CHAPTER 8
Twilight angrily folded her ears against her head, trying in vain to drown out the noise coming from outside of her castle. She did not know what the cause of the commotion was, all she knew was that it was impeding her ability to write her book. Already she had made numerous spelling errors as a result of the unwelcome noise, and the parchment before her seemed home more to marked-out words than actual sentences. Scowling as the noise continued, Twilight tried to focus on writing. This focus was shattered, however, when the door to her room flew open and five ponies entered. Trying her best to force down her annoyance, Twilight turned in her chair to address her friends.
“Hello everypony,” Twilight greeted, coming off a bit colder than she intended.
“Hello dear,” Rarity smiled, ignoring Twilight’s poorly-concealed irritation. “Where have you been? We didn’t see you at all yesterday!” Looking back to her desk, Twilight looked down at the thick stack of parchment that had built up over the past twenty-four hours.
“Ya haven’t been workin’ on that this whole time, have ya’?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s incredibly important that this book be finished before the reveal,” Twilight began. “If it’s not, who knows what might happen!”
“Twilight, I really don’t think ponies are gonna start rioting in the streets,” Dash said, smirking. “You worry too much!”
“We all know what’s happening in Gryphonia because of the collector attack,” Twilight continued. “Who’s to say that that won’t happen here?”
“Uh, Twi’, these aliens haven’t blown up one of our cities,” Dash deadpanned. “It’ll be fine, you’ll see.” Sighing, Twilight shook her head.
“I hope so…”
“Dear, have you even left your room in the past day?” Rarity asked as she began walking around the room, her observant eyes easily noticing how unkempt it was. “This place needs some fresh air!” She crossed the room to Twilight’s window, pushing it open and allowing a light breeze to flow in. This also had the side-effect of increasing the noise-level quite drastically. Annoyed, Twilight stood up and walked over to the window, poking her head outside.
“What has been going on out here?” she asked, looking at the hundreds of ponies milling about Ponyville. “I swear, the noise hasn’t stopped all day!”
“That’s what we came to see you about…” Fluttershy said quietly, withdrawing a newspaper. She passed it to Twilight, who grabbed it in her telekinesis. Unfolding the paper, Twilight’s eyes were immediately drawn to the headline:
ALIENS SPOTTED IN EQUESTRIA?
Sighing, Twilight lowered the paper and frowned.
“Have the other princesses seen this?”
“I’d be surprised if they haven’t,” Rarity said, crossing over to Twilight. “It’s on the front page of every newspaper in Equestria!” Once again raising the newspaper, Twilight looked at the story posted beneath the headline.
Confusion gripped the city of Canterlot yesterday as several ponies claim to have spotted numerous unidentified flying objects. According to all ponies interviewed in Canterlot yesterday, they were “box shaped” and flew directly into the loading docks of the royal castle. At the time of writing this article, the princesses have not been seen in public to give an explanation. But the question still remains: if there really were flying objects, who on Equis has the technology to create such devices? According to Canterlot citizen Firefly Night, the answer is ‘nopony’.
“It has to be aliens,” says Night. “Nopony on Equis has the technology to do that! Aliens are in Equestria!”
These reports are still unconfirmed, and could turn out to be nothing. But if they are accurate, and several flying objects did land in Canterlot yesterday, could this be the beginning of an alien invasion? The Ponyville Inquirer will keep you up to date on all information as it becomes available.
Twilight sighed yet again and floated the paper over to her desk, cramming it into an area not begin taken up by parchment for her novel. She stifled a yawn as her eyes passed over numerous empty cups of coffee sitting discarded on another part of the desk, all of them drained of their contents hours earlier. She hadn’t slept at all last night; every time she looked at the clock, she had told herself “just one more paragraph”. On the bright side, at least the book was about half way done. With a half-visible smile, Twilight turned to once again address her friends.
“So, how is everypony reacting to this news?” she asked.
“Uh, can you not hear all the noise?” Dash answered sarcastically. “Most of them are scared. A few think it’s cool, but most think we’re all gonna die.”
“Should we do something?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight contemplated the question for a moment, before shaking her head.
“No,” she said. “If we do something wrong, we could compromise everything. Cadance is writing the address to the ponies of Equestria, Celestia and Luna are in the negotiations, and I’m writing this book. The best thing we can do is continue our tasks and wait for the time to be right.”
“So be it,” Rarity said, stepping to Twilight’s door. “Come girls, let’s let Twilight work. Good luck, dear. If you need any help, we’ll be at the Normandy.”
“Thanks.” Twilight turned back to her desk as her friends filed out of the room. She sat back down on her cushioned chair just as the door closed shut, leaving the young princess alone with her novel and the noise from outside. Shutting the window with her telekinesis, Twilight returned to trying to focus on the book…
Tali’Zorah tiredly pushed open the mahogany doors to the castle dining hall, stepping inside as soon as the gap could accommodate her. As the messenger who woke her up had told her, the room was already filled almost to capacity with other people, most of them eating breakfast in silence. A few of them looked up to acknowledge her entrance before returning their attentions to the meals laid out before them. All of it was levo food, but Tali was not surprised. She had remembered to pack extra dextro food for herself and Garrus while they were staying here, but it was nothing particularly exciting. Taking a seat next to the turian, Tali withdrew a small tube and held it up to a slot beneath her helmet.
“Morning, Tali,” Garrus said tiredly. Tali passed him a tube of dextro food, which he took gratefully.
“Morning…”
“Did you sleep well, Tali?” Luna asked with a knowing stare.
“Yes, thank you,” Tali answered smiling at the princess beneath her helmet. “This castle is extraordinary, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You flatter us, Miss Zorah,” Celestia spoke up, smiling. “I am sure that you have seen many amazing things on your travels.”
“Amazing things, sure, but no castles.” Tali placed the tube of dextro food into the slot beneath her chin and squeezed it through a straw into her mouth. She shuddered slightly at the texture of the paste, but forced it down regardless. She needed her energy for today, and it would be difficult to stay focused on an empty stomach.
“So, what is on the schedule for discussion today?” Luna asked, looking around the room.
“We’ll be talking about converting your economy to the galactic credit system, and defense pacts,” Hackett answered, taking a drink from a glass of water. “We’ll also need to discuss the matter of the dragons and diamond dogs…”
Tali let out a sigh the second she heard the two names uttered. She knew that they were going to have to confront the two uncooperative species eventually, but their behavior so far suggested that no progress would be made. Before any more conversation could be made, Senator Proudwing pushed his chair back on the smooth marble floor and stood up, stepping away from the table.
“Please excuse me, I must write to Prime Minister Sharptooth about all of this,” he explained. “I also will request a status update…” All eyes were on the griffon as he exited the room. As soon as the door closed, Matriarch Lidanya turned her head to the two princesses.
“He briefly mentioned domestic issues yesterday,” she began. “What is that all about?”
“Faith in the griffon Prime Minister has been dropping as of late,” Luna answered. “After his failure to act following the collector attack on their capital, griffons no longer believe he can protect them. What started as a small band of protestors had grown into a true insurrection.”
“Will this have any effect on the negotiations?” Primarch Victus asked, leaning forward. “If this Prime Minister is under threat of being removed, we need to know.”
“That remains to be seen, Primarch,” Celestia said. “We will know when Sharptooth writes back. Now before we resume negotiations, we must first discuss your reveal to the world. I believe that my ponies will react well, and the zebra have never been known to be violent. Erebus, what of your fellow changelings? How will they react?” All eyes turned to the changeling sitting quietly on one side of the table. He seemed to withdraw at all of the attention, but still answered.
“We do not care,” he whispered. “Our priority right now is birthing a new queen. When that is done, she will dictate how we react.” Tali glared at the creature from behind her mask, still unsure on how she felt about him. In a way she pitied the creature; his kind relied on having a queen, and without one they faced extinction. But there was something about his attitude that made Tali feel uncomfortable around him. Perhaps it was simply the knowledge that they had worked with the collectors. Whatever it was, she knew she needed to work past it if a peaceful relationship was to be achieved.
“We should return to negotiations soon, then,” Celestia suggested, standing up from her throne at the head of the table. “Luna and I will prepare everything. Come to us when you are ready.” The two princesses left the dining hall, the sounds of their hooves hitting the marble floors echoing back into the room as they walked away. Tali suppressed a yawn and focused on finishing her poor excuse for a breakfast, eager to continue negotiations…
The featureless white door slid apart and Doctor David Foster entered through the now-open portal into a small room. The only furniture in the room was twelve metal tables, upon each of which was an unconscious pony. Each pony had a white bandage over his or her stomach, hiding a large scar that they had not had when they first came to visit Foster’s facility. Presiding over the sleeping guests were two of Foster’s employees; one a medical doctor and the other a soldier equipped in full Cerberus armor. At his entrance, the two humans turned to face their superior, awaiting orders.
“How are they?” Foster asked, looking over the ponies.
“They all have been implanted, sir,” the doctor reported. “But there are only twelve. Are you sure that will be enough?”
“It will have to be,” Foster sighed. “Lying here is every pony currently living in Gryphonia. We cannot venture into an Equestrian city, we would be caught. And the griffons under our control must stay in their own country, or we risk weakening our own operation. This will have to do.”
“Understood, sir. They will be awake within the hour.”
“Excellent…” Foster turned to face the soldier – the highest ranking Cerberus military officer on the planet. “Commander, when they’re awake… Send them home.” The commander did not speak, but saluted and resumed watching the ponies. Satisfied that his orders would be carried out, Foster turned and exited the room, making a mental note to check Equestrian news later in the day. They were in for a surprise…
Joker limped through the CIC of the Normandy, his eyes passing over the crew working busily to repair the damaged ship. From what he had heard, almost all of the repairs were complete. All that remained was to fix the engines, which was not going to be easy. And with their resident engine expert in Canterlot, that made the task all the more difficult. Stepping into the elevator, Joker pressed the button for the engineering deck. Vrolik Syndrome prevented him from helping with most of the repairs, but he still wanted to at least see if he could be useful. He would accept anything that could take his mind off of EDI…
The door slid open and Joker stepped through, immediately heading for the main engineering room. Standing at their consoles were the three Alliance engineers, all of them working on something that was out of the pilot’s expertise. Adams glanced up at Joker, grinning when he saw him.
“Hey, Joker,” he said. “Glad to see you down here and out of that cockpit.”
“Good to see you too, Adams,” Joker reciprocated. “How are things down here?”
“We’re making progress,” Gabby answered, turning her head slightly. “Sure wish Tali would come back soon, though.”
“No kidding,” Ken added. “She’s important for my… morale…”
“Yeah, don’t let Shepard catch you saying that…” Joker said, pacing around the room.
“Speaking of, any word on Shepard?” Adams asked.
“Not that I’ve been told,” the pilot replied. “All I know is that they’re looking, but odds aren’t good.” Joker’s face fell as he spoke, recalling the last few seconds of the battle above Earth. He was the closest ship to the Citadel, if he had just kept going…
“Lieutenant Moreau?” a voice said over the intercom, interrupting Joker from his thoughts. “Five of the ponies just arrived, they’re requesting permission to come aboard.”
“Granted,” Joker answered. “I’ll be right up.” Nodding his farewell to the three engineers, Joker hobbled out of the engineering room and re-entered the elevator, hitting the button for the CIC.
Rainbow Dash’s head moved constantly as she entered the alien ship, still fascinated by all of the technology. It wasn’t so much the technology itself that excited her, it was the fact that this massive thing could fly that got her going. Before it had crashed here, Dash had been the fastest thing on Equis. Now there was this, which was capable of going several times the speed of light. The pegasus briefly wondered if that was possible for her to do, but her attention was directed towards Joker as he approached her and her friends.
“Hey,” he said as he hobbled up to the group of ponies. “What’s up?”
“We just figured we’d drop by, see if there was anything we could do for ya,” Applejack explained.
“Well there’s not a lot you can do to help with repairs right now,” Joker said. “But we’re still happy to have you. Come on, let’s head on down to the lounge.” He waved for the ponies to follow and began walking down the CIC. Rainbow Dash began to follow, and her friends kept close behind her. Before reaching the elevator they were intercepted by a female crewman who Dash immediately recognized.
“Here, Joker,” Traynor said, passing the pilot a small rectangular device. Her eyes passed over the cyan pegasus, and immediately Dash saw her cheeks redden. “Oh… Hello, Rainbow.”
“Hey, Traynor…” Dash said just as awkwardly. She mentally cursed that engineer who had tried hooking them up yesterday, beginning to think of ways to get revenge. “So… I thought you were in Canterlot… When did you come back?”
“Earlier today,” the specialist answered slowly. “They needed me for repairs, and figured Tali could record the negotiations easily enough.” Nodding awkwardly, Dash tried to hide behind her friends.
“What’s the matter, Dashie?” Pinkie said with a knowing stare. Dash glared at the pink mare, wishing that they could just continue on.
“Uh, Traynor, could you escort them down to the port lounge?” Joker asked. “I need to deal with this.”
“Um, sure,” Traynor replied, forcing a grin. Dash frowned, her cheeks reddening even more. “Come on, let’s go.” The human led the ponies the rest of the way to the elevator and set the destination for the floor immediately below. As the elevator made its quick descent, nopony spoke. They rode in silence until finally Applejack opened her mouth.
“So Rainbow,” she said in a playful voice. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.”
“You sure? Your cheeks are lookin’ a little red there.”
“AJ, I swear to Celestia—“
“Here we are!” Traynor said, interrupting Dash and preventing Applejack from saying anything else. The door slid open and Traynor hopped out, walking quickly down the hallway and entering the room at the end. She immediately took a seat in a tall chair and grabbed a bottle. The ponies filled into the room after her, all of them grinning at Dash. The cyan mare glared at her friends, hoping that they would not do anything to further the awkward situation.
“Say, dear, why don’t you take a seat next to Traynor over there?” Rarity suggested, winking. Her glare sharpening, Dash resisted the urge to tackle her friend.
“No, it’s fine, how about I come to you?” Traynor stood from her chair, holding a bottle and a tray of glasses. She walked over to the ponies, smiling awkwardly.
“Drinks, anyone?” she offered. “Wait, you are all over twenty-one, right?” Everypony nodded, and Traynor grinned as she began pouring drinks. As she poured, her eyes turned up to Dash.
“So, Dash…” she began. “… How are things?” Behind Rainbow, Applejack snickered.
“Fine, thanks,” Dash answered, her urge to go hurt that engineer growing. “… How are you?”
“Fine…” Traynor finished pouring the drinks and lowered the tray to where the ponies could reach. They each grabbed a glass and began taking sips of the pale green liquid within. Dash took a sip, feeling her throat begin to burn as the drink went down.
“Strong stuff ya got here,” Applejack observed, taking another sip. “Dash, maybe you and Traynor should share one?” This put Pinkie into a fit of giggles, and Fluttershy nearly spit up her drink trying not to laugh.
“For Celestia’s sake, AJ, Traynor and I aren’t dating!” Dash cried, fed up.
“I’m afraid she’s right, Applejack,” Traynor sighed. “But we’re not.”
“I mean, do you even like aliens, Traynor?” Dash asked.
“Well, if they’re attractive…” the human answered, causing Dash’s eyes to widen. “And your voice… Mmph.” All eyes were now on Traynor, who shrunk at the sudden attention. She laughed awkwardly, though before she could say anything the door opened and Joker stepped inside.
“Talk to me sometime,” Traynor said as she walked out, the door closing behind her. Joker stared at where she had been, confused, while Dash simply stared on in shock.
“Are you gonna talk to her sugarcube?” Applejack asked. Dash stared on for a moment longer, too confused to speak.
“Ugh… Uh…” she sputtered. “… Yeah.”
“Alright, I’m not going to ask what that was all about,” Joker said. “But I just got off comms with an Alliance ship in the Sol system. They had good news. They think they might have found Shepard.”
Tali sat in her chair in the Canterlot castle meeting room, only half-listening as Primarch Victus listed off the terms of the defense pact they had carefully put together. She knew she should be paying better attention, given her position as the one presiding over these negotiations, but she knew the terms well enough. And if the two sides found them to be fair, all she had to do was confirm their agreement.
“In addition, if any Equis race decides to construct a fleet, the Treaty of Farixen limits the amount of dreadnoughts that may be owned based a ratio of five to three to one. For every five dreadnoughts in the turian fleet, non-council races are allowed one. Given the loss of ships during the war with the Reapers, this does mean—“
The Primarch was interrupted as a knock sounded on the door, and an Alliance marine poked his head inside as it opened.
“Admiral Hackett, sir,” he said. “Priority message for you from Sol.”
“Please come in,” Hackett invited. “Everyone else here can hear it too.”
“Understood, sir.” The marine opened the door fully and stepped inside, closing it behind him. “The SSV Nautilus has been running scans of the wreckage of the Citadel for the past two days. Today they found a small area of the Presidium that appears to still have breathable air, though it is only a few feet in any direction. There is much debris in that area, but the scanners are picking something up. A single life sign, just barely reading.” Tali gasped, and stood up.
“Do they know who it is yet?” she asked, hoping against hope that it was Shepard.
“No, ma’am,” the marine answered. “It’s buried under several yards of rubble. Digging crews are clearing it, but they need to be careful or it could all collapse and snuff out the remaining breathable air.” Princess Luna turned and gave a hopeful look to Tali, who was beginning to grow excited.
“Thank you, soldier,” Hackett said. “You may return to your post.” Saluting, the marine turned and exited the room.
“Tali, if it’s him, I’ll arrange to have you see him,” the human said, looking to the quarian. Tali nodded her thanks, unable to stop smiling beneath her helmet. She knew that it was possible that the life sign they found wasn’t Shepard, but Luna was right. She needed to keep up hope, if not for herself, then at least for Shepard. Tali sat back down, and nodded at the admiral.
“Thank you,” she said. “Shall we continue?”
Corporal Night Flyer suppressed a yawn and leaned back in his chair, keeping one half-closed eye on the front door of the Canterlot castle. He knew he should be taking his duties more seriously, but nopony ever tried breaking into Canterlot. Well, except for the changelings…
“Sit up straight,” Night’s partner, Far Gaze, lectured. “You’re a royal guard. Act like one.”
“Piss off,” Night said, glaring. “Nothing’s gonna happen. Nothing ever happens. All we do is spend most of our days patrolling the safest place in the world. That’s not going to change.” Far Gaze grunted, clearly dissatisfied, but did not pressure Night any further. There was silence between the two, before Gaze finally opened his mouth again.
“So…” he began. “You hear about the alien invasion going on?”
“Yeah,” Night laughed, shaking his head. “Load of crap. There’re no aliens here. There used to be, though. Remember that machine thing? I actually met it once.”
“Bull,” Gaze said. “You never met it.”
“You wanna bet?” Night asked, receiving a raised eyebrow from his partner. “If it ever comes back, I’m gonna ask if it remembers me. And when it says yes, you’ll owe me, say, a hundred bits?”
“You’re on,” Gaze scoffed. Once again there was silence between the two. Gaze directed his eyes towards Night, not sure if he should ask his next question.
“So uh… If you met that thing, then you must have gotten pretty close to Princess Luna, huh?”
“Huh?” Night inquired. “Not really. I just spoke to it once then went to tell Princess Luna about it.”
“Oh… So you never went into her room in the dead of night to have some ‘top secret’ conversations with her?” Night raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
“No…?” he said. “Wait, are you implying—“
The guard was interrupted as the castle door opened in a telekinetic aura. As it opened a familiar pony stepped through, a heavy set of bags under his eyes.
“Ambassador Silver Pen, we weren’t expecting you,” Far Gaze greeted as Night righted his chair. “What brings you back so early from Gryphonia?” The ambassador slowly turned his head to look at the guard, saying nothing. He continued to walk further into the entryway, until he stopped right next to the guard station.
“Ambassador?” Night asked. “Are you okay? Do you need us to do something for you?” The stallion remained silent. Hopping up from his chair, Night circled the pony, looking for anything strange. He was about to give up when he noticed a bandage on the stomach of the ambassador, perfectly matching his fur.
“What’s that?” Far Gaze wondered, stepping up next to Night.
“Ambassador, were you injured?” Night persisted, standing right in front of the ambassador. “Mister Ambassador, please answer me!” When the pony remained silent, Night turned to his partner. “Go get some doctors. And… get some backup, too.” Nodding, Far Gaze turned and started to gallop down the entry corridor. Before he could get far, Silver Pen opened his mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream. Night clutched his hooves to his ears, and Far Gaze did the same. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light, and the next thing Night knew he was flying backwards through the air. In front of him was a massive fireball that rushed down the hallway, ending several meters into the castle. Night hit the floor with a thud and a crack of bones.
His vision blurry, Night looked down at his torso. The golden breastplate was riddled with holes caused by small pieces of debris, and blood poured out of the wounds. He tried to scream, but found that he no longer felt anything where his jaw was supposed to be. The carpet beneath him caught fire, and he tried to run away, but his legs would not listen. Looking to his side, Night found his two right legs to be missing entirely. His vision beginning to go black, Night’s head fell back and he knew no more.
Tali sat in her chair at the meeting table, now far more alert than she had been a few minutes ago. The message of Shepard’s possible survival had considerably boosted her morale, and now she was giving her full attention to Primarch Victus, who was just finishing up the terms of the defense pact.
“That concludes our defense pact,” the turian said. “Is this agreeable to all of you?”
“I believe that my zebra will be most pleased with the terms,” Malkia answered, bowing her head.
“I will have to relay this information to the Prime Minister, but I find no faults with the points,” Proudwing agreed.
“My sister and I accept the terms,” Celestia added. All eyes now turned to Erebus, who continued to remain silent for a moment more.
“It is fine,” he finally said. Nodding, Victus sat down and lowered his omni-tool, on which was written the defense pact.
“Did you get all that, Tali?” Kaidan asked.
“Yes,” Tali answered, ending the record function on her omni-tool.
“Excellent,” Hackett spoke up. “Now we can—“
He was interrupted as the entire castle seemed to shake. There was a loud boom which Tali instantly recognized as an explosion. She and the rest of the Normandy crew jumped up, while the two princesses looked around in confusion.
“What was that?” Luna asked, standing up.
“An explosion,” Legion replied. “We recommend investigation.”
“Agreed,” Kaidan said, getting up from his chair. “Garrus, Legion, Tali, with me. Everyone else stay here, we’ll handle this.” Without waiting for a response, Kaidan ran from the room, his squad in tow. Tali stayed near the back, preparing to unleash Chatika vas Paus on their unknown attackers. Legion moved to the front of the group, leading the three through the castle corridors to the source of the explosion. Sprinting through the halls alongside them were dozens of royal guards, all of them wearing confused and worried expressions.
It did not take long to find the source of the explosion. After a few minutes, all they had to do was follow the smoke. It filled the top of the very tall corridors, restricting airflow. Tali noticed that Kaidan and Garrus were beginning to cough, and the sound of pony guards coughing filled the hall not long after. Turning down another corridor, the squad finally came to the site of the explosion, which appeared to be the front entrance. The only reason Tali could tell this was because she could see a courtyard through thick pillars of smoke. If there had ever been a door, it was now completely gone. The marble support columns had collapsed and the walls of the hallway were gone. Wooden supports were on fire, the flames being the source of all the smoke.
Legion ran ahead of the organics, the smoke and soot beginning to stain the light-gray color of the platform. He stopped near what looked like the epicenter of the explosion and bent down, beginning to dig through a pile of rubble. When he was done digging, he lifted the bent and twisted form of a pony guard from the debris. Tali did not have to look for long to know that he was dead. Cradling the body, Legion slowly walked away from the explosion site, returning to the Normandy crew. Other guards had begun to gather around, staring sadly at the body. Legion lowered the guard to the floor, giving everyone their first good look at him.
His fur was mostly burned off, and holes from debris riddled the soot-stained golden armor. His two right legs were missing, one removed at the shoulder and the other at the knee. Blood continued to pour from the wounds, spilling onto the burnt carpet beneath him. A large piece of debris jutted from his throat, and the pony’s jaw was entirely gone. His eyes were still open, his brow turned up in fear. Tali felt sadness for the guard, but also confusion. Who had done this? How had they done it? She was under the impression that Canterlot was the safest city on Equis.
Hearing hooves trotting up behind her, Tali turned and found Princesses Celestia and Luna approaching the explosion site. Behind them were the other leaders and dignitaries, all of them looking worried and confused.
“Oh my…” Celestia whispered, taking in the damage. Her magenta eyes passed over the body of the dead guard, and she gasped quietly.
“Who is responsible for this?” Luna wondered, asking no one in particular. Her horn lit and the flames were snuffed out, leaving the black smoke to clear out naturally. “One fatality… Is anypony else injured?”
“One, your highness,” a guard said, approaching the princess. “Corporal Far Gaze. We took him to the medical wing, he is in critical condition.”
“Keep us updated on his status,” Celestia ordered. The guard saluted and ran off to help with relief efforts.
“Princess, if you’d like, we can offer some assistance in finding out what caused this,” Admiral Hackett offered, approaching Celestia.
“Thank you, that would be most appreciated,” Celestia accepted, bowing her head. “I am afraid that we must postpone our remaining negotiations. This is very important.”
“We understand entirely, your highness,” Primarch Victus said. “We will get out your way.” Gesturing to the other council representatives, Victus began walking away, back down the hall. A moment later Tali, Kaidan, Garrus, and Legion joined him. Tali did not know what to feel. She had thought this world to be peaceful, and yet now a bomb had gone off in the castle of the Equestrian capital. She did not know who had done it, how they had done it, or why. All she knew was that the situation just got far more complicated.