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 Notes:

I would like to thank flint_sparksmane for editing this chapter, and for being my new editor.