Keep on scouting using stealth. Sniping targets from a distance if necessary. 77%
Research log #590
We did it!
We should have done this from the start and avoided this entire mess altogether. To recap the last eleven days, after taking apart the device, readings that hadn't been making sense for over one and a half years just snapped into place!
All my research has been focused on trying to figure out what kind of complicated spellwork made up the device, but that was bound to fail due to the way the device works! The reason we couldn't figure out how the machine worked was that it's not based on spellwork but a system that feeds currents of electricity into a matrix of alicorn to create a mass-less bridge to a point far away from the device!
The only hurdle we face now is identifying what kind of power source the device has and charging it for another jump so we can send somepony after Fluttershy.
-Twilight Sparkle
Twilight put the paper back down on her desk. She had been so excited when she wrote the log. Had she only known what kind of monstrous task it would be to get the device working again, then she would have been much more reserved about her chances.
It had taken only a couple of days to figure out what part of the machine was responsible for powering the device. What they found hadn't been too encouraging.
Whatever was powering the device was so advanced that even the most theoretical of Equestria's physics couldn't exactly explain how the power source worked. The theory that came closest to explaining the device was one thought up by a unicorn called Particle Bit who had written a thesis that claimed the world was built out of billions of small bits of various types, but he had been shunned by the scientific community because they found his theory too ridiculous to be true. This didn't make tracking the stallion down any easier, as after he moved out of Canterlot he practically vanished.
Not that this fact discouraged Twilight in any way as after a month of searching and following paper trails she found him working in a grocery store. The first time she had met him he had fervently denied having any involvement with anything physics related. Luckily, after some convincing, he realized Twilight hadn't come to mock him and took her to his apartment to show the work he had kept doing. In the few years of his self-imposed exile, he had continued his work and refined it, devising various experiments that proved his theory.
Twilight, knowing that his theory might be instrumental to unlocking the secrets of the device, got him a position on her research team. What she hadn't known back then was that even with the stallion's help it would take a total of two and a half years—from the moment of Fluttershy’s disappearance to now—to gain enough of an understanding of the device to find out what kind of fuel it needed, how to produce that fuel, and how to kick-start the power source.
The device's generator in the most basic of terms used two of the smallest bits of matter and smashed them together to generate energy. To create this bit wasn't too hard. Water contained two of the small bits along with one air bit which could be separated using magically generated electricity... if done in small quantities.
A large problem with the newly discovered material was that it had a habit of exploding if exposed to flames or electrical sparks and storing it seemed to be nigh impossible as it seemed to leak through everything. It had taken Twilight and her small team a long time to design a machine that was capable of creating and storing the new 'flammable air' they had discovered in relevant quantities.
Constructing the machine brought another problem to the table as Equestria did not have anything close to the necessary components being manufactured by existing industry, so it would all need to be custom crafted. For that they needed griffin engineers. The thing is, griffin engineers are expensive, very expensive.
At some point, the costs of the project had gotten so high that Celestia buckled to pressure from the nobles and had intervened, cutting the amount of funds Twilight could use. The unicorn hated it with a burning passion. She intellectually knew Celestia was right to stop her from plundering the treasury, but emotionally she only cared about getting back her friend.
But after the painstakingly slow progress and many cycles of production, they had made enough of the material to fill the device's reserves and were able to put it back together. Twilight had been extremely thankful for her habit of religiously maintaining her notes. It had ensured they had a step by step guide of how to reconstruct the entire device to the most minute detail. Something that had taken a lot of time itself but definitely had yielded its results, the device standing proudly on its raised platform with the blue energy encased alicorn swirling in its center.
"Twilight, would you mind coming with me? My sister and I have something we want to talk to you about." The voice was that of Celestia. Twilight looked over at Particle Bit and the few other pony researchers that the unicorn had hoof picked from Canterlot University to help her with the project. The ponies shrugged and went back to work, indicating that they had no problem with their head-researcher leaving.
"What's it about?" Twilight asked as she followed Celestia out of the structure, passing a number of royal guards that had come with the princesses. Not that the site didn't have its own small attachment of guards—they were in the Everfree forest after all—but the royal guard wouldn't let the princesses go anywhere without what they considered adequate protection.
"In just a moment," the princess told her as she lit her horn and teleported both Twilight and herself away from the ruin. The two appeared in the throne room of the old castle of the two sisters where Luna was already waiting for them. "Now Twilight, before we can speak I must ask you to allow me to place a geas on you so you cannot speak of this to others."
"What happened to Honesty? That aspect of harmony not important anymore?" Twilight said bitterly. Her relationship with the princess had soured a bit due to Twilight being of the opinion that the princess shouldn't have caved to the nobles' pressure on her funding.
"Twilight-"
"Just get it over with, Princess," Twilight responded, cutting the princess off. It looked like Celestia wanted to respond but held her mouth shut and sighed, lighting her horn and placing the geas on Twilight.
"What we are about to tell thee has not been spoken of even between us and our sister for over ten thousand years," Luna said as she sensed that Celestia had finished her spellwork. Twilight went a bit pale as she felt a bit of regret at her crass behavior towards the solar princess.
"What is it about?" Twilight asked both the princesses.
"When we were born or created, we still don't know which one of the two is true, my sister and I were given the task to maintain something called 'The Array' by our father and mother," Celestia started. Twilight wanted to summon a feather and notepad to take notes but the geas killed the summoning spell immediately. Twilight grumbled as she accepted that she wouldn't be able to do anything with the given information other than think about it. "The Array is a protective field around the planet that effectively hides it from any outside observers. The sun, moon, and stars you see in the sky aren't true astronomical objects but a projection on this Array."
Twilight's jaw by this point had hit the floor. The fact that the princesses moved the celestial bodies was an undisputed fact among the magicians' community. The two princesses admitting that they did nothing of the sort ripped one of Twilight's fundamental beliefs right off its supports and had it crashing down. "T-the sun... and m-moon aren't... Why are you even telling me this?"
"Because when thine friend, the Element of Kindness, used that device, it punched a hole in the Array," Luna said gravely. "A hole we cannot fix, only patch, as the knowledge pertaining to the creation of the Array died with our parents."
"What this means is that, if the next pony being sent through results in the same damage as it occured when Fluttershy went through, we cannot allow you to further proceed with this project," Celestia finished for her sister. Twilight swallowed as all the blood had drained from her face, making it look extremely pale.
"Then I better make this one count, shouldn’t I?" the unicorn said nervously, both princesses nodding in agreement.
"Let us return to the device to decide who gets sent into the darkness of the universe to find thine friend," Luna said as this time it was her who lit her horn and teleported the three back down to the device. As they appeared, the guards were frantically running around and getting orders from Shining Armor to pack up and organize search parties. The captain stopped as he noticed the two princesses along with her sister and approached them.
"Princess Celestia, you should not run off without your guard, and Princess Luna, I was not informed that you had left Canterlot in the first place!" Shining said as he bowed in front of the royalty.
"Thank you for your concern, Captain, but the matters we discussed with your sister required princess Luna to be present. I will not speak of this any further, so I ask you to gather the ponies required for the meeting," Celestia told Shining who grimaced but obeyed the order he had gotten.
"Captains Spitfire and Darkwing are already present at the table along with the Element Bearers," Shining told the princess, escorting the three towards a large round table that was set up in the inner chamber that also housed the device.
"Princesses," the two other captains acknowledged as they stood up from their chairs. The thestral, Darkwing, bowing deeply while Spitfire saluted the monarchs.
"At ease, captains. I'm sure it would be appreciated if we did not draw out this meeting too much," Celestia said as she eyed the Element Bearers and Twilight sat down on a chair next to Rainbow and Pinkie.
The purple unicorn looked over at her brother, the Wonderbolt captain, and the Night Guard captain and noticed that none of them were wearing their usual attire. Shining and Darkwing were wearing plate armor that, at first glance, would look like their normal armor, but a closer inspection would show something much different. For one, the plates were much thicker than the usual armor and the attachment points for weapons were something ceremonial armor simply didn't have. Spitfire also differed in uniform as she wasn't wearing her wonderbolt outfit or dress suit but a black garment of sorts that had a plethora of filled little pockets, not to mention the large knife and wingblades she was wearing.
"Yes, we should get this started. I'm sure that you have been briefed on the situation regarding my friend, the Element of Kindness, before this, so I won't repeat what happened to her. We're here to discuss which one of you will make the trip to wherever the device takes you," Twilight said. Dash immediately shot up in protest.
"What! Are you saying that we aren't we going after Fluttershy?!" The pegasus protested, Twilight sighed as this was one of the points where the unicorn agreed with the princesses.
"We need a professional for this one, Dash. Fluttershy has been gone for two years and is most likely long gone from wherever she ended up. The captains are among the most experienced trackers we have to offer and have acted as diplomats on occasion, so they're the best equipped for this. I'm also not sure if we can send more than three ponies up along with the equipment to try and come back. My calculations get wacky if there's more than two," Twilight argued, Rainbow only getting angrier because of this.
"We're her friends, Twilight! If there's anyone around this table right now that should be using that device, it's one of us!" Dash shouted.
"ENOUGH! The decision is not thine to make!" Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, but Dash was far past the point of backing down.
"HORSESHIT! I'll stay LOYAL to my friend whether you want it or NOT!" Dash raged back and jumped off her chair, making a beeline for the device. Twilight saw the world slow down as the device immediately reacted to the approaching pegasus and activated, the rings in its center increasing the speed at which they rotated. Everyone froze, not exactly certain what was about to happen. Only the bearers knew as they had seen it happen once before two years earlier.
With time rapidly running out and no way of removing Dash from the device's influence, Twilight had to make a quick decision who to send along with the enraged pegasus. To be honest, her calculations hadn't just broken down at sending three ponies but at two as well, only to a lesser degree. It might be safer for Dash to be sent away completely on her own.
Come on, Twilight, THINK! Who to send along with Dash, if anyone!
1. [Send no-one. It's too dangerous]
2. Send Shining.
3. Send Spitfire.
4. Send Darkwing.
I really don't know who to send, but I managed to vote. Tough call!
If Twilight's not confident enough in her calculations then she shouldn't try and send anypony else on through.....though I'll live with Spitfire going.
Aww fuck...
Dash is an idiot, outright. Loyalty is great... blind Loyalty leads to the Third Reich.
As for the Answer, no one, or Spitfire. Spitfire would easily waylay Dash's attitude and shut her shit down quick what with the Wonderbolt sway, and she has military training.
Dash alone... she'll wind up dead or becoming Cerberus' new 'Jack' most likely, and that's its own shitshow entirely.
But then, sending a second means they may shatter the array, and the Reaper's will then come for them.
Suffice to say, Dash may have just outright screwed Equestria's hope for a peaceful existence, especially given their connection with Biotics and the fact that /Someone/ had constructed, specifically, a foil that even the Reapers couldn't see through.
Go crazy and send Celestia!
Sending Shining is logical - he's the only unicorn. Otherwise there'll be all-pegasus team.
You probably should have spent at least some time developing Darkwing’s character since we know nothing about him. Most people won’t pick a stranger over someone we already know.
The vote was a tough one. I decided on Shining, since as Silver Quill has point out, Shining Armour really needs to demonstrate how good of a soldier he really is.
My vote to Spitfire, military training coupled with the possibility to actually get the job done. No offence but Shining would probably be best in Equestria. As for Darkwing, as much as I like bat ponies I trust Spitfire more.
Also, Equus will be safe, Shepard is minor space Jesus, second only to Optimus Prime so he will save them.
I look forward to where this goes and will endeavor to comment more often!
9830505
to put it bluntly
Darkwing, if anyone can give dash the verbal and maybe physical lashing of a lifetime it would be someone she does not know and someone who won't have a biased against her. Darkwing might be all business and that's needed for this.
9830449
9830491
Come on everybody, vote for Shining Armour.
We already have a stealth player in Fluttershy, we're going to have a melee player in Rainbow Dash (Who by the way has bucked everything up.).
Shining Armor is a trained, Capable Soldier, and a Heavy when it comes to Magic. (Shielding Canterlot by himself anybody?) We know from Cannon, that he's as smart as his sister, only focusing on a different set of skills.
Plus, I would not be at all surprised that Shining Armor has read, and understood at the very least some of Twilight's notes.
Spitfire looks cool in her description, and is a cool character, but we have to be more concerned about the success of the campaign, and the safety of Fluttershy here.
I'm totally against putting all of our eggs (pegasi) in one basket.
So in conclusion, please vote for Shining Armour.
PS I also agree with the other criticisms about Darkwing, we know nothing about this character, we have no investment in whether this character succeeds, or fails.
9830555
Here, here.
As much as I want to send The Terror That Flaps In The Night, game two is now running two pegasi. Sending a third, be it feather or leather, is bad team composition. My vote is Shining Armor.
First analysis, if the Relay has measureable trouble with Two, thats Dash and Fluttershy. If Twilights analysis breaks down with a third, then thats the second person sent through if expected to return.
You do realise, that Dash has gone Supersonic herself, and the gate allows her to go FTL assisted, so she is at least going to attempt to use Biotics to Mass Effect herself translight.
Have you seen the kind of devastation a chaotically collapse rebound warp field does to matter? Its like dropping Monopoles on it.
If the array cant be stabilised from the other side to allow everyone through, then let Dash through alone if she cant be Stopped or Deflected.
If the array can be stabilised, send Shining, as he is fully tooled up, prepped and trained, and with the best Biotics should be able to gives a Reaper a headache by plugging its weapons or slicing it apart with shields etc.
Just voted and checked the results. Man this one is so close. It's a race between shining, spitfire, and no-one.
Hold on... If the Arrays are basically miniature mass relays (albeit with slightly different functions), that pretty much operate on the same principles, and more or less use the same wavelengths or frequencies...
Oh sh...
If I’m right, then Equestria was ed the moment Flutters got through! Let alone Dash!
I'm not sure sending a hothead like Dash by herself is a Paragon move...
Huh, so that pretty much validates my theory that the sister were not old enough to really know about the old Pony technology. That still leaves Discord as a possible information mine.
Twilight should really try to convince the sisters to research the technology of the Array, having to protect something important that is breaking down without knowledge is a really bad situation.
I have voted to send Shining. Rainbow alone is a really bad idea and Shining is not only an absolute tank that will round up the party quite nicely, he is also a diplomancer, something that they are going to need on a first contact with the council.
Hmmm .... darkwing (duck) sounds like red shirt material to me ... destined to die...spitfire would be good but shining is just the better choice... his shields with heavy armor equipped with its own shields makes him a tank amongst tanks ... equip him with 2 chain/miniguns and he could walk into a room full of krogans Cerberus and geth and he'd be the only one who exits. He can probably tank atleast 1 shot from a reaper at full power if the shields small enough. Plus he probably has other offensive magics since hes captain of the guards. Plus he is royalty so the council can't just blow him off like they would the others or Shepard. Yah let's piss of the ruling body of a species whose biotic ability makes asari biotics look like grade school level. Truthfully my choice would've been Luna but she wasn't a option ... her crushing a reaper like a beer can would've been epic.
9831475
Yeah seems like a renegade move to me.
9830884
Don't know if you guys have read this story but if you want to read how just Shield magic, and telekinesis, can be used to devastate a military superpower, read the second half this story, when (Pre-princess) Luna shows how it's done.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/6515/days-of-wasp-and-spider
9832082
My only regret is that I didnt keep a stored or written copy and list of all the articles and their links relative to the theories and technologies used on that story and others.
Theoretically, a powerful enough unicorn, alicorn, with enough understanding of the underlaying basis of magic, biotics, could totally work over not just Reapers, but trigger a Genesis Cascade, through the portal.
Or stop one.
Wow, the voting is still neck and neck.
Hmm too bad dash went all gung ho. If they loaded a few people in a box and did it like when the mako jumped into the relay they couldve sent all 4 of them in one pod.(get your butt outta my face..hey watch where your putting that horn or im telling cadance...that better be your leg...lol)
9832758
Ha! Completely wasted opportunity, that one!
Whew, caught up with this, and let me say that I am liking it a lot!
As for who to send, I have a feeling that good defensive abilities will come in handy in the future, so send Shining Armor. He is also a trained soldier and leader too, which helps a heck of a lot
I knew it. I just knew it. I knew that the fact that the long description research log was before the end of ME3 was significant.
Ah, Ponykind has discovered the wonders of fission/fusion. Congratulations, you have reached the atomic age without blowing yourself up!
Oh? Uhhh... Is it a construct world? Or is it a standard world with a hard light protection bubble? Or... you know what, I’m going to stop now, before I waste your time coming up with fifty different theories instead of just reading for more information.
Or perhaps you must proceed! Just because the Array hides Ponykind in the visible spectrum, doesn’t mean it hides it in every spectrum! And besides, what if someone crashes on your world and takes off? The Array can’t be perfect! There is almost certainly some flaw that allows discovery! And besides, it’s been two thousand years! Whatever you were hiding from is probably either long gone, long dead, or has forgotten about you by now! Didn’t you even consider the idea that perhaps knowing the true situation is better than hoping that some artifact can hide you forever? And if you are saying this because you don’t want to lose power, don’t worry! Pony’s are much more reasonable than humans, and you are still the only two alicorns on the planet! And you are still effectively immortal! Just because you don’t raise and lower the sun or the moon every day doesn’t mean your magic/biotics aren’t more powerful than any unicorn on the planet! So perhaps you should do everything possible to destroy the Array!
Why? Is it because of the punching a hole in the array? I hope Twilight picked Shining or Spitfire for this.
Personally, I think Twilight should have thrown caution to the wind and jumped in herself.
I really hope this isn't going where I think it's going...
Option X: Twilight jumps in herself. She's the best hope Flutters has of getting home.
10302861
That would have been my choice as well.
Send Darkwing, Rainbowdash will literally get herself killed.
Rainbowdash suicide with wings attached. Not for long when some blows hole in them or Rainbowdash get disected by the Shadowbroker Lab assistant...
I dislike Rainbowdash hot head with no brain and a death with Version so often used in FIMfiction...
4. A special Ops if at all.