//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - Regret, Fears and Blood(Unedited) // Story: The Other Ones of Me (A Mass Effect Crossover) // by DragonsHeart //------------------------------// Shepard waves her hoof in front of Twilight’s face, she doesn’t show any sign of response. Her eyes are foggy and vacant, and a green aura floats around her head showing that Shepard’s biotics are still in effect. Shepard smiles. “It worked.” “Most impressive Shepard,” praises Harbinger. “Yeah, let’s get to work,” agrees Shepard, she turns to Twilight, “Twilight remove these bracelets.” Twilight nods and grips the bracelets with her magic, she speaks the simple command… “Release.” The bracelets falls off and onto the ground. Shepard sighs happily. “That feels so good to get them off me,” she says, stretching her neck. She looks at the chest that holds her equipment. “Open that chest, Twilight!” Twilight nods dumbly and walks over to the chest and stands in front of it. Her purple aura appears on the lock, and after a while there is a click and it opens. Shepard walks over and checks the chest. It’s all there. She pulls out her Executioner and gives it a look over. “Twilight, open the front door and put something in the way to stop it from shutting,” she orders and as an afterthought, “And get me a coil of rope.” Twilight trots off to do what she is ordered, as Shepard checks through her equipment. “Everything seems to be ok,” Shepard says, putting the last of her equipment back into the chest. Soon Twilight appears, carrying the rope in her mouth, like a dog bring a newspaper to its master. Shepard can’t help herself. “Good girl,” she says, patting her head. Twilight of course doesn’t notice or respond. “Must you, Shepard?” “Sorry, it’s just too funny,” replies Shepard. Shepard picks up the bracelets and smiling wickedly places them on Twilight, knowing that the wearer can’t take them off. She takes the rope off Twilight and orders her to lay down. After she does Shepard starts to tie her up, she also burns the knots making it nearly impossible to untie. Soon Twilight is totally tied up and wouldn’t be able to move anything but her head. Shepard grabs a cloth and gags Twilight so she can’t call out to anyone. Shepard also grabs a small chest off a nearby shelf, it conatins some small rings. Magic Repressors. Shepard remembers when Twilight threatened to use them on her, after Twilight tried to unsuccessfully get a book off Shepard. She slips two of them onto Twilight’s horn, just in case the stories are true about how strong Twilight’s magic is. Then Shepard release her control on Twilight. The aura disappears and Twilight falls unconscious. “Bound up like a turkey,” states Shepard, smiling at her handy work. “There is no time for this Shepard! Get your equipment and leave!” “Right, of course,” she says, getting back on track. She start to suit up and arm herself. Twilight slams against the wall of the cage for what feels like the hundred time. Like all the other times it doesn’t yield. She doesn’t know how she got here in this dark realm within this glowing green cage. The last thing she remembers was Shepard touching her forehead and she ended up stuck in this cage. “HELP!!” she cries out for what also feels like a hundred time. Silent is the only answer. Twilight collapses, crying. Where has Shepard put her, will she be trapped here forever? “So sad, Twilight, so sad,” says an evil cheerful voice behind her. Twilight’s head whips around and to her horror sees the Nightmarish Shepard walking toward Twilight wearing her armour with the spilt in it that shows her shark like teeth. “YOU!!” Twilight screams, backing up against the cage, now glad it’s here. The gladness soon disappears, because when the monster reaches the cage she walks through it, like it is not really there. “So what are you doing in a cage little Twilight,” she asks sweetly. “What do you mean? You put me here!” Twilight yells back, totally back up against the cage wall. “No, I didn’t. The Shepard in the real world did,” the Nightmare scolds. “I’m only something you made up in that silly little mind of yours.” “Huh?” Twilight replies, confused. “You got to stop confusing Nightmares with real life,” the Nightmare sighs. “How come you can walk through the cage and where are we?” yells Twilight, buying more time. “This cage is only made to hold you, Twilight, within your own mind and that is where you are,” answers the Nightmare, examining her hoof, “I imagine it is only temporary.” Before Twilight can ask any more questions, the cage suddenly dissolve, causing Twilight to fall backward. A light appears in the distant, behind her. “Looks like it’s time for you to go,” says Shepard smiling. “But…” Twilight says, confused. “NO TIME!! NOW GO!!" it roars, snapping her teeth an inch from her face. Twilight bolts. Twilight runs not looking back until she hits the light. She awakens. The Nightmare in Twilight’s mind watches as Twilight runs through the light and disappears leaving the place in total darkness again. The creature smiles and is suddenly engulfed in black flames, leaving a totally black bespectacled female unicorn. Her black mane and tail flowing behind her like mist. She smiles and walks away, disappearing into the darkness. Twilight finds herself laying on the floor. Her head is stinging and there is an unpleasant taste in her mouth. She tries to get up. Her legs can’t seem to move. She cranes her neck and sees to her surprise her entire body tied up. She tries to use her magic, but it doesn’t respond. She looks up and see two Magic Repressors on her horn! “Twilight is awake, Shepard,” Twilight hears behind her. Twilight turns around and her snout bumps into something. It’s Shepard’s pistol barrel. Twilight’s eyes widen and she looks up to see Shepard disapproving eyes looking down at her. Twilight tries to scream for help, but all that comes out is, “MMMMPH!!” So that is what the horrible taste in her mouth is. She has been gagged as well. Twilight would feel totally humiliated if she was not feeling totally terrified. Shepard is wearing nearly all her amour and carrying all her weapons. “Listen well, Twilight,” Shepard says, trying to gain Twilight attention. “Mmmph!” is all Twilight can say. “I’m leaving. For real this time and if you follow me or try to capture me…” Shepard says, pushing the gun harder against Twilight snout, “…you won’t be as lucky as the first time. Cause I’m in full control this time.” With that, Shepard holsters her pistol and puts her helmet on. She walks towards the door. Soon Twilight losses sight of Shepard as she passes the table that Twilight was left behind. She hears the sound of something made of wood breaking and then silence. After a few minutes of struggling Twilight gives up and lies her head on the floor. Shepard has escaped again. This time with all her equipment. And Twilight couldn’t do a thing. After what feels like hours, she hears the sound of ponies talking outside. It sounds like Spike, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Last night Granny Smith gave me such a seeing too,” groans Applejack, as she walks to the library. “What about?” asks Rainbow Dash, who is flying beside Applejack. “About running off and not telling them what is going on,” explains Applejack, “My family don’t like secrets among us.” “You didn’t tell them anything you shouldn’t,” asks Spike nervously. “Nah, before I can open my mouth Applebloom came in and we had dinner,” replies Applejack. She frowns, “All they really talked about was Shepard.” She then sighs, “I can’t believe she saved my sister and did some of my farm work.” “Why not?” asks Spike. “Because if she did that means I may have been wrong about her,” huffs Applejack, kicking a nearby pebble. No pony likes being wrong, especially a proud pony like Applejack. “I know what you mean,” says Rainbow Dash, sighing, “I met Derby on the way back home last night and well… you must have heard the story from Applebloom, right?” “Yeah…” replies Applejack, “… Shepard got rid of some low-down bullies.” “Yeah, the same ones from Flight school,” adds Rainbow Dash. “I heard they flew off with their tails between their legs,” chuckles Applejack. “That is one of the things I don’t get,” complains Rainbow Dash, “When we fought Shepard we nearly got shot and burned alive, but when they fought her all they got was a lot of bruises and a wounded pride.” “Maybe it is because Shepard is really a good pony and not a murderer,” adds Spike. “I would like to think that,” replies Applejack, “but you didn’t see the field where she fought the Timberwolves,” she shudders, “It was brutal. Their burnt bodies were laying everywhere. I keep thinking that could have been us when we fought her.” “She fought the Timberwolves because she was trying to save your sister, remember?” replies Spike, frowning, “When she came back to the library last night she was covered in bandages, all them from close calls with the Timberwolves. She nearly died trying to save your sister.” Applejack looks ashamed. He is right, Shepard could have died. She remembers Granny Smith saying if she didn’t have that last trick she would have most definitely have been killed. Applejack after hearing her family speak such praise about her found it harder to hate Shepard, while Applejack still distrusts her, she can’t hate her anymore, because while Shepard’s escape may have caused her sister to be in that situation, she still saved her and that what matters. Applejack’s thoughts are interrupted by Rainbow Dash. “She saved Scootaloo as well,” states Rainbow Dash, staring ahead, “She wouldn’t stop talking about how cool she was,” a little smile appears on her lips, “She still thinks I’m cooler though. Maybe I was wrong though about Shepard… she is still a jerk though,” she adds, remembering all the arguments. Before they can continue their conversation, Spike yells something. “What! Why the front door open?” Applejack forgetting everything about their conversation gallops towards the library fearing the worst, with Rainbow Dash and Spike right behind her. They reach the library and see that one of the door’s hinges has been broken off. “What happened to the door?” asks Spike. “It looks like somepony has smashed it after it was opened,” states Applejack, examining the door frame. “How do you know that?” asks Spike. “Because no damage has been done to the lock,” explains Applejack, “If the door was smashed open the lock would have been damaged as well.” “Um, I think the more important thing is that!” says Rainbow Dash, pointing to something inside. It’s the chest that used to hold Shepard equipment. It now lay empty. “Oh no! Where is Twilight?!” says Spike panicking. “TWILIGHT!” yells Applejack, “TWILIGHT!” There is no reply. “Do you think Shepard has killed Twilight!?” asks Rainbow Dash, scared for her friend safety. “No. Shepard wouldn’t,” Spike says scared. Rainbow Dash and Applejack don’t seem to notice. “We gotta find Twilight,” says Applejack taking control. “Maybe she is chasing after Shepard,” says Rainbow Dash hopefully. “We better go and look for her then,” says Applejack, turning and heading towards the door, followed by her friends. ‘My friends are about to leave!’ thinks Twilight. They didn’t seem to hear her mmmphs. She got to find a way to gain their attention. She can’t use her magic, she can’t use her limbs or body either, all she can use is her… ‘This is going to hurt,’ thinks Twilight, before slamming her head down on the floor with a loud... THUMP!! “What was that?” asks Spike, just as he is about to head out the door. “What was what?” asks Rainbow Dash confused. “I heard something behind the table,” explains Spike. Before anypony can be say anything Spike rushes off toward it. As Spike rushes around it he is greeted by the relieving sight of a dazed and bound Twilight laying there. “IT’S TWILIGHT!” Spike yells to the two ponies by the door. Within a heartbeat Applejack and Rainbow Dash are beside Spike. “Twilight, are ya ok?” asks Applejack, rushing to Twilight’s side. Twilight just lets out a muffled groan. “Don’t worry, Twilight, I will get these ropes untied in two shakes of lambs tail,” Applejack says reassuringly, she examines the knots. “If the knots were not burned,” she says embarrassedly. “So you can’t untie it,” says Rainbow Dash annoyed, “I thought it would only take to shakes of a lamb tail.” “It would be quicker to cut these with a knife,” explains Applejack, she turns to Spike. “Can you get me one please?” Spike nods and rushes off to get the required item. “And instead of being a smartass Dash can you get our friends?” asks Applejack. Rainbow Dash just nods and flies out the broken door. Soon Spike returns with a kitchen knife. “Now Twilight stay very still while I cut these ropes,” warns Applejack. Twilight nods. Applejack starts to cut them. Spike walks in front of Twilight, “Can I help with anything, Twilight?” Twilight just makes muffled noises. “Umm, what?” says Spike, not understanding her. “I think she wants you to remove the gag, Spike,” says Applejack, while she carefully cuts the rope binding her wings. Spike quickly removes the clothe gag. Twilight sucks in a huge breath of fresh air. “Thanks Spike, that was really getting foul,” Twilight says gratefully, “Could you also remove the Magic Repressors as well, please?” “Sure,” replies Spike, as he carefully starts to removes the rings off Twilight’s horn. “Umm, Twilight,” Applejack asks nervously. “What?” asks Twilight now nervous as well. “Why are you wearing Shepard’s bracelets?” Applejack continues. “WHAT!!” yells Twilight, turning to look at her legs. There they are, and now that she thinks about it she could feel something around her neck as well. “How did she get them off…” Twilight stops midsentence. Most likely the same way she got her equipment back and opened the door. She somehow must have controlled Twilight. Twilight feels like crying, everything she has done had been pointless. Shepard could have escaped anytime she wanted to and they couldn’t really stop her. She is more powerful than we gave her credit for. She is going to need Rarity’s help to get rid of these bracelets. “Twilight, something tells me you know how Shepard got out of these,” asks Applejack. “Yes, I think I do. But I will explain when everypony else is here,” replies Twilight depressed. Applejack frowns, but nods her head and cuts the last knot. She helps Twilight up and onto her hooves. “Thanks,” Twilight says, holding onto Applejack while she regains her balance. “Anytime,” replies Applejack. Soon Rainbow Dash comes back with Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “Where’s Fluttershy?” asks Applejack, looking for shy pony. “She will be here soon, she just had to finish with an animal,” explains Rainbow Dash. “Unbelievable,” says Rarity horrified, looking at the open chest, “Not only did she escape again but this time she got all equipment back!” Twilight head sags in shame. “Don’t worry, Twilight,” says Pinkie, patting her back, “It’s not your fault.” “I’m sorry, I never meant to blame you Twilight,” says Rarity embarrassed, “I’m just shocked that this has happened.” “No, it is my fault,” Twilight says sadly, “I got scared and let her do this.” Her friends are about to ask what she did, when they hear Pinkie scream. “What wrong?!” asks Twilight surprised. “She killed it,” Pinkie cries. “She killed what!?” asks Rainbow scared. “MY POOR THESAURUS!” Pinkie cries, holding up a near totally burnt book with the words thesaurus barely readable on the front. Everypony is quiet(beside Pinkie’s sobbing) until Applejack breaks it. “Aren’t that petty.” The silent starts up again until they hear something by the door. “Oh my goodness, what happened to the door?” says the timid pegasus. “Hay, I was going to ask about that soon,” pouts Pinkie, total over the thesaurus. “Oh sorry,” says Fluttershy, as she walks through the doorway. “Yeah, Shepard did that on the way out for some reason,” says Twilight dismissing it. “It looks like she broke it so you wouldn’t get locked in by your own magic,” suggest Spike. “Why would she do that? She hates me,” snaps Twilight. “So what should we do now, Twilight?” asks Applejack, “Shepard is fully armed now and don’t think we will be as lucky as last time.” “Hey, it wasn’t luck,” brags Rainbow Dash, “It was skill.” “Listen Rainbow Dash,” scolds Applejack, “If the shoot was just a few inches towards you, you wouldn’t be here right now.” “And not to mention she wasn’t totally of a right mind back then,” adds Rarity, “And she has started using her weird powers as well.” “We wouldn’t stand a chance,” finishes Applejack, “But we will follow you if you do decide to go after Shepard.” Twilight sighs and walks over the chest, “Now that Shepard has her equipment I have no idea where she would go anyway? So I can’t chase after her even if I wanted to.” “I see,” Rarity says. Hanging her head Twilight walks over to Rarity, “Can you help me remove these bracelets,” she says shamefully. “I would love too, but I don’t know how,” replies Rarity. Twilight explains how to unlock them. “Ok dear, I think I can manage that,” comforts Rarity, as she works her magic, “But you never told us how Shepard got this on you or opened the chest?” “Yeah, and I really want to know,” says Pinkie impatiently. “Well,” says Twilight slowly, “I think Shepard can control minds.” There is a long silence. “Are you serious!” says Rainbow Dash shocked. “Well one second she is front of me and then she touches my forehead and everything went black,” says Twilight defensively, “When I woke up I was tied up and Shepard had all her stuff back.” She finishes leaving out the part about the cage and the Nightmare Shepard. “Oh, freaky alien powers,” says Pinkie, waving her hooves around. “There done,” says Rarity, as the bracelets falls off. She adds “Maybe we should tell Celestia that Shepard has escaped and is fully armed.” Twilight hangs her head. ‘If I tell Celestia that Shepard has not only escaped two times but this time with all her gear, I will get in so much trouble. Celestia might…’ CLAP The sound startled Twilight out of her thoughts. She looks over at the source of the sound. It’s Spike. “Sorry Twilight, but you were getting that look on your face when you start to over reacting,” he explains. Before Twilight can respond someponies calls her from the door. It’s the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Hi Twilight,” says the three fillies, as Twilight walks to the door. “We were wondering if you had a book about the creatures of the EverFree Forest?” asks Applebloom. “Also what happened to the door?” asks Scootaloo. “What in blazes do you need a book about the creatures of the EverFree Forest for?” asks Applejack. “Oh, hi Applejack,” the three go. “Well we saw a weird looking thing enter the forest,” explains Sweetie Belle, “And we wanted to know what it was.” “What did it look like?” asks Twilight. “Well it was silver and red and looked a bit like a pony,” explains Scootaloo. “Where was it?!” asks Twilight quickly. “On the forest path near the tall Oak,” answers Applebloom. Twilight knowing the place rushes out, her friend casting nervous looks at each other soon follow. “Hay, they just left us,” says Scootaloo surprised. “Who going to watch over the library?” asks Applebloom. The three of them suddenly smile, “Cutie Mark Crusaders librarians, YAY! “Came back quickly, Twilight” Spike prays. The six of them soon reach the edge of the forest near the tall Oak. Twilight looks down the path. Her breath catches in her throat when she thought she see some silver mist. But whatever it is soon disappears amongst the trees. Applejack walks beside Twilight, “Twilight are you really sure you want to go after Shepard?” “Yes, I have to. It’s my reasonability to guard Shepard,” explains Twilight, putting on a brave face, “You girls can stay here if you want.” “What! No, we are coming with you,” yells Rainbow Dash. “But you all might get hurt and it’s my reasonability,” yells Twilight. “No dice sugar,” Applejack says, putting a hoof on Twilight shoulders, “We stick together through thick and thin.” There are nods all round. Twilight tries to say something but doesn’t. She can’t tell them about her dream. In the end she says, “Please just be careful.” They all nod and soon all six of them gallop into the forest to find Shepard. Up in one of the branches of the tall Oak a totally black bespectacled male pegasus lays on one of the branches. His black mane and tail flowing behind him like mist. He smiles and pulls a black fan out of thin air and starts to fan himself. "It looks like all the pieces are coming together," he says smiling, "Now I just watch and see this game play out." He turns his head to the deeper part of the forest where Shepard is. "What will you do next, Shepard?" he wonders aloud. And then with a wave of his black fan he disappears within black flames. Shepard trots through the forest. Everything has been silent so far. “No sighs of any creatures, yet,” wonders Shepard. “They seem to be keeping their distant,” replies Harbinger. “Maybe the Timberwolves told them about me, or…” “Or they dislike the direction we are going and are keeping clear. Where does this path lead to.” “A sign we passed said that we are heading for Froggy Bottom Bog.” “A bog? I believe that’s mire that accumulates peat.” “I wonder what Twilight is doing right now,” she says, ignoring Harbingers comment. “Most likely she has been found and has reported this to her Superior, it the most logically thing to do.” “No. If I know Twilight she will try and come after me no matter how dangerous I am.” “Why didn’t you kill her and hide her body, Shepard. It was the most logical thing to do.” Shepard stays silent, slowing down a bit. “For doing so would have given us more time to escape and delayed their reaction time.” Shepard suddenly falls over sideways and hits the ground. “SHEPARD!” Surprised, she quickly gets up. “I’m fine, I… just tripped,” she hurriedly explains. “You can’t lie to me Shepard. You just had a massive attack. You must report these thing to me or I can’t stop them.” “I thought you could see them coming?” “Only if I am watching for them.” Shepard leans against a tree while she calm her beating heart, threating to rip out of her chest. Yes, that attack had been massive. She hasn’t felt one that big since Twilight and her friends asked her about her name all those weeks ago. And this one was just caused by the simple question on why not to kill Twilight. It felt like half her mind agreed with Harbinger and the other disagreed. “You’re luckily that didn’t kill you Shepard, and it seems no extra damage was done.” “Luckily me,” she says, wondering if she should take off her helmet in case she throws up. Soon her heart (and her stomach) calms down. Picking herself off the tree she heads down the path again. “And I have answer to your question by the way,” Shepard says quietly. “What is it?” “Because I’m just not like that.” Shepard still doesn’t know who she was and what she did, but she just knows that she would never kill someone if she can help it. This doesn’t come from the voices in her head but a smaller voice still trying to reach her. ‘That’s a start,’ thinks Harbinger to its self. Twilight gallops down the path, followed by her friends. “Twilight, do we have a plan for when we do catch up to Shepard?” asks Rainbow Dash, nervously. “Well I’m pretty sure I can block her weapons projectile now that I know what to expect,” explains Twilight. “What about her weird alien powers?” asks Pinkie. This causes Twilight to pause. “We’ll they are mostly pretty easy to dodge…” “Besides the thing that allows her to zap ponies,” interrupts Applejack. “Yes and who knows what else she can do with her weapons,” adds Rarity. “Well if she start zapping us I’m getting behind Rainbow Dash,” states Applejack. “WHAT! Why me?” asks the fore mentioned pegasus. “Because if it didn’t kill Twilight because she is an alicorn it definitely won’t kill you being a pegasus,” explains Applejack. “That a good idea,” says Pinkie happily, hoping on the pegasus back nearly causing her to crash, “Lets all hide behind Dashie.” “Get… Off… Me… Pinkie,” growls Rainbow Dash. “Girls please stop fooling about!” warns Twilight, “We are about to go against a very dangerous pony and she will try to kill us if we are not careful.” “I don’t think she will try and kill us,” says a voice behind them. The suddenness of this sentence and the meaning of it causes Twilight to suddenly halt, which made Applejack crash into the back of her, making them fall over into a heap. This heap trips Rarity and makes her fall face first into a bush. This scene distracts Rainbow Dash enough to miss the incoming branch, making her crash into it, which sends Pinkie(who if you remember was on Rainbow Dash’s back) shooting forward into convenient puddle of mud. That splash of mud wakes up a nearby snake who slithers off and meets a boar which it bites, the boar goes on a rampage and ends up on the edge of Ponyville where crashes into a lone acorn tree. The force of the boar hitting the tree causes a single acorn to fall from the tree and land on the head of a baby chick, who then contemplates the thought of the sky falling. She then went off to find more of her bird friends to form a committee to solve the aforementioned problem. Soon the committee is formed and after years of pointless meetings they all agreed that the sky is not falling after all and all go home. The chick now a hen heads home and lives a peaceful live. Until the roof of the chicken shed falls on top her proving her point that the sky did fall after all. Cause and effect, eh. Back at the beginning of this. Fluttershy looks sheepish at all her friends spread across the ground. “Opps, I’m sorry I didn’t know that was going to happen,” apologizes the timed pegasus. “Don’t worry about that,” groans Twilight, untangling herself from Applejack, “What did you just say before.” Fluttershy looks nervous and looks away before saying, “I don’t think Shepard will try and kill us.” “WHAT? Of course she will,” says Twilight shocked, “Don’t you remember in the forest?!” “I don’t think she was all there then,” counters Fluttershy, “I think she was just running on instinct. Like a wounded animal will try anything to survive if they think they are endanger.” “What about after in the house?” argues Twilight not backing down. “Twilight she was confused and you said yourself that she has lots of different souls fighting for control,” counters Fluttershy, “It was less her fault than ours.” “But she… the… yesterday,” Twilight says unsure what to say next. “Did you asks anypony what Shepard did while she was out yesterday?” asks Fluttershy quietly, hiding under more of her hair. “Me and Spike did. Shepard just helped ponies where ever she went, it was pretty nice. She saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders, helped out Derpy multiple times, helped Octavia with her cart, helped Lyra with her love problem and many other ponies too for no other reason other than she was there,” she continues her voice slowly raising. Twilight is speechless. It has been a long time since she heard Fluttershy talk with such confidence. She turns to her friend(who have just recovered from they own accidents) for support and finds them looking very unsure. “I’m not sure, Twilight,” says surprisingly Rainbow Dash, “I mean after we gave up looking for Shepard, I met Derpy and she told me about Shepard and then Scootaloo… argh I’m sorry Twilight. I want to hate her but after what she did and what Shy just said, I just can’t!” “Same here, Twilight,” says Applejack, giving the alicorn a sad look, “She save my sister and earned my Grandma respect, and even if I don’t really trust her, I just can’t hate her anymore.” “She saved my sister too and she speaks nothing but total praise for her, as well as most of the town,” adds Rarity with apologetic look on her face. “Yeah, after I heard Mister and Misses Cake talking about Shepard last night I couldn’t sleep at all so I waited until this morning and then walked around town and ask anypony I saw about Shepard and everypony said she wasn’t meanie and is a good pony,” says Pinkie, nearly too fast to understand. Twilight suddenly feels really alone. “WHAT ABOUT THIS MORNING!” Twilight yells, “SHE MIND CONTROLLED ME AND TIED ME UP! WHAT ABOUT THAT!” Everypony steps back, shocked by this sudden outburst. Beside Fluttershy who is expecting this. With gentle hooves she grabs the sides of Twilight making her face Fluttershy. Twilight looks into Fluttershy kind eyes, she then speaks. “Twilight this just proves that Shepard is not really a bad pony,” she says in a kind voice, “If she wanted to kill you she would have. But she just tied you up and broke the door so you wouldn’t be trapped inside. In the end the only thing she killed was a thesaurus.” “But it was my favourite thesaurus!” yells Pinkie. Fluttershy ignoring Pinkie continues, “Why are you so bent on hating Shepard, Twilight?” she asks with a concerned tone. Twilight feels like her world is falling apart. Why does she hate Shepard so much? Why? “Yes, why,” says a familiar voice beside her. Twilight turns and sees the Nightmare Shepard standing beside her. “Why are you here!?” Twilight says confused. “I don’t know?” the Nightmare says with a smirk, “But the real question is why you created me?” “I don’t know,” Twilight says dumbly. “I will tell you then,” the Nightmare says smiling, “I was created out of fear.” “Fear?” Twilight replies confused. “You created me out of your own total fear of the real Shepard to give reason for your hate of her.” “THAT NOT TRUE!” Twilight yells, shivering and then more quietly, “I’m not that kind of pony.” “The mind is full of doubts and fears, and these will often become Nightmares like me. You got to tell the different between reality and fiction, Twilight!” “You said something like that before,” Twilight says, quietly. “Yes, now tell me why do you hate Shepard, Twilight. Otherwise this will not stop and you will continue to hate Shepard, when all other have stopped and you are truly alone in this world.” Twilight goes silent, mulling over the words this Nightmare has said. After thinking over everything she has said, everything that has happened and every possibility she only ever comes to one thing. She is scared of Shepard. She has powers that are fearful, weapon that terrified her and a hard personality that makes her so distant. And so she is scared of her and she turns her fear into hate to hide her fear so well that she even fooled herself, even though she should know better. She feels ashamed. “It looks like you worked it out?” “Yes, you are right. I’m scared of Shepard and of you and all you represent,” Twilight gives in. “And what do I represent, hmm.” “My own fears of Shepard.” Twilight says looking the Nightmare in the eyes, who smiles at her. “Good, now open your eyes.” Twilight does and now looks again into the worried eyes Fluttershy. “Oh no. Was I too harsh I’m so sorry, I just…” Fluttershy rambles. “I think I was scared of Shepard,” interrupts Twilight. “Huh?” says Fluttershy confused. “To answer your question, I was so scared of Shepard that I hated her to hide it,” explains Twilight ashamed at herself. “My question?” replies Fluttershy, who temporally forgot after Twilight stopped talking and she got worried that she had upset Twilight, “Oh yes. That good that you worked it out…” “No it not!” Twilight snaps, causing Fluttershy to back off a bit, “I should have known better.” “Twilight, you were not the only pony to be wrong,” Applejack says, coming up to Twilight side, “We all were, beside Flutters here.” Fluttershy blushes, “Oh no I was bit like you Twilight at first, although I didn’t hate her I was just scared of her,” she confesses, “But then Spike came and talked to me about her and he changed my mind about her.” “If we find Shepard again I going to apologise to her!” declares Pinkie, “Case now I feel like am the big meanie pants here.” “I think we all need to give her an apology,” adds Rarity, “Although she still need apologise for being rude to us.” “What did you and Spike talk about anyway?” Rainbow Dash asks Fluttershy. Fluttershy suddenly looks sad, “Well that Shepard was actually nice and that she is pretty smart and…” she pauses. “What aren’t you telling us, Fluttershy?” asks Rainbow Dash, who knows her old friend well. “And… and… he thinks Shepard is dying,” Fluttershy says sadly. “WHAT!” Twilight says shocked. “Or at less very sick,” Fluttershy quickly adds. “How does Spike know this,” asks Rarity. “Well, Spike has seen Shepard in pain for what seems like no reason and has nearly collapse multiple times,” answers Fluttershy. Twilight looks horrified that she didn’t know this, “Why didn’t Spike tell me?” “Because he didn’t think you would listen... or care,” Fluttershy says quietly. This stings Twilight, because it was most likely true. Why hadn’t she ever noticed it… most likely because she was never in the same room as Shepard if she could help it and mostly saw Shepard round about an hour a day(and whenever they did met they argued). She is surpassed to look after and help Shepard, but Twilight was too much of coward to do it, so it fell to Spike. Who didn’t know what to do, so he went Fluttershy for help. But now that is going to change. “I’m going to find Shepard,” declares Twilight, “and I’m going to fix this.” Her friends nod. “We are right behind you, Twilight!” yells Rainbow Dash. “Always,” adds Applejack. The six of them run down the path, toward Foggy Bottom Bog. Shepard walks through the bog. “Well this is most definitely is not a bog,” says Shepard to herself, wondering if she is going around in circles. “This is more likely a swamp or possibly a fen,” adds Harbinger. “I half expect an alligator to pop up and try and bite me in half,” says Shepard, jokingly. “We are not on Earth, Shepard. There is unlikely any alligator here.” “Hey, they are ponies, I also saw that the Apple family has a dog house, and I am pretty sure I heard that Pinkie Pie does have a pet alligator as well,” Shepard counters. “Shepard, beware of alligators.” Shepard rolls her eyes. Not that an alligator is really a threat to her. No, she doubt that there is many creatures on this planet that could be a threat to her when she is fully armoured. As she walks through the swamp (or possibly fen) she soon comes across an obstacle. Water. While Shepard can swim(she wouldn’t have gotten N7 if she couldn’t), she doesn’t want to swim when she is in her amour, even if it is airtight. Also she would be trouble if there is alligators. Mass Effect weapons don’t work so well underwater. Luckily there seems to be a way to cross, a bunch of round rocks sticking out of the water. She tests one, seems solid if not a bit slippery. She hops on one and then on another and another. As she lands on the third one, it slightly yields nearly causing her to fall off. She prods it with her hoof. “This is soft?” exclaims Shepard. She started to get a horrible feeling in her gut, “No, this can’t be happening to me, this only happens in crappy stories and comedies.” The rocks start to move and some disappear. “Why do I just feel like I stepped into a Thresher’s nest!” she yells, jumping off the not rock and using her biotics to glide back. As she lands she turns around to see four reptilian heads rise out of the water. The heads spot Shepard and roars(with only one lagging behind). “SHIT!” yells Shepard, pulling out her Typhoon. Twilight walks through the bog(actually a swamp or possible a fen) followed by her friend. Following Shepard has become a lot easier since they entered bog swamp/fen as she left behind muddy hoove prints. It is now just the task of following them to their maker. “Argh,” groans Rarity, as she looks at her muddy hooves, “If I knew we were coming here, I would have brought my boots.” “I hope we don’t run into that Hydra again,” adds Applejack, looking around nervously. “Yeah, I remember you talking about that,” Rainbow Dash says, flying overhead keeping an eye for Shepard. “We should be find as long as we don’t make too much noise and lure it toward us,” Twilight says, following Shepard’s hoove prints. “I hope Shepard doesn’t run into it,” Fluttershy says, worried. “She will be fine,” says Pinkie, happily, “If she runs into it, she just blow it away with her alien powers.” “Speaking about Shepard,” Rarity says, coming to a realization, “When and if we find Shepard, how are we going to fix this?” This causes Twilight to pause. How will she make things up with Shepard. I mean will she believe that Twilight wants to amends? Twilight certainly wouldn’t. What if Shepard does hate her guts? This going to be harder then she first thought. But before Twilight can continue her thought a distant roaring sound breaks it. “Was that the hydra?!” yells Rainbow Dash. “It sounds angry!” yells Applejack. “And pained,” adds Fluttershy. All that equals to one thing. Shepard. “Let hurry girls!” yells Twilight, running toward the distant sound, follow closely by her friends. After running for what seems like ages following the roars, they start to hear the sound of Shepard’s guns, they were getting closer. Twilight kept finding herself slowing down, before she notices and speeds up again. ‘No. I will not be afraid anymore,’ she thinks. They reached a clearing and the sight that greets them causes them to freeze. The hydra towers over Shepard. Blood pouring from multiple wounds scattered across its body. A head lay dead in the water. The hate filled eyes of the remaining heads glare down at Shepard. She stands her ground. Her armour coated in blood, hopefully the hydra’s . She stands until the heads lunge at her. Shepard rolling way from the incoming heads, lands on all fours, and then fires with her silver gun. The heads pull back, roaring in anger. “What should we do, Twilight?” quavers Fluttershy, scared. Twilight doesn’t answer. She is frozen by fear. Not fear of the hydra, but the fear of Shepard. There Shepard is covered in blood. Twilight can imagine that it is ponies blood… her blood. The sound of gun fire making her shiver, the cries of pain of the hydra making her feel sick. She wants to run away. Shepard dodges another attack from the hydra. ‘DAMMIT!’ she thinks, rolling away, ‘Why is this so hard to kill!’ She had wasted most of her Typhoon’s ammo on the body of the hydra, discovering that it chest is very well armoured. She then used up all the Claymore ammo to take out one head. How to take out another? She feels her belt. Grenades. Hopefully enough. A hydra head lunges toward her. She grabs the grenades with her magic throwing it down its throats and jumps back out of the way with her biotics. The hydra looks confused… then its neck explodes. Blood and flesh flies everywhere and the severed head hits the ground. The hydra other heads roar in pain. ‘That’s another head down… too bad I’m out of grenades,’ she thinks. One of the heads attacks. Shepard does a massive jump, her body wrapped with her biotics. The head misses, crashing into the ground, dazed. Shepard right above it point her right hoof at the head, her Omni-tool appears. A bolt of energy shoots out at it, faster than the eye can see. Both heads scream in pain as the electricity surges through them. Shepard lands on the stunned head and jams the barrel of her sniper between its eyes. She pulls the trigger. The shot tears through its head and out the other side, killing it instantly. Shepard looks up at the last head. It glares angrily. Shepard not taking her eyes off the last head, jumps off the dead head. ‘You’re gone,’ she thinks. Then out of the corner of her eye she sees something. Distracted, her head whips around and sees Twilight and her friends. The hydra lunges at it distract opponent. Shepard tries to dodge, but she is too slow. The hydra sends her flying. ‘Dammit!’ she thinks, as the blackness of unconsciousness creeps over her vision. Twilight’s heart is beating fast, threating to rip out of her chest. When Shepard looked at her, it felt like she was looking at her soul, judging her. She feels like crying again. Why is she so scared? “LOOK!” yells Pinkie, breaking Twilight from her thoughts, “She been hit!” Twilight looks up to see Shepard flying backwards. There is a splash as she hits the water and sinks. Hydra looking happy, starts to move towards the place where Shepard fell, dragging its dead heads behind it. “Oh no,” yells Fluttershy, “It is going to eat her!” “What are we going to do, Twilight!?” yells Rainbow Dash. “Yes, what will you do, Twilight?” asks evil voice beside her. Twilight turns to see the Nightmare Shepard, standing there again. “You could let her die,” the Nightmare suggests, “And then all your problems would disappear.” Twilight stays silent. It is true, she could let Shepard die, and then all her problems will go away. “I mean she is a monster,” carries on the Nightmare, “Look what she did to the hydra. Do you really want her around other ponies?” ‘Yes, Shepard is dangerous,’ she thinks. “Best to let her be eaten,” the Nightmare finishes. ‘Yes, let her be eat… What! No!’ Twilight thinks shaking her head, ‘I’m letting fear rule me again!’ “Oh, come to your senses, have we?” the Nightmare says grinning, “It really doesn’t matter. You can’t move for fear of Shepard.” Twilight glares at her, and then takes a step forward. She turns to the surprised and fading Nightmare, “I will not be controlled by you or fear anymore, I will save Shepard and the you can buzz off into my subconscious!” she yells to the now completely faded Nightmare, and then gallops off toward to save Shepard. Why her friends just stared, shocked and confused by Twilight’s sudden outburst. Twilight gallops towards the hydra, as it heads toward where Shepard fell. She needs to stop it. She conjures a magic bolt and flings it towards the hydra’s last head. The magic bolt hits it, causing the head to stagger. Its head whips around to look at what has interrupted its meal. To its anger finds another pony and more seem to be coming. Twilight stands her ground, trying not to run away. She has gotten this far and she is not backing down now. Even though a one headed hydra is still dangerous. The hydra weighs it options. One, it just fought very hard for its meal, Two, that meal just cost it three of its head, Three, six more ponies have come and it has only one head left, Four, these ponies most likely won’t let it eat its meal. The hydra lets an exasperated roar and turns around and heads into the swamp. “It’s leaving?” says Rainbow Dash, relieved and confused. “I think it decided we were not worth the trouble,” states Fluttershy, sighing in relief. “Thank, Celestia,” says Rarity, watching the hydra disappear into swamp. “I feel sorry for it,” says Pinkie, sadly, “It just lost three of its friends.” “Don’t worry, Pinkie,” explains Twilight, “The dead heads will drop off and new ones will grow in their place.” “While that all fascinating, don’t we have to help Shepard!” calls Applejack, who is standing near the water’s edge. Twilight rushes to edge, remembering the reason for her brave idiocy. “So is this where she fell?” asks Twilight, urgently. “I’m pretty sure,” replies Applejack. “Do you think she drowned?” yells Pinkie. “Does anypony know where she fell exactly?” asks Applejack, loudly. “I’m pretty sure there,” Rarity says, pointing to an area of the nearby water. “Good enough!” yells Applejack, throwing off her hat. Rarity looks shocked, “You don’t seriously plan to…” Before anymore can be said, Applejack leaps in the mucky water, getting everypony wet. “MY MANE!” screams Rarity, looking at her wet mane. “Thanks for the warning, AJ,” mumble Rainbow Dash, shaking herself. After uncomfortably long time Applejack resurfaces, holding a silver hoof. “I found her, she was at the bottom!” yells Applejack, struggling to keep herself and Shepard a float, “Give me some help Dash!” Rainbow Dash nods and flies over to grabs Shepard other hoof. With the teamwork of Applejack and Rainbow Dash to keep Shepard afloat and Twilight using her magic to pull her in, they managed to get Shepard ashore. “Is she still breathing?!” asks Fluttershy, panicking. “Can’t tell with her armour on,” replies Applejack, shaking herself dry. “Pinkie, quickly remove her helmet!” orders Twilight. Pinkie nods and starts to remove her helmet. There is to everyponies surprise a hiss of air being released, and as Pinkie removed the helmet, it revealed a totally dry face. “What the buck!” yells Rainbow Dash, “How is she not wet?” “I guess her armour must be watertight,” Twilight says, amazed. “So what do we do now?” asks Pinkie. “Lets take her back to Ponyville,” suggest Twilight, “We will explain everything to her when she wakes up.” The girls agree that this is the best option. Picking up Shepard they head back to Ponyville, unaware of the chaos within Shepard mind. Within Shepard voices cried out to be heard. The other Shepards crowds Shepard, while she lies curled up in the middle of the crowd, with her hands over her ears. Harbinger tries to quiet them, but they seem unable to notice the Reaper. Harbinger doesn’t what caused this to happen, was it seeing Twilight, or falling unconscious or what? Whatever the case Harbinger is unable to do anything. Only Shepard can pull herself out of this. “Shepard, you must stop this!” Harbinger calls out. Shepard lies on the ground, close to crying. It is so painful. The voices yelling at her and telling her what to do, trying to take control. Shepard wanted it all to stop, wanted it to end… permanently! Suddenly all the other Shepards move back away from her. Harbinger watches this and then turns its attention back to Shepard. It doesn’t like what it sees. Shepard is standing up, with her back slouched over, her eyes has a crazed look on them. It can’t see the rest of her face for her hands covered it, but it hear what she says. “I’m going to end the voices… permanently!” Before she disappears. Harbinger doesn’t like it. It has the feeling that if something doesn’t stop Shepard soon, they will meet their end. Twilight and her friends walk down the path to Ponyville, with Applejack carrying Shepard on her back. “So how are going to explain this to Shepard?” asks Pinkie, hooping beside Twilight. “I don’t know,” Twilight says, shaking her head, “I just hope we can come to an understanding.” “That would nice,” Fluttershy says, smiling. “I just hope we get back to Ponyville soon,” complains Applejack, “She is heavy!” “Maybe it would be better if we carried her guns separately,” suggests Twilight, “Pinkie can you remove them, please?” “Okie Dokie Lokie,” says Pinkie, happily, trotting over to Shepard. Pinkie leans over Shepard and reaches for her weapons. Suddenly Shepard kicks off Applejack, sending her sideways in Pinkie. Shepard lands on haunches and starts backpedalling until she hit a rock. She look around with terrified eyes. “Wait, Shepard,” yells Twilight, getting close to Shepard, “We don’t mean any…” Her word die in her mouth, as Shepard pulls out the small red gun with the pony skull. Then to Twilight’s horror Shepard points it to her own head. “I gotta end the voices…” Shepard mumbles, “They hurt so much…” Twilight doesn’t know why she did it, she just did. Using her magic she grabs the gun and yanked it away from Shepard’s head, Shepard holds on with her magic, leaving the gun stuck between them, waving dangerously. “Let go of the gun, Twilight!” Shepard growled, trying to yank the gun away from Twilight. “Why are you trying to kill yourself?” Twilight cries, yanking the gun back. “What does it matter to you?” yells Shepard, glaring at Twilight, “You hate me!” “Not anymore!” Twilight cries, “I want to make amends!” “It is too late for that! No one can help me now!” Shepard cries, giving a strong yank. Twilight gritting her teeth yanks back hard. There is the sound of a gun going off. The gun drops. Twilight falls to her knees and screams in pain. The bullet ripped right through her left leg. Twilight looks down at her leg, there is a large open hole and blood pouring out of it. It hurt so much. Twilight looks up and sees Shepard picks up her gun with her magic. She reloads it and points it back to her head. “I told you to let of go of the gun, Twilight,” Shepard says, glaring at her, “You’re luckily it only hit your leg.” She then pushes the gun against to her head, “Good bye, Twilight.” Then Twilight did what she later saw as the most stupid thing she ever did. She conjures up a magic bolt and shoots it at Shepard. The force of the magic bolt hitting her chest, causes Shepard to slam backwards into the rock, the back of her head smacks against the rock, causing her to fall unconscious. She slumps sideways on the ground. Twilight’s friend who have been frozen with shock, fear and uncertainty now rush to Twilight side. “Twilight are you ok?” yells Rainbow Dash. “No,” Twilight cries, gritting her teeth again, “What about Shepard? Fluttershy rushes over to Shepard side. “I think she is ok, just uncon…” Then Shepard coughed up some blood. Fluttershy eyes widen, “No, I don’t think she is! I think she is internally bleeding!” Twilight heart skipped a beat. She has injured Shepard. She had used to much power and most likely crushed her chest. “We gotta get Twilight and Shepard to a hospital as soon as possible,” yells Applejack. “But it is dangerous to move Shepard like this,” yells Fluttershy, scared, “And Twilight is losing blood too fast and we have nothing to slow it down.” “We gotta do something,” yells Rainbow Dash, panicking. “I will teleport us to the hospital,” Twilight says, finding herself getting weaker. Rarity looks shocked. “Twilight, you it is dangerous to attempt teleporting when injured,” Rarity says, worried. “What choice to we have!” Twilight yells. Rarity looks like she about to say something and then becomes quiet. Twilight starts to wrap herself, her friends and Shepard with her magic. ‘Please let this work,’ Twilight inwardly begs, ‘I don’t want Shepard to die because of me.’ With a flash everypony disappears leaving the forest empty.