Once A Shadow - From the other side

Now, I thought to myself about 40 odd years ago that if Shadow, Fitzgerald and I managed to get here, why couldn't others? To that end, I started searching. 40 odd years later, there is now a decently large group of former humans now living in Equestrian society, all centrally located in the now renovated fortress in the San Palomino desert. All of them came from many corners of the globe and Equestria, ranging from Sydney Australia to the Russian/Chechnya border and from Canterlot to Stalliongrad to Seaddle. This group, officially known as H.I.V.E ( Headquarters for Inter-species Violation Enforcers, or Humans In disguise being Vigilant for Equestria as we like to call it) is tasked with handling all inter-species (ie pony/griffon etc) dilemmas, both big and small. Nearly all of the people here were bronies, in all shapes and forms, from cooks, office workers, army navy and air force, and one or two even from parliament and congress! Each one had their own special story to tell, and I've heard every single one of them. I flew over to the front gate and nodded at the pony guarding it. He gave me a smile and let me through, before picking up an apple and snacking on it. Inside ponies, griffons and changelings were all busy doing what each of them did best, doing paperwork, cleaning, cooking, you name it. I walked up to one of the ponies sitting at a desk and gave a wave. "Hey Flash Drive, what's been happening this week?" I asked with a smile.

"Oh, hey Hornet. Not too much, we've gotten two cases of assault, one of domestic dispute and not much else. Biggest thing this week was a request from the Griffons to increase trade to the Crystal Empire. That's about it." He replied.

"Thanks, keep me posted." I said before walking away. I headed upstairs to the offices and knocked on one of the doors.

"Come in." A voice from behind the door said. I opened and walked in, before putting a smile on my face. "Well, Hornet! Nice to see you again. How's things? Care for a drink?." Buck Shot asked, pouring a glass of Whiskey for me.

"Sure, thanks." I replied, downing the drink in one swig. "Just came by to check on things, the usual."

"I see, I see. Well, not much is happening, so just make sure to keep yourself outta trouble okay?" he smiled as I started to walk out. "Armour Piercing, why didn't I think of that name?" He mumbled to himself as he looked at the newspaper on his desk. I was about to leave the fort when Princess Luna teleported in front of me.

"Ah, Captain hornet, We wish to speak to you." She said.

"How the heck did you find me?" I asked.

"We are the Princess that controls the moon, finding a pony like thou was easy."

"Hah, right, forgot about that. What did you want to talk about?"

"We have a situation that requires the attention of all squads of the Fugien Mones. The briefing will be in three days when the Archer Squad arrives. Shadow is rather excited about meeting them." She said with a bit of a giggle.

"Obviously. Well if that's all, I'll say farewell your highness."

"Indeed. Goodbye Hornet. We shall meet again soon." And with that, she teleported away. I was about to take off when a dark brown unicorn with a beard by the name of Half Life (with the logo of Half Life as a cutie mark) appeared in front of me. (with a crowbar in hoof).

"Sorry to take up your time, but we've just gotten a report of a changeling that appeared in Dodge Junction, going by the name of John Smith. he's being held by the local sheriff until we get there. Care to come along?"

"Sure, why not, ain't got anything better to do for a day or two." With that, he teleported us to Dodge Junction. The changeling in question had been crying out his innocence of being a changeling spy for nearly the entire time after being taken into custody. We arrived with him still pleading his innocence with a yell that could be heard from the other side of the street. We walked in and the sheriff greeted us with a warm handshake/hoofshake.

"Thank Celestia you're here, he's been like that ever since we put him in here. You're with H.I.V.E right?" He asked.

Half Life flashed a badge. "That's right, we'll take him off your hooves. Your can sleep tonight." We followed the sheriff to where he was being held, and the sheriff unlocked the door for us.

"You're here to release me, right?" the changeling asked.

"Not quite, you're coming with us." I replied. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you, I just want you to come with us."

"O-Okay." He said nervously before walking out of the cell and following us. As we walked out, I shifted over to John.

"So, John Smith huh? couldn't think of something more original?"

"What do you mean?"

"Cut the act Mr Homo Sapien, just tell us your real name."

"You, you know that I was human?"

"Uh, yeah, we both do. That's why we were sent here, to get you before anyone else did."

"Wait, what are you going to do to me?" He asked, stepping away from us.

I smiled. "We're going to feast on your entrails and devour your flesh." I said sarcastically. "Not really, we're going to take you to some more of us, give you a place to stay, a place to work, etc."

"R-really?"

"Really. Just remember this: You must NEVER tell anyone that you were a human. Humans don't technically exist here, and we wanna keep it that way, got it?"

"Okay, I got it."

"So, details. Who were you and what did you do?"

"Well, my name is-"

"Was." I corrected.

"Right. My name WAS Adam Jensen, and I was a security chief at a cybernetic company. I died when terrorists broke in and stole some DoD tech and to be honest, I never asked for this."

"Right, well, hold tight." I said as we were teleported to the fort. "Right, your new name is going to be Duty Shift, and you'll be working on the security detail for us here at H.I.V.E. Hopefully it works out better than your last job. Half Life, can you take care of the rest? I have other places to be."

"Gotcha, right this way Mr Shift." he said as the two went inside. I took off and flew back towards Cloudsdale, grabbed a warm drink and sat down on a bench overlooking the countryside below.

"Just another day at the office, as always." I said to myself before taking a sip of my drink. Just then, Crystal popped out in front of me, making me jump a little. "Oh, hey Crystal."

"Hey. Umm, I wanted to ask you something." She said nervously.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, would you mind if I went out with somepony else? It's not that I don't like you anymore, it's just that somepony has said that they are interested in me."

"That would depend on who it is."

"...Princess Luna."

I spat out some of my drink that I was about to swallow. "S-seriously?" She nodded. "Well, I can't say no to the princess can I? Tell me, why is she interested in you?"

"Well, she says I'm rather talented with magic, and my knowledge of necromancy somehow intrigues her. She also said I was kind of cute." she said blushing a little.

"Well, it's fine by me, I hope it works out. Before you go, one thing from you."

"what is it?"

"This." I said before giving her a kiss "There you go."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. now go on now, before I change my mind." She smiled before heading off.

Just another day at the office, almost.