Cleared to Engage

Chapters

Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 13
Chapter 40
Chapter 48

Chapter 3

Act 1-3
Some Complications...

Once they all had reached the Canterlot Armory, Echo Team thought they died and went to Heaven. Their stuff was in pristine condition, even better than they had left it. They were all free of dust and grime and were their original jet black colors again. The insides were also perfect, the guns had no signs of jamming anytime soon. As for the actual facility it was filled with all sorts of goodies, from swords to knives to axes.

"What did you- How- But... What?" Andrew couldn't make any words out, they were all speechless at this point. Celestia had a sly smile as she went closer to them.

Andrew picked up his ACR and his Desert Eagle, he rotated his Desert Eagle and holstered it. As for his ACR, he held it in his arms to get used to the feel again. They all started some basic tests to make sure they actually worked, they were all fully greased, ready to be fired at will.

"We may have borrowed them while you were asleep, and replaced the parts in them." She chuckled, Nick aimed down his sights to make sure the firing mechanism worked, it was empty, but it worked when he pulled the trigger. Jhon's hatchet was very shiny, and it looked actually metallic again.

"How did you get all the parts back together? I thought you never had experience with these before?" Helena stripped her M40A5 Sniper Rifle, seeing that it was greased and ready to be put to work. The scope was aligned even better than it was before, and she didn't think that was possible.

"We reverse engineered it a little bit." She shuffled.

"You seen these in action, you could've gotten killed!" Andrew protested, Celestia bit her lip in uncertainty.

"Yes, I know and I apologize for going through your stuff. You seemed to like it being all clean and tidy though." She retorted, Andrew crossed his arms.

"Just don't do it again." He mentally facepalmed.

"Wait a minute, how can this thing kill somepony?" Rainbow poked Andrew's ACR, he pulled it away and pulled out a magazine from his hanging B.D.U. He tried to give a demonstration, with Celestia's permission to do so. She nodded so he continued on.

"This here," He rattled the magazine in his hand,"Goes inside of this." He hefted up his ACR and put the magazine into the designated area.

"And then I do this, you might want to cover your ears." He cocked the charging handle and aimed towards an unused chest plate. He shot a single bullet and it echoed throughout the whole armory, and there was a clean hole through the chest plate.

"Yeah... I'm not going to do that again." The gunshot hurt Andrew's ears, he wasn't wearing proper ear protection at the time.

"But why? That was awesome!" Rainbow concluded, they all stared at her.

"What? It was all like, 'BAM!' and then, 'PEW!' and then it made a hole in that chest plate!"

"And the fact that that armor is enchanted to be super resistant. I don't think I've seen any type of weapon like that before." Twilight said. Andrew released the magazine and put it back into the pocket, as well as emptying the bullet inside of the gun. Once he and his team had all their gear, they were set. They didn't put on their body armor, but they did put on their dry-fit shirts to replace the Colonial Patriot getup.

"I know this is probably the wrong time to ask but, I never caught your names." Helena said, they all nodded and agreed.

"I am Princess Celestia, and this is my little sister Princess Luna. Co-rulers of Equestria."

"Twilight Sparkle, a pleasure." She curtseyed.

"Howdy, name's Applejack." She tipped her hat.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" She bounced.

"I'm Rainbow Dash! Soon to be Wonderbolt and fastest flyer around!"

"Rarity, charmed."

"I-I'm Fluttershy..."

"Well, I'm happy to meet you all. Considering this awkward circumstance. I'm Helena Wilson, that over there is our Captain, Andrew Hartfield. The odd ones over there is Jhon and Nick, we're Echo Team. One of the best units in Delta, arguably the best." Helena said as she slung the Sniper Rifle over her back. She also put her Browning Hi-Power into its designated holster, and fixed her dirty blonde hair in the process. The ponies watched them all in awe, seeing how delicately they were handling them, always making sure the safety was on, and that nopony was within five feet of them.

Nick put his HK416 on the table to inspect it, most of his custom markings were gone, and his etchings were gone from the side. He named his gun Ol' Painless, and etched it into the side, but it was gone as well. His foregrip wasn't hollowed out like it was before to keep a hollow point round in it, for good luck purposes. Jhon loaded a 12 Gauge Buckshot into his Remington 870, and then unloaded it making sure the pump worked. He then got together his throwing knives and put them into his belt. The first aid kit was also there, and Nick put it over his backpack, Andrew then got the team rallied up, signifying that they were ready to get going to wherever.

"Well everything seems to be in order, I just don't know how you were able to replace some of these parts." Andrew questioned. Twilight and Celestia shuffled over and stood in front of a pile of blue schematics, schematics that she may have borrowed from the American gun factory.

"Well then, I guess you can go back to your rooms in the facility.~" Celestia trolled. Echo Team's eyes widened as a response.

"Nononononononononono! We are not going back in there. We have some sort of claustrophobic instinct when we're together." Jhon explained, Celestia put a hoof on her chin. The humans looked at her with whimpers and pleading eyes.

"Maybe with their Military background, I could put them to work. Ponyville has yet to make a police force." She then gave an affirmative nod and smiled.

"Okay, maybe I was a bit harsh about that. But would you like to take up a job offering? It supplies you with a place to sleep as well, just to let you know."

"What type of job are we looking at here?" Nick asked, Celestia then sighed.

"Ponyville has yet to establish a Police Unit, and the Royal Guard lately has been getting too thin in numbers. So would you like to be the very first Ponyville Police?" The humans huddled, and talked it over, but only whispers could be heard. Celestia and Luna looked at each other in disbelief, as well as the ponies.

Author's Note

Just so you know, this takes place between the end of Season 1 and the start of Season 2. Also sorry if this seemed like a boring chapter, I'll make up for it next time.

Chapter 4

Act 1-4
So, what now?

"We'll do it." Andrew said, it's not like they actually have a choice into whether what they wanted to do. Princess Celestia stood there, speechless, with her mouth agape. Princess Luna had a snicker as she watched her sister stand there speechless. Luna nudged her to try and get her out of her trance.

"Uh, sister? They have not yet finished the Police Station, it will take a few days. What will they do then?" Luna asked, Celestia shook her head to regain her composure, Twilight snickered at her mentor an was very hard to notice. Andrew and his team had straight faces as they waited for a response.

"They could always live in the castle, I don't mind. I actually want to know more about them." Luna added. Celestia then nodded and agreed, she didn't want to burden Twilight and her friends with them living at their homes.

"Then it's settled, they'll live in Canterlot for the time being. Twilight, they will see you in a week." Celestia had on her poker face again. Andrew tried to make her laugh by doing a funny face, but it didn't work one bit. He then pointed a finger up signalling that he had an idea.

"Jhon, do your voice copying thingy." Jhon then cleared his throat and mimicked Celestia's voice exactly.

"I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and older sister to Luna. Sometimes I like to mess with the humans by putting them into quarantine." Everyone laughed their asses off, and Celestia had a flustered look on her face. She too then started to giggle as Jhon tried to copy her poker face.

"Alright that's enough Jhon." Andrew tried to regain control over himself, as well as his team and newly found acquaintances.

"Okay, that was hilarious." Rainbow said, Jhon cleared his throat again and spoke.

"Okay that was hilarious." He copied.

"Hey! Don't copy me! I said stop it! No, you stop it!" They said it at the same time. They all were in a state of uncontrollable laughter, once things settled down the real question revealed itself.

"So, what now?" Jhon asked, the rest of Echo Team shrugged, and so did the ponies. In all of the confusion Pinkie had a great idea, she raised her hoof into the air.

"Oh! Oh! I know! How about a party!?" She had a huge smile on her face, and they all looked at her with confusion.

"I don't see why not. I haven't had a party in so long." Nick said, they all nodded in agreement.

"Well, first I need detail. What type of party do humans like?" Pinkie got all up in Helena's face. She backed up as she tried to respond.

"Most adult humans like parties at their house, but you see. I used to own a club back home, we all used to hang out, sing, drink, and sometimes take someone home with us." The humans laughed and recalled some of their memories. Pinkie tilted her head.

"Oh, so your one of those club party goers!" They all nodded.

"I can hook you up, Vinyl has this great club in Ponyville, but you won't be going in a week." Pinkie saddened. Andrew patted her on the head.

"It's okay Pinkie, I think we can wait a week, besides we gotta get used to the new life around here." He said, Pinkie popped right back up and pony hugged him, and it almost crushed his guts out. They all heard a grumbling noise, and they turned to Andrew, he had an embarrassed look.

"Sorry, I hadn't eaten for a while. I'm starving right now." He gripped his stomach, and they all laughed.

"Well then I assume a luncheon is in order?" Celestia questioned, and they all nodded. As they were headed towards the dining room Celestia decided to scare her subjects with a topic about the humans' diet.

"So Captain, I assume that you all eat meat. Am I correct?" They all went quiet, and Echo Team went a bit shifty right then and there.

"I'm afraid so, but we can eat both meat and produce. Besides, I don't think I want to eat anything that talks." Nick jokingly said, they all stared at him.

"What? I'm serious." He shrugged, they all rolled their eyes and kept on moving.

"As I was saying, we eat plants and herbs too, usually, eating ponies in America is frowned upon." Andrew explained.

"If I'm correct, eating certain animals are illegal." Jhon added. They calmed down a bit, and gave Andrew's Team a little breathing room.

"So to answer your question I assume you have, no, we don't and I won't allow, the consumption of equine animals." They all let out a sigh of relief.

As they sat down at the table, it went quiet. They all ate their vegetarian based dishes and didn't talk the whole time. Most of the time they watched the humans practically swallow their meals whole, stuffing their mouths with food. It had to be the most succulent food the humans had in ages, surviving on mostly M.R.E.'s and shitty cafeteria food.

"How is this so good?" Nick asked, Celestia chuckled.

"This is regular food we eat on a daily basis. You should see the fancy food we eat." Celestia replied. They all nodded as they finished their food. They all were relieved of their hunger problem, but for some unknown reason Rainbow and Pinkie were gone.

"Hey, where's Rainbow and Pinkie?" Helena asked, they all looked around to find them, but they weren't to be found anywhere. They looked all over the castle until Pinkie appeared through the front gates looking distressed.

"Pinkie what's wrong?" Twilight asked, and Pinkie was almost about to cry.

"Rainbow and I were playing in the Market Square until somepony jumped her! They're demanding ransom!"

"Looks like we got a situation to defuse. C'mon team, we got a hostage rescue op."

(Listen to This)

Andrew and his team got on their tactical Battle Dress Uniforms and got their equipment together. Celestia by now had left to lower the sun, and as well as Luna to bring out the moon. This was just perfect for Echo Team, where the night shrouded their movements.

"Pinkie you gotta calm down. You can help by telling us where they're keeping her." Andrew calmed her down to the best of his abilities.

"There's an abandoned building on the other side of the city, that's where they're keeping her." Pinkie sobbed, Andrew once again patted her on the head.

"Good girl, now, Echo Team move out." Andrew brought out his serious side.

They reached their entry point, it was rather far from the designated target building, but the city was still full of the populace, and they did not want to introduce themselves a a time like this. Plus the fact that it was snowing, snow never helped when you are wearing a contrasting color. Echo Team had black B.D.U.'s, they stuck out like a sore thumb in the snow.

The fastest way to get to the other side of the city was to go straight through the middle, and luckily the roofs of most of the buildings were flat, perfect for running across. They all then used the stealth and quietness of the night to cover their tracks, trying to avoid contact wit the civilians. Andrew was enraged, and being the enraged human he was he had a few close calls almost falling off the roof when he hopped from one place to another. The snow made the roofs especially hard to traverse, even though they were flat.

"Alright we're nearing the target building, take out any who interfere." Andrew stated, he took out his suppressor and screwed it onto his ACR, wanting the enemy to not know what hit him. The incoming storm shadowed Echo Team, which made them seem almost as ghosts in the white scenery.

He took out the tranquilizer rounds and loaded into the slot in replace of his lethal bullets. There were no guards surprisingly, assuming it was too cold. But on the inside of the target building they were everywhere. They went room by room, silently taking out the street gang that has taken residency inside of the building. Their HUD's reacted towards their designated target, and tension built as hey stacked up behind the door housing Rainbow. They could her her cries for help behind the door, they waited for the right moment as thermals picked up their positioning through the door.

"Just you wait! Twilight and my friends will save me! I know they will! Unless they're with those humans again, I still don't trust them." Andrew took this as an insult, but shrugged this off, there was a life at stake and mere insults would not stop him from the main objective. Plus, he was hired into the police force, he wasn't going to fail his first assigned mission.

"Breaching in three, two, one, go go go!" Nick threw a flash grenade in and kicked the door open. The door fell to the ground and the criminals went down without an audible noise as they were hit with tranquilizers.

Andrew shot the perpetrator straight in the neck with a red feathered tranquilizer dart, and it knocked him out instantly. They untied Rainbow and she wobbled around when she tried to walk, still dazed by the Flashbang Nick threw in earlier. Jhon hefted her over the shoulder as they hauled ass.

"Why did you save me? You have no reason to." Rainbow slurred, but was fully aware of what was going on.

"Exactly, we don't have a reason not to either. Besides, we're friends now aren't we?" Andrew asked, Rainbow smirked.

"You're gonna have to do a lot more than save me to be friends with a Pegasus as awesome as me!" She boasted.

"I'll let you shoot my gun?" Nick suggested.

"Alright I give up. Friends?" She stuck out her hoof towards Andrew, and he shook her hoof.

"Friends." He repeated.

Author's Note

Hope it wasn't too rushed. Anyways sorry for the long wait.

Chapter 5

Act 1-5
Ah, I see now!

Pinkie had been so excited today, even more than usual. She was constantly bouncing and shuttering all day, as if she was hyped on a buffet table of sweets. Pretty much everypony was excited, because today Andrew and his team were moving to Ponyville. Pinkie had a super huge funerrific club party planned for them that night. She had planned a whole week ahead, but her impatience almost got to her, she almost went crazy.

"I'm so super excited! Drew Poo gets to move to Ponyville!" She couldn't control herself, Andrew had promised her that he and/or Helena would perform a song.

"Yes Pinkie, we're all excited. Just don't expect them to be the same, they've been in Luna's Royal Guard Boot Camp the whole week. They might be a bit tired, but the Princess wrote that they passed with flying colors." Twilight explained.

They had been training under the harshest conditions, because Luna was still attached to the old ways, where only the best of the best could pass. It all seemed a bit biased because Andrew and his team had already went through boot camp before, which wasn't fair to the other recruits. So, Luna had a special training program especially for them, and yet they still passed, with the help of their extra abilities, such as hands.

Twilight and her friends were waiting at the train station, she had been warned ahead that they would be coming at 11 A.M. sharp. It was about five minutes before 11, so they decided to wait for their arrival, and they were so rambunctious sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to greet Andrew and his team.

The train had finally arrived, and the door slowly slid open and let out fog that looked like it was forming from dry ice. Four silhouettes formed from the white background, and Andrew slowly lead out his team from the train. They all ran up to him, and he looked down, staring at Twilight with a straight face. They were a bit hesitant at first to say anything, but Andrew formed a small smirk on his face.

"Hey guys! It's been a while!" Andrew picked up Pinkie, and she squished him so hard he started to suffocate. He let go of Pinkie and let her back down, coughing for air.

"Andrew! We have so many things to show you! Oh, I need to give you a tour! There's Sugarcube Corner, there's Twilight's Library, Fluttershy's Cottage- MMmmph!" Applejack shoved a hoof into her mouth, and another silhouette formed inside of the train car behind them.

"Sorry I am a bit late everypony. I had to gather my things." It was Princess Celestia, she had a saddlebag full of parchments and probably paperwork for the new Police Building. They all bowed in her presence, and so did Andrew and his team.

"You all may rise. You too humans." They all did as she told them to, and she cleared her throat.

"If any of you are wondering, I am here to make an announcement so the humans won't alarm the townsponies. Then I will be off, I have a very busy schedule today." They all then nodded, understanding what was going on now. Rainbow then nudged Andrew, she had his full attention.

"We're having a party for you tonight. So I heard you like drinking?" Andrew shook his head violently.

"I can probably out drink most normal people. When I get the chance I drink moonshine, some people say it's redneck alcohol, but it's one of the strongest alcohols on Earth." He explained, they all stared at him, wide eyed.

"What? I'm serious." He shrugged, they all rolled their eyes at him. They had taken the long walk towards the Police Station, which was next to Twilight's Library, surprising enough they had enough room to build there. There they got a grand tour of the place, it was rather spacey too.

"Wow! This place is ginormous!" Nick spread out his arms, putting down all of his stuff.

The Police Station had the sun and moon painted as a mural into the back wall, they thought it was for the decor. As they continued on, they all chose their rooms, or, at least the side they were going to sleep on. There were two rooms, with two beds in each, to save space and funds to build more rooms. There was every necessity inside of there, from locker rooms to a kitchen, they even had an armory in the basement. There was a separate weight room and firing range just right beside the armory as well, it was all underground, so gunshot noises would not disturb anypony on the surface.

"C'mon my little ponies, it's time for the announcement." Celestia then walked out and into the bright light of the sun. The others followed as the town square was full of ponyvilians, and Mayor Mare was on the podium trying to calm everypony down.

"Alright, Alright citizens, calm down. I am here today to welcome Princess Celestia, who is here to make an official announcement, in person. It concerns the new building we constructed near Golden Oaks Library." She then gave Celestia the spotlight, and Andrew lined up his team in an orderly fashion behind the curtains.

"Hello my little ponies! I am honored to give a public announcement regarding that building, the one over there." She pointed to the blue building, which was the police station.

"I am here to announce that Ponyville has an official branch of the Royal Guard Law Enforcement, known as the Police. The ones selected to be stationed here aren't ponies though, they're a completely new species called humans. So I would like to welcome Captain Andrew Hartfield and his team to Ponyville, and I hope you treat him like any normal citizen." Andrew then was pushed, yes pushed, onto the stage, he then looked back to see if he could find out who pushed him, and looked slowly towards the crowd. He had a sheepish smile as Celestia gestured towards the podium, he slowly crept towards it and smiled sheepishly.

"Uh, hi, everypony. I'm Andrew Hartfield, I am the leader of Ponyville's very own Police Force from now on. Hopefully I can see you whenever I walk the streets of this fine town, and perhaps get to know any of you better. I am honored to be leading the very first generation of Ponyville Police Officers, and I will see you soon." He then rushed off of the stage, covered in sweat that wasn't really there.

Andrew never had to make a public announcement in a long time, he was always with the Delta Force, working quietly, and keeping things hush hush. His chest was pounding, almost to where it gave him a heart attack, but luckily he could barely stomach it.

"You did good for your first announcement, Andrew." Celestia came up to him. He nodded. Pinkie brushed up against him and he lifted his arm to get it out of the way.

"Now we can take you to that party!" Pinkie tried to drag him, but he wouldn't budge as he looked at the sky.

"Pinkie, it's barely after lunch, clubs are usually awesomer at night." Andrew explained.

"Andrew, it's more awesome, not, 'awesomer'." Andrew had a deadpan expression.

"Twilight, 'awesomer' is a word. It's here in my Dictionary of Awesome." He pulled out a diary with leather bindings, the title was, Andrew's Dictionary of Awesome.

"You know that's just a journal, with made up words, right?" Andrew shook his head and laughed.

"If it's in this dictionary, than it's a word. Or at least in my case." He put it back into his sling backpack.

"Changing the subject now. Pinkie, it's barely past noon, how can we possibly go to a club at this time?" Pinkie's expression saddened, almost to a crying state.

"I'll make it up to you tonight, I promise." Pinkie then bounced back up.

"Pinkie Promise?" Andrew tilted his head and squinted his eyes.

"Pinkie Promise? What's that?"

"Okay, follow after me. Cross my heart, hope to fly." Andrew copied her motions as she said it.

"Stick a cupcake in my eye." When Andrew hit his face with he palm of his hand he groaned.

"Ow, my face." He rubbed his eye.

Later That Night...

"Wow, this place is bumpin'!" Nick raised his arms as he took a breath of the atmosphere. The whole club was as if it was Tron themed, full of black surfaces and neon lights.

"For real, I could stay in here all day." Helena put a hand over her mouth and muttered.

"Hey Pinkie! Hey girls! Officers." Andrew nodded his head towards her.

"Andrew, guys, this is Vinyl Scratch, the DJ here."

"Vinyl I say, you have one of the best clubs I seen ever." Helena's English accent slipped out a little bit, she's been getting better but she still has slip ups.

"Thanks Miss Helena-"

Please, just Helena's fine."

"Well, thanks Helena, for the compliment. I have all but a few problems, including finding a gig for tonight." Andrew stopped her right there.

"I think we can fill in for that." He crossed his arms. And all the girls were about to fall to the ground laughing. Andrew took serious offense to this.

"Hey, if you actually are good, I'll pay you 150 Bits." Andrew grabbed a microphone and went on stage, Helena had a huge smirk on her face, as well as every other human.

"Why are you smiling? Is there something funny about to happen?" Rainbow got over her laugh, and she joined the rest of the humans.

"Andrew and I can sing pretty well. I think he's about to get 150 Bites, or whatever you call them."

Andrew then walked on stage and cleared his throat. He grabbed the attention of everypony inside of the club, he plugged in his iPod and selected a few songs, he tossed Helena a microphone for a later song, and he then switched it on.

(Music)

It was all silent, and there was hoof stomping from every corner of the building. Vinyl's jaw was hanging all the way to the ground, and her glasses weren't covering her eyes anymore either. He smirked as Helena climbed on stage, he then took this one out and Helena plugged in her iPod, it was customized with a pink paint job and gems covering the back of it.

(Music)

Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young

They all cheered as Helena walked off of the stage, Pinkie was so happy at this point. She just wanted to burst with excitement, she went up to Andrew and had a huge smile on her face.

"Can you do one more? Pleasepleaseplease?" She begged, Andrew grunted and rolled his eyes. He took back a microphone.

"I'm doin' this one for Pinkie." He pointed to her. She waved back with her hoof swinging around like a ragdoll. He waved back slowly and he noticed he was being stared at a large audience.

(Music)

"Well that was eventful." Andrew said in the, "Not Bad," face. He yawned as he went to join the party, where they hosted a drinking contest.

"Oh hell yes. Sign me up!"

'This is going to be a long night.' Andrew thought, Pinkie sure as hell knows how to throw a party.

Author's Note

Hope you like the songs! If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me.

Chapter 6

Act 1-6
What the hell?

It's been a week since Andrew, Helena, Jhon, and Nick were moved to Ponyville, luckily there were very little calls, and they all were minor cases. Today, everything was hectic, nothing was going as planned. They were all scattered around town, trying to get everything back under control, but too many things were happening at once.

"Nick, I want you to find out what the fuck is going on. Helena, try to calm down the civilians, Jhon, help nick get anything and everything under control. I'm going to find Twilight, get ready, because I sense a shit storm in the future." Andrew ordered as he strapped on his security body armor.

"Yes sir!" They all said in unison, they then headed out in all directions, not stopping until they got to their destination.

Andrew strapped his holsters around his waist and headed out towards the library, where he was most likely to find Twilight. The thing is she wasn't there, instead a purple lizard, napping on the floor. Andrew got into a squat where his knees were arm rests, and his heels were off the ground. He poked the little lizard as it woke up rather quickly.

"Oh, woah woah! Take it easy Spike, I'm here to find Twilight." He ran upstairs and left Spike scratching his head. Once he came back down Spike stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" He asked, Andrew grunted.

"Twilight told me. I'm pretty sure you know my name, correct?" He said with a serious tone.

"You're the Captain in charge of the Police Station right next door. I saw you at the announcement Princess Celestia gave a week ago." He summarized, and Andrew nodded.

"Okay, this isn't the time, we'll talk later. Do you know where Twilight is?"

"Yeah. she said she was headed over to Sweet Apple Acres." Andrew patted him on the head.

"Thanks, I gotta run." Andrew bolted out the door and Spike shrugged.

"I'm gonna take a nap." He went back upstairs.

"Andrew, you seeing this shit?" Helena radioed in.

Andrew stuck the earpiece back into his ear as he replied. Everything on his part was in all shape and form is fucked up, he's got black ballerinas, long legged bunny rabbits, overgrown apple trees, things went FUBAR in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, I can't seem to do anything! The four of us are scattered all over the place!" Andrew responded as he hogtied a mutated rabbit, and he saw in the sky Rainbow herding the pink clouds. He started to make his way over to Sweet Apple Acres, where all the girls were, trying to solve this mess.

He shook his head as he knew that he was going to have to get all the help he could. He made his way over to Sweet Apple Acres and came over towards the girls. They were all stressed out, and Twilight was even freaking out a little bit. Andrew then turned off his tacpad, as it was on the fritz, as well as his other technology since they were acting all funky. As if an EMP went off, but there was no way these Equestrians know about that kind of technology yet. Yet the radio frequencies stayed intact, as if something wants to keep them communicating.

"Drew Poo! You gotta try this chocolate milk! And the cotton candy!" Pinkie was drenched in chocolate milk. Her cheeks were stuffed with cotton candy, and it looked pretty sticky to be honest.

"Girls, do you have any idea what's going on? My crew is scattered all over the place trying to maintain control!" He pointed back to the town. Every second things just got weirder, there were more black people dressed in ballerina costumes line dancing.

"I don't know Andrew, we haven't the slightest." Just then a royal letter appeared in front of Twilight, she opened it up and gasped.

"Girls! We need to get to Canterlot right away! Princess Celestia needs us!" They all nodded and Andrew crossed his arms. He smirked.

"The Princess should be able to solve everything. Don't worry, we'll do anything and everything we can, I promise." He saluted, they then headed off towards Canterlot, and Andrew went back into town.

'Alright, non-lethal methods Andrew. Don't fuck up anything more than it is already.' He thought to himself, he then turned on the radio.

"Team, rally up. We gotta stop this in any way we can." He then heard them respond all in order in a series of, "Yes sir's," they went and gathered up in town square, in which it was floating overhead.

"Alright, sitrep. Now." Andrew ordered.

"We can't get everything in order sir. There's too many things out of control, and we can't do anything." Helena said, he nodded.

"Well, do something we can do. Because I promised Twilight." He snapped back. They all then went their separate ways, doing every little thing they could to keep everything in check. Andrew had to round up the mutated bunny rabbits, in which he was pretty good at using a lasso.

"Well, this certainly brings out the Texan in me." He said as he hogtied another rabbit down, all over town there were hordes of rabbits trampling on everything. Nick also helped out rounding up the animals, but Helena was busy trying to keep the townsponies all calm. They were all scared to death, and Helena was doing the best a Brit could do to calm them down.

"Alright everypony, you need to stay calm. Twilight and her friends are doing their best to solve this mess. I'm sure everything will be back to normal in a matter of time." She said, just then Jhon was riding on a cloud trying to round them all up, he could be seen eating some as well.

They then heard something go on at the library, a bookshelf has knocked over. Andrew was the first to the scene, riding on a mutated bunny. A cold feeling ran up his spine as he went inside. Once he was inside it was all dark, and he turned on his flashlight, it flickered for a second before turning on.

"Hello? Anybody in here?" He asked, he heard something move from behind him. He quickly did a 180 degree spin and saw a species of unknown origin. It had multiple body parts of multiple species and variety, and it seemed to be holding a book.

"What are you?" He raised his Desert Eagle at the being towering above him.

"Why, I'm a Draconequus of course. Pleased to meet you I'm Discord." He stuck out his lion paw, and Andrew slowly shook it as he backed away.

"Andrew, charmed." He looked at Discord slowly as they both gazed at each other.

"I say dear boy what are you? I never seen anything like you in all my life. I can see that you must be able to cause so much chaos, I sense it in you." Discord raised an eyebrow and Andrew hesitantly responded, he was catching on that h could be the one responsible for this mess.

"I'm a human, for starters. Yes, things around me tend to be chaotic at times. But other times I like to keep everything under control. I can ask the same about you." He said, and Discord chuckled.

"I have a feeling you and me could do many things together. Anyways, I have to be going, I have a storm to be creating. It involves this great plan to separate the Elements of Harmony." He then teleported out of sight, and Andrew was left scratching his head in confusion. Andrew then took the book Discord had messed with and opened it, revealing a tiara and multiple necklaces that seemed to match the butt pictures of his six pony friends.

"I really have to ask the girls about those. Anyways, I think these may be important. I gotta find Twilight." Andrew said to himself.

He then closed the book and put it in his sling backpack as he headed towards the door. He then made his way to the Police Station to grab a weapon from his wall locker. He opened the door and inside was utter mayhem. The water pipes were all busted and everything was polka dotted.

"Okay, I really gotta find Twilight, before I end up in the mental hospital." He said as he made it to his wall locker. He opened it up and pulled out a Tomahawk.

"I have a feeling I'm gonna need this." He mumbled.

Author's Note

I took gordobraveheart's challenge to write a chapter on my Playstation 3. I honestly don't know why he told me it was hard. It's just that the rate of words per minute is significantly dropped compared to when I type on the computer.

Chapter 7

Act 1-7
Storm's a brewin'

Andrew walked out of the Police Station all slow like, he was fucking sick of getting pushed around by these, these things that had been happening. He twirled the Tomahawk in his hand as he tripped a herd of mutated rabbits about to trample on him, as he did that, he put it back into his sheathe, he was not aiming to kill, because there was nothing to kill.

In a few moments it turned to night, and Andrew could not see a thing, and when he was walking he fell onto his ass. He felt the road underneath him to see that it had been turned to soap, his rubber sole shoes would not go well with this. He started to walk on the checkered floor instead. He turned on his tacpad to see ten unread texts, from his team. He avoided the soap roads until they went back to normal, in which he didn't think would be for a while.

Echo 2 (Helena): Andrew, I saw something. Something not normal...
Echo 3 (Jhon): Um, Captain? I think you may want to see this. It involves Twilight and her friends.
Echo 4 (Nick): Captain, I'm currently with Jhon. You need to get your ass over here, Twilight's friends aren't acting right. To be honest Fluttershy's being a real bitch right now.

The rest of the messages were concerning Twilight and her friends, they were back, but something was way off. Andrew practically dropped his gun at the sight, Twilight's friends were gray. They were so gray, that you could barely make out what used to be their original color, Rainbow Dash wasn't even there, and Twilight looked normal. Andrew's jaw hung wide open as he just stared, and followed Twilight as she carried a big rock towards her library.

"Twilight, is something a little off about your friends?"

"I don't see anything wrong, why do you ask?" Andrew mentally facepalmed. He then took out a book and showed it to her, and her eyes glistened and he could've sworn her mouth started to water a bit.

"Andrew, can I see that book?" He scratched his head as he pointed to the book he had in his arms.

"It's not really a book, it's hollowed out with these pieces of jewelry inside of them." He opened it to reveal the Elements of Harmony, unknowingly of course.

Twilight then used her magic to put the jewelry on her friends as well as her own tiara. The humans observed as Twilight with a frustrated expression approach Discord's Throne, as well as her demented friends, Discord wasn't really amused, and neither were the humans, they had no fucking clue what was going on to begin with. Discord took notice of the four humans standing in the background and he smirked. Twilight then confronted him, trying to get the Elements to work on him.

"It's time to end this Discord!" She said as she activated her tiara, Nick pulled down his shades from his eyes to see what was going on, Twilight's eyes started to glow, and everypony started to float.

"Good show jolly good show! Now, run along now. I have some excellent chaos to be making right now." Discord made a waving motion with his lion paw.

"This is all your fault! My fault? No! It's your fault!" The girls argued. Andrew went over to try and defuse the situation, trying to get them to act their normal selves.

Just as quickly as it happened Twilight fell back to the ground. Defeated. They all argued a bit before turning their separate ways, and Twilight slumped down, turning into a gray color. She shed a single tear before doing the walk of shame.

She slowly walked back to her library. Andrew and his team all walked over to Twilight, following her to her library and upstairs. Discord was left alone creating more chaos, as which he was designed for. For now at least.

"C'mon Twilight. You can't give up on your friends, no matter how bad it is. They will come back, they always do." Helena put her hand on her shoulder. Spike burped out another letter, Twilight took one and opened it up to read. She picked up another. And another. Until she perked up regaining her old colors back.

"Princess Celestia must have sent these back for a good reason!" She reassured herself, and the team gave her their full support.

"Alright! I have to fight for friendship!" She said heroically, and Andrew gave her two thumbs up.

"Well, Spike you can rest." Twilight said sheepishly as Spike burped out another letter.

"I'll distract Discord. Go and get your friends. Team, make sure she gets them back, I'm not having another loner." Andrew ordered, and Twilight took account of what he said.

"Another loner? What do you mean?" She asked, and Andrew sighed. He waved her off as he spoke.

"Twilight I'll tell you later, ain't nobody got time for explaining right now." Andrew practically pushed her out the door, and Helena and the rest of his crew followed in close pursuit.

Andrew unsheathed his Tomahawk, twirling it in his hand again. He also unsheathed his knife, and held it blade side down. He went over to Discord's Throne, where he confronted him, even though he didn't have any magic. He could still at least try to stand up to him. Andrew had Celestia's poker face, he managed to be able to get it down when he was staying at Canterlot.

"Well look if it isn't my human friend." Discord said as he took off his sunglasses. Andrew just stood there, with his arms crossed and leaning on his left leg.

"Discord, this has got to stop. I can't have any more innocent lives being endangered. It's my job to keep them from harm, and I don't want to hurt you." Andrew said, and Discord just laughed in his face.

"You think you can stop me? I'm a god! You can't kill a god." Andrew was gone, all was left was a cloud of dust where he was previously standing. Andrew then used his Tomahawk and tripped Discord, and he laughed.

"That's the thing. I'm not trying to kill you." Discord clapped his hands, and took out a glass bottle and filled it with chocolate rain. He drank the milk in one gulp and threw the glass at Andrew, he jumped back as it exploded into a ball of fire.

"Sweet Jesus it's a fahre!" He said all comedic like. Discord smirked as he picked Andrew up with his Kinesis, he struggled against Discord's will, but resistance was futile. He was lifted into the air with ease, and Andrew could feel a force choking him and he could not breathe.

"Look here human, if there's one thing that everypony should know, is that you don't fuck with a deity." Discord said as he choked Andrew harder, and he was struggling even faster to try and escape his grip.

"Discord!" Discord's attention turned towards Twilight, who was standing there with her friends, all fully restored to their original colors. They were all determined to take down Discord, for all of the trouble he has caused for Ponyville. Plus the fact that they separated Twilight from her friends, they looked pretty pissed.

"Discord! Put our friend down!" Twilight demanded, and Discord only laughed as his grip tightened.

"How about we strike a deal? You put away your Elements of Harmony, and I give back this fine fellow." He suggested.

"Fuck... *cough* ...you." Andrew managed to choke out. As Discord loosened up Andrew took a deep breath as he contacted Helena through his wristpad. Andrew managed to break free of his telekinetic grip and climbed on his back, and wrapped the back of his Tomahawk around his neck.

"Helena! Tell them to take him down!" He ordered, and Helena looked at him like he was crazy.

"But, you'll get turned to stone!" Andrew's eyes widened for a second, but them nodded with determination.

"Just do it! I can't hold him much longer." Andrew yanked on his Tomahawk, trying to restrain him for as long as possible, and he couldn't use any magic due to him being choked by the little human pest.

"I thought we could have been friends, Andrew. I wish we could have met on better conditions." He shrugged, and Andrew chuckled.

"Likewise, but duty calls." Andrew replied.

"Twilight! We have to do it! Celestia's counting on you guys!" Helena pressured.

"But we'll hit Andrew too!" Twilight retorted.

"Just do it! I'll be okay!" Andrew yelled.

Twilight gritted her teeth as she activated the Elements once more. The Elements actually worked this time, and Andrew's team was left speechless. As the rainbow beam hit Discord, both he and Andrew started to turn into stone. Andrew gave a salute to his fellow squad mates as he was darkening in color.

"Nooooooooo!" Discord could be heard screaming even after he was turned to stone. Andrew on the other hand, could be heard... laughing?

"Never had this much fun in years!" He said as he turned to stone. Andrew was frozen on top of Discord and seemed to look like he was strangling him, and Discord froze with his hands around his neck, trying to get Andrew off of him.

(Listen to this)

Andrew woke up inside of his mind, it was pictured to be a hospital room, with a patient gown and everything. He lifted his forearms and saw that he had IV's implanted into his veins, he took them out as he vaulted himself upright, sitting on the side of his hospital bed.

"Am I dead?" He asks himself, he looked outside the door, and the lights were flickering on and off. He grabbed his aching shoulder as he walked down the hallway, looking for any presence of life.

"Andrew, why did you leave us?" He whipped around and saw a bloody apparition, he flinched for a moment as it got closer.

"Wait a minute... Dad?" He questioned.

"You left us, Andrew. You abandoned us, why?" Andrew backed away as his supposed, "Dad," got closer.

"I didn't leave you! I didn't mean to leave you! I just didn't like Vegas!" He scolded himself. He then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Andrew, I loved you so much. Why did you abandon us? We were your family."

"Mom, like I said before, I did not leave you guys! I never expected the Las Vegas Incident to occur! I never wanted you guys to die. I missed you all so much." Andrew cried, he then got out of the hospital and ended up inside of a green field. His team was standing there, as well as the girls.

"You left us Andrew, you made your way into our hearts, and left a giant hole where you once were." They all said in unison, Andrew grabbed his head as he got on his hand and knees, crying.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it to end this way. I'm so, so, sorry." He sobbed. Andrew started running, running to wherever his legs would take him, not stopping for a moment to breathe.

"As you can see we are gathered here today for the heroism of Captain Andrew Hartfield, who sacrificed himself for other ponies' well being from the reign of Discord. Discord had been much more dangerous than we could have anticipated, and the fact that multiple of ponies have either been injured or killed during this event. Sadly to say, we can't risk bringing him back because we take the chance of bringing Discord back as well. May your soul rest in peace, Andrew."

Author's Note

Well, cheers to the start of Season 2! Now with humans!

Chapter 8

Act 1-8
Ah, fuck it

Andrew had finally stopped running, he kept on running until there was no environment, just a white, barren landscape. He was still stuck in his mind as because his physical embodiment was still in stone, and he would probably stay that way for a while. Yet, he felt like there was a way to get free, as he was innocent, and the Elements of Harmony are meant to be good.

"Andrew, you have to follow the steps..." He heard a distant voice say, he quickly whipped around and saw her. Carmine, his now deceased fiance.

"Carmine? What steps? What are you talking about?" He questioned.

"Step One: Acceptance. You have to let go of me and your family's deaths." Andrew sobbed for a bit.

"If I let you go I'll never see you guys again."

"I'll always be with you, Andrew. You have to follow the steps, if you want to return to the land of the living." Andrew then took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He then felt a calm, cool feeling rush over him, and all stress was gone.

"Step Two: Walk into the dark tunnel." A giant tunnel opened up, and Andrew was hesitant, but he slowly started to walk into the cave.

It was dark and moist, but for the most part it was moist, the worst part about being in a cave. Andrew avoided touching the walls as he kept on walking, not knowing where he was going, just aimlessly wandering through the dark cave.

Andrew has been gone for a few weeks now, and everything has mostly returned to normal. Though Twilight and her friends still seemed distraught about Andrew turning to stone, they slowly but surely returned to their normal lives.

Helena was left inside of the Police Department, doing paperwork for a request for a new recruit. Since Andrew was gone she was left in charge, with her being the next highest in rank and all. Just then there was a knock on the door, she looked up and opened the door, revealing Twilight.

"Hey Twilight, is something wrong?" Helena said in her natural English accent.

"No, I just wanted to stop by to check on everypony." She said, Helena could sense the depression in her speech.

"It's 'everyone' Twilight, we're not ponies." Helena corrected, and Twilight nodded.

"Anyways, we're doing fine." Helena gestured her to sit down, and so she did, with Helena sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry about Andrew. I didn't want to shoot him but-" Twilight was interrupted.

"It's okay Twilight. No one could've expected Discord to be so violent. Either that or Andrew pissed him off, but that's not the point. Andrew did it for us, but sadly to say he was pretty young, and childish to say the least." Helena laughed, Twilight sniffled a bit before speaking up.

"About what he said, 'another loner.' What did he mean?" Twilight looked up to Helena, and she closed her eyes for a moment, and sighed before explaining.

"Listen Twi, Andrew isn't your average human. His family was killed, he has no uncles, or aunts, nor cousins either. His grandparents passed away when he was but a child, and his family was killed in a terrorist attack. He had nobody to look up to, no one to talk to, all for a select few. I knew him since childhood, and he's been alone all his life. All of that changed when he was recruited to The Unit, where he met Jhon, Nick, and I. We've been inseparable ever since that day, and we've done the most suicidal things up until this point. Now, he thinks he has a new family, which is us, he thinks he can make things right." Helena was tearing up at this point, and so was Twilight.

"I never would have guessed." Twilight sobbed, and almost started to cry into Helena's side. Helena thought quickly to try and not get herself involved at this sappy moment, she did not want to emotionally scar Twilight either, so she came up with an idea that would cheer her up.

"Anyways, I have a few things to organize, would you like to help out?" Helena tried to perk her up, and Twilight regained her self conscience just like that.

"Would I?!" She said cheerily. Helena gestured her to follow her into office as the door shut behind, silhouettes of papers flying everywhere.

"So, what happens now? Now that Andrew's gone what are you going to do?" Twilight asked, still a bit saddened of the events that had happened earlier.

"We still got a town to protect, I don't know about you, but, some crazy things happen here from what I can tell." Helena shrugged. Twilight nodded as she set another organized stack of papers and folders into the filing cabinet.

Andrew was still wandering aimlessly into the dark tunnel, but he eventually noticed that he was inside of his own mind, he could do what he wanted. He thought about Dead Space, where he could use a locator device, as well as Kinesis and Stasis to know where he was going. Andrew did a thing where his left hand looked like he was typing, and a blue line aimed straight forward showed up on the ground. He followed the line as he kept checking it every so often, until he saw light.

"Carmine? Where are you?" Andrew asked, she then spoke out of the void of nothingness, no apparition, just the voice.

"Step Three: Face Them." She said, and Andrew looked forward, where his family were standing, all covered in blood and stained red.

Andrew gulped as he made his way towards his family, and they stared him down as he spoke hesitantly. He cleared his throat and they waited for a response.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to leave you, and I never expected the Vegas Incident to occur. I'm sorry I wished you away after our fight, and I loved you guys, so much." Andrew started to cry as his mother, father, older brother, and younger sister were no longer bloody and stained red.

"We forgive you Andrew... Now, time to go back to the land of the living." Andrew's father said.

"But what about you guys? What's gonna happen?"

"Andrew, if you didn't already know we're in your mind. We'll always be here for you, even when you need it most." His mother said.

"How am I to get out? I was turned to stone and can't be broken out unless those Element thingies are used." Andrew questioned. His family made a group huddle as they started to whisper.

"Andrew, there's something you should know." His father started.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You will know in due time, but for now... goodbye." His little sister said as she poked Andrew's forehead, and everything faded to black.

Luna was up that night stargazing, proud of her work and accomplishments. She decided to take a break and eat a midnight snack. She came back to her balcony with a sandwich half and looked down at the garden. She took a brief pan of the environment until she looked into her telescope once again. She then spit out some of her sandwich as she looked down into the gardens, where there was crumbled at the foot of the Discord statue. She quickly flew down and checked the statue out, Discord was still there, but Andrew was on the floor, laying on his back.

"Oh man, my ass hurts." He said as he rubbed his ass, he quickly got up and there he and Luna met eye contact.

"We see thou hast been released!" Luna was excited as she grabbed Drew in her telekinetic grip and started to hug him to death.

"It's good to see you too, Luna." Andrew said as he chuckled. Just as he said that he blacked out, and Luna was left in shock.

"Andrew Hartfield? Is thou alright?" Luna asked, and Andrew slowly replied, regaining some of his consciousness.

"I'll be alright, I just need some food. I'm starving." He then went limp on the ground, Luna rolled her eyes as she called one of her guards.

"Sergeant Night Wave! Please take this to the infirmary, thou hast needing some food and sleep." Luna ordered, Sergeant Night Wave saluted as he carried Andrew on his back flying to the infirmary while balancing the human he was carrying.

"First day working the Garden shift and I'm stuck carrying a smelly human." The Sergeant muttered.

Chapter 9

Act 1-End
You're back!

Andrew slowly started to wake up. After a few hours of being unconscious he felt a bit better, but he was still suffering from a painful headache, he put a hand on his head as he got in an upwards position. He then looked around, he was inside of a hospital, and just at that moment Luna walked into the room.

"I do hope our patient is feeling better. How are you doing Andrew?" She asked, Andrew nodded.

"I'm doing fine your highness, but how did I end up here?" He looked around once more.

"We have brought you here after you had been freed from stone. Though we do not know how you have been able to without the Elements." Luna questioned, and all Andrew did was shrug.

"I don't know either, I was touched on the forehead by my little sister and then *POOF* I'm here again." Luna giggled, and rolled her eyes as she looked back into the hallway.

"I do believe big sister should be here any moment now. You need to be caught up to speed on current events before you are discharged." She explained, and Andrew nodded.

Just then Princess Celestia came into Andrew's room, Andrew bowed as he grabbed his stomach, still hurting from earlier. Celestia and Luna giggled as they both sat down on the nearby couch.

"I can tell you've been through a lot the past few weeks Mr. Hartfield." Celestia finally said, Andrew looked down at his lap as he muttered something.

"Yeah, I had to do a lot of things to get back to this place." He said under his breath.

"What was that? I could not hear you." She raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing, just some bad memories." He explained, she looked suspiciously at him before continuing.

"Alright, let's get you caught up to speed. Walk with me." Andrew shrugged as he got up and started to walk. He followed Princess Celestia as she was guiding him to some place where he had no idea was.

"So you know you've been out for almost a month now, right?" Andrew shook his head, he put a hand on his chin.

"It feels like it's only been a few hours, yet I feel much more achy than usual." He responded, Celestia nodded as she turned around the corridor.

"Well, may I ask what happened when you turned to stone?" Andrew was a bit shifty, not really wanting to tell her. He looked down at the floor with a sad expression.

"Many, many things happened. You see... for a few years now I was suffering from a form of dementia. When I was inside of my mind... I was chased by the apparitions of my now... deceased family. Then, my also deceased fiance, told me I had to follow the steps to get out. I used those steps to somewhat cure my dementia, and the next thing you know I was free from the stone." Andrew explained, and Celestia just looked at him in horror.

"Oh my, that must have been painful, being so alone for all those years. What exactly happened to your family?" Celestia asked, and Andrew was hesitant to answer this.

"They were in a terrorist attack, one of the worst ones since 9/11. Killed roughly a few million people in a bomb explosion, and blew up nearly half of Las Vegas. This marked the beginning of World War III, where the Southeastern Countries of Asia wanted to conquer the whole world."

"That's terrible, I truly am sorry for your loss. I never would have known." Celestia gave her condolences. Andrew's expression saddened as he continued on.

"That's why I joined the cause, to fight for freedom. I didn't want for other occupied countries to suffer the same fate as I did. That's what keeps me going, to know that one man or woman can make a difference." Andrew said, and Celestia nodded.

"So we are here." Celestia spoke out.

"Where exactly is, 'here'?" Andrew asked, and Celestia giggled.

"In the throne room of course, a few friends of mine have been wanting to see you for quite a while." Andrew looked over to where Luna was standing, across the room, and there she revealed his team, and the girls. They all looked at each other for a moment, and then some of them started to tear up.

"What's up man? How have you been doin'?" Jhon and Nick were the first to greet him back, with their signature handshake.

"I'm good, a bit stiff, though to say the least. Yes, pun intended." The all chuckled at this as he came up to Twilight, who was almost crying.

"Andrew, I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry that we turned you to stone. I didn't have a choice and-" Andrew interrupted her.

"It's fine Twilight, really it is. Just let go, forgive and forget. I actually learned something from being stuck inside there." Andrew used that saying on more than one occasion, perhaps his whole life.

"Really? So you're just gonna get over it even though we turned you to stone? Just like that?" Rainbow said, getting up in his face, Andrew's eyes shifted around for a moment.

"Well, yeah. That was the plan." He said, with a deadpan expression. Rainbow looked at him with her squint eyes, trying to find out what had happened to him.

"I'm okay with this." She shrugged as she went back behind Twilight. Andrew went on greeting his friends, happy that he was finally back, and better than ever.

'Don't fight it Andrew. You can't fight it.' Andrew put his hands on his temples, hissing out of the pain of his splitting headache.

"Andrew darling, are you alright?" Rarity asked, Andrew gave her a thumbs up. He then made his way back to his team, getting caught up on current situations in Ponyville.

"I'll be fine. Trust me, I will." He said, letting out a deep sigh.

They all went back to Ponyville within the next few hours, and it's been reaching about night time by then. By now everybody was asleep, all except for Andrew. He was restless, and could not sleep, for he couldn't forget the events that have taken place in his mind. He quietly got out of bed and climbed up onto the roof, sitting on a lawn chair. He opened his holographic projector and did inventory of his belongings.

"Alright, let me see if I still have all of my stuff." He said, sliding through the multiple screens of holographic blue.

"I got all of my weapons, so that's good. Let's look through my personal stuff," He opened the screen, "Holy Cross necklace, check. Gold ring, I got that. My lucky knife and Tomahawk? Yeah, I have those back at my locker..." His eyes shot open, and he quickly started to search his pockets for something he has lost.

"Ah, fuck! Where is it?" He searched frantically.

"I lost my damn locket, of all the things I could have lost..." He punched the ground, angry with himself.

Just then, something whipped by him in a gust of wind, yet there was no breeze to be found tonight. Andrew shrugged as he kept looking through his stuff, not wanting to know what that gust of wind was. He sighed again, closing his eyes as he grew tired. Then, he felt an uneasy presence in the air, coincidentally, Rainbow was right behind him.

"Hey Andrew!" She said happily. Andrew froze up and turned an almost snowy white color, and once he turned around he went back to his normal colors.

"Oh, it's you. Almost gave me a heart attack." He gasped for air. Rainbow was on the floor laughing, and could almost not breathe.

"*sniffle* You should have seen the look on your face! I totally got you!" Andrew had a pouting face, but shook his head.

"Don't do that again Rainbow. Next time it could be different. By the way why are you here?" He asks, Rainbow's eyes shifted from left to right as she had her hooves behind her back.

"I found something that I think belongs to you." She held up his locket, and Andrew's eyes gleamed.

"Where did you find it? I've been looking for this!" He was so happy, he could almost cry.

"I found it on the ground after your fight. I thought I would hold onto it if you came back or something. I guess Pinkie was right after all." She muttered the last part. Andrew tilted his head as he hugged Rainbow, and she had a huge blush across her face.

"I don't know what I would do without it. It's my good luck charm, I keep it with me everywhere." He said, letting go.

"Uh, sorry about that. It was an impulsive action." He lied.

"So, what's inside of the locket anyways? I never was able to open it, no fingers and everything." She looked at her hooves, Andrew chuckled as he opened the necklace.

"It's a family photo, and the one on the right side is my ex-fiance." He explained.

"Wait, why is she your ex-fiance?" Rainbow asked. Andrew looked down, depressed again.

"Because she was killed, along with the rest of my family. This locket is the only thing I have left of my mother." Rainbow's eyes widened.

"I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories, did I? I'm so sorry!" She tried, Andrew waved her off.

"It's alright, I've gotten used to it by now. At least they're in a better place now." He shrugged. Rainbow yawned and stretched as Andrew watched the night sky.

"Well, I'm gonna go get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow Drew!" She flew off, Andrew looked down at the locket in his hand, and held it tight.

"It's the first time I heard that name in a while." He laid back in the chair, stargazing at the night sky, seeing how many constellations he could find. He looked and looked until he got sleepy, and fell asleep on the roof of the Police Building.

Chapter 10

Act 2-Start
Wait, what?

Andrew woke up the next morning, feeling much better that he now has his locket back in his possession. He quickly showered and got dressed, he was assigned to a morning patrol today, as well as one during the evening. So, that gave him most of the afternoon off. He walked into town without a care in the world, taking in the country like atmosphere. He patrolled the streets for any signs of danger, or pony in trouble.

"Well good morning officer!" Andrew heard a voice say behind him. He whipped around to see a fairly new face, a mint green Unicorn.

"Hello, uh... can I help you?" Andrew asked politely. She nodded her head, Andrew shrugged as he followed her.

"What's your name young mare?" He asked.

"Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings." She replied.

"What is it that you need?"

"I just want to ask a few questions." She had a sinister laugh, but Andrew caught none of it and kept following Lyra.

As they continued into the park, she sat down on a bench and took out a note pad and pen. She gestured for Andrew to sit down next to her, and he did so accordingly.

"You see, I study Anthropology at Canterlot University. So, I wanted to ask an actual Homosapien things I need to know to further progress my studies." She smiled, Andrew nodded silently as he got relaxed.

"You might want to get comfortable, we might be here for a while. So, for starters, what is the human race like? Any magic? Technological advances? Recent wars or rebellions?" Andrew sighed.

'What have I gotten myself into?' He wondered to himself.

"To answer your questions in order, humans are a very confusing species to understand, we don't have any magic, we have had many technological advances, and we- Earth is at war right as we speak." Lyra wrote down what he said, word for word.

"Thank you, and there's one more thing I need to know. What are hands like? I mean what's it like having them?" She beamed. Andrew's eyes shifted left to right again, and looked down at his own hands.

"I guess, hands are... hands. There's nothing really special about them, the only importance is that we use them everyday for normal human things. Picking things up, holding, or in my case, shooting." He explained, Lyra smiled as she thanked Andrew for his time.

He got up and brushed himself off, and Lyra was gone. As in she was no longer there, gone without a trace. Andrew scratched his head as he went back to town, only to get hit from behind.

"Hi Drew! I wanted to show you somepony special! Come with me!" Andrew spat out the dirt that went into his mouth when he made contact with the ground. Then, he was dragged by his leg to a Post Office, where the title read, "United Equestrian Postal Service."

"Hello! Welcome to the Ponyville Branch of the Equestrian Postal Service! I'm Ditzy Doo, but everyone calls me Derpy. May I help you?" Andrew tilted his head as he gazed at her, noticing the eyes.

"Hey Derpy, I'm expecting a package earlier from today from Canterlot! I think Drew here has one too!" Pinkie said with her usual excited tone. She smiled as she went into the back, getting two packages, one large one, a small one, and a letter. Pinkie grabbed the two boxes and gave Andrew the letter, he opened it and saw that it was from Princess Celestia. What he wanted to know is why she would use the post office when she had Spike, but he didn't question it any longer.

Dear Andrew,

Honestly, I may have a theory that may prove why you turned back from stone without the use of the Elements. I would like for you to ask Twilight to use the ponification spell on you and your human friends. I wish to get a reply as soon as possible once performed. This is strictly a theory, out of pure curiosity, so don't dawdle on the subject for too long.

Princess Celestia

Andrew scratched his head as he read over it another time, making sure he wasn't reading it wrong. He put a hand on his chin as he looked suspiciously at the parchment.

"I guess I'm going to Twilight's House later." He mumbled to himself, Derpy then tapped his shoulder, getting his attention.

"Uhm, Andrew? Can you do me a favor?" She asked, Andrew nodded slowly.

"Awesome! Can you go to Sugarcube Corner and get my parcel? I've been so busy I forgot to pick it up." Andrew nodded and smiled as he walked out the door.

He took out one of these so called, "Bits," and flipped it in his hand. To him all bits were is just some gold coin, and there were many variations, there being Copper ones, Silver ones, and even a Titanium one. Something about gold coins just made him fascinated, not in a greedy way, just the actual element itself. as he went inside of the place Derpy instructed him to, he almost wanted to gag. Just then Pinkie showed up from behind the counter, eating a whole chocolate cake on display.

"Oh hey Drew! *SLURP* Do you need something?" She said.

"I'm here to pickup Derpy's... parcel?" She then gasped and went into the back kitchen, she just as quickly came back and put it on the counter.

"That'll be 10 Bits please!" Andrew had no knowledge of the currency, so he laid down two gold Bits.

"I don't know how to use Bits, do you mind teaching me?" He gave an awkward smile, Pinkie violently nodded her head as she put on a top hat, monocle, and a bicycle mustache.

"Why good sir, a Copper Bit is worth 1, a Silver Bit is worth 10, a Gold one is worth 50, and the Super Shiny Silver is worth 100. She used a chalk board and pointer to emphasize the importance of it.

"Then here you are sir/madam, 10 Bits." Andrew gave a gentlemen like bow as he grabbed the box and headed out.

"Thank you come again!" She waved.

Andrew headed back to the post office, where Derpy had a huge line of ponies waiting to pick up their packages. Andrew snuck around the line to give Derpy her food, in which she could smell it from where he was standing. Andrew happily gave her the box, and she opened it up, revealing a box of a dozen Blueberry Muffins.

"Thanks! I'll see you later Officer Andrew! Mmm, muffins." Andrew heard her say as he headed out the door.

Andrew looked on his wrist computer, and saw that his shift was over. His stomach growled as he made his way back into town, getting strange looks from ponies within hearing range. He then seated himself at the cafe, at a table meant for two. Now that he got the currency down it was much more understandable than just throwing gold coins at everything you see.

"What would you like to eat sir?" The waiter asked, which broke Andrew's train of thought.

"I'll take the fruit platter. By any chance can you get me some ice and some tea?" He responded, the waiter nodded as he headed back into the building. Andrew laid back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head, occasionally looking at his wrist computer to see how much time he has until he needed to visit Twilight.

"Hey Drew! What's up?" His train of thought was broken once again, but this time by Rainbow. He shook his head to focus in, and looked up.

"Nothing really, just taking a lunch break. What about you?" Rainbow grabbed a seat and laid back in it, copying Andrew.

"Just finished clearing the skies today. I saw you down here and thought I might join you. Besides, I got nothing else to do today anyways." She replied back. The waiter came back with the food, and Andrew's mouth started to water. He was about to eat a slice of mango until Rainbow's stomach growled, she had a sheepish smile on her face.

"Do you mind paying lunch for me? I forgot my money at home." She said sheepishly, Andrew rolled his eyes as he gave her his fruit platter. He also gave her a gold bit to pay for it all, and he took out a yellow box.

"What's that?" Rainbow pointed at Andrew's yellow box, and he chuckled.

"This is what we call on Earth a Calorie Mate. These things can last years in the field, and I like them especially compared to M.R.E.'s they give us today. This specific one is cheese flavored, but it tastes like a plain cracker, with like cheese dust or something." He said, biting off a part of the Calorie Mate block. Rainbow shrugged as she continued eating the food supplied by Andrew, and it was just about time to go to Twilight's House for him.

"Well, I gotta hit the road. Princess Celestia wants me to go ask Twilight to do something for her." He said his farewells to Rainbow and left in the direction towards Twilight's house.

'I wonder why the Princess wants me turned into a pony? Who cares? I always wanted to try it out!' He thought to himself, now speeding up his pace towards the Golden Oaks Library.

Chapter 11

Act 2-1
You don't say???

Andrew headed on over to Twilight's House, but he did not expect anything out of the ordinary. He was dead wrong, scrolls everywhere, inkwells spilled over,books either out of place or on the floor, and Twilight was no better. Her mane was all out of whack and she looked like she belonged in an insane asylum.

"Twilight? You okay?" Andrew asked, Twilight looked at him with her creeper face.

"Of course I'm okay? Why wouldn't I be okay?" She said with a hint of sadism. Andrew just eyeballed her.

"What am I going to do? I have no friendship report to give to the Princess! I know! I'll ask my friends! Andrew, come with me." She dragged Andrew by the arm with her magic, Andrew had no choice but to follow. She went towards the park, and Andrew was trying to keep up with Twilight.

"Twilight slow down! I can't keep up with ponies, with me being two legged and all." He said in between breaths of air, but Twilight refused to listen and went faster instead of slower. Once there Twilight stopped abruptly, and while stopping her magic Andrew was sent flying into a tree. They all stared at Twilight while Andrew was recovering, and Twilight explained her predicament right as Andrew stood up.

"Don't worry about it Twilight! I'm sure Princess Celestia will let you off the hook." Rainbow said, and pretty much everypony agreed to that.

Andrew shrugged as he walked off, and went back to the Police Station. Nick was at the front desk, using the counter as a leg rest. Andrew pulled his feet off of the leg rest, which made Nick fall out of the chair.

"Nick, take over tonight's shift for me. I'll pay you extra." He ordered, Nick saluted and walked off.

"You barely pay me at all." He grumbled as he walked by him. Andrew set down his helmet and goggles, letting out a deep sigh. He managed the front desk until it was about 4 in the afternoon, and things were very odd.

'There's an angry mob going outside, I guess I'm gonna be prepared for a riot.' Andrew said, putting on his B.D.U. He walked out the door and saw what looked to be a love fest, because the eyes of everypony in town had pink hearts as pupils, and Twilight was chasing after what seemed to be a sack doll. Nick was also there, trying to suppress the ponies as he too was chasing after the doll, but his eyes weren't hearts.

"Nick! Sitrep, now!" He demanded.

"Sir, everything's gone FUBAR, thanks to Miss Crazy over here." He pointed to Twilight.

"I'm sorry! I didn't want this to happen! Now I can't control them since I used the Want it Need it Spell!" She said. Andrew kneeled down to comfort Twilight, and put a hand on her back.

"It's alright Twilight, but you're gonna have to help me fix this. How much time do we have until it becomes permanent?" He asked.

"We have until sundown, we got two hours." She explained, Andrew nodded as he went into town, where the mob was still fighting over the doll.

"Let's do this! LEEEEROOOYYY JEEENKINNNS-UGHH!" He said, charging head into the crowd, once he located the doll, he saw that it was in mid air. He jumped and caught it with one hand, but one thing didn't happen to him like it did the others, he didn't start getting obsessed.

"Huh, I guess the spell is wearing off." He said, pocketing the enchanted doll. He then looked up and saw that he was surrounded by a mob of infatuated ponies. He was completely surrounded, with no way out, and they were inching closer to Andrew by the second.

"I stand corrected..." He said, vaulting over one of them and hauled ass. They were catching up to Andrew faster than he expected, but then he saw that his team and Twilight were over by the town square, trying to calm the hypnotized ponies down enough to where they wouldn't chase Andrew.

Andrew took out the doll and held it in his right hand, he had to do something fast before he gets trampled by multicolored ponies.

"Nick! Go long!" Nick shot out of his seat as he went in the opposite direction of where Andrew was running. He threw a Hail Mary as if he were playing Football, and Nick caught it and kept running. Andrew hunched over to catch his breath, and Twilight came running after him.

"Andrew, how are you not affected by the spell?" Andrew put a hand on his head as a sudden migraine came on. He knelt down and tried to suppress the headache, to no avail.

"Andrew, are you alright?" She asked, he nodded as he stood back up.

"To answer your... rgh... question, I have no earthly... rgh... idea." He said, still suffering from the migraine.

'Don't fight it Andrew.' He heard something say in his head. He gritted his teeth as the headache got stronger.

"Get out of my head." Andrew said inside of his mind. As a response Carmine took his physical representation and pulled it deeper into his mind. She grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the wall. Andrew wasn't able to do anything but to try and resist as she threw him against the wall, numerous times.

'What am I to you Andrew? Your regret? The reason you suppress your memories of us, the reason why you keep running? Or am I your guilt? Why you keep fighting, the only thing you held dear to you!?' Andrew coughed as he tried to speak.

"Because you were my family, and if I let you guys go, I got nothing." Once Andrew said that, Carmine let him go, she didn't say another word as she went back to Andrew's family. Andrew was sent back into the real world, but at the cost of all of his suppressed memories coming back again. He instantly got in an upwards position, looking around, and he could hear a very distinct heartbeat monitor.

"Don't worry, Andrew. You're fine now, that was quite the headache you had there, one of the worst I've seen in years." He heard a motherly voice say, he turned and saw Princess Celestia, sitting there on the sofa.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the Ponyville Hospital, you were trampled by a mob of ponies while you were vulnerable with that headache." She explained, he nodded as he took a deep breath.

"Why did you get a sudden headache in the middle of town?" She asked, Andrew sighed.

"It's best if I showed you." He brought up his wrist computer and displayed a holographic projection of the Las Vegas Incident. Celestia was struck with horror as the civilians were being burned alive, and others being blown to pieces as more and more of the building tore apart.

"My family, including my fiance, were killed in that attack. I was there when it happened, but I wasn't in the same building. Ever since then I contracted Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and now my dead family haunt me until this day. I think it's called Dementia or something like that. The funny thing is that sometimes they can help me, other times they try to kill me." He said, looking down.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say." She tried to comfort him.

"That's because there is nothing to say."

"Wait a minute, what happened to Twilight's Spell? The town?" Andrew asked, Celestia chuckled.

"That's why I'm here in the first place, I had to cancel the spell myself. One thing seemed to catch my eye, how come you and your team weren't affected by the spell."

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that ma'am."

Chapter 12

Act 2-2
Awkward...

"So, you don't want to be turned into a pony? Are you sure?" Celestia asked, and Andrew nodded.

"I'm pretty sure I want to keep all of my appendages." He reassured himself, Celestia rolled her eyes as they went to Twilight's Library.

"Besides, I don't really think being a pony is my thing. Though, people back on Earth would die to be one." He said, and Celestia nodded.

"Twilight and her friends were worried when you went to the hospital. Luckily there isn't any permanent damage to your rib cage area." Celestia explained while Andrew opened the door for her.

"By the way, how long have I been out?" He asked.

"Just a night. You're in for a surprise tomorrow, it's Nightmare Night." She said.

"October 31st? That's Halloween!" He exclaimed, going inside after Celestia. Twilight came downstairs in a hurry, followed by her friends and the rest of Echo Team. The girls all ran up to hug him, and Andrew's team sat back and laughed at his distress.

"Please get off," Pinkie tried to hug him tighter, only for Andrew to pry her off as a response, "I'm sorry, I'm not much of a hugging type."

"What about the other night?" Rainbow asked defiantly.

"I have reasons why and why I don't. That was because you found something dear to me," Andrew said with a deadpan expression.

"What was that thing she found dear to you?" Celestia mused, Andrew sighed as he took out the locket from his backpack.

"This," He opened it up and gave it to Twilight to look at, "This is all that I have left from my Mother. It's one of my most treasured possessions."

"Well, I can see why you don't hug. Everything gets all sappy." Rainbow said, wiping a single tear from her eye.

Andrew and his team headed back to the Police Station, where they were getting security detail for Princess Luna tomorrow. They all had their Halloween costumes, because their costumes were actually customized body armor to each one of Echo's liking. Jhon was going as a BSAA Agent, while Helena was going as a Blue Police Officer. Nick was going as The Courier, and Andrew had an Advanced RIG, with fully functional Stasis and Kinesis Modules.

"Well, I'm going out to help out preparations for Nightmare Night. I'll see you later." Andrew said, heading out the door.

Andrew helped with preparations, setting up games slowly, and dessert tasting with Pinkie. He then passed by a music store, which happened to sell instruments too. Andrew had a large grin as he went inside. To be welcomed by the owner, who's eyes could not be wider.

"Oh! It's one of you! I never had any humans in my store before! Welcome!" He said, Andrew nodded as he looked around and into the Electric Guitars.

"Do you happen to own a Gibson Les Paul?" Andrew asked, he shook his head.

"We do have a Gibson Les Pony though, a classic." he said, pulling out the white Gibson on display. Andrew tuned it and started to play a few notes of a song.

"Dang man! You can play." Andrew nodded as he put the guitar back in the case.

"How much for it?" He asked.

"With your skill you can have it for half price! 1500 Bits!" Andrew sighed as he took out his coin sack and gave him the money needed to pay for it, the clerk smiled as Andrew walked out of the store.

He was done helping by now, and he even managed to schedule a small gig with Mayor Mare to play tomorrow night. Andrew went on over to the park to try out his new guitar, and decided to play a song just for his entertainment. He sat down on the rim of the fountain, making sure his guitar was tuned just right.

There was a crowd forming around Andrew as he finished, he looked around and saw that they were all staring at him. He smiled sheepishly as he played another song, he wasn't going to sing, because he had to sing tomorrow, and didn't want anything bad to happen.

The crowd started to get bigger, and closer to where Andrew was sitting. He started to pack up and leave, when Rainbow came up to him.

"Hey, you're pretty good with the Guitar." She complimented, Andrew nodded.

"I aim to please. Rock is never dead, as some people say." He said, Rainbow nodded as she looked at the guitar case.

"What type of guitar is that?" She asked.

"It's a Gibson, one of my favorites." Rainbow's eyes widened.

"Wait, was it that white one over at the Guitar Store?" He nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"That was autographed by Gibson Les Pony himself! I've been trying to get it for months now!" She said, Andrew smiled sheepishly. She pouted and crossed her front legs together, Andrew sighed as he took the guitar out of the case. He looked and saw that there was an autograph on it, in silver Sharpie no less.

"Do you want it? I have a pretty good job to pay for another one, so it's not a big deal." He asked. He put it back in he case as he handed it to Rainbow. Rainbow's eyes could not get any bigger, she took it cautiously and slung it over her back.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She said, and went up to him to hug him.

"Uh, no problem. Really." He said, trying to be subtle while prying Rainbow off of him.

"Hey, it's getting a bit late, you want to get something to eat?" Andrew said, putting a hand on the back of his head, stretching. Rainbow looked down at her stomach as it grumbled, she nodded.

"Cool! It's a date!" She said, Andrew had a serious blush on his face.

"Uh, no. It's not a date, sorry I'm not planning to be in a relationship anytime soon." He responded, Rainbow was also blushing, noticing her mistake.

"Uh, I didn't mean it like that! I meant... uh... like the date of today! Yeah! I'm so excited for tomorrow!" She said, Andrew raised and eyebrow, but brushed it off as if it was nothing.

The two headed over to a Diner a little away from the town square, it was rather busy, and usually full of teenagers and young adults. Andrew looked around the place, but he never imagined it to be so... pink. It had a little place dug in the corner, where ponies would read books or use their laptop. On the other side it had a sports bar, where ponies would watch sports of some sorts. The only think that probably wasn't pink was the bar itself, which had neon alcohol signs and a blue neon color to it.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?" Rainbow asked, Andrew shook his head as he sat down at a nearby booth. He sat down and got relaxed, he almost fell asleep while doing that, but the waitress came before he could do so.

"May I take your order? Sir?" Andrew shot up and shook his head in a fast motion.

""I'm sorry what was that?"

"May I take your order?" He looked on the place mat menu.

"I guess I'll have the Buttermilk Pancakes and hash browns. I think the mare over there is getting, the Minestrone soup." She wrote that down and happily trotted off. Rainbow came down to sit with Andrew, and she looked like hammered shit.

"Damn Rainbow, you look like shit." He said, she nodded in a sluggish way.

"Yeah *hic* when you drink Applejack Daniels it *hic* can do stuff to ya. Here, give it a try." She offered him the bottle, and Andrew slowly pushed it out of the way.

"Sorry, I'm the designated driver tonight." He said with a straight face.

"C'mon! Just a little sip." She said.

"Well, someone's gotta get you home. I thought drinking and flying was illegal here." He said crossing his arms, once their food arrived Andrew's mouth started watering from just the smell of it.

Andrew literally choked down his meal, he hasn't eaten since yesterday at lunch, and Rainbow just sat there, watching him in horror. She had a smirk on her face as she sobered up, and eventually cracked up laughing. Andrew shrugged and scarfed down more food, and damn was it good.

"Ah, that hit the spot." He said, patting his stomach area. Everypony in the Diner went back to their normal routine after watching Andrew eat, especially Rainbow, who was on her second bottle of Bourbon.

"Alright, that's enough drinking Rainbow. Let's get you home." Andrew carried her over his shoulder, she wouldn't go willingly so he had to.

"But *hic* I live in a cloud house *hic* I can't get home unless *hic* I fly there *hic*." Andrew put a hand on his chin, and he snapped his fingers together.

"We have spare beds in the Police Station. You can sleep there for the night, kay?" She shrugged, probably because she wasn't thinking straight. Andrew put her down on the top bunk, and he undressed into his sleeping clothes. She was already fast asleep, and so were the rest of his team.

"I can say that this has been one helluva day. Can't wait to see what tomorrow's like." He said as he put the guitar down next to the dresser, in an upwards position.

Author's Note

Alright, so Nightmare Night is coming up for Echo Team, and I was somewhat vague with the costumes. Well, at least I was vague with Nick and Helena, because I want you to think of what they would look like in their costumes. If they would look like a badass Nick, or a sexy Helena.

Chapter 14

Act 2-4
The Other Guys

Andrew was at his desk, reading a letter specifically from Princess Celestia herself. He was drinking his coffee as he sped through the letter.

Dear Echo Team,

I am assigning you to be my personal security escort while we are in the Griffon Kingdom. We will be picking you up in the next hour or so and from there straight to our destination. Why I am choosing you is because Shining Armor and his team are training a handful of new recruits, and I need someone with fighting experience. Do not take this assignment lightly.

Princess Celestia

He finished the letter and almost choked on his coffee, he threw the letter down and got himself cleaned up. He then went into the barracks, where the rest of his team were hanging out. Once they took notice of him they stood up straight and saluted him. Lined up on one side of the room, Andrew paced back and forth as he talked.

"Listen up you apes! We've been tasked with a Tier 1 Objective by Princess Celestia. You heard me right, Tier One, that means no fuck ups. Get your ass in gear, because we are heading out in an hour." He commanded.

"Sir, yes sir!" They all said in unison.

Andrew went into the locker room to retrieve his stuff. He grabbed his Desert Eagle and his ACR, and slung them over his back. He put on his tactical belt fully loaded with five ACR magazines, as well as seven Desert Eagle clips. He wore his primary body armor, and put on sunglasses and a mask to cover up his mouth and nose. He walked down the hallway, being joined in the process by Helena, then Jhon, and finally Nick, each holding their signature weapons. It would be more dramatic if there was a background light shining behind them, and walking in slow motion.

They were just in time too, Celestia had just arrived in her Royal Chariot. They saluted her as she passed by, and she came up to them, smiling.

"At ease soldiers. Now, onto business. Come with me." She gestured towards her chariot, which had a stagecoach.

"Princess, is there a reason why you specifically assigned us to be your escort? If you don't mind me asking?" Princess Celestia chuckled.

"Why yes, I have assigned you specifically. I assume you want a reason?" They nodded.

"Equestria and the Griffon Empire are not in the best relationship as of right now. I'm going to negotiate a peace treaty with the Griffon Emperor, Emperor Grif Griffonson." Andrew, Nick, and Jhon snickered. Helena facepalmed and Celestia raised a brow.

"Grif Griffinson? That is so cliche'." Andrew laughed, Celestia rolled her eyes and continued.

"Anyways, me assigning you to be my security escort is no accident. Most Griffons are trained to kill, and seeing that most of my guards never had fighting experience, you were the next best thing. That, and the fact that you only use lethal force when necessary." She explained, Andrew put a hand on his chin.

"Well Princess, that's only if we're not ordered to kill. If we are, things can get ugly really fast." She nodded.

"Well, only use lethal force if it's a last resort. If possible avoid any violence at all."

"Yes ma'am." He said enthusiastically.

The ride was rather boring, and quiet most of the way. Once they were across the border, the scenery completely changed. The forests were dense, and the villages were less colorful unlike Ponyville. Once they had arrived at the castle, it towered above the humans as they arrived in the courtyard. Andrew and his team exited the stagecoach, the wind from the Pegasus guards blowing up dust like a helicopter. Andrew leaned down on a knee, Helena mirrored him, Jhon and Nick walked along side Celestia, with their guns pointed down to their sides.

"Hello Princess Celestia, I see you came prepared." A Griffon said, Andrew assumed that it was the Emperor, wearing a cape with an insignia of a Griffon on the side.

"Greetings to you as well Emperor, may we get started?" She asked, the Emperor gestured for them to come inside the castle. Celestia walked inside with Jhon and Nick, followed in by Andrew and Helena.

Andrew and his team stood around the perimeter, making sure everything was secure, communicating through their ear pieces. Nothing through the first parts of the meeting were out of the ordinary, but Andrew was in for a surprise, because the subject was now about them.

"So, Tia. Who are these companions of yours? I can't say I've met anything like them before." The Emperor asked, Celestia giggled.

"They are humans, Emperor. They risked their lives rescuing me from a reckless decision I've made. So, I rescued them, and they're just like any other Equestrian Citizen, with a paying job and everything." She explained.

"...and I assume that job is, being a bodyguard?" He asked.

"Oh no~ they aren't body guards, they're a Police Force in the small town of Ponyville. Somepony- I mean someone has to keep that town in check somehow."

"If they're a Police Force in this, 'Ponyville,' then why are they here with you now?"

"They're the best trained. They went through years of training back on their home world, and survived a month of Luna's Night Guard Boot Camp. They're not regular Police Officers." The Emperor nodded.

"Do you mind if I put that to the test?" He mused.

"As in a demonstration? Gladly. Captain Hartfield? Would you come here please?" Andrew walked to her side, and saluted.

"Sergeant Strong Talon! To my side!"

"Yes sir?"

"Bring me his heart." The Emperor said.

Sergeant Strong Talon swooped in on Andrew, but he side stepped him and grabbed him by the tail. Andrew pulled Sergeant Strong Talon towards him and brought his elbow down hard on his back, and then held him in a choke hold until he passed out from suffocation. He then saluted again, and walked back to his assigned position.

"That was interesting." The Emperor said, Celestia nodded as she sipped on her tea.

"Indeed. Now, where were we?" She said with enthusiasm.

"Most of the citizens in the Griffon Empire think Equestria is to blame, as the agricultural economy is not doing so well as of lately. We are not as skilled as your Earth Pony race when it comes to farming, and that they blame them for having all of the fertile land." He said, which made Celestia upset, just a little bit though.

"Surely you can't blame us, we've done nothing wrong. I'm sure we can work this out, establish a colony if possible." She said with a serious tone in her voice.

Andrew had intercepted an unknown frequency, and what he heard was quite disturbing. He listened in closer to the anonymous conversation.

"Yes sir, Princess Celestia is inside the castle, speaking with the Emperor. Do you want me to signal the assassin? Okay, the assassin is on his way."

Andrew's eyes widened as he saw a Griffon Guard in the corner aim his crossbow, pointed directly towards Princess Celestia. He started to run, and everything seemed like it was in slow motion. The bolt was fired, and already in midair, Andrew jumped in front of Celestia just in time to catch the bolt. He was hit right in the shoulder, and he fell to the ground with a thud. The Griffon Guard was then apprehended by the other Guards, and the rest of Echo Team formed a defensive triangle around the Princess. Helena dragged Andrew inside the triangle, and they left the scene along side Emperor Griffinson.

"Emperor! What is the meaning of this?" Celestia scolded.

"I am very sorry Princess, I do not know what happened!"

"Where's the nearest hospital? We need to get him to a hospital!" Celestia helped Helena load Andrew onto the chariot.

Andrew was disoriented, and he was bleeding out, quickly. He was dizzy from blood loss, and could barely make out what anyone was saying.

"Don't worry sir! You'll be okay!" Was the last words he managed to hear before going into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw was being loaded into a chariot, and the word, "Hospital," could be heard a lot.

"I thought he was wearing body armor!" Celestia worried for the boy.

"The bolt hit him in an exposed area ma'am. It was unexpected." Helena said with sadness in her voice.

They barged right in, straight into the Emergency Room. They loaded Andrew onto a gurney and rushed him down the hallway. He was likely long gone by now, but a nurse felt a pulse, and rushed him inside of an operating room.

"We're losing him!" They brought out the defibrillators, and tried to revive Andrew.

Chapter 15

Act 2-5
Unexpected Outcomes

Andrew woke up in a haze, his left chest area hurting with immense pain, making it to where he could almost not move. He looked around, noticing that he was in some sort of medieval inn of some sorts. The lanterns swinging about, making the room light improperly. He was laying on a straw bed, and there was cobblestone that made up the interior walls. He stood up-straight with caution, not wanting to cause any further injuries to himself. There was a knock on the door, and Princess Celestia, as well as Andrew's Team walked in. He could see that they've been worried, by the obvious looks on their faces. He smirked, and grabbed his shoulder as it had a sudden burst of pain, shot right through him.

"AaaaAAAaagh! *hiss* Hey *rrgh* guys." He paused, "Where am I? What happened?" He asked, they all looked back and forth at each other before facing him. They could be seen acting all nervous like, as if something happened to him. The thing is, something did happen to him.

"You're in a hospital. You here shot with an enchanted crossbow bolt, meant to kill any magical conduit it hit. It made a pretty deep hole in your upper chest region, you almost bled to death on my chariot on the way over here." Celestia said with a stern voice, Andrew nodded. He the turned and looked out the window, still as gray and misty as ever.

"The problem with that, is that you aren't a magical conduit. In fact, your body was at the point to where it resisted the deadly enchantment." She continued, Andrew was left scratching his head. His eyes widened to the size of baseballs, what did magical enchantments have to do with him being shot? He was left in an utterly confused state.

"Can you please speak in a *rrgh* language I can understand please?" He asked, and Celestia chuckled.

"Of course. It means that you are able to absorb magic and release it back into the environment, or that you're highly resistant to magic itself." He nodded.

"That being said, your friends here are probably able to do the same, but as of yet I have still need to test this theory." She questioned herself, putting a hoof to her chin.

"Luckily, we brought you here just in time too. We almost thought you wouldn't have made it." A doctor walked in, looking at a clipboard. She was a Griffon, a rather slim one too, he would guess that she would be one of those stereotypical sexy doctors, he would consider it kinda hot, if he was a Griffon.

"When should I be out of here? I don't like staying in the same place for long. Also, where's my stuff?" He questioned.

"You will be out of here by sundown. Once you're out of here don't do anything to open the wound again though, you aren't invincible. You will get your stuff once you are discharged." The doctor said, Andrew laughed.

"Doctor, please. My team and I are practically unstoppable, given the fact that back home we had the highest success rate out of any team. We were living Grim Reapers to sum it all up." He said.

"Your old home, and your new home, are two different things. Don't do anything that isn't worth risking your life, Doctor's orders." She left the room, and Andrew stood there silently.

"Anyways, I should be getting back to negotiations with the Emperor." Celestia said, heading out the door along with Echo Team.

"But what about what happened yesterday? Aren't you afraid of it happening again?" Andrew asked.

"The Emperor has changed the security detail that will be watching over us. The, 'Best of the Best,' if you would." She chuckled, Andrew looked at her, mouth agape.

"She just totally stole our catch phrase, Drew!" Nick lipped to him, and he followed Celestia out the door.

Andrew was bored out of his mind, he slammed his head against the back wall he was leaning on, until the already weakened structure cracked. Andrew turned around suspiciously, and he saw the there was a dark, gaping hole where the wall he was hitting now was. He reached his arm through the hole, and pulled out a journal. A rather old journal, he blew the dust off of the cover and read the title.

"Hidden Folklore and Prophecies. By Starswirl the Bearded." He read out loud. He opened the book to a random page, and saw an illustration of darkness, and in that darkness, he saw indescribable things come out of it, and the only things standing against them are Princess Celestia and Luna.

"E Pluribus Unum, out of one, many. Out of the darkness, there will be many dark evils." He mumbled to himself. He flipped to another page, but it was empty, the only thing in the book was that one prophecy. There was more things to the picture, but they were blurred out, and he couldn't make anything out.

The door swung open, and Andrew quickly hid the book behind his back. He had the best reaction time to put on a poker face at a moments' notice. The Griffon Doctor came in, with a pen and clipboard, smiling.

"Mister Andrew, you should be free to go by now. Just don't use that shoulder until it fully heals. Just sign here, here, and here." The doctor said. Andrew took the feather quill and signed the papers, getting out of bed, lightly stretching out his left arm.

"Thank you again doc, I don't know where I would be without you." He said gratefully, the doctor smiled.

"You would've been dead without me." He joked. Andrew just stared at him with a blank expression, and then started cracking up laughing. He let out a sigh as he slowly climbed out of bed, he grabbed his shoulder as it was sore, and putting pressure to a wound helps, for him at least.

"Your stuff is in the second door to your right, down the middle hallway." Andrew waved off the doctor and he walked slowly to the room he was aiming for, he slowly lifted up a lantern and inside it was pitch black. Andrew coughed as he breathed in dust, and he lit a nearby torch to light up the room.

"Holy shit, that's a lot of old stuff." He said, looking around. He saw Chest Plates, Pauldrons, Greaves, Vambraces, and a whole lot of Medieval Stuff. They were all metals of different kinds, with display cases on all of them. Andrew put on his gear, all 65 pounds of it too.

Andrew grabbed his Desert Eagle, polishing it before putting it in the holster. Andrew slung his ACR over his back, making sure it was safety in the process. He turned on the camera from his tactical pad, latched onto his left forearm. He took a picture of what looked to be Assassin Robes, he wasn't entirely sure but they looked cool nonetheless.

"Captain Andrew sir. Princess Celesia ordered us to escort you back to Ponyville. You will be discharged from active duty until you have fully recovered. Your team will be back with you in the next few days."

"Lead the way Sergeant." He said, steadily walking towards the escort chariot. From there he rode back to Ponyville, recovering until he was fit for active duty.

The ride was fairly short, a lot like the way over to the Griffon Empire, but it seemed so much shorter for some reason coming back. The wind was up in his face, which made him have to close his eyes, the fast wind whistling past his ears. Andrew said goodbye to his escorts as he was dropped off by the Police Station, letting out a sigh as he walked inside. What he found inside of the dark Police Station, was quite amusing...

Chapter 16

Act 2-6
Quite Unexpected

Andrew headed towards the light, not knowing what could be hiding in the dark room that was the main office. He slowly and silently reached for the light, not making a single noise. The next thing you know, a burst of confetti, multiple ponies popping out from the cut, and Pinkie Pie getting up in Andrew's face, he was on the ground, almost crying.

"SURPRISE!!!" Pinkie said happily, but then she noticed that he was shuttering.

"Andrew, are you okay?" She asked, Andrew slowly stood back on his feet, grabbing his temples.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Pinkie. Just please don't do that again, my chest is hurting thanks to you." He said, but Pinkie had a crazy sadistic smile, the whole time.

"Happy return from the Griffon Empire! Hey, where's the rest of you?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head.

"They're still in the Griffon Empire, I was discharged from active duty, I took an arrow and punctured through my shoulder." He lifted his shirt to reveal several bandages covering his chest, some were completely clean, while others were stained blood red.

"Oh, you poor thing." Fluttershy muttered, Andrew got down to her level, bending his knees and his heels weren't touching the ground. He patted her softly on the head, showing a smile.

"It's alright Fluttershy, it's not a big deal." He said, but it kind of tipped the scales.

"No, Andrew. It is a big deal! You could've gotten hurt, or somepony else could have gotten hurt. Or even worse, killed." She said with a serious tone, Andrew looked at her like she was crazy.

"Okay, it could have been worse, but it wasn't. Fluttershy, it's nice of you that you care for me, but I can look after myself just fine." He responded, getting up.

"So, are we going to party? Or are we going to PAAAARTAY?!" Pinkie said, Andrew sighed as he went down the hallway. He left the party behind him, not wanting to partake in any of it. He then went to his room, and sat down on the side of the bed, taking a framed picture off of the nightstand. It was a family picture, with him as a teenager, smack dab in the middle.

"I miss you guys." He murmured, a single tear fell from his eyes. Somepony walked into the room, it was none other than Twilight. She looked concerned for the guy, Andrew was on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Andrew? Are you alright?" She said, Andrew closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, you could see his chest moving calmly up and down while he breathed.

"I can't do anything right."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean that I can't do anything right. Everyone around me either is in danger or is already dead. I'm practically walking death." He was in an emotional state. Twilight sat down next to him, he got up and sat on the side of the bed.

"No you're not. You're a great stall- man, Andrew."

"What makes you say that? You know I kill people for a living, shooting them without a second thought. Hell, you could even be in danger just from sitting here, next to me!" He exclaimed.

"Andrew, you're just going through an emotional state. You just need to calm down."

"How can I calm down when I know the people I killed haunt me? Huh? Can you answer me that? I know I may seem delusional, but... my dead family, they go through my head. They just like to fuck with me, and I can't do jack shit about it." He started to grunt and hiss as another vision came through his head, creating a splitting headache for him to endure.

"You can't fight it Andrew, we're stuck with you." They started to tease.

"Get out of my head!"

"What am I here for, Andrew? Why am I here? Am I your guilt? All the pain and suffering you've been through? Or am I your lover? The only, one dear thing you held dear in your tiny, worthless existence?! ANSWER ME!!" The bloody apparition of Carmine was getting closer.

"No! Get away from me! You aren't Carmine! Carmine's dead! Along with the rest of you fuckers!" He said out loud, which startled Twilight just a bit.

"Okay Andrew, just take it easy. They're not really there, it's just tricking you." Andrew got down on his knees, his hands digging into the short, spiky brown hair he had, making ridges in between his fingers. His eyes are all widened out, and you could see the blood vessels in them, making it look like he's crazy.

"Twilight, please. Make it stop." He said in a dead voice. He then slumped over, unconscious. Twilight's worry increased, she levitated him into bed and trotted in place.

"Okay, I'm gonna have to get the girls!" She said, shutting the door close behind her.

Andrew woke himself up in complete darkness. There was nothing there, and no light or any type of brightness. It was just... black. Andrew patted himself down and searched his person, and found a single flashlight. It flickered on and off before turning on, and he moved it around, looking at his surroundings.

"Hello?" He called out, but there was no answer.

"Andrew, we've been waiting for you." He heard a voice of a woman, he turned around.

It was Carmine.

"What the hell do you want?" He asked, in a defensive state.

"We just want you to come home, Andrew. Nothing more, nothing less." She held out her arms, walking in a straight line towards Andrew.

"No! I'm not going home! I don't have a home! I don't even know why the fuck I'm here!"

"Where are you then?" She asked.

"I-I don't know anymore. First I'm here, saving the lives of innocents, and the next thing you know I'm being teleported into a land that I still don't think even exists. My mind... it can't take much more of this, I-I can't keep going." He cried on his knees.

Twilight and her friends were watching the whole thing, Twilight had explained cautiously to her friends that Andrew was in an unstable mental condition. They all stood there, watching, with their mouths agape. They were all shocked at what Andrew had been hiding, what he's been having to deal with since his teenage years. It was dreadful, the blood, the scenery, the bloody apparitions.

"So, what yer tellin' me is that Andrew puts up with his on a daily basis?" Applejack asked.

"Pretty much, he said it's called, 'Dementia' where you see violent hallucinations of dead relatives or loved ones." She explained, Andrew could be seen sweating in his unconscious state.

"So, what do we do? We can't just let him stay there." Rainbow said, sitting on the top bunk of Andrew's bed.

"I'm gonna help him. I'm going in his mind, and pull him outta there." Twilight said, putting on a suit. She put on a white suit, almost like a hazmat suit but not as bulky. She then used her horn and placed it on Andrew's forehead, where she would go into his mind.

"Wish me luck." She then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and inside of Andrew's mind she went.

Author's Note

When Andrew is talking to himself while in his demented state or in his mind, they will talk in red and blue text from now on.

Chapter 17

Act 2-7
Nightmares of Yesterday

Twilight found herself inside of Andrew's subconscious, in which there wasn't much to behold. There wasn't really anything out of the ordinary, just a typical white, bland background. She looked around, and saw Andrew lying on the ground. She made her way over to him, but he didn't even acknowledge her presence.

"Andrew? Are you there?" She asked, but he didn't answer. She turned him onto his back, and she looked at him. His eyes didn't have any color in them, as if he were blind. His hair was gray, and so was his five o'clock shadow, as if he was getting older.

Twilight did her best to wake him, but he was stuck in a trance like state. She had to get him out somehow, but didn't know how. Just then, a woman appeared out of nowhere, and she put a hand on Twilight's shoulder, which made her jump. The woman looked a lot like the woman from Andrew's locket, but different at the same time.

"It's okay little one, don't be afraid. I want to help you." The woman said, in an almost Celestia type motherly voice.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Andrew's representation of his subconscious, Kat. I help him keep his sanity during his time on the front lines. Practically in a way, I'm his personal A.I." Kat explained, Twilight just kept getting more and more confused.

"If you help him keep his sanity, how come he's like this now?" Twilight asked, Kat's mood worsened.

"It's his Dementia, it's getting worse. Something about being here, in Equestria, makes his state of mind more dangerous. I can't keep trying to suppress it, as it just keeps breaking the seal." Kat said, and Twilight gave an affirming nod.

"Can you help me bring him back? My friends are deeply worried about him." Twilight sniffled.

"Of course, do you have a spell that can act as a defibrillator?" Kat asked, Twilight smirked and nodded.

"Actually, yes I do." She walked up to Andrew's lifeless body and cast a spell that sent a jolt of electricity through him. His color started to come back, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Beware Twilight, now that he's awake, the nightmares are coming with him. Brace yourself, because some of these nightmares may scar you for life." Kat said, fading out and into the white scenery.

Andrew rubbed his head as he gathered his thoughts, he noticed Twilight a few feet in front of him, but soon after a giant wall came in between them, making it impossible to get to each other. Andrew went up to the wall, it was made purely of some sort of a dark substance, that was almost not possible to break, unless if someone had a giant machine.

"Twilight! I'll meet you at the other side! Whatever you see, just don't give up!" Andrew said, pulling out a small machete that seemed to be made out of hard light.

"I'll see you there! Stay in one piece for me! My friends expect me to bring you back not dead!" Twilight said in a worried state, Andrew smirked as he ran off into the darkness.

"Kat, are you there?" She appeared from out of nowhere and smiled.

"Yes?" She asked, Andrew, startled turned around slowly.

"How do I get to Twilight?"

"Through there." She pointed, Andrew looked forward and saw nothing but more darkness. He grabbed his head as it started to hurt.

Andrew gulped as he walked forward, his hard light machete in his hand. He started to get uncomfortable as his surroundings were changing, the surroundings were changing rapidly as he walked faster. Andrew's eyes widened as he remembered this place, in fact it was too familiar.

"Oh god no." Not only his surroundings were changing, but his form was changing as well. His form was getting shorter, and his build was weaker. He felt... younger for some reason, as if he was living his days back when he was a teenager.

Twilight was galloping down a trail, and there were unknown whirling birds flying overhead. She flinched as they passed by, because the winds were producing so much wind, and the noise was no greater. The buildings to her looked so futuristic, so... not like home. She knew she was not in Equestria, but this was Andrew's home world. She walked down the streets, looking at the beautiful scenery, but one thing seemed to catch her eye. She saw Andrew, younger, and smaller, walk into a casino, she smiled as she galloped faster after him. The inside of the place was gorgeous, the carpets were all specially designed, the slot machines were going off, and dinging noises.

She was hypnotized at the sights, and there was so much to take in. What she wanted to know is that how Andrew is able to make his memories to vivid. As she went deeper into the casino, she lost Andrew by now, there was no sign of him anywhere.

Just then, there was a big explosion, and multiple gunshots could be heard. She could make out screaming and a lot of blood throughout the chaos. There were gunshots and debris flying over Twilight's head as she went towards the source. She was not acknowledged throughout the entire memory, because she didn't belong there in the first place, and she knew this by reading through her memory spell. She could only interact with the host, in this case is Andrew.

"Where's Andrew? I have to find him quickly before time runs out!" She said, looking at a watch on her left forehoof. She had about half an hour before she was kicked out of Andrew's mind, and half an hour goes by fast in the real world.

"Mom? Dad? Where are you guys?" Andrew was crawling through the rubble and debris, hiding from his pursuer. There were strange men coming after him, and he had no idea why. All he knew is that he has to find his parents and get out, hopefully without getting hurt.

Andrew then looked up and over into the main lobby, through the chaos he made out two parental figures, on their knees, and a gun held to both of their heads. Andrew was then contacted by his parents through video phone, and he was bawling at this point. He was screaming for the man not to do it, but it was inevitable, because he was being dragged away by a security guard to safety.

"Andrew, honey. We both just wanted to know... that we love you. Please, take care of your grandparents for me- for us I mean. We'll miss you honey." His mother said in a chilled, cold voice. Andrew heard two distinct gunshot noises, and he was saying things he couldn't even understand.

"No! No no no no no! Mom! Dad! Don't leave me!" He managed out, but they were gone. Andrew was in shock, he could not move or anything.

He was then grabbed by a quadruped figure, not knowing what it was or why it was here. All he knew is hat he could've sworn he's seen it before.

"Andrew! We've got to go! Now!" He then shook his head, and he squinted his eyes at the quadruped.

"T-Twilight? What are you doing here?"

"Andrew! There's no time, your memory is about to collapse, and we'll be stuck here forever!" Twilight's horn started to glow, and everything faded back to white.

Both Twilight and Andrew woke up violently and with an audible gasp. Twilight was relieved that she was able to get him in time, but Andrew... his condition worsened.

"Thanks Twilight... for getting me out." He said with gratitude.

"It's what friends do, right?" She smiled.

"Yeah... right."

"C'mon! I think your team is back, and my friends were worried sick about you. Meet me in the lobby!" Twilight said before gunning out the door, Andrew smiled, but it didn't last for long.

"You may win this time Andrew, but we will not be forgotten so easily." She was back again.

"You know what? Fuck you! And FUCK your threats!" He said before going out the door to meet everyone.

Author's Note

Well, not as good as I hoped for it to be. Now that this is out of the way, I can be less serious next chapter.

Chapter 18

Act 2-7
The Big Reunion

Andrew walked down the hallway and into the bright light. He had a few ideas of what was going on, but he wasn't entirely sure. Once inside of the light, he could see four familiar biped figures, as well as a pony who towered just as high as himself. He smirked.

"Hey guys, how's life treating you?" He asked, they all looked like they were about to slap a bitch. Instead there was a tight feeling around his waist, and many warm bodies making contact with his own. No homo.

"Guys, you can let go now. It's only been a few hours." Andrew said, Twilight to the side slid her hoof into the ground, shuffling for a bit.

"Actually, the equivalent to what happened in your mind, was about three days." She explained, Andrew's jaw could not get any lower.

"THREE DAYS?!?! I could've been doing something within that time span!" He said, almost making a whining or crying sound.

"At least it's good to have you back with us, Captain." The Princess said in a motherly like voice.

"Please, no titles. Andrew or Drew is just fine." He said, as if he was blushing, but no visible red could be seen.

"Alright, Drew. Only because it fits you well." Celestia chuckled. Andrew smiled as he sat down on the lobby couch, Pinkie was sitting next to him, bawling her eyes out. He started to pet her softly and let her cry into his lap, making the situation awkward really fast.

"Pinkie what's wrong?"

"When you were inside of your mind we thought we wouldn't be able to see you again! I was so~ scared!" She bawled, Andrew patted her on the head. He started to cringe as

"It's okay Pinkie, I won't leave you like that ever again." He said, but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this promise. Everyone dies eventually, and with his type of job, some sooner than others.

"Pinkie Pie Promise?" She sniffled.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Okay, follow me. Cross my heart, and hope to fly," Andrew did the little flutter thing that made everyone laugh, "Stick a cupcake in my eye." Which made Andrew slap himself in the face.

"Ow." He said in a mono-toned voice.

Andrew was getting uneasy and restless through the conversation, so he waved his arms in the air. He wasn't taking more of this boring conversation, so he went into the locker room to take a shower, he must have smelled pretty badly of he was out for three days. He lifted up his armpit and took a whiff, and it smelled worse than a dumpster at a zoo. He turned on the water and waited for it to warm up, as he did so he grabbed his knife and took it in the shower with him. He washed his hair out, and the soap looked all dirty and disgusting too. He rubbed together some shaving cream and spread it on his face, using his knife to shave.

"Hey Andrew I was wondering if you could-AGHH!" Andrew covered his private parts and whipped around to see Rainbow Dash, averting her eyes.

"Rainbow? What the fuck? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?!" He was in a raised state of alarm. He was in a crouched position to cover up as much as possible, luckily Rainbow wasn't even looking, because he isn't doing such a good job with a knife in his hand.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know you were bathing!" She had a deep crimson blush, Andrew on the other hand was a little rosy red. He was inside of the locker room, so there were no shower curtains or walls for privacy, and he still had soap on his hair, so he couldn't really get out either.

"It's fine... Just please get out." Andrew said, his voice was a bit shaken up, but he was going to live.

Rainbow left without a word, and Andrew let out a sigh of relief. He then continued to wash out his hair and shave the rest of his jaw line. He then turned off the pipes and he dried himself, wrapping a towel around his waist and walking out of the steam. He passed by the lobby, where everyone was sitting and conversing. Once Andrew passed by, everyone stopped and stared.

"What?" Andrew asked.

"Uh, Andrew? You're a bit under dressed." Helena pointed out.

"Uh, yeah. I just got out of the shower." Rainbow looked down at the ground, and had a blush on her face.

Andrew shrugged, walking back into his room. He slowly closed the door to try and not to interrupt anything important, he put on his off duty clothes, which were his fatigue pants and a black dry fit shirt. He stretched his arms as he went back into the lobby. There wasn't much of anything worth talking about, and Andrew entering the room only made it more awkward.

"So, what now?" He asked the group.

"I must be getting back to Canterlot, I have some important business to attend to." Princess Celestia's horn started to glow, and she was gone in a gold puff of smoke.

"It's getting pretty late, I guess I'm going to bed." Nick yawned, Jhon followed close behind. Andrew looked on over to Helena, who had a smirk on her face as she looked back at him.

"Hey Drew, you want to hit up the club?" Helena nudged him, he shrugged as a response.

"Sure, why not." He said, following close behind her, heading towards Vinyl's Club.

The club was very busy tonight, the bar was almost full, the club was packed, and Vinyl was on her mix table. She noticed Andrew and Helena walk in, and she put on a song to occupy her absence as she went to talk to them. Andrew looked around, i was like every month the theme of this place changed, either that or it's just because of all the ponies that were in here.

"Sup guys! What brings you here?" She asked.

"Helena wanted to go here, I guess she had a song intended." Andrew explained, Helena nodded.

"Yup, I do. As a matter of fact you do too." She laughed.

"Wait, why me?"

"Because I told you to, now come with me, you go on right after me." She said happily, pulling him on stage.

Helena smoothly plugged in her iPod into the port and selected a song. Andrew moaned, but Helena gave him that look again. He cringed before slumping himself onto the stage, he just wasn't in the mood to sing. Vinyl was also pushing Andrew to do this, even though he didn't know the fuck why.

"C'mon Officer Andrew! I'm sure you'll do awesome!"

"Oh no, I don't think that's a good idea... aaaand you're taking me on stage." He said in a monotone voice, making this situation much more amusing for Helena.

"C'mon Drew! It'll be fine! Just go with it, we haven't done this in forever!" Helena poked his nose, and he cracked a smile.

"That's the spirit! Here! I'll go first. Watch and learn." She tossed him a microphone, he caught it and he sat back and watched.

(Le Music)

Helena was out of breath, but then again she felt proud of herself. Vinyl was cheering for her, and the crowd cheered for her as well. Andrew clapped for her, and she took a bow as she left the stage.

"Try and top that, Mr. Pout Face." She said in a toying manner. Andrew took out his iPod and plugged it in, it sparked to life as he put it in the docking station. It hasn't been charged in forever, but it still had great audio. He shuffled through his list of songs, and he let it play on it's own.

(Music!)

Andrew then waved himself off of the stage, in a cool manner. He was never one to be fond of popularity, he was always one to stay off the grid. The thing is it's kind of hard to do that knowing that you're one of four humans stuck in a world full of ponies and mythical creatures.

He walked out of the club, taking a late night stroll down Ponyville Square. He sat down on a bench, stretching out his legs and looking up at the night sky. He was accompanied by a magical force, instinctively, he drew his sidearm. Only to lower it as the magical distortion was none other than Princess Luna, who for some reason decided to come and visit.

"Your Majesty? What brings you here?" He asked, bowing.

"Please Captain, just call me Luna."

"Okay Luna, but why are you here?"

"Big Sister has told us about your predicament about your coma. I came here to see if you were alright." She looked cautiously at Andrew.

"Of course I am, I wouldn't be singing if I wasn't."

"You... sing?" She tilted her head.

"Yeah, I also drink too. Though it's hard to get hammered these days."

"Of all things going on, you worry about getting drunk?"

"It depends on the situation. With ghosts of the past haunting you your whole life, you need some sort of alcoholic beverage to take it off your mind. I prefer either Moonshine or Scotch myself, but I'm not in the mood to be drinking lately." Luna nodded.

"Come with me Andrew, I wish to speak with you." She started walking in a general direction, Andrew had no choice but to follow.

"Yes ma'am." He said, holstering his Desert Eagle, following close behind the Night Princess.

Author's Note

Well, that was interestingly boring. I'm tired as fuck right now.

Chapter 19

Act 2-8
A Little Story to Tell

"Do you need me for anything, Princess?" Luna smiled and nodded.

"I wish to know what you feel about night and day."

"Night and day? What do you mean?" Andrew said in a surprised state, which made Luna sigh.

"Yes, I find it intriguing to ask the ponies- er humans around me, about what they feel about certain times of day."

"To be honest, I don't really care for either. It's not really up to comparison, in a way. Night is calming, and relaxing. While for the day, it's active and full of surprises. If you think of it in a way, it's not really fair to compare the two." He said in a philosophical way.

"...Those words have much meaning to it, thank you."

"Thank me? For what?" Andrew asked.

"Most ponies, they either favor the night, or the day. You're the only one I know who stayed neutral, because you think there isn't anything to compare." She said, which made Andrew shrug.

"I'm just weird, I don't know what you're thinking." He made Luna giggle.

"I see... I must ask you something before I go."

"Yes Luna?" He asked, and she had a worried face.

"Why are you being haunted by your dead relatives? There certainly must be a reason why this must be happening." Andrew was ready to collapse, he was never really asked straight on about why he had this Dementia, or what was causing it.

"I-I don't know why, Princess, but one day I know it will kill me. I can tell you what happened to them though." She nodded silently, as Andrew began his story, he let out a heavy sigh.

"My family, Mother, Sister, Father, Brother, they died in a terrorist attack. There was a bomb detonation that killed my brother and sister, as well as an execution. My parents survived the explosion, but the massacre is where they met their fate. As for Carmine, that's a completely different story, she was in the United States Air Force. She died in a plane crash over South America, they never found the body." Luna was horrified, she was almost in a crying state by now.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"Save it, it wasn't your fault." He cut her off.

"How are you not sad? Surely you would be if you're talking about how your family died." Andrew gave a masked smile.

"Telling it over and over again a million times, you get used to it." Luna nodded.

"I just can't believe what you had to go through, without my sister I don't know what I would do." She thought about it for a second, then looked up to him.

"You could do what I do, join the Military." He said sarcastically, but Luna was not amused. She had a deadpan expression as she stared at him, and he gave an awkward smile.

"Sorry, crude humor."

"Forgiven. I must be going, I will see you later, Andrew." She smiled at him as she was enveloped in a blue aura, she was then gone in a puff of smoke.

Andrew sat down on the grassy ground, looking up at the sky. He took out his Desert Eagle, inspecting it before he put it down beside him. He dropped the magazine out and unloaded the chamber, making sure that it's unloaded so he won't accidentally discharge it and possibly hurt something. He looked down at his wrist, it was only 11 P.M. and he was tired. He decided to go back into the club to fetch Helena, so he got off of his ass to probably get her drunk ass to bed.

As he walked inside, there was a crowd around the bar table, where you could see Helena downing a shot of Tequila. You could see the flush on her face, and her opponent, was Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Helena seemed to be in the lead with Applejack in a close second. Rainbow wasn't far behind though, gradually catching up to Applejack as she downed a few more shots. Andrew smirked as Helena used his style of drinking, what he does is that he just downs it as quick as possible, and as many as possible. Sometimes, he even does a few shots at once, but after a while it starts to get to you, and it starts to burn.

"Alright Helena, finish up. I'll take you home."

"Gladly." she downed the last shot and slammed it on the table. She then wobbled on over to Andrew, where he slung her arm over his shoulder. Applejack just finished, and tied with Rainbow, where both of them were clearly drunk as you could see.

"So, what happened in there?" Andrew asked.

"So *hic* Rainbow challenged Applejack *hic* to a drink-off *hic* so I joined in too. *hic* Trust me on this, *hic* they'll give you a run *hic* for your money." She slurred, Andrew chuckled as he set her down to unlock the door.

He picked her back up and he brought her to her bed. She was asleep by now, so there was no worry about drunk rape. Andrew closed the door behind him as he slumped himself onto his bed. He sighed and peacefully went to sleep.

"What are you up to this time, Andrew?" A distinct voice called out.

"Didn't I tell you enough times to GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD?" He said in a frustrated voice. All Carmine did was laugh.

"Oh, don't do that to me, Andrew. I miss you." She said in a taunting way, Andrew disapproved.

"Well, I surely don't miss you. You know what? Fuck this, I'm going to sleep." He said, everything blacked out, and there was no dream. Until Andrew woke up it was black, and nothing happened until then.

Andrew woke up with an audible gasp, he looked around and saw that he was the only one that was still in bed. His team mates could be heard downstairs in the shooting range, he got himself dressed and washed up, and he went down into the basement where the shooting range was.

"Great thing that bullets aren't limited anymore!" Helena said in a raised voice, shooting her P226 at the paper. Since she was the designated sniper of the team her accuracy was dead on.

"What makes you say that?!" Nick replied, spraying his MP7. Andrew got on his protective gear as he cocked the slide back on his Desert Eagle. He then pulled the trigger, and a satisfying *BANG* echoed throughout the room. He pulled on it again, and again, until he heard that clicking noise.

"Because Princess Celestia 'borrowed' our blueprints from our wristpads to make a reloading station! I'm surprised she got them to work when we were unconscious at the time!" Helena yelled, it being so loud they could barely make out what each other was saying.

Jhon was on the other side, in the dummy range, throwing knives directly between the eyes of a wooden cutout of what seems to be a human model. He retrieved it and did the same to another dummy, about five meters further away than the latter.

"You know, I don't see how Princess Celestia even made a shooting range just from looking at our equipment!" Andrew asked, which made everyone stop to think. It was an eerie silence before someone responded.

"I'm pretty sure it's because the Princess has been to Earth more than once! Either that or she knows about firearms!" Helena replied back to him, making all of them nod.

Andrew then placed his ACR out on the table, loading in bullets into the magazine. He slid back the charging handle and let out short, controlled bursts of bullets. The wood at this point splintered, wooden pieces flying everywhere, eventually hitting his Andrew's safety glasses, making him wipe off the excess debris.

"You know what?! I think there are a lot of things here that don't really make any sense!" Jhon said over the roar of gunfire. They all nodded and agreed.

Helena set down her handgun and unloaded the empty magazine, she then replaced it with a fully loaded magazine and holstered it. She threw the empty magazine to Andrew, who was already at the reloading station making more bullets. He was a good multi-tasker, he was making bullets as fast as he could load them. It was certainly going to take a while, but it's better to be prepared.

Helena went topside, where she went outside to take a stroll in the bright morning sun. She casually strolled into town square where Rainbow swooped down and landed right next to her. Helena raised a brow and kept on walking, not saying a single word. She wanted to see how this would turn out for her, and perhaps troll Rainbow a little bit while she was at it.

"How should I out this... Uh, Helena? May I ask you something?" She said nervously.

"Sure, go ahead." She replied, smiling.

"Are you and Andrew... you know... a thing?" Helena was surprised, she took a nearby glass of water from a waiter's tray and did a spit take. She was coughing violently as she tried to respond.

"Oh ho no, not in any way, shape, or form dear Rainbow Dash. We're just close friends, why do you ask?" Helena knew where this was going.

"No reason, I'm just curious, yeah, that's all." Helena could see the blush on her face. She giggled before continuing, Rainbow stayed quiet to hear her story.

"I'm pretty sure I know where you're getting at."

"You know? How?" She said in an alarmed state.

"You don't just go up to someone and ask if they're going out with a specific person. It just makes things awkward." She explained, Rainbow silently nodded.

"Well, just to tell you the truth... Andrew isn't going to be dating anyone, or to more specific, anypony anytime soon. Sadly to say, he can't let go of Carmine, he blames himself for her death, as well as his own family. The reason for this is, he could have been there to save them, and he could have had the chance to find Carmine, but he knew she was dead from the start. Knowing that I'm surprised he hasn't lost it yet." Helena said it as if she was a philosopher, and just then Andrew walked in on the scene.

Andrew happily went outside, in his happy, sane self. He tried to find Helena and give her that empty clip she threw at him. He then saw Rainbow and Helena having a conversation, sitting on a park bench near Sugarcube Corner. Helena was using her hands to gesture something, and Rainbow could be seen in a shocked state of mind, but he couldn't make out anything just from looking at them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" He asked, Helena smiled as he tossed her the now fully loaded magazine for her handgun. He then sat down next to her, stretching out his arms as he laid back on the bench.

"Oh, we were just talking about things. Nothing special."

"Andrew, I forgot! We have been invited to do a question and answer session with Cheerilee's Class, meet me by the school house!" Helena jumped out of her seat, Andrew did the same.

"We'll see ya later Rainbow!" Andrew waved back at her, all she could do was wave back and stare.

"Drew, you crazy son of a buck." She muttered to herself, laughing.

"Alright class, today we'll be having over some surprise guests today!" The class got all excited, and even Cheerile was a bit nervous.

In the mean time, Andrew and Helena got on their uniforms, so they could be presentable to the class of fillies and colts. Andrew and Helena quickly got dressed as they headed straight for the school. Helena wasn't so good with remembering, she wasn't good with planning either, more of like the do stuff now, ask questions later type.

"I would like to welcome you, Officers Andrew and Helena, from the Ponyville Police Department." They stared in awe as both Andrew and Helena casually walked into the classroom, they looked like they were ready to take on a small army.

"Hello children, I'm Officer Andrew, and this is Officer Helena," He said, taking off his helmet, "We're here to answer any questions you might have for us, if you have any."

"Now class, when you ask a question, please tell them your name first." An orange Pegasus with purple hair whipped her hoof into the air. Andrew smirked as he called on her.

"Hi, Officer, I'm Scootaloo, and I have two questions for you. First one is, what are you? Second of all, how did you get to be Police Officers?" Andrew looked over to Helena, all she did was shrug back at him.

"Well, Scootaloo. We're Humans, and we aren't native to Equestria. How we became officers is because Princess Celestia specifically asked us to do so." She nodded. Another hoof raised into the air.

"Hi! I'm Sweetie Belle, and I think my older sister knows you! I'm pretty sure she made those uniforms for you! Anyways, do you have a Cutie Mark?" Andrew scratched his head.

"Cutie Mark? I have no fu- I have no clue what those are, and if I'm guessing right, I don't have one." The class made one huge gasp all together.

"A Cutie Mark is what symbolizes your special talent! It shows up on everypony's flank!" She explained, which made both Andrew and Helena laugh.

"I've always been wondering about these 'butt tattoos' but now I know. Anyways, humans don't have Cutie Marks, it's a pony thing. Or at least from what I've seen it is." Helena said, giggling. Another hoof raised into the air.

"Howdy, name's Apple Bloom! I was wonderin' why ya have so much stuff?" She said, Andrew could clearly rule out that this was Applejack's little sister. Helena decided to take this one.

"You gotta look your best when you're meeting somepony new, right?" Apple Bloom nodded.

"Well, this is our battle gear, whenever we have to go into engagements or missions. We aren't just police officers you know. Believe it or not, Andrew here stopped Princess Celestia's assassination." They all stared at Andrew in surprised. He lifted up his shirt to reveal the scar to prove it, in which it looked just like a bullet scar, just slightly bigger.

"I heard about that in the Newspaper."

"These humans are awesome!"

"Sure, but Rainbow Dash is cooler." They all whispered to each other. Cheerilee, Andrew, and Helena were all talking as the class got back to their activity.

"Thank you for coming in to answer questions. It's good for the younger generations to have role models like you." Cheerilee complimented.

"Well thank you for having us Miss Cheerilee, but I think these children shouldn't look up to us specifically."

"Why not? I don't see any problems in your line of work."

"Miss Cheerilee, I don't mean to damper the mood, but our line of work involves killing other beings. Killing from what it looks like should never be seen in a pony's lifetime. It's our job to protect, in any way we can." Andrew explained.

"I see now, but that doesn't hide the fact that there are ponies who still look up to you. They can trust you to keep them safe, eradicate any dangers."

"Thank you again Miss Cheerilee."

"Your welcome Officers! Class, you are now dismissed." She said, and just then a flood of fillies and colts went through the door.

Andrew and Helena were on their way back into town, and they knew something was up. They casually walked on as they ignored the stalkers, grabbing a late lunch in the process.

"Why are we following them again?" They could hear, Andrew could barely keep his straight face.

"Quiet Apple Bloom! They'll hear us!"

"Hey Andrew, you know we're being followed, right?"

"Oh yeah."

Chapter 20

Act 2 End
Oh joy... not really

"Uh, you know we can hear you, right?" They all let out a squeal, which made Andrew jump back as they came out of the bushes.

"Why are you following us?" Helena asked, which made the three fillies pause for a moment, probably from trying to make an excuse.

"Remember when you told us humans can't get Cutie Marks?" They both nodded.

"We were thinking you could help us get ours! Because we're the... CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" Andrew stuck a finger in his ear to try and stop the ringing sound, Helena covered her ears before they screeched into them.

"Maybe some other time girls, I have something I need to be working on." They all looked defeated, but Helena had an idea.

"Girls, all you need to do is find out what you like, maybe start from there?"

"You're right Officer! Thank you so much! Alright girls, time to go monster hunting again!" They ran off before Andrew had a chance to speak. Helena facepalmed, and they both continued back towards the police station.

Andrew was just about done with working on his project, Nick was very curious to see what he was doing. As Andrew had locked himself in the workshop, and hasn't come out for a few days now. Nick, Jhon, and Helena were all waiting to see him come out, surely he would've been exhausted by now, but he was still in there. They could hear grinding metal, curse words, and a lot of tinkering going on behind the closed double doors, and one moment, it all stopped. No sounds could be heard, and practically everyone was asleep by now, because it was about two in the fucking morning. Andrew opened the doors, and dust flowed out into the hallway, as if it was acting as dry ice. Nick had just woken up, and he noticed Andrew standing there, and he looked the same as he did before he locked himself in there.

"Andrew, what did you do in there? You don't look or have anything different?" Nick said, a bit disappointed.

"Well, that's because it's on my back, take a look at this!" He turned around and what Nick saw amazed him. It was a blue health bar going down his spine, as well as a blue semi-circle covering his right shoulder blade.

"You made a RIG? That's amazing!" Helena stared at his contraption, Andrew himself was pretty proud of it.

"I'm surprised I could get it working, considering that these ponies don't have the technology for it. The thing is that they have the resources for it, just no knowledge of making anything out of it. Here look, I even got Kinesis and Stasis to work too, with a little help of magic." He pointed to the empty bottles that labeled, "Raw Magic."

"This is sure to come in handy one day." He stretched out his arms, revealing both his Kinesis and Stasis modules attached to his wrist pads.

"Helena, I have spare parts if you want to build one too?" He offered.

"No thanks, I prefer to keep this sexy back of mine." Nick whistled as she said that, she gave a look to Nick, who rolled his eyes.

"You said it, not me." He remarked, Helena sighed as Andrew started to pick things up with his Kinesis.

"Well, I'm going to try this thing out! I'll be back later." As he went upstairs he ran into Twilight, who had a worried look on her face. Andrew could tell just by looking at her that this isn't a time to be fucking around, so he put on his very own poker face, which had a more serious look compared to Princess Celestia's.

"Andrew! It's a good thing I found you, we need to talk! Gather your team and meet me outside, Princess Celestia needs you!" Andrew went back downstairs to retrieve his team. He put his hands behind his back

"Officer on Deck!" He hollered, and they all lined up, holding up their hands in salute.

"Alright now, listen up soldiers! Get your asses in gear, we are moving out!" He said in his Drill Sergeant voice. They scrambled as they got their gear together, and they followed behind Andrew as they headed outside. When they went out they were met by Twilight, who had a royal letter in her telekinetic grip.

"Twilight, can you tell us what it says?" Andrew asked, she nodded as she opened it up.

"Dear Captain Andrew,

We have found the source that has been troubling our nation for far too long. It has been a nuisance since the Nightmare Moon incident, and we have finally found out where it's located, and a way to eradicate it. Come to Canterlot as quickly as possible, because this is a mission only you four can accomplish. I've provided train tickets for the four of you. My best wishes, Princess Celestia."

"Whoa, that's pretty deep." Nick said, trying to keep in his own laughter.

They headed on over to the train station.

"So, I guess this is goodbye for now." Twilight said, tearing up. Andrew nodded solemnly, checking his ACR to see if it needs to be cleaned or not. He slung it over his back, petting Twilight on the head.

"I'll see you 'round Twi. Take care of Owlowiscious for me."

"Wait, how did you-" She started but was cut off quickly after.

"I play with him when you're on royal business, the bird's grown on me." He opened the door to the train car, giving one last goodbye before shutting the hatch. He then heard furious knocking against the car, he opened the window to see five other familiar ponies, and boy they did not look happy.

"What now?" He complained.

"What now? You mean you're just gonna leave us, just like that? Without saying goodbye to your friends?" Rainbow flustered, Andrew looked from side to side.

"Well, that was kinda the point, yeah."

"Andrew, you broke a Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie was pissed at him, Andrew took a moment to breathe before speaking. He could easily tell that Pinkie Promises meant a lot to her, and breaking promises is one thing he absolutely hates.

"Pinkie, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making promises I can't keep, but I have to go. Princess Celestia is counting on us to fight for what's right, to make things right in the world. Look, if you want me to make it up to you, tell me whe- if I come back from this." Pinkie was almost to the point to where she was crying.

"I will forgive you on one condition."

"And that is?"

"Promise me you'll come back." Andrew shook his head, a single tear left his right eye.

"I'm sorry Pinkie, I can't promise you that. Every time I go out there's always a chance of dying, now matter how low, it's still a possibility." He looked over to Rainbow, who was practically crying buckets.

"Rainbow, don't cry. It's okay."

"But... what if I never see you again?"

"Rainbow, it's okay. I'll always be here." He poked her chest, she looked down with him, and once he looked up he gave a heart warming smile.

"Look, the train's leaving. We gotta go, Twilight, take care of them for me, if we don't make it back." Helena said, shutting the window.

Andrew sat back on the train cart, letting out a sigh as he closed his eyes. Before he did so he took off his helmet as his head sunk into he cushion. Andrew was out like a light the next thing you know it, Nick was asking for a marker so he could draw on his face. Helena just gave him that look, he sulked back in his seat, crossing his arms. Jhon was sitting next to Andrew, sharpening his hatchet with a simple stone. He wasn't one to talk, more one of those people who think actions speak louder than words.

It took quite some time to get to Canterlot, a good two hours even in the express train. Andrew led his team into the castle, where the guards saluted him as he passed by. They then carried on to whatever they were doing, one certain unicorn was oddly suspicious.

"Private, what are those... things?" He asked.

"Sir, if I'm correct those are humans. Hired by her personally as Ponyville's police officers and her special Task Force. The one leading is Captain Andrew Hartfield, saved the Princess's life he did."

"Hmm, interesting. Carry on Private."

"Yes sir, Captain Armor."

Andrew rushed through the doors as soon as he could, Princess Celestia was already at the gates to meet with him. She walked along side Andrew, who seemed to be re-arming himself in the armory, he grabbed a single hatchet and a few spare ammo magazines.

"Sorry about the sudden call to duty Captain, but this could be one of the most important things at mind since the Discord Incident. We have located this entity called, The Darkness. It corrupts anything that comes in contact with it, that's how Princess Luna was turned into Nightmare Moon."

"So, where do we come into play? I can't fight something that I can't touch." Andrew said, cocking the slide back on his Desert Eagle, and loaded a fresh magazine into his ACR.

"Since you humans seem to be resistant to magic, and at the same time being able to somewhat control it, we think you would be the right choice." She explained, the pupils in his eyes shrank.

"How are we able to control magic? How do you know this for a fact?" Helena raised her hand and grabbed onto his shoulder.

"You see, the Griffons thought it would be funny to throw clouds at us. To tell you the truth they hurt more than you think, it's like a belly flop on water. Though at times they are super comfy." She said, making Andrew that much more confused.

"So, what you're saying is that we can slightly manipulate magic, as well as purge it from our bodies?" Andrew asked, Princess Celestia could only nod in agreement.

"However, take too much in and you will get sick. Like radiation poisoning." She warned, Andrew then put a cloth over the lower part of his face, concealing his face up to his nose. He then put his helmet on, as well as his protective goggles that were strapped to the helmet itself.

"Princess, thank you for the briefing, but we need to know where we're going." She then tapped her horn on his wrist pad, showing a map, it depicted ruins inside of the mountains. They looked surprisingly familiar, but he couldn't make anything out just from the bird's eye view.

"Princess, if we don't make it back, take care of Twilight and her friends for us."

"Indeed I shall. Good luck, and may this not be our last encounter, Captain."

"Likewise Princess, if we get through this maybe we should get together some time, maybe over a cup of tea." She smiled.

"That would be delightful."

"We'll be back in a few days." Andrew shut the hatch on the carriage, and off they went into the mountains.

"So, where are we going anyways?" Nick asked, looking at the time on his wrist pad.

"We're going to the Solar Mountains, heh, I see what you did there Celestia. What's next? The Lunar Canyon?" He looked down at the world map. "Guess there's that too." He shrugged.

"This is as far as we can take you, sir. From here you go to the summit." He pointed all the way towards the peak of the mountain, Andrew had a deadpan expression as he looked.

They were dropped off at a small town, just at the base of the summit, there were tourists and ice climbers alike. The town was bustling with tourists and thrill seekers of all kinds, there was even a scheduled tour guide for people who want to see these ruins. Andrew looked at the ad on the billboard, the ruins looked so familiar, but he couldn't place a finger on what it was.

"Uh, Andrew? I think we've got company." There was a huge mass of ponies who went up to inspect the four humans. Some asked for autographs, and others just stared in awe.

"These are the humans the Princess was talking about!" One said.

"Well of course they are! These are the only four humans actually in Equestria as of right now!" Another replied.

"This is going to be trouble, isn't it?" Jhon asked, they all nodded.

"If we don't get out of here as quickly as possible it will." Helena said, trying to find a way through the crowd.

Chapter 21

Act 3-1
All Good Things come to an End

Andrew's health bar was blinking red, he looked to both sides to see his friends covered in blood, defeated. He looked up to Carmine, and all she did was kick him in the stomach, he coughed up more blood in the process. He looked up to her with the eyes of resentment, although his body could not take much more, he had the will of an Ox.

"You were right all along, Andrew. I'm not Carmine. Hehehe, I am Darkness itself, the very being that causes so much destruction and chaos. Now, after all of these years, we can be together again. My love." She raised up her foot, and brought it down, aiming for Andrew's head. Andrew braced himself with the last of his strength, he welcomed death with open arms, waiting for that moment to finally die.

"Well guys, we should start climbing." Andrew said raising his ice picks. He started the first climb, testing the ice cracks as he went.

"The ice is good, meet me up top." He dug his boots into the side of the mountain, firmly picking at the ice as he went. One ridge after another, they climbed and climbed.

Nick was in the lead, he kept on going at it, plunging his ice pick into he ice as hard as he could. He made a wrong move. He stuck the ice pick in so hard that the wall started to break apart, and the next thing you know Nick was falling off of the face of the icy cliff. Andrew luckily grabbed a hold onto his forearm, but Nick was still yelling.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH *You can stop yelling now." AAAAAAAHHHHHH! *NICK!*" He stopped, Andrew having a deadpan expression as he talked.

"What?"

"I said you can stop yelling..." He would've facepalmed if he had a free hand, but he was too busy holding himself up and keeping Nick from falling to his death.

"Oh, thanks." He then climbed over Drew to keep on going, he was in the very back now thanks to Nick.

"Hey guys, I think... we're here..." Helena was in awe, these so called, "Ruins," were huge, not only that, but they were ancient.

There was a small rest station over by the entrance, but it looked like it's been abandoned for some time now. Andrew went on over to use the bathroom, Helena went on over and saw a sign on the window.

"Condemned due to Darkness. Hmm, it doesn't seem that old either." She said, looking around the place. Andrew came out of the bathroom, a flush was heard in the distance, and had a satisfied look as he walked out.

"Alright guys, whatever we're up against. We're gonna take it down, together." He put his hand in, and it was joined by three other hands.

"Break! Alright, let's move out." Andrew got in a more serious tone, he looked like he was in pain, but he was acting just fine.

Andrew and Helena opened up the large granite walls, Jhon and Nick walked on in with their guns drawn.

"Room clear."

Andrew's Point of View

When I heard the O.K. to go inside, I didn't know what to expect in all honesty. I expected some sort of boss fight, but instead, nothing was there. There was no light shining inside of the room, the only light there was is the one coming from outside the doors, in which I heard a creaking sound. The next thing I know is that the giant huge ass doors slammed shut right behind us, my involuntary instincts directed my sights towards the door, and my obvious assumption was right, they were bolted shut.

"Captain, something tell me that this place isn't abandoned." Nick said, a bit shaken up from the eerie encounter.

"Yeah, I know. Something isn't right here." I said, pacing myself back and forth across the room.

"Well well, you made it. Good! Now we can get down to business." What the fuck? It's her again, how many times have I told her to stay out of my head? Ten? Fifteen? A thousand times by now?

"Get out of my head." I said, in a cold, unforgiving voice. All the entity did was laugh in my face.

"Oh, but I'm already out of your head. I've been waiting for you, snookums." Eugh, did she really just call me that? Now I feel like I'm going to throw up, nevermind, I did throw up a little in my mouth.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" I said out loud, the others looked at each other, thinking that I'm having another "episode."

"I've been waiting so long to find a host, now there are four of you to choose from!" It laughed menacingly, making me cringe a little bit.

"Wait a minute, a host?" Helena said, gun in hand, ready to shoot whatever.

"Yes, you people aren't the first humans in Equestria, you know. You see, the ones who built this place were once humans, back all the way to the Roman Empire. Now that they're all but wiped out, I've been stuck here for millenniums. Now, you're here, and now I have something to feed off of for the next century." I was very angry, this thing has been using my dead family to make fun of me, trying to make me succumb to insanity.

"Why me of all people? Why us?" I asked, and it let out an evil chuckle.

"Because, dear boy. You four possess the true souls of a Spartan Warrior, after all that's why you don't seem to die easily. I'm serious, you four are reincarnations of the Ancient Ones from long long ago." I start to remember why this building looked so familiar, I saw a vision of a small child, running through the throne room of this once glorious place. Two Alicorn fillies played with the small human child, I remember everything now.

"So, whatever you are. Why have you caused the citizens of Equestria so much hardship? Why Luna?"

"Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. Hehehe, it's always with you and your worthless questions. Very well then, if you want to know so badly, then I'll tell you. I'm pure Darkness, it's what I've been made to do, I make lives harder, because it's my job. Plus, I find pleasure in doing all this."

"Now that explanations are out of the way... Time to die." The Darkness, now on the form of Carmine, came straight for Helena. She grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air. Helena tried to break free of her grip, but nothing worked. The Darkness literally sucked the life out of her, and Helena cried as she was dying. Nick, Jhon, and I looked in horror to see our friend being used like a youth fountain. She fell limp to the floor, now deceased.

"HELENA! NO!" Nick cried out, he ran after her but was restrained by Jhon, I couldn't do anything but watch as one by one, by friends' lives are being sucked out of them.

The Darkness came for both of them, as they were the ones closest to it at the time. They tried to put up a fight, but to no avail. Nick put up a good fight, but he wasn't strong enough. Jhon held some resistance, but wasn't fast enough, and it all came down to me, all broken down and crying by now. I couldn't comprehend what was going on, and my body couldn't move a muscle as if I was paralyzed.

"Now, it's just you and me, Andrew. By the looks of your friends I doubt you will stand a chance." She mocked, I punched the floor, tears flooding through my eyes.

"No, you're not getting my soul, bitch." She grabbed onto my neck, about to vacuum out my life, but I flung my hand towards her face, and stuck my thumb straight into her eye. She screeched and let go of me, but I knew this fight wouldn't last for long.

"You think you can just waltz in, haunt me with my dead fiance, suck the souls out of my squad, and get away with it? Aw hell naw, you've got another thing comin' to ya, stank ho." I shot the Darkness with my Desert Eagle, and as expected, it had no effect towards it at all.

"That's the Andrew I know, now we're talking!" The Darkness got all pumped up.

"You're wasting your own precious time to live. Every word you say will be closer to your last." I threatened, but this intimidating wasn't working at all, it was just pissing it off at this point. It cracked its knuckles as it got closer to me, I stepped back until I ran into the wall.

The texture of the wall felt familiar, and it felt warm for some reason. I grabbed for the cloth and I tore it down, revealing a gracious ray of sunlight. The Darkness hissed at the light, I could see parts of its dress being burnt up from making contact.

"Stop it Andrew, you're hurting me." It said in almost a sexual manner, which made me feel uneasy.

I took out my flashlight to see if it did anything to the Darkness, nothing. It did absolutely nothing, it had to be sunlight from what I could tell. I took a torch off of the wall and lit the curtain on fire, revealing more light, and more features of the dark throne room lit up, showing more lucid memories.

"You're the last one we need to be reborn, join us Andrew. Please come home." She held out open arms, in which I resented and stayed inside of the safety of the sun.

(Listen to any Fight Music of your choice!)

"God dammit! Leave me alone! Fuck you! And FUCK your Darkness!" I tore down another curtain, and Carmine burnt to a crisp, leaving a hollow shell on the floor, but it was far from over.

A gust of wind blew me into the wall, and a shroud covered the windows, blocking out the light. I could feel the health in my RIG dropping, I was probably in the low yellow by now, I can't believe I'm not dead yet. I got back up only to be kicked back down, and then kicked into the steps that lead up to the ancient thrown. The floor cracked underneath me as another figure added pressure to its foot, compressing my organs as well.

"You are nothing but a foolish fool, Andrew. This is why the Romans failed, they were too broad headed, and bull rushed everything." I coughed up blood as the figure scooted me across the floor, I could see my own blood trails.

My RIG was in the critical red, I could feel it blinking on and off, meaning that this could be it, I am going to die here and now. I was about to flat-line, but I had one trick up my sleeve before I go out. The dark entity itself raised its foot to bring it down on my head, caving it in and instantly killing me. In mid motion I moved out of the way. I then tripped it by pulling the other leg from under it, causing it to fall over.

"You're being such a pain, just give up." It said, I knew this fighting was worthless, but I had no other choice.

"I'm not giving up until I die!" I said, blood running down the side of my face.

"That can be arranged." A projectile got me straight in the lower abdomen, I slowly pulled it out, covering the wound to stop the bleeding.

It charged me, stabbing me in the gut, twisting the blade, I winced in pain as my lower body became drenched in my own blood. I dropped to the ground, defeated. I then tipped over, the life leaving my eyes as I slowly fell to the ground. I could hear a sinister laugh before I died, one that filled my heart with anger, and at the same time, fear.

Third Person View

'You can't give up, Andrew. Your friends are counting on you.'

'There's still hope Andrew, don't give in just yet!'

'It isn't your time to go, you need to keep on fighting!

"They're right, I'm only 25 and still going strong! I don't need no shitty Darkness to end it for me just yet! I still have the rest of my life to live!" He motivated himself, regaining consciousness for who knows how long until he passes out due to blood loss.

All the voices in Andrew's head called out to him, he slowly started to get back up, trying to get out of the pool of his own blood. Andrew crawled on over to the Darkness, and stabbed it with the blade he was supposedly "killed," with. The Darkness started choking as Andrew slid the dark blade back and forth, making gory pulp out of its neck. The blood was black, and had a dark purple tint to it, Andrew smirked as he knew that it was over, he's done it.

(Stop Whatever music you're playing)

"This isn't oveeeeerrrrr." It said in its last, gurgling breath, Andrew curb stomped it on the head, and then another time, and another, making sure it wouldn't be getting back up. How it was still able to talk after he slit its throat, was unknown to him, but at least he accomplished the mission.

"I've done it, Celestia. The Darkness is dead." He saluted before tipping over, barely conscious.

The last thing he saw before he passed out were his friends, getting back up, livelier than ever before. They all ran on over to him, trying to keep him alive, Andrew himself tried to stay conscious, but couldn't and eventually everything faded to black.

"Black Eagle 1, this is Echo 2, we are in need of medevac ASAP. We've got seriously wounded personnel on the premises."

"Copy that Echo 2, E.T.A. 5 minutes."

"C'mon Drew, you'll make it through this, stay with me." Helena got no response. She felt for a pulse, it was there but it was slowing down.

Chapter 22

Act 3-2
The Good Ol' Days

"The patient is waking up I see." Andrew rubbed his eyes to clear up his vision, but when he did so, his left eye was covered in bandages. He could only see out of his right eye for right now, the whole left side of his vision was pitch black. What he could see is Princess Celestia, smiling at him. Andrew tried to get upright, only to put himself in much more pain than he needed.

"Hey, Princess. How you doin'?" He grunted, coughing a little bit in between words. He gave a weak smile before laying back down on the bed.

"I could ask you the same thing, Andrew."

"Well, by the looks of it. I have a few broken bones, some internal bleeding, and multiple stab wounds, other than that I'm fine." He said sarcastically, grabbing his side. She smirked, Andrew tilting his head in confusion.

"I can fix that, here." Her horn touched his forehead, and it emanated a golden glow. Andrew could feel his wounds healing in an instant, his pain subsided as he felt better than ever.

"Thanks Princess. I owe you one." He said gratefully.

"No, it is I, who owes you, Andrew. I am grateful, for you have killed the Darkness, who has haunted this land for far too long. For that, I am forever in your debt." She bowed her head, Andrew gave a nervous chuckle.

"No need for that Princess, consider us even. You saved our lives, we repay you by killing this, 'Darkness,' thing. We don't owe each other anything." She nodded silently, she walked out of the hospital room, Andrew followed close behind.

"How is my team, Celestia? Are they doing okay?" He asked, in a worried tone.

"They're just fine. They checked in with the doctor for a physical just yesterday, actually." Andrew sighed in relief, bumping into someone, he still had the bandages over the left side of his face, so he couldn't see where he was going anywhere to the left of him.

"Can I take this off yet?" He complained, she nodded happily.

"So, where am I exactly? Like what town is this?" I looked around, it sure didn't look like the Ponyville Emergency Care Clinic, it looked like a regular human hospital, with running electricity and everything.

"You're in the Canterlot E.R. you were taken here shortly after your fight. I'm surprised you're still alive to be honest." I laughed.

"Princess, I don't die so easily, and neither do any other one of my human friends." Andrew said triumphantly, trying to fix his bedhead.

"I see. I will need you to come with me then, but get changed into something nice first, and meet me in the throne room." She said, leading him into the guest room.

Andrew went straight into the closet, and boy it was huge. The closet closed off the other rooms to reveal a room with clothes specifically designed for a human. Andrew quickly got changed, the military formal wear went over his RIG so it wouldn't be a problem. He was in an olive green attire, and a beret.

"I guess this should do." He shrugged, walking out the door. He went down the hallway, getting looks from other ponies as he walked along.

As he got closer he could hear music, the sound of blaring trumpets could be heard, and a roaring crowd as well. He opened the gates to reveal multiple ponies of many kinds, Royal Guards saluted him as he went down the aisle. His team was already at the altar, dressed in their formal attire as well. He met his friends on the altar, and Princess Celestia was waiting for them.

"We are gathered here today to commemorate the heroism of Delta Force, more specifically Echo Team, who as you can tell aren't from Equestria. They defeated the Darkness and its terror over the entire globe, putting an end to our suffering. I would like to offer you a promotion, each and every one of you. Would you take that offer?" She asked. They all nodded solemnly, not saying a single word, but gave also a serious tone.

"You all have been promoted up one rank, and have been granted full access to the castle. Once again, thank you, Echo Team." Pinkie Pie let out a waterfall of tears, Rainbow Dash's eyes were getting watery. Twilight couldn't help but sniffle as she watched her human friends return alive.

"This ceremony is now dismissed." Princess Celestia walked down the middle aisle back to her quarters, leaving Andrew and his team happy.

"Andrew! You guys made it!" Twilight said happily, Pinkie Pie charged head into Andrew, Rainbow was utterly speechless. Andrew got down onto Pinkie's level and patted her on the head.

"Well, Pinkie. I made it back, how's that for keeping a promise?" Rainbow flew straight into Andrew's chest, making him grunt in pain.

"I'm happy you made it back." She cried into him, Andrew couldn't help but comfort her to the best of his abilities.

"I'm happy too Rainbow, and I'm also sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for leaving without saying goodbye."

"It's okay, just don't do anything stupid ever again."

"I make no promises, but I'll try." He ruffled her mane, trying to lift her off of him.

As they walked down the hall, they were met with Princess Luna. She was almost too happy to see them, as she practically hugged Andrew to death, squeezing the life out of him.

"Okay Luna, I'm happy to see you too. Please let go." She quickly let go as fast as she latched onto him.

"I apologize, I lost my composure for a second there."

"You're accent is different!" He noticed, Luna rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes I know. I've been practicing, thanks for noticing."

"Well, it's good to see that has changed. I'll let you be on your way m'lady." Andrew bowed, making Luna blush.

Andrew, Helena, Jhon, and Nick went into their dressing rooms. They had put back on their regular patrolling uniforms, hidden body armor and everything. They met Twilight and her friends at the front gates, ready to head back for Ponyville, and ready to go back to their original jobs. Once the train arrived they all loaded into one seating car, the humans sitting in the very back while Twilight and her friends sat up front, ready to get off at a moment's notice.

"So, did anything happen while we were gone?" Andrew asked, Twilight shuffled the ground under her hooves.

"Spike kind of destroyed the police building." She said nervously, Andrew's eyes widened in shock.

"-But it wasn't his fault! He wasn't thinking straight because he was going through something all dragons a one point go through." Andrew thought he knew where this was going.

"Ah, puberty. That one stage where a boy or girl turns into an adult." He remembered that horrible nightmare as if it was yesterday. Twilight had a blush on her face as she corrected him.

"Actually, it was greed." Twilight informed with a deadpan expression. Andrew chuckled at his mistake.

"Oh, my mistake. But tell me, how does greed have to do with destroying the police building?"

"Spike grows to a large size and practically ransacked the whole town!" Pinkie Pie said, doing gestures to re-enact Spike's rampage.

"Like Godzilla." He mumbled to himself, putting a hand on his chin. He yawned, stretching out his arms.

"It's gonna take a few hours to get to Ponyville, in the mean time wake me up when we get there." He headed into the cart where it was full of mattresses and bedding. He climbed into the bottom bunk and closed the curtain, getting comfy in the small indent in the side of the train car.

While Andrew was away, the humans and ponies were at play. They were all giggling and laughing, and talking about their adventure into the mountains.

"Hey, it looks like my wristpad made a recording!" Helena scrolled down to the video.

"It's Andrew's fight! Who wants to watch it?" They all raised their hooves and hands into the air, except Fluttershy, who was a bit nervous.

The video replayed the events of after Helena, Jhon, and Nick were defeated. Andrew had grime and blood covered all over him, and some sort of black sludge that could be made out as blood oozing out from the Darkness. Once it finished, they all were awe struck, especially Rainbow, who couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Oh my god. That was Carmine!" Helena gasped, they all looked at her.

"That thing, was Carmine? She almost killed him!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"How long has he been battling these hallucinations?" Twilight asked, Helena's expression saddened.

"He's 25 years old, so... about seven years, not counting the three years he's been dealing with his dead family. Now that the Darkness is gone, he can live in peace now." Nick explained.

"Heh, the thing is that he's never been to an insane asylum before." Jhon said.

"Man, I'm in need of some new clothes, I can't be wearing this thing all the time." Nick said, grabbing his patrol uniform. Rarity's eyes glistened at the mention of new clothes.

"Oh, I can make you some darling." She suggested.

"Great! How much do you want for it?"

"Free of charge dear, I can't let you go around wearing that all the time." Nick shook his head. He took out a sack of coins and gave it to her.

"I insist, I can't let you give away free clothes. You have a business to run after all."

"You do have a point, thank you." She took the money.

"Hey look, we're here." Jhon said. Rainbow volunteered to go wake up Andrew, so she went into the car to go and retrieve him.

When Rainbow came to get him, he wasn't there in his bed. She looked all around the cart for him, but he was no where to be found. She noticed him leaning on the guard rail in the caboose, looking up at the sky. She happily went over to him, Andrew noticed her stand next to him.

"Hey Drew, we're here."

"Yeah, I noticed. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah! Watcha need?"

"You ever think that there's some place you go after you die? I mean, there's Heaven if you believe in Christianity, but what if there isn't someplace you go after you die?" He asks, making Rainbow confused.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know. If you want my opinion, it's something to worry about after you die. Right now we need to get off the train before it leaves again." She changed the subject.

"You're right, I'm still alive. For now at least." Rainbow gave him a mean look.

"C'mon, let's go."

"Ladies first." He responded, letting her go through first, following closely behind.

Rainbow looked at Andrew very intently, almost to a creepy stare if you put it in a way. He just now noticed all the times Rainbow gave him that look, and that time when he left without saying goodbye. He thought she really cared for him, but he needed to find this out for his own if she really did like him. So he put two and two and two together, to get four.

"Look Rainbow, I know you like me." He went straight to the point, catching Rainbow off guard.

"W-What? N-No I don't!" She stuttered, trying to fake it, but Andrew gave her that stare when he knows someone is lying.

"Fine, you got me. What are you going to do about it?" She said defensively, making Andrew chuckle.

"I think it's very sweet, I like you too. I don't know how inter-species relationships work around here though, so I'm not too fond of the idea." He said, ruffling her mane.

"Ponies here are in inter-species relationships all the time. Whether it's a Griffon, Dragon, even one time a Diamond Dog." She said happily, Andrew put a hand on his chin, looking at the sky.

"I'll think about it, come talk to me again when you think you should." She opened her mouth to speak.

"-But that doesn't mean now, I'm still thinking about it." She lowered her head, but then got really excited again that she knew that he liked her back. She flew away happily, leaving Andrew to think.

"Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into." He mumbled to himself.

Chapter 23

Act 3-3
Arrangements

"So, since the Police Building is destroyed, where are we going to stay?" Andrew asked to no one in particular, making everyone stop and think.

"I guess we'll have to split up." Jhon said quietly, making everyone nod.

"Who is willing to take us in?" Fluttershy nodded, Rainbow raised her hoof, Twilight agreed to it, and Applejack offered a place to stay as well.

"Jhon, since you're the quiet one, I guess you can stay with Fluttershy for a bit. Helena, you can stay with Twilight. Nick you're strong so you can help out with Applejack... and that leaves me." Andrew walked up to Rainbow, patting her on the head.

"I guess I'm with you, Rainbow." He said sweetly, making Rainbow blush.

"It's only for a few days, and we don't take up that much room either, so that's a plus." He explained, making them a bit less worried.

"Andrew, Rainbow lives in a cloud house, how do you expect to get up there?" Twilight asked, Andrew laughed.

"If I'm thinking this through correctly, I'm pretty sure I can rappel up there, if my grappling hook can hook onto clouds that is. Hey Twilight, just in case, you think you can enchant this?" She nodded, and the grappling hook emanated a slight purple glow. Andrew tested it out by throwing it at a cloud, and just as expected it stuck.

"Hey, I'm going to check around town, let everypony know we're back." Andrew said, looking at the time. Helena followed closely behind.

"Wow, it's getting late. Hey, is Vinyl's Club okay?" Helena asked, they all nodded.

"We should go then! I'm in need of a good R&R after the run in with the Darkness." She said, dragging Andrew along with her. They were all a bit skeptical at first, but after Andrew offered to buy drinks they all went after them.

"Hey Andrew, what's up?" Vinyl greeted them, Andrew returned the hoofbump.

"Oh, you know. Working counter-terrorism, almost dying for the billionth time." He said, going inside.

"That's cool, you know. Saving Equestria and all that, it's really nice of you."

"It's just my job, I just work as a Police Officer to pass the time." He smirked.

"So, are you deciding to hit up the bar or go out on stage tonight?" Vinyl asked, taking off her headphones to hear.

"I think I'll do a little bit of both." Andrew said, grabbing a microphone.

Just as if on cue, Rainbow walked in just as Andrew went up on stage. He smirked as he scrolled to a specific song, making sure that it was the right one. Helena recognized this song, she loved this one, so she sat back and watched, waiting for her turn.

(Music)

Andrew sighed happily and went down into the bar. He would need a drink, because he hasn't had one in forever. He ordered a glass of Scotch, making him lick his lips as they met with the cold, alcoholic substance. Rainbow sat down next to him, trying not to make eye contact. Andrew eyed her suspiciously, seeing if she was going to make a move.

"Hey Rainbow, what's up?" Andrew asked, she smiled sheepishly at him.

"Nothing really, how about you?"

"Fine, fine. Celestia's making us go to Canterlot in a few days, got a new shipment of recruits in for the Royal Guards, she said she needs more Commanding Officers." He took a sip of his Scotch.

"That's pretty cool. Well, I'm gonna go get Twilight so she can teleport you up to my home."

"Sure, come by to pick me up when you're ready." He tipped his drink to her, she nodded and went out the door.

"Since when did you live with Rainbow?" Vinyl came up to him, he shrugged.

"It's only temporary, our Police Station is incapacitated at the moment, it's being fixed as we speak."

"Ah, the giant Spikezilla incident. A lot happens when you guys aren't around to see it, y'know."

"Yeah, I have no fucking clue why either." Just then, an employee came up to Vinyl, explaining a little situation that would be of concern to her.

"Hey uh, boss. There are some troublemakers on the dance floor, and our security team is on break and we can't find them anywhere." Vinyl gritted her teeth.

"It's always that one pony, I swear!" She said in anger, Andrew smirked.

"I can help, if you want it."

"No, it's fine. I got this." She walked off into the dance floor, trying to restrain the pony who was causing the trouble.

"Hey Andrew, Twilight's waiting outside." Rainbow flew up to him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Okay, just let me-" He was cut off by another Pegasus, landing at his feet. He moaned as he got straight back up, Rainbow had a disgusted look on her face. Andrew just sat back and drank some more of his Scotch, wanting to know where this will take him.

"Hey, look Dumbbell! It's Rainbow Crash! The one who dropped out of flight school!"

"Hey, what's up Rainbow Crash?! Dropped out of any schools lately?"

"Well.. n-no but..."

"But nothing! You're nothing but a flight school drop out!" They laughed at her, making her almost to the point of crying. Andrew got up out of his seat, a little tipsy by now, but still aware of what was going on.

"Hey, do-don't be pickin'.. on her like that!" He got up, wobbling his way to Rainbow's aid.

"Or what? Is the big scary drunken alien gonna beat us up?" He taunted, making Andrew crack his knuckles.

"I can probably d-do more things drunk, th-than you can so-sober!" He kicked the Pegasus off of the ground, and landed on his stomach hard.

"T-Teach you some.. respect!" He hogtied the Pegasus pony using his spare pair of hand-cuffs, leaving him to be laughed at.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, what you did there was pretty awesome. Now let's try to get your drunk flank home." Rainbow pushed him towards Twilight's direction.

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't drunk. I just did that to insult him further." They both laughed harder than they already were, Twilight was just standing there, waiting, waiting, and waiting some more.

"It's about time! What took you guys so long?"

"Rainbow had a bully problem, I took care of it." Andrew explained with pride, Rainbow nodded silently.

"Should we be going then?"

"We shall dear Twilight, lead the way." They made their way on over towards Rainbow's Cloud Home, Andrew was teleported up there in an instant.

"I'll see ya tomorrow Twilight."

"Likewise Rainbow, good night."

As Rainbow headed on up and into her cloud house, Andrew was jumping on the puffy cloud carpet. Rainbow couldn't help but laugh at him, probably due to him never being on a cloud before. It acted like a trampoline, a very slow one at that. Almost as if it was low gravity.

"This feels like jumping on the moon!" Andrew said, jumping around some more.

"You've been on the moon before?" Rainbow asked, Andrew nodded happily.

"Multiple times, there's a Military base stationed up there. Sometimes I go there for training, which happens to be a lot harder because of the low gravity."

"I will see you in the morning Rainbow, I'm goin' to sleep." He plopped himself on the couch, and sprawled his limbs all over the place.

Rainbow said nothing as she went into her room, closing the door behind her. Once she was in her room, Andrew opened his eyes again, and opened up a holographic projection, which seemed to be a text logging journal. He silently whispered the words and they were recorded into text as he spoke, making sure to log everything.

"Personal Log No. 27,

April 15, 2160

I think I may have fallen for someone, or to be more specific, somepony. I've found out that she has the same feelings for me, but I just don't know how to approach this properly, nor do I know about the laws about inter-species relationships here in this new country. I just hope that I'm safe enough to be around, considering everything that's happened I would say no.

I have greatly improved on my crafting skills, as the resources here are plentiful and inexpensive. I even made a few trinkets and goodies for my own benefit. There are no vehicles here, and no petroleum based machines, mostly steam and magic based operating systems. This was a minor setback, but nothing a little imagination and innovation can't solve.

I don't know if we'll ever make it back to the U.S. and I'm starting to get other thoughts, of perhaps... staying here may not be a bad thing. The Princess said that we cannot return, but she never told us why, nor does she want to. I'm starting to get more and more curious about this place the longer I stay here.

My sanity has been restored for the time being, as we had just recently killed the source of my dementia, though I doubt it will stay this way for long. Anyways, I should be thankful that I am no longer haunted by visions of the past.

I am going to be meeting somepony named Captain Shining Armor in the days to come, to help him test some new equipment, as well as train the largest amount of new recruits for the Royal Guard up to date.

For now I'm curious to see where this Human-Pony relationship will take me, and hopefully my friends can respect that, on either side.

Major Andrew Hartfield, signing out."

He slowly looked up at the ceiling as his eyes started to involuntarily close, drifting off to sleep. Rainbow could be heard snoring loudly, making Andrew frown. He then took out his ear plugs and put them into his ears, which blocked out most of the noise. He then started to drift into sleep again, and more peacefully this time.

He was inside of a dream, and a vivid one at that. He seemed to be in the jungles of South America, where he was sent to rescue government V.I.P.'s. This was the mission he was assigned before he was sent here, by Princess Celestia. He remembered everything that went on, the moment where he breached, where everything was falling to shit, and the blinding light. This time, he really did die instead of being healed, and he could feel everything. The pain of being broken, the sense of dying, the people dying around him.

"Like I said, it's not over yet."

Chapter 24

Act 2-4
All the Small Shit

"Personal Log No. 28,

April 18, 2160

Well, Rainbow and I have been dating for a couple days now, and I have to say it's going pretty well. I'm surprised how much she reminds me of Carmine, back when she was alive. She's not the brightest, but far from idiotic, as well as playful. I just hope I don't have to break her heart whenever I get sent out, but we all do what we gotta do.

Today we will be going to Canterlot, in order to train the new individuals that are signing up to be the next generation of Royal Guards. I will be one of six commanding officers, two of them being Captains of both the Royal Lunar, and the Royal Day Guards. I've heard about the Captain of the Royal Day Guard, Captain Shining Armor, but I have yet to meet the one responsible for the Lunar Guard. All that I know is that there's going to be a lot of paperwork involved for me, considering that I'm the highest ranking individual here.

Anyways, I've been making a few suits for myself in the past few days, I have to say that it's going pretty well all things considered. Luckily, the only blueprints of the suits are password locked into my datapad, with a voice recognition for extra measures. Man, it's a good thing I bought all of those schematics back on Earth, it's becoming very useful for me here.

After that event from a few nights ago, I'm thinking that there are multiple sources that cause my Dementia, and I'm not liking where this is going. I've informed Princess Celestia about this, and she's looking into the topic as of right now. I have no idea why Equestria seems... so familiar to me, but I have to keep going strong. After all, I have friends to look after.

Major Andrew Hartfield, signing off."

Andrew and the rest of Echo Team loaded into the chariot, in which this was probably the first time riding inside of a flying one. He grabbed the side handle bar as it lifted into the air, trying to steady himself as they were flying. They had already said their goodbyes to Twilight and her friends, because this was certainly going to take some time to train them.

"So, what are we looking at here Major?" Nick asked, Andrew scrolled through the files on his datapad on his wrist, looking for anything worth explaining about.

"We're being sent to Canterlot to train the new Royal Guard coming in. It says that there's about 150 of them, the biggest amount of recruits to date. Considering that this is peace time, that's a lot of new rookies coming in. Celestia wrote that they'll be two Guard Captains for both the Day and Lunar Guard, one is Captain Shining Armor. I'll be looking over both the Day and Lunar Guard, while you three will be drilling them." He explained.

The ride was fairly short, and there wasn't really anything to talk about on the way there, except for one thing.

"So, I heard you were going out with the Rainbow Dash?" Nick taunted, making Andrew turn red a little bit.

"Yeah, she's great. Really cute too." He said courageously, making them all giggle.

"Well, I support you. There's nothing wrong in my book." Helena patted him on the back.

The carriage came to a complete stop, they could hear voices from outside he vehicle. Andrew was the first to get out of the carriage, only to meet two Guard Captains, and two princesses. He happily greeted the princesses with a formal hand-to-hoof shake.

"It's a pleasure to have you in our training program, Major. Today we will be separating them into two groups, the ones who signed up for the Day Guard, and the ones for the Lunar Guard." Celestia explained.

"The pleasure is all ours Princess. I'm just glad we could see the next generation of soldiers willing to defend their country, patriotism at its finest." Andrew then went on over to the Guard Captains who were standing to the side of Celestia, they saluted as Andrew came into their sight.

"Major Hartfield, sir." They both said in unison.

"At ease, Captains. I've heard of you, Captain Shining Armor, but I have yet to be introduced to you." He pointed to the Lunar Guard Captain.

"Captain Ominous Breeze, sir." He shook Andrew's hand firmly.

"Alright, let's get down to business. What are we dealing with here?" Andrew asked, walking down towards the barracks along with both Guard Captains.

"About 150 plus recruits. The most I've seen in the past few years." Shining Armor said, Andrew nodded in agreement.

"Shining Armor, I will need your help to get them separated. Ominous Breeze, you will have to help my second in command, Helena, get them into the training teams, by skill level."

"Yes sir." They both said in unison, making Andrew chuckle.

Andrew and Shining Armor were just about to get towards the barracks, where the trainees were getting settled in their bunk beds. Andrew chuckled as he remembered his first time in boot camp, it was the worst time of his whole career, yet that's where his team first met.

"Alright Captain Armor, show them you mean business." Andrew gave him the stage, in which he gladly took the offer.

"Officer on deck!" They all scattered, trying to get into a single file line.

"Listen up! From here on out you will be listening to Major Hartfield, he will be the one instructing you through every exercise, he will be the one to make you cry yourself to sleep, he will not take any rough-housing of any kind! Do you get me?" He said in a drill Sergeant voice, they all saluted.

"We get you sir!" They all said in unison, staying in formation.

"Major, you may come in." Andrew took the cue to walk in, with his almost unbreakable poker face.

"So, these are the worthless sacks of shit that call themselves the Royal Guard? I've seen ponies out on the streets that could do better than you." He was in his aggressive tone, trying to rule out the weaklings in the group of individuals.

"You recruits better be ready at 0400, or you're not going to last long out here. If I see any whining, crying, or any type of water coming from the eye. You will go down washout lane, do I make myself clear?" He announced into the crowd.

"Crystal clear, sir!" They all said in unison, Andrew gave an affirming nod.

"At ease, Guards. If any of you need to speak to me, I'll be in my office." They all dispersed and went back to socializing with each other.

As Andrew walked into his office, he could see a whole mountain of paperwork to be done, he sighed as he went to work. At least he wouldn't be alone, because Shinign Armor came in a few moments after. Andrew took this chance to catch a break, not wanting to strain his eyes for too long.

"Sir, permission to speak freely?" He asked.

"Permission granted, and please, call me Andrew." He said, easing up the tone in his voice.

"Andrew, you're stationed in Ponyville, am I correct?" Andrew nodded.

"Then you must know Twilight Sparkle?"

"I would be mad if I didn't. Anyways, yes I know her, why do you ask?"

"I'm her older brother." Andrew's eyes widened in shock, he's never noticed this before. He knew there was some sort of resemblance, he just couldn't make anything out.

"Well, that explains why you remind me of her." He chuckled.

"I haven't seen Twily in so long, it has to have been about a year or two by now. To imagine that I'm getting married in a few weeks, I still need to tell her." Andrew sighed, patting him on the back.

"You're getting married? Who's the lucky girl?" Andrew taunted, making Shining Armor blush.

"She was Twilight's old foalsitter, Princess Cadance. I'm sure she'll be so happy to hear that."

"Well, as long as both sides of the family are happy, that's what matters. Anyways, good luck on the wedding, I expect an invitation in the next few days." They both laughed.

"I'll make sure you'll get one. After all you're the best security Equestria has to offer. Yes, I heard about you stopping the Princess's assassination, as well as killing the Darkness."

"Oh, it's nothing. Just another day on the job, right?" Andrew tried the humble approach.

"For you maybe, I'm stuck here organizing the Royal Guard. I can barely keep in touch with family anymore." He said sadly, making Andrew feel sympathetic for him.

"Don't worry, I'll tell Twilight that you've been busy. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'll still be in Canterlot by the time your wedding comes. I have to write to them every night anyways." He said, stapling papers together.

"It's getting late, you should get to bed Captain."

"Yes sir."

Andrew then got out the traditional quill pen and parchment, writing to Twilight to let them know how everything was going. He tried to make it subtle, because he didn't want to be responsible if Twilight died knowing that her brother as getting married. He left that part out, for now anyways.

Dear Twilight and Co.

My team and I have successfully arrived in Canterlot, and we will be here for a few weeks. Knowing you and your friends, I'm sure Ponyville can go without a Police Force for that long. I've met up with your brother Twilight, Shining Armor, a really nice fellow, yet very disciplined. If you want to know he is doing fine, and currently helping us train the new recruits.

Lastly, I left some books of mine back inside of the basement. Twilight, you have my permission to use them and put them in your library if you feel the need to. I hope you like them.

Best of Wishes, Andrew Hartfield

Andrew yawned as he went into his private room, undressing from his Military attire and into his sleep clothing. He would be waking up early to drill the trainees, and hopefully by then they will be separated into teams.

By the time it was four in the morning, Andrew has yet to fall asleep. He couldn't sleep, due to the fact that he was seeing visions again, and not the good kind either. He could see blood, a lot and lot of blood, covering the floors of the throne room. He could see many, many more indescribable things that he couldn't, and didn't want to, make out.

He got dressed into his drilling attire, where he knew he was probably going to get muddy while yelling at the recruits crawling through the pits and trenches. He then went on over to the training grounds, with a fresh out of the production line, steam powered car. He was surprised how innovative Luna's science team was, but this was certainly unbelievable. Andrew had just recently showed her pictures of old 21st Century cars, and she was intrigued to know more about them.

"This is going to be a long program." He said to himself, mentally facepalming.

Along the way, he picked up Helena, then Jhon, and lastly, but not least, Nick. They were all surprised that there was a functional car in Equestria, not to mention an environmentally clean car at that. Andrew then pulled on the breaks as he stopped at the peak of the hill, and he could see rows and rows of new recruits. By the end of today, he would guess that about half of them would stay, the other half would decide to pussy out and leave. After all, this served a good purpose, you have to be prepared to lay down your life to protect your country and ruler.

"Alright guys, here's the plan. We all take one group, and we drill them through different courses. If they decide to whine and fit, make them run, motivate them. Like ol' Sergeant James." They all remembered Sergeant James like it was yesterday, it was the worst week of their lives, and it was also the first week of Boot Camp.

"Let's get started." Andrew cracked his knuckles, as well as his neck. He then put on aviator sunglasses, hiding his eyes and showed the best poker face. He was ready.

Chapter 25

Act 3-5
When Old Becomes New

"Personal Log No. 39

August 3, 2160

Well, tomorrow's the graduation from boot camp, that just adds more to my enthusiasm. There are only about seventy-five out of the one hundred-fifty that joined, that's half of what we started out with. These have to be one of the most finely trained soldiers I could ever ask for, perhaps even the best of the best for the next generation.

It's been three months since I've been to Ponyville, a month longer than I thought it should've been. I told Twilight and her friends a few weeks, more like a few months now. I feel bad that I couldn't get the chance to talk to them, but I made up for it by sending in a letter every few days. They write to me back the instant they receive my letter, telling me about how Rainbow broke her wing or how Twilight broke into the Canterlot Archives.

Even after that I have to stay here in preparations for Shining Armor's Wedding. I'm the Head of Security, and I've been informed that there's been a threat made towards Canterlot, yet we have no idea what that threat may be.

In the mean time I've been making upgrades to my RIG, better armor protection, health and life support upgrades, and fully upgraded my Stasis and Kinesis, as well as some new suits to add to my collection. The engineer ponies down at Canterlot University have yet to understand the technology I'm capable of building, they're so old school.

Anyways, all in all, everything is great. Everypony is happy and that's what matters to me. I can't wait to see the girls again, it's been so long since I've seen them, and it's about time to get out of here.

Major Andrew Hartfield, signing off."

Andrew let out a sigh, placing his hands on his chest as if he's in a coffin, at a funeral home. Yet he was still very much alive, and very tired. He then closed his eyes as he slowly started to fall asleep, he could hear distant crickets, chirping, lulling him to sleep.

Once the graduation ceremony was over, Andrew was ready to take off his formal attire, as it was like wearing a boa constrictor around his torso. He left early at the after party to his room in Canterlot Castle, and into the Suit Kiosk he went. He then climbed inside as the robotic arms locked him into place, the doors closing in front of him. He then came out in his military fatigues, along with the RIG running along the back of his spine and Stasis off to the side. The American Flag patched onto his shoulder, for him to remind himself of where he once came from.

"This should do for now." He mumbled to himself, walking out the door behind him.

Once outside he went towards the dining room, where he was invited to sit down for lunch. He sat in the last empty seat, where to his left was Helena, and to his right was Nick. He looked around and saw that Shining Armor was sitting across from him, next to a Pink Alicorn he was never familiar with.

"Major, I am quite impressed with this batch of Royal Guards, very disciplined." Celestia complimented, Andrew only smirked.

"Think nothing of it Princess, when in times of trouble you want the best."

"Indeed. With Shining Armor's Wedding coming up, I don't know what could be more stressful right now." She replied, taking a bite of her salad, Andrew simply only nodded.

Andrew's eyes veered off to the side, once again looking at the Pink Alicorn. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head, catching her attention.

"Excuse me, may I help you?" She asked, Andrew shook his head.

"Oh... uh... sorry but, I do believe we haven't met before?" He asked, she shook her head.

"Where are my manners? I'm Princess Mi Amore Cadneza, also known as Cadance. I'm Shining Armor's Bride-to-Be, you must be Major Harfield, Shiny's told me all about you." She smiled, Andrew nodded.

"Indeed I am. It's nice to meet you, and this is my team, Helena, Nick, and Jhon." They all waved at her, only to have her smile back at them.

"Andrew, I've noticed that you've been having these nightmares again. May I ask why?" Princess Luna changed the subject, making Andrew go silent. They all stared at him, waiting, waiting for him to say something.

"I thought that killing the Darkness would bring peace to me, and I was incorrect. If I'm right, there should be multiple sources that cause my Dementia." They all looked at him like he was crazy, which in a way he was.

"I don't know how long you can keep this up Major..." Luna trailed off, Andrew only laughed.

"I've been doing this my whole life, I'm sure... I... can handle... it." Andrew faceplanted directly into his plate, luckily it was empty. They all gasped as they rushed over to his side, laying him down on the ground.

"What happened?" Cadance asked, worried.

"He's been pulled inside of his mind." Celestia stated.

Luna looked up to her older sister, and she nodded quickly, and silently. As they brought Andrew into an infirmary, they laid him down on the nearby bed. Luna's horn began to glow, and she touched the center of Andrew's forehead. It was finally time to understand what was going on.

"I've been waiting, Andrew." Andrew quickly got back on his feet, looking around for the voice.

"What do you want from me?! Why am I here?!" He asked, getting more and more confused every minute that passed by.

"Listen to me, I'm not the Darkness. I'm trying to help you." Andrew quickly realized that this isn't his average encounter with his usual violent hallucinations, but that didn't mean he could still trust it.

"Why should I trust you?! Why am I here?!" He asked, all the voice did was grunt in frustration.

"Look, all I want you to know is that you're going to die in the days to come. There's a way to prevent that, if you get help from me." Andrew tilted his head.

"How do you know this?" He asked.

"If you let me explain, then I'll tell you. Listen, I'm you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't follow?"

"No, not you you, but I was once. I'm one of your ancestors." Andrew shielded his eyes as it revealed an Alicorn pony, a black coat, black mane with white streaks, and pale, golden eyes.

"Wait a minute, if you're me, then how are you a pony? And an Alicorn at that?" His former self was very intriguing to look at.

"Remember when the Darkness told you that you were descendants of an extinct human race here in Equestria?" He nodded.

"Well, it lied to you. Some humans long ago were accidentally sent into Equestria, just like you. One of them had a child, and that child was me. I was accidentally left in Equestria, and I was adopted by Celestia's mother."

"That still doesn't understand why you're a pony." Andrew deadpanned.

"It's because Princess Celestia's mother turned me into one, to try and erase the history of humans ever existing. Why she did that? She never told me, but Celestia's found you, a descendant of me, in which she thinks she could bring me back." Andrew was severely confused by this, he could barely follow.

"Wait, so Celestia, and you were a thing?" The pony nodded.

"Yes, but I digress. The point is, you're gonna die, and if you get my help, I can save you."

"How? You're dead!" Andrew exclaimed.

"My physical form may be dead, but my energy resides in you. All you need to do is tap that energy, and let me do everything from there." He explained, Andrew put his hand on his chin, thinking.

"What's your name?" Andrew asked, the pony turned back, looking at him.

"Call me... Night Shade. Haven't heard that name in a while." He said.

As Andrew was left there, baffled. Night Shade disappeared into the mist, and no trace of him was left to be found. Andrew started to wake up, and his eyes fluttered open, looking around from a fixed position. Next to his was Luna, sleeping, with her horn glowing as if she was about to cast a spell. She then woke up with an audible gasp, and she looked at Andrew in shock.

"How much do you know Luna?" Andrew asked cautiously, she hesitated before answering.

"Enough to understand what's going on. We need to talk to big sister." Andrew got up and out of bed, getting dressed back into his fatigues.

"Luna, do you know anything about Night Shade?" Andrew asked, she looked at him, nodding.

"Night Shade was always like a brother to me. Even more so towards Tia, as they eventually became a couple. Until The Darkness came, which killed Night Shade. In the process he was able to lock The Darkness away in the ruins you were sent to. After that, Tia found out that he was adopted, and he was actually a human. She looked and looked to find out if he had any siblings, and she took frequent trips to Earth in hopes of bringing him back. Now, she's found you." Andrew's mind was utterly blown, he finally knew why Celestia brought him here.

As they went on over towards Celestia's bedchamber, they were met by Celestia, who was standing there, looking at them. Andrew gulped, and Luna started to become uneasy.

"We know about Night Shade, Princess."

"It's about time I told you a story..."

Author's Note

If you're thinking that I'm going to turn them into ponies, then you have another thing coming. Well, I'm considering it, that doesn't mean that I'm going to do it, I may have a vote on it later on. By the way, Night Shade just popped into my mind while writing this, so if you want me to rename him, let me know or give me a suggestion. ~Asian

Chapter 26

Act 3-6
Needed Elsewhere

--Andrew's Narration--

In times of despair, people look out for one another, they care for each other, and they do what's needed to be done. This is one of those times, for me, and for the benefit of my team, Echo Team.

We were originally from the United States 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, but we were pulled into Equestria by Celestia about six months earlier. Now, since we've gotten over the fact that we can't go back, we stay here, with what little sanity we have left. I also find myself dating one of the locals, a Pegasus Pony to be more precise, which happens to be somewhat of an insult to injury.

There are times when you feel that you can't go on, and that you're too weak to continue. That's why your friends are there to help you, to lend you a helping hand-er hoof in this case.

I recently just found out that I'm a descendant to the lover of Princess Celestia, and to be honest I'm still pretty shocked about finding out. It turns out she didn't really bring us into Equestria because she wanted to save us, but because of my ancestry. But what she doesn't know, is that my line of ancestors have been known to bring pain, suffering, and even death wherever we go. My parents told me that I was related to multiple war heroes, dating back into the Revolutionary War, hell, it probably dates back to pre-history. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but in the end it depends on the person. Night Shade was also one of those heroes, locking up the Darkness before it killed him, saving Equestria for another millenium. Until I was brought into Equestria, where The Darkness felt my presence and mistakened it for Night Shades'.

I knew it from the day I joined The Unit, that I would be only a mere pawn, someone that's expendable. Even now I still think that, I'm just being used. My friends know that too, we're not important at all. The prophecies? All wrong.

"Andrew, that's not true, you know that isn't right."

"Go away Night Shade, it's the truth, and you knew it from the day you found me." I said, walking alone in the castle courtyard. The wind streaming through my hair, and I could hear the distant sounds of bird songs in the early morning.

"You have Rainbow, don't you? What about her?" Night Shade asked, I couldn't answer that.

"... I don't know anymore, Night Shade. With the apparent battle coming up, I'm not sure if I'm ready. I'm just not thinking straight." I said, unsure of my true fate.

"All will be revealed in due time, Drew. Everything will be fine." He said to me, but that didn't calm me down one bit, it just pretty much made it worse for me.

I had a few questions in mind for Night Shade, but by the time I opened my mouth, he was gone, in which I couldn't go digging through my mind to fish him out, in fear of also bringing back my Dementia. At this point, I don't know if I'm still afflicted by Dementia, or if Night Shade was real or not. I'm pretty much being forced into trusting my gut on this one, at this point I don't know what's good from evil.

"Good morning Drew! What brings you out here on such a gloomy day?" I looked up from my bench, and from the fog came Princess Luna. If it was Celestia I would've simply just walked away, we're not in such a good relationship right now.

"I'm doing well, your highness."

"I'm surprised, your taking this better than I thought you would. Also, I apologise for my sister, I don't know why she would be so selfish like that." Her expression saddened, I gestured her to sit down next to me, I took a rag from my pocket to wipe off the excess dew that was left on there.

"It's okay, Princess. I knew from the get go that my team and I would be expendable, just to be replaced by someone else when we move on." I explained, she looked up to me.

"But you're not expendable! Not to me! Not to anypony else here! You and your team have made a mark, here in Equestria, Andrew, one that will most likely not go away for a long time. I certainly won't forget you, considering that I'm immortal." I stroked my hand along the back of her neck, comforting her as she started to cry.

"Once you and your friends pass on, I'm going to, and I will, miss you." She laid her head on my lap, and this was just plain awkward for me, but Luna was like a little child to me. For some reason, she felt like the daughter I never, and will not have.

"If it wasn't for Celestia, I wouldn't be here right now. I would probably be dead, rotting in a mud pit, or being fed to rabbid dogs. Remind me that I need to try and talk to her later." I said, but Luna nodded affirmingly.

"If it won't work out, come talk to me. I will try to set you up to see her." She then got up from where she sat, and she walked off.

"I will see you later, Drew. Perhaps at dinner?"

"Dinner would be great, Princess." I said back to her, with a weak smile. She then walked back into the morning fog, leaving me all alone, in the gray mist of the castle courtyard.

The RIG on my back then showed a holographic projection, telling me where to go. The thing is... I never set a waypoint. What was going on with my RIG? I then showed the waypoint on the ground, and it went into the tower. I wonder what is in there?

"My RIG is fucked up, I need to remind myself to fix it when I get home." I said, trying to hack into it by my datapad, but the waypoint wouldn't reset.

"Just follow it Drew! I want to show you something!" Of course, it wasn't my RIG fucking up, it was Night Shade.

I shrugged and went with it, not knowing where the hell I'm going, all I know is that at least it's a good thing I've been granted full access to the castle. I sighed as I saw the spiral staircase, seeing how it seemed to go on forever.

The climb went on forever, and once I got to the top, I sure hope it was worth it. I was seriously hoping that it was worth it, or else I was going to choke a bitch. Once I got onto the balcony, I saw Night Shade, who was as tall as Princess Celestia, if not taller than her. He was just standing there, looking over the land, as if it was like a childhood memory to him. It sure as hell felt familiar to me, but that's because Night Shade's memories are mixed in with mine, and I can't tell what's what.

"Sure is a nice view." He started, and once I looked down, I was in awe.

"Yeah..."

"Close your mouth, bugs can fly this high." He shut my lower jaw closed, I blinked at him before speaking.

"How can I see you? I mean, aren't you dead?" I asked, all he did was laugh.

"The same way you could see Carmine, or your folks. Except I'm not being forced to be here, unlike The Darkness, who used your folks to get to you. Besides, I thought you liked me here." He said to me, making me scratch my head.

"Sometimes I think I'm still being haunted by them..." I mumbled to myself, but I was immediately corrected.

"You know that's not true." He responded.

"Look, why did you bring me up here?" I asked, getting straight to the point. I was cutting the bullshit, sick and tired of these motherfucking ponies being so motherfucking vague with me.

"I know you're upset with Celly, but I want you to try and apologise, for my sake." Was he seriously this ignorant? I was already planning on trying to work this out. Hell, I'm trying to be the nice guy here.

"Well, I was planning on it. I'm just sure if she'll either accept my apology or if she'll throw me in the dungeon." I said, and I'm pretty sure she's not afraid to do so either.

"C'mon, I'm sure Celly won't do that! She's not that kind of pony, I know." Well, he had a point, but in the end I'm still pretty nervous.

"Well, let's look over the events of last night." I looked up into the upper left corner, and as if expected, a flashback was there, ready to be looked at.

What happened last night

"Be ready for what I'm about to tell you, Andrew. Because I'm going to tell you a brief story of your ancestor, Night Shade. Prince Night Shade, to be more precise." Andrew sat down criss-cross on her floor, leaning back on his arms, acting as support beams.

"Prince Night Shade was adopted, and was turned into a pony, by my mother. He was looked after as an Alicorn Prince, but he was originally human. You see, four humans, just like you four, have entered Equestria by unkown means. One of the women, gave birth to a child here, but died in the process." Andrew knew this, for Night Shade had told him already.

"The other three somehow managed to find a way back home, so they took the offer to do so. The woman, asked my mother to take care of the child before she passed, and so she did. Over the years, Night Shade hadn't known about his origins, and neither did we when Luna and I were born, around the same time period." Andrew raised his hand to speak.

"So, what happened to your mother? Did you have a father?"

"My mother died of old age, it was her time to go. She died about three-hundred years ago. My father died in a great war, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army. Since then Luna and I have been left to rule Equestria by ourselves."

"Okay, continue with your story." Celestia nodded.

"Night Shade, eventually became my lover, and we couldn't be happier. He also found out about his former self, which dealt a heavy toll on him. He continued his life knowing that he wasn't a true pony, but that didn't stop him one bit. Until The Darkness came, who sought out to destroy Equestria, for it had created Discord, and turned Luna into Nightmare Moon. Night Shade locked it away in the ruins of the Frozen North, so it may never cause harm to anyone ever again. He died defending Equestria, and I grieve for him even to this day." She paused for a minute, Luna came up to her and hugged her for comfort.

"Then, I was looking through old documents, and found out that the other three were related to the woman, and there should be descendants on Earth that carry Night Shade's blood. I looked and looked during my trips to Earth, but I could never find any. Until, I found you, Andrew. You're a direct descendant to Night Shade, and that's why I brought you here, to try and get him back." Andrew was utterly shocked at this point.

"W-Wait a minute, you didn't save us because you were being nice, but because of my ancestry?" She nodded silently, Andrew's expression saddened.

"I'm sorry, but that's correct."

"Wait, so why can't I go back to Earth? Why must you keep us here in Equestria?" Andrew asked, in an offensive tone.

"It's because the prophecies say so, Andrew. Must I spell it out for you? You're needed here in Equestria!" Celestia snapped, Andrew crossed his arms.

"Don't get snappy with me woman! You're the one who brought me into this mess in the first place! Hell, if I was left on Earth, I could've been dead! I could've finally joined my dead folks and finally rest in peace! You know how much I've longed for that? Do you understand what it's like to have your whole family killed, and only to have your dead relatives haunt you in your dreams?"

"..."

"That's what I thought, now if you'll excuse me, I must be going." Andrew marched out of the room, completely infuriated. Luna tried to go after him, but was stopped by Celestia's hoof.

"Let him go, he has a lot to think about."

"What about you sister? What will you do now that they've lost your trust?"

"I don't know, Lulu, I'll think of something."

Present Day

"Well, I guess I should be going. Food's not going to eat itself." I said to myself, hearing my stomach growl louder and louder.

"Indeed. I will see you later. Night Shade disappeared, leaving a trail of smoke in the process.

I climbed down the spiral staircase, making my way to the main dining room. I stopped by a Suit Kiosk to get into my formal attire, which was a Tuxedo this time around. If you're dining with royalty you gotta make yourself presentable, right?

Once I climbed into the Suit Kiosk, the metal plating locked me into place, and the doors closed in front of me. My head was forced to look up and I could hear a minor buzzing noise. I climed out of the machine, revealing a very nice and tidy Tuxedo, the RIG on my back was changed into a civilian RIG, so it didn't have as much bulge to it.

I then made my way to the dining room, where I could see Celestia, sitting at the other end of the table. My team was sitting on the left side, and Shining Armor, Cadance, and another Unicorn Pony I didn't know on the right side. I joined my team on the left side, which was near the end of the table, by Luna, who was sitting at the other end of the table.

"Look, Celestia, I'm sorry." I finally made out, which almost made her spit up her drink she was sipping on.

"I-I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I'm saying I'm sorry."

"I am too, indeed sorry. I don't know why I said such a thing."

"... Friends?" I asked, making everything dead silent.

"Friends."

Everyone on the room "Awww'd," at us, making Celestia blush, but mine couldn't be seen, I've been able to controll that over the years.

"I'm starving, let's eat!" Nick said out loud, literally burrowing his face into his plate full of food. We all laughed as we started eating, and I have to say, the food was rather good, considering that this is upper class dining right here.

Chapter 27

Act 3-7
The Day Before the Wedding

Andrew woke up rather late this morning, when he looked at the clock it was already Eleven. He put a hand on his head, moaning as he got up and out of bed. He brushed his teeth and took a shower afterward. He completed the rest of his morning routine and climbed into the Suit Kiosk. After a short moment he came out with fresh, clean new clothing, consisting of a black safari-like shirt, and beige colored cargo pants. He honestly didn't really mind the adventurous get-up, but in a way he thought it made him look weird. He also looked down at his hands, where he had his tan colored fingerless gloves, usually worn in his combat uniform.

As he walked out into the hallway, he noticed that the castle wasn't as busy as it usually was. Not even the castle maids were patrolling about, cleaning every room. He looked to his left, then to his right, and continued down the hallway. He then made his way into the throne room, and as expected, Princess Celestia was there, tending to the day court.

"Major? What brings you here?"

"Oh, I was just looking for everyone else. Do you happen to know where they are?" Princess Celestia chuckled and nodded, pointing outside.

As Andrew made his way outside, he felt the warm presence of Night Shade, he looked around for a second to try and locate him, but he wasn't able to find him. Night Shade was in fact still inside his mind, through telepathy. They greeted each other as Andrew continued to walk outside, into the courtyard.

"Hello, Night Shade. What do you want?" Andrew asked in the politest way he could,

"What? Can't I just talk to you from time to time?" He asked, Andrew noticed he wasn't talking in his normal voice, because it was much quieter.

"I dunno, it's just that Shiny's wedding is tomorrow, and he's really nervous. I have to say that I'm nervous for him too."

"That's pretty normal, it's the day where you get committed, it should be a day when you get nervous. I just can't wait for when you and Rainbow Dash get committed." He taunted, Andrew blushed a little bit, acting defiant.

"That's not going to happen for a long time! Hell, I don't know if we'll even stay together." He replied, Night Shade chuckled to himself.

"Well I am dead, so I can wait. Besides, you got Alicorn in you, so who knows how long you'll live."

"But you were turned into an Alicorn, how does that have to do with me having it in me?" Andrew asked, confused.

"Because my powers are passed onto the next descendant. You're the only living descendant I have, so it all went to you."

"Wow, that's pretty sad." Andrew laughed.

"It means that if you die without offspring, the bloodline ends with you. You're only twenty-five, so you have a long time before you need to do anything." Night Shade assured him, Andrew sighed heavily.

As Andrew continued walking, he was also conversing with Night Shade. What he didn't notice is that he was talking out loud, and that his friends could hear him, in fact, they heard him the whole time. They all stared at him as he continued talking, oblivious to what is going on.

"Andrew, you okay there bud?" Jhon asked.

"Oh, uh... yeah. I'm fine." They all glanced at him one more time before they got back to what they were doing.

"Major, if I may?" Andrew nodded to let Shining Armor speak.

"Cadance requested that you not use any firearms on the day of our wedding." Shining Armor confessed, all of Echo Team's eyes widened in shock.

"You've got to be shitting me." Andrew facepalmed, shaking his head.

"Since you can't be security guards without weapons, I've authorized the use of any of our weapons from the Canterlot Armory." Andrew perked up a little bit.

"Which means we're stuck using swords and shields?" Nick said, Shining Armor nodded in approval, making everyone sigh in relief.

"Well, at least we have weapons." Jhon mumbled.

"I will lead you into the armory, please follow." They all followed Shining Armor into the armory, where it looked like it's been restocked full of weapons, and this time around there was even a gun wall, housing duplicates of the guns Echo Team already owns.

Andrew went up to the gun wall and pocketed a second Desert Eagle, concealing it from Shining Armor. He went to the wall where there were the melee weapons, Andrew noticed that one wa stuck in the ground, in a pedestal.

"I wouldn't touch that one. That one's the legendary sword that is called, 'The Blade of Light' it is said that Prince Night Shade used it in battle against the Darkness to seal it away. Anypony who tried to take the sword out failed." Shining Armor explained.

The sword was about 42 inches long, and the hilt was 8 inches. The hilt also contained a golden crossguard, and a blue jewel embedded in the center. The sword itself was double-edged, and had a ricasso, with no fuller either. It was a work of art, Andrew guessed that Night Shade had a good taste in weaponry too.

"Night Shade, is this really your sword?" Andrew asked.

"Yes, it is indeed my sword. I think Celestia put it in the pedestal after I died, try taking it out." Andrew walked up to the pedestal, and put both of his hands on the hilt. He slowly started to budge the sword out of its resting place, and he could feel the energy of the sword rushing through him just by contact.

"Andrew, like I said, it's not... going..." As Shining Armor said that, the sword was moving slowly out of the pedestal.

Andrew lifted the sword out of the pedestal and raised it towards the sky. Another glow came from his side, where a white scabbard appeared with gold engravings. Helena, Nick, Jhon, and Shining Armor stood there, with their jaws hung wide open, Andrew too was pretty shocked about this.

"Well... damn." Andrew said, impressed. He inspected the blade, and even after all of these years, it was still in top condition.

"This is The Blade of Light, my most prized possession. I made it myself too. I put a few enchantments on it so that it would never dull, as well as one that it would only be able to be used by me." Night Shade said, proud of himself.

Andrew flourished his sword before sheathing it, afterward he felt really excited. He quickly went into the area where they kept shields, trying to find the right one that looked like it went with the sword. He then found a perfect one, it was about the size of his torso, it had a golden colored border and all white on the inside.

"Great. All I need now is a tunic." Andrew said sarcastically. He then placed the shield over the sword on his back, and went on over to the other weapons, to see if anything caught his eye.

He smirked as he saw two bracers, he knew exactly what they were the instant he laid his eyes upon them. Though they didn't have any insignias on them, as they weren't owned by anypony in particular. He noticed that there was a chest full of them, but he didn't want to take any out of respect, even though he always wanted ones. He took two out of the chest and walked over to Helena, who was still looking at some combat knives for her to use.

"Helena, I think you would like these." Andrew held out to her some bracers, and she instantly recognized what they were.

She quickly put them on and flicked her wrists, and as expected, a blade came out from each one. Helena went fangirl, she was so excited she squealed with joy. She then tested them to see if they had any attributes to them. It turns out one of them has a pivot, while the other had a poison injector. For her long range weapon she chose a bow and arrows, to fit her sniper role in the team.

Nick split a dummy's head in half with a battle axe, satisfied with his decision. While on the other hand, Jhon got to keep his throwing knives, and received some small chains so he could be able to tie them to his knives.

"It seems like your team has some experience in this kind of technology." Celestia chuckled, they all put away their weapons as she walked up to them, they bowed where they stood, and stood up afterwards.

"With Night Shade's experience it feels as if it's second nature to me Princess." Andrew said, showing her that he pulled out The Blade of Light.

"I see, with you being his descendant I expected as much."

"Wait, who's Night Shade? You're a descendant of who?" They all asked him in unison, Andrew smiled sheepishly.

"That's a story for another time guys, I'll tell you later."

"I think it's about time for lunch, what do you guys think?" Helena asked, grabbing her stomach. They all nodded, heading towards the dining room.

Andrew set down his sword and shield by his seat, sitting next to his team. Shining Armor and Cadance were also there, but something was rather... odd, about Cadance. As she noticed Andrew's sword, the started to feel uneasy about it, almost letting out a little hiss.

"Uh, dear? I thought I said no weapons?" She said in a demanding way.

"No can do honey. They're our security for our wedding, they have to have some sort of weapons, considering that they cannot use magic or fly. Besides, the threat to Canterlot is still unsolved, we may never know who it may be." He said, smiling back at her.

Andrew studied Cadance, as she wasn't acting as her usual self. This he knew for a fact, because he's hung out with her before, though he did so for a brief moment. He looked over towards his team, and they were completely oblivious to the fact. He mentally facepalmed as he took a bite of his salad.

"So, Andrew, do tell us about that story from earlier?" Helena mused, Andrew let out an empty laugh as he cleared his throat.

"Turns out I'm a descendant to Prince Night Shade, a direct descendant, I guess. Night Shade, he batlled The Darkness and sealed it away, he died in the process. Celestia looked for a way to bring him back, but couldn't, sadly to say. But when she found me, she tried to take us here to bring try and resurrect him. Isn't that right, Celly?" She nodded silently, using a napkin to clean her mouth.

"Indeed so, Major. So far, I haven't found a single resurrecting spell as of yet. One that ensures your safety out of this, anyways. I can't believe how similar you and Night Shade are, however, almost... identical." She chuckled.

"And that's how I was able to pull this out." Andrew revealed a part of his blade from its scabbard, and it was a very shiny silver, almost light.

"Ha! That's what she said!" Nick said laughing his ass off.

"Up yours." Andrew chuckled, setting his sword down.

Andrew quickly finished his lunch and excused himself from the table, taking his empty plate with him towards the kitchen, in which the chef was already making dinner. Andrew thought he had to grow a second stomach to fit that much food in his gut, because it smelled delicious. He threw the plate in the sink and went back for his equipment, and luckily it wasn't touched.

He scopped it up and strapped the sword to his waist, and placed the shield on his back, making sure it wouldn't fall off while he was walking. Helena tested her hidden blades, flicking her wrists multiple times before leaving them in the concealed position. Nick put his battle axe on his back and twirled his tomahawk before putting it into his holster. Jhon threw his knives into the air before positioning his shoulder to where they would just fall into their sheathes.

"I think we should get some training in, what do you guys think?" They all nodded. Andrew then made his way to the training grounds, noticing that there were less guards than there usually were, and even less rental equipment were available.

"Hey, where's all the stuff?" Andrew asked, a pony came out from behind the counter.

"You know the threat against Canterlot, right?" They all nodded silently.

"-Well there's going to be more guards patrolling the ground and even less equipment to go around. Sorry guys, but this is all I have."

Don't bother, we have our own stuff, we just need the dummies to use them on!" Nick said happily, hefting up his battle axe.

"Alright, you guys have fun in there!" The clerk pony said, closing the gates behind them.

Chapter 28

Act 3-8
What are Changelings?

As the early morning train was on it's way to Canterlot, Twilight couldn't control her anger and frustrastion with her older brother, Shining Armor. As he was going to get married to somepony she didn't even know, without telling her until now. On the other hoof, she and her friends were all really excited about seeing Andrew and his friends after such a long time being away from Ponyville.

"Are we there yet?" Rainbow moaned, Twilight shook her head, continuing to pace back and forth in the train car.

"I can't wait to see Helena again! We can do so many things together!" Rarity said happily, Fluttershy nodded, agreeing with her.

As the train caught sight of Canterlot, they noticed a giant pink-ish bubble that was formed around the exterior. They were all awe struck as they impacted the bubble, knocking everypony off of their hooves. As the train reared to the station, they were greeted by Andrew, who had a warming smile one his face. Rainbow was the first to meet him, tackling himm to the ground.

"I'm so happy to see you." She said, squeezing him tight.

"Me too Rainbow, me too." He patted her on the head, trying to get her off of him.

"Ooh! Andrew, where did you get the new sword?" Pinkie took it, leaving in its scabbard, and started to swing it around.

"It won't come out!" She said in a sad state.

"That's because only I can use it." Andrew said, gently taking the sword away from her.

As Andrew put it back on his belt, Twilight ran off to see her brother. Andrew guided the girls to their designated areas, as he heard that they were each assigned to do something for this wedding. Rainbow flew right above Andrew, who just now started to guide them to their rooms.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" She asked, Andrew looked up to her and smirked.

"Nothing really, I've been training a new set of Royal Guards for the past few months. I also found out that I'm related to Prince Night Shade, I-" Rainbow stopped him right there.

"Wait, you're related to The Night Shade?" She exclaimed, Andrew nodded as he opened another door to let Pinkie through.

"Yup, turns out that he was a human turned into a pony. This was originally his sword." Andrew took it out of the scabbard, revealing a pristine blade, as if it just came out of smithing.

Just then, Twilight came up to Andrew and tugged on his uniform, him getting annoyed as he opened another door for Rarity to get to work.

"Good luck with the dress making Rarity!" As he closed the door he gave Twilight a dirty look.

"Now what is it that you want that you possibly can't wait to see me for?" He asked.

"Why did you not tell me that my older brother is getting married?" She asked angrily, Andrew chuckled.

"Us guys have to keep secrets too, right?" He joked, Twilight closed her eyes and nodded.

"I guess you're right. At least he's marrying one of the best ponies I know since I grew up."

"Yeah, Cadance told me about her foalsitting days. She's told me a lot about you when you were young." He mused, making Twilight blush, while Rainbow was left laughing really hard.

"I'll leave you guys here, I need to be getting to work." Andrew waved goodbye, going back into his room to change suits.

Andrew set down his weapon and he crawled inside of the machine. He then came out wearing the Elite Advanced Suit, complete with the Carbon Fiber plating and the color palette. He stretched his arms to position the suit where he wanted it, and he then went on over towards the meeting room. His helmet was off out of respect for being indoors, plus that the helmet covered some of his peripheral vision, otherwise he would have it on most of the time.

"I see that the Major *snort* had an apparel change. *giggle*" Luna giggled, Andrew sat down, oblivious to all of the laughing.

"Uh, is something wrong Luna?" Andrew asked.

"Oh, we're laughing about your suit. It makes you look like some sort of futuristic demon." Both sisters giggled.

"Yeah, that's the point. It also grants me some abilities, extra damage for my weapons." He said, proud of his work.

"Anyways, we may have found out what that threat towards Canterlot may be."

"And what may that be?"

"Changelings." Celestia said, as if she had a sour taste in her mouth.

"By the looks of it, I don't think that's a very good thing." Andrew said, pointing out the obvious.

"Changelings are shapeshifters, they can disguise as anything, and they feed off of the emotion of Love." Luna explained.

"So, what's our plan?" Helena said, placing her elbows on the table.

"As of right now we can't do anything. We have to continue with the wedding, and we have to keep this from Shining Armor and Cadance. We don't want to ruin their big day today. There's a practice wedding in a few minutes, you all may join if you wish. Meeting adjourned." As they all left their seats at the same time, they went towards the wedding hall. Andrew wasn't really dressed for the occasion, but he wasn't really meant to in the first place.

As the practice wedding started, it was going really well. Andrew stood with his hands behind his back, standing over by the groom, which was Shining Armor. Jhon and Nick also joined Andrew, but unlike him they were wearing their normal security uniforms. Celestia was in the middle of her speech, until Twilight burst into the room, with a look of determination in her eyes.

"Guys! Stop! She's evil! Cadance is evil!" She accused, cornering her with accusations.

Cadance ran out of the room, crying. Twilight chases her out, making sure she wouldn't come back. They all looked at Twilight with disappointment, Shining Armor explained that Cadance was helping him with his migraines, and that she shouldn't even come to the real wedding. At this point, Andrew didn't even know who to side with, because Twilight's accusations were somewhat correct, but he knew that his team would shun him if he joined their sides. At this point, everyone left to go and try to comfort Cadance, leaving Twilight heartbroken, as even her mentor, Celestia, shunned her.

"I guess I really am on my own." She cried. Andrew, feeling pity for the lavender mare, put a hand on her back, petting her.

"It's okay Twilight, everything will be fine."

"Does that mean you believe me?" Andrew chuckled, shaking his head.

"I don't know what to believe in anymore Twilight. I've been through so much I've stopped believeing in things. The only things I believe in, is the truth. Now, let's go find it." As Andrew helped up Twilight, they both went towards the other room for Twilight to apologise to Cadance.

As Twilight posed herself on the stairs Cadance comforted her, even stroking her mane even. Andrew was in the background, standing behind Twilight as she said she was sorry. In a matter of secinds it seemed like time stopped, for a brief moment. Night Shade appeared, out of nowhere andhad a serious look on his face.

"What could you possibly want at a time like this Night Shade?"

"Cadance is a Changeling. It explains everything. The weird behavior, the kiss-up personality towards her husband. Do you even pay attention to how she treats the others when you're not around?" Andrew put a hand on his chin, thinking.

"I guess it does add up, but how do I prove that?" He asked, Night Shade didn't like where this was going.

"Just keep watching what happens, you'll know when it happens." Time went back to its normal state, and just as Night Shade predicted, both Andrew and Twilight became enveloped in green flames.

"Goodbye Twilight Sparkle." Cadance laughed, her eyes were green and she let out a maniacal laugh.

Before Andrew sunk into the ground along with Twilight, he flipped Cadance a middle finger. Though it didn't look like it worked because ponies don't have fingers, and they donlt know what those gestures mean.

Chapter 29

Act 3-9
The Awakening

Both Andrew and Twilight woke up to find out that they were underground, inside of the crystal mines under Canterlot. They could hear evil laughter, but could not find the source. Twilight fired a spell which almost got Andrew in the foot.

"Hey! Watch it!" He yelped.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, but we need to find a way out of here." Andrew said, turning on his flashlight.

"C'mon! I hear something this way!" Twilight fired another spell, which managed to crack through the brittle crystal. It shattered to pieces, Twilight shielded her face to avoid getting shards into her eyes. Once she caught sight of Cadance, she charged head on.

"Wait Twilight it's-" It was too late, Twilight had already used tackle on her.

"Prove it!" As Cadance did the dance, Twilight was bewildered. Andrew thought it was kinda cute to be honest.

"It really is you!" They both embraced in a hug, Andrew crossed his arms, and smirked. As they finished up, Twilight ran ahead to try and scout out a route, while Andrew and Cadance stood back.

"Major." She greeted him with a deadpan expression.

"Cadance." He returned the gesture.

"C'mon, Twilight's waiting for us." Andrew used his locator, and ran ahead, going in its general direction.

Andrew was busy trying to scout out a route he could use without using magic or flying. He also managed to find multiple shortcuts for them to use, making their trip to the surface that much easier. As Cadance broke out into song, Andrew ingored it and kept on going to try and find a way back to the surface, not wanting to intrude on their dramatic moment. In a way, he thought it was kind of catchy, but he wished he heard the other side of the song.

"Hey, minecarts!" Andrew said. Cadance then tried to push it to get it to start moving.

Andrew used his Kinesis to start one up for them, and he picked up another one. He hurdled the minecart and jumped in, right behind Twilight. They all noticed a gorge that was coming their way, Andrew desparately searched for a way to try and get to the other side, while Cadance let Twilight ride on her back. Seeing that there was no other way, Andrew jumped. His arms were swinging to try and grab onto something, but he could only grab air. As he let out a yell, due to the fact that he was falling, Twilight let out a hoof to try and grab him, doing it successfully.

"Thanks Twilight, I owe ya one." Andrew sighed.

"You can thank me later! There's no time left!" Twilight rushed, still running towards the entrance to the mine.

As they neared the entrance, they were all stopped by the old bridesmaids, who had glowing green eyes. They all had a look of viciousness in their eyes, but Cadance had an idea. She shook the flower bouquet and got their attention, they all looked like as if they were dogs getting doggy treats. She then threw it back into the mine, where they all chased after it, making all of them laugh.

"Alright, is there a plan to any of this?" Andrew asked while running.

"All we need to do is stop the wedding! I haven't gotten that far yet!" Cadance replied, Andrew nodded silently, with a look of seriousness on his face.

As they were both about to commit, Cadance, Twilight, and Andrew burst into the room. This time, Twilight had proof that she was an imposter.

"If that's Cadance, and that over there's Cadance. Why are there two of them?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"It's because she's a Changeling!" Cadance spat, making the other Cadance start to laugh in an evil way.

Evil Cadance started to turn into a black-ish green monster. Andrew took off his helmet to see the whole thing, and it did not look pretty.

"That's one ugly son of a bitch." Andrew said, putting his helmet back on.

"I agree." Helena said, walking up next to him.

"Welcome back Boss, we almost missed you." Nick said sarcastically, throwing his battle axe over the shoulder.

"Get ready, Equestria. To be introduced to your new queen!"

"So, who are you exactly?" Andrew asked.

"Why, I'm Queen Chrysalis, of the Changelings. As we speak my Changeling hive is breaking the barrier." She threatened.

Just then, Princess Celestia stepped up to the playing field. She confronted Chrysalis and challenged her.

"Now that you've revealed yourself, I can protect my subjects from you!" She charged up her horn and blasted a continuous stream at Chrysalis, only for her to retaliate, with more power and strength.

As Princess Celestia fell to the ground, everyone gasped. Twilight ran over to her side, and she whispered something unaudible to Andrew before she passed out. Just as if on cue, the giant pink bubble shield shattered into more than a million pieces. The next thing you know Changelings were swarming Canterlot.

"We need to get to the Elements of Harmony! Andrew, we need your help!" Andrew drew out his sword and shield, and nodded, following right behind Twilight.

The whole place was flooded with Changelings, more than anypony could count. As they neared the gates, they all were surrounded by the swarm.

"Twilight, get behind us, when you see an opening, go for it." Andrew said through his gritted teeth. Though Twilight resfused to listen, she then stood next to Andrew, and got ready to charge.

"No, we're staying with you." She retorted defiantly.

"Yeah! You promised you wouldn't leave us!" Rainbow added in. Andrew sighed, readying himself in a defensive stance.

"Well, then, get ready for a fight! Fluttershy, get behind us if you want to." She nodded silently and got inside of the circle.

As the Changelings started to shift forms, Echo Team readied themselves. The thing is... the Changelings were all shifting into the girls, which was a bad thing, as they don't have special identification tags to know which is the real one. They charged Echo Team first, in retaliation Andrew raised his shield, and lead a counter charge into the swarm.

Andrew felt like he was in a hack and slash game, as he was just swinging his sword in hope of hitting something. Nine out of Ten times he did hit something, but his main fear was hitting any of his real friends. Though, it felt like something inside of him clicked, as if he knew which one was which. He noticed Rainbow getting a little over run. He ran over and stuck his sword out, and swung it all around him, doing a spin attack. Rainbow flew over him and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush. She then flew off to help somepony else, leaving Andrew about to be attacked by a group.

He shot the group with a beam of Stasis, slowing them all down about a fourth of the speed they were originally going. Andrew charged up his sword, performing a jump strike, taking them all out in a matter of moments. Andrew even saw a little shock wave being produced as he hit the floor.

As he finished his side, he stood back and watched the others do their job.

Helena saw in the corner of his eye that Andrew was done on his side. She smirked as she drew out her double hidden blades, holding one at a pivot. She could feel the dripping of the poison coming off of her right blade. A Changeling then charged at her, only for her to sidestep it and stab it straight in the neck.

"Hey! I'm gonna go carve a path for the girls! Keep them busy!" Andrew said, gesturing for them to follow him.

"Copy that." Helena responded.

As Andrew continued his hacking and slashing, Nick, Jhon, and Helena were left to fend off hordes and hordes of Changelings. No matter how many they all put down, they only get replaced by Ten more. There they were, all back to back to back, all with their distinct weapons. Thet all let out one last charge, as they knew that they couldn't hold out any longer. They were backed against the doors to the elements, and eventually, they were covered in a sticky green goo. They were all binded together by their hands, and were taken prisoner, back to the wedding room.

Andrew just closed the gates, and turned around, just to see about a million more Changelings, waiting for them. Andrew eased his grip on his sword, and the girls were left speechless.

"Oh fuck me." Andrew complained.

Andrew woke up from being knocked out, as he came to he noticed that he was being bound by some sort of green goo. He looked around, and saw that he was still at the wedding, and Chrysalis was still in control. He heard her cackle before being confronted by her.

"With you being related to Night Shade I expected you would be much harder to fight. I was wrong." She boasted, Andrew tried to struggle and escape, and hissed at Chrysalis.

"No use fighting it, that bind is almost inescapable." She laughed.

"Anyways, you know I have to feed my hive. By the looks of it you love the blue one very much." She walked over to Rainbow, who was stuck to the ground from the goo.

"Don't touch her!" Andrew threatened.

"Yeah! Don't touch me! I don't know where that horn has been!" Rainbow spat.

Just as Chrysalis was about to touch Rainbow with her horn, Twilight released Andrew's binding. As he secretly grabbed for his sword and shield, she was almost about to touch Rainbow. Andrew took out his Desert Eagle he had been concealing, and shot the ground right next to her, making her jump back.

"You ready to pull this off Night Shade?" Andrew asked telepathically.

"Ready when you are." He replied, laughing like a maniac.

Just then, Andrew started to change. His hair color changed from brown to black, and his eye color changed from blue to gold. Though to Chrysalis it didn't seem that much more threatening, it was just changing color scheme. Andrew could feel Night Shade's power, as it coursed through his veins, he also felt magical.

"Chrysalis, if you lay one hoof on her, you can kiss your sorry hive goodbye." Andrew said, putting away the Desert Eagle, grabbing the sword and pulling it from its scabbard. He threw the scabbard to the side, and the sword emanated a powerful glow.

"Princess, what's going on?" Twilight asked, Princess Celestia, freeing herself from a pod, explained.

"It looks like Night Shade is channeling his power to Andrew, which gives him strength." She sighed, trying to get off any excess goo from her coat.

Andrew did the, "Come at me bro," pose, and Chrysalis did just that. She shot a beam at Andrew, who just deflected it with his sword, only to play a little game of ping pong with each other, making Andrew laugh. Chrysalis was starting to get worked up at this point, and fired a continuous stream on energy at Andrew. He blocked it with his shield, only for his shield to magically absorb it and it fired back at her.

"Ha ha! I knew the shield would come in handy!" Night Shade said triumphantly.

"Come on Nighty! We gotta stay focused."

"Gotcha! What's the next move?" He asked, in a determined way.

"We wait for her to come down, and then we hack away at her." Andrew explained, trying to pull Chrysalis down with his Kinesis.

With her being stunned, Andrew brought her down with Kinesis, and went to town. As he performed the jump attack, she rolled out of the way and kicked him in the chest with her hind legs. He got up as if it was nothing, wiping the blood away from his mouth, and spit out some too.

"Your emotions are all out of control, a little enraged, are we Night Shade?" She breathed in Andrew's emotions, which made her stronger.

"Andrew, she's taking your energy! You have to clear your mind!" Night Shade warned.

"If I let go, I've got nothing left. If I don't, there will be nothing left." Andrew explained, to himself.

He let out a heavy sigh, as if he was meditating, and his pupils started to turn white. Chrysalis staggered back as Andrew shot a beam of stasis at her, making a direct impact. He then threw his shield as a frisbee at her, hitting her in the jaw, and knocking her to the ground. As her Changeling minions rushed to her side, Andrew swung his sword, letting out a shockwave and knocked them back.

"You ready to die, Chrysalis?"

"No! No! Please!"

"There's no room in the world for beings like you. You don't deserve to live." Andrew raised his sword, only for his original colors to come back.

"What are you doing Andrew? We can end this!" Night Shade said.

"Everyone has a right to live, until they give it away. You don't see Chrysalis killing innocents, they're just hungry, that's all." Andrew explained.

"I suppose so. Very well then, if you're my descendant, I trust your judgment." Andrew nodded affirmingly, coming back to reality.

Twilight released Cadance from her binding, and snapped Shining Armor from his daze. He tried to perform the spell, but he was too weak. Andrew watched everything transpire, in which it created a giant shockwave, which drove out Chrysalis and her Changeling army. Andrew used his sword as a walking stick, because he was too weak to walk on his own.

"You did good, Andrew. You may rest now." As Andrew was guided to a bench to sit down, he took a brief nap.

Andrew was later woken up to see the wedding, and he almost cried. He set down his sword as he started to clap for the newly weds. Celestia whispered something to Rainbow that was unaudible to him, but Rainbow turned to him and winked, making him smile back at her. Rainbow flew out the balcony and performed a sonic boom, which also produced a rainbow in the form of a halo. Echo Team was clearly shocked at this, to the point where their jaws here hung open.

At the reception, Luna flew in right when the singing and dancing started.

"Did I miss anything?" She asked, Andrew laughed as he shook his head.

"Nothing much, Luna."

As Shining Armor and Cadance rode away for their honeymoon, they all went towards the train station. They all went over there at a rather slow pace, Andrew was especially excited to get back to Ponyville.

"Until next time, Major." Celestia nodded.

"Until next time, Celestia." Andrew bowed, just then the train cart closed.

"It's good to have you guys back finally." Twilight welcomed them.

"It's good to be back, Twi." Andrew said through his covers.

"Hey Rainbow." Andrew got her attention.

"Yeah?"

"You want to have lunch tomorrow?"

"Hay yeah!"

"Consider it a welcome back date." He chuckled.

"Aww, how sweet! Now go to bed!" Nick moaned, blowing out the candle light.

Author's Note

Sorry, I forgot to implement fight music. I'll do it next time! ~Asian

Chapter 30

Act 3-10
The Return

Andrew woke up late this morning, due to the fact that he had a giant fight yesterday with the Queen of the Changelings. He was truly sore and could barely get out of bed, moaning and groaning while trying his best. He quickly changed into his regular attire, which was his olive green shirt as well as his fatigue pants, along with the RIG running down his spine. He stretched and yawned, popping multiple joints and relocating multiple tendons, making himself feel much better than before.

"It's about damn time you woke up. What took so long?" Night Shade asked.

"Hey, fuck you. I just had a fight. I'm tired as fuck, and I'm finally home after four fucking months." He replied, all Night Shade did was chuckle.

"I'm just messing with you. Hey, get ready, you're supposed to be having lunch with Rainbow, remember?" Andrew face palmed.

"Oh right!" He grabbed his sword and slung the shield onto his back, also grabbing his sidearm in the process.

"I forgot I had these!" Andrew pulled out two Desert Eagles, one was a black color, and the other had a Nickel finish to it.

"You have two now?" Night Shade mused. Andrew had a wide smile and nodded, putting them both back into his dual holsters.

"I need to re-finish it, make them matching colors." Andrew mumbled to himself, adding some idea to his head.

As it neared lunch time, Andrew looked down to his data pad, and he put a hand on his head. A click went off in his head, not knowing what it was, but something clicked.

"Hey Drew! Look out below!" Rainbow bellowed, trying another one of her stunts. Andrew whipped around and caught Rainbow, falling backwards onto his back.

"Jeez, Rainbow! *cough* Watch where you're going! *cough*" Andrew wheezed, just now noticing the position he was in.

Andrew was lying on his back, while Rainbow was dug into his chest, eyes closed. Andrew patted her on the head to wake her up, and she shot up like a lightning bolt, accidentally stomping on his chest with her fore-hooves. He let out a moan as she got off of him.

"Sorry, I was trying one of my new stunts." She said apologetically.

"It's alright, just don't use me as a throw pillow next time." He laughed painfully

"Hey, it's almost lunch! Where do you want to go?" She asked.

"Let's just go to that cafe. I'm not in the mood for anything fancy." Andrew shrugged, Rainbow nodded.

Andrew started to walk on over the cafe at the center of town. As he walked in, he got stares and looks from the other citizens of Ponyville. A little colt even came up to him and asked him for his autograph, which made him laugh.

"What's with the sudden fame? I didn't do anything to deserve this." Andrew said to himself, sipping on his iced tea.

"What do you mean, 'sudden fame?’ You practically saved the royal wedding; it's all over newspaper headlines!" Rainbow grabbed a newspaper out of nowhere and showed it to him. Andrew chuckled as he saw himself on a picture in the cover page.

"I guess you're right. I just don't see the point in all the unneeded glory." Andrew smiled as he put a hand on the back of his head.

"Hey, if I were you in this position. I could use this opportunity to join the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow said, laughing. Andrew rolled his eyes as he looked at the menu.

"May I take your order, sir?" A Unicorn came up to him, Andrew put a hand on his chin.

"I think I'll have the Veggie Burger."

"I'll take the Grilled Vegetable Platter." Once the waiter walked away, it left Andrew and Rainbow in an awkward silence. A few moments later, three fillies came over and tackled him out of his seat, causing him to yelp in surprise.

"Hi Andrew!" Scootaloo said happily.

"We heard about what happened in Canterlot!"

"Well, I guess news spreads around fast. Yes, it's all true." Andrew said, nodding his head.

"Can we see your sword?" Scootaloo asked, making Sweetie Belle uncomfortable.

"I don't know Scootaloo, swords are pretty dangerous." She said, shuffling in place.

"That they are Sweetie Belle, this is no toy." Andrew patted his sword.

"Aw come on! Can you please show us?" Apple Bloom looked at him with her puppy dog eyes, making him uncomfortable. Andrew looked over to Rainbow, who was seen stuffing her face full of food. As she stopped to look up, she shrugged and continued to eat.

"I can show you part of it. I'm not pulling the whole sword out." Andrew gave in, complaining.

Andrew held up his sword in his lap, and unsheathed part of the sword. He revealed only the ricasso, and it let out a glare bright enough to cause Andrew to squint his eyes. The CMC's "ooh'd" and "ahh'd" at the sword, and Andrew quickly resheathed it, putting it down so he could eat.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be eating now." Andrew picked up his burger one handedly and took a giant bite out of it.

Both Andrew and Rainbow finished as quickly as they started, as they were both fast paced eaters. Andrew let out a burp as he downed the last of his iced tea, making Rainbow laugh. Andrew took out a gold coin and placed it on the table, and let out a sigh of relief.

"That was good." Andrew said; Rainbow nodded in agreement. As they continued to stay at the table, they talked and talked, until something happened.

"This is a catastrophe! I don't have anypony to put on tonight! I'm too busy to do it myself, I was planning on having a band play for me!" Vinyl cried out, making Andrew come over to check out the problem.

"What seems to be the matter Vinyl?"

"I have no-one to put on stage for tonight! I'm ruined!"

"Uh, Vinyl? Didn't Drew perform in your club before?" Rainbow added, and her pupils shrunk to the size of pennies.

"Oh no, Rainbow. I'm trying to give up on that career, remember?" Andrew fussed.

"Please?" Vinyl begged.

"No."

"Please?" Great, now even Rainbow is siding with Vinyl.

"No."

"Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?" They both said in unison, in a really fast pace. They also fluttered their eyes, which made Andrew uneasy.

"...Fine." He deadpanned.

"Yes!" Both Rainbow and Vinyl brohoofed, Andrew face palmed himself directly in the forehead.

"I'll gather the team, and I'll meet you at nine." Andrew explained, Vinyl nodded her head and happily trotted off.

Rainbow and Andrew parted ways, leaving Andrew going towards Rarity's boutique. He was complaining earlier of how his uniform ripped, and he can't fix it himself because he doesn't have enough resources. He wouldn't get another shipment of supplies until next week, preposterous!

Andrew knocked on the door, and he heard a very distinct, "Come in!"

"Welcome to Rarity's Boutique-" Once she opened her eyes and saw Andrew's uniform, she gasped at the giant hole that was in it.

"Hey Rarity... uhh, I need you to fix this for me. Do you mind helping me?" Rarity's eyes sparkled, she loved the challenge the humans brought over for her.

"I would love to, right this way." Andrew passed by Sweetie Belle, patting her on the head and walking off with her big sister.

"Well, I have to say it's more than just a rip. Practically half the uniform is gone, so I'm going to have to make a completely new one." Rarity explained, making Andrew laugh.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was like doing some sort of workout, and it ripped in half. I couldn't find the other pieces to it." Andrew said sheepishly.

"It's fine dear. Just give me the design blueprints and pick it up some time tomorrow." Andrew printed out the schematics on the datapad on his wrist, giving her the piece of paper. Andrew thanked Rarity and went back into town, not knowing what to do next.

As Andrew went into town, he saw an unusual sight to see. He actually saw a zebra in town, not a common sight to behold. She seemed to be holding a lot of stuff, so he went on over to help her.

"Thank you kind sir, I was having trouble. Do you mind carrying double?" Andrew smiled as he picked up another bag, they weren't all that heavy to begin with.

"You must be Zecora, I've heard a lot about you from my friends." Andrew explained, she nodded and smiled.

"Indeed that is true, though I do not know much about you." Andrew was about to question why she spoke in rhyme, but shrugged as he kept going.

"I'm new here, along with three others that look exactly like me. We're called humans. I'm Andrew." Zecora nodded.

"Where do you live, Zecora?"

"I live in the trees of the great Everfree."

"I've never been to the Everfree Forest, though I heard some weird stuff happens in there."

"The Everfree is not safe, though I live there, because I have faith."

As Andrew followed Zecora into the Everfree Forest, he noticed that there were bunches of blue flowers in the clearing, though he avoided touching them for some odd reason.

"That is Poison Joke, Andrew. I advise that you not touch it." Night Shade popped up out of nowhere, causing Andrew to snap out of his day dream.

"Why not?" He retorted.

"Poison Joke is a lot like Poison Oak, it causes the victim to experience weird or even funny symptoms at random." Night Shade explained, Andrew nodded.

"Well Zecora, here we are." Andrew set down the crates full of supplies on her door step, she smiled at him.

"I thank you for the favor, I think I may have something that can reward you for your labor." She gave him a clay bottle, and he swished it around, and heard some sort of liquid.

"It's called the Potion of Life, may it bring your soul some spice." She smiled at him. Andrew pocketed the potion and went back to the Police Station.

Andrew went back into the barracks, where everyone was hanging out. Helena was playing video games, Jhon was sharpening his machete, and Nick was taking a nap. Nick was a heavy sleeper, and he barely made it through boot camp because of that. Andrew, Helena, and Jhon all came up with a way to get him out of bed. What they would do is that they would take of the blankets, and if that didn't work, they would flip the whole mattress upside down. Andrew went through step one already, so he grabbed the side of the bed, and flipped it over, waking him up instantly.

"Guys, listen up. We got a gig over at Vinyl's club tonight at nine, get your stuff together." Andrew explained.

"I thought you tried to give up on that?" Jhon asked, Andrew shook his head.

"When you have multiple ponies begging you to do something, it's hard to resist." He face palmed, ashamed of himself.

"Whatever, I'm looking forward to it." Nick brushed it off as he fixed the flipped mattress.

"Yeah, I see no problem."

"Hmm." Jhon continued to sharpen his blade, checking it from time to time.

Nine O’clock Sharp

"Well, here's the stage, here's your equipment, and Andrew, here's your marefriend." Vinyl gestured to Rainbow, who was waiting anxiously for them to arrive.

"What took you guys so long?" She fussed.

"We would have been here sooner, if Nick didn't stop to take a shit." Andrew pointed on over to Nick, who clutched his stomach.

"Great, now we don't have a person to man the mix table."

"Uhh, I could fill in for that." Vinyl raised her hoof.

"Great! Let's get started!" Andrew clapped his hands together, and he grabbed the electric guitar that was to the side of him. He plugged it into the wireless adapter and tuned it,, making sure it was right for him.

"Alright Ponyville, so we're going to start off the night celebrating our return to this lovely, quiet town. Tonight, we're going to make the best of what we've got!" Andrew explained, and the crowd rand whistled, one mare even fainted.

"So, that one was Feel Again, by OneRepublic, a very old school band back in the early 21st Century. We're going to step it up a little bit with this one." Andrew stopped to catch his breath.

"Alright, so I'm going to have my lovely co-singer, Helena, take over for me, while I switch with her." Andrew gave her the microphone, keeping his electric guitar.

"Well, I have to say that was pretty fun, but I think Andrew needs one more song to put in." Helena trolled, causing Andrew to sigh as she put the microphone back on the stand.

"Well, that's it for tonight everypony." The crowd got all sad and didn't want them to go, but Andrew was about ready to start drinking.

Rainbow met Andrew on the bottom of the stairs, getting right under his arm. Andrew laughed and patted her on the head, causing her to blush. Andrew went on over to the bar, where he met Berry Punch, pouring drinks like no tomorrow.

"Hey Berry, long time no see." Andrew greeted her.

"Likewise, what can I do for you today?"

"I'll take a few shots of Moonshine, please."

"Comin' right up!"

Author's Note

Hope you like the song selections! Anyways, there's not going to be any major fighting for a few chapters, I apologise. Anyways, Act 3 will be the longest in the story, just a heads up.

Chapter 31

Act 3-11
Night Shade

It's a good thing I'm living through Andrew now, he seems to be accepting me well, all things considered. In all honesty, he's a sweet boy on the inside, just a bit hurt like a little colt on the playground. All I need to do is get him on the right track, it is his destiny after all... just like Starswirl said. In a way, I feel pity for the boy... as if I can relate to him in many ways. He had his fiance killed in battle, just like how I went out... Tia was so depressed after I passed. Now that I've found Drew, I can act as his mentor, to right the wrongs I have made so many years ago.

"Hey Andrew." I grabbed his attention.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"You think you can stop by Twilight's House today? If I remember correctly there should be something I left in there a long time ago." I remember burying something next to the tree back when it was a sprout, and it should be something of importance if I can remember what it is.

"Yeah, I'll head on over there in just a little bit." Yes! Well, at least I know someone I can rely on when something needs to get done.

"I see something's on your mind, do you care to tell?"

"Oh yeah, I've found blueprints on the military database on how to make repeaters! I'm almost done making my first Winchester Model 1873 Rifle." Andrew said in a happy way, almost too ecited to contain himself.

"You live in 2160, why do you want to make an old rifle fom 1873?" I asked, not sure of his train of thought.

"I've been fasinated with American history since I was little, my father had an old gun collection that he would always let me look at." He responded, I was a bit confused on the situation. It's been exactly 287 years since that time, you would think that Andrew would want a more up to date type of gun, like lasers or plasma.

"So, what is this thing you're looking for?" He asked me, I hesitated to tell him, not knowing of what the outcome may be.

"It's a book of old spells, I want you to give it to Twilight. If I remember correctly... it should be in the dirt wall of the basement." I told him, and he put his hand on his chin.

"Alright, I just hope this doesn't get me in trouble."

As Andrew walked into Twilight's house, he told her about wanting to go down into her basement, in which she agreed to let him down there. Andrew lit the torches on the wall and saw what seemed to be a lie detector in disrepair, but ignored it and moved on. He then banged the butt of his rifle against the wall, and a medium sized hole in her wall opened up.

"Andrew! What are you doing to my wall?!" Twilight cried out, only for Andrew to not listen, sticking his arm through the hole. The hole was rather deep, as his face touched the dirt wall to try and reach in there, barely managing to grab onto something.

I was so excited to see that the book was still there, and in the same condition as I left it. He took it and dusted it off, accidentally getting into his lungs and coughed. Andrew held out the book to Twilight, in which she was as giddy as a school filly.

"Secret Spells for Master Magic Users, by Prince Night Shade?" Twilight looked up to Andrew who only shrugged as he went back upstairs.

"How did you find this?"

"Night Shade told me." She raised a brow and looked at him suspiciously.

"No really, Night Shade can talk to me."

"Don't do it Drew, only you can hear me." He shrugged at my warning.

"Sure." As Twilight read through the book, she saw a variety of spells she didn't even know existed until now. There was a time travel spell that lasted for an hour, a dimension jumping spell, resurrecting spells, even a spell to switch bodies!

"Yeah, I came up with those." I bragged, causing Andrew to chuckle at me.

"This is remarkable! We need to show the princess right away!" Twilight went upstairs and grabbed a piece of paper to write on, Spike doing the writing of course, Twilight telling him what to write.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

Andrew and I made a remarkable discovery, a book of spells by The Prince Night Shade! It contains multiple spells for only the Unicorns who have mastered magic to the ultimate level. I would like to show this book to you when you have the time, I await your reply as soon as possible. Also, Andrew says hi.

Your Faithful Sutdent, Twilight Sparkle."

"Done!"

"Great, now send it." As Spike blew green fire onto the letter, it was turned to ash.

"Did you really have to say that Andrew?" I asked, causing him to laugh hysterically.

"Yes, yes I did."

Just then, Tia quickly replied back, and Spike burped out a letter. Andrew caught it one handed, flicking the scroll to unwind it, and read it aloud.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle,

That is one of the very few books Night Shade has ever written, and I am very proud of your discovery. I want you to get Andrew and bring him and the book down the Canterlot, so I may take a look at it. You can come too if you want, because you'll only be here for a few hours, if not, a few days. I've provided two tickets inside the letter, and I will see you as soon as you get here.

Your Mentor, Princess Celestia."

"Wow, she must really want to see that book." Twilight said, still excited as ever.

"Why don't you try a spell?" Andrew asked.

"Oh no, this said it's only for the Unicorns who've mastered magic. I'm only on the Advanced Magic level, if I would perform one of these, it could be catastrophic." She warned, Andrew only took the ticked and shrugged.

"I'll meet you by the train station." Andrew said, walking off.

"Don't you need to pack anything?" Twilight asked.

"No, I have Night Shade's Room, plus, there's a Suit Kiosk in there I can use." Andrew said happily. Twilight rolled her eyes as she went upstairs.

"Now, Andrew. You do know what's going to happen, correct?" I asked, Andrew thought about it for a minute.

"If I'm correct, the resurrection spell in this book is going to be used to bring you back from the dead. There's a fifty-fifty chance of killing me in the process." Sadly to say, he was right.

"You know, it wasn't the Darkness that killed me." I admitted, Andrew spat out the water he was drinking, perfect time too.

"Wait, did you just say that the Darkness didn't kill you?"

"Correct, in fact, Celestia was the one that was supposed to die. I used my own resurrection spell in the process, and died to bring her back."

"That's pretty deep man."

"Indeed. Now onward! To Canterlot!"

"We have to wait for Twilight, dipshit." Andrew deadpanned, causing me to have a derp moment.

As Twilight came into view, Andrew smirked, crossing him arms.

"You ready to go?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Andrew followed Twilight inside the train car, closing the door behind him.

Author's Note

A two part chapter!

Chapter 32

Act 3-12
Night Shade Part 2

Andrew woke up to the sound of screeching train tracks, causing him to wake up abruptly and without warning. He managed to cause Twilight to jump, who laid her head on his lap as he slept. Andrew looked down at Twilight, confused. She could be seen with a blush on her face.

"Uh, I can explain!" She defended herself, causing Andrew to laugh.

"It's fine Twilight, no need to explain." Andrew shrugged, opening the door to let the lavender mare go through.

As Andrew started to converse with his conscience, Twilight was left confused with who he could be talking to. Out loud no less. He could be heard asking questions and replying to things that weren't even being asked. He was practically giving away his life story.

"Night Shade, what year was it when you died?"

"Ah, it was about 1476 if I remember correctly."

"Interesting." Andrew said to himself.

He then looked over to Twilight, in which she had a giant smile across her face. He hated to break it to her, but he needed to tell the truth. He knew why Celestia has called them over, not just because of the book, but for the sake of bringing another life back into existence.

"Twilight, do you have any idea what's going on?" Andrew asked seriously.

"Of course! We're going to show the princess that book you found!" She said happily. Andrew let out a heavy sigh. He stopped her right outside of the front gates, getting on one knee to get to eye level.

"No Twilight, that's only one of the reasons why we're here. You know that resurrection spell we found in this book?" Twilight nodded, "Well, it's going to be used on me, to bring back Night Shade."

"Didn't it say something about a fifty-fifty chance of dying too?" Twilight asked, only for Andrew to nod.

"That means I may not come back from this." Twilight was in total shock, almost to the point of being speechless.

"It's for the sake of Celestia, Twi. She saved our lives; it's only fair to give one. Though if I do live through this, and I don't know if I will, we'll go home with a new member to the party." Andrew patted her on the head, taking the book from her saddlebag.

"Twilight," Andrew looked back at her, "If I don't make it out of this, alive... I want you to tell everyone, that I'm sorry."

Andrew closed the gates to the castle, leaving Twilight outside, crying. She was then escorted to another room in the castle. She could not think about losing Andrew, nor would she feel okay about letting him do this without the permission of his friends or Rainbow Dash. If she found out that he died, she wouldn't forgive herself.

As Andrew wandered into the throne room, he was met by both Celestia and Luna, who were excited to see him, at the same time very serious of what was about to go down. Andrew held out the book, and Celestia flipped through to the page with the resurrection spell, but before her horn started to glow, she spoke. Andrew took his lucky pendant, and he held onto it tight.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Andrew? You do know what's at stake here?" He nodded.

"If it means to bring a family relative back from the dead, that actually wants to come back, then yes, I would gladly oblige." He said, smirking a little bit.

As Celestia's horn started to glow, her eyes were also starting to turn white. Andrew was on one knee, waiting for something to start happening. Though he didn't feel anything at first, it hit him like a hard rock. He could literally feel his own body feeling drained of energy, and it didn't stop there. He looked next to him, and he could see Night Shade's body, forming and eventually taking shape. He grunted in pain as it worsened, almost unbearable.

"Sister, should we stop?" Luna asked, Celestia was getting the same idea too.

"No! Keep going! I can do this!" Andrew said, moaning in agony. Though it hurt like hell, Andrew was one tough motherfucker, as the RIG on his back was dropping slower than the normal man, about a quarter of the speed it would have been dropping.

As the energy transfer completed, Andrew fell down to the ground, drained almost completely empty. Andrew felt the RIG on his back blink red, he was near death. He looked on over to Night Shade, who looked exactly like the way he did in his visions. An Alicorn that's pretty much all black,

Though he looked lifeless, he could feel a pulse, but it was faint. His horn started to glow, and used an adrenaline spell to keep his heart pumping, and rushed him to the infirmary.

Luckily, Death did not want Andrew today, as he made it through the spell. Though next time, he may not be as lucky. As Night Shade, in his new body, rushed Andrew to the infirmary, he was worried that he might not make it, because most of his life force has been taken from him. Though it should have been a glorious moment, it wasn't.

"Heh, so it did work..." Andrew coughed, looking at Night Shade.

"Yes, and I am grateful for your sacrifice, but save your energy." Andrew shut his eyes, and his vision began to blur.

He could barely make out anything, all he could hear were slurred words and sentences, and his vision was no better. Everything around him was pitch black, no light, and nothing anywhere. It was pure darkness. He could hear an evil laugh in the distance, and it did not sound friendly either.

"We meet again, Andrew." It said, catching his attention.

"W-Who are you? What do you want from me?" Andrew asked defensively.

"Why, it's Carmine. Who else could it be?" The Darkness said, in a provoking way.

"How are you still alive? I thought I killed you!" Andrew said through clenched teeth, angry.

"Night Shade didn't tell you everything, did he?" The Darkness could only be made out as a dust cloud, taking no real shape or form.

"In case you didn't know. When you revived Night Shade, you revived me in the process. You see, Night Shade created me. I'm his son." No matter how much Andrew wanted to deny it, it was close to impossible.

"No! This is impossible! Night Shade would never have kids! He even said so!" Andrew barked back, only to make the Darkness laugh.

"He disowned me, and so did Celestia, my mother. I was the one who created all things bad in the world, and I was eternally banished for it, banished into Darkness itself."

"No, you're nothing but shit! You're bullshitting me! Like you did last time!" Andrew retorted, making the Darkness stagger back.

"Ask Night Shade, he's been here the whole time..." Andrew looked off to the right, and really did see Night Shade, mute, but present.

"Is this true, Night Shade?" Andrew asked, expecting what he just heard to be right.

"No, it's not. He's lying to you. We never had a child, but the Darkness was once a pony, and that pony did cause major trouble." He advised, Andrew looked back at the Darkness, who could not keep in its laugh.

"It's all a lie, I just felt like messing with you!" It laughed hysterically, only for Andrew to get really worked up.

Andrew violently woke up, gasping for air. He looked around, and saw that he was in the infirmary.

"Must have just been a nightmare." He wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

He moaned as he sat up, trying not to injure himself even further. It was so quiet, you could hear the ticking of the wall clock, but faint voices could be heard outside the room. He pulled the I.V. cord out of his arm, taking a tissue and put it on the little wound, to stop the bleeding. He brought himself to the side of the bed, anxious of what will happen when he brings himself to his feet.

"I see you've woken up." Andrew looked up from the ground, and saw Night Shade.

"I see that the spell worked." He chuckled, patting him on the back.

"There's somepony that wants to see you." Night Shade used his magic to open up the door, and in came Twilight, the broken down, almost tragic to look at, Unicorn librarian of Ponyville.

"Look Twilight, I'm sor-" He was cut off by a quick hoof slap to the face, and hooves hurt more than hands do. His cheek was aching, and he could feel it bleeding by now.

"Are you crazy?! What were you thinking? Trying to risk your life, bringing back somepony from the past?!" She cried, Andrew sighed.

"You have any idea, what it's like being alone? Like truly, truly alone? I saw a chance to bring back a relative from the past, and I took it. Twilight, you wouldn't understand, you have your brother, and your parents. I... I have nothing." He explained, only to get hit in the face again by Twilight. She ran up to hug him, and he returned the embrace.

"Just don't do it again." She complained, and Andrew chuckled.

"You know I can't promise that."

Author's Note

Night Shade & Andrew shenanigans shall commence! I also put a few references in this chapter here and there, see if you can find them!

Chapter 33

Act 3-13
Getting The Jump on Someone is Not Nice

"Ughh... Always feelin' like shit." Andrew moaned, trying to get up. He put a hand on his head and mumbled something else to himself, trying to motivate himself to get up.

He woke up in the middle of the afternoon, rather late to start the day, to say the least. His body ached, and his stomach wouldn't leave him alone, nonetheless he then got his lazy ass out of the bed and onto the marble floor, making his feet cold in the process. He slowly trudged himself into the shower to wake himself up, making sure it was just the right temperature before jumping in. He was still at Canterlot Castle, because of the night before, he just revived a long lost friend. Though, it took the living daylight out of him, literally.

Before he did his routine, he opened his last Calorie Mate, a chocolate variant. He was so hungry he didn't hesitate to take a big ass bite out of it, even knowing that it was his last one. Once his hunger was somewhat sated, he went into the bathroom and turned on the shower nozzle.

As Andrew finished his shower, he dried himself off and jumped into the Suit Kiosk, getting on his normal patrolling attire. He wore a full, black digital uniform along with his fingerless gloves, the sleeves going only to his mid forearms. He stretched out his uniform, trying to give himself some breathing room, and walked out the door.

He saw Night Shade, sitting outside in the courtyard, sitting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and decided to join them. He was met with friendly faces of the castle staff along the way, getting multiple greeting of, "Hello!" or "Good Afternoon!"

"Hello Andrew, it looks like you have finally woken up." Night Shade mused, making Andrew give him a stare.

"You know, it's kind of hard doing... I don't know, maybe bringing someone back from the dead?" He said sarcastically, Celestia and Luna both looked at each other, concerned.

"Well jeez, don't need to be so mean. I'm just playing." He booped Andrew's nose. Andrew cracked a smile as he sat down next to him, taking a sip of his canteen of water from his utility belt.

"So, what have you been up to since you were back?" Andrew asked, leaning back on his arms, using them as supports.

"I've been spending time with the love of my life." Night Shade nuzzled Celestia, who blushed and rolled her eyes.

"Other than that, a whole lot of paperwork and a whole lot of organizing. Ugh... I remember back when we didn't have to do all these things." He moaned, making Celestia chuckle.

"Well, it's a part of modern society, so you'd better get used to it." She mused, using her magic to wrap up the picnic blanket.

Andrew brushed himself off and got up, because the conversation started to get boring. Nothing they were talking about was of interest to him, not a single thing. He checked the time on his datapad, knowing that he should be getting back to Ponyville soon.

"Hey, did Twilight leave for Ponyville already?" Andrew asked, they all nodded, continuing with their conversation.

Andrew took a leisurely stroll towards the train station, taking his sweet ass time getting there too. He noticed that it was abnormally quiet, even in the evening. Usually, it was about the time ponies got out of work, where the streets were flooded with endless crowds of mothers and father coming home. He could hear a flock of birds flying away, knowing that they were spooked. His ears twitched as he heard distant footsteps across puddles of water. The bad thing... is that it was nearing sunset. He turned around rapidly and met a knife to his face.

Narrowly dodging the knife, he blocked it and disarmed the assailant, throwing the knife to the ground. He then took out the assailant's leg and threw whoever it was to the ground. He then made a break for the train station, there, he would be safe, or so he thought.

Once he made it inside the train station, there were more ponies dressed like the one who attacked him outside. He looked to the left, and saw a Suit Kiosk, much to his luck. He dove for the Suit Kiosk, the unknown group of ponies chased after him. Andrew flinched taking a scratch to the cheek, blood coming out of it at a snail's pace. He locked himself inside of the Suit Kiosk and manually closed the doors. He was now stuck inside of the Suit Kiosk, with about 15-20 ponies outside, waiting to kill him for some unknown reason.

"C'mon Andrew! Think!" He grunted to himself, trying to keep the doors closed.

Andrew then hacked the Suit Kiosk, giving him enough time to change into a different suit. Though it wouldn't really help when it came to armor defense, at least he could be able to get away from the group trying to assassinate him.

"Get him! Get the demon!" One of them commanded, trying to pry open the suit kiosk.

Andrew gritted his teeth, reaching for the gun in his holster, desperately trying to free it from the straps that confined it. He only had a M1911A1 in the holster, it wasn't much, but it'll have to do. If anything, this was a survival situation, between life and death. Today, Andrew wouldn't be the one dying, nor would he be taking any lives.

Once they freed open the Suit Kiosk, Andrew, in his S.C.A.F. Legionary Suit, pointed the gun directly into the leader's face. He backed away, and Andrew followed, the assassins making a trail for them.

"Come on now, no need to be hasty." He said cautiously.

"Hasty? You all think this is being hasty?! You tried to get me killed! Of all things, you think this is being hasty?" Andrew barked, raising the gun closer to his head.

"I-I'm sorry! They told me to try and kill you, I'm only following orders! Just please, don't kill me, I have a family." The pony pleaded, Andrew still held the gun to his head, frustrated.

"Who is they?" Andrew asked, now backing the pack leader against the wall.

"I d-don't know! They send letters to me, telling me what to do, I don't come into contact with them! I swear, I'm telling you the truth!" Andrew grabbed the side of his head and threw him to the ground, knocking him out cold. Andrew looked back and all of his attackers were slowly backing away from him, and eventually running away.

"Don't jump people next time! It's not nice!" He spat.

Andrew got inside the train car, and noticed that Canterlot was once again busy, as if nothing happened in the first place. He scratched his head, not knowing what the fuck happened. It was like someone stopped time, just then and there. Somepony must be really out for vengeance, though he doesn't know why.

Andrew was restless, and he could not sleep. All because he slept for most of today, and still had energy to burn. He turned to one side, and turned on a holographic projection, activating the recorder.

"Personal Log No. 42,

November 29, 2160, 2300 hours,

There are those times when I just want to go home, go back to see all of my Delta Force friends and continue the fight back on Earth, and tell them that we're still alive; end the war back home. Then, there are those times I want to stay, keep the citizens here safe, act as a guardian. Then again, we're here for a reason, Celestia won't tell us why, and neither will Night Shade. Something tells me that something big is going to happen; either that or they're giving us time to think this over. That's the question isn't it? Do we go, or do we stay?

I don't know the answer yet, but I'm leaning towards going, because we're not really needed here anymore. Everything is at peace, and humans won't make that any better. So, I think it would be best if we leave before making any more permanent marks on this place, wanted here or not.

On a happier note, Celestia and Night Shade are back together. If Night Shade's happy, then I'm happy as well. Hopefully it'll let Celestia and Luna get some breathing room, hang out with Twilight more often or some shit.

I hope to find out more about that group that attacked me in the days to come, but... *yawn* I need to save my energy for tomorrow.

Major Hartfield, signing off."

Andrew used his Kinesis to close the curtains to the bunk he was sleeping in, turning everything dark.

"I wonder if I can still talk to Night Shade." Andrew thought, and as he did so, he heard a laugh.

"Of course you can, Andrew. After all, we're still related." He chuckled, making Andrew smirk.

"Hey, do you know if we can go home? Like, back to Earth home?" Andrew asked, making Night Shade unsure.

"I will give you and your team four days to decide, and then come back to see me if you still want to go home." He said, in a saddened state.

Andrew's eyes widened out, and he let out a giant triumphant laugh. "Finally, we can go home."

Chapter 34

Act 3-14
Day 1 of 4

Andrew slowly used his Kinesis to pry open the damaged train car door. From the night prior to now he was jumped by a group of bandits of an unknown party. The bandits managed to clip him in the side before he could make it into the Suit Kiosk. Before they fled in terror, he threw the ring leader against the train car, knocking him out cold. That's why the train car was dented in the first place. Fresh air rushed into the train car, causing Andrew to breath it in like it was Cocaine, addictive and hard to forget.

Andrew grabbed his side to prevent any more blood loss, and went outside to see the gleaming sun, shining over Ponyville. Everything was well, the children were going to school, ponies headed for work, and Helena talking with Night Shade down the town square. By now the blood was almost dry, the only place that it was still wet and warm was inside the wound itself, which wasn't lethal.

"It seems that you've arrived! Welcome back to Ponyville, Andrew!" Night Shade said, in his older, deeper voice.

"You never told me you were related to this guy." Helena crossed her arms, somewhat pissed at Andrew.

"Night Shade, why are you here?" Andrew asked, looking at his blood covered hand.

"I came down here to tell your team about going home." He said in a stern, serious tone.

"Alright... But how are we going to tell the girls this? Surely they won't let us go without a struggle."

"We'll tell them later, right now we don't have time. We need to decide and fast, we only have four days." Helena explained, with Night Shade agreeing with her.

"Alright, I guess I'l see you back at base."

"You got it, Major."

As Andrew, Helena, and Night Shade walked off to go see the rest of the team, Andrew was met with a fearsome tackle to the lower abdomen, which knocked the wind out of him in the process. He coughed violently as he got back up, seeing that it was Rainbow, who tackled him to the ground. His vision remained blurry, and all he could hear was a ringing noise, as if someone threw a flashbang right at him.

"I bet you did that on purpose," Andrew said, a bit queasy from getting hit in the stomach. Though he tried to keep the little food he ate in, it came out eventually, and all over the floor too.

Rainbow, on the other hand, did in fact do it on purpose, just to get his attention. She could be seen laughing really hard, almost to where she wanted to cry. Andrew was not amused. At all.

"I thought you were a tough guy! Or at least that's what you told me!" She gloated. Andrew croughed and wheezed some more, and while he was doing that Night Shade was left to clean up the vomit on the ground.

"Hey, that doesn't mean you can abuse me! I'm not just some sack of potatoes you can kick around all day!" Andrew retorted. They both gave a mean stare at each other, a sign of challenge. Helena swore she could see an electric current pass through their gaze.

In the end, they both couldn't stay mad at each other, and that saying, the both just laughed it off. Anyways, Rainbow now joined the small party, and was flying over above Andrew, while listening to them talk. Though so far he did not like what she was hearing.

"Wait a minute, what?!" Once she caught on to th conversation, she was in complete shock.

"I guess we were bound to tell you anyways." Night Shade said in a wise tone, and Andrew nodded in agreement.

"We might be leaving Equestria, Rainbow." Andrew said, solemnly.

"Like, for vacation?" She said hopefully.

"Forever, Rainbow." Once she heard that, she was utterly devastated, not to say a word, her new alien friends that just got here were leaving already.

"I'm sorry, but we have to Rainbow. We don't belong in Equestria, not me, not Helena, not anyone else on my team." Though she wanted to protest, she knew at the back of her mind that they would have eventually have left anyways. She didn't expect it to be this early either, it's only been about seven months since they've arrived, even less than a year.

"B-But that's not fair! We still have so many things to do together! I need to show you my Sonic Rainboom, we need to go camping... What's going to happen to us?" She complained, only making it harder for Andrew to answer, each and every time.

"I don't know what's going to happen, hun, but it's for the best." He patted her on the head, looking into her watery, magenta eyes.

"I love you, Rainbow, you know that, but do you love me enough to let me go?" She shook her head side to side, crying into him. Though it was a sad moment, he made the best out of it by letting her cry into him, the suit was keeping him from getting wet due to tears.

"Shh, it's okay. You're one of the toughest ponies I know, you shouldn't be crying." He comforted her, trying to make her feel better.

"I'm going to need some time alone, I'll see you guys later." Rainbow sadly flew off, knowing that they all were going to leave soon.

"Well, that escalated quickly." Helena said.

"True story, now let's find Nick and Jhon."

"They should be doing overwatch training right about now, so let's go find them." Andrew, Helena, and Night Shade walked off into the meadow, close to where Fluttershy lived.

Nick and Jhon were on the top of the ridge, looking over the hill into the Everfree Forest, shooting dummy targets at numerous distances. Though sniper support was usually Helena's thing, Andrew thought it was a good idea to be, "well rounded."

"Nick you got friendlies coming in on your six." Andrew announced.

"Copy that." He replied, standing up from his prone position. Jhon, who was acting spotter, also stood up to greet his commanding officer.

"Hey Andrew, who's the pony?"

"Oh, that's Night Shade, my ancestor." Night Shade nodded silently, greeting the human he saw before, yet he was never formally introduced.

"Greetings, Nick, I've heard many things about you." He stuck out a hoof, and Nick grabbed firmly and shook it.

"Likewise, Andrew always seems to be talking to someone." Andrew had a deadpan expression on his face, unamused.

"Look, Night Shade, here has given us the opportunity to go home; like back to Earth home." Both Jhon and Nick's eyes were widened, as if they seen a ghost.

"Are you serious? We can finally get out of this brightly colored cartoon world?" Nick asked in amazement. With that being said, Andrew and Night Shade nodded silently.

"Alright, I guess we can meet back at the station, we can all debate at home." Andrew decided, all of them nodded in agreement.

Just then, a scream could be heard in the direction of Ponyville. Though it didn't sound as loud as they thought it would, it was still a loud enough scream to know that something wasn't right. All four of them headed on over to town, and saw that it had been ransacked. Stands have been emptied of food, ponies crying on the streets. It did not look good.

Andrew headed on over to Lyra, who had been crying, mumbling something to herself, "Lyra, what's wrong?"

"Diamond Dogs,.. *sniffle* They took Bon Bon. *sob* Many others too." She tried to say without crying.

"Lyra, I'm gonna need you to explain, so I want you to try and calm down." Helena comforted her.

"O-Okay. We were having lunch, until the pack leader invaded the town, in the middle of the day. They were armed with some sort of magical crossbows, and covered in armor. They said they needed slaves, and so they foalnapped a lot of townsponies." She said slowly, trying to piece together what happened.

"Lyra, thank you for the information, and hey," Andrew lifted up her chin, making eye contact, "We'll get Bon Bon back, I promise." He said, managing to make her crack a smile.

Echo Team burst into their armory, which was located not far from where they slept. Where they slipped into the ACU's, otherwise known as the Army Combat Uniforms. They all went into the Suit Kiosks to get a quick fit, re-adjusting their suits once they hopped out. Andrew loaded a magazine into both of his Desert Eagles, and then putting them in his dual holsters. Helena loaded up her Shotgun, loading it with 12 Gauge Buckshot. Nick pieced together his Submachine Gun, as he just finished cleaning it, and then loaded in a fresh extended magazine. Jhon polished his knife, making sure that there wasn't any damage to it that would cause it to veer off course.

"Alright, we've got a hostage situation here guys, I want this quick and clean. What we're dealing with is about twenty civilians kept in the gemstone caves. Make sure not to forget your NVG's either, it's going to be dark." Andrew brought his ACR to shoulder length, and pulled back the charging handle on it.

Making last second preparations, they all headed out to the Diamond Dog territory, not far from Ponyville.

Author's Note

Okay, so maybe there will be some in between chapters, but in hindsight it will still be in the span of four days. Then, I might consider a sequel, or just continue with this story. It's up to you guys.

Chapter 35

Act 3-15
Gone South

It was just turning to dusk, th perfect time for Andrew to strike. For now, Helena scoped out the entire region, looking for anything: key choke points, scheduled patrols, entrances and exits, and most importantly; counting how many hostages there were. Andrew and the rest of his team waited on ground level, in the shadows. They waited for Helena's call.

"Echo 2 to Echo 1 Actual, you read me?" Helena broadcasted.

"Go ahead Echo 2." Andrew responded, moving quietly from tree to tree, and to the occasional bush or shrub.

"You've got yourself three hostiles outside the cave, you think you can take them? Over."

"No, I can see a few more heading out now, I count about six... no five hostiles."

"Should I take them out?" Helena asked, a bead of sweat rolled off of her cheek.

"Wait, I think they're dispersing, wait it out."

Three Diamond Dogs were headed directly towards Andrew, who was ready to silently take them out. Nick could hear his own heartbeat, the adrenal glands punping more and more adrenaline into his system. Jhon licked his lips, as they began to get covered in sweat.

"Take them out." Andrew ordered. All three of them popped out of the dark green grass, covering their mouths and slit their throats. They dragged the bodies into the darkness, not to be seen again.

"Clear."

"Echo 2, weapons clear." Andrew announced.

Andrew walked out into the open, followed by Jhon and Nick, who were at his side. The Diamond Dogs approached them at a fast pace. Andrew smirked, as the two Diamond Dogs fell to the ground, dead. They fell with a satisfying THUD, Andrew confirmed the kills.

Somehow he was surprised that there wasn't more security outside, and that they have yet to be noticed. In his mind, dogs were usually good at picking up smells, as well as better perception of the hearing. But these, these dogs were plain stupid, and there was no brain cells inside of their heads at all.

Helena grabbed her gear and collapsed her Sniper Rifle back into her backpack. She slowly rappelled down the mountain, meeting Andrew at the bottom.

She brought out her shotgun that was slung over her back, taking the safety off. Andrew crouched down low to the ground, staying away from any light sources to avoid detection. Nick turned to the left side of the cave, and saw something that he didn't think it looked good at all. He called the rest of the team over to him.

"Room clear!" Andrew whispered.

He took off his helmet and looked around the room. There stood a single chair and a table, the chair was covered in blood, and the shackles on the table were too.

"My god, they were tortured!" Helena picked up a scalpel, covered in blood.

"What do you think they wanted from them?" Jhon asked.

"I don't know, but I have an idea." Andrew raised up a picture, containing himself, and his team. They saw themselves smiling in the picture, along with Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and the rest of the gang.

"I think they wanted us..." Jhon said, surprised.

"They can't have us." Andrew slammed his hand on the table.

"We are getting those hostages out, they are here because of us. We are not leaving until we get them out, do you get me?"

"Yes sir." They all said in unison.

Andrew commanded the team to hold position. He could hear footsteps, as well as smothered screaming too. He stood up against the wall, waiting for them to come through. As they walked through, they pushed the mare to the table, she turned around and gasped, looking at the four humans pressed up against the wall.

Echo Team got the jump on the two slavers, and managed to choke them to sleep. They set them down gently and got the mare back to her hooves.

"Okay ma'am, you're gonna have to calm down."

"O-Okay, I'm calm."

"Ma'am, you're gonna tell me your name. Can you tell me your name?" Helena got down to her, on eye level.

"Y-Yeah, my name's Bon Bon. I've seen you guys around town before." She stuttered.

"Can you tell me where they're keeping the others at?" Andrew asked, looking around for any more hostiles.

"Yes! They're over in the next corridor, but it's heavily guarded, about 20-30 dogs." Andrew made a hissing sound as he heard that.

"Thank you for the information Bon Bon. Nick, call for a medevac."

"Sir, we're alone here, there's no one to call medevac." He explained.

"What the fuck are we gonna do about all these hostages?"

"You pussies argue it out, I'm going to call for backup." Jhon said, going back outside.

As Jhon sat down on a wooden log, he used his wrist PDA to call in the Royal Guard, who apparently just recently installed a new radio. They picked it up the second Jhon started to call, making him pleased to see that they were using it.

"This is Echo 3 to base, do you copy?" He started.

"Go ahead Echo 3." He could make out Shining Armor's voice, it was very distinct at that.

"We have discovered a Diamond Dog Slave Camp, requesting immediate backup."

"Copy that Echo 3, E.T.A. about an hour, over and out."

Jhon went back inside of the caves, and met back up with the rest of Echo Team, where they were just about to breach. Andrew planted the explosive charges on the door, waiting for the right moment. Their heart rates were rising, and the adrenline kicked in, as they were about to stir up the hornet's nest.

"Alright, we all know that we can't go on Bon Bon's word, but we do know that there will be a lot of resistance. We have to get the hostages out before we can engage all hostiles. We go in, kick ass, and get out, got it?" Andrew explained. The game plan was all set, and everyone was in position.

"Cut the generator's power." Andrew ordered. Nick unplugged the generator, leaving all sources of light gone.

All of Echo Team switched on their Night Vision Goggles, seeing that there were more hostile Diamond Dogs than expected. Luckily the pack leaders could not be found, meaning that there was no sense of authority in the room at this very minute. Andrew switched on the IR Flashlight and laser, making the room that much more visible to him, the rest of Echo Team doing the same action.

"Where power?" One of the dogs asked. Andrew could hear them bump into each other, trying to hold back his snicker.

"Alright, take them out, silently." Andrew whispered, assassinating one of the dogs. He dragged the body into a corner, trying to keep it as subtle as possible.

Helena could hear a lot of crying, from children and adults alike. She looked around to see if there were any keys for the locked cells, but of course, it was located on the security guard. She covered the slobbery mouth of the dog and stuck her hidden blade into his heart, immediately dropping dead. She took the keys from the now dead dog corpse and pocketed them, coming back to the cell full of hostages.

As she opened the door, it was lit by a single torch, and it was full of captive slaves. She could see the rib cages on some of them, showing signs of starvation and fatigue.

"Please, no more!" One of them quietly squealed. Helena kneeled down and drew the mare's hair back, revealing her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm here to get you out of here. You have to be very quiet." Helena spoke to the crowd, all nodding in unison.

Jhon and Nick, who were covering the front door, were blinded as the lights all came back on. They hissed and grunted as they struggled to get their night vision off, managing to do so without permanently blinding themselves. They both raised their guns, seeing that they were surrounded by dog/creature/things.

"Weapons clear, open fire! Watch for civilians!" Andrew ordered, putting a bullet through one's head.

"Everypony keep your head down, and follow me." Helena popped out of cover and fired her shotgun at a nearby oil drum, causing it to explode and take some diamond dogs with it.

A small canister made it to the feet of Andrew, who immediately identified it as TNT. He stomped on the fuse to stop it from detonating, lighting it again with his Zippo and throwing it back. The dirt from beneath him shook as chunks of stone erupted from the ground.

Nick and Jhon were at the back, trying to defend the train from the rear. Nick double tapped his MP7, as the dogs were not wearing very sturdy protection. They made a yelping sound as every one of them were being put down.

"It's about time we put the dogs down."

"Amen brother." Jhon said, retrieving his knife from a fallen foe.

Andrew opened the door that lead to the entrance, only to get punced on by a vicious dog. It pinned him down, but left Andrew's arms free. As the dog reached for his neck, Andrew grabbed the back of the head as well as the jaw, and snapped its neck. He threw the dog to the side and gestured for the slaves to go his way.

Helena put 12 Gauge Buckshot down range, pumping every last dog with pellets that ripped through their skin and bones. She put the end of the shotgun barrel into contact with a dog, shooting a giant hole through it, and then she kicked it to the ground.

"Helena! TNT!" Andrew shouted to her.

She then looked down at her foot and saw a red stick. The fuse was almost gone, about three inches were left. She picked it up and threw it into the air, detonating. It blew Helena back against the wall, but there didn't seem to be any long term harm to her. Andrew picked her up and walked her outside.

Nick and Jhon got the last slaves out of the cave, with it still swarming full of dogs armed with crossbows and TNT. Nick then planted C-4 on the entrance, getting out of the way before collapsing the cave.

Andrew lay Helena on the ground, putting his head up against her chest, noticing that her heartbeat was slowing. He then injected her with a shot of adrenaline, causing her heartbeat to increase by a lot. He then made his way to the medical carriages.

"Captain Shining Armor, please take the hostages and the wounded to the nearest hospital, we need to get them all checked." Andrew ordered. Shining Armor gave a sharp salute before he ordered the carriages full of the rescued hostages, wounded hostages, and Helena to the hospital.

"Well done, Major." Andrew turned around and met face-to-face with Princess Celestia, where he immediately kneeled to the ground.

"I aim to please ma'am."

"We've been trying to find one of these slave camps for months, with nothing turning up. We would have never expected for one to be so close to Ponyville. This is only one of the many slave camps Major, it's a shame you'll be leaving in a few days." She smiled, making Andrew unsure of his thought process.

"With all due respect ma'am. We still plan on leaving, but all you have to do is ask us to stay. Besides, it was you who saved us after all." He replied.

"This is not for me to decide, Major. I do not wish to keep you here against your own will. This is your decision to make."

Author's Note

I am very tired, and I just finished this chapter at midnight. If you would be so kind enough to let me know of any spelling or grammar errors, and I will fix it in the morning.

Chapter 36

Act 3-16
Day 2 of 4

"Are you sure you want to go through with this Andrew?" Helena asked him, unsure of his thought process.

"Hey, you guys have family to go back to. In no way, shape, or form am I to get in the way of that." He replied in a stubborn tone.

"Andrew, you know the girls won't like it when we leave, you haven't even talked to one of 'em since you came back with Night Shade." Nick explained. He wasn't too fond of the idea of staying here, but then again he had mixed feelings about going back to Earth.

Andrew sat down on a nearby bench, looking down to where you couldn't see his eyes. He let out a very heavy sigh, due to all the stress that has been put on his shoulders. He couldn't decide what to do himself, he didn't want to leave, but he didn't want to stay either. He really needed help, because this is a life changing situation.

"You know what? I'm going to talk to them, make sure everypony's alright. Hopefully I won't draw out too much attention along the way." He could clearly see that they were on the newspaper, as he picked one up this morning. When he was at the newspaper stand he was crowded by multiple fillies, colts, and even some full grown ponies, asking for autographs.

Andrew jumped into the Suit Kiosk, putting on the regular Security Suit. The RIG's health management system went down his back, and he thought it would have been more comfortable standing up straight instead of the older models. The older models made Andrew have to slouch over, and he did not want to get hunchback at a time like this. His helmet retracted back into his suit, and he went nextdoor to Twilight's Library.

Andrew knocked on the door, and he heard someone walk over to open it. Andrew looked down and saw Spike open the door, he looked up to see the 6'6" foot tall man staring right back at him.

"Hey Spike, may I come in?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah sure, but I wouldn't talk to Twilight right about now, she's really upset for some reason. Oh yeah, and I saw you guys on the newspaper, that was pretty awesome." Andrew fistbumped Spike and sat down on the couch.

"I think I may know why Twilight's upset, Spike, I really need your help."

"Shoot. I'm always here for a fellow guy." He said in a manly way, making Andrew chuckle.

"Night Shade has given us the offer to go home, like back to Earth home. I don't know whether to stay here or go, because it feels like we don't belong here, in Equestria. Then again, we're needed here, because there's more and more violence everyday, and the forces in the Royal Guard are dwindling. I don't know what to do here, and no one is helping me decide. It's just one simple question: Do we go, or do we stay?" Spike sighed.

"I dunno Andrew, but it seems to me that everypony wants you to stay. They even held a secret meeting about you guys, but I couldn't hear anything they were saying. Rainbow Dash was bawling her eyes out, I kinda feel bad for her especially. If I were you, I would do what's right." Spike said in an unsure tone of voice.

"Thanks Spike, do you mind if I could speak with Twilight?" He nodded silently.

Andrew slowly crept upstairs, noticing that it was very dark. There was a lit candle in the center of the room, and he could sense that Twilight was hiding in the darkness. He looked around, the glowing feature from his visor activated, shining a dim clue light wherever he looked. He looked up to the beds, where he saw Twilight, sobbing into her pillow. He silently made his way to her, and sat down on the side of the bed.

"Hey, how are you?" No answer.

"Shh, it's alright. It'll all be okay, Twilight."

"No, it won't be alright! Andrew, you guys are leaving here, forever! Never to be seen again! What about us? You think you can just leave us, as if you never existed? Well, it's quite the contrary."

"Twilight, you don't understand-"

"I'm well aware of what's going on. You're leaving us, we forget you guys existed, everything goes back to normal, problem solved." She spat.

"No Twilight, the thing is... we don't belong here, or at least, me and my team don't. We were never meant to end up here, this is not my home world. We have to go back." Andrew's helmet retracted, he had gritted teeth, and a frustrated look.

"Twilight, do you ever wonder, what would happen if you never existed? If I, never existed?"

"Well, I would have never met Princess Celestia, or my friends." She explained.

"You see Twilight, you and I, are the opposite. If I never would have existed, I would have never gotten innocents killed, never would have gotten my old team killed. Without me in the world, it would have been a better place." He looked down.

Andrew remembered back in his university days about psychology, but not much ever since the war. Everything he learned when he was younger was thrown out once he saw actual combat. He tried to cheer up Twilight by bringing himself down, try to put himself in her hooves.

"Andrew, you can't always think about the cons in life, you always have to be positive, the pros in life." She sniffed

"Well, I can't have that with a sad mare crying, now can I?" He put a hand on her chin, making her look up at him.

"Don't think of this as a bad thing, Twi. We finally get to go home, it's been so long I don't even remember what anything even looked like. I'm sorry, Twilight, we were bound to leave eventually."

"Hey, I'll see you tomorrow night, I'm going to try and get Pinkie Pie to throw a going away party." Andrew said, smiling at her.

"What are you going to about Rainbow? She's taking it pretty hard as well." Twilight asked.

"I don't know yet, but at least I know I can walk on clouds." Andrew sighed.

"Don't worry about the others, Drew. I'll let them know." Twilight smiled.

Andrew made his way downstairs, where Spike just came out of the kitchen with a tea set. Andrew smirked at him, and he looked back at him. His eyes widened as he saw him.

"How'd it go?" He asked, anxious.

"It went well, I actually got her to talk." He said, surprised.

"What are you going to do now?" Spike asked.

"I have a certain Pegasus Pony to talk to. I'm NOT looking forward to this." He complained.

Author's Note

Sorry about all the drama, there will be a lot in the chapters to come.

Chapter 37

Act 3-17
Government Issue (Day 3 of 4)

"...So you will be shipped out into Zebrica to do one last thing for me before you go." Andrew put down the letter, and had a small smirk on his face.

"So, we're being shipped out again?" Helena summarized.

"Yup, and it looks like we're doing another escort mission. We're defending what seems to be a very rich diplomat and her family. We're shipping out in 1100 hours, so you'd better get your gear together." Andrew explained, putting his Desert Eagle on the table.

"So Major, you positive about accepting this mission?" Nick asked.

"It says that we will be dealing with armed hostiles, possible assassination attempts, and even impersonation. Do you think the Royal Guard can handle all of that in one go?" Andrew asked with a deadpan expression.

"No sir." Nick gave a salute and walked out of the tent.

Andrew put on his aviators to block out the harsh sun's rays, walking down the campgrounds. He was once again in Canterlot, about to be shipped out across seas and into Zebrica. He's heard that there's been civil unrest and rioting going on there, just like back at home.

The scenery looked too familiar to him, it looked like back in the day, about more than 200 years ago, in World War II. There was the color olive green everywhere: uniforms, tent fabrics, even transport vehicles. Not that it was a bad thing, it just brought back many memories of him learning about it in school.

"Major, it's a good thing you've come." Luna got his attention, the Major nodded towards her.

"Well, I can't really say no to such a beautiful ruler such as yourself." Andrew flattered, making Luna blush.

"You're such a flatterer, Drew. The sad part about it is that it won't get you home faster." Luna rolled her eyes.

"I know." Andrew said in a serious tone.

"Anyways, thank you again for accepting this mission. I know you're going home in less than two days, but I couldn't find anypony or anyone more capable for this mission than yourself." Luna whined, causing Andrew to chuckle.

"Well, I don't care about the mission. I just want to get it overwith so I can go home faster. Plus the fact that Pinkie's throwing us a going away party."

"When you come back, I expect an invitation." Luna winked.

"I'll try to remember. Also, that's if I even have one, we may not have enough time." Andrew mused.

Andrew went down into the armory, where it was very quiet for some unknown reason.. His head started to hurt as a sudden flashback came to mind, knowing that it couldn't be without reason. He sat down on the ground, rubbing his temples as he tried to let the headache subside.

--Flashback--

"Rainbow, don't do this to me."

"Just go away Andrew! I don't want to talk to you right now!" She bucked him in the chest, causing him to stagger back. No real damage was done, because he was still in his Security RIG.

"Rainbow, c'mon, you have to be reasonable here."

"Reasonable? You think you're being reasonable?! You get the chance to leave everything here in your second life, to go back to your old sucky life, and you take it! Does that mean you never loved me?" Was she always this dramatic?

"Of course it doesn't hun-"

"Don't call me that." She interrupted.

"Rainbow, I love you, and you know that. But this is something that's important to me. I can finally tell my other friends that I'm not dead, I can get my old job back-" He was getting cut off every time in this argument. This was one he couldn't win.

"Great! Now you're just thinking about yourself! What happened to us?"

"Was there even an us? Or is this all a setup? Some kind of sick, twisted joke, caused by my crazy mind? I don't even know what's real anymore, and you're just here to make it worse. So, I'm dating a pony, that can't accept the fact that I leave forever, when I didn't even get enough time to spend with her in the first place. And said pony knows that whenever I leave, I might not come back again anyways." Andrew was about to crack, he couldn't deal with all of the stress put on his shoulders as he fought argument after argument after argument.

"Andrew, what are you talking about? Of course this is real." Rainbow tried to get him to stop being crazy.

"You know what? Screw this, I'm out of here. I've tried try to reason with you, and all you do is push me away. I'm taking up Night Shade's offer, I've got nothing left anyways. I'm getting my old life back, back when I wasn't stuck with a cold hearted bitch." Andrew walked out the door angrily, slamming the cloud door and falling off the edge.

Once he left, Rainbow just realized what she had just accomplished. She buried her face into her hooves, crying again. She thought she could hear him talking trash about her inside of her head. Like, "I'd rather be dead than to be with you," or "It's a good thing I chose going home over you."

"Oh Celestia, what have I done?" She murmured to herself.

Andrew activated his propulsion system in his boots, slowing him down as he fell to the ground. Though he thought he was going too fast, so he braced for impact. As Andrew touched the ground beneath him, it made two very noticeable metal boot prints, as well as a little indentation around him. He was in a crouched position, and had both of his arms on the ground so he wouldn't fall forward. He slowly started to get back up, his helmet retracting back into his suit.

"Goodbye, Rainbow." He walked off, back towards the Police Station.

--Present Day--

One the repressed memory was over, he got up as if nothing happened. He had a blank expression on his face as he got into his ACU. As he inspected the gun wall, he never noticed Luna come up from behind him.

"Major, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Luna walked up to him.

"I mean, why not? I've got nothing left anyways." He said in a cold tone.

"Whatever do you mean?" She tilted her head.

Andrew grabbed Luna like a stuffed doll and cried into her. He was crying pure sadness, though she didn't know the cause of why he was crying. He shouldn't have been crying in the first place, he was still shaken up from the events of yesterday.

"It's okay, just let it out." She comforted.

Andrew let go of her, wiping away any tears that may have been left on his cheeks. He let out a big sigh as his eyes started to dry up.

He put his hand up against the gun wall, inspecting a certain gun in particular. He took one of the most well known guns into his possession, an M4 Carbine. He field stripped it to be sure that it was in perfect condition, and put it back together in no time.

"Rainbow Dash and I broke up." He finally admitted.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not a big deal." He said, blankly.

Andrew slung the M4 Carbine over his back, placing his helmet back on his head. He also attached the goggles to his helmet, considering that there will be sandstorms in Zebrica. The ACU itself was desert camouflage, along with the Humvee he would be riding in. He placed the M4 on the table to put attachments on it: a foregrip, a laser pointer, an EOTech Holographic sight, a flashlight, and extended magazines. Once he was done he headed back out into the camp, Luna following close behind.

Everything was in place, and his team was ready to move out. He grabbed his newly modified M4 Carbine and slung it over his shoulder. He took both of his Desert Eagles and put them into his dual holsters, located on each thigh.

"Well Luna, I will see you tomorrow when we get back." Andrew smiled at her. She smiled back at him.

Andrew started the car, and it sounded so clean. He then drove off, and following behind him was the escort vehicle. Behind the transport vehicle was another Humvee, in the back of the convoy.

Maneuvering through the crowds of Royal Guards was a cinch, because the trail was so big it could probably fit a dozen more. They would get to Zebrica in no time at this pace.

Twilight and her friends had just arrived inside of the camp, noticing that there were wierd transport machines going out of the camp. They wandered all over camp, looking for the members of Echo Team, but none of them could be found. They passed by Princess Luna, who was surprised to meet them.

"Twilight? What are you doing here?"

"We were looking for Andrew, and the other humans. Do you know where they went?" She asked, her eyes full of hope.

"Yes, I have. You've just missed them, they're headed out to Zebrica for an escort. Why?"

"We wanted to say goodbye before they left." Pinkie Pie said, almost ready to cry.

"I apologize Twilight Sparkle and friends, I can send them a message once they reach the target destination if you want me to?"

"No, that's okay Princess, we'll just... go home now."

"Come on Rainbow, let's go." Fluttershy nudged Rainbow, who wouldn't move from her current spot.

Chapter 38

Act 3-18
The American Dream Part 1 of 2
--Andrew's Point of View--

I slowly started to flutter my eyes open, and looked around the room. It was pitch black, all except for a dangling ceiling light fixture, swinging over my head. By the looks of it, I was in a torture chamber, not very pleasing for my situation. I tried to free my hands, but they were bound so tight I could barely feel any circulation go through. I saw a zebra, much like Zecora, but with a large muscular build. He had a smirk across his face, as if he was about to do something.

"I know who you are, Equestrian." He said in an Africanized accent.

"If you know who I am then why did you bring me here?" I spat back at him. All he did was laugh, I sat there in silence.

"All I need to know from you is where the money is located." He said in a sinister, icy tone.

Of course I knew where the Diplomat's money was, it was one of my main priorities; to protect the diplomat and the suitcase full of money. Like any soldier would do, I just stared back at him, giving him no answer. He let out a small chuckle, and I knew this was only going to get worse.

"We're going to have a little fun, human." I silently gulped.

One Hour Earlier
--3rd Person View--

Nick was blasting away on his tunes while Helena was inspecting her assault rifle. Andrew was having a hard time focusing, trying to drive through a sandstorm. He heard the radio go off, but there was nothing but static. He couldn't see for shit, even with his goggles, the sand cloud was obscuring his peripheral vision.

"Yo Major, how long until we reach the destination?" Helena asked.

"About two, maybe three hours." She let out a moan, signing that she was obviously bored.

"Hey, be lucky that we're in a car. Most ponies out here travel by foot, imagine how long it would take you to trek that." Jhon said.

"I guess you're right." She admitted.

"So Drew, I heard you broke up with RD. How did that go?" Nick laughed, causing Andrew's mood to darken.

"She couldn't handle the fact that we're leaving. She yelled at me, and even kicked he straight in the chest. Then I decided: I'm done. I'm sick and tired of these ponies telling me what I can and can't do. Except for the Princesses, I have to admit, these missions they send us on are ten times better than the ones on Earth." He paused for a moment.

"All in all, it wasn't pretty. I know I won't be talking to her for a while." He continued.

The sandstorm was still going strong, and it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. Andrew was lucky that the Humvee was covered, because he would be drowning in sand by now if it wasn't. He then received a phone call on his wrist PDA, though he didn't know how, because his wrist PDA normally didn't get calls.

"Uh...hello?"

"Andrew? Is this you?" He recognize Celestia's voice, a comforting, motherly tone.

"Yes ma'am. How did you contact me?" He asked.

"Luna gave me your frequency. Anyways someone needs to talk to you." She left the phone, and who came on wasn't shocking to him.

"Hey Andrew." She said, still audibly sobbing.

"What do you want, Rainbow?" Andrew spat.

"I just wanted to let you know, that I want you to come home, safe." She sobbed.

"Why would you care? I thought you never wanted to see me again? Huh?" He was just throwing questions at her, like a gatling gun. After a moment of silence between the former couple, Andrew decided to hang up.

"You know what? I'm gonna go. We'll talk about this lat-" Andrew was cut off by the sound of an explosion, about five meters from the car. Andrew swerved the car around the explosion, only to drive into another one. He put both of his arms up to shield the blast, which caused the Humvee to topple over.

Andrew was unconscious on the driver's side of the car. Nick unstrapped his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Helena tried to get Andrew to wake up, but to no avail. Jhon kicked open the side door to get out of the car, Nick following close behind.

"Nick, Jhon! Go protect the truck! I'll be right out!" Helena ordered.

Once Nick and Jhon made it over to the truck, screaming could be heard in the back. Nick unlocked the doors, and opened them to reveal a mare, and a stallion. Both were dressed up in normal clothing, but were frightened to death. Nick tried to calm them down.

"It's okay miss, I'm here to protect you." He comforted. He noticed that the side of her head ran a small gash, luckily it wasn't deep enough to cause any major problems.

"Jhon! Get over here! We need first aid, stat!" Jhon climbed into the back of the truck, along with the first aid. He took out a small med pack, opening the lid like a can of soda. He gave the canister to the mare, who chugged it down like it was nothing.

The bleeding stopped, and before you knew it the gash mark was gone. She let out a sigh of relief, knowing that she wasn't in any more pain. Jhon pushed her to the back of the truck, where he sat near the edge, waiting. Nick jumped into the driver's seat, grabbing the dead driver and pushing him aside.

"Helena, we've got hostiles inbound!" Nick pointed over to a gathering crowd of zebras, all wielding some sort of clubbing weapon.

Helena bitch slapped Andrew, who woke up instantly. He gasped for air as he started to slowly wake up, coughing violently and stirring up dust everywhere.

"Where *cough* am I?" He asked himself, only to get shaken once again by Helena.

"You're going to be dead soon if you don't move your ass!" He cut the seatbelt loose, freeing him from the uncomfortable fetal position he was currently in.

Both Helena and Andrew climbed on into the back of the truck, but there was little room to go around. Andrew had to sit at the foot of the truck with his legs dangling from the back. He raised his M4 to eye level, looking through the Holographic Sight. What he saw was a swarming mass of armed hostiles, closing in on their position.

"Nick! Let's go!" Andrew banged his hand on the side of the truck, getting his attention.

Just as Nick started the car, the crowd had just reached them; throwing rocks, yelling things the humans couldn't understand, and just plain out violent things that are too graphic to share. Andrew caught some of the things thrown at him with his Kinesis Module, and launched them back into the crowd, hearing cries of pain. He grabbed for his M4 and held it with one hand, while using Kinesis with his left hand.

Andrew heard that unsatisfying *CLICK!* come from his M4, he dropped it on the floor of the truck and took out his Desert Eagle, taking off the safety before firing. Before he could even react, a sharp knife-like object got him in the arm, making a deep gash. He grabbed for it to stop the bleeding, his hand getting covered in his own blood.

"Damn!" He said out loud.

As he was distracted by bandaging up his arm, a zebra got the jump on him. The zebra ran up and grabbed for his leg, managing to get his jaw around Andrew's ankle. He bit down hard, causing Andrew to whelp in pain. He reached for his Desert Eagle, but it was already too late, Andrew was pulled out of the vehicle.

"Andrew! Nick, we gotta turn around!" Helena hollered.

"If we turn around we'll all be dead!" Nick yelled towards the backseat.

"We have to get these two to safety first!" Jhon agreed.

"Echo 2, Echo 1." Andrew started.

"Go ahead Echo 1." Helena responded.

"Go on without me, I will be okay."

"Copy that, but we're coming back for you. I can promise you that."

"Echo 1 out." Andrew put down his wrist, turning off the radio.

Andrew picked up his Desert Eagle, which fell out of the car along with him. Andrew brought down his knife into the chest of the zebra that pulled him out of the vehicle. He then wiped off the blood that covered it. He then took out the magazine and topped it off, replacing the old one with a full one.

"Alright, you fucks. Let's play."

Andrew was no match for the giant mass of zebricans, because the odds were stacked high against him. They outnumbered him about 300 to 1, and they eventually got a hold of him, knocking him out. But before they could do so, Andrew put up a hell of a fight, taking about a fourth of their forces.

Andrew did all he could to try and delay them, not stop them, but delay. As he knew that he couldn't stop them with just him alone. Andrew had no ammo left, because the rest of it was back in the destroyed Humvee. All he had was a captured enemy War Club, and his knife. The War Club was so primitive, it was a challenge for Andrew to use. Usually, he would have access to conventional ammo at the very least, but there was no projectiles of any sort.

"Running low on fumes here." He mumbled to himself. He suddenly came up with an idea.

"Night Shade, are you there?!" He called out.

"Yes Andrew, what is it?" He seemed pretty calm, not knowing Andrew's current situation.

"Requesting immediate reinforcements, engaging multiple hostiles, and I'm stranded without evac!" He said, caving in the head of a zebra.

"Could you please say it in a way I will understand?" He complained. Andrew let out a sigh.

"Can you please send help? I'm stuck here without any way of transportation, and I'm fighting a lot of bad guys." He said slowly, sidestepping a swole ass zebra.

"Whoa-ho-ho. You are a big one aren't ya?" Andrew said, juking out the Juggernaut.

Andrew then hopped on the back of the juggernaut, repeatedly hitting it in the head with the war club, doing minimal damage. Once Andrew took notice he went in for the kill, stabbing him in the Jugular Artery. The Juggernaut tossed Andrew to the ground, making him start to cough and wheeze. When he tried to get back up, everything went dark in an instant.

Chapter 39

Act 3-End
The Equestrian Dream Part 2 of 2

Night Shade and his little squad were prepping themselves for a rescue op. He fastened the strap to his helmet, just getting ready to put on facepaint. His team consisted of former Lunar Knights, as they were part of the Equestrian Special Forces Group now. Andrew was putting this together for after they leave, in a way they would be his successors. They weren't completely developed, because they weren't an official special forces group as of yet.

"Listen up! As you all may personally know Major Andrew Hartfield, he has been captured by the enemy," this made everypony gasp in shock.

"We are his rescue team, and if we come out successful, I will make this unit an official special forces group! Now, you've been briefed already, but do you think you're good enough for the real deal?" Night Shade motivated.

"SIR YES SIR!" They all said in unison, climbing into the carriages.

--Andrew's Point of View--

What were minutes felt like hours, and as the hours passed by, it felt like years. I was badly beaten up by the time they were done with me, and I have yet to talk. I knew better than to squeal like a little girl, but instead I trash talked them like a teenager. I laughed at some of my own remarks, and it seemed to be getting to the interrogator.

"I am only going to ask you one last time. My patience is running thin, Human. Where is the money, and where is the Diplomat?!" He said through clenched teeth.

"Why don't you stick your hoof up my ass and find it for me?" I smirked, only to get hit in the face again. What he didn't notice is that I was wearing my RIG under my ACU, and I still had a few Med Packs to spare, so after each session I looked as good as new.

"I am getting tired of your tomfoolery, Mr. Hartfield." He said in a more refined accent, causing me to stop laughing. I thought he was just some tribal, oh no, I was way off.

"Who are you, really? How do you know my name?"

"I'm afraid that I'm the one asking questions here. Now you tell me where the god damn money is, or I can't guarantee you'll get out of here with your life." I pooled up blood in my mouth, spitting it into his face. I smirked, trying to hold back my laugh.

"Oh, you re going to pay for that one. Bring me the knives." A cart was rolled in stocked full of knives, I gulped. I had to get out of here, somehow.

Oh yeah! I remember now! I still had a Kinesis Module on my wrist! Now all I need to know is how to use it behind my back. I had everything planned out, until now, all I need to have is for them to do something stupid to free my hands.

"Unbind him, bring me his hands." The mysterious zebra ordered. By the looks of things he wasn't a zebra at all, but a pony painted to look like one.

They untied me, releasing my hands. Big mistake.

I then socked one of the zebras in the face, using my Kinesis to grab for one of the knives on the table. I them impaled another guard, sticking him to the wall. What I didn't expect was for the mysterious zebra to get the jump on me, stabbing my left hand, right down the middle of my palm. I grunted in pain as I pulled out the knife, taking it out of my hand.

"Get the prisoner! Before he escapes!" He pointed to me, and I just ran. On the way, I grabbed my backpack that was conveniently left near the entrance, and I bandaged up my hand, which now had a hole in it.

"Move bitch! Get out the way!" I pushed a guard to the side, hauling ass out of there. I hijacked a dune buggy, and I was gone before anyone knew it.

"Damn it!" The mysterious zebra cursed.

Well, fuck my life. The Dune Buggy was out of gas, and I've made it... I'd say a mile away from wherever I was being held. I had to keep walking, or else I would get caught. Hopefully I can catch a frequency out here, if not, I'm just gonna have to keep walking until I find something.

"Echo 0-1 broadcasting on an open channel, does anyone read me?" I announced, only to get static.

"This is Echo 0-1 broadcasting on an open channel, does anyone read me?" I repeated, if I don't get a response this time, I'm done.

"...This is Wolverine 0-1, I read you loud and clear Echo 0-1." I sighed in relief, the instant I heard that voice I knew it was Night Shade.

--Helena's Point of View--

"Helena, how are we going to get Andrew back if we don't know where he is?" Nick asked, only adding to my stress. I didn't know what to do, with Andrew missing, and hostile reinforcements on the way, we may be stuck here for some time.

"I don't know, but we've stirred up a hornet's nest here. If we want to get the targets out alive, then we gotta move." I explained.

I checked the mag on my HK416, and I put it back in, because it still had about 20 rounds in it. We were low on ammo, and we needed to conserve it to the best of our abilities. The destination was about an hour away, and we ran out of water, for fuel. We filled the tank with the rest of our drinking water, with only one can left to spare.

"We need to move." I announced.

"What about Andrew?"

"He'll be fine." I assured them. Andrew has gotten out of the most dangerous of situations before, and I knew that he was sure to make it out of this one too.

"How would you know that?" Jhon asked, helping the Diplomat into the truck, along with her husband.

"I never caught your name ma'am?" Jhon asked.

"I-It's Peace Maker, sir." She said timidly.

"It's okay, I'll get you two out of here safely. I promise." Jhon actually got her to smile a little bit.

I went into the back of the truck to be with Miss Peace Maker, just for some extra security. Though we don't even know why they attacked us in the first place. They weren't even provoked to begin with, something definitely isn't right here. Someone's after the girl, as well as her money.

"Alright, we got one hour before we get to the destination, let's get out of this shit hole so we can get home." I slapped the side of the truck, and Nick stomped on the gas pedal.

--Andrew's Point of View--

I sat on a rock, and put on some earbuds. I wanted to listen to some music while I wait for Night Shade to pick me up. The music was rather fitting, considering the situation I was in. I have to admit, the break up was hard, for both me and Rainbow. Her especially, I have to feel bad for the girl.

"Well, I hope you've had a wonderful day so far." I turned around, seeing that mysterious zebra again. All he did was smile at me, and I just looked at him in disgust.

I whipped out my Desert Eagle. I had one bullet left in the chamber, one bullet, for about roughly 200 militia.

"I'm pretty good myself, how are you doing?"

"Good, good. You won't be in a second, get him." He said in a cold way, making me shiver. Oh god, another song came on too, I liked this one.

His body guards all attacked me at once, and I got myself ready in a defensive stance. One body guard recklessly threw his own body at me, all I had to do was bring him around me and throw him to the ground. I dusted off my hands by clapping them together.

The other one was much smarter, he tackled me by the side, bringing me to the ground. He then started to throw jabs across my face, though the pain wasn't that great. I threw him off of me, pinning him to the ground. I then threw heavy punches at him, much, much harder with my armored gloves. Another one toppled right onto me, pinning me to the ground. He then bucked me right in the stomach, causing me to throw up.

They formed a fight circle all around me, every wave there would be more and more militia for me to fight. I dropped my Desert Eagle in all the fighting, like that one bullet would make a difference anyways. Luckily, I still had my knife, and a Tomahawk I've found from a fallen foe.

One tried to strike me from behind, but I caught it with my Tomahawk and I plunged my knife into his Jugular artery. I kicked him back which caused a massive group to stagger back. I was going to get captured again if Night Shade didn't come soon, or even worse. Killed.

I used an uppercut on one of them, managing a one hitter knock out. I brought the back of my hand around, and met contact with one's face, blowing it back about a yard. I then used my Kinesis to grab one of the weapons on the ground. But before I could do so, another one got me right in the gut, but my stomach had already thrown up its contents. So instead I flew back about ten feet before I met the ground, lying on my back. I coughed up blood, and it ran down the side of my face. I grabbed my side, and I could feel multiple ribs moving, not very good for my case.

"Give it up Mr. Hartfield, you're only delaying the inevitable." I slowly started to get back up, only to get kicked to the ground again. I used my last health pack, and hopefully it would do the trick. Once I used it, I could actually feel my health bar filling back up, so that meant I was back in the fight!

"No..." I then grabbed for his head, and brought it down on my knee, I could hear a satisfying crack come from that stunt.

"What have you done? My disguise!" Turns out that crack came from a mask, which caused the striped foe to turn brown, and from that he sprouted a horn as well. He then ran back into the crowd, and it gulped 'em up like a giant ocean.

Another hostile climbed onto my back, and bit me right on the shoulder. I yelped in pain, and I purposefully fell onto my back, to squish the one riding me. I then did that upsring move like a ninja, and I dove over one that was about to charge me.

(Stop Music)

I couldn't take much more, my energy had been exhausted, there's probably about 150 of 'em left, and I'm just not feeling it. I collapsed to my knees, I looked down at the ground, defeated. Two enemies grabbed me by the arms and held me upright, it felt like they were ripping me apart I was so god damn tired.

"You know, I've put up with a lot of your reckless stunts, Andrew." He walked on over to me, no longer a zebra, but a Unicorn. I spat blood into his face, causing him to lose some of his temper. He then reared up, and bucked me straight in the chest, causing me to grunt in pain.

His horn started to glow, and I braced. Once it hit me a jolt of electricity flowed through my body, causing me to shiver and shake wildly. I then gasped for air once it finished, breathing heavily I slumped over, blood dripping fron my mouth.

"Kill the bastard." He ordered. I then closed my eyes, and waited.

"Alpha Team, move in! Secure the target!" I heard. I then heard multiple bolts of magic being fired, as well as metallic clanging sounds.

I couldn't see anything, because of all of the dust and debris flying through the air. Without my goggles I was blind. The only thing I could see was the ground under my feet, because I was looking down and not into the dust. I then saw a pair of ballistic resistant goggles thrown at my feet, I put them on without hesitation. I could hear a lot of yeling though, that's for sure.

"It's good to see that you're alive Major." Night Shade stuck out a hoof. I grabbed it and he helped me up to my feet.

"Likewise, thank you for rescuing me, Night Shade. Are these...?"

"Indeed they are, it's your Special Forces group that were in development. I took them on their first field op to see if they were ready to help the cause." He explained.

The boys I were training all lined up, and gave a sharp salute to me. I smirked.

"Well Major. Do you think these boys are ready?" Night Shade asked.

"I think they are, Commander." Once I said that, his eyes widened, he looked at me when I called him that.

"You want me to lead them?"

"Yes, since I'm going to be on permanent leave, I want you to take care of these boys for me. If I decide to stay... If I decide to stay, it'll be a joint command."

"Alright, I'll take you up on that offer."

"This is Wolverine 0-1 to base, we have the target and are requesting immediate medevac."

"Copy that Wolverine 0-1, a bird is being sent to your location."

"Wait a minute, what do they mean by, 'bird'?" I asked, surely they don't mean a helicopter or anything, that's way too advanced technology for such a short amount of time.

"A medical carriage, nothing special."

"...Oh." I said, with a blank face.

"Base this is Echo 2, the package has ariived at the destination. I repeat, package is at the destination."

"Roger that Echo 2, we'll see you back at home." Well, that's a relief.

"Echo 2, this is Echo 0-1, come back to base, we're gonna need some R&R." I said over the radio, causing Helena and the others to cheer.

Chapter 41

Act 4-1
A Little Bit of Everything

"Hey Andrew! What can I do for you tonight?"

"I think I'll have a shot of tequila, please."

"Comin' right up!"

"Thanks Berry."

Andrew was having a blast at Pinkie's party. One of the best ones she's ever thrown before.

He sat down quietly at the bar, waiting for his order to come out. As he waited, he talked with Nick and Helena, who sat right next to him. They were a little tipsy already, making the conversation much more interesting for Andrew.

(The next things that came out of their mouths were too inappropriate to be described to the public, so we're just going to skip ahead a little bit.)

"So guys, I hope the party's to your liking?" He said in his raised voice, trying to speak over the loud music.

"Oh, yeah. It's *hic* great." Nick patted him on the back.

"Simply livid." Helena said.

Andrew took a gulp of his tequila, coughing as it burned his throat going down. He wiped his mouth with his wrist, flicking the excess liquid to the ground. His attention then averted to a giant platter, full of drinks and pub food. Being the good samaritan he is, Andrew picked it up and hefted it up like a waiter, one handed.

"I'll take this to them, who am I giving it to?" Andrew asked. Berry Punch then pointed to a lone booth, full of six familiar mares sitting at a round table. Some had a red flush, while others looked pretty sober.

"Thank you for the help, Andrew."

"No problem, I am supposed to help the community in any way I can...or at least that's what my job description says." He mumbled under his breath.

He then steadily walked on over to the booth, platter on his hand, and trying to avoid spilling anything. Though it's been a while since he actually carried one of those, he still had the steady hand of a sniper. He then placed the platter on the table, and the customers noticed who brought them their drinks.

"Alright, so who here ordered the drinks?" They all looked up to him, and they audibly gasped. Not knowing why they gasped, Andrew probably thought that at least half of them were drunk.

"Hey, Andrew! It's nice to see you!" Pinkie greeted.

"Hey girls, how are you doing this fine evening?" Andrew asked. They all shook their heads and said that their night has been full of fun. Even Rainbow was in a cheery mood.

"Hey Pinkie, thanks for the party again."

"No problem Drew! But hey, I think Vinyl is looking for you." She whispered.

Andrew took the now empty platter back to the bar, and handed it back to Berry Punch to be used again. He then navigated his way through the dance floor, full of ponies partying hard. He then made his way backstage, and saw Vinyl arguing with somepony. He went silent, not wanting to interrupt anything. Once he saw her in his peripheral vision, he tapped her on the back.

"Hold on Tavi, we'll settle this later." She turned to Andrew.

"Hey uh, Andrew! How's the party so far?" She asked sheepishly. Andrew nodded, raising his eyebrow.

"Uh, Vinyl, who is this?" A gray mare pushed her out of the way, and met eye contact with Andrew, who stared her down. He tried not to be intimidating, but him towering over the four foot creature didn't help it at all.

"Oh right! You two haven't met before. Tavi, this is Andrew, you may have seen him walking down the streets." Octavia smiled at Andrew, who happily waved his hand slowly back at her.

"Andrew, this is Octavia, my room mate and fellow musical composer." She teased, causing Octavia to roll her eyes.

"I can't believe you call, this music!" She said, flattening her ears as the bass dropped again.

Andrew and Vinyl both laughed. He then put in his ear plugs, because he knew that the music was going to be loud. He's been to multiple concerts in the past, and every time he came out half deaf, because of the speakers being so loud. He grabbed the microphone and cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the whole club.

"Hello Ponyville, how are you doing tonight?!" He yelled through his microphone. They crowd responded with a loud cheer, as expected.

"Some of you may know me as the local Ponyville cop or a close friend, others may know me as a hero. Tonight, we're none of those, because we're going to step it up a notch!" Once again the crowd cheered, causing Andrew to smile with enthusiasm.

"Alright, alright everypony, time to calm down. So, I hope you all are having a good evening so far. Anyways, I'm going to give the micophone to my lovely team mate, Helena, over here. I hope that's okay with you." The crowd audibly mumbled back and forth to each other.

"Hello, everypony, I'm Helena, fellow squad mate with Andrew over there. Well, with that out of the way, let's get started!"

Andrew took the microphone from Helena, and let out a long sigh. He smiled at the crowd sheepishly.

"You ever wonder, when you pass away, if you'll be remembered? Well, every one of you, will never be forgotten, no matter what year it is, or how far into the future that may be, you'll never be forgotten. That's all I have to say." The spotlights then turned off, causing the crowd to make a whining disappointed sound. A distinct piano could then be heard, which made the crowd go silent again.

"Alright, Vinyl, we're done here." He said on the microphone, causing the spotlights to turn off, and the curtains to close. The crowd was still cheering by the time they were back at the booth, where Twilight and her friends were still at.

"You guys did awesome!" Pinkie laughed, you could see the red flush on her cheeks.

"Thanks guys, it really means a lot to us." Helena said.

"...*yawn*...I think we should get some shut eye, we'll see you guys tomorrow." Andrew wiped his eyes clean of grain, getting up to go home.

"Andrew wait! At least help me get the drunk ones home." Twilight begged.

"Alright, you take Applejack, I'll take Pinkie Pie and Rainbow."

Author's Note

This is an intermission chapter, nothing really happens and is very short. You'll be seeing a lot of these from now on. Also, the songs do not belong to me, and I was listening to this while I was writing this chapter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixifxQ_MDu4

Chapter 42

Act 4-2
The Cause to All our Problems

"Lord Black Talon sir."

"Yes, what is it Captain?"

"One of our Diamond Dog slave camps have been raided, the tunnel caved in and the slaves were let free."

Lord Black Talon slapped his face with his own talons, using the center of mass to avoid scratching himself. He let out a depressing sigh as he walked down the steps, slowly making his way towards the Captain. Black Talon put his arm around the smaller pony, causing the pony to start stuttering in his speech.

"Captain, what do I pay you for?" Black Talon asked.

"Wh-What do you mean by that sir?"

"Is it true that I pay you for keeping the product safe? Or do I pay you for no good reason?"

"It's to protect you, sir. You also appointed me to be your informant." Black Talon had a blank expression across his face.

"Oh, okay then. Well, tell them to up the security details in the other camps. I don't want anything like this happening again. Besides, what kind of Equestrian would just decide to take on us?" Black Talon boasted, causing the smaller pony to shuffle his hoof across the floor beneath him.

"That's the thing sir, they're not ponies. They're humans. Rumors say that they don't hesitate to kill, and one of them even took out Queen Chrysalis at the wedding." Black Talon raised an eyebrow, he had a peculiar face as he continued to speak.

"I think I've heard of them before, I just can't remember where..." He trailed off.

"Sir."

"What?"

"Should I get the troops ready?"

"Yes, we head out for Dodge City in one hour."

--Back in Ponyville--

Andrew threw more letters on his desk, wiping the sweat off of his forehead at the same time. He let out a heavy sigh and looked up to the ceiling, closing his eyes in the process. Nick looked over to Andrew, who could clearly see that he was bored to death.

"What's Celestia sending you this time?" Nick asked. Andrew shook his head to keep himself awake, trying not to fall asleep on the job.

"Nothing really, just the bills. Though it's not too big of a problem, considering how gereously she pays us. Not to mention the fact that all of our stuff was supplied to us by her. Other than that, the EBI, a.k.a. the Equestrian Bureau of Investigation, may have a lead on who's responsible for the slave camps all around Equestria." He said in a boring way, almost as if he was in playback mode.

"So that means we're getting shipped out for longer than a day this time?" Nick complained.

"It means it could probably take a few months before we see this place again. Though, I could use the change of scenery." He said optimistically.

Andrew got up from the desk he was in, looking down at all the finished paperwork he had completed. He was ready to toss it into the fireplace, but knowing he would get in trouble for that he left it alone. Nick patted him on the back and handed him a coffee, he smiled wryly as he took it from him. He said thank you and went into the armory, down in the basement.

Nick flipped on the lights, and the whole room began to fill with light. Andrew walked on over to the gun cages, and unlocked the metal cage door. The door wung pen with a screech, Andrew thought his ears were bleeding by now, but got over it once he pulled out his gun. He tossed Nick his HK416 at him, he grabbed it and slung the nylon strap around his shoulder. Andrew cocked the slide back on his Desert Eagle, the nickel plated finish glared into his eyes. He also grabbed for his ACR, placing it on the table.

"Hey Nick, toss me some ear plugs and a pair of glasses." Nick did as he was told, and Andrew caught it in mid-air.

"So, what's new with you?" Nick asked, before Andrew put in his earplugs. He only smiled back at him, hesitating to talk for a little bit.

"Well, I'm supposed to meet Rainbow for lunch, though I'm not so sure about it..." He looked down, in a sad, depressed state. Nick went over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine, man. You just need to let it go, stop worrying so much."

"I dunno Nick, maybe I'm worried for a good reason. It's not the lunch I'm worried about, I'm worried about something else."

"Well what is it then?"

"I have a gut feeling, that something bad's gonna happen." He put a hand on his head, his eyes wide open from all the stress.

Nick picked up Andrew's ACR, and handed it to him, placing it directly into his arms. The radiating light from the ceiling finally reached into the firing range. Nick looked on over towards the range, seeing that the environment changed. Someone must've changed it overnight, though he wasn't so sure who. The environment was very different, changing from an open, rocky desert, to a dense, urban area.

"Now, are we going to shoot, or are we just gonna stand here and look at them?" Nick asked, causing Andrew to snap out of his trance. He shook his head as he collected himself, placing the magazine into his rifle and pulling back the charging handle.

--Ponyville Market--

Helena and Jhon had the day off, wandering around town to gather stuff to make dinner for tonight. Though Jhon didn't cook often, he was the best cook in their squad. The reasoning behind that is because he didn't have time to start a fire and gather ingredients in the field, unless he was alone.

"Hey Helena, what should I make for dinner tonight?" He asked.

"I'm thinking you should make something that isn't made out of meat, got anything for that in your cookbook?" She chuckled, Jhon's eyes wandered around to all the various food stands, noticing that they were all vegetables. Typical for a pony's diet.

"I'm thinking some sort of vegetable stir fry, you think they sell rice somewhere near here?" He thought.

"I dunno, try using your super asian senses you keep bragging about." She emphasized Jhon's "super" abilities.

"Hey, no need to be racist here, that was just uncalled for." Jhon protested.

"I'm only joking *snicker* don't get your panties in a twist." She laughed, flicking away a tear drop. Jhon was not amused.

"Anyways, it should be around here somewhere. Try looking around!" Helena five starred Jhon's back, causing the hair on the back if his neck to stand up. His teeth clattered and he shivered, even though it wasn't that hard.

"Hey, I'm going to grab some lunch, do you want anything?" Helena nudged Jhon, who only shrugged as he picked up a bundle of Broccoli, inspecting to see if it met his standards.

"Yeah, just get me some fruit, I'm not that hungry." He mumbled. Helena nodded and headed towards the cafe, where she saw a few familiar faces.

Helena sat down at the very same table, where Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were also sitting at. They both looked up to see Helena sit down with them, causing them both to crack a smile. Helena quietly sat down and picked up a menu, figuring out what to eat for herself, and picking out something for Jhon as well.

"Hey Helena, how are you?" Twilight asked formally, causing Helena to clear her throat.

"I'm doing well Twilight, and you Rainbow?" Helena asked, Rainbow only nodded to keep her cool.

Helena veered her eyes towards the ground, tapping her fingers together as she looked for a topic of discussion. This was certainly getting awkward for the three, until the waiter decided to break the silence by asking for their orders. It gave Helena some breathing room, because both Rainbow and Twilight were looking at her as if they were looking for words of wisdom from a miracle worker.

Helena pulled up her sleeve to reveal her PDA, and got Andrew on the phone. "Andrew? Weren't you supposed to meet Rainbow for lunch?"

"How did you find out about that?!" He said in a surpsied state.

"Because it looks like Rainbow's waiting for someone, I'm sitting here with both her and Twilight right now. They don't look too happy either."

"I'm not supposed to be there for snother half hour, they must be early." He said, unsure of what he just suggested. Helena then heard multiple gunshots, and her face deadpanned.

"You're in the gun range, aren't you?"

"No~" He said, trailing off, an obvious lie to begin with.

"Just get your ass over here." Helena sighed, hanging up the phone on him.

As Andrew strolled on over to the busy table full of his friends, his wrist started to vibrate. He frowned, not wanting to pick it up. Knowing that he could lose his job and be thrown back into scientific study, he picked it up anyways.

"Hello?" He asked. The transmission started out with a lot of static, causing his ears to start ringing.

"This is Major Andrew Hartfield, correct?"

"Yes, this is him."

"General Night Shade has personally requested you and your team's immediate presence in Appleloosa. A private chariot will be sent to Ponyville to pick you up. You have three hours to gather your things." Andrew went silent, his pupils shrinked and he started to look around frantically.

As he approached the table he was met with multiple familiar faces, including Jhon and Helena. He was also met with none other than Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, who were rather happy to meet his acquaintance.

Andrew moaned, he had finally just sat down at the table, only to be called out on orders from Night Shade moments later. He was not happy, and neither was anyone else. He couldn't complain though, when there's trouble afoot, he's always going to be there to stop it. He wished he could have stayed, but he couldn't because he had to pack his gear.

"Guys, we're headed out to Appleloosa, wherever that may be. Anyways, we might be gone for a few days if that's alright." He looked to the left of him, seeing a saddened Rainbow Dash sitting next to him. Andrew let out a heavy sigh and put his arm around her.

"It's going to be alright, you know we don't die easily."

"Don't jinx yourself Andrew, there are too many variables within a fight." Twilight pointed out, causing him to look at her with discontent.

"That's not helping Twi." He deadpanned.

Andrew looked up at the sky, seeing it was only an hour past noon. The sweat droplets started to fall from the side of his face, causing him to get annoyed. He took the sleeve of his shirt and ran it across his face, leaving it wet and a slight brown color. He placed a gold bit on the table and went back to his quarters.

"What am I to do about all this?" He asked to no one in particular.

"If you need help all you have to do is ask." Someone else walked- more like trotted into the room. He looked over and saw Rainbow, who seemed rather confident at the time.

"Help with what? I have everything under control." He mumbled.

"You know, I thought at one point that the great Andrew Hartfield came straight from the depths of Tartarus. Now that I've gotten to know you, you're a big softie, aren't you?" She teased.

"First of all, I have no idea where or what Tartarus is, and second of all, I never said anything about being some super tough guy. Finally, something tells me that you're here for another reason." He mused, causing her to shift her eyes away from him.

"I want to get back together." She blurted out in a really fast pace.

"I'm sorry?" Andrew didn't seem to catch anything.

"I. Want. To. Get. Back. Together. With. You." Every time she stopped she poked Andrew in the Sternum, harder and harder with each hit.

"I can't say at this given moment. I'm not in the greatest of moods right now." He admitted, causing Rainbow to swallow her sadness.

"-But I'll tell you what, when I come back, I'll take you on a date. If it goes well, we'll get back together, if not, we'll still be good friends. Aight?" He booped her straight in the muzzle, causing her to look cross-eyed for a brief moment.

"Sounds good! I'll see you then! By the way, you gotta tell me one of those stories one of these days!" She said in an excited tone. She then gusted out the door, causing it to slam really hard. Andrew smirked as he gathered his things from his footlocker.

Chapter 43

Act 4-3
When there's trouble afoot

The desert winds blew a lone tumbleweed through the empty town, bouncing around like a ball. There was a distant sound of wings flapping, seeming to be getting closer and closer. Night Shade glanced out the window of the abandoned saloon, waiting anxiously for Andrew's arrival. The wind was unusually strong, toppling over multiple cacti and even blew a door wide open. The saloon doors began to creek, Night Shade's ear twitched towards that direction, his head whipping around soon after. He squinted his eyes as he saw a single hand push the doors open, and in came four humans, wearing a digital desert colored uniform.

"Sorry we're a bit late, sandstorm came in faster than we thought," a masculine voice grumbled, "never knew I had to ever wear these again."

"That's quite alright boy, take a seat," Night Shade gestured to a rather large round table, pulling out a chair for himself to sit down in.

"Well let's get you people briefed on the situation," he started, "first of all, welcome to Appleloosa. I wish you could've been here under better conditions."

Andrew raised his hand to speak, taking off the ballistic goggles while doing so. You could see a very noticeable fine line where the dust blew him in the face.

"Leave your questions for last, Major," Night Shade sighed, "we're running low on time."

"A few miles out is a small backwater town called Dodge City. We have been informed by one of our spies that slavers are going to hit that town within the next twenty four hours. We need all the stallionpower we can muster, so that's why I called you out here. Your fire team will be defending the north entrance, we expect most of them to be coming from there. You have no specified targets, but if possible take prisoners for questioning. We cannot let them get through your defenses, the citizens of Equestria are counting on you to keep their families safe. I will be commanding forces in the south entrance just in case they try to flank us. Additional backup will be provided if needed. After all we expected the worse, so we also evacuated the residents to an underground facility in the center of town." Night shade stopped for a second, so the humans could take it all in.

"Gentlemen, and lady, I bid you good luck. The mission lies on your shoulders. Now, any questions?" Nick raised his hand.

"How many armed hostiles should we expect, sir?"

"About a few hundred, if not a few thousand. We don't know the exact numbers." Night Shade said, putting a hoof up to his chin, "anyone else?" no one raised their hand.

"Meeting is now dismissed." Night Shade concurred.

Andrew put his goggles back over his eyes, the tint of the lens changing the what should be sand colored environment, to an uglier mustard brown. Though he couldn't complain, it did however, dim the sun's effect on him, instead of seeing a massive ocean of radiating sand. He put his bandana over his mouth slowly, trying not to undo the loose knot he tied in it. He put it over his nose and mouth, to avoid breathing in particles of dust and sand. The rest of his squad did the same, though they must've had their bandanas tied tighter than his own.

"Major, what's the plan here?" Helena asked, "should I set up a nest on top of one of the buildings?"

Andrew nodded his head, "that would probably be the best idea."

"Alright Night Shade, how are we going to get there?" Andrew asked, which at the time was a really good question.

Night Shade pondered a bit, though he had something in mind. He had a little thing to showcase, perfect for those long, hot, and just plain annoying trips across the desert. He went towards the western entrance of Appleloosa, and slowed down when he came up to four hidden objects covered in beige tarps. The four human soldiers soon caught up to him, noticing him oddly stand there, in front of four objects. They had their assumptions about what they were, but kept quiet, they had a gut feeling that Night Shade was about to showcase them his stuff.

"I have a little present for you guys," he announced, pulling off the beige tarps with his magic, "I found these in the basement of the castle, I had them refurbished to pristine condition, and modified them with one of your electrical engines."

Andrew put his hand on the firm seat pad, noticing how the blue paint job shined in the summer sun. The actual frame was sturdy enough to take a few hits, made out of reinforced steel, and had a glossy finish to it, the glare was almost too strong to look at.

Andrew looked over to the other bikes, seeing that they all were a different color. Probably to match his team's favorite colors. He licked his lips, squiting his eyes as he looked into the distance, seeing a tiny, yet still visible place out in the distance. It had hard to see through the sand flowing through the air, but the darker tint to his goggles made it barely possible. He brought his leg slowly over the dirt bike, and he kicked the lever to make it start. The engine started on the first try, a sure sign that it was in perfect condition, though he couldn't guarantee the safety of what happened to it afterwards.

"Whoo, look at this baby purr!" Andrew complimented, making Night Shade proud of his work.

"I could almost kiss you Night Shade!" Helena said, causing Night Shade's cheeks to go red.

"It's not a big deal, we need to get going. I'll see you there." Night Shade teleported off, leaving a trail of smoke in his place. Jhon had a deadpan expression as he questioned logic once again.

"Why didn't he just teleport us with him?" He asked, Andrew rolled his eyes and laughed.

"It takes a lot of energy to teleport just themselves around, Jhon. Imagine teleporting all five of us about two/three miles away." He pointed towards Dodge City, which was a tiny spec in the distance from where they were.

Andrew mounted up on the dirt bike, and so he cranked the handlebars, which were stiff at first, considering that it was brand spanking new it was normal. He then rode off into the desert, leaving a little wake of dust behind him. As the rest of his team did the same, one by one they left Appleloosa for Dodge City.

"Lord Black Talon, are you sure this would be the best idea for a slave raid?" A minion asked.

"Yes, we need to strike fear into Equestria, make sure that they are aware of our presence. I also want to see their fighting force, how much resistance they can put up before they get outnumbered. Heheh, they're not going to stand a chance," Black Talon huffed, almost in an overconfident, arrogant way, "after all, we do have our secret weapon in case something bad does happen."

"Sir, should I start the raid?" Another minion asked, in a bit too enthusiastic way. Black Talon nodded his head.

"WOOHOO!" Andrew yelled to the top of his lungs.

Andrew got some big air while riding over a steep hill. He could see over the sand cloud, and what wasn't sand, was extraordinary beauty of what was formerly Appleloosa, all before the residents were evacuated. The sun sparkled in his eyes, though it wasn't too bright with the tinted goggles. Instead of sand blowing into his face, it was a crisp, dry wind, which felt cold on contact with his skin.

Once he touched down, he stuck the landing, speeding through the low clouds of sand and dust once more. Managing to meet up with his friends, who were far ahead of him.

"Sorry guys, I'm havin' a bit too much fun with these bikes." He sighed, the adrenaline finally pumping out of his system. He looked around to get a view of his surroundings, seeing that it was way smaller than Appleloosa, he assumed that the town population was smaller.

"Well get your ass in gear, I'm not losing another town." Night Shade adjusted the sights on his crossbow, using a modified ACOG sight he borrowed from Andrew.

"Alright people, let's get dug in: Helena, you get to a good sniper's position. Jhon, you're with me, Nick, man that mounted machine gun." Andrew pointed out their designated spots, and they quickly followed out their orders.

"General Night Shade!" A rather small pony, with a medium sized build came into view, called out for Night Shade.

"Yes, what is it?"

"They're here!"

"Andrew, looks like we're gonna have a little fight on your hands, as well as my hooves." Andrew silently nodded.

"Get ready for the worst, because I sense a shit storm coming."

Author's Note

LOL

Chapter 44

Act 4-4
When there's trouble, there's violence

Andrew brought his binoculars to his eyes, scanning the open field in front of him. From the trench he was currently in, he could only see a single row of armed hostiles composed of Diamond Dogs, Griffons, and ponies alike. He didn't understand why though, because this place was so peaceful, and armed conflict was never a real problem until the slavers came to Equestria.

"Andrew, those are going to be ponies we're shooting at!" Jhon stated, "why?"

"I don't know Jhon, but I have an idea," Andrew trailed off, trying to think of some sort of reason, "I'm guessing they're doing it for the money, I'm not too sure of it though."

"Greed is a very strong thing in all species alike; humans, animals, even these ponies are an example. When there's competition for something, there will always be the ones who want more than they already get." Andrew coughed, taking the binoculars off around his neck and handed it to Jhon.

"It doesn't look like there's too many-" Jhon was cut off by the radio.

"Major, I'm seeing multiple firing lines from up here, are you sure we can take them?" Helena asked, discouragingly.

"We're just gonna have to hold until we can get the residents out of here. Night Shade said it's gonna take a little while."

"Nick, is that MG set up?" Andrew pressed the earpiece closer to his ear, pacing himself along the trench.

"Yes sir, this baby is ready to go." Andrew could hear Nick pull back the charging handle through the radio, which made a satisfying click.

Andrew took off the bandana from around his face, and breathed in the dry desert air. The sandstorm has uplifted and the skies are clear, he could see the lining of his enemies in plain view. It was very quiet, no one made a single sound as either side saw each other, some even saw the whites of their eyes. Helena adjusted the scope of her rifle, the wind would create a nuisance for her.

Andrew heard someone shout a command through a loudspeaker, though to his ears it was inaudible, and because it was so far away to where he couldn't hear it. Once he realized what that command meant, the huge mass of slavers started to advance towards him. Andrew looked to the left of him, and saw Jhon looking straight back at him.

"What are you waiting for? Give the order!" Nick shouted, causing Andrew to instinctively command his squad to fire.

"Fire! Fire!" He yelled to the top of his lungs.

Nick started to pump bullets down range, managing to start a first shot chain reaction when got the first guy, the others started to trip over him and made easier targets for themselves. Nick let out a sadistic laugh as he let the bullets fly. With the giant box magazine that was in his machine gun, he didn't have to reload as often as compared to the others, sine their weapons were magazine fed.

The rifle scope of Helena's sniper rifle had a glare, noticeable enough for the enemy to see. The only thing is that before they could retaliate, thery were already dead. Helena was a dead shot, managing to pull headshot after headshot at every target she aimed for.

"Night Shade? Where's the civilian evac?" Andrew yelled over the radio, all he heard was static from his end. Though he knew he wouldn't just drop off the face of the earth like that. He ducked into cover and waited for a response, arrow bolts flying past his head.

"Jhon, cover my ass! I'm going to check on Night Shade!" He ordered, falling back owards the south end of the town. Jhon, following orders, took the spot Andrew was previously in.

Andrew slung the rifle onto his back and started to jog at a fast pace towards the south end of town. He saw Night Shade over inside of a building, holding a pad to his shoulder. Andrew walked inside and saw that there was a tril of blood, as well as a broken arrow, snapped in half on the ground.

"Sorry I couldn't talk, I got hit pretty badly."

"I don't know anything about pony anatomy, but it looks bad."

"Damn thing nearly missed my heart, don't worry, I have a regenerative property, like Luna and Celestia, I'll be fine in a few moments." Andrew nodded his head, grabbing his rifle off of the floor and headed out the door. His locator lit up an aqua colored line that lead him back to the north gate.

"Hey Andrew!" Night Shade called out. Andrew returned to the room.

"Don't die on me." He coughed.

"Don't worry, death told me it's not my time to go." Andrew chuckled, readjusting his helmet and continued outward back to the north entrance.

"Jhon, sitrep," Andrew ran on over back to the north gate, luckily most of the fire had been drawn there, Night Shade didn't look too good.

"There's too many Drew, we can't hold them for too much longer, we're losing too many guys!" Jhon exclaimed, switching off the radio right after.

Andrew checked the magazine currently in his rifle. He had about twenty rounds left, good enough for him. He then vaulted himself over a wooden fence, landing on his knees inside of the trench he was previously in.

Knowing that he had to conserve ammo, he switched fire modes to single shot. He then looked out into the open, seeing that there was a massive army converging on his position.

"Night Shade?! What's the situation on that civilian evac?"

"It's almost here! I can hear it!" The flapping of wings and the clatter of a rather large carriage could be heard, Andrew got down to business. He opened the vault and eberypony inside immediately climbed out, basking themselves in sunlight.

"Alright everypony, I want you to safely make your way to that carriage over there, keep your head down and do not panic. I assure you that everything will be okay." They all mumbled multiple words of help or Celestia trying to help them, as if there was a religion revolving around Celestia.

"Sir, I can't find my baby! I've looked everywhere for her!" A pony came up to Andrew and tugged at his uniform. Andrew gave her a warm smile, and kneeled down to ger level.

"Ma'am I assure you everything will be okay, I'll find your baby. Can you tell me where you last saw her?"

"I was about to feed her, and then she wandered off somewhere. I remember that we were by the storage facility when I lost her. Please sir, find my little angel." She cried.

Andrew firmly nodded, going back into the bunker. He slowly made his way down the steps, watching where he put his footing, since it was dark. The dim lighting did not help, because he was just outside where everything was lit up by the summer sun, he switched on his flashlight and flashed it around the room, looking for labeled signs.

"Storage, eh? Alright, let's take a look," Andrew switched on his radio, "Night Shade, how long until our evac arrives?"

"We've got seven minutes, whatever you're doing you're doing one hell of a job, keep it up." Night Shade said, explosions erupted in the background as their onversation continued.

"I'm currently looking for a lost foal, I'm inside of the stronghold looking in the storage facility. I don't know how long my team can hold, so if possible send reinforcements to the north gate."

"Affirmative, I'll send Alpha Squad, one of the best guys we've got."

"Copy that, I'll meet you topside." Andrew switched frequencies, now connecting to Nick's radio.

"Nick, how's it going?" He asked, hearing drips of water coming from leaking pipes. He heard the distant sound of laughing, causing him to whip the flashlight around and point it towards the source. Nothing.

"Everything's fine up here sir, they're falling back to regroup, we're running low on ammo, I don't know how much longer we can hold. Hold on...what the hell is that? Oh my god, they got artiller-" Nick was cut off by the sound of a loud explosion. Andrew let out an audible grunt as he heard static come from the other end of the call.

"I'll be fine, just hurry up with that transport! We'll hold them off as long as we can!" Nick finally continued. Andrew let out a sigh of relief.

Andrew immediately switched off his radio and sat down against a wooden crate. He buried his face into his arms, and moaned, "this isn't what I signed up for."

Author's Note

Deez niggas can't hold me back, as in fuck the haters out there! I don't give a single fuck! Also, sorry about the short(er) chapter this time around, I've been trying to update for a while, but I couldn't find the time to write.

Chapter 45

Act 4-5
Desperate Measures

The PMC's had breached both the north and the south gates, causing all of Night Shade's troops to fall back towards the center of the now deserted town. Andrew, Night Shade, and his team met in the underground bunker, an emergency meeting was called to order. So far, Andrew was on the losing end of the argument.

"General Night Shade, I do advise that we keep fighting! If we lose this town to the slavers, then how are we going to keep Appleloosa from suffering the same fate?" Andrew banged his clenched fist on the table, causing the glasses of water on the table to shake and clink.

"Andrew, Appleloosa is a whole different matter, we are out of time, and we are out of options. We have no troops left but four squads, and we are not getting any reinforcements anytime soon!" He scolded back at him, but Andrew wouldn't give up.

"We have to keep this town General, if we don't, who knows where they could strike next! Yes it may just be some simple backwater town, but we have to let Equestria know that it's safe! I advise that we use Prototype IV, it may not be field tested, but it's all we've got." He said defiantly, seeming to know what he's getting himself into.

Night Shade sighed, "very well then. Any volunteers as a test subject?" Night Shade asked, no one raised their hands, or hooves for that matter.

"I'll do it." Andrew stood up, looking around the room.

What he saw were faces of concern, fear, and respect. He mostly saw the concern out of all the faces, and some of them even came from his team. Helena looked at him, almost with a devastated face. Nick looked at him and smirked, leaned back and crossed his arms. Jhon just didn't really care, all he did was stare like everyone else in the room.

"Prototype No. IV is a modified Advanced Suit for those who don't know, and an Advanced Suit is a suit that I wear sometimes when I go out, I have it on file right here." Andrew laid out a file on the table, containing classified images and schematics to the prototype.

The prototype itself had armor plating the color of white with the texture of carbon fiber, as well as a undersuit that was a jet black color. Other than that, nothing changed, all except for the new armor system, which Andrew and other engineers managed to put a shielding system into it. But that was the catch, the shielding system was made out of magic, and was unstable. Which could lead to the host's death, or permanent side effect depending on the severity of the wound inflicted.

"I'm the only one outfitted with a RIG anyways, so I guess it's necessary to do so." Andrew said, making his way to the nearest Suit Kiosk.

"Andrew wait!" Helena called out, Andrew immediately turned around to face her.

"At least send a message to Rainbow, it's the least you can do." She held up a video log recording device to him. He took it up and out of her hands and turned it on. Once the projector showed up, he saw that it was his 42nd log.

"Hey Rainbow, I'm recording this now so I don't have to say it later, or really, if I can say it later. Right now I'm in Dodge City, fighting off some private military. We're losing, but I hope I can make the best of our situation. I just called to say, that I love you, and that you were the best thing that ever happened to me. I know I promised you guys a while back that I'll make it through all of this..." He took a brief moment to take a deep long breath.

"I don't know if I can keep that promise, I never knew and I never will know what could happen, and the thing is... If I don't make this, Helena and the rest of the gang will keep you safe. I can promise you that much, and Twilight, please look after everyone I know and love. Goodbye to you all for now, Andrew signing off." He signed off the video log, tossing it back to Helena.

He quickly climbed into the dark machine once more, and multiple machine parts could be heard moving and cranking inside of the cockpit. A yellow light could be seem emanating from the seam of the two doors, going in a downwards movement.

Andrew came out stretching out his own arms in front of him. The then averted his gaze upwards, and then downwards again to look at his legs. The suit was a snug fit, almost skin-tight because of the Advanced Suit design. He then grabbed an assault rifle that was hung up against the wall and headed towards the surface. He turned on his communicator and the second he switched it on he received a call.

"Andrew, we need about ten minutes to load up everypony into the carriages, ad then we come for you. Can you manage to hold them for ten minutes?" Night Shade asked, Andrew nodded to himself.

"Yes sir indeed I can. I'll meet you topside, over and out."

Arrow bolts bounced off the surface of his armor, and Andrew shook off explosions as if they were nothing at all. The shield held up rather well considering that this was the fourth prototype they went through to get right. The blue tinted visor highlighted Andrew's enemies in red, and friendlies in green.

"Major Andrew, sir!" One of Night Shade's ponies saluted to Andrew, who towered a good four feet above him.

"Sergeant, order your men to fall back to the carriages. I'll hold them off, just give me a sitrep."

"Well, Alpha Squad is still holding out near the north gate, the PMC's have artillery and high explosive bolted crossbows. We've lost good stallions to those." He grunted.

"Okay, well get back to the bunker and hold out until evac arrives," Andrew pulled out his ACR, and took it off of safety.

Andrew then proceeded to mow down infantry as if he was a chainsaw. Andrew pumped bullets into the horde, every burst they would get closer to him. Every reload they would get even closer, to the point where it was uncomfortably close to his proximity.

A PMC soldier tried to stab Andrew in the Jugular artery, but the undersuit was like dragon scales, close to indestructible. Andrew threw him off and caved in his face with a curb stomp. A crossbow bolt bounced off his shoulder that had a distinct look to it, it was an explosive bolt. Once it detonated Andrew was forced onto his knees, trying to recover from the explosion.

"Warning, shield depleting to 90%, please seek the nearest recharge station to restore energy." An AI came to life, though Andrew did not know the name to this AI.

"AI, I need you to redirect all energy to the repulsion shields."

"Master, my name's Stephen. My AI name's Stephen." Andrew chuckled, and threw a PMC to the ground and kicked him straight in the gut. He grabbed his weapon and shot it into another PMC who was about to shoot him in the back.

"Master, the energy in your suit is all at their max levels, I cannot redirect anything towards your repulsor shields." Andrew nodded.

"Stephen, connect me to General Night Shade."

"Yes sir, patching you through."

"Night Shade! How much longer?" Andrew held a PMC by the neck and slammed him against a nearby wall, causing him to knock out the PMC violently.

"We've almost wrapped up here! How's it going on your end?"

"I'm doing fine, shields are holding at-" Andrew was cut off, and was slung like a ragdoll into the saloon. He slowly got back onto his feet and moaned.

"Shield are holding at 70%" He looked over to see what hit him. What he saw surprised him, because he never thought he would ever get to see one in real life.

What he saw was a cannon, and the ball that hit him was about eighteen pounds, luckily it wasn't explosive at that. He rolled out of the way of another cannon ball hurdling towards him, barely missing him by an inch. He then fired a beam of stasis at the cannon itself, the splash managing to hit the crew too. He then chucked a grenade at their feet, causing them to skyrocket into the air, along with the cannon. They all fell down with a loud thud, dead.

"Andrew! Evac's here! We gotta move!" Helena called.

"I'll be right there!" He then made his way back towards the center of the town, and he heard cries come fron behind him. He looked over and saw a wounded pegasus on the ground, about to be killed by PMC's. He groamed as he made his way back over there, killing off the PMC's without a problem, picked up the pegasus, and made his way back to the carriage.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you so much." She cried into him.

"No problem, it's all in the day's work." He then threw the pegasus into the now airborne carriage, Helena caught her and helped her inside, she then gestured for Andrew to follow in behind her.

Andrew jumped thirty feet into the air, almost making it to the carriage. His hand was a foot away from grabbing onto the side ledge, only to be blasted away by another cannon shot. The cannon shot this time took a toll on Andrew, and hit him directly in the side of his rib cage. He then fell back to the ground with a large metal clank, and a small crater of broken rock and dirt formed around him.

"Warning, suit integrity dropping below 50%, shields failing, please find the nearest Suit Kiosk for repairs." Stephen warned.

Andrew coughed and wheezed as he got back up once more onto his feet. He looked up to see that the carriage was still in the airspace, and he knew it wasn't going to be there for much longer. He couldn't make that jump with all that artillery shooting at him, and the suit couldn't take a few more hits before he would become unstable.

"Nick, I need you to stick your machine gun out the window and provide suppressing fire on that artillery." Andrew ordered. Nick followed as if he was a robot, and a muzzle flash of his gun could be seen from the side of the transport carriage.

Andrew got jumped on by a heavily armored Griffin, who's armor clanked and clattered as the two fought, Andrew having the obvious advantage due to his suit capabilities. He grunted as he lifted the juggernaut-like being into the air, and threw him backwards into a building, slamming him against the wall.

Andrew's helmet retracted back into his RIG, which revealed a very depressed looking face, "motherfucker," he spat on the Griffin's armor and walked away.

"Night Shade, this is Echo 0-1, E.T.A. five minutes."

"Copy that, bird inbound." The carriage touched down on the ground, stirring up a small cloud of dust near it.

Andrew climbed into the side of the carriage, sitting on the stair step just outside of the actual hull. He then grabbed the handlebars of the mounted MG latched onto the side. It wouldn't do much anyways, because Dodge City was already a lost cause, but every little thing counted in war.

"Let's light those bitches up." Andrew revved the minigun up, and it started to shoot a bullet storm down into the crowd of PMC's. He could hear the blood curdling screams of them trying to escape the raining carriage of death, only to be silenced moments later.

As the carriage left the airspace, Andrew leaned back against the wall, the helmet retracted back into his suit. The RIG on his back glowed a dark urine colored yellow, and he ached. He looked around at his team mates, seeing their beaten and battered faces, and looks of defeat. The other transport carriages outside the window followed close behind, holding other survivors of the battle.

"Night Shade? Can I ask you something?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Are we at war?"

"Yeah, we're at war now. We're on our way to Canterlot right now to get Tia's authorization."

Chapter 46

Act 4-5
Relapse
--Two Days Later--

"Andrew, you need to wake up." I could hear a soft whisper, telling me to awaken from my slumber.

I had no idea who or what it was, and why it was telling me to wake up. I couldn't wake up, because all those tests yesterday that I had gone through worn me out, and it also wore the suit out as well. I couldn't get up, no matter how hard a tried, my body wasn't responding to my demands. I am just not in one of those moods to be getting up, hell, I don't even know what time it is.

I slowly start to flutter my eyes open, but I did not see the same image as when I went to sleep the night before, the room was all white, as if I was stuck in a solitary confinement room. I heard the distant sound of a maniacal laugh, I could not make out whatever it could've been, though it was just on the tip of my tongue.

I got up slowly and look around the room, not expecting to find anything but egg shell white. As a matter of fact, I didn't find anything, just the eerie feeling in my gut that something was wrong.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked, no answer though.

"Helena? Nick? Jhon? Anybody?!" I called out, raising my voice with every name I stated.

"Welcome back, Andrew. We've been waiting for your arrival." I heard a feminine like voice behind me, causing me to whip around to find the source. What I saw wasn't pretty at all, not even one bit. The room started to darken, and the smell of blood filled the air, and the scent only got stronger. Then it hit me like a brick wall. It was Carmine, of all things.

"Carmine? What are you doing here? I thought I ended you!" The last time I fought with the Darkness was up in the mountains, where I fought it in an old temple. Just the thought of it made my brain hurt that much more.

"No, Andrew, you were oh so mistaken. You never ended it, you only delayed the inevitable, far from killing it." Carmine responded to me, I couldn't belive a word she was saying, because I knew she was just a mental hallucination.

I couldn't believe this was happening at all. I thought I got rid of my mental disorder? I'm pretty sure I was cured a very long time ago, if I wasn't mistaken. How is the Darkness able to talk to me and me only? Why in the form of Carmine? I had so many questions to ask, but I only got a light chuckle in return.

"I must be going, Drew. I have a lot of evil to get back to, and there's nothing you can do to stop it!" Carmine kissed my cheek, and then dissipated back into the whiteness of my mind.

I then woke up again, but this time in real-time, hopefully I won't be seeing hallucinations in real-time too. My eyes wandered around the room from the fixed position of my head, seeing that I was still in Canterlot Castle. At least I know that I'm in a safe environment, for now.

I make my way to a little footlocker at the end of my bed, seeing that my clothes were all there, prepared and ready for use. I put them on without hesitation, hoping to get a better feel of my body before I put it under more stress. My fingerless gloves slipped on with ease, and the helmet strap clicked into place. My assault rifle leaned against the footlocker, contents unknown to me at the time. My Desert Eagle in its holster rested on top of the footlocker. I picked it up and fastened it around my right leg, making sure it was tight enough so it wouldn't fall off. I then threw the bullet resistant vest over me, and then I opened the footlocker.

The footlocker was full of my old supplied when I first came to Equestria: an old picture of me and my family, my old laser sidearm, which had been replaced by an old 21st Century Desert Eagle, a few empty magazines, a pulse grenade, and laser ammo for my old sidearm. Though the 22nd Century had its perks, it also had its downs-because the lasers don't have as much stopping power as traditional bullets ever did, and that they can overheat much faster.

I got on one knee as I get all of my stuff together, slinging the rifle over my back, putting loaded magazines into my ammo pouches on either side of me, putting my supplies into my butt pouch, and putting my boonie on for a finishing touch. It was just a normal routine, just as always, but in many ways this was different.

I then got up and walked out the door, slowly closing the door behind me. Once I looked through the multiple windows, I could tell that it wasn't even daytime yet, probably about 0300 if I'm right. Maybe a little past that mark, but that's not the point.

The moment I turn around, in front of me stood multiple night guards patrolling the castle, shining flashlights around that came from their unicorn horns. A little odd if you asked me, but unicorns are able to pull off amazing feats from what I can tell. When they noticed me come down the hallway, all they did was greet me with a salute as I passed by. Nothing special really happened as I made my way to the throne room, just encounters with the night guard.

The long twisting hallway at night was way more complicated to navigate than it was during the day, I really wish I had my night vision right now, but they were being stored in the equipment room on the other side of the castle. Not to mention many other things, such as my hard copies of multiple schematics and blueprints for making and designing new weapons.

As I slowly walked into the throne room, I saw Princess Luna sitting on the throne. The moment she saw me she looked a bit worried for me, I'm still trying to catch up, because we're probably not on the same page right now.

"Ah Andrew, it is good to see you. I hope you are doing well?" She asks cheerfully, I respond with a smile and nod, followed by my own speech.

"I'm doing fine Princess, how about yourself?" I said formally.

"It gets so boring sometimes in the night court, nothing realy happens usually, you being up so early is a first on my behalf."

"Indeed it is Princess, I was just thinking that I go out on a run. I haven't done that in a while, and I'm surely not going to be with this war on my hands."

"Oh yes, the war, how is it that you lost Dodge City to those PMC's or whatever?" She asked, which made my heart sink a little bit. Our loss was not expected, I was foolish to underestimate them too.

"I underestimated their numbers your highness, it won't happen again I can assure you."

"Very well then, enjoy your run." She said, eyeballing me as I headed out the door.

I could almost tell that she was hiding something, I too was hiding something, but she had an advantage because I heard she could read minds. I really hope that mental conditioning will come in handy, I don't want to know that I went through it just for nothing. Well, I guess it did come in handy every now and then, like that one time I was interrogated by the enemy when I was in Zebrica. I was taught that pain is only an illusion, and that it's also temporary. It also helps me understand how I'm still sane after all these years, with Carmine taunting me and everything.

As I start to move my legs along the beaten path, I couldn't help but to listen to the sounds of the early morning; birds chirping, wind blowing, and the smell of fresh grass filled my lungs. I then synced into motion, locking myself at this pace for the next hour or so, jogging around the track that I never knew existed.

"No matter how much you try and escape me, Andrew, you will not succeed," Carmine hissed inside of my head, "you're only delaying the inevitable."

"I'm not running away this time, Carmine," I retorted back, "despite the fact that I'm running right now doesn't mean anything."

Oh the irony, though I'm not running away from my fears no longer, I am technically running physically. Well, this was certainly awkward.

"We will met again on the battlefield, Andrew. When that time comes, I will be waiting." She whispered.

"Come at me, bro." I say out loud, not intentional for the ears around me. The other guards who were running as well as the weight training ponies all look at me in a funny way.

Author's Note

Welp, we're fucked.

Chapter 47

Act 4-7
Preparations

"General Night Shade, our recon unit established that the PMC's are planning to take Appleloosa. If we don't do something, we're gonna lose another town." A radio operator warned, Night Shade was not amused at this news. He put a hoof to his chin to think. He had to open the vault, it was the only way.

They had just recently been defeated at Dodge City not too long ago, losing good stallions and mares in the battle, almost losing Andrew, too. He underestimated their numbers, and their firepower, but this time...this time he was ready. He had gained full authorization to wage war with the invading PMC soldiers by his fiance, and he requisitioned to be able to use weapons from the Canterlot Vault, underneath the castle.

"Andrew, come with me, I need to show you something." Andrew looked over to Night Shade, he had been standing right next to him the whole time while in the communications room.

Night Shade slowly walked himself and Andrew out of the comms room, and down the hallway of the once populated part of the castle. Nick, Jhon, and Helena followed them close behind. Andrew couldn't help but wonder where Night Shade was taking him, hopefully some place private so they could discuss battle strategies.

As he followed Night Shade through a security checkpoint, he knew that something was up, and that Night Shade was up to something. Nothing good could come from this, Night Shade was desperate, and so was he. He didn't want to have another city lost to the PMC army, nor did Night Shade, he especially didn't want the war to get to Ponyville.

"As you can see a few days ago Celestia had granted me the permission to wage war with the PMC's, as well as grant me access to the underground vault. You may or may not have seen this place before, but it holds most of our destructive weapons since the last great war. Of course, that was well over a thousand years ago, but these weapons may be familiar to you." Night Shade's magical aura gripped the lock, and it unlatched as if it was nothing.

As Andrew switched on the lights, a whole warehouse was lit up by a bright glow from the ceiling. Andrew and company looked around the vault, seeing that this vault was nothing more than a big armory. The weapons that were on the racks were very old, and almost in unworkable condition, if they ever were to restore them, it would take some time.

The shelves were stocked to the brim with assault rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, and even some compact crossbows. Boxes were full of multiple types of ammunition; explosive rounds, incendiary rounds, armor piercing, shotgun slugs, buckshot, and even some artillery shells. Nick was left speechless, Helena was left with her jaw wide open, and Jhon was silent the whole way through.

"I know you're wondering, 'How is this possible?" Night Shade smirked, "we locked away this stuff a long time ago, and the means to craft these types of weaponry were wiped from memory, thus devolving ourselves in order to stop armed conflict, until now at least."

"They might need a bit of a tune-up, but nothing a little magic can't fix," he looked behind him to see Echo Team just stand around and look, "don't just stand there, take a look!"

Andrew put his hand up against one gun in particular, his eyes watered just by looking at it. He could've swore he was in Heaven at the time, but he's still alive so that wasn't possible. He picked up the assault rifle carbine he was looking at and held it firmly in his hands.

"The old fashioned M4A1 Carbine -I always wanted one of these, but they were put out of service about 75 years ago." He chuckled, aiming down the sights on the gun. The magazine wasn't in the gun, and it seemed to need some cleaning in order to work properly. He then averted his gaze to a handgun lying on the table, he picked it up and rotated it in his hand. He then placed the M1911 into his second holster, located on his left thigh.

Helena was over in the sniper rifles, looking at the choices she could pick from. She was looking for a battle rifle almost, because she knew she would be fighting more PMC's in close quarters than at long range. She picked up one sniper rifle, but she quickly started to fall backwards due to the weight of the gun, and she accidentally fell into a gun. She dropped the current one she was carrying and she turned behind her, and grabbed the rifle that hit her.

"M21, eh? Looks promising..." The ACOG sight on it needed some adjusting, and the barrel could have used some cleaning, but otherwise it was in pretty good condition. She took it and slung it over her back, waiting for the others to choose their weapon, and then they would be off to the gun maintenance room just on the other side of the vault.

NIck already knew what he was going to pick, he had his sights on a machine gun in particular the moment he went into this room. Though it was a bit overkill, he checked out the M2 Browning on display on top of a table. The barrel was rusted and the whole gun seemed like it was about to fall apart, he would have to do some heavy maintenance on the gun to get it to work properly again, which wouldn't take long with his skill.

Jhon knew he would be fighting close quarters, so he would have to choose a melee weapon as well as a shotgun, so they wouldn't get all up in his face. He picked up a Remington 870 tactical shotgun, with a black finish to it. The gun he found was in perfect condition, and he didn't really need to do anything to it but give it a small inspection so it wouldn't blow up in his face. As for his melee weapons he had found a ka-bar knife as well as a small hatchet to pair.

"Alright guys, let's get your stuff restored and we can head out, I also have a few vehicles to showcase." Night Shade smirked, unlocking the cages to the maintenance wing of the vault.

"I have a few vehicles to show you guys, it was also from the war, but they still work." He uncovered two vehicles from a beige tarp, one being a heavily armored transport vehicle, the other being an infantry fighting vehicle.

"I hope you all know how to drive an IFV, because I don't think anyone I know can."

"Sure we can, we've had universal training back on Earth. It was required in order to join The Unit." Andrew explained.

Helena was the first to climb into the IFV, opening the hatch that seemed to be rusted shut. She didn't know how she could get this thing running, but it seemed that she fit in like a glove. Night Shade's horn started to glow, and so did both the IFV and the armored truck. The next thing you know the cars weren't the color of rust and it did not smell of decayed metal, but instead they were both the color of a sandy desert.

"Night Shade, when are we shipping out?" Nick asked, only for Night Shade to shake his head in disappointment.

"We're going to leave in about 2 hours, so if you need to do anything you'd better do it now. I'll prepare the vehicles for combat, meet up here once you're ready." He said slowly.

The whole team dispersed into the barracks with their new gear in hand. They each wanted to be alone in order to prepare for the fight in their individual way. Andrew was all alone at the phone booth, trying to suppress his headache once more. He dialed a number, and he waited for someone to pick it up.

"Hello?" A familiar feminine voice answered.

"Hey Rainbow." Andrew responded. On the other side of the phone was an audible gasp, and what seemed like crying.

"Andrew! What's happenin'?"

"We're about to go out again, to Appleloosa this time. We lost Dodge City though."

"Wait, what?! How did you, of all people lose?!" She exasperated, her expression was a mixture of shock and fear.

"We underestimated their numbers, and we ran out of ammo."

"Oh, okay then. Whoever you're fighting, I know you're gonna win this time! Come back safely for me okay?" She asked, Andrew smiled.

"I will. I'll see you in a few months, alright?"

"I'll see you then." She hung up the phone with a click, and the next thing you know she was gone. As Andrew walked away from the phone booth, he heard someone inside his head create a telepathic link, which sounded like sparkles and glitter, like magic almost.

"I see you're still with your beloved, whatever happened to me?"

"You're dead, that's what happened!" He spat back, as if he had a sour taste in his mouth.

"That doesn't mean that I can't still love you, you were my fiance."

"That's right, I was your fiance, but that's a done deal. It's over Carmine, I'm over you and I've moved on." Andrew cut the telepathic link and blocked Carmine out of his mind, but that didn't stop him to ponder.

He still couldn't understand why Carmine, or most likely and more hostile, the Darkness was back. He saw it right in front of his eyes that he ended it at the mountain temple, it just wasn't possible that it could still be alive. If anything, it was still a hallucination, but he had a hunch, a hunch that it was still alive, and growing. Getting more powerful every minute he wasted.

"I need to tell Night Shade about this, something's not right here."

Author's Note

I'm going to be taking a break once I update Trottingham University, school's almost out and I'm ready for summer vacation. So, it could take a few weeks before anything gets updated, especially my smaller stories.

Chapter 49

Act 4 End
Life

Two Months Later

The war had come to a complete stand-still, as no either side has ever attacked each other ever since the PMC's tried to take Appleloosa. The defenders, the Equestrian Army, fought diligantly, and barely managed to push them back, all thanks to the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

The crew that operated it, the United States Delta Force, Fire Team Echo, were commended on such bravery and were rewarded with a promotion and were given the Silver Star. The IFV they used was destroyed, however, and they took it back to try and salvage parts out of it. Lieutenant Strong Hide, the commanding officer of Alpha Team, has lived and made a full recovery. In the mean time, Andrew was still in the hospital.

It had just turned winter in Equestria, and everything slowed down. The shops in Canterlot started to sell jackets, scarves, and other winter based accessories, and the dense city population wasn't as dense, since most families are out seeing relatives. Canterlot was far rom empty though, the city streets bustled with residents and tourists alike, some were here for vacation, while others are taking just another stroll downtown.

Snow started to fall over Canterlot, and it was a very cloudy and gloomy day. Helena cuddled up inside of her scarf, trying to keep herself warm as she walked down the streets. She made a direct route to the hospital, trying to make her way around the crowd, not wanting to bring any attention to herself than she already did. It was hard to blend in with the crowd when you were a tall, biped alien not native to this world.

-Helena's Point of View-

I checked into the Canterlot Hospital without any second thoughts, I was thinking in my head that today was going to be the day. The day that Andrew finally woke up. The bright white lights of the hospital re-adjusted my vision, because from being outside in the cloudy weather didn't help at all.

When I walked into the room, he was lying there, with his eyes closed and the heart monitor beating slowly. You could see the fog that covered up the breathing mask everytime he exhaled. Nonetheless, he was still asleep. My head had begun to fill with disappointment, I wasn't the only one there who felt that way either.

"Hey Helena, you came to visit him, too?" I looked behind me to find Rainbow Dash, sitting in the chair. You could see that she'd been crying for some time, it does make sense since they both liked each other.

"Yeah, how's he doin' anyway?"

"The doc said he could still be asleep for a very long time, they haven't specified anything." She said quietly, looking over to Andrew.

"I know he'll wake up eventually, you can count on it!" I assured her, which made her crack a smile.

"Hey, why don't you come with me? I'll treat you to lunch." She shook her head, but her stomach said otherwise. She lt out a small empty laugh and got up out of the chair.

I exited the hospital stretching my limbs, hearing multiple joints cracking and muscles re-arranging. Rainbow's ears flopped downwards at the sound of it, she must've not liked the sounds too much. The cold didn't make it any better for my sake, to me it just made me all that much stiffer, just more stretching to do, and hopefully I won't throw anything out while I'm at it.

"What? You can't tell me you've never done this before!" Really, if she hasn't, she can't really be telling the truth.

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that I've never heard so much at one time." She laughed. I smiled at her as I continued to stretch.

"It comes with the job really, it's back breaking work most of the time." She rolled her eyes at me, what else would you expect?

"You know any good places around here? Usually we eat at the castle, so I don't know what's where." I turned on my tacpad on my wrist, and scrolled through my contacts to find Nick and Jhon. I tried calling them, but they wouldn't respond, probably doing something elsewhere.

"Yeah, there's a really good restaurant across the street! Follow me." She trotted off without hesitation, and I dragged myself slowly behind in her wake.

Once I caught up with her, she already had a table ready and everything. Drinks were already provided, and there was bread on the table, must've been a pretty fancy restaurant to me. I shrugged my shoulders and sat down across from Rainbow, who was already stuffing her face full of bread. I couldn't decide whether to laugh or to stare in amazement.

I took a sip of my tea and thought for a second, "y'know Rainbow, I always wondered something. Why did you decide to go after Drew?"

"Other than he can survive explosions and blow stuff up like a boss? He's kinda cute, actually." She laughed. I couldn't blame her really, Andrew has had the worst luck since forever, but despite that, he's survived virtually everything thrown at him.

"True story, let's change topics though," I picked up the menu in front of me and looked to see what I could pass by as food. Surprisingly, most of the things on here were edible, enough I guess.

Rainbow thought it was a good idea to dine out in the snow, much to my disappointment. I didn't favor the cold like the others did, but I preferred that cool seventy degree weather back on Earth, especially next to a fire or something. Luckily the unbrella kept the snow from getting on our dining plates, otherwise I would have a really soggy lunch.

"So, anything new with you?" I tried to make conversation with Rainbow, who already downed her mug of hot chocolate. I giggled at the sight of her moustache, and once she noticed it herself she joined in on the laughing.

"Nothing really, I'm just in town for the Wonderbolts show in a few hours. Andrew really wanted to take me, but I guess that's out of the question, huh?" She let out an empty laugh of displeasure. You could see in her eyes that she was depressed about Andrew's accident.

"I guess so, I'm sorry about that." I responded.

"No, no, it's fine. I mean I knew it from the start what the risks were. I just... didn't expect it to happen so soon, and for so long too."

The waiter came up with a pen and paper, waiting to take our orders. I was too busy at the time talking with Rainbow rather than to pick a dish, but I just had the greatest idea in mind. Once Rainbow ordered her dish, I just closed the menu and smiled at the watier.

"Surprise me." I haven't used that request for a long time, and whenever I did, they would usually choose something I didn't like or something that was overpriced.

As we waited for our food to come out, we kept talking about our interests, and it turns out we had a lot in common. Multiple things in fact, had to do with sports, as well as interesting stories to tell.

"One time, we had to detain a zombie apocalypse believe it or not!" Rainbow's eyes widened in shock.

"Alright, so you know how we're a counter-terrorism unit, right?" She nodded, "well we were sent into a quarantine zone due to a bioterrorist attack, and were forced to take out infected persons. The gas itself wasn't harmful to the skin, but once you breathe it in you're already dead, so we could've been naked and wear gas masks, and not get infected!"

Rainbow started to laugh as she pictured it, naked people fighting zombies wearing nothing but a gas mask.

"That's only something a fool would do though, we actually had to wear a full body suit, safety protocols and all that."

"Well, in the end, we found the mad scientist, and we killed him with his own creations, a funny sight to behold. You had to be there to understand."

"Oh! There was this one time Applejack and I had this thing called the 'Iron Pony Competition,' and we were playing tug-of-war. I flew up into the air and Applejack landed straight in the mud!" The both started to crack up laughing, Rainbow banged her hoof on the table because she couldn't control her laughter, I tried to supress my own laughter, but it couldn't be helped.

As our food came out, I literally was surprised at the food they gave me. Turns out it was a platter of spaghetti with marinara sauce, I haven't had this stuff in forever! The fact that I was in the year 2160 back on Earth, quality food was hard to come by, and overpopulation became a huge problem.

"Oh wow, that looks good." I say out loud, not noticing the drool rolling down the side of my mouth.

"You just gonna stare at it or are ya gonna eat it?" Rainbow asked, and as a repsonse I only shrugged as I grabbed a fork on the table and dug in without any more hesitation.

Princess Celestia walked down the halls of her own castle, having a worried expression on her face, she made her way down to the barracks just a few blocks away from her castle. She tried to pace herself, but she had found herself in a rush on her way over there. Night Shade had informed her of a crucial detail concerning the war, and she wouldn't want to miss a thing.

Celestia hadn't seen Night Shade like this since the last great war, and that was way before he died and was resurrected. She thought that with his help the duties would've been split among the three of them, but with Night Shade fighting a war it's only gotten worse for her and her sister. The polotical involvement during wartime was not to be underestimated, especially with the Griffin Empire on edge with Equestria at the time.

She found out that she wasn't the only one there, but others too. Nick and Jhon were also making their way to the same place, not wanting to make any conversation with all the seriousness in the air. They both had their uniforms on and in perfect condition, the clean black fabric remained stainless for the time being.

"So I heard you boys were in town. How are you?" Princess Celestia spoke, they both smiled back at her.

"We're all very good, ma'am. I hope you're doing well yourself?" Jhon replied back, he pushed the earpiece further into his ear, touching buttons on his tacpad.

"I'm doing well, Jhon. May I ask what you're doing here in Canterlot?" Nick snickered at her question.

"We were here to visit Andrew. I heard that he was gonna wake up soon from the doctors." He explained, and Princess Celestia silently nodded.

"If he does wake up, let him know that I need to talk to him. Something's come up and I need him to help me figure it out."

"Yes ma'am."

"Oh, and one other thing," Celestia paused to turn around, facing both Nick and Jhon, "since you all are considered a 'special forces' unit, I'm taking you off of the front lines for other work. See me again tomorrow when I have more time to talk to you all."

Nick and Jhon saluted Princess Celestia, who continued to walk into the barracks, leaving the two humans in amazement as she passed by. Jhon's earpiece fell out of his ear, and he stopped to pick it up. When he bent over to pick it up, he heard something up in the sky.

They both looked up into the sky and saw heavy storm clouds being moved in by the weather patrol, and it started to snow again. Nick and Jhon were met with cold little icicle formations touch their exposed skin, soon melting into droplets of water. As he opened his mouth to speak, he was suddenly stopped with a cold sensation touching his tongue, and he let out a small chuckle.

"Haven't seen snow like this in years," Nick licked the water off of his forearm, "not polluted either."

"Hey, we need to get to the hospital, it's almost closing time." Jhon hurried to the hospital, with Nick following close behind.

Author's Note

I'm probably going to need multiple editors, for both Trottingham University and Cleared to Engage. The one I hired hasn't been on in forever! Anyways, I'm still looking for a few more, check out my blog about it if you seem interested!
Also, I was wondering if you wanted multiple, short chapters like this (2,000 or less), or less chapters but much longer in length (about 3-5,000+) words or so. Take note that longer chapters will take longer to make, thus less updates. That's why I'm looking for an editor basically.

Chapter 50

Act 5 Start
Shadows in the Dark

Two months.

Two damned, god forsaken months.

I had been asleep for two months, I just can't believe it's been two months since Appleloosa, honestly it feels like it's been shorter. Besides that, I'm still asleep, and I don't know when I'll wake up, but whenever I try I only get a small finger twitch. Hopefully, I don't have to be like this for much longer.

Oh I've known that I'm in a coma, I've known this ever since day one, and I'm not liking this at all. I overheard the doctors saying that I could be asleep for a very long time, but that's just the worse case scenario. It's only been two months, what could possibly go wrong? Besides getting blown the shit out of by a cannon, and then some.

One Month Later

OH MY GOD JESUS CHRIST! Being in a coma for three months can drive a man crazy, because here in my mind I've already woken up and I'm already self aware, it's just that my body is deciding to be a huge dick! With three months of nothing to do, this was way worse than any other of the missions I had to take on Earth. I'm surprised I'm even still sane.

"It's been a while, Andrew." Who was that? Is someone there?

"You don't remember me? Aw, how unfortunate." There was a dark purple-blue cloud that formed out of the darkness. What appeared from the dark cloud was none other than the Princess of the Night, Princess Luna. My mental form ran up to hug her, and she felt warm, a sensation I haven't felt in a long time.

I started to cry, "how are you? It's been so lonely here."

"I am doing well, and you wouldn't know the feeling of lonely as well as I have. Try being stuck on the moon for a thousand years." She dared, but I just squeezed the breath out of her.

Once I let go I sniffled a little bit before speaking, "at least you had family to go back to. Mine are all dead," I took a cloth and dried my face, I then threw it on the ground where it disappeared.

"I-I'm sorry, I had completely forgotten." Now it was her turn to cry, but before she could I embraced her once again in a hug, trying to comfort her to the best of my abilities. I'm no mother, but I must be pretty good at comforting if I do say so myself.

"It's fine, your highness, don't worry about it."

"It's good to see you Princess, but may I ask how or why you're here?" I'm pretty sure that I'm still asleep, in a coma no less.

"I can go into dreams of other beings, since you've been gone for so long I've decided to come visit you. Perhaps even to help get you out of here." She bonked me on the nose, which was really uncalled for, but I could care less.

I dreamt up a small sofa for me to sit on, but there was a problem to that. I wasn't a very lucid dreamer to begin with, and that scares me to know that I just dreamt up a sofa. As I sat there, confused, Luna started to giggle.

"I see you've found out."

"Found out about what?" I didn't want to admit it, but I was seriously confused.

"Well, you are still Night Shade's descendant, your family is full of lucid dreamers. This is one of them called a 'false awakening,' where you're still asleep, but you think you're awake." She pointed out, which caused me to nod my head.

"So, can you wake me up or...?" I asked, and she giggled at me as a response.

"Of course, but it might take some time to ready the spell. Either that or you could wake up naturally, which by my estimation... could take another week or so."

"I think I've been asleep for three months too long, so I would go with your spell." Trust me, being in a coma isn't fun, and if I found out about my lucid dreaming ability earlier, it could've been better.

Luna just disappears into thin air in front of me, and I was left alone once again. I returned to the couch and sat down, picking up a holographic magazine from the coffee table. I slid my finger across the screen and it turned the page for me.

"Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if Earth hasn't dropped out of it's orbit from all the fatties back home." I flipped the page again to the holographic magazine, seeing that most celebrities these days look ugly as shit, and half of them aren't even human either, mostly androids or robots.

Moments later, I found the room around me turn from a jet black to a crisp snowy white. Something must be happening in the world of the awake, and something's happening to me. Knowing Luna, she must have something to do in all of this, and so far it seems like I'm waking up.

I tried to move again, and this time I'm getting more control over my body than I did any other time. I feel relieved to know that I'm awake now, and all I need to do is open my eyes. When I tried to move my hand, I felt surprisingly weak, which was normal considering that I've been asleep for three months. I needed to get back in shape before I can do anything.

I fluttered my eyes open to see Princess Luna staring back at me, along with Helena, Jhon, Nick, and a whole load of other ponies. I got directly into my upright position and started to cough, my eyes were watering so I picked up a trash can by the side of my bed. My gut started to throw up its contents, and I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth. I then set my stomach's contents down and leaned back against my bed, looking straight forward, and into the eyes of Rainbow Dash.

"It's been a while RD, how ya doin?" I ask meekly, almost at a whispering, yet very raspy tone.

"I could ask you the same thing! You moron." She jumped at me and hugged me, I returned the embrace, but not very strongly since my arms literally felt like noodles.

"Alright, alright, time for Uncle Drew to get some rest. I feel like shit, so don't come too close to me." I said, laying back against the bed. Night Shade made his way to the front of the crowd all around my bed, and he presented me with a wooden box.

"It's for you." I opened it up to see a Silver Star commendation as well as a silver oak leaf medal in display. I closed the box and set it down on the night stand next to me. I smiled back at Night Shade as he looked at me, I could very well see that he was proud of me.

"Thank you, Night Shade." I looked around to see Pinkie Pie, trying to open the box I just put down. I snatched it away from her before she could do anything drastic. She had a sad puppy dog face as she looked at me, and all I did was pet her on the head.

"Sorry Pinks, this is mine," I sighed.

I tried to get myself out of bed, the whole crowd of ponies and people backed off as I brought my legs to the side of the bed. I then brace for impact as my feet touched the cold white tile ground. I wobbled a little bit before balancing myself out, managing to actually stand up for the first time in months.

I was forced to sit back down on my bed because the nurse told me to, much to my disappointment.

"It's been a long time, Andrew. How have you been?" Celestia asked, and as a response I let out a yawn.

"I feel really weak, being asleep for three months puts off lots of training." I said, stretching out my noodle arms. I just couldn't wait to get some exercise in so I can get my body back in shape.

"You can't do anything right now, once you're checked out I want you to take it easy for a little while. Everything has healed properly, but I just need you to not put stress on yourself until everything is functioning properly." The doctor said, and I let out a giant moan.

"Fine... Can I at least go now?" The doctor nodded, and I immediately got out of bed, previously forgetting the troubles I had with walking earlier

"Night Shade, I'll see you in a week. I'm gonna be back in Ponyville for some R&R." I slowly walked myself over to the Suit Kiosk across from my room in the hallway, climbing inside of the mechanical machine.

The robotic arms ripped off my hospital gown and stripped me naked. Then it came back to fit on my suit, in this case I didn't know what I put on this time. As a matter of fact, I just jumped in here and pressed a random button, I never actually got to see what I chose.

When I popped out of the machine, I was dressed with a Security Suit, one of my personal favorites. The fact that this one in particular was favorable to me is because it wasn't overkill, and it wasn't too weak either. The Security Suit had enough protection to stand up to one of Applejack's bucks with her hind legs, but on the other hand it could still knock the wind out of me. The holo projector on my chest wasn't as bulky compared to the one on the Advanced Suit, and it was big enough for me to see anything displayed on it (mostly my agenda for the day).

I then went into the checkout room, my helmet retracted back into my suit and I had a smirk across my face. I went up to the counter and checked out of the hospital, and they gave me a box of my personal belongings, containing most of my stuff since the battle. I strapped my tacpad back on my wrist, and I fastened my holsters back onto either of my thighs, I assumed my weapons were locked up back in the barracks in the castle. I met Night Shade and the rest of my squad outside at the entrance, and he smiled at me.

"I think you should be going then, Andrew. Twilight and her friends are already leaving for the train." Night Shade whispered.

"Don't worry about us, Andrew. We'll see you in a week!" Helena patted me on the back, pushing me forward to get a head start.

"...Yeah, see ya in a week."

Inside the Train

Andrew sat down against the window, seeing the sun set for the first time in a long time. His stomach rumbled, but he didn't care, and the Security Suit creaked as he turned away from the window, looking at Twilight and her friends, who sat across from him.

Each and every one of them stared intently at him, as if they were studying him like a book. He couldn't explain why, but something was rather off, probably because he was alone. He didn't have his human friends to accompany him, and all there was were ponies, who were still staring at him.

"Can I help you guys?" Everypony but Twilight and Rainbow looked away, trying to act nonchalant and innocent.

"Uhh, it's nothin' special." Rainbow was one of the best at lying, but Twilight on the other hand, wasn't the greatest out there.

"Y-Yeah! What she said! Nothing to see here!" Andrew squinted his eyes at her, and he could see beads of sweat roll down the side of her face. He could see straight through her lie, and he pressed her about it.

"Twilight, if you want to say something, then say it. I don't have many secrets that I can't share with you."

"Alright then, how do you do it? The killing, and the death, and the blood; how do you forget it all?" Andrew looked down to where the shadow of his forehead covered his eyes, and he smirked.

"You don't, Twilight. You never forget. The only thing you can do is live with it, for the rest of your life..." he paused for a moment for dramatic effect, "did that answer your question?" Twilight silently nodded.

The tacpad fastened to Andrew's wrist blinked a bright red color, all eyes were fixed on Andrew's tacpad now, including Andrew. He saw that the alarm went off, signalling for him to get some shuteye for tomorrow's morning exercise.

"Looks like I need to get to bed, see y'all later." Rainbow got up from her seat to hug him. He returned the embrace and let go moments later

"W-Wait! One more thing before you go," Andrew stopped for a moment and turned back around, Rainbow smiled at him, "it's good to have you back!"

"It's good to be back. G'night." He slid the next train car door wide open, went inside, and closed it behind him.

He laid there uncomfortably with the Security RIG still on him, the collar guard didn't make things better either, so he got out of bed to join the others in the next car again. When he entered the room, he saw that they all were fast asleep, and he chuckled slightly.

He sat down across from them where he previously was, and he sat down, closing his eyes shortly afterwards. He didn't quite go to sleep as expected, instead he actually just closed his eyes and listened for anything. He wasn't tired due to the fact that he's had three months of sleep, so in the mean time he kept watch for the others as they slept.

His ears twitched slightly as he heard a whimpering sound coming from Fluttershy, he didn't know it was Fluttershy, but he used the process of elimination to rule her out of the lot, because the others don't whimper from what he could tell. He opened one eye and looked over to her and saw that she was scared to death by something. He made his way over to her and sat down next to her, trying not to wake up the others in the process.

"Is something wrong Fluttershy?" He stroked her mane, which seemed to calm her down a little bit.

"T-The thunder was really loud... and it startled me." She said in a barely audible voice.

"I think these may help." Andrew chuckled, and pulled out his backpack. He pulled out a pair of ear muffs, which were large and gray, and he put it over Fluttershy's ears. He gave her a small nod, and she nodded back, closing her eyes once more.

"Heh, it beats me having to cuddle with her or something. I'm not into that shit." He laughed to himself, going back to his original spot across from the girls.

He leaned back against the train car, the rumbling and the bumping did not interfere, because it was just like falling asleep in a Humvee. He checked his tacpad for new messages, but there were none because he was gone for three months, all except for one. He opened it up and saw that it was a video message, from both Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"Playback message." Was all Andrew said, and the video started to play.

"Playback message number 09142."

"Hey Andrew, Helena gave us your tacpad while you were in the hospital, and we were playing around with it waiting to see if you were okay."

"Yeah! We were totally scared you were dead, but when the doctors said you were okay, we were thrilled! The bad thing is, you probably won't get this until you wake up, and I wanted to tell you that... I really miss you. I never wanted to see you hurt, but that's your job, is it not? When we saw that explosion on video, your life just got 20% cooler, because that was really awesome how you saved that other dude!"

"When you get this, I really do hope you get this, I want you to know that everypony's safe and sound. By the time that you get this message, you will probably know that already. I just want to tell you that we all miss you. If anything, you'll be there if something bad does happen."

"Andrew, I want you to know that I love you, and I don't want you to forget that you're mine! When you get this you're treating me to dinner! I'll see ya later, kay? How do you stop this thing, Twilight?"

Andrew chuckled a little bit, but said nothing. He adjusted the collar guard around his neck, and he closed his eyes, waiting in silent vigil until it was time to get off the train. Since the girls were asleep, the ride home was mostly quiet, except for the occasional clap of thunder and the rattle of the train car. Other than that, it was almost dead silent, to the point to where there was an eerie feeling in the atmosphere.

He took notice of how long it took to get to Ponyville from Canterlot, which was a good three to four hour ride, with no detours or distractions of any kind. They were a good three hours into the trip by now, because when Andrew looked out the window, he could see the street lights that lit up Ponyville ahead. He smiled a little bit at the sight, and took a deep breath, which had the scent of old train dust as well as Pinkie Pie's candy perfume. He didn't mind the smell, but it made him cough a little bit because it was so strong, other than that he kept his eyes pointed out the window and towards the town.

"I haven't been here in a LONG time."

Author's Note

Now that school's over, I feel like that I have a lot more time to make my stories longer and higher quality. It just feels like a big weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, until school starts up again that is.

Chapter 51

Andrew woke up to the sound of a loud belch, causing him to jump and hit his head against the ceiling. He didn't care about the possible bruise, but what he did care about is where he was. He didn't remember falling asleep last night, and he didn't plan on falling asleep either. All he remembered was getting out of the train, and then... darkness.

"I swear, if I was abducted again..." He moaned, looking over the ledge of the bed to find Spike, Twilight's #1 Assistant as well as her faithful companion, he just finished up lunch it seemed. He reached for his stuff, which was sitting on a nightstand right next to the bed, and did inventory while keeping an eye on Spike.

Once Spike caught notice of Andrew, things got awkward real fast. They both stared at each other until Spike broke that silence between the two.

"Uhh, hey," Spike smiled and waved at him.

Andrew never really got to know Spike, since he was always with either Twilight or Rainbow most of the time. So he decided to go with the subtle approach, "sup?"

"Oh! I just finished lunch, and Twilight told me to come check up on you, so here I am." Spike shrugged. Andrew strapped on his tacpad, as well as his other things, such as his holsters and put everything else into his inventory.

"That's fine, but how did I end up here?" Andrew asked, he wasn't really surprised at the change of scenery, but he was more confused than he was anything else.

"Twilight told me you collapsed last night getting off the train, so she carried you home. She didn't have the key to the police station so she put you up there." Spike explained.

"I guess I should thank her then... Is she downstairs?" Spike shook his head and pointed towards the market from out the window, Twilight was somewhere in town.

Andrew nodded thankfully, and he activated his RIG's helmet, which slowly started to construct itself over his head. He gave Spike the thumbs up and walked out the door, he could hear Andrew's metal boots stomp on the ground, and he could feel the ground under him shake a little bit with every step he took. The shaking stopped once Andrew was a good distance away from the library.

Spike was left in awe as Andrew made his way towards the market, "that... was the coolest thing ever..."

Andrew wondered how or why his gravity boots were on the fritz, but something wasn't right with his suit. Twilight's magic could have interfered with the circuitry or the power source inside of the suit, but he wasn't too sure what to think of the malfunction.

"I should really get back to the police station. Change my suit before anything bad happens." Andrew pondered, getting unknowingly closer to his destination than he thought. And once he made it to the station, he unlocked the door with one swift motion with his kinesis, hearing an audible *click!* in the process.

Once Andrew was inside, the place looked just as clean and spiffy as he left it three months prior. Not a thing was touched inside of the complex, and it didn't seem like anything had been here recently either. He turned on the lights, which flickered for a second before turning on, and he went into the basement, all the way at the end of the hall.

He could hear sparking of electricity come from his back, which meant that this was no minor malfunction to his suit. He needed to find his Suit Kiosk quickly, before something bad happens to him... again. He completely shut down the suit and manually took off the helmet, leaving it on the workshop table

Once Andrew climbed into the Suit Kiosk, he changed into his Patrol Suit with haste, which is pretty much another variant to the Security Suit he was wearing before, except for the color scheme change from multiple shades of blue camouflage to a digital orange. His initials, "A. Hartfield," are printed on his collar guard, and his serial number, "0247," is on the back of his helmet, as well on one of his upper left arm plates.

He smirked as he climbed out of the Suit Kiosk and walked back upstairs to ground level. He stumbled his way through the doorway and into the first room to his right, which was his room. He entered to find it in pristine condition, just like how it was when he left it, except that everything was now covered in dust since nothing has been touched. His bed was still as small as ever, and the olive green covers were still the same as it should be.

His helmet retracted back into the suit, and he smiled as he saw that everything was in order. He then switched off the lights and closed the door behind him. He then exited out of the building and locked the door behind him, and the sun beat down on his head as he stepped outside.

"I guess I should find Twilight." Andrew followed the beaten trail towards the market, taking his time to think.

He knew for a fact that the Darkness was back for sure, since he's had a talk with Carmine. He didn't understand how or why they were back, all he knew is that they were. The only good thing can come from the Darkness was nothing, nothing good can come from this at all. The fact the he saw Carmine again just hampered his view on life, since he still thinks it's his fault his family died in the first place.

He checked the time, and it read "12:34," just about lunch time for him, and besides that he didn't eat dinner last night or breakfast this morning, he was very hungry to say the least.

"Twilight can wait, I'm starving." He headed towards the usual cafe on the street corner, and entered the building in a very nonchalant way. He wasn't planning on drawing any attention to himself, but every once in awhile the occasional customer stopped to stare at the robotic space man. When you were wearing a suit that made you look like a robot, it was hard not to attract any attention.

"Are you a robot?!" A little colt approached Andrew, with wide eyes and a baseball cap to match.

"No, I'm not a robot," Andrew sighed, but then he came up with an idea, and smirked, "you want me to be one?"

The colt nodded, and Andrew chuckled. He patted the little colt on the head, and the helmet started to construct itself over Andrew's head. The helmet changed everything, Andrew's voice was vented, making it seem robotic, and his breathing could now be heard. As the helmet finished construction, the suit automatically sealed itself airtight, gas being expelled from the ventilation seams. Every part of Andrew's body was covered in parts of the suit, and there were no exposed areas of skin or flesh to be found.

"Happy now?" Andrew chuckled. The little colt was in awe as Andrew stared back at him, with the blue visor slits letting out a small glow.

"That's so cool!" The little colt ran back to his mother, who was a few tables over from Andrew. "Mom! He IS a robot! I knew it!"

He didn't want to give the child a false impression, but it was for the good of the public, since the public doesn't seem to welcome his presence, even though he's lived here for quite a while. He had suspicions that nobody knew that he was still alive, but this was way out there.

"Heheh, schooling these kids." He mumbled, the helmet retracting back into his suit. As he focused back on his train of thought, the waiter took his order, and he took a giant bite out of his bread.

"So I heard you're good with kids?" Andrew looked up from his tacpad, and saw Rainbow. She had the most beautiful pair of eyes he'd ever saw, and that personality brought back memories of Carmine, or at least back when she was alive. Just looking at her brought a smile to Andrew's face, which wasn't often.

She seated herself across from Andrew, and he continued to organize things through his tacpad. He briefly thought about the question given to him, and he answered.

"Y-Yeah, I guess so, huh?" He smiled, looking at the colt who approached him earlier. The colt quickly whipped around as soon as Andrew caught sight of him, an audible giggle could be heard from the mother.

"Well, in that case, I need you to help me out. I'm stuck babysitting the Cutie Mark Crusaders today, I need your help to watch over them." She explained, taking a sip out of Andrew's iced tea.

"I'll do it, but what's the catch?" Andrew raised an eyebrow, from what he could tell, the CMC's were a pain to take care of. Hell, he heard Fluttershy had a hard time at first, until she gained their respect that is.

"It's the Cutie Mark Crusaders, that's all the catch you need." Andrew thought she had a pretty solid point, he couldn't deny that.

"I'm supposed to be a part-time Police Officer and Special Forces Operator, and you're giving me babysitting duty?" Andrew took a bite out of his salad, the only thing that seemed edible on the menu.

"You're on discharge right now, are you not? Cmon! It'll be fun!" She nudged Andrew, who only slumped over because he wasn't really looking forward to this.

"I don't see why not... Just let me finish eating and I'll meet you outside. Also, tell them that I'm dressed as a robot, so they don't freak out." Andrew took out a gold bit from his pocket, and placed it on the table.

"Don't worry about it, I got this! We'll be waiting outside!" Rainbow zoomed out the door, leaving Andrew in a wake of wind. Luckily, he was inside of his Patrol Suit, and the wind didn't have an effect on him. Once he finished up, he put his helmet back on, slowly sliding himself out of the booth and towards the exit.

Rainbow outside had gathered the Cutie Mark Crusaders outside the cafe, waiting for Andrew to come out, but Rainbow had a little trick up her sleeve to mess with him.

"Alright girls, there's a metal man terrorizing the town, and he's inside that cafe. When he comes out, I want you to surprise attack him when I give the signal, okay?" The CMC's smiled happily and agreed. They all took in a deep breath of air, and yelled really loud.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ROBOT HUNTERS YAY!" Rainbow's ears flopped down due to the sheer loudness of their yelling, but she was about to be in for a huge laugh.

"Hey Rainbow, what did you mean by saying-" Andrew was abruptly cut off by Rainbow whistling really loudly, and what came next was raining fillies from above.

Andrew got pounced on by three fillies, the CMC's to be more accurate, and he was caught by surprise. He got a Scootaloo to the face, a Sweetie Belle to the back, and an Apple Bloom to the shins, he was not a very happy man at that point.

"Seriously you guys? I can't leave my guard down for one minute without being attacked!" Andrew attempted to pry Scootaloo from his face with success, and he tucked her under his arm.

Next was Sweetie Belle, and since she was on his back he had to use his kinesis to get her off. Once she was off of his back he held her by the scruff with one hand. Andrew looked down at Apple Bloom and kept her from kicking his shins by picking her up with ease. He glared daggers at Rainbow, who could be seen laughing hysterically. He could tell that they didn't know who he was, since the helmet covered his face and his voice was different.

"If I set you down, will you stop attacking me?" The three nodded, and so Andrew set them down carefully. The helmet retracted back into his suit, and he had look of disapproval plastered on his face.

"Andrew! You're back!" They all said in unison, leaping towards him to give him a hug.

"Hey girls, it's been awhile, huh?" Andrew dusted himself off as he got back up onto his feet. He also gave a look over to Rainbow, unamused at best.

"What are we gonna do? We got the whole afternoon to spend!" Apple Bloom seemed pleased, but Andrew could sense a hint of fear in her voice.

"Oh, I know! How about Andrew lets us shoot? Can you Andrew?" Scootaloo suggested, but Andrew denied by shaking his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Scoots, firearms are much too dangerous to be handled by a child. Especially the types of guns I have, those are even more dangerous in the wrong han- hooves." They all let out a big moan, including Rainbow, but the rules were the rules when it came to gun safety.

"Sorry girls, guns are super dangerous, one of these can probably bring down a Manticore, depending on the size of the bullet." Andrew brought out his Desert Eagle to showcase, Scootaloo laughed.

"That can bring down a Manticore? C'mon, I know that's a lie." She boasted... but Andrew had an idea.

He took out the magazine and emptied the one in the chamber, holding the .50 Action Express ammunition in the palm of his hand, "this is the cartridge, as you can see this thing is as big as one of my fingers. You don't want to be hit by one of these."

Andrew put the bullet back into the magazine, and loaded it back into his Desert Eagle, and gestured towards the police station, "anyways, let's get going, shall we?"

Chapter 52

Act 5-2
Recovery

Andrew opened the door to the police station, and the lights turned on as soon as he entered the lobby. The lights emitted a very white, ominous glow that lit up the room, instead of the incandescent yellow tinted glow the regular light bulb let off. He turned around to see that the girls were covering their eyes, probably due to the brightness of the new lights.

“Why is it so white in here?” Scootaloo asked, squinting her eyes due to the brightness of the room.

“Because these are fluorescent lights, they glow brighter at the cost of less electricity. From what I can tell most street lights use natural gas or regular light bulbs.” He dimmed the lights from the remote control in his tacpad, and changed the color from white to an orange-yellow tint.

“Better?” They all nodded their heads, and Andrew facepalmed.

“So, what are we gonna do this time, Crusaders?” Scootaloo asked. They cleared the coffee table and made it their own, Andrew was left to clean up the mess.

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin, to think, “I have an idea...”

Canterlot Castle

Helena shut the door behind her, so no one else would get inside of the room. There she met up with Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Night Shade, and both Nick and Jhon, inside of a meeting room. She eyed the people to her right, and looked back at the ponies to her left, and calmly sat down in between the two.

“I bet you all are wondering why we’re here today.” Night Shade started out, he stood up from the table and put a loaded file on the table, full of pictures, evidence, and records of a Griffon, named Black Talon.

“This is our target, Black Talon. Drug lord, mass slave trader, and so called ‘god among ponies.’” He described Black Talon as if he had a bad taste in his mouth, which was understandable due to the massive size of the file, and how many nations this guy’s wanted in.

“What do you plan on doing?” Jhon asked, he took up a picture and studied Black Talon, not a very pretty sight either.

“We’re taking you off the front lines, that’s one thing. Another thing, we’re gonna take out Black Talon.” Night Shade snickered, a grin grew upon his face when he said those words.

“With Andrew out of the playing field for a little while, we can’t execute a direct approach, I suggest we take it slowly, to try and lure out Black Talon.” Luna advised, everyone in the room seemed to agree with the idea.

“The only problem with that is; how are we going to find one of his drug deals or slave trades?” Nick asked, the map of previous findings was laid out before him on the table, he studied it with a keen eye.

“We can predict their movements, either that or we can sneak into their Dodge City Base and gather intel.” Celestia explained the map in front of her, there was a red “X” over Dodge City, much to her disappointment. There it also showed where most of her forces were stationed, like the nearby Appleloosa, or the Griffin Empire border, luckily most of the Equestrian Army are stationed here, in Canterlot.

“I would like to play spies, playing spies is fun.” Jhon pulled a black mask over his face, making him look like a ninja-spy hybrid, the only thing exposed on his face was his eyes.

“We need to do some more planning before we go ‘play spies.’ We need a game plan.” Helena laid out yet another map, but this one was a map of Dodge City, a recent map of the Mercenaries’ new fort.

“How’d we get this?” Celestia asked, Helena only chuckled as a response.

“Pinkie Pie, she just threw paper at us, all of them being random maps. I don’t really know either, to be honest...” Helena sighed.

She checked her updates on the tacpad, seeing she got a message from Andrew. She tapped on the message to find a video, and she played it with enthusiasm. She didn’t know what to expect, but if it’s a video it must have something important.

“Hey Helena, I’m just calling to say-HEY! Put that down, Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle, don’t touch that! Scootaloo, you better not be in my room!” Andrew paused for a minute and looked back at the video screen.

“Sorry about that, Rainbow asked me to watch over the CMC’s for a little while, they’re more rambunctious than I expected. Anyways, I’m really bored here, and I really miss going out in the field. Hopefully I can join you guys soon!”

“Well, I can see he’s having a good time.” Luna giggled, followed by the whole room laughing.

“I’m sure he’s fine, Andrew’s usually good with kids!” Nick assured.

“So, back on topic, we need a plan to infiltrate Dodge City, any ideas?” Night Shade asked, both Nick and Helena raided their hands. They looked at each other and nodded.

“I’m up for playing spies.” They said in unison.

“Alright then, let us make a plan and hopefully we’ll have you for briefing by 2100.” Night Shade opened the door to let Helena, Nick, and Jhon out. They went out the door one by one, Jhon followed Helena out the door, Nick being last, closed the door behind him.

“Alright, it’s that time of year again boys, time to be stealthy! Get your gear together.”

“Andrew, is something the matter?”

“I don’t know anymore, Spike,” Andrew leaned back against the wall, his head tilted towards the ceiling of the library, “I think it’s just that I’ve been on edge lately, being here. Alone. Without my team.”

“You still got me, don’t you?” Andrew raised up his fist, and with Spike copying the motion, they did an epic brofist, “I mean, I need a guy in my life to be doing manly things with. I can’t be doing girly stuff all the time.”

Andrew chuckled, and smirked as a response, “I guess so, huh? Remind me to take you shooting one day, I’ll let you shoot my toy pellet gun.”

“That sounds like fun!” Spike jumped up and down happily, smiling wide, “when can I shoot that though?”

Spike was pointing to Andrew’s sidearm, the Desert Eagle, chambered for the .50 Action-Express ammunition. Andrew took it out of his holster and held it in his hand. Spike was about to get his hands on it, but before that could happen Andrew pulled it away from him.

“Sorry Spike, only military personnel and police officers like me can shoot this. This is strictly off limits.” He smirked, putting the Desert Eagle back into his holster, “if you ever become a police officer, then I’ll think about letting you shoot this thing.”

Spike seemed sad, but his mood brightened again at the sight of Twilight walking through the door. She was surprised to see Andrew in here, chatting it up with Spike, but it seemed logical due to the fact that Spike got lonely sometimes. With Andrew’s team gone in Canterlot, he was sure to get lonely too, due to the fact that it was only Tuesday. Andrew greeted her with a hello, and grabbed the groceries from her, like a boss.

“Andrew! I didn’t know you were coming, I’m sorry the library is such a mess, usually Spike cleans when I’m out.” She glared at Spike, who only shrugged at her back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Twi. The library doesn’t look like it’s a mess though...” He looked around the room, and almost as expected, the whole library was spotless. He set down the groceries in the kitchen, where Spike entered shortly after to separate the food.

“It would’ve been if you wouldn’t have been there when Apple Bloom and her friends almost wrecked your police station with that fire, considering how close you are to me.” She deadpanned, only for both Andrew and Twilight to end up in laughter.

“Yeah, well I seriously underestimated their abilities to cause fires so easily. Luckily it was a small fire.” Andrew sighed.

“Well, I should get goin’, Rainbow’s gon’ kill me if I stayed for any longer.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Picnic dinner on the hillside, you’re welcome to join if you want. It’s fine if you can’t come really, but it’s been awhile since I’ve had quality time with her.” He sighed.

“If it’s okay then, I’m gonna stay here, you two deserve some alone time together.” She winked back at him, and Andrew was left with some furious blushing to try and get over.

“Okay then, Twi. I’ll see ya later then, it’d be best if I was on my way. Oh, and Spike?” Spike peeked his head from around the corner in the kitchen, “I’ll pick you up sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

“Whoa whoa, what do you mean by that? Are you taking him somewhere?” Twilight asked, all Andrew did was smile as he headed for the door.

“Spike and I decided we should have some ‘manly bonding’ time together. He says hanging around with girls messes with his manliness.” Andrew put air quotations around the “manly bonding” part, because it was just him taking Spike out on the shooting range underground.

“As long as it doesn’t involve anything having to do with your other ‘job.’ He’s still a baby y’know.”

“Alright mom, I’ll see ya later.” Andrew left the library as soon as Twilight stopped talking, and surprisingly she didn’t try to bug him about anything concerning him and Spike either. What she would do was bug Spike, because that was the next closest thing to know what was going on while she was gone.

“What did he say to you exactly?” Twilight asked, Spike just laughed and continued to laugh while he went to his bed upstairs. Twilight was beyond curious to find out now, but it could wait for later.

Andrew flattened the soft grass under his size fifteen boot, slowly and carefully making his way towards the hill under Rainbow’s house. It was around 5 o’clock, just about dinner time, a little bit early though, all things considered.

He had a basket of food being carried with him, that he made himself. He had simple sandwiches, vegetarian of course, and a fruit casserole. The basket itself was steaming, because the fruit casserole was still hot, but not hot enough to burn through the basket.

Andrew saw Rainbow sitting on a picnic blanket, and she seemed to be sleeping too, perfect timing. He hurried on over to set up everything, he positioned the plates and took out the food, putting it right at the center of the blanket. He nudged Rainbow, who woke up moments later.

“How long have you been here?” She moaned, as a response Andrew yawned and stretched his limbs.

“I waited a good half an hour before waking you up. It sounds way better the way it was before.” He teased, but Rainbow would have none of it, she smacked him straight in the arm. He yelped and covered his hand over the possible bruise.

“Did I ever tell you hooves hurt more than punching?” He said through clenched teeth. Rainbow nodded and smiled back at him.

“Good, that means you know what’ll happen if you make me mad.” She winked at him, and nuzzled him in the place she hit him.

“You’re really lucky y’know?” He said slowly, trying to wrap a bandage around his arm while he was eating at the same time.

“Lucky how?”

“That I’m not deciding to shoot you.” He laughed, which gave Rainbow a deadpan expression. She actually thought she was in trouble, because this whole time, she could’ve gotten shot.

“I’m just kidding, chill. I will never shoot you, or any of you. Unless I have to, and that’ll only happen if I’m given orders to.” This wasn’t making the situation any better, both Rainbow and Andrew knew this for a fact, so as a solution, Andrew quickly changed the subject.

“I think we should change the subject.” Rainbow pointed out. Andrew smiled sheepishly as he rubber her already wild rainbow colored mane.

“I agree...” He picked up a plate and passed it to Rainbow, he also gave one to himself, “let’s eat, I’m starving.”

Chapter 53

Act 5-3
Comes and Goes

“So Andrew, how are you such a high rank at such a young age? You said you were a Captain before you came here, if I remember correctly.” Rainbow asked, causing Andrew to chuckle slightly.

He took a moment to swallow his food before speaking, “I guess it’s because I went to college, that and I did a lot of ass kissing,” his hair covered over his eyes, “that and you tend to rank up fast when there’s a war going on.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“When there’s a war going on, you start to run out of good people to fight, and the ones who survive turn into killing machines. What kills them in the end is either the PTSD or pumping them full of bullets.” He took a sip of water from his canteen, “thats funny, ‘cause I’m one of those people.”

Rainbow shook her head no, and she gripped onto Andrew’s arm tightly, getting his attention, “that’s a lie, I know you. You’re the second coolest thing I know, next to me of course.”

“Of course...” He repeated after her, almost mumbling it under his breath.

“I never did tell you, did I?” Andrew looked down at Rainbow, who looked right back at him.

“Tell me what?” She raised an eyebrow at him. He let out a huge sigh and chuckled.

“I wanted to let you know that I was making something for you. I actually have it here with me.” He said, in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. Rainbow got up on all fours, and awaited Andrew to pull out his gift for her.

Andrew pulled out a small Ruger Mk. III Pistol, the trigger guard and the trigger itself were extended for it to be usable with hooves, other than that, it was completely the same as any other gun. He flipped it in the palm of his hand, the handle facing towards Rainbow.

She excitedly grabbed for it, but Andrew pulled it away, “nah ah ah, safety first. Remind me to teach you how to shoot before I give this to you.”

“Yeah, but this is so cool! You’re giving me a gun!”

“Rainbow, a gun isn’t a toy, it’s a weapon. You could go to jail without the proper licensing.” He said, putting the Ruger back into his rucksack.

“Come by my place tomorrow morning, I’ll have it ready for you by then. Besides, I’m thinking it should use a sick paint job first.”

“Yeah! I totally agree, it needs to be cyan blue, like me! Oh! Can it have my cutie mark on the grip?” Andrew smiled and nodded, which caused Rainbow to squeal with excitement.

“Hey Andrew?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the best.”

“I know, I even surprise myself sometimes.” He said sarcastically.

Andrew got up and brushed himself off, grabbing his backpack as he stood up. He let out a sigh and looked at Rainbow, who looked at him back, confused. He packed up everything into the picnic basket and carried it with him back to the police station. Rainbow followed him closely behind.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked, Andrew chuckled.

“Vinyl invited me for a recording session, she wanted to hear some of the music I had in this thing.” He brought his tacpad waist level so he could look at it, it glowed a holographic blue as it was switched on.

“Can I come?” Rainbow asked, and as a response Andrew nodded.

Andrew knocked on the door to Vinyl’s music store, even though it was closed he could see her through the glass door very clearly. She brought up her head and smiled, she opened the door to let both Andrew and Rainbow inside.

“I assume she’s here because she wants to watch?” Andrew set down his backpack and nodded.

“Sound room’s over there, and here,” Vinyl grabbed a headset with her mouth, and threw it at Andrew, “you’re gonna need that.”

“Aight, let’s make some noise.” Andrew put on the headset supplied to him.

Andrew shut the door closed behind him, and tapped the microphone in front of him and he heard the satisfying echoing thump come through his headset. He looked behind him, seeing multiple instruments that were in disrepair, some were even broken in half.

“I can probably get someone in to fix those, Jhon used to be somewhat of a carpenter if I remember correctly.” He picked up a broken guitar, looked at it for a second, and then put back in the junk pile.

“How many instruments do you do through?” Andrew said through the microphone, and all Vinyl did was shrug as a response, and Andrew rolled his eyes back at her.

“Are you gonna whine some more are are we gonna get a move on?!” Rainbow practically shouted into Andrew’s ears through his headset, which caused him to rapidly tear the headset off of his head.

He stuck his finger in his ear and twisted it around, trying to get his already deteriorating sense of hearing back. Once he regained his hearing, he put it back on. He gave a thumbs up to Vinyl and she started the music, luckily Andrew knew this song all too well.

Vinyl had a look of approval, much to Andrew’s satisfaction. She nodded and grabbed for the microphone, “you humans got some pretty good songs! Hey, can I see your wrist-thingy?”

Andrew snickered as he unstrapped the buckle to his tacpad, he opened the door to Vinyl’s room and gave it to her, and along with that he gave simple instructions to use it. H went into his music playlist and let Vinyl at it from there.

“Now, don’t expect me to sing every one. As you can probably tell by now that I’m not a girl.” Andrew instructed. Going back into the soundproof room, he put the headset back on and gave a thumbs up to Vinyl again.

“Alright, let’s continue then!”

All night Andrew had been working on paperwork, paperwork for Rainbow’s gun. By the time morning came he was already passed out on the desk, stubble formed on his face overnight, and dry drool could be seen on the corner of his mouth.

When he heard a knock on the door, he woke up instantly, he looked around to see that he was back in his office. Once he was aware of his senses he got up to open the door. He opened it to find Rainbow, happily waiting for her new gun.

“Hey man, you look like trash!” Rainbow exclaimed, much to her enthusiasm.

“Thanks for the compliment, come with me.” Rainbow followed Andrew down the hallway, unsure of where she was going. All she knew about the police station was the room Andrew and his friends slept in, as well as the lobby.

“Alright, so here’s your license, and here’s your gun.”

He tossed them to Rainbow, who caught it by the handle with her hoof, much to her amusement. She caught the piece of plastic with her wing, and put it under her. She had to find a good place to put it for future reference.

“Alright, I’ve yet to put a paint job on it because I was busy all night with the licensing. Drop it by Paint Job down the street or something, I’m sure he’ll gladly paint it for you. Tell him that I sent you, and he’ll do it on the house, he owes me a few favors anyway.”

Andrew opened the door to the range, and he opened the

“I-Is that-?”

“Yeah, it’s a laser rifle. The ones you see in the movies.” Andrew smirked, slinging it over his shoulder, “Jhon and I were working on it before we went to war, I just want to test fire it to see if it works properly.”

“What’s this war about anyways?” Rainbow asked, which caused Andrew to go silent.

“Apparently, someone’s planning on taking over Equestria. I don’t know the full details, but... we think a griffon may have to do with it.” He said in a solemn tone, dampening the mood in the process.

“Anyways, the range is yours.” Andrew went to the other side of the shooting range, and pressed a big red button on the wall, causing targets to pop up in and out of cover.

Rainbow put on ear plugs, as well as safety glasses, so nothing would get in her eyes. Andrew did the same, but at a much faster rate compared to Rainbow. At first, she was confused.

“Hey, why do we need these exactly?”

“So you don’t go deaf, the glasses prevent any debris from getting in your eyes. Simple enough?” Andrew gave a short and sweet explanation of her equipment.

“I guess so.”

Rainbow looked at the gun a little bit before shooting, as if she didn’t know what she was doing. She has shot a gun before, but it was with the careful help of Andrew and Helena. She squeezed the trigger, and a little pop came out of her gun, a quick flash came from the muzzle.

Rainbow smiled, “I think I can get used to this.”

Andrew pulled the trigger, and a single green beam of light came from his laser rifle. It hit in the dead center of the target, and made a scorch mark where it hit. He leaned to the right to the right to find out that it went right through the target and into the hill of sand right behind it.

“I think I may have outdid myself...” He scratched his head with the side of the gun, he looked sincerely surprised.

Andrew set down the experimental laser rifle on the table, and put a hand on Rainbow’s back. Her standing on her hind legs brought her a few feet taller, but still about a foot shorter than Andrew, but he was impressed.

“Since when could you stand on your hind legs?”

“Since always! Everypony can do this, it just get uncomfortable after some time. It’s not a normal thing though, unless you count Lyra.”

“Oh, I guess I haven’t really noticed that ‘till now...” Andrew seemed dumbfounded, but all in all he got over it immediately.

Andrew looked over Rainbow’s shoulder to see how well she was doing, and to be honest, her grouping was much tighter than his, she even made a few bullets go through the same hole. Although this was a lighter gun, as well as a smaller sized bullet to match.

“Well?” Andrew held out his arms, as if he was presenting something.

“I love it.” Rainbow caught Andrew off guard, managing to put him on his ass when she ran up to hug him. He fell to the cold hard cement with a thud, he let out a muffled moan on impact.

“Man, you hit hard!” Andrew chuckled, throwing Rainbow off of him in the process.

“Anyways, I think I should go get myself cleaned up. Let’s get outta here.”

“Let me guess, ‘I can’t be in here without an expert to watch me?’” Andrew nodded, and opened the door. He gestured with his hand and he bowed as Rainbow left the room first.

“Ladies first.”

“Lady? Do you think you’re talking to Rarity or something? Pssh.” Andrew turned off the lights and locked the door behind him.

“I got some things I need to be doing, I’ll see ya later.”

“Aight, I’m gonna go shower and freshen up a bit.”

Andrew went into the locker room, which also happened to double out as a shower. He put all of his dirty clothes into the hamper, and turned on the shower. The water heater was brand new, so it didn’t take long before the water got very hot.

He hopped in without hesitation, and he started to mess around with his hair. A smile grew across his face as the warm water from the shower met in contact with his skin, he could see a small stream of dirt go down the drain.

“Damn, what have I been doing to get covered in shit?” He asked himself, not knowing exactly why.

“Don’t you think being in a three month long coma had to do with anything?” Something hissed in his ears.

Instinctively, Andrew grabbed a shampoo bottle and swung it around behind him. Though, nothing was there. He got that bad feeling in his gut again, as well as a sour taste in his mouth.

“Oh, it’s you.” He spat, only to hear a chuckle as a response.

“It’s been awhile, how have you been, hun?” Carmine caressed Andrew’s chin, he grabbed her by the wrist and kept it away from him.

“Oh, I’ve been fine, until you showed up that is.”

“Now now, Andrew. Don’t be that way.”

“Get your dirty-ass hands off of me. What do you want?” Andrew asked, in a hostile tone.

“I just want to talk, it’s been so lonely up here, in the Frozen North.” Andrew silently repeated her last two words as if it were a question. He didn’t know all the places in Equestria, and he surely didn’t know the Frozen North existed.

“Leave me alone, let me bathe in peace.”

“Fine... I’ll see you later then.” Carmine and the cloud of darkness suddenly disappeared into the steam of the hot shower, Andrew was left there in a daze of sorts.

“Hopefully never.” He hissed.

Chapter 54

Act 5-4
Manehatten SWAT

“Night Shade, we got a bank robbery in progress over in Manehattan, multiple armed hostiles and they have hostages.” Night Shade gritted his teeth, and hit the wall.

“Where’s the nearest dispatch?”

“They’re already on scene sir.”

“What about SWAT?”

“We haven’t established a SWAT unit in Manehatten sir.”

“Dammit! Echo Squad is out, who else do we have?” Night Shade asked.

“What about that one that was sent back to Ponyville?” One operator suggested, Night Shade thought he should’ve kissed him.

“That’s right! Andrew! Call him immediately, we don’t have much time.”

“Alright! See if y’all can hit this one!” Applejack threw an apple into the air, it exploded the second it hit its highest point.

Apple chunks landed on Andrew’s face, painting it like a mural. He licked the corners of his lips, and he smiled.

“Nothing beats exploding apples in the morning.” He said sarcastically, he pumped the shotgun and ejected the empty shell.

“Now, I may not appreciate you blowin up mah apples too much, but ah have to admit, that’s pretty cool.” Applejack smirked.

“Hold on, I’m out of shotgun shells. Lemme drop by the station and I’ll be back.” Andrew slung the now empty shotgun over his back.

Applejack noticed the holographic glowing bar on Andrew’s back, he didn’t even seem to care about it much. She looked to Rainbow, who only shook her head as a response.

“Do ah even want to know?”

“I’ll tell ya later AJ. It’s nothing important.”

Andrew, in a rushed fashion, speed walked to the police station. He got a notification from his tacpad that someone was trying to call the station. He didn’t have an idea who it was or why they were calling, though he did have to think about who actually has access to a phone. Since his team were probably out doing something, he had to rule out Night Shade, because he was the only one with access to a phone.

“Ponyville Police Department, how may I be of service your highness?”

“Andrew! We need you down in Manehatten, as quickly as possible! Bring your SWAT gear, because there’s a hostage crisis involved!”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Why am I being called into this?”

“We haven’t established a SWAT team for Manehatten, and you’re the only one with experience available. We don’t have much time, you need to hurry.”

“Alright, I’ll do it. Only because there are lives at risk here.” Andrew hung up the phone and wrote down a note on a piece of paper. He left it at the counter and placed it in an obvious place somepony could find it.

He went down into the barracks and got on his SWAT gear, which was pretty much his normal police uniform, as well as body armor, knee and shoulder pads, and a helmet to match. He strapped his helmet on with ease, and he went into the gun cages.

“Alright, all my gear should be in my locker.” Andrew opened the door to his locker, and he took out a pump action tactical shotgun, as well as a M92FS handgun. He strapped flashbangs to his belt, and loaded his shotgun with non-lethal rubber buckshot.

“Night Shade, I do hope you know that this is above my pay grade.” Andrew mumbled to himself.

He read the message he wrote to make sure he didn’t do anything wrong. Hopefully, nobody will have to read it, and they wouldn’t even know he would be gone. Though, he highly doubted that, because he had a few ideas of who would try to come in here to bother him.

If you are reading this message, I’ll be in Manehatten on some police duties. I can’t tell you when I’ll be back, but if you need anything give me a call.

~Andrew

He put the note back where he placed it and headed out the door. He made sure to flip the sign on the door to ‘closed,’ so they would know nobody’s there. He then made his way to the train station, off to Manehatten.

Andrew sat inside the train car, with no one else he knew, except for the conductor, who knew his face all too well. There was a mare who sat across from him, as well as a stallion who sat on the same bench as Andrew, but kept his distance away from him. Andrew sat with slumped shoulders, awaiting for his arrival to Manehatten.

Andrew saw that the mare was wearing a uniform of sorts, he saw that uniform before, but he didn’t know what it was called. It sorta looked like the Blue Angels, from back on Earth, but there was another name for these guys. He just couldn’t remember.

“If Manehatten’s anything like it sounds, I guess I’m going to be visiting Wall Street.” He grumbled to himself, not really enthusiastic about the trip.

“Excuse me sir, but may I ask what you’re wearing?” That mare that sat across from him trotted up to Andrew, she had a warm smile and greeted him.

“It’s nothing of your concern ma’am.”

“It seems like you’re dressed up for something important though, seeing how many layers you have on...” She peaked around to Andrew’s back, she noticed the aqua blue RIG emanate a dim, holographic glow to it.

“I could say the same about you.” He replied. The longer she stared at him, the more he wanted to give in, and so there he explained what SWAT is.

“I’m a specialized member of the police, called SWAT, Special Weapons and Tactics. Apparently I’m being called into Manehatten because there’s a hostage situation I have to take care of.” The mare seemed to be overwhelmed with the information given to her, but she understood that the situation was a dire emergency.

“Please save them officer.”

“I didn’t catch your name, Miss?”

“The name’s Fleetfoot, I’m a Wonderbolt.” Fleetfoot had gained the interest of Andrew, who seemed very enthusiastic about their meeting. He now remembered what they were called, The Wonderbolts, apparently to Rainbow they’re the ‘most badass group of Pegasi in Equestria.’

“I’ve heard of you guys before, Rainbow keeps telling me how awesome you are.”

“Likewise, you must be Andrew. You were on the newspaper.” She pulled out a newspaper from her saddlebag, it was a few days old, but there he was, on the front page.

“‘Coma patient Andrew Hartfield wakes up after three months in intensive care.’ How did they- you know what? Nevermind.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Fleetfoot.” Andrew stuck out his hand, Fleetfoot stared at it cautiously, but shook it once she caught onto what he was doing.

“You too, Andrew. Hey, come by our headquarters in Cloudsdale sometime, I can hook you up with a few tickets to our show.”

“I will make sure to do that. Anyways, I think this is our stop.” Andrew slid open the train car door, and he let Fleetfoot go first, followed by the stallion civilian, with him hopping out last.

A uniformed police officer approached Andrew, who gave a solid salute as Andrew neared him. He seemed to already know who he was, telling by the patch on Andrew’s vest.

“Colonel Andrew, sir! Bandits have taken hostages in the second floor of the bank. We are at a complete stalemate, we need you and a small team to go in there and apprehend the criminals. Those are your orders from Commander Night Shade.”

“Lead the way, officer.” Andrew climbed into the back of the carriage, and he jerked forward as it started to move in an incredibly fast rate.

Andrew kept switching views, everywhere he looked were tall skyscrapers, cafes on the corners, food vendors on every side of the street. It looked just like old New York, except for the fact that everything in New York in the year 2161 would be all futuristic looking. This is what old New York looked like back in the early 21st century, or at least what he saw in old pictures.

“Now, we have a few firearms already on site, if you need any take what you need.”

“I have a few with me already.”

“Alrighty then, it should only take a few minutes to get there, mind as well get you briefed.”

“Go on.”

“About five or six hostiles made it into the bank around 9AM, and took over the first floor within minutes. They also took over the second floor with ease, and they’re dug in too well, we can’t get in there unless we want to get shot at. They’re all armed and dangerous, so be careful.”

“How exactly am I supposed to get inside?”

“You and a team of Unicorns are gonna enter through the roof, and then from there you’re on your own.”

“This must be serious, have you contacted the bandits?”

“Yes, they say that they want a getaway car and to let them go, if we do so they won’t kill the hostages.”

“We’re gonna make sure they don’t kill the hostages.” Andrew insisted, and just then the cart stopped, a lot of Manehatten police sirens whirred in the background, Andrew thought it was a good time to put in his earplugs.

“This is the Manehatten Police! Come out and put your hooves up! This is your last warning!”

“Yeah? What’re you gonna do? We’re the ones with the hostages, so we’re gonna be calling the shots! I want a safe way out and nopony gets hurt!” The criminal threatened, Andrew immediately got his things together.

“Colonel Andrew, this is your team. That there is Night Storm, she’s Moonlight Shadow, and that over there is Silent Rain.”

“Alright, who’s the best shot around here?”

“I am.” Silent Rain raised her hoof into the air, Andrew nodded, and pointed to the roof of a building across from the bank.

“What you’re gonna do is take this sniper rifle, and provide overwatch.” Andrew handed her a sniper rifle, and she separated from the little huttle.

“You two, are with me.” Andrew went around back, followed by Night Storm and Moonlight, he used bull cutters to gain access to the ladder out back, and climbed up to the roof.

Andrew met Moonlight and Night Storm on the roof, he facepalmed, because he forgot that they were Unicorns, that could teleport. Duh.

He had Night Storm unlock the door using magic, and he crouched down, bringing out his shotgun. Luckily, the maintenance door was left unlocked, so Andrew prepared a flashbang for breaching.

“Alright guys, you ready to make history?”

Andrew opened the door slightly and tossed in the flashbang, the civilians all cried out in fear, and the criminals were caught off guard. Andrew shot his rubber buckshot into the first pony he saw that drew a gun on him. It caused him to yelp in pain, and Night Storm shot him with some sort of binding magic, because afterwards he looked like he was hogtied.

A mare that also had a shotgun shot Andrew right in the chest, but luckily for him the body armor prevented him from being mortally wounded in the process. Moonlight Shadow shot her with a bolt of magic, and caused the shotgun to fly from her hooves, Andrew went in to handcuff her.

“Alright, second floor clear. Let’s keep g-” Andrew was caught off guard by one that hid around the corner, he started to strangle him, managing to wrestle him against the guardrail.

“Those were my friends, you bastard!”

“Well *cough* good! You can join them!” Andrew didn’t know how hooves could strangle someone without fingers, but this pony was doing it.

Andrew swung the pony around and pushed him over the ledge, but the pony grabbed Andrew’s sleeve in the process, bringing him down with him. Andrew grabbed the stallion and put him under him to break his fall, knocking him out in the process.

Even though his attacker was unconscious, another came from out of nowhere, probably because he was now on the first floor of the building. This one pinned Andrew down and started to hit him with the stock of a rifle. Though it couldn’t really get Andrew through the visor of his helmet, it still hurt. A lot.

“Get *smack* the fuck *smack* off me!” Andrew grabbed a potted plant that happened to have pretty blue flowers in them, and bashed it across the face of the individual that pinned him down.

“Three down, three to go.” Andrew wiped spit from his mouth, and ducked under the counter, avoiding gunfire in the process.

“Exactly how do these people have guns? I thought it was only a military thing?”

“Well, they aren’t good guns, most of them are muzzle-loaded.” Moonlight said in a factual tone, causing both Night Storm and Andrew to roll their eyes.

“Well, it looks like they all fired their one and only shot. I’ll get their attention, you two flank them and cuff ‘em.”

“I wonder why they aren’t grabbing for the civilians.” Night Storm pondered, Andrew covered his mouth as soon as that sentence left his lips.

“Don’t give them ideas! Just do as I said and it’ll all be over with!” Andrew came up from behind cover to give a distraction, he looked to either side of him to see that both Moonlight and Night Storm were moving up.

Andrew picked up a brick on the ground, and threw it at their feet, causing them to duck behind cover, Andrew on the other hand vaulted over the counter and headed straight down the middle path. He took out his sidearm and lowered it towards the ground, in case of a misfire.

He saw that they both had their attention to him, trying to reload their guns as Andrew drew nearer to them. By the time Andrew got to them, they were already jumped by Moonlight and Night, much to his amusement. No matter how hard they struggled, it only made it worse due to the binding spell that was put on them.

“Alright, let’s wrap this up.” Andrew opened the front door, pushing the criminal forward towards the transport carriage, multiple sets of eyes were locked onto him, and right behind him were Moonlight and Night, along with five captives.

Andrew then opened the door to the prisoner transport carriage and pushed one of them inside, he held the door open for the others to get inside as well. He let out a huge sigh, and he sat down on the curb.

“Colonel Andrew, I’m the Chief of Police for Manehatten, I would like to commend you for your efforts!” The Chief violently shook Andrew’s hand.

“I didn’t do anything, Chief. It was all them.” He pointed to Moonlight Shadow, Night Storm, and SIlent Rain, they all had a proud expression on their faces, Andrew couldn't think of anypony better for Manehatten SWAT.

“If I were you, I would promote them to the newly established Manehatten SWAT. Just in case anything like this ever happened again.”

“I will hold you up on that suggestion, Andrew. I guess you should be going then, your train ride has been paid for, and we now have a SWAT team. Come by to visit us sometime, we’ll discuss things over coffee.”

“Aight then, let me just deposit this stuff.” Andrew started to take off his body armor, and what was left is his police uniform: a dark navy blue dress shirt, pants to match, and a black tie with a holder.

“That’s a nice uniform, Colonel.”

“You should see my other one, it’s much better than this one.” Andrew straightened his tie, “I should be going, I’ll see y’all later.”

Andrew fell asleep on the train back, since it wasn’t an express train the trip lasted a while longer than the one getting to Manehatten. He was severely worn out, especially after he was thrown from the second floor of a building.

“You left us, Andrew.”

“I didn’t leave, you left me.” Andrew spat.

“Did I make you cry? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was a father to a pussy!”

“You know it! Ever since the day you died, I was left all alone! No one was there for me! Everyone I knew died around me! I was left at a foster home for three years! Three years, I had to deal with abusive siblings, the parents didn’t even care I existed!”

Andrew’s “father” stayed silent, standing there to listen, “you have no idea, what I’ve been through. Fuck. You.”

“You’re right, I don’t know what it was like. But now, you can join us.” Andrew’s “father” started to turn black, and his physical appearance broke down into a fine, sandy mist.

“Time to die, son.”

Author's Note

Sorry guys, it's been slow updating due to the fact that The Last of Us is one of the best games ever! That, and I'm a huge procrastinator.

Chapter 55

Act 5-5
Problems From the Past

“Helena, what’s your status?” The radio buzzed in Helena’s ear, she brought the microphone closer to her face so she could whisper in the details.

“Alright, I’ve managed to set up camp on top of the water tower. What exactly are we looking for?”

“Some sort of map or plans, we need to get enemy intel to know what they’re planning.” Nick explained, he pulled a ski-mask over his face, as well as putting night vision goggles on over his eyes.

“Alright, we need to go in quietly, we can’t afford to put them on high alert.” Helena said, looking through her binoculars.

“Then why did you bring a big-ass fucking sniper rifle?”

“Because I know you’re gonna alert them somehow. Mind as well bring something to make up for it. Besides, it’s loaded with tranquilizer rounds.” She said with heavy sarcasm, causing Nick to frown.

“What? You don’t trust me?” Nick sneered, Helena chuckled a little bit.

“Not as much as I trust myself, but you’re a close second.”

“Guys, I don’t mean to interrupt, but don’t we have something to be doing right about now?” Jhon asked, causing both ends of the conversation to go dead silent.

“Okay then, Nick, Jhon, you have a patrol coming in on your left. Take them out.” From where Helena’s at, nobody could see her, except for the ones who know that she’s even there. She could see everything, because luckily the water tower was a good vantage point.

“Alright, I’ll take the one on the left, you get the other.” Jhon crept up on the Griffin, putting his arm around his neck, squeezing as hard as he could to choke him out. The only audible noise that could be heard was the sound of choking, and it wasn’t all that loud either. Jhon put him down quietly, without raising attention to himself.

Nick brought his left arm around the pony, he dragged him back into the alleyway, pistol-whipping him to knock him out. He then tossed the body into a garbage heap, along with the Griffin.

“Nice, alright Helena, where to?”

“The radio building, the house at the very end of town to the front of you.”

“How do you expect us to get all the way there? That’s like two blocks!”

“Oh yeah, you know that cord on your shoulder I told you not to pull?” Helena asked, Nick looked to his shoulder, and saw a small cord dangling from somewhere inside his uniform.

“I want you to pull on that cord.” Nick did as he was told, and he turned invisible, much to his excitement.

“Adaptive camouflage.” Jhon said, doing the same to his own cord on his shoulder.

“There, can you stop complaining now?”

“Yeah, yeah this’ll do just fine.”

“Good, Night Shade’s counting on us to get those documents.”

Opening the door, Andrew headed into the mess hall, the mass of people he saw were all happy, they were all with their friends. He was alone, the only friends he knew were all in his head, probably long gone by now.

“Hey, you’re that noob officer, right?” Andrew quickly turned around, seeing that there was another person, about his height, and only seemed a bit older than he was.

“I’m Nick, it’s nice to meet you.” Nick held out his hand, and smiled at Andrew.

“Andrew, likewise.” Andrew shook Nick’s hand, smiling back at him.

“Hey, I think they made the teams already, you wanna go check them out?” Nick pointed towards the holographic billboard, from here Andrew saw the posted message.

Both Andrew and Nick looked to find their names, everyone else crowded behind them to do the same. Andrew had hoped that he would get a good team, perhaps even get the best team. He had heard that Helena was also here, but couldn’t seem to find her.

“Hey, have you seen a Helena Wilson around here?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her, she actually sleeps in my cabin.” Nick answered, not really excited about the whole thing.

“Why? Do you know her?”

“She was my childhood friend, at one point in time her family took me into legal custody.”

“Seriously? What the hell happened to you man?”

“My parents died in the Las Vegas attack in 2149, from there I spent a few years in a foster home, when I turned 17 I inherited everything they had. So I went to college, got a degree, and signed up for the war. Two years later I’m being asked to join the Delta Force, not what I expected, but exciting no less.”

“Y’know we’re on the same team now, right leader?” Andrew had yet to find his name, but when he noticed what Nick was saying about, he was happy.

“Leader?”

“Yeah, it says you’re team leader, highest rank and everything.”

“Hmm, I like it, ‘Master Sergeant Andrew Hartfield’. Didn’t think the college part in my resume would do that.” He laughed sarcastically.

“Consider yourself lucky, Sergeant. When there’s a war goin on, you’ll end up being Captain before you know it. On the other hand, during peacetime, you’ll probably end up being a Staff Sergeant or some shit, college degree or not.” Nick patted him on the back, causing Andrew to rub it to make the pain go away.

“How old are you anyways?”

“I am Twenty-One on-the-dot, good sir.”

“I swear, America’s recruiting younger and younger.”

“Why? What’s the problem?”

“I’m Twenty-Six.”

“See, you’re not that much older than I am.”

“I just hope you’re not the pussy type of team leader, I don’t take orders too lightly from someone younger than me.”

Andrew copied the documents over to his tacpad located on his wrist, he started to study the team was was assigned to. What he didn’t expect was to see Helena assigned to his team as well, a big surprise on his part. There was a fourth member too, his name was James Lamar. He’s heard of him around campus, but he hasn’t seen him personally either, along with Helena.

“Listen up people! In the next ten minutes I expect you all to be in your designated fire-teams! All in alphabetical order, I want team leaders to be lined up in front! Just because you’ve all passed recruiting doesn’t mean it’s over yet! I want to see your war faces!”

“Sir, yes sir!” Everyone said in unison.

Andrew and Nick lined up right after Fire Team Delta, Andrew being on the very far left in his upright stance.

“Is this Fire Team Echo?” Andrew heard a feminine voice come from his right, he turned to find Helena, who didn’t seem to recognize him when she saw his face. All she did was look back at him, and then fell into the line.

“I guess this is it.” Andrew heard a quiet, yet a very stern voice, it had to have been James. Once Andrew caught sight of him, he avoided eye-contact with him, and went into the line behind Helena.

“Alright team, I am Master Sergeant Andrew Hartfield, I am your team leader, and I expect you all to respect me as such. I look forward to working with you all.” Andrew introduced himself with the normal tone of voice, he didn’t seem very serious, but he was far from being docile.

“Fire Team Echo! It looks like you’re already being assigned to a mission, I commend you for that. There was a downed aircraft in the South American region, there was a valuable slip-space drive on that aircraft, and I want you to retrieve that and any remaining survivors of the crash. Meet me in my tent for briefing. Welcome to the future gentlemen, and woman.”

“Yes sir!” They all said in unison.

“That’s how we all met, it wasn’t at all dramatic, yet in fact it was a bit boring.”

“Yeah, but it does explain a lot.”

“What do you mean, Rainbow?”

“I mean, it explains how you all are friends now.” She said in a very enthusiastic tone.

“It also gives me an idea of how things started out between you all. From what I can tell, you and your species at times can be difficult to trust one another.” Twilight put another paper in her already giant stack of notes, it was already up to Andrew’s waist in height.

“Twilight, are you still rambling on about that book you’re doing about humans?”

“Of course I am! This is one of the most outstanding breakthroughs in all of Equestria since Night Shade’s time!”

“C’mon Twilight, stop shitting me. There’s been better discoveries since we came here, I know it, you know it, everyone knows it.”

“Hmm, I guess I can’t really argue with you...” Twilight had an expression of defeat, but instantly perked back up when Andrew started to get up and head towards the bookshelf. She couldn’t help but to wonder what he was doing, since he didn’t read all that often. Using the process of elimination, she figured that he wanted to show her something.

“If you need something to document, take this,” Andrew blew the dust of the cover of the white book, “it’s, ‘Basic Human Anatomy and Behavior: Volume 1.’ Nick used it to study when he was in medic school.”

Twilight’s eyes gleamed with excitement, almost like Pinkie when Nick agreed to help her bake cupcakes that one time. She ripped it out of his hands with her magic and stuffed it in her bookbag, Andrew seemed visibly shocked.

“This will further my studies ten-fold! Thank you thank you thank you!” She tried squeezing the living daylights out of Andrew, who started to suffocate due to the lack of air coming to his lungs. The girls in the background started to giggle and laugh at his torment.

“I think story time’s over for today girls, it’s getting late, and I’m gonna go visit Berry Punch at her tavern.”

“Wait a minute, why?”

“Because I need a drink, that’s why.” He said simply, laying down his hat on the table next to him.

“Anyone want in? I’ll buy?” He offered, and two hooves shot up into the air. Rainbow and Applejack, much to his surprise. Usually, when he asked, no one agreed to come with him, probably because it wasn't easy for him to get drunk.

“Alrighty then, you go on ahead then, I need to fetch a few things.” As all six of them left the police station, Andrew let out a sigh.

He was utterly tired today, having to deal with six mares randomly coming into his workplace and ask him about friendship, not to mention having to pick up for the work due to the absence of his teammates. He missed peacetime, since the war thing started and put everything he knows here in danger, he has to do everything he can to defend it.

Andrew grabbed for the sack of coins he always left in the nightstand next to his bunk, always keeping a little bit of his pay for either drinking money, or just plain spending money in general. The rest of the money he would use to chip in for new equipment Nick or Helena would always want, or he would use it for upgrading the equipment he already owns. Knowing his friends too well it would probably be the first option he was given, much to his disadvantage.

“Alright, here it is. Should I-? Nah, not when I’m drunk.” Andrew had second thought about taking his gun, but seeing that it wouldn’t be a good idea, he left it inside the drawer.

The sun set over Ponyville, and night started to make it way into town. Andrew could see across the way that Vinyl’s club seemed to be closed for the night, which wasn’t the case for most days. He could see Vinyl come out of the dark building, letting out a big yawn. Once she caught sight of Andrew, she waved at him in a tired fashion, only for him to wave back as he headed closer to the tavern.

Through the market, it seemed that most shops were closed for the day, since it was night time, but some were still open; like the ice cream shop, or the artists’ corner. All he knew is that the tavern/bar was very lively, he could hear a lot of random chatter coming from inside.

“Oi, lookie here! It’d be Andrew, from the other night!” Andrew heard a very thick accent coming from the bar, he didn’t actually know who he was, he could tell that he knew him somehow.

“Who said my name?”

“Andrew! Over here!” Andrew looked to his right, and saw Applejack and Rainbow sit at a booth, along with another pony, unrecognizable from where he was standing.

“Andrew, I want you to meet the local Ponyville brewer, Hops! He makes the best brew anywhere in Equestria!”

“RD, you know I don’t like it when you do that!” He paused before speaking, “Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Hartfield, I’ve heard that name a lot around these parts. Some soldiers say you’re a hero, I’ve heard from other soldiers that they hate your guts.”

“Yeah? That’s... interesting. Anyways, I’ve heard you brew beer?”

“Yessir! I also distill Moonshine, commissioned by the Princess of the Night herself, as well as other specialty drinks.”

“Moonshine, eh? Do you mind if I try some?”

“O course! Berry! Can you get the lad a shot o’ Moonshine over here!”

“Coming right up sir!” Berry Punch came in with a small tray of little shot glasses, filled to the brim with a crystal clear liquid.

When she set it down on the table, Andrew immediately grabbed for one, downing it in an instant. He could feel the burn of the Moonshine, causing his throat to feel immense pain. He started to cough as he wiped the rest of it from his mouth, and mumbled inaudible curse words to himself.

“Sweet merciful Jesus, that was good!”

“I knew you’d like it!” Hops hoofpumped the air, causing Andrew to chuckle a little bit.

“Alright, I think I can stay for a couple rounds before I have to go.” Andrew said honestly. A couple more rounds wouldn’t be enough to get him drunk, but at least it would be able to get him even a slight buzz.

“What do ya need to be doin’ then?” Applejack asked, eyeing Andrew carefully.

“I need to patrol the Everfree Border.”

“At night?! That’s insane!”

“I think I can handle myself pretty well, considering I survived this long.” He chuckled, downing another shot. Hopefully he won’t have to eat those words later on, because he’s heard that some bad shit goes on in that forest.

“Helena, we’ve got the package. Repeat, we got the package.” Nick said with high hopes. He tossed the documents to Jhon, and he stuffed them inside of a black suitcase lying right next to him, clipping the handle to his waist.

“Alright, Night Shade said that there should be something to use somewhere in your location. Do you see anything?”

“I don’t see anything that will get us out of here quietly.” Nick said skeptically, causing Helena to pause in a moment of silence.

“Alright, I’ll cover you, just get out of there before anyone spots you.” Helena scanned the area for any potential targets, though no stragglers could be found. Most of them were camping by bonfires, or in groups talking to each other.

“Helena, there’s a sentry right above our location, we can’t get out if you don’t take him down.” Nick explained.

Helena looked to the second floor of the building, the armed sentry wasn’t hard to spot since he was basking in the moonlight. Since she was hoping for a non-lethal takedown, so instead of high-caliber rounds, she had high-velocity horse tranquilizers. The primer on the horse tranquilizer was activated when Helena pulled the trigger, making a little *pop* when it went off.

The red dart went straight into the flank of the armed sentry, he yipped a little bit on impact. When he turned around, he saw the red feathers stick out of his flank, but it was too late to pull it out.

“Gotcha.” Helena said quietly, watching the armed sentry fall over.

“Alright Nick, you’re cleared to move.”

“Okay, make your way to us, we got you covered.” Nick said.

“C’mon Drew! You gotta tell us what happened!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Tell you what happened when?” He asked cluelessly.

“What happened in South America! Right after you got your team together!” Andrew’s mood darkened the word “South America” came from her mouth, causing him to take a huge gulp of whatever was in front of him.

“Okay then, you might want to sit back down though, this is gonna be a long one.” Andrew took another huge gulp of the alcohol, by the taste of it it tasted like really strong whiskey, though he didn’t know for sure what exactly it was.

“So I assume that you all know your objectives?”

“Yes sir: We secure the crash site, secure the cargo, and wait for backup to arrive.” Andrew summarized, the others on his squad looked at him as if he was a monster, Helena just stared.

“Good, now get going, I already have a plane waiting for you, so you’d better hurry it up then.”

“Wait, but sir-”

“I already have your gear packed and ready on the plane, now get moving!”

Andrew, Helena, Nick, and Jhon made their way to their designated airplane, though it was more like a fast moving spacecraft from the looks of it. Andrew remembered how planes and jets looked like back in the olden days, and they looked like nothing compared to what they look like now.

“So, ‘leader,’ how exactly are we gonna go in and secure the crash site?”

“Easy, we drop in by parachuting, and set up a perimeter to wait for backup, nothing special.”

“From what I can tell, this is your first day out in the actual field, how are you instant team leader?” Helena hissed, causing Andrew to stare back in confusion.

“I don’t think people are looking for experienced people anymore, not from what I can tell. They look for the people who can keep a calm head during a firefight, with a war going on, the country pumps out as many troops as they need, experienced or not.”

“That sounds about right, this is one of the most brutal wars since World War 2, all things considered.”

“Who exactly are we fighting anyways?” Nick asked.

“We’re fighting rebels apparently.”

“Rebels?”

“I don’t know the exact reason, but I’m pretty sure it has to do with the economy. Since the collapse of 2081, they took a lot of people from their jobs and replaced them with machines. They got angry and started to take up arms against their employers, at the time the government didn’t have any involvement, but some people started to blame the government for the trouble, and started to attack our troops stationed around the country.” Andrew took a breath and continued to speak, but was immediately cut off by Helena.

“That’s why we’re trying to suppress them, correct?”

“Yes and no, that war ended about 50 years ago, but the rebels took that to their advantage, to try and stock up on supplies for their next move. I estimate that their numbers are around 5-10 billion waiting this long.”

“Why exactly are we getting a slipspace drive if it doesn’t have anything to do with the war?” Jhon asked hesitantly, Andrew let out a puff of air, trying to get the stress off of his shoulders.

“The rebels are only here on Earth, and they have no means to get into the other colonies without a slipspace drive. If they get their hand on it, it could mean a total economical and political collapse. Besides, it’s the only one in existence as of right now, and it’s nothing more than a prototype.” Andrew looked at the files again, but this time, looking at the flight crew of the crashed plane. He tensed up when he saw Carmine's name on the list of MIA's.

“Andrew, you seem... tense. Is something the matter?”

“No, no, it’s nothing.” Andrew rubbed his temples, trying to suppress the grunts of pain he wanted to let out.

“You can tell us, Andrew. We’re your team now, we stick together through anything!” He gulped, and hesitated before speaking very sternly, almost as if he's seen a ghost.

“Someone I know was on that plane.” He finally managed to say.

“Jeez, that’s harsh. I’m sorry.” Nick said solemnly, adjusting the loose strap on Andrew’s helmet. He nodded to him gratefully, and loaded up into the plane.

“There’s no time to waste guys! The longer we take the more likely it’s going to get stolen!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

Author's Note

Just so you know, that this is the future, and it has nothing to do with our current military and/or true facts. This is strictly fiction and made up, if you haven't noticed by now.

Chapter 56

Act 5-6
When the Grim Reaper Knocks

Andrew strolled silently down the path near the Everfree Forest. The time was a little past Midnight, and Andrew seemed to be normal, as he was dressed in his usual patrolling attire. He had his nightstick by his side, and his heavy duty flashlight lighted up the darkness anywhere he pointed it. He was whistling to a particular tune and looked forward to ending his shift soon, as there wasn’t anything bad to report.

The booming of thunder immediately took hold on the situation, causing Andrew to jump at the sudden noise. He looked to the sky and saw multiple storm clouds taking hold, he just remembered that the Everfree Forest had its own weather, exactly like back home on Earth. Rain started to fall, and Andrew felt the light patter of rain making contact with his hair, he didn’t care, rain sometimes to him was somewhat soothing, washing away to make a clean slate.

He recalled telling that story to Rainbow, and how sad she felt for him afterwards, but she was the one who wanted to hear it in the first place. Andrew didn’t care for Carmine anymore, not that it mattered anyways, she’s nothing but a mental image inside of his head, that is also trying to kill him along with the rest of his family. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.

Andrew still couldn’t help but wonder what had become of the rest of his team, and if anything, they should’ve been back by now, as it was nearing the end of the week. Either Night Shade was holding out on something he should’ve known about, or that they’re running late for their visit.

He liked the time off he was given, and wished for it to be longer than just a week. Besides, this place wasn’t anything like it like it was back home on Earth. Here, it was actually peaceful for a time, before the private military took over Dodge City.

As he continued down the beaten path, he heard something shuffle between the bushes. He shined the flashlight into that general direction, but couldn’t see anything. He wish he could’ve just shrugged it off and moved on, but his curiosity got the better of him. So he did what he does best: explore.

“Hello? Anyone there?” He called out, shining the flashlight back and forth into the woods.

He continued deeper into the forest, the sound of leaves crunching under his feet was the only sound he could hear. Except that he was not stepping on any leaves, because he was in the middle of a large clearing. The sound of crunching leaves drew nearer as Andrew tried to get out of the way.

“I know you’re out there! Come out!” Andrew held the nightstick like a tonfa, hoping to at least defend himself against an attack. He couldn’t help but to feel that it was not someone, but something.

He heard a vicious growl come from behind him, and yet another coming in front of him. There was no doubt that he was being hunted, and only being armed with a nightstick and handcuffs, only added to his disadvantage.

He pointed the flashlight forward, and saw that there was a pack of animals with glowing, lifeless eyes. He couldn’t recall ever facing an animal like this, yet he couldn’t help but feel that he somehow knows what they are. Then he remembered something; he did a little studying about the Everfree Forest during training in Canterlot, with it being the most wild and untamed part of Equestria.

“Timberwolves, interesting.” He chuckled, but instantly stopped when he remembered the hostility of the situation.

Andrew didn’t have much of a choice at this point. He was to either fight or flight, and considering that it’s late at night, and he wasn’t armed well, he would flight. He needed a distraction, so he searched his person for anything useful.

“Flashbangs! I forgot I had these!” Andrew said thankfully, taking one off of his belt. He couldn’t believe he’d completely forgotten about his Flashbangs, and he also noticed the coincidence of happening to have them on his person at this specific timing.

He pulled the pins, and threw it at the largest group, turning around as quickly as he could to avoid the blast effects. Once it detonated, the Timberwolves all cowered in the sheer bright white light, Andrew took this time to flee.

He looked back to see if he was still being followed, and for his sake, he wasn’t. Though, he didn’t take into account of the ledge in front of him, and tripped over a root of a tree in front of him. He tumbled down the side of the ledge, rolling violently down the slope. Andrew coughed as the dust filled the air, he found himself laying down on his back at the bottom of the hill.

As the dust cleared, Andrew saw that he was in immense pain, he couldn’t see anything, and everything was dark, he searched for his flashlight, but couldn’t feel it anywhere.

“Agh, fuck!” He loudly said, trying to get up. He was clearly in pain, and he still couldn’t help but feel something was off.

He rested his hand down on his abdomen, and felt something warm and wet. He felt for his flashlight one more time, and turned it on, aiming the beam of light towards his stomach. Fresh blood stained his clothes, and a wooden stick protruded from the center of the stain. The mud from the rain earlier didn’t help either, as his wound could easily become infected if not treated properly.

“Okay Andrew, stay calm.” He said to himself, slowly easing himself off of the stick.

Andrew started to sweat and grunt heavier once he got off of the stick he was impaled onto. The stab wound started to throb, and Andrew felt more blood coming out than it did before. He put his hand over the wound to put pressure on it, hoping for it to stop bleeding. Surprisingly, he felt no pain, no pain whatsoever, and he started to pant heavier knowing that something wasn’t right.

“Warning: traumatic shock imminent.” The AI in Andrew’s RIG announced, causing him to freak out.

“I’m gonna go unconscious soon, not good. Computer, use a small medpack.” He ordered.

“Applying small medpack...” Andrew heard the bar on his back go up slightly, but he knew that it wouldn’t last too long.

He grabbed his side and continued to walk forward slowly. Sometimes he had forgotten about the RIG he installed into his back, though he doesn’t know how because it’s a giant holographic bar right on his spine. It had its advantages at times, but it lowered his stealth capabilities, unless he turned it off, in which he doesn’t know how to.

He felt blood drip down onto the ground, and his locator was busted so he had no sense of direction. All he had was a flashlight and one more small medpack, which wasn’t going to last long on him, even if he did use it sparingly.

A few minutes into the trip, Andrew found a hollowed out base of a tree, he took this opportunity to take at least some shelter against what was out there. He inched his way inside, and found himself inside of a small grotto. He then slumped himself against the wall, and let out a sigh of grief.

“What have I gotten myself into?” He croaked, trying to wrap bandages around himself.

“I guess I should thank Twilight for making us carry first aid kits.” Andrew chuckled, coughing up blood in the process.

He heard a distant noise coming from outside of his little grotto, in his current state he was in no shape to continue exploring, as he was woozy from the blood loss already. Luckily Hops was nice enough to give him a bottle of Moonshine for the road, as it could save his life right here and now.

He gritted his teeth as he poured the clear liquid on his wound, grunting through the sting of alcohol cleansing his wound.

“Luckily this isn’t beer, or else I’d be dead by now.” The pain had subsided for the most part, and the wound was completely numb by now, at least the puncture was clean from the alcohol, all he needed now was to find Turmeric to prevent infection, though it wasn’t likely since he didn’t know what Turmeric looked like.

By now Andrew was losing consciousness, and if he didn’t find medical help soon, he would be dead. That was just the worst case scenario, because if his senses had yet to fail, he could hear a voice calling out for him. Though this wouldn’t last for long, and his vision started to fail.

“Is somepony there? T-There’s so much blood.” Andrew heard a voice call out, though it wasn’t anyone he could make out.

Even if he tried he couldn’t make anything out, as his vision started to worsen, and everything seemed to slow down for him. With his last bit of strength he crawled out of the grotto, leaving the half empty bottle of Moonshine behind. He collapsed, still holding onto his puncture wound, the last thing he felt was the warm blood oozing out of him.

“O-Oh my, you don’t look good.”

Twilight woke up early to perform her morning routine: take a shower, brush her teeth, and help Spike organize anything and everything. She had a gleeful expression as she performed these tasks as she didn’t have a care in the world.

The clock just hit 8AM and there was somepony already at the door, which was quite peculiar considering that she’s never gotten visits right when the library opened. She took the last few bites of her breakfast toast and she rushed on over to the door.

“Rainbow? What are you doing here this early? Especially on a Saturday?”

“Twilight, I think something’s happened to Andrew, he didn’t come back last night after he left the bar.”

“Can you tell me where he was headed?”

“He told us that he was going to patrol the Everfree Border, and he left right around midnight.”

“Why would he do that at night? Everypony in town knows that it’s not safe at night!”

“He said that’s exactly why he should do it at night!”

“He’s such an idiot, we have to find him quickly.” Twilight grabbed for her saddlebags and rushed out the door, catching Rainbow off guard.

“We have to find him, and fast! With heat season right around the corner, it’s best if he is able to at least run away if somepony catches him.” She said sarcastically, blushing a little bit on the matter.

Rainbow seemed flustered, almost offended Twilight would actually say that. She kept quiet though, as Twilight was about to speak again, “y’know, I wouldn’t be surprised if he agreed to do it with you, after all you’re his ‘girlfriend’ or so they call it.”

“W-What? Twilight, don’t tell me it’s already getting to your head!” Twilight shook her head in disbelief, returning back to her normal self, she continued down the path to the Everfree Forest.

“Right, sorry, the influence is stronger this year.” She said carefully.

“Hey look! Footprints!” Rainbow tripped over them, considering that it rained a little bit last night and there’s a size fifteen bootprint stuck in the ground.

“There’s no other person I know with feet that big.” Rainbow laughed, Twilight pulled out her magnifying glass to inspect it further, following them into the forest itself.

“It seems like he was attacked by Timberwolves here. See the pawprints?”

“What is this? It smells horrible!” Rainbow picked up a small hand-sized metal case, which seemed to have been set on fire, due to the fact that it was still smoking.

“I think that’s one of Andrew’s bombs, I forgot what he called them.” Twilight explained, examining the spent flashbang casing closer.

“He only uses these when he’s in trouble, that’s not a good sign...” She pondered, causing Rainbow to worry a little bit more than she already has been.

Twilight followed the footprints down to the slope, where the footprints got replaced with erratic imprints in the dried up mud, not to mention the debris that was scattered everywhere.

“It looks like he fell down there, c’mon!” Twilight slid down the slope in a careful manner, while Rainbow used her wings and easily hovered down to the base of the hill.

“Ouch, do you think this is Andrew’s?” Rainbow noticed the tree branch was covered in blood, along with a dried up pool underneath, the smell of Iron lingered in the air.

“No doubt about it, he could be in big trouble being out here for this long. We have to hurry, he went this way.” Twilight and Rainbow continued to track their missing human companion, only to find a small hollowed out area at the base of a tree.

“Why does it smell like alcohol?” Rainbow covered her muzzle, Twilight peeped into the small grotto and pulled out a small bottle.

“It belongs to Hops, it’s Moonshine.” Twilight explained, causing Rainbow to snatch the bottle from her magical grip.

“Hops gave this to Andrew last night! Where could he be though?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow, the trail ends here. There’s no tracks or anything, the rain washed it away.”

Chapter 57

Act 5-7
That Time of the Year

Eventually, Helena and the rest of Echo made it back to Canterlot without a hitch, along with valuable, almost priceless information on the enemy. What she had found was astonishing nonetheless, and perhaps a key to winning this war. The trip back was rather anticlimactic; managing to score a ride from a connection on the inside and making it out of the occupied Dodge City unharmed and in complete silence.

“Alright people, what you’ve found was rather shocking to say the least. It seems that they’re ready to attempt a large scale invasion on Canterlot in a few days, and they’re importing what looks to be Griffin Ex-Special Forces to do the job. I honestly don’t know how Black Talon could possibly get the means to do it, but he did, and we need to stop him dead in his tracks, or Canterlot will fall.”

Helena, Nick, and Jhon tensed up hearing the news, almost in complete shock. If something were to happen because of them, they wouldn’t be able to live knowing that. In fact, this whole war probably revolved around the four humans entering Equestria in the first place.

“Night Shade, if I may?” Nick raised his hand to speak.

“Indeed,” he responded sternly. NIck gulped down his fear and hoped for the best.

“If we get Andrew back into the fight, we may be able to take out Black Talon and be done with it. That is, if his army is only in it for the money, it could fall apart instantly.”

“You can bet your ass they are, most of the info you’ve gathered contains paychecks. As silly as that sounds, I think you’re right,” Night Shade admitted, letting out a small chuckle.

“Then it’s settled, we’ll go back to Ponyville and get Andrew. We’ll see you then Night Shade!” Helena, Jhon, and Nick rushed out the door, leaving a wake of dust in their place.

Bewildered, Night Shade gathered his things and stood up out of his chair. He slowly headed for the exit, managing to smile the whole time. He walked out and locked the door behind him, ensuring that no one else would come into his office.

“So that’s what happened to you, poor dear.”

“It’s fine, really. I just need to stop doing reckless things.”

“Agreed, you should at least wait a couple of weeks to heal before you do anything else. You could always stay with me if you like, if that’s okay with you?”

“I think I’ll manage, thanks again Fluttershy.” Andrew smiled, causing Fluttershy to hide behind her mane once again for the millionth time.

Just before Andrew got up, a profuse knocking on the door could be heard. He waved Fluttershy down to let her know that he would get it, though he shouldn’t really be moving in his condition.

Andrew opened the door to find Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be troubled by something. Before Andrew had a chance to speak she barged right on in and started to rant.

“Fluttershy! Andrew went out into the Everfree Forest the other night and hasn’t come back since! Have you-” Andrew looked at Pinkie expectantly, which caused her to stop mid-sentence. She happily bounced up and down, and Andrew smiled as he rubbed her puffy cotton candy-like mane.

“You’re alive! I knew it! What happened? Are you alright?”

“Whoa Pinkie, one question at a time here.” Andrew slowed her down. Pinkie took in a deep breath before speaking once more.

“What happened to you?” Pinkie blurted out, Andrew kneeled down to her eye-level, pulling up his shirt to reveal several bandages wrapped around his abdomen.

“Well I ran into a pack of Timberwolves, why they were so close to the border beats me. I managed to get myself impaled on a tree branch when I fell down a slope running away from them. Fluttershy here found me and patched me up.” Andrew looked back at Fluttershy, who seemed oblivious at the time because she was feeding her other animals.

“Why didn’t you fight them?”

“Because Pinkie, a pack of Timberwolves versus little ol’ me wouldn’t end well. I wasn’t packing anything else but a nightstick and flashbangs.”

“What do you mean by, ‘packing anything?’ ” Pinkie asked, which caused Andrew to facepalm.

“Do I need to spell it out for you?” Pinkie nodded her head.

“I didn’t have a gun with me, so I ran,” he admitted. Pinkie nodded, she understood quite well.

“Hey! I need to show you to the others! They’re worried sick about you!” Pinkie grabbed Andrew by the wrist and started to pull him towards the door, Andrew had no choice but to follow.

Pinkie was like her usual self, hyped up on some sort of drug or something like that. Andrew, even with his perfect condition, could barely keep his legs from tripping over themselves. Eventually Andrew gave up, dragging his legs along the ground while Pinkie pulled him towards town.

“I think they’ll be here any minute now, but in the meantime, I need to know something from you.” She looked suspiciously back at Andrew, who seemed to be in a daze from being dragged here and being bumped into many things.

“W-What?” Andrew asked in return, Pinkie grabbed her fake cigar and fedora.

“Are you a virgin?” Andrew’s brain needed some time to catch up, he was dumbfounded that Pinkie would ever say that. He had a dull expression as he regained his conscience, shaking his head to snap out of the trance.

“Uh, I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.” Andrew slowly started to back away from Pinkie, who seemed to be in some sort of funk. He couldn’t distinguish why she would say such a thing, let alone hit on him, even if it was considered flirting.

“Pinkie, I’m with Rainbow, remember?”

“Oh, I know that, I think we’re good enough friends that we can share,” she said seductively. This drew the line for Andrew.

“I think I’ll be going now...” He pointed back to the police station, not wanting to go further into the conversation. Pinkie just sat there still staring at him, he slowly started to back away from the deranged mare, and eventually shifted into a full run.

“I need to know what’s going on-” Andrew slammed the door to the police station behind him. “-something isn’t right, Fluttershy was acting the same way.”

The phone on his desk started to ring. He looked at the caller ID and saw that Helena was on the other side. He picked it up and greeted her with optimism.

“Hi Helena, how’s it been?”

“We’ve been good, how’re you?”

“Oh, y’know, the usual, running away from crazy ponies.”

“Crazy ponies? What do you mean?”

“Okay, let me tell you.” Andrew explained what had happened the last few days, including being impaled onto a tree branch and the encounter with Pinkie. He didn’t leave any detail out of the story, because if he knew Helena correctly, she wouldn’t be happy to know that she’d been lied to.

“Wait a minute, what season is it?”

“Like the time of the year? It’s spring isn’t it?”

“That’s probably why.”

“Wha...?” Andrew seemed at a loss for words, he clearly didn’t understand what was going on.

“I’ve read up on ponies shortly after we came to Ponyville, it says that in the early spring they go into heat.” Of course, Andrew knew what that meant for him, and it also explains why the girls around town are all acting so strange.

“Look, pack your things, we’re coming to Ponyville in an hour. Look, Night Shade needs you for a covert op, and we don’t have time for bullshit.”

“As long as I don’t have to be sexually harassed by a bunch of sex crazed ponies, I’m all in.”

“The problem is that it shouldn’t affect you, you’re a completely different species. It’s probably because Pinkie’s just weird like that.”

“I dunno Helena, most of them were looking at me in a weird way. I don’t like the sound of things right about now.”

“Well you’re in luck, like I said before, we’re going to Canterlot to plan out our next move.”

“I can’t do anything, I’m still recovering.”

“Stop whining ya big baby, I’m sure Night Shade will fix you up in a jiffy.”

“Alright, let me gather my things, I’ll meet you at the train station.”

“Bye.”

Andrew hung up the phone and started to chuckle; he wasn’t sure to either be afraid or be flattered, though in his mind he was feeling more of the former than the latter. The afternoon cicadas started to chirp and rattle, and the White-Winged Doves started to make their bird calls.

Headed downstairs, he grabbed most of his equipment along the way, getting rid of the bloody patrol uniform by tossing it into the trash. He didn’t know whether to bring his backpack, because he was going to Canterlot, and they obviously had more equipment compared to this storeroom. So, instead he brought his Desert Eagle and his ACR to the table, making sure that they were greased and cleaned properly. He then slung his ACR over his back and put the Desert Eagle into its holster.

“That’ll do.” Andrew looked at his tacpad, seeing that he received a few texts while he was busy. One was from Helena, saying that they were already nearing Ponyville, and the other one was from Nick, saying that there were already here.

A ring came from his tacpad. Knowing that it was probably one of his teammates, he picked it up without hesitation.

“What?”

“We’re here, come on.”

“Aight, give me a second, I’m making my way over there now.” Andrew emerged from the basement and ended up back in the main lobby, what he saw what unexpected to say the least.

“Uh, hey Rainbow. Whatcha doin’ here?”

“Pinkie told me that you were alive, I came over to check if she was yanking my chain or not,” she sobbed, from what Andrew could tell she was about to break down into a crying heap.

“I’m fine, everything’s fine Rainbow.” Rainbow hugged Andrew so tight that he could feel his eyeballs coming out of their sockets.

“We thought you were dead...”

“It’s okay, I’m here, I’m not leaving you, not to a pack of Timberwolves.” He comforted, stroking her rugged mane through his fingers. He returned the embrace and almost started to cry himself, though he was in a rush to meet up with his human friends.

“Why do you have your gear on?”

“The same reason I could ask why Pinkie tried to seduce me,” he said.

Rainbow had a blush on her face as she stared at Andrew with confusion, she looked around suspiciously, as if she didn’t want anyone else in on the conversation.

“There’s this cycle we call, ‘Heat Season,’ Pinkie must’ve been hit early. Now can you answer my question?”

“I’m going out to Canterlot to prepare for a fight. I don't know what exactly is going on, but I guess it's something to end the war once and for all.” He came out clean, Rainbow’s head slumped and she was now looking at the ground.

“Good luck.” She pecked him on the cheek, Andrew smiled as he opened the door to the outside, letting Rainbow through first.

“Hey, I’ll see you when I get back.”

“How long will you be gone this time?” Rainbow called out. Andrew looked back and paused for a moment, he seemed to be thinking.

“I don’t know, but I promise I’ll come back after your ‘Heat Season’ ends. Might take us a month or two, maybe even three, tops.”

Author's Note

I would like to thank flint_sparksmane for editing this chapter, and for being my new editor.

Chapter 58

Act 5-8
Reclaiming the Ways of the Past

Two Weeks Later...

“Do you feel better knowing that you’re in tip-top shape now?” Helena put her hands on her hips, as if she was scolding Andrew.

“Yeah, luckily Night Shade knows healing magic, or else I wouldn’t be able to move right now.” Andrew for once felt happy, he didn’t have anything to worry about, and everything to him was just another day in the field.

“That’s good to know, meet me in my office.” Andrew looked as Night Shade passed by the training grounds, hearing a voice go through his head again.

“Hey uh, I have to go, duty calls.” Andrew pointed towards the barracks with his thumb, making his way to the shower room first.

He undressed himself as he shed his training uniform, tossing it into the laundry basket to be washed with the other clothes. He opened his locker door, revealing a small mirror; he could see that he needed to shave eventually, the stubble on his face was starting to turn into a beard. He could care less as he looked for his uniform, it wasn’t hard to find as it was the only thing on a hanger inside of his locker.

His normal uniform wasn’t anything to be drooling over, it was a normal dark navy blue patrolling uniform, he couldn’t tell how many he had even if he tried. His spiky black hair fell over his eyes, and he was silent while he put on the uniform.

“You must be Lieutenant Colonel Andrew, it’s a honor to meet a legend!” Andrew finished buttoning his shirt and turned around, seeing a group of four right in his personal space, four sets of eyes were staring right at him.

“Heheh, sorry kiddo, that’s far from the truth,” he responded.

“B-But, you and your team are famous! Practically everypony in Equestria know who you guys are!” Another tried to back the first one’s claims, only to be shot down by Andrew once more.

“What? Will you leave me alone if I give you my autograph or some shit?” All four of them nodded, causing Andrew to sigh in grief as he brought out a Sharpie marker.

“You wanted to see me?” Andrew opened the door, Night Shade welcomed him and offered him a seat.

“It seems like you’re quite popular, Andrew.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s not just me.”

“I don’t think you get the point.” Night Shade was being as vague as Celestia herself, all things aside it wasn’t normal for Night Shade to be vague, usually he was straight forward and to the point.

“What do you need me for?” Andrew started to get restless, as he was exhausted from training, feeling as if he was weighed down by a thousand Elephants.

“I’ve received a letter from Black Talon, he says he wants to meet you.”

“I’m not liking the looks of things...”

“Neither am I, but if it’s gonna stop the war anyone’s expendable.” Night Shade explained to him, Andrew on the other hand wasn’t buying it.

“It says here that he wants to meet you and your team, alone.” Night Shade said sternly.

“What’s your take on the matter?”

“Well, I would go ahead and stakeout the area, but I know Black Talon’s smarter than that. He’s also a man of honor, probably wanting to settle it with a traditional sword fight.”

“That’s too easy, Night Shade. High priority targets don’t just give themselves up like that.” Andrew shrugged. Night Shade couldn’t help but to agree with Andrew’s claims, Black Talon wouldn’t just give himself up like that.

“I know, and that’s what worries me.”

“He’s probably going to use himself as bait, if we have your Special Forces Unit back us up, we might be able to wrap this up by the end of the month.”

“I’m not sure that’s the smartest idea, Andrew. I mean, you do have that sword that you almost never use, but, it’s too risky.” Andrew remembered that Night Shade had a sword, technically speaking it was under his ownership now, but it was Night Shade’s sword to begin with.

“We all need to take risks, don’t we?” Andrew seemed like he wanted to do this, despite the fact that he knew it was an obvious trap.

“Give me a week to plan this out, then I’ll let you know.”

“So... should we reply to this guy or something?”

“There’s no return address, it only says to go to the town of Nightingale by May 1st.”

“’Nightingale?’”

“A small town in the Griffin Kingdom, I can take you there, it’s not that far from the border.” Andrew nodded silently, waiting for Night Shade to continue talking.

“Look, this isn’t some regular op, I can tell from that right away.”

“Well what do you suggest then?”

“We’re going by the means of ground travel, so you’re gonna have to travel light, so you and your team aren’t going to be able to wear most of your body armor.”

“What about our weapons?”

“If what I’m assuming is correct, you can bring anything. It won’t be a surprise for a nobleman to fight dirty.” Night Shade became more and more fixed into the conversation, Andrew was on the verge of passing out due to the massive amount of information being crammed into his head.

“Would you advise that I bring my sword?”

“That would be most helpful, yes.”

“When will we be heading out?”

“I’ll let you know by tomorrow morning, for now, you deserve some R&R.”

“Yes sir.”

Andrew wandered around the castle for some time after being dismissed by Night Shade, his superior officer. Andrew thought that Night Shade was very laid back for a Commander of the Army, let alone being the adopted brother of Celestia and Luna.

In his thoughts, he could see Night Shade meeting Starswirl or whoever Twilight keeps pestering him about, he was certainly old enough to do so. If his assumptions were correct, Night Shade has to be at least Celestia’s age, if not younger. Celestia herself was around 6,000 years old, and by ruling that out Luna had to be about 4,000. He couldn’t possibly know how old they were to be certain, but they had their fair share of years alive.

“I guess I’m going to be using a sword again, I’d never thought I would touch that thing anymore,” he mumbled to himself, deep within his train of thought.

“You should be grateful, that was Night Shade’s finest work back in the day.” Andrew turned to his right, seeing that Luna was walking right next to him.

“The Sword of Light, believed to be the very sword that driven out the Darkness from our land. I’m guessing he was a Legend of Zelda fanboy, the thing looks exactly like the Master Sword.”

“You know about video games your highness?” Andrew truly was shocked. If anything, the tech here wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is back on Earth.

“Oh, I’ve had my fair share of gaming alright,” she boasted, Andrew let out a small chuckle.

“I see, well now I know where that design is from, still I have to admit, it looks cool as Hell.”

“Indeed it does, not only that it’s one of the strongest swords ever made, it’s been enchanted to never lose its sharp edge,” she said happily.

“I think it’s about time for dinner, don’t you say? It’s almost time for me to raise the Moon.” Andrew shook his head and let out a sigh.

“I still can’t believe you and your sister control the sun and moon respectively, it’s quite magnificent when you see it up close.” Andrew put his hand on Luna’s neck, stroking her mane.

“Oh! Uh... What are you doing?” Luna asked innocently, Andrew immediately took his hand away and hid it behind his back.

“I-I’m sorry your highness! I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s alright, you just caught me off guard for a moment.” Luna’s face was flustered red. Oblivious to this, Andrew smiled at her like nothing was wrong, and continued towards the dining hall.

“So I hear you’re in a relationship with one of the Elements, Rainbow Dash?” Luna brought up, causing Andrew to turn bright red.

“Yes ma’am, we’ve been doing stuff for about six or seven months now.”

“I’m surprised an inter-species relationship like yours has survived for this long.”

“Is that an insult?”

“Far from one, Colonel, in fact a compliment. Most inter-species relationships either work or they don’t, most of the time they don’t, let alone a species from an entirely new dimension.” Luna giggled, as a response Andrew started to pout.

“Anyways, that aside, we need to get going, or our food will get cold!”

Andrew opened the large gate to the dining hall, and surprisingly the gate weighed almost nothing to him. In fact, he almost tripped upon entering the room, managing to catch his balance after stumbling forward a couple feet.

“Some door you have there your highness.”

“What? Would you expect giant doors to be heavy?” Princess Celestia teased.

“Well yeah, they can’t be that light for a door that size,” he complained, both sisters giggled at his mistake.

“I see you’ve found your way to the dining hall okay.” Andrew looked to the left, and saw Helena, Nick, and Jhon sitting side by side.

“When did you guys get here?”

“About fifteen minutes ago, we sent Luna here to come and retrieve you.” Nick crossed his arms, slumping back into his chair.

“I have to apologize, but I’m not hungry.” Andrew admitted, everyone, including Princess Celestia, seemed surprised.

“Don’t you always eat around this time?” She asked, Andrew shook his head.

“I’m going to need some time alone, to put it in a way you would understand, I have some, ‘reflecting’ to do.” He turned around and walked back the way he came, going straight towards the entrance to the castle.

“Why is it that Andrew keeps doing this to us?” Luna pouted, the others looked at each other in concern.

“He has a lot on his mind, for a Twenty-Six year old I’m surprised he hasn’t lost it yet. It isn’t a surprise, he’s gone through it all.” Jhon took a sip of his tea, mumbling a few extra words between himself and Helena.

“Alright then, I guess we can go talk to him when we’re done eating.” Night Shade said, being able to hear his own stomach growling.

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll be back by tomorrow morning.”

Chapter 59

Act 5 End
Compromise

“You really sure you want to do this? Even though it very well may be a trap?”

“Yeah, I think we can manage going by ourselves, we’ve been out in the field much longer than three months. We’ve been out in the field for three years before, coming back without any scratches! Besides, if anything, we’re going to bring this war to an end!” Andrew said confidently, pumping his arm in the air.

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.” Night Shade deadpanned.

“Really? I couldn’t tell.” Andrew retorted,

“Those traveling cloaks suit you guys rather well.” Celestia stated calmly, the whole crew started to get flustered at her remark.

“You went through the trouble for having it made for us, so why wouldn’t we wear it?” Helena asked, putting her hands on her hips confidently.

The traveling cloaks were gray in coloration, consisting of a very resistant fabric. The cloak had no sleeves as a cloak shouldn’t, and it covered their entire torso, going down to where their legs started. The cloak also contained a hood, a completely simple, yet useful for travelling in cold or wet weather. There was nothing about it out of the ordinary, its intended purpose was just to be another layer of clothing for the long trip ahead.

“Well, I guess we’re off,” Andrew announced as he started his walking.

“The town isn’t far from the border, so it shouldn’t take you more than a few days on foot. Oh wait, do you all have your passports?” Celestia asked, Andrew and his squad all started to dig through their pockets, pulling out a small passport, as well as managing to do it in unison.

“I bid thee farewell and a safe travel!” Luna waved happily at the group of travelers

“Don’t work yourselves too hard! We’ll be back soon!” Andrew called back to them, already well on his way towards the train station.

“Andrew! Three months isn’t soon!”

“Oh well! Anyways, where do we go from here?”

“Go to the train station! Tell them I sent you!” Andrew lifted his backpack over one shoulder, waving back to Night Shade and the others once more, he and his small band of friends headed towards the train station.

Night of the First Day

Helena sat around the fire, sipping a cup of tea she brewed just recently. Along with Nick, Jhon, and Andrew, they all started eating their small dinner rations. No one brought up any conversations during their time eating, until Jhon unsheathed his katana, and examined it closely.

“What are you doing, Jhon?” Andrew spoke up, taking a few gulps of water from his canteen.

“If my assumptions are correct, I think this sword may be enchanted.” Jhon looked down the edge of the blade, seeing the reflection of the light from the fire hit his eyes.

“Ah, but what type of enchantment?” Nick nudged Jhon’s arm, he reacted by grabbing Nick’s wrist, and putting it back into his own lap.

“I have yet to find out, but the time will come to show its true purpose.”

Andrew took out his own sword for examination, and as expected, the enchantment still held true to its original intent. The blade itself emitted a small glow, Andrew could even barely see the magical aura from the enchantment. He stabbed the ground firmly with his sword, making it suitable for a spot to lean on.

“I don’t know about you guys, but we have a lot of ground to cover. I’m gonna go to bed, see you guys in the morning.” Helena admitted, getting up from her seat. From there she went into her tent, zipping the entrance shut behind her.

After Helena left for bed, the remaining three stayed by the fire, telling stories from the past, making jokes about them, laughing at them, and remembering the olden days.

“Hey Andrew, what was your school life like?” Nick took a swig of water from his canteen, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his uniform.

“I guess you could say it was alright; I went to an American elementary school, and the same goes for middle school, but for high school... high school was different.” He shivered.

“Why? What happened?”

“Well, one thing is that my parents died during my second year. It hurt my grades and my social life quite a bit. I had to move under foster care for three years until I turned 18, where I inherited my parents’ money. I remember that those high school days were like Hell to me, until I went into boot camp however.”

“Hey, come on! There’s no need to be down! It’s all in the past!” Nick smiled at Andrew, now averting his gaze towards Jhon.

“Jhon, what was your life like?” As soon as Nick brought that up, Jhon tensed up for a moment.

“I was born in Japan, as cliche as this sounds I was trained at an early age in a dojo. Training in the martial arts I had no time for my family or school, so I did what anyone else would do; move to America. From there everything fell into place, and I met you guys.” Jhon swung his katana back and forth, cutting the air with every swing.

“Hey, what do you guys think it’ll be like when we finally meet Black Talon?” Andrew asked, leaning back with his palms digging into the dry earth.

“I dunno, if he’s all bark and no bite; we may be able to even take him into custody. From what I can tell, he’s arrogant, challenging us to a fight.”

“I’m right there with you Jhon, but what if something goes wrong?”

“Then I’m sure we’ll be able to pull out, we always get into things like this. It’s almost like a negotiation of sorts; we beat him he pays for what he’s done to this beautiful nation. Like that saying goes, ‘an eye for an eye.’” Andrew unstrapped his sword from his waist, holding it with his hand.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed, it’s already close to midnight.”

“Yeah, g’night everyone.” Andrew repeated the same actions as Helena did before, cuddling himself in the warm blanket, and placing his sword right next to him so he could find it when he woke up.

Afternoon of the Second Day

Helena looked to the sky, seeing that it was only a little past noon. They had already stopped by a small town for lunch, and left as soon as possible to not cause any panic to the rural villagers. She used her little time in the village to get supplies, though from what she gathered, it would last about a day or two if she rationed it.

“Hey Andrew, Night Shade said that that sword could never break, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what he said.” Andrew sighed.

“Can it cut through rock?”

“Hmm, let me see.” Andrew targeted a small boulder at the side of the road, and in one fluid, fast movement, the boulder was cut into tiny clean pieces. This happened so fast, that they didn’t even see Andrew get the sword out of its sheathe before it went back in.

“That’s badass right there.” Nick laughed, pointing towards the mutilated rock.

“Hey, since we’re almost there, how about we get some training in tonight?” Andrew suggested, putting his hands behind his head.

“Training as in how?”

“We have to cut through a portion of a forest to get to where we need to be, I reckon there’s gonna be some baddies in there.”

“What? You expect it to be like one of those dungeons in an RPG?”

“Maybe, Equestria’s one of those places to expect the unexpected, it could happen.”

Andrew put down his backpack to gather extra supplies for himself. He had very few bandages left, not to mention the scarcity of water left in his canteen. He checked the time on his tacpad; nighttime wouldn’t be here for another five hours.

“Helena, are you getting that feeling too?” Jhon looked around observantly, closing his eyes to further enhance his hearing.

“Yeah, we’re being followed.” Helena got into a defensive stance and readied her sidearm, Jhon immediately grabbed for his sword.

“Come out! We know you’re there!” Helena ordered.

As if expected, four ponies came out of the bushes, all dressed up in uniform and carrying a small array of weaponry. Helena aimed her P226 at the assumed leader of the group, and started to bark commands.

“Who are you? What do you want?” She asked, flicking off the safety of her gun.

“We’re members of a guild, known as the Dust Demons. A client wants you all to die.” The leader explained, drawing his curved dagger.

“Whatever they’re paying, we’ll pay double if you let us through.” Nick suggested, the leader started to contemplate over the offer.

“Fine, I want 100,000 bits, non-negotiable.” Andrew untied a small sack from his backpack, and threw it to the ground before the leader. The leader opened it and stashed it into his saddlebag.

“Listen to this very carefully; the next time we cross paths, it might not end up this peacefully.” The leader and the other three all of a sudden phased out of the area, leaving a small trail of smoke in their place.

Later that Night

As the four sat there, bewildered, they all wanted to make sure that nobody else was following them. As they continued down the beaten path, they managed to stop by a small stream.

“Alrighty then, now we know someone is after us. Do any of you guys know someone who might have a grudge against us?” Andrew asked, flinging his fishing pole into the water.

“Not that I know of, I don’t think the Dust Demons are Equestrian in origin either, maybe... the Griffin Kingdom?”

“Yeah, from what I could tell, the Griffin Kingdom looks like it came straight out of fantasyland. There’s always that chance that guilds do exist over there.” Helena claimed, the others nodded in agreement.

“Hey, I think I got something.” Andrew felt a strong yank from the rod he was holding, and as a response he pulled back on the stick with all his might.

Andrew couldn’t believe the fact that he was being dragged into the stream, so he planted his heels into the cold stones and held onto the fishing line as tightly as he could. Yet still he was being dragged into the stream, causing the others to worry.

“Hold on!” Nick grabbed onto Andrew, and started to pull.

Andrew forcefully tugged on the fishing rod with all of his strength, hauling a giant fish out of the water. He didn’t exactly know what type of fish it was, but it looked like it was longer than his height.

“Wow, I didn’t know fish could get that big.” Helena stared wide eyed at the giant fish, poking it with a stick she found lying on the ground.

“This isn’t Earth, Helena. Well, at least we have dinner.” Nick shrugged it off, plunging a knife through the fish’s skull, killing it instantly.

“I can make fish stew with the leftover herbs and spices we got from town.” Jhon pointed out.

“Well guys, we’ll be arriving in Nightingale tomorrow. What do you think we’ll find there?”

“The ghetto.” As soon as Nick blurted it out, everyone but Andrew started to laugh. No matter how much he wanted to, he had to keep a straight face for the sake of the situation at hand.

“Aw c’mon Nick! I’m trying to set up a dramatic moment here!” Andrew whined.

“We’ll find out when we get there.”

Author's Note

I've decided that I'm not going to be doing a sequel, I've been doing this for too long and I don't really have a need to keep going. I think I'm gonna go to Chapter 70 and stop there.

Chapter 60

Act 6 Start
Arrival

“Look guys! I’m pretty sure that’s Nightingale,” Jhon pointed out, seeing a small town in the horizon.

The sun was setting for the third time since the four left on their journey, from then they encountered hitmen, apparently seeking out for their blood from an unknown client. As Andrew looked at the town, he could see the beauty of the sun setting behind it, the shading was absolutely perfect, enough to paint a picture.

“It looks just like you imagined, Helena. It almost looks like it’s straight out of a JRPG.” As night time set in, the light started to flicker on one by one, illuminating the town from the dark.

“Alright guys, double time it.” Andrew’s legs started to work in overdrive, managing to keep a jogging pace. His backpack started to rock back and forth as he continued to run, making it difficult to keep his balance.

His other teammates did the same, keeping pace with Andrew, who was at the front of the party. Nightingale wasn’t far from where they were, in fact it was a lot closer than it seemed at first glance.

“Do I hear music?” Nick listened around to try and find the source, setting his sights on an old timey tavern full of Griffins and ponies alike.

“Hey look, it’s an inn. We should stay there for tonight.”

“Do we have enough money to stay there?” Helena asked skeptically.

“We have about 50,000 bits left, I think we can manage.” Andrew retorted.

The four made their way to the tavern, which also happened to double as an inn. To keep their anonymity, they all decided to put on their hoods in hopes of not drawing attention to themselves.

“Welcome to my tavern and inn! What can I do for ya?” The bartender welcomed them with open arms.

“We’d like a room for four please, four days and three nights.” Andrew said quietly.

“Alrighty then, I think that sums up to 1,500 bits total.” Andrew laid the money on the table, and the barkeeper scooped it up, and replaced it with a key.

“Your room is upstairs, down the hallway, and it’ll be the third door on your left. Anything else I can do for ya?” Andrew sat down at the bar, he took off his backpack and placed it on the counter in front of him.

“Yeah, do you have any ale?”

“You bet yer hindquarters! Nightingale’s got one of the best ales in all of the Griffin Kingdom!” The bartender placed a wooden mug full of ale on the table, Andrew scooped it up in his hand and took a swig.

“Say mister, you and yer friends don’t look like yer from ‘round these parts. Where’d ya come from?”

“We’re from Equestria.” The bartender didn’t really care all that much, as long as the customers had the money, he would be happy.

“To tell ya the truth, some Griffins ‘round here don’t take too kindly to Equestrians. We haven’t been on the best of terms.”

“So I’ve heard,” Andrew took another gulp of his ale, tossing the room key to Helena.

“Hey, why don’t you guys go upstairs and unpack?” Andrew said calmly, swishing the ale inside of his mug.

“I don’t think I got around asking ya, but what are you? You obviously aren’t no pony.”

“You’ve got that right, you don’t need to know either.”

“Since you’ve got those hands, I’d think you’re a Diamond Dog or somethin’, but I know that’s not the case.”

“Right about that too, if you guess what I am I’ll let you know if you’re right.”

“You’re a human.”

“H-How’d you get that so quickly?” His spot on accuracy almost caused Andrew to spit out his ale, but luckily it was so good he had to swallow it down.

“Because you and your friends are not the only humans in this town.” Andrew unhooded himself as he looked at the bartender with a stern face, and the bartender returned the look as he cleaned a mug with a rag.

“Show me.” Andrew hissed quietly, the bartender couldn’t do anything but to accept his request.

“Her name’s Sasha, unlike you she’s a tad younger. Lucky for you I can take you to her, I’m her right-hand pony after all.” The bartender pony opened the gate to let Andrew through, leading him straight to the underground basement.

“What’s your name?”

“The name’s Grindle, yours?”

“Andrew, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Hartfield.”

“Ah, I’ve heard about you.”

“I guess news around here spreads quickly?” Andrew assumed, following Grindle through the tight quarters of his basement full of booze.

“That it does, indeed. I’ve heard about you thwarting our Lord’s invasion of Equestria.”

”Could he be talking about Black Talon? He was the one invading if I’m correct, but I should probably keep quiet.” Andrew decided to change the subject; he wanted to know more about this “Sasha” girl.

“So, who exactly is Sasha?” He went with the direct approach, Grindle was surely the one to talk to since he’s Sasha’s assistant.

“Well, she’s a human like you, and also the Guildmaster of the Shadow Streaks. The girl’s never told us her age, but she’s a living prodigy. If you’re Equestrian Military, I’d be careful around her if I were you.” Grindle threw down a small lever on the side of the wall, revealing a secret cave entrance.

Grindle gestured for Andrew to go first, so he climbed down into the hatch. Andrew pulled a flashlight out of his backpack to use, it flickered for a second before turning on. Grindle couldn’t believe his eyes as Andrew waved it around as if it was a magic wand.

“What? You’ve never seen a flashlight before?”

“I was going to light a torch for us to use, but I guess there’s no point in that anymore. Anyways, it’s this way.”

“So, why are we here?” Andrew struck up a conversation, but decided it to be kept to a minimum.

“Guilds aren’t what they used to be, not since our Lord banned them. The Shadow Streaks and the Dust Demons are the only two factions left in existence, you should consider yourself lucky that you’re getting to see our leader in person.”

“I guess so,” Andrew stopped dead in his tracks, placing his hand against the wall.

“This ‘Sasha,’ person; what’s she like?”

“She’s a rather young lass, to be honest, but she’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before. If anything, I’d say she’s the best swordsman in this town, even matching the Lord in his strength.”

“You keep mentioning that name, who’s ‘the Lord?’”

“Lord Black Talon, the one who brought the curse to Nightingale.” Andrew was truly shocked, he knew he would come across that name when he got into town, but it was far more early than he expected.

“You’re after him, aren’t you?” Andrew went grim for a second, his hair covered over his eyes and he looked down.

“Yeah, we’ve been sent in to deal with him.”

“Why is such a high ranking official after him?”

“We’re not part of the normal Equestrian Army, we’re the United States Delta Force. Anti-terrorism is our specialty.”

“Well at least you two have something in common, you’re both after Lord Black Talon.”

“Good.” Andrew continued walking down the long hallway, eventually coming across an armored door, Grindle took this opportunity to knock on the door.

“Who walks these corridors?”

“Grindle, I have a special guest with me.” The door opened immediately, revealing what seemed to be a normal human household, complete with a kitchen, bedrooms, and a living room.

“Lady Sasha?! Are you here?!”

“Hold on one second!” For some reason, Andrew felt like that voice was familiar, but during his time on Earth, he never actually got to know any girls besides Helena.

“What is it this time Grindle? Did the booze run out again?”

“No, Lady Sasha, we have a visitor for you. He says he’s from across the border.” Lady Sasha looked to the side of Grindle, and what was there standing was a 6’4” adult male standing next to him, along with a gray hooded cloak and a sword strapped to his belt. He had brown hair and blue eyes, he didn’t seem to be that old either.

“No way...” Sasha walked up to him, poking him to make sure he was real. She couldn’t believe her own eyes, it was actually a human being.

“I assume you’re Sasha?” Andrew asked, he smiled gently as he held out his hand.

“What’s it to you?” Sasha shook Andrew’s hand in return, but kept her icy attitude.

“Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Hartfield, former United States Special Forces.”

“No shit, really? You’re that guy on the missing persons report from a year ago! The news said you and your team died from an explosion.” Andrew seemed impressed that she would go out of her way to find out who he was, not to mention the cover up story that was applied to their disappearance.

“Yeah, but that’s not why I’m here at the moment.” Sasha gestured towards the couch, both he and Grindle sat down without hesitation.

Sasha set down a platter full of teacups and a teapot, pouring into three of them for her and her guests. She couldn’t really believe that a person that’s been MIA for a year to all of a sudden show up, let alone ending up in the same world she was.

“Andrew was it? Since you’re here I would imagine your team would be here too, right?”

“Yeah, they should be asleep by now, they’re above ground inside of the inn.” Sasha seemed grateful that there were more humans for her to meet, she was alone with ponies and Griffins for all this time.

“So, what’s your business here?” Sasha took a sip of tea she prepared for her guests, as well as some for herself.

“We’ve been sent personally from the princess to deal with Black Talon.” Andrew outstretched his legs and put his arms behind his head, Sasha couldn’t help but to laugh at his carefree expression.

“So you’re the one those rumors are talking about, the ones who ever defied Black Talon and lived.”

“Is it that serious around these parts?” Andrew picked up the small teacup, which could fit into the palm of his hand. He chugged it down without even thinking, causing both Grindle and Sasha to stare at him.

“Yeah, he’s practically the new government, the King can’t do anything about it either.”

“Miss Sasha, may I ask how you ended up here? In this world I mean?”

“Oh, my father was a scientist that worked on teleporters, I accidentally fell into one while he was working on it.” She said sadly, Andrew couldn’t help but to feel bad for the girl.

“Then when I ended up here Grindle found me, and started to train me. This all happened six months ago.”

“Skills of a master assassin if I do say so myself.” Grindle pointed out.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Grindle.” Andrew sat quietly as the two threw compliments towards each other, quite the opposite to when it came to Andrew and his team.

“That’s a nice sword you got there, Andrew. May I take a look at it?” Sasha’s eyes gleamed, Andrew nodded silently and drew his blade.

Luckily Andrew didn’t have to use it more than once, he wasn’t too experienced with swords in the first place. He barely managed to hold his own against Chrysalis so long ago. The blade was in pristine condition, as it should be. A double edged longsword, with a ricasso and a big hilt to match; it was quite rare to see anyone use it with precision and skill.

“Is this a custom forge?”

“Yes, but it’s a hand me down, Night Shade gave it to me as a gift.” He patted the sword as if he was proud of being its owner, more likely it was the other way around.

“Hmm, I’ve heard about an Alicorn named Night Shade, he is a hero of legend if I recall.” Grindle breathed out smoke from his nostrils, as he was smoking a pipe in a cool manner.

“Well, it’s getting pretty late for me, and I’m exhausted from walking all day. I’m gonna go catch some Z’s.” Andrew yawned, sheathing his sword.

“Get a good night’s sleep, we have much to discuss tomorrow now that you’re here.” Sasha said smugly, leaning against the wall.

“Yeah, if we’re gonna bring down Black Talon together we better be prepared.” Andrew turned around and waved back to her, exiting her underground hideout with Grindle following close behind.

“This day just keeps getting better and better.”

Author's Note

Sorry I've been off the radar for a while, school's starting tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it. Also, it might take some time to get the next chapters out for Trottingham University.

Chapter 61

Act 6-1
When the Going gets Tough...

“Hey, wakey wakey! It’s time for breakfast.” Helena started to shake Andrew violently in his bed, causing him to feel woozy when he stepped out of bed. Unlike most mornings, this was a morning out of country, which felt like he was on vacation.

“Hurry up! Someone’s here to see us!” Helena left Andrew’s side to go directly towards the open room, meeting up with the other two, who were already done with their morning meals.

Andrew stretched and yawned as he put on his clothes, which consisted of simple articles of clothing, to match the lifestyle of this town. Since Helena informed him of someone’s presence, he had a feeling that it was someone he knew already.

He walked out and saw that both Grindle and Sasha had made an appearance, having a very friendly conversation with his teammates. She had in her hand a mug full of coffee, supplied to her by Helena, who also had a mug.

“It’s good to see you’re still alive.” Andrew didn’t know if that was supposed to be an insult or a compliment. Coming from a 14 year old girl’s mouth it should’ve offended him in some way, but he didn’t care.

“Oh yeah, I have to introduce you guys. Team, this is Sasha and Grindle, I met them last night.” Andrew was given a mug of coffee as well, he gladly took a gulp of the warm bitter liquid.

“Sasha, that’s a wonderful name. Changing the subject, how old are you exactly?” Nick asked, all while he was running a maintenance check on his gun.

“I’m 15, and I’m also leader of one of the local guilds. Grindle here is one of the best we’ve got to offer.”

“Really? You seem rather old to be doing things like fighting or swordplay.” Nick teased, causing Grindle to laugh.

“Indeed, I can’t do much anymore with these old bones. Instead, I have a rather skilled successor.” He looked towards Sasha, who seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room was now looking at her.

“I’ve taught her everything I had to offer, and she learned everything effortlessly within six months. She’s a guild master for a reason, and that’s because she’s already reached the highest rank we have to offer.” Grindle boasted, causing Sasha to shy away.

“Yeah, but you also have to know she’s only a 15 year old girl, she can only do so much.” Jhon said quietly, sipping on his cup of tea.

“Jhon’s right, you can’t just force an entire organization on someone like that.” Helena crossed her arms, with her mug held tightly in her hand.

“Guys, I know we just met and all... but I can handle myself! I’m not some pushover! If you want me to prove it, just say so.” Sasha may have appreciated the four trying to help her, but her confidence and pride wouldn’t let it go.

“Aight then, even though we just got here, I’ll give you a test,” Andrew waved his hand, gesturing to the sword strapped onto Sasha’s belt, “if you can give me a run for my money, then you do deserve to be the leader.”

“What’s gonna happen if-”

“If I win or lose, nothing’s gonna happen, we’re both here for the same reason. Plus, it’s good training, I need it anyways.” He smirked.

“Then it’s a deal, meet me on the training grounds behind this building.” Sasha casually walked out of their room.

All of them assumed that they were about to fight right now, and for the most part they were correct, because moments later Sasha was already looking up at their window from the ground. Grindle let out a very dramatic sigh and was the second one to leave the room, followed by Andrew and the rest of his team.

“Alright, so here are the rules: This isn’t a fight to the death, so don’t go overboard, Andrew be careful, because Sasha’s no pushover, and finally, try not to defile the landscape, it was hard enough cleaning it up from last time.” Grindle listed out the rules, which were also complaints.

Andrew’s hand hovered over the hilt, waiting for the right moment to draw his sword. If he was fast enough, he could parry if Sasha would start off with a head-on charge. Instead of acting, he waited.

As soon as Grindle waved his hoof, Andrew’s prediction was correct, as Sasha was coming at him with full force. Andrew looked down as a shadow was cast over his eyes, using his sense of hearing more than his sense of sight.

As soon as Sasha got within inches of his face with her sword, she felt a force that kept her from going through him completely.

”He’s good, but not good enough.” She thought, as she backflipped back into her fighting stance.

As the dust cleared, Andrew stood there, with his sword drawn out and by his side. Since he was giving Sasha a test, all he could do was fight on the defensive. He couldn’t go all out either, because his sword had extra capabilities other than the inability to break.

“Dive Break.” As soon as Andrew heard this come from Sasha’s mouth, her sword started to glow a bright white, knowing that this wasn’t normal, he braced.

After a bright white flash, Andrew was left completely unfazed, not knowing how he was left unharmed he decided to take a look around. The earth beneath him was shattered, and he was about a foot into the ground. Sasha was shocked completely, her signature move was shoved aside as if it weighed like feathers.

“You’re pretty good, I’ll give you that.” Andrew hopped out of the ground, dusting himself off he readied his defensive stance once again.

“I’m still standing though, that simply won’t do.” Andrew said with a smug attitude, only to be pushed to the ground by Helena.

“Hey! What was that for?!” Andrew whined.

“You’re no longer standing, this means the fight’s over. The end.”

“I see your point, alright, alright I’ll give you the win.” Andrew was helpless against the power of Helena, with his gentlemanly ways he couldn’t possibly win an argument against a girl.

Sasha couldn’t help but to giggle a little bit, Grindle on the other hand was still confused about the part where Andrew blocked Sasha’s power attack.

“Okay then, with that out of the way, we have some stuff to do in town.” Sasha brushed herself off and offered a hand for Andrew.

Andrew looked up and grabbed onto her, using her as a tether to help himself up. He patted himself down to free himself of excess dirt and grime, he was still salty about losing to Helena.

“‘Dive Break,’ is that some sort of special move?” Andrew asked, which managed to catch Sasha off guard.

“How did you find out?” She seemed truly startled.

“I heard you say, ‘Dive Break,’ and then you dove at me from above, simple really.” Andrew sheathed his sword, closing his eyes to reminisce back to the moment where Sasha stuck him with full force.

“N-No, I didn’t say it out loud.” She admitted, Andrew seemed dumbfounded.

“Grindle, do you have anything to say?” Andrew turned to him, he stuttered for a moment before he regained his composure.

“I-It is said that other individuals with the same abilities can sense another’s signature or special ability. Or at least that’s what it says in context.”

“This is all so confusing to me, I don’t really understand.”

A few hours later, Andrew and his team went into town. Ever since they arrived, they haven’t had the time to do anything. Andrew couldn’t help but to feel lonely without the girls there with him and his squad, it felt like there was something missing.

“Hey, something wrong, lad?,” Grindle walked up to him and nudged him in the arm.

“Nothing really, I guess it’s just a bit lonely without our friends here. It seems so quiet, without all of the shenanigans they try to pull on me or Helena, or anyone else rather.,” he responded.

“Have you tried calling them on your wrist thing?,”

“We’ve been out of service for about a few days now, I don’t think we’re gonna be getting any outside help on this one.,”

“Oi, how ‘bout a pale ale on me when we get back, eh? I bet that’ll cheer ya right up.”

“Yeah, I’ll take you up on that.”

“We’d better hurry up on those errands, Sasha gets a bit pissy when she has to wait.,” Grindle pointed over to the market.

It didn’t take long for Andrew and Grindle to finish up gathering food and groceries. When he got back he went into his room and put up pictures on the far wall. He had a piece of chalk in his hand, and a plotted out map drawn along with the pictures. He had his Desert Eagle on the table in front of the drawn diagram, a loaded magazine was laid beside it, a few loose bullets were scattered around the table, along with his sword leaning against the edge.

“Helena, do something for me, would ya?,” Andrew waved for her to come over to him.

“What is it now?,” she asked, looking at Andrew’s diagram.

“These are the plans I have so far: One plan is that we’re gonna use a whole lotta stealth breaking into the fortress, the other is that we go in guns blazing. Take it the loud way, we’re gonna need a lot of plastic explosives, and for the quiet route we’re gonna need gun silencers and rope.,” he spread out scrolls of paper on top of the already cluttered desk.

“Hey, Drew! Sasha says that she needs you downstairs right now.,” Nick pointed towards the door.

Andrew instructed Helena to explain the options to Nick and Jhon, and let them decide on what to do. He already did all the planning if they were to do either one, so he didn’t need to do anything else. The only problem is that when did anything ever go according to plan? He went downstairs and saw both Sasha and Grindle sitting in the corner of the the tavern, they looked like they meant serious business.

“What’s up, Sasha?,” Andrew asked, sitting himself down on the edge of the table.

“It’s Black Talon, he’s coming here tomorrow morning.”

Author's Note

Sorry about the long wait, I've always had this chapter started, but I never got around to finishing it. School's lightening up a bit, so you might want to expect a chapter of Trottingham University some time in the next six or so weeks.

Chapter 62

Andrew rested his head on his arms, and sighed heavily. Of course, he was a bit more stressed than normal, but that was only because nothing was going according to plan. With Black Talon coming here in less than a day, he needed to set up a plan, and fast. Everyone else sat with him at the table, as quiet and awkwardly as he was, except for Jhon, who actually wasn’t here at the moment.

“Hey Helena, what should be do now?”

“I… honestly don’t know.”

“Well we surely can’t sit here and mope all day, we still have an assassination target we need to kill.”

Andrew got up from his chair, and grabbed his sword. He then continued to gather his equipment, and set up a map in the middle of the table. He stayed silent the whole time, but everyone else knew what he was up to.

“Alright guys, here’s the new plan. First of all, Sasha, how’re they gonna come into town?”

“Uh, my informant says that they’re coming in through caravan, about three armored wagons and a whole bunch of armed guards.”

“Okay, so we’re gonna do something almost too simple; we’re gonna block them off from all of the exits. Nick, how many blocks of C4 do we have?”

“We still have a whole sack full,” he brought out the said sack, opening it to reveal a lot of plastic explosives.

“Tell Night Shade that we’re gonna be home a lot earlier than scheduled.”

With that said, Andrew and Helena started the prep work, evacuating the town’s civilians into a safer part of the city, and placed C4 on the most effective places to block off the caravan from the rest of the city. He didn’t feel too great about destroying someone else’s property, but even their own griffon government wanted Black Talon dead.

“Hey, shouldn’t we be getting reinforcements soon from the griffons?”

“No, they never said we would.”

“Shit, it’s gonna be the four of us against a small army, isn’t it?”

“Well, we have been in that situation before. Remember heat season?,” Andrew brought up, almost instinctively looking at Nick.

“Don’t remind me,” Nick almost threw up, but nobody could blame him.

“Hey you two, we gotta hurry up, Jhon’s out scouting so we’re a man short.”

“Fine.”

Jhon, who was dressed in his ghillie suit, started to crawl slowly to the top of the hill. He hid in the long grass, which made him almost impossible to spot. From there, he set up a bipod and looked through the scope of his rifle. He closed one eye to focus in on what he was looking at.

“This is Delta 3 to Delta 0-1, I have visual on the target,” what he saw through the scope of his rifle didn’t surprise him at all. He could see a caravan, going in the general direction of the town he and his team resided in.

“This is Delta 2, squad leader isn’t here at the moment, give me a sitrep.”

“Target is making his way towards the town, I recommend you set up for a firefight, they’re bringing a small army.”

“Copy, squad leader already set up an ambush point. Good work Delta 3, come back to base and help prepare. Over and out.”

Jhon took this chance to leave the area. He continued to run until he got back to town, which was a few hours away from where he was. Of course, it didn’t take long for him while running, but it meant that Black Talon was a lot closer than everyone suspected. He pulled the hood from the ghillie suit off of his head, and set down his sniper rifle.

“Did you see him, Jhon?”

“Yeah, I did, but I couldn’t get a good shot on him.”

By now, most of the preparations were in order, and everyone in that part of town were gone. The only thing left to do is wait for tonight.

Andrew sat watch on top of the tavern, where he had his night vision goggles, on the lookout for the caravan. Helena hid in one of the buildings, ready to give anyone a helping hand when things get too hairy. Nick was on ground support duty, where he would give suppressing fire with his machine gun. Finally, Jhon was in the bell tower, giving overwatch. Armed with a Barret M82 sniper rifle, it would be impossible to survive an encounter without a giant hole in their body.

“I have a visual, prepare for phase one,” flipping on the thermal sights on his rifle, he quickly set up his little station, full of ammo boxes, bandages, and even a second rifle.

“Copy that,” Nick held the remote detonator in his hands, but refrained from squeezing it too soon.

As soon as the caravan stopped, two armed guards left the safety of the wagon to check out what was going on. Of course, they were gonna be in for a surprise, as a few seconds later, Nick set off the explosives. The two armed guards dropped dead with two giant holes in the middle of their chests, twitching and lying in their own pools of blood. As more and more guards came out of the armed wagons, they were being dropped seconds after coming out by Nick’s continuous machine gun fire.

Eventually, they started to return fire, arrows flew by Andrew’s head and bursts of magic came from nowhere. Bullet casings littered the floor, and hot smoke came from the barrels of their guns. In mere moments, everything went quiet, and nothing was left alive. Everything happened so fast, so it was hard to tell if Black Talon was confirmed to be dead, but Andrew jumped down from the roof to check it out.

“Eugh, we made a mess here guys,” he went into one of the armored wagons, and dragged out one living soul, and that one survivor was indeed Black Talon.

Andrew pulled out his M1911, and fired four shots, one into each of Black Talon’s legs. He screamed in pain, but he couldn’t move now that he was crippled, he cried out for help, but everyone was already dead. Everyone else stood back to watch Andrew go to work, but they were shocked to see him like this nonetheless.

“W-What do you want from me?!”

“We were sent to kill you.”

“W-Why?!”

“Sorry,” Andrew aimed the gun at his head, “orders are orders.”

“W-Wait! If they’re paying you, I’ll double it-no, triple it! Please! Just let me go!”

“Begging for your life, how pitiful.”

“Drew, wait,” Helena pushed Andrew to the side, and crouched down to Black Talon, “I think someone has something to say to you.”

Helena turned to Sasha, who seemed to be having the time of her life. She angrily walked towards Black Talon and stepped on his crippled leg, causing him to scream out. She didn’t seem affected by the screaming, something not normal for a 14 year old girl.

“This is for all the trouble you caused.”

Taking the gun from Andrew, she then unloaded the rest of the magazine into his head. Giving the gun back to Andrew, she then walked away as if nothing ever happened. The others could only stare in amazement and shock.

“C’mon, we gotta confirm he’s dead.”

Andrew crouched over the body and checked for a pulse, and obviously, there was none, since there were three bullets inside of his head. He took out a small camera and took some pictures, making sure that the body was in the center of the picture.

“Alright, let’s get outta here.”

Author's Note

Well, here ya go. It's not much, but it's something.

Chapter 1

Cleared to Engage

By: SomeAsian2347
Editor: None, I'm by myself!

Act 1-1
Just Another Day, right?

Meet Echo Team, one of the most elite special forces unit in the Delta Force. When there's a mission that's pretty much impossible without having casualties, they call in Echo Team. Known for surviving suicide missions, and getting in and out, clean. Their mission success rate is very high, if they can't get it done nobody can. Believe it or not, it isn't a big squad either, only a team of four.

A lot of standards have changed in the U.S. Military, as well as its Special Forces group, that includes having women on the front lines and the special forces. That's because one of the team members is a woman. The squad leader of this crazy group of individuals is Captain Andrew Hartfield, a very young individual, only 25 believe it or not. He is somewhat immature at times, and very serious at other times. His second in command 1st Lieutenant Helena Wilson, age 27 as well is very smart and witty, the designated sniper of Echo Team. Chief Warrant Officer 4 James 'Jhon' Lamar, age 29, the close quarters expert, a calm and collected one, and very quiet. And lastly, Sergeant Major Nick Churchill, age 31, the Assault expert, very demotivational at times.

This time, Echo Team has been sent in to rescue hostages, but they're not just any civilian hostages either. They had to rescue five American Representatives that were taken captive when they were on their way to Brazil.

"Alright, we're nearing the target building, ready up." The Captain ordered, Helena dropped out early to get her sniper's nest set up. The others got their gear together quickly.

"Alright, we're here to rescue five V.I.P.'s, so watch your trigger finger." Andrew stated. They all then rappelled out of the helicopter and secured the area. This was to be as stealthy as possible, because they dropped about 2 klicks away from their destination.

"Attention Echo Team, this is Overlord speaking. You've got 3 hours until evac, make sure nothing goes FUBAR."

"Copy that Overlord, Echo 0-1 out." They cancelled the communication as the team headed out into the jungle. The safehouse should be isolated from looking at satellite images.

The team quickened their pace as they got closer, Andrew stealthily took out an unsuspecting guard as he hid the body in the thick underbrush. This building was in very bad condition, it had vines and plants covering most of the stone walls, and the concrete itself was crumbling under the pressure. Not to their surprise they were holding the hostages on the third floor, which wasn't going to be easy to traverse. Luckily Echo Team didn't alert any of the armed sentries stationed to protect the hostages. Not yet anyways.

Once they had made it to the third floor, they got ready to breach, so they stacked up shoulder to shoulder. They blew the metal door open with a C-4 charge and went inside. Jhon threw his hatchet at a nearby mercenary and slit the throat of another. One of the hostages was being held at gunpoint, and a mercenary had her in a headlock, threatening to kill. Andrew took the headshot and got him right between the eyes.

"Are you alright ma'am?" Andrew brought the woman to her feet, and she nodded.

"Captain? We've got company, I recommend you get out of there now!" Nick was holding off the reinforcements to the best of his abilities, as well as Helena providing sniper support.

"Ma'am we need to get you to safety. Come with us." Jhon ordered, the anonymous woman nodded and followed close behind Andrew.

They untied the rest of the hostages and followed behind, as they did so Echo Team gave cover fire to get the the evacuation LZ. Helena rappelled down from the canopy of the jungle, but as she did so she saw something they all didn't expect.

"Helena! Enemy helicopter!" Andrew yelled over the radio. Just as he said that the enemy helicopter fired at Helena, one of the bursts cut Helena's rope and she fell to the forest floor. Luckily she fell half way to the LZ, and she limped the rest of the way there.

"We gotta get rid of that heelo, Jhon, Nick, do you have anything?" Andrew asked, they shook their heads. In an instance they were almost hit with an RPG rocket, and Andrew snapped his fingers.

"Jhon, Nick, protect the V.I.P.'s. I'm gonna try to get an RPG." Andrew stabbed a mercenary in the back, taking his rocket launcher. Luckily the helicopter was flying dangerously close, within range of Andrew's RPG.

Andrew shot down the helicopter, but not without a price, the flaming helicopter crashed right beside Echo Team. Echo Team shielded the V.I.P.'s to keep them from harm, Andrew was bleeding badly, and his left arm was bent at a funny angle. Jhon had no serious injuries, only deep cuts and bruises. Nick just had a dislocated shoulder, and Helena was doing her best to pull them out of the fire. The evacuation helicopter was here, but could only stay for a brief moment due to the fact that there were more reinforcements coming their way. They desparately tried to hold them off as they loaded the rescued hostages into the helicopter. The woman from earlier had a look of regret on her face, for unknown reasons.

"Just go, we'll hold them off!" Andrew said, holding his Assault Rifle with his good arm. The woman couldn't stand to see them just give away their lives for the sake of them.

Just then the mysterious woman jumped out. The thing is she wasn't a woman anymore, but a horse instead. There was a flash of light and knocked Echo Team unconscious, the flash was long enough for the helicopter to get away, but Echo Team was no where to be found, nor the mysterious woman.

Andrew woke up inside of a white room walled with plastic, and he looked around to get his bearings. All of the injuries he had sustained were all gone, and not a single scratch was on him. He was wearing a patient's gown and was separated from the rest of Echo Team, his gear was missing as well. There was an icon on the plastic that looked all too familiar with him.

"Why are we being quarantined? How long have we been out? Where are we?" Andrew asked himself, he was very confused at this point, and had so many questions to ask.

"We'll answer your questions all in due time. Alien." He heard a voice say, Andrew quickly whipped his head around to find the source of the voice. He couldn't see anything outside in the darkness of the room, and he guessed that there should be a reason why him and his team are being contained. There was another being there, looking at Andrew in the dark, until she revealed herself.

"Self sacrifice, a noble cause just to save the lives of innocents. You know this all too well, don't you Captain?"

"Who are you people? What have you done to my team?"

"Don't fret Andrew, they're just asleep. And now you are too."

"Wait, wha-" Andrew was blasted with a sleep spell, and he was lifted back to his bed.

"You will understand why I did this, you all will." Princess Celestia said, she knew something Echo Team didn't.

"I can't believe Princess Celestia found a new sentient species! It's so exciting that she's invited us to come and see!" Twilight was very excited, she could barely contain herself.

"Well she has been gone for two months. She had to at least find something in that given time." Spike responded. Twilight, who ignored him was already on her way to greet the girls, who were informed the day before that they were going to Canterlot.

"Sorry for the wait. Are we all ready to head out?" They all nodded and got on the train to the capital city of Canterlot.

"So, what's the big deal about these aliens?" Rainbow asked.

"They're not just any aliens! They are smart aliens!" Pinkie responded.

"Whoopee, more eggheads you could hang out with Twilight." Rainbow laughed. Twilight had a deadpan expression as she tried to continue her explanation.

"As I was saying, these aren't just any aliens. Princess Celestia said they had multiple abilities, and that they're called humans." They all went silent.

"Hyoo-manes? Isn't that those types of things that Lyra's fascinated into?" Pinkie asked, but she was ignored as they neared Canterlot.

"Get ready girls, we don't know what we're gonna be facing. So be ready for anything to happen." Twilight warned.

Author's Note

This is my re-write so far! I hope you like it.

Chapter 2

Act 1-2
Aliens? In Equestria?

Twilight and company were safely escorted into the castle, where both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting for them. Princess Celestia kept the whole castle on lockdown, and only let a certain few in and out of the castle walls. Which meant that this place was really quiet, with an eerie vibe that was in the air.

"Twilight, my faithful student! It's so good to see you again." Celestia spoke out of the silence, Luna smiled as she nodded.

"It's good to see you too, Princess. How was your vacation?" Twilight responded, Celestia had just finished her vacation in another world, disguised as one of them.

"It was extravagant, I didn't know there were so many sights to see on Earth!" Princess then brought out the royal poker face to get to more serious matters. They all gathered 'round to hear what Celestia had to say, like story time for little kids.

"Now for the reason I brought you here. I saved four humans from their untimely death rescuing me on Earth. I had a little fiasco while I was away involving some not so nice people. They're currently going under healing processes by our top doctors as we speak. One of the poor things broke his arm, but for some reason healing magic seemed to work on them." Luna gestured to follow her into the secret facility, where Echo Team was being held. Celestia said she would explain as they went to the secret facility.

"So, why did you take them here? And just leave them on Eeer-th?" Rainbow asked, Celestia's expression saddened.

"They wouldn't have been in that mess is it wasn't for me. I also don't want to know that their deaths are on my conscious. I also sense something about this bunch, there has to be a reason why..." She trailed off as they continued to walk towards the area where they were keeping Echo Team, in which they were all awake, pacing in their confined rooms.

"We have yet to find out what to do with them, because we can't take them back to Earth. No matter how much they say they need to return." Celestia said. The thought of them being stuck here with nothing to do struck her mind, she cringed at the thought if they were to go insane.

"Why don't you just let them out? They don't look like they can do much harm." Twilight said, and Celestia's eyes widened.

"Twilight, you have no idea what these specific humans are capable of. They took down a flying metal bird with what seemed to be a firework launcher." She explained, Twilight then turned to the caged bipedal figures.wide eyed, somewhat scared of their capabilities. They didn't seem that harmful to her, but if what the Princess said was true, they could be possibly unstoppable if released.

"I-I think they're just scared, they don't look too happy that they're being kept in there. Look at the poor thing!" Fluttershy was barely above a whisper, but was enough to be heard.

"Maybe they just need a party! That always cheers somepony up!" Pinkie said happily, all of them rolled their eyes and continued down the hallway.

"The thing is, they aren't being kept in there. The doors aren't locked, they choose to stay in there by their own free will." Celestia explained, Twilight scratched her head.

Just then all of them looked up and aimed their gaze to one of the captive humans, Twilight and her friends were frozen in place as Andrew came out of his room, it was never locked in the first place. Celestia met him half way to protect her subjects from any harm that could befall them. They stared intently at each other, tension building between the two separate species before Andrew spoke up.

"You were that woman, I saw you turn into what you are now. I want answers horsey." The Captain demanded. Just before Celestia could speak, Rainbow got up in Andrew's face, staring eye to eye at each other.

"Hey! You don't talk to our Princess that way!" You could see the lightning between their gazes, they kept on it until Princess Celestia laid a hoof on Rainbow, notifying her to back down.

"I will not have you disrespecting my authority within my own home. And I happen to be an Alicorn pony, thank you very much. If you want answers, you will have to abide by my rules." Andrew crossed his arms.

"...Fine." Andrew complied.

He followed Celestia into the main dining room, where he sat at the other end of the table, across from Celestia. He was silent for most of the way, usually looking away from the ones he was following. To Andrew the architecture was very interesting, almost Greek or Roman in nature, the only thing he's ever seen that's similar to this is the White House or the Lincoln Memorial.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Celestia asked, Andrew looked up, he didn't think these horses were to be trusted. He looked around to find anything suspicious, but couldn't find a thing. Celestia took notice of his curiosity, but she figured out that it was a new environment for him to be in.

"Yeah... Do you have any iced tea?" Celestia raised a brow, and Twilight seemed to gasp.

"You put ice... in your tea?" She said slowly, and the human nodded.

"Yes, I do. Problem?" He retorted, Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Well for one thing, tea is meant to be hot, plus it goes well with a scone or crumpet." Rarity interjected.

"Well, iced tea is meant for when you get hot, and goes well with a mid summer's day." Andrew replied, Celestia took note of this weird evolution, back when she last visited America iced tea never existed, and nor does it exist in Equestria .

She sighed as she took a sip of her hot tea. Andrew leaned forward and folded his fingers as he placed his elbows on the table. Once he was given his iced tea he chugged it down with no sense of manners. They all stared at him in disgust, and he had a sheepish grin on his face. Wiped the cold deliciousness off of his face, and looked around, until he noticed his mistake and he spoke up.

"Oh, uh... sorry about that. I was really thirsty, almost dying and all, you know." He apologized, and he really was sincere this time. Even though he added a little sarcasm to emphasize the "dying" in his sentence.

"Now, about answers. Why did you take us here?" The interrogation has started, for some reason it felt like the lights were getting dimmer, but when you look it still was the same. The mood changed from eerie to serious in a pinch, and everything got quiet, even the wind stopped blowing it got so quiet.

"Well, I thought someone would have wanted to live instead of die in the jungle." She stated.

"True, but why did you save us? You could've just left us there to die, it's our job to see that you're safe." It sounded if Andrew wanted to die, even at such a young age.

"You mean to tell me, that your job is putting your life on the line on purpose?!" Twilight clearly hasn't encountered that before. They all stared wide eyed at him, which made Andrew feel uncomfortable. He squirmed in his seat before continuing with his explanation.

"Well, in a way, yes. We work for the American Special Forces to protect the innocent and keep our country safe. No matter what the cost." He stated, they were still all shocked about this, but the girls understood the basic concept of it now.

"So, like the Royal Guard?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain." He thought about what to say next, it was something he needed to tread lightly on, if he says too much that could be a problem, "You see, we don't serve a monarch, but we are sworn in to protect our home country. 'Merica." Andrew pounded his chest, they all looked at him as if he did something wrong, he put his hands in the air making himself look like he was innocent. He took a sip of his refill, he just couldn't get enough of the cold deliciousness, it was way better than the ones he drinks out of the MRE's.

"Now, for my questions. What do you want from us? Do you need some sort of test subjects? Or some of my crew to dissect?" Andrew didn't like the idea he was putting into his own head, but these guesses could very well be possible. He guessed what Celestia had to say next, but what came out was completely different.

"No, we planned to release you after you signed some paperwork."

"No! I don't want to be dissected!... Wait, what?" Andrew's eyes widened, he was speechless, until he could find the words that would fit the situation.

"What type of paperwork?"

"Just a peace treaty, saying that you aren't going to do any intentional harm to my subjects." Andrew picked up the treaty, which looked more like a contract to be honest.

"You humans are peaceful, blah blah blah, abide by Equestrian Law, yada yada, any who breaks this code will be executed, blah blah, must apply to be full fledged citizen of Equestria." Andrew summarized it just perfectly, at least for his standards anyways. He neatly folded the parchment and put it in the pocket of his uniquely tailored pants.

"You know, why did you give us clothes that make us look like we were in Colonial America?" Celestia raised a brow, and Andrew tilted his head like a confused dog.

"That was from when I visited Earth last time, some souvenirs of you will. Those were the only clothes my guards could find on such short notice that fit your size. And might I add America has changed greatly, since then. Are you still fighting the same war?" She asked, Andrew shook his head and continued.

"I will explain later." He replied, she nodded and opened the door for the human and her subjects.

Andrew was then guided back to his quarantined room to meet up with the rest of his team. Now that they turned on the lights they could really see who was actually operating on them. When they found out that they were ponies, some were more surprised than others.

"Andrew! They didn't dissect you did they?" Nick asked.

"Did they make you a test subject?" Helena got all up in his face.

"Did they try to brainwash you?" Jhon grabbed his collar and lifted him up, shaking him violently.

"None of the above, they actually aren't so bad. Now all we have to do is sign this, 'Peace Treaty,' so we can be released." He didn't think treaty was the right word for that piece of parchment, it was more of a contract of sorts. They all read the fine print and signed it with no hesitation. They just wanted to get the hell out of the room, they can't stay in one place for very long, especially one full of technicolored ponies.

"Now that's out of the way, can we retrieve our equipment?" Andrew asked through a microphone, which there was an intercom right next to Celestia. Everypony in the room had to cover her ears since the microphone was so loud, and yet so close to everyone. Echo Team was immune, they shrugged it off like it was nothing, gunshots were louder than that. The microphone itself was pretty loud, they used it to listen in on the conversations the humans brought up.

"Yes you may, as long as you don't use them on any of my subjects. You may follow us to the barracks, I would like to see how your mechanism works." And so the four members of Echo Team were off to get their lost equipment, and perhaps find something of use inside the Canterlot Armory as well as their own equipment.

Author's Note

Don't forget to click the like button either down at the bottom or at the top! By the way, if you have an Xbox or PS3 add me if you will.
PSN: SomeAsian1337
XBL: SomeAsian2357

Chapter 13

Act 2-3
All Accordingly

"Ma'am, we have found it. We've found the source of the Darkness." A very shady voice said, and in the other end of the room a single spotlight turned on, revealing Celestia. She gave a sly smile, laughing a bit before talking.

"Good, good. Everything is falling into place, just how I planned. Now all we have to do is get the humans to do me a favor." She said, all shady like, and you couldn't see her eyes, the most shady part about it. The spotlight turned off and the scene faded to black, Celestia giving out an evil laugh before the scene changed.

"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! DO NOT BE ALARMED, AS YOUR VERY OWN PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT HAS ARRIVED!" She said, blasting out the eardrums of everypony within range.

Everypony cowered under her, fearful of what Luna could do to them. She wasn't expecting this at all, they wouldn't even shake her hoof. She got really offended, beyond the point to where she went towards the Nightmare Moon Statue to be alone. Twilight looked over to Andrew, he nodded and went into the general direction Luna went into. Luna stared at the statue, she looked very distraught.

"Princess? My name is-" Twilight spoke up.

"Starswirl the Bearded, thou even got the bells right."

"Finally! Somepony gets my costume!" She said out loud, Andrew snickered.

"Whatever, you still look like Gandalf or Dumbledore to me." He chuckled, which made Twilight have a deadpan expression.

"IT THOU WHO UNLEASHED THE ELEMENTS UPON US, AND THE ONES WHO FREED US FROM OUR DARK POWERS!" Andrew stood back as Twilight got yelled at.

"That's a good thing, right?" She asked.

"But of course, we could not be happier. Is that not clear?" She asked.

"Yeah, but it sounds like you're yelling at me." She said.

"It is tradition to use the Royal, 'we,' and TO USE THIS MUCH VOLUME WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS!" Twilight fixed her beard and her hat, as they were blown out of place by Luna's voice alone.

"That maybe why you're getting mixed results, maybe you should try to change your approach." Andrew said, crossing his arms.

"Change our approach?"

"I'm sure we can try to get Fluttershy to teach you. She has the sweetest voice." Twilight said, Andrew's helmet went back into its suit, and he followed behind. He was acting body guard for Luna, even though she doesn't really need one, Princess Celestia tasked him to do it.

"So Luna, how are things in Canterlot lately? How's your sister doing?" Andrew asked, Luna smiled and nodded.

"'Everything is fine Captain. Our sister however has been immersed in a project to eradicate the Darkness. Which has been released ever since we were freed from Twilight Sparkle's friends." Andrew grabbed his head as it started to hurt, and he stopped dead in his tracks, Twilight and Luna looked concerned for him.

"Andrew? Is everything alright?"

"Are you okay Drew?"

"Yeah, just a headache. I'll get over it." He said, smiling sheepishly.

'Something's not right here, I guess key words trigger my headaches now. I wonder...' They arrived at Fluttershy's Cottage, she opened the door to reveal Twilight, Nightmare Moon, and a robot.

"Oh, Twilight, it is you... and Nightmare Moon, and a robot. *GASP* Nightmare Moon?" She slammed the door shut, but Twilight pulled a Leeroy Jenkins and went inside to get Fluttershy to come out. There was a rather large commotion coming from inside, Twilight must have been struggling to get her out. Andrew and Luna looked at each other and then looked at the door as Twilight opened it, with Fluttershy too.

"You remember Princess Luna, right Fluttershy?" She nodded as Luna greeted her.

"Should we start lessons?" She said with her raised voice.

"O-Okay."

"What about now?!" She said again with the same tone of voice.

"O-Okay."

"How's this?!" She asked again.

"Perfect! Lesson over!" She said, rushing back into her Cottage, but Twilight closed the door and Fluttershy flattened like a pancake on the door. Andrew went over and peeled Fluttershy off of the door, and he got down to her level, helmet off.

"Fluttershy, it's alright. Princess Luna is not Nightmare Moon anymore." He patted her on the head and got back up. Fluttershy blushed, but she was still dazed from hitting the door so hard.

"A little lower Princess." Twilight said.

"Like this?" It went down just a little bit.

"Lower."

"How about now?" She asked.

"Just perfect." Andrew said, Luna grabbed Fluttershy in her telekinesis and started to hug her to death. As if on cue, Pinkie and the group of foals came from out of the blue, looking for Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy! Nightmare Moon is-" She started to scream as she saw Luna.

"Nightmare Moon is sucking the energy out of Fluttershy so she can't scream!" She screamed, running away. Luna dropped Fluttershy and went after Pinkie Pie, using her loud voice.

"Nay children! Wait! I mean, wait children! Don't be scared!" She said, correcting herself. Luna's lip quivered, but Twilight reacted fast.

"Don't worry Princess, I'm sure they'll come around eventually. C'mon! Let's go find Applejack, she'll show you how to have fun." Twilight said, going into town, with Andrew and Luna following close behind. Andrew left his helmet off, not wanting to scare anypony any more than Luna did, you could tell that she was getting frustrated.

They walked on over to where Applejack was, she was watching over the party games, making sure that everypony was safe, and that they knew how to correctly play the game.

"Hey Twilight, Andrew! What brings you around these parts?" She asked, Andrew waved his hand and then he whipped around, pulling Pipsqueak from the apple bobbing bucket.

"Watch it there. Don't want to fall in y'know?" He said playfully, Pipsqueak screamed and ran off, probably to join the others. Andrew shrugged as he joined Luna in the party games, she looked like she was finally getting the hang of it.

"Haha! The fun has been doubled!" She said, and the ponies cheered for her. She was actually having fun for the first time in probably 1,000 years, Twilight and Andrew were proud of her.

Then, Pipsqueak fell into the water bucket, and Luna took notice of this. She rushed over to get him out, and just as if on cue Pinkie walked in on the scene.

"Nightmare Moon is eating Pipsqueak!" She screamed, and utter chaos broke loose. The ponies all freaked out because the kids freaked out, and Luna tried to make it better by making real spiders out of he fake ones. She was finally fed up, and she cracked. Her eyes started to glow and the clouds started to swirl.

"BE STILL!!!" She yelled, Twilight went up to Luna to try and calm her down. Luna, with her lost temper, did not listen, and instead forbade Nightmare Night from ever happening again. Andrew facepalmed, making a metal clang when his hand hit his helmet.

"We need to try to get Pinkie. Any ideas?" Twilight asked, Andrew pointed his finger up, signalling an idea. By pure luck a lamp post went on above his head, he chuckled as he explained.

"We lure Pinkie into that back alley to confront Princess Luna. With candy of course, and when that happens we make negotiations." He said, Twilight nodded as she got out her bucket of candy.

When Pinkie found the trail of candy, she fell for it quickly, and Twilight ambushed her.

"No! No screaming, hollering, or yelling of any kind! Got it?" Pinkie had a worried look as she nodded.

"Okay, it's safe to come out Luna!" She yelled back, and Luna appeared, which made Pinkie freak out.

"Has thou come to make peace?" She asked innocently. Just then, a clap of thunder scared the daylights out of Pinkie.

"Rainbow!" Andrew yelled. Pinkie started to yell and run away, Andrew shot her with a beam of Stasis and Twilight pinned her down.

"Pinkie! She's not going to eat you!"

"Well... duh." She replied.

"Huh?"

"Well, I'm almost as big as her, of course she isn't going to eat me. Sometimes, it's just fun to be scared!" She said, Twilight's pupils shrinked.

"Pinkie! You're a genius!"

"No I'm not, I'm a chicken! Bockaw!" She ran off, Twilight had found new hope. She went back to Princess Luna, Andrew trying to talk to her.

"Princess! I know why everypony is so scared of you!"

"Forgive me if I with hold my enthusiasm."

"C'mon, I'll need you to follow me! Andrew, you can come too if you want." Andrew fist pumped.

As the children approached the statue, they started to dump the candy and tried to leave. Before they could do so, Princess Luna, as fake Nightmare Moon, scared the jimmies out of the kids, probably going to rustle until the cows come home.

"I am not sure if that was supposed to do what you think Twilight Sparkle." She said, but Pipsqueak came back, talked to her for a bit, and she was utterly happy again.

"You know what? I completely forgot! I need to be on stage right now!" Andrew rushed back towards Ponyville, with his helmet off. He met with the rest of his team, who had been waiting for quite a while for Andrew to show up.

"What took so long man! Dayum!" Nick said, tossing him a mic.

"You guys want to go old school up in this shit?" They all bobbed their heads.

(Le Music)

Once the song stopped, they all cheered, even Princess Luna was impressed with them. Andrew smiled sheepishly as he put a hand on the back of his head. Andrew got off stage, because he and his team were tired as fuck, and their costumes were getting worn out.

"Goodnight everypony. Have a safe trip back Princess!" Andrew waved as she left in her chariot, and on he went back home. He undressed and put away his Advanced RIG into storage and did everything necessary to go to bed.

Once in bed, something in his mind was not as ease, the fact that something about when Luna mentioned the, 'Darkness,' just rustled his jimmies. He knew something bad was gonna happen, and soon too.

Author's Note

There it is, the secret's out. The "Darkness" won't be mentioned very much, because it's top secret. Top secret secret is secret.

Chapter 40

Act 4-Start
A Day to Remember, Forever
(The Fourth and Final Day)

"Alright, that should do it. Andrew, you gotta promise me that you'll stop getting yourself so banged up after every mission." The doctor said, causing Andrew to laugh.

"I make no promises doc, but thank you anyways." Andrew stood back up. Now, that he can no longer worry about the hole in his hand, he can continue on using it.

Luckily, there weren't any serious injuries that he had sustained that the med pack didn't heal. His ribs were okay, and he wasn't bleeding anywhere on the inside. Though he was sore, like really really sore. He stretched to release some of that muscle pain, and it hurt, but in a way it felt good.

"I'll see you 'round doc." Andrew waved at him, rotating his shoulder to try and stretch it out some more.

Andrew walked out of the Canterlot Infirmary without a hitch, no one was fussing at him, there weren't anypony crying over him. It was absolute bliss to him, because he didn't have to comfort anypony, because all he did was comfort and apologize ever since he got here.

Andrew walked into his old room, and turned on the lights. As if expected, it was tidy and clean, just like any other part of the castle would be. He sat down at the side of the bed and placed his hand on it. He let out a heavy sigh, and looked up at the ceiling.

He then straightened the comforter back to its original shape, and walked over to the Suit Kiosk. He selected one of his many suits, and climbed into the dark machine.

He then walked out of his room, and down the hallway. He looked on his wrist PDA that he was somehow messaged by Night Shade, who invited him for lunch. The helmet retracted back into his suit, and he stretched out his neck. Today would be his last day here.

"Hey Night Shade, are you there?" Andrew asked, putting his wrist to his face.

"Yeah, what do you need?" He responded.

"How am I able to call you? I mean, you guys don't have the technology for it."

"Oh, I kinda took a schematic from you. On the blueprint it's called a, 'cellular device.' So, I made one and I decided to call you, since you wrote down your number on the paper as well." Andrew facepalmed.

"Didn't I tell you to not go through my stuff?"

"Hey, I'm your ancestor, and whatever's yours, is also mine."

"Since when?!"

"Since always."

"Fine, just don't mass produce it, it could possibly ruin the space-time fabric thing. I've already done enough damage to it." He complained.

"Alright, alright. Don't get your jimmies in a rustle." He rolled his eyes.

"Don't you mean, 'Don't let me rustle your jimmies'?" Andrew corrected.

"I bet you would like that wouldn't you?" Night Shade chuckled, causing Andrew to go a little red on the cheeks.

"Anyways, I'm coming down for lunch." Andrew got back to the main point of making this conversation.

"I'll see you there."

Andrew hung up the phone. The next thing you know he's gone downstairs, and eventually landed him inside of the kitchen. It was busy, and there were ponies rushing here to there like there was no tomorrow. He could hear a chuckle coming from Night Shade, from across the kitchen. Though he didn't know how, due to the fact that the kitchen was so noisy, but he shrugged it off in the end.

He then followed Night Shade into the dining room, where he was met with his other three human companions, as well as the Royal Sisters. He smiled at them, and sat down quietly.

"So, this, 'Cellular Device,' can call anypony around the world?" Night Shade lifted it up from his saddlebag, it floated in mid air as he showed it off.

"Indeed it can, now can you put it away so we can eat?" Andrew tried to take it from him, annoyed.

Right after they finished their lunch, they all packed their stuff for the trip back to Ponyville. Yet Andrew has not decided whether to stay or go, so in the mean time he would be thinking about it. He managed the items on his person, making sure that everything was in order.

All of Echo Team, as well as Night Shade, boarded the train back to Ponyville. Andrew let out a heavy sigh, thinking about the events that lead up to today. He looked at his friends, and they looked back at him, staying quiet the whole time. They all looked concerned for the guy, since a life changing decision has been placed on his shoulders.

"Guys, I've come to a conclusion." He finally announced.

"Well, don't dawdle, tell us boy!" Night Shade rushed.

"I've decided that we should stay. No matter how much it pains me to say it, but I think we're needed here more than we were back on Earth. Besides, we've been gone long enough for then to think that we're K.I.A."

"I agree." Helena nodded.

"Me too." Nick said.

"As do I." Jhon finally spoke.

"Well then it's unanimous, we're staying." Andrew smirked.

Most of the train ride was about planning, what to tell the girls, what to do for the next few days. Helena suggested that we throw a party with Pinkie, which sounded like a good idea. Nothing really special happened oher than that, in fact, more than half of them fell asleep on the train. Night Shade nudged Andrew, who woke up rather slowly. He rubbed his eyes as he looked over to him.

"I think you have a certain pegasus to talk to." Night Shade informed, causing Andrew's mood to depress.

"You're right. With everything being so overwhelming lately, I've been more violent than usual, and I've been taking it out on everyone else." He was beating himself up again, always putting himself down because of all the stress related symptoms.

Night Shade's ear twitched, he could hear the stopping of the train when it started to slow down. He then smiled, looking at Andrew.

"Looks like we're here." He opened the door with his magic, letting the humans out before him.

The rest of his team went on over to the Police Station, while Andrew walked on over to the moor, where Rainbow's Cloud House was located. Night Shade knew he needed help getting up there, so he followed close behind him.

"You know what to do, correct?"

"She doesn't know I'm even alive, I always knew what to do since day one." He chuckled.

"Hey, give me a boost." Andrew said, bracing himself to be lifted into the air.

"Thank you Night Shade!" He yelled as he was launched into the air.

The next thing you know he activated his jet boosters that were inside of his suit. He then bended his knees as he landed, trying not to break anything else while he was up here.

He opened the door slowly, seeing that everything was just how he saw it last time. He looked around, and saw that there was a picture of Rainbow and himself in a cracked picture frame. He picked it up and dusted it off, placing it back on the counter it was once on.

"Rainbow? Are you there?" He called out.

Andrew could feel somepony's presence, though he didn't know exactly where it was coming from. He looked around behind him, nothing. He looked to both of his sides, nothing again. He looked forward and saw Rainbow flying straight towards him. Andrew braced for impact.

"I thought you were dead." She cried. Andrew let her cry deeply into his chest, and even returned the embrace.

"I won't leave you like that, never again."

"Does that mean-?"

"Yeah, I'm staying."

--Sugarcube Corner--
1 Hour Later

Andrew pushed the door open, and slowly the sun's light started to light up the dark room. He then flipped on the switch and a bunch of confetti and ponies popped out of hiding spots came out at once. Andrew jumped a little much, much to his amusement. He then smiled as he saw Pinkie Pie.

"Surprise Andrew!" He let her hug him.

"Hey Pinkie, how are you doing?"

"We're going to have your, 'Thank you for not Leaving us Party,' tonight! Make sure to be ready, and tell the rest of your team!"

"I'll get the news to them. But what about this party? What's this one for?"

"You don't know? It's your, 'Rainbow and I are getting back together,' Party!" Andrew chuckled.

"Okay Pinkie, I'll ask. Though I doubt if she even wants to get back together with me, after everything I've done." He sighed.

--Andrew's Narration--

There will come a time in your lifetime where there's going to be two or more choices that will end up changing your life. Hopefully, when the times comes, you'll be prepared to make the right decision. That one small, seemingly insignificant decision, may turn out to be the most important one you will make in your life. I chose to stay here, in Equestria.

Why?

There's not really a definite answer to that question. That's the question, isn't it? It's always, "Why do this?" or "Why do that?"

Some believe that they belong here after all, like they have a purpose to why they're here in the first place. Others think that they've unfinished business, a few scores to settle with certain individuals.

What was my reason? I don't really have a reason, I guess it could've just been for shits and giggles, or it's because we've already left imprints on the ponies here. I don't know the true cause to why I chose to stay, but it felt like something was trying to rid me of this peaceful place.

Something was driving me to go home, but something urging me to stay, like as if someone was reading to find out what happens to the main character in a book. Nah, that isn't it, but there was something that didn't want me to stay here. I plan to find out whoever or what it was, even if it kills me.

My Ma always said, "The longer you hold onto something, the harder it is to let go."

That's one of the most true statements I've ever heard, and it's probably already too late to change my mind. Anyways, all in all, I think I made the right decision in the end.

Author's Note

This shit makes me feel sappy on the inside. Though I am not crying, because I don't cry over my own works.

Chapter 48

Act 4-8
Realization

“EVERYONE GET DOWN!” My ears were ringing, dirt covered my goggles, and the smell of blood filled the air. Knowing that we're losing, I feel unfortunate that I only have but one life to give for the fight.

Everyone I knew dropped to the ground around me into cover, and then a hailstorm of bullets and arrow bolts came our way. They must've acquired some of our weapons from our last fight, which isn't good for us. How do they even know how to use a gun? If anything, they should've committed accidental slaughter by looking down the barrel and pulling the trigger, or friendly fire. All I know is that we're screwed now, unless we can get those IFV's operational again.

“Is everybody all right?” I asked, I heard multiple groans of yes and no, some weren't responding to their communicators. I looked around to see that most of our unit has been spread thin, trying to replace each fallen soldier.

“Night Shade, requesting IFV assistance, ASAP!” I raised my wrist to my mouth, I heard heavy static, and scattered words come from his end of the communicator.

“Request denied...IFV unit...down...need...you...IFV!” Was all I heard as his response, before the static came back on.

The IFV was all the way in the back of the town, and I had to haul ass if I want to make it back in time. I don't know how long we're gonna last this time, all I know is that we're getting overrun.

While I was back in Canterlot, Applejack told me that her cousin once lived here. I don't personally know him, but knowing Applejack makes me wonder if he's a lot like her. When this war is over I may visit him some time down here, but that's if we win.

I climbed into the IFV and saw that the whole operating crew were either dead or wounded.

I brought my wrist up to my mouth to speak, “this is Echo 0-1, requesting immediate medevac for the IFV unit.”

Once that was done I climbed into the M2 Bradley, the engine came to life as I turned the keys. I then stomped on the gas pedal, turning the IFV 180 degrees around. Looking through the camera, I saw that in front of me that there was a breach through the front line, and our troops were falling back.

I was all alone in the IFV, so I had to give up the driver’s seat and man the cannon. I jumped into the back and started to load canisters into the main gun. Making sure they were the high explosive rounds, I brought my wrist up to my mouth.

“Alright, I’m comin’ in with the IFV, you’d better watch out.”

“Hurry the fuck up then! We can’t hold them forever!” Helena yelled, causing my ears to ring a little bit.

We were in for a world of hurt if I didn’t do something fast. I quickly aimed the cannon at the breached area, and just started to unload until I heard that click. Luckily for me the auto-reload was fully functional, because it’s been years since I’ve operated an IFV. Hopefully, if I’m lucky, the training will kick in eventually.

Chunks of dirt went into the air, and I could even see parts of concrete be shattered to pieces, filling the air like confetti. I also thought I saw a few disembodied limbs fly around somewhere, which was pretty gross, but cool in a way.

“Helena, what’s it like up there?” I asked, “they’re not coming through anymore.”

“They’re falling back! Wait, wait, no they’re not,” she stopped talking for a moment, “they’re regrouping.”

“Okay, I want you, Nick, and Jhon to get into the IFV, we’re gonna go cause some mayhem.” Man, I always get pumped for these sorts of things.

I opened the back of the IFV, waiting for the rest of my squad to jump in. As they did so the IFV started to rock back and forth, causing me to jump. I looked over yonder to see that they brought out the artillery, which wasn’t good for our sake.

“Alright guys, we gotta move!” I ordered. The good thing is that it quickened their movements in an instant, “we either stay here and get shredded by that artillery, or we go out and kick some ass!”

Hopefully it wasn’t too late to push them back instead of us, because our numbers were dwindling under the 1000 mark, and they were well over a couple thousand. I pushed on the gas pedal out into the crossfire zone, where I parked it parallel to both sides of the fight. Our guys moved up behind the IFV and used it as cover, while Nick aimed the cannon fire at the PMC’s.

“Nick, how we doin’ on ammo?” I asked, because this thing wasn’t in the best shape when I found it. Hopefully we had enough...

“We got about five crates of high explosive, and three crates of anti-personnel!” He yelled back at me, luckily the communicators picked it up, by now I was half deaf due to the heavy 25mm cannon fire.

“Okay, focus fire at the cannon and mortar crews, don’t let them get past this IFV!” I ordered, and he gave me a small salute before his eyes diverted to the camera.

I took my helmet off of the wall and went outside with my M4, replacing it with a fresh magazine. Bullets flew past me, and I could hear them ricochet off of the side of the IFV. I saw the leader of Alpha team leaning against the side of the IFV, holding his side.

“Lieutenant, can you give me a sitrep?!” I said over the loud sounds of bullets and explosions in the background.

“It looks like we’ve turned *cough* the tides, sir! I’ve been hit pretty badly, I don’t know if I’m *cough* gonna make it...” I looked down and uncovered his wound, I let out a sigh of relief, because it did not hit any vital points in his body.

“You’re gonna be okay Lieutenant, it didn’t hit any important body parts, you’re gonna live.” I tore off a piece of my shirt, and pressed it against the bloody bullet wound.

“Stay here, and don’t do anything stupid,” I looked around for a helmet with a red cross, “medic! I need a medic!”

“Sir...” I covered his mouth to prevent him from talking, my eyes constantly wandering to look for a medic.

“Not now, save your energy.” I warned, all he did was stare at me. His eyes never left mine, and he looked like he was about to cry.

My communicator went on, and Helena’s voice filled my ears, “Andrew! Look out! Enemy fast movers!”

I looked to the sky and saw Griffins in the air, carrying bombs. I quickly picked up the Lieutenant and shoved him inside the IFV, closing the hatch behind him. I looked into the sky again and saw the bombs falling, the explosions getting closer and closer to me.

I pressed the flak protection button on my tacpad, and a layered vest started to form over my body. I didn’t know if this would work in time, because it was experimental, but hopefully I was fully covered in time the bombs fell over me. I wasn’t.

A bomb landed about a yard to the side of me. Once I caught sight I dove out of the way, and the bomb detonated seconds later. The blast sent me flying into a nearby building, causing me to grunt in pain. I made a pretty big hole in the wall on impact, it was either because of my flak jacket, or that I was gaining weight. I really hope it was the flak jacket, but that wasn’t important right now.

“Andrew come in! Andrew, do you read me? Respond!” By now I was barely conscious, and I couldn’t move.

Luckily most of the shock was absorbed by the armor, but I was still hurting pretty badly. My own blood pooled on the ground, and it drooled out of my mouth as well. I looked around from my stationary position, and saw nothing but rubble and debris. I tried getting up, and managed to flop myself belly side up before I gave up on that.

"Well, this is it, huh?" I croaked, coughing up more blood. Closing my eyes, I started to breathe slower. My body then went limp, and I was out like a light.