Langley, Virginia
On approach to the George Bush Center of Intelligence

Thirteen hours later…

“Alright squad, listen up. As many of you have already heard, there was an unknown energy pulse from the headquarters of the CIA. Our job is to investigate the pulse, recover any intel, and if necessary, extract civilians or anything of value.” Agent Samuels called out to his team over the radio. “We hit the ground in two minutes!”

“Check!” Agent Marcy Kendall replied as she inspected the scope of her Tactical .308 marksman rifle. “Any signs of the Black Tusk?”

“None so far.” Agent Laura Barrents affirmed, as she steaded her grip on the Blackhawk’s door handhold. “Ever since the attack on the White House, they’ve been settling down their operations, at least for the moment.”

“Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” Agent Shane Moseley huffed as the Blackhawk began to descend. “Looks like we’ve hit our stop.”

As the six Division Agents disembarked, the JTF pilot gave them a thumbs-up as their helicopter departed for the White House. Once all six Agents gave him a thumbs-up, Agent Samuels led them towards the doors of the target building. In the calm morning breeze, a torn American flag, and one bearing the logo of the CIA flew loosely in the light.

Agent Samuels pulled one of the main doors open, and the six Division Agents got a good view of the devastation inside the building. Much of the glass in the windows and on display cases had been smashed, there was debris and building materials scattered everywhere, and a small measure of water covered the floor in more than a few areas.

“This place has seen better days, but then again, we all have.” Agent Oliver Grant mused, moving the mounted flashlight on his Military MK46 down a darkened, debris-laden hallway. Upon seeing that nothing was out of the ordinary, he lowered his weapon…only for Agent Kendall to hold up a closed fist as she stepped into a nearby atrium.

“Something wrong?” Agent Samuels asked, aligning his Custom P416 to cover his fellow Agent’s right flank. “What's up?”

“Not sure.” Kendall replied. “I thought I heard two people talking, but now, it's all clear."

“So we’re potentially not alone here.” Agent Jason Travers adjusted his stance and grip on his Vector SBR .45 ACP. “Try pulsing, maybe it’ll pick something up.”

Agent Kenall nodded and tapped a switch on her SHD Watch, and through their ScanTek contact lenses and ISAC Brick, their surroundings were illuminated by an hgh-frequency soundwave. There were several flashes of orange light as the pulse covered the area, and then faded away.

“Nothing, no contacts detected.” she replied, viewing the message on her HUD. “Must’ve been my imagination. Let’s keep moving.”

“Hold up a moment.” Agent Samuels said, moving to the front of the group and motioning to a nearby hallway. “Your pulse didn’t pick up contacts…but ISAC's detecting a large heat source not far from our position. Let’s pick up the pace…we might not be alone after all.”

As the Agents moved down the hallway with their weapons ready, they didn’t notice a pair of human figures watching them from an upper balcony with wide eyes and shaking hands…

===

“Rainbow Dash, we really shouldn’t be doing this!” Apple Jay whispered in a frightened manner. “It’s bad enough that we snuck away from camp, but going out this far is just asking for something worse to happen.”

“C’mon, Apple Jay, this is all new to me!” Rainbow Dash replied in a hushed but excited manner. “I just wanna take a look around, what’s so bad about that?”

“Because one of the main things that Princess Twilight said to all of us was that we’re trying not to be noticed and to keep a low profile?” Apple Jay scolded. “Geez you’re just as stubborn as Rainbow Blitz when she tried to fix her motorcycle by herself! She nearly blew out the engine by just from trying to change the oil!"

“I’m not that stubborn, trust me on that.” Dash replied. “Also…what’s a motorcycle?”

“Goddamn it, Rainbow Dash!” Apple Jay swore, until she noticed a second set of humans arrive. As she shoved her Equestrian companion down, she moved to get a better look at them. They were mostly clad in black, with some gray or white highlights here and there. Their faces were all concealed in some way, whether it was a balaclava or a standard facemask.

Two of them carried backpacks stuffed with grenades, along with a MK32 Launcher, and another hefted one with small drones attached to it. The leader, who didn't wear a pack, but was just as heavily armed, held up a closed fist. The other soldiers immediately stopped, and their leader leaned into his shoulder.

"Control, this is Blazer." the man said into his shoulder radio. "We've arrived at the objective, and are beginning our search now. Be advised, potential Division presence on site…I copy, but no guarantees on that one, Control…Understood. Commencing now."

"Listen up!" the soldier called. "Buddy up, and take a hallway. We'll rendezvous at the primary rally point. Keep a low profile. If the Division gets wind of us, disengage and call for reinforcements before attacking. Am I understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the other soldiers called back, and they split up into three groups of two, heading down a separate hallway. Once they were out of sight, Apple Jay turned to Rainbow Dash with an expression of fright on her face.

"We need to get back to camp and warn everyone else that we've got company ." she growled to Rainbow Dash, who nodded back at her. "Let's go!"

As the two of them headed back to their base camp as quietly, yet as fast as possible, they didn't notice the glint of a sniper's scope up on the roof of the atrium.. The one behind the trigger steadied his grip carefully, as he knew his orders were to observe the new arrivals, not engage them directly.

The figure, completely clad in black and gray, wearing a ballistic mask with three slashes in white and heavy combat gear, picked up his rifle and headed towards the stairway, beginning his descent into the building's underbelly.

====

"Apple Jay, Rainbow Dash, where have you two been?" Princess Twilight called out as the sidetracked Equestrian and human came into view. "We were scared that you were lost, injured, or worse!"

"Yeah, now's not a good time for that, Twi." Rainbow Dash hurriedly placed a hand to Princess Twilight's mouth. "We're not alone here. There's two groups of people looking for us."

The eyes of everyone turned to the two of them in an alarmed manner, as Apple Jay began to explain.

"We were on a balcony in some kind of atrium, and we saw both groups enter. The first one may have been more of those Division Agents, judging by what they were wearing, and they had those glowing orange wristwatches. I think the other guys, who were mostly wearing black, arrived a couple minutes after that. I really don't think we should stay here much longer."

"I agree." Prince Blueblood added from where he sat near a supply crate. He no longer wore his usual suit and tie, but a long-sleeved gray shirt and a blue down jacket. "If these groups are both looking for us, that means twice the risk of being caught."

"Though…" Sunset Shimmer added, "Since neither of those groups knows where we are right now, if we leave, we could run into either of them. IT also goes without saying we'd need to move all our supplies with us. That'll take a while, and if we leave them behind, there's no promise we'll get them back."

"Okay...lemme think for a moment." Twilight said, turning away to get some privacy, only to freeze up in her tracks a few moments later.

"Twilight, what's…wrong…" Rarity asked, only to trail off as a red laser dot appeared on her chest, then moved upward to her head. As more dots appeared, Twilight slowly began charging her magic to place a magical barrier, her hands beginning to glow…only for a bullet to fly past her, almost grazing her right ear.

"Whatever you're doing, I suggest you stop before things get ugly…." said a male voice, authoritative and intimidating. The second group of figures emerged from all around, their guns at the ready.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked, trying to conceal the fear in her voice.

"You can call me Blazer." their leader replied. "I suggest you come with us quietly, or we'll make you."

"That's not going to happen!" Rainbow Burst snarled back. "You show up out of nowhere and aim guns at us, and you expect us to just go somewhere with you guys just because you said so?"

"I'm not going to ask again." Blazer replied, placing his Tactical MK16's laser sight right on Rainbow Dash's forehead. "You come with us, or we will treat you as a threat."

"We'll take our chances, thank you." Princess Twilight replied, her hands were strangely being kept behind her back. Blazer sighed and motioned for his men to advance. As they drew closer, Twilight immediately threw up a barrier, making Blazer and his soldiers flinch visibly. One soldier fired two shots at the shield, and the bullets fell straight to the ground on impact.

"You're not getting through this barrier." Twilight replied with a smirk. "Now, how about you and your friends go back to wherever you came from, and leave us alone?"

Blazer leaned into his shoulder radio, and spoke quietly into it. After a few moments, he motioned to his squad, who immediately took up a half-circle formation.

"What are they doing?" Eventide asked, only for her question to be immediately answered, as a volley of gunfire erupted. Twilight braced herself, focusing everything on keeping her shield up. She quickly realized that one or two bullets wouldn't harm it, but six soldiers unloading entire magazines of ammo at her was a different case. She began to sweat from the effort, and just as she was about to reach her limit…there was a gunshot from the left side, and one of the soldiers fell to the ground.

"It's an ambush!" one of the soldiers cried out. "We've got a man down, going to him!"

"Find them and waste 'em!" Blazer ordered as his soldiers took cover. The increasing amount of gunfire aimed towards the soldiers kept their heads down and their attention diverted, allowing Twilight to regain her focus. Then, a small metal object landed amongst the soldiers, and detonated in a blinding flash. One by one, the soldiers strayed from cover and were shot down immediately. Blazer was soon the only one left standing, and as he surveyed his surroundings, he felt something press into the back of his head.

Blazer spun around, and came face to face with the Division Agent known as "the Sheriff" by the JTF. Blazer tried to draw a pistol, only for three shots to erupt, and he fell to the ground. As the Equestrians watched the man approach, along with five others that had been hiding in the shadows, Sunset caught sight of their glowing orange wristwatches.

"You're all Division agents, aren't you?" she called out, and the lead agent nodded before speaking.

"We are. Now that first introductions are out of the way, we need to get moving." he replied. "Once the Black Tusk realize they lost a squad, they'll send plenty of reinforcements. We may have the firepower to match them right, but not for a prolonged engagement. Pack your things, let's get going."

As the Equestrians nodded and began packing up, Twilight cast a spell over the crates that had already been unloaded, which shrunk them down to the size of a playing dice. The Division Agents raised their eyebrows, but didn't say anything as they knew they'd get answers later. Once everything was packed, Twilight turned to the lead Agent and gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, let's move!" the Agent ordered, and the Agents took point as the combined group left the area, heading through the hallways that led to the entrance, and an extraction helicopter.

Author's Note

Update!