"Bombs do not choose. They will hit everything."- Nikita Khrushchev

The entire group was caught off guard by the sudden knock on the door. Had Shadow been wearing their visors, they would seen the entire thing coming however.

Celestia was certainly not expecting somepony at this hour. Their colorful discussions with Shadow squad had taken up the entire night.

Based on the banging on the entrance, the call seemed extremely urgent.

Shadow tightened the grips on their side arms as Celestia used telekinesis to open the door.

Out of the entrance fell a very familiar Zebra mare accompanied by two royal guards. The Zebra struggled for breath.

"Zecora!" gasped Fluttershy.

Shadow squad instinctively rose from their seats and rushed to the aid of the injured Zebra who was coughing blood. Overwatch drew a stabilizer serum from his pocket and reduced the trauma on Zecora.

X-ray waved his hologram over her. "She's injured, but she'll make it. She needs to be seen to a hospital right way."

"Anything you can do?" asked Rarity.

"We don't know shit about treating equine." muttered Scorch who looked down upon the wounded zebra.

Zecora gave a light chuckle. "So this is what humans look like underneath their masks."

X-ray placed his gloved hand over her muzzle. "Take it easy."

"Zecora, what happened?" gasped Twilight.

"I was....beaten." glumly stated the potion master.

"Who did this to you!" exclaimed Scarecrow.

"Please...allow me to explain." muttered Zecora. Scarecrow took a step back in response.

Zecora was in no mood to rhyme. "When I returned to Zebrica, I informed the local government officials there that you humans visited our world. At first I believed that no one would take me seriously. However, the officials believed me due to a previous notification form the empire. And then, they started vilifying me."

"Why would they do that?" questioned Scorch.

"Remember, when I said humans sounded familiar?" coughed Zecora.

"I know where this is going." sighed Luna.

"That is because the Zebras view humans as harbingers of their existence."

"Fuck, the Zebras are after us too." gritted X-ray.

"And we just stood up for your race to these racist pricks half an hour ago!" added Scarecrow.

"But, why did they hurt you so badly?" whimpered Pinkie Pie. "I mean, you didn't do anything wrong to anypony, did you?"

Zecora was loosing consciousness. "The entirety of Zebra kinds branded me a traitor for not coming to them with information of your presence and befriending you."

"What exactly did humans do to make Zebras so mad at them?" asked Cadance.

"I do not know. I am no theologian nor am I a historian." breathed Zecora.

"But we never did anything wrong to this planet in the past!" exclaimed Scorch. "Nor we intend to!"

"That is what I have tried to tell them, but they refuse to listen to reason." gulped Zecora. "They believe that you are still the same ravagers from the ancient times."

"Hey, how did you get to Canterlot anyway?" realized Rainbow Dash.

Zecora paused for a moment. "Lord Nigeria and his contingent of 49 other Zebra shamans are plotting an attack on this city as we speak."

"What the fuck?" spat Scarecrow. "Why would they want to attack Equestria?"

"They wish to punish all of ponykind as well for housing you 4." responded Zecora.

"So, they're gonna kill us?" clarified Applejack.

The Zebra was loosing will power. "They are in the process of it too. Lord Nigeria and his men have already infiltrated the city and plan to distribute a poison gas that will knock out an Equestrian, but kill a human."

"How did they even get past the guards stationed here?" awed Celestia.

"I guess we're not the only masters of stealth huh?" muttered X-ray.

"Hold on a minute." snarled Scarecrow. The commando turned to his wrist computer. "Blackjack, this is Scarecrow,. How the hell did you not see a group of Zebras trotting into the city?"

A Lieutenant answered the COMs that filled everyone's ears with static. "Shadow, we're debating this too. According to the surveillance archives, all we recorded was Zecora being pushed around and yelling at by some invisible force."

"I didn't think Zebras were capable of creating ways to elude detection technology." muttered Twilight.

"Hold on." radioed the Lieutenant. "Alright we've multiplied power on surveillance capabilities. We're reading multiple Zebras within the vicinity. Their IFFs are being uploaded to your HUD."

Zecora was just about to collapse. "You must hurry. Lord Nigeria, Commander Mali and their guard are arriving to this castle to attack it personally. Once he releases his weapon, the others will do the same. They must be stopped."

And with a last breath Zecora collapsed. She wasn't dead, but wouldn't be waking up in a long time.

Scarecrow scowled. "Shadow squad. Prepare to repel the enemy at all costs."

The 4 black clad humans sprinted towards the table. The ponies observed the humans pick up their rifles and load them with gauss magazines. They were more interested in the hand motions than Shadow's intentions.

Celestia snapped out of it. "What do you 4 think think you are doing?"

X-ray flipped his hood on. "We're going to make the Zebras-"

Suddenly, his bandanna covered the lower half of his face, turning his Armenian accent into a robotic vice. "-wish they decided not to mess with us."

The members of Shadow finished putting on their masks and their visors sprang to life, giving it a blue glow that was littered with text.

"They're....going to fight the Zebras." weakly stated Pinkie Pie.

"Alright team." called out Scarecrow. "We're going to split once we exit the castle. Overwatch, you stick to the roof tops and try to provide sniper support. If you see any Zebras plotting to expel their poison bombs, take them out. Scorch you do the same and try not to blow anything up. We're in a civilian area. X-ray, you're with me."

"Pardon me, but what is your plan?" frowned Luna.

"Our, VI's estimate 5 minutes until Nigeria arrives to the front of the castle." replied Scorch, his Canadian accent gone as well. "We can ambush him there and stop this attack one way or another."

"I will not allow violence in my city!" yelled Celestia.

"We didn't ask for your opinion bitch." growled Overwatch. "If they want to attack humanity, humanity will be the ones to respond."

"Is there a way we can solve this issue without violence?" pleaded Cadance.

"Especially in front of so many innocent ponies?" whimpered Fluttershy.

Shadow began exiting the dining room. "We'll see. All you need to do is stay out of our ways." called out Scarecrow.

"Come on!" shrieked Rainbow Dash. The rainbow maned mare flew in front of the humans. "We can fight them off too, all they need is a little buck to the muzzle."

"Dash, our enemies are religious zealots with the intention to kill, not play ground bullies." gritted X-ray. "They will not hesitate to take away your life."

"So what do ya expect us ta do?" glared Applejack.

"Stay out of our way and shut the fuck up." scolded Scarecrow.

Scorch slowed his walking pace. "You ponies are in danger......"

All of a sudden, the demo man paused. He didn't like the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"....because of us."

"Are you alright?" whimpered Fluttershy.

"I'm fine." lied Scorch. The truth is, the motivations of the attack was a situation was something Shadow squad was not used to.

The masked humans broke away from the equines. Shadow squad burst into their guest room and retrieved all equipment they had stored like explosives and data devices. Just when they were on their way out, they were stopped by the ponies once more.

"Get out of our way, or else we will use force." warned X-ray.

"Why do you feel that you are the only ones authorized to confront these intruders?" glared Luna.

Scarecrow scowled under his mask. "Because they are attacking humanity, and will face humanity. I thought we've made that clear."

"You forget that this is our land." reminded Cadance.

"And the Zebras want you gone as much as they want us dead too." scowled Twilight. She couldn't look intimidating to the humans that were basically more than twice her hight.

Scorch groaned. "Fine. Celestia and Luna. You can confront Nigeria with us in an effort to get him to call off the attack. Shining Armor and Cadance, round up the troops and secure an evac point. The rest of you, wake up the city and try to get them to the safety."

"And who exactly put you in charge darling?" yawned Rarity.

Scorch crouched down and waved his rail pistol across the white mare's face. "The one with a weapon that can blow your head off in an instant darling."

The members of Shadow sprang to action an exited the castle accordingly.

Overwatch opened a window and leaped down to the battlements while brushing past some guards. The sniper cloaked and readied his sniper rifle. The masked commando perched himself in a position where he could get a good vantage point throughout the entire city. Bullet drop wasn't an issue for Gauss weapons, so he wouldn't have to worry about that issue. He switched to magnetic vision and his VI detailed all the Zebras within the vicinity.

Scorch, Scarecrow and X-ray exited the castle manually through another window and scaled down the castle, once again putting the ponies into a trance as they observed their fast and alien hand motions.

The demo man unslung his SCAR rifle and split from his two comrades. The demo man cloaked and entered the city as he observed the Mane 6 waking up Canterlot.

Pinkie Pie was yelling into megaphone to Rarity's annoyance, Fluttershy was ineffectually knocking on doors while Applejack was slamming her hoof and Twilight and Rainbow Dash were flying and yelling.

'This won't be enough' thought Scorch. The masked counter terrorist raised his SCAR into the air, and discharged a rail bullet. The resulting noise was loud enough to awaken half the city, creating a domino effect.

Shadow's thinnest and skinniest members had neared the checkpoint to castle and cloaked behind a wall with magnetic vision turned on. The two commandos looked across and to their pleasure, saw the Canterlot citizens spreading out. Away from the poison bombs.

The two members of Shadow spotted the outlines of 10 hooded Zebras figures through magnetic vision. How they had stealth mechanics on par with humanity was a mystery. It wasn't EMP proof however.

Based on the movements of the of the Zebra shamans, they seemed both confused and frustrated that the ponies had been awoken.

X-ray took advantaged of the moment to prime a pulse grenade and threw it in the center of the Zebra mass. Upon leaving his grip, the EMP device uncloaked and detonated in the heart of the Zebras, revealing their position.

The looks of lord Nigeria and his men varied from shocked, to embarrassed.

"What is going on!" cried Mali as he found himself exposed.

X-ray and Scarecrow sprinted towards the hit team and uncloaked. As expected, the Zebras got mind fucked from seeing a non animated object.

"My eyes!" shrieked Nigeria.

"Reality hurts. Doesn't it?" mocked X-ray.

Nigeria adjusted to the realism and gritted his teeth. "Well if it isn't the infamous race that is humanity."

"By order of the United Terran Federation, I demand you seize hostility or face execution." said X-ray.

"Now why would we do that?" laughed the Zebras.

Scarecrow tightened his grip on his LMG. "Mind explaining what the fuck you're doing?"

Nigeria scowled. "Cleansing this planet of your presence."

"Do you have any idea of who the hell you're dealing with?" taunted X-ray.

"Do not tempt me human." smirked Nigeria. "I know perfectly well with who I am in front of."

"No you do not!" denied Scarecrow. "Humans have never even been on this planet before."

The Zebras laughed hard.

"What is going on here!" yelled Celestia's commanding voice. The solar alicorn flew in the middle of the the Zebras and humans. Luna followed as well.

"Nigeria." spat Luna. "I never thought this would happen between our kind."

"Neither did I." hissed the Zebra. "I thought I fancied you, but instead you offer aid to these harbingers."

Scarecrow shot up his fist in the air. "Hold up! This is all a misunderstanding."

"Nigeria, explain what is going on!" repeated Celestia.

"We are seeking retribution." gritted the Zebra.

"For what?" yelled Scarecrow. "We have never done anything wrong to your kind."

"Maybe you haven't." scowled Nigeria. "But humans as a whole did."

"Unlikely." countered X-ray. "Humans never left their home planet until a few hundred years ago."

"What are you trying to convince me of?" blurted Nigeria. "Surely you humans should know of the sins you have committed on this planet thousands of years ago."

"Humans were cavemen thousands of years ago." insisted Scarecrow.

"That is not what our record books, bibles, proverbs and traditions say." puffed Nigeria.

Luna joined the conversation. "Then why is it that we ponies have no mention of humanity within our works?"

Nigeria readied a potion bomb at the unmoved princesses. "The fact that Equestria has no mention of humans within their textbooks is not only a sign of ignorance, but disappointment as well."

"Hold up." called out X-ray. "So what you're saying is, humans have been on Epona before. And apparently, we did something extremely horrible."

"Do not try to fool me human." spat Nigeria. "You should know perfectly well how the fable plays out."

"No we don't!" screamed Scarecrow. "We honestly have no idea what the fuck is going on."

"Assuming that you are not feigning ignorance." checked Nigeria. The Zebra and his men started to circle the two humans and two alicorns.

"Long ago, humans came to this planet during its inception and terrorized us. The reasons why remain unknown, but it was said each species lost more than half of its race."

Scarecrow and X-ray looked at each other. Under their masks, each had an expression of anxiety.

"Are you certain it was humanity who did all these horrible things to you?" theorized X-ray. "Perhaps it was some other bi-pedal civilization."

Nigeria was getting impatient. "Every tribe has a story about our pasts that translate into a species named humanity terrorizing us. Although based on the legends, you humans should be far shorter and less upright."

X-ray lowered his carbine. "Well in the past, humans were shorter and we didn't stand up upright like we do now."

"If that is the case, then you match the description of the race that terrorized Epona perfectly." smirked Mali from the back of the crowd. "Just take off your masks for clarification."

"I hate to break it to you punk, but we don't take off our masks unless ordered to." shook Scarecrow.

"Even if humans did cause all this trouble." spoke up Celestia. "Then why is is that neither us nor them can remember such an event from accruing?"

"Perhaps you have distorted history." accused Nigeria. "You equines would forget a tale of suffering for all the misery it brings while humans attempt to forget their sins rather than atoning for them."

"Not true!" yelled Scarecrow. "Humans have recorded all history since 50 thousand years ago. If there was ever such a thing like us being intergalactic torturers, there would be clear evidence for it."

The Zebras were loosing patience. "The evidence is there and this is all a trick of deception. You will not fool us."

Scarecrow wasn't about to make enemies with the Zebras. "Okay fine, let's say that we did turn Epona to hell in the past. Why do you have to kill us?"

"Humans never paid retribution for their actions. An eye for an eye." explained Nigeria.

"Revenge will get you no where." exclaimed Celestia. "The humans don't remember a thing and nor do they intend to put us under the same circumstances."

"They are not even the humans who tortured you." added Luna.

"A tiger does not change its stripes." said Nigeria. "These humans will no doubt make an effort to repeat history if they are given the chance."

"Oh screw you!" insulted X-ray. "Humans do change. Look whatever our ancestors did, we're sorry and the Federation will do what ever it can to make amends."

"And you and the ponies will, with your lives." smiled a Zebra.

Scarecrow's HUD read Overwatch and Scorch positioning themselves in strategic positions where they had eyes on all Zebra potion teams. Luckily for them, the Mane 6 had managed to move the civilians to the center of the town. There, a Zebra couldn't lay a potion bomb without being detected. The commando focused back on the 10 Zebras in front of him.

"Why must we die? What is your pure motivation for wanting us dead? Revenge?" shook X-ray.

"The sins of his father are passed to his son until they are atoned for." said Nigeria.

"You would be a fool if you were to choose a fight with these 4!" warned Luna.

"And why's that?" yelled a blood thirsty Zebra shaman.

"Do you even know how a human fights? Or what they are capable of?" questioned Celestia.

X-ray pointed his rifle back up again. "Whatever our ancestors might have done to you in the past, I can assure you what we could do is 10 times worse."

The Zebras started to back down. The fear of what Shadow might do to them started to overwhelm their feeble minds.

"If you surrender, not blood will have to be spilled." insisted Celestia.

Nigeria regained his pride. "No. This must be done. Even if you would decimate us all, it is better to go down fighting than to surrender."

"You're being foolish Nigeria. Tell the Zebras to fuck off!" ordered Scarecrow.

"It is not just me." informed the Zebra's leader. Nigeria and his men were so wrapped up in the conversation that they forgot all about potion bombing the city.

"All leaders of all races are building up a massive army to take you humans out of this planet one way or another." started Nigeria. "Unless you humans willingly leave this planet and never return, we will come for you on the 23rd of June and finally gain retribution. The ponies will suffer as well."

Celestia and Luna formed fearsome expressions. Scarecrow and X-ray felt a pain in their chest.

"Hold up." called out X-ray. "The ponies don't need to be a part of this."

"And why not?" yelled Mali.

"I don't recall Equestrians ever doing anything to wrong you Zebras." reminded Luna. "You seem mad at us for the sake of vengeance and chaos."

"Oh, but you did wrong us." countered Somalia who balanced a potion bomb. "When you helped these humans get settled in to our planet. Nothing is stopping these humans from repeating their misdeeds."

"They have no intention to do such a thing." reminded Celestia.

"History repeats itself Celly." chuckled Nigeria. "And for allowing it to happen, your race will fall with the rest."

"Hey!" roared Scarecrow. "The ponies have done nothing wrong. It's US you want. NOT them. The ponies aren't trying to help us and you have no right to attack them."

"It doesn't matter, our race is inclined to destroy all who associate with harbingers." waved Nigeria. "Zecora, had that coward not run away, would suffer the same fate."

There was venom in X-ray's voice. "Come on. The Equestrians do not deserve this. Introducing war and chaos to a race like this is upmost cruelty."

"Your ancestors should have thought the same." scowled Nigeria. "An acorn does not fall far from the tree." The Zebra faced the alicorns. "And sometimes, it takes a little fertilizer to help it grow."

"If you touch a single innocent pony with your slimy hooves, I will make whatever my ancestors did to you feel like a tickle." warned X-ray.

"Why do you care so much for them?" frowned a Zebra shaman.

"We care for the law." corrected Scarecrow. "And lawfully, one can not hurt another without due cause."

A Shaman laughed. "Or maybe it is because you have never before put a single race in a position where they would go extinct."

The two commandos formed neutral expressions under their masks. They couldn't feel remorse, but this was the first time where someone innocent was in danger because of them.

"I assure you Nigeria, attacking my ponies will be the last thing you will do." threatened Celestia.

"What do you intend to do?" laughed the Zebra. "The elements of harmony are gone!"

"It might not be the most moral outcome, but the humans have reminded us that we must commit even the most extreme acts for the greater good." hinted Luna.

Nigeria scowled. "You don't have nerve to kill. Nor the chance."

In the heart of the moment, Nigeria readied his spear and hoofed it at Celestia with all his might.

Right before Celestia could react, Scarecrow jumped between the blade and the solar alicorn. This allowed the spear head to simply bounce off Scarecrow's barrier with abysmal damage.

Celestia took a step back and Zebras were stunned by the masked commando's kinetic barrier.

Suddenly, a holographic display was emitted from X-ray's wrist computer. The left handed commando drew his SMG with his free hand as the projection lit.

The hologram depicted man slightly shorter than X-ray, which wasn't saying much as he still towered the Zebras.

"Is that a ghost?" gasped a shaman.

"I am a hologram." announced the projection, which revealed itself to be the HOD of the Commission of Colonial Affairs.

"Lord Nigeria, I represent the entire United Terran Federation on the behalf of the president himself. I am warning you, stand down immediately."

"Burn in hell human." hissed a Zebra. He threw his spear at the hologram, only for it to harmlessly pass through.

"Nigeria, what you are doing is an act of war." hissed the HOD.

"The was has already begun." laughed the Zebra. "On the 23rd of June, the alliance will wipe humanity and the Equestrians off the face of Epona."

The HOD raised his holographic eyebrow. "Do you even know who you're dealing with son?"

"I know plenty." replied Nigeria. "It's quite helpful with what you can find in theology books these days."

"Then surely you should know that we humans can bombard this planet and vaporize it in an instant." gloated the HOD.

"Any form of orbital bombardment from your precious spaceships won't work." laughed Nigeria. "An ally of ours has installed quite the necessary defense mechanism."

Scarecrow's eyes widened under his mask. He tuned tuned his communication device. "Blackjack, request immediate kinetic bombardment on these bastards. Nothing strong enough to cause civilian injuries though."

A moment passed with the 2 parties vacantly staring at each other in the castle entrance.

Suddenly, three rounds of rail cannons started to reign on the planet. Just before it could reach the level of the clouds, the shells exploded across a transparent surface.

Overwatch observed the entire event. He looked up, and to his horror, found the sky to be surrounded by a kinetic barrier. A transparent, realistic, hexagonal kinetic barrier.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" yelled Scorch over the communication relay.

The HOD read the surprised movements of the commandos. "What's going on Shadow?"

"Sir, there is a planet wide kinetic barrier stationed over the planet." said Scarecrow with awe.

The hologram of the HOD sprang to action. "Blackjack, fire a tesla strike now. That should disable the barrier."

The frigate complied and fired a tesla canon at the planet. The shot of electricity traveled through the vacuum of space until it the barrier. Unfortunately, the EMP had no effect.

"Holy shit! It's EMP proof." radioed the Blackjack to the humans. "The strength electromagnetic fields are thousands of times stronger than what's on a dreadnought!"

"I see that you humans realize any form of orbital attack and drop off will be useless." smirked Nigeria.

"Not necessarily." challenged the HOD. "Nothing is going to stop Shadow from finding and deactivating the source of that giant force field. Once it's down, we'll kick your sorry asses to the next millennium."

"I hope you haven't noticed us." blurted Nigeria. "We are in a perfect position to take down your pathetic men and a dew ponies along the way."

"We are your enemies." reminded Scarecrow. "You will leave the Equestrians alone. Or mark my words Nigeria, we will make your people suffer."

"Come now. You wouldn't harm a group of innocent civilians would you?" challenged the Zebra.

"We would if you were willing to." corrected X-ray.

"The Federation has a policy of wiping out anything that opposes us, for the greater good of humanity." explained the HOD. "This is your last chance. Back off."

"Never. Vengeance must be stowed upon humanity and ponykind." gritted Mali.

"Lives do not need to be lost." assured the HOD. "We can pay for whatever reparations all the species on Epona want."

"Money is no object." insulted Nigeria. "Our traditions and beliefs call for us to exterminate all humans who set foot on this world as well as their collaborators."

"Ever consider questioning the foundations of society from time to time?" muttered the HOD. "Your whole revenge system will gain nothing for anyone."

Nigeria looked heavily insulted. "You dare mock the holy temple of Zebra kind?"

"Go." said Scarecrow quickly.

"Pardon us?" eyed Luna.

"You don't deserve to have the burden of murder placed upon you." trivialized X-ray. "What's about to happen won't be pretty. Focus on keeping your subjects safe."

The princesses glanced at each other and flew away. The Zebras attempted to attack, but Shadow kept them at bay.

"Shadow, the Federation has no use for those who can't listen to reason." began the HOD. "Spare Nigeria for questioning and exterminate all other hostiles."

The hologram disappeared.

"Affirmative." complied Scarecrow.

Right before the Zebras could react, X-ray lunged forward and grabbed Nigeria. The skinny commando forced down the Zebra leader with all his might on the ground, knocking him out.

Scarecrow took the distraction to discharge a series of gauss round from his LMG. The rail bullets hit a Zebra in the muzzle, shattering his skull into powder. The other round pierced the eye of its victim before plowing through the other side of his head.

The crouched X-ray, while holding Nigeria down, raised his SMG with one hand and fired a controlled burst of 3 shots into a Zebra's mid section followed by a rail bullet striking another through the neck.

Mali attempted to reinforce his comrade, only for a gauss round to blow off his head from Scarecrow's LMG.

A Zebra set off one of his potion bombs and hoped that would be the checkmate. The poison gas started to flow around the remaining Zebras and onto the humans.

The shamans were unaffected due to taking an antidote before the mission.

Much to the hit squad's horror, Shadow did not stumble nor falter as well. Their masks filtered out the toxins.

X-ray decided to point out the obvious. "Yeah, I find your attempts to kill us with cyanide gas flattering and all, but we have gas masks." The masked commando drew his carbine and unloaded round by round on a shaman, blowing off the Zebra's hoof followed by a hole in his neck.

A Zebra lunged at Scarecrow, only for the human behemoth to hold the shaman by his throat, followed by a painful choking. Scarecrow nonchalantly dropped the Zebra corpse.

X-ray unsheathed his combat knife and dashed past the remaining Zebra guards, stabbing one in the neck all the while. Scarecrow joined his comrade, but not before slamming the butt of his railgun on the final Zebra's face, knocking it down. The masked commando finished the shaman off putting a round through the fallen Zebra's skull.

Suddenly, the two commandos heard a scream from an all too familiar alicorn.

The black clad soldiers turned to face Shining Armor and Cadance staring at them with disbelief and horror respectively.

"Just who we needed to see." nodded Scarecrow. The counter terrorist placed his LMG on the magnetic plate on his back. Scarecrow proceeded to pick up the unconscious body of Nigeria.

"What do you want me to do?" glared Shining Armor.

"Take Nigeria's body somewhere safe for interrogation." instructed Scarecrow.

"Hey, I don't take orders from you pal!" reminded the white stallion.

X-ray slammed his carbine onto Shining Armor's chest, causing the stallion to stumble back. The commando pressed his face onto the unicorn and reminded him of his abnormal height.

"That's an order punk." gritted Scarecrow.

"What gives you the right to start killing all of these Zebras?" scolded Cadance.

X-ray grabbed the pink alicorn by the throat and stared deeply into her eyes. "It's either us, or them."

Cadance was too frightened to respond. X-ray let go of her throat and pushed her aside.

The two members of Shadow headed into the city streets. Luckily, the Zebra potion teams hadn't detonated anything.

"Alright team." radioed Scarecrow. "The Zebras are in 10 groups of 4. Take them out before they kill any civilians."

"Kill civilians because of us?" radioed back Scorch.

Scarecrow stopped for moment and thought about the situation. This was the first time in which civilians were in danger simply because they had to show up. Ponies were going to die when they had done nothing to deserve it.

Meanwhile, Overwatch was still perched on his vantage point and had his eyes set on a Zebra kill team in an alley way he had been observing for a while. Now that open fire had been declared, he was free to kill.

Overwatch aimed his scope over the head of the Zebra that was in charge of the potion bomb.

With the pull of a trigger, said Zebra lost his head.

The former's three comrades were startled by the sudden death of their squad leader. Suddenly, another Zebra fell as a gauss round put a clear hole through his mid section.

The poor shamans couldn't even hear the suppressed sniper.

A third rail gun shot claimed another victim as it blew a hole in the Zebra's neck. The final Zebra attempted to escape the alleyway and galloped quickly. Unfortunately, Overwatch simply adjusted his aim and with the proper calculations, was able to snipe the Zebra before he could cover any more distance.

Overwatch was about to change positions until something caught his attention. Through his scope, he saw a filly who looked even younger the cutie mark crusaders. Some of the blood from the final Zebra that Overwatch sniped had spilled on the filly. The young horse, started to break down until her parents arrived on the scene.

Even if Overwatch could feel remorse, now would not be the time. The sniper assured himself that had he not killed that Zebra, he would have most likely killed the filly and her parents anyway.

Overwatch rappelled down from his vantage point and proceeded to move on to the next Zebra kill team. The next 4 shamans were taking cover in a breached clothing store, waiting in vain for their injured commander to set off his potion bomb. The sniper had to take it stealthily, or risk setting off the bomb.

Overwatch cloaked and scaled the clothing store, his motion tracker reading one Zebra guarding the balcony. The invisible sniper made his way to the top of the ledge and found the ignorant Zebra looking on to the city.

The marksman thrust his right hand forward and grabbed the shaman by the neck. Overwatch finished the job by throwing his victim of the ledge, allowing the Zebra to plummet to his death.

The cloaked sniper drew his rail PDR and entered the facility. The clothes store was large, and with multiple openings would make a great place to disperse the poison.

Overwatch crouched behind a wall and saw a Zebra trotting in the other direction.

"Hey." whispered the invisible sniper.

The shaman paused and thankfully didn't alert his allies. The ignorant Zebra moved towards Overwatch's position, only to get a knife shoved through his neck.

Overwatch dumped the body to a shadowy corner and pursued his opponents.

The masked soldier activated magnetic vision and was able to see through the walls. A Zebra, armed with the potion bomb, was on the other side of the wall while his comrade was in plain sight.

Thankfully, the concrete wasn't strong enough to resist rail bullets. Overwatch uncloaked and fired 3 unsuppressed PDR round which penetrated the wall. Two of the rounds still retained enough kinetic energy to bring down the potion master behind the wall.

The final Zebra of the current group was too frozen in shock to even move, allowing Overwatch to put a gauss round through the helpless shaman's muzzle and split it in two.

---------

Meanwhile, a team of Zebras were debating what to do ever since the gunshots went off.

"I say we detonate the potion bomb now!" pleaded a shaman.

"We must wait for Nigeria's order." reminded the potion master.

"Nigeria is dead! Do it now!" yelled another Zebra.

The potion master nodded. Right before he could detonate his potion bomb, a spherical object landed in the heart of the kill squad.

The Zebras only had a second to look at what landed before them when it exploded, killing the potion master and mutilating another.

The unfazed Zebras didn't even have a second to react before one of them was shot by two assault rifle rounds. Scorch uncloaked and finished off the other by a shot to the hoof, followed by a round to the chest.

Scorch was about to locate the next Zebra kill team until-

"Help!"

Scorch recognized the voice instantly. It belonged to Fluttershy.

The demo man rushed through the city to the source of the voice. As he neared the cry, Scorch slid and hid behind a building. The cloaked commando readied his SCAR Z and peeked behind his cover.

To his horror, Scorch saw 4 Zebras ganging up on the frightened Fluttershy on the top of a bridge with evil smiles on their faces. Scorch really hoped they weren't going to do what he was thinking.

The demo man primed his assault rifle's grenade launcher. He had one shot. Scorch sprinted towards the bridge and fired an assault rifle grenade at the structure.

The explosive detonated and the bridge started to crumble. Fluttershy, forgetting that she could, fly fell alongside the Zebras attempting to assault her. 3 shamans died on impact and from ruble collapsing on them.

Right before she could fall to her death, Scorch made it just in time to yank her from the sky and hold her close.

The crying Fluttershy meanwhile was surprised that she hadn't lost control of her body. She opened her eyes and found herself being cradled by the demo man. Scorch had his pistol out and assault rifle fastened on his back.

"I got you." assured Scorch. "Please close your eyes."

Fluttershy did as instructed. The sound of the rail pistol was enough to temporally deafen her and prevent the pegasus from hearing the scream of the downed Zebra.

"Get back to your friends." instructed Scorch. The fellow Pegasus complied.

Scorch continued to move past the city and approached the next Zebra hit team.

The next Zebra hit squad had probably figured out that Shadow was immune to the poison as they were busy focusing on terrorizing the local civilians.

Scorch cloaked and observed the situation.

No ponies had died yet, but they were running away from a group of shamans attacking them with a rather different set of potions colored red.

Scorch aimed down his SCAR's holo sight right at a potion master.

"Hey assholes!" called out Scorch.

The Zebras turned around and observed the demo man uncloak as he fired a rail bullet at their squad leader's face.

A Zebra wasted no time hurling his potion at Scorch. Instinctively, the demo man dive rolled over to the other side. What he did not expect however, was the potion to explode like a frag grenade.

-----------
X-ray climbed to the roof tops and took a good look of the vicinity around him. Once he knew everything was clear, he leaped to another a building and picked him self up.

His motion tracker read 4 Zebras were on the road to his right. X-ray moved towards the red markings with intense speed and a agility, leaping from building to building like a black fog.

The rifleman cloaked and took note of the situation.

"Where is the potion bomb?" roared the Zebra squad leader.

"Forgive me sir, but I may have dropped it earlier." gulped a shaman.

The squad leader was boiling red. "You insolent-"

Right before he could finish his sentence, a rail bullet from X-ray's carbine split the Zebra's chest in two.

The 3 other Zebras turned around and instinctively threw their spears at the commando. X-ray simply stood in place and allowed the spears to bounce off his kinetic barrier.

The awestruck Zebras were too shocked to even move.

X-ray fired a precision shot at one of his victims' neck and 2 round burst the latter's comrade.

A Zebra with glowing green hooves had managed to gallop at X-ray with incredible speeds and raised his hooves for a pounce attack.

X-ray wasn't about to take chances and took a step to the side. The glowing hooves landed on the ground and to X-ray's surprise, created a shockwave and miniature crater.

The scrawny commando remained standing and fired 2 shots onto the Zebra, severing his hooves, and finished him off with a gauss round that severed the Zebras head.

Suddenly, X-ray heard an explosion to the left. The commando turned in that direction and activated magnetic vision to see what was going on.

Behind the walls, X-ray could see Scorch's outline being thrown to the side by what appeared to be a different kind of potion bomb. The rifleman wasted no time moving towards the demo man's position.

---------

Scorch was hurled to the ground with half of his kinetic barrier depleted. Right before a Zebra could finish the demo man off, the downed Scorch drew his rail pistol and fired 2 precision shots at his attacker.

The other two Zebras were about to potion bomb the demo man, only for X-ray to uncloak and fire the remaining two rounds onto one of the Zebras and knifed the other right in the eye.

X-ray reloaded his carbine and walked straight towards his leveled ally.

X-ray helped Scorch back up. "Now I've got your back."

The demo man stood and used magnetic telekinesis to pick up his SCAR Z.

"What's the situation?" asked Scorch.

"Me and Scarecrow injured Nigeria and took out his fuck buddies." answered X-ray with an apathetic demeanor. "I eliminated another kill team before making it to your position."

"I on the other hand took out another 8 before this one." replied Scorch. "Overwatch took out 8 as well so that leaves us at 20 more of those striped assholes."

"I wished they planned this attack earlier." muttered X-ray. "I swear, I'm not in the fucking mood to kill right now."

"HAVE MERCY!" pleaded a voice a few meters away.

"HELP ME!" cried another.

"......Rarity." recognized Scorch. "And Pinkie Pie."

Scorch and X-ray sprinted towards the source and used their parkour skills to by pass many benches and trees along trees way.

The two zoomed in on their HUDs and spotted the ponies and a Zebra kill team.

X-ray power slid and hid behind a bench while Scorch slumped against the side of a building. The two commandos noticed the lustful remarks on the Zebras faces.

X-ray cursed in Armenian. "They're going to rape them!"

"They were going to do the same thing to Fluttershy." replied Scorch. "Take low penetrative rounds and mark your targets."

X-ray nodded and armed his rail pistol. Scorch did the same.

The heinous Zebras were getting closer and closer to the two mares. Scorch and X-ray needed to be careful on where they hit or else their gauss rounds would hit the ponies as well.

Scorch marked his target and X-ray marked his. The tagged enemies appeared on each others' HUD.

"Mark." said Scorch.

The two commandos uncloaked and fired a shot at their marked enemies. Luckily, the gauss rounds from their pistols did penetrate past the bodies of the victims, but did not hit Pinkie Pie or Rarity.

In the midst of the confusion, the two members of Shadow squad charged at the remaining Zebras.

Scorch used his free hand to draw his knife and slit the throat of his target while X-ray picked up the final Zebra by the throat, shoved his gun in Zebra's mouth, and pulled the trigger.

Rarity fainted at the sight of seeing the Zebra's head explode and leave nothing behind.

"Are you alright?" checked Scorch.

"I am." slowly said Pinkie Pie. Her mane had deflated. "Can't say the same about Rarity."

"What were you doing out here?" interrogated X-ray.

Rarity moaned and woke up. She spoke slowly "We were trying to get the last ponies back to the safe zone. In the town centre away from the poison potions."

"Bad news." gulped Scorch. "The Zebras have frag potions too. They could easily turn the evac zone into one giant clusterfuck."

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

5 minutes earlier.

A Canterlot mare and stallion were running as fast as they could from the Zebras attackers. The kill squad of 4 were taunting them by throwing explosive potions at the couple's hooves.

One shaman had enough fun and threw his explosive at a structure to the side. The building started to collapse and the rubble headed for the pony couple.

The two ponies fell on their bellies and expected a crushing death, only for them to feel nothing. Suddenly Scarecrow uncloaked with the upper parts of his body glowing purple with hexagons. He had taken all the damage for them.

A spear was thrown at Scarecrow's head, only for the masked commando to tilt his head to the side to dodge the attack.

"Have a taste of your own medicine shit heads." growled Scarecrow. Shadow's commander primed a frag greande at tossed it to the Zebra squad.

The explosion mutilated a shaman into a hundred gory pieces while it sent another corpse flying to the side.

Scarecrow raised his LMG and rained hell on the remaining Zebras with a few burst shots.

The commando turned to his back to see the pony couple heading to the safe zone with terrified expressions on their faces. From both the human ant the Zebras.

'Poor things.' thought Scarecrow. 'Equestria REALLY hasn't seen conflict like this.'

The heavy cloaked and headed to another kill team. After a few a minutes of traversing the city, he spotted another contingent of Zebras.

Scarecrow hid behind a wall and peeked to the side. The Zebras were patrolling the road while one in the center was doing something rather strange. The shaman was darting his eyes left to right and looked like he was ready to drop a glowing red potion at any moment.

Scarecrow analyzed the situation and used his HUD and VI to analyze the contents of the potion. His VI informed him that it was a highly contained explosive that upon interacting with the air, would explode with enough power to equate a gauss missile. He also realized that the Zebra was going to drop the potion the moment he saw a human pass by.

The invisible commando took a deep breath and decided to pick off the Zebras one by one.

His motion tracker read a stray Zebra coming towards his position. Scarecrow lightly tapped on the wall next to him.

The shaman heard the noise and readied a spear. Right when he approached the source of the noise, the cloaked Scarecrow grabbed the Zebra and broke his neck.

Scarecrow gently shoved the body aside and moved to another set of cover. The commando peeked up and glimpsed at a Zebra blocking his view of the potion master.

Still cloaked, Scarecrow thrust his invisible hands forward and grabbed the hooded Zebra towards him. The counter terrorist threw the shaman on the floor, uncloaked and fisted him so hard that his gloved hand shattered the Zebra's body and cut a hole threw the equine's chest.

Scarecrow re-cloaked and took a glance at the potion master. Luckily, the Zebra armed with the explosive potion had not been bothered. Unfortunately, the potion master was eyeing his ally vehemently. If Scarecrow attempted to take out the potion master, he would likely drop the liquid and create a massive explosion. If Scarecrow killed the other Zebra, the potion master would see the attack and drop the bomb.

Thankfully, a friendly a dot on his motion tracker made everything seem less complicated.

The potion master was waiting for a human to approach his position so he could detonate the explosive. The humans would have to get here eventually.

All of a sudden, a black clad figure dropped from the roof tops and tackled the shaman's ally. Right before the Zebra could drop his potion bomb, an invisible force snapped his neck.

Scarecrow caught the potion bomb before it could hit the ground and gently laid it aside.

Overwatch meanwhile, got back up and gunned down the unconscious Zebra with a single rail bullet from his PDR.

Scarecrow drew his gauss shot gun. "Hostiles. A couple meters from our position. I'll take them from down, you take them from the roof tops."

The sniper nodded and followed his commander through the market section of the city.

Right when the next Zebra kill team was within their view, Overwatch cloaked and used his magnetic gloves to scale the top of a building. The marksman crouched and equipped his sniper.

Overwatch observed Scarecrow take cover behind a market stall that sold some luxury items to the local nobles. The Zebras meanwhile were mixing certain ingredients in a massive witch cauldron.

"Burundi, how much longer until the explosive is set?" questioned a shaman.

"Give me a few minutes." requested the one named Burundi. He proceeded to toss in a chemical agent into the mixture.

Overwatch zoomed in on his HUD to observe what was going on in the cauldron. His VI proceeded to enact a series of calculations.

"Scarecrow, they're making a dirty bomb. 1 KM radius of detonation." radioed Overwatch. The sniper marked Burundi on his HUD.

Shadow's commander complied and marked the Zebra closest to him on his HUD.

"Mark." ordered Scarecrow.

Overwatch fired a suppressed rail bullet from his sniper that exploded Burundi's head into smithereens while Scarecrow's shotgun blew the upper half of his target. Dislocated organs splattered the other Zebras.

The marksman adjusted his scope to another Zebra and fired. Scarecrow used the butt of his shotgun to bat a Zebra in the face. The counter terrorist raised his foot and smashed the skull of the downed shaman like a bug.

"Tango down." simply said Scarecrow.

Suddenly, Scorch's voice filled the COMS.

"Scarecrow, Overwatch. Be advised, the Zebras are in possession of explosives as well as poison."

"Kind of guessed that." replied Scarecrow. "Where are you and X-ray?"

"Two of us are heading to the evac point in town center. The entire civilian population is basically there."

"I'm reading 8 more Zebra assasins on my HUD." noted Scarecrow. "Where are they?"

".....They're heading to the evac point." radioed Scorch.

-----------

The entire town centre of Canterlot was a giant mess. The nobles who resided in the city weren't exactly keen on being awoken in 1 in the morning. Especially considering that Zebras were attempting terrorist attacks on their lavish homes.

The Mane 6 tried to keep the spirits up, but it was no use. There were thousands of ponies all crowded in the town center. Another million or so citizens were on the other side of the city where they were too far away to be under the Zebras' consideration.

Royal guards were taken from their positions to help monitor and secure the rally point. The nobles weren't threatening, but they could get cranky at night especially when they knew that their property was being threatened.

Celestia rose to the sky and used the light energy stored within her horn to illuminate herself.

"My humble subjects! Please do not despair! The entire situation will be handled shortly." announced the solar alicorn.

"Shortly isn't enough!" yelled Fancy Pants from the crowd. Soon, the entire mass started yelling.

Celestia sighed and raised her voice. "The humans are..." The princess paused. She didn't know how to say it without startling the crowd further.

"The humans are handling the situation as we speak." assured Celestia. "With their expertise, the entire conflict will be resolved in-"

Celestia was cut off by a series of spears being hurled at her position. The alicorn easily dodged the attacks and used her telekinesis to lay them on the ground safely.

The next thing everypony knew, an inferno potion was thrown right at the crowd. The vile shattered and the liquid was lit on fire, creating a massive blaze that started dispersing the Equestrians everywhere.

Twilight sprang to action and used her telekinesis to lift fire hydrant and allow the water to flow. She directed the water to the flames and doused them.

Unfortunately, more inferno potions started bombarding the helpless Equines and started to scatter them around. Had the Zebras been humans with hands, their aim would have been lethal.

Celestia searched for the source of the attackers and spotted 4 hooded Zebras tossing their potions.

One shaman had enough fun and was about to go for the kill, until the 4 bi-pedal beings revealed themselves and stopped the Zebras in their tracks.

Without saying a word, Shadow opened fire with a burst from their gauss rifles and butchered the attacking Zebra kill team. The mutilated bodies of the quadrupeds didn't exactly calm everypony however.

The members of Shadow brushed past the crowd of panicking ponies, using their riot control skills to their advantage. Many ponies started blaming the attacks on Shadow and started berating them, although the humans were too busy focusing on finding the remaining Zebras.

"Be advised, we still have 4 more Zebras left." reminded Scarecrow.

"X-ray, use your drone to spot them." suggested Scarecrow.

"Roger that." nodded X-ray. The rifleman slung his rail carbine on his back and analyzed the feed coming from his drone on his wrist computer.

The recon drone had a clear overhead view of what was going on. X-ray programmed the drone accordingly so that it would only lock on to the Zebras. To his pleasure, the drone was able to spot the last kill team, spread out amongst the crowd, waiting to strike.

The markings of the final Zebras appeared on their HUD. The shamans were hidden amongst the scrambling ponies and were position themselves in a position where they could detonate their bombs and cause maximum damage.

Scorch switched to magnetic vision using neural controls. On magnetic vision, he could see the tagged targets appearing as a bright red blob in a see of blue outlines.

The shaman attempted to cover himself with his cloak to avoid suspicion. Suddenly, he felt something tap on his back. The Zebra turned to his side and felt an invisible knife pierce his eye and brain.

Scarecrow and X-ray, still cloaked, walked side by side to the other Zebra. The potion master was discreetly using the fleeing ponies to safely brew his explosive.

With all the ponies running around, the chances of an innocent being shot were astronomical. X-ray switched to his SMG and equipped a suppressor. The rail gun had 15 shots left in its mag, but that was more than enough for what he needed.

X-ray aimed down his sights and adjusted the barrel of his SMG to point at the shaman's face. He needed to time the attack just right or risk hitting a civilian.

The masked soldier took a deep breath and fired a two round burst at the potion master. To his pleasure, the gauss rounds did not penetrate the body of the Zebra with enough kinetic energy to cause injuries.

As for the vial, it was on its way to the ground until an invisible force grabbed it. That force revealed itself to be Scarecrow.

X-ray used his height to survey the area for the remaining Zebras. His motion tracker read another Zebra was just north of his position.

The ponies seemed to have known that to as they started running in the opposite direction.

Scarecrow plowed his way to the shaman and pointed his LMG at the potion master. The Zebra formed an evil grim on his face and threw the explosive vial at Scarecrow.

Tactfully thinking, the commando pointed his LMG at the vial as it flew in the air and shot it down. As the liquid was exposed to the air, it set on fire and sent the inflamed shaman flying. The vial was too far away to hit any ponies.

Scorch joined the other counter terrorists in order to find the final Zebra amongst the panic. The three walked for a minute, violently moving their gauss rifles left and right.

In the heart of the moment, the three started to hear screams and ponies coming in from the right side.

X-ray, Scorch and Scarecrow observed a Zebra standing on an elevated park bench with the more powerful and glowing version of the inferno potion. The kind that would have the strength of coil missile.

The 3 commandos pointed their weapons at the potion master,

"It's 3 to one pal." glared Scarecrow. "Give up now."

The Zebra smirked. "I don't think so. Come a step closer to me and I drop this vial."

"Getting the liquid exposed to air would detonate it." pointed X-ray. "You'd die in the process as well."

"It doesn't matter." shrugged the shaman. "As long I take you humans and ponies down with me."

"Your concoction is powerful." admitted Scorch. "But it still wouldn't surpass our kinetic barriers."

The moment after, Celestia and Luna arrived on the scene while accompanied by a dozen or so unicorn guards who readied a spell from their horns.

The Zebra remained vigilant. "You're going to have to....."

Suddenly, the shaman remembered something important. "Wait, weren't there four of-"

Before the Zebra could finish his sentence, Overwatch uncloaked at slit the shaman's throat with his knife. The sniper caught the potion before it fell.

The princesses closed their eyes and tried to remove the image from their minds.

"All hostiles are KIA." announced Scorch. "They're safe for now."

Almost instantly, Rainbow Dash, tears forming on the side of her eyes arrived.

"What is going on?" asked Celestia worriedly.

"It's Twilight!" cried Rainbow Dash. "She was trying to extinguish the fires caused by the potion bombs.....and.....she got hit by a spear."

As the ponies were taken by surprise, the members of Shadow sprinted immediately to Twilight's position.

The purple alicorn was slumped on the ground, a hole in her stomach caused by the spear wound. Twilight's friends were comforting her as she laid dying.

"Get out of our way!" called out Scarecrow.

The commandos pushed the ponies out of their way and looked down upon the wounded Twilight.

X-ray took a deep breath. "I'm going to take a massive fucking gamble here." The rifleman crouched and let out his medical equipment.

"Overwatch, did the stabilizer work on Zecora?"

The sniper nodded. X-ray in turn injected the serum into Twilight's blood stream, making the pony squirm in pain in the process.

Shadow had never been more nervous. Somepony so innocent and sweet was about to die and it would be their fault. Twilight had done nothing wrong, yet here she was, dying.

X-ray continued taking risks to treat Twilight's wounds. He'd be put into a state of everlasting depression if an innocent perished because he had to show up in Equestria. He couldn't make up for the lost blood or fractured organs, but he could still hold them in place. Using a bio-gel, X-ray was able to seal the wounds and keep the organs focused.

Scarecrow scanned Twilight's vitals with his HUD. "She's stable."

The purple alicorn, surrounded by her friends, got to her hooves, but stumbled over.

"Take it easy. You need to be seen to a hospital right away." warned Scorch.

Applejack held Twilight in position. "I got ya Twi."

The purple alicorn struggled for words. The medicine was effective, but it still wasn't meant for ponies.

Shining Armor, having secured Nigeria in a safe place, arrived on the scene with a few royal guards. He took a good look of what was going on and rushed to his sister.

"Twiliy, what's going on?" gasped Shining Armor.

"Th-they saved me." thanked Twilight.

"It's what we do." assured X-ray. "Just don't get stressed out."

The members of Shadow looked at their wrist computers. It was two in the morning. They had to get some sleep because the situation in Equestria had changed rapidly.

The counter terrorists brushed past the awe struck ponies as Twilight was comforted by her friends, the princesses and brother.

As Shadow walked, they heard another voice crying for help. To their left laid a Zebra, a member of the first attack squad that attacked the evac zone.

The Zebra was a mess, his fore hoof had been blown off by a gauss round and with a bleeding chest. Shadow continued in their tracks and stared at the Zebra with their vacant masks.

"P-please show mercy." begged the Zebra.

Scarecrow unslung his shotgun and without even looking, blew off the upper half of the injured Zebra with some of his blood spilling on the Canterlot ponies.

The citizens were up for a restless morning as even more ponies went into a state of panic.

Scarecrow placed his gauss shotgun on his back.

".........No regrets."

Author's Notes:

Sorry if the stand off was too long.

BTW, Gauss is a generic term for all magnetic weapons. A rail gun has projectiles accelerated through magnetic rails like a normal assault rifle would. This is why I use the terms interchangeably. A coil gun is an explosive that is charged and fired.