03/22/20
Dakota POV
Canterlot castle front gate
6:28 PM

It's almost that time of year again When every mare's estrus cycle kicks in and stallions are forced to go into hiding to avoid getting gang raped by the mares to satisfy themselves. The fact that mares outnumber stallions 5 to 1 in Equestria made it all the more brutal. In order to help the poor stallions that wanted to possibly survive this year's heat season, I secretly started a project to build safe houses that any and all stallions could use to safely ride out the heat season without the worry of running into a lust-crazed mare. These safehouses consisted of cellars and basements, underground bunkers and tunnels, abandoned warehouses and factories, and caves in the everfree forest and even the old castle. Each safehouse was stocked with 6 months worth of food, water, and medical supplies. They were also equipped with either solar panels and or diesel generators to power light fixtures, climate control systems, water pumps, and electrical sockets. I had gotten the guys together and this time, we would leave under the cover of the night, and use 11 Erickson Sikorsky sky crane helicopters to transport our cars with us. Nataly was going to stay behind in canterlot since she didn't have to worry about the heat season like we did. Our cars were loaded with additional food, water, weapons, ammo, and medical supplies. The helicopters were waiting for us at the airbase near ponyville where we would attach our cars, and take off for the old castle in the everfree forest. 4 CH53 pavelow helicopters would follow us to the castle that was taking other stallions to the castle where they would spend the next 4 months in safety.

4 hours later

We used the Kenworth to transport most of the cars without making too much noise while the other ones that weren't loaded on followed behind us closely. There was a strict no headlight rule in effect until we were 10 minutes away from the airfield. We were only 30 minutes away now and I could see the airfield in the distance, We were this close to making it to safety. We had learned from last years mistakes of leaving in broad daylight and leaving a note. After another 25 minutes, We had just turned onto the approach road for the airfield and I could see the helicopters now. There was one helicopter in front of each hangar that housed one of the B52 Stratofortress bombers that we used to lay waste to the crystal empire on that fateful day. I stopped in front of my hangar and started unloading the cars so we could attach them to the helicopters and leave.

1-hour later

It was around midnight now and each helicopter was ready to go. The 11 skycranes and 4 pavelow's slowly started to ascend into the air and then flew in a flying V formation the old castle in the middle of the forest. We passed over ponyville at low altitude and most likely woke up the whole town, But we didn't have to worry as many residents would simply dismiss it as another military training exercise, not an underground movement to hide from mares. We also didn’t have to worry about any Pegasi tailing us because the everfree is too dangerous for a regular Pegasi to fly over alone, and they would show up on radar anyways. We kept flying for another hour until I could finally see the castle in the distance. The pavelows would unload their passengers then park off to the side while we landed one by one. There was more than enough room in the courtyard to allow for all 15 choppers to touchdown without the worry of hitting something. After landing, we started to unload the cars and the choppers full of supplies and helped to carry them inside. We had since then heavily rebuilt the castle after removing the bodies of changelings from that fateful day and washing dried blood off the walls as well and filling in the bullet holes. Seeing as how 1000 years of exposure to the elements would badly wear down even the finest built structures, We had patched up all of the walls, removed all of the indoor vegetation, installed new lights, installed water and gas utilities, solar panels connected to capacitors, security cameras, and renovated every other room in the castle. In the event that it was discovered that we turned the castle into a Heat shelter and an army of mares decided to come and try to fuck us, 20MM flakvierling anti-air guns were installed on the roof along with a radar and multiple searchlights. The AA guns, searchlights, and radar dome were all very well hidden and could only be seen if you looked very closely. Each AA gun had it's ammo boxes fused with infinity magic to keep them firing, and machine gun nests overlooked every entrance to the castle on the ground.

We had spent at least 1 hour now unloading and putting away the stuff that we had brought with us. We now had 8 month's worth of food, water, medical supplies, fuel, and ammunition stored here. After unloading everything, we all got situated and made our way to the rooms we would be staying in for the next couple of months until this all blew over. It was now 4 in the morning and the flight was rather tiring, It would be best if we all got some shut eye and prepared for tomorrow.

4 hours later

Celestia POV

After raising the sun, I dawned my royal regalia and left my chambers and began my usual morning walk towards the dining hall where I knew Dakota would be waiting for me. Something felt off though, I didn't know what, but I knew something was off. When I got to the dining hall, I saw that he was not there, Nor were the other humans, only the female one known as Nataly was there. I asked the guards If they had seen them at all recently and I was told that they weren't seen since last night. So that's why they aren't here. Considering the fact that today is when estrus break had begun. I felt its effects myself but I was able to control it. I wasn't very happy about the fact that he had decided to run away, Again. I organized a search party to spread out across the country to ask the residents of nearby towns and cities if they have seen the humans recently and have them found and returned to the castle as soon as possible. The fact that they left many mares in need at a time like this to protect themselves angered me quite a bit. I wrote a letter tow twilight asking her if she had seen them recently and waited for a response back. She wrote back to me ten minutes later and I had my answer.

"Dear Princess Celestia. I did, In fact, see the humans. I saw them last night at 2:00 AM flying over ponyville in helicopters in the direction of the everfree forest. I'm not sure where they were going, but I'm certain that they moving to some sort of hideout. Yours truly Twilight Sparkle.

So that's their plan; spend the next 3 months in isolation to avoid being found. I can understand why they are hiding, but that doesn't mean that it's justified. Many mares in canterlot alone including myself were suffering the full effects of estrus and wanted relief as soon as possible. I was going to ask them for their help to quell the heat of guardsmares in the castle so that they could work properly and not have to deal with estrus for the rest of the year. Instead, they decided to let them suffer and run off to somewhere. I wasn't going to be as forgiving this time as I was last time. They don't know what heat was like and they help quell the heat of the royal guard as punishment when they were found. I called as many pegasi guards to
the throne room right away to inform them about that was happening. "Loyal guards, As you know, the humans have fled the castle once again as estrus season has broken out. They have left thousands of mares in need behind in an attempt to save themselves from being overwhelmed. So far, It is believed that they are hiding out somewhere in the everfree forest once again. They are to be found and returned to canterlot right away to be punished for this...crime. They are not to be harmed. Disobey this order, and you will be ejected from the guard." After instructing them where to look, they left the castle and set off towards the everfree.

Everfree forest
Dakota POV
12:00PM

I had a sizeable fruit farm growing not far from the castle. Apples, oranges, strawberry’s, blueberries, blackberries, pineapples, watermelons, grapes, and bananas were all grown here in this clearing. A small storage room within the kitchen was converted to a freezer where we would store most of our food. There was a camouflage net over the clearing just like the one over the courtyard back at the castle. After picking enough fruits and placing them in baskets in coolers, I put them in my truck and started my drive back to the castle until I heard my iPhone start ringing. I looked at the screen and saw that Brian was trying to call me. I answered it and wasn't exactly prepared for what I heard.

"Hey, Brian, What's up?" I asked. "You gotta get back here now. We gotta problem." He said. Something was not right. "What's wrong? did you find something?" I asked. "You gotta see for yourself. This is bad." he said sounding pretty worried. "Alright, I'll be back in 5 minutes. Just stay put and I'll be there soon." I said to him. I hung up the phone and quickly made my way back to the castle. After getting the coolers unloaded, I made my way over to the old throne room that was converted into a war room to see what the problem was. Over 40 radar blips were on screen and closing on our location fast. I'd guess that we had about 15 minutes to get the AA guns ready as the group of unknown hostiles was still about 50 miles away. I told Johnathon, Kendall, Trevor, and Manuel to get on the AA guns and to only fire warning shots. Once in range. Everyone else was ordered to man the MG and Sniper nests just in case. Because of the number of radar signatures, I immediately knew that it was Pegasi; most likely royal guards. They now wore helmets similar to the ones that air force pilots wear and they had radio equipment. I grabbed a handset and switched the frequencies on a nearby radio to the frequency that their helmets used in order to issue them a warning message.

“Attention unknown Pegasi, you have entered restricted airspace. State your intentions immediately, or divert your course immediately or you will be fired upon.” I stated to them. I got an answer about 45 seconds later and found out why.

“Unknown transmitter, this is lieutenant firefly of the royal guard. I and my squad have been dispatched to this area to look for 11 humans that have recently gone missing. To whom am I speaking to over?” She responded. I decided to tell her that I was one of them. "You currently are speaking to one of them, And before you go reporting our position back to whoever sent you, At least allow me to explain why we ran off." I told her. I waited and got a response about 40 seconds later from her. "Alright, I'm willing to hear your side of the story to see why Celestia sent us out here." She responded. I ordered her to go into a holding pattern around the castle and to come alone, unarmed, and without her helmet on. Firefly landed in the courtyard where I was waiting for her. I took her helmet from her and walked inside with her.

1 hour later

After explaining to her why we left, from the last heat season that ended with me almost getting killed, not wanting to get gang raped, other "HEAT" shelters, and so on, she finally came to an understanding as to why we did this and said that she would still have to inform Celestia about our location but she said she would be willing to vouch for us if we gave her a reason to. Upon hearing that, I pulled out my wallet and handed her 3 platinum bits which were equivalent to 200 regular bits each. After that, I gave her back her helmet, and she took off with her squad. I watched as the blips on the radar screen got further and further away from the center as they finally disappeared off the screen. I can only hope that Celestia would understand and made sure to tell firefly to tell her that this will still happen every year because of our taboo's and sort of moral code.

4 hours later
Firefly POV

I was about to meet with the princess and report to her about the humans being found. I walked into the throne room and bowed before the princess. "Ah, lieutenant Firefly, Was your search for those 11 humans successful?" She asked me. "Yes your highness, we found them hiding in the old castle within the center of the everfree forest, however, we weren't able to get close to them to secure and bring them back as they mentioned that they have Anti-air weaponry in the castle and would not hesitate to use it on us." I replied "However, I met with the one that you seem to be in a herd with after we agreed to meet face to face and he offered an explanation as to why he left and plans to stay there until estrus season is over. He said something about how "Having sexual relations with an animal is not welcome back on his world" And mentioned that doing so could get put in prison for the rest of his life back home. He also said quoted something from what he called "The Bible" and said this "If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal." That is what he said." I finished. The princess seemed to be deep in thought as she processed this new information. "Very well then; I will go and speak to them myself and try to bring them back as it appears that they aren't going to go quietly. I want you to accompany me on the journey out to my old castle, my other herd mate that you may already know as Aqua lance, will accompany us as well since she has a better way with words than I do when it comes to talking to Dakota. We shall leave tomorrow as soon as I raise the sun." She said. I was dismissed for the evening as I began my walk back to the barracks. I would have to wake up a little earlier than usual to get ready to leave with the princess and this other mare.

1 day later
Dakota POV

I was woken up by the sound of an alarm going off in the war room. I fell asleep at the radar station last night and woke up to see some 100 bogeys on screen and closing on our position fast. I immediately raised the alarm as I grabbed my M16A4 that I was cleaning last night and my radio and rushed to the roof to get on an AA gun as fast as humanly possible. An alarm also started sounding outsided.I was shouting orders into the radio as well to get everyone ready until I heard a familiar and somewhat angry voice on the other end. "Dakota, I offered you and your friends a chance to come back to canterlot peacefully. But now, it seems you leave me no other option than to bring you and your friends back by force. The way you abandoned us and countless other mares is unacceptable. You don't know what they are going through or how badly they need help, so I figured as punishment, you and your friends will help the guards back at the castle with their estrus. You will learn today, just how badly they need this." Celestia said. "Tia, I told firefly to tell you about why I ran and it is obvious that you didn't listen. I'm not even going to try and argue about this. Just know that any attempts to land anywhere near the castle will be met with lethal force. We will shoot to kill." I warned her now but she was still closing in fast. What I didn't mention is that there was also a Tunguska 9k22 and Flakpanzer 1 gepard anti-air tank here as well that I summoned in case something like this happened. I told Kendall to take my position on the flak gun as me and gerson quickly made our way to the tanks. I took the Tunguska while he took the gepard. We quickly got into position as I started to fire warning shots at the large group of pegasi. I fired off multiple wire-guided missiles into the group to show that we were not fucking around. Quick bursts from the flak guns followed the missiles afterward as we started to open up with our 30MM cannons.

This seemed to do the trick as the large group quickly dispersed. When I said that we would use lethal force, I only said that to get a message across that we were going to fight to keep from getting raped. I had given explicit instructions not to kill any of them as it would be pretty bad for us to be framed as murders for killing a bunch of guardsmares. They tried to get into smaller groups but that also failed as they quickly dispersed again after a few shots passing by them. This continued for all of about 15 minutes before they gave up and Celestia said she would come down to discuss this with us. After parking the tanks by our cars, I waited in the machine gun nest for her. She finally showed herself but what surprised me was that aqua was with her as well. I didn't expect tia to get her involved in this. I opened the doors as we pointed guns at them to make sure they didn't try to do anything. "Don't...move" was all I said as we slowly approached them. I had a magic inhibitor ring that I placed on celestia's horn as cody and trevor tied ropes around their wings to prevent them from trying to escape and then led them to a makeshift conference room.

2 hours later

We were able to work out a deal with them, after some name-calling, shouting, and vulgarity and let them go. We agreed to do some work for her around canterlot, and in exchange, we would be allowed to remain here and ride out the rest of the heat season without worry. Celestia was understandably pissed about this but aqua just kept to herself about it. I'm guessing that she is used to going through this without someone to relieve her. I'm just glad that this didn't end in death. Things could have been much worse. We still had 4 whole months to go before we could return, but I didn't mind. At least no one got killed.

Author's Note

SUMMER BREAK HAS BEGUN MOTHERFUCKERS!!!! LETS GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!