The whole group of ponies was assembled within the southern guard precinct, Luna and Celestia sitting opposed to each other with Cadence in the middle while the other ponies sat around in between. Rainbow was still outside as she was guiding a shuttle with Shepard, Garrus, Tali, and Legion down while the rest waited. Not a lot of talk was had between the ponies as neither princess was able to look at the other, Celestia in particular looking ashamed.
The door to the room swung open, Spitfire stepping in followed by a grey unicorn in solar guard armor. “They’re here,” Spitfire announced as she moved over to her own seat while the Solar guard joined in next to Celestia. Rainbow then proceeded in followed by the four aliens, the guards in the room nervously shuffling and Celestia’s eyes going wide as well. Shepard stopped to look over the room, nodding at Luna and then focussing on Celestia.
“Princess Celestia? My name is Commander Shepard, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” The commander said, Princess Celestia taking a few seconds to get herself together.
“It’s my pleasure Commander, from the brief explanation I’ve heard you have been involved in taking care of Fluttershy here for the last three years?” the Princess asked.
“For a time, yes, but Garrus here has been with her pretty much the entire way while I was out of the picture,” Shepard pointed at the turian who stepped forward up next to Fluttershy who nuzzled his side.
“He’s been quite important to me out there,” Fluttershy sheepishly smiled. Cadence gasped and squeed at the sight.
“That’s so cute! What do you think, auntie Tia?” the pink alicorn asked Celestia.
“I’m… lost for words,” Celestia admitted after stuttering for a bit. “I’m glad you found someone to have as a pillar while you were on your own.”
“He along with everyone on the Normandy really did help me out,” Fluttershy smiled as Garrus brushed a hand through her hair and scratched her ear. The solar guard next to Celestia huffed but didn’t say anything.
“I’m glad something good came out of my screw-up,” Twilight quietly said from beside Fluttershy who opened her wing and wrapped it around the unicorn’s back.
“You didn’t know what would happen Twilight, it happened and there’s nothing we can do to change that. I’ve made new friends out there and now found my old ones too, I’m not blaming you for anything that happened, the good, the bad, all of it came from my own choices,” Fluttershy smiled, brightening Twilight’s mood up.
“So, I think it’s time to discuss a few pertinent matters before the commander here has to go to finish his mission,” Luna interrupted. “Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie made a significant discovery below the Everfree forest in the form of a large underground base.”
“This is the place where you found Cadence here?” Celestia asked Fluttershy who nodded. “Fascinating… Did you find anything else down there?”
Fluttershy chuckled sheepishly, “Uhm… A very large warship.”
Princess Celestia’s eyes went wide, “Come again?”
“There was a massive, finished, warship sitting in the base’s manufactorum,” Fluttershy flatly stated again. “We didn’t have much time to check its capability before being forced to use it… we might have accidentally remodeled the entire ghastly gorge in opening the doors to let the thing out,” she added sheepishly.
“Where is it now?... and why were you forced to use it?” Celestia asked, shuffling uncomfortably on her chair.
“It’s near the Badlands sister, the bearers of Honesty, Generosity, and Laughter are keeping watch of it right now. As for why they were forced to use it, the changelings had compromised a section of the shielding,” Luna explained to her sister who shot up from her seat.
“Changelings?! Luna we need to-”
“They’ve been taken care of for now Tia, before coming here we went into the hive to stop a faction of Legion’s kind from infecting the others with a virus,” Luna assured her sister, pointing at the geth.
“A virus? Could you elaborate on how that would matter down here?”
“Legion?” Luna asked, hoping he could explain.
“We are not like organics, the virus would not ‘kill’ us it would simply rewrite our most basic functions to start thinking like the heretics. No physical contact would be required to deploy this virus. A faction of us split off from the consciousness some time ago, they had set up on the planet since our vessels found it impossible to venture through the shield.”
“So they wanted to mind control you?”
“Yes.”
Celestia sighed as she rubbed her temples from all the information thrown at her. “Are there any of these ‘heretics’ left?”
“We detect no communication traffic off-planet other than our own, the Normandy, and the equine vessel. Any active cluster will be reduced in size and most likely go dormant.”
“Shining is headed this way with gear that will put the guard on equal footing with the heretics,” Luna assured her sister. “Talking about the Captain, is he nearby yet Legion?”
“Transport vessel arrived within orbital exclusion zone, estimated time of arrival one hour.”
“Orbital exclusion zone?” Tali asked in confusion.
“The equine homeworld is an unknown factor, geth vessels will not approach now heretics no longer threaten us,” Legion clarified, Tali muttering something which her suits speakers didn’t transmit.
“Not to burst your bubbles but has anyone sent ponies over to relive AJ, Rares, and Pinkie yet?” Rainbow interrupted.
“Right. Captain Darkwing, are your nightguards in shape to fly over to the south of Equestria?” Luna asked her guard.
“To be honest? No,” Darkwing admitted, the solar guard captain chuckled getting a fanged snarl in response from the thestral.
“We can give you a lift with the Normandy?” Shepard proposed before the altercation could escalate, “That way we can drop you off in the right place as well.”
“That would make it more manageable,” Darkwing agreed, glaring at the solar captain.
“I object! We should at least send a part of my guard as well!”
“Captain Iron Hoof, your guard will soon have its current captain back in Shining Armor and will be very busy retraining with all the gear he has with him,” Luna told the unicorn but was glancing at Celestia to suggest siding with her.
“I’m afraid Captain Iron Hoof’s appointment was of the more permanent type… but I agree the guard should be focussing on learning to use this new equipment Shining Armor is bringing,” Celestia compromised, Twilight chipping in as well now.
“Wait, you’re taking away Shining’s position?!” the purple unicorn exclaimed. “Do you even understand what that position meant to him?!”
Celestia looked over to Luna, the two alicorns wordlessly by mere twitches in facial expression before the Princess of the Sun spoke up again. “Well, there is nothing that can be done to Iron Hoof here, he will remain captain of my guard… but the guard of Princess Cadence here will need a new captain of course.”
Cadence went slightly pale. “M-Me?”
“Of course! You’re an alicorn, aren’t you?” Luna smirked. “But we’ll iron out the details later, we’ve taken up enough of the commander’s time.”
“Yeah, gotta go save a load of human colonies,” Dash said as she and Fluttershy joined Shepard’s group.
“Wait, you’re leaving again?” Twilight asked, her voice wavering and tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
“Look, there are hundreds of thousands of lives at stake and I committed to help. We’ll do our absolute hardest to get back but we need to do this Twilight,” Fluttershy told Twilight, stepping forward and hugging her as well.
“This is great and all but I wanted to suggest contacting the Turian hierarchy. They would be able to help get your crew up to speed quickly,” Garrus interjected, Tali shaking her head.
“They need engineers that the Floatilla can provide to understand and handle the systems,” Tali countered, Rainbow nodded in agreement.
“I assume the Floatilla or the Hierarchy would want the ship to temporarily join them while training?” Luna asked to which both Tali and Garrus nodded, Fluttershy looked between the two of them as she thought over the two proposals and who to back.
The turians would surely get the crew up to speed and well oiled… But the quarians would give us more knowledge of the ship’s systems… Though Fidelis might be able to help out plenty already and we’d keep the ship here...
1. Back Garrus
2. Back Tali
3. Ponies can figure this out ourself
I think it says a lot about your writing that whenever you release a new chapter on any of your current stories I feel both elation to have a new chapter to read and sadness that it isn't one of your other stories that got updated.
Let the Quarians look it over I say. A big gun isn't any use if you don't know how to fire it.
Ponies can figure this out our-self vote here tried to do a vote as normal but did not update so just encase
10416583
Agreed!
Edit: option 3 for me as well since strawpoll isn't updating. On first vote attempt it errored out saying I had already voted.
10416592
Strawpoll is being wacky, it's done so before so, like that time, it'll probably suddenly update in like an hour or two.
10416594
10416583
thanks ^^;
The poll is acting odd. I voted for the Ponies to figure it out themselves. If they are to join/ rejoin the galactic community then they should do it themselves without what might be seen as interference. If the Turians help then the Hierarchy may want to make the Ponies a protectorate under them like the Volus. Quarians are unfortunately seen as second-class citizens (or lower) so several might look at Ponies as a subspecies in some way shape or form.
10416600
Are votes not being counted or is it just slow to update?
10416670
Probably issues on strawpoll's end. Feel free to leave your vote in the comments in case it doesn't un-screw itself
Fluttershy would back Tali and the Quarian's more engineering focused teaching. Tell them how it works and how they can make their own advancements.
The shield is damaged and the relay network is compromised, Its an Equestrian ship, so Id say at this time Option 3, anyone else wants to work on it they can request access and accompiament from an apprentice guard etc.
They need to learn and understand the fuel system and supplies first, as basic hydrogen fusion is available pretty much everywhere, but exotics can do fancy things, but no good if theres only one and a half shots left in the tank with no resupply depots left.
Then the drives, to get out of the way and get back to refuel.
Then shields to stay in one piece while powering up to run.
Then when youve got a viable survivable safe to operate weapons platform, start going through all the training on the heavy stuff. Small stuff can be usually farmed round once cleared for local power and shielding avaiable from shock, radiation etc?
Ponies can figure it out themselves, I have faith in Fidellus. Besides, Turians would want the ship no dowbt downsized and the Quarians would dislike the dea of working with an AI.
Shame her! ...actually, does she deserve it? Asking cause I'm curious as to how much she knew.
You were Celly but clearly Cadence was not; the love is strong with that Alicorn.
Nopony knew what would happen Twi and in the end...I think this ended up being a boon for Fluttershy, most certainly in self-confidence if nothing else.
What surprised her more? That it's a ship or that it came with the word "war"?
...from what we gathered thanks to Rainbow...think we could drop the "now" there Luna.
...does Luna predict something in the young Alicorn's future?
Sooo...if this is about the warship found by Fluttershy, AJ, Rare, and Pinkie...think I might side with Tali here; ponies alone won't know what to do with it and while Turians would help train the crew...have even they seen the system they had to use?
Definitely option 3.
Fidelis has more than enough knowledge to explain the ponies about the ship, much better than every other being in the universe.
Calling the Turians or the Quarians into it is just asking for a political nightmare. The ponies are a primitive society while sitting on the most advanced biology and technology currently available on the galaxy, to the point that it probably can rival the reapers. Every other race is going to attempt to manipulate them into being subservient to them, since they are the new guys with the power to change the status quo.
I choose Option #4: Have both Turians and Quarians help out.
10416833
I agree with this one. The solution is clear. The new warship is both a demonstration piece of what they can expect in the galaxy, and a training tool for ponies. It's also a recruitment device, allowing Celestia and Luna to slowly tour this thing around all of Equis, allowing all the races to see what's out there, and how badly their support is needed to save both their world, and all the others. There may be some solid reasons for involving the Quarians and Turians, but there's millions of reasons why it needs to stay on Equis.
Therefore, the solution is obvious: Set up a compound for Quarian and Turian specialists, and remodel the gorge to serve as a fleet base for visiting ships, as well as restarting the factory to make more Equestrian warships.
10416790
While there's valid points there, there's another point you're missing. It's the same reason the races in the ME games kept pushing Shepard away. It's so tempting in the crisis of the moment to push away other races or allies, because you're afraid of what that assistance might cost you down the line. But standing together acts as a force multiplier.
Now that the true nature of the galaxy has been forcefully thrust upon them, they need more allies, not less. And that means taking a few chances. The best way to manage that is to arrange a small group of Turians and Quarians to come to Equis to help them learn the technology and how the Equestrian warship works. If that trust is repaid, more is extended. And so on.
That way, when the Reapers inevitably show up, the Quarians and Turians are more likely to want to help the Equestrians, than if they'd been rebuffed earlier on and pushed away.
option 4 GET BOTH SIDES. UNITY IS THE ONLY THING THAT WILL THE HOLD LINE AGAINST THE REAPERS.
10416926
First contact being "hey, we have this extremely advanced warship we don't know how to use, please help" is making a subordinate relationship by default, since it is leaving the burden of the administration of such relationship in the Quarians/Turians hands.
It is the Ponies asking for help because this technology is too advanced for them, the equivalent of a kid bringing you a loaded gun because they are aware that it is too dangerous for them. What you do in that situation is take the gun from the kid hands, not teach the kid how to use the gun responsibly.
A much more stable and healthier relationship would be the ponies ordering their own planet first, and once they can be more than a burden to the rest of the galaxy, show up with offerings of peace and cooperation.
Also, there is no way for the Quarians or the Turians to feel pushed away because they are not even aware of this theoretical deal.
10416942
Sounds great if you have time. But your solution would require a minimum of a full generation to get up to speed, with probably another generation on top of that to really master what they had. With the Reapers already on the march, you're out of time, and options.
On top of that, I don't think we were ever talking about approaching the homeworlds (or home fleets) and bringing in an army of total strangers. This would be Garrus and Tali reaching out to people they trust to keep a monumental secret to help a newly emergent race in the galaxy master the technology and ship capabilities they need to survive. They wouldn't involve people they weren't absolutely certain of.
10416952
Fidelis already has the knowledge, so that would be the fastest way.
Also, Tali may be able to get some people she knows to help the ponies in secret, but I am not certain Garrus does, and keeping all the secrecy would make the whole process even slower.
If you don't want secrecy and approach openly, then it IS a political event with all that entails. It is never going to be a simple "just help a bit", you are talking about the first steps of a race into the galaxy. So far it has just been individuals, which has made it much easier to manage, even if one of those individuals is Luna.
Meanwhile, Princess Lunas stocks, and other financials is growing at an accelerated rate that even the Volus are envious of
I'd say option 3, but turn the other two options around. Extend offers to both the Turians and Quarians for exchange programs. They get to look at the new stuff and in return offer some insights.
10416963
True. But here's the thing. It's hard to make this argument without meta-knowledge. But we know from ME2 to ME3, it's only six months before a full-blown Reaper war is happening. You don't have time to take it slow, no matter how much you might want to. At this point, you pick your allies and roll the dice. If you hide in the bubble, and hope the Reapers pass you by, you buy the worst of all possible options if they find you. Aside from a handful of trusted friends, no one will want to help you. Considering how little time they have left, there's this subliminal hurry, hurry, hurry going on in the background. Regardless of the risk of making contact offworld, there's just no more time to play it safe.
Consider the Arrival mini-adventure has already happened, and that means the Batarian gate was destroyed. That means there's already a Reaper presence in the galaxy, and the counter is clicking down. Everyone knows it. You can't hide, and you don't even have a full year. Pick a solution. Just know that if you pick the "safe route" and you run out of time, there's no taking the choice back. And a whole planet is counting on your decision.
No pressure, now...
10417123
Its exactly because we have the meta knowledge that the Reapers are coming that the ponies concentrating on cleaning house first is the best option.
Ponies are a primitive race (right now) with a single advanced ship that their current society didn't build or even understands. It is a similar situation to any other primitive race with an active Prothean beacon.
Citadel races have rules about this, no uplifting races that are not ready for it. Ponies right now are decidedly in the not ready for it situation. That means that any official support would grind down by politics, if they should uplift the ponies to the level that ship requires or if they just take it away from them. There is also who would take the responsibility of this decisions.
On the other hand, if ponies keep to themselves for a month and effectively uplift themselves with Fidelis knowledge and help from all 3 princesses, then they can come out as an advanced race and we can go straight into looking for alliances.
There is also the fact that Quarians or Turians would have to study the ship itself first before there is even a hope of attempting to teach how to use it to the ponies, since it looks to be a much higher level of technology that both races have right now, and that also would take time. And that is not even considering that studying the ship would increase the temptation of just keeping it away from the ponies until they understand everything about it, which could take years.
10417154
Following that approach won't take just a month. It'll take at least two or three years for just the element bearers and instructors to learn the technology. Then another three to five years to begin to master the technology of the ship. Fidelis may be an AI, but she's limited to workstations which support her tech. That's the ship and the base. Nowhere else. So that limits the teaching opportunities.
Using that solution, you would have no choice but to ground the starship and turn it into the nucleus of a modern teaching academy. Science, technology, engineering principles and technology. Mass Effect science and principles. Physics and applied sciences. Biotics and their uses. The list goes on and on.
The ponies wouldn't be ready to venture out into space before Twilight's friends were long dead of old age.
Sadly, the Reapers will hit in only six months. By then, the ponies will have just started to clear the land for their new academy, and Fidelis will be just starting to put a curriculum together. And no one in the galaxy will hear about this, or care.
Wrong choice.
10417174
And your solution does anything better?
How does requesting other races, that don't even know the technology behind the ship in the same way Fidelis does, to help makes the ponies more useful against the Reapers?
If having Fidelis and the princesses, the beings that care about ponies the most and have the best access to all the technology that was left by the old pony culture, uplift the ponies is not fast enough, then why would requesting it to other races that, if they even decide to take the risk and uplift the ponies, will definitely not have it on top of their priority list?
Waiting for new updates I'm rereading the whole thing.
In chapter 89: Fidelis I found a curiosity given that Princes Mi Amore Cadenza was in the tube until recently.
10416591
The Quarians are probably the least trustworthy of the options. Their leaders are zealous assholes who would be willing to pay any price and betray anyone if it means the geth are defeated and their home world is reclaimed. Giving them the keys to a massive high-tech warship and not expecting them to ''borrow it without permission'' for their war would be foolish.
On the other hand we got the Turians who while having a bit of warmongering in their history are still one of the most trustworthy races in the galaxy, and as a bonus they are on the council so they are extra unlikely to pull anything shady.
And then there's the option that ponies try and figure it out with their AI buddy, which could work just based on how intuitive the systems have been made to be controlled by ponies.
10417449
I agree with you for the most part. However, if the Quarians are going to play a role in the war effort, we've got to start trusting them sooner or later. Probably not with this, but some kind of trust building is definitely needed. The rest of the galaxy sees Quarians as trash and the Admiralty board are mostly a bunch of lunatics. This state of affairs is completely untenable if they want a real chance of winning against the Reapers.
10417425
Darnit, I thought I had avoided mentioning her. I retroactively fixed chapter 89.
First time I had to do thatI guess, picking Garus or Tali is not going to be a option
Can I put forth an option 3.5; the ponies handle it but request an expert from both the turians and quarians to assist in exchange for access to the ships schematics and data?
2. Quarian is the best call. And since it's a Equestrian ship they can't use it in there stupid war in ME3. They respect ownership.
10416591
Quarians keep over 300 year old ships and modern ship working. They be my choice if at all.
10416702
So mutch to do... Really bearly enough time to get it done.
10416718
Yeah fuck them... Ponys will go their way without existing biast...
10416790
Or worse do it like Cerberus and take it by force.
10416918
This is the most reasonable comment for this chapter.
10416926
Plus Equis is Dextro so Turian and Quarian will be quite welcome to stay.
10416952
Agreed, pretty sure Garrus sister and Talis friends in the Flottila can do a lot to help.
2.is still my chose for previous stated reasons.
It also would help keep Quarians away from the me3 war. Especially the crews of the Lifeships that would now be focused on learning from the new tech instead of wasting time in war preparations against a unnecessary enemy.