"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."-Einstein

The Mane 6 sat quietly at the cafe, incapable of saying anything other than ordering her food. Even the normally cheery and loquacious Pinkie Pie was traumatized to silence.

After X-ray brutally murdered Trixie, the squad cloaked and disappeared to parts unknown. After they took off, the scarred ponies retreated to their homes, unable to speak.

Parents immediately ran home to check on their children, thankful that they had not witnessed the murder. However, news of Trixie's death spread like wildfire and produced mixed results. No pony condoled the murder itself nor the method used to take her down. Some however, believed Trixie got what she had deserved by attacking Shadow and refraining from being civil with them. Others believed that Trixie needed to be taken out only for the sake of the collateral damage she would have caused. Finally, some ponies had genuinely believed she was trying to protect them and basically died a hero.

One thing was certain, under no circumstances were ponies to mess with humanity.

News did not travel past Ponyville, the only word that got out was a minor struggle had occurred. Had word gotten out that Trixie turned into an alicorn only to get butchered by Shadow, public unrest would have been through the roof.

Speaking of Alicorns, Trixie's transformation had been a massive anomaly. Nopony would have guessed that charging the amulet to immense power would have resulted in the transformation to a deity.

But then there was the killing of the alicorn. X-ray, who was a mere mortal and not to mention, Shadow's least physically adept member, had killed an all powerful being. Those in pony society who claimed alicorns to be mortal and vulnerable were often shunned. Now that one died before their very eyes, a small group of ponies started questioning the supposed divinity of their rulers. Twilight took note that some ponies stopped bowing to her.

Then there was the question of what was going to happen next. Shadow had killed one of their own and simply took off. Based on their stamina and endurance, it would have been no surprise if they had been half way across the country by now. Many ponies feared that based on Trixie's assault, Shadow had deemed the equines a threat and would waste no time attempting to contact their frigate and plan a war.

As for the blue magician's body, when the ponies returned to the sight of the carnage, they hesitantly cremated her body and gave her a funeral in the morning. Those who attended did not arrive for general respect for the mare, but only as minor condolences.

"I'm telling you, we've been duped. Alicorns aren't supreme after all." snorted Lemonhearts as she walked past the cafe with her friend Sassaflash.

"But did he really have to kill Trixie that way?" countered Sassaflash.

"I'm never gonna accept the fact he killed, but one thing's for certain. They couldn't have just stood there."

The two mares brushed past cafe without even noticing the depressed Mane 6. It was Fluttershy of all ponies to break the silence.

"I-I can't b-belive they just killed her like that."

"I for one never tolerated Trixie's self centered behavior, but even I was beginning to warm up to her." added Rarity.

"And she really seemed like she was trying to protect us." muttered Rainbow Dash.

"Ah just don' understand why they'd resort to such behavior." shook Applejack.

Twilight slowly raised her head. "I can't believe it either. What's scary is that they don't seem to be bothered."

"Yeah." sniffed Pinkie Pie. "It's like they don't understand how bad it is when somepony dies. They just left the feeling slip past them like a....shadow." Pinkie tried to smile at her pun but failed.

Rarity took a sip of her tea. "And to think, they killed an alicorn for Celestia's sake. I don't even believe they were even fighting without restraint."

"Does this mean they can kill Luna or even Celestia?" whimpered Fluttershy.

"Ah don' think so. Celestia is the sun goddess. She could give 'em a good ol buck to next monday if she wanted to." replied Applejack.

"All I know is that many ponies seemed to have lost their faith." sighed Twilight. "To be fair, I myself was growing tired of all the admiration."

"Twilight you're the princess of magic, how could you say that?" questioned Rainbow Dash.

"I'm sorry, but Shadow proved in the worst way possible that alicorns might just be as mortal as you are. True we're powerful, but now I see we're just as vulnerable as any pony else. Dare I say it, Trixie would have become more powerful than Celestia herself and Shadow would have still been able to kill her." explained Twilight.

The words of X-ray still haunted the purple mare. "DON'T TOUCH MY FRIENDS YOU FUCKING HORSE!"

Friends

Twilight took a sip of her drink. "Would any of you kill to protect each other?"

"What kind of question is that?" inquired the straight maned Pinkie Pie.

"Twilight, you know we would never kill. We're not like them." assured Rainbow Dash.

"Wait, just think about it." said Twilight. "If, let's say somepony was out to kill us and the only way to stop him or her and to save each other was to kill, would you do it?"

The other members of the Mane 6 were silent.

"Are you trying to say you agree with Shadow's decision?" beamed Rainbow Dash.

"Of course not." defended Twilight. "I'm just simply asking if you would resort to such behavior to protect the ones you love."

Suddenly, a high pitched voice caught the attention of the mares.

"I can't believe she's gone!" cried Snips.

"Even after she tried to enslave us, I still found her a cool hero. So many thing left unsaid." teared Snails.

The two colts passed by gloomily. The Mane 6 felt nothing but pity for the young boys.

"I say not. There always is another way." snorted Rarity.

"I don't know about that." whispered Twilight.

"What da ya mean sugarcube?" asked Applejack.

"I think Twilight has a point." sighed Pinkie Pie. "Trixie was the one who started it after all."

"B-but would y-you really have t-to kill to subdue her?" stammered Fluttershy.

"To be honest, Shadow really was attempting to be civil with her." noted Twilight. "They tried to talk her down before things got serious but Trixie was so insistent on fighting them."

"Even after she refused to talk, Shadow did just try to restrain her." admitted Rarity.

"And then she just started attacking them." pointed Rainbow Dash.

"Even when she did attack them, they didn't resort to murder." stated Twilight. "In fact, when Overwatch was knocked out, Scorch and X-ray tried to restrain her with an EMP."

"Only to fail." sighed Pinkie Pie. "And when Scarecrow was about to be killed by Trixie's gauss thingamajig, X-ray did the only thing he could to protect his friend."

"I still don't think it was a good idea to murder." shook Rainbow dash. "X-ray could have just shot her in the hoof and knock her out."

Rarity placed a hoof on Rainbow's back. "Actually darling, Trixie was drawing quite a lot of power from the amulet. Had X-ray merely stunned her, she would have simply gathered more and more energy to shake off the effects and continue the onslaught."

"As for Trixie's motivations," sighed Pinkie Pie. "She sounded so afraid of the humans."

"She mentioned something about humanity enslaving and attacking other species thousands of years ago." remembered Twilight. "I've read all the books, so I never heard anything about that point."

"Didn't she say that she read it from Zebra and Buffalo religion books?" whimpered Fluttershy.

"Yeah. How could she get her hooves on those? I thought we weren't allowed to read books on another species' religion?" realized Rainbow Dash.

"Well maybe when Trixie was missing, she could have been staying in those areas. Since she doesn't like being told what to do, she could have easily just grabbed a book with some magic." pondered Pinkie Pie.

"Say, why aren't we allowed to read books on other's religion anyway?" asked Rarity.

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. "I don't know. My guess is that it would help reduce conflict based on beliefs. Although right now, I kinda wished we could just get her hooves on one. It would have all the answers."

"And apparently every book except ours mentions humanity." sighed Pinkie Pie.

"Ah'm an expert on honesty and sincerity." started Applejack. "And Trixie sure did seem convinced dat Shadow was gonna start wagin' war on Ponykind."

"And don't you remember? When Scarecrow claimed that humans never did anything to ponies in the past, his lie detector went off." pointed Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash had an epiphany. "So maybe that's why everything is trying to kill them. Humans must have done something bad on this planet thousands of years ago."

"Hold your flank there sugarcube." stopped Applejack. "Shadow themselves did seem pretty confused too."

Twilight swallowed her sandwich. "Humans don't seem like a species that would forget, and in fact they did seem honestly perplexed at the idea of their race doing something bad to our planet."

"Not to mention, whenever they said that this was the first time humanity had encountered an intelligent race, their lie detectors didn't go off." awed Rarity.

Pinkie's mane un-straightened as her displeasure seized. "I'm willing to bet that the lie detector only went off because Shadow did do some mean things in the past but Trixie took it as their race being on our planet many years ago."

"But how does their lie detector work?" inquired Applejack. "Seems ta me dat it's more den sensin' uncertainty."

"Their technology is beyond even my comprehension." shrugged Twilight. "But if what were saying is true.....then the whole thing was a massive misunderstanding. What's certain though is that Trixie shouldn't have judged Shadow based on books detailing the past."

"So it was right for them to kill?" repeated Rainbow Dash.

"Of course not!" puffed Twilight. "But even still, would have there been any other outcome?"

"What do you mean?" whispered Fluttershy.

"Trixie seemed extremely convinced that she should have killed Shadow and wage war on humanity." explained Twilight. "When Shadow tried to talk her down, she refused to be civil. When she did attack Shadow and even knock her out, all the squad wanted to do was restrain her and make her face fair trial."

"What is there problem and forcing their laws on us anyway?" asked Applejack.

"I believe that Shadow is utterly convinced of this nonsense that our race is destined to follow theirs." said Rarity. "My theory is that they're trying to be generous by supposedly informing us of our mistakes because their race may have made the same mistakes as us and they know how to correct it."

"Can't they just accept that not every race has to follow their laws? Even if isn't perfect." muttered Rainbow Dash.

"B-but what if th-they had the same laws as ours and corrected all the mistakes?" questioned Fluttershy.

"What do you mean? Our rules are made by Celestia herself. She's the nicest and fairest pony ever. If something was wrong and unfair, she'd figure it out." countered Pinkie Pie.

Twilight got everypony back on subject. "Even if Trixie went on trial for attempted murder, I believe it was Scorch who said that the worse that could happen to her was face time in prison. Humans don't seem to have the death penalty."

"But they sure did giver her da death penalty." sneered Applejack.

"It seems that once Trixie put on the amulet, detention was no longer an option for them." stated Twilight. "The amulet was clearly more powerful then what we and Shadow anticipated. Trixie's power would have surpassed all limits and would have gotten to a point that would overwhelm Celestia easily. She would have killed Shadow."

"So what you're saying is that it's okay to kill in self defense?" implied Pinkie Pie.

"I'm not implying that." defended Twilight. "I'm saying what would have happened if there were no options available."

"But X-ray could have just shot Trixie in the leg to save Scarecrow and detain her." suggested Rainbow Dash.

"Girls, Shadow's magnetic weapons are POWERFUL!" exclaimed Twilight. "Shooting Trixie anywhere would have mutilated her and she would have either died from shock or blood loss. I know Shadow is good in medicine, but the wounds that would be mundane for a human are threatening for a pony. Even still, none of them would be in a condition to resuscitate her properly. All of them were unconscious and X-ray himself was limping."

"I pray that the day where we would have to kill will never come." dramatized Rarity.

"You wonder what would have happened if Trixie was facing some other human." pondered Pinkie.

Twilight realized it. "Now I know why the Federation sends the....23rd is it?"

The Mane 6 nodded.

The purple mare continued. "We saw how efficient they were in pointing out the flaws in our lives and making some of the most rational statements ever. You wonder 'why not simply send a scientist?' I have an answer. It seems the 23rd are the only ones capable of surviving on a planet without constant aid and handling themselves on remote locations. Sending efficient soldiers like them to explore remote planets is quick and and likely inexpensive. They might have not been the real first contact team, but I reckon any other human in their place, no matter how strong in numbers would've been killed facing Trixie.

"Y-you know, maybe it w-would have been b-better for ponies too if T-trixie was taken down." admitted Fluttershy.

"How so? She was trying to defend us. Claiming our lives would be counter productive." pointed Rainbow Dash.

"Dat didn't stop her from almost killin' Noteworthy." muttered Applejack. "She was as blind as a bat."

"Besides, did you not see all that collateral damage she was causing?" stated Rarity. "Her misplaced sauss, gauss, whatever, attacks caused a lot of destruction. At least Shadow, even 'burn it all' Scorch takes precision shots."

"She resorted to levitatin' houses at them. If dat ain't excessive, ah don't know what is." shrugged Applejack.

"Assuming, Shadow didn't kill, where would have the fight gotten?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"If the 4 of them only attempted to restrain Trixie who was getting stronger with the amulet, the battle would have been elongated and the damage to the public would have be astronomical." shivered Twilight.

"And what would have happened if Trixie k-k-killed them?" squeaked Fluttershy.

"Well for starters, the humans would obviously get really mad." pointed Rainbow Dash. "Then they would bring out their big alien spaceships and blast us with their death rays and probably enslave us."

"But, would have we died before then?" asked Fluttershy.

"I hope I'm not the only pony who was observant enough to notice Trixie's eyes glowing the most violent shade of red there ever was." noted Rarity.

Twilight took a small breath. "The amulet corrupts. Since Trixie was absorbing a lot of energy, by the time she might have collected the energy necessary to kill Shadow, she would have snapped a long time ago."

"Ah fairly reckon' she was mighty angry at us too." said Applejack. "Somethin' 'bout helpin' Shadow and not helpin' her fight."

"I'm really good at probability, and the chances that Trixie wanted to kill us were a high possibility." rhymed Pinkie Pie.

"Still, I don't see what was stopping Shadow from taking off the amulet. They had a ripe chance" stated Rarity.

"They tried that, remember?" reminded Twilight. "By the time Trixie was attacking them and growing more powerful by the second, the amount of force required to subdue her wouldn't be enough and anything higher was a guaranteed kill."

Everypony was thinking the exact same thing.

"I really feel sorry for the humans." sighed Fluttershy.

"If this is what Shadow has to go through every mission, to constantly be forced to commit heinous acts because they have no choice, then I sympathize with their race." said Twilight.

"Killing is horrible, but to put somepony in a situation where they have no choice but to kill is despicable." snarled Rainbow Dash.

"If humans are trying to offer generosity by trying to propel the foundations of out institutions further, why can't we show them the true path of harmony and peace in return?" proposed Rarity.

"That's a great idea!" cheered Pinkie Pie. "It would show humans that there's always another way and it would stop all their wars. Then people like Shadow don't have to worry about killing and they can focus on their true talents!"

"Speakin' of which. Where da ya reckon Shadow headed off to?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know. They're awfully good at leaving without a trace if you ask me." replied Rainbow Dash.

"I honestly have faith that they didn't declare us a threat." assured Rarity. "If we became humanity's ally, our sky would be littered with starships."

Pinkie Pie shot up in the air. "Oh my gosh! Isn't the meeting between Shadow and Celestia today?"

Twilight spit her tea which hit Applejack's bemused face. "You're right."

While planning for the party yesterday, The ponies had managed to pack their belongings and unload them onto the train station ahead of time for departure. The meeting was supposed to be at 1:00 pm. Now it was 10:12 am. It was a two hour ride to Canterlot.

"We have to find Shadow now, before the ties between our race and theirs are severed!" shrieked Rainbow Dash.

"Ah don' know. Maybe our relationship is ruined forever after all. The other ponies don' seem lak they're toleratin' any mention of humanity." shook Applejack as she rubbed tea off her face.

"A mare has to do what a mare has to do." sighed Twilight.

------------

The princess of magic immediately called for an emergency meeting to be set up it town center. The entire town, all of them with sunken expressions looked apathetically at their princesses.

Twilight sighed and spoke into the microphone:

"My humble subjects, yesterday night a horrible tragedy had befallen. As many of you know, during our welcome party for the humans, Trixie Lulamoon had attempted to assassinate our guests and nearly succeeded in taking the life in one of our own."

Noteworthy received a lot of stairs. He was the most vocal supporter of Trixie's demise.

"Out of misplaced fear, Trixie had convinced herself that Shadow was planning to kill us and prepare an alien invasion. In retaliation and for the noble motivation to protect us, she attempted to kill them."

"The humans are monsters! Trixie was right!" yelled a pegasus mare.

"Yeah? She almost killed one of us!" countered an earth pony stallion.

Twilight tapped the microphone to get the everypony's attention. "While the killing of anypony is a heinous act that one should never resort to, you must put yourselves in the shoes of the involved parties. They are equally innocent as they are guilty."

There mummers of confusion within the crowd.

"On one hoof, Shadow really was attempting to be civil with Trixie before the situation got out of control. They were clearly confused about Trixie's claims and when she did attack, they attempted to restrain her. Trixie was the one who initiated the violence."

"But Trixie was trying to protect us!" yelled Snips from the crowd while comforting a crying Snails.

"If Trixie truly cared about us, then surely she wouldn't have put our lives in danger!" countered Twilight.

The crowd was silent. "The collateral damage she was causing was for too high. Trixie had her heart in the right place, but by no means was she justified in starting violence that would have threatened us too. Not to mention, she was drawing energy from the corrupting amulet and getting more and more corrupt to a point where she would have likely destroyed us too in the middle of their wrath."

"So you're saying Shadow is innocent?" shrieked a mare from the crowd.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Of course not! I am aware Trixie was waging war on them, but they insisted on taking the law into their own hands since they're convinced that our laws are too primitive to properly handle crime. Furthermore, they should NOT have underestimated Trixie, but they were too convinced of their indomitability as well until it was too late."

This was the chance to make it or break it.

"My humble subjects, please do not let this horrible tragedy based upon fatal misconceptions cloud your judgement of humanity. Each side did what they had to do. To kill is gruesome, but to drive somepony to kill is just as despicable."

A pegasus shot up in the sky. "Why should we listen to you? You alicorns have clearly been deceiving us ever since you convinced us of your supposed immortality!"

The purple mare gave a puff. "I am not speaking to you as the princess of magic, I am speaking to you as Twilight Sparkle! Ponies are supposed to love and tolerate, why should we deem humanity our enemy and despise them when we can help them? We reformed NightMare Moon, Discord and countless others. If the the three pony tribes could get along despite their differences, why can't we? If humans want to show us how society is supposed to function, why not show them that murder is not the answer and that there is always another way?"

The crowd gave nods of approval.

"Lets us teach humanity love and tolerance so humans like Shadow will never be forced to kill again. Let us do it for Trixie and complete her wish of protecting us from the harm of the universe!"

The ponies in the crowd gave a series of applause.

"Now, I will find Shadow squad so that we may meet with the princesses and settle all this confusion out. I beg you, do not judge humanity based on their actions and do not think they are beyond redemption. I do not want to risk creating animosity with them and allowing more to die."

----------------

"Twilight, we don't have much time before the train leaves to Canterlot. Thousands, maybe millions of ponies are expecting us to show up with the humans." warned Rainbow Dash.

"I know Rainbow, but I honestly don't know where they could be. Knowing them, they may have reestablished contact and left the planet already." sighed Twilight.

The Mane 6 was inside Twilight's house, trying to debate where Shadow could have been at this point. Spike fetched the mares some water.

Suddenly, a series of subtle probability problems subconsciously enacted within Pinkie's mind based on her knowledge of Shadow and Equestria's landscape caused her stomach to rumble, all 4 of her hooves to vibrate and her hair to fly upwards.

"Have ya figured it out sugarcube?" asked Applejack sarcastically.

"Oh my gosh! I know where they'll be!" yelled Pinkie Pie. The party pony, followed by her 5 friends burst straight out the door. This left Spike completely confused.

-----------------

Despite everypony's theories, Shadow had not moved far away from the town at all. The squad had relocated to the beautiful (even if it was animated) Whitetail Woods, enjoying the view while thinking about what had occurred last night. None of them had regretted killing Trixie. She had resisted attempts to be civil and almost claimed their lives. Instead, they were depressed about being forced to kill her and taking the innocence of the town.

In the heart of the moment, Scarecrow's wrist computer started beeping. The sound immediately grabbed the attention of the rest of the squad.

"Shit, we've reestablished contact!" exclaimed Scarecrow. He tapped on the wrist computer and suddenly, a blue hologram of commander Sarah Mcafarlene, her arms behind her back.

"Shadow." coldly greeted the commander.

The squad snapped to a salute.

"So we've established contact." pointed X-ray.

"No shit." muttered the commander of Blackjack.

"I take it that we've been watched for longer than we think." noted Scorch.

"We've been recording data from your had since the confrontation with the Griffins." sighed Sarah.

"So I guess you've been aware of everything we've gone through." said Overwatch.

The hologram nodded.

"Why did you not inform us earlier? Surely the events on this planet would have laid out differently." gritted Scarecrow.

"Had we called you, I know for a fact that you would have immediately asked to be extracted from the planet and push the burden onto somebody else." explained the commander. "We were not able to send back up for numerous reasons. For starters, sending more humans would have made the local population feel uncomfortable and we're on operating on minimum crew here."

"Has the the Federation been informed of our recent ploys?" asked Scorch.

"Affirmative." answered Sarah. "Documents and footage were have been streamed directly to the executive branch of the Federation. While they are pleased with your ability to handle yourselves in an isolated situation and attempts to improve the lifestyle of the equines, they have been very concerned and hostile towards your treatment of the populace. The ponies are trying to be nice to you and you just laugh them off as ignorant. You almost turned Ponyville into a police state for crying out loud!"

"Socialist police state." corrected Scorch.

"I suppose a court martial is in order." exhaled Scarecrow.

"While you're at it, why not just send normal human diplomates or some other soldier to this job instead of us?" requested X-ray. "We're 23rd for fucks sake."

"Shadow, the 23rd might be a lot of things, but you psychopaths are still our best option for planetary recon." encouraged Sarah. "We went over numerous scenarios and any other human who wasn't as strong minded as you are would have committed suicide from the sheer ridiculousness of an animated planet alone. Our psychologists have deciphered that you're inconsideration stems from the anomalies present in Equestria."

Shadow was somewhat relieved.

"Still though, you are more than capable in controlling your anger, you shouldn't have been so aggressive. Expect a pay deduction and a month's worth of mental parole." continued the hologram.

Shadow looked at each other.

"We're getting paid? And aren't all 100 23rd members already on mental parole since conscription?" questioned Scarecrow.

Sarah felt like an idiot. "Regardless, even if we sent normal human diplomats or scientists that could handle the the nature of this planet, the odds of them being overwhelmed are extreme. They would have died easily from the hydra attack as well as Trixie's assassination attempt."

"Is the Federation condemning me for killing her?" inquired X-ray.

Sarah's hologram raised an eyebrow. "You bashed her head in a wall in front of the entire town. Did you have to traumatize everypony?"

"With all due respect ma'am." began Overwatch. "The 23rd works on fear and the odds of another pony plotting against us are abysmal."

Sarah gave a sigh. "Putting gruesome methods aside, you are not being condemned for her murder. She attempted to assassinate armed officials with insufficient justification and nearly claimed the life of an innocent. You attempted to restrain her and even knock her out without attempting to kill her. But she elevated her power to extreme levels to exterminate you and almost succeeded. Like any situation with a human, you will not be detained for that reason."

"So what do we have to do next?" asked Scarecrow.

"You need to amend your relationship with Equestria, find the alicorn leaders and get answers." instructed the hologram. "The entire planet is after you for reasons we are ignorant of. If anybody has information, it would likely be them."

"Can't we get additional back up?" pleaded Scorch. "You know, like someone to restrain us in case we get all too aggressive?"

"Shadow, the Blackjack is operating on minimum capacity, every person counts." repeated the hologram. "Our scientists are too busy analyzing the planet to be able to help. Which reminds me, you're excused from figuring out the nature of this planet. We got it covered."

"Well that's a relief." sighed Scorch.

"Can't we the Federation send additional diplomats? We'd be more than happy to protect them." stated X-ray.

Sarah took a nervous breath. "We haven't been completely honest as to why we can't send back up. On one hand, more humans would overwhelm the populace."

"And the other reason?" growled Overwatch.

"Shadow, while you were gone, there have been attacks on 3 star systems by joint Mega Corp and members of the Planet's Rights movement." explained the worried hologram.

"Joint?" exclaimed Shadow at once.

The hologram nodded. "The UTF needs all the firepower and diplomats it can get to instill a ceasefire. The conflict should be over in less than a a day or two though."

"Civilian causalities?" asked Scarecrow.

"Remarkably low." replied Sarah. "Nothing more than a few thousand across all star systems and their respective colonies. Military casualties are starting to pile though."

"Ma'am. We're counter terrorists first. We have to go back and aid the UTF in their efforts." pleaded X-ray.

"The government has it under control." assured Sarah. "Once the battle is done, the Federation will go over methods necessary to establish a relationship with these ponies and send the actual first contact team. Although that could take a while. Until then, you must find out why this planet is like Earth and has creatures that want to kill us."

"I really don't know about this ma'am, we're bound to make enemies or scaring the shit out of the nation. It's what the 23rd does." shook Scarecrow.

"The fact that you haven't committed suicide or just quit in the middle of all the ridiculousness says a lot about the entire division." smiled Sarah. "Besides, if we want to reduce the chances of ponies sending mercs and assassins after you, I'm afraid that we need them to fear us. It sounds extreme, but that's how it works, and the 23rd's speciality is fear."

Shadow felt motivated.

"Although the Federation believes you could try to be nicer." beamed Sarah.

"What if they refuse to cooperate and force us to accept their bullshit?" asked Scorch.

"The Federation put a lot of emphasis on the word 'try'." chuckled the hologram. "Besides, we know how persuasive your unit can be. Sarah out."

The hologram vanished.

The squad stood still in the canopy for a minute until the could no longer hold it.

"You can come out now." called out X-ray.

Suddenly from the trees, the Mane 6 crawled out and trotted towards the squad. The ponies had listened to the entire conversation and Shadow had no doubt been aware of their presence since the begging.

"Were you talking to a ghost?" asked Pinkie Pie. The ponies had been too far to observe the facial features of Sarah.

Scarecrow shook his head. "That was a hologram, a projection of a shape transmitted through electronic data from a sender to a receiver."

Twilight stepped forward and took the lead. "Shadow, about Trixie. I-"

"Relax Twilight, we heard your entire conversation. We never relocated our drone." claimed Scorch.

"The entire t-town isn't mad at y-you or anything. They're just really, really scared and w-wish it didn't have to come to this." informed Fluttershy.

"I don't think that's going to be the end of it, huh?" groaned Rainbow Dash.

"Afraid not." responded X-ray. "It seems like the entire planet has something against our race. While Ponyville may fear us, the rest of Epona doesn't."

"But, ya don't have ta kill everthin' that comes at you!" pointed Applejack.

"A day doesn't go by where we wish everything could be solved through diplomacy." insisted Scorch.

Scarecrow spoke up. "However, the origin of this conflict appears to largely be religious. Human history taught us that religion can drive a person mad and commit horrible acts. I think trying to debunk said religion would only make our assailants madder."

"Surly there must be another way!" insisted Rarity.

"What will happen will happen!" yelled X-ray. "Right now, we need to see Celestia and represent our race. Maybe then we will get answers."

"I for one, am just astounded to hear about your species!" laughed Rarity.

"I gotta whole lot of questions!" chirped Pinkie Pie. "For starters-"

Twilight cut the pink mare off. "And once we've stablished a connection and got to know each others races better, we'll be able to work together to work everything out!"

"Exactly. If our races declare war on each other, then Trixie would have died in vain." nodded Scarecrow. The squad remained silent on how they were intended to prevent a conflict from escalating.

"Well we won't get anythin' done by standin' 'round here. We gotta move!" pointed Applejack.

Overwatch already started heading to town. The rest of the group followed him.

----------------

The squad and ponies returned to Ponyville. Shadow felt uncomfortable at the idea of returning to the town. Much to their surprise, the ponies didn't boo them off or anything. Instead, everypony felt pity for the fact that they had been forced to kill. Either that or were piss-your-pants scared of them.

The Mane 6 secured their items, and called for Spike to join them.

The humans as well as Twilight's group headed to the train station, cheered on by many Ponies who hoped the conference would prevent the need for murder.

The 4 humans sat in a private, but not sound proof, compartment. Twilight was offered a room used for royals, but she declined to sit with her friends and dragon assistant.

Shadow laid out the plans to organize their conversation as well as all the answers they would need to respond to the questions of curious ponies. The squad also went over all scenarios involving assassins and methods they could use to make the ponies fear, but not hate, humanity.

Twilight on the other hoof was forced to begrudgingly accept a treatment by Rarity to ready her for the ceremony. All 5 of her friends and Spike were required to hold her down.

Author's Notes:

By the way, I am thinking about starting a TVtropes page on this. Would any of you contribute?

Now that all the wham and introductions are over, we'll finally get to the highlight of this chapter which is the meeting of Celestia and Luna. We'll finally start the "Technology vs Magic", "Peace vs War" and the whole "Federation vs Monarchy" debate. There might be some delay for the next act though. Might. I'm still a quick writer.

BTW, I will no longer accept comments about people disliking Shadow's attitude. That's an opinion which you can PM me about. Legitimate errors regarding Shadow like inconsistent characterization, logical fallacies and acting out of character would be appreciated.