I've got something interesting to add to the zebra arsenal which should spice things up a bit and create a more dynamic and dangerous battlesphere in the Equestrain-Zebra war.

In any fictional war, balance is a critical factor. If one side has too significant an advantage over the other, it drastically shortens the duration of the conflict. DuvetofReason and I have discussed this at length, and we agree that Kkat could have done a much better job with this, but that was obviously not the focus or purpose of Fo:E and so the zebra war was somewhat glossed over in terms of technology and weaponry. One thing we've criticized a fair bit is the idea that the zebras were somehow more advanced than the ponies in areas of AI and robotics. I still can barely type that with a straight face. The notion is so patently ridiculous I'm not even sure what possible justification it could have. Zebra culture is largely depicted as a fair bit more primitive (perhaps tribal-African) when placed next to the obviously Western culture of Equestria. They seem to have particular skill in melee combat as well as external magic such as potions, enchantments, talismans, and the like. As such, it makes sense that any balancing factors giving advantages to the zebras at least fit with this cultural image.

From a tactical perspective, ponies have two very significant advantages in the field of battle. Flight (pegasi) and internal magic (unicorns). Equestria would also be ahead in the technology race, giving them firstcomer-advantage when it came to things such as munitions and armor technology. This means that balance requires some kind of advantage which is unique to the zebras. Sticking with Fo:E in terms of hoof combat (martial arts) is probably a very good idea. Therefore, in unarmed combat, a number of zebras would be quite superior to an equal number of ponies in a straight-up fight. I attribute this to previous experience in war on the zebra side -- particularly having to fight a desperate losing battle vs a physically stronger foe, the minotaurs. Fo:E also gave them certain mystical advantages such as unique elemental talismans and invisibility cloaks. I've expanded this with things such as shield-cutting enchantments to counter unicorn shielding capabilities.

One particularly weak area was the Fo:E counterbalance to the pegasus advantage of flight. Zebras can't fly at all, but they had (apparently) dirigibles and then, later on, dragons and griffin mercenaries. They even had some kind of weird "bloodwing talisman" which could temporarily give a zebra working wings for no reason whatsoever, despite the tremendous biological change that this would require. This is all fairly weak, though, since a full third of the Equestrian population can fly naturally. In Fo:E, the zebras had AI controlled flak cannons if I recall. That's not really befitting of how zebra culture is depicted. This is where seekers come in.

Zebra seekers are magical constructs. The most direct human analog is the heat-seeking missile. Seekers are launched from large deployable ground-based installations with similar tactical disadvantages as catapults and trebuchets. They are not launched by infantry, which limits their deployment options to larger scale battles which include significant ground forces. A trebuchet must be wheeled onto the battlefield and then loaded with a high-caliber projectile which is hurled at enemy installations. Ammunition is bulky and cumbersome, and the launcher itself is defenseless. The same is true for seeker launchers. However, instead of installations being the target, it's pegasus soldiers.

The ammunition itself would take on a form similar to a magical sphere perhaps the size of a hoofball. The seeker is placed in the launcher, at which point it is armed. Once fired, the seeker shoots straight up into the sky about a hundred meters. When in flight, the seeker is very loud and very bright. The zebras would prefer it wasn't this way, but the nature of the design is not entirely in their control. Most of the dark magic based zebra weaponry is more stumbled-upon than designed. The seekers glow brightly and leave behind a colored energy contrail in the air as they fly. The noise is like a high-pitched buzzing as the mystical homing mechanism engages.

Seekers are quite fast and maneuverable. Overall, they are slightly slower and slightly less maneuverable than a skilled pegasus flying at top speed. This means the pegasus has the advantage in terms of evasion. The problem comes from the sixty-second flight time before the seeker finally disperses. The pegasus must fly at top performance for a full minute in order to escape the seeker's relentless pursuit. Alternatively, a pegasus can trick the seeker into running into other objects with some quick maneuvering, placing trees or other objects in the path of the seeker, which always tries to fly directly toward the target. Overall, being chased by a seeker is the most stressful experience a pegasus can have, as they desperately try to stay one step ahead of it without becoming exhausted before the seeker finally times out. It is very much a fox vs rabbit chase, often calling for very tight banking and doubling back if it's getting too close.

If the seeker does connect with the pegasus, its magical properties take on a lacerating effect which is very much like a ball of spinning razor blades. Impact is devastating to soft tissues, boring straight through in a bloody mess. Any contact with a solid object will trigger this effect and end the pursuit. Even tossing one's saddlebags at the seeker will end the chase if the pony is lucky, resulting in only a set of shredded bags. In contrast, seekers do relatively low damage to heavy armor or other rigidly solid objects. They are strictly anti-personnel weapons. Even earth pony armor is enough to make direct hits from seekers survivable. Unfortunately, earth pony armor also makes pegasi far too slow to fight properly.

The Air Alpha incident:

A little over two years ago, the Royal Equestrian Army was pushing hard for their own air division. The purpose would be more for rapid troop deployment than air superiority. They wanted to bypass the front lines and take territory at a much more rapid pace than pushing a purely ground battle. The proposal was to have a contingent of pegasi who were designated chariot pilots. These would serve two main functions which are analog mostly to real world gunships and troop transports. The first airborne strike team was designated Air Alpha.

Three highly skilled pegasus soldiers were assigned to pull specially designed sky chariots the earth pony military designed for the division. These were armored chariots which would protect the soldiers while in the air as well as in the landing zone, providing them cover to fight from while they take a new position. The chariots used standard TK levitation generators powered by a single CAPS battery each, much like all current chariot models. This makes the chariot pretty much weightless, but its mass still affects the pilot, who must pull it around behind them while physically attached.

The result was devastating. On their first deployment, Air Alpha encountered a zebra ground division which had seeker launchers. Within seconds, all three pilots were massacred in the sky, unable to dodge the seekers. Without pilots, the chariots fell to the ground, killing all aboard. From that point forward, the SkyGuard would not entertain the notion of pegasi pulling earth ponies around in chariots at all. This deepened the rift between the factions, highlighting the classic complaint of the pegasi: First on the scene—first to be killed, despite the fact that more earth ponies died in the incident.