As Twilight looked around at the snowflakes falling down outside her window, she sighed and turned back to her essay on Cutie Mark magic. She smiled and continued to write, smiling to herself.

"Twi?"

Twilight turned to Spike, who walked up.

"I thought you should have this. It came in the mail when you weren't here."

Twilight opened the envelope and scanned the letter. She sighed and smiled.

"It's from Sunset. She says she needs my help at Canterlot High. And before you ask Spike, you don't have to be a dog again."

Spike sighed in relief.

"Just be careful, Twi. I mean, that mirror just seems weird to me."

"I'll be fine."

Twilight walked downstairs towards the room where the mirror portal was set up. Activating it, the familiar blue vortex appeared. Stepping in, she smiled and relaxed. Then, everything went black.

===================================================================

Twilight's eyes fluttered open. She stood up and looked around. She wasn't at Canterlot High. In fact, she didn't even recognize where she was. She was in some kind of city, by the looks of it.. Large buildings towered above her. Cars lay destroyed and abandoned in the streets. Burned stores and residences graced the sides, and what wasn't burned out was covered in graffiti. Twilight could see the smoke rising from multiple places in the skyline. She sighed and began to walk, passing more devastated cityscape.

And walk.

And walk.

And walk.

By the time Twilight stopped, she had been walking for at least two hours, judging by the time on her watch. She sighed and pulled out the Cell phone Twilight had bought while at Canterlot High. She tried to turn in on, and sighed.

"Dead battery."

Twilight swore again, and noticed a vacant door on what seemed to be an apartment building. She slipped in, and looked around. The lobby was deserted, with furniture scattered all over, and burn marks covering the walls. She noticed a door marked "Pantry", opened it, and sighed. A few crates marked with "JTF" were there, along with a duffel bag. Then, she heard footsteps behind her and a dull click.

"Turn around slowly."

She did, and her eyes met that of a human male in his thirties, with messy brown hair and stubble. He was clad in a black jacket, jeans, and shoes, which looked like they hadn't been washed for a time. He had a gun pointed at her face. Then, he sighed and lowered it.

"Heh. Sorry about the gun. Just needed to make sure you weren't a looter." he said, pulling her into a first-floor apartment. The man shut the door and locked it, then he sat down on the sofa.

"Well, what's with you? Wandering out on the streets of New York?" he asked.

"I think I'm lost." Twilight said.

"Well, the least I can do is give you directions to a safe house. There, you can get some food and a roof over your head. There's one off Broadway." he said.

"Thanks. I'm Twilight, by the way."

"I'm Adam." he replied. "You foreign?"

"Foreign?" Twilight replied, confused.

"Yeah. Well, what I meant was are you from New York?" Adam replied.

"No." Twilight replied. "I'm not from here."

"Well, then, welcome to New York, Twilight. Once, one of the most beautiful cities I knew. Now? It's a godforsaken war-zone." Adam replied, scowling.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Sit down. That story will take a while." Adam replied. Twilight nodded and sat next to him on the couch.

"Well, it all started on Black Friday. During the day, People started coming down with symptoms of a virus called smallpox. We didn't think it was a big deal. Except more and more people became sick, and those who became sick became sicker and died. Soon, it completely went out of control. People dying in droves from the so-called "Green poison." We found out the virus was circulating via the cash we were using, so, yeah. Things turned to a fucking hellhole pretty fast. Riots in the streets, Central Park becoming a mass burial ground, the National Guard, then the Army being called in, then the government said "Fuck you, New York" and built a quarantine wall around New York City. The virus was contained, but now, it's every man for himself. Food, running water and even electricity are luxuries. We got the looters, Rikers, LMB, and Cleaners all trying to survive, though all those people are just murderers. We put our hope in the JTF's first wave of responders, but from what I've heard over the radio, they're all missing or dead. The second wave's doing what they can. I managed to get some info from friends that the JTF killed the head of the Cleaners, Rikers, AND the LMB, and Times Square's all lit up like it's supposed to be, and I've heard the JTF base at the Post Office went from a trash heap to paradise. I bet they even have running water." Adam said.

"What's the LMB and those other groups?"

Adam sighed.

"The Last Man Battalion was a private military contractor group that was called in to safeguard Wall Street financial assets. When they got left behind, those bastards ended up going crazy and taking over the United Nations headquarters. Basically, the lead guy in the LMB, Colonel Bliss? That bastard was sending soldiers to apartment buildings and saying "Join or die" to the residents at gunpoint. The Rikers? Those guys and gals are state prisoners who broke out from Rikers Island Prison and are running rampant. The Cleaners? They're former sanitation workers that think the only way to save New York and the world is burn everything to the ground. Simply put, they're goddamn pyromaniacs." Adam said, getting up and walking over to a window.

"What about you?" Twilight asked.

"I'm just a guy trying to survive hell on earth. I lost my nephew to the Green Poison. He was staying with me for the weekend. He didn't know it would be his last." Adam said, and Twilight thought she saw a tear in his eye before he wiped it away.

"I'm sorry." Twilight said.

"Yeah. At least he's in a better place. I hope heaven has a better CDC than we do." Adam said, smiling at his joke.

"Yeah." Twilight said. Suddenly, Adam turned and grabbed Twilight by the shoulders.

"Listen. I'm going to make a run for the Post Office Safehouse. I've heard rumors the Cleaners are moving into this neighborhood, and those fuckers roast people alive. You should come with. I think we have a better chance for survival there than here." Adam said. Twilight nodded, and Adam walked over to a closet. Opening it, Twilight saw a hunting rifle and a small pistol. Adam shouldered the rifle. Taking the pistol, he took Twilight's hand and folded it over the grip.

"Use it only if you need to."

"How do I use it?" Twilight asked.

"You aim, you pull the trigger. Try to hit the head." Adam said. "You have fifteen shots. I'm almost out of ammo, so use them wisely."

Twilight nodded, and Adam opened the door to the street.. As they walked through the city, Adam told her a bit about the New York he used to know. At one point, they stopped at the ruins of a cafe'.

"There's Santos's, that place had great coffee. I knew the boss, Jeremy Santos. He was a great guy." Adam said. "Gave me free drinks sometimes. Pretty good chess player too."

"Where is he?" Twilight asked.

"Last I heard from him was a month ago. We had a two-way radio connection. He said he was gonna try to make it to the Post Office. I haven't heard from him since." Adam said. "We should get moving."

As they walked, Adam kept glancing over his shoulder. Then, he suddenly pulled Twilight into an alley. As he looked around the corner, he swore.

"Adam? What's wrong?" Twilight whispered.

"Fucking Cleaners." Adam replied.

"Can't we take them?" Twilight asked.

"Not in a million fucking years. There's six of them, two of us. We have a hunting rifle and a pistol, with 30 rounds total. Those bastards have flamethrowers, armor, and assault rifles. probably with as much ammo as they can carry. We could take them if there was one of 'em, but we can't. There's just too many of them. Let them pass."

As Twilight and Adam hid behind a dumpster, she got a look at the Cleaners. Some were clad in jackets, with green stripes. Each had a large red tank on their back, connected via a tube to the flamethrowers in their hands. They were all wearing balaclavas, and as they walked closer, Twilight grew more and more nervous. As they neared the alley, they stopped and looked around. Then, one of them cried out.

"Fuckers in the alley!"

Before Adam and Twilight knew it, they had a flamethrower and two assault rifles pointed at their face. Twilight tensed up in fright.

"Well, well. We got two prowlers, boys."

A cleaner wearing heavy armor and two flame tanks stepped up. Twilight could see a name tag on his chest.

SANCHEZ

"We don't want any trouble. We're not infected." Twilight said hastily.

Sanchez laughed.

"You go out on the streets? That means two things. One? You're looking for a safe place. Two? You're looking for trouble." Sanchez replied.

"Well, whatever. Like she said, we don't want any trouble. Just let us be on our way." Adam said.

"Like I would let a good-looking man and a hot chick out of my sight." Sanchez said. Twilight growled at this, which made Sanchez laugh again.

"Well, looks like the chick's got a 'tude. Let's see if we can't take it down a notch." Sanchez said, turning around. Then, he spun back and shot Adam in the leg. Adam screamed in pain, and grabbed his leg.

"Next." he said, pointing his gun at Twilight, who closed her eyes.

There was a sound of thunder, and Twilight braced for her death. Except it never came. As she opened her eyes, she saw Sanchez flinch, and a dull thunk resonated. Sparks flew from above her, and Twilight looked around frantically. A second shot, and one of the Cleaners in the back collapsed. Then, a flurry of gunshots erupted from behind a car.

"Fucker! Find 'em!" Sanchez called out, and the Cleaners began firing in random directions. Then, Twilight saw a small black box come up from behind the car, which formed into some sort of gun. It began firing at the Cleaners, and Twilight saw the Cleaners shooting at it. Then, more gunshots, and a second Cleaner fell. Twilight growled and looked at Adam, who was panting heavily and clutching his bullet wound. She swore and her hands began to glow.

"Let's hope this works." Twilight thought, and she applied the healing magic. The wound closed up, and Adam stopped breathing as fast as he was. He turned to look at her, and smiled weakly.

"I don't know how the fuck you just did that, but I'm grateful." he said.

"What would you say if I said I'm from an alternate dimension?" Twilight whispered.

"I would say bullshit normally, but I fucking believe you. Now's not the best time, though." Adam said, smiling and turning to watch the battle in the streets. As the Cleaners fired at the turret, it blew up, then a human dived out from behind the car. He was clad in a pale blue and brown jacket, with black pants and hiking shoes. A brown cap rested on his head, and some sort of device rested on his shoulder. He dive-rolled behind a second car and threw a spiked orb along the ground like a bowling ball. A ring on the side turned red, and it rolled towards a third Cleaner and exploded. The human shot down a fourth, and then dived out of the way of Sanchez's flamethrower, now sending bolts of napalm towards him.

"Fuck you! You killed my crew!" Sanchez said, spraying fire like a maniac. The human said nothing as he entered a combat crouch and opened fire. Sanchez fell to one knee, and attempted to pull out a pistol, but a final gunshot ended his life. The man walked over to the alley, and looked down at the two of them. Twilight saw he had black hair, with a clean-shaven face. He had a small scar on his left cheek. He extended a hand, which Adam grabbed. The man pulled up, and smiled again. He extended his hand again, and pulled up Twilight.

"You two okay?" he asked.

"We're fine." Adam replied. Then, a voice spoke.

"I've got evac incoming, Nick."

Twilight turned to see three more humans, two males, one female, walking up. Each carried different weapons, but all had the same tag on their shoulders, along with a black and orange watch.

"Copy that." Nick said. Then, a robotic voice spoke.

"WARNING-ADDITIONAL HOSTILES INCOMING!"

"Copy that, ISAC." Nick said. Taking Twilight and Adam, he shoved them into the backseat of a van.

"Stay here and keep your head down." Nick said, closing the door. Twilight scampered up to the windshield and saw the four humans taking defensive positions. One of them threw down some sort of box, another threw down a rectangular box which extended into a barrier, the third drew a launcher of some kind, the last one threw down another turret. Then, a large garbage truck drove up, with Cleaners hanging on to the sides. The driver got out the side door and sprayed a stream of flame. Twilight watched nervously as the Cleaners leveled guns at the humans who had saved them. Then, Nick motioned, and the team opened fire. As the Cleaners took cover, the four humans kept firing, sometimes diving back into cover to reload. As Cleaners fell one by one, the leader of the four motioned, and the one behind the Mobile Cover pulled out a large tube and fired. An object flew out, and then when it nearly reached the last Cleaner, it exploded. The launcher smiled and stood up.

"Bastards." he said in a booming accent.

"Amen to that!" the fourth said.

"Cut the chatter. Harper? Where's our evac?" Nick asked the female.

"Right there." the female replied. As Paul helped Twilight and Adam out of the car, a large Black-hawk helicopter landed, the side marked with "JTF". As the four boarded with Twilight and Adam, Nick banged three times on the side, and the helicopter took off into the skyline.

Author's Note

Here is the info on the four agents (Loadout and skillset)

Division Squad Sierra-Kilo
Nicholas Sykes-Head
Harper Andrews-Medic
Dimitri Rhodevski-Tank
Logan Johnston-Marksman

Weapons and Skills (All skills upgraded to master)
Paul-Turret (Active Sensor), Pulse (Heartbreaker)
ACR Assault Rifle
MP7 SMG
M9 sidearm
Harper-Seeker Mine (Split Mod), Support Station (Ammo Cace)
P90 SMG
M1014 Shotgun
M1911 sidearm
Dimitri-Riot Shield (Kinetic Breaker), Stickybomb (BFB)
M240B LMG
Saiga 12G shotgun
.357 Magnum sidearm
Logan-First Aid (Booster Shot), Mobile Cover (Countermeasures)
Mark 14 EBR marksman rifle
MP5 SMG.
P226 Sidearm