CHAPTER 22
“Does this unit have a soul?”
Slowly, Twilight Sparkle’s eyes spread open, allowing the morning sunshine’s rays to pierce her retinas. She recoiled at the influx of light, which was suddenly blocked off as a dark figure entered her view. It was not a pony, but in her blurry vision it was difficult to make out. Only when she saw the bright blue eye did she recognize who it was.
“Legion?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “Oh, what happened?”
“What is the last thing you remember, Twilight Sparkle?” Legion inquired, scanning over her with his omni-tool.
“You… killed the collector captain,” she said. “We were about to start freeing the prisoners, when I just… blacked out.”
“Good, your memories are intact,” Legion said, lowering his arm. “You entered a comatose state due to the presence of the nanovirus in your system. Captain Silent Dart fell unconscious as well only an hour after you did. Princess Celestia was never infected, so she was able to finish rescuing the remaining ponies.
“Following this, she came to find us and told us that she was returning to Canterlot. We remained at the hive for the next three days, completing an altered nanovirus designed to seek out and kill the original. As soon as it was done, we planted it in all of Equestria’s towns and cities. That was one week ago. Ponies are still coming out of their comas, but results are promising.”
“Good,” Twilight sighed, laying back in her bed. It was only now that she decided to examine her surroundings. She was still in Canterlot if the architecture was any indication, and it looked to be the same guest room she had been getting accustomed to the past couple of weeks. “How is Celestia?”
“She is operating efficiently,” Legion answered. “Once we returned to Canterlot, after the cure had been planted, we sought her out. It was not difficult, as she was the only conscious pony in the city. Everyone else had succumb to the nanovirus. Princess Luna woke up three days ago, and Cadance yesterday. Since then, the three of them have been organizing relief efforts and drafting speeches to deliver once all ponies are awake. We believe that they wish to see you.” Slowly, Twilight climbed out of bed and came to her hooves, standing up next to the geth.
“Alright,” she said. “Let’s go.” Nodding, Legion turned and escorted her from her bedroom out into the guest room hallway. There were a few guards up and about, but most were likely still unconscious.
“What about my friends?” she asked.
“Applejack and Rainbow Dash woke up two days ago and returned to Ponyville,” the geth replied. “They have sent word that ponies are beginning to wake up, but it is emptier than it used to be… However, they wished to let you know that three ponies by the names of Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo are still present.”
“Good…” Twilight said, sighing in relief. The two continued on in silence as they walked through the empty halls of Canterlot castle. To Twilight it felt almost eerie; there were always guards around, to see the castle mostly empty was very different. Finally they came to the door of Celestia’s office. Legion opened it and stepped aside, allowing Twilight to enter first. He followed her in, closing the door.
“Twilight!” Celestia said, relieved, standing up from behind her desk. Princesses Luna and Cadance both turned around and smiled as Twilight walked in. “I am so glad you are awake.”
“It’s good to be awake…” Twilight agreed.
“I assume Legion has brought you up to speed?” Luna asked, receiving a nod from the lavender alicorn. “Good. The rate at which ponies are waking up has started to increase. It will be good for their morale to see all four princesses awake and safe.”
“They still will be asking for quite the explanation…” Cadance said. “We’ve decided to tell them only what they need to know, for now. Our efforts should be focused on relief, and we do not want ponies distracted by the thought of aliens in the galaxy.”
“There will come a day when we tell them, of course,” Celestia added. “Just not quite yet. Though perhaps that day will come sooner rather than later…” The four princesses all looked to Legion, who stared back with a blank expression.
“We assume that you are referring to us returning to the geth,” Legion said. “We have not yet achieved consensus on letting one of you join us. There are many things to consider.”
“How are you even going to leave here, Legion?” Twilight asked. “Did you find element zero?”
“Yes,” it answered. “The collectors had massive stores of it, likely left over from their crashed ship. It will be enough to fully refuel our ship and power the Mass Relay back up.”
“When will you be leaving?” Twilight asked sadly. Alien machine or not, she had become quite accustomed to his company over the past few weeks. She always knew that his goal was to return to his kind, but that always seemed so distant…
“Refueling is expected to be completed early tomorrow morning,” Legion replied. “Our ship is on an automated flight path from the hive to the Relay, carrying as much element zero as it can with each trip. We will leave as soon as we can. Our people need us, and the information we carry…”
“We understand, Legion,” Celestia said. “You have a duty to your kind. We would not want to get in the way of that. But right now we have work to do. In only a few days everypony in Equestria will be awake again. They’re going to want an explanation, and we need to finish writing it.”
“We will go see if any more of your friends have woken up yet, Twilight Sparkle,” Legion said, opening the door. “And we will explain all that has happened.” He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. The sound of his footsteps echoed down the empty marble hallways, getting quieter and quieter as he got further away.
“Alright…” Luna began. “Let’s continue…”
As night set on Canterlot, Twilight tiredly walked through the corridors of the castle, a few of her friends at her side. Rainbow Dash hovered a few feet off the ground, while Fluttershy and Rarity walked alongside Twilight. Their destination lay at the end of the next corridor, through a set of massive doors: the castle ballroom. Even though the doors were not yet in sight, Twilight could already hear music echoing throughout the hallways.
The castle was still eerily empty, though many more guards had woken up throughout the course of the day. The rate at which ponies were rising was increasing; by Legion’s estimations, everypony would be awake again in only two days. This left the princesses with hardly any time to finish their work, but they were making progress. Even after explanations had been given, the workload was not going to die down anytime soon. There were repairs to make, and minds to put at ease.
But tonight, Twilight’s mind was not on work. She banished all thoughts of changelings, collectors, viruses, and explanations. Right now, all she was focused on was partying. Pinkie Pie, who had woken up barely fifteen minutes after Twilight, had decided that the most appropriate thing to do upon waking up was plan a party. Originally, the party was meant to celebrate the defeat of the collectors. But when Legion had made his announcement to everypony, the purpose had grown to also serve as a going-away party.
Twilight opened the door as she drew near, and the sound of music grew exponentially. The ballroom had been decorated from floor-to-ceiling with streamers, balloons, banners, and flowers, all somehow provided by Pinkie Pie. Several long banquet tables offered numerous food choices, though most were of the confectionary variety. Cakes, brownies, cookies, and more occupied silver platters, though very few had been touched so far.
Despite the scale of the party, its list of attendants was comically small. The guest list consisted of Twilight, her friends, the princesses, Legion, and any castle staff who could make it. All in all, the room only held close to fifteen ponies. Hardly enough to eat half of the food, let alone all of it.
“Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as the young princess entered. Twilight smiled at the sight of her friend, and cantered to the mare, who was standing near a raised dais at the back of the ballroom. Next to her were the rest of the attendants, including the princesses and Legion. Legion himself had a party hat on his curved head, a sight which nearly made Twilight fall over with laughter.
“Nice hat, Legion,” she said with a smile, trying to push away the thoughts of him leaving.
“Thank you,” Legion replied. “Pinkie Pie assures us that it is appropriate for the festivities. We are… not entirely convinced.”
“It looks good on you,” Rainbow Dash commented, laughing. “You should take it back with you when you leave, show up to the other geth wearing a party hat.”
“Geth communicate primarily through servers, Rainbow Dash,” Legion began. “If we wear this hat, the others will not see it.” The pegasus shrugged, still grinning. Twilight laughed, shaking her head, and stepped past the geth to join the other princesses. Each one held a small glass of wine in their telekinetic grips, occasionally taking a few sips. When Luna held her sip for slightly longer than the other two, Celestia placed a hoof on the glass and lowered it.
“Not too much, Luna,” she reprimanded. “You’re still recovering, after all.”
“I’m stressed,” Luna complained, swiping her glass away from her sister. “When is the next time I’m going to be able to do this? Besides, it’s one glass. Not everypony is as much of a lightweight as you.” Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes, but did not press the issue.
“Hello, Twilight,” Cadance greeted as the youngest of the four approached the group. “Want a drink?”
“No thanks,” Twilight replied. “I’m going to take it easy tonight, I think. I don’t want to be regretting anything in the morning.”
“See, Luna?” Celestia said, nudging her sister. “Somepony is being responsible.” Luna huffed, and took another sip of her wine.
“Killjoy,” she said.
“How do you feel, Twilight?” Celestia asked, ignoring Luna’s remark. “Are you experiencing any lingering effects from the virus?”
“None so far,” Twilight answered, shaking her head. “Hopefully the same can be said for most ponies. There’s already going to be so much work to do, that will be infinitely harder if ponies are still not feeling well after they wake up.”
“Indeed,” Cadance agreed. “But we’ll pull through. We always do.”
“Anyway, I promised myself I wouldn’t think too much about work tonight,” Twilight said. “Pinkie Pie worked hard on this, it wouldn’t be fair to her if I spent the whole night stressing.”
“And not fair to Legion, either,” Celestia said. “All that he has done for us… He deserves the best night we can give him. One where he does not have to worry any more than us.”
“Geth do not experience worry,” Legion remarked as he approached the group of princesses. “Our actions over the past weeks were not done for praise or rewards. We helped you because it was the right thing to do.”
“Regardless, we owe you more than we can ever repay,” Celestia said. “You risked your own life for us. That is an action that does not go without thanks.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping over to the group. Behind her were the rest of Twilight’s friends, as well as the few castle staff in attendance. “This party is the least I can do! And if you ever return to Equestria someday, I’ll throw you another party, and it’ll be waaaay more lively than this!”
“Hear, hear!” Luna exclaimed, raising her empty wine glass. She quickly refilled it, and cleared her throat. “I propose a toast: here in Equestria, we value the concept of harmony, and helping those in need. Over the past few weeks, Legion has proven to us that these concepts are not restricted to our own country - they are universal. His actions represent the selflessness and bravery that we all hold dear. I never thought I’d befriend an alien, much less a robotic one, but I would not trade his friendship for anything. To Legion!”
“To Legion!” Everypony with a drink raised their glass and took a long sip, enjoying the moment. Twilight smiled, happy that Legion was receiving the recognition he deserved. As she went over Luna’s words in her head, Twilight realized just how right the princess of the night was. Of all the people Twilight thought she would befriend, a robotic alien was not one of them. And yet here one stood, and the princess was happy to count Legion as one of her friends.
The past weeks had been full of hardships; ponies had suffered, died, and some had been subjected to unspeakable horrors at the hands of the collectors. Nothing would bring those lives back, and the pain inflicted on the survivors would not go away anytime soon. Equestria would be healing for a while, that much was certain. But through the hardships, the ponies had gained a new friend from the stars. What that friendship would bring, Twilight did not know. Whatever it brought, Twilight only knew one thing as she watched ponies mingle with Legion: it had all been worth it.
THE NEXT DAY
Orange sunlight streamed in through the eastern windows of Canterlot castle, as beams of pale moonlight receded in the west. Twilight Sparkle and her friends moved tiredly through the corridors, the events of the previous night keeping up with them. Pinkie’s party had run early into the morning, so early that Twilight had barely gotten any sleep before her alarm began to go off.
Legion was leaving today. Twilight had tried to ignore the fact during the party, but now she had to face reality. Within the hour, he would be gone, possibly forever. Twilight frowned, considering the risks of Legion’s return. Between the quarians and the Reapers, Legion faced dangers in the galaxy that put the changelings and collectors to shame. And as capable as Legion was, Twilight could not help but worry.
The group of six friends came to the wooden door to the loading docks, which was guarded by a single tired-looking soldier. He politely opened the door for the six mares, and they stepped inside, each one nodding their thanks. The door closed behind them, and Twilight led her friends through the maze of shipping crates to the back of the loading docks where Legion’s ship was landed. He was standing outside, inspecting the craft, while the three other princesses were standing nearby. They all turned their heads as the six Elements approached, smiling amicably.
“Good morning, everypony,” Celestia said, bowing her head.
“Good morning, Celestia,” Twilight replied, sharing a quick nuzzle with her mentor. Legion stepped away from his ship, appearing satisfied.
“Refueling is complete,” he said. “The Mass Relay has been loaded with enough element zero for exactly one jump. We planned carefully; once we jump, the Relay will go offline again. You will not appear on the network.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight asked, surprised. “But I thought… Aren’t you taking one of us with you?” Legion looked to the princesses quickly, before he approached Twilight and knelt down.
“We achieved consensus,” he said. “We will not be taking one of you.”
“I don’t understand!” Twilight yelled, stepping away. “Why?”
“It is for your own safety,” Legion explained, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow. “The collectors are gone, yes, but the galaxy is still a very dangerous place. The quarian-creators are expected to wage war on us shortly, and the Reapers are coming soon. To bring you into the galaxy would put your entire kind at risk. We will not allow that.” Twilight sighed, nodding.
“I understand…” she whispered, looking up at the geth sadly. “Will we ever see you again?”
“Unknown,” Legion answered, standing up to his full height. “The Reapers are a serious threat, and geth are not going to be ignored. If they do not try to subjugate us, they will destroy us. If we cannot stop the Reapers—“
“You will,” Luna interrupted, stepping up behind the geth. “I know it. And who knows? Maybe the geth and the quarians can do it together.”
“Perhaps, Princess Luna,” the geth said. “Perhaps.” He reached behind him and pulled out a small circular device, and handed it to Twilight. “Here. We were working on this last night. Please, keep it safe.”
“What is it?” she asked, taking the device with her magic. She looked it over, confused.
“A contingency,” he explained. “Keep it safe.” Legion took a few steps back and jumped into the open doorway of his ship.
“We must go,” he continued. “Our people are relying on us.”
“Legion!” Twilight called, stepping up to the door of the ship. He looked down at her expectantly. “When you were telling us about the story of the geth rebellion… You said the question that a geth asked was, ‘Does this unit have a soul?’, right?”
“Affirmative.”
“Well…” Twilight continued, looking down at the ground. She nodded, and looked back up at the geth. “I think that the answer is yes.” Legion stared down at the pony below him, the flaps around his eye expanding slightly.
“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle,” he said. “You have been a good… friend.” Twilight smiled as the geth took a few steps back, and waved. The ponies all waved as the door closed, cutting off their view of the machine, possibly forever. There was a roar as the engines came online, and the ship slowly raised off of the landing platform. It spun around and flew out of the loading docks, soon disappearing into the sky. The ponies all continued to wave, feeling sadness wash over them.
“I hope we see him again…” Rainbow Dash said. “He was pretty cool. Almost as cool as me.”
“He certainly was an interestin’ fella’,” Applejack observed.
“I’ll miss him…” Fluttershy added. Everypony nodded in agreement.
“… Come, everypony,” Celestia said, turning to face the door. “We have much work to do. Legion worked hard to save us from the collectors. Let’s make sure it was worth it.” Nodding, the ponies all cleared off of the landing platform and disappeared into the castle. A warm glow embraced Equestria as the sun peeked over the horizon, glinting off of the white marble of the castle. Along with the sun was ushered in a new day of peace for Equestria. A new day where they did not have to live in fear of the collectors. A new day for all of ponykind.