Sunset Hunter

by Marezinger Z

Part 1

With Hunter back in her arms, Sunset slept like the dead that night following his return. Since it was going into Sunday, no alarm was set and when she finally awoke it was past eleven in the morning. Her cheek was still against Hunter’s chest, and she could hear him breathing steadily as he continued to slumber. With a long, contented sigh she smiled and traipsed her fingers up and down his side. In an instant, her mind recalled what they had talked about the night prior; that being his request that she consider becoming his partner. Far less emotional than she was just hours ago, she took a moment to really imagine what all of that would entail and what it would mean for her. Before she knew it, almost forty minutes had passed, and she felt Hunter begin to stir.

“Mm,” Hunter looked down at her with a comforting smile. “Morning, Sunny.” His ran his hand up her back, fingers flowing into her hair.

“Morning, Hunter.” She pulled herself up a bit and kissed him.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” She nodded but frowned a bit. “I’m sorry last night was such a roller-coaster, I just…

“Hey,” He stopped her. “I was riding in the same car you were. We’re off the ride now, so we can just go throw up in a trash can together and call it a done deal.”

Sunset let out an involuntary snort. “Not how I was going to put it, but okay.” She hefted herself and slid on top of him, straddling his waist and balancing herself. “So what do you want to do today?”

“Actually, I need to make some calls and take care of the mission debriefing.” He said with reluctance. “But tonight, I’ll be all yours.”

She smiled and patted his chest. “Okay, sounds like a deal. I’ll meet up with the girls, they were so good to me while you were gone; I’ll make it up to them with lunch.”

“Perfect, I’ll give you a call when I’m wrapped up.” He promised.

“Sounds good.” Sunset fell forward and pressed her body against him, laying her lips to his in a long, deliberate kiss. She felt his arms tighten around her and allowed her head to fall to the side of his, pressing their cheeks together. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Hunter whispered into her ear.

They actually stayed in that sweet embrace for a few minutes before parting ways for the time being. As Hunter left to tend to business, Sunset called her friends and invited them out; eager to see her after Hunter’s return, they agreed to meet around two at The Smoothie Operator. Slowly assembling in the parking lot around five till, they claimed a corner booth and got comfortable.

“Well, dear,” Rarity began as she nestled into the cushion. “You look positively glowing now.”

“Yeah,” Sunset slowly nodded. “Listen, I know I said all this already but… thank you all so much for everything you did while Hunter was gone. Now that I’m clearer headed, I know what a wreck I was.”

“Just seeing you better is enough.” Fluttershy sincerely assured. “How is he?”

“He’s good too,” She made a regretful sigh. “He felt so bad when I told him the truth about how I had been, which in turn made me feel even worse.” A mild laugh escaped her. “Ugh… I’m just glad it’s over.”

“Same here,” Pinkie came in. “Sad Sunset is my least favorite Sunset; even behind crazy monster-girl Sunset.”

“He did say something pretty wild though,” Sunset continued. “He… asked if I’d be willing to become his partner on his missions.”

“What!?” Twilight yelped, shrinking as her outburst caught the attention of nearby diners. “That’s insane.” She whispered.

“Yeah, you aren’t a soldier.” Applejack noted.

“Not an agent like him,” Sunset clarified. “He said that sometimes agents have kind of support with them, not so much a combat specialist but a field tech. I could be recommended through his contacts and put in a special training program.”

“Okay, that’s still nuts.” Rainbow Dash offered.

“Yeah, I know.” Sunset admitted. “But… he kind of made a good point.”

“About what, darling.” Rarity asked.

“High school is almost done, and you all have these solid plans for your lives.” Sunset looked over her friends with slightly ashamed eyes. “I… don’t. Yeah, I’m a student, but I was sent here by Celestia. Like Hunter, I don’t have a past in this world and even though I can choose to be whatever I want, what I’m best at is dealing with all these magical threats with you.” She shrugged. “Hunter says why not embrace that and keep fighting to keep the world safe from those threats with him. I know you don’t want to keep doing this for the rest of your lives, you should be able to reach your own goals and realize your own dreams.”

Her friends absorbed her side of the debate quietly for a moment before Twilight spoke up. “Some of that may be true, Sunset; but... if you commit to that then you won’t be able to live a normal life ever again. Working for a secret government organization, it’s cool in movies but look at all that Hunter has to do just to pretend to be a normal guy. Do you really want that?”

Sunset nodded. “That’s the part that scares me the most. Even just what you mentioned would only be the tip of that iceberg.” A long, hard breath passed her lips. “Hunter said that he’d understand if I couldn’t go through with it and that I don’t need to give him an answer anytime soon, but he also said that the only reason he even brought it up is because he knew I could handle it.”

“Well, I’m glad he’s being reasonable about the matter.” Rarity considered. “Still, that is certainly a heavy decision.”

“I had fun working with Hunter,” Fluttershy began. “But there’s no way I could ever live the life he does.”

As they sat in silence, the server came up and asked for their order. They hurriedly sifted through the menu and placed their requests before he headed off again. Rainbow Dash slapped her palms on the table and ran her eyes across the others. “Hey, how about we talk about anything else?”

“Good idea,” Applejack conceded. “We should be celebrating Sunset feeling better, not weighing ourselves down with even more stuff to fuss about.”

“True,” Sunset smiled as she sipped her water. “So, what sounds ‘fuss free’.” She asked with a laugh.

“Well, about three days ago, Bon Bon asked if we could do a Rainboom performance for Lyra’s birthday.” Pinkie informed. “I said I wasn’t sure, because I knew that you wouldn’t be up for it; but if you’re feeling better now then I can tell her yes.”

“That sounds great,” Sunset said with little consideration. “I haven’t touched my guitar since Hunter left, I could stand for some jamming out.”

“Awesome!” Pinkie cheered. “I’ll let her know.” She immediately pulled out her phone and started messaging Bon Bon. A few minutes later their orders arrived, and they fell back into normalcy while enjoying lunch. They spent the better part of the afternoon together, until about five fifteen when Hunter messaged Sunset letting her know he was free to get together. The girls parted ways and Sunset drove to Hunter’s apartment; heading up and knocking on the door, it was quick to open with Hunter grabbing her by the wrist and yanking her inside.

“Hunter!” She shouted in surprise.

“Shh!” He held her against the wall and looked at the door nervously. “There have been reports of a sexy red-head stalking the grounds.”

Sunset’s tense body relaxed, and she slapped his chest with an angry laugh. “Damn you!”

Hunter laughed and held her shoulders, kissing her. “Love you.” He let her go and headed for the kitchen.

“How’d the meeting go?” She fixed her top and followed him.

“Cut and dry.” He noted as he opened the fridge and pulled out a soda. “How are the girls doing?”

“Pretty excited, we’re going to do a performance for Lyra’s birthday.” She relayed.

“Going to pop out of the cake?” He asked wryly.

“A Rainboom performance you perv.” She hopped up on the counter and crossed her legs. “They said to tell you hi and they’re glad you’re back safe.”

“Even Applejack?” He eyed her.

“Even Applejack.” She chuckled. “You want to come with?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He took a long drink. “I demand a solo though.”

“I’ll run it by them.” Sunset shook her head, kicking her leg out and stopping him as he tried to walk by. “You know, I was so exhausted I didn’t get to give you a proper welcome back.”

“Oh?” He faced her, taking her ankle and gently uncrossing her legs. “I didn’t notice.”

“I figured we could take the rest of the night to play catch up.” She welcomed him against her, linking her legs again behind his back and laying her arms over his shoulders.

“Ooh, I love that game.” He ran his hands up her sides, around her shoulders and up to her neck. “What do I get If I win?”

“If you win, I guess we’ll just have to go best two out of three?” She smirked.

“I am clearly rubbing off on you and I love it.” He kissed her, taking her by the butt and lifting her from the counter, staying locked together with her all the way to the bedroom.

---

Sunset stayed with Hunter through the night; the next morning they got up early and Sunset ran home to get ready for school while Hunter prepared to do the same for his ROTC program. Celestia and the others were informed by Sunset that Hunter had needed to leave for a while, so the program was halted in his absence; but he had placed a call to Celestia beforehand letting her know that he would be back today which she passed along to the boys. After fifth period, he reunited with his friends and showed them how much he missed them by running them through paces. As the regimen came to a close, he sat on the grass and laughed as the boys joined him.

“Still miss me?” Hunter asked with a grin.

“Hey, everyone was worried whether or not you’d even be back.” Flash noted. “So yeah, good to be sore again.”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah… there was a lot of that. Still not used to it, having people to come back to is still a new thing.”

“So, what did you have to do?” Bulk asked. “I mean, was it some kind of monster like last time?”

“Hey, those are national security secrets.” Hunter aimed his finger at him. “But no, it wasn’t a monster; at least I made sure it didn’t get that far.”

“That sounds eerie, dude.” Sandalwood leaned in closer.

Hunter leaned back and looked up at the clouds. “I was investigating a so-called coven of witches. Normally that kind of report would fly right by my agency, but they sent a recon agent in to check it out and she gathered a lot of odd accounts in the area. Her report warranted further investigation, so they sent me out there to see what was what.”

“Witches?” The technology minded Microchips asked with suspect. “Like… black cats and broomsticks?”

Hunter laughed. “Witchcraft has been a part of folklore for a long time; it exists, but mostly stuff like this is a bunch of socially awkward girls playing dress up and trying to curse the local jock because he won’t bang them. And at first, that’s what it seemed; I tracked down a group of high school girls who were meeting up in the middle of the night to perform some kind of ritual.”

“So, what made it serious?” Bulk inquired, deeply into the story.

“It was who they were meeting with.” Hunter continued. “Older man, in his forties; once I did some digging on him, I found out his name was Phineas Manheim and he was… well, a Warlock.”

“No way.” Flash eyed him incredulously. “That’s crazy.”

“Yeah,” Hunter nodded. “The girls were fake, but he was the real deal. He lured them in based on their interest and pretended to teach them black arts. But his real plan was to sacrifice them to summon… something.”

“Like what?” Sandalwood asked.

“I don’t know, and I didn’t give him the chance to let me find out.” Hunter shook his head. “I didn’t know what he was wholly capable of, so I dropped him with a long-range tranquilizer round from the forest around their meeting site. The girls immediately panicked and ran home; so, I moved in, tied him up and gagged him just in case he woke up and wanted to say any magic words and called in an extraction team to haul his crazy ass off.” Hunter shrugged. “Compared to all that shit with Melodiam, it was nice to tackle something easier.”

“Easier he says.” Microchips laughed. “I can’t imagine how you go out there alone and deal with that kind of thing.”

“Training and experience.” Hunter said confidently. “Speaking of which, break times over.” He hopped back up and clapped his hands. “Come on, got three weeks of catching up to do!” He started running and they all followed after him as he broke into another of his wildly inappropriate cadences. After they were done, Hunter took the sixth period to run home and shower before heading back to meet the girls as school let out. He waited on the railing of the steps just beyond the front doors as the students filed out, he caught sight of them and waved.

“Ah, there he is.” Rarity waved back. “Hello, dear; welcome home.”

“Good to be here.” Hunter smiled as Pinkie ran up and wrapped herself around her side.

“We missed you!” Pinkie hugged him tightly.

“Missed you ladies too,” He laid his arm around her. “Enjoy your vacation from me?” He specifically eyed Applejack.

“Not as much as I thought I would.” Applejack admitted, reaching out and squeezing his free arm. “Just glad you’re okay.”

“Told you.” Sunset laughed, recalling his surprise last night that Applejack actually missed him.

“Yeah,” Fluttershy laid her hand to Sunset’s shoulder. “It was rough, but we got through it together.”

“Oh,” Pinkie freed him from her grasp. “Lyra’s party is on Friday.”

“I’ll make sure my calendar’s clear.” Hunter vowed.

“We’re going to get in some practice sessions Wednesday and Thursday,” Rainbow Dash informed. “Been a while, need to knock the rust off.”

“Gotta keep those tambourine skills up.” He grinned at Fluttershy.

“Hey, it’s harder than it looks.” She noted with slightly judgmental eyes.

“But for tonight, we were going to just relax and catch a movie.” Sunset informed.

“Götterdämmerung.” Twilight quoted with raised finger.

“Bless you.” Hunter offered with a light smile.

“That’s the movie.” Twilight dryly retorted.

“Care to come with, darling?” Rarity inquired.

“Absolutely.” He held out his hand towards Sunset, she took it and was pulled close to him. “Just don’t reach into my bag of popcorn, only Sunset can do that.”

“Ugh.” Applejack rolled her eyes as she started for the parking lot.

“Gross.” Rainbow Dash quickly followed.

“I don’t get it.” Pinkie noted.

“We’ll tell you when you’re older, dear.” Rarity promised as everyone else headed for their cars.

High above them, on the roof of a four-story apartment building that yielded a clear view of the school and its main parking lot, a prone figure in a black cat-suit with matching balaclava stared at Sunset and Hunter through a detached, twenty-five times tactical rifle scope as they laid on the roof. As the couple began walking towards the parking lot the figure lowered the scope.

“Unbelievable.” The muffled voice muttered.

“So, it is true?” A second voice came from behind. “That’s… how can that be?”

“I don’t know, but I know she’s some kind of monster.” The figure got to its knees. “Since Hunter must be like me, then it makes sense why we’ve never heard of him until now.”

“This still defies all convention.”

“Yeah, we’ll keep an eye on them, I need to know more before we can make a move.” With a disturbed sigh, the figure stared at the school intently.

---

The week was spent with things returning to normal; Sunset and Hunter spent nearly every day together and more than a few nights. Come Friday, Hunter headed home after school to get ready for Lyra’s party. Freshening up and changing, he drove to her house which was beset by cars along the street. He parked at the end of the line and started walking up the sidewalk; along the way he came across Trixie who was bent over and cursing out her boot.

“Flat tire?” Hunter asked as he stopped at her side.

“Huh!?” Her head whipped up, but she calmed at the sight of him. “Oh, hey Hunter. The end of my lace snapped off and now it won’t stay tied.”

“Did you try magic?”

“Ha ha,” Trixie rocked her head. “So, what did you get Lyra?”

“I…” Hunter quickly realized he had forgotten a gift. “My… charming company.”

Trixie finally got her boot tied up and stood, looking at him with raised brow. “Really, Mr. Secret Agent. All that skill and you forgot a birthday present?” She reached into her pocket and produced a rose-tinted card holder. “Gift cards, simple and clean.”

“Can I say it’s from both of us?”

“No.” She poked his chest.

“Ah well, I just won’t have any cake.” He put his arm around her as they walked towards the house. “That’ll make it even.”

Lyra’s home was loud and busy as students hung out and talked over music. Hunter headed out into the back yard where Sunset and the others were setting up for their performance. He looked over the makeshift stage and set his thumb to his chin with a hum.

“What?” Sunset eyed him with a crooked smile.

“Is this built to code?” He asked.

“AJ put it together.” Rainbow Dash noted.

“That means yes.” Applejack glanced at him over her shoulder before going back to work.

“We’re almost set, go mingle.” Sunset suggested.

“Commencing mingling, ma’am.” He saluted and headed back in under her laughter.

Once set up, the entire party migrated to the back yard where Bon Bon gave them a proper introduction before their performance. Running through a handful of their established songs, they had their friends and the birthday girl in particular on their feet and rocking out hard. The party continued into the evening until everyone began to head home. Knowing she was worn out from the show, Hunter decided to let Sunset rest for the night and headed back to his apartment. As soon as he pulled into the lot and got out of his car, his phone rang, and he checked to see that it was Sunset.

“Miss me already?” He asked casually as he answered.

“Hunter, don’t freak out, but someone tried to get into my place.” She calmly informed.

Hunter instantly switched modes upon hearing the news. “Are you inside or outside?”

“I’m back in my car.” She answered.

“Good, drive away to someplace crowded. I’ll head over and make sure the place is secure.” He instructed, jumping back in his car.

“Okay.” Sunset responded, the sound of her engine starting coming through on the other end.

“What makes you think someone tried to get in?” He asked further.

“I went to punch in the code for the alarm system you installed and… the panel was just displaying a scrambled mess.” She detailed. “And the camera above my front door was covered in this weird, black goop.” She waited for a response, but Hunter remained quiet. “Hunter?”

“Just get safe, I’ll call you when it's clear.” He finally answered; as she hung up, he laid his phone down, an uncharacteristically shaken look in his eyes. He sped to Sunset’s home and pulled up along the curb; it had been dark for over two hours now, so he drew his concealed sidearm and approached the front door. He checked the alarm panel first; the screen displayed random integers and symbols as he was told. He popped off the front plate and looked for something very specific, letting out an unhappy grunt as his suspicion was confirmed. Turning his attention to the camera positioned above her door, he reached up and felt the black substance; it was rock hard which was what he expected. After trying the doorknob and finding it unlocked, he went ahead and entered with weapon drawn; performing a tight sweep of the dwelling and finding no one, he finally let his guard down. Turning on all the lights he started making a second sweep to see if there was any evidence of robbery; while nothing was taken, he found something left behind. On Sunset’s bed was an object with a computer printed note attached; he pocketed it and headed back outside to contact Sunset.

“Hunter?” Sunset quickly answered the call. “Is everything okay?”

“No, it isn’t.” He said grimly. “Tell me where you are, I’m coming to you.”

Sunset told him her location and he rendezvoused with her in the parking lot of a nearby gas station. She jumped out of her car as soon as he pulled up and met him as he stepped out.

“What did you find?” She immediately asked.

“Someone was in your place, but they were a complete pro.” Hunter began. “Your alarm system was fried from the inside which can only be done with special equipment; that’s why it didn’t automatically contact the police like it was supposed to. That shit on your camera is called ‘Blackout’, it’s a military grade spray foam used specifically to blind security cameras.”

“So… whoever this was, they’re like you.” Sunset surmised.

“Maybe, maybe not; but they’re competent for sure.” He hefted the object he had found. “This bothers me more though; it was left on your bed.”

“On my bed?” Sunset took what appeared to be an ornate, high quality compact mirror with a note on it that read ‘I’m coming for you’. She opened the compact to find only a normal mirror. “What in the world?”

“I don’t know, do you recognize that thing?” He asked. “Maybe it was owned by someone you came across or an old enemy you fought with?”

“I… no, I don’t.” She shook her head as she observed her reflection.

“Well, you’re not going back there.” Hunter noted.

“Yeah, so what do we do now?” She asked with surprising calm. “Should I just stay with you?”

“I don’t know, something’s bothering me.” He leaned against his car. “Whoever did this has clearly been watching you, which means they’ve been watching me too since we’ve been together almost every day. This was timed to match the party, so it’s safe to say they’ve been tailing us for a while now.”

“Which means that your place could be dangerous too.” She concluded.

“More than that, I think that’s what they want.” Hunter held his chin. “Make your place unsafe so you run to your boyfriend's place which is the obvious next move. We could be walking right into a trap.”

“You tend to be right about this kind of thing.” Sunset admitted. “So, let’s do what they want.”

“What?” Hunter looked to her in surprise.

“If you’re right, then we can use the fact that they think we’re going to hide to our advantage. We can get the drop on whoever this while they’re trying to get the drop on us. If they’ve been watching us for a while like you think, then what good does giving them more time to set up do?”

Hunter was legitimately surprised by her assessment. “Got to admit, not the reaction to this I imagined.”

“I told you, I’m not afraid of facing these things.” She smiled confidently. “Besides, we’re together and we face this stuff as a team now.”

Hunter smiled back. “Right.” He nodded. “I’ve got a safe house we can stop off at so I can get some equipment. Even if I’m wrong, better go in like I’m not.”

“I’ll leave my car here for now.” Sunset went around to his passenger side.

“You want to tell the others?” Hunter asked as he got back behind the wheel.

“Not yet, not until we know what’s going on.” She shook her head.

Hunter pulled out of the gas station and headed farther into the city. His safe house was a small, standalone drive through coffee building that sat on the corner of a quieter parking lot. He pulled up to the rear of it and hurried inside to load up; within minutes he returned to the car with a black shoulder bag which he tossed into the back seat before returning to the wheel. From there, they doubled back toward Hunter’s apartment. Instead of approaching from the front which he always did, he took an alternate route that took longer but came in from the back. Hunter pulled into a lot across the street and immediately killed his headlights.

“Sit tight for a minute.” He said as he pulled the bag into his lap and unzipped the top; taking out a pair of day/night vision binoculars he left the car and ran around the back of the apartment complex adjacent to his own. Using a fire escape, he scaled the building and free climbed the rest of the way to the roof where he went prone and shimmied to the edge facing his own apartment structure. Setting the binoculars to his eyes, Hunter began meticulously scanning the area until he spied a figure on the opposite roof. “There you are Mr. Stalker.”

“And there you are.” A muffled voice came from behind.

Hunter whipped onto his back and found a figure in full black with a Beretta M9 trained on him. “Well… you’re better than I thought.”

“Stand up.” The figure commanded.

“Okay,” Hunter slowly rose to his feet, glancing back at the other roof. “Decoy?”

“Something like that.” The figure answered, raising a hand to an earpiece beneath the mask. “Have you secured her?”

Hunter’s body tightened at the words. “Damn it…” He mumbled to himself.

“Good,” The figure said after a moment. “We’ll be down in a moment.” They flicked their gun towards the edge of the roof. “Down, now.”

Hunter knew he had no other options at the moment with Sunset in danger; he slowly approached the edge of the roof with his assailant maintaining a safe distance behind him. They descended the building and once on the ground Hunter found another fully suited figure holding Sunset with her arms behind her back. “I’m sorry, Sunset.” Hunter matched eyes with her.

“It’s okay, Hunter.” She assured. "This was my idea."

“Listen up,” The armed figure continued. “I know who and what you are, Hunter; more importantly, I know that girl is a monster. I don’t want to kill you; I only want her.”

Hunter rocked his head slightly with a light smile. “You’ve got a funny definition of monster.”

“I know that you know she isn’t human.” The figure stated plainly.

“Ehh… I’ve done a very thorough check on her body, seems human to me.” Hunter carried on.

“Ugh!” The other figure sounded in disgust. “I cannot believe what a crude, boar you are.”

“This isn’t up for debate.” The first figure carried on. “You either stand down and let me take her, or I kill you both.”

"Hunter.” Sunset called to him. “I’ll go with them.”

“No way, Sunny…”

“Hunter,” She stressed. “It’s okay, just do what they say.”

“Good, get on the ground with your palms out.” Hunter’s captor ordered, watching closely as he did just that. “Don’t move.” The figure began to walk by him to head for Sunset.

Sunset watched the figure and as soon as they were close to Hunter, she threw her head back as hard as she could without warning; her own captor was caught fully off guard and recoiled in pain just enough to let her arms slip. As the other figure raised their gun, Hunter spun on the ground and elbowed them in the knee; falling forward, Hunter reached up and took the stock of the handgun in his hands and slammed his forehead into theirs. He wrenched the gun away and rolled on his heels, aiming it at them just as they pulled a second gun from their leg holster and aimed right back. Sunset was quickly claimed again and the four of them stood in their standstill.

“Fo… forgive me…” The second figure spoke. “I…”

“Zip it!” Hunter commanded. “Now you listen, you tell your partner here to let Sunset go and walk away slowly.

“You’re not making demands.” The figure retorted.

“Your friend there isn’t armed, and neither is Sunset.” Hunter detailed. “Worst case scenario, you and I kill each other right now and both of them walk.” He smiled. “You’re the one that wants her; so, if you die then this ends right now, that means the worst-case scenario is still a win for me as far as I’m concerned. So, if you want to walk away and at least break even, then tell them to back the fuck off.”

The figured growled in irritation. “Fine… let her go.”

Reluctantly, the other figure released Sunset and began moving around towards their partner’s side. “I’m sorry.” They muttered. “I failed you.”

“It’s fine.” The other assured.

“Sure it is.” Hunter said mockingly. “You okay, Sunny?”

“Yeah.” Sunset confirmed.

“Now, what the hell is this about?” Hunter asked. “Who are you?”

“Alright, maybe that will put some sense into you.” The figure lowered their weapon and reached up to their balaclava. Pulling it back, Hunter and Sunset both froze as they looked upon another Sunset; more mature in features, but Sunset none the less.

“What…” Sunset held her hand to her mouth in utter shock.

“My name is Sunset Shimmer.” The woman introduced.

“You’re Sunset’s counterpart.” Hunter finally managed.

“No, she’s the imitation.” The other Sunset pointed to her younger self. “From Equestria I take it.”

“How do you know about Equestria?” Sunset asked.

The other figure reached up and took their balaclava. “It was obvious, once I saw him.” He freed his face to reveal an identical Hunter. “He is clearly my counterpart.”

“What the fuck.” Hunter, against all his training, was so shocked he lowered his own weapon.

“Although, the face and name and where the similarities end.” The other Hunter aimed his finger at him. “You are an uncouth, brute.”

“How is this possible?” Sunset stepped up to Hunter’s side, looking over their doppelgangers. “When I arrived in this world, there was no trace of a human Sunset.”

“I left Canterlot city when I was a little girl.” The elder Sunset explained. “Because of monsters like you. My parents were killed by some creature, I watched it happen with my own eyes. No one believed me though, they said I imagined the monster as a way to cope with the trauma. But then, some powerful adults showed up and told me they believed me; told me they could help become someone who…”

“Would never let that happen again.” Hunter finished. “Then you are like me.” Hunter eyed her. “That explains why my background checks on Sunset didn’t turn anything up, the info was already scrubbed.”

“Which explains why my own background checks on Hunter turned up blank.” She gestured to her own Hunter. “Believe me, the sheer idea of the odds behind all this aren’t lost on me. I was trained and stationed in Asia, which is no doubt why we never crossed paths officially.”

“Why do you want me?” Sunset asked. “I haven’t done anything; you call me a monster but I… well, now I work to keep this world safe.”

“Monsters are monsters,” The other Sunset countered. “I vowed to help rid the world of any inhuman entity to keep those who rightfully belong to this world safe.”

“And what about this handsome fellow.” Hunter tipped his head towards his opposite. “Little hypocritical don’t you think?”

“Hunter is different.” She insisted. “When I found him and defeated him, I had every intention of killing him. But he was willing to offer his life to me on his pride; I could tell he was special and offered him to chance to live if he fought alongside me.”

“And then you fucked.” Hunter casually added.

“You be silent!” The other Hunter glared at him. “You have no idea how fortunate I felt to meet such an amazing and strong female. I had never met a human so noble ever since I became stranded in this world. I am blessed to be hers and you will not make a mockery of it!”

“Wow, who knew I was such an uppity asshole.” Hunter looked back to the other Sunset. “So, what do we do now? We’re both agents working for governmental bodies, if we kill each other it's going to stir up a lot of shit. That being said, I’ll never let you hurt Sunset; you’ve clearly got an axe to grind against all creatures but that isn’t how I operate. But if it helps to go along with your own logic, then my Sunset is as special as your Hunter.”

“I have no intention of letting another version of myself run free,” Sunset eyed her younger self. “Some otherworldly creature running around with my name and face, it’s a liability to me and an affront to my life's mission.” She offered Hunter a confident smile. “You may have outplayed us here, but you’re the ones at a disadvantage. This is your home and I know everything about you both; you’re on the defensive and have no place to hide.”

“Please,” Sunset looked to her human self. “I don’t want to fight you, if anything I… want to know you.”

“What?” The human Sunset turned her eyes to her.

“There is literally no reason for us to fight.” She continued. “You may have different reasons for fighting than Hunter, but it’s clear you want to protect your home and your world. We’re not that different, I'm sorry about what happened to your family but…”

“Stop!” The other Sunset suddenly barked. “You’re nothing like me, you’re not me!”

Hunter raised his weapon again. “Then I guess you’re not going to leave me any choice.”

“Hunter no!” Sunset reached up and pushed the gun down. In that instant, her other self pulled a pin from her side and started running back with her own Hunter.

“Flashbang!” Hunter shouted as he wrapped Sunset in his arms and hit the ground; the grenade blew and for several moments their ears rang and everything went white. By the time the effects ended, their duplicates were gone. “You okay?” He asked.

“I’m good.” Sunset nodded as they struggled to their feet.

Hunter stared down the long alley, seeing nothing. “I don’t think stopping me was a great idea, Sunny.”

“I couldn’t let you, I’m sorry.” She apologized.

“No… I get it, it’s just…” He looked back at her. “Everything she said was right. We’re at a complete disadvantage and she wants you dead; she’s as skilled as me and has the upper hand in intel, location and opportunity. I… I’m not sure what to do. You’re not safe, our homes aren’t safe, our friends' homes aren’t safe; I can’t go on the offensive.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Sunset laid her hand to his shoulder. “But we do have someplace we can go.” She noted. “Equestria.”

Hunter considered that for a moment. “She doesn’t know about the portal, and my unflattering twin said he wound up stranded here halfway across the world so he wouldn't know about it either." He nodded. "Okay, that's our best move at the moment."

“I can’t believe my human counter exists; I mean… why is she so much older than me?” Sunset asked. “That other Hunter is the same age as you, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“We just got into a Mexican standoff with ourselves.” Hunter said with a dry laugh. “Sense is out the window right here at the moment.” He started back to the car. “Let’s get to the portal, they won’t be tailing us right away so now is our best chance. Text the girls and give them the short version.”

“Will do.” Sunset pulled out her phone and began messaging as she followed Hunter to the car.

Comments

[Skyblazer9]

I wasn't expecting for the human Sunset and another Hunter to be the ones who want the Pony Sunset and her Hunter to be killed, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in chapter 2.