3 of them then reached the cab. (By this point, Dash and AJ went back to sit with Don, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity for the excursion trip).
"Um, how do we even get up there?"
I looked out of the right-side window. "Just climb up the ladder on the front of the tender. Or, if you don't want to do that, then you can just fly up."
"Ok, hold on, here we come."
The Princesses then climbed up the ladder, and once they were up in the cab, all 3 of them gasped in shock. The inside of the cab was just as massive as the rest of the engine!
"Whoa! Even the inside of this engine is huge! I mean just look at its backhead!" Luna pointed to it.
"Quite correct Dear Sister, it is indeed a mountain of pipes, levers, valves, gauges, and other controls! How do you even know how to work all of this?!"
I smiled. "Well, like I've said before, it's all thanks to Jim. He taught all of us engine crew how to drive the Big Boy. Now then, if all of you will please take your seats behind us, we can get underway."
"Certainly Captain Leopard!" Celestia then sat behind Alex, Luna sat behind me, and Cadence sat in the spare seat next to Todd.
"Ok, I'll just radio Don." I grabbed my radio. "Hey Don, are you guys ready back there?"
"Affirmative Leopard, we're all ready!"
"Ok, good. Standby, here we go."
I then put down my radio, and first, I released the engine's brakes. Then, after releasing the brakes on the rest of the train, I blew the whistle, and with some chugging, and a massive cloud of smoke and steam, Big Boy 4009 began to move forwards once again.
Once we were rolling away from Ponyville, Luna turned to me. "Um, Captain Leopard?"
"Yes Princess?"
"Why does your train's whistle sound like that? I mean, it sounds like a Banshee's shriek!"
I chuckled a bit. "That's one of the most common questions of all time. The truth is, the whistle assembly was damaged a a series of stray bullets during our final training mission in December of 2026. We never repaired it because it sounded so terrifying. Long term, we have thought about building a proper Big Boy whistle so that she'll have her 'War Whistle', as well as a normal one, but we've never had the time to work on it. At least, not until now."
"And how fast can this engine go?"
I shrugged. "Theoretically, according to the designers, Big Boys could go 80mph, however this has never been tested."
"Well, what's the fastest that you've ever gone then?"
"Eh, well, for brief periods, we've managed to hit 70, but we've never really tried to make her go faster than that. We had much bigger fish to fry!"
Celestia looked at me. "Plus, around here, there's too much rail traffic for the most part. We'd have to set aside time for a speed trial."
I blew the whistle 3 times as we passed a crossing. "Yeah, so for now, I'll just keep her moving at a cool 35mph."
"One more question that I've had for a while. back when you were first showing us your train, you said that this engine should have been called '4025', instead of '4009'. What exactly did you mean by that?"
I sighed. "Well, basically, in the mid 1940's, after locomotive 4024 was finished and put into service, ALCO, the American Locomotive Company, began work on one final Big Boy locomotive. The engine was given the same design as the first of the 2 classes of 10 Big Boys, although it was never completed, nor was it ever officially given a number. Eventually, the roughly 50% complete engine was moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and left to rust. Eventually, in year 2018, the engine's remains were discovered, and following the success of 4014's restoration, it was decided to complete the engine's construction. Just after the engine was completed though, the series of World Wars began. It was STILL never given a number, but it was eventually decided by those who crewed her to give her the numbers '40', because she was a part of the 4000 Series of locomotives, and '09', because she was the 9th engine fully restored by Union Pacific once they'd started restoring engines again. So she was called '4009', instead of '4025.' Does that make sense?"
"Yeah. It sounds like a project that was cancelled, then later completed, before being pressed into military service. And she's the only operating Big Boy left?"
"Eh, well, 4014 was moved to safety in Pennsylvania, although it's still in a special underground bunker if I recall correctly. I don't know if it can still run anymore or not. I'm also not sure on the current operational status of some of the other 7 surviving Big Boys. I know that 4004, 4005, 4006, 4017, 4018, and 4023 all still around though, even if the former 3 don't run anymore, and the latter 3 were used to haul troops and war material in WW6."
"Wait. That's only 6 Big Boys. You said that there were 7."
I sighed. "Big Boy 4012; an unsolved mystery. In a nutshell, Big Boy 4012 was housed at Steamtown USA, a railroad museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but she disappeared sometime during WW4. Her fate is still unknown, and her current whereabouts, whether still existing or scrapped, are a VERY hotly debated mystery."
Celestia nodded, and then the excursion run continued.
Once we'd made the loop around Ponyville and were on our way back, Luna nudged my shoulder a bit.
"Yes?"
"Well Captain........eh, I was wondering. I've gotten to see you drive, but can I drive?"
I half-turned to look at her. "Eh, I don't know if we're allowed to do that. Alex and I let our marefriends drive for a bit, and Don yelled at us for it. But I guess that I could ask him." I grabbed my radio. "Hey Don, are you there?"
"Yeah Leopard, what is it?"
"The Princesses are asking for a turn with driving the Big Boy. What should I tell them?"
Don was silent for a bit. Finally though, he said, "Well, if you're responsible, then I don't really see a problem with it."
"Ok, roger that."
I then turned back to the Princesses. "Ok, so who wants to drive, who wants to be the fireman, and who wants to be the brakeman?"
After talking it over for a bit, Luna wanted to drive, while Cadence wanted to be the fireman, and Celestia decided on brakeman.
"Ok then, we'll do this just like we did with Dash and Applejack." I then got up from the engineer's seat, and after giving Luna my gloves and hat, she took over the controls, while Cadence did likewise with Alex. Todd and Celestia just sat back and watched, although Todd did film the ordeal.
"And now, like Dash before you, you are now driving the largest locomotive to ever ride the rails! You Princess Luna, have just become the 2nd mare ever to do so. Dash still holds 1st."
"Just as you Cadence have become the 2nd mare fireman. Applejack was 1st."
"This is just so.......incredible! I can't imagine you boys having to do this during combat though."
"And just hope that you never have to. Combat was the most stressful time for us all, and not all of us from the engine crews have lived to tell about it. I've lost 2 engine guards, and 1 brakeman, Tertiary lost an engineer, 2 fireman, and 3 engine guards as well. I don't know about Primary Crew though."
Todd sighed. "It was so bad that I actually developed schizophrenia because of it. This is most of the reason that I'm timid, and can be scared easily. Nevertheless though, I did my duty as 2nd brakeman, but it always haunted me to think that I was promoted to replace the previous Secondary Brakeman who died, Tyler Boris."
"We all have something caused by PTSD." I added quietly. "Todd has schizophrenia, Don has OCD, Jim’s a workaholic, Alex has something that was never fully diagnosed, and I have nightmares."
I sighed, and tried to carry on, but the haunting memories seemed to drain the fun out of our excursion trip.
Eventually, about 3 hours later, we all pulled back into Ponyville Station. Then, when the rest of the train was reattached to the engine, Joe and Frank moved it over to the Old Railyard, where it would remain until further notice.
"Thank you so much for showing us your Big Boy, and how it works. We really appreciate it."
I smiled. "You're welcome Princess Celestia. It was my pleasure to show you, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence. I'm just glad that you all enjoyed yourselves."
They all nodded. "Yes, we certainly did. We'll have to do this again sometime."
"Yeah we will, won't we?"
Once they were off of the train, Don, and the Mane 6 were standing on the station platform again. By this point, everypony had gone home, or about their business, including most of the parents and family.
Don looked at all of them. "So, what did you guys think? Well, for those who haven't already been on the train that is."
Fluttershy smiled. "It was actually really nice. Your train sure did provide a nice, smooth ride. I really enjoyed myself."
Rarity was talking nonstop about how awful and ugly the interior decor was. "Oh, the interior is just as bad as the exterior! So much drab brown and gray! Oh WHY would anypony do this?!"
Don sighed. "Because this was a war train, built for fighting a war. It was built for utility, not luxury. Please try to remember that."
"Oh yeah, right. I keep forgetting."
Dash suddenly felt something wet nudge her hand. "What the....?" She looked down and saw Aurora. "Oh, hey Aurora."
"Hello Dash. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing pretty good. Stud just took us and the Princesses on an excursion trip on the Big Boy."
She nodded. "Yeah, I know. I tried to get on board the train, but I didn't get on board in time."
Dash was about to reply to this, but something, or rather somepony, interrupted her.
"Hey Dashie....."
Dash tensed. "Oh Celestia no, not him!"
Dash slowly turned around, and there, standing on the platform, was the one Pony that she prayed that she would never see again. It was Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy's hippie brother, who stalked her to no end.
"What do you want Zephyr? I thought that I told you that I never wanted to see you again!"
He smirked. "Well, YOU may not have wanted to see me again, but I'VE always wanted to see you again!"
Aurora then began to bark.
"Aww, since when did you get a dog?"
"She's not mine, Aurora belongs to my coltfriend, Captain Leopard."
"Your......coltfriend?" No, no, no! You don't have another coltfriend besides me!"
While all of this was happening, Don just stood there.
"Why aren't you doing anything?" Twilight asked.
Don smirked. "Because I'm going to let Leopard deal with him. And don't look now, but here he comes!"
Don then pointed to me walking briskly towards Zephyr, and he and the others knew that shit was about to get REAL!
"Will you please leave Zephyr? I don't like you, end of story!"
"Aww....but..."
"HEY! Dash said leave her alone, so you'd better do it buddy!"
Zephyr looked around to see who said that.
"Um, down here."
He looked down, and to his shock, all he saw was Aurora. "Wait, you can TALK?!"
"Oh yes, I can talk, and if you don't leave Dash alone, I'm going to do a lot more than talk; I'm going to BITE!!!" Aurora then looked behind Zephyr. "Or rather, I won't bite, but my Master, Dash's coltfriend will!"
"What now?"
"She means ME, you dolt!" A voice behind him growled.
Zephyr turned to look, and to his horror, the figure standing behind him was head and shoulders taller than he was! He wore a Battalion 4009 soldier's uniform with a helmet, as well as a red and white Kitsune mask over his face. Zephyr could see that he meant business, and was NOT fooling around!
"Now then, before I REALLY lose my shit and throw down, you need to leave, NOW! Dash doesn't want anything to do with you, and I don't want to waste energy kicking your ass, so BEAT IT!"
I could clearly see that Zephyr was shaking in his boots. In fact, he was so scared that he actually peed his pants! I didn't even have to touch him, and he pissed himself! He then ran off crying, vowing to get me back for stealing Dash from him.
"Oh yeah? Next time bring a protein shake with you ya hippie!" I then laughed a bit.
Dash came up and hugged me. "Mmm, thanks Stud, you're the best!"
I hugged her back. "No need to thank me Dash. He was bothering you, and as an Alpha Male, I was simply protecting what was mine. If he wants you, he's gonna have to fight me, and if he does that, he'll most likely be spending the rest of his life in a hospital!"
Fluttershy did run after her brother, although she did tell Dash to drop by her house later to pick up Tank.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about him! Yeah, I'll do that Fluttershy, thanks for reminding me!"
"You're welcome Dash!"
Dash and I then shrugged, and walked off the station platform. I was holding Dash's hand with my right hand, and Aurora's leash with my left.
As we walked, Don looked at us, and shook his head. "I don't care who you are, but love him or hate him, you will NEVER be as badass as Captain Leopard! He's got it all where it counts, and he's quite clearly reaping the results of that!"
Twilight sighed. "He and Rainbow Dash are almost mirror images of each other. They both act the same, they seem to like most of the same things, they both love adventure, and they have very similar personalities. Perhaps that's why they have such great chemistry together."
"Maybe so Twilight. It would definitely make sense."
By the time that the sun began to go down, some of us had dinner with the families of our marefriends, but all too soon, it was time to call it a night. This led to a very interesting debate. Some of our marefriends wanted us to stay with them, but yet, we felt duty-bound to stay with the train.
Eventually, Don settled the debate. "Ok, here's how I see this. I think that maybe some of us are clinging to the train a little bit TOO closely. Some of us need to learn to branch out a little bit. If your marefriend invites you to stay with them, then you should take them up on their offer. I'm going with Twilight to the Golden Oak library, Dan is going to be staying with Pinkie Pie, and Cole and Missy will be staying with them as well. Alex was invited over to Sweet Apple Acres, and Todd was asked by Fluttershy to stay at her cottage to help with her animals."
"Ahem!"
Don sighed. "And Captain Leopard was invited to stay with Rainbow Dash in her cloud house."
"And if we do accept, what will tomorrow look like?"
Don looked at all of us. "To be perfectly honest guys, for the rest of this week, up until the Victory Ball, for once in my life, I don't know. I still don't know how to react to this complete lack of war, or any fighting at all, and I don't know what to do. However, I still suggest that all of you return to the train by 11am, and we'll figure this out from there. In the meantime though, I release all of you from your duties. HOWEVER, please, for the love of Celestia, DO NOT do anything that I wouldn't do! I'm not joking here, DO NOT do anything stupid!"
We all saluted. "Sir, yes Sir!"
He nodded. "Good."
And then we all went our separate ways. Jim was the highest ranking officer in charge of the train, and most of the crew stayed with it. The rest of us though went with our marefriends to hopefully begin a new chapter in adjusting to life after the war.
While Dash went to retrieve Tank from Fluttershy, I was busy packing my duffel bags with items that I would need. I grabbed my clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, fur brushes, other toiletries, some paperwork, as well as a few other odds and ends. I also packed up all of Aurora's stuff as well.
"This feels so....weird Master. It almost feels like we're abandoning this place!"
I nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know what you mean Aurora. However, we're beginning a new chapter in our lives now. Like Don said, we need to begin to find lives outside of the train. The war is over, and now we have to learn to move on."
Aurora sighed, and then, once we were all ready, Dash came back to help show us the way. I was unable to fly due to my duffel bags being heavy and unstable, so I was forced to walk.
Eventually, after walking through Ponyville, Aurora and I suddenly found ourselves at the edge of a field on the edge of town.
"Well, we're here Stud, home sweet home!"
I looked up, and when I did, I could only stare in surprise. Sure enough, way up in the sky, was a house made out of clouds! From where I was standing, I could see that it was 3 stories tall, and had rainbow waterfalls around it! The door had Dash's cutie-mark above it, and it looked absolutely amazing.
Dash smirked. "Hey, when you two pick your jaws up off of the ground, feel free to come on up!" She then flew up to her house.
"Um Dash, how are we gonna do this? Aurora can't fly."
She looked down at me. "Well, can you carry her?"
I nodded. "Yeah, but I'm going to have to make a few trips. However, once I get her up there, won't she just fall through the clouds?"
Dash shook her head. "No, she'll be just fine. Twilight and the gang come up here every now and again, plus Tank's always wandering around as well, so yeah, it's safe. Provided of course that she stays away from the edges!"
Aurora nodded. "No problems there, I don't want to die!"
I then turned to her. "I'm going to get our stuff up there first Aurora, and then I'm going to come back for you. Will that work?"
"Sure, but just don't take too long. I wanna see what it's like up there!"
"You got it Aurora!"
I then grabbed the first of my two duffel bags, and hauled it up to Dash's house. When I arrived up there, I found sort of stairs built into the clouds. The clouds felt squishy, but because I was a flyer, they held my weight with ease.
"It's still so weird that I can walk on clouds", I muttered. "I just can't get over it!"
Dash then unlocked her front door, and opened it. "You can just set your bags down here in the entryway Stud!"
I then stepped up to the door, and peaked inside. I don't know what I was expecting, but while the exterior of Dash's house seemed to be made of clouds, the interior really reminded me of the Battleship Express. The floors and walls were solid, and there were columns here and there as well. To my right was a statue of a Wonderbolt, and there were Wonderbolt posters on the walls as well. Almost everything was either bluish-green, white, or gray. I also saw several doors leading off in different directions, as well as stairs leading up.
For the time being, I shrugged, and set my bags down next to the Wonderbolt Statue. I then went back for Aurora. When I reached her, with some difficulty given how big and heavy she was, I piked her up, and she wrapped all 4 of her limbs, as well as her tail around me as well.
"Just hang on tight Aurora. Total airtime should only be about 2 minutes at the most. It'll be over before you know it."
She looked at me. "Over? Why would I want it to be over? I love flying! I've always wanted to try it. Now, I'll kinda get to do it!"
I looked at her a bit curiously. Up until that moment, I had never in my life even heard Aurora mention that she liked flying. In fact, I didn't even know how she KNEW that she liked flying! "Unless it was something that they trained her with at that military base before I found her, then I don't know how she would know that she loves flying." Nevertheless though, I quickly took off, and flew up with Aurora to Dash's house.
When we arrived up there a minute or so later, I brought her up to the front door, before setting her down inside of the entryway. I quickly glanced at my watch. The time was now 8pm.
"Whew! That was a lot of work! Anyway, we're up here now Dash, so now what?"
"Now we have the moment of truth. How will our pets react to meeting each other?"
I saw that Dash was holding Tank. She then set him on the floor.
"So, that's your tortoise Dash?" Aurora asked.
"Yep, this is Tank, the coolest tortoise ever!"
Aurora then got up, and circled around Tank for a bit. Tank just stared at her. "So, can he talk?"
"Nope. You seem to be the only non-sentient animal here in Equestria who can."
"I AM sentient though, and no, I do NOT want to eat that tortoise!" Aurora then walked slowly over to Tank, before sniffing him a little. Tank just stared up at her.
"I don't get it. Out of all of the pets that you could have gotten, you picked a tortoise. I won't ask why, but I just think that it's a little bit odd."
Dash looked at her. "Um, odd? You're a talking wolf. If anypony's 'odd' here, it's you!"
"Technically, I'm part wolf, part husky, and part German shepherd. However, I have more wolf in me than anything else."
Dash just shrugged. "Ok. Well, let's get you two settled in, at least for the time being, and then we can have some fun before it's time to sleep!"
I looked at Dash curiously. "Um, what exactly do you mean by 'fun'?"
She smirked at me. "Oh, I think that you're going to enjoy it Stud!"
If what I was expecting was something dirty, I was sadly mistaken. Dash's idea of fun was watching a few movies on her couch, cuddling on said couch, as well as eating some junk food. We also read a couple of Daring Do books, (Dash got me HOOKED on those!) and read a few magazines as well. All while we were having fun, Aurora went to sleep early, (her bed was placed in the living room corner), as did Tank, (he slept in Dash's room).
"Hmm, this is so nice Stud. It's almost like we're a young, married couple!"
I sighed as well. "Yeah, I know what you mean Dash. This is so nice. I actually get to enjoy myself for once, without the fear of getting shot at!"
Dash giggled a bit. "Yeah, that's nice for a change!"
We both then cuddled for a little while longer, until at last, it was time for bed.
(WARNING!!!! Chapter does contain nudity, as well as some sexual themes. No actual sex, but some things that Leopard does while in his PTSD riddled state, as well as what Dash does to comfort him, could be considered sexual.)
When the time came for bed, there was of course the topic of who was going to sleep where.
"I can sleep on the couch Dash. It's no big deal."
She looked at me funny. "Um Stud, whatever happened to us sharing a bed like we've always done?"
I kinda half-turned away from Dash. "I, um.....k-kinda want to sleep alone tonight. Or at least just have Aurora close by."
"But why Stud? What's wrong? Why don't you want to sleep with me?"
I sighed. "it's.....really complicated Dash. I don't know if you would understand."
"If this is because of something that Major Don said, don't worry about it Stud, it'll be our little secret! He'll never have to find out!"
I shook my head again. "It's....not that Dash, it's just......" I sighed. "It's something related to my PTSD. I just need some time alone to think, and to put some of the pieces together. I want Aurora close by me, because she was always there. She understands. It's nothing personal Dash; please don't take this the wrong way."
Instead of being angry though, Dash just shrugged. "Sure, I understand Stud. However, I'll leave my bedroom door open if you want to come sleep with me."
I nodded slowly. "Sure Dash, that sounds nice."
We both then got ready for bed.
Once it was completely dark outside, Dash gave me some blankets and sheets, and I made a sort of bed for myself on her couch. Aurora was curled up on her favorite rug in her bed next to me, and I just sat there on the couch, just trying to begin to put everything together.
Hey Stud?"
"Yeah Dash?"
"Even if you don't sleep with me, can I at least get a hug and a kiss?"
I smirked. "Sure Dashie. I would never deprive you of my love!"
She then glided over to me, and once she was in my arms, we kissed. I reveled in the sensations of her tongue against mine. Dash even wrapped her tail, and one of her legs around my waist as well!
"Mmm, gettin' a little frisky, are we?"
Dash smirked a bit. "Heh, a little." she said through half-lidded eyes.
Eventually, we broke the kiss, and Dash went upstairs to her room. "Well, Goodnight Stud, I'll see you in the morning!"
"Goodnight Dash, I love you!"
"Not as much as I love you Stud! Oh, and if you need anything at all during the night, just come and get me. I'm not the heaviest sleeper ever, so I should be able to hear you."
I nodded. "Ok Dash. Goodnight!"
"Goodnight!" She then went into her room, but the door didn't close all of the way.
Once I was all alone with my thoughts, I sighed. "Well" said as I stroked Aurora gently, "I guess that it's just you and me now."
Aurora didn't answer, as she was already asleep, but she did purr a bit in her sleep in response to my petting.
I then tried to put all of the pieces together. For the longest time I sat on my bed on the couch, trying to make heads or tails of the multiple wars I went through, why I was the only survivor in a few cases, to why my family, and some of my best friends had to die. It was so sad, but yet, so haunting and unnerving at the same time. I ultimately had no answers to any of the questions that I so desperately sought.
Eventually, I gave up mid-thought, and after stripping down to my boxers, I wrapped my soft wings around myself, and after pulling a blanket over myself, I tried to sleep. I did manage to find sleep, but when I did, I deeply regretted it.
A number of hours later, Dash was suddenly awoken from a sound sleep by the sounds of screaming.
"Guh......ah...what the.....what?!" She looked over at her alarm clock. The time read 3:30am. Then the sound of screaming came again, joined this time be panting, crying, and the sounds of something stumbling about in the darkness on the floor below her.
"OH CELESTIA, STUD!!!!" Dash then flew out of bed, and after hastily wrapping her robe around her nude body, (she almost always slept naked) she ran to see what the commotion was.
Once she reached the second floor landing, she looked down into her living room. After turning on the lights, what she saw shocked, and scared her beyond belief.
I was lying on the floor in front of the couch, as tangled up as I could possibly be in my sheets. The coffee table was knocked over, and a few other items were scattered about as well. Dash could see that I was crying, and mumbling insensibly.
"STUD!!!!" Dash's robe almost flew off of her as she raced to my side. "Stud, can you hear me?! WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!"
I was able to twist my head a bit to look at her, but because of how tangled I was, that was pretty much all I could do.
"Oh Celestia! Here, just.....hold still, and I'll see about getting you out of there!"
Dash then worked with her hands, and eventually was able to get me free from my blanket prison. Once I was free though, all I did was just continue to lie there on the floor, crying, and mumbling.
As gently as she could, Dash pulled me up into a sitting position, and after pulling me into a hug, she began to comfort me. "Shh, it's ok Stud, it's all gonna be ok. I'm here for you, I'm right here Stud. Just let it all go."
"Oh Dash...." I mumbled.
"Shh, breathe, just breathe Stud. It's all going to be ok."
"End.....Why won't they end?!?!?! WHY CAN'T I EVER ESCAPE FROM THEM?!?!?!"
"What.....do you mean by that Stud? What won't end?"
"T-the nightmares! And the creatures and bad memories in them! THEY WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!! Night after night they torment me! WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LEAVE ME BE?!?!?!?" I then continued to cry.
Dash also noticed Aurora in the corner, and she was shaking with fear as well.
"Do....you want to talk about it Stud?"
I just kept crying. I did lean my head against Dash's chest though. Her breasts had all but slipped out of her robe, as in her haste to get to me, Dash hadn't tied it up at all. It was now more like a cape than a robe.
"You, can lean on my chest if want to Stud, I don't mind. I mean heck, breasts were made to be a source of comfort after all!"
I didn't answer right away, but Dash could have sworn that she'd heard maybe a faint giggle from me. Dash then lay down on the couch, and held me close to her. Her fur was so soft and warm, and Dash just ditched her robe, as it really was falling off of her anyway. She also noticed that I was naked as well, and that I'd must have lost my boxers in my frenzied, nightmare-induced panic.
Dash sighed. Then she felt a few small sucks coming from one of her breasts. She looked down, and to her quiet amusement, I was actually trying to suckle from her! She purred gently in response. "Wow Stud, I didn't take you for the kind of guy who liked to suckle. Heh, not that I mind, or anything, but it's just so......cute."
I looked up at her while I suckled.
"And it's even cuter with those Bat-Pony eyes of yours! Are you thirsty Stud?"
I nodded quietly. Dash then sighed. "Well, we can fix that. I have some REAL drinks in the kitchen. I could make us some hot chocolate if you want."
"Sure, if you wouldn't mind." I said softly.
Dash looked at me. "Why would I mind Stud? You mean the world to me." After I'd stopped suckling from her breast, Dash got up, and after pulling her robe back on, she quickly flew up to her room, and handed me a spare robe.
"Here. This may not fit you, but it'll do for now. Plus, it's really soft!"
I put it on. "Yeah, you're right Dash, it is!"
Dash then took me by the hand, and led me into the kitchen. After turning on a light, she had me sit at the kitchen table while she put water into a kettle, and then put it on the stove. She then joined me at the table.
"So...do you um, w-want to talk about it?"
I buried my face into my hands, and began to cry softly again.
"You can tell me Stud, I'm here for you. I'm your soon-to-be wife, and I want to help you. I HAVE to help you get through this!"
I still said nothing.
Eventually, the water was boiling, and after pulling it off the stove, Dash poured it into 2 mugs, to which she then added the chocolate powder. Once she'd mixed them together with a spoon, she brought them over to the table.
Dash then took one of my hands gently into her own. "Will you please tell me Stud? I really can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."
I sighed. Finally, I spoke. "Yeah....I'll tell you. For so, so many years, I've been having PTSD-induced nightmares like this. They've always been bad, but now they seem to be getting steadily worse. They all follow the same pattern. I'm a soldier, dropped into Hell, from where I attempt to escape. Then I get chased by the monsters. Monsters from my past. Wars create monsters Dash. Bad memories too. They catch me.......and.........t-tear me apart!" I then began to cry again.
Dash looked at me, before leaning in closer to hug me. "Well, I can say that I'm glad that you told me about this Stud. Now you don't have to suffer alone. I can help you through it."
"But can you?" I asked softly. "Can you handle it all? This isn't all of it. I haven't even begun to talk about Lycan Syndrome yet, or as some call it, the Apex Sickness."
"Um, what's Lycan Syndrome/Apex Sickness?"
"I'm......not ready to talk about that yet."
Dash had never seen someone in as much internal pain as I was in right then. She had seen Shell Shock before, but those cases paled in comparison to what she was seeing right then. She hugged me again. "It's ok Stud. I see now that we were meant to be together for another reason. You need someone in your life to help you through these tough times, and with your Shell Shock, I'm the right mare for you Stud."
I hugged her back. "I know Dash. And I know that someday in the not too distant future, we will be married. However, for now, let's just remain marefriend and coltfriend. I'll need to get some things shored up and squared away before I propose to you."
Dash wanted to ask what I meant by that, but she felt that it wasn't her place to. Dash glanced at the clock on the wall. The time read 4:30am.
"Wow, it's kinda getting late Stud, can we maybe go upstairs to my room now? I won't take no for an answer this time, as I'm not letting you sleep on your own again until you've gotten a better grip on your PTSD."
I didn't have any objections. "Sure thing Babe, just lead the way."
Dash giggled, and after we'd rinsed out our mugs and set them in the sink, Dash led me by the hand up to her room.
When we arrived up there, I took a look around. From what I could remember from MLP FIM, her room looked almost identical. On the walls were Wonderbolt posters, as well as a few flags, and a couple of framed pictures as well. There was also a dresser, nightstand, and a small bookshelf, as well as carpeted floors, a closet, and a few other such things. By far the most interesting thing in the room though was her bed. Dash's bed was seemingly made out of clouds! There were some pillows at the head, and the top blanket was dark blue, and had her cutie-mark on it. Dash went over to it, and after removing her robe, she pulled back the covers, and lay down on it.
"Come on Stud, I know you wanna!"
I sighed, and after removing my robe as well, I climbed into bed with my marefriend of nearly 2 and a half months, and snuggled close to her; both of us as bare as the day we were born. Dash then pulled the covers over both of us, and I tried to sleep, but yet, something in my head was still awake.
"Hmm, need something to help you relax Stud?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I'm close, but I'm not quite there yet."
Dash smirked a bit. "I know what'll help. Just hold still Stud, I'll do all of the work!" Dash then ducked her head under the covers. At first, I wondered what she was doing, but before long, I felt her warm tongue on my member. I was out of my sheath in an instant.
"Mmm", I moaned.
"You like?" Dash asked.
"Yeah...." I said softly.
I heard her snicker slightly, before taking me into her mouth. For a good long while, I just lay there while Dash worked away at my member. I'd gotten a few blowjobs before, but let's just say that there are things that you can do with a muzzle that an ordinary mouth just can't do.
I was in absolute bliss. "Wow.....Dash, you're....so good at this! Where.....did you learn to....d-do this?"
"Eh, I used to watch a lot of porn. I still do from time to time, at least until I met you anyway. I mean, why watch porn when you have the real thing?"
I was very surprised. Dash just didn't seem like the kind of mare who would watch porn. "Well, I guess that we all have our dirty little secrets...." I muttered.
"Do you watch porn Stud?"
"Ngh! I...used to, but it's....b-been may years since then. M-most of the porn I watched was of you......"
(By this point, Dash, as well as some of the others, had pieced together that they'd meant something to us back on Earth. They'd begun to suspect that they might have been characters in a TV show, but they still didn't have any solid proof.)
Dash heard what I said, but she really didn't care. All she could focus on was my dick, and the hot load that she was about to receive from it.
"Egh, D-Dash?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm....g-gonna....cum!"
"Mmm....good Stud, I want it!"
"NYAH!!!!!" I then blew my full load into Dash's eager throat.
She swallowed my full load as best she could, and eventually I stopped spurting. Dash then licked my member clean, and after kissing it one last time, it shrank back into its sheath.
"Mmm, better Stud...?" Dash whispered sweetly.
"N-nyah!"
"Heh, I'll take that as a yes!" Dash then shifted a bit. "Now that you're about to fall asleep, I'm gonna move us into the perfect position for sleep. We'll both sleep like foals, trust me!"
"Sure."
Dash then moved us into a sort-of spooning position, although we were also curled up into sort of a ball. She also told me to wrap my wings around the both of us, which I did. Once we were done, Dash kissed me on the nose one last time.
"*Kiss* Goodnight Stud. Now I know that we'll sleep well. I've done this before, and I felt like a newborn foal when I woke up I'd slept so well!"
I sighed. "I'll believe it when I see it Dash, but for now I'll take your word for it. Anyway, good night Dash, I love you."
"Nyah, I love you too Stud!"
We both then fell asleep, and sure enough, just like Dash had said, we both slept like foals.
Chapter 3: New Morning, a Discovery, and War Train Plans
The next morning, I woke up when the sun started shining on my face. I looked around, fully expecting to see my old room on the Battleship Express, but to my surprise, what I saw wasn't even close to that.
"Wh.....what? Where's...." Then I remembered. "Oh yeah, I spent the night with Dash. We're at her house, in her room, snuggled up in her bed." From the somewhat odd, but very comfortable position that we were lying in, I could see that the time was 9am.
"Hmm, so I guess that with Dash, I was able to sleep through the rest of the night. I guess that maybe cuddling really IS the best medicine! Maybe there's even hope for it curing PTSD!"
Dash felt me move a bit, which woke her up as well. "Mmm, hey Stud." She kissed me good morning.
I kissed her back. "Mmm, hey Dash."
"Did you sleep good?"
I nodded. "Yeah, once you helped me get over the nightmares, I slept great! You were right, I really did sleep just like a foal."
She laughed a bit. "See, I told ya! This is always the best position for sleep, especially with a partner!"
"Yeah, that's what it seemed to be anyway. However, I think that I need to get up now. And I probably need to shower, so where's your shower?"
Dash pointed to a door off to the right that I'd not noticed last night. "It's in there Stud. The shower controls are pretty straight-forward, although don't touch the red knobs."
I looked at her. "Um, why?"
She just stared back. "Because that's a special shower setting that I don't think that you're ready for yet. It's a special Pegasai thing. Maybe later on tonight I'll show you, but I want to sleep a little bit longer, so just stick with the regular knobs for now."
I shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say Dash."
I got up, and once I was out of bed, I began to stretch a little bit. As I was doing so, Aurora walked in.
"Oh, good morning Master! Hi Dash!"
"Hey Aurora."
"Hey girl. Did you sleep good last night?"
"Yeah, once Dash managed to calm you down, I slept ok."
"I'm....sorry about that Aurora, I.......couldn't help it."
She nuzzled my hand a bit. "Eh, it's not your fault Master. It's just the effects of war. I'm not mad at you."
I petted her gently. "You're the best Aurora. When you found us that day, I'm glad that you came to me. Having you around has been very beneficial for my mental health."
Aurora then reared up, and stood on her hind legs so that she could reach my face. When she could, she gave me a few loving licks. "Mmm, you're welcome Master." I hugged her back before she let go of me, and I went over to take my shower.
Once I was in the bathroom, I took a look at my surroundings. Dash’s bathroom was all white, and it was rather large. The floor was made of tile, and it was in a white and gray pattern. There was a sink with a large mirror and countertop, gray fittings, and a number of cabinets as well. Large windows let in light, as did a large skylight. Farther down, I saw a room with a toilet in it, and next to it, the shower. as I walked over to it, I also saw that Dash had a bathtub-Jacuzzi as well.
"Man, how did Dash even AFFORD a place like this?! Do Wonderbolts really make that kind of money?!" Then I remembered that Dash was also in charge of the weather in the Ponyville area, but still, did it pay that much? Or maybe houses didn't cost as much here in Equestria? Or maybe she built her house. Did building materials not cost as much here?
"Hey Dash?"
"Yeah Stud?"
"Did you buy this house, or build it?"
I heard her laugh a bit. "Why, are you wowed by the bathroom?"
"Um, yeah, a little bit!"
"Well, I bought the house, but I also made a few changes to it. I had that bathroom totally redone to the way that it is today. It did cost a bit, but it was worth it."
I still wanted to ask her how she paid for it, but because asking a question like that would be rude and improper, I was forced to let it go.
"We should also try the Jacuzzi later. It reminds me of a hot tub a lot more than a bathtub. Perfect for couples Stud!"
"Um Dash, did you know that you would have a coltfriend one day, or what? Why else did you build your house like this?"
"Well, let's just say that I had big plans Stud. I planned to marry one day, and raise a lot of foals here. That's why I remodeled my house like this, and also left room to build onto it later should that ever become necessary. It's my dream-house Stud, and now it's ours. We'll raise our family here, and grow old here together."
"Heh, all this house needs would be a swimming pool, and then it's awesomeness factor would SKYROCKET!"
Dash laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean Stud. I've always wanted a pool, but I can't afford one. Plus, I don't even know how to create plans for one."
I paused. Back on the train, in the safe in my room, I had some blueprints stored away. Those blueprints were of the dream-home that I wanted to build one day. Those blueprints had one feature that I knew that Dash would love.
"Hey Dash?"
"Yeah Stud?"
"When was your birthday again? Mine was in September, but I don't remember when yours was."
"Eh, it's in February. We're about 7 months apart Stud. Now can I get a little bit of sleep? I've been half-asleep through most of our conversation here."
I nodded. "Sure, I'll let you sleep for a bit." I then went over to the shower.
It was rather large, and had several shower heads on the ceiling. The walls were of white tile, and the floor felt like it was stone, but it was shiny, so I knew that it wasn't. There were 2 drains, as well as 2 seats, and a few racks for soap and shampoo. It was obviously built for more than one Pony.
I then noticed the controls. One set of knobs was silver, and on the opposite wall was a set of red knobs. "So, those must be the red knobs that Dash was talking about. I still wonder what they do." I decided to leave them be for the time being, as I had promised Dash that I would, and after working with the silver knobs, I turned the shower on.
After taking my shower, I turned the water off, and after drying myself off, I brushed my mane and tail with my hair and fur brushes, then my teeth with my toothbrush, I also shaved, preened my wings, and then went to get my duffel bag so that I could get dressed.
Elsewhere however, other events were really beginning to unfold.
Over the course of the next few days, the Caribou were starting to adjust to their new lives. They did find it rather bizarre to be working with creatures like the Futas, but at the same time, they were grateful for their assistance. Most of the Caribou, Griffons, Mintaurs, and Dragons were put to work on helping to build the city of New Vegas, while the rest were helping with the other nearby cities and towns that were also under construction.
Dothan was assigned to an overseer position, although he helped out with plenty of manual labor. While he did his work though, Dothan noticed something. There seemed to be a lot more than just 2,000 Futas in their new empire. He didn't have exact numbers, but he estimated that there could be as many as 500,000, and he kept seeing more and more new faces all the time.
"Where did all of these extra Futas come from? Were they already here, and Demetria gave us a low-ball number on purpose? Or has she been teleporting them here from Earth?" Dothan didn't know, but he was hoping to find out soon.
Danin on the other hand had a secretarial job; he was Demetria's personal assistant. He helped her with paperwork, filing, sorting documents, fetching things, and helping the Empress keep her new empire running.
One day though, on Demetria's desk, he saw a picture of her standing next to a Human male. They were both hugging, and smiling into the camera.
"Empress Demetria, if you don't mind my asking, who is this?" He pointed to the picture.
Demetria looked up from her desk in her office inside of the Palace Luxor. She took off her reading glasses. "Oh, that's my son, Leopard. He was going to marry my daughter Carla, but before they could be married, a coup happened. Long story short, he got captured, and sold to a ranch in Kansas. Not too long after this, WW6 restarted. I only saw my son a few more times since then, but the last time that I saw him was on a video call just before the battle for Las Vegas. He promised to come get me, but during the battle, we were all nuked to oblivion. I have no idea what happened to him after that."
Danin shook his head. "Wow, um........well, I'm sorry for your loss, Empress. It sounds like he meant the world to you."
"He did. He was Carla and I's everything. Only Stacy didn't like him, but she hates everybody, so....." Demetria then thought of something. "Speaking of which, I need to go see if she's apologized yet." She got up from her desk. "Just keep working on those blueprints, and then file them away. I should be back soon."
"Yes, Empress Demetria." After she left though, he growled a bit. "Damn, I f@#king HATE this job! Me, the KING OF THE CARIBOU, now reduced to just being a secretary! It's inconceivable!" He did get back to work though, as he did want to stay on Demetria's good side.
Down below the palace, Stacy was still in her cell. She still refused to apologize to her sister Carla, or her mother.
"Stupid idiots!" She muttered, "Why does that bitch even LIKE Humans anyway?! What did they ever for to us? We’re VASTLY superior to them!"
"You should be very careful with what you say there Stacy. You never know who might be listening."
Stacy looked up, and she saw Demetria looking through the bars of her cell at her. "Oh yeah? And what are you doing, spying on me?"
"No, I just came to see if you were going to apologize to Carla and I yet."
Stacy shook her head. "No, Carla's a bitch, and you're a traitor. You're a Hermaphrodite, just like her. I'M a REAL Futa! I'm VASTLY superior to any of you!"
Demetria shook her head. "Be careful Stacy. Your vanity could easily lead to your demise. And for the record, we NEED the Humans to survive. Plus, perhaps you've forgotten where you've come from? What you REALLY were before you became a Futa?"
Stacy glared daggers at Demetria. "No, I think that YOU'VE forgotten who you really are, a TRAITOR! You loved the Humans, I HATED THEM!!!! Humanity was the greatest profanity to ever walk the Goddess's Earth!"
"No Stacy, You are the one who's forgotten. You were once a Herm, and became a Futa later. And to answer your question, why do I like Humans? Well, because I see a world where males, females, Herms, and Futas all live together on equal footing. I didn't even want to be Empress, but when my mother died, if anyone else took the throne, then the world would have been lost forever. When I adopted Leopard though, it really opened my eyes to what was going on with everything. He was the one who revealed to me the TRUE evils that were being performed on males by Futas. Who do you think that it was who passed the Male Protection Act? Or the Cohabitation Clause? Or even the Transparency Act? When Leopard opened my eyes to the true evils of the Futa Empire, I immediately took steps to END Futa tyranny!"
When Demetria said that, Stacy saw the truth. She'd always known that somebody high up in the Futa Empire had been conspiring to help the Males, and although she'd suspected it was her mom, she'd never had any confirmation until just then.
"You will regret your choices one day Mom! You'll regret EVER allying with the Humans, and I WILL make sure of it!"
"Oh? And how are you going to do that? You're locked in a cell, and will remain there until I can rest assured that you will NOT be causing anymore trouble! And now that I've heard what you've been saying? You will NOT be leaving there anytime soon!"
Demetria then left Stacy to think about her actions, while she got back to work.
Meanwhile, somewhere outside of the construction zones, Face was off playing by himself. He'd gotten extremely lonely since Stacy'd gotten locked up, as she was his mistress, and basically his only friend. Pretty much everyone else saw him as a blue-haired, pigtail wearing, freaky, mask wearing, psychopathic nutball.
He was tossing a ball that Stacy had given him around, all while muttering to himself. "It's not fair! Why does everyone hate me?! I was the one who almost destroyed the Battleship Express! I almost killed Captain Leopard! Why can't they appreciate me more?!"
In his anger, he threw the ball too hard. It hit a tree, bounced off, and flew off towards a boulder field. "Oh shit!" He then chased after the ball. "Damn, I HAVE to catch that ball!"
To his dismay though, it bounced around, before sailing between a gap in a cluster of boulders. "NOOO!!!!!" He then ran over to the boulders, and began to peer around inside to see if he could see the ball. What he saw appeared to almost be a small sort-of cave, but he didn't see the ball anywhere. "Gosh-DAMMIT!!!! Stacy's gonna kill me!"
"Not unless I kill you first Kid!" A voice from close by growled.
"Huh? Who said that?"
Suddenly, from out of the darkness inside of the boulder-cave, 2 glowing red eyes appeared! "ME, That's who!!!"
"GAAHHH!!!! W-wh-who....are you?!?!?!"
"I could ask you the same question Kid!" He then held up a ball. "Were you the one who threw THIS at me?!"
"Um, n-no, I didn't throw it at you. I was playing with it, and I accidentally bounced it off a tree. It then flew over, and flew into your sort-of cave there. I'm sorry."
"So, do you want it back?"
"Um, yes please."
"First, tell me who you are, and where you came from."
Face was getting a little bit weirded out, but the thing that those red eyes belonged to hadn't hurt him yet, so he sat down on a rock close by.
"Well, my name is Face. Sally Face."
He heard the creature laugh. "What?! SALLY FACE!?!?! That CANNOT be your real name!"
Face groaned. "It IS my real name, I SWEAR! Although, most people just call me Face. You can also call me Face. Anyway, I'm just a Human male from the planet Earth. However, I'm a Futa agent. My mistress, Stacy, sent me to infiltrate the American ranks during WW6, so as to attempt to destroy their most feared weapon; the Battleship Express! And I almost did too!"
"You did not! How could a little runt like you have POSSIBLY even come CLOSE to destroying a war train as mighty as the Battleship Express?"
Face smirked a bit. "I did it, because I was a noncom in the RWD assigned to the train! One day, not too long before the Battle of Denver, Colorado, Stacy told me that it was now or never. I kept waiting for an opening, but alas, I never got one. However, one day, my chance finally came. The cab of the Battleship Express was left unmanned during a shift change for nearly 10 minutes. I then snuck up to the cab, climbed aboard, and quickly looked around for what to destroy. I knew that I had a narrow window of opportunity, and would not get another chance like this again!"
"So, what did you do?"
"I took out a wrench, and damaged the steam pressure gauges! Now they were showing a MUCH lower reading than they were supposed to! I then quickly exited the cab, and not a moment too soon, as Captain Leopard, and his fireman, Alex, were returning!"
"And then what happened?"
"I got clear of the blast radius, and prepared for the whole train to explode! Unfortunately however, although the boiler did explode, it didn't do what I thought that it was going to. Instead of taking out the whole engine, the force of the blast went largely downwards, and everything was blown mostly towards the ground. Some of it did get blown back through the cab, but the force was only enough to blow Captain Leopard out of it. He was burned, and hurt in the fall, but he survived. The train was disabled and crippled, but not destroyed. I was also found out to be the saboteur."
"And how did that happen?"
Face sighed. "Someone saw me climb down from the engine's cab, and run away, all while I was still holding the wrench. In short order, I was a wanted fugitive! I managed to evade for a while, but Boise, Idaho was my last battle. The building that I was in got hit by a missile, and collapsed. I got buried in rubble, but fortunately for me, Stacy found me, and saved my life. Since then, I was kept by her side, at least until we had to evacuate Las Vegas. That's how we came here. Some weird black mass surrounded us, and then poof! We were here."
The figure was silent for a while. Finally, he said, "So, just how badly do you want to kill Captain Leopard?"
Face sighed. "More than anything in the world! However, most likely he got flattened by the nuclear attack on Nevada. He's dead."
"Well, what if I told you that Captain Leopard still lives, and that I wanted him dead?"
"I would ask you how you knew this, and why you would want him dead."
The figure growled. "I want him dead, because he STOLE my powers from me! I want them back, and the only way to do that would be to kill him!"
"Well, then if that was the case, then why didn't you just do it yourself? And who even are you anyway?"
"I can't, because I'm too WEAK!!! Without my powers, I'm NOTHING!!!! And who am I? Well, at one time, I was a great and powerful ruler! I ruled over an entire empire, before it got overthrown by another anyway."
"Just like the Futa Empire! It got overthrown by the Americans!"
The creature smirked. "Yes, just like that! I wandered around for many years before I eventually found Captain Leopard. He took care of me, and became my new host. I lived inside of him as a spirit, all while teaching him how to bring me back into the physical world. He took very good care of me, but I see now that he only had his own selfish interests in mind. Eventually, the final step was reattaching my horn so that I could fully return to the physical world. 'Ok Leopard", I told him, "Now just help me reattach my horn, and then I can rule again!'
'NO!!!' He roared. 'Your powers are MINE now!' he then attached my horn to his own head, and claimed my powers as his own. He also stole my crown, cape, armor, and staff, before banishing me to this Tartarus-forsaken place! I became a spirit once again, and I'm too weak to do anything but sit here in the dark and rot."
Face was really taken aback. "Wow, um, that's really awful. I can't believe that Leopard did that to you! now I hate him even more!"
In the darkness, the figure was smirking. He had been able to feed off of some of Face's hatred, which did help to revive him. "Heh, this is going to be so EASY! Even easier than Leopard was! This kid's so naive! He'll believe ANYTHING I tell him!" To Face, he said, "Well, I think that you've told me enough, so do you want your ball back now?"
He nodded. "Yes please!"
"Here, come and take it!" The figure held it out to Face, but it was still inside of the cave.
Face had obviously never seen the movie "IT" before, because the little dunce fell for it. He began to reach inside of the cave to grab his ball.
"By the way, you never told me your name. What is it?"
The figure smirked. "My name, is Sombra, and now....." He grabbed Face's arms, "YOU'RE GONNA BE MY NEW HOST!!!!!" He then dragged Face inside of the cave!
"AUGH!!!! STACY!!!!!!!" Face screamed, but he was all alone out there. Nobody heard his screams.
Sometime later, Face crawled back out of the cave again. He was a little bit scuffed up, but overall, he looked normal. He was also holding his ball.
"So, how long will you be with me Sombra?" Face asked.
"Well, like I told Leopard before you, forever! Through you, I will make my return, and now your mission in life will be to woo Stacy over to my cause. I WANT to Futas to fight against the Equestrians and the Americans. I know that it will be a long road to war, but I can wait; I've got all of the time in the world!"
"So, through Stacy, we overthrow Empress Demetria, Stacy becomes Empress, and then once we're ready, we declare war on Equestria?"
"Eh, not quite. Why work so hard? Let Demetria and the others do all of the work for you. Once they're done building everything, THEN you can plan your coup!"
Face smirked. "Heh, and then total victory will FINALLY be ours!!!!"
Sombra was more than pleased with himself. Face was more naive than I had ever been. He believed EVERYTHING that Sombra had told him, and he failed to see that he was just being used as a pawn.
"Soon", Sombra thought to himself, "In less than 10 years now, victory will be MINE!!! Once the Futas, Equestrians, Humans, Caribou, and all of their allies have finally destroyed themselves, then I will rule forevermore!" Sombra then began to laugh as Face walked back to the Futas.
Back in Ponyville, some work was beginning at the Old Railyard. The Battleship Express was sitting there on a track, and for just 1 bit per adult, visitors could pay to see parts of the train. Some preliminary repairs were being done to the train, as was some cleaning, so as to make her a bit more presentable.
Also, around the rest of the Old Railyard, the remaining tracks, except for the ones that the Battleship Express and Iron Glory were sitting on, and tracks leading to and from the main line, were all being torn up. A sign close by read, "Coming Spring 2031, the Imperial War Museum, featuring the Battleship Express!"
Yes, work was beginning on preparing the area to become a museum. The Battleship Express herself would be the pride of the museum's collection. It would take time, as well as a lot of money, but the project had been approved by the Princesses, as well as the Ponyville town council, so the town secured the land that was the Old Railyard, and then crews got to work on preparing it for construction. The land and museum would be maintained by public funds, as well as donations, and tax dollars.
"Yes, it's our tax dollars at work!" Don said as he watched the old rails, ties, and ballast get removed from the yard. There were also some surveyors hard at work as well.
"HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON OVER HERE?!?!?!" A mare yelled.
Don looked up from some blueprints that he and I, as well as a foreman were looking at. Running towards us was a mare with a pink fur, a purplish mane and tail, and a green dress. She was also wearing high heels. Running behind her was a stallion with brown fur, a black mane and tail, and was wearing a well-pressed blue business suit with a red tie.
The mare came running up to us. "And just what do YOU think that you're all doing here?! This is PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!!"
The foreman looked confused. "Um, what? Um beg your pardon, Ma'am, but this is the Old Railyard. It was decommissioned earlier this week after the Imperial War had ended, and was bought by the town of Ponyville. Now it's currently the home of the Battleship Express, and will soon be the home of the Imperial War Museum." He handed her a flyer for the new museum.
Now the mare really seemed to flip. "WHAT?! A MUSEUM?!?! No, no, no no, NO!!!! There will be NO museum built here! All of you are TRESPASSING on PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!!"
"Ma'am, with all due respect, you really need to calm down. Secondly, this is the town's land, to be turned into a museum and memorial for those who lost their lives fighting in the Imperial War. It is NOT private property!"
The mare looked like she was about to hit the foreman, but before she could, the stallion running behind her stopped her. "SPOILED!!! You leave these Ponies alone RIGHT NOW!!!!" He then turned to us. "I'm terribly sorry my good Sirs, my wife is just a little bit confused. She's had her eye on this land for some time, and wanted it to build a private spa over it, but the town bought the land, and I hope to see the museum here very soon."
Don looked at him. "Um, who are you Sir? If you don't mind my asking?"
He smiled. "The name's Rich, Filthy Rich. I own a popular store chain that's based here in Ponyville. This is my wife, Spoiled Rich. And we're terribly sorry to have bothered you. Carry on!" He then began to leave. "Please Honey, come on. Leave these Ponies and Humans be, they're just trying to do their job." He tried to drag Spoiled away.
"No, I'm NOT leaving until these FILTH have been evicted!"
"Honey, this land is not for sale anymore. It belongs to the town of Ponyville. The town wants to build a museum and memorial here. Plus, they've already begun the construction."
Spoiled Rich did turn to leave, but she turned back to us again. "This isn't over. I WILL get this land for my spa! Just you wait! I'll take this to court if I have to, but there will be NO museum built here! And get that metal monstrosity out of here!"
I was shocked. "What?!?! Do you mean our train Mrs. Rich?"
"YES!!!! Get rid of it! I can see it from my personal balcony at my mansion, and it's HIDEOUS!!!! It should be melted down for scrap!"
When Spoiled said that, ALL of the on-hand crew looked out of the train at her, and all of them looked mad!
I laughed. "Heh, you want this train, you'll have to take it from us, which you WILL NOT be doing! This train is American property, as well as the property of the Railway Warfare Division, and it's soon to be the property of the Equestrian Foreign Legion. And no, it's NOT for sale!"
She looked mad enough to kill. "Just you wait, all of you! I'll take this to court if I have to, but I will get an order to have this.....metal....THING, REMOVED from your possession, and MELTED DOWN FOR SCRAP!!!! THEN I will take the rest of you to court for CRIMINAL TRESPASSING, and have you EVICTED from my land! So you'd all better just give me what I want now, OR ELSE!!!!"
Don got right up in her face, and he looked almost mad enough to kill. "Ok Missy, you listen here, and you listen good! You WILL NOT be getting this land, and you ESPECIALLY will NOT be getting our train! Now then, please leave before we have YOU arrested for trespassing!"
Spoiled pushed Don away, and stormed off. "THIS ISN'T OVER!!!" She vowed. "You haven't seen the last of me! I will be back, and you will all be GONE!!!! When I WANT something, I ALWAYS get it!!!!"
Filthy Rich then turned to us. "Please, forgive my wife. She's REALLY used to having her way, and when you stood up to her Major Don, that REALLY pissed her off! Nopony's really done that before! Also, I will be doing everything in my power to help you keep this land if it comes to that. You all saved my entire business empire, so I owe you a great debt."
"We....saved your business empire?" I was confused.
He nodded. "Yes. During the Battle of Ponyville, some of you made a final stand in the town square. Just off to the right of your barricades was my flagship store. Inside of that store was a large amount of extremely valuable goods that would have been IRREPLACEABLE if lost! I mean it, I couldn't even get INSURANCE on any of those goods, so if they had been lost, I would have been RUINED! You saved my store, and my business, so for that, I offer you my greatest of thanks! Oh, and if you ever need help with anything, just let me know." He then handed each of us a business card. "Goodbye for now!" He then followed his wife to make sure that she really left.
Once he was gone, Don, the foreman and I, all looked at each other.
"Wow, that was.....highly unusual to say the least!"
I nodded. "No kidding Don. Who does Spoiled Rich think that she is? Stamping around here like she owns the place! Ridiculous to say the least!"
The foreman looked worried though. "Yes, but what she says is indeed correct. If she wants something, then she won't stop until she gets it! You guys were the first Ponies, (or rather, Humans!) to have actually stood up to her!"
Don sighed. "Yeah, and that was really interesting, from both of them. Let's just hope that this blows over quietly, and that it really doesn't come to anything. It would be a real shame if we really DID have to fight her in court over this museum and memorial." Don then thought of something. "Hey Leopard?"
"Yeah Don?"
"Weren't you the one leading that counterattack in Ponyville Town Square?"
"Yeah, I was. We reached the Town Hall, set up a firing ling, and then let the Zebras have it! We held the entire Town Square until we forced the enemy to retreat, and then we chased them out. Obviously, we didn't even know that Filthy Rich's store was even there, but now that we've saved it, that could prove to be beneficial in the long run should this come to blows."
"Yes, I know that it would be." Don then turned to the foreman. "And how long until the museum would be completed? And this is assuming of course that everything ran on schedule."
"It'll take us maybe 2 years from start to finish. We've just barely begun preparing the ground for construction to begin. All we've done so far is to remove some of the old railroad tracks, ties, and ballast, in addition to preliminary surveying work. There's still more to go, as well as old buildings to tear down, the ground to level, then digging the foundations, before construction could begin on the museum itself."
"And what about the Battleship Express?"
The foreman pointed to the blueprints. "That's a special thing. Due to your specifications for it being in active reserve, it will be getting its own wing of the museum here. The wing will be built around the train, and will have doors on both ends so that it can drive in and out as needed. It will also be heated, air conditioned, well ventilated, dehumidified, and your train will be completely safe from the elements."
Don looked at the blueprints. "What you've all done is amazing. I know that when they're completed, this museum and memorial will go a long way in honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The stories of the Imperial War need to be told, as well as the stories of those who lost their lives, so what better way to do that than this?"
The foreman shook his head. "I really can't think of any, that's for sure!"
We all then got back to work until the sun went down.
By the time that I finally got home to Dash's house, I was well and truly shot.
"Hey Dashie, I'm home!"
She came flying down the stairs to meet me. "Stud!" She jumped into my arms, and kissed me. "I'm so glad that you're home!"
I nodded. "So am I Dash. Today was a LONG day!"
Dash looked at me. "Wow, you looked exhausted Stud. What happened today?"
"Heh, you have NO IDEA!!!" I then explained to her all about the preparation work for the museum's construction, as well as Spoiled Rich. "She really tried to bully, intimidate, threaten, as well as push us around. We pushed back, and she did leave, but she vowed that it wasn't over, and that she would fight us for the land. I hope that she was bluffing, but who knows."
Dash wrapped her arms around me again. "Wow, yeah. 'Spoiled Rich'? Try Spoiled BITCH!!!"
We both laughed at that. "Yeah, she really was being a bitch. Obviously she's used to having her way, and it sounded like we were the first ones to really stand up to her."
Dash nodded. "Yeah, most Ponies around here are scared of her. She's got money, power, and influence. She's ruined a number of Pony's lives before, and now it looks like she's set her sights on you guys. What she said was no joke; she'll really look for a way to drag you guys to court over that land. I don't know about your train, but I know that she'll sure try with that too!"
I shook my head. "Mon bieur! Well, I certainly hope that she cools off, and doesn't push this any farther."
"Yeah, so do I Stud, and are you hungry?"
I looked at my watch. It was now almost 8pm. "Actually, no. I ate with the guys on the Battleship Express."
"Just as I ate with my parents." Dash then looked up at me, smirking a bit. "Soooo......now that we're alone again Stud, and it's getting a little bit late, so how about we take a shower? I mean, you still DO want to see what those red knobs do, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, totally!"
She then smirked, and grabbed me by the hand. "Well then come on Stud, let's go!"
I then followed Dash upstairs to her bathroom where more surprises were awaiting me, as well as a long night of "fun"!
Once we were up there, Dash opened the doors, and went inside. Since the sun had gone down, there was no more natural light, so in place of it, Dash turned on the regular lights. They were yellow and glowing, and they filled the room with soft yellow light. Dash also lit up a few candles as well.
"Wow Dash. Was this 'shower and some fun', or was this 'date-night'? I'm really getting confused over here!"
Dash just turned to me and smirked. However, she didn't say anything. Instead, first she removed her white shirt, and then her shorts. Underneath, she was wearing a black sports bra, with matching sports panties.
"Ok, Stud, now it's your turn!"
I then removed my shirt and pants, until I was just in my underwear as well. Dash then walked over to the sink, and opened one of the cabinets. She then took out a bottle of something, before opening it, pulling out what looked like a pill, and taking it.
"Huh? What what was that?"
She showed me.
"Oh, birth control?"
"Yeah. Like you said Stud, let's wait until we're married before starting a family!"
"Yeah, we don't want any 'accidents' happening, do we?"
"No, no we don't!"
("YES!!! I WANT an 'accident' to happen, so that I can Find a Way! Stupid pills! Why the hell was birth control invented anyway? To ruin my work, that's what!" Life was still upset with us. "Just remember you guys, one day, I'll Find a Way. One day, multiple foals in one birth, as well as the next stage of Human-Pony evolution! One day, I'LL GET MY REVENGE!!!!" Life then continued to plot how to Find a Way.)
Once Dash was done taking her birth control, she walked over to the shower. Here, she removed her sports bra, as well as her panties, before tossing them to the side. She then half-turned, and while swishing her tail a bit, with one finger she beckoned me to come closer.
"Come on Stud, the shower awaits!"
"Coming!" I then stripped off my boxers, before following her over to the shower.
Once I was there, Dash opened the shower doors, and stepped inside. "Stay back there for a moment Stud, I have to get the water all ready." She then began to reach for the red knobs.
"And what exactly do those do Dash?" I asked her. "From what you were saying earlier, they sounded like they did something really special."
"They do. Watch this!" Dash then turned the knobs, and to my surprise, from the shower heads came streams of rainbow-colored water!
"What the.....?! What IS that stuff?!"
Dash smirked. "This Stud, is a rainbow shower. Cloud homes like mine are the only houses in all of Equestria that have them."
"And, why's it so special? Earlier you made it sound like I couldn't handle it."
"Well, it's so special because of its special properties. For the most part, something about this water helps reinvigorate Pegasai, and help them get their strength back after flying for long distances, but.....it also has another property to it as well. This property is the reason that I didn't want you doing this for the first time without me."
I was curious. "Oh? And what would that 'other property' be?"
Dash smirked. "That 'other property' is causing arousal in Pegasai! It makes them horny Stud. That's why I wanted to be here; I just didn't want you to freak out or anything. Honestly though, I'm pretty surprised that you ACTUALLY listened to me earlier! I thought for SURE that you would have tried the red knobs!"
I just stared at Dash. "First of all, soldiers like me tend to always follow directions. Secondly though, why do you even have a shower that has 2 modes like this?"
"Well, because I don't always have the time for long rainbow showers, so that's when I just use the normal water."
"And where does this water even come from? We're literally flying in the sky right now, and I didn't see any pipes!"
Dash smirked. "That's the one thing that you Humans lack Stud; the ability to link imagination, and Magic. It comes from the clouds! Those clouds around my house are filled with water, and whenever it rains, the clouds just fill up again. As for the rainbow water though, that also comes from the clouds, but....it's actually really complicated to explain. I would, but I would most likely turn into Twilight by the time that I was done, so I'll just leave it at, 'it's really complicated'!"
I laughed a bit. "Heh, I always find it kinda funny and cute when you compare yourself to Twilight like that Dash."
Dash blushed. "Aww, stop it Stud. T-that's not funny!"
"You're blushing though."
Dash thought fast. "Well......I also find it cute when you end up being cute when you don't try to be!"
Now it was my turn to blush a bit. "D-Dash, stop it! Comebacks like that don't work!"
"Yeah? Well if they don't work, then why are you blushing?"
I covered my face with one of my wings. I also gave Dash the finger, but I immediately regretted doing so, and yanked my hand down. "I'm truly sorry Dash, that was extremely uncalled for on my part. Please forgive me for that."
I felt my wing move a bit, and I saw Dash was looking at me. She then smirked, and waved her hand around a bit, before showing me how tall her middle finger was.
"Hmm, well f@#k you too Stud! And there, now we're equal!"
I was shocked, but yet, I should have expected it. Dash was brash, tomboyish, hotheaded, and a bit of a rebel. "Huh, yeah, I guess that we kinda are.” For whatever reason though, I flipped her off again, and she flipped me a bird right back.
For the next several minutes, we literally just stood there, buck-naked, while smirking, blushing, and literally flipping each other off! We even flipped each other off with our wings!
Eventually though, Dash started laughing. "Oh COME ON! Are we SERIOUSLY just gonna stand here flipping each other off all night, or are we actually gonna f@#k?"
I shrugged. "I dunno, what do you wanna do?"
"I want you to stop saying 'f@#k you' with your finger, and actually f@#k me!"
"Well, I would do that, but I thought that we were gonna take a shower first!"
"Ok, so let's do that before the water get's cold!"
I agreed, and once Dash stepped into the rainbow shower, I followed her.
When I did, I almost immediately felt the warm, sweet-smelling water hit my body, and when it did, I relaxed immediately.
"Ahh, now THIS is so much better than flipping each other off! Why the heck were we even doing that?!"
Dash looked like she was about to start laughing uncontrollably. "I........have no idea Stud! You started it!"
"Yeah, but I IMMEDIATELY regretted it!"
"And I flipped you a bird back so that we were equal. But then you flipped me off AGAIN! It just went on and on after that."
"Yeah, it was really stupid wasn't it?"
In response, Dash just flipped me one final bird.
I didn't flip her back, but I was confused. "Hey, what was that for?"
"Well, just after I asked you if we were just gonna stand there all night, you flipped me one more time. I never got a chance to flip you back. "NOW we're equal, and please make it stay that way!"
I nodded, "Sure thing Babe, but for whatever reason, I still find this whole thing really funny."
She giggled a bit. "Yeah, I know what you mean Stud. I know that one day we'll look back at tonight, and laugh hysterically at just how stupid we were!"
"Yeah, hopefully. Now then, do you want to wash me first, or should I wash you?"
"Um......I think that I'll wash you Stud."
Dash then led me over to one of the seats, and after having me sit down, she gently began to wash my mane, while the water flowed down around us.
"Wow Stud, you've got a REALLY thick mane!"
I nodded. "Yeah, and I think that it's due to me being a Human-Bat-Pony hybrid."
"Well, I like it. It's all thick, and kinda furry!"
"Yeah, and what kind of shampoo do you use?"
"This stuff. It's great for keeping dander at bay. Plus, it really gives your mane a nice shine, and gets rid of all of the knots and tangles."
I looked at the bottle. "Wait, Mane N' Tail?! That's the exact same shampoo that I use! I wondered why it smelled so familiar!"
She looked at me with surprise. "Wait, you guys have this stuff too?"
"Yes! Mane N' Tail was THE BEST for us Human-wolves. We always used it, AND its conditioner!"
Dash sighed. "Wow, we really are more alike than we even knew. Who knew that we had the same brand of shampoo?" Dash also washed my tail with it as well.
"Now then, here comes the tricky part Stud, your wings. They are such a pain in the ass to clean by yourself!"
"Yeah tell me about it! I have to use 2 mirrors, AND a series of long-handled brushes!"
Dash smirked. "Yeah, that's why it's SO nice to have a partner do it for you!" She then lathered up some body-wash, and got to work on my wings.
All the while, I purred and cooed softly. What Dash was doing felt amazing, and I don't know if it was her, the rainbow shower, or both, but I was really starting to feel aroused.
"Stud, you do know that you're making really adorable noises, right?"
I blushed. "S-shut up! It's not my fault, y-you're just making me feel so good!"
She blushed a bit as well. "It's not me Stud. Pegasai and Bat-Ponies, we're all wing-sensitive. It's just in our nature."
I shrugged, and after Dash rinsed off my black feathery wings, she had me stand up while she washed the rest of me. Here's where things got really 'hands on'!
All while she was washing me, Dash kept rubbing herself up against me on purpose. Before too long, I was out of my sheath, and at full mast.
"Wow! Looks like somepony's enjoying this, am I right?"
"N-nyah!" I moaned in response.
Dash then gently wrapped her hand around my shaft, and began to stroke me off.
"Ngh!" I moaned in response.
After stroking me off for a few minutes, Dash then popped me into her mouth.
"OHGOSH!!!!"
I could hear Dash giggle a bit as she began to work on me. She sucked up and down on my member, but after only a few minutes, she suddenly spit me back out again.
"Hey, why'd you do that Dash?"
Dash then stood up. "Because Stud, you need to wash me too! You don't get all of the pleasures around here; I have to get some too!"
I nodded. "Yeah, you're right Dash."
She then got up, and walked over to the same seat where I'd been sitting, and once she sat down, I lathered up some shampoo, and began to wash her mane.
"Mmm, that feels so good Stud."
"Thanks, and your mane feels really nice as well."
"Mmm, thanks. Just wait until you get to my tail, not to mention my wings!"
I nodded, and got back to work.
Once her mane and tail, as well as her wings were done, I then got to work on the rest of her. Dash was leaning over forwards, both so that I could wash her better, and so that I could f@#k her once I was ready.
I then reached around, and began to fondle Dash's tits. "N-nyah!" She chirped in response.
"Like Dashie like Stud!" I whispered softly. I also began to kiss, and even lick and nibble her neck gently. I didn't bite hard enough to draw blood, but I did cause Dash to moan a bit.
By this point, I could tell that Dash was ready. She'd moved her tail to the side, and her pussy was all wet; and not just from the water!
I was rock-hard, and as gently as I could, I lined up with Dash, and pushed into her.
"N-nyah!"
"Eeee!" I screed softly in response.
"Wait, did you just.....scree Stud?"
"N-not.......intentionally."
Dash just sighed. "So you really do have a lot of Bat-pony in you after all! And you really CAN scree! Now then, let's see if you can SCREW!"
I winced. "Dash that joke was painful, and you know it!"
"Heh, yeah it was. Now f@#k me stupid!"
"Dash, you already are stupid. You don't need me to f@#k any more into you!"
"Hey, I'm no more stupid than the Stud who's f@#king me!"
"Be careful there Dash. I'm about to call you a slut."
"Oh, and why's that?"
"Because you moan like one!"
"What, no I don......OUGH!!!" I thrust into her again.
"Are you sure about that Dashie?"
Dash then thrust back into me. "Eeeee!!!"
"Heh, and you scree like a Bat-Pony. What was your point again?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I decided to take Dash up on her offer, and f@#k her stupid.
For a good long while, we f@#ked in the doggy position. Then, we f@#ked in a standing position, and at one point, Dash even had her legs wrapped around my hips!
Because of my extremely high levels of stamina, I was able to keep going for a good long while. Eventually though, I felt myself getting close.
"Ngh, D-Dash.....I'm g-getting close. Where.....d-do you want it?"
"Ngh, in....my mouth Stud; feed me!"
I complied. After pulling out of her, she laid back on one of the seats, and after taking me back into her mouth, I pumped her stomach full of my hot foal-batter.
Once I was done spurting, I pulled back out of Dash's mouth, before coming to lean against the wall, as my knees were rather weak.
"That was........amazing Stud. You're so.....so good at this!"
I smiled. "Thanks Dash, you're not so bad yourself!"
Once she had a bit of strength back, Dash got up, and turned off the shower. Then she went over, and after opening the shower door, she grabbed a towel, and handed me one too.
"Thanks Dash."
"You're welcome Stud."
The towels were cyan blue, and had a picture of her Cutie-Mark on them. Once we were dried off, Dash then led the way out of the shower. I began to walk towards the bathroom door, but Dash stopped me.
"Oh, and where do you think that you're going Stud?"
I was surprised. "Wait, you mean we're not done in here yet?"
Dash shook her head. "Nope! We haven't had fun in the Jacuzzi yet!" She then walked over to it. When she did, I got a better look at it.
For starters, it was huge! It was shaped like a circle, and if I had to guess, I'd say that it was 8 feet all around. It was also white, and had stairs leading up to it. One one side, there was a seat, and on another side there was the faucet and knobs. There were also jets to make bubbles, and provide relaxation.
"Wow, this thing is BIG!!!"
Dash nodded. "Yeah. This was here when I bought the house, although it was gray instead of white. I mostly use it when I've gotten back from a long stint with the Wonderbolts to help me relax my muscles."
"It looks more like an actual hot tub than a Jacuzzi bath tub. If not for the obvious drain, as well as the faucet, and only one seat, I'd swear that it was one!"
"Yeah, I know what you mean Stud. But now, fun time!" Dash then turned the water on, and after getting it warm, she then plugged the drain, and while the tub was filling, she added bubble bath, as well as what I guessed were bath salts, and bath oil.
"Mmm, watermelon!"
Dash giggled a bit. "Yeah, you can't go wrong with watermelon scented bath oil!"
Once the tub was full, Dash shut the water off, before climbing up the steps, and into the tub. I then decided to have a little fun. Instead of just climbing in, I took flight, and once I was up to the bathroom ceiling, as well as being directly over the tub, I turned downwards, and all while still flying, I placed my arms out in front of me, and in exaggerated slow motion, I did a splash-free swan dive into the tub!
When I came back up, Dash just groaned. "Really Stud? REALLY? Was that necessary?"
I smirked. "Necessary? Nope. Fun? Heck yeah!"
Dash put her hands over her face. "Sometimes, I just.....don't even know what to do with you Stud! You're just too much!"
"Yeah, maybe, but you still love me, right?"
Dash sighed. "Well, I can't stay mad at you, THAT'S for sure!"
We both then laughed, and once we'd both gotten "frisky" again, we went at it again in the tub. This time, I blew my load into Dash's pussy, and we both cried out in bliss.
Eventually, once we'd drained the tub and dried ourselves off again, Dash then led the way out of the bathroom, and back out into her bedroom. When I saw her alarm clock, I saw that the time was just a little bit past 10.
"Huh, so it's only a little bit past 10. Should we go to bed now Dash?"
Dash shook her head. "Nah, I was thinking that we could watch another movie."
"Which one?"
"Eh, what about Star Horse?"
I shrugged. "Sure, that sounds like fun."
I also noticed that Dash had a TV in her room that I missed the night before, and once she'd popped the VHS tape into the VCR, we both grabbed a few snacks, before laying down on her bed, (still naked, mind you!) to watch the movie.
All while we watched, we cuddled, and even fed each other snacks from time to time. I'd hold something in the palm of my hand, and Dash would eat it, or vice versa. Or one of us would hold something out to the other, and then they'd eat it, and Dash even brought up a bottle of whipped cream, and we'd put a little on ourselves, and the other would lick it off. Once the movie ended, still armed with our whipped cream, we went at it again for one more round.
Little did we suspect though, during our entire sexual adventures, we were being watched. From the moment that we entered the bathroom, to our flipping each other off, to our shower, the Jacuzzi, and the movie, Aurora and Tank watched our every move. They could not believe what they were seeing.
"I don't understand it Tank. What is up with them?!"
Tank didn't say anything, but he did look at Aurora as if to say, "Yeah, I know what you mean! Somepony's gone off their rails!"
"Well, thanks to my battle-armor, I have all of this on video, so maybe one day we could make some money off of it!"
"What, Really? How?"
"By selling it to the porn industry!"
"Eh, bad idea Aurora!"
She sighed. "Yeah, maybe you're right Tank. Well, at any rate, they've finally gone to bed, so I guess that we should do the same as well." She then walked over to her favorite rug, and Tank did follow her, though at a very slow rate of speed.
"Oh yeah, that's the one thing about you turtles and tortoises; you're slow."
Eventually, Tank did make it, and once he was beside Aurora, he pulled up into his shell for the night.
"Goodnight Tank."
Aurora then heard a series of small taps coming from inside of Tank's shell, which she interpreted to mean, "Goodnight Aurora."
Aurora then rolled over, and after wrapping her tail around herself, she went to sleep.
The next morning, Stacy had another visitor to her cell.
"Hey Mistress Stacy."
She looked up. "Huh? Oh, hey Sally. What's up?"
He smirked at her. "Oh, I just came down to talk to you."
"And am I any closer to being able to get out of here?"
Face shrugged. "Well, like Empress Demetria said, you're stuck in there until you've apologized to your sister Carla, and learned your lesson about controlling your temper."
Stacy groaned. "Well, I'm NOT going to be apologizing to Carla! She's a bitch, and a slut! She got herself knocked up by He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named, and had a SON! NOT a Futa! Inexcusable! Filthy Hermaphrodite!"
Face put a hand over his mask. For so long, he'd listened to Stacy whine, moan, and complain about her sister Carla. It got really old, really fast, but since his mask hid his entire face except for his eyes, he could make all of the faces that he wanted, and nobody would notice.
"Hey Sally?"
"Yeah Mistress Stacy?"
"Why do you always wear that mask? I know that I've asked you this before, but I cannot for the life of me remember the answer."
Face sighed. "It's not a mask Mistress Stacy; it's a prosthetic. A prosthetic face, to be exact. If you remember correctly, back in the days of WW6, back while I was still a US soldier fighting AGAINST the Futa Empire, I got into a life-threatening accident. My entire face, and parts of my torso and chest had been almost completely stripped of flesh by shrapnel. Somehow, my eyes survived completely intact, although I was in the hospital in a coma. Artificial skin was placed over the wounds, but the look was horrid, and unnatural.
Eventually, I was given my prosthetic face, and I've worn it ever since. My wounds still haven't healed, so I always wear my mask. Captain Le........He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named........also had one, although his was a Kitsune mask. I got mine first, but HIS was more popular! I heard that he wore it all of the time after my little sabotage mission, and never really took it off."
Stacy nodded. "Ok, that makes sense. I'll be able to remember that now. And is that all? You kinda looked like you wanted to ask or tell me something."
Face nodded. "Yeah, I did. While I was out with your ball yesterday, I met a creature who offered us a chance at ruling the Futa Empire......." Face then went on to explain all about Sombra, and what had been promised if they helped him. "....Basically, you'd be the majority of the operations, while I gave you the power to make it happen. We WILL rule Stacy!"
Stacy smirked. "Heh, yeah, I don't really like 'General Stacy' too much anymore. However, 'EMPRESS Stacy' sounds MUCH better! Don't you agree?"
Face smirked, but it couldn't be seen. "Yeah, it does Mistress Stacy. With you at the helm, me providing support, and Sombra backing us, your empire could one day cover an entire planet!"
Stacy was once again becoming consumed with her ambitions. Technically, if and when Demetria died, Carla would become the next Empress. However, if she died, then it used to fall down to Stacy, until Demetria removed her from the chain of command. As to who her replacement was, Stacy didn't know.
She looked back at Face. "Soon, I could be the Empress instead of my mother! I'll let this go a little bit longer, because why would I waste effort building the empire myself when I can just wait for my mother to finish it before killing her?!"
"But, what about Carla though? Isn't she next in the chain of command?"
Stacy laughed. "My SISTER!?!?!? Have you seen her lately Face, she's LITERALLY early-onset senile! All she cares about is that little bastard-brat of hers, and her mind still yearns for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. She's barely there anymore Face. She'll be ZERO threat to me!"
Stacy then laughed, Face laughed, and even Sombra laughed. He still could not BELIEVE how easy it was to get Stacy and Face to do his bidding. He was able to play off of their feelings to get them to do what he wanted, as well as feed off of their anger and ambitions. Already he was starting to regain his lost strength, and every day, he got slowly stronger. He knew that it was going to take a while, but even a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.
"This will be a long road to recovery, but with those two naive little shits doing all of the heavy-lifting, I will get my powers back!"
Sombra then got back to work with laughing with Stacy and Face.
In Ponyville, all of us were still hard at work. For the rest of that week, those of us who weren't servicing or taking care of the train were hard at work helping clear out the Old Railyards. The same bulldozers, loaders, tractors, and excavators that had helped rebuild Ponyville and Appaloosa, and had fought in Zebrica and Donneth now found use fighting dirt, rocks, rubble, and ballast.
The rails were still being torn up, and the debris from them was being sent to be recycled. There were a few buildings, such as water towers, coal hoppers, signal boxes, and storage sheds that needed to be torn down as well.
Iron Glory, since she was a 4-4-0, and was small enough to be used on the rails a lot, was put to work hauling away the debris, which went either to the landfill, a dumping site for dirt and rocks, or a recycling facility outside of town that dealt with construction and demolition site waste.
The whole site was fenced off, although holes were left in the fences so that ponies could watch us work. From 9am to 6pm every day from Wednesday, August 1st, to Friday, August 3rd, we all worked hard. Eventually, by Saturday, August 4th, the job was done. Aside from a water tower and coal hopper that serviced the Battleship Express and Iron Glory, As well as the tracks that they sat on that still hooked up to the main line, the entire area that used to be the Old Railyard was all dug up. Now the real work of leveling the area, as well as the rest of the surveying work, could begin. Then once that was finally done, then we could get to work on beginning to dig the foundations for the museum.
Don looked over the site. "Well done boys, this was a fine piece of work! We're well on our way to getting this museum built, and everything's going according to the schedule!"
"Actually", The foreman piped up, "We're slightly AHEAD of schedule now! The rest of the demolition wasn't slated to be done until the middle of next week! We're now 4 days ahead of schedule! With all of you helping the rest of the construction crews, as well as putting your big heavy machines to work here, the work's been going MUCH faster than we ever believed that it would."
Don nodded. "Well, we're just glad for the employment! With some of us working on the Battleship Express, it leaves the rest of us free to work on the museum."
The foreman agreed, and then he, Don, and later Jim, talked about this for a while longer.
Meanwhile, before it was time to start getting ready for the ball, I had a meeting to get to. Dash and I were on our way to the Wonderbolt Academy, so that we could meet up with Spitfire. Then, once she was with us, we would head over to Cloudsdale City Hall, and look through the archives until we'd found that contract that the two of them signed in their own blood. I wanted to see it for myself, and see if it had any loopholes.
"I sure hope that Spitfire will be happy to see us again." I told Dash as we flew.
"Are you kidding me Stud? OF COURSE she'll be happy to see us! I'm her best flyer, and you're her kinda-sorta coltfriend!"
I blushed a little bit. "Eh, let's just focus on the matter at hand! We have to meet her, and then get over to Cloudsdale City Hall so that we can find that contract of yours. I want to see for MYSELF what this whole deal is really all about!"
Dash nodded. "Yeah, I know Stud, so that's why we're doing this now!"
I sighed, and a few minutes later, we saw it; Wonderbolt Academy.
"Wow, this place is even cooler up close!"
Dash smirked. "Yeah, no kidding Stud! This place is awesome!"
Once we'd landed, we slowly made our way over to Spitfire's office. All while we walked though, Wonderbolts, recruits, and staff alike all stopped and stared at me.
"Whoa, that's Captain Leopard!"
"What? NO! THE Captain Leopard?!"
"Yeah, the guy who helped win the Imperial War!"
"One of the engineers of the Battleship Express, war hero, as well as being the coltfriend to Rainbow Dash! How much luckier can you get than that?!"
"You can't!"
I sighed. I was used to the celebrity status by now. Even while we were still back on Earth, whenever the Battleship Express was in town, EVERYBODY came out to see us! Battalion 4009 was the most popular, and well known unit in the US Military. EVERYONE knew us by name, as there was even merchandise! T-shirts, hats, hoodies, golf balls, commemorative coins, Frisbees, buttons, pins, toys, models, and of course, Lionel and MTH got in on the act, and made O-Scale electric trains of the Battleship Express and Iron Glory.
"It'll wear off eventually", I thought. "One day, we'll just be normal Humans, and everypony will move on from us." I then sighed, and Dash and I walked inside of the main academy building.
Eventually, we reached Spitfire's office. I knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Leopard and Dash Spits. We're here."
"Oh, well come on in guys!"
"Ok." I opened the door, and sure enough, Spitfire was there. She was sitting behind her desk, working on some paperwork.
She was wearing her blue academy uniform, and had goggles on her forehead as well. When she saw us, she got up and walked over to us.
"Hey Dash, hey Stud!" She hugged both of us.
"Hey Spits, it's nice to see you too. How are you today?"
She sighed. "As good as the Captain of the Wonderbolts can be Stud."
"Well, that's good to hear. So are you able to go to Cloudsdale City Hall now?"
She nodded. "Yeah. With the Victory Ball later on tonight, most of us are just wrapping up our work now. We can go now if you want."
I nodded. "Yeah. I want to see this document for myself, and see if I can find any loopholes in it."
Sptifire sighed. "Yeah, so let's just get this over with. Let's go."
We all then left the Academy, and took flight for Cloudsdale.
Once we arrived in the city a little while later, we all went straight for City Hall. When we walked inside, we were greeted by a receptionist.
"Ah, Captain Spitfire. So nice to see you again! Oh, and I see that you brought some friends with you as well."
Spitfire nodded. "Yeah. This is Rainbow Dash, one of my fellow Wonderbolts, and this is Captain Leopard."
"The guy from the Battleship Express!!! EEEE!!!! I'm such a huge fan of yours Captain Leopard! What you did during the Imperial war was AMAZING!!!!!"
I sighed. "Yeah, it was something else alright!"
Once the receptionist was able to get a better grip on herself, she looked back at us. "So, what can I do for you all today?"
Spitfire sighed. "Well, we need to get into the archives. There's a document in there that I need to find."
The receptionist nodded. "Certainly! I will be with you in just a moment to take you down there."
We all sat down on some nearby chairs, and waited for a few minutes. Finally, when the receptionist was able to help us again, she took us down to the basement of City Hall.
Once we were down there, she opened a door at the end of the hallway, and beckoned us inside. "Ok, here we are, the archives!"
I looked around. The entire room was massive, and was filled with rows upon rows of shelves and filing cabinets that went all of the way up to the ceiling.
"Whoa, this place is HUGE!!!"
The receptionist nodded. "Yes, it is indeed!" She then turned back to Spitfire. "So, what document are you looking for?"
Spitfire thought for a moment. "Well, it was filed away about 2 years ago, just before the Imperial War began. I filed it under my name, and it should be under marriage contracts."
"Ok, marriage contracts. Got it. Follow me!" She then led the way over to a massive series of filing cabinets. After climbing up a ladder, she began to look.
"Just for reference, what is your full name Captain?"
"It's Flare. Spitfire Flare."
"Ok, Flare. F. Got it!" She reached a file drawer for F's. After searching for a few minutes, she found it. "Ok, I found it!" She then flew back down to us. She handed the file to Spitfire. "Here it is Captain!"
Spitfire then handed it to me. "Ok, this is it, open it Stud!"
With trembling hands, I opened up the file folder. What I found inside was very shocking indeed. The document was indeed there, and at the bottom, I saw where it had been signed in blood! I then began to read the document.
"Ok, so this document hereby states that the loser of the race will be the lesser wife in a relationship, while the winner will be the primary wife. It also states that all parties must sign the document in their own blood. The contract is not valid without it. Well there's your loophole right there. If I sign this in INK, then it automatically becomes null and void! If I sign this contract in ink, then I release all of you from it."
Dash was looking over my shoulder. "Um, I don't think so Stud. Look at this!" She pointed to another line.
"Also, if any parties refuse to sign the document in blood, or sign it in ink, then they will be punished to the full extent of the law, as they have violated the legal terms of this contract."
"What the.....what? Did you guys put this in here?!"
They both shook their heads. "No Stud, we swear!"
"It must have happened either when we got it authenticated, or notarized."
"So now if I don't sign this contract, I could be in legal trouble! But yet, how can I be held responsible for barely-legal actions not my own? I did not consent to this, so why should I be held responsible?"
Spitfire sighed. "Now I'm REALLY wishing that I paid better attention when they drew up this contract! I was so busy bragging to Dash that I never really read it all carefully."
"And neither did I stud."
I put my hands over my face. "Great, just great. Now I'M stuck in a legal contract that I can't get out of, and if I refuse then I end up in court! Just.......I don't even know what to say right now."
Spitfire thought for a moment. "Well", she said slowly, "We could always take this document to a legal expert and have it interpreted for us."
"And what's THAT going to cost?"
Spitfire shrugged. "Well, since it's only a simple matter of having a document interpreted, it shouldn't cost too much. Plus, there's a law office just down the street."
Dash and I agreed, and then we took the document to the law office.
When we arrived there, after waiting for a bit, we were ushered over to the office of L. Eagle, Attorney at Law.
Once we were inside of his office, the aging Pegasus with gray fur, and a white mane and tail looked at us. "So, what can I do for you three today?"
Spitfire sighed. "Well Sir, the truth is, we need you to help us interpret this document. It was drawn up about 2 years ago, and now we have need of it. However, it involves the matter of a polygamous marriage, so we need legal help with this."
He glared at me. "Is he forcing you to do this?"
"No! He's the one caught up in all of this...." Spitfire then explained about the bet, as well as the events leading up to, and after it. "So that's where everything currently stands. We need help interpreting this document, and none of us want to get into any legal trouble."
After Spitfire handed him the document, he put on his glasses, and looked it over.
"Well", he said after a time, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but you three are legally bound by this contract."
"What?!" I was shocked.
"I'm afraid so. In layman's terms, this contract calls for the marriage of 3 individuals; 2 mares and 1 stallion. The 2 mares in question have already signed and sealed the deal, which leaves you the odd one out Captain Leopard. Have you signed the document?"
"No Sir."
"Are you in a relationship with either Rainbow Dash or Captain Spitfire?"
"Yes Sir. Rainbow Dash is my marefriend, and Captain Spitfire is a close friend."
"Have you handled the document?"
"Yes Sir, I have."
"That's the problem then. By handling the document, as well as being in a relationship with both of the mares who signed it, you are now legally bound to marry them. If you do not sign this contract, then you WILL be in serious legal trouble. It would take thousands to fight this in court, and even then, the odds are not in your favor. If you want, I can go and talk to my boss, as he's legally licensed to perform marriage ceremonies. We can just get this over right now if you want."
We all looked at each other in horror, before looking back at Eagle. "NO!!!" We all said together.
"Um, we're making other arrangements by ourselves!" Spitfire quickly added.
I then looked at Mr. Eagle. "Um Sir, does the contract say that I have to marry both of them at the same time? Both of my marefriends here were each hoping for their own ceremony. Also, their families don't like each other very well, and I don't want to cause any unnecessary stress for anypony."
He shrugged. "No, you can marry each of them in their own ceremony if you want; this contract gives leeway for that. However, the other ceremony must be done within 1 year of the first."
I sighed. "Well, thank you for your time Sir. I guess that we'll just be going now. We have to get dressed for the Victory Ball tonight in Canterlot."
Eagle nodded. "Ah, yes, that would be a very nice place to propose to your marefriends! I wish you all the best of luck!"
We all looked at each other, and once we were convinced that L. Eagle had lost his mind, we all got out of that office and fled back out into the streets of Cloudsdale.
"Great. This is just PEACHY!!!! Now I'm stuck with this, your parents are going to kill me, and I don't even have anything to say in my defense!"
Dash and Spitfire both looked at each other, before turning back to me.
"Eh, this might not be as dark as you think Stud. Remember, this was our fault, not yours. Spitfire and I made that bet, and you just got caught in the crossfire."
"I'll have to tell that to my attorney....oh wait, that's right, I don't have one, and the ones around here are loons!"
They could both see the amount of stress that I was under. "Well, if you want, we could try to talk to our mothers about it at the ball, and see what they would say."
I shrugged. "Sure, if you think that it would help."
We all then parted ways so that we could all get ready for the ball. We all agreed to meet back up at the Battlehip Express, as it was going to be taken with us to Canterlot.
Dash went back to her house, and after picking up the dress that Rarity had made for her, she quickly showered, and put it on. When she did, she admired herself in the mirror. "Wow, I actually look pretty cute!"
I did stop by to pick up Aurora, but Dash told me that I couldn't see her until the ball. "Ok, fine, I can wait!" I then took Aurora, and after flying her to the ground, we quickly made our way back to the train.
When we arrived there a few minutes later, I quickly got into the shower, and once I was out, from my dresser, still wrapped up in plastic from the last time that it was dry-cleaned, I pulled out my formal uniform. I'd never gotten a chance to wear it during WW6, but now I would finally get to. "Gosh, I only wore this when I got outfitted with it. I certainly hope that it still fits!"
I then pulled on a pair of clean boxers and socks, and then I began to pull on the uniform. (I did have to cut holes into it for my wings and tail, but that's besides the point!) It greatly resembled a US Marines Class A uniform. There were black shoes, dark blue pants with a red stripe running down the sides of the legs, a dark blue button-up tunic, a white belt around the waist, and a dark blue hat. On the shoulders of the uniform was my rank, which was Captain, as well as all of the medals, and other honors I had been awarded with over the years I'd been in the US Army, and RWD, and the insignia of the Railway Warfare Division was on the front of my hat as well. (I also had to cut holes in my hat for my ears as well!) I then looked myself over in the mirror on the back of my door.
"Wow, I look pretty good in this! I'm glad that it still fits!"
Aurora barked an approval as well.
"Oh yeah, I can't forget about you Girl!"
I then gave Aurora a bath as well, and once she was all dried off, I helped her into her own uniform. Yes, just like the rest of us, because she was the official mascot of the Battleship Express, she had her own uniform! It consisted of a small blue tunic with an attached tie, a blue skirt with a hole for her tail, small black shoes for her back paws, and of course, a blue hat for her head. The entire uniform was custom made for her, and she loved it.
"Ok, now I'm ready too Master!"
I nodded. "I know Aurora. However, it's almost time for that meeting with Don, so let's go!"
I then put a leash on Aurora, and together we walked outside of the train.
Sure enough, Don was standing there in his formal uniform, as was everyone else.
"Ok, everyone, this is it. Tonight is the night of the Victory Ball! The ball is being thrown to honor the heroes who have returned from battle, so remember we are HONORED GUESTS! This will be no different than a ball thrown to honor the President of the United States. We all must be on our BEST behavior, so that means NO running! NO shouting! NO discharging of firearms! NO falsifying stories! Basically, if you weren't at a certain battle, DO NOT say that you were! NO drinking out of chocolate fountains!" Here he glared directly at a gunnery officer. "NO sex in the bathrooms!" He glared at somebody else. "NO grinding against your partner! (This means YOU Alex Barkley!) NO cussing! NO spitting! NO getting drunk! NO drugs! NO picking up mares! NO picking up stallions! NO....."
"Um, Major Don?"
"Oh, yes Todd?"
"What CAN we do at this ball?"
Don sighed. "Oh, right. Well, I just got a little carried away. I just DO NOT want a repeat of that fancy dinner in Chicago back in May of 2028! I think that you ALL remember that episode!"
We all looked down at the ground. Yes, most, if not ALL of us remembered that night!
Don then continued. "What you all CAN do however, is have fun, eat some food, spend time with your friends and those you love, and enjoy your accomplishments. This ball was made possible by your contributions, so please act like it!"
We all nodded, and once we were all onboard the train, Joe blew the whistle, and the train departed Ponyville for Canterlot. (Dash sent word to me that she was just going to head to the ball, and meet me in Canterlot.)
For the most part, the train ride to Canterlot was dull and boring. Every now and again though, we would see some Ponies who would wave and cheer for us. We would often blow a quick blast of our whistle in thanks.
Eventually, we reached the base of Canterlot Mountain. Now we had to be really careful, as the tracks and bridges going up it were NOT rated for a train as heavy as the Battleship Express! Slowly but surely, Big Boy 4009 made her way up the mountain. Higher and higher she went, until she finally reached Canterlot Station at the very top.
"Woo hoo! We did it!" Joe then blew the whistle to signify our arrival, and once the train stopped, most of us got out onto the station platform. The few who remained on the train then drove it to a siding, and then they got ready for the ball, while detachments of Royal Guards stood guard over the train.
The crowds at the station were enormous.
"Dang! Is this a ball, or Black Friday?!" I heard Alex yell. "I'm confused!"
"Yeah, no kidding!" Fred added. "This place is nuts!"
Somehow though, we were able to find our dates. Alex, Don, Dan, Todd, and myself were able to find Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Dash.
When I saw Dash, I gasped slightly in surprise. "Oh my gosh!" I thought, "She's GORGEOUS!" Dash was wearing a dress that from the waist up was cyan blue, and had short sleeves. Her rainbow colored mane was tied up in a ponytail, and draped over her shoulder. From the waist down, her dress was as rainbow-colored as her mane and tail. On her hooves she wore golden colored shoes. She also had a small brooch in her mane that looked just like her Cutie-Mark.
Dash then sauntered up to me. "Hey Stud. Like whatcha see?"
I couldn't even remember my own name, much less tell her that I liked what I saw!
"I know ya do!" Dash then kissed me gently on the cheek.
"Aww." The crowd around us cooed. "Such a cute couple!"
I was blushing like mad, but I still didn't really say anything. To Dash though, I did say, "Yeah, you look beautiful Dash."
Now she blushed a bit. "Aww, thanks Stud. You're so sweet."
After a few more minutes, it was time for us to make our way inside of the castle for the ball. All of the other ponies went in first, and because we were honored guests, we would come in a bit later.
Don and Twilight then moved to the front of the group. "Ok guys, this is it. Form up!"
We all then formed into our ranks as best we could. All of us who had marefriends were at the front; soldier on the left, mare on the right. Behind us came the rest of the train crew in columns of 2. Don and Twilight were leading the way, then Dash and I, Alex and Applejack, Todd and Fluttershy, Pinkie and Dan, Cole and Missy, and finally, Rarity and Andy Shepherd, who was one of the Engine Guardsmen of Secondary Crew. (They were paired up for the night, as Rarity was feeling left out. All of her friends had coltfriends, except for her. Andy volunteered to be her date for the ball.)
"Ok, Company steady, forward march!"
We all then began our slow walk into the castle. All around us, other ponies were taking pictures, and cheering for us. Once we'd made it inside, the crowd within went wild. A band was playing an upbeat tune, and from further inside, we heard,
"And now please put your hands together for the boys who made it all happen, the American Humans from Battalion 4009!"
Up at the front of the main ballroom, I saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, as well as General....well, now Prince again, Shining Armor. Celestia was motioning for us to come up to the front. Once we were all up there, all 216 train crew, and all 1,112 soldiers of Battalion 4009 lining the aisle, Celestia spoke.
"It's certainly hard to believe that just 2 and a half months ago, we were all at the bottom of the bottle. The Imperial War was still raging, and the enemy was making new gains all of the time. However, just when all hope seemed lost, the Heavens answered our prayers, and they sent the Battleship Express, as well as Battalion 4009 to us! In less than a week, they'd begun rolling back the enemy's advances, and in just 2 short months, both the Caribou Empire, and the Zebra Empire were wiped out, never to rise again!"
The crowd cheered for us.
"However!" Celestia continued, "Now that the war is over, it is time for these boys to begin making new lives for themselves. By their sides, they do have their marefriends, however, I would like to offer them something as well. Well actually 2 somethings! First of all, I'm proud to announce the creation of the first Equestrian Foreign Legion! The backbone of this foreign legion will the Battleship Express, it's crew, and Battalion 4009. The rest of the legion will be made up of Griffons, Diamond Dogs, Minotaurs, Donkeys, Dragons, and all others who hold Equestrian Citizenship, but are not natural-born natives.
Secondly, one cannot serve in the military, nor can they marry any of my subjects, unless they have Equestrian Citizenship. Major Don, Captain Leopard, and the rest of Battalion 4009, it is my greatest honor to announce that if you join the Foreign Legion, then you will be granted automatic Equestrian Citizenship!"
Some of our jaws hit the floor, but all of us stared in shock. If we joined the Foreign Legion, then we would be given automatic Equestrian Citizenship!
"Oh, and if you still want Equestrian Citizenship, but do not want to be full-time military, then we have a solution for that. Not all of the Foreign Legion will be active all the time. Most of it will only be activated in a time of severe crisis. Just like with the Battleship Express at the planned Imperial War Museum in Ponyville, you will all be in active reserve, and only be called up in the event of a severe crisis. So what do you all say? Are you ready to begin a new chapter in your lives?"
For a moment, there was still only stunned silence. Then ALL of our hands went up! We also cheered for becoming a part of Equestrian Society as a whole.
Once the formalities, (as well as singing all of the necessary paperwork!) were out of the way, it was time for the ball to begin. We all began to mix and mingle, as well as dance, stand around talking, some were signing autographs, standing for photos, and getting refreshments.
"So, what do you think of this ball so far Stud?"
I shrugged. "I don't know Dash. I was never really into stuff like this."
"Do....you want to dance with me?"
I sighed. "That's the problem Dash, I don't even know how to dance anymore. I did once, but I've long forgotten how to now."
Dash was maybe about to say something, but before she could, I saw somepony waving to us.
"Oh hey look, there's Spitfire!"
"Oh yeah! Let's go say hi!"
We walked over. When we got over there, Spitfire was standing next to a mare in a purple ball gown. She had yellow fur, and an orange mane and tail, and she looked an awful lot like Spitfire. Spitfire herself was wearing her Wonderbolt jumpsuit.
"Hey Stud." She hugged me.
"Hey Spitsy."
"Hey Dash."
"Hi!"
Spitfire then indicated the mare next to her. "Oh and Stud, I would like you to meet my mom, Stormy Flare. Mom, this is Captain Leopard, the guy I told you about."
She then looked at me. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person Captain. My daughter's told me so much about you."
I took her hand and kissed it gently. "The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Flare."
"Wow, a war hero, AND a true gentlecolt too! There's not much better of a combination!"
While I was still talking to Stormy, Dash saw her parents, and waved them over as well. When I saw them come over, I suddenly got the very bad feeling that Dash and Spitfire were about to tell their parents the truth about their wager, and the legal document that followed. At that moment, my nerves failed me.
After talking for a while, Dash looked over at Spitfire. Spitfire looked back at her, and nodded. Then they both looked at me, and I could tell by their facial expressions that they were about to take the leap of faith, and tell their parents. I already knew off the bat that we were screwed, but NOTHING could have prepared me for what happened next.
Spitfire started the conversation. "So, Mom......um, t-there's something t-that I need to.....talk to you about......"
Stormy looked at her daughter. "Oh? And what would that be Dear?"
"And...um, you're gonna want to hear this too Mom and Dad.....It involves me too." Dash did refrain from studdering, but I knew that she was just as scared as Spitfire and I were.
"Huh? What is this all about?" Windy asked.
Dash and Spitfire both looked at each other. "Well......um.....it, um, k-kinda involves a little wager that we made a while back...." They then told their parents everything. From the original bet, to how blown up it got, to the legal document, to getting it notarized, signing it in their own blood, the actual race, Dash winning, their telling me about the results, then the retrieval from the Clousdale City Hall archives, to taking it to L. Eagle to have it interpreted, to the final verdict.
"And sadly, that's where everything stands." Dash then wrapped her arm around my left arm, just as Spitfire wrapped her arm around my right arm.
"Mom and Dad...."
"As well as you Mom..... Say hello to the first polygamous union in Equestria in a long time. "
For the longest time after they told their parents this, all they could do was stare. I didn't know if that was a good sign, a bad sign, or what it indicated. Then I saw eye twitching, as well as irregular hand moments. I knew that this was going to be trouble.
Finally, Stormy Flare spoke up. "So there's no legal way out of this? All 3 of you are going to be married?"
Spitfire shrugged. "Well, kind of. I don't know if I'll be married to Dash, but Stud here will be married to both of us."
"And are you SURE that this is what you all want?" Bow asked.
I sighed. "I really do not have a say in this. I was never a part of it; I was just caught up in the aftermath."
I saw all 3 of them narrow their eyes at me. I knew this to be an ESPECIALLY bad sign!
Finally, Windy said, "Ok, we'll talk about this later. For now, you Sir!" she pointed to me, "Are in BIG trouble! And YOU Missy!" She pointed to Dash, "Are grounded!"
"Yes, and the same with you Spitfire! You're grounded!"
Both Dash and Spitfire looked at each other. "Um, in case you've forgotten, we're both grown mares who live on our own, and I don't know if you can ground us."
Her mom looked at her angrily. "Oh, we'll see about that Missy!"
Their parents then stormed off, leaving the 3 of us alone with our thoughts.
Dash sighed. "Well, that actually went a lot better than I thought that it was going to. I was fully expecting my parents to try and beat you up Stud!"
"Yeah, my mom too! She looked mad enough to, but she didn't do it."
I put my hands over my face. "Yeah, but now, I think that we're in SERIOUS trouble! I.....need to go get some air!"
I then went out of a side door, and out into a side garden.
I then began to try and put all of my thoughts together.
"Great, so now 3 parents hate me, and it wasn't even my fault! I didn't do ANYTHING!!!" I continued to ramble to myself, completely unaware that I was being watched from the nearby bushes.
Once I'd walked past the bushes, from behind them, what looked to be 2 figures stepped. One was shortish, while the other was taller.
"Ok, remember the plan?"
"Yeah, grab him, drag him to our 'special room' and interrogate him! See what kind of good info we can get out of him!"
One of the figures laughed. "Ok, on my signal.....NOW!!!!"
Suddenly, from the back of my head, I felt a shattering pain as a blunt instrument impacted with my skull. "OUGH!!!" I then hit the ground like a bag of bricks.
"Ok, now we've got him! Let's get him to our 'special room' and see what kind of information we can get out of him!"
"Roger that!" The 2 figures then dragged me away, where I was to face an uncertain future.
Chapter 5: "Interrogation", its Aftermath, Fun Times.
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!
Eventually, by the time that the movie was over, all of us were feeling at least a little bit tired. However, it was then that Dash asked a question that would lay out the tracks for how the rest of that night went.
"Hey, anypony want any alcohol?"
I looked over at her. "Wait, you have some?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but it's just wine, and wine-coolers. I don't have any of the really good stuff."
Spitfire shrugged. "Eh, it's better than nothing. I guess bring what you got."
Dash nodded, and after disappearing for a moment, she returned with the alcohol in a bowl with ice in it. Once she'd set it down on the coffee table, we all grabbed a wine-cooler, and started in on it.
"Wow, these are actually pretty good! WAY better than the wine-coolers back on Earth!"
Dash nodded. "Yeah, it would seem so! Well, I'm glad that you like them Stud."
Eventually, once all of the wine-coolers were gone, Dash brought some wine glasses, and then we started in on the wine.
After drinking for a while though, all 3 of us began to feel a little tipsy.
"Wow....*hic* this is some pretty...*hic* good wine Dash!"
"*hic* Thanks Stud!"
Spitfire didn't say anything. She just rubbed her belly a bit, and burped.
Dash and I howled with laughter, and Spitfire joined us.
"Wow...that was *hic* a good one Spitsy!"
"T-thanks Stud!"
For whatever reason, we all drank more until the wine was gone. By that point, we were all about as drunk as hell. My memory really begins to fail me as to what happened the rest of that night, but after taking the time to think about it, as well as from what Aurora told me later, I was able to put together a rather clear picture of drunken debauchery.
At some point, the living room began to get too hot for us.
"H-hey....it's....*hic* getting too hot in here Dash, c-can we maybe....*hic* get naked?"
Dash nodded. S-sure Spitsy *hic*!"
Spitfire then began to take off her gym clothes. First she removed her shirt, then her pants, then she unhooked her bra, and finally, she slid off her panties.
"Wow Spitsy, yer sexy!"
She looked at me. "T-thanks Stud! *hic*!"
And indeed, she really was. Spitfire was maybe 5'8", with a somewhat muscular build. She was maybe a D cup in bra size, and currently her fiery mane was hanging loose around her shoulders. She was also the oldest of all of us. (I was 24, Dash was 23, and she was 25. Coincidence?)
Dash then stripped down as well. I'd already seen her naked plenty of times already, but I still complimented her. "L-lookin' good as always.... Dashie!"
"*hic* Thanks Stud!"
They both then looked at me. "Now it's.....yer turn Stud. G-get naked!"
I complied, and once I was just as bare as they were, I sat back down on the couch again.
I then noticed Dash looking at Spitfire. "H-hey Spitsy?"
"Y-yeah Dashie?"
"W-wanna *hic* make out?"
Spitfire smirked. "Heh....like you *hic* even have to ask Dashie!"
Dash then fell back onto the couch, and Spitfire sat down on top of her. As I watched, the two of them began to have sex. It was so hot. I'd only seen two girls going at it in porn before, but now I was actually witnessing it! They were both so hot. They both moaned as they kissed, and they continued to grope each other's bodies as well.
Eventually, I had to get in on the action as well. After scooting over a bit, I began to reach around and finger Spitfire's pussy. She was so wet and gooey.
"Ngh....yeah.....right there Stud!" She began to grind her hips back to meet my fingering. Dash was sucking from one of her nipples. Spitfire then turned her head back towards me, and we shared our first kiss; while drunk, and having sex in Dash's living room!
I moaned as our tongues mixed. With my other free hand, I began to rub Dash's pussy as well.
"Mmmmm....." she moaned. We were all really enjoying our little threesome. Dash then began to rub my member with her hooves!
"Nyah!"
Dash giggled a bit. Eventually though, she stopped suckling from Spitfire. "H-hey guys?'
"Hmmm?"
"M-maybe we should move this upstairs. It'll.....be more fun up there!"
We all agreed, and after breaking away from pleasuring each other for the time being we all tried to head upstairs.
It did take us a bit, as were still kinda tipsy, but eventually we made it up to Dash's room.
"What now Dashie?"
Dash looked over at me. "Lie down on the bed Stud!"
I did so, and just before they came over, Dash and Spitfire both took a birth control pill. I knew what that meant. It was going to be a LONG night!
Before they both came over though, Spitfire looked to the right. "Wow Dashie, is that your bathroom?"
"Yeah.....wanna see?"
"Sure!"
They both went over to it. I sighed, before getting up to follow them.
"Wow! This place is huge!"
"Yeah, it is, isn't it? I'm glad that you like it Spitsy. I remodeled it when I bought the house."
I then quietly came up behind both of them, and after reaching under their tails, I began to gently finger them.
"Ngh! Well somepony's sure eager!"
Spitfire then turned around, and pulled me in for a kiss. We just stood there, practically mouth raping the other. Dash then snuck between us, and began to work on my member.
"Mmm.....your so good Dashie!" I moaned.
"Mmm, thanks Stud!"
We then kept going.
Eventually, Dash left Spitfire and I be just long enough to get the Jacuzzi going. While it was filling, Dash then turned back around to see what we were doing. To her surprise, I had Spitfire up on the sink counter and was really eating her out.
"Oh, f@#k! Oh Celestia YES STUD!!!!" She then squirmed, and cried out as she suddenly orgasmed. Once she was done climaxing, I then took my rock-hard member, and stuffed it into her.
"OHGOSH!!!!" I then began to thrust in and out of her. Dash went over to us, and after she'd climbed up onto the counter as well, Spitfire began to eat her out.
"N-nyah!!!"
I then began to kiss Dash while I thrusted. We were all getting wet from out sloppy love-making.
Eventually, I felt myself getting close.
"Nhgh....S-Spitsy?"
"Hnngh, Yeah Stud?"
"I'm....g-getting close! W-where, do you want it?"
"I-inside me! I wanna feel it all Stud!"
I complied, and after thrusting into her a few more times, I both slammed my mouth over hers for a kiss, all while filling her up with my hot, gooey cum.
Eventually, once I was done spurting, I pulled out of her. Spitfire was still rolling in bliss, and I felt a little bit weak in my knees as well.
Dash went over to the Jacuzzi again, and after shutting it off, she turned back to us. "The Jacuzzi's ready now guys! You can come on over!"
I then gently scooped up Spitfire, and carried her bridle-style over to the Jacuzzi before placing her inside next to Dash. She'd managed to come down off of her sex-high, at least for the current moment.
"Oh Celestia, that was...amazing! No wonder you picked him Dashie! He's a real stud!"
Dash smirked. "See? I told ya! Now then, bubbles anypony?" Dash then stood up, and after fiddling with a small set of controls on the wall close by, she turned on the jets. Now the Jacuzzi was bubbling, just like a real hot tub.
Thanks to the warm water, all 3 of us were pretty close to sobering up, at least, for the time being.
"Wow Dash, this feels really nice. Once again, if not for the fact that we were in a bathroom, plus the obvious faucet and drain, I would SWEAR that this was a hot tub, not a bath tub-Jacuzzi!"
Dash laughed a bit. "Yeah, I know what you mean Stud. That's kinda why I had it rebuilt this way."
"And I'm really glad that you did Dashie. This is AMAZING for relaxing muscles!"
"Eh, thanks Spitsy."
After relaxing for a while, Dash turned to me. "Hey Stud?"
"Yeah Dash?"
"Well, you f@#ked Spitfire, but when will you f@#k me? I'm getting horny over here TOO you know!"
I smirked. "Well, how soon do you want me to f@#k you?"
In response, Dash simply leaned over the side of the Jacuzzi, and moved her tail to the side. She then looked back at me, and smirked. "Get the hint now Stud?"
I nodded. "Loud and clear! Hold on, here I come!" I then took a moment to stand up, and I made my way over to Dash.
Once I reached her, I then gently held her hips, and slowly pushed into her.
"Ngh!" Dash bit her lip slightly.
I then began to thrust in and out of her. Dash began to moan loudly, and I did occasionally grunt. Spitfire watched us, and I could tell by looking at her that she was rubbing her slit against one of the jets of the Jacuzzi.
"So this is what it'll be like having 2 wives? Wow, this is NOT what I was expecting at all!"
I kept thrusting. I also reached up, and began to gently fondle Dash's breasts as well.
"N-nyah!"
"Gnn, you guys are really cute when you f@#k! Plus, I've had sex before, but now that I've been with a Human-Bat-Pony hybrid? NOTHING else can compare! You're the only stallion for me Stud!"
"Ngh, T-thanks Spitsy!"
"Same.....here Stud! All I need is you!"
"Nyah!"
Eventually, I could feel myself getting close. Dash could sense this too. "Ngh....are you...getting close Stud?"
"Y-yeah!"
"Fill me up Stud! I want all of your love!" Dash yelled.
I complied, and with one final thrust, I filled Dash's womb with my hot load of swimmers.
"N-n-nyah!" Dash moaned, before sliding back into the Jacuzzi. I followed her a few moments later.
For a while longer, we all just sort of sat there staring at each other. Eventually though, we all began to scoot closer, until eventually, I was in the middle, and Dash and Spitfire were right beside me.
"Hey Stud?"
"Yeah Dash?"
"Can you please bite me? I kinda still want to see if I really CAN become a Bat-Pony as well!"
I shook my head. "Sorry Dash, but you'll have to wait for our wedding night for that!"
"What? Why won't you do it now?"
"Because Dash, I want us to have SOMETHING special for that!"
"And on our wedding night Stud, could you bite me too?"
I looked at her. "Sure Spitsy, but honestly, I really don't think that anything will happen. The whole 'getting bit makes you a Bat-Pony' is just an old superstition. Twilight told me that it's already been debunked several times. If I bite you guys, then you'll just have marks to show that you have a Bat-Pony lover. Plus, the truth is girls.......I've actually been holding back a lot during sex."
They both looked at me. "Huh? What do you mean by that Stud?" Dash asked.
"I mean, that if I REALLY were to give it all I had, you would be covered in more scratch and bite marks than you would know what to do with! You would look like you've just gotten in a fight with a cat from an old cartoon! You'd be walkin' funny, and you'd be all clawed and bit up. Since that would NOT be easy to explain, I've held back a lot during sex."
They both looked at each other, and then back at me. "Well, how about on our wedding nights, you f@#k us, and then you DON'T hold back? I'd like to have some battle-scars from sex! Then I could tell other ponies about just how much of an audacious lover I have!"
I sighed. "Yeah, and that just might make life even harder for Bat-Ponies. They've really been living hard lives due to the fear of the stereotypes, and from personal experience, I can tell you that it's ridiculous. Bat-Ponies are some of the sweetest, nicest Ponies that you'll ever meet. They don't deserve all of the bad rap that they've been given. And from what I've heard, baby Bat-Ponies have been known to cause fatal heart attacks, as there's only so much cuteness that a Pony can handle before their heads explode!"
Dash laughed. "Yeah, I kinda know what you mean Stud. Bat-Ponies really AREN'T what most Ponies make them out to be."
I then looked down at myself. I seemed to be growing more and more gray fur all of the time. The line between hybrid and pure-blood seemed to be becoming more and more blurred all of the time.
Before I could say anything though, Spitfire spoke up. "Really? They're that cute huh? Well then, I wouldn't mind having one as a son or daughter! I mean, you are a hybrid, so that would put some Bat-Pony genetics into any offspring, so they would have at least SOME Bat-Pony in them, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, and according to what Dr. Fritz told me recently, the current statistics may actually be wrong. I could potentially have more Bat-Pony in me than Human."
"What? By how much?"
I sighed. "It's still just a theory, but I could be 55% Bat-Pony, 40% Human, and 5% wolf. Some of this may be due in part to my using Sombra's powers, but again, this is just a theory. Plus, my wings aren't structured or shaped like those of a Bat-Pony; they're still normal Pegasus wings covered in feathers. Something's up with that."
We talked about this for a while longer before we eventually all began to get tired. It had been a long day for all of us, and we needed our rest.
Eventually, after Dash drained the Jacuzzi, we all got towels, and after drying off, we went back to Dash's room. Once we were there, Dash pulled back the covers, and we all climbed into her bed.
I ended up in the middle, and both Dash and Spitfire were on one side of me. All 3 of us were still naked, as our clothes, as well as the empty bottles of alcohol, were still strewn about the living room.
I then kissed my marefriends goodnight. "Goodnight you guys. Tonight was fun. Both the ball, and our time here,was really fun. We should do this again sometime!"
They both kissed me back. "Yeah, this really was fun, wasn't it? Well, I owe it all to you Stud. If you hadn't saved me from the Caribou, then I would still be in serious trouble!"
I nodded. "Yeah, and I'm just glad that I was able to save you in time Dashie!"
"As am I Stud. You did what you had to do to save me."
"We all should get used to this, as in the near future, this will be how we'll sleep at night."
"Hmm, yeah. And I think that I could get used to having 2 wives. It'll be an unusual adjustment to say the least, but I'll get used to it."
My 2 marefriends then kissed me one last time, and then with the 3 of us all snuggled together, we fell into a deep, warm, and comfortable sleep, completely unaware of what the next day would bring.
Sometime the next morning, Windy and Stormy came to Dash's house. Dash's mom wanted to surprise her daughter with breakfast, and when Stormy Flare heard that Spitfire was there too, she came along as well.
When they got there, Windy found the door to be locked. "Huh, it's locked." She did knock, but no sounds came from within the house.
"Maybe they're not up yet."
Windy looked at her watch. "Yeah, well it is only a little bit past 8, so maybe they are still asleep." She reached into her pocket for a key. "In that case then, I think that we can let ourselves in."
Windy unlocked the door, and they went inside. When they did, to their shock, sitting on the floor facing them was a large wolf!
"Whoa! I didn't know that Rainbow Dash had a dog!"
Windy looked closer at her. "No, this isn't Dash's dog. I know her. She belongs to Captain Leopard!"
"Well, what's she doing here?"
"I don't know!" Windy turned to Aurora. "What are you doing here girl?"
Aurora decided not to let them know that she could talk. Instead, she just looked at them as if to say, "I dunno."
It was then that Windy noticed something behind Aurora. "What in the world.....?!" She went over to Dash's living room, and to her shock and horror, the whole room was a mess!
There were empty bottles of alcohol on the floor, the couch cushions were all messed up, and there was an empty bowl of popcorn, as well as wrappers lying about as well. But worse than this though was what else was in the room. Littered all around were articles of clothing! Both moms were able to identify what belonged to their respective daughters.
They looked at each other. "Did they just......????"
"I don't know!"
They also found clothes that quite clearly belonged to a male, and if the logo on the shirt was correct, he was most likely a Battleship Express crew member.
Both of them looked at each other. "Do you think that......?????"
Windy narrowed her eyes. "If so, Captain Leopard is a DEAD STALLION!!!!"
Both moms then went up to the second floor. When they arrived up there, they found Dash's bedroom door open slightly. Sounds of gentle snoring came from within.
They both then steeled themselves up, and Windy pushed the door open a little bit wider. They both then peered inside, and what they saw made them slam their hands over their mouths.
Dash was indeed in her bed, but so was Spitfire, and me! I was lying in the middle, holding Dash close to me. Dash was holding me as well, and Spitfire was holding me from behind. All 3 of us were sound asleep, and seemingly very comfortable.
Windy then opened the door a little bit wider, and while crawling so as not to be noticed, she crept up to the bed. She then lifted the covers ever so gently, and peered underneath. Moments later, Windy set the covers back down, and crawled back out of the room again.
"What....did you see?"
Windy sighed. "Both of our daughters were as bare as the day that we pushed them out, and so was Captain Leopard. All 3 of them seem to be sleeping comfortably, and possibly even dreaming!"
Stormy put a hand over her face. "So, what do we do now?"
Windy sighed. She thought about how to teach all of us a lesson for what we'd done. Eventually she came up with an idea, which she relayed to Stormy.
"Heh, yeah! Let's do it!"
They both then got to work.
Sometime later, I finally began to stir. My movements also woke Dash and Spitfire from their slumber.
"Mmm, Hey Stud."
"Hey Dashie."
I felt something nuzzle my neck gently. "Oh, and good morning to you too Spits."
"Morning Stud."
"Did you guys both sleep good last night?"
Dash nodded. "Yeah, I slept like a foal!"
"Me too" Spitfire agreed, "What about you Stud?"
"The same. What time even is it anyway?"
Dash looked over at her clock. "Eh, it's almost 8:30."
I sighed. "Well, I have to be back at the train by 10 so that we can continue the museum's construction."
"Uh oh."
"What is it Dash?"
"Um, I just remembered. When we made out like minks last night, we left all of our clothes in the living room!"
I facepalmed. "Ugh! Yeah, I forgot about that! Well, we'd better go get them."
All 3 of us then got up, and after those who needed to used the toilet, we all went downstairs. When we arrived in the living room, we were in for a shock though.
"What the....? What happened in here?!"
On the coffee table were several empty bottles of alcohol, but yet our clothes were nowhere to be seen!
"Huh? Where are they?!"
I looked worried. "I don't know! I could have SWORN that we took them off in here!"
"Also, I don't think that we left these bottles like this either!"
We all looked at each other. Were we really so drunk the previous night that we forgot how we left stuff?
Dash then stiffened a bit. "Hey, do you guys smell that?"
"Huh? Smell what?"
"Coffee! I smell coffee!"
I sniffed the air. "Yeah, I smell it too!"
"Same here!"
"Where's that coming from?"
Dash turned towards her kitchen. "It's coming from the kitchen! And none of us even MADE coffee last night!"
We all then ran into the kitchen next door, and when we did, we REALLY wished that we didn't!
The first thing that we saw was Aurora. She came running up to me.
"Oh, hey Aurora! Were YOU the one who took our clothes girl?"
She shook her head. "No, it wasn't me Master!"
"Well then who did?"
"We did Captain, and did you guys have a lot of 'fun' last night?"
All 3 of us froze dead in our tracks when we heard those voices. We all knew who they belonged to. Slowly, I looked up, and to my absolute shock and horror, there, sitting at Dash's kitchen table drinking coffee, were Windy and Stormy! They were both looking at us, and they did NOT look happy!
"Uh......oh......!!!!"
"Damn right about that!"
We all then covered ourselves with our wings.
"Mom, why did you take our clothes?!" Dash was really starting to freak out.
"Because", Her mom answered. "I come here to bring you breakfast, and what do I find? Evidence of a drunken orgy! Then we find all 3 of you in Dash's bed, NAKED, and all cuddled up together!"
Dash and I both looked at each other.
"Um, well..." Spitfire began.
"Can it!" Stormy interrupted, "I don't want to hear your excuses!"
"Would it make you feel any better if I said that Dash and I were both on the pill?"
Both of their moms glared daggers at them. Then Stormy looked at me.
"Captain Leopard?"
"Yes Mrs. Flare?"
"Get over here, NOW!!!! I WILL NOT ask again!"
I complied, and when I did, I was in for a world of pain.
An hour or so later, I was back at the train. The others stared in shock when they saw me. "Oh Gosh! Leopard, what in the heck happened to you?!"
I was not a pretty sight. I had a black eye, as well as claw marks on my face, my mane was all messed up, and I had two very distinct handprints on my face as well.
"I don't.......want to talk about it!"
"Who....did this to you?"
"I said, I DON'T. Want. To. TALK ABOUT IT!!!!" I then went into the train.
The others all looked at each other. "What.......happened to him Don?"
Don shook his head. "It's not my place to talk about it. Let's just say that he ran afoul of certain parents!"
"Ooh, ouch!"
"Yeah, it's not good."
They all then got back to work.
Over the course of the next 2 weeks or so, I barely saw Dash at all. Her mom kicked me out of her house, and I was back to living on the train. I did have Aurora with me, but it seemed that my relationship with Dash was at its end. I saw her with her mom a lot, and from what I could tell, Dash looked miserable. I also never saw Spitfire, although I didn't really have the courage to show my face around the academy, just in case there would be a "welcoming committee" waiting for me if I did!
Largely though, our time was spent building the museum. On Monday, we all got back to work. Once the preliminary work was all done, it was then time to begin to dig the foundation. Our excavators got to work on that, while the rest of us were busy removing the dirt, rocks, and other debris. It was somewhat slow going, but 3 days later, we were ready to start putting up the barriers, and pouring the concrete. Unfortunately though, just as everything seemed to be looking up for us, it all came crashing down.
"Mail's here!" A mail pony was standing by the entrance to the construction site.
Jim went over to see what we got. These days, we were getting a lot of fan mail. Sure enough, Jim had a bag full of mail when he returned, however he didn't look too happy about it.
"What's wrong Jim?" Don asked.
"Well, in addition to the usual fan mail, I was given this." He handed Don a black envelope addressed to him. It looked like an official document.
Don took it, and opened it. When he read the letter that was inside, he sighed sadly.
"Is that..........what I think it is?"
Don nodded. "Yeah. We'd better tell the rest of the guys." He then told the rest of us who were on hand to come over.
When we did, he sighed. "I've called you all here today, because I just received this in the mail." He held up the letter.
"What is it Don?"
"It's a Court Summons. We're being taken to court over a land-rights violation. Apparently, we stole this land illegally, are housing unauthorized vehicles on it, and are being taken to court over it."
We all knew perfectly well what that meant.
"So, Spoiled Rich actually went through with her threat. However, why is it leveled against us? The Town of Ponyville owns the land; we're just the guys building on it."
Jim sighed. "Well, unless she's suing the town as well, which given this, might not be as far-fetched as we previously thought."
"Hopefully, this will be thrown out of court almost immediately. We've done nothing illegal, and the Town of Ponyville owns this land, so if they want to build a museum here, then they're entirely within their rights to do so."
"When's the court date Don?" Jim asked.
"Tomorrow. 10am. I'll be going, as will Leopard, Joe, and Brogan, the construction foreman. It's only a hearing in a civil court, so this should be over fairly quickly."
We all sighed, before getting back to work, and dreading what the next day was going to bring.
Sure enough, the next morning at 10am, Don, myself, Joe Dixon, and Brogan were all standing at our places in the Ponyville Court House. On the other side stood Spoiled Rich, as well as a mare that we guessed was her lawyer. Also with us were legal representatives representing the Town of Ponyville.
Spoiled looked at us smugly. Quite clearly she was expecting the court to side with her, and not only kick the construction crews off of the land, but also take it from the town, and take our trains away from us as well.
Eventually, the court was called to session, and the judge for the case was Iron Hoof.
"All rise! The Honorable Judge Iron Hoof presiding over this case; Spoiled Rich vs Ponyville."
The judge nodded. "You all may be seated. Prosecution, you may now present your case."
"Thank you Your Honor." Spoiled's lawyer then addressed the court. "Mares and Gentlecolts of this court, I come before you today to represent my client, Spoiled Rich. These stallions here!" She pointed to those representing Ponyville, "Have ILLEGALLY stolen land from my client, and then hired these buffoons!" She pointed to us, "To build an UNAUTHORIZED museum on it! They REFUSED to leave when asked to, and told my client, and I quote, to 'Piss off!'".
There were murmurings among those in the court.
"My client wants them EVICTED from the land, as well as to pay a fine of 3 million bits, and have their DISGUSTING trains taken away from them as well! Those trains are being stored ILLEGALLY on the land, and MUST be removed!"
After calling for silence, the judge turned to the defense. "Defense, you may now state your case."
"Yes Your Honor." The lead defendant then turned to the court. "Mares and Gentlecolts of the court, I represent the town of Ponyville. I come before you today to prove that not only does Mrs. Rich NOT own that land, but that she is also guilty of wasting the court's time!"
More whispering. The judge again called for silence. "Defense, you may now present your evidence."
"OBJECTION!!!! Why do they get to present first?"
"Sustained! As per policy of this court, the defense ALWAYS presents evidence first! You may continue Defense."
"Thank you Your Honor." He then pulled out a series of documents. "I now present to the court the legal land transfer papers between the Equestrian Railroad, and the Town of Ponyville." He handed them up to the judge.
"As stated in these documents, which were notarized by the Equestrian Department of Land Rights and Ownership, if and when the Old Railyard would ever close, then the Township of Ponyville would pay the predetermined amount to the Equestrian Railroad, and then take possession of the land. These documents here are from the Equestrian Railroad, authorizing the sale of the land to the Township of Ponyville." He handed these to the judge as well.
"The land in question was NEVER for sale to begin with. It belonged to the Equestrian Railroad, and when they no longer had need of it, they offered the land to the Township of Ponyville. The Township of Ponyville accepted the offer, and once the Old Railyard closed, the Township of Ponyville paid the predetermined amount to the Railroad, before taking LEGAL possession of the land."
The judge looked over the documents. Sure enough, they were indeed notarized by the Equestrian Department of Land Rights and Ownership, and signed by both representatives of the Equestrian Railroad, and by all members of the Ponyville Town Council. The documents were indeed genuine, and once they had been secured as evidence by the court, the judge then turned to the prosecution.
"Prosecution, you may now present your evidence to the court."
This was where Spoiled Rich's case really fell apart. The prosecution was unable to provide any evidence of wrongdoing against the Township of Ponyville.
After a brief recess, the court returned to session.
"And now, for the verdict. This court finds the defendants not guilty on charges of unlawful land possession, as well as not guilty on charges of unlawful possession of railway equipment. This court shall also fine the prosecution for wasting this court's time with foolishness! Case dismissed!"
Since we all knew that the case being thrown out was practically a foregone conclusion already, none of us were really celebrating, although we did shake hands with the lawyers who represented the Township of Ponyville.
Spoiled Rich stormed out of the courtroom with her lawyer right behind her. "This STILL isn't over! I WILL get all of you for stealing my land away from me! You will all PAY!!!"
We all then sighed, and after taking a brief moment to face the press to discuss the proceedings, we all went back to our daily lives. Nothing had really changed, and there was still work to be done.
Later that day, I was at my desk in my room on the train doing some paperwork, when there suddenly came a knock on the door.
"Huh? I wonder who that could be. Come in!"
The door opened, and to my absolute shock, there stood Dash! Her already magenta eyes were all red from crying, and as soon as she saw me, she immediately ran over and jumped into my arms.
"Oh Stud!" she cried softly.
"D-Dash! What are you doing here?! I thought that you were forbidden from seeing me!"
Dash looked up at me. "I couldn't stay away from you anymore Stud! You ARE the one for me! You saved my life, as well as pledging your love for me, so how can I just leave you now? Plus, what's my mom honestly going to do to me Stud? I'm a grown mare! I have a job, as well as my own house. If my parents disinherit me, then I am willing to say 'screw it'! I NEED you Stud!"
"Just as I need you too Dash."
We then talked for a little while longer about various things, from the museum construction, to the constant controversy with Spoiled Rich.
"She just won't leave us alone Dash. She's constantly leading protests outside of the construction site, she keeps ripping down posters for the museum, as well as having her minions cause as much trouble that they can."
"Are you for real?! Why hasn't she been arrested yet?!"
I sighed. "Because although WE know that she did it, and SHE knows that she did it, we really don't have enough evidence to bring it to trial. But honestly though, she can protest this museum until she drops dead for all I care. It's happening, and there's really not a damn thing that she can to about it."
Dash sighed. "Here's a thought though, why doesn't she just buy some other land that actually IS for sale for her private spa?"
I shrugged. "Honestly, that's the million dollar question of the day right there Dash. Sadly though, we don't know the answer to it. Filthy Rich is doing everything in his power to try and get Spoiled to back off, but she just won't do it. At least, not yet."
"Eh, well, it's like you said, the museum and memorial will be built, and there's nothing that she can do about it!"
I hugged her again. "It's good to have you back Dash, I was really starting to miss you!"
"Not as much as I missed you Stud!"
We then hugged for a little bit longer, before finally getting back to work.
4 months after this, the framework of the museum was all complete, as was the concrete flooring, and some of the exterior sidewalks as well. Next, the focus was on the walls, as well as the roof. These were being completed in record time, and before long, we didn't have to clean up the interior every time it rained!
Eventually, we were able to move the Battleship Express and Iron Glory underneath the roof of their wing of the museum, where they were better protected from the weather, at least from above. Everything was going smoothly, until late one night, tragedy struck.
For the entire 4, almost 5 months that the museum had been under construction, Spoiled Rich was getting more and more mentally unstable. She still wanted everypony off of the land, and was willing to go to almost any length to do that. Many of us were sent death threats, garbage was thrown over the construction fences at us, signs would be tampered with, and one night, some vandals even tried to break the windows on the Battleship Express! Fortunately, the windows were made of bullet-proof glass, and the rocks thrown at them just bounced off harmlessly for the most part. Although all of the vandals were caught, some of them had somewhat serious injuries, as the rocks that they threw at the train's windows occasionally bounced back and hit them!
However, after that, the incidents all stopped. We kept expecting something to happen, but nothing did. Filthy told us that his wife had finally agreed to leave us alone, and just buy land elsewhere. We all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the nightmare was over, but unfortunately, it was merely the calm before the storm.
Late one night, while the museum's construction was almost 60% complete, it all came crashing down. I was sleeping with Dash in her bed, when all of a sudden, Aurora started jumping on me!
"Master, Master! Wake up! We've got trouble!"
I was awake in an instant. "What is it Aurora? what's wrong?"
"I've just picked up radio signals from Ponyville; the museum's on fire!"
"WHAT?!?! ON FIRE?!?!"
"YES!!! Major Don said that they need everypony there to help!"
That was all it took. In less than 30 seconds, I was out of bed, had pants and a shirt on, had grabbed Aurora, and was out the door. Dash was right behind me, and we raced to Ponyville just as fast as we could.
When we arrived there, sure enough, the mostly-complete museum was indeed on fire! All over, both the train's damage control crew, as well as the local Ponyville Fire Brigade used hoses and even buckets to get water to the fire. I grabbed a bucket, and helped as best I could.
Before too long, the fire was under control, and in less than 30 minutes, it was completely out. We wouldn't be able to get a full scope of the damage until the morning, but from what I could see, most of the museum's frame was still standing, as was most of the wall paneling. We didn't think that there was really too much inside that was combustible, as most of it was steel beams, concrete and tools, however, we were mistaken. Also found inside was a large amount of fuel, as well as wooden planks, and other fire-starting material. With cold logic, it was determined that the fire was arson. However, the culprit had already been caught. Spoiled Rich had started the fire, and stuck around to see her work completed. All while we were racing about to put out the fire, she kept cheering for the flames.
"Come on, burn baby, burn!" She was also laughing crazily. It was pretty clear that something in her head had finally snapped. By the time that the fire was out, she was in handcuffs, and was being led away by the local constables to the Ponyville hospital, so that she could be mentally evaluated. She would be found mentally unfit to stand trial, and was placed in St. Marley's Asylum, where she could finally begin to get the treatment that she needed.
By the next morning, the full extent of the fire damage was realized. The only thing that was still solid was the museum's frame. Most of the roofing, as well as a lot of the siding and interior walls were going to have to be replaced.
Brogan, the foreman, was extremely worried. "This is not good. Friends of the Soldiers, the non-profit organization that's funding this museum, do not have the kind of money to facilitate the repairs, AND finish the museum!"
Don put his hands over his face. "So, what are we going to do?"
"I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to accept me as the museum's first private donor, and let ME pay for the damage that my wife caused!"
We all turned, and to our shock, there stood Filthy Rich! He looked tired and worn out, but yet very determined.
Brogan looked at him. "But why? Why would you want to help us?"
"Because it's the right thing to do. My wife caused trouble, so now I'm going to help clean it up. Plus," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "I'd MUCH rather have a nice, interesting, public museum, than a boring, wasteful private spa any day of the week!"
We all looked at each other, and then back at Filthy. He looked determined, and there wasn't any hint of joking to be seen on his face.
Finally, Brogan spoke up. "Well, we will have to run this by our sponsors who are funding this project, but if they say yes, then you certainly can help pay for the museum!"
Brogan then went to set up a meeting with the sponsors from Friends of the Soldiers.
Sure enough, there were no real objections, and with better financial backing, and nopony causing us any heartaches, the repairs to the damaged sections of the museum were undertaken. Once these were completed about a month later, we were all back where we started, and could get to work on picking up where we left off.
We were nearly 2 months behind schedule now, and we were determined to catch back up again. While still following all rules, and regulations, as well as regularly submitting to building inspections, all of us on the construction site worked long days, and even at night sometimes. The museum was really taking shape, and soon work on the interior would begin as well.
A lot of the time, Ponies would still come by to watch us. Some would cheer, and others would even donate money to help fund the construction. Also, at the request of a number of families who had lost loved ones, the plans were expanded to also include a Memorial Garden that was to contain statues of soldiers, as well as a Memorial Wall, with all of the names of those who had died, or were still MIA, both Human, and Pony, on it. These were all slated to be finished a little while after the museum itself, as they were late additions to the blueprints.
The months passed on, and eventually, all exterior work on the museum was complete. The Battleship Express was now fully contained inside of its special wing, and could now be preserved properly. Now work was directed at the lighting, wiring, plumbing, carpeting, drywall, sewage, painting, and other aspects of the interior. The museum had two floors, the ground floor covered the war after the Humans showed up, and the upstairs was before.
Also around this time, numerous artifacts were being secured for the collections, as well as mannequins and display cases to hold them. These included documents, uniforms, weapons, every day items, letters home, and other items from both the battlefield, and the homefront. There would also be a few hands-on displays, full-sized mock-ups of battle scenes, complete with mannequins, and even a few movie presentations as well. Of course, the highlight of the museum would be the Battleship Express and Iron Glory, which were being displayed in their own separate wing of the museum. There were even plans for excursion runs with the Big Boy, although these were still in the planning stages.
All weapons on the train had been disabled, at least for the time being, and all ammunition was removed. The tender's water tank had been drained, and all of its coal was removed as well. Some areas were roped off, and others had extra lighting added to them. Stairs were added so that Ponies could see into the Big Boy's cab, but due to the train still being active, and how unnecessary touching could damage the controls, the rear doors to the cab were closed, although the windows were left open to provide easy viewing. The rest of the train was protected by a metal fence made from recycled railroad rails, and there were signs saying not to touch the train. Other signs gave the history of the Battleship Express, pointed out its various features, as well as specifics.
The trains's crews, when not on duty with the Foreign Legion or working their other jobs, would serve as tour guides, answering all questions about the train. And for those who were willing to pay extra, tours of the train's interior would be given as well. Points of interest included the crew quarters, (My room was ESPECIALLY popular!) the PCC, SCC, and TCC, the control rooms for the railguns, the 16in. turrets, ammunition cars, the car for the storage of the nuclear shells, the work caboose at the back that had missile launchers, as well as other points that offered insight to what life on a war train was like.
Finally, the museum was all ready. On May 9th, 2030, nearly a full year ahead of schedule, the grand opening ceremony was held. All of us from the train crew, as well as Battalion 4009 were there, as were the Princesses, our wives, kids, (if applicable!) and any others who wanted to attend as well.
Before the cutting of the ribbon though, Don stood up to give a speech. "Mares and Gentlecolts, colts and fillies, Princesses, friends, comrades, family members, Ponies of all ages, it is my ABSOLUTE honor to come before you today to announce the grand opening of the National Imperial War Museum, right here in Ponyville!"
The crowds all began to cheer.
"Also, I would like to thank all of the hard-working Ponies, and Humans who turned this museum project into a reality. If it were not for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to meeting deadlines, this museum would NOT have been completed nearly 9 months ahead of schedule! I would also like to extend my greatest thanks to those from the Friends of the Soldiers Foundation, as well as the private donors who's contributions made all of this possible as well! Now then, now that we've gotten the formalities out of the way, let's move on to the good stuff, shall we?"
Don then walked over to the big red ribbon in front of the museum. He was joined by Jim, Joe, myself, and a few other officers on the train, as well as the Princesses. Cameras were both rolling and flashing, as the mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare, brought out the big Ceremonial Scissors.
"For many years here in Ponyville, these scissors have been used at the grand opening of all businesses, and now I pass them to you so that you can open the National Imperial War Museum!" She then handed the scissors to Don.
Don then looked at the rest of us. "So, how do we do this?"
I looked at him. "Well, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you Don. You were our leader through thick and thin. You should have the honors of cutting the ribbon."
He sighed. "Yeah, but it was a TEAM effort! ALL of us in Battalion 4009 made this happen. So if anything, we should ALL cut the ribbon!"
Well, none of us could argue with that logic, so with Don, Jim, Joe, myself, and a few others holding the scissors, we opened them.
"We now pronounce the National Imperial War Museum..........OPEN!!!!" We all then cut the ribbon.
Everyone and everypony present cheered, and once the lines had formed, the rest of us went inside of the museum, and waited to treat the first guests who came through the front doors to an unforgettable experience.
Overnight, the museum became a national sensation. Ponies and other creatures from all across Equestria flocked to see the new museum, as well as meet the Humans who had helped to win the war. The Battleship Express was the highlight of the museum, and according to the statistics, more Ponies came to see it than the actual museum!
Even once the museum's novelty began to wear off, many still came to visit, be they school groups, veterans, or even just average Ponies. At one time, even the body of General Tarrath was on display in the section dedicated to the war in the Zebra Empire, but upon receiving complaints that an actual corpse on display was "too morbid", it was removed, and I took it back for my personal collection.
The gift shops were always hopping, and they had everything from T-shirts, to hats, posters, models of the Battleship Express, collectible coins, key chains, golf balls, books, and even replica guns and helmets. It was a thriving business, but yet through it all, everypony always took the time to honor the courage and sacrifice of those who had fought, and for those who had made the ultimate sacrifice, and were no longer with them.
The Memorial Garden was also well loved, as was the Memorial Wall. In front of the wall was a large statue of an Equestrian soldier and a Human soldier running with weapons drawn, while behind them came more of each. In the center of the statue were 3 flagpoles. One pole had the Equestrian Flag, while another had the US Flag, and the third flag was one made to remember those who were still MIA. The whole statue was lit up so that it would still be visible at night. Around the perimeter of the garden were a number of plants, and a few fountains as well. Each flowering plant represented one soldier killed in the line of duty, while each fountain represented 5 civilian deaths. They may have been gone, but they were not forgotten
Yes, overall this museum was one of our crowning achievements, aside from raising our families of course. Huh? What's that? I haven't mentioned our families yet? Well then, I think that it's time that I remedied that wrong! Let me tell you the full story now.....
Don. Major Don Curry. He was once the second in command of the Battleship Express back when Major Jeff Coleson was still alive. When Jeff was killed in Nebraska saving the lives of the train's crew, Don was promoted up from Captain to Major to replace him. I then became his subordinate, and the train's 3rd in command after Jim.
Once we'd found ourselves in Equestria, Don did feel lonely. Like many on the train, he'd never married. He did have a girlfriend at one time, but she was killed in WW4. After that, Don just buried himself into his work, and tried not to look back. However, that was about to change.
When Don met Twilight, he almost immediately took a liking to the purple Unicorn. She was just like him in many ways. Both of them had OCD, they both loved book, charts, records, and anything else with large amounts of words or numbers on it. They were also in charge of things. Twilight was in charge of the Golden Oak Library, as well as being the leader of her group of friends, on top of being the personal student of Princess Celestia. Don was in charge of the military aspects of the Battleship Express, and was the officer in charge that the rest of us looked up to.
One afternoon, between the battles of Ponyville, and Las Pegasus, Don was sitting on the steps of one of the train's coaches, and Twilight joined him.
"Hello Don!"
"Hmm? Oh, hello Twilight. It's nice to see you."
"It's nice to see you too Don. So what are you up to?"
Don sighed. "Well, I was just taking a bit of a break from my busy work schedule. Just taking some time to think about what lies ahead."
Twilight nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. With the Imperial War still going on, these are still very much uncertain times. It's still anypony's war at this point, but now that you, your crew, and your train have joined in the fight on our side, maybe things will be better."
"I hope so too Twilight. I just hope that this war will be brought to a conclusion very quickly. I DO NOT want to have to live through any more war!" Don then buried his face into his hands a bit, and seemed to be holding back his emotions.
Twilight tried to comfort him a bit. "Shh, it's ok Don. I know that you're in terrible emotional pain. War does that to Ponies, just as it does to Humans."
"But does it though? You've all just had to deal with ONE war! We've had to deal with SEVEN!!!!! And all but one of those was a war on a GLOBAL SCALE!!!!"
Twilight still could not wrap her head around Humanity, or their methods of warfare. The ability to fight a war that encompassed an entire planet was a concept so completely foreign to her.
They kept talking for a while longer until Don had to get back to work.
Eventually, the train moved out for Las Pegasus. All along the trip, Twilight functioned as a sort of secretary/assistant for Don. She'd go fetch him things that he needed, hep him with paperwork, filing, as well as taking notes, and putting together calendars.
"I'll admit Twilight, with you helping me, keeping everything straight has been easier than ever! It's SO much easier when you have someone helping you who understands!"
Twilight nodded. "Yeah, and it's nice to spend time with somepony else who has OCD too. You understand things that my friends don't. Plus, I'm more than happy to be helping you out, as it gives me something to do!"
Don sighed a bit. He did enjoy the time that he was able to spend with Twilight, but yet at the same time, he felt a twinge of sadness. Twilight did remind him a lot of his late girlfriend, Jessica, who also had OCD.
"May you rest in peace Jessica", He thought. "You were the best, and only girlfriend that I ever had. I hope that you're enjoying it up there in Heaven, and one day I'll join you up there, and then we can be together again!"
He sighed sadly as he got back to work.
After the battle of Vegas though, Don did have to send Twilight and her friends back to Ponyville. The war was getting too dangerous, and if they were captured, it would be catastrophic.
"I REALLY wish that I didn't have to leave you Don! I want to come with you so badly!"
"Yeah, I know Twilight, but this is for your own safety. Plus, we'll all be back once the war's over, so it won't be THAT long!"
Twilight smiled, and although she still had tears in her eyes, she reached up gently, and pulled Don into a kiss! None of the others really noticed, as they were too busy kissing their own coltfriends/marefriends, but Don was left wholly flabbergasted! NEVER did he EVER think that ANYONE would ever kiss him again!
He looked at Twilight with a massive blush on his face. "T-thanks." He said softly.
"You're welcome Don." Twilight then boarded the train with her friends, as well as a number of wounded soldiers that were bound for Ponyville, and he waved to her until she was out of sight. Little did he know though what was about to happen.
The next long period of time, from the moment that Zakia revealed that he'd captured Twilight, until her liberation, were all a blur for Don. Although he tried to never show it, he was just as angry as Alex and I were that our marefriends had been stolen.
"Just hang on Twilight, I WILL come for you! And I will NOT stop until those monsters have PAID THROUGH THEIR ASSES for what they've done to you!"
And sure enough, Don made good on that promise! Even though he didn't see as much action as some of the rest of us, he was right there with us the whole time. Wherever the Battleship Express went, he went with it. He did lead a few assaults in the Badlands, and those campaigns were very successful. After this though, Don did take a backseat role while some of the other field soldiers did their thing. However, in Zandia, Don once again stepped into the picture.
He was right there with us when we stormed the city, leading a battalion of his own troops. Aurora ended up saving him and his troops with her little "nuclear missile incident", and then once the city had fallen, we were all able to storm the Zandia Fortress, kill General Tarrath, and then move on.
However, the last battle that Don really was a part of was the Battle of Zebrica; because within THAT city was the mare that he loved more than ANYTHING else in the world!
"Just hang on a little bit longer Twilight! We're practically right on top of you! At Dawn tomorrow, we WILL save you!"
Sure enough, the next morning, Don made good on his threat. The Battle of Zebrica went underway in full swing. It was one of the worst battles of the entire war in terms of casualties, but it was an incredible Human, and Equestrian victory!
"TWILIGHT!!!" Don cried when he saw her.
"DON!!!!" She ran and leapt into his arms. She was so happy to see him again.
"Oh Twilight, I thought that I lost you FOREVER!"
Twilight was crying a bit. "So did I Don! I was beginning to wonder if you ever would show up! Bur now I see that my fears were unfounded!"
Once they'd taken their time to hug each other, Don then carefully unlocked her collar, before gently picking her up, and carrying her all of the way back out to the train.
For the next couple of days, all while preparing for the assault on the Caribou Empire, Don kept Twilight close at all times. He barely ever let her out of his sight if he could help it. Twilight really appreciated another guy like her brother Shining Armor that cared about her as much as Don did. Slowly, the two became more than friends.
All throughout the war in the Caribou Empire, Twilight stayed by Don's side at almost all times. Although they did still sleep in separate rooms, they did oftentimes cuddle whenever they got the chance.
"I really love spending time with you Don. I'm so glad that we can be together, ESPECIALLY after everything that's happened!"
Don nodded. Yeah, no kidding! After the Zebras got you, I was so, so afraid! I thought that I was never going to be able to see you again!"
As did I Don. I'm glad that you saved me too."
The happiest day for them came when the Imperial War finally ended. With the fall of Bryerton, there now were no more Caribou left. The war was won, and after General Stuggs, General Rodin, and Prince Dactyl signed the terms for the surrender, the war was over.
Once we were all back in Ponyville, and the crowds around the station began to die down, the Princesses asked Don if it would be possible to take an excursion trip with the Big Boy.
"Sure, I don't see any problems with it!"
While the 3 princesses were up in the cab with Todd, Alex and I, he, Twilight, and the rest of the Mane 6 were all in a coach farther back. What really surprised them though were all of the guns everywhere. There were several machine guns pointing out of the windows at various intervals, as well as heavier artillery guns.
"Wow, I still cannot believe that you guys really lived for this long among all of these weapons! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"
Don nodded. "Yeah, they are aren't they? Every car had to be well-defended, and all guns had to be manned at all times. The vast majority of the Battleship Express's crew were either gunners, gun operators, or missile technicians. We weren't 'armed to the teeth, and ready to go at all times' for nothing!"
Twilight laughed a bit, before asking Don a few more questions, as well as sitting back and enjoying the rest of the ride.
Later that night though, the time had come for the sleeping arrangements to be worked out. I of course went to stay with Rainbow Dash, while Todd went with Fluttershy, Alex went with Applejack, Dan, went with Pinkie, as did Cole and Missy, Andy went with Rarity, and Don went with Twilight.
After he'd grabbed all of his necessary belongings, Don followed Twilight away from the Old Railyard, and through the streets of Ponyville. Eventually, they reached their destination, which was a massive tree!
"Holy cow! Is that a tree?!"
Twilight laughed. "Yeah, that's the Golden Oak Library. It's been my home ever since I moved here to Ponyville. And yes, if you were wondering, it IS real! The tree that the library resides in is still alive and growing!"
Don was shocked. "But.....how is that even POSSIBLE?!"
Twilight shrugged. "I'm not quite sure Don, however my research leads me to believe that the tree was hollowed out a few sections at a time, and the rest of the tree's structure was enhanced with Magic, so as to keep it alive and growing. And if you think that the OUTSIDE is amazing, just wait until you see the INSIDE!"
"Yeah, it is pretty cool!" A voice said.
Don looked around, but he didn't see anypony.
"Um, down here!"
Don looked down a bit, and there stood Spike, Twilight's Dragon assistant. "Oh, sorry Spike; I didn't see you there. But what does it look like?"
Spike pointed to the door. "Well, why don't you follow Twilight, and you'll find out!"
Don did so, and once Twilight opened the door, when he looked inside, his jaw hit the floor!
The entire interior of the library was filled with books. There were floor to ceiling shelves all around, as well as stairs that led to areas with even more books!
"Holy cow Twilight! This place is AMAZING!"
Twilight nodded, smiling. "Well, I'm glad that you think so Don. I love the Golden Oak Library, and I can't imagine living anywhere else!"
"Neither could I", Don said quietly, but he said it so softly that neither Twilight nor Spike heard him.
Eventually, after hours of reading books, as well as studying various subjects, the sun had gone down, and it was time for bed.
Twilight helped Don make up a sort of bed on a couch on the ground floor. "Are you sure that you don't want to sleep with me Don? I know that I could keep you VERY warm!"
Don shook his head. "While I know that that is a tempting offer Twilight, I still don't think that two non-related people, or Ponies, should sleep in the same bed until they're married. I know that a LOT of the others disagree with me on this, but others like Jim and Father Charles do agree."
Twilight nodded. "Yeah, and I can respect that Don. However, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me!" She then went upstairs to her room on the floor above.
"Goodnight Twilight."
"Goodnight Don."
Don then went and sat down on the couch. He knew that he needed sleep, but yet his mind was too wound up to allow it. He passed a bit of time writing in his diary, but eventually he did feel tired enough to try and sleep. When he did so though, he really wished that he didn't.
Sometime later, Twilight suddenly awoke to the sounds of screaming!
"Huh? What in Sweet Celestia's name....?!?!" Then she heard it again, as well as the sounds of somepony stumbling around downstairs. "Oh Celestia, DON!!!" Twilight then threw on her bathrobe over her nightgown, and ran to see what was wrong.
When she reached Don's side, she found him wrapped up in a blanket on the floor, mumbling, and breathing really heavy. He was also sweating a lot, and was rather pale.
"Don? Don! Are you ok?!" She helped him get untangled from the blanket that he was trapped in, before helping him back up to the couch. When she saw his face, she no longer saw a competent, capable officer that seemed so much older than he really was Now, all she saw was a scared, Human-Pegasus hybrid who seemed to be the age that he truly was, 25.
"Oh Twilight!" Don then began to hug her, all while crying softly.
Twilight comforted him. "Shh, it's ok Don, I'm here for you." She continued to hold him while he tried to get a grip on himself.
Eventually, he was able to, but he still held Twilight's hands gently in his own.
"There, now then, now that you're a bit calmer, what happened? Was it......the nightmares?" Many times during her stay on the train, Twilight had heard various train crew members scream out in the middle of the night. She knew what it was. "Nightmares/flashbacks of the war, brought on by Shell Shock." Up until that moment, she'd never actually witnessed Don having a Shell Shock nightmare, but now she knew that even he was not immune.
"Do you um.....w-want to talk about it?"
Don shook his head. "No. War is a terrible thing Twilight, and even once it's over, the REAL fight is just beginning. Let's just leave it at that."
Twilight nodded. "Well, I'm not going to leave you alone like this Don. You need comfort. So if you won't come up to my room, then I'll just stay down here with you, at least until you fall asleep."
She then had Don lay back down on the couch, while she lay next to him, and held him gently. Don relaxed almost immediately in her warm embrace, and before long, he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
The next couple of days were like this for Don. He would return to the train when he was required to, but for the most part he just stayed with Twilight, although Twilight often followed him to the train as well.
Twilight was also his date for the ball, and while they were dancing, Don asked her a question. "Um.....Twilight?"
"Yeah Don?"
"Um, I was wondering,........w-would you be interested in being my....m-marefriend, as you would say? I mean, ever since the war, plus all of those nights that you spent with me so that I wouldn't have another Shell Shock induced nightmare, I NEED a mare like you in my life Twilight."
Twilight was VERY surprised. She never thought that another stallion would EVER find her attractive, but now here was one who did seem to. And she knew that Don was honest and genuine, and when he said something, he meant it.
She looked back at him, smiling. "For you Don, of course! Of course I'll be your marefriend!"
The two of them then hugged, and went back to their dancing.
Over the course of the next number of months, Don was engaged heavily with the building of the Imperial War Museum. Twilight functioned as his assistant/secretary when she wasn't fulfilling any duties for Princess Celestia. The days seemed to follow each other as the museum got built up more and more, and the more and more time that the two of them were able to spend together.
They also went on a number of dates, with most of them being to attend lectures on various fields of study, science conventions, or even just spending time reading at the library. The more time that he spent with Twilight, the more and more convinced that Don was becoming that she was indeed the mare for him. He wanted to be more than just marefriend and coltfriend; he wanted to marry Twilight.
Late one night, he talked it over with Jim, as well as Father Charles.
"So, what do you guys think?"
Jim sighed. "Well, if you're happy Don, and she's happy with you, then I'm happy for you both. You two really do seem to complete each other, and if God wants you two to be married, then great."
Father Charles sighed. "And if God is indeed calling you to her Don, then yes, I am happy for you as well. That young mare does have a good heart, and wants to serve those around her. She's a good mare Don, take care of her."
Don nodded, but then he had a question. "Um, Father?"
"Yes Major?"
"If I do decide to marry Miss Twilight, you would be willing to perform the marriage ceremony, right?"
He nodded. "Certainly! It's been TOO LONG since I last performed a wedding ceremony!"
Don nodded. "Ok then. And I'll pray about this a little bit more, but if everything goes the way that I think that it will, I will be married by next Spring!"
Don then left to finish up his work for the day.
Eventually, he decided what he was going to do. One afternoon after making a quick stop, he went to go see Twilight.
"Oh, hello Don!"
"Hey Twilight."
"What brings you here?"
Don then got incredibly nervous. He'd been planning for this moment for a long time, but now that it had arrived, his nerves were failing him.
"Um, well......I was just wondering if you wanted to go and have a picnic with me. I've finished up all of my work for the day."
Twilight thought about that. "Sure! I'm free as well, so let's go!"
Don was carrying the picnic basket, while Twilight held onto his arm. They walked for a ways until they reached a grassy hill just outside of Ponyville. When they arrived there, Don set up the blanket, as well as the food, plates, and plastic cutlery. Unknown to Twilight though, close by were Jim and myself. We were both there to record the moment where Don proposed to Twilight.
"When do you think that he'll propose Jim?"
Jim shrugged. "I don't know Leopard. However, I do know that he'll signal for us when he's ready."
We both kept watching and waiting for Don's signal.
Eventually, Don felt that the time was right. The sun was setting behind them, and the food was all eaten. He then looked behind himself, gave us the signal and then Jim and I stood up, and walked towards the two picnic goers.
Twilight saw us. "Oh Captain Leopard, Mr. Jim, what a pleasant surprise!"
"Hello Miss Sparkle."
"Hi Twilight."
Twilight then noticed that Jim was holding a camera, while I was holding a video camera.
"What's.......going on Don? Why do they have cameras?"
Don knew that his big moments was here. The time had come, but his nerves had failed him.
I saw that Don had frozen up. "Come on Don, you can do this. You've gotten through MUCH worse than this!"
Twilight was still confused. "Gotten through worse than what? What's he talking about Don?"
Don then reached inside of himself, and found his courage once again. He knew what he had to do. After grabbing something out of his back pocket, he walked over to where Twilight was sitting.
"Twilight? Ever since the first time that I met you, I knew that we both felt a connection. We seemed to be the same in many ways, as well as being some of the only people who could understand each other. We went through war in Las Pegasus, and I led the charge through the Zebra Empire to save you and the other hostages.
And once the war was over, it was you who helped me get through the awful PTSD-induced nightmares. You were always there for me, and so now, I want to always be there for you. I just have one question for you Twilight." He then reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small, black box. Then, while Twilight was sitting in front of him, he opened the box, revealing an engagement ring.
"Twilight, will you marry me?"
When Twilight saw the box, her emotion levels shot through the roof. At first, she just stared at Don with tears in her eyes. Then she pulled him close, and hugged him tightly.
"YES, YES!!!! 1,000 times over YES!!!!!"
The two of them kissed briefly, before going back to hugging.
I then looked over at Jim. "Well, I think that we could call this one a mission complete, wouldn't you say Jim?"
He nodded. "Yes, I couldn't agree more Captain Leopard. I know that they will be VERY happy together."
We both then left, leaving Don and Twilight to be on their own.
Over the course of the next couple of months, in addition to helping build the museum, as well as duties with the Foreign Legion, Don helped Twilight plan out their wedding.
The plan was to have the wedding at the Ponyville Gardens, as Twilight had had her heart set on marrying there for years. They were also planning on a Spring wedding. Once the date was locked in, it was to be on March 28th, 2030.
Invitations were sent out to everyone on the train, as well as others who Twilight wanted to invite. The cake would be provided by Sugarcube Corner, the flowers would come from Roseluck and her sisters, and the rest of the Mane 6, and even some of the other train crew, helped with the planning as well.
"Who will be your Best Stallion Don?" Twilight asked him.
"Well, it'll be Jim. A number of years ago, I was the best man at his wedding. Now I want him to do the same for me."
"Ok, makes sense to me. Rarity will make my dress for me, but what will you wear?"
"I'll be wearing my formal uniform that I wore to the Gala. Also, who will be your Maid of Honor?"
"My Mare of Honor will be my old foal-sitter, Cadence. I think that Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle, as well as Applejack's sister Applebloom will be the flower girls, but who will be the ring bearer?"
Don thought about that. "I don't know. Usually, I would just give Leopard the job, but ever since he married 2 mares?! HECK NO!!!! I'll give the job to Joe Dixon if he wants it."
Twilight thought back to my wedding to Rainbow Dash on September 15th, 2029. Then on October 8th, I took Spitfire to be my wife as well.
"She sighed. "Yeah, Captain Leopard is a little bit on the wacky side, but still, he's a good stallion, and he is a soldier, so there's that too."
Don sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. But still, Alex's wedding to Applejack went off right on October 21st, 2029, why couldn't his have been the same?"
"Eh, maybe because it was just the 2 of them?"
Don sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. But still, I just wish that Leopard didn't do it." He then went back to the papers that he was working on.
Finally, that March, Don was heading back to his room one night, completely unaware that he was being followed. He was then suddenly grabbed, and had a bag thrown over his head!
"Hey, what the?!"
"You're coming with us Buddy!" A voice growled. "There's SOMEBODY who wants to see you!" Don was then dragged away.
Eventually, he felt himself get tied to a chair, before the bag was removed from his head.
"SURPRISE DON!!!"
Don looked, and to his shock, he was sitting inside of the TCC at the back of the train, and in front of him were Jim, me, Todd, Alex, Joe, and a few others. Behind us were a few tables with food on them, as well as some games.
"Wait, you all KIDNAPPED ME for my Bachelor's Party?!"
I laughed. "Yep! It was all Jim's idea!"
Jim then laughed a bit. "Yeah, guilty as charged! I hope that you like it Don!"
Don was still in a state of shock. "Well, if you'll kindly UNTIE ME from this chair, then I'll see if I like it or not!"
"Eh, you're not actually tied up Don. Move your arms a bit."
He did so, and sure enough, we were right; he wasn't actually tied up. He then stood up, and looked around the room. "I still can't believe that you guys did this! Thank you!"
"Eh, you're welcome Don! You've been our leader for a long time, so it was our genuine pleasure!"
We all then had a night of fun in the PCC. There were video games, board games, card games, lots of food, and even a karaoke machine! Everyone had a lot of fun, and Don said that it was the best party that he'd ever been thrown.
When the party wound down though, we did have to clean up and get ready for the wedding, which would be in less than a week.
Finally, the big day had arrived. It was March 28th, 2030. The time was a little bit past noon, and the wedding was slated to start at 2pm. Just prior to this, there would also be a traditional ceremony where we would all get together and "give" Don over to Twilight. It was a military tradition that we were going to continue.
On Twilight's end of things, she was getting ready with her bridesmaids, which were the rest of the Mane 6, while Rarity was finishing up with her dress.
"I still CANNOT believe that I'm getting married!"
Dash and Applejack looked at her.
"Well Twilight, Ah can say that you got nothin' to worry about! My wedding to Alex went off without a hitch."
"Yeah, and so did mine to Stud! And so did his wedding to Spitfire!"
Fluttershy looked up at her. "Um, I kinda wish that it was my turn Twilight. It still feels like so much longer until my wedding to Todd."
"Yeah, same with my wedding to Dan!" Pinkie added. I just wish that it was Summer now!"
Twilight then looked back at her friends. 2 of them were married, and the rest were now engaged.
"I'm really glad that we can all do this together girls. You all have been the BEST group of friends that I've EVER had!"
They all hugged her. "You're welcome Twilight! Now get out there and enjoy your wedding!"
They all heard the music start, and they all began to scurry to their pre-wedding positions.
On Don's end of things though, he was suddenly getting cold feet. His nerves were shot, and he seemed to almost be hyperventilating. The rest of us were trying to calm him down.
"Don, just calm down. Everything's going to be fine! You'll do great!"
I looked over at him. "Yeah, what they said. You've got NOTHING to worry about Don! I went through 2 weddings without a hitch! Well, except for what happened with Len, but let's NOT talk about that!"
"Leopard's right Major. Plus, my wedding to Applejack went off just fine. You've got nothing to worry about. Plus, ALL of us will be right there with you every step of the way!"
Don then looked over at his comrades. They had all gone to hell and back together. They would be there to the bitter end no matter what.
He looked up. "You're right guys! I've got NOTHING to worry about! Now then, let's all get out there. We have a Transfer Ceremony to perform, as well as a wedding to attend!"
We all nodded, and then we left for the garden.
Once we were outside of the garden, while a number of Ponies watched, we performed the "Transfer Ceremony". This was a tradition that dated all of the way back to WW3. The groom would be "given" by his comrades over to his bride, and be devoted to her, AND the Core. Alex and I had already gone through this, and now it was Don's turn. Todd, Dan, Cole, and Andy watched, knowing that they would be next soon enough.
Jim performed the "ceremony". "Major Don Curry, do you solemnly swear to still stand by your Brothers in Arms, and again bear the burden of war should the need arise?"
"Yes Sir, I do."
"And do you vow to love Twilight until your dying day?"
"Yes Sir, I do."
"Ok then, give me your hand."
He did so, and Jim poked it with a sterile needle. Once Don bled a little, he added his bloody fingerprint to the contract that all of us signed on our wedding day. Alex's and I's fingerprints were already there, and now Don added his to the mix as well.
"Ok Don, and we'll be holding you to this contract now that you've signed it in your own blood. We now give you the Core's permission to marry Twilight!"
Don nodded, and then we all took our pre-wedding positions.
Sure enough, at precisely 2pm, the Wedding got underway. The first one in was of course Father Charles, as he was the minister for the ceremony.
Next, Came Don and the rest of us groomsmen. We all lined the isle at intervals, and stood at attention as Don passed us. He then went up to the front, where he joined Father Charles.
The rest of the audience stood up, and sure enough, Twilight came down the isle. She was followed by her bridesmaids, the CMC's, who were the flower girls, and Joe, as he was the ring bearer.
Don gasped a bit in surprise when he saw Twilight. Her wedding dress was pure white, although it did have purple trim, as well as a veil. She had golden horseshoes on her hooves, and a broach of her cutie-mark in her mane as well. She was being led down the isle by her dad. Out in the audience, her mom and Shining Armor were crying.
"I can't believe that Twily's getting married!"
"Yeah, I know Shining, I can't believe it either!"
Once Twilight was up on the small stage at the back of the garden where Don was, she turned to face him. As they held hands, all of the music stopped.
Once everyone and Everypony had taken their seats, Father Charles began. "Now then, are you two ready to begin?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Yes Father, we're ready!"
"Ok then. Now then, will the ring bearer please bring up the rings?"
Joe did so.
"Thank you. Now then, Donald Curry, do you, take this mare to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness, and health, good times and bad, to love until the bitter end no matter what?"
Don then took his ring, and put it on her finger. "I do. I take you, Twilight, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness and health, good times and bad, to love until the bitter end, no matter what!"
Father Charles then turned to Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle, do you, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness, and health, good times and bad, to love until the bitter end no matter what?"
Twilight looked at Don with tears in her eyes as she slipped her ring onto his finger. "Yes, I do! I take you, Don Curry, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness, and health, good times and bad, to love until the bitter end no matter what!"
Father Charles then looked out over the audience. "Now then, does anyone, or anypony, have any objections to this union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
Nopony said anything.
"Ok then. By the power vested in me as presider over this wedding union, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Don then gently took Twilight's veil, and after lifting it up, he pulled her in close, and the 2 of them kissed.
The whole crowd then went wild, and now 3 of the Mane 6 were married; Twilight, Dash, and Applejack.
The wedding reception went off without a hitch, and after the cake was cut, and the first pieces fed to the bride and groom by each other, it was time for the couple's first dance. They went with the song that Don had picked a long time ago.
Unfortunately, I forgot one little detail, I could barely sing to save my own life!
Finally, Twilight had enough of that! "Oh Celestia Leopard, GET OFF THE STAGE!!! Let a REAL singer show you how it's done!" The then grabbed me with her magic, and dragged me off the stage! She then sang the same song that she'd sung for her brother and Cadence a few years prior.
Once that was all done, the time had come for the throwing of the bouquet, as well as the garter.
"Is everypony ready?" Twilight asked.
"Ready Twilight!"
"Ok then, here it comes!" She then tossed her bouquet out into the crowd of single mares. It was caught by Lyra.
Twilight looked over at her. "Well Lyra, it looks like you'll be the next one down the isle!"
While she was cheering about that, Don got the garter off of Twilight, and prepared to toss it. "Are all of you guys ready?" single guys ready?"
"Oh yeah!"
he then flung it, and it got caught by Spike. "Congrats Spike! You're the lucky guy to catch the garter!"
Then, while the crowd was still cheering, it was time for Don and Twilight to leave on their honeymoon. Their destination was the Crystal Empire to spend time with Shining Armor and Cadence.
"Don't worry Don, I'll take GOOD care of the Battleship Express while you're gone!"
"Thanks Jim! I know that you will!" He then climbed into the carriage that was waiting to take them away.
Twilight hugged her bother. "Congratulations Twily!"
"Thanks BBBFF!"
"I still can't believe that you're a bride! You've really grown up Twily!"
She blushed a bit. "Thanks BBBFF! And I'll see you again soon!"
"Yeah, see you soon Twily!"
She then got into the carriage as well. Behind it, Alex, Todd, and I were still attaching the ropes and empty shell casings that were going to be clanging along behind the carriage.
Once they were ready, the carriage pulled away to the sounds of a 21 gun salute.
"BON VOYAGE DON AND TWILIGHT!!!" We all yelled.
Don and Twilight waved to us until their carriage was out of sight.
Alex. 2nd Fireman Alex Barkley. The 2nd of 3 firemen of the Battleship Express. He'd been with the train ever since it's first run from Grand Central Station in New York, to St. Louis where the first battle began. He was an old-timer like me. Even though he was only 23 years old, he'd seen the wars like the rest of us. He was in the Big Boy's cab with Todd and I when the train was attacked by the Wonderbolts.
He was the one who managed to bash Soarin in the face with his coal shovel before the cab got swarmed. Eventually, the train was brought to a screeching halt outside of Ponyville Station, and he blacked out with the rest of us in that cab. Eventually, he did regain consciousness, and made his way out of the cab. Once he was on the ground again, he was told by others that we were now in the land of Equestria, and that the Ponies were not our enemies.
"Oh, well, just so long as they aren't Futas, then I'm ok!" He then went over to talk to the Wonderbolts who had been attacking the train.
"Um, Commander Soarin? I'm REALLY sorry for bashing you in the face with my shovel. I thought that you were a Futa."
Soarin looked at him. "It wasn't your fault Alex. You were just doing what had to be done to defend your train. We thought that you were the enemies as well. It was all just a big misunderstanding."
Alex nodded. "Yeah, but that still must have hurt since I did swing pretty hard!"
"Yeah, it did!"
Alex and Soarin talked for a while longer.
Eventually, while the meeting between myself, Don, and the Princesses was happening in the PCC, Alex was given the chance to talk to some of the other Ponies. Eventually though, there was one who caught his eye. She had orange fur, a blond mane and tail, green eyes, some freckles, and she was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, work boots, as well as a Stetson cowboy hat.
Intrigued a bit, he went over to say hello.
"Hello Ma'am."
She turned to him. "Oh well howdy there Mr. Human! And who might you be?"
"Hmm? Oh, I'm Alex. 2nd Fireman Alex Barkley, but you can just call me Alex, Ma'am."
"Just as you can call me Applejack Sugarcube!" She shook his hand. "And it's nice to meet you Alex!"
"Nice to meet you too Applejack. So um, what town are we in exactly? I haven't heard yet."
Applejack gestured all around. "This is the town of Ponyville! I've lived here my whole life, as has most of my family."
"Oh, and do you live close by?"
She pointed to something off in the distance. "You see the top of that weather vane over there beyond that hill?"
"Yeah."
"Well, that's the barn on the farm where I live. It's called Sweet Apple Acres. Best apple farm in all of Equestria! My family's been makin' the best apple-flavored products for generations!"
Alex was stunned. "Wow, that sounds amazing Applejack! I sure wish that I could see Sweet Apple Acres."
Unfortunately though, before the two of them could continue talking, Don and I stepped out of the train and began to tell the crew the situation that we were currently facing. Eventually, after the skirmish involving the Zebra and Caribou ambassadors, Don made an announcement.
"Attention all hands, this is Major Don speaking! Due to the now extremely high danger of enemy activity, all personnel MUST stay with the train at all times! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!"
Alex was upset. "Ah phooey! Now I gotta stay here!"
Applejack shrugged. "Eh, don't feel too sad there Partner, I'll stay here with ya if ya want."
He looked up at her. "Wait, you'd really do that?"
She nodded. "Of course I would Sugarcube!"
They then sat together on a bench close to the train, and talked for a while longer.
Eventually however, after the first-blood skirmish with the Caribou and Zebra forces, Alex knew just as well as the rest of us that another attack was imminent; and of course, we were all right!
That very same night, the Battle of Ponyville happened. While Applejack was taking shelter with the rest of the Element Bearers, Alex was with the rest of us right in the thick of the fighting. He was a part of my firing line, the same firing line that helped to protect the Ponyville town square.
By the time that the sun rose the next morning, and victory had been secured, we all knew what we had to do. Right alongside the rest of us, Alex voted to declare war on the Imperial Alliance.
Now the war could truly begin!
Very early the next morning, we all pulled out for Las Pegasus. Alex was the fireman, while I drove, and Todd was the brakeman, and Dash was up in the cab with us as well. After making it up No-Name Grade, we went down the other side, and we soon reached the city that was to become the sight of our next battle.
All throughout the course of the battle, Alex and Applejack were in the SCC watching the battle unfold.
"Golly! This is a TON of firepower!!!"
Alex smirked. "Heh, yeah! We've always been like this; it's just what our train was built for! It was designed to be able to provide EXTREMELY heavy firepower when required!"
Applejack looked at the digital maps. "Yeah, no kiddin' Sugarcube! I NEVER thought that I would ever see a train like this!"
"Well, she truly is one of a kind. Well, there were plans for a sister war-train, using Big Boy 4014, and UP 844 for a supply train. This train was to become known as the 'Dreadnought Express', but for whatever reason, the plans for it never came to fruition."
Applejack thought about that. "Huh. Well, maybe it would'a cost too much, or maybe y'all didn't need another train like this one."
Alex shrugged. "At times, I'd almost say that we did, but never mind that now. It's all in the past, although 2 Battleship Expresses side by side? Now THAT would have been cool to see!"
"Heh, yeah, no kiddin' Sugarcube!"
They then got back to watching the battle.
Once the battle was over, it was time for the cleanup to begin. It was also around this same time that Don called all of the Mane 6 together for a meeting.
"This is very hard for me to say, and I know that it's going to be even harder for you to hear, but the truth is, you all will not be able to continue on with us."
"WHAT!?!?! WHY!?!?!"
Don then went on to explain the extreme danger involved with what lay ahead, and how it was a stallion's job. "Plus, if you got killed, then that would be EXTREMELY bad, but if you got captured......" Don couldn't even bring himself to finish that sentence.
Eventually, Twilight sighed. "I....understand Don." Then, after reasoning with the others for a bit, they all understood too. It was also agreed that they would be on the next train heading back to Ponyville.
"I sure am gonna miss ya Alex! And I was just startin' to like ya too!"
Alex blushed a bit. "Yeah, I know. And I'm gonna miss you too AJ!"
She saw the dejection on his face. Then, just before she left, she kissed him gently on the mouth. "There. Just a little somthin' to remember me by until we meet again Alex!"
For a moment, Alex was stunned! He NEVER saw that one coming! In the end though, he did get over his shock enough to kiss Applejack back, before the two of them hugged one last time, and then Applejack got on the train to Ponyville.
"I sure am gonna miss her." Alex sighed sadly as the train pulled out of sight.
I looked at him. "We all are gonna miss our marefriends Alex; it's not just you."
Alex nodded, and then we all got back to work, little knowing the dangers that lay ahead.
Less than a day later, thanks to Zakia's video call, we knew that he'd captured our marefriends. Alex was with Don and I while we had our rage freak-out in the PCC, and for nearly an hour straight, our rage induced madness continued. We stomped on the floor, smashed things, screamed, yelled, cried, and a number of other rage-filled actions. Eventually though, we were able to get a grip on ourselves. After a chat with Princess Celestia, we all knew what we had to do.
"So, how are we even going to do this Major?" Alex asked.
"Well, like Princess Celestia said, we get to the Zebra Empire, and WIPE IT OFF THE MAP!!!!"
"As well as saving our marefriends?"
"Of course! What kind of people would we be if we didn't?!"
"Pretty terrible ones, that's for sure!"
We all then got to work on planning not only our attacks on the Badlands, but also reassuring the families of our marefriends that we were going to be doing everything in our power to bring their daughter/sister home.
"You have my word, Ma'am, that I WILL NOT rest until I've brought Applejack home safe and sound!"
"You'd better do that Sonny!" Granny told him, "Or I'll have ya skinned alive myself!"
Alex saluted. "As I just said Ma'am, I will bring her home, and now I add to that; I will bring her home, or die trying!"
A few days after that, our campaign through the Zebra Empire began. From one city to the next, we destroyed everything and everyone that stood in our way, and Alex was right there with us. He was part of the task force that wiped out the chemical plant in Bannon, and he was also present at the Battles of Zandia, Mardeth, and pretty much every other battle during our Zebra Empire campaign. He was just as much of a ruthless of a killer as we were.
Eventually though came the most critical battle of them all; Zebrica. Zebrica was the Zebra's capital city, and where Overlord Zakia was holding our marefriends hostage.
"So what's the plan Major?"
Don sighed. "Well, this is it, our final battle against these monsters. They have our marefriends, and we HAVE to get them back!"
"Yeah, NOTHING truer than that! So how are we going in?"
Don then relayed his plan, which was the Battleship Express tearing down the walls, as well as using our armored bulldozers, loaders, and tractors as tanks to move around the city. The attack was scheduled to begin at Dawn the following morning.
Sure enough, Alex found himself assigned to a bulldozer, which in fact was the same one that I was also assigned to. Once we got the signal from Don to begin the battle, and the walls had been brought down by the guns of the Battleship Express, we were all cleared for the attack. We all charged forwards, and did our best to make it inside of the city.
Then, once we were inside, our task was to cause as much ruckus as possible on our way to the Imperial Palace. Once we arrived though, we ran into trouble. We couldn't get the gates open! Eventually, Don was able to have them blasted open with explosives, and then we all proceeded onto the palace grounds.
Alex was looking up at all of the stairs leading up to the Imperial Palace. "Ok, so now I guess that we have to get out and walk!"
I shook my head. "No on my watch!" I then put the bulldozer into forward gear again, and after plowing over part of the fountain in front of the palace, I drove the bulldozer right up the stairs!
Once we'd all made it inside, our primary goal was to get to the hostages. Eventually, we managed to clear out the entire upper levels of the palace, with only the throne room remaining. Once the doors to that were blasted in after the whole room was filled with smoke, we all rushed in.
After dealing with the guards, I looked around. "Hello? Are there any hostages in here? We're looking for hostages!"
"Back here Sir!" From behind Zakia's throne stepped Dan, and then Twilight and Applejack.
When Alex saw his marefriend, he raced over to her. "APPLEJACK!!!!!"
"ALEX!!!!"
He began to hug her. "Oh thank God that you're ok! I thought that I was NEVER going to see you again!"
"Neither did I Alex!" She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I thought that you weren't going to be able to get here and save me in time!"
He continued to hold her close. "Well, I'm here now, and it's all going to be ok!"
Eventually, once the palace had been fully cleared out, Alex gently picked his marefriend up, and carried her back out to the train.
For the next few days or so, Alex was by Applejack's side every minute. He just wanted to make sure that she was alright.
"I'm fine Alex", she reassured him. "You saved me from the Zebras BEFORE they could hurt me!"
Alex sighed. "Yeah, I know Babe, but it's just........well......it's complicated. I really don't want to get into it too much right now."
Applejack opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but she just closed her mouth, and didn't say anything.
Over the course of the remainder of the war, Alex did take part in a number of the campaigns against the Caribou, although he wasn't as angry as Dan and I were, as our marefriends were still being held hostage by the Caribou.
Eventually though, after the war was over, it was time for all of us to return home. After leaving Donneth for the last time on July 28th, we all headed back for Ponyville.
At one point, Alex did let Applejack take his place as the train's fireman, but after getting yelled at by Don, she was forced to abort early! The rest of the train ride back to Ponyville went just fine though.
When we arrived back there though, we all received the greatest hero's welcome of all time! EVERYPONY was there to see us, and they were all cheering for the Battleship Express, as well as Battalion 4009, who had managed to get them through the war.
Both Alex and Applejack were also both hugged by Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Big Mac.
"I'm back Granny! Alex here saved me, just like he said that he would!"
Granny then turned to look at him. "Mr. Alex, I would just like to offer ya my greatest thanks! You lived up to yer end of the promise, and ya brought Applejack home!"
Alex just blushed a bit. "Eh, it......was nothing really, Ma'am, just me doing my job; what had to be done! Oh, and you can just call me Alex, Ma'am."
"And I more than thank ya for it Alex. How would you like to come and help us out on the apple farm? I know that Applejack would love to have you, and we do need the extra help!"
Alex was speechless. Well.....um, I-I'll have to ask Major Don about it first, but if he doesn't have any objections, then sure, I could come and help you guys!"
Alex then went over to ask Don if he could help out at the apple farm.
Well, to make a long story short, Don didn't really have any objections, and so after gathering his things together, Alex followed Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith back to Sweet Apple Acres.
When he saw the farm for the first time, he was shocked!
"Holy cow, this place is HUGE!!!"
And indeed it was. There was a house, and a large red barn, but beyond those were acres upon acres of apple trees.
"Well, now I can DEFINITELY see why this place is called 'Sweet Apple Acres!' There's apple trees everywhere!"
Applejack laughed a bit. "Yeah well, we Apples have been apple farmers here for generations. It's a tradition that we hope to carry on for many more."
"Eyup!"
Alex then took a bit more time to take in his surroundings. Eventually though, Applejack showed him where he could put his things for the time being, before showing him the ropes of farming.
The hours ticked by for Alex. He was learning so much about apple tree farming from Applejack.
"This, is really incredible AJ. Thank you for letting me work here with you."
Applejack smiled. "It's not really me that you should be thanking Sugarcube, it's Granny and Big Mac. They're they ones who're lettin' ya stay here."
Alex nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. But nevertheless, I'm still glad to be here, and........" Alex suddenly trailed off. He looked to be troubled about something.
"Hey, what's wrong Sugarcube?"
Alex just shook his head. "It's.......nothing that you should concern yourself with. Let's just say that some aspects of the past are best left buried, even when they try to resurface again."
Applejack could see that Alex was in pain, but she didn't dare ask him what he meant. All of us Humans had come from extremely troubled backgrounds, and none of us were willing to talk about them.
Eventually though, nighttime came. For sleeping arrangements, Alex was going to be sleeping on a cot on the floor in Applejack's room. He would also be hung from the highest apple tree in the orchard if he tried anything funny with Applejack!
He tried to sleep, but sleep was fleeing away from him. One aspect of his past just wouldn't stay buried. It kept coming to the surface, and plaguing his dreams.
"NO.......no!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!! GWAH!!!!" Alex suddenly woke up screaming! In one quick motion, he was off of his cot and had flung himself halfway across the room!
He lay there, gasping, panting, and sweating profusely. Suddenly though, the light next to Applejack's bed turned on. "Huh? What......? SUGARCUBE!!!!" She flew out of her bed, and raced over to where Alex was on the floor.
"Sugarcube? What happened?! What's wrong?!" Then she remembered the nightmares. Dash had warned her that I too had been having PTSD-induced nightmares.
Alex then began to hug her, while he cried softly. Applejack's motherly instincts kicked in almost immediately.
"Shh, it's ok Sugarcube. I got you. You're safe with me. I ain't gonna let anypony hurt you!"
"Oh god......." Alex muttered through his tears. "Why won't she leave?! Why won't she stay dead?!"
"Who? Who won't stay dead Sugarcube?"
"Miranda....."
"Who's........Miranda?"
Alex then revealed the horrifying truth about his past. Like most of the rest of us, he'd been captured in WW6, and sold to a Futa mistress. His mistress though was violently insane. She tortured Alex and her other slaves for her own sexual pleasure. By the time that the authorities found out and intervened, Alex was at death's door. A number of reconstructive surgeries later, Alex was mobile again, but his mind was never the same again. Even though he would later kill Miranda himself by repeatedly bashing her head in with a brick, he was mentally broken.
When Alex finished his story, Applejack could only stare at him in shock and horror. She'd heard whispered rumors about some of us having been confiscated from abusive mistresses, but to have actually heard a first-hand account from an eyewitness? That really shed a whole new light on things.
"I........can't even begin to imagine the pain that you're going through Alex. To have been treated like that.........I can't even begin to wrap my head around it. Just know that, Miranda is dead, and if she EVER wants to get at you again, even from beyond the grave, I ain't gonna let her! She had her chance with you, and she blew it! She's dead, and nopony cares!"
Alex looked up at her, before kissing her gently on the cheek. "T-thanks AJ, y-you're the best!"
She kissed him back gently. "It's my job Sugarcube. You're the closest friend that I have right now, so it's my job to help you. But come on now, let's go to bed."
Applejack then gently helped Alex back to his feet, before leading him over to her bed, laying him down on it, snuggling close to him, and pulling the covers over the both of them before holding him close.
"Goodnight Alex, I love you."
"Goodnight, Applejack. I.....love you too." Alex then fell asleep, and managed to stay asleep.
Over the course of the next couple of days, Alex did have to come back to help a little bit with the Battleship Express, but for the most part, he stayed with the Apple Family; helping to tend to Sweet Apple Acres.
During this time, he and Applejack began to grow closer and closer together. Applebloom said that they were in love, but Granny just shushed her.
"You leave yer big sister alone Applebloom! Someday you'll find a nice colt that you fancy too!"
Applebloom said that that would never happen.
"That's what I said when yer pa married yer ma...." Granny muttered.
"What was that Granny?"
"Oh, um......it was nothing Dear, just......talkin' to myself a bit."
Applebloom gave Granny a funny look before going back to helping pick apples.
That Saturday, Alex took Applejack to the Victory Ball in Canterlot. As the two of them danced, Applejack asked him a question.
"Hey Sugarcube?"
"Yeah AJ?"
I was wonderin'.......would you, uh......"
"Would I what AJ?"
"Would you........maybe......want to be my coltfriend? I mean, I think that Granny wants us together, and we do make a good pair, so what'dya say Pardner?"
Alex was really taken aback. He had NEVER expected this! However, he was quick to think up what to say. "If that's what you want Applejack, then sure, I'll be your coltfriend. Provided of course that you'll be my marefriend!"
"Of course I will Sugarcube!"
And that made it official; Alex and Applejack were now a couple.
With the months passing, more and more construction work on the museum was done, and before too long, Applejack heard that I had proposed to Rainbow Dash, and that she'd said yes. The two of us were planning on a mid-September wedding.
Alex heard about this, and finally he too had made up his mind. He went to talk to Don about it.
"So, you think that God is calling you two together, do you?"
He nodded. "Yes Sir. We've been together for a few months now, and I really do think that we were made to be."
"Well, if you want to do this, then I'm not going to stop you. I see nothing wrong with your relationship. However, when were you going to propose to her?"
Alex sighed. "Soon. I'm planning on surprising her with a ring here before too long."
Don nodded. "Well, good luck Alex. I hope that you find what you're looking for."
"Thank you Sir, and I hope so too!"
A few days later, he and Applejack were lying underneath their favorite apple tree. They were both holding hands, and in Alex's pocket was the ring. Close by were Todd and myself, hidden in the bushes. Alex selected us to be the ones to film the moment. Big Mac, Granny Smith, and Applebloom were also watching this as well.
Eventually, he signaled us to step forwards, which we did.
Alex then turned to her. "Hey Applejack?"
"Yeah Sugarcube?"
"I would just like to say that.....well, ever since the very beginning, you were always there for me. You were the one who understood my PTSD-induced nightmares, and also helped me get through them. You are the apple of my eye, and now I would like you to be the Apple of my life." Here he rolled over, and got into a kneeling position.
Applejack sat up. "Wait, what?"
"I mean that I just have one question for you." He then reached into his pocket, and pulled out the ring box, before opening it to reveal a gold ring with an apple-shaped diamond on it. "AJ, will you marry me?"
When Applejack realized that Alex was proposing to her, she immediately slammed her hands over her mouth and began to cry. Eventually, she was able to talk again.
"Y-yes, Sugarcube! 1,000 times YES!!!!!" She then sort of tackled Alex, and began to hug him. Todd and I filmed for a little bit longer before we stopped filming.
"Well Leopard, I can say that this was mission accomplished!"
"Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more Todd! I mean after all, Dash said yes when I asked her, and now we're planning a mid-September wedding."
"Hmm, I wonder when their wedding will be?"
I shrugged. "I don't know Todd, but I do know that we'll find out here before long!"
Sure enough, I was right. Alex and Applejack were planning on a late October wedding. Eventually, after some planning, the date was set for October 21st, 2029, just 1 month and 6 days later than mine. The wedding site of course would be the family farm, underneath their favorite apple tree. The plan was to invite most, if not ALL of the Apple clan, and of course, Alex invited all of us to come as well.
However, late one night, Alex ran into some serious trouble. As he was walking by the barn, a pair of arms suddenly reached out, grabbed him, and dragged him inside!
Alex was about to scream, before the lights came on, and sure enough all of his friends were standing around, seemingly laughing at him!
"Oh COME ON you guys! You kidnapped me for my Bachelor party?!"
Andy smirked. "Yep, guilty as charged! Now come on Alex, let's have some fun!"
Little did we suspect though, our 'fun' was about to have some almost fatal consequences!
At one point, Alex proposed a drinking contest.
"How do we do this Alex?" I asked.
"Simple!" Alex then pulled out a drink mixer and a funnel. "We start with some moonshine", He poured some in, "And then we add more alcohol!"
We all got the idea then, and began to add to the mixture.
"Cider!"
"Red wine!"
"Tequila!"
"Whisky!"
"Vodka!"
"Rum!"
"Arrack!"
Alex nodded. "Oh yeah, that's nice! Then Spirits, and of course, 100% pure Ethanol!" He then mixed it all together, before pouring it all into glasses, and handing it to any who wanted any. However, most of the rest of us backed away once we realized just how dangerous that concoction was. It could have killed us! I however volunteered to drink some just so that Alex wouldn't have to do it alone. I took a glass, and Alex took a glass. We both then looked at each other, before drinking it.
To put it into simple terms, the bachelor party was cancelled, and Alex and I were both rushed to the hospital to have our systems pumped! We both survived, but I've shied away from strong alcohol ever since.
Eventually though, on October 21st, the time came for the actual ceremony. The wedding site was all decked out in white, and there were chairs set up for all of the guests. The reception would be held in the barn, and both parties were getting ready.
Applejack was having the final fitting of her dress done by Rarity. Her dress was white, although it had green trim. Also, at Applejack's insistence, Rarity also made her a white version of her stetson hat for the ceremony as well. Her mane and tail were braided with flowers, and she had golden horseshoes on her hooves.
"I still can't believe that I'm a bride! It seems like just yesterday that I met Alex!"
"Are.......you nervous AJ?"
"No, not really Rainbow. I'm just so....happy!" Applejack then looked over at Rainbow. She'd been the first of her group of friends to get married, and now it was her turn. She picked Applebloom to be her maid of honor, while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were the flower girls. The rest of her friends were her bridesmaids.
Suddenly though, they all heard the music start.
"Oh, that's the music! Let's go everypony! Let's get this wedding underway!"
"Right behind you Applejack!" They all then left for their pre-wedding positions.
With Alex, the rest of us were busy getting ready as well. Like Applejack, Alex also had no nervousness. He'd picked Andy to be his Best Man, while Big Mac would be the ring bearer.
"Well, today's the big day Alex, are you nervous?"
He shook his head. "What? Me, nervous no! I'm doing just fine. This is my life-long dream come true!" He finished adjusting his formal military uniform. "Ok, that should just about do it! Now then, let's go guys!"
Right behind you Alex!"
We all then left to go perform Alex's "Transfer Ceremony."
Once we were there, we all stood around while Don addressed him. "State your name."
"Alex Barkley."
"And who is the mare that you're marrying?"
"Applejack."
"And you do love her, right?"
"Oh yes Sir!"
"And you pledge to love her until your dying day?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Ok then Alex, just like Leopard did, give me your hand."
Alex did so, and sure enough, after his hand was pricked with a sterile needle enough to draw blood, he put his bloody fingerprint onto the document that was signed by all of us Battleship Express crew who were getting hitched. Then we all had to scurry to our pre-wedding positions.
First to come down the aisle were the rest of us soldiers from Battalion 4009. We lined the aisle at intervals to stand at attention. Next, came Alex, and he went up to the front to stand with Father Charles, who once again was presiding over a wedding ceremony.
Then, after everypony was quiet and seated, the live band, (yes, some of the Apple Family did all of the music for the wedding!) started playing "Here comes the Bride." Then, to everypony's awe, Applejack walked out, followed by her bridesmaids, then the flower-girls, and then the ring bearer. Everypony gasped in awe when they saw Applejack, and soon enough, she reached the front where, under their favorite Apple tree, she was going to marry her Beloved. When she reached Alex, she held his hands gently in her own.
Father Charles then motioned for silence. "Ok then, are you two ready to begin?"
"Yes Sir, I am."
"Oh yes Sir! I'm ready!"
Father Charles then started the service. Once it was time for the vows, he looked over at Big Mac. "Please bring forth the rings."
Big Mac then brought them up to the front.
"Now then, do you, Alex Barkley, take this mare, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what?"
Alex put his ring on Applejack's finger. "I do! I take you Applejack, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what!"
Father Charles then turned to Applejack. "And do you, Applejack Apple, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what?"
Applejack looked at Alex with tears in her eyes while she put her ring on his finger. "I do!" I take you, Alex Barkley, to me my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what!"
Father Charles then looked out into the crowd. "Ok, now then, does anypony have any objections to this couple's union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace."
There was only silence.
"Ok, well then, by the power vested in me as presider over this wedding union, I pronounce you both man and mare! You can kiss the bride!"
Alex then took Applejack gently, and after lifting up her veil, she jumped into his arms and kissed him!
"Awww."
Now the REAL fun could begin!
After the cake, which was an amazing apple-cake, the time had come for the couple's first dance. Alex, being a Billy Joel fan, and Applejack, being honest, decided to go with this little number.
Eventually though, the time had come for the tossing of the bouquet, as well as the garter. "Are y'all ready for this?"
"Yeah!"
Applejack then tossed it, and to her surprise, Fluttershy caught it. "Wow, great catch Fluttershy!"
"Thank you Applejack!"
Alex then retrieved and tossed the garter, which was actually caught by both Dan and Cole at the same time, and as they fought over it, they managed to tear it in half!
"Whoa, um, ok, THAT wasn't supposed to happen! Well, anyway folks, this has been REALLY fun and all, but it's time for AJ and I to go! Our honeymoon in Baltimare awaits!" He and Applejack then ran towards the waiting wagon that would take them away.
On the back though, Todd, Andy and I were still trying to finish tying up all of the tin cans. Suddenly though, there was trouble. One of Andy's legs got caught in one of the ropes!
"Shit! They're about to leave!" He tried to get his leg unstuck, but then he noticed me just standing there. "Well don't just stand there, HELP ME!!!"
I shook my head. "Sorry Andy, but payback's a bitch ain't it?"
He looked at me. "Wait, you're not still mad about that little incident at your rehearsal, right?"
I glared at him. "What do you think?" Alex and Applejack then got into the wagon. "Bai Felicia!"
"NOOOOO!!!!!" Andy then got dragged away by his ankle!
Todd looked at me with wide eyes. "Um, was that REALLY a good idea Leopard?"
"I only tied him up pretty loosely. I think he'll be alright."
I would later learn that Andy was dragged nearly back into Ponyville until his leg came loose. He didn't suffer any real injuries, but he WAS plotting his revenge........
Todd. Second Brakeman Todd Davis. He too had been with the train for a very long time. He hadn't been there since the very beginning, but he was a close second. When Todd joined Battalion 4009, it was close to the time of the Battle of St. Louis. However, very few people outside of Battalion 4009 knew that he even existed. Everyone was always talking about the engineers, firemen, and engine guardsmen, but nobody ever mentioned the brakemen.
I found this to be very sad, because if it weren't for guys like Todd, we would all be in some VERY deep doo-doo! It's always nice to have someone else around who knows how to drive the train, and can do so in the event of an emergency. Plus, the brakeman's job is to handle the train's brakes, and when you have a Big Boy locomotive, and 32 cars all filled to the brim with weapons, you HAVE to have good brakes, as well as an even better guy to help work them!
Yep, if it wasn't for Todd, we would all be in trouble. However, Todd was also good at other things as well. He could fight, and did so many times. He was very shy, and didn't like to use guns, but when he had to, he could prove to be a VERY fierce opponent!
Todd's mettle was put to the test once again after the Battle of Las Vegas. With the train in an unknown place, we were all suddenly attacked by what we believed were Futas! Todd was the one who spotted them running towards the train, and when he saw them, he grabbed a wrench to defend himself! (He, Alex and I had left our guns in the SCC by accident while we made our way up to the engine once we'd arrived in Equestria.)
Eventually though, when the train was attacked, Todd, who was in the cab with Alex and I at the time, showed the enemy was he was made of. Even though he had no gun, Todd kicked with his boots, and hit with his helmet! The Wonderbolts themselves who breached the cab said that they had NEVER seen anypony kick as hard as Todd did!
At the very end of the battle, Todd was the one who noticed that the boiler was about to explode. He pointed it out to Alex and I, and just in the nick of time we were able to shut off steam, release the excess pressure through the valves, and then slam on the brakes! The train then came to a shuddering stop just outside of Ponyville Station, and all of us who were inside of the cab at the time blacked out.
Eventually, Todd did come around again, and he left the cab. From Alex, as well as the Wonderbolts, he learned that he was in the land of Equestria.
"Oh, well that's quite the surprise!" He really didn't know what to say other than that.
After milling about on the station platform for a bit, while Don and I were in the meeting with the princesses, Todd decided to walk the length of the train. Before he could really get too far though, he was suddenly stopped by a voice behind him.
"Um, excuse me, Mr. Human?"
Todd turned around, and there standing behind him was a Pegasus mare with yellow fur, blue eyes, a long pink mane and tail, as well as a green dress with a white shirt. She also seemed to be blushing nervously.
"Yes? Can I help you Miss?"
The mare stared at him. "I.....um, n-never got to see a Human before. Um, w-what's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Todd. Todd Davis, but you can just call me Todd."
The mare seemed to brighten up a bit. "Oh....Todd. That's a very nice name. I'm Fluttershy."
"It's nice to meet you Fluttershy."
After the two of them started talking to each other, they began to realize that they were much more alike than they'd previously thought. They were both 22 years old, both of them loved animals, and they were both rather shy and introverted.
"Wow, who would have ever thought that we were this much alike Fluttershy?"
"I certainly wouldn't have, that's for sure!"
"So, do you live around here Fluttershy?"
She nodded. "Yes, I live in a small cottage close to the Everfree Forest. That's where I take care of all of my animals."
Todd sighed. "Wow, it sounds so lovely. At one time, I was going to school to become a veterinarian, as I really wanted to be able to help animals."
"Well, what happened Todd?"
Todd frowned. "WW3, THAT's what happened! And then more wars after that!"
Fluttershy could see that she was really starting to dredge up bad memories for Todd, so she just decided to let the topic of the wars go. She was about to keep talking to him, but just then Major Don and I stepped out of the train, and then we explained the whole situation that lay before us.
Like the rest of us, Todd was outraged when he heard what the Zebras and Caribou were trying to do to the Ponies of Equestria. Todd was doing a maintenance check on the brakes on the train when the first skirmish with the Caribou happened, and he was eternally grateful to Aurora for keeping Fluttershy safe during that battle.
During the Battle of Ponyville though, Todd was manning a machine gun on the train, doing his part to keep the Zebras and Caribou away.
"YEAH!!! Take some of this you sick monsters!" His blue eyes were wild with anger, and he did periodically have to keep pushing his dark hair out of his face.
Eventually though, at close to Dawn, the Battle of Ponyville was finally over. The Caribou and Zebras had been all but wiped out, and Ponyville was saved. The next afternoon, at the meeting to vote on whether or not we should declare war, Todd voted with the rest of us to declare it. He knew that the next battle was going to take place very soon, but he just didn't know where it was going to be.
Sure enough, on the morning after, he was told by major Don that our train was heading off to Las Pegasus. To his dismay though, while some of the Ponies were coming with us, Fluttershy was one of the ones who was staying behind, as was Rarity. Futtershy was staying behind to take care of the pets of the ones who were going, as well as her own animals, while Rarity was staying due to the fact that she was one of the ones responsible for making uniforms for the Equestrian Military.
"I really wish that you were coming with us Fluttershy."
"Yeah, so do I Todd. But yet somepony has to stay behind to take care of all of the animals. If I didn't do that, then who would?"
"Well, nopony, I guess. Or if they did find somepony, then they wouldn't be nearly as good as you would!"
Fluttershy giggled a bit, before giving Todd one last hug before he left. She also gently kissed him on the nose.
"Mmm." Todd hummed softly as he gave her a kiss on the nose back out of instinct.
"That was......for luck Todd." She whispered while blushing.
"Thanks Fluttershy. You be a good girl now, and I'll see you when I get back!"
Fluttershy giggled again. "Ok, sure thing Todd!"
Then, the train's whistle blew, and with Todd onboard, we all rolled out for Las Pegasus.
"I'm really gonna miss Fluttershy while I'm gone." Todd thought. "She was so sweet and kind, just like the girl version of me!"
However, what Todd didn't realize was that because Fluttershy stayed behind, she was in no danger of being captured by the Zebras or Caribou.
All throughout the Battle of Las Pegasus, Todd, just like the rest of us who weren't on duty manning the engine, manned a gun. He was picked to fire a machine gun, and all throughout the course of the battle, he kept mowing down Caribou, Zebras, and even a few Griffons and Minotaurs who tried to reach the train.
"Oh no y'all don't!" He even blasted at them with his rifle!
It was due to the contributions of men like Todd that we were able to carry the day in the Battle of Las Pegasus. At the end, the Imperial Alliance had been dealt a savage blow that they would not easily recover from. They had lost some of their best troops, as well as vast numbers of supplies.
Eventually though, Todd watched as Alex, Don, and I sent our marefriends back to Ponyville, as it was deemed too dangerous for them to continue on with us. We all kissed, hugged, and said goodbye to each other, and then once they were on the train, we waved to them until they were out of sight.
"Wow, now I'm slightly MORE glad that Fluttershy isn't here. If she was, then she would have had to had to have left to go back to Ponyville with the others."
Todd was also about to be given ANOTHER reason to be glad that Fluttershy wasn't with them on the Battleship Express.
2 nights later, after the Battle of Appaloosa, we all received the video call from Overlord Zakia where he was gloating about capturing 4 of the 6 Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
Todd wasn't in the PCC when it happened, but he was close to another video screen. As he watched, he stared in absolute horror at what he was seeing. Then his horror began to give way to anger, just like the rest of those on the train.
"How DARE THEY take those mares away from the Major, Leopard, and Alex?! They will ALL DIE!!!!" Todd was just as enraged as if it had been FLuttershy who had been captured. Although he wasn't an officer, I did brief the rest of Secondary Crew in about our orders from Don.
"So what are we gonna do now Leopard?" Todd asked nervously.
I growled angrily. "What we're SUPPOSED to do! We go to the Zebra Empire, get our marefriends back, and then WIPE THE ZEBRAS FROM THE FACE OF EQUUS!!!!"
We all cheered for that, and after spending one final night in Appaloosa, we pulled out for the Macintosh Hills.
After this, the war tended to be a bit of a blur for Todd. Sometimes he was a part of a task force, sometimes he wasn't. He was a part of the team that took Badlands Outer though, and had 11 confirmed kills.
Not too long after the conquest of the Badlands was complete, he received a video call from Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Hello Todd."
"Oh, hey Fluttershy! And hello to you too Rarity."
"Hello Darling."
Fluttershy then began to cry. "Oh Todd, you just HAVE to rescue Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack!"
"Yes! And please for the love of Celestia Darling, DESTROY THE BRUTES WHO TOOK THEM!!!"
Todd saluted. "You have my word guys. Like the others have been saying, I will either bring them home safely or die trying. There will be NO other options!"
They both talked for a little while longer, before Todd said goodbye to them, and signed off for the time being.
"Gosh", he thought to himself, "I really hope that we actually CAN bring them all home safely, because if we can't, God help us all!"
The conquest of the Zebra Empire continued.
Thanks to stealth, speed, and superior weaponry, we were quickly able to overrun the Zebra Empire. Todd took part in the battles of Bandia, Mardeth, Zandia, and of course, Zebrica.
For the final battle in Zebrica, he was with Don in his loader. Once the city walls had been brought down, it was time for us to charge. After firing up our construction machines, we all began to roll forwards.
Once we reached the city, we got inside, and began to wreak havoc on everything in sight! Don drove the loader while Todd was busy working the machine guns on all targets that weren't American or Equestrian. Eventually, once Don had blasted inside of the Imperial Palace, and I used my bulldozer to help bash open the front doors, we all stormed inside.
However, once we were inside, Todd was assigned to the groups who were going to search the dungeons, as well as knock out the palace's power supply. When they reached the dungeons, most of the cells were empty, although they were able to find the missing female medical staff from the medical train!
"Oh goodness, are all of you ok?"
"Yes! But can you get us out of here?!"
"On it!" Using their tools, Todd and another soldier were able to cut the locks off of the cells doors, and once the prisoners were out, they were wrapped up in blankets, (as they had been stripped nude) and were escorted back to the train.
By the time that Todd got back to the palace, He saw the the Zebra's flag had been replaced with the Stars and Stripes, although he also saw me running away crying.
"What's wrong with Leopard?" Todd asked Alex when he saw him.
Alex sighed. "He's upset because his marefriend Rainbow Dash, as well as Pinkie Pie and Private Cole, were taken away from here and sent to the Caribou Empire!"
"WHAT!?!?!"
"Yeah, it's not good. According to Don, once we've secured this area, we're gonna nuke the rest of the Zebra Empire before moving on to the Caribou. We're going to give them a chance to surrender the hostages, but if they refuse, then we're gonna invade them too!"
Todd was in shock. Here he was thinking that the war was going to end, but evidently not!
Sure enough, later that same day, the rest of the Zebra Empire was indeed nuked. Todd also wasn't present for the call to the Caribou, but he was able to view it on a video screen elsewhere, just like the rest of the crew were.
After the Caribou refused to let our marefriends go, the time for invasion had begun. Todd was present when the first wave opened Hell's Gate, and he too helped cleared away the rest of the Caribou, explosive, and land mines. He was also a part of the group that not only attacked Marrow, but also trekked 250 miles to Dock Town!
He witnessed the destruction that we caused there, as well as in the rest of the Northern end of the Caribou Empire that night. Once it was all over, we then began to draw up the plans for our attack on Lake Town.
"So, Lake Town is just like Dock Town?"
I nodded. "Yep. It's where the Caribou are housing the last of their navy, and just like Dock Town, it's a liability lawsuit just waiting to happen!"
"Wow! I hope that I get assigned to one of the groups who gets to help take the town!"
"Me too Todd."
Sure enough, Todd would get his wish, although he wasn't in Lake Town for very long. He was part of the final wave into the city, but in less than 10 minutes they had to evacuate due to fire! Todd did manage to notch 5 kills before he had to fall back, and once we were all back to a safe distance, we all watched the city burn.
After Lake Town, it was now all a matter of getting to Donneth, and ending the war.
Todd was very busy for the final few battles. He fought at Carlon, and Donneth, and although he wasn't one of the ones assigned to storming the palace, he was one of the ones tasked with clearing out the last resistance in the city. Once Donneth was wholly in our hands, we made the final trek of the war to Bryerton.
After that city was wiped out in short order, we all returned to Donneth for the signing of the surrender documents. Once those were signed, the war was finally over, and we could all return home!
"I'm finally heading home Fluttershy! The Caribou have surrendered! The Imperial War is OVER!!!!"
Fluttershy was crying tears of joy. "I'm so.....so happy for you Todd! You fulfilled your end of the promise, and you brought my friends home safely! I thank you!"
Todd shrugged. "Eh, no need to thank me Fluttershy, I was just doing my job."
"But I still thank you. And when do you guys think that you'll be back?"
"We should be back in Ponyville on Tuesday, July 31st."
"Oh, that will be nice. It'll be SO good to see you again Todd!"
"Yeah, I know. It'll be good to see you again too Fluttershy!"
Todd then signed off for the time being, waiting for the day that he would see Fluttershy again.
Sure enough, on that Tuesday, the Battleship Express pulled back into Ponyville station, where all of the crew and soldiers received a hero's welcome! Everypony was clapping, cheering, snapping photos, taking videos, and trying to get autographs.
Todd was one of the last ones off of the train, as he wanted to try and avoid the crowds. He then began to scan over them for Fluttershy.
"TODD!!!!" A yellow blur flew into his arms.
"FLUTTERSHY!!!" He hugged her back. "It's SO good to see you again!"
"Yeah, I know, it's nice to see you again too Todd!" They hugged for a while longer.
"We did it Fluttershy! We won the Imperial War, and now the Zebras and Caribou will NEVER be a threat to anypony ever again!"
Fluttershy looked up at him. "I know, and that's so amazing Todd! Oh, and now that you're back, do you......maybe want to come and see my animals?"
Todd nodded. "Sure! But first I have to check in with Major Don." He went over to ask him.
Sure enough, after getting a "yes" from the Major, he grabbed his things, and followed Fluttershy to her cottage.
"I sure wish that I could fly like you Fluttershy. I got the short end of that stick, as I'm just a Human-Earth Pony. I have super-Human strength sure, but guys like Don and Leopard can fly, and Alex can use Magic to move objects, as he's a Human-Unicorn, but I look almost exactly the same as I did before!"
Fluttershy looked at him. "It's ok Todd, you don't have to be sad. I think that you look good just the way that you are. Plus, doesn't being a Human-Earth Pony make you stronger than your other comrades who aren't?"
Todd thought about that. He then remembered how he'd been able to pick up the back end of a bulldozer, and lift it off the ground as easily as if it had been a stack of books! (He wasn't able to pick up the entire bulldozer, but still, lifting up the back end at all? Crazy!)
"Yeah, you're right Fluttershy! I never saw it like that before! I think that I can make this work. Thank you for helping me see this in a whole new light."
She smiled. "You're welcome Todd."
As they continued to walk though, Todd suddenly saw a metal object move across the ground in front of him.
"GRENADE!!!!" He then grabbed Fluttershy, and pulled her to the side!
"Um, Todd, that's an empty soup can. It's not a grenade."
"What?" Todd then looked over at the metal object. Sure enough, it was an empty can of Hoofbell's Tomato Soup.
"Oh gosh......I'm so sorry....Fluttershy. I just......it looked like....." Todd then broke down crying.
Fluttershy comforted him. "Shh, it's ok Todd, I'm not mad. Shell Shock can do these things to Ponies. Trust me, I've seen cases of it up close and personal."
"One grenade. That was all it took to end us all....." Todd mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing! It's nothing!" Todd quickly shelled up, and Fluttershy could see that he didn't want to talk about it, so she let it go.
A few minutes later, they reached Fluttershy's cottage.
"Wow, this place is really neat Fluttershy. Is this where you care for all of your animals?"
She nodded. "Oh yes. I have quite the full house here, although there is room for you as well." She then went up to the door, unlocked it, and opened it up. "Hello Everypony, Mamma's home!"
In an instant, animals of all kinds came rushing to the door. Todd was stunned. NEVER had he seen this many animals in one place before! There were squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, mice, rats, raccoons, dogs, cats, birds, and even....
"Whoa! BEAR!!!" Todd looked terrified as a large bear came lumbering towards him.
"Oh don't be afraid Todd. That's just Harry. He's a nice bear."
"Really?"
Harry then came over and sniffed at Todd. Then, once he was satisfied that he was friendly, he hugged him!
"OOPH!!!" Todd's voice was muffled by Harry's fur. "Well, this certainly gives, 'bear hug' a whole new meaning!"
Eventually, Harry let him go, and Todd was able to breathe normally again.
"Wow, this place is an animal lover's DREAM!!! Maybe now I can FINALLY see if I can become a veterinarian!"
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, and there is a school for that in Canterlot if that's what you want. However, in the meantime, if you want to learn all about animal care, I could show you if you want."
Todd looked at her. "Wait, you'd really do that for me?"
She nodded. "Of course! You're a very dear friend to me Todd. It would be my pleasure to show you the ropes of animal care."
Todd then remembered something. "Oh shoot!"
"What is it Todd?"
"I left Misty back on the train!"
"Um, who's Misty?"
"My 17 year old cat! I've had her ever since I was just a kid!"
As fast as he could, Todd ran back to the train. When he returned, Fluttershy saw that he was carrying a red bundle. When he opened the bundle, she saw that the bundle was a blanket, and wrapped up inside was a large, fluffy cat with black fur, white paws, and some white on her tail and stomach. She also had blue eyes.
"Wow, she's really pretty. What breed is she? And you said that she was 17?"
Todd nodded. "Yeah. She's 17, and still shockingly healthy for a cat her age. Some think that it may have been because of the nuclear wars, but nobody knows for sure. Also, she's a breed of cat called Maine Coon."
Todd set Misty down, and she actually got up and walked over to Fluttershy, all while purring loudly.
"Such a pretty cat."
"Yes, yes she is. She's a real survivor too. She was wounded at least 3 times over the years, but she survived it."
Fluttershy looked at Todd with shock, but she didn't say anything.
For the rest of that day, Todd helped Fluttershy take care of all of the animals. Eventually though, it was nighttime. Todd didn't want to sleep alone, so he took Fluttershy up on her offer to sleep in her bed with her.
"Wow, this is really nice. Thanks Fluttershy."
"You're welcome Todd." Fluttershy then pulled a pair of pink pajamas, before crawling into bed next to him. Misty was sleeping on the foot of the bed, and unlike his other comrades that night, Todd was able to get to sleep, at least for a while.
Suddenly though, Fluttershy was awoken by what wounded like crying. "Huh, what could that be?"
At first she thought that it was one of her animals, but then she looked over at the side of the bed, and she saw Todd sitting on the edge of the bed, crying softly.
She crawled over to him. "Umm.....T-Todd? What's wrong?"
He glanced over and saw her. She crawled over and sat on the edge of the bed with him. "Oh Fluttershy!" He then began to hug her while still crying softly.
"Shh, it's ok Todd. This is also another symptom of Shell Shock. I'm here for you, and you can tell me anything."
Todd was able to get a better grip on himself. "F-Firestorm Battalion." He said softly.
"What?"
"You want to know why I'm crying? I'm crying because I CANNOT stop thinking about Firestorm Battalion." Noting the look of confusion on Fluttershy's face, Todd explained.
"Firestorm Battalion was the battalion that I was a part of back in WW5, and later WW6. I was a corporal, and we're most remembered for fighting against the Futas in the Northwestern US. Eventually though, at the very end of the first half of WW6, we were trapped in Sue Falls, South Dakota. The Futas were all around us, and no help could reach us.
'Remember the Alamo boys!' our commanding officer told us. 'If they want us so bad, then they're gonna have to fight us to the BITTER END! Go down swinging, and take as many of them with you as possible!'
We all did so, and the battle for Sue Falls raged for nearly 3 months. And sure enough, we really did give it to them. Even though we were outmatched and outgunned, we still sent a great many Futas to their deaths. Unfortunately though, it was not to last. Eventually, the Futas launched a massive missile and airstrike against us, before overwhelming our defenses.
In the end, the entire battalion was wiped out except for 2 of us, both of whom were in critical condition, including myself. Eventually, I was sent to a care center, where because of my frail body and shy nature, I was kept around like an office pet. Later on, I learned that I was one of only 2 survivors of Firestorm Battalion. The commanding officer also survived, although he was sent to Vegas. Eventually, I was able to escape from the care center, and I eventually found my way back to America, where I joined the Battleship Express. Interestingly, the other survivor was there as well."
"Who? Who was he?"
"His name is Leopard. Captain Leopard. Yes, THAT Leopard! He and I were the only survivors of Firestorm Battalion. And that......." Todd tried to continue, but he started crying again.
Fluttershy could see that he was so sad for his comrades who died. "Survivor's guilt" as it tended to be called.
"I......know that you're hurting Todd, and I know that Captain Leopard must feel the same way. Both of you HAVE to be wondering why you survived when nobody else did."
"Y-yes! And ultimately there is no answer."
He and Fluttershy continued to talk about this for a while longer, before eventually they were both able to fall asleep again.
For the next couple of days, Todd continued to learn the ways of caring for animals. He became so good at it that the rest of us started calling him "Snow White"!
Eventually though, on the night of the Victory Ball, he took Fluttershy to it. While they were dancing, he asked her a very important question.
"Um, Fluttershy?"
"Yes Todd?"
"Um, I......was wondering.......would you um,.........b-be interested in maybe......"
"Becoming your marefriend? If so, then yes! Provided of course that you be my coltfriend!"
Todd nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking Fluttershy! And yes, I will be your coltfriend!"
Fluttershy then kissed him gently on the nose, before the two of them went back to dancing.
Over the course of the next couple of months, Todd helped out Fluttershy with her animals. However, once the snows of Winter set in, and a number of them were hibernating, he helped out with the museum construction. The two of them had also been present at the weddings of Rainbow Dash and myself, Spitfire and myself, and Applejack and Alex. Don also informed them that he and Twilight were planning on a Spring wedding as well.
As the months went on, he and Fluttershy were growing closer and closer together.
"I think that we're very good together Todd."
"Yeah, I agree Shy. I can almost picture us growing old together."
She looked at him. "Wait, you can really almost picture that? Aww, that's so sweet." She nuzzled him gently.
Todd blushed a bit. "Yeah, I really can Shy." He knew that Fluttershy felt the same way about him. He decided to go talk to Don about it when he got the chance.
"So, you want to marry Miss Fluttershy, do you Todd?"
He nodded. "Yes Sir. We've been together for a while now, and I do indeed think that we are a good match."
"So, you think that God may be calling you to marry her?"
"I....hope so Sir. With her by my side, I finally see my life-long dream of helping animals finally come to be."
Don sat back in his chair. "Well", he said at last, "I've seen you two together, and I must admit, you DO seem well suited for each other. If you want my permission, you have it. Also, I do believe that you need to check with her parents as well."
"Yes, and I plan on doing that as soon as I can." Todd started to get up from his chair, but then he stopped. "Oh, and before I go Major, will I have to sign that contract in blood like you, Alex and Leopard did?"
Don nodded. "Of course. We all have to do it. After you, Private Cole and Private Dan comes anyone else who wants to marry outside of the team. It's just standard procedure."
Todd nodded. "Ok, that makes sense. Well, now I see what I have to do. Thank you Major, and I see a wedding for us before Spring is over; maybe even after yours!"
"Maybe so Todd, maybe so."
Todd then left to go to talk to Fluttershy's parents.
A few weeks later, he and Fluttershy, as well as myself, Alex, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, as well as Applejack, were all together at Sweet Apple Acres. We were helping Alex and Applejack make some cider, and even Todd's cat Misty was there as well.
Todd and Fluttershy were sitting close to the fireplace in the farmhouse's living room, while the rest of us were in the kitchen making the cider. Then, in a prearranged maneuver, Alex and I turned around and began to film. Todd had a rather ingenious plan for proposing to Fluttershy.
While he and her were sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, he suddenly turned to her. "Hey Shy?"
"Oh, yes Todd?"
Todd sighed. From what I could tell, his courage was failing him. One nod from me as well as a thumbs up from Alex though, and he quickly regained his courage.
"Well, what I wanted to say was........thank you. Ever since the very beginning, you were always the one who best understood me. We were alike in so many ways, and you were one of the first outsiders to really have a good handle on Shell Shock, and what it can do to people. You helped me through the bad times, and now I want to do the same for you....."
Suddenly, Misty walked up to them, and she was holding something in her mouth. She seemed to be smiling a bit.
"Oh, thank you Misty." Todd then picked up the object when Misty dropped it, and once he did, he took one of Fluttershy's hands, and got down on one knee. After opening up the box, he looked up at his marefriend of almost 6 months.
"Fluttershy, will you marry me?"
When Fluttershy saw the ring, she slammed her hands over her mouth, and almost immediately began to cry. She then leaned forwards and hugged Todd.
"Y-yes!" She said at last, "Yes, I will marry you Todd!"
The rest of us quietly clapped and cheered for Todd and Fluttershy, and we recorded for a little bit longer before finally ending the tape.
"Once again, mission accomplished!"
Alex nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more Leopard! It's so nice to see them so happy together. Also, what are we doing for Todd's bachelor party?"
I sighed. "Well, he already told me no kidnapping, and after the fiasco at YOUR bachelor party, I think that we should just do something simple like what we were planning for Don, just minus the kidnapping."
He agreed, and then we both went back to our wives.
The rest of that Winter passed peacefully enough, and with the thaw of Spring, Don and Twilight had their wedding. Todd and Fluttershy were planning on an April wedding, and the date was set for April 27th, 2030.
One evening though, Todd was just leaving the museum's construction site to head back to Fluttershy's cottage. Suddenly, several figures blocked his path.
"Todd, I know that you said no kidnapping, so you'll just have to come with us."
He looked up at us, and saw that it was me, Alex, Fred, and Andy.
He brightened up. "Oh, time for my bachelor's party?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Great!"
We actually spent Todd's bachelor's party at a local bar/country music club. We all had an amazing time, and Todd said that it was the best party that he'd ever been to.
All too soon though, the day of the wedding was upon us.
For the two of them, they'd decided to have an outdoor wedding at the local nature preserve that Fluttershy had had built for some of the animals who wished to return to the wild. Chairs were set up close to a gazebo that was next to a beautiful blue pond.
In a room inside of the nature center close by, Rarity was helping Fluttershy get ready. Her dress was white with yellow and pink trim.
Fluttershy looked at her friends. 3 of them were married, and the other 2 were engaged. "I can't believe that this day is finally here! I'm actually getting married!"
"Are you nervous Fluttershy?" Twilight asked her.
"Incredibly!"
"Well, don't be! For my wedding to Don, I was nervous too, but look at what happened for Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, myself, and Applejack. All of our weddings went off great, so I'm confident that yours will too."
Fluttershy nodded, and then she hugged her life-long friends. "Thank you. You guys really mean the world to me."
"Just as you do to us Fluttershy." Just then, the music started, and it was time for them to get to their pre-wedding positions. Fluttershy chose Dash to be her Mare of Honor, while her brother was the ring bearer, and once again, the CMC's were the flower girls.
In another room in the nature center, Todd and the rest of us were getting ready. And while Fluttershy may have been nervous, Todd was actually hyperventilating into a paper bag!
"I CAN'T DO THIS GUYS, I JUST CAN'T!!!!"
I then grabbed him by his shoulders. "Todd, listen to me, and listen to me very carefully. If you remember correctly, I did the EXACT same thing as you on my wedding day to Rainbow Dash. I was PETRIFIED!!!!! But what happened?"
"N-nothing. Aside from Lem getting sick, it went off without a hitch!"
"EXACTLY! Plus, ALL of us will be right there with you Todd. You have absolutely NOTHING to worry about!"
Eventually, once Todd did find his courage, we were all able to go out to the rear of the wedding area so that Todd could go through his "Transfer Ceremony". Also, I was to be his Best Man.
Once we were ready, Don looked at him. "Are you ready Todd?"
"As ready as I'll ever be Don."
"Ok, and your name?"
"Todd Davis."
"The name of your fiance?"
"Fluttershy."
"And you do lover her, right?"
"Yes Sir!"
"And you vow to be with her until the end of time no matter what?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Ok then, hand please!" Todd then gave Don his hand, and with a sterile needle, he poked it enough to draw blood, and just like him, Alex, and me, he signed the "Transfer Document" in his own blood. Once that was complete, we all then got into our positions.
Once again, Father Charles was presiding over the wedding ceremony, and Todd and the rest of us soldiers walked down the isle. Todd joined Father Charles close to the front, and I stood close by him as well. As always, other soldiers were stationed at various points along the aisle.
Then, once everypony was ready, the music began to play, and Fluttershy was walked down the isle by her dad. Todd thought that she looked absolutely radiant in her dress. Behind her came Dash as her Mare of honor, and the rest of her bridesmaids. Then came her brother the ring-bearer, and the CMC's as the flower girls. Fluttershy then joined Todd in front of Father Charles, and she held his hands gently.
Father Charles then cleared his throat. "Ok then, now that we are all gathered here, are you both ready to begin?"
"Yes Sir."
"We're ready Father."
He nodded. "Ok then. Mr. Zephyr, the rings please." He brought them up. Father Charles then turned to Todd. "Todd Davis, do you, take this mare, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what?"
Todd then put his ring on Fluttershy's finger. "I do! I take you Fluttershy, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what!"
Father Charles then turned to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, do you, take this man, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what?"
She nodded, and put her ring onto Todd's finger. "Yes, I do! I take you Todd, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, to cherish and to love, through sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad, to love to the bitter end, no matter what!"
Father Charles then turned to the audience. "Do any of you have any objections to this union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
For the most part there was silence, although a few thumbs up were given.
"Ok then, by the power vested in me as presider over this wedding, union, I pronounce you both husband and mare! You can kiss the bride Todd!"
Todd then gently lifted up Fluttershy's veil, before taking her into his arms and kissing her gently. She kissed him back as the crowd cheered.
Later on, after the cake, it was time for the couple's first dance. They'd both picked this song right away, as it described them both PERFECTLY!
Then, after more dancing, it was time for the couple to head off to their honeymoon in the Whitetail Woods.
"Goodbye Todd. I'll miss having you in the cab with us for a while!"
He looked at me. "Yeah, I know Leopard, but cheer up! It's only for 2 weeks. I'll be back, I promise!"
"Yeah, and now that you, me, Fred, and Alex are married, that just leaves Andy before all of us of Secondary Crew are married!"
Andy nodded. "Yeah, and Rarity should have the knot tied by the end of this summer, so hold on to your hats!"
It was also time for the garter and the bouquet. Fluttershy threw her bouquet, and it was caught by Pinkie Pie.....in her mane! Fluttershy's aim was a bit off!
"Whoops, sorry Pinkie Pie!"
She giggled. "Oh, it's ok Fluttershy! I've ALWAYS wanted to catch a wedding bouquet!"
When Todd tossed the garter, it was caught by Andy.
"Wow, good catch Andy!"
"Thanks Todd!"
Then it was time for the wedding carriage to take the newlywed couple away. We'd tied a number of empty containers that once held animal food in them to the back of it, although unfortunately, Andy also tied a rope to my jacket as well! Luckily for me, I only lost my jacket when the carriage took off, though I did have to fly for nearly 10 minutes before I could finally get it back! I knew that I deserved it for what I'd done to Andy, so I decided that I wouldn't plot any revenge.
I DID however get to work on planning a bachelor party not only for Private Dan, but also Private Cole as well......
Dan and Cole. Privates Daniel Lewis, and Cole Meers. These two unfortunate souls had some of the worst luck imaginable. Not only were they 2 of the only 3 Humans ever to be captured by the enemy during the Imperial War, but they were also held hostage as bargaining chips, and had to bear witness to a number of horrible things. The 3rd Human, Cpl. Ray Davis, was shot through the head by Zakia as he was trying to prove a point.
To make things even worse, while Dan was almost tortured to death, Cole was packaged off to the Caribou Empire to endure torture from them, AFTER enduring all that the Zebras had to offer! It was NOT a good state of affairs for these two fine soldiers. However, even through it all, they did manage to find true love; Dan with a Mane 6 Pony, and Cole with a Caribou cow. They would also both go on to create a successful business together.
Dan and Cole were both newcomers to Battalion 4009, only having joined the RWD in August of 2028 while the Battleship Express was down for emergency repairs following Face's sabotage of the boiler pressure gauges, which very nearly claimed the lives of myself, Alex, and Aurora. Before this they were part of the US Army, and did their part fighting the Futas on land, before one of their commanding officers recommended them for the RWD. They were with the Battleship Express in Battalion 4009 from the Battle of Denver, all the way up to the Battle for Las Vegas, when the train came to Equestria. Here, the two of them were very surprised to learn about the Ponies, and were as outraged as the rest of us that they were being threatened by the Zebras and the Caribou.
"How can this be Cole?" Dan asked him. "How can these.....things....take freedom away from the Ponies?!"
Cole looked at his life-long friend. "I dunno Dan. How could the Futas do it to us, and the rest of not only America, but the rest of the world as well? From what Major Don told us, these Zebras and Caribou are just the Futas with new faces!"
"And is that why we're here Cole, to take them out?"
Cole nodded while lighting up a cigarette. "Pretty much, yeah."
Dan smacked it out of his mouth. "Seriously Cole, stop. Just.....stop."
"Hey, why'd you do that?!"
Dan sighed. "1, because smoking is bad for you, and 2, you told me that you wanted to quit and stay OFF the cigarettes, so you said to keep smacking them out of your mouth until you were able to!"
Cole sighed. "Yeah, you're right Dan" He then took out his whole pack of cigarettes, and brought them up to the Big Boy's cab. "Hey up there!"
Alex poked his head out. "Yeah? Can I help you?"
"Could you please throw these into the firebox up there? I'm REALLY trying to keep from smoking anymore, and having these around is WAY too tempting!"
Alex nodded. "Sure." He then took them from Cole, and while Cole climbed up just enough to watch, Alex took the cigarette pack, and after opening up the firebox doors, he tossed them inside.
"Thank you."
Alex shrugged. "Eh, you're welcome Private, ESPECIALLY if it helps you stop smoking!"
Cole then nodded, and returned to his post.
Later that same day though, the brief skirmish between the train's crew and the Caribou/Zebra scout force went down, and later that night came the Battle of Ponyville. Since they were both part of Battalion 4009, they were in the thick of the fighting. Their unit was tasked with keeping the enemy away from the train station, as well as the Battleship Express. Both of them were manning machine guns, and were mowing the enemy down as fast as they came.
"YEAH!!!! TAKE SOME OF THIS YOU BASTARDS!!!!!"
"AND SOME OF THESE!!!"
All throughout the night, it was thanks to contributions of men like them that helped not only to keep the enemy at bay, but also to annihilate them as well. By the time that the sun was up the next morning, not only was the battle a resounding Human/Equestrian victory, but the ENTIRE enemy force had been wiped out or captured! Once the battle was over, both Dan and Cole both helped with the repair and reconstruction of the damaged areas of Ponyville.
"Wow, that was a pretty intense battle last night, wasn't it?"
Cole nodded. "Yeah, it was. Luckily we were able to carry the day, and deal a severe blow to the Imperial Alliance. However, I fear that this is only the beginning of what will end up being a long campaign."
"Yeah, I know what you mean Cole. Any ideas on where we might go next?"
"Eh, from what the Major was saying, it sounds like another massive enemy force under the Caribou General Rodin is preparing for an assault on the city of Las Pegasus, so most likely there."
"Wait. Did you say, 'Las Pegasus'? Is that this world's version of Las Vegas?"
Cole shrugged. "Apparently. However, we know for a FACT that the enemy has NO nuclear weapons, so we're good there!"
They both laughed nervously at this while they awaited further orders.
Sure enough, early the next morning, they got their orders to pull out for Las Pegasus. They were once again heading off to war, although this time a battalion of Equestrian soldiers under the command of General Shining Armor would be coming with them as well, as would Iron Glory, their faithful supply train, that had showed up the previous day. Once everyone, everypony, and everything was all loaded up, I blew the train's whistle, and the Battleship Express pulled out once again for the battlefield.
During this time, some of the crew were mingling about on the Battleship Express, and Dan also got a chance to talk to the 4 Element bearers who'd come along for the ride. He knew that Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack were already taken, but the 4th one, Pinkie Pie, remained unspoken for.
Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"
"WHOA!!!!" Dan thought, "WAY too much energy over there!" Out loud though he said, "I'm Private Daniel Lewis, but you can call me Dan."
Pinkie then locked him into an almost death-grip hug! Dan could feel his oxygen getting cut short, and his blood stop circulating.
"Hee hee! It's SO nice to meet you Dan! I'll have to throw a party for you later! Ooh, ooh, ooh! And your train is AMAZING!!! I've already been to all of the areas that I could see, and I have to tell you that it's HUGE!!!!"
"O-oxygen.......thin!!!!"
"Oh, whoops! Sorry Dan! Didn't mean to hurt'cha!" She then let go of Dan, who began to gasp for air for a few moments.
"Yeah, this train IS pretty big! 32 cars in total, ALL of them armed! Pulled by Union Pacific Big Boy 4009, and a crew of 216 men, and it's own battalion, Battalion 4009, we became the most famous, (and infamous!) war train of all time! We also killed more Futas than ANYONE else! We killed over 1 million of them, while the closest to that was a Marine unit called Sand Dust, who only killed 400,000!" Dan was maybe bragging a bit, ESPECIALLY considering that he'd only been with the train for about 9 months before the Battle of Vegas, but Pinkie didn't know that!
"Wowzers! You guys sound like you were the FIERCEST soldiers out there!"
"Yeah, we were pretty tough! In fact...."
"In fact, it's kinda hard for you to have been there while these Futas were being killed, ESPECIALLY considering how you and I have only been with the train for about 9 months now!"
All of them turned to see Cole standing close by, and he did not look very amused. "Dan, stop telling those stories. You were NOT there when they happened, and you only know them because you listened to others who have been here longer telling them."
Dan groaned. "COLE! Why'd you have to spoil my fun?!"
"Because you were telling whoppers, that's why! Plus, our old unit, US Army Unit 7, had a pretty good record. I mean, 255,000 confirmed kills, with possibly 50,000+ more unconfirmed is still pretty good, especially considering how small the unit was back then!"
Dan sighed. "Yeah, I guess that you're right Cole. However, the stories are all true, I just wasn't there to witness them."
Pinkie giggled a bit. "Well still though, even those stories are of wartime, I still think that they're interesting! I bet that you could tell me a lot more, right?"
Dan nodded, but then Don's voice came over the intercom. "Attention all hands, we are now approaching the city of Las Pegasus. Our attack will begin shortly, so please be ready to disembark quickly and get to your stations! Thank you!"
Dan sighed. "Oh well. I guess that I have to go for now Pinkie. But we'll talk later though, ok?"
Pinkie hugged him again. "Sure Dan! We'll have LOTS to talk about!"
Once the train came to a stop, both Dan and Cole, as well as the rest of us, went to our battle stations.
For Cole and Dan, the Battle of Las Pegasus, although it did get off to something of a rough start, was quickly able to be turned around. With our superior weapons, and superior range, we were all able to help carry the day. We did have a few VERY close calls, such as when our forward trenches were overrun, or when a massive artillery barrage was launched at the train, but overall we all fared pretty well. However, it was decided by Don and others that it was getting to be too dangerous to keep the Element Bearers around for the rest of the war. The plan was to send them home on a medical transport train with 5 Battalion 4009 soldiers, as well as 5 Royal Guards to protect the train. As Fate would have it, both Dan and Cole were selected to be on that train.
"Don't worry Major Don, we won't let you down! This train WILL arrive on time in Ponyville, or my name isn't Dan Lewis!"
Don nodded slowly. "Ok, I'll take you at your word Private. All of you be safe, and keep those under your protection safe AT ALL COSTS!!!"
Cole saluted. "We will Sir, you can count on us!" Eventually, once we'd all said our goodbyes, the train pulled out for Ponyville. Little did Cole and Dan suspect though that for a long time, Las Pegasus, as well as the first few minutes or so of the Battle of Appaloosa, would be their final fight.
As the train rolled along, Dan took the time to talk to Pinkie again. She certainly seemed to be very enraptured by the young Human private, and their friendship seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately though, there was soon to be MASSIVE trouble!
Just outside of Appaloosa, there suddenly came a massive explosion! "GAAAHHH!!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!!! ALL HANDS BRACE FOR DERAILMENT!!!!"
Dan barely had time to react before the entire train seemed to be picked up, and thrown over sideways. The last thing he could remember was his head hitting something metal, and then blacking out. When he came around again, he became aware of loud voices, as well as the sounds of battle. He felt himself being dragged out of the train before being placed on the ground outside. Close by was Cole, as well as a few others of the train's crew. He then looked over the wreckage of the train.
"Gosh! What happened?! Was it sabotage?" He then looked over to his saviors.......only to realize that they were not saviors at all! He saw a number of Zebra soldiers, and all of them were dragging bodies out of the wreckage of the train. To his horror, he saw Pinkie, Dash, Twilight and Applejack being dragged out too!
"Oh dear God no!" It was then that he and Cole realized that they were now POW's.
One of the Zebras suddenly turned to face them. "Grab the Humans, as well as the Element Bearers, and all female medical staff! They've got a LONG journey ahead of them!"
Dan and Cole then had their hands tied together, and were dragged over to another train before being tossed inside, and had the doors of the train closed on them. Before long the train was moving, and from what they could tell, it was moving South. Nopony had to tell them the extreme danger that they were now in. Now that they were POW's, they were most likely going to be taken somewhere important to the Zebras, before being tortured for information.
What Dan and Cole had to witness though defied ANYTHING that they had ever seen! The closest comparison was what they saw under the Futas. All around them in Zebrica, Zebras of all ages and both genders were raping and drugging captives, POW's, and slaves. Both of them threw up they were so sickened by what they saw.
"Futas", Dan muttered. "Futas reincarnated!"
"No......kidding."
What lay ahead for them though was worse than ANYTHING that the Futas had ever done to them. After they heard that those on the Battleship Express were NOT willing to bargain, Overlord Zakia shot their friend, Corporal Davis, in the head!
"NO!!!!" Dan screamed. Cole just barely managed to hold back the urge to throw up again.
Both of them were then beaten down, and dragged away to the dungeons.
Once they were down there, the full scope of what happened has never fully been revealed. Although both of them did survive, and Cole did shed some light on it, neither of them have ever told the full story of what was done to them. Even today, both of them still undergo regular PTSD therapy sessions, and both vowed that they would never tell what really happened. According to Cole though, they were beaten, raped, urinated on, jizzed on and in, and one of them tried to force Dan to suck his cock, only to have Dan tear it off! The beatings that Dan received as a result of his actions were so severe that they were life-threatening. He would survive, but he would forever bear the scars of his horrible abuse.
One day though, with the Battleship Express closing in on their location rapidly, Zakia ordered the two Privates, as well as the 4 Element Bearers, be brought before him in his throne room. Once they were there, they were informed that one of the Humans, as well as 2 of the Element Bearers, were going to be taken away.
For a moment, Cole's heart skipped a beat. "Is this it?" He thought. "Are we FINALLY going to be set free?"
"......And you will be sent to King Danin of the Caribou Empire!" Zakia finished.
When they all heard that, they were devastated. Now, not only were they going to be split up, but now only half of them would be on hand to be rescued when the Battleship Express showed up. Long story short, Cole, Dash and Pinkie were selected to be taken away, while Dan, Twilight and Applejack were to be left behind.
Dan was devastated without his brother in arms with him. He and Cole had been life-long friends since they were very young, and they'd fought through WW5 and WW6 together. Now they were facing the wrath of the Zebras, and the Caribou, and it looked like it was going to break them. He also was sad for Pinkie not being able to be with him anymore.
"We have to hang in there Dan", Twilight whispered to him. "Remember, the Battleship Express could be on top of us any day now. We HAVE to be ready for them when they get here!"
Dan was still sad. "Yeah, I know that you're right Twilight. Even though we're still chained up here, I know that we'll be freed before long, either by the hands of our Human comrades, or by God. And if by God, then we'll all be together in Heaven, with ALL of those who came before us."
Twilight knew what Dan meant by that. If Zakia snapped and killed them, then they would all be in the Afterlife.
"I also know that once the Humans have freed us, then we'll also be on our way to saving Cole, Dash, and Pinkie!"
Dan nodded. "That's why we HAVE to stay alive! We CANNOT die!"
And hold on they did. For Dan, Twilight and Pinkie, liberation day came for them when we stormed the throne room, and finished wiping out the Zebras in Zebrica. Zakia was taken prisoner to be turned into a sex-slave, while Dan was taken to the medical car to have his wounds treated by professionals. In addition to finally being treated, Dan was also given the Bat-Pony Treatment as well. He was still a Human Earth-Pony, but now his brown mane and tail became thicker, and a bit darker, his Pony ears got fuzzier, and while he didn't grow fangs, his eyes were now cat-like as well.
"How do you feel Private Lewis?" Dr. Fritz asked him.
"I feel........amazing! What did you do to me Doc?"
"Vell, I gave you ze same treatment zat vas given to Captain Leopard vhen his life vas on ze line. It is now known as ze Bat-Pony Treatment, and it's to be given to soldiers like yourself vho have been vounded like you have been."
Dan got up and stretched a bit. "I feel as good as I did on the same day that the Battle for Las Pegasus began!"
"Zat is good news Private Lewis. Now you should probably head to your debriefing with Major Curry, before getting some more rest. It's still a LONG road to Donneth I'm afraid!"
Dan nodded slowly, but he didn't say anything. He was too busy thinking up what he was going to do to the Caribou who had stolen not only his marefriend, but also his comrade and friend Cole.
Once it was decided that we were going to be leaving for the Caribou Empire very shortly, Dan came to talk to the one individual in the train who would understand what he was feeling, as this same individual had lost his marefriend to the Caribou as well.
"Come in."
"Um, Captain Leopard?"
"Yes Private?"
"Can......I talk to you for a second?"
I nodded. "Sure. What did you want to talk to me about?"
He hesitated for a moment. Finally though, he said, "Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and the Caribou."
I knew what he was trying to say. "What's it like having a marefriend who's still being held hostage? Is that what you mean?"
He nodded slowly.
"Horrible. Hardly a moment goes by without me thinking about Dash. She was my everything Dan, and now she's still in real danger!"
"I know what you mean Captain. It was the same way with me and Pinkie. Now I just hope that we can save her in time."
"So do I Private."
We both then got back to work on the task at hand.
Eventually though, for the rest of the hostages, liberation day came. With the fall of Donneth, and the fall of Bryerton not too long after, all of the prisoners were safe. I saved Dash and Pinkie, while Shining was able to save Cole, and a whole harem of sex slaves. Cole also revealed that he now had a girlfriend.
"Her name is Missy. She's a 26 year old Caribou Cow, and like me, she was a sex slave. However, she wasn't very popular, due to both her age, and the fact that she was considered an 'ugly duckling'. I'm just glad that liberation came for all of us."
For the whole way back to Ponyville, Dan and Cole never left their marefriend's/cowfriend's sides. Cole was also given the Bat-pony treatment, although like Dan, he was a still Human Earth-pony.
"Hey Dan?"
"Yeah Cole?"
"Do you think that.....when we get back to Ponyville, and things have settled down, do you think that we could finally get our business going?"
"Huh? What business?"
Cole turned to Missy. "Well, for the longest time, Dan and I have always dreamed of starting our own restaurant. We envisioned a small sort of cafe that would be themed around the Railway Warfare Division, particularly the Battleship Express, where we would serve food that would be duplications of the food that we've eaten here on the train."
"Yeah", Dan agreed. "We were thinking of calling it the 'Big Boy Cafe', after our engine, Big Boy 4009."
Pinkie looked over at Dan. "Wow Dan! That sounds like a lot of fun! I kinda help Mr. and Mrs. Cake run Sugarcube Corner, which is KINDA like a restaurant.......or maybe it's more like a bakery! But anyway, I know what it's like running a place like that! Maybe I could help you guys out."
Cole thought about that. "You know something Pinkie, that's not a bad thought. Even though we've both worked in restaurants before, and I was even an assistant manager, we could most likely use your expertise on this, since we would be just starting out."
All 4 of them continued to talk about this for the rest of the trip to Ponyville.
Once we were all back, ALL of us got mobbed by the crowds that came to cheer for us! While Dan and Pinkie were saying hello to her family, Cole and Missy stayed on the train for a while longer, as neither of them had family waiting to see them. Both of them were wearing sweatpants, t-shirts, and for the first time in her life, Missy also got to wear panties. They were a pair that Pinkie generously gave her. She and Cole were lying on Cole's bunk in the train, still just trying to come to terms with the war.
"I still feel horrible about what happened Missy, but yet if I hadn't gotten held prisoner by the Caribou, then I never would have gotten to meet you. I think that somehow, this all worked out for everypony."
Missy nuzzled him a bit. "Yeah, I know what you mean Cole. Even though so many creatures died, and so many more were severely scarred, I think that it all will work out in the end. The Caribou Empire has fallen, and will never rise again. We're both ok now, and now, I know that we'll be together for a long time."
(Earlier on the train-ride home, Cole had proposed to Missy, and she said yes. Cole gave her an engagement ring that he'd made himself a number of years prior, and always carried with him in his foot-locker. They'd both been to hell and back together, and now they would eventually be married).
Once the hubbub of our arrival home had died down, Dan, Cole, and their marefriend and fiance respectively, tried to settle into their new lives.
Pinkie invited Dan, as well as Cole and Missy, to stay with her at Sugarcube Corner. All 3 of them were very grateful for being allowed to stay there, as well as for the Cakes to allow them to work there until they could finalize their plans on their new restaurant, and then put them into action. All incidents of PTSD-induced nightmares, flashbacks, and other memories of the trauma that they'd had to endure aside, it was a nice change for them.
When they were needed, Dan and Cole also helped out with the construction of the Imperial War Museum. Cole also managed, (with help from Dan, Pinkie, and the Cakes,) to secure a lease on a small abandoned building only a few blocks away from Sugarcube Corner. Out front, a sign read, "Coming Spring 2030, the Big Boy Cafe!" The building itself was still sound, but with everything that was happening with the War Museum, they all knew that they were going to have to wait until Winter set in, which would put the construction on hiatus for a while, so that renovations on the building could start. When the time did come, most of us who were able came over to help Dan and Cole with their restaurant, and in short order, quickly got it's construction/renovation well underway.
While all of this was happening though, the rest of us were starting to settle into our new lives as well. On September 15th, 2029, I took Rainbow Dash to be my wife, and on October 8th, I took Spitfire to be my wife as well. On October 21st, Alex took Applejack to be his wife, and the following March in 2030, Don was going to take Twilight to be his wife. On April 27th, Todd would marry Fluttershy, and on May 12th, Andy was going down the isle with Rarity.
"When will it be our turn Dan?" Pinkie kept asking him. "Almost all of my other friends are getting married, so when will we be?"
Dan thought back to when he'd proposed to Pinkie. It was at Sugarcube corner on one of their date-nights. He told her to close her eyes, and that he had a VERY special surprise for her. As always, I was there filming, and when Pinkie opened her eyes, Dan was kneeling in front of her, asking for her hand in marriage.
"OOH, YES!!! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!! A MILLION TRILLION TIMES YES!!!!!!" Pinkie then started bouncing around the entire bakery she was so excited!
Once she'd managed to calm down, she then hugged Dan as tightly as she did the first time she'd met him. Dan hugged her back, and I clapped for both of them before ending the tape.
Dan then looked back at his fiance. "It'll be soon Babe. Most likely we'll shoot for a wedding in mid-May, once Lt. Andy's honeymoon is over."
Pinkie nodded. "Ok, but I REALLY don't want to have to wait that long!"
"I know Babe, but yet, I need to be fully standing on both feet before we go into this."
"Um, but you already ARE standing up Dan!"
Dan put a hand over his face. "It's a figure of speech Pinkie. It just means that I want to have everything in my life where it should be, and be financially sound before we get married."
"Oh, ok, well that makes sense now! But I STILL wish that we didn't have to wait that long! It's only December, and May is like 5 months away!"
Dan went over to hug his cute, bubbly fiance, before the 2 of them got back to work.
Eventually, the next Spring, with Dan and Cole at the helm and Missy and Pinkie behind them, the Big Boy Cafe opened for business.
Themed specifically around our beloved Big Boy 4009 and the rest of the Battleship Express, the restaurant was a hit with fans. The booths were made to look like booths in one of the train's dining cars, the walls were covered with pictures, paintings, and other artifacts related to the Battleship Express, there was a model train version of the Battleship express that went around a track overhead, the grill in the kitchen was made to look like the Big boy's firebox and backhead in the cab, and there was even a model of the train outside to serve as both a sign, (even though the real sign was on the building), and a photo-op.
Other staff were hired as well, and before long, the Big Boy Cafe was the talk of Ponyville. Some even compared it to the Imperial War Museum, since it was dedicated to the Battleship Express. Dan and Pinkie still lived at Sugarcube Corner, while Cole and Missy bought a small house close by. Pinkie still worked for the Cakes, but she also helped her fiance when he needed her as well. All 4 of them were VERY proud of their new restaurant, and it showed.
"This place is FANTASTIC! The food is fabulous, and the service is great as well!"
"The owners of this place pour their hearts and souls into it, and it DEFINITELY shows! I hope that this place stays here for a LONG time to come!"
"5 stars! I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this place to anypony! They have something on the menu for everypony, even those who eat meat!"
On occasion, even crew from the Battleship Express would eat there as well, and when they did, everypony would ALWAYS come to say hi to them.
"This place is awesome Dan. I'm so glad that you and Cole were able to realize your dream."
"Thanks Captain Leopard. And it's all thanks to you liberating us that we were able to do this!"
I smiled. "Well, you're welcome for the liberation, and let's hope that this place keeps thriving for a long time to come!"
"Yeah, I hope so too Captain, and so does everypony else!"
When the time came, Dan and Cole were given the same bachelor's party. We all went to watch a reenactment in Appaloosa of the battle there, and I have to admit, all of those involved did an incredible job at recreating the battle between Desert Battalion and General Tarrath's forces. For a moment, I almost forgot that it WAS a reenactment!
Eventually though, the date of their wedding came around, May 19th. It was a bit unusual, because they'd decided on a double-wedding. They would both marry their fiances, but one couple at a time. They flipped a coin at the bachelor's party to see who would get to go first, and Cole won the toss.
In the Bride's wedding room, both Pinkie and Missy were being fitted up in their dresses by Rarity. Pinkie's dress was all white, although it did have pink trim. Missy's dress though, was another story. Her's was cream-colored, and it had light brown trim as well. A few flowers were placed in her hair, and she wore a broach as well.
"You all look simply RADIANT Darlings! This is some of my finest work! How does it feel?"
"I......don't even have words to describe this. All of my life, I was told that I was nothing; just a slave, but now? I've risen above that, found a male who GENUINELY loves me and sees me as an equal, as do all of you!"
The others all smiled. They'd grown quite fond of Missy ever since Cole brought her to Ponyville, and now they were there to witness her wedding day.
"I can't believe that I'm a bride either Missy! It feels like just yesterday that I met Dan, and he seemed to like me! AND NOW WE'RE ACTUALLY GETTING MARRIED!!! IT'S CRAZY!!!"
Fluttershy looked at them. "Well, I can tell you from personal experience that neither of you have ANYTHING to worry about! All of our weddings went off without a hitch, and I know that yours will too!"
Just then though, the music started.
"Oh, that's our cue, time to get to our pre-wedding positions!" They all then scurried to do so.
For the rest of us, getting ready was simple enough. Dan and Cole had already decided to be the other's Best Man, and once they were ready, they became the latest Battalion 4009 soldiers to sign the marriage contract.
Don then stepped up to them. "Are both of you boys ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be Sir." Dan said quietly.
"Ok, and you know the drill. Names?"
"Cole Meers."
"Dan Lewis."
"Names of your Beloved?"
"Missy."
"Pinkie Pie."
"And you do love them, correct?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Yes Sir!"
"And you vow to love them to the bitter end, no matter what?"
"Yes Sir."
"Yes Sir."
Don nodded. "Ok then, hands please."
They gave him their hands, and after taking 2 sterile needles, Don poked one of their fingers, and then they added their bloody fingerprints to the contract. It now read, "Leopard, Leopard, Alex Barkley, Don Curry, Todd Davis, Andy Shepherd, Cole Meers, and Daniel Lewis". (Why was my name in there twice? Well because of Dash AND Spitfire!)
Soon though, the wedding music began.
"And, that's our cue, let's go!" We all then filed out to begin the ceremony.
As always, Father Charles presided over the wedding ceremony, which this time was held at the Pie Family Rock Farm. The wedding was set up in a grassy spot under the shade of a tree, as the sun was shining that day.
Once Father Charles was up to the front, and everyone and everypony had taken their seats, it was time to begin. Once the music had been cued, the 2 grooms walked up to the front, followed by the rest of their fellow soldiers. Once again, the soldiers took their spots along the aisle, while those of us who were groomsmen followed the grooms, and the rest took their seats.
Then, once they were all in place, it was time for the brides. When Pinkie and Missy walked in, everyone and everypony stared at them. They were so radiant in their dresses, and behind them came their bridesmaids, Spike was the ringbearer, and the CMC's were the flower girls. Maud Pie also volunteered to be the Maid of Honor for both brides. Once the brides were up to the front, they joined their beloved, and faced them while holding their hands.
Father Charles then cleared his throat. "Ok, now then, are all of you ready to begin?"
"Pinkie and I are ready Sir!"
"As are Missy and I!"
"Ok, good. Now then, please bring up the rings Spike."
He did so, and then Father Charles first turned to Cole and Missy. "Now then, Do you, Cole Meers, take this Cow to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do you part?"
Cole put his ring onto Missy's finger. "I do! I take you Missy, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do us part!"
Father Charles then turned to Missy. "And do you, Missy, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do you part?"
Missy nodded with tears in her eyes. She placed her ring over Cole's finger. "Yes, I do! I take you Cole, to be my lawfully wedded husband! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do us part!"
Father Charles then walked over to Dan and Pinkie. "Now then you two, it's your turn." He turned first to Dan. "Do you, Daniel Lewis, take this mare to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do you part?"
Dan turned to Pinkie, before slipping his ring onto her finger. "I do! I take you, Pinkie, to be my lawfully wedded wife! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do us part!"
Father Charles then turned to Pinkie. "And do you, Pinkie Pie, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do you part?"
Pinkie nodded, while slipping her ring onto Dan's finger. "I do! I take you Dan, to be my lawfully wedded husband! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do us part!"
Father Charles then looked out over the audience. "Now then, do any of you have any objections to these unions? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
Just like all of the previous times, nopony said anything.
"Ok then, by the power vested in me as presider over these wedding unions, I pronounce you all Husband and Wife! You may kiss the brides!"
Cole and Dan then lifted up their respective bride's veils, before pulling them in close to kiss them. The whole crowd then cheered as Missy became the first Caribou Cow to ever be married in Equestria, and Pinkie became the last of the Element bearers to be married.
After the wedding, it was time for the reception. After the couples fed the first slice of cake to each other, it was time for their first dances. They all picked the same song, and danced to it.
Then, once they were done, the rest of us began to dance as well.
Soon, it was time for them to leave on their honeymoon, with their destination being a resort in Manhattan that specialized in parties!
Pinkie and Missy both tossed their wedding bouquets, and while Missy's was caught by Raindrops, Pinkie WAY overthrew hers, and it managed to smack me in the face while I was talking to Spitfire! I was then MOBBED by single mares who wanted it! I managed to throw it like it was a live grenade, and it was caught by both Flitter, and her sister Cloudchaser.
When Dan and Cole threw the garters, Dan's got caught by Big Mac, (who at the time was engaged to Cherilee), and Cole's was caught by Braeburn. (Who we later learned was dating a male gunner on the Battleship Express! Don is still looking into the matter).
Once it was time for the wedding couples to leave onboard their carriages, there was once again a number of cans tied up behind them, although this time nobody got dragged away!
I sighed as I watched the happy couples leave on their honeymoon. "Huh, so that's it. Now ALL of the Element Bearers are married, and now we can all start the next chapter in our lives!" I then watched as the carriages pulled out of sight before returning to Dash and Spitfire.
(What's that? When was Rarity's wedding? Oh Ponyfeathers! I FORGOT ABOUT RARITY'S WEDDING!!!! Stay tuned for next time, and I'll tell you ALL about it!)
Andy. Engine Guardsmen Andrew Shepherd. Andy had one of the most important jobs on the entire train. His job was to help protect the crew of the engine, as well as the engine itself. He and Fred were the 2 engine guardsmen for Secondary Crew, and their job was to protect myself, Alex, and Todd while we drove the Big Boy.
Andy had been with the train starting from the Battle of Des Moines, when one of the previous guardsmen was killed. It always unnerved him that he'd been promoted to replace a dead man, but it was war, so it was his duty. He was also glad to be with his life-long friend again; 2nd Fireman Alex Barkley.
He and Alex had been friends since they were just getting into middle school back in Minnesota. Once they got older, they both talked about joining the military.
"Eh, I dunno Andy. It would take something VERY major for me to join the military, but you can join if you want to!"
All while the 2 of them were still thinking about what to do, just after they got out of high school, WW3 began. THAT was major enough for both of them to join the military!
From WW3, they were together in WW4 as well, but then towards the end, they got separated. Eventually, when the Futas came to power, Alex was sold off to a Futa mistress, although Andy managed to survive on his own in the wilderness in what became Futa-held territory before making it back to the US. Eventually, he joined the RWD, and was assigned to Battalion 4009 as a soldier. Then to his delight, he was able to meet up with Alex again!
"ALEX!!!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!"
"ANDY!?!?!?!? IS THAT REALLY YOU!?!?!?!" The two of them couldn't have been more happy to see each other again, and since they were both a part of Secondary Crew, they were always together in the cab with myself, Todd, and Fred when we were on duty.
All throughout the course of WW6, Andy and Fred were the engine guardsmen who kept Alex, Todd and I safe while we did our work. With their own guns, as well as the forward cannons located alongside the engine's boiler, and the AA gun and 2 machine guns on the roof, they both easily became the bane of any Futas who tried to attack the train.
"I'll do my job so that you do your job Captain Leopard. Fred and I'll be here to keep you, Alex and Todd safe!"
I knew that he would too, as I'd seen Andy in action many times. "I know Andy, and I and the rest of us of Secondary Crew are grateful to you and Fred. Without you guys, we might have been killed a LONG time ago!"
"Eh, you're welcome Captain Leopard. Now then, let's continue on our road to Vegas, shall we?"
I nodded. "Yes, let's!"
Once we arrived in Euqestria though, Fred and Andy were both hurt. Not too bad, although they were knocked down from the roof of the car that they'd been on, and fell into the 1st dining car, or the 5th car from the engine. Both of them had helped to beat back the Wonderbolts when they tried to board the train close to the front, and they'd also been among those who exited the train when it came to a stop outside of Ponyville station, ready to do battle with the Futas that they believed had been attacking us.
When they did though, they, as well as the others, got the biggest shock of their lives! Not only were there no Futas to be seen anywhere, but they were surrounded by bipedal, multicolored, equine-like beings! Once they learned that the "Ponies", as they learned that the creatures were called were not hostile, Fred went back to secure his post while Andy tried to see if he could get a chance to talk to some of the Ponies.
What most people don't remember about Andy though, or maybe they just don't know, was that he was the only one of us who married an Element Bearer who actually didn't meet his future wife before the war ended! Yes, you read that right, Andy didn't meet Rarity until AFTER the Imperial War ended!
Eventually though, Andy learned about what the Zebras and the Caribou were trying to do to the Ponies.
"That's.......terrible! That sounds just like what the Futas were trying to do to us!" He was itching for a fight with those monstrosities.
He didn't have too long to wait though. Not too long after our meeting with the Princesses of the land, the train came under attack! Myself and 13 others were able to hold the line and drive back the invaders, but we all knew that they were going to be back.
Later that same night, Andy was manning a gun on the roof of the train, when all of a sudden, he spotted a series of bright flashes in the sky.
"Huh? What are those flashes?" Just then though, all of the train's alarms began to blare. General Quarters was sounded, and everyone and everypony were racing to their battle stations!
"Oh shit, IT'S THE ENEMY!!!! THEY'RE BACK!!!!!" He then manned his machine gun, and prepared to repel the enemy.
During the entire 4, almost 5 hours that the Battle of Ponyville lasted, Andy never left the train. He did shift his position a few times, but he always manned a gun on the train.
He was up on the roof, when all of a sudden he heard Jim shout up to him. "ANDY, WATCH OUT!!! THERE'S A BUNCH OF ZEBRAS HEADING YOUR WAY, AND THEY'RE TRYING TO GET TO THE 2nd RAILGUNS!!! STOP THEM DEAD!!!!"
"Roger that Jim!" Andy then manned a machine gun, and got ready to deal out some death.
Sure enough, the enemy was coming right for him! A number of Zebras suddenly burst out of a roof hatch on the car just behind where Andy was, and while they were trying to make their way up farther along the train, he gunned them down!
"Woo hoo!!!!! Enemies down Jim! I got 'em all!"
"Great shots Andy, and great timing too! If you hadn't been up there, then they would have made it farther up into the train!"
"Eh, thanks Jim! Now then, let's keep fighting this battle!"
"Roger that!"
Everyone and everypony kept going.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Ponyville, we of the Battleship Express declared war on the Imperial Alliance, and vowed to NEVER AGAIN let them gain a foothold in Equestria!
"Ponyville was your high-water mark!" Don warned them. "Now, you will PAY for what you tried to do to Equestria!"
We meant every word of of what we said. The Zebras and Caribou thought that we were bluffing; they shouldn't have.
As I said later, "We're Humans. We don't play nice, we don't fight fair, if we have weapons we'll use them, and if you become our enemy, we will pursue you until the ends of the Earth! We will find you, and when we do, we will ANNIHILATE YOU!!! You will NEVER live to rue the day that you became an enemy of Humanity! And for those of us who have fought through as many wars as we have, we will be the last thing that you ever see!"
Our enemies were going to have to find out the hard way just what we meant about what we said, and they would begin to find out when the Battle of Las Pegasus went down.
For our enemies, Las Pegasus was a shit-show. They got ANNIHILATED by our weapons! We did take losses, but the battle was far more devastating for our enemies. Never again would the Caribou be strong enough to threaten Equestria again. We broke their backs, and from that point onward they would be fighting a defensive war.
For the Zebras on the other hand, they still had offensive capabilities. Once Zakia broke away from the Imperial Alliance, he swore that the Zebras would emerge victorious. Originally, the plan was for the Imperial Alliance to lay siege to the city of Baltimare, but Zakia didn't want to do that. Instead, he sent forces under General Tarrath to attack and capture Appaloosa and Dodge City before preparing for a drive North.
The Battle of Appaloosa was one of the darkest days of the war. More Equestrians died in that battle than ANY other battle fought on Equestrian soil. For the Zebras efforts, although they were able to burn down Appaloosa, as well as lay siege to Dodge City, we showed up to stop them.
With Humans and Ponies working side by side, we wiped out the Zebras, and drove them back to the Macintosh Hills, before tearing the hills apart with our artillery! Fewer than 4,000 Zebras and their allies managed to survive the battle.
As King Danin said to Zakia later, "Congratulations! I've NEVER seen someone lose THAT MANY soldiers in a campaign for two tiny, worthless desert towns! BRAVO!"
For their credit though, the Zebras achieved their greatest victory; the same victory that would ultimately lead to their (aside from a handful of prisoners) total extinction; the capture of 4 of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
However, the Zebras overlooked a few small details. 3 out of 4 of those mares had Human-Wolf, now Human-Pony coltfriends, and 2 of those were high-ranking officers. ALL of them were CQC masters, and when they learned that their marefriends had been taken by the Zebras, their anger knew no boundaries!
For Andy, even though he didn't have a personal connection with any of the Element Bearers like myself, Don, Alex, and even Dan and Todd did, he did feel the anger that the rest of us felt.
"They CANNOT be allowed to get away with this! They MUST be punished for their sins!"
And punished they were. Like the rest of us, Andy was also involved with most, if not all of the campaigns in the Zebra Empire.
"I was a soldier before I was an engine guardsmen. I KNOW how to do this! Let's just get in there, and get the job done so that we can go home!" Andy secretly missed Earth a lot. Unlike most of the rest of us, he actually had a few family members left. His dad and one of his brothers were still alive, and for all he knew, he had been declared dead.
"I want to go home so badly", he muttered to himself, "I had the BEST job in the world before the wars began. I made one of the FINEST clothing lines in the world! Now it's gone, all gone. If only there was a way to bring it back......."
2 days later, not too long after the reconstruction of Appaloosa began, the time had come for us to move beyond the Macintosh Hills, and into the Zebra Empire.
From the Badlands, to the 3 forts inside of it, Andy was right there with all of those of us who stormed them. He was injured by a glancing hit to his shoulder, but the wound was minor.
Once the conquest of the Badlands was complete, we then moved on to the rest of the Zebra Empire. Our first target was the series of villages that surrounded the city of Bandia, which also housed the chemical plant. Although Andy was not one of those assigned to attacking the chemical plant, he was one of the ones who helped damage the chemical pipes that led to the surrounding towns so that they would be destroyed as well.
Once the town, as well as the surrounding areas were destroyed, it was time for one of the most critical battles in the Zebra Empire; Zandia.
For Andy, he was assigned to my group as we went for Zandia. He was even there when the doors to Tarrath's office were blasted in, although he didn't go inside. He did however provide cover for those who were transporting the wounded back to the train, including myself.
Andy was assigned to guard duty while my procedure to become a Human-Bat-Pony was underway, but once I was done with that, he told me that he really didn't notice any difference.
"You still look pretty much the same to me Leopard. Maybe you have a few new features, but overall you still look the same."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, thanks Andy. Your powers of observation know no boundaries!"
He then left me be while I took the time to recover, before returning to duty.
After this day, aside from a few other battles, came the final battle in the Zebra Empire; Zebrica itself.
Andy's role was much like the rest of us; get to the palace, and save the hostages, all while wreaking as much havoc as we possibly could. No Zebras could be allowed to escape, and those that weren't killed, (which was almost all of them!) were captured. Zebrica fell, Zakia was captured, but yet only half of the hostages were rescued. Twilight, Applejack, and Dan were safe, but Cole, Dash and Pinkie, had been sent to the Caribou Empire.
"So, what do we do now?" Andy asked Fred.
Fred sighed. "Most likely, we'll be heading into the Caribou Empire next. Don and Leopard tried to reason with Danin, the leader of the Caribou, but he refused to listen. I don't know when we'll be pulling out, but I do know that it will be soon."
It was sooner than Andy expected. After taking a day to nuke the rest of the Zebra Empire, we then backtracked back through the Zebra Empire again, and from there we headed on over to the Caribou Empire.
All throughout this campaign, Andy was a front and center witness to ALL of the major battles. To the breaching of Hell's Gate, to the Battle of Marrow, to the MASSIVE drive to Dock Town, to the battle there, to our trip to Lake Town, to Rendale, Hilden, Carlon, Donneth, and even Bryerton. The only real battle that he missed was Danton, but that was due to his being in Carlon.
"The battles against the Caribou were much harder than those against the Zebras", He said later. "The Caribou were MUCH more disciplined, were better armed, and all around better soldiers. They did have their weaknesses, and we were able to exploit these, but I can say with a fair amount of certainty that we lost more men fighting against the Caribou than we did against the Zebras. I'm glad that it's all over now, and that the only place that I have to fight these monsters is in my head."
And indeed, Andy's statements seemed to ring true with the rest of us as well. Aside from the Futas, and maybe those from the Black World Order, the Caribou were the toughest opponents that we'd ever faced. According to Celestia, the Caribou were the strongest military force in all of Equus, with the Zebras and Equestrians being tied for second place. The Zebras fell, and the Caribou were toppled with them.
The fiercest battles of all were the battles for Carlon, Danton, and Donneth. By the time that we got there, the Caribou were almost suicidal, and were throwing literally EVERYTHING that they had at us! It was a scary time, but it was one that had to be fought and won.
Eventually, the battles were over, and it was time for all of us to head back home again. From Bryerton, we returned to Donneth, and from there to Zandia, Appaloosa, until we finally managed to reach Ponyville once again. When we arrived, the crowds all cheered for us, although Andy, like most of the others, had no family or friends waiting for him, so he remained on the train until the crowds had died down. He was also one of the many train crew who stayed with the train once it had been moved to the Old Railyards.
"I still can't believe that we won Fred. It still just seems so.......weird, that we're now living in a world without war."
Fred looked past his marefriend, Lyra, as she sat on his lap. He kept having to look past her so that he could continue his conversation with Andy. Lyra was SO HAPPY to have her Human-coltfriend back, but it was getting annoying for Fred.
"Yeah, I know what you mean Andy, and......Lyra! Will you stop that?! I'm TRYING to have a conversation here!" Lyra kept kissing and licking Fred's neck.
She giggled. "Sorry Babe! I'm just SO happy to have you back!"
Fred groaned. He thought back to the day that they arrived in Ponyville for the first time. "That was the day that I met Lyra, as well as her friend, Bon Bon. Lyra seemed to like me instantly, and wanted me to be her coltfriend. Being a 27 year old single male, I didn't see any problems with starting a relationship with her, but MAYBE I should have thought this through a little bit better!" He kept trying to push Lyra off of him, or to at least get her to stop being such a pain, but he couldn't pry her loose!
Finally, he just gave up. "Yeah, I know what you mean Andy. Not having to be on high alert at all times, actually being able to enjoy life for a change, and just.........actually being given the chance to start over again; a chance that I didn't think that we would ever get again."
"Yeah......it's so.....weird. It's a new world now Fred, and we just have to learn how to move with it. I know that we'll get there, but I think that it will take a while."
Andy was right about this. It would take a while, a LONG while, and there would be a lot of pain and heartaches along the way.
Over the course of the next couple of days, Andy was one of many who helped out with the construction of the Imperial War Museum. Up until the night of the ball, our efforts were focused on the foundation. Once it was time for the ball though, all of us went to get ready.
Once he was ready though, Andy did feel a bit sad because he didn't have a date for the ball. ALL of the rest of those from Secondary Crew did, as did a number of others on the train as well. He felt left out.
"Um, excuse me Sergeant Shepherd, but I was wondering, would you be interested in being my date for the Victory Ball?"
Andy turned around, and there standing behind him was a Unicorn mare with white fur, blue eyes, a curled, purple mane and tail, and one of the most beautiful dresses that he had ever seen.
"Oh, h-hello Miss Rarity. And, did you just ask me to be your date for the ball?"
She nodded. "Yes I did Darling. Twilight and the rest of my friends have dates, but I got left out. I DO NOT want to have to deal with that, (forgive my language!) bastard 'Prince' Blueblood! I was also informed that you didn't have a date either, so would you be interested in going with me?"
To say that Andy was surprised would have been an understatement; he was shocked! In truth, Rarity was his Pony-waifu, and from what he could tell, they were both interested in designing clothing.
He nodded slowly. "Certainly. If you would allow it, then yes, I'll be your date for the ball!"
Rarity squealed a bit in delight. "Perfect! Oh THANK YOU Darling! You don't know how much this means to me!"
Andy shrugged. "Eh, don't mention it. It's my job to serve."
Soon though, it was time to leave, and the Battleship Express pulled out for Canterlot.
On the way there, Andy did get a chance to talk to Rarity a bit.
"So, you're the up-and-coming fashionista that everypony's always talking about?"
Rarity nodded. "Yes, fashion is my PASSION! Ever since I was a young filly, I've always been interested in fashion, and designing my own clothes. My shop in Ponyville, the Carousel Boutique, has become so famous that I've also opened shops in Canterlot, and even Manehattan! Can you believe it Darling? Plus, your uniforms are so STYLISH!" Rarity was feeling the sleeves of Andy's uniform.
"I'll simply HAVE to create a new line of styles from this now that the war is over, and I don't have to make clothes for the soldiers anymore! I also see now that a line of utility clothing can be made from the patterns of your standard field uniforms, and even your Big Boy locomotive can serve as inspiration as well! Oh, but do forgive me Darling, for I have rambled a bit. Now then, what is your passion?"
Andy sighed. "Well, as hard as it may be to believe, designing clothes is also my passion. I went to a special school to learn how to be a tailor, and that taught me a LOT about making clothes! I was only into men's clothes though, and my specialty was utility work clothes, suits, and military uniforms. My home-base store, "Pants N' Stitches", became an absolute sensation. Tell me Miss Rarity, how much can suits for men cost?"
"Oh, they tend to be DREADFULLY expensive Darling!"
Andy smirked. "Well, what if I told you that my store could make a full custom-made suit, complete with shirt, tie, jacket, cuff links, pants, socks, shoes, and a belt, that was FAR better than ANY other available suit, for $100 plus tax, and that also included a lifetime warranty?"
Rarity looked at him like he was insane. "That's absolutely MAD Darling!!!! It's IMPOSSIBLE!"
Andy smirked. "Heh, that's what EVERYONE ELSE said too! They said that I would NEVER turn a profit! Well, guess who showed them! I also could make pants that were pretty darn near IMPOSSIBLE to rip no matter how hard you tried, and a number of other items in men's clothing as well."
Rarity was intrigued. "But, what happened Darling? It sounds like your business was a resounding success!"
"It was, up until the end of WW3 anyway. My business was destroyed in WW4, and all throughout WW4 and WW5, I helped by making uniforms, and other clothing-related items for the military. By WW6 though, I could stand it no longer; I HAD to help fight! Long story short, I was drafted into the RWD, and eventually I got placed in Battalion 4009. Eventually, I was promoted to engine-guardsman to replace someone who was killed. I've been in that position ever since."
Rarity was shocked. Andy, like so many others, talked about the wars, as well as replacing someone who was killed, with almost no emotions at all. "It's like it's just another day in their life", She thought. "Some die, and others come forwards to replace them while those who are still alive move on like it's normal!"
"Yes, it's a horrible cycle", Andy said softly, seemingly sensing her thoughts, "But what can one really do about it in wartime?"
Rarity opened her mouth like she was going to answer, but instead she just closed it, and instead focused on the ball ahead.
For Rarity and Andy, just like the rest of us, the ball went very well. Thanks to Andy's death-glare, Blueblood kept his distance, although unlike the situation involving myself, Dash, and of course Zephyr, it didn't come to blows.
"You're SO much better than him Andrew Darling!" Rarity told him as they danced.
Andy blushed a bit. "Eh, you can just call me Andy Miss Rarity. Everypony else does."
She nodded. "Of course Darling. Also, after thinking it over a bit more, how interested would you be in possibly trying to restart your clothing business?"
"I've been interested in doing THAT since my store got burned down! I would LOVE the chance to try again!"
"Well, I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm Darling. The truth is, I've always specialized in clothing for mares, but yet there is also a large market for stallion's clothing as well. Maybe if we pooled our talents, we could really capture at least a corner of the clothing market! I mean, I already have my boutique here in Ponyville, and I could get you the supplies that you needed, so maybe........we could be business partners?"
Andy was shocked. Here he was being offered a chance to restart the business that he loved more than anything else in the world, and he was well and truly flabbergasted! He didn't know what to say!
"Golly........for once in my life......I honestly don't know what to say!"
"But, you will you accept my proposal, right Darling?" She held out her hand.
Andy sighed, but then he reached out his own hand, and shook Rarity's. "You have yourself a deal Miss Rarity. Maybe with your help, Pants N' Stitches can rise again from the ashes!"
They both agreed to help each other, and soon were drawing up plans for their new business idea.
For the next few months, while the museum was being built, Andy was hard at work in the Carousel Boutique. Wearing gray dress pants with a notebook in the back pocket, black dress shoes, a white dress shirt that was somewhat wrinkled and had the sleeves rolled up as well as the top 2 buttons undone, an untied red bowtie, a tailor's tape around his neck when he wasn't using it, and black glasses, not to mentioned slightly messy red hair and a pencil in his mouth, Andy was busy measuring stallions for their new suits and other clothes in the section of the boutique that Rarity had set aside for Pants N' Stitches.
Once he'd created his first designer suits, as well as a line of work clothes, he pitched them in Canterlot where they were met with resounding applause.
"Sensational!" One of the designers raved. "I've never seen such a young stallion with such talent at designing clothes!"
"He's amazing! Not only is all of his work custom-made, but he makes it all himself! From start to finish, it's all him!"
"And all of it for stallions too! I sure wish that there were more stores like Pants N' Stitches, and more tailors/clothing designers like Andy Shepherd in the world!"
Through it all, Andy remained as humble as he could. "It's not all about me though", He told the press, "I'm just an ordinary guy, who happens to have a talent in tailoring and designing clothes. I just put my skills to work in the public sphere, and this was the result!"
And between him and Rarity, business soared.
Over time though, although they started out as just business partners and close friends, their relationship began to become more intimate. Anypony could tell by the way that they carried themselves around each other; the way that they looked at the other when they thought that the other wasn't looking, and the way that they seemed to complete each other, that others could tell that they were in love.
"I'm happy for you Andy." Don told him. "She seems to be the perfect mare for you, and together I know that the two of you will be VERY happy!"
Andy laughed a bit. "Heh, yeah. I can imagine us growing old together. Sitting in rocking chairs by a fireplace, her knitting, and myself sewing, still doing what we love."
"Are, you going to propose to her soon?"
Andy nodded. "Yeah, but I'm going to wait until the Winter-clothing season begins, as we're both still a little bit tied up right now!"
After talking with Don for a little while longer though, Andy had to get back to work at the boutique.
One night though, in mid-January, the time had come. Andy wanted Alex and I present when he proposed to Rarity, so we, as well as our spouses, complied. I once again filmed the whole ordeal.
Rarity was sitting at her sewing machine, while Andy was trying to put the finishing touches on a suit that he was working on. Dash, Spitfire and I were sitting on a couch close by, while Alex and Applejack sat in a chair next to us.
"Hey Rarity?"
"Yes Darling?"
"Can.....you maybe come over here for a second? I've kinda goofed something up, and I want your advice on how to fix it."
Rarity looked up from her sewing machine. "Certainly Darling!" She walked over, and Andy was holding what looked to be a flap on the jacket of the suit up with his hand.
"Um, I don't see anything wrong with it Darling. It just looks like you didn't finish the stitching."
Andy then let go of the flap, and a small black box with a small bow became visible.
"Wait, what's that Darling?" Rarity had an idea, but her mind wouldn't let her believe that it was so.
Andy picked up the box. "Rarity, ever since I got to know you better on the train, as well as during the ball, I knew that there was something special about you. You helped me restart my old clothing business from the ground up, and because of that, the business was a resounding success.
However, during that time, I began to see something more in you. I saw you as more than a friend, but I didn't know if you felt the same way about me. Now that I know though, I guess that I just have one more thing to say." Andy then got down on his knee, and after opening the box, revealing an engagement ring, he took Rarity by her hand. "Rarity, will you marry me?"
When Rarity saw that the love of her life was proposing to her, all she could do was, like all of the rest of the Mane 6 did when their (Human) coltfriends proposed to them, put her hands over her mouth and blush. Eventually though, she did hug Andy.
"Yes." She said softly. "Of course I will Darling! You mean the WORLD to me, and I couldn't BEAR to live without you!"
Andy hugged her back, and once he was standing up again, Rarity pulled him in close and kissed him.
"Well, looks like the last of my group of close friends will be married here before too long." Dash whispered softly.
I nodded. "Yeah. Dan's already proposed to Pinkie, and she said yes, so yeah, now that Rarity is engaged, it'll be a race to see who gets married next. I mean, you and I went first, then Spits and I, then Alex and Applejack, Don and Twilight are planning on a Spring wedding, as are Todd and Fluttershy. Dan and Pinkie want a Summer wedding, so I wonder what Andy and Rarity will pick."
"Yeah, I kinda wonder too". Spitfire said softly, before resting her head on my shoulder.
I held my 2 wives close. "I love both of you so much, you guys know that right?"
They both looked at each other, before both of them kissed one of my cheeks.
"Yeah, we know Stud", Dash whispered.
"Yeah, you tell us both every day!"
"Well, I just love both of you guys that much!"
They both giggled a bit. "Yeah, and we both love you too Stud!"
We all then got back to watching the scene in front of us play out.
Sure enough, when Spring began to turn into Summer, the invitations for the wedding went out. The date was set for May 12th, 2030, and it was going to be held in the park close to the boutique. Andy decided that Alex was going to be his best man, while Rarity wanted her assistant, Sassy Saddles, to be her Mare of Honor.
For Andy's bachelor's party, we managed to nab him while he was leaving Pants N' Stitches one night, and we dragged him off to Iron Glory. Once the train was underway, we revealed to him that we were just on an excursion trip, complete with a barbecue, and even some (mild) alcohol and karaoke! (We would have done this with the Battleship Express, but alas, at the time the Big Boy was down for boiler and firebox work. Iron Glory was the only other train that we had).
"This.......this was great you guys. Even though you DID kidnap me, I think that I can forgive you for it!"
We all laughed a bit, and congratulated Andy on winning Rarity's heart, as well as his success in his clothing business.
Eventually though, the day of the wedding arrived. May 12th proved to be overcast, but yet the Pegasai managed to keep the rain at bay. Wedding setup was complete, and the wedding parties were getting ready. This was a bit unusual for Rarity, as for all of her other friends, it was HER who helped them into their dresses, but now Sassy was the one helping her into her dress.
"This still just feels so.......unusual. I feel like I should be helping the bride with her dress, but yet this time I AM the bride!"
Sassy giggled a bit. "Yes, but you are certainly a beautiful one Rarity!"
And indeed she was. Her white dress was lined with purple trim, as well as a few purple bows. Once everything was ready, Rarity pulled her veil over her face. "How do I look?"
"Absolutely stunning!"
The rest of her friends agreed. Rarity looked over them all. "Well, today I'll join most of the rest of you. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy are all married, and Pinkie is engaged, and today I join you who are married to become a married mare!"
"And we're all SUPER DUPER happy for you too Rarity!" Pinkie cheered.
Rarity hugged all of them. "I'll never find friends like you again even if I keep looking for a million years! Thank your for being here with me!"
"You're welcome Rarity!"
Suddenly though, the music began to pipe up.
"Ok, that's our cue to get into position! Let's go!"
They all then went to their pre-wedding positions.
For Andy, getting ready was a matter of getting into his formal uniform, complete with the rest of us helping him.
"So, are you ready for this Andy?" Alex asked him.
"As ready as I'll ever be Alex."
"Well, I can tell you right now that you have NOTHING to worry about! My wedding, as well as Leopard's weddings, Todd's wedding, and Don's wedding all went off without a hitch, so why would yours be any different?"
"I don't think that it would be!"
Once we were all ready though, it was time for the transfer ceremony. As per the usual, Don performed it.
"Name please."
"Andy Shepherd."
"Name of your beloved?"
"Rarity."
"And you do love her, do you not?"
"Yes Sir! More than anything!"
"And you vow to love her to your dying day, no matter what?"
"Yes Sir."
"Ok then, hand please." Andy then gave Don his hand, and after his finger was pricked, he added his bloody fingerprint to the growing list of names.
Once this was over, it was time for the ceremony to begin.
By this time, all of the guests had taken their seats, and Father Charles stepped up to the arbor at the front of where the wedding was to take place. Then the ceremony began.
First, the groom walked in, accompanied by his groomsmen, Alex as his Best Man, and of course, the usual soldier escort. Once the soldiers had taken their potions along the aisle, Andy joined Father Charles at the front of the arbor, with Alex behind him, and the rest of us beside him.
Then the music changed, and when the bride walked in, as always, everpony stopped and stared at her. Her dress was so beautiful, and she carried herself with such grace. She was followed by Sassy as her Mare of Honor, and the rest of her bridesmaids. As always, the CMC's were the flower girls, and for this wedding, Todd was picked to be the ring bearer. Once Rarity reached the front, she joined her Beloved in front of Father Charles, and after turning to face him, she took his hands gently into her own.
Father Charles then cleared his throat. "Now then, we have all gathered here today to celebrate 2 more lives about to become one. Are both of you two ready to begin?"
"Yes Sir, we are!"
"I'm ready Father Charles."
He nodded slowly. "Ok then. Please bring up the rings Todd." Todd then brought them. Father Charles then turned to Andy. "Do you, Andrew Shepherd, take this mare, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good times, and the bad, to love until the end of time, no matter what?"
Andy nodded, before slipping his ring onto Rarity's finger. "I do! I take you Rarity, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good times, and the bad, to love until the end of time, no matter what!"
Father Charles then turned to Rarity. "And do you, Miss Rarity, take this Man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good times, and the bad, to love until the end of time, no matter what?"
Rarity nodded, and with tears in her eyes, she slipped her ring onto Andy's finger. "Yes, I do! I take you Darling, to be my lawfully wedded husband! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, through the good times, and the bad, to love until the end of time, no matter what!"
Father Charles then turned to the crowd. "Now then, do any of you have any objections to this union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
Everyone and everypony looked like they were ready to start cheering, but there were no objections.
"Nobody? Ok then, by the power vested in me as presider over this wedding union, I pronounce you both husband and mare! You can kiss the bride Andy!"
Andy then gently lifted up Rarity's veil before kissing her. We all then cheered loudly for the new married couple.
Once the cake was complete, it was time for the couple's first dance. Since Andy was a HUGE Billy Joel fan, and he loved Rarity deeply, he picked out this song for her.
Once they were done dancing, the rest of us got in on the act as well. Eventually though, it was time for them to leave on their honeymoon. They'd picked the Waldhoof Astoria Hotel in Canterlot, and their carriage was waiting to take them to the train station. Just before they left though, they had to toss out the bouquet and the garter.
"Everypony ready?" Rarity asked.
"Oh yes!"
"Well heads up, here it comes!" Rarity then tossed it, and it ended up getting caught by her little sister Sweetie Belle.
"Wow, thanks Sis!"
"You're welcome Sweetie! And good catch!"
Andy then tossed out the Garter, and it ended up getting caught by Fred, who in another few weeks would be going down the aisle with his own marefriend-turned-fiance, Lyra.
Once we all finished attaching the recycled mannequin and sewing machine parts to the back of the carriage, the happy couple raced away for the train to Canterlot.
Dan sighed as he watched them go. "Man, I sure wish that that was ME right now!"
Cole walked over to him. "I know Dan, although very soon, it WILL be! Just hang in there a bit longer, you'll make it!"
Dan knew that his friend was right. In a few short weeks, it would be him, and Pinkie Pie. In the meantime though, he continued to wave as the carriage pulled away.
Chapter 12: Leopard's Tragic Life, and War Backstory
Leopard. Captain X "Leopard" Campbell. 2nd Engineer, and a captain within Battalion 4009. Where should I even begin to describe myself? Well, I guess that since you already know about my life in Equestria, how about I start at the very beginning?
I was born in September of 2005 in Iowa, though I lived with my family in Kansas City my entire life. I was the oldest of 3 boys, with my 2 younger brothers being Dren and Henry (later known by his code-name, Ozwin). Neither of them liked me very much, and always said that I would never amount to anything. My parents had faith in me though, and I set out to prove my brothers wrong.
For the most part, I lived a very normal life. I was going to school, I had a job, and everything seemed to be going well. Unfortunately though, it was not to last. Over time, the world political situation was becoming more and more unstable. A US Senator, Felicia Day, kept telling of having "dreams and visions" of a world where women ruled everything, and men were nothing but slaves. Day began to gather a rather large following, but for the most part, the world, and women in particular, saw this "Matriarchal World Empire" as it was called, as a joke. They shouldn't have.
On December 10th, 2018, the world as we knew it changed forever. Day and her followers, who seemed to be just as sick and deranged as their confirmed to be mentally ill leader, attacked the nations of the world, and everything plunged into chaos. WW3 had begun.
Overnight, everything changed. All of the militaries of the world were called to arms to deal with this terrible threat. It took almost 2 1/2 years, but it was doable. Day was more of an orator than a soldier, and she firmly believed that the world would just stop spinning, and that everyone would surrender to her if she told them too.
I enlisted in the Army, and over time I rose from a private, to corporal, to sergeant. Also working for us was the fact that Day's empire was very unstable. When she died of a brain hemorrhage, (to this day, nobody knows if she died naturally, or if she was murdered, not that anyone cares!) her followers were too busy fighting each other for power to deal with the rest of the world. In short order, the "Matriarchal World Empire" fell, and WW3 ended. Peace however would not come with the end of the war; WW3 was merely the calm before the apocalyptic storm.
For a year or so afterwards, the world began to repair itself, and re-population efforts were begun. However, a new series of pacifists came to power, and tried to make war, and even owning weapons illegal. Behind the scenes though, a new world order was rising. Calling itself the "One Race Empire", and led by King Malcolm X the 3rd, this empire vowed to wipe out all races that were not considered a minority. When they began to expand out from Africa where they started from, nobody was allowed to fight.
"All they want is peace!" World leaders declared. "Just let them have what they want; DO NOT fight them!"
However, one man, US President Gill Alexander, refused to capitulate. "These MONSTERS will NEVER stop! They are the ENEMY!!!! WE HAVE TO FIGHT THEM!!!!"
And fight them we did. King Malcolm ordered the US to surrender, and we refused. At Midnight, on February 4th, 2021, WW4 began. WW4 was the war that almost exterminated all of Humanity. While it started out as a conventional war, the later stages were fought almost entirely with nuclear weapons, and other WOMD's. Because of this, the Earth was on the path to being rendered completely lifeless.
For nearly 4 years the war raged, with neither side really getting anywhere. Eventually however, the lines collapsed, and the One Race Empire declared themselves the rulers of the world. All women were their property, and all majority races were their slaves. However, if they thought that it was over, they were wrong. DEAD WRONG!!!!
Most of the world's remaining fighting forces either retreated out to sea, or underground, and continued to fight back viciously. During the course of this war (WW4), US President Gil Alexander, and 5 of his successors either died, or were incapacitated. The 52nd President of the United States, Daniel Hudson, who himself was a former US Marine, continued the war efforts.
Also during this time, "Project Sterling" was begun; taking Human soldiers, giving them wolf DNA, and trying to turn them into super-soldiers. For the most part, the project was met with mixed results. It worked, but there were a lot of health issues that resulted from it.
The remainder of Humanity knew that they needed allies, and in their despair, they cried out for help, and someone heard them. A group rose from the shadows to help Humanity, though they were no longer fully Human themselves. Known as the "Futa Kingdoms", and led by the ailing Queen Boudica, the Futas rose up and fought alongside those fighting the One Race Empire.
Faced with the threat of a massive war, the ORE once more mobilized their forces, and prepared to take down the world again. WW5 had begun.
WW5, as well as its just as evil twin WW4, were the bloodiest chapters in Human history. It got so bad that we actually ran out of nukes! I was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant, and helped to lead forces in what was left of the western United States. We continued to drive the enemy back, but yet the more we won, the more people died.
Eventually, we all learned the horrifying truth. In place by the ORE was a contingency plan so that if the war was lost for them, ALL of Humanity, and even the Earth itself, would be destroyed! If they couldn't win, then NOBODY would! This plan had already been set in motion.
Deep down, we all began to fear that the only way that the war could be won was if the Black Race itself, which by this point many believed had well and truly become corrupted beyond redemption, simply had to be exterminated. With a heavy heart, Gregg Peterson, the 58th President of the United States, signed the orders that enabled the Allied Forces to use any and all means necessary to end the war before Humanity could be wiped out, including mass extermination.
I've tried to block out of my mind the horrors that we had to commit during WW5 to end the war. Some of us even went so far as to adopt the white KKK hooded uniforms so as to cause even more of a panic to the enemy. Such uniforms were provided for anyone who wanted one, and even those who DIDN'T want one! Even I myself ended up with one, although I tried to forget about it.
Finally, in the year 2022, everything was all over. WW5 was over, and the remaining 3 billion people on Earth were saved. How that was possible for a 5 year war that started in 2022, nobody knew. None of us seemed to age too much either. One theory suggested that the radiation and chemicals, as well as arcane ORE rituals somehow messed with the Laws of Time, but this has never been proven. What mattered though was that the world was safe, even if only for a little while longer.
In the aftermath of WW5, there were only a handful of countries left on Earth. There was the US, the Union of European Republics, (which constituted all of the countries in Europe except Russia, including Great Britain and Ireland) Russia, East Asia (There really were no Asian countries anymore) Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. All of Africa was rendered uninhabitable thanks to nuclear war, Canada was a largely a northern wilderness, Mexico was a desert wasteland, and Central and South America were largely unexplored jungle regions with only tiny populations.
With what little we had left, we all began to rebuild. The US had rebuilt its economy and infrastructure, and before too long was at least well on its way to getting back on its feet. The rest of the world depended on the United States, well, ALMOST the rest of the world anyway. The Futas had taken over what was left of Eastern Asia, and declared it to be their kingdom. We all watched them warily, and although they showed no signs of outright hostility, they weren't very friendly either. Eventually, Queen Boudica consolidated all of the Futa kingdoms into one empire; the Futa Empire. With herself at the helm, they began to thrive. However, in the year 2023, Empress Boudica, who had been ill for quite some time, quietly passed away. The rest of the world watched as her daughter, Demetria, took her mother's empire, and began to rule it.
Demetria made it VERY clear that the Futas did NOT want any more war, but that they did wish to be left alone, although they were interested in becoming allies, and business and trading partners with the rest of the world. Some tentatively accepted Empress Demetria's offers, but yet everything was about to come crashing down yet again.
In mid 2023, a Futa by the name of Stacy Rikker, who was not only a general, but also a high-priestess, and one of Demetria's 2 adopted daughters, decided that the time had come for the Futas to reign supreme. She began to gather her fores together, and told them that the time had come for war.
"The world is closing in on us!" She told them. "The Great Goddess has revealed to me that we MUST bring the rest of the world into submission! All males MUST be bound to us, and all females MUST be our brood-slaves!" The rest of the Futas cheered, and believing themselves to be doing the bidding of their Empress, whom they believed to be a physical representation of their Goddess, the Futas declared war on July 9th, 2023. Now WW6 had begun.
For a world still trying to recover from the brink of extinction, we all still fought as well as we could. The Futas first consolidated their power in the rest of Asia, before turning their attention to conquering the Middle East, and then they invaded Europe. The Europeans met them head-on, and made them take heavy losses, although they still pressed onward. Eventually, the Futas managed to reach Berlin, Germany, where they were driven to a complete halt. European forces, reinforced by British, US, Canadian, Russian, and even Australian troops managed to hold them there, and then drive them back outside of the city. Trenches began to appear about 10 miles away from Berlin, and the Futas dug themselves in for a long war. The same thing happened in other areas along the front in Europe, and the Futas never got beyond Berlin, or anywhere else north of it to the Baltic Sea, or south to the Adriatic Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.
At this same time, other Futa forces began to move deeper into the Pacific, and the Futas opened a second front against Australia. However, this campaign was plagued by problems from the very start. For starters, the Australians, as well as the New Zealanders, and the Tasmanians (from Tasmania, the tiny country just to the south of Australia), had been preparing for just such an attack on Australia. They met the Futas head on, and prevented them from getting very far. The Futas were soon driven back into the Pacific Ocean, and were forced to settle into a sort of siege against the country. Another factor working against them was the terrain, the local wildlife, as well as the weather. Away from the coast, Australia is little more than miles and miles of deserts, and almost uninhabitable brush-lands. Plus, Australia is also home to some of the largest, and deadliest spiders and snakes in the world, not to mention dangerous kangaroos, Emus, and other nasty critters. The weather was not very kind to the Futas either, and they were constantly having to deal with thunderstorms, monsoons, and even a few deadly wildfires!
And adding to their already VERY problematic woes were the remnants of the US Pacific Fleet, as well as the Canadian Navy, the Australian Navy, the New Zealand Navy, the Japanese Navy, and ships from India and China too, all based in Hawaii and Australia. Their mission? Not only keep the Futas away from Australia and New Zealand, but also try and deter them from attacking North America. These ships were CONSTANTLY harassing and attacking Futa shipping, as well as targeting warships, and even going after planes transporting war material! Because of these losses, the Futas were looking to open another front in the war; a mistake that would end up costing them fiercely. They already should have seen the writing on the wall with the stalemate in Europe, not to mention the back-and-forth game of chess in the Pacific, but they didn't. The war was about to take a VERY deadly turn for everyone.
Angered, and extremely frustrated by the losses in Europe and the Pacific, General Stacy decided to open a 3rd front in the war, and attack the cream of the crop; the United States itself. The new Futa campaign began in late September of 2023 with a massive blitzkrieg-style attack on Hawaii. Outnumbered and horribly outgunned, the US Forces, as well as all civilians abandoned the islands aboard what was left of the US Pacific Fleet stationed there, which then fled to either the US Mainland, or headed Southwest to Australia.
On October 1st, the Futas then began to move from Asia into Alaska with the same blitzkrieg speed that they'd used to overrun Hawaii. Then, on October 5th, the Futas invaded California, Oregon, Washington State, and Eastern Canada. Facing EXTREME resistance from EVERYBODY at EVERY turn, Stacy had no choice but to tell her mother what was happening. Somehow, someway, Demetria seemingly had absolutely no idea that WW6 was underway until her daughter told her! Stacy told her mother that they were attacked first, and were now were bogged down on 3 fronts in a horrible war. When Demetria heard about the situation in Europe, the Pacific, and North America, she was VERY skeptical of her daughter's claims, but yet she knew that she had to save her forces. She told those on the European Front to dig in and hold on, those in the Pacific to surround Australia as best they could, and to also take steps to try and limit breakouts by the Allied Pacific Fleet, while a number of divisions were sent to deal with the United States and Canada.
By January of 2024, the Futas had all of California, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska, and most of Idaho, Arizona and Nevada under their control, however, the heavy snows of the Rocky Mountain Winter hit them with a vengeance, preventing breakouts into Utah and Montana. Outraged, Stacy ordered MASSIVE missile and airstrikes on US positions, as well as pushes into New Mexico. We all held on throughout the Winter, but yet the Futas kept creeping closer and closer to the US Heartland. The rest of the world tried to help us, but alas, they were unable to due to the war in Europe, and keeping the Futas away from Australia.
By this point, I was now a captain, and my battalion, Firestorm Battalion, was helping to defend the northern and western borders of the US. Our home base was Sue Falls, South Dakota, and tragically, that would be where we took our last stand. By early May, the Futas were in North Dakota, as well as South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and the 63rd US President, John Dillinger, was trying to buy us room to breathe. Eventually though, we were all cut off. The Futas were literally all around us, and had reached Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, and Louisiana along the Mississippi River. We were the second to last battalion standing in the war zone west of the Mississippi River, and we vowed to go down swinging with everything that we had. We fought them to the bitter end in and around Sue Falls, and we did pulverize them for nearly 3 months until May 10th, 2024, but in the end, we were all killed; except for myself, and Todd Davis. We were both captured, and taken away to be sold to a Futa mistress.
To save his people, President Dillinger was forced to give the Futas all former US territory west of the Mississippi River, but threatened severe military action if the Futas tried to take more. On paper, WW6 was seemingly over, but in reality, it was anything but. The world had just sunk into the Second Cold War, at least on the surface. In many areas along the Mississippi River, and in some states such as Texas, not to mention in Europe, and the Pacific, the war never really stopped at all.
Once a "peace" had been reached, the Futas then turned to running their new new empire. Demetria knew that the peace wouldn't last forever, but she wasn't worried. In public, she played it out like everything was all ok for the Futas, but secretly though, Demetria had a plan. Ever since her rise to power, there had been unruly Futas (such as her daughter Stacy and those allied with her) who had tried to take that power away from her. Now she saw a chance to save the world, and hopefully bring about lasting peace.
"If I can get the REAL Futas to destroy themselves, all while secretly aiding the rest of the world, then maybe the war will FINALLY end, and maybe at long last, males, females, and Herms, can live side by side on equal ground."
(Fun fact: There are actually 2 types of Futas. "True" Futas have only male genitalia, XXYY chromosomes, and and are literally half female and half male, while Hermaphrodites, or "Herms" have both male and female genitalia, XXXY chromosomes, are 3/4 female and 1/4 male, and are capable of reproduction. Demetria was a Herm, while Stacy was a Futa).
One day though, Demetria decided to "adopt" a male from a "care center", and bring him to live with her in her new capital city in Las Vegas. Eventually, after scouting around, she came to a city called Des Moines in Farmland, (formerly Iowa) where from a care center, she adopted a male who appeared to be shell-shocked. His tag said "Scar" and he had brown hair, blue eyes, gray furry wolf ears on the top of his head, as well as a wolf's tail, and wolf paws. He was also naked, and he looked at her in fear. She learned from staff that he'd been confiscated from an abusive mistress, and was extremely fearful of everyone. She then looked down at him with tears in her eyes, before gently trying to pick him up. To the staff's shock, he actually let her! He snuggled close to her rather large chest, and seemed to be crying softly.
"Shh, it's ok Sweetie. Mamma Demetria's here to take good care of you. I will NOT let ANYONE hurt you EVER AGAIN!"
"M-mamma." The male said softly.
Demetria then looked at the staff. "Ok, that's it, this one's completely captured my heart. I just HAVE to adopt him!"
Long story short, she did, and she carried him away from that care facility, and onto her private train, pulled by Challenger 3985, and she began her trip from Des Moines back to Las Vegas.
"Wow, you're really cute." Demetria pet her new male softly while he snuggled in her lap. She sat nude, and held his nude body close to hers. The male snuggled close to her breasts, and gently began to suckle on one of them.
"Hee hee! That tickles sweetie! But yet you can do that if you want. I'm not able to give milk anymore, but yet my daughter Carla can, so if you want, I can give you to her."
The male said nothing. Demetria could see that he still seemed to be suffering from shock. She'd read the reports of his previous mistress, and what she read so thoroughly disgusted her that she threw up. She then sent her best forces to the prison where his mistress was incarcerated, and ordered them to make sure that she could stand trial.
"I want to watch her die for what she's done!" Demetria roared. She then pushed her soft brown hair out of her face, and looked down at her male. She then noticed his back. On it was what appeared to be gray fur, but yet it was also splotched with black. It seemed to resemble spots.
"Hmm, leopard spots." She mused quietly to herself. "Plus, 'Scar' seems to be such a horrible name for you Sweetie, and since the fur on your back resembles the spots of an Amur Leopard, I think that I'm going to rename you 'Leopard'. How does that sound Sweetie?"
For the first time since adopting him, he finally spoke. "Leopard? I........like it. I like it Mamma!" He then sat up, and kissed his new mom on the cheek.
And henceforth, I adopted the name "Leopard", for all time; both in honor of the Amur Leopard, and for the Empress who gave it to me.
Eventually, the train arrived back in Vegas. Demetria put her robes back on, and I was given a dark brown smock to wear with the number "11" on it.
"Sorry Sweetie, but this is all I have on hand right now."
I nodded. "It's ok Mom. This'll work very nicely."
We walked towards a large, black, pyramid-shaped building. "Whoa, what's this place Mom?"
"This is your new home Sweetie. This is the Palace Luxor!"
"Luxor? Like......the Luxor Hotel? Are we in Las Vegas?"
"Well, no and yes. No, this is no longer the Hotel Luxor, as I've had it fully refurbished into my palace, but yes, we are in Las Vegas."
We both then walked inside, followed by a number of servants and guards.
"What'll..........happen to me now?" I asked softly.
Demetria turned to look at me. "You'll be well taken care of Sweetie. You are NOT a slave, nor are you a servant, or a pet. You will be provided for by myself, and my daughter Carla. You will be given simple tasks of cleaning and repair work, which I know that you can do."
Before I could answer though, Demetria saw a figure sitting at a computer close by. "Hey Stacy?"
The figure looked up, and I saw that she had black hair, one blue eye and one green eye, and seemed to be pretty mean-looking.
"Ugh, what Mom?"
"Where's your sister?"
"The f@#k if I'd know!"
"HEY! Watch your mouth Missy!"
Stacy just rolled her eyes, and went back to what she was doing, which I saw was jacking off to porn.
"And PLEASE do that in your room! I DO NOT want to see you watching that garbage!"
"Fine, whatever Mom!" Stacy then stormed off through the hallways of the palace to an elevator.
"Selfish Bitch!" Demetria muttered. "Don't worry though Sweetie, my other daughter Carla is the exact polar opposite of Stacy. She's so sweet and kind, and I know that she'll love you to pieces."
I didn't know what to think about that, but I was still nervous about meeting Carla all the same.
Eventually, a servant told Demetria that Carla was in her room. Demetria led the way up there, and she also put a bow on me.
"Today is Carla's birthday. You're her present." Once we arrived at Carla's room, Demetria knocked on the door. "Hey, Carla? Are you in there?"
"Yeah Mom! What is it?"
"Open the door, I have a surprise for you!"
"Sure!" I then heard the sounds of feet on carpet, and when the door opened, I saw a very interesting sight. Carla was 6' if I had to guess, and she seemed to be very strongly built. She had a lot of muscles, as well as a few scars. She also had long, ginger colored hair that hung down her back, as well as soft green eyes, and even a number of freckles. She was wearing a sort of an apron that really didn't cover her too well, and I saw her breasts, and the bulge where her dick was. She was maybe a Double D in cup size, and her dick seemed to be somewhat large as well.
"What is it Mom? What's the surprise?"
Demetria then smiled, before stepping to the side, revealing me for the first time. "Happy Birthday Sweetie!"
When Carla saw me, her face immediately lit up, and she almost screamed! "EEEEE!!!! A male! And he's so CUTE!!!!!" She then scooped me up, and held me in her arms. "Oh, he's PERFECT Mom! I love him already!" She was hugging me tightly, and I hugged her back. Carla was just a gentle giant, even though she was only a few inches taller than I was.
Demetria just smiled as her daughter hugged her new male. "Well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted, but I'll check back in later, ok?"
"Ok mom!"
Demetria then closed the door.
When that happened, I almost panicked. I thought that I knew what was about to happen to me, and so did Carla. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy there Sweetie! I'm NOT gonna hurt you! Nor am I going to do ANYTHING to you unless you specifically ASK for it! I'm not THAT kind of girl!" To prove her point, she set me down on the floor again. I didn't run, but yet I still didn't fully trust Carla either.
"Do you have a name Sweetie?"
"I'm.....Leopard. Mom gave me that name when she adopted me."
I saw her smile. "Leopard. I like that name, it suits you!" She then went over to her bed, and lay down on it. She then picked up her book that she'd been reading, and started to read again.
"You're not like them......are you?" I asked softly. "You're.....the other kind, right?"
Carla turned to look at me. She then wordlessly moved her apron to the side, revealing her cock and balls. She then lifted up her balls, revealing what appeared to be a pussy underneath.
"You're right Leopard, I'm NOT like them. I'm a Herm. I have both a guy's junk and a girl's pussy! And it all works too! I could even get pregnant if I wanted too!"
"Do.......you want to?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes. More than anything in the world, I want to be a mom someday. But yet, I DO NOT want the father to be a Futa, or another Herm, I want a MALE father! But yet, nobody likes me like that. There's so few males that aren't slaves, and NONE of them want to father a child with a Herm. I have friends sure, but I'm so......."
"Alone?" I asked softly.
"Yes!"
I then walked over to her bed, and after climbing onto it, I snuggled close to Carla. "Well, not anymore Carla. You have a male who likes you now. I want to be with you." I don't know what it was that triggered my love for Carla. It just sort of.....happened.
Carla looked away from me. "No you don't Leopard. I'm......a freak! My mom died, my sister Stacy hates me, and my adoptive mom Demetria does love me, but why would you?"
I then turned her head gently back to face me, before I gently placed my lips onto hers. "Because in case you haven't noticed Carla", I whispered after breaking the kiss, "I'm a freak too!" I then indicated my wolf ears, tail, and paws, as well as some gray fur.
Carla then looked at me. Once she saw that what I had said was indeed true, and that we really weren't that different from each other, Carla pulled me in close, and kissed me again.
"You're very sweet Leopard, and each minute that goes by, I like you more and more. I'll happily be yours, provided of course that you be mine."
I was surprised. "Wait, do you mean that.....?"
She kissed me deeply. "I dunno Leopard, you tell me!"
It was then that I knew that I had a mate for life.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I began to get into my new routine, I slept in a small room next to Demetria, and most of my days were spent cleaning, and doing small repairs. It was also during this time that I had the displeasure of meeting Stacy, as well as her pet male.
"So, you're the one my sister adopted, are you?"
I turned to look at her. "Yes, I am. And you must be Stacy."
"It's MISTRESS Stacy to you Wolf-Freak!"
"Oh. I'm sorry, 'Mistress' Stacy." I said, trying to hide my sarcasm.
"You'd better be Freak!"
It was then that I noticed the figure standing next to Stacy. He was really short, looked to be almost anorexic, was wearing a black smock, and had blue eyes. What really creeped me out about him though was that his entire face and head, except for his nose, ears, mouth and eyes, was covered by bandages! His hair poked out of the bandages in places, and oddly, it appeared to be blue in color.
"What.......happened to you?" I asked him gently.
He glared at me. "The.....Americans! THEY did this to me! They TORTURED me! They took my face away from me!"
"Yes, yes they did" Stacy murmured softly, stroking her pet. "Now then, come along Sally, we have things to do!"
"Yes Mistress Stacy!" He then followed her.
"Sally?" I thought to myself in disbelief. "His name is SALLY?!"
When I asked Carla about him later, she gave me a worried look. "Stay away from him Leopard. That.......thing......is dangerous! He's insane, and he likes to try and attack. I don't know where the hell in St. Louis, Stacy got that freak from, but I just wish that he would hurry up and die! She calls him 'Sally', but I've also heard him referred to as 'Face'. I don't know what happened to his face though, but part of me doesn't WANT to know!"
I agreed with Carla there. What I didn't know at the time though was that not only had I just met the saboteur who would almost destroy the Battleship Express one day, but I also saw what he looked like BEFORE he was known to the world as Sally Face!
All throughout my stay with Demetria, I continued to suffer from nightmares related to PTSD. For the most part, Demetria was there to help me, but one night she wasn't. She was away on an important visit with military leaders in Texas, and I was gripped in the throws of another nightmare.
I woke up screaming, and in my panic, I ran out of my room naked! (I always slept like that since Vegas IS in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Don't judge me!) I then remembered what Carla had told me.
"If you ever need me Leopard, just come and see me. You know where my room is, and I'm not the heaviest sleeper ever either!"
I took her up on her advice. I made my way to her room, before throwing the door open, and closing it tightly behind me.
"Huh.......what.....???? Who is it?! What's going on?!" Carla was sitting up in bed and looking at me. She then turned on her bedside lamp. When she did, I saw that not only was she nude as well, but her ginger hair was hanging down her back too.
"Huh.....? Leopard? What is it, what's wrong?" She then saw the terrified look on my face. "Is it.......the nightmares again?"
I nodded slowly. Carla then scooted over in her bed, before lifting up the covers. "Well, we can fix that can't we? Climb on in, and I'll keep you warm tonight since Mom's gone."
I did so, and after walking over to her bed, I climbed in, before Carla let the covers back down, and I snuggled close to her.
"There, feel better Leopard?" She then felt a few small nips, and when she looked down, she saw me suckling from her breasts. "Aww, you thirsty? Well, luckily for you, I can actually produce milk from my breasts. Most Herms my age and younger, as well as a bit older, can."
"How old.....are you Carla?" I asked her softly.
She looked down at me. "Sweetie, you don't ask a woman her age! However, since I'm a Herm, and I like you, I'll tell you. I'm 25. How old are you?"
"22, I think." I answered softly.
She then looked at me again. "Hey Leopard?"
"Yeah Carla?"
"We've.......been together for a while now, and I........do have feelings for you, just as you have feelings for me.....but um......w-would you be willing to take it all the way......w-with me?"
I looked up at her with a bit of fear. I knew what that meant. Whenever a male was "bound" by a Futa, it usually involved rape, and he also then became addicted to her cum. The only reason I was spared from this fate was because my former mistress was a lunatic addicted to her appearance, and used her males as slave labor.
"And I know what you're thinking Leopard, but let me tell you it does NOT work that way with us Herms! What I mean by that is that I want YOU to bind ME! I WANT to be yours Leopard!" She then lifted up one of her back legs, revealing her wet slit. "I NEED a male like you in my life Leopard, so come on. Take me now, and make me pregnant with your offspring!"
I was shocked, but yet I knew what to do. If Carla wanted me so badly, then she was going to have me. I will admit, it was weird having sex with a Herm, but Carla helped me get through it. Carla later discovered that she wasn't ovulating that night, so she didn't get pregnant, but she vowed to try again.
In the aftermath of multiple attempts, Carla twice got pregnant by me, and both times she miscarried. She was absolutely devastated. She knew that it wasn't my fault, but she still blamed me a bit anyway. Nevertheless though, she did want us married in order to break to HUGE social stigmas surrounding Male X Futa relationships. I was truly happy with Carla, but sadly my joy was not to last.
On the day of our wedding, there was an attempted Coup against Demetria. The Loyalists prevailed, but yet I was captured in the fray, and after being drugged, and shipped off to a farm auction in Nebraka, I was sold off to a Futa who owned a ranch in Kansas.
My new Mistress, Samantha "Sam" Applegate, although she sorta LOOKED like Carla, she definitely was NOT her! She was easily 3 times my size, and would sometimes hold me down in the barn while she had her way with me. I tried to fight at first, but I eventually just gave up, as I did grow to be somewhat fond of Sam. She definitely wasn't evil; she was just a bit misguided.
However, all was not as lost as it appeared to be. One day, I got a chance to talk to another male on the ranch. His name was Don Curry, and he introduced me to his friend, Jeff Coleson, as well as 3 other males on the ranch; Joe Dixon, Frank Otis, and Russ Thompson. They then revealed that in secret in an old bunker underneath the ranch, they were building weapons. They showed me, and I began to help them.
Over time, we began to build up more and more guns, as well as recruit a number of males from nearby areas who also wanted to help overthrow the Futas. Eventually, our bunker was discovered by Jim Bender and his team of engineers. Jim was a local leader of a brand-new US Army sub-branch known as the "Railway Warfare Division". Jim's group was based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and they offered us a place within the RWD, as they had a train, but no guns. We helped them, and during this time a concept that had been previously hatched was brought into the light. A short time before Jim found us, on blueprints made out of a discarded roll of wallpaper, Jeff, Don, Joe, Frank, Russ and I all drew up the plans for a train; a train that would one day become the bane of the Futa's existence once we'd shown the plans to Jim and his engineers. That train came to be known as "The Big One", after the engine that pulled it, Big Boy 4009. Later on though, it would be given a different name, one that would strike FEAR into the hearts of the Futas; the Battleship Express!
Eventually, under the cover of darkness, in August of 2026, we smuggled the train, and all of our weapons out of Kansas, and back to the United States. (The US still fully existed, and was still everything East of the Mississippi River).
Once we arrived there, we took the train to New York, and once it was at the RWD War Train Manufacturing Plant (formerly the ALCO Locomotive Works) in Schenectady, began to fully put everything together. Slowly, over a period of almost 3 months, we took a lot of individual parts, and turned them into a mammoth 32 car war train, armed to the teeth with almost every kind of weapon imaginable, from machine guns, to artillery guns, to railguns, to 16in. guns, and even nuclear shells, now believed to be some of the last nuclear weapons on Earth! Eventually, under the command of Major Jeff Coleson, and his subordinate, Captain Don Curry, with Jim as the Chief Engineer, and myself reinstated as a Captain, now acting as the train's 2nd engineer (aka, the second of the 3 men to drive her), not to mention 212 other crewmen, and an entire battalion of our own, we were ready to take the Futas back on again and win!
On December 28th, 2026, in the grip of a blizzard, St. Louis fell under attack by US forces as they fought to liberate the city! St Louis and the surrounding areas fell, and they became the first in a series of stepping stones on our way to liberate the rest of the United States from the Futas. From one city to the next, the Army, Air Force, Marines, Railway Warfare Division, and even the Navy and Coast Guard where applicable, fought back against the Futas. We didn't win every battle, but by the thaw of Spring, we'd liberated all of Missouri, Minnesota, Louisiana, and most of Iowa and Arkansas.
The Futas did fight back fiercely, but what they didn't know was that their own Empress and her loyal followers were conspiring against them. Demetria knew all along that the US would eventually declare war on the Futa Empire, and once she learned that I was still alive, she and I would, (on rare occasions) meet up via Skype, and lay out a plan of attack. I was still loyal to the US, but yet I knew that Demetria was trying to help us get our land back, in exchange for her life, as well as the lives of Carla, and her loyal followers.
On and on our drive went. We did take losses, sometimes heavy, but we never gave up. By the middle of Summer 2027, we'd liberated most of the Dakotas, as well as most of Nebraska, Kansas, and by the Fall, we were moving through Oklahoma, and down into Texas. Texas though would be the turning point in this war.
All throughout this, Carla and I had still secretly been seeing each other. She was still upset about her miscarriages, and one night, she and I had really rough, angry sex at a dirty motel in Amarillo before she cut me off. I tried to reason with her, and she said that she would talk to me again if she could have a normal pregnancy. What neither of us realized though was that in the aftermath of that night, Life Found a Way. Carla was ovulating, and some of my swimmers found an egg inside of her, and fertilized it. Carla was now pregnant again, and she didn't even know it yet. Eventually, after a string of really weird feelings and seeming illnesses, she went to a doctor, who told her to take a pregnancy test. She did so, and it came back positive! She tried several more, and ALL of them came back positive! Carla was so happy that she told her mom Demetria, and vowed that after her next battle in Austin, TX, she would let me "capture her", so that she could be kept safe, and not miscarry again. Unfortunately though, Carla wouldn't get that chance. During the battle, Carla was believed to have been fatally wounded. She was never mentioned again by the Futa leadership, and I was more than just devastated. I had lost my second wife; the only Herm that I ever loved aside from Demetria. How does one recover from that?
Carla had never gotten the chance to tell me that she was pregnant, so I never knew. In reality though, she wasn't dead; just severely wounded, and close to death. Carla was in a coma, and was moved back to Vegas where she would be fully cared for, and nurses back to health. Shockingly, this time she never miscarried! Everyone did assume that she would die, or that the baby would die, but neither of them did! Eventually, with us staying the Fall in the Rocky Mountains in 2028 while still trying to fully retake Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana in the months following Face's sabotage of Big Boy 4009, Carla woke up from her coma just long enough to give birth to a son. He had blue eyes, reddish-brown hair, a few freckles, gray wolf ears, and a wolf's tail.
"His name is Leo", Carla whispered. "I'm naming him for his father, Leopard."
However, for a reason that Demetria wouldn't reveal to me until much later, she never told me that I had a son, or that Carla was still alive.
Our drive continued onward. Barring the "incident" in Boulder, Colorado in April of 2028 where Face tried to destroy the train, and it got knocked out of action for nearly 4 months, we were able to press on. Our drive West was powerful, and nothing was stopping us. About a year prior to this though, during the Summer of 2027, was when I met my pet wolf Aurora for the first time.
During the Battle of Lake Sacajawea in the woods of North Dakota, she came bounding up to the train. We could tell by her harness that she was a military dog, possibly even an experiment into a new type of combat dog. However, we learned that the base that she used to call home, Fort Nightingale, was wholly wiped out, and since I had PTSD, I decided to take care of "Aurora", as it said on her harness. Aurora became the closest thing that I had to a friend since losing Carla, as well as my 3rd wife Lilly, and she seemed to sense my pain too.
"I'm just glad that I have someone like you close at hand Aurora", I whispered to her softly. "Without you, my mind would be well and truly lost. I've lost 3 wives now, and 2 infant children. How does one cope with that?"
"I know Master", She said gently. (She had the ability to talk, thanks to medical enhancements). "I'm just glad to be here for you. You're the only family that I have now that I've lost everyone else."
"As have I Aurora. My family is dead, and all I have left is my adoptive mother Demetria. Which is why we HAVE to save her Aurora, we just HAVE to!"
Our campaign pushed onward still.
Eventually, in the early Fall of 2028, we made a breakout through Montana, and after reaching Idaho, were able to push into Washington State! Our beeline drive took us all of the way to Seattle, and then beyond it to the Pacific Ocean! America was now once again a nation from "Sea to Shining Sea" in a sense, but there was still work to be done. Soon after this, after pushing south through the rest of Washington State, the Battleship Express joined the Army, Air Force, and Marines, and in a joint operation, with aide from the Navy, managed to reach Portland, Oregon. We managed to retake the city, as well as other cities and towns around it on the Oregon-Washington State Border, but due to bad weather, and heavy Futa resistance, the Navy was unable to launch an amphibious landing of Oregon from the Pacific. Then adding to this, the Battleship Express was ordered to the Southwest, as there was trouble in Arizona and the American drive through the rest of New Mexico from Texas.
We soon had the situation in New Mexico under control, and by end of the Winter of 2028-29, we'd pushed the Futas through the desert in Arizona, and back into California. Unfortunately though, due to them destroying all of the bridges behind them as they crossed the Colorado River into California, as well as major fortifications along the river, we were forced to abort chasing them that way.
"Blast!" Major Don cursed to himself. "Now it looks like we'll have to get them through Nevada." (Don had been promoted to Major to replace Jeff Coleson when he was killed in Nebraska saving the lives of men trapped inside of one of the train's gun turrets).
And get them through Nevada we did. After securing all of Utah by early May of 2029, our first attacks into Northern Nevada enabled us to take cities like Reno and Carson City, before working our way Southwards. First we made it to Lund, and then to Alamo before the Hoover Dam was taken back by US forces, cutting off Vegas's power supply. After this, other US Forces pushed the Futas back almost to California on the western side of Nevada, and they, as well as those of us on the northern, eastern, and southern sides of Vegas began to dig in, and get ready for the massive upcoming battle in the Futa capital. Soon we were ready, and on June 8th, 2029, the Battle for Las Vegas began. The Futa capital was soon to fall, and all of the remaining Futas in Nevada who weren't on Demetria's "Nice List" would hopefully be able to burn with it.
While all of this was happening though, in a surprise move in Europe, the Europeans and their allies broke through the Futa lines outside of Berlin on June 7th, 2029, and in fairly short order drove them out of Germany, through Poland, and by the Winter of 2029 had driven the Futas back into Russia as far as Moscow! Meanwhile in the Pacific, using Australia as a staging base, troops from the various Allied Nations, reinforced by various ships from the US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Japanese, Chinese and Indian Navies invaded first Japan on June 8th, 2029, then what used to be China and India by the Spring of 2030, and began the drive against the Futas there.
However, just when it all seemed to be coming together, back in America during the Battle of Vegas, everything fell apart.
Just when it looked like Las Vegas was going to be ours, we were given a VERY nasty surprise. Unknown to everyone, even Demetria herself, Stacy had a large number of nuclear weapons hidden underneath Las Vegas, both bombs and missiles that were aimed at various sites around southern Nevada. Her plan was to wipe out all of the US Forces in the area in one go, while Demetria's train escaped towards California. Once the back of what she called the "Male Resistance" was broken, then the Futas would be able to drive them all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, and then into it. Stacy was so deluded that she believed that the North American, Canadian, European, Asian, and Australian forces were little more than a tiny resistance cell, and once they fell, the Futas could reign supreme once again. Um, no. These were the militaries of the world, operating at their full strength, and slowly whittling down the Futas. The Futas themselves were losing, and badly, all over the world, but yet Stacy refused to acknowledge it.
Eventually, when the smoke from "Operation Fireball" as Stacy called it cleared, it revealed little more than a horribly irradiated Mojave Desert. Las Vegas was almost completely gone, although the Hoover Dam did manage to remain standing. Other cities such as Henderson were also nearly annihilated, and others, including Reno and Carson City, were hit by radioactive sandstorms, and at least partially buried in sand. Losses on both sides were in the hundreds of thousands, possibly even low millions (think Somme Campaign in WW1) and for nearly 3 months, all fighting in the US seemingly stopped as both sides struggled to recover from this massive disaster, and loss of leadership.
Then, when the American drive resumed again in early September of 2029, it was met with less and less resistance. The Futas were rapidly running out of steam, and 2 months later, their last outpost in California fell, with the last Hawaiian garrison falling a week later. Once Hawaii was secured, the drive turned to the North, with the rest of Eastern Canada, and then Alaska being invaded by the Allies by land and by sea, with both regions being secured by the end of 2030. 2 and a half months after this, in early March of 2031, the last Futa outpost in Eastern Russia fell to the European forces, and about a year after that, all of Asia was finally cleansed of the last traces of the Futa's filth as well.
Finally, in April of 2032, aside from a number of Herms, the last of the Futas had been wiped from existence forever. WW6 was over, and FINALLY the world was at peace! Now those remaining on Earth could finally begin to rebuild what was lost, as well as finally being able to try repopulate the planet, as total world population now did not exceed 3 billion people.
Through it all though, after the Battle of Vegas, the Battleship Express, as well as its supply train Iron Glory, disappeared, and no traces of them could be found. Most people believed that they had been obliterated, but the REAL truth was far more interesting. In reality, the trains crossed over a set of lay-lines that existed outside of Vegas, located underneath the tracks. We passed over those lay-lines at just the right moment, and were instantaneously transported to another dimension. WW6 may have ended for us with the Battle of Vegas, but our REAL adventure was only just beginning!
For the longest time after I lost Carla, I NEVER believed that I would ever find love again. Huh? What's that? What about my first wife Ell, and my third wife Lilly? Why didn't I talk about them at all in the last chapter? Well........remember what I said about tying to bury certain aspects of the past, and never......*sniff*.....never.......bring them up again? Well......*starts sobbing* I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT ELL AND LILLY!!!!"
What was I trying to talk about? Oh yeah, Rainbow Dash. As I was starting to say, after I lost Carla, I was beginning to believe that I would NEVER find true love again. However, all of that was about to change. Soon I would find the love of my life, and it would all start by the Battleship Express leaving Earth, and winding up in Equestria.
The first time that I ever saw Dash, at least in person, was when she and the rest of the Wonderbolts were the ones who attacked the Battleship Express when it first arrived, believing it to have been stolen by the Imperial Alliance, and being used to further invade Equestria. Dash, Soarin, and a few others on their team were the ones who attacked the cab, and fought with myself, Alex and Todd for control of the train.
Dash was the one who grabbed me from behind, and eventually I was able to twist myself around and face my opponent.
"Oh no you don't Missy! Wait.......RAINBOW DASH!?!?!?!?!"
She was equally shocked. "What the?! HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!?!?!?!"
Before we could really discuss this too much further though, Todd yelled to the rest of us that the boiler gauges were almost past the red line. In record time, Alex and I were able to swing into action, and after shutting off steam, as well as opening a series of valves to let more steam release safely, I slammed on the brakes!
The train came to a stop outside of Ponyville Station, and with steam surrounding us, all of us in the cab blacked out.
Eventually, I did manage to regain consciousness. When I did, I saw that I was lying at the base of the backhead, right next to the engineer's bench.
"Gosh.....what....happened?" I muttered. I could see Alex and Todd, as well as those who'd attacked them, and to my shock, now that I saw them in the light of day, I could see that they weren't Futas at all!
"They're......P-Ponies! Wonderbolts if my eyes do not deceive me!" And indeed they were. They were anthros, wearing their Wonderbolt jumpsuits, and I was able to identify them as Soarin, Misty Fly, Echo Fleetfoot, High Winds, and even Rainbow Dash!
"This is.....too weird!" I then got up fully, and I looked out of the cab window to the train's right. What I saw equally shocked me. There was a small train station, and beyond it I saw a town. All about were other Ponies, and they were all staring, pointing at the train, and seemingly all talking at once. I also spotted Don talking with a group of them.
"Ok, so, assuming that I'm not crazy, hallucinating, dreaming, or dead, the Battleship Express is currently sitting outside of Ponyville Station, in the town of Ponyville! And if this is Ponyville, then that means that.....!!!!!" My brain couldn't even accept us being in Equestria as even being a faint possibility.
"IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!!!!" I then began to climb out of the cab, and down to the ground below. I saw that the engine had overshot the station by a good 100 feet or so, although as I was climbing down, the others began to regain consciousness as well.
I saw Dash start to get up, and when she did, she looked directly at me! Even though I was still wearing my Kitsune mask, I could see her magenta eyes were locked onto my blue ones.
"Who......are you? And better still, WHAT are you?!"
"We're Humans. And as for who I am, I'm just a nobody from nowhere." I then finished exiting the cab, and once I was on the ground again, I began to walk towards the front of the train.
As I was walking though, I heard something hit the ground behind me, and I half-turned to see Rainbow Dash following along behind me.
"Where are you going?"
I sighed. "Up to the front."
"Why?"
No answer.
"Hey, if you're still sore about me attacking you in the cab, I'm REALLY sorry about that! I thought that you guys were the Imperial Alliance, so I was just doing what I was supposed to do!"
I still didn't answer.
"And why do you wear that freaky fox mask? Was your face damaged or something?"
"Yes. I got burned in an accident."
"Whoa! What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it!" Once I reached the front of the train, I climbed up onto it, and once I reached the roof of the pillbox, I sat down on it, and seemed to be staring off into space.
Dash then sat beside me, and tried to continue her conversation. "So why won't you talk to me?"
"Because I don't talk too much."
"Come on, I said that I was sorry for attacking you. We can be friends, right?"
I didn't answer.
"You're really mean!"
I sighed, before turning a bit to face her. "I'm not mean, I'm just a Tsundere."
Before Dash could ask what that meant though, Don and Twilight came up to the front, and Don informed us that the Princesses would be arriving shortly.
Over the course of the next couple of hours, all of us in Battalion 4009 learned of the Caribou and the Zebras, as well as what their plans for Equestria were.
I was with Don when the Princesses revealed their story to us, and I was outraged. "How can these....MONSTERS be allowed to exist?! If I had to guess, they're just the Futas that we killed in WW6.....reincarnated as males!"
When we informed the rest of the crew about the situation at hand, not only were they equally outraged, but they also wanted the Zebras and Caribou to be mounted to a wall as well.
After a brief but violent skirmish with a scouting force, we all knew that the war had come to Ponyville, and that we would have to fight!
The Battle of Ponyville, which took place that very same night, was the high water mark of the Imperial Alliance. While I was out fighting, Dash, and the other Element Bearers, who were still present at the time, were all taking shelter on the train. Dash was in the Secondary Command Center, while the others were in the Primary Command Center.
While her friends were taking shelter, Dash was able to pick up a gun and use it to fight back. Though she was only able to notch 11 kills, her contributions were later found to have been life-saving. While we were searching the battlefield later, we found the bodies of 2 Caribou who were holding a fully-armed rocket launcher. The launcher had been pointed at the train, and with cold logic, we realized that if Dash hadn't killed those 2, then they easily could have blown up the engine!
When I told Dash about this later, all she did was blush a bit. "Aww, shucks Stud, I was just doing my job to protect Ponyville! If I saved your train, then that's just a bonus!"
I sighed. "Well, bonus or not, you saved lives, as well as property, and for that I offer you my greatest thanks."
She shrugged. "Well, you're welcome Stud!"
We all then began to plan out our next battle.
After the turning point that was the Battle of Las Pegasus, never again would the Caribou have the strength to seriously threaten Equestria again. Also, the few Diamond Dogs who survived the battle, as well as Minotaurs, did surrender to Equestria. This just left the Griffons, and a number of Dragons as well.
Still to this day, it well and truly baffles me as to why the Imperial Alliance didn't field the Dragons against us more. They could have EASILY brought severe hurt to us, but yet we rarely ever saw them in combat.
As General Stuggs said later when interrogated, "We wanted to, and believe me, had the Imperial Alliance lasted until Baltimare had been attacked, you WOULD have faced more Dragons! However, due to the fiasco that happened to the Zebras in Appaloosa and Dodge City, our invasion of Baltimare was cancelled. We all fell back to the Caribou Empire, where we would remain for the rest of the duration of the war."
"But what of the Dragons though? Why didn't we face them in places like Carlon, Donneth, or even other cities?"
"You did. However, you all figured out that not only can your.....um, what were those radioactive bullets called again?"
"Um, do you mean depleted uranium? If so, then it's not radioactive."
"Yeah, those. You all figured out that they can be used to take down not only War Beasts, but Dragons as well. As more and more Dragons fell, others began to desert the Caribou, or flee elsewhere. The remainder of them and the Griffons all died along with the Caribou at Bryerton. They're all dead."
Not all of them were though. Those who survived left with Danin and his band, and were now in the Undiscovered West.
The REAL turning point in the war though was what went down during the Battle of Appaloosa. During that battle, the train that carried the 4 Element Bearers, as well as wounded soldiers back to Ponyville, was attacked, derailed, and all onboard who didn't die in the crash were captured. All of those who were considered unimportant to the Zebras were later liberated during the course of the battle, but those who WERE considered important were all packaged away to the Zebra Empire.
When Zakia revealed to Don, Alex, and I what he was doing to our marefriends, that was it. He had just signed the death warrant for his entire nation, and he didn't even realize it.
While others were angry, NONE of them had the spirit of King Sombra inside of them, and because I had him with me as well, I was more than just angry; I was borderline Super-Sayan!
I vowed that I would never rest until Dash was safe, and that those responsible for taking her were wiped from existence. My anger fueled an almost animalistic rage inside of me, and this rage helped to give Sombra strength, and to make him more and more powerful.
"Soon", He thought to himself "Soon I'll be strong enough to leave Leopard behind, and once I have my full powers back, I will be unstoppable!"
The campaign through the Zebra Empire was one of mass casualties on our enemies, and a battle every few days, with at least a raid nightly. The Zebras had no clue where we were at any given time, and as such we were able to take FULL advantage of that! Most of the battles were fought at night, or began at Dawn, and since the enemy had no night-vision capabilities, they were unable to spot us in the dark.
The Zebras dropped like flies, and those precious few that we did capture were largely female. A few officers were taken in for interrogation, while a few others were used to send messages to Zakia that not only were we coming, but no mercy would be shown when we did.
The biggest battle of the first half of the campaign was the Battle of Zandia, overseen by General Tarrath. We took Zandia by storm, and although the battle began at Dawn, it took a number of hours to complete the drive. I did get injured by Tarrath, although I hit him with 3 shotgun blasts, which did kill him.
Due to the effects of Tarrath's gun, I did have to have Bat-Pony DNA added to my own, so as to help balance out the damage to my genetics. Initial estimates put my total genetics as 50% Human, 45% Bat-Pony, and 5% wolf, however, later tests showed it to actually be closer to 55% Bat-Pony, 40% Human, and 5% wolf. I had a bit more Bat-Pony in me than Human! With this process being complete though, it was time to get on the rails again; destination Zebrica!
Zebrica was the last major battle of our Zebra Empire campaign, and it was the one that shattered what little was left of them.
At Dawn, we attacked Zebrica, with our destination being the Imperial Palace where we knew that the hostages were being held. Using our bulldozers, loaders, and tractors, we hauled troops into Zebrica once the Battleship Express took down the walls, and then we fought our way through the city.
It got so bad that most of the Zebras that we faced were absolutely suicidal. "It was really bad", I recalled later. "Even though we were inside of our construction machines that had been given armor and bulletproof glass, as well as additional roll-cages, we were still getting hammered hard by bullets. We did have to call in the gunship, and thanks to Lt. Hughes and his troops, they were able to give us the room that we needed to push onward. Thank God for Lt. Hughes!"
Eventually, we did manage to breach the Imperial Palace, and after a series of brutal firefights, we reached the throne room where the hostages were being held. A team sent to the basement were able to secure the remaining medical staff who had been taken hostage, and after creating a diversion, we breached the throne room.
In short order, all of the defenders were killed, and Zakia was taken prisoner to be held onboard the train until further notice. Unfortunately though, only half of the hostages were present. We saved Dan, Applejack and Twilight, but Dash, Cole and Pinkie were sent off to the Caribou Empire.
After failed negotiations, we all saw the truth; the Caribou Empire would have to be invaded as well.
"Just hang in there a little bit longer Dash", I thought to myself, "I'll be there soon, and when I arrive, there will be HELL TO PAY!!!!"
After nuking the rest of the Zebra Empire, we were on our way again. Little did we suspect at the time though that our campaign against the Caribou Empire would be the toughest fight of the entire war. The Caribous were masters of war, as they were a warrior race. They were well armed, and well defended by mountains, forests, and rivers. Their seasons were all wonky, and even though we invaded in July, Winter fell upon us! We were facing severe blizzards and snowstorms, to say nothing of freezing temperatures, and aside from the battles in Marrow, Dock Town, and Lake Town, and Bryerton, the entire campaign was fought in the snow.
We fought bravely on, but yet it was one small blunder on our part that would prove to be the greatest asset of our entire campaign. Just after the Battle of Rendale, we were on our way to Donneth on a treacherous stretch of rail line that ran through the Highland Mountains. This was the most treacherous section of the tracks, and we were running it at Dawn in a snowstorm! One misstep could have gotten all of us killed!
In the end, we made it through the mountains, before crashing into a huge series of snowbanks at the bottom that almost completely buried our train. Enemy search teams were sent out to see if they could find us, but thanks to us using the snow to hide ourselves, they never did.
Because the enemy thought that we were dead, we were able to use the greatest psychological warfare tactics that had ever been witnessed. First, 9 of us, dressed in tattered uniforms and enhanced with Magic, as well as disguised with makeup, became the "Undead Harbingers", and attacked the town of Hilden, completely wiping out the town.
Next, we used the Battleship Express itself, and after disguising it to look like it had been destroyed a long time ago, we turned it into a "ghost train", and were able to use it to terrorize the Caribou.
Finally, it was down to just the last 4 cities in the Empire, Carlon, Danton, the capital city, Donneth, and one more city, Bryerton. With the fall of those cities, the sun would set on the Caribou Empire for the last time.
It was decided that Carlon and Danton would fall in the night, and after a short 15 minute break, we would attack Donneth. By this point, more reinforcements from Equestria had also arrived as, and we were all ready to go. Little did we know though just how impacting the battles ahead were going to be.
I was overseeing the attack on Carlon, while General Shining Armor and his forces took on Danton. At 2am, with 25 degree temperatures, and light snow falling, the battles began.
Both of these cities were major military hubs, as well as breeding farms and training centers for War Beasts. The attacks began without a hitch, and although we did have to wipe out a number of airships, not to mention their home base, we were able to press on.
Eventually, my team made it to one of the military academies, which also housed a LOT of War Beasts! We were attacked, although we did discover that depleted uranium bullets could kill the War Beasts. However, while my group was trying to hold off a War Beast stampede, Sombra took control of me again, and he showed me how to tame a War Beast. It was during this battle that I was introduced to Argus, the Alpha-War Beast that I tamed with Sombra's magic, and used as my mount for the rest of the war.
Eventually, Carlon and Danton were ours, and the Battle for Donneth began. Donneth was HANDS DOWN the TOUGHEST campaign of the entire Imperial War! We'd NEVER seen this amount of suicidal resistance! The enemy came at us in such waves that 2 hours after the battle began, we'd barely managed to move 150 yards from where we'd breached the city's walls!
However, our gunship "cut down" some of our odds, and we pressed onward. After some of our men were killed by a fatally wounded Caribou with a rocket launcher though, I completely snapped. I let Sombra dictate my actions, and from that moment, until my final battle in the throne room, Sombra and I were one and the same!
We kept up the attack, and eventually the Imperial Palace was breached. With Argus by my side, and more soldiers trailing along behind us, we were able to make our way up to the throne room, where not only did I slaughter the remaining Caribou guards, but I also fought Prince Dactyl in a quick duel, before I defeated and almost killed him. Dash and Pinkie were saved, and the Battle of Donneth was over.
"I'm SO glad that you saved me Stud!" Dash whispered as we rode Argus out of the palace.
I sighed. "It was my pleasure Dash. You mean EVERYTHING to me, so it was something that I HAD to do!"
"Well, I'm just glad that you did, and that not only did you save us, but you also almost ended the Imperial War as well!"
"Well, yes and no Dash. Yes, I helped, but no, it wasn't just me: it was a team effort. We ALL did our part to help topple the Zebras, as well as most of the Caribou. The final battle of this war will be in Bryerton, and then the war will FINALLY be over!"
"And then we can go home?"
I nodded. "Yep, and then we can go home, and begin our new lives."
Dash hugged me from behind, all while leaning her head on my shoulder. "Hmm, yeah, our new lives. You and I, with Spitfire too, all getting married at some point, before settling down to raise a family of foals. At a future date of course, I'm NOT ready for foals just yet!"
I laughed a bit. "Neither am I Dashie, neither am I!"
We continued to talk about this the rest of the way back to the Battleship Express.
From Donneth, once the occupation forces moved in, the Battleship Express began her journey to her last battle, the Battle of Bryerton. She never had to fire a single shot, as Bryerton was entirely a ground operation. Once the city fell, (and I was treated for getting hit in the helmet with flying debris!) We all fell back to Donneth, as the last of the occupation forces moved in.
The next morning, Dactyl, Stuggs, and Rodin signed the surrender documents, bringing the Imperial War to a conclusion. We all then prepared for our trip from Donneth back to Ponyville, where we'd started from nearly 2 months prior.
Once we were back in town, we were treated to a hero's welcome. All who stepped off the train were swarmed by a mixture of family, friends and fans, and for a good long while afterwards, nobody could really get more than a few feet away from the train!
The victory ball was scheduled for that Saturday, and one by one, we all began to try and settle into our new lives.
In the aftermath of the ball, not to mention getting roughed up by both Windy Whistles and Stormy Flare for sleeping with their daughters, we also had to deal with building the Imperial War Museum, and the constant controversy with Spoiled Rich over it.
However, I had managed to make a new life for myself, as well as Aurora. After moving back into Dash's house, all 3 of us began work on making it a home.
Just like I'd originally thought, Dash was more than happy to let me display a few of my war trophies around the house. Eventually, I planned on building a trophy room once we expanded onto Dash's house at some point, but for the time being, I made do with what I had.
On the walls I hung a few guns, as well as a few Caribou and Zebra heads, pictures of the battles, while Caribou and Zebra fur rugs adorned a few floors, and I even had some Griffon battle armor as well. The highlights of my collection though were in 3 glass display cases on the second floor, in a spare room that I turned into an office.
In the first case was Aurora's battle armor that she'd worn for almost a year during WW6, as well as all throughout the Imperial War. With that armor, she'd killed countless Caribou and Zebras, and even a few Griffons! Aurora was VERY proud of her armor, and she waited for the day that it would be placed in the war museum with other war relics.
The second case was perhaps the most interesting, if not the most morbid. It was the taxidermied body of General Tarrath, complete with the armor that he was wearing when I killed him! He still looked just as fierce behind glass as he did the day that I pumped him full of lead.
"Just keep standing there Tarrath", I muttered as I sat down at my desk, "You're still the pride of my collection!" Also sitting on my desk was my famous Kitsune mask that I'd worn from the day that Face tried to destroy the Big Boy, until the end of the Imperial War. I removed it a few times in between, but for the most part I never removed it, and now it adorned my desk.
However, the last display case was the most interesting. Inside it was a mannequin, but on the mannequin was Sombra's full armor, complete with the cape, and his staff/weapon as well! On the helmet was a replica of Sombra's horn, but the original horn I kept safely locked away.
"With great power, comes great responsibility." I kept telling myself. Even though I could still use Sombra's powers, I chose not to, and instead I kept his horn locked safely away in a secret compartment in my safe.
As I was sitting there though, looking over all of my war trophies, Dash walked in. "Hey Stud!"
I went over and hugged her. "Hey Dashie."
Dash then turned her head a bit, and looked over at the case containing Sombra's armor. "Hey Stud, why don't you use Sombra's magic more? I know that you can."
I sighed. "I don't, because it causes migraines, as well as nose-bleeds, and other severe pain for me. My body wasn't meant to use magic like that on a regular basis, so that's why I just don't."
Dash then turned a bit to look up at me. "Well, even though you don't, I still love you all the same." She then kissed me gently.
I kissed her back. "Yeah, I know Dashie, you tell me that all the time!"
She giggled. "Well, I just love you that much Stud!"
"I know Dash. And I love you too. You are my marefriend after all."
I then got back to work on what I was doing, while Dash went to report for Weather Duty.
Over the course of the next month, Dash and I really began to grow closer and closer together. I knew that we were made for each other, and even her mom, once she'd gotten over her anger, saw that we were a loving couple as well. However, there was at least one other who was not convinced; Don.
I went to talk to him one day about marrying Dash.
"So you want to marry Rainbow Dash, do you?"
"Yes Sir, I do."
"And are you SURE that she's the right mare for you Leopard?"
"As sure as I can be Sir. I risked life and limb to save her, and we both love each other very much. We have great chemistry, and I think that God's calling me to marry her."
Don sat back in his chair. "I still don't know Leopard, but yet if you are certain, then I won't stop you. HOWEVER, I see the need for the tradition to continue."
I looked at him confused. "Um, what tradition?"
"Remember? The 'Transfer Ceremony'. Required for all train crew marrying outside of the battalion."
I knew what that meant. "Well, if you feel that it's necessary Don, I won't object to it." I began to leave.
"And when exactly were you looking on proposing to Rainbow Dash?"
I sighed. "Soon. My plan was to take her on a picnic to the Rainbow Waterfall at sunset, before proposing to her in front of it."
Don nodded. "Sounds interesting Leopard. Well, I wish you the best of luck with it."
"Thanks Don." I then left to head back to work with the museum.
Sure enough, by the end of that week, with help from those who knew how, I'd taken a piece from the Big Boy that was going to be scrapped, and had it remade into an engagement ring. I then gathered a few friends, and to them I laid out my plan.......
"Wow Stud, this picnic is awesome! I've ALWAYS wanted to see the Rainbow Waterfall at night!" She and I were walking down the trail to the waterfall. Behind us came Todd and Fred, as well as Spitfire, and even Dash's mom Windy was there as well. Todd and Fred were filming, and Windy wanted to capture the moment that I proposed to Dash as well.
Eventually, we reached our destination. "Wow! This is AMAZING!!!"
I was equally impressed. Even in the light of the setting sun, the waterfall was indeed impressive, and you could still see a rainbow in the mist from it if you looked at it at just the right angle.
I then took a deep breath. "Hey Dash?"
"Yeah Stud?"
"You wanna......wade out to the base of the falls for a picture? I REALLY want to capture this moment!"
She nodded. "Sure Stud, I'm even wearing my swimsuit!"
"As am I Dash." We both then stripped down to our swimsuits, and then, holding each other's hand, we waded out into the pool at the base of the falls. (What we were doing was perfectly legal, and swimming was actually encouraged there, as it helped to keep algae at bay).
The water was a little bit deeper than I thought that it was going to be, and it easily came up to our waists. "Uh oh", I thought. "Will I be able to propose to her while still keeping my head above water?"
We both then turned around, and after wrapping our arms and wings around each other, Dash leaned her head on my shoulder a bit, and we both smiled for the cameras of Fred and Windy.
"Is....he about to propose to her?" Spitfire asked softly.
"I think so", Todd answered. "He wanted a picture at the base of the falls, and then he was going to propose."
All 4 of them continued to watch, waiting for the signs that I was about to propose.
In all actuality, I was PETRIFIED! I hadn't ever done anything like this before, and I didn't know how to react! Eventually though, I was able to find my courage, and I then gave Todd the signal before turning to face Dash.
"Hey Dash?"
"Yeah Stud?"
"Before we wade back, I just have one thing to say. Ever since the first time we met, even though I was a little bit of a jerk, you still seemed to like me. Over time, I did begin to grow rather fond of you as well. However, once you were taken away from me, I vowed to NEVER rest until I had hunted down those who had taken you! In the end, I did get my mare back, the same mare that I'm talking to right now, as well as the same mare that I pledged to marry one day....."
Dash was starting to get the feeling that I was about to propose to her. However, she wanted to hear the end of my speech, so she decided to wait it out and see what I said next.
".....And finally, that brings us to this moment. Dash, I love you, and I want us to be together forever. Which brings me to my final question." I then reached my hand into the pocket of my swimsuit, before pulling something out, and after taking Dash by the hand, I kneeled down in water that came up to my chin, leaving only my head, arms, and the tops of my wings above the water!
I then revealed that the object in my hand was a small, black box. I then opened the box, and revealed the engagement ring.
"Dash, will you marry me?"
When Dash heard me say that, she immediately slammed her hands over her mouth, and began to blush deeply. Eventually though, she looked at me with tears in her eyes. After removing her hands from her mouth, she pulled me back to my paws.
"YES!!!! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!!!! YES!!!!! THIS IS SO AWESOME STUD!!!!" She then pulled me close to her and kissed me deeply.
"Aww!" Windy was all goo-goo eyed over what she was seeing.
"Lucky bastard", Fred muttered.
"Eh, I dunno Fred. Your time could come soon too, ESPECIALLY with Lyra, am I right?"
Fred glared at him a bit. "I don't know Todd. Part of me says yes, while the rest of me says no."
Spitfire was equally happy. "One day soon, that'll be ME instead of Dash! Soon we'll BOTH be sharing Leopard until death does us part!"
Dash and I stayed out a little bit longer until we both headed back to shore.
Soon, Dash and I were planning for our wedding. We locked in the date to be September 15th, 2029, which was just 11 days shy of my 25th birthday.
Dash wanted the wedding to be in Cloudsdale, but yet I knew that we couldn't do that, because of how most of my friends couldn't walk on clouds. Spitfire offered to let us use a section of Wonderbolt Academy, but I quietly reminded her that WE were going to have to use that for our second wedding, as polygamy was still HIGHLY frowned upon!
Eventually though we were able to come to a compromise. In Cloudsdale, there was an area that was used for weddings between mixed couples who wanted to have their wedding in Cloudsdale, but only one of them could fly. It was open to the air, but yet fully covered as well. Dash would have her wedding in the sky, which was her domain, and I would be able to invite those who couldn't fly, as it would just be a simple matter of docking an airship or balloon close to the building.
One night though, about a week before the wedding, I was walking back towards the Big Boy, when all of a sudden, Todd came running up to me.
"Hey Leopard?"
"Yeah Todd?"
"I was just up in the cab, and there seems to be something wrong with one of the boiler gauges. I tried to find Alex, or one of the other firemen, but I couldn't. Could you come look at it? It was showing a higher reading than the other gauges."
I nodded. "Sure thing Todd." I then followed him back to the engine.
When I arrived, I climbed up into the cab, but when I checked the gauges, nothing seemed to be wrong. "Um, Todd, are you sure that you were looking at the pressure gauges? I don't see anything wrong!"
"I'm sorry Leopard."
"Huh? Sorry for what?"
"There's nothing wrong with the gauges. They just told me to lure you out here, and I went along with it. Please don't hate me!"
"Wait WHAT?!?!"
Before I could really react further though, a hood was suddenly thrown over my head, and I was dragged out of the cab, and away from the train!
Eventually, I felt myself get sat down in a chair, before the hood was removed.
"SURPRISE LEOPARD!!!!!"
I looked, and to my shock, I realized that I'd just been kidnapped for my bachelor's party! I was sitting in the locker room of the Wonderbolt Academy, surrounded by both male Wonderbolts, as well as a few Battleship Express crew, including Alex, Andy, Fred and Todd too.
"DARN IT YOU GUYS!!!!! What were you trying to do, GIVE ME A F@#KING HEART ATTACK?!?!?!"
Soarin laughed a bit. "Nah, we were just trying to get you up here for your Bachelor's Party! And from what I just heard, Spitfire's just kidnapped Dash for her Bachelorette Party as well!"
I just put my hands over my face. "This is NUTS!!!! And now I'm scared, because at some point in the future, you'll probably do this AGAIN for when it's my turn with Spitfire!"
Soarin smirked a bit. "Heh, you know it Buddy! But come on, Bachelor Party!"
I rolled my eyes, but yet it WAS a party, so I complied. It was a mixture of drinking, dancing, playing cards, karaoke, arm-wrestling contests, and other all-guy activities, including a......no. On second thought, let's NOT talk about THAT contest!
Anyway, It was a fun night, we all enjoyed ourselves; even though I did slap Soarin across the face when he kissed me, but I did that out of panic. I don't know what his deal was, but I was sitting there, and he sat in my lap, and kissed me! I freaked out and slapped him.
"OWW!!! What the heck Bro?!" He then flew out to a balcony close by. After thinking about it for a bit, I did go and apologize.
"Hey, Soarin?"
"What?" He was still holding his face.
"I'm SOOO sorry for slapping you like that. It was just an instinct-response. You kissed me, and I freaked out and slapped you!"
"So, you're sorry?"
I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Yep, I'm sorry!"
Soarin blushed really hard, but he didn't say anything at first.
"Oh, and for the record Soarin", I then whispered in his ear, "Out of all of the guys in the Wonderbolts, I think you're the cutest!"
"Wait, do you really mean that?"
I kissed him on the nose. "Yes, yes I do!"
He smirked at me. "Well then, you'd better watch yourself Cutie. Your next Bachelor's Party could just be a private one with me and you in my bedroom!"
"Ooh, you're a naughty stallion, aren't you?"
He smirked at me. "And can I PLEASE get one more kiss before we have to call it a night?"
I looked up at him. "For you Soarin, sure." I then rubbed his sore cheek a bit, before leaning in and kissing him. I will not lie, Soarin was actually a pretty good kisser!
Suddenly though, I heard a *click!*. I turned, and to my horror, there stood Alex! He was holding his camera, and he was smirking.
"Oh! Just WAIT till Rainbow Dash get's a load of this! Her future HUSBAND is kissing on of her MALE teammates!" He then began to laugh.
Suddenly though, I grabbed his camera, ripped out the SIM card, and then tossed it off over the balcony's ledge! It had a LONG way to fall before it hit the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry Alex, what were you saying?"
"MY CAMERA!!!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?!?!?!?!"
"Well, to get rid of the evidence obviously! Now it's your word against mine an Soarin's, and as we all know, you do NOT have a very good track record!"
Alex then stormed off to go and see if he could find his camera's SIM card, while Soarin and I went back to the party.
Eventually though, the day of the wedding arrived. The weather Pegasai made sure that it was a bright and sunny day. The setup for the wedding in the Cloudsdale pavilion was coming along marvelously. I'd already decided that Todd was going to be my Best Man, and Dash decided that Spitfire was going to be her Mare of Honor. It was also decided that Don would be the ring, bearer, and that Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom would be the flower girls.
(During the rehearsal, Andy, on a dare from Alex, actually pantsed me! Don yelled at him for doing it, and I vowed to get him back for pulling my pants down like that! And I would, at Alex's wedding......)
In the Bride's ready room, the Bride, her bridesmaids, and a few others were all getting ready for the wedding. Rarity was helping Dash get into her dress. It was a beautiful white dress, with cyan-blue trim, and even a few rainbow-colored bows. Dash had her mane draped over one of her shoulders, and was wearing a broach of her Cutie-Mark in her mane as well.
"You look simply FABULOUS Darling!" Rarity was saying, "This is some of my FINEST work!"
"I still CANNOT believe that I'm a bride! It feels like just yesterday that I first met Stud when he first arrived here in Ponyville, and now we're about to get married!"
Her mom hugged her. "I can't believe that my little Dashie's getting married!"
"Mom, come on, you're embarrassing me!" She did hug her mom back though, and soon the music began to start.
"Uh oh, time to get to our positions!" After pulling down her veil, Dash and the rest of them all of them scurried to do so.
In the other ready room though, it was a whole different ball-game. I was all dressed up in my formal uniform, but I couldn't do it. I was completely freaking out, and hyperventilating into a paper bag!
"Guys, I CAN'T DO THIS!!!!"
"What?! What do you mean you can't do it?!"
"I mean that I CAN'T! I made that vow to Lilly to love her forever, and now I'm about to break that vow!"
Don then grabbed me by my shoulders. "Leopard, look at me! Once again, you're blaming yourself for Lilly's death. There was NOTHING that you could have done! That plane was already shot down and out of control. It hit that weapons car, and Lilly, and 3 of our best technicians and 2 soldiers were lost. There was NOTHING that could have been done! Lilly's death released you from your vow to her. I know that she's up there in Heaven right now, looking down on you and smiling. She's HAPPY that you found love again, so yes, you CAN do this Leopard!"
I then stood up straight and tall. I knew that Don was right. "You're right Don, I CAN do this! So let's go!" We all then left the ready room so that the transfer ceremony could begin.
Once we were in the atrium outside of the wedding hall, Don looked at me. "Are you ready for this Leopard?"
I sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be Don."
"Ok then, name?"
"Captain Leopard."
"No, you're REAL name!"
"Campbell."
"Name of your Beloved?"
"Rainbow Dash."
"And you do love her, do you not?"
"Yes Sir!"
"And do you vow to love her until the bitter end, no matter what?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Ok then, hand please." I then gave him my hand, and sure enough, he poked my finger with a sterile needle enough to draw blood, and under my name at the top of a list, I put a bloody fingerprint just below it. After this the music began, and the wedding got underway.
After some coaxing, Father Charles agreed to perform the wedding ceremony. Once he was ready, he went to the front of the room, and stood just in front of the podium that was up there. Then the wedding began.
First, the groom, Best Man, and his groomsmen walked in, followed by soldiers from Battalion 4009, who stood at intervals along the aisle. Also accompanying me was Aurora. Rarity had made her her own dress for the wedding, and now she was happily trotting at my side on the way up to the front. Once she reached her designated post, she stopped, sat down, and when I walked past her, she saluted me with a paw. I then stepped up to the front next to Father Charles.
Just then, the music changed, and then the bride walked in. When Dash walked down the aisle accompanied by her dad, with her bridesmaids and Mare of Honor behind her, everypony stopped and stared at her. Eventually though, she reached the front of the wedding hall, where she joined her Beloved in front of Father Charles, and she turned to face him, and took his hands gently into her own.
Father Charles then looked at us. "Now then, are both of you ready to begin?"
"Yes Sir, we are!"
"I'm ready Father Charles."
"Ok, good. Now then, the rings please Don." Don brought them up to the front.
Father Charles then turned to me. "Now then, do you, Captain Campbell, take this mare, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times and the bad, to love faithfully, until death do you part?"
I nodded, before taking my ring, and putting it on Dash's finger. "I do! I take you Dash, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times and the bad, to love faithfully, until death do us part!"
Father Charles then turned to Dash. "And do you, Rainbow Dash, take this man, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times and the bad, to love faithfully, until death do you part?"
Dash looked at me with tears in her eyes, before she took her ring, and put it on my finger. "Yes, I do! I take you Stud, to be my lawfully wedded husband! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times and the bad, to love faithfully, until death do us part!"
Father Charles then turned to the audience. "Now then, do any of you have any objections to this union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
Out in the Audience, Zephyr was about to object, but before he could, Jim, who was sitting next to him, pulled him back into his seat. "If you object I'm gonna bust your ass right here! Dash belongs to LEOPARD, and Leopard ALONE!"
"Y-yes Sir!"
Unfortunately however, before Father Charles could pronounce us married, one of the Equestrian soldiers, Len, suddenly got sick and projectile vomited all over the floor!
"Oh, OH GROSS!!! LEN, NOT THIS AGAIN!!!!" (For any who don't remember, Len also got sick during the Battle of Lake Town, and almost gave us away. Now he just did it again at my wedding!)
"Sorry Everypony!" He was then escorted out of the wedding hall, and thanks to a few unicorns who were present, the vomit was quickly cleaned up.
Father Charles then looked a little bit queasy. "Ok, barring things like that, does anyone have any objections to this union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
This time nothing happened.
"Nobody? Well ok then! By the power vested in me as presider over this wedding union, I now pronounce you both man and mare! You can kiss the bride Captain!"
I then lifted up Dash's veil, and after she held me close, I kissed her passionately.
The crowd then went wild for us. Once we were out of there, it was time for the reception. After we'd cut and fed each other a slice of cake, everyone and everypony else got a slice, before it was time for the couple's first dance. Our song wasn't the most conventional ever, but it sure did get our point across!
Then, others joined in as well, and we all had a lot of fun dancing. Eventually though, it was time for the wedding couple to leave. Dash and I were only going as far as the Grand Hotel in downtown Cloudsdale, but still, traditions are traditions!
Alex, Todd, and a few others tied up some old utensils to the back of our wedding carriage, and just before we left, it was time to toss the bouquet and the garter.
"Everypony ready?" Dash asked.
"Oh yes!"
"Watch out, here it comes!" Dash tossed it, and to her surprise, it got caught by Scootaloo!
"Wow, great catch Squirt!"
"Thanks Rainbow Dash!"
I then got ready to toss out the garter. "Look out, here it comes!"
"Back up guys, that garter's MINE!!!" In one quick (or rather dick!) move, Soarin grabbed the garter in midair, before proudly showing off his prize.
"Wow, um, nice catch there Soarin. But anyway, Dash and I have somewhere to be!" We both then began to leave for our carriage.
"Alex, Todd, Fred and Andy? You guys take care of the Big Boy until I get back tomorrow, got that?"
They all saluted. "Yes Captain Leopard!"
"Good! Well then, I guess bye for now guys, and I'll see you all tomorrow!" And with that, Dash and I both boarded our wedding carriage, and raced off for the Cloudsdale Grand Hotel. Normally, we would have been racing off to our honeymoon, but Dash and I both decided to wait until AFTER I'd married Spitfire for that, so that the 3 of us could all go together, (and so that we could save money!) For that night though, the Grand Hotel would be all that we would need.
Spitfire watched us pull away. "Soon Stud", she thought to herself, "Just a little bit longer, and then it'll be MY Big Day!" Spitfire then began to day-dream a bit on what her wedding was going to look like.
Chapter 14: Birthday Surprise, a Long Night, Legal Repercussions
The next afternoon, once Dash and I had returned to her house, I checked with Don and because of my wedding, he gave me the day off. Currently, I was sitting at my desk in my office, going over the blueprints for when Dash and I enlarged her house.
Our plan was to make the house about 3 times larger than its current size, and include more bedrooms, a trophy room, and a number of other rooms as well. I also didn't tell Dash, but for her next birthday, which would be in February, I was planning on adding an indoor pool! She'd told me all about how she'd wanted one, but yet hadn't been able to afford one.
"Well, then I hope that you enjoy your present Dash", I thought as I looked over the blueprints again. We knew that we would have to wait until Winter to begin construction, since that would put the War Museum's construction on hiatus for the season, and would therefore leave us time to build the extra additions to our house.
As I was looking over the blueprints though, I suddenly got a funny feeling. It felt like something was a bit off, but yet, I couldn't place what. I then glanced to my left, and to my surprise, I saw a file sitting on my desk. I picked it up, and I realized that it was the legal document that bound Dash, Spitfire and I together. For some reason though I felt drawn to the file.
"Hmm, I wonder why I feel the urge to read this again", I thought. I opened the file, and began to read.
Sure enough, everything seemed to be the same as the last time that I'd read it, right down to where I'd added my own signature in blood. "Huh, I guess that I was just imagining.........wait a minute! What's this?" I noticed that the document had a second page to it.
I picked up the second page. It looked just like the first, and at first I thought that it was just a copy, but then I saw that it wasn't. Dash's name was on it, and there was a blank space for my name, but I also saw that there was another name as well.
"Huh? Who's 'Raddingo'?" I then looked up from my desk. "Hey Dashie?"
"Yeah Stud?" I eventually heard her reply.
"Could you come up here please? I'm REALLY confused about something!"
"On my way Stud!" She then popped into my office a minute or so later. "What's wrong Stud?"
I held up the document. "This. This is what's really confusing me. I can see the document that binds you, Spitfire and I together, but then I noticed this second page. Your name is on it, and I see the space for my name, but who's this 'Raddingo' Pony?"
Dash looked at the file, but she didn't say anything. Eventually though, she smirked. "Heh, I KNEW that you were going to find this eventually Stud! I made this for you!"
I looked at her confused. "Um, what now?"
"I made this for you! It's going to be your birthday present Stud!"
I looked at her like she was crazy. "WHAT'S my birthday present Dash? You're making NO SENSE right now! What is this other document?!"
Dash giggled a bit. "It's another legal binding contract like the first one. However this time, since I was the one who got the original contract drawn up, it allows me to bring one final Pony into the contract. Basically Stud, your birthday present this year is a 3rd wife!"
When Dash said that, my jaw hit the floor, and NOT because I was thrilled!
"Dash, you WHAT?!?!?!?!?! You brought ANOTHER mare into our relationship?!?! Wha........I don't even......wait. Does SPITFIRE know about this?!"
Dash nodded, but then, she shook her head. "Well, yes and no Stud. Yes, she knows about the contract, and don't worry, she's cool with the idea of sharing you with one final mare, but yet she doesn't know WHO she is! And no, NEITHER of you will know until your birthday Stud!"
I looked at Dash in shock. "Dash, don't EVER do ANYTHING like this again without telling me! It's already hard with you being my wife, and Spitfire being my soon to be other wife, but now a 3rd wife?! This is INSANITY!!!!"
Dash continued to giggle like a school filly at my outburst. "Gosh Stud, I thought that you'd be a lot happier than this! However, maybe you'll change your tune a bit once you meet her. And before you start guessing, no, you haven't met her before. Don't worry though, she's cool. In fact, she's the COOLEST mare in all of Equestria, aside from Spitsy and me of course! Oh, and if you want another hint, just take the word 'Raddingo' and unscramble the letters to form her name."
"But.....that's it? You won't give me any more hints?"
Dash shook her head. "Nope! You'll just have to wait and see!"
I then began to think about the rest of the legal implications. "But.....some day, I'll also marry her?"
"Yep! But maybe not for a while longer, as we DO still need time to settle into our new lives, and with Spitfire joining us soon as well, not to mention us building onto our house, there's still time for you to get to know her better."
Dash then left me alone with my thoughts, promising to be up a little later to talk more.
For hours and hours, I poured over the document. Not only was I looking for a loophole, but I was also trying to find out what the mare's name was. I couldn't find a loophole, but yet I was also unable to figure out her name.
"'Raddingo'. There's SO many combinations for the letters of this, but even assuming that I DO get them in the right order, Dash said that it was a mare that I've never met, so how will I even know if I'm right?!"
Eventually, I gave up. However, I got the feeling that Spitfire might have at least a guess, so I wrote "Raddingo" onto a slip of paper, before leaving for the Wonderbolt Academy.
When I arrived there a while later, I knocked on Spitfire's door. "Who is it?"
"It's Leopard Spits. Can I come in?"
"Sure! Come on in!"
I did so, and I saw Spitfire sitting at her desk. She looked up when she saw me. "Stud!" She came over and hugged me.
I hugged her back. "Hey Spitsy! How are you doing?"
"Eh, pretty good, and you? How are you enjoying married life?"
I laughed a bit. "Well, it hasn't quite been 24 hours yet, so it IS kind of hard to answer that question, but for now at least, I can say that it's going pretty well!"
"Well, that's good to hear Stud! However, I get the feeling that you want to talk to me about something?" I nodded, but before I could say anything, Spitfire beat me to it. "Wait, before you say anything, can I have one guess? Are you here to ask me about that final addition that Dash made to our legal contract?"
I looked at her with wide eyes. "You.....know about that?"
Spitfire nodded slowly. "Yeah, Dash was working on it just before her bachelorette party. She got it notarized on the way home, so it is legal, but yet she wouldn't tell me who the other mare was, only that 'She's cool. In fact, she's the coolest mare in all of Equestria, aside from you and I of course!' That was the only hint that she would give me though."
"I got that too, but she also gave me this." I held up the slip of paper.
"What's that?"
"It's the mare's name, but the letters are all scrambled up."
Spitfire took a look at it. "Huh, 'Raddingo'. Have you made any progress with it yet?"
I shook my head. "Unfortunately, no. That's why I came to see you; I was hoping that you would have more answers for me."
Spitfire sighed. "Well, sorry to disappoint you there Stud, but Dash wouldn't tell me anything either. I REALLY wish that she would though, as the thought of sharing you with yet ANOTHER mare still really unnerves me!"
"You and me both Spitsy! But today is September 16th, so that means that we wait 10 days, and then we'll have our answer."
"Yeah, but still, what if it's a mare that you either don't like, or doesn't like you? What then?"
I sighed. "That's what I'm worried about too Spitsy. That's why I REALLY wish that Dash didn't do this without consulting me, or even you, first! I mean, even if she told you and you were ok with it, then that would be enough for me, but all of this secrecy, and only Dash's promise that I'll love it is what's got me all tied up in knots!"
"I can agree with you there Stud, I'm just as nervous as you, but yet, I do trust Dash, and since she IS the Element of Loyalty, I do trust her judgement, and I hope that this all comes out ok."
"So do I Spitsy."
After talking to Spitfire a little bit longer, I left to go back home to Dash.
Over the course of the next couple of days, both Spitfire and I tried to coax ANY kind of information out of Dash regarding the mysterious mare, but Dash was more stubborn than an old mule.
"I've already told both of you, you'll just have to WAIT! I'm NOT going to tell you guys ANYTHING!"
I'd just about made myself sick with wonder, just as Spitfire had just about made herself sick with worry. Dash though knew that everything was going to be just fine. In fact, while I was helping to build the museum and Spitfire was at the Academy, Dash took Aurora out for a walk, and met up with the mare in question for lunch.
"Hey you!"
"Oh, hey Rainbow Dash! How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm fine. You?"
The mare smiled. "As good as I can be, I guess. Anyway, has Leopard figured it out yet?"
Dash shook her head, smirking a bit. "Nope! He hasn't, and neither has Spitfire!"
"Heh, then won't they BOTH be surprised then! And how are we going to do this again? Am I going to be popping out of a cake in my bikini?"
"Yeah, they sure will! And no, not a cake. I was thinking that you could be inside of a large box, and then while Stud begins to unwrap it, you just open the lid and stand up. Don't pop out, as I do NOT want to cause a PTSD related incident for him, but I KNOW that he'll be surprised anyway!"
"Heh, yeah, I KNOW that he will be, ESPECIALLY now that he'll have ME for a wife as well!"
While Dash and the other mare continued to laugh about what they were planning, Aurora watched them both. The other mare was one that she'd never seen before, but yet because dogs weren't allowed inside of the restaurant, she had to wait outside. She was trying to peer through the window, but she really couldn't get a good look at the other mare.
"Blast! So close, but yet so far! I guess that I'll just have to wait and see too."
Aurora sighed, and went back to waiting for Dash to finish her lunch so that she could go.
Eventually, the big night arrived. September 26th, 2029. I should have been turning 51, but somehow I was still only 25. It didn't make any sense, but yet I'd given up on trying to explain it a LONG time ago!
My day was spent helping to build more of the metal framework for the museum, as well as wondering what that night would bring. Others wished me a Happy Birthday, and I did get a few cards and small gifts, but Dash said that my REAL gift would be coming later on that night. Eventually, once work stopped for the day, I returned to Dash's house to see what I could see.
When I arrived there, I saw that most of the lights were off, although there was soft lighting coming from the kitchen.
I walked over to it, and then walked inside. "Hey Dash? You in here?"
Suddenly though, the lights came on.
"SURPRISE!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STUD!!!!" Dash, Spitfire Aurora, and Tank all popped out from behind the counter.
"Whoa! Hey guys!"
Aurora jumped into my arms. "Happy Birthday Master!"
I hugged her. "Thanks Aurora!" I then got a chance to look around the kitchen. There was a "Happy Birthday" banner with the number "25" on it, as well as a few streamers and balloons. There was also a large chocolate cake, on which Dash had put 25 candles, and I could also see that Spitfire was holding a gift too.
"You guys really did all of this just for a guy like me? You shouldn't have!"
They both hugged me.
"Of COURSE we did Stud! I'm your wife!"
"Just as I'm your soon to be wife as well!"
I hugged them back. "Well, in any case, thank you. You guys have REALLY just made my day!"
Dash smirked a bit. "Heh, I don't know about that Stud. I mean, the night is just beginning after all. We've still got LOT'S more to do!"
We all then got ready to celebrate my birthday.
Dash said that we were going to wait on the cake for a while longer, but in the meantime Spitfire did give me her gift. The box was a bit flat, although it was slightly long. It appeared to be a clothing box.
"I REALLY hope that you like it Stud. I had it custom-made just for you!"
"Well, whatever it is Spitsy, I KNOW that I'll enjoy it!" I was hoping that it was a bathrobe, but what I got was WAY cooler than a bathrobe!
When I saw what was inside the box, I gasped in shock! "Spitsy! Is this....?!?!?!?!"
She smirked. "Uh huh! What do you think of it?"
My brain swore that my eyes were deceiving me, but yet there it was. In my hands, I was holding a custom-made blue and yellow Wonderbolt Jumpsuit! It even had goggles with it! Spitfire had just given me my own Wonderbolt Jumpsuit!
"EEE!!!!" I screed happily before locking Spitfire into a hug. "This is AWESOME Spitsy! How could I ever thank you?!"
She just laughed. "Hee hee! Well, I'm glad that you like it Stud! And as for thanking me? Well, you could always start by putting the jumpsuit on so that I can see how you look in it!"
I nodded slowly, before excusing myself to the bathroom, jumpsuit and goggles in hand.
When I emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, I looked like a fully-fledged Wonderbolt. I didn't have the hood part pulled up over my face though, I just had it handing down my back like a hood. I was wearing the goggles on my forehead though.
I turned to face her and Dash. "Well? How do I look girls?"
Both of them took pictures of me.
"You look like you could become a Wonderbolt Stud! I'd be HONORED to fly in a show with you!"
"Yeah, what Spitsy said! You look AWESOME Stud!"
"Heh, thanks Girls. I DID have to strip down to my boxers to get inside of the jumpsuit, but now that I'm in here, it's actually really cozy! Not rough at all, and the fabric is so soft! What are these things made of?"
Spitfire shrugged. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't know what it's actually called, but we just call it 'Wonderbolt Fabric'. Anyway though, I'm glad that you like it Stud. Maybe sometime soon, I can get you to help me a bit at the Academy. We kinda NEED someone with your expertise to help with some of the more troublesome recruits, and maybe, just maybe, you could become a Wonderbolt yourself!"
I hugged her again. "Well, again, thank you Spitsy, and while I would be more than happy to help with the troublesome recruits, I just don't think that I'm cut from the right mold to be a Wonderbolt. I'm too muscular, and built to fight, not fly at high speeds. Plus, I'm a Bat-pony, not a Pegasus, isn't that an automatic disqualification?"
"Eh, it COULD be, but yet since you are at least PART Pegasus, maybe we could make an exception for you, ESPECIALLY since I'm the Captain, and I get to make the rules!"
I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Maybe. I'll see when the time comes Spitsy."
However, before Spitfire could reply to that, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Dash looked up. "Oh, she's here! Your present's here Stud!" Dash then went to the front door. After opening it, she hauled a large red gift-wrapped box inside.
Spitfire and I both looked at each other. My future was inside of that box. Who was in there? And most importantly, what would she be like?
Dash then moved the box into the living room, before grabbing her video camera and beginning to film.
I then walked over to the box before gently knocking on it. "Um, hello? Whoever is in here, I'm going to unwrap this box now, so PLEASE do not jump out at me! I have been known to have panic-induced punching fits, and I DO NOT want to hurt you!"
"I know!" Came a voice from inside. "That's why Dash told me to just let you unwrap the box before I stood up and revealed myself to you Leopard! I don't want to get hurt either!" The voice sounded muffled, but most likely this was due to the box itself.
"Ok, well, I'm going to unwrap the box now." I then took hold of the wrapping paper, and began to unwrap the box.
I had no idea what I was getting into, and neither did Spitfire for that matter. Any second I was wating for somepony to pop up from out of the box, but whoever was inside politely waited for me to finish unwrapping it.
"Ok, I've gotten the box unwrapped, but yet how does it open? I don't see any edges!"
"And you won't! This is a special box that opens from the inside. However, it IS getting kind of stuffy in here, so are you ready to see me yet? Are you ready to FINALLY see who 'Raddingo' is?"
I looked over at Spitfire, who shrugged. I then looked at Dash, but she just smirked, and nodded at me. I then turned back to the box. "Ok then. Whoever you are, you can come on out now. I'm ready for you!"
In all actuality, NO, I was NOT ready for her! When she finally did pop up, and I saw who she really was, I was so shocked that I literally fainted!
When I finally came around again, I was still lying on the floor right where I'd fallen. I felt something warm and wet licking my face, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Aurora licking my face.
"Master? Master! Are you ok?!"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine Aurora!" I then sat up again, and when I did, I once again found myself face to face with the mare from the box.
I then saw that she had tan fur, magenta colored eyes, and a mane and tail that were varying shades of grey. She was also wearing a black bikini that fit her somewhat slender, yet muscular frame perfectly. She had maybe D cup breasts, just like Dash, and she was also smirking at me a bit, and she had a pith helmet on her head as well. Her Cutie-Mark was also a compass.
Suddenly, in my head, "Raddingo" began to unscramble. It all became so clear to me now. D-A-R-I-N-G D-O!
"D-D-DARING DO?!?!?!??!"
She giggled. "In the flesh Stud!"
I then fainted again, although this time Spitfire fainted as well! Aurora remained standing, but most likely this was only because she had no clue who Daring Do really was.
Daring then looked up at Dash. "Um, wow Dash, do you think that he was surprised?"
Dash smirked. "Oh yes, he DEFINITELY was surprised all right! Just give him a little bit more time to calm down, and I KNOW that he'll come around to the idea of having you as his 3rd wife!"
Daring looked back at me. "Hopefully so Dash. I know that I'll really enjoy it if he does!"
Eventually, Spitfire and I both came around again. When we did, Spitfire was the first to say something.
"How.....is this even possible?! I thought that Daring Do was just from that book-series!"
Daring giggled a bit. "So does EVERYPONY else! A.K. Yearling is just my pen-name. In reality, I go on the adventures, and then write about them in the books. Almost every detail in them is factual, and really happened! However, I'm looking for a bit of a change of pace."
I looked at her. "Huh? What does that mean?"
Daring sighed a bit. "It means that I'm looking for a bit of a different lifestyle. I've been adventuring for a while now, and don't get me wrong, it's still my passion, my LIFE, but yet something's lacking. I just feel so.......lonely sometimes; like I needed somepony else in my life. I tried dating a few times, but yet, most guys were either douches, or only wanted me because I was famous. Eventually I stopped dating, although not too long after, the Imperial War began."
"Yeah, about that. What did you do during the war, if I may ask?"
"Well, A.K. Yearling helped to write war propaganda for Equestria, while Daring Do joined the Equestrian Scouting Force. It was thanks to this job that I actually spotted your train when you first arrived here! I radioed it in, but nopony believed me until they saw it for themselves!
In the end, although I never got the chance to meet you in person until just now Stud, I'm actually a HUGE fan of your work. I was able to watch you from a distance, and I must admit, your skills in combat are INCREDIBLE! All I need is somepony like you in my life, and then just maybe, I'd finally feel complete!" She then bit her lower lip gently. "So what do you think Stud? Think that you can handle having the Element of Loyalty, the Captain of the Wonderbolts, AND the most famous adventure hero as your wives?"
This time, I resisted the urge to faint, but I still did feel kind of weak. All of this just seemed to FANTASTICAL to actually be real! If it was real though, then it meant that Rainbow Dash, who was apparently friends with Daring Do, somehow convinced her that I was the stallion that she needed in her life, before practically giving her to me as a birthday present!
"I'm......still REALLY having a hard time believing that I'm not dreaming right now. I need some convincing that I'm not, as even the slight headache that I have right now isn't convincing me enough!"
In response though, Daring crawled over to me, and once she'd taken my hands gently into hers, and after placing her pith helmet onto my head, she kissed me! The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but when she broke it, there was a trail of saliva still joining us together.
"There. Still convinced that you're dreaming Stud?"
I shook my head. "No, now I'm convinced that this is indeed real!" I looked over at Dash. "Hey Dash, how long until I can sign that document and be legally bound to Daring as well?"
Dash smirked a bit. "Heh, you can sign it right now if you wanted to Stud!"
I then left to go and do just that, and Daring followed along behind me.
Spitfire then turned to Dash. "So, I guess we'll be doing the cake upstairs then?"
"Yeah, I guess so!"
Spitfire shook her head. "Well, I certainly hope that we do NOT run out of birth control anytime soon! We DO NOT need Life Finding a Way before we're ready for her to!"
Life would have responded to Spitfire's comment, but at the moment, she was too busy Finding a Way elsewhere.
Back in my office, I pulled out the file again. After setting it down on my desk, I opened it up, before taking out a sterile needle.
"Wait, you keep STERILE NEEDLES in your desk?!"
I shook my head. "No, these are actually poison darts, just without any poison in them. I keep them here just in case I have to throw one at an intruder. However, I used one of these to sign the last contract in my own blood, so now I have to do it again."
While Daring watched, I took the needle, and after stabbing the webbing of my left hand, I waited for the blood to pool, before taking an empty inkwell pen, sucking up some of the blood, and using it to sign my name in blood. Now I was bound to 3 mares, until death did us part.
"So is that it? Are you done now?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm done now. We can leave if you want."
Daring took a look around just before we left though. "Wow, your office is pretty cool! All of these relics! Wait, is that GENERAL TARRATH?!?!?!"
"Yep, the very same! I killed him, and then had him stuffed. And yes, if you were wondering, in the case next to it, that really IS the armor of King Sombra!"
After practically squeeing her head off at having seen relics like that, in one leap, Daring was in my arms with her legs wrapped around my waist!"
"Whoa! Easy there girl! This jumpsuit is not only custom-made, but it's also BRAND NEW! I haven't even worn it for an hour yet!"
Daring just smirked. "Well, how about we just take it off then?" She whispered in my ear.
"Eh, if you wanna get kinky, let's wait until AFTER the cake! Plus, we still have all night, so let's make the most of it!"
Daring nodded, and after re-positioning herself onto my back, I carried her piggy-back out of my office, and over to Dash's room.
When we arrived, I found Dash and Spitfire sitting at a small table that they'd set up in the bathroom. The cake was sitting on the table, and Dash was lighting up the candles.
Daring then dismounted from my back and joined Dash and Spitfire at the table. Once they were ready, the began to sing,
"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy 25th Birthday dear Stud, Happy Birthday to you!"
I then hugged all 3 of them. "You guys are the best! Especially you Dash. It was you who cooked all of this up after all!"
She kissed me a bit. "Mmm, you're welcome Stud! Now then, make a wish, and blow out the candles!"
I then thought of a wish, and after wishing it, I took the deepest breath that I could, before blowing out all of the candles.
"What did you wish for Stud?" Spitfire asked me.
I shrugged. "Eh, unfortunately, I can't tell all of you."
Daring then smirked at me a bit. "Oh, I think I know what you wished for. You wished that you could have your way with me tonight, didn't you?"
I was stunned. She'd guessed my wish, but yet I didn't say anything that would have suggested that!
"Oh, I can tell by your body language that you want me big boy!" She then turned to Dash. "May I?"
Dash smirked. "Sure! We have all night, and I have a bed, couch, shower, counter, and even Jacuzzi hot tub that we can all use. I also have birth control if you need it!"
"Heh, sure, I could use one!"
I could see that this was getting out of hand WAY too fast! "Hey I want to eat the cake! Can't we at least eat some cake before we f@#k?"
Spitfire shrugged. "Sure, why not? I mean it IS your birthday Stud."
We all then cut up a few slices of cake, and we began to eat them. We each fed each other a few bites, and I came to the realization then just how badly I was screwed if someone like Don ever found out about this!
"Oh boy....what have I gotten myself into this time?" I knew that I was in for a LONG night!
Once we were all done with the cake though, the 3 mares went to take their birth control. I knew what that meant. I would be having sex with ALL of them, and our sex would most likely be lasting all night!
All 3 of them then sauntered over to me. "Wow, we're all kinda overdressed for this party! How about we all 'get more comfortable'?"
Spitfire and Daring both looked at Dash. "Hmm, that sounds like a good idea Dash!" Spitfire and Dash then stripped down to their bras and panties, before all 3 of them turned to look at me. (Daring didn't need to strip, as she was already wearing her black bikini).
"What? What are you guys looking at me for?"
"First, we're gonna strip you of your jumpsuit Stud, just so that it won't get dirty, and then you're gonna pick which one of us you want to have 'fun' with first. You then strip her, before gently stripping the rest of us!"
I gasped a bit in surprise as all 3 of them began to take my new Wonderbolt jumpsuit off. Daring pulled down the zipper with her teeth, while Dash and Spitfire helped me out of the rest of it. Once it was off, and the goggles too, Dash took them both and hung them up in her closet for me. Daring also took back her pith helmet from me, before tossing it out into the bedroom.
All 3 of them looked at me.
Dash bit her lower lip. "So, what'll it be Stud? Who do ya wanna screw first? Your wife? Your soon to be fiance? Or your future 3rd wife?"
I sighed. I knew who I wanted, but I wasn't sure if that was ok with Dash. "Um Dash, how mad would you be if I said Daring?"
Dash just smirked. "Heh, not even mad at all! You two can do your thing, while Spitfire and I have a little fun. Then later we can switch!"
Dash then went over to Spitfire, while Daring came up to me. "Hey there Handsome! You called for me?" She wrapped her arms around me.
"Just remember what I told you Daring!" Dash called over to her. "Once you've been with a Human Bat-Pony hybrid like Stud, NOTHING else can compare! You'll NEVER want to go back to normal stallions again!"
She looked at me hungrily. "Well, he IS pretty hot, even for a hybrid, and just how hung is he?"
"Well, why don't you pull down his boxers and find out?"
"Oh I will, but first I want to see if he knows how to treat a lady!" She then gently took one of my hands, and placed it on her back by her wings, right on top of the knot for the strings on her bikini. "I trust that you know what to do Stud?"
I nodded, and after beginning to kiss her neck gently, which caused Daring to emit a loud moan, I then reached behind her, and began to untie her bikini top. Eventually, I got the knot undone, and after pulling her top off, I tossed it to the side. Daring then pressed her tits gently into my chest.
"Mmm, what do you think big boy? You can feel them if you want; I don't mind!" I then gently began to fondle Daring's tits, and while kissing her neck again, I stole a glace at what Dash and Spitfire were doing. I saw that they had the Jacuzzi hot tub filled up, and Dash was sitting in Spitfire's lap, kissing her.
I also felt my member rising to the occasion inside of my boxers.
"Whoa! You feel huge Stud! Can I touch it?"
"Sure, provided of course that you let me touch yours."
"Ooh, you are a naughty one aren't you? You weren't by any chance, born in September......oh wait, why am I asking you this? Today's your BIRTHDAY! However, wanna know a little secret? Today's also MY birthday as well!"
I was stunned. "Get outta here! Really? No foolin'?"
She nodded. "Yep, I'm being serious Stud. This is why Dash let me sign the contract. For my birthday, I wanted a chance to be with you, and now I've got that chance!"
I then reached my hand inside of Daring's bottoms, and I began to feel her slit.
"N-nyah!"
"Wait, you say that too?!"
"Yeah.....it's embarrassing, I know!"
I shushed her with a finger. "No, it's not embarrassing Daring, I say the same thing! Dash always told me that I was crazy for saying it, but yet I knew that I wasn't."
Daring smirked a bit, before pulling her bottoms down, and tossing them to the side. I responded in kind by pulling down my own boxers, and soon we were both standing in front of each other, as bare as the day we were born. I was hard by this point, and almost to full mast.
"Whoa, you're HUNG Stud! Are you SURE that you're a hybrid?! I've seen full-grown stallions who would KILL to have a dick as big as yours!"
"Well, I DO have more Bat-Pony in me than Human, so maybe that's why."
"Maybe so Stud, and that would make sense for why your so big. However, now that we're naked, what are we gonna do first?"
I smirked at her. "Oh, I have an idea....." I then began to put my plan into action.
For the most part, sex begins with foreplay. Our version of foreplay though was pretty much unbridled lust. Daring was on me like a mare in full heat, and I pushed back just as hard. I had her up against one of the bathroom's walls, and we were making out with a passion, as well as groping each other's bodies.
"Oh Gosh Stud", Daring moaned, "I can already tell that this is going to be my greatest adventure yet!"
I didn't respond, as my tongue was too deep in her mouth. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore; I just HAD to see what Daring tasted like. After picking her up, I carried her over to the sink counter, and after putting her on it, I got down and began to eat her out with a passion.
I didn't quite get it at the time, but yet if my Human brain had been able to function properly, I would have realized why Daring seemed so intoxicating. The truth was, it was REALLY good that she took her birth control pills, because that night she went into heat! She COULD have gotten pregnant, but fortunately she wasn't going to, at least, not yet.
"Ough, OH GOSH STUD!!!! Don't stop, that feels SO GOOD!!! Raid my tomb Stud! Find my gooey treasure!"
What I failed to tell Daring though was just how strong of an orgasm that I was about to give her. I'd perfected a technique that I'd used on both Dash and Spitfire, and it absolutely made them cream their brains out! I was now using this technique on Daring, although I should have braced myself for the claws.
"OH F@#KKKKKK!!!!!!!!" Daring screamed as she climaxed. Never before had she had an orgasm that strong, although she did dig her fingernails fairly deep into my shoulders.
"Eeeee!!!" I screed with my mouth full of her juices. Before I could really react further though, Daring had leapt up into my arms and pushed me over backwards!
"WHOA!!!" Luckily, I managed to make a controlled crash landing in front of the hot tub, but that was only the beginning.
"You don't know how BADLY I need this Stud! I NEED you to f@#k me!" I hesitated for a moment, and in response, Daring just placed herself over my dick, before slamming herself down onto it!
"EEE!!!!!!" I screed as I felt her hips slam into mine. Daring though was too much of a mess to even care. I could tell that she'd already been f@#ked stupid, and we hadn't even started f@#king yet!"
However, I was able to quickly work with the situation, and before long, she kept ramming herself into me, just as I thrusted back up to meet her. We worked ourselves into a steady rythym, but yet I needed more. This position was hard on my back, to say nothing of my wings, so I decided to take the lead.
"Sorry Daring, but now it's MY turn to take the lead here!" I then reached up, and after grabbing her hips, I flipped us over until she was on her back, and I was the one on top. Then, I began to pound her pussy into the ground.
By this point, Daring went from drooling mess, to almost savage, feral animal. In short order, she'd grabbed my hips with her legs to hold me in place, and she was also digging her fingers into my back as well.
"OH F@#K YEAH STUD!!!! RUT ME HARDER YOU DIRTY STALLION!!!! F@#K ME!!! F@#K ME AND KNOCK ME UP LIKE THE SLUTTY BITCH THAT I AM!!!"
I merely grunted, and began to f@#k her even harder and faster than I already was.
From where they were, Dash and Spitfire had stopped what they were doing to watch us.
"Gosh Dash, I hope that Daring's ok!"
"Yeah, I hope so too Spits. However, she IS an adventure hero, so most likely she can handle it. She'll come down off her sex high eventually, but I know that she'll probably be walkin' a little funny for a while!"
Spitfire laughed at this, and they both continued to watch the 2 feral Ponies f@#k on the floor right in front of them.
Eventually, I could feel myself getting close. "Grgh, Daring, I'm getting close, where......do you want it?"
"Inside of me! I want it all inside me!"
I was about to comply, before Daring flipped us both over one last time until I was on my back again, and after she slammed her pussy onto my dick one more time, she buried her muzzle into mine, and we practically screamed into each other's mouths.
I also let out a loud sort of whinny, before blasting a massive load of cum into Daring. She tried to get up, but her body was too weak. She collapsed on top of me, and I just held her close.
"Hey, are you guys ok down there?" I looked up, and saw Dash looking down out of the tub at me.
"Yeah.....at least I'm fine. I don't know about Daring though. You ok Daring?"
"Ngh.......Dash....when you said that Stud was wild in bed, I thought that I could handle it. Evidently not!"
"Um, actually Daring, I've NEVER seen Stud do that before! Is THAT what you meant by taking it all the way Stud?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, pretty much. I scratched up your hips a bit Daring, and you also have a few bite-marks from my fangs on your neck as well. Don't worry, you won't turn into a Bat-Pony, but you WILL have the scars to prove that you have a VERY audacious lover!"
"N-nyah! Not to mention.....I'll most likely be walking funny for a while!"
"But you're ok though, right Daring?" Spitfire was still worried for her.
"Are you kidding me?! I feel AWESOME!!! I've NEVER been f@#ked like that before! And you were right Dash, after what Stud just did for me, I could NEVER go back to normal stallions!"
Dash giggled a bit. "See? I told ya! Stud's the BEST when it comes to satisfying a mare!"
"Yeah, he is. However, I feel kinda gross, so do you mind if I use your shower?"
"Sure, go right ahead."
Daring tried to get up, but she was still too weak. She didn't even have enough strength to pull my dick out of her.
"Mnnn, Stud, I can't get up. I'm too weak. Can you help me?"
I nodded. "Yeah, assuming that I can get up though!" I gave it a go, and even though it did take several tries, I did manage to make it back to my paws again. I then gently scooped Daring up, and after pulling my dick out of her, I carried her over to the shower.
Once I got Daring inside of the shower, I sat her on the seat, while I turned on the water. I decided that she need to be rejuvenated, so I went with the red knobs, and turned on the spectrum water.
"Wow, is that a rainbow shower?"
"Yeah. Dash told me that it helps Pegasai regain their lost strength."
She nodded. "Yeah, that's what I heard too. I never got a chance to try it though. Now I finally can!" Once she felt strong enough, she got up, and with me still holding her a bit for support, she got under the water. Almost immediately, I felt her relax.
"Wow, this feels amazing! I can feel my strength returning already!"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's good to hear Daring. Dash said that this would work, and it worked for me, so I knew that it would work for you as well."
Daring then stood up, and after wrapping her arms around me, she kissed me deeply. "Mmm, I think that you've captured my heart Stud. Eventually, I hope that we can be married too, but for now I'm perfectly content with just being your marefriend."
I kissed her back. "That sounds fine to me Daring. Soon, you, me, Dash, and Spitfire will all be one big, happy family!"
"Nyah, I'd like that Stud."
We then washed each other, and once we were done, we went to join Dash and Spitfire in the hot tub Jacuzzi.
"Wow, you have a really nice house Dash. You even have a practical hot tub in here!"
Dash smiled a bit. "Yeah, and I am proud of my house. But soon Daring, it'll be YOUR house too! Come Winter, we're going to build onto it, and add more rooms, as I don't think that in it's current form my house will QUITE be large enough for us if and when we decide to have foals!"
Dash, Spits and I all looked at Daring. I knew for a fact that Dash and Spits both wanted foals at some point, but what about Daring?
"Do....you want foals at some point Daring?" I asked her.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess that we'll just have to see where life takes us. I do know that I want to be married first before I start any family planning!"
We all laughed at this a bit, before Dash and Spitfire began to move closer to me. I knew what they both wanted, and I was all too happy to let them have it.
"I'm gonna sit this one out girls! I've had enough f@#king to last me a while!"
Dash looked at her. "Heh, if you say so Daring, but that just means more for Spits and I!"
She shrugged. "Eh, I don't care, just as long as I get the middle in the bed tonight!"
I looked over at her. "Huh? But I always get the middle!"
"Well then, maybe we can share the middle. I don't really care where I sleep, just as long as I get to cuddle with you Stud!"
"And you will Daring, just as soon as we can all figure out how we're going to sleep tonight!"
"Yeah, but in the meantime Stud", Dash got into my lap, "You have a wife AND a fiance to please!"
I sighed, before getting back into the rhythm of pleasing mares.
In keeping with my promise to Dash, I finally showed her what it was like when I didn't hold back anything, and by the time I was done, she was a drooling, gooey, seemingly brain-dead mess, just like Daring was.
Spitfire took one look at Dash, and backed out. "Ok, on second thought, you can just f@#k me normally Stud! I'm NOT ready for full-blown Bat-pony sex yet!"
I shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say Spitsy. Plus, I don't think that I have the strength to go all the way again right now anyway!"
Spitfire nodded, and after standing up in the hot tub, she went over to the edge, and after moving her tail to the side, I gently pushed into her.
"Ough! Yep, this NEVER gets old Stud! You're SO good at this!"
I laughed a bit. "Well, I had mares like Dash teaching me, plus I got a lot of practice between you and her, so can you blame me?"
"Heh, no, not really!"
"I didn't think so!" I then reached around, and began to fondle Spitfire's tits gently, causing her to moan in response.
Eventually, once I'd finished inside of her, Dash noticed that it was almost 2am!
"Gosh, it's almost 2am! Anypony else getting tired?"
We all nodded. However, Dash had one more idea. "Hey guys, how about before we call it a night, we take one last picture of us in the hot tub just to commemorate all of this?"
"Sure!"
We all agreed, and once the girls had sunk into the hot tub enough to hide their breasts, I sat in the middle, Dash and Spitfire sat on both sides of me, and Daring sat in my lap. We all then smiled, and after striking cute poses, Dash snapped the picture with her camera.
"What do you guys think?" She held it up for us to see.
I looked at it. "Yeah, we should DEFINITELY frame this one!"
"I agree. It's cute, we're all so happy, and to cap it off, even though we're nude, we're still modest about it."
Daring looked at the picture as well. "Yeah, I like it. I like it a lot!"
I agreed to help get a few copies made at some point, and then once we drained the hot tub Jacuzzi, Dash put the rest of the cake away before we all went to bed.
Somehow, some way, we all managed to squeeze into Dash's bed. The way that we slept was just like the picture. I was in the middle, Dash and Spitfire were on one side of me, and Daring was kind of lying on top of me as well. She snuggled into my chest, and I wrapped my wings around her before kissing her on the forehead.
"Good night Daring. Tonight was REALLY fun! I'm glad that you were able to stop by!"
"Nyah! So was I Stud. This was really fun."
I then kissed Dash and Spitfire. "Goodnight Dash, goodnight Spitsy!"
They both kissed me back.
"Goodnight Stud."
"Yeah, good night Stud. I hope that you sleep well, and I'm glad that you enjoyed my 'present'! I know that Daring did!"
I looked at the 3 mares snuggled up to me. All 3 of them loved me to pieces, just as I loved them. Sure, our union was polygamous, but yet it was a loving one.
"Hmm, I love all you guys. Maybe our relationship is a little bit strange, but just know that, I'll be with you guys until death does us part, and I'll love you to no end, no matter what!"
I then fell asleep on that note, surrounded by the gentle snores of Dash, Spitfire, and Daring Do.
(WARNING: Chapter DOES contain sex towards the middle. Nothing TOO explicit, but still sex!)
Spitfire. How do I best describe her? Well, she's the captain of the most elite team of flyers in all of Equestria; the Wonderbolts! Stationed at the Wonderbolt Academy on a mountaintop outside of Cloudsdale, the Wonderbolts perform airshows at major events. In my opinion, their closest Earth Counterparts were an aerobatics team called the Blue Angels.
When the Imperial War broke out though, everything changed. The Wonderbolts, as well as squadrons of Pegasai assigned to serve under them, became like Equestria's Air Force. They both conducted raids and recon missions, in addition to helping protect the homeland. However, the war was about to take a twist in a whole new direction.
At about 5:30am on June 8th, 2029, a call came to Wonderbolt Academy from Rainbow Dash.
"What is it Rainbow Dash?" Soarin asked when he answered Dash's call.
"We've got a rouge train running the loop around Ponyville. We believe that it's controlled by either the Zebras or the Caribou, and we need to stop it now!"
"Well then, just out-fly it, get on board and stop it!"
"That's the thing though, we're gonna need backup for this one....."
Once Soarin heard Dash's report, he swung into action. He woke up Spitfire, who in turn woke up the rest of the Wonderbolts. After confirmation came from Fleetfoot that the train was indeed there, and almost seemed to be high-balling it back towards Ponyville, they all knew that they had to act fast.
"All of you on me!" Spitfire told them, "We have to catch up to that train, and see about what we can do to stop it! We CANNOT let them get back to Ponyville!"
"YES CAPTAIN!!!!"
They all then swooped down to get into position.
Once they'd regrouped with Dash, as well as a few Royal Guards who were on a small train of flatbed cars being pulled by a Friendship Express engine following along behind "The Leviathan" as Dash called it, they came up with a plan of attack.
"Ok, some of you need to get up to the engine, while others see about boarding the train in various places, and the rest of you provide distractions!"
They all agreed to this, and even though they did come under attack by the train's defenders, they tried to complete their missions. Spitfire's team tried to board a coach that was close to the back of the train.
"HEY!!!! GET OFF OUR TRAIN YOU F@#KING FUTAS!!!" A bipedal creature wearing a bluish uniform beat them back with a crowbar. Others close to him opened fire on the Wonderbolts.
Suddenly though, the train began to go even faster.
"SHIT!!!! Spitfire muttered to herself. "Dash, Soarin! Get up to the cab now! This thing's picking up speed again! We HAVE to stop it before it derails, or worse, makes it back to Ponyville!"
"Roger that Captain!" Dash and Soarin, as well as a few other Wonderbolts went for the cab, while the rest continued to try and breach the train elsewhere.
Eventually, Spitfire and her group did manage to make it onboard, but just as they did, they heard a violent screeching sound coming from the engine, and then the train began to slow down.
"Everypony hold on, they're stopping!"
They all held on, and before too long, the train pulled through Ponyville station, before coming to a complete stop. However, before they could really react further though, from all over the train came the sounds of running, as well as shouting, and grabbing weapons. Spitfire and her group peered out of the caboose where they were, and to their surprise, they saw the train's crew staring down the Ponies, but nopony was doing anything. Then, one of them who seemed to be their leader said something that they couldn't quite catch due to being too far away, but whatever it was made everypony with a weapon stand down.
"What's going on Captain?"
Spitfire shrugged. "I don't know. It seems like they're standing down though, so I'll take that to be a good sign."
Suddenly though, they heard a gun click behind them. "Ok, all 4 of you, hands up, now!"
They all complied, and Spitfire turned around to see a soldier in the same bluish uniform as the rest of the train's crew pointing a rifle in their direction.
The soldier pointed with his gun towards the caboose's door. "And get off the train! We may not be enemies, but you're STILL not supposed to be in here!"
"Getting off the train!" All 4 of them took flight, and landed on the ground a few moments later.
Eventually, they learned that the train was called the "Battleship Express", and that it was a war train pulled by Union Pacific Big Boy Locomotive 4009, and that it was attached to the Railway Warfare Division, (RWD).
"So, the creatures who crew this beast are called 'Humans' , and they come from the nation of 'America', on the Planet 'Earth'."
Spitfire nodded. "Yeah, that seems to be most of the scoop. These Humans and their train were apparently sent here by mistake after crossing over a set of lay-lines back in their home nation while escaping from an enemy."
"So, what'll happen to them now?"
"Eh, well, their commanding officers are talking with the Princesses right now, so hopefully they'll join the Imperial War on our side, but yet, I don't know if that will be the case."
Fleetfoot sighed. "Let's hope that it will be though. We NEED allies in this war!"
"Yeah, tell me about it! And if this train can do even HALF of what's its crew claim that it can, we'll be kicking the Alliance's asses all the way back to Donneth and Zebrica!"
They all then decided to walk a bit farther up along the train to get a chance to talk to some of the crew.
What I failed to realize at the time was just how close I came to Spitfire without meeting her on that first day. Looking back on it now, she most likely walked right underneath the window of the PCC that I was standing in front of, although my back was turned to it at the time, so I would have missed her. In fact, I wouldn't even meet Spitfire in person until a video call just before we invaded the Caribou Empire.
During the Battle of Ponyville, the Wonderbolts were ordered to fall back for their own safety, although some did help by spotting targets from the air.
All throughout the course of the battle, Spitfire watched us fight in awe. "Sweet Celestia!" She thought to herself, "It's like they do battles like this on a daily basis!"
One particular soldier really caught her eye. He looked like most of the others, although he was clearly an officer, and he wore a red and white fox mask over his face. He was helping maintain order at a firing line that was set up outside of the Ponyville Town Hall, and he and his troops, were helping to hold the entire town square, and were keeping the Zebras and Caribou away from it. Time and again the enemy came at them, and time and again they were repulsed.
"Wow! Who's the guy with the white fox mask?"
Soarin shrugged. "I dunno. Why don't you ask him after the battle is over?"
Spitfire decided that she was going to do just that.
Once the Battle of Ponyville was over and the cleanup began, Spitfire looked all around, but yet she couldn't find the mysterious officer.
Eventually, she asked another officer on the train about him. "Um, excuse me?"
"Yes Captain Spitfire?"
"I'd like to know the name of one of your officers. He was wearing a white fox mask."
The officer in question, Jim, sighed. "Why, do you want to lodge a complaint against him?"
"Oh, no, I just want to know what his name is. I saw him fight last night, and I wanted to get a chance to meet him."
Jim sighed again. "His name is Captain Leopard. He's the 2nd Engineer of the Battleship Express, or the 2nd of 3 men who drive the train. He's also a captain within Battalion 4009, and one of the most interesting soldiers that we have. I don't know where he is right now, though I think that he's off duty. He might be sleeping in his quarters, but I don't know."
Spitfire thanked Jim, and continued her quest to find me, unaware that inside the train at that very moment, I was waking up in my room to the sight of Dash naked in my bed!
Unfortunately though, Spitfire would never get the chance to meet me before the train left Ponyville. She did have to return to Wonderbolt Academy, and by the time that she was able to return to Ponyville, the train was gone.
"Huh? Where did the Humans go?"
The Ponyville stationmaster looked at her. "They left for Las Pegasus Captain Spitfire. In the aftermath of the Battle of Ponyville, they all declared war in the Imperial Alliance as well, and now they've all been sent to Las Pegasus to help with the battle that's about to happen there."
Spitfire was sad. She REALLY wanted to meet the soldier that she got to see in action, but now she couldn't. "Hmm", She thought to herself, "I guess that I'll just have to wait until he gets back from the war."
And indeed, with the Battle of Las Pegasus coming to a successful conclusion, the war seemed to be possibly getting ready to wind down. Unfortunately though, an event happened that changed that perspective forever; the kidnapping of the 4 Element Bearers, including Rainbow Dash, from the medical train.
When Spitfire, as well as the other Wonderbolts heard that one of their own had been captured, they were outraged! They were also all cheering for us to carry the day, and we did NOT disappoint! All throughout our entire campaigns through both the Zebra, and the Caribou Empire, The Wonderbolts, as well as the general public, followed our every move via newspapers, radio, and even television in some cases.
"Wow", Soarin marveled as he read a newspaper report, "Battalion 4009, as well as the Equestrian troops sent out with them are REALLY kicking some serious ass!"
"What's the latest from them Soarin?" Spitfire asked.
"Look at the headlines!" He showed her the newspaper that he'd been reading.
Spitfire looked, and to her shock, there was the Battleship Express in the foreground, unleashing hell upon a Zebra City while other troops moved in under the protection of the train's guns!
Spitfire kept reading. "Sadly, no. According to this, 2 of the Element Bearers, as well as one of the 2 Human hostages were saved, while the other 2 Element Bearers and the other Human, Including Dash, were sent to the Caribou Empire!"
"WHAT?!?!?!"
Spitfire sighed sadly. "Yeah, sadly that's the truth. It also says here that the campaign into the Caribou Empire will start soon, assuming of course that it hasn't started already."
Soarin looked at the paper again. "Yeah, that would make sense. Most likely they DID already start it, and I guess that we'll hear about it in the news soon." They all then got back to work on protecting the homefront.
Later on that same day, Spitfire FINALLY got her wish when she contacted the Battleship Express asking to talk to me, and Don forwarded her video call through to my room.
We talked for a while, and for the first time, I finally got to meet my other waifu; my future 2nd wife!
"I WILL bring Dash home Spits, or I'll die trying! You can DEPEND on me!"
"I hope so Stud. Rainbow Dash is one of the best flyers that the Wonderbolts have ever had. Losing her would be BEYOND devastating!"
"I know, which is why I will NOT be letting that happen! I'll talk to you again once I have Dash safe."
"Ok, goodbye for now Stud."
"Goodbye Spitsy!"
I then terminated the call, and got back to work on wiping out the Caribou.
Sure enough, the next time that Spitfire heard from me, I had Dash by my side.
"DASH!!!! YOU'RE OK!!!!"
Dash smiled a bit. "Yeah, hey Spitsy, and yeah, I'm ok. All thanks to Stud here!" She wrapped her arms around me, and kissed me on the cheek.
I leaned in and nuzzled her a bit. "Mmm, yeah, I love you too Dashie!"
Spitfire then looked at me. "So when are you guys going to be back in town?"
I sighed. "Well, according to the latest reports, we should be back in town by Tuesday July 31st, or Wednesday August 1st at the very latest. We just have a few more things to get shored up here before we turn around and head back to Ponyville."
Spitfire nodded. "Yeah, and I'll be waiting for you when you get back Stud, as I REALLY want to finally get the chance to meet you in person!"
I laughed a bit. "Sure, and assuming that you can navigate the tough crowds, most likely you can!"
"Ok, great. Well, I can't wait for Tuesday, or even Wednesday! Goodbye for now Stud!"
"Goodbye for now Spitsy. I don't know if I'll be able to contact you again anymore before we reach Ponyville or not, but in any case, we'll be back soon, so just hang on a little bit longer!"
"Will do, bye Stud!"
"Bye Spitsy!"
The call then terminated.
A few days later, we were on our way home again. The Imperial War was over, and we were heading home heroes. In just 2 short months we had managed to topple both the Zebra Empire AND the Caribou Empire! We had saved Equestria, and now we were heading back home to Ponyville, and to a hero's welcome.
Once we arrived, the crowd went absolutely wild! The Royal Guards protecting the station platform had to work OVERTIME to keep the crowds back! ALL of them were trying to catch a glimpse of the Humans who crewed the train, as well as thank them for their service.
The first ones off of the train were the ones who had Ponies waiting for them. These included Don, myself, Alex, Todd, as well as a few others. We had families to meet, as well as mares to reunite with said families.
Meanwhile, above the station on a cloud platform, the Wonderbolts were watching the train as well.
"Do you see Captain Leopard yet?" Spitfire asked.
Soarin shook his head. "No, although it's hard to spot ANYPONY with crowds like THAT down there!"
Spitfire looked, and low and behold, Soarin was right. "Hmm, yeah, you're right Soarin. I guess that we'll just have to wait until the crowds thin out a bit."
They waited and waited, but yet the crowds really didn't show any signs of dying down, at least not for the longest time. When they did though, Fleetfoot saw Dash.
"Hey, there's Dash! And I think that I see the stallion in question standing next to her!"
"What?! Where?!"
Fleetfoot pointed. "Right over there!" She pointed to where Dash was standing with me close beside her.
"Going down!" Spitfire then left the cloud that they were sitting on to go down and see us.
Once she was gone, Misty turned to Fleetfoot. "Do you think that she's going for Dash, or for that hunk of a stud next to her?"
Fleetfoot smirked. "Heh, what do you think Misty?"
Misty smirked, and then the both of them began giggling about Spitfire and her "little" crush on me.
Once Spitfire was on the station platform, she began to look around for Dash and I. There were still a number of people and Ponies milling about, which did make it difficult to find us.
"Gosh, where did they go?" Suddenly, Spitfire saw me duck behind the station. "Huh? Where's he going?" She followed me.
When she arrived behind the station, she saw me leaning against the wall facing away from her, and I seemed to be breathing rather heavily.
"Finally! Away from the crowds!" I muttered.
Spitfire smirked. "Hey, did you forget to say hi to me Stud?"
"That voice." I turned around, and low and behold, there stood my second waifu! Dash found us a few moments later, and we did get to talk for a while.
I was really happy that I FINALLY got to meet Spitfire, as she was not only my other waifu, but also my second wife thanks to her contacts with Dash.
Not too long after this, construction began on the Imperial War Museum. Up until the night of the ball, I didn't get a chance to see Spitfire. However, at the ball that all changed.
I found out what a WONDERFUL dancer that she was, and I also got to meet her mom, as well as talking to her and Dash's parents about our little "marriage arrangement", and barring getting "kidnapped and interrogated" over it, I think that it went well! Well that is, until what happened the next morning.......
Yeah, Stormy Flare and Windy Belle found Dash, Spitfire and I together in Dash's bed, as well as all of the evidence of a drunken orgy. I got beat up for it, and I was forbidden from ever seeing Dash and Spitfire again, at least for a while. Eventually, Stormy and Windy DID come around to warming up again, but still, it was a long and painful road to get there!
Not long after this, the time had come for me to propose to Dash. Spitfire was there, and she helped to film the ordeal. Dash said yes, and we both seemed to be cheering.
"So beautiful", Spitfire thought to herself, "And soon that will be ME!"
Spitfire was also Dash's Mare of Honor, and she and the other Wonderbolts got to perform at our wedding as well. The next day or so seemed to be back to business as usual, however NEITHER of us were prepared for the curve-ball that Dash was about to throw for my birthday!
For the 10 days between my wedding and my birthday, both Spitfire and I were wracking our brains out trying to figure out who the other mare that Dash was trying to bring into our relationship was. Apparently, she was going to be my 3rd and final wife, and all that Dash would tell us was that her name was "Raddingo", and that all we had to do was take "Raddingo", and unscramble the letters. Up until the night of my birthday, we both continued to try, but eventually we gave up.
"I guess that we'll just have to wait until the night of my party Spitsy. Then we'll FINALLY get the answer that we need!"
She sighed. "Yeah, I hope so Stud. I mean, I trust Dash's judgement, but still, this is a major leap for us. I just hope that she's a mare that I can get along with!"
I nodded. "As do I Spitsy. The last thing that we need right now is marital conflict!"
However, when the "package" arrived for my birthday, and the mare turned out to be Daring Do, Spitfire was shocked! After getting over her shock though, she agreed that Daring could be allowed into my small.....eh......"family".
While I was upstairs with Daring, signing her into our contract, Spitfire was helping Dash take the cake upstairs.
"Hey Dash?"
"Yeah Spitsy?"
"Whatever gave you the idea of 'giving' her to Stud for his birthday?"
Dash giggled a bit. "Well, I've known Daring for a while now, and we have become pretty good friends. Recently she told me that she wanted a night with Stud for her birthday, and in that moment, I offered her MORE than just a night with Stud since she and him share the same birthday!"
"Oh? And how did she react to that?"
"At first, she thought that I was crazy, or even joking! When she realized that I was serious though, she was ECSTATIC!!!! We actually had to duck out of sight at the convention that we were at so that she could recompose herself!"
Spitfire laughed. "So AK Yearling could have been spotted acting like she'd just won the lottery?! That's HILARIOUS!!!!"
Dash was laughing a bit too. "Yeah, and we were SO glad that we weren't caught either! The rest is history though. After getting the document notarized, I simply placed it with the original, and left it on Stud's desk so that he could find it."
Spitfire shook her head. "Dash, you are something else! I've NEVER been able to figure you out, and now I don't think that I should even try!"
Dash giggled a bit, and they both went for the "night of fun" that they had planned for me!
The next morning, I heard an alarm go off. There was a large weight on my chest, as well as two warm furry bodies snuggled up next to me.
"Mnnngh.....gotta.....turn it off!" I reached over, but I couldn't grab it. I then realized that I was in the middle of the bed. "Oh great!" I saw that Spitfire was the closest to the alarm clock, but before I could nudge her, I saw her reach over and turn it off.
"Hmm, 8am already." She then rolled over to face me, and when she did, she had to slam her hands over her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. Daring was still lying on top of me, and to Spitfire's amusement, she was actually gently sucking on one of my thumbs!
"Look Stud!" She whispered to me.
"Look at what?" I then felt something warm and wet on my right hand, and after moving a bit, and I was able to see what Daring was doing. When I did, I placed my left hand over my mouth. "Oh gosh!" I whispered.
Spitfire was about to have a giggle-fit. "Hee hee! This is almost too good to be true! Adventurer in the streets, baby in the sheets!"
"Will you stop laughing? It's not really that funny Spits. We all have our little quirks. I guess that Daring likes to suck her thumb, and this time her half-asleep brain found my thumb, and assumed that it was hers."
By this point, Daring moved a bit, and began to wake up. She spit out my thumb, and rolled over to face me. "Mmm, hey Baby." She cooed gently.
"Hey Daring. And I'm surprised that you're still on top of me. I thought for SURE that you would have fallen off of me sometime in the night!"
She smirked a bit. "Heh, well then you REALLY underestimated my grip Stud! Also, hate to be a bother, but um......I think that your 'raider' wants to get inside my tomb again!"
"Huh?" I then looked down, and I saw that my dick was rock-hard, and was sandwiched right between Daring's butt cheeks! Words cannot even BEGIN to describe my embarrassment!
When Spitfire saw that, she finally burst out laughing, and almost fell out of bed she was laughing so hard! I had both of my hands over my face, and I was blushing redder than a firetruck, and Daring was content to just keep lying on top of me, but Spitfire's laughter did wake Dash up. (And yes, ALL 4 of us are still nude from last night!)
"Huh? Hey, what's so funny Daring?" She looked at her, as well as me. I could tell that she was still sleepy.
Daring shrugged. "I dunno. I was just about to have morning sex with Stud here. I don't know why Spitfire had to go all hyena-mode about it!" Daring then looked down at me, and after kissing me, she sat up, and after positioning herself over my dick, she eased down onto it again, and began to ride me gently.
Dash looked over at Spitfire, annoyed at having been woken up. "Seriously Spits, What's so funny?!"
Spitfire leaned forwards to look at her. "D-Daring and S-Stud!" She was still trying to get a grip on herself. She then told Dash about what she'd woken up and seen.
"And the best part was when his dick was between her butt cheeks, and he didn't even notice until she told him!"
Dash just rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you act like THAT'S actually funny! Jeez, act your age Spits! You're the oldest out of all of us, so act like it! Plus, Because of you laughing like a hyena, Daring just cheated you out of morning sex with Stud!" Dash then began to kiss me good morning.
"WHAT?!?!" She looked, and sure enough, there was Daring, and she was riding my dick gently. We were both holding hands, and Daring was really enjoying herself!
Spitfire lost it. "Hey! Who said that YOU got to f@#k him first?! Get off!" She tried to pull Daring off of me.
"Hey! Back off Fire-Mane, he's mine!" Daring then got into a protective stance and actually hissed at Spitfire!
Spitfire then took this as a challenge, and actually attacked Daring!
"OUGH!!! MY DICK!!!!" When Spitfire tackled Daring over backwards, my dick kinda got ripped out of her, and when THAT happened, it was HORRIBLY painful! The 2 of them were fighting on the floor while I was somewhat writhing in agony.
"Hey Stud?"
"WHAT?!?!?!" I then glanced over and saw Dash. "Oh hey Dashie, what is it?"
She glanced down at Daring and Spitfire. They were both still tussling, but yet it almost seemed like Daring was toying with her.
"Well, while those two are fighting, and youstill seem to need a good morning f@#k, wanna take ME for a ride instead Stud?" She then crawled over to me in the bed, and wiggled her ass a bit, giving me a good view of her slit.
I laughed a bit while rolling my eyes. "Well, this is ONE benefit of having multiple wives I suppose. If 2 of them are at each other's throats, there's always a 3rd one to help you take care of your 'needs'!"
Dash then kissed me gently. "Oh, you know it Stud! With the 3 of us, you'll NEVER be wanting for sex!" She then turned herself around, and while she got to work on my dick, I began to eat her out.
Meanwhile on the floor, Spitfire and Daring were STILL going at it!
"Get off of me you psychopathic bitch!"
Daring laughed. "Oh, I'M the psychopathic bitch?!"
"Yes! You head out into the jungle for Celestia-knows why, and then CLAIM that you were adventuring! What? Got an itch that can only be scratched by jungle beasts?"
Daring bit her. "Hey, UNCALLED FOR!!! And no, I do NOT f@#k animals! Sure, maybe I do play with myself a bit, and yes I HAVE bathed under a few waterfalls in my time, but I have NEVER f@#ked an animal!"
"Um, actually Daring, you DID f@#k and animal; you f@#ked ME last night!"
Daring looked up at me. She did look annoyed, but yet I did see the traces of a smirk on her face. "Oh don't worry Stud, I'll let Dash have fun with you for now while I put this PSYCHO here into her place in this relationship!" I then saw that Daring was actually trying to tie Spitfire up with her trusty whip!
"Sheesh! Careful there Daring!"
"WHAT?!?!?! You're on HER side in this Stud?!"
I sighed. "Actually, I'm laughing at both of you for behaving like foals, but please go on. I'm REALLY enjoying you two dominate each other! It's actually pretty hot. Although I AM betting on Daring to win this one, however this is only because, (and I can tell you this from personal experience!) it takes more energy to do things out in the field like Daring does than it does to be a Wonderbolt!"
Daring smirked at Spitfire. "See? I TOLD YOU that he likes me better!"
"HOWEVER, Wonderbolts are FAR more disciplined that adventurers since they stick to rigid schedules, and are a bit more in shape overall!"
Now it was Spitfire's turn to smirk. "HA! In your face Bitch!"
"HOWEVER, you're BOTH my mares, as is Dash, and I love you ALL equally! You all have your strengths, and I love each of them. Spitfire, you're the strongest, and you kinda like to take the lead in bed. Dash, you're the one who'll help me with anything. You may be a bit submissive, but yet sometimes I need that. And Daring, you're the kinky one. You like to experiment in bed. This can be anything from taking advantage of a situation, to wanting to go all the way, to as I saw just now, rope-play!
You ALL have something to bring into this relationship, and for that, I'm the luckiest guy in ALL of Equestria! I mean, I have the ELEMENT OF LOYALTY, the CAPTAIN OF THE WONDERBOLTS, AND the GREATEST ADVENTURE HERO as my, (or soon to be!) WIVES!!!!! Now then, for the love of Celestia, PLEASE STOP FIGHTING OVER ME!!!!! You'll ALL get your turn with me.........." At that exact moment, I jizzed inside of Dash. "And Dash, I REALLY hope that you have Morning After pills, or we may have just started our family planning EARLY! But anyway, JUST STOP ACTING LIKE FOALS, AND WAIT YOUR TURN!!!!!!"
When I was done shouting to get all of them to FINALLY shut up, Spitfire and Daring both looked at each other, and then back at me. However, before they could say anything, Dash spoke up first.
"Eh, well, yeah, I do have Morning After pills, which I WILL be taking, but I'm not in heat, so I don't think that I can get pregnant right now." She then got up and went for the bathroom.
The other 2 then looked at me, before Spitfire sighed. "Yeah, and I see what you mean Stud. It WAS childish of me to just up and attack like that. In my defense, Daring DID deserve it, but yet why fight over something that's already yours?"
Daring got up and stretched a bit. "Yeah, what she said Stud." She then looked to the bathroom. "Hey Dash?"
"Yeah Daring?"
"Is there a spare room where I can work on my next book? I brought everything with me from my old house, but I need a space to work with. Got anything?"
"Yeah, you can work in the spare bedroom next to Stud's office, or you can work in his office if he'll let you."
Daring then turned to me. "Will you let me work in your office Stud?"
I sighed. "Yes, assuming of course that you don't touch anything, don't break anything, and above all, DO NOT mess up my desk!"
She came over and hugged me. "Mmm, thanks Stud, you're the best! And don't worry, on one of my next adventures, I'm TOTALLY taking you with me!"
I looked down at her, and then kissed the top of her head gently. "You're welcome Daring. And where would we be going?"
She shrugged. "Well, I haven't decided yet, but when I do decide, I'm taking you with me!"
"Eh, well, sounds good to me Babe!" We both then kissed again, and then Spitfire got her kisses, and then after our showers and a quick breakfast, we all got dressed and went our separate ways for the time being.
Dash had weather duty, Spitfire was due at the Academy, I had to help with the museum, and Daring got to work on her next book. As I would learn later, in that story she introduced a male character named Mac, who was based on me. This was so that I could be in her books when needed, and she knew that she would have to introduce me now so that nopony would ask questions later.
The next few weeks passed one after the other in a bit of a blur. Soon, I knew that I was going to have to pop the question to Spitfire, and after talking it over with Daring and Dash, I FINALLY decided on what to do.
One night, I brought Spitfire up to the Academy's roof so that we could stargaze. Hidden nearby were Dash, Stormy Flare, and from above on a cloud, although nopony saw her, Daring watched as well. All 3 of them were also filming.
Eventually, I turned to Spitfire. "Hey Spitsy?"
"Yeah Stud?"
"For the longest time, ever since I first met you on that video call, something inside of me always drove me to be at my best around you. I mean, you ARE the Captain of the Wonderbolts, and even though I knew that it probably wasn't possible, I still strove to try and be a Wonderbolt anyway. I'm still in the process of trying, but every step of the way you've been there encouraging me. You've always...." Spitfire suddenly put a hand over my mouth.
"Stud, I love you, but you tend to ramble WAY too much! I get it; you love me, and want to do your best for me, but what's the point?"
I pushed her hand away. "Well, if you wouldn't INTERRUPT ME, you'd find out! Anyway, as I was trying to say, I've always loved you, and I've felt a deep connection with you. You and I seem to be made for each other......" I was reaching behind me for the ring. ".....And because of that....MPH!?!??!"
Spitfire put a hand over my mouth again. "Rambling too much Stud!"
I just about bit her hand that time! "Let me finish dammit!"
"Not if you ramble again!"
"Do you want the ring or not?!"
She then smirked. "Oh, do you mean THIS ring?" She held up a black box.
"What the?!" I felt around behind myself, but sure enough the ring was gone! "WHY YOU LITTLE THIEF!!!!! I OUGHTTA....!!!"
Spitfire then shut me up with a kiss, before opening up the box. "Stud, will you marry me?"
It was then that I realized that I'd been set up! Behind Spitfire, I could see her mom and Dash laughing their flanks off, and I also saw a number of other Wonderbolts as well. ALL of them were laughing at how I'd just gotten owned!
"HA HA!!! Captain got you GOOD Leopard!"
I groaned. "Come ON you guys, this isn't funny! It's CRINGEY at BEST!!!!"
Spitfire placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well, my offer still stands Stud. Will you marry me?"
I relented. "Give me the ring back, and I MIGHT say yes!"
"Why? Do you just want to say 'Spitfire, will you marry me'?"
"Close, but not quite. Ring please?" She handed it to me. "Thank you! Now then, as I was GOING to say, Spitsy, will you marry me?"
She wrapped me into a hug, and kissed me. "Do you REALLY have to ask me Stud? Of COURSE I will!" She then kissed me.
"AWWW!!!!!" Everypony gushed. I could also sense a twinge of jealousy.
After that night, we all got to work on planning the wedding.
The date had been locked in to be October 8th, and it would be in the Academy Garden. Anypony who wanted to could attend, but yet I could already tell that there was going to be a much lower turnout than there had been for the other weddings. I did get Todd to agree to be my Best Man again, and Dash was Spitfire's Mare of Honor.
"This is the last time though Leopard", he told me. "I CANNOT be a part of any more weddings for you!"
I looked at him. "Todd, I'm only telling you this because I trust you, but no, there will be one FINAL wedding after this. It'll be an EXTREMELY quiet affair, and I'll most likely NOT be inviting anyone from the train but you and Fred since I trust you both, and I KNOW that you would be quiet about it as well."
Todd looked like he was going to faint. He didn't, but still, I KNEW that I needed to rethink my life choices!
"I.........I can't do that Leopard. While I'm still your friend, I cannot in good conscience be a part of any more weddings after today!"
I sighed. "I......I understand Todd. And I'm pretty sure that Fred feels the same way that you do, so I won't bother asking him. You don't have to attend my other wedding after this one."
Todd nodded, though he didn't ask any more questions about what was coming, and I didn't tell him anything else about it either.
I kept expecting to get kidnapped for my bachelor's party, but yet up until the night before the wedding, nothing happened. On that night though, I learned the truth about why everything had been so quiet. As I was walking through the dark and empty halls of the Academy on my way towards the closest exit, I suddenly had a bag thrown over my head, and I was tied up before getting dragged through the halls!
"Oh COME ON you guys!" I yelled through my sack, "If you guys just wanted me for my bachelor's party, you TOTALLY could have just asked me!"
"Well, you might not have WANTED to come if you knew what Soarin had in store for you!"
"What? What does THAT mean?!"
"Eh, I don't know. All he told us to tell you was 'remember the night of your last bachelor's party, and the conversation that you had’."
I then remembered what Soarin had said about a private bachelor's party in his bedroom!
"Oh shit, I really am in trouble now!" I got dragged on and on through the Academy.
Eventually, I was dumped into a room, and I heard a door close behind me. I was lying on my back, and I could tell that the lights were on in the room, but they were dim.
"Ah, hey Leopard. Glad that you could join me tonight for your private bachelor's party!"
"Soarin, just so that you know right now, you're DEAD!"
"Aww, come on Bro, I just wanna cuddle!"
"*weird gibberish* NO!!!!" I then tried to scoot towards the door, but since I was lying on my back and the door was closed, I only managed to slam my head against it!
"OWWW!!!"
"Oh gosh. Are you ok Bro?"
"UNTIE ME!!!"
"Sure, just hold on!" Soarin then untied my arms and legs, although I was able to sit up and remove the bag myself. When I did though, I looked at him, and I REALLY wish that I didn't!
Soarin was standing there wearing only a jockstrap! I could see the bulge where his junk was, and then I saw the rest of the room. There was a bed, a desk, a window, a dresser, and some posters on the walls.
"Huh, you have a nice room Soarin."
He smiled. "Thanks. And for your bachelor's party, I KNOW that you probably don't want to have sex with me, but would you at LEAST be interested in cuddling? It can get REALLY lonely here at night, and I wanted to see what you were like in bed, at least to a certain extent."
I sighed. I didn't know what to say, but Life certainly did though.
"Oh, so NOW you have a problem with sleeping with another guy?! You were just FINE with Sombra, but NOW there's a problem?!"
"Shut up Life, I wasn't talking to you!"
"Hey, watch it Leopard! I'm EXTREMELY pissed off at you for avoiding me, and if you don't start being nice to me, I WILL Find a Way, but in the most humiliating way possible for you!"
I just sighed. "Life, you're nothing but a huge DICK! You make EVERY bad situation worse, you ENJOY causing pain, and you serve no purpose! You're a JOKE!"
Life had had enough. "Ok, I see how it is now. Watch out Leopard! When I DO Find a Way, and believe me I WILL, it will be in the most HUMILIATING way imaginable! I'll make you feel like a FILTHY breeding animal, and you'll LOVE it!" Life then left me alone with my thoughts.
Eventually, I did agree to cuddle with Soarin, and we both shared a bed that night. We talked about many things, and I did confirm that I found him cute. He told me that he liked me as well, and we agreed that even though I was marrying Spitfire, we could still be friends.
We did kiss a few times, and eventually, we fell asleep in each other's warm embrace. We were both naked except for our underwear, and we had our arms, wings, and tails wrapped around each other as well. (And yes, I later learned that Soarin did clear this with Spitfire and Dash, so I wasn't in any trouble!)
The next day was the day of the wedding. Since Father Charles had given a resounding "NO!" to performing my second wedding, another minister had to be found. Unfortunately, we couldn't seem to find one, so we ended up being stuck with Ink Paper, the boss of legal expert L. Eagle, the same loon we went to to try and see if we could get our contract figured out from!
In total, only 29 guys from both Battalion 4009 and the Battleship Express showed up, and Spitfire only had a few friends who weren't Wonderbolts show up as well. All in all, this was going to be a pretty quiet affair. However, one VERY prominent figure showed up; Miss AK Yearling herself!
When asked why, she said simply, "Oh, I wanted to see this wedding since I need inspiration for a similar scene for one of my upcoming books. Plus, Captain Leopard is a somewhat close friend of mine, so I'm here to support him."
This in turn led to a lengthy conversation about how Yearling even knew me in the first place, which turned into a conversation about me showing her notes from the various diaries that I had written in throughout the course of the wars that I'd fought in back on Earth, (which actually was 100% factually true. Daring asked to see some of my writing work, and I showed her some of the diary entries from WW6, detailing life on the Battleship Express) which THEN led somepony to ask her if her most recent character addition, Mac, was based on me, to which Yearling quipped,
"All characters in my stories are a work of fiction, however any relation to Ponies living or dead just might be on purpose!"
After this conversation FINALLY ended, it was time for the actual wedding.
The Academy Garden was all set up, and after the guests had taken their seats, it was time to begin.
First, Ink Paper walked up to the front arbor, and once he was in place, the music changed, and then I walked in. Instead of my formal uniform, I was actually wearing my typical blue and gray Battalion 4009 field uniform that I'd been wearing since I became a Battleship Express crew member! (The whole wedding was a bit on the casual side, and was considered only "semi-formal"!) It had seen a lot of use in its time, from WW6, to the Imperial War, and now here it was, the uniform that I was wearing for my 2nd wedding, minus of course the helmet.
I was followed by Todd a my Best Man, as well as Fred, Soarin, Firestreak, and a few other male Wonderbolts, who were my groomsmen. (The Wonderbolts were wearing their Wonderbolt jumpsuits, and Todd and Fred were wearing their field uniforms like me.)
Suddenly though, the music changed, and then the bride walked out. Everypony turned when Spitfire walked out. She was wearing her standard dark blue formal Wonderbolt tunic with its white shirt and black tie, dark blue skirt, white socks, and black shoes. Her mane was hanging down her shoulders, and she wearing a white veil, as well as carrying a wedding bouquet! Her mom walked her down the isle, and she was followed by Dash as her Mare of Honor, her flower girl Scootaloo, her bridesmaids Misty, Fleetfoot, High Winds, Surprise, and a few other female Wonderbolts, and the ring bearer, who interestingly enough was actually Dan! (Yes, as in, "future husband to Pinkie Pie Dan"!) Also, I'd removed my original wedding ring, although it would be given back to me when Dan brought up the rings; 3 brides, but only 4 rings. And when Spitfire was asked later about why she didn't want a wedding dress, all she said was, "I became the Captain of the Wonderbolts in this uniform, and now I'm gonna get MARRIED in this uniform!"
Finally, once Spitfire was up to the front, she joined me in front of Ink Paper, and after turning to face each other, we gently held each other's hands, and then the wedding began.
Ink Paper then turned to the crowd. "Ok, now that we're all here, I'd like to welcome all of you to the wedding of Captain Leopard and Captain Spitfire!"
There was a little bit of cheering, but overall, not NEARLY as much as my first wedding to Dash.
"Now then", he turned to us, "Are you two ready to begin?"
Spitfire nodded. "Yes Sir, I am."
"As am I Sir."
"OK, good. Now then, let's begin! Bring up the rings please Dan!"
Dan brought them.
"Good. Now then, Captain Spitfire, do you, take this man, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love until the bitter end, no matter what?"
Spitfire nodded, and while smiling sweetly, she put my ring back onto my finger. "Yes, I do! I take you Stud, to be my lawfully wedded husband! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love until the bitter end, no matter what!"
Ink Paper then turned to me. "And do you, Captain Leopard, take this mare, to be your lawfully wedded second wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love until the bitter end, and to share with your first wife, Rainbow Dash, no matter what?"
When Ink Paper said that, EVERYPONY present did a massive face-palm. He was NOT supposed to say that! Yes, polygamy WAS legal, but it was still a HUGE taboo! It was supposed to be a QUIET affair, and now word was out to those few present who didn't already know that I was already married, and was now taking a second wife.
"It was a simple question Captain Leopard," He informed me, completely ignoring the groans and other backlash from the audience. I sighed, and made the best of a bad situation.
I then took my ring, and placed it on Spitfire's finger. "Yes, I do. I take you Spitsy, to be my lawful, (second) wife! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love until the bitter end, no matter what."
Ink Paper then turned to the audience. "Now then, do any of you have any objections to this union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
I was fully expecting SOMEPONY to object, but yet to my surprise, nopony did.
"Nopony? Ok then, by the power vested in me as the preside over this wedding union, I now pronounce you both man and mare! Your blood contract goes into full effect as of right now, but you may kiss the bride!"
I turned to him. "Please, just SHUT UP! You've made my life MISERABLE, just like your loony employee L. Eagle did! All of you are nutballs! But yet, if you insist!"
I then lifted up Spitfire's veil, and after taking her into my arms, I kissed her deeply, as the crowd clapped for us.
The rest of the ceremony went fairly quietly after that. We had the cake, and after sharing a bite with each other, the rest of the cake was cut up as well.
Then we had our wedding song. For some reason, Spitfire was a HUGE fan of this one, and because I liked it too, I didn't object.
However, unlike all of the weddings that would come later, once Spitfire tossed the bouquet, and I tossed the garter, there was no carriage to rush away in. All there was were 3 train tickets to a resort in Las Pegasus, one happy groom, and 2 happy brides who were off on their honeymoon!
Also unknown to us was the fact that there was a famous author who decided to tag along as well, but that's another story........
Once we'd changed, as well as packed our bags, we made it back to Ponyville so that we could board a train heading to Las Pegasus. I was lugging most of the bags, although Spitfire and Dash DID help me out a bit! We left Tank with Fluttershy, but yet I knew that I couldn't leave Aurora behind. I wanted to, but yet when you have a dog who's a wolf-hybrid, who KNOWS that she can misbehave if she doesn't get her way, (and whom I know for a FACT is fully sentient!) some things just can't be done. Aurora said that she was going, and that was that.
"Fine", I told her, "But if something happens, or if you don't like the trip, shucks to be you! I gave you the opportunity to stay here, but you wouldn't take it!"
She just looked up at me. "Master, for the past 2 years, wherever you've gone, I've ALWAYS come with you! Plus, I AM your certified PTSD dog, so according to medical experts, I HAVE to come with you!"
I just face-palmed. "Aurora, that's a load of bull, and you KNOW it!"
She smirked a bit. "Yeah, I know it, but does anypony else?"
Eventually, we just gave up and let her come along.
For the most part, the trip to Las Pegasus was very boring. Surprisingly, nopony really seemed to recognize us, or they just chose to ignore us after we became "Soiled Doves" in their eyes.
However, we DID get a visitor. As I was staring out the window of the Friendship Express, a mare suddenly addressed me.
"Excuse me, Captain Leopard?"
"Yes?" I then looked up at her, and I saw a mare with yellow fur, a grey hat, red glasses, wearing a purple sort of cape around herself as well. Underneath, I could see that she was wearing a grayish dress with black shoes.
"Is this seat taken?" She pointed to the spot next to Spitfire.
All of our eyes got VERY wide when we saw her. "Wow, AK Yearling! And no, that seat isn't taken."
"Ok, thank you." She then sat down.
Once she did, I turned to her. "What are you doing here Daring?! This was supposed to be a PRIVATE honeymoon!"
"And it WILL be! I just HAD to get away from those wedding crowds, and when I saw you guys heading for this train, I knew that I just HAD to kill several birds with one stone!"
I looked at her confused. "Huh? What 'several birds'?"
Daring sighed. "Well Stud, the truth is..........ok, here's the deal. I need you, and I WANT us to be married, but at this point, you guys are well and truly 'soiled doves'. Most likely you've been banished from ALL wedding chapels and related venues for life! Except however for Las Pegasus, because as you probably know, it IS the 'City of Sin'!"
"Yeah, but what's your point Daring?"
She then sighed again. "My point is Stud that the only place that you and I can tie the knot, is in Las Pegasus. I was hoping for a beach-side ceremony, maybe even in our swimsuits! And now that we're already on our way there, why don't we just take care of it while we're there?"
Dash, Spitfire, and I all looked at each other. None of us could tell if Daring was being serious, or if she'd just forgotten to take her meds that day!
Finally, Dash said, "Yeah, but why now Daring? Don't you want to wait a little bit longer? I mean, this kinda IS our honeymoon!"
"Yeah, and this is why I feel awful about interrupting it, but yet if Stud and I got married, then we could ALL share a honeymoon! Plus, the crowds are REALLY closing in on me, and I need time to get away! I won't be any hassle. All I'll need is a quick change of clothes, which I have with me in my bags, as well as a spot to sleep, and of course time to spend with you Stud. So come on guys, please? Won't you help a mutual friend, soon to be sort of sister/wife out?"
I didn't know what to do. Daring then tried to sweeten the deal. "Plus, I even have the ring so that you can propose to me!"
"Um, yeah, about that.........won't you have to create another fake name for yourself though Daring?"
Daring looked at me funny. "Yeah, of course I will, and I already have one picked out! I can be Feather Wings, Dash's cousin, as we DO look a lot alike!"
Dash then spoke up. "She does have a point there Stud, we really DO look a lot alike! Plus, a honeymoon for 4? That would be awesome!"
Spitfire then reached her decision. "Sure, I guess so Daring, HOWEVER, you STILL have to apologize for tying me up back on the day after Stud's birthday!"
"And I WILL, eventually anyway!" She then looked at me. "And what about you Stud? The final decision lies with you."
I had to take time to think about this, even though I already knew what the answer would be. I relented. "Ok, FINE, you can be on this trip with us, PROVIDED of course that not only do you behave yourself, but that you also keep a low profile. I mean you WERE trying to dodge the crowds, right?"
Daring would have squeed and hugged me, but yet she didn't want to give herself away. Instead, all she did was shake my hand. "Thanks Stud!" She whispered. "I'll give you a PROPER thank you later, but I hope that this will do for now!"
"It will. and for what it's worth, I'm kinda glad that you're here Daring, as I was wondering what you were going to be doing without us!"
We all then laughed about this for a bit as the train continued along to Las Pegasus.
Eventually, a few hours later, we reached the city. As we passed it, I looked out over the Palomino Desert. Sure enough, there were still a number of craters and other wreckage left over from the battle. All undetonated ordnance had been removed, but yet many scars of battle still remained. A few trails, as well as memorials had been constructed since the battle ended, and it was certainly a popular site to visit for both war enthusiasts, veterans, and all others alike.
"Do you......remember what we did here Dash?" I asked her quietly.
"How could I ever forget? This was the biggest battle ever fought on Equestrian soil! It was also the last time that the Caribou were ever a threat to Equestria!"
We both took a moment of silence to remember those who had fallen in the battle, both Human and Pony. Then a few minutes later, the train pulled into Las Pegasus Station. Then, once we had our bags, as well as our other luggage, we all disembarked and tried to make our way over to the hotel at the resort that we were staying at.
"Wild Ride" was the name of the resort, and it CERTAINLY lived up to its name!
"I'm having the strangest case of deja vu right now", I muttered.
"Is.....it because of America's 'Las Vegas'?" Spitfire asked.
I sighed. "Sort of. Vegas was my home for nearly a year while I lived with Demetria and Carla. And then.......2 years later, I returned......" I couldn't bring myself to finish that sentence.
Dash and Spitfire comforted me while I recomposed myself. Both of them knew how close I was to Demetria and Carla, and how painful their deaths were to me.
While this was happening, Daring looked on with Aurora by her side. "Um, who's he talking about?" Daring asked.
Aurora sighed. "Demetria and Carla. Demetria was the Empress of the Futas, while Carla was her adopted daughter. They adopted my Master, and loved him dearly. Had nothing gone wrong, he would have married Carla and one day ruled the Futa Empire with her...." Aurora then explained the full story.
When she finished, Daring just looked towards me sadly. "That's......really sad. I feel so bad for him for having to experience this. I wish.....that there was something that I could do."
"Just......try to keep from mentioning this to him. Some things are best left buried."
Daring nodded, and once we were ready, we all continued on our way.
Eventually, we reached the front lobby of our hotel.
"Yes, may I help you?" The Pony at the front desk asked me.
"Yes, I'm here for my reservations."
"Certainly Sir! Name please?"
"Leopard. Captain Leopard."
He looked up at me. "Well, I have your reservations right here, but I can also say that I'd like to shake your hand and thank you for your service in the Imperial War!" He then held out his hand, which I did shake.
"Well, you're welcome Sir. It was my honor to have served Equestria during the war. It was our job, and we were just doing what we had to do."
"And I still thank your for it! Also, I hope that you, your wife, and your.....wait. Your reservation says that you only had 1 guest in addition to your wife. Why are there 2 guests with you?" He pointed to both Spitfire and Daring.
I thought fast. "Well, the truth is, at the time I made those reservations, Feathers here, my wife's cousin, didn't get back to me in time when I asked her if she would be available to come with us. She did eventually RSVP yes, but yet I'd already made the reservations. After a lengthy argument however, Dash and I decided to bring her along as well."
The desk clerk nodded. "Ok then, whatever floats your boat. However your rooms are ready, so feel free to head on up!"
I nodded, and after thanking the desk clerk once again, we all loaded our luggage onto a cart, and headed over to the elevators so that we could get up to our rooms.
Hey Stud?"
"Yeah Dash?"
"What did that guy mean by, 'whatever floats your boat'? Did he mean what I think that he meant?"
I sighed. "Well, if you mean that he thinks that we're married, and that Spitfire and Daring are an Escort Service, then yes, THAT'S what he meant!"
"And what rooms did we get Stud?" Spitfire asked.
"Oh, I got us rooms with a beachfront view! It's 2 rooms, but together they'll almost be like a small apartment. There's 2 king-sized beds, a Jacuzzi tub, fully-stocked mini-bar, lots of couches and chairs, and pretty much everything else that you would find in a fancy hotel room. Also, I think that they supply condoms, lube, and birth control!"
The 3 mares giggled a bit. "Well, they DO call it the 'City of Sin', so I guess that that's just them living up to their name!"
"Maybe so guys. Wouldn't surprise me at all if they did!"
We then reached our rooms.
When I opened the door and we all peered inside, we were all SHOCKED! For starters, the rooms were HUGE! They truly were everything that I'd described, as well as a few other things. There were 2 balconies, and one of them even had a hot tub! And yes, we did have a great view of the South Luna Ocean.
It was also then that we tried to figure out sleeping arrangements. This conversation lasted about 5 minutes, and it ended with Dash, Daring and I in one bed, Spitfire in another, (she STILL didn't get along too well in bed with Daring!) and Aurora would sleep with Spitfire as well.
Once we did this, we decided to take a look around the resort. We discovered a number of restaurants, pools, hot tubs, spas, exercise rooms, fountains, theaters, and a few other such venues as well. Dash also found out about other amenities that the resort offered, such as bike rentals, parasailing, and even bungee jumping!
"Wow, they've even got BUNGEE JUMPING here!"
I was surprised. "What? Really?"
"Yeah! It's on a bridge in the Las Pegasus Mountains, right next to Daredevil Falls!"
I'd heard about Daredevil Falls. It was a spectacular waterfall, but yet it was also a magnet for thrill seekers. Ponies would do everything from cliff-jumping, to even trying to go over it in a barrel! It was NUTS!
Dash then looked at me. "Before we leave here Stud, you and I are TOTALLY going bungee jumping!"
I felt the color in my face drain away like bathwater. Sure, I could handle things like skydiving, and had completed a number of jumps during my time with the military, but having a cord tied to your ankles while you jump from an extreme height? Um, NO!
Finally, I said, "Um, well, I'll DEFINITELY need time to think about that one Dash, but maybe."
Dash nodded, and then we looked around a bit more.
After eating dinner in a restaurant, we decided to try the hot tub on our balcony. We all wanted to try the beach that night, but yet there was some private event going on down there, so we would have to wait on that.
Once we were back, we WERE going to be using our swimsuits, but then Daring suggested that we skip them. I told her that she was nuts, and she then pointed to the sign that said that private amenities were clothing optional.
"Oh. Well, I guess that we could try it then."
We all did so, and soon, a Human-Bat-Pony hybrid, his 2 wives, and his marefriend, were all relaxing in their private hot tub. ALL of them were naked, although it was hard to tell due to all of the bubbles.
"Hmm, now THIS is paradise!" Spitfire whispered.
"Yeah, no kidding Spitsy!" I shifted a bit. "I could REALLY get used to this!" (I also made a mental note to add a hot-tub to the plans for a pool that I was going to be building for Dash for her birthday once we began building onto her house before too long).
All of us were sipping from a glass of white wine, and this time we made a promise not to get drunk! 2 glasses at the most, no more!
I then proposed a toast. "A toast, to the success of our lives, to long marriages, and to the good health and long life of us all!"
"Cheers to that!" We all then toasted, and went back to relaxing.
Eventually, Daring scooted over to me, before sitting in my lap. She then wrapped her arms around me, and began to kiss me gently.
"Mmm, I love you Stud, and ever since the night of your birthday party, I've really begun to feel a strong connection with you. We're really not that different you and I, and I know that we'll be REALLY happy together! You complete me Stud, and it's a pleasure to call you my coltfriend, but yet I want something more......"
Daring then reached behind herself, and Dash handed her something. I was pretty sure that I knew where this was going.
"Huh, naked in a hot tub in a resort in Las Pegasus", I thought, "Now THAT'S how you make a wedding memory!"
Daring then revealed that what she'd been given was a ring box. She opened it, revealing an engagement ring. "Stud, will you marry me?"
I sighed happily, before pulling Daring in for a kiss. "For a sweetheart like you Daring, yes! Yes, I'll marry you, provided of course that you marry me!"
"Eee! Yes, yes, yes!" Daring then hugged me, her tits pressing into my chest.
Suddenly however, our sweet moment was spoiled. From a level above our room, we all suddenly heard a series of wolf-whistles.
"Damn! How many mares do you have down there buddy?"
I looked up, and there on a balcony one level above us and to our left was a group of 3 stallions. All of them were wolf-whistling and cat-calling MY mares!
"HEY! All of you beat it right now! This is NOT a peep-show!"
They just laughed. "oh, we'll beat it, we'll beat dat ass of yours before we spend some time with your cuties!"
I glared at them. "You try that, and you WILL be leaving on a stretcher! I'm a veteran from Battalion 4009, AND I fought through almost every major battle of the Imperial War! I've kicked ass before, so please, for your sakes, DO NOT make me do it again! You will NOT be walking away from it!"
They did recoil a bit, but yet they didn't leave.
"Heh, I want that cutie with the grey mane. She looks just like Daring Do!"
Daring decided to mess with him. She stood up in the hot tub, and after getting a lot of bubbles on her tits, she began to rub and fondle them. "Aww, you want me cuz I look like Daring Do? Do you think that I look sexy Baby?"
"HELL YEAH!!!!!! DAMN!!!!"
Daring then giggled a bit. "And do you want these boobies?"
"YES!!!"
"Well then sucks to be you bitch! Cuz THIS mare, belongs to my Stud here!" Daring then sat in my lap again, and began to kiss and caress me in a VERY sexual way while I did the same for her!
"Why you.........you filthy BITCH!!!!" One of them screamed. “Slutty tramp-whore!”
Daring merely responded by showing them how tall her middle finger was. "Yeah? Well f@#k you too you pervs!"
That did it. All 3 of them were REALLY mad now! "Ok, listen closely you little shits! When we get down there, all three of you mares WILL be ours, and as for you you hybrid-freak!" One of them pointed at me, "YOU will be just another murder statistic!"
They then left their balcony, and I could hear them charging down the stairs to our room!
When the full gravity of the situation reached us, we all sprang to life!
"Shit! Battle stations now!" We all jumped out of the hot tub, and without even bothering to put any clothes on, we all went for the weapons.
I'd brought my rifle, shotgun, and my trusty Glock hidden in my suitcase, and Daring had her revolver as well. I took the rifle, while I handed my Glock to Dash, and the shotgun to Spitfire. We also locked and barricaded the 2 doors to our rooms, before turning over a desk, and using it as a barricade. I also took the liberty of informing the resort security to the situation, and telling them to please hurry.
"We're in Rooms 345, and 346! They're coming, and they REALLY wanna hurt us!"
"Stand by, we're on our way up!"
Long story short, security got to the 3 thugs before they could even get to our rooms. They were escorted away from the resort, and were charged with attempted murder, attempted sexual assault, and criminal mischief. They would be spending a LONG stint in jail!
Once it was all quiet again, we put away our guns, set the desk back upright, and pretty much went back to what we were doing before.
Eventually, we all decided to call it a night. After showering to get all of the chlorine off of ourselves, (and yes, we all did wash each other!) we went to bed.
The next morning, Daring and I decided to see what kind of wedding packages were offered. Daring wore her black bikini, a pair of shorts over the bottoms, as well as an oversized T-shirt and sandals. She had her gray mane in a ponytail, and we were holding hands as we walked. I was also wearing my swimsuit, a T-shirt, and sandals.
Eventually, we reached the part of the resort that handled weddings. Officially, we were Leo Matthews and Feather Wings, and our story was that we'd been dating for a while, and we'd both ALWAYS wanted to have a beach wedding on the shores of the South Luna Ocean.
"So, you two want to have a beach wedding here?"
I nodded. "Yes ma’am. Feather and I have been together for a while now, and we think that the time is right for us to tie the knot!"
"And what exactly did you have in mind for your wedding?"
I sighed. "Well, due to budget concerns, it will have to be a VERY small affair! Only a few guests will be invited, and we actually planned to wed in our swimsuits."
Daring then took up the story. "All I would really need would be a garter, veil, and a bouquet, although I could probably provide the bouquet myself."
The wedding coordinator then asked a few more questions. "Ok then, and party size?"
I sighed. "Very small, no more than 5 guests. 2 close friends, my dog, and MAYBE 1 or 2 others."
"Ok, that will certainly save time and money! And a cake?"
Daring and I both chose a chocolate cake that had whipped cream, as well as bits of brownies in it.
"Excellent choice! And you will be wanting a minister, am I right?"
We looked at the options, and we decided on what minister we wanted.
"Ok, and before I calculate your final total, one final question. When did you two want to get hitched?"
I pretended to think for a moment. "Well", I said at last, "We're here until the end of the week, but yet we kinda DO want to spend time together before we have to go back home, so how soon can we be married?"
Before the coordinator could answer though, Daring piped up. "Oh, and if it wouldn't be too much of a bother, I'd REALLY like my wedding to be at sunset! That's been my dream since I was a little filly!"
The coordinator smiled. "Well then, how about tonight? We actually DO have an opening at sunset, so we could fit you two in if you wanted!"
"What, really?!"
The coordinator nodded. "Yes, and now it's time to calculate the bill." She then got to work on that. Eventually, she told us that out bill was a measly 400 Bits, which I was able to pay upfront.
"Thank you for your purchase!" The coordinator called after us as we left. "I know that you two will NOT be disappointed!"
Once we were out of there, I turned to Daring, and after sharing a quick kiss, we gently rubbed noses before hurrying back to tell Dash and Spitfire the good news.
"Wait, the wedding is TONIGHT?!"
I nodded. "Yeah, apparently."
"What time?" Spitfire asked.
"Eh, well, at sunset, so I guess at around 7 like they told us. Also, EXTREMELY casual, I'm personally just going to wear my black bikini with a garter and a veil, and I did buy some flowers at one of the resort shops, so that takes care of the wedding bouquet. Plus, it'll just be Stud and I, you two, Aurora and the minister, and perhaps our wedding coordinator. It'll be small, but yet isn't that what we want? Very little, if any publicity?"
Dash nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. So yeah, I guess that this IS the best option that we have. A bit sudden sure, but yet when Life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!"
"No, you take those Lemons, and shove them down Life's throat for being a dick-wad!" I muttered.
"What was that Stud?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing Dash, I was just.....thinking out loud a bit. Anyway, we still have a bit of time before the wedding, so what do you guys want to do? And no, no bungee jumping!" I gave Dash "the look".
She just smirked. "Wow, you really ARE paranoid Stud! Plus, this is your wedding night to Daring. We can always do bungee jumping later!"
I was a bit surprised, but yet I just rolled with it. "Ok then, so what do you guys want to do?"
Spitfire then spoke up. "Well, remember how they have scuba-diving here Stud? That sounded fun!"
I took a look at a brochure, and tried to find the section on scuba-diving. What I saw both made me laugh, cry, and cringe all at once!
"Um, Spitsy, this isn't scuba-diving, this is DEEP SEA diving!"
She looked at me curiously. "Um, what's the difference?"
I showed her. "See this? THIS is scuba diving!"
I then flipped the page over. "And THIS is what they offer here!"
When Spitfire saw it, she put a hand over her mouth. She then showed the pictures to Dash, Daring and Aurora.
They all then looked back at me. Their facial expressions were unreadable, but yet I could somewhat tell that they seemed to be planning something.
"What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Finally, Spitfire spoke up. "Stud, what would it take to get you into one of those suits?"
I rolled my eyes. "Rope, a gag, and a whole lot of drag!" I then began to walk away, but unfortunately I didn't get very far.
Just as I turned away from them, I heard something unravel, but before I could turn back to see what it was, I suddenly felt something wrap aground me, and pin my arms to my sides!
"Hey! What the....?!?!?!"
I then felt something jerk, and when I was pulled backwards, I found myself looking into the smirking face of Daring. I then realized that she'd lassoed me with her trusty whip, and tied me up with it!
"Hmm, let's see, we've got him somewhat pinned. Now then, rope please Spitfire!"
"Heh, sure thing Daring!" Spitfire then began to tie my legs together!
"Hey! You can't do this to me!"
"Dash?"
"Yeah Daring?"
"Gag please!"
Dash smirked. "Heh, coming right up!" Dash then grabbed a washcloth, and stuffed it into my mouth!
The 3 of them then lifted me up, and carried me out of the room!
I struggled the whole way down to the diving docks, but Daring did at least try and comfort me. "Come on Stud, this'll be FUN! Just think of this as your bachelor's party!"
By this point, I managed to spit out the gag. "But that's for a GUY to plan, not you guys!"
"Well, it's not like you have too much of a choice Stud! Plus, you yourself DID say that all it would take to get you into one of those suits would be rope, a gag, and a whole lot of drag!"
They then drug me the rest of the way down to the diving docks.
Once we arrived there and my wives all untied me, I was ushered into a back room so that I could be fitted for my diving suit.
When I saw the massive suit that I was going to be suited up in, I just put a hand over my face. "Um, that suit does NOT look like the ones in the brochure!"
The stallion helping me gave me a sympathetic look. "Yeah, I KNOW! Time and time again we keep telling those who make the brochures to stop lying about our diving program, but time and time again, our pleas fall on deaf ears. And time and time again, they keep telling us that they won't need to change it if we'd just get rid of these old suits, and replace them with more modern diving equipment! But therein lies the problem; new gear costs money, and that's money that we DON'T have unless we can sell these old things! This suit here, as well as one other smaller suit are the only ones left, and if we can get rid of them, then we're golden! And, if you were wondering, no, you can’t use the other suit, as it’s meant for an instructor."
I gave him a curious look. If everything that he'd just told me was true, then that meant that in order to buy new equipment, they had to sell off the old, and for the most part they'd succeeded, except for the suit that I was going to be suited up in, and one other. And if they could sell them off, then they'd have enough money to upgrade their diving program.
"Um, and just so I know, assuming that I WAS interested in buying this suit, how much would that set me back?"
"Eh, surprisingly, not nearly as much as you think. I'll help you suit up, and your dive can be a test-run if you want. If you like the suit, then it'll cost you 750 Bits."
I then turned back to the suit. "Ok then, let's see how this works then." I then set about trying to get suited up, with help from the stallion, who's name was Ocean Breeze.
I will not lie. That suit was MUCH heavier than it looked! It was a gray suit with red stripes, brown gloves, heavy metal boots, a large gray helmet with hoses attached to it, small portholes on the front and sides of the helmet, and a big tank for air on the back. I thought that I looked at least somewhat good, at least until I saw my reflection in a mirror. "Oh gosh, I look AWFUL!"
Meanwhile outside, Dash, Daring and Spitfire were wondering what was taking me so long to suit up.
"Hey, is everything ok in there Stud? You've been suiting up for a really long time!"
"I'm done, but this suit is huge, bulky, awkward, and I can barely move in it! I look HIDEOUS! And no, I'm NOT coming out!"
Dash went up to the door. "Come on Stud, it's just a diving suit! It can't be THAT bad!"
"Well, it is!"
"Please, just come on out! I'll help you over to the water if you want!"
"NO! I'm NOT coming out!"
"Stud, if you're not coming out, then WE'RE coming in!"
"OK FINE!!!! I'll come on out. However, I only see one small problem, I don't think that this suit'll fit through the door!"
"Oh, I can help with that!" Ocean Breeze then flipped a few switches, and then the whole wall that the door was attached to opened up like a garage door.
The 3 mares then peered inside, trying to catch a glimpse of their husband in his diving suit. When they saw me though, they were shocked!
The suit was indeed big, gray, bulky, and most like VERY hard to move in! I then awkwardly took a few steps forwards. Once I was out in the light, they saw the suit in it's entirety.
Daring spoke up first. "Wow, you look GREAT Stud! That suit looks good on you!"
"Yeah, I'll say!" Spitfire agreed. "Is that a diving suit, or a tank?!"
"Can I take a picture Stud?" Dash asked.
"Sure, why not?" My voice sounded MUCH deeper than before, but this was due to the suit's audio system.
We all then posed, and Dash snapped a picture.
Daring then looked up at where my face would be. "Um, so how are you going to be getting into the water Stud?"
"Honestly Daring, I haven't the FOGGIEST idea! I can barely move in here, and I do NOT want to break anything!"
"The beach is about 25 feet to your left." Ocean Breeze pointed out, "You can just walk out there."
"Ok, thanks!" I began to (awkwardly!) walk towards the ocean. Ocean Breeze followed me in his own diving suit, just in case anything went wrong. (His was MUCH smaller than mine, and was CLEARLY more modern, even though it was still somewhat old.)
Daring had to duck out, as she had to get ready for the wedding. Spitfire went with her, although Dash stayed with me so that she could film me in action.
Eventually, I reached the beach next to the diving building. After doing a final systems check, and once Ocean was ready and Dash was filming, I began to walk into the water. First it rose to my feet, and then my knees, waist, chest, and then finally, the view-ports of the helmet went under water as well. I was now fully submerged in my suit!
"How's it going down there Stud?" Dash asked.
"Ok so far Dashie! Moving around under water is WAY easier than moving around on land! There's a whole new underwater world down here, and I'm right in the middle of it! I'm filming with my Go-Pro so that you can watch the footage later, but believe me, what I'm seeing right now is INCREDIBLE!"
"Yeah, I'll believe it Stud!"
I kept wandering around on the bottom of the South Luna Ocean at a depth of about 300 feet or so for a while longer. In fact, I was having so much fun that I COMPLETELY lost track of time!
Suddenly, Daring's voice came over my radio. "Stud? Stud! Where are you?!"
"Oh hey Baby, nice to hear from you again! And I'm about a half mile out, at maybe 500 feet down, checking out some really cool rock formations! What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing too major, just STANDING HERE ON THE BEACH WHEN OUR WEDDING SHOULD HAVE STARTED 5 MINUTES AGO!!!!"
"What?!?!?! I'm late?!"
"Yes you Big Goof! You're late for your own gosh-damn wedding!" I could tell that Daring was trying to be really angry with me, but yet was also trying to hold back her cute, yet sarcastic silliness. "And if you're not up here in exactly 2 minutes, we're starting without you! I'll bet the guy who's been checking out my ass would LOVE to take your place!"
When Daring said that, I let out a loud, whale-like scream, before charging as fast as I could through the sea. "Be there in 2, watch the ocean for me!" I then signed off.
"Hey Ocean Breeze?" I asked as I began to run.
"Yes?"
"Are you free for the next 20 minutes or so? Because if so, you're invited to my sunset, beach-side wedding!"
"What, really?"
"Yeah, really! The same wedding that I'm LATE for, so let's hurry!" We both then continued our charges through the ocean, heading for the main resort's beach.
"Ugh, WHERE is he?! I get all dolled up for my sunset beach wedding with him, and he DOESN'T EVEN SHOW UP FOR IT?!?!" Daring was standing on the beach in her black bikini with a veil over her face, a tropical flower behind one of her ears, and a garter on her leg. She was also holding the wedding bouquet, and her mane was also still in a ponytail from earlier.
Dash and Spitfire looked at each other worriedly. "Well Feathers, he IS in a diving suit under the sea somewhere close by, so he's probably trying to make it here as fast as he can!"
Both of them were also in their bikini swimsuits, and Aurora was close by as well. Also present was the sort of minister, and our wedding coordinator. The only thing missing was the groom, aka me!
Finally, Daring managed to reach me by radio, and I told her that I was coming just as fast as I could. A few minutes later, they were all looking out to sea when Dash suddenly spotted a strange, glowing yellow light moving beneath the waves, and coming towards the beach!
"Hey, what's that light?" She pointed to it, and moments later, a massive diving suit burst up through the surf, and began to walk towards the beach! Also from behind it, another smaller diving suit appeared, before walking towards the beach as well.
"Holy.....!!!! WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS!?!?!?!" The minister yelled.
Daring sighed. "THAT would be my husband to be! He took a deep sea diving adventure, and almost ended up missing his own wedding! Behind him is the diving instructor."
A minute or so later, the big diving suit reached the wedding party, and after the occupant of the other suit revealed himself to be Ocean Breeze,the diving instructor, he helped me out of my suit as well.
Once I was out of the suit, I took a moment to collect myself, before removing my shirt, and once I was in my swimsuit as well, I joined Daring in front of the minister.
"I'm REALLY sorry for being late Daring! I just lost track of time being under the sea like that!"
She just held my hand. "Yeah, and I can forgive you Stud. Only now we have a bit of a problem. There's going to be photos taken of our wedding, and we have 2 diving suits here on the beach as well! What do we do?"
I thought for a moment. "Well, they could be 'guests' as well! This means that we have 2 mares, a dog, a diving instructor, a wedding coordinator, AND 2 diving suits attending our wedding!"
Daring just laughed, before playfully hugging me. "Oh Stud, you are just TOO MUCH sometimes! But what the heck. You only live once right? So let's do this thing!"
After taking a few minutes more to fully set up, we were ready to begin.
The minister stood with his back to the ocean, Daring and I were facing each other in front of him, and hehind us were the guests. Dash, Spitfire and Aurora got the front row, while Ocean Breeze and the wedding coordinator got the back row, and the 2 diving suits stood off to the side so as to "provide security"! The wedding coordinator was also taking pictures, as were Dash and Spitfire.
Once we were all ready, the minister began.
"Ok, well, now that we're all present and accounted for, let's do this shall we? Are you both ready for this?"
Daring sighed. "Yes, I was born ready!"
"I'm ready too Sir!"
"Ok then, Mr. Ocean Breeze, please bring up the rings!"
He did so, and once again, I simply removed my wedding ring, and would have it handed back to me very shortly. Daring got her own ring though.
The minister then turned to me. "Leo, do you, take this mare, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"
I placed my ring onto Daring's finger. I also decided to extend the vows a bit. "Yes, I do! I take you Daring, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do us part!" (I also forgot to call her "Feathers", and instead used her real name! Fortunately, nopony aside from Daring, Spitfire and Dash noticed!)
The minister then turned to Daring. "And do you, Feathers, take this stallion to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"
Like me, Daring also decided to extend her vow. She then placed her ring over my finger. "Yes, I do! I take you Stud, to be my lawfully wedded husband! To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from the good times to the bad, through sickness and in health, to love faithfully, until death do us part!"
The minister then turned to the very small audience. "And, do any of you have any objections to this wedding union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
For some odd reason, Ocean Breeze's diving suit suddenly made a weird noise. He checked it, but he said that it was simply a battery level indicator, indicating that the batteries for his suit's lights needed to be recharged. "It's NOT an objection!" He assured us.
The minister then sighed. "Ok then, by the power vested in my as the presider over this wedding union, I pronounce you both mare and stallion! You may kiss the bride!"
I then lifted up Daring's veil, but then to my surprise, Daring leapt into my arms, and after wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my back, she gave me a French-kiss! I held her legs to keep her stable, and kissed her back.
The minister was a bit surprised. "Whoa! Frisky young couple, aren't you?"
Once Daring broke the kiss, she shifted herself around until I was holding her bridle style.
"I assume that you know what to do Stud?"
I nodded. "Oh, you know it Babe!" Then in a prearranged maneuver, I ran with her down to the ocean, before jumping in with her.
As we frolicked, swam, and splashed around in the South Luna Ocean, Aurora, with help from DELCI, played through the speaker in her collar the most appropriate song for this occasion.
All while we were having fun, Spitfire and Dash watched us.
"Aww, they look so adorable together!"
"Yeah, can't argue with you there Spitsy! Now all three of us are FINALLY married to that hunk of a stallion, and now we can begin to plan out our new lives together!"
Spitfire thought about that. "Yeah, and first we'll have to start with building onto your house, which we WILL do come Winter, but then where will we go from there?"
Dash shrugged. "Wherever Life takes us, I guess. We've still got a LONG road ahead of us Spitsy, although for the time being, let's just focus on the present. Tonight, we ALL get to have our wedding night with Stud, and I know that THAT will be epic and awesome!"
Spitfire nodded, and they continued to watch us.
All too soon, we were down to our last day at the resort. As a sort of "last hurrah", I FINALLY agreed to go bungee jumping with Dash. However, let's just say that our trip up to Daredevil Falls was the LONGEST of my entire life! Spitfire and Daring came with us, as did Aurora.
All too soon, we reached the falls. I took out my camera, and started to video. "Ok, today is October 15th, 2029, the temperature is an amazing 85 degrees, and I'm here with Dashie; say hi Dashie!"
Dash wrapped an arm around me, and kissed me. "Hi guys!"
"And we're up here!" I then turned the camera, so as to show Daredevil Falls, as well as the bridge in front of it where the bungee jumping was done. "And SOMEHOW, Dashie talked me into going on a bungee jump with her. And not just ANY bungee jump, but a jump in just our SWIMSUITS! Isn't that NUTS?! Also, my two other wives are here as well to record this," I panned the camera over to Daring and Spitfire, "As well as Aurora!" I pointed the camera to her, and she barked happily.
"All three of them have come to watch Dash and I DIE, so let's do this, I guess."
Soon, Daring, Spitfire and Aurora were on the bridge watching, while Dash and I were being harnessed up for our jump. As per the usual, they tied the cords to harnesses attached to our ankles, before attaching our ankles together. We had our arms wrapped around each other, as well as our wings, and I had my trusty Go-pro camera on my head as well.
"You guys can do this!" Spitfire yelled over to us.
"Yeah!" Daring agreed. "Plus, if you two survive, I'll be willing to make a jump with you as well!"
"As will I!" Spitfire agreed.
"Me too!" Aurora added.
"Um, Aurora, I don't think that they allow dogs to bungee jump!"
"Yeah, we actually do!" One of the staff then showed me a picture of a guy doing a jump with his dog harnessed to him! The dog looked to be about the same size as Aurora as well.
"Huh, so you do. Well, I'm STILL freaking out over here!"
Dash kissed me. "Aw, come on Stud, this'll be AWESOME!"
"Yeah, awesome, right. I survived the Imperial War, only to die doing something stupid. I know that THAT will make the history books!"
"Well, the good news is Stud that even if you die, you won't have to die alone. I'll be right here with you, and I guess that we'll be heading to the Afterlife together!"
"Dash, NOT a very good motivational right there!"
She shrugged. "What? It's TRUE, isn't it?"
I just put a hand over my face, before it was time for our bungee jumping tutorial.
"Ok you two, here's the deal. You're about to make the most AWESOME bungee jump of your entire lives right now! You're about to make the full 17 story plunge to the bottom of the falls, before taking a quick dip in the pool beneath it, and then springing back up here! You'll fall down again of course, and then it'll be a few more times up and down,before we finally haul you back up here!"
I was scared now! "Wait. 17 story plunge?! Dip in the pool beneath the falls?!"
"Yeah! Any other questions?"
"Yeah! Where can I file for life insurance?!"
"No other questions? Good! Now then, let's get you two up to the jumping platform!" Dash and I were then picked up gently, and carried over to what appeared to be a small platform. It was made of metal, and was only about 3 feet wide, and 3 feet long. Beneath it was the 17 story drop to the waterfall's pool at the bottom.
"Oh Celestia!"
The staff member orientating me just smirked. "What's the matter Leo?"
"Oh nothing. I'm just a little bit nervous about having a cord tied to my ankles while jumping 17 stories down to a pool beneath a waterfall like Daredevil Falls! It's absolute INSANITY!!!!!"
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, we've NEVER had a single fatality at our facility here."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We're the safest bungee jump around!"
That made me feel a little bit better. Dash and I then stepped up to the edge of the platform. Once we were ready, we held each other tightly, and we wrapped our wings around each other as well.
"You ready Dash?"
She looked up at me. "I was BORN ready Stud!"
"Well, can I at LEAST get one more kiss for the road?"
She smirked. "Of course Stud!" She then gave me a quick kiss to help calm my nerves.
I then glanced over at Daring and Spitfire. "Hey guys?"
"GERONIMO!!!!!!" I then jumped, and let gravity do its thing.
I will not lie, I GENUINELY thought that we were going to die! I felt like we were falling to our death, and while Dash cheered, I stayed a bit quiet. Eventually, we reached the water head first, and we did dive into it up to our waists, before we were sprung back up again.
"*cough cough* Going up Stud!" We were then shot back up.
Eventually, after springing up and down a few more times, our jump reached its end, and Dash and I were hauled back up.
"Whew! That was......pretty cool actually!" I was still in shock that I'd actually bungee jumped!
"No kidding Stud! That was AWESOME!!!!"
Daring then walked over. "Heh, well, I'm glad that you guys think so, cuz now it's my turn to bungee jump with you Stud!"
I took one of Daring's hands. "Well then, let's do this!"
After Daring's jump with me, then it was Spitfire's turn, and after she was done, I did it with Aurora. Aurora's jump was interesting, because I was given a harness that attached to my torso and waist, as was Aurora. Once we were both secured, I jumped, and we made the plunge upright this time. (My jumps with Daring and Spitfire were just like the one with Dash; Harness to the ankles, upside down.) We then hit the water, before springing back up again. Aurora loved every minute of it, and we had the videos of ALL of our jumps to remember the experience by.
Once we were done, we all took a group photo with our backs to Daredevil Falls.
One of the staff took the picture. "And just so I know, how are you all related?"
"Well, Dashie here's my wife, this is her cousin Feathers", I pointed to Daring, "This is our close friend Spitfire, and this is my dog Aurora."
"Wow, you're one LUCKY stallion to be THAT CLOSE with 3 beautiful mares!"
"More than you know Buddy!" I thought.
Once he snapped a few pictures, we all then headed back to the resort.
The next day, it was time for us to leave. All 5 of us were sad to have to leave, but yet we all had our lives to get back to. Also with us on the train ride home in the baggage was a VERY large crate, as well as a somewhat smaller crate. The large crate said, "CAUTION! FRAGILE! HANDLE WITH CARE!!!!" Below that, it said, "Diving suit, property of Captain Leopard!" The other crate said, "CAUTION! FRAGILE! HANDLE WITH CARE!!!!" Below that, it said, "Diving suit, property of AK Yearling!"
Yep, in the end, I bought the diving suit that I'd worn for my deep sea diving adventure, and Daring ended up buying the other one. Now, the resort had the money to FULLY upgrade their diving program from deep-sea diving to proper scuba-diving!
What did we plan on doing with the suits? Well for the time being, they would remain in their crates, which would be stored in a storage room onboard the Battleship Express. Later on, once the new additions to our house were complete, the suits were displayed in 2 large glass display cases in a trophy room full of other relics. Every now and again, Daring and I would take them for a dive in the river surrounding Ponyville, but for the most part, they just remained where they were.
Now, my last wedding was over. Now, I could focus on building a new life with the mares that I'd grown to love so much. Little did I suspect though just what kind of adventures lay ahead for ALL of us!
Eventually, Daring and I waded back to the beach. We were both still soaking wet, but we really didn't mind. Daring was giggling like a schoolfilly, and I wasn't too far behind her. Once we made it back to the beach, Dash and Spitfire handed us towels, and after we'd dried off, we helped Ocean Breeze move the diving suits back to the diving docks.
"So, have you decided yet on whether or not you'll buy the suit?"
I nodded. "Yeah, consider me sold! I'll take the suit, provided of course that I can pay by check!"
Ocean Breeze nodded. "Yes, you can pay by check."
Before I could respond further though, Daring spoke up. "And is that other suit still for sale?"
"Yeah, but it's more of an instructor's suit. Why would you want it?"
"Because my husband got his own suit, and here's another one for sale that I could have!" Daring then turned to me. "Oh, and don't worry Stud, I can buy this one myself!"
I shrugged. "Eh, whatever you say Daring."
Long story short, Daring did end up buying the other suit, and Ocean Breeze agreed to keep them in storage for us until we could transport them home. We also agreed to pay him once the suits were all packed up into a crate. In the meantime though, there was "fun" to be had!
Once we were on our way back to the resort, I gently scooped Daring up, and carried her bridle-style back inside the hotel.
"Oh come on Stud! I'm an ADVENTURE HERO! I'm perfectly capable of walking myself back up to our room!"
I shrugged. "Eh, maybe so Daring, but still, you are my beautiful mare, and I do NOT let my mares walk back to our room on our wedding night!"
"S-shut up!" Daring had a hand over her face, but she was blushing, indicating that she didn't mean what she said.
Also while we walked through the hotel, other Ponies clapped and cheered for us getting married.
"Wow, his wife's a REAL hottie!"
"Yeah, no kidding! She's the spitting image of Daring Do herself!"
"What a lucky guy!"
"Lucky guy? Don't you mean lucky MARE? I mean look at that hunk! What I wouldn't give to get me some of THAT in bed!"
I began to blush as well, and behind me I could hear Dash, Spitfire, and even Aurora trying to muffle their giggling.
"Really guys?" I quietly asked them once I half-turned to look at them.
"What? Who's laughing Stud? Nopony's laughing back here!"
"Dash, you've ALWAYS been a terrible liar, you know that right?"
She giggled. "Maybe?"
"And you two look SO cute together!" Aurora added.
Daring and I could both do little more than put a hand over our faces, and just buck it up. (We also planned on taking one of the bedrooms, and locking ourselves into it!)
We then went over to the elevators, and returned to our rooms.
Once we were up there, Spitfire opened the door for us, before I carried Daring over the threshold. After a quick glance over to the room that Dash and I shared with Daring revealed that the door was open, I looked at Daring, she nodded, and as quick as I flash, I took flight, before zipping into the room, dropping Daring onto the bed, before turning around and slamming and locking the door! (I'd gotten 2 rooms for us, and now I'd just locked Daring and myself into 345. Dash, Spitfire and Aurora were still in Room 346.
"Huh? Hey! What the?!" I heard hoofsteps come up to the door. "Hey! Why'd you lock the door Stud?"
"Because you, Spitsy and Aurora were being mean!"
I then heard more hoofsteps, as well as paws. "Hey, open the door Stud!" It was Spitfire this time.
"No!"
"What? Why?"
"Because like I told Dash, you be mean, you get locked out! Daring and I ain't coming out of here til tomorrow!"
Dash and Spitfire then realized what I meant by that. I had just denied them sex for a night while I f@#ked Daring's brains out!
"HEY!!!! YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW STUD!!!!!"
"Karma's a bitch, ain't it guys?" Daring laughed.
I laughed too. "Yeah! And let's see, we've got each other, we've got ALL of Room 345, which means that we've got a bedroom, a bathroom, a balcony, lots of food, the rest of our wedding cake, a fully-stocked minibar, a TV, couches, chairs, and other such luxuries of a high-end hotel room. Dash, Spitfire, and Aurora have that too, but yet they DON'T have me!"
"OPEN UP RIGHT NOW STUD!!!!"
"Not gonna happen Dashie! Tonight's Daring's night. Tomorrow I'll open up Room 345 again, but not before!"
"But my bags are in there Stud!"
"How's that a problem? I thought that you always slept naked anyway. Plus, without me, why would you need birth control? And if you need anything else, just ask Spitfire!"
"Don't expect to sleep in Dash's house anymore Stud!" Spitfire told me. "It may be OUR house now, but we're NOT gonna let you live there!"
"Yeah? Well, don't expect ME to pay for the expansions! Or the part that I was gonna give Dash for her next birthday!"
I heard them stop. "Wait, what part that you were gonna give me for my next birthday Stud?"
"You and Spitfire behave yourselves over there, and let me have my time with Daring, and maybe you'll find out!"
I heard them talk among themselves. Finally, Dash said, "Fine! I'll just have sex with Spitfire! Goodnight Stud, goodnight Daring!"
"Goodnight Dash!"
"Goodnight Dash."
They then left, and I turned back to Daring.
"Man, I can't BELIEVE that you just gave in to him like that! Why did you do that Dash?"
Dash turned to Spitfire, and then she began to laugh.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
Dash then held up a bottle of pills. "I'm laughing cuz I got these!"
"Huh? What are those?"
"Daring's birth control! Now, they'll either open up, or Daring had better be ready to be a mom!"
Spitfire was about to start laughing, but then she thought of something else. "Yeah, but what if they just do anal, or he pulls out before he cums?"
"Oh, don't worry, Daring will be taking a pill tonight, but the question is WHICH pill?"
Now Spitfire started to get worried. The smirk on Dash's face didn't seem to be the funny kind anymore. "Dash, what did you do?"
"I took the bottle of birth control, but there was also another bottle in my bag as well. This bottle though contains my FERTILITY PILLS! The bottles look almost identical, and I DOUBT that Daring'll pay too much attention to the label!"
Spitfire and Aurora froze. Sure, they were mad about what I'd done, but yet they didn't like what Dash was doing.
"Um, Dash, don'k you think that this is taking it a little bit too far?" Aurora was getting scared. "I mean, being mad is one thing, but yet something like this? What if Daring actually gets pregnant because of this?"
"And worse, what if one day that they found out that the foal(s) that were born to them because of this could have been avoided, but you decided to jack with the birth control? How do you think that Stud would react to that?"
"He'd be mad, but yet as he said, 'Karma's a bitch, ain't it?' Now it's HIS turn to get Karma!"
Spitfire was having NONE of this! She went over to the door. "STUD?! STUD!!!!!"
"Yeah Spitsy, what is it?"
"Stud, DON'T LET DARING TAKE THE BIRTH CONTROL PILLS!!!!!"
"Hey, SHUT UP SPITFIRE!!!!" Dash yelled at her.
Spitfire just glared at her.
"Hey, what in the hell's going on over there?! And why shouldn't I take the pills?!"
"You shouldn't, because......MWPH!!!!!" Dash slammed her hands over Spitfire mouth to keep her from spilling the secret. Luckily, while Dash and Spitfire were tussling, Aurora finished for her.
"Master, can you hear me?"
"Yes, and what the hell's going on over there?!"
Talking fast, Aurora then explained the whole situation.
"WHAT?! Ok, thanks for telling us Aurora! I'll let Spitfire beat Dash's ass for this, and we'll just enjoy our night over here."
"Anytime Master! It's my job to keep you safe!"
Eventually, Spitfire managed to get Dash to the ground, where Dash then admitted that she was lying about the fertility pills, and just wanted to f@#k with somepony.
"I was KIDDING Spitfire! I don't even HAVE fertility pills! However, my bottle IS the only bottle of birth control, so I hope that Stud either uses a condom, or doesn't jizz in Daring! Or that if he does, he and her are ready to make us aunts!"
Spitfire smacked Dash one more time for good measure. "Dash you're so STUPID!!!!! And you'd BETTER go and buy them some Morning After pills!"
Dash sighed. "Yeah, fine. You're right. I'll go find some, and present them to Daring as a peace offering." She then went to go and do just that.
"And I'M sleeping on the couch tonight!" Spitfire called after her.
"Yeah, and so am I!" Aurora added. "Unless of course, you wanna eat dog-pussy; not that I even would let you lick mine even if you DID want to!"
"Oh yeah, you only let Stud eat you out! I forgot about that!"
"Hey, UNCALLED FOR!" Aurora barked at her angrily, before walking over to the couch with Spitfire.
Meanwhile, back in Room 345, Daring and I searched Dash's bag, but yet we couldn't find the fertility pills.
"Well, there's always the chance that Dash was just being a dick-wad, and didn't tell Spitfire and Aurora about this."
Daring just shrugged. "Meh, I can skip the pill anyway. Just wait for me to get dressed, and then we can have some REAL fun!"
"Sure babe!" I then waited in the living room, while Daring got ready in the bathroom. A few minutes later, I heard her moving a few things around in the bedroom. Soon though, all noises ceased.
"You can come in now big boy! I'm waiting for ya!"
"Ok, here I come." I then walked over to the bedroom, and when I opened the door, I was surprised.
All of the lights were off, and the room was lit only by a number of candles. I then saw Daring lying on the bed. Instead of her bikini, she was wearing a set of black, almost sheer lingerie. Her pith helmet was on her head again, and her mane was hanging down her left shoulder. She was also lying on her side facing me, with one hands on her hip, and the other under her breasts close to her belly. Her tail was also draped over her left leg. I also saw that she was wearing a purplish stone necklace, and that she'd put on a bit of makeup, (blush, and eye-shadow, as well as pink lipstick) and that she was gently smirking at me.
"Well, what are you waiting for big boy? Wanna come have an adventure with me?"
I hesitated a bit. Daring could really be adorable sometimes, especially when she wasn't trying to be! With what she was wearing, she just looked so feminine instead of tomboyish, and I loved it.
Daring saw me smirk, and almost laugh. "Hey, what's so funny?"
"Nothing's funny, but you just look so adorable Daring!"
She gave me a look. "Hey, who you calling ADORABLE buddy?"
"Well, YOU Daring! With that getup, it just suits you so well. It's kinda girly, and I like it."
She glared at me. "If you don't do this right, I'll have Dash and Spitfire knock you out, before we put makeup on you, put your mane in pigtails, put you in a schoolfilly uniform, and leave you somewhere outside of the hotel! I'll bet that some of the stallions out there would just LOVE a cute li'l schoolfilly to 'play with'!"
"Yeah? And I'd beat every one of their asses! But for the sake of tonight, I'll humor you." I then turned away, before turning back. "Oh, and where are we gonna have this 'adventure'?"
She patted the bed. "Right here! We're gonna find the Temple of Lola, the ancient fertility goddess!"
I walked slowly over to the bed. "Wow, that sounds like fun. And where is this 'temple'?"
Daring looked up at me, and smirked. "We've already found it Stud, it's right here! We're right now in the heart of the temple. This is where the ancient rituals took place."
"What ancient rituals? The fertility rituals?"
"Mmm hmm. And now we're gonna perform it too!"
I began to lick my lips a bit. "Oh, and with a fertility goddess like you, I'm REALLY gonna enjoy this 'ritual'!"
Daring and I then pretty much broke character after that!
I was on Daring in an instant, and after removing her lingerie, I began to kiss and fondle her gently.
"Ngh......yeah, right there Stud!" Daring was lying nude on her back, and I was kissing my way down her body. Her pith helmet was lying on the bed next to her, and I was naked as well.
I kissed her neck, before working down to her shoulders, and then I gently began to kiss her breasts. "Wow Babe, you've got a REALLY nice rack!"
"Hee hee! Thanks Stud! They're somewhere between D's, and Double D's. And yes, they're all mine!"
I continued to kiss and caress them. "Well, they're nice, and they're really soft They're not quite as muscular as Spitfire's but they're slightly bigger and softer than Dash's!" I then began to lick, and suck on her nipples.
"N-nyah! That feels SO GOOD Baby!"
"Mmm, yeah, purr for me kitty, purr!"
Daring just giggled in response.
I then stopped suckling from her, and after taking a few more moments to pet, and knead the tuft of fur that she had on her chest, I began to kiss lower. After kissing the bottoms of her breasts, I kissed her lower chest, and then I began to kiss down her belly.
She had some nice muscles. Not quite as muscular as Spitfire and Dash, but yet they were still there. It was also then that I noticed for the first time, that Daring actually had a little bit of a belly on her. She wasn't outright chubby, but yet she was a little pudgy!
"Wow Daring, you're a little pudgy down here."
"Y-you got a problem with that? I like to eat a little more from time to time; so what?"
"Nothing. I like a little meat on the bones. Plus, I NEVER said that you were fat. I just said that you were a little pudgy.........And NOW I'm gonna say that you have some really nice curves as well!" Daring had grabbed me by one of my Pony ears, and it felt like she was gonna rip it off!
"Stud, you NEVER imply that lady is fat! You also NEVER tell her that she's pudgy! I'm just a little 'fluffy' down there, that's all!"
"Well, when did I ever say that I had a PROBLEM with it?! I said that I LIKE meat on the bones!"
Daring finally let go of my ear. Before I started kissing her again though, I asked a question. "And before I start again, I noticed your necklace earlier. What is it?"
Daring looked at her necklace. It was a purplish polished stone with a black cord. "It's a pendant, actually. My mom gave it to me when I was a foal. Supposedly, I was born under the 'Mark of the Fertility Goddess', as my mom said. She would never tell me what that meant, but yet she said that I would grow up to be 'VERY fertile, and be able to have lots of foals with the body that I would have as an adult'. I thought that she was crazy, but yet looking at myself now, I have a body that's almost perfect for making foals. Large breasts to feed them, good birthing hips to push them out, and a perfect womb to make them. I've worn this necklace for years, and my mom always told me to wear it, as it would help 'keep me fertile', although I don't believe that it has any 'mystical powers'! I still like it though, so I always wear it. Except for the night of your birthday party. I left it behind that night."
I thought about that. "Well, I think that it looks pretty on you, and I like it! Also, I think that I'll go back to kissing you now!"
Daring sighed. "Well, I'm glad that you like it Stud, and if you want, I'll always wear it."
I nodded. "Sure. Now we can 'play' with you wearing that. Wearing ONLY that!"
Daring smacked me playfully. "Really Stud? REALLY?"
I just laughed before I resumed kissing.
Eventually, I reached Daring's pubes. For the most part she was shaved, except for a gray landing strip, which really stood out against her tan fur.
"Wow, nice landing strip Daring."
"Do.....you like it Stud?"
I gave it a kiss. "What do you think?"
"I think that you do!"
I kissed it again. "And you'd be right!"
And I would have kissed her slit next, but yet I wanted to say that I did something first. I then began to rub Daring's Cutie-Marks. "Huh, just as I thought. It feels like fur, but yet it's colored to form your cutie-mark."
Daring rolled over a bit so that I could see it better. I then took the opportunity, and kissed her right Cutie-Mark.
"Whoa! Did you just........kiss my ass?"
I shook my head. "No......." I then kissed her right butt-cheek. "But now I did though!"
Daring then burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha ha ha!!! I can't BELIEVE that you just kissed my ass, literally!"
"Well, I can kiss it again if you want me too, or I can kiss your pussy."
"You just want me to say, 'kiss my ass' again so that you can do it, don't you?"
I smirked a bit. "What do you think?"
Daring rolled her eyes. "Just.......kiss my ass already, you Loony!"
I laughed a bit and complied. After giving her a few playful spanks, I began to kiss her ass again.
Eventually I was done, and I rolled Daring back onto her back, before finally getting down to her now gooey slit. I began to touch it gently.
"Wow Daring, you're really gooey down here! Are you enjoying this?"
"Is my pussy wet?"
"Yeah."
"Then that means I like it, I like it a lot! The wetter and gooier I am, the more I like it!"
"What if I make you squirt though?"
"If I squirt, then THAT means that I'll be loving you for a LONG time to come! You made me squirt once, and I positively creamed my brains out!"
"And, do you want me to do that again?"
She looked down at me like I was crazy. "Are you kidding me?! HELL YEAH!!!!"
I shrugged. "Ok then, brace yourself! Here I go!" I then began to focus my attention on her pussy.
I started with a few gentle licks, which later escalated into a combination of licking and fingering. Daring just moaned like a mare in heat.
"Mmm, you like that Babe?"
"N-nyah!"
"Heh, I'll take that as a yes!"
Soon I began to suck, and lick at her clit, before getting my almost muzzle up to her pussy, and going to town. Daring had to grab and bite a pillow to keep from screaming out in bliss! Using the same routine as before, I managed to bring her to an orgasm so intense that she squirted like a fountain!
"NYAH!!!!" She yelled into her pillow.
I was hit with a wave of juices that squirted out of her. All 3 of my mares tasted different. Dash tasted like Skittles, Spitfire tasted like mac and cheese (for whatever reason!), and Daring? She tasted like honey. I thought that Daring might have been satisfied, but alas, I was dead wrong!
I stood up to stretch for a moment, and in that moment, Daring leapt up, grabbed me, and threw me back down onto the bed! I looked into her magenta eyes, and all I could see was a wild, feral animal. She looked at me hungrily, all while licking her lips.
"Oh, I'm REALLY going to enjoy this!"
"Daring, the birth control! You're not on it!"
"Yeah? And they made Morning After pills for a reason didn't they? If you don't want a foal then just buy me some in the morning! Now then, let's have some REAL fun!"
While I was still trying to grasp that, Daring then straddled me, before lining her pussy up with my dick, and slamming herself down on it!
"NYAH!!!!" We both cried out. Then with Daring digging her nails into my chest, she began to ride me furiously.
I also saw her pick her pith helmet back up before placing it back on her head. "Oh.....t-this......is gonna be my....g-greatest adventure yet!"
Daring then stopped riding me so furiously for a moment, before leaning down, and giving me a loving lick on the nose, followed by a kiss. "Ngh, you Stud. YOU were my greatest adventure ever! You always have been, and you always will be. I know that life with you won't be perfect, but yet I DO know that it will be an amazing adventure! One day I'll write a book about my life with you, but for now, wanna be feral with me for a bit?"
I looked up at her. "Does that mean that I can be on top?"
"If you can wrestle me to the bed and f@#k me, then yes, you can be on top!"
I sighed. Sometimes a stallion just had to do what a stallion had to do. I then took Daring up on her offer.
I will admit, it DID take some doing, as I first had to get up from underneath her, and THEN try and wrestle her to he bed, but eventually, because I was slightly bigger AND stronger, I had Daring down in the doggy position, and I was f@#king her like there was no tomorrow.
"Oh Goddess YES Stud!!!! F@#k me! F@#k me and make me pregnant with your foals!"
I grunted, but I didn't say anything. I was too far into the zone to care.
Also while I had Daring in doggy, I was also squeezing and massaging her breasts as well.
"N-nyah, you like to play a little rough Stud?"
"K-kinda."
"Well then", She reached around, flipped herself into the missionary position, before grabbing my back with her arms and legs, and REALLY digging her nails and hooves into them, "Let's do this roughly!"
Her hurting me threw our sex into overdrive. The more she dug into me, the harder I f@#ked her, and the harder I f@#ked, the deeper she dug. Soon, I could feel my back bleeding from Daring's scratches, and in response, I bit her neck with my fangs!
"S-stop, scratching me so hard! I'm F@#KING BLEEDING!!!!"
Daring responded by slapping me hard on the back. "I SAID F@#K ME YOU FILTHY, FERAL ANIMAL!!!!"
That did it. If Daring wasn't pregnant, or f@#ked stupid already, she was going to be! I finally snapped.
Roughly, I grabbed Daring, before throwing her back into the doggy position, although this time, I held her arms firmly behind her back, while I used my wings to hold her hips in place! (Just another advantage to having wings; they're like a second pair of hands in a way!)
"You wanna play ROUGH?!?!?! Ok then, LET'S PLAY ROUGH!!!!!" I then began to f@#k Daring like I never f@#ked before.
Even today, I NEVER f@#ked like I did on that night before or since. I slammed my hips into her so hard that her ass-cheeks were as red as a tomato! The entire bed was creaking, squeaking, and shaking from how hard I was f@#king Daring!
I could feel my load building up in me, but I didn't care. The bitch that I was holding down and f@#king was MINE, and meant to be used however I felt like using her. And right then, I was gonna BREED her!
"You, want my foals Daring?"
"Y-YES!!!!"
"Well, here they come!" I then thrusted deep into Daring one final time.
"NYAH!!!!!" We both screamed at the top of our lungs.
I then blasted the biggest load of cum that I'd ever blasted inside of Daring, before we both collapsed onto our bed in a sweaty, messy heap.
Meanwhile, deep inside of Daring, an egg was traveling to her womb. It was hit by my wave of swimmers, and sure enough, it got fertilized! If something wasn't going to be done about it, Daring would soon be pregnant!
"Ha ha! I've gotcha now Bitch!" Life thought to herself. "Now I've FINALLY Found a Way!"
I kissed Daring's neck gently. "Mmm, goodnight Babe. I love you."
"Hmm, as weird as this is for me to say Stud, I love you too."
We both then fell asleep like that, with Life fully convinced that she'd FINALLY Found a Way!
The next morning, we both came out of our room again, Dash apologized for trying to screw with us like that, and she offered Daring the Morning After pills as a peace offering.
"Thanks Dash. With the way I got f@#ked last night, I could EASILY be pregnant right now!" She then got a glass of water, before taking the pills.
Deep inside of her, once the pills began to work, the pregnancy that had begun about 7 hours prior was terminated.
"What? No, no, no, no, NO!!!!" Life was DEVASTATED! “F@#K YOU MORNING AFTER PILLS!!!!! I HATE YOU!!!!!" Life then directed her anger at me. "This is the LAST STRAW Leopard! Now I WILL be finding a way, and in the WORST. Possible. WAY!!!! You will NEVER live to rue the day that you cheated me for the LAST TIME!!! Both you and Daring Do are MARKED PONIES!!! I WILL get you, and (hopefully!) BEFORE THE YEAR IS OUT!!!!!"
Meanwhile, back outside, neither Daring or I knew just how mad Life was at us. When Daring had her next period, the remains of the pregnancy went with it. She never knew just how close she came to disaster that night, although both of us DID suspect it.
Once she was done, we both went back to my bed, and with Dash and Spitfire, as well as Aurora with us, we all cuddled for a while.
"Hmm, 3 wives and a dog. I really AM the luckiest guy in all of Equestria!" I then lay back on the bed, wondering how the rest of our honeymoon would go.
Chapter 17: War Prisoners, War Trials, War with Winter
For a few days after we all got back from our honeymoon, everything was calm and peaceful. Soon though, Fall began to turn into Winter.
In mid-November, just before the American Holiday of Thanksgiving, the snows began to fall. They weren't too bad, and lasted for a day or so, leaving a few inches on the ground. Thanksgiving passed, but then on November 27th, 2029, orders suddenly came down from Canterlot.
Don called all of us from Battalion 4009 together, where onboard the Battleship Express, Celestia and Luna had a new job for all of us.
"Major Don, Captain Leopard, Jim, and others from the Battleship Express and Battalion 4009, it is a pleasure to see all of you again!"
"Likewise Princesses!" Don said warmly. "Now then, what was it that you had to tell us? Something about another job?"
Celestia nodded slowly. "Yes, I have another job for all of you. Before the hard snows of Winter set in, myself, Princess Luna, as well as ambassadors from the Griffon Kingdom, have decided that the time is right to bring the war prisoners that have been kept in Zebrica and Donneth to Canterlot, so that the war trials can begin."
When Celestia said that, we were all shocked. Sure, we knew that the trials were going to be held eventually, but we didn't think that they would begin before the year was out.
"And, what do you want us to do, Princess?" Don asked her.
Celestia turned to him. "I want you and your crew to go to both Zebrica, and Donneth, get the prisoners, and bring them to Canterlot. Troops, as well as any additional trains that you might need will be sent with you to supply you with whatever you need." When Celestia said that, the full scope of our mission was realized. We would be going to fetch the prisoners, and bring them back to Equestria to stand trial. We would also have to protect them, as there still could be a few Caribou and Zebra holdouts out there that would just LOVE a chance to liberate their leaders and fellow soldiers!
Don saluted. "As you wish Princesses, it shall be done! When do you want us to leave?"
"As soon as possible Major. You HAVE to get them back here before the Winter sets in!"
"Give us 5 days to prepare, 2 to reach Zebrica, 3 more to Donneth, and then 2-3 more to get back here, for a total of 14-15 days. By December 8th or 9th, we should be back, and the prisoners will be ready to stand trial. Give or take a few days for any weather delays."
Celestia nodded. "Yes, and I shall inform the others that the trials are to begin soon, as they'll need time to prepare. In the meantime though, godspeed, my faithful soldiers!"
"Thank you Princesses, we won't let you down!"
After Celestia and Luna left, we all began to prepare not only the Battleship Express, but also Iron Glory for the long journeys ahead of them.
Sure enough, on November 29th, we were all ready to go. With sunshine, and 45 degrees on the thermometer, we were ready. Iron Glory, as well as 2 other trains would be hauling prisoners, while a few would be held on the Battleship Express, which would also be protecting the other trains. We weren't expecting trouble, but in our experience, NOTHING was beyond the realm of possibility!
We decided that any officers would be put on Iron Glory, while the other prisoners would be on the other 2 trains, and any with medical needs, (i.e. General Rodin) would be onboard the Battleship Express.
Eventually, by about 10am, we were ready to leave. Our wives, fiances, and friends came to see us off.
"Goodbye Stud, PLEASE come back to me safely!"
"I will Dash! You can count on me! All we have to do is get there, grab the prisoners, and get them to Canterlot for trial. Nothing more, nothing less. The war is over, so we're not expecting any trouble."
Dash hugged me, as did Spitfire. "Yeah, we know Stud, but still, something could happen, and if it did, it would be DEVASTATING!!!!"
"Yeah, I know guys, but don't worry. We've done MUCH WORSE than a prisoner transfer before, and we're professionals! We KNOW what we're doing, and it should only take 2 weeks at the most to get the job done. Then I'll be home, and THEN we can get to work on building onto our house, ok?"
Dash sighed. "Yeah, that sounds nice Stud! Just call us when you get the chance, ok?"
I kissed them. "Sure Girls, and give Daring a kiss goodbye for me, will ya?" (Daring had to stay behind, as AK Yearling really wouldn't have any business being near the Battleship Express at that time.)
They both kissed me again. "Yeah, we will Stud, and take care!"
I kissed them back, before climbing up into the Big Boy's cab. "Will do Girls! Bye for now! And I'll be bringing Argus back when I come back!" I then blew the whistle, and once I'd gotten the signal from Don, I began to move the Battleship Express away from the partially completed museum, out of the Old Railyard, and back onto the main line. Behind us came Iron Glory, as well as the other two trains, their crews, and more soldiers.
Once we were out of sight, Spitfire turned to Dash. "Um, who, or what is Argus?"
Dash smirked. "Oh, Argus was the Caribou War Beast that Stud rode during the battles of Carlon and Donneth. He was riding him when he burst into the throne room to save me, and I even got a chance to ride him out of Donneth once Stud had Pinkie and I safe! Princess Celestia wanted her scientists to be able to study the Caribou's War Beasts so that they could hopefully be bred here in Equestria for pack work, as well as riding."
Spitfire nodded. "Ok, well that makes sense. And that sounds pretty interesting. I'll be interested to see these War Beasts once they've been brought back here."
After talking about this for a few minutes longer, both of them went to get ready, before heading off to Wonderbolt Academy for the Winter Training Season.
For the most part, the trip to get the prisoners was REALLY boring. Our first stop was Zebrica, where we were going to pick up the few Zebra prisoners that we'd captured. In total, only 873 Zebras had been captured, and of these, 711 were female. The rest were soldiers, a few officers, and of course, Zakia himself. Zakia had recovered somewhat from being our sex-slave, but according to the latest reports, he still looked pretty girly.
When we arrived in Zebrica, our trains all pulled into the designated sidings. While the prisoners were being transferred to the train, some of us looked around the city. It looked pretty different than when we last saw it. For starters, there were no Zebras, only Ponies, and even a few Griffons and Donkeys here and there. Most of the damage had been repaired, and the city modernized. No longer was it called "Zebrica", but instead it was called "Cheyenne", after Cheyenne, Wyoming, the home base of the Big Boy locomotives while they were in operation.
All of us were on hand with weapons while the prisoners were being loaded up. All of them had been clothed enough for decency, although their hands and arms were tied to their sides. And while most of them went quietly, a few did not.
"You get your filthy Human hands off of me!" a Zebra soldier screamed. He was then restrained by a few soldiers. "Hey! Get your hands off of my dick!"
"If you would stop fighting us, I wouldn't HAVE to touch your dick!" The Zebra was then taken to the train, where he was placed in a section for troublemakers.
Iron Glory, as well as the other 2 trains, had been modified to carry prisoners. The windows of the cars were still there, but they now had metal bars over them, as well as barred doors leading to the main prison area. There were also 2 toilets per car, as well as metal benches, and blankets on the floor for sleeping on. Food would be brought 3 times a day for meals, and the Zebras were told that they would be arriving in Canterlot soon. (Males and females were also kept in separate cars.)
For the troublemakers though, they were placed in boxcars, which pretty much functioned as isolation cells. They were cold, dark, somewhat dirty, and the food was terrible. It was a bad place, but yet if they hadn't been fighting with those transporting them, then they wouldn't have been in there!
When the time came, Zakia was also moved back to the car that had functioned as his cell during the war.
"Come on Jazzie, your old cell's waiting for you!"
"Ugh, fine! Let's just get this over with!"
I looked him over as we walked by. His mane was still kind of long, but he no longer wore makeup. He still had breasts, although they were a lot smaller than before. His voice also sounded more normal, although it was still slightly high-pitched. He was also wearing a loincloth, which did cover his private areas well enough.
Once he was inside, he was locked in, and just like before, was placed under 24/7 guard until we reached Canterlot.
"Just wait Jazzie!" I told him as I walked back to the cab. "In 2 days or so, you'll have Daisy, Puzzle, and Kylie back in there with you! It'll be just like old times. Won't that be fun?"
Zakia sighed. "Yeah, woo hoo, I can't wait."
"Good. Now then, once you're all settled in, we can head over to Donneth."
Once we were ready, the trains pulled out again, this time, bound for Donneth.
Donneth was to be a 2-step mission. First of all, we had to get the Caribou, as well as a few Griffons back to Canterlot for trial, and we also had to secure the War Beasts that we were sent to retrieve, and bring them back as well. It was a 3 day journey there, and we hoped that it would be uneventful.
For the most part, we were right. The trip through the ex-Caribou Empire was marred only by a nasty thunderstorm late one night. The trains did rock a bit, and a few leaks in the cars had to be plugged, but overall we made it through. The sky was overcast, and the temperature was 53 degrees when we finally made it to Donneth.
When we pulled in, we were once again directed to a siding. As we looked around Donneth though, in addition to the Ponies, we also saw some Caribou, both male and female as well. All were properly clothed, and there were no collars to be seen anywhere. The males were helping to rebuild the city, and while some females were helping them, others could be seen doing laundry, cooking, running errands, and tending to Caribou calves. All in all, Donneth looked like a fairly normal city. There were a number of soldiers about, as well as officials from Canterlot, but these were simply to ensure that the Caribou Empire was dead, and would STAY dead!
Soon, it was time to gather the prisoners, and take them to the trains. There were a lot of them this time; mostly soldiers, but there were a few officers as well. The 4 most important of them all were General Stuggs, General Rodin, Prince Dactyl, and Colonel Bruno, the Griffon's commanding officer.
I also heard that Governor Price, the Caribou who had surrendered Bindleton, was doing well in his city under Equestrian jurisdiction, and since he was not guilty of any crimes, would not be standing trial. I was also able to meet Winston, the Caribou who had helped to care for and somewhat protect Private Cole, Pinkie and Dash while they were held hostage.
"It's so nice to finally meet the young Caribou who saved one of my soldiers, as well as a close friend, and my wife while they were in captivity."
"Your...wife?"
I nodded. "Yes. Since the war ended, I have married Rainbow Dash."
Winston nodded slowly. "Yes, I could have expected as much. Rainbow Dash was a good mare. She took what was thrown at her well, and I admired her courage. She was so convinced that you were coming to save her, and deep down, I knew that she was right. In the meantime though, what's going to happen to me?"
I sighed. "Well, like the rest, you'll be brought back for trial, but this is only because you were involved with keeping the slaves. Since you proved to be a help, most likely you'll only receive a light sentence, if that."
Winston nodded, before quietly allowing himself to be escorted to one of the trains.
The most interesting transfers were those of Stuggs, Rodin, Dactyl, and Bruno. Stuggs and Bruno were simply tied, Dactyl was still in a wheelchair, and Rodin had somewhat regained the use of his legs, although he still needed crutches. Stuggs and Bruno were loaded onto Iron Glory, while Rodin and Dactyl were placed in a medical car on the Battleship Express. They were restrained, but yet their injuries could be monitored.
None of them looked very happy, but yet they knew that they only had themselves to blame for their own actions. They had every opportunity to surrender before the Battle of Donneth, but yet they didn't take that chance. Now they were going to pay the price for their actions. Most likely, they weren't going to die, but yet lengthy prison sentences seemed to be absolutely imminent.
The last 3 transfers were Zakia's former "roommates". "Daisy", "Puzzle" and "Kylie" were former slave hunters, or soldiers found guilty of torturing POW's. They were given transformation potions very much like Zakia was, and turned largely female.
All of them seemed to be VERY happy to see us, and they came along without a fuss. They were placed with Zakia again, and this time, they were clothed enough for decency, and settled in for their journey. What was to be done with them was still unclear, as although they were guilty of war crimes, their minds were completely broken. They were pretty empty-headed, but were still capable of learning, and performing simple tasks. The original plan was to hand them over to be placed in a mental institution, but yet we felt that that was wrong.
"So then, what do we do with them?" Jim asked.
"Don shrugged. "It's not up to us to decide. It's up to the Higher-Ups. We just have to get them there, and then they'll decide what to do with them."
Jim sighed, before closing them into their car with Zakia.
The Griffons were a different matter. Some of them would appear to be cooperative, and then they would try to attack. Others, primarily females, (there were a few Griffon females serving within the military) tried to use their cute charm, good looks, and seductive skills to try and get out of being sent to trial.
They were met with mixed results. Some had to be wrestled to the ground, restrained, and then thrown into isolation, while others were given a few sexual favors, (which Don, Jim, and other officers, including myself STRICTLY forbade!) before being placed onto a train.
Once they were all loaded up, Don called us all together for a meeting. He then proceeded to RIP into those who had failed!
"I've been watching this transfer operation, and I must say, if it weren't for good officers such as Captain Leopard, myself, Jim, and others, most of you would probably be DEAD!!!! What is WRONG with you people?!?!?! SEXUAL FAVORS for enemy POW'S?!?!?! MY GOD!!!!! Don't you know that some of them were CONFIRMED to have STD'S?!?!?!"
(Don was not joking about what he'd said. While some of the Griffon prisoners were being evaluated, some of them were indeed found to be infected with STD's, as well as a number of other nasty things such as Feather Flu. And now our crew could EASILY be infected with something serious!)
"Now none of us will be going ANYWHERE until FULL medical evaluations have been performed on EVERYONE and EVERYPONY, and those infected with anything are QUARANTINED!!!!!!" (This was maybe a slight exaggeration, as it had been shown that Humans, and even Human-Pony hybrids, were immune to things like Feather Flu. But yet we were STILL at risk of STD'S.)
Among the soldiers, many were quick to point fingers at those who had been witnessed giving sexual favors to Griffons, but Don still ordered EVERYPONY to be evaluated!
Long story short, myself, Alex, Todd, Fred and Andy, were clean, as were Don, Jim, and the majority of the others. However, 11 members of Battalion 4009, and 7 Equestrian soldiers were found to be infected. Don radioed back to Canterlot to inform them of the situation, and the reply came to remain there until the infected crew could be treated.
Don did point out that there really were no known cures for STD's, and in response was teleported a crate full of vials of various cures. "Use them as the vials instruct", Celestia told him. "The cures WILL be painful, but yet it's the only way to keep them from living the rest of their lives in misery, and most likely dying young!"
"Will do Princess Celestia, Major Don out." Don then looked to Jim. "Hey Jim?"
"Yeah Don?"
"Do you ever feel like you're talking, but all everyone else hears is just white noise?"
Jim nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know the feeling Don."
"Yeah. In the meantime though, let's just get these cures handed out, and THEN get back to Canterlot!"
Jim nodded, and then went to help the medical staff with the cures.
Long story short, it was another 4 days before it was safe enough for us to leave for Equestria again, though all of the ones who had been cured were still kept in the isolation ward of the medical car on the Battleship Express just in case.
Finally, there were just a few more things to take care of. There was trial evidence to secure, as well as figuring out how we were going to get a herd of 12 War Beasts, including Argus, back to Equestria! In the end, they were loaded into purpose built stock-cars that were part of Iron Glory's train, and once they were finally secured, we began the long journey home.
Once again, extremely boring, and on December 13th, we pulled into the station in Canterlot. First to be taken care of were all of the prisoners that were going to be standing trial, as well as Zakia, "Daisy" "Puzzle", and "Kylie", who were going to be evaluated. The entire district from the train station to Canterlot Castle was completely shut down for the transfer, and the area surrounding it was also fogged in so that nopony would be able to see it.
First the Zebras, then the Caribou, Griffons, Caribou leaders, (Stuggs, Rodin, Dactyl), and lastly, the 4 "Crisis Cases", as they've come to be known, (Zakia, Daisy, Puzzle and Kylie.) Most of these were sent straight to the Canterlot Dungeons prior to the trials beginning, while Rodin, Stuggs, his nephew Winston, and Dactyl were placed in a different section of the dungeon that was a bit more posh, and so that Rodin and Dactyl's wounds could be tended to, but so that they could all still be watched. The "Crisis Cases" were sent to the dungeon's medical facilities.
Surprisingly, Zakia was evaluated, and despite physical appearances, was actually found to be mentally competent enough to stand trial! A death sentence was seemingly imminent for him though, as he STILL showed little to no regrets for his actions.
The Canterlot Trials as they came to be known, were slated to begin in early 2030.
When they did, they were broken down into stages; Zebra, Caribou, and Griffons. Griffon ambassadors were also present, and from what those who witnessed them said later, the trials greatly resembled the Nuremberg Trials following WW2. I never really got to see them, as I wasn't allowed in the courtroom, but then again, not too many Ponies were. Heck, even Don and Jim only got to see parts of the trial!
But for what it was worth though, even though the trials lasted most of the Winter, Justice was served. Stuggs, Rodin, and Dactyl were found guilty of war crimes, although because they surrendered, encouraged others to surrender, and showed great remorse for what happened, they were only given lengthy prison sentences. Stuggs received 15 years, while Dactyl and Rodin got 20. Other Caribou spent lengthy sentences in labor camps, farms, and mines back in the Caribou Empire, while the worst of the worst were sent to the gallows where they were hanged for their crimes.
For the Zebras though, they were an interesting case. Since most of those captured were female, they weren't executed, but DID spend lengthy stretches in jail, as well as being put to work in areas that they could be worked. The few Zebra males who were on trial and avoided the gallows suffered much the same fate.
For Zakia, his fate was the worst of all. After being publicly beaten, he was taken away to have done to him what he did to those he held as slaves. Eventually, his sufferings were ended by a firing squad. Like Tarrath though, his body was preserved so that it could be put on display.
Last of all came Bruno, and the rest of the Griffons. These cases were different, as instead of being tried by Equestrian Courts, they were tried in Griffon Courts. Bruno just barely managed to escape the death penalty, although he was sentence to life in a prison mine. The rest either suffered a similar fate, or were executed. There were however, a few exceptions. In a trade deal with Equestria, a few of the former female warriors were handed over to Canterlot Castle so that they could work off their sentences as servants. Grateful to be alive, as well as avoiding hard labor in a prison mine, the Griffon servants went about their duties without much complaint.
The final fates of the "Crisis Cases", are still somewhat unclear. Since their minds were considered completely broken, they were no longer a danger, but yet they couldn't be left unsupervised. Still to this day, they reside in a plush room at St. Marley's Asylum. Some of us from the Battleship Express still visit them, and we offer what encouragement that we can. They did learn to knit and sew, so they are earning their keep, and those who work at the mental hospital say that the 3 "girls" are such joys to have around. They described a lot of their actions as "adorable, carefree, and child-like", and Daisy, Puzzle and Kylie always love it when we come and visit them.
Once the Battleship Express was back at the Railyard, I decided to return home. After flying for a ways, I reached it, and after opening the front door, I walked inside. "Dash, Spitsy, Daring, I'm back! Where are you guys?"
"I'm in the living room Stud!" I heard a voice call.
I entered the living room, and when I did, I saw one of the cutest sights I'd ever seen. Daring was lying on the couch, and all she seemed to be wearing was one of my T-shirts, and it was way too big for her! Her mane was also in a ponytail, and was hanging down one of her shoulders. She was lying on her stomach, and was gently kicking her legs back and forth. I could also see that she was wearing her red glasses, and seemed to be writing out her latest book.
She looked over when she saw me. "Stud!" She held out her arms, and I came over and hugged her. "I REALLY missed you!"
"Hmm, not as much as I missed YOU! But where's Dash and Spitfire?"
"Hmm? Oh, they had to go back to the Wonderbolt Academy. It's just me here right now." She then noticed me staring at her. "What?"
I smirked. "Why do you have to be so cute Daring?"
I saw her blush. "For the last time Stud, I'M NOT CUTE!!!!! I just....wear my mane like this because it's practical! And my clothes were in the washing machine, so I borrowed on of your shirts! B-but I'm not cute! B-baka!" She then took off her glasses, and set them on the coffee table next to her.
I hugged her again. "Like me before you Daring, you can deny it all you want, but one day you'll admit that you're cute. If Dash could get me to break, then one day I'll get you to!"
Daring then rolled her eyes, before hitting me playfully. "Grr! Sometimes I just don't know what to DO with you Stud! I mean, we've only been married for about 2 months now, but I just can't DEAL with you half the time, you Big Goof!" She then grabbed me, and gently pulled me onto the couch with her, before holding me close.
"Nap time?" I asked her quietly.
"Yep. Nap time, and another trip to Dreamland!" (Daring and I often took afternoon naps together. Dash and Spitfire thought that it was cute, but "in reality", all we were trying to do was go to the Dream Realm so that we could have adventures together.
We both then got comfortable, before falling asleep in each other's warm embrace.
Sometime later, Dash and Spitfire got home.
"We're home Daring!" Dash called. There was no answer.
"Huh." Spitfire looked at her watch. "Well, maybe she's taking her afternoon nap."
Dash shrugged. "Eh, maybe so." She then looked into the living room. "Ohhhh!"
"What?"
Dash pointed to the couch. "Well, looks like Stud's home, and he's with Daring on the couch!"
"Are they.....'napping' again?"
She was blushing, and trying to keep from giggling. "Come see for yourself!"
Spitfire did, and to her quiet amusement, Daring and I were lying on the couch. Both of us seemed to be gently blushing, and we moved a bit, and kept mumbling, and Daring would occasionally giggle a bit as well.
"Aww, this is so ADORABLE! Do you.....think that they're off on another adventure?"
Dash bit her lower lip. "Oh, you KNOW it Spitsy!" She then took a picture of us, before placing it in an album. "So cute. Adventurers in the streets, dreamers in the sheets!"
(Even before I started napping with her, I learned that Daring was an INCREDIBLY active dreamer! She could go on for hours, mumbling, moving around, even giggling from time to time. Author, adventurer, active dreamer, "sister", wife. Not too much of a better combination than that!)
About a week after I got back from helping bring the prisoners to Equestria, the time had come to finalize the blueprints for the expansions to Dash's house. Eventually, we all came to the conclusion that once complete, Dash's house would be slightly larger than 3 times it's current size, and would be more than capable of handling 3 mares, myself, Aurora, Tank and any foals that we would have as well. In short, the walls on the left side of the house, (left from facing the front door from the inside) would be broken down, and a number of new additions were be added. Like the rest of the original house, the additions would be 3 stories tall.
Also on the blueprints was something called the "Grand Atrium", that would be located in the center of the new additions to the house up on the second of the 3 floors. This space was very large, but yet what I didn't tell Dash was that I simply fabricated that section to keep her from seeing the surprise that I had in store for her.
For a while, I'd always heard Dash talking about wanting her own pool, but yet never being able to afford one. Now I had plans to build her an indoor, full-sized swimming pool, complete with a waterfall, hot tub, and even a sauna! All of this I was keeping a secret not only from Dash, but also Daring, and even Spitfire. I was planning on giving this whole area to Dash as a birthday present, since her birthday was in February, and it was now December.
Soon, the construction on the museum went on hiatus for the season, and once we had selected a contractor and a construction crew, it was time to start breaking ground, or in this case, clouds!
Work began the day after Christmas, (or Hearth's Warming), and was scheduled to take about 3 months or so. Since a number of walls were broken through to begin the expansion, the 4 of us were mostly confined to just a few rooms of the house. We also helped where we could, and I learned a LOT about cloud house construction!
After the walls were down, it was time to start laying the new foundations. This was done by bringing all of the necessary clouds into place, and then cementing them together. Next came the frames for the new walls. There was so much going on, and I really had no clue what anything was, but yet most of the construction crew told me to stop asking them so many questions!
"We're TRYING to get the job done here Captain Leopard, so PLEASE stop asking so many darn questions!"
I sighed. "Well, I'm sorry. I was just trying to figure out how a cloud house was built. And now that I'm experiencing it first hand, I STILL don't really know anything about it! But at any rate though, I'll leave you to it." I then walked back inside Dash's house.
Beginning in January though, the weather REALLY stopped cooperating. Even though it was Pegasai-controlled, SOMEPONY decided that there should be a TON of snowstorms that Winter! For days on end construction would be postponed, but due to the walls in parts of the house being down and covered only by tarps, Dash's house was FREEZING!!!! In fact, it got so bad that we had to vacate to Dash's parent's house! (I also had to smuggle Daring into their house in a suitcase, but I REALLY don't want to talk about that one!)
FINALLY, towards the middle of January, construction was able to get underway again. Soon, everything was coming together. The new areas were fully enclosed, which meant that no heat was escaping, and that we could move back into the original sections of the house. Although once Dash saw the "Grand Atrium" on the blueprints she began to ask me about it.
"What's the 'Grand Atrium' Stud?"
I thought fast. "Oh, it's.....eh, just what it sounds like. I wanted some open space to display some of my other war relics."
"Huh. It looks more like a ballroom to me from what I'm seeing here, but if you say so Stud."
The hardest part of it all was building the pool area without Dash, Spitfire, or Daring knowing about it. The pool construction was happening right alongside the rest of the house's construction, but yet the "Grand Atrium", located in the center of the new additions of the house on the second floor, was still in constant danger of being exposed.
I gave the pool contractors the blueprints for what I wanted, but yet there were weather delays, delays on supplies, and the job taking longer than it was supposed to. In the end though, the job did get done, and I watched it come together with great pride.
The pool was in the center of the room, and there were stairs leading into it. It was 120 feet long, and 40 feet wide. The depth ran from 3 feet, all the way to 12 feet! It was also fully heated, and filtered. On the 2 longest walls in the pool room were a series of large, high-up windows to allow in light, as well as allow ventilation in the Summer. The room's high ceiling had a series of skylights, and the walls were made of white tile. The pool deck was seemingly made of marble, but yet was actually cleverly disguised concrete. The hot tub was up a small flight of stairs at the far end of the pool room, and over its edge flowed a waterfall right into the pool! The sauna was tucked away on the other side of the room from the hot tub, and there was not only a diving board, but also a high-dive! It was also all indoors, so it could be used in all seasons. Also present were closets for storage, towel racks, a bathroom, a small bar for drinks, a refrigerator, and of course, a number of pool toys!
On the last day of construction, as the pool and hot tub were being filled and heated, myself and the foreman who oversaw the work looked over everything one more time before it was completed.
"I still CANNOT believe that this has just become a reality! Previously it was just a dream of my wife, and now, (even though this whole venture has REALLY set me back!) it's all real! You Ponies did some AMAZING work!"
The foreman nodded. "Well, I'm glad that you're happy Captain Leopard, and it was my HONOR for myself and my team to have built this for you! As I'm sure that you do as well, I REALLY hope that you're wife likes it as well!"
"As do I. And how much longer until everything's ready?"
"Eh, it should only be about another 2 hours or so."
I looked at my watch. "Ok, so it's now 3:23, I need to meet Dash, Spits, Daring, and her parents at the restaurant for her birthday at 6, and then we all come back here sometime before 8 for the BIG reveal!"
I then thanked the foreman again, and continued to watch the final stages of everything coming together.
Eventually, I had to get ready to leave. Dash wanted to eat at her favorite restaurant in Ponyville, and we were all going to celebrate her birthday there. Everything about the pool area was ready, and the rest of the house construction was almost 80% complete as well.
I'd told her parents all about what I was planning, and they agreed to help me make it a surprise. Once I arrived at the restaurant, I found that it was quite packed all around. Aside from Dash, her parents, Spitfire, and Daring (AK Yearling), Twilight and the rest of her friends were there as well. It was QUITE the full house in our corner of the restaurant!
There was a lot of chatter, Dash was given her gifts, and we all ate the cake provided by Pinkie Pie.
"Where's YOUR present for Dash?" Spitfire whispered to me.
"It's back at the house. I wanted to save it for last, as it well and truly is beyond ANYTHING I've ever done for a birthday before!" Spitfire gave me a worried look. "Oh don't worry, not only is it NOT dangerous, but it's something that we'll ALL be able to enjoy for YEARS to come!"
"And does it have anything to do with the "Grand Atrium?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. You'll just have to find out!"
Spitfire then turned to Daring, but she didn't have any answers either. "Whatever he's been working on in that area was something VERY secretive! He never told ANY of us what it was!"
They all continued to wonder all the way back to Dash's house.
Once we were back inside, I took Dash by the hand, and with her parents and Spitfire filming, and with Daring and the rest of the Mane 6, and even a few Battleship Express crew (they all took Twilight's balloon to get up to Dash's house) followed along behind. As we walked towards the new area, Aurora suddenly came trotting up to me holding a manila envelope in her mouth.
"Oh, thanks Aurora!" I took it from her.
"You're welcome Master!"
I then handed the envelope to Dash once we were outside of the locked blue door that led into the "Grand Atrium".
"Dash, this is your present. I really hope that you like it!"
She took the envelope. On the front it said, "Happy Birthday Dash!", and after opening it, she found a square object wrapped in tissue paper, as well as a black key.
"Stud, what did you do?"
I smirked. "Open the thing in the tissue paper, and then take the key, open the door to the 'Grand Atrium', and find out!"
She looked at my curiously. But then she took the object, and unwrapped it. It was white, and square. It looked like a small sign, but it was seemingly blank. "Um, what is this?"
"Dash, you're holding the sign backwards. Flip it over!"
She did so, and when she did, she slammed a hand over her mouth.
"Dashie's Pool Rules: 1. Have Fun. 2. No Eating in Pool 3. No Lifeguard on Duty 4. No Sex Except in Designated Areas, (And When no Minors are Present!) 5. No Running 6. Only Dive in Diving Area 7. Aurora and Tank Welcome, (Other Pets by Appointment Only!) 8. No Horseplay 9. Pick up After Yourself 10. Swimsuits ARE Optional!"
Dash then looked back up at me. I was grinning, as was Aurora, and Dash's parents were filming, but everypony else looked like they were going to faint!
"Stud......you didn't!"
"Why don't you take that key, unlock the door, and find out what I did?"
Slowly, Dash took the key, and inserted it into the door's lock. She then turned it until it clicked, and once the door was unlocked, she turned the knob, and opened the door inwards.
When she saw the entire indoor pool room that I had built just for her, all she could do was slam her hands over her mouth, hug me, and start crying. I held her while she did so.
Spitfire and Daring saw it next.
"Holy.....!!!!"
"How did you even BUILD THIS without us knowing about it Stud?!"
I smirked. "Well Spitsy, on the blueprints I just called it the "Grand Atrium". Also the walls were built first, and had clouds covering the windows to hide the interior. The door leading to the hallway to here was kept locked at all times due to "dust, flooring work, and heavy painting". They built this entire place in just under 2 months.
Plus, your Mom Spitsy, as well as Dash's parents, were in on this one. They helped me hide this secret from you guys. Remember all those times that they 'needed help', or 'wanted to spend time with you'? Well, that was to get you away so that the pool construction wouldn't be discovered! And now with the rest of the house construction almost complete, it's enough to say that all this hard work has FINALLY paid off!"
Spitfire just shook her head. "I KNEW that there was something funny about the work being done on this room, but I just didn't know what! Now I see that it was something more amazing than I could have ever imagined!"
"Yeah!" Daring added. Then she whispered, "And is it REALLY clothing-optional Stud?"
"Well", I whispered back, "After our experiences in Las Pegasus, you tell me!"
Daring hugged me, as did Spitfire. Also, Dash FINALLY got around to telling me what she thought.
"S-Stud, this place......is AWESOME!!!!! It's even BETTER than what I was picturing in my head when I wanted a pool! T-thank you! This must have cost you a fortune!"
I hugged her. "Shh, it doesn't matter what it cost Dash. What matters is that I built it for you, and Daring and Spitfire can use it as well. And I'm glad that you like your present."
"And when are you gonna try it out Dashie?" Her dad asked.
Dash looked at me, and smirked. "Oh, just as soon as strip down to my fur, and get Stud to strip too, before joining me for the inaugural jump from the high-dive!"
"Wait, what?!" Before I could really say anything else though, Dash had already put her plan into action.
After stripping to her bare fur, and getting me to strip as well, skipping the built-in ladder, Dash then flew up to the high-dive platform, dragging me behind her.
We were both naked, and that really wouldn't have been a problem, except for the fact that Dash's parents, Twilight and the rest of her friends, not to mention Don, Alex, Todd and Andy were present as well! Now Dash and I were standing on top of a high dive platform, about to make the first jump into our brand-new pool, as bare as the day we were born, all while being observed, and filmed!
"You ready Stud?"
"If we were alone with just Daring, Spitfire, and MAYBE Aurora, I would say yes. But now, no!"
Dash shrugged. "Eh, well, we're doing this anyway." She then looked towards her dad. "You guys ready down there?"
"Yep! We're ready! Jump when you're ready!"
We were about to become the first in our new pool, but we almost got beaten to it!
"PSYCH!!!!" Alex broke away from the group and tried to jump in, only to be grabbed by Twilight using her Magic!
"Oh no you don't Alex! This is NOT your pool! you did NOT pay for it, and you will NOT be jumping into it first!"
Don then glared at Andy, who was often Alex's partner in crime. "You gonna be stupid too?"
Andy shook his head. "No. Plus, I don't even know how to swim! I used to, but I've kinda forgotten!"
Don nodded, although he remained looking away from the high dive, as did Andy.
Eventually, Dash and I were ready.
"Great catch down there Twi! You stopped him cold!"
"You're welcome Dash!"
Dash then turned to me. "Ok Stud. 10.....9......8.......7......6.......5.....4.....3....2....1....JUMP!!!!!"
Then, still holding each other's hands, we made the 20 foot plunge into our new pool. (Neither us us knew how to dive, so we just went feet first!)
When her hooves and my paws hit the water, we immediately felt the warm sensation of water on fur and skin. Moments later the rest of us went into the water. After being fully submerged, we both returned to the surface.
"Wow! That was fun!"
"Yeah!" Dash agreed, "And this pool is AWESOME!!!!"
"How was it?" Spitfire asked.
I turned to her. "Well, how about you and anypony else who wants to come on in and find out? There's PLENTY of room!"
Then, with a loud cheer, Spitfire and Daring also stripped naked, and jumped in after us. Twilight let go of Alex, and after he stripped to his boxers he jumped in too.
For the rest of those present, Dash's parents changed into their swimsuits, Todd stripped down to his shorts, and the rest of the Mane 6 either stripped bare, stripped down to their underwear, or changed into a swimsuit before jumping in. The only ones who didn't swim were Don, (He didn't want to) Andy, (He couldn't swim) and Rarity (She didn't want to get her mane wet!)
For a long time afterwards, we all splashed around, swam, chatted, and enjoyed all of the new amenities that my gift to Dash had to offer. EVERYPONY enjoyed themselves, and once the last of the guests had left, and it was just myself, Dash, Spitfire, Daring and Dash's parents, we all relaxed in the hot tub.
"I still CANNOT believe that this is in my house! It feels like we're in a resort or something, but NO! This is MY HOUSE!!!!!"
I laughed a bit. "Yeah, I know what you mean Dashie! And I'm still SO glad that you like my present!"
"As do I!" Spitfire added.
"Same here!" Agreed Daring.
"Just as we agree with you as well Miss Yearling. What our Son in Law gave our daughter is truly an amazing gift!" (Dash's parents were still in the dark about Daring's true identity, as well as her relationship with me. All they knew was that she was AK Yearling, and that she was a close friend of Dash's. Also, Dash's parents were the only ones NOT naked right then!)
"Well, I'm glad that you all like it! So much time and effort went into its creation, so I'm glad that you like it!"
Dash sat in my lap, and kissed me gently. "Stud, I'll NEVER find another husband and friend like you, even if I looked for a hundred-million years. You're TRULY one of a kind, MY one of a kind!"
I blushed a bit. "Aww, shucks Dashie, I don't know what to say!"
"Well then don't say anything, just hug and kiss me you Big Goof!"
I sighed happily before taking Dash up on her offer.
We all stayed there for a while longer, before taking our showers, and with Dash's parents in one guest room, Yearling in another, (she later slipped back to be with Dash, Spitfire and I!) and Dash, Spitfire and I in Dash's room, (joined later by Daring) we all fell asleep, dreaming of what the future would bring.
(WARNING: The following chapter is VERY dark at times. Nightmares, and other PTSD related issues are described in graphic detail, as are some of Leopard's past experiences. You have been warned!)
Even though most of those in Battalion 4009 were married, or engaged by the time that the Winter of 2029-30 set in, all was not well in paradise. PTSD, and all of the health issues that came with it, continued to dog all of us. Everyone had it, and some of the symptoms were similar, but yet no two cases were the same.
For some, it became hard to tell the difference between blowing garbage, and a tossed grenade. What was Ponies cheering, and what was civilians screaming for help. The difference between your wife/fiance/marefriend gently touching you in bed, and an enemy coming to take your life.
It wasn't uncommon at odd hours of the night to hear Battalion 4009 members racing about the streets of Ponyville, trying to get to the train so that they could race off to their next battle. Even I myself had this happen a number of times. One night, I was working at my desk in my office, when all of a sudden, I heard an alarm off in the distance. I listened closer, and I also heard the sounds of other soldiers racing about. I knew what that meant. Battle stations!
As quickly as I could, I grabbed my weapons, pulled on my uniform, and raced out to the railyard.
When I arrived there a few minutes later, alarms were going off, and while Battalion 4009 was loading up onto Iron Glory, the crew of the Battleship Express were trying to get the train ready to go again.
Suddenly, Don came running up to the railyard. "What in the world is going on out here?!" I could see that he was wearing his pajamas.
We all saluted. "Sir, awaiting your orders, Sir!"
Don sighed. "Guys, there are no orders. The war's been over for almost 5 months now. Your orders are to stand down!"
When Don said that, we all froze where we were. Then reality came flooding back to us. We were in the Old Railyard, and all around us was the under construction Imperial War Museum. The Caribou and Zebras were gone, and would never return. Equestria was safe, and it was 2:22am.
Instead of being angry though, Don more than sympathized with all of us. He too had come running a number of times himself. For an hour or so longer, we sat on the train, and had a group therapy session. We discussed what struggles we were dealing with in our daily lives because of the wars, and how we were coping. Our wives/fiances/marefriends, fresh from running and flying from their bedrooms, joined us as well.
We would have a number of these sessions over the months and years following the war. PTSD would dog us for the rest of our lives. There were some things that were broken that just couldn't ever fully be repaired.
Like I mentioned before, PTSD affected all of us differently. Guys like Don struggled with bad memories, and keeping his mind anchored in the present. Todd suffered from fits of sadness, as well as survivor's guilt. Alex had issues with schizophrenia, paranoia, and nightmares. Guys like Dan and Cole suffered from paranoia and nightmares, as well as flashbacks.
Even guys like Jim had problems. In fact, what so few people realize about Jim was that he was actually married. He had a wife, and she lived on the train. None of us ever saw her though, as she was extremely timid, and her mind was all but gone due to losing all of her kids and grandkids in the World Wars. Quietly, some referred to her as "The Shadow on the Train". I saw her a few times, but only for a few seconds. When he wasn't taking care of the train, Jim was taking care of his wife, Melanie.
And me? What do I struggle with? Nightmares, flashbacks, and even hallucinations in a few cases. Memories of the past refused to leave me be. Night after night HE continued to torment me. He plagued my dreams, and would not let me forget who he was.
It was horrible, it was almost nightly, and it wouldn't end. "NOOOO!!!!! GWAH!!!! GET OFF OF ME!!!" I screamed, grabbing at the neck of the being lying on my chest. "YOU'LL NEVER GET ME AGAIN!!!"
"Stud?! STUD!!! WAKE UP!!!!"
I suddenly came to myself again. I was in Dash's bed, sweating profusely, while Dash and Spitfire were trying to make sure I was ok. I then looked down, and I realized that the being that I grabbed and tried to strangle was Daring! Like she usually did, she slept lying on my chest, and in my nightmare-induced panic, I saw that she was the monster from my dream, and I tried to strangle her!
"Oh gosh! Daring! Are you ok!!?!"
She pulled my hands off of her. "Yeah! Yeah.....I'm......fine Stud........" I could tell that she was visibly shaken up.
I held her close. "I'm so.....so sorry Babe. I....d-didn't know!"
Spitfire then felt something wet on the sheets next to her. She looked down, and sure enough, the sheets under us were soaked. "Eww! Stud, you wet the bed!"
I looked down, and sure enough, I was sitting on sheets soaked with sweat and urine. My fur and skin were wet as well. All I could do was bury my face in my hands and start sobbing.
"Do you need to wear diapers again Stud? This bed-wetting is getting ridiculous!"
Dash came to my defense. "Hey, back off Spits, right now! These nightmares that Stud keeps having are FAR WORSE than ordinary nightmares, or even night-terrors. His are fueled by PTSD, as well as the memories, and experiences of the wars. He fought through an attempted coup, 4 World Wars, a cold war, AND the Imperial War! Leave him be! Hell YOU'D be a bed-wetter too if you saw even a FRACTION of what this guy has been through!"
Spitfire knew that Dash was right, and she sighed. "Yeah, and I'm.....sorry Stud. But this is just getting so....frustrating! WHY can't you get a handle on these nightmares?! It's so GROSS waking up soaked in your pee!"
I didn't answer right away.
Dash then spoke up. "She's right Stud, we HAVE to talk about this! Night after night you refuse to tell us what you dream about, and night after night, (with some exceptions) is like this! We're all woken up by you screaming, trying to hurt yourself and/or us, and these days you keep wetting the bed!"
No answer.
"Stud, PLEASE talk to me! You're my husband, and I HAVE to help you get through this! You HAVE to tell me what's wrong!"
I finally looked up at her. "Just......help me get out of here, we'll get the sheets to the washing machine, then shower, maybe relax in the hot tub, and then I'll tell you everything. I agree too, 25 year old guys have NO BUSINESS wetting beds!"
Dash nodded slowly, and after she, Spitfire and Daring all got up, we stripped the bed, flipped the mattress over, took the sheets to the washing machine, put them in, put in the detergent, and started up the machine. Then we each got a quick rinse in the shower, before heading to the pool room. The time was almost 2:45am, and it was dark in there. The moonlight shone through the windows, creating eerie reflections of the water on the walls.
"Don't....turn on the lights please. Just.....turn on the small lights in the pool and hot tub. I want it to be dark."
Dash nodded. "Sure, whatever you say Stud." She did so, and then we all got into the hot tub.
All of us were nude as always, and once we were settled, we all just sat in silence. I kept looking down at the water, and still seemed to be trying to get a grip on myself.
Daring then took my hands gently into her own. "Please Stud, tell us what keeps happening to you. I WANT to help you!"
I sighed. "What I'm about to tell you DOES NOT leave this room. NOBODY else needs to know the truth of what I'm about to tell you."
Dash, Spitfire and Daring all looked at each other before nodding slowly. I did have to leave for a brief moment to get a few visual aides, but once I came back and they were ready, I began my tale.
"Does the name, 'Sally Face' ring any bells? Ever heard anyone from Battalion 4009 talking about him?"
Spitfire and Daring shook their heads, but Dash nodded. "Wait, do you mean that saboteur? The guy with the mask, and the blue pigtails?"
I nodded. "Yes, him. This is what he looked like at that time." I then held up a picture of several members of Battalion 4009 posing near the train, and pointed to one who was wearing a Battalion 4009 field uniform. He had blue hair that was in pigtails, but what really unnerved my mares was his face. He was wearing what appeared to be a white mask.
"What's up with the mask Stud?" Spitfire asked.
"It's not a mask Spitsy, it's a prosthetic. A prosthetic face, to be exact."
"And was THAT why he was called 'Face'?"
"I believe so Dash, but I don't know. However, what I do know was that Face and I had a past together that I'd forgotten about. Truth is, I always had this strange feeling that I'd seen him before he was a part of Battalion 4009, but yet I could never place him. Never that is, until one day it finally clicked. Face, and Sally, the 'pet' of General Stacy, were one and the same!"
"Um, what now?"
"Sally was the pet of General Stacy, the other of Empress Demetria's 2 adopted daughters. He was living in Las Vegas with Stacy at the same time that I was adopted by Demetria and given to Carla!"
"What?!" My mares were shocked.
"Are you sure Stud?" Spitfire asked.
I showed them a picture. In it was Carla in a bikini, Stacy nude, and in front of them were myself and a REALLY freaky looking figure. He was wearing a black smock, and he did have blue hair, but his face was covered by a small pink mask. Behind the mask, bandages were visible as well. He was also really anorexic looking, and he was much smaller than I was.
"This is one of the only pictures of all 4 of us together. Stacy and Carla hated each other even worse than Face and I hated each other. I never forget a face though, and those eyes.......those eyes.......staring at me from behind that mask! I NEVER forgot the eyes!"
"Ok, but I'm getting confused. What does Sally.....Face, or whatever his name is, have to do with your PTSD?"
I sighed. "To know the answer to that Spitsy, we'll have to go WAY back to Las Vegas, In March of 2026. Demetria brought me to Vegas on March 15th, and I met Face for the first time about a week later, but I didn't REALLY get to know him until a few days after this........"
"Hey, you."
"Hmm?" I looked up from what I was doing. Currently, I was vacuuming the carpets up on Level 11 of the Luxor. I thought that I was alone with my thoughts.
"Over here."
I half turned, and there leaning against a wall behind me, stood Sally. He was wearing his usual black smock, and I saw that he was barefoot. As usual, bandages covered his face and parts of his head, and his blue hair hung down to his shoulders.
"Can I.....help you?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, can you?"
I always felt EXTREMELY uneasy around Sally. There was definitely something wrong with him, and I knew that it went deeper than Shell Shock. He was always just.....there. Lurking about; watching, waiting. I suspected that he may be an up and coming psychopath, but yet I had no solid proof of anything.
"I don't know, what do you need?"
He didn't answer.
"Ok, I don't have all day here. Mom wants these floors vacuumed, so that's what I'll do. Plus, isn't Stacy be wondering where you are?"
"Oh, she knows where I am."
"Great. Now move along so that I can vacuum." I started the vacuum that I was using back up, and after re-securing it to my back, I put the nozzle and brush to the floor again, and began to vacuum once again.
To my growing unease though, Sally just continued to watch me. He never moved, and never said anything, but yet his eyes never left me. I was glad when I was done with that floor, and could head on up to Level 12.
"What was his deal Stud?"
I sighed. "That's the thing Spitsy. To some, Sally, or 'Face' as he was also known, was seen as a sniveling, freaky, blue haired, pigtail wearing little shit who was mentally broken, but yet in reality, he had something MUCH worse than Shell Shock. I now know that he was easily a sociopath, with perhaps a streak of psychopath as well. He was VERY manipulative, and knew how to get what he wanted. Remember, he was a spy before he was a saboteur. He kept spying for Stacy, just WAITING to give her something that she could tell her Mom about. However, Sally was FAR from perfect. If he wasn't shell-shocked, he would have been MUCH more dangerous. However, because he was, he didn't always take delight in doing his mistress's bidding. He did have bouts of insanity and Shell Shock, and that just made him dangerous."
"Did he ever do anything REALLY bad?" Daring asked.
"I'm getting to that. For now though, it's enough to say that yes, yes he did."
"What happened next though?"
I sighed, before continuing my story.
Like I always did for just about everything, I talked to Carla about him.
"There's something SEVERELY wrong with him Leopard, you need to stay away from him! That.....thing, should have been killed off a LONG time ago!"
"But, who is he? And where did he come from?"
Carla shrugged. "Who he is? To hell if I'd know! As for where he came from, Stacy LITERALLY plucked him out of a gutter in St. Louis! NOTHING is known about him, and his medical records are EXTREMELY poor! Very weak and sickly, and most likely without Stacy's care, he would have died already!"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, he sounds like a real mess alright! I'll try and stay away from him if I can."
I had every intention of doing just that, but yet Face was looking for trouble. Time and time again he would try and antagonize me, and then come crying to Stacy when I came for his ass. I would then get into trouble, and Demetria would hear about it, before sternly telling Stacy to keep a better eye on Sally.
"I don't blame Leopard, I blame YOU Stacy! You openly encourage him to antagonize Leopard, and somehow it's Leopard's fault when he hits back! This is the last time I want to hear about it. From now on, if Sally antagonizes Leopard again, it's his own funeral. If Leopard f@#ks him up, then it's your own damn fault!"
For a while after this, Sally did behave himself, until one day, right in front of Carla and Demetria in fact, he actually threw a soda can at me! It hit me in the side of the head, and one look at Demetria told me that I had the go-ahead to beat Sally up.
"Alright, that’s it, get your ass back here!" He took off running, and I began to chase him through the Luxor. "How DARE you throw that can at me?! Just because you can move your stick legs faster doesn't mean that I’m not gonna outrun you and kick your ass! Come here you little bitch! Your ass is MINE!!!! GET OVER HERE!!!!"
Eventually, I wrestled him to the ground, pinned him, and beat the crap out of him! I also tried to rip the bandages on his face off, but it was as if they were held on with superglue! In the end, I bloodied him up a bit, and warned him that MUCH WORSE was waiting for him in the future if he acted out again! I then left him for Stacy to find.
Dash giggled a bit. "Wow Stud, Sally sounded like a real WIMP!!!"
I nodded. "Yeah, although some of this was due to his poor physical health. The rest of it though was his failure to learn how to fight."
"But what happened after this though?" Daring asked. "Did he ever try anything like this again?"
I shook he head. "Oddly enough, he didn't. In fact, for a time after this, Sally seemed to be a lot more friendly. Also, he did have his bandages removed, and replaced with a small pink face mask. This same mask was his first prosthetic face." I then showed them another picture of Sally. In it, he and I were wearing our smocks, and hugging each other. We were both looking at the camera, and I was resting my chin on the top of his head. I looked to be tired in the picture, and Face's mask was in a perpetual state of no emotion.
"Huh? What's the story behind this one? I thought that you and Face were mortal enemies!"
"We were. This one took a HECK of a lot of bribery to pull off!"
My mares laughed, and I resumed my story.
"Hey Leopard."
"Hmm? Oh, hey Sally. What's up?"
"Eh, not too much, and you?"
I sighed. "Well, just trying to wrap up my work for the day. I'm almost done with the vacuuming, and then all I have to do is dust the statues in the lobby."
He nodded. "Hmm, sounds boring. Well, I won't keep you from it, I just wanted to say hi." He then began to walk back in the direction of Stacy's room. "See you around Leopard!"
"Yeah, see you around Sally." I then got back to work.
For the next month or so, there were no problems from Face. Unfortunately though, this was merely the calm before the storm.
I can STILL remember that night. It's forever etched into my memory. May 30th, 2026. It was thunderstorming that night, and most in the palace were asleep. I had been 'playing' with Carla in her room, and we decided to take a break.
"Hey Leopard?"
"Yeah Sweetheart?"
"Could you maybe go and get me some grape soda from the refrigerators down on 7? I REALLY want some!"
I nodded, before pulling my smock back on. "Sure thing Babe. I'll be right back!" I then went to grab her the soda.
As I walked barefoot through the halls of the Palace Luxor, I saw that they were almost deserted. They were also very dimly lit, and from the lights outside of the exterior windows, I saw rain hitting them, and occasionally there would come a bright flash of lightning.
"It's so weird", I muttered. "It's almost like I'm all alone in here!" I did pass a few guards, but all in all, the palace did seem to be deserted.
Eventually, I made it to Level 7. After retrieving 2 bottles of grape soda from the refrigerator, I held them in both hands while I began to make my journey back up to Level 16 where Carla's room was. Little did I suspect though just what lay ahead, and how seriously it would affect my mental psyche.
Suddenly though, the lights in that area went out. before I could move, the backup lights came on, although they were dim.
"Great, minor power outage. Now it looks like I'll be taking the stairs!" I almost always took the stairs anyway, as I did NOT trust elevators anymore, ESPECIALLY with Futas maintaining them! It was just too easy to make a death look like an accident.
As I got close to the stairwell though, I suddenly heard what sounded like muffled screaming. I ignored it, as that was a sound heard all too often under the Futa Empire. Suddenly though, a door up ahead of me in the hallway towards the end on the right suddenly opened, and someone fell out into the hallway! I made the move to go and see what was wrong, but thanks to flashes of lightning, as well as lights outside of the palace coming through the window at the end of the hallway, I saw that not only was the figure a Futa guard, but also that she was tied up, and looked like she'd been stabbed! She also had a gag in her mouth, and was screaming and thrashing about!
Before I could help her though, from the same room, another figure stepped out into the hallway. I instantly recognized him. Sally. He was wearing his usual black smock, as well as his pink mask. I also saw that he was barefoot, his blue hair looked really messed up, and that he was covered in blood! In his right hand, which was protected by a thick glove, was a huge chunk of broken glass! Blood was dripping from the chunk of glass, and it was then that I realized what I was seeing happen less than 10 feet in front of me.
Face then stepped up to the guard, and as I watched, he slashed and stabbed her to death with the glass! Blood splattered everywhere, and soon the guard was dead. Sally didn't care though, and continued to hack her apart. After what felt like hours, he was finally done, and stood back up again.
I was literally frozen to the spot. I couldn't scream, I couldn't move, I couldn't do ANYTHING! I'd dropped the 2 bottles of soda that I'd been holding, and they fell to the carpeted floor next to me. My skin was dead white, and I was sweating profusely. Then, to my absolute horror, Face turned, and saw me staring at him. His blue eyes locked with mine, and I knew that I was as good as dead; I had just witnessed him MURDER somebody right in front of me!
Even though he was wearing that god-awful mask, I knew that he was smirking at me. Then, he began to move slowly towards me. I tried to move, I tried to scream, I tried to do anything, but it was as if I'd turned to stone. This was it, I knew that it was over. I survived WW3, WW4, WW5, and part of WW6, only to be murdered during the Second Cold War for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw my entire life flash before my eyes, and in truth, my life sucked ass!
Face came right up to me, but then he stopped. For a few moments, he just stared up at me. I looked into his eyes, but yet for some reason, they appeared soft. I was still unable to do anything. He was still holding the glass chunk, but yet he made no move to use it.
Suddenly though, Sally reached up a hand, and removed his mask. Due to the dim lighting, I couldn't make out too much of his face, although now I could see that he was indeed faintly smirking. His face also seemed to be scarred and burned. Face them grabbed the front of my smock with his free hand, before pulling himself up a bit, and after standing on his tiptoes, he kissed me gently on the mouth.
"Mmm, there." He whispered once he'd broken the kiss, "Now this can be our little secret Leopard. You didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything, and I'll let you live. Got it?"
"Y-yes....." I whispered faintly.
He then placed a hand on my cheek, leaving behind a bloody smear. "Good." He then kissed me again. "Wow, you have really soft lips, AND you're a good kisser!" He then let go of me, and after hugging me one more time, he began to walk away down the hallway behind me.
"Just remember Leopard, you didn't see ANYTHING! You were NEVER here, got it?"
I nodded slowly.
"Good. Oh, and if you snitch on me, you will NEVER live to rue the day!" He then began to giggle maniacally, and I blacked out right then and there.
When I finished, I looked back up at my wives. All of them were extremely pale, and looked like they were ready to throw up.
"You.......witnessed him MURDER somepony?!?!?!" Spitfire then grabbed a nearby bowl for drinks, and threw up into it.
"That's HORRIBLE Stud!" Dash looked like she was about to cry. "No WONDER you always lived in fear of him! He had the perfect blackmail to use against you, and you couldn't do anything about it!"
"Is that.....the end of the story?" Daring asked nervously.
I shook my head. "Close, but not quite. I was unconscious for 13 hours after I blacked out. Carla told me that I was found in the stairwell, and that I'd seemingly tripped in the dark, and fell down the stairs before hitting my head.
Later that same day, reports were around the palace that a guard had been found stabbed to death with a chunk of glass. Nobody had seen anything, and there were no suspects."
"So Face killed that guard, but who was she? And why did he do it?"
"Well Spits, her name was Velma Nelson, and she was a Captain in Demetria's Palace Guards. As it turns out though, she'd seen Stacy plotting to overthrow Demetria at some point, so Stacy sent Face to shut her up for good. In reality, Face was told to just push her down the stairs and make it look like an accident, NOT stab her to death!"
"And THIS....is what you keep dreaming about Stud?"
I nodded slowly. "Yes. Flashbacks of that night, as well as dreams of Face coming to make good on his promise to kill me. For the rest of my time in Vegas, Face was ALWAYS watching me, just WAITING for his chance to murder me for talking! I even woke up to him staring at me from time to time! Carla began to get worried for me, but yet I never told her what I was really feeling. I knew that if I even so much as HINTED at what happened, both of us were as good as dead. Face also used his power over me to try and start a relationship with me. He failed, (thank God!) but yet it was so scary knowing that I was alive only because he chose not to kill me."
"But that's what's confusing me Stud, WHY did he let you live?! You were a witness!"
I shrugged. "Still to this day Daring, I don't know. Most likely, I never will. Also, now that I've finally told you guys all about this, I feel MUCH better! Time and time again in my dreams, Face warned me what was going to happen if I told anyone. Now that I've told you guys though, I feel like his power over me is FINALLY broken!"
Then, for the first time in almost 5 years, I breathed a sigh of relief. NO LONGER would Face be tormenting me, as his last grip of power over me was FINALLY broken!
Dash then thought of something else. "But wait a minute Stud, if Face really was the saboteur who almost destroyed the Battleship Express, and you had this kind of history with him, why were you unable to recognize him?"
I sighed. "A very good question Dash, and the answer has several factors to it. Firstly, he didn't look the same anymore. Where before he'd been tiny, and seemingly anorexic, he was now much taller, and slightly bigger than before. Also, his mask was white instead of pink, and he didn't always wear his hair in pigtails. He also sounded different, but this could have been due to a voice-changer for all I know.
Next, almost a year and a half had passed since the incident, and I'd done literally EVERYTHING in my power to block it out; I FORCED myself to forget. And lastly, Battalion 4009 was pretty big. Even though he was there, I extremely rarely, if ever, saw him. However, for some reason whenever I did see him, I felt that there was something familiar about him. I was never fully able to place what it was, but yet I KNEW that I'd seen him somewhere before.
After his attempt to blow up the train though, THEN I remembered who he was! Closure finally seemed to come with his death at the Battle of Boise, Idaho, but yet in my dreams, he continued to torment me. He did take a break on some nights, but over and over again in my dreams he would catch me, and make me pay for telling what I'd seen!"
My wives then hugged me. "Yes, but now that you've told us, and because Face is dead, he can NEVER hurt you again! You're free; now and forevermore!"
I hugged them back. "I love you guys! Thanks for being there for me, and for listening to me, and helping me get through this. Hopefully, this is the end of the bed-wetting, and the end for at least some of the PTSD-nightmares."
"We hope so too Stud."
We continued to talk for a little while longer, until getting out of the hot tub, drying off, taking quick showers, before grabbing the sheets out of the dryer, putting them back on the bed, and laying down to sleep.
With my wives snuggled up close to me, and Face no longer having any power over me, I slept very comfortably for the rest of the night.
Throughout the rest of the Winter of 2029-30, my nightmares did indeed get somewhat better. No more bed-wetting, and no more nightmares about Face. I still did have PTSD-induced nightmares though, but whenever I did, my wives were always there to help me through them. We'd usually talk about them, and they'd offer me encouragement and support.
Also, I found another way to cope as well. Even though I had never done it before, I took up painting. I became a talented painter, but yet my paintings were VERY dark, as I painted what I saw in my head while I was having a PTSD episode. They were somewhat distorted scenes of battlefields, full of soldiers and blood. One example would be "Battle of the Great Plains." In it, bluish-gray American troops fought against black, almost skeletal soldiers with red glowing eyes in a field of dirt. Blood was all around, there were bodies on the ground, and explosions in the background.
My most infamous painting though, was also my finest. "The Monster Within", was set in Dash's bathroom. In it, I was facing away from the viewer, standing in front of the sink, looking into the bathroom mirror. I was shirtless, but I was wearing pajama pants. My reflection though was not my own. Looking back at me was a terrifying figure with mangy black hair, a torn and dirtied field uniform that had bloodstains on it, as well as hands with claws for fingernails! The creature's face was covered by my old Kitsune mask, but there were bloody "tears" flowing from out of the mask's eyeholes, and blood was also seen dripping from underneath the mask as well. The eyes of the face behind the mask were blood-red, and seemed to be glowing.
Standing behind the creature in the mirror was none other than Face himself. He was wearing his old black smock, and looked just like he did the night he murdered Captain Velma. He was holding up a piece of paper that was backwards, but when viewed through the mirror read, "See? We're really not so different, are we Leopard?"
I painted this picture to show others that we really weren't all that different to the enemies that we were fighting; the only real difference was what we were fighting for.
I never sold any of my paintings, and due to their creepy, and oftentimes downright terrifying content, none of my wives let me display them, and the War Museum didn't want them for their collection either. In the end, I covered them in plastic to preserve them, before placing them into storage in Dash's basement. I did continue to paint a few new pictures every now and again, until finally I painted one that was display-worthy.
It was a painting of our Big Boy 4009 under steam in the Wasatch Mountains, pulling the Battleship Express behind her. The Battleship Express was climbing up Sherman Hill in Wyoming, on her way to liberate Laramie, WY. When completed, I sold my painted to the War Museum for a “whopping” 50 bits, and it was added to the collection.
Through it all though, very few people knew that I could paint. Only those close to me did, and still in my own opinion, I couldn't do it very well. I saw it as a coping mechanism for PTSD, although my work speaks for itself.
In the Spring of 2030, shortly before Don's wedding to Twilight, the time had come to fire up Big Boy 4009 again. She had been sitting cold since December, and now we had to fire her up again for a maintenance run.
We had to make sure that everything on her was sound, and that she would run smoothly. Alex, Todd and myself were selected to drive the train for it's maintenance run, and all while we worked, a number of Ponies came by to watch us. These included Applejack, Fluttershy, Dash, Spitfire and even Daring, although as always, she was dressed as AK Yearling.
"I still CANNOT believe how BIG their engine is! Spitfire was saying.
Dash smirked. "Well, it's not called a 'Big Boy' for nothing! It did earn that nickname!"
Daring too was impressed. "I think that it's certainly a VERY impressive specimen of a steam locomotive. It's massive size really serves to compliment its ability to haul large amounts of freight up steep grades. It's huge, but yet surprisingly simplistic."
She then walked close to the engine. "Excuse me?"
I looked down at her. "Yeah Da.....erhm, Miss Yearling?"
"I was wondering if you could give me the specifications of your engine."
I nodded. "Certainly! For starters, she's 136 feet long end to end, stands 25 feet tall, weighs 1.2 million pounds empty, has a 4-8-8-4 wheel configuration, and has a design speed of 80mph. She was also designed to be able to pull a 5 mile long train on flat ground, as well as a 3 mile long train through mountains. Her tender can hold 25 tons of coal, and 25,000 gallons of water!"
Daring began to write in her notebook, so as to have this information for later. "Well, she was DEFINITELY made to haul freight! But yet, where were these engines made? Who made them, and where did their name come from?"
"Well, these engines were made by the American Locomotive Company, or ALCO, for the Union Pacific Railroad. From 1941-1944, a total of 25 Big Boys were made, including ours. The Big Boys were the 4000 Series of locomotives, but yet when they were first built, nopony knew what to call them. On paper, they were supposed to be called the 'Wasatch Class', after the Wasatch Mountains in Utah, but according to the story, an ALCO employee chalked the words 'Big Boy' onto the front of the first locomotive, 4000, and the name stuck. Big Boys were in service from 1941, all the way to the last train that was hauled by one in 1959, before being pulled from service for good in 1960."
"Wow, that's amazing! But what about the war years? How did this engine come to haul the Battleship Express?"
"Another good question Miss Yearling. Well, the truth is, our engine was never completed, and was found abandoned in a shed in Cheyenne, WY, in 2018. Due to funding being available following the successful restoration of Big Boy 4014, as well as Challenger 3985 and UP 844, Union Pacific decided to finish the locomotive for static display purposes.
Because of this, she was made to burn coal instead of oil, and it seemed unlikely that she was ever going to run. A test was performed on her in September of 2018, and she did perform as expected, before being put on display at the railway museum in Cheyenne, right next to her sister locomotive Big Boy 4004.
Also, fun fact. Up until that point, she'd never been given a number! She was referred to as the 'Unfinished Big Boy'. Eventually though, she, like the rest of the Big Boys, was given the number '40' to mark her as a 4000 Series locomotive. She was then given the numbers '09' to mark her as the 9th steam locomotive restored by Union Pacific. Henceforth, she was called 'Big Boy 4009' even though the 'real' 4009 was scrapped a long time ago."
Daring then looked up at me. "And, any chance of my being able to see the cab Stu.....phm....Captain Leopard?"
I nodded slowly. "Yes, and it should be very interesting, as we were just about to fire her up!"
Daring then nodded, before coming over to climb up into the cab.
Once she was up there, as was Alex, we began to go over the firing up procedure. There was so much to go over, so many gauges and valves to check, and so much to look over and test. Also while we were working, the tender was being filled with coal and water again, as the tender had been emptied and winterized after our run to get the war prisoners.
"Ready Alex?"
"Yep. Let's start this baby up again, shall we?"
"Yep!" We then got ready to work.
While Daring watched, Alex first opened up the firebox doors, and peered inside. Everything had already been inspected, but yet it was just force of habit for him. Then he used his Magic to grab a large pile of scrap wood, as well as dead wood from Sweet Apple Acres that was sitting next to the train. After putting them inside the firebox, with my help, he took a rag, dipped it in oil, and after taking out his zippo lighter, he lit the rag, and tossed it inside. Soon, the pile of wood was burning.
"Hey, wait a minute! I thought that this engine ran on coal! Why'd you throw in wood?"
Alex turned to her. "Because Miss Yearling, we need a hot fire going in the firebox first. Once this pile gets going, I'll add more coal until it's hot enough to start boiling water into steam before turning on the auger."
"Um auger? What auger?"
Alex pointed to the tender. "At the very bottom of the tender is an auger that brings coal into the firebox. While in operation, a Big Boy uses coal MUCH faster than a human fireman can shovel it on. If it were just me, I could barely keep up steam for the whistle! Now all I have to do is control the auger, as well as work with water and fuel gauges, instead of having to shovel coal on."
Daring then turned to me. "Also, speaking of the whistle, isn't it broken, and instead makes an eerie, Banshee-like shriek?"
I nodded. "Yes, although, during the Winter, Jim and a number of other engineers finally got around to doing something; they made the Big Boy a brand-new whistle! Now, in addition to her 'War Whistle', she also has a proper Big Boy whistle as well. Now we can save the 'War Whistle' for war time, and have a regular whistle for the rest of it."
Daring nodded slowly. "Wow. Yeah, that will be interesting to see, or rather hear!" She then watched us continue our work.
Soon, Alex was shoveling coal into the firebox, while I worked with the blower and other controls. The water was beginning to come to a boil, and soon it was time to turn on the auger. Alex did so, and coal began to be brought from the tender to the firebox.
"And how long does it take to build up enough steam to move the engine?"
I sighed. "Eh, well, it can take a few hours actually."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Although remember, these ARE steam locomotives! They can take a long time to get ready. I know that it's the same way for Equestrian locomotives, as I've talked to some of their train crews as well."
"So, I'll have to wait that long to see it in operation?"
I nodded. "While there is a way to fire it up faster for wartime, since we're no longer at war, you will have to wait at least an hour. In the meantime though, feel free to watch us get everything ready to go!" I then turned back to the backhead, as did Alex.
Daring continued to watch us, as well as take notes.
"Hey Miss Yearling, can I ask you a question?"
"Certainly Alex."
"Are you REALLY the author of all the Daring Do books?"
She laughed a bit. "Yes, the very same!"
"And why are you here? Is Daring Do about to meet the crew of the Battleship Express?"
Daring nodded a bit. "Actually, you're mostly correct. I was planning on a sort of crossover story where Daring Do did indeed meet the crew of the Battleship Express, and learned from them their stories of courage, sacrifice, and of the battles that they fought. It was going to be a memorial tribute to the Imperial War, and I just wanted to be able to experience it all firsthand myself before I began writing."
Alex thought about that. "Wow, that actually sounds pretty cool. Too bad that would just be a story though. What I wouldn't give to ACTUALLY meet Daring Do in person!"
Both Daring and I shot each other a quick glance, as well as a smirk. If only Alex knew the strange irony of what he'd just said!
Eventually, it was indeed time to go. Todd joined us up in the cab, and Daring took a seat behind me. Since this was just a maintenance run, we would only be pulling a few freight cars that were usually pulled by Iron Glory behind us.
Once we we were ready, I picked up my radio. "Ponyville Dispatch, this is UP Big Boy 4009, we're ready to depart."
"UP Big Boy 4009, this is Ponyville Dispatch. Destination and cargo, over."
"PD, we're just hauling 6 empty boxcars, and one caboose. Our destination is simply a few laps around Ponyville for a maintenance run."
"Ok, roger that 4009. You're all clear to depart, over."
"Ok, thank you PD, Big Boy 4009 out."
I then began to ring the bell, and I also blew the whistle a few times. Sure enough, instead of the usual banshee-like scream, there was only a deep, baritone whistle.
"Wow, so THAT'S what it's supposed to sound like?"
I nodded. "Yeah, and that's what the original whistle used to sound like too, but then during the train's final training mission, the whistle got hit by a series of stray bullets. We meant to fix it, but yet it just sounded so cool! Eventually, it just became too iconic to repair. Now though, we have the best of both worlds!"
Then, I slowly opened the throttle, and Big Boy 4009 began to move forwards once more. The chugging of her 4 pistons was broken only by her bell, as well as her whistle.
"There was NEVER another engine like Big Boy, and most likely there never will be again. She had a claim to be the largest steam locomotive of all time, but yet so did a few other locomotives as well. The jury's still out on the whole debate, but if you ask me, it's DEFINITELY Big Boy!"
Daring shrugged a bit. "Well, if you say so Stud. But what I CAN tell you is that even if Big Boy isn't the largest steam locomotive on Earth, she IS the largest steam locomotive in Equestria, HANDS DOWN!!!"
"Yeah, you've got that right Daring! She's the biggest, and most likely always will be!"
Soon, we were out of the railyard, and back out onto the main line.
Daring greatly enjoyed our excursion trip. She learned so much about the Big Boy and how it worked, and even for a brief bit, like Dash and Luna before her, I let her drive! It was only a brief bit, as per regulations, but she still REALLY enjoyed it.
"Wow, thanks Captain Leopard! This will REALLY come in handy for the book! (The same book that you'll help me write!)"
"Eh, you're welcome Miss Yearling. It's always a pleasure to cater to the fans who genuinely care about railway history. I'm glad that you enjoyed it."
We continued on for a while longer, but eventually we did have to return to the railyard. Construction on the museum was going to be beginning again soon, and there were other duties to attend to as well.
Before she left though, AK Yearling did get to meet other fans of her work on the Battleship Express, and she even took the time to sign books, and other Daring Do merchandise as well. I even heard that she was asked to sign a Daring Do waifu/body-pillow, and she said that although she did sign it, she gave the guy who owned it a REALLY dirty look! (Was it me? No! Why would I own a body pillow of Daring Do, when I have the REAL one at home?! *cough* It was Don, *cough*!)
We all got back to work, knowing that soon it would be time for Don's wedding, with the remainder of the weddings soon to follow. It was also during this time that Daring was putting the finishing touches of her plans for the adventure that she was going to take me on, but that's another story..........
Chapter 19: Leopard, Daring Do, and the Search for the Lunar Shrine of Romance
(WARNING!!!! Chapter does contain nudity, as well as adult situations. No actual sex, but yet pretty close!)
How do most adventures begin? Well, they usually begin in the least likely of ways. Other times though, they begin on days that start just like any other days.
Like most days when I was home, I was sitting up in my office. I was hard at work on paperwork, although I was almost done for the day. It was late Spring in Equestria, and it was a time of cleaning, as well as getting everything ready to transition to Summer. Suddenly though, there cam a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Daring walked in. She was wearing another of my T-shirts, her hair was in its usual ponytail, and she looked a bit sleepy. I also saw that she was holding a large binder as well.
"Oh, hey Babe, what's up?"
She walked over to the desk, and set the binder down on it. "Mmm, Hey Stud, and I finally figured it out!"
"Figured what out?"
"The adventure that we can go on! I finally figured out where we're going, and what we're going to find!"
I was very interested. "Oh? Well then by all means, do tell! Where are we going Daring?"
She smirked a bit, before opening the binder. In it, I saw a lot of other folders, as well as maps with a number of things scribbled on them, not to mention a few aerial photographs.
"Well Stud, we're heading off into the jungles of the Undiscovered West to find this!" She held up a rough sketch of what appeared to be an ancient book. It was very ornate, and seemed to have been very beautiful.
"Wow, what is that Daring?"
"This, is the ORIGINAL Pony-Sutra! Legend says that it was housed in the Lunar Shrine of Romance, which was an ancient temple to Briana, the Goddess of Love, Life, Fertility, and the Moon. The temple was long ago lost to time, but now I think that I might have a guess as to where it is!
I looked at her a bit confused. "Um, what now? Are you being serious Daring? Because this sounds like a joke."
She shook her head. "Yeah, I KNOW that this sounds like it might be a joke, but let me assure you that it's NOT! If we could find the Lunar Shrine of Romance, then we have a real shot at locating the original Pony-Sutra!"
"And when you say 'Pony-Sutra', do you mean that book that tells all about how to have sex?"
She nodded. "Yes! And right now the Canterlot Library is offering a LOT of money if the original copy can be found!"
I was still a bit confused. "Yes, I can understand that part of it, but how do you know where the shrine is? I mean, I thought that it was lost to time!"
"It was. However, I was able to do a lot of digging in the Caterlot Library, and I was able to find a number of old maps, which I then cross-referenced with more modern maps, until finally I came up with what I think is the shrine's location!" She pointed to it on a map. "Right here, way out here in the jungle!"
I looked at the map. "Yeah, but Daring, that's the Undiscovered West! Almost NONE of it has ever been mapped before! Plus, we have no idea what's out there!"
She smirked at me. "Ooh, is little Leopard chicken? Such a mighty war hero scared of the jungle?"
I glared at her. "Daring, listen to me, and listen to me very carefully. No, I'm NOT scared of the Undiscovered West. However, what I AM scared of is what could be IN the Undiscovered West! I have not survived for as long as I have by being stupid! I like to know what I'm getting into before I just dive in. In my experience, don't be afraid of the dark, be afraid of what's IN the dark! Because my dear Daring, fear is just a word; Reality is always much, MUCH worse!"
Daring looked back up at me. She knew that I had some pretty valid points. It wasn't called the "Undiscovered West" for nothing, and even she didn't know what could be out there. "You, do have some good points Stud, however, there really IS no way of knowing what could be out there unless we just go there. Plus, I'm a professional adventurer, and you ARE a professional career soldier, so between us, and assuming that we take all of the necessary essentials with us, I think that we should be ok."
I sighed. "Well, as long as we know what we're doing, then sure. I'll come help you find the Lunar Shrine of Romance!"
"Really, you will?"
I nodded. "Yeah, why not? I've needed to get away for a bit, so why not head out into the unexplored jungle right into the jaws of possibly certain death with my favorite action-hero wife?"
Daring hugged me, and then rubbed her nose against mine. "Mmm, thanks Stud, you're the best! Even though you CAN be sarcastic at times, I still love you! However, we will have to wait a bit longer, as I DO need some more time to not only finish my latest book, but also to finish planning out our journey as well."
"Sure, take all the time that you need Babe. We DO want to get this right, and we don't want to die!"
She kissed me on the nose. "Yep, so I'll do all the preparing work, as well as finishing my book!" Daring then walked over to her desk on her side of the office, and sat down to continue working. (Eventually, we split my office in half. I got one side, while she got the other. She could have had her own office, but yet she INSISTED that she wanted to stay close to me!)
Both of us were wondering what our adventure was going to be like.
Eventually, we were ready. At about 4am on May 20th, 2030, Daring and I both got up to go get ready. Thanks to Andy, he'd helped me put together a proper adventuring outfit.
As I stood in front of a mirror, I pulled on my green button-up collar shirt with cargo pockets, green cargo shorts, a black belt, gray wool socks, and black hiking boots. I also had a pith helmet just like Daring's! For gear, I also brought a compass, my Bowie knife, my trusty Glock 9mm, a few extra mags, a canteen, a small filter pump for filtering water, a camera, and a notebook.
Daring was wearing her usual adventurer's outfit with her pith helmet, and she also brought her revolver, whip, a canteen, compass, knife, and her notebook. We also packed a small bag with a small tent, 2 small sleeping bags, a tarp, some cord, emergency rations, some flares, flashlights, spare batteries, 2 rain ponchos, and a first aide kit. EVERYTHING was made to fit into the bag, which was no bigger than a breadbox! We would take turns carrying it, and soon we were ready to go.
It was about 5am when we turned around to face Dash and Spitfire. Daring and I wrapped our arms around each other.
"Well guys, how do we look?"
Spitfire sighed. "Well, you guys sure look like you're ready to go off on your BIG adventure!"
Dash smirked. "Yeah, totally! And I'm REALLY digging the matching outfits! What, couldn't branch out from your wife Stud?"
I rolled my eyes a bit. "Dash, I REALLY liked Daring's outfit, so I patterned mine after hers! Plus, pith helmets are CLASSIC adventuring hats! Who am I to touch a classic? Plus, they're not QUITE matching outfits. Daring's boots are brown, and mine are black!"
Dash looked again. "Yeah, sorry. It's just SO hard to tell at 5am when the sun isn't even up yet!"
"How long do you think that you two will be gone?" Spitfire asked.
Daring shrugged. "It could take anywhere between a month, to the rest of the summer potentially! Where I think that we're going is WAY out there in the Undiscovered West!"
Spitfire looked at me worriedly. "Just, be careful out there. Promise me that you'll keep each other safe. If I lost you Stud, I'd be DEVASTATED!"
"Yeah, so would I Stud! You risked life and limb to save me, and if I lost you now, I'd NEVER forgive myself!"
I walked over and hugged them both, and I wrapped my wings around them as well. "I know Girls, and we'll be ok. We won't be taking ANY unnecessary risks, and we'll be back just as fast as we can!"
They both kissed me on the cheek. "I know, but still, please be careful!"
"I will Spitsy!"
"And I KNOW that you'll love this Stud. I've been on a few adventures with Daring before, and ALL of them were super-awesome!"
"I'll bet that they were Dash. I KNOW that this will be an adventure that I'll NEVER forget!"
Little did I suspect though just how right I already was. I didn't want to say anything at the time, but the truth was I had a funny feeling that something was going to happen on our adventure. I REALLY should have listened to my gut, as Life was soon to give me 2 VERY good reasons that I should have!
After a quick breakfast, Daring and I pulled regular clothes on over our adventuring ones, and we boarded the train from Ponyville, heading for the Smokey Mountains.
Once we arrived there about 3 hours later, we disembarked from the station, and once we reached the foot of the mountains, we began to prepare for our journey West. Close by where we were standing though was a sign. "WARNING!!!! You are now leaving Equestria! All territory beyond this sign is unknown! Barely any of it has been explored! Enter at your own risk, but don't! There is NOTHING out there that is worth your life!" At the bottom of the sign was a skull and crossbones.
I turned to Daring. "Um, are we REALLY sure that we want to do this Daring?"
She sighed. "Yes! Plus, I know for a fact that they only put up this sign to end liability lawsuits. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many Ponies went in there, got hurt, and then tried to sue Equestria over it! So in response, they put up this sign, and now you can't sue if you get hurt."
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess that that makes sense. But still, I'm feeling nervous just heading into the unknown like this."
"Come ON Stud! Where's your sense of adventure? You're LITERALLY about to boldly go where no Human has EVER gone before! In fact, very few PONIES have even come here either! We're both about to make history with this trip!"
"Yeah, and I'm sure eager to go, but yet I'd rather be alive in explored territory, than dead with my picture in the history books! But yet, nothing that's worth doing is EVER easy, and you only live once, and we're most likely NEVER going to get the chance to do this again, so what the heck, let's do this thing!"
"That's the spirit Stud!"
With that, we both stepped past the sign, and walked off into the unknown.
For the next day or so, we mostly just foraged on ahead through the thick growth in front of us. It was unusual because it seemed to be a mixture of both forest and jungle. It was also hot and steamy, although thankfully there were no mosquitoes!
"Do you even know where we're going Daring?"
"Yes. We have to find this small range of mountains." She pointed to it on the map. "At the base of the mountain in the center is the shrine. Also, if my research is to be believed, we may also find the ruins of the civilization of the Marakeets, which were the tribe that used to inhabit that region."
"And, any ideas on how far away from that we are?"
Daring shrugged. "It's anypony's guess at this point, but if I had to guess, we could be looking at a month of travel ahead of us if we walk!"
"So then, why don't we just fly?"
"We will, but only at certain points. It's all too easy to get yourself lost around here, and head off in the COMPLETE wrong direction!"
"And, do we have our bearings yet so that we can fly?"
"Unfortunately, no. I know that we're heading off in the right direction, but we're just not quite there yet."
I sighed. "And what are the chances that we run into Dr. Caballeron and his goons, or even Ahuizotl and his cats out here?"
Daring shrugged. "Hopefully slim to none, but yet with them, you never know! However, I say that we won't, because most Ponies have never even HEARD of the Lunar Shrine of Romance, and since the Pony Sutra is already SO popular in some regions, there's already a huge market for it, thus keeping prices low. Both of these factors combined make a pretty good case for us NOT meeting them here!"
I nodded. "Yes, but still, it never hurts to be too careful, ESPECIALLY when dealing with Dr. Goon-Brains and Overgrown Dog-Monkey!"
Daring blinked at me before bursting out laughing! "HA HA HA!!!!! That's HILARIOUS Stud! I've NEVER thought of them like that, but yet you're right! Hang on, I'm writing that down! I HAVE to use that in the book for our adventure here!" She grabbed her notebook, and began to write.
I laughed a bit myself. "Eh, no problem Daring. Glad that I was able to help."
Once she was done, she put her notebook back into one of her pockets, before we pressed on.
One morning, maybe 2 weeks later, I woke up when the sun began to stream into our tent. I was lying nude on top of my sleeping bag, (It was so hot that we just slept nude, and oftentimes on top of our sleeping bags) and Daring was lying on top of me. She was snoring a bit, as well as drooling slightly as well.
I leaned up, and began to nuzzle her a bit. She opened an eye, and looked at me. "Mmm, hey Stud. Is it morning?"
"Yep, it's morning." I looked at my watch. "It's about 7:30 right now Ponyville Time."
Daring then opened both eyes, before giving me a few kisses. "Mmm, I love the mornings in the jungles. Even though they can be a bit noisy, they're their own kind of peaceful too."
I sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean Babe. And when do you think that we should continue onward?"
"Oh, sometime soon I suppose. Firstly though, I'm gonna go for a shower, and then see about finding some food. Want to join me?"
"Um, what now? What shower? There's no showers out here!"
Daring smirked a bit. "Stud, you really lack imagination, don't you?" While Ponies were building showers in the cities, Nature already made them out here!" She then noted the look of confusion on my face, and then she took my hand. "Come on then, I guess that I'll just have to show you!"
After we exited the tent, we both took a quick moment to check our clothes that were hanging on branches close by, before Daring pulled me into the woods.
Even though we only went maybe 20 yards or so, it was rather painful with branches and other plants hitting our exposed skin and fur! Eventually though, we came to a small clearing.
"Right here Stud, THIS is where we're taking our shower!"
I looked, and what I saw made my jaw hit the ground! Maybe 25 feet from where we were standing was what looked to be a tall boulder field surrounded by trees and plants, and flowing down from the rocks was water! The water created a sort of waterfall, before falling down into a large collection pool, and then heading off down a smallish stream. The entire area looked like something out of a movie, but yet here it was, real before my very eyes!
"I HAVE to get a picture of this place!" I then ran back, grabbed the camera that I'd brought to document the trip, and snapped a few pictures before Daring told me to put down the camera, and join her. I hung it on a nearby branch, and went over to her.
Daring then took me by the hand over to the waterfall. The base of it was rocks, and when she stepped under it, it really did look like she was taking a shower!
"Come on Stud! You gonna join me or what?"
"Coming!" I then stepped under the water as well. To my surprise, the water was warm, almost hot! "Huh, must be a hot spring close by that's feeding this waterfall."
Once we'd rinsed off for a bit, Daring then dove into the pool and began to swim around in it. I followed her a few moments later.
"Wow Daring, you REALLY swim like an otter! Why didn't you swim like this in Las Pegasus?"
"Because Stud, it's MUCH easier to swim in a pool like this than it is to swim in the ocean!"
I nodded. "Yeah, I guess that you're right." I swam around a bit like she was doing.
"Wow, and you really swim just like an otter too Stud!"
"Really? That's what Dash told me once when we swam......on a beach.........in Las Pegasus....." I had a sudden thought.
Daring looked at me. "What? What is it Stud?"
"I just realized something Daring. On that same beach where we got married, just after the Battle of Las Pegasus, Dash, myself, and a number of others spent some shore leave there! Dash and I swam in close to the same spot where we did when we got married!"
"What?! Are you sure Stud?"
"Positive! We took a few photos, so I'll have to show you when we get back so that we can compare them to the wedding photos, but I'm almost CERTAIN that it was the same beach!"
Daring shrugged. "Maybe so Stud, maybe so. In the meantime though, let's just swim a little while longer."
I nodded, and went back to swimming with my wife. Both of us knew that what we were doing was a bit naughty though. We were skinny dipping, in a hot-spring pool, in the middle of the jungle, in the middle of nowhere! Just anypony could have seen us, but yet there was nopony there TO see us!
Once we finished swimming, we got out, let the sun dry us off, before heading back to grab our clothes, and once we put them back on, we broke down our small camp. We also marked our location on a modern map so that we could find that hot-spring again if we wanted too, and after eating a breakfast of jungle fruit, we moved on.
For the next few days, it was more travelling through the forests and jungles of the Undiscovered West. I was able to take pictures of a number of cool rock formations, beautiful forested valleys, crystal clear streams, a few lakes, and more than a few incredible sunsets. It was truly a journey of a lifetime, and I knew that even with the pictures, aside from Spitfire and Dash, very few, if any, would EVER believe me when I told them the stories of this adventure!
Also during the course of the adventure, on some nights, Daring and I would begin to put together the storyboard for the book that would follow the adventure. We both jotted notes, and worked through the timeline.
"So, what's the book going to be called Daring?"
"Most likely, 'Daring Do and the Search for the Lunar Shrine of Romance.' And for this adventure, her sometimes partner, Mac, came along with her, as she needed his tracking skills."
I nodded. "Sure, that makes sense. And maybe we can use some of the photos that I've taken for the pictures in the book. Also, are Daring and Mac romantically involved, or not?"
"Yeah, that might work for the pictures, and no, they're not. For now at least, Daring and Mac MIGHT be considered 'friends with benefits', partners for sure, and friends as well."
"And how have the fans been reacting to Mac?"
Daring shrugged. "Eh, well it is a bit too early to tell, but for now at least, most of them seem to be reacting at least somewhat positively to him. The truth is, for the longest time a number of fans have been requesting that Daring Do have a partner, and now that I gave them Mac, they seem to like him well enough. I mean, he's only been in 2 book so far, and even then, not in a major role. Now though, 'Lunar Shrine of Romance' will be his first main character appearance alongside Daring Do."
"And, I'll be helping you write this book, right?"
She gave me a funny look. "Um, duh! You're IN the story, aren't you? Just under a different name. Of COURSE you'll be helping me write it! I've seen your work with those war diaries that you wrote, and I must admit, you're a pretty good writer too!"
I was stunned. If a multi-millionaire author said that I was a "pretty good writer", then that was some pretty high praise!
"Wow, um, I don't know what to say Daring!"
She smirked a bit. "Then don't say anything, just kiss me you Big Goof!"
Laughing a bit, I complied. Suddenly though, I broke the kiss.
"Hey, why'd you do that Stud?"
"Because, I just thought of something Daring."
"And that is?"
"Today's date. Today is June 8th, 2030."
"And, what's that got to do with anything?"
I smiled a bit. "Because, exactly one year ago today, at 5:25am, the Battleship Express rolled out of the Everfree Forest for the first time! We Humans have now been in Equestria for one year now!"
Daring hugged me. "Well then, congratulations on your one-year anniversary Stud!"
I hugged her back. "Thanks Daring. Oh, and how much farther is it to the shrine?"
Daring looked at her map again. "Actually, we're only about a day or so away now, assuming of course that this map is accurate."
"Well, I for one am REALLY hoping that it is! I mean, we've been out here for over a month now!" (And we'd also come within a half-mile of New Vegas at one point, but we never saw it.)
Daring nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know Stud, but yet as you yourself said, 'Nothing that's worthwhile doing is EVER easy!' so I guess we'll just see when we get there."
I nodded slowly, and then we pressed on.
Sure enough, about a day or so later, towards sunset, we reached the base of the mountains that were on the map. A stream flowed through the area, and everything was covered with grass, vines, other jungle plants, and of course trees.
We both began to look around. "Well, there ARE a lot of ruins here Daring, but let's just hope that none of them are the shrine, as I REALLY want to find that intact!"
"No kidding Stud! However, I think that we.......STUD, LOOK!!!!!!"
I turned when she yelled, and I looked to where she was pointing. When I did, my jaw hit the dirt. There, at the foot of the mountains, partially hidden by growth, but still visible, was what appeared to be the entrance to an ancient shrine! There was a flight of stairs leading up, and the actual entrance itself was at the top, surrounded by statues. For its age, it seemed to be in pretty good condition.
"Is that it?!"
"YES!!!!"
"The Lunar Shrine of Romance! IT IS REAL!!!!!" I began to snap a few pictures of the shrine, as well as the surrounding area.
Daring was writing more in her notebook. "And once they reached the ancient Shrine, Daring Do and Mac gazed upon it's ancient beauty....." she was muttering.
"So, do we just go up and in, or what?"
Daring shook her head. "No, we HAVE to wait for nightfall! The Shrine is ONLY safe to enter when the light of the moon is upon it. It doesn't matter which phase of the moon, but there HAS to be moonlight involved."
I shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say Babe. You're the expert here."
We both then sat down on some of the ruins, and began to talk for a while while we waited for the sun to finish going down.
Once it did, we got ready to head into the Shrine. We grabbed flashlights, spare batteries, rope, our guns, my knife, her knife, her whip, my camera, and her notebook, as well as a satchel and some plastic wrap to hold the original Pony Sutra if we did manage to find it. Once the moon was up, we began to walk towards the shrine.
"A waning gibbous. A good sign that Life smiles upon our quest!"
I shrugged. "I don't know there Daring, in my experience, Life is the biggest dick that EVER existed! She HATES me!"
Daring giggled a bit. "Maybe so Stud. HOWEVER!" She stopped me just before I started walking up the steps, "There are a few critical things that I need to tell you before we go!"
"Which are?"
"Well, legend has it that Briana, the Goddess of Love, Life, Fertility, and the Moon to the Marakeets, still protects her Shrine from intruders. According to the ancient manuscripts, she appears in the form of a Sphinx, and all those who enter must solve her riddle!"
"Huh. Yeah, THAT could be an issue, but is that it?"
"No. Most likely, there are ALSO hidden booby traps in there, not to mention snakes, spiders, bats, bugs, and possibly even jungle beasts!"
"Ok, first of all, booby traps are just a movie cliche. Secondly, I can also deal with snakes, bugs, I AM a bat! (at least BAT-Pony!), jungle beasts will meet my Glock, but yet I HATE spiders!"
Daring looked at me. "Wait, so you're a war hero, but you can't handle spiders?"
"Well, in my defense, Indiana Pones couldn't handle snakes!"
"Stud, those were just movies! THIS is real life!"
"Yeah? And as long as I can see them, and stomp on them, I can take care of any spiders! And there had better not be any damn tarantulas in there, or I'm DONE!!!!"
"Um.....Stud?"
"Yeah?"
"You.....probably do NOT want to look next to your foot right now!"
I glanced down, and to my horror, there sat a tarantula!
"Well.......shit. FORE!!!!!" I yelled as I brought back my foot, and sent the tarantula flying! It hit a nearby tree pretty hard before falling down, and it seemed to be dead. "Ok, tarantula down! I'm still here, and I didn't cry, scream, or piss myself, so I'm good!"
Daring just shrugged. "Eh, I do the same thing too. Good shot Stud!"
"Thanks!"
We then proceeded to climb the 39 stairs to the top of the shrine. As we reached the top, the light from the moon shone down upon the entrance. The entrance was guarded by 2 Sphinx statues, and there were the remains of torches as well. Beyond the entrance to the shrine, Daring and I could see that everything else about it was underground, or at least inside of the mountain that the shrine was built into.
"So....who enters the shrine first?"
Daring looked at me. "Well, you can if you want to Stud."
I glanced back, and Daring seemed to be breathing a little bit heavier, and she seemed to be sweating a bit. "Um, are you....ok Daring?"
I was going to say something, but yet, I couldn't think of anything, so I just shut my mouth again. Just before I could enter the shrine though, Daring suddenly stopped me.
"Wait Stud! I forgot to mention something!"
"Ugh, what now Daring?"
"The texts that I found in the Canterlot Library also mentioned one other thing about this place. And this is just a legend, so I'm not saying that it's true; in fact, I think that it's just bogus myself, but according to legend, this place, thanks to the Goddess who supposedly inhabited it, because she was the goddess of love and fertility, as well as the moon, if a female were to enter the shrine under the moon, she would go into the deepest, most fertile heat that she's ever had. She'll cry out, begging to be filled with offspring."
"And let me guess, her cries, as well as her scent, attracts the closest male(s), and when they enter the shrine, they go into their deepest musk, then they have sex with, and impregnate said female?"
"Exactly! And if ANY of the male's sperm touches the female's womb, then a pregnancy is a 100% certainty! Also, the chances of multiple foals is VERY high. Twins are the most common, but some mares supposedly had up to quintuplets as well. Like I said though, I don't believe in this. Most likely it was some type of drug that the air in the shrine was laced with. However, this whole area's been deserted for centuries, if not millennia, so I'm pretty sure that we're safe!" ("Barring the tail end of my own heat cycle of course!" she muttered).
"What was that last bit Daring?"
"Nothing! I was just muttering about how my boots won't stay tied. But anyway, let's get in there, and get this done so that we can FINALLY go home!"
I nodded, and after walking up to the entrance, I became the first Human to EVER set foot inside of the Lunar Shrine of Romance!
Once we were inside, we had to use our flashlights. The air inside was somewhat musty, and there were dust and cobwebs about as well. Once past the entrance, the Shrine was seemingly a cave, but yet the walls, floor, and ceiling were made from cut stone, so it was almost like we were inside of a building, even though I knew that we were inside of the mountain.
Here and there, a few wall paintings existed as well. To my surprise though, most of them showed what appeared to be Ponies in VERY explicit sexual positions.
"Well, I certainly won't be taking any pictures of THESE!"
Daring giggled a bit. "Well, it IS called the 'Lunar Shrine of Romance' Stud, and it IS supposedly the home of the original copy of the Pony Sutra, so I guess that it does make sense that these would be here!"
"And, you feel like you're in heat and need to be bred yet Daring?"
She shook her head. "Nope! Like I said, that was just a bunch of hooey! Or some really strong drugs, I haven't decided yet!"
We both laughed a bit, before pressing on deeper into the tunnel. The passage that we were in seemed to be like a tunnel, and there were a few alcoves off to the side as well. Most of these were empty, but every now and again there would be a dusty urn, or perhaps a table.
At one point, I was about to enter a room that was filled with patterned floor blocks.
"Wait Stud! Booby trap!"
I groaned. "Daring, for the last time, that's just a movie cliche!" I then accidentally stepped on one of the blocks, unleashing a torrent of arrows from one wall to the opposite wall! "WHOA!!!!!" I jumped back a bit.
"Still just a movie cliche Stud?"
"Um....no, that was real!"
"Yeah, I know! However, I've seen things like this before. All we have to do is follow the patterns of the Sphinx, and we should be ok."
She stepped on the first pattern to prove that it was safe, and I followed her. We then made it across the room, and after dodging a few more arrows, a wall full of spears, a swinging blade, a room full of spikes, and a collapsing floor, we finally made it to the deepest part of the shrine.
When we reached it though, instead of being rundown like the rest of the Shrine's interior, it was completely clean! There were torches burning on the walls, lots of paintings were on the walls, as well as carvings on the floor, (all of them of a Sphinx) what looked to be an area for worship, and there were holes in the room's high ceiling that let moonlight in as well.
"Whoa, this place is huge, clean, impossible, AND amazing!"
"Yeah, assuming of course that nopony's here! I mean, how ELSE could this place still be this clean?"
"I don't know, Magic perhaps?"
Daring looked at me. "Well, normally I would say that you were crazy Stud, but now I can see your point." We then looked around, but yet we couldn't find any signs of life.
"Well, I guess that it's clean, AND lifeless, but yet where's the Pony Sutra? I thought that THAT'S what we came here for!"
Daring seemed to be sweating a bit, and she kept rubbing her shorts. At first, I thought that she was just scratching an itch, but then, I realized that she was about to scratch a DIFFERENT itch!
"Daring? Are you......in heat right now?"
She looked up at me. "Sort of, but not quite. Tonight's the last night of my cycle. I just.....need to make it through the night. It's NOT the Shrine, as I've been feeling a bit 'hot and bothered' all day! Just, find the Pony Sutra and secure it so that we can leave!"
"Yeah, but where IS it?"
"According to the manuscripts, It's at the Shrine of Briana, located at the front of this room. A sort of 'shrine within a shrine' if you will."
I looked, and sure enough, there it was. At the very front of the room was a huge golden statue of some sort of goddess. In front of the image though was what appeared to be a smaller version of the Lunar Shrine of Romance. It stood maybe 12 feet tall, and at the top I could see what looked to be a stone box.
"So, we just go up and get it?"
Daring looked at me. "No. Unfortunately, Daring Do got hurt by a spear trap, and while she's patching herself up, Mac volunteered to finish the mission with Daring's guidance." Daring then sat against a wall, and began to rub herself under her shorts.
I took off my pith helmet, wiped some sweat off my forehead, and then put it back on. "Mares", I muttered. I began to walk towards the front. "Just remember though Daring, if I die, then YOU get to be the one to explain to Dash and Spitfire what happened!"
"You're not gonna die Stud. There aren't any booby traps protecting the Pony Sutra. Why I don't know, but I really don't care right now."
I sighed, and with Daring guiding me, I slowly made my way up to the front.
The whole way there, I felt CERTAIN that something bad was going to happen, but yet it didn't. I made it to the front, and began to climb up the steps of the mini-shrine.
Once I reached the top, I reported back to Daring. "Well, there's certainly SOMETHING up here!"
"What do you see?"
"Well, the top of this sort of 'mini Shrine' is housing something underneath it. It looks like you lift the top off, but I'm scared to do that, as who knows what could happen!"
"I already told you Stud, NOTHING is going to happen!"
I still don't know why I trusted Daring's judgement. I removed the top, fully expecting to die at any second, but yet nothing happened. No explosions, no arrows, no poison-tipped darts, no collapsing roof, literally nothing.
"Is there anything inside the top Stud?"
"Um, yeah! There's a stone box!"
"Well, open it!"
I did so, and when I did, still nothing happened, and when I looked inside the box, my jaw literally hit the floor! There, in the bottom of the box, was the most ornately decorated book that I had ever seen! It's cover was made of what appeared to be gold, and it was inlaid with stones. I picked up the book and opened it. Sure enough, each and every page had Ponies in sexually explicit positions. Even though I was no archaeologist, I could tell that the book was indeed ancient.
"The ORIGINAL copy of the Pony Sutra! I FOUND IT!!!!!" And in all honest truth, I DID find it! Daring was too busy dipping into her honeypot, so she sent me, and I honest to goodness FOUND a long lost treasure! The ORIGINAL copy of the Pony Sutra!
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I FOUND IT!!!"
"Yeah, you did. HOWEVER, this was a TEAM effort, so we're splitting the money!"
I nodded. "Yeah, I know that! It was a team effort, but I still get the bragging rights for finding the book!"
Yeah, I found the book, but what I failed to do though was check behind me! Something was there, and it was NOT too happy to see me standing there!
While I was still taking pictures of the book, I took a selfie, and accidentally captured the creature standing behind me in it. I didn't notice it, but Daring did.
"Um, Stud?"
"Yeah?"
"You.....need to look behind you, RIGHT NOW!!!!"
I gave her a look. "Ugh, Daring, that's the OLDEST trick in the book! If I look, you're gonna fly up here and snatch the book, as well as my camera so that I have no proof that I found the book! No, it's NOT happening!"
"No Stud, I'm SERIOUSLY not joking right now! We've got BIG trouble, and it's literally standing less than a foot behind you right now!"
I sighed. "If it's another tarantula, I'll just kick it!" I then turned around to deal with the tarantula, only to find that it wasn't a tarantula! I was staring right into 2 glowing golden eyes, and a mouth full of sharp teeth! The creature then moved forwards a bit, and I saw that it was a Sphinx! It had dark purple fur, a dull pink sort of mane, as well as lighter purple fur on its undersides and the end of its tail, huge wings, and a long tail, not to mention big paws, and a smirk. It wasn't quite as big as I originally thought, but it WAS easily 3 times my size, if not more!
"Oh shit, not a tarantula, SPHINX!!!!!" In my panic, I forgot how to fly! Instead, I grabbed the book, as well as my camera, before running back down the steps, and back across the room to Daring.
However, before we could escape, the Sphinx flew across the room, and blocked our escape! I looked around, but that door was the only way in or out! We were trapped!
I then heard the Sphinx laugh. "And where do you think that YOU'RE going you two? I'll tell you where, NOWHERE!!!!!! At least, not until I've had my 'fun' with you!"
The Sphinx then began to laugh again, and it was at this moment that Daring and I knew, we were most likely screwed!
Chapter 19.5 (WARNING: EXPLICIT!!!!!!!) (But please read for VALUABLE information!)
When the Sphinx laughed the way that it did, I was able to determine that it was most likely female. I also knew that Sphinxes only had one weakness that could kill them, but yet neither Daring nor myself knew what that weakness was!
I looked up about a foot at the Sphinx. "Um......g-good Kitty?" ("Damn, where's some catnip when you need it?!" I thought).
The Sphinx looked down at me, smirking slightly. "Aww, how cute. Do you REALLY thing that you can tame me mortal?"
"No, not really. It was worth a shot though."
"Just as it was 'worth a shot' to come into MY Shrine to steal MY Pony Sutra?!?!"
Daring's eyes then got VERY wide. "Wait, YOUR Shrine?!?! B-but that can't be! Briana was just a made up goddess!"
The Sphinx laughed again. "Well, you're not wrong there Toots! Sure, BRIANA was made up, but I'm VERY much real! I'M who she REALLY is!"
"And let me guess, we have to solve your riddle to escape?"
"Briana" looked down at us. "Oh yes, you have to solve a riddle to escape! In fact, it's the GREATEST riddle of them all!"
I looked up at her. "Ok, let's here it. And before you begin, no, 'St. Ives' is the greatest riddle of all time."
"St. Ives You say? Never heard of it. Tell me!"
I thought for a second. "Ok. 'As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with 7 wives. 7 wives had 7 sacks. 7 sacks had 7 cats. 7 cats had 7 kits. 7 kits had 7 eyes. Eyes, kits, cats, sacks, wives. How many were going to St. Ives?'"
Daring looked at me. "Ok, I did NOT bring a calculator with me! However, I can say that it would be a HUGE number going to St. Ives!"
I was about to say something, but then I got interrupted. "Sure, it may SEEM complicated, but it's really quite simple!" Briana then poked me in the chest with one of her toes. "YOU are the only one going to St. Ives! The rest were leaving!"
I looked down. "Darn it! I've ALWAYS stumped everypony I've told that riddle to! None of them could EVER figure it out!"
"It's ironic really." Briana then sat back on her haunches, and began to lick one of her paws. "MY riddle, is a lot like yours. The answer is obvious, but yet NONE have ever figured it out!" (In case it wasn't already clear, the Sphinx is NOT an anthro! She walks on all fours).
I then sighed. "Well then, what is your riddle? We both kinda need to start getting on our way home, so can we hear your riddle?"
Briana nodded. "Certainly! The answer to my riddle is who I really am. 'Briana' was just the name that I was given. I am the greatest riddle of them all. Who am I?"
I blinked. "What? Is that it? That's the entire riddle?! How the heck are we supposed to solve THAT?!?!?! There's ZERO information in there!"
Briana giggled. "Nope! ALL the information that you need is in the riddle! Like I said before, the answer is obvious, but none have ever solved it! Oh, and before you answer, if you guess wrong, you become just another victim of the shrine's curse!"
"Um, curse? What curse?"
"Oh, your lady-friend there didn't tell you? This Shrine should NEVER be entered after dark on a night with a moon! Sure, it's SAFER to enter, but yet many who have entered have fallen victim to the curse! Briana is the Goddess of Love and Fertility, as well as the Moon! If you two guess wrong, well, let's just say you won't be leaving here alone, and in 9 months you'll DEFINITELY be living with a little 'friendly reminder' of our time here!" Briana then burst out laughing.
It was then that I realized that EVERYTHING that Daring had told me, and said that she didn't believe in, was REAL! We both had one shot at getting out of here, and if we failed....... I didn't even want to think about the possibility!
For the longest time, Daring and I just sat on the floor, trying to figure out the riddle. Briana just sat on her haunches and watched us.
"And don't even THINK that you can escape here without solving the riddle! If you do, you will NEVER make it out of the shrine alive!"
I sighed. "Why would I be attempting to escape? I've ALWAYS wanted to get the chance to cuddle with a Sphinx!"
I heard her giggle slightly. "Well, solve my riddle, and I'll be all yours to play with!"
Daring shot me a glare. I just shrugged, and gestured to her that I was just "testing the waters" to see what we could get away with. We kept trying to solve the riddle, but as time went on though, it began to get harder and harder to think.
"Oh, and one more thing that I forgot to tell you two! You only have a limited amount of time to come up with an answer as well! Right now, the air is filling up with aphrodisiac pheromones that once they reach a certain level, you two will be f@#king like minks until you drop dead from broken hips! You've already used up a lot of time, and soon it'll be too late!"
Daring and I both then looked at each other, and we knew that we HAD to hurry!
I was desperately trying to wrack my brains, trying to figure out what the answer to the riddle was. However, it was also getting harder and harder to concentrate. My mind kept picturing Daring and I in a LOT of sexual positions that I'd seen in the Pony Sutra. Daring continued to finger herself, and I could tell that she was possibly mere seconds away from losing it.
While this was happening, "Briana" looked at us smirking. So far, her plan for revenge was working FLAWLESSLY, and soon she would be doing what she did best.
Suddenly though, my brain began to put the pieces together. In my mind, I ALMOST came up with the right answer. Before I could though, I got tackled over backwards by Daring!
"Daring.....What?! GET OFF!!! We HAVE to finish solving the riddle!"
But Daring's mind was gone. I looked at her, and I could spot ALL of the symptoms of a mare in heat. She'd already torn all of her clothes off, her nethers were SOAKING wet, and EXTREMELY gooey, not to mention the fact that she was sweating, panting, and even blushing.
All thoughts that I had for solving the riddle, at least for the time being, were lost. All that I could think about were my primal instincts. In front of me was a mare in heat, and since I was the alpha male, it was my job to impregnate her with my offspring!
In an instant, I was on top of Daring, and after ripping my own clothes off, we were roughly kissing and groping each other.
"Time’s up!" I faintly heard "Briana" giggle, "Now I get to sit back, and watch the fun!"
And watch us she did.
By this point, all semblances of ANYTHING that had marked us as civilized were gone! We were well and truly 100% feral, answering to NOTHING but our natural instincts, and right then, our instincts were telling us to breed. Neither of us could even talk anymore! We communicated with grunts, groans, squeaks, squeals, giggles, screes, and other such noises.
Daring was on all fours with her tail in the air. She was moaning for me to come please her, which I did. After getting my sort-of muzzle close to her intoxicating nethers, I began to eat her out. I'll admit, I've NEVER seen her that wet before! It was like there was a water pipe leaking inside of her, as there was a constant stream of gooey fluids coming out of her.
I thrust my tongue into her snatch, and she pushed back to meet me. We worked ourselves into a rhythm, and I was able to give her orgasm after Earth-shattering orgasm. Each one was more intense than the last one, and soon the floor all around us was positively SOAKED in her juices!
"F@#K ME!!!!" Daring suddenly screamed. "Please, f@#k me Stud! I NEED you inside of me! You're tongue just can't do it, NOTHING can! I HAVE to be fertilized! Only insemination can save me from this heat!"
I didn't miss a beat. "Turn around for me then Daring!" She did so. "Now, stick your rump up into the air, and move your tail." She did, and I saw that her tail was soaked in her juices as well. Her slit was also winking at me, indicating that she was all ready for a good F@#K.
She began to moan for me to f@#k her, which I did. I was rock hard, and I slipped my member into her insanely wet furnace of a love-tunnel. Once our hips met, I pulled back out of her, sighed a bit, before thrusting back in.
"OUGH!!!!" Daring cried out in bliss.
I then began to pull out and thrust back in, while Daring bucked her hips back to meet my thrusts. We were in the doggy position, which was the most natural breeding position for wild animals such as ourselves.
Once again, we worked ourselves into a rhythm, and because I was f@#king her so hard and so fast, Daring was soon just a drooling mess lying in puddles of her own sex juices.
"Wow, you're a REALLY filthy mare, aren't you Daring?"
She just moaned in response.
"Yeah, I know that you are! I mean look at you! We're at the bottom of an ancient shrine, and you're getting your brains f@#ked out by a wild stallion, and you're enjoying it!"
"Ngh....who WOULDN'T enjoy getting f@#ked by such a hot stallion like you Stud?"
"Ngh....I know that you're going to be the PERFECT mom for my foals Babe!"
"Nyah! I want them Stud! Give me your Human-Bat-Pony babies!"
I kept going, fully having every intention of doing just that.
As I continued to f@#k Daring though, suddenly, it all clicked. In one rare moment of complete sanity, I was able to solve the riddle! I then slammed on the brakes, and stopped f@#king. Daring was too much of a drooling mess to care, but "Briana" did!
"Hey! Why'd you stop?"
I stopped, because I was able to solve your riddle!"
She looked at me. "Oh? And what pray tell, is your answer, brave adventurer?"
I smirked a bit. "Like you said, it's all really simple once you've made all the right connections! You are NOT a Sphinx, you've just taken the form of one. A Sphinx is the physical representation of a riddle. You are not a riddle, but yet I'm still on the right track. You're not just A riddle, you're THE greatest riddle of them all!" I paused a bit.
"And what greater riddle is there, than Life itself?" I then looked up at her. "So, we meet at last, my old enemy!"
When I gave my final answer, Life was BEYOND shocked! NEVER had anyone EVER solved her riddle before! Now, not only had someone done just that, but they were her old enemy as well!
"Yes, we do indeed finally meet Leopard! And now I've FINALLY gotten my revenge for you preventing me from Finding a Way!"
"Which was what? Having me have sex with Daring for a while? Sheesh, some revenge!"
I then saw her smirk at me. "Oh no, this was just the fun little warm up, my REAL revenge starts just about......NOW!!!"
I then lost all control again, and IMMEDIATELY went back to f@#king Daring, this time though like there was no tomorrow!
Now, I was like a f@#king machine on high speed. And all while Daring and I were busy making the next generation, Life was laughing her ass off at us.
"HA HA HA HA!!!!! I TOLD you that I would get my revenge on day Leopard! Now I FINALLY did! Remember what I said? I said, 'I'd make you act like a breeding animal, and love it'! Now how do you feel?"
I didn't answer, but I did roll Daring and I over onto our sides, where I continued to f@#k her like a slut.
"OH!!! You're such FILTHY little breeding animals! Is that all that's in your head right now, breeding?"
No answer except for the sounds of sex.
"Oh, I'll take that as a yes, My Little Breeders! Just keep f@#king for me, and make all of the obscene little noises that you want! There's nobody out here to hear you! Soon, YOU Daring will be the mother of multiple foals! I don't know how many yet, but I DO know that it will at least be twins!"
Daring still didn't answer.
"And all of this could have been avoided if you would have JUST let me Find a Way sooner! But NO! You just HAD to keep using birth control, AND morning after pills! I kept telling you that I was going to Find a Way, and now I FINALLY did! Life ALWAYS Finds a Way Leopard, and now I did!"
We kept going for an unknown amount of time. Eventually, I reached my limit, and after thrusting into Daring as deep as I possibly could, I unleashed a TORRENT of my hot, potent foal-batter into her unprotected, fertile womb!
We both then screamed our lungs out, before blacking out, and collapsing into a heap; Daring on bottom, and me on top.
Once she was certain that we'd passed out, Life walked over to us. "Aww, you two are so cute when you're asleep! She then sat down next to us, before brushing us gently with a paw. "Now that I FINALLY Found a Way, I don't outright hate you anymore, but yet I STILL need a little bit of revenge!" Life then altered our memories of this incident, so that we wouldn't remember having sex. All we would remember would be finding the book, meeting "Briana", and solving her riddle, at least until Daring started showing her symptoms!
Life then lay down close to us, and then pulled us both into her soft, warm chest and belly, and cuddled us like kittens. "Shh, sleep now, My Little Breeders", She whispered after kissing us on the foreheads. "You've eared your rest after doing my bidding, and now I will protect you while you sleep. You've earned my protection for all that you've done Leopard, and now I'll be with you for a LONG time to come! Now, not only can you add, 'cuddling with a Sphinx' to your list of accomplishments, but also having one protect you, now and forevermore!"
Life then fell asleep as well, still holding Daring and I close to her, and the 3 of us all falling asleep to Life's soft, gentle purrs. (Yes, Sphinx's can purr.)
Sometime hours later, I suddenly woke up. I was lying on a cold hard floor, but yet Daring was lying in my arms, and both of us were snuggled against something large and furry. Her head was throbbing, and my limbs felt extremely weak.
"What........happened?" My memory was very fuzzy. I remembered our quest to find the Lunar Shrine of Romance, as well as the original copy of the Pony Sutra, but yet after that, my memory began to fail me. I remembered a Sphinx, riddles, and being naked for whatever reason, but beyond this though, I could remember nothing.
I shifted a bit. It was then that I realized that the large, furry thing that Daring and I were snuggled close to was Briana the Sphinx.
She opened an eye and looked at me. "Mmm, time to get up Leopard?"
"I.......guess so. What happened?"
"You mean you don't remember?"
I shook my head. "No, not completely. The last thing that I can remember for sure is finding the Pony Sutra, and then it becomes fuzzy. I remember you, and riddles, as well as being naked, but then nothing."
Briana purred a bit. "Hmm. Well, I can fill in a few gaps for you. You grabbed the book, and tried to evade from me, but I blocked the way. The only way out was to solve my riddle. You and your female companion here did, but it really taxed you; physically and mentally. You both blacked out, and I merely removed your coverings, licked you two clean, and then snuggled close to you so that I could keep you warm." (In all actuality, Life, aka Briana, was in a sense telling the truth. She really did lick us both clean, but yet this was to erase the evidence of the debauchery that her revenge caused. She also did snuggle close to us, but this was for her own pleasure, not just for keeping us warm.)
I nodded slowly. "Ok, so, what now?" I was still slightly unnerved that I had been licked all over by a Sphinx, even one as cute as Briana.
Briana began to purr a bit. "Well, since you DID solve my riddle, AND you have the Pony Sutra, I am duty-bound to protect you. I will protect you and your female companion for as long as you live. And I can change size if I have to, just so that others won't ask too many questions."
By this point, Daring was awake as well, but neither of us really wanted to stop cuddling with Briana. Her fur was just SO soft and warm, and her purring was just so relaxing.
I reached down, and began to rub her belly gently. Briana began to purr VERY loudly, and she even rolled over so as to give me better access.
"Aww, you may be a Sphinx, but you're just a big kitty! Who's my adorable big kitty? Who's my adorable big kitty? YOU are! Yes you are!"
Briana let me have my fun. She knew that she could OWN me if she wanted to, but yet it's EXTREMELY difficult being Life sometimes, and she just wanted to let someone else take the wheel for a bit.
She continued to purr, while Daring got up, and began to pull her clothes back on. I followed suit a few minutes later, and soon, once we had the Original Pony Sutra all wrapped up in plastic, I placed it in the satchel that we brought to hold it, which I then slung over my shoulder.
Once we had the rest of our stuff together, we were all ready to go.
"So, I'll carry the book, you carry the gear, and I guess that I'll carry Briana as well."
Daring looked at me strangely. "Yeah, but how? She's nearly 3 times bigger than we are!"
"Ahem!" Briana then shrunk down until she was no bigger than an average house cat.
Daring looked at her in shock. "What the....?!?!?! How did you do that?!"
Briana looked up at her. "Magic! I can change my size whenever I want! It's just another perk of being Life. I can change my form, and my size. I only have a limited range of forms though. I can be a Sphinx, a cloud, and some fog. That's about it!"
While Daring was still in a bit of shock, I tried to figure out how to carry Briana. Even though she was smaller, I still needed a way to carry her. In the end, she settled on my shoulders, and provided that I was able to move about smoothly, she could just hold on. And if the going got rough, she could always just use her wings and fly.
Daring and I then began to make our way out of the Lunar Shrine of Romance.
"I will NOT be missing this place!" Briana muttered. "My boss literally CHAINED me to this place until somebody could solve my riddle! Now that they have, I can FINALLY get out! Even though I'm now stuck with you Leopard!"
I glanced back at her on my shoulders. "Wait, you were chained to this place? Why?"
Briana growled a bit. "It's a long story. However, the short version is that I was a tyrant a long time ago, and I held a village hostage. They gave me their crops, and I let them live. I also lived in a fancy pyramid back then, but that's besides the point. Anyway, one day I kidnapped some prince, and his lover came to get him back. She solved my other riddle, AND she passed my other challenges!"
"What other riddle was that?" Daring asked.
"I shine brightest in the dark. I am there but cannot be seen. To have me costs you nothing. To be without me costs you everything. What am I?"
I thought for a second. "Hope. I've heard this riddle before. It's an old classic among us soldiers."
Briana spat a bit. "Well no one knew the answer back then except for...........Sonambula, at least I think that's what her name was. Outraged at her defeating me, I fled from the pyramid, only to be confronted by my Boss, and he banished me to the Lunar Shrine of Romance. I was doomed to be trapped there until someone solved my main riddle, as punishment for what I did in the past. I saw the Marakeets come and go, but I was still there. Until now at least. You solved my riddle, thus freeing me from the Lunar Shrine of Romance forever."
I was surprised at Briana's story. It all made sense, but I still had another question. "And who is your boss by the way? I've always wondered who Life's manager is."
"The Universe. HE'S the man behind me! There's also my sisters Fate and Karma, and my brothers Time and Space. Not to mention my cousin, the Multiverse! My Mom, Wisdom, and my dad, Experience are in there too. Together, all of us keep everything running. God is ultimately above us all, but he charges us with keeping everything going."
When Briana finished her explanation, my brain just about exploded! That was WAY too much information packed in such a small span of time!
"Um, ok, I'll just stick with, 'your real name is Life, but everypony calls you Briana. You can now leave the Shrine because I solved your riddle, but now you're duty-bound to protect me. I also now have a Sphinx that will be living with me as well'. Oh, and Life? One other thing I need to tell you."
"And that is?"
"Whenever someone says, 'well, at least things can't get any worse!', that is NOT a challenge!"
Briana blinked, before bursting out laughing. I knew then that I really did NOT have as good of a handle on Life as I thought that I did! (No pun intended!)
Getting home took another 2 weeks, but by July 2nd, we were FINALLY back in Ponyville! We all got off the train utterly exhausted, and after taking flight, Daring and I made it back up to Dash's house.
"Man, a shower's going to feel SO good!" Daring muttered.
"No kidding Babe! I REALLY need one too!"
We then walked in, shut the door, I said hi to Aurora, who although she was excited to see me again, decided to let me rest for a while.
"I'll say hi to you better later Master! You look exhausted!"
"Thanks Aurora, and I am. I've been all over the place for the past 2 months, and I'm physically shot!"
I then turned away, and it was then that Aurora noticed Briana on my shoulders. "Wait, what the heck is on your shoulders?!"
I sighed. "This is Briana the Sphinx. In reality though, she's my greatest enemy, Life. She was the one guarding the Lunar Shrine of Romance, and Daring and I had to solver her riddle to escape. Wait for the book for the full story!"
"Wait, you went out there for the Pony Sutra, and came back with a SPHINX?!?!"
"Yeah, pretty much, although we came back with the Pony Sutra too. But please Aurora, I REALLY need sleep!"
I then gently pushed past her and went upstairs, all with Briana still on my shoulders, though Aurora still followed me up.
Daring took her shower first, while I secured the satchel with the book in it in my office safe, as well as the camera with all of the photos of our adventure. Then when it was my turn, I took my shower. Once I was done, I dried off, and without even bothering to put any clothes on, (Daring didn't either) we both crawled into Dash's bed, and were asleep almost instantly.
Briana jumped up on the bed, and snuggled between us, purring all the while, before settling down to sleep. Not wanting to be left out, Aurora did the same thing, and Daring and I were too tired to care. All 4 of us fell asleep, and I tried to come up with an explanation that Dash and Spitfire would believe when I had to explain to them about Briana.
When Dash and Spitfire came home later that day, they found a note on the front door.
"Hey guys, well, Daring and I are finally back! Long story short, mission accomplished! Right now, we're most likely upstairs sleeping, so please don't disturb us. We REALLY need it!
Much Love, Stud"
They both looked at each other. "Wow, so they're FINALLY back!"
Dash nodded. "Yeah, which makes you wonder how long until the book will come out!"
"And they may be sleeping, but I guess that we can at least see if they're awake."
They then went inside, before heading upstairs. Sure enough, once they reached the bedroom, they saw Daring and I asleep in each other's arms. We were also moving about a bit, suggesting that we were on yet another adventure.
"I still think that it's cute when they dream together. I just wish that Stud had more time to spend with us though."
Spitfire nodded, but then she stopped. "Yeah, but yet at the same time, we ARE Wonderbolts, which has us spending so much time at the Academy. The main reason that Stud's with Daring so much is that she's always here writing. Plus, he's still with Battalion 4009 in the Foreign Legion, which has him sometimes coming home at really odd hours. Daring's just the only one who's either home, or awake. I mean, we DO get time off, but yet not as much as I'd like. It's a lonely road being the Captain of the Wonderbolts Dash."
Dash was listening, but then, she looked a little bit closer at the bed. "Um Spitsy?"
"Yeah Dash?"
"I know that Aurora belongs to Stud, and I have Tank, but do either you or Daring own a cat?"
Spitfire looked at her like she was crazy. "What? I don't own a cat! And Daring doesn't have any pets either! Why?"
Dash pointed, and sure enough, lying close to Aurora was what appeared to be a cat! It had purple fur, a long tail, and it even seemed to have wings!
"Where......did that come from?!"
"I don't know! Maybe Stud and Daring found it on their adventures, and decided to bring it back. We won't know for sure until they wake up, although I don't know if we should disturb them right now."
I then rolled over, and looked over at them. "Oh, hey guys." I whispered.
"Stud!" Dash came over and hugged me.
"Please keep it down a bit. Let Daring sleep a little bit longer." I whispered. "But it's good to see you too Babe."
"Yeah, and I REALLY missed you!"
"Not as much as I missed you!"
"Ahem!"
I looked up. "Oh, and hi to you too Spitsy! Where's my hug?"
"It's coming, just as soon as you explain where THIS came from!" She pointed to the cat-like creature lying close to me.
I sighed. "Do you want the long story or the short one?"
"I want the truth."
"That's the thing though Spitsy, I'd tell you the truth, but I don't think that you'd believe me!"
"Try me Stud. I've seen some REALLY strange things in my time!"
I sighed. "Ok, well, the short version is that this is Briana. She was the Sphinx that guarded the Lunar Shrine of Romance, as well as the original Pony Sutra within. She was bound to the shrine until somepony could solve her riddle. I was able to do so, and now she's bound to protect me until the day I die. She shrank down to the size of a house cat so that I could carry her back here. The longer version though, Briana is REALLY a physical manifestation of Life, aka, my greatest enemy! She was known as Briana for centuries, and Because Life is the greatest riddle of all, she took on the form of a Sphinx. So now I have Aurora AND Briana as my protectors!"
Dash and Spitfire both looked at each other, and then back at Briana, who was now awake and looking at both of them.
Dash laughed a bit. "There's no WAY that you're a Sphinx!"
Briana glared at her a bit. "Yes, I AM a Sphinx! I may not LOOK fearsome, but that's only because I'm the size of an ordinary cat right now! When Leopard found me, I was at my original size, which was 16 feet tall!"
"Prove it!" Dash challenged.
"Fine!" Sure enough, Briana leapt off the bed, before shuddering a bit, and then rapidly changing size. Soon she was the size that she was when she snuggled Daring and I. "See? I TOLD YOU that I could change size!"
Dash's jaw hit the ground. "Wow, you really can!"
Briana then shrunk back down to her house cat size, before jumping back onto the bed and falling asleep again.
Over the course of the next few days, I began to notice Spitfire seeming to be REALLY tired when she came home. She also seemed to be cranky a lot as well.
"What's wrong Babe?" I finally asked her in bed one night.
She hugged me. "Oh Stud, there's a group of recruits at the Academy that are making life HELL for everypony! They won't listen to ANYPONY, and I've threatened to kick them out, but they STILL keep causing trouble! I WANT to kick them out, but yet I can see that they have so much potential. Finally tonight, I just told them, 'FINE!!!! If you think that you can mouth off to ME, just wait until you meet my husband! If I have to bring HIM up here to deal with you, he's gonna be PISSED!!!!!'"
"And what did they say to that?"
"Well, some of them smartened up, but the rest still continued on as before. Which is why I have to ask you if you're free tomorrow Stud, AND if you're willing and able to deal with them before I have to take drastic action!"
I smirked a bit. "You know me better than that Spitsy, of COURSE I'll help you! Plus, if those punks think that I can't whoop them, then they've got another thing coming! I could take them all on blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back and STILL come out on top!"
Spitfire kissed me, before holding me close to her. "Thanks Stud, you're the best!"
I kissed her back. "You're welcome Babe. If they mess with my wife, then they mess with me, and if they mess with ME, then they'll possibly be leaving on a stretcher!"
We both laughed about this for a while longer, before we fell asleep.
The next morning, once I'd changed into the Wonderbolt Jumpsuit that Spitfire had given me for my birthday, I followed her up to the Wonderbolt Academy. I was made an Honorary-Wonderbolt for the time being, and I was wished the best of luck by the others in dealing with the troublesome recruits.
"Good luck Leopard!"
"Here's to hoping that you can show them who's boss!"
"I'll do my best guys." I then followed Spitfire to the door to an outdoor drill area. Through the glass, I could see the recruits standing there.
"Yep, they sure look like punks alright!"
"And you can handle them, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Just go out there, and see what you can do. If they STILL don't respond, signal me, and then I'll come and finish the job! However, be prepared for me to REALLY be close to losing it, so just play along! I won't hurt them, I'll just put the Fear of God into them!"
Spitfire nodded, and then she went out to talk to the group of 7 recruits who still hadn't smartened up.
"Alright you lazy rats, get back behind the line! Stand up straight, eyes forwards!"
They all did so, but they continued to giggle, and make faces at Spitfire.
"Ok, I have had it up to HERE with all of you! This is your last chance. If you do not wise up RIGHT THIS INSTANT, I WILL be going to get my husband! And he does NOT play nice!"
"What husband?" One of the recruits laughed. "You're not married!"
"Yeah, you just sleep around a lot!"
They all started to laugh, and Spitfire, wanting to see them eat their own words, (as well as pavement!) gave me the signal, and braced for my entrance.
Suddenly, the laughing stopped as the door to the training area flew open, and slammed into the wall next to it! Then, a tall, hulking figure in a Wonderbolt jumpsuit came charging out. He had a black mane, as well as some gray fur, mixed with flesh. His blue eyes were blazing with fury, and the recruits could also tell that he was a Bat-Pony, or at least a hybrid of one, as he had furry Bat-pony ears and cat-like pupils, though his black wings were still feathery like those of a Pegasus. The name patch on his jumpsuit said "Leopard" on it.
"ALRIGHT YOU YOUNG PUNKS, YOU LISTEN TO ME, AND YOU LISTEN TO ME GOOD!!!!! My name is Captain Leopard, but you will address me as "CAPTAIN", or "SIR!!!!" IS THAT CLEAR?!?!?!"
"Sir, yes Sir!"
"Good!" Now then, my wife's been telling me that you've been causing her some SERIOUS trouble! Is that true?!?!?!" As I stood in front of them, I could see that I was EASILY head and shoulders taller than ANY of them!
No answers.
"Nobody? Well then why does Spitsy always come home to me utterly exhausted, and saying that she had to CONSTANTLY deal with you all?!"
"Freaky Human Bat-Freak!" I heard somepony mutter.
"Who said that? WHO THE F@#K SAID THAT?!?!?! WHICH ONE OF YOU SORRY COCKSUCKERS JUST SIGNED THEIR OWN DEATH WARRANT?!?!?!?!"
Of course, there was no answer.
"Oh, so I guess that it was the f@#king Fairy God-Pony! Was it you?!" I shouted at a female Pegasus with gray fur and a green mane and tail.
"Sir, no Sir!"
"Where you from Recruit?"
"Sir, Las Pegasus Sir!"
"HOLY MOTHER OF CELESTIA LAS PEGASUS?!?! Only Fags and Squirtin' Sluts come from Las Pegasus, and you don't look like a Fag to me so that pretty much narrows it down! I'm gonna call you Private Squirt! Do you like that name Private?!"
"Sir, Yes Sir!"
I then kept walking. I came to a Pegasus stallion with yellow fur, and a blue mane and tail. "I'll bet it was you, wasn't it?!"
"Sir, no Sir!"
"How tall are you private?"
"Sir, 5'9" Sir!"
"5'9" I didn't know that they stacked shit that high! Do you suck dicks?"
"What?! Sir, no Sir!"
"Bullshit! I'll bet that you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose!"
"Sir, no Sir!"
Suddenly, I got hit by an empty soda can. Without even skipping a beat, I picked up the can. "And whoever threw this can at me, your mom's a ho! WHO THE F@#K THREW THIS AT ME, AND WHO THE F@#K SAID THAT I WAS A 'FREAKY HUMAN BAT- FREAK'!?!?!"
"I threw it and said it Sir!" I turned to see who had spoken. Sure enough, I knew HER all too well! She was a female Pegasus with green fur, and a yellow mane and tail. Lightning Dust! She'd been given a second chance with the Wonderbolts, and now she was about to blow it again!
I went over to her. "Oh so we've got a f#@king comedian over here! Lightning Slut! THAT sounds like a MUCH better name for you, don't you agree?"
She smirked. "Why don't you come to bed with me, and you'll find out!"
I then socked her right in the stomach, and THAT wiped the smirk right off her face! "You EVER talk to me like that again, there's FAR WORSE coming! Got it?!"
"Y-y-yes Sir!"
"GET UP!!!!"
She did so, and I could see that most likely she was the sort of ring-leader here. If I could break her, then I had the others. I then thought of the PERFECT way to do just that! After turning back to face Lightning Dust, I put my plan into action.
"You got a War Face?"
"Sir?"
"A War Face! AAAAHHH!!!" I yelled a bit. "THAT'S a War Face, now let me see your War Face!"
"AAAAHHHH!!!!" Lightning screamed.
"BULLSHIT!!!!! You didn't convince me! Let me see your REAL War Face!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I was still unimpressed. "You don't scare me Private Slut, work on it!"
That did it. Lightning Dust was PISSED! "Oh yeah?! Well then what's a REAL War Face?! Because the one you just did wouldn't scare a......."
Lightning Dust never got the chance to finish that thought. I was WAITING for her to challenge me like that; in fact, I was PLANNING on it! Just before she could finish her thought, I reached deep inside of myself, and found the Leopard that became King Sombra Reborn. I then stared her down with my eyes blazing with fury, and I let out the fiercest battle-roar that ANYPONY in a 150 mile radius had EVER heard!
My roar was so powerful that it almost shattered windows! Even Spitfire, who had seen SO MUCH during her time as a Wonderbolt, felt her jaw hit the ground! NEVER did she EVER think that I had that kind of raw power in me! Dash tried to tell her about me going practically Super-Sayan at the Battle of Donneth, but Spitfire never believed it, until now anyway!
Once the last echos of my almighty roar abated, I took a deep breath before looking back at Lightning Dust. "There, is THAT a good enough War Face for ya Lightning?!"
She both pissed and crapped herself before literally fainting from fright!
I just laughed. "And what about the rest of you? Anypony still want to mess with me?"
The rest of the recruits then fainted from fright!
I then noticed Spitfire, as well as a few other Wonderbolts standing with their jaws on the ground. "And what about you guys? How good of a War Face was that?"
THEY all then fainted as well, although they fainted from shock!
I was left standing alone on that training field, surrounded by a large number of passed out Wonderbolts and recruits!
I shook my head. "Wow, I knew that my roar was scary, but I didn't know that it was THAT scary!"
Suddenly though, Dash came flying out of nowhere!
"F@#K!!!!! WHAT'S GOING ON OVER HERE!?!?!?! IS IT A MANTICORE OR AN URSA MAJOR!?!?!?! I heard a HUGE roar!!!!" She kept looking around, ready to fight anything that moved!
I shook my head. "No Dash, that was just me. There's no Manticores or Ursa Majors."
Dash looked at me like I was joking. "What?! You've GOT to be kidding me! There's NO WAY that that was just you!"
I wiped some sweat off my forehead. "No Dash, it really was just me! That roar was all me, although Sombra may have given me a bit of a boost as well!"
"What.....were you even trying to DO?!?!?!?!"
I sighed. "Well, I WAS trying to deal with these recruits, and after I realized that Lighting Dust was their ring-leader, I tried to break her. I went with the whole 'War Face' shtick, although I might have gotten a LITTLE BIT carried away with my roar! But in my defense, it was a great idea to break Lightning Dust, but that roar was WAY more powerful than I thought that it was going to be!"
Dash looked around at all those who'd passed out from fight. "Gee, ya think Stud?! But while YOU may be better at roaring, you STILL can't beat me at flying! I'M the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!"
I looked at her. "Oh really? Are you sure about that Dash?"
"TOTALLY!!! Who could POSSIBLY be a better flyer than me, YOU?!?!?!"
"I betcha I could! I'm not such a bad flyer myself! You may be smaller and more aerodynamic than me, but I have MUCH more torque, power, and endurance! Plus, it's been shown that we Bat-Ponies actually ARE better flyers than Pegasai in some areas!"
Dash just laughed. "Oh yeah? Well then, I'll BELIEVE it when I SEE it Stud! Race me at your own peril!"
I shook my head. "I can, and I WILL! Right after we help everybody who's passed out though, ESPECIALLY before anypony important sees this and thinks that we killed them!"
Dash just laughed, before helping me to revive those who had passed out.
Once we were sure that everypony was ok, Dash and I asked Spitfire if we could race.
"So, you REALLY want to see who's the best, do you?"
I shrugged. "Dash seems to, but I just want to take her down a few notches!"
Spitfire shrugged. "Well, l normally would say no, but yet for FINALLY scaring those recruits straight, sure. You can race with Dash Stud!"
I hugged her. "Thanks Spitsy, you're the best!"
She pushed me off of her. "Hey, no displays of affection while on duty Private!" She yelled.
I saluted. "Sorry Captain, won't happen again!"
"It better not! Or you WILL be sorry!"
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"
"Good, now then GET OUT THERE AND SET UP THIS RACE WITH DASH PRIVATE!!!!!"
"You got it Captain!"
Dash and I then got everything set up. We put up a starting line, set up a course, and stood at the starting line stretching. The race would start at Noon, and Dash wanted word about it to get out to others who would want to see it. The time was currently 11:25am.
Once word of the race got out, a number of Ponies, and even Battalion 4009 soldiers gathered in the stands at the Academy to see it. Of course, ALL of the Human soldiers and Battleship Express crew present were cheering for me, while a lot of the Ponies were cheering for Dash.
"Come on Leopard, you've got this!"
"Yeah, FINALLY take Rainbow Dash down a few notches for her arrogance!"
"No, beat him Dash!" Others cheered.
"Prove once and for all that YOU are the best flyer in all of Equestria!"
Even Daring was present, although she was just there to see who won, she wasn't cheering for ether of us. "Let's just hope that they BOTH come out of this race in one piece!" She thought to herself.
Already off the bat, I KNEW that Dash was going to be tough to beat. Her body was MADE for flying at high speeds, and she was VERY aerodynamic! However, I was a stronger flyer, I had more power, and I could match her in speed. I also knew that Dash often let her arrogance get the better of her, and that that could cause her to make mistakes; mistakes that I could take advantage of!
"I'll admit Dash, you're gonna be tough to beat. However, I'm pretty sure that I can do it!"
Dash just laughed. "Oh, and what makes you think so Stud? I'M the best flyer in all of Equestria!"
"Says you! That's NEVER been proven! Now I FINALLY have the chance to set the record straight! Oh, and why would I tell you how I was going to beat you? That would really defeat the purpose!"
Dash shook her head. "It doesn't matter, you're STILL going down Stud! I can pull off a move that NOPONY else in Equestria can!"
I sighed. "Ah yes, the famous 'Sonic Rainboom'. And just because you can do it, and you're the only one who has done it doesn't mean that somepony ELSE won't someday do it too!"
"Oh PUH-LEAZE!!!!! You think that YOU could pull off a Sonic Rainboom?!?!?! Don't make me LAUGH Stud!"
I shook my head. "No, not me. Even though my wings are like yours, they would tear to pieces if I tried to do that!"
Finally, Spitfire shouted over to us. "Hey! It's past Noon! Are you two gonna keep arguing, or are you guys gonna race?!"
Dash and I looked at each other. We both then shook hands. "Good luck Babe."
Dash just smirked. "Oh, I don't need luck! YOU on the other hand need all that you can get!"
I then sighed, and we both got ready to go.
We both got down on the starting line, pulled our goggles down over our eyes, stretched out our wings a bit, brushed off our Wonderbolt Jumpsuits one last time, and then waited for the signal from Spitfire.
"Are you guys FINALLY ready?"
"Ready Spitfire!"
"Yep, ready Babe!"
"Good. Ok then, on your marks, get set......" She then blew her whistle as loud as she could.
With that, Dash and I were both off like rockets; one rainbow trail behind Dash, and a grayish-black trail behind me. The race was now underway!
The race was from the Wonderbolt Academy, all the way to Ponyville, up to Canterlot, past Cloudsdale, over the Everfree Forest, to the White Tail woods, and then back again. In total, this was a fairly large distance, but yet we were both fairly confident that we could do it.
Dash and I were neck and neck for most of the way, and we were both using every trick in our books to beat the other. Dash would try and create cloud clusters to block my way, as well as gusts of wind, while I would fly low and try to get her to crash into something. We were both acting somewhat juvenile, and not to mention the fact that we were cheating, but yet when your reputation as a Human-Bat-Pony Hybrid is at stake, sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. Still though, I didn't know if I could beat Dash.
She really was fast, and like I had previously thought, I was more muscular, and not quite able to fly as fast as her, but yet I WAS a stronger flyer, AND I had much better endurance than she did.
"Ugh, what's it gonna take to get you out of this race Stud?!"
"A LOT more than what you're currently dishing out Dash! I WILL win this race, or at the very least tie it!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it Stud!" Dash then tried to fly even faster.
Deep inside of me though, I began to feel some of my muscles loosen up. I suddenly felt myself able to fly faster than I had before. It was almost like I was FINALLY living up to my full potential! In fact, I was able to fly fast enough to actually fully overtake Dash once we passed Canterlot!
"What the......!!!!! HEY, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!!!!"
"I CAN and I DID Dashie Girl! Bye now!" I then sped off.
"GET BACK HERE YOU BATTY SAVAGE!!!!" She then rocketed after me!
Soon, we were getting close to the home stretch, and Dash knew that it was now or never for beating me. She could tell that I was really tapping into my full potential, and that was giving me the edge for beating her.
"How can I beat you?!" She was frantically trying to think. Suddenly though, an idea came to her. "Heh, he'll NEVER be able to keep up with me if I do that!" Remembering what I'd said about shattering my wings if I ever attempted to do a Sonic Rainboom, Dash decided to pull off her signature move to win the race.
"Bye Stud!" She then began to fly REALLY high.
I knew what she was trying to do. "Oh no you don't Dashie!" I then began to climb up after her.
Higher and higher we flew. It got colder and colder, and the air seemed to get thinner and thinner. My lungs and heart could handle it, but I knew that we had to be getting close to at LEAST 50,000 feet, if not slightly more!
"This is it Stud, time for me to win the race!" She then dove down into a vertical dive, and I decided to follow her. It would be a decision that would forever change the course of my life.
Faster and faster we went, and at the steepest angle that I had EVER dove at! I could hear the wind screaming past us, and I saw Dash begin to assume her form for her Rainboom. Both of us then passed the Speed of Sound.
"Pull up Stud!" I heard her scream, "This maneuver isn't for you! You're gonna tear your wings apart! ABORT NOW!!!!!"
"Not a chance Dash!" I'm NOT letting you win this one! If I go down.................well, Death is NOT an option, so I WILL survive!" I then kept going.
Closer and closer the ground came, and I was screaming towards it at well over Mach 5. I then threw both of my arms out in front of me, and prepared for the dive. My original plan was to level out close to the ground, and I actually had NO intentions of doing a Sonic Rainboom, as I KNEW that I couldn't handle it! Life though had other ideas.......
All of a sudden, Dash caught a gust of wind from my dive, and got blown off course!
"WHOA!!!!!" She then had to pull up a bit.
"HA!!!!" I then tried to pull up, but I found that I was unable to! I was locked into my current position, and was unable to move!
"STUD!!!!!!" I heard Dash scream far above me. She then rocketed after me as fast as she possibly could.
Down and down I went, with the ground coming up faster and faster. I could feel my wings shudder, but yet they still showed no signs of tearing. Suddenly though, from out in front of my hands, a whitish field of energy began to appear.
"Huh? What's going on?" I wondered.
I was soon to get my answer. Just as I passed the absolute point of no return, (aka, pull up or die!) my body threw itself into the biggest overdrive that it had ever been in, and I saw the world around me turn red. Then, I seemed to collide with something in mid-air, before shooting back up into the sky again while I heard what sounded like an atomic bomb going off behind me!
"AAAAEEEEEEHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs! I felt myself continue to shoot upwards, and I was climbing faster than I ever had before! For a brief moment, I glanced behind me and I saw this!
I had LITERALLY just done the physically impossible, and became the second being EVER to perform a Sonic Rainboom!
When Dash saw that I was following her into her dive, she started to get worried. Sure, she loved winning, but yet if I lost my wings, or even worse; my LIFE, because of an accident that could have been avoided, she would NEVER forgive herself!
Dash did abort her Rainboom attempt prematurely due to getting knocked off course, but yet I was still going! I was plunging towards the ground, and I seemed to be flying straight towards my death!
"STUD!!!!!" She screamed, before she came charging down after me!
Faster and faster she went. Again and again she kept screaming for me to break off my attempt, but yet I just kept screaming back to her that I was stuck in position!
Suddenly though, Dash began to see a whitish energy begin to surround me; the same energy that she saw whenever she performed a Sonic Rainboom!
"No, but that's IMPOSSIBLE!!!! There's no WAY that he could actually........!!!!!" Moments later, Dash had to eat her words as she witnessed somepony other than herself pull off a Sonic Rainboom!
"WHAT THE?!?!?!?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!"
"AAAAAAAEEEEHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Dash heard me scream as I rocketed back upwards again. Moments after this, Dash performed the Rainboom herself, and followed me up just as fast as she could. Oddly enough, although the spectrum-colored shock-waves of my Sonic Rainboom were visible, the trail behind me was still grayish-black! It was an odd combination, but yet it worked!
Down below, the fans were still cheering about my attempt to beat Rainbow Dash. Suddenly though, there seemed to be trouble. I was careening towards the ground in a dive, and I seemed to be stuck in position!
"What's he doing?!?!?!" Somepony yelled.
"Leopard, PULL UP!!!!"
I still keep plunging towards the ground, although now Dash was rocketing after me as well.
"Augh! I can't look!"
"HE'S GONNA CRASH!!!!!"
However, moments before I would have become just a bloody crater in the ground, a BLINDING flash of light was seen, followed by what sounded like an atomic bomb going off!
"Holy.......WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?!?!?!"
"LOOK!!!!!" One of the Battleship Express crew pointed at the sky. "LOOK AT WHAT LEOPARD JUST DID!!!!!"
They all looked, and sure enough, I had a large grayish-black trail behind me, surrounded by a MASSIVE spectrum colored shock-wave!
When Spitfire saw it, her jaw hit the ground once again! "DID HE JUST.....!?!?!?!?!"
"Yes!" One of the other Wonderbolts who found their voice again answered. "HE JUST PERFORMED A FREAKIN' SONIC RAINBOOM!!!!!"
Moments after this, Dash did her Sonic Rainboom, and chased after me once again.
The race was pretty much over though. Thanks to my Sonic Rainboom, I screamed back to Wonderbolt Academy, tore through the finish line a full minute ahead of Dash, and won the race hands down! Yes, I had truly done the impossible, and now I had not only become the second being EVER to perform a Sonic Rainboom, but also the first male to do so, AND I now had a claim to be the fastest flier in all of Equestria! Now all I had to do was land so that I could claim victory.
I aimed for the runway at the Academy, and I was dead on the money, but yet I was unfortunately unable to stick the landing. I hit the tarmac while still running, but then to everypony's horror I tripped, and went flying! I was still going so fast, and I tumbled over and over and over again! Eventually, I skidded to a stop in the grass nearly 300 yards from where I'd started from! I was lying on my side, and it looked like I was dead!
"OH NO!!!!!!"
"LEOPARD!!!!!!" Spitfire screamed.
"SOMEPONY CALL THE AMBULANCE!!!!!"
Dash landed a few moments later, and once she realized what had happened, she, Spitfire, the Academy paramedics, and others raced to the scene of my seemingly horrific crash landing.
"Oh Celestia, this is ALL my fault!" Dash was yelling while crying. "I challenged him to that race, and I pushed him to shoot for a Rainboom!"
To everypony's shock though, just before they reached me, I actually sat up again! I had some visible cuts and bruises, as well as a nasty nosebleed, my mane and tail were all messed up, and my wings looked a little hurt, but overall, for what I had just been through, I actually looked ok!
I then looked at those racing towards me. "It's ok Everypony, I'm ok! I survived the landing!" I then tried to stand up, and I succeeded, but I was back on my ass again a few moments later. "Ok, so maybe I'm NOT as ok as I originally thought!"
Dash then reached my side. "Stud! Are you ok?!"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine Dashie. Aside from a few cuts and bruises, a bloody nose, and some other minor damage, I actually feel ok."
"BUT HOW!?!?! I saw you CRASH!!!!"
I sighed. "The first thing they taught us in the military was how to take a fall and walk away from it Dash. The instant I was unable to stick the landing, my old training kicked in again. In layman's terms, I just rolled into a ball, and went as limp as a ragdoll. I then aimed for the grass, and let inertia and friction do their things to bring me to a stop. I may be hurt, but yet if I HADN'T had my training, it would have been a HELL of a lot worse!"
Dash just hugged me. "Well, in ANY case, I'm just glad that you're alive!"
I hugged her back. "Me too Dash."
"AHEM!!!!!"
We both turned, and there standing over us was Spitfire, as well as the Academy's paramedics. Spitfire did NOT look too happy!
"Do you have ANY IDEA what you just did Leopard?!"
I sighed. "Well, aside from losing control, failing to stick a landing, and crashing, I'd say that I messed up the tarmac, not to mention some grass."
As I was talking, the paramedics began to patch me up. They first stopped my bleeding nose, before taking care of my bruised wings, the rest of my cuts and bruises, and the rest of my minor injuries.
Spitfire looked at me again. "Yes, but I'm talking about the REST of it!" Since I wasn't quite able to stand up yet, she kneeled down to where I was sitting. Then, to my shock and sadness, she grabbed the patch on my jumpsuit that said "Leopard" on it, and tore it off! Luckily, it was Velcroed on, so it came right off without damaging the jumpsuit. I then looked up at her, but before I could say anything, she placed a hand over my mouth.
"I'm still talking! However, what you did today, only ONE other Pony in Equestrian HISTORY has ever done! You performed an honest to goodness Sonic Rainboom! And even then, I've NEVER seen anypony walk away from a failed landing like that! You Leopard, even though you're my husband, and I see you all the time, never CEASE to amaze me! I took this patch, because it was the wrong one! I think that THIS patch would serve you much better!" She then stuck on another Velcro patch. I looked, and to my shock, it said, "Leopard, 1st Human-Bat-Pony Wonderbolt"!
I then moved her hand a bit. "Do you mean that......?!"
She then replaced her hand with her lips, kissing me for a few seconds. "I mean that whenever you're NOT working with the Foreign Legion, and we need you up here, welcome to the team, Champ!"
I was so shocked and surprised that I almost fainted!
After this, I was placed on the stretcher, and carried to the Academy's medical station. On the way, Spitfire explained what she meant a bit further. "What I meant by that Stud was that in some shows, we need others to help us perform. What I've seen from you over the months since you arrived here has well and truly amazed me. You have such talent and skill, and you have what it takes to fly with the champions! Sure, you'll have to through some more training, not to mention having your jumpsuit patched up, but it would be an HONOR to fly in a show with you Stud!" Spitfire then kissed me on the forehead again.
"But, aren't you mad that I kinda screwed up, not to mention my ruining the grass?"
She looked down at me. "Stud, we burn through grass around here faster than your Big Boy burns through coal! Plus, I've seen MANY recruits screw up WAY worse than you did today Scar!"
I froze. "Wait, did you just call me 'Scar'?"
"Yep! That'll be your Wonderbolt nickname. You've got all the 'scars' that you need to prove it!" I then sighed. "Oh, don't look so sad Stud, it's just a nickname."
I shook my head. "No, that's not it. It's just that.......Scar was my original nickname before I adopted the name Leopard........" I then pointed to my left eye, where a nasty scar was visible. "Somebody miss-threw a frag grenade during WW4, and I managed to grab it, and throw it away, but it exploded in midair, and this was the aftermath result."
Spitfire could tell that I was being serious. "Oh, well........if that nickname is bringing up bad memories, I can always change it!"
I shook my head. "No need, I bore the nickname with pride. After that, I was called Leopard, and to the Futas during the war, I was known as the 'Black Fox'. This was for my cunning, and combat skills. From the battles in Texas, all the way to Vegas, facing the Battleship Express was a death sentence! Very few lived to tell the tale!"
Spitfire laughed a bit, and then we talked for a while longer on the way to the medical facility.
In the aftermath of our race, Dash was a bit sore to losing to her husband, but yet she was a good sport about it. I also got my name into the history books for my successful Sonic Rainboom. EVERYPONY wanted to know how I did it, but yet I kept insisting that it was just a freak accident, which was the honest to goodness truth.
Also for the first time in history, not only had a male performed a Sonic Rainboom, but also 2 Sonic Rainbooms were performed seconds apart! (I did mine, and Dash did one as well.) It was quite the performance, but afterwards I made the vow that if I EVER tried to do a Sonic Rainboom again, I would DEFINITELY try and stick the landing a bit better!
Daring was sitting at her desk, beginning to put the finishing touches on the original manuscript of "Daring Do and the Search for the Lunar Shrine of Romance". She and I had written the entire book in about a month, and now it was almost ready for publication. Fans were eagerly awaiting its release, as many of them wanted to see Mac in his first main-character role as Daring's partner. However, as she worked, Daring felt somewhat sick. She kept rubbing her belly, and she did groan a bit every now and again.
Suddenly, there came a knock on the door, and Spitfire poked her head in. "Hey Daring, how are you doing?"
Daring looked up at her. "Oh, hey Spits. And I'm doing......well enough. 'Daring Do and the Search for the Lunar Shrine of Romance is almost ready to be sent to the publishers, and I'm just putting the finishing touches on it now." Daring then sighed her name on the manuscript, "AK Yearling", right next to where I'd signed my name, "Tom Quill". (This was my pen-name.)
Spitfire looked at her. "Um, are you SURE that you're ok Daring? You've been acting a little......strangely lately. Are you sick?"
Daring sighed. "Well, the truth is, I don't know. I've been feeling a little......off, ever since Stud and I got back from the adventure. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I've contracted something."
"And, is that serious?"
"It very well could be. Luckily, I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so I'll hopefully find out then." Daring then looked at her watch. "Speaking of which, I need to go drop this off with the publishers, and then head over to that!" She then placed the manuscript in a manila envelope, before putting it in her satchel, wrapping her purple cape around herself, putting on her gray hat and red glasses, and then heading off to her doctor's appointment.
Once she arrived there, and it was her turn, her doctor began to look her over. "So, what can I do for you today Mrs. Yearling?" (Her doctor knew that she was married to me. Doctor-patient confidentiality though!)
Daring sighed. "Well Stitches, I'm here for my yearly checkup, and I might need a few additional tests as well. I've been feeling kinda weird ever since Stud and I came back from the jungle, and I think that I might have contracted something."
Her doctor, Stitches, sighed. "Ok, well, you're the boss Mrs. Yearling." She then began to give her her physical.
Stitches checked her blood pressure, temperature, and checked her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. "Well, everything seems ok so far. Now let's check the rest of you." She then pulled out her stethoscope, and began to check her heart and breathing rates.
"Anything yet Doc?"
Stitches paused. "Well, I'm not completely sure. I need to check a few more things, but I'm not really seeing too many abnormalities though." She then began to gently poke and feel Daring's stomach, so as to be able to check her insides.
"Does anything hurt?"
"Y-yeah, a little bit!"
Stitches then paused for a bit. "And this may seem like a strange question, but you are sexually active, right?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Have you......and your husband.....you know........lately?"
"Yes, but we've always used protection! I'm DEFINITELY not ready to be a mom yet!"
"Well, have you taken any pregnancy tests by any chance?"
"No."
Stitches then looked at her clipboard. "Well aside from a few other tests, including blood tests, I'm also going to give you a pregnancy test, just in case."
Daring shrugged, but she let Stitches do her thing.
A while later, Stitches came back with the results for all of the tests.
"Well, what's wrong with me Doc?"
Stitches sighed, and blushed a bit. "Well, nothing Mrs. Yearling. You're just a perfectly healthy, happy, pregnant mare!"
Daring nodded. "Oh, well then, that's......wait. WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!?!?!"
Stitches smiled. "Your pregnancy test came back positive Mrs. Yearling! I did several just to be sure, and you're definitely pregnant! You're now about 2 months pregnant, and I think that you may be carrying twins as well!"
Daring was so shocked that she literally fainted!
"Whoops! Wasn't quite expecting THAT reaction, but yet what better place to faint than a doctor's office?" Stitches then helped to revive Daring.
Once she did, Daring was trying to figure out HOW she was pregnant! "This just isn't possible! I ALWAYS take my birth control, and a morning after pill if required! How am I pregnant?!"
"Well, you know what they say Mrs. Yearling, 'Life Always Finds a Way'!"
Stitches words echoed through her head. "Well, at least I now have a solid answer as to WHY I feel like crap in the morning, but yet......" Then it all clicked. NOW Daring remembered what REALLY happened inside the Lunar Shrine of Romance!
She looked up at Stitches one last time. "So, am I good to go?"
"Yes, however, I REALLY would recommend coming back for your monthly pregnancy checkups, and given that you are 2 months along, your due date should be sometime around March of 2031. See you then!"
Daring then got up, and fully got dressed again. "Yes, and thank you Stitches. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get home and THROTTLE somepony!" She then began to leave.
"Well, don't hurt Leopard too badly Mrs. Yearling! It DOES take 2 to tango you know!"
"Oh, it's not HIM that I'm going to throttle, it's LIFE!!!!!"
Stitches was confused. "Um.....ok. Well then, have fun, and I'll see you next month!"
Daring said her last goodbye, and then she was on her way back to our house.
Chapter 21: Pregnancies, Preparing, more Pregnancies!
(WARNING!!!!! Chapter contains sex towards the end!)
All while she was on her way back home, Daring thought about how she was going to break the news to Dash and Spitfire about her pregnancy.
"And how will STUD react to it?! Well, luckily he was there, and he should remember in short order that it was Life's fault, NOT ours! But yet, that still doesn't change the fact that I'm now carrying foals, and they will be ours to love and take care of for the next 18 years! And that's ASSUMING that I can survive a 9 month pregnancy with twins!"
Daring then thought about her career. "And how am I supposed to be Daring Do while PREGNANT?! And even when I'm not, I'll STILL be a full-time mom after that! Unless Dash, Stud and Spitfire can take care of the foals, or Stud can take over where I leave off, I REALLY don't see how I can continue adventuring!"
When she arrived home, she steeled herself up, before knocking on the door. She didn't hear anypony inside, so she then pushed the intercom buzzer next to the door. (After the construction on the new additions to the house were complete, we also installed an intercom system so we could be able to communicate from all corners of our now HUGE house in the sky!
Finally, an answer came. "Yes, who is it?" It was Spitfire.
"Spits, it's Daring. I'm back, but I forgot my key. Where are you guys?"
"I'm the only one here right now, and I was in the pool. Just give me a sec to grab my robe, and I'll come get the door!"
"Ok, sure!" She then waited for Spitfire.
A few minutes later, the door unlocked, and Daring saw Spitfire. She was wearing her pink bathrobe with the Wonderbolt logo on the back, and her fiery mane was hanging down her shoulders.
"So, how'd it go Daring?" Spitfire asked her once she was inside, "Did you drop off your new book, and how did the doctor's appointment go?"
Daring sighed. "Well, dropping off the manuscript went well enough, but yet.......where's Stud? I REALLY need to talk to him!"
"Eh, he and a few of the other guys loaded up Iron Glory, and headed off to Baltimare to pick up spare parts. He said that he'd be back sometime this evening. Why, what do you need him for?"
Daring was looking at the floor. "I.......j-just need to talk to him about something VERY important......" She muttered.
Spitfire could tell that something was up with Daring. She looked at her a bit closer. Her tummy did seem maybe ever so slightly bigger, and she was holding something in one of her hands; and if she wasn't mistaken, Spitfire could have sworn that it was a pregnancy test.....
"Um, D-Daring, this may sound like a weird question, but um..........are you.....p-pregnant?"
Daring then sighed, before opening her hand, revealing a positive pregnancy test. "Yes, the doctor confirmed it. I'm 2 months along now, and my doctor, Stitches, thinks that I might be carrying twins as well."
When Spitfire heard that Daring was pregnant, she put a hand over her mouth in shock. She could have SWORN that Dash would be the first one of them to possibly carry foals, not Daring.
"So, I guess THAT'S why you want to talk to Stud, and I'm also gonna assume that this happened while you two were off on your adventure?"
"Yes, and you wouldn't happen to know where Briana is, would you?"
Spitfire shook her head. "Nope, I haven't seen her in a while. I'd assume that she's around here somewhere, but I haven't the foggiest idea where. I'm also gonna venture a guess that SHE'S the one responsible for your pregnancy?"
Daring gave her a look. "What do YOU think?!"
"Eh, I think that 'Life ALWAYS Finds a Way'!"
"And you'd be a Clever Girl, wouldn't you? YES!!!! Life, aka Briana, IS the one at fault here!"
Spitfire was still reeling a bit in shock. "I just.......STILL don't know what to say right now Daring. However, I do know that Stud and Dash should be home after a while, and he HAS to know!"
"And I'll tell him! However in the meantime, the pool is calling my name, so I'm gonna go swim for a while!"
Spitfire nodded, and followed Daring back to the pool room. Once they both stripped, the 2 mares swam and splashed around a bit, waiting for Dash, and especially me to get home.
By the time that I got home, Dash was there at the front door waiting for me.
"Stud!" She hugged me.
I hugged her back. "Hey Dashie! Did ya miss me?"
She kissed me. "Oh, you know that I did Stud! When did you get back?"
"Eh, just a few minutes ago actually. You?"
"The same. Where'd you go again?"
"We had to take Iron Glory to Baltimare to pick up some spare parts."
"What do you need the parts for?"
"Well, a few were for the Big Boy, but most of them were Iron Glory herself. She's reached the end of her service life, again."
Dash looked at me worriedly. "Wait, she's not gonna be scrapped is she?!"
I shook my head. "No, absolutely NOT!!!! She has WAY too much history to just be scrapped! She's the 3rd oldest engine in the RWD fleet, dating back to 1862!"
Dash was shocked. "Wait, she's been around since 1862?! That means that she's 168 years old! But yet, what does this mean for her now?"
I nodded. "Yeah, she's a real survivor engine alright! And it just means that she's going to have yet another full overhaul. She's had about 20 of them now, and she'll be down for a year or 2, but in the end she'll be just as good as new!"
"And then she'll be back in service? And what are you guys gonna do for a small engine while Iron Glory is down?"
"Yep, then she'll be back in service. And we'll just use Battle Glory until she's ready to go again!"
"Um, what's Battle Glory again?"
"Oh yeah, 'Battle Glory' was the nickname we gave to a train that we stole from the Caribou at Rendale. We used it to get the rest of the way to Dock Town, and it was taken to our first Winter base at Pennbrook. Eventually, it made it's way to Donneth, where it remained until recently, where it was taken back to Equestria for study. Now that Equestria's done with it, we bought it from Canterlot, and now she'll be added to our roster of trains. We now have 3 instead of 2."
"What's the train look like again?"
I showed Dash a picture. "She looks a bit run down, but she works just fine."
When Dash saw the picture, her jaw hit the clouds. "THAT old thing?! How the heck is that even safe for use?! It looks like it could fall apart at any second!"
I shrugged. "She's definitely a bit 'rugged' but she's just as powerful of a workhorse as Iron Glory is. Plus, she WAS taken from the Caribou, although her origins are believed to be the Zebra Empire, so what did you expect?"
Dash shrugged. "Not too much, I guess!"
We kept laughing about this for a little while longer.
Eventually, I pushed the intercom buzzer. "Hey, anypony home in there?"
After a bit, I heard Spitfire's voice. "Daring and I are in the pool room Stud!"
"Ok, well, Dash and I are home, so we'll be there in a few minutes!" I then unlocked the door, and Dash and I went inside.
Once we were in the pool room, I saw Spitfire floating on her back in the pool, while Daring was in the hot tub. As per the norm, they were nude. (In fact, now that I think about it, I really can't even remember a single time that any of us ever wore a swimsuit in the pool room!)
"Hey Spitsy, hey Daring!"
Daring looked up. "Hey Stud."
"Stud!" Spitfire the got out of the pool and hugged me.
I hugged her back. "Hey Gorgeous! It's good to be back!"
Spitfire then looked a bit worried. "Um, Stud, Daring needs to talk to you, and it's EXTREMELY important!"
I looked over at Daring. "Is this true Daring? You need to talk to me about something?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"Ok, well let me just get ready, and then I'll come over there." I then stripped, and after draping my clothes over a chair, I flew over and joined Daring in the hot tub. Dash and Spitfire followed a few moments later.
"So, what did you have to talk to me about Daring?"
Daring looked down at the water. "Well.......it's......." She couldn't seem to find the right words. Finally though, she thought of a way to break the news to me. "I have a surprise for you Stud. Just close your eyes."
"Ok, sure!" I did so. I then felt Daring take my hand, and then I felt something wet and furry. "Um, Babe, if you just wanted me to finger you, you could have just asked."
"That's.....not it Stud. And you can open your eyes now."
I did so, and when I did, I looked at Daring curiously. She was rubbing her belly with my hand. "Again, if you wanted a belly rub, you could have just......" I then looked closer, and I realized that Daring's tummy looked a little rounder than normal.
"D-Daring.......are you.....????"
She nodded. "Yes, I'm pregnant Stud. And my doctor, Stitches, thinks that it might be twins as well."
When Daring broke the news to me that she was pregnant, I legit fainted! I fell backwards a bit, and almost fell out of the hot tub!
"Whoa!" Spitfire and Dash managed to grab me before I fell.
"Ok, well, he took the news a LOT better than I thought that he was going to!"
Dash looked at Daring in shock as well. "Wait, you mean that Stud got YOU pregnant before ME?!"
The 3 of them then began to try and revive me again.
Once they did, my mind was reeling. "B-b-but how.....is this even POSSIBLE!?!?!?!"
"Remember Stud? Remember what REALLY happened in the Lunar Shrine of Romance? What Briana did?"
Suddenly, my memory of our adventure came flooding back to me. I remembered Life getting her revenge, and then laughing about it!
"BRIANA?!?!?!" I yelled. "SHOW YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!!!!!"
To my surprise, she actually showed up! From seemingly out of nowhere, she appeared, and came sauntering up to the hot tub. She was now about the size of a mountain lion.
"You called Leopard?" She purred. I could also see that she was smirking slightly as well.
"Oh, so you can teleport now too huh?"
She gave me a queer look. "Of course I can teleport! How the heck could I be Life and not teleport?! But anyway, you called me, and I came."
I glared at her. "Yeah? And I think that you know WHY I called you, don't you?"
She nonchalantly licked one of her paws. "Maybe? You still kinda sore about me causing you to get Daring pregnant?"
"Oh, I'm FAR beyond just sore! GET OVER HERE MISSY!!!!!" I then flew out of the hot tub, and raced after her!"
"Whoops! Time for my exit!" She tried to teleport, but she wasn't quite fast enough. Due to her larger size, I was able to grab her and hold on. However, I was spread out across her back and hanging on to her neck, almost like I was riding her!
Unfortunately, I also forgot one other thing; she could fly! In a flash, she was out of the pool room, through the house, and outside again, with me still clinging to her neck and back for dear life, all while still naked! (I could also fly too, so I was covered there if I fell off!)
2 hours later, I returned with cuts, scrapes, claw marks, bite marks, and an angry Sphinx in my arms. Overall, I did fairly well considering the circumstances, but Briana STILL had a lot of fight left in her!
Luckily, my wives were waiting for me when I got back, but it took a combination of catnip, as well as me actually f@#king her to FINALLY get her to yield! Once she did, she rolled over onto her side, and I collapsed next to her, wholly and utterly exhausted. I then snuggled close to Briana, before actually almost falling asleep while still holding her!
"Mmm, you don't hate me anymore, right Leopard?" She purred gently.
"Briana, you're insane, you're dangerous, and I REALLY wish that I wasn't stuck with you for the rest of my life!"
"Eh, the feeling is mutual there Leopard! Except for the fact that you're a good cuddler, AND you really give it to a pussy in her pussy when she needs it! Even though you just jizzed inside of me, aren't you glad that Life didn't Find a Way with herself?"
I glared at her. "Briana, if I wasn't so weak right now, I'd fight you all over again!"
Briana merely giggled a bit, before proceeding to lick me like a kitten while holding me close with her paws and front legs. "Mmm, well then, I guess that I'd better make sure that you're not strong enough to do that, right?"
I just lay there in Briana's warm, furry embrace, and let the wave of humiliation wash over me while my wives took pictures of the whole ordeal. By the end of that day though, we'd all come to terms with the fact that Daring was pregnant, and that in 9 months she'd be giving birth to foals.
"Ok," I sighed, "We can do this. We have 9 months to prepare, and then we'll have to take what comes next head on!"
My wives all agreed to this, and we began to put lists together for the shopping trips that we would have to make soon.
Also around this time, other pregnancy announcements began to be made as well. Todd and Fluttershy were the first to come forwards.
She nodded. "Yes. I just took a test today! Todd and I have been trying for a foal for a while now, and we finally got it right! Now we'll have a foal of our own to love and take care of!"
Don looked at Todd. "Congratulations Todd! I know that you'll make a fine father!"
Todd looked worried. "I REALLY hope so Major. I'm scared though. I was an only child growing up, so I really have no experience with doing ANYTHING like this!"
Don chuckled a bit. "Well, it's always like this with your first. I'm pretty sure that soon Twilight and I will be finding out how to do it as well. However, there's always help if you need it Todd, so don't be afraid to ask!"
Todd nodded. "I will Sir. I can't WAIT for the 9 months to be up!" He and Fluttershy were SO excited to be parents!
By the middle of August, screams were heard from Sweet Apple Acres. "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! I'm PREGGERS?!?!?!?! ALEX, YOU GET YER ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!!!!"
"Whoa!" Alex then REALLY had to start moving his legs to outrun his angry wife! "Babe, PLEASE calm down! We can work through this!"
Applejack glared daggers at him. "I told you that I was ovulating, and that I was NOT ready to be a full-time mom yet, but did you listen to me?! NO!!!!! You INSISTED that I wouldn't get pregnant, and now look where we are!" She waved her positive pregnancy test in Alex's face.
Alex put a hand over his face. Sure, maybe they HAD gotten a little frisky in the barn one night after work. Alex had forgotten the condom, and even though Applejack had EXPLICITLY warned him that she was ovulating, he still had sex with her, and ended up cumming inside of her. Now they were about to reap what they'd sown.
"Well, at least we're already married AJ, so at least our foal(s) won't be born out of wedlock. I mean, that's something, right?"
She looked at him. "Sure, I guess so. Luckily, I ALSO know how to make it look like an accident, AND hide the body!" She then grabbed an ax from the nearby woodpile, and began to chase Alex with it!
"WHOA!!!!! BABE, PUT THAT AX DOWN!!!!!"
"NOT TIL I CATCH YOU YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!!"
"Hey! What in tarnation's goin' on out here!?!" Granny Smith yelled from the porch.
"Alex done knocked me up Granny!"
"Oh he DID, did he? Well, always remember Applejack, I've told ya to ALWAYS use the dern protection! It takes 2 to tango, and you didn't make him use the protection, so it's YER fault as much as it is his! I blame you both fer this, however, since y'all are already married, it doesn't really matter now, does it?"
"But Granny, I'm not READY to be a mom yet!"
"Yeah? And neither was yer Ma! Big Mac was born from a situation just like this!"
Applejack was surprised. "Really? Well then, that may be the case, but I'M STILL GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS ALEX!!!!" She then went back to chasing him with that ax, and she ended up running him off the farm!
Alex kept on running though, and with AJ still shouting behind him, he didn't stop until he reached the Big Boy Cafe!
Once he reached the restaurant, aside from Cole and Dan, he also saw me, Don and Todd there too. Todd seemed to be very happy, while I looked like Dash wanted to file for divorce. Don seemed to be trying to talk to me about whatever was wrong, but I didn't want to talk. He then sat down close to us.
Todd saw him first. "Whoa! What happened to you Alex? You look AWFUL!"
"Yeah? and I don't FELL any better either! What are you guys talking about?"
"Well, I was just telling the guys a little bit more about Fluttershy and I's plans for raising our family. I mean sure, it's just one foal for now, but down the line we could have MANY!"
"Well again, congratulations on that Todd." Alex looked pretty down.
"What's wrong Alex?" I asked him. "Did you and Applejack get into another fight?"
He sighed. "Something like that. Let's just say that earlier today, I found out the hard way what happens when you DON'T use condoms!"
We all stared at him in shock. "Wait, you got Applejack......"
"Yeah, unfortunately I knocked her up. Even worse, she's NOT thrilled about becoming a full-time mom either! She chased me off Sweet Apple Acres with an ax, and I could hear her yelling and cussing at me practically the whole way here!"
Again, we all stared at Alex in shock. Suddenly though, Dan broke the silence. "Wow, then it sounds like you have the opposite problem that I do Alex! Pinkie's been pestering me for MONTHS now to start a family, but yet, I don't think I'm ready for it. Last night, things really came to a head when she flipped out on me! I've NEVER seen a scarier mare than she was then! And I pray to God that I NEVER have to see her that way again!"
It was then that some of us began to regret marrying a mare in the first place. A few of us were happy, while others were dealing with wives angry with being knocked up, wives angry for NOT being knocked up, and wives who were knocked up, but NEITHER parent was ready for foals yet!
I sighed. "Yeah, that's REALLY bad Dan! Pinkie didn't hurt you, did she?"
"No, but she certainly tried to!"
"Just as Applejack tried to do away with me! But why do you look so sad Leopard? Can Dash not get pregnant?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, we haven't tried yet. However, my problem is something that I don't want to get you guys involved with."
Don then turned to me. "If you're referring to your THIRD wife, AK Yearling, save your breath Leopard, I already know ALL about that!"
I looked at Don in shock. "What? How did you......?"
"Simple. I came to Dash's house looking for you, and some mare with tan fur, and a gray mane and tail comes to the door, claiming to be her cousin. She was wearing one of YOUR shirts, and she looked sleepy. I asked her if you were there, and she said no. However, instead of calling you 'Leopard', she called you 'Stud'. Eventually, I figured out that she was AK Yearling, and that she had to be married to you as well. So let me guess, you knocked her up?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah. She's about 2 months along now with twins, and Dash is REALLY jealous! She said that she was going to stop taking her birth control so that she could have foals too. It's a sorry state of affairs, and I have only myself to blame."
Don shook his head. "Well, you were certainly stupid, but at least you're honest about it."
I gave Don a look. "Yeah, gee thanks Don."
Alex looked up from his food. "So, what do we do now?"
Don thought for a moment. "Well, I think that you all know that you have to take responsibility for your actions. Leopard, you take care of your wives, Alex, you need to give Applejack a bit of time to cool off, before returning with a peace offering. She should come around, and then you work through it. Dan, same thing. Let Pinkie cool off, return with a peace offering, and try and talk things through."
"And what about me Sir?"
"You Todd just need to keep doing whatever you're doing, because obviously it's working!"
We all agreed, and after finishing our meals, we went our separate ways.
Later, I heard that Alex was allowed to return to Sweet Apple Acres, and that Applejack was no longer wanting to kill him. She was still upset, but yet she DID have herself partly to blame for not making Alex wear a condom, even though she knew that she was ovulating. Alex also promised to work with Big Mac to build a cradle and a crib for their foal out of applewood.
Dan was able to have a long sit-down talk with Pinkie about starting a family. Luckily for him, she didn't flip out and try to kill him, but she did still show her being upset at Dan for not wanting to father a foal yet.
"Why can't we have foals Dan? I really, REALLY want to be a mommy!"
Dan sighed. "That's the thing Pinkie, I really don't know if you're ready yet. I mean, it's one thing to babysit, but it's a WHOLE other thing to actually be a parent!"
Pinkie then said something that got Dan thinking. "Well, when is ANYPONY ever really ready when the time comes?"
Dan thought about that. Finally, he sighed. "Well, I sorta can see your point there Pinkie, but yet..........I just......don't know if I'm ready to handle the responsibilities of being a parent. I mean, I'm still trying to come to terms with what's happened with the wars......."
Pinkie looked at Dan with sadness. At long last, she saw where he was coming from, and why he was so hesitant. She sat next to him, and pulled him into a hug. "Shh, it's ok Dan. We can take this one step at a time. In fact, I'll bet'cha that we can learn a lot from watching the others become parents! We'll learn what to do and what not to do, and then we'll go from there!"
Dan hugged her back. "Yeah, and thanks Babe. I'm glad that we can talk through these things."
Pinkie smiled as she felt the packet of fertility pills in one of her shorts pockets. "So am I Dan, so am I....."
Throughout the rest of August, and the early part of September, Daring and I borrowed from Twilight a number of books on pregnancy, childbirth, and taking care of your first foal. I also asked for books on caring for twins.
"So glad to see that some of you guys are starting a family!"
I sighed. "Well, that makes one of us Twilight. I don't know what to think yet."
Twilight looked at me. "Well, I'm always here if you need more information! Oh, and PLEASE be sure to tell me when Mrs. Yearling's in labor, as I REALLY want to see what the offspring of a Pony and a Human-Pony hybrid will look like!"
I nodded slowly. "Sure. I'll do that Twilight." Internally though, I rolled my eyes. This was so much like Twilight, always trying to learn literally everything she could about literally everything that she could. "How does Don even STAND IT?!?!" I wondered. "Anyone else would have gone insane by now!"
After getting the books back to Daring, we also began to plan out our shopping trips. Luckily for us, Dash's mom was available to help. Unluckily for us though, she was available to help!
"Oh, I'm SO GLAD that you came to me for help Leopard, I know ALL about parenting! I mean after all, my husband and I DID raise the cutest foal in all of Equestria!"
I felt like my head was going to explode! For the past 2 hours, Windy had given us a few tidbits of information, as well as what to buy and where to buy it, but she NEVER stopped asking about when her Dashie would get pregnant!
"Dashie, when will YOU make me a grandma?"
Dash shrugged. "I don't know. I keep asking Stud the same question, but he doesn't seem to know!" Dash then gave me a look, strongly implying that it was my fault for whatever reason.
I knew where THIS was going! It was now 2 on 1, Daring took the option to remain neutral, and Spitfire was working. I was on my own.
I sighed. "Dash, we've been over this before; we're taking this whole thing ONE pregnancy at a time!"
Dash just pouted. "Yeah, and Like I've told YOU before, I've stopped taking birth control, and I do occasionally take a fertility pill, so whatever happens just happens!"
"And you're seriously wondering why I'm so hesitant to have sex with you Dash? I can't trust you anymore!"
Dash's mom then looked at me. "One day Leopard, Dashie'll be in one of her 'frisky moods', and you'll be unable to resist her! Then, hopefully you'll share your love with her, and make her a mommy too!"
I was then given ANOTHER reason why polygamy was a bad idea. Note to self: the parents can gang up on you too when you don't give their daughter what she wants!
I was clawing at my face with frustration. "Like I've said before, once Daring gives birth, and we've waited a few months or so, I'll give you all the foals you want Dash! Spitfire said that she's not ready yet, so you're next in line. PLEASE just wait your turn, and this will all work out fine!"
Daring and I then took the list that we'd drawn up, and went out to see how much of it we could find at reasonable prices. I mean, Daring WAS only 2 months along, but why not stock up early? You never know with twins!
Once we were gone though, Dash turned to her mom. "What's it gonna take to get him to bed Mom? I NEED to be bred, and Stud won't do it! I'm almost 25 years old Mom, my time for having foals is running out!"
Dash was overreacting, but yet, so was her mom. "Well Dashie, the truth is, you may just have to wait until you're in heat, and then wait to catch him with his guard down. However, I just MIGHT be willing to give you a potion that can induce estrus, and provided that you take a fertility pill with it, BINGO! You've gotten what you've always wanted! Leopard mounts you of his own free will, and even though he might be mad at himself for a while, he'll get over it."
Dash agreed, and her mom gave her what she would need.
On the night of September 7th, Daring was sleeping on the couch, Spitfire was lying on our bed, and I was reading the Pony Sutra. The original copy Daring and I had given to the Canterlot Library for the reward, but I'd also bought a copy for myself. Why I don't know, but I was now sitting at my desk, looking over the VERY sexually explicit artwork and descriptions.
Suddenly though, the intercom on the wall in the room that I was in buzzed. "Stud, where are you?"
"I'm in my office. What do you need Dash?"
"Can you come to the bedroom? I REALLY need you!"
"For what?"
In response, Dash just moaned a bit.
"Dash, if you're in heat, the answer is NO!"
"Please? I REALLY need to be bred Stud!"
"Yeah? And I REALLY need you to wait until Daring's given birth!"
Dash kept moaning.
"Ugh, Spitfire?! Are you up there?!"
"Yeah, I'm here Stud!"
"What's going on up there?"
"Ugh, it's GROSS! Dash is CLEARLY in heat, her slit's soaking wet, and it's even dripping with juices! She keeps moaning, and rubbing herself all over the bed, and she's also naked! Briana's up here too, and she just keeps laughing! Wherever you are, stay there!"
"Oh, don't worry Spitsy, I plan to! I'm not going anywhere NEAR Dash until she's out of heat!"
I then heard what sounded like a small scuffle. "Ugh.....gross! Get off of me! Stud, Dash is trying to hump me! Can you come up here and deal with her?!"
I groaned. "Yeah, hang on, I'm coming! Also, why aren't you in heat right now Spitsy?"
"Not all mares have the same heat cycles Stud. Some are in the Spring, some are in the Fall. I'm a 'Spring fever' kind of gal!"
I sighed. "Ok, well, just standby, I'm coming up there!" I then went to go take care of the problem.
When I arrived up there, I saw Spitfire sitting in the corner using a pillow as a shield, while Dash was on the bed. Like Spitfire said, she was clearly in heat. Now though, she was kneeling in the doggy position with her tail in the air, all while moaning, and rubbing her slit.
She looked back at me. "Please Stud, just......get it over with. Fertilization is the only thing that can save me now. PLEASE douse my flames!"
"Stud, you promised! You said only ONE pregnancy at a time! Plus, you KNOW that her mom's been collaborating with her to mastermind this! Dash has 'Spring fever' too!"
I put a hand over my face. "Yes, I KNOW!!!!! HOWEVER, the sooner Dash gets pregnant, the SOONER she, AND her mom will shut up about it! Plus, you KNOW that they'll be all over their new grandfoal(s), so we MIGHT be able to get some free babysitting out of it as well!"
Spitfire shrugged. "It's your call Stud. However, if you two are gonna f@#k, I'll give you some privacy."
I looked over at her. "You can stay if you want. I mean, it's not like it's anything that you haven't seen before!"
Spitfire rolled her eyes before shifting a bit, but not really moving. "Sure, I'll stay if you want me too."
"Eh, I don't mind."
"But for the last time Stud, once you do this, there's no going back! Dash WILL get pregnant from this!"
I sighed. "Yeah, I know Spitsy. However, Dash and I have been together for about 15 months now. She was the mare that I risked EVERYTHING to save! We have been talking about having foals for a while, and since you've said that you don't want to get pregnant yet, that'll just leave 2 mares to take care of. I think that between the 3 of us, plus Dash's parents, we can handle this."
Spitfire shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say Stud. You're the boss."
"Eh, actually I'm the Master. Don's the Boss!"
"Wait, what now?"
"It's a Battleship Express joke."
"Oh."
I then stripped, and after coming up behind Dash, I pushed my now VERY hard member into her. I then began to slide in and out of her, and in response, Dash voiced her approval.
"Oh, f@#k yeah! Rut me harder you dirty stallion! Use me like the breeding mare that I was meant to be!"
I then grabbed Dash's hips, and thrusted in and out of her faster and faster. I already knew what was going to happen, but yet I wanted it, and so did Dash. Eventually, I felt myself getting close.
"Here it comes Dash, y-you ready?"
"Yes! Douse my flames Stud! Make me a mommy!"
I sighed one last time, before thrusting as deep into Dash as I possibly could, before unloading inside of her. Because she was in heat, and VERY fertile, my swimmers met her eggs, and 2 of them were fertilized. Like Daring, Dash was going to be having twins, and she didn't know it yet.
After I finished rutting Dash, we both sort of passed out from exhaustion. "Ngh, I love you Stud!"
"I know. I love you too Dashie! And now, I most likely just made your lifelong dream come true."
"Mmm, I hope so Stud!"
We both then fell asleep, and Spitfire came and cuddled close to us.
A few weeks later, I woke up from a nap to Dash just staring at me.
"What, what is it Dash?"
She smirked, before handing me a small white object. I took it, and to my surprise, I saw that it was a pregnancy test. I also saw that it was positive.
"OK, so you're pregnant. I thought that we both already knew that you were. Can I please go back to sleep now?"
"Only if you let me sleep with you Stud!"
"Dash, that's what got us into this in the first place!"
"What do you mean? YOU were the one who mounted me, all while FULLY knowing the risks!"
I glared at her. "So do you want to sleep with me or not?"
Dash then sighed, before gently laying on top of me. I kissed the top of her head gently. "Good girl."
Later that same day, I heard from Dan that Pinkie was now pregnant as well. He figured out that she'd secretly been taking fertility pills, but now there was nothing that he could do about it.
Now Daring, Fluttershy, Applejack, Dash, AND Pinkie are pregnant, and in 9 months, will be giving birth to foals! Todd is thrilled, Alex is worried, I feel a TON of mixed emotions, and Dan is VERY distraught! We all face an uncertain future now, and all we can do, is hope that it all works out for the best in the end.
Chapter 22: Births, New Lives, Looking Ahead (Part 1)
Once all of the dust had settled, all of us who were able to tried to settle once again into our new lives. Sure, Dan, Alex and I DID have semi-unwanted pregnancies on our hands, but yet the good news was we were married to those who were pregnant, AND they all had families willing and able to help out every step of the way.
For me personally, Daring was the top priority, but Dash was a close second. Spitfire helped me where she could, as did Dash, but for the most part, the daily tasks fell to myself, Aurora, and Briana if she felt like it. Most of us were looking for normalcy though. September past peacefully enough, and I turned 26 years old.
Daring also passed from her first, into her second trimester of pregnancy. It was then that the symptoms began. Morning sickness, throwing up a lot, having to pee a lot, not to mention the weird cravings. Daring really seemed to like peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches with hay fries and watermelon. She was also moody a lot, and would even try and hit me every now and again!
"Ouch! Daring, what the heck?!"
"I said to just get me the damn sandwiches already Dumbass!" I winced heavily whenever Daring berated me, but yet I never retaliated, nor did I ever really react when it happened later on. I knew that it was the pregnancy talking, not her.
"Daring, I'm working as fast as I can. It takes a few minutes to make a sandwich properly. And I don't blame you for the outbursts, pregnancy just makes mares crazy."
She sighed. "Yeah, I know Stud. And I'm SO sorry for yelling you, and cussing you out! Like you said, the pregnancy is making me crazy!"
I nodded slowly, and tried to carry on with what I was doing.
One night though, I think that it was in October, but I can't remember the exact day. I was sound asleep, when all of a sudden, Daring began to shake me awake.
"Stud? Stud! Wake up!"
I opened an eye. "Ugh, what is it Daring? It's 3 O'clock in the morning! If your hungry, I left you some sandwiches in the fridge. If you need to use the bathroom, I don't care. If you want to cuddle, that's doable but I'm REALLY tired!"
Daring shook her head. "No, it's none of those things Stud. I just woke you up because I wanted you to experience it too!"
"Experience what? Can we NOT play 20 questions right now?" I was starting to get annoyed with Daring's antics.
In response though, Daring merely took one of my hands, and placed it over her belly. Just as I was about to ask her what she was doing, I felt something hit my hand!
"D-Daring.....are those....?!"
She nodded with tears in her eyes. "Yes! Our little foals just gave their first kicks!"
I didn't even know what to say. I just continued to lay close to Daring so that I could feel the kicks. Daring also woke up Dash and Spitfire so that they could feel the kicks as well.
"Wow, so in a few more months, that's gonna happen to me?" Dash rubbed her own 2 month pregnant belly.
"Yep! In a few more months, the foals are gonna start kicking!"
"And this is why I'm NEVER going to be having foals, at least not for a long, LONG time!" Spitfire muttered, before rolling over. "I do NOT want the pregnancy symptoms, and I do NOT want to be kicked for months on end! She then went back to sleep.
"Ngh, each to their own Spitsy", I murmured, "Each to their own." I then went back to sleep myself.
As more time went on though, Daring got closer and closer to her due date. Also, another problem that Daring was facing was that almost none of her clothes fit her anymore! She now had to face her worst enemy; maternity clothes!
"Darn these itchy, bulky, tight-fitting nuisances!" She muttered angrily. "I'd LITERALLY rather go nude while at home!"
I shrugged. "Eh, it's your call Daring, I don't care either way. You do whatever feels comfortable for you."
And Daring did. Throughout most of her pregnancy while she was at home, aside from her robe, which she had adjusted so that it would still fit her, she mostly went nude. I'd often find her asleep on the couch, lying on her back, buck-naked, with one hand on her belly, and her other arm over her face.
Dash would do something similar, although she was somehow able to work with the maternity clothes, at least the pajamas! She found her comfort zone with a pair of furry pajamas that had leopard spots on them.
"Mmm, now THIS is how you do maternity clothes!"
Spitfire looked at her. "Dash, those are pajamas, NOT maternity clothes!"
Dash sighed. "Ok, first of all, they DID come from the maternity section at Manesy's. And secondly, at least I even WEAR my maternity clothes! I mean look at Daring! She's REALLY rocking the invisible bathrobe over there!" Dash then pointed to Daring, who was sleeping nude on the couch, and even snoring a bit.
Spitfire put a hand over her face. "Dash, Daring is NOT in her right mind, and neither are you! I'm going to be SO GLAD when your foals are born, so that I don't have to keep dealing with your nonsense!"
Dash smirked a bit. "Oh, just you wait Spitfire, your time'll come! One day, you'll get all 'frisky' with Stud, and about a week later, you'll be looking at a positive pregnancy test! You'd better be boning up on learning from out experiences, as one day you'll be doing it with your own foals!"
"I told you, that's not gonna happen Dash, at least not for a LONG time! Sure, I may be 27, but yet mares can still have foals safely into their early 40's, so I DO still have time!"
Dash opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then she just closed it again. "Yeah, and good talk Spitsy. Oh, and do we have any more fudge brownie ice cream? I REALLY need some!"
"Eh, I think that Stud bought some more yesterday. Try the freezer."
"Ok, thanks." Dash then went to the kitchen, while Spitfire got back to work on more Wonderbolt paperwork, including the paperwork for Dash's mandatory maternity leave, which would become valid in about another 3 months.
Once a month, Daring would go in for her monthly checkup. Stitches would see her first, but then she would leave her in the care of Dr. Karen, who was a specialist in caring for pregnant mares, and other expectant mothers.
I would be with Daring as often as I could, and I watched the entire procedure. "Golly, even though I'm seeing this firsthand, I'll NEVER know what it's like to actually have a foal, or several foals, growing INSIDE of you!"
"And be glad that you won't Stud, or else..........." Daring then vomited violently into a bucket. "Or else you'd be in SERIOUS pain!"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'll believe it! I then continued to watch what was going on.
First, Daring would always remove her shirt, and after lying down on the exam table, Dr. Karen would look her over. She would check Daring's heart and breathing rates, then the foal's heart and breathing rates, then she would feel around Daring's tummy, just to make sure that everything was sound.
"Well, how am I Doc?"
"Well Mrs. Yearling, you're still a very healthy and happy pregnant mare, and your foals seem to be developing nicely!"
Daring scoffed a bit. "Well, I certainly think that 'happy' is debatable! And isn't today also possibly the day that we can find out the genders of our foals, as well as possibly what they might look like?"
Dr. Karen nodded. "Yes. We'll do the ultrasound now." She then got the equipment ready. Then, once she rubbed that special gel onto Daring's belly, she began to move the ultrasound sensor around.
Both Daring and I were watching the screen, waiting intently for any news.
Eventually, we had our answers. Dr. Karen looked up. "Ok, I have their genders. So what were you two hoping for?"
I shrugged. "Well personally, I was hoping for at least one colt."
"I don't really mind either way."
"Well, after looking it over, I can tell you now that you are the soon to be parents of 2 beautiful little fillies!"
When Karen said that, I was slightly sad. I mean, 2 daughters would be fun to have, but yet family names, and legacies, are carried on by sons. "I'm banking this on you Dashie", I thought. "Please don't let me down!"
Daring sighed a bit. "Well, not quite what I was expecting, but yet I've been told that fillies are easier than colts to raise."
I looked at her like she was crazy. "Daring, are you off your meds, or what?! Colts are WAY easier to take care of! Boys are much more laid back that girls, AND they tend to be slightly cheaper! Not that I'm dissing you, Dash or Spits, as all 3 of you are just about the easiest mares in the world to get along with in a relationship."
Daring just gave me a look. "Well, thanks for the backhanded-compliment there Mr. Mormon!"
I was shocked. "Hey, UNCALLED FOR!!! First of all, I'm NOT a Mormon! And second of all, a polygamy joke? Really?"
"Yeah! And what does our bathroom look like? His towels, and hers, and hers, and hers!"
"Daring, please just stop. I mean, it's not like Dash just TEMPTED you with an offer that you didn't have the guts to say no to!"
Dr. Karen saw that this was getting out of hand fast. "Ok, ok! Can you two PLEASE work out your differences later?! Now is NOT the time!"
I sighed. "Yeah, you're right Dr. Karen, we can work this out later. However, as Daring asked earlier, can you tell what our foals look like yet?"
Dr. Karen nodded. "Yes, and I can get to work on that now if you want."
Both Daring and I nodded, and Dr. Karen got back to work.
Eventually, she found the results that we were looking for. "Well, I've at least got enough information to give you the basics. Both of your daughters will be flyers, but while one of them seems to be a Pegasus like her mother, the other appears to be more of a Bat-Pony like Captain Leopard!"
When Daring and I heard that, we were shocked!
"WHAT?!?! One of them looks more like Stud?!"
"Eh, apparently! This is about all I can tell for now, as fur and mane colors, as well as eye colors, will only be revealed when you give birth in about 4 months Mrs. Yearling."
Daring and I were both still in shock as we flew home after the appointment.
"Well, somehow I should have expected as much." I said quietly.
"Yeah. And what was all this again about you being sterile?"
I then explained to Daring all about the Tower 9 Nuclear Fire, and how all of those affected were rendered sterile. "However, once I had my system rewired with Bat-Pony genetics, that may have fixed my being sterile! I mean, I'm no expert, but if both you AND Dash are pregnant with twins from me, then I'm pretty sure that I'm NOT sterile!"
Daring just gave me a look, before rolling her eyes. She looked like she was trying to come up with a snarky/sarcastic comment, but she wasn't able to come up with anything.
About a month after this, Dash began to feel her foals kicking, and later on in December, she went in to see about learning her foals genders as well. Once again, I was with her. Dash was now 4 months along, while Daring was now entering her 3rd trimester at 6 months.
"Ugh, damn!" She muttered. "These things have been kicking me like CRAZY!!!!!"
Dr. Karen laughed a bit. "Well Mrs. Dash, some foals are more active than others, and you ARE carrying twins, so that might be a part of it as well!"
Dash just shook her head a bit. "Yeah maybe, but it still hurts, ESPECIALLY when they kick my bladder!"
Dr. Karen gave me a look. "I don't know how you're able to take care of 2 pregnant mares Captain Leopard, ESPECIALLY considering that both of them are pregnant with twins!"
I sighed. "Well, it's DEFINITELY not easy if that's what you're asking! I also have the help of Spitfire, not to mention Dash's parents, and the aide of friends, but we've still had a number of sleepless nights. And each night brings us closer and closer to the inevitable day that both of them will give birth; Daring sometime in March, and Dash sometime in May."
"I still say that you're INSANE for having multiple wives! I mean, handling ONE mare while pregnant is bad enough, but 2?! You've completely lost your mind!"
I sighed. "I can agree with you there, and if I could do it all over again, I would make VERY different decisions!"
Dr. Karen nodded, and then she got to work with the ultrasound machine to see not only the foals's genders, but also at least a vague idea of what they might look like.
"Ok, well, I have not only the genders, but also the basics of what they look like. What were you hoping for?"
Dash shrugged. "Well, I was hoping for at least one colt."
"As was I", I said quietly.
"Well, this time around, Mrs. Dash, you're the soon to be mom to a filly and a colt!"
When Dr. Karen said that, Dash IMMEDIATELY began to hug me, and even tried to keep from crying a bit. I knew that I now had a son to carry on my name, so I was covered there!
"And, what will they look like?" Dash asked.
"Well, similar to last time, both will be flyers, and one will be a Pegasus, while the other will be a Bat-Pony. However this time, your daughter will be a Pegasus, while your son will be a Bat-Pony. Not fully sure how this works out, ESPECIALLY considering that you are a hybrid Captain Leopard, but yet Pony-other creature hybrids are very little understood, as they are EXTREMELY rare."
I nodded. "All of us Humans having children with a mare is a venture into a whole new world of study. No 2 will ever be the same, and as I see it, the next stages in our evolution have begun, at least to a certain degree."
Dr. Karen thought about that. "Huh, that's a very interesting way of putting it Captain Leopard. Maybe that's not entirely correct, but yet I don't think that you're wrong either."
Dash and I talked with Dr. Karen for a little while longer, before heading back home.
The rest of that Winter was a long blur. Alex learned that he and Applejack would have a colt, while Todd and Fluttershy, as well as Dan and Pinkie, would be having a filly. All of them looked at me with wonder though.
"How was it that you were able to give your wives twins on the first try?"
I sighed. "Because it's Life's idea of a sick joke Alex. She wanted to get her revenge, and now she did!"
"And how is Briana doing these days?" Todd asked. "Has she been behaving herself?"
"Eh, for the most part. She's still smug, and she's STILL a pain, but yet she seems to be doing ok overall."
Alex looked up at me again. "Well, at any rate, at least I only have to deal with 1 foal, not 4!"
"Yeah, and it's my own fault that this happened! I WOULD only be dealing with twins from Dash, but now Daring's in the mix, and will be giving birth sometime in March. Dash is due in May, although thank God that Spitfire doesn't want to be a mom yet, or then I'd REALLY be in trouble!"
"Yeah, no kidding!"
Todd then asked me a serious question. "Hey Leopard, have you, Daring and Dash decided how they're going to give birth? I mean, Fluttershy wanted to have our daughter at home in our garden with the aide of a midwife."
I nodded slowly. "To some extent. Dash told me that she wanted to have our twins at home, as 'I want them to be born in the sky like I was!' she told me. Daring on the other hand wants to be a bit more natural as well, although she's been discussing with a midwife about possibly being at a hospital, but yet giving birth in the natural garden setting that they offer at the Ponyville Hospital."
"Oh. Our soon-to-be midwife is REALLY nice, and she has so much experience!"
"What's her name Todd?"
"Bundle Joy, although she prefers to be called Bunny."
"Really? White fur, pink and blue mane and tail kept in a bun? Cutie Mark of a cinnamon roll over an oven?"
"Yes. Is she your soon to be midwife too?"
"Yes! Nopony better than her!"
Alex looked at us confused. "Wait, who's Bundle Joy?"
"Oh, she's a Ponyville resident who knows EVERYTHING there is to know about foals, childbirth, and foal-raising. She's a full-time midwife, surrogate mother and wet-nurse, and part-time babysitter! EVERYPONY in Ponyville knows who she is, and how good she is at her job."
"Wait, is she the one who holds the world record for most foals born from a single mother, as well as the most breast milk donated from a single mare?"
I thought for a second. "I think so. I've also heard that she has a 100% success rate for being a surrogate mother."
"Wow, she sounds like she has a LOT of experience with motherhood, as well as childbirth. Hmm, I wonder if Applejack would be open to the idea of having her as a midwife. I mean, she has made it VERY clear that she'll be giving birth at home, and we will need a midwife, so I wonder if she'd be available."
I reached into my pocket, and handed Alex her business card. "I honestly have no idea myself, but here's her card so that you could ask her yourself."
"Thanks Leopard, I'll be sure to do that." We all then talked for a little while longer about Bundle Joy, and how much experience she had in her field of expertise.
As Dash and Daring got closer and closer to their delivery dates, they became moodier and moodier. The only real solitude I could find was when I took Aurora out on her daily walks. We'd walk all around Ponyville just so that we could get a break from the pregnancy madness!
"This is getting CRAZY Master! How much longer will this go on?!"
"Well, it's now January of 2031, so 3 more months for Daring, and 5 for Dash. Unfortunately though, once they've given birth, then the REAL terrors of parenthood begin!"
Aurora sighed a bit. "Yeah, although I wish that I could be a mother someday. Too bad I was neutered though. At least, I THINK that I was neutered."
I thought for a second. "Actually Aurora, you weren't neutered. According to surviving documentation from Fort Nightingale, the military facility that you were bred, born and trained at, a small device was surgically implanted to prevent your heat cycles. So one day, if that was removed, you COULD have puppies if you wanted to, but I think that for the time being we should wait on that!"
Aurora laughed a bit. "Yes, I agree Master! However, I AM almost 7 years old, so my time may be running out!"
"Eh, actually, I think that you might actually have more time than you realize. According to the records, you and the other wolves from that project were given special genetic modifications to enhance your strength and speed, give you speech, and even prolong your life! How long I don't know, but I heard that 45 years would be considered an average lifespan, with anything older than that still being normal. I guess that we'll just have to find out how long you can live, although for the time being, according to the vet, you're still within the safe zone for being able to have puppies, and will be for at least a while longer."
Aurora nodded, and we then continued our walk.
Towards the end of the line, Daring knew that she was getting close to her due date. In late December, her belly button popped out, and now if you looked close enough at her tummy, you could even faintly SEE the foals kicking! Her belly was now close to its fullest point, and her breasts were filling up with milk as well. She was about 8 months along, with only about a month and a half to go. She was tired all the time, really cranky a lot, she always had to pee, she was literally eating her entire body weight in about 5 days, although considering that she WAS eating for 3, that was normal!
Dash was about 6 months along that February, and her belly button popped out as well. She was also eating for 3, although not quite as much as Daring, but that was rapidly changing!
One relaxing thing that Dash and Daring often did was sit in the hot tub. The warm water REALLY helped to relax their muscles, and keep them calm. In fact, the warm water and calming background also seemed to be beneficial for the foals. While their mothers were relaxing in the hot tub, they seldom kicked, and were really quiet.
One night after work, I came home to Spitfire working out, Dash eating a LOT of hay fries, and Daring up in our room. She was sitting in front of the vanity mirror, brushing her mane and tail, which had REALLY gotten longer since her pregnancy. While before her mane had hung to her shoulders, now it hung almost to her waist! Daring said that she would get it cut once the foals were born, but that she kinda liked the longer look.
"Long day Daring?"
She turned to look at me. "Hey Stud. And yeah, long day. I'm literally the size of a house, my ankles feel like rubber, I feel like shit, and the kicking is getting worse!"
I hugged her a bit. "Well, it's ok Daring. You just have to make it another month or so. I'll be here for you, like always."
"Augh!" Daring then rubbed her belly. "PLEASE stop kicking my bladder, PLEASE!!!!"
In response, the foals just seemed to keep kicking.
"Mind if I try Daring?" I asked her quietly.
She looked at me like I was crazy, but she did nod gently. I then sighed, and after getting down onto my knees, I gently lay my head against her belly. Using my Bat-Pony ears, I could hear the foals moving about.
I then took a deep breath, and sighed. "Ok in there", I whispered. "You both REALLY need to be more gentle with your Mommy! She's VERY fragile right now, and the thing you keep kicking is her bladder, which REALLY hurts for her! Please just settle down, and everything will be ok!"
At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then to our shock, the kicking suddenly stopped! There was almost no movement from the foals at all.
"Thank you, my sweet, beautiful foals!" I then kissed Daring's tummy gently.
Daring looked at me in absolute shock! Eventually though, she gave me a gentle smirk. "Heh, looks like they know who their Daddy is. They're not even born yet, and ALREADY they know to obey him!"
I just laughed softly. "Maybe, but aren't you glad that the kicking stopped?"
Daring then leaned down, and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "What do you think Stud?"
"I would say so, and I'm pretty sure that I'm right!"
"Oh, you know it Stud!" Daring then began to run her fingers through my mane while I continued to talk softly to our foals in her tummy.
For the rest of that night, as well as other kicking episodes in the future, all I had to do was talk to the foals, and ask them to stop, and they did. Dash thought that I was crazy, until she was so desperate to stop the kicking that she was willing to let me try what I did with Daring.
She was standing in our living room, all wrapped up in her robe, although she left it untied so that her belly was exposed.
"Just hold still Dashie, and I'll see what I can do."
"Just......do something, PLEASE!!! The kicking is driving me insane! I'm gonna die of internal bleeding if you don't make it STOP!!!!"
"Well like I said, hold still and I'll see what I can do."
I then repeated the same process for Dash. First, I kneeled down until I was eye-level with her 5 month pregnant belly. Then, I gently lay my head against it, and listened with one of my Bat-Pony ears. Sure enough, I could hear the foals moving, and even feel them moving against the side of my head.
"Shh", I whispered softly, "Please stop hurting your mother. You're causing her SO MUCH pain, and that's making her really upset. She finds it hard to sleep at night, and she keeps having to use the bathroom because of your kicking, so could you please stop?"
Sure enough, just like last time, once I talked to them, the kicking suddenly stopped. "Thank you, my sweet, beautiful foals." I then kissed Dash's swollen belly gently.
I then looked up at Dash, who was looking at me like I was a magician or something. "Wha.....? How did....?????"
I smirked a bit. "See? I TOLD YOU it would work!"
Dash smirked a bit as well. "Or, they just know who their Daddy is, and they want to make him happy!"
"Maybe, but in any case, aren't you glad that the kicking stopped?"
"Oh, MORE than you can even imagine Stud! In fact, I'm so happy that I want to give you a reward!" Dash then went over to the couch, and after sitting down on it, she pulled her robe to the side, revealing that her slit was soaking wet. "Come on Stud, wanna 'taste the rainbow' again?"
I smirked a bit. "Dashie, you NEVER get tired of saying that do you?"
She giggled. "Nope! And I don't, because it's a joke that's EXCLUSIVE to me! Aside from my dad, no other Ponies in all of Equestria have a rainbow colored mane and tail."
"So the joke works", I whispered softly. I then came over, and after moving Dash's robe to the side a bit further, I began to give my beautiful wife the sweet pleasure that she wanted.
All too soon, early in the morning, on March 3rd, 2031, Todd got the word out to the rest of us that he and Fluttershy were now parents!
"Last night, at about 3:20am, Fluttershy went into labor. Then at about 5 this morning, our beautiful daughter, Windy Belle, was brought into the world!"
When we were able, most of us went to see the happy couple. When I saw Windy Belle, she was nursing from Fluttershy. I saw that she had tannish-yellow fur, a light pink mane that was streaked with brown, as well as blue eyes.
"So beautiful." I said softly.
"I know", Todd answered back. "I couldn't be happier right now!"
I congratulated the 2 of them one last time, before I went back home again.
Daring was waiting for me when I was, and I went over and hugged her. This was slightly difficult for me to do, as her belly was VERY swollen with our twins, but I still managed.
"Any idea on how much longer Babe?" I asked her.
Daring sighed. "Well, Bunny told me that It could be within the next 2 weeks. All I know is that I'll be MUCH happier when these twins are out of me!"
"I know Babe, and I can't wait either. For YEARS doctors told me, and all of the others who were affected by the Tower 9 Incident that we would be forever sterile, but now God's given me what I've always wanted through you and Dashie."
"Wanna know a secret Stud? Being a mom has actually been my life-long dream since I was a young filly, although in my teens, I pushed it to the back-burner in favor of exploring and adventuring, and then just kept it there. Now though, thanks to having you in my life, even though it's unexpected, and WILL hamper my career, I'm glad that my pregnancy happened Stud!"
"So am I Babe, so am I. Sure, if I was able to do things over again, I definitely WOULD do a few things differently, but yet being with you, Dash and Spitfire, I don't know if I could do it differently!"
We both laughed a little bit, before heading to the kitchen to find something to eat. For the next 2 weeks, we were on high alert for any signs of Daring going into labor, and Bundle Joy would visit us periodically as well.
"Well, I can say Mrs. Daring, it's been a while since I helped out a mare who was pregnant with twins!"
Daring was a bit surprised. "Really?"
"Yes. Twins aren't too rare, but yet they aren't the most common either."
Daring nodded. "Oh, and is my reserved spot in the garden of the Ponyville Hospital ready yet?"
"Oh yes. It's been ready since you reserved it. And I'm just a quick call away when you need me!"
Daring nodded, before laying back down on the couch.
For the next few days, Dash, Spits and I were still on high alert, but nothing happened. Nothing that is, until March 30th, at about 3am.........
I was asleep at the time, as was Dash. Aurora was sitting with Daring, who was reading a book on the couch. Spitfire was sitting with her as well, although she was dozing off. Who knows where Briana was. Suddenly though, Daring felt a pain in her stomach.
"Hmm?" She looked down at her belly. "Hmm, guess that it was just some more kicks." Suddenly though, the pain came again, only this time it was MUCH worse!
"OUGH!!!"
"Huh?" Spitfire looked up. "You ok Daring? What's wrong?"
Daring looked at her. "Spits, I think I just went into labor!"
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"Yeah! That was DEFINITELY a contraction!"
Spitfire swung into action. "Right! Aurora?!"
"Yes Mistress?"
"Go get Stud and Dash NOW!!!!"
"Right!" She then bounded off upstairs.
I was asleep when Aurora suddenly started jumping on me. "Master! MASTER!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!"
"Ouch, ow!!!! Aurora?! What is it, what's wrong?!"
"Spitfire told me to come get you! Daring just went into labor!"
"WHAT?!??! Right!" I then shook Dash awake. "Dash, Dash! Wake up!"
"Huh?! Augh! What is it Stud? It's past 3am!"
"Daring just went into labor, and we have to get her to the hospital NOW!!!!"
Dash was awake in an instant. "RIGHT!!!!!" She then wrapped her robe around her nude body, and I pulled on my robe as well, in addition to the pajama pants that I was wearing.
The 3 of us then raced downstairs, where Daring was wrapping her robe around herself, and she, along with Spitfire, were grabbing the stuff that we'd prepared for this in advance. Then, with Dash, Spitfire and I supporting her, We carried Daring gently down to the ground, before getting her to the Ponyville Hospital. Behind us, Briana grabbed Aurora, and carried her down as well, as she also wanted to see the fruits of her labor come into the world!
When we arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, the nurse at the front desk checked us in, and while we took Daring out to the back "Pregnancy Garden", as it was known, somepony else paged Bundle Joy, and told her that we required her expertise.
"Right, tell them I'm on my way!" She then got together the things that she needed, and came out to assist.
The "Pregnancy Garden" is actually a pretty neat little slice of paradise. Built to resemble a sort of open air spa, there's sheltered areas, lush, green grass, flowers, natural hot spring pools to help mares cope with their labor, comfy places for mares to sit, lay down on, or even give birth on if they so chose! There were also speakers that softly played music, as well as birds chirping, water flowing, the wind blowing through the trees, and other soothing sounds. There were even short little trails that mares could walk on if they wanted to move around. It was a nice, peaceful and comfortable setting, and many mares chose it as the spot where they brought their foal(s) into the world.
That night, it was lit by the moon, as well as soft garden lighting, and there were even a number of tiki torches as well. Daring was ushered over to the spot we'd reserved, which contained a sort of bed, a small hot spring pool, grass, flowers, and seats for the rest of us.
Bundle Joy arrived a few minutes later, ready to assist with the birth when it happened. Dash and Spitfire sat down on a cushioned bench close by, while I sat with Daring on the bed. Wanting to be more comfortable, Daring removed her robe and sat nude. (These facilities were also clothing optional, as some mares wanted their births to be as natural as possible).
"Are you ready for this Mrs. Daring?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm still REALLY nervous, as I'm scared for the pain!"
"Which you need not be my Dear. If done properly, childbirth can actually be a VERY pleasant experience!"
I looked at her in surprise. "Wait, do you mean that whole, 'orgasmic birth' thing?"
She nodded. "Oh yes. Plus, this natural setting, the hot spring, and the ability to move around, will certainly help with easing the pain. And of course, you have your husband, and your sisters here to help you through it too."
Daring nodded. "At any rate, I just hope that my labor and delivery go smoothly, and nothing goes wrong."
"Nothing will my Dear, although even if it does, we have trained professionals in the main hospital that can help you."
Daring nodded again, before settling down to wait for her water to break.
It was a very interesting next few hours for us to wait. I was also really surprised that they let Aurora and Briana in, but yet this was meant to be calming for mares, and some mares were calmest when they had their beloved pets with them. Plus, Briana made herself the size of a house cat, so nopony really gave her a second glance. (How it's possible for Ponies to not notice that she was a Sphinx though, I honestly have no idea!)
For Daring, even though she kept feeling her contractions, she really wasn't in too much pain. She did pace around a lot, but this was due to her wanting to be somewhat active, as it was just in her nature. After putting her mane back into its usual ponytail, she also swam a bit in the hot spring, and I did cuddle with her some as well.
I also at times gently licked, and fingered her warm slit. This was both to help Daring relax, and to help her ease through her contractions. At 4:25am, it happened.
"Ngh! Eww, what the....?!" A lot of clear, sticky fluids suddenly came leaking out of her. "Bunny, what is this stuff?"
She looked. "Oh, your water just broke Daring! That means that the foals are coming VERY soon!"
Daring lay back on the bed. "Great. And that means that the contractions are about in increase tenfold as well!"
Sure enough, Daring was right. For her, the most painful part was when our first foal began to enter her birth canal. For a few minutes, Daring lost her mind.
"YOU DID THIS TO ME LEOPARD!!!!!!" She screamed, grabbing me by the neck. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT I'M LIKE THIS!!!!!"
I pried her hands off. "It's YOUR fault too Daring! YOU were the one who accepted Dash's offer, and it was YOUR idea to go find the Lunar Shrine of Romance! You knew the risks that we were taking, but we went anyway! It takes 2 to tango, and don't blame me, blame Briana!"
"Hey! I was just doing my job!"
"Yeah, and you did a REALLY shitty job, you overgrown hairball!"
Briana glared at her. "Hey, UNCALLED FOR!!!! I'm NOT an overgrown hairball!"
"Oh yeah? Well then you've SURE fattened up since you came to live with us!"
Briana looked down at herself. Sure enough, she WAS a lot pudgier than when we found her! "Ok, yeah, maybe I HAVE let myself go a bit. A thanks for telling me, as I'm REALLY going to be getting back into shape now!"
Daring was then able to calm down a bit more, and after apologizing for lashing out at me, she lay back down to focus on pushing out our 2 daughters.
To my surprise, Bunny actually let me help her with delivering our foals as well. Dash and Spitfire both filmed the whole ordeal, and while Daring pushed, Bunny and I helped to ease the foals along. Towards the end, Daring was lying on her side, and biting one of the pillows. She was also blushing and sweating, and she even seemed to be moaning a bit as well!
Soon, a small, furry little head appeared, followed by a neck, shoulders, arms, torso, and then the rest of a foal. About 5 minutes later, her sister followed her into the world.
Once their umbilical cords were cut, Daring began to lick them both clean. I was rather surprised when I saw this, but they ARE Ponies, and upon inquiry, Bunny told me that this was natural for them.
"Most mothers do this for their foals, as it is the natural way. For the ones that don't though, we do help them wash their foals clean."
I then looked back at my beautiful wife, and our brand new daughters. Both of them were suckling from their mother, and to our surprise, neither of them were crying at all. Throughout the ENTIRE birthing process, neither of them really made a sound!
"Well, this is certainly a rare sight to see." Bunny said quietly. "Most foals at least cry, but every now and again, you'll get those that don't."
"But this IS ok, right?" Daring was slightly worried.
"Yes, it can be normal, but it's just so rare to see. But yet your foals ARE the first of their kind, being the offspring of a Pegasus and a Human-Bat-pony hybrid, so this is an adventure into a whole new world. However, I can tell that it's normal, and that both of your foals are perfectly healthy."
I then sat next to Daring, and looked at our daughters. Sure enough, just like the ultrasound predicted, one was a Bat-Pony, while the other was a Pegasus. My Bat-Pony daughter had a black mane and tail, light gray fur, little black feathery wings, and deep blue cat-like eyes. She also appeared to have little black freckles as well. My Pegasus daughter had a gray mane and tail, tan fur, little Pegasus wings, and deep blue eyes as well.
"So......so beautiful." I whispered softly.
"Yeah, no kidding! I'm just glad that these foals are out of me, and into the world!"
"And have.....you decided on names for them yet?" Bunny asked.
Daring nodded. "Yes. This little one who looks like her father is Midnight, while her sister is Amber."
"Midnight and Amber. Beautiful names, for a beautiful pair of foals!"
We all agreed to that. I then lay next to Daring, and for the first time, I got to hold one of my daughters. Since Midnight was the closest to me, I held her first. I was unable to say anything, as words were unable to describe what I was thinking.
After handing her back to Daring I then sat next to the bed, and actually broke down crying.
"Whoa, Stud, are you ok?" Dash went over to make sure that I was ok.
I looked up at her, smiling through my tears. "Y-yes, I'm fine Dashie......I'm just.....SO overwhelmed right now! All these years.........d-doctors told me that because of Tower 9, I would NEVER father any offspring! Now........God's given me what I've ALWAYS wanted! Look at me, a Human-Bat-Pony hybrid, and now the father of twins, with 2 more on the way!" I then continued crying a bit, although I was still trying to get a better grip on myself.
Dash nodded. "Yeah, I know Stud, and that must have been REALLY hard for you, wanting something, but yet never being able to have it. Never that is, until you knocked Daring up, and then knocked me up 2 months later! But I'm so......so proud to be an aunt too Stud!" (A while before this, we decided that 2 of my wives would be an aunt to the foals of the 3rd one. Dash and Spitfire were now an aunt to Midnight and Amber, just as Daring and Spitfire would be aunts to Dash's foals in 2 months).
We all then hugged each other, as well as Daring, before Dash and Spitfire each took turns holding their new nieces.
"So, so beautiful. And in 2 months, I'll be doing this with my own foals!"
Daring laughed a bit. "Yeah, so you'd better get practiced up now so that you know what to do later!"
We all then laughed a bit, and we all then continued to spend time with Daring, as well as our new daughters/nieces.
Chapter 22: Births, New Lives, Looking Ahead (Part 2)
After staying at the hospital for another few days, just to make absolutely certain that the foals were ok, (not to mention Daring's health) the time had come to finally take them home.
It was an interesting way that we did this. Instead of a carrier like what Humans use, Daring and I used these sort of backpack things, only we wore them in the front so that our foals could snuggle against us. On our way back, a lot of my fellow Battleship Express Crew, as well as other Ponies, were clamoring to see our new foals as well.
"Aww, they're so cute Leopard! And the one that you're carrying looks just like you in a way!"
I smiled. "Thanks Todd. And yes, little Midnight here really does look just like me, just as Amber looks like Daring." I then looked at Todd, and asked a serious question. "And how has parenting really been Todd? I mean, you've been a parent for almost a month now, so had bad is it really?"
Todd sighed a bit. "Be prepared for long, sleepless nights. Also, have a gas mask handy for changing diapers, as I've come VERY close to vomiting many times! And you have to watch them CONSTANTLY! Even for a 1 month old like Windy, she's ALREADY taught herself how to climb, and she's even tried to fly!"
"Oh? And how's that worked out for her?"
"Her wings won't be strong enough until she's at least 2 years old, and even then, Shy and I want her to be a little bit older than that before she teaches her how to fly. However, this STILL hasn't stopped Windy from trying! So far, all she's managed to do is spin herself in circles on the ground, although this has served to keep her entertained for hours!"
When Todd finished his explanation, I was REALLY wondering just what I had gotten myself into! "And what about babies and pets? I mean, I've read about it, and I know that Aurora, Tank and.....Briana......are smart enough not to do anything bad, but yet how do you introduce them?"
Todd shrugged. "Eh, well.......I really don't know how to answer that, as Windy's been around animals since the moment she was born! They really seem to like her though, and so far we haven't had any real issues."
I thought about that. "Well, then I guess that we'll just have to take this one step at a time. It's a brave new world Todd, and now you and I, as well as Alex, Dan AND our wives, are all caught up in it!"
"Heh, no kidding Leopard! I still do miss the days of riding the rails, but yet, this is what I've always needed."
"Yeah. With the Big Boy practically having been retired, due to a lack of funding for excursion runs, at least for the time being, the only trains that we have are Iron Glory and Battle Glory. And with Iron Glory down for at least another 6 months with her overhaul, all we have is Battle Glory, and all they need to drive her are just 2 guys. And with 9 of us left over from the Battleship Express, and a further 4 from Iron Glory, they just don't need as many of us as they used to."
Todd sighed. "Well, at least I'm a veterinarian now, and I don't miss the rail life as much, although it'll still always be a part of me. However, yes, I can agree with you; I really wish that we DID have another train to use!"
(Be careful what you wish for there Todd, as you NEVER know when Life might decide to give you what you want!)
Back home, Daring and I sat with our daughters on the couch. Both of them were sleeping, and were still snuggled close to us.
"I REALLY wish that my parents were here so see this." I said softly. "Even though they're no longer with us, or any other members of my family for that matter, I know that they're looking down from Heaven, and couldn't be prouder! Well, maybe not proud of my having multiple wives, but yet still proud of what I've done!"
Spitfire and Dash glanced at each other. They'd heard me talking about being the last of my family, and they knew that Daring's mom had passed away an undisclosed number of years ago, and that she was an only child. Dash had both of her parents, and Spitfire had her mom, but yet we were the last members of our families, or at least we WERE. Now we had 2 new members of our family.
Dash then rubbed her own belly. "Yeah, and in 2 months or so, I'll bring my little bundles of joy into the world as well. Be sure to teach me your ways of Mommyhood, oh Great and Mighty Daring, as I'm VERY eager to lean everything that I can about being a full-time mom!"
Daring couldn't help but laugh at Dash's joke. "Sure thing Dashie! I'll teach you everything that Stud and I can learn from this!"
Dash then rubbed her own belly again. "Just another month or so", She whispered. "That's all it's gonna be, just another month!"
The next few weeks or so were stressful for some, and Hell for others. Nights were broken by sounds of foals crying, there were diapers to be changed, foals to watch, and really just take care of. Like Todd warned me about subtly, parenting is HELL!!!!!! One plus to this situation would be all of the help that we received from not only Dash's parents, but from Spitfire's mom Stormy Flare as well. Also, the 2 rooms on both sides on our bedroom were converted into nurseries.
Daring's nursery had one crib, (our foals hated to be apart from each other) a changing table, a small couch, a rocking chair, a small closet, a soft rug, windows to let in light, (they also only opened a few cracks to allow ventilation!) and tan walls, although one wall also had a mural on it. It was a mural of Daring and I sleeping on the couch in each other's arms, while a dream bubble showed us on a jungle adventure with our foals. There were also a number of toys in the room as well.
Dash was still in the process of setting up her nursery, but she had her parents helping with that. It was hard to tell the difference between that nursery and our bedroom to be perfectly honest! The walls were sky blue, the ceiling was painted to look like a blue sky with clouds, and the walls were covered in Wonderbolt posters, as well as pictures of Dash both in her jumpsuit, and while she was pregnant. The crib looked like it was made out of clouds, as did the changing table, and the closet door was painted with the Wonderbolt logo on it. There was also a rocking chair, a Wonderbolts rug, and a number of toys as well.
"Why did you do it like this Dash?" I asked her.
She just smirked at me. "Well Stud, future Wonderbolt cadets have to come from somewhere, so why not start early?"
"Yeah, but what if they don't WANT to be Wonderbolts?"
Dash looked at me like I was insane. "WHAT?!?!?! Stud, being a Wonderbolt is what EVERY Pegasus DREAMS OF! Plus, their mom, AND their Auntie Spitfire are Wonderbolts, so why wouldn't they want to take off after us? Plus, you're an Honorary Wonderbolt too, and have been filling in for me since I had to take my maternity leave! It just runs in our family!"
I thought about that. Sure, I had been filling in for Dash while she was pregnant, and had even been able to do a number of shows. I also earned my Wonderbolt Flight Jacket, and although I wasn't quite a full Wonderbolt, and nor would I probably ever be, I felt like I was higher than an Honorary Wonderbolt. (Also since my sort of "Induction" into the Wonderbolts, Spitfire altered the rules to now allow other Bat-Ponies to join, and form their own unit as well. This was a great move on her part, as Wonderbolt ratings climbed up even higher than they usually were!)
I looked back up at Dash again. "Yeah, but remember Babe, not all Pegasai are the same. Some have other dreams too. I guess that we'll just play it by ear, although don't be surprised if at least one of them takes an interest in something else."
Dash sat down in the rocking chair by the window. "Yeah, you're kinda right Stud. However, I'll still encourage them when I can."
I then knelt in front of Dash, and gently lay my head on her swollen tummy. "You just do you Dashie, and let this little guy and gal do them," I whispered softly. "Even so, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they took after their Mom, Dad and Auntie Spitfire!"
Dash rolled her eyes a bit. "Oh Stud, whatever am I going to do with you?" She began to run her fingers through my mane a bit.
I laughed softly, and continued leaning my head against Dash's swollen belly, as well as rubbing it gently.
In that final month of April, leading into the May that Dash would give birth in, Dash's parents practically moved in with us to take care of their daughter. They also considered Midnight and Amber to be their grandchildren as well.
"Aww, they're so CUTE!!!!" They both gushed the first time that they saw them.
Daring looked up at them exhaustively. "Yeah? And taking care of them has been my worst misadventure ever! Sure, it has had its rewards, but yet at the same time, is it REALLY worth it?"
"I think so." Windy reassured her. "And just think, soon these 2 cuties will have 2 half-siblings!"
"Yes, that will be nice, won't it?" In her head, Daring added, "And then you can fawn all over THEM, and leave ME, and MY daughters ALONE for a change!!!!!"
Once they left the nursery to go back to Dash, I came to see my wife and daughters. I saw that Daring was sitting in the rocking chair, and that she was nude except for a blanket wrapped around her. Her mane was still in a ponytail, and she was seemingly almost asleep, while Amber and Midnight were nursing from her.
"Long day Daring?" I asked her gently.
She looked up at me. "Stud, you have NO IDEA!"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can imagine. And are you gonna keep the ponytail look for your mane, or are you going to get rid of it eventually?"
Daring shrugged. "I don't know. I only wore it before to keep my mane back, but I've grown to like it. I think I might keep it."
I sat next to her, and nuzzled her gently. "Well, I for one like it, as it looks cute on you."
"Ngh, thanks Stud." She then looked down at herself. "I'm also going to be glad when I can start working out again, as I'm about as fat as a lap dog now! Sitting around all the time, eating, and getting no exercise!"
"And how long until Dr. Karen said that you could?"
Daring sighed. "Well, she said nothing strenuous for the first few months, and even after that to still be careful. But I've weighed myself Stud, and I REALLY didn't like what I saw! Previously, I had some nice muscles, and I only weighed 130lbs. Now all that muscle is almost gone, and I weigh almost 200lbs now!"
I laughed a bit. "Yeah, but remember Daring, you WERE carrying Midnight and Amber in your belly for 9 months, and you WERE eating for 3! Now that they're born though, you can start regaining your old body."
"Yeah, and when I do, would you be willing to work out with me Stud?"
I nodded. "Of course Babe! Due to my still being in the Foreign Legion, and a kinda-sorta Wonderbolt while I fill in for Dash, I have to work out all the time! Plus, I'm also pretty sure that Spitfire would be willing to work out with us as well."
"Yeah, I hope so too Stud."
I then helped Daring change diapers again, before our foals fell asleep.
One night not too long after, I came home late from my Foreign Legion duties. I'd left my clothes in the laundry room to take care of in the morning, and after washing my hands, I walked upstairs. I saw that Daring was sound asleep on the hallway floor, and that Dash and Spitfire were asleep in our bed.
Sighing, I gently picked Daring up, and carried her to our bed, before gently putting her into it, and pulling the covers over her. I then left the room to take care of a few things. As I was walking by the nursery though, I suddenly heard soft crying, and it sounded like Midnight. At first, I wanted to go get Daring, but then I remembered that I was her father, and that parenting was MY responsibility too! I walked into the nursery, and sure enough, Midnight was indeed crying. Her sister was also looking at her with what appeared to be disgust, as if to say, "Will you shut up?! I'm trying to sleep!"
I then gently picked my daughter up, and held her close. "Shh, it's ok Midnight", I whispered to her. "Daddy's here for you. It's ok." I then sat with her in the rocking chair.
Soon, Midnight stopped crying, and she looked up at me while sucking her thumb. She even seemed to be smiling a bit as well. I still couldn't get over how cute she was. Her gray fur, black mane and tail, her little Bat-pony ears, little black feathery wings, tiny fangs, little black freckles, and those soft, deep blue cat-like eyes. She was MY daughter, and I couldn't have been prouder.
"I love you Midnight", I whispered to her. "I always have, even while you were still in your Mom's tummy. You will always be my daughter, and I will always love you."
Midnight seemed to giggle slightly, before she fell asleep snuggled against my warm chest. I then heard a slight noise to my right, and I turned and saw Daring standing in the doorway. She looked very sleepy, and although she was wearing her robe, it was hanging on her shoulders, leaving nothing to the imagination.
"Mmm, glad you're home Stud." She mumbled sleepily. "I heard Midnight crying, so I came over, but then what do I see? Her Daddy taking good care of her! You're so good with foals Stud."
I nodded. "You get some sleep Daring, you deserve it. I'll handle things in here."
"Sure. Just call me if she's hungry though."
I sighed a bit. "Sure Babe. You go back to bed now."
Daring nodded, and then she left me alone again. Once she was gone, I thought back to what she'd said to me just before she left. Daring INSISTED that all of our twins's milk come from her, as she said that she would NOT be buying formula! Dash agreed with her, and said that she was going to do the same thing for her twins as well.
"But what if you guys aren't around?" I asked them.
Dash gave me a queer look. "Well, we have a refrigerator don't we? Daring and I'll just pump out the milk, and put it in bottles for use later. We won't breastfeed all the time, and this way you can get a chance to feed them too!"
I sighed. Both of them were loony, although even Spitfire agreed with them. "Well Stud, studies DO show that mare's milk is healthier than formula, plus my mom did the same thing for me, and look how I turned out!"
"So did mine!" Dash agreed.
"And I don't remember if mine did or not, as I forgot to ask. I would assume so though, as my mom WAS all about things like this!" (From the pictures that I'd seen of her, I was pretty well convinced that Daring's mom had been a Hippie! I was also fairly certain that Daring was the result of the whole "free love" business, and that this was the reason that she didn't know who her father was! I didn't tell Daring this, although I'm pretty sure that she was guessing the same thing as well).
I just sighed. "Well, I have no objections to this, and my own research led me to this same conclusion as well."
"Were you breastfed Stud?" Dash asked me.
I nodded. "I think so, as was my younger brother Ozwin, but not my other brother Dren, although this was because he was adopted at birth."
"Wait, one of your brothers was adopted?!"
"Yeah. At least, he was. I don't know if it's still valid with our entire family being dead, but yes. At one time at least, Dren was adopted."
Dash shook her head. "Wow, I never would have guessed!"
We all then talked about this for a while longer.
For that last month before their foals were due in May, Applejack, Dash and Pinkie were busy preparing, as were myself, Alex and Dan. By our estimates based of of the dates of conception, Applejack's son would be born first, then Dash's twins, and then Pinkie's daughter.
Since Applejack and Alex knew that their time was coming first, they were busy preparing. Alex worked with Big Mac to make both a crib and a cradle out of apple wood, Granny stitched together a quilt for Applejack's foal, and Applebloom was CONSTANTLY asking her sister when her nephew would be born.
"How much longer Sis?"
"Ah don't know Applebloom, but I'm REALLY hoping soon, as this little feller's been kicking the daylights outta me!" Applejack was sitting in a chair in the living room, rubbing her very swollen belly.
"And what will his name be?"
"Alex and I decided to name him Alexander, like him. Alexander Barkley-Apple. AB for short, just like you!"
Applebloom then put her head against her sister's tummy. "Alex Jr. Just like his Daddy, and with my initials too! Speaking of which, where is Alex anyway?"
"He and Big Mac are out working in the orchards. I'll be heading out there soon to help them too."
"Oh no you won't Missy!" Granny looked up from the quilt that she was working on. "You'll be doing NOTHING too strenu-whatsit until little Alex is born!"
"Ugh, but Granny, I HATE sitting here in the house all of the time!"
Granny looked at her granddaughter. "Well, I WOULD let you outside, but the last time that I did that, you went and tried to do hard work! Now I appreciate yer gumption Girl, but you HAVE to wait until your son is born!"
Applejack sighed. She knew that there really was no reasoning with Granny when she made up her mind, plus, it would only be another month anyway, with perhaps another week beyond that of getting adjusted to being a full-time mom. Just another month and a week of being trapped close to the house, and NOT being allowed to work!
She looked down at her belly. "You've caused me a LOT of trouble, you know that Little Guy?" In response, the foal kicked her. "See? That's EXACTLY what I'm talkin' about! Whenever yer not kickin' me, yer causin me to be unable to work!"
The foal then began to kick at her bladder. "Aee!!! Not there!" Applejack then ran off to the bathroom for the umpteenth time that day!
Once April was drawing to a close, Alex got back into contact with Bundle Joy. He'd been in touch with her for a while, but he told her that he'd contact her again once Applejack was closer to her due date.
"And now the time may be drawing close Bunny."
Bundle Joy looked Applejack over. "Yes, I do believe that you're right Mr.......I mean, Alex. Sorry, I keep forgetting that you prefer to just be called Alex."
"It's ok Bunny. A LOT of other Ponies forget to drop the 'Mr'. as well!"
Bundle Joy nodded. "Yes. In the meantime though, I can tell you that Applejack may be going into labor VERY soon, as in sometime within the next 2 weeks."
"Well, that's good I guess. The sooner that this Little Feller's out of me, the better!"
Bundle Joy laughed. "I take it that it your foal is active?"
"EXTREMELY!!!!!"
"Well, Mrs. Daring's twins were the same way, and she's REALLY glad that they're not kicking her anymore!"
Applejack nodded slowly. "Yeah, I bet! But I guess that we'll just play out these last few bits by ear, and see what happens. You'll get the call when I'm in labor though!"
"And I'll be waiting VERY eagerly for that call as well!"
Applejack nodded, and then the 3 of them talked for a while longer.
Then, on the night of May 20th, Applejack went into labor. She was sound asleep, as was Alex, but then the contractions hit her.
"Ough!" Applejack woke up, and it was then that she realized that it was time. "Alex! Get up, now!"
Alex jerked awake. "Huh, eh what?! What's going on?!" He looked over at the clock. The time read 1:33am.
"Ah just went into labor Alex!"
Alex was awake instantly. "Right! I'll go wake up the rest of the family, as well as inform Bundle Joy!" After pulling on his bathrobe, he went IMMEDIATELY to wake up the rest of the Apples.
Then, with help from Big Mac, with Granny holding Applejack's hand, and Applebloom following them with her video camera, they carried her out of the house, and out to the barn where Applejack had INSISTED that she wanted her son to be born!
For some odd reason, she chose to have her foal in the barn, while lying nude on a horse blanket in the hay. She also chose to go drug-free, and throughout the whole ordeal, while her blond mane hung freely down her back, she had one hand wrapped around a stress squeeze ball, and the other one around Alex's neck!
"When I get through this, you are NEVER touching me again!!! DO YOU HEAR ME ALEX?!?!?! YOU did this to me! YOU knocked me up!" (Interestingly enough, she wasn't in as much pain as she was still EXTREMELY mad at both herself and Alex for her getting pregnant in the first place, although she blamed Alex more).
Alex pried her hand off of his throat. "Wait, MY fault?! As I recall, YOU were the one who wanted to have sex in here, AND were the one who forgot your birth control!"
"Well, YOU didn't wear any protection!"
"And yer BOTH responsible for Alex Jr!" Granny finished for them. "Now stop arguin', and start pushin' Applejack!"
"What do you think I've BEEN doing Granny?! I've been getting contractions every few minutes!"
"Well if you'd just calm yerself down, and focus on the foal instead of the pain, your labor will be MUCH easier! It was fer me when yer Pa was born, just as it was fer yer Ma when YOU were born!"
Applejack then tried Granny's advice, and sure enough, the pain seemingly began to die away. Sure, it still hurt, but not NEARLY as much as it had before!
"Wow, I guess goin' with the rise and fall of the contractions, and just breathing, really IS the best way to get through this Granny!"
Granny chuckled a bit. "I told ya so Applejack!"
"And I and my neck DEFINITELY appreciate it Granny!" Alex added.
Applejack grabbed him by his neck again. "Wanna repeat yerself Sugarcube?" Alex shook his head. "That's what Ah thought!"
Not too long after, Bundle Joy arrived, and about a half hour later, at about 3am, Applejack's water broke.
"Ngh, well, I guess he's entered the birth canal now!" Applejack muttered.
Bundle Joy nodded. "Oh yes. It should only be a few more minutes now, and you will have brought another foal into the world!"
Also like me and Todd before him, Alex too helped Bundle Joy with the birthing process. Applejack would push, and he would help ease the foal along. Soon, a furry little head appeared, followed by a neck, arms, and then the rest of a foal! Applejack gasped in surprise and slight shock as she felt her son slide the rest of the way out of her, and onto the blanket in the hay that she was laying on.
"Ngh......is......is he out?"
Bundle Joy held him up. "Congratulations Mrs. Applejack, it's a colt, even though you already knew that!" After cutting the umbilical cord, Bunny handed him gently up to Applejack, who began to lick her new foal clean. (I'd already warned Alex that mares did this, as did Todd, but he believed that Applejack wouldn't. That night he was proven wrong!)
Also, just like Daring and I's twins, there was no crying from little Alex Jr. There was a lot of coughing, at least at first, but no crying. Then, once he was fully clean to Applejack's satisfaction, and as he began to nurse from his mother, Alex Sr got a good look at his son.
Alex Jr had tannish-orange fur, green eyes, and a reddish-blond mane and tail. He had hooves instead of feet, although Alex also saw a tiny horn on the top of his head as well. His son was a Unicorn just like him!
"So my son is a Unicorn with the strength of an Earth Pony." Alex mused quietly, "As strong as his father, and as beautiful as his mother. No better combination than that!"
"No kiddin' Sugarcube!" Applejack then pulled Alex down again, but this time she merely placed her soft lips onto his. "Mmm, I love you Alex. Even though yer a real pain in the flank sometimes, I still love ya!"
"I love you too AJ."
Alex Jr then burped, causing both of them to start laughing!
The next day, those of us who were able came by to see Alex, Applejack and Alex Jr. I was carrying both Midnight and Amber on my back, and Daring and Dash came with me as well. Todd, Fluttershy,and little Windy were also there, as were Don and Twilight, among others.
"Aww, he's so cute Applejack!" Fluttershy cooed. "What's his name?"
"Alex, just like his father. Alexander Barkley-Apple."
I looked at Alex Jr. "Well, I can say this Alex, he really DOES look a lot like you!"
Alex then looked at me. "Yeah, and at least I wasn't crying my eyes out when he was born like YOU did!" He then began to laugh a bit, while I looked a bit hurt.
I was about to chew him out, but Don beat me to it. "Alex Barkley! That was not only EXTREMELY rude, but it was also INCREDIBLY uncalled for! You were NOT there at the battle close to the Tower 9 Nuclear Power Plant in the Mojave Desert, so you have NO IDEA what having kids means for those who were!" Alex looked a bit confused, so Don explained.
When he did, Alex looked VERY sorry. "Ok, yeah, you're right Major. I'm sorry Leopard. Being completely sterile for YEARS without a known cure must have been IMPOSSIBLY hard for you. And now 2 of your wives are pregnant with twins, with one of them having given birth, which must mean the WORLD to you!"
I nodded slowly. "Yes, and I forgive you Alex. Also yes, my foals DO mean the world to me! God gave me what I wanted most, and allowed me to have foals!"
We all then continued to talk about Alex Jr for a while longer, as well as congratulate Alex and Applejack on their new son.
For Dan and Pinkie, 5 days later, it was their turn. Pinkie had decided to do what Daring did, and reserved a spot for herself at the Maternity Garden, while Dan arranged for Bundle Joy to assist them. On May 25th though, Pinkie went into labor. Unlike the rest of us though, when Pinkie went into labor, the time was 11:35am!
One minute Pinkie was ok and behind the counter at Sugarcube Corner, and the next, she felt her first contractions. "Ough! I think little Angie's coming!" (Dan and Pinkie decided to name their daughter Angelina. Angelina Pie Lewis.)
Luckily, Mrs. Cake was close by, and while she helped Pinkie to the hospital, Mr. Cake ran down the street to the Big Boy Cafe where Dan was working to tell him the news.
"Dan, Dan!"
Dan looked up from the grill. "Hmm? Oh, Mr. Cake. What's wrong?"
"It's Pinkie! She just went into labor!"
"What?!" Dan, Cole and Missy, as well as the rest of the staff and customers who were eating their food all looked at Mr. Cake.
Dan then swung into action. "Right! Just give me a minute to wash my hands, and then I'm coming!" Dan did so, but in his haste to get to his wife, he forgot to take off his apron, and he had the hat that he wore while cooking still on his head too!
After Dan was gone, Cole took his place at the grill. "Hmm, well that's 3 down, and now only Dash's twins are left I guess."
Missy nodded. "Yeah, I guess so Cole. However, I wonder who'll be next to have kids."
Cole could tell what Missy was thinking about. They had been trying for a child, but were unfortunately told by a doctor that Missy was unable to bear children. Missy was devastated, although she brightened up a bit when Cole suggested that they try to adopt when they felt that the time was right.
"Yeah, I don't know Missy. However, if I had to guess, then I'd say that it would probably be Rarity and Andy, as they've been talking about it for a while now."
"Maybe so Cole, or maybe it'll be Don and Twilight." They both then got back to work, all while waiting for any news from Dan about Pinkie.
For Pinkie, her time in labor was just like any other day. Like her friends, she gave birth nude, and she didn't feel too much pain either. She could also barely sit still she was so excited to give birth!
"Come on little Angie! We're all ready for you out here! PLEASE come on out! I'm DYING TO SEE YOU!!!!"
Dan was getting a bit worried. "Wait, Pinkie, calm down a bit! You're probably scaring her! Here, let me try something that Captain Leopard told me that he tried with his wives to get their foals to stop kicking."
He then leaned his head against Pinkie's belly, and whispered softly to his daughter. "Please, come on out little Angie. Like your mommy said, we're all VERY eager to see you! So could you be a good little foal, and come on out?"
In response, a clear, gooey fluid came out of Pinkie, and landed on Dan's apron!
Bundle Joy was very surprised. "Wow, I can't believe that that worked! Pinkie's water just broke Dan, and now your daughter's just minutes away from coming out!"
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Dan helped Bundle Joy ease their daughter along, and soon little Angie was brought into the world. Unlike the others, she immediately began to cry, at least until Pinkie began to lick her clean.
"Shh, it's ok Sweetie." Pinkie whispered, "Mommy's here to take such good care of you!"
Little Angie then stopped crying, and began to gently suckle from her mother. Dan then saw that she had pinkish-red fur, a somewhat curly brown mane and tail, and green eyes.
"So, so beautiful!" Dan whispered. Since he was still wearing his work clothes, he decided not to hold his daughter just yet, although Angie DID reach over towards him, giggling a bit!
"Aww, she wants to see her Daddy!"
After removing his apron, as well as his shirt, Dan did hold his new daughter. When he did, she immediately snuggled into his arms.
"Angelina Pie Lewis, or Angie. Such a fitting name, for such a cute foal!"
Angie then burped a bit, just like Alex Jr did, and then Pinkie, Dan, Bundle Joy and the Cakes all laughed a bit.
When we could, we all came by to see the happy couple and their new daughter, and just like the other times, we were all SO happy for them!
Dash kept waiting and waiting for her turn. She was actually due by the second week of May, but by June 5th, just 3 days shy of the second anniversary of our arrival in Equestria, her foals STILL showed no signs of being born!
"They seem to not want to come out Mrs. Dash." Dr. Karen told her.
"And what can be done about that? PLEASE don't say that I have to have a C-section done!"
Dr. Karen shook her head. "No, nothing that drastic! However, since your foals are now rather late, I will be prescribing you drugs that will send you into labor."
Dash then turned to me. "Well then Stud, I guess we'd better call home and have Daring and Spitfire get everything ready."
I nodded. "Yeah, and I'll contact Bundle Joy too."
Dash then turned back to Dr. Karen. "So, will you give me the drugs now, and if so, how long until they take effect?"
Dr. Karen then finished writing something up, before handing a small bottle of yellow liquid to Dash. "Just go to whatever arrangements that you have for having your foals, drink this, then wait 2 hours or so, and then you should be in labor. If not, contact me and I'll give you a stronger dose."
Dash looked at the bottle that she'd been given. "Ok, whatever you say Doc." She and I then headed home in order to prepare.
As I've said before, Dash wanted to have her foals be born in the sky, just like she was. In the end, she decided to have them at home, and if the weather was permissible, (she was going to make SURE that it was!) she would have them on one of our house's balconies. In the end, Dash chose the one that was closest to the pool room, so that she could use the hot tub when her labor started if she wanted to. Out on the balcony, Dash wanted a cloud mattress covered in her favorite blankets, as well as PLENTY of cloud pillows to keep herself propped up on!
Once we were home, Spitfire helped me get this ready, while Dash helped Daring take care of Amber and Midnight. Daring also wanted her daughters to be present at the birth of their "cousins" if at all possible, so she was hoping for them to be born during waking hours.
"I'll probably try to time it so that I give birth close to sunset", Dash told her. "That's when I was born, and I REALLY want history to repeat itself!"
Daring nodded, and when the time was right, Dash drank the liquid that Dr. Karen had given her. To her surprise, it didn't taste bitter, but instead tasted like lemon!
"Hmm, lemon flavored. And now I guess that I just have to wait the 2 hours until the drug's supposed to kick into gear. The time's now about 5pm, so by about 7 I could FINALLY be in labor!"
I then hugged her gently. "Yeah, and then my daughter and my son will be brought into the world!"
Dash hugged me back. "Yes. Skyler Cobalt, and Misty Cloud! The best son and daughter ever, and hopefully the first of MANY more foals Stud!" (Dash seemed to want a huge family, while Daring was content to just have her twin daughters, and Spitfire said that she would be content with only 1 or 2 foals as well).
Dash's parents were also present, and were DYING to see their grandchildren just as soon as Dash was done giving birth to them.
"How much longer Dashie?" Windy asked her.
"Hopefully soon Mom. The 2 hours is almost up, so I'm REALLY hoping that I finally go into labor!"
"Me too Hun!" Her dad then hugged her.
Her parents did back off a bit, and gave Dash her space. Dash had removed her robe, and was sitting nude on her blanketed mattress with pillows. I sat close to her, Bow and Windy were sitting inside of the house, Daring was nursing her daughters, Aurora wandered out with Briana sitting on her back, and Spitfire arrived with Bundle Joy a while later.
ALL of us were waiting to see what would happen when the 2 hours would be up. Would Dash FINALLY go into labor, or would she need another dose from Dr. Karen?
As I was lying with Dash, the sun was beginning to set, and she STILL showed no signs of going into labor!
"Ugh, this is getting RIDICULOUS! What's it gonna take to get these little guys out of me?!"
Bundle Joy shook her head. "It's been a while since I've seen this. I can tell you with a fair amount of certainty that nothing is wrong, but yet the foals themselves don't want to come out."
"And is there anything that can be done about that?" Dash still had a hand over her face. "Because I do NOT want to have to wait another 2 hours for another drug to kick in!"
Bundle Joy sighed. She then opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then she just closed it again. Although after seemingly thinking it over again, she spoke. "Well, there IS one method that can be tried, and there's no real risk of anything bad happening, as the foals ARE about a month overdue now!"
"What is it Bunny?" I asked her.
Bundle Joy blushed a bit, and she seemed to be embarrassed. "Well.......t-the truth is...........you could always try to break her water Captain Leopard."
I looked at her a bit confused. "Ok, and how do I do that?"
"Eh......by..........well............" She then made motions with her hands, indicating that she wanted me to have sex with Dash.
Both Dash and I looked at each other in surprise, but before either of us could say anything, I suddenly heard Briana start snickering. I saw that she had a paw over her mouth, but that she was CLEARLY enjoying Bundle Joy's suggestion!
I looked up at Bunny. "And you're SURE that there's no risk with that?"
"Well, as long as you don't push TOO deep inside of her, then no, I don't think that there is. Plus, your foals are fully formed, and NEED to come out. If you don't want to do any more drugs, then I say try that."
I looked at Dash, but all she did was nod. I then looked to the others. "Just......leave, and close the doors to the balcony. I'll call you if anything happens."
They all nodded, and then Daring, Spitfire, Bundle Joy, and even Dash's parents went back inside of the house, and shut the doors behind them. I then saw Aurora and Briana.
"You guys too, and that DOES mean you too DELCI if you're in that little box on Aurora's collar as well!"
Aurora looked up at me. "Aww, do I have to Master?"
"Well, you can stay, but definitely NOT Briana, and no to you DELCI as well!"
DELCI just seemed to sigh. "Ok, fine. I've seen you do this enough times anyway!" She then seemed to leave.
"Yeah, but I'M Life! I'm not going anywhere!"
I looked at her. "Briana, you've been nothing but a PAIN ever since we first met back in the Lunar Shrine of Romance, and you CONTINUE to be a pain! But, even if I just threw you out of here, you'd probably just teleport back in anyway, so fine! Just as long as you stay back, you can stay too."
Briana squeed, before running over, and jumping into my arms. "Eee! Thank you Leopard! You're the best!"
"Yeah, and I'm REALLY glad that you're the size of a house cat right now, or else It would be REALLY hard for me to hold you!"
Briana just giggled a bit, before trotting over to one of the other chairs on the balcony, and sitting down on it. Aurora just sat down where she was, and both of them waited to see what would happen next.
Soon, once Dash was ready she told me to be REALLY careful!
"Please be REALLY careful with me Stud! Even though there's only a low risk of an issue, I do NOT want anything bad to happen!"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know Dashie, and I'll be careful!" Then, after I stripped, Dash leaned back on her mattress and pillows, and after spreading her legs, I gently placed my member up close to her wet snatch, before gently pushing into her.
"Ngh!" She moaned, biting her finger.
"You ok Dashie?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Stud! Still be careful though."
"I will. I just have to work at this slowly. First I'll see if we can gently stimulate your water breaking, and then if that doesn't work, I'll try ramming it." I then began to gently thrust in and out of her.
"Wow, I NEVER thought that my labor and delivery would be like this!"
"Well, we're not QUITE there yet Dashie, but I guess that this could qualify as pre-labor and delivery!"
Dash was maybe about to reply, but then Briana, who was getting bored, decided to move things along. She suddenly got the BEST idea for a new joke, and she then whispered it to Aurora, who began to tell it.
"Hey Master?"
"Yeah Aurora?"
"Here's a good idea for a joke. Twist it, pull it, flick it, spin it!"
I was getting confused. "Um, how's that a joke Aurora?"
"Hang on, I'm getting to it. Just work your rhythm as I tell it!"
"Ok......?" I then began to thrust in tandem to how Aurora was telling me to.
"Ngh, um, Stud, I think I might have just felt my first contraction! Whatever you're doing, it's working!"
I was about to reply, all while in my head, I was trying to figure out what Aurora was hinting at. I knew that it was a toy, and it was at the edge of my memory, but I couldn't remember what it was. Then Aurora got to the meat of the joke.
At the same moment I got the "joke" being about Aurora imitating the old BOP IT! toy, her yelling "BREAK IT!!!!" caused me to both laugh and jump a bit, both of which caused me to ram deeply into Dash, before blowing a load into her!
"Ough!" Dash moaned. She then felt something break inside of her, and a river of fluids pushed out my load. "Stud! You just broke my water!"
I was confused, and glad at the same time. "Well, sorry for just ramming into you like that, but yet not sorry for finally breaking your water! Oh, and you're not hurt right?"
"No, I'm fine, but I think that one of our twins just entered the birth canal, so you'd better get the others out here!"
"Right!" I then went to open the doors, and the rest of the gang came back outside.
Once I did that, while Daring, Spitfire and our twins watched, Dash's parents filmed, Bunny helped me clean up the mess that Dash and I had made! Dash meanwhile was getting ready to start pushing out Misty and Skyler.
"You're doing great Mrs. Dash, just keep pushing!"
Dash gave Bunny a queer look. "You say that like I'm in pain. I feel GREAT right now!"
I then wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. "Are you being serious Dash, or was that sarcasm?"
She shook her head. "No, I really DO feel great right now Stud! It just feels like I'm in the middle of an intense lower-body workout!"
I just shrugged. Dash CLEARLY seemed to be enjoying herself while she gave birth, and I was happy for her. Bow and Windy were THRILLED to be watching their daughter become a mother herself, and even little Amber and Midnight were seemingly watching intently as well!
Then, just as the sun was almost ready to fully set, Dash lay onto her left side, and after raising one of her legs, she continued to push, while Bunny and I helped ease our foals along. This time for our efforts, a small, furry little head appeared, then thanks to the massive amounts of fluids acting as a lubricant, the rest of a foal quickly followed! Moments later, to the surprise of us all, the other one followed! Then, once Bunny cut the umbilical cords, Dash began to lick her foals clean.
For what it was worth, neither of them cried very much, and soon they snuggled close to their mother, and began to suckle from her. As they did, I got a look at my son and daughter. What I saw was rather interesting. My son had bluish-gray fur and a black tail, but his mane was rainbow-colored! I also saw that he had tiny little black feathery wings, furry little Bat-Pony ears, tiny fangs, and deep blue eyes with cat-like pupils.
My daughter had dark blue fur, a rainbow-colored mane and tail, although in addition to looking like Dash's mane and tail, there was a black streak in her mane as well. She had little feathery wings, as well as deep blue eyes with normal pupils. It was then that I realized that ALL 4 of my kids had the same eye color as me, just give and take 2 of them having the cat-like pupils that all Bat-Ponies have!
"Wow, all of my kids have the same eyes as me, just give and take the Bat-Pony pupils on 2 of them!"
Dash shook her head. "Yeah, that's kind of interesting Stud! But at any rate though, I'm just glad Misty and Skyler are out of me now, and into the world!"
"Wait, what are their names?" Windy asked.
Dash looked at her mom. "Our daughter's name is Misty Cloud, and our son is Skyler Cobalt."
"Skyler and Misty. Such perfect names, for such perfect foals!"
"Yeah, I'll say!" Her dad agreed. Both Dash's parents then took their turns holding their new grandson and granddaughter.
After looking at her new niece and nephew, Spitfire sighed a bit. "Well, after seeing this, I MIGHT consider having foals sooner, but yet I'll still need more time to think about it."
I looked up at her. "Take all of the time that you need Spitsy, as foals ARE a lifetime commitment after all, at least for the first 18 years!"
She gave me a look. "Yeah, and THAT'S what I'm afraid of!"
Dash laughed. "Well, take your time Spitsy, you have a bit longer yet."
"Yeah!" Windy added. "Most mares can have foals well into their 40's, and some even longer than that! You're only in your late 20's, so you still have time!"
"Yeah, 'only in my late 20's'. Thanks for reminding me how old I am!" I heard her mutter.
I then took my turn holding my new son and daughter, before handing them back to Dash.
Over the course of the next year or so, we all had our responsibilities with our kids. We took care of them, and helped them on their way to being 2 years old. Sure, there were a LOT of sleepless nights, dirty diapers, REALLY angry newbie-moms, a really angry 2nd wife deprived of sex due to her husband helping to care for the twins of wives 1 and 3, a lot of heartache at times, and all around those of us with kids learning how to be parents.
Throughout it all though, many of us continued to think about our lives on Earth. What really DID happen after the Battle of Las Vegas? Were the Futas destroyed, or had they gained ground again? Did WW6 end, and if so, when? It was coming up on 3 years since the battle of Vegas back in 2029, and it was now early June of 2032. The battle anniversary was on June 8th, and little did we all suspect, something else was coming to Equestria. Something that would begin to change our lives forever!
Chapter 23: Old Desert, Looking Back, Wabash Cannonball!
Location: Old Desert Battlefield, outside of what used to be Las Vegas, Nevada Date: Tuesday, June 8th, 2033 Time: 11:33am
Near the site of the old battlefield where the battle for Las Vegas was fought, a worn out figure stood. He was accompanied by a female, as well as a number of other Americans, and they all made their yearly pilgrimage out to this site so that they could pay their respects to the fallen and the missing.
"4 years since the Battle of Vegas, and less than 2 since WW6 finally came to an end. The war's over, but in the end, was it really worth it?"
One of those with the figure, a soldier, looked up at him. "Um, C-Colonel?"
"Yes Private?"
"If you don't mind my asking Sir, why do you and your wife always insist on coming out here to this God-forsaken hellscape on this day? Did you lose someone during the Battle of Las Vegas?"
The figure looked down at himself. He was missing his left arm, which had been replaced with a metal prosthetic. He had also lost his left eye, which had also been replaced with a prosthetic. His once blonde hair had been bleached white from radiation, and his body was covered with burns and scars. He was dressed in a faded, worn out military uniform of the US Marine Corps, with patches from Unit 5. He also looked over at his wife. She was pretty scarred up, but she still had all limbs intact.
Finally, he sighed. "Yes Private, I did. I lost my brother that day."
The Private was surprised. He had never even heard his colonel mention having any family who survived WW4.
"You....had a brother here? What unit was he with?"
"He was with the Railway Warfare Division. He was a captain assigned to the Battleship Express."
"The deadliest weapon ever to ride the rails! And the greatest unsolved mystery of the entire war."
"Yes, the disappearance of the Battleship Express, as well as Iron Glory, are very baffling indeed. If they had been destroyed, some parts of the train were built to withstand even a direct nuclear blast; we should have found something, but we never did."
"And, if you don't mind my asking Sir, what was your brother's name?"
The Colonel sighed. "His name............was Captain Leopard, and he was the train's 2nd Engineer."
While the private was still in a state of shock, the Colonel and his wife made their way over to a memorial that had been built next to the Vegas Memorial to honor those who had crewed both the Battleship Express and Iron Glory, as well as the soldiers of Battalion 4009, which was stationed on the train as well. The memorial itself was shaped like Big Boy 4009 and Iron Glory, and on walls next to them were the names of the crew.
"Captain Leopard, 2nd Engineer. Brother of Colonel Dren R. Campbell."
He traced his finger over it. Then he let his mind slip back to that day 4 years earlier.
Dren and I had never been close, and the fact that he was 3 years younger than me didn't help. (I was now 28, he was 25). WW4 changed all of that. While I was still fighting with the US Army, he became a freedom fighter, before eventually enlisting with the US Marines. Eventually, towards the end of the war, he was knocked unconscious during the Battle of Detroit, and went into a coma. He slept through the end of WW4, all of WW5, as well as the Futa's rise to power, and the first half of WW6, until he finally reawakened during the Second Cold War. He firmly believed his brother to be dead, just as I believed of him. However, he eventually began to learn otherwise.
Countless times he heard the stories of the Battleship Express, and the exploits of its crew. They were the flagship train of the RWD, and were the most well-known of all the US Forces. Eventually, just prior to the Battle of Vegas, Dren was tasked with leading the Marines and Night Stalkers to retake the Hoover Dam. Once this mission was successful, he was tasked with helping to hold the dam.
He also heard that I was being sent to Vegas. "Ok Bro, just get through this battle, and we'll finally meet up again. I promise."
Unfortunately though, that chance never came.
Location: Las Vegas Nevada Date: June 8th, 2029 Time: 7:45am
The battle for Vegas began in full swing. In time, it seemed like the US forces were going to prevail. From his headquarters inside of the Hoover Dam, Dren watched on a digital map as the battle unfolded.
"Heh, give em' hell Boys!"
Suddenly though, the bombs began to fall as "Operation Fireball" was initiated. It was during the blasts that raged all around his HQ that Dren lost his arm, eye, and a lot of flesh as he tried to close an exterior steel blast door to protect others inside the Dam with him. His hair was also bleached almost white by the radiation following the blasts. He was found and dragged to safety deeper inside by other survivors of his unit inside the Dam, but the damage had already been done. He was one of only 35 survivors of his entire unit. All who had been outside the Dam when the bombs dropped were dead.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Battleship Express was supposed to have arrived to provide medical assistance for Army Unit 7, and we had said that we were making fast tracks to their location, but we'd never reached our destination.
"BATTLESHIP EXPRESS!!! WE NEED YOU OUT HERE!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?!?!"
*Static*
"BATTLESHIP EXPRESS, PLEASE RESPOND, OVER!!!!"
*Static*
"Why won't they answer?!"
The general in charge of the US forces, General Charles Sumner, buried his face in his hands. "Perhaps.....because they cannot answer the radio anymore Sergeant Davis; just like how Nellis AFB just went dark. It's scary to think, my HQ was there, but I left it to be out here. Now I see that that decision may have just saved my life. But we have to get out of here, and to a shelter now, or we may yet join the fallen before our time!"
"Yes Sir!"
General Sumner and Sargent Davis both then sought shelter in the nearest fallout shelter alongside others from various US Military units, and waited for the radioactive sandstorms to pass them by.
On the Futa end of things, everyone in Vegas, Henderson, and the surrounding areas were believed to be lost as well. No replies came from the Empress, or any of her subordinates, so the few Futas who remained were forced to assume the worst.
Las Vegas, as well as most, if not all of the surrounding area, in addition to a number of sites in the rest of Nevada in and around Reno and Carson City, were all either pulverized, or partially buried by radioactive sandstorms. The entire area around Vegas would be radioactive for some time after all the radioactive dust/sandstorms ended. In fact, the explosive finale to the Battle of Vegas was so shocking that for the longest time afterwards, nothing happened. Both sides literally stood still from June 8th, all the way to August 12th! After that day though, WW6 was already a foregone conclusion. By early February of 2030, the Futas had been removed from the US, and less than 2 years later were eradicated from their final strongholds in Eastern Europe and Asia. Their entire race had been almost completely wiped from all of existence, never to be seen again.
The war was over, but the survivors knew that the scars from it would never heal. The most recent of the world orders had been toppled, and was replaced by the governments that existed before the rise of the Futas. Finally, the efforts dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure, and repopulating the Earth could begin. "Operation Undertail", as it came to be known went into effect with steady results. It was estimated that in about 10-15 years (2042-2047), world population would be over 3 billion again, approaching 3.5 billion.
The area around Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Nellis AFB, and the rest of southern Nevada really, once the fallout had been contained, became something of a holy site prior to them being rebuilt/refurbished. A number of memorials were built to honor those who had been killed in the fighting, and many visited them.
However, even with the war over, a number of mysteries still lingered. The greatest of these were the fates of the Battleship Express and Iron Glory. 5 years later, it was still an unsolved mystery.
Colonel Dren looked up from his flashback.
"Are.....you ok Babe?" Dren's wife Olivia asked him.
He looked at her. "I don't know Olivia. I just...........I want to know what happened to my brother! How does an entire gosh-damn train that size just straight up vanish?! IT JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN!!!! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!"
"As do I, Colonel Campbell." A voice behind them said quietly.
Dren turned, and standing behind him was another soldier and his crew. Dren recognized him as Commander Tim Curry. His younger brother was Major Don Curry, the man in charge of the Battleship Express. Like Dren and I, Tim and Don were bitter rivals, and they never seemed to get along.
"Hello Commander Curry."
"Colonel, Mrs."
"Commander."
"So I take it that you too have come to pay your respects to the fallen?"
Tim nodded slowly. "Yes. Even though my brother Don and I didn't really see eye to eye on anything, I had a great respect for him. He was a great man, and I'd give ANYTHING in the world to know what happened to him!"
"As would I Commander."
Tim then shook his head. "And I KNOW that you're gonna call me crazy for this, but I heard a rumor that MIGHT solve the mystery of what happened."
Dren looked at him. "Oh, and what's that?"
Tim sighed. "Well, according to some scientists, they believe that close by here, on the track that the Battleship Express was on during the battle, a set of lay-lines cross directly below the tracks. The theory goes that the nuclear strikes, as well as the storms that followed, energized the lay-lines, causing a MASSIVE field of energy to be created, and from this energy, a doorway to another dimension was opened. The Battleship Express then passed through, followed closely by Iron Glory. The door then shut behind them, sealing them inside of whatever dimension that they found themselves in."
"And......do you believe that this theory is true?"
"Well, what OTHER explanation is there that makes any sense as to how both trains just up and vanished without a trace?"
Dren sighed. "Well........I......don't know. I mean, Leopard DID always keep spouting nonsense about the 'Multiverse Theory', but I always insisted that he was crazy. I still don't know what to think, but yet..........I just know that SOMETHING happened, and I aim to find out what!"
"As do I Colonel. In the meantime though, would you be interested in seeing our train?"
Dren nodded slowly. "Yes, I've ALWAYS wanted to see the SECOND most infamous war train of all time!"
"Well then, right this way!"
Tim Curry then led the way back to his train.
When they arrived a few moments later, Dren beheld the engine of the infamous "Wabash Cannonball".
"Southern Pacific Daylight 4449, otherwise known as the 'Wabash Cannonball'!"
Tim nodded. "Yep! Finest passenger train in the world! Pulling 24 cars behind her, and ALL of them loaded with guns! We brought the hurt to the Futas first, and the history books will ALWAYS remember that!"
"Yeah, maybe. But I still think that the Battleship Express was a better train, followed closely by the 'Rail Dreadnought', pulled by Santa Fe 5000 and Union Pacific 9000. I mean, it WAS the original 'Battleship Train' after all!"
Tim shot him a glare. "Sure, MAYBE if you were talking about the best of the DREADNOUGHT type of train! Those trains were MADE to be like battleships! HOWEVER, in regards to the best in what could best be considered a light cruiser, there was the Wabash Cannonball!"
"Yeah, and didn't you STEAL this train from that museum in Portland, Oregon?" Olivia asked suspiciously.
Tim put a hand over his face. "NO!!!!! We did NOT steal this train! For the LAST TIME, we were the crew who MAINTAINED IT in Portland, Oregon! When the series of world wars started up, we moved the train to save it just before Portland was nuked in WW4! Then, once we saw a chance to fight back in the West against the Futas, we took that chance!"
Dren then looked up at Tim. "And, any chance of us getting to see the inside of the train? I'd love to say that I was able to do that!"
"Sure thing, follow me!" He then led the way to the train.
Once they reached it, Tim led the way into a car about 1/4th of the way into the train. It looked like it used to be a lounge coach, but now was full of tables, chairs, a few couches, beanbag chairs, and even a few TV's and game consoles! In fact the only thing that gave it away as a war train car was the fact that the windows were made of bullet proof glass, and had machine guns poking out of some of them.
"So, I'll take it that this is one of the break rooms?"
"Yes, although it was also used for storage from time to time. Nearly 100 of us lived on the train full-time, so we all needed a place to unwind somehow."
Dren then thought of something. "Also, one other question. I remember hearing that this train went missing during the Battle of Vegas, but was found later. What happened there?"
Tim thought for a second. "Well, we were trying to evacuate like everyone else was, although we took the opposite track that the Battleship Express and Iron Glory took. We also helped some members of the Army Unit 7 and Marine Core Unit 5 who were close to us, however, once the nukes began to fall, and the radioactive dust storms hit, we were not only blown right off of the rails, but we were also partially buried in sand! By the time that we were able to dig ourselves out, the dust had settled, along with the radiation, and thanks to our shielded radios, we were able to radio for help.
It took them nearly 3 days to dig out our train and get it back onto the tracks though, plus another month for repairs. During the repairs though, I heard that my brother was missing, as was the Battleship Express. And like you Colonel, I've NEVER found out what happened to him."
They all continued to talk about this for a while longer.
Meanwhile, further back in the train, a number of other people were talking. These good folks were also family members of Battleship Express crewmen.
Among them were Phil and Joseph Shepherd, the father and brother of Andy Shepherd, Mary Davis, the mother of Todd Davis, Gwen Owens, a cousin of Alex Barkley, and Amanda Lindsey, the sister of Fred Wilkins. They too were seeking answers for what had happened to their loved ones, and why no traces of them had ever been found.
"My Todd had such a bright future", Mary Davis was saying. "He LOVED animals, and was possibly looking into being a veterinarian!"
"Just like my son Andy, although with him, he designed clothes. He was the BEST would-be tailor I ever saw!"
"I've got a similar story. Sure, my cousin Alex WAS a pain sometimes, but he meant well, and he was the 2nd Fireman on the Battleship Express!"
The rest of the family members told similar stories. They loved their loved ones dearly, and now 4 years later, they were STILL missing without ANY trace!
Farther up in the train, Tim was showing Dren the cab of the Cannonball. In there currently was Primary Engineer Bill Blaze, and Primary Fireman Thomas Wilson.
"Wait, you guys don't have a brakeman?"
Bill nodded, but then he shook his head. "Well, we do, but he doesn't ride up in the cab; he rides in the first car behind the second tender. Also during the war there were 2 engine guardsmen up here with us, but ever since the war ended, we don't need them as much as we did before."
Dren nodded. "I can understand that. I mean, this train ain't no Big Boy, but it's from the same era, and it IS very impressive, ESPECIALLY considering how it's survived for as long as it has!"
Tim nodded proudly. "Yeah, she's a good old engine alright. She's pulled us through thick and thin, and she's been everywhere from Seattle to Norfolk! She's also been to Canada, and even Mexico when the war was close to there."
"And how many miles have you clocked up onto her?"
Bill scratched his head, before looking at the odometer. "Eh.....we've clocked up well over 2 million miles now, almost 2.5!"
"Wow. That's.....crazy! So many miles in so few years, but yet it really happened!"
Tim nodded. "Yeah. In a number of years from now, people may try to deny that what we did really happened, but yet as long as we keep the ball rolling and the evidence alive, there's no chance of that happening!"
"Yeah. And with the evidence alive, there'll be no way that people will be able to deny that it really happened!" Dren then thought of something. "And wait, wasn't this train one of the ones that carried aircraft, or am I thinking of a different train?"
"No, we carry aircraft. We have 2 helicopter gunships, as well as 2 A-10 Thunderbolts, and 2 A-10 Warthogs!"
Dren was impressed. "Wow, that's a LOT of firepower! But wait, aren't the Thunderbolts and the Warthogs the exact same plane?"
"Yes and no. Same basic design, but the Warthogs were given a few later model upgrades. Same plane, different name, a few different features. Nevertheless though, STILL the toughest plane of all time to kill!"
Tim and Dren then continued to talk about that for a while longer.
Dren then looked at his watch. "Hmm, after 12pm. It's almost getting close to the time to go home."
Tim looked over at him. "And where were you guys heading again?"
"Back to Kansas City."
"We're heading back that way as well. Wanna cross off, 'getting a chance to ride on the Wabash Cannonball' on your bucket list?"
Dren shrugged. "I'd be ok with that, but I don't know if Olivia would be. I'd have to ask her." Dren then grabbed his small radio. "Hey Olivia, are you there?"
"Here Babe, what is it?"
"Commander Tim wanted to know if we were interested in riding back to KC on this train, instead of the transit train that we used to get here. Do you wanna do that?"
"Sure! I've ALWAYS wanted to be on a war train!"
"Ok, I'll tell him that. Where are you gonna ride?"
"I'll just stay back here with the family members of the Battleship Express crew. Learning their stories is so fascinating. Where will you be?"
"I'll stay up here in the cab with Commander Tim, as well as Primary Engineer Bill Blaze, and Primary Fireman Thomas Wilson."
"Ok sounds good to me Babe!"
Tim then gave the orders for the train to be readied for its trip back to Kansas City.
It did take a while to secure everything, but once it all was, Bill blew the train's whistle, and then the mighty Wabash Cannonball was on the move again.
"Isn't there only one track out of here though Tim?" Dren asked once they were rolling.
Tim nodded. "Yeah. And that was the same track that the Battleship Express was on. In fact, I think that we're going the same direction that they were when they pulled into Vegas!"
"What, really?"
"Yeah. I know that it was this track, and they came at Vegas from the Northeast, which puts them on this track. Somewhere along here was where they were stationed to provide heavy firepower for those trying to storm the city, and then they and Iron Glory were spotted leaving to go help Army Unit 7, but they were never seen again."
"And you thought that it was a good idea to use this track, on the exact same day of the battle?"
Tim just laughed. "What's wrong? Are you paranoid?"
"No, but let's just say that when a train that size just up and vanishes, it makes me more than just a little bit wary!"
Tim just shook his head. "Sure, maybe I lost a brother, but I can GUARANTEE YOU that lightning does NOT strike in the same place twice, although right now, I DARE it too!"
"Just as I dare Fate to show us what happened to our family members, as well as the missing trains!" Both he and Tim laughed about tempting Fate like that.
Unfortunately for them though, Fate heard what they said, and told her sister, Life. Life then went to her father, the Universe, and asked him if she could teach those train crew a lesson. The Universe granted Life's request, and she and Fate decided to intervene on history once again.
While the day was somewhat overcast, suddenly, a large sandstorm began to blow up.
"Whoa! Where did that come from?!"
Bill sighed. "Don't worry about it Colonel Dren. These storms have been happening a lot since the nuclear attack. The ecosystem around here is STILL imbalanced, and will be for MANY years to come! We just have to keep rolling through it!"
"Are we just gonna head right through the sandstorm?"
"Yes. All we gotta do is head right where the tracks are laid out, and they go through the storm, so we will too. It won't be too big of a deal." Bill then kept the train moving through the sandstorm.
"Gosh. This sure brings back a LOT of memories." Tim muttered.
"Yeah, no kidding", Dren added. "Right now, we could even be repeating what happened to the Battleship Express."
Suddenly though, the train began to shudder EXTREMELY violently!
"WHOA!!!!!" Dren and Tim were both thrown off their feet, and Bill and Thomas were almost knocked out of their seats as well!
"Good gravy, what was THAT?!?!?!"
"Probably some debris from the storm! Wind like that has got to be throwing up a LOT of debris!"
Suddenly though, out on the tracks ahead of the train, a huge, swirling black mass appeared. Due to the intensity of the storm, none of those on the train noticed it in time.
"Hey! What's that up ahead?!"
"What's what Tom?" Bill asked.
"THAT!!!!" Thomas pointed to the black mass.
"I don't know! Whatever it is though, it's REALLY weird looking!"
"Bill, stop the train! Something's wrong!" Tim yelled.
"Right!" He then reached for the brake lever and began to pull it back, but all of a sudden, the lever leapt forwards in his hand!
"Hey, I said stop the train!"
"I'm trying to Tim; the controls ain't responding!"
"What?! What do you mean?!"
"I mean that I can't get none of them to work properly!"
Moments after this though, the train hit the black mass, and then once again, history repeated itself. The train began to lurch violently back and forth, and suddenly, there came a wild shower of sparks from the train's wheels, as well as a hideous grinding and screeching noise!
"GAAAHHHH!!!!! TIM, WE'RE COMING OFF THE RAILS!!!!!!!"
"BRACE, BRACE, BRACE!!!!!!!" Tim screamed through the radio to those on the rest of the train. Moments after this though, the entire train lurched forwards, and seemed to derail. All parts of the train seemed to be lifted up off of the rails, before being violently thrown back down again! All of those in the cab hit their heads, and then they all blacked out.
The Wabash Cannonball had been going full speed when she hit the portal, and now she was on her way. On her way to where you ask? Well, history decided that it wanted to repeat itself. Now the Wabash Cannonball, and all of those aboard her, went the way of the Battleship Express and Iron Glory.
They left Earth for the time being, and now would never be seen or heard from again, at least not for a VERY long time!
The Everfree Forest. Home to many strange, and dangerous creatures, as well as being the place from which the Battleship Express emerged from the first time. Now 4 years later, those same tracks were still in place, though they were still just as abandoned now as they were when we first arrived.
At this same time, a pack of Timberwolves was roaming near the tracks. They seemed to be hunting for food, when all of a sudden, a strange breeze suddenly came blowing by. The wolves looked up, but there was nothing close by. An instant later though, from seemingly out of nowhere, a HUGE orange and red blur appeared! 3 of the Timberwolves were killed when the machine that was making the blur collided with them, but the impacts barely even phased it. The Wabash Cannonball had just arrived in Equestria!
All of those aboard her were still unconscious, but the train was moving at a very high speed, which without the aide of Humans was close to 70mph! The train tore through anything in its path before exiting the forest, however, instead of heading through Ponyville like we had done, a switch was set differently, and the Wabash Cannonball was diverted off to the East, taking the long way around Ponyville before heading through it. Many heard what sounded like a train, and when they looked up, they saw a HUGE red and orange engine with a black boiler pulling a long string of red and orange cars behind it. The train was moving VERY fast, and there didn't seem to be anypony driving it!
"Whoa! Who's train is that?"
"I don't know! But whatever it is, it's a train unlike anything that I've ever seen before!"
"There doesn't seem to be anypony driving it either!"
Several of them then went to report the mysterious train that was seemingly running without a crew.
Meanwhile, the train was getting close to Ponyville. The danger here came from the engine's crew being out cold, and nobody at the controls. There was also nobody to blow the whistle to warn those close to the tracks! This was about to prove fatal, as up ahead of the train was a railroad crossing, but this one had gates that opened to allow foot traffic to pass, and then closed again to let trains pass. These gates worked for the 4-way crossing, and at the time the gates were closed to the train tracks! Ponies screamed, and tried to get out the train's way, but not all of them were fast enough! Luckily, nopony was killed, but a number were injured as the train blasted through the gates, sending debris everywhere!
"WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT TRAIN?!?!?!?!" The station master at Ponyville screamed.
Everypony shook their heads though, as none of them had ever seen that train before.
"I'm calling this in! Runaway trains are VERY dangerous!"
However, while all of the drama at the now destroyed railroad crossing was happening, the train continued on its way through Ponyville. Suddenly though, it was switched onto another track, and there ahead of it was Iron Glory! Iron Glory was stopped at a freight depot on the outskirts of Ponyville when the crew suddenly saw the huge train barreling towards them!
"OH SHIT!!!!!"
"TRAIN!!!!"
They all began to scramble clear, but luckily a switch-man switched the tracks ahead of Iron Glory just in time! The massive train passed them without incident.
The crew all looked at it as it passed. "Good night Irene! What in Celestia's name was that?!"
Iron Glory's engineer, Daryl Meers, looked perplexed. "I could have SWORN that that was the Wabash Cannonball, aka Southern Pacific Daylight 4449!"
"But that can't be Daryl; it's still back on Earth!"
"Well then what was THAT?!?! How many trains can you think of that were painted like that?!"
None of them had any answers to that at all. However, they too quickly reported the incident to railway dispatch.
At the office of the Equestrian Railway Dispatch, a large number of reports began to come in of a large orange and red, seemingly unmanned train that was out on the main line close to Ponyville. They were able to pinpoint the train's location, and they tried to contact it, but received only static as a reply.
"Why won't they answer?"
"Several possible reasons. The first is that they don't have a radio. The second is that they're unconscious. The 3rd reason is that they're all dead, and the last possibility is that the train is indeed unmanned."
The lead dispatcher then turned to his staff. "So what do we do here Ponies? We HAVE to stop that train before somepony gets killed!"
"Yes but how?! That things going even FASTER than the Battleship Express was when it arrived here, and THAT train was manned!"
The lead dispatcher thought for a second. "And do we have any other trains in that area?"
Those close to the map screens checked them. "Sir, it seems that all of the trains close by have gotten off the main line until the train passes. They should be safe."
"Ok, that's good. Now then what we need is a Pegasus, or a team of them, to catch up to the train, get into the cab, and stop it!"
"Right! I'll get in touch with Wonderbolt Academy right now. If ANYPONY could catch up to that train, THEY could!"
The dispatchers then began to contact the Wonderbolts, however, what they failed to see was the red dot representing a train moving closer and closer to the unknown train on the same track! If something wasn't done soon, a head on collision would occur!
Up at the Wonderbolt Academy, Spitfire got the call.
"Wonderbolt Academy, Captain Spitfire speaking."
"Captain Spitfire, this is Gear Bolt. I'm a dispatcher at the Equestrian Railway Dispatch Office, and we have a bit of a situation going on."
Spitfire looked worried. "What......kind of a situation?"
"Well Captain, it looks like history's repeating itself. Once again, we have an unknown train running the loop around Ponyville. This time though, the train is smaller than the Battleship Express, as well as painted red and orange."
"And why hasn't it been stopped yet?"
"Because this train is going MUCH faster than the Battleship Express was! It's REALLY booking it, and we haven't been able to catch up to it yet!"
Spitfire swung into action. "Right! And where is the train now?"
"It's running the loop around Ponyville, and it just passed Mile Marker 52. You HAVE to stop it before it derails and kills somepony!"
"Right! We're on it!" Spitfire then grabbed her radio, and sounded the alarm. "Attention all Wonderbolts, attention all Wonderbolts! We've got a bit of a situation on the railroad again!"
"What's going on Spitfire?" Soarin asked.
"Well, it looks like history's repeating itself guys. Once again, we've got an unmanned train running the loop around Ponyville. I just got the call from railway dispatch, and they told us that the train is smaller, and MUCH faster than the Battleship Express was! It's already almost killed a number of Ponies, so we HAVE to stop it before somepony actually gets killed!"
"And do the Humans know about it?"
Spitfire shrugged. "I would assume so, but if not, then dispatch is most likely telling them right now! I mean, I'd tell Stud, but he's out with the Big Boy right now, and given the state of things with this new train, they HAVE to keep the radio lines clear!"
All of the available Wonderbolts then swung into action. After suiting up, they flew out of the academy, and off in the direction of the new train.
"Do you see it?" Spitfire asked the others as they were flying.
"There it is!" Fleetfoot yelled over the roar of the wind. "And damn! That thing's BOOKING IT!!!! It's going even faster than the Battleship Express was! That thing's got to be doing 80mph at LEAST!"
"Well, all we have to do is catch it, get into the cab, and stop it!"
Fleetfoot was about to reply, but then, they heard another whistle off in the distance. This whistle was very deep, and when Spitfire heard it, her blood ran cold. It was the Big Boy 4009!
"THE BIG BOY!!!! IT'S ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH THIS TRAIN!!!!!!"
"WHAT?!?!?!" Fleetfoot and the others looked, and to their horror, the Big Boy was indeed coming down the tracks on a collision course with the new train! If something wasn't done in the next minute or so, there would be a HUGE accident!
Spitfire grabbed her radio, and tried to contact me in the cab of 4009, but all she got was a beeping, indicating that the radio was being used on a different frequency.
"It's no good, he's probably on the radio with dispatch! We HAVE to stop that train now! Lives are at stake!"
She and the other Wonderbolts then flew faster than they did before.
Meanwhile, on another end of the line, Alex, Todd and I had the Big Boy 4009 out on an excursion run. We were pulling 8 coaches behind us, all full of paying passengers. In the past year, we'd FINALLY gotten both the funding that we needed, as well as had 8 coaches built for excursion runs. One of them was a dome car, one was an observation car, 2 were dining cars, and the other 4 were ordinary passenger coaches. They were all painted yellow with gray roofs, and said "Union Pacific Railways" on the sides in red letters. We'd had them made to look like Union Pacific coaches, even though they were slightly smaller than that.
On the train at the time were Daring and Dash; Daring holding Midnight and Amber, and Dash holding Misty and Skyler. Don and Twilight were there too, as were Applejack and Alex jr. Fluttershy and Windy, and Pinkie and Angie. The only ones really missing from the old gang were Rarity and Andy, although this was because they were both so wrapped up in their work, as it was the Summer Season.
"So glad that we could FINALLY get these excursion trips up and running" Alex was saying, "Now Ponies can FINALLY get to see our Big Boy in action, and not from behind a museum barrier!"
I checked our speed. "Well, they have seen it in action before while it was pulling freight trains, and when it was on a maintenance run, but now they can experience it up close and personal!"
"And we can pass this experience off to our kids one day too!" Todd added.
"That's the best part of all Todd. We get to share this with our kids, and one day, maybe they'll even be the next generation of the crew for the Battleship Express!"
Alex and Todd both laughed a bit at what I was saying, but they were laughing in agreement. However, before we could really say anything else, our radio suddenly piped up.
"Big Boy 4009, Big Boy 4009, this is Railway Dispatch, do you copy?"
I grabbed the radio. "Railway Dispatch, this is Big Boy 4009, go ahead."
"BB 4009, we've gotten reports of an unmanned train in your area. The engine is bright orange with a black boiler, and pulling red and orange coaches behind it. The train has so far smashed through a crossing gate, as well as almost ramming Iron Glory!"
I was stunned. "What?! When is that train going to be stopped?!"
"That's what we're working on right now. The Wonderbolts are chasing it down, but we had to inform you about it first."
I thought for a second. "Wait, an orange engine with a black boiler, pulling a train of red and orange coaches? That sounds awfully familiar......" I paused for a second. "But wait a minute, where is the train now?"
"It just passed Mile Marker 50. Where are you boys right now?"
"We just passed Mile Marker 45. We'll be getting off at the next junction and wait for the train to pass."
"No, just stay the course. We'll switch it off at Mile Marker 48."
"Ok, copy that." I was still nervous for our safety, as well as the safety of our passengers.
While I was still talking to dispatch, Alex looked up to the sky. "Look! There's the Wonderbolts!" He pointed up to them. Todd and I both looked out of the windows of the cab, and sure enough, there they were. Led by Spitfire, they were flying off ahead of us.
"Wow, I sure hope that they can get to the train in time."
I nodded. "Yeah, no kidding Todd! However, Ol' Spitsy's leading them, so they should stand a pretty good chance. Plus, that train's gonna be switched off soon, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."
Actually, yes there WAS something to worry about! What Dispatch didn't realize was just how fast the other train was going. By the time that they threw the switch at the next junction, the train had already passed it! It was now on a head on collision course with us, and our trains were only about 3 miles apart and closing fast!
Suddenly from over the roar of our own train, I began to hear another chugging sound as well.
"Hey, do you guys hear that?"
Todd shrugged. "Hear what?"
"I hear it." Alex finished. "It sounds like another train!"
"That's what I was thinking too. Where's that coming from?"
Alex shrugged. "I don't know. It sounds like it's coming from close by, but we're the only train out here right now."
I then looked out ahead of us again, and suddenly, to my horror, from around a bend up ahead of us came a train! It was coming right at us at a VERY high rate of speed!
"TRAIN!!!!!!" I screamed.
"Where?!" Todd looked out of the window on my side, while Alex looked on his side. To our horror, there was indeed a train coming at us, and it was coming fast!
"SHIT!!!!!" I then blasted the Big Boy's whistle, trying desperately to warn the other train. I also began to slam on the brakes!
"WE'RE GONNA HIT!!!!" Todd screamed.
I looked around, but the only thing that I could see that would save us was a junction, but it only would have worked for us to be switched off the main line, and NOT the oncoming train! We were now seconds away from a MAJOR collision!
"OH GOD, SAVE US!!!!!" I braced then braced for impact.
Suddenly though, I saw a signal-pony quickly run towards the tracks, before switching us off the main line just in the nick of time! Our train went onto the side track, while the other train shot by in a blur of orange and red, just missing our back observation car by literal inches, before the Signal Pony switched the tracks back!
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!??!?!?!"
I was still very pale. "I don't know Alex, but I would have SWORN that that was Southern Pacific Daylight 4449, also known as the Wabash Cannonball!"
"But how?! How could they be here in Equestria?!"
I shrugged. "I don't know Todd." Once I brought the train to a full stop though, I then began to reverse it once the switch was thrown again.
"What are you doing Leopard?!"
"We're going after that train Alex! I saw that the rear knuckle was open, so all we have to do is catch it, couple up to the rear, and then race to the front! I saw the cab, and it looked to be empty!"
Todd and Alex knew that my plan was risky, but yet we HAD to stop that other train before somepony got killed! Once we were moving in reverse, and Todd was letting the passengers to the situation, I suddenly got a call over my radio.
"Stud?! STUD!!!! ARE YOU THERE?!?!??!" It was Spitfire.
I grabbed the radio. "I'm here Spitsy! We're all ok!"
"Thank Celestia Stud! I thought for SURE that you were gonna hit!"
"So did we Spits! Luckily, somepony switched us off the main line just in the nick of time!"
"Yeah, but what are you guys doing now?! Why are you going backwards after the train?!"
"Because we HAVE to stop it!"
"That's what WE'RE doing Stud! You guys have passengers! You need to back off now!"
"Negative Spits, we're not gonna back off until we can couple our last coach to the rear knuckle on their train!"
Spitfire kept trying to reason with me, but we were still going to try and couple up to it. Suddenly though, one of the other Wonderbolts looked at the train. To her surprise, there were sparks coming from the wheels!
"CAPTAIN!!! That other train may be stopping! There's sparks flying from the train's wheels!"
Spitfire looked, and sure enough, the orange and red train WAS stopping!
"STUD!!! THAT OTHER TRAIN'S STOPPING! HIT THE BRAKES NOW!!!!!"
I looked out the window, and I saw that she was right! "ON IT BABE!!!!" I then SLAMMED on the engine's brakes, while Todd worked with the controls for the brakes on the rest of the train!
Soon, we were able to bring our train to a stop maybe 10 feet behind the other train. Once we stopped, Todd went to ensure that the passengers were ok, while Alex and I quickly climbed out of the cab. As we were walking back towards the other train, Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts landed close to us.
Stud!" Spitfire ran over to me and pulled me into a hug. "Stud, are you ok?!"
I hugged her back. "Yeah Spitsy, I'm fine. We're all fine, even our passengers. Also, the other train is stopped, and hopefully will NOT be a threat anymore!"
Before Spitfire could really answer me though, Don came running back to us.
"Are you guys ok?!"
I looked at him. "Yeah Don, we're ok. Saw my whole life flash before my very eyes, but overall we're fine!"
He then looked at the other train. "Any idea who's train that is?"
I shrugged. "I don't know Don. I would SWEAR that it's the SP Daylight 4449, but I'm still not sure. Also, I thought that the train was unmanned, but then if that was the case, how did the train stop on its own?"
"I'd say either magic, or maybe there ARE guys over there, but they were unconscious until recently."
Alex and I then looked first at each other, and then back at him. "So, what do we do now? Do we go and see who's up in the train's cab?"
"Yes, but I think that we should be armed just in case. We still don't know what we're dealing with." Todd then stayed with the passengers, while Don, myself, Alex, and a few other Battalion 4009 Soldiers who responded to the disturbance began to walk over to the other train, to see what it was all about.
When we reached it, we were indeed in for a shock. Sure enough, the red and orange coaches still had the words "Southern Pacific" written on them in white letters. We also saw that some of the windows had guns sticking out of them, and farther up in the train we saw freight cars that had artillery guns on them as well.
Don looked like he was in shock. "No......it....just can't be! How can this be the Cannonball?! I could have SWORN that it was destroyed during the nuclear counterattack!"
We all kept walking, but we still didn't meet anyone. Eventually, Don, myself and Alex were close to the cab, when we suddenly heard movement, as well as coughing, and several voices talking at once.
Don still wasn't taking any chances. He readied his gun, and told the rest of us to do the same. "Hey! All of you in the cab! Throw out any weapons, and get down here with your hands up!"
All movement in the cab ceased for a moment. Then, a figure with dark hair, brown eyes, and wearing green camouflage stuck his head out, before swinging out of the cab, and landing on the ground. He was followed by what I guessed were the train's engineer and fireman, and all of them were armed too.
The leader seemed to glare at us. "Now then, who the hell are all of you, and where the hell are we?!"
Don looked like he was going to faint. "No.......NO!!!!! I-i-it can't be you!"
The leader looked closer at him. "Wait........no..........D-Don?!"
"Tim......."
Tim then smirked a bit. "So, you survived after all, did you Don? I should have known that my little brother would have pulled through!"
Don glared at his brother a bit. "Just as I should have figured that YOU didn't die in Vegas Tim! However, I HAVE to know, what's the current state of America? Did we win, or did we lose?"
Tim smiled. "Well, good news Don, we won! By November, we got the Futas out of the US mainland, with Hawaii being retaken a few weeks later. Europe was cleansed of their filth a year later, and within 2 years their last Asian garrison fell. It heavily cost us, and EVERYONE thought that you guys were dead, but overall, we won!" Tim then looked around him. "And where the heck are we?! Did we REALLY cross over some lay-lines or something?!"
Don smirked a bit. "You might wanna sit down for that one Tim, as I know that you're NOT gonna believe this one in a million years!"
Tim then sighed a bit. "Well, is there a place that we can go to compare notes, as I'm assuming that we have a LOT to talk about!"
Don nodded, although before he could, Twilight came running up to him. This was slightly difficult for her, as she was about 4 months pregnant at the time with their son!
"Don! Are you ok?!"
Don turned, and she rushed into his arms. "Yeah, I'm fine Twi. Nothing to worry about."
Twilight then noticed Tim standing close by. When she saw him, her jaw hit the ground! "Wait, MORE Humans just arrived?!"
Don nodded. "Yeah, they did Twi. I'd like you to meet my older brother, Commander Tim Curry. Tim, this is my wife, Twilight."
Tim stepped up and shook her hand. "A pleasure to meet you Twilight. And no, I'm NOT going to be freaking out! I've seen MANY stranger things than multi-colored, talking, bipedal, equine beings! Plus, we came through a portal to another universe; shouldn't this be expected?"
Twilight shrugged, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. And did I hear you say Don that we have a lot to talk about?"
He nodded. "Yes, and Twilight, you should probably inform the Princesses about this, as they need to know that we now have MORE Humans here in Equestria!"
Twilight nodded, and once Tim explained a bit more about himself, his crew, and his train, Don turned back to his brother, and she had Spike take a letter.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Just a little while ago, another train with Humans in it arrived in Equestria! The train is a lot smaller than the Battleship Express, but it's also a LOT faster! The train was once a passenger train pulled by Southern Pacific Daylight 4449. The engine is red and orange with a black boiler, and the cars are red and orange with black roofs. Said train is also a war train, commanded by Commander Tim Curry, the brother of my husband, Major Don Curry!
According to Commander Tim, this train gained infamy under the name 'Wabash Cannonball'. It was a train that first brought hurt to the Futas, and had a high kill-count. According to Don though, (and I'm more inclined to believe him!) he said that his brother and his crew practically stole their train from a railroad museum in the American State of Oregon, refitted it with weapons, and used it to fight against the Futas. However, they had no oversight, and answered to no one really. The Railway Warfare Division tried to keep a handle on them, but this was met with mixed results.
We've also learned that 'WW6' against the Futas that the Battleship Express crew fought in is now over, and has been for nearly 4 years now. By the end of 2029 the war was out of America, and less than 2 years later it was all over everywhere else. The Futas have been eradicated, and even though Las Vegas and the surrounding areas were heavily damaged, their sacrifices were not in vain.
I assume that you will be wanting to meet these new arrivals, so we're moving their train to the railway station in Ponyville. I will be eagerly awaiting your reply to this letter.
Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle"
Spike then took the letter, and after blowing his magic fire on it, he sent it on its way to Canterlot.
Up in Canterlot at the time, Celestia, Luna and a few other nobles, including Prince Blueblood, were discussing Equestrian relations with the Griffon Kingdom. While the Griffons were supposedly neutral in the war, a number of them under Colonel Bruno had been fighting with the Imperial Alliance. All of the Griffons who had turned against their nation were either executed, or were sentenced to life in a prison mine. Relations were improving, but they could still come to a standstill every now and again. At the time they were all discussing a possible trade agreement, though Blueblood was whining like always.
Just as Celestia was about to ask him to just shut up, a letter suddenly appeared before her. "Huh? What's this?" She opened the letter.
"What is it Dear Sister?" Luna asked.
Celestia's jaw hit the floor. "My word! ANOTHER train of Humans just pulled into Ponyville Station, and this train's commanded by the brother of our very own Major Don Curry!"
"WHAT?!?!?!?!" The others in the room were shocked!
"More Humans?! It was bad enough when those..........PEASANTS.........from the Battleship Express arrived, but now MORE of them?!"
Celestia gave Blueblood an angry glare. "Those 'peasants', Nephew, gave their sweat, blood, tears, and even their own lives for OUR freedom! The freedom of a nation not their own! They are NOT peasants, they are SOLDIERS!!!!"
THAT shut Blueblood up for a while!
Celestia then got to work on her reply to Twilight.
"My Dearest Twilight,
While it has come to a shock to not only myself, but also Luna, and a few other nobles who were present when the letter arrived, I can tell you now that we are VERY interested in meeting with these new arrivals! They and their train sound just about as interesting as the Battleship Express when it arrived, and I'm more than eager to meet the man who's the brother of an officer as great as your husband, Major Don. We will be arriving within the hour, so please have everyone on both sides involved with this gathered at the Ponyville Station.
Also, I am very pleased to hear that 'World War 6' against the Futas that the Battleship Express crew have been talking about is finally over, and has been for at least a little while. Maybe now Earth will finally be able to heal from its wounds. For a Planet like Earth, which has been at war for as long as it has, it deserves to be able to finally recover. We will be there soon Twilight, and we will decide for ourselves what shall be done with these new arrivals.
Yours Truly, Princess Celestia"
Celestia then sent the letter back to Twilight via her magic, and then she and Luna began to prepare for their trip to Ponyville.
While this was happening, the trains were being moved back to Ponyville Station. We had to cancel the Big Boy's excursion trip, and although we offered full refunds, very few Ponies wanted them! Instead, they thanked us for introducing them to the crew of the Wabash Cannonball!
Oh sure, the "Wabashers" as they were known, were just LOVING all of the attention! Tim was standing on a crate, and telling the Ponies gathered around him all of the tales of their adventures. For his credit, even though Tim DID stretch and bend a few details, most of what he told was accurate.
While this was happening, I found myself next to a soldier that I'd never seen before. He was tall, lanky, had blondish hair that was bleached almost white, possibly from radiation exposure, and the left side of his face was streaked with burn marks. His uniform bore the insignia of what seemed to be a Marine Colonel, and I could also tell that his left arm, and his left eye were prosthetic, and he looked to be pretty banged up.
"Wow, a Marine Colonel!"
He looked at me. "Yeah. And who the heck are you?"
"I'm a captain within Battalion 4009, and a crewmember of the Battleship Express."
He looked at me. "So is my brother. I haven't seen him in years, and we were never really on the best of terms, but he was the 2nd Engineer of the Battleship Express. Do you know Captain Leopard by any chance?"
When I looked at him, all I could do was stare in shock. I KNEW that I had no family left. My last surviving family member, my brother Dren, had been killed in WW4. Or had he...........
I looked up at him. "I AM Captain Leopard. And somehow I should have known that YOU would have survived, Dren!" I wasn't to happy to see my brother, even though I hadn't seen him in years.
"Bro........It IS YOU!!!! All these years, and you're still alive!"
"Yeah, and where have YOU been all these years?!"
He sighed. "In a coma mostly. Towards the end of WW4, I was fighting in Detroit, when the city was hit by a missile strike. I was knocked into a coma for YEARS! When I woke up, they told me that I slept through the end of WW4, and ALL of WW5, the first half of WW6, AND the Second Cold War! They told me that the Futas were in power, and we were giving them hell. I was assigned to lead a group of Marines, and as we pushed West, we all continued to hear the stories of you, your train, and your exploits. I tried to reach out to you, but due to the constant battles, I never got the chance.
Eventually, I was assigned to lead the Marines and Night Stalkers that retook the Hoover Dam from the Futas. We did so, and held the Dam, right as I heard you were heading for Las Vegas. I made a promise to find you once the Battle was over, but I never got that chance. When the bombs fell, Hoover Dam was hit, and I was one of only a handful of survivors. Hoover Dam survived, and has since been repaired, but I lost an arm, an eye, and a LOT of hair and flesh! I also heard that you were missing, presumed dead. For 4 years, I wondered what happened to you, and I kept coming out to the memorials there in Vegas with my wife Olivia, and continue to wonder. Then earlier today, we went for a ride on the Wabash Cannonball, and wound up here!
It was CRAZY Bro! One minute we were surrounded by a HUGE sand storm, and then the next we all blacked out, and when we woke up, there was a train behind us, bluish blurs above us, and other crazy things! Luckily, I was able to wake up Primary Engineer Bill Blaze, and he stopped the train before any further damage could be done. I passed out again a minute or so later, and I didn't wake up until just a few minutes ago. So how have things been for you?"
I looked up at him with a completely deadpanned look. "Well, after arriving here, we were thrust deep into the heart of the Imperial War against the Caribou and the Zebra Empires, which we fought, won, and kicked ass in! I'm also now married, have 4 kids with 2 more on the way, I still work with the Battleship Express, as well as the new Imperial War Museum, and I fill in for my wife in the Wonderbolts due to her having to take some time to care of our kids. Nothing too major. And you?" (I decided that I would NEVER let Dren know that I had 3 wives! Dash would be my wife, Daring was her cousin Feathers who also lived with us, as did Dash's old roommate and fellow Wonderbolt, Spitfire.)
He looked at me like I was crazy. "Wait, are you being serious right now Scar......Leopard.....whatever your name is?"
"It's 'Leopard' Dren, just call me Leopard. I haven't been called Scar since........eh....I don't really want to talk about that right now. And yes, I AM being serious!"
Dren then looked around. "You do NOT have a wife you liar!"
"Do too you twit!"
"Prove it!"
"2 steps ahead of you there Buddy!" A tomboyish voice from behind him laughed.
Dren turned around, and he saw a Pegasus mare about a foot and a half shorter than him with cyan fur, a rainbow-colored mane and tail, a Wonderbolt training outfit, and Dren also noticed that she had a young colt and filly in a carrying pack on her back. Said mare also had a visibly swollen belly.
"And.......who are you exactly?"
The mare smirked. "Name's Dash. Rainbow Dash! And Leopard in front of you's my husband! Happily married for 4 going on 5 years now, and we've got 2 kids with 2 more on the way!"
Dren then looked back at me. "Wait, I thought you said that you have 4 kids with 2 more on the way."
I had an answer ready. "I do, they're just with their Auntie Feathers right now. Dash has 3 year old twins Misty and Skyler, while Feathers, (or 'Daring' as she's also known), has my 2 older twins Amber and Midnight."
He nodded. "Wow, that's a lot of kids!"
Dash laughed a bit. "Yeah, I've always wanted a bit family, and I'm gonna keep having kids until I can't do it anymore! Hopefully we'll have over 20 by the time I'm done, but that kinda remains to be seen. I mean, after all, we kinda have our hands full as it is!" She gestured to the twins on her back. "And I'm about 4 months along with these 2 little ones right here!" she then rubbed her belly to emphasize her point. "One colt, and one filly!"
"And didn't you say that you were married Dren?" I asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah, I married Olivia Newton after the war. You remember her right? And yes, she was with me on the Cannonball, though I don't know where she is right now."
"Yeah, I remember Olivia. And any kids yet?" Dren shook his head. I sighed. "Well, be careful, or you'll end up with 4 little mistakes like I did!"
He looked at me like I was crazy, and then for the first time, he seemed to notice my Bat-Pony features. "Wait a second, what the heck happened to you?! Why do you look like a Pony?!"
I laughed a bit. "Well, that happened during the Imperial War. In short, I was hit with a weapon that began to tear my genetics apart. My life was saved by Dr. Fritz, as well as a few Equestrian doctors who gave me Bat-Pony genetics to save my life. As a result, I'm now 45% Human, 50% Bat-Pony, and 5% Wolf. I also have some dark gray fur, a black mane and tail, 4 furry, highly sensitive furry bat-like ears, deep blue cat-like eyes, fangs, 2 black feathery wings that I CAN fly with, and some gray fur on my legs, with the fetlocks covering my ankles being black And yes, I still have my wolf paws and lower legs." (I decided NOT to mention that I also had a stallion's "package"!)
He looked at me like I was a lunatic. "That's just flat out weird Bro." He then turned and began to walk away, all while muttering about needing to find Olivia.
Dash walked up to me, and began to nuzzle me gently. "So, I guess that you're not quite as alone as you thought Stud. But yet, I had no idea your brother was such a douche!"
I sighed. "Dren's kinda always been like that. He never liked me very much, and although we did get along sometimes, we didn't get along well at other times at all. It's a mess, and now he's here."
She nodded. "Yeah, and can you take the twins for a while? They're getting SO heavy!"
I laughed a bit. "Sure Babe!" Dash then shifted enough for me to get the backpack carrier off her pack, and then onto my own back. Dash was right. Misty and Skyler were 3 years old now, and they WERE getting heavy! I mean sure, they could walk, and even fly a bit now, but with the crowds there at the station, and them not really wanting to walk, we decided that it was best to carry them. Daring was doing the same with Amber and Midnight, who met up with us a few minutes later, as did Spitfire.
"Yeesh, your brother's wife is a DICK Stud!" Daring told me. "She said that I was a slut for having kids without a father. I wanted to punch her in the mouth SO BADLY!"
"And your brother's not much better Stud." Spitfire added. "He SURE likes to talk a lot, and he won't shut up about how much better he is than you!"
I looked at all 3 of my wives, as well as my 4 kids. "Well, no matter what my brother and his wife said to you, NONE of it's true! Even though Dren IS my brother, and his wife Olivia IS your sister in law, we can afford to keep them at arm's length. If they want to be a part of Amber, Midnight, Misty and Skyler's lives, then they're going to have to earn that privilege first!"
My wives ALL agreed with me on this, though my kids just looked at me with confusion, as they still wasn't quite sure who I was talking about.
Meanwhile, Phil and Joseph Shepherd were walking around Ponyville. They didn't have any particular destinations in mind, as they were just looking around. However, both of them wanted to see about getting their uniforms fixed, as they were getting rather worn out.
"Excuse me", Phil asked the first Pony he could, "Do you know where we could find a clothing store around here that MIGHT do clothing repairs?"
The mare in question pointed down the street. "Pants N' Stitches would be the best place for that. Andy LOVES his clothing work, and I know that he'll fix you both right up, and at a good price too! It's just down the street, connected to the Carousel Boutique, owned by his wife, Mrs. Rarity."
Phil nodded. "Thank you." Then he and Joseph went down the street to Pants N' Stitches.
"Wow, this looks like quite the nice place Dad. I sure hope that whoever this 'Andy' fellow is, that he can help us."
"No kidding Joe. Let's go in." They both then entered Pants N' Stitches.
When they did, the bell over the door jingled, and they found themselves inside of what appeared to be a men's clothing store. There was a counter with a cash register, fitting rooms in the back, and racks of clothes. They also saw a stallion being fitted for a suit by a tailor.
"Be with you in just a minute folks!" He said without looking up, "I just need to help Panhandle here with his suit!" After working for a number of minutes more, he was finally done. "There you go. What do you think Panhandle?"
Panhandle was impressed. "Wowwee! This suit's AMAZING Andy! You do such amazing work!"
Andy nodded. "I'm glad that you like it Panhandle. It's some of my best work. I mean now that Rarity and I have little Sam and Belle to look after, we have to perfect our work so that we can pass on our legacy to them when they're old enough!"
Panhandle nodded. "How much for the suit again Andy?"
"Well, it'll be 150 bits plus tax, so I'll ring you up at the front. Just give me another second to see what these new folks want." He then walked up to the front counter.
"Yes, and what can I do for you gentlemen?"
Phil and Joseph looked over the somewhat gaunt and ragged tailor in front of them. He wore a wrinkled white button-up dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, an undone red bowtie, dark gray dress pants with a notebook sticking out of one of the pockets, black dress shoes, a tailor's tape around his shoulders, black framed glasses, and had a pencil behind his right ear as well. They also noticed that he seemed to have the horn of a unicorn too. He also looked very familiar to Phil.
"I KNOW that I've seen you somewhere before............" It suddenly hit him. "Wait........A-Andy?! Is that you?"
Andy froze. "Wait......D-Dad?! Joe?!" His face lit up. "You're still here!" He then ran around the counter to hug them.
"ANDY!!!!" They hugged him back.
"I thought that you were dead!" His dad Phil told him.
"Not dead Dad, just......transported to another dimension! And somehow, I always knew that one day you'd come through that door! Now one war later, you finally did, and I now have my old clothing store back, and I have a wife, and 2 kids too!"
"Y-you.....do?"
"Yeah, let me get them for you." He then pressed a button on the intercom next to the register. "Hey Sweetheart?"
"Oh, Yes Darling?" a mare's voice asked.
"You might want to come over here to my side of the store. I've got 2 guys here that you'll probably want to meet, and you should probably bring Sam and Belle too!"
"Ok, coming Darling!"
A few minutes later, said mare walked in. She was a Unicorn with white fur, wearing a beautiful purple dress that highlighted her mane perfectly, as well as purple shoes. She was also wearing red framed glasses, and like her husband, also had a pencil behind one of her ears. Behind her, 2 small little creatures that looked like a cross between children and foals walked in. One had white fur with a red mane and tail, blue eyes, as well as a tiny orange dress, while the other had tannish fur, a dark purple mane and tail, green eyes, and was wearing blue pants with a white shirt that said "Tailor in Training!" on it. Both children also had what appeared to be Unicorn horns like their parents.
"Now then, who are these two Darling?"
"Rarity, I'd like you to meet my dad, Phil Shepherd, as well as my brother, Joe!"
Rarity brought a hand up to her mouth. She then bowed a bit. "It's an honor to meet you both. I am Mrs. Rarity."
Phil then shook her hand when offered it. "The honor is ours Mrs. Rarity. I'm just glad that you've made my son very happy!" He then looked at Sam and Belle. "And it seems like I have a granddaughter and grandson too."
Even though they were only a little more than 2 years old, with permission from their parents, they tottered up to Phil. "Who is he Daddy?" Belle asked.
"This Sweetie, is my dad Phil. He's your Grandpa. And the guy next to him is my brother Joe. He's your Uncle."
They both hugged Phil and Joe. "Wow, so you really DO still have some family after all Daddy!" Belle said happily.
Andy nodded. "Yes, yes I do Sweetie. And now you have a grandpa and an uncle in your lives as well."
During this time, Both Andy and his dad also shared to each other the stories of how they each got to Equestria, and what was probably going to happen next. Andy told them that they were welcome to stay with them, and they were both SO HAPPY to have their son/brother back, as well as to have met their daughter/sister in law, and their grandchildren/niece and nephew respectively.
Similarly, all around town, various family members were finding their lost relatives who had served on the Battleship Express.
At Fluttershy's cottage, Mary Davis, the mother of Todd Davis, found her son, as well as Fluttershy, all of their animals, little Windy Belle, and her new little sister Lilly. Todd was so shocked at seeing his mother again that he had to sit down on a couch to keep from passing out!
"Mom........I can't..........how are you even here?!"
"Well Todd, I was on the Daylight with other family members. We were visiting the memorial for the Battle of Vegas, but on the way back, we got caught in a MASSIVE sand storm, and when that cleared, we were here."
"Just like we were......" Todd murmured. "At any rate though Mom, I'm glad that you're here. You're the only family that I have left, and Fluttershy and I want you in our daughter's lives."
Mary looked down at Windy and Lilly as they sat in her lap. "Todd, nothing in the world would make me happier!"
At Sweet Apple Acres, Gwen Owens, a cousin of Alex Barkley, found herself in a war of the words with Applejack.
"Unless yer buyin' apples, git outta here!" Applejack told her.
Gwen just pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes. "Not likely Missy! I ain't goin' nowhere 'til I see Alex!"
"Well Alex told me that he DIDN'T want to see you! He said that you were nothin' but trouble, and to tell you to, and I quote, 'Piss off!'!"
Now Gwen just seemed to be angry. "Oh, so is THAT how this is gonna be then? So be it. Alex was always trying to play hardball, so I'll go, but I WILL come back soon!" She then turned to leave.
Applejack watched her until she was out of sight. "Well, THAT certainly was interestin'. Wonder what happened between them that's got them all tied up in knots? Maybe it was a feud like between us and the Pear's. Or whatever it was, I just hope that it don't come to blows between those two."
In contrast to this, Amanda Lindsey, the sister of engine guardsman Fred Wilkins, was treated to a MUCH better welcome! Fred was at the Imperial War Museum when his sister came, and as soon as he saw her, he hugged her.
"Wow, they were really telling the truth! You really are here Sis!"
"It's been too long Freddy. You were all I had left, and when I heard that you were missing after Vegas, I thought for sure that you were dead. I kept waiting for any news about the Battleship Express, but I never heard anything."
Fred sighed. "I knew that you were still alive Lindsey, but yet I knew that I was probably never going to see you again. But that's not the case now, and we're back together again!" Fred hugged his sister again.
Lindsey hugged him back, and the 2 of them then went to catch up on events from each other's lives during the 4 year gap between their last contact.
A bit later, the Princesses finally arrived at Ponyville Station, and were taken to meet the leaders of the Wabash Cannonball, as well as the train's crew.
They were taken to a meeting room on the Cannonball, where they were introduced to Commander Tim Curry, Primary Engineer Bill Blaze, Primary Fireman Thomas Wilson, and the train's chief engineer Barbara "Barb" Blaze, the wife of Bill Blaze. These 4 were in charge of the Wabash Cannonball, and the men and women who served on it.
"I must say Commander, it is very interesting to have you here, as well as to know that you and your crew are still alive following the debacle that was the Battle of Vegas."
"You may just call me 'Tim', Princess Celestia, everyone else does. And yes, it is nice to be out of the hellscape that we came from, and to be with our families again, even though some of us here don't seem to enjoy that!" He glared at Don when he said this, and Don just glared back.
"I highly doubt that that was necessary Tim. We should keep our disagreements to outside of official meetings." Don then gave Tim the finger when Celestia and Luna weren't looking.
Celestia then turned back to Tim. "So if I may ask Tim, what do you have to offer us besides your train?"
Tim sighed. "We've got weapons. One little known fact about us was that we functioned as both a war train, and a blockade runner. We would smuggle supplies to areas that needed them, though we also worked in what could be called 'specialty items', particularity the world of military aviation. We currently have 2 A-10 Thunderbolts, 2 A-10 Warthogs, 2 F-22 Raptors, 2 F-35's, spare parts for all of them, ammunition for all of them, and fuel. All of these planes have remained with our train since the end of the war, and even though they need to be reassembled, we have the tools and blueprints for that too. We also have some of the guns and ammo that the Battleship Express has, as well as a 75 man crew, and at least 40 others who were on the train when we ended up here as well. I mean, we might not be the Battleship Express, but we DO have some firepower to bring to the table!"
Neither of the Princesses knew what to make of Commander Tim, or the rest of his crew. While they had heard reports of some of the Battleship Express Crew getting along with lost family members, not all of them were. It was quite a mixed bag, and they really didn't know what to do with them for the time being.
Finally, Celestia asked, "Tim, would you be willing to allow your train to be used on our railroads as both a passenger and a freight train? We have need of another engine primarily for passenger service, though would also be able to haul freight when required. Would your engine be up for this task?"
"That would be up to Bill and Barb. They take care of the train, I'm just the guy who controls the military operations on it."
Bill looked up. "Well Princess, the truth is, Barb and I ain't quite as young as we used to be. I mean sure, we ARE only in our late 30's, but still, wars can REALLY take a toll on you! We've wanted to take a step back from everything, and provided that our train WILL be well cared for, AND well taken care of, we MIGHT be willing to allow you to use it."
"It would be used, maintained, and operated by the good crews of the Battleship Express, who also run and maintain their engine, Big Boy 4009, and Iron Glory, not to mention the slightly rough and tumble 'Battle Glory'. I know that they would take care of your train."
I then looked up. "Yes, we would Princess. Of course, we WOULD start calling it 'SP Daylight 4449', or just 'Daylight', or '4449' again, but other than that, yes, we would take just as good of care of it as we do for our own trains. I mean, even though they were forever living in the shadow of the Battleship Express, the Wabash Cannonball was nothing to sneeze at!"
"So is it settled Mr. and Mrs. Blaze? You are willing to allow us to use your train?"
"Yes, we will. However, we're gonna need time to do maintenance work, as well as remove some of the military hardware, as our train is FULL of it! Do you have a place where we can do that?"
Don nodded. "Yes, we do. There's an engine workshop and storage building behind the Imperial War Museum where we clean and maintain our own trains, and we'd be willing to let you use it for the Daylight."
"That would work very nicely Major Don. How soon can we move the train there?"
Don thought for a second. "Well, we might need to move a few things out of there, but we don't have any active projects in there right now, so once it's clear, then you can begin your work."
"Much obliged Major."
They all then talked about this for a while longer, as well as what the futures for the crew of the Wabash Cannonball would look like. Most of them were seeking employment elsewhere, and they had a LOT of practical skills that would prove very beneficial to the Equestrians. And as most of them would find, most of the train's regular crew were not as big of douche-bags as Tim, or some of the other officers. Only time would tell where this was going to go, but we were all hoping for the best, while still preparing for the worst!
After a night of sleep, I woke up the next morning still having absolutely no idea about what to do with my brother and his wife. So far, they'd both pissed me off, and insulted my wives, so I really had no genuine sympathy for them.
A bit later after breakfast, I was lying on the couch downstairs when I suddenly felt a large weight land on my chest. I looked down, and there was Briana. She was purring, and seemingly trying to cozy up with me.
I sighed. "Hey Briana, what's up?"
She just purred happily. "Not too much, just wanted to come and cuddle with you."
I saw that she was about the size of a house cat again, and that she was still looking pretty pudgy. I had actually taken her to be looked at by a vet, and she told me to make sure that she was getting exercise, and to cut back on the treats, however, that would really only work if Briana was a regular cat. Not only was she a Sphinx, but she was also a physical representation of Life! How the heck do you tell Life what to do?! Answer, you can't! I mean sure, Amber, Midnight, Misty, and Skyler all had chased Briana around, which did help her exercise, but yet she could also teleport, and seemingly transport herself to another dimension, so this really didn't help too much!
"So.....what do you think of my brother and his wife?" I asked her.
She gave me a look. "Well, like you, I think that they're dickwads! I don't know what their deal is, but for his wife to go around insulting mares who seemingly had kids with no visible father figure? How does she know that the father isn't just WORKING?! And don't even get me STARTED on your brother's constant bragging! I mean, I could understand maybe a LITTLE bragging, but on that level?! Just stop it already!"
I sighed. "As such is the nature of those who crew the Wabash Cannonball. They tend to be excessive braggers, but yet my brother wasn't in with them until just yesterday when they came here. He's a Marine, and I don't remember Marines acting like that. Maybe it's just him."
Briana shrugged. "Eh, I don't know Master. But what I do know is that in order to shut him up, you really need to show your true colors."
"And how do I do that Kitty?"
Briana shot me a glare, before smacking me with one of her paws. "I told you, I HATE that name! Sure, maybe a Sphinx IS a cat, but cats do NOT have wings like this!" She then opened her wings to emphasize her point. "And if you KEEP calling me that, I just might have to turn myself around and show you that a Sphinx is Fine Too!" She then began to give me the "F@#k Me!" look.
I looked at her with wide eyes. "And if you do THAT, I'm pretty sure Dashie'll take you on another ride on the pain train! Remember what happened the last time you tried to do that?"
Briana winced a bit. "Eh, yeah, I'll avoid that for now! But to answer your question, just bring him up here and show him your collection of war relics, as well as talk about how you got them. I'm sure THAT would shut him up!"
I held Briana close to me. "You know, that's actually a pretty great idea Briana, thanks!"
She gave me a few loving licks to the face. "Eh, don't mention it Leopard. Although, are you gonna drag him up here, or am I?"
I smirked. "If you could, that would be really great, as I don't want to do it!"
"Oh, I think that that can be arranged. Plus, I need the exercise anyway!"
Briana and I laughed, and then we continued to plan on how we were going to set my brother straight. Spitfire was with the Wonderbolts, Dash was at her parent's house with Misty and Skyler, and Daring had taken Amber and Midnight to some summer day camp in Ponyville, and would be there as a chaperone. Plenty of time to work in a little bit of evil!
Despite what it sounded like, our plan wasn't actually to kidnap my brother at all. In fact, the plan was just to find him, and ask him if he wanted to see my collection of relics. More likely than not he would say yes, and Briana would just carry him up to our house.
The easiest part of all was finding my brother. He was with the Cannonball, and didn't seem too happy to see me.
"What do you want?"
I sighed. "Dren, we need to talk, now. I think that it's high time I gave you a peek into my world, and what happened in it all while I thought you were dead, but were just in a coma."
"Eh, what does that mean?"
"Basically, it means that I take to to a special room in my house where I've housed scores of old relics, and with them so many memories. Sure, you may have heard the stories from others, but how would you like to hear about it from someone who actually LIVED through it?"
Now Dren was interested. "Sure! I mean, I've got nothing better to do, so sure, let's go see what you've got!"
I nodded. "Follow me." I then led him to the ground underneath our house.
When Dren saw it, his jaw hit the ground! "WHOA!!!! How the heck did you afford this place?!"
I laughed a bit. "Well, it was a lot smaller when it just belonged to Dash! I then moved in, and we expanded it to accommodate our growing family! I mean, we ARE flyers, so why not live in the sky?"
"Well, I know that YOU can fly, but how the heck am I gonna get up there?!"
I smirked. "Well, that's the easy part. Here Briana!"
"Huh? Who's Briana?"
"I'M Briana!" a female voice behind him laughed.
Then, before Dren could really protest, he felt himself get grabbed from behind, and then lifted up into the air! "GAAAHHH!!!!!" He then jerked his head around, and to his shock, he was being carried by what appeared to be a giant flying cat that was as big as he was! "HOLY......!!!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!?!"
The creature didn't answer until she'd dropped Dren off on my front porch, and I landed a few moments later. She then sat back on her haunches. "Name's Briana. I'm a Sphinx!"
Dren looked at me. "What kind of nut-job sold you THAT monstrosity?!"
I walked over to Briana, and began to hug her and pet her, which caused her to purr. (She was also about the size of a mountain lion now, so as to be able to carry Dren). "Briana's NOT a monstrosity! Like she told you, she's a Sphinx! I found her when I was on a trip to the jungle about 4 years ago, and she's lived with Dash and I ever since."
"You.......went to the Jungle? Why?"
I laughed. "Well, I WOULD tell you, but I don't think that you'd EVER believe me if I did!" I then opened the door, and led the way inside. Briana made herself the size of a house cat, and perched herself on my shoulders so that I could carry her.
"Wait, she can change sizes too?!"
"Yep, I can! All Sphinx's can, and this is my usual size, though I can be any size from this, to my real size, which is about 18 feet tall!"
"She ain't kiddin' Dren, I've seen her do it! In fact, she was at her original size when I found her!"
Dren gave me a look. "Leopard, if I wanted fiction, I could have just read 'Daring Do', or any one of those other trashy kids books! This sounds an awful lot like 'Daring Do and the Lunar Shrine of Romance'!"
I started walking upstairs. "Well, you do know that the male character who's Daring's partner, Mac, is based on me, right?"
"Liar! He is not!"
"Is too! I have a letter from AK Yearling herself to prove it!"
"Show me!"
I turned around to glare at him. "I will! Just follow me up to my office/relics showroom, and I'll show you that letter, and SO MUCH more!" I then led the way the rest of the way upstairs, and to my office, with the relics room connected to it, though only accessible through my office.
When I opened the door, Dren could only gasp in surprise. "Whoa! Is this an office, or a museum?!"
I smirked. "it's kinda both. In here, I both work, and keep some of my favorite relics from the Imperial War."
Dren glanced around the room. In the back close to a window was my desk, and an office chair. A Caribou and Zebra fur rug adorned the floor, a few Caribou and Zebra heads were on the walls, as were a LOT of framed photographs. There was also a shelf for books, another shelf that had a model of the full Battleship Express train on it, a large safe, a grandfather clock, and 3 large display cases. One was empty, one held what looked to be a Zebra, and the last had a creepy looking mannequin with a suit of armor in it. Dren also noticed the desk, bookshelf, and safe on the other side of the room.
"Hey, who works over there?"
"Feathers, Dash's cousin. That's her side of the room, while the rest of it belongs to me."
"And what's up with these books?" He was looking over the collection of books that I had in my shelves. "Sheesh, if it's not Daring Do, then it's these books about the Battleship Express!"
"Hey! Don't dis my reading material! Heck, I WROTE most of those books! Look at the author, 'Captain Leopard'!"
He just shook his head. "Like I said, trash. I've read a few Daring Do books, and I even got a chance to read some of your 'books'. I can't decide which one I hated more, 'Time of Trial', or 'Fuel for the Fire'. And what the hell was up with 'Life Under the Floor'? Were you trying to write a BDSM porn novel? Sheesh, even AK Yearling could have written it better!"
That quickly, Dren found himself getting grabbed, before being slammed onto my desk hard! I held him there, my eyes blazing with fury.
"Let me tell you something about Amy Yearling. Amy Yearling WISHES that she could write like me! Heck, I've actually sold more books than she has, but nobody ever even talks about it!"
"What? You sold more books than a multi-millionaire author?! HOW THE HELL IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?!?!"
I smirked. "It's possible, because some Ponies just REALLY love the Battleship Express, as well as my life story!" (What I said was indeed true, though slightly bent. Yes, I actually DID sell more books than Daring did, at least for a time. We're both on the list of the Top 10 Authors in Equestria, though I only rank 3rd, while she ranks first. Some new guy named Steve Kingsly with all of his horror novels keeps stealing my spotlight at the 2nd spot!)
I then let Dren up. He could see the look of pain on my face. "Ok, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you like that. But seriously, what the hell is 'Life Under the Floor' even ABOUT?! It just looked like a porn novel to me!"
"I'd tell you, but I doubt you'd believe me. That story is NOT for ANYONE under 18, and even then, most adults have a hard time swallowing it! In case you were unaware, that story was all about my life under my first Futa Mistress after my capture at Sue Falls, South Dakota."
"And what was that like? Your capture I mean."
"Sit down, and I'll tell you all about it."
He did so, and I began my tale.
"Sue Falls was the home base of Firestorm Battalion. Our job was to protect the Northwestern Border of the US, which we did during WW5, and we did so again during the first part of WW6. We were battle hardened veterans, and we gave the Futas everything we had, same with the One Race Empire before them. However, over time, the Futas kept gaining more and more ground. By January of 2024, they were in the Rocky Mountains. We continued to give them hell, as did the weather, but that's when things turned against us. In retaliation for this, the Futas under General Stacy Rikker launched MASSIVE missile and airstrikes against US positions, and that broke our backs. The US forces kept retreating East, and more and more were killed."
"And, I'm starting to get the feeling that Sue Falls was where you took your last stand?"
"Yes, it was. We still held on, until May 10th that is. By that point, the Futas were in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Firestorm held only the city of Sue Falls, and we were one of only 2 US battalions still standing. The other one was Cold Stone Battalion, located in Nebraska. We only had 300 guys left in our battalion, but we CONTINUED to give the Futas hell! Oh sure, they laid siege to Sue Falls, but every time they sent soldiers in to conquer us, almost none of them were ever seen or heard from again! Losses were in the tens of thousands, and kept climbing. I mean sure, we DID take losses ourselves, but the Futas had it far worse!
As one of the Futa commanders later recalled 'Those rats are EVERYWHERE in there! There's a gun behind EVERY fallen brick! We can't take that city by storming it!' They tried to level it with artillery, air, and missile strikes, but that only gave us more rubble to hide behind. General Stacy wanted to nuke the city, but Empress Demetria refused to allow that, and threatened Stacy with hellfire if she disobeyed. May 10th though, I'll NEVER forget May 10th, 2024."
"Was.....that the day Firestorm Battalion fell?"
I nodded sadly. "Yes, it was. By this point, there were only 100 of us left, and we tried to hold the ruined city's perimeter, but there were just too few of us. We kept getting killed, and the futas kept pushing deeper and deeper into the city. However, the farther they got, the more pain they found! We hid bombs everywhere, snipers were having a heyday, and there were hidden machine gun nests, and artillery posts as well. Futa losses kept rising, but this time they were determined to win.
Time and again we reached out to our superiors in the US, but they were unable to help us. 'We can't get to you boys. We've tried, but we just can't break through their lines. You're on your own Captain Leopard. You can either try to break out, surrender, or fight to the death. The choice is up to you now.' We were all devastated. But yet we knew what we had we had to do."
"Wow, that must have been hard for you. You knew that you were in trouble, but there was nothing that you could do about it. I know what happened, but how did you come that conclusion?"
I sighed. "Well, that's the thing. I was in charge, so whatever I said went. However, we all had nothing left to lose, and everything to gain by fighting. We were prepared to go down taking a last stand. 'Remember the Alamo boys!' I told those under my command. 'We HAVE to hold them here! The US Forces can't get to us, and we're on our own! However, if we go down today, take as MANY of the Futas with you as possible! The harder we hit them now, the easier it'll be for the good guys later! They want this city so bad, then they're gonna have to take it from our cold, dead hands!' We then hit them hard, though that was indeed our last day.
Towards the evening, it was down to just 45 men in 2 groups. My group was in the center of the city, trying to hold the downtown area, while the other group, led by Lt. Price, were holed up at the USS South Dakota Museum and Memorial. For them, they were hit by an artillery strike that collapsed the museum. Price and all of his men, except one, either died in the collapse, or were killed by the Futas. My group was scattered by a series of grenades. We all realized then that the jig was up, and we all tried to escape the city, though some continued to keep fighting. We scattered in all directions, and me and 5 other guys hid in the attic of a nearby hotel, but they still got us though. One by one from that point onward, we were slaughtered without mercy. Eventually, that attic was stormed, and I was knocked out a window by a grenade blast. I fell for at least 9 stories before I landed on a destroyed car far below. I blacked out, and the last thing I saw was a Futa reaching down to grab me."
Dren had a hand over his mouth. "That's.....so horrible Leopard. But wait. Why didn't they just kill you? And who was that other guy from Price's group? You said that all but one were killed."
"That 'other guy' was none other than my good friend Todd Davis. In case you've never heard of him, he's the Second Brakeman of the Battleship Express. He was grabbed because he was to be interrogated, as was I, as I was the captain of the battalion. We were the only survivors of Firestorm Battalion, though for our efforts, roughly 550,000 Futas were sent to their graves; numbers that their military would NEVER recover from! Also, we have good reason to believe that Stacy actually LIED on the casualty figures, and they were actually a lot higher than that! We'll never know for sure though, as there is no exact record."
"Now THAT'S something that I can believe, as I've read reports from interrogations from captured Futas! They sure took losses from you guys, and they NEVER bounced back from those losses! But, what happened to you afterwards? I mean, I doubt that you still have your old uniform from that era."
I shook my head, but I also nodded. "Well, no and yes. "Yes, it was taken away from me that day, as were all of my weapons, but yet they were put into storage at the 'Care Center' I was taken to. However, when I was re-adopted by Empress Demetria, she ordered that ALL of my things were to be given to her. They were, and they were displayed in a case in her palace in Vegas. All of these things were lost when Vegas was nuked.
Now I say 'Care Center', but you should hear 'Auschwitz'. These places existed ONLY to prepare males to be 'adopted' by Futa Mistresses, or sold as slaves. I was taken to one in Des Moines, in what used to be Iowa, and there I remained for about a week. I was bought in a bundle with a few other slaves, and taken away. I ended up in what used to be Bismarck, North Dakota, where my first mistress, a loathsome bitch named Delilah Paddock, kept a sort of farm. And it was there that my nightmares began."
"I was there when they liberated some of those 'Care Centers'. What we often found made us throw up. You don't have to go into too much detail on what you saw there, I already know. But if you could tell me, what did happen under your first Mistress?"
"I was treated like a slave. I was never touched sexually, as my mistress was only into Futas and Herms; she only needed slave labor. We were whipped, beaten, slashed with razors, kicked, hit with tools, kept naked at all times, forced to do degrading things, worked to the bone, and were the only things keeping the farm running. At night, we slept underneath the ranch house, in the dirt, with the bugs and spiders, as well as other critters, and the ranch dogs. This may seem strange, but these dogs were actually quite fond of us. There was only one male dog on the Ranch, Buster, a REAL bastard. Hell, Mistress used to use him to attack us just for her own sick pleasure! The females though, treated us like their pups. They licked us, and snuggled close to us to keep us warm. One dog though, stands out above the rest. I named her Radar, because she had such a keen sense of where our mistress was, and if she was coming. Radar was my girl. She was a large Border Collie with soft(ish) fur that was red roan and white, instead of black and white. She also had blue eyes, which was rather unusual for a dog. She loved me like a mate, and showed me her affection each and every day. She would help me wake up in the morning, show me where the mice, and small rodents were, as well as the larger ones like raccoons, she would watch out for Delilah and Buster, and would try to intervene when they came for me. She often failed though, and it hurt both of us. She would also show me where the water was, and then at night she would snuggle close to me, and cuddle me to sleep."
"What happened to the rodents and raccoons? Is that what the dogs ate?"
I gave him a strange look. "You seem to have the delusion that our mistress fed us Male slaves. Hell no she didn't! We existed ONLY to serve her, and whenever a slave died, she would just go out and buy more. She NEVER fed us, NEVER gave us water, and NEVER did ANYTHING but torture and abuse us! We ate whatever we could get our mitts on! We literally ATE those things, and oftentimes raw! Sure, the dogs would eat them too, and Radar and I would share."
"How.......d-did your mistress keep you all in line? Was it just her and Buster?"
"No, she did have a few overseers, and they were just as bad, if not worse. It was they who administered most of the punishments, and forced us to keep working. And the saddest thing I had to witness was what happened to Radar."
"They.......k-killed her?"
"No, worse; MUCH worse. Radar was pregnant, as she was a breeding dog, but when the pups were born, they just didn't meet Mistress's, or Buster's expectations. What I was forced to witness that day is something that's burned into my mind until the day I die. She......." I was almost sobbing when I remembered this, ".............T-threw them to Buster......and he......." I couldn't even finish the sentence, and broke down crying.
Dren knew that the pups were dead. "Oh.........God........for you to have actually seen that.........."
"Forget ME, Radar's reaction was BEYOND devastating! She LITERALLY tried to kill herself after losing her pups! I helped her through that though. The worst thing for her physically was the fact that her breasts were full of milk, but she had no pups to give it too. That same night, I was snuggled close to her, and I gently leaned down, and began to suckle from her. She looked down at me with surprise, but instead of really doing anything, she just laid back down, sighed contentedly, and let me suckle. This may sound gross, but dog's milk is actually very sweet. I know that it was Radar's milk that helped keep me alive. It was also Radar that gave me the will to live, just as I gave her the will to live. I kept going for her, just as she kept going for me."
"Did you have sex with her?"
"What was that?" I looked over at him.
"I said did you have sex with Radar?"
I gave him a look to kill, but I didn't answer the question. In reality, yes, Radar and I did get our rocks off with each other, but Dren did NOT need to know that! I just ignored him, and kept talking.
"Eventually though, in March of 2025, after almost a year of hell, liberation FINALLY came for all of us!"
"It.....did?! how?!"
"Well, as it turns out, under Futa law, what Delilah did to us was NOT legal! Futas were NEVER supposed to be doing what she was doing, and a few local Futas began to get suspicious that she was abusing the animals under her care. As it turns out, nobody even knew that she even HAD Males on her property at all! One day though, an MREA Agent came to her house to check out the animal abuse claims."
"Hate to interrupt, but what's the MREA again?"
"It was the Male Rape/Rights Enforcement Agency, depending on who you ask. Under Demetria's rule, they were like the Police Force, and it was their job to uphold Futa Laws, protect males from abusive Futas, and rescue them if it came to that. And it did come to that that day. On a side note, the MREA was VERY corrupt, and more often served the interests of Futas, instead of the males that they were supposed to protect. Sure, not ALL MREA agents were like this, but a lot were.
Anyway, I heard the agent talking to Delilah in the house above us, and I began to hit a water pipe with a rock, trying to let her know that I was there, as were several others, though they were almost brain-dead. I heard the agent asking a few questions, but Delilah didn't seem to want to cooperate. I then heard a few shots get fired, and then a loud scuffle on the floor above us. Then I heard the agent scream over her radio that she had a belligerent in custody, and that she needed backup IMMEDIATELY!
Long story short, more backup arrived, and the premises were searched. Buster attacked an officer, and had to be put down with a shotgun, though NOBODY cared! Worst of all though, was when the agent who found us looked under the porch. What she found made her wretch EVERYWHERE! There were 4 male figures lying in the dirt, surrounded by bugs, spiders, the skeletons and partially-eaten carcasses of animals, a number of dogs, and what appeared to be blood. The officer tried to get closer, but was warned off by a loud growl coming from close by. The agent turned her flashlight towards the noise, and what she saw made her heart stop. There, huddled in the darkness, was an angry looking dog, and another male. The male appeared to be a feral Human-wolf, and looked just as savage as the dog who was apparently his mate. In the end, we all had to be knocked out with gas, as there was no safe way to remove us while the dogs were still there, and NOBODY wanted to shoot the dogs, as they were the reason that they were called out there in the first place!"
"What happened after you all were gassed?"
"Well, one by one, we were all dragged out. There were 4 males, all malnourished and showing signs of HEAVY abuse, 6 female dogs, 1 alpha-female (Radar), and her feral Human-wolf mate. He too looked just as abused as the others, though he still seemed to have the spark of life in him. We were taken away from that farm, and Delilah and her overseers were taken into custody on charges of animal abuse, and 5 counts of male abuse. We were all rushed to a local medical center, though 2 of the males later died from their injuries, and a 3rd later died of his undernourishment. I never heard what happened to the 4th one though. Some of the dogs were sent to shelters after they recovered, but not Radar. When I was returned to the Care Center in Des Moines, she was right by my side every step of the way! I NEVER let her out of my sight, and after I attempted to actually BITE several of the staff there for trying to take her away, they just let me keep her!
Over time, I did slowly begin to regain my Humanity, but a year of abuse while living among dogs can REALLY do a lot to a person! I also no longer trusted ANY Futas! I had to be put in a section for broken and heavily abused males, but I didn't care, and neither did Radar. In that section, very few, if any Futas or Herms EVER wanted to adopt a male like that! We were free to spend our lives with each other, as we were all the other needed."
Dren was about to tell me that Humans and dogs weren't meant to be together, but he refrained from doing so, as he could sense the extreme amounts of pain and trauma I'd gone through up to that point. I could still snap, and if I wanted to be with a female dog for the rest of my life, he decided not to say anything about it!
"And.......what happened when you were adopted? What happened to Radar?"
I smiled a bit. "When Empress Demetria 'adopted me', Radar came with me. All throughout my time in Vegas, I had her with me. With me at least, until the coup happened. I was taken away by slavers, and then sold to a ranch in Kansas. I never saw Radar again, and I think that she died when Vegas fell. Oh god how I miss her!" I then reached into my desk, and pulled out pictures of myself and Radar that I'd taken while I lived in Vegas. (Demetria mailed them to me upon request prior to the Battle of Vegas).
As he was looking over them, Dren had a thought. "And whatever happened to Delilah anyway? She did die, right?"
I smirked darkly. "Oh yes, she died alright! She FRIED for EVERY LAST MALE that she EVER tortured and abused, and so did her overseers! Happiest day of my life was when I watched them all die!"
Dren looked like he was going to puke. "Can.......we maybe talk about something ELSE for a while?! I can't take this anymore! I don't really want to know what you went through after all! And I SINCERELY apologize for EVER doubting you on this! You've been through WAY worse shit than I have!"
I sighed. "Well, I'm glad that we can agree on something for once. And yes, if you want to talk about other things, we can."
Dren nodded, and then began to look towards my other relics in the room.
"First of all, where was that letter from AK Yearling that you insist exists?"
I reached into my desk. "Right here. I received this letter from Mrs. Yearling while she was just about to start writing 'Daring Do and the Fire Under Sulfur Mountain', which was the book where she introduced Mac." I handed it to him. "Basically, she was asking me if she could create a character based on me, as Daring Do fans were largely requesting that she have a partner. Long story short, I accepted, and now Mac is Daring's friend, adventuring partner, friend with benefits, and if things keep going the way that they are, I wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Yearling has them get married them sometime in the not too distant future! And as I'm sure that you know, 'Daring Do and the Search for the Lunar Shrine of Romance' was Mac's first major role after being introduced in 'Daring Do and the Fire Under Sulfur Mountain', and making a minor appearance in the one that followed."
Dren was looking over the letter. "Wow, a letter from AK Yearling, and signed in ink! Well, sorry for doubting you Leopard!" Dren then looked on the top of my desk, and saw my famous Kitsune Mask. "And I HAVE to know, what's the story behind this mask? Where did it come from, and why did you wear it so much?" (Yes, after all this time, THIS is what my famous Kitsune Mask looks like!)
I smirked a bit, before picking up the mask. "This mask was actually a gift to me from my second wife, Lilly. She gave it to me as a wedding present the night before the Battleship Express pulled out of Grand Central Station heading for war. It was made out of bullet-retardant material, had 2 leather straps to hold it on my face, and although the mask was white with black features, over time I began to add bloody streaks to it to make it even MORE intimidating than it already was! I didn't wear it too much, up until the day that Face sabotaged the Big Boy's boiler.
Due to my face being severely burned, I actually used that mask like a prosthetic face. In truth, I wore it for a long time because I needed it. Almost daily, creams and gels had to be applied to my face to help the burns heal. These gels and creams were held onto my skin by bandages, and the mask helped hold them in place. It also TERRIFIED the Futas, and as a result, thanks to the mask's black markings and my incredible skills on the battlefield, they gave me the nickname 'the Black Fox'!"
"Again, I remember hearing about this, but I NEVER thought that I would actually get to see the real mask! Can I try it on?"
I held the mask close to my chest. "HELL NO!!!! NOBODY but me will EVER wear this mask! I mean sure, maybe I DID let Dash, Spitfire, and Dar.......eh, Feathers, try it on, but that was ONLY because I trusted them! I do NOT trust you!" I then set the mask back down onto my desk.
"And what's up with that ax? That's not THE Fire Ax, is it?" he was pointing to the fire ax that was hanging on the wall behind me.
"Oh you recognize it, do you? Yes, that's the very same ax I've had with me from the very beginning of WW4! The only time I didn't have it was close to the end of the first part of WW6, though this was because I added it to a stash of footlockers, and other essential messages to families that left on the last truck out of Sue Falls before the battle there. Eventually, the stash that the ax was in was handed over to the crew of the brand-new Battleship Express, and it found its way back into my hands! Same ax, and now it was with me to stay! Used it a lot throughout the last part of WW6, and a lot during the Imperial War as well. In fact, it was this very ax that I used in my brief duel with Caribou Prince Dactyl, and with which I almost killed him!"
"No way! Really?!"
"Yep! The dried bloodstains still on it are from him!"
"And how did you even get this ax?"
"Well, the very first Army battalion that I was a part of was stationed in the city of Watertown, New York. I was a fireman at Fire Brigade 69, located at Firehouse 69. When the One Race Empire laid waste to the area, the firehouse was destroyed, and myself and 2 other firemen were the only survivors. This ax was one of the only things salvageable from the ruins of the firehouse, aside from our firefighting gear. It was sad, losing so many good men that night (not to mention Ell and our kids Max and Sierra), and as I held this ax, I vowed to see them all avenged. I did so, and I kept the ax with me."
Dren shifted a bit in his seat. "Again, I remember hearing reports form captured Futas warning about you and your ax. As you said, they called you the 'Black Fox', and said that the day that they fought you was their last day alive!"
"Eh, wouldn't surprise me too much. I mean I WAS pretty deadly in combat!"
Dren then looked over to the display cases. "And what's so special about these display cases? I mean, one of them is empty!"
"Well, that first empty case used to contain Aurora's battle armor before the Imperial War Museum was finished. Once it was, the suit was removed to become a part of the museum's collection, and I just never found anything to put in there. I was going to put my diving suit in there, but I displayed that in my relic room instead."
"And who's the Zebra?"
I smirked. "Dren, I'd like you to meet General Tarrath. He was Overlord Zakia's right-hand man, and the leader of the Zebra city of Zandia. It was also him who infected me with the poison that was beginning to destroy my DNA, and resulted in me having to become a Human Bat-Pony hybrid. Just as I was falling in the battle, I hit him with 3 shotgun blasts, which ended his life. Not too long after, I had him stuffed, and he was originally on display at the museum too, but due to complaints that an actual corpse was 'too morbid', I took him back for my personal collection."
"Wow, that's pretty crazy!" I then saw Dren looking with wonder at the final case. In it was a suit of armor, as well as a red cape, and a staff-like weapon on a mannequin of a stallion that looked downright evil. "And what's the story about this display case here?"
"This is the armor, cape, crown, and staff of none other than King Sombra himself. In a nutshell, King Sombra was a tyrannical leader who ruled over the Crystal Empire until he was banished by Celestia and Luna. 1,000 years later, he returned, and tried to conquer again, only to be defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, including my wife, Dash. He was defeated, but not destroyed. His spirit, contained inside of his horn, was still alive and well, and eventually, his horn and armor found their way to Earth. Again, in a nutshell, Sombra's armor and horn were found first by the Matriarchal World Empire, then the Black World Order, and then by the Futas, before finally falling into American hands. For a long time, Sombra's spirit was reaching out, trying to find a host to connect to, until on the day of the Battle of Vegas, his spirit became intertwined with mine, and he became a part of me!"
Dren looked at me incredulously. "And do you really expect me to believe that?"
I shrugged. "You can believe whatever you want, but I'm telling the truth. It was because of Sombra that I was able to do incredible things. Terrible things yes, but incredible nonetheless! I saved the day at the Battle of Carlon when I saved my men from a War Beast stampede using Sombra's magic, and I cleared a path through Donneth at the battle there. The horn that you see on the Sombra mannequin isn't Sombra's real horn; the real one is kept somewhere safe!"
"Show me that you can use Sombra's powers!"
"I would, but yet, after the Battle of Donneth, I made a promise to myself that I would NEVER use Sombra's magic again unless it was an EXTREME EMERGENCY! I've never used it since, but yes, I CAN still use it!"
Dren just rolled his eyes. "And whatever happened to Sombra anyway? Is he still inside of you?"
I shook my head. "No, he's not. After the climax of the Battle of Donneth, he tore free of me, only to realize that he didn't have the power that he thought he was going to have. He left me, vowing revenge, and I've never seen him since. He's still out there somewhere, though I do hope that one day he does come back, as I miss having him as a part of me."
"You need SERIOUS psychiatric help, you do know that right?"
"Yeah, I know. I've been seeing a PTSD therapist, and I think that I've been getting better. Heck, I've even taken up painting since then. All of the paintings in the room next door were painted by Yours Truly! Want to see my relic room?"
"Sure."
I then led the way to a door close to my desk.
Once he was inside, Dren once again gasped in shock. This room was about the size of my office, but it was filled with stuff! It was lit by a window, and all around were display cases, and shelves with boxes on them. Caribou and Zebra heads adorned the walls, as did Caribou and Zebra weaponry. More weapons were in display cases, as were 2 diving suits. There were also a number of trunks, and marked boxes on shelves. The walls also had a number of paintings on them, and more framed pictures.
"Whoa! Is this another museum?"
I nodded. "Yeah. This is where a lot of memorabilia from WW3-6 and the Second Cold War, as well as a number of other miscellaneous items ended up. I was unable to display all of it, so some of it wound up here. I think of this room as a sort of 'relics archives'."
"Anything from your time under your mistress on that ranch where the Battleship Express was born?"
"Yep." I then reached up onto one of the shelves, and pulled out a small box. Inside of the box were a few small metal and fiberglass pieces.
"And what are these?"
"These pieces were all that I was able to salvage from a homemade patchwork biplane that I once tried to use to fly to freedom! I almost made it to Kansas City, but I got shot down, and forcefully returned to the Ranch. These few pieces were all I was able to salvage." I then found a photograph. "And this is Samantha 'Sam' Applegate, the owner of Creamy Dream Ranch in Kansas, where I was enslaved for the last time."
Dren looked at the picture. The Futa in it was tall, had dark red hair that was in 2 braids, green eyes, a few freckles, lots of muscles, and she seemed to be smirking a bit as well. She was also wearing a red shirt which barely contained her massive breasts, work boots, jean shorts that also revealed her massive bulge green leggings, and cowboy boots.
"Sam wasn't outright evil by any means, but she did like to exploit the males under her 'care' at times. She had a something of a rape fetish, and would sometimes ravage me without mercy whenever she felt the urge. It did hurt later on, but it DID ensure that Sam was distracted, and that the Battleship Express came to be!"
"And whatever happened to her anyway?"
"She and the ranch's manager, Misty Barrow, were captured, and later put on trial. They ended up spending a while in jail, but I don't know if they're still there or not."
Dren was looking at a box that said "Carla" on it. "And who was Carla again?"
I smiled. "Carla Boudica was the niece, and adoptive daughter of Empress Demetria. Her sister was General Stacy Rikker. It's interesting though. Demetria's full name is Demetria Jocasta Boudica, while Carla's was technically Carla Francis Rikker-Boudica."
"How is that possible?"
"Well, like I said, she was adopted, but yet she was also Demetetria’s niece. Carla's mother was a Herm named Natasha Boudica. She married a man named John Rikker, and together they had Carla and Stacy. However, both John and Natasha died when their daughters were very young, so Demetria adopted her 2 nieces, and raised them as her own. Carla adopted the last name 'Boudica', while Stacy stuck with 'Rikker'. Still to this day I wish that I could know what happened to Demetria and Carla. I still pray that they made it out of Vegas, but I doubt that they did."
Dren just rolled his eyes. "I don't see why you even care about them so much anyway. I mean they were Herms, and Demetria was the EMPRESS of the Futas!"
"Demetria was NOT one of them! She used her power and influence to manipulate the Futas behind the scenes, to try and win the war for the Allies! Carla was the same way, and they both saved many lives thanks to their actions. Carla loved me dearly, and if nothing had gone wrong, I would have married her, and would have been very happy."
"Master?" A female voice from close by asked.
"Oh, yes DECLI?"
"Aren't you going to tell him about me?"
I nodded. "Oh yes, I was. Thank you for reminding me DELCI!"
"You're welcome Sir!"
Dren looked confused. "Huh? Who's 'DELCI'?"
"DELCI is our resident AI unit. She was on our train for the entire time that it existed, though she dates back a LOT more than that!"
Dren then sat down on an empty crate as I began to tell him about DELCI.
"DELCI began her life in the late 70's, as an advanced supercomputer called M13. She was made by a company I used to hear about all the time called Ryerson Engineering. In later years, Ryerson would merge with General Electric, and General Atomics to create a bigger company called General Atomics International. Together, these 3 companies would go on to create a LOT of other amazing machines. In fact, some of the appliances, and most of the weapons systems on the Battleship Express were made by General Atomics.
But anyway, back to the topic at hand, M13 was one of the most powerful computers in the world at the time, though her operators at Ryerson kept trying to make her more and more powerful. This project was sidelined in the late 80's, and kept there until the mid 2000's, when M13's systems were finally updated, and streamlined. She was still called M13, but she was also given a lengthy serial number. Said serial number had the letters 'D', 'E', 'L' 'C', and 'I' in it in numerical order.
By this point, artificial intelligence was just coming into use, and some thought that M13 could become the next generation of that. Many long hours, and thousands of dollars were spent on the project, and for the scientist's efforts, M13 was indeed able to not only speak, but also showed the early signs of being able to think for herself. As AI technology continued to advance, M13 continued to grow and learn. Eventually, just prior to WW3, I got a chance to see her in action at a convention. During WW3, she helped run calculations, and run algorithms for winning the war. During WW4, she had to be taken to an underground fallout shelter to protect her, and this is how I met her for the first time.
She wasn't guarded very well, and once day I sat at her console. 'Um, hello? are you operating?' I asked.
'Yes, I am', M13 replied. 'Who are you?'
'I am Sgt. Scar. I'm taking shelter in this bunker until my squad's ready to move out again. It's nice to get a chance to talk to you though.'
'Yes, it is', M13 agreed.
Eventually, she was upgraded and streamlined again, and it was actually I who suggested that she be called 'DELCI' due to those letters being part of her serial number. This was agreed upon, and I helped save DELCI during WW5 when she could have been destroyed. We smuggled her to a secret military base in New York, where she would remain until the Battleship Express was under construction there. Then, once the train was ready, she became its resident AI. She helped with calculations, algorithms, and monitored the radars, scanners, and could even operate the weapons systems. And this was never tested, but theoretically she even could have even been able to launch nuclear shells all on her own!"
Dren looked impressed. "And did DELCI ever have to use any of the train's weapons?"
"Oh yes, I did! Not too often, but at times when we were shorthanded, I did have to take over a few weapons systems. I was fully capable of doing so, but I didn't have to do it very often. And I may be 17 years old, (as an AI, not a computer!) but I sure don't feel like it!"
Dren laughed a bit. "Well, I wouldn't know about that, but I guess that you're only as old as you feel!"
We all laughed at this, and then Dren looked around a bit more, while I began to cuddle with Briana, whom I had cradled in my arms.
Eventually, Dren came across an odd looking green jumpsuit. The suit appeared to be stained, and it had a gray helmet with it too. Included with the jumpsuit and helmet was a picture of me wearing them. I was a Human-Wolf in the picture, and I did look rather sickly.
"What's the story with this jumpsuit and helmet? When was this picture taken?"
I looked at it, but tears began to form in my eyes. The truth was I had tried to force myself to forget about it.
"That jumpsuit.........was what I typically wore while I was living on Creamy Dream Ranch. I'll let you guess what some of those stains on it are!" I then shifted a bit. "But yet, that's not why I hate that suit so much."
Dren looked at me curiously. "Oh? Well then, what is?"
"Well, the truth is, towards the middle of my stay at Creamy Dream Ranch, in the early Spring of 2026, a bad storm came in. There was wind, blinding rain, and almost freezing temperatures. It was starting to get late, and it was then that Sam realized that 11 of her stock of Femboys were missing. They should have been back at the ranch barns by sundown, but they weren't."
"Wait, Femboys? As in......"
"Boys that look like girls, and pretend to be girls. However, they differ from Traps in the sense that they're just really girly sluts, while Traps aren't always interested in sex. The Ranch often catered to local events, and sex just went with the game. Most of these Femboys were also underage. I was 'too old and too ugly' to be a Femboy, but that's besides the point!
Anyway, even though the weather was severe, we HAD to find those kids! Sam, Misty, and a few other ranch hands all went out looking, as did myself, and the 5 other male workers. It was pitch dark, pouring rain, and temperatures were hovering at almost 30 degrees, and falling fast. Soon enough, I was soaked to the bone, freezing my ass off, and starting to get disoriented, but I kept looking."
"And, were those kids found?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I found them. They seemed to have panicked when the storm started, and in their confusion, instead of running towards the barns on the ranch, the scantily clad Femboys ran towards the end of the pastures, through a gap in the fence, and somehow wound up close to a bend in the Arkansas River, which was close by. Remember, the ranch was located in Kansas, close to a bend in the river."
"And what happened next?"
"Well, I saw that they'd somehow made it to the other side of the river, and were stuck on the opposite bank. Even though I knew the severe risk, I shone my flashlight into the river, and began to cross it to get to them. The water was BITING cold, and the current was somewhat swift, but it only came up to my waist. Eventually, I reached the other side where the Femboys were huddled. I could tell that they were both terrified, and shivering from the cold. They were glad to see me, and I grabbed my radio that I'd been given, but to my dismay, the trip across the river had shorted it out! I was all alone for the time being.
I then looked at the kids. 'Ok guys, here's the deal. I HAVE to get you out of here now! The storm's getting worse, and the river's rising fast! Also, you guys are in SEVERE danger of hypothermia! I have to get you all back across the river, and back to the Ranch!'
'Wait, we have to go back across the river?!'
I nodded. 'Yes, I'm afraid that you do Courtney. But don't worry, the river isn't all that deep right now, and there's still time to make it!'
Courtney and a few others looked worried, but in the end, I was able to get him, Silver, and Mickey to safety. Once they were on the other side, the 3 of them all scurried to get back to the Ranch, while I waded back across the river again. The water was getting deeper, and I was having a hard time feeling my legs and feet. My time was running out, but yet I knew that I HAD to get the rest of the kids to safety!"
"Then what happened?"
"This is where things start to get tragic. The remaining 8 Femboys were now terrified. They were confused, disoriented, and shivering. I kept trying to convince them to let me carry them back across the river, but none of them would budge. I kept trying to help them, but they were stupid, and refused to let me. I knew that our time was rapidly running out, but I never gave up trying to help them. I stayed with those little runts all through the night. The water kept rising around us, the temperatures plummeted into the single digits, and then, sometime in the night, possibly around 3-4am, the heavy rain caused the section of the riverbank that we were on to give way, and we were all thrown into the frigid water.
By the time that morning came, all of the remaining 8 Femboys had either drowned, or frozen to death. When Sam found me at about 6am, I was nearly 4 miles downstream from where I found the Femboys, clinging to a fallen log, and just barely alive. She dragged me out of the river, and held me close to her while she carried me back to the Ranch. Once we were there, she took me up to her private quarters, threw some more wood on the fireplace in her room, stripped me of my soaked jumpsuit, placed me on the furry rug in front of the fire, stripped herself, lay down close to me, pulled a blanket over the both of us, and began to spoon with me to warm me up again, and keep me alive.
Long story short, a few days later, I was back on my feet again, but yet, my hearing was never the same again. The combination of the cold, and lengthy exposure to freezing water, caused my left eardrum to rupture. The damage was never fully repaired, and I've been deaf in that ear ever since. Somehow, my sensitive Wolf Ears on the top of my head survived, and ever since that night, I've just had them, (though now they're Bat-Pony Ears), and my right ear." I then moved a hand over my left ear. "Still to this day, I'm completely deaf in this ear because of that night. I saved 3, and lost 8. Sam never fully blamed me for what happened, as the 3 survivors all attested that I did everything in my power to save the 8, but time just ran out before I could save them. Over the years since, and still today, I keep having nightmares about that night. I'll never forget what happened, and I doubt that the other 3 survivors, wherever they are right now, ever will either."
When I finished my story, Dren looked at me with utter shock. He'd never heard that story before from anyone else, and the way that I'd just told it, with very little emotions, sent more than a few chills up his spine. He couldn't quite tell what I was thinking, but he guessed that I was feeling more than a little regret for what had happened, even though I'd done everything in my power to save those kids.
Finally, he just asked, "Why? Why did you stay with them?"
"Because I thought that Sam and the others would find us quickly enough. I had the (sadly false) assumption that they would either find us quickly, or that the 3 that I'd saved would get back to the ranch, and tell them where I'd found them. I later learned that the 3 surviving kids did, but that due to the weather, Sam and the others were unable to get there until about 4:30am, and by then, it was too late. An hour and a half later she found me, and pulled me out of the river. Then perhaps 5 months after this was when the rest of the would-be Battleship Express crew made our escape from the ranch."
"And.......what happened to you after you could work again?"
"Well, Sammy kept a close eye on me, though this was due to my poor health. She made me sleep with her, which did help me with staying warm. I would remain somewhat sickly until I was back Stateside."
Dren then put the jumpsuit, helmet, and picture back where he'd found them, and was about to leave the room, when one last picture caught his eye. It was sitting on top of a trunk. "What in the world?" The picture was of what appeared to be myself, and a few others, but we were dressed in white robes, and were wearing white pointed hoods with eye-holes. On a hunch, he then opened the trunk, and pulled out a white bundle. After unwrapping the bundle, he saw that it was one of the same outfits as in the picture.
"Hey Leopard, what's up with all of this? Why do you have this, and why's everyone in this picture dressed up like a ghost?" He then held the white outfit up again.
I suddenly turned pale, and PRAYED that he NEVER realized what he was holding really was! In truth, that picture was taken during WW5. Due to the complete corruption of the ENTIRE Black Race by that point, and their EXTREME emphasis on destroying ALL of Earth if they lost the war, they had to be exterminated for the sake of all of Humanity. There was a supplier out there who provided full KKK outfits for anyone who wanted one, and even those who DIDN'T want one! I ended up with one, and so did the others in that picture with me. I never wore my outfit that often, and after WW5 was over, I put it in that trunk, and buried it underneath my old house. Once I reached the ruins of my old neighborhood again in WW6, I once again dug up the trunk, and brought it back to the train, where I placed it in storage. It resurfaced again after the Imperial War, and I locked that trunk into my Relics Room, and tried to forget about it. Now here it was again, and my brother could EASILY figure out that his older brother, whom he ALREADY hated, had been a practical member of the KKK during WW5!
I thought fast. "Um.......yeah. Those were ghost costumes. We had a Halloween party one night, and as a joke, we all decided to be the ghosts of soldiers killed in WW5, which was when this picture was taken."
"Oh, cool. And that's a really nice bonfire in the background too. Why does it look like a cross though?"
"Oh.....that was actually a larger structure before we set it on fire. The cross-like bit in the picture was all that was visible by the time that that photo was taken."
Dren then folded the outfit back up, and then placed it back into the trunk with the picture. He then looked up at me. "Leopard, I would just like to say right now that I'm SO SORRY for treating you like garbage. After seeing all of this, and you showing me what you went through, I see now what I fool I was to keep pushing you around. Sure, I didn't really regret doing it when we were younger, but now? I see that it was a mistake! Can you forgive me for that?"
I nodded. "Yes, I can. I mean sure, maybe we don't see eye to eye on everything, but yet we were two of the ones who helped keep the Futas at bay, and we are (unfortunately!) brothers, so that has a part to play as well."
I then shook my brother's hand, and then we went back downstairs.
Once we were down there, Briana jumped up onto his lap while he was sitting on a chair, and he began to pet her.
"Aww, she's licking my face! Does that mean that she likes me?"
"Eh, I don't know Dren, but if you knew what I knew, you would NOT be laughing right now!"
He gave me a confused look. "Huh? Why's that?"
"Because moments before she jumped up and started licking you, she was just licking her butt!"
"EWW, WHAT THE..........!?!?!?! GET OFF OF ME YOU SICKO!!!!!" He then grabbed Briana, and threw her away from himself!
"Incoming!" Briana was heading right for me, and I managed to catch her.
Dren then asked to leave, and I helped him back to the ground. After flying up again, I scooped up Briana, and held her in my arms.
"Briana, why did you do that?"
She looked up at me. "Because I still don't really like him. I just thought that I get rid of him fast!"
I shot her a look. "And you do know that I'll have to punish you for that, right?"
She smirked a bit. "Sure, just as long as you think that you can take THIS ol' Sphinx for the ride of her life!"
I groaned, and then began to plan on doing just that later.
A few days later, Dren, Tim, and the rest of the Wabash Crew, as well as those from the Battleship Express that they were related to, were invited to Canterlot for dinner. The Princesses wanted a chance to dine with them, as did a few other Canterlot nobles, including Fancy Pants, and his wife Fleur de Lis.
We were all going to be gathering in the Main Dining Hall, which was being prepared for dinner. Dren, myself, Don, Tim and a few others ventured in there a little bit before dinner, as Don and I wanted to show them the room's architecture.
"Whoa!" Tim gasped a bit when he saw it. "This room is huge!"
"Yes, and it's for ROYALS AND NOBLES ONLY!" A voice snapped from close by. We all turned to look, and there, sitting in one of the dining chairs, was none other than Celestia's nephew, Prince Blueblood. He was the brother of Princess Cadence, and NOPONY liked him AT ALL! He was a HUGE stuck up jerk, and saw almost everypony as being below him.
I glared at him. "Um, no, this room is for those that the PRINCESSES invited to dine with them tonight! That includes soldiers from Battalion 4009, Battleship Express Crew, and the crew of the Wabash Cannonball, to say NOTHING of those related to them!"
Blueblood shot me a look. "You are all PEASANTS, you know that?! You would be NOTHING without me!"
Don looked at him. "Ok Prince Blueblood, that was not called for. And what does that even mean, 'you would be NOTHING without me'?!"
Tim then chimed in. "Yeah, how much crack have you been smokin' today buddy?" We all snickered a bit at this.
"Why you little runt!" Blueblood screamed, though he made no moves to leave his chair. "I will have you ALL escorted out of here IMMEDIATELY!"
I then took a step forwards. "Oh yeah? And how are you gonna do THAT Buddy? There's more of us than you, and we're ALL combat veterans, to say nothing of some of us being CQC masters! So I guess that it all comes down to whether or not you'll swallow your pigheadedness, and dine with those who helped save Equestria!"
Blueblood then turned absolutely livid. "NEVER!!!!! I will NEVER dine with the likes of you!"
Dren then looked straight at him, and said something that I'll NEVER forget. "Oh yeah? Well then how about you just head upstairs to your room little boi? If you don't want to dine with us, then I'm SURE that your boyfriend would be willing to give you something to eat!"
When Dren said that, ALL of us who heard it fell down on the floor CRYING we were laughing so hard! Blueblood ran out of the room crying and screaming, and once I was able to, I looked over at my brother. I mean sure, he had hurt me, and he hadn't fully earned back all of my respect yet, but now I could see that he was well on his way!
After that night in Canterlot, I thought that Dren was well on his way to earning back my respect. He seemed to finally get that he was a jerk, and he wanted to mend his ways. Unfortunately, an event happened not too long after that forever shattered this view.
A little later that June, Bill Blaze, the engineer of SP Daylight 4449, aka the Wabash Cannonball, was about to take the train out on what could have been his final run before his retirement. After the run, the train was going to be handed over to those of us who took care of the Big Boy, so that it could be used for freight and passenger services on the Equestrian Railroad. Bill's 'final run' so to speak was viewed by some to be a cause to celebrate the best engineer that they ever had, even though Bill was just taking a backseat so that he could be with his wife Barb more, and not actually fully retiring.
Among those who were on the train that day were not only Dren, but also Tim Curry, and other Wabash crew and soldiers. Bill was driving, Thomas Wilson was the fireman, and 4449 was only pulling 5 cars; a baggage car, 2 passenger coaches, an open-air gondola, and a caboose. The run was going to be from Ponyville to Manehattan, and then back again. The trip there went fine, it was what happened on the trip back that was forever remembered as a terrible tragedy, and made me angry with Dren once again.
"Man, I forgot how boring train travel can be", Dren was saying. "I don't know how you guys could do it for as long as you did."
Tim laughed a bit. "Well, remember, we WERE in an active war-zone, so that REALLY kept us on our toes!"
"Yeah, but even my brother Leopard was a crew-member of the Battleship Express from November 2026-June 8th, 2029, and then again from June 9th, 2029, up until the train's unofficial retirement on August 1st 2029. I don't know how he puts up with it now, especially these days with them just running small freight trains, and excursion passenger service. It's SO boring!"
Tim then smirked a bit. "Well, wanna help liven things up a bit?"
Dren looked at him curiously. "What does that mean Tim?"
"Well, since this IS Bill's last run, at least for a while, shouldn't we do something that would ensure that people and Ponies remember it for a LONG time to come?"
Dren thought about that for a minute. Finally, he said, "Well, what did you have in mind Tim?"
"That's the funny thing Dren. You do know what 'mooning' is, right?"
"Wait, 'mooning'? As in 'pulling your pants down, and showing people your ass'?"
"Yeah, that."
"Yeah, why? What does that have to do with this run? Are you gonna moon somebody?"
Tim started laughing a bit. "Yeah, that's the plan anyway! The truth is, Bill's gonna pull the Cannonball through Ponyville, past Ponyville Station, and then through the rest of town before reaching the railyards once again. What we're gonna do when we reach town is head up to the gondola, and then moon ALL of Ponyville! I know that THAT'S gonna make this a run nobody's EVER gonna forget! So are you in on this Dren, or what?"
Dren had to really think about that. It sure did sound fun, plus nobody would be hurt, or really even humiliated. It would just be them mooning some Ponies. I mean, it's not like any of them hadn't seen an ass before, right?
He looked back up at Tim. "How much farther until we reach Ponyville?"
Tim looked at his watch. "Eh, we should be coming up on it within the hour."
Dren nodded. "And I'm in. Hopefully I'll even be able to moon LEOPARD if he's around!"
Tim laughed. "Yeah, maybe you will!" The 2 of them, plus the others who wanted to be a part of the mooning all then climbed up to the gondola, and waited for the train to reach Ponyville.
Once it was in sight, Tim turned to the others who were with him, about 15 guys in total.
"Ok guys, this is it! In about 3 minutes now, we're gonna be heading through Ponyville. Once we reach the outskirts of town, we drop our pants, and keep mooning all the way to the railyard!"
"We got it Tim!"
They were coming up on Ponyville fast; just a few more minutes until their big moment. Once they were coming up to the town, Bill blew the whistle up in the cab, and once the guys involved were in place on both sides of the gondola, they pulled down their pants, and the massive mooning began.
For those who saw it, most were thoroughly disgusted. NEVER had they EVER seen a group of Humans stoop to those kinds of vulgar lows, and they were largely booed as they rolled through town.
When they passed Ponyville Station, the station master got on the radio with Bill.
"My FAUST Bill! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!?!?!"
Bill was confused. "What's wrong Coal Fire? What's going on?"
"You mean you don't know?!"
"No, I don't know. What's going on?!"
"You've got a car full of guys in the back MOONING other Ponies!"
"WHAT?!?!?!" Bill then turned around and looked out of the cab window towards the rear of the train, as did Thomas. They then saw what the other guys were doing.
"Thank you for informing me Coal Fire. I WILL be dealing with this as they are NOT supposed to be doing that!" Bill then flipped frequencies, and got on the intercom system. "HEY!!! ALL OF YOU MOONING PULL YOUR F@#KING PANTS UP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!!! THAT'S DISGUSTING!!!! NOBODY WANTS TO SEE THAT, AND YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT YOU ALL WILL BE FINED FOR PUBLIC INDECENCY!!!!"
Unfortunately though, things were about to get a LOT worse. Because Bill and Thomas had turned around to yell at those who were mooning, they missed a red signal, and the Daylight accidentally got switched off onto the wrong track. They were heading back outside of Ponyville, but up ahead of them was a railway bridge that spanned the river outside of Ponyville that was under repair! The bridge was in the process of being replaced with a new one, and the tracks were closed until work on the bridge was finished. However, they were sometimes open to allow trains to bring in supplies. A train had just finished delivering supplies when the Daylight rolled into town, but the tracks hadn't been switched back yet! Bill missed the red signal, and now he was sending the Daylight down that track at almost 30mph towards a bridge that didn't even fully span the river anymore!
Suddenly though, Thomas looked ahead again and saw the construction zone.
"OH GOD!!! BILL LOOK!!!!!"
"What?" Then he turned around and saw the unfinished new bridge. "OH GOD!!!! SHIT!!!!" He then shut off steam, and SLAMMED on the brakes!
He then blew the Daylight's whistle, desperately trying to warn the Ponies who were working on the bridge of the incoming danger. They saw the Daylight coming, and they all scrambled to get out of the way.
"BOYS BRACE YOURSELVES BACK THERE!!!!" Bill screamed. He and Thomas then braced themselves for the impact, and prayed.
Moments later, the Daylight hit what was then the end of the bridge, smashed through the barricade that was there, crashed off the end of the bridge, and fell roughly 8 feet to the river below. The streamlined cowcatcher hit the water first, followed by the rest of the engine and its tender, and they plowed into the mud at the bottom of the river. The baggage car behind the tender was still halfway on the bridge, but it was tilted up at a steep angle. The remaining 3 cars, including the gondola, were still on the bridge.
Luckily for everyone involved, the river was only a little more than 10 feet deep where the bridge was, so not only didn't the Daylight sink out of sight, but it would also be able to be salvaged. Neither Bill nor Thomas were seriously hurt, and were able to scramble up onto the top of the tender moments before the train hit the water going less than 10mph. They did have to wait to be rescued, as they were unable to climb up onto the baggage car, but luckily help was on the scene in moments.
However, now EVERYONE involved had to face the Equestrian Railway Safety Board, (ERSB), so that they could figure out what happened and why, and slap those guilty, (if applicable) with penalties.
Within an hour after the derailment, (it wasn't really an "accident", as there were only minor injuries, and no real damage) the back 3 cars were pulled away, and a salvage crane put the baggage car back onto the tracks. However, the real dilemma was on how to get the Daylight and her tender out of the river. This involved 2 floating cranes, as well as a team of Unicorns before both were lifted out of the river, and placed on the tracks on the other side. Once they were there, they were towed back to the railyard so that they could be examined by the ERSB. Overall, aside from the water, and some damage to the engine's streamlining by the impact with the riverbed, there was very little damage done.
Once they were back at the railyard, Bill and Thomas were sitting in an office in the workshop behind the Imperial War Museum being interrogated by ERSB Agents.
"In your honest opinion Mr. Blaze, why did this accident happen?"
Bill sighed. "In all honesty, it was a series of unfortunate circumstances, coupled with poor timing."
"And how did the accident occur?"
Bill then told the full story of the run, his being informed about the mooning by the Ponyville station master, his turning back to yell at them, his missing of the signal, Thomas yelling to him about the construction site ahead, his slamming on the brakes, and ending with his and Thomas's escape from the cab, and their being on the tender when the engine hit the water.
"So you blame those who were mooning?"
"Not entirely. Yes, what they were doing was gross and indecent, but they didn't do anything that would cause an accident. I don't think that any one person is to blame for this. Though I do have to ask, why was that track set so that a train could head down it if the bridge was still under repair?"
"That's what we want to know as well. That line should have been closed, and the points set against it. However, we have reason to believe that a train had just finished delivering supplies to the bridge, and your train arrived moments after it cleared the switch. The red signal was on until the tracks were switched back, but you missed the signal Mr. Blaze."
Bill sighed. "Well, at any rate, I'm just glad that no lives were lost today. This accident easily could have been fatal, but by the grace of God, it wasn't. No real damage was done either, though the blame has to fall somewhere I suppose."
The ERSB agents then left Bill and Thomas to put together other notes of their findings. The damage to the bridge itself was also minimal, the train was entirely salvaged, no lives were lost, injuries were minor, and construction work was almost ready to begin again once the ERSB concluded its investigation, and no one person or groups of people were wholly responsible for the accident, but yes, the blame did have to fall somewhere.
Those who were mooning were arrested, and charged with public indecency, and reckless endangerment. They didn't have to go to prison, but they did have to pay a fine, and perform 100 hours of community service. Bill and Thomas were given a slap on the wrist for minor negligence, as was the Ponyville station master for not immediately switching the tracks back once the supply train had cleared the switch. Construction work did indeed begin the next day, as did the community service for the 15 mooners.
Don and I were disgusted and angered beyond belief at the actions of Tim, Dren and the others.
"My GOD Dren!!! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!"
"I'm.....sorry Leopard. I wasn't thinking."
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock! Your public indecency led to an accident that EASILY could have turned fatal! And I was just beginning to think that you were well on your way to earning back my respect too!"
"And the same with you Tim. You're 34 years old. You KNOW that what you did was stupid, gross, and not to mention ILLEGAL! You never CEASE to sicken and disgust me!"
Both Tim and Dren were visibly upset. Dren did feel genuine disgust at himself for going along with Tim's idiocy, though Tim was more sorry for the actual accident than the crime that he committed. I knew that Dren was back to square 1 for earning my respect back, and it would take a LOT more than just roasting Blueblood to do it this time!
By the end of June, the repairs to the Daylight were fully complete, and she was running regular passenger services. She and her 11 orange and red coaches plus one baggage car were so recognizable that the train was given the nickname "Flaming Fireball". Because she'd been reconfigured to burn coal due to a shortage of oil, 4449 could just refuel at the same hoppers and water towers that Big Boy 4009, Iron Glory and Battle Glory used.
I was talking to Dash about the Daylight one day while she was lying on a cushioned chair on one of our balconies. She was lying nude, and I was gently massaging my pregnant wife.
"So what do you think about the Daylight Dashie?"
"Eh, it's actually a pretty awesome train. How fast can it actually go? I mean, it IS streamlined just like the Crystal Express, so I would imagine that it could go pretty fast!"
I looked up at her. "Before I answer that Dash, I have to know something. Why did you tell Dren that you were 4 months along, when in reality you're only 2 months, and that you're having a colt and a filly, when in reality it's twin fillies?" I then gently began to rub and caress her slightly swollen belly.
She gave me a look. "Uh, duh, cuz your brother's a jerk, and I wanted to make it seem a little bit more impressive than it really was!"
"And how many kids did you want again Dash? Isn't 4 gonna be enough? I mean, we already have Misty and Skyler, and Daring's got Amber and Midnight, so won't that be enough?"
Dash seemed to genuinely be thinking about that. "Eh, I'll see. I MIGHT stop at 4 kids, but I'll just see when we get there. It's enough for now, as our kids WILL be 4 next year, and I'll have my hands full taking care of these 2 beautiful fillies right here!" She rubbed her belly to emphasize her point. "You SURE seem to have a knack for not only making twins Stud, but also fillies too! When are you ever gonna give Sky a brother?"
I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe whenever Spitsy's ready for me to give her a baby."
Dash just rolled her eyes a bit. "All I know is that Spitsy had BETTER be ready soon, or that mare ain't gonna have kids at all! I mean she's what, 29 now? What's it gonna take for her to want to get knocked up?"
I gave her a look. "Dash, it's not so easy for her. She's the CAPTAIN of the Wonderbolts for Pony's sake! If she got pregnant, who would take her place while she was on maternity leave? She's just not ready yet."
"Probably Soarin if I had to guess, or maybe Fleetfoot. But anyway, are you FINALLY gonna answer my question now?"
"Oh yeah, right; how fast the Daylight can go. Well, in truth, she has a design speed that can meet or exceed 110mph! Some reports said that she could reach speeds in excess of 120mph, though this has never been proven. However, she DID regularly hit triple digit speeds in regular passenger service, so she could really move when she had to!"
When Dash heard that, her jaw was on the ground! "Stud, no train in Equestrian HISTORY has EVER exceeded 100mph! The Crystal Express, belonging to Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, has come the closest, but yet she never exceeded 95mph. If the Daylight really CAN go that fast, then she EASILY could hold a Guinneigh World Record!"
"Wait, no train has ever hit 100mph?"
"No! Like I just said, if the Daylight really could go that fast, then she EASILY could hold a Guinneigh World Record!"
I was stunned when I heard that. Having a train that could hold a new record for speed? That sounded pretty cool!
"I'll.....have to talk to somepony about that. If we could use the Daylight for speedy passenger service, then that might help draw more business in for trains. And if that happened, then maybe we could one day try for a speed record."
"It might be easier than you think Stud. All you gotta do is see if you could get either Celestia or Luna, or even both of them, to authorize a speed test. Then you could run the Daylight to her top speed, and see how fast that is. If it really CAN break a world record, then that MIGHT convince them to authorize another test for the history books!"
"And with a train that would hold a world record, Ponies would keep paying to travel on her, and she would continue to pay for herself with regular passenger service. Now I've DEFINITELY gotta talk to somepony about this! I'll talk to Don about it tomorrow, as he's the guy who oversees our railroad operations. In the meantime though, I've got a pregnant wifey to spoil rotten with my affections!" I then got back to smothering Dash with my love.
Dash smirked and giggled. "Wow, it's so nice to see you've accepted your place in worshiping your wives Stud!"
I shot her a glare. "Don't push it Dash. I could EASILY leave you hanging!"
"Just as I could EASILY give you another black eye for angering a pregnant mare!"
"Dash, why do you always test me like this? Do you want the love or not? Because if not, as Wally Franks would say, 'I'm outta here!'"
That quickly, I found myself with both of Dash's hands around my throat. She was also glaring daggers at me. "I get the love or your windpipe dies!"
I decided to take my life into my own hands. "Well, if you killed me, who would love you then? Plus, when a mare asks for love from her husband NICELY, when is she ever refused?"
Dash then used her most potent weapon, her Sad Puppy-Dog Eyes. "Pwease Stud? PWEASE give your wifey your wuv! She REALLY needs it!"
I relented. "Ok FINE! JUST STOP WITH THAT FACE ALREADY!" Dash then let go of me, and I got right back to massaging her.
"Heh, works every time!" She smirked to herself.
The next day, I did indeed get a chance to talk to Don about what I'd been talking to Dash about, but needless to say, he was less than thrilled.
"And you think that all of this is a good idea why?"
"Think about it for a second Don. We use the Daylight to haul speedy passenger trains, while at this same time, we plan on doing first a speed trial, and then possibly a world record attempt. Dash told me first, and then Twilight confirmed that no engine in Equestrian history has EVER topped 100mph! The Crystal Express has come the closest, but even then, it's only hit about 95mph. And if the Daylight holds a world record, AND can keep up a speedy and reliable passenger service, then she continues to pay for herself just like she did back on Earth during her heyday! I know that we have the engine that can do it Don. Can't we at least consider this?"
Don sighed. "Well, while all of this does sound cool Leopard, there are other implications to think about here. One is are Equestrian rails even strong enough to hold an engine going that fast, another is what will Bill, Thomas, and the other Wabashers who were NOT involved with the 'mooning incident' think about this, and most importantly, what would the Princesses think about this?"
Don did raise some pretty good points. "Well, to answer your first point, if the Crystal Express has already gone almost that fast, and it's just as large, if not slightly larger than the Daylight, then I think that it might be alright. And the answers to both points 2 and 3 would be to ask them. We can ask Bill and Thomas since they're here in Ponyville, and I know that Twilight could send a letter to Celestia and Luna about this as well."
Don sighed. "And to be perfectly honest Leopard, I NEED some wholesome action around here! Twilight's driving me up the WALL with her pregnancy, and she's got another 4 months before she gives birth to our son Dusk. I NEED more fun in my life than work, and dealing with shenanigans like what happened the other day!"
I agreed, and while Don went to find his wife so that he could ask her about sending a letter to the Princesses, I went to go find the Daylight engine crew.
Long story short, Bill and Thomas didn't see anything wrong with us using the Daylight like she was meant to be used, and Celestia and Luna were not only open to the idea, but they REALLY wanted to see if 4449 could indeed break an Equestrian rail speed record. The date of the primary speed test was set for July 1st, which was about 4 days away.
On that morning, while the Daylight was being readied for her run, local Ponyville denizens, news reporters, and rail enthusiasts from all over Equestria flocked to Ponyville, as well as the sections of the line where the Daylight was going to go by. EVERYPONY wanted to see if she could indeed set or break a new speed record, and really just how fast she could go.
The trial run would be from Ponyville, to Las Pegasus, all the way up to the Crystal Empire, and then back again. The track that we would be using would be all clear, so we wouldn't have to stop for anything. The Daylight would be pulling her 11 coaches, including passenger cars, dining cars, a dome car, and an observation car, as well as a baggage car, and a caboose that had been modified to have a separate series of speedometers in it, as well as recording equipment that could track 4449's speed throughout the entire trip. Though the train would be empty for this run, this was still a total of 14 cars. Don also decided that I would be driving the Daylight, Alex would be my fireman, and Todd would be our brakeman. The only other Ponies coming with us would be 2 technicians to monitor the instruments in the caboose.
As we were standing by the engine, our wives and kids were gathered all around us.
"Please be careful out there Todd. I NEED you to come home to me tonight!"
Todd hugged his shy wife. "Don't worry Fluttershy, we'll be just fine out there! Plus, I have you, as well as you two to come home to tonight as well!" He then hugged his 2 daughters, Windy and Lilly.
"Have fun out there Daddy!"
"Yeah. I bet that your run will be really fun!"
"I hope so too girls. Wish me luck!" He then began to climb up into the Daylight's cab.
Alex was being hugged by Applejack, Alex Jr, and his new daughter, 1 year old Bailey.
"I sure wish that you were coming along Babe. It ain't gonna be as fun without you!"
"So do I Alex. But this is your time to shine, so git on out there and break that record!"
"Yeah, break the record Daddy!" Alex Jr told his father. Bailey seemed to agree with her brother, but all she could say was gibberish.
"I will guys, and we'll have a LOT of fun doing so!" He then climbed up into the cab as well.
Last of all, I was being hugged by Dash, Spitfire, Daring, as well as my kids; Amber, Midnight, Misty and Skyler.
"You be careful out there Stud!" Dash was telling me. "I do NOT want to be left a pregnant widow!"
"And Dash and I don't want to be left single moms either Stud!" Daring added
"You won't be Girls. NOTHING is gonna go wrong!"
Amber and Midnight hugged my legs. "Break that record Daddy. You show the Crystal Express who's the FASTEST train in all of Equestria!"
"Yeah, I can't WAIT to see the looks on their faces when you beat them!"
"We'll do our best girls. However, even if we DO break their old record, we'll STILL have to do it again under more scrutiny from the good folks over at Guinneigh World Records."
I then said goodbye to my family, and climbed up into the cab as well.
At this same time, Don, Celestia and Luna were talking to the press.
"Princess Celestia, what IS the current speed record for the Equestrian Railroad, and which train holds it?'
"The current speed record is 95mph, and it's held by the Crystal Express, the private train of my niece Princess Cadence, and her husband Shining Armor. Rumors persist that the train has reached 100mph in the past, though this has never been proven."
"Princesses! Is it true that the Crystal Express is out on the line right now?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes, that is true. The train is still out there on a return trip to the Crystal Empire, though whether or not she'll meet the Daylight is still unknown."
"Major Don, what IS the Daylight's top speed?"
"Well, according to the design records, the engine has a design speed of 110mph, though some sources indicate that the engine could reach speeds of or exceeding 120mph, though whether or not she has actually done this remains unclear. What IS known is that she has indeed reached triple digit speeds, and regularly did so in excursion passenger service."
"And if the train does indeed reach 100mph, or even higher, will it hold the Guinneigh World Record for the fastest locomotive of all time?"
Princess Luna answered that question. "Yes, yes it will. Even though the locomotive itself is not Equestrian-made, it has met the required standards, and will indeed hold a new world record."
The list of questions went on and on and on.
At the very back of the train, Iron Glory was helping to push the last of the Daylight's coaches into place so that they could be coupled into the train. The plan was to also have Iron Glory push the Daylight out of the railyard, before braking to a stop not too long after, and the Daylight would start her run.
"Leopard, we're almost done hooking up all of the coaches back here. We just need to attach a few more air hoses."
"Ok, roger that Daryl. And just to be sure, your front coupler is indeed disengaged, correct?"
Iron Glory's brakeman went to check it. The knuckle was closed, but the handle was down, seemingly indicating that it was disengaged.
"Affirmative, we're disengaged Leopard!" In reality though, no, they weren't. The lever looked like it was down, and it was, but with the coupling of the Equestrian caboose, the levers were backwards. Instead of pulling them DOWN to disengage the coupling, you pushed them UP! The brakeman didn't know this, but in his defense, he was relatively new, and had only worked with the Earth engines. Now Iron Glory was locked onto the train, and if nothing was done soon, she was going to be taken on a ride that could reach or exceed 100mph!
I then radioed Don. "Don, is everypony clear out there?"
"Roger that Leopard. Everypony's clear of the train, and you're good to go out here!"
"Ok, roger that, let me just check with Dispatch." I then flipped frequencies. "Railway Dispatch, Railway Dispatch, this is SP Daylight 4449 ready to pull out of the Old Railyard in Ponyville for our speed test. Are we clear to proceed, over?"
"SP Daylight, this is Railway Dispatch. You are cleared to proceed. The tracks are all clea ahead of you, though please be advised that the Crystal Express is out and about as well, and you could meet them on the parallel tracks between Van Hoover and the Crystal Empire. They'll be out of your way on the other track, but you could still pass them!"
"We'll have to see about that Dispatch! Anyway, this is SP Daylight signing off for now. We'll check in when we need to." I the blew the Daylight's whistle, and after easing the throttle forwards, we began to pull out towards the edge of the Railyard.
At the back of the train, Daryl Meers, and his fireman Fred Barrett were in Iron Glory's cab. The time was getting close for them to disengage from 4449's train, but when they reached the railyard's end, Daryl engaged the brakes, but to his surprise, Iron Glory didn't disengage from the train!
"What the......?" Daryl switched off the brakes, and then reapplied them. Sure enough, the same thing happened! "Uh oh Fred, this ain't good!"
"What's wrong Daryl? Why are we still moving?"
"I can't disengage from the train, and I can't do it because the coupling's still attached!"
"WHAT?! I thought that Brandon unlocked it!"
"I thought that he did too, but maybe he was mistaken!"
"Well, what do we do?!"
Daryl took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, we don't panic. Second of all, we're in the cab of a dark-colored, American 4-4-0 locomotive from 1862, attached to the back of a train being pulled by SP Daylight 4449 as she's going for a speed record attempt. Iron Glory was given a full overhaul about 2 years ago now, and is still pretty sound. I vote that we simply radio Leopard, and inform him of the situation." He started to reach for his radio.
Fred grabbed his hand. "No Daryl, don't do that! If you do that, then they're gonna abort the run! There's nobody in the caboose up ahead of us except fer those 2 techs monitoring the instruments. If we stay back here, then we could EASILY become a part of history!"
Daryl was conflicted. On the one hand, he did indeed want to become a part of history, but yet on the other hand, he was taking a serious risk. Iron Glory was NOT made for high-speeds, and could EASILY start coming apart if anything went wrong! But yet, he and Fred had been her engineer and fireman for years, and knew their American 4-4-0 better than anyone. They decided in the end to take the risk, and be ready to bail out if anything went wrong. They then sat back on their seats in the cab, and waited to see what would happen next.
Up in 4449, none of us were aware that Iron Glory was still behind us. Once we were out on the open line, I really began to open up the throttle, and Alex kept stoking up the fire in the firebox.
"Whoa! This thing accelerates WAY faster than the Big Boy!"
I nodded. "Yeah, and that's because she's smaller, lighter, and streamlined Alex! We're already up to about 40, and that's gonna change here before too long! Once we're past Las Pegasus, most of the track is straight, and on flat ground. We're REALLY gonna hit it then!"
"I hope so Leopard!"
By the time that we reached Las Pegasus, we were going almost 65mph. Many Ponies waved to us as we passed, and I blew the whistle as we all waved back. Then, once we hit the flat ground, I opened the throttle to the limit, and while I monitored everything, Todd began to help Alex shovel in coal.
From 65, we hit 70, and kept climbing.
"Don, this is 4449. We're now registering speeds of almost 80mph! We STILL haven't pushed this old girl to her limit, and we're still going!"
"That's great Leopard! We're watching the live feed on the screen here at the small theater in the Imperial War Museum, and the Pegasus ponies with the cameras have you in frame. You're doing great so far, but still be careful!"
"We will Don, and I'm glad that you're all watching us there. We'll keep it up out here, and give you all a show that you won't soon forget!"
"Roger that Leopard!"
After signing off, I then noticed that the speedometer was closing in on 90mph. "Don, we're getting close to 90mph. Is the camera showing the speedometer running?"
"Yes, it's running Leopard. We can see it just fine. You're only about 6mph off the mark now."
"Roger that Don." I then kept it running.
"Come on Stud, come on!" Dash said quietly. "I KNOW that you can do this!"
The needle of the speedometer seemed to be hovering at 95 for a while, but then it hit 96, and kept climbing. Before we knew it, we had just done what had previously been said to be impossible.
"100MPH!!!! EVERYPONY!!!!! WE'VE JUST HIT 100MPH!!!! WE'VE JUST BROKEN THE RECORD!!!!"
The crowd at the Imperial War Museum was going wild, as were others who were watching the live feed elsewhere. The Press Ponies were telling their audiences that we had just broken the old railroad speed record, and were now going to see just how fast the Daylight could go.
I kept calling out the major numbers as they happened. "105mph! Now 107mph! Closing in on 110!"
From the back of the train, Daryl and Fred had heard everything. "Holy cow Daryl, we've just topped 107mph! We're almost to 110mph!"
"And Iron Glory's still holding together! I mean, we're not having to do much work, but her axles, wheels, and driving rods are all holding together!"
Not too long after this, 4449 hit 110mph, and seemed to top out there, at least for the time being. All around us, Ponies watched in shock since they had NEVER seen a train go so fast before! The Daylight rocketed past them in a blur of orange, red and black, and little did we suspect that we were soon going to meet up with the train that we'd been hearing so much about!
Up ahead of us on a parallel track ran the Crystal Express. Currently on board were Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armor, as well as a number of tourists who were on an excursion trip. None of them had any idea that we were racing along behind them, and were soon going to pass them.
A tour guide was currently talking. "And once again folks, I would just like to thank you for riding on the FASTEST train in all of Equestria! We're right now whizzing at 90mph, and NOTHING on the rails is going faster than us!"
"Not even that orange and red train beside us?" A young colt asked.
"What orange and red train beside us?" The tour guide looked, as did some of the other passengers.
At that exact moment, the Daylight rocketed past them going 113mph! Those onboard watched in dumbfounded shock as a train not only passed them, but was going WAY faster than they were!
As a joke as we went by, I got on my radio to them. "Hi everypony on the Crystal Express! Bye everypony on the Crystal Express!" I then blew the whistle as we raced ahead of them.
None of the Ponies on the Crystal Express could BELIEVE what they had just seen! The engineer of the Crystal Express radioed back that the Daylight had easily topped 100mph, and was STILL going!
"Well", Shining mused to his wife, "I guess that we DON'T have the fastest train in all of Equestria anymore!"
Cadence was still in shock. "No, I guess that we don't!"
Soon, we reached the Crystal Empire, and were on our way home again. We were still cooking at over 110mph, and we were hoping that we could make it back to Ponyville without running out of coal!
Back in Ponyville, Don and the others were still cheering about the Daylight's record-breaking run. Not only had we broken the record for fastest locomotive, but if we could reach Ponyville again, we would also hold the record for the fastest run from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire, the fastest trip from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville, the fastest round trip from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire and back again, and the longest time to have held a steam engine at speed! However, in the midst of the celebration, Joe Dixon, the Primary Engineer of the Battleship Express, suddenly noticed something.
"Huh, what the?! DON!"
"What is it Joe?"
"Look at the back of the Daylight's train! Isn't that Iron Glory?!"
"What?" Don and others looked at what Joe had been pointing to, and sure enough, it was indeed Iron Glory behind the train!
"Good night! What the hell are they doing?!" Don then grabbed his radio. "SP Daylight, SP Daylight, this is Major Don, please respond!"
"Daylight here Don. What's going on?"
"Well Leopard, it seems that Fred and Daryl have stowed away on your little speed test here. They're still coupled to the back of the train!"
"WHAT?!" I looked back as we rounded a bend, and sure enough, Iron Glory was still back there! I then got on the radio with Iron Glory. "What in the world are you guys still doing back there Daryl?!"
"Our coupling didn't disengage like Brandon thought that it did! We got drug along for the ride!"
"And why didn't you say anything?!"
"We wanted to be a part of history Leopard! History isn't made by those who sit on their asses, it's made by those who are willing to take risks! Plus, we were taking EVERY safety precaution, AND we were ready to intervene if anything went wrong!"
I was able to accept this answer, but Don pretty much yelled at Daryl and Fred the whole way back to Ponyville.
Once we were back, Iron Glory was uncoupled from the train, and IMMEDIATELY taken over to the workshop behind the museum so that she could be evaluated. Much to the engineers's shock, the engine itself showed very little signs of wear from its adventure in triple digit speeds! Don would have punished Daryl and Fred, but the media loved them! They were viewed as a part of history now, as they too had been a part of a record breaking run. They were put on probation, but considering how they could have been punished, it was a mere slap on the wrist.
Yes, we knew that we'd just help make history, but for the actual record attempt, we were going to have to repeat the feat. We knew that this was going to be doable, as we'd already done it once. The date for the World Record attempt was set for July 4th, just 3 days later.
It was going to be a little bit more complicated than what we originally anticipated. Sure, we were there for the record attempt, but the Crystal Express was there in Ponyville as well. Its crew were EXTREMELY upset at having been made to look like idiots in front of tourists, and they wanted revenge! Long story short, they challenged us to a race around Equestria, and announced that they too were going for a world record attempt!
Driving the Crystal Express was none other than Speed Demon, one of the most famous engineers in Euqestria, and his fireman, Fire Burner, was one of the most legendary fireman in Equestria as well! We knew that they were gonna be tough to beat. The Daylight was going to be hauling the same train she was the previous time, although this time a few more passengers were coming along as well. They were going to verify all of the record attempts, and had to be present. The Crystal Express was pulling only 8 cars compared to the Daylight's 14, but we knew that we could still win. They too would have Ponies verify their record attempts.
The 2 trains were sitting on parallel tracks outside of Ponyville Station. Huge crowds turned out for the event, and EVERYPONY was cheering. Some were cheering for the Daylight, while others were cheering for the Crystal Express. Since it was a holiday, (At least for us Americans!) the rail lines were shut down for the day so that the "Race of the Century" could take place.
"This is it everypony! The legendary Crystal Express will be racing the Wabash Cannonball, or as it's also known, SP Daylight 4449, both for the title of fastest train in all of Equestria, AND for other record attempts as well! Both of these trains are crewed by some of the best that there is, so it's TRULY going to be the 'Race of the Century'!"
Speed and Fire looked at Alex and I just before we climbed into the cabs of our train. "Hey, may the best stallions win!"
We then shook their hands. "The same to you guys. You're gonna be some pretty great competition, so make it count!"
"We will!" We all then climbed into the cabs.
They only had to fit a GWR Official on the cab with them, but Alex and I had to have Todd, AND A GWR Official! It was pretty tight, but we were able to do it.
Once we were all ready, Spitfire appeared in the sky just ahead of the 2 trains. She was wearing her full Wonderbolt jumpsuit, and she was holding the button that would trigger the signal lights above our respective tracks to turn green when the race began. We were all incredibly nervous, but yet we of the Daylight had confidence in our engine.
"Are you boys ready to begin?"
"Oh yes we are Captain Spitfire!" Speed told her.
"We're ready over here Babe!"
"Ok, good. Now, I think that you all know the rules here, so I'm not gonna repeat them. Just the parts about no cheating, no falsifying records, no hitting anything on the tracks, and above all, have fun, and let's see about breaking some World Records!"
The crowds then cheered, and then Spitfire looked to Don, who was acting as the race's color commentator. "Yep, I'm ready here Captain Spitfire!"
"Ok boys, 10 seconds!"
The crowd then finished the countdown. "9......8......7.....6......5......4......3......2....1......GO!!!!!!" Spitfire then pushed her button, and the signal lights above us went from red, to yellow, and then they finally hit green, and we went tearing off the starting line! The Race of the Century was now underway!
At first, things weren't off to the fastest start. Our circuit would take us from Ponyville, to Las Pegasus, to Van Hoover, to the Crystal Empire, to Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Dodge City, Appaloosa, and then finally back to Ponyville. Canterlot would be the only major city that we were going to bypass, and even then, that was only because it was in the middle of Equestria, and there was only one track there. Our trains wouldn't be able to use it to race.
One we were out of Ponyville though, we were still neck and neck most of the way to Las Pegasus. The Daylight kept trying to gain speed, but the Crystal Express stayed right with us. At times, Speed and Fire would send obscene gestures our way, and since he was on that side, Alex would send a few of his own right back, and I would join him as well. Both sides were pretty upset that we couldn't outpace the other! The GWR Officials on both sides kept telling us to be more sportsman-like, but we weren't listening too much. Suddenly though, the Crystal Express began to pull ahead of us!
"Ha ha! We're in the lead now fire! We're holding steady at about 75mph!"
I shook my head. "Not for long! Todd, help Alex shovel coal! I'll watch the gauges like I did last time!"
"Right!" Todd then began to help Alex shovel, and I worked the engine controls. The GWR Official was rather impressed at our teamwork, and it payed off. Soon, we passed they Crystal Express, and from that point onward, it was a losing battle for them.
We soon hit 95, and then 100mph, and we kept the speed up. Speed Demon was able to get the Crystal Express up to 100mph, but that was as fast as they could go. We knew this, and we held steady at about 105, and I planned to do this until the final leg of the trip, and THEN I would see how fast we could really go. Our speedometer went up to 130, and I was going to see just how close we could get to that.
Back in Ponyville, even Dren and his wife Olivia were watching the race. Dren was one of the many cheering for the Daylight, and for once, he actually wanted his brother to win. "Come on Leopard, I KNOW that you can do this! The Daylight can go so much faster than the Crystal Express, so PLEASE win this one!"
I had every plan of doing just this, and I was now putting my plan into action.
Once we were past Manehattan, Alex and Todd kept shoveling in the coal, while I kept the engine moving forwards. From 105, we reached 110, then 113, 115, and finally, by the time we reached Baltimare, the Crystal Express was trailing MILES behind us, and we were screaming along at almost 118mph!
"Golly! NEVER, in my ENTIRE career as a GWR Official did I EVER think that I'd see the day that a train went faster than the Crystal Express! Not to mention that you've set a new railroad speed record!"
I half-turned back to the official. "It's not over yet! I'm gonna see just how high we can push the bar, and if I'm right, we might even top 125mph before we reach Ponyville again!" Just as I said this, I saw the speedometer top 120mph.
By the time we left Dodge City and Appaloosa in a cloud of dust, we had managed to hit 124mph, and on the final home-stretch, just before we had to start braking for Ponyville, we hit 126mph! For those that don't know, only one other steam locomotive has ever been confirmed to have gone this fast, and that engine is the Mallard; a British steam locomotive that still holds the world record for fastest steam locomotive of all time. We had just equaled Mallard's record, though only for a few seconds. We then had to start slowing down, and a little while later, we passed over the Ghastly Gorge Bridge, went past the Everfree Forest, and then steamed back into Ponyville Station. We had won the race hands-down, and it was another good 15 minutes before the Crystal Express pulled into the station again!
Once they were back in, the crowds were cheering for the Daylight, though Speed and Fire did congratulate us.
"You guys were AMAZING out there! It was anypony's race there for a while, but you deserved to win today. You truly did have the better engine, and it was an honor to have raced against you."
We shook their hands. "Just as it was our honor to have raced against you!"
The GWR officials then disembarked from the trains, and went to go look at all of the data that had been recorded, and see if any world records had been broken.
Once they returned, the lead official addressed the crowd.
"Good afternoon Mares and Gentlecolts, and now comes the moment that I'msureE that you've ALL been waiting for! Let it be said that this day, July 4th, 2033, the train known as SP Daylight 4449 has broken the all-time railroad speed record with an Equus-shattering 126mph run! In addition to this, the crew also hold the record for the fastest round-trip around Equestria, the fastest run from Manehattan to Baltimare, the fastest run from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville, and the longest time to have held a steam locomotive at speed! They will be featured in the 2034 edition of Guinneigh World Records, and even though it is not a world record, they have also won the most intense, and amazing railroad race in MANY years! The crew of the SP Daylight 4449, Captain Leopard: engineer, Alex Barkley: Fireman, and Todd Davis: Brakeman, were some of the most amazing stallions that we've EVER had the privilege of working with, and I hope to continue to see the Daylight around Equestria in regular passenger service!"
When the crowds all around us heard that, they went WILD! There was SO MUCH cheering, whistling, screeching, etc. Alex, Todd, and I were now considered national heroes, and we now also held several Guinneigh World Records, the most impressive of which was driving the fastest steam locomotive of all time during her record-breaking 126mph run! We were glad to have done our jobs, and while it was nice to have our names in the history books, we WERE kinda waiting for all of the publicity to die down though! It was getting crazy to be followed by fans all of the time again, and we were REALLY hoping that it would all end soon! It would take the rest of the summer, but yes, it would indeed end soon.
That September, I celebrated my 28th birthday, and on November 3rd, at 5:45pm, Twilight brought her and Don's first child, their son Dusk, into the world. He had purple fur, blue eyes, and a purple mane and tail that was streaked with brown. He also had wings like Don did, and unlike most of the other babies, he sure did cry a lot, at least at first. After the first few weeks, little Dusk did finally calm down, and was quite happy and content. The rest of that Fall passed quickly enough, Winter was setting in, and Hearthswarming, aka Christmas, would soon be upon us!
That Winter, the Winter of 2033-34, was a rather cold one. The snows fell frequently, and there was always a blanket of snow on the ground. Dash, Spitfire, Daring and I all debated on whether or not we were going to allow Dren and Olivia to spend Hearthswarming with us.
"So what do you think guys? Do you think that they've earned it?"
Dash shrugged. "I dunno Stud. I WANT to give them a chance, but it's still hard to forget all of the nasty things that they said about us."
"I agree". Daring added. "Olivia's insults really did bite, and she has yet to show any real regret for saying them. I mean sure, she's TRIED to make it up to those that she insulted, but she hasn't apologized for what she said yet."
"I don't know what to think Stud. Like Dash, I WANT to give them another chance, but I don't know. However, it IS Hearthswarming, so shouldn't we at least try to give them a chance?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I GUESS that we could give them one more chance. Dren's been doing a lot to redeem himself since that incident earlier this Summer, so I guess that we can have them here for Christmas. I mean, I kinda do want to have my brother back in my life again, as he's the ONLY family that I have left, but he has GOT to stop screwing up like he's been doing!"
My wives all agreed to this, and I then went to go and find Dren, and tell him that he was free to spend Christmas/Hearthswarming with us.
It was December 15th when I told Dren that he and Olivia could stay with us for the Holidays, and they were both very happy for that.
"I really appreciate you doing this for us Leopard. I mean, I KNOW that I've screwed up a lot, but still, thank you SO MUCH for letting us spend Christmas with you guys!"
I nodded. "Well, you're welcome Dren. Now then, while Olivia helps Dash, Spitfire and 'Feathers', as well as the kids with the Christmas tree and the interior decorating, wanna help me, Briana and Aurora with the outside lights?"
"Sure, I guess." He then began to help me.
For Dren and Aurora, helping Briana and I with the lights was a rather nerve-wracking experience! I mean, it's one thing to be up on a tall ladder, but imagine being up on a tall ladder...........roughly a half-mile up in the sky! Dren didn't have vertigo, but yet he was nervous.
"Just for the record Leopard, how many lights are you gonna be putting up?"
"Eh, I was thinking about pulling a 'Clark Griswold' this year. I'm gonna 'Christmas Vacation' this sucker up, and then turn everything on at the very end!"
"And, are you SURE that these lights are all gonna work? And what about blowing out the power, or something? Come to think of it, how do you guys even have power up here?!"
I sighed. "In chronological order, yes, I'm SURE that they're all gonna work, as we've been testing them BEFORE we bring them up here! And don't worry, there's some heavy-duty circuit breakers in the basement that'll help prevent an overload. And how do we have power? Well, it's pretty complicated to explain. We're on the Ponyville grid, but yet we also have solar panels as well. It's a mixture of Magic and technology, and I would explain it, but I can barely even understand it myself!"
Dren just shook his head, and continued to help me put the lights up on the house.
In total, it took us nearly 3 days of solid work! Aurora would drag out the lights, Briana would plug them in and test them, before flying them up to Dren and I, who would then attach them to the house. All of the lights were bright white, and even I'd lost count of how many we'd put up!
Meanwhile inside the house, Olivia was helping Dash, Daring Spitfire, and my kids with the Christmas tree, and other interior decorations. All during it, Dash kept rubbing her 8 and a half month swollen belly. She would be a mom to infant foals within a month, though she was glad that the foals would be coming AFTER the New Year, as she REALLY wanted to spend one last Hearthswarming with just Misty and Skyler!
Dash and Daring were decorating the tree, and Spitfire was helping Olivia with some mantelpiece decorations. Amber and Midnight were helping their mom Daring by handing her and their Auntie Dash ornaments, while Misty and Skyler helped their Auntie Spitfire.
Olivia turned to Spitfire. "He's married to all 3 of you, isn't he?" She suddenly asked.
Spitfire shot her a look. "What's it to you? I'm not gonna answer that question, but ONLY because it's none of your business!"
"I knew it! You're not Dash's 'old roommate', just as 'Feathers' isn't Dash's 'cousin'! Right whatever-your-real-name-is?" She looked over at Daring.
Daring shot her a glare. "My name is AK Yearling. Some informally call me 'Amy Yearling'. YOU can call me Mrs. Yearling!"
"Oh, so YOU'RE the one who writes all of the Daring Do books! And I will admit, those books are pretty cool. My husband Dren thinks that they're stupid, but I don't! My all-time favorite was 'Daring Do and the Lunar Shrine of Romance'. Your work with that one was PHENOMENAL!"
"Well, thanks, I guess. And I'm glad that you liked it; that book was my last one before I got pregnant with these 2 little bundles of joy right here!" She pointed to Amber and Midnight. "Since then, I've been a full-time mom, AND a professional writer, but having them around has also given me some new inspiration for stories. 'Daring Do's Great Misadventure' was loosely based on the early days of me being a mom, and my next book, 'Daring Do and the Standalone Steamer', will be based on Stud's record-breaking run that he, Alex and Todd made with SP Daylight 4449 earlier this Summer."
Olivia sighed. "And for what it's worth, I'm....sorry for what I said when I first arrived here. I was SO foolish to have just been throwing insults around, and I REALLY hope that you, Dash, Spitfire and your husband Leopard can forgive me Mrs. Yearling. I do want to be a part of my nieces's and nephew's lives, so it's time that I started acting like it!"
Daring, Dash and Spitfire all looked at each other. They could tell that Olivia was being serious, but yet they were still just so shocked that she was actually asking for their forgiveness!
Daring looked at her. "Well, on behalf of the others, I would like to welcome you into our family Olivia." She then hugged her.
Olivia hugged her back. "Thanks Mrs. Yearling. And I can kinda see why Leopard married all of you. You're all REALLY hot!"
Daring laughed a bit. "Oh, and you can just call me 'Amy' Olivia."
Dash then smirked a bit. "Oh, and Stud didn't just marry us because he wanted to Olivia.....well......he did marry me cuz he wanted to......but for Spitfire and.........Amy though, he was kinda roped into a legal binding agreement that had no loopholes! It's a long story, but it's one that I'm willing to tell if you want to hear it!"
Olivia nodded, and then Dash began to tell that story.
By December 18th, Dren and I, as well as Briana and Aurora, were all done with the lights. All 4 of us were out on our cloudy front lawn, (Dren had been given a potion from Twilight enabling him to walk on clouds) while I was hooking up the final electrical connections. Once everything was good, at about 10pm, I held the 2 primary plugs in my hands.
"And now, the AMAZING 'Clark Griswold-style' Christmas lights!" I then pushed the 2 ends together. To my slight shock and surprise though, nothing happened. "What? Oh COME ON!" I then shook the plugs trying to get them to work, but still nothing happened.
"Oh great, now what Master?"
I sighed. "I don't know Aurora." I then looked at Dren. "You up for helping me check all of the bulbs?"
Dren looked at his watch. "Oh jeez, look at the time, it's WAY past my bedtime! I have homework to do, gotta shower, spend time with Olivia, do some chores, feed the hog......bye!" He then raced back inside of the house. Briana followed him in.
Aurora walked over to me. "I'll stay with you Master. Plus, it could just be an electrical problem. We should check all of the cords first."
I nodded, and then we both did so. Sure enough, we couldn't find anything wrong with the cords. We then began to check the lights, but yet, we STILL couldn't find anything wrong!
4 days later, on December 22nd, we were STILL going at it, and we hadn't given up yet. Finally, Dash had enough of seeing her beloved husband struggle, so she put on her favorite leopard spots pajamas, put on her slippers, wrapped a robe around herself, put on some earmuffs, and went out to see me. I was holding the 2 plugs again, and Aurora was sitting beside me.
"Stud?"
I looked at her. "Yeah Babe?"
"Aren't you guys gonna come in yet? It's almost Midnight! You've been out here for nearly 4 days!"
"Just as soon as we get it working Dash! I think that we have it now though!" I then pushed the 2 plugs together. Sadly, nothing happened. "I don't understand it Dashie! We've checked EVERYTHING! We've checked the cords, we've checked the bulbs, WHAT DID WE F@#KING MISS?!?!?!?!"
"Did.......you check the box in the basement Stud? There could be something wrong there."
I shook my head. "No, I didn't. That's the last place to check." I then handed her the 2 plugs. "Here, hold these like this, and keep them together. I'm gonna go check the circuit box. Maybe Dren jacked with something." I then left Aurora and Dash while I went to go check the basement box.
Once I was down there, I tried to flip the wall switch. To my growing frustration, nothing happened. "Great, what ELSE electrical doesn't work around here?!" I then grabbed a flashlight, and went down to the circuit box. I then realized that the basement had no power. I didn't think that this would affect the lights, since I plugged them in outside, but I then looked closer, and found that a switch was turned off.
"Huh. That's weird. Better fix that." I then flipped the switch to "On", and once the basement's lights were on, I began to check the rest of the box.
However, unknown to me, that switch was the cause of the light's not working. As soon as I flipped the switch, ALL of the hundreds of thousands of lights that Dren and I had put up on the house suddenly came on! When Dash and Aurora saw it, their jaws hit the ground!
"Stud!"
"Master! The lights are on!"
In their room in the house, Dren and Olivia had been just about to have sex, but then the lights outside came on!
"Ogh!"
"Oh, my eyes!"
The lights were so bright, and there were so many of them that EVERYPONY in Ponyville and the ENTIRE surrounding area saw them!
Back in the basement, I yelled back up the stairs, "Hey Dashie, I think I know what's wrong!" Even though I knew that she wasn't going to be able to hear me.
However, there was another problem. Due to the INSANE amounts of power that the lights were using, the power supply of not only Ponyville, but the ENTIRE surrounding area was being drained, as the main power plant in Ponyville couldn’t keep up with the demand! The lights were going out everywhere, leaving our house the only one with power!
Out at the Hoofer Dam, the main hydroelectric dam in Equestria, and the one that supplied additional power to Ponyville when required, alarms were suddenly blaring!
"Oh shoot! We've got a MASSIVE power loss in Ponyville, and the surrounding area Everypony! Quick, get those auxiliary turbines running NOW!!! Get the power grid over there back online!"
"Yes Sir!" Switches were flipped, and the dam's auxiliary turbines were soon running at maximum capacity. Soon, all of the power was turned back on, though those at the dam were REALLY wondering what was causing the massive power drain.
Back at the house, Dash was so shocked that she accidentally pulled the 2 power plugs apart. The lights went out, and the area became dark once again. Upstairs, Dren and Olivia were stumbling around blindly in the dark, and they kept knocking things over! Dash and Aurora then went to go see about finding me, though just as they were leaving, I was returning. They paused on the porch, and saw me grab the 2 power cords. I then put them together, and the lights came on once again.
My face lit up when that happened. "DASHIE!!!! AURORA!!!! I FIXED IT!!!!!" Dash and Aurora came running back out to me, and I then shouted up at the house. "HEY DARING, SPITFIRE, DREN, EVERYPONY!!!! COME OUT AND LOOK AT THE LIGHTS!!!! HA HA!!!!"
"What's going on out there Spitsy?"
"I dunno Daring, but we'd better go see!" They both began to get their cold-weather clothes on.
At this same time, Dren tripped and fell down the stairs, and landed in front of them! He looked dazed.
"What's wrong with you, are you f@#kin' drunk?" Spitfire asked him. Dren didn't answer, and seemed to be stumbling outside.
Unseen by the rest of us, he fell off my porch, and into the cloudy bushes where he accidentally pulled out one of the plugs for the lights! The lights went out AGAIN, only this time just as EVERYPONY inside the house was coming out to see the lights!
"What's all the shouting about Stud?" Spitfire asked.
"What the?!" NO!!!! COME ON YOU F@#KING THING, F@#KING WORK!!!" I then began to hit the cords, completely baffled by them not working!
Dash looked up at the others. "I swear you guys, Stud JUST had the lights working!"
Meanwhile, in the cloudy bushes, Dren began to sit up. He then realized that he'd fallen onto a cord, and that the cord had come unplugged. He then saw me basically having a temper tantrum, and he laughed a bit. Eventually though, he did do the right thing, and just as I brought the cords together once again, he plugged the cord back in! The lights came on yet again, and THIS TIME they were going to STAY ON!
Once I had my whole family out on the front cloud lawn looking up at the lights with me, my wives were in shock, as were my kids, to say nothing of Olivia and Briana! Dren then came out of the cloudy bushes, and walked over to us. "Sorry about that Bro, I accidentally tripped over a plug. I fixed it though!"
"Yeah, just as I fixed the turned off switch in the basement. But in any case, what do you all think of the lights?"
"It's AMAZING Stud!"
"Yeah, what Spitfire said!"
"We agree Daddy!"
"Great one Leopard. I've NEVER seen a light show like this before!" Briana added.
I then looked at my brother. "Thanks for helping me out with this Bro. We did it, even though I was the one who got it working!"
"Eh, you're welcome Leopard. What's a brother for?"
We all then decided that it was getting too cold, and it WAS way past Midnight, and I did NOT want to keep everypony up with Christmas lights that could be seen from space, so I turned the lights off for the time being, and we all went back inside. Once we were, with DELCI's help, I quickly brought up the famous scene from "Christmas Vacation" that almost seemed to repeat itself in real life, and played it on our TV screen.
The next day, I got some major inquiries from the Ponyville Power and Light Company about the HUGE power drain that they were able to detect came from our house. I told them that it was just my Christmas lights, and they in turn slapped me with a HUGE electrical bill, and when I saw how much last night cost, I legit fainted! Luckily, I was able to pay the bill, but yet I was warned by others to NEVER turn on my Christmas lights again without giving the Power Company a MAJOR heads up first!
All too soon, Christmas Day was upon us. I got up early, and lit up a fire in the living room fireplace so that the room would be a little bit warmer. I then closed up the fireplace, and went back to bed with my wives for a little while longer. However, by about 8am, our kids were jumping on us, DEMANDING that we all head downstairs so that they could open their gifts! We soon relented, and after pulling on our pajamas, slippers, and robes, we all went downstairs.
Dren and Olivia, as well as Aurora and Briana met us there a few minutes later, and while I practically fell asleep sitting on the couch, my kids attacked the presents under the tree.
I was dozing a bit, at least until Spitfire scooped up Dash, and dropped her in my lap! "Here's my present for you Stud!"
"Ough! Gee, thanks a lot Spits!" I said sarcastically.
"You're welcome Stud!" And she's holding our REAL present for you just in case you wanted it!"
I looked, and sure enough, Dash was holding a gift in her hands. I took it from her, and when I opened it, I saw that it was a framed painting of our entire family.
"Wow Dash, thanks! And thanks to you too Spits. This is amazing!"
"Glad that you like it Stud. I had it commissioned a while back, but Dash and I decided to save it until this Hearthswarming for you."
"Again, thank you so much!"
Daring then gave me her gift. It was a set of tools that I'd said that I REALLY needed for my work on the train. My old ones were REALLY starting to get worn out, but now I didn't have to worry about it anymore!
"Thanks Babe! This is what I REALLY needed!"
Daring rubbed her nose against mine, before giving me a tender kiss. "Yeah, I know Stud. Hence the reason I got you this tool set!"
For our kids, I gave them all all-access tour tickets to the Imperial War Museum. These tickets got not only the full guided tour of the museum, but also a full tour of the Battleship Express and Iron Glory, the war cars of the Wabash Cannonball, AND a special behind the scenes tour of the storage basement where more relics were housed. My kids had been asking and asking me for those tickets, so I finally caved in, and with help from my wives, we gave them those tickets!
"Thanks Daddy! Now we'll FINALLY be able to see EVERYTHING at the War Museum!"
I hugged them all. "Yeah, I know guys. And you're all now 4 years old, so you're to the age where you might enjoy it more now." they hugged me again, and then went to see their Uncle Dren and Aunt Olivia.
Once they were gone, I lay back on the couch again, and while Dash sat just in front of my legs, Daring sat next to her, and Spitfire lay with her back on my chest. I was holding her close to me, and she was nuzzling me gently. Also, due to Daring sitting in front of us, I reached down into Spitfire's pajamas, and began to gently rub and finger her slit.
"Ngh, Stud, not here! Our kids, not to mention your BROTHER, are right here in the room! Wait until later!"
I smirked a bit. "Why do you think that Daring and Dashie are sitting in front of us Spitsy? Plus, you KNOW that you love it!"
Spitfire nipped my neck a bit. "No fair Stud! You KNOW that I love it, and the risk just makes it that much more fun!"
I gave her a gentle kiss. "Yeah, I know Spitsy. And I love the fire in you. That's one of the reasons that I fell for you back then. And how about this; I'll stop fingering you now, and I'll have my brother and Olivia watch the kids while you, Dash, Daring and I slip upstairs for some 'private time'. Sound good?"
She gave me a kiss back. "Stud, that sounds AMAZING!" I then pulled my hands out of her pants, and after we both licked it clean, Spitfire gave me one final kiss, before she rolled over, snuggled into my chest, and seemingly fell asleep.
Eventually, I gave Dren my gift. I handed him a box wrapped in purple paper.
"I hope that you like it Dren. It took me a VERY long time to actually track these things down!"
He opened the box, and low and behold, the box had several old piano books in it. They were worn, old and faded, but they were still there.
He looked up at me with a look of shock. "Bro......how did you........Wha.....?! HOW DID YOU FIND THESE?!"
I smirked a bit. "Well, remember how just prior to WW4, we built that underground vault in our backyard?"
"Yeah."
"Well, just before Mom and Dad left when Henry was killed, I saved whatever I could, and hid it down there. Sure, the vault was lost to time when the nuclear apocalypse happened, but I still was able to locate it when the Battleship Express passed through Kansas City. I found the ruins of our old neighborhood, and after searching for nearly 9 hours, I FINALLY found the vault! Everything inside was still there, though faded a bit with age. I gathered these up, and decided to hold onto them just in case I ever ran into you again. Sure, your death was unconfirmed, but I was pretty sure that you were dead. Anyway though, I held onto them, and now I give them back you you."
Dren just shook his head. "All these years, and somehow, I've never forgotten how to play piano. However, now I have all of my old piano books, so maybe I can sharpen up on my skills again."
I nodded. "Yeah, maybe you can."
Dren then reached behind him for something that I couldn't quite see. "In the meantime though, here's my gift to you." He handed me a long box.
I began to unwrap it.
"You're gonna FLIP when you see what this thing is. Trust me, you would NEVER BELIEVE the INSANE, MADDENING LENGTHS that I had to go to to track this thing down! However, it WAS a part of your legacy, so now I give it back to you. Enjoy!"
I finished opening the box, and when I opened the lid and saw what Dren had brought back to me, I slammed my hands over my mouth. "No........no! It.....CAN'T BE!!!! THIS THING WAS LOST FOREVER WHEN VEGAS FELL!!!!!"
"Eh, that's what others thought too, but if this thing is indeed genuine, no it didn't!"
"What is it Stud?" Dash asked.
I showed her. Inside the box, wrapped in a sheet, was a Remington Model 870 12 gauge shotgun. It had a wooden stock, and a wooden pump handle, and it did seem to be somewhat old. It was in remarkable condition though, even though it also showed signs of use and age.
"What is it Stud? It just looks like an old shotgun to me. What's so special about it?"
I turned to her, as well as my kids, Daring, Spitfire and Olivia. "This shotgun was the gun used by none other than the 'Vegas Shotgun-Slinger'! For those of you who have never heard of him, he was a cloaked and masked entity who, along with his partner, 'Foxy', assaulted several MREA precincts and bases of operations over a 3 month period. Together, they killed many Futas, and induced mass-panic, but in spite of the massive man-hunts, neither of them were ever caught, or even identified."
Dash looked at me. "Wait, YOU were the 'Vegas Shotgun-Slinger'?"
I nodded. "Yep, guilty as charged. And 'Foxy' was actually my 'big sister' Carla!"
"WHAT?!?!?!" Everyone in the room except for Dren was shocked. "What.....how.....why?!"
I sighed. "Well, I WOULD tell you the story, but yet like most others that take place during my time in Vegas, it's NOT kid friendly, and I really don't feel too comfortable telling it."
"Aww." Midnight, Amber, Skyler, and Misty all looked sad.
"Well, I guess I could tell you all a condensed, dumbed-down version. Would you guys like that?"
Amber nodded. "Yes Daddy!"
"Ok, well, here goes. I got this nickname after our assault on Precinct 13, and continued to be called by it until our attack on the CICI Building. Starting from the beginning though, Mamma Demetria was getting sick and tired of other Futas who were trying to usurp her rule, so she decided to put together a stealth-ops team to take care of the problem. Carla and I were the 2 founding members, though others loyal to Demetria joined later. Basically, our missions were to hit areas that the bad Futas used, and wipe them out. In the process, we'd cause mass-panic, and hopefully turn the public against the MREA, which at the time was more corrupt than a force for good.
Anyway, one night, Carla and I were out for a night on the Strip, when all of a sudden, we saw an opportunity to commit a strike. We decided to knock out a few power generators, though after we did so, we then realized that those generators were what powered the nearby MREA Headquarters, and the CICI Building."
"What does 'CICI' stand for Daddy?" Midnight asked.
"'CICI' stands for Counter-Intelligence, Counter-Insurgency. Their entire job was to find 'terrorists', and keep the Futa Empire safe. In reality, they used their resources to hurt the enemies of the Futa Bureaucracy, (aka the REALLY bad Futas who hated Demetria) which was pretty much EVERYONE! They were evil, and they HAD to be stopped! However, when those generators went out, the HQ and CICI went on backup power. Carla and I then saw a chance to make a REAL difference in the Second Cold War, so once we geared up, masked up, and got ready, we kicked in the doors of the HQ, and went to town! Here's where I gotta cut out a LOT of stuff though. Basically, we killed, and they died."
"And where did the shotgun come from?" Dash asked.
"Well, at one point during our first mission in Precinct 13, Carla and I were cornered in a hallway. Carla then grabbed a shotgun from a nearby gun-safe, tossed it to me, and in a panic, I worked the pump faster than I even thought was possible, and dropped 9 Futas in less than 5 seconds before having to reload!
Again, I have to cut a LOT of stuff out of the story, but Carla and I escaped the precinct, it blew up because of a gas leak we caused, and then we disappeared into the night. In the aftermath of that night, as well as our attack on CICI, it was completely destroyed, and because of that, although it wasn't realized until MUCH later, WW6 was an easier win for the American forces. Without counter-intelligence forces, groups like the Wabash Cannonball were able to exist, and guys like we Battleship Express crew were able to escape from Kansas, and get back to the US. The Futas were unable to deal with mass insurgencies, and it was all thanks to the Shotgun-Slinger and Foxy. And more recently, my skills with a shotgun were put to use during the Battle of Zandia, hence the reason I was able to down General Tarrath with 3 shots from my military shotgun, even though I'd already been hit with the poison, and was falling to the ground!"
"What happened to the shotgun after that night Stud?" Spitfire asked.
"Well, it was put on a shelf in the Imperial Palace, and I don't know what happened to it after I was sold to Sam's ranch in Kansas after the coup. I always assumed that it was lost when Vegas fell, but now......I'm not so sure." I then looked up at Dren. "How did you ever even find this anyway?"
Dren laughed once. "Well, funny story. I knew that you were the 'Shotgun-Slinger' thanks to reading your reports on it, and I made it my mission to try and find the legendary shotgun. Sure, there were PLENTY of them around, with everyone claiming that they were indeed the original, but they'd always been proven to be fake. My quest took me all over the US, and I'd rather not talk about the details, but I finally ended up in a gun shop in Idaho.
The owner of the store contacted me, and quietly told me that he'd been given the original shotgun, and invited me to come and take a look at it. I went, fully knowing that it wasn't going to be the real gun. However, when I arrived at the store, the owner did indeed show me the gun, as well as some research that he'd done, and even a letter that came with the gun from Empress Demetria meant for you Leopard."
I was stunned. "Wait, there was a letter from Demetria with the gun? And come to think of it, how'd this guy get the shotgun anyway?"
"Well, I asked him, and he told me that he got it from a dealer, who'd been given it by Demetria herself. Apparently she wanted the shotgun to find its way back to you Bro, and no, I never opened the letter. I'm also REALLY hoping that the shotgun is indeed legit, as although I didn't have to pay money for it, (given that I AM your brother!) and he wanted the gun to go to our family, I don't want to have been ripped off!"
I began to examine the shotgun. I knew each and every one of its features, and even a few little modifications that I'd given it and never told anyone about, just in case I had to identify the real one later. Soon, I found what I was looking for. Underneath the stock, I found a small plate with the letters "L.B." engraved on it. "Leopard Boudica", I said quietly. I also saw that the plate was held in with 3 screws, and when I removed the plate, I found "Carla+Leo" engraved onto the stock. I'd NEVER told ANYONE other than Carla about these features, so there's no way that anyone else could have known about them. No doubt about it now, this really WAS my legendary shotgun!
"That guy was right Dren, this really IS my legendary shotgun! It is indeed genuine!"
"What?! Are you sure?!"
"Positive! It's got a few tiny features that I added later and NEVER told ANYONE other than Carla about. This is indeed the shotgun of the legendary 'Vegas Shotgun-Slinger'!"
While the rest of the others were either cheering, or still in shock and awe, I asked Dren about the letter. "Where's the letter Dren?"
"It's in the bottom of the box. Like I said, I never opened it, and neither did anyone else. No one knows for sure what's in it."
I dug around in the box again, and sure enough, I pulled out the letter. It was in a white envelope that had faded a bit with age. The envelope said simply, "To My Dearest Leopard." The top left corner contained the return address, which matched that of the Luxor in Vegas.
I tore open the envelope, and pulled out a letter. It was written in pen, and the date on the letter was May 5th, 2029, just a week shy of the beginning of our invasion of Nevada. (We were still in Utah at this time.) I then began to read the letter to myself.
"My Dearest Leopard,
I know that it has been a while since you last heard from me. However, with you closing in, I'm now taking the time to write this letter to you. I know that we'll be together again soon, but the time has come for me to reveal a few things to you. First of all, your famous shotgun is indeed still in existence, and is included with this letter. Don't worry, I've had it shipped away from Vegas, and it will find its way to a gun shop in Idaho where it shall remain until claimed by you, or a member of your family." The letter then gave the address of the gun shop, as well as a few coded phrases to tell the owner.
"However, that is not the meat of why I need to write to you, my Dear. The truth is, for the past 2 years, I have been lying to you. About nothing bad, I promise you, but I HAD to do it to protect HER. Leopard, your wife Carla is indeed still alive! She survived the Battle of Austin, Texas, though she was sent into a coma. She's been in and out of a coma for the past 2 years, but she does seem to be doing better. Her mind still longs for her beloved husband, and I know that you 2 will be together again soon. Like I said before though, I HAD to lie to you to protect her. Stacy and others still want her dead, but as long as she remains 'in a coma', she should be safe. Yes, she will be on the train with us once we evacuate Vegas, and you'll be reunited with Carla. However, this is not the full reason I wrote to you, as there is one more thing that I have to tell you, and it's CRITICALLY IMPORTANT!!!!"
"What?" I wondered. "What did you have to tell me Mom? And why did you wait until just then?" I kept reading, and what I read rattled me to my core and beyond.
"Leopard, Carla never told you, did she? I know that she was going to after Austin, Texas, but she was sent into her coma before she could. She told you that she was going to, right? Well, I will now reveal to you what she was going to tell you. My sweet Son, Carla was pregnant! Yes, you read that right! Your seed finally settled in her womb, and became a baby! However, that's not all. All while she was in a coma, we never knew if your child was going to live or die. In fact, we never even knew the gender until it was born. However, Carla carried your child to full term, and about a year ago gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy! Yes, Carla has just become the first confirmed case of a Herm giving birth to a male EVER! He has her hair, and DEFINITELY has your eyes! He's so beautiful, and I couldn't have been more happy to FINALLY become a grandma, just as Carla was beside herself at becoming a mother! Carla also INSISTED that he be named Leo after you, so now his name is Leo(pard) Ocelot Boudica. The next time you see Carla Leopard, she will be holding your beautiful son in her arms, and together you two will FINALLY be a happy family!
And yes, I KNOW that there's a fairly large chance that you won't find this letter until AFTER we meet again after Vegas, but I felt the urge to write it anyway. I can't explain why, but I felt like I needed to for some reason. Anyway, I KNOW that what you must have just read was a MASSIVE shock to you, but I have to tell you now in this letter, and I'll tell you again when I see you again Leopard. Again, I NEVER meant to hurt you by lying, but Carla and Leo HAD to be protected, and while it may have not been right, I did what I felt I had to do. I hope that you can forgive me Leopard.
In the meantime though, I hope that you're doing well, and I'll see you again soon!
Love, Mom"
When I finished reading the letter, all I could so was break down crying. For 5 years I believed that Carla had been killed at Austin, Texas, and now I suddenly learn that not only did she survive, but she was also pregnant, AND gave birth to a son; OUR son?! All of that, only to die in the nuclear hell that Vegas became?! My mind couldn't even faintly BEGIN to come to terms with everything that I had just read in that letter, and I ran upstairs to our bedroom, and continued to cry my eyes out.
Dash, Spitfire and Daring all wondered what I'd been reading about, but when they read the letter, and realized what it meant, they too began to cry softly for me. Dash and Spitfire went upstairs to comfort me, while Daring remained behind with Dren, Olivia and the other kids.
Dren was looking worried. "Did......I do something....wrong?"
Daring shook her head. "No Dren, you didn't do something wrong, but that letter just revealed something to Leopard that he was NOT prepared to handle."
"What?"
Daring walked over to him, and in his ear, she whispered, "Carla, the Herm who he always said he was attracted to; not only was he apparently MARRIED to her, but she also gave birth to their SON as well! Leopard never knew that she was alive, or even pregnant, and now it makes it that much worse now that she's gone forever."
When Dren heard what Daring told him, all he could do was stare in absolute shock. He had NO IDEA that Carla and I had been married, and it raised SO MANY more questions than answers. When had we been married? How long had we been married? When was our son Leo conceived? When was he born? And most importantly, what REALLY happened to Demetria, Carla and Leo in the aftermath of Vegas? Were the really dead, or were they still alive? Nobody on Earth seemed to know, and we had no answers either.
"I......once had a nephew......" Dren muttered. "But does he live......or did he die?" He had absolutely no answers at all.
(WARNING!!!! Chapter contains scenes of PTSD, as well as the FINAL mentions of the KKK in this series, EVER!!! Chapter also includes an apology for bringing racism into the story in the first place. You have been warned!)
While I was still in shock over learning about Carla and Leo, another event happened that would change not only my life, but also the lives of all others who were involved with it.
On December 30th, I had a nightmare that was far worse than ANY nightmare that I ever had, even the ones that involved Sally Face. My dream started out normal enough. I was walking alone through the Imperial War Museum one night, looking all around at the various exhibits. However, as I was walking through the section dedicated to the war in the Zebra Empire, I saw a wing of the museum that I'd never seen before.
"Huh? 'WW4 and WW5'? When did this wing get here?" I went to investigate. I entered through a set of double doors, which suddenly slammed shut and locked behind me!
"What in the world?!" I began to bang on the doors. "HEY!!!! SOMEPONY LET ME OUT!!!! I'M STUCK IN THIS WING!!!!!" I kept banging and shouting, but nopony came to let me out. "Well, I guess that the best thing to do now is to find my own way out. There should be another door, or even a fire door that I can use." I then ventured deeper into the WW4 and WW5 wing.
As I walked through it, all of the lights came on, and all around me, I saw displays from the time period. WW4 and WW5 were fought by the Allied Forces, (The US, Central America, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and a few others) against the the One Race Empire. They believed that it was their "Divine Destiny" to wipe out all races on Earth that were not minorities, and rule supreme, and the Allies had to be the ones to stop them. We lost WW4, but yet the ORE didn't win it either. Sure, they had the world in their grasp, but the Allied Forces retreated either out to sea, or underground, and continued to fight back VICIOUSLY! ORE forces couldn't be everywhere at once, and we were gaining footholds, but we needed allies. These allies would help us in WW5, and they came in the form of the Futa Kingdoms, ruled over by Queen Boudica, and her 2 daughters, Princess Demetria, and Princess Natasha. Sure, the Allies won WW5, but we had to do some pretty terrible things to do it. "Operation Salvation" was the worst, and it was so bad that it has since been erased from the history books.
All around me I saw weapons, uniforms, ammunition, a few planes hanging from the ceiling, screens showing videos from the time period, other battlefield artifacts, and even battle scenes complete with mannequins.
"Wow, this is all so cool! I wonder when the Imperial War Museum had the time to build this wing." I decided to keep going. Still to this day, I wish that I didn't.
Towards the end of my tour of the museum wing, as I was walking past the sections dedicated to the Allies fighting alongside the Futas against the ORE, I came to one final gallery. Over the doorway, the words "Operation Salvation" were visible in black letters.
I frowned. I knew how terrible "Operation Salvation" had been, and how on the one hand it had saved not only ALL of Humanity from extinction, but also the Earth itself from being destroyed, but on the other hand though, it had led to the destruction of the ENTIRE Black Race, as well as number of other minority races as well. Yes, I was involved with it, and what was done still haunts me even to this day. I was no racist, but yet I was NOT just going to sit idly by while Humanity was destroyed by those who had gone so far off their rails that 'off their rails' didn't even describe them anymore. There comes a point when a person loses everything that marks them as Human, and becomes nothing more than a living embodiment of Evil itself. This was the justification used, and there was some merit to it, but yet was it REALLY the right thing to do?
I walked into the gallery, but to my surprise, the lights were all off. I reached around for a switch, but I couldn't find one.
"Welcome, Lt. Scar." A voice suddenly said from inside the gallery. "Or should I say, 'Captain Scar'? It's been a LONG TIME since you were last here! We've been waiting for you!"
"Who are you?" I asked the voice.
"Remember what you did Captain? Remember what ALL of you did during WW5, or to be more specific, during 'Operation Salvation'?"
"Yes, and I've done EVERYTHING to try and forget!"
"Everything?" The voice seemed to laugh. "I beg to differ! Remember the 'Ghost Robes'? Yeah you do! It's time Captain. Time for you to remember what you REALLY are!" Suddenly, the lights in the gallery came on, and what I saw within is something that will haunt me until the day I die.
The ENTIRE gallery was full of display cases, and in those display cases were none other than the white KKK robes and hoods that had been worn by the Allied Forces during 'Operation Salvation'. Other cases held weapons, a few wooden crosses were on display, and the walls were covered in pictures from this time period as well. The KKK outfits came from a company in South Carolina called "Spencer Outfitters", named for it's "beloved" founder, Richard Spencer. Spencer Outfitters worked tirelessly to create the KKK robes and hoods for anyone who wanted one, and even those who DIDN'T want one! For a mere $110, anyone could have one, and for those who DIDN'T want one, $110 suddenly vanished from our paychecks, and a package from Spencer Outfitters arrived a week later containing a full white KKK outfit. I fell into the 'DIDN'T want one' category. I had my outfit, but I only used it a handful of times before burying it in that trunk. Dren found it by accident that day in my house, bringing a nightmare to light once again.
All around me I saw these outfits once again, their empty eyeholes staring back at me, only they didn't seem quite so empty anymore. Now they seemed sinister, and accusing.
"You did this Captain!" The voice said again, "YOU are guilty of the greatest crime against Humanity of ALL TIME! YOU went along with Operation Salvation!"
"I was following orders! I had no choice! Humanity would have been ERADICATED if action wasn't taken!"
"So said the Nazis at Nuremberg. You slaughtered tens of millions, and there was no distinction between soldiers and civilians. NOW you will FEEL their pain!"
From all around me, I heard the screams of the damned. All of those that we had killed, screaming in agony. Suddenly, the glass around the outfits disappeared, weapons appeared in what would have been where a hand would be, and blood began to appear on them. On the floor of the gallery, the bodies of those belonging to the ORE, both soldier and civilian, began to appear. They were all dead, and were being cut down by the outfits. In addition to the screams, I also heard laughter; the insane laughter of those out of their minds with slaughtering.
"No.....NO!!!! IT DOES NOT END LIKE THIS!!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!!! I WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!!!!" I screamed.
"It's too late!" The voice yelled back at me. "You've condemned yourself by your actions, and now you shall BURN for your sins!"
From all around me, I found myself surrounded by the KKK outfits. They were floating in midair at the height of the average Human, and were reaching out their empty sleeves to grab me! I tried to fight them off, but I was grabbed from behind by the outfit that I was able to identify as my own.
"It's too late Captain!" It whispered. "Your own actions, and your racism, have condemned you to Hell. The fallen are your accusers, and we are your executioners!"
Then, the ground beneath me gave way, and I was dragged down into the depths of Hell by the KKK outfits. I felt the eternal fires, I heard the screams of the damned, I felt ALL of their torments. It was all around me, and it was going to last for eternity. I screamed out in a way I have NEVER screamed before or since, and then, it was all over.
Back in bed, Dash, Spitfire, and Daring were desperately trying to wake me up. They could see that I was gripped in the throws of a nightmare, but to their horror, they were unable to wake me up from it! I kept screaming and thrashing around, but they couldn't wake me up! Since Dash was practically 9 months pregnant with our twins, she had no choice but to let Spitfire and Daring take the physical approach to waking me up.
"STUD!!!! PLEASE WAKE UP!!!!" Daring screamed as she smacked me as hard as she could.
"COME ON STUD!!!!! WAKE UP!!!" Spitfire was also hitting me as hard as she could.
Suddenly, I screamed in a way that my wives had NEVER heard me scream before, and then I jerked awake, and kept screaming for a good minute or so longer.
"AAAAAEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!!!!! *Gasp* *pant *gasp* *pant* *gasp* *pant* Oh Faust!" I then seemingly reached around, feeling myself all over. "Head, furry ears, arms, legs, small fangs, black feathery wings, black tail, wolf legs and paws........I'm still here!" I then fell back on the bed, still sweating and breathing pretty heavily. "Thank God! It wasn't real............"
I then looked up, and saw my 3 wives looking down at me. I could see the terror on their faces, and I could tell that they'd been trying to wake me up, and hadn't succeeded until just then.
Before I could say anything though, my kids poked their heads into the room. "Mommy? Daddy? Aunties? What's going on?"
I looked over at them. "It's.......ok kids. Daddy's just had.........one of his 'Shell Shock' dreams. It's nothing that you need to worry about."
My kids knew what that meant. Every now and again they would be awakened by the sounds of me screaming after having another PTSD-induced dream. Sometimes I would tell them about it, but sometimes I wouldn't. This was one of the times that I wasn't going to.
"What.......was it about Daddy?"
I sighed. "I don't.....want to talk about it Amber. This is one of the dreams from my old life on Earth." I then began to get up from the bed, and start to pull on my bathrobe, pajama pants, and slippers.
"What are you doing Stud?" Daring asked.
"I have to go guys. Yes, I KNOW that it's 2 in the morning, and that it's snowing outside, but I HAVE to go and talk to the rest of Battalion 4009 about this!" I then left the room, and after heading down the hall to my office, I grabbed my infamous trunk, and began to leave the house with it. Just before I left, I pulled on a coat, a fur hat, and gloves.
Spitfire looked at her sister-wives. "You two stay here with the kids. I'm gonna go make sure that Stud's ok, and doesn't try to hurt himself."
Dash and Daring nodded, and then went to go and comfort their kids. Spitfire then got dressed in her warm clothes, and left the house after me. Somehow, Dren and Olivia slept through all of this, and nopony was going to bother them right then.
I arrived at the Battleship Express a little while later, and I was able to catch Don there while he was working in his office. I explained to him what I was thinking of doing, and he quietly told me that he'd had a similar nightmare.
"Mine was about viewing this tape Leopard. I was forced to view it again, before being dragged down to Hell." He then pulled out an old VHS tape. The tape was labelled "Arkansas Rally, 4/27/22. Final Night."
"Remember that night Leopard? Were you there?"
I nodded. "Yes, I was there Don. And so were those 3 news reporters trying to report the truth. That was the last night before Operation Salvation began."
Don then popped the tape in, and we watched it for a bit.
Once it was over, I looked back at Don. "It's time Don. We HAVE to put these demons to rest."
"I know Leopard. The pits of Hell will swallow us whole if we don't." Don then noticed the trunk that I was hauling. "What's in the trunk?"
I sighed. "What do you think?"
"I know, but I'm shocked that you even still have it. I mean, I destroyed mine long ago."
"I know that others might still have theirs too Don. It's time we talk about this, and put it to rest."
Don then got on the intercom, and summoned the Battalion 4009 soldiers and Battleship Express crew where were on duty in the railyard at the time, and messengers were sent to grab those off-site. Those who still had their "outfits" were told to find them, place them in a cardboard box, seal the box with tape, and bring them to the meeting that was happening in the railyard.
Even though it was almost 2:30am, and lightly snowing, with perhaps 5 inches of snow on the ground, we built up a bonfire in the middle of the railyard to keep warm with, wrapped up in our warmest clothes, and gathered around the bonfire in chairs. Everyone and everypony there wondered why they'd been summoned, and why they'd been asked to bring their "outfits" with them.
Once we were all gathered together, with Spitfire behind me, hugging me tightly for warmth, I stood at the head of the fire, and addressed everyone and everypony present.
"Good evening everyone and everypony. No doubt you're all wondering why you've been summoned here tonight. Am I right?"
They all agreed with me.
I sighed, and then continued. "Well, the time has come to put a LOT of demons and bad memories to rest. By a show of hands, how many of you all fought in WW5?"
A number of hands went up.
"And keep your hands raised if you were a part of 'Operation Salvation'."
Most of the hands remained raised.
"And how many of you deeply regret with every fiber of your being what you did then?"
All hands remained raised.
I continued. "Like you, I too regret with EVERYTHING in me what I had to do. I did NOT want an 'outfit', but I still got one anyway! What we did was inexcusable, and should have NEVER been done!"
"Yes, but didn't we save Humanity and the Earth?" Someone asked. "I mean, the ORE made it VERY clear that if they were going down, ALL of Creation was going with them! We did what we had to do!"
"But were we told the full story?" I asked. "Sure, we were told everything by our superiors, but did THEY tell us everything? Would you believe me if I told you that I later uncovered evidence of immense racism among some of the higher-ups? Sure, we did what we BELIEVED was right, but was it really? We wiped out an ENTIRE RACE because our superiors told us that there was no other way. However, what if there WAS another way, and we were all deeply brainwashed to do what we did?"
"Do you have any proof of this?"
I shook my head. "Not with me, no. I had some evidence back on Earth, but it wasn't on the Battleship Express when we came here. However, I can tell you right now that 'Operation Salvation' was mostly for the preservation of the White Race, NOT the saving of Humanity! THEY DELIBERATELY LIED TO US!!!!! They lied to us, they lied to General Sumner, they lied to then-US President Gregg Peterson. They brainwashed ALL OF US into believing that there was no other way to save Humanity!"
"And who's 'they'?" Todd asked.
"'They' were a handful of military officers who were staunch racists, and saw an opportunity to fulfill their sick agenda. Yes, I agree, most of the ORE needed to be eradicated, but not ALL of the ORE, or the Black Race, or any other minority races for that matter! Under the guise of saving Humanity, and all of Earth, we committed one of the greatest Crimes Against Humanity of all time. And as my nightmare earlier this evening revealed, we WILL be sent to Hell if we do not atone for this!"
The crowd looked at each other in shock. Had they all really been played for fools by those who had abused their power? Were they really pawns in somebody's sick game? Don, Jim and a few other officers backed up what I'd said, and Don even passed around a few transcripts of official documents that had been given to him by General Sumner from the Battleship Express's archives. Sumner wanted the TRUE story told about this, and although he was only able to secure transcripts, Sumner slipped what he had to officers that he knew that he could trust to hold onto. The more those gathered in the railyard read the documents, the sadder, and more disgusted that they all became.
"What.........have we done?"
"We......killed them. All of them. And we did it because we were brainwashed to believe that there was no other way!"
"And there weren't any of us to question anything! We were NEVER shown solid proof that the Earth would have been fully destroyed, or Humanity lost to extinction! Yes, we were told by the ORE that the world would be destroyed, but what if it was just a bluff? We acted out of anger and fear, and we burned the wheat with the chaff!"
Many others were down on their knees, begging God to forgive them for the grievous sins that they'd committed during WW5. I too said a silent prayer for forgiveness, before speaking on my final point that night.
"I must also inform all of you that there is one last point that I must make tonight. And yes, this same point is why I asked all of you to bring your 'outfits' with you tonight if you still have them. By a show of hands, how many of you still have them?"
Surprisingly, a number of hands went up.
"And how many of you want to destroy them?"
All of the hands remained in the air.
I then asked everyone to open up their boxes, while I took the key, and opened my trunk. Spitfire was watching from behind me as I did so. When she saw the bundled up KKK outfit, she looked in shock and awe, and not the good kind either.
"Wow. Considering how many people you killed while wearing that thing, how the heck is it still that white?"
I sighed. "Ever heard of bleach? Oxi-Clean Bleach and some detergent who's name escapes me, (I think that it might have been Tide) was how we cleaned these things up after a battle. Sure, it's faded some with age, and it's not entirely white, but I've tried to bury this thing and forget about it."
Spitfire then asked me a question that actually made me threw up when I thought about it.
"Stud? If it had been us Ponies instead of the ORE, and wiping us out would have 'saved all of Humanity', would you still have done it?"
I turned away from my wife, and violently vomited into the snow behind her. Shot after shot of vomit, followed by coughing, and even crying. I never answered her question, and Spitfire never demanded one. My reaction to her question was enough to show her that I wouldn't have followed orders, and that I loved her to the end no matter what. She continued to comfort me while I tried to get a better grip on myself.
Once they had them out, some of the guys threw their KKK uniforms into the bonfire, and let them burn to a crisp. Some of the guys who had them also threw in pictures, and other memorabilia that they had with them from that time period. All of they guys who threw their stuff into the fire said later that they felt like a great burden had been lifted from their shoulders. They were FINALLY free from the torment that they'd felt. Indeed, the mood at that gathering got a lot lighter as we laid our inner demons to rest. Sure, we would still be repaying our debts until they day that we died, but we also knew that we were a lot better off than we were before.
Joe Dixon decided to hold onto his outfit, and Don decided to keep his tape, but they were placed in a sealed box, locked with a code created by 3 random guys from Battalion 4009, and then stashed away somewhere in the Battleship Express archives. They were to be retained for archival purposes, and nothing more.
In the end, I too decided to keep my outfit. I knew that one day, there would be those who would try to deny what was done, so I decided to hold onto the evidence, even though I was going to be keeping it at arm's length. I folded it up neatly, placed it back in the trunk that I got it from, placed the photos that I still had in the trunk with it, shut up the trunk, locked it, and then I summoned Briana, gave her the key to the trunk, and told her to get it to a place far away.
"Take it far away Briana. I don't want to know where the key goes."
Briana nodded. "Right away Master!" I then watched her take flight, and fly off to the West. When she came back, the key was gone.
"I discarded it somewhere over the Undiscovered West. I don't know where, nor do I care. All that I do know is that it'll NEVER be found again!"
I hugged her. "Thanks Briana. You're the best!"
"Nyah, you're welcome Master!"
After the meeting concluded, we waited for the bonfire to go out, before scattering the ashes, and then going our separate ways. Spitfire, Briana and I returned home, and I went to my office, put the trunk in a far corner of the "Relics Archives" next door, placed a lot of things on top of it, and forgot about it.
It was over. It was FINALLY over. My past with the KKK outfit had been put to rest for the last time, and I had put the demons to rest as well. Sure, I would still have the guilt that I had for what I did, but now I was free from the constant torment. And I knew that Briana had ditched the key somewhere over the Undiscovered West, most likely to never be found. But yet, while Life may not want something to happen, her pesky sister Fate might want something to happen. Oh yes, the key would be found, though the finder would never know what it was, at least not for a long, long time.
New Years passed peacefully enough, (aside from the parties of course!) and we all passed from the year 2033, into 2034. We were now closing in on 5 years since the Imperial War had ended, and the 5th anniversary of our arrival in Equestria as well.
And throughout it all, Dash was getting closer and closer to her due date. Due to it still being January, she wasn't going to be able to give birth on the balcony like she'd done with Misty and Skyler. In the end, she decided that she was going to have her 2 fillies in a spare bedroom on the second floor, as that room had close access to the hot tub in the pool room, which she was planning on using to help her ease through her labor. And like the last time, I was in contact with Bundle Joy, and she said to alert her the moment Dash went into labor.
Amber, Midnight, Misty and Skyler were ALL asking their Mom/Auntie Dash when her twins were going to be born.
"When are they gonna be born Auntie Dash?" Midnight asked.
"Soon, Midnight. They could be born any day now."
"And what are you and Daddy gonna name them Mommy?" Misty asked.
Dash smiled a bit. "Your dad and I decided to name them Cara and Cassidy. Your Dad said that he wanted to name them this, and when I asked him why, all he said was that he once promised someone VERY special to him that if he ever had twin daughters, he would name them Cara, and Cassidy. He made an exception for you two Amy and Middy, but now he's going to make good on his promise."
Misty then hugged her mom's belly gently. Sure enough, she could feel the kicks from Cara and Cassidy. "Were Skyler and I like this in your tummy Mommy?"
Dash stroked her daughter's rainbow mane a bit. "Yes, yes you were Sweetie. You and your brother were just like this. You sure kicked a lot, and I was VERY glad when you were born!"
Dash was also eagerly awaiting to see what her daughters would look like, as unlike last time, or even with Daring's pregnancy, Amber and Midnight, as well as Misty and Skyler, were fraternal twins; this time, Cara and Cassidy were identical twins! We were only expecting one foal this time, but when Dash went in for her ultrasound, she was told that she was having identical twins! Both of them had feathery wings, though beyond this, Dr. Karen was unable to tell us anything further on colors, or what the foals would look like.
"Just a little bit longer", Dash thought quietly, "Just a little bit longer. Soon, you two will be out of me, and THEN we can see what you little fillies look like!" And find out soon she would.
On January 5th, Dash was going about her day as usual. Spitfire and I had just gotten home from work, Daring was writing her latest Daring Do book, Amber and Midnight were taking a nap until Spitsy and I got home, and Misty and Skyler were by their mom's side every minute. Dash was wearing her favorite leopard spots bathrobe, and the time was about 7pm; almost time for dinner.
As I was hugging Dash though, she suddenly felt a pain. "Ough!"
"You ok Dash? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
She shook her head. "No, it wasn't you.........." The pain came again. "OUGH!!!!! Shit, that was a contraction!"
I knew what that meant. I then ran to the nearest intercom button, and pressed it. "Daring?"
"Yeah Stud?"
"Can you please come downstairs and watch these little rascals for a bit? I've gotta get Dash to the room, and Spitfire's going to go get Bundle Joy!"
"Wait. Is Dash in labor?"
"Yes!"
"Hang on, I'm coming down!"
Daring was there a minute later, and while she helped corral her 2 daughters and 2 nieces, I helped Dash to the spare bedroom, while Spitfire went to go get Bundle Joy.
Just like last time, Dash was in very little pain when she was in labor. She did pace around a lot, though she also relaxed in the hot tub, which also helped to keep her calm.
"You holding up ok Dash?" I asked her.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine Stud. Just a little bit longer, and then Cara and Cassidy will be out in the world. And can you please tell me again why exactly you wanted to name them this?"
I sighed. "I made a promise to Carla way back in September of 2025. She made me promise that if we ever had a single daughter, we were going to name her Jenna, and if we had twin daughters, then the younger daughter would be named Cassidy, while the older one would be named Cara. I let it go for Amber and Midnight, but now I HAVE to fulfill my promise to her!"
Dash could tell that I was thinking about the letter again, but she decided not to call me on it. After all, she agreed that Cara and Cassidy were nice names for her twins, though deep down, she felt that those were names that Alex and Applejack might give their foals instead!
Bundle Joy arrived a little while later, and once Dash moved back into the bedroom for good, she got ready to start giving birth. Amber, Midnight, Misty and Skyler were in the room watching, while Daring and Spitfire kept an eye on them. I was gently hugging and kissing Dash, and Bunny was ready to start helping as soon as Dash's water broke. I was also stunned that my kids were that quiet while their sisters/half sisters were born, but I just decided to roll with it. They were quiet, Dash was calm, Bunny was ready, and all was right with the world!
By about 8:10pm, Dash's water finally broke. "Ough! There it went again! One of them's in the birth canal!"
"Still holding up ok Mrs. Dash?"
"I'm good Bunny. Low pain, high excitement!" Dash then kept pushing, and I helped ease our first twin along by gently massaging Dash's belly.
Soon, she reached the end of the birth canal. Dash then gently moved her tail to the side, and kept straining a little bit more. Soon, a small, furry little head appeared, followed by a neck, shoulders, arms, and then the rest of a foal. However, to our shock, when Cara's leg exited Dash, to our shock, Cassidy was holding onto her sister's ankle!
"Whoa!" I was stunned at what I was seeing.
"Wow, it's been a REALLY long time since I last saw this!" Bunny informed us. "Sibling jealousy. The one holding the ankle wanted to be first, but the other sibling beat them to it. Undeterred, they grab the sibling's ankle and hold on."
"And Cassidy isn't stuck, right? Can she still get out?"
Bunny nodded. "Yes, she can. Her arm'll be out before her head, but it shouldn't be too much longer now."
Indeed, a mere 5 minutes later, at 8:47pm, Cassidy came into the world. Dash then began to lick her new daughters clean, and while they both did cry a bit, they soon began to gently nurse from their mother. As they did so, Dash and I began to look them over.
Because they were identical twins, they both had bluish fur, a rainbow-colored mane and tail, blue cat-like eyes, no fangs, but they did have black feathery wings just like I did!
"So they do still have a little bit of you in them after all Stud." Dash murmured quietly.
I was trying to hold back the tears. "Yes, yes they do. They have the eyes of a Bat-Pony, although they do lack the fangs. And of course the wings. But yet, I don't have those wings either."
"Any idea on why that is?" Dash asked me.
I shrugged. "It's anypony's guess. All I know is that I like my feathery wings, and I wouldn't give that up for anything." (Some Ponies kept mistakenly thinking that I had Bat-Pony wings, since I looked so much like a Bat-Pony. This thinking is false, as I just have feathery Pegasus wings. Sure, they might be black, but they're still feathery. Midnight and Skyler are the same way, and now they're joined by Cara and Cassidy too).
I continued to look at my daughters as they nursed from Dash. They were so beautiful, and I knew that Daring and Spitfire agreed as well. Bundle Joy stayed with us for a little while longer, just to make sure that our new foals were ok, and she told us to call her again if we had any problems. We promised to, and we also told her that we could contact her again if we were to ever need her services again in the future.
A few nights after this, I was putting my other 4 kids to bed, when they begged me to tell them a story.
"We want to hear a REALLY cool story Daddy!" Midnight told me.
"Can it be a funny story too Daddy? Amber added.
"And maybe not one about war?" Misty finished. Skyler didn't say anything, but he did agree with his sister.
I thought about that. "Hmm, a really cool story, that's also funny, and doesn't have to do with war? I'm gonna have to REALLY think about that one!" I wracked my brains to try and think of something. Suddenly though, like a bolt of lightning, the answer came to me.
"Have I ever told you kids the story of when I met myself from a different universe?"
My kids stared at me in shock. "Wait, you met another YOU Daddy?!"
I nodded. "Yes. I met another Leopard from an alternate universe. He stumbled into our universe by accident, and I got a chance to talk to him for a while."
Midnight gave me a look. "Is this a REAL story Daddy?"
I nodded . "As real as I'm sitting here tonight. If you don't believe me, just ask your moms. THEY were there too!"
My kids looked first at each other, and then back at me. They could see that I was serious, and didn't seem to be joking.
"This story sounds really interesting Daddy. Can you please tell it now?"
I nodded. "Yes I can Sky."
My kids then got comfortable, and I began my tale.
"This story takes place in late February of 2031, while your moms Daring and Dash were still pregnant with all of you. Your mom Daring was 8 months pregnant with you Amber and Midnight, and your mom Dash was 6 months pregnant with you Misty and Skyler. Winter was almost over, and it was soon gonna be time for Winter Wrap Up. The exact day was February 23rd, and I remember that it was a nice day.
I was sitting in the living room with your moms. Auntie Spitfire was with the Wonderbolts getting ready for Spring Training, and it was one of my days off. All of a sudden though, the house began to shake a bit, and up on the living room's ceiling, a large white mass appeared."
"What was the mass Daddy?"
"The mass was a multidimensional portal. In simple terms, it was a doorway between our dimension, and the dimension that the other Leopard lived in.
'Whoa! What is that Stud?' Your mom Dash asked me.
'I....I don't know Babe. It kinda looks like a portal!' I then got up from the couch, and walked over to it. I then stood underneath it for a few moments, looking up at it. I shouldn't have done this. As I was staring up at it, we all suddenly heard what sounded like screaming from inside of the portal. I jumped back from it, landing on the couch again, and just in the nick of time too!"
"Why Daddy? Did something come out of the portal?"
I nodded. "Yes, yes it did. 4 somethings actually."
"What were they Daddy?"
"Well, a large, gray mass suddenly landed on the floor under the portal, followed by a white one, then a purple one, and finally a black and gray striped one as well. As Dash, Daring, and I all looked at the 4 masses, we suddenly realized that they were Ponies! None of us had any idea who they were, or where they came from, or even if they were good or evil, so I was taking no chances. Faster than the eye could detect, I flew upstairs, grabbed my military shotgun, and flew back downstairs. Your moms then got behind me as I went to confront the new arrivals.
I pointed my shotgun at them. 'Alright, all four of you! Stay right where you are unless you wanna meet your Maker!' To my surprise though, instead of doing anything, all 4 of them simply looked up at me, before moving their hands out in surrender.
'Ok, now then, who are all of you, where did you come from, and how did you get here? Talk fast and DO NOT LIE!!!!"
Then, the dark gray stallion who landed first spoke. 'You'd NEVER believe me in a million years Leopard, but since you insist, I'll tell you. My name is Leopard, and I'm you, but from another timeline in an alternate universe.' He then pointed to the white Pony next to him. 'This is my wife Gleaming Shield, this is my brother in law Dusk Shine', he pointed to the purple Pony, 'And last but not least, this is my good friend Jeff Smith.' He pointed to the one that looked like a Zebra. 'And as for why we're here, well.....we came here by accident! Jeff and his fiance, Vinyl Scratch, were looking into other worlds, and they found this one. Gleaming, Dusk and I came to see what they found, and quite by accident, all 4 of us fell through the portal to here. All I wanted to do was to confirm that there really IS another Leopard, nothing more!'
I looked closer at all of them. To my shock, I suddenly realized that Leopard, Gleaming, and Dusk ALL appeared to be Alicorns! 'Stand up, all of you. And no sudden moves!'
'Ok.' They all did so, and I got a better look at all of them.
I saw that Jeff Smith was a Zebra, but yet he also had the horn of a Unicorn. He was dressed in dark pants, a riverboat captain's trench coat, and a riverboat captain's hat. I guessed that he was a Zebra-Unicorn hybrid. I saw that Dusk was dressed in what looked like a school uniform, and that he had purple fur, a purple mane and tail with a pink and purple streak, purple eyes, and was an Alicorn. I also noticed that he almost looked like a male version of Twilight Sparkle. Gleaming was wearing a white dress with blue trim, and had white fur, a blue mane and tail, white wings with blue tips, and I saw that she too was an Alicorn, and that she appeared to be pregnant as well. It was Leopard though that REALLY made me stop and stare. He too was an Alicorn, but he didn’t look like ANY Alicorn that I'd ever seen before!"
"What......did he look like Daddy?"
"Well, unlike me, he was a full stallion. He was tall, very muscular, had dark gray fur, a thick black mane and tail, Bat-Pony ears, visible fangs, dark blue cat-like eyes, a scar over his left eye, a dark gray horn was on his forehead, and he had black Bat-Pony wings as well. I also noticed that he seemed to be dressed like a Battalion 4009 soldier, but that his uniform had a patch that said 'Battalion 4014' instead. He.....was a Bat-Pony Alicorn!
I was legitimately freaking out! 'Wait, you're a Bat-Pony Alicorn?!'
He smiled. 'Close. I'm a Thestral-Alicorn actually. And enjoy the view Leopard, as THIS is what you could have looked like!'
'What I could have looked like', I echoed softly. I then put down my shotgun. 'Well, now that you're all here, I can see that we have a LOT to talk about!'
Sure enough, once Dash and Daring saw that it was safe, they came and sat on the couch with me, while Leopard, Gleaming, Dusk and Jeff sat in chairs opposite us. Daring, Dash and I then began to ask them a TON of questions. I learned that Leopard had been married to Gleaming for about 6 months, and that she was pregnant with twins from him, Leo and Jenna. He and Gleaming were also a Prince and a Princess, and ruled over the Thestrals, aka Bat-Ponies, from Castle Everfree in the Everfree Forest, which became the Bat-Ponys's new kingdom. Their capital city was called Cheyenne City, and was very beautiful. I also learned that Gleaming and Dusk have counterparts in our world as well, but we call them Shining Armor, and Twilight Sparkle."
"Wait, Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle? As in Mrs. Twilight, the wife of Major Don, and Shining Armor, the husband of Princess Cadence?"
I nodded. "Yes, the very same Misty. In this timeline though, Twilight was a stallion named Dusk Shine, and Shining Armor was a mare named Gleaming Shield. We all learned so much from Leopard, Gleaming, Dusk, and Jeff, and he made me SO GLAD that I live in this timeline, and not theirs!"
"Why's that Daddy?"
"Because! After the Imperial War ended in their timeline, they had to fight another war against the Futas, another war against the forces of Blueblood, King Sombra, AND rouge Griffons and Dragons! Then they had to fight ANOTHER war against the new Zebra Empire, and now they were about to fight yet ANOTHER war! It was literally war, after war, after war, after war for them! It was MADNESS!!!! There was NEVER peace for them really, as they ALWAYS had to fight another war!
'Be glad Leopard!' Leopard told me sadly, 'Be glad that the Imperial War was it for you. Our wars are still ongoing. Sure, I'm a Thestral-Alicorn, but look at the cost!'
They told us a lot more about the wars that they fought in their Equestria, but most of it is NOT kid-friendly! Let's just say that war is hell, Blueblood was evil, Sombra became good, Overlord Zakia and Blueblood died twice and wouldn't stay dead, Poison Joke sucks HORRIBLY, never anger a pregnant mare, and NEVER EVER have too many wives! It could potentially KILL YOU! Leopard, Dusk AND Jeff made this mistake, and it cost them!"
My kids looked at me like I was crazy. Yes, they were beginning to catch on that I had 3 wives, and that they were actually half-siblings instead of cousins, but there were actually others with MORE than 3 wives?
"And who was Jeff Smith?" Midnight asked. "You really haven't talked about him too much."
"Oh, yeah. Well, Jeff Smith came over from Earth on a steamboat called the American Queen. It was being towed to Washington DC so that it could become a museum. Long story short, the ship tore free from the tugs towing it, and it and Jeff got sucked through the Bermuda Triangle, and found themselves in the Celestial Sea. They eventually reached Manehattan, where they took the Applish River to Ponyville. Again, long story short, but Jeff Smith became fast friends with Leopard, and the 2 of them, plus another Human who became a Human-Pegasus hybrid, Sal Ferguson, all became life-long friends, and comrades on the battlefield. Jeff also told me that he had to give up his humanity to continue to live thanks to a lethal poison given to him when he was captured, and as a result of treatment, became a Zebra-Unicorn hybrid. Leopard too was once a Human-Thestral hybrid, but after battling terminal illness brought on by the same poison for 2 years following the Imperial War, he had to undergo full-conversion to become a full Thestral to save his life. He became an Alicorn later, and helped Gleaming ascend a few weeks later.
But back to the matter at hand, Jeff Smith was extremely talented with runes and rune spells, and he earned his Cutie-Mark in them. Jeff would eventually settle in Ponyville, on an island called Manor Island in the middle of a lake called Lake Smith. He created the lake himself, and built his house on an island in the middle of the lake."
"He lived on an island in the middle of a lake? That's really cool Daddy!"
I nodded. "Yes, it was. Anyway, we talked for a while longer, although by the time that the sun began to go down, it was time for Leopard, Gleaming, Dusk and Jeff Smith to head home. We all said goodbye, and Leopard said that he'd stop by again one day. However, before he left though, he said something to me that's baffled me even to this day."
"What did he say Daddy?"
"He said, 'Beware of messing with things that were NEVER meant to be messed with! When you play God, you reap what you sow. Remember, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.'
'What does that even mean?' I asked him.
In response, all he said was, 'I can't tell you, as it would wreck the timeline even further. I've probably already said too much as it is. Goodbye Leopard.' Then, in a flash of white light, he was gone. The portal closed not long after, and our ceiling was once again just that, a ceiling.
Once they were gone, Dash, Daring, and I all looked at each other. We were still shocked and stunned beyond belief at what we'd just witnessed.
'Wow. I guess that alternate universes really DO exist!' I said quietly.
'Yeah, no kidding Stud!' Dash whispered. 'Spits is NEVER gonna believe this!'
'It's still so strange', Daring mused. 'I mean, he said that I fought in the Imperial War too, but I had a different role than a scout. I wonder what I did.'
'I don't know Daring.' I told her."
"And......what happened after this Daddy? Has the other Leopard come back yet?"
I shook my head. "No, no he hasn't. I still keep wondering if I ever will see him again, but so far, he hasn't come back yet. And the 3 of us have tried to convince your Aunt Spitfire that what we saw was real, but still to this day she doubts our claim. My only real regret was that taking pictures never ONCE crossed any of our minds! DELCI was doing updates, upgrades and maintenance work on herself, so her cameras were offline at the time. We didn't take any pictures, and now we have no proof that we really DID meet a Leopard from another timeline."
My kids then looked at each other with wonder. I once again swore that the story that I just told them was absolutely true, and that I didn't make it up. They weren't sure what to think, but they were inclined to believe that I was indeed telling them the truth. They fell asleep that night trying to picture the event in their heads, while I was also picturing it in my own head that night as well.
A few weeks later, on January 17th, while Dash was taking care of Cara and Cassidy, and Spitfire was at Wonderbolt Academy, Daring and I decided to take Misty, Skyler, Amber and Midnight to the Imperial War Museum so that they could use their tickets that we'd given them for Christmas. Aurora was also coming with us, as she was a favorite at the museum as well. Even Dren decided to come along, as he too wanted to learn more about the Imperial War, as well as Battalion 4009's role in it.
Once we reached the museum, we all went inside, and got in line at the ticket counter. Once we had everything squared away, we all went into the main part of the museum.
"Wow, I almost forgot how incredible this place is Stud." Daring told me.
"Yeah, I know Babe. Heck, I helped build this place, and I'm a tour guide at times, and I'm STILL in awe of it as well!"
"And where are we going first?" Dren asked.
"Well, we're gonna start upstairs, as that's all about the Imperial War before the Humans got involved, while downstairs is after. If you want the full timeline of the Imperial War, then we start upstairs."
"And when do we get to the Battleship Express?"
"That's at the very end of the tour, when we get to the Battleship Express Gallery where the Battleship Express, Iron Glory and Battle Glory are housed, and now thanks to expansions, the Wabash Cannonball is housed there as well."
"Ok, sounds like a plan to me. Lead the way Leopard."
I nodded, and then led the way upstairs.
The upper part of the museum is actually pretty interesting. Even though it's not quite as large as the downstairs areas, it's still quite nice. Everything in the sections up there tell the stories about who Danin, Zakia, and the Zebras and Caribou even were, how Danin and Zakia rose to power, how the Imperial Alliance came to be, and how the Imperial War started in the first place. They also told the stories of the desperate struggles between the Equestrians and the Imperial Alliance, and how the front lines were threatening to collapse at any time.
"Wow, this is pretty dark Leopard. Was the war really like this before the Humans intervened?"
I nodded. "Yeah Dren, it IS dark. The Imperial Alliance could have broken through the lines at almost any time, and a few forces, such as one under Caribou General Stuggs and Zebra Commander Freda, did. It was a very dark time indeed."
At the very end of the gallery were stairs leading down to the lower level. As you walked down the stairs, the sounds of battle could be heard, and a voice was heard to say, "With the Imperial War raging on, and the Equestrian forces suffering, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were at their wits ends. They HAD to save their Pony subjects, and in their despair, they cried out to the Heavens, BEGGING them to send them the allies that they so desperately needed. Luckily, their prayers were answered, and their liberators came. The Humans from Earth came to aid the Ponies, and they came onboard the deadliest weapon ever to ride the rails. They came........on the Battleship Express!" This narration was quickly followed by the Battleship Express's signature whistle that sounded like a Banshee's scream.
"Now THAT'S how you make a transition from one section of a museum to the other!"
I looked down at Aurora. "Yeah, I agree Aurora. Adding that was actually Jim's idea, and he was the one who provided the narration, while Don and I wrote the script for him to read."
We all then continued into the lower part of the museum.
While Aurora and I walked around, a number of Ponies stopped and stared, as well as took pictures. Even after all this time, Ponies were still in absolute awe at those of us from Battalion 4009.
Aurora was glad when we reached the gallery dedicated to her. Here, her famous battle armor was on display in the center of the room in a glass case, and on the walls were pictures of her wearing it, as well as video footage of her in action, and there were even disarmed bullets, missiles, rockets, grenades that her suit fired in a case of their own, and there was even a disarmed 1 kiloton nuclear warhead on display too!
Aurora walked around the gallery happily, and Ponies would always stop, take pictures of her, as well as ask her questions. None of them could believe that she was actually almost 10 years old!
"You do NOT look almost 10 years old Aurora!"
Aurora giggled. "Well, I don't FEEL almost 10 years old either! However, I was born in July of 2024, and I was 5 years old during the Imperial War, and that was almost 5 years ago now. However, never fear as I'm most likely NOT going to be dying on you guys anytime soon! Thanks to genetic enhancements, I was given a MUCH longer lifespan than normal dogs, and I've heard that 50 years is the norm, with beyond that still being normal too! I'm only 9 1/2, so I'm still young!"
Once we moved on, Dren asked me where the body of General Tarrath used to be on display. "It was in the gallery dedicated to the war in the Zebra Empire. His body was replaced with a wax statue, because apparently having a real taxidermied corpse on display is 'too morbid'! He lasted about 2 weeks before I had to take him to my relic room where you saw him."
"And will his body ever be brought back here?"
I shrugged. "I keep petitioning the museum's board of directors, as do a few other Ponies and Battalion 4009 soldiers, but for the past 4 years since the museum opened, they've held firm. 'No actual corpses on display. It's too morbid!'"
"And what happened to the body of Overlord Zakia?"
"His body is preserved in a vault in Canterlot. A few times a year it's brought out up at the Caribou War Beast Museum up there in Canterlot, and some were considering putting it up on full-time display, but like with General Tarrath, actual corpses are 'too morbid'!"
"Wait, there's a museum in Canterlot that has Caribou War Beasts?"
"Eh, to an extent. It's not actually called that, but that's the name it's been given. In reality, it's called the Equestrian Cavalry Museum, which as its name implies, is dedicated to the history of military cavalry, but ever since we brought back a few herds of Caribou War Beasts following the Imperial War, they were kept there, and the name stuck. And while some were studied, others were put in stables in the museum there. They're both there to be displayed, and they're used for breeding so that more War Beasts can be produced. Ever since the Imperial War, the Equestrian Military has used them as mounts, as well as to pull artillery pieces, and farmers have put them to use out in the fields. They're remarkably hardy creatures, and can be used for a lot more than just war. The most famous War Beast of them all though is Argus. He's the War Beast that I rode during the Battle of Carlon, and the Battle of Donneth. I tamed him with Sombra's magic, and used him to help me storm the Imperial Palace in Donneth. I haven't seen him in a while, but from what I've been told, he's the star attraction, and has sired a large number of new War Beasts."
Dren was impressed. "Wow, that museum sounds pretty cool. I'll have to visit it sometime."
"Yeah, you really should Dren. Maybe this Summer if you have time, as that's the best time to go."
He nodded, and then we continued the tour.
Eventually, we reached the star attractions. Everypony who was anypony ALWAYS flocked to the Imperial War Museum to see the Battleship Express, as well as Iron Glory, Battle Glory, and now the Wabash Cannonball. The Battleship Express was displayed in the center of the room, Iron Glory and Battle Glory were to the right of the train, and a new section of the wing was added for the Wabash Cannonball just beyond those 2 trains.
"So this is where the Battleship Express ended up?"
I nodded. "Yep. The wing was built up around the train, although it has 2 sets of double doors at both ends so that the train can roll in and roll out. And do you see those large tanks up close to the ceiling above the Big Boy's tender?"
"Yeah."
Well, those contain 25 tons of coal, and 25,000 gallons of water. For the first run of the year in the Spring, that's how we fill up the tender. However, their original purpose was just in case the train had to be activated again in a hurry. The fuel and water could be loaded up in seconds so that the fire in the firebox could be built up again quickly. So far, we've only used those tanks 3 times at the beginning of each railroad season. We haven't had to reactivate the train yet, and I pray that we never will."
We all then began to walk towards the train. It was protected all around by a 4 foot tall black metal fence that was made entirely out of recycled railroad rails. The fences at the front and back of the train were made to be gates so that the train could roll out and back in again, and all along the fence were pictures of the train, as well as signs pointing out the various features, and telling a few stories about the train.
Originally, there used to be stairs leading up to the Big Boy's open cab windows so that Ponies could look inside, but we had problems with some young Ponies reaching over the cab’s windowsills, and touching the controls inside of the cab, despite signs telling them not to, so they were removed. In their place, the cab windows were still left open, but now Ponies climbed up stairs that led to the space between the cab and the tender. The doors of the cab were left open, but the cab was still roped off. Now Ponies could get a little bit better look at the inside of the cab, as well as being able to look into the massive tender for the first time too. They would then climb down the stairs on the other side, and this eliminated Ponies trying to reach inside of the cab to touch the controls, and some museum-goers told us that they liked the new arrangement better.
A few parts of the train were open so that Ponies could see inside of them, and these areas included the PCC, the officer's dining car, the car that used to contain our nuclear shells, my room, the SCC, the TCC, one of the train's laundry rooms, the quarters for the train's enlisted crew, and a few of the recreational areas. The hallways in these areas were open, but the rooms themselves were roped off. Every now and again, on special VIP tours, we would allow Ponies into these areas, as well as some of the "off-limits" areas of the train, such as the control rooms for our railguns, and the 16in gun turrets, though the "no touching!" rule still applied!
As we were walking by the PCC, Daring noticed an artificial candle in one of the windows, and the candle was also turned on.
"Hey Stud, I keep seeing that artificial candle in that window of the PCC, but I never knew what it meant. Does it mean anything?"
I nodded slowly. "Yes, it does. Way back when the train was first put together, its first commanding officer, Major Jeff Coleson, would always put that candle in that window of the PCC to tell everyone that he was working late in there. After he was killed during the Battle of Omaha during WW6, we left the candle up in his honor. Now that the train's here in the museum, that candle is never turned off anymore."
"Wait, anymore? It used to be turned off?"
"That's.....quite the interesting story actually." I then looked at her, Dren and my kids. "Did you guys know that the Battleship Express is actually haunted?"
"Oh COME ON Bro! You don't ACTUALLY expect me to believe that, do you?"
"It's true Dren. Just ask ANYONE who's served on the train, they'll tell you! Heck, guys like Don were even HARDENED SKEPTICS of the Paranormal! Now even Don believes that some of those who died while serving on the Battleship Express never left. And yes, even I've seen things during both WW6 and the Imperial War that I couldn't explain. Doors opening on their own, footsteps late at night, weird, garbled voices on the intercom system, and even full and partial apparitions have been seen as well!
The train's second most famous resident though isn't a ghost. Melanie Bender, the wife of Chief Engineer Jim Bender, still lives on the train. Nopony ever sees her, but she's still there. She lost her mind after losing her children and grandchildren in the world wars, and she refused to ever leave the train. From St. Louis, to Vegas, to the Imperial War, even to the present day, Melanie still lives on the train, though few ever see her. She's still in there somewhere right now even!"
"Have.....have you ever seen her Daddy?"
"Yes, but only for a few seconds. I saw her as she was closing a door once, and another time just as Jim was leaving his quarters. She's still around, but she hides away from everypony except Jim.
However, back to my original point, as well as the candle, the train's most famous ghostly resident is that of Major Jeff Coleson himself. He never left the train either, and still watches over all of us. His spirit is very rarely seen, and he was only ever seen standing at the windows of the PCC, and even then, only during times of great crisis. However, from time to time, all of us on the train have felt like someone was watching us, even though we were alone. Jeff himself said just before he died that Death wasn't the end, and that he wasn't going to be leaving us. The last time that I ever saw Jeff's ghost was almost 5 years ago after the Imperial War ended. He was standing up in the PCC, still in his old uniform, and he seemed to be smiling. I could tell that he was proud of all of us, and then after waving goodbye, he disappeared, and hasn't been seen since. However, even though he hasn't been seen, his presence can still be felt from time to time.
That candle in the window was found to have been turned on one night, and a staff member turned it off, only to have it turn right back on again! The staff member was so freaked out that she just left the candle on, and we've kept it on ever since. It became a memorial to Jeff Coleson, and except for changing batteries or a bulb, it's never turned off."
Dren still didn't look like he believed me. My kids looked like they didn't know what to think, and I knew that Daring had seen some pretty strange things in her time as an adventurer, so she believed me.
"I'll believe it when I see it." Dren muttered.
"It's doubtful that you will Dren. Jeff's ghost is only seen during times of great crisis, or like in the case of the Imperial War, his ghost was seen just beforehand, and was a warning of the crisis to come. There's no crisis now, but I'm REALLY hoping that I don't see his ghost again, as it could be a Harbinger of a disaster coming soon."
Dren just shook his head, and repeated that he would believe it when he saw it.
Once we were done looking at the Battleship Express, I showed Dren, Daring and my kids Iron Glory and Battle Glory.
"What's up with Battle Glory? It looks like it could fall apart at any second!"
I laughed. "That's why some call her 'Rattletrap Sorry'! She was taken from the Caribou by my team and I just prior to the Battle of Dock Town, and was used by us for the rest of the war before being studied. Despite her appearances, she's actually still quite sound, and often works with Iron Glory hauling freight."
"And how did Iron Glory get her name? I mean, her number is 1, but how did she come to be called 'Iron Glory?"
"Well, she came to be called that because she looked like an 'Iron Horse', and she did her job for the Glory of Freedom. There was some debate over what she was going to be called once the Union Pacific returned her to service with her original number, 1. Some said 'Iron Freedom', other's said 'American Glory', and a few other ideas were put forwards as well. Eventually, she was given the name 'Iron Glory'; a name that's stuck with her ever since."
"And she's the oldest train here, right Daddy?"
"Yes she is Amber. She's also the 3rd oldest train in the ENTIRE Railway Warfare Division! She dates back to 1862, while The Texas is from 1856, and The General dates from 1855. Iron Glory was the supply train assigned to the Battleship Express, and in fact, we still had her when I was held by the Futas in Kansas."
"Liar!" Dren suddenly interrupted. "That train was NOT with you guys!"
I turned to him annoyed. "Yes, it WAS! It was saved from the scrapyards because the Futas in that area needed an engine to help haul light freight trains of farm goods in that area, as well as helping built new rail lines. She was kept at Creamy Dream Ranch in a storage shed, and myself, Don, Jeff, Russ, Joe and Frank maintained her. It was with Iron Glory that we learned how to drive a train at all, even though we just maintained her, and really weren't allowed to drive her, at least at first. Once Jim and the rest of the RWD under him found us, we took Iron Glory with us when we fled. She also has the most mileage of any engine in the RWD with a whopping 4,784,231 miles on her!"
My kids looked at me in shock when I said that! "Whoa! It REALLY has that many miles on it Daddy?!"
"Well, currently the odometer only says 784,231. However, on the glass of the odometer are 4 tally marks. Each of those marks represents 1 million miles. Every time the odometer hits 1 million miles, the number wheels inside all hit 0 again. 4 times this has happened, and now everypony's speculating on when it'll happen again. It'll probably take another few years, but Iron Glory WILL hit 5 million miles someday!"
My kids were still in awe, and we all continued to look around for a while longer.
Eventually, we did have to get ready to leave, as the museum was about to close for the day. The area with the Battleship Express was practically empty as we were leaving, and for whatever reason, Dren looked back at the train one more time. As he looked over the train one last time, he suddenly saw something that made him stop.
"Wait, what?"
Up at one of the windows of the PCC, Dren saw a figure standing with a hand on the window. Dren saw that he was wearing a Battalion 4009 field uniform, but he was wearing an officer's cap. He also seemed to have dark hair, brown eyes, and a few scars on his face. The figure seemed to be looking out of the train, but Dren couldn't tell if he was looking at him or not. At first, Dren thought that he was Don.
"Hey Leopard, Major Don's working late on the train, right?"
"No, he and Twilight are up in Canterlot right now with little Dusk visiting Twilight's parents Nightlight and Velvet. Why?"
"Well, is anyone on the train right now working late?"
"Jim usually does, as he still lives on the train with Melanie, but aside from them, I don't think so. Again, why?"
"Well, if that’s not Don, then who's the guy standing at the window towards the middle of the PCC?"
I then turned around to look at what Dren was looking at. "What guy standing at the window towards the middle of........." Then I too saw the figure. When I did, I froze where I was, and my face drained of all color. I could see that the figure was looking straight at me, and I knew all too well who he was.
"No......NO!!!! I-I-IT......IT CAN'T BE!!!!!"
"Can't be what Stud?" Daring was turning around too.
"RIGHT THERE!!!! MIDDLE WINDOW OF THE PCC!!!!!" I pointed to the figure. Daring saw it, as did Aurora and my kids.
"Who is that Stud?"
"IT'S JEFF!!!! THAT'S THE GHOST OF MAJOR JEFF COLESON!!!!!" Without even thinking, I ran back to the train.
Once I reached it, I vaulted the fence close to the PCC, and got onboard the train. When I reached the PCC, I opened the door. Sure enough, to my shock, surprise and horror, there at the window stood my friend, comrade, mentor and boss, Major Jeff Coleson. He died in Omaha saving the lives of 5 men trapped in one of the 16 in gun turrets, as well as the rest of the train from a Futa air attack.
"J......J....J-JEFF!!!!" What really spooked me was that his ghost was solid; I couldn't see though him!
He half turned to look at me. "Hello Leopard, it's been a while."
"You......c-came back. Wait, does this mean that a great crisis is about to happen?"
He nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid that it is. I don't know when, but I do know that it will be soon. You're ALL in grave danger."
I was almost too dumbfounded to speak. Here I was talking with a guy who had been dead for nearly 7 years now, and was the most famous legend of the Battleship Express.
"I......I've.....really missed you Jeff. We all have."
He sighed. "I know. And you all have made me SO proud with what you've done. Like some keep saying, I have indeed been keeping an eye on you all, though I never manifest unless I'm needed as a Harbinger of a great crisis. I manifested now to warn you, but my time grows short though. It's now time to say goodbye Leopard."
"I......I really wish that I could hug you Jeff. It's been so long."
"You actually can. I can use the last of my spirit energy to hold a truly physical form momentarily."
I then walked into the PCC, and over to Jeff. I then pulled him into a hug. I could sense him struggling to hold his form together, but for a few moments, he did hug me back.
"It's so good to see you again Jeff, even though you're a Harbinger of crisis."
"I know Leopard. I've missed you too. Oh, and just before I leave, Ell and Lilly told me to tell you hi."
"They.....did?"
"Yes. They said that they miss you, just as they know that you miss them. Ell also told me to ask you why you still keep her urn in your room. She doesn't care, but does wonder why."
I knew what Jeff meant. After my first wife Ell died, her body was cremated, but yet she never told me where she wanted to be buried. Lilly's remains I buried in her old hometown of Denver, Colorado, but I still had Ell's urn, as she never said where she wanted to be buried.
"Tell her that I didn't know where she wanted to be buried. That's why I keep her remains around. I also kinda wish that I did the same for Lilly, even if only to keep her close."
"Ok, I'll tell Ell that. Also, your 2 kids Sierra and Max told you hi, and your parents said that they're QUITE upset with you having multiple wives! Oh, and your brother Henry says that he agrees with your parents. Also, Christine told me to say that she misses you too."
"Wait, who's Christine?"
"Lilly's daughter. Remember? She was pregnant when she died, and you never knew if the baby was a boy or a girl? Well, she's a girl, and Lilly named her Christine."
I sighed. "Well, in order, tell Sierra and Max that I miss them and their mother Ell, and tell my parents that I'm sorry, and if I could repeat history then I would have made some different changes! Oh, and tell Henry that he can go screw himself! And tell Christine that I'll come and see her as soon as my time in this life runs out!"
"Ok, I'll tell them that. And my time is up Leopard. I have to go now. Goodbye." He then began to fade away.
"Goodbye Jeff." Suddenly though, I thought of something. It was a question that I'd DESPERATELY tried to find the answer to. "Wait, JEFF!!!! I HAVE TO KNOW; ARE CARLA, DEMETRIA, AND LEO UP THERE IN HEAVEN WITH YOU?!?!?!"
"No........." I heard him whisper. "They're not gone yet............" Then he was gone.
"Wait, 'they're not gone yet'? What does that mean?" I was still confused.
I then left the PCC, before shutting the door again. Just as I was leaving though, I saw Jim in the hallway.
"You........you were just talking to Jeff, weren't you?"
I nodded. "Yeah, he came back."
"I know. I saw him last night. Apparently all of Melanie and I's kids and grandkids are doing just fine up there in Heaven, and are eagerly waiting for us to join them. But yet, this DOES mean that a great crisis is coming, and possibly coming soon."
"That's the scary thing Jim. What's going to happen, and when?"
"I don't know Leopard."
We talked about this for a minute or so longer, and then I left the train and returned to Daring, my kids, Dren, and Aurora.
On the way back home, all of them kept asking me what happened in the PCC.
"I saw him." Was all I said. "I saw Jeff, and he had a LOT of messages from Heaven."
"What.....kind of messages?" Dren asked.
"Messages from Ell and her kids, Lilly and her daughter, Mom and Dad, and Ozwin....Henry. I keep forgetting that ‘Ozwin’ was only his code-name." I then told Dren a bit more about what Jeff had told me.
"I......I can't believe that you just talked to an honest to goodness GHOST Stud!"
"Jeff wasn't really a ghost Daring, he was a spirit. But yes, it was unnerving all the same! However, his appearance does indeed herald a major crisis that'll happen here sometime in the not too distant future."
"Any idea what it might be, or when?"
"Jeff didn't say what, and he doesn't know when. All I know is that we're gonna have to remain vigilant now, and REALLY keep our eyes open for ANYTHING that could be the crisis!"
Dren agreed, and we all continued on our way home.
All while I walked though, I kept thinking about what Jeff had said about Carla, Demetria, and Leo. "No.........They're not gone yet............"
"What does that mean Jeff? Does it mean that they're in Hell? I mean, I certainly hope that Futas like Stacy, Jasmine, Tapper, Diana, and her mother Amanda went there, but.........." I then had a thought, but my brain wouldn't accept it as a possibility.
"No..........does that mean............that they........c-could still be alive?! No, it's.......It's just not possible!" I continued to turn this over and over in my head all the way home.
Chapter 27.5: (WARNING, EXPLICIT!!!!!! However, please read for EXTREMELY VALUABLE information!!!!!!)
(WARNING!!!! Chapter contains scenes of explicit sex, but it also contains valuable information about Leopard's history with Creamy Dream Ranch, a little bit more about how the Battleship Express came to be, as well as Leopard and Spitfire's twins. PLEASE DO NOT SKIP THIS CHAPTER!!!!!)
Once I was back home again, after getting my kids to bed, I was surprised that Spitfire wasn't home yet. I called the Academy, and when they patched me through to her office, she told me that she had to work late.
"Why is that Spits? It's still January!"
She sighed. "New applicant forms, lots of stuff to start getting ready for the Spring Training Season, things like that. I'll call you again when I'm done Stud."
I sighed. "Yeah, ok Spits." I then hung up. Once I was done talking with her, I went back to my office. Daring was on her side of it working on her next book, and while she was doing that, I walked next door to the relics archives. When I returned a few minutes later, I had several cardboard boxes in my arms. The boxes said "Creamy Dream Ranch" on them.
"What are those Stud?"
I sighed. "These are photos, documents, and other relics from my time at Creamy Dream Ranch. I've taken the time to sort through most of it, and properly catalog it, but I haven't gotten to these last 3 boxes until just now. I've wanted to get to them, but life's been getting in the way."
"No I haven't!" Briana protested from her cat-bed next to my desk.
I sighed. "Not you Briana, life in general. Due to working full time, and helping to raise 6 kids, plus other things that I have to do, have been preventing me from getting to these last couple of boxes."
Briana just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever Master." I could tell that she was in a bad mood. I wasn't sure why, but then she rolled over, and started licking her privates. I turned away from her, and went back to the boxes.
As I began to open the first one, Daring walked over. "Mind if I help you look through this stuff Stud?"
I shook my head. "No, provided of course that you're VERY careful with this stuff! Most of these items are one of a kind, and CANNOT be replaced!"
Daring just laughed a bit. "Just like the treasures that I used to find on my adventures, to say nothing of the Pony Sutra that we went to find. Don't worry Stud, you can count on me to be careful!"
I rolled my eyes a bit. "Oh Daring!" I then pulled her in for a kiss. Once we were done, I then finished opening the first box, and we looked inside.
The first box was mostly filled with pictures.
"Wow". Daring then found a map that showed an aerial view of the ranch. "I found a map of the ranch, but where was it located Stud?"
"In Kansas. Close to the Arkansas River, roughly 30 miles away from the nearest town, which used to be called Hutchinson, but the Futas renamed it Salt Rock, (I think) due to the salt mines close by."
"And what are all of these features?"
I sighed, before pulling the map a bit closer to where I was. "Well, this large building here was the main barn. It was used for storing hay and feed, and was home to several horses and cows as well. Creamy Dream Ranch was well known for its breeding horses and dairy cows."
"Somehow, I get the feeling that that's an innuendo."
"And you'd actually be right Daring. There really were horses and cows, but it's also an innuendo. I'll let you guess why though, as I really don't like talking about it."
"Futas with big dicks, and females with big tits?"
"Yep. Anyway," I turned back to the map. "This building behind the barn was a maintenance workshop. It was here that the tractors, trucks and other farm vehicles were worked on. This building here on the other side was a vehicle storage building, this tiny one here is a pump house for bringing in underground water with the aide of this windmill, this is the main ranch house where Sam lived, this one is the bunkhouse for the Futa ranch-hands, these are the pastures for the horses and cows, and this small building here served as both an office, and an archive for files. This building also contained a false floor that contained the hidden trap door down to the old fallout shelter where those of us who were rebelling built our weapons that would eventually go on the Battleship Express."
"Wow. This was a pretty good sized ranch. And if Sam owned it, how many others did she employ?"
"Well, Sam owned it, and was the main boss. Under her came Misty Barrow, who was the ranch's manager, Rebecca Andrews, who was a Trail Boss, and roughly 20 other Futas. This is in addition to a 'stock' of 30 Femboys, and of course, 6 male workers. These 6 males were Yours Truly, Don Curry, Jeff Coleson, Russ Thompson, Joe Dixon and Frank Otis. All 6 of us worked the ranch, and all 6 of us were the founding members of the Battleship Express."
Daring sighed. "Femboys? You mean boys who pretend to be girls?"
"Yeah. Most of them were young teenagers, and even then, some were just barely that. NONE of them were old enough to be having sex yet, but laws were different under the Futas. Most of them were yucky sluts, but a few were good, and I was even friends with 3 of them; Courtney, Mickey, and Silver. These 3 were also the ones that I saved from the river that one night.
"And when did you arrive at Creamy Dream? And how?"
I sighed again. "The coup against Demetria happened on January 11th, 2026, and I was taken by the bad Futas, and sold to a group of slavers. I won't say much, only that these slavers put me on one of their trucks with other kidnapped males, and took me away from Vegas, out of Nevada, through Utah, past Wyoming, down through Colorado, until we finally reached a farm auction block somewhere in Nebraska on January 28th. 2 days later, even though it was still Winter, it was a nice day with temperatures in the high 40's, and it was on that day that the auction began."
Daring looked like she wanted to cry. "Bought and sold like common items. Like SLAVES!!! How did you survive?"
"Well, despite what it sounds like, I wasn't auctioned off like a lot of males were; I was actually bought outright. For a while before the auction, Futas and Herms were allowed to browse the rows of cages where the males were being kept, so that they could see what was offered. All of us were wearing smocks, and thank GOD that the building had heat! I also sat in my cage on the second level of a shelf with my knees tucked under my chin, and gave an angry glare at anyone who walked past. On the front of my cage was my name: 'Leopard', my age: '22' (at the time), my height: '5'9', weight: '150lbs', and where I'd come from: 'Las Vegas'.
As I was sitting there on that January 30th though, 2 Futas in what looked like winter farm clothing walked by, looking at the various cages.
'Why do they keep them in cages Sam?' the shorter of the 2 asked.
'So that they don't try to run away, fight, or cause trouble Misty.'
'And they're all so young! Most of these kids are barely teenagers!'
The taller one groaned. 'Yes, and UNFORTUNATELY, we're not here for Femboys today. We're here to find workers for the ranch!'"
"I'm gonna guess that they were Sam and Misty?"
I nodded. "Yes, the tall one was Sam, and the other one was Misty." I then recollected my train of thought, and kept telling my story.
"Suddenly though, Sam came across my cage. She saw me inside glaring angrily back at her, but then she saw the tags on the front of my cage. '22 years old, 5'9, 150 lbs. Looks like he might work.' Sam then turned away from my cage, and told Misty to go and find one of the Futas who helped handle the 'livestock' while they were waiting for their turn at the auction block.
When she returned with one of them a few minutes or so later, the Futa began to unlock my cage, but she then pulled out a cattle prod. 'One wrong move from you, and this'll go straight up your ASS on the highest setting!!!' She then opened up the cage, and ordered me out."
"She actually threatened to stick a CATTLE-PROD up your ass?!"
I spat a bit. "It was just an empty threat. Those handlers weren't allowed to torture or abuse anyone, as torture, or even excessive punishment, would diminish our value at auction. The prods were mostly just used to keep us compliant, and since a lot of the males were young kids, they believed the threats.
Anyway though, once the door was open, the handler did turn on the prod, but it wasn't used. I climbed out of my cage, and stood up to my full height, which was only about a foot shorter than Sam herself, and about equal to Misty in height. Sam then ordered me to strip, and she then began to literally feel me all over. All while she 'examined me', my facial expression never once changed. It remained the same angry glare that it always was.
'Wow, for a male, he's still pretty well intact. I mean, he's got wolf ears, a wolf tail, a wolf's dick and balls, and wolf paws and lower legs, so it's quite obvious that he's a product of Apex Industries, but still, overall, I haven't seen a male as old as him and still be in this good of condition in a long time! And I've NEVER seen an 'Apex Wolf' up close before!' She then continued her touching, which went beyond just seeing how physically sound I was. I could tell that she was groping me just to see how good of a lay I was going to be.
As she was rubbing my dick and balls, she spoke to me for the first time. 'How much do you want to get out of here Sugar?'
'What?' I asked quietly.
'I said how much do you want to get out of here? Because if you really DO want to leave, I can buy you right now, and take you back home to my ranch.' She then tilted my head up towards hers, and kissed me. 'Mmm, and I know that I can make you VERY happy if you work for me, just as you can make me VERY happy too! So what do you say Sugar? Wanna come home with me?'
I felt like a rat caught in a trap Daring."
"That must have been so hard for you Stud. You knew that there was no way out, but what did you say?"
"The only thing I could say. I knew that a shocking was headed my way if I refused, or worse, Sam could have just had her way with me right then and there to act as an example to others. In the end, I said, 'If that's what you want Mistress, then yes, I'll come home with you. I want to leave this place.'
To my surprise, Sam actually hugged me. 'Thank you fer being agreeable Sugar. I can already see that you and I are gonna get along so well!' She then went to sign the papers, and pay the asking price. Soon, I was taken away from the auction pens, and towards a red farm truck. However, this is where things start to get strange.
I was told to get in the back of the truck, and Misty was going to ride back there with me to ensure I didn't act out, but yet I was given actual clothes to wear!"
"What? Really?"
"Yeah! I was given underwear, jeans, socks, boots, a dark plaid flannel shirt, a black vest, and gloves. I put them on, and once Sam started the truck, we were on our way.
'You're not a slave Sugar, nor are you a pet', Sam told me on the drive home. 'You're an actual worker now. I need one more male worker on my ranch just to have an even 6, and you were the only one that I could find. You'll be well taken care of, provided of course that you do EVERYTHING that I tell you to do, WHEN I tell you to do it, even if it means me having my way with you. Got that?'
I nodded. 'Yeah, I got it. Some things never change, and being told this when bought by a Futa, or 'adopted' out of a care center is just one of those things.'
To my surprise though, I wasn't punished for saying that. All Sam said was, 'Yeah, I guess so.'
On the drive there though, I got a chance to get to know Misty a bit better. She was about my height, with brown hair, a few traces of freckles, a few scars, a nice pair of what I guessed were double-D breasts, and was dressed similar to me. What kinda put me off a bit about her though, at least at first, was her eyes. Her left eye was brown, but her right eye was blue!
'You lookin' at my eyes?' She asked me suddenly. Before I could say anything though, she just smiled and said 'Well, go ahead, I don't mind. I'm a pretty rare bird to have 2 different colored eyes, and even rarer still to have what I have. Rarely at all do folks have one green eye and one brown eye, but rarer still is one blue eye, and one green eye. Rarest of all though is one blue eye, and one brown eye. As far as I know, I'm one of only 7 Futas who have eyes like this!'
'Wow, that's pretty interesting Mistress.'
'Misty!' She corrected me. 'I'm gonna call you Leopard, but ONLY if you call me Misty. It's my name, and I'm NOT your mistress, nor do I want to be!' Here though, she glanced up into the cab at Sam, before leaning in to whisper, 'I want to see you as an equal, and maybe even as a friend. Oh, and if Sam ever gives you a hard time, just come and see me. I'll make it all better.'"
"Was.....was she being serious Stud?"
I nodded. "Oh yes. As I would later discover, Misty wasn't even a Futa at all; she was a Herm! She hid this fact, as she didn't want to be used as a brood-mother. Not that she even could have been, as she no longer had her ovaries. She had ovarian cancer at some point, and she had to have them removed. Now she had a dick and a pussy, but was unable to give birth."
"And how old was Misty?"
"She was 24, and Sam was 28." I then resumed my story.
We drove on for another day or so, but we eventually reached Creamy Dream Ranch. I was surprised when I saw it. It was a bit smaller than I thought that it was going to be, and I saw actual cows and horses out in the pastures, instead of the enslaved males that I was expecting to see.
'We're a farm for producing milk and horses.' Sam informed me. 'We have the best breeding horses and dairy cows in all of the Prairie Region. Your jobs for now will be rather light, as it is the middle of Winter, but you will help with caring for the livestock, and helping with cleaning and repair work on the ranch. In the Summer though, in addition to this, I'll probably hire you out to the railroad part-time.'
'The....railroad?' I remember asking.
'Yes, the railroad. One of the Futa railroads is building a rail line through this area, and they need workers to lay the tracks. They've stopped work for the Winter, but come Spring, work will resume. You'll help other males build the railroad. You'll also help maintain the old locomotive that we keep on the ranch and loan out to the railroad.'"
"Iron Glory!" Daring suddenly broke in.
I nodded. "Yes, Iron Glory. You're quick Daring. Of course, she wasn't called this yet, and we all just called her the 'Wild West Engine', as that's what she looked like. Anyway, once we arrived at the Ranch, I was taken to the barn to meet the other 5 male workers, and that's how I met Jeff, Don, Russ, Joe and Frank for the first time.
At first, Russ was openly distrustful, as were Frank and Joe. Don thought that I was going to be a pain, and only Jeff was at least somewhat friendly. However, once they realized that I was a former US Soldier, a true survivor, and an 'Apex Wolf' like them, they were MUCH more friendly, well.......except for Russ, but he hated pretty much everybody, so that was understandable. For the rest of that Winter, I kept trying to earn their trust, and slowly I did so. When Spring came, I had my 'incident' in the Arkansas River, and left permanently deaf in my left ear here." I pointed at my ear to prove my point.
"And Sam cared for you." Daring finished.
"Yes, she cared for me. She tried to love me to make up for all of the times that she raped me. Night after night I would put myself in her path to protect someone else, but sometimes she just pushed me aside. All 6 of us males, plus the Femboys, were considered fair game for sex at any given time, though the other Futas largely steered clear of us, as we were 'too old, and too ugly, and had no real future' as they put it. They wanted the Femboys, but Sam though, she seemed to target all of us."
Daring thought about that. "Wait, was one of the reasons that you protected the others was so that you could distract Sam while they smuggled stuff to the bunker?"
"Yes. That was how I earned the largest amount of respect from the other 5. I still hated it though. And who wouldn't? Sam was probably the most well-endowed Futa that I've ever seen! I mean yes, she COULD be gentle at times, but yet rape is still rape.
One night like I always was, I was working in the barn. I'd just finished pitching hay, and was putting my tools away, when Sam strode into the barn. 'Hello? Anyone in here looking for sex?'
'Nope!' I thought. I then finished putting my tools away. However, Sam did spot me before I could make it out of the back doors.
'Hey, you! Get over here, now!'
I thought about defying Sam, but as I looked out of the doors of the barn, I saw Don, Frank and Joe moving a series of crates. By the way that they were carrying them, I could tell that they were most likely filled with either ammunition, or gun parts. I then knew what I had to do.
I then turned around and faced Sam. 'Where do you want to do it Sam?'
'Let's do it in one of the empty stalls today.' She then grabbed me by the hand, and led me away to one of the stalls.
Once we were inside, Sam pushed me onto the hay on the floor, and ordered me to strip. I did so, and after she pushed a few strands of her red hair out of her eyes, she began to strip herself. Once she removed her red and white checkered shirt, her HUGE 36ii knockers popped out. Then she removed her massively bulging shorts. Once she tossed them to the side, I saw that her massive 12in dick was already fully hard. She left her boots and green leggings on for whatever reason though.
She then looked at me with a bit of softness in her green eyes. 'Come on Sugar. Come and suck Mistress Sammy's thick, juicy cock!'
Reluctantly I did so, though while I did, Sam ran her fingers through my hair, and even scratched me behind my gray, furry wolf ears.
'Mmm, that feels so good Sugar. You like that big cock?'
I nodded as I continued to bob my head up and down.
'Mmm, well, I can tell you that I like the blowjob.' Soon though, she stopped me with one of her hands, before pulling her dick out of my mouth. She then pushed me to the hay, and got on top of me.
'This is the fun part Sugar. Just relax your muscles, and let me do all the work, at least at first.' She then took her still-throbbing member, and began to push it into me. We'd done this enough times by that point so that it was able to slide in with no more lube than my saliva.
Sam then began to thrust in and out of me. She really didn't talk to much during sex, but she did grunt a lot. She would also hold my hands, and would often lean down and sloppily French-kiss me too.
'Mmm, Sammy likey! Out of all of the males around here, you were always my favorite Leopard. Yer such a fun lay.' She then let me reach up, and fondle her large tits. 'Yeah, just like that Sugar! Grope my fat udders! Oh f@#k this feels so good!'
Eventually though, she blew her load inside of me. After she did, she pulled out of me, and lay down next to me before pulling me close to her. 'Mmm, rest now Sugar', She whispered softly to me. 'You've made me so happy, and now you can suckle from my huge boobies if you want.'
I did so, while Sam gently purred in approval. It was clear that she was sweet on me, but yet I didn't think that I loved her back as much as I made it appear that I did, at least, not at first."
"So it was an endless cycle of 'loving-rape' with Sam, is that it Stud?"
"To an extent, yes. However, not all sex on the ranch that I had was rape. Misty would actually asked for consent first, and THEN made it worth my while. Sex with her was fun, and she would let me f@#k her too!"
"Wait, really?"
I nodded, and then thought back to one of the most fun times with Misty.
Towards the end of June, I was wrapping up my work for the day, before walking around the outside of the barn. I was humming a bit to myself, and I kept my eyes open for Sam. As I was approaching the back of the barn though, I suddenly heard someone softly singing "Oh Susanna." Just as I rounded a corner though, I suddenly stumbled across Misty taking a bath!
Behind the barn was a large wooden washtub, and it was directly below a water pump that could act as both a shower head, and a water faucet. It also was connected to a water heater in the barn, so it had hot and cold running water. (The whole tub also lacked curtains, or any other coverings, so whoever was bathing was fully exposed at all times!) There was also a rack for clothes to be hung on, and Misty's were currently hanging on it. Currently inside of the tub was Misty herself, and she was scrubbing herself down while taking a bath. It was also her who was singing "Oh Susanna."
I did recoil a bit, and I was about to run away, but then she spotted me.
"What's wrong with you Leopard? Ain't never seen a gal naked before?” She giggled in her soft, slightly Southern accent.
"No, I've seen a gal naked before. However, I don't think that I need to look at you." I was looking at the ground.
"If you're afraid that I'm gonna treat ya like Sam does, don't be. You can look at me all ya want Leopard. Heck, you could even come on over and take a bath with me if ya wanted to!"
I was surprised. "Really?"
She nodded. "Of course!"
I sighed, glanced around to make sure that Sam was nowhere nearby, before walking over to the tub. After stripping, and hanging my clothes next to Misty's, I too climbed into the tub. It was just big enough for the two of us, and for a minute or so, we just sat there in silence, looking at each other.
Finally, Misty just giggled. "Aww, what's wrong Leopard? Ain't never taken a bath with a cute gal before?"
I was about to nod, as I was thinking of Carla and Demetria, but I decided not to mention them. Instead, I just shook my head.
Misty giggled again. "Well, I guess that today's your lucky day then! Turn around, and I'll wash your back for ya." I did so, and after grabbing some soap, Misty began to wash my back.
"You........you don't mind if I get a little bit cozy with you, do ya Leopard?" She asked softly.
I was surprised. "Wait, are you asking for consent?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes, I am. Yes, I want to have sex with you, but I want to know if you want to have sex with me. And when I say that, I mean that I want YOU to f@#k ME! Or I can f@#k you if that's what you want. I'm a pretty laid back gal. I don't care."
I then turned around, and after gently taking Misty's hands into my own, I leaned in and kissed her. She kissed me back, and we mixed our tongues together too.
"Mmm, you're a really great kisser Leopard."
"Thanks." Suddenly though, I felt Misty's boner poking me in the stomach.
Misty blushed a bit. "Aww, she likes you! Just as 'Little Leopard' seems to like me too!" I then realized that my own erection was poking her in the stomach. Misty however told me to lean back a bit, and when I did, she took my member, and actually placed it between her tits, and began to rub them up and down around it.
"Wow, I ain't never seen a dog's cock and balls on a guy before. You wolves really DO have a wolf's red rocket! Do ya have the knot too?"
I nodded. "Yeah. It was made to last for about 30 minutes during sex until deflating, but it is indeed still there. You'll probably see it here before too long if you keep giving me titjob like that."
She giggled. "I hope so Su......oh. No, that's what SAM calls you guys. I'll just call you 'Stud' since I'm the submissive one here. You can call me 'Sweetie' if you want."
I blushed a bit. "S-sure. I can do that Misty." I then felt a load building in my balls. "Ngh, watch out Sweetie, I'm gonna blow!"
"Good! I love a good facial!" She kept rubbing my dick with her tits, and pretty soon, I blew a nice, creamy load all over her face. Some of it landed on her tits, but most of it got on her face. Once I was done spurting, Misty licked up my cum close to her mouth.
"Mmm, you taste so good Stud." She then leaned in, and kissed me.
"Nyah, thanks Sweetie." I kissed her back.
Misty then stood up, and leaned against the side of the tub. She then looked back at me seductively while shaking her ass. "Wanna f@#k Big Boy?"
I hesitated. "Eh, no offense, but I kinda wish that you had a pussy instead of an asshole."
Misty just giggled, before reaching back a hand, and rubbing away the bubbles that had stuck to her ass just above her balls. She then rubbed her slit, before spreading it wide, revealing that she was a Herm! "NOW do ya wanna f@#k me Stud?" She giggled.
I was surprised. "Wait, you're a Herm?"
"Yeah. I wanted to keep my pussy, so I did. I can't get pregnant due to my ovaries having been removed following a scare with ovarian cancer, and I might be a little bit 'furry' down there, but a pussy is still a pussy, right?"
"Wait, you're a little 'furry' down there?"
She then turned around, and after she sat on the edge of the tub, she spread her legs, and I saw that she did indeed have a small bush of pubic hair. It was brown like the rest of her hair, and she did let me touch it.
"See? 'Furry'. I've thought about shaving it off, but yet I like being 'furry' down there. It's a more natural look, although I do keep it trimmed, and well taken care of."
I sighed a bit before standing up. "Well, I don't mind Misty. I actually kinda like my girls to be a bit on the 'furry' side."
Misty looked up at me with a playful smirk on her face. "Oh you, c'mere!" She then leapt up, and jumped into my arms!
"Whoa!" I staggered back a bit, but I didn't fall over. Misty then wrapped her arms and legs around me, and after reaching down, she gently grabbed my member, and slid it into herself. She then began to bounce up and down on it.
"Oh Goddess you feel so good Leopard! I NEVER thought that I'd ever get a wolf-cock inside of myself short of f@#king an actual wolf! It's so warm inside of me!"
I then kissed her. "Well, I want to show you what I could really do with it, but what if Sam caught us?"
She then smirked. "Oh f@#k Sam, literally! She can go f@#k herself for all I care! Plus, I ASKED you to f@#k me, so you're just following my orders." She then climbed down off of me, and leaned up against the edge of the tub again before looking back over at me with her one blue eye, and one brown eye, as well as a sultry smirk. "Come on Big Boy, I KNOW you wanna!"
I nodded, before stepping close to her, lining my member up with her snatch, and then pushing into her again. She then moaned a bit, before leaning back to kiss me. I then began to thrust in and out of her, while she thrusted back to meet me. I also reached up to fondle her soft breasts, but I also reached down, and in addition to rubbing her belly and petting her pubic hair, I also gave her a handjob.
"Ngh, Leopard, you're the best partner for sex that I've ever had. I haven't had too many lays in my time, but I can honestly tell you that you TOTALLY know to treat a Herm like me! You could make one of us SO HAPPY one day!"
I thought back to how just a few months prior, I'd made Carla very happy. We hadn't even been married for 24 hours when I was taken away. I knew that she and Demetria had searched high and low for me, and for all I knew could even still be searching. I knew that they probably would never find me, and that made me even sadder. I didn't let Misty know what I was feeling though, so I kept going.
All during our sex though, we did attract a bit of an audience. Some of the Futa ranch hands, and a few of the Femboys stopped by to watch us. Misty didn't care, but I found it strange to be watched.
"NOW it feels like we're in a porno with all of them watching!"
Misty just laughed. "Don't mind them Leopard, they're just jealous!"
I glanced over the gathering crowd. I didn't see Don, Jeff, Russ, Joe or Frank, but I did see Courtney and Mickey. Both of them were cheering for me, but then Sam appeared.
"Hey! What the heck's going on over here?!" She then saw Misty and I. "HEY!!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY MANAGER?!?!?!"
Misty looked over at her. "Oh F@#K OFF Sam! It's MY turn to get a good f@#k around here!"
"YOU'RE supposed to be f@#king HIM, NOT the other way around!"
"Maybe I LIKE being the one on bottom Sammy! But at any rate, this is the BEST plowing I've ever gotten, so I'm gonna let him finish before taking him to my room for the night!"
Sam tried to stop us, but the crowd held her back. They were having the time of their lives, and a lot of them were jacking off to us f@#king, so they were NOT going to let her spoil it for them!
I kept f@#king Misty, and eventually, I could feel myself getting close. "Ngh, Misty......I'm...."
"Are you getting close Stud?"
"Y-yeah. And where do you want it?"
"Inside. I want it ALL inside of me! I'm completely sterile, so you don't have to worry about putting a baby in me. Fill me up Honey, and make this little girl cum too!"
I complied, and soon my knot popped out of my sheath, and I slipped it into Misty. Moments later, I began to blow my load into her. At the same time, Misty came, and began to blow her load all over the grass just beyond the tub. She also had a regular orgasm, and the HUGE amount of fluids allowed me to slip my knot back out of her.
"Ough!" Misty then reached back, and began to scratch me behind the ears. "Mmm, good boy!" She giggled a bit.
"You......you were amazing Misty."
"Not as amazing as you Leopard. Your furry wolf-balls slapping against my own was one of the best parts. Yes, it's kinda gay, but yet I am a Herm, so that cancels it out!"
The crowd continued to cheer for us, and a number of them finished blowing their own loads on the grass as well. In spite of Sam's protests, once we were done with our bath, we rinsed off, and then Misty drained the tub, before we grabbed our clothes, though instead of putting them on, we carried them over our shoulders as we walked hand in hand back to Misty's room in the ranch house for the night. It was then that I knew that I had a true friend in Misty, and would have for a long time to come.
When I finished my story, Daring looked at me with wonder. "Wow, that was.......that was pretty interesting Stud. Misty sounds like a really sweet gal."
"Yes, she was. The HARDEST part about leaving Creamy Dream Ranch was leaving her behind. Once Jim found us, and gave us Big Boy 4009, we put everything together onto various freight cars, and got ready to flee. The original 6 of us, plus a number of other males from nearby areas who wanted to escape, not to mention Jim and his guys from the RWD, got ready to flee back to the US. On August 16th, 2026, we were ready to go. However, I had to do something first. Even though I knew that it could give us away, I went to go and say goodbye to Misty while the Big Boy and Iron Glory were being prepped.
I found Misty in her room, and even though it was about 4am, I gently began to shake her awake. 'Misty? Misty. Can you wake up?'
'Huh?' She opened an eye, and looked at me. 'Ugh, Leopard? What's wrong?' She looked at her clock. The time was 3:51am. 'What's wrong Leopard?'
I sighed. 'Misty.........I've.........I've come to say goodbye.'
Misty put her hands over her mouth. She knew that we were going to try and escape eventually, but now that the time had come, it was more than she could bear. She started sobbing, though she grabbed her pillow to muffle it.
I then pulled her close to me, and began to hug her. 'Yes, I know Misty.' I whispered, trying to keep from sobbing myself. 'I d-don't want to leave you either. B-but, this isn't goodbye forever; it's just a rain check for a while. You and I both know that the war is coming again soon, and that the Americans HAVE to liberate the US from the Futas. I'm going to return to the US, and help make that happen. Don't worry though, I'll be back soon, and when I do, I'll make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you're kept safe. I'll NEVER let anyone hurt you Misty!'
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, but she then pulled me in close, and kissed me. 'I know Leopard. I'll wait for you.'
'I know that you will Misty. Goodbye for now.' I then left her, and headed back to the train. Sure enough, at exactly 4am, we pulled out. We made it off the ranch before we were discovered, but by then it was too late to stop us. Sam and a posse reached the main rail line, but by then we were moving too fast to be chased down.
'THIS ISN'T OVER LEOPARD!!!!!' I heard Sam scream after the train, 'I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN!!!! YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE FROM ME!!!!!!'"
"And what happened when you came back to the area around the ranch with the Battleship Express? Or did you?"
I nodded. "Yes, I did. And the ranch was taken over by US forces, though it was kept standing. Sam and most of the ranch hands were taken into custody, where they later stood trial for crimes of rape, and other sexual abuse and harassment charges. Misty was tried too, but I was able to get her sentence lowered. She was placed under house arrest at the ranch, and kept there for the duration of her sentence. Sam and those found guilty were sent to a prison camp a few miles away. Rumor has it that she escaped at some point, but I never found out if that was true or not. I think that it was just a few of the guys messing with me, or trying to scare me by saying that Sam had escaped, and was coming to make good on her threat to find me again, but I never found out if she actually did or not. And now I most likely never will."
Daring was about to answer, but then she thought of something. "Wait, I just thought of something. If I'm correct, after you left Misty, you married Lilly, though she died before you reached Creamy Dream Ranch again."
I nodded slowly. "Yes, that's the strange truth Daring. I told Lilly about Carla, Demetria, and Misty, and she told me that she didn't care that I loved them. However, less than a year later, she was gone. Lilly never met any of the Herms that I knew, but I do think that she would have gotten along well with them."
"Yeah, maybe Stud." Before she could say anything else though, the phone in the office rang. I went over and picked it up.
"Hello? Yeah, I'm here Spitsy. What? What do you need? Yeah, I can do that. Just hang on, and I'll be there soon." I then hung up the phone.
"What was that Stud?"
"Oh Spitfire needs my help at the Academy. Just one last thing, and then she'll be able to come home."
Daring nodded. "Ok Stud. And can I keep looking through this stuff?"
I nodded as I walked towards the door. "Yes, but like I said before, PLEASE be EXTREMELY careful with it!"
"I will Stud!" I then left, and she turned back to the boxes. In one of them, she found a picture of Misty and I together. She had her arms and legs wrapped around me, and her cheek was against mine as we were looking at the camera, smiling happily.
"Wow, I guess that they really were as close as Stud said that they were. Kinda wish that I could meet Misty one day. She seems like a pretty interesting gal." Daring then kept looking through the boxes.
When I arrived at Wonderbolt Academy, I found the place pretty much deserted. It was snowing lightly, and there was hardly a soul to be seen anywhere who wasn't a janitor, or maintenance staff. When I arrived at Spitfire's office, I saw dim lights coming from inside.
I knocked on the door. "I'm here Spits. Can I come in?"
"Yeah, come on in Stud."
I did so, and when I did, I was slightly surprised. Spitfire was at the window behind her desk, looking out at the falling snow. She was wearing her academy uniform, and I saw that her flame colored mane was hanging down her shoulders. The only light in the room was coming from the lamp on her desk, as well as another lamp that was sitting on a small table next to a couch against one wall.
I then walked over to my beautiful wife, and hugged her from behind. "Hey Spitsy. How are you doing?"
"N-nyah, I'm doing good Stud." She then took one of my hands, and held it gently in her own.
"What did you need my help with?"
I heard her sigh. "It's time Stud."
"Um, time? Time for what?"
"It's time......for us to try for a foal Stud. I've thought about this for a LONG time, and I think that I'm finally ready now. Dash is right. If I keep waiting, I'm soon gonna get too old to have foals at all. Plus, my mom keeps asking and asking me when I'm gonna make her a grandma, and I have to preserve my legacy somehow. Plus, I keep looking at Misty and Skyler, as well as Amber and Midnight, and I see the love that they have with their mothers, not to mention the love between Dash and Cara and Cassidy, and I want to have that too Stud."
"And.......we couldn't do this at home why?"
She gave me a look. "Um.....because it's hard to have sex at home without getting interrupted, duh! Here we have my entire office to ourselves, and we don't have to worry about being interrupted."
I glanced around the room. Aside from her desk, Spitfire had a couch, a few filing cabinets, a display case for her trophies, medals, ribbons, and other awards, a locker for her uniform and jumpsuit, a mini fridge, a heater for cold nights, (it was on at the time!) and a few chairs.
"Um, where are we gonna do this, on the couch?"
"That, or the floor. And I do have a few blankets too if you want that."
I sighed. "Yeah, but the real question is do YOU want this? Foals are a lifetime commitment Spitsy, and I do NOT want you to regret your decision later!"
She turned around to face me. "Stud, I'm 30, almost 31 years old. And yes, I DO want this! I would NEVER regret becoming a full-time mom, and like Dash always said, future Wonderbolt cadets have to come from somewhere! I'm NOT being pressured into this Stud, and I made this decision myself. Soarin will be the Captain while I'm on maternity leave, and Fleetfoot will be second in command. Now then," She placed her hands on my shoulders, "Wanna help me make a baby Stud?"
I nodded. "Sure, if that's what you want Spitsy." She smirked, and then we got down to business.
I then thought of something. "Wait, I thought that you could only get pregnant if you're in heat. It's the end of January. How can you be in heat now?"
"They make drugs that can help mares control their heat cycles Stud. It's like the opposite of birth control." She then let go of me, walked over to her desk, pulled out a bottle of pills, and took one.
"Wait, you keep fertility pills here in your desk? Why?"
"Because if I kept them at home, Dash or Daring would find them, and keep asking me about when I was actually going to USE them! With me keeping them here though, problem solved!"
I smiled a bit. I knew that Spitfire was right, but yet I still found it funny whenever I thought of her hiding fertility pills in her desk at Wonderbolt Academy.
Soon though, the pill kicked in, and I could tell that Spitfire was ready to mate. I walked over to her, and pulled her into my arms. All while she was kissing me, I then gently reached down, and began to unbutton her uniform. Once I took off her blue tunic, I draped it over a nearby chair, before removing her tie, and then unbuttoning her white shirt underneath. Once I unbuttoned that, I saw that Spitfire was wearing a black sports bra underneath. I then began to fondle her nice rack of D-Cup tits.
"Wow, you have a really nice rack Spitsy."
She giggled a bit. "Thanks. It's nice to know that you haven't gotten tired of them after almost 5 years of marriage!"
"I'll NEVER get tired of your rack Spitsy, not even after you've turned 100!"
She looked up at me. "Stud, if I make it there, you'll be 99, and I WILL be holding you to that!"
I laughed. "Sure, you can do that Spitsy." I then finished removing her shirt, before focusing on her blue skirt.
For bottoms, Spitfire either wore tan pants, or a blue skirt that was the same color as her tunic. She wore a black belt with either, and the skirt was for everyday use, while the pants were mostly for special events. I removed her belt, before reaching down into her skirt. I felt her panties, and soon pulled them aside to start fingering her slit. She was so wet and gooey, and I knew that her heat cycle was indeed beginning.
At this same time, Spitfire was removing my clothes as well. She pulled my shirt off, as well as my belt, and was getting ready to remove the rest. I then reached up and removed her panties, before tossing them to the side.
"You.....you ready for this Spitsy?"
She smirked at me. "Oh, more than you know Stud! I REALLY hope that you're ready to help me break an academy record!"
"Oh? And what would that record be? 'Best f@#k in your office of all time'?"
"No, 'best baby-making f@#k in the Academy of all time'! PLENTY of other 'Bolts have had sex here, but none of them have resulted in a pregnancy, at least, not in a long time."
"Wait, I thought that it was against the rules to have a relationship with another team-member."
Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's 'officially' against the rules, but as I'm sure you've guessed, nopony EVER enforces that rule! Heck, most of the enforcers are too busy breaking the rule themselves, and those that aren't don't bother reporting it, or if they do, their report usually falls on deaf ears. I'm the one in charge, at least for the most part, so as long as word doesn't reach Ponies like Major Cloud, Colonel High Rise, or General Firebrand, then we're ok!"
I knew who Spitfire was referring to. Even though she was the Captain of the Wonderbolts, there were those higher than her. None of these were field officers though, and were technically a part of the Equestrian Air Force. They still made their presence felt at Wonderbolt Academy though, and if a problem was reported to them that Spitfire hadn't taken care of, one of them WOULD take care of it! Spitfire wanted to keep her job, so she told those who were in a relationship with a fellow Wonderbolt to keep it as quiet as possible, and not arouse any suspicions. Though since I was not a Wonderbolt, none of them minded that I was with Spitfire, though they were rather upset that I was in a polygamous relationship with her, Dash and Daring, or as they knew her, AK Yearling.
"Yeah, but right now, they're not here, I'm not a Wonderbolt, and you look like you need a good f@#k, so how about we get this on?"
She smirked. "Oh yes, let's do this Stud!"
We then got back to kissing, and I soon relieved Spitfire of her skirt. Now all she was wearing was her black sports bra, and my pants were soon to come off too. I'd already taken off my boots, (I don't really wear socks because of my wolf paws), and Spitfire removed my belt, so all I had left were my pants and underwear.
Soon, she undid my pants, and I let them fall off of me before I kicked them to the side. Now it was just my underwear, and her sports bra.
"Mmm, you ready Spitsy?"
"Born ready Stud! I was born to be ready to handle anything that you can dish out after all!"
I reached back, and gave her ass a squeeze, as well as a small spank. Her muscular ass did jiggle a bit, and I rubbed her Cutie-Marks as well.
"Eek!" She squealed a bit. "Gettin' pretty 'hands on' there I see!"
"Did you just squeal Spitsy?"
"N-no!" She lied. "I NEVER squeal!"
"Really? You sure sound like you do. And I know that you make these really cute little squeaks sometimes, ESPECIALLY when I squeeze your tummy!"
"What? No I do......." I then began to squeeze her tummy a bit. "Eeek! Eeek! Stud! Stop it!" She tried to push me away from her, blushing and squeaking adorably all the while.
"Aww, come on Babe. You KNOW that you love it!"
"Augh! No I DON'T! I HATE it when you do this Stud! You make me feel all girly when you do that, and I HATE IT! I HATE making those girly noises!"
"Really? Well, newsflash Spits, you really ARE a girl, so doesn't it make sense that you would make a few girly noises from time to time?"
"No!" Spitfire was still blushing though, and she was still in my arms, so it was pretty clear that she was lying. She LOVED being slightly girly from time to time, even though she never showed it for the sake of her reputation.
I gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Come on Spitsy, don't lie to me. You do love it, right?"
She looked up at me. "Ugh, you KNOW that I'm lying Stud, so why do you keep asking me those questions? Do you want me to ADMIT that I'm lying?"
I smirked a bit. "Kinda. But yet I love you for who you are Spitsy. Tomboyish, but yet slightly more mature than Dash. I love the 'fire' in you Spitsy, and in more ways that one!"
Now she smirked a bit. "Oh you. C'mere Stud!" Spitfire then ripped off her sports bra, and quickly relieved me of my underwear before tackling me to the floor.
"Mmm...." She moaned as she French kissed me. I wrapped my arms and wings around her back, and kissed back.
Suddenly though, Spitfire let go of me, before turning herself around, and planting her dripping wet snatch right in my face. I then began to eat her out while she got to work on my dick. As we lay there in a 69 position, we both made each other feel amazing.
"Mmm, I've said it before Spitsy, and I'll say it again. You taste like mac and cheese down here!"
"And how does that work? I mean yeah, I KNOW that Dash tastes like Skittles, and I can MAYBE see why you say that Daring tastes like honey, but I STILL don't get why you say that I taste like mac and cheese!"
"It's just what I think that you taste like Spits." I kept slurping away at her juices.
"Mmm, and I'd say that your dick has a taste, but it really doesn't, aside from it being a mixture of Pony and wolf of course! I can taste the Pony, but I can also taste the wolf too. It's musky, but I still like it!"
I moaned a bit, but I didn't say anything due to having my tongue buried deep inside of her snatch.
Soon though, I had her close to an orgasm. "Ngh.....S-Stud.....I'm......I'm gonna cum!"
I began to finger her, as well as continuing to lick her. "Ngh, oh yeah, cum for me Cougar!"
"DADDY!!!!!" Spitfire suddenly screamed as she climaxed. I was hit by a wave of her juices, and they tasted AMAZING!
"Mmm, DEFINITELY the taste of a sweet cougar-mare in heat! You're DEFINITELY ready to carry my babies Spitsy!" Suddenly though, what she screamed dawned on me.
"Wait, Spitsy, when you orgasmed just now, did you.....just call me.....'D-Daddy'?"
Spitfire had collapsed forwards after her massive climax subsided, but she still heard what I said. "Yeah, I did Stud", I heard her murmur. "I've always thought of you as my 'Daddy', while I'm your 'Sweet Little Filly'. Yeah, I KNOW that it's kinda weird, and I AM older than you by a year, but hey, we all have our fetishes Stud."
"Can.....can you turn yourself back around Baby? Daddy REALLY wants to see his 'Little Filly'."
I heard her faintly giggle, before she picked herself up, and turned herself around before gently laying on my stomach. I heard her softly cooing and humming to herself, and I was just trying not to turn into a puddle, her adorable antics were melting my heart so much!
I wrapped my arms around her. "Spitsy, PLEASE stop being so damned cute! I'm SERIOUSLY about to have a adorableness-induced heart attack!"
Spitfire looked up at me, and gave me a cute, yet sultry smirk. "Mmm, I only do it when I'm around you Stud. I do it......b-because I actually LIKE showing off for you, and making you WANT to fall for me! Even after 5 years, I STILL want to be adorable for you. Oh, and if you tell ANYPONY about what I just said.........." She half-heartedly put a hand on my throat. "I'll............." She sighed. "I'll just deny it. I'd NEVER hurt you Stud, and I know that Dash only threatened your windpipe because of her pregnancy with Cara and Cassidy."
I was stunned. I'd NEVER truly heard Spitfire pour out her heart to me, but now here she was 5 years after tying the knot doing just that. Finally, I just asked her, "Why Spits? What did you mean by 'wanting to show off for me'?"
She sighed. "I mean, what is a mare to do when she wants to show her affections for you, but she has to compete with 2 other mares, 6 foals, a wolf, AND an annoying brat of a Sphinx?! That's why I cherish when it's just you and I Stud. For once, I'm glad that I don't have to share you with anypony else."
Now it was my turn to sigh. Long term, I knew that my polyamory was hurting my mares just as much as it was hurting me and our foals. It was a foolish mistake, and at times I wished that I could take it back, but at other times I was glad that history played out like it did.
I gently kissed Spitfire on the forehead while I held her warm body close to mine. "I love you Spitsy, always have, always will, and NOTHING will ever change that. I can ALWAYS make time for you in my schedule, so all you have to do is ask for some time, and it's yours."
She kissed me on the nose. "Mmm, thanks Stud. You're the best! Oh, and NOW can we move on to making a baby?"
I nodded. "Sure, we can do that now."
We then got down to business.
Eventually, Spitfire was able to get herself up off of me, before walking over to one of the lockers, pulling out a blanket, and draping it over the couch. She then lay down on the couch on her back, before spreading her legs wide open, and moving her tail ever so much to entice me.
She then looked at me with need in her eyes. "Do I really need to say it Stud, or are you gonna do it?"
I decided to be a bit cruel with my wife of 5 years. I gave her a look. "Beg for it Spitsy."
"What?"
I stood up, and crossed my arms. "You heard me Babe, beg for it. Beg for me to knock you up with our child. Tell me how much you want to be my baby-incubator." I wanted to keep going, but I was already cracking. I HATED being cruel with any of my wives, even in bedroom role play scenarios. This stemmed back to my life under the Futas, and the horrors I had to witness. I could only hope that Spitfire started begging before I started crying.
Spitfire could see my internal conflict, and motioned with one of her fingers. "Come on Stud, just get over here and make me happy. You KNOW that us having a baby, or even twins as per the norm would make us SO happy, so come on over and make it happen."
I knew that Spitfire had just released me from my having to make her beg, so I promptly came over, and did as she asked. I then gently took hold of her legs with my hands, before leaning forwards, and gently pushing my hard member into her. She gasped a bit, but her gasps soon turned to moans of pleasure. I leaned forward further, letting go of her legs, which she promptly wrapped around my back. She then wrapped her arms and wings around my back as well.
"Yes, that's it Stud!" She whispered as I began to thrust in and out of her, "THAT'S how you make your wifey happy! And you can thrust harder and faster if you want. I don't mind at all!"
I nodded, and kept going. All while I made love to Spitfire, I also groped and fondled her breasts. We also French-kissed multiple times, and she even wrapped her tail around mine as a gesture of her love. I returned her gesture by wrapping my tail around hers, thus intertwining them together.
Soon we worked ourselves into a steady rhythm. I pushed forwards, and she pushed back to meet my thrusts. We kept going for a while, but eventually, I felt myself getting close.
"Ngh, Spitsy.....I'm........."
"Are.....you getting close Stud?"
"Y-yeah."
She gave me a sweet smile. "Yes, PLEASE fill me up Stud! I REALLY want our foal(s)!"
I nodded, and then made Spitfire's dream come true. "Here comes our foal Sweetie!" I then pushed as deep into her as I possibly could, and unloaded another geyser of my hot, potent foal seeds. All while I was emptying my nuts inside of her, Spitfire held me tightly with her arms, legs and wings.
"Oh.....yes.....yes....nyah!" She cried as I filled her up. Once I finished, we had just enough strength left to kiss, and then I rolled off of her onto the couch. Spitfire then wrapped a blanket around us, and we fell asleep in each other's warm embrace.
I kissed her soft head. "I love you Spitsy. I hope that you enjoy your belated Christmas present!"
She giggled softly, before looking up at me with her golden eyes. "Mmm, I know that I will Stud. I'm hoping for a colt so that Skyler will finally have a brother, but given the current cycle, I'll probably wind up with twin fillies like always! I wish I could have just ONE filly though."
"Eh, well, nothing is set in stone Spitsy. Maybe this time you'll get what you want out of it."
"Ngh, maybe so Stud." We both then fell asleep.
Deep inside of Spitfire's womb, my swimmers met an egg, and Life, or Briana, take your pick, once again Found a Way.
That May, Spitfire was sitting at her desk once again. She was trying to work, but she kept getting distracted.
"Ough!" Just like Daring and Dash had warned her, the kicking had commenced about a month ago, and was REALLY strong!
Spitfire pushed her chair back from her desk a bit, before untucking her blue button-up tunic, and unbuttoning a few of the lower buttons. Once that was done, Spitfire rubbed her now rather swollen, 4 month pregnant belly. As per the norm, Spitfire had twin fillies, and they were EXTREMELY lively!
"Ough! PLEASE settle down Blazie and Tracer!" Spitfire whispered, rubbing her belly gently. "Mommy's trying to work, and I can't do that with you kicking me, so could you PLEASE quiet down for a while?"
In response, Blazie and Tracer just seemed to keep kicking.
"Ugh! In a few hours, I'll fly home, and THEN we can be with Daddy for a while. Won't that be nice?"
As if on cue, the twins settled down. Spitfire giggled a bit to herself. Whenever I wasn't around to comfort our unborn daughters, all Spitfire had to do was mention to Blazie and Tracer about spending time with me soon, and they would immediately go quiet!
"Aww, that's my sweet Blazie and Tracer." She imagined her daughters curled up in her womb, possibly sleeping. "Mmm, I wonder if foals in the womb are capable of dreaming. And if they can dream, I wonder if they’re already dreaming of trying out for the Wonderbolts someday, just like her Mom, and her Auntie Dash, not to mention their Honorary-Wonderbolt Daddy!"
Spitfire then leaned back in her chair, completely lost in her own little world. She kept thinking about how she was now my baby-incubator, as well as daydreaming about the day she would give birth, and how being a full-time mom AND the Captain of the Wonderbolts was going to be.
"Hmm, and Stud was born in September, and he told me that most babies conceived around Christmas/Hearthswarming or New Years are born in the Fall, so if that was the case for him, maybe history will repeat itself for our little Blazie and Tracer!"
Spitfire then got back to work as best she could, all while still daydreaming of the future ahead.
(WARNING!!! Chapter does contain nudity and some sex. You have been warned!)
Far to the West of Equestria, beyond the Smoky Mountains, lay a kingdom that nopony knew existed. Hidden deep within the lands of the Undiscovered West, lay the New Futa Empire, or as some called it, the New Futa Kingdom.
Within the borders of this kingdom were a grand total of 7 cities; New Vegas, Comstock, New Cleveland, Good Detroit, Pittsburgh, Old San Francisco, and New Seattle. These were surrounded by a series of smaller towns and villages. These places were connected by a series of railway lines, roads, and even a few man-made rivers. New Vegas was the capital of the New Futa Empire, Comstock was a huge mining city, New Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Good Detroit, were heavy manufacturing cities, Old San Francisco was a shipping hub located on the coast, and New Seattle was a hub for new technological innovations.
There were others, but due to their size, they were considered towns. These included the industrial towns of Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Louise, (Not Louis, Louise!) the farming towns of New Hutchinson and Iowa City, the barbecue hub of Kansas City, and a few other smaller towns and villages.
For several months the Futas had been laboring in total secrecy until they were found by the shattered remnants of the Caribou Empire, and their mercenary allies of Griffons, Minotaurs, Dragons and even a few Zebra stragglers. After an alliance was brokered between them, the Kingdom Alliance, the Futas took in the survivors, and put them to work helping to build the cities, towns, and other villages. Demetria knew that with their new allies, (even though they had to be watched at all times to prevent treachery!) her new Empire/Kingdom would grow by leaps and bounds. By her initial estimates, she believed that it would take more than 10 years to build, but now with all of the extra hands, (plus Futa survivors being brought over from Earth) she believed that it could be done in about 5-7 years.
What few Futas knew, at least at first, was the small miracle that had been performed by Futa scientists over in New Seattle. Through a VERY intricate system of pipes, magnets, electrical coils, and other high-tech equipment, they were able to, to a small extent, make a portal back to Earth! However, the technology was EXTREMELY crude, nothing larger than a Human Being could come through, and most importantly, the portal was only one way. Once in, there was no going back.
Through this portal, on the first day of its operation, even though it was one way, thanks to a small power spike, 8 Futa agents were able to be sent back to Earth to find and recruit any remaining Futas, Herms, and any other possible allies. The portal came out in the old Futa capital of Tomsk, which was located in what used to be Siberia in Eastern Russia. Futas fleeing the US, and from the Pacific and Eastern Europe were led to to the portal by the agents, made to pledge their allegiance to Empress Demetria, and were allowed through. In this manner, an "estimated" (according to Futa record-keepers, who were notorious for low-balling figures on purpose for one reason or another) 1,750,000 Futas and Herms were spared from Death, even if only for a while longer. They settled in the New Futa Empire, and with the Allied Forces closing in on where the portal was located, the 8 Futa agents grabbed a few more things like weapons, tossed them through, before they jumped through themselves, and the portal was shut down forever. It had been open for nearly 2 weeks, but once it was shut down, its components were dismantled, and went into helping to build other things.
For the Caribou, Griffons, Minotaurs, Dragons and a few Zebras, working with the Futas was met with mixed results. Sure, they were happy to be able to help build a new empire, but at the same time, they were not in charge of the empire, and were overseen by these bizarre, female, Human-like creatures with dicks, some of whom could also get pregnant and give birth. Almost all of the Futas saw them as inferior, and although they were treated as equals, they were still seen as outsiders.
Many though would openly stare at creatures like the Dragons, Minotaurs and Griffons, as they still had a hard time believing that they really WERE seeing creatures of legend! They watched them with wonder, but yet this could also lead to other issues. Reports were brought to royal attention about orgies between those of the Futa Empire, and the Caribou Kingdom, which encompassed the Caribou, Dragons, Griffons, Zebras, and Minotaurs. Demetria disliked them, and tried to have her forces put a stop to them, however, the problem soon took care of itself.
Many Futas were only attracted to other creatures with dicks, and those of the Griffons, Dragons, Zebras, and Minotaurs who found themselves in the orgies, (The Caribou were NEVER a part of them as they believed that it violated their religion and culture) quickly found that most Futas were dominant in sex, and they soon found themselves in a submissive position with dicks being shoved into places where the sun didn't shine! Only a handful of them were actually into that sort of thing, while the rest NEVER wanted to be involved with orgies, or even ANY sex with the Futas, EVER AGAIN!
Demetria laughed when she read over the reports. "Heh, well, sometimes it's pretty funny when a problem takes care of itself, eh Minnie?"
Minerva, Demetria's chief security officer, adviser, and friend since childhood, looked up from her desk in her office next to Demetria's. "Yeah, it sure is Dem. I just REALLY wish that I could have seen the looks on their faces when they realized that THEY weren't going to be doing any f@#king, but instead they themselves were going to GET f@#ked! I mean yeah, I'm a Herm, but I'm happily married with an ACTUAL male husband, and I have a daughter of my own. I'm NOT into that kind of stuff!"
Demetria sighed a bit. Minerva and her husband, Brandon Price, had one daughter, Ahri, and they were planning on expanding their family. Demetria chuckled a bit to herself about how Ahri seemed to have taken quite a liking to her daughter Carla's son Leo, and that he seemed to like her back just as much.
"I still wish that young kids like Leo didn't have to grow up in a world like this", She quietly thought. "The only adults around here are either Herms or Futas, although a few are female. Males are practically non-existent, and those that are I would NEVER let Leo be around!"
Demetria was thinking of males like Stacy's pet husband, Face. Carla had told Leo about her sister Stacy, but she told him to stay away from her. "My sister is evil Leo", She told her son. "You MUST stay away from her! And PLEASE stay from those that hang out with her! They CANNOT be trusted!"
Close by, Danin was working at his own desk. He STILL hated his job as Demetria's secretary, but yet he was allowed time to leave and help build more of the empire, so that did help balance it out. He cared nothing for the constant strife between Demetria and her youngest daughter Stacy, but it did annoy him that they talked about it CONSTANTLY.
"Stupid Futa-Creatures", He thought to himself. "Can't live with them, can't build an empire without them!"
Ever since she arrived at what became New Vegas, Carla was doing quite well for herself. She was now out of her coma, and quickly began to work to build up the muscles that she had lost over her 2 year coma. She had her son Leo to take care of, and in addition to this, she also oversaw the building of some of the other cities and towns around New Vegas.
Carla sat in front of her vanity mirror in her room. As she brushed her long, soft, ginger-colored hair, she looked at herself in the mirror. "Gosh, I really haven't changed a lot since 2029 when I woke up. I mean, it HAS been 5 years, and I AM 32 now, but I sure don't look too much different!"
She looked over her ginger hair, her soft green eyes, her few scars from her time as a general in the Futa Army, and of course, her bountiful freckles. Carla's entire body was covered in freckles, but they were most prominent on her face, her shoulders, her lower arms and legs, and the tops of her breasts and ass. Many saw Carla as an outcast because she was a ginger, but I saw her as my friend, BFF, fiance, and for a brief time, my wife. I loved her dearly, and I didn't care in the SLIGHTEST that she was a ginger!
"You're not evil Carla", I told her. "You're NOT a vampire, because you can be in the sun for long periods without getting burned. Yes, the 'carpet matches the drapes', but I like a girl with ginger pubes! And I don't know if gingers can steal souls, but I can honestly say that you've stolen mine."
"Really? Well then which freckle is it?" She asked me playfully.
I chuckled a bit, before I took hold of her somewhat large breasts, and gently pushed them apart. "It's right here." I pointed to a rather large freckle in the center of her chest.
"Oh? And why do you think that?"
"Because I love you Carla. It's right there, because that's where your heart is, and I KNOW how close to your heart I really am!"
She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Leopard, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." She then pulled me into her arms for a hug.
I hugged her back. "I'll always love you Carla. I mean sure, we're not 'supposed' to be together, but I'll always love you. Our love will last forever!"
Carla then looked back up at the mirror. "And it did. I know that Stud loved me until the moment he died in Vegas. I still love him, but yet WHY can't I ever know what happened to him?! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO LEOPARD!!!!" She then started crying a bit.
"M-Mom?" A voice to her left asked her. "Are.....y-you ok?"
Carla looked, and to her left stood Leo. She looked over his soft reddish-brown hair, his gray wolf ears on top of his head, his wolf tail, (I was still a Human-Wolf hybrid when Leo was conceived) a few freckles, but most of all, she saw his blue eyes. They were just like mine, and whenever Carla looked at them, she saw me.
Carla sniffed. "Y-yeah......I'm fine Leo. I just......I was just thinking about your dad again."
Leo went over and hugged his mom. For the entire 6 years he'd been alive, and for the 4 years that she'd been in his life post-coma, aside from his Grandma Demetria, Carla was the only family that he had. He never got the chance to meet his father Leopard, and from what he'd heard his mom tell Demetria, it sounded like he never even knew that Carla was pregnant with him.
"Mmm, I love you Mom."
Carla hugged her son. "I know. I love you too Leo. You mean so much to me."
Leo then looked up at his mom. He then looked up at her red fox-like ears, as well as her fox-like tail. "Mom? How come you have fox ears and a fox tail, when all of the other Ladies, (Carla NEVER used the words "Futa" or "Herm" around her son) have cat ears, and a cat tail? I mean, my friend Ahri has fox-ears and a fox tail too, but she told me that she was born wrong."
Carla laughed softly. "She wasn't 'born wrong' Leo, her mother Minerva was just given the wrong potion when Ahri was in her tummy. However, 4, almost 5 years ago now, way back when we all arrived here on Equus from Earth, we all had cat-ears, and cat tails. We never truly did find out why this was so, but some of us didn't like the cat-like features. I was one of these, and I wanted a change."
"Was....was I born with those cat features Mom?"
Carla shook her head. "No Leo, you weren't. You had wolf-like ears and a wolf tail, just like your dad had. His were that same dark gray that your's are. I wanted these features like him, but yet I had cat-ears, and a cat tail."
"And how did you change them?"
"I didn't, but Dr. Clover Hill, a leading scientist, figured out how to change our ears and tails. She could only figure out how to change them to those of a fox, and I would explain how she did it, but I doubt you would understand it. Heck, I can barely even understand it myself! But anyway, I went to Dr. Clover, and I told her that I wanted my ears and tail changed.
'So, you want me to change your ears and tail Princess Carla?' She asked me.
I nodded. 'Yes, I want them changed to those of a fox, just like my husband Leopard. Yes, I KNOW that he had wolf ears and a wolf tail, but I want mine to be like his.'
'Ok, well then, let me just create the proper potion.' It did take a while, but once she had it together, she gave it to me to drink, and I did. For a few seconds after I did, I felt fine, but then I began to get really sick. I had a MASSIVE headache, and my back felt like it was on fire! These sensations lasted for only a minute or so thankfully, and when they were over, I looked in the mirror that I was provided with, and I saw that I now had red fox-like ears with black tips, as well as a long, fluffy red fox-like tail with a black tip as well."
"Did you like how you looked Mom?"
Carla nodded. "Yes, yes I did. I REALLY liked my new 'Kitsune' look, as it's come to be called, versus the old 'Neko' look that others today have. I mean yes, it IS a bit more to take care of than it was before, but it's also closer to what Leopard had." Carla then sighed a bit. "I think it's what he would have wanted."
Leo and his mom talked for a while longer, before he went off to play elsewhere in the Palace Luxor.
Leo grew up inside of the Luxor, and many Futas and Herms looked at him with wonder. They knew that he had a Herm mother and a male father, and many were STILL trying to figure out how that was even possible. Other couples had tried it, but the result was either a female, or another Herm. Leo was the lone exception to this rule, and nobody knew why.
He didn't have very many friends, though most of this was because not many Futas and Herms had too many kids to begin with, and the rest of it was that their kids weren't in his age-range. One of the lone exceptions to this though was Ahri, the daughter of Minerva and Brandon. She was born about a year after Leo, and she was now 5 years old. The 2 of them were fast friends, although more than a few awkward conversations resulted from it.
Ahri had been born a Herm, and Leo wanted to know why she had a "pee-pee". Carla explained to him that some girls had "pee-pees", including her, and his Grandma Demetria. She then went on to tell her son more about the Herms, although she left some details blank, at least for the time being. She planned on telling her son the full story when he was older, but since he was only 6, she didn't want to confuse him.
However, just because Ahri was a Herm, and a few awkward conversations happened because of it, that did NOT stop the two of them from being friends. They did so much together, and both of their mothers were happy for them.
That day, Leo was walking down a hallway in the Luxor, when he stopped to look at a painting. The painting was of the Bikini Atoll in 1946, just prior to the atomic bomb tests of "Operation Crossroads". In the middle of the atoll was the fleet of ships that were a part of the bomb tests. Each ship had a number next to it, and a guide attached to the frame of the painting helped the viewer identify each ship.
"Battleship USS Pennsylvania, aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City, battleship USS Nevada, battleship USS Arkansas........"
"Leo!"
Leo looked over, and to his delight, he saw Ahri running towards him. She was wearing a white and red dress, and her dark hair was hanging down her back. Leo also saw her blue eyes, her black fox-ears, and her white fox tail.
"Hi Ahri!" He hugged her when she was next to him.
Ahri hugged him back. "Hi Leo. Whatcha lookin' at?"
"This painting of the ships of 'Operation Crossroads'. There's so many of them!"
Ahri looked at the painting. "Yeah, there are. Why would they have all these ships, just to blow them up?"
Leo shrugged. "I dunno. Mom said that they were trying to test the atomic bomb, but yeah, it was such a big waste!"
"What's your favorite ship?"
Leo pointed to a ship that had been painted bright orange. "That one right there. She's the battleship USS Nevada. Mom said that she was painted orange so that she could be clearly identified as a target for the atomic bomb that was dropped from the sky. She survived the blast, as well as another bomb blast, before she was taken back to America to be sunk as a target. I think she looks cool painted orange. What's your favorite ship?"
Ahri pointed to the lone aircraft carrier. "I like that one. I think that the name 'Saratoga' is fun to say!"
"'Saratoga'. Yeah, it IS kinda fun to say."
"Yeah, it is. And in the meantime, what did you want to do today?"
Leo shrugged. I dunno. What did you want to do today?"
"Eh, well, we could walk around for a bit. We're not really allowed outside of the palace without our mothers, but I'm sure that we can find SOMETHING to do!"
They both agreed, and they started walking through the palace.
For a long time, they kept looking around. They'd seen it all many times before, but yet it was always fun to see it again. One thing Leo would always stop and look at was a military uniform on a mannequin in a glass case. The uniform was olive drab, and had camouflage patterns on it. There were also black boots, a green helmet with a tan strap, a pistol, and a rifle. All showed signs of heavy use, and they'd clearly come from the battlefield.
Leo read the plaque in front of the case. "The field uniform and weapons of Captain Leopard. Worn and used by him all throughout WW3, WW4, WW5, and the first part of WW6. Taken from him after his capture in Sue Falls, they came to be displayed in the Palace Luxor during the Second Cold War." A recently added line read, "They were moved to their present location following the fall of Las Vegas." Also included with the plaque was a picture of me wearing the uniform.
Ahri looked up at the uniform and weapons. "Wow, so this guy was your Dad?"
"Yeah, he was. I never got to meet him, but my Mom told me all about him. She said that he was the greatest guy of them all. He was super cool, and he helped the good guys fight against the bad guys who were trying to hurt my Grandma in the last part of WW6."
"What......happened to your Dad? Did he die?"
Leo shrugged. "Nobody knows. Most records say that he did, but no one knows. He was there at the Battle of Las Vegas, and then we arrived here later. My Mom did show me a few reports from 8 Ladies who went back to Earth a few years ago, and they said that the reports of my Dad there also said that he was still missing. They think that he's dead, some of the Ladies think that he's dead, but no one knows for sure."
"And what do you think?"
Leo shrugged. "I.....don't know. I like to think that he's still alive, but if he was, somebody would have put it in the reports that were found on Earth. I don't WANT to think that he's dead, so I think that I'll just stick with 'nobody knows'. It sounds cooler."
Ahri looked at her friend. She had a mom and a dad, but Leo just had his Mom. He never met his dad, and never knew what really happened to him. She did agree that "nobody knows" did indeed sound cooler, and yet mysterious at the same time.
Eventually, the duo did have to part, as Ahri had to be back with her Mom for dinner. Leo knew that he would have to be getting back to Carla soon, so after saying goodbye to Ahri, he began to make his way back upstairs.
However, to get there, Leo had to walk through Level 10 to get to the closest stairwell to get back up to Level 14 where Carla's room was. For some reason, Carla had warned Leo to always bypass Level 10, and to always avoid being on it.
"Level 10 is a bad place Leo. Never go there. However, if you ever do have to go through it, run. Run all the way, and never stop until you're at the elevator. Don't talk to anyone, and NEVER look inside of any of the rooms there!" Leo had asked her why Level 10 was bad, and Carla contemplated telling him, but she never did. Now, Leo had to run through Level 10 like his Mom told him to.
As he began his trip, there was no one in sight; the level was empty, and all of the doors were seemingly closed. However, towards the end of his run, since he was only 6 years old, Leo tired out, and had to walk the rest of the way. It was here that things got interesting. As Leo walked along, a door to his right suddenly opened a bit. Light from it shone out into the hallway, but no one came to the door. Curious, and forgetting his mom's warnings, Leo decided to peek inside of the room.
He looked through the slightly opened door, and when he did, he gasped a bit in surprise. The room was quite obviously a bedroom, as it had a large canopy bed, but that's not what made Leo stare. The room seemed so weird to him. It was largely dark, and seeming lit only by lamps and candles. The canopy bed was covered in dark red blankets, there were a few tables with books on them, a fire was burning in the fireplace in the room, and there was a recliner couch in front of it. Leo also saw a door that seemed to lead to a bathroom, as well as other shelves filled with books, and other relics.
"Whoa! Who owns this place?" Leo wondered. He was about to take another step, but just as he did, the door suddenly opened all of the way, seemingly on its own. Then, something on the reclining couch moved, and Leo realized that the room was occupied!
"Who's there?" A female voice suddenly asked.
Leo was too scared to answer.
"Either get your ass in here, or go away!"
Stunned, Leo did what he was told, and stepped into the room. He walked closer to the couch, and then stopped. Then, he decided that he wanted to see who was on the couch, so he walked around to the front. When he did, he stared at her.
Lying on the couch was a female with black hair, black, cat-like ears, a black cat-tail, somewhat pale skin, and Leo saw that she had one blue eye, and one green eye. She was wearing scarlet robes, and she did NOT look very happy to see him standing there.
"Who......in the hell are you?"
"I'm......Leo."
The figure stared at him. "Leo........Oh, you're Carla's little whelp, aren't you? It figures I'd cross paths with you sooner or later."
"Wait. I know you, you're my Aunt Stacy!"
"Heh, you're quick Kid! Yep, I'm Stacy. Younger daughter of Empress Demetria, and the one that EVERYONE fears."
"Why? You don't look too scary, you look like a cat!"
Stacy rolled her eyes. "You should be scared of me, but I don't care if you're not."
"So weird. My Mom and my Grandma didn't want me to see you. I knew that I had an Aunt, but I never met you until now Aunt Stacy."
Stacy stared long and hard at Leo. She saw real potential in him to become Face's replacement once he got too old, but first she was going to have to work with him. Carla and Demetria wanted to keep Leo away from her, and she had no idea of what Sombra would think of him, but she was willing to give it a shot. However, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Stacy? Are you in here?"
Both Stacy and Leo turned to look, and Leo saw a short, skinny looking figure with pale skin, gaunt arms and legs, thick blue hair that was in messy pigtails, blue eyes, and a black smock. Leo also noticed that the figure had a white mask over his face.
"What's up with the mask?" Leo asked him.
"It's not a mask Kid, it's a prosthetic face. My face got hurt in an accident a long time ago, and I've had to wear this mask ever since. And I'm Face, Sally Face. You can just call me Face."
"I'm Leo. And how do you know Aunt Stacy?"
Face was taken aback. He never thought that he would ever get to meet Leo in person, but now here he was talking to him.
"I'm......Stacy's my mistress, and my lover. I would consider her my wife, but I don't know if that would be proper. And if you're asking, no, I'm not your uncle. I'm just......plain old Face."
"Oh. And I have to get going now; my Mom's expecting me. Before I go though, can I hug you Aunt Stacy?"
Stacy stared at him. Up until that point, there were only 2 people that she willingly let hug her; Face, and her REAL lover, General Jasmine House. She'd let others hug her, but she hated it.
She sighed. "Yeah, sure, whatever Kid." She then sat up, and Leo came over and hugged her. She did hug him back, and even though she hated to admit it, it felt nice to have a young child hugging her. Stacy contemplated being a mother herself one day, but she decided to wait until she was fully in power first. She was 28, but she could afford to wait. Plus, she was a Futa, so she would have to adopt a child anyway.
Once Leo finished hugging her, he left. "Bye Aunt Stacy, bye Face!"
"Bye Leo!"
"Yeah, goodbye Leo."
Leo then left the room.
Once he was gone, Stacy looked up at Face. "Psh, stupid little shit. All he is is a younger version of Carla!"
Face winced. "No, he's MUCH worse than that. Did you see his eyes?"
"Not really, why?"
"Because I looked into those eyes, and I didn't see a kid, I........I saw HIM!!!!"
"Well, he IS the little bastard's father, before he f@#king DIED anyway! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is no more, and that little whelp is the last reminder of him. He can be easily dealt with when the time comes."
"Wait, you're not gonna kill him, are you Stacy?"
Stacy shook her head. "For once, the thought didn't cross my mind. I plan on breaking him, and then raising him myself when the time comes."
"Oh."
Stacy then smirked. "But yet at the same time, you're supposed to be 26 Face, and you're STILL just about the height of a 6 year old!"
Face frowned. "Hey! I WAS taller once, but then the world wars happened. Not all of us came out as intact as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Some of us lost a LOT of body parts!"
Stacy still smirked a bit. Few knew that SHE was the one responsible for turning Face into what he was today, but most despised Face anyway.
Face then looked at his watch. "Oh shoot, it's getting late Stacy. Don't you have that one meeting with your former secretary Rey tonight? Something about whatever she's been doing for you in secret for the last 5 years?"
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me Sally. I'll go get ready for that now." Stacy then got up from the couch, and went over to her bathroom so that she could take a shower.
"No problem Stacy." Face then looked at a mirror. For a long time, he kept wondering what he would look like WITHOUT his blue hair in pigtails, but yet, the look had become so iconic that he didn't want to touch it.
"Oh well, maybe some day."
Eventually, Leo managed to make it back upstairs. He knew that he'd disobeyed his mom's orders, so he decided that the best course of action would be to tell her about what he did.
When Carla saw her son, she wondered why he was acting a bit strange. "Is.....something wrong Leo?"
Leo sighed. "I......I met Aunt Stacy today." He said quietly.
When Leo said that, Carla's face went quite pale. She knew that a meeting between her son and her sister was inevitable, but she never thought that it would happen so soon.
"How?" She finally asked. "How did it happen?"
Leo then told her everything, from his trying to run the whole way, to his tiring out at the end, to the door creaking open, to his getting curious and looking through the door, to the door opening seemingly on its own, to his going in, and meeting not only Stacy, but also Face. "And then I came back up here. I also knew that I should probably tell you Mom."
Carla put a hand over her face. Sure, she was upset at what happened, but she also knew that it wasn't Leo's fault.
"I don't blame you for this Leo. I knew that you tried to run all the way, but yet you ARE only 6. And that door didn't just creak open on its own, nor did it open on its own. Stacy did it with a remote, first to get you curious, and then to get you inside. She didn't want to hurt you, (yet anyway) she just wanted to meet you. But what I told you before still holds true. My sister is evil, and Face CANNOT be trusted either. He wouldn't know what free will was if it bit him in the ass, and does whatever Stacy tells him to do. For the future Leo, do not go on Level 10 AT ALL! Go around it, or if you have to, go back the way that you came, and take the long way around to get to the nearest stairwell. Nothing good can ever come of you being near Stacy and Face."
Leo nodded. "Yes mom. And Aunt Stacy looked kinda funny as a cat. And why does she have 2 different colored eyes?"
"No one knows Leo. What I do know is that my grandmother, your great-grandmother, Boudica, had green eyes, your Grandma Demetria has brown eyes, and your other Grandma, my real mother, Natasha, had blue eyes. I was born with green eyes, and for some reason, Stacy had one blue eye, and one green eye. Only a handful of others have 2 different colored eyes Leo; it's EXTREMELY rare!"
"Wow, that's really cool Mom!"
Just after this though, a messenger knocked on Carla's door. "Princess Carla?"
"Yes? What is it?"
The messenger opened the door. "The search request that you sent out throughout the New Futa Empire regarding ANY information on Captain Leopard has yielded results. On a ranch outside of the town of Hutchinson lives a Futa who knows more about him, and what may have happened to him."
Carla was stunned. She NEVER expected to get any results when she sent out her search request! "What?! Really?! Where does she live?! I HAVE to talk to her!"
The messenger looked worried. "Eh, I wouldn't advise doing so, Princess."
"What, why?"
"Because the Futa in question...........is one Sam Applegate, aka the former owner of Creamy Dream Ranch, aka the place where Leopard was held in captivity after being taken away from you. Sure, she might have information, but yet at the same time, is it really worth meeting the last Futa who hurt the one that you loved?"
Carla thought about that. Throughout the course of the last half of WW6 until her coma, Carla had heard me talk about Sam time and again. I never talked about outright hating her, but yet I didn't always speak too well of her either. She'd been placed in a POW camp, but what happened to her afterwards remained a mystery. Now she'd apparently resurfaced there in the New Futa Empire, and Sam could be her only link to finding more information about me.
"I HAVE to try Sheryl. What's her address?"
"It's in Hutchinson. Here's the address." Sheryl handed Carla a slip of paper.
"I don't have time to follow up on this today, but hopefully I can tomorrow. Thank you Sheryl."
Sheryl bowed a bit. "You're welcome, my Princess." She then left Leo and Carla be.
Carla then began to make plans for her trip to Hutchinson as soon as possible.
A day or so later, Carla disembarked from a train at the town of Hutchinson. She saw a number of Futas, Herms, Caribou and Griffons milling about, and going about their daily lives. Then, after catching her bearings, Carla found the road that led out to the ranch.
About 30 minutes later, Carla found herself outside of an entrance arch. "Creamy Dream Ranch" was written on the white sign in green letters, and there was a picture of a milk bottle on the sign as well. She began to walk into the ranch, but was stopped by a Futa with blonde hair, blue eyes, a few scars on her face, and a bit of a scowl. She was also wearing a checkered shirt that left her stomach showing, jean shorts, high socks, and work boots. A cowboy hat was also on her head.
"Hold it. State your name, and your business!"
"I'm Princess Carla Boudica, and I'm here to talk to someone named Sam Applegate."
When the Futa realized who Carla was, her demeanor softened. "Oh, well, please forgive me Princess, I didn't know. We've been having a few problems with trespassers lately, and that's got me a bit frustrated. But anyway, my name is Rebecca Andrews, and I'm the Trail Boss here at Creamy Dream. And you said that you were here to see Sam?"
"Yes. I was told that she may have some more information regarding Captain Leopard."
"Captain Leopard. Now THAT'S a name I haven't heard in a LONG time! I remember him well. Out of the 6 male workers, he was ALWAYS Sam's favorite. Misty liked him too, but he was Sam's favorite lay! It was too bad when he decided to run away, and Sam never forgave him for it. Sure, he DID try to make it up to her when the US Forces took the original Creamy Dream Ranch, but she was still sore, and swore revenge. You'll have to ask her yourself though; it's not really any of my business."
"Oh. Well, can you tell me where she is?"
"Yes. She's up at the main barn, taking care of some of the horses. I'll take you there." Rebecca then led the way up to the main barn.
As they walked, Carla looked all around her. From what she could tell, the ranch that she was on right now seemed to be an almost EXACT copy of the original Creamy Dream Ranch. The only things missing were me, plus the other 5 male workers. There were a number of Futas and Femboys, as well as pastures with cows and horses in them, but no male workers.
Eventually, they reached the barn, and Rebecca led the way inside. The barn was quite large, and seemed to be divided into sections with stalls, a hay loft, another storage area for hay just below it, a feed room, a tack room, a shower area for the horses, and storage areas for tools. It was somewhat dimly lit, although some sunlight did filter in through windows, doors, and a few cracks in the roof and walls. Rebecca was leading Carla past the stalls to a far stall. Sounds of a horse within could he heard, as well as someone humming.
"Hey Sam?"
"Yeah Becca?"
"I've got someone here who wants to talk to you. She's here asking about......You Know Who."
The humming stopped. Then, from out of the dimly lit stall came a Futa that reminded Carla of an Amazon. She stood easily 6'4", and had MASSIVE muscles on her arms and legs. She had somewhat dark red hair that she kept in 2 braids, as well as piercing green eyes, and a number of freckles on her face as well. She also had a HUGE pair of tits, and was wearing a white and red checkered shirt that barely contained them, and left her entire midriff exposed, as well as jean shorts that left the lower part of her rump exposed, some sort of green leggings, and cowboy boots. Carla noted the large bulge in her shorts where her dick was, but then she looked a little bit closer at her, and she realized something strange.
She noticed that the figure also had 2 tan equine-like ears on top of her head, as well as a red equine-like tail! Her tail was somewhat cut short, but it did hang down past her rump.
The massive Amazon then looked at Rebecca. "You can leave now Becca. I can take it from here."
"Sure Sam." Rebecca then left the barn.
Sam then looked back at Carla. She seemed to be sizing her up, but then she finally spoke. "So, I guess that you finally decided to show up here, did ya Princess?" She asked in her usual Southern drawl.
Carla nodded. "Yes, yes I did. And you must be Sam."
"In the flesh. 'Course I didn't ALWAYS look like the 'Equine-Futa' that I am today. Sure, I had all the muscles, and a big dick already, but once I arrived here, everythin' changed. I got the ears, the tail, and my dick got even longer, a LOT thicker and veinier, the head became more like a horse's head, and my balls got bigger, and heavier too. No sheath though, but still, I got a 20in. monster in my pants now, whereas before I was only 12in!"
"ONLY 12in?!" Carla thought. "Damn! I'm only 10!"
Sam knew what Carla must have been thinking about. "Heh, us country gals know how to grow things BIG Darlin'! Course, not ALL of us became like what I am, only a handful did. Most of the rest became like cats, or foxes like yourself." She then wiped a bit of sweat off of her forehead. "And I heard it, but I never believed it."
"Believed what?"
"Leopard was always tryin' to tell me 'bout how much like you I looked, but I never believed it until now. I mean, similar height, possibly similar weight, red hair, (although mine is red while yours is ginger) same freckles, (though you probably have more than I do) and similar eyes, (although yours are a bit darker and softer, while mine are more piercing). My tits are larger, and I'm pretty sure that my dick is larger than yours; and I am a Futa while you're a Herm, so there's that too."
Carla sighed. She knew that some Futas were vain, and while her sister was still worse, she'd heard that some Country-Futas liked to brag too. "Yes, I can see that Leopard was right in his assessment, at least to some degree. However, I didn't come all this way from New Vegas to compare our looks, I came to talk to you about Leopard himself."
Sam sighed. "Ah yes, my response to the inquiry. I know that you probably have a lot of questions, and I do have the answers, so I hope that you can stick around a while to hear them."
Carla nodded. "Yeah, I have time to hear them. I HAVE to know more about Leopard, as well as his time with you."
"Ok then. Just grab a crate, sit down, and I'll tell ya everything."
Carla then grabbed a crate and sat down on it, and while Sam was still grooming the black horse that was in the stall behind her, she began to tell Carla what she knew.
"Leopard was SO MUCH different than any other males that I've come across. I mean sure, he didn't like me at first, and he did seem scared of me at times, but yet there was some love between us. Not sure how much of course, but there was some there."
"And how did you find him Miss Applegate?"
"Ugh, SAM if you don't mind! I HATE being called 'Miss Applegate'!"
"Oh, sorry if I offended you!"
"No need to apologize. But anyhow, Leopard was a chance encounter. Misty and I were browsing farm auctions in the Prairie Region, and on January 30th, 2026, or maybe January 31st, I can't remember anymore, we were at an auction in what the Americans called 'Nebraska'. We were browsing the cages, when all of a sudden, I stumbled across one that wasn't like the others. While the others were Femboys, that feller was quite clearly bigger, older and more mature. He was wearin' a black smock, and was glarin' daggers at us. I read the tags on his cage, and I saw that it said that he came from Las Vegas, but I didn't believe that. I thought that it was just an excuse to jack up his price at auction. Anyway, I thought that he might work out, so I had Misty go and find one of the wranglers, and she unlocked his cage, and let me inspect him. And he was certainly a VERY unique male let me tell ya!
I'd NEVER seen an 'Apex Wolf' as they tend to be called before, nor had I EVER seen a male as old as him be in as good of condition as he was. Sure, he was a little bit strange, and he had the scars from his previous battles, but I knew that he would do. I then paid the askin' price, and brought him home with us to Creamy Dream. I then introduced him to my other 5 male workers, and soon began to show him the ropes of carin' fer cows and horses."
"And, how well did that go?"
"That Winter, the Winter of 2026, was one of the best that we'd ever had. He took to caring for those horses like it was natural fer him. He said that someone named 'Carla' taught him how to care for horses and cows."
Carla smiled. "He was referring to me. I taught him how to care for my own 3 horses, Tyler, Cara and Cassidy, plus my cow, Paula."
Sam shot her an odd look. "Huh, I NEVER would have guessed that you had 3 horses and a cow Princess!"
"I still do. All 4 of them were brought with us to New Vegas, and they still live there today. Sure, Paula's getting older, as are Tyler and Cara, but their daughter Cassidy is still as young and frisky as she was back then when she was still a young(ish) filly!"
Sam chuckled a bit. "Well, it's nice to know that they're still doing well, Princess."
"And you can just call me Carla Sam. Pretty much everyone else does."
"Ok, Carla. And what else do you want to know?"
Carla wanted to ask about how Sam and the other ranch hands had treated us, ESPECIALLY considering the numerous reports that I'd given her about Sam's "loving rape", but she wanted to hold off on that for a little bit longer.
Instead, she asked, "So overall, what did you think of Leopard? Was he good to you?"
Sam sighed, and then let her mind wander a bit. She thought back to the happy times that we'd shared together.
Life on Creamy Dream wasn't all work and "loving rape", there were times for other pursuits as well. Sure, I didn't like Sam the best at first, but my opinion of her changed in late February, just prior to the incident with the Arkansas River.
On that night, February 17th, I was sleeping in the added-on room to the barn where the 6 of us male workers slept, when I suddenly felt myself getting shaken awake.
"Hey, Leopard! Wake up!"
"Huh? What?" I then sat up. I fully expected to see either Jeff, Don, or maybe Joe, but instead I found myself looking into the face of Rebecca, the ranch's Trail Boss. A quick glance at my alarm clock showed that the time was 2:11am, far too early to have to get up.
"What is it Rebecca?"
"Sam told me to come and get you. She didn't say why, but only to come and get you specifically, and to bring you to her."
I rolled my eyes. "Damn", I muttered as I got up, "Sam's got the sex drive of a Nympho!"
"What was that Leopard? You talkin' shit about Sam?"
I shook my head. "Not really, I was just stating a fact."
Rebecca narrowed her eyes at me, although I could see a few of the other guys silently watching me. They gave me quick thumbs up in approval at what I'd said about Sam.
"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that Leopard. But anyway, come on! Sam's waiting for you!" She then grabbed me as I was in the midst of pulling on my boots and a coat, and I was dragged out of the barn, and across the ranch to the main ranch house. The temperatures were in the low single-digits, there was snow on the ground, and I was wearing little more than a T-shirt and boxers!
"F@#K! It's cold as f@#k out here!"
"Well MAYBE if you'd spent more time getting dressed warmly instead of talking shit you'd be slightly warmer! Plus, it's pretty warm inside, and I would know, since I just came from there."
I knew that Sam lived in the main ranch house since she owned the ranch, and that she shared it with Rebecca, since she was the Trail Boss, and Misty since she was the ranch's manager. Sam lived upstairs, while Rebecca and Misty lived downstairs. The house itself was old, wooden, and was a mixture of Victorian and Southern architecture. It was painted a grayish blue with white trim, had a large wraparound porch, and even a balcony upstairs, plus a black shingled roof. Once we were inside, Rebecca led me upstairs to where Sam's room was.
Once we reached it, Rebecca knocked on the door. "Sam?"
"Yeah?" A sleepy voice asked from inside.
"I've brought him like you wanted."
"Send him in."
Rebecca then opened the door, nudged me inside, and then shut the door again. I then heard her walk away. I then looked around the room. Against the wall to my right was a fireplace with a fire burning in it. In front of the fireplace was a large bear rug, and a wooden rocking chair was next to the fireplace as well. Towards the back of the room I saw a desk, 2 windows, a few shelves for books, a few pictures on the walls, a door that I assumed led out to the balcony, and of course, a large bed. The bed was facing the fireplace, no doubt so that some heat from it could reach whoever was sleeping in the bed. I then saw the covers on the bed move, and I realized that Sam was lying in her bed. The only light in the room was coming from the fireplace, but I could tell that she'd rolled over to face me. Due to the covers, as well as the dim lighting, I couldn't make out too much about her, but I could tell that she was looking at me.
"Leopard?"
"Yeah Sam?"
"Come over here."
I did so, and I saw her pull up the covers on the side of the bed closest to me, and then motion for me to first strip, and then crawl into bed with her. I sighed, and then did as Sam asked. However, once I was in bed with her, Sam merely pulled me close to her also nude body, and we snuggled for warmth.
"I'll bet that you're wondering why you're here, right Sugar?"
"For sex?"
"Good guess, but wrong." She then looked at me with her green eyes, and pushed a bit of her red hair out of her face. "Do you want the full truth? Because if you do, this conversation NEVER leaves this room!"
I was a bit surprised, but I nodded. "Yeah, I got it Sam."
She then sighed. "The truth is Leopard...........I like having you around. You seem like a nice guy, and sure, you ARE only 22 and I'm almost 30, but I can see it working for us. You see............well..........Ok, here's the deal. The honest truth is........I'm actually pretty lonely. Sure, I have my friends and fellow ranch hands, but yet, I want something more. I want you to be my 'Special Someone' Leopard. Sure, we don't have to get married right away, but I want us to be together."
I was stunned. Up until that moment, I'd always seen Sam as a Futa who cared only for herself, but now I was seeing a whole different side of her. Maybe she wasn't as bad as she seemed.
"And I may look like a hulking Amazon, and to most people I am, but the truth is I'm actually quite the teddy bear. I WANT to be a trophy for someone to show off; someone to be DESIRED! I want someone to say that I belong to them, and to them alone!" She looked at me again. "Would........would you be willing to do that for me Sugar? Would YOU be willing to be my 'Special Someone'? You would be well taken care of if you did. Sure, you'd still work on the ranch, but yet you'd get to stay here in my bedroom with me, and have me to love and cherish, and even have the most MIND-BLOWING sex you can imagine! I'd be all yours Leopard, just as you'd be all mine. And I MIGHT be willing to share you with Misty, provided of course that both of you behave yourselves!"
I looked at Sam's face, trying to find ANY signs that she was joking, but shockingly, I didn't see any. One of Sam's traits was Southern honesty, and that seemed to be manifesting right then. I was still shocked, but I decided to take Sam up on her offer. Yes, I KNEW that Demetria and Carla would be upset if they knew, but yet I also knew that they would understand why I did it. It was a dangerous world for a male, and you did whatever you had to do to survive. Sure, maybe I didn't quite like Sam as much as she seemed to like me, but I was willing to give it a try.
I then snuggled close to her, and wrapped my arms and tail around her. "If that's what you want Sam, then yes, I'll be your 'Special Someone'."
Sam then wrapped her arms around me, and placed her soft lips onto mine for a tender kiss. "Mmm, thanks Sugar. I KNOW that we're gonna be REALLY happy together!"
We both then fell asleep snuggled into each other's warm embrace.
My relationship with Sam proved to be quite interesting. Yes, the "loving-rape" still happened, but now it was more predictable. Occasionally, Sam did want another besides me, and the other 5 did see me as a sellout, however that quickly changed when they realized that I could lure Sam away to have sex with me, thus enabling them to smuggle supplies to the bunker.
While I was recovering following my near-death experience in the Arkansas River, Sam continued to dote over me like a mother hen over a single chick. And she TRIED to enjoy it when she saw me with Misty, but in reality, she was EXTREMELY jealous! The time that she saw us f@#king in that bathtub sent her into a bit of a jealous rage, and she tried to separate us, but the crowd kept her from doing so. She did ravage me in bed later to make up for it, and she told me that she didn't like me being with Misty.
However, one really fun time with Sam does come to mind. On July 4th, 2026, Sam told me that she had a surprise for me upstairs in the ranch house. I came upstairs, and I saw that a note on her door said to come in, but shut and lock the door behind me. I did so, but I saw that Sam's room was empty.
"Um, Sammy? Where are you?"
"I'm out on the balcony Leo!" (Sam sometimes called me "Leo" for short. It was her pet-name for me, just like "Sammy" was my pet-name for her.)
I then noticed that the door to the balcony was slightly ajar. I walked across the room, and when I reached the door, I pushed it the rest of the way open. When I did, I was MORE than a little bit shocked at what I saw.
Due to recent spikes in ranch profits, Sam had ordered a hot tub for her private balcony. It was up there, alongside a table and chairs. The balcony was covered by a wall instead of a railing, so as to make it a bit more private. From up there, one could look out over the ranch, and even see part of the Arkansas River way off in the distance. At the time, the sun was setting off to the west, and the air was warm. I then saw that the hot tub's jets were on, and that Sam herself was sitting in the hot tub facing me.
I could tell that she was nude, and that the bubbles in the hot tub were the only things protecting her modesty. Her red hair was loose from its usual braids, and just hung naturally down around her shoulders and back, with the ends being in the hot tub. Next to the hot tub, I also saw that the small table had a plate of cheese, crackers, and club meats on it, as well as a wine bottle, and 2 glasses of white fruit wine.
Sam then smirked at me. "Well, are you gonna stand there all night staring at me Leo? Or are you gonna get that sexy bod of yours out of those clothes, and into this hot tub with your FAVORITE gal-pal?"
I smirked as I rolled my eyes a bit. "Oh Sammy, you REALLY have a way with words!" I then stripped, hung my clothes over a nearby chair, and joined Sam in the hot tub. I scooted close to her, and she leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Wow, this is really nice Sammy."
"Yeah, I know Leo. I got this hot tub just for us, and I knew that tonight would be the PERFECT date night for us too! Now we can sit up here, have some food and wine, watch the fireworks together, and then have some wild sex!"
I still found it odd that the Futas celebrated the Fourth of July, ESPECIALLY since it was an AMERICAN holiday, and they disliked (i.e. absolutely DESPISED!!!) America. However, they also wanted an excuse to have a day to party, barbecue, and shoot off fireworks, so they still celebrated the Fourth of July, but they twisted it a bit to celebrate the day that Queen Boudica consolidated her power of the Futa Kingdoms, and created the Futa Empire. (Even though that took place sometime in November, but nobody talks about that!)
"Yeah, that does sound nice Sammy." And we ended up doing just that.
The fireworks were pretty cool, and the folks at Creamy Dream Ranch ALWAYS splurged on fireworks! Thousands of dollars would be spent on them, and while I did leave Sam for a bit to join Jeff, Don, Frank, Joe and Russ in doing some fireworks, I did come back to her later. And we were being EXTREMELY stupid with the fireworks too. We had fights with bottle rockets and Roman candles, and it was a MIRACLE that no one lost a hand, or an eye! We turned the ranch into a war-zone, firing whatever we had at ANYTHING that moved! This was a rare opportunity for us males to just be males, so we took FULL advantage of the opportunity! Then, while some stayed on to turn the sky into a birthday cake, I returned to Sam.
We both ate the cheese, crackers, and club meats, and we even fed a number of bites to each other too. We also drank the wine as we watched the fireworks, and we were also getting a little bit frisky with each other as well. Sam was sitting on my lap, and my erection was poking her in the back. I was fondling her massive udders, while also reaching around to give her a hand-job. Sam had leaned her head back on my shoulder, and was moaning in bliss.
"You like Sammy?"
She turned her head a bit, and locked her lips with mine. "I dunno, you tell me!" We were both getting a little bit tipsy, but neither of us was aware of it.
Eventually though, Sam was horny enough for sex. However, I was expecting her to mount me, but not this time though. This time, Sam stood up in the hot tub, and leaned over the back of it. She then looked back at me. "Leo, tonight, I want you to do to me what you did to Misty a few weeks ago in that bathtub. She looked so happy when you f@#ked her, and I want to experience what she felt. Sure, you'll be popping my anal cherry, but that can be our li'l secret, 'kay?"
It was then that I realized that Sam had never been butt-f@#ked before. I knew that she played with dildos, but that was it. And she was a Futa, so she lacked a pussy, meaning that the only way to have sex with her was anally.
"Are you sure that you want this Sammy? I mean, my dick is NOT normal, and it looks like a wolf's red rocket, complete with the sheath, furry balls, and of course, my knot!"
"Leo, if I DIDN'T want this, why the heck would I have gotten that one dildo from Bad Dragon that looks like a wolf's cock?! I was PREPARIN' myself for this!"
I then nodded, and after using the lube that Sam provided, I lubed myself up good, before coming up behind her, grabbing her hips, and then once I was ready, pushing into her. Sam's anal cherry popped easily enough, and unlike a female's cherry, there was no bleeding. I then pulled out, and thrusted back in again. Soon, I was working Sam over at a good steady pace.
She had a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming in bliss, although she did moan a lot, though her moans, and the sounds of us having sex, were drowned out by the fireworks. And I'd done anal before, but I NEVER thought that I'd EVER be having sex with a Futa like Sam. She REALLY knew how to be a good bottom, and she let me take the lead. We continued to f@#k for a good while, while I was also jerking her off from the front. However, for the finale, I stopped f@#king her, and after we'd both climbed out of the hot tub, she laid down a towel, I washed off my dick with the hose that was used to add water to the hot tub, and Sam lay on her back on the towel, I lay on top of her, and we both 69'ed. I thrusted down into her mouth, while she thrusted up into mine. Sam also slipped a dildo into my ass to as to stimulate my prostrate, and hopefully make me blow a bigger load. I did the same for her, and we were both REALLY hoping to climax at the same time.
Eventually, I felt myself getting close, and I knew that Sam was close too. We both grunted a warning to the other, and then we both blew our loads into each other's mouths. We both then swallowed, before I flipped back around, and lay next to Sam on the towel. I then pulled her close to me, and held her gently. Neither of us said anything, but yet we didn't have to. The smile on her face told me all that I needed to know. Sam loved me, and I was ok with that. I loved her back, and I hoped that we would be together for a while longer.
Sam sighed. "That's why I was so, SO ANGRY with him when he just up and left me! After all we'd been through together, and THAT was how he repaid me?!"
Carla was a bit surprised. She'd never heard those stories from me before, so could that mean that I'd just neglected to tell them, or had I really liked Sam more than I'd let on?
"He left you Sam, but ONLY because he HAD TO! The Second Cold War was drawing to a close, and the Futas were preparing to finish WW6. He and the others, plus their allies, left for the US to help in the war effort, but yet he DID have a plan for you still! He planned to come back and make SURE that you were kept alive!"
"Well then WHY did he have to come up and say goodbye to me? That made it even WORSE!"
"Wait, what?"
Sam wiped what looked like a few tears from her eyes. "It was extremely early in the morning that August 16th, but I suddenly felt the bed next to me shift. I looked over, and I saw him get up. I asked him what he was doing, and he said that he had to use the bathroom. I then went back to sleep. He then went to say goodbye to Misty, and then he came back upstairs to say goodbye to me.
I suddenly felt him shaking me gently. 'Sammy?' I heard him softly ask me.
'Ugh, what Leo? It's just past 4am!'
'I've.......I've come to say goodbye Sam. My nation needs me, and I HAVE to answer the call. The US MUST survive!'
I was still pretty out of it, so I just rolled with what he was telling me. 'That's nice. Goodbye Leo.'
I then felt him gently grab me, before kissing me on the mouth. 'This isn't goodbye forever Sammy, it's just goodbye for now. We're escaping for the US onboard the train that we've been hiding in that bunker, plus all of the guns and weapons that we've stored with it, and our Wild West engine too. I just wanted to let you know now, so that you don't freak out later. You still mean the world to me Sam, and I'm NOT doing this to hurt you, or Misty. America is in danger, and I HAVE to help save it. I'll be back when I can. Goodbye for now.' He then kissed me one last time.
I still didn't fully understand what he was saying at the time, but I kissed him back anyway. 'Goodbye for now Leo. And good luck with your escape.'
'Thanks Sam, we'll need it!' Then he was gone.
I lay back down again, but then it all clicked. I sat bolt upright in bed. 'ESCAPING?!?!?!?! WITH WEAPONS?!?!?! NOBODY escapes from the ranch with weapons on my watch!!!!!!' I then heard the sounds of a train in motion. I looked out of my window, and I saw the train that would one day become the Battleship Express pull away down the train tack that was on the ranch, and head for the main line that ran past the ranch.
'Oh no y'all don't!' I then sounded the alarm, and after grabbing my clothes and my shotgun, I ran down to the railroad tracks. I did take a few pot-shots at the train, but I was too late. 'THIS ISN'T OVER LEOPARD!!!!' I screamed in my frustrated rage, 'IT'LL NEVER BE OVER UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!!!!!!! I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN!!!!'
It was a mixture of frustration, rage, anger and even a bit of fear. Up until that point, I'd NEVER had any males successfully escape. Now a large group of them just had, and barring my anger over Leopard just up and leaving me, I was scared too. The MREA didn't take too kindly to males rebelling, and if they EVER found out that I knew about the bunker that those males used, AND knew that what they were doing was illegal, but didn't report it, ALL of us on the ranch would be heading to prison! I reported the escape attempt, and I did round up a posse to track them down, knowing full well that they were gone. Thank the Goddess that the MREA never caught on to us knowing about what the males were REALLY doing, and I also knew that deep down, I would be meeting Leopard again. And meet again we would.
Sure enough, just like he promised, he did come back, but I and the others were arrested, charged with rape, sexual assault and enslavement, and sent to that POW camp. After ALL we did for them, and THAT'S how we were treated!"
Carla shook her head. "'Loving rape' is still rape Sam."
Sam turned to her annoyed. "You think I don't KNOW that?! We Futas can get EXTREMELY sexually frustrated sometimes! We NEED our sex, but finding a willing partner can be EXTREMELY challenging! Eventually, we kinda got into the mindset that 'loving-rape' was the only way to relieve our sexual frustrations. Sure, I tried to break the habit, but it was hard. Leopard never truly hated me though. Sure, he was understandably upset, but at the same time, he kept pleading for my life, as well as the lives of the others, to be spared. In the end, we all survived, but while a few like Misty were kept under house arrest at the Ranch to keep it running, others like Rebecca and I were placed in a nearby POW camp.
Time and again I kept telling Leopard how angry I was with him for leaving me, and he INSISTED that he hadn't meant to hurt me, and that he was only doing what was best for America. I kept telling him that I had a secret to show him if he let me free, but he never did. Now that I think about it, I doubt that he had the authority to do so, but at the moment, I didn't realize that. The last thing that I said to him though is something that I still mean today.
Just before he left with the Battleship Express, the last thing that I ever said to him was 'This STILL isn't over Leopard! One day, I WILL make you pay for running away from Creamy Dream! NOBODY runs away from Creamy Dream Ranch and gets away with it!' I then began to make plans for what I was going to do if I ever did find him again, not knowing that that was the last time that I was ever going to see him."
"And, 2 more questions; what did you mean by that, and did you really have a secret to share, or was that just a ruse?"
"What I meant by that was that I would maybe play a little bit rough with him the next chance I got, but only rough enough to get my point across. And yes, I really DID have something to show him, and that something is still kept on the ranch even to this day. I brought it with us when we fled."
Carla perked up a bit. "And how did you guys do that exactly? Neither the official records, nor the history books say."
Sam laughed a bit. "The answer is actually pretty anti-climactic. Eventually, after the war ended in the US, it was decided that we'd served out our sentences, and we were released to rebuild our lives under supervision. I simply returned to the ranch, as did the others. One night though, we heard about the Futas who were offering us a second chance, and we decided to take them up on that offer. In just 3 days, the ENTIRE ranch was disassembled, packed up, and loaded onto a train. All buildings, machinery, vehicles furniture, and livestock, plus EVERYTHING else was taken with us. We literally left behind only building foundations, and footprints! The train then left the area, we reached a port somewhere on the US West Coast, boarded a ship with other Futas, Herms, vehicles, machines, and animals, and departed for where the portal was located.
Long story short, we took everything through, found Hutchinson, I secured a tract of land, and then we rebuilt the ENTIRE ranch from the ground up! It ain't a replica Carla, EVERYTHING that you see today is the same ranch that it was then, from the buildings, to the animals, to the vehicles, machines, and even the fences; ALL THE SAME! Heck, even the crate that you're sittin' on right now is the same one that Leopard used to use to sit on when he milk cows!"
Carla was stunned. Not only had she finally heard the answer to a historical mystery, but she also got a chance to see Creamy Dream Ranch the way I saw it. NOTHING had changed save location, and the lack of male workers.
"Wow, and this is all so amazing Sam, but yet, the biggest question is, what happened to Leopard?"
Sam sighed. "I'm pretty sure that he died in Vegas Carla. We rolled past it on our way west, and it was an irradiated wasteland."
"But yet WE wound up here on Equus, and the reports from Earth STILL say that the Battleship Express went missing after the Battle of Vegas with no traces of it ever being found. If WE could wind up here, then is it possible that they made it here too?"
Sam shrugged. "It's possible Carla. I mean, I certainly would like to think so, but yet, it's been 5 years since the Battle of Vegas, and still no traces of them have ever been found. I mean, I'm not SAYING that they're not out there, but I AM saying that we'll most likely never know."
"That's.......that's what I'm afraid of Sam."
"And while I maybe hated him for leaving me, and I still do, he didn't deserve to die like that. He deserved better. In the meantime though, want to see secret we've been hiding here on the ranch? It's here in the barn."
Carla nodded. "Sure. I have a little bit more time before I have to go back to New Vegas."
She then got up from her crate, and after Sam finished grooming the horse, she closed up the stall, and led the way through the barn.
A minute or so later, they arrived at the back of the barn. When Carla saw what had been hidden there, her mouth widened in shock. There, sitting on a piece of railroad track, was an actual steam locomotive! It was a 4-6-4 engine with a yellow front and boiler, and silver streamlining. The engine's tender was also silver, and the words, "Chesapeake and Ohio" were visible in black letters. The engine and tender were rather dusty and dirty, and a few parts were missing, not to mention some rust, and other grime, but the engine seemed to be in pretty good condition, and it was still easily recognizable.
"Wow, what engine is this Sam?"
"This, is C&O 490. She's the last streamlined Hudson-type engine in the world, and dates back to the 1940's and early 50's. She was a barn find in Pennsylvania sometime during WW5, and she was bounced around a lot. Eventually, she made her way West, and wound up at Creamy Dream Ranch in 2028. We held onto the engine, and I wanted to tell Leopard about it when he came back, but I was too pissed to do so. We brought it with us when we left, and here it's been ever since. We've tried to clean it up, but we know so little about it to really do much with it besides clean it, and keep rust at bay."
Carla the noticed another Futa cleaning up the engine. She had brown hair, a white shirt, jean shorts, and workboots, but no gloves or hat. When she turned around, Carla also saw that she had 2 brown equine ears on top of her head, as well as a brown equine tail with a bow in it. She appeared to be another Equine-Futa, but when she looked into her eyes, Carla saw that one of them was brown, while the other was blue. She then realized that she must be Misty!
"Are.......Are you Misty?"
She nodded. "Yep! In the flesh Princess Carla!" She chirped in her slightly Southern accent. "No doubt by now you've heard about me from Leopard. But if not, then it was the eyes, wasn't it?"
Carla nodded. "Both. Leopard told me all about you, but I recognize you by your eyes."
Misty's smile faded. "Leopard.........May his soul rest in peace. He did NOT deserve to die in Vegas!"
Carla then quickly tried to change the subject. "Yes, but I take it that you're one of the ones who takes care of this engine?"
She nodded. "Yes. We all take care of it to some degree, and today was my day to clean it up. It's an American treasure, and we don't want it to fall apart on us! And now that I look at you Princess, I can truly see that you are indeed just as beautiful as Leopard told us that you were!"
Carla blushed a bit. "Eh, thanks Misty. Oh, and you can just call me Carla."
They all talked for a little bit longer, but eventually it was time for Carla to head back.
"Well, it was nice to finally get to meet you Misty and Sam, but the time has come for me to head back to New Vegas."
Sam shook her head. "The pleasure was all ours Carla. And feel free to come back anytime. I'd love to talk to ya a little bit more!"
"I'll try to Sam. And to get to hear from you more stories about Leopard really made it worth the trip coming out here."
"Just as it was nice to have someone to tell them to who would actually appreciate them."
"Well, you're welcome for that. And thanks again for everything!"
"Bye Carla!"
"Yep, and y'all come back now, ya hear?" Sam finished.
"I'll try to! Bye now!" She then left the ranch.
Sam turned to Misty. "Well, that certainly was interesting. I knew that she'd come knocking one day, and I was scared about her being angry with me. Sure, she was upset, but she didn't get violent about it."
Misty nodded. "Yeah. It was nice to finally meet the Herm that Leopard talked so much about. And Sam, since she brought it up, there's something that I have to know. Did you REALLY care about Leopard, or were you just using him?"
Sam sighed. "Well, yes, maybe I did abuse him at times, and I did exploit the free labor, not to mention the 'loving-rape' but yet at the end of the day, yes, I really DID love and care about him. He was eager to please, and he actually showed me love back. And yes, it actually DID make me pretty jealous to see you with him, just as I was out of my mind angry when he ran away!"
Misty froze. "Wait. YOU were jealous of ME being with him?!"
Sam narrowed her eyes. "Yes! And if you EVER tell anyone else that, you WILL be sorry!" She then began to walk inside of the barn.
"Eh, don't worry Sam. Honesty is a byword for us Southern folk, so your secret is safe!"
"Misty, yer from Kentucky, don't push it! I came from the ACTUAL South!"
"Hey! Uncalled for!" The two of them continued to argue about this for a while longer.
Later on that same night in New Vegas, Demetria called together a meeting of all of her subordinates, as well as the leaders of the Caribou, Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras and Dragons. They met in the large meeting room in the Palace Luxor, and it was a pretty full house.
Demetria and Carla were there, as were Minerva, Guinevere "Ginny" Ryder, (Demetria's private train driver) King Danin, Commander Dothan, and a handful other Futa military leaders were there. Stacy walked into the room with Face, and she was followed by 2 more Futas with blonde hair and blue eyes. One was older than the other, and was the mother of the younger. The mother was General Amanda Preston, General of the Futa Air Forces, and her daughter was Colonel Diana Preston, also of the Futa Air Force. Diana was believed to have been shot down during WW6 in Nebraska in 2027, while her mother Amanda was believed to have died in a plane crash a year or so later in Salt Lake City. Both survived, although they had to be stitched back together. They ALSO wanted revenge on the Americans for their untimely demises.
Also present was Stacy's former secretary, Rey. She looked tired and worn out, but she still made it to the meeting. (Stacy had seemingly replaced Rey with Face full-time ever since arriving in New Vegas, but yet no one was quite sure why, nor what Rey had been up to for the past 5 years).
Demetria looked over the crowded table. "Is this it? Is this everyone?"
"I think so Dem. If not, then they're just shit outta luck!"
At that moment though, the door suddenly burst open, and a robed figure walked in. She had her hood pulled up over her head, and she walked to her spot at the table. She then pulled back her hood, revealing her hair that had been dyed dark auburn-red long ago, as well as an auburn pair of cat ears, a number of scars on her face, and one blue eye, and one green eye. She then removed her robe, revealing a faded military uniform of red and black, as well as a cat's tail. She was pretty banged up, and all of those close to her, (all except Stacy) moved away.
Demetria glared at her. "So, I guess that we meet again.........General Jasmine House! I see that you survived your incarceration."
Jasmine glared back at Demetria. "You KNOW that I survived Empress, you're just mad that I'm late! It's gonna take a LOT more than just a little POW camp to get rid of me! I mean sure, the Americans THOUGHT that I died, and in reality I almost did, but alas for them, I did not!"
"And how, pray tell, DID you survive Jasmine?"
Jasmine smirked. "After my capture in St. Louis at the beginning of the war, I was held prisoner on the Battleship Express, and used as a living sex-doll. Eventually, I was thrown into a POW camp to rot, and I contracted some disease. They thought that I was dead, and they tossed me into a mass grave, but I escaped. I was found by retreating Futas, and they eventually brought me to Vegas to recover. I then fled with the rest of you when you did, and now I'm here. And I'm DYING to get revenge on the Americans, ESPECIALLY those on the Battleship Express! You KNOW that they're still out there somewhere!"
Stacy tugged on her arm, and pulled her into the seat next to her. "Babe, we've talked about this. They fried in Vegas. Please sit down!"
Jasmine did sit down. "Ugh, fine Stacy! I'll do it, but ONLY because I love you so much!" Jasmine then kissed her wife of almost 4 years. They married as soon as Jasmine had finished recovering, but they'd been girlfriends since they'd met way back when they were teenagers. They both became Futa Generals together, and now they were married. Stacy still "loved" Face though, and kept her "pet-husband" around to care for her and Jasmine.
Demetria rolled her eyes. "So disgusting!" She muttered. She'd NEVER approved of Stacy's relationship with Jasmine, and neither had anyone else. She could tell that the Caribou agreed with her, and once she was ready, she finally began.
"My fellow Futas and Herms, plus King Danin, Commander Dothan, and all other Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras and Dragons, I have gathered you here tonight for this meeting, as tonight marks a VERY important milestone for us. What milestone you ask? Well, the New Futa Empire is now practically complete, and we did it all in only about 5 years, when my initial estimates put it close to 8-10 years! We ALL built a fully self-sustained empire in less than 10 years, and an Empire that is home to over a million beings! The Kingdom Alliance between us has made all of this possible, and I think that this is a cause for celebration!"
When Demetria announced that the construction on the empire was all but complete, all those in the room cheered. Also, as soon as the announcement had been made, a number of servants walked into the room carrying trays of desert items, fine wine, meat and cheese, and of course a large cake and bottles of champagne. They quickly set all of the food and beverages on the table, and while still cheering, those at the table also began to eat and drink.
However, while some were cheering for their own success, and others were cheering that they finally had an empire up and running again, others were cheering because they now believed that Demetria would make good on her earlier promise, and prepare for war against the Nation of Equestria. Some were also hoping for aide in taking back the Caribou Lands, plus taking over the ruins of the Zebra Empire, and other kingdoms as well.
"HOWEVER!!!" Demetria suddenly broke in "I know that SOME of you are no doubt about to ask me if I'm going to make good on my earlier promises of going to war. Let me put those questions to rest. After thinking it over for these past 5 years, I've come to the conclusion that war is NOT what I want for us, and I'm instead going to be going with my original plan, and one day reach out to the Equestrians, as well as the Humans living among them, and offer them an Olive Branch of Peace. I want an ALLIANCE, NOT a war!"
When Demetria said that, there came a LOT of booing from the Caribou, Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras and Dragons, as well as from Stacy, Jasmine, Rey, and the 2 Prestons, among others.
"We had a DEAL Empress Demetria!" Danin yelled over the noise. "You said that once you had your kingdom fully up and running, THEN we would declare war on Equestria!"
"I NEVER said that, King Danin! What I said was that I would CONSIDER it! And now that I have, I see that was is NOT what's best for my people, or yours, so I vote that we do not engage the Equestrians!"
Unfortunately, Demetria's decisions tore large battle lines in that room. On the one hand, Demetria was opposed to war, and her followers, including Carla, Minerva, and Ginny and others backed her decision. On the other hand though, you had the Caribou, Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras and Dragons, plus Futas like Stacy, Jasmine, Rey, and Diana and Amanda Preston who wanted war. Some wanted to avenge their defeat in the Imperial War, while others wanted revenge for their loss in WW6. Demetria could see that the situation was spiraling out of control, so she did the only thing that she could do to help maintain the peace.
"Meeting adjourned until further notice. I see now that we will once again have to discuss the possibility of going to war, however we must save that for another time. It WILL happen, but I think that we all need to be better prepared for it when it does."
Everyone present then began to leave the meeting room, and go their separate ways.
"I KNEW that my Mom wouldn't live up to her end of the deal!" Stacy angrily muttered. "She's a f@#king pussy!"
"Eh, maybe she is Stacy." Face said as they walked, "However, she has a lot on her plate with running the Empire. Maybe she's just not ready for war yet."
"Oh, but if I were Empress, THEN things would be different!"
Face smirked at her. "And you WILL be Stacy, Sombra will make SURE of it!"
Stacy thought back to the day that she met Sombra. Face came down to see her in her cell, and he told her that he'd met a being who promised both of them endless power if they were to help him kill the one who had forced him to become a spirit. Stacy asked him what he meant, and in response, a shadowy form with red eyes appeared behind Face. The entity identified itself as "King Sombra", a long-dead warrior-king from long ago. He told them that a Human named Captain Leopard had betrayed him, stolen his powers, and then banished him to being a spirit. He PLEADED with them for help in destroying the Human responsible for his demise, and in return, he promised to help them secure the throne of the Futa Empire.
Stacy was skeptical at first, but once she was FINALLY released from her cell, Sombra began to prepare her for being Empress one day. He also helped her, Face, and the rest of her followers prepare for the inevitable day that they would overthrow Demetria, and Stacy would become Empress in her place. They'd already begun to prepare their military for war, even though no war seemed imminent. They kept preparing, but yet Stacy knew that they would need allies.
Back in the present, as she was walking with Face, the shadowy form of King Sombra appeared beside them. "Stacy, Face."
"Oh, Sombra. Nice to see you."
"Just as it's nice to see you too. I've come to talk to you. You just came from that meeting, correct?"
Stacy glared. "Yes, and the results were NOT what we wanted!"
"Oh? And what happened?"
"My Mom decided NOT to go to war, and to try and make peace with the rest of Equus!"
Sombra sighed. "Well, that was to be expected. Remember, your mom IS a bit of a pacifist! On the other hand though, this also proves that she may no longer be fit to rule. Remember, she IS almost 50 years old now. She may one day soon have to step down."
"And then I take her place following the coup! If ONLY the coup had succeeded before! I mean, we caused trouble, AND we got rid of Leopard, but in the end that ONLY made the situation worse!"
Sombra thought back to the attempted coup on January 11th, 2026. He'd secretly been backing Stacy's forces behind the scenes, and he made sure that Stacy was never discovered to be the mastermind behind it. He also smiled to himself about how EASY it was to manipulate Stacy and Face, even easier than it had been to manipulate me. All he had to do was fill her head with ideas of ruling, and since Face was too stupid to think for himself, he would just go along with it. Every day Sombra grew stronger. He'd already been able to return to the physical world for some time, but only Face knew about this. In front of Stacy, he still wanted to appear as a spirit, while to Face, he'd appear as a lover, just like he'd done for me, and use Face's love to make himself stronger.
And Stacy was right, she DID make the situation worse by having me be captured, and then sold. I went from Creamy Dream Ranch, to back to the US, to the Railway Warfare Division, to the Battleship Express, and then to Equestria. Unforeseen, but yes, EXTREMELY damaging! I still had his horn, plus all of his powers, not to mention his armor, and he had nothing.
"Yes, that was an unfortunate incident Stacy, but yet, it's one that can still be made to work. The number of Futas who hate your mother is growing, but yet we need MORE allies than this!"
Stacy smirked. "Yes, and we owe that to Jasmine, as well as Diana and Amanda Preston. They've begun to turn the hearts and minds of the Futas away from Demetria, and towards me. But yet, how do we get more allies Sombra?"
"Isn't it obvious my Dear? The Caribou, Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras and Dragons! All you have to do is convince King Danin and Commander Dothan, and then the rest will follow the Caribou's lead. And Danin I KNOW will be easy to persuade, as he HATES being Demetria's assistant, and he wants war with Equestria again, AND to take back the Caribou Lands!"
"Yes, I'll do that Sombra. Oh, and I've been meaning to ask you. What about Carla's son Leo?"
Danin thought about that. "Well, I've been watching him, and he has great potential. As the son of Leopard, he has most of what his father had, and if he could be turned to our side, then he could be VERY useful! For now, I say that we watch him, and VERY subtly begin to turn him towards our cause."
"And when do you want me to go and talk to Danin?"
"Now, my Dear. It's best to do it now while he's still angry at Demetria."
"Right. I'll go do it."
Sombra nodded. "Thank you. It's been a long 5 going on 6 years now since our downfalls Stacy, but just give it a few more years, and then we'll FINALLY get our revenge! You on the Futas, me on Leopard, and our Allies on the Humans and Equestrians!"
Stacy kept hearing Sombra say "Leopard", but he told her that it was a different Human by the same name. He did NOT want her to find out the truth, because if she did, she would act on it, thus exposing the Futas, and bringing the Hammer of Warfare down on them before they could strike first! By convincing her that it was a different Human however, everything continued as it should.
Sombra then watched Stacy and Face head off to find King Danin. "Oh you naive little fools! How long do you REALLY think I'm gonna let you stay in power? I'll tell you, just long enough for all of Equus to fall, and me to get my FULL powers back, and THEN I'll yank the rugs out from under you! Then it'll be MY turn to rule, and once Equus is mine, then I turn my attentions back to Earth. It's been a LONG I can't even remember how long, but after I helped bring about WW3, WW4, WW5, and WW6, Humanity is still teetering on the brink of collapse. They should be easy enough to conquer, and then I'll be the master of 2 worlds! My rule will last forever, and there won't be ANYTHING that anyone can do to stop it!" He then began to laugh a bit.
"Soon Leopard, very, very soon! You will be my personal sex-slave, just like I ALWAYS told you that you would be! No one will EVER be able to stop me!" He then began to laugh manically, all while continuing to plan his master takeover.
Meanwhile, Danin was sitting in his office with Dothan. Both of them were still pretty upset at the recent chain of events.
"I still CANNOT believe this Dothan! For 5 YEARS now we've helped that bitch build her empire, and THIS is how she repays us?! 5 F@#KING YEARS of being her secretary, and she goes back on her word!"
"Just as I'VE been an overseer for 5 years, working my ass off to help build those cities, just like the rest of the Caribou, Griffons, Minotaurs, Dragons and even the handful of Zebras who managed to escape the Humans as well. The Futas treat us like SLAVES, and when they're not forcing us to work, they're trying to butt-f@#k us!"
Before Danin could reply to that though, there suddenly came a knock on the office door.
"Who is it?"
"It's General Stacy King Danin. I need to talk to you."
"Fine, come in."
Stacy did so, followed by Face, and then she shut the door behind her. "King Danin, Commander Dothan."
"General, Face."
"I've come to talk to you about something of GREAT importance to both of us. For starters, how badly do you want to avenge your defeat in the Imperial War?"
Danin looked up at her. "Just as badly, if not WORSE, than you want to avenge your defeat in WW6! I thought that helping Demetria was the key to that, but now I see how wrong I was!"
"But, what if I told you that there WAS a way to do that, but that it didn't lie with Demetria?"
"Then I'd ask you to prove it."
Stacy smirked to herself. She could be a master manipulator when she wanted to be, and now it was time to put her skills to the test once again.
"Well, the truth is King Danin, my mom's starting to get up there in her years. I mean, she IS almost 50 years old now, and I think that she's going soft. Her time among males like Leopard has mellowed her, as has her age. I believe that her time as Empress is coming to an end, and that her replacement could mean the difference between war and peace."
"And what does that mean? I mean, it SOUNDS tempting, but there's got to be more to it than that!"
"Oh, there is! I feel that the time is growing near to overthrow my mother, and then I would become Empress in her place. And I have those who support my empressship, but yet, I STILL need more allies. As such, I've turned to you, King Danin. As the leader of the Caribou, as well as the rest of the Griffons, Minotaurs, Dragons and even the few remaining Zebras that I recently found out still existed, YOU hold quite a lot of influence over them. One decision from you could be enough to turn the tide here."
"And what's your plan here Stacy? What's the endgame?"
"Well, that's the thing. If you do indeed ally with us, then we build up our forces, and wait for such a time as to overthrow my mother. Then, when the time is right, we strike, take the throne, CAPTURE, not kill, my mother and those who support her, throw them in prison to mock and gloat over later, and then I get crowned Empress, we then gather our forces together, come up with a final plan of attack, and then execute it. Together, we take over whatever nations that we want swiftly, EXTERMINATE the Humans, and then you can rule over the old Caribou and Zebra lands, while I rule the rest. And then, if we feel like it, we could even stand a chance at one day invading Earth! Sure, we might be a LONG TIME away from that, but in the meantime, just think of the possibilities. Overlord Zakia isn't here to hold you back anymore. You could FINALLY take back what RIGHTFULLY belongs to you and the Caribou, and one day, the flags of the Futas and the Caribou could be flying from ALL nations of Equus, from Equestria, to the Griffon Kingdom, to the Minotaur Kingdom, to the Dragon Lands, and all others in between. Sure, I would rule supreme, but you would still have considerable power and influence under me. And yes, you would get your choice of slaves from those we capture, as well as your shares of the other spoils of war. More slaves and spoils than you EVER had during the Imperial War, and even more than you can POSSIBLY imagine!" Stacy then looked up at King Danin with a bit of a smirk. "So what do you say King Danin? Do you want to still be a slave to Demetria, or do you want the chance to actually have a WAR for revenge? Yes, it might take a few more years to fully prepare for a coup, but no more than 2-4. The number of my followers grows all the time, and with your aide, that number grows exponentially."
Danin sat back in mild shock. He'd always known that Stacy was different than her mother, but now that he saw what she was really made of, he was actually quite impressed. Sure, she was a Futa, but yet she seemingly sympathized with the Caribous and their allies, and she wanted to help them get revenge, provided of course that they helped her get her revenge. Together they would then wage war against the Humans and Equestrians, as well as all other nations, and then conquer them. No more would they be slaves to Demetria, but they would all be allowed to FINALLY live how they were MEANT to live! The Imperial War would soon be a tiny, forgotten footnote in history, as would the Humans. They would rule Equus, and FINALLY get the revenge that they always wanted.
He looked at Dothan. The 2 of them then discussed the situation briefly in the Caribou's native language, before Danin turned back to Stacy.
"General Stacy, after talking it over with Dothan, the two of us have decided that, in light of everything, NEVER AGAIN will be be slaves of Demetria! If you want our support for your own empressship, then you have it! We want our revenge, just as you do too. We'll help each other, and reap the rewards!"
Stacy was a bit surprised. Sure, she'd heard Sombra tell her about how easy it was going to be to persuade Danin to join her cause, but to actually see it happen was another thing entirely!
She then held out her hand. "Well then King Danin, let me be the first to welcome you to the New Futa Empire under Empress Stacy, and that your contributions will be MORE than helpful, and you will reap MANY rewards for doing so. Yes, like I said, it'll still be a little while until we're ready, but once we are, Then our plan will FINALLY be put into action!"
Danin shook her hand, unaware of a few things. First of all, Stacy was only using them to get what she wanted. Second of all, it wouldn't just be her ruling as Empress. Jasmine, since she was Stacy's wife, would rule as Co-Empress, and Face would have some power under them. Danin had no idea that Stacy was married to Jasmine, or that Jasmine even existed. Lastly, and most importantly, Danin had no idea that he and his forces were now pawns in a MUCH larger game than what even Stacy was playing. ALL of them were now pawns in Sombra's game, a game that would soon plunge all of Equus into a war more terrifying than the Imperial War had EVER been. Everyone would lose, and then Sombra would rule. His plan was coming along nicely, and now it had just grown by leaps and bounds.
"Soon!" Sombra thought as he watched the alliance of Stacy and Danin unfold from the shadows. "Now that Danin has joined forces with Stacy, it should only be a matter of time until they're ready, and attempt to overthrow Demetria. THIS TIME they'll succeed, and then they get to work on going to war. They may think that what they're doing is big now, but they ain't seen NOTHING yet! They're part of something big, but yet, it's bigger than they could EVER have POSSIBLY imagined!"
Sombra's maniacal laughter faded back into the shadows as he departed. Stacy and Danin were now allies, with both sides working towards the final overthrow of Empress Demetria and her followers, and then war with Equestria, and her allies. The wheels were spinning, and the plan was in motion, and NO ONE outside of the Futa Empire knew that they were even there. It was a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode, and now that there could easily be a political shift, while before it had been just a pipe bomb, now that little pipe bomb would set off a much bigger bomb, and that bomb would in turn trigger a thermal-nuclear explosion. This whole thing had just become MUCH bigger than any of us. War was coming, and with it, would come fear, terror, and of course more bloodshed, and there was seemingly no way to stop it. Jeff's return as a Harbinger of Disaster was now seemingly beginning to come true, and God help us all if Stacy got what she wanted out of all of this!
(WARNING!!!!! Chapter(s) contain(s) RAMPANT sex and nudity, as well as other adult scenes, and scenes of violence, blood, and gore. Due to the IMMENSE significance to the story, it all goes into these chapters, and not a "0.5" chapter. It's still important, so PLEASE read!)
On the same night that Carla left, Sam was upstairs in her room. She was sitting on her bed, slightly sobbing. She still missed me something awful, and Carla's visit did little more than resurrect forgotten memories.
"Oh Goddess, why? WHY can't I ever move past it?! WHY won't the memories leave me be?!"
Misty was trying to comfort her. "Shh, it's ok Sam. I miss Leopard just as much as you do. And I KNOW that if he's still out there somewhere that he misses us too. He wasn't called the 'Black Fox' for nothing Sam. If ANYONE could escape from a nuclear hell, HE could!"
"Well then where is he?! It's been 5 years Misty, 5! 5 years, and no Leopard!" Sam then reached under her bed, and pulled out a locked box. Then, using a key that she kept just above the fireplace, she unlocked the box. Then, from inside, she pulled out a series of small books.
"What are those Sam?"
Sam sighed. "These are something that I haven't touched in years Misty. These are copies of diaries that Leopard wrote while he was on Creamy Dream Ranch. He took the originals with him, but he made these copies, and then left them beside my bed the night he left. These 3 diaries are one of my last links to Leopard, and they have it all. From Day 1, all the way to his last entry that he wrote just before he fled. It's all in here. Even the first time I had sex with him."
Misty was surprised. "Wait, even THAT'S in there?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. Wanna see?"
"Sure. Show me the entry where you had sex with him for the first time."
Sam pointed to it. Right here. Book 1, Entry 4."
Misty then looked on as Sam read aloud.
I'd only been on Creamy Dream for 2 days. It was February, and it was still cold, however, on the night of February 7th, a rainstorm came through. It was in the mid 40's, so there was no snow, but it was still cold.
I was in the barn by myself finishing up work for the night. I had no clue where anyone else was, not that it really mattered. I was sweeping the floor close to a side door, when all of a sudden, the door opened! I jumped back a bit, thinking that someone was coming in, but no one entered. Cautiously, I grabbed the door, and peered outside. All I saw was the rain, and the stormy night. No one was there.
"Hmm, must have just blown open." I then shut the door, and locked it securely. I then went back to what I'd been doing.
Suddenly though, just off to my right, the main barn doors suddenly opened, and I made the move to go close them too, but I stopped. There, standing in the doorway, was a figure! They were wearing a dark raincoat, and due to the dim lighting, I had no idea who it was, only that it had to have been a Futa, thanks to the height. Suddenly though, the figure spoke.
"Hey! Anyone in here? I REALLY need a good f@#k!"
I froze where I was. Sure, most guys would come running at that offer, but Futas are NOT women. YOU don't get to do the f@#king; you GET f@#ked! I also knew from the Southern accent that it was Sam. I did NOT want to have that Amazon f@#k me, so I stepped back into the shadows a bit more.
Sam then turned towards the movement. "Hey! I saw that! Who's over there?!"
"No one!" I thought. "Just a passing shadow!"
Sam then stepped into the barn, before shutting the barn doors, and locking them. She then removed her raincoat, and hung it up on a nearby hook. I then saw that she was wearing jeans, a red shirt, and cowboy boots.
"I know that I ain't alone in here! Come on out whoever you are! If yer good and come on out, I'll be sure to play nice with ya! However, if I have to tear this place apart looking for ya, I WON'T play nice! I know that yer in here, and there's no doubt that I'm gonna find ya! Don't make me wait!"
I shook my head. "Not tonight Sam." I then turned around to squeeze between 2 stalls, when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder! I was then grabbed, pulled out of the shadows, and slammed up against the nearest wall.
"Gotcha!" She smirked. Sam held me there, and I realized then that the top of my head was only eye-level with her massive breasts. I was only about 5'10, which made Sam maybe 6'4, to maybe even 6'6!
"Told ya that I was gonna getcha!" She then looked a bit closer, and she realized that it was me. "Oh, hey Sugar. Why'd ya hide from me?"
"I......I was scared." I said softly.
Sam then pushed some of her red bangs out of her face, before tossing one of her braids behind her back. "What? Scared? Of me? Why would'ja be scared?" She then realized the size differences between us. "Oh, I see now. Yer scared of a big ol' Amazon like me. One that can pick you up and carry you around like this!" To prove her point, Sam actually picked me up, and held me up on her shoulders with my back against her neck!
"Whoa, hey! Put me down!"
Sam ignored me though. She then began to pace around, all while still holding me on her shoulders. "Now then, what to do with you. I didn't have to wait too long, and I didn't have to tear the barn apart, but yet you STILL didn't come when I called you, AND you hid from me! I mean, I AM gonna f@#k ya, that much is certain, but then what?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. You could always start with putting me down." Sam still didn't listen and kept carrying me like I didn't weigh much. "Hey! Easy on the Human-Wolf hybrid there Sam, we're NOT common anymore! We 'Apex-Wolves', ESPECIALLY us First-Gen wolves, are NOT easy to come by anymore! I mean, just because you can pick my up like a sack of potatoes doesn't mean that I'm afraid of you."
"What did you say?" Sam then pulled me off of her shoulders, and slammed me up against the wall again.
"I said 'Hey! Easy on the Human-Wolf hybrid there Sam, we're NOT common anymore! We 'Apex-Wolves,' ESPECIALLY us First-Gen wolves, are NOT easy to come by anymore!'"
"Never mind that, what did you say AFTER that?!"
"I said that I'm not afraid of you Sam. Just because you can pick me up and carry me around doesn't mean that I'm afraid of you."
"Wait......you're.......not afraid of me?"
I shook my head. "No. Well.......maybe a little bit, but not much."
Sam then sighed. "Strip. Now."
"What?"
She gave me a glare. "I said STRIP! Unless you want me to hold ya down and rape ya, strip, and get ready!"
I shrugged. "Sure. Whatever you say Sam." I then stripped out of my Winter work clothes. Once I was fully naked, Sam stripped herself. When I saw her Amazonian body for the first time in its entirety, I was shocked. Her body was rippling with muscles, her dick was EASILY 12in fully-erect, and she had a number of freckles on the lower parts of her body as well.
She then motioned to her dick. "Suck."
I nodded, and then got to work. Sam was bigger than either Carla or Demetria, but I was still able to handle her.
She glanced down at me. "Ngh, oh yeah Sugar. You've done this before, haven't you?"
I nodded. "Mmm hmm."
"Well, whoever they were, they SURE taught you how to properly suck a cock!" A few moments after this though, Sam ended the blowjob, and after pushing me onto the barn floor, she gently held me down while she pushed her dick into me. This was the first time that I was "lovingly raped" by Sam, and it would NOT be the last time either!
"'......And then, after having her way with me, Sam let me go. I didn't get much farther than the hay though before collapsing from exhaustion, and after snuggling next to me, Sam pulled a horse blanket over both of us, and we drifted off to sleep.'" Sam then looked up at Misty. "And that's the end of that entry."
Misty sighed. "Wow. I had no idea that he wrote in that kind of detail. What else is in these books?"
"Everything. From that night, to his incident with the Arkansas River, to my caring for him while he was recovering, to his sex with you, to that 4th of July, all the way up until the night he left. He spared no details, and wrote them all down."
"Anything on the bunker, and the train and weapons within?"
"That's primarily what books 2 and 3 are about. Over and over again he talks 'bout how they were workin' on their weapons in total secrecy, and how at least one of them would distract us long enough fer others to smuggle supplies down to the bunker. The entries tell of how the weapons were put together, and what each weapon was, and how it was gonna be used. Again, no details were spared in his writing."
Misty then began to look over some of them. "'This is our only chance to make a real difference in the Cold War. If we can get these weapons finished, and then smuggle them back to the US, then we stand a REAL chance of actually doing something!' Wow. He sure loved America. He seems to have loved it more than the Futa Empire."
"And it's no wonder. One of them is still standin' today, while the other is nothing more than a faint memory. And to think that we ACTUALLY let them get away with it! I KNEW that they were doing something illegal down there, but Leopard assured me that it wasn't gonna be causin' any problems! Even when that Bender fellow showed up with his crew, I STILL didn't do anythin' about it!"
Misty kept reading. "'Today, Jim Bender, an engineer with the brand new Railway Warfare Division, (RWD) and his crew found us on the ranch. They were sent to aide us in our quest, and they brought the means to transport our weapons out of here one day. They brought plenty of cars with them, and we have a few of our own, but they brought a Big Boy locomotive! An ACTUAL Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy! Her number is '4009', though I don't know how that's possible with the original 4009 having been scrapped. Some of us call it '4025', while others still stick with '4009'. I think I'll stick with 4009, at least for now.' So that's how they did it. The RWD found them, and helped them achieve greatness."
"Yeah, it is pretty amazing, ain't it?"
"And what's his last entry Sam?"
Sam pulled out the 4th book. "Right here. August 16th, 2026. Book 4, Entry 2,179 overall." She then began to read aloud.
"......'The time is drawing to a close I'm afraid. The time has come for us to return to the US, and prepare for the imminent Futa invasion. The Second Cold War is drawing to a close, and if the Americans don't strike first, the Futas will. We have the weapons, as well as the transportation needed to get back to the US. The only thing left to do is say goodbye to those that I care about. I know that I'll be back here one day, but yet it's probably gonna be a long time before I do.
However, Sammy, if you're reading this right now, PLEASE believe me when I tell you that I still love you, and I would NEVER do this to hurt you! I did NOT leave because I'm escaping, nor am I leaving because I hate you; I'm simply answering the call of duty like I've done so many times before. America is in trouble, and the Futas attacking it MUST be punished! I still love you Sammy, with ALL of my heart! You were a true godsend, and you saved me from that auction block, and brought me to Creamy Dream Ranch. I loved our time together, (except for the "loving rape", that was bad!) but the rest of it was a dream come true. I'll be back for you one day Sam, you can count on that! I can't give you an exact date, but it'll be within 5 years. Most likely, it could be as soon as 2-3 years. At any rate though, it's now close to 4am, and I have to go and say goodbye to you and Misty, and then I have to leave.
But Sammy, I now leave these diaries to you. Yes, they ARE only copies, but I had to take the originals with me. Don't worry though, each and every entry is copied word for word, and is accurate. I leave them to you so that you can remember the good times that we had, and so that you'll have something to read until we meet again. Goodbye for now Sammy, I love you.
Leo'.
And that's it. That's his last entry. He finished writing these, finished the copies, went downstairs to say goodbye to you, came back upstairs to say goodbye to me, left the diaries on my nightstand, and then left. Sure enough, 2 years later, he did come back for a time. Then, a short while later, he left again, and disappeared during the Battle of Vegas."
Misty sighed. "Well, even though we don't know where he is, I'm glad the he left these diaries behind. Now all we have to do is read them, and we can remember the good times that we had together. Well, these, and the photographs that we still have."
Sam then looked at a photo of me and her that she kept on her nightstand. I had my arms and legs wrapped around Sam, and she was holding me. We were both looking into the camera, smiling happily as I kissed her on the cheek. We were both nude in the photo, but our bodies were squished close enough together to protect our modesty.
She then sighed. "Please!" She begged the Heavens, "PLEASE send Leopard back to me, or at the very least, PLEASE show me what happened to him! I'm DEVASTATED without my Leo close to me, as are a handful of other Futas and Herms. We ALL want Leopard back!"
God heard Sam's prayer that night, and He DID have a plan to bring us all back together again, but yet it would take a bit more time for that plan to come to fruition.
To the South of Hutchinson, in New Vegas, Demetria was sitting at her desk in her office. As she often did when she needed comfort, she turned to the 8 diaries that I'd written over the 10 month period that I'd lived with her in Las Vegas. These diaries had been left behind by me after the attempted coup, and now they were in Demetria's possession, and had been for the past 9 years. The diaries covered everything from the day I'd been adopted by Demetria, to my final entry written a mere few minutes before the coup began, and I was taken away.
"Oh Leopard", Demetria said softly with tears in her eyes, "Why did it have to happen this way? Why?"
Next to her desk came a soft whimper. Demetria looked down, and in the dog bed next to her desk, she saw a female dog with red roan-colored fur, and soft blue eyes. She was a very elderly dog, but yet she didn't show the normal signs of aging. Even though she was 14, almost 15 years old, the vets who examined her said that she had the physique of a dog almost half her age!
Demetria gently scratched her behind the ears. "Shh, it's ok Radar. I know that you miss Leopard too. You were with him since he was on that ranch in North Dakota, and you kept him alive long enough for him to be found, and then rescued by me."
Radar sighed, before laying back down again. She missed me something awful, and had been awaiting my return for the past 9 years. Some referred to her as the "Female Hachico" as she too faithfully awaited the return of a master who was deceased, or at least, most believed that he was deceased.
Soon after this, Minerva walked into the room. She looked pretty stressed out after the meeting went south.
"Damn Dem. I did NOT think that our night of celebration was going to turn sour like that!"
Demetria sighed. "It's all because of the war-mongers Mini. THEY want war with Equestria, and those of us with a brain realize that that's a bad idea."
"I just wish that we could go back to a time where everything was simple. Life was normal, and everything was happy." Minerva then saw what Demetria was reading. "And judging from the looks of things, so do you."
"Yeah. Leopard was my whole world, just as he was Carla's. He was my son! Adopted maybe, but I loved him like my own! It was a chance encounter that changed not only my life, but the course of WW6, and even the course of world history. My adopting him changed the world, and it changed for the better for once!"
"And why did you adopt him again Dem?"
Demetria looked up at her. "Wait, you mean that you don't remember Minerva?"
"It's been 9 years Dem. Maybe re-jog my memory a bit?"
Demetria sighed. "An incredible story that began in my original office in the original Palace Luxor, in the original Las Vegas, on March 5th, 2025........" Demetria then let her mind wander back to that day.
As she sat in her office, Demetria, the Empress of the Futas, was sad.
Demetria looked up at her life-long friend. The two of them had grown up together in Eastern Russia, and now here they were in Las Vegas; Demetria was the Empress of the Futas, while Minerva was her chief protector, as well as her closest adviser.
She nodded. "Yeah Mini, something is wrong. I'm so lonely."
"Well.......have you tried looking for a mate?"
Demetria shook her head. "No, not that kind of loneliness Minerva. The kind of lonely that I am is the kind that a mother feels when she no longer has children of her own to care for. Carla and Stacy are all grown up, and even though Carla still cares for me, I don't have any children to dote over anymore, and I lack the ability to have any children of my own."
Minerva knew what Demetria was referring to. When Demetria became an adult Herm, something went wrong with her female reproductive system, causing her ovaries to cease egg production. The doctors had tried everything, but nothing could seem to kickstart her ovaries to produce eggs anymore. Becoming a Herm or a Futa was a dangerous process, and not all those who undertook it survived. Even those who were born Herms oftentimes suffered from various illnesses and health issues, and tended to die young. Some died right away, while others, like Demetria's sister Natasha, a natural-born Herm, became ill because of it, and died later.
On her deathbed, Natasha begged Demetria to adopt her 2 daughters Carla and Stacy, and raise them as her own.
"Please Dem." Natasha whispered, "My daughters, your nieces, need you now. With my husband John having died, and me being only a tick behind him now, Carla and Stacy will have no one left. You have to adopt them, and raise them as your own. Carla is only 4, and Stacy is 2. They NEED a mother-figure in their life, and you fit that perfectly Dem."
Demetria held her sister's hand. "I'll do it Natti. If Mom will allow it, I'll adopt my nieces, and raise them as my own."
"Thank you.....Dem....." And then she was gone.
In the aftermath of Natasha's death, Empress Boudica, the first Empress of the Futa Empire, granted her now deceased younger daughter's last request, and allowed Carla and Stacy to be adopted by Demetria. A mere few years after this though, Empress Boudica herself passed on from illness in her old age, leaving Demetria to become Empress in her place. Carla and Stacy grew up, and once they were adults, Demetria was all alone once again.
Once her mind returned to the present day, Minerva was hit with an idea that would end up changing the world. "Well, have you ever considered adopting a male from a care center? That might give you what you need."
Demetria thought about that. With the world still in the midst of the Second Cold War following WW6, with the Allied forces being caught in stalemated warfare in Europe, the Pacific, and the United States with the Futas, she needed something to take her mind off of war, even if only for a while. She looked back up at Minerva.
"You know Minerva, that's actually a great idea! I'll adopt a male, and hopefully prove once and for all that we Herms are NOT the vile monsters that most others portray us as. Those are the FUTAS, NOT the Herms! However, that begs the question, where do I try and adopt one from? I have to make a trip to St. Louis here by the end of the week, and I think that I'll adopt one on the way back. Where's the closest care center to St. Louis?"
Minerva looked at a few charts. "Eh, there used to be one in St. Louis itself, but due to the city being right along the Mississippi River, the dividing border between the Futa Empire and the US, and with US forces being right on the other side of the river, the care center was under CONSTANT attack until it closed its doors for good. There also used to be one in Kansas City, but it was shut down on abuse charges. As of today, the closest care center is in Des Moines, in Farmland."
"Des Moines. I've heard of it, and as the former state capital of the former US State of Iowa, I've heard good things about it. I'll be sure to stop there on my way back, and see what I can find. Thanks for the suggestion Minerva."
"You're welcome Dem."
Demetria then continued to plan for her visit to St. Louis, as well as her detour to Des Moines on the way back.
Her visit to St. Louis, aside from a few US airstrikes and missile attacks, not to mention a few firefights along the Mississippi River, and the Futa counterattacks, was pretty uneventful. As she re-boarded her private train, pulled by former Union Pacific Challenger 3985, Demetria picked up the intercom to the cab.
"Ginny?"
27 year old Guinevere Ryder, Demetria's personal train driver, nicknamed "Ginny" due to her looking a LOT like Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter, picked up. "Yes My Empress?"
"On our way back to Vegas, I'm going to need to make a little detour."
"A detour? Where to, My Empress?"
"I need to go to Des Moines, in Farmland. Can you take me there please?"
"Certainly, My Empress. When do you want to leave?"
"As soon as possible. I need to get there, take care of what I need to take care of, and then get back to Vegas."
"Right away, My Empress. ETA to Des Moines is about 5 hours or so."
"Roger that Ginny." A few minutes later, the train pulled out for Des Moines.
They arrived there that night, but due to it being late, Demetria decided to stay in her personal quarters on the train, and then visit the care center in the morning. However, something bothered her. She kept tossing and turning, but she couldn't fall asleep. Finally, she could stand it no longer.
"Minerva?" She called through her intercom a few minutes later.
"Yes Demetria?"
"Unload the car please; we're going to the care center tonight. I Googled it, and they're open 24/7 for adoptions, barring any holidays. Since today is March 13th, there are no holidays, and I've already called ahead, and scheduled a visitation."
Minerva looked at her watch. The time was 2am. "Demetria, it's 2 in the morning. Why do we have to do this now?"
"Because I can't sleep. I keep getting this gut feeling that my being there tonight versus tomorrow morning could mean the difference between life and death. I can't explain it, but I KNOW that I have to act on it! Please get the car ready!"
Minerva knew better than to argue with Demetria, so she did as she requested. A few minutes later, Demetria's personal black SUV, as well as 2 other identical vehicles containing her security detail, were on the road into Des Moines. The city though, seemed to be only a shell of its former self. Completely overrun by Futas, and covered in craters and other damaged buildings, Des Moines was now a hub for selling farm produce, as well as the manufacturing of farming machinery. Towards the middle of the city stood a tall building. At one time it was known as the "Iowa State Capitol Building", but now it was the "Des Moines Male Care and Adoption Center". Here, males from all over the Prairie Region, (aka the Midwest) ranging from gutter finds, to willing surrenders, to even criminals and POW's were taken, "reeducated" to serve a Futa mistress, and then cared for until they were "adopted". The males within ranged from young children, all the way up to early middle-aged.
Once they arrived, the Imperial Motorcade pulled into the parking lot, and Demetria, while surrounded by her security detail, made her way up to the front. After climbing up the HUGE number of front stairs, they all entered through the front doors.
Once they were inside, what struck them first were the sights, as well as the smells. In front of them was a sort of front desk, and a polished marble and tile lobby. It was pretty clear that the building had been fully re-purposed, but yet it wasn't hard to tell what it had been re-purposed from. The lobby was also hot, and it smelled like sweat, and cleaning chemicals. Noises in the background could be heard as well, ranging from the sounds of sex, to running feet, to radio chatter, to screaming males, and other unidentifiable noises too.
Sitting next to the front desk was an anorexic looking male with dark hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a dark smock, and almost seemed to be comatose. Around his neck was a collar attached to a chain that was attached to the desk, and while he did look up at them as they came in, he made no moves to do anything. Demetria saw that his collar had a tag that said "Todd" on it.
The Futa at the front desk, a young teenage intern with blond hair done in a ponytail, blue eyes, glasses, and wearing medical scrubs looked up as Demetria walked up to the front desk. When she saw her Empress, her GODDESS, standing right in front of her, the young intern's jaw hit the floor!
"M-m-my........My Empress! S-such and honor to have you here!"
Demetria saw that her name tag said "Taylor" on it. "Well Miss Taylor, it's nice to be here. I called ahead a little while ago about adopting a male."
"Yes........certainly! No finer place than our care center here in Des Moines! Let me get a guide for you. I would show you around myself, but alas, I know so little about this place!" She then summoned a guide to the front.
The guide, Nurse Teller, was equally astonished to actually meet Demetria, but she held it together better than Taylor did. She then began to lead Demetria to the back of the facility.
"It's such a fine care center that we have here, Empress Demetria. Males from the Prairie Region, and from St. Louis and Kansas City were sent here following their coming into our hands. We're the finest care center in the Eastern Futa Empire, and you'll find NO better place to adopt from!"
"It....certainly seems Impressive Nurse Teller. So can you take me to the males?"
"Yes, but first I have to know what you're looking for. What kind of male do you want?"
Demetria thought for a second. "Well, I want a younger male, but yet not a child."
"Ok, so we'll steer clear of the Workhouse, and the Children's Ward."
"I also want a male who's been through a lot of trauma."
When Demetria said that, Nurse Teller, as well as a number of others close to her stopped and stared. Very rarely, if ever, did they get a request for a trauma case, and most that did were NOT ready to care for a male who was that bad off.
"I.......I don't know if you want that Empress. However, I can take you back to the males now. We'll head to Teen Town, located where the old Senate Chambers and adjoining offices used to be." She then led the way over to that wing.
When they arrived, Demetria was shocked by what she saw. Instead of the cages and cells that she was expecting to see, she instead saw rooms full of males from the ages of 13-25 happily playing together. Some rooms were for sleeping, while others were for eating, using the restroom, playing, and some were even for interacting with animals such as dogs and cats. There were gates keeping the males in their designated rooms, but no cages, or anything along those lines. The walls were painted with bright colors, and the sounds of laughter could be heard. Everywhere they went the males all eagerly crowded against the gates.
"Hey, everyone! Adoption!" One of the younger males yelled. "At least one of us is going home today!" There came more cheering from the others.
"Isn't this place beautiful Demetria?" Minerva asked.
Demetria though was less than thrilled. Sure, this area LOOKED really nice, but yet she couldn't shake this horrible gut feeling that all was not as it seemed. All of the males within sure acted almost the same, possibly indicating brainwashing. They sure seemed eager to please, a little bit TOO eager. She looked into their eyes, and all she saw were dead souls. They were made-to-order slaves, completely devoid of the life that they used to have. They now never deviated from the paths that the Futas had laid out for them.
Demetria looked up at Nurse Teller. "Yes, I agree. This place is nice, but yet none of these males are what I'm looking for. I said 'trauma cases'. These don't look like trauma cases to me."
"They........aren't." Nurse Teller finally admitted. "These are the ones that were able to successfully adapt to life in the Futa Empire."
"Where do you keep the trauma cases?"
"In the Trauma Ward. It's on the other side of the facility though. To get there, we'll have to pass the Children's Ward, and the Workhouse."
"Take me there please."
Nurse Teller nodded, and then she led the way out of Teen Town, much to the dismay of the males within.
As they passed the Children's Ward for the young children, and the Workhouse for those older than 32, Nurse Teller tried time and again to get Demetria to reconsider her choice. Demetria however had her heart set on seeing the Trauma Ward, and wouldn't listen to the other suggestions.
Eventually, she found herself in front of a set of double-doors. They were white, and were in the process of being locked down by 2 Futas in full chemical suits. Suddenly, alarms began to blare.
"WARNING!!!!! Gas in use! Please clear the area immediately! WARNING!!!! Gas in use! Please clear the area immediately!"
"What's going on here?"
Nurse Teller sighed. "Well, whenever the Trauma Ward is full, and none of the males within are adopted, we have no choice but to seal up the ward, and gas those within. They can do nothing more for us in life, so the best we can do is give them a painless death."
"WHAT IN MY MOTHER'S NAME?!?!?!?! YOU GAS THEM TO DEATH?!?!?!?!"
"There's nothing else that we can do. Nobody wants them because they're broken beyond repair, either physically or mentally. They clutter up the facility, and the Trauma Ward is where the old House Chambers and adjoining offices used to be. We keep them alive for as long as we can, but once the ward is full, gassing is the only option. It always has been."
Demetria was NOT taking that for an answer! "SHUT DOWN THE GAS RIGHT NOW!!!" She screamed at the 2 Futas in chemical suits.
"Yes My Empress!" They both yelled. "It hasn't begun yet, so we can still abort the process!" They both then opened a box on the wall with 2 keys, and powered down the device inside.
"Gas averted." A computer-voice reported. "Area is safe to enter once the alarms stop, and the seals are open." A few minutes later, the ward could be entered again. Nurse Teller swiped her security card, and then opened the double doors.
Compared to Teen Town, the Trauma Ward looked like a psychiatric hospital. The walls were all white, and rows of cells lined the walls. They were covered by strong doors, and the air was filled with screaming, crying, banging on the doors, and obscenities.
"The males here are divided into those who are physically unwell, and mentally unwell. We also have space for males who were 'returned'."
"'Returned'?"
"Confiscated by the MREA from abusive mistresses. They were adopted out of here once before, beaten and abused, rescued, and then returned here. You're wasting your time here Empress, NONE of these males are even mentally coherent anymore. They're either brain-dead, or psychotic out of their minds. There is no middle ground."
"We shall see." Demetria then began to look around the ward.
As she did so, she had to keep close to a trashcan, as she could not stop throwing up when she saw how the poor souls within the ward had been treated. They were visibly beaten, starved, tortured, abused, and some were even missing limbs, eyes, fingers, toes, noses, ears, and other body parts. Others looked so sick that they could die at any moment. Still others wandered around their cells aimlessly, and did nothing when anything was done to them. Others kept trying to attack, all while screaming obscenities, and even trying to spit on Demetria and the others as they passed. Sure enough, all of them did indeed seem to be brain-dead, or completely mentally broken.
"These poor, poor souls. How could ANYONE have done ANYTHING like this to them?! WHO WOULD DO THIS?!?!"
Nurse Teller sighed. "Futas who have neither heart nor conscience. Males are disposable commodities that exist only to serve them. They can be easily replaced if lost to death. After a recent string of 'returns', we've massively tightened our vetting process for adoptions."
Before Demetria could answer though, she suddenly heard coughing. She turned, and saw that it was coming from a cell that she'd never noticed before. She walked over to the cell, and peered in through the glass at the top of the door. The room was dimly lit, and appeared tiny. The floor was dirty, and covered in scratches. There was a table in the shadows of the room, but what really unnerved Demetria was the glowing eyes coming from underneath it!
"What's.......what's in this cell?"
Nurse Teller looked. "Eh, probably some creation of Apex Industries. 'Apex Wolf' by the looks of it."
"What's an 'Apex Wolf'?"
"Human-wolf hybrid. Born a Human, had wolf DNA added later. They formed the backbone of the US Armed Forces in WW4-WW6. Very rare to see one anymore."
"Can.......can I see him?"
"Yes, provided that we bring in at least 2 handlers. These things can be EXTREMELY dangerous, ESPECIALLY if agitated!"
Once 2 handlers had arrived in full riot gear, they turned on their stun batons, and Nurse Teller then opened the cell door. When the door opened though, nothing happened. The eyes remained where they were, only to be joined by another pair of eyes. Soft growling could be heard as well.
Demetria then stepped into the cell, and nearly gagged. The room smelled like piss, feces, and unwashed bodies. 2 dog bowls were against one wall, while a crude toilet was against another. A ratty mattress was on the floor, and it was filthy.
She then looked towards the eyes. "Um......h-hello?"
No response.
"Can......can I see you please? Can at least one of you come on out?"
Only growling met her response.
"Please. I do NOT want to hurt you, either of you! I KNOW that you've suffered through so much, and I want to help you! Please come out."
One of the pairs of eyes kept growling, but the other turned to the one growling, and quietly seemed to ask them to stop. Then, the creature that the first pair of eyes belonged to moved forwards. Suddenly, a gnarled hand reached out of the shadows, and touched the tile floor less than 3 feet away from Demetria.
"Can.....can I see the rest of you please? A hand isn't enough."
A second hand joined the first, followed by an arm, and then slowly, the male crawled the rest of the way out of the shadows, before sitting back on his haunches. Demetria saw that he was a larger male, of perhaps 20-25 years of age, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and to her shock, 2 gray wolf ears on top of his head, as well as a gray wolf tail, and even gray wolf paws instead of feet! He was cut and bruised, and was very thin and gaunt. He was also naked, and when Demetria looked closer, she also saw that he had what appeared to be wolf genitalia as well. He stared up at her, and to Demetria's further shock, his eyes weren't dead. She could still see the spark of life in them. The spark was faint, but it was indeed still there.
She then looked down at him with tears in her eyes, before reaching down, and gently trying to pick him up. To the staff's shock, the male in that cell, who was ALWAYS fearful of everyone, actually let her! He snuggled close to her rather large chest, and seemed to be crying softly.
"Shh, it's ok Sweetie. Mamma Demetria's here to take good care of you. I will NOT let ANYONE hurt you EVER AGAIN!"
"M-mamma." The male said softly.
Demetria then looked at the staff. "Ok, that's it, this one's completely captured my heart. I just HAVE to adopt him!"
Nurse Teller then looked at the file that she'd been provided with. "Oh, I remember this one now. He's one of the males from the Paddock Case. Before that, he was one of the 2 survivors of that battalion stationed at Sue Falls, in South Land. Just like Todd was the other one."
"Wait, Todd? As in that desk pet up front?"
"Yeah, him. Oh, and since you are adopting the male in your arms, you also get his military gear that was taken from him when he was captured. We offered it to his first mistress when she adopted him, but she didn't want it. Do you want it?"
Demetria nodded, and then sent one of her agents to retrieve the bundle. She then began to carry her new male out of the cell. However, just before they left, the male looked back, and made a strange noise. From out of the shadows, the other pair of eyes was then revealed to be a female dog of some kind. She had red roan fur, and blue eyes. She trotted up to Demetria, before looking up at the male. He nodded to her, and seemingly motioned for her to follow.
As they walked, the dog followed them, and Demetria looked back at Minerva. "Still convinced that I'm crazy Mini?"
Minerva shook her head. "At one time, I did Dem. However, now I think not."
"I told you so. I KNEW that a Higher Power had control over everything. It was this Higher Power that led me to this male, right here in Des Moines, just in the nick of time to save not only his life, but the life of his dog, AND the lives of all of the others in the Trauma Ward! NEVER AGAIN will ANY males be gassed back there, I will NOT allow it! Instead, the staff will be provided with ALL of the tools that they need to rehabilitate any trauma cases."
"That.....certainly seems like an appropriate alternative to gassing them."
Minerva was still a bit skeptical of Demetria's views, but even she had to admit that it was strange. Minerva knew as well as Demetria did that the "Great Goddess" that the Futas worshiped wasn't real, but yet Demetria INSISTED that there really was a Higher Power, and that said Higher Power had control over all.
"This Higher Power ensured that I would become Empress when my mother died, and now this same Higher Power led me to this male in particular, just in time to save his life. Everything happens for a reason. I don't know why this male is so special, but I know that I WILL be finding out soon!"
Demetria then asked for a refresher on the Paddock Case.
Minerva pulled up the information from her phone. "The Paddock Case hit the news about a week ago, and it made front page headlines. Delilah Paddock, a Futa in North Land, owned a ranch outside of Bismarck. Neighbors began to suspect that she abused animals, but by the time that the MREA intervened, it was discovered that she abused a total of 5 dogs, and that at least 37 males had been brutally killed there as well. 5 more males were found at death's door, and 3 of them later died. Paddock and 4 overseers were placed in federal prison, and are awaiting trial."
Demetria looked at her male. For the first time, she also saw that he had a collar with a tag reading "Scar" on it. The name "Scar" seemingly coming from a prominent scar over his left eye. "So you had to survive all of that at the hands of that........MONSTER?!?! Don't worry Sweetie, Justice WILL be served!" She then looked down at the dog following her. "And Justice will be served for you too!"
She then looked at Minerva. "Where is she incarcerated Minerva?"
"The federal prison there in North Land. It's a maximum security facility."
"Send our best security forces to that prison! Make SURE that Paddock and her overseers survive to stand trial!"
"As you wish, Dem."
"No, better yet, I want to go there myself! I want her to KNOW what fear is, and how she's going to PAY through her ASS for her actions!"
Minerva nodded, and began to make preparations for this. Meanwhile, Demetria carried her new male up to the front of the care center, and with a few strokes of her pen, officially adopted him. She then carried him back to the motorcade, and from there, they were taken back to the train, and Demetria told Ginny to start to head back to Vegas when the sun rose, but to also take a route through North Land, as she was planning on stopping at the federal prison there.
"May I ask why, My Empress?"
"The male that I adopted tonight was one of the 2 survivors of the Paddock Case. I HAVE to make sure that Justice is served!"
Ginny was shocked. "The Paddock Case?! Yes, by all means I'll get you to that prison Empress!"
Demetria then took her new male to her quarters on the train, with the dog still following them. She then sat with him on her bed, and began to look him over again.
"Wow, you're really cute." She whispered as she pet her new male softly while he snuggled in her lap. She sat nude, and held his nude body close to hers. The male snuggled close to her breasts, and began to gently suckle from one of them.
"Hee hee! That tickles sweetie! But you can do that if you want. I'm not able to give milk anymore, but yet my daughter Carla can, so if you want, I can give you to her."
The male said nothing. Demetria could see that he still seemed to be suffering from shock.
"Sweetie?" She asked him softly.
His wolf ears pricked up, and then he turned upwards to look at her. He still didn't answer though.
"I know that you've been through a lot, but I have to know; The Futa who hurt you, Delilah Paddock, how much do you want to hurt her for what she did to you and the others?"
The male's face darkened. Demetria could see the extreme anger and look of hatred on his face. He slowly nodded.
"Well, that's where we're going once the sun rises. First, we're going to the prison where she's incarcerated to 'take care of business', and then once we're done there, I'm taking you home with me to Vegas."
The male looked up at her in surprise. Demetria could then see that he had no idea who she was.
Her face softened. "Sweetie, it seems that you have no idea who's adopted you."
The male shook his head.
Demetria held him close to her in a gentle embrace. "No one will EVER hurt you again Sweetie, because I will NEVER let them! My name is Demetria Boudica, and I am the Empress of all the Futas!"
When she said that, the male's jaw hit the ground! He had no idea that she was the Empress, but yet she sensed that he felt no fear of her. Instead, all he seemed to feel was relief, and a sense of love.
He snuggled close to her again. "M-mamma." He whispered as he hugged her.
"Oh Sweetie." Demetria hugged him back. She then noticed his back.
On it was what appeared to be a few patches of gray fur, though they were also splotched with black. They almost seemed to resemble spots.
"Hmm, leopard spots", She mused quietly to herself. "Plus, 'Scar' seems to be such a horrible name for you Sweetie, so I think that I'm going to rename you 'Leopard', because of your spots resembling the pattern of an Amur Leopard; the rarest, and most endangered leopard sub-species in the world. How does that sound Sweetie?"
For the first time since adopting him, he finally spoke. "Leopard? I.......like it. I like it Mamma!" He then sat up, and kissed his new mom on the cheek.
And henceforth, I adopted the name "Leopard" for all time, both for the Amur Leopard that I was named for, and in honor of the Empress who gave it to me.
That night, as we lay in her bed on the train, Demetria got to know her new male a bit better.
"So, from what I can put together so far, you're definitely a soldier."
"And you'd be correct, Mistress Demetria. I served in WW3, WW4, WW5, and WW6. I don't know what happened after that though. I was told that the Futas now reign supreme, but I don't know."
"I don't want you to call me 'Mistress' Sweetie. Just 'Mamma', or 'Mom' will do. And I can tell you what happened. Whoever told you that the Futas reign supreme was lying. Sure, we're now the largest nation on Earth, but we're not alone. We rule all of Asia, the Middle East, a lot of Eastern Europe, most of Canada, and most of the Pacific, plus the US from San Francisco to St. Louis, but that's it. There's a stalemate in Germany and Italy that's never been broken, Australia and New Zealand are still standing, the US is still the US from the eastern bank of the Mississippi River to the East Coast, and Africa is still too irradiated to support life. We've also made no real gains in South America, though there's nothing there to be gained."
"Oh. And you want me to see you as my new mom?"
"Yes. Unless of course you already have a mom."
I shook my head. "No, I don't. At least, not anymore. I lost my entire family, as well as my wife Ell, my 2 kids, and everyone else that I loved and cared about in WW4. I'm all alone now." I then began to cry a bit.
Demetria sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories for you Leopard."
I then hugged her tightly. "I need someone in my life to love again, Mom. If you want to fill that role, then I'll happily be whatever you want me to be."
Demetria looked at me, and she saw the look of genuine love on my face. Her motherly instincts then kicked in. "Oh Sweetie." She then held me close, and began to gently cuddle me to sleep.
"My Mamma." I said softly.
The dog that had been with us then barked once. I then looked over at her, and said something in a strange language. The dog then calmed down.
"And who's your dog?"
I smiled. "That's Radar. She was the dog who kept me alive while I was living under my first Mistress. I named her 'Radar' because she had such a keen sense of where my Mistress was. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't still be here today."
"She....kept you alive?"
"Yes. She helped me find food to eat, helped me find water, and she even let me breastfeed from her too. She was a breeding dog, but yet.....her pups.......just.....c-couldn't meet Mistress's standards, and.....w-without her pups, her breasts were full to bursting with milk, and there wasn't anyone to drink her milk besides me. Rats, Mice, raccoons, possums, rain water, and dog's milk. Not much, but it kept me alive." I then went on to explain more about my life under Delilah Paddock. Demetria recorded everything that I told her, as my testimony as a survivor was vital for a conviction.
Once I was done with my story, Demetria held me close to her again. "Don't worry Sweetie, and you too Radar, I will NEVER rest until Paddock and her overseers have paid for their crimes! You're safe from Futas like them now Leopard. I would never DREAM of hurting you; and I'm not even a Futa, I'm a Herm."
"You're......a what? What's a 'Herm'?"
"A Hermaphrodite. Here, let me show you." Demetria then lifted up the covers. She then showed me her body in it's entirety.
For an older woman such as herself, Demetria's beauty was undeniable. She had soft brown hair that hung down her back, soft brown eyes, a large pair of natural, pillowy, 34O breasts, and curves that porn stars would KILL for! She also had a slightly pudgy belly, a nice ass, and killer legs. If I had to guess, she was maybe 5'10 in height, just like me. I also saw that she had a dick that was perhaps 8in fully erect, as well as a nice pair of balls. She had soft brown pubic hair as well. However, when she lifted up her balls, I saw that she had a pussy too!
"What? How do you.......????"
"That's what a Herm is Sweetie. We have both genitalia. Some of us, including myself, were born this way, while others were born women, and became Herms later. We Herms are also capable of getting pregnant and giving birth, but I'm too old for that though. I'm almost 45, and out of my prime."
I blinked twice just to make sure that I hadn't missed anything.
"Um, what do you mean you're out of your prime Mom?"
"Look at me Leopard, and tell me what you see And please be honest."
I blinked again. "I'm looking at you Mom, and I honestly don't see ANYTHING short of a drop-dead gorgeous image of a fertility goddess! I mean, look at this soft brown hair, these amazingly soft, large natural breasts, these KILLER curves, nice, luscious ass, pudgy belly, and PERFECT birthing hips! Not to mention these nice and soft legs, and your amazing dick and balls too. Plus, you even have a pussy! Mom, ANYONE who says that you're ANYTHING short of what I just described needs to be shot! You may be older sure, but you've STILL got a body that most porn stars would KILL FOR!"
Demetria blushed a deep shade of red. She put a hand over her face, but the fact that her dick was getting harder was indicating that she was loving what I was telling her.
Finally, she pulled me close to her again, and to my surprise, gave me a deep kiss on the mouth. "Leopard, those are the nicest things that anyone's EVER told me. I've never had a male in my life, but now that I have you Leopard, I hope that that will change. I now have you in my life, and I hope that that's all I'll need."
I......I hope so too Mom." I then snuggled close to Demetria, and fell asleep.
Demetria then looked back up at Minerva again. "And that's how I found my Son. It was a chance encounter, and it ended up being the BEST decision that I ever made, short of adopting my nieces as my own daughters."
Minerva nodded. "Yeah, I remember now. I remember how happy you were when you held him in your arms for the first time."
"It was my motherly instincts kicking in again Mini. I saved my Son and his dog from being gassed, as well as the others in that ward. After that night, they NEVER gassed anyone ever again, and the no-gassing policy was adopted by ALL of the other care centers."
"A chance encounter that had consequences that changed the world. And to think, if nothing went wrong, he and Carla could have one day ruled the Futa Empire."
Demetria nodded sadly. "Yes, and in an alternate universe, I know that it happened that way."
Minerva could tell that Demetria was getting sad again, so she decided to chance the subject. "And I forget, what happened when you confronted his old mistress in prison?"
Demetria looked at her darkly. "Oh, she MORE than paid for her crimes." She then flipped forward a bit in the diary.
"March 13th, 2025.........."
Iron Gate Federal Prison. One of 16 Federal Prisons in the Futa Empire, it was to these maximum security Federal Prisons that the worst of the worst Futa offenders were sent. Iron Gate had a reputation for being on the lower end of the spectrum of being a bad prison, but yet it did have its share of horrible offenders. It was here that Delilah Paddock, and her 4 overseers were sent after being arrested. They'd all been there for a week, and were all awaiting trial. One day though, a guard came to Delilah's cell, and told her that she had a visitor.
"It had better be my f@#king lawyer!" Delilah muttered as she was walked down to what she thought was going to be the visiting area. "Carson is WAY overdue for a meeting with me!" However, to her slight unease, instead of being taken to the visiting area, she was taken to an interrogation room. Once inside, she was handcuffed to the table, and the guards then left her without turning on the lights.
"That's it, another interrogation? I've already told you, I've done NOTHING wrong! I just bought up the old, and got whatever I could out of them before they were useless. I DID NOTHING WRONG!!!!"
"Wrong, you f@#king monster!" A voice from the darkness in front of her growled. "Not ONLY did you assault an MREA agent, but you also had unlicensed weapons, and were charged with 6 counts of animal abuse, and 5 counts of male abuse! And NONE of this is even MENTIONING the 37 males you MURDERED!!!!!"
"What's it to you f@#ker? Turn on the f@#king lights and face me like a REAL Futa, you slut!"
The lights then turned on, and Delilah suddenly found herself staring at a figure that she'd never seen before. The figure had brown hair, and was wearing scarlet robes. She also looked furious.
Delilah was shocked. "My Empress! I KNEW that someone would come to release me!"
Demetria glared at her. "Who said that I was here to release you?"
Delilah was starting to grow very uneasy. "Well, then why else would you be here?"
In response to that, Demetria grabbed Delilah's head, and slammed it onto the metal table in front of her! Her nose shattered on impact, and there was now blood on the table.
"What the FUUUUUUU@#K?!?!?!?!?!" She screamed.
"I'm here, to make SURE that you pay for EVERYTHING that you've done, you MONSTER!!!!" (And times have changed. Torturing prisoners, even Futa inmates, is legal under Futa Law. What Demetria did, and was going to do to Delilah was perfectly legal.)
"And while we're talking about those you've wronged, someone ELSE wanted to talk to you too." Demetria looked at the door. "Come on in Sweetie!"
The door then opened, and another figure walked into the room. Delilah could tell that he was a male, and that he was wearing a dark smock. She also saw that he had gray wolf ears, and a wolf's tail. He didn't seem to happy to see her either, and she felt that there was something familiar about him.
"Do you remember me Delilah?"
"I don't know Dipshit, should I?"
"Let me rephrase that." I then stepped into the light better, and right up to the table. "How about now? Remember me NOW 'Mistress'?"
Her face got very pale at first, though her fear quickly gave way to anger. "You! Oh yes, I remember YOU! YOU were the one who banged that water pipe when the MREA agent was at the ranch, AND you had sex with one of MY breeding dogs! I thought that you were dead!"
I then glared at her. "I'm not, but YOU will be soon!" I then walked around to her, and at a nod from Demetria, I let her have it.
I could do whatever I wanted to her, and it was all still legal. I punched her, bit her, kicked her, and slammed her head into the table again and again. I wanted her to FEEL the pain that she'd put me, and so many others through. I'll admit, it felt GOOD to release all of that anger. Delilah screamed her head off while she was severely beaten by one of her victims, but no one came to her rescue. She was a criminal, and all criminals pay for their crimes. Eventually though, when Delilah was just barely recognizable, and my fists and smock were all bloody, I finally gave it a rest.
"Remember this well Bitch. Monsters like you DIE in prison for torturing animals, never mind a male like me!" I then turned away to catch my breath. However, it wasn't over yet.
While I was recovering, in the moment my back was turned, Demetria stripped off her royal robes, and let Delilah have it once again. I turned around when the beating began, and I watched frozen in shock, and later fear. When I watched Demetria beat her, I no longer saw my loving mother; instead, I saw a monster. I was seeing a side of Demetria that few knew existed. Most called her something of a pacifist, but she was proving THAT false that day!
"YOU HURT MALES, YOU DIE!!!! PURE AND SIMPLE!!!!" Demetria screamed. "DIE YOU F@#KING DAUGHTER OF A F@#KING CHEAP $2 F@#KING SHIT-WHORE!!!! DIE!!!!"
Delilah's screams soon died away into her choking on her own blood, and with one final slam into the table, Demetria managed to shatter her neck. Delilah Paddock died that day, March 13th, 2025; beaten to death by Empress Demetria for her crimes against Humanity. She paid the ultimate price for her crimes, and her overseers weren't too far behind.
When Demetria finished her execution though, she heard strange noises behind her, and she turned to see me violently vomiting into a trashcan. It was then that she realized that I didn't expect her to just up and beat Delilah to death like that, but then I looked up at her.
"T-thank you, Mom." I whispered. "Now she's burning in Hell where she belongs!" I then wiped my mouth, and stood up again.
Demetria then wiped herself off as best she could, before putting her robes back on. She then left the prison guards to take care of Delilah's body, before ordering that the overseers be executed immediately by electric chair. It was done quickly, and I was even allowed to pull the switch!
I don't recall saying anything while they fried, but it did make me at least a little bit happy to see those who had wronged so many males and dogs die for their crimes. Once all was said and done, Demetria took me by the hand, and we left the prison, headed back to the train, and once we were on our way to Vegas, we took showers, and had our clothes cleaned as well. My smock was ruined, but Demetria said that she would give me a new one once we reached Vegas.
Back in the present, Minerva had a hand over her mouth. "Yeah, I completely forgot about that Dem. I knew that they died, but I forgot that you killed Paddock."
"She hurt my male, and she hurt others, so I did what I had to do. It may not have been right, but it's what I did."
"Yeah. And I do remember what happened when we arrived in Vegas. You gave him his famous dark brown smock with the number 11 on it, and then the 2 of you walked towards the Palace Luxor."
Demetria smiled. "He mentions it here in his diary." She pointed to the section where it was.
'We walked towards a large, black, pyramid shaped building with a large statue of a Sphinx out front. 'Whoa! What's this place Mom?' I asked her.
'This is your new home Sweetie. This is the Palace Luxor!'
'Luxor? Like, the Luxor Hotel? Are we in Las Vegas?'
'Well, no and yes. No, this is no longer the Luxor Hotel, as I've had it fully refurbished into my palace, but yes, this is Las Vegas.'
I then looked a bit closer, and I realized that the giant Sphinx statue, as well as the other Egyptian-style statues, all had Demetria's face on them. I then held Demetria's hand again, and we walked inside."
"And that was the same day I introduced him to Carla. The two of them fell in love almost immediately, and I was happy for them. At first though, I did keep Leopard sleeping in the sort of room next to mine, and that DID lead to some pretty steamy encounters."
Minerva was surprised. "Wait, he actually mentions that in his diary?"
"Yeah, The first encounter is right here." Demetria then began to read again.
During my time in Vegas, at least for a while, I slept in a small room next to Demetria's. It had a bed, a table, and a small desk, and it opened directly into Demetria's room. It was small, and Demetria did let me sleep with her, which I often did.
Demetria's room was huge. It was private, and only her, Carla, myself, and 2 or 3 others were allowed to enter. Inside though, it had black carpet, tile floors, a huge fireplace, (electric, as it's often WAY too hot for a fireplace in the desert!) a few columns, a large desk, lots of shelves for books, and other relics, a large HD TV that was mounted to the wall in front of the bed, a set of doors that led to a private balcony with a hot tub, and there was also a closet for Demetria's vast wardrobe as well. It also had a massive bathroom connected to it.
The bathtub was more like a pool, and it was not only in the ground like a pool would be, but it was Egyptian-styled as well. The fittings were gold, the floor was tile, there was a sink, as well as a toilet area, and a huge shower as well. And when I say "a huge shower", I mean that this thing was big enough to hold 10 people! It was like a room made of tile, the floor was stone, and there were multiple shower heads, as well as a few seats. There was a glass door, and a glass wall on one side, and it was ALL custom made for Demetria. However, she willingly shared all of this with her daughter Carla, and of course, Yours Truly.
Even though I always called Demetria "Mom", one would not be incorrect in saying that I was her lover as well. (Carla was my lover too, but that's another story for another time!) She'd never had a husband, and she only liked other males, NOT Futas or Herms. Since she was their Empress, not to mention a physical representation of their Great Goddess, most Futas believed that if ANYONE were to see her in a compromised state, (ie. bathing, using the toilet, getting dressed, or even having sex) they would die. However, I was living proof that this thinking was false. I'd walked in on her doing all these things, (yes, she DID have sex with Carla!) and I was still alive and well. In fact, we often bathed together.
One night, after a hard day's work, Demetria and I were in her bathroom. She was stripping herself of her royal robes so that they could be washed, and I stripped off my smock. We then put them in a laundry basket, and placed them in the bedroom for a servant to take to the laundry room. Demetria then shut the bathroom doors, and locked them. She was now naked, and woe to ANYONE who would see their Goddess in her undressed state!
I was in the shower getting the water warmed up, and then Demetria stepped in to join me. I then wolf-whistled when I saw her. "Wow, lookin' sexy as always Mom!"
She blushed a bit as the steam rose around her. "Oh, stop it Leopard! You're NOT supposed to talk about your Mom like that! I mean yes, my middle name IS Jocasta, but that does NOT make it right!"
"Wait, your middle name really IS Jocasta?" I asked as I got myself wet.
She nodded as she did the same thing. "Yes. Demetria Jocasta Boudica, Empress of the Futanari Empire. However, it's STILL wrong to think like that!" At the same time though, Demetria was blushing, and as stiff as a board, so I knew that she was lying.
I then walked over to her, and pulled her into a hug. I also kissed her for good measure.
"What part of 'It's STILL wrong to think like that!' did you miss Leopard?"
I then let go of her. "I can stop if you want me to. It's NEVER wise to invoke a Goddess's wrath!"
"Well, THAT'S something that we can agree on. However, did I TELL YOU to stop loving me like a lover?"
"Um, no?"
"Then get back over here and love me! I'm your mother, and you HAVE to obey me!"
I did as she asked. "Yes Mom." I then went back to hugging her.
As the water flowed around us, and we were both pretty wet, Demetria looked at me. "And just because you're a Human-Wolf hybrid, as well as my adopted son, the fact that there's almost 20 years between us, not to mention the fact that you're dating my daughter, does NOT mean that I can't have you too! And yes, Carla does know about this, and she's ok with it."
I made a mental note to ask Carla later, but I knew that Demetria wouldn't lie to me about something serious like that. I then leaned up a bit, and locked lips with her.
"Mmm." She moaned as she broke the kiss, "The Futa Legends say that males who have sexual encounters with Goddesses are struck down, but I think that we both know just how much bullshit that really is, right?"
"Yeah, but don't let the other Futas know that; it's bad for discipline! Plus, why would I EVER want to share a Goddess with ANYONE?" I then reached back a bit, and dislodged my soaking wet tail, as it had gotten stuck to my leg.
Demetria blushed a bit. "Oh you little Heartthrob. C'mere!" She then grabbed me, before pushing me against the wall of the shower. I quickly turned the tables though, and pushed her up against the wall of the shower, before kissing her deeply. I also fondled her large, natural 34O breasts as well.
"Mmm, now THAT'S how you treat a Goddess Leopard! She deserves ONLY the best after all!"
I nodded, and then in a move that shocked Demetria, I actually got down on my knees, gently grabbed her member, and slipped it into my mouth!
"OHGOSH!!!!" Demetria had to bite her arm to keep from screaming out in pleasure. I chuckled a bit, and then continued my sloppy blowjob.
"Oh Goddess, you make me feel 20 years younger Baby!"
I then began to fondle her balls, and even gently finger her pussy. It was too much for Demetria though. It had been a VERY long time since she'd last been sexually treated like the Goddess that she was, and she couldn't hold it in. Her dick twitched, and while she blew a nice, creamy load down my throat, she also had a regular orgasm as well!
"OUGGHH!!!! GODDESS!!!!!!" She screamed.
I meanwhile calmly remained in place while she emptied her nuts down my throat. I'd been taught how to suck cock like a pro while I was in the care center the first time, and now those skills were FINALLY being put to some good use! Once I was done swallowing, I then licked Demetria's member clean, before standing back up, and giving her a kiss.
However, Demetria quickly broke it. I then looked into her eyes, and I saw a feral female, wild with need. I could tell that she hadn't had a good f@#k in a LONG time, and she was NOT going to be taking no for an answer if I didn't want to do it!
I began to bend over one of the seats in the shower, but Demetria stopped me. "Oh no, I'm not gonna f@#k you, YOU'RE gonna f@#k ME! It's been WAY too long since I was last f@#ked, and you're gonna give it to me like I need it, or I'm gonna scream rape!"
I knew that she was serious, so I complied. "Sure thing Mom. Just hold still, and I'll make you howl like a she-wolf!"
"And push me up against the glass when you do Baby. I REALLY wanna feel my huge boobies squish against it!"
I laughed a bit. "Sure, that can be arranged Mom!" I then gently walked up behind her, and once I made sure that my member was out of it's sheath and rock hard, I bent her forwards a bit, before I slipped my big red rocket into her warm, gooey pussy.
"Ough! Oh yes Baby! Just like that! My pussy's ACHING for a good f@#k! I haven't had one in YEARS!"
I then began to thrust in and out of her. Demetria wasn't shy about voicing her approval, and I soon had her howling in pleasure. Her boobs were firmly pressed up against the glass of the shower wall, and she would move them back and forth. Just because I had a wolf's dick did NOT mean that I was a light-weight in the size department! My member was EASILY 9in fully erect; 13 if you count my knot!
I was giving it to my Mom like she needed it, and she took it like she needed it too. We had to flip positions just so that she could sit down, as her knees were WAY too weak to allow her to keep standing! She sat on one of the shower seats, and I continued to thrust into her like a wild animal.
"OH GODDESS YES YOU STUD!!! F@#K YOUR MOMMY GOOD!!!!! I can't get pregnant, so you don't have to worry about making a baby inside me, but I know that if I WAS still fertile, I would have a LITTER by the time you were done with me! How on Earth do you have the stamina for this?!"
"That's one rare good thing about Apex; they sure knew how to make it count in the sex department! We have a wolf's sexual appetite, as well as a wolf's power, coupled with a Human's stamina, and a Human's agility. Oh, and we ALSO have the ability to blow a load from both species combined! These balls right here", I held up my gray, furry wolf balls, "Can blow a wolf's load at a Human's semen output, or a Human's load at a wolf's semen output. Or even both at once!"
"FILL ME!!!" Demetria screamed. "PLEASE FILL ME UP!!! I REALLY WANNA HAVE YOUR PUPPIES!!!!"
"Hold on then Mom. Rumor has it that we can pump out up to a half-gallon of semen in one go when we're REALLY pent up......and I'm REALLY pent up right now!"
Demetria only repeated what she said previously, and after pumping into her a few more times, I slipped my knot into her, and began to fill her up. She grabbed my back as I filled her insides with my seed, and I had to grab a rail to steady myself! By the time that I was done spurting, Demetria looked to be about 8 months pregnant with triplets from how much seed I pumped into her! I slipped my knot out of her, and then a HUGE river of my fluids gushed out of her!
"Hot......DAMN Leopard! Just wait til Carla gets a load of you in the bedroom! You've just outperformed, outlasted AND out-cummed EVERY Futa and Herm that I've ever seen! I'm TOTALLY keeping you close to me for ALL of my sexual needs, you sexy Man-Beast!"
I just leaned down and hugged her. "Thanks Mom. You're the best, you Sex-Goddess!"
She blushed while giggling. "Oh you." She then kissed me, and once we were done in the shower, we had just enough strength to exit the bathroom, before crawling into bed.
Both of us were walking a little funny for a while after that, and just like she promised, Demetria kept me close to her for ALL of her sexual needs, just like Carla later would as well.
Minerva looked like she wanted to throw up. "You KNOW that incest is bad, right?"
Demetria just laughed. "Hey, if YOU had a sexy, well-hung hunk of a Man-Beast like that as YOUR son, you KNOW that you would do him too! I AM still a female to a large extent Mini; I have my needs too!"
Minerva put a hand over her face. She was against Demetria's incestuous love-triangle that she had between her, Carla and I, but since Demetria was the Empress, there was very little that she could do about it. "And at least they were quiet about it", She thought. "I mean yes, Leopard and Carla were pretty open about their relationship with each other, but yet I'm glad that they kept the one with Demetria quiet."
"But yet, if you think about it Minerva, Leopard DID earn the right to have sex with me. I mean, he DID save my life 3 times from assassins after all."
Minerva shuddered when she said that. Historical records show that Demetria survived no fewer than 3 assassination attempts post my being in her life, and at least 11 other plots were foiled beforehand. And of those 3, I saved her each time. Once by accident, the second time was just my being lucky, and the 3rd time was my cat-like reflexes.
"Is that mentioned in the diary?"
"Oh yes. All 3 of them are." Demetria then began to read them.
On April 7th, 2025, Demetria was speaking at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona. There was a huge crowd at the open air rally, and I was standing close to her.
Demetria had been talking for a long time, and I was shifting on my feet a bit so that I wouldn't stand with my knees locked together for too long. Little did I suspect though, my movements were frustrating a sniper hiding inside a nearby building. I was in the sniper's way, and they couldn't see to take a shot at Demetria.
"Dammit! Move you little shit!" They mentally yelled at me. Suddenly though, the sniper had an opening. I leaned back a bit, and after getting the go ahead, the sniper took the shot. "BURN IN HELL CUCKY!!!!" They screamed as they fired. Unfortunately for the sniper though, it was not to be.
As the bullet was incoming, I stumbled forwards a bit after I slipped on my sweaty flip-flops, right into the bullet's path! The bullet then tore through my homemade armor that I was wearing, through my right shoulder, and out the backside before hitting Demetria. However, when it hit her, it had already been slowed down, and it hit her thick robes, before tearing through her iPhone that was in a pocket of her robe, and then her metal glasses case before getting lodged into her left breast. Both of us went down, and when someone in the crowd yelled "SNIPER!!!!" It was total pandemonium. The sniper couldn't see to take another shot, and was forced to retreat before they were spotted.
Demetria was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was treated for her wounds, as was I. Both of us were in pain, but yet, we both knew that if I hadn't stumbled when I did, or if I hadn't been wearing my homemade armor, Demetria would have been assassinated. We owed our lives to my sweaty flip-flops, my homemade armor, Demetria's thick robes, her now destroyed iPhone, and her metal glasses case, not to mention her large rack, ALL of which stopped the bullet from reaching her heart. 2 days later, once we were both back in Vegas, my armor, her iPhone, the glasses case, and the bullet were soon put on display.
On July 20th, 2025, Demetria, Carla, Stacy, Face and I were out for a visit in Vale, Colorado. We stopped for lunch at a sandwich shop, and as we were eating at an outside table, I suddenly heard a strange ticking sound.
"Hey, do any of you guys hear a ticking sound?"
Carla looked at me. "Yeah, I hear it too Leopard."
"I don't", Stacy muttered as she ate.
Demetria then looked down at her purse. "I do too, and I think that it's coming from my bag!"
"What?" I then looked, and what I found horrified me. Inside of her purse was a homemade bomb! The device was about the size of a shoe, and was a kitchen timer attached to wires that were connected to a brick of C4!
"BOMB!!!!" Without even thinking, I then grabbed the device, and stopped the timer from ticking. Unfortunately, I then heard an ominous "click!"
"Oh shit!"
"What?"
"When I stopped the timer, it just armed itself to blow. If I let go of this thing, we're ALL gonna meet our Maker today!"
I then sat down, and continued to hold onto the device. Meanwhile, Demetria's security detail radioed the bomb squad, and told them that there was a C4 bomb, and that it was now armed to explode if pressure was released from the bomb's timer.
"Oh f@#k me sideways!" I muttered.
Carla sat next to me as I held the bomb. "Shh, it's ok Leopard. You're gonna be ok. The bomb squad's on their way, and Mom's security detail have cleared the area. If that thing blows, it's just gonna kill us."
I looked over at her. "Carla, get out of here. I do NOT want you to be here if this thing blows!"
She simply wrapped her arms around me. "Not a chance Leopard. You told me that first night we were together that your biggest fear was dying alone. I'm NOT going anywhere! That bomb either gets disarmed, detonated harmlessly, or we're both going into the Afterlife today! But in either case Leopard, look on the bright side. Your keen senses detected the bomb's ticking, and you were able to grab it before it blew. You once again saved Mom's life, and you probably saved a LOT of other lives as well, including mine!"
I then looked at Carla, before I gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Thanks Carla. You're the best!"
She hugged me gently. "No problem Leopard. It's kinda my job as your sister/lover to love you after all!"
A few minutes later, the bomb squad arrived. After they examined the device as I held it, they determined that it would indeed explode if I let go of the timer's knob. However, thanks to their using liquid nitrogen, they were able to freeze the timer's inner components, which allowed me to let go of the bomb safely. It was then carried to the bomb squad truck, and after being placed inside of the V-shaped container, the bomb was detonated harmlessly. No one was injured, and once again, I had just saved Demetria's life.
"You did it again Leopard!" Demetria whispered as she hugged me on the train ride back to Vegas. "You saved my life!"
I hugged her back. "I just did what I had to do Mom. You and Carla mean the world to me, so I did it for you two. Stacy and Face owing me their lives is just a bonus!"
Demetria giggled at this, and we both sat back for the rest of the trip, little knowing about the upcoming 3rd and final assassination attempt to date.
The 3rd and final incident came the closest of the 3 to killing Demetria, (who was the primary target), myself, (the secondary target), and Carla, (the tertiary target.) The injuries and damages it caused were so severe that they never fully healed, or were ever fully repaired.
On October 3rd, 2025, Demetria, Carla and I, as well as a few security staff, were in the small kitchen on Level 3 of the Luxor. This kitchen was for Demetria's private use, and it greatly resembled the kitchen in an average home. Demetria had this kitchen for her own use when she wanted to cook for herself, and Carla and I used it too. Demetria was at the stove, Carla was by the door with 2 security officers, and I was sitting at one of the counters drinking a glass of juice. All seemed right with the world, but suddenly, I began to smell a strange smell.
"Hey, does anyone else smell something?"
"I smell sausage and eggs. But what do you smell Leopard?"
I looked over at my Mom. "I'm smelling gas Mom."
"Maybe Carla farted!"
Carla then spoke up. "No Mom, he means natural gas. I'm smelling it too! Something's wrong here!"
I then got up from my stool at the counter, and Demetria, upon smelling the gas as well, quickly turned off the stove. However, before anyone could say anything, we all heard a loud hissing sound coming from close by, and when Demetria opened a cabinet, she saw where the gas line came in, but to her horror, the line had a hole in it, and an electrical device was attached to the pipe where the hole was! One small spark would kill us all, and when I saw the device begin to spark, my reflexes took over.
"GAS EXPLOSION!!!!" I screamed. I then grabbed Demetria, and without even thinking twice, in 2 leaps, I drug her up onto the counter by the window above the sink, before jumping through it! I jumped through that window back first, dragging Demetria behind me. The glass cut my back, but I didn't care.
Back inside the kitchen, Carla and the 2 guards knew what was coming next, so they all got out of the kitchen, and Carla slammed the kitchen door, but before she and the 2 security guards could run very far, the explosion started.
"GET BEHIND THE COLUMNS!!!!" Carla screamed. The hallway that they were in was lined with columns that helped hold up the ceiling. Carla fully got behind one in time, but the others weren't so lucky. The explosion tore through the door, and a jet of flames shot through the hallway. Carla was semi-safe behind her column, as was one of the security officers (though she was burned a bit), but the other wasn't fast enough, and was instantly incinerated.
The explosion was so powerful that it tore open the walls of that hallway, and quickly set them ablaze. Luckily, a few servants who were close by were able to grab Carla and the surviving security officer before they burned alive, and pulled them to safety. The gas explosion and resulting fire triggered the fire-suppression sprinklers in that area, and those were soon hard at work on tackling the blaze. The palace's gas supply was shut off, and the fire brigade was also quickly on the scene.
Many people stopped and stared at the visible smoke and flames coming from the Luxor, and many assumed that it was a terrorist attack. However, what they didn't know was that they owed one male's fast reflexes their thanks for their Empress still being alive.
Once we were through that window, in spite of the glass cutting my back and arms, Demetria and I fell nearly 2 and a half stories down onto the ground. Luckily for us, we landed in a large bed for desert plants that was filled with sand. Unluckily for us though, we still had the gas explosion to contend with.
I managed to flip us over just before we hit so that while Demetria did hit the ground first, her body protected me, which in turn allowed me to flip us over, so that I protected her from what was to come. When the gas explosion happened, followed by a secondary explosion, flames and debris were blown out everywhere in the section outside of that kitchen, as well as the immediate area surrounding it outside. I shielded Demetria from the blast and the debris, some of which got impaled into my back and limbs.
In her shock, Demetria managed to roll me off of herself, and I landed on my side next to her. I was cut, bleeding, bruised, and had metal shrapnel and glass fragments in my back, arms, and legs. I was also burned from the blast. My tail was almost hairless, and I had a chunk of my left wolf ear blown off as well. Demetria was cut and bruised, but otherwise unharmed. She then saw me weakly open my eyes and look at her as emergency crews closed in on our location.
"M-mom?" I weakly muttered.
"Leopard? Leopard! Are you alright?!"
"Please........t-take care of Radar for me.........She........means the world to me......." My eyes then closed.
"NO!!!! LEOPARD!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!" Demetria then broke down crying.
Just then, the emergency crews reached us. At first, they tried to take Demetria to safety, and pretty much leave me to die, but Demetria was having NONE of it!
"FORGET ME, I'M FINE!!!!! SAVE MY SON!!!!"
"My Empress, he's dead. There's NOTHING that we can...."
"PULSE!!!!" One of the EMT's screamed. "I'VE GOT A PULSE!!!! HE'S STILL ALIVE!!!! GET ME A STRETCHER OVER HERE PRONTO!!!!" One was brought, and I was gently picked up, and placed onto it. After being taken to an ambulance, I was rushed to St. Boudica's General Hospital, as were others who were injured during the blast.
I was sent to the OR upon my entry to the hospital, where the surgeons removed the glass, and other shrapnel from my body.
"How is he?" Demetria asked the first nurse that she could find after my surgeries were done.
"EXTREMELY lucky, that's how he is! He'll make it, and we think that he's going to make a full recovery! The worst of it was the shrapnel and glass fragments, and the burns weren't as bad as we originally thought. And yes, while it will take time for the fur on his tail to grow back, we were able to repair his damaged ear, and he's all stitched up. He'll still be pretty out of it for a while, but you owe him your life, My Empress. It was his quick thinking that saved you."
Demetria nodded. "I know. And can I go see him?"
"He's still passed out, but he might be coming around here before too long. Room 307."
"Thank you!" Demetria then raced off to Room 307. When she arrived, she saw me lying on the bed. My vital signs were normal, and while I was patched and stitched up, I was still there, and was going to make a full recovery.
"L-Leopard? Can you hear me Sweetie?"
I then opened my eyes, and looked at her. "M-Mom? Is that you?"
She knelt beside my bed with tears in her eyes. "Yes, I'm right here Leopard!" She gently held one of my hands. "I'm right here!"
I smiled at her. "Thank God. Looks like I saved you again."
"Yes, yes you did Leopard! You saved my life, as well as Carla's life, and the lives of others. You're a hero!"
I then lay back on the bed. I was still in a state of shock at what had just happened. I had just saved Demetria's life for a 3rd time, and I'd just survived a gas explosion to boot!
In total, one security officer died in the blast, 2 other servants later died of their injuries, and 45 others were wounded. Damage to the Luxor itself was confined to only 3 levels, and even then, it was able to be repaired. The damages were in the million dollar range though, and it still did take a long time to repair. The terrorists behind the attack were never caught, though this is because they were gunned down in a shootout less than a week later. All 4 of them died, and would NEVER cause any trouble ever again!
I did make a full recovery by mid-November, and for the last month and a half that I was with Demetria, it was life as usual.
Demetria looked up from the diaries. "3 times. That's how many times he saved my life Minerva. Once from an assassin, and twice from terrorists!"
"Yes, he truly was one of a kind. He did indeed save your life, and I will admit, if he wasn't in your life, then you most likely wouldn't still be alive today! But, thanks to his actions you are, and so are Carla, and all the others that he saved with his quick thinking. And I for one am MORE then glad that he did too Dem. If he hadn't, then you know as well as I do that someone else would be Empress right now, and they would most likely NOT be as kind, caring, and benevolent as you are!"
Demetria laughed at this, but yet it was more of a nervous laugh. She knew that there were those out there who sought to take her rule, and she would NEVER allow it to happen!
"Although Dem?"
"Yeah?"
"Leopard DOES talk about the happier times, right?"
Demetria nodded. "Oh yes, he talks about it all, from the happy times, to his 'founding' of the Gent Maintenance Company, to Stacy and Face, to even his wedding to Carla. Heck, he even talks about the times he became the 'Vegas Shotgun Slinger!"
"Wait, he even talks about his time as the Vegas Shotgun Slinger?!"
"Yep! He talks about it all in here!"
"And can you show me a bit more? I still have time."
Demetria nodded. "Sure Minerva!" She then kept reading........
(WARNING!!!!! Chapter(s) contains RAMPANT sex and nudity, as well as other adult scenes. Due to the IMMENSE significance to the story, it all goes into these chapter(s), and not a "0.5" chapter. It's still important, so PLEASE read!)
Minerva sighed a bit. "And if I had to guess, I'd say that Carla was the most commonly mentioned thing in these diaries. Am I right?"
Demetria nodded. "Yes, you're right. Leopard loved that ginger-haired daughter/niece of mine, and she loved him back just as much. Sure, maybe their first meeting was a bit awkward, as was their first time having sex, but they soon grew perfectly inseparable. His love for Carla, and her love for him, were some of the strongest forms of love that I'd ever seen, and they proved my point perfectly. I long believed that Males, Females and Herms could live together on equal footing, and seeing them together gave me hope of that."
"And what's an example of something he wrote about her?"
Demetria looked back at the diaries. "Well, this entry here was written the day after they had sex for the first time." She then began to read.
I woke up, still in Carla's bed. I rolled over to face Carla, but I then saw that she wasn't there.
"Huh? Where did she go?"
I then looked over, and I saw her sitting nude at her vanity mirror, brushing her long, soft ginger hair. She was also softly humming to herself. I then sat up in bed, and Carla looked up and saw me in the mirror.
She smiled. "Oh, hey Leopard."
I smiled back. "Hey Carla. Did you sleep good last night?"
"Yeah, I slept good. You?"
"The same." I then noticed that Carla seemed to be sad. She was trying to smile, but yet I could also see the small tears forming at the edges of her soft green eyes.
"What's wrong Carla?"
"N-nothing. Nothing's wrong Leopard."
"No, something's wrong Carla. You wouldn't be sad if nothing was wrong."
"No.......ok, yes......something is wrong. I'm a freak!"
I sighed. "Carla, we've been over this, you're NOT a freak!"
"Yes I am! There's NEVER been another ginger Herm besides me! It's NOT normal! Stacy, Jasmine, Face and so many others say that I'm a freak, and that I'm ugly."
I sighed, knowing that it was time for some positive reinforcement. I then got out of bed, and after taking a moment to stretch, I walked over to Carla, pulled up a chair, and sat nude behind her. I then gently put my hands on her freckled shoulders.
"Carla, whoever told you that you're a freak, and are ugly, is either stupid, lying, or have NO IDEA what they're talking about! You're QUITE the opposite!"
"No I'm not. You're just saying that!"
I then lovingly wrapped my arms around her. "Carla, you're more beautiful than you even realize. Plus, if I thought that you were ugly, or a freak, I would NOT be loving on you as much as I do! Ginger girls are now so rare, and in fact, you were the first one that I've ever met! There's so much about you that's beautiful that I hardly even know where to BEGIN!"
Carla half-turned to look at me. "Like what?"
I gently grabbed her hair. "Like these thick, gorgeous ginger locks. You're not a redhead Carla, you're a TRUE ginger! Plus your soft green eyes, your really nice skin....."
"That's splotched with freckles! I literally have splotches of pink to dark freckles all over my ENTIRE body! Most prominent on my face, lower arms, shoulders, and of course, the tops of my tits and ass."
I then gently held up Carla's large, all-natural 20G breasts. "Yes, and when did I EVER say that I didn't like your big freckled boobies Carla?"
Carla couldn't help but crack up when I said that. "Pffffft!!!!!" She then burst out laughing. "Oh Leopard, that's HILARIOUS! I've NEVER had them called that before! Oh, you're just too much sometimes!"
I nodded. "I know, and I'm not done yet. You've also got this cute, pudgy belly......."
"Which I SHOULDN'T have! I'm still a GENERAL in the Futa Army! We're NOT supposed to be pudgy!"
"You still have some nice muscles too though Carla. Plus, I LIKE a little extra meat on the bones. It's a healthy blend of muscles and a bit of pudginess, not to mention these KILLER curves!" I then began to rub her curves. "Porn stars would KILL for curves like these Babe!"
Carla was blushing. "Ngh, stop it Leopard! I'm gonna get a stiffy!"
I then felt my own erection poking Carla in the back. "So am I!" I thought. To Carla, I said, "Well then, I'll just help you take care of that too!" I then began to feel lower. "And of course, the carpet matches the drapes, and you're also the first girl that I've EVER gotten to see with ginger pubes Carla. And your dripping wet ginger pussy, not to mention your dick; this beautiful piece of uncut Herm meat. And do you know what I call these?" I gently began to fondle her balls.
Carla was now as stiff as a board. "Ngh.....what do you call them?"
I smirked. "Ginger nuts!"
Carla then turned around to face me. I then saw that she had a smirk on her face. "Leopard. You. Me. Bed. Now! You gave me this stiffy, now you're gonna take care of it! And once you've done that, I'll help you take care of yours too!" She then grabbed me, and threw me onto the bed just behind us, before jumping in after me.
"And you know Leopard, a rusty roof equals a wet basement, but do you know about gingers?"
"Should I?"
She smirked as she licked her lips. "Our roofs are so rusty that our basements are FLOODED! You may sleep with a brunette, and you may sleep with a blond, heck you might even sleep with a redhead if you're lucky, but you'll NEVER sleep with a ginger around! She then pushed me onto my back so that my rock-hard member was pointing right at her. "And do you know what's the difference between me and a mosquito?"
"One sucks blood, and the other sucks souls?"
"Nope! A mosquito will stop sucking after you slap it!" She then put her lips over my member, before swallowing it whole!
"OUGH!!!!" I groaned. I then began to slap at Carla, (completely unintentionally) due to the pleasure overload, but true to her word, she never stopped sucking. I unloaded several HUGE loads down her throat before she finally stopped sucking, and lay next to me, smiling sweetly.
"See Babe? With me by your side, you'll NEVER be wanting for sex EVER again! I mean sure, Mom can take care of you too, but let's face it, she's not quite as young as we are!"
I then looked at her as she lay snuggled next to me. "Carla, do you know what you remind me of?"
"No, what?"
"You remind me of a Kitsune."
"What's that again?"
"Oh, it's a Japanese Fox-Spirit. According to legend, they're mischievous spirits that appear in the form of a woman with fox-like ears, and a fox like tail. They seek to seduce men, and have offspring with them. And no, before you ask, I'm NOT a Kitsune!"
Carla snuggled close to me. "A Kitsune? I like it. And you're right, it DOES seem to fit me pretty well! Plus, I'll bet that I'd look pretty cute with fox ears and a fox tail. Oh, and while we're on the subject, what would Mom, Stacy and Face be?"
I nodded. "Yeah, you would look cute with ears and a tail Carla. And in order, Mom would be an Oni, Stacy would be a Succubus, and Face would be an Incubus. An Oni is like a motherly goddess, and while some are evil, most are good. Mom would DEFINITELY fall into the 'good' category! A Succubus is a demonic creature that feeds on the love, lust and souls of Human males. They're evil, and only seek to satisfy their own perverted desires. And an Incubus is a Male who's had his soul, love and lust sucked out of him by a Succubus. He's wholly devoted to her, and to her alone. He lives on as a broken, empty shell, never deviating from what his Mistress wants."
Carla nodded. "Yes, those last two really DO fit Stacy and Face like a glove!" We both then laughed about this for a while longer.
I then looked at her. "Hey Carla?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna go for the ride of your life? I'll even swallow your load if you want me to."
She smirked. "Oh yes. As long as you're willing to take care of my stiffies, I ALWAYS have room for another round in me!" She then climbed up onto me, and after coaxing my dick out of its sheath again, she put it inside of her dripping pussy, and went to town on it!
"Why does he ALWAYS have to go into such graphic detail about his sex life?!"
Demetria laughed a bit. "Well remember Mini, these WERE his private diaries, so he most likely NEVER meant for anyone to read them besides himself!"
Minerva shifted a bit, before accidentally bumping a model ship on Demetria's desk. The model was of a river steamboat that was about 1 1/2 feet long. It had 3 decks, and was painted white with green trim, had 2 tall black smokestacks, and what made it slightly unusual was the fact that it had both side paddle wheels, and a rear paddle-wheel. The name "American Queen" was painted on the side of the ship in red letters.
"Oh whoops! Almost bumped this ship! Where did this come from again?"
"Oh, the American Queen was a gift from Leopard for Christmas 2025. He made it for me."
"Well, a VERY fine piece of work on his part!"
"Yes, it was. Leopard was always thinking of me, and things that he could do to make my life better. He cooked for me, cleaned a few things, and helped me when needed, in addition to his other cleaning and repair duties. I kept him close to me as often as I could, and in addition to being a source of comfort and relief, he could also offer useful insight to situations that I was facing. And if you remember correctly, it was all thanks to my hearing his stories that I signed into law the Male Protection Act, the Transparency Act, the Cohabitation Clause, and other laws that protected the males and females living under the Futa Empire, all while holding Futas accountable for their actions."
"And didn't he start his own little pretend company, or something?"
"Yes, yes he did. He created the 'Gent Maintenance Company', as he did cleaning and repair work in the palace. These entries here." She then began to read again.
Most of my duties while living under Demetria involved cleaning, and other maintenance work. The tasks were simple enough, and I had a daily list to complete. I added a tag to the front of my smock that said "Gent" on it in black letters, and added the "Gent Logo" to my toolboxes, mop buckets, vacuums and cleaning carts. It was hard work, but yet it did have its rewards.
Every now and again, Mom would need something, and I would bring it to her. Sometimes she would need my help with something, and sometimes she just wanted me close to her.
"Leopard?"
"Yeah Mom?" I asked through my radio that I carried with me while I worked.
"Can you come up to my office? I need you."
"Sure Mom. On my way!" I then went up to her office.
When I arrived there a few minutes later, I found her sitting at her desk. She looked exhausted, and she seemed MORE than happy to see me.
"Come here Sweetie. Let Mommy hold you."
I complied, and once I reached her, I climbed into her lap, and just let her hold me close to her.
"Mmm, having you close to me is so soothing Sweetie. I can just feel the stresses of the day melt away when I have you in my arms."
I sighed happily. "Yeah, I know Mom. Just as I feel so safe in your arms as well. Sure, there are those who want to try something, but one look at my collar makes them think twice!" (I still wore a collar while living with Demetria. It had my name, and her contact info on it, and it was dark blue, so as to mark me as Royal Property, and therefore subject to Demetria's "Divine Protection". Basically, if they messed with me, Demetria would find out, and their lives would end swiftly!)
Demetria giggled a bit. "Yes, I know that they do Sweetie. You have my 'Divine Protection', as well as my 'Divine Blessing'. You are the offspring of a Goddess, and are therefore entitled to all of the perks that come with it. Oh, and Sweetie?"
"Yeah Mom?"
"It's been a REALLY hard day for Mommy, so could you PLEASE bend over and let Mommy take you? I REALLY need to get a few things out of my system!"
I nodded. "Sure Mom." I then removed my tunic, and bent over the desk.
After Demetria stood up, she removed her own robes, and after lubing up, she lifted my tail, and began to gently prod my tight hole. "Are..... Are you ready for this Sweetie?"
"Yeah, I'm ready Mom. Whenever you're ready, take me."
"Ok, and I'll be careful with you Sweetie. Yes, I know that Carla's done this for you plenty of times, but I'm still going to be gentle, at least at first." She then began to slowly push into me.
I made very few sounds while she did so, and soon I'd taken her full length to the hilt. Yes, her balls were touching mine, but she WAS a Herm, so it was therefore NOT gay! She then pulled back out, before thrusting in again.
"You doing ok Sweetie?"
"Yep. I'm good Mom."
She then kept going. For the next number of minutes, Demetria thrusted, and I thrusted back to meet her. She did ravage me, but yet I knew that this was her getting the stresses of the day out of her system. Eventually, Demetria was getting close to the end.
"Ngh.....I'm....I'm getting close Baby. I'm.....I'm gonna fill you up....'kay?"
"S-sure Mom."
Demetria then thrusted a few more times, before she buried herself deep inside of me, and began to blast her thick, creamy load into me. She moaned out loud as she did so, and after a minute or so longer, she was spent. However, she wasn't done yet. After pulling out of me, she had me turn around, and I then gently slid my member into her mouth, and while I held her head, I began to slowly face-f@#k her.
I tried to last a while longer, but Demetria was just too much of a pro. I then pushed into her mouth a bit farther, before blowing my seed into her belly. She expertly swallowed every spurt, and once I was spent, she rubbed her now slightly pudgier belly, before sitting back down at her desk, and once I was sitting in her lap, we both got back to work finishing up Demetria's workload for the day.
"Ok, are there any entries in here that DON'T involve sex?! This is getting ridiculous!"
Demetria laughed a bit. "What, not enjoying the steamy sex scenes Minerva?"
"NO! However, I WOULD like to know more about his relationship with one 'Sally Face', so could you PLEASE find those entries?"
Demetria flipped through the diaries. "He mentions Face a lot, and never in a good way. And why would he? Face was NOTHING but a brain-dead tool in Stacy's hands, just like he is today. Carla once told me that Face wouldn't know what free will was if it bit him on the ass, and after seeing what he's done in the past, I'm pretty inclined to agree with her!"
Minerva laughed a bit, and then Demetria found what she was looking for. "Leopard and Face. No sex. Here we go." She then began to read.
Face was a constant during my life in Vegas, and I do NOT say that in a good way! I HATED that tiny, blue haired, pigtail wearing, anorexic, mask-wearing, sniveling little freak-show, as did most others.
When I first met Face, his face and most of his head were covered in bandages, leaving only slots for his eyes, nose, and mouth. His blue hair stuck out in places, but it was largely hidden. He was also barefoot, and wore a black smock. He was often seen wandering aimlessly through the halls of the Luxor, silently watching everything. It was clear that he was one of Stacy's spies, and I finally decided to probe him for some information using the same tactic that he used on me back when we first met.
"Hey, you!" I asked him as I was vacuuming a floor.
He looked up from where he was standing. "Me?"
"Yeah, you. I think that it's time we got off on the right foot with Stacy not close by."
"What does that mean? And one wrong move from you WILL result in death!"
I rolled my eyes. "Kid, I could kill you, hide the body, and no one would EVER know what happened to you, but fortunately for you, I just want to talk. For starters, how old are you?"
"I'm 19. I always was a bit on the small side though."
"No kidding. You're what, barely 4'5?"
"No, I'm 4'10!"
I smirked. "You know that anything under 5' counts as being a midget, right? But anyway, my biggest questions. First of all, what IS your real name, as I know that 'Sally Face' is just the name that Stacy gave you."
He shrugged. "I don't know. I can't remember really anything about my past aside from how I was injured. I was a US soldier, I fought in WW5 and WW6, and then I got blown up. Stacy found me, and took me in. Everything else is a blur."
"So you got blown up in combat? Is that how you lost your face?"
"Yes. Although, I didn't lose my face; it's still there. It IS however EXTREMELY scarred and burned, and it's taking a long time to heal. The bandages will come off soon though, and be replaced."
"Replaced with what?"
"My first prosthetic face!"
I put a hand over my face. I knew that Face probably wasn't as injured as he was led to believe that he was, and that Stacy was doing something to keep him tiny, weak and injured.
"Face, you need help. Like SERIOUS mental help!"
He stared at me. "Yeah, and so do YOU Wolf-Freak! Why do you have a wolf's dick anyway? Carla got a bestiality fetish?"
I glared daggers at him. "No, I'm an Apex-Wolf. We were the first attempt at super-soldiers. Oh, and at least I can ACTUALLY get my dick up in the bedroom! I overheard Stacy railing to one of her friends about how she has to give you an overdose of Viagra just to get your tiny pee-pee to stand up! 'It's not even worth it for that little 2-incher that he has!' as she said!"
"Oh? And how big is YOURS?!"
I smirked. "EASILY 9, almost 10in, and 13 if you count my knot! I'm on-par with most Herms, to say NOTHING of Futas! I've heard that even Stacy is only 7in long, so that means that I'm even bigger than her! Tell your mistress THAT, you little shit!"
Face then ran off crying, and I laughed while getting back to work. Little did I know at the time though that that conversation was what sparked the animosity between myself and Face that would linger for YEARS!
I had a few more run-ins with Face, but then he disappeared for a while. The next time that I saw him though, he was looking a bit healthier, and was a bit taller, and a bit bigger than last time. I saw that his bandages had been removed, and replaced with a tiny pink face mask, and while he did still have his black smock, his blue hair was no longer in pigtails.
"Why is your hair blue exactly Face?"
"Cuz Mistress Stacy wanted it to be blue! Oh, and just so you know, I'm now 5'4, AND I weigh 115lbs now!"
"Really? Wow, that's pretty impressive! Too bad I'm 5'10 1/2, AND weigh 156lbs! Fight me shrimp, I DARE you!"
"I don't have to fight you, I'll just get Stacy to do that!"
"And why's your mask PINK?!"
"Because this one is just a prototype! My REAL one will be white once it's finished!"
"And when will that be? Anytime in the next century?"
He glared at me. "You think that you're so big and bad over there Leopard. And what kind of lame name is ‘Leopard’ anyway? What's your REAL name?"
"Tell you what, I'll tell you MY real name if you tell me YOURS!"
"I already told you, I don't KNOW what my real name is!"
I sighed. "Yeah, and neither do I. Anyway, as for WHY I was named 'Leopard', I'll tell you. Empress Demetria herself gave me that name after she adopted me, and gave me her Divine Blessing. She named me in honor of the Amur Leopard, the rarest, and most endangered sub-species of Leopard in the world. Currently, only 4 are known to exist, and all 4 of them are in the Vegas Zoo. Once my Goddess has an opening in her schedule, she promised to take me to see the beautiful creatures for whence I was named."
"I STILL say that 'Leopard' is a shit name."
"No, SALLY is much worse! You have a GIRL'S name Face! Oh, look out for SALLY! He'll REALLY be dangerous! What's he gonna do? Well, his name will make you die laughing!"
"You........you.........BITCH!!!!" Face suddenly screamed. "I'll....!!!!"
I held up the hose of my vacuum that I was using, and pointed it at him. "One wrong move and I'll vacuum you to death Shrimp!"
Face of course went screaming for Stacy, which led to ANOTHER confrontation! On and off for the next number of weeks, Face would ALWAYS try to get on my nerves, and THEN go running for Stacy when I came for his ass. Finally, one day, Demetria had enough of Face's out of control antics, and told me that I had her permission to beat his ass. The next time he threw a soda can at me, it. Was. ON!
"Alright, that's it, get your ass back here!" I began to chase him through the Luxor. "How dare you throw that can at me?! Just because you can move your stick legs faster doesn't mean that I'm not gonna outrun you and kick your ass! Come here you little bitch! Your ass is MINE! GET OVER HERE!!!!!"
FINALLY, I managed to corner him, and after knocking him down, I beat the snot out of him. I even tried to rip his little pink face mask off, but it was almost like that thing was held on with super glue! I yanked and I yanked, but it wouldn't come off!
Finally though, I just gave up. I did let Face back up, but I gave him a VERY stern warning. "This was your last warning Face. Mess with me again, and I'm gonna snap some bones! Got it?!"
"Yeah, I got it. And just you wait Leopard! One day I'll be strong enough to take you on, and when I do, you will be CRYING!!!!"
"Really? Well then, I'll just have to make sure to get to the one place where you CAN'T follow me!"
"Oh? And where's THAT?!"
"The pool! You can't follow me, cuz you can't get your face wet!" I then laughed, and left Face to find his own way back to Stacy.
"I can still remember filling out the paperwork from Leopard beating up Face that day. That was BRUTAL!"
Demetria sighed a bit. "Yeah. Face only lived to see another sunrise because Leopard decided NOT to kill him that day. Face did behave himself for a while after that beating, although he did still try and hit Leopard occasionally. Of course, Leopard simply made good on his promise, and whenever he was able, he would head out to the pool, and jump into the water, DARING Face to follow him! Face never did of course, and Leopard would laugh at him."
"And let me guess. Up next you're gonna read the parts about the Luxor pools?"
"Oh yes. I need a good refresher on that! Those pools were where some of Carla, Leopard, and I's, as well as Radar's, happiest memories were made!"
Minerva just put a hand over her face, prompting Demetria to simply read those pages to herself.
Behind the Luxor, hidden away behind high walls, was an area known as the Pool Deck. Once home to the hotel's pools, it now contained a series of interconnected swimming pools, a few hot tubs, fountains, a diving board, and under Demetria, it also gained a sauna, spa, and even a dive bar! Better still, it was ALL for the Royal Family's private use, with all other uses by appointment only! Demetria, Carla, Stacy, Face, Radar and I could use it, although Face never swam due to being unable to get his face wet, and neither did Stacy, as she would much rather get a full-body tan in a deckchair. For all of us though, the Pool Deck was clothing optional, and those of us who swam rarely, (if EVER!) wore any swimsuits! We ALWAYS skinny-dipped, and since Demetria did it, that made it ok for the rest of us!
Even though she was getting older, Demetria's skills with swimming were impressive. She could swim quite a few laps, hold her breath for up to 2 minutes, float on her back for ages, and even perform a perfect swan dive. Carla and I swam too, and we grew to love the water so much that Demetria often referred to us as her "Little Otters".
"Be careful!" She warned us. "If you swim too much, your hands and feet might start getting webbed, and you might grow fur and tails!" (Even though I had paws instead of feet, but that's besides the point!) We knew that she was only kidding, but we still laughed anyway.
Oh, and since Vegas IS in the middle of the desert, sunscreen is CRITICAL! NEVER forget to put it on, and NEVER forget to reapply it! Every week there were stories in the news about someone being rushed to the hospital with 3rd degree sunburns because they neglected to put on sunscreen.
Demetria, Carla and I would always use the waterproof kind, and we would also ALWAYS rub it onto each other. From head to toe we would slather each other in waterproof sunscreen, and I even had to put sunscreen on the sensitive flesh inside of my wolf ears to keep it from burning!
One afternoon, Demetria was swimming with Carla, and Stacy was relaxing nude on a deckchair, when all of a sudden, I came "running" out onto the Pool Deck in exaggerated slow motion. Face was behind me doing the same thing, and it was clear that he was chasing me, but since no one was allowed to run on the Pool Deck, we were doing the best that we could!
"GET BACK HERE LEOPARD!!!!"
"Not today Sally Boi!" I then ripped off my tunic, and jumped nude into the pool. I then looked back at Face standing on the pool edge glaring at me.
"OH COME ON!!! NO FAIR!!!"
"Yes it is!" Carla chirped as she swam up next to me. "All's fair in War and Love Sally, please remember that!" She then turned me towards her, and began to kiss me. I kissed her back.
"Mmm, is that a stiffy I feel Carla?"
She giggled. "I dunno, you tell me Babe! And is that 'Little Leopard' poking me in the stomach?"
I then burst out laughing, while Face looked like he wanted to throw up. "Gross! Get a ROOM you two! NOBODY wants to see that!"
"I do!" Demetria called from the diving board. "I LOVE to see them get their rocks off with each other! It's SO hot!"
Face just stood there shaking in rage. In fact, he was so enraged that he wasn't thinking straight. He then walked over to Stacy's chair where she was currently sleeping, grabbed the back of it, and slid it forwards just enough to dump Stacy into the pool! The water woke her up pretty fast, and when she surfaced, she was FURIOUS!!!!
"WHO THE F@#K JUST DUNKED ME?!?!?!?!" She screamed as she swam in the water. She looked over at Demetria, Carla and I, but we were on the other side of the pool. She then looked in front of her, and she saw Face in is usual black smock, blue hair in pigtails, and pink face mask. He'd walked over to the edge of the pool to help Stacy out, but that proved to be a BIG mistake!
"WHY YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!!!!"
In one lightning fast motion, Stacy reached the edge of the pool, grabbed Face by his ankles as he tried to flee, and in a fluid motion, chucked him over her shoulders, and backwards into the pool! Demetria, Carla and I were laughing our heads off at what we were seeing, until we all realized that we had no idea if Face could actually swim! However, a few moments later, he burst up through the water, coughing and screaming about how his face was burning!
"OH GOD IT HURTS!!! IT'S BURNING MY FACE!!! I CAN'T GET MY FACE WET!!!!! HELP ME STACY!!!!"
Stacy merely glared at him. "You should have thought of that BEFORE you dunked me in the pool! You reap what you sow Sally!"
Face then ripped his mask off, and that did seem to help with the pain a bit. He then swam over to the edge of the pool, leaving his mask behind, before climbing out, and sitting on the edge of the pool.
I then swam over and grabbed the mask. "Thanks for the mask Face! It's MINE now!"
"KEEP IT!!! I don't care! My REAL ONE should be arriving any day now!"
I then looked at the pink mask in my hands. I shuddered momentarily as I thought back to the night that Face murdered Captain Velma Nelson while wearing that same mask, but I SHOVED these thoughts out of my mind. I had the mask, Face got Karma, and Stacy was miserable. On top of that, Demetria, Carla and I were about to have a threesome in one of the saunas, so overall it was a mission complete!
"Whatever happened to that pink mask anyway? Is it still around?"
Demetria pointed to the wall to Minerva's right. "It's in the frame hanging on the wall to your right. I kept it for Leopard, and Face has never shown any interest in wanting it back; not that I even WOULD let him have it if he wanted it!"
Minerva looked at the mask. It was still pink, and it had 2 visible leather straps to hold it onto the wearer's face. The mask had a neutral expression on its face, and the empty eyeholes seemed rather creepy.
"And this is rather strange."
"What is?"
Demetria pointed. "This one part in Diary 4. Leopard started to write something, and then just broke off. He resumes his next entry the same day, but I find it so bizarre that he just broke off right here for seemingly no reason."
"And what does it say?"
"'Last night I saw it. It was horrible. It was........No, I can't. I SWORE that I would never.........I CAN'T! I WON'T! NEVER!!!! It's all over..........No, it's not...........DIE YOU SICK F@#K!!!!!!' And that's it. It just breaks off after he said 'DIE YOU SICK F-bomb'. I've read through ALL of his other entries after this one, and he NEVER mentions this one again, or even any clues as to what he might have been thinking."
Minerva thought for a second. "You know what I think Dem? Remember that one Palace Guard, Captain Velma Nelson? The one who was murdered?"
"Yeah, so tragic."
"Well, what if Leopard saw something, but was then threatened to keep his mouth shut? Remember, we DID find him unconscious in that stairwell after he seemingly tripped in the dark and fell down. Strange, ESPECIALLY considering how he was going UP the stairs at the time! I'll bet that he saw something, and then someone caught him trying to write about it in his diary. After they threatened his life, he thought that he was going to die. Once he realized that he was safe though, he told whoever it was to die, before ending the entry. From then on, he NEVER mentioned the incident again out of fear of what might happen to him."
Demetria thought about that. "Yes, that is a possibility Minerva. Leopard always did seem somehow.....more distant after that night, at least at certain times. Perhaps it really was because of him living in fear."
Demetria then flipped a page in a different diary. "Oh hey, here's our trip out to Desert Lake/Lake Mead during the Summer of 2025!" She then began to read again.
One day in July, Demetria decided that she wanted to take a vacation. She said that she wanted to spend the weekend at a body of water, but yet one that wasn't too far away from Vegas. At first, I thought that she was crazy. We were in the middle of the Mojave Desert; where were you POSSIBLY going to find a body of water?! However, I was soon to get my answer.
As we were driving out there, Demetria told Carla and I that we were going to a place called "Desert Lake".
"It's a man-made reservoir located between Desert Land, (Nevada) and Big Desert (Arizona). It's become pretty popular in recent months since the war ended, and there's even a dam close by supplying Vegas with hydroelectric power! Rumor has it that the dam, Ancient Dam, is even one of the largest dams in the world!"
All of the pieces were there, but yet due to a LOT having changed since the past wars, I was unable to put them together at the time. I would get that chance soon though.
Once we arrived at the private lakeside lodge where we would be staying, a few servants took the luggage inside, while Demetria, Carla and I stood on a lower deck, and looked out over the lake. Stacy and Face were with us, but they would much rather be inside.
"I still can't shake the feeling that I know where we are, and that I've been here before during the previous wars."
Carla looked at me. "Well, if so, I'm sure that it'll come to you soon Leopard. Your memory should start kicking in before we leave if you really have been here before."
I nodded. "I hope so Carla."
Demetria then looked at both of us. "So, do you two want to head out on the boat today, or do you want to wait until tomorrow?"
I was surprised. "Wait, boat?"
"Yes. I bought a speedboat for my lakeside lodge here. It's made for towing inner tubes and water skis, and can even be used for parasailing! I know that Stacy and Face want to stay inside for now, but do you two want to go out on the lake today?"
I looked first at Carla, and then at Mom. "Sure, if that's what you want Mom. It REALLY sounds like fun!"
"Oh, I'm TOTALLY in Mom! No swimsuits, right?"
Demetria nodded, smirking. "Yep, no swimsuits; just the skin that we were born with!"
I was about to ask if that was a good idea, but Carla then pointed to a sign that said that the lake was clothing optional. I also saw plenty of others naked on their boats, jet-skis, and even just plain old inner tubes, and other floating toys.
I then nodded. "Ok. Let's do this!"
Once we used the bathroom inside the lodge, we all went down to the lodge's private dock where Demetria's boat was kept, and once we were on it, we also grabbed a cooler with drinks, a few bags of chips, a couple of sandwiches, LOTS of sunscreen, an inner tube, and a few floating toys, plus a rope to attach the tube to the boat. We all went out on the "Goddess", as Demetria called her boat. And true to what she'd said previously, we left the swimsuits, and all other clothes behind, and all 3 of us went buck-naked!
Demetria was driving, and Carla and I were sitting just behind her. We did have to pause to put on a LOT of waterproof sunscreen, but once we were all good and slathered with it, then our little adventure kicked into high gear.
Since it was getting late in the day, the lake was a bit clear of boating traffic, so we could go fast at certain times. I was also pretty surprised at just how big the lake really was. Suddenly though, I saw a warning marker.
"Dam!" I yelled.
"Leopard!" Carla turned to me in shock. "Don't use language like that!"
I pointed at something. "No, not 'damn', DAM!!!" Demetria then brought the boat to a stop, and we floated for a bit. In front of us was a HUGE concrete structure, and I knew that it was most likely the back of the top of "Ancient Dam".
Demetria looked back at us. "Yeah, you're right Leopard. I wanted to bring you guys out here to show you Ancient Dam. It's the dam that provides all of Vegas with electricity."
Suddenly in my head, ALL of the pieces fell into place, and everything clicked! "Wait. A dam that supplies all of Vegas with power, surrounded by a lake? NOW I know where we are! That dam is the Hoover Dam, and this is Lake Mead! Just beyond the Hoover Dam is the beginning of the Colorado River. I was here when we protected the dam during WW4, and again in WW5!"
Demetria and Carla turned to me in surprise. "Really? That's what these places are called? Well, I think that I like them better than 'Desert Lake', and 'Ancient Dam'. That's one of the bad things about the Futas over at the Bureau of the Interior; they're SO SHITTY when it comes to naming ANYTHING! I mean come on! Farm Land? Desert Land? Big Desert? East Desert? What are they actually called?"
I thought for a second. "Iowa, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico respectively."
Demetria smiled. "Yes, those are MUCH better names! In the meantime though, I think that we'd better pull back before we get into trouble!" She then reversed the boat, and we turned around, and went back the way that we came.
Once we were in open water again, Demetria looked at us. "So, do you two wanna try the inner tube?"
I looked at it. It was shaped like a purple doughnut, and it had green handles. It was big enough for 2 people, but you would be REALLY cozy in it!
I nodded. "Sure, if Carla wants to."
"Of course I do Leopard!" Carla then climbed back into the back of the boat, and Demetria and I followed her.
Soon we had the rope attached to the inner tube, before connecting the other end to the boat. Once we made sure that everything was secured, Carla climbed in first, and I joined her a moment later. Then, once we were all settled in, Carla held my hand, before raising both of our hands into the air to signify that we were ready. Demetria then throttled up the boat, and began to pull away from us. Soon, the rope pulled tight, and we began to move along.
"Oh boy, here we go."
"Yeah, this is gonna be SO fun Leopard!"
"Provided that we can stay in the tube, and NOT fall out, then yeah, this will be fun."
Carla then turned to me. "Kiss for the road?"
I nodded. "Sure." I then pulled her in for a kiss. As usual, it was a sloppy French-kiss. Carla was my girlfriend now, and we were in a committed relationship. (I was also seconds away from trying to bone her while we were tubing, but let's not talk about that!)
It had been so long since I'd last tubed that doing it with Carla brought back SO MANY fun memories for me. We had a BLAST tubing, although we did have to get back to the boat once it was getting dark. We only fell off a few times, and we had fun skinny-dipping in the lake as we swam back to get the tube. Once we were in the boat though, as Demetria drove back to the lodge, I lay on the floor of the boat, and Carla rode my dick for all she was worth.
"Oh yeah, I REALLY needed this Baby!"
"Ngh, yeah, I can tell Carla! You sound EXTREMELY pent up!"
"I AM!!! We gingers are ALWAYS pent up! I NEED to be f@#ked on a regular basis in order to keep sane!"
"Just be careful you two", Demetria warned us, "The last time you got pregnant Carla, you had a miscarriage. I don't want to see that happen again for you."
We both stopped when Demetria said that. Yes, Carla had gotten pregnant by me once, but 3 months later, it was over due to her miscarrying. We were both SO devastated, and Carla cried for days. Herms can have difficulties getting pregnant, and then carrying a child to term. Miscarriages are sadly quite common.
We were no longer in the mood to have sex, but we did sit at the front of the boat, and I held Carla while we did our "Titanic Impression"!
"I'm the Queen of the World!"
"Eh, you're not too far off there Carla. One day, when I get too old, you will be the next Empress of the Futas. You're my heir to the throne, which you will also inherit if you marry Carla Leopard."
I looked back at her. "And how do you think that the Futas would react to their Empress having a male husband?"
"They're not gonna have a choice but to accept it. It's time that a LOT of stigmas and other taboos about males and Futas/Herms being together were broken, and I want you two to pave the way for that. Yes, I AM grooming you to become the next rulers of the Futa Empire, and this is because I want you to be ready for it when the time comes."
We both looked back at her. "We will be Mom. I know that Leopard and I will be GREAT rulers one day when the time comes!"
Demetria smiled. "I know that you will Sweeties." We then finished our trip back to the lodge.
The next day, we FINALLY convinced Stacy and Face to come along. Face was more willing, and for once, while he wore a temporary plastic mask while his new one was being completed, (since I STILL refused to give him his pink one back!) he actually left it behind that day! Sure, he did still wear his black smock, but his face was free, and his blue hair wasn't in pigtails. His face was still scarred and burned, but now there was no longer any mystery surrounding what really lay behind his mask.
"Decided to skip the mask I see Face."
He looked at me. "Yes, for now. At least until my new mask is complete. I STILL can't get my face wet, but I wanted to come out and see the world for once."
"Well, good for you Face."
Eventually, I decided that I wanted to try water-skiing. Once the rope was attached to the boat, and the skis were attached to my paws, I grabbed the rope's handle, and began to get ready.
"This is probably gonna end REALLY badly!" I muttered.
"You'll do great Babe!" Carla reassured me. "Sure, you MIGHT fall down a lot, but it'll still be fun, right?"
"Fun for who? I'm about to water-ski for the first time, AND I'm naked too!"
"It'll be funny to see you wipe out!" Stacy told me while smirking.
I glared at her. "How about this Stacy. I don't wipe out, AT ALL, and then you and I do parasailing together? We have the equipment for it here with us."
She rolled her eyes. "Sure. However, I KNOW that you're gonna fail, so this is gonna be an EASY bet!"
I then got ready, and Face was leaning out the back of the boat when they pulled away from me. However, he accidentally slipped, and fell off the boat! He fell into me as I was standing there, and he held onto me!
"Ow! Face?! What the?! What the hell are you doing?!"
"I fell off the boat! What do I do?!"
"The only thing that you can do, HOLD ON!!!" The rope then pulled tight, and we were moving!
"SHIT!!!" In his panic, Face climbed up onto me, and was soon hanging onto my neck and waist for dear life! And thank GOD he missed my dick and balls while he was climbing onto me!
"Oh boy, THIS is gonna end really badly!" I muttered. To Face, I said, "Just follow my lead Face. When I lean, you lean. Yes, we ARE probably exceeding the weight limit on the skis that I'm balancing on right now, but this is the ONLY way that we're gonna be able to do this!"
He nodded, and then we kept going. Right, left, right again, we kept going, and neither of us fell down!
Meanwhile, back on the boat, somehow no one noticed that Face was missing! Stacy was the first, but only because she asked him a question that he didn't answer.
"Huh? Hey! Where's Face?"
"Huh?" Carla looked up from filming me. "What do you mean Stacy?"
"Just what I said. Where did Face go?"
Demetria looked back at her. "He should be right here. Where else could he be?"
"RIDING ON TOP OF LEOPARD!!! THAT'S WHERE HE IS!!!!" Carla suddenly screamed.
"WHAT?!?!?!"
She and Demetria turned to look, and sure enough, there was Face riding on top of me! He'd climbed up onto my shoulders, and was hanging onto me for dear life! I was trying to ski, but yet I also seemed to be talking to Face from time to time.
"SHIT!!!!" Demetria then stopped the boat, and Face and I then skidded forwards until we were close to the back of the boat.
Once he was close enough, Stacy grabbed Face, and hauled him back into the boat. "WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT SALLY?!?!?!"
"S-sorry Stacy. I fell off the boat, and it was already too late. I just grabbed Leopard, and held on!"
"That was AMAZING Leopard!" Carla was telling me as she helped me back into the boat. "Not ONLY did you not fall down once, but you ALSO did it with Face on your shoulders! How did you do it?!"
I shrugged. "Honestly Carla, I haven't the foggiest idea! However, I DO know that Stacy's most likely NOT going to keep her end of our deal, right Stacy?"
"Suck my dick Leopard!" She growled at me. "You cheated on the bet!"
"Oh, believe me Stacy, I WOULD suck your dick if you'd let me! Heck I'd even sleep with you if you wanted me to!"
"Cat-Freak, I'd have to be drunk off my ASS before I EVER took you to bed with me!"
I just rolled my eyes. "Sure, but why would I EVER sleep with you when I can sleep with Carla?"
In response, Stacy just hissed at me, before crawling up to the front of the boat. Carla then volunteered to parasail with me, and we both got to experience the joys of nude parasailing. We could see SO MUCH from up in the air, and the wind was blowing through our hair, and we were both having the time of our lives.
That trip to Lake Mead was one of the fondest Summer memories of my ENTIRE life, and I was sad when it ended, and we had to head back to Vegas.
"Well, I can agree with Leopard there; that really was one AMAZING Summer adventure!"
"Yeah, it was Minerva. And for someone who was on the boat that day, it was definitely a Summer that I'll never forget. That was the first and last Summer that we ever got to spend with Leopard before WW6 resumed, as the Summer of 2026 was spent still looking for him, and trying to keep our deteriorating lines stable. There was no more time for fun anymore."
Demetria then saw Minerva smirk a bit. "What? What's so funny?"
"Halloween 2025. Remember what happened that night?"
"Which part? The costumes, the gang of Futas that Leopard trashed and sent to the ER, or the blackmail against Stacy?"
"All of it! The thought just struck me! See if you can find it Dem!"
Demetria then began to flip through the diaries. "Ok, got it!" She then began to read.
Halloween 2025 is another memory that remains with me to this day. It was the only Halloween that I got to spend in Vegas, so luckily I was able to make it count!
Halloween was another American holiday that was celebrated by the Futas, and let's just say that this time there was no age limit for trick or treating! There were also wild parties, bonfires, hayrides, drunken orgies, skimpy costumes, candy, jack o' lanterns, black cats, skeletons, spiders, ghosts, and a TON of other Halloween things too.
I'd finished carving a pumpkin earlier that same afternoon, (keeping with a long-standing tradition in my family of carving a pumpkin on Halloween) and sure, while it was just a simple face, I was pretty happy with it. Later on though, some of us bobbed for apples, ate some food, played a few games, and waited for the sun to go down. Here's how it works. From afternoon until sundown, it's like a harvest festival. From sundown until about Midnight it's Halloween, and from Midnight until Dawn, it's pretty much just one big party and drunken orgy!
Once the sun was almost down, Carla and I, as well as Stacy and Face, went to put our costumes on. Carla and I both went with something simple, but yet cute and surprisingly cheap. Carla wore a red hooded cape, white stockings, black low-heeled shoes, and carried a basket. Beyond these though, she was completely naked! I asked her who she was supposed to be.
"I'm Little Nude Riding Hood!"
I face-palmed. "Carla, it's Little RED Riding Hood! You have the red hood, and your hair is ginger; PLEASE let it go at that!"
She nodded. "Sure thing. Plus, you have a big dick, as well as the wolf ears and tail, so you're definitely the Big Bad Wolf! I might just have to take that Big Bad Dick inside myself, and show you why they call me Little Red RIDING Hood!"
I couldn't help but crack a smile at Carla's sex jokes. "Carla, you're too much sometimes!"
I then put gray fur on my legs, arms, chest and back, and Carla painted my nose black, and gave me a few whiskers. We both then looked at ourselves in the mirror.
"Aww, you look really cute Carla."
She blushed a bit. "N-nyah. T-thanks Babe. And you look great too."
"Thanks. And now we're an iconic matching pair! Though I NEVER knew that Little Red had big tits, a fat dick, a dripping pussy, AND ginger pubes!"
Carla then looked down at herself, and sure enough, her large rack, big dick and balls, pussy, AND ginger pubes were on full display. She then leaned her head against my shoulder. "Well, she does tonight Leopard!"
I laughed a bit. There were no laws against lewd, or really sexual costumes. One could walk around fully naked and no one would care. (Actually, you could do that in Vegas at ANY time of the year and no one would care!)
As we were standing there, Stacy and Face walked into the room. Stacy was dressed in an EXTREMELY slutty Succubus costume, and Face was dressed to look like he'd just had his soul sucked out by Stacy.
"Are you ready yet Sis?" Carla asked her.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Stacy then saw our costumes. "You ginger slutbag! Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf? Seriously? That's the BEST that you could come up with?"
Carla laughed a bit. "It's cute, it's cheap, and we can EASILY have sex if we want to! Plus it's VERY iconic!"
"It's f@#king slutty!"
Carla then gave her a look. "Well I think that it's cute, and so does Leopard! And if you DON'T like it, then you can just kiss my freckled ass!"
I burst out laughing at Carla's suggestion, while Stacy rolled her eyes. "Whatever Slut. Let's just go!"
All four of us then left the Luxor.
Once we were outside, Halloween was already in full swing. Futas, Herms and a few males were walking up and down the street, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Carla and I were holding hands, and she seemed SO much more confident in her own body as she strode down the street wearing little more than her red hooded cape, white stockings, and black shoes. She even seemed to be strutting her stuff a little bit, but it was hard to tell.
As we made our rounds, we got a LOT of candy and other treats, and yes, we ALSO had to check them for tampering! Sure, razor blades might be a myth, but drugged candy sure isn't! We males had it the worst. One minute you're eating something, and then the next you black out, before waking up naked in some alley with globs of spunk leaking out of your ass!
On our way back though, Carla was starting to get hard, so she and I stopped to take care of it. She leaned up against a tree, and I went down on her.
"Ngh, oh yes Baby!" She muttered as I sucked her off, "That's the spot! There are a number of stories involving Red getting f@#ked by the Big Bad Wolf, so are you gonna f@#k me?"
"Maybe once I make you jizz Hun." I muttered when I came up for air.
"Well, take your time. I'm having a lot of fun!"
I eventually did make her blow though, and she gave me a nice creamy treat. I then looked back up at her, and began to smirk.
"Oh wow. What big bad eyes you have!"
"All the better to see your delicious body with my Dear!"
"And what a big bad nose you have!"
"All the better to smell a bitch in heat with my Dear!" I then began to sniff at her pussy. I also began to lick at it.
"Ngh, and what a big bad tongue you have!"
"All the better to eat you out with my Dear! And you're DEFINITELY in heat!"
Carla then glanced down, and saw my fully erect wolf dick. She then gently began to stand up fully. "Oh my. And what a big bad hard dick you have!"
"All the better to F@#K A PUPPY into you with my Dear!" I then "pounced" on Carla, and after she lifted one of her legs, I began to thrust into her. This was our first real attempt at public sex, so we were REALLY gonna make it count!
Carla was soon screaming out in bliss, though her screams were drowned out by loud music, traffic, and other people. She knew that she was ovulating that night, and she knew that I knew it too. We were gonna try again for a baby, and this time it was hopefully gonna happen!
"Ngh! Oh yes Stud! PLEASE f@#k a puppy into me! I'll be a good bitch for you! Just PLEASE put a puppy inside me!"
I was a bit surprised. I'd never heard her call me "Stud" before; only Demetria had ever called me that. Nevertheless, she needed a good f@#k, as did I, so I gave her what she wanted.
"Ngh, yes, I KNOW that you're gonna be a good bitch for me! You wanna be my puppy-mama, don't you?"
"Yes! I REALLY wanna have your puppies!"
"Well then brace yourself Bitch, cuz here they come!" I then thrusted into Carla a few more times, before burying my knot into her. Moments later, I began to blow my full load into her.
"Yes, yes! FILL ME UP STUD!!!! DON'T PULL OUT!!!!!"
I didn't, and soon her fertile womb was thoroughly splattered with my hot, potent puppy-batter. By the time my knot went down, I pulled out of Carla, and a LOT of my seed oozed out of her, and plopped onto the ground below us. My member then went soft, and disappeared back into my sheath.
Carla smirked. "Yep, that's a puppy for SURE! There's no WAY that I'm not pregnant right now!"
"Really? Well then I guess that it's safe for US to f@#k you then, right?"
Both Carla and I turned, and to our horror, there stood none other than Ann Baker, better known as Lady Satan, and her gang. The Skulls, as they were collectively known, were a feared Futa biker gang. They raped males, females, Futas and Herms alike. ALL of them were considered dangerous, but Lady Satan was the WORST!
"Why don't you leave us be Ann? We don't want any trouble with you!"
She glared at me. "Oh, we won't leave until BOTH of you are gagging on our thick Futa cocks!"
I began to ready myself for a fight. Sure, I never started a fight, but if one started, I was SURE gonna end it! If the Skulls thought that they were going to be sticking ANYTHING inside of us, they were HORRIBLY mistaken!
They came towards us, and I gave Carla's hand a squeeze. She gave me a squeeze back, and faster than the eye could detect, I backed up, ran forwards, jumped a bit, kicked up off of the tree, and gave Ann a full blown kick to the face! My sharp claws cut her, and the force of the impact sent her flying! She hit the pavement, and I landed back on my paws seconds later. Then between us, Carla and I quickly took care of the rest of the Skulls. There were only 6 of them, including Ann, so that just left 5. We hit, kicked, bit, slammed into trashcans, and I even picked one of them up, and slammed her into another! By the time that it was all over with, the Skulls were down for the count, and the few who were still conscious looked at us in fear.
"Alright, just let us get out of here! Leave us be!"
I growled a bit. "We will, but ONLY if you grab your wounded friends, and get the hell out of here!"
"Thank you!" The 3 who were still conscious then drug away their wounded friends.
"And remember, there will be a LOT worse coming if we EVER hear anything bad about you guys again! Got that?!" I yelled at them.
"Yes!"
"Good!"
Carla and I then left the scene, and quickly made our way back to the Luxor. I would later learn that all of the Skulls wound up at the ER, and were later arrested, and FINALLY charged for their previous crimes, not to mention their current ones!
When we made it back, we took a few minutes to clean up, before seeing what was going on. There was a bit of a party going on, and although we didn't see Demetria, we did see Face.
"Hey, where's Stacy?"
"She's up in her room. She's completely drunk, so I came down here to find some food!"
"Wait, you mean that you left my sister upstairs all by herself while drunk?!"
"Yeah."
Carla put a hand over her face. "Crap. Well, we'd better see if she's alright!" Carla then grabbed me by the hand, and we both went upstairs.
Sure enough, when we found Stacy, she was indeed drunk, and she was also naked on her bed. She tried to get up when she saw us.
"*Hic* Carla! L-Leopard! *Hic* C-come on *hic* in!" She then somehow got up, and staggered towards us.
Luckily, I managed to catch her, and then held her steady. For once, she didn't tell me to stop touching her.
She then hugged me. "*Hic* Yeah, I.......I love you too Leopard! *hic*"
Carla then got a VERY naughty idea. She then pulled out her camera, and started filming. "Hey Stacy?"
"Y-yeah? *hic*"
"You like Leopard, don't you?"
"*Hic* Yep!"
"Well then why don't you kiss him already, you drunk!"
I then realized what Carla was doing. Stacy made SURE that everyone knew just how much she hated males, but if a video suddenly surfaced of her getting flirty with, and then possibly having sex with one, it didn't matter if she was drunk, she would be seen as a HUGE hypocrite!
Stacy took the bait. "Kiss? W-well, I'm sure that you.....*hic* wouldn't mind.....r-right Cutie? C'mere." She then pulled me close to her, and actually began to kiss me! Of her own free will!
I quickly fell into it as Carla filmed us. She made sure to not show my face clearly, but yet to show Stacy's clearly. I took full advantage of the situation, and put both hands on her buttcheeks, and gave them both a nice smack!
"Ough! Y-yeah. You like my ass Baby?"
"Yeah, it's nice. Not as good as Carla's, but it's still nice."
"Yeah, it is good." Stacy then pushed me over to the bed, before pushing me over, climbing on top of me, grabbing my dick, lubing it up, and sticking it inside of herself! She then began to ride me for all she was worth.
While she was doing that, I looked over at Carla. Neither of us could BELIEVE what we were seeing! Stacy was actually f@#king me on her own! Sure, she was drunk, and she was a Futa, so I was f@#king her anally, but hey, sex is still sex, and if it can be used to blackmail an enemy? Great!
Once Stacy was done, I jizzed inside of her, and she passed out. I did kiss her one last time, and we then left her be. Carla then took the video, edited it, and got ready to post it online under the title "Hypocrite Much Stacy?" First though, we wanted Stacy to apologize for being mean to us.
Since she had no recollection of that night though, she refused. "Why would I EVER apologize to you?!"
Carla smirked. "Because, maybe a certain SOMEONE doesn't want THIS blowing around the internet?" Carla then showed her a copy of the video from that night.
THEN Stacy's memory started coming back to her! "You......wouldn't DARE Carla!"
She smirked. "Oh yes I WOULD Stacy! However, if you apologize, then I won't!"
"You're bluffing!"
Carla then posted the video. "And YOU don't have a reputation anymore!"
"WHAT?!?!?! NOOO!!!!"
Carla did have to make a hasty exit to avoid Stacy's wrath, but in the end, even though most believed that the video was fake, it DID hurt Stacy's reputation! She never forgave Carla and I for what we did, but yet, she did kinda deserve it for being a dickwad!
"What a story. It seems so fantastical, but yet it was all true!"
"Yes, it was true, but sadly while Carla did conceive that night, 2 months later she miscarried again. Once again, Carla was devastated."
Minerva sighed. "And where was Carla when she conceived Leo?"
"Eh, Somewhere in Texas. I'm pretty sure that it was at a motel in Amarillo. She had angry sex with Leopard there in late 2027 during WW6, before cutting him off. She then conceived, and was excited to tell Leopard, but during the Battle of Austin, she was knocked into her 2 year coma. Sure, she finally got the child that she wanted, but now she lost her husband."
"And are there any instances of them really bonding in the diaries? Not just sex scenes, but actual bonding during an activity?"
Demetria nodded. "Oh yes. Here's one right here. It happened in early September of 2025. September 5th, to be exact." Demetria then began to read.
On that afternoon after I finished with work, I was sitting in my small room next to Demetria's, writing in my diary. With my entry that day, I included a picture that had been taken the day that Demetria finally took me to the Vegas Zoo, where I got a chance to see 4 of the last Amur Leopards on Earth. There was even a picture of me getting to pet one of them, though the leopard in that picture had been temporarily sedated for a veterinary exam, and I got to pet it just long enough for the picture to be taken.
As I was writing though, Carla suddenly stepped into the room. "Hey Leopard?"
"Yeah Carla?"
"Are you done with your work for the day?"
I nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"Oh, well, I was just going to take care of my animals, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along. I just recently realized that I never showed you my animals."
I gave her a look of surprise. "Wait, you have animals?"
"Yeah. I have a cow named Paula, a stallion named Tyler, a mare named Cara, and her daughter Cassidy. I keep them all at the Vegas Barnyard."
I was still a bit surprised, as up until that moment, I had no idea that she had any animals. I nodded though. "Sure, I'd love to see them."
"Great!"
I then pulled on some shoes, and Carla then led the way out there.
The "Vegas Barnyard", as it came to be known, was a MASSIVE complex located towards the edge of Vegas. It was indoors, outdoors, and even underground. It's primary purpose was to be a place for raising farm animals for food purposes, and for work and pleasure purposes. Parts of the complex were also areas for horse riding, and other animal training. They had horses, cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, sheep, goats, and even slightly more exotic animals such as peacocks, camels, and even ostriches! Some parts of the complex were open to the public, while some sections were private.
"Whoa!" I gasped a bit when I saw it the first time, "This place is HUGE!!!!"
"Yeah, it is! It kinda has to be considering all of the animals that are housed here, plus all of the supplies that they need. It's one gigantic animal farm in the middle of the Mojave Desert."
"And do they actually grow things here too, or is it just animals?"
"Eh, they do have a few underground fields for growing things like oats, and of course grass for grazing, all watered by pumping in water from underground, but not much more than that. It's for the animals, not the people."
"It's still pretty impressive though. Underground fields watered by pumping in groundwater? That's quite an achievement!"
Carla agreed, and then we went inside. Once we were, Carla followed a series of hallways until we reached the section of the complex that was owned by the Imperial Government. This was a private area, and contained a few stables, indoor and outdoor riding arenas, pastures for grazing, a tack room, a feed room, a shower area for horses, and other such amenities.
The whole area was also heavily air-conditioned, and well ventilated, however it still clearly smelled of animals, and I could detect the smells of horses and cows most strongly. The floor was primarily sand, with said sand coming from the Mojave Desert, and it was still a bit hot in there too. I also saw signs saying that private areas were clothing optional, and I asked Carla if that was true or not.
"Yes, it is. Even though these areas are air conditioned, it can still get rather hot in here. Plus, who wants to deal with dirty, sweat-soaked clothes at the end of the day? Without them, you just have to shower, and then put your clothes back on when you leave." She then swiped her card at the door to her private section, and once the door opened, she led the way inside, before the door shut and locked behind us.
"And now we can remove our clothes." Carla then removed her own clothes, before hanging them on a nearby rack. I did the same, although we both left our shoes on.
Once we were ready, Carla led the way into a sort of open stable. There was a row of 2 stalls on one side, with an open area in the middle filled with hay, and a manger and water trough were also present. On the other side of this were 2 more stalls. 3 of the stalls contained horses, but the 4th was empty. Eating at the manger was a large brown cow.
"Oh Paula?" Carla cooed softly.
The cow turned to look at her, causing the bell around her neck to jangle a bit before she turned back to the manger. Carla then walked over to her, and began to pet her gently. I walked over as well, and the cow did turn to me. She seemed to sniff me for a moment, before turning back once again to her food.
"This is Paula. She's my prize dairy cow. A lot of the milk in the Luxor comes from her."
"What kind of cow is she?"
"I think that she's a Jersey crossed with a Holstein. She was bred for milk-making though."
I then noticed Paula's large pink udder. "Whoa! Her udder is HUGE! Is she pregnant?"
Carla shook her head. "Surprisingly, no. Like I said, Paula was specifically bred for milk production. These kinds of cows are usually rather large, and have big udders. And you can feel her udder too, she won't mind. Paula's one of the most patient and tolerant cows out there. You can climb and crawl all over her all day long, and she won't mind a bit. She's just my fat heifer, aren't you Paula?" She then hugged her cow, causing Paula to moo in response.
"Why do you call her a 'fat heifer'?"
Carla smirked a bit. "Because she likes being called that. I don't know why, but she likes it when I call her a fat heifer."
"And are you sure that I can touch her udder?"
"Of COURSE I'm sure! I wouldn't have said that if I wasn't! She LOVES having her udder fondled, and its about time for her daily milking too."
I then knelt down, and felt Paula's large udder. She mooed a bit in response, but did little else. I could tell that it was heavy, and VERY full of milk.
"And how do you milk her? With a machine?"
"That, although I sometimes milk her by hand, at least a little bit. And sometimes I even drink it directly from her udder!"
I turned to her in shock. "Carla, that's EXACTLY how you die from milk poisoning!"
She nodded. "Yeah, I know. Hence the reason that I ALWAYS wash and sterilize her udder BEFORE milking her!" Carla then began to wash Paula's udder, and she showed me how to do it too. Paula didn't move while Carla cleaned her udder, and once it was all clean, I watched dumbfounded as Carla lay down on her back, scooted under Paula a bit, before latching onto one of the teats of her udder, and beginning to drink from it!
"I can see the headlines tomorrow. 'Princess of the Futa Empire Dies From Milk Poisoning!' 'Futa Princess Dies From Drinking Milk Directly From a Cow's Udder!' Plus, you're probably gonna get stepped on!"
Carla looked over at me. "Babe, I've been drinking milk from Paula like this for YEARS! Trust me, I KNOW what I'm doing! Plus, Paula is ALWAYS careful about where she steps! Oh, and you can join me if you want. And once we've had our fill of Paula's milk, I'll take her over to the milking machine, and once she's hooked up to that, then I'll show you the horses."
I sighed, and after thinking about it for a moment, I joined Carla under Paula. I knew the risks in drinking raw milk, but I was willing to take the chance. I then gently took hold of the teat next to the one Carla was drinking from, and began to suckle from Paula as well. Once again, Paula mooed in response, but this time it was a gentle moo.
"See? Paula likes it when we do this. She thinks that we're her calves!"
I looked over at her. "Carla, that is the weirdest thing that you've ever said. If she thought that we were her calves, she would have been licking us by now!"
"Oh, don't worry, she'll do that when we get up. She can't reach us right now. Be careful though, she LOVES to lick private parts!"
"Just NOW you're telling me that she's a pervert?! Why didn't you tell me this before?!"
"Because I knew that you probably wouldn't believe me!"
I put a hand over my face. Then, after drinking from Paula for a little bit longer, I stood up again. I then hugged her, feeling her warm body against my bare skin.
"Thanks for the milk Paula. It was REALLY great!"
Paula then turned to look at me, and I gave her a kiss on the nose. She then opened her mouth a bit, and licked me in the face!
"Ough! Gross!" I reached up to wipe my face. As I did, I felt something warm and wet down below, and I looked down to see Paula licking my genitals!
"Hey!" I took a few steps back. "Pervert cow!"
Paula just seemed to laugh a bit, as was Carla. While I was wiping the cow slobber off of myself, Carla led Paula over to the milking machine on the other side of the stable, hooked her up to it, and turned it on. The machine would shut off on its own once full, and after giving Paula more hay to keep her busy, Carla led me over to the horses.
"I have 3 horses too. Tyler, Cara and Cassidy; and they're all related. Cara is Cassidy's mom, and Tyler is her dad. Tyler was a stallion when I got him, and I decided not to have him gelded. I use him more for riding than breeding though, and his only child to date is Cassidy. I do collect his sperm though."
"And what do you do with it? Do you ship it to other horse farms?"
Carla shook her head. "No Leopard, I don't." She then leaned in close to me, and whispered, "I'm a bit more of a sexual deviant than I let on. I give Tyler blowjobs and drink his sperm! Oh, and Cara'll let you f@#k her too. She's actually a bit of a slut. She LOVES showing off to potential breeding partners!"
When Carla said that, my jaw hit the ground. I could tell that she was being serious, so apparently bestiality laws weren't quite what they used to be, or Carla would most likely be in prison!
"You.........you actually DRINK horse jizz?!"
Carla nodded. "Yes, at least sometimes. Sometimes I'll just help Tyler masturbate, and then let him ejaculate all over the ground. He blows a pretty big load, but then again, he IS a pretty big guy!"
I felt like I wanted to throw up. Sex with Herms was one thing, but this?! I then made a promise to myself that if I DID have sex with one of Carla's horses that I was NOT going to be writing about it in my diary!
Soon though, we came to the 3 stalls. 2 were right next to each other, and the 3rd was across the way.
"Leopard, meet Cara, Cassidy and Tyler, my beautiful horses!"
We came first to the stalls of Cara and Cassidy. I could see that Cassidy was quite young, and possibly even still a filly. I could tell that she was weaned, as she was in a separate stall from her mother, but yet they were still close to each other. I saw that Cassidy had light brown fur, and a black mane and tail. I also saw that she had blue eyes. Her mother Cara had a long, thick, blonde mane and tail, light brown fur, blonde fetlocks covering her hooves, and blue eyes as well. She seemed to be a cross between a work horse and a riding horse.
"Cassidy is a yearling now, and soon will begin her training so that she can learn how to properly carry a rider. Her mother Cara is now 7, and Tyler is 8; all still in their prime. And if you were wondering, Cara is a cross between a Clydesdale and a Quarter Horse, while Tyler is a purebred Shire. Cassidy has traits from all 3 breeds."
I then turned around to look at Tyler when Carla said that he was a Shire, and when I saw him, my jaw hit the ground! He was a MASSIVE beast with dark brown fur, a black mane and tail, a white stripe running down his face, and blue eyes, although his lower legs and fetlocks were cream-colored.
"Whoa! Tyler is HUGE!"
"Well, he IS a Shire Leopard. They ARE the largest breed of horse in the world after all! And since Tyler is a full-grown male, he weighs 2,700 lbs! Despite his massive size though, he's actually quite tame and gentle. We'll groom Cara and Cassidy first, and then we'll go and see Tyler. And just so I know, would you be interested in riding a horse Babe?"
I sighed. "It's been a LONG time since I last rode, but yeah I would be interested in riding."
Carla nodded. "Ok. Once we're done grooming, we'll bring out Cara and Tyler for riding, and bring Cassidy over so that she can watch us."
I nodded, and after wiping a bit of sweat from her face, Carla walked over to a closet door, opened it, and went inside. I then heard the sounds of another door opening and shutting, and when Carla returned, I saw that she was carrying a box of grooming tools, as well as a bag of carrots. I then realized that the other door opening and closing was a refrigerator door.
We both started in Cara's stall. Cara seemed so happy to see her mistress, but she stared at me.
"Just stay still while she sniffs you Leopard. She doesn't like certain people. Face was here once with Stacy, and Cara tried to kick him, AND step on him!"
I stared at Carla with horror. "And she's not going to do that to me, is she?!"
Carla shook her head. "Most likely not. She'll sniff you, and if she responds with a nuzzle, and perhaps a loving kiss, then you're ok. If she pushes you away before trying to kick you, you're dead. And if she......" Carla paused. "Eh, let's just hope that she doesn't do that, at least not yet!"
"Do what?"
"You!"
I was confused. "Wait, what? Me?" Then it came together in my head. Carla was implying that Cara might try to "do me".
"Carla, that's gross!"
"Hey, if she raises her tail for you, and then looks back at you with bedroom eyes, climb up on a stool and f@#k her!"
I put a hand over my face, but then Cara began to sniff me. A minute or so later, she then nuzzled me, before giving me a loving kiss on the face. She then proceeded to put her head over my shoulder, and nuzzle my back.
"Hey, what's she doing?"
"Aww, she likes you!"
When Cara brought her head up again, I gave her a kiss on the nose. "You're such a pretty horse Cara. I really love your blonde mane." I then began to rub the side of her face. Cara responded by letting off a soft nicker, before leaning in and kissing me again. This time however, she opened her mouth a bit, and pushed her tongue into my mouth when I accidentally opened it in surprise!
"Augh! EWW!!!!"
Carla was laughing. "Oh, maybe I should have warned you Leopard; Cara REALLY likes to give French-kisses to those that she REALLY likes! But she's a good girl though, right Cara?" Cara then turned to her, and began to nuzzle her. "Yes, you are!" Cara then gave Carla a French-kiss too, much to my growing disgust.
After this though, we began to groom both her, and Cassidy. First we rubbed their coats with a curry comb to stir up their fur, before using a hard brush to brush away any dirt. Then, we used a soft brush to brush their coats smooth again. We also used a small tool to pick their hooves clean, and we also brushed their manes and tails, as well as Cara's fetlocks.
"And is it just me Carla, or does Cara seem a little bit on the chubby side to you?"
Carla nodded. "Yeah, she is a little chubby. She never quite lost some of her baby-weight after she had Cassidy, and she's such a sweet horse, and like Paula, tolerates just about anything. So yes, she's just an adorable, fat, easy-keeper!"
Cara seemed to blush a bit at being called fat. She also nuzzled me for calling her chubby. I also noticed that she kept raising her tail a bit, and when I went back to see why, I saw that her slit was wet, and kept winking at me.
Carla looked too. "Uh oh, looks like somebody's gonna get to f@#k Cara today! Care to have the honors Babe?"
I looked at Carla, and then back at Cara.
(Here, the diary entry suddenly breaks off. Actual diary words).
"WARNING!!!! Due to bestiality being an issue, a Fatal Error has occurred! Please try again later! If problem persists, please contact: *illegible squiggles*"
After cleaning up and leaving Cara's stall, we walked over to Tyler's.
"So how did it feel to f@#k a horse Leopard?"
I gave her a look. "Babe, that NEVER happened, and we will NEVER speak of it again!"
Carla laughed a bit. "My boyfriend just f@#ked a horse, and he LOVED IT!"
"Carla, please stop. I'd rather not talk about it. However, I WOULD like to talk about Tyler!" We then reached his stall, and Carla opened the door just enough to let us inside.
"Gosh, the tops of our heads barely come to his shoulders! And do you know what these horses were originally bred for Carla?"
"For farm work, right?"
I shook my head. "Good guess, but wrong. These big fellas were bred to be able to carry armored knights into battle in Medieval Europe. Said armored knights could weigh up to 400lbs with their armor, so what better steed to carry them than a Shire?"
Carla shrugged. "I don't know. I can't think of one!"
I then began to look Tyler over. He was big, and he had HUGE muscles, but yet he barely moved when I felt him all over. Eventually, he did turn back to look at me.
"Wow, you're a big boy, aren't you Tyler?" I gently reached out my hand to him. He then nuzzled my hand, and nickered softly. I gave him a kiss on the nose, and he seemed to sigh happily.
"Aww, I think that he likes you too. A strong male, and a strong stallion. No better combination than that!"
"And why did you get Tyler Carla? While draft horses can be used for riding, normally they're bred for farm work. And why is he still a stallion?"
Carla pushed a bit of her ginger hair out of her eyes. "Well, I bought Tyler at a farm auction when he was a yearling. I didn't know that he was a Shire at the time, though I did know that he was a draft horse. As such, I had him trained to work in harness, and to carry a rider. When I found out that he WAS a Shire, and a purebred one at that, I was stunned. I only payed $800 for him at auction, when in reality he should have gone for MUCH more than that! As for why I left him a stallion, well, as I'm sure you know, not too many horses survived the world wars. Not too many horses even are gelded anymore, as most stallions are needed to help breed. And yes, I did kinda lie to you a bit. While Cassidy is Tyler's only daughter, that's only the case because Cara's the only mare he's ever PHYSICALLY been with. In reality, I have bottled his sperm, and shipped it out. Tyler's quite the proud sire, with at least 150 foals to his name now, and a few of those were even twins! He's my good boy though, made to pull, carry a rider, AND made to breed!" She then gently turned Tyler's head towards her, and began to rub noses with him.
"Well, I'll give him this, he sure is one majestic beast! I've NEVER seen a Shire horse until now, and that makes Tyler that much more impressive!"
"Glad that you think so Leopard, because you'll be riding up on his back here before too long, while I ride Cara!"
I looked at her in surprise. "Wait, you're REALLY gonna let me ride him?"
Carla nodded. "Of course! Cara can be a lot to handle sometimes, but not Tyler. He'll be a great mount for you. Now then, let's clean him up, and then I'll get a halter for him and Cara, and then we can get them out to the riding arena."
I agreed, and then we both began to brush Tyler.
It took both of us to clean him due to his size, and it also took both of us to lift up his hooves when we picked them clean!
"Golly! His hooves are HUGE!" I was holding a hoof with both hands while Carla picked it.
"They have to be! They ARE holding up 2,700lbs of horse after all!"
"And I really like the fetlocks. They're so soft and feathery."
"Yeah, but they're a HUGE pain in the ass to clean and maintain! And if you DON'T maintain them, then they get matted, dirty, and start smelling bad! But yeah, I do agree with you. They sure do add to Tyler's majestic beauty!"
Once we were done cleaning him, Carla stepped out to grab a halter. When she returned, she had one, as well as 2 lead ropes. With my help, we both slipped the halter over Tyler's head, before securing it in the back. Carla also attached one of the lead ropes to it.
"You'll use one of these to lead him out to the arena, and then we'll detach it from the clip that it's on, and then attach it to the one on the side, and then we'll attach the other rope to the clip on the opposite side. I've never trained Tyler with an actual bridle, so I've always just used this sort of 'halter-bridle'. Same with Cara, and I'll do the same for Cassidy when she's old enough."
I nodded, and once Carla got the stall door open all the way, she stepped out first, and then I walked out with Tyler.
"I forgot how easy this was. Walking a horse is almost like walking a REALLY big dog!"
Carla laughed a bit. "Yeah, it really is isn't it?" She then went over to Cassidy's stall, before attaching a halter to her, and leading her down the corridor to the riding arena, before tying her to a hitching post just in front of it. She then came back to Cara's stall, before attaching a halter to her, and then leading her out. We then led our horses to the riding arena.
"And I did that for Cassidy just so that she doesn't get left out. She can get EXTREMELY jealous if her parents get to do something and she doesn't! Now she gets to see everything, and won't feel left out!"
I laughed a bit. "Smart thinking Carla. And I just thought of something. Are we gonna put clothes on first before we ride, because aside from our shoes, we kinda ARE still naked!" I then gestured down to emphasize my point.
Carla shook her head. "Actually, I usually just put the 'bare' in 'bareback riding'! No saddle, no blanket, no bridle, no clothes, just shoes/boots, and a halter/bridle!"
"So, bareback riding. Again, not something that I've done recently, and I've NEVER ridden a horse naked before!"
"Oh, trust me Leopard, you'll LOVE IT! There's no freer feeling than having nothing between you and your horse. Yes, horse sweat mixing with your own on your skin CAN be a bit irritating, not to mention you have to be careful with your balls, but overall, it's VERY liberating!"
I cocked my head a bit. "Eh, I still believe that flying is the freest feeling ever, but this MIGHT rank a close second if I do indeed like it."
We kept walking, and soon we reached the riding arena. It was all indoors, and although it was ventilated and air conditioned, it was still a bit hot in there. The arena itself was also quite large, and the floor was sand. Carla and I then led our horses inside, and we began to walk them over to the left side of the arena.
"My first question is though, how am I gonna get up on Tyler's back? Is there a ladder in here?"
Carla pointed to the far left wall. "Yeah, there is. It's more of a mounting stool, but it was made to handle larger horses like Tyler. Once we get over there, I'll help you get up onto Tyler's back, and then once you're comfortable, I'll mount Cara."
"Ok, sounds like a plan to me." We then finished walking over to the mounting blocks.
Once we were there, Carla helped hold Tyler steady while I climbed up onto his back. Then, once I was up there, I held Cara's halter while Carla attached the ropes to Tyler's halter. I then watched her do the same for Cara, before she climbed up onto a block, and hauled herself up onto Cara's back.
"You ok over there Leopard? Your legs don't hurt do they?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm ok Carla. Yes, Tyler DOES have a pretty big barrel, but I'm big enough to handle it. My legs are also long enough to give him leg commands."
"Ok, good. Whenever you're ready, just give him a kick, and click your tongue, and he'll move out."
I nodded, and after doing so, Tyler started to walk forwards. Carla then did the same for Cara, and they started walking beside us.
For the next number of minutes, we made a few laps around the arena at a steady walk. Cara would occasionally lean over to nuzzle her "husband" Tyler, while he would lean over to nuzzle his "wife".
"Wow, they really do like each other, don't they Carla?"
"Yeah, they sure do. And are you ready for a faster gait, or do you just want to keep walking?"
"That depends. How smooth are Tyler's gaits?"
"Well, while his walk is smooth, his trot can be a bit bumpy. However, his canter, and even his gallop can actually be quite smooth."
I was a bit surprised. "Wait, you mean that Tyler can actually canter and gallop?"
"Yeah! A bit shocking due to his size, but yes, Shire's still have all 4 gates that other horses do. And horses like Tyler, and even Cara, because of them being draft horses, or mixes of drafts, they can actually gallop for quite a while before having to rest due to their impressive endurance."
"And how do you get a horse to trot again? I've forgotten."
"Just give him a few more kicks, and click your tongue again. To get from a trot to a canter, you kick slightly, and make a kissing sound. And from a canter to a gallop, you just push him until he's running."
"And how do you two-point while riding bareback?"
"It's all in the knees Leopard. Without stirrups, it's all in the knees. Grip him with your knees, and lift yourself up as you need to. Oh, and grip him tightly with your knees to hold yourself upright."
I nodded. "Yeah, I know. I've fallen off a horse before, and it was NOT fun! I landed on my back, and my back was sore for WEEKS afterwards! Luckily, the floor of the arena was all dirt, and I fell off to the side. And oddly enough, I was bareback riding, but my horse, Bubba, had a VERY bumpy trot!"
Carla looked at me. "Yeah, hopefully history won't repeat itself today! Whenever you're ready, just kick him a bit to start him trotting."
I did so, and soon Tyler went from a walk to a trot. I was waiting for history to repeat itself, but this time it didn't. Unlike my previous experience with Bubba, Tyler's trot, while a bit bumpy, wasn't NEARLY as bumpy as Bubba's was!
"You're doing great Leopard!"
"Yeah, provided of course that I can keep my balls from getting slapped around too much. And I can feel Tyler's sweat too."
"Yeah. We're BOTH gonna stink like horses after this is over, but yet I like the smell of horses, don't you?"
"Fur and dust yes, and sweat is tolerable, but NOT the manure!"
Carla laughed. "Yeah, DEFINITELY agree with you there Leopard! And are you ready to canter yet?"
"If his canter is smoother than his trot, then yes."
"It is. Whenever you're ready, just kick, and make a kissing sound with your mouth."
I nodded, and then began to do just that. It did take a bit, but soon, Tyler sped up to a canter. Carla also managed to coax Cara up from a trot as well, and just like she said, Tyler's canter was indeed smoother than his trot.
"Wow, yeah, you're right Carla, this IS smoother than his trot!"
"And are you surprised that a horse his size even CAN canter?"
"I'm more surprised at being able to hold on while riding bareback!"
"We've gotta be careful though. I've left a few jumps set up from my last time here with Cara. I've heard that some of these draft horses can jump, but the ones I heard about were Clydesdales. I don't know if Tyler can jump too high, but I don't want to find out the hard way that he can't!"
"Me neither!" I agreed. "And assuming that I was ready, how to I get Tyler to gallop again?"
"Oh, you can usually just kick him a little bit more, but I'll help you out today." Carla then reached over and smacked Tyler's flank. "YEEHAW!!!!" She yelled.
Tyler didn't need to be told twice. Faster than I previously believed possible, Tyler broke into a full gallop. I'd NEVER seen a horse that big gallop before, and maybe it was only about 30mph, but still, when you're riding a horse going that fast, it can seem to be a LOT faster than that!
"Woo hoo!!!" I then looked back and saw that Carla had also coaxed Cara up to a gallop as well. We knew that we were only going to be able to gallop for a few minutes or so, so we were DEFINITELY going to be making it count!
Unfortunately though, in the split second that I was looking at Carla and Cara, I forgot to look where I was going. Up ahead was one of the jumps that Carla had left set up, and Tyler deviated for a moment from his usual path, and was heading right towards it!
Just as I was turning around to look forwards again I heard Carla scream, "BABE, LOOK OUT!!!!!"
I then fully turned forwards again, and I saw the jump! "EGAD!!!!" I then pulled back on the 2 ropes that were serving as reigns to stop Tyler, but instead of stopping, he took that as the cue to take the jump!
Granted, the jump wasn't the highest thing in the world, but it was up there a bit. As Carla saw it, Tyler reached the jump, and in a heart-stopping moment, he reared up, kicked off with his immensely powerful back legs, and went over it! He landed on the other side with first his front hooves, and then his back hooves, and then kept going. I'd just made it through a jump, thus proving that Shire horses really CAN jump!
On my perspective, I knew that I was in trouble. Bubba, the same horse that gave me a bad bareback riding experience, also gave me my first jump experience, only it was with a Western-style saddle! Sure, he made the jump, but I also had the saddle horn rammed into my gut on the way down! This time though, there was no saddle horn, or any saddle at all for that matter. Instead, when Tyler made the jump, I held on, felt like I was flying for a moment, and then fell forwards. I didn't fall off, but due to the sweat, both my own and Tyler's, I slipped forwards into his neck. I held onto it until I was able to push myself fully right side up again.
"Made it! I made it Carla!" I then pulled back on the reigns, bringing Tyler back to a walk again. He was breathing pretty heavy, so the walk was a MUCH needed break!
Carla did the same for Cara, and we were soon walking side by side again. "Are you ok Leopard? You're not hurt are you?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm fine Carla. Perhaps a little bit shook up by the fact that I just jumped a Shire while riding bareback in both senses of the word, but other than that I'm alright!"
She looked over at me. "Well, I'll give you this Leopard, that jump was pretty amazing. I'm just glad that you're ok."
"As am I Carla." I then reached down, and lovingly patted Tyler's neck as a way to show him that he'd done a good job.
"Good boy Tyler." I whispered. He nickered softly in response, indicating that he understood what I said.
We did continue to walk them for a little bit longer in cooling down exercises, but it was eventually time to put Cara and Tyler back in their stalls. However, before we left the arena, and while we were still on their backs, Carla had Mona, one of the girls that helped care for her animals full-time, take a few pictures of us. Yes, we were naked in them, but it was soft, casual nudity, nothing more.
A few of the pictures were our horses standing side by side with us on their backs, while others were them nuzzling each other, while I pulled Carla in close for a kiss.
"Aww, all 4 of you make such beautiful couples!"
"Thanks Mona. And while Cara and Tyler already are 'married', I hope that Leopard and I can be soon as well."
I looked over at her. "Yeah, me too Carla."
Eventually, we both did dismount, and while Mona took care of Cassidy and Paula, Carla and I got Cara and Tyler back to their stalls. As we walked though, Carla asked me a question that would later change my life.
"Hey Leopard?"
"Yeah Babe?"
"Can you promise me something?"
"That depends. What would I be promising?"
"That if......if we had a single daughter, that we would name her Jenna. However, if we had twin girls, then we would name the older one Cara, and the younger one Cassidy. And if we had a boy, then we would name him Tyler."
"Eh, I like the name Leo for a boy."
"Leo? Well, how about this. If we have a single boy, then his name would be Leo, and if we had twin boys, then the younger one would be named Tyler, and the older one would be named Leo. Can you promise me this Leopard?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I can promise that Carla. These will be the names of our kids one day."
Carla then hugged me a bit as she held Cara's rope. "Thanks Leopard. And is that where you get 'Leo' from?"
"Yeah, pretty much!"
Carla then giggled a bit, and we got our horses back to their stalls. We did have to use sweat scrapers to get a lot of the sweat off of them, not to mention using a curry comb to move around their fur so that it would dry better, and then running a soft brush over their coats. We also had to pick their hooves again, AND comb and brush their fetlocks! After this though, we kissed them one more time, gave them both a carrot or 2, and left them to their hay and water.
As we were walking away though, we both suddenly heard Mona giggling.
Carla turned back. "What's so funny Mona?"
"You two!"
"What do you mean?"
She pointed. "You both have 'bareback-butt'!"
We looked back, and sure enough, we did. (For those who don't know, "bareback-butt" is a slang term for the dirt, dust and horsehair that gets on the back of your pants when you ride a horse bareback at certain times. It only happens when riding bareback, hence the name). Both of our butts and the backs of our thighs were covered in dirt, hair and sweat stains from our horses, however, since were were riding bare while riding bareback, all of this was on our actual skin, so our bare butts were LITERALLY bareback-butts!
I put a hand over my face, but Carla joined in Mona in giggling about it. "And can you take a picture of this too Mona?"
"Sure!" She then snapped a picture that Carla later captioned, "Bareback-Butts, Literally!"
Carla then turned to me, and pulled me in for a hug with a kiss. I responded in kind, and I even wrapped my tail around Carla as well.
"I love you so much Leopard."
"I know. I love you too Carla."
"Yeah. Even though we're both REALLY sweaty, AND stink like horses, I'm glad that we can still share intimate moments like this!"
"Yeah." I then let go of Carla, though after grabbing something off a nearby worktable, I turned back to face her. "Hey Carla?"
"Yeah? And what's in your hand?"
"You'll see. And through all of the time that we've been together, I've grown to love you so much. I know that you feel the same way about me, but I have to know something." I then got down on my knee, and after taking Carla's right hand, on her ring finger, I slipped a rubber gasket that I grabbed off the worktable. "And yes, I KNOW that it's not a proper ring, but Carla, will you marry me?"
When Carla realized that I had just proposed to her with a rubber gasket while the both of us were dirty, sweaty, stinking like horses, AND still wearing only our shoes, she was ECSTATIC!
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME BABE?!?!?! YES!!!! A HUNDRED MILLION TIMES YES!!!! YES!!!!!!" She then grabbed me, before pulling me back to my feet, and jumping into my arms and kissing me. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and held onto me tightly while I held her. I could also tell that Carla popped a stiffy, but then again, so did I!
"And I KNOW that it's not a proper ring Babe, but you can ALWAYS get me a real one later. This right here came from the heart, and even though it's on the spot, it's STILL really memorable, and I still love you for it, you Stud!" She then went back to kissing me.
"Eh, I hate to interrupt, but just so both of you know, in addition to taking pictures here, I also filmed it so that you guys can always remember this moment!"
Carla half turned to look at her. "Ngh, thanks Mona. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a shower to take, and in addition to getting clean, a LOT of sex needs to happen in that shower!"
Luckily, the door behind me was the one leading to the bathroom that had a shower, and I opened it, carried Carla inside, and then shut and locked it.
"Bye! Have a great time!" Mona called after us. She then heard the sounds of the shower turning on, as well as the sounds of wild sex.
"Heh, I'm SO happy that Carla FINALLY found a mate!" She thought as she turned back to the horses. "It's been SO long, but now that she's got Leopard, I KNOW that she'll be MORE than happy with him! A ginger Herm, and a Human-Wolf hybrid, who would have EVER guessed?"
Demetria looked up from the diary. "So beautiful. I remember them telling me the second that they got back about Leopard's proposal, and I remember how HAPPY I was for them!"
"So do I. And what made it REALLY adorable was how lovey-dovey they were with each other for the rest of the time leading up to the wedding, which was about 4 months later."
"Yeah. And thank GODDESS that I thought to marry them the night before, or they wouldn't have been married at all! Sure, the formal wedding would have been just for show, but it STILL would have solidified their union in the eyes of the people. Now because that never happened, most see the private ceremony the night before as being no better than eloping."
"But we know otherwise Dem. I was there, and so were you. It WAS a legal wedding ceremony in the eyes of the law, whatever the people think be damned!"
"True Minerva. And in the space leading up to that time frame, a LOT of things went down, none the least of which was the reign of terror of the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger, and his partner Foxy!"
"I'll bet that he mentioned that in great detail, right?"
"Pretty much. There are a few other things that I want to read first, but yes, he DOES go into great detail for it!"
Minerva then leaned in again as Demetria read another entry..........
(WARNING!!!!! This Chapter contains RAMPANT blood and gore, as well as sex and nudity, and other adult scenes. Due to the IMMENSE significance to the story, it all goes into these chapter(s), and not a "0.5" chapter. It's still important, so PLEASE read!)
Minerva was looking over the later entries in the set of diaries. "Oh, I forgot about these."
"Which ones?"
"The ones where Ginny showed Leopard how to drive the Challenger 3985, and he was her fireman for a day."
Demetria looked at the pages. "Oh yes I remember these too! And Leopard told me later that it was thanks to Ginny showing him how to drive the Challenger that he knew how to more or less drive the Challenger's larger cousin, the Big Boy. So in a sense, she prepared him for his later work with the Battleship Express!"
"I still find that strange Dem. A Futa helping a US soldier learn something that's technically illegal to teach, only to have him later use those skills against the Futa Empire in open warfare!"
"Not as strange as Creamy Dream Ranch owner Sam Applegate hiring out her 6 males, including Leopard, to the crew that were building railroad tracks in that area in Kansas, with those same tracks being used later by the RWD and other US Forces to move quickly through the region! Sure, it was unintentional, but still a VERY strange irony that the Futas were sowing the seeds of their own destruction, or in this case, giving males all of the tools needed to lay the rails of the Futa's own destruction!"
Minerva shook her head. "Yeah, no kidding! And I know that he doesn't mention that in here due to it not happening yet, but can you read about him, Ginny, and the Challenger?"
"Sure thing!" Demetria then found her place again, and then began to read.
Demetria and Carla weren't the only ones that I spent time with during my stay in Vegas. Another Futa who was kind to me was Ginny Ryder, Demetria's personal engineer. It's a bit odd that she was kind, AND a Futa, but yet not all Futas were bad, just most of them!
One evening, I decided to go and see if I could actually get a chance to see Challenger 3985 up close. Demetria said that I could, as Ginny was out there working on the engine with the maintenance staff.
When I arrived at the engine house behind the Luxor, I saw that the doors were open on both ends, and I heard the sounds of work going on within. I then poked my head through the doors, and I saw a MASSIVE mountain of black metal in front of me. I then realized that it was Challenger 3985, and I was in awe of how big she was! The engine itself was raised up off the tracks slightly, and I then realized that those working on her were emptying her ash pans, and cleaning her firebox grates.
Suddenly though, a Futa with red hair, and wearing railroad work clothes looked up and saw me standing there. "Hey! You there! What are you doing here?!"
"Um....Empress Demetria said that I could come back and see the Challenger. She said to ask for someone named Ginny Ryder."
Ginny then looked a bit closer at me, and once she saw my wolf ears and tail, she then realized who I was.
"Oh, so I guess that we finally meet face to face Leopard. I'm Ginny Ryder, and you can come on in."
I nodded, and then stepped inside of the engine house. I then walked up to Ginny.
"Wow, I was wondering when I was going to get to meet you Leopard. But now I can say that I did!"
"Just as I can finally say that I met the Futa who drives Challenger 3985!"
"Yep! I drive her, Daisy Rands is her fireman, and Tonya Doyle is her brakeman. Together, we crew 3985, the engine that pulls the private train of Empress Demetria!"
"And how did she even get here? I thought that she was scrapped, or lost to one of the wars!"
"So did everyone else! I don't know what happened to her or why, but at some point, the Union Pacific Railroad lost control of her, and she wound up at a breaker yard in.......eh......what's the former US State just above Texas? Oldhadosa?"
"Oklahoma?"
"Yes! That's it. She was going to be scrapped, and was in line for it, however, just as she was the 3rd engine from the torch, Empress Demetria arrived at the breaker yard looking for a usable locomotive to turn into her private train. She found 3985 there, and once she saw that the engine was in fairly good condition, she bought her, and had her towed to the former Union Pacific Roundhouse in Cheyenne, Upper Mountains, where she was fully restored, and reconfigured to burn coal. She was then taken to Vegas, given a train, and has had steady work as Demetria's private train, and mode of long-distance transportation ever since. She's also been used to haul freight from time to time as well."
When I heard Ginny's story, I was SO thankful that Demetria had been able to save a valuable American treasure. I knew that 3985 was one of only 2 Challengers left in existence, and while her sister 3977 had been pulled to safety by the Americans, 3985 had gone missing, and was presumed lost forever. Now here she was in Vegas, fully restored, and being used. Her number was still "3985", and her black tender even still said "Union Pacific" in white letters.
"Wow. I'm so glad that Mom saved 3985 from being scrapped. She's one of only 2 Challenger locomotives left in existence."
"Yeah, and now she's the engine that pulls the private train of Empress Demetria herself!"
I then looked at 3985 again. "And any chance of getting a closer look at 3985?"
Ginny nodded. "Sure, I think that that can be arranged!" She then led the way further inside the engine house.
I was still in shock and awe when I saw 3985 up close. "Gosh. Even after all this time, 3985 is STILL quite the impressive steam engine! I mean, with her 4-6-6-4 wheel configuration, and her black and gray paint scheme, not to mention the fact that her tender still says 'Union Pacific' in white letters, she looks like she's ready for work on the Union Pacific Railroad."
"And I and the rest of those who take care of her make sure that she stays that way. A lot of the rail lines out here belonged to either the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe, or the AT&SF, though now they're just called 'Railroad 7' or some other really generic name."
I sighed. "Well, as Mom said once, the Futas over there at the Department of the Interior are absolute SHIT when it comes to naming anything!"
Ginny laughed. "Yeah, I believe it! They can't give a good name to anything if their lives depended on it!" She then looked on as 3985 was lowered the rest of the way back onto the tracks. The ash-pans were now fully emptied, and the firebox grates were almost all clean as well.
"So, what happens after everything is cleaned?"
"Well, then we oil and grease all of the joints, bearings, and other moving parts, and then get her ready to go again. If you have the time, we need to make a maintenance run tonight, and I'd like to show you how 3985 works."
I was surprised. "Wait, do you really mean that?"
Ginny nodded. "Of course. You seem like a decent male Leopard, and Empress Demetria's had NOTHING but good things to say about you, (unlike certain OTHER blue-haired, mask-wearing brats I could mention!) so yes, I'd love to show you how it all works."
I nodded, and after checking in with Demetria again via radio, she allowed me to see 3985 in action up close and personal. I was up in the cab with Ginny, and her fireman Daisy Rands got 3985 ready for her maintenance run. She was going to be hauling a train of 7 empty gondolas and a caboose, for a total of 8 cars. The run was planned from the Luxor, out to the main line, a few laps around Vegas, and then back to the engine house. The time was close to 7:30pm, so the sun was starting to set, but there was still time for the run.
Once everything was ready, Ginny pulled 3985 out of the engine house, and over to an adjoining siding where the 7 gondolas and caboose were coupled up, and then the whole train began to pull away from the Luxor.
Once we were out on the mainline around Vegas, Ginny began to show me how all of the controls worked.
"It's actually pretty easy once you know what you're doing Leopard. Most of my job involves working with the throttle, as well as the brakes, with perhaps a few adjustments to valves, and checking gauges as well."
I nodded, and then she showed me the throttle, the brakes, the pressure gauges, the speedometer, the whistle, the bell, the directional control, and the train's cab radio. Daisy Rands also showed me the controls for the coal auger, the firebox door controls, water pressure gauges, valves for controlling steam, and the other controls used by the fireman. I copied what they did, and both of them commended me for my efforts.
"Wow, you're a fast learner Leopard. One day you might have to take over my job when I get too old!"
I laughed a bit. "Yeah, maybe so Ginny! It's so cool to finally get to see how this all works. I mean, I've seen pictures of 3985's cab before, but those were just pictures, AND they were taken before WW3. That was back when 3985 still burned oil!"
"Just as it was my pleasure to show you Leopard. I'm glad that you appreciate it, and even more glad that you've taken the time to learn what Daisy and I have shown you."
"Yeah, I agree with Ginny. It's nice having you around Leopard. I'm also glad that you have combat skills."
I gave her a curious look. "Huh? And why's that Daisy?"
She gave me a curious look. "Wait, you mean that you haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
"All those stories about train robbers in this area."
I shook my head. "No, I haven't."
"Well, it's kind of a big deal. Resistance Groups, and even just plain Futa criminals have taken to robbing trains, killing the crew, and sometimes even stealing the train itself! It's getting pretty dangerous. Just last week train crews working for the Wells Fargo Shipping Company shot 5 train robbers dead, and injured at least 7 others to protect their trains!"
I was surprised. I had heard about the train robbers, but I thought that they were just made-up stories.
"Gosh, they're even going after trains with Wells Fargo?"
"Yeah. They want that mail, gold, and other valuables, and Wells Fargo has so far said 'DENIED!!!!!' loud and clear!"
I knew how serious that was. Stealing mail was already a federal offense, but targeting a mail train was an even worse crime. Most mail trains, and other trains carrying valuables such as gold, money, and other such items ran under the direction of the Wells Fargo Shipping Company after it was taken over by the Futas at the end of WW6, and they ran their trains on time, and in any kind of weather. Sure, they had guards on the trains, and those guards did protect what was on board, but it was still dangerous work.
"And......are we in any danger of facing train robbers tonight Ginny?" I asked her worriedly.
Ginny shrugged. "Eh, anything's possible Leopard. I mean, we ARE only hauling 7 empty gondolas, but yet 3985 IS the private engine of Empress Demetria, so we could be stopped, and held for ransom."
"Which means capture for you and Daisy, and most likely slavery for me."
Ginny pulled out her gun that she carried, while Daisy pulled out a shotgun. "Which we will NEVER let happen while we're still alive Leopard! They want to stop our train, then they're gonna have to get through US first!"
I nodded, but just then, from out of the Mojave Desert to our left, 4 Jeeps suddenly began to run alongside our train. All 4 of them were painted black, and those within were carrying guns, and their faces were covered by bandannas, ski masks, and even Halloween masks!
I spotted them first. "TRAIN ROBBERS!!!!" I yelled.
"Not on MY watch!" Daisy then pointed her shotgun out of her window, and began to blast away at those in the jeeps. She managed to hit the driver of the lead jeep, and the jeep flipped over following a collision with a boulder, but that still left 3 more jeeps.
Ginny then handed me an old Springfield rifle from the WW1-Era, (I think that it was a Springfield M1903) and I too helped defend the train. Both her and Daisy were shocked at my skills with the rifle, but then they remembered that I served in WW3-WW6 in the US Army, so that was understandable!
"Whoa! You can really shoot Leopard!"
I nodded as I reloaded my rifle. "Thanks Ginny. When one has spent as much time on the battlefield as I have, one tends to learn a thing or two about how to shoot a rifle!"
The train robbers did shoot back, but they were shooting from a speeding jeep at a moving train, and at 3 individuals who were constantly poking their heads up onto the left windowsill of the cab to shoot before ducking back down again. One by one the train robbers were picked off, until a lucky shot by Daisy blew out the radiator of the last jeep, and it stalled out. I was able to hit 2 more of the jeep's occupants, bringing the total number of enemy casualties up to 7 dead, 5 wounded, and at least 4 more probable kills. Only 3-5 escaped, and Ginny quickly radioed their location to the authorities, who quickly swooped down and snatched up 2 of the train robbers.
They turned out to be Futas who had rap sheets a mile long, and they soon turned in their 2 other surviving friends as well. All 4 of them were facing VERY serious charges, but at least they were now off the streets, and in prison where they belonged. 3985 would live to ride the rails again, Ginny and Daisy were just fine, as was I. We saved the engine, its empty cars, AND helped take a few more Futa criminals off the streets in just one night, so all in all, it was a job well done!
Demetria looked up from her diary reading. "And that's when I first realized that my Son was still skilled with his weapons. He helped save 3985 from those train robbers, and he helped keep Ginny and Daisy safe too."
Minerva nodded. "Yes, and it was VERY fortunate that the three of them were able to hold off the train robbers. In the end, I'm glad that they were able to do so, and even though there was no cargo to guard, there WAS Challenger 3985, which is still your private engine for your private train, so they helped to save that too."
"And it was because of that night, and the skills that my son Leopard showed that I began to consider him for 'Operation Dark Night'. He had the skills, and the loyalty to me, but yet a few more things had to be tested first."
"Like how far he was willing to go to keep you safe Dem?"
Demetria nodded. "Yes, as well as just how good his skills really were. And I would find out too."
"From his time in your court?"
"Yes, from his time in my court." Demetria then flipped through the diaries a bit until she found the new entries that she was looking for.
Close to the middle of the Palace Luxor was an area that most knew existed, but so few had ever seen. This area was none other than the Imperial Throne Room. It was here that Demetria ruled over the Futas, held her court, visited with dignitaries, and heard complaints from those below her.
The throne room itself was shaped like a long hallway, and lined with Egyptian-styled columns. The floor was made of polished tile, and the walls were painted dark tan. On them were pictures of Demetria, as well as her mother, Empress Boudica, and her sister Natasha. Down the middle of the hallway ran a long red carpet, one that ended at the top of the steps of the throne itself. Windows way up close to the ceiling provided light and ventilation, although torches and pots of fire provided light at night. The doors to the throne room were made of gold, and had 2 winged lions on them. At each interval between the columns, as well as by the door, in front of the throne, and other places, some hidden from view entirely, stood Demetria's Royal Guards. Their job was to protect their Empress, their Goddess, at all costs. They wore black, breathable, skin-tight jumpsuits covered in dark purple armor. They held bayoneted guns, wore dark purple helmets, and carried shields with the symbol of the Futa Empire on them. (Most will tell you that the symbol of the Futas is a bright red cock and balls, but that's the symbol of the Futa Military. The REAL symbol of the Futa Empire is a bright red winged lion. The lion is in flight, and seems to be holding an ax in one paw).
At the very back of the room, (or the very front, take your pick) stood Demetria's throne itself, with the flag of the Futas behind it, (a black and dark purple flag with the same bright red winged lion on it). The red carpet led up a series of 6 marble steps leading up to it. The throne itself was made of gold, and covered with dark purple pillows, cushions, and other coverings. The throne itself was also shaped like a sort of a couch, so Demetria could either sit on it, or lie on it. Just behind the throne were Demetria's advisers, as well as her personal bodyguards, led by Minerva. They always stayed in the shadows unless they were needed to fight, unlike the advisers, who would often come forwards when their Empress desired to speak to them.
While court was in session, Demetria always wore her scarlet royal robes, had her long dark brown hair hanging down her back, and wore her golden crown on her head. She only wore this attire when she was in her court, or for very formal events. I would often be by her side, though I sat on a purple pillow on the platform that the throne sat on, and by Demetria's order held onto her leg. This was to show the other Futas that I did indeed know my place, and so that I would appear meek and timid. While I was with her in court, I almost always wore my usual dark brown smock. I also had a uniform, but it was only worn for formal events. (Yes, I KNOW that it's a Nazi SS uniform! Demetria gave me this on purpose so that I would look intimidating standing next to her at formal events. And yes, it really did work!)
My role was simple. Sit there, do whatever Demetria needed me to do, and protect her if necessary. Sometimes Demetria would ask me to sit with her, sometimes she would lift up her robes just enough to allow me to slip underneath and give her a blowjob, sometimes I would sit on my usual pillow, and sometimes Demetria would cuddle me gently. I would often give her advice during court, and she would take my advice seriously.
For the most part, court would be really boring. A group of Futas from somewhere in the empire would enter, walk up to the steps leading to the throne, bow to Demetria, praise her and the Great Goddess, their servants would deliver the offerings that they brought for Demetria, Demetria would then bid them to rise, and once they'd done so, they'd state their names, where they'd come from, and what their business was. Things seldom deviated from this norm, but when they did, it would often get VERY interesting!
While most believed Demetria to be a living incarnation of the Great Goddess, and many who visited went out of their way to ALWAYS mind their P's and Q's so as to avoid Demetria's wrath, and were only there on peaceful business, there were those who came with less than pure intentions. While there were no assassins, (thank God!) some came to try and threaten Demetria if she didn't do what they wanted, or to intimidate her in some way.
For example, Lt. General Marcia Rendit once came in with a group of her cohorts, as well as 6 fierce looking dogs. The dogs were all black, had gray eyes, and seemed to be German Shepherds mixed with another type of combat dog. The dogs were growling, and seemed agitated.
Rendit came up to the throne, and while she did bow to Demetria, she quickly became quite irreverent. "How DARE YOU cut back on our Army budget Empress! The Americans are just WAITING to catch us with our pants down, and you cut our budget?!"
"I had no choice but to cut back on military spending this quarter General Rendit". Demetria calmly answered. "A number of transportation routes needed immediate repair/upgrades, and that's where the money went. Do not worry though, next quarter the money will be back in the Army.”
While this seemed like a perfectly reasonable answer, Rendit was upset, and not thinking straight. "No, you'll increase the budget NOW! I've got 6 of my subordinates here with me, AND 6 of our best attack dogs!" The dogs then began to bark angrily in addition to growling.
Demetria's guards then grabbed their weapons. They made no move to use them yet, but they would in the blink of an eye if their Empress was in danger.
I looked at the dogs, and then back at the Futas handling them. I could tell what was up, and how to quickly defuse the situation. I then looked at Rendit.
"General? May I be allowed to speak?"
She looked at me. "Is that a joke? No, you cannot! Males are NEVER allowed to speak in the presence of high-ranking Futas!"
"No, they're not allowed unless I SAY that they are!" Demetria corrected. "And I say that my Son shall speak. Go ahead Leopard."
"Thanks Mom." I then let go of Demetria's leg, and after standing up, I walked down to the base of the stairs where Rendit and her cohorts were.
"Now then, as I was trying to say, this situation REALLY needs to cool off before someone gets hurt! Like my Mom said General, the budget will be back next quarter, this is only a temporary setback." I then looked at the dogs. "And just so you know, your dogs aren't agitated, they're just extremely confused."
Rendit gave me a strange look. "Huh? What the hell does that mean? Of COURSE they're agitated! They're attack dogs!"
"Yes, but they can't understand you, as you don't speak their language!" I then turned to the 6 dogs, and said something in a strange language; the same language that I spoke to Radar in the night I was adopted by Demetria. Suddenly, the dogs all stopped barking, and immediately laid down. I then said something else, and the dogs got up, and quietly moved next to me before sitting down. I then pet them all gently, all while still whispering in that strange language.
Rendit was looking at me like I was a ghost or something, as were her other subordinates. "WITCHCRAFT!!!!" Rendit screamed. "HE USED WITCHCRAFT!!!!" She and her subordinates then fled for their lives from the throne room!
I laughed a bit. "Heh, silly Futas. They sure can talk the talk, but they REALLY have a hard time walking the walk!" I then walked back up to the throne, and sat down in front of Demetria, who was also looking at me in shock.
"Ok, what..........what just happened?! What was that language that you used to talk to the dogs, and why did they obey you?!"
I laughed softly, before leaning close to her. "The answer is actually VERY anti-climactic Mom. The truth is, those dogs used to be used by US Special Forces, and were most likely captured in WW6. And the language that I spoke to them in is the same language that I use with Radar every now and again. What I said earlier was correct. Those dogs weren't agitated, they were just extremely confused, as their masters weren't speaking their language. The honest truth is, these dogs only speak Dutch!"
Demetria was surprised. "Wait, they only speak Dutch?!"
I nodded. "Yes. Special Forces dogs like that were trained using Dutch phrases and codes so that the non-trained person can't just turn the dogs against others. The Dutch language is EXTREMELY complex, and even I myself only know enough phrases to communicate with dogs like these thanks to having comrades who trained these kinds of dogs for a living. Rendit and her cohorts obviously didn't realize that their dogs only spoke Dutch, hence the reason that they thought that the dogs were agitated, instead of confused."
"So......what does that mean for us now?" Demetria was still in a state of mild shock.
"Well, it means that now we have 6 more combat dogs, and as long as we have someone on hand who speaks Dutch, they can be trained to protect you as well. Although, for the sake of my reputation, could you PLEASE not tell anyone that I actually DON'T have 'witchcraft abilities'? It would be bad for discipline!"
Demetria laughed, but she did agree with me. Those 6 dogs were eventually trained for protecting Demetria, and they did their job faithfully. I'd saved Demetria from a tight spot before, but my REAL challenge was only just beginning.
One hot day at the end of July 2025, another group of military Futas arrived at Demetria's Court. This time they were led by Major General Patricia Tapper, a REAL Amazonian brute. She stood almost 7 feet tall, had muscles that could bend structural steel, dirty blonde hair that hung to her shoulders, and piercing gray eyes. EVERYONE who came into contact with her was afraid of her, and with good reason. She'd already killed at least 4 others whom she didn't like, so all others got out of her way!
When she and her 10 subordinates arrived, they were all wearing their usual black military uniforms, with Tapper standing head and shoulders above the rest. And if that wasn't enough to mark her as their leader, she was also wearing a tunic that appeared to be made from the full hide of a Snow Leopard; head, tail, paws and all! And unlike Rendit, none of them showed even the slightest respect for Demetria.
Tapper looked up at Demetria with disgust. "Psh, you call yourself an Empress, the Empress of the Futas even?! What a JOKE!!! You are NOT fit to be Empress!"
"Says who?" Demetria challenged. She knew how dangerous Tapper was, and her guards moved closer to protect her.
"Says ME! I'M the biggest, strongest and baddest Futa of them all! I should be the Empress of the Futas! I'm a REAL Futa, NOT a Herm! I'm ONLY into other Futas. I'm a bull-dyke, and proud of it! No one has EVER beaten me at anything, and nor will they EVER!!! So step aside, there's a NEW Empress in town!"
When the guards heard that, they immediately sprang to life to protect Demetria. They got between Tapper and Demetria, but they still seemed to be outmatched. Even I myself got ready to defend Demetria with my bare hands, as I wasn't allowed to carry a weapon! (I also had a guess that Tapper's claim to only be attracted to other Futas might have been false. I'd heard PLENTY of rumors that she might have actually been QUITE the sexual deviant, meaning that she had fetishes for males!)
I glared up at her as she tried to push through the guards. "Hey, Bitch! Back it up right now!"
Tapper looked around. "Who the f@#k said that?!"
"I did!"
Tapper then looked down and saw me. "You little whelp! Why I outta....!!!!!"
"You outta back the f@#k up before you get shot the f@#k up, and I knock the f@#k out of you! I will NEVER let you hurt Empress Demetria on my watch! Oh, and someone kinda DID beat you before Tapper! Remember the Battle of Sue Falls? When you and your forces, as well as Stacy and her forces, faced Firestorm Battalion? MY battalion? Yeah you do!"
I could see that Tapper was turning livid. She'd lost more of her troops in that battle than Stacy did, and the US/Futa kill ratio was 1:70,000+. For every guy we lost, they lost over 70,000. In the end, my 1,000 man battalion was destroyed, but the Futas lost an estimated 750,000 troops, and possibly even more. Tapper remembered her defeat there all too well, and I could tell that she remembered who I was as well.
"YOU!!!! Oh yes, I remember YOU!!!! If I had my way with it, you would have been killed, but oh no, you and whatever-the-f@#k-his-name-was just HAD to be kept alive for interrogation!"
"His name was Corporal Todd Davis, and he was one of the best soldiers I ever served with! May God protect him wherever he is right now." (I knew that Todd was still at the care center in Des Moines, but if Tapper knew that, then it would have been lights out for Todd).
Tapper glared at me. "'God' has nothing to do with this Whelp!" She then turned to Demetria. "Now then, are you gonna step down, or do I have to take the throne by force?"
I was starting to get REALLY angry now. NO ONE threatened my Mom and got away with it. I then stood up to my full height, and stared Tapper down. "Get the f@#k out of here Tapper! NO ONE wants you and your kind here! And THAT FUR belonged to a rare, and EXTREMELY endangered Snow Leopard! ILLEGAL to kill under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!"
Tapper then reached behind herself. I thought that she was pulling a gun, but instead she pulled out an officer's sword!
"F@#KING CUNT BITCH!!!! TODAY ALL OF YOU DIE FOR DARING TO DEFY ME!!!! AND I'M KEEPING THE FUR OF THE LEOPARD I KILLED!!!!!" She then slashed at the guards in front of her, killing 2, wounding at least 3 others, and knocking all of the others over. (To this day, I'm still fairly certain that Tapper was possibly Demon-possessed. No one, save those who have the favor of Satan, could have had the kind of inhuman strength, speed, and durability that Tapper was about to display).
I too leapt out of the way of Tapper's attack, and Demetria was grabbed by Minerva, and dragged to safety in what was called the "Glass Box", aka a special bullet-proof secret safe room located behind Demetria's throne used for just such an occasion.
Tapper may have thought that she won, but in reality, she was DEAD wrong! I landed to the right of the throne while facing the doors to the throne room, right next to a wall-mounted box containing a fire ax. Knowing what I had to do, I broke the glass and grabbed the ax. Then, after grabbing a helmet and armor from a dead Royal Guard, I then glanced behind the throne at Mom, and she nodded vigorously.
KILL HER LEOPARD!!!! SHOW HER WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO DARE TO DEFY A GODDESS!!!! KILL HER AND SEND HER SOUL TO HELL!!!"
I nodded. "As you wish Mom." I then turned to Tapper and her goons. 3 of her goons were dead, and at least 4 others were injured, however 4 more Royal Guards were also dead, and the whole Throne Room was now in full lockdown. There was no way in or out until the all-clear was given, and that wasn't going to happen until the threats had been neutralized. (Demetria had locked down the throne room from the "Glass Box", preventing Tapper and her goons from escaping. She knew the risks that she was taking in doing so, but given the circumstances, she had no other choice).
I then turned to face Tapper in combat, and what happened that day may very well have helped to change the course of History.
I knew that there was a very real risk of me dying because I was about to do. However, if it meant that Tapper would be rotting in Hell, then it would all be worth it. I then turned to face her, and yelled out my challenge.
"GENERAL TAPPER!!!!"
"WHAT?!?!?!" She screamed back as she turned to face me. She then saw my armor, and the ax. "The f@#k do you think that YOU'RE doing?!"
"I hereby challenge you to a duel to the death! No one will EVER be taking the throne away from Demetria while I still draw breath! Face me if you dare! If you think that you're FUTA enough!"
By this point, Tapper had seemingly lost all rational control. She pulled out her sword from the corpse of a Royal Guard, and raised it over her head. "In the name of the Great Goddess, DIE YOU F@#KING SON OF A F@#KING WHORE-BITCH!!!!!!" She then charged at me with her gray eyes blazing, and her full fury on display.
Still to this day, I've NEVER faced another opponent like Tapper. I knew that she was dangerous, but up until then I never knew just HOW dangerous she really was. To this day, I still say that she could have even given Stacy and Jasmine a run for their money!
It was like David going up against Goliath. My skills were more with guns, not axes. Sure, I used to have my trusty fire-ax that I would carry into combat, but I'd put that in my foot locker, and then had that shipped away from Sue Falls on the last transport truck out of there, heading for the Eastern side of the Mississippi River. I'd heard that the truck reached Fort Knox, Kentucky, and that most likely my ax was still there. Tapper meanwhile was seemingly right at home with using her officer's sword, and she also had the advantages of size, strength, speed, and endurance. The only things that I had going for me were agility, and even faster reflexes. But still though, would it be enough?
Tapper slashed left, and I tried to deflect the slash, only to have her blade skid off my ax, and cut into my shoulder between my armor! "Augh!" I grunted a bit.
Tapper seem to take delight at the sight. "Ah, fresh blood!" She tried to follow up on her attack, but I blocked it. I knew that I needed another weapon, so from a fallen Royal Guard, I was able to grab a metal baton. Now I had something that could block Tapper's blows slightly better than my ax could, especially since it was made of steel, and didn't retract.
By this point, the last of Demetria's guards had subdued Tapper's remaining cohorts, and assuming that Tapper lost, they would face execution on charges of high treason. Demetria and Minerva watched from the Glass Box. They were still cheering me on, but yet they could see that I was possibly running out of steam.
"Come on Leopard, you HAVE to win this!"
"All he's really gotta do is catch Tapper off guard, get inside of her defenses, and then slash her with that ax he's got. If he cuts deep enough, he might be able to kill her, as remember, Tapper usually doesn't wear any armor!"
Demetria thought about that. "You know, you might be right Minerva!" Demetria then grabbed a small radio that was in the Glass Box, and dialed it in to the channel that the radios in the helmets that the Royal Guards used.
"Leopard? Leopard! Can you hear me?"
"Mom? Is that you? Are you alright?"
"Yes, it's me Leopard, and I'm fine. However, you HAVE to listen to me! Minerva just told me that Tapper might not be wearing any armor. What you need to do to win this fight is catch her off guard, get inside of her defenses, and then slash her with that ax with all of your might! You might cut her deep enough to incapacitate her, which will then allow you to kill her! Do you think that you can do that?"
There was silence for a few moments. Finally I said, "I don't know if I can Mom, but that may be the only shot that I've got right now. If this fight keeps going much longer, I'm just going to be another decoration on Tapper's wall, as will you once she gets in there! I'll take your advice Mom. Tell Minerva I said thanks!"
I will Leopard!" The fight then continued.
Back and forth across the throne room the battle raged. It almost seemed like I was in retreat, but in reality, I was leading Tapper around, trying to get her to waste energy. I knew that I was going to have to wear her down just enough, then taunt her a bit, hopefully causing her to snap, and attempt to retaliate, thus giving me the chance to get inside her defenses.
"What do you hope to gain by this Leopard?!" Tapper asked me as we continued to trade blows. "Keeping Demetria on the throne for another number of years? She's a weak pacifist! She's NOT fit to rule!"
"Says YOU!" I retorted. "If she wasn't capable, then I HIGHLY doubt that Empress Boudica, her own mother, would have chosen her to rule!"
"Maybe she was at one time, but over time she's grown weak! F@#king slut whore!"
That was it, I knew that my time had come. In that one moment of distraction, I threw my baton straight into Tapper's face. It slammed into her hard, and I heard what I thought were bones cracking. Due to the amount of bleeding, I knew that I broke her nose, and hopefully cracked a few other facial bones around it too.
"EEEEEEAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!" She screamed in both agony and rage. "YOU'LL NEVER LIVE TO REGRET THAT YOU SICK LITTLE DEMON SHIT!!!!! DIE FLAMING IN HELL YOU F@#KING LITTLE........!!!!!" Tapper then said a long string of words in some language that I'd never heard before. It sounded like it might have been Russian, but Demetria later told me that it wasn't. Still to this day no one is quite sure what language Tapper was speaking in, but anyone could tell that it was the deepest, darkest, most profane curse that she could pronounce upon me. (Based on my later research, I now believe that she may have been speaking a Celtic dialect).
However, that curse backfired. Due to her only being able to see red, (both blood and her own rage) Tapper failed to see me charging with my ax. In one moment of rage, I prayed to God to give me the strength needed to take Tapper down, and He answered my prayer. I brought my ax back, and in a leaping motion, I jumped up, before slashing down with my ax. Blood splattered everywhere, so I knew that my aim was true, but now the question was, how seriously was Tapper hurt?
I landed on the ground again, still splattered with Tapper's blood, and she just stood there for a few moments longer. She had a look of confusion on her face, and was turning pale. "What the.......what....?????" Then, her entire lower torso split open, and her intestines all flowed out, followed by a geyser of blood! Tapper then fell to the floor on her back. I then picked up my ax, and walked over to her. I HAD to make sure that she was dead!
When I saw her face, I could tell that she was still breathing somehow, but that she was also choking on blood. She then looked at me. "H-h-how.......?" She asked faintly. "How......d-did you........defeat me?"
I started down at her. "There is one rule that you NEVER break Tapper, and that rule is NEVER.....EVER try and take the throne from a reigning Empress without just cause. Not liking an Empress is NOT just cause to overthrow her."
She then gave me a glare. "F-f-f@#k....y-you!!!" She then spit a glob of blood at me.
I sighed. "Alright, suit yourself." I then grabbed my ax again, and in one final motion, brought it down on Tapper's chest. Her entire torso seemingly split open like a coconut, and blood, organ pieces, and bone fragments splattered everywhere.
General Tapper died that day for her high treason against Empress Demetria, and the rest of the Futa Empire. She thought that she could take the throne by force, and she was proven otherwise. A total of 7 Royal Guards also died that day, as did 5 of Tapper's cohorts. The other 5 were put on trial, where 3 more were found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death. The remaining 2 were found guilty of lesser crimes, and put to work on a chain gang out in the Mojave Desert.
Once the battle was over, I told Demetria that it was safe to come out. "You can come on out Mom. Tapper's dead, and her remaining cohorts are in custody."
Demetria did so, although she had to wrap one of her sleeves around her mouth and nose, due to the horrid smells of blood and guts. I then removed the blood-stained Royal Guard armor that I'd been wearing, and Demetria hugged me.
"T-thank you Leopard......so...so much. You saved my life, and the lives of so many others. Thank you!"
I hugged her back. "You don't even have to thank me Mom. I just......I just did what I had to do to protect you. It's my duty to do so after all."
"Yes, and now Tapper's burning in Hell where she belongs! She'll NEVER be causing any trouble ever again for me, OR my empire!"
"No, no she won't."
Demetria then smiled a bit. "Now then, let's get out of here so that they can clean this mess up, and how about we relax for a while?"
"Sure, if you want to do that Mom, we can do that." We then left the throne room, followed by Minerva, and the rest of the remaining Royal Guards. As I left the throne room though, I picked up Tapper's Snow Leopard cloak that she'd discarded just before the battle, and I claimed it as a trophy.
Demetria looked up from the diaries. "That was the scariest day of my entire life up to that point Minerva. If Leopard hadn't beaten Tapper, I shudder to think of what might have happened."
Minerva was a bit pale too. "Yes. If Tapper was Empress, no doubt the rest of the Royal Family, and anyone who disagreed with her, she would have killed, and then restarted WW6 right then and there. Goddess only knows how that would have played out."
"But yet, it didn't. As we later learned from Tapper's diaries, she did indeed try to make a deal with the Devil for the power and abilities that she had, and it worked, but the deal was seemingly crooked. Leopard, a male smaller and weaker than her, not to mention less skilled in combat, killed her, and her soul was then dragged down to Hell as payment for the Devil."
Minerva was surprised. "She made a deal with the Devil?! You don't make a deal with the Devil, he's a BAD person! He's not even a person, he's........a Monster!"
"Just like Tapper's "father'?" Demetria joked. (Tapper's 'dad', Brenda Tapper, was a Futa. She too was cruel and evil, and some think that she died because of a deal that she made with the Devil).
"Yes!" Minerva laughed.
Demetria then sighed again. “Yeah. However, in the aftermath of Tapper's death, the whole throne room had to be sealed off. The Hazmat Team was called in to deal with the remains, as well as the remains of the others who died. The bodies of my Royal Guards were returned to their families for burial, and Tapper's body, as well as the bodies of her cohorts were burned, and the ashes scattered over the Mojave Desert somewhere. Then another 2 weeks was spent by them cleaning up the mess, and making the throne room usable again."
"Yeah, that was really painful, and it was scary too, as there was always the risk of a disease outbreak because of all the blood, and the insects that were attracted to it. Thankfully nothing like that happened, but still, very scary. And now that I think about it, what happened to the armor that Leopard wore, as well as that ax? I know that he took the Snow Leopard cloak and wore it with his formal uniform, both of which are on display close to your own quarters to this day, but what happened to the weapons and the armor?"
"Those I had made safe, before putting them into storage. I was going to have them put on display, but never got around to it due to WW6 being a priority. However, now that we're here in New Vegas, I had them put on display outside of the throne room, still with the blood from Tapper on them. The blood's been dry for a long time, but it's all still there. I keep those on display there as a warning to any other would-be throne snatchers."
"So Leopard's original US Army uniform and weapons are on display, as are his formal uniform and Snow Leopard cloak, and his armor and ax?"
Demetria nodded. "Yes. I keep them on display in his memory. May he rest in peace."
"Yes, may he rest in peace." Minerva then thought of something else. "Hey, remember those mechanical cat things that he tried to build to protect you?"
"Oh yes! Simba and Tigress, the mechanical lion and tiger! I mean sure, they failed, but they were still pretty awesome! Let me find that entry." Demetria then flipped through the diary again.
In the aftermath of Tapper's attempted coup, I still greatly worried for Demetria's safety. I knew that her Royal Guards were good, but that something more was needed. I then thought to myself, "What if I was able to build a sort of robot to protect Mom, Carla, and anyone else that I choose? Or better yet, what if I built a pair of them?"
Later that day, I began to sketch out a set of blueprints. Please bear in mind that I was NOT an engineer, or an architect, and had absolutely no idea what I was doing! The blueprints were crude, but I was able to draw out a mechanical tiger, and a mechanical lion. Now the second phase could begin; building them.
This proved to be a bit of a challenge. Not only did I have to scavenge my own parts, but I also had to scrounge up tools, a welding torch, safety gear, and a lot of handbooks on how to build key features, such as movable limbs, delicate wiring, tough armor, a voice box, and most importantly, the computer brain that kept the unit running, and did all of the calculations.
Over the course of the next 2 weeks, 2 cat-like bodies began to take shape. I built more and more, testing everything as I went along. I didn't run into any real problems until I started building the inner components. While I knew how to build most things, I was only good at working with hardware, NOT things like wiring, computer brains, photo-receptors, (aka robot eyes) voice boxes, damage sensors, activation switches, voice command speakers, etc. I did what I could, but I didn't ask for help when I probably should have. Why? Because this project was top-secret, and I REALLY didn't want any Futas knowing about it.
Eventually, I finished both units. On August 15th, 2025, I unveiled my creations to Demetria, Carla, Minerva, and Demetria's advisers.
"And now, I present to all of you, the latest advancement in security technology, Simba, and Tigress!" I then pulled the sheets that I'd had covering them off, thus revealing them to the world.
Everyone was shocked.
"Whoa! Those things are huge! What do they do Babe?"
I smiled. "Well Carla, Simba and Tigress here are advanced security robots. They can protect all of us, and take care of those who we deem enemies." I then turned to the robots. "Now then, both of you come online please!"
Both of them began to power up. Their eyes began to glow yellow (Simba) and blue (Tigress), and they slowly stood up. While they had been crouching before, now both of them stood easily 6 feet tall! They first looked at each other, and then they turned their heads towards me. Both of them seemed to almost be growling.
"Now then, who am I?"
Both of them seemed to scan me. Once they recognized me as their Admin/Creator, they both sat back on their haunches, and seemed to be a lot more friendly.
"Very good. Both of you are so good!" I began to rub their metal exteriors gently, getting mechanical purrs as a response.
"And what can they do to defend?" Demetria asked.
"I'll show you Mom, just as soon as these two are imprinted on all of you." I then ordered Simba and Tigress to walk over to the small crowd, and scan all of them. Once they did, I inputted into their brains who everyone was, and that they were to be protected. Carla was the Aux-Admin (ie secondary Admin), Demetria was Priority Protection 1 (ie, their primary target to protect), Minerva was Security Chief, (ie, their primary boss) and the advisers were seen as Civilians (ie, normal people). Other guards were inputted as Fellow Protectors, servants were inputted as Servants, Stacy, Jasmine, and Face were marked for Surveillance, and all others were to be scanned first before an assessment was made.
"And what can these things do to protect?" Demetria asked again.
"Well, they have their claws, heavy armor, teeth, tails, large size and weight, and inside of their mouths, I also installed a series of small saws. Basically, if those are activated, and they bite you in just the right spot, they'll be able to gut you like I gutted Tapper!"
"And these things are safe......right?"
I sighed, before admitting the truth. "The truth is Mom.......these things are prototypes. They still have a few quirks, bugs and other minor issues to be worked on, but I'm working on it. They'll be ready before too long, I hope."
I meant every word of what I said to Demetria. I was NOT going to allow the 2 "Cat-Drones" to enter service before I was absolutely convinced that there wasn't anything wrong with them.
As more time passed though, and I tested the Cat-Drones more and more, the more worried and concerned I became. Sure, they performed as expected, but they seemed to lack the ability to take down a suspect without turning them into ground up meat. During testing, they would turn a mannequin into plastic shards, despite DIRECT ORDERS from me to take down the suspect alive. They would also seem to hold "grudges" against those whom they didn't like. It was obvious that their computer brains were learning, and were possibly reaching AI levels of intelligence, but yet, it didn't really matter if they couldn't follow orders.
"It was a great idea Carla, but I just don't think that it's going to work." I told her at dinner one night. "These things are just too dangerous for everyday use."
She looked over at me. "What's wrong with them?"
"Well, they work too well. Every take-down is lethal, they keep seeming overzealously taking over from the Royal Guards, but most worrying of all, their computer brains, the same ones responsible for scanning and assessing threats, keep glitching. They see me, you, and Mom ok, and as non-threats, but the same can't be said for others. Their brains are too powerful, too prone to glitching, and the risks associated with them are too great. I'm going to end the project tonight."
"And how are you going to do that? Just remove their fusion power cores before placing them in storage?"
I shook my head. "No, even that's too dangerous. If they were found, then someone else could bring them online, and use them to kill. Yes, the cores will be removed, but I will also seize up their joints, thus preventing them from moving."
"And how.....how will they react to that?"
"If I can seize up even 2 of their limbs, then I'll be ok. Plus, they're incapable of feeling pain, so they won't know what I'm doing to them. All I have to do is spray their limbs down with a mixture of salt water and other corrosive chemicals, power them down, remove their power cores, and then weld their joints together. Once they've been permanently rendered harmless, then they can be moved to storage."
Carla wished me luck, and after dinner was over, I went down to the workshop where the robots were kept. When I arrived, both of them were sitting on their charging platforms. They both activated when I walked into the room, though they quickly relaxed when they realized that it was only me. On my back, I had a tank full of the solutions that would seize up their joints. I held the nozzle of a hose in my hand, but I didn't use it yet.
"Simba, Tigress, come here please." Both of them got off their charging platforms, and walked over to me before sitting down. "I know that this is going to be hard for you both to hear, but........your missions are complete. You are no longer needed to protect the Empress."
They both looked at each other, and then up at me. They seemed to be confused.
"Empress Demetria has ordered me to tell you that you two have completed your missions to protect her, and that the time has come for you two to be retired. It's not my order, it was hers."
Both of them whimpered, and tried to move away from me. They both knew that I was going to deactivate them.
I sighed. "Yes, I am here to deactivate you both, but this won't last forever. You'll both just be placed in cold storage. What this means is that you'll both be perfectly preserved, frozen in time until you're needed again. You'll both be perfectly intact, and ready to go again. So.....can both of you power down please?" I was hoping that they would power themselves down, so that they wouldn't have to see what I was going to do to them.
They both looked at each other, gently nuzzled each other as if to say goodbye, and then they both stood up in their default positions, and powered down. Once they were powered off, I quickly opened them both up, and removed their fusion power cores, as well as their backup power cores. I then closed them up again, before gently hosing down their limbs with the corrosive material deluded by the salt water with the hose, and once they were dry again, I welded their joints together.
"I'm sorry Simba and Tigress. I'm so.....so sorry. I tried to build you guys right, but I just.....couldn't do it. I'm a soldier, not an engineer."
Once they were all welded up, using a ceiling winch, I then picked them both up, put them in 2 metal crates, locked the crates up tight, marked them as Bay-Light 1 and Bay-Light 2, and then had the crates moved to storage underneath the Palace Luxor Armory where they would be kept safe.
"And kept safe they would be. Sure, we had to move the crates when Vegas came under attack, but they and their contents survived. They're still underneath the new Palace Luxor Armory to this day."
"Yeah. And I'm glad that he saved those 2 cat-things Dem. Sure, they didn't work, but they were sure nice to look at. I just wish that he painted that tiger one with actual tiger stripes, instead of leaving it gray, but he was probably trying to fix all of the mechanical problems first."
Demetria looked at her. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that you're right Minerva. His design drawings of them did show them both painted, but he only painted the lion, and even then he painted the whole thing that golden color. I know that if he had gotten them working then he would have given them proper coats of paint, but sadly he never got that far."
"Well, those cats might not have worked, but 'Operation Dark Night' sure did!"
Demetria smirked darkly. "Yes, yes it did Mini. Thanks to the 'Vegas Shotgun Slinger' and 'Foxy', all those who stood against my rule were brought low, and shown the error of their ways! I gave them all of the chances that I had to stop usurping my authority, and trying to make up their own rules, but they didn't listen, and my patience finally ran out."
"I'm surprised that he talks about it in his diary at all, ESPECIALLY when suspicion was cast on him."
"Well, he did, but he did it in such a way so as to make it appear that he was talking about the exploits of the Vegas Shotgun Slinger as if it was someone else, so as to avert suspicion." Demetria then flipped to those entries from the most important 3 months in the last quarter of 2025; the reign of terror of the Vegas Shotgun Slinger, and Foxy.
On September 15th, Demetria suddenly called Carla and I up to her office. It was almost Midnight, so both of us were wondering why she needed us.
"I wonder what Mom needs."
"I don't know Carla, but I know that we'll find out soon."
When we arrived at Mom's office, we opened the door, and walked inside. Demetria was standing behind her desk, looking out of the large windows at the city below her. The lights were off in her office, with the only lights coming from outside, the moon, and a few lamps.
She half-turned to look at us when we walked in. "Close the door, and lock it. What I'm about to tell you is for your ears alone."
Both Carla and I looked at each other. If Mom said that, then that meant that whatever she was going to tell us was VERY serious. We did so, and Demetria bade us to come over, and have a seat in front of her desk. Once we were sitting down, she came over and sat down as well. She looked at us, and both of us could see the extreme look of seriousness on her face.
"The reason that I called you both here tonight is because I have to talk to you about something that is of the UTMOST importance. I know that General Tapper is gone, but yet there are still threats to my rule here in Vegas."
"What.....do you mean Mom?" I asked her nervously.
"I mean that there are those who disobey Futa Laws, even direct orders from me, and who go unpunished! Those who are protected by a bureaucracy that only seeks to further its own agenda. Those who abuse and hurt males DESPITE all of the massive legislation passed to protect them! There are those out there tonight who seek to undermine me, and expect no retaliation because of it, and the time has come to act!"
Both Carla and I knew how serious this was. ANYONE who dared to defy Futa Laws, even other Futas, HAD to be punished!
"So what do you plan on doing Mom?" I asked her.
She looked back up at us. "What I plan on doing.........is taking care of the problem once and for all. The ones ultimately responsible for this are Director Miranda Carson of CICI, (Counter Intelligence, Counter Insurgency, basically the Futa's version of the FBI and the CIA) and her subordinates, but under her come other military officials, (mostly minor officers, though a few high-ranking ones), and of course, a LOT of the Futas over at the MREA. I don't think I need to say why that is, do I?"
I shook my head. The MREA, or the Male Rape Enforcement Agency, was the Futa Police Force. They enforced Futa Laws, arrested offenders, jailed them, put them before a judge, and rescued males from abusive Futas. However, they were corrupt, and seldom, (if ever) did their jobs properly. Once Demetria passed the Male Protection Act, the Cohabitation Clause, the Transparency Act, and other pro-male legislation, the MREA was renamed the Male RIGHTS Enforcement Agency, and some within their ranks were arrested, and charged with the crimes that they committed. However, many more went unpunished. The MREA answered ultimately to Director Miranda of CICI, but they were broken down into their various precincts, MREA Training Academies, and of course, the MREA Headquarters.
"Within Las Vegas are 25 MREA properties, including 3 training academies, 18 precincts, their HQ, their head offices in the CICI Building, and 2 prisons; one for Futa and Herm offenders, and the other for males, females, terrorists, insurgents, and others who tried to commit acts of violence against the Futa Empire as a whole. Now I know that there are a few good eggs in the MREA, but the vast majority are corrupt, disloyal, self-serving pigs. I can name 5 precincts that need to be left alone, but the rest need to be hit, as does the CICI building, the MREA Headquarters, and a few other military targets as well, and when I say 'military targets', I mean fuel and ammo dumps."
"Wow, so this is your plan; take out the crooked MREA officers, and other crooked Futas who are disloyal?"
Demetria nodded. "Yes Carla, that's the overview of the plan anyway. Overall, I call it 'Operation Dark Night', but that's where I need you two. The thing is, someone's going to have to go in there, and do what has to be done. I would just have my guards do it, but if I did, then the MREA officials, and those at CICI would try to paint it as a 'hostile takeover', and turn my subjects against me. I would then possibly be removed from power, and someone much worse than me would become Empress, and I CANNOT let that happen!"
In my head, the pieces came together. "Oh, so your plan is to put together a black ops team to go in, splat some brains, blow some stuff up, cause mass panic, show how helpless the MREA is to restore order, and then have the masses turn on THEM instead?"
"Yes, precisely Leopard! And we then reform the MREA to be what it's supposed to be, and let this serve as a warning to all of the other MREA officers and other officials in the Futa Empire. Either learn from the mistakes of the Vegas corrupted and reform your ranks, or have this happen to you. For these missions, I'm authorizing you, and others that I pick to do this on my behalf, basically meaning that you have a licence to kill or be killed. Now of course, no such documentation of anything will exist for obvious reasons, and no one else will know about these black ops teams, but that's how it will be."
"And you want Carla and I to lead one of these teams?"
"No, I want you and Carla to become the first team. I want the two of you to be the first to strike, just to get the ball rolling. Then, once the other teams are fully formed, then all of you will begin to carry out my missions. And if all goes successfully, this whole affair will last no longer than 4 months."
For many more hours that night, Demetria, Carla and I talked more about our mission, how we were going to pull it off, what kinds of weapons we would be using, what we would be wearing, and ultimately, what we were going to call ourselves. Interestingly enough, we were just going to be called Black 1 and Black 2, and then we would let the media name us. Boy did THAT ever turn out to be a great idea!
2 nights later, a maintenance van pulled up to MREA Precinct 7. Precinct 7 was a precinct on the West side of Vegas, within sight of the neighboring town of Henderson, Nevada. It was often a first assignment for rookie MREA officers fresh out of the academy, as well as old-timers who were on their way out. Of course, there were regular officers too, and some of these were even SWAT officers, but thankfully the regulars were few, and the SWAT's were even fewer!
From the van, 2 figures in dark coveralls, work boots, and dark blue hats stepped out. They seemed to be maintenance and cleaning personnel from the local Fix n' Clean Company there to perform their nightly cleaning and maintenance of the precinct. One of the figures was a Herm with her name tag saying "Allison Pendle" on it, and the other was a male with his name tag saying "Tom Connor". From the back of the van, the 2 of them unloaded a cart full of cleaning supplies, and once they rolled up to the front door, they knocked before being buzzed inside.
Once we'd made it in, I began to mop the floors while Carla went to take care of the phone lines, as well as the vehicles in the motor pool. She had to make sure that no calls got out of the precinct, or that we could be chased after the mission, so when she went back outside, she first found the phone boxes, and after opening them up, she placed explosives in them. After this, she went around to the various vehicles in the motor pool, and planted explosives underneath them as well. These would all be detonated by remote control once we were ready for the mission to start.
Meanwhile, I was mopping the floors in the front lobby. I was fully expecting anyone to see right through my disguise, but no one did.
"This is so weird", I thought. "No one's checking any ID's, no one's checking any credentials, no one's even batting an eye when 2 maintenance workers that they've never seen before show up. All we had to do was knock, and they let us in! Have all of the Futas really gotten THAT complacent?!"
In fact, the only real trouble that I had was with Sophie Lane, the Night Watch Commander. "Hey! You!" She yelled at me.
I looked up, thinking that I'd been discovered. "Me?"
"Yes, you!" She came walking over to me. I saw that she was wearing the typical blue police uniform of the MREA, although she was wearing pants instead of the usual skirt. (Having a skirt made it easier to "punish males with your penis" as most MREA officer's said!)
What's your name?" She grabbed the part of my coveralls where my name tag was. "Tom? Tom, you need to get these floors done faster! You've got a LONG way to go!" She then left me alone.
"Right away Ma'am!" I then began to mop faster.
As I reached some of the back areas, I overheard a few of the rookie MREA officers talking about their jobs.
"Yeah, being in the MREA is gonna be SOOOO easy Macy! I mean, who in their right minds would EVER try and hurt an MREA officer?"
"Yeah, no kidding Kim. Plus, we get to have all of the sex that we want with those males in the Pens!"
I felt my stomach heave when Macy said that. The "Pens" as they were called, were the holding cells in police stations where those who were just arrested were held. They're kept there while awaiting trial, and then are either moved to prison, or a local jail, depending on their crimes. Most males who wind up in there are raped, and treated as toys by MREA officers.
"Not for much longer", I thought. I then kept mopping. All the while though, as a foreshadowing of doom, I began to hum "Pumped up Kicks", by "Foster the People". None of the other Futas even batted an eye when I passed by, most likely indicating that they had no idea what song that I was humming, or if they did, they had no idea what it really meant.
"And what kind of a person would attack an MREA Precinct?" I suddenly heard Kim ask as I was making my way back to the front of the building.
"A VERY stupid one, that's for sure!" Macy answered. "There's 80 cops in this building alone, and some of those guys are SWAT officers! No one would EVER succeed in doing so, right Janitor-Guy?"
"Huh?" I looked up. "Oh....uh......I don't think so. They'd have to have some REALLY mad-skills to pull it off, and don't most males seem to lack those skills?"
"Yes! Males are SO much weaker than Futas! Except for that one guy, Leopard. However, he has the favor of Empress Demetria, and she gave him some of her powers. Why the f@#k she would is anyone's guess though. If I were the Great Goddess, I would have struck her dead for it!"
Up until Macy questioned why Demetria gave me some of her "powers", I was wondering why I had to kill her, as she seemed like a nice girl. However, after she started talking shit about Demetria, and wishing that she could strike her dead, I didn't feel bad that I was about to kill her. If that's the kind of thing that these kids were being taught in the MREA Academy, to talk trash about the same Empress that you believed was a physical representation of a Goddess, then it was time to bust a cap, if you know what I'm saying!
A little while later, I met up with Carla again. The time for our mission was growing near, and both of us were getting nervous. We walked back to our van, and sat in it for a bit. We were both eating some sandwiches and donuts that we brought, as well as drinking some soda.
"Did you take care of the phone lines Carla?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I did. I placed explosives inside of the phone boxes, and I'll detonate them once the mission begins. I also planted C4 under all of the vehicles in the motor pool, and chained up and locked all of the side and back doors from the outside. How about you?"
"Well, aside from mopping the floors, I took care of the radios by making sure that they'll play all of the usual chatter on a loop, and I also got exact numbers of cops, the location of their arsenals, where the Pens are, and the best places for breaking open gas lines for when we burn Precinct 7 to the ground!"
Carla nodded. "Great work Leopard."
I then looked at my watch. The time was just after 10pm, and our mission would begin at 10:30. One last time before we got ready, we called Mom on a secured line.
"Everything's in place Mom. We're all ready."
"Ok, that's good. And both of you promise to PLEASE come home to me safely! I couldn't STAND to lose you! I know that this mission is dangerous, but PLEASE come home safely!"
"I will Mom, and so will Carla. Both of us are as skilled, and highly-trained as they come. We're up against 80 cops sure, but only 10 of them are SWAT officers. 25 are regular cops, and the rest are either oldies almost to their retirement, or rookie kids fresh from the academy who think that they're invincible! It might not be the easiest thing I've ever done, but it won't be the hardest either."
"Yes, and we'll have each other's back's Mom, every step of the way. We'll make it through this together."
"Ok, and I'll be watching those body cams that you guys have with you for ANY updates of what's happening, so make it good over there!"
Carla and I nodded. "We will Mom. Goodbye." We then hung up, finished our food, and then went to the back of the van again.
This time, from under a false floor in the back, we pulled out the gear that we were going to need. We pulled out body armor, before covering our chests, torsos, backs, butts, groins, arms, legs, knees, elbows, necks, shoulders, hips, and the tops of our hands. We then covered our armor with our coveralls, and pulled out the rest of our gear. We pulled out helmets, gloves, hoods that attached to our coveralls, and the masks that we were going to wear. We put on the helmets and gloves, and then pulled the hoods on over our heads, but we left the masks out a little bit longer. I had a wolf mask, and Carla had a tiger one.
Then, we pulled out the weapons that we were going to be using. We had a HUGE arsenal of weapons hidden in the van, as well as enough ammunition to supply a small militia force! We both had M16 rifles, I had a hunting rifle, Carla had an Uzi, we both had Glock 9mm's, and PLENTY of ammo for all of our guns. We also both had flash-bangs, a number of grenades, Bowie knives, pipe bombs, and several packages of C4. All of this was stored in the pockets of our coveralls, though we carried our guns either on our shoulders, or in holsters attached to our coveralls as well. (I'd meant to bring a shotgun, but for some reason, It slipped my mind to do so. I was hoping to find one inside once we started our rampage).
I looked at Carla one last time. "You ready for this Babe?"
"As ready as I'll ever be Leopard. If we die tonight, then we both died fighting the good fight."
"We won't die tonight Carla. We'll both live to die another day. Precinct 7 will fall, and all those inside, (except the males in the Pens if there are any) will burn with it!"
We then kissed one last time, before putting on special goggles to protect our eyes, I grabbed the wolf mask, she grabbed the tiger mask, we put them on, pulled our hoods over our heads again, locked and loaded all of our guns, turned on the body cams that we brought with us so that Demetria would be able to watch us live, hid all of our gear that we weren't going to be taking with us, locked up the van again, and then proceeded towards Precinct 7, and into the history books.
At this same time, Macy and Kim were outside the front steps of the Precinct, eating some snacks that they bought from a vending machine. Little did they suspect though that that was going to be their last meal in life. They saw Carla and I walk by, but even though we were holding weapons and wearing masks, they thought that we were playing a prank on them.
"Wow, cool costumes, but Halloween ain't for another month!"
"Yeah! Come on Leah and Melissa, we know that that's you under there! You guys aren't scary!"
I turned to them. "Are we?"
Macy looked at me weirdly. "Of course we're not scared. We know that it's really you!"
"No. I mean are we REALLY Leah and Melissa?"
"Well, who else would you be? You two are the biggest pranksters here at Precinct 7!"
I pulled my hunting rifle up to a firing position, finger on the trigger. "Wrong. We're your worst nightmares!" I then shot both of them in the throat, killing them instantly. I then nodded to Carla, and we proceeded to the front doors.
Once we were there, I placed some of our pipe-bombs on the front doors to blow them in, as they'd locked since we'd gone outside, and we weren't going to be getting in dressed like masked murderers! Once I was ready, I lit the bomb's intertwined fuses, and with a loud *BOOM!!!!!* the doors blew inwards! At this same instant, Carla also detonated the C4 that she attached to the building's phone boxes, thus knocking out the precinct's ability to call for help. We then walked through the hole where the front doors used to be. The doors had buckled inwards, and all of the glass in them had been blown straight into the front desk. One MREA officer there was now dead, hit by flying glass shards.
I looked around. "Knock knock! Anyone home?" There was no answer. Carla and I then rigged up a C4 booby trap. Now anyone who either tried to come through the front doors on the outside, or go out through the front doors on the inside would be blown into hamburger, and the front entrance would hopefully collapse, thus rendering it unable to be used. Now though, it was time to kill.
Carla and I had the time of our lives as we roamed through the halls of Precinct 7. Carla would scare up some MREA rookies, and then chase them towards me so that I could mow them down.
I was also singing as I shot up Precinct 7, and the song fit perfectly. "Robert's got a quick hand. He'll look around the room, won't tell you his plan, he's got a rolled cigarette hangin' out his mouth he's a cowboy-kid, found a 6-shooter gun......"
And then of course came everyone's favorite chorus. Carla would help me with it. "All the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run better run, outrun my gun! All the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run, better run, faster than my bullet!"
Sometimes though, I changed up the lyrics, and actually shot with them. "All you little shits with your f@#ked up views better RUN better RUN, OUTRUN my GUN!!!! All you little shits with your f@#ked up views better RUN better RUN, FASTER than my BULLETS!!!!"
Soon, the whole precinct was in chaos. There was smoke everywhere, blood and other dead bodies littered the floor, stuff was getting knocked over, Carla and I would light the contents of trashcans on fire, we shot at anything that moved that wasn't each other, and we just smashed the place up with some tools like hammers, wrenches, and crowbars from our toolboxes that we left inside the building for just this purpose.
The Futas that we killed were falling like flies left and right. At one point, Sophie the Night Watch Commander was standing on the second floor with an MREA officer named Mary when I rounded the corner. Mary ran immediately, but Sophie was frozen where she was. She did turn to run, only to have me put 3 rounds into her back with my Glock. Carla also put a round into the back of Mary's head. Both of them were now dead, and bleeding out on the floor.
At one point though, we ran into serious trouble. I was reloading while Carla was covering me, when all of a sudden, 8 of those SWAT officers found us!
"OH SHIT!!!!" I jumped to the side, but Carla got hit! The bullet only hit her armor, so she was ok, but was still knocked backwards. She landed next to a dead MREA officer, who just so happened to still be holding a shotgun.
"BABE!!!" Carla yelled. I turned to look at her. "CATCH!!!!" She then tossed me the shotgun. In the blink of an eye, I worked the shotgun faster than the eye could detect. In less than 5 seconds, all 8 of those SWAT officers were dead. Sure, my shotgun was empty, but they were all dead!
Carla was shocked. "Holy.......!!!! How the hell did you do that Babe?!"
I was equally shocked. “Honestly......I have no idea Black 2." (For our own safety, we couldn't use names on this mission). "But what I CAN tell you is that I'm TOTALLY keeping this shotgun! Sure, it's a bit older, and the pump and stock are wooden, but it's capable of killing SWAT officers!"
I was also able to reload it with a box of 12 gauge ammunition that I found fallen on the floor, and after reloading the shotgun, we kept going.
Eventually, we reached a sort of computer lab where we found a number of MREA officers hiding. Most of them seemed to be rookies, and they were all hiding under desks, and behind chairs. As we walked into the room, I saw to my horror that one of them was on her cellphone!
"Hey! Calls only during normal business hours!" I yelled as I took her head off with my shotgun. I also shot her phone for good measure.
Carla and I then began to make our way around the room, shooting under the desks, and killing the MREA officers who just a few hours ago believed themselves to be invincible, but now had done little more than cower, and piss themselves. Most of them died easily enough. Occasionally though, we did have a bit of a screamer, or a kicker in one case. Carla killed the kicker, and then I made my way over to the blonde girl hiding under the desk next to her.
I looked under the desk and saw her. "Peekaboo!" I then pumped my shotgun, and shot her with it. Unfortunately though, I didn't have a very good shoulder grip on the butt of the shotgun, and at that close range, the butt slipped off my shoulder when I fired, and then hit me in the face! The butt first knocked my mask off, and then it hit my nose. I wasn't sure at the time if my nose was broken, or just bleeding really bad. I assumed that it was broken, and stuffed several Kleenexes into my nose, both to stop the bleeding, and to hold my nose together.
Just as I got back to my feet though, I looked behind me, and I saw another MREA rookie hiding behind a chair. She had light brown hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and the standard MREA uniform. She was almost crying, and for once, I made no moves to kill her. I was still pissed off though at having just f@#ked up my face.
"The f@#k you lookin' at Bitch?!"
She didn't say anything.
"Yeah, that's what I thought, NOTHIN'!" I then picked up my mask again. However, before I could put it back on, Carla looked out the window of the computer lab.
"Oh shit! Black 1, we've got company!"
I looked first at her, and them back at the officer in front of me. "I'll be right back." I then put my mask back on. "You stay there!" I then walked over to join Carla, leaving the officer where she was.
"What kind of company?"
She pointed out the window. "2 cop cars just pulled up with lights and sirens on! I think that they know something's up!"
"Well, if they go through the front, they're gonna get blown away by that C4 trap!"
Suddenly, we heard people get out of the cars, followed moments later by a massive explosion that rocked the entire precinct. In fact, the explosion knocked both of us off our feet for a moment!
I looked over at Carla. "See? Nothing to worry about! They just blew themselves up, and probably blocked up the front entrance!"
I then took the stock of my hunting rifle that I was still carrying, and I used it to smash the window. I then looked out of it at the stunned MREA officers below.
"See? The doors are rigged to blow! Get the f@#k out of here!"
"SHOOTER!!!!" One of them screamed. I jumped back from the window just as a hail of bullets came flying up towards me!
"SHIT!!!!" I hit the floor, as did Carla, and the bullets tore into the room all around us!
Once they stopped though, we killed the 3 of the last 4 MREA officers in the room, before taking the time to reload our guns again. Then, after taking out the lights in the room, I removed my mask, and slowly rose up in front of the window again. I then took my hunting rifle, and slowly took care of the MREA officers on the ground. I counted 4 kills, with 3 more probable. However, I could also see smoke rising from the floors below us.
"Oh no. Black 2, we've got fire!"
"What? Fire?"
"Yeah! The C4 explosion down on the first floor must have started a fire, or one of our earlier trashcan burnings must have started something. In either case, we HAVE to get the hell outta Dodge! Both before we burn to death, or get shot to death!"
"Right!" We were about to leave, but then we saw the MREA officer that I spared again.
I looked down at her. "Now then, what to do about you, Officer........", I looked at her badge. "Officer Brittney. Normally we'd just kill you, however, this time we need someone to tell the outside world about what happened here tonight. So we're going to let you live!"
She looked at us, completely shocked. "Wh-what? Really?"
"Yes. So get up, and leave. Now!"
She still didn't move.
"RUN, NOW!!!! GIRL YOU'D BETTER START RUNNING BEFORE WE CHANGE OUR MINDS!!!!" I then started reloading my shotgun. "1......2......3..!!!!!!"
That was all it took. Once I started counting, Brittney was out from under that desk, and running for her life.
I looked at Carla. "Well, that was easy."
"Yeah, it was. Now she runs away and tells the rest of the world about what happened here, and then we get the heck out of here, this place either burns down or explodes, we drive away, and report back to Mom."
"Yeah, so let's do it." We then began to evacuate the building.
As we were running, we did have to fight a few more holdouts, but once we started smelling a gas leak, we knew that the end was nigh. We ran to a side window, knocked out the glass with the butts of our guns, climbed through it, and not a moment too soon. Just after we started running, the whole precinct blew up. The force of the explosion knocked us forwards, and we landed hard in the parking lot on that side of the building. We both looked back, and the whole building was going up in flames. It was clear that Precinct 7 was gone, and that even if the fires were put out, the building was still a total loss. We also heard sirens getting closer, so we hightailed it to our van, unlocked it, threw all of our gear inside, got inside ourselves, and then after Carla blew up the C4 that she'd planted under all of the vehicles in the motor pool earlier just as the emergency crews arrived, we escaped in the confusion. We did have to take the long way back to the Luxor, but in the end, it was all worth it.
That night, a total of 89 MREA officers were killed; 79 from Precinct 7, 4 from our booby trapped front door, and 5 more from being sniped. We did search the Pens just before the building blew, but they were all empty that night. The lone survivor of the entire debacle was Brittney Mullen, the officer I spared. She told her story to the media, and they ate it up.
"It was so horrible. The shooting........it never seemed to stop! It was like a GAME to these guys! They killed all my friends, and they only let me live so that I could talk about them!"
"And who were they?" Someone asked.
"I don't know. One was most likely a male, and the other was either a Herm, or a Futa. The female was quite a foxy looking girl, and the male had pale skin, and blue eyes. Yes, even though his mask came off, he was still wearing a hood, and I was so teary-eyed that I really couldn't see him too well, and he only had his mask off for less than 10 seconds. But one thing I can tell you, he had to have been some kind of a gunslinger. The way he worked that shotgun was........unnatural!"
From these reports, the media began to call the two individuals who had attacked Precinct 7 "The Vegas Shotgun-Slinger", and "Foxy". A MASSIVE manhunt was out for them, but they still hadn't even been identified. However, 2 pictures of them were released to the public.
Mom was so proud of us for what we'd done. Sure, I did have to have my broken nose taken care of, but I was happy with the outcome too, as was Carla. We'd taken down one of the precincts, and even though there was more work to be done, the public was already starting to voice their opinions about this. They were surprised that the MREA was seemingly unable to even identify the culprits behind it, and it wasn't long before they struck again.
Just 3 nights later, Precinct 11, a precinct known for its K9 units, was also hit. It was just like Precinct 7, although this time, instead of just the phones and radio going out, we also dimmed the lights. From one end of the facility to the other we wiped out the 100 cop and 30 dog precinct, blew it up, wrecked all of the vehicles outside, and then fled once again.
This time, a picture surfaced online from the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger. It was his clear warning to the rest of the intended targets.
But now the question was WHO was next? No one knew, and the MREA STILL hadn't identified anyone as the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger, or his partner Foxy!
Around this same time, Demetria's other teams were also put into the field, for a total of 4 teams, including Carla and I. The other teams had 4 people in them, but they would attack in pairs so that they could look like the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger and Foxy, so as to keep causing a panic.
Precinct 5 was lost, then Precinct 12, one of the training academies was firebombed, and the survivors picked off as they tried to escape, an FNG (Futa National Guard) ammo dump was blown up, while on the same night a nearby FNG armory was robbed, the prison that held males, females, terrorists, and insurgents came under siege, and a number of prisoners were able to escape. The Futa bodies kept piling up, while the number of targets hit and the amount of damage done kept right on climbing.
Demetria kept appearing on TV telling her subjects how "shocked and appalled" she was at these heinous crimes. "This has gone on long enough! For nearly a month and a half now these crimes have gone unchecked! I INSIST that the MREA find the ones responsible for this and EXECUTE THEM!!!!" Behind closed doors though, she, Minerva, Carla, myself and the others involved with the crimes were laughing hysterically about it.
Stacy herself, accompanied by Face and Jasmine, also vowed to bring the ones responsible to justice. However, on the 2 month anniversary of the crime spree of the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger and Foxy, a video appeared online from the same source as the "YOU'RE NEXT!!!!" picture. The video was a summary of the attacks on the precincts, all put to appropriate music.
The same night the video went viral, there was a HUGE explosion at the Army Fuel Depot No.1, one of three in the Vegas Area. All of the fuel tanks were destroyed, as were a lot of the oil tanks, and a number of vehicles as well.
By this point, a lot of Futas and Herms were almost rioting in the streets, and they were protesting in front of the remaining MREA precincts. They were DEMANDING action from the MREA, and ESPECIALLY from the Counter Intelligence Counter Insurgency Agency. Director Miranda Carson INSISTED that those at CICI were doing everything that they possibly could about the problem, but that due to the MREA not being able to identify anyone, and the lack of survivors of these attacks who might have known something about the attackers, was telling. Brittney was one of only 5 survivors of these attacks, and she was the only one who's wounds were to her psyche. The other 4 were all critically wounded, and half would be crippled for life.
However, as dark as it all had been so far, the end was coming soon. The pinnacle of it all would mark the retirement of the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger and Foxy. There were only 2 more targets to hit; the MREA headquarters, and the CICI building, and both of those had their days numbered!
On November 9th, 2025, the date was set for the attack on the MREA Headquarters. Carla and I would be going in first, although one of the other teams would be backing us up. At this same time, the other 2 teams were on standby, just in case they had to bail us out if anything went wrong.
The building itself was a large 4 story structure located close to the Vegas Strip. It had been rebuilt from a collapsed hotel following the first half of WW6, and it was where the MREA had their headquarters for the entire Nevada area. (The largest city in each former US State that the Futas captured contained the MREA headquarters for the entire state. 24 such buildings exist in the former Western US; 22 in the Continental US, one in Hawaii, and one in Alaska). It was located across the street from the CICI Building, and surprisingly, it wasn't the largest MREA headquarters in the Futa Empire. It was only the 4th largest behind the one in California (largest population), Alaska (largest state), and the largest one was the original one located in the Futa's old capital city of Tomsk in what used to be Russia. Tonight though, that building, and everyone inside who was a Futa, would have to be wiped out. Any males inside would be rescued, but the Futas would all die.
We knew that we would first have to take out the radios and the phones, and then the building's power supply, before we hit it from the outside, and work our way in. Unlike the first time, where we got in with a maintenance vehicle, in light of the other attacks, no one trusted maintenance personnel anymore. Now all of these places were heavily patrolled, so we would have to try something else. Enter our newest tactic; Impersonating medical personnel.
Yes, you read that right. They didn't trust any maintenance workers, but they sure let an ambulance right on in without checking any ID's or credentials, even with a male driving it! Futa stupidity, even in times of severe crisis, seemed to truly know no boundaries.
But yes, Carla and I disguised ourselves as EMT's, and we smuggled in everything that we needed, (guns, ammo, our protective gear, masks, bombs, grenades, and other tools) in the back of the ambulance. Once we were outside of the MREA HQ Building, we pulled into a parking spot in the back, got out of the ambulance, and then after looking around a bit, we pretended to talk into our radios, and then stood next to the ambulance for a little bit longer. Soon, an MREA cop car pulled up, and 2 "officers" got out. We recognized them as Black 3 and Black 4, the other team who would be helping us with the MREA HQ. Once we talked for a minute or so, they walked over to the phone boxes, as well as the building's exterior power generators, and while "inspecting them", planted the C4 that they would remote-detonate to destroy them.
Meanwhile, Carla and I got our weapons ready, as well as our masks. All of the teams had identical masks so that it would look like the same 2 people committing all of the crimes, when in reality, there were 12 of us. Black 3 and Black 4 would radio us when they were finished, head to the back door, detonate the explosives, and then storm the building. Then, in the chaos, Carla and I would turn on the ambulance's lights and sirens, race around to the front, and then head inside with our weapons to back them up. (Some may point out that this may look a little suspicious with the ambulance arriving so fast, but please remember that in a number of other attacks, there was an ambulance behind the building that raced to the front when the attack started. Most of the time these were actual Futa EMT's, so now we were employing that same tactic).
As we sat in the ambulance, waiting for the signal from Black 3 and 4, aka Team 2, we radioed Mom one last time.
"Yes, we're all in position now Mom. Team 2 is finishing up planting the C4, and then they'll head in first. Once there's a panic, we'll head to the front, and then head in ourselves."
"And then the MREA HQ falls, and then we plan for our final target, the attack on the CICI building. And yes, Teams 3 and 4 are on standby just in case you need them."
"Ok, thanks Mom. And are our body cams working?"
"Yes, they're working just fine Leopard."
I nodded. "Ok, thanks Mom."
"And good luck tonight."
"Thanks Mom, we'll need it. We're up against some of the best of the best now, and even these pale in comparison to those at the CICI Building."
I heard Mom sigh. "Yes, and that's why all of you HAVE to be EXTREMELY careful! Watch each other's backs, as well as the backs of Team 2. I haven't lost any of you yet, and I do NOT plan on starting now!"
"Ok, roger that Mom." Carla then pointed to Team 2, who were giving the signal that they were ready. "Ok, Team 2's ready now. Here we go."
"Good luck. See you when you get back. Mom out."
Carla and I then gave Team 2 the signal that we were ready when they were, and after donning their masks, they pulled out their guns, and proceeded to the back doors. Once the doors were opened, they walked in, stabbed the 2 MREA officers who opened the doors, lobbed some smoke grenades down the hall in front of them, and then they detonated the C4 explosives.
The generators and phone lines exploded, and the building soon went dark. However, the emergency lights did come on, although these were dull red. Once the shooting began, I drove the ambulance around to the front, lights and siren wailing, and once we were at the front, I grabbed my shotgun, hunting rifle, Glock, and other guns, while Carla grabbed her M16, Glock, Uzi, and a tactical shotgun. We then got out of the ambulance, and while still keeping our guns hidden, we began to walk towards the front. We did see people trying to get out of the building, and we promptly offed them. We then pulled down our masks, locked and loaded our guns again, and then we headed into the building as well.
Just like I'd previously predicted, clearing the MREA HQ was proving to be a LOT harder than I previously anticipated. There were hardened veteran cops inside, SWAT officers, and even MP's; and there were a LOT of them!
"Damn! This is proving to be a LOT more than what I was expecting!"
"Yeah, no kidding Foxy!" I pumped my shotgun a few more times, killing at least 2 SWAT officers. "However, this IS the MREA Headquarters, so that's to be expected!" I then tossed a grenade behind us, and it killed 5 officers trying to sneak up on us.
"Yeah, but at the same time, they just think that we're amateur terrorists, and NOT hardened combat veterans!" Carla then used her M16 to take down several more officers, including a Watch Commander, and an MREA Captain!
"Yes. And each kill is at LEAST one abused male avenged. Most likely though, each kill is DOZENS of males avenged! DIE YOU SICK F@#KS!!!!" I then lobbed a flash-bang around the next corner, and as soon as it went off, I leapt around the corner, and quickly cleared it.
At this same time, Carla got a radio call from Team 2 that they were up on the 3rd floor sniping MREA, National Guard, and even CICI reinforcements on the ground!
"They're starting to come in faster than we can shoot them! You guys HAVE to take some of the pressure off of us!"
"We're trying!" Carla then had an idea. "Wait, do you guys have any rockets up there? I have an idea."
"Yeah, we've got some, as well as a launcher. Why?"
"I need you guys to target the generators of the CICI building across the street, and then send some rockets into some of the visible offices. I'm about to call in Teams 3 and 4, and tell them to hit the CICI Building. THAT should take some of the pressure off of us, and once we finish up here, we head over there and join them!"
"Right! We can do that!" Black 3 then grabbed the rocket launcher, loaded a rocket into it, and while Black 4 covered her, she aimed for the generators at the CICI building, and took them out. Then, she quickly followed up that shot with 7 more, all directed at various windows of the building, and then Black 4 used the last 2 rockets to take out targets on the ground. The CICI Building had visible flames, and now the ground was in chaos, but yet snipers in the CICI building were starting to shoot back, so Black 3 and Black 4 had to hit the ground fast!
"Damn! Snipers!"
"Black 2, this is Black 3! We've hit the building, but now the snipers are on us! Tell Teams 3 and 4 to hit the CICI Building now!"
"Roger that!" Carla then got on the radio with Minerva, and explained the whole situation to her. Minerva and her 3 partners, as well as Team 4, then got into position outside of the CICI building, and once they were ready, they slipped inside of the building undetected, and attacked!
At this same time, I was raiding the MREA armory underneath the building, and I was able to locate a Browning 50cal. machine gun, which I dragged upstairs all by myself, got into position on the second floor, and then went back for ammo. Once I had the ammo, I loaded up the gun, and told Black 3 and Black 4 to get ready to make a run for the 4th floor, finish clearing it, and then make it back down to the second floor.
"Yeah, but the snipers!"
"I'LL take care of the snipers! I'll also help you guys out with those pesky ground forces! Just standby for the firing to stop!" I then put down my radio, and after taking aim at the CICI Building, I pulled the triggers on the machine gun, and let the building have it!
I'll admit, it had been quite a while since I'd last fired a Browning 50cal machine gun, but boy did it sure make me happy! I was raining lead into the building, taking out a number of the snipers, their partners, and others in the building as well. Windows were shattering right and left, and masonry was also falling off the building! Luckily, Team 3 and Team 4 knew what was coming and they took cover!
Once the building went silent, even if only for a while, I told Black 3 and Black 4 to get going, and while they thanked me, I got to work on the ground forces. Sure, they had armor, but I had armor-piercing bullets! The streets of Vegas flowed with blood, and no one was able to get too much fire up at me. Once I'd used up all of the ammo, I quickly reloaded the gun, and continued firing. However, eventually I did run out of ammo.
"Oh shit, out of ammo!"
An ammo box landed next to me. "Not anymore you're not!"
I turned around, and there stood Carla! "Oh, thanks Babe!"
"Don't mention it. You just saved Blacks 3 and 4, and allowed them to clear the rest of the building. You also neutralized a lot of snipers in the CICI Building, as well as forces on the ground. Yes, you didn't tell me what you were doing, but at the same time, you did what you had to do, so I can overlook it!"
I would have hugged Carla, but I was still trying to reload the gun. "Thanks Babe, you're the best!"
"Yeah, I know Babe, you say that a lot!"
Soon, I had the gun reloaded, and with Carla helping me, we continued to lay waste to the ground forces below us, as well as those in the CICI Building.
Eventually, we did have the building completely cleared, and we knew that the time to reinforce Teams 3 and 4 as they stormed the CICI Building had come. We then packed up all of our weapons, and after setting the building on fire, we exited through the front doors, and made our way out onto the streets. However, when we did so, the streets were in chaos.
Word got out fast that the MREA Headquarters was under attack by the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger and his partner Foxy, and a LOT of other Futas formed vigilante groups, and headed for the MREA HQ. At this same time, other MREA officers, SWAT officers, CICI Agents, National Guard soldiers, and even Futa Army troops were moving in to deal with the situation. News choppers circled overhead, and the story was being broadcasted on EVERY channel in the Futa Empire! Heck, we later learned that even those in the US, Australia, and Europe saw what happened in Vegas that night!
However, there was so much chaos because no one knew who the enemy was. The MREA officers were trying to talk down the vigilante groups, the CICI Agents were trying to storm their own building, the National Guard and other troops were trying to back up those trying to storm both the CICI Building, and the MREA Headquarters, while the vigilante groups themselves were shooting at anything that moved.
Predictably, the Futas ended up turning on each other due to all of the chaos, and more blood began to flow because of it. Meanwhile, the 4 of us from Teams 1 and 2 slipped through all of the chaos, and into the CICI building. However, there was soon a problem. By this point, Minerva told us that the building was on fire, and that the fire was threatening a HUGE stockpile of ammunition!
"ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF THE BUILDING!!!! THAT STOCKPILE COULD BLOW AT ANY SECOND!!!"
"But what about you Black 5?!"
"We'll be fine! We're already on our way out! We're all piling out the back now! Just get clear of the building!"
"Right! You heard the boss, let's get out of here before we get blown up, and then burned alive!" We all then ran for our lives.
Sure enough, Minerva was right. Moments after we escaped the building, as we started running down the street away from it, the stockpile of ammo caught fire, and when that blew, the whole building seemed to go with it. A MASSIVE fireball rocketed through the building, blowing out windows, shattering walls, cracking floors, and rattling the building's frames loose. The fire suppression sprinklers in the building tried to engage, but due to the explosion damaging water lines, it didn't help very much. And because of the building's VERY weakened condition, once the explosion was over, the building burned for another hour or so, and finally, once most of the main supports had been compromised, the massive building toppled over. It fell across the street, landing on top of the still-burning MREA HQ, flattening it! Both buildings were still on fire, and now the fires were threatening to spread to other nearby buildings.
With the loss of the CICI Building went the loss of most CICI Agents, their director Miranda Carson, their ENTIRE databases on terrorist groups, and their ability to effectively counter any intelligence, or insurgency. Sure, CICI was still around, but they now lacked a central base of operations, and a database of information. Now groups like those in charge of the Wabash Cannonball, and later those of us behind the creation of the Battleship Express, were allowed to exist. Yes, I unknowingly ensured that the Battleship Express would come into existence because I helped destroy the CICI Building! Ins't that wild?
And for the MREA, without their HQ, and a LOT of their precincts, the public turned on them. Sure, the military and National Guard took a LOT of criticism too, but not nearly as hard as the MREA. That night marked their largest downfall pre-second half of WW6, and they would NEVER recover from it. More and more of their crimes against the Futa Empire were exposed, and those responsible fried for it. After this, the MREA was reshuffled, restructured, and put to work on doing what they were supposed to do, which was policing the Futa Empire, upholding Futa Law, and rescuing males from abusive Futas.
After that night, no one ever heard from the Vegas Shotgun-Slinger, or his partner Foxy, ever again. Most assumed that they were killed in the explosion of the CICI Building, though their bodies were never found. Sure, there were massive manhunts for them, but most baffling of all, neither of them were EVER caught, or even identified! Still to this day no one knows who they really were, but yet most Futas were actually thankful for them. If they hadn't done what they did, the MREA's crimes would have still been unpunished, and selfish bureaucrats like Miranda Carson would still roam free, threatening the stability of Demetria's rule, and going after those who they didn't like. Now they no longer had an outlet to do that, and it was all thanks to a guy with a mask and a shotgun, a partner with a mask and a gun, and both with a vendetta against the MREA.
When Demetria finished those entries, both she and Minerva sat in shock for a while. That whole event was a really defining moment in their lives, and even they had a hard time believing that it was all real.
"Operation Dark Night was probably the greatest success story that the Futa Empire ever had. Your mom would have been proud of you Dem."
Demetria sighed. "Would she have though? My Mom was QUITE old-school if you recall. I think that she would have been quite upset actually."
"Upset? Why would she have been upset?"
"Because she ALWAYS led by example. She would be upset with me for not doing it myself!"
Both she and Minerva laughed a bit, but then Demetria seemed to be rather sad.
"Wait, what's wrong Dem?"
"What's wrong? What's wrong is that there's only 5 more major entries left in his final diary. We're nearing the end of his time in Vegas."
From her bed next to Demetria's desk, Radar rose to her feet again. She then sat down next to Demetria, and began to rub against her gently.
"Yes, I know Radar. He mentions you in these last few entries. He talks about the night he proposed to Carla, their hasty little wedding the night before, and the start of the 'official' wedding."
"And those are the last entries?"
Demetria nodded. "I'll read them now. I HAVE to remember, no matter how painful it is."
She then began to read again.
On December 26th, the day after Christmas, I was up in Carla's room that night. She was out at the moment, but I was doing a fun cam-show. Nothing sexual, but I was raising money to try and help not only the Amur Leopards, but also the Snow Leopards. The breeding program at the Vegas zoo had produced 8 more Amur Leopards, bringing their total numbers up to 11, but that was still MILES too low. Plus, once I heard how callously Tapper had talked about killing a critically endangered Snow Leopard for its hide, I had to do something. I was now doing a few cam-shows to help raise money for the breeding programs in the Vegas Zoo for these amazing creatures.
Basically, I got all dolled up to make myself look like a cute Anime wolf-girl, and I'd do the Nyan-Dance on camera. I'd memorized all of the words, and I knew the dance, and Futas would pay a LOT of money to see me do it! Right now I was in the middle of a show.
"Nyan, nyan, nyan, nyan Ni hao nyan Goujasu Derishasu Dekaruchaa!"
I would keep doing this for an hour straight each time, and then the show would end. I'd done 5 of these shows so far, and I had planned to do a total of 10. However, right as I was in the middle of a show, the door behind me suddenly opened.
"Hey Babe, I was going to do another one of my Kitsune cam-shows tonight. Do you want to......" Then she looked up and saw me standing in front of my computer-camera. I was dressed like an Anime wolf-girl, and I was frozen there staring at her like a deer in the headlights while the music continued to play on around me from the sound system.
Carla was wearing a pair of red, furry fox ears with black tips, and black fur on the insides, a red fox tail with a black tip, and a Kitsune-style Japanese kimono. I could tell that she was nude underneath her kimono, and I also saw that she was holding a Kitsune mask.
She blushed a bit, but then she smiled. "Oh, I see that you've already started a show without me. Was it another one of your 'Nyan-Dance’ shows?"
I nodded. "Yeah.......it is."
"Mind if I join you? Together, we might make twice as much money!"
I nodded. "Sure, if you want to."
Carla then joined me, and we did the Nyan-Dance together. Just as Carla predicted, once word hit the web that we were doing a show together, the fans came clamoring in by the dozens, paid their small entry fee, and were allowed to view our show. We kept it going for another half hour or so, and then we took our bow. However, I had one last surprise in store for the night.
"Wait, hold on everyone! Don't go just yet! It's time for the big finale!"
"What big finale Babe?" Carla asked me.
"Just a sec." I removed my Anime wolf-girl costume, leaving only my real wolf ears and tail, and a pair of black shorts. I then walked back over to Carla, and gently held her hands in my own.
"Carla? Ever since the first time we met, I always loved you. I may not have realized it at first, but you were my one true soulmate. I felt a love for you that I hadn't felt in a LONG time, and you proved that you were more than worthy of my love. You've been by my side since Day 1, and we've shared SO MANY fun memories together. I mean yes, you ARE 4 years older than me, but in love, age IS just a number! Anyway, I guess that all I have left to say is this." I then reached into my pocket for something, and once I had it in my hand, I got down on one knee, and proposed to Carla live during our cam-show. "Carla, will you marry me?"
When Carla saw that the box contained the same rubber gasket that I'd used to propose to her with the last time, and that the box itself was a small chocolate box, all she could do was roll her eyes a bit.
"Oh Leopard, what am I EVER going to do with you? Besides loving you, caring for you, and never leaving you that is? Come here." She then pulled me to my feet, and hugged me. I hugged her back.
"Mmm, I love you, my Sweet, Ginger Herm!"
"I know. I love you too, my Spotted, Wolfy Man-Beast!" We both then sighed, and kissed deeply.
Our audience who were still watching by that point were clapping and cheering for us, and they offered us their congratulations. Many agreed that it was high time that the stigmas about males and Herms were broken, and they were happy to see us so happy together. It was now official; Carla and I were engaged!
The date for our wedding was set for January 11th, 2026, which was in just 16 short days. However, there was a slight cause for concern. A number of Futas were saying that they would NEVER accept an Empress who had a male husband. They accepted Demetria because she hadn't married, but they wouldn't accept Carla because she was going to marry me. Some of them even went so far as to say that they would accept Stacy as their Empress, as she'd married Jasmine, who was another Futa.
However, their logic met a large number of major fails. Firstly, many of them seemed to have forgotten that their first Empress, Boudica, had a male husband named Michael. Secondly, although Stacy had married Jasmine, she also had a male husband, Face, even though he did not refer to himself as such. And yes, while Demetria never had married, she readily admitted that it was the biggest mistake that she had ever made. Nevertheless, with threats being made against the upcoming wedding, Demetria knew that she was going to have to take matters into her own hands.
On the night of January 10th, she told Carla and I to wear literally anything, and to come to the upstairs meeting hall. She told us that we were going to be having a private wedding early, just in case something happened at the main one.
"And what do you mean by 'anything' Mom?" Carla asked.
"I mean something casual. Whatever you wish Carla; just make it something memorable!"
And Carla and I did just that. I decided to just use my favorite brown smock with the "Gent" logo on it, as well as a pair of slippers, while Carla pulled on her Kitsune kimono, as well as her fox ears and fox tail again. She also created a sort of "veil" for herself from her Kitsune mask. She also decided that her best friend Mona, the girl who helped take care of her horses and cow, would be her Maid of Honor, and since I lacked a Best Man, I went with the next best thing, and had my faithful dog Radar fill that role! (Why would I ask Face to do it? This was a SECRET wedding, and he can't keep his mouth shut! Plus, I hated him!)
Attending the wedding were myself, Carla, Radar, Mona, Demetria, Minerva and 6 other guards. Someone ran to the Palace garden to give Carla a wedding bouquet, and someone else had the royal bakers bake a small wedding cake. Demetria herself would be presiding over the ceremony, and Minerva and the 6 guards would act as witnesses, with one of the guards taking photos, and another videoing with a video camera. No one else was present, and no one else knew.
The meeting hall itself had its long table moved to one side, and a carpet was laid down to mark where the "aisle" was. The guards stood on both sides, and Demetria had a portable podium moved in to act as an altar. A flowered arbor was hastily put together with a mixture of wood scraps, wires and flowers, and someone else had their laptop attached to a speaker to softly play "Here Comes the Bride" when Carla walked in.
At exactly 11pm, the wedding began. The doors to the meeting hall opened, and Radar and I walked in. She trotted along by my side as we made our way up to the front where Demetria was. She was wearing her usual casual robes, and her long brown hair was hanging down her back. Then, at the next cue, the doors opened again, and once "Here Comes the Bride" started to play, Carla and Mona walked in. Mona was still wearing her riding clothes, and Carla was wearing her full Kitsune outfit, though she was using her Kitsune mask to act as her veil, and was wearing it like a normal mask! The doors to the room were then closed, and locked. 2 guards moved in to guard the outside of the door, and 6 more and Minerva were inside. Once Carla joined me at the sort of altar in front of Demetria, it was time to begin.
Carla and I then turned to face each other, and Demetria looked at us. "Now then, are you two ready to begin?"
I nodded. "Yep, I'm ready Mom."
"So am I Mom."
"Ready for what? Your wedding, or your night together?"
We were both confused, but then Demetria continued. "I mean, you've both got some pretty big 'pre-wedding stiffies'!"
We both looked at each other, and to our surprise, and slight embarrassment, both of us were hard! We'd both popped a big-ass stiffy at our own wedding!
Demetria just laughed though. "No need for modesty, we're all family here! And I know that you're ready to begin, so let's get the ball rolling."
She then had Minerva bring up the rings; 2 more rubber gaskets, and hold them while she continued. She then turned to Carla. “Now then, my Dearest Daughter, do you, take my Son to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love faithfully until the bitter end no matter what, in spite of any controversy?"
I could tell that Carla was blushing, but she took my hand, and slid my ring onto it. "Yes, I do Mom. I take you Leopard, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love faithfully until the bitter end no matter what, in spite of any controversy!"
Demetria then turned to me. "Now then, do you, my Son, take my Daughter, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love faithfully until the bitter end no matter what, in spite of any controversy?"
I nodded, slipping my ring onto Carla's finger. "Yes, I do Mom. I take you Carla, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, through sickness and in health, from the good times to the bad, to love faithfully until the bitter end no matter what, in spite of any controversy!"
Demetria then looked out to the tiny crowd. "Now then, do any of you have any objections to this union? If so, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
Of course, no one said anything. Except Mona.
"Well, I personally don't object, but if Stacy, Jasmine, or even Freaky-Face (another of Face's nicknames!) were here, they would TOTALLY be objecting right now!"
Demetria laughed a bit, as did the rest of us. "Well, they're not, so I don't care!" She then looked at us again. "And by the power vested in me as Empress of the Futas, and as presider over this wedding union, I now pronounce you both Husband and Wife! You may kiss the bride Leopard!"
I then gently lifted up Carla's Kitsune mask, and after taking it off her head entirely, I gave it to Demetria to hold. Then Carla leapt into my arms, wrapped her legs around my waist, and gave me a DEEP French-kiss, which I happily returned.
"AWWW!!!!!!" The crowd cooed, and Radar barked in agreement.
We then fed each other a bit of cake, danced a bit to a few songs, and then we all had to put the room back in order, before going to bed as we had a LONG day ahead of us! Carla and I were now happily married, no matter what happened the next day.
Demetria was close to tears now. "Yes.......n-no matter what happened the next day."
"And, is that where the diaries end?"
"N-no. He wrote one final entry just before the wedding downstairs started. This is what he wrote on January 11th, 2026, at 3:55pm, just before the wedding started. 'Well, this is it! Even though I'm already married to Carla, and have been for about 15 hours now, we have to have our public wedding too. I just hope that it doesn't take too long, as Carla and I REALLY want to get out to our honeymoon at Demetria's cabin on Lake Mead! It won't be too much longer now! Oh, that's the music starting now, so I'd better go! Goodbye for now!' And that's it. That was his last entry."
Minerva seemed to be close to crying as well. "We searched everywhere within a hundred miles too, but we never found him, just as we also never caught the masterminds behind the coup. All we ever learned was that he was sold to those slaver-thugs from Bandit-Club, and from there he was trucked out of Nevada, and all the way to Nebraska where he was auctioned off at that one farm auction, before winding up at Creamy Dream Ranch."
"Yes, and there he helped build the Battleship Express, and then fight the rest of WW6, until he disappeared during the Battle of Vegas." Demetria then pulled out a picture of me from her desk. It was taken of my in my RWD field uniform in Arizona in early 2029, and was the last one that Demetria had of me.
She held the picture close to her chest. "Why?!" She asked through her tears. "Why can't I EVER know what happened to him?! It's been 5 years Mini, 5!!!! And he's STILL missing without a TRACE!!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AFTER VEGAS?!?!?!?!" She then started sobbing, Radar was sobbing, and even Minerva had to sit down so that she could shed a few tears. She too really wanted to know what happened to me, as it had been 5 years, and there was still no trace of me. What really had happened to me? And better still, what had happened to the rest of the Battleship Express and her crew?
Meanwhile, on the other side of Equus, I was sitting alone at my desk in my office in Dash's house. I thought that everyone was asleep, and I was looking through a few old photos of Carla, as well as the 2 of us together. Suddenly though, in the dark room in front of me, I saw movement. The only light in the room came from my lamp, but when the movement in the shadows came into the light, I saw that it was only Spitfire. She looked tired, her mane was hanging down her shoulders, and she was wearing only her pink bathrobe that left her swollen belly showing.
I looked first at my desk clock, and then up at her. "What are you still doing up Spitsy? It's almost 4am!"
"I could ask you the same question Stud. And I can't sleep because Blazie won't sleep!"
I sighed, and then motioned for her to come over and sit on my lap, which she gratefully did. Once she was all snuggled in my lap, Blazie seemed to stop moving around.
"Mmm, now THAT'S better Stud!" She then noticed the pictures that I was holding. "What are you looking at Stud?"
I sighed again. "Memories of the past. These are the last pictures of Carla that I have, and I was just looking through them again."
Spitfire then asked me a very serious question. "Stud? If I may ask you.........what was that last day with Carla and Demetria like? Before you were taken away from them, and sold to Creamy Dream Ranch?"
I growled a bit. "It was Hell. On. Earth! The only reason that they got me was because I didn't have a gun! The wedding started right on time at 4pm on January 11th, 2026. We were all in the main hall, and it was getting to the vows, when all of a sudden, there came a blast from just outside of the wedding hall....."
"Now then, my Daughter, do you, take my Son to be......" Suddenly, Demetria was very rudely interrupted. From just outside of the wedding hall, there suddenly came the blast from a bomb! The doors of the hall were blown open, and smoke began to fill the room. Everyone was panicking, sirens began to wail, and it was clear what was happening.
"IT'S THE BLACK DOVES!!!" Demetria screamed to her loyal guards and soldiers. Our hearts almost stopped. The "Black Doves", as they called themselves, were a group of Futa and Herm extremists who sought to overthrow Demetria, and replace her with a "real" Empress. They apparently didn't like the idea of Carla marrying me, and had picked that day to start their attempted coup. All hands were at battle stations, the wedding hall was being evacuated, and Demetria's forces, as well as those loyal to her met the Black Doves head on.
In the chaos as we were being led to safety, I got separated from Carla and Demetria. There was smoke and explosions all around, and in the chaos, I got confused just for an instant, and that was all it took. Suddenly, the ceiling above me exploded, and a lot of debris came crashing down on me. I tried to jump clear, but I got hit by some of the debris, and knocked to the floor hard. I then blacked out as the battle continued to rage.
When I woke up, my head felt like it was going to explode, my vision was all blurry, and there was the loudest ringing in my ears. I was being dragged somewhere, and I could faintly hear voices, but I had no idea who's they were. I then felt myself get picked up, and placed on a cart of some kind, and I then felt the cart start moving. My vision was still blurry, and my ears were still ringing, so I had no idea what was happening. However, once my vision cleared, and the ringing stopped, I then realized that I was in big trouble. I was no longer inside of the Luxor; I was outside on the streets of Vegas, tied up in a cage in a cart with other males, in the hands of the Black Doves! I tried to struggle, but my limbs were tied, and my mouth was gagged. We were then drug away from the palace, and off to a nearby warehouse.
Once inside, I realized that I was now in the hands of a group of slavers that I recognized as Bandit-Club; the most famous, infamous, and deadliest slavers in all of the Vegas area. The Bandit-Club Slavers then looked all of us over, before paying the Black Doves what looked to be a LOT of money for all of us. Then, once the Black Doves left, they drug us out of our cage, stripped us of all clothing, and anything else that could have marked us as someone's property, blacked in all tattoos before removing them with some kind of powerful laser (this didn’t work on my tattoos for some reason. Thank you Apex Industries for creating unremovable tattoos!), checked us all again, before placing us on various trucks. I was thrown into a truck with 9 others, and the 10 of us were then locked inside, and the truck left the warehouse, bound for location unknown.
I had no clue of what was about to happen to me, but I knew one thing for sure; I knew that I was probably NEVER going to see Las Vegas again.
"....And that was the honest truth Spitsy. I never really did see Las Vegas ever again. Well, I did, but that was outside of the city during that final battle!"
Spitfire was very quiet after I told her that. She'd never heard that story from me before, and it really shocked and scared her.
"W-wha.....what happened the rest of that day?"
"Well, as you've heard me say before, Demetria's forces prevailed, and the Black Doves were all but wholly wiped out. Most of them were killed for their treason in combat, while others killed themselves to avoid capture. A token few were taken alive, and a number of others were also taken into custody in the the coming weeks. I'm pretty sure that any remaining Black Doves died in WW6, as did most other terrorist groups.
I also later learned that Mom and Carla had search parties looking EVERYWHERE for me. They got to Bandit-Club, but they vehemently insisted that they'd never seen me. They wouldn't tell Demetria's soldiers anything, and that cost them their lives. They never kept any records of the males that they'd kidnapped anyway, so if they wouldn't talk, it was easier to just kill them."
I then paused for a bit. "Carla......" I said softly. I then looked at her picture again. "Why Carla, why?! Why can't I EVER know what happened to you?! Did you die in Vegas, or do you still live?! WHY CAN'T I EVER KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?!?!?!" I then fell forwards onto my desk, hit it with my fist a few times out of angered frustration, and then began to cry my eyes out.
Spitfire tried to comfort me, but yet, there was very little comfort to be had. I would never be able to put my troubled mind at ease until I FINALLY knew what really happened to Carla, Demetria, their followers, and most of all, Carla and I's son, Leo. What had really happened to all of them? Had they escaped from Vegas? Or had they all died? I didn't know, and that hurt me more than anything.
Chapter 30: Leaving the Empire, Old Loves, Brand (Old!) Enemies!
Back in New Vegas, trouble was seemingly starting to simmer.
Ever since Demetria finished reading those diaries that once belonged to me, she'd never been quite the same. Like any grieving mother would, she took steps to make sure that her son was never forgotten. And when your "mom" was the Empress of the Futas, that can go a pretty long way! Stories would appear in the paper about my time living with her in Vegas, (nothing about WW6 after the Second Cold War though, that would be bad!) articles telling about my life and accomplishments would be in magazines, all of my uniforms were spots of interest on palace tours, and other pictures of me were added to various walls in the palace. Demetria was even considering giving me a statue, but she wasn't sure how other Futas would react to that.
All throughout this period though, some began to see Demetria's grieving as yet another sign of her weakness.
"Why do you keep mourning him Empress? It's been 5 years!"
"He's DEAD!!!!" Others railed. "Plus, he was a MALE! He helped MURDER Futas during the war! He does NOT deserved to be remembered like he was a good person! He was EVIL!!!!" And on and on it went.
More and more of the Futas were beginning to distrust Demetria, and think that the time was coming for a new Empress.
"But the only way that that would happen would be if there was a coup. Killing your Mom won't work because then Carla would become Empress, and if THAT happened there would be HUGE investigations, and possibly even purges!"
Stacy looked over at her wife as they lay in bed together. "Yeah, I know Jasmine. Carla really has become her old self again, and she would be a capable leader. That's why I fear her."
"Yeah, I don't like her the best either. Sure, we were all generals, but she had more battles to her name than we did. And while we did have more victories, she lost fewer troops and equipment, and could always make the best of a bad situation."
Stacy groaned. "That may be so, but my sister did NOT deserve to be a general! Sure, she might have retired now, but she should NEVER have been a general in the first place! She's a HERM, NOT a Futa!"
"Yeah, but it's called the 'Futa Empire', but your grandmother, Empress Boudica, was a Herm. She still called it the Futa Empire though! Plus, weren't there more Herms than actual Futas back then?"
Stacy sat up, and glared at who spoke. She saw Face standing beside her bed with a tray of food for her and Jasmine.
"Get out of here Face, I wasn't talking to you!"
Face winced a bit behind his mask. "Yes Mistress Stacy!" He then set the tray down on the table next to Stacy's bed. "Before I go though, do either of you need anything else?"
"Is there any more Dutch gouda cheese? I'd really like some."
"I believe so Mistress Jasmine. I'll go see!" Face then left the room.
Once they'd started eating, Jasmine looked over at Stacy. "I used to wonder why you kept that anorexic, mask-wearing, blue-haired runt around, but now I see why. What REAL Futa doesn't need a faithful, brain-dead male slave? And now that I'm your wife, he serves me hand and foot too!"
Stacy laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's the ONLY reason I've kept Face around at all. I needed someone else to take over from Rey once she became indisposed, and I did order him to get rid of the pigtails, as that was getting kinda old, but he does still wear his blue hair long. I might have him wear pigtails again in the future, but I haven't decided yet. At any rate though, yes, it's SO GREAT having him do everything for us!"
Both Futas then laughed, before they continued eating.
Jasmine then thought of something. "Hey Stacy?"
"Yeah?"
I might have asked you this before, but where did Rey go again? I haven't seen her in a long time."
Stacy sighed. "She's........working on a VERY important project for me. It requires her attention full-time, hence the reason that I had to replace her with Face as my personal assistant. I would tell you, but I don't want to get your hopes up until Rey's CERTAIN that it's going to work!"
"And how much longer will that be?"
"I don't know Jasmine. Rey's been at it for 5 years so far, and the project is finally nearing its end, but what neither of us know is how much longer it'll be. It all depends on...........no, I don't want to spoil it yet, so I'll just leave this conversation here."
Jasmine opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then she just closed it again. She wanted to know more, but it was pointless to argue with Stacy, so she was just forced to let it go.
Also around this same time, another question was on everyone's mind, Futa and Herm alike. What really did lay beyond the boundaries of their Empire? Come to think of it, what even WERE the boundaries of their empire?
Demetria wanted to know the answer to this, so she sent out teams of surveyors to see how far they could go. She ordered them to look for large natural formations, such as rivers or mountains, and then mark them on a map. "That way, we can better understand just how much territory we need, because while having a kingdom where 'everything the light touches is our kingdom' is nice, it still needs boundaries!"
Teams of surveyors and scouts went out to see what they could find. While protected by groups of soldiers, they faithfully did what their Empress had commanded them to do. Far to the West, roughly 200 miles West of New Seattle, the westernmost city that the Futas currently had, was a wide range of large mountains. Upon sending back pictures to Demetria, she decided to call them the "Cloudy Peak Mountains", as the tops of many of their peaks seemed to be high above the clouds. Estimates put the mountains at nearly 16-18,000 feet tall, if not more, so they were quite formidable indeed! All around the foots of the mountains were forests of large pine trees, which Demetria called "The Great Pine Forests". Between New Seattle and the Great Pine Forests was a large space filled with hills, small mountains, streams, and a few wooded valleys. Demetria didn't have a name for this area, but some thought that it looked like some areas of Colorado, minus the Rocky Mountains.
To the North, past another forest of trees, roughly 85 miles North of the city of Pittsburgh, the scouts and surveyors discovered a large body of water. Upon conducting tests, they realized that the body of water was salty, and they soon realized that it had tides.
"You found an ocean?!" Demetria was very surprised.
"Yes, we did My Empress! It greatly resembles an ocean back on Earth, and the beach that we're standing on reminds us a lot of something from northern California!"
Demetria eagerly read every report as soon as it came back. The surveyors surveyed the ocean's coastline as far as the Cloudy Peak Mountains, and a long ways in the other direction. Some even got in a boat, and sailed out a few miles so that they could take some pictures of the whole coastline. The beaches that were found had white sand, and they, as well as the ocean, were teeming with life. Seagulls flew overhead, large quantities of muscles clung to rocks on the seabed, fish could be seen darting about, and a few crabs were spotted as well. Since the ocean was a bit cold, even for the Summertime, she called it the "New Atlantic".
To the South, the team of surveyors had the easiest job of all. They already knew that there was an ocean down there, as the city of Old San Francisco had already been built on the coast of it. They did discover a previously unknown mountain range to the Northwest of Old San Francisco, and Demetria called it the "Ocean Range". The ocean, which some had already been calling the "New Pacific" due to its being so similar to the Pacific Ocean, was finally given that official name by Demetria.
The city of Old San Francisco was known for its fine seafood exports, and crab, lobsters, shrimp, calamari, a wide range of fish, and even shark meat all came from the city's seafood businesses.
The Futa and Caribou Navies had also set up shop there, and the Treasure Island Naval Air Station soon sprang up, and grew to house nearly 5,000 personnel, 200 planes of various makes and models, (courtesy of the industrial cities of New Cleveland and Pittsburgh!) and even a small fleet of 22 warships, 2 tankers, and 2 supply ships. The Futas had taught the Caribou, Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras and Dragons all about their modern technology, and helped them replicate it for use in the new Empire. For warships though, they only had 4 submarines (all diesel powered), 8 destroyers (these greatly resembled the old US Mitscher-Class Destroyers), 2 cruisers (bearing a strong resemblance to the US Oregon-City Class), 7 patrol boats, (all Caribou or Griffon) and even an aircraft carrier! Sure, it was small when compared to a Nimitz carrier, but the FES Boudica was a formidable ship capable of holding 80 planes. Work on what would become at least 2 battleships was also underway at the nearby shipyards. The FES Fearless BB-1, and the FES Conquer BB-2 greatly resembled the German Bismarck-Class Battleships.
These Fearless-Class battleships would be 810 feet long, 118 feet wide, and have a speed of 30 knots. For armament, they would have 8 16in guns arranged in 4 turrets, 12 5in guns, 12 2in guns, and a whole bevy of machine guns and other AA guns. They would also have the capability of launching missiles and torpedoes, have their guns be radar-guided, and even be equipped with the Futa's version of the modern AEGIS Combat System. The ships would be powered by 12 boilers, and have 8 engines, and 4 propellers. 2 rudders would help steer the ships, and their armor thickness was 12in at the belt, 4in at the deck, 13in on their main gun turrets, 5.5 on their conning towers, 4-12in on their bulkheads, and 2.5in on their bottoms. They would hopefully be quite formidable to any enemies, and be able to project Futa power at sea. The ships's constructions were nearing 45% complete, and were scheduled to be completed between 2038-2040.
Other shipbuilding programs were underway to build more destroyers and cruisers, develop nuclear reactors for the submarines and carriers, and build at least 3 more aircraft carriers. 2 new aircraft carrier keels had been laid down, and those ships were maybe 25% complete. The ships would be called the FES Demetria, and the FES Carla. The 4th ship, (name unknown but NOT the FES Stacy!) would be laid down once the Demetria and the Carla were complete. In spite of all this progress though, the goals of the Futa Navy remained unclear, as there were seemingly no others to challenge them. Why waste time and resources building up a huge navy that does little more than just sit there, sail around a bit, and act as a photo op? Some insisted that it was necessary in case they were discovered by hostile forces, (like the Equestrians and their Human allies as the Caribou claimed) while others wanted to relive the days of the original glorious Futa Navy before it was almost wholly wiped out during WW6.
Rumors also persisted that another class of warship was potentially going to be built. Some suspected that they were going to be battleships, while others thought that it was going to be a single ship capable of serving as a command ship/flagship for the Navy. No information about these ships existed in the public sphere, although the Navy Department did reveal that it was indeed going to be just one ship for the time being, and that yes, it was going to be a command ship/flagship. That got a lot of people's minds spinning. What kind of ship was this going to be? When was it going to be built, and when would it enter service? Most knew that it was going to be a battleship, but that was it. They all kept waiting though; waiting for any new information on the new ship.
Finally, the surveyors that were sent East had the most interesting time of all. East was where the Caribou and their allies had fled from, so they already had at least a vague idea of what they were going to find. They reached Comstock, which was the Easternmost city in the Futa Empire, and kept going. The trees thinned out as they went along, and the climate seemed to get hotter. All around them were fields of grass, indicating that they were in a prairie region. They were finding a few streams, but other than this, very few other natural features. Eventually, they came to a forest. The surveyors reported back that they'd found another forest, and their report was simply logged, as there didn't seem to be anything special about that particular forest, and plenty of other forests had already been found. However, at one point, the forest thinned out, and the surveyors found something very unusual.
"You found a WHAT?!"
"My Empress, we've found a railroad track in this forest! And by the looks of things, it's still in use! Just down the line a ways is a functioning signal, and the tops of the tracks have been worn shiny from regular use!" Suddenly though, the surveyor stopped. "Oh no."
"What? What's 'oh no'?"
"Train! There's a train coming! Everybody hide!" All of the surveyors and the soldiers with them quickly scurried into the forest on either side of the tracks, and waited for the train to pass. As it did so, they saw that it was a long passenger train. The engine was a streamlined steam engine, and had a black boiler with orange sides. The word "Daylight" was visible for a split second as the engine roared by. The rest of the cars were orange and red with black roofs, and at the very end of the train was an observation car. The Futas had managed to snap a few pictures of the train as it passed, and these were forwarded to Demetria.
When Demetria saw the pictures, her heart almost stopped. "No, there's NO WAY that this train could be here!"
"Which train is it Dem?" Minerva asked.
"If my eyes do not deceive me, the train in these pictures is none other than the Southern Pacific Daylight 4449! Or as it was commonly known throughout WW6, the Wabash Cannonball!"
"WHAT?!?!?!" Minerva looked over the pictures too. Sure enough, the engine and its coaches did indeed seem to be those of the famous Wabash Cannonball. "Well, they do seem to lack their military hardware, so either this is a different train....or....." Then Minerva stopped. The words "Southern Pacific" could be clearly seen on the sides of the coaches, and even on the engine's tender in some of the photos. And if that wasn't enough proof, in one shot, the numbers "4449" were visible on the engine's cab, as was the word "Daylight" on the sides of the engine's streamlining.
"Almost no doubt about it Dem. As impossible as this seems, this train may very well be the Wabash Cannonball!"
"But how?! How could it have survived Vegas, and then ended up here?! And where did all of its guns go?"
"Well, as for why it doesn't have military hardware, it's been 5 years since the Battle of Vegas back in 2029, and maybe there's no war here. Maybe it went back to just being an ordinary passenger train. As for how it survived Vegas and then ended up here, I'm afraid that I do not know. "
However, as strange as this was, a report was soon to come from the surveyors that would turn everything as they knew it on its head.
A few hours later, another report came from the Eastern surveying team.
"My Empress! You will NOT BELIEVE what we just found!"
Demetria picked up the radio on her desk. "What is it? What did you find?"
"We followed the railroad track South for about 70 miles. There was nothing but forests on both sides, until we came to a river at about 60 of those miles. There was a bridge there, but it wasn't wide enough for us to use it if a train came, so we crossed the river with the rafts that the soldiers brought, and after walking down the tracks for another 10 miles or so, we came to the top of a wooded hill, which is where we are now. However, we're looking down the hill, and you will NOT BELIEVE what we're looking at right now on the other side of the hill!"
"What? What are you looking at?"
"We're looking down at a HUGE sprawling city! And it looks eerily similar to Las Vegas!"
When Demetria, Minerva, and 2 advisers who were in Demetria's office at the time heard that, their jaws hit the floor!
"WHAT?!?!?!?! IT LOOKS LIKE LAS VEGAS?!?!?!"
"Yes! Hang on, we'll turn on the live video feed!" The leader of the surveyors then turned on the camera that she was holding, and pointed it towards the city.
Demetria turned on the video screen on her end, and Minerva and the 2 advisers looked at it too. When they saw what was below the surveying team, they truly had no words.
"I........I honestly have no words right now. Can you see who inhabits this city?"
"Yes, we can My Empress. They appear to be some kind of Equine-like creatures. They're all colors of the rainbow, stand on 2 legs, wear clothes, and some even have wings! We can also see what appear to be buses, transit trains, and streetcars!"
Demetria knew that it was time to consult with Danin, as he most likely would know what the surveyors were looking at, so she summoned him and Dothan to her office immediately. Once they were both seated, she explained to them the whole situation. Danin looked at the video footage, as well as a few pictures that the surveying team sent back of the city, and the railroad track.
He nodded. "Yes, I know what city that is. And I know what country it's located in too."
"Which city is it?"
"The city is called 'Las Pegasus'. It's the 4th largest city in the nation of Equestria. We've learned since that it's the Equestrian version of a city called 'Las Vegas', which we now know is where you all came from. We tried to take Las Pegasus during the Imperial War, but the Equestrians and their Human allies were able to stop us, and inflict casualties upon us that we never recovered from."
Dothan shivered a bit. He had been at Las Pegasus, and had very nearly lost his life when General Rodin's battlefield HQ was hit by an artillery barrage from the Black Leviathan. Rodin had pulled him and a few others to safety in a nearby foxhole, but others weren't so lucky.
Demetria was very surprised. "So there was Las Vegas, which we patterned New Vegas after, and now there's this 'Las Pegasus' too?! 3 cities almost all the same?! And what can you tell me about this rail line? Anything?"
Danin looked at the photos. "I believe that the Equestrians call the woods surrounding that line the ‘Whitetail Woods’, but aside from this though, I don't know anything else about it."
"And.........what else can you tell us about Equestria as a whole? Yes, I KNOW all about how they defeated you in the Imperial War, (which you may very well have deserved!) but what about them as a whole?"
Danin glared for a moment, but then he seemed to better compose himself. "Well, they're now the largest nation on Equus, and have the largest population. It's the nation of the Ponies, which are the creatures that you saw in Las Pegasus. There's Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasai, and I think that you can guess what each kind look like. The whole nation is ruled over by 2 diarch princesses; Princess Celestia, and her sister, Princess Luna. They rule from Canterlot Castle, located in the Equestrian Capital in Canterlot. The northern end of Equestria is composed of the Crystal Empire, ruled over by Princess Cadence, and her husband, Prince Shining Armor. There's also a group of 6 heroes in the town of Ponyville, but they don't rule over anything. Equestria also has the largest military in the world now, as you're still gearing up, and the Zebra and Caribou Empires are no more. I'd dare say that you all would be the only threats to them right now."
Demetria sat back in her chair. She was very surprised at what Danin told her. "Wow. They sound like an incredible nation of quite incredible Ponies. And you mentioned that they have Human Allies?"
"Yes. It was because of THEM, AND their superior technology that we LOST the Imperial War! Their weapons outclassed ours, and their troops were better soldiers. They used tactics that we have yet to match, and often fought dirty. Worst of all though was when we found out that there were fewer than 2,000 of them! We never learned their exact numbers, but fewer than 2,000 Humans, their tech, and that.....that.......THING, killed us all!"
"Um, 'thing'?"
"Their war train! We called it the Black Leviathan, because that's damn well what it was! A big, black, f@#king monstrosity on f@#king rails! It brought death wherever it went, just like the Humans who crewed it! Harbingers of Death, all of them!"
"Can you describe this train?"
Danin was too angry, so Dothan took over the explanation. "It was the biggest train we'd ever seen. It was pulled by a HUGE black engine with a gray smokebox, a 4-8-8-4 wheel configuration, guns along the sides of its boiler, the numbers '4009' on its cab, and the words 'Union Pacific' on its tender. The rest of the train was composed of roughly 30 cars, all of which were armed to the teeth. Some cars were for their biggest guns, and others no doubt were for the crew, ammunition storage, and other supply storage."
When Demetria heard that, her face drained of all color. In a flash, she ripped open a few drawers in her desk, and began to rummage through them. Finally, she found the picture that she was looking for.
"Was this it?" She showed Dothan a side-profile picture of the Battleship Express.
"Yes! That's the Black Leviathan! You know about it?"
"This train is called the Battleship Express. It was the flagship train of the Railway Warfare Division, a sub-branch of the US Army. It led US soldiers to victory in WW6. We assumed that it was lost in the Battle of Vegas though! IT'S HERE ON EQUUS?!?!?!?!"
Dothan shook his head. "It WAS. During the last battle of the Imperial War, the Battle of Bryerton, while we escaped, the Humans tried to breach the city. However, we'd anticipated their arrival, and rigged the entire city to explode upon being breached, and to also detonate a large number of explosives hidden outside of the city. We saw the city explode far to the East as we fled by airship, and we knew that it had done its job. I've sent a few spies East since, and they confirmed that the train was destroyed, as were all aboard. We FINALLY put down the bane of our existence!"
Demetria was unaware that while Dothan was telling the truth about the city being rigged to blow, he was lying about the spies confirming the Battleship Express being destroyed. Dothan hoped that the train had been wiped out, but he never confirmed it, nor were any spies ever sent out to check. He kept telling himself this lie to make himself feel better, and now it was being passed through the Caribou ranks as fact. The city really had been rigged to blow though. We rigged it to blow without knowing that the Caribou had already done so, so when we blew up our explosives, the explosions proved to be so much more powerful than what we'd been expecting. (This was also the reason that debris were thrown so far away from the city, such as the rock that hit me in the helmet, and knocked me unconscious!)
Demetria was crestfallen. Here she was thinking that she'd FINALLY gotten a lead on finding me, only to learn that while I had been around 5 years ago, I and the rest of the Battleship Express and Battalion 4009 had been wiped out in a senseless attack. In her distressed state, Demetria didn't even consider the possibility that Dothan might have been lying or mistaken about it. She was too sad that I was now lost forever.
Later that evening, Demetria talked to Carla about her findings.
"Wait, so those surveyors found the edge of our empire, and the beginning of the Western edge of Equestria? And not only that, but they found ANOTHER Las Vegas?!"
"Yes, to both questions. Las Pegasus seems to be the westernmost city in Southern Equestria, and it looks eerily similar to our old Las Vegas." (Demetria didn't mention what Dothan told her about the Battleship Express. Carla didn't need to know about that).
"Wow. And so what does this mean going forwards?"
Demetria sighed. "I'm not fully sure yet Carla. I want to reach out to the Equestrians, but aside from what our surveying team found before they fell back, we know very little about Equestria at all. I don't fully trust what the Caribou and their allies tell us, as while it may be fact, it just as easily could be made up."
"So, what DO we know for sure? Anything?"
"Well, we know that Equestria is ruled over by 2 diarch princesses, as well as a lesser princess and a prince. Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna rule Equestria from their castle in Canterlot, which is the Equestrian capital. Then far to the north lies a kingdom called the Crystal Empire, ruled over by Princess Cadence, and her husband, Prince Shining Armor. Danin also mentioned a group of 6 Pony heroes who live in the town of Ponyville, but he said that they weren't royalty."
"And what do you think is false?"
Demetria laughed a bit. "Well, the Caribou were trying to tell me that Princess Celestia has complete control of Equus's sun, while Princess Luna has control of the moon. What this means is that Celestia raises and lowers the sun every day, and Princess Luna raises and lowers the moon every night!"
Even Carla laughed. "What?! That's BEYOND Ridiculous! How can they control the sun and moon? That makes no sense!"
"But yet, why would they tell such an outrageous lie if they knew that it most likely wasn't going to be believed? Maybe there are some grains of truth, as remember Carla, Equus is a world as different from our own as it is similar. There is strong Magic here, and it runs through the entire planet. Perhaps this Magic even extends to heavenly bodies."
"Yeah. I know what you mean Mom. It was thanks to Equus's Magic that I seemingly healed up from my coma as fast as I did, and have remained healthy every since. I sure wish that we could see Equestria though. It sounds like such a beautiful land."
Demetria thought about that. "You know something Carla, that might actually be a pretty good idea. What if a small group of us went over there to see what we could see? You and I, as well as Leo, and perhaps 2 guards, all while under disguise, could go to Equestria for a day trip. We could look around a bit, see what there is to see, and possibly even see where these Humans are, as well as where they came from. Most likely they're Americans, but you can never be too sure."
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea Mom. When do you think that we could do that?"
"I was aiming for this weekend. We could make it a Friday or a Saturday day trip."
In the end, Saturday would be busy for them, so they decided to go on a Friday. Friday, July 28th, 2034 to be exact.
Early in the morning on that day, Demetria chose the 2 guards that would be coming with her, Carla and Leo, and she also had a very important talk with Minerva about what she was going to do.
"Wait. Are you SURE that you want to do this Dem? It sounds EXTREMELY risky."
"Yes, I'm sure Mini. It's just a day trip, and Equestria is a peaceful land. However, no one is to know that we're going there, except for those who have been sworn to secrecy. Tension levels are rising around here, and I don't want word leaking out of this trip."
Minerva knew exactly what Demetria was referring to. For the past number of weeks since the meeting with all of the leaders of the Futas, Caribou, Zebras, Griffons and Minotaurs, when Demetria made it VERY clear that she didn't want war with Equestria, she began to feel like her rule was slowly becoming undermined. She felt that there were those out to get her throne, and replace her with someone who WOULD want war with Equestria.
"Well, if you're sure Dem. And am I in charge until you get back?"
"Yes. And it should just be for a day. You can handle that, right?"
Minerva nodded. "Yes, you can count on me Dem."
Demetria hugged her friend since childhood. "I know Mini." She then left to go get ready.
She was going to be wearing standard clothes, which meant jeans, a tank-top, walking shoes, and a small jacket. Carla wore her usual attire of jean shorts, a white t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Leo wore similar attire to his Mom, and the 2 guards were dressed in their Summer casual clothes too, although they also carried their weapons. Demetria and Carla also had their cameras, and one of the guards carried a backpack full of snacks and water bottles. The other guard also carried a backpack, but this one was full of Equestrian currency. (This came courtesy of the Caribou. Demetria expressed interest in Equestrian currency, and the Caribou gave her what they had in exchange for Boudicas, which was the Futa's system of currency). They had more than enough to cover their expenses, and it was Equestrian currency, so no one would ask any questions.
After eating breakfast, they were ready to leave. However, their plans didn't go unnoticed. Sombra knew what they were planning on doing, and he told Face, who in turn informed Stacy. When she heard about what her mom was planning, she was surprised.
"Wait, she, Carla and Leo are actually going to make a day trip to Equestria?"
Face nodded. "Yeah, that's what Sombra told me. And they're probably going to be leaving soon."
"Well, I suppose that I'd better be going with them. After all, one day I'll be in charge, and we'll need to know where to strike first!"
Jasmine, who was also present, nodded. "Yeah! We should all go."
Stacy shook her head. "No, we can't all go. As much as I want it to be that way, Equestria IS unexplored territory, and there always has to be at least one of us here to keep everything running smoothly. I'll go Jasmine, and you and Face keep everything on track here."
Jasmine shot her wife a concerned look. "Wait. Are you SURE that you want to do this Stacy? Shouldn't at least one of us come with you?"
Stacy shook her head. "No. Unfortunately, all 3 of us are still most likely wanted criminals, and I don't have enough potions to disguise us all. I have just enough for one person." (Stacy had started making potions so that her followers could spy on others unseen).
Jasmine talked to her a little bit longer, but she was unable to convince her to back down. So once she was dressed, Stacy used her potion that she'd made. After doing so, she went from a Neko Cat-Futa with black hair, cat-like ears, a cat tail, and one blue eye and one green eye, to a blue-eyed blonde girl with no visible ears and tail.
"Wow, looking good Babe!"
Stacy giggled a bit. "Glad that you like it Jazzi. Now then, I have to get going. I should be back sometime tonight." She then began to leave.
Jasmine hugged and kissed her before she did so, and she even hugged Face. Then she slipped away to follow her Mom, sister and nephew on their adventure.
Demetria, Carla, Leo and their guards took 3985 to Comstock, and from there they had to make the same journey that the surveying team had a week or so prior. A soldier was able to use an off-road vehicle to get Demetria and her party to the railroad tracks, and as carefully as they could so as to avoid being seen, they drove the 70 miles to the river. Then, when the soldier drove the off-road vehicle back towards Comstock, the 2 guards pulled out the inflatable raft that they brought, and once they, plus Demetria, Carla and Leo were in it, they paddled across the river close to the foot of the bridge until they reached the other side. Then it was a 10 mile hike to the hill that overlooked Las Pegasus.
One thing that Carla wondered was why none of them were wearing disguises.
"Well, because we don't need them. So few Americans outside of Leopard and a handful of military officers have ever seen us in person, and even then, that was over 5 years ago. We've aged some since then, AND we weren't Human-animal hybrids back then either! Now you're a Human-fox hybrid, and I'm a Human-cougar hybrid!"
Carla looked at her own fox ears and tail, as well as her mom's cougar, (aka mountain lion) ears and tail. She also looked at Leo's wolf ears and tail. "Yeah, you're right Mom. If anything, we should blend right in. After all, all of the other Humans in Equestria are hybrids according to the Caribou, so they most likely won't give us a second glance."
It was a long 10 mile walk though. Sure, it was through grassy fields, but 10 miles is a long way on foot. And unbeknownst to any of them, Stacy was close behind them. She'd been following them ever since Comstock, and had stowed away inside the off-road vehicle. She had her own raft to get across the river, and now she was following Demetria and Co to Las Pegasus. She too was pissed that she had to walk 10 miles, but there was nothing that she could do about it.
"Why do we have to walk 10 miles Mom?" Leo asked his mom as they walked.
"Because that's the only way to get to where we're going Leo. There aren't any roads here, or train tracks. And we can't use the off-road vehicle, as we're already pretty close to where we need to be. All we have to do is find a forest that's at the end of this grassy prairie, go through it, and to the top of a wooded hill. Then we go down the hill, and then we're where we're supposed to be."
"Which is where?"
"A land called Equestria. It's the closest thing to the New Futa Empire, and we're going to see what it looks like."
"Oh, ok." Leo was excited to get to go along, and really wasn't asking too many questions about much yet. He just accepted what his mom told him.
Eventually, a few hours later, they reached the forest that the surveyors described, and not too long after that, they found the wooded hill. And after walking to the top of the hill, they found themselves in the same spot that the surveyors had been.
"My word!" Demetria had a hand over her mouth. "It really IS Las Vegas, just in a different world!"
Carla and the 2 guards didn't know what to say either. What Demetria said really was true; it WAS Las Vegas, just built in a different world! Leo too was stunned, but since he'd never really seen the original Vegas, (He was only an infant when they evacuated) he didn't see the comparison. However, he did notice that it looked a lot like New Vegas.
"Hey, this city looks a lot like New Vegas Mom."
"That's because it almost is Sweetie. This city is called Las Pegasus, and it's the 4th largest city in all of Equestria!"
"Wow, really?"
Carla nodded. "Yeah! And where do we go now Mom?"
Demetria thought for a second. "Well, once we get down there, I think that we should see about finding a train station. Once we're there, we can sit down, and figure out what to do next. From Las Pegasus, we might be able to see more of Equestria by rail."
"Sure, sounds like a plan to me Mom, let's go!" And with that, they all started down the wooded hill towards Las Pegasus.
Behind them, Stacy was still hot on their heels. When she saw Las Pegasus, she too was stunned. "Damn, they weren't kidding. These f@#king Ponies really DID build their own Las Vegas out here!" She then started down the hill after her mom and her party.
For Demetria and her group, once they reached the road leading into the city itself, it was only another minute or so until they were in. As Demetria originally suspected, no one paid them any mind. Demetria, Carla and the 2 guards were shocked at the city's layout. True to what they previously believed, the city was indeed patterned after their beloved Las Vegas. Sure, some things were different, but a lot of it was eerily similar.
"It's almost like a strange case of Deja Vu!"
"Yeah, I know what you mean Carla. This whole city is almost just like the one we lived in. Just add in the cars and trucks, and Futas and Herms instead of Ponies, as well as a few other buildings and landmarks, and you have Las Vegas!"
As they walked, they all also began to notice signs, statues, and other monuments to the Battle of Las Pegasus that took place 5 years ago during what was called the "Imperial War".
"The Battle of Las Pegasus was fought in the nearby Palomino Desert, and it was a smashing Equestrian victory!" A tour guide was telling her group. "Thanks to our Human allies, we were able to break the backs of the Imperial Alliance, and ensure that the Caribou were NEVER strong enough to threaten Equestria ever again!"
"Wow, it sounds like the battle here was pretty fierce."
Demetria nodded. "It must have been Carla. I just saw a few aerial pictures of the Palomino Desert where the battle was fought on that kiosk over there, and there are still visible craters, and other impact holes. The Imperial War. I wonder where we can learn more about that WITHOUT any Caribou bias."
"I don't know Mom, I was kinda wondering the same thing."
They tried to learn more about the Battle of Las Pegasus, and perhaps a bit more about the Imperial War, but due to the throngs of Ponies everywhere, it was almost impossible. Eventually, they did make it to the Las Pegasus railway station, where they stopped to catch their breath, eat and drink a bit, and figure out what to do next. Demetria was looking at the nearby timetable.
"Hmm, I remember that Canterlot was the capital city of Equestria, and there's a train bound for Canterlot arriving here in about 10 minutes. What do you say that we all go to Canterlot?"
Carla shrugged. "Sure, why not? We might be able to learn a lot more about the Ponies, as well as Equestria in general. I mean, it seems like a pretty nice place so far."
The 2 guards agreed with Carla, so Demetria walked over to the ticket booth, and asked for 5 tickets to Canterlot. She purchased 4 adult and one child ticket with some of the Equestrian Bits that she had, and the Pony at the ticket booth didn't even blink when he looked at her, or the Bits that she gave him.
Once the train arrived, they all boarded it amid a throng of other Ponies, and a few Humans. In fact, one of the guards just missed accidentally stepping on a blonde girl. Demetria and Co then took their seats on the train, completely unaware that the blonde girl was actually Stacy in disguise. Once everypony was on board and settled, the train pulled out for Canterlot.
All during the trip there, Demetria and Carla marveled at the beauty of the landscape. They saw grassy fields, and beautiful valleys. A few streams flowed here and there, the sky was clear and blue, the sun was shining, and the temperature was hovering at about 90 degrees.
"Wow, the landscape here is so beautiful. It reminds me a bit of the American Midwest."
"Yeah, I agree Carla. It is very beautiful. Just look at those valleys and grassy fields. This is so beautiful, even when compared to the Undiscovered West where we live."
They also passed a few clusters of trees, and a few large hills. The train that they were on bypassed a town that some on the train identified as "Ponyville", and continued Eastbound to Canterlot.
When Canterlot came into view, Demetria had to blink a few times since she thought that she was dreaming, but she wasn't.
"Wait, is that city built into the side of a MOUNTAIN?!?!"
"Yes." The conductor, In Time, answered as he passed by. "Canterlot City is built into the side of Canterlot Mountain. Such a beautiful city."
"I'll bet that it is. Oh, and we're kinda new to this area, so what would you recommend that we see in Canterlot? Besides Canterlot Castle of course."
"Well, if I were you, I would stop in at the Equestrian Cavalry Museum. It's become quite a hot-spot for museum-goers since the army came back with all of those Caribou War-Beasts at the end of the Imperial War."
"Caribou War-Beasts?"
"Eh, they kinda look like large buffalo, but they also have tusks on the sides of their heads. Our military uses them now as mounts and pack animals, and they've found uses on farms as well."
Demetria nodded. "Oh, ok. Well, we'll have to be sure to stop by there today. It sounds amazing!"
"It is." In Time then looked at his watch. "And we should be pulling into Canterlot Station here in a few minutes." He then walked back up along the train, and Demetria looked out her window again at Canterlot City as they steamed up the mountain towards it.
Once the train pulled into Canterlot Station at about 2pm, Demetria, Carla, Leo and their 2 guards got off the train, and stood on the platform.
"So, where do we go from here Mom?"
"Well, I guess that we just look around, and see if we can't make our way towards the Equestrian Cavalry Museum. The train conductor said that it's a must-see."
"Ok, sounds good to me." They all kept walking.
As they walked, they kept seeing signs about the Imperial War, and about how Equestria won it. Demetria wanted to ask other Ponies about it, but she didn't want to arouse any suspicions. After all, since the war had been over for 5 years, and there were only a handful of Humans in Equestria, if she didn't know anything about the war, then that would arouse some suspicion. Sure, Demetria did have what the Caribou told her, but she believed that a lot of what the information was biased and inaccurate. She was hoping that the Equestrian Cavalry Museum could shed a bit more light on it.
All around them as they walked were the beautiful sights of Canterlot City. Most of the city's buildings were white, and the streets were very clean. It was a very bustling city, but yet it WAS the Equestrian capital, so that was to be expected!
"How'd they build this city right into the mountain Grandma Demetria?" Leo asked.
"A very good question Leo. I was wondering the same thing. I don't know, but what I can tell you is that the Ponies who did so must have REALLY known what they were doing!"
"Yeah!" Carla added. "To have been able to build a city of this size right into the side of a mountain; to make it sturdy, AND this beautiful, must have really been QUITE the feat for its time!"
"I agree."
Eventually, they did reach a spot where they could see Canterlot Castle only about a block away. The gates were closed, and there were armed and armored guards standing outside the gates, so it was clear that they weren't going to be getting in. However, that didn't stop them from taking pictures though. Both Demetria and Carla had been taking pictures since Las Pegasus, and now they were taking pictures of the wonders of Canterlot.
"Such a beautiful castle." One of the guards whispered.
"Yes, even more beautiful than the original Luxor was", Demetria agreed.
After this, using a map of the city, the group made their way over to the Equestrian Cavalry Museum. The museum was packed, and they were offering a ticket discount for whatever reason, but the crowd all around them was being too noisy for Demetria to hear why. The museum was a large building made of bricks, and its shape, at least in the front, reminded Demetria of an old-fashioned firehouse.
Once inside, the crowds were split into groups, and taken by guides through the museum. It wasn't the largest museum ever, but for what it was worth, there was a lot to see, spread out over 3 floors. The tour started at the top of the building, and worked its way down. It started with cavalry tools and equipment from the earliest days of Equestria, and worked its way towards the present. Leo quietly asked his mom why the Ponies didn't just use horses for mounts like Humans did, and Carla quietly explained back that it was because they were practically horses themselves! Anthropomorphic Ponies sure, but still Ponies!
There were armored chariots, carts of weapons, the armor worn by those in cavalry divisions, and even the weapons that the cavalry used in combat. There were swords, shields, spears, axes, clubs, flails, flintlocks, and even more modern guns by the time that they reached the ground floor, as well as simple tractors, and even bulldozers! Demetria and Co were surprised. Where did the Equestrians get guns and tractors from?
"The guns and other equipment from the Modern Era came courtesy of the Humans from America." The tour guide explained. "They showed us how to manufacture them, and they also taught us how to use them. Most of the weapons made their way into the hands of the regular Army, but some were still used by the cavalry divisions."
The highlight of the tour though were the pens inhabited by the Caribou War-Beasts. A small herd of 5 were kept in a stable and outdoor area at the museum, so as to let museum goers see them, and to demonstrate the beasts's prowess. 2 of the older females would even give rides, and these could be petted too. However, the highlight of this highlight was still Argus, the Alpha War-Beast mount that I'd taken from Carlon, and used in the Battle of Donneth.
Demetria and Carla were surprised when they saw the War-Beasts for the first time. The ones that they could see were grazing on hay from a manger, and they all had dark grayish-tan coats, dark brown manes, no tails, brown eyes, and tusk-like horns on the sides of their heads. They almost seemed to be buffalo, cows and bears all rolled into one.
"Gosh, what ARE those things?"
Demetria read a nearby sign. "These are the Caribou War-Beasts. They were taken from the Caribou city of Carlon at the end of the Imperial War, and were brought back to Equestria for study. Today, they serve the Equestrian military as mounts and pack animals, and farms as working animals as well."
"Wow, they're kinda ugly looking. But they sure do look strong though."
Before Carla could say anything else though, the crowd all around them suddenly seemed to be gathering at the fences surrounding the pens that the War-Beasts were in. A male museum worker then walked in with a War-Beast that seemed to be bigger than the others.
"And now, the moment that you've all been waiting for. I present to you, Argus! The Alpha War-Beast that was the mount of the Black Fox during the Battles of Carlon and Donneth. Or as he's better known, the mount of Captain........" The museum worker was then drowned out by the crowd screaming and cheering, so Demetria, Carla, Leo and their 2 guards were unable to hear what the worker, who seemed to be a stable hand, was saying. Carla hoisted Leo up onto her shoulders so that he could see better, and Leo watched in awe as the stable hand paraded Argus for the crowd.
"Now, Argus isn't quite the Alpha War-Beast that he used to be. He was already almost 10 years old when the Battle of Donneth happened, and he's now 16 years old. And while Caribou War-Beasts can easily live to be 30+ years old, 20 tends to be the end of their working life. Argus here has almost reached that. He's been retired from the military for a while now, and is now the star attraction of the Cavalry Museum here. Who wants to see him up close?"
The crowd surged forwards to form what seemed to be a clumsy line, but Demetria was having none of that. As quickly as she, Carla and the 2 guards could, they made a VERY hasty exit before they were trampled to death! Once they were out of the museum, they began to walk back towards the railroad station.
"Golly! What in the Goddess's name was THAT?!"
"I have no idea Carla. With the way that that crowd was acting, you'd think that they were handing out free concert tickets, or something along those lines, not showing off a Caribou War-Beast! And we never even got to hear who's mount he was due to that infernal crowd!"
"Yeah, or why everything was at a discounted price. It's almost like something important's going on."
"Yeah. But what? Maybe someone at the railroad station can tell us."
Yeah, hopefully they can."
When they all arrived back at the railway station, the time was almost 4pm. However, as they were contemplating what to do, they all heard a whistle, and the next train pulled in. However, Carla, who was the only one looking directly at it, let out a gasp of shock and surprise. The engine pulling the train was a Wild-West style 4-4-0 American steam locomotive with dark green paint, gold trim, a black smokestack, and the words "Union Pacific" were on the sides of the tender. The engine's number was "1", and on the side of its boiler, the words "Iron Glory" were visible.
Demetria turned around at Carla's gasp of surprise, and when she saw the engine, her jaw hit the ground! "Wait, IRON GLORY?!?!?!"
"There's no WAY that that could be the original Iron Glory! It was destroyed!" In her state of shock, Carla snapped a few pictures of the engine.
Demetria had to find out. She then quickly ran over to the station building. Luckily, there was no one in line at the ticket booth. Carla followed her with Leo still on her shoulders, and the 2 guards followed Carla.
"Excuse me?" She asked the stallion sitting in the booth.
"Oh, yes Ma'am?"
Please tell me. Is that engine right over there Iron Glory? The REAL Iron Glory? I HAVE to know!"
The ticket taker, a stallion named Everglade, looked towards the platform. "Yes Ma'am, that is indeed the one and only Iron Glory. Supply train to the Battleship Express, and a passenger and freight engine when she's needed. And she's needed today let me tell you!"
"THE BATTLESHIP EXPRESS?!?!?!" Carla yelled.
Everglade looked at her. "Yes Ma'am."
Demetria then spoke quickly. "And if you don't mind telling me, what IS going on around here? This whole place has been a madhouse, just like Las Pegasus was!"
Everglade looked at her confused. "Wait, you mean that you don't know?"
"I'm.....we're......not, really from around here."
Everglade chuckled a bit. "Oh, I see. Well, today is July 28th, and today is Armistice Day. Every July 28th, we celebrate the end of the Imperial War, and the defeat of the Caribou and Zebra Empires. It was all thanks to our Human Allies that we won that horrible war. Every year there's always a HUGE celebration all over Equestria, but the biggest celebration of all is down in Ponyville."
"Oh? And why's that?"
"Gosh, you REALLY must not be from around here! Ponyville is home to the National Imperial War Museum. Since that museum is all about the Imperial War, there's always a huge picnic dinner down there, as well as special museum tours, interviews with veterans who fought, fireworks, and of course, the museum's star attractions."
"Which are?"
"Well, Iron Glory for one, Battle Glory is another, and they recently added the Wabash Cannonball to their roster too, but one thing in that museum stands out above all the rest. The star of the museum, the one and only Battleship Express!"
When Demetria heard that, she became as ecstatic as Carla was. "What?! The Battleship Express?! THE Battleship Express?!"
"Oh yes. THE Battleship Express, and of course, all of the men and women who served on her."
"Of course! What would the Battleship Express be without one of its most famous soldiers?"
That was it. Demetria and Carla lost it.
"WHAT?!?!?! LEOPARD IS ALIVE?!?!?!"
"Of course he's alive! He's been living in Ponyville for the past 5 years!"
Demetria then turned back to Everglade. "And how much for 5 tickets to Ponyville?! We HAVE to get to the Imperial War Museum!"
"Well, for 4 adult tickets, and one child ticket, that would be 35 Bits."
Demetria paid, and then she and Carla, (still dragging Leo!) and of course the 2 guards raced for Iron Glory's train.
"He's alive Mom!" Carla practically screamed once they were on the train, "MY HUSBAND'S ALIVE!!!!!!"
"Wait, Dad's alive Mom?!"
"YES LEO, HE IS!!!!"
"And we're going to see him?!"
"YES!!!! For the first time ever, you're FINALLY going to get to meet your Dad!"
Even Demetria could barely contain her excitement. The last time that she ever heard from me was the night before the Battle of Vegas, just over 5 years prior. Now here she was on a train heading towards Ponyville, knowing that I was alive, and was most likely at the Imperial War Museum! (And surprisingly, no one on the train told Demetria, Carla, or Leo to quiet down. This was because everyone and everypony else on the train was heading for the Imperial War Museum too, and they were making just as much noise).
However, behind them on the train, the same blonde girl from Las Pegasus sat. She could not believe her ears. I was alive?! It was inconceivable!
"There's NO WAY that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is still alive! He died back in Vegas in a nuclear hell!" However, knowing the danger that it could pose if I really was still alive, as well as the Battleship Express if it still existed, Stacy had to verify the truth for herself. She kept praying that it would end up being a bust, but yet she couldn't escape this nagging feeling that what she overheard Everglade telling Demetria and Carla truly was legit.
Earlier that same morning, I woke up when the sun began to stream through the windows of my shared bedroom. I opened my eyes, and I saw my wives snuggled close to me. Dash was on my right, Daring was on my left, and Spitfire was snuggled up with Dash on her right. I then rolled onto my back, and sighed contentedly. Soon though, I began to feel somepony nuzzle my arm gently.
"Hmm?" I looked over, and I saw that Dash was nuzzling my arm gently. "Oh, hey Dashie."
She looked up at me. "Hey Stud."
"What are you doing?"
She sighed. "Just nuzzling your arm a bit."
"Why?"
"Just checking out your tattoos again. The black wolf's head on top, your army serial number, '00401' below it, and the American flag below that." Dash then looked under the covers at my hips. "And your black paw-print Cutie-Mark tattoos too. And all of them are still just as clear as they were the day I saw them for the first time."
"Well, that was only about 5 years ago Dash. And if taken care of properly, a lot of tattoos can last for decades."
"And these are still just as clear now as they were then." Dash's ears then pricked up. "Oh, sounds like I need to go take care of Cara and Cassidy. Do you think that you can take care of the rest of our kids?"
I nodded. "Sure Dash."
She nodded, and then got up to take care of Cara and Cassidy. Just as she left though, Spitfire rolled over. She was groaning a bit, holding her 6 month pregnant belly.
"Morning Spitsy."
She glanced over at me. "Hey Stud. And before you ask, I feel like shit!" She then held her mouth a bit. "I've got to puke and pee!" She then raced for the bathroom. Moments later, I heard the sounds of her violently throwing up, as well as peeing.
I winced a bit. "Oh, poor Spitsy." I then rolled over to begin to nuzzle Daring. "Daring? Babe? Can you wake up please?"
She opened her eyes, and groaned a bit. "I'm awake, but I sure don't want to be!"
I sighed. "And you know what today is, right?"
"Yeah, today is Armistice Day. The 5th anniversary of the end of the Imperial War."
"Yeah, and that means that we get to spend the day at the Imperial War Museum."
Daring frowned a bit. "Yeah. The crowds are insane, people and Ponies are everywhere, and they're all screaming. Do we really have to do this Stud?"
I nodded. "Yes, we do Daring. Honoring the fallen, the missing, and those who are still with us is the duty of every red-blooded American patriot."
"And the duty of every red-blooded Equestrian patriot?"
I nodded. "Yes, that too. And we have to get up, as we have to take care of Misty, Skyler, Amber, and Midnight. We all have to eat breakfast, and then shower, get dressed, and head over to the museum for the day."
Daring sat up, and began to stretch a bit. "Yeah. So I'll take care of Amber and Midnight, and you take care of Misty and Skyler." She then put a hand over her face. "Remember the days when we DIDN'T have to take care of kids every morning, and had time for morning sex?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I can still remember. However, that won't be happening again until Cara and Cassidy are weaned, and then all of our kids are a bit older."
"It's been 5 years since we got married Stud, and 4 of those have been with our 'happy little accidents'. Can't we spend more time together?"
"Well, if that's how you feel about it, I can tell you with a fair amount of certainty that by tonight all of our kids will be exhausted, and that should give us time alone. Plus, I can always get Dren to watch them if they're not!"
Daring's face lit up a bit. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan to me Stud. At any rate, let's get going."
"Yes, let's. Daring then got up, and I followed her moments later.
Once we'd all eaten breakfast, we all showered, and once Daring and Dash got their kids dressed, we adults got dressed too. Dash wore her usual T-shirt with jean shorts, and she had her mane in a ponytail. Daring wore a purple sun dress, her red glasses, and had her mane in a ponytail as well. Spitfire usually wore her Wonderbolt Academy Uniform for Armistice Day, but due to her pregnancy, it no longer fit. Instead, she had to wear a blue and yellow Wonderbolt maternity sun dress. However, she still had her mane slicked back into its usual form, and she had her goggles on her forehead as well.
As for me, I always wore my Battalion 4009 field uniform. I pulled on my dark blue tunic, darker blue sort of overalls, black boots, gray knee pads, elbow pads, chest armor, shin guards, back armor, codpiece and butt armor, and of course my gray German-style helmet with goggles. I also gave Aurora a bath, and helped her dry and brush her fur. Even Briana made herself presentable, which was rare for her. Then, once we were all ready, Dash put Cara and Cassidy into a carrying pack on her back, and while Spitfire held the hands of Misty and Skyler, Daring held the hands of Amber and Midnight, Briana held Aurora, and I held 3 large bags filled with everything that we were going to need for our kids for the day, we all took flight for the Imperial War Museum.
As we flew there, I took a moment to pause and reflect. 5 years ago, on July 28th, 2029, General Stuggs, General Rodin and Prince Dactyl all signed the surrender documents, thus bringing the Imperial War to a close. On that day, many Ponies celebrated in the streets that the terrible war was over. Celestia and Luna declared the day an official national holiday, and by the time the next Armistice Day happened the next year, the Imperial War Museum was opened. (And for a little while, nopony was sure what to call the holiday. Some suggested "Veteran's Day", or "Memorial Day", but we pointed out that these were already American holidays. It was eventually decided to call it "Armistice Day", since Veteran's Day was no longer called this).
Every July 28th, there was always a HUGE celebration all across Equestria. However, the biggest celebration of all was always at the Imperial War Museum. There was always a picnic dinner, live music was performed, speeches were given, and stories were told by war veterans; both to tell their own stories, and to honor their fallen comrades. Then, to top the night off there would always be a huge fireworks display. It was a big deal, and we of Battalion 4009 always spent the day at the Imperial War Museum, as we were the guests of honor.
My family and I arrived there at about noon, and I could see that a lot of people and Ponies were already arriving. Once we got up to the museum, since I was a Battalion 4009 soldier and I had my family with me, we were allowed into a side door that led straight into the Battleship Express Gallery. By the time we were inside, I could already see large crowds looking around, but yet everyone and everypony was calm and orderly. Dash, Daring, Spitfire and the kids went over to one of the tables that was set up for families to sit at, and they began to talk to other family members of Battalion 4009 soldiers.
While my wives and kids were occupied, I went over to where Don and Jim were gathering all of the Battleship Express crew together for a headcount. I looked around for Dren, but I didn't see him yet. Don and Jim went over our cues for those of us who would be giving speeches or telling stories, and we all made sure that we knew who was on when. The museum had already opened at noon, but the events didn't start happening until about 12:30.
As I was walking with Aurora over to the gallery dedicated to her, I saw Dren. "Hey Dren."
He looked up at me. "Hey Leopard. Taking Aurora to her gallery?"
I nodded. "Yeah. What are you up to?"
"Not too much. I'm just waiting for lunch to be served."
"They don't do lunch Dren, the picnic is for dinner."
I saw that his face fell. "Oh. Well, I guess that I'll just look around for a while with Olivia. I'll see you later."
"Bye Dren." He walked away to go find Olivia, and I kept walking with Aurora. I did look around for Briana, but I then remembered that she tended to stay out of sight. She hated the crowds, and it wasn't really about her, so she just stayed hidden most of the time.
The day started out normal enough, happy even. However, little did I suspect just how much my life, and a blast from the past, were about to collide.
At exactly 5:30pm, Iron Glory pulled into Ponyville Station. Demetria, Carla, Leo, and their 2 guards got off the train, but they stayed on the station platform until the crowds thinned out a bit. While they were waiting, Demetria grabbed a map from a nearby rack, and began to look it over.
"So, what do we do now Mom?"
"Well, we have to get to the Imperial War Museum. That's where Leopard is, and that's where we're going."
"And how far away is it?"
"Well, we're here at the train station, and the museum is about a mile away on the other side of town. We can walk there."
Carla nodded, and while she held Leo's hand, Demetria led the way with them and the 2 guards following her.
As they walked through the streets of Ponyville, all of them looked around them in awe. While the town was a bit small, it was rather bustling. However, it was a very orderly bustling. The center of the street was clear, and there weren't any ponies blocking doors or side streets either. Demetria did however notice that most of the buildings were painted white with pink trim. They had tile roofs, and they did look somewhat Medieval. However, they also seemed to have modern appliances.
"Wow, such a beautiful little town. No wonder Leopard settled down here."
"Yeah, no kidding Carla."
All around them as they walked, Ponies were hanging up banners of the Battleship Express, a few flags of the RWD, and of course, Equestrian and American flags. Demetria smiled when she saw the patriotism, however, she was a bit wary. Although she had been declared dead, not everyone spoke as kindly of her as I had. She was always on guard, as she was afraid of being recognized. She looked on a bit in fear whenever she saw a group of Battalion 4009 soldiers, or even a single soldier. However, at one point, a soldier accidentally bumped into her.
The soldier looked right up at her face. "Oh, excuse me Ma'am. I didn't see you there."
"Oh, it's not your fault. It's a busy street here."
"Yes Ma'am, it is." The soldier smiled, saluted, and then continued on his way. He hadn't recognized her.
"Well, even so, that was just an ordinary soldier. Very few, if any of them ever saw me, and don't know what I look like. It's the officers that I have to watch out for. THEY might recognize me!" She did keep her eyes open for officers, but she didn't see any. Carla kept telling her that no one was going to recognize her. All the same though, Demetria kept her guard up.
Eventually, Demetria and Co reached the Imperial War Museum. They all gasped a bit in surprise when they saw it for the first time. It was a large, 2 story structure that was sitting on a large tract of land. A few train tracks ran across the property, and connected to a nearby train mainline. The rest of the property was covered with grass, although there were a number of sidewalks and even a few trails. The building itself had large windows, and seemed to be beckoning to all those who saw it to enter and be amazed by what lay within.
Once they arrived, Demetria and Co began to walk down one of the sidewalks towards the museum entrance. However, as they looked towards the back of the museum property, Demetria suddenly saw what appeared to be a large flower garden. There was a wall at the back of the garden, and a statue at the center. Once Demetria learned from passersby that the museum admission was free that day, she decided to go over and see what the garden was all about. (Even on days when museum admission isn't free, the Memorial Garden always is).
Once she, Carla, Leo, and the 2 guards arrived, they were in awe. The flower garden, identified by signs as the Memorial Garden, was very beautiful, and there were even a few fountains as well. However, upon closer reading of the signs, they quickly realized that things were not as bright as they seemed. Each flower or flowering plant was for one soldier lost in combat, and each fountain represented 5 civilian deaths. The wall at the back of the garden had the names and ranks of all the soldiers who lost their lives in the war, both Human and Pony alike. Another part of the wall had the names and ranks of those who were still missing.
Just in front of this wall was a large bronze statue that depicted several Human and Pony soldiers racing into combat. In the center of the statue were 3 flags. One was the Equestrian flag, one was the American flag, and the last one was a flag to remember those who were still MIA. A plaque on the front of the statue commended the soldiers who had fought in the Battle of Ponyville, (which was what the statue represented) as well as all of the others who served in the military during the war; Human and Pony, deceased, alive, or still missing.
Once they were done looking, they all began to walk back towards the museum.
"Wow, so they honor their fallen and missing comrades like this. That's very noble of them."
Demetria agreed with her. "Yes, it is Carla. We did the same for our soldiers, though no one really remembers or cares anymore."
As they got close to the museum again, Demetria then noticed what appeared to be a small cemetery. A sign nearby told visitors that the cemetery was where the Americans who had fallen in the Imperial War were buried. Demetria and Co looked at the cemetery from the outside, but they didn't go in. Currently inside were other Humans and Ponies who seemed to be mourning, and were placing flowers on graves. They didn't want to intrude, so they just looked on from the sidewalk. Once they were done, they finally got to the museum's front doors.
Once they were inside, they were all in awe at how big the museum really was. The restrooms were to their left, the massive gift shop was to their right, and straight ahead was the front desk. All around them Humans and Ponies were milling about, and some were on a museum tour led by a tour guide. Demetria then stepped up to the front, where she, Carla, Leo and the 2 guards were given their tickets, and directed to a stairwell to the left that led upstairs. (Even though museum admission was free that day, the museum still gave out tickets).
They walked upstairs, and once they did, they found themselves in a number of galleries full of very detailed, and truly amazing displays. Carla had a map of the museum, and she told everyone that the upstairs portion was all about the Imperial War before the Americans got involved. The various displays all around them told them who King Danin and Overlord Zakia were, how they came to power, how the Zebra and Caribou Empires were formed, and of course, how the Imperial Alliance came to be. The displays also showed the 2 years of war before we intervened.
"Gosh, these were some pretty dark days. The Equestrians were fighting the 2 largest empires in all of Equus, and they were doing so by themselves!"
"A lot of this reminds me of how WW6 played out. The Americans fought the Futas, and even though they lost the first time, they didn't go down without a fight. Then they later came back and won."
"And when do the Ponies start winning Mom?" Leo asked.
"I don't know Leo. Hopefully soon. If I had to venture a guess, since we arrived on Equus on June 8th, 2029, I'd have to say that they arrived here too not long after, or perhaps even at the same time."
The last exhibit upstairs was a large 3D diorama map that showed the Equestrian lines at the darkest point in the war. The Caribou were threatening Las Pegasus, the Zebras had their sights on Appaloosa and Dodge City, and Baltimare and Ponyville were under threat too, as a large group of Caribou and Zebras had broken through the lines, and remained at large. However, after this map, they exited the gallery, and began to walk down another flight of stairs. As they did so, a voice gave a very important narration.
"With the Imperial War raging on, and the Equestrian forces suffering, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were at their wits end. They HAD to save their Pony subjects, and in their despair, they cried out to the Heavens, BEGGING them to send them the allies that they so desperately needed. Luckily, their prayers were answered, and their liberators came. The Humans from Earth came to aid the Ponies, and they came onboard the deadliest weapon ever to ride the rails. They came........on the Battleship Express!" This narration was quickly followed by the Battleship Express's signature whistle that sounded like a Banshee's scream.
Demetria was startled when she heard that whistle. "Whoa! I forgot about how scary that was!"
Carla jumped a bit at first too, but then she smiled. "Yeah, but remember Mom, it was SUPPOSED to be terrifying! Whenever you heard that terrifying whistle, that Banshee's scream, you KNEW that Death was upon you!"
"Well all the same, it's certainly a VERY interesting way to transition from one side of the museum to another!" They then walked into the first gallery that they came to.
Once they walked into the gallery, they quickly realized that it was all about the first contacts between the Americans and the Ponies, as well as their first battle against the enemy.
Another narration told guests, "At 5:25am, on June 8th, 2029, the Battleship Express rolled out of the Everfree Forest for the first time. As the Ponies would quickly discover, the train contained the allies that they were so desperately hoping for. Humanity was there to aide them in their fight against tyranny. And as the enemy would soon discover, the train contained their doom. Humanity was about to become the deadliest plague ever unleashed upon them!"
The exhibits and displays then told all about the fierce Battle of Ponyville, the Equus-shattering Battle of Las Pegasus, and the amazing turnaround at the Battles of Appaloosa and Dodge City. All 3 of these battles marked the turning point in the war. No longer would the Caribou and Zebras be running unchecked, but they were now fighting a defensive war.
Here though, the galleries split off. One side was dedicated to the war in the Zebra Empire, and the other was dedicated to the war in the Caribou Empire. Both galleries were interconnected, but since the Caribou side led to the Battleship Express directly, some went there first. However, because Demetria and Co wanted the full experience, they decided to start with the Zebra side.
They were all in for quite a surprise when they saw it. The war in the Zebra Empire was little more than a one-sided beatdown. We won every battle that we fought, and we drove the Zebras to the brink of extinction for their heinous actions. In various display cases were the armor and weapons of Zebra warriors and officers, maps of the battles, dioramas, pictures and video screens on the walls, and even life-sized battle scenes with mannequins! Demetria and Co learned all about the journey over the Macintosh Hills, the conquest of the Badlands, the Battle of Zandia, the Battle of Randeth, the Battle of Mardia, and of course, the obliteration of all towns and villages between the cities. They even saw the Battle of Zebrica.
"Wow. This flag here was taken from the top of the Imperial Palace in Zebrica, the capital of the Zebra Empire, and by our Leopard no less!"
"Well, based on what I've seen here Carla, I'm glad that the Zebras are just a footnote in history. They were a barbaric race, and they lived only to pillage, loot, enslave, and destroy. They met a swift end in Humanity's grasp!"
Carla smiled as she saw a picture of me sitting on the front of the Battleship Express with several Zebra hides and heads at my feet. "Heh, THAT'S the Leopard that I knew and loved!"
Demetria even pointed out that I might no longer look like a Human-wolf, as I'd apparently been given some kind of treatment following a near-death experience at the Battle of Zandia. Carla looked at the pictures that she was pointing to, and she saw that I now had dark gray Pony ears, and a black Pony mane and tail.
"Well, he doesn't look too much different than he did before. I think that he looks good."
"Yes, I agree Carla. He still looks like the Leopard that we knew and loved, and even if his appearance has changed a bit, I still love him."
"As do I Mom."
"And where is Dad Mom?"
"I'm.......I'm not quite sure Leo. However, if I had to guess, I'd say that he's wherever the Battleship Express is, or somewhere close by. We WILL find him though!"
Demetria winced a bit. "And what do we do then Carla? It's been 5 years, and our deaths were a near certainty. What happens if he's already remarried in that time-span?"
Carla froze. She then looked back at her Mom in surprise. "Why.......why would you say that Mom? Yes, I know that he married Lilly after me, but Lilly died during WW6."
"I'm just trying to prepare you for this Carla, as the chances are high that because he thought that you were dead, and with good cause, he possibly has remarried by now."
Carla turned away from her Mom. She knew that what she was saying was possibly the truth, but she didn't want to accept it.
At the very end of the Zebra gallery, there existed a large quantity of (display purpose!) nuclear shells, maps of the cities and areas targeted, and even the newsreel from when we fired the shells, and the aftermath of the explosions from our point of view.
"Whoa, they actually NUKED the rest of the Zebras after Zebrica?!"
"That's what it looks like Carla. The first nuclear detonation was when they wiped out Zandia as a test, and then it looks like they wanted to avoid more casualties than necessary to their own forces, so they just wiped the remaining Zebras out."
"Unlike whoever was behind 'Operation Fireball'. That was executed just to kill everyone, American and Futa alike."
"Yes. That was aimed at everyone, while this was only aimed at the enemy, and only the enemy died because of it."
As they exited this gallery, another narration was triggered. "And after the capture of Overlord Zakia, and the final fall of the Zebra Empire, the ball was in the Caribou's court. They could have surrendered to Equestria, they could have given up the hostages, but oh no, they just HAD to play hardball! The fighting in the Caribou Empire would be some of the toughest fighting of the entire war, but it had to be done for the sake of all Equestria!"
Demetria and Co then left the war in the Zebra Empire, and walked into the war in the Caribou Empire.
As they quickly discovered by looking at the displays in these galleries, the war in the Caribou Empire was a much tougher fight than the Zebra Empire had been. We still won every battle, but it wasn't quite a one sided beatdown. They learned that like the Zebras, the Caribou called our train the "Black Leviathan", and that they too greatly feared it.
Demetria and co learned the stories of the infiltration through Hell's Gate, the Battle of Mardia, the insane battle that raged for 250 miles in all directions before terminating with the huge climactic Battle of Dock Town, the attempted coup by Captain Gregor that ended up helping us, the fierce battle of Lake Town, and of course, the fierce run through the blizzard that was raging in the Highland Mountains.
Carla was looking at a few salvaged pieces of the Highland Trestle Bridge that were on display, as well as actual POV footage taken from the Battleship Express of the run up to the bridge, and then across it. "I can't imagine having to deal with a blizzard in the mountains, on top of trying to cross a trestle bridge that's on fire! I mean they just barely made it! Seconds after their caboose cleared the bridge, it went down into the ravine below!"
"A Higher Power was watching over them Carla. As Leopard would probably say, 'God was just watching over us Mom. He's pulled us through the tight spots before, and it's just Him doing so again'. Based on what I've seen from the rest of WW6, and now from the Imperial War, I'm highly inclined to agree."
However, once they reached the next exhibits, their jaws dropped in shock. They were now learning all about how after we crashed into the snow at the bottom of the Highland Mountains, the Caribou searched high and low for us, but never found us. We were then able to become the "Undead Harbingers", and 9 of us wiped out the town of Hilden. This was followed by us turning the rest of the Battleship Express into a "ghost train", and using it to terrorize the remaining Caribou until the Battles of Carlon and Danton.
"This has GOT to be the greatest psychological warfare tactic that I've EVER seen! The idea was groundbreaking in and of itself, but the fact that they were able to execute it as flawlessly as they did? Absolutely phenomenal!"
"I'll say Mom. And these 9 'Undead Harbinger' outfits that they wore during this time are terrifying even here in the light on display. Imagine seeing them at night on the battlefield!"
"Yeah, I'll bet that they REALLY scared the bad guys with them!" Leo added.
Carla laughed a bit. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that they did Leo. It says on this sign here that many Caribou were so scared of the 'Undead Harbingers', and the 'Ghost of the Black Leviathan' that they actually killed themselves!"
"What? They really killed themselves?"
"That's what it says here on this sign Leo."
Leo was quite surprised. He was surprised that so many Caribou killed themselves without realizing that we really WEREN'T undead, but were just fooling them into thinking that we were.
Some of the last exhibits covered the Battles of Carlon, Danton, and Donneth. It was here that they realized that I was the one who rode Argus into combat after taming him during the Battle of Carlon.
"Wait, LEOPARD was the one who tamed Argus?!"
"That's what it says here. And that's probably what we would have learned at that cavalry museum if the crowd wasn't so damn loud! 'Better known as the mount of Captain LEOPARD'! It all makes sense now!"
It was also here that Carla realized for the first time that in addition to Pony ears, a Pony tail, and the eyes of a Bat-Pony, I also had 2 large, black feathery wings on my back as well, and later pictures revealed that I could indeed fly with them too! (Most of the earlier pictures showed me from the front with my wings folded up, thus making them seemingly non-existent. Now Carla was learning otherwise!)
"Leopard has wings, and can actually FLY!"
Demetria looked at the pictures, and couldn't have been prouder. "Heh, THAT'S my Son! I always knew that he would earn his wings one day, but little did I suspect that he actually would in the literal sense!"
They also learned about my amazing rescue of Dash and Pinkie during the Battle of Donneth, as well as the rescue of Cole, Missy, Winston, and the rest of the harem slaves by Shining Armor and his team. Also at Donneth, General Stuggs and General Rodin were captured, as was Prince Dactyl. All 3 were held at Donneth under guard until we'd wiped out the final Caribou stronghold at the Battle of Bryerton.
"Huh, well I'll be. Dothan was actually telling the truth about Bryerton", Demetria murmured. "Unfortunately though, these signs are wrong. You guys didn't get King Danin, Dothan, and the others like you think that you did. They're still alive and well, unfortunately."
Carla also saw the signs that said that Danin and his band died at Bryerton, and she also saw the newsreel footage of our destruction of Bryerton with explosives. "Yeah, too bad that they didn't get them. Sure, they helped build our empire, but don't you constantly get this nagging feeling that they have traitorous thoughts? They keep looking at us like we owe them something."
Demetria nodded. "Yes, I get those same feelings too. However, I doubt that we should talk about this now. There's other Ponies and Humans here, and I do NOT want to sound like a lunatic, or have them start asking questions!"
Carla agreed with her, and they both quickly stopped talking about Danin and his surviving band, though both made a mental note to inform me immediately once they found me.
Unfortunately for them though, a blonde girl off to their left pretending to look at a diorama of the Battle of Donneth heard every word.
"No Mom and Carla, you will NOT be informing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named about ANYTHING! I won't let you!" Stacy then tried to follow them, planning to off both of them and the 2 guards, but unfortunately for her, she got bogged down in a hallway that was completely clogged up with a HUGE tour group! Demetria and Co got through just before the clog occurred.
Gosh f@#king DAMMIT!!!!" Stacy cursed to herself. "Why can't ANYTHING ever go my way?!" She kept trying to follow her mom, sister, nephew and the 2 guards.
Meanwhile, still unaware that Stacy had been following them, Demetria and Co were almost at the end of the museum's exhibits. However, the closer that they got to the Battleship Express Gallery, the more congested the corridors became.
"Goodness! This is a fire marshal's worst nightmare!"
"Yeah, no kidding Mom! It's like everyone and every Pony in all of Equus is trying to see the Battleship Express today!"
Eventually, they did manage to make it to the gallery next door, the "Aurora Gallery". Upon looking inside, they quickly realized that it seemed to be dedicated to a wolf of some kind.
"Wait, I know this wolf! This is Aurora! Leopard's companion, and combat dog!"
Demetria quickly realized that Carla was right. All over the walls of the gallery were pictures of Aurora, and I was in some of them with her. There were also videos of her playing on the walls as well, and in the center of the gallery was her famous combat armor in a glass case. Other displays around it displayed the suit's weapons and ammunition, and wandering around the gallery was the wolf herself!
Both Demetria and Carla were surprised that Aurora hadn't seemed to age much after 5 years, but then again, I had told them in the past that Aurora didn't age normally, and had a much longer lifespan that average dogs did, (similar to Radar). However, she was still huge, and her fur coat was still just as fluffy and gray as it had always been. Just as they were starting to try and move on though, Aurora turned around, and after spotting them began to walk towards them!
Demetria panicked, fearing that Aurora might recognize her and Carla. Aurora walked up to them, before sitting back on her haunches. "Hello there!" She said with a friendly smile.
Both Demetria and Carla recoiled ever so slightly. They'd forgotten that Aurora was able to talk!
"Um.....h-hello there. Are you Aurora?"
She nodded. "Yes, the one and only! Companion of Captain Leopard, first and last combat dog of the Nightingale Project. DG005 'Aurora', that's me!"
Leo was shocked. "Wait, you can talk?!"
Aurora laughed a bit. "Yes, I can! It's all thanks to the project at Fort Nightingale. They made me bigger, stronger, faster, more agile, have better reflexes and stronger senses, and of course, they gave me the ability to speak. I'll take it that you've never seen a talking dog before?"
Leo shook his head. "No, I haven't! My dog at home, Radar, can't talk. Well, she's kinda my dog. She used to belong to my dad until he went missing." (Carla had warned Leo NOT to tell anyone that I was his father, despite the MASSIVE temptation to do so!)
Aurora stared long and hard at Leo, as well as Carla and Demetria. "You know, you kinda seem familiar to me. Have I seen you before?"
"Yes, but it's been a long, LONG time Aurora. 5 years ago to be precise." Demetria and Carla began to make their way out of the gallery, with Carla pulling Leo with her. (The 2 guards didn't go inside the gallery).
Just as they made it out, it all clicked for Aurora. "No.......no. It.......It can't be! Demetria and Carla are dead! But yet........there was something WAY too familiar about them, and it seemed to stem from long ago." Aurora then froze. She remembered the letter that I'd found with the shotgun Dren gave me for Christmas. "Wait. If that was Demetria, and the ginger was Carla, then that means.......THE CHILD WITH HER WAS LEO!!!!!! I HAVE TO TELL MASTER!!!!!" Aurora tried to leave the gallery, but the crowds were too thick. Her radio was inside her suit, which was locked away behind glass, leaving her with no way to tell me about what she just saw!
"Blast! Well, I guess that Master's just going to have to find out on his own." Aurora's mind was working at a mile a minute. If that was Demetria, Carla, and Leo, how did they survive Las Vegas? How did they get there? And most importantly, why did they all have ears and tails? I never made any mention of Carla having fox ears and a fox tail, nor of Demetria having the ears and tail of a mountain lion. Where did they get them?
Once they were out of Aurora's gallery, Demetria and Co tried to get over to the Battleship Express's gallery, but the crowds were a solid mass of people and Ponies, and no one was moving.
"Blast! You know as well as I do that he's in there Carla!"
"Yeah, so what do we do Mom?"
Demetria thought for a second. "Well, we may have to split up. It's almost 6:15 now, and at 6:30, the speeches begin. They may have everyone and all of the Ponies either come inside of the gallery, or clear the way, as what's happening right now is a pretty serious fire hazard!"
"What do you mean by splitting up?"
“I mean that you take Leo and one of the guards and head to the gift shop for a bit, and wait there until the crowd thins out. Then I'll send the other guard to come and get you."
Carla nodded. "Ok Mom." She then took Leo and one of the guards through a side hallway back to the gift shop, while Demetria and the other guard went about trying to squeeze into the Battleship Express Gallery.
Demetria and her guard kept trying, but the crowd wouldn't budge, and they tended to push back when they tried to wriggle through.
"Hey! Wait your turn Missy!"
"Yeah, who do you think you are, Leopard's Mom?! Wait your turn like everypony else!"
Demetria growled a bit in frustration. "And when will that be? This crowd is NOT moving!"
"Yeah, I KNOW!!! MOVE YOUR ASSES UP THERE!!!!" Somepony screamed.
Suddenly though, several Battalion 4009 soldiers appeared, and began to direct traffic. They began to clear the huge traffic jam, got as many into the gallery as they could, and they kept the line moving.
"Come on everyone and everypony, you know better than this! This is a HUGE fire hazard!"
"Yeah! You can't be completely blocking up hallways like this! What if someone had a medical emergency?"
The crowds finally began to clear out. As it turned out, not all of them were even trying to get to the Battleship Express. Some were trying to get to the Memorial Garden, some were trying to get back to the gift shop, and some were even just trying to get to the bathrooms! In short order, the crowd was split up into who was going where, and once they were out of the crowd, they were FINALLY able to make their way to where they were going. Finally, Demetria and her guard made it into the Battleship Express Gallery.
Sure enough, in the middle of the gallery, standing tall and proud, was the one and only Battleship Express. The whole train was present, and a lot of people and Ponies were crowded all around it, trying to take pictures, and get a closer look. The whole train was surrounded by a fence, except for a set of stairs that seemingly led to the cab to let visitors look inside. There was space for 3 other trains, but they weren't present at the moment, due to them having to be used on the railroad to keep up with passenger service.
"Gosh, even after all this time, and having to fight through ANOTHER war, the Battleship Express still looks pretty good!"
"Yes, it certainly does, My Empress. And I guess that now we know what really happened to it after the Battle of Vegas. It survived, and was sent through a portal like we were. It wound up in Ponyville, where it and its crew helped the Ponies fight and win the Imperial War!"
"Yes, and even after all these years, it's still so amazing to see it up close." Demetria did walk over to the train, and while she did snap a few pictures of it, the crowds around it were still pretty thick. "Oh well, perhaps the crowds will thin out once it's time for the picnic dinner." She then noticed a number of tables, as well as rows of chairs on the far side of the gallery facing a podium, and there were people and Ponies gathering there. Demetria then realized that that was where the speeches were going to be given, and the stories told.
"Oh. Well, better get a seat, and save one for Carla, Leo and my other guard." She then quickly led the way to a row towards the back, where she saved seats for Carla, Leo and the other guard, while her guard went to inform Carla that it was time to come in.
While she was alone, Demetria glanced quickly around the huge gallery. She was trying to spot me in the crowd, but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. She knew that I was in there somewhere, but she didn't know where.
A few minutes later, her guard came back with Carla, Leo and the other guard. Carla was carrying 2 bags, so it was clear that she'd bought a few things at the gift shop. She quickly took her seat with Leo next to her mom, and the 2 guards sat one on Demetria's right, and the other on Carla's left. They all then waited to see what would happen next.
At exactly 6:30, more soldiers from Battalion 4009 were trying to get the crowd to quiet down, while an officer that Demetria recognized as being none other than Major Don Curry stepped up to the podium. After a quick mic check, and everyone and everypony was present, Don began.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, mares and stallions, colts, fillies, kids, people and Ponies of all ages. It's my pleasure and honor to welcome all of you to the 5th Armistice Day Celebration, and the 4th to take place right here at the National Imperial War Museum!"
The crowd began to clap and cheer, and then Don continued. "Anyway, I know that we have a lot to cover here, so I'll keep this brief. As I'm sure that you all know, we've gathered here today for a time of celebration. 5 years ago today, the final surrender documents were signed by the Caribou, thus bringing the Imperial War to a close." There was more cheering, but Don motioned for silence. "However! As all of you are also well aware, today is also a day of remembrance. Many brave Ponies and Humans gave the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of Freedom, so let us not forget to remember them, as well of those who are still missing. Before we continue with our celebration, let us take a moment of silence to remember those who have fallen, and those who are still missing."
For a few moments, the entire gallery went almost dead silent. It was clear that everyone and everypony present took this seriously. After a few moments though, Don did continue.
"And in addition to the fallen, and the missing, let us not forget to honor those who served, and are still with us today. Veterans of Battalion 4009, which include the crew of the Battleship Express, and the members of the Equestrian Armed Forces who fought so bravely, and overcame the Imperial Alliance! Let their stories be told once again!"
Now the crowd really began to clap and cheer, and once Don stepped down from the podium, other soldiers began to come up and either give a small speech, or tell a story. Demetria and Carla kept waiting. Would I be one of the ones to step up to the podium at some point? And if so, what would I say?
Suddenly however, they got their answer. "And now, let me welcome to the mic a soldier that we all know and love; our very own, Captain Leopard!"
When they spotted me walking to the podium, Demetria and Carla were on their feet cheering the loudest, and Demetria remained standing so that she could film me. Carla also had her camera going, though she thought that she had a better angle while sitting.
Meanwhile, I stepped up to the podium. I cleared my throat, and then began to speak. "Hello everypony! I know that by now I don't need to introduce myself, but I'll do it anyway just in case. As you all know, I'm Captain Leopard. I'm the 3rd in command of the Battleship Express, and her 2nd Engineer, or the second of the 3 men who drive her. I'm also one of the original 6 men who created the Battleship Express, right alongside Jeff Coleson, Don Curry, Russ Thompson, Joe Dixon, and Frank Otis.
And now that I've gotten my introduction out of the way, I'd just like to say a few words. As you all know, I've served with Battalion 4009 for a long time. I've seen a lot of messed up stuff. However, I'm a soldier, always have been, always will be. My job is to protect the innocent, and stand up for those who are unable to stand up for themselves. When we arrived here back in 2029, the Imperial War was reaching its darkest days. The lines were threatening to collapse completely at any time, and there was no hope. However, we soon turned out to be the silver lining. In about 2 months time, not only did we roll back ALL of the enemy's advances, but the war was OVER! Done! Finished! Behind us forever! We won!" There was a lot of cheering, whistling, and clapping for me.
I smiled. "Yes, I appreciate your thanks. It was my great honor to have served you, just as I know that it was the honor of every man and woman of Battalion 4009 as well. We're still here to serve you, because even though the Caribou and the Zebras are gone, who knows when the next Hydra of an evil empire might rear its ugly head? Anything is possible these days, and I want you all to know right now that we will NEVER stop serving you all! We'll fight, and while we might not always win, we WILL be fighting to the finish line! Thank you."
I then seemed to think of something else. "Oh, and before I leave, I would also like to give a shout-out to my beautiful wife Rainbow Dash. Dash, it was you that I moved Heaven and Earth to help save when you were captured by the Zebras, and then handed over to the Caribou, and I NEVER gave up until you were safe in my arms again. I love you so much Babe!"
When Carla heard that, she was crushed. She remembered what her Mom told her, but yet she didn't want to believe that it was true. However, she wasn't crushed for long. She knew that even though I had remarried, I would be MORE than happy to see her again. Who knows, maybe I would even take her back. If only she knew the truth. (Dash and I agreed that she was my "only" wife. Everypony else knew that I was married to Spitfire and AK Yearling (Daring), but I never mentioned anything about it. That's why I didn't mention them in my speech).
I then started to leave the podium, but I again stopped. "And one final thing. While speaking in terms of loss, I would also like to mention my family. I've so rarely spoken of them, but aside from my brother Dren, my entire family, all of my friends, and everyone that I loved and cared about, including my first wife Ell and 2 infant children Max and Sierra, perished in WW4. I did remarry, and a lot of you from Battalion 4009 most likely remember my 3rd wife Lilly. Tragically, she too was killed, and she was 1 month pregnant when she died. And lastly, I would like to remember my 'adoptive family'. My 'Mom' Demetria, my 2nd wife Carla, and our son, Leo. All 3 of them tragically perished during the Battle of Vegas......"
Out in the crowd, Demetria and Carla could see that I was close to tears. "Mom? Carla? Wherever you are right now, just know that I still love you; I always have, and I always will. You meant the world to me. And Leo? You were the son that I never got to meet. You would be about 6 years old now if you were still alive, and I never knew that you were born until recently. Know that I......I still love you......" I put a hand over my face, seemingly wiping away tears. "And to anyone out there who's lost someone or somepony close to you, I do fully sympathize with you. I know what that feels like." I then left the podium, and disappeared into the crowd again.
Demetria and Carla were wholly stunned. They knew that I most likely still cared about them, but they never knew just how much I still cared until right then. It was so weird to hear me talk about them like they were dead, but yet they knew that I didn't know that they were still alive. Hopefully that would change very soon.
Once all of the speeches and stories were over, music began to play over the speakers, and we all began to sing the song that had become the unofficial anthem of the Equestrian Foreign Legion. It was a song that best described 2 sides working together to protect the nation that they loved so much.
During the song, myself, Alex and Todd slipped back to the front of the Battleship Express where we were doing some quick maintenance checks on the front of the engine's Plow-Catcher. We were still singing the song while we worked, little knowing that our "Small World" was about to get even smaller.
After the song ended, it was almost time for the picnic dinner to be ready. Some were starting to file outside to start lining up, while some continued to mill about for a little while longer. Demetria and Carla were still inside the gallery too, desperately looking for me. The 2 guards were milling about by the doors to make sure that I didn't leave without them knowing about it, while Demetria and Carla were searching the rest of the gallery. However, I was seemingly nowhere to be found.
"Oh, it's hopeless Leo! Where could your dad have gone?!"
"I....I don't know Mom. Hopefully he's still in here somewhere."
12 feet to their right, Alex, Todd and I were packing up our toolboxes. We were all done with our maintenance work, and were getting ready to put our tools back on the train, before meeting up with our wives and kids again for the picnic dinner. As we moved quickly through the small crowd on our way back to the 4th car from the engine, (our bunk car, and where we got our tools from) I accidentally bumped into someone. I saw that she was a woman with ginger hair, green eyes, a lot of freckles, had fox ears, a fox tail, and was dressed in jean shorts and a white t-shirt.
"Oh, excuse me Miss! I didn't see you there! I'm so sorry!" I then began to continue making my way through the crowd once again, all while still clutching my toolbox.
"Leopard? Leopard!" I heard a voice behind me call. I turned around, and I saw the ginger haired woman standing maybe 8 feet away. At first I thought that she was just another fan looking for an autograph or photo, but I suddenly had this very strange feeling that I'd seen this woman somewhere before. And not just seen her, I felt that I knew her, and knew her well. Then, once I looked into her soft green eyes, it all suddenly clicked.
I turned very pale. "...........Carla........." I mouthed in an almost breathless whisper. I was seeing the impossible right in front of my very eyes. Less than 8 feet in front of me was my long-lost second wife, and I somehow hadn't dropped my toolbox!
"Mom? Are you ok?" I heard a young boy ask. I then saw that Carla had a child with her. A boy of maybe 6 years of age with reddish-brown hair, gray wolf ears, a wolf tail, blue eyes, and dressed in casual clothes. Even though I'd never seen him before, I knew instantly who he was.
".......Leo....." I again mouthed in a breathless whisper.
"Hey Leopard? Are you ok?" Todd suddenly appeared beside me. "You look like you've seen a ghost." I then pointed, and when Todd saw what I was looking at, he did drop his toolbox, and his jaw hit the floor with it!
Unfortunately, before anyone could move, or even say anything else, there was suddenly a loud commotion coming from farther back along the Battleship Express. Torn between Life and Duty, I yelled for Carla to stay put, and I went to see what was wrong.
When I arrived close to the first set of railguns, I found a blonde girl attacking a sign close to the train for whatever reason.
"LIES!!!!" She was screaming as she tried to rip the sign right off the fence rail that it was attached to. "THIS SIGN IS ALL LIES!!!!"
By this point, I was close enough to see that the sign was one talking about how evil General Stacy and General Jasmine really were, and that this young woman was really upset for some reason. I also worriedly noticed that her violent outburst was making a LOT of people and Ponies nervous, and that some were beginning to make their way out of the gallery. It was a stampede just waiting to happen.
"Hey! Hey Miss!" I yelled at the blonde girl. She paid no attention to me. By this point, the sign had come loose, and I now REALLY began to fear for the safety of other guests. In one quick motion, I leaped forwards, grabbed her around her middle, pinned her arms to her sides, and tackled her to the floor. Then, moments later, I got back up, and while still holding onto her, I hauled her to her feet.
"Ugh! Crazy psychopath!" I then turned to her. "Now then, what's your problem Missy? Did you have too much to drink today?"
"That sign was lies!" She screamed again, pointing to the damaged sign. "I was just trying to get rid of it!"
"That sign is museum property! You have no right to destroy it! Now then, what's your name, and where are you from?"
At this exact moment though, things began to get VERY strange. As I held onto this girl, I had this strange feeling that I knew who she was too, and that she wasn't who she was pretending that she was. Suddenly, her form began to waver and shimmer. She went from a blonde girl with blue eyes, to a girl with black hair, one blue eye and one green eye, 2 black cat-like ears, a cat-like tail, and a few scars. She also still looked incredibly angry. (It was also at that exact moment that Stacy realized that her disguise potion had just worn off, and that the whole world could now see her as she really was!)
Suddenly in my head, it was like I was running through a computer database. My mind was reeling through everything on file, trying desperately to figure out who the girl in front of me was. Suddenly though, my brain found a match.
"Name: General Stacy Rikker. Age: 25 (as of 2029) Sex: Futa (formerly Herm) Occupation: General in the Futa Army Spouse(s): General Jasmine House Additional notes: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!!!! KILL ON SIGHT!!!!!"
Stacy and Jasmine were 2 of the only Futas in WW6 to EVER have "kill on sight" orders for them, as that's just how dangerous they really were.
My blood pressure shot through the roof. "STACY RIKKER?!?!?!" I yelled. "BUT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!!!!!"
Stacy then realized who I was. "YOU!!!!! No, YOU'RE supposed to be dead Leopard!!!!" Stacy then ripped herself free from my grip, grabbed the sign again, and this time fully ripped it off of its mounts, and threw it out into the nearby crowd before bolting the scene!
When that happened, the crowd panicked, and realizing that they were in danger, tried to flee from the Battleship Express Gallery in any way that they could! Stacy used the chaos to try and escape, but I was NOT about to let her get away again! She was now a dead Futa walking, and her ass was MINE!!!!!
In the panic, Stacy managed to make her way outside of the museum, but I was right behind her, raising hell the whole way!
"SOMEONE OR SOMEPONY STOP THAT FUTA!!!!! SHE'S GENERAL STACY!!!!!"
Most of those who saw the chase from the picnic area assumed that it was either a case of mistaken identity, or some kind of elaborate prank. However, once they saw that whoever I was chasing kept throwing things at me to try and slow me down, and wasn't screaming for help from bystanders, they finally began to realize that something was up. A lot weren't sure who she really was, but she'd damaged museum property, and jeopardized the lives of multiple museum guests, and she needed to be taken down before she could do any more damage!
I was hot on Stacy's heels the whole time she was running. She'd been the cause of so much unnecessary pain to the rest of the world, and there was evidence to suggest that she had been the one responsible for WW6. She HAD to be killed at all costs, or at the very least captured!
Surprisingly, neither of us said very much during the chase. Stacy was just trying to get away from me, as well as the others chasing her, and I was trying to capture her. Alas, I didn't have any weapons on me, but thankfully neither did she. Finally, at the very edge of the museum grounds close to the railroad tracks, Stacy stumbled a bit, and I saw my chance. In one swift motion, I leaped forwards, grabbed her right leg, wrapped my jaws around it, sank my teeth into it, and bit down with all of my might!
"EEEEEEEYYYYYYYEEEAAAAACCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Stacy screamed. Her scream sounded almost like the scream of an actual Banshee!
My teeth sank deep into her leg, causing several serious lacerations. I'd manage to bite down to the bones, and because of where I'd managed to bite her, I felt her kneecap split apart under the pressure! I thought that I had Stacy dead to rights now, but unfortunately, the force of the impact with the ground managed to cause me to lose my teeth's grip on her leg, and with a great heave, Stacy managed to shove me away from her. However, as she did so, blood splattered everywhere, and I heard what sounded like muscles tearing. I tried to get back up to finish the job, but the 7pm train was coming fast. I thought that Stacy was going to be hit, but she somehow managed to grab the train as it passed, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.
"THIS ISN'T OVER LEOPARD!!!!" She screamed as the train sped by. "I WILL BE BACK ONE DAY!!!! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIIIIIVVVVEEEEEE!!!!!!!!"
I then kicked the ground in frustration. I had the chance to finish the job, but I was unable to finish it. Little did I suspect though that I had just dealt Stacy a blow that she would never recover from. She would be largely crippled for the rest of her life because of that bite to her right leg and kneecap, as well as her subsequent tearing away from me.
However, once my frustration died away, I remembered Carla and Leo. And where they were, Mom couldn't be too far behind! I then spread my wings, (the same wings that I apparently forgot that I had while chasing Stacy!) and rocketed back to the museum! Unfortunately, by the time that I got back, I was too late. I heard from Todd that Carla, as well as the young boy with her, and a 3rd woman with dark brown hair had bolted the museum for the train station. I knew that they were most likely headed there to catch the 7:10 train, and I PRAYED that I could head them off!
Unfortunately, I was again too late. I arrived there on the platform just in time to see their train pull away.
"NOO!!!!" I screamed. I ran to the end of the platform, but I never saw them. Railway safety laws prohibited me from chasing the train, so there was nothing that I could do. Even if I beat the train to the next station, I knew that Demetria, Carla and Leo would disappear sometime before that. I then sank to the platform, and began to cry.
After at least a few minutes, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Leopard?"
I looked up, and there stood Todd. "Oh Todd! They were here! They were RIGHT HERE!!!!"
"I know Leopard. Even if no one else believes you, just know that I do, because I was right there, and I saw them too."
"They're alive Todd! Somehow, some way, Demetria and Carla are still alive! THEY WERE RIGHT HERE IN PONYVILLE!!!!!"
"But....who was the child with Carla? You never had any kids with her."
"Yes, I actually did Todd. That child.....was my SON! I had a son with Carla that I never met! That was my son Leo!"
Todd just stood there in a state of absolute shock. He had no idea of what to say, or even what to do. He had an impossible time believing that everything that had just happened in the last 10 minutes or so was even real.
"Your......your son is alive........Wait. Leopard?"
"Yeah Todd?"
"What's......what's that blood on your uniform? And why's your mouth all bloody?"
I wiped my mouth, and then looked down at my uniform tunic. It was then that I realized that I still had Stacy's blood on me. "Todd, you'd never believe me in a million years, but since you're probably the only one who'll believe me, I'll tell you....."
In the aftermath of the huge chase, there was still chaos at the museum for a little while longer. Based on the reports given by bystanders, a manhunt was on for the culprit responsible for all of the chaos, but strangely enough, she was never found, nor properly identified. There were good descriptions of her, but no positive identification.
A few others, including myself, vehemently insisted that the culprit that we'd been chasing was none other than General Stacy herself.
"I NEVER forget a face Don, and I'm TELLING YOU, that girl that I was chasing was none other than General Stacy!"
"Leopard, that's impossible. She died at Vegas."
"Don that was never confirmed. I also saw Carla, Demetria, and Leo today. They were HERE! At the museum!"
Don sighed, before putting a hand over his face. "Leopard, when was the last time that you saw a PTSD psychologist?"
I continued to try and argue my case, but Don wasn't listening. However, while it was easy enough to dismiss my testimony as being possible hallucinations, descriptions from Pony bystanders who had never heard of Demetria, Carla and Stacy, and then described them almost perfectly, weren't so easy to dismiss. The case remained open, and was still hotly contested.
It made front page headlines the next day. "Old Enemies Resurfaced?" "Believed Dead Futas Turn up at War Museum!" "Futas Spotted in Ponyville. Real or Hoax?" The papers were arguing the facts just as hard as the eyewitnesses were, and while some believed that we really did see Demetria, Carla, Stacy and Leo, others believed that either we were mistaken, or it was all one big hoax.
Dash, Spitfire and Daring all took my side in the whole debate, as they had seen what I saw, though not quite as clearly.
"I may not have seen it as well as you did Stud, but I know that you would never lie about something like this, so know that I do believe you."
"I agree with Dash Stud. You wouldn't have chased Stacy, or whoever that was down if you weren't certain, and she would have been screaming for help if she really was innocent. I believe you too."
"Like Spitfire and Dash, I believe you too Stud. I saw the girl that you thought was Carla, and based on those old pictures of her, I'm inclined to agree that that really was her."
I hugged all of them. "Thanks guys. I'm glad that you believe that I'm still sane, and not hallucinating like Don seems so convinced that I am."
Dash then gave me a kiss on the nose. "You're welcome Stud. It's our job to help you, and since we all saw what you did, we believe that you really did see what you think that you saw."
"And I know that Todd believes me too, as he was right there when it happened. He was right by my side when I saw Carla and Leo, and he also saw them and Demetria board a train at Ponyville Station."
I knew that Todd really did believe me, and eventually, when the blood that I had on me was examined by experts, they determined that the blood wasn't mine, and it didn't match anyone in the Battalion 4009 database. This, coupled with other eyewitness testimonies from reliable sources, was finally enough to convince Don that maybe I really did see what I claimed that I did. We did have DNA records of a handful of Futas on file in the Battleship Express's archives for post-mortem identification, and when they ran the blood against those files, it seemed to match that of Stacy's. The test results weren't fully conclusive, but now these arguments carried a lot more weight than they used to. The case was still open for investigation, but now it was taken more seriously than it was before.
Later that night, Carla, Demetria, Leo and their 2 guards slipped back into the Futa Empire, and then returned to New Vegas. They were exhausted, and while they had some good news, and had seen a lot of cool things, they hadn't managed to talk to me. They'd seen me, and Carla had been so close to finally getting to talk to me, but then some weird blonde girl started destroying a sign, and causing a panic. However, the blonde girl turned out to actually be Stacy in disguise, and once she realized that, Demetria had no choice but to take Carla, Leo and her 2 guards, and fall back with them immediately. They'd all made it back safely, and Demetria went up to talk with Minerva.
"Mini?" She asked once she was in her office.
Minerva looked up from Demetria's desk. "Oh, Dem, you're back! Did you have a good trip?"
Demetria sighed. "It was a mixed bag. Some things were good, some things were bad, and others were just downright depressing."
Minerva looked at her curiously. "Oh? And how so?"
"I can only tell you Mini if you promise that you'll not react, and keep what I'm about to tell you to yourself. What happened today is something that NO ONE ELSE can know about!"
Minerva was surprised. What had happened that had Demetria so worried? Finally though, she nodded. "You know that I would never spill a secret Dem. I am your head of security, and lifelong friend after all!"
"I know that Mini, but you can't really react to it either."
"And I won't react to it. Please Dem, just tell me what happened. I know that I can handle it."
Demetria sighed, and after heading over to her desk, she sat down, and in a low whisper meant for Minerva's ears alone, she told her everything. From their trip to Las Pegasus, to the trip to Canterlot, the cavalry museum, seeing Iron Glory, learning about Armistice Day from Everglade, the ride to Ponyville, the Imperial War Museum, listening to me give my speech, and of course, what happened with Stacy at the very end.
When Demetria finished, Minerva did have to sit back in her chair, but overall, she didn't react much at all. "Wow......so Leopard really does live after all. And I suppose that somehow deep down you knew that he was still alive?"
"I'd always hoped so Mini, but I never had any proof until today. He and the rest of the Battleship Express's crew arrived here on the Battleship Express on the same day that we did, just in a wholly different area. He's alive, and he lives in the town of Ponyville!"
"I can't imagine what you must have felt once you realized that he was still alive Dem."
"Surprisingly, I largely felt a sense of relief. It felt like a great burden had suddenly been lifted off of me. Now I know what happened to my son, and I know that he's still alive!"
"And......what does this mean going forwards? What do we do about Equestria, Leopard and the Battleship Express?"
Demetria sighed. "Well, for the time being, I think that we should leave them be. Due to Stacy's DEPLORABLE actions today, she jeopardized EVERYTHING! We're going to have to wait for this to blow over safely."
"Yeah. She deserved what Leopard did to her. I'm just upset that he didn't KILL HER!"
"He tried to Mini, and if that train wouldn't have come when it did, he would have finished the job. And even though he was unable to, I doubt that Stacy will ever be able to walk normally again, considering how he not only shattered her right kneecap, but also probably ripped ligaments, tendons, and muscles too. He very well could have permanently crippled her. I knew that the teeth of those Apex Wolves were sharp, but I didn't know how sharp until today!"
Minerva laughed a bit, but then she stopped. "Yes, but the question remains; how much of Equestria did Stacy see, and how long was she following you?"
"I think that her goal was to follow us every step of our trip. I talked to my guards, and we all agreed that she saw Las Pegasus, Canterlot, and Ponyville, including the Imperial War Museum, just like we did, and then she had to flee. I was hoping that she bled out before she made it back here, but she didn't. She made it to the hospital here in New Vegas. I don't know where she is now though."
"And how.......how did Leo react to all of this?"
Demetria sighed again. "He was really upset that he didn't get to talk to his dad. But I do know that he's glad to know that his dad is indeed still alive."
"And where is he now? Oh wait, he's playing with Ahri, never mind!"
Both of them laughed at this, and then continued to talk about it for a while longer, all while trying to plan for the future.
Across the Luxor, Leo was playing with Ahri. As they sat talking at the kitchen table in Minerva's sort of apartment in the Luxor, Leo was telling his best friend all about what he saw in Equestria.
"It was so amazing Ahri! Equestria was so cool!"
"And what did you get to see?"
"We saw a really big city called Las Pegasus, and it was just like New Vegas! There were Ponies there, of all colors of the rainbow, and some could even fly!"
"What? They could fly?"
"Yeah! Then we got on a train, and headed to a city called Canterlot. It's the capital city of Equestria. It was built into the side of a mountain! I'll have to ask my Grandma Demetria for the pictures. But the city was so pretty. All of the buildings were white, and there was even a castle for the Princesses!"
Ahri's blue eyes were wide open. "Did.....did you get to see them Leo?"
He shook his head. "Sadly, no. We didn't even get to go inside of the castle 'cuz there were soldiers guarding it. However, we did get to see a really cool museum, and they even had these War-Beast things there!" Leo then told Ahri all about the cavalry museum, and the Caribou War-Beasts.
"We had to leave because of all the crowds, but then we went to the railroad station again. That's when Mom and Grandma learned something new about my Dad."
"Wait, what? What did they learn about your Dad?"
"They learned that he was still alive Ahri! He was alive, and living in a town called Ponyville! He didn't die in Vegas, he's still alive!"
Ahri was shocked. I was still alive? It didn't seem possible. "Are you SURE Leo?" She asked.
"Well, I wasn't sure either, but Mom and Grandma sure were excited. Grandma then bought tickets to Ponyville on another train, and we went to go find my Dad." Leo then explained all about Ponyville, and the Imperial War Museum.
"Wow, so that was the war that your Dad fought in when he came here with the Battleship Express?"
"Yeah. And about 4 years ago they built the Imperial War Museum. There were huge crowds there, and although we did get to see my dad give a speech, we had a hard time finding him afterwards."
"But did you find him?"
Leo frowned. "Yes, but my Mom and I didn't get to talk to him. He saw us, and we saw him, and he recognized us, but then some crazy lady started attacking other people, and my dad went to grab her. He got her, only to have her change form, and attack again!"
"She.....changed form?"
"Yeah. She had some kind of potion. She looked like Aunt Stacy, but Mom told me that it wasn't. She caused a lot of trouble though, and my dad and others went to chase her down. However, Grandma said that it wasn't safe anymore, and in the chaos, we had to leave. People and Ponies were running everywhere, and we ran for the railroad station. My dad eventually reached the platform, but he was too late. I saw him run to the end of the platform, and then stop, and seemingly start crying."
Ahri was silent for a while. Finally, she asked, "Why...did you have to leave?"
"Mom and Grandma wouldn't tell me. They just said that it wasn't safe, and that we could get hurt in the fallout, whatever that means. We got back here maybe 2 hours ago."
"That must have been so sad Leo. You found your Dad alive after all these years, only to have some crazy lady ruin everything."
"It was Ahri. I asked Mom if we would ever go back and try to find Dad again, but she said that she wasn't sure. She also said that it was really complicated, but I don't know what that means either. She wouldn't tell me. All the same though, even though I didn't get to meet him, I'm still glad to know that my Dad's still alive, and that he does know that I was born. He recognized us, and he was shocked, so that means that he still cares."
Ahri smiled a bit. "I'm happy for you Leo. It must be so happy to know that after all these years, your Dad is indeed still alive, and he does still care about you and your Mom. I hope that you get to see him again soon."
"Me too Ahri."
The 2 of them then continued to talk about Leo's trip to Equestria, as well as all of the cool things that he got to see.
After dropping Leo off at Minerva's apartment so that he could see Ahri, Carla had to take time to fully recollect herself. She was sitting in her room in the Luxor, still in a state of shock after the events earlier that day, and she didn't know what to think. She had just realized for the first time in 5 years that I was still alive and well, and had been living in Ponyville. She also learned that I had remarried, and while that did make her feel sad, she knew that I had more likely than not presumed her lost in the nuking of Vegas, and had simply married Rainbow Dash, the same mare that I had saved after her capture during the Imperial War.
"I'm happy for him, and I'm so happy that he's alive!" Carla then heard a bark coming from close by. She looked, and Radar came padding into the room. She looked up at Carla as if to say "Wait, what? Who's alive?"
Carla reached down and pet the almost 15 year old Radar, who had the physique of a dog half her age. "I still don't understand how you can be almost 15 years old, and still look and act like a dog who's only about 7. But at any rate, I found him Radar! He's alive!"
Radar gave her a look that said "WHO'S alive?! Can we not play 20 questions right now?!"
"Leopard! Your master whom you love so much! He's alive! I found him in Ponyville today!"
When Radar heard that, she at first looked at Carla in disbelief. Then, once she realized that she was indeed serious, she began to bark happily, as well as jump around a bit. She'd been waiting for my return for the past 5 years, and now it looked like I was going to be returning to her very soon.
Carla hugged her closely. "Yes, I know that you're happy too Radar. I'm so happy and relieved too. My husband's still alive and well, even after the nuclear hell that was the aftermath of the Battle of Las Vegas!" Carla then thought of 2 more people who would be glad to know that I was ok.
"I have to call Sam and Misty!" Carla then grabbed the phone next to her bed. Once she had it, she pushed the button for the operator.
"Where to?" The operator asked.
"I need you to patch me through to Creamy Dream Ranch in Hutchinson please."
"Right away Princess Carla." The phone then went silent for a few moments, but then it began to ring.
It rang for a long time, but someone finally picked up. "Creamy Dream Ranch, ranch manager Misty Barrow speaking. How can I help ya?"
"Hello Misty? This is Carla. Princess Carla."
Carla heard Misty gasp a bit. "Oh, Carla. It's so nice to hear from ya again. What can I do for ya?"
"I need to talk to Sam right away. Is she around?"
"Yeah, she's around here somewhere. I can go get her for ya. Can I ask why though?"
"It's.......about Leopard. And trust me, you're gonna want to hear this too."
Misty then went silent for a few moments. "I'll........I'll go get her." She then put down the phone, and went to go find Sam.
A while later, Carla heard the phone pick up again. "Sam here."
"Sam? It's Carla."
"Yeah, I know that. Misty said that you had somethin' to tell us 'bout Leopard?"
"Yes, I do. Is the phone on speaker?"
Carla heard a few clicks. "Yeah, it's on speaker now. Can ya still hear me?"
"And me too?" Misty added.
"Yeah, I can hear both of you. Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, we can hear ya. Now what's this about Leopard?"
Carla sighed a bit. "Earlier today, my Mom, my son Leo, 2 guards, and of course me, went on a trip far to the East to see the land of Equestria. However, that's not important right now. What's important is what I found out over there."
"Which is what?"
"You're both gonna want to sit down for this one."
"We're sittin' Carla." Misty informed her. "Now can ya please tell us what's going on?"
"Yes, as long as you BOTH promise to keep quiet about what I'm about to tell you. You CANNOT react to this! Are you alone right now?"
Sam then spoke up. "Yeah, we're alone. It's just the 2 of us in the ranch office. Now either tell us, or we're hangin' up. We ain't got all night here for beatin' 'round the bush!"
"Ok, ok, I'll tell you. I found out something about Leopard that I didn't know before today. It shocked me to my core, and I knew that I had to call you two, since you were so close to him as well."
"And what.......what did ya find out?" Sam asked nervously.
Carla then sighed. "Sam, Misty........Leopard.........Leopard is alive!"
For the longest time, there was only silence on the other end of the phone. Carla thought that the call had dropped, but she could still hear noises from the other end, though she couldn't make out what the noises were. Finally though, Sam spoke up.
Carla.......I need to verify that we heard ya correctly. If we heard ya right, y'all just told us that Leopard is alive?!"
"Yes! He's still alive guys! He's alive and well, and has been for the past 5 years!"
"WHAT?!?!?!" Misty screamed, before seemingly slamming a hand over her mouth. "Right, no reacting! Sorry!"
"He's alive Carla?!" Sam asked her.
"Yes! He's alive and well in the town of Ponyville, where's he's been living for the past 5 years! He was on the Battleship Express when it was sent to Equus the same day that we were, June 8th, 2029, although while we wound up in the Undiscovered West, he wound up in the Everfree Forest, which is just outside of Ponyville!"
"And are ya sure that it was him Carla?"
"I'm POSITIVE Sam! I saw him with my own 2 eyes, heard him give a speech with my own 2 ears, AND I took pictures and video of him! And if that's not enough to convince you, I finally found him personally, and when I called out his name, he turned around, and thanks to the look of pure shock on his face, I know that he recognized me!"
"And is he there with you now?! Can we talk to him?!"
Carla sighed. "Unfortunately, no. I didn't even get a chance to talk to him either. It was so devastating. He was right in front of me, but then my horrific brat of an ex-sister got in on the act....." Carla then went on to explain what Stacy had done. "......However, she paid for her actions dearly. Leopard got a handle on her right leg with his teeth, and not only shattered her kneecap, but also tore ligaments, muscles, tendons, and possibly chipped her femur too! The doctors at the hospital told my Mom that she ain't gonna be walking again without the aide of a crutch, or an armored leg casing for the rest of her life! Leopard crippled her!"
When Sam and Misty heard that, they were at first sad and upset that Stacy had prevented Carla from talking to me, but they were laughing darkly that she'd gotten her Karma for her actions at the museum. "Heh, so she ain't gonna be walkin' anymore, her wife Jasmine's all wracked with them sexual diseases, and Face is still the little freaky little freak that he's always been? Sounds like misery sure loves company!"
"Eh, I'm not sure if Jasmine does have STD's, as I don't think that Stacy would be having sex with her if she did, but I know that she's definitely physically (and mentally!) sick with something. But yes, my ex-sister sure does keep some miserable company! And it serves her bitch-ass right for what she did! I'm just mad that Leopard or that train didn't kill her! I know that Leopard would have gotten her if the train didn't come!"
"But he still lives!" Misty broke in. "Our Leopard is still alive!"
"That's what I'm happy about." Sam added. "I kept prayin' that he was still out there somewhere, and I guess that my prayers were finally answered! And where is he again?"
"He lives in a town called Ponyville. It's located close to the center of Equestria, and it's also home to the National Imperial War Museum, dedicated to the Imperial War that he and the rest of Battalion 4009 fought in when they first arrived here. It's also where the Battleship Express is housed."
"The Imperial War? Is that that war that the Caribou and their allies keep bitchin' and moanin' 'bout losin'?"
"Yeah, the same one!"
"And......are you gonna try and go see him again?"
Carla sighed. "I.....I don't know Misty. I want to, but after what Stacy did today, she may very well have stirred up a hornet's nest. Now they might know that we're here too, and that could lead to them finding us, and then nuking us out of existence, even despite Leopard's objections!"
"Wait, we could be facin' the threat of nuclear war now?!"
"The possibility isn't too high, but yes, it IS still there! We'll be watching Equestria very closely for any signs of anything, though as of right now, nothing has been done. However, it's still too early to tell. If I had to guess though, Stacy's return will seem too fantastical to be true, and most might dismiss it as a hoax, or a case of mistaken identity."
"I certainly hope so Carla. I mean, we just escaped from the aftermath of WW6, and I saw the other world wars first hand. I hid in a fallout shelter during WW4 and WW5, and I do NOT want to have to live through another nuclear war!"
"Neither do I Sam. And don't worry. Even if we are discovered, of which the chances of happening are VERY low right now, I know that my Mom will do everything in her power to prevent us being wiped off the map. I know that she'll work out a deal so that she and anyone else loyal to her can manage to escape Death. And yes, if that happens, I WILL be making sure that you, Misty, and Rebecca, as well as anyone else that you want to save will be on the list of those who will be saved!"
Carla heard Sam sigh. "I appreciate that Carla. Just as Misty and I also really appreciate you finding out that Leopard is indeed still alive. You don't know how much this means to us."
I think that I have a pretty good guess, but I'm happy that you're happy. I know that it'll be easier for all 3 of us to sleep at night now knowing that he's ok."
"Yes, yes it will be. And be sure to call us as soon as you hear anything else about him, ok?"
"Yes, I'll do that Misty. It was nice talking to you and Sam again."
"Just as it was nice talking to you as well. Goodbye Carla."
"Goodbye Misty. Goodbye Sam."
"Bye Carla." All 3 of them then hung up.
They were all able to sleep well that night knowing that I was still alive and well, and they were all hoping that they would be able to see me again soon.
By the time that she got back to the Futa Empire, Stacy was in SEVERE pain. Her right leg felt like it had been boiled in acid from where I bit her, and after convincing the staff at the hospital in New Vegas that she'd been attacked by a Timber Wolf, they examined her.
Her right leg had been messed up pretty badly. She had to have surgery to have her kneecap reset, and there was severe ligament, tendon, cartilage, and muscle damage, to say nothing of almost crippling blood loss. And even once everything was complete and her leg was all stitched back together, Stacy was still unable to walk on it. The doctors told her that her condition was extremely serious, and she very well could have been killed by that wolf.
"You're EXTREMELY lucky to even still be alive General Stacy! It was just your leg, but it could have EASILY been your life!"
"And how bad is my leg? I still can't walk on it."
"That's the thing General; your military career may be over now because of this."
Stacy was concerned. "What?! What does that mean?!"
"It means that although we've patched up your leg as best we can, the damage done is permanent. You'll sort of be able to walk on it once it's all healed up, but you'll be partially crippled for the rest of your life. However, there are options for an armored shell casing that can cover your leg, and allow you to walk normally."
"But I'm......crippled?! For the rest of my life?!"
"Partially crippled. You won't be able to keep your full weight on your right leg for long periods without an armored shell casing covering your leg to allow you to stand on it, or the aide of crutches if you don't have that. You'll barely be able to walk without it, and you definitely won't be able to run."
Stacy was furious because of what the doctor told her, and after telling her what she REALLY thought, she took her crutches, placed an order for an armored right leg shell casing, and stormed out of the hospital. Once she was back at the Luxor, she vented to Jasmine and Face for nearly an hour straight about everything that happened, before disappearing to a hill outside of New Vegas, where she remained for the next 22 hours straight!
Jasmine and Face were shocked and horrified by what happened to Stacy. Jasmine was more concerned about her leg, but Face was more concerned with the fact that I was still alive and well.
"How can he still be alive Mistress Jasmine?"
"I don't know Face. Maybe the Battleship Express was sent here by the same anomaly that overtook us."
"That's possible. I just wish that we could hear more of what Stacy said. It was so hard to hear her considering how fast she was talking, and how angry she was, not to mention the pain from her shattered leg."
Jasmine clenched her fists. "Oh believe me Face, I WILL make sure that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named pays through his ASS for hurting my wife like that! I will NEVER rest until justice has been served and I shatter BOTH of his knees for what he did!"
Face agreed with her, and then he went to see how Stacy was doing.
When he didn't come back 3 hours later, Jasmine went to see what was going on. She found the hill that Stacy was sitting on, and Stacy was looking out over New Vegas, mumbling to herself. Face was sitting on a tree stump about 20 feet behind her.
"How is she Face? It's almost 3am. She's been out here for 22 hours now."
Face shook his head. "Not good Mistress Jasmine. She hasn't spoken a single coherent word since I've been here, and she hasn't really moved either."
Jasmine went over to Stacy, and sat next to her. "Babe?" She asked her quietly.
"What?" Stacy muttered angrily.
"I KNOW that you're upset about your f@#ked up leg. Believe me, I would be the same way, but you need to snap out of it. You've been out here for almost 23 hours now!"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, we HAVE to start thinking about the future! If you're too busy moping about your leg, how are we ever gonna overthrow your Mom? I can't do this by myself Stacy, I need your help with it!"
Stacy turned to look at her wife. She sighed. "Yeah, you're right Jasmine. I need to pull myself together. I'll probably need you to help me around until my new armored shell casing for my leg and knee is ready, as I won't be able to stand on it for very long."
"Which is something that I can do Babe. So what's the plan now?"
"Well, our ultimate goal remains the same; take the throne from my mother. However, now that I've seen what lies beyond the Undiscovered West, I see that we'll one day have to invade Equestria. We need its natural resources, its land, and its population as our slaves. We let the Caribou take back the Caribou Empire and the Zebra Empire, (under our umbrella of course!) and we figure out a way to FINALLY take down the Battleship Express, and of course, deal with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! He f@#ked up my leg, so I'll f@#k him up MUCH worse than that!"
Jasmine laughed a bit. "Sounds like a plan to me Babe! However, how are we gonna go about it?"
"I'm still figuring it out Jasmine. We're going to need more time to build up our military, and we'll need to send in more spies to scout out key locations. And even before this, we'll have to have the throne, and to do that, we'll have to finish turning the hearts and minds of the rest of the Futas away from Demetria."
"And how long do you think that that will take?"
Stacy sighed. "It'll take a while unfortunately. We're getting there, but we're not quite there yet. However, now that I know that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is still alive, and he knows that I'm still alive, we're going to have to work as fast as we can with this. No more waiting around!" She pointed to New Vegas down below them. "This all HAS to be ours one day!"
She continued to talk with Jasmine a little while longer about this, as well as what she saw during her time in Equestria.
Watching them from the shadows though, Sombra smirked to himself. So far, everything was still going according to his plan. The Americans and Equestrians knew about Stacy, just as she knew about them, and just as he'd hoped, Stacy wanted to wipe them out. He was gaining more and more power all of the time, and he was almost back to his regular strength. He could return to the physical world whenever he wanted, and stay there for as long as he wanted. However, the only things that he still lacked were his horn, and with that, his Magic, and his full powers. And of course, he was still missing his armor, crown and cape.
"Good, very good. This is progressing even better than I'd hoped! Now Stacy and Jasmine are determined to work even HARDER to overthrow her mother, as well as working with the Caribou and their allies to overthrow Equestria!" He then mused about how great and amazing his plan was. "Use the Futas and Caribou as pawns to wipe out Equestria, and then have them take over the rest of Equus, before turning their attention back to Earth. With my help, they take over the Earth, and then I pull the rug out from under THEM, wipe THEM out, and then I'll rule 2 worlds supreme forevermore! Discord, Chrysalis, heck even Tirek were impressive villains, but even they NEVER had SHIT on me! And soon, the whole world will know that I, King Sombra, the TRUE King of the Crystal Empire, and the Lord of the Shadows, is the greatest villain of all time! No one will EVER rival me, nor EVER overthrow me! Now if I could only have Leopard as my personal harem slave. THEN my life would be complete! Have his wives as my broodmares, and him as my personal love-slave, broken under my power; oh yes, THEN I would have everything that I ever wanted!" Sombra then began to laugh cruelly to himself as he vanished back into the shadows.
As this was happening though, back in Equestria, something else was happening that was going to trigger and event that would not only change Equestria forever, but it would also change the course of American history. Up in the Golden Oak Library, while she was snuggled up close to her beloved husband Don, Twilight had a dream.
In her dream, she was standing in the middle of what appeared to be a huge warehouse. The warehouse was dark, and she seemed to be all alone. Suddenly however, the lights in the warehouse came on, revealing piles upon piles of parts. There were gears, valves, gauges, wires, pipes, levers, buttons, drive belts, drive shafts, bolts, nuts, screws, rivets, and various other metal components. Suddenly, as Twilight watched, the piles of parts began to rattle and clank.
"What in the world?" Twilight wondered. As she watched though, the piles of parts began to shoot their parts into the air, where they hovered in midair. "What's going on?"
Then, the parts began to connect with each other. Soon a large machine of some sort was taking shape, but it was unlike any machine that Twilight had ever seen before. It was very Steampunk-looking, but yet it was still modern as well. It had a metal outer casing, visible gears, pipes, valves, gauges, levers and other control features, and it stood maybe 4 1/2, almost 5 feet tall. The machine was also maybe 8 feet wide, and 2 1/2 feet long. As soon as the machine was complete, it suddenly roared to life. Twilight moved closer to the machine, as she felt that its purpose was not for ill.
Once she was close enough to it, she realized that most of the components were for providing power to the machine, but what about the rest of it? Twilight soon found her answer. On the back of the machine was what appeared to be an ancient computer terminal. On the terminal's screen were the words "Location, Date, Time", and there was space below each to type something in.
On a hunch, Twilight typed in "Las Vegas, Nevada, June 6th, 2029, 11:30pm", 2 days before the Battle of Las Vegas. Suddenly she was surrounded by a blinding white light, and when she opened her eyes again, Twilight found herself standing next to the machine outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, ad that exact date, and at that exact time. She also saw that the Battleship Express was present, and that some soldiers were sneaking into the city on a mission to disarm a LOT of the nuclear weapons that wiped out Nevada.
Moments after this, Twilight found herself with the blueprints for the machine into her hands. Then, all of a sudden, after carefully studying the blueprints, Twilight woke up.
"Huh?" She looked around. She was still in her bed, Don was asleep next to her, and she saw little Dusk still asleep in his crib at the foot of their bed. "Wait......was that just.......a dream? Or was it something more?" In her head though, all of the pieces suddenly fell into place. She'd just had a dream about how they could save so many American lives in Nevada during WW6, and she HAD to tell Don about her dream before she forgot it! How would be react to it though? Would he take her seriously, and if so, what would happen next? Would they save lives, or would it wind up being a huge mistake? Twilight didn't know, but she did know what she had to do next. She then turned to her husband Don, and began to try and wake him up.
