//------------------------------// // Punishment // Story: Mass Effect: Element of Kindness // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// Chapter 105 Punishment “You must have had some experience with the Council before, any tips on what to expect?” Luna asked as they waited for the elevator to arrive up at the top of the Citadel tower. Fluttershy nervously shuffled as she remembered the last time she had stood in the particular elevator very well. “Well, what has been your experience with excessive bureaucrats in Equestria?” Fluttershy asked in response to the princess’ question, causing the alicorn to huff. “Inefficient to the extreme, the local ones can get stuff done but the ponies in sister’s parliament just sling mud at each other… Oh great, that’s the council isn’t it?” Luna realized where Fluttershy was going with this before she even had to explain herself. “Well, just like the parliament, I’m sure they do perform duties that benefit the galaxy but, from what I’ve gathered from Shepard’s interactions, having to work with them is like having your teeth pulled.” Luna winced and sighed. “Tia is much better at this stuff. I simply don’t have the patience to deal with all of the nonsense politicians throw at you,” the princess grumbled, already yearning for the meeting to be over. The tower chamber was relatively empty as the pair walked up the stairs, only a couple of diplomats were present but the only thing that seemed a bit disproportionate was the security presence with C-Sec posted everywhere. In preparation for the diplomatic meeting, Luna returned her hair to its ethereal state with little glimmering stars in a flowing cloud of darkness.  “They take security very serious, I see...” Luna mentioned as she too found the number of guards remarkable. “Stuff got a lot stricter around here after the geth along with Sovereign attacked this place.” Luna raised an eyebrow at the pegasus beside her, beckoning her to elaborate. “Sovereign was the reaper we killed here, I was part of the strike team that assaulted this chamber to get that done.” Luna’s eyes widened, she hadn’t realized that Fluttershy had been involved in fighting in this exact place and felt a pang of sympathy for having to return to such a place. “I guess that justifies this response if they have brought the one responsible for these events to face their judgment,” Luna admitted as they stepped up the final stairs and into view of the councillors. “Welcome back Fluttershy your absence in the previous year did not go unnoticed to us and we’re glad you could join us again.” The asari councillor told Fluttershy before turning to Luna. “Princess Luna of Equestria, we welcome you to the galactic community even in such extraordinary circumstances.” Luna bowed her head slightly. “I thank you for the hospitality we’ve received thus far,” she thanked. “Of course, it’s our pleasure to accommodate you here Princess,” Anderson replied from his councillor’s stand with a smile on his face. “As my fellow councillor has expressed, we’re happy to have you here, but due to the limited time afforded to our position we will have to skip any further pleasantries and continue with the matter at hand,” the asari councillor continued. “We have to inform you of the newly started investigation into Captain Shining Armor due to his presence in the Bahak system right before its destruction, in the time that he’s being investigated he is not to be allowed to leave the station though he will be free to move arou-” “Excuse us?” Luna said bewildered, falling back into her old tongue as she felt her rage bubbling up. “We have an understanding of why thou would want to investigate such a happening but we cannot but wonder what thou will do with the gained information? Arrest and try my subject?”  “Please, we understand that your species is young to the galaxy but understand that there are laws we have here in Citadel space and by becoming citize-” The asari councillor was cut off again but not by the Princess’ speech. The lights in the chamber flickered and dimmed while the temperature dropped noticeably and a cold breeze went through the window. Meanwhile, Luna’s coat had darkened to a near black, her mane grew in size and a couple of its stars seemed to have gone supernova. She had grown to nearly match her sister in height, and to top it all off her eyes turned into slits that now bored into the councillors in front of her. “Let us make this very clear, councillors,”–Luna’s voice was silky smooth but cold enough to pierce straight through the council in front of her,–“We have vowed to defend our subjects from any threat for the last eleven thousand years, failing only once in performing that duty for which we paid dearly. We will not allow for any trial to take place without the appropriate treaties being in place to assure my subject will not become a scapegoat to easily pin the blame onto. Treaties that cannot be made by me but have to be set up by the elected body of the Equestrian government.” Fluttershy had taken a step back just like the councillors that had been the target of the rant, not because of the sheer venom that laced Luna’s words, but out of fear the princess had lost control again. Her fears would soon turn out to be for naught though as Luna returned to her smaller state as fast as the surroundings returned to normal. “If thou hast any further inquiries thou can find us with the captain in the human embassy.” Luna lit up her horn and vanished in a flash as she teleported back to the Presidium. The council remained quiet for a couple of seconds to mull through what had just happened in front of their eyes. “Well... That was certainly interesting,” Fluttershy commented after getting her bearings again. “I’ll give some advice though. Last time I checked, the princess was able to play around with our moon’s orbit around our home with contemptuous ease so please don’t piss her off.” “We shall take that into consideration,” the asari councillor said, a slight waver in her voice. “I think it’s best we move on to the next topic we wanted to discuss. Bring him forth.” The C-Sec officers that had stood to the side brought forward their charge. Saren was held in place by armed guards, his hands in cuffs as his eyes found those of Shy’s. He wavered almost immediately, looking down at the ground in shame as he couldn’t hold her gaze. “Saren Arterius has been found guilty of orchestrating the attack on the Citadel by enlisting help from the geth,” Fluttershy couldn’t believe what she was hearing as the council blamed the geth again, it took a significant amount of her willpower not to have an outburst similar to that of the princess. “But before we level our verdict we want to hear your opinion on the matter as it was you who was responsible for his defeat.” Fluttershy looked back at the former Spectre and shook her head as she looked back at the councillors who, barring Anderson, still dared to deny the existence of the reapers. They probably just want to throw him into a dark hole to rot and be forgotten... and to be fair, he can’t get away without punishment either. He wasn’t exactly the noblest turian before his indoctrination either. Now, what advice could I give them which they will accept?… 1. The Alliance should be allowed to get him, they sacrificed a large part of their fleet. 2. He should advise on defending against further ‘geth’ attacks on Citadel space. 3. He should help Shepard with the attacks on human colonies. [Vote link]