“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 Notes:

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.