Shepard sat at her desk at home. Information about Canterlot High filled her screen. Everything from transcripts to funding was there for her to access thanks to her Spectre status. A picture of Sunset Shimmer sat in the top left corner with her records on main display.
Shepard growled and push away from the useless information. She sat for a moment before hitting a button. There was a short pause before words appeared on her screen stating ‘call connection beginning.’ It wasn’t long till the words disappeared to be replaced by a large black window.
“So Commander Shepard, What do you require of the Shadow Broker?” a garbled voice asked.
“Is that really needed Liara?” Shepard said an amused grin on her face.
The window lightened revealing a relatively young looking asari dressed in a conservative white dress with blue accents. The asari pouted at Shepard, “You always ruin my fun, Shepard.”
“It’s my job you know,” Shepard stated a full smile on her face. “I’m the official fun ruiner.”
“I’m sure Kasumi would agree with that,” Liara said.
“Considering her idea of fun is trying to steal my helmet I think she would too,” Shepard stated.
Liara chuckled, “She would have returned it… eventually.”
Shepard shook her head and pointed at Liara giving her a mock glare, “That’s not the point.”
“As fun as this is Shepard, I have to wonder why you called,” Liara asked.
“Who said I needed anything?” Shepard said sitting back and folding her arms. “Maybe I just wanted to talk?”
“You never call just to talk,” Liara stated giving Shepard a half lidded stare.
“That’s not true, what about a few months ago?” Shepard asked.
“That was about Spectre business.”
“Last month then, we talked for hours.”
“You wanted information on Garrus’ newest fanboy.”
Shepard leaned on the desk pointed a finger at Liara again, “Hey I ended up being right about that guy.” Liara glared at Shepard until the soldier relented, “Fine there is something I need.”
“Knew it,” Liara said with a smile.
Shepard glared halfheartedly at the asari before speaking, “There’s a girl I just met. Names Sunset Shimmer, about fifteen to sixteen years old, goes to Canterlot High on earth.”
` Liara’s hands were already on her keyboard as she typed in the information Shepard had stated. “Bit young for your usual crowd Shepard.”
“I met her at the warehouse I used to live in when I was her age,“ Shepard stated leaning back into her chair. “I asked a few questions but she had to leave before I got very far.”
Liara paused and looked up from her own screens, “What are you planning Shepard?
Shepard stayed silent for a moment before speaking slowly, “When I was her age I was helped by then Lieutenant Anderson. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have turned out the way I did. I owe everything to him.”
“And you want to do something similar for this girl?” Liara asked.
“Yeah something like that,” Shepard stated.
There was a small pause before Liara spoke, “Have you talked to Garrus yet?”
“Not yet. I mean we’ve talked about adopting in the past but nothing felt right then,” Shepard said rubbing the back of her head.
“Now you’re talking about adopting?” Liara asked raising her eyebrow.
“Possibly… maybe... I don’t know,” Shepard sighed. “She needs off the street I know that much for sure.”
“You need to talk to him Allana. This is a big decision you two need to…make…” Liara stopped staring at her own screen her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Liara?” When there was no response Shepard tried again. “Liara what is it?”
“Well… I don’t know,” Liara said.
“What?” Shepard asked. “What do you mean?”
Liara shook her head, “Here it’s just easier to show you.” Liara typed a few commands onto her keyboard. A few files appeared on Shepard’s screen with a picture of a familiar girl. “This is Sunset Shimmer. She lives on Eden Prime with her father who was a captain in the Reaper War.” Another file appeared with a different picture. “And… This is Sunset Shimmer your Sunset Shimmer to be precise.”
Shepard stared at the two pictures. Besides the background and the clothes, the two girls were identical. “What the hell?” Shepard said.
“And to top it off there are no records of your Sunset past four years ago when she started at Canterlot High,“ Liara sighed deeply. “It’s like she just appeared out of thin air which is not possible. She doesn’t even have any type of birth certificate that I can find.”
“But… that’s… how?” Shepard sputtered.
“There’s even more,” A video appeared on Shepard’s screen. “Take a look at this.”
The video was from either a security or traffic camera and showed six girls standing in front of a statue of a rearing horse. Sunset stood before the girls holding a tiara. Sunset said something that couldn’t be heard then placed the tiara on her head. There was a flash of light and she was engulfed in a pillar of green and black flame. Her silhouette rose into the air and contracted into a ball before she spread out her arm and legs.
The fire disappeared revealing a changed Sunset. Her skin had turned red; her hands had sharp claws at the end. Leather wings sprouted from her back and her hair pointed straight up giving it the appearance of fire. It was her eyes however that caught Shepard’s attention. The whites had turned black leaving a glowing teal circle to indicate where Sunset was looking.
The video ended there but before Shepard could comment Liara started another video. This one showed the same girls as before though Sunset stood with them. Most of the kids were holding an instrument of some kind. They also had furry ears poking out the top of their heads and three of them had feathery wings sprouting from their backs. Above the girls hovered three seahorse like creatures.
One of the girls, with purple hair, was kneeling on the ground with an arm outstretched towards Sunset who was holding a microphone. Sunset’s jacket quickly came off as she stood in front of the girls in a protective stance and started singing. Soon the others joined in and Sunset transformed once again, though this time was more peaceful. She rose into the air while the others continued singing. Furry ears sprouted from her head and her hair grew in length similar to the six behind her.
The others rose up into the air with her. A rainbow formed above them and shot in the air. The clouds above them came together to a single point before exploding outwards revealing a large ball of light. A large ethereal horse with wings and a single horn emerged from the light. It reared up then blasted the three creature causing them to fracture and blast apart.
With that, the second video ended. Shepard sat there, brows furrowed in confusion, “Liara… what did I just watch?”
“I don’t know,”Liara said. She put her hand on her chin in thought, “the only connections I can make are from human mythology.”
“What do you mean?” Shepard asked.
“Well, the first video definitely showed a demon of some sort. The second is more interesting,” Liara leaned back in her chair. “The three seahorse like creatures match some retellings of the siren myths. The fourth matches a creature called an alicorn.”
“Alicorn?” Shepard asked. “I’ve never heard of those.”
“The legends about those are very obscure. They were related to unicorns and pegasi though much more powerful,” Liara said.
“So what does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Liara placed her head in her hands. “I don’t know what any of this actually means.”
“Well demons are usually incarnations of evil,” Shepard said.
“But alicorns are the epitome of good,” Liara stated, “And Sunset summoned one with the help of those girls.”
“How?” Shepard asked.
“Again I don't know,” Liara answered
“Special effects,” Shepard stated shrugging her shoulders.
“A possibility but for what purpose? There is no obvious indication that an amateur did this and what would a professional studio gain from these videos.” Liara sighed and rubbed her face with one of her hands. “I’ll have someone go through the videos but from just a precursory glance I can’t see any obvious signs they’re fake.”
"Biotics?" Shepard asked.
"N biotics I've ever seen can do anything like that," Liara said.
Shepard sat in silence for a moment, "Magic maybe?"
"Magic doesn't exist, Shepard," Liara said crossing her arms. "There has to be a better explanation."
"People said the reapers didn't exist," Shepard said crossing her own arms.
"Yes they did, but you had more proof than a couple videos and a strange girl," Liara said gesturing at her own screens.
"Can you still make documents for her?" Shepard asked after a moment.
Liara stared at Shepard, “I can? Are you still planning on…?”
“Yes,” Shepard leaned forward placing her elbows on her desk. “Best way to find something out, go to the source. Plus what I said before still stands, she needs off the streets.”
“But what about all of this?” Liara asked gesturing towards her screen.
“All the more reason,” Shepard said with a sigh. “What if the wrong people find out about this. Plenty of groups out there wouldn’t want to experiment with this.”
“You want to protect her,” Liara stated.
Shepard nodded, “Actually I want to protect all of them. Whether this is magic or something else it’s still powerful and different. Some groups would want to take advantage of that.”
Liara sighed, “You’re right… this just makes everything more complicated.”
“So focus on one problem at a time. Can you make documents for our magic girl?” Shepard asked.
“Please Shepard, who created Kasumi’s documents for her?” Liara stated smugly.
“Just making sure,” Shepard said putting her hands up in a placating gesture.
Liara crossed her arms, “Now it’s going to cost you.”
Shepard rolled her eyes and smiled at the asari, “Alright, alright, what does the ‘Great Shadow Broker’ require of me?”
Liara smirked in triumph, “I’m going to be on earth with Jack for some business soon.”
“And you want to stay,“ Shepard gestured widely at the room, “at my place during your trip?”
“Precisely,” Liara said her grin growing into a full blown smile.
Shepard shook her head, “You know you’re always welcome here. That’s part of the reason Garrus and I purchased such a large place.”
“Just making sure Shepard,” Liara said leaning smugly to the side.
Shepard chuckled, “Deserved that didn’t I?”
“Yes, yes you did,” Liar said.
Shepard rolled her eyes at the asari, “So why is Jack coming with you?”
“There’s a student on Earth who caught our attention,” Liara explained.
“Another biotic?” Shepard asked raising an eyebrow.
Liara shook her head, “Surprisingly no, however, her academics are at or beyond college level or almost all subjects. She has even started her own research projects at fifteen years old.”
"Impressive," Shepard said. "Why didn't she get sent to Grissom earlier?"
“From what I remember,” Liara brought a hand to her chin in thought. “Her parents wanted her to grow up with her age group. She has actually applied to the Everton division, that independent study program we set up for kids who couldn’t make it to Grissom, but Jack wanted to see if she would be willing to fully join Grissom Academy.”
“Ah ok, I hope that goes well for you two,” Shepard said.
“Grissom has a good relationship with the school she goes too. It should be pretty simple,” Liara said. “Anyways, the documents should be ready by the time we make it to Earth.”
“Good,” Shepard sighed. “That’s at least one part down.”
“Like you said Allana focus on one problem at a time,” Liara said.
Shepard’s office door swung open and a flanged voice sounded out, “Allana?” The owner of the voice, a turian wearing a blue and white uniform, stepped into the room. He scanned the space, quickly finding Shepard at her desk. His mandibles spread into the turian equivalent of a smile, “There you are. I thought you were in here.”
“What did ‘Executor Vakarian’ have trouble finding me?” Shepard asked giving the turian a sly smirk. “You going soft in your old age Garrus?”
“Please the only one going soft here is you, Shepard,” Garrus said as he stepped further into the room and leaned onto the door frame. He crossed his arms in front of his chest before speaking again, “How long has it been since your last mission? Six months I think?”
Shepard crossed her arms as well matching Garrus, “Says the glorified desk jockey.”
Liara cleared her throat gaining their attention, “As fun as this is to watch, I really ought to be going.”
Shepard nodded towards the asari, “Alright Liara, thanks for the info, I’ll see you in a few days.”
Liara gave Shepard a wide smile, “Of course Allana, good luck.” With that Liara ended the call.
Shepard leaned forward and closed the video chat window. When she leaned back in her chair she found herself entrapped by two turian arms, “So what do you need luck with?”
Shepard laid her head against Garrus’ chest as he spoke feeling the deep subharmonics of his voice. She planted a soft kiss on his scarred right mandible before speaking, “It’s actually something I need to talk to you about.”
“Whatever it is, I’m listening,” Garrus said.
“Good cause this is going to be a doozy,” Shepard said leaning forward out of his grasp to pull up the information she wanted. As the information was displayed she explained what had happened during the day. After getting through her explanation and showing Garrus the video there was a long silence as they both stared at the two pictures of Sunset Shimmer.
“What have you gotten us into this time Allana?” Garrus asked.
Shepard sighed loudly bringing her hands up to rub her temples, “I honestly… don’t know.”
“I mean first the Reapers and now magical girls who turn into demons and summon… what was that last creature called again?”
“Alicorn, it’s called an alicorn,” She stated.
“Alicorn…right. You do know how crazy all this sounds right?” Garrus asked his mandibles twitching nervously.
Shepard scowled at her computer, “Of course I do. It sounds too much like a fantasy novel… or a bad children’s cartoon.”
“I can see that,” Garrus chuckled. " ‘Sunset Shimmer and the Power of Friendship’ We could make a fortune selling dolls to little girls.” Shepard rolled her eyes and huffed at that. Noticing this action Garrus turned her chair so she was facing him. He leaned down placing his forehead against her before speaking softly, “You know I trust you, Shepard.”
She smiled at him and place another kiss on what passed for a nose on a turian, “I know Garrus. You’ve been here for me since the beginning.”
Garrus trilled softly at that, “Good.” He turned his attention back to the screens, ”So what’s the plan here?”
Shepard turned back to the screens as well, “First we need to get Sunset off the streets.”
“You want to offer her a place here don’t you,” Garrus stated.
She turned slightly to the turian giving him a hesitant smile, “Um… yes?”
Garrus stared at the screen a moment before turning to Shepard, “Are you sure about this?"
"She needs off the streets Garrus," Shepard turned back to the screens in front of her. "Besides that, we need to find out what these girls are doing. whether it is magic or something else."
Garrus stood in silence looking at Shepard screens. "Alright, let's do this."
"Really?" Shepard asked. "You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I want to find out about all of this as much as you," Garrus said leaning on the back of Shepard's chair. "Besides like you said she does need off the streets.
Shepard smiled, “Good, cause I already have Liara creating documents for her.”
“I didn’t hear that,” Garrus said putting his arms into the air. “As far as I’m aware she already had documents and is just an orphan we decided to take in.”
Shepard planted yet another kiss on his mandibles, “Of course honey.” She turned back to the computer staring at the information displayed, “Our life just got a lot more complicated didn’t it?”
“Yes, yes it did, “ Garrus said wrapping his arms around Shepard again. “But we’ll get through this together.”
“Like always,” Shepard said