"Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form." Karl Marx.

In the depths of Carousel Boutique, X-ray found himself in the washroom, standing, alone. The atmosphere of the room was deadly silent with the 23rd trooper not making a single damn noise save for turning on the water faucet.

Ever since the Crystal Heart normalized Epona, the room around him was no longer animated to say the least. Now that every object sans sentient animals had been fully rendered, everything around him looked proper and textured like it was supposed to.

The commando had his mask and hood off. He had it off since he exited that cursed Narret library and stepped into the depths of the Crystal Empire, where ponies were awaiting answers.

Answers Shadow didn't share themselves. Twilight and her friends were the ones unofficially in charge of relaying the news for Shadow squad had been nearly mute the Librarian's little revelation. The squad only responded when their commanding officers ordered them to upload information they saw in the pocket dimension onto UTF servers.

After spending the night in the Crystal Empire, the Mane 6 and 23rd squad woke up in the early morning to take a train to Ponyville. (Shadow had slept on the train until the Mane 6 had arrived. Cadance offered a room and while Shadow thanked her for kindness, hesitantly refused).

And now X-ray was here in Ponyville, trying to make use and sense of whatever logical information he had.

But that information was not useful nor logical. It was utter nonsense!

X-ray tensed and swore that he would have punched the mirror had it not been Rarity's. Speaking of the mirror, he took a good look at his face. Something he had never done for a long time.

He was pissed, his eyes were somewhat bloodshot and his jet black hair was a mess. Before thinking about the situation further, X-ray made use of the running water to comb his hair back into a pristine condition.

When he looked into his own eyes he realized something. Was he seriously getting pissed off at the truth?

Well, why wouldn't we he? After all, that memory log had made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Ancient human civilizations wanting to play God and make their imaginary friends come to life so they could have a salve race to order around, only to kill them all off because of supposed heresy? 'A mouthful of bullshit if you ask me.'

He didn't know who to blame. Could have he blamed the Librarian for allowing the ancient humans to come aboard her fleet? Should have he blamed the Narret race for forcing synthetic lifeforms to obey organics no matter the cost? Sounded more reasonable. Or should have X-ray blamed his distant ancestors for taking advantage of an AI to play with tools they could barely comprehend?

Regardless, he couldn't see the reasoning behind any of it. If there was any reason to begin with. While he certainly was not in the mindset of his ancestors, X-ray really did not know what was in their heads to make them think they could just utilize technology far superior to the UTF's and do what they wanted.

While the explanation he hoped for was not what he expected, X-ray wondered if the memories would have been the only explanation to the existence of Epona. If animated human mythical creatures and other Earth objects were to be located on a foreign planet in an almost perfect representation of his home world, then apparently the only way for such a world to exist was shitty terraforming orchestrated and programs by primitives wanting to play god.

Still, the idea of such a ridiculous event occurring would still be so astronomically small. Yet it happened. In fact, the whole thing sounded like the explanation Pinkie Pie or some shitty news writer would come up with to explain everything.

Worse yet, the memory proved ultimately useless to him and his squadron. X-ray had a philosophy that all information was useful, but what could have he made out of this? The Narret were apparently gone from the galaxy and the alliance out to kill humanity had been proven right. Humanity really did try to wipe out various primitive races in a display of might.

What excuse could have he made to argue against killing the only four humans on Epona? True, the event was tens of thousands of years ago and revenge solved nothing, but nearly driving a species to extinction certainly meant that humanity wasn't going to be winning any favors from the non Equestrian races.

X-ray growled. This entire memory made his head hurt. His belief of an explanation for everything had ironically been proven right, but not in the way he wanted. The Librarian's video was a big slap to the face of the reason and logic which he always cherished as the only way to find out why things were the way they were.

X-ray had read cosmic horror before, where the scientist would always seek a rational explanation to the events of a strange happening, only to get mind fucked beyond relief by various abominations.

However, there were no abominations to speak of with the exception of a ridiculous story.

Come to think of it, Equestria was something that should have been a myth in the mind of a creative dreamer, so what did he expect for an answer? Nebular formation which formed a planet that just happened to be modeled after human mythology? Actually that sounded far more arbitrary and redundant.

X-ray wondered if it was his mental condition that was causing him to act in a crazed state. Then again, how would a lack of remorse tie into what he was feeling now. No, this state of being was his own fault.

X-ray thought of the ponies, namely the former elements who watched the memory with him. They had taken the Librarian's revelation well. Okay, they weren't ecstatic or like he was, but they weren't through a fit of rage and frustration.

Speaking of the ponies, X-ray needed to head outside. His squad was waiting for him.

X-ray washed his face and finally closed the faucet. How much water did he waste just standing there? The Federation surely would have fined him for that.

The commando looked over to the shades and bandanna that would have made up his mask, but he thought against putting it on. What purpose did it have anyway other then combat use? He didn't need to hide his identity anymore and like he was in the mood to intimidate Twilight and her friends. He didn't want to do that anymore.

X-ray took the components of his mask and stuffed it into his pocket. He took out his tablet and opened the news app to see what was going on as we walked out the door. Apparently, the Feds didn't release any news of his squad's little discovery. Didn't surprise him since the illogicy wouldn't be believed by the masses until they Fed had more concrete evidence.

X-ray wondered how the rest of humanity would react to the secret behind Epona? Probably much better than he did. To the normal Terran, the truth was the truth no matter what. X-ray didn't speak for all humans. Not at all.

A news article that caught his attention from the New New New York Times was a light protest in the aforementioned to city to put pressure on the Federation to rescue the Equestrians and soldiers stranded on Epona from their demise.

On one hand, people were caring for the safety of his squad's life, yet they had no idea who he or the rest of Shadow really were.

Finally, X-ray exited the Boutique and a beam of sun beat down on his face. X-ray looked around him and took a gaze at the world around him.

Non animated Ponyville was a heavenly treat to his eyes and he certainly loved the way the still cartoony ponies clashed with their fully rendered environment. X-ray wondered how long it was since he last enjoyed the world without questioning it or finding out why things were happening.

It was 11 in the morning and for the first time in many years, X-ray allowed a cool breeze to splash over his face. He walked to his squad, not needing any motion trackers.

Scorch was sitting on a bench, his mask was off too and his blond hair stuck out like a candle in a dark room. The demo man had Pinkie Pie on his back with his gloved hand stroking her back.

Scarecrow was talking to the Feds on his mic and wrist computer. While X-ray could see Scarecrow's eyes and hair, the lower half of his face was covered by his bandanna.

Overwatch, of course, kept his mask and hood on and was sitting next to Scorch and Pinkie Pie. He was drawing something on his notebook, probably about the Narrets. Rarity was by his side as she watched what he was drawing.

X-ray, hands in his pockets, finally made it to his team.

"Hey." lightly called out the rifleman.

X-ray's voice woke up the sleeping Pinkie Pie who gave a cute yawn, as if everything in the world was fine now.

"What's going on?" asked X-ray.

Scorch pointed to Shadow's commander. "Scarecrow's talking to the Feds right now. Seeing if we can get back up."

Scarecrow's voice filled the air as he spoke to the politicians stationed on Apex.

"Alright.

Yeah.

I understand, but are you sure there is nothing you can do?

Oh really?

When can we expect it to arrive?

Perfect, that means.....

Right......

I understand, but are you sure there is nothing we can do?

Fine. Scarecrow out."

"What's the intel?" asked X-ray.

Scarecrow took a deep breath and pulled down his bandanna, exposing his face and allowing him to breath in the fresh and unfiltered air.

"Just give me a second. Twilight and some of the rest should be here soon." yawned Scarecrow.

Speaking of the devil, Twilight, followed by Applejack and Rainbow Dash arrived on scene. The three ponies looked like they had seen nothing wrong in their life, nor had even heard about the alliance's inevitable attack.

"Twilight. Can you give me a report form Celestia and Luna?" asked Scarecrow.

The alicorn nodded. "Well, it took all morning and I hardly slept, but I was able to get a report of what we saw in the Narret archives. I also got news that Zecora is almost back to full health after the Zebra attack on Canterlot. Spike's doing fine too."

"Zecora's condition won't matter in the long run based on what's coming." pouted Scorch, still stroking Pinkie's mane.

"Did Celestia just believe you? As in she didn't question anything about what the Librarian showed us?" inquired X-ray.

"Well, there were a few questions I sent back and forth based on details I missed. For the most part though, Celestia didn't really have much trouble accepting the truth." told Twilight.

"Anyway, I saw you talking to those politician guys through your wrist thing." noted Rainbow Dash.

"Please tell me they're gonna send help." begged Applejack.

All eyes were on Scarecrow, even Overwatch's who stopped drawing.

Shadow's commander scratched his blond hair before relaying the news.

"Alright, so the Federation is going to send a fleet in around 8 hours to see if they can reinforce us in any way."

"8 hours? How laggard!" shrieked Rarity.

"Opportunity costs are everything to the Federation, so they need to keep track of how much they can send here without it being a detriment to other operations. Plus, they have to rally soldiers, armor and-"

"It still shouldn't take your government that long! I thought they weren't slow pokes!" frowned Pinkie Pie.

Nobody noticed Twilight take a gulp.

"Technically, you're right Pinkie Pie. Unfortunately, due to universal time dilation that involves traveling in relatively unrefined and uncharted space, a simple 1 hour rallying could take as long as 8 hours to observers." explained X-ray.

"Well, it's a good thing the alliance won't do it's attack until after tomorrow. We should have plenty of back up by then." relaxed Rainbow Dash.

This was the hard part for Scarecrow. "Actually-"

"Actually, word from royal spies indicated that the attack might actually be carried out tonight. Turns out, the Alliance was bluffing about the day of their attack."

The ponies were dead silent.

"What do you mean tonight!" shrieked Pinkie Pie.

"I'm sorry," gasped Twilight. "But we have less time than we thought."

"No....no.....no! This can't be happening Twi, please tell me yer the one who's bluffing!" begged Applejack.

"I'm pretty sure you would have called me out if I was." muttered Twilight.

"Oh no!" moaned Rarity. "Now I have absolutely no chance of completing any of my life's goals." She wiped a tear with her hoof. "I have planned so many garments to create in the following years, and now I can't complete any of them. Not to mention all of my work will surely be forgotten by time in the centuries that follow after my boutique is burned down."

The ponies around town certainly were not in a mood that reflected the situation. How they could have remained so positive truly bewildered Shadow.

"I guess this is going to be good bye girls." frowned Pinkie Pie as her mane deflated. "Now I'll have to throw a super duper good bye party, the last I'll ever throw."

"I have to admit though, what the alliance is doing is utterly genius." commended X-ray.

The ponies shot the black clad commando a death glare.

"What do you mean genius!" screeched Twilight.

"Well, you do have to admit, the Alliance does have a good plan." noted Scorch. "I mean, lying about the date of attack to give the enemy a false sense of extra security and time to prepare so that they are completely caught off guard during the attack, perfect strategy in my opinion."

"Hey, you have to appreciate good thinking here and there." admitted Scarecrow.

"That good thinking is going to get us killed!" shrieked Applejack.

"Oh yeah......" muttered all members of Shadow sans Overwatch.

X-ray sighed and kicked a pebble. "I'm not one for idiotic adversaries, but I really wish the Alliance wasn't so savvy in this case."

"Seconded." finally complied Overwatch as he put away his drawing.

"Hey, why weren't we informed of this sooner? Shouldn't have the Federation used their high and mighty technology to uncover this plan sooner?" noticed Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, what gives?" frowned Applejack.

"You didn't think the Federation was going to listen to our enemies in the first place with surveillance tech?" spat Scarecrow. "Apparently, we can't get any sort of recording from anything outside of Equestria other than static. Somehow, we're being countered with high tech jammers that essential close our eyes and ears above the sky."

"Come now darling, I doubt any faction on Epona has the technological capabilities to pull off such as feet." countered Rarity.

"Considering that all the magic and crazy shit this planet has in the result of poor programming, albeit highly advanced poor programming that can still technically produce threats to the UTF, I'm not surprised." replied X-ray.

"Wait a minute! What about the space fleet the Federation is sending in?" perked up Rainbow Dash. "I'm no good at math, but I'm sure the UTF will arrive before the hour the Alliance decides to invade."

"But how is the Federation going to help silly?" pointed Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie is right." nodded Twilight. "Considering the giant kinetic barrier above us, what will be the UTF's strategy to come to this planet to aid us based on the fact all options are apparently invalidated with the exception of blowing the planet up?"

Scarecrow sighed and scratched his head. He looked away with a clearly disgruntled expression. It was evident the next few words coming out of his mouth weren't exactly going to be pleasant.

"I'll be honest, the Federation still hasn't found a way to get onto the planet properly."

"What!" cried Rarity. "Then what on Equestria are they going to do once they arrive? Float around all idly by in outer space?"

"I'm afraid so." replied Scarecrow. "The Federation is still counting on us to find a way to take out that barrier and allow ships to come in."

"What about teleportation? Can't human ships just enter directly in the atmosphere? That's what I would do." suggested Twilight.

"We're tele-blocked too. The kinetic barrier apparently is a rare variety that exists within sub space as well, so we'll just run into the same fucking story. Such barriers have rarely been used by the Federation, but proved useful in stopping terrorists from accessing key locations through sub space." informed X-ray.

"This is ridiculous!" complained Dash. "No one can be this savvy about humanity other than probably Discord or Sombra. Heck even the alliance races your ancestors almost massacred are incapable of pulling something off like this."

"But what we do know is that the source of this barrier is coming from some ally. Whether it's a powerful being who has built a stupid generator that exceeds UTF tech or something really fucking powerful, we can take out the source and clear the way." insisted Scorch.

"Problem is, the Feds counted on us having a few extra days." croaked Overwatch.

"Who do you think this stupid ally is? Apparently he hates humanity bad enough to lock us all in this teeny tiny planet for the rest of eternity." said Pinkie Pie.

X-ray put his gloved hands on his arms. "For once, I don't know. I don't fucking know. All I can say was that little trip to the Crystal Empire gave us absolutely nothing to work with."

"What do you mean?" inquired Applejack.

"Are you kidding? I think the Alliance has a proper reason to be pissed off. I think I'd be lusting for revenge if I found out my race was nearly wiped out by power hungry and naive primitives. Okay, maybe I wouldn't since I don't believe in revenge to that extent, but you get my point."

"X-ray's right." added Scarecrow. "Any diplomatic solution to this is completely out of the question since we really have nothing to fall back on other than the fact the Alliance is seeking revenge from a long dead civilization whose descendants can't even remember properly."

"Not to mention you guys are kinda jerks anyway. I'm sure they'd want you dead regardless." panned Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, I guess." nodded Scarecrow.

"Plus, I'm sure they're economies are already fragile with all their accumilating war spending. Even with my lack of statistics, they're fucked economically if they don't declare war." remarked Scorch. "Although I'm sure that's hardly the case considering there's pretty much nothing we can do to stop them."

"If anything, that whole video from the Librarian was a big slap to the face." hissed X-ray. "Useless, nonsensical and basically told us the Alliance is right and we deserve to die!"

"Dear, please calm down. You're starting to drool." pleaded Rarity.

"Calm down! Don't you understand the gravity of the situation?" cringed Scorch. "We went into Crystal Empire with hopes of finding answers to this bullshit and all we got was some fucked up explanation."

"Rather than finding something, I don't know, useful, we got a little tale about stupid power hungry ancestors using tech they don't know shit about to create slave races, only to butcher them all because they couldn't comprehend evolution and Faster Than Light Travel." raged Scarecrow.

"In my opinion that raises more questions than answers." shook Overwatch.

"I still don't see the point in being so angry." shook Twilight, loosing her patience.

"Why wouldn't you be angry? Instead of getting a rational explanation to the cause behind this planet, we got something that made absolutely no sense whatsoever!" remarked X-ray.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Okay Mr. Smarty Pants, why exactly is this explanation for the source of Equestria rage worthy and irrational?"

"Are you even listening?" face palmed Scorch. "Did you even watch the video? I mean, come on, ancient humans? Really? In a perfectly ordered and nonsensical universe, this would be the last explanation we would have gotten."

"Yeah, how come you five are the ones who aren't distraught? I think we should be the ones asking the questions here." panned Scarecrow as he crossed his arms.

"It's simple. There's no reason to be angry." answered Pinkie Pie.

"No reason?" spat X-ray. |Our explanation to this dilemma is ridiculous, immature and-"

"The truth." sighed Twilight.

Shadow was caught off guard by the response.

"What do you mean, 'the truth'?" stated Scarecrow.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "You four wouldn't stop complaining until you found out the source behind Equestria and for all the weird things that were happening on it. Well, you got your answer yesterday. I say mission accomplished."

"But-"

"But nothing! You got what you wanted, I thought you four would be happy." cried Twilight.

"That's not what we wanted!" defended X-ray. "What we wanted was a reasonable and logical rationale regarding the existence of planet Epona and its inhabitants."

"And for the millionth time, that's what you got." hissed Rainbow Dash.

"Key words; reason and logical. What we saw was anything but." responded Scorch.

Twilight spoke in a faux empathetic voice. "Okay, but you aren't going to magically change the fact that it's the truth."

"But it's a stupid truth!" croaked Scarecrow.

"Says who dear?" questioned Rarity.

"Says us!" growled Overwatch.

"Look at the four of you!" scolded Pinkie Pie. "You're all acting really nasty all of a sudden just because the answers you wanted weren't the ones you got."

"Oh come on! We've grown up learning that everything in our universe makes orderly and logical sense with messed up fantasies being only fiction. Our little revelation contradicts it." defended X-ray.

"You also told me that humans believe everything happens with a reason and never without." pointed Twilight. "And by gosh, you were right. Equestria does have a reason why everything is like Earth after all."

"A stupid reason." muttered Scorch.

"An explanation is an explanation whether it is logical to the learner's perspective or not." chimed in Rarity.

"Perspective?" croaked Scarecrow.

"I think it's your turn to think about it." accused Rainbow Dash. "For all the time we've known you four, you keep ranting about the beauty that is reason. But what is reason at the end of the day?"

"Things that make sense in an orderly and logical fashion." defined X-ray.

"Yeah, but doesn't everyone have a different perspective of what is orderly and logical?" glared Applejack.

"Before the four of you came to Equestria, we accepted what was considered magic because to us, that was what was considered logical and orderly." told Twilight. "Now that magic has been debunked as a source of ancient alien programming, we have a totally new perspective as to what is considered rational. Whether or not we believe in the ancient alien part, it's still

"And besides, do you honestly think every alien race in the galaxy thinks the same way humanity does?" said Rainbow Dash, her voice evidently getting tired of speaking.

"What about you ponies? You're western fairy tales in horse form." pointed Scorch.

"We're the result of messed up a programming-thing, of course we're going to think like you. Well, a primitive fairy tale version of you, but you get the point!" cried Twilight.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I've thought about it, and a lot of the stuff that you guys say is the truth doesn't seem like common sense to me, but hey, I'm not gonna complain."

"All in all, I suppose the every race or culture in the galaxy will form a different conclusion on what is reasonable and rational and what is not." chimed Rarity.

"Come again?" sighed Overwatch.

"What we consider reason is merely a product of our time and environment. Before magic was debunked to be some sort of force we had yet to observe closely as ancient alien programming, what was rational and reasonable to a pony like us was magic just being some force that we couldn't explain that was responsible for numerous events." inferred Twilight.

"But we were explaining magic and you weren't believing us." defended Scorch.

"Well forgive us for being skeptical partner, but you guys didn't take that little revelation well to either." glared Applejack. "Ah will admit though, grasping new ideas ain't that simple."

Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin. "Even then you gotta think about context, I mean Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie did make a lot of sense before you four figured me out. Now I know the source of my sugar induced powers." Pinkie used said molecular powers to immediately grab a chocolate from a void in time space and munched in whole.

"Plus, I'm sure that is somepony in the past immediately started to preach some cosmic force other than magic, we'd be the ones debunking him or her as delusional with the reality based individuals still believing in magic." theorized Twilight.

"I also do have to admit that it is pretty shallow to assume that every culture and species will think like yours" added Rarity. I mean granted, our way of knowing turned out to be a flop, but you can't honestly expect the galaxy to agree to what is rational or not."

"What about there being one truth and an explanation for everything?" frowned Scarecrow.

"Like we said, you guys are right in the part, it's only a matter of what we can conclude from it." replied Twilight.

Rainbow Dash had a funny idea. "I'm willing to bet that some alien race out there thinks if you wanna find something out, you gotta do a ridiculous dance while chanting stupid songs."

"And while wearing funny hats!" smiled Pinkie Pie.

"Come on, that would be plain fucking stupid." hissed X-ray.

"True, but I'm pretty sure that's not what the alien would think." giggled Rainbow Dash. "I'm willing to bet that there are plenty of races that would laugh at your ideas for logic."

"Well, our way of rational thinking has brought upon numerous truths." shook Scarecrow.

"Acknowledged, but what if that alien's creepy way of thinking turned out to be true as well?" teased Twilight.

Shadow was silent.

"It would be a major ass pull and fucking retarded." answered Scorch.

"But what if it really was the truth? Y'all can't just put yer hooves, ah mean, fingers in your ears and deny evidence just because ya don't like it." advised Applejack. "Hey, I'd be pretty darn ticked too, but an Apple has gotta obey the truth. Even the crazy ones."

The members of Shadow began to nod in agreement, even letting out a mummer of approval.

"And really now, this can't be the first time when your race was dumbfounded to believe that the truth was the opposite of what you all considered logical." pointed Twilight.

X-ray stroked his black hair with his gloved hand. "Actually, there have been plenty of times when that happened. There was the time when Galileo proved that the Earth was rotating around the Sun instead of vice versa. From what I read in history, there was a pretty big shit storm after what was thought to be reasonable was debunked by science itself."

"Not to mention the UTF blowing everyone's mind with faster than light travel." added Scorch. "Hell, I think it's too much to count."

"See what we mean? You guys are gonna see a lot of strange stuff, no need to get all worked up about it." encouraged Rainbow Dash.

Twilight tossed back her mane. "On one hoof....or hand, you guys are right. Life does have answers for pretty much everything and nothing happens without a cause, but at the same time that cause might not be what you expect or want it to be. Even then, that thing you consider illogical is the truth no matter what, and you should embrace it like we ponies did with out magic when we thought it was the only truth or you humans did with your technology."

Scarecrow raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying we should let go of looking at things scientifically?"

"Of course not!" laughed the ponies.

"I think a better way of putting it would be to say; what we consider rational may not be rational at all to the other, even if it does present itself as the ultimate truth." remarked Rarity.

"Well said partner!" complimented Applejack.

Shadow stared at the ponies while contemplating their situation.

The ponies were right. There was an answer to everything Shadow had said, but no matter how ridiculous or unreasonable it sounded to Shadow, they weren't going to change the fact that the revelation was the cold hard truth. They really were overreacting after all especially considering that their core idea of an explanation for everything still was true, albeit in a weird way.

"And look, I'm pretty sure you're going to see some crazy stuff in the universe, so why not embrace it all in the name of discovery rather than get all mopey about it. After all, what is weird I guess boils down to who you're talking to." shrugged Rainbow Dash.

"Huh, getting schooled by a tomboy pegasus. Now that is pretty fucking weird." chuckled Scorch.

The demo man snatched Rainbow Dash from the air and tossed her mane with his gloved hand as the blue pegasus laughed and begged him to let go.

"If you look at it from my perspective, I think this is a victory for you anyway because I say the boundaries of knowledge clearly expand after the discovery of every new anomaly waiting to be studied." winked Rarity.

"So yeah, don't laugh ancient alien primitives off, do your science thing to see what you can do it with it." encouraged Applejack.

All of a sudden, Shadow felt much better and the revelation the Librarian showed them felt more inspiring rather than ridiculous. True the plight of the ancient humans could be laughed at for days, but the notion of Narret tech held many possibilities.

"Can I just ask you all something?" asked Scarecrow.

The ponies nodded.

"How do you all stay so positive? I mean, we were shown something kinda creepy, but you didn't seem to get annoyed by how ridiculous it all was especially considering it was the origin story of your race. If anything, we thought you were going to be the ones distraught by your nonsensical creation."

Twilight smiled and closed her eyes. "I've repeated it a thousand times, but it was the truth. Plain and simple way not to get angry."

"Yeah, I'll admit the whole thing sounded like one of Pinkie Pie's fantasies, but there ain't no point in getting mad at facts." laughed Rainbow Dash.

"Crazy as Granny Smith's stories, but no harm, no foul." winked Applejack.

"But a lot of the stuff you believed in was proved wrong! You were kinda hesitant to let your beliefs go, so I thought you'd be a little bit more touched and reflective." noted X-ray.

"Hey, you're gonna get proved wrong a lot of times. No need to get all mopey." giggled Pinkie Pie.

"While we may have had our beliefs invalidated a certain few times, I don't think it's healthy to dwell on the negatives." said Twilight. "You just gotta embrace the truth and look on the bright side."

"To be fair my dears, we've had to endure the slow withering away of our belief that magical is an unexplainable force in one of the hardest ways possible, but not even a condescending attitude can bring me down in the long run." remarked Rarity.

"If you humans do want to be the pioneers of discovery you want to be, then I guess you're going to have to get used to being proved wrong a lot, so don't make it a habit of getting ticked. If we ponies can handle being proved wrong and still be positive, than I'm sure humans can too." advised Twilight.

"To be fair, 23rd members aren't known for being rather idealistic. I'm pretty sure the rest of our race would handle the information regarding Equestria's laughable beginnings." responded Scorch.

Twilight was getting concerned. "Come on guys, you're really getting annoyed over something really subjective."

"None of you are wrong about Equestria having an origin, but what's reasonable is kinda based on the pony you ask." claimed Rainbow Dash.

"Besides, what do you want the answer to be?" frowned Pinkie Pie. "Equestria being created by far way aliens who also believed in talking magical ponies that spoke human languages?"

"That would make even less sense." muttered Overwatch.

"I guess you ponies are right, we are being too stubborn over something out of our control and arbitrary." admitted X-ray.

The five ponies smiled wide. It was a nice change of pace for the equines to see Shadow mellow down after a long period of snark and ruthlessness.

"Lessons aside, it's not going to matter in the long run." sighed Scarecrow.

"What do you mean?" whispered Rarity.

"Dammit, it's this whole fucking invasion. In a few days, we are all totally screwed unless we can take out this motherfucking barrier!" raged Shadow's commander.

Suddenly, the ponies were reminded of the horrible plight before them. Almost any sense of optimism was gone.

Twilight struggled to speak. "How long......do you think it will take for the Alliance to finish us off?"

"Honestly, I would estimate something at about a year. True, it's multiple nations against one, but you have to take certain factors into account such as the possibilities of post nation resistance that could delay pony decimation." estimated X-ray. "There's also the fact that you have Celestia and Luna who are incredibly powerful and can control sun and moon."

"What about the ally they have who put up this barrier?" asked Applejack.

"See, now that's a problem. This ally they have is powerful enough to generate entities that overcome Federation technology and the capabilities of princesses. This would give the alliance a major power boost."

"What about you four?" asked Pinkie Pie. "You're all on our side."

"Correct, and I'd imagine we'd fuck up the alliance badly, but they're so zealous in this god damn struggle that no amount of force will deter them to surrendering. At least that's what I estimate." continued X-ray. "Even if we could constantly repair our guns and our ammo to ensure perpetual warfare, we could likely get overrun."

"I doubt that. The Alliance is far more primitive in terms of combat capability. They also lack the element of stealth you four gladly use to your advantage." pointed Rarity.

"The four of us could hide from the world forever." shook Overwatch. "But we'd half to abandon ponykind to do so."

The Equestrians took another glance at each other.

"Can I just ask you four one question?" gulped Twilight.

"What?" asked Scarecrow.

"Do you four consider us your friends?"

Twilight could see a stunned expression in the members of Shadow who weren't wearing masks. They were at a total loss for words.

"I....I....well...." X-ray couldn't control his thoughts for once.

Scorch scratched his head. "I don't think I've ever had a friend other than the guys in Reaper, Dusk and Predator squad. Even then we're just combat allies."

Scarecrow took a deep breath. "Well, despite my constant degradation of your way of life, I still find ponies as a whole to be a rather refreshing change of optimism in my normal combat life. Not to mention it's incredibly hard to hate you all no matter how ridiculous I find you. Hell, I expected your kind to just give up on the four of us for being rather brash with you all but you didn't! To think you still tolerate us after all we said to you and done to you is a fucking miracle for crying out loud!"

The ponies smiled wide.

"Was that a yes I heard?" teased Applejack.

"We never said the phrase yes." stuttered X-ray. "We were merely stating that we do not find any reason to dismiss you all as an enemy or someone we hate and have grown accustomed to your company."

Pinkie Pie skipped in victory. "In fancy talk, that's a victory!"

The black clad commandos were clearly blushing. This whole experience on Epona was beginning to have an effect on them. True they were still ruthless commandos intolerant of ignorance, but they couldn't help but feel delighted when being close to the Equestrians. Yup, the ponies were finally getting to them, oh how they needed human interaction.

An embarrassed Scorch tried to change the subject. "Regardless of the matter or friendship, we still have an entire alliance of invading armies coming right at us!"

The ponies froze in the middle of their happiness and resumed to previous tone of glumness.

"Oh right." sighed Pinkie Pie. "But at least we get to dies as friends right?"

"I guess." shrugged Scarecrow, half smiling.

"Still, this entire situation is utter bullshit!" roared Scorch. "The alliance decides that just because four humans are on the planet, they need to be exterminated and their word is infallible because we almost did the same thing a really long fucking time ago as a completely different people."

The eyes of the Equestrians were completely glued onto Scorch.

"I can still understand why every race our ancestors abused would be mad, but holding onto a ten thousand year old grudge is fucking insane, even for a 23rd operative like me!"

The demo man placed his hand in his pockets and sighed loudly.

"Even if I do end up agreeing with the Alliance's decision to kill us all, to declare war on a defenseless species for circumstances they didn't even know about is low. Just. Fucking. Low."

"I can't believe it either Scorch." growled Overwatch. "Killing an entire species because of the actions of an extreme minority. An unwitting one at that. Pisses me off beyond relief too."

"Now we're gonna have to deal with the possible end of pony civilization. Just because of us." mused Scarecrow.

X-ray didn't know why he continued to kill the mood. "Not to mention the Fed will have no choice but to leave this planet once they lose use for it, if they don't decide to planet gun Epona out of revenge for all of our deaths."

This statement interested Rarity. "What do you think were to happen if the Alliance does exceed in eliminating us all?"

Overwatch answered. "We'd be dead, the Alliance would celebrate, their civilizations would go on and the universe won't even notice nor remember the deaths of four brutal commandos and a race of colorful ponies. Otherwise, the Fed destroys this planet in retaliation and all humans will simply muse that the first planet they contacted with was also their last, but even that isn't going to stop humanity from forgetting all this to progress."

"Sounds creepy.' gulped Rainbow Dash.

"That's the universe for ya."

The members of Shadow sunk their heads, but in rage and anger, rather than shame and sadness. The ponies were silent as well, with the only noise being the wind.

Twilight already knew the answer to the question, but she couldn't help but ask it

"Do you...do you four regret coming here to Equestria?"

Shadow immediately shot Twilight and a confused look and started to smirk. There was even a chuckle or two. Twilight wondered that if Shadow really was choosing to feel this way or their 'no regrets' attitude was taking over.

X-ray shot up a finger. "Okay, that question is not technically valid considering that the true people who sent us here was the United Terran Federation government, so if anything, they are the ones who should be feeling sorry or remorseful. We were merely an unwitting pawn to this most unfortunate event."

Pinkie Pie and Applejack shot each other confused looks.

Scarecrow gave a nod before speaking. "Even if this all does end in tragedy, I can safely say that coming to Epona was fun. Crazy and utterly ridiculous, but fun. Truth be told, I guess I had the adventure to end all adventures and at least I can be content that I got to meet such an endearing species like no other."

"Endearing? That's good right?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"It most certainly is. In a certain kind of way." answered Rarity.

"So no, we don't regret coming here." Scorch's face sank. "But....."

"But I do wish things would play out differently. Trust me when I say that being the living reason for an upcoming racial genocide against innocents is the last thing I wanted to be."

"This entire thing was beyond our control, so it ain't worth apologizing for, but I still wish that we could do something to prevent the upcoming attack." muttered X-ray.

There just had to be a way to avoid the inevitable. If Shadow couldn't save themselves, they could at least make the Alliance's life hell to make every race in the putrid pack regret ever declaring war on them.

Scarecrow knitted his eyebrows stamped his foot.

"You know what? Fuck it, you ponies aren't going to die because of us."

"I'm afraid you can't fight fate pal." muttered Rainbow Dash.

"Tell fate to piss off! We're the ones in charge of it, and I say that we are going to end this attack before it even begins."

"How do you plan on doing that?" inquired Rarity.

Scarecrow rounded up Overwatch, X-ray, Scorch in a group huddle and started whispering something unintelligible to the ponies. They were speaking way too fast and in a foreign language the ponies couldn't understand.

After a few minutes passed, the counter terrorists finished their little discussion and turned to the ponies with anxious expressions.

"Okay, we have a plan that MIGHT spare this nations from a brutal attack." announced X-ray.

The ponies' eyes shot open and moved closer to the 23rd members.

"Alright, this plan will most likely save you from utter destruction and may likely spare us as well." said Scorch.

"Most likely?" frowned Twilight.

X-ray tried to explain it. "The thing is, this initiative requires utter cooperation, timing, and tact of a certain kind. Even then, we're making radical assumptions here that could either fail or succeed based on certain factors like-"

Before X-ray could continue speaking, Overwatch covered his mouth with his own gloved hand.

"This is a major fucking gamble, but it could work." motivated Scarecrow. "We all know that the alliance is after your nation because you're not declaring war on us, right?"

The ponies didn't make a move.

"Okay, so what if we were to factor that one thing out?" continued Scorch.

"What are you getting at?" asked Applejack.

Scarecrow was hesitant. "If you ponies declare war on us or anything like that, the Alliance will leave you alone and excuse you for your heresy."

Pinkie's eyes shot open. The Equestrians were shocked at the statement.

"Declare war on you?" cried Twilight. "Why would we do that?"

"You guys might be unpleasant and all, but like heck we're gonna declare war on somepony!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

X-ray freed himself from Overwatch's glove. "One, we're humans. Two, you're gonna declare war on the alliance anyway and three, it's not what you think."

"We don't literally mean declaring war, just declaring the four of us to be an enemy. That way, you'd be on the side of the alliance." said Scarecrow. "And by extension, you'd be spared."

"I still don't see why we'd declare you four to be an enemy of ponykind. You're more likely to be labeled a hyper lethal nuisance than anything else." pointed Twilight. "Dangerous, but not evil."

"Because here's the thing, it's all pretend." smiled Scarecrow.

"You ponies don't actually have to declare us enemies, just make it all up so that the Alliance is appeased." added Scorch.

"And how would we do that?" asked Rarity.

"Yeah, the Alliance won't even talk to us or accept our cup cakes." remarked Pinkie Pie.

"All we need to do is have you ponies pretend to capture us and surrender us to the Alliance. Unless the leaders of all the other nations are really savvy which I'm sure they're not, they'll accept us with glee and forgive you." insisted X-ray.

Twilight was skeptical. "I don't know, this would be rather sudden and the Alliance probably wouldn't buy it."

"Oh please, if the other nations are anything like they're human counter parts, they should be total morons and have a lack of relative experience enough to see through this plan." countered Scarecrow.

"Besides, they'll do anything to get their claws and hoofs on the creatures who wronged them." yawned X-ray.

"What excuse would we exactly have for suddenly turning against humanity?" questioned Twilight.

"We don't know...." admitted Scorch. "How about saying you were blinded by human power to the point of committing unjustly deeds and are now seeking salvation for your sins? All that bullshit."

"Besides, we're 23rd! It's not hard to come up with reasons to hate us!" yelled X-ray.

Applejack gave it a thought. "I ain't one for lying, but if we could phrase it right, it might work."

"Hey, a necessary evil is better than a greater one." shrugged Scarecrow.

"Another lie could be that this was all Ponykind's genius plan to gain the trust of four humans so that you could take us by surprise for extermination." suggested Scarecrow.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "But how would we exactly frame a capture?"

"Yeah, you guys are some of the most powerful people we've ever met. As if the Alliance is going to believe we overpowered you four without any struggle and explosions?" said Pinkie quickly.

"Don't worry, we could frame a fight scene easily." laughed X-ray.

"All we need to do is blow up some stuff with our Gauss rifles and grenades and totally degrade a good portion of a city." said Scorch in a disturbingly excited manner.

"That would make it look really convincing." agreed Scarecrow.

"Destroying a part of town?" gulped Applejack. "Talk about overkill."

"Greater good." snapped X-ray in a deadpan voice.

"Even then, I'm pretty sure capturing four 23rd members without a single pony casualty is far too inconceivable." debunked Twilight.

"If the Alliance knows how powerful you all are, then there's absolutely no way they're gonna accept a bloodless capture." added Rainbow Dash.

"We'd have to kill some ponies to make it look convincing." whispered Pinkie Pie in an unusually weak voice.

Scorch smiled sheepishly. "We wouldn't have to kill anypony, we could just......injure them badly......."

The Equestrains shivered.

"I still don't think that would work." apologized Twilight.

"Meh, just say you used magic or some bullshit. The Alliance would believe that." shook Scorch.

"Even if we do pretend to capture you, how would the rest of the plan go?" inquired Rainbow Dash.

"Basically, all you would need to do is have us all caught up with some spell and then message the Alliance that you have captured us." started Scarecrow.

"Then you present us to leaders of the Alliance who will thank you by sparing Equestria from devastation." smirked X-ray.

"And you are sure this will work?" checked Twilight.

Scorch's face sunk. "No. We aren't, but it's the best chance we've got."

"That's not good enough!" cried Applejack.

Shadow wasn't angry.

"Take it or leave it." replied X-ray. "It's technically the best situation with a 71% chance of survival for Equestria. No, I didn't make those numbers up."

"But, if we surrender you four over to the Alliance, you'll die." gasped Pinkie Pie.

Shadow laughed hard.

"Die? That wasn't our intention at all." grinned Scarecrow.

X-ray crossed his arms. "Even if we do die, it's alright. At least we'll die fucking up the alliance to near extinction and protecting your country from harm."

"And you'd be okay with that?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, the last thing I want to do is advocate injustice by having a nation and a species destroyed by fucked up zealots. If we can protect you from those pseudo-zealot assholes, we're cool if we die." laughed Scorch, eager to get his hands on the Alliance's members.

"But will you exactly avoid death?" asked Applejack. "The Alliance is mighty big."

"We're 23rd, we could hide from Mega Corp mercs in a metropolis for eternity." bragged Scarecrow.

"Once you present ourselves to the Alliance, we'll cause a shit storm, cloak, and bail." told Scorch.

"You could really pull that off in a place with a ton of security?" challenged Applejack.

"Of course! We've handled worse with utter ease." replied X-ray. "There's a reason nobody outside the government knows what the 23rd is."

"Once we make our escape, we can make sure to elude the Alliance indefinitely." smiled Scarecrow.

"You are aware of the long term implications of such a scheme, correct? challenged Rarity.

"The long term shouldn't be a problem at all. The tech level of the Alliance is far too low to catch us and we're sure you'll be cooperative." answered Overwatch.

"I thought Equestria would be declaring war on you four in order for this plan to work." remembered Twilight.

"Pretend to declare war." chuckled Scarecrow.

"We are utterly sure that once we're in prolonged stealth mode, you ponies should provide the proper accommodations in private." insisted X-ray.

"......."

"Right?" screeched Scorch. "We don't want to haunt you ponies or anything."

Applejack chuckled. "Eh, why not? If all works well, you've technically saved us all."

"Not even a bloodthirsty assassin can cause me to abandon my generosity." added Rarity. "Plus, I do not want to be haunted as well."

"Necessities aside, you four loose your augmentations and your ability to not feel remorse and abandon aggression at age 30! Do you know what could happen then.?" realized Twilight.

"Oh silly Twilight, the Federation would never wait that long to extract us. I'm sure in three years they'll find a way to counter the barrier keeping them off the planet." laughed Scarecrow

"I mean, the Federation wouldn't just abandon us, right?" giggled X-ray with a nervous face. He activated his wrist computer.

"Right Feds?!"

Pinkie Pie spoke up before X-ray got a reply.

"Actually, I'm sure Twilight could figure out some stuff to make you guys keep your super scary powers." perked up Pinkie Pie.

"That would be pleasant." thanked Scorch. "Besides, we'll still have our tech around even if we are stuck for a fucking trillion years."

"What do you guys plan to do while hiding?" questioned Rainbow Dash.

"Simple, haunt the Alliance's members one by one to the point of total psychological damage to make them repent for ever fucking with us in the first place." hissed X-ray.

"Isn't that unnecessarily dangerous?" countered Rarity with a shiver.

"23rd." sang Scarecrow.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "The unnecessary part still stands."

The members of Shadow crossed their arms and gave a sigh in defeat.

"Fine."

"This plan doesn't really seem like it could work. Awfully idealistic if you ask me." admitted Twilight.

"It's our only bet, and like hell are we going to let a race die in the name of injustice because the four of us stepped foot on this fucked up world." reminded X-ray.

Scarecrow received a transmission from the Federation.

"The Feds approve of our plan." announced Shadow's commander. "Best we go through it now."

"Just like that? We'd have to get all of Equestria involved for this to work!" pointed Twilight.

"The Ponies trust Celestia to a fault, I'm sure they'll go along with whatever she tells them." shrugged X-ray.

"Twilight, go tell Spike to write a letter to the princesses pronto." ordered Scarecrow.

Scorch turned to the other ponies. "The rest of you, make sure Ponyville is aware of what is going to happen. And please tell them not to worry about their future."

"What will you four be doing in the meantime?" asked Rarity.

"We'll go orchestrate a reasonably convincing battlefield to make it look like we really had a brawl." answered X-ray.

"And probably injure ourselves as to not bring about a feeling of disbelief among the Alliance's leaders." added Scorch.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Or, you could fake your injuries."

"Come now, there's no way the Griffins or Changelings are going to buy a set of faked-"

The blue Pegasus continued to glare at the demo man.

".....Uh, point taken." smiled Scorch sheepishly.

Twilight got ready to leave. "I still say there are a few screws we need to tie, so once the Princesses are aware of all this, we could help develop this plan further to make it more full proof."

"Oh and if you guys are ever feeling lonely while being elusive, you could always come to SugarCube corner for a nice cozy place to sleep." invited Pinkie Pie.

"Appreciate your optimism in spite of the situation." commended X-ray.

The plan had been set. Twilight and her friends were about to turn around until-

"Hey, where the hell was Fluttershy?" asked Overwatch.

The ponies were dumbfounded. How could have they missed Fluttershy, one of their best friends? Although, it did make sense as to why their conversations felt odd. Fluttershy may have been a quiet Pegasus, but she certainly would have been present.

"I don't know, she was supposed to meet us here." said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack pointed to Pinkie Pie. "Weren't you in charge of making sure she was here?"

"Yeah, but I was super duper early so I decided to stop by to say high to Shadow. Scorch then offered to stroke my mane and the last thing I knew, I was in a deep sleep." defended the Party Pony.

"Poor girl, she just missed this really important convention." cried Rarity. The unicorn shot Pinkie a glare.

"Even then, Fluttershy should have still remembered to come." noted Twilight.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is the time she usually goes shopping for her animals." said Applejack.

"Ugh, now we need to find her." groaned Rainbow Dash.

"Don't worry, we got you covered." bragged Scarecrow. He turned on his wrist computer and pulled up his bandanna, causing his voice to change to static.

"Blackjack, please locate Fluttershy for us." radioed Shadow's commander.

There was a garbled response the ponies couldn't hear.

In the heart of the moment, Scarecrow's eyes shot open, clearly in shock. He spoke in a slow and worried manner.

"......"

"What the fuck do you mean 'you can't locate her'?"

Author's Notes:

Here you guys go. I'll edit the mistakes very soon. Just enjoy and try to guess who Shadow is going to run into next.