"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.