//------------------------------// // Broken // Story: Mass Effect: Element of Kindness // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// Chapter 99 Broken Find out where Shining is. 65% “He’s... not in a good place.” Councilor Anderson led Garrus, Fluttershy, and Rainbow over the Presidium towards the embassy. “We picked him up after his shuttle came through the Charon relay broadcasting a distress signal. He hasn’t spoken a word since he got here.” “Wait, what was he doing in the first place jumping through relays?” Garrus asked as they walked up the stairs into the embassy. “The captain was supposed to join us at Ilium.” “Admiral Hacket and I had a problem the captain was able to help with. If we’d know what would happen beforehand then we wouldn’t have sent him but the 103rd instead...” “We’re not informed, councillor, what happened?” Fluttershy asked, Anderson wearily looked back at them. “The Bahak relay is no longer responding... scattered reports say an asteroid crashed into it,” Aderson stated slowly and clearly, Fluttershy’s eyes going wide in shock. “You think he... destroyed it?” Garrus asked, baffled at the prospect of a destroyed relay. The councilor nodded and pointed at a door that led to one of the embassy’s balconies that gave a good view of the Presidium. “He’s out there, I’ve tried talking to him but he doesn’t respond to me. Good luck, I’ve got a whole heap of work to do with all of this going on.” “Thank you, Anderson, we’ll keep you in the loop,” Fluttershy told the councillor who walked off to his own office. Rainbow walked up to the door but noticed Fluttershy and Garrus not following her. “Aren’t you coming?” the cyan pegasus questioned at seeing this hesitation. “I think it’s best if we don’t overwhelm him by entering all at once,” Fluttershy argued but the way the yellow pegasus averted her gaze from Dash made her think there was an ulterior motive behind it. Rainbow didn’t question this though as she had her mind on Shining at the moment. The balcony was completely empty with the exception of the white, armor-clad, stallion gazing out over the shuttle traffic and bustling streets below. Rainbow slowly approached Shining who didn’t break his gaze off of the view in front of him. “We found her,” Dash simply stated as she sat down next to the captain. He moved his head ever so slightly to the right to glance at the pegasus. “I’m just having trouble recognizing her as the pony I remember.” “This galaxy will do that to you...” Shining muttered, a single tear rolling out of his eye. Rainbow carefully wrapped her wing around the captain. “Cap, what happened with that relay? The councillor said they suspected it was destroyed by you... I might not know you that well but if you’re anything like Twilight then you’re stuck tormenting yourself with what-ifs and blaming yourself even if there’s really no other option.” “304,942 batarians, Dash,” Shining held back a sob. “I murdered 304,942 living beings with the push of a button. Some of them might have been slavers but they’re living beings none the less... Nopony should have to make that decision.” “Yet you did, so there must have been an incredibly extraordinary reason.” Rainbow could see the captain shaking in place as he tried finding the words. “Reapers...” Shining eventually answered, his voice low as he spat the word. “They were going to use the relay to spread throughout the Galaxy.” Rainbow sighed at the answer. “Sounds about right... Was there another option?” Shining shook his head without the slightest bit of hesitation. “Then you did the only thing you could, the reapers don’t sound like they’d have left those batarians alive anyway.” “I know, but I just can’t get rid of that little whisper in the back of my head that I’m a horrible pony because of it,” the captain looked down at his hooves. “You spent hundreds of thousands of lives so that trillions would stand a chance to survive, Captain.” Shining and Rainbow swung their heads around to see Fluttershy standing there, her hood down putting her scars on full display. “If there’s somepony who’s a monster, then it’s me.” “How many creatures have you murdered then?” Shining spat at the new pegasus. “More than you have,” Fluttershy answered as she walked up to the balcony to gaze out at the Presidium as well, though not sitting down. “I highly doubt it,” Shining grunted in reply, Shy glancing down at the captain. “You count those souls lost by your action as murder but as Rainbow pointed out, the reapers would have come for them regardless. I assume you gave them a heads up of what was about to happen?” Shining nodded carefully while Fluttershy pulled a feather from her wing, grunting slightly before she presented it to the unicorn. “Tell me, what do you see?” Shining picked the feather up in his telekinesis and inspected it. “It’s a secondary-” “Wrong.” The captain looked at the pegasus with a puzzled look, “Well, you tell me then!” “That right there is the most feared symbol to criminals in the Terminus systems,” Fluttershy told him, her eyes feeling as if they were trying to pierce his very soul. “I gave one to every criminal I was going to murder, if you found a feather it would mean that you were as good as dead. I executed people in cold blood, Shining. I even adjusted my stealth cloak so that when uncloaking I’d give off a radiant aura, giving me a ghost-like appearance to inspire fear… and it worked. There’s a reason they called me the Angel of Death, Captain.”  Shining and Rainbow had both cringed back while Fluttershy had leaned forward.  “So no, you’re no murderer. You tried saving lives even though there was a good chance no-one would be saved. Nor did you do it out of hate but because the relay needed to be destroyed to give the rest of the galaxy valuable time.” “I’m... it’s going to take a while before I can accept that,” Shining admitted, “But thank you nonetheless.” The captain stood up and moved away from the ledge of the balcony and sat at a table, opening his omni-tool as Fluttershy and Dash sat down at the table as well. “There’s someth-one I need to show you. Fidelis, it’s okay to come out with them.” A little blue pegasus projected herself onto the omni-tool. “H-Hi, I’m Fidelis. Artificial Intelligence FID 0452-9 of the Harmonia Confederation. If the Captain is any indication then I’m sure you have many questions... he told me about your troubles of finding your home.” Both Rainbow’s and Fluttershy’s mouths fell open in awe. 1. You’re an AI?! 2. Harmonia Confederation? 3. You know about Equis? [Vote link]