"Remember you are just an extra in everyone else's play." Franklin D. Roosevelt

The two groups traversed the castle. The Equestrians continuously looked back at the humans just in case they weren't doing anything sinister. As Shadow stared back with their masks obscuring their faces, the ponies became less and less convinced that they were organic.

Shadow on the other hand, was busy analyzing every piece of furniture with neural controls. For a leader to be so reviled by Ponykind, the princesses didn't even seem to notice something felt off about every piece of furniture requiring hands and a bi-pedal structure to be operated.

"Tia, we can not allow aggressors to be in possession of fire arms." whispered Luna.

"They can hear yoooooou!" playfully warned Pinkie Pie.

"Actually, what we really wanted to ask you was about the strength of your weapons." defended the white alicorn. Shadow didn't want to point out she was lying. "How much force can a single projectile inflict?"

"One rail powered bullet will rip a hole through grade A Titanium." said Scorch.

"Doesn't it mean you're armor is ineffective? There doesn't appear to be any metallic protection." noted Luna.

"That's because Shadow's recon armor is meant to disperse a barrier like the shields we can form, princess." responded Twilight. "Except their energy doesn't come from energy stored horns, it comes from their machines."

"I don't see a barrier." pointed Cadance.

"That's because the energy our barrier emits is so powerful that it is above the visible light spectrum. When some energy is transited to block projectiles, the energy weakens and is visible." explained X-ray.

"Allow me to give you a demonstration." teased Scarecrow.

"Cover your ears now!" warned Rainbow Dash.

The ponies did so without hesitation.

Scarecrow raised his LMG and fired a magnetically charged round at Overwatch. The bullet traversed at hypersonic speeds and bounced off Overwatch's barrier as the energy repulsed the bullet with it's own magnetic force. The alicorns observed a transparent purple hexagon pattern form where Overwatch was hit.

The sniper simply raised his middle finger and growled.

The princesses uncovered their ears, clearly disturbed at what humanity could produce while the Federation observing the events was pleased as the chances for the alicorns attempting to attack humanity minimized. The group continued to walk to the dining hall causally. Those working as staff in the castle dismissed the noise as something breaking for they did not know gunfire.

Twilight tried to make conversation. "So now that we're going to be learning more about each other, is there anything you'd like to know about us?"

"There was something mentioned about a Crystal Empire. Is that an enclave of Equestria or is it a separate nation entirely?" inquired Scarecrow.

Cadance worked up the courage to respond to Scarecrow. "It is a part of Equestria, me and my husband Shining Armor co-rule it together to ease the burden off of Princesses Celestia and Luna."

"You do realize that the very definition of an empire implies a conquest?" muttered Scorch. "So you mean to tell me, your kingdom has a past of brutalizing and and conquering other nations to expand its own?"

The other ponies almost stopped dead in their tracks. Twilight and her friends had visited the Empire numerous times. It was such a cheerful location that one often forgot its dark past.

"The empire wasn't always ruled by me. It used to be ruled by an evil dictator named Sombra who raised armies to quench his lust for power." defended the pink Alicorn.

"When me and Luna saw the evils that Sombra committed, we wasted no time expelling him from the throne." informed Celestia.

"However, his defeat was not permanent." continued Luna. "He sealed the Empire away for a thousand years-"

"He locked the Crystal Empire in a pocket dimension? That's impressive." complimented Scorch.

X-ray shook his head. "Not really, all you'd have to do was generate enough energy to create a rip through space time that sealed physical matter in a plane of sub space, where the ratio dividing distance traveled to time was bent in favor of time. It would be the opposite of the teleportation our star ships use. Although, I see where you're coming from as a biological creature generating enough energy without killing himself is quite news worthy."

"What did he say?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know, some egg head stuff." shrugged Rainbow Dash.

"And then the Crystal Empire came out of that wormhole thingy and we had to go save it!" cheered Pinkie Pie.

"Speaking of kingdoms, what do you humans think of our castle?" asked Twilight. "It has stood in Canterlot for thousands of years."

"Medievial." exhaled Overwatch.

"Are humanity's castles built like ours?" asked Rarity.

"Humans don't have castles anymore." shook Scarecrow. "But when we had them, they did in fact resemble structures like these. I guess you could say our equivalent of Canterlot castle is the HOH; the House of Humanity located in the city of Brussels on Earth. It's where the president and the rest of the executive branch resides."

Luna had an epiphany. "Oh, before we show you to your rooms, would any of you like to stop by our grand art hall? It details every important historical even that happened in Equestria."

Art was Overwatch's weakness. The sniper turned to his squad mates with a pleading look (under his mask).

Scarecrow exhaled. "We can do that. Sure. Dinner can wait."

Luna formed a cheerful look and led the humans to a hall decorated with stained glass paintings detailing Equestria's history from 'creation' to the saving of the Crystal Empire.

Shadow looked at all the paintings. The first one detailed an Alicorn with a white coat and red mane overlooking a world. Based on the light disk behind her head, it was clear she was thought to be a creator of some sort.

X-ray switched to local coms and shook his head. "Suckers think this is how they were created."

"Ditto." radioed back Scorch.

"Do you like the painting?" smiled Celestia. "It is a painting of our first princess and creator, Queen Faust."

Shadow said nothing and looked at the other paintings. They observed art works detailing more alicorns such as the twin brothers Glacios and Helios who Twilight mentioned earlier.

What caught their attention was an artwork detailing 6 ponies, 2 earth ponies in robes, 2 unicorns wearing a pristine cloth and 2 pegasai equipped with centurion armor standing atop of a mountain. On top of the 6 ponies stood a blazing pink heart scattering away a group of horse shaped wind creatures.

Twilight noticed the humans staring at the stained glass portrait. "That symbolizes the founding of Equestria.We weren't always united. We used to be divided amongst Earth Ponies, Pegasai and Unicorns.."

The purple alicorn explained the story of the founding of the three tribes and the conflict they were forced to endure. Twilight couldn't tell if the masked humans were interested.

Twilight started concluding the story. "The leaders of the three tribes continued to argue and ultimately, the storm froze them. The advisors however, remained tolerant of each other and avoided being encased in a shell of ice. Soon it was discovered that the source of the ice storm were Windigos which are-"

"Mist-based lifeforms whose organs can function in a gas state that often take the appearance of an equine that feed off a body being influenced by the Hypothalamus which is the part of the brain that creates anger." said X-ray really quickly.

The ponies looked at the masked soldier with a confused expression.

"Winidigos are present in human mythology too you know. Continue the story."

Twilight cleared her throat. "The three advisors did not give up their fellowship and the unicorn Clover the Clever was able to utilize the friendship of the other two advisors as a source to power her magic to disperse the insidious wind spirits and free the leaders. As a result, the tribes were able to declare peace and unite. Equestria was found as a result. While it is considered an old pony's tale, a fiery heart fueled by the friendship of the founders burns to this day as a symbol of harmony and protects us dearly."

"Thats sounds like a very child friendly version story of how humanity united." admitted Scarecrow.

"It was entraining and all, but I find it hard to believe that unification went that smoothly." remarked Scorch.

The ponies glared at the humans with venomous looks except for;

"You found it entraining?" blushed Twilight.

"Well, we ponies have always had the spirit of harmony inside us!" blurted Rainbow Dash.

"We simply needed to discover that we were capable of getting along. No need for rough housing!" exclaimed Rarity.

"Yeah, we've always been good at accepting friendships!" yelled Pinkie Pie.

"Or good at distorting history." shrugged Scarecrow. "That's a crime I could arrest you for on the colonies."

Just when the ponies were about to lash out him-

"Check it out! It's Celestia and Luna!" pointed X-ray.

The ponies shifted their gaze at what X-ray was pointing at. The artwork detailed a younger Celestia and Luna and their triumph over Discord.

"This painting has quite a story to it." whispered Celestia.

Scorch looked at the alicorn sisters. "How old are you two?"

"We are more than a thousand years old." explained Luna.

"My readings stated you couldn't have been anymore than 30." teased Scarecrow.

Celestia smiled a bit. "Alicorns are immortal, when we turn 30-"

"Your body creates a system of transdifferentiation that recycles energy to halt the rate at which organs deteriorate." interrupted X-ray.

"Are ya goin' ta be doin' that the entire time?" asked Applejack.

"It's his choice." whimpered Fluttershy.

Celestia continued to explain how Discord plunged Equestria into, well, discord and how she and Luna trained to face him and ultimately imprison him with the elements of harmony.

Scorch pointed to a mixed creature that Overwatch was starring at. "Is that Discord?"

"I'm not trying to criticize you, but when you meet the spirit of chaos himself, you probably would want to rethink your statements of magic not existing." implied Cadance.

Scarecrow nearly spat. "Show a Renaissance philosopher a hologram and he'll loose belief in reason."

The members of Shadow overlooked a painting of a snow white filly at the side of Luna and Celestia and onto a paining of Celestia and Luna vanishing King Sombra and saving the Crystal empire.

X-ray signaled the frigate. "Blackjack, are you getting this?"

"Stream is clear X-ray. Feds are taking notes as well." radioed back a crew member with a Danish accent. The commission of colonial affairs stationed on Apex were viewing a stream coming from the HUD of the masked soldiers.

What caught the human's attention detailing the fall of Luna to NightMare Moon.

The squad looked confused.

"Twilight memorized the story better than anypony else!" cheered Pinkie Pie.

The purple alicorn cleared her throat.

"After the defeat of Discord, Celestia and Luna continued to watch over Equestria living in harmony. Celestia would raise the sun, while Luna would raise the moon. As time passed however, Luna became jealous how ponies stayed awake during the day and refused to see her beautiful night. After the defeat of Sombra, Luna was ultimately corrupted by jealousy and wrath. She turned into NightMare Moon and threatened to bring about eternal night. Seeing no other choice, Celestia locked her sister in the moon where she resided for a millennium."

"........."

"YOU BANISHED YOUR SISTER IN THE MOON FOR 1 THOUSAND YEARS! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" exploded Scarecrow.

The atmosphere was a dead silent. Each pony lost the their color, twitched and manes started to split.

"That....language." whispered Celestia.

"I'm afraid they swear a lot princess." muttered Twilight.

Applejack shook off the insult. "Ya can't say dat ta the princess pal!"

"YOU. SILENT!" ordered X-ray. "I can talk to whoever I want, however I want." Overwatch attempted to restrain X-ray before he could lash out.

Pinkie's mane deflated. "You..know, I don't think the federation approves of you swearing at alicorns."

"Bitch please." countered Scorch. He lit up a hologram and amplified the receiver end of his microphone connected to the legislative building on Apex (Gliese 581 d).

The ponies listened to the feed coming from various congressmen and women:

"She locked her own sister on the moon?"

"I'm not surprised, it is a medieval society after all."

"1000 years on the moon? I'd go insane."

"She must have been real-"

Scorch shut off the mic.

The ponies couldn't believe it. They were being called monsters by humanity.

Scarecrow exhaled. "Okay fine, I'm being too hard on you. Although seriously? What kind of a punishment is that?"

"Speak for yourself! You meanies murdered more than one million people." raged Fluttershy.

"Luna, what was it like on the moon?" questioned X-ray.

The blue alicorn hesitated before speaking. "Cold, distant, lonely."

"When some one dies. They're dead. It's over. Quick and painless. They aren't forced to endure 1000 years of dehumanizing agony." chastised Scorch.

"I was trying to protect my people." cried Celestia. "I never meant to hurt Luna."

Scarecrow didn't know what motivated him to add insult to injury. "You do realize how flawed your plan was right?"

The ponies looked at Shadow's masked commander.

"For starters, did you not notice Luna went mad after you fought Sombra?"

The alicorn sisters glanced each other.

"What was the last thing Sombra did to Luna after you defeated him?" inquired Scorch.

Luna tried to recall the memory. "Sombra showed me a vision as we vanished him. The vision claimed that I was doomed to endure loneliness and forced to live in a world where no pony appreciated what I did and took my sacred duty for granted."

"So he increased the influence of the amygdala, which makes us feel fear in our minds and forced you to relive what would be your biggest nightmare." informed X-ray.

"Let me tell you something." spoke up Scarecrow. "The most powerful emotion someone can feel is not love, hatred, ambition, friendship or bravery. It's fear."

The equestrians looked at Scarecrow with uncertainty.

"Fear is what the 23rd thrives on." remarked Scorch. "That emotion can drive us to insanity and make us do things we do not want. It can destroy friendships and lives. Countless enemies have went mad because of the paranoia they suffered because of us. Luna is a victim of such an emotion. The fear took over her and turned her into NightMare Moon."

Celestia gave a sisterly nuzzle to her sister.

"When Luna went mad, surely you should have realized that it was Sombra's influence." pointed Scarecrow. "I'm not an expert on that pony, but he sounds like somepony who would operate on fear as well."

"I didn't realize it was Sombra influencing my sister until now." whispered Celestia. Cadance and Pinkie Pie went to comfort the Solar Alicorn.

"Even I thought it was a conscious decision." admitted Luna. Fluttershy wiped a tear from her eye.

"And Celestia, out of all the spells you could have cast with the element, why lock your sister in the moon?" questioned Scorch.

The solar alicorn said nothing.

"Clearly you didn't realize Sombra had anything to do with Luna's downfall." remarked X-ray. "You still should have known that locking a paranoid alicorn on the moon for 1000 years is only going to drive her even more insane. Like we said, we're experts on fear and unless you don't want forgiveness, why torment someone for a millennium?"

"But, we're all here now. Doesn't that count for anything?" squeaked Pinkie Pie.

"I suppose it does." confessed Scorch. "We shouldn't be dwelling in the past and you were caring for your subjects which is completely noble. So I guess everything did work out in the end." The ponies felt relieved as Shadow calmed down.

"But how Luna is not a foaming psychopath right now needs an explanation." added Scarecrow.

"You can thank Twilight for that." pointed the alicorn of the moon.

Overwatch turned around to see another painting. Detailing the Mane 6 wearing the elements and lifting the curse of NightMare Moon. The masked humans noted that Twilight was still a unicorn in the picture.

"Care to explain this?" voiced X-ray.

"Ohh! My turn!" cheered Pinkie Pie. "That's us defeating NightMare Moon with the Elements of Harmony."

"Being the Alicorn of the night, I was able to draw energy from starlight to help me breath and stay alive in the void." stated Luna. "After a thousand years, the effects of the elements wore off and I was able to return to Epona."

"The problem was that ponies thought Luna and NightMare Moon was just a fairy tale so no pony saw her coming." said Rainbow Dash.

"And that's when Twilight came in." added Rarity. "She was the only pony that insisted the story of NightMare Moon as fact, not fiction."

The purple alicorn blushed.

"Before Twilight became the element of magic, she was my student." versed Celestia. "I realized NightMare Moon would return on the thousandth summer sun celebration and that only the elements would be enough to stop her. I needed her to make friends and find suitable candidates for the other elements."

"And she sent her to Ponyville of all places. Why was dat?" questioned Applejack.

"It's Celestia, she probably knew all along that we were the elements from the beginning." responded Rainbow Dash.

"That is not technically why I sent Twilight there." countered Celestia. "While you are right on that one part Rainbow Dash, I figured when NightMare Moon attacked, she would choose to attack the town hosting the Summer Sun Celebration and start there to plunge Equestria into eternal night."

"You guessed right." teased Luna.

"I was less than pleased to go to Ponyville." chuckled Twilight. "I didn't care about making friends, all I cared for was solving the mystery of NightMare Moon."

"And then she met us!" cheered Pinkie Pie.

Twilight formed a dreamy look "Together, we ventured through the Everfree Forest and found the elements together. Along the journey, I discovered that the elements were in my friends all along."

The counter terrorists wanted to desperately laugh about how childish her story sounded.

"Together, we brandished the elements and cast a spell that soothed NightMare Moon's anger and released the plague that corrupted her. And after realizing the power friendship, I decided to stay in Ponyville after all."

"While it's only been a few years, I feel like we've been friends forever." chimed Fluttershy.

Shadow simply nodded.

"To be fair, plunging the world into eternal night wasn't really such an evil plan." muttered X-ray. "Ponies could have easily created artificial lighting and the unicorns and Earth Ponies could have simply found a way to grow crops without photosynthesis. Many plants can do that like the ones on Titan and Europa. Not to mention one side of the planet would be locked into eternal morning."

Luna simply gave a cheesy smile.

"And that was still no reason to lock your sister in the moon." grunted Scarecrow.

Celestia copied Luna's expression.

Overwatch's voice grabbed everyone's attention. "Ugh, that artist needs to be fired. He just copied the painting of Twilight's pals redeeming NightMare Moon and swapped the alicorn with Discord."

The masked commandos looked at a new painting of the Mane 6 entrapping Discord in stone.

Rarity fixed her mane as she spoke. "I think it would be appropriate to point out that Discord was not entrapped in stone forever. Eventually, he was able to break free from his prison and wreak havoc on us all."

"It was so weird!" skipped Pinkie Pie. "Discord stole the elements of harmony and he told us they were in a maze. Then he stole our ability to fly and use magic so we would have to cross the maze normally....but Discord was a cheater!"

Pinkie Pie found herself being cradled by Scorch. "He basically turned us into our opposites and we lost color for some reason."

"That's because emotions can trigger chemicals that alter our appearance." informed Scarecrow before X-ray could start explaining."

"And Discord wan't just a a cheater, he's a liar too!" screeched the Pink Mare. "He told us the elements weren't really in the maze. Can you believe that? Then we were all mopey and mean until Twilight got smudge of willpower to remind us of our true selves and use the elements to put Discord back in his place." Scorch finally dropped Pinkie.

"Are you going to vilify me and my sister for encasing Discord in stone by the way?" asked Celestia sarcastically.

"Nope." bluntly answered Scarecrow. "If he was mad on his own accord, he deserved imprisonment. Considering he's a manifestation of chaos, I applaud that you turned him to stone as conventional prison wouldn't contain him."

The alicorn sisters smiled. At least they got some respect from the humans.

X-ray was responding to a question being sent to him by the Feds. "The commission of colonial affairs wishes to know is Discord will be a problem to us."

"Do not worry about Discord. We released him a few months ago and Fluttershy was able to convert him to good." assured the princess of magic.

"Just goes to show you, everyone is redeemable." blushed Fluttershy.

The ponies expected the humans to be touched until-

"If only that were true." snapped X-ray.

"So where is Discord anyway?" interrogated Scorch.

"We don't know, maybe he's spreading his gift of chocolate rain all over the world." smiled Pinkie Pie.

"Say Cadance, you've been awfully quiet." noticed Scarecrow. "Care to explain what that picture is?"

The Pink Alicorn calmed herself with her technique and gazed at the portrait detailing her and Shining Armor head to head. "I'd rather wait until later to explain. My husband will be joining us for dinner. Speaking of which, didn't anypony notice that him and the guards he was with looked really depressed?"

"Let's jus' say that he met Shadow face ta mask." gritted Applejack.

Cadance knew her husband was brave and to see someone putting him in a state of cationic fear was frightening.

"And now our latest portrait details the return of the Crystal Empire." showed Twilight. "After it returned from a thousand year banishment-"

"Wait a minute." interrupted X-ray. "Does everyone notice that everything you face is from a thousand years ago?"

The ponies looked at each other in disbelief, never before had they noticed such an important fact.

"What, do all the bad guys find it convenient to attack today?" sarcastically remarked Scarecrow.

Celestia cleared her throat. "You forgot to notice that everything Twilight and her friends went up against is something I had to face as well."

"I do not know where your opinions of us lie." sneered Luna. "But, me and my sister were no fools. We did not waste time trying to purge the world of its evils through long intervals. Our campaign was swift and with the elements, efficient."

"But when that the elements chose the 6 as their new bearers, our work with the elements were undone." exhaled Celestia.

"So it's like pulling a rope. When you let go; the house comes down." condescended Scorch.

"Yeah, but now the elements are gone!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "Who knows what we've released?"

"We're not regretting our decision." growled Overwatch. "You'll just have to find a way to solve your problems rather than whisking them away."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to accuse us of something?

The sniper shook his head.

X-ray looked over the artwork and noticed how it glorified Spike.

Scorch chuckled. He forgot about the purple dragon all along. "Hey Spike your-"

Shadow turned around and froze in paranoia. The small dragon was busy playing with a frag grenade with utter joy.

Spike looked up at the counter terrorists. "Oh sorry, I wasn't listening. What is this thing anyway? It looks so cool."

Scarecrow talked to the dragon slowly. "Spike, where did you get that?"

"Oh this? I found it on the train seat." answered the small dragon.

Scorch looked at the ammo counter on his HUD and realized that he was grenade short. He always did have random bursts of bad luck.

"Is something wrong?" asked Luna wearily.

The commando focused on the dragon. "Spike. What you are holding is a frag grenade. It is a very powerful explosive."

"Explosive?" shrieked Fluttershy.

Spike was confused. Scorch continued approaching him. "What ever you do, don't pull the pin-"

Click

"FUCK!" The demo man had 7 seconds. His speed kicked in and he snatched the grenade from Spike's claws and threw it out the window. The grenade exploded in Mid-Air.

The commandos formed a wall around the equines to protect them from the blast damage.

"New rule!" beamed Scarecrow. "No pony touches our equipment without our approval or else."

"Or else what?" inquired Pinkie.

"How 'bout we just leave it at 'or else' sugarcube." gritted Applejack.

"Those monstrous weapons are to be confiscated at once." glared Celestia.

"We've seen what happens when those with no experience are in possession of Terran weapons." challenged X-ray. "They're better off in our hands."

"We will keep them locked up in a vault. Instruments of murder have no place in Equestria." spat Luna.

"Are you really going to try and disarm us?" hissed Overwatch.

As the humans started to get more aggressive, the pain inside the heads of ponies increased until it was reaching levels that were unbearable.

Luna gave up. "Fine, you may keep them. Just be careful."

"That's why we want them in our hands. So ponies don't get hurt." insisted Scarecrow.

As the humans calmed down, the headaches of the equines diminished.

Suddenly, the doors on the other side of the hall opened and revealed Shining Armor, now dressed in a suit. His wife flew towards him and planted a kiss on his muzzle.

Shining Armor mustered the courage to speak to the humans. "If it would not be any trouble, the servants have prepared a room for you humans. There have been modifications to better accommodate your needs."

Scarecrow turned to the equines. "If it's fine with you, can we go to our room and meet you in the dining hall?"

The ponies gave nervous remarks of approval.

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

The humans were directed to their guest room by a frightened guard. Scorch opened the door and the humans looked upon their home for the night.

Despite being animated, the room looked awfully comfortable. The beds were modified to be even larger than Celestia's to suit Shadow's behemoth size. Even the lavatory facilities were enlarged.

"I just hope they didn't do something stupid like cast a growth spell." shook Scarecrow.

"Agreed, mass isn't destroyed so the bed would still be weak as fuck." nodded X-ray.

Scorch laid down on the bed. "I don't think that's the case, although this bed does feel awfully weak."

"Gentleman, we're getting a message from the commission." announced Scarecrow. He tapped on his wrist computer and the transparent blue holograms of a few congressmen and women appeared. Each congress member wore a suit and had a pin that depicted the Federation logo.

Shadow snapped into a salute.

"At ease." said the head of the department.

"What's our status sir?" asked Scarecrow.

"You're doing a good job." remarked the HOD. "I don't blame you for lashing out at them. This race is just messed up."

"Remind us again why we have to scare the living shit out of these equines." muttered Scorch.

A congresswomen glanced at the demo man. "Had the equines been a space faring race, they would have been quite the valuable asset. Unfortunately their renaissance structure and theocracy is a detriment to the interests of the Federation. We don't mean to sound like supremacists, but there is almost nothing they can do to help us unless they see the numerous errors of their society, be frightened and find the urge to adapt."

"While we are firmly against imperialism." defended the HOD. "The equines are repeating the same mistakes of humanity during the dark to renaissance ages. It would be rude to sit idly by while we know the cure to their stagnation. Even if it hurts, they have to end this silly fantasy if they are to survive in the universe. Now that we've met them, the odds about Mega Corp and other insurrection groups discovering and attacking this planet are escalating."

An arabic official crossed his arms. "Furthermore, the entire planet is after our race for unknown reasons. The equines must be place in a state of submission to reduce the chances of them declaring war on us. They appear to be the most influential race on the planet and having them against us is making Epona our enemy."

The HOD had a final announcement. "While it is against 23rd protocol, we calmly request that the 4 of you remove your masks at some point and reveal your faces. We are aware that fear of the unknown is what makes the 23rd a fierce opponent, but we need to form some trust with the equines and it would ease up interrogation."

"Understood sir." nodded Scarecrow. "Shadow out."

The holograms disappeared.

Scorch slumped back and laid down on an animated chair. Much to his expectation, the chair broke. "Honest to universe, what are these chairs made of?"

Overwatch drank a whole bottle of animated water. "They call this one liter? Felt like I drank half the thing."

'Half'? X-ray stroked his bandana in thought until-

"EUREKA!"

"Please share with the class X-Gay." insulted Scarecrow.

"Guys think about it." jumped the masked rifleman. "The water we drink is only half filling. The chairs we sit on only take half the mass they're supposed to. Our bullets can penetrate twice objects here than on a non animated world."

Scorch crossed his arms. "What are you getting at?"

"This is only a theory but; what if animated objects only have half the molecular count of a realistic object?"

Scarecrow was skeptical. He used neural controls on his HUD to analyze the animated furniture of the room. The dimensions were logical, but when he changed to view molecular count-

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

The Mane 6, the princesses and Shining Armor sat in the royal dining hall silently. Shadow had been gone for around 10 minutes, but waiting felt like an eternity. Spike was napping in his room.

No pony dared to speak up out of the fear Shadow was cloaked and watching them.

Rainbow Dash tried to break the silence. "So, seen any good-"

The doors of the dining room slammed open. Shadow, who the ponies noted were carrying no equipment other than their rifles and wrist computers, entered the room with uncontrollable excitement. Except for Overwatch who was still neutral.

Pinkie Pie became ecstatic. "You look happy, did somepony tell a funny joke?"

"Better!" shrieked Scarecrow. Everypony knew that he was smiling under his mask.

"We found out why you look so different." spoke up Scorch.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Beg yer pardon?"

X-ray cleared his throat. "Okay, it's clear to you that Epona looks differently then rest of the universe."

The ponies nodded.

"Also, have you noticed how everything seems to collapse under our weight?" added Scarecrow.

"What do you mean?" questioned Celestia.

The scrawny X-ray sat down on an enlarged gilded chair, only for it to collapse.

Scorch spoke in an innocent tone. "Now we know you ponies aren't the most intelligent of species-"

"HEY!" defended Twilight.

"-but surely you know that everything is made up of tiny particles that take up a space."

"We have yet to observe said particles, but we are aware that matter is made up of building blocks." nodded Celestia.

Overwatch took X-ray's tablet and drew a circle on a illustrator app.

"Pay attention." snapped Scarecrow. "This circle is a living thing."

Overwatch drew a small dots onto the circle.

"These small dots are atoms that make up the body. They are closely connected with each other to form dense structures. Do you follow."

The ponies nodded. They weren't ignorant that matter is made up of smaller particles. Overwatch drew another circle.

"This is an object on Epona." instructed Scarecrow.

The sniper filled in more dots, but in a smaller number.

"As you can see." educated Scarecrow. "The atoms that make up an object on Epona are half of that of a non Eponan counterpart. But the particles are still spread out to make the size of an Eponan object equal to a non Eponan. As a result, the lower molecular number to reinforce an object of a certain size is half of a Terran counterpart. It also means objects in Epona can burn much easier."

Scorch formed a dreamy smile under his mask.

The ponies that weren't Twilight, Celestia and Luna couldn't comprehend what Scarecrow just said.

Luna was skeptical. "So wait. That is why we're, how you say? Animated?"

"No." pointed X-ray. "It is why everything is weaker than what we expected. The reason why you are animated is because the cells in Eponan biology for a certain organ are uniform as opposed to Terran biology where each part of the body is made up of a different cell. Not to mention, the molecular structure of the objects on Epona are aligned perfectly. Thus you have an animated appearance."

Overwatch took the lead. "For example, when I use the same color to draw a picture, I get animation. When I use stokes that spreads various colors in one point, I get real life."

"It also explains why you get head aches from looking at us for too long." stated Scorch.

This got the ponies attention.

The demo man took a breath. "Your eyes are used to looking at objects with simple and perfectly aligned molecular structures. It is like a man trapped in darkness being sensitive to light, but much more at the same time. When you look at a Terran object, the sheer detail and imperfect molecular structure forms a series of confusion in the brain. This is why it hurts. Our complicated form alone overwhelms you."

One could hear crickets roar.

"I'm afraid I don't follow, nor do I care." sighed Rarity.

The humans glared under their masks.

"Of course." sighed X-ray. "I swear Equestria has a lack on intellectualism."

"We are not against finding out how the universe works." countered Celestia. "It is just that with a beautiful world around us whose mystery brings us joy, why should we become cynical and find out how the world works when we can just enjoy it without harm?"

Scarecrow laughed. "That is the funniest anti intellectual message I have ever heard. We're not trying to find out why Epona works because we have no time for fun. We're finding why it works because it is fun. Beauty of life comes from the sheer thrills you get from cracking down the universe's mysteries. Doesn't any of that excite you?"

"..........No." whispered Fluttershy. "I mean, if that's okay with you."

"Universe damn it. This is information that benefits you. The least you could do is thank us for finding out why you keep getting mind attacks." sneered Scorch.

"Well, we never asked for you to start going around solving things." glared Shining Armor.

"I swear we have to change your attitude towards rationality." cautioned X-ray.

"You can't tell us how to think." beamed Pinkie Pie.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Shadow's right. I'm sick and tired of being the only pony who wants to figure out how the world works and not fall asleep at it."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Well no offense to you 4 or something, but with crazy stuff happening in our lives, we don't really have time for all this sciency junk."

Overwatch hissed while Scarecrow grinned under his mask. "You ponies sure have gone on a lot of adventures if you don't have time for any knowledgeable pursuits."

"Well of course!" laughed Applejack. "Don' y'all have those crazy days once in a while?"

"Human life is pretty grey." shook Scorch. "Every human is special and they're lives are novels in their own right. However with so many humans out there, the odds of something news worthy and world shattering based on the acts of an individual are abysmal. Besides, what is considered a special day for us is a far cry from saving the Crystal Empire."

"What about you 4? I remember one of you saying you've been on more than 800 missions." reminded Cadance. "Surely, you of all humans have gone on violent escapades before."

Scorch laughed. "Let's just say we've been on enough operations to fill a trilogy of video games, a set of novels, a movie and comic book story line."

"Yeah, but what are the odds the rest of society is going to know?" brought up Scarecrow. "Ops of the 23 are classified."

"Come to think of it, ever noticed how everything important seems to happen to the ponies in this room?" noticed X-ray.

"What do you mean by that?" inquired Rarity.

"We looked over the paintings in the hall, and everything published within the current time frame has something to do with you 6." explained the masked rifleman.

"We are awesome, of course ponies are going to notice us." gloated Rainbow Dash.

"And they are the elements of harmony, it is their duty to be ready to face the dangers of the." assured Celestia.

"Well, I kind of find it odd that everything just happens to you." glared Scarecrow. "We humans don't have 6 people that's responsible for everything that's important. Like we said, it's the problems of the mass."

"You know, Shadow has a point." nodded Twilight. "Between our calls to duty, there is just weird stuff that happens in Ponyville almost every week."

"To be fair Twilight, another reason why I sent you to Ponyville is because the town's small size and colorful population would place you in situations where you would most likely come across lessons in friendship." revealed Celestia.

"Lessons in friendship?" chuckled Scorch. "Aren't you supposed to learn stuff like that in kindergarten?"

The Mane 6 blushed.

"Seems like you've been pulling all the strings Celestia." accused Scarecrow. "When did you know that our 6 friends would be important to the affairs of Equestria."

"Actually." piped up Cadance after calming herself. "I was kind of the first pony to know Twilight had a great life ahead of her. When I was young, I wanted to take some form of responsibility so I turned to foal sitting."

"And because she had a crush on me, she chose to foal sit Twilight." teased Shining Armor.

"Well, the first clue I had about Twilight having the potential to become an alicorn is when she demonstrated outstanding performance on her magic exam." explained Celestia. "Later that night I discovered that she had received her enhanced magical capabilities from a sonic rainboom, orchestrated by Rainbow Dash. I was also informed that the others received their cutie marks from the same source. I took it as a sign."

"I know what you mean, the first sign that we were destined to be best friends was when we were the only 4 kids to have no interest in our school's welcome part in 3rd grade." laughed Scorch.

"And ever since then, we've had a whole lot of crazy run ins." laughed Fluttershy nervously.

For the next......3 hours the ponies in the room began to explain each and every episode of the time they spent together:

"So in the end, Celestia sent me a letter with more tickets."

"And then I stared down the dragon and convinced him to leave."

"When I thought my friends were avoiding me, I went crazy and started talking to inanimate objects."

"So, I was finally able to get accepted on Nightmare Night."

"In the end, I selected Tank to be my pet."

"Finally, me and Shining Armor Cast out the Changelings and got on with our wedding."

"As a result, Spitfire made me team captain."

"So ah finally got the reunion settled down."

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

"And then, I mustered up the courage and flew into the distance where everypony could see me." concluded Twilight with a cheerful smile.

"Who would have thought this all came from swapped cutie marks. Right Shadow?" shook Rainbow Dash.

"......"

"Shadow?"

There was no response. The 4 masked humans simply stared at the equines with a vacant stare. Overwatch's head was down on the table.

"Epona to Shadow." waved Pinkie Pie. There was no response.

Rarity placed a hoof on her chin. "Come to think of it, they've been unresponsive ever since we started talking about winter wrap up."

Suddenly Scorch's fell over. "ZZZZZZZZ"

"They're asleep." gritted Applejack.

"Oh my, they must be tired." empathized Fluttershy.

"How rude." snorted Luna.

Twilight flew on over to X-ray. "Um, X-ray. Are you awake?"

"5 more minutes dad." whispered the masked commando in his sleep.

Rainbow Dash was about to nudge him awake-

When X-ray grabbed her fore hoof and slammed her onto the table. Just when he drew a combat knife-

"AAAAAA!" shrieked the cyan pegasus.

X-ray was wide awake. Upon realizing what happened, he sheathed his knife and sat back down. The scream woke up the other members of Shadow. Rainbow Dash quickly retreated to her seat, having nearly wet herself.

"Shit! Don't sneak up on us!" warned X-ray.

"Well, maybe we wouldn't need to have woken you up if you hadn't fallen asleep." noted Rarity.

"Relax, are eyes may have been closed, but we still listened to what you said." assured Scarecrow. "Formed a cartoon in my head."

"I'm sorry, but it is rude to be fall asleep when somepony is telling you something." said Celestia.

"Well no offense ma'am, but those stories you're supposed to tell to little girls. Not adolescent males." countered Scorch. The demo man checked his COMS. "Not to mention, you also seem to have put congress to sleep. Congress to sleep."

"I found them entertaining." implied Overwatch.

Seconds later, the other 3 humans admitted to finding the adventures of the Equestrians admirable as well.

"Although I did find many errors with your lives." accused Scarecrow.

The ponies put on confused expressions.

"Errors?" said Twilight.

X-ray nodded. "For starters, you ponies made a whole superhero identity to teach Rainbow Dash a lesson in humility, only for you ponies to end up hogging the attention and act like brats in the future."

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

Sunset had fallen by the time Shadow was done explaining everything wrong with the adventures of the equines.

The ponies in the room felt like idiots. The Commission of Colonial Affairs (who had woken from their hour long nap) was pleased. If Ponies were going to be part of an alliance, they didn't need them making trivial mistakes.

Shadow turned to face Shining Armor and Cadance.

"No offense, but you're victory over Chrysalis wasn't much of a victory." sighed Scarecrow.

"What do you mean?" snapped Shining Armor. "We were almost overrun by a Changeling horde and we saved the day."

"Let's begin." remarked X-ray. "What the fuck motivated you 2 to have your weeding when you knew there was a threat to Canterlot?"

Cadance almost fainted from the swear but Shining Armor hung on.

"It was a special day and weren't going to let a threat get in the way of our marriage."

The masked rifleman gave a mechanic laugh. "Because a day is more important than the safety of your ponies? You're captain of the royal guard."

"Which reminds me, if I was your CO, you would have been demoted a long time ago. Who trains an army that is overrun in moments." threatened Scarecrow.

"Are you trying to say it was a mistake for me to promote him?" accused Celestia.

Scorch sighed. "Look, you're a nice guy, but you shouldn't have been put in charge of the army. If I was the leader of the Canterlot guard, I would have wasted no time trying to crack down on this threat instead of worrying about marriage. You don't hear about a threat and make no attempt to uncover it."

"Speaking of which." continued Scarecrow. "How the hell did Chrysalis break it? I thought you placed a massive barrier around the city. After all it did block out the Changeling army."

Shining Armor shrugged, that mystery almost eluded him.

"And really, Chrysalis was retarded." sighed X-ray. "I would have killed Cadance rather than leave an alicorn alive in the caves. I would have done the same to Twilight if she had found out. Even if I were to teleport you to, it wouldn't be right next to each other."

"How nice for you." gritted Cadance, she used her calming technique, to no avail. She was frightened beyond relief."

"Speaking of which, I can understand Cadance not escaping the castle due to being weakened, but come on Twilight, you could have teleported rather than wasting your time in the mine cart." pointed Scorch.

Twilight sunk under the table, she seriously had to do something about forgetting her powers.

"Well Changelings feed off love, we're useless to them dead." defended Cadance.

"How do you feed off love anyway?" questioned Scorch. Suddenly Pinkie Pie materialized next to the demo man and whispered the answer in his ear. Despite her low voice, Shadow heard it perfectly.

Long story short, they weren't going to ever ask for that sexual position ever again.

"Fine but, rather than imprisoning you and disabling your magic like she did with Celestia when she had you captured, she sang." face palmed Overwatch.

"To make it worse, blasting a changeling army, that can fly, to parts unknown is a horrible fucking plan." insulted Scorch.

Cadance finally burst to tears as Shining Armor glared at the humans.

"Finally, Luna.....where the fuck were you?" asked X-ray.

The princess of the Night tried to hide her face with her wings.

"So no offense to everypony in this room, but you were nearly defeated by a dumbass." joked Scarecrow.

After a minute of sorrow, Applejack broke the silence.

"Ah feel lak such an idiot."

"Honestly, we've made so many bad choices in life when the right answer was in front of us the entire time." contemplated the alicorn of magic.

"It's alright my little ponies, what's important is that you learn from your mistakes." assured Celestia.

"That, and you should probably think before acting." advised X-ray.

"But hey, we've looked back at our missions, turns out there were many moments where we made the wrong decision as well, even though the right answer was in front of us." chuckled Scorch.

"I guess we're all equally guilty then." laughed Scarecrow. "At least your faults weren't life and death situations."

Shadow gave off a mechanical laugh and the ponies couldn't help but grin.

Suddenly a servant crept into the room and whispered something into Celestia's ear. The solar alicorn nodded and dismissed the butler.

"The food will be prepared any moment now." announced Celestia. "There's been a delay since the chefs don't know what humans eat. I told them to just prepare the usual."

"Sounds good." nodded Scarecrow.

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "How are you going to eat with your bandanna on?"

Scorch laughed. "Simple."

The members of Shadow reached for their masks.

Author's Notes:

And tech vs magic has begun. Sorry if you think Shadow is too mean, but the feds have a point. Ponies are useless to a space faring race that has thrived for 500 years alone unless their ideologies change.

Remember to write down what you want Shadow and the Equestrians to discuss. It's going to be a long set of sub chapters.

The next chapter will most probably go into Shadow's history as well as general human facts. I could be wrong. Sorry if this chapter was too wordy. At least I write long chapters quick.

Don't forget to read my latest blog post if you already haven't:

http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/193879/side-story