Cleared to Engage
Chapter 19
Previous Chapter Next ChapterAct 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."
Next Chapter: Chapter 20 Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 56 Minutes