Fluttershy was curled into a ball on her bed upstairs. Red Salvo had scared greatly, and this combined with the prospect of having the animals that lived in the field killed had reduced her to a gibbering wreck.

"Fluttershy?" A voice from somewhere behind her suddenly caught her attention. She lifted her head to see Salvo standing at the entrance to her room. She said nothing, but let out a scared whimper.

"Fluttershy, I'm sorry," Salvo said.

"…What?" was all Fluttershy could bring herself to say.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have suggested we kill those animals, I shouldn't have yelled at you, and I especially shouldn't have called you a hippie. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." At the very least, this bizarre visit had made Fluttershy stop crying. She was too confused for that. Was this really the same pony she'd been yelled at by a few minutes ago? What had happened to the powerful, warlike Salvo?

"I lost control of my emotions," Salvo continued, as if to answer her unspoken question. "It happens to me. I don't know why, but…whenever I see something or hear something that reminds me of the war…World War II, I mean…I just…just get angry. I'm…not myself when I'm angry." Still, Fluttershy could find nothing to say.

"…I'm calm now," Salvo said, sighing deeply. "And yes, Fluttershy, you were right. We can't kill all of those innocent animals just to save time. We need to find another way through the minefield."

"…Couldn't I just fly outside and tell the animals to get to safety?" Fluttershy murmured.

"…Um…what?" Salvo responded.

"Did anyone explain to you what my talent is?"

"No, I must've missed that."

"I can talk to the animals. They listen to me." Salvo tilted his head to the side. He suddenly understood the meaning of Fluttershy's butterfly cutie mark.

"I'm not going to say it again," Salvo thought to himself, "but wow…this woman is Super Hippie."

"…So, you're saying that if you went out there and told the animals to leave because there was going to be a huge explosion, they would leave?"

"Yes."

"…Well, that solves our problem! Get out there and get those animals to safety!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Fluttershy leapt off the bed and flew out the nearby window.

"Well? Did you apologize?" demanded Rainbow Dash, who was hovering a few feet off the ground, as always.

"Yes, I apologized," the Soldier said as he reentered the foyer. "And may I say, Twilight, it's a good thing you thought to restrain me. I might have really lost it otherwise."

"Good. Now, what did we learn today?" asked Spike, crossing his arms indignantly.

"Never make Fluttershy cry?"

"Exactly."

"Okay, lesson learned."

"Now, back to business," said Rarity. "How are we going to get past that minefield?"

"Actually, Fluttershy's working on that. She's flying around out there telling the animals that live in the field to evac."

"Evac? What's that mean?" Pinkie asked.

"Evac-uate," the Soldier said. "It's military talk for 'run away'. She's telling the animals to leave so we can detonate the pumpkins safely. Which means Operation Shock and Awe is officially a go."

"All right! This is gonna be so cool!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"Hey…I didn't know you were into explosions, Dash," the Soldier said.

"Who isn't into explosions? Explosions are awesome!"

"I knew I liked you!"

"Uh…explosions are also very dangerous," said Twilight. "We need some way to set the pumpkins off from a distance."

"Hey! I've got an idea!" chirped Pinkie. "How about we use the grenade?"

"I'm sorry?" the Soldier responded, a little surprised. Out of all the things he had expected Pinkie to say, "grenade" was not one of them.

"The grenade! You remember! That bomb you're wearing on your chest! If we blow up some of the pumpkins, the rest of them will go off, right?"

"…Nice idea," Salvo said. "Unfortunately, they only issue me one live grenade, and they only let me use it in emergencies. The other one's a replica."

"Aw…" Dash groaned.

"I'm always up for an explosion, though. If you've got your hearts set on that, I could always use my rocket launcher."

"OH! Why didn't I think of that?" Pinkie said, giggling to herself.

"Um…his what?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe it'd be faster if I just showed you." The Soldier reared onto his hind legs. Now that his hands were free, he reached into his inventory and pulled out his trusty Mann Co. Rocket Launcher…then fell flat onto his face again.

"Goddammit!" the Soldier cried out as his audience laughed profusely.

"Havin' a little trouble there, Salvo?" chuckled Applejack.

"Okay…so my presentation is a bit off," the Soldier grumbled. He got to his hooves as he spoke, leaving the rocket launcher on the ground where he'd dropped it. "But trust me; this baby will detonate that minefield like nobo—er, nopony's business."

"Well, sure, if you can use it," Dash said, wiping a few stray tears of laughter from her eyes.

"That's a good point, actually. This thing was designed by humans, for humans. I need both hands to be free so I can use it, which means I need to be standing on my hind legs. But now I'm a horse. This thing wasn't designed for horses. So unless I figure out how to walk on my hind legs…" The Soldier paused meaningfully here.

"Why doesn't Twilight change you back?" suggested Rarity.

"Thank you. I was hoping someone would pick up on that," said the Soldier.

"I don't know…it's kind of a complicated spell…" Twilight said nervously. "How about we try this instead?" Twilight's horn began glowing, as it did. The Soldier was suddenly surrounded by a deep purple aura. His spine suddenly straightened, jerking him upright. The Soldier cried out in surprise as he reassumed bipedalism.

"…Well, I wasn't expecting that," he said.

"Oh, I get it," Applejack said, placing a thoughtful hoof to her chin. "You're holdin' him upright usin' yer telekinesis, like ya did with Fluttershy that one time."

"Twilight! I thought we agreed never to tell anypony about that!" Rarity shouted, jabbing an accusatory hoof at Twilight.

"OKAY, let's just move on before we have another minefield to defuse in here," Salvo said quickly.

"I know. It gets hard to bear sometimes, doesn't it?"

"Heads…heads…heads…"

"Well, there aren't any humans here. New reality, new rules. I'm afraid you'll have to make do with the horses."

"Headsheadsheads…"

"Don't fret, my friend. They must leave at some point, and when they do, either the pumpkins will kill them or we will."

"Head…head…!"

"I know you do. I want to go home, too. But something else went through that rift with us. It won't let us back through until we find the other traveler."

"Heads heads heads?"

"…What? …Oh, dear, I hadn't even considered that…"

"Head, heads heads heads…"

"Oh, well, that would be…an option…"

"Heads heads heads, heads heads…"

"And how, exactly, do you know this?"

"Head…head head…Heads heads heads…heaaaaaad…headsheadsheads…"

"What the bloody hell is a vortigaunt?"

"Heads heads he—"

"Never mind. Remind me later. For now, we need to satisfy your hunger."

"Head head head…heaaaaaads…"

"Oh, of course I won't…should it come to that."

"Heads…heads…heads…!"

"I shall only kill him if he absolutely refuses to go back. That's what I mean."

"Heads heads heads? Heads…"

"Oh, of course. How inconsiderate of me. Of course, our current targets will all die excruciatingly painful deaths."

"Heads heads heads…"

"…What in the world do cupcakes have to do with this? I swear, you say the most random things sometimes."