• Published 13th Apr 2012
  • 27,018 Views, 1,615 Comments

Mass Effect 2 - DLC: The Equestrian Equation - Loyal2Luna



In this exclusive DLC, what begins as a simple search-and-rescue mission unveils a mystery millions of years in the making. Your choices are Commander Shepard's choices, and all of Equestria is at stake.

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Part 4: The Rabbit Hole Deepens

“No, I don’t think I will,” Shepard began, nodding a bit lazily as he locked eyes on the center-most of the stallion soldiers. “You have no idea who you are dealing with here. So allow me to… enlighten you.”

His expression hardened, those cold eyes narrowing more forcefully as his voice took on a harder edge.

“I’m Commander Shepard… N7 Class Special Forces… and there isn't an N8 Class. I survived the Sacking of Mindoir, held back entire legions of enemy soldiers single-handedly during the Skyllian Blitz, put down entire terrorist and criminal organizations on the battlefield, blew up a two kilometer-long sentient dreadnought with a cannon that can punch a hole through a moon, and have beaten back a dozen other horrors you can’t even begin to imagine. And while you might not understand the significance of these things, allow me to point out that you look like a bunch of pathetic rookies; green as grass and trying to fluff yourselves up to seem more dangerous and authoritative than you really are.”

The two stallions further back glanced to one another while the foremost held Shepard’s eyes, his own glare widening as the Commander's sharp words touched more than a few buttons.

Shepard pushed further.

“How do I know this? Because I’ve seen hundreds of raw, fresh-out-of-training Marines beat their chests, talking trash and thinking they’re invincible. I’ve watched as they run out into the wide open against orders to prove how good they are, only to be mowed down in a hail of weapons fire. And right now, you’re all about to run right into that ‘wide open.’”

“You will stand down and be escor--” the head guard started, his tone forced as a bead of sweat ran down his snout.

“I AM TALKING!” Shepard’s shout seemed to reverberate in the air a moment, causing the three guards to each take a step back, their superior, intimidating glares giving way under shock as Shepard took a step forward. “Considering the circumstances, I think I’ve been pretty patient so far. But consider this: I’m in unfamiliar territory. I don’t know the rules here, and frankly, I don’t care. You're not carrying any weapons or restraints, so I assume that your plan is to pummel me into submission… which really is the stupidest thing you can try right now because I really could use the excuse to work off some steam… And to top all that off, I’m cut off from my team... who are usually the ones who hold me back before I do something I might regret.”

Actually, Shepard mused to himself, it was usually the other way around... but these ponies didn't need to know that.

“Y…you will... stand down... and…” the lead stallion started to repeat, taking another step back as he felt held by Shepard’s cold glare.

“The reason I’m telling you this is because you’re just following orders. So here’s the deal. You get one chance to leave, before you see what happens when you engage a Spectre in combat. So, unless you want to find out exactly how dangerous that choice is, then you will stand down and explain why this ‘Solar Princess’ wants to arrest me!”

“And I want to know…” Shepard was startled as a new voice was at his side, the lavender unicorn having moved up to face against the three soldiers as well, her expression one of indignant outrage. “…how you three showed up so quickly! I haven’t told anypony about Shepard and he just woke up. Crazy or not, he has the right to know what crime he’s supposed to be charged with, so where did you come from and why are you trying to arrest him!?”

“That is of no concern to you, Twilight Sparkle!” the lead stallion stated, although his intimidating tone did not match his expression, which was withdrawn.

Shepard narrowed his eyes a bit. He could've sworn he heard an echo in their surroundings.

“Like HAY it’s of no concern to me!” Twilight jabbed a hoof accusingly at the stallion. “I won’t stand by while you stomp all over the liberties Equestria is founded on! The Princess would never…”

Twilight was cut off was the world around Shepard seemed to… shimmer. His vision grew fuzzy for a moment before it felt like a warm fog was pressing on his skull.

With a slight shake of his head, though, he was able to shrug it off.

“The Princess would… never… uhh?” Twilight looked confused as well, shaking her head a bit as she stumbled over her words. Her indignant rage was instantly forgotten as she looked at her accusingly-pointed hoof.

Shepard looked back and around, realizing that the three soldiers had disappeared, and instead, several ponies of various builds and colors were milling around the street that had been empty moments before, casting surprised glances at Shepard and Twilight as the unicorn tried to recover.

“W-wait… weren’t we just…?” Twilight shook her head again, setting her hoof to her horn. “Weren’t we just talking to somepony?”

Shepard eyed her cautiously as the wheels in his head turned.

“Those soldiers… they…” Shepard paused, taking note of the confusion on Twilight’s face. “You mean, you don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“That... you were… taking me to see Rarity, I think.”

“Right… Rarity. To prove to you that your armor’s not alien.” Twilight nodded, turning around and starting back down the road, although she sounded as though she was trying to ignore the fact that she was feeling very uneasy.

Shepard thought to himself as he eyed his reluctant guide. The mystery had just deepened, and he needed to know more before deciding what to do about it.

Curiouser and curiouser...

————————————————————
Ponyville Hospital

“Red coat, short-cut black mane…” Doctor Psyche Ward, psychiatrist and head of the Mental Health Department at Ponyville General Hospital repeated thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he went over the yellow pegasus’ description. “What was his cutie mark?”

“I don’t know. He was wearing some sort of armor over it. But where his cutie mark should be there was a big ‘N’ and a ‘7'.” Fluttershy explained, feeling more than slightly sheepish as the doctor bit his lower lip.

“Doesn’t sound like any of our patients. And at last bed check, we had everypony accounted for among our long-term patients.” The doctor shook his head. “We have had to provide counseling for similar cases in the past… and there are multiple individuals who have suffered from delusions involving these ‘human’ creatures… but if this ‘Shepard’ believes himself to be one, it could be far more serious a condition. If you can bring him down here, we can perform a simple set of tests to determine whether he requires our assistance.”

“Oh, alright. Thank you, Doctor,” Fluttershy nodded, glad that the doctor had not turned her away like she had feared. “I’ll try to get him to come in.”

“We can set up a counseling session free of charge… get a determination of the severity of his delusions,” the doctor noted as he looked up from his files to Fluttershy. “Of course, if you feel the need to come in, Fluttershy, you know my door is always open. I heard about the outburst at the Gala… and if you wanted to talk about it...”

“No… That’s okay.” Fluttershy became instantly reluctant. “I don’t think I need a new round of therapy… Besides, I’m doing much better with my friends' support.”

“There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need help, Fluttershy,” Doctor Ward insisted, although he did not press the issue.

“Thank you, Doctor.” Fluttershy backed towards the exit as Doctor Ward opened the door for her. “Thank you for hearing me out. I’ll try to get Mr. Shepard in to see you.”

“Of course, my dear. Anytime,” the doctor smiled as the timid pegasus stepped out, glancing for a moment towards the light-green unicorn mare sitting (quite awkwardly, much to his concern) on the bench next to his office door. “Miss Heartstrings… Please come in.”

Fluttershy didn’t make eye contact with Lyra as the unicorn held her head down, clearly not there of her own accord as she noted Bon Bon seated in a more comfortable position next to her, likely there for moral support.

Fluttershy knew the feeling; memories of her own therapy sessions with Doctor Ward still fresh in her mind. Looking about, Fluttershy knew the way to the exit, but found herself stunned at how many new patients had been admitted lately, most either staring out windows or talking nonsense to themselves.

It was such a sad thing when ponies lost their grip on reality, she mused, as she turned to leave.

“Shepard…”

The yellow pegasus paused, turning towards the sound as a thin salt-and-pepper-coated stallion looked towards her with piercing brown eyes that matched his mane. Sitting in an uncomfortable position on the floor with his hind legs spread out under him, Fluttershy had to tilt her head a bit to get a look at his cutie mark: a black diamond shape with two orange curves that followed the diamond’s outline around the bottom.

The fact that he was in a straitjacket immediately made her uncomfortable, but not as much as his cold, calculated voice.

Commander Shepard? He’s in Equestria?”

“Umm… Y-yes?” Fluttershy answered, unsure why this pony was making her feel so uneasy. “...Do you know him?”

“I need to speak with him, immediately.” The pony’s tone booked no argument as he suddenly struggled against the straitjacket and attempted to pull himself up. Failing that, he leaned against the wall and glared at Fluttershy. “Tell him that Dr. Horace Milligan is waiting for him in the Psyche Ward.”

————————————————————
Carousel Boutique

“Wait… WHAT!?” Twilight made no effort to hide her shock as Shepard smirked, watching the stark white marshmallow-looking pony with the purple mane dance around him gleefully, admiring his armor.

“It’s absolutely stunning, Twilight! I mean, I’ve never seen anything like this before,” the pony named "Rarity" bantered, her eyes taking on a manic shine as she lifted one of Shepard’s legs, running a hoof over the material.

“The metal weave is so thin… This can’t be steel… No, this is cloth. Although I’m not familiar with its make, it’s definitely cloth… but in spite of its flexibility, it feels like it’s designed to prevent high-impact injuries. And these plates underneath it...” Rarity ran her hoof over a bit of the material that covered the Commander’s side, an action that started to make Shepard a bit uncomfortable. “Plastic… No… not plastic; it feels too gritty… OH! Ceramics! That’s genius! I never considered using condensed ceramics. Of course, you would have to crush the material down with hundred ton weights to make it this dense… which would be impossible without some really high-grade magic.”

“That’s… right,” Shepard narrowed his eyes, again stunned at the accuracy with which this apparently primitive fashion designer had managed to deduce his armor’s composite. “It’s a customized hard-suit… Heavy combat armor.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be a soldier trying to take on an army equipped with these…” Rarity grinned, reaching up and pulling her orange glasses from her face (how she held it with hooves, Shepard had no idea) and tapping them against her chin. “Not only are you much better protected than the average Royal Canterlot Soldier, but you’re far more sleek and efficient. The weight is evenly distributed across your body, rather than being all up towards your front. Why, I bet you would just flow around opponents in a stand-up fight. You know, I was always partial to the ‘ceremonial guard’ armor, but after seeing this… yes… THIS is the future of military fashion and design! Efficiency and streamlining over ‘traditional’ armor types. And the colors... Why--”

Rarity!” Twilight hissed through gritted teeth, interrupting her friend’s tangent before she could really get going. “You’re supposed to be helping me debunk his delusions! Not confirming them!”

“Twilight, I cannot confirm or deny that Mr. Shepard here is an alien from outer space…” Rarity stated blankly, somehow keeping a straight face. “But what I can tell you is that this armor wasn’t made by any designer I’ve ever studied, and I’ve studied them all.”

Twilight set a hoof to her face with a groan.

“Still don’t believe me?” Shepard asked, shifting a bit as he self-adjusted his armor from where it had been pushed on by the white pony.

“I… I don’t know, alright?” Twilight admitted, shaking her head. “The evidence is still… well…”

“Do you remember the soldiers that tried to stop us on the way here?” Shepard asked suddenly.

Twilight brought her head up, a look of confusion running over her face while Rarity turned towards them, snapped out of whatever gleefully inspired internal monologue had gripped her.

“Soldiers? Oh dear, Twilight! You and Mr. Shepard are not in trouble, are you?”

“No… They weren’t… I mean, I don’t…” Twilight grunted a bit, her face scrunching as she clenched her eyes shut. “I don’t know. I… kinda remember something… There was yelling… and then I was talking and there was nopony there… It was weird.”

“Does that happen often?” Shepard inquired.

“No, of course not… That is… I don’t think so,” Twilight started off confidently, but then seemed to stumble. “Anyways, that’s not what’s important right now. I mean… Okay, say for a moment I believe you… that you’re an alien and you got magically turned into a pony. What do you plan on doing next, Shepard?”

Shepard took a moment to review his thoughts on his objectives before answering.

“My immediate concern is determining exactly where I am, how I came to be here, and how to get offworld and back in touch with my team. More broadly, my mission was to rescue a team of Cerberus scientists that had gone missing in the system I was investigating.”

“Cerberus? The three-headed guard dog of Tartarus?” Twilight raised a brow. “What does he have to do with science?”

“No, that’s just what they’re named after. The Cerberus I’m talking about is a splinter group of humans who…” Shepard paused, realizing what was said. “Wait… Wait just a minute! How could you know Earth Mythology?”

“Mythology? Cerberus is no myth,” Twilight explained, matching the stallion’s hostile tone. “He rampaged through Ponyville a few months back.”

“And after the way Patch was going on about it, I was actually kind of expecting that brutish three-headed bulldog might be coming back before long,” Rarity commented offhoofedly.

Unicorn mare and earth pony stallion both rounded on the perfectly-groomed clothier with a look of shock.

“Who?”

“Oh, that’s right... You haven’t met her yet. Well, we were trying to keep it 'on the down low’ so that Pinkie wouldn’t go into her usual 'party mode.'” Rarity nodded, her tone somewhat candid as she explained. “Applejack and I came across her earlier this week. The poor dear was on the streets babbling about Cerberus and ‘plasmic’ something or other… I don’t know… it didn’t make any sense to me. I said we should have taken her to the hospital. I mean, she looked positively disheveled. But Applejack wouldn’t have any of it… You know how she is about… oh, how does she put it…? ‘Those nosy head-shrinkin' doctors,'” Rarity said with a bad impression of what Shepard interpreted as a Southern American accent. “She offered the poor filly a place to stay… As far as I know, she’s still there.”

“When was this?” Shepard asked urgently.

“Like I said: earlier this week. Two… three days ago perhaps,” Rarity clarified.

“I don’t know how long I was under…” Shepard commented, his mind racing with this new information. “But it could be one of the scientists… They might have ended up here the same way I did. And chances are this… Wait… 'Patch'?”

“She said she didn’t remember her name… so that’s what we decided to call her. Her coat looked kind of like a patchwork quilt so I thought that it was rather fitting…” Rarity explained, sounding pleased with herself for the creativity of that name.

“Wait, she was amnesic and you didn’t think to tell anypony!?” Twilight sounded outraged.

Rarity blanched slightly at Twilight’s accusation, looking away with a forced, innocent smile.

“Well, Applejack was quite… insistent… and you know how stubborn she can be,” Rarity explained. “I suppose in retrospect, we should have mentioned it to somepony… but--”

“She could be in trouble.” Shepard shook his head. “Or she could be trouble. Whatever was done to make me like this left me shaken and disoriented, and I’ve had experience and training to deal with extreme trauma.”

“Where is she, Rarity?” Twilight demanded, the friendly visit having apparently turned into a less than friendly interrogation for which the fashion pony was simply not prepared for.

“Applejack took her home… to Sweet Apple Acres.” The mare looked between Twilight and Shepard, reading both of their expressions and beginning to feel a bit grave herself.

“Then we have to--”

A bell chimed as the door to Carousel Boutique opened, drawing the attention of the two mares and formerly-human Spectre towards the yellow pegasus that had made the sound.

Fluttershy let out a soft "Eep!" as she suddenly became the center of a rather dramatic amount of attention and cringed in place.

“Um... Hi,” Fluttershy uttered softly, feeling as if she was almost crushed under the weight of the stares from the three ponies. “I… I did what you asked, Twilight.”

“What?” Twilight looked confused for a moment, her eyes widening for a moment before looking guiltily towards Shepard. “Oh, right. What I… asked you to… ummm, well… that may have been… uhhh, I mean… Not right now, Fluttershy… We can talk about it later.”

“But… there was a pony there that knew Mr. Shepard,” Fluttershy offered timidly.

“What!?” Shepard turned, his full attention on the yellow pegasus. “Who?”

Fluttershy cowered a bit under his eyes and answered quickly… and incredibly softly.

“Could you… speak up, Fluttershy, dear?” Rarity asked. “Didn’t quite hear you.”

Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane as she spoke again, her voice softer if nothing else.

“Nope… still too low.”

Again, Fluttershy started to speak, but devolved her words into a soft squeak.

“Oh, for the love of… Just SAY it!” Shepard shouted, clearly losing patience and causing Fluttershy to jump and belt out her suppressed words.

“DOCTOR HORACE MILLIGAN!”

Shepard was taken aback while Fluttershy stood up, blinking and shocked at her sudden rise in volume, covering her mouth with both hooves while uttering an apologetic squeak.

“Shepard! That was completely uncalled for! You don’t have to shout to--” Twilight started before Shepard moved past her towards the pegasus.

“Where is he?” Shepard asked, again forcefully towards Fluttershy.

“Back at the hospital in the Mental Health Ward…” Fluttershy answered, surprisingly calm and responsive considering the Commander’s approach. “I can show you.”

“Fluttershy?” Twilight looked to her friend, amazed at the sudden change in her friend’s attitude as the yellow pegasus pulled herself up in the air a few feet and back towards the door.

By everything she knew of her friend, Twilight would have expected that Shepard’s direct, aggressive approach should have brought Fluttershy almost to tears.

“Lead the way.” Shepard followed the pegasus as she moved out the door, leaving a very confused-looking pair of unicorns behind.

“W-wait! Hold on!” Twilight rushed after them.. Followed moments later by Rarity, who was still stunned at her graceful and timid friend’s reaction.

“Sweetie, I’m going out! Stay inside and I’ll be back in a few minutes, alright?” the fashionista shouted, her magic levitating a scarf off of a nearby rack and around her neck before she too dove out the door after her friends.

In the back room, hidden from sight, Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, a crayon firmly gripped in her teeth as the filly continued to color on the large sheet paper that Rarity had set down for her when her friend and the new colt had come over.

She didn’t know why she even bothered to come over to Rarity’s anymore… It wasn’t as if her stuck up sister bothered to spend any time with her. If she wasn’t busy working, she was busy going off on some sort of adventure with her friends.

Suddenly, an unexpected crackling sound caused Sweetie to flatten her ears as she looked up and around the room, trying to discover the source of the annoying noise. The small off-white unicorn dropped the crayon from her lips as her eyes went to the full-length mirror that sat next to the wall.

Rather than her own reflection and that of the back room, which was littered with strips of fabric and spools of thread, she saw the image of a violet-tinged glass-dome-like face with a purple shawl over it. A metal grey device lit up just below the glass and, looking closely, Sweetie could make out two glowing eyes that seemed to widen as she looked.

“Oh… Uhhh… Hello...” the strange creature said, tilting its head in confusion as a distorted, filly-sounding voice emanated from the mirror. “I'm trying to bring up the Primary Database… Is this the proper directory?”

Sweetie blinked a couple of times, still unsure of what to say.

“Okay... Access local schematics,” the alien creature said, her tone firm and directive.

Sweetie just continued to stare as the creature turned its head a bit to the side.

“I think this V.I. is broken…” it stated, although to whom, Sweetie was unsure… Then it turned back. “Okay, let’s try this… State your primary function.”

“Uhhh… Do you... wanna talk to my sister?” Sweetie offered meekly. “She just… kinda stepped out…”

“Sister…? Would you happen to mean the Administrative V.I? Then... yes. Could you get your ‘sister’ for me?” The alien creature sounded stunned, clearly having not expected such a response.

Before Sweetie could get her head around what she was seeing, there was a sudden shimmering in the air around her as the mirror’s surface cracked, a huge spiderweb pattern appearing as the shimmering ceased.

“Oh, NO!” Sweetie grimaced, hopping up and rushing towards the mirror. “No no no… Not Rarity’s mirror. How did…? Awwww, she’s NEVER going to believe I didn’t do that!”

Sweetie shook her head, the young filly looking around as she tried to get a grip on her situation.

She had been coloring… Rarity had announced she was leaving… and then… the mirror just broke all of a sudden.

Puzzling over the mystery of what had damaged her sister’s vanity mirror, the Cutie Mark Crusader didn’t notice the slight burning smell… or the grey wisps of smoke that rose from the cracks in the mirror.

————————————————————
The Bunker

“WHOA!” Tali’Zorah pulled back as the panel she had hacked into violently exploded in a shower of rainbow sparks, shaking her arm violently as she felt the discharge over her suit threaten to overload her omni-tool.

“Tali’Zorah! Are you injured!?” Mordin turned to render assistance if he was needed.

“I’m fine…” Tali assured the salarian, still shaking her arm as the tingle of near electrocution ran pins and needles into her skin. She started looking over the blackened set of wires. “Power surge… Directed right at this node. Something didn’t like me hacking into it.”

“Recommended against hack attempt at this junction,” Mordin reminded the quarian for perhaps the dozenth time since she stated she was going to try and interface with the bunker’s computer system.

The layout had remained largely the same as the two had continued into the bunker. Long hallways of stone walls and intermittent light-lines seemed to go on forever, with almost randomly-opening doorways seeming to pop out of nowhere, as if the place had been specifically designed to be some sort of maze. So when they had come across an open panel; a place where the stone had slid back to reveal what Tali recognized as an actual bit of computer wiring and an interfacing device, she had jumped at the chance, hoping she could get some sort of information from whatever the panel was connected to.

Instead, she had found…

“What was that thing?” Tali asked, rubbing her wrist as she checked to make sure that her omni-tool had not been completely fried. “I thought it was a V.I. at first, but the way it responded…”

“Possible security footage? Archived? Hmm. Unlikely hypothesis. Clearly interactive. Caretaker? Systems operator? Again, unlikely. Lacked recognition. Almost certain whoever is leading us knows exact location. But interface attacked to prevent interaction with unknown subject… Why?” Mordin cooly went over the growing list of questions that seemed to be burying the two as they forged further into this "bunker."

“It didn’t look like any sentient species I’ve ever seen,” Tali noted.

“Hmm. Bore passing resemblance to several known species. Most predominately Earth Equine. Didn’t seem hostile. In fact, seemed more confused than us...” The scientist paused with a sharp intake of breath through his nostrils. “Intriguing.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re enjoying yourself,” Tali huffed angrily. “But this is getting us nowhere. We need to find someone with some answers to…”

Tali stopped as her heads up display sudden flared to life, a small radar hologram forming at the bottom right edge of her vision and indicating a sudden spike in nearby movement, indicated by red dots on her movement sensors...

A lot of red dots… all moving in on their location.

“Mordin… Contacts!”

“How many?” the salarian queried.

“...Too many.”

Tali started to reach for her shotgun, then cursed under her breath as she realized it was missing from her back. And she couldn’t risk activating Chiktikka, her automatic combat drone, as her omni-tool was still suffering effects very similar to a tech overload due to the console shorting out.

As the two crew members of the Normandy turned, trying to get an idea of what benefits their surroundings offered, they could hear the sound of metal clanking against smooth stone echoing down the hallways...

————————————————————
Ponyville

“Shepard! Wait!” Twilight caught up to her friend and the red earth pony a short ways from the boutique, Rarity just behind her as the white unicorn tailed along. “Where are you going? Who’s this ‘Milligan'... and Fluttershy… why aren’t you having a breakdown?”

Shepard slowed to a walk as Fluttershy came to ground, still taking the lead.

“I’m heading for this ‘hospital’ and Horace Milligan was the leader of the scientists that went missing,” Shepard stated plainly. “And why would she be having a breakdown?”

“Actually, I’m not sure myself,” Fluttershy stated, looking at her hooves for a moment… not out of timid shyness, but out of curiosity. “I can’t explain it but… for some reason… he’s just… not that scary.”

Shepard didn’t know if this was supposed to make him feel better or make him feel less masculine as the pastel pony looked over to him with those large, shining eyes. The soldiers from before sure seemed to be intimidated, at least.

“What about Patch?” Rarity stated, looking to the red stallion with interest, now caught up in whatever was going on and intending to tag along with her two best friends to make sure that they were not going to get in over their heads. “You said just a moment ago that she could either be in trouble or be trouble.”

Shepard stopped for a moment to consider the truth of this statement, as the sudden revelation that Dr. Milligan, the lead scientist of the missing team, had been discovered, had driven the concern he had for this "Patch" out of his mind.

But as he thought on it, he considered that his situation might not be so cut and dry.

Dr. Milligan was a project lead, and would likely be a Cerberus officer through and through, much like Miranda was. That carried extra concerns that might not work in Shepard’s favor. His memories of Dr. Gavin Archer, another Cerberus scientist who had all but sacrificed his autistic-savant brother in order to continue his twisted research to control the geth came to mind.

Archer had hidden the truth until the very end; how he had plugged his brother, David, into a geth collective… thousands of digital voices screaming in his head and driving him to the brink of insanity. And when Shepard had found out, Archer had still defended his work as "vital" and tried to talk him into leaving David with him to continue the experiments.

If Milligan was anything like that, then what he had to say couldn't be trusted, even under these sorts of circumstances.

On the other hand, this "Patch" may or may not have been a Cerberus scientist at all, and while she may have been in trouble, she could just as easily be a red herring, either unable or unwilling to help Shepard piece together what had happened to them. But if she was one of the lower tier scientists, she might be able to tell him things that Milligan wouldn’t.

*Tsseeeeeer-KABOOM-FIZZZZ*

Shepard’s attention was suddenly stolen by a bright and colorful display of explosions and sparks that came from the center of the town, the burst of a firecracker lighting up the area over the township of Ponyville.

“What the...?” Twilight turned to face the explosion of colors.

“My word, is it some sort of holiday?” Rarity asked.

“Not that I know of,” Fluttershy stated.

“Okay… does anypony else have a really bad feeling about that?” Twilight asked.

Another whizzing firecracker shot up high overhead, hissing and fizzling before it exploded above the town, followed by another that presented a very clear message… A large, crackling orange "N7" lit up the sky, followed by a downward-pointing arrow that seemed to be aimed right overhead from wherever the mortar was that had launched it.

Well, if that wasn’t an invitation, Shepard didn’t know what was… And judging by the way his three equine companions were looking towards him, he figured they had the sense to puzzle out what it meant too.

“Pinkie, maybe?” Fluttershy suggested, just as surprised as the other girls as more fireworks went off overhead, the early evening sky brightened by a beautiful display.

“I thought Mayor Mare issued a proclamation forbidding anypony from selling fireworks to Pinkie Pie,” Rarity commented, also entranced by the show.

“Who in the whole wide world of Equestria would be that gaudy and obvious…? For that matter, who else knows that you’re even here?” Twilight asked, clearly unnerved by the bold and outlandish manner in which this "message" had been sent.

“I don’t know…” Shepard huffed slightly, one hoof digging at the ground. “But…”

Choices:

"We have to get to Milligan." (Investigate the Hospital)

"I intend to find out." (Investigate the Fireworks)

"We have to find Patch." (Investigate Sweet Apple Acres)