Authors note: Wow, I got to 2 hundred likes without even being featured once. That is amazing. Let's see if we can get more and even get featured. For now, here's a bonus chapter my readers requested.

"A foe without honor is a foe already beaten." - Ultramarines Honor Guard

The members of Shadow followed Shining Armor through Canterlot castle. The tall and frightening appearances of the humans alone was enough to get the castle staff to trot in the other direction.

"So what is it that you require?" asked Scarecrow without a hint of concern.

"Well, a lot of the guards haven't taken too kindly after our little stand off in the train station." answered Shining Armor.

"What, do they have nightmares of us or something?" laughed X-ray.

Shining Armor gave the rifle man a scowl, only to bob his head away. The white stallion was an imposing figure to the rest of the royal guards, but to Shadow, he was nothing more that a mere bug they could stomp.

"When you faced me and my troops, you basically took away the honor our guard holds." scolded the white stallion. "You rudely humiliated us."

"Yeah, we'll do that to even the most hardened of mercs." gloated Scorch.

"So what do they want with us?" growled Overwatch.

"A chance to reclaim their pride and confidence." trivialized Shining Armor.

"How? You want us to pretend to be afraid while they talk shit to us?" chuckled Scarecrow.

"Not what I had in mind." smiled the captain.

Shining Armor opened a door that led to the training grounds of the royal guards. Everywhere the stallions were in the midst of an intense training work out. Now that the existence of space faring aliens had been confirmed, the guards were training double time.

Some Pegasai were training in flight patterns, some unicorns were practicing offensive magic while the Earth Ponies were practicing bucking training dummies. Shadow noticed that the dummies were replicas of the human form.

Others practiced running, hoof ups and to Shadow's amusement; spear throwing.

Shining Armor expected the humans to be intimidated by the vigor and discipline of his troops, but Shadow remained apathetic and unmoved.

He looked up at the commandos and tried to appear intimidating, but failed. He was a mere 4ft 10 that was dwarfed by the humans. X-ray, who was the shortest, stood at 6ft 3 and a half.

"I have to admit, you've got quite a disciplined unit." complimented X-ray.

"Thanks." nodded the captain. "How do you humans train your soldiers?"

"The Federation has no use for soldiers who can't think for themselves, so in addition to training our troopers physically, we train them mentally as well." gloated Scarecrow.

"A soldier has to be loyal to the leader he serves. They need to show obedience." countered Shining Armor.

"A soldier has to be loyal to the people and greater good. We've never hesitated to disobey unconstitutional orders or commands that complicate the situation further." explained X-ray.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. "Going back to my question, what did they train you in?"

"The 23rd is trained gymnastics, parkour, hand to hand combat, rifle handling, demolitions, espionage, and scare tactics." told Scorch.

"Scare tactics?" repeated the white unicorn.

"The 23rd's trait is fear. Some times, we scare an enemy into submission rather than fighting them directly." trivialized X-ray. "And when we train in physical fitness, we're trained in a gravity much higher than Earth's which already has a stronger gravity than Epona."

Shining Armor was going to give up just yet. "Do all humans train their men this way?"

"No. Different units have different needs. So what do you want?" interrogated Scarecrow.

"You've insulted the reputation of our unit, and we want it back." puffed Shining Armor. "They say those who talk tough like you usually don't fight tough. The only way to prove our selves to you is a sparing match."

Scorch's eyes shot open. "Come again?"

"You heard us. A sparing match. You 4 against my troops." smirked the Captain.

"How will that exactly restore the honor of your men?" pondered Overwatch.

"If we take down a group of Xeno commandos, the morale of my soldiers will increase through the roof." challenged the white stallion.

X-ray tried not to laugh. "You do realize that's a horrible fucking idea? Fighting a guard one on one will not doubt result in the latter's death."

Shining Armor flexed his blue mane. "If you humans think you're so mighty, than why not face a number of my guards at once? I'm not trying to restore the pride of just one soldier here."

"Um, they'll still get their flanks kicked. No offense." defended Scarecrow.

"How do you know? You've never faced them." reminded Shining Armor.

X-ray got ready another rant. "Let's see. Our muscles are augmented to take form an octagonal structure giving us 8 times the strength of a normal human being, animated bodies are half the strength of real ones, we have kinetic barriers that are built to take down dozens of gauss bullets before shattering, we wear recon armor that is extremely flexible, masks that demoralize enemies, motion trackers, magnetic vision, hands and feet to make us more flexible and are conditioned to take out heavily armed, gauss wielding mercs with energized armor. I'd say your troops are fucked."

Shining Armor brushed off the swear. "What good is all that when you're fighting troops with vigor and motivation? Your arrogance and reliance on technology will be your undoing."

"We're not arrogant. We don't want to fight your guards out of a general concern for their well being." assured Scorch.

"So no thanks. Besides, the whole honor system has been the undoing of many raiders and cults we've had to take out." shook Scarecrow.

Suddenly the commander's wrist computer started beeping as he received a message from the congress's HOD.

"Shadow give them what they want." ordered the HOD

"Come again sir? How is a duel going to benefit anyone?" replied Scarecrow.

"Two reasons. For starters, once the ponies really know who they're messing with, the chances of attackers coming at you will degrade. The Equestrians will be in total fear of our race and allow us to further our interests. Second, it would give the Equestrians an incentive to adapt. It is not the job of the Federation to evolve other species, but once they see how powerful we are compared to them, they'll be motivated to progress their society further."

"I see, so we're using the power of fear to help both sides." nodded Scorch.

"Exactly. But don't you dare kill anypony and shatter our ties with the only race on this world that doesn't want to kill us or we will send a dreadnought to ion cannon you from orbit!"

Scarecrow gulped. "Understood. Shadow out."

Shining Armor looked at the humans quizzically. "Everything alright?"

"Positive." nodded Scorch. "We accept your challenge."

Shining Armor smiled arrogantly. "Excellent. Although there are going to be some ground rules."

"First no spears, guns or anything that can murder. We're not out to kill anypony." warned Scarecrow.

"Of course. I never intended my guards to use weapons." defended the white stallion. "What should be the numbers on each side?"

"20 guards against one of us for each round." ordered X-ray. "Take it or leave it. I suggest you choose your best men."

"Granted. We'll keep on our armor so you can keep on yours." offered Shining Armor.

"Our suits have functions like kinetic barriers and cloaking. Should we turn those off?" inquired Scorch.

Shining Armor put a hoof on his chin. "Turn down your barriers but keep everything else."

Shadow used neural controls to turn off their kinetic barriers. Suddenly, their entire body was illuminated in purple hexagons that changed color to red, and finally vanished as they lost power.

The counter terrorists walked towards the training field.

Shining Armor raised his voice. "Alright! Everypony form up on me."

The guards attentively snapped to attention and galloped straight to their commander before giving him a salute.

"The members of Shadow squad have agreed to a little rough housing. They will each fight 20 of us in the arena. Only if you are absolutely certain that you are capable of facing them should you volunteer!"

Much to Shadow's surprise, every guard raised his hoof. Looks like they were really angry at the humans.

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In the next 5 minutes Shining Armor took 20 members from the Solar, Lunar and Crystal and his personal division. The soldiers, human and pony, had relocated to the central training field where the match would take place. Shadow nor the pegasai wanted to be confined in such a small room.

X-ray was going to be the first to battle, against the Crystal guards. Before he entered the arena, he turned to his left to the bleachers. The entire stage was crowded with nobles of Canterlot wishing to see a fight. In the VIP section stood the Mane 6 and the Princesses who sat on 4 thrones. Spike was most likely at his favorite donut store.

The commando could here the voices of the Mane 6 call out.

"Come on! Let's see some action!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"Teach 'em humans a lesson!" encouraged Applejack.

"Please be careful." whimpered Fluttershy.

"This is going to be fun!" cheered Pinkie Pie.

"I still find violence dreadful." complained Rarity.

"I hope X-ray is careful. These are the elite of the Crystal guard." muttered Cadance.

X-ray entered the boundary line on the arena, completely sorry for the guards. He may have been scrawny on the outside, but on the inside, he could have ripped a hole in their skulls.

The commando tied his bandanna, placed on his shades and flapped his hood. His obscuring mask was enough to demoralize the crystal guards. X-ray struck a combat pose to signify he was ready.

After a moment of waiting, the pegasai clad in purple armor flew high in the sky while the Earth Ponies charged him straight on.

X-ray's VI calculated their velocity, mass and force application. They were moving at 20km an hour but were obstructed by their animated mass which only put their force at a negligible number.

The Earth ponies galloped towards him with the intention to confuse X-ray while the pegasai built speed in the air.

But X-ray remained indomitable. Right when the Earth Ponies were half way towards him, X-ray charged at the mass. Just when they met, X-ray front flipped high into the air and brushed passed the confused herd of charging stallions.

Then there were the incoming pegasai who were inches away.

To everypony's surprise, X-ray side rolled over to the left. The pegasai were moving far too fast to be stopped and 2 of them collided with the Earth ponies.

X-ray didn't even need to recover. 4 had gone down in one strike.

An Earth Pony attempted to buck him, only for X-ray to take a step back and tumble over the guard. In the heart of the moment, X-ray elbowed an approaching crystal guard in the muzzle and swiped his legs to knock over the 4 hooves of the stallion.

X-ray paid attention to his motion tracker.

A pegasus attempted to ram him while flying, only for X-ray to elongate his arm and fist the stallion right in the gut.

With his free hand, X-ray uppercutted another Earth pony who attempted to head but him. The commando back flipped to avoid another blow and kick his aggressor in the chest.

An Unicorn attempted to grab him from the back, only for X-ray to peel off his hooves like wet tissue and throw him forward with enough force to strike down another help less guard.

X-ray side stepped and readied a blow to another unicorn. The pony casted a pink shield around himself to absorb the punch. The barrier however was too weak and shattered. X-ray proceeded to knock out the guard with a punch to the face.

The commando reached to his right to grab a charging stallion and throw him straight to the ground. X-ray stood upright and punched cold an incoming unicorn in the eye.

The crowd was baffled. Never before had they seen this agility.

X-ray then sprinted towards another guard who got ready to buck him. At last second, X-ray slid on the ground and tripped the crystal soldier by knocking away his hooves from the ground.

Just as X-ray got up, he felt his entire body freeze still. It was as if somepony was holding him in place. His motion tracker read other wise however.

Looking closely, X-ray saw the unicorn guards with their horns lit and his body covered in a pink aura to symbolize radiation was being inserted all over his body. The guards were using telekinesis to hold him in place.

A pegasus with an amber coat and blue mane flew towards X-ray at incredible speed with the intent of knocking him out.

Just when it looked like it was the end, the unicorn guards collapsed under the stress of holding down a being with such a complex body structure.

X-ray sprang to attention and snapped his arm forward, catching the amber pegasus by the throat.

"What's your name?" asked X-ray. His mask made his voice sound mechanical and impure.

The crystal guard tried to look away from the eternal abyss that was X-ray's visor.

"F----Flash Sentry." muttered the guard.

"Well Flash, your plan was flawed from the start." Before X-ray could continue, he fisted a charging guard to the right without even looking at him.

"You were coming at me with an acceleration of 40 km an hour with a mass that would be halved due to the fact that you are animated. This would only create a force of 1200 newtons which would not be enough to knock out somebody with my mass that has been octupled due to my muscular structure being netted in a form of octagons."

"...What?" The entire crowd was confused.

"Science bitch!" X-ray punched Flash Sentry in the gut and threw him aside.

The final Earth Pony attempted to charge him from the back, only for X-ray to back flip behind the stallion.

While the Earth pony was confused, X-ray side kicked him to the right and nearly shattered the stallion's spine.

The final 3 unicorns dispelled electromagnetic energy from their horns and started trotting towards him.

X-ray smirked under his mask and diverted all power in his suit to form a pulse punch. The unicorns were dazed as they saw the human's magnetic gloves spark with electricity.

The commando expelled the electricity which was attracted to the guard's metal armor. The pulse did not shock the stallions, but rather disabled their shields.

X-ray rushed to the final ponies and kicked the one in the center flying, elbowed the one on the left and grabbed the one on the right to smash his face on the ground.

The crowd was silent for a minute. X-ray single handedly took out the best of the Crystal empire. It didn't take a genius to know X-ray was holding back in order not to kill.

The paramedics moved the unconscious bodies to a first aid station. Luckily, Celestia had ordered for enough medical resources to handle double the number of guards present.

Cadance was conflicted between providing morale for the remaining guards or attending to her soldiers.

Next, it was Overwatch facing the Solar Guard.

The sniper put on his mask and stood before the ponies clad in golden armor.

"Don't get too cocky! The Crystal guards were always our worst fighters." mocked a pegasus.

"Yeah? Well so was X-ray." growled Overwatch.

Overwatch struck a combat pose and allowed for the guards to make the first move.

The solar guards circled Overwatch and drew closer to to him slowly. The sniper theorized they were attempting to confuse him and send a charging soldier when wasn't looking.

In the heart of the moment, a unicorn guard signaled his fellow troops. "SOLAR FLARE NOW!"

The entire solar guard closed their eyes, while Overwatch remained still.

To the sniper's surprise, the unicorns discharged the light energy stored within their horns. The solar flare was used as a technique by Celestia's unit in order to blind enemies. During their skirmishes with the bat ponies who were sensitive to light, a solar flare would always be the primary choice of engagement.

In a few seconds later, the effects wore off. The civilians opened their eyes and expected what had occurred. To their shock, did not see a blinded Overwatch, but rather 3 knocked out guards.

Shadow should have mentioned that their visors protected them from flash bangs of any strength.

Overwatch was no where to be found. The confused guards stuck together and kept their eyes open for the sniper.

Suddenly, an invisible force slammed an Earth Pony stallion in the stomach. It was clear to the Mane 6 that Overwatch had turned invisible.

The stallion cried in agony. The guards moved away from their fallen comrade, only for another guard to be picked up and thrown away with an immense force despite nothing appearing to have been holding him.

In the heart of the moment, Overwatch uncloaked and side kicked a guard off his hooves, followed by an elbow straight to a unicorn's neck.

Overwatch quickly dodged a head but form an Earth pony, and forced him down to the ground with enough impact to render the Earth pony unconscious.

A Unicorn attempted to hold him still with telekinesis, only for Overwatch to resist the grip and deliver a series of weak, but rapid punches to the unicorn's face.

The crowd couldn't even count how many times Overwatch had punched the guard.

An Earth Pony attempted to buck Overwatch from the left while a pegasus tried to air strike him from the right. The sniper simply fell to a prone position and allowed the buck to unintentionally slam the fellow guard pony.

The ponies watching couldn't help feel sorry for that pegasus. Earth pony bucks were powerful.

Overwatch got back up, grabbed the Earth Pony who tried to buck him by the neck and throw him aside. A unicorn attempted to cast a spell on him, but was too late to prevent Overwatch from pulse punching him and draining his magic.

The unicorn was not electrocuted to death, but was harmlessly paralyzed none the less.

The sniper had an idea in mind. Overwatch could use the metallic armor of the solar guards to his advantage. The marksman used neural controls to increase the magnetic force emitted by his hands.

Suddenly a unicorn felt his chest piece drag him forward to sniper. Just as the guard approached the masked commando, Overwatch freed his other hand to punch the incoming guard in the cheek.

Twilight couldn't believe it. Overwatch had created a makeshift form of telekinesis.

A Pegasus Pony nearly succeeded in stomping Overwatch, only for the sniper to barrel roll to the side. The sniper switched the magnetic poles of his gloves and thus repelled the pony away from him with a magnetic push.

An Pegasus tried to fly straight into the marksman, only for Overwatch to side step the attack. A unicorn tried to hit Overwatch with a stun spell, but the masked marksman ducked and to his luck, allowed the spell to strike the pegasus.

The unicorn who just attacked formed a shield around a charging Earth Pony to help give him a defense boost while he attempted to splatter Overwatch.

Overwatch simply sighed and and elongated his arm.

To the charging stallion's surprise, Overwatch was able to stop him dead in his tracks. The stallion attempted to move forward with the barrier reinforcing him, but could not.

Overwatch transferred his suits energy to his occupied hand and released an EMP that disabled the shield protecting the Earth Pony.

Overwatch proceeded to round house kick the stallion aside, breaking the guard's armor in the process.

The unicorn casting the shield found himself incapable of casting more magic. Overwatch casually walked over to the stallion and brought him to his hooves with his massive height of 6 ft 4. The sniper finished the job with an elbow straight into the muzzle.

The sniper rushed passed the attacking guards and tackled one to ground. Overwatch front flipped forward and as he landed, brought his legs to down to crush another guard pony.

The sniper once again cloaked.

The fear of the unknown took over the royal guards as the hopelessly tried to decipher the snipers location.

"Isn't Overwatch cheating by cloaking?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Well the guards were using magic. I guess anything goes." shook Twilight.

The final guards attempted to remain vigilant until-

"Boo."

The sharp noise collapsed a guard and nearly stopped his heart. Overwatch uncloaked and delivered an upper cut to the last pegasus pony.

The final unicorn pony attempted cast another solar flare, only for the masked sniper to remain unfazed. The unicorn still attempted to strike down Overwatch with stun spell, only for the sniper to roll past the attack, raise the unicorn by the throat and slam him onto the ground.

Overwatch had won and defeated Celestia's elites.

The Canterlot nobles were baffled. Overwatch displayed a formidable performance, and had taken out guards that were meant to protect the solar alicorn herself. Surely the guards needed a change in order if humanity could produce cunning and vigorous soldiers like Overwatch and X-ray.

"I must go." called Celestia. "I have to be there for my injured soldiers."

"You mustn't leave." suggested Luna. "The guards need us for support. We have to show them Equestria is courageous."

"What is the point?" replied Celestia. "We know how this is going to turn out. It was foolish of Shining Armor to challenge Shadow squad to combat."

The next round was between Scorch and the Lunar guard.

The demo man approached the stadium and faced the guard ponies clad entirely in midnight blue armor. Scorch also noticed that there were only pegasai in this unit and they all had bat wings.

A Lunar Pegasus noticed Scorch's fixation. "Do you like it? We bat ponies come from the city of Prancesylvania-"

"You mean like Pennsylvania?" checked Scorch.

The Pegasus frowned. "Sure. Anyway, we were modified form normal Pegasai by NightMare Moon herself to help combat Celestia's solar guard. Needless to say, we almost always won. Especially at night."

The masked demo man crossed his arms and spoke with his mechanical voice. "I hate to break it to you pal, but it's one in the afternoon."

"Doesn't matter. We Lunar guards are trained in situations that make a normal guard cry like a little filly." smirked another bat pony.

A whistle blew signaling the beginning of the spar.

Suddenly, the the bat ponies began flying and started circling Scorch, creating an animated tornado that blocked the commando's view as well as the audience's.

Luna grinned arrogantly. This strategy was almost always full proof.

The wind was strong inside the pony made tornado, but Scorch held on. He had feeling he knew what the Bat ponies intended to do. Scorch switched to magnetics and was able to see the bat ponies flying in incredible speed.

The bat ponies however, didn't expect Scorch to be capable of such a feat.

Scorch knew that the bat ponies were attempting to confounder and frighten him with the tornado they were creating, but it was the 23rd who horrified enemies, not their victims.

To Scorch's pleasure, a bat pony broke free from the tornado and attempted to take the masked commando from behind.

The bat pony expected Scorch to have been distracted, but the demo man was able to see the bat pony coming at him with his motion tracker.

To the Lunar Guard's awe, Scorch spun 180 degrees and beat the bat pony down.

Another Lunar Guard dispersed from the cover of the tornado. Without even turning around, Scorch raise a fist in the air and stopped the stallion straight in his tracks with his hand buried straight into the stallion's muzzle.

With less bat ponies to create the tornado, their cover was beginning to fade. The guards however, weren't going to give up so easily.

A bat pony flew at Scorch with ultra sonic speeds at ground level.

Unfortunately for the guard, the demo man's reflexes kicked and Scorch slide kicked the guard in the face.

In an attempt to complicate the situation further, two bat ponies left the tornado and charged at Scorch. The demo man fell to a crouch position and the swings of the Bat Ponies missed.

Scorch got up and grabbed one of the bat ponies. His partner still attempted to charge Scorch from the back while the demo man was occupied with the stallion he was holding.

However, Scorch spun around and allowed the incoming bat pony to fly straight into his comrade.

The Equines had enough, their technique was clearly not working.

The audience all the while was watching with utter anxiety. The makeshift tornado had obscured any view of the brawl between the masked commando and the guard.

Suddenly, the bat ponies stopped flying and the tornado vanished. The lunar guards were fixed flying in the sky with malevolent expressions.

5 injured bat ponies laid in front of Scorch, much to Luna's horror.

The stallions clad in midnight blue armor swooped straight down at the masked human at incredible speeds.

Scorch proceeded to side step the attack of a bat pony, barrel roll past another and front flip away from a guard trying to attack him form ground level.

A bat pony started to circle Scorch and attempted to get closer to the demo man every second. Scorch kept his concentration and with the proper timing, snapped his hand forward to put the bat pony into a choke hold.

As Lunar Guard struggled for breath, Scorch slammed the bat pony down on the grassy field.

Three Lunar guards used the distraction in an attempt to subdue Scorch. Much to everyone's surprise, the three stallions did manage to force Scorch down.

A Guard forced his face onto Scorch's mask and attempted to frighten him with his sharp fangs.

Scorch sighed and head butted the guard right in the muzzle, almost shattering his teeth. The commando proceeded to stand up straight and knock over the two guards holding him down.

The demo man spun around and slammed his foot onto the gut of a floored guard and round house kicked the other in the face before he could get back up. The latter received a nasty bloody nose.

Another guard nearly succeeded in ramming Scorch, but explosive expert side stepped the air raid and grabbed the stallion by the bat wings.

Before the Lunar guard could cry in pain, Scorch delivered a blow to the gut of the equine.

Scorch dropped that pony and spun around just in time to dodge a buck to the chest. As that equine recovered from his missed attack, Scorch uppercutted the pony right in the face and sent him flying up.

Suddenly a bat pony gave a massive screech that almost deafened everyone within the vicinity.

Scorch's mask did not protect him from ultra loud sounds. Even Flash bangs still produced a nasty ringing in the ears.

The demo man slumped to his knees as the sound began to overwhelm him. This baffled the entire crowd who weren't as affected by the high pitched yell.

Shadow knew however they weren't going to go down easily. Ever.

The weakened Scorch looked up to see a bat pony, a smile on his face, flying right at him with a speed that could potentially knocked him out.

Scorch remained hardened and punched the guard the incoming guard right in the head and sent him down.

Before the screeching bat pony could further weaken Scorch, the demo man diverted power to his magnetic gloves.

The screecher stopped emitting the high pitched noise the moment his armor started to drag him up. Scorch's magnetic telekinesis send the lunar pony flying into his charging comrade with enough forced to knick them both out and give one of them a bloody nose.

A guard attempted to buck Scorch in the back only for his hooves to harmlessly bounce of Scorch's vest.

The masked soldier elbowed the guard from the back, sending the stallion down.

Scorch faced to his right to see a bat pony standing on his hind legs with the intent smash his fore hooves into the demo man's face. The commando's reflexes kicked in and fisted the Lunar guard right in the chest piece, shattering the armor and rendering the stallion unconscious.

A Lunar guard nearly head butted Scorch, but the counter terrorist side stepped the attack, changed the polarity on his gloves and repulsed the guard with a magnetic shock wave.

The audience was left with their mouths hanging open.

One of the remaining Lunar guards was able grab Scorch from behind with his fore hooves. To the demo man's amusement, the stallion was incapable of carrying the gigantic human.

Scorch grabbed the Bat Pony's hooves from behind, and threw him forward. Scorch finished him off by slamming his left foot onto the stallion's muzzle. Had he pressed harder, the blow would have been fatal.

The remaining two guards attempted to lay a series of fast passed blows on the commando.

Scorch easily side stepped a buck, twisted his head to dodge a forward thrust and barrel rolled to the left to avoid an incoming hoof punch.

The commando elevated to a crouch position and swipe kicked a Lunar guard off his hooves, followed by an elbow to the jaw. The guard spat blood.

The final bat pony was more motivated than ever to take out Scorch. The demo man attempted to thrust a kick at the Lunar Guard, but the bat pony surprisingly dodged the attack.

Scorch readied a heavy blow to the face, but the stallion managed to swipe his head away in the nick of time.

The Bat pony let out another high pitched screech, causing the demo man to stumble over.

Just when things looked good for the Equine, Scorch managed to recover in a heartbeat and crushed his spirits by grabbing the bat pony in the throat and silenced him.

The Lunar Guard tried to look away from Scorch's obscured features.

The demo man gave a neutral expression under his mask and diverted all electric to his gloves, shocking the strangled into submission.

The counter terrorist apathetically turned around to the audience. A minor, but significant number of the audience had left the scene. Some from the violence, others from the utter horror that came from Shadow's combative might. Most ponies couldn't even face the demo man without wanting to faint.

The Mane 6 sat in the VIP section clearly disturbed. If Shadow was only using a fraction of their might, they didn't want to know what they could do if angered or motivated to use full force.

"Wow, Shadow's pretty tough. Even that egg head X-ray." gulped Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow. "So you didn't get the message after the Griffins, Hydra, Timberwolves and Trixie?"

"I was always aware that they were the cream of the crop of humanity." nodded Rarity. "But so were the royal guards they faced. My word, we're nothing but ants to them."

Fluttershy had said nothing. The entire time, she was covering her face with her wings.

Twilight and Cadance suddenly realized something crucial.

"Twilight! Shining Armor and his troops are fighting next!" shrieked Cadance.

The purple mare gasped. "Oh my gosh! We have to stop him."

The two alicorns stood from the VIP section and started heading towards the guard's barracks.

"I hope we're not too late!" squealed Cadance. She could not bear the sight of seeing her husband get pulverized. As they walked passed the bleachers, the two alicorns received confused looks from the no longer pompous audience.

The barracks were being guarded by two solar guards who were not participating. Upon seeing the princess of love and magic approach, they bowed respectfully and led them inside.

Inside, Twilight and Cadance saw the members of Shining Armor's personal division gearing up. They chose the best armor that had a purple, gold and blue ceremonial trim.

Shining Armor's personal unit, was the closest thing Equestria had to a spec ops squad. The best fliers, the best magicians and the strongest Earth Ponies were located within Shining Armor's unit.

The two alicorns heard the captain calling out to his troops.

"Alright team! Shadow squad may have defeated us before and the humans may think we're some sort of joke. But there is a first time for everything!"

Twilight and Cadance crept closer to the guards.

"We are Equestria's elite and we will not give up. We will show the humans that they are not invincible and that we ponies are a force to be reckoned with. I expect the arrogance of the one we face will have gone through the roof. He will find no reason to even try, thus giving us the element of surprise on our side! Or brawl will mark the day Shadow knows suffering."

The guards of Shining's unit gave a cheer off support.

As the guards passed through the exit, Twilight and Cadance faced Shining Armor. The blue maned stallion put on his helmet and smiled.

"Here to wish me luck?" smirked the stallion.

Tears began to form in Cadance's eyes. "It's not too late to back out."

Shining Armor frowned. "What?"

Twilight hugged her brother. "Are you crazy? Why would you go up and fight against Shadow? You'll get hurt really badly."

The white stallion smiled. "Come on. Don't you have any faith in me?"

Cadance nuzzled her husband. "Of course we do, but Shadow is far too strong. Did you see what they did to the other guards? They were decimated!"

Twilight hung on to Shining Armor. "And don't you realize? They were holding back! If you push Scarecrow too hard, he'll hurt you badly."

"I won't give him the chance." shook Shining Armor. "I can't back out now, or else we'll get humiliated further."

"Why do you care so much about honor?" questioned Cadance. "I mean, the humans don't. Why should you care what they have to say about you."

"I'm sorry, but if I back now, the entire moral of the guard will sink to new lows." sighed the captain. "Besides, I don't want to come off as a coward to my troops."

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Shining Armor kissed his wife and nuzzled his sister before walking outside the barracks and into the field.

Scarecrow, with his mask on, stood glacially at the opposite side of the arena. Much to his surprise, the guards of this unit didn't seem intimidated which was odd considering he was the largest and most physically adept member of Shadow.

Shining Armor took point and marched his guards over to the commando.

Scarecrow struck a combat pose as the stallions approached his position.

The moment after, Scarecrow lost control of his body and felt him self being pinned down by a invisible force. Upon closer inspection, he saw a colorful aura surround his body that matched the color of the guard's horns.

As Scarecrow struggled to get off his knees, a large Earth Pony stallion slowly approached him.

The commander observed the massive Earth Pony turn 180, ready his hind legs, and deliver an almighty buck to his chest. The impact could be heard throughout Canterlot.

The massive stallion turned around with a smiling expression, only to see Scarecrow still standing. The blow had failed to penetrate Scarecrow's titanium chest piece.

Shadow's commander broke free from the telekinetic grip, grabbed the fore hoof of the massive stallion and swung him over a great distance.

There was a series of gasps and mummers amongst the crowd.

Before a unicorn could restrain Scarecrow with another telekinetic hold, Scarecrow attacked the stallion with a magnetic pulse that sent him flying.

The commando turned to the left punched a guard that was about to thrust at him straight in muzzle. The swing knocked off his helmet.

Scarecrow quickly back flipped from a pegasus that almost landed and pranced on him. The commando responded with an armor shattering kick to the chest.

The commando's HUD detected an incoming projectile charging straight at him. Scarecrow quickly side stepped and narrowly avoided the projectile, which was a giant boulder.

Another boulder came charging at Scarecrow. The commando turned to his left to face a unicorn levitating a series of rocks that orbited around him. The unicorn fired another stone, but Scarecrow caught it in mid air and hurled it straight at the aggressor.

Scarecrow's motion tracker read a guard coming at him from the left. In response, the commando shifted left and grabbed the pegasus by the face and forced his body down to the ground.

In the heart of the moment, a stun spell hit Scarecrow in the back of the head and nearly paralyzed him had the guard not underestimated the amount of force needed to subdue the masked commando.

Scarecrow cart wheeled to the side and used magnetic telekinesis to hold the unicorn up by his armor. The moment after, the commando hurled the unicorn onto a flying pegasus sending them both out.

An Earth pony almost rammed Scarecrow to the ground, but the commando responded with his own forward thrust and pinned the stallion on the floor. Scarecrow finished him off with a stomp to the gut that shattered the stallion's armor.

A pegasus flew straight at Scarecrow but before the commando could strike it down, a force field appeared right between the human and pony.

The next thing Scarecrow knew, his motion tracker detected another pegasus attacking from the back in the hopes that Scarecrow was distracted.

The masked commando simply spun around, grabbed the incoming pegasus from the air and threw it aside.

A second stun spell hastily brushed passed the counter terrorist's head. Scarecrow charged at the attacking unicorn, and side punched an Earth Pony while running.

The unicorn lit up a shield to protect himself from Scarecrow's wrath.

One punch was all that was necessary to break down the shield. The guard desperately lit up another, only for it to shatter as well. Finally Scarecrow smashed the stallion's face with his fist.

2 Earth Ponies and a pegasus formed a triangular formation and gave Scarecrow a scowl.

The commander struck a combat pose and awaited the three ponies to make a move.

The guards charged straight at the commando and Scarecrow did the same. Just when the group was about to meet, Scarecrow jumped high into the air and thrust himself downwards with a fist impacting the terrain.

The resulting shockwave knocked the 3 ponies off their hooves.

Truth be told, Scarecrow was surprised that it worked. He thought the ground pound was a myth. One of the guards however got back on his hind legs, only for Scarecrow to beat him down again.

As the guards surrounded Scarecrow, Shining Armor was able to cast a stun spell that finally subdued the commando to the ground.

Just before the Equines could taste victory, the paralyzed form of Scarecrow vanished.

Shining Armor scowled. "He's invisible! Keep Alert!"

The captain spoke too soon. Two royal guards lost control of their heads and both their bodies smashed into each other from an invisible force.

Another stallion met a similar fate when Scarecrow uncloaked and almost shattered his spine with a blow to the back.

Only a pegasus and Shining Armor remained.

Shining Armor cast a protective spell over the pegasus in order to give it extra protection while it charged at Scarecrow.

The commando merely skipped to the left and avoided the attack. The shielded pegasus wasn't finished however and flew into Scarecrow another time.

Scarecrow delivered two quick rapid blows and the incoming pegasus. One that shattered the shield and an uppercut that nearly broke his skull.

Finally Shining Armor was the only one left to face Scarecrow. He swore that he would be the one who would put Scarecrow in his place. The commander really just didn't give a shit as long as no one got killed.

Shining Armor galloped straight at Scarecrow. The counter terrorist readied to repel him with a blow to the face.

Right before Scarecrow's fist could meet Shining's face, the captain disappeared in a purple flash. The commando's arm harmlessly hit the air.

Scarecrow's motion tracker suddenly read movement from behind. Right when he turned around to face Shining Armor, the white stallion proceeded to teleport once more.

Shining Armor suddenly appeared to the right. In response Scarecrow elbowed the captain right in the muzzle followed by a kick to a chest that sent him flying and knocked off his helmet.

Twilight gasped and Cadance closed her eyes. To everyone's surprise however, Shining Armor stood on his hooves and was ready for more.

The captain teleported to Scarecrow and hit him with a stun spell. The commando fell to the ground immobilized.

The white stallion readied his fore hooves to prance on Scarecrow's face, but the masked counter terrorist rolled over to the left, grabbed Shining Armor's left fore hoof and gave it a squeeze.

The unicorn gave a cry in agony as his hoof exploded in pain. Scarecrow got back on his feet and hurled his fist straight into the stallions jaw, followed by a kick to his chest piece.

The captain was hurt, but he stood. To Scarecrow's shock, Shining Armor disappeared. It was not a teleportation however but rather a cloak.

"You're not the only one who can turn invisible you know!" taunted Shining Armor's disembodied voice.

Scarecrow sighed. "It's such a shame I have motion trackers and magnetic vision."

Scarecrow used magnetic vision to see the white stallion. The commando grabbed the invisible Equine by the throat and held him up high.

To the crowd it looked like Scarecrow was holding up thin air.

Shadow's commander proceeded to fist the captain in the face and disabled his cloaking.

Suddenly, the physical form of Shining Armor appeared to the audience, badly injured with a bleeding nose. Scarecrow proceeded to throw the body across the field.

The ponies watching gave cries of horror and disbelief.

Twilight and Cadance were on the verge of tears after seeing Shining Armor so brutalized.

The captain of the royal guard turned around and saw his beloved sister and wife. He wasn't going to go down and give up especially when he still had some fight left in him.

Shining Armor got on his fore hooves and wiped his bloody nose. The captain cast a healing spell which accelerate the rate in which his body healed wounds dramatically.

The captain smirked and with his new found power, grabbed Scarecrow with a telekinetic grip and thrust his body down on the ground numerous times before letting go.

Just when it seemed that it was all over, Scarecrow stood and wiped the dust from his unfazed recon armor.

Shining Armor attempted to cast a freeze spell at Scarecrow by dispersing a low temperature infrared blast from his horn. Unfortunately for him, Scarecrow's recon armor was resistant to freezing temperatures.

The captain gave up and the commando cloaked. Shining Armor braced himself for impact.

In the heart of the moment, the cloaked Scarecrow fisted the white stallion in the muzzle, followed by an uppercut to the chest and slide kick that knocked Shining Armor on the ground.

The beaten stallion stood back up and Scarecrow uncloaked. The commando crouched to face Shining Armor eye to mask.

"Had enough?" questioned Scarecrow.

"Of course not." smiled Shining Armor.

The captain cast a regeneration spell and was back in action.

Shining Armor thrusted his fore hooves at Scarecrow who back flipped to avoid the attack. Shining Armor shot a stun spell at Scarecrow's face, but the commando tilted his head at last second.

Scarecrow sprinted towards the commander with full on speed.

Shining Armor used telekinesis to life a chunk of concrete from the ground and hurled it at Scarecrow. The commando slid on the ground to dodge the concrete and knock Shining Armor off his hooves.

Both the human and Equine got their respective upright positions.

Scarecrow readied a punch to Shining Armor's muzzle, but the captain lit up a barrier to absorb the attack.

The commando took a step back and observed the barrier. It was not transparent, but rather netted in a hexagonal structure like the ones his squad utilized.

However, such an increase in power would be useless against what Scarecrow had in store.

Scarecrow electrified his gloves and pulse punched the barrier. The resulting EMP disabled the shield.

Shining Armor was in shock, right before he could ready another force field, Scarecrow grabbed the captain by the neck and held him up.

Twilight was at a loss of breath for what happening.

The masked commando continued to divert electricity to his gloves, locking Shining Armor in a state of 'pulse choke'. Right before the electrocution was near lethal, Scarecrow dropped the guard.

"SHINING!" shrieked Cadance.

Shining Armor stood on his hooves and felt a numbing sensation on his horn. The same sensation he felt when Sombra disabled his magical abilities with the dark crystals.

The captain attempted to grab Scarecrow with telekinesis, but he couldn't emit any radiation from his horn. He then tried to stun Scarecrow, but nothing shot out of his body. His magic was drained.

Shadow's commander was going to end it once and for all. He had to admit, Shining Armor lasted longer than expected.

Scarecrow fisted the captain in the muzzle and gave him a bloody nose. The white stallion attempted to lunge at Scarecrow, but the commando side kicked Shining on his chest.

The masked commando finished off the guard with an upper cut to the chin and slide kicked his hooves off the ground.

Shining Armor fell to the ground. Before he had any urge to resist, Scarecrow hurled his foot on the stallion's gut.

The entire crowd was silent. The Mane 5 and the princesse's were at a loss of words. Cadance was crying and comforted the distraught Twilight all the while.

"I......submit." groaned Shining Armor.

Scarecrow placed his foot off the guard. "I never asked you to."

The commando walked towards the side lines to meet up with his squad as a group of paramedics dragged the captain's body aside.

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The princesses entered the medical bay. It was more crowded then ever. All 80 guards who participated in the fight had grave wounds and injuries. And to think Shadow was holding back.

"How could have I let this happen?" glumly stated Luna.

Celestia nuzzled his sister. "It was not your fault, it was foolish of the guards to challenge the humans to a duel."

"I just can not believe that humanity is capable of producing soldiers like Shadow squad." whimpered the lunar alicorn.

"Something tells me the Federation regrets creating this....23rd as well." gulped Celestia.

Around the medical bay, guards were crying in pain. While all the guards suffered physical damage, a good number of them suffered mental trauma as well.

Twilight trotted past the handicapped stallions when something caught her ear.

"Make it go away." Whispered a familiar voice.

Twilight turned around to see the guard she recognized as Flash Sentry who was covered with a bruise on his right eye, casts on his fore hooves and a throat cast.

"Make his voice go away." pleaded the semi conscious Flash.

Twilight felt pity for the stallion and trotted towards him.

"It will be alright. You fought bravely." assured Twilight. She wanted to give him a kiss in the fore head, but that would only make Flash more anxious.

The Amber pegasus finally relaxed and drifted to sleep.

Twilight turned around to see Pinkie Pie trying to lift the spirits of two pegasus solar guards and Fluttershy tending to the wounds of a bat pony.

"Hey Fluttershy." said Twilight.

The yellow pegasus jumped and turned around.

"Oh. Hi Twilight I didn't see you there."

"What's the situation?" questioned the purple alicorn.

"Not good." gulped Fluttershy. "Nothing too critical, but most of these guards will never pick up a helmet again. The ones that have got off the lightest won't be clear for any physical activity for over 5 months."

"And they were holding back." whispered Twilight to herself. "How's Shining Armor."

"See for yourself." cried Fluttershy.

Twilight turned to her left to see Shining Armor lying on a hospital bed, being comforted by his wife. Shining Armor had all his hooves in a cast, band aids all over his chest, a bruised eye and an ice pack over his head.

The purple alicorn couldn't believe it. She could not bear to see her brother, her hero, so brutalized. Seeing the Captain of the Royal guard in pain broke her heart.

Twilight wiped a tear from her eye and joined Cadance in comforting her brother.

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Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity sat on a bench outside the medical bay, unable to say a word. They would be getting nightmares for a few days.

What scared them the most though was this: If Shadow was holding back during the fight, what were they capable of? The very thought of that question and its answer was just as bad as mentioning the word 'Shadow' in front of them.

The ponies heard a something coming their way.

The three looked up to see the 4 members of Shadow, masked but unhooded walking towards the castle.

Knowing the 4, the commandos were most likely unfazed by the entire event. Their mental condition just prevented Shadow from feeling any kind of remorse or regret. However, they weren't exactly pleased by what had occurred.

The members of Shadow placed their hoods and cloaked into the sunset. They would return to their room in the castle, watch something and go to sleep as if they had never gone through the entire ordeal.

One thing was certain to the Equines. If they were going to compete in a galaxy with aliens like the humans, they would have to become harder, better, faster and stronger.

Author's Notes:

Due to class starting, I may no longer update as quickly.

So here's your sparing chapter. Better get more favs and likes for this! JK.