Equestria, Ponyville
Castle of Friendship
Midnight
Twilight Sparkle lay in her bed, staring up through a skylight at the dazzling stars. She wasn't asleep but wide awake, as slumber had not made itself present. Ever since she had returned from Manhattan, turned from a Princess into a battle-hardened SHD Agent, she had figured part of her life would never leave New York.
And she was right. Nightmares about her time in New York came and went, but they were unrelenting in most nights jolting her awake in a cold sweat and panic, while she reached for her nonexistent sidearm.
Flash Sentry holding a gun to her head...the Cleaners at the NY Boardwalk and countless other images flashed through her head on a nightly basis, and even with Princess Luna's help, they wouldn't leave her alone. The Princess of the Night had told her that these were not mere dreams made from her mind, but recollections of her weakest moments, and she should not let herself feel responsible for it. But she did feel responsible.
"Nuh…" she moaned. The fallout from her trip to New York had been expansive. Lightning Dust and Flash Sentry's families had wanted to know how they died, and after Twilight had told them she could not tell them, a court battle had ensued. Twilight had been told by Celestia to reveal the truth, that Flash Sentry and Lightning Dust had betrayed Equestria, went to another world, were responsible for several murders in said world, and both had tried to kill her. The court had laughed until Twilight drew her sidearm, fired three shots into the ceiling, and told them this.
"That's the truth, whether you like it or not."
After that, she had shown them Flash Sentry holding her at gunpoint, Lightning Dust's LMB squad, and countless more images of Manhattan through a spell that replayed her memories visually.
Suffice to say, there was no more laughing after that was shown. Twilight had been the subject of scrutiny about her killing people and several newspaper stories of the derisive type since then, that is until a reporter ended up talking not to Princess Twilight, but SHD agent Twilight for an interview, that was of course unscheduled.
That reporter walked out of her castle shaking, shivering, and near crying from Twilight's descriptions of Manhattan, and no one dared say anything else. For the most part, the fever and speculation had died down after that.
"Twilight?"
She looked over to see Starlight Glimmer look at her apprehensively.
"You're still awake?" she asked.
"Yeah." she said. "Just thinking."
"You don't think in the middle of the night." Starlight said. "What's wrong?"
"You don't know what's wrong, Starlight!" Twilight snapped. "...sorry."
"It's okay." her student replied. "Nightmares?"
"What do you think?" Twilight replied miserably. "They're getting worse, and I've nearly shot the ceiling full of holes eleven times now! I can't close my eyes without seeing all the people I killed right in front of me! I'm breaking down, Starlight. Then there's the fact that if Lau and the SHD need me, I have to go back! You all saw what I did! I KILLED PEOPLE!"
Starlight brought her friend into a tight hug.
"You're not a killer, Twilight." she replied softly. "You said it yourself, they didn't deserve to live. And there was nothing you could do to save them."
"I wish there was." Twilight groaned into Starlight's shoulder.
"I do to." Starlight said. "You're tearing yourself apart at the seams. Get some help from the Princesses or a psychologist, and most of all, get some sleep."
"Alright."
Twilight set her head down, and Starlight made sure she was sleeping before she left. Starlight looked at her one last time before she closed the door.
==========
Manhattan, New York City
Madison Square Garden
JTF Base of Operations, NY Post office
The night was still, and eerily cold. Outside the Post Office, on the ramparts, several JTF soldiers accompanied by Nick Sykes, Anubis, and Kestrel.
"Quiet out, huh?" Anubis said. Since the LMB defeat at the Depository, he had been more outgoing as a person. Kestrel shrugged and rolled his hazel eyes, his pitch-black hair waving in the slight breeze. Kestrel had made a point of taking off his usual SHD Mask, and wearing a scarf.
"Lieutenant?" Nick asked a JTF soldier. "How's things?"
"Not too bad." the soldier replied. "It's quiet out, a nice break from being shot at."
"Amen to that." Kestrel said. Nick sighed and sat down on a concrete pillar, set down his Enhanced ACR-E, and crossed his arms. For a while, it seemed he might doze off, until his eyes jolted open.
"You hear that?" he asked the two First Wave agents.
"Hear what?" they replied. Then, there were faint pops that seemed to be coming from a building next to Madison Square arena. All of them realized it was gunfire. Suppressed gunfire.
"JTF, hold here. We'll check it out." Nick said. He, Anubis, and Kestrel grabbed their weapons and followed the sound, thanks to a miniature Boomerang shot detection system in their SHD tech. They eventually found the source around a office building about a block from the Post Office. Nick picked the lock on the door, and they entered, the pitch-dark interior revealing no clues. Kestrel turned on his flashlight, along with the other agents, and soon they found a red stain on the floor.
"Blood." Nick said. "Trail leads under this door. Stack to breach."
They assumed positions around the door, and Nick kicked it down. Upon seeing what was inside, they gagged. Nearly ten dead Rioters lay on the floor, gunshot wounds in all of them. One lay prostrate on a military box, something oblong in his head. Nick activated a pulse, and found no targets.
"Who took these guys out?" Anubis asked. Nick searched for a bit, and soon found an active ECHO beacon.
"Stack up." he said, and he activated the digital reconstruction. Nick watched as the rioters stood against the wall, before they were gunned down. Then, one more rioter came in, and tripped over something, falling onto the crate. Then, something smashed into the back of his head, and he fell dead. Finally, Nick heard faint voices.
"That's the last of them."
"Nice work. Standish, you there?"
"I'm here. Cache is secure."
"Roger that. Let's get a move on. Grab the brass, leave the bodies."
"What about the axe?"
"Leave it."
Whoever was speaking left, and the ECHO playback ended. Nick grimaced as he searched the Rioter on the crate. Feeling a rod coming out from the head of the corpse, he pulled hard, causing something metallic to fall to the floor.
"Nick, what is it?" Kestrel asked.
"An axe." he said, holding it up. It was custom made, with a black carbon-fiber handle and a steel edge. The most intimidating thing was the logo on the blade. A snarling, yellow wolf.
"That's not SHD issue." Kestrel replied. "Looks like a survival axe."
"Or a tomahawk." Anubis added. "But why would this one be in the back of a Rioter's head?"
"I don't know." Nick said, stowing the Axe on his belt. "But we'd better secure this site. I have a feeling we're not alone."
They radioed the JTF to secure their position, and they headed back to the post office. As they entered the street, atop a building, a sniper watched them. Clad in black heavy-assault armor, his M40A3 Sniper Rifle was pointed at Nick's head, with his yellow-wolf patch on his arm glistening in the moonlight.
"I've got them in my scope." he murmured into a radio. "Take it?"
"Negative." said a voice. "They don't know who we are. Pull out before you're scrapped."
"Roger that. Standish out."
The Hunter stood up, grabbed his rifle, and grappled down the side of the building towards a building that had recently been visited by Cleaners. Moving the burnt debris aside, he pulled open a manhole cover and slid down, leaving no trace of his presence.
======
Standish walked through a tunnel into a small electrical hub, that apart from a laptop and several arms and tech caches, was devoid of life. He plugged a USB into the laptop, and he sat down.
"Report, Standish." said a voice.
"They found the bodies, and the axe we left behind." Standish said.
"Was the cache compromised?"
"Negative." Standish replied. "They left."
"Good. Keep an eye on them, Standish. Night Mother out."
Standish took off his assault mask, revealing a man's face, with worn, close-cut brown hair and green eyes. He took his bandolier off, which carried the SHD watches of his so-called "claims", and set it on his weapons cache. He brushed his fingers along each of the tags, sighing.
"I didn't ask for any of this." he murmured, before he grabbed his bandolier, his sniper rifle and LVOA-C, and he left the station, leaving no trace behind.
Author's Note
New sequel!
And yes, there are more Hunters out there. Standish is one of them. In my mind, Hunters are First Wave SHD agents that are supposedly dead, and ended up in Keener's position (going rogue.) They've made it their mission to take out loyal SHD agents to make them known...and feared.
They possess First Wave tech, including EMP pulses and SHD skills, and my favorite part, semi-active camouflage built into their armor.
