The embassy district was crawling with C-Sec as Fluttershy got back to it. Before she could even land there were officers training their weapons on her, not taking any chances.
"Calm down boys, Council Spectre," Fluttershy smiled, she kind of liked the sound of it: Fluttershy, Council Spectre.
"Understood ma'am, please refrain from flying around the district for now."
"I'll make sure to not scare your people, I'm sure everyone has had enough excitement for the day."
After being led through, Fluttershy made straight for the embassy. C-Sec guards were posted outside the battered building that made up the Equestrian embassy, they glanced at her as she approached but did nothing to stop her from entering, being a pony after all.
"Fluttershy!" A purple blur collided with the pegasus and squeezed her tightly. "W-Where did you go?! O-One moment you were r-right behind me and the other you weren't!" Twilight sniffed.
"I'm sorry Twilight, a friend in C-Sec asked me if I could help safeguard the Council. I had to go to catch up to them immediately," Fluttershy explained as she tried to comfort Twilight who was sniffing and shaking. "I'm really sorry I scared you that much."
"P-please don't leave again..."
Fluttershy opened her mouth to comfort Twilight more but couldn't. "I can't stay on the Citadel, Twilight."
"W-what?!" Twilight's rate of breathing rapidly increased as panic gripped the unicorn. "No! Y-you can't go!"
"Twi, the reapers are here. I can't sit idly on the Citadel and watch them slowly kill us. Shepard has already offered me my spot on the Normandy for the trip to Palaven, we're going to speak to Luna over there."
Twilight's breathing returned to a more normal amount as she stared off into space in thought for a moment. "Then I'm coming with you."
"Twili-"
"If you refuse to take me I'm teleporting on board when you leave," Twilight bullishly cut her friend off.
"Shepard has a say in this too, you can't just go onto his ship unannounced," Fluttershy tried to no avail, Twilight having made up her mind.
"Try me."
With a sigh, Fluttershy shook her head. "Fine. I need to see the ambassador, we'll go see the commander after that." Fluttershy tried to head up to the ambassador to tell him about the Council's decision but Twilight stuck remarkably close to her. "You're not going to let me out of your sight, are you?"
"Nope!" Twilight exclaimed, a smile finding its way back onto her face. Shy couldn't help but smile back and chuckle as she continued to the office.
The ambassador was busy tapping commands onto his tablet as they entered. Fluttershy cleared her throat to announce her arrival. "Miss Fluttershy! My thanks for defending this building but I have to ask, am I going to have to fix a galactic diplomatic incident now?"
Fluttershy chuckled but the ambassador was not in the mood for humour. "You won't. I did get the Council to do something else."
He raised an eyebrow. "And what may that 'something else' be exactly?"
"As of less than an hour ago I have been appointed to the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit of the Citadel Council," Fluttershy said smugly.
"Thank Celestia... Wait, WHAT!?" The ambassador stared at the pegasus in disbelief. "Oh, this is going to be fun." He eventually groaned.
"Paperwork?" Fluttershy inquired.
"Worse... I'm sorry, I'm glad you got your new position, from what I've gathered Spectre's are a big deal, but I can already see the accusing messages coming." He explained. "I've been dealing with ambassadors inquiring why our one and only warship is breaking pretty much every Citadel regulation on dreadnaughts. I'm sure those complaints will go away soon but I don't see how other races aren't going to envy the fact you got your position."
"Well, it may be up to you to make sure I retain it."
"Exactly." He agreed. "Don't worry, I will pull out all the stops to make sure you don't have to bother with the politicians."
"Much appreciated. I need to head over to the Alliance docks, commander Shepard offered me a spot on his vessel to lift over to Palaven where we'll talk to Princess Luna." Fluttershy looked over to Twilight. "She's coming too."
"Taking a civilian with you on a warship?" He questioned, glancing at Twilight.
Fluttershy shrugged. "That's how I got where I am now."
"Right... Well, I at least know that with your new status you could countermand anything I'd do to stop you, so take care of her," The ambassador sighed.
"You'd stop me from leaving?" Twilight questioned the stallion.
"I did have a list of orders given to me by the Princesses before leaving, miss Twilight."
"Oh..." Twilight Fell silent again and looked down at the tips of her hooves.
"Anyhow, I have to coordinate with C-Sec now, our guards are well and truly out of commission and I don't see reinforcements coming from Equestria any time soon."
"Of course, we'll get out of your hair. Twilight, you coming?" Fluttershy asked, nudging the unicorn who seemed deep in thought.
"Oh! Yeah, I'm coming," she said, forcing a smile. The two of them soon after left the embassy, staying vigilant as they made for their apartment to retrieve the gear left there. The shuttle network was shut down but with Fluttershy's new clearance it wasn't long before they had a vehicle to transport them.
"You're very sure about this, Twilight?"
"Very," the unicorn stated in reply as they landed at the Alliance docks. Fluttershy though was having her doubts, would Twilight really benefit most from going with her on the Normandy?
"You'll have to miss the university, you know. That's a lot of books and information you won't have access to," Fluttershy tried to entice Twilight.
"I'm coming Fluttershy," Twilight said without hesitation, her mind well and truly made up.
"Alright, alright. I just want you to know this won't be a pleasure cruise."
"I'm not stupid, Shy, I know I'll have to find some way to pull my weight."
"I'm sure we'll find something for you to do," Fluttershy sighed, the two of them walking up to the airlock and entering.
"Good to see you showed up... Taking in an extra guest I see?" Joker's voice came over the speakers.
"Shepard seems to have a soft spot for cute little ponies, I'm sure he'll agree," Fluttershy replied with a smirk, seeing Twilight blush.
Joker barked a laugh. "That he does." The airlock cycled and let them in, Shy gave Joker a quick nod as she passed and walked down the spine of the ship to the elevator. The crew that manned the stations looked unfamiliar to her, all of them replaced by Alliance staff. Most of the staff were busy with their own work though Fluttershy noticed the analysts next to the command platform trying to covertly glance at them as they passed for the elevator. Fluttershy picking up some confusion and curiosity from the human. Guess word hasn't gotten around yet that Shepard Picked me up.
Ignoring the little glance, Fluttershy took Twilight down to the sleeping quarters and got a bed for the two of them before heading over to the medbay to get herself patched up properly. She'd patched up what she could in the field but she really needed some proper medicine to patch herself up. The medbay was quiet, no doctor occupying it with the Normandy running on a skeleton crew. I wonder where doctor Chakwas is... I hope she's alright. Fluttershy inserted a syringe into an access port of her armour and depressed the plunger. That should fix any leftover damage.
Shy looked out the medbay's window as she sat down in Doctor Chakwas' chair and the drug cocktail made its way through her system. The Normandy's air circulation system making a soft whirring sound barely audible to even Shy's sensitive ears. "Once more unto the breach..." she whispered, her resolve hardening. The years and months of trying to warn and prepare were over, now the test if their efforts had been enough.
Clenching her jaw in resolve, Fluttershy got up and left the medbay. She had preparing to do.