CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
Twilight Sparkle stood in the observation room of the Normandy, watching as the sun dipped past the horizon, blanketing the world in darkness. The forest would be infinitely more dangerous now that the nocturnal creatures were coming out, but she was confident that she would be safe in this ship. Stifling a yawn, Twilight looked down at the pages of notes she had taken over the course of the day. She had brought twenty pieces of parchment with her, and she had filled up the front and back of every single one with new information. They were going to have to tell other ponies about the galactic community eventually, this information would hopefully make it a bit easier.
Looking around, Twilight took in the state of her friends. Rarity was examining a piece of parchment that she had taken from Twilight, upon which was a design for a new dress that took much inspiration from Tali’s suit. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were exchanging all that they had learned, while Pinkie Pie was entertaining Fluttershy with what she had learned. Smiling, Twilight stood up to stretch her legs and wings. They had become sore from being in this cramped environment all day, but with all that she had learned, it was worth it. Looking up at the sound of the door opening, Twilight found Tali entering the room, looking around curiously.
“Have any of you seen Joker?” she asked. “I’ve been looking all over for him, but I haven’t seen him in a couple of hours.”
“We haven’t seen him since he left to speak with you, after talking to Admiral Hackett,” Twilight answered, slowly crossing the room. “Do you need help looking for him?”
“No, it’s not that big of a ship,” Tali said, sighing. “But thank you. I should keep looking for him. But first, do you intend on staying the night?”
“I hadn’t planned on it,” Twilight replied. “I can teleport us all back to Ponyville safe and sound, then bring us back tomorrow.” Nodding, turned around and exited the room, the door closing behind her. Twilight stared at the spot she had been standing curiously.
“I wonder where he is...”
Tali stepped away from the starboard observation deck, curiously wondering about the whereabouts of the ship’s pilot. She had checked the cockpit but he had not been there, she had checked the port lounge, the hangar, engineering… She had practically turned the ship inside out looking for him with all of the rooms she had checked. There weren’t many more places onboard that he could be hiding, except…
The AI core. She hadn’t checked there yet. Breaking into a quick jog, Tali opened the door to the medbay and stepped inside. Dr. Chakwas was treating several injured crewmen, though she did glance up to nod a hello to Tali. Tali reciprocated the gesture and walked to the end of the room where the AI core was. Pressing the button to open the door, Tali stepped into the darkened chamber. Sitting in the middle of the room was a motionless figure, his legs crossed and his hands in his lap.
“Joker?” Tali asked as the door closed behind her. There was no answer. The quarian cautiously stepped up behind the figure and leaned down, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Joker, can you hear me?” The pilot recoiled at the touch of her hand, but did not push her away.
“Joker…” He slowly turned his head to reveal to Tali his eyes, which were glistening with tears.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…” he whispered.
“What do you mean?” Tali asked, confused. She withdrew her hand and stood up over the human.
“We were… we were gonna settle down after the Reapers were gone…” he continued. “Or, settle down as much as we could… just somewhere where we didn’t have to worry about getting shot at all the time…” Her confusion growing, Tali stepped away from the pilot and wandered over to the maintenance console on the side of the room, turning it on with a touch. Instantly, she knew what was wrong.
ERROR: AI CORE WIPED. PROCESSES DISABLED. ENHANCED DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE OFFLINE. SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN.
Whirling around, Tali looked the human right in his sorrowful eyes. He glanced up at her, not saying anything.
“Joker…” Tali whispered. “I’m so sorry.” She crossed to him, crouched down, and took him up in an embrace. “I’m so, so, so sorry.” Joker did not speak. He simply fell into Tali’s embrace, silently letting his tears flow freely.
Princess Celestia stood on the balcony of her bedroom as her sun finished lowering, holding a piece of parchment out in front of her. Behind her was Princess Luna, sitting on a set of cushions pushed to the side of Celestia’s room.
“I think that this address should be good enough,” she decided, folding the piece of parchment up. “What do you think?”
“The cover-up that the Reaper is an ancient aquatic species from our ocean?” Luna asked skeptically. “It will hold up for now, but certainly not forever. What happens when ponies start investigating the sea?”
“Hm… Perhaps I should add that it was the last of its kind?” Celestia suggested. “That could dissuade ponies from going to look.”
“Again, it will for now,” the princess of the night stressed. “It simply will not hold up forever. What about when we meet with the galactic community? Our ponies will learn of the Reapers immediately, and then they’ll know we lied to them.”
“Well what do you suggest, Luna?” Celestia asked. “That we do nothing?” Luna stood from her spot on the cushions and crossed to her sister.
“Yes, ‘Tia,” Luna said, nodding. “That is exactly what I am suggesting. We tell our ponies that the situation is under control, they are safe, it won’t happen again, and all of the usual stuff. Then, when we’re ready, we reveal the existence of peaceful aliens to them. During this time we may drop that the Reapers exist, but downplay it. More than likely most ponies will be too swept up in the knowledge that we are not alone to even care.”
“That is dishonest, Luna,” Celestia reprimanded.
“So is your way,” the younger alicorn said. “The only difference is that my way accounts for the future, rather than simply covering our flanks now. Isn’t that better?” Sighing, Celestia fell to her flank and closed her eyes.
“… Yes… yes it is…” she admitted. “Alright. We’ll do it your way. I’ll let Cadance and Twilight know, and we need to let the other species on Equis know as well. Prime Minister Sharptooth already knows about the geth and the collectors, but as far as I know he never knew about the rest. And the zebra president has been kept in the dark about it all. We have to tell them, they deserve to know.”
“And what of the changelings?” Luna asked.
“We haven’t heard from them in months,” Celestia began, standing up. “They said they were trying to create a new queen, but we don’t know if they were successful. For all we know, they’re extinct… Even so, I’ll send a messenger their way. The peace we’ve been trying to sow between our two kinds will mean nothing if we keep them in the dark about this.”
“I will return to the Normandy tomorrow, if that is okay,” Luna said. “There is still much that we can learn. I also wish to hear what our new friends suggest we do with the Reaper…”
“I am still troubled that it attacked us in the first place,” the solar diarch said. “Legion told us we would not be targeted, as we are pre-spaceflight. What drove them here, and how did they find us?”
“We may never know, ‘Tia,” Luna sighed. “We may never know…”
Kaidan Alenko awoke to the sound of knocking on the door to the observation room where he had made his home. Rubbing his forehead, he sat up on the couch that had become his bed, stood up, and crossed over to the door, opening it as soon as he was in range. Standing in the doorway was Specialist Traynor, her hand held up mid-knock.
“Major Alenko, Admiral Hackett is on the QEC,” she reported, saluting.
“Isn’t it Joker’s job to do all comms?” Kaidan asked, confused.
“It is… He’s… not emotionally sound right now…” Traynor explained.
“What do you mean?”
“EDI… EDI’s dead…” the comm specialist’s face fell, and sadness glistened in her eyes. Kaidan recalled that she had EDI had worked together quite frequently during the Reaper War, and even had developed a friendship.
“I… see…” Kaidan said slowly. “Well, I guess I should go talk to the Admiral, then…” Nodding, Traynor turned around and led the major to the elevator, stepping inside. She hit the button for the CIC and the door slid shut as the small box began its climb.
“How is the crew doing?” the major asked.
“Surprisingly well,” Traynor answered. “They’re all a bit surprised at the existence of ponies, though they’re handling it quite professionally. They’re continuing to do their jobs, and we should have a full damage report by noon today.”
“Good,” Kaidan said as they exited the elevator and began to make their way to the war room. “And the ponies?”
“Princess Twilight said she’d be back around ten in the morning,” she reported. “That gives us a little over an hour to prepare everything.” Nodding his approval, Kaidan stepped past Traynor and entered the QEC room where Admiral Hackett was already waiting.
“Major Alenko, it’s good to see you,” the admiral said, smiling. “What’s your status? Has anything changed since I last spoke with Mr. Moreau?”
“There’s been one development, sir…” Kaidan began. “EDI, the AI, is gone.”
“Explain, Major.” Looking behind him, Kaidan motioned for Traynor to join him.
“Uh, well, after she didn’t come back online following the power restart, Tali began a reboot of her systems,” Traynor explained. “As soon as that was finished, the system alerted us that the AI core had been wiped.”
“Wiped? That’s… strange…” Hackett observed, looking down.
“Sir? What is it?” Kaidan asked.
“Yesterday, a few hours after I spoke with Mr. Moreau, we came across some geth ships that hadn’t made it out of the system,” the admiral began. “They had power, but weren’t responding to our hails. A quarian ship docked, went onboard, and found it totally empty. The computers had been wiped, no geth programs survived.” Kaidan and Traynor exchanged glances, then looked back to Hackett.
“How is that possible?” Traynor asked.
“We’re not sure, but our scientists think the Crucible did it,” Hackett answered. “Last recorded contact with a geth ship was just a few moments before the Crucible energy passed over us and knocked us out of FTL. Since then, nothing.”
“That could make sense,” Traynor started. “The Reapers are just software, like EDI and like the geth, but they operate in mobile bodies: their ships. Perhaps the Crucible targeted the programs that make up the Reapers themselves. If that’s the case, then it may not have discriminated. All self-aware programs would have been targeted.”
“That’s what our scientists think,” Hackett said. “Listen, a scouting team found one of the gyros from the Charon Relay floating a few hundred thousand kilometers away. They’re bringing it back now, and we think we can chart its path from the Relay to find the others. As soon as we’re operational, I’m sending ships to all major systems in the galaxy, including yours. Just hold out for a few more days, and keep up talks with the ponies.
“We’re fairly sure the council was on the Citadel when the Reapers took it, meaning they’re most likely dead. If this is the case, other leaders from the council races will be coming. I’ll represent humanity and Primarch Victus will represent the turians. Matriarch Lidanya aboard the Destiny Ascension will represent the asari, and we’ll try to get a hold of a salarian. Once all of this is organized, we’ll make our way to you.”
“Understood, sir,” Kaidan said, saluting. “Is that all?”
“That’s all, Major,” the admiral nodded. “Hackett out.”
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes slowly opened as the rays of Celestia’s sun flooded in through her large crystalline window. Turning over to check her clock, the princess was surprised to find that the time was nearing nine o’clock. She hadn’t slept this late in months, but then again, she hadn’t met aliens in months either. Slowly crawling out from beneath her thick covers, Twilight began to go over in her head what her plan for the day was. Princess Luna and her friends would be joining her shortly, and they would teleport back to the Normandy at ten o’clock. Once there, more formal negotiations would begin regarding the ponies’ place in the galaxy. She also hoped to take at least one of them to the Reaper so that they could examine, and confirm that it was dead.
Trotting down the stairs to the main hall of her expansive castle, Twilight was surprised to find Princess Luna already present. She had on her back a pair of saddlebags, decorated on each side with her cutie mark. The princess of the night moved around the main hall, examining the natural crystal construction of the castle. She turned around as she heard Twilight approach, and smiled warmly.
“Greetings, Twilight,” she said, bowing her head. “Will we be leaving soon?”
“I told our new friends that we’d be arriving around ten,” Twilight answered. “My friends should be around shortly. In the meantime, we can plan out what we’re going to talk about.”
“Celestia and I were talking earlier this morning,” Luna began. “These early negotiations will only be preparing for the rest. We cannot make decisions on behalf of the entire planet, to do so would undermine the authority of the other species. She is meeting with the zebra, the griffons, and hopefully the changelings soon.”
“The changelings?” Twilight wondered. “Why are they being brought along?”
“If we do not include them in discussions this important, they will take offense, and may become hostile to us once again,” Luna explained. “The mutual peace we have managed to establish is shaky at best. It relies only on both sides not wanting war. Should we do anything to change that, we will have a problem on our hooves.
“The main group I’m concerned about are the griffons. Prime Minister Sharptooth is trying his best to deal with their domestic problems, but he is losing ground and influence. Hopefully news such as this can help to reunify the griffons…” Twilight was at first confused about what the princess was talking about, until she remembered the events that took place four months ago. After the collectors had staged their weapon test over the griffon capital, the griffon people began to lose faith in Sharptooth. Where once he was a very well respected political leader, he began facing more opposition as griffons believed he could no longer protect them. This had escalated dramatically four months ago, when a group of griffon extremists attacked the Prime Minister’s castle, destroying several rooms and killing many castle staff. That had marked the beginning of an undeclared insurgency, which was beginning to gain power. Sharptooth was doing what he could to keep the peace and dispel the rebellion, but it was not going particularly well.
“Hopefully he can make it…” Twilight said, frowning. Her attention was drawn away from the princess of the night as the door to her castle opened, and five mares entered, all of them wearing excited expressions.
“Howdy Twilight! Howdy Princess Luna!” Applejack greeted, waving a hoof. The five mares stopped in front of the two princesses, all of them smiling.
“Greetings, everypony,” Luna answered, bowing her head.
“Hey everyone,” Twilight said, smiling back. It was now that Twilight noticed a covered tray resting on Pinkie Pie’s back. She stared quizzically at the pony, not even having to ask for an explanation.
“I made cupcakes!” the party mare exclaimed, pulling the tray off of her back and opening it. Sure enough, there were two dozen cupcakes arranged in the tray with bright pink frosting. “I didn’t have a chance to test my cooking when Legion was here because he eats nuclear fusion! And I didn’t know what nuclear fusion tasted like or how to make it, so I couldn’t make him anything! Do you think our new friends will like them?”
“I’m sure they’ll love them, Pinkie,” Twilight replied. “If they can even eat them. We have no idea what their diets are like!”
“Regardless, I’m sure they will appreciate the gesture,” Luna added. “One more thing, however. Celestia wishes for us to bring a few of the aliens back to Canterlot for the foreign leaders to meet, and so we can run some quick medical evaluations on them to make sure they haven’t brought any plagues.”
“Good thinking,” Twilight said. “Well we’ve still got close to forty-five minutes before we have to go, so for now… we wait.”
Kaidan stared at his reflection in the mirror before him, examining the attire he had on. It was not often that he put on his dress blues, but it also was not often that he held negotiations with aliens. Running his hands down the uniform to remove some wrinkles, Kaidan stepped away from the mirror, satisfied. Stepping out of the Normandy crew quarters, the soldier crossed the hall and entered the elevator, setting his destination for the CIC. Once there he would go to the meeting room and quickly brief the rest of the squad on the plans of the day.
The elevator door opened as it reached the CIC, and Kaidan stepped out, immediately taking a right through the security checkpoint and to the meeting room. Already there was the rest of Shepard’s squad, all of them waiting expectantly. The major noticed that Joker was not present, likely he was still mourning. All eyes were on Kaidan as he entered the meeting area and took his place at the head of the table.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” he began. “I just thought I should brief you on what we’ll be doing today. The main event will be preliminary negotiations with the ponies. We’ll be talking with princesses Luna and Twilight, and I’d like one representative from each race here to be present. That means me, Garrus, Tali, Liara, and Javik. While these talks are going on, James, I’d like you to take the rest of the ponies on a tour of the ship. Be sure to stop them by Chakwas in the medical bay, she wants to run some quick tests. Any questions?”
“Must I be present?” Javik asked, glaring. “I am the only prothean left alive in the galaxy. How can I represent a species that no longer exists?”
“It’s a good will gesture,” Kaidan explained. “Having one of each of us will show that we’re all interested in them.”
“I am not interested in them,” the prothean countered. “I simply wish to return to the rest of the galaxy.”
“Javik, you need to be there,” Kaidan pressured. “If we send a bad message because one of our alien crew isn’t present, we may never be able to return to the rest of the galaxy.”
“… Very well…” Javik growled.
“Anyone else?” Kaidan asked, gauging the room. When nobody else spoke up, Kaidan nodded and prepared himself for the next order of business. “One more thing… I was talking with Admiral Hackett earlier. He tells me that all geth ships that didn’t make it through the Relay are empty. The same thing that happened to EDI happened to them.”
“Do they know why?” Tali asked curiously.
“They think the Crucible did it,” the major explained. “They think that it killed the Reapers by destroying the programs that, when combined, make them self-aware. If they were similar enough to EDI and the geth, then the Crucible wouldn’t have been able to differentiate between the two.”
“But… Why would Shepard do that?” Garrus wondered, squinting his small eyes. “He went through a lot of trouble to save the geth, and he supported EDI and Joker’s relationship from day one. Why would he undo that?”
“Perhaps he didn’t know,” Liara suggested. “Or perhaps it was the only way. We may never know. If Shepard… survived… he will have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Yeah…” Kaidan whispered. “Well… our guests should be here soon, we should head to the airlock and meet them. Dismissed.”
Doctor David Foster stood, frustrated, in front of one of two QECs, scowling at the uncooperative device. Once again he tried to establish a connection, and once again he was met with the same error.
“Cannot achieve connection with Cronos Station. Please try again later.”
Sighing, Foster decided finally to take the computer’s advice and try again later. Granted this was his second round of attempts; his first had been the day before, to report the presence of a Reaper and an Alliance vessel. When that had not worked, he had hypothesized that there was some form of interference from the ‘red wave of energy’. But now that it had been over twenty-four hours, he was beginning to worry.
The last time he had been contacted by the Illusive Man was four days ago, when his boss reported that they had finally found a way to control the Reapers. If the attack on Equestria was any indicator, that plan had either failed, or had not yet been completed. Regardless, that Foster could not achieve a connection was worrying.
Stepping out of the room devoted to the two QECs, the doctor re-entered the operations room of his facility. Cerberus logos decorated the white walls, serving as a constant reminder of their mission. On one wall was a large screen, upon which was a map of the planet. Still present were the three flashing dots, but Foster’s eyes were drawn to the one closest to the bottom: the Reaper. They could not get any scientists out there to examine it without revealing themselves to the ponies, and that was not something that they wanted. Their mission was meant to be entirely clandestine: get in, complete the objective, and get out with their prize. Their objective was not conventional for Cerberus, but it was merely a means to an end. Once human dominance had been secured, it would be discarded.
“Sir,” a tech said, stepping up behind the doctor. “The first device is finished.”
“Good,” Foster said, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly. “Have it distributed as soon as possible.” The technician nodded and stepped away, leaving the doctor alone to examine the map. With a press of a button it zoomed in on the country where they had made their home, highlighting all of the major cities. Unrest was growing, and Foster intended to use it. Cerberus was a powerful organization – with the right resources and the right timing, they could make anything work.
Princess Celestia paced back and forth in the royal meeting room of the castle, trying to calm her nerves. It was not often that the solar princess allowed herself to become so nervous, but it was not often that she was faced with circumstances such as these. When Legion had arrived, it had been small scale. He was just one alien, and he was fairly cooperative. Now Celestia had an entire ship of aliens on her hooves, and had had one of her cities attacked by a Reaper. If that was not a potential recipe for disaster, the solar princess did not know what was. Sighing, she finally stopped her pacing and took a seat at the long marble meeting table that dominated the room. No sooner had she sat down than the door opened, signaling the entrance of the zebra president. The mare stepped into the room, her eyes wide open and a warm smile adorning her lips. A set of golden bands jingled around her neck with each step she took to meet the princess of Equestria.
“Celestia,” the president greeted, smiling. “It is so good to see you again.”
“Malkia,” Celestia responded, standing up from her chair and reciprocating the smile. “It has been far too long. How are you?”
“The years have been good,” Malkia answered, meandering throughout the room. “Zebrica is at peace, our people are prosperous. But from what I hear, that is not the case for Equestria.” The president turned to face the princess. “Tell me: what truth is there in these reports of a ‘metal insect’ that attacked one of your cities?”
“I’m afraid it is nothing but true,” Celestia said somberly, frowning. “That is partly why I have asked you here today. But before I explain anything, I believe it would be wise to wait for our other guests.”
“Guests?” Malkia asked. “As in, more than one? I was aware that you had invited Sharptooth, but who else is attending?”
“Well…” the princess faltered, her eyes straying from the zebra before her. “You are aware of the changeling incursions from several months ago, yes?” Malkia nodded. “After that was… dealt with… we saw fit to attempt peace talks. As part of promoting peace I… invited one of them.” Malkia reacted better than Celestia had expected. While a look of surprise did cross her face for a moment, in the same amount of time it was back to its calm demeanor.
“I see,” she said. “And while I wish I had been told this beforehoof, it is good that peace with the changelings may be within your grasp. So, where is their representative?”
“I don’t even know if he will show up,” Celestia replied. “If they don’t flat-out ignore our message, they may not be in a position to come. But I suppose we will see.” Malkia nodded, and took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs in the room. Celestia did the same, and the two sat in silence for several moments. It was broken by the door opening once more and the sound of sharp talons clacking on the marble floors. Both Celestia and Malkia turned around to face the newcomer, and were met with the sight of an unfamiliar griffon. His brown feathers ruffled, and he looked around the room with his golden eyes.
“Hello,” Celestia said after a moment of silence. “Welcome to Canterlot. I assume you are the griffon representative?”
“Yes, your highness,” the griffon said in a deep voice, bowing his head. “I am Senator Proudwing of Gryphonia. Prime Minister Sharptooth apologizes for not being here, but you two are aware of the situation brewing.”
“Indeed,” Malkia spoke up. “Has Sharptooth made any progress in talking down the insurgents?”
“This insurgency is past the point of talking, madam president,” Proudwing began, walking around the table to a chair opposite Malkia. “This is no demonstration by a few grieved citizens, this is an armed rebellion! Just this morning a government building was razed to the ground in one of our smaller towns! The government officials working there were all burned alive in the center of town for all to see! There is no more room for negotiations…” Celestia’s eyes widened in shock at the news. She knew it was getting bad, especially after the attack on Sharptooth’s castle four months prior. But she had expected it to be dispelled rather easily. Clearly she had been mistaken…
“Sharptooth’s people have every right to be upset with their government,” she said. “But to take it to such lengths? That is… awful.”
“We will deal with it, princess,” the griffon said, nodding. “But we are not here to talk about griffon domestic problems. We are here to talk about Equestria. Shall we begin?”
“Not quite,” Celestia answered. “We’re still waiting for our final guest…”
“Final guest? Who—“
Proudwing never got to finish his question before the door opened and a guard poked his head inside.
“Your highness?” the guard started. “Um… he’s here…” Celestia raised her eyebrows, honestly surprised that their third guest had decided to show up.
“Send him in,” she ordered. Nodding, the guard ducked his head back out of the doorframe. A moment later a pony-shaped creature wearing a hooded cloak stepped into the room. The cloak obscured all of the creature’s features, but Celestia knew exactly what he was. He navigated around the room, taking a seat opposite Celestia.
“And who is this?” Proudwing asked. “Our third guest? Well, off with your hood!” The third complied, and jerked his head back, sending the hood flying off. When he did, the griffon gasped and leapt out of his chair.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Peace, Mr. Proudwing,” Celestia urged. “The changeling is here because I asked him to be here. We are attempting peace with them, and I thought that this matter was important enough to include them.” Lowering his head, Proudwing reassumed his seat.
“Forgive me…” he whispered. Nodding, Celestia turned her head to the changeling.
“What is your name?” she asked.
“You know me, princess,” he answered. “I am Erebus, temporary leader of the changelings.”
“Ah, Erebus,” Celestia repeated, remembering the changeling that Twilight and Cadance had captured while she had been in the custody of Chrysalis. “It is good to have you in my castle again.”
“Do not attempt to flatter me with lies, Celestia,” Erebus hissed. “We both know that you want nothing more than for me to leave, and for my hive to die. But if this matter is important enough to involve my kind, then let us get it over with.” Sighing, Celestia nodded.
“Very well.” Looking around the room, Celestia found all eyes on her. Gulping, Celestia prepared to tell them her tale.
“I know that Erebus already knows, but Proudwing, to what extent did Sharptooth explain the changeling situation from seven months ago?” the princess asked.
“He told me everything,” Proudwing answered. “Had we not just been attacked, he would have been far angrier at you.”
“Angry about what?” Malkia inquired. “What am I missing?” Sighing, Celestia turned to regard the president.
“Eight months ago, the changelings infected my country with a disease and kidnapped my ponies,” she began. “But you already knew this. What you did not know were the specifics of the virus, or who developed it. Malkia, it was not of changeling origin. The virus that infected my ponies was alien.”
“A… Alien?” the president sputtered. “What do you mean, alien!?”
“As in aliens not from this world,” Celestia continued. “They were called the collectors. They were harvesting ponies because of our ability to harness magic. The collectors then used our own magic to power a weapon of mass destruction. A weapon which was tested on Gryphonia.”
“The attack on our capital, Malkia,” the griffon explained. “I recall you sent us quite a bit of aid, for which we are forever grateful. We told you it was a diamond dog bomb. It was not.”
“The collectors were eventually defeated, of course,” Celestia picked back up. “Though it was not by us. Rather, it was completed by another alien named Legion, of a species known as the geth. He was friendly to Equestria, and helped us while he was stranded here. When he finally gained the ability to leave and return home, we wanted to accompany him. He would not allow it. He warned us of a race of alien machines called the Reapers who were going to attack his kind and many others among the stars. If he took one of us, not only ponykind, but all of Equis would be at risk.
“That was seven months ago. Malkia, yesterday’s attack on Las Pegasus, the one carried out by the giant metal insect… that was a Reaper.” Malkia stared down at the table, her eyes wide and pupils small. She glanced up at the princess, her expression unreadable.
“When were you planning on telling the zebra about this?” she asked quietly.
“Fear not, Malkia, for we did intend to tell you,” the princess said. “We were going to wait until Legion returned, as that would mean the Reapers had been defeated. We would then reveal his existence and the existence of other aliens to the entire world. But Legion never returned. However, others did…
“The Reaper was killed by a red wave of energy that passed over the planet. I have no doubts that you saw it, and that you were confused as to what it was. Following this red wave of energy was another spaceship, this one occupied by several alien races who were friends of Legion. It crashed in the Everfree forest, and Twilight and Luna are there now. They are peaceful, and we are working on negotiations with them. I simply saw fit to inform you and include you in the negotiations. These decisions affect more than just Equestria.”
“Yes, they do,” Proudwing said. “Thank you for thinking to include us. So, when shall we meet them?”
“After Luna and Twilight conclude their negotiations,” Celestia answered. “They will bring a few back here. We will have them examined by doctors to ensure that they are safe, then we will be given the opportunity to meet them. In the meantime, a lounge has been prepared for all of you. Please follow the guard outside, and he will escort you.”
“Thank you, Celestia,” Malkia said, standing up. “I wish that you had told us about all of this earlier, but I suppose it’s better late than never.” With that she exited crossed the room and exited through the door. Proudwing and Erebus were quick to follow her, and in seconds Celestia found herself alone once again. Letting out a sigh of relief, the solar princess stood from her chair. The meeting had gone better than she expected, but it was far from over. Stepping up to a large window and gazing out, the princess found her eyes being drawn to the Everfree forest. Luna, Twilight, and the other Elements would be arriving by now. She hoped that their meeting went as well as hers had…
Pushing down the creases in his ever-present short-sleeved shirt, James stood next to Kaidan and the rest of the greeting party for the ponies. They stood before the door to the airlock, waiting for the proximity alarms to once again be tripped. Then the princesses would go with Kaidan and the other “representatives” to negotiate while James would take the ponies on a tour. The lieutenant was not sure why Major Alenko had chosen him to lead the tour, but he was not going to complain. James was social enough, spending an hour or so showing a few ponies around the ship didn’t sound that bad…
A green light above the airlock lit up, signaling that the proximity sensors had been tripped. Straightening his back, James stood at the ready as he hear the outer airlock door opening. A moment later it closed, and the inner door opened, revealing their seven guests. Kaidan stepped up to the dark blue one – Princess Luna, James remembered – and extended his hand. The princess took it for a quick shake before stepping into the ship itself.
“Welcome back aboard the Normandy, your highness,” Kaidan said, walking beside the princess.
“Please, you needn’t worry about such titles,” the princess stated, holding up a hoof. “To those who are not my subjects, I am simply Luna. Or princess, if you wish.”
“Very well, princess,” Kaidan continued. “Shall we begin?”
“Yes, but where is Joker?” Luna asked, looking around. “Is he not in command of this vessel?” Kaidan drew in a sharp breath, and lowered his eyes.
“He’s… not available right now…” he answered. “I’ll explain later. For now, why don’t you and Princess Twilight come with me to the meeting room. Everybody else can accompany James here for a quick tour.” The major pointed out the new human to the five non-royal ponies, who all turned their gazes to him.
“Uh, hey,” James said, waving. “I’m James.”
“We’ll go on ahead,” Kaidan said, stepping past the lieutenant. “James, you’ll probably wrap up before us. Just hang on in starboard observation until we’re done.” Saluting, James stood back as Kaidan escorted the princesses down the CIC and through the door at the back into the meeting room. As soon as it closed, James turned around, finding himself alone with the ponies.
“Hey, so as I already said, I’m James, nice to meet you all,” the lieutenant repeated. “What’s up?” The five ponies all stared at him quizzically, making the soldier feel quite self-conscious. Deciding to skip formalities, James jumped right in.
“The room that you’re in right now is called the CIC, or combat information center. It’s the main room of the ship, where most of the crew works at their stations. Up here closer to the airlock are subsystems, where we can monitor security, life support, and other basic systems. Down here are the more important parts…” James turned and began walking down the CIC to the back, towards the hologram of the ship. The ponies followed behind, silently staring in awe at the technology.
“Around the hologram are sensors, weapons monitoring, kinetic barrier monitoring, and at the back is the galaxy map. From that map, we can pick any destination in the galaxy, as long as there’s a Mass Relay available. The coordinates are sent up to the cockpit up front where the helmsman does all the navigating. Come on, let’s head down to deck three…” Gesturing to the elevator, James led the ponies into the small room, pressing the button for the crew deck as soon as they were all inside. As the elevator made its short descent, James looked down at his tour group.
“You’re all a quiet bunch, huh?” he asked.
“Well, not always…” one of them finally said, speaking in a distinct southern accent. James looked to the pony, finding her to be an orange mare wearing a brown Stetson. On her flank was a tattoo of three red apples. James eyed the tattoo curiously, but decided to ask about it later. “It’s just… Princesses Luna and Twilight told us to be extra careful…”
“Yeah, why’s that?”
“She’s worried we might break something…” another pony said, this one in a higher-pitched, scratchy voice. James found this one to be a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane. She seemed to be itching to fly, but the close-quarters nature of the elevator made it difficult to do so.
“Ah, don’t worry about that,” James said, laughing. “Normandy is a state-of-the-art ship. You’d have to try pretty hard to break something in here.” All at once, the ponies let out sighs of relief from breaths they had been holding. “You don’t have to be so quiet. If you’ve got any questions, just ask.” As soon as he was finished speaking, the door to the elevator opened, revealing the memorial wall. The lieutenant made to walk straight past it, but was stopped as one pony spoke.
“What’s that…?” she asked in a soft, barely audible voice. Turning around, James backtracked a bit and came to stand next to the yellow pegasus who had asked the question, staring at the wall.
“That’s the memorial wall,” he explained. “On it are the names of crew members who have died while serving on this ship.”
“That’s a lot of names…” a white unicorn observed. “Did you know them well?”
“Nah, I’m still pretty new here,” James answered. He reached for a name on the second column, pulling the plaque off. “This one is Legion’s…”
“Y’all knew Legion?” the orange one asked.
“Yeah, I met him,” the lieutenant replied. “I was about ready to blow his head off when Shepard brought him aboard, but… I got to know him a bit. He wasn’t half bad…” There was a moment of silence as the ponies lowered their heads. James paused before placing the plaque back on the wall, then stepped away.
“Let’s keep going,” he said. The ponies seemed eager to take their minds off of Legion, so the followed him rather quickly. James led them only a few feet to the left, to a door labelled ‘crew quarters’. Pressing the release hologram, the door opened and James stepped into the empty room. Normally it was populated by at least a few crew members, but right now they all had their work cut out for them. There was no time for rest.
“These are the crew quarters,” James explained. The white unicorn stepped forward, her face scrunched up in disgust.
“You sleep here?” she remarked, surprised. “These beds do not look comfortable at all!”
“Yeah, they’re really not,” James admitted. “But military budget doesn’t allow for too much spending on comfort. It all goes into top-of-the-line technology and R&D. But hey, after a while it ain’t so bad.”
“I cannot imagine having to sleep on one of these,” the unicorn continued, crossing over to one of the beds. She pressed down on it with her hoof, watching as the mattress hardly gave way. She shuddered, and stepped away. “Let us continue on…” Nodding, James turned around and took them to the other end of the hall to the life support room. He briefly explained what all of the machinery did, but none of the ponies seemed particularly interested in its function. Deciding to cut that room short, James moved on to the adjacent room: the port observation deck.
“This is one of my favorite rooms,” he began, looking between the poker table and the bar.
“Why?” the pink pony asked, speaking up for the first time. James struggled to look her in the eyes with such a massive mane on her head. He also noticed a covered box tied around her torso, resting on her back.
“It’s, uh… real nice to relax in,” James explained, choosing not to tell them about the variety of alcohol behind the counter. “What’s in the box?”
“It’s a surpri-ise~!” she answered in a high-pitched voice. “Just wait and see!” Nodding cautiously, James turned and walked out of the room, taking the ponies into the mess hall next. They seemed somewhat surprised at his mention of meat on the menu, but otherwise did not say anything more.
The rest of the tour of the crew deck went by quickly. He took them through Liara’s office, though he did not linger there long for fear of breaking something, then took them up to the main battery. The rainbow-haired one – who he learned was named Rainbow Dash – seemed very intrigued by the size of the cannon. James was worried he was going to have to physically restrain her from touching anything, for fear of having her mess up any of Garrus’s careful calibrations.
Next he decided to take them through the medbay to meet Doctor Chakwas. Kaidan had wanted the ponies to be examined for possible diseases, so James figured that now was as good a time as any. The doctor was where she usually was, sitting in her chair running tests at her computer. She did, however, turn around to face the lieutenant and the ponies as they entered.
“Hello, lieutenant,” she greeted. “I assume these are our guests?”
“Yes, ma’am,” James answered, stepping to the side of the room as the doctor stood up.
“Excellent,” Chakwas said, activating her omni-tool. “Now, with your permission, I would like to run a few non-invasive tests on you.”
“Tests?” the orange one asked. “What kinds of tests?”
“Nothing painful, just simple scans to see if you are carrying any microorganisms that could harm us,” the doctor explained, stepping up to the ponies.
“Hey, I haven’t got any microorganisms!” Rainbow Dash protested, shooting up into the air and flapping her wings aggressively.
“Please, I did not mean any offense,” Chakwas said. “But a microorganism that could be entirely unnoticeable to you could be deadly to us. It is simply a precaution.”
“She has a point, dears,” the white unicorn said, stepping forward. “You may do me first.” Smiling, Chakwas ran her omni-tool over the pony, watching as scan results appeared above it.
“What is your name, miss?” Chakwas asked.
“Rarity, doctor.”
“Hello Rarity, I am Doctor Chakwas,” she introduced. A moment later she stopped waving her omni-tool, and lowered her arm. “My omni-tool is not picking up anything harmful to us. It’s not exactly medical procedure, but I am going to assume that the rest of you are in the same condition. However, if you don’t mind, I would like to take a blood sample from one of you.”
“Ah’ll do it,” the orange one volunteered, stepping forward. “Name’s Applejack, howdy.”
“Thank you, Applejack,” Chakwas said, retrieving a syringe and a thin tourniquet from her desk. Applejack extended her forearm, and Chakwas tied the tourniquet just above the elbow. Then in one quick motion she plunged the syringe into Applejack’s arm, drawing the plunger back. As it came back the tube was filled with crimson blood. As soon as it was full, Chakwas withdrew the syringe and placed it on her desk. She placed a band-aid on Applejack’s arm and removed the tourniquet, smiling gratefully at the pony.
“Thank you once again,” she said. “This will help very much.” Tipping her had forward, Applejack returned to the group.
“All right, is that all doc?” James asked.
“That is all, thank you James,” Chakwas replied, turning her attention to the syringe. Nodding, James turned and exited the medical bay with the ponies right behind him. Next they would hit the engineering deck, and after that the hangar. As he stepped into the elevator, James’s thoughts turned to the negotiations one deck up. As the small box began its descent, he hoped that the talks were going well…
EARLIER
Princess Luna followed Kaidan into the meeting room of Normandy, with Twilight Sparkle right behind her. Also present were the other aliens she had met the day before: Tali, Garrus, Liara, and Javik. They all filed into the cramped room and took positions around a high wooden table, leaving two spaces open for the ponies. Luna stepped into one of them, finding herself standing next to Tali. Twilight took up position next to her, standing beside Garrus.
“Alright, before we begin, I guess I should explain why Joker’s not overseeing all of this,” Kaidan began, taking his position at the head of the table. “The Normandy had an AI onboard named EDI.”
“An AI?” Twilight interrupted. “Like Legion?”
“Similar, I suppose,” Kaidan answered. “They were both self-aware computers, but Legion was a collection of over a thousand programs. EDI was just one single personality, which was made possible by using Reaper tech in her systems. She and Joker were… together. Certainly not normal considering that, besides the geth, EDI is the only AI in the galaxy. Shortly after the crash, it was determined that EDI’s computer systems had been wiped. To put it another way, she was effectively found dead.”
“That’s awful!” Luna exclaimed, feeling sorrow for the human. “Is he going to be okay?” Kaidan looked down and shook his head.
“He’s keeping to himself in the cockpit right now,” he said. “Joker would never admit to being upset, but we all know he is. He’ll recover, he just needs time.
“Unfortunately, there’s more. I talked to Admiral Hackett this morning. According to him, all of the geth warships they came across were entirely empty as well. The exact same thing that killed EDI killed them. All of them.”
“Every single geth in the galaxy?” Twilight asked quietly, sadness seeping into her voice. “They’re dead?”
“Yes,” Kaidan confirmed, nodding. “We think we know what caused it. The Crucible – the device we used to kill the Reapers – may have affected other self-aware machines as well. This is still unconfirmed, but right now it sounds like the most likely theory.”
“That is… quite unfortunate,” Luna observed. “But they are machines. Is there no hope of restoring them?”
“It could be possible, I’m not sure,” the human said. “But if not, we can rebuild them. It wouldn’t be entirely the same, but at least we’d have them back.” There was silence for a moment as no one spoke.
“Perhaps we should continue with the talks,” Javik finally said in his deep, rolling voice.
“Javik is right, let’s get this rolling,” Kaidan agreed. “Now, we cannot introduce your planet to the galactic community if there is not unanimous consent from all of the other races.”
“My sister is meeting with the leaders of the zebra, griffon, and changeling nations as we speak,” Luna said. “Once we get their consent, we will try to send emissaries to the dragons and the diamond dogs. If they’re not immediately killed or taken prisoner, it shouldn’t be too difficult to convince them.”
“Alright,” Kaidan said, nodding. “Now, as you already know, uplifting a relatively primitive species is a… divisive issue. You wouldn’t be introduced to the galaxy at large until the leaders of the Citadel races got to meet you here. Now right now the races are a bit disorganized because of the Reapers, but as soon as they get back on their feet they’ll be sending a fleet here. Any questions?”
“No, just one request,” Luna began. “Like the species of the galaxy, the races on this planet would like to meet you as well. As I said, my sister is meeting with the griffon, zebra, and changeling leaders. With your consent, I would like to take one of each race back to Canterlot with me to meet them. Additionally we would like to perform basic medical evaluations of each of you to confirm that none of you brought anything harmful to us.”
“Very understandable, and I’ll definitely accompany you,” Kaidan agreed. “What about you guys? Tali, Garrus, Liara, Javik?”
“It may be difficult to perform medical evaluations on me because of the suit, but I can try,” Tali said.
“I’ve got no objections,” Garrus nodded.
“Nor do I,” Liara added. All eyes were now on Javik, who glared at the princess with his four eyes.
“I will not let such a primitive species touch me,” he finally said, just barely above a whisper.
“Javik!” Kaidan shouted. “I know Shepard cooperated with you fairly loosely, but I won’t. I’m not going to let you compromise this potential friendship by refusing to comply.”
“Please, Kaidan,” Luna interjected, holding up a hoof. “I understand. I am not forcing anypony to accompany us, but if you do not I must restrict you to this ship. I cannot allow you to walk around in Equestria if you are potentially infecting the population.”
“That is fine by me,” Javik accepted.
“Alright then…” Major Alenko sighed. “Well before we go there are a few more things to discuss, so let’s get right to it…”
LATER
James Vega tiredly took a seat in the starboard observation lounge, letting out a breath as he did so. His five new pony friends all filled in behind him, each of them taking seats of their own around the room. Fluttershy and Rarity both went to the window and stared out at the forest beyond, while Applejack went to console an annoyed Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie sat in the middle of the room, a comically large smile on her face. James looked to the rainbow-maned pegasus, amused at how annoyed she still was after their incident in engineering.
When the tour had taken them to the engineering room, Engineer Donnelly had made a joke comment about Dash’s flank, which apparently the pegasus had found offensive. James nearly had to pry her off of him before she could cause any damage. He was not surprised that Donnelly had made the comment – it was exactly the type of thing he would do. Instead, James was more surprised at how strong the pegasus actually was. Even for a very well-built man such as himself, it had not been easy to restrain Dash.
Taking his eyes off of the pony, James instead diverted his attention to Pinkie Pie and the box tied around her back.
“Can I see what’s in the box now?” he asked, grinning. Pinkie closed her eyes and trotted over to the human, coming to a stop just in front of him. Then, in one graceful motion, she bucked her backside up, sending the box flying into the air, which she expertly caught in her mouth on its way down. James stared at the display, impressed, but no less curious. His curiosity was finally satiated when Pinkie opened the box, revealing several dozen professionally prepared cupcakes. Despite the acrobatics routine they had just been through, each one seemed perfectly intact.
“Ger ehrn!” she said through the box. “Trer wern ert!” Shrugging, James picked one of the cupcakes out of the box and bit into it. Immediately there was an explosion of flavor in his mouth. His eyes widened as he swallowed the first bite, and was left speechless as he took another.
“Holy crap,” he finally said. “That’s… amazing! You make these?”
“Yup!” Pinkie answered triumphantly. “Now I can say that I make the best cupcakes in Equestria, and in the galaxy!”
“You oughta spread these around to the rest of the crew,” James suggested. “It’d help lift their morale a bit probably.”
“Great idea!” Pinkie seemed about ready to leave and fulfill her mission when the door opened, revealing Kaidan. James stood up, back straight, and saluted at the major.
“At ease,” Kaidan requested, offering a polite salute back. “Tali, Garrus, Liara, and I are heading to Canterlot with Princess Luna to meet some other diplomats. You’re in charge until I get back, understood?”
“Got it,” James said, nodding. “You don’t want me to come with?”
“Just one of each species will be fine,” the major answered. “We’ll be back sometime later today. Be good, don’t blow anything up.”
“No promises, sir,” James said, chuckling. “Good luck.” Nodding, Kaidan turned and left, the door closing behind him. James turned back to the ponies, still eyeing Pinkie’s cupcakes. He slowly returned to a sitting position on the couch, grabbed another cupcake, and took a bite. If this was what could be expected of a friendship with the ponies, James would not be opposed at all…
There was a bright flash of light, and when it cleared Kaidan found himself in a place drastically different from his point of origin. Instead of the dimly-lit CIC of the Normandy, the major saw ornate marble columns supporting a very high ceiling, with intricate stain-glassed windows letting light in from the outside world. Stretching on for hundreds of meters was a very long hallway, the floor of which was adorned with a rich red carpet. Standing next to him were his compatriots from the Normandy, as well as Princess Luna. Looking around, he found himself right next to a large wooden door with two pony guards standing by it. If they were alarmed at the presence of aliens, they did not show it. Luna motioned for Kaidan to follow as she pushed open the door and stepped inside. The human complied and stepped into the room, discovering that it was a meeting room much fancier than the one aboard Normandy.
The table was far longer as was cut out of marble, and there were several cushioned chairs situated around it. Sitting in one of the chairs was a rather large pony of the same species as Luna. She had a shining white coat with a multi-colored mane that waved in a non-existent wind. Also occupying the room were three other creatures. One was quite clearly a zebra, and the half-eagle-half-lion creature he assumed was a griffon. The third resembled a pony, but had no coat to speak of. Instead it featured a black chitinous exoskeleton with a pair of glowing blue eyes. The bottomless eyes studied the human, and Kaidan immediately felt exposed. He instinctively reached for his thigh to equip a pistol, but found it empty. Pushing away the discomfort, Kaidan stepped further into the room and took a seat in one of the empty chairs. Tali, Garrus, and Liara did the same, and soon everyone was seated.
“Well then,” said the tall white pony. “Let us begin.”
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nice
Please do a Garuus 'Calibrations' joke in the next chapter!
Good story so far, but somethings bugging me. Wouldn't Cerberus establish a backup plan should something happen to EDI or her data core? Like building a backup core within the ship no one knows, an OSD that contains her and disconnected when the Normandy got hit, or she transferred herself into her robot body and shutdown.
Being that EDI, the Normandy, and Sheppard's resurrection are heavy investments in resources and finances from Cerberus, it would illogical that they wouldn't establish a contingency plan for the three. They even cloned Sheppard.
Other than that little nugget, keep up the good work.
Heh... calibrations...
... what happened to doing a medical check for pathogens before meeting the other nation's representatives?
Exciting chapter, thanks.
MMMMMOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR......please!
Now , Garrus need to find himself a nice mare to callibrate with.
Also , too bad that TIM is dead , I would have liked to see him talk with Celestia , one leader to another.
This was a great chapter. The plot seems very well thought out. Javik seems like more of a dick than I have been led to believe by other fics.
Now the hard part begins. Looking forward to reading more soon.
God dammit Shepard, you just couldn't have picked synergy could you? Now look at what happened!
This is why in 3 I never take the red option, I couldn't kill EDI or the geth like that. I could not see a paragon Shepard sacrificing all those allies in a mass genocide when he had other options. I always preferred the green option myself.
I do hope the author has a legit reason for picking the Red option, otherwise this seems all pointless, on some fronts.
5817022 I suspect that that wouldn't be enough to protect her from the crucible. Only the author can say for sure.
I don't really know if I want to read this... I am not a huge fan of the mass effect universe but I do enjoy it, and the main reason that I read the first story is that I have always liked Legion as a character. Now that Legion is effectively 'dead' I can't decide if continuing this story will be worth my time. No offence to the author.
5817022 Hmm, I would think that the red energy pulse would have destroyed all traces of Artificial Intelligence. I think that even if EDI made back ups of herself and stored them some where, they too would have been destroyed. As for Cerberus, they probably had all the backups of their data at their main laboratory. The same lab that all the techs wiped all their data before the station fell into Alliance control. Unless this doctor was the same one that worked on EDI originally, sad to say EDI is gone.
And I just want to make the sad point that this would leave Joker without any true loved ones, seeing as his family didn't make it off Tiptree. and the love of his life is gone.
Unfortunately, if some earlier copy of EDI is still around, the best case would be if it was right after attacking the collector base, when she was unshackled, and her personality had partly begun to develop. A worst case scenario of finding EDI would be when she was first introduced. She could develop along the same path again, but who's to say that EDI might become more self preserving, and thought of herself, more than the crew, including Jeff, in times of peace.
They
Exellent continue on the story. Though I think in Mass Effect lore that the mass relays couldn't be repaired thus literary stranding everyone wherever they may be. I catched that snippet from the developer blog of Mass Effect 4(or whatever its name was gonna be). Taking place over a couple of dacades after the ending off Mass Effect 3 focusing on a Turian trapped on earth as the protaganist.
I always found the conversations with the engineers to be quite entertaining. So I'm really curious what Donnelly said to Dash. I could guess, we all could, but I know Spartan D014 could think of something better than I.
Nope, but they're designed after one! #Leviathans
Have they checked EDI's mobile platform? I just finished the Citadel DLC and now I know that EDI can survive inside the robot -though at severely limited capacity- without her AI core on the Normandy, I wonder if some small part of her programming survived on that... I suddenly have the image of her AI core as a computer and her robot body as a USB drive
Based on the general way fimfiction authors treat deaths like EDI's, I am 80-90% sure that EDI will survive.
AAAARGH. I can't read this fast enough to satiate my rampant interest! I want to know what happens next but I can't skim through the story for fear of missing something.
5817022
All of those would have been hit by the red wave, rendering them as useless as the original..... Though what about those one file types that Legion put in the OSD?
The Monk rereads the paragraph and sighed sadly. As an IT person he has seen this scene of destruction many times. His dreams, full of the sad faces of desperate computer users looking to him for hope. He sighs and asked the age old question he already knows the answer to. "Did you back up your data?" Sadly no one ever does.
Im absolutely not surprised no one ever bothered to back up EDI
The Monk.
Her hands were still bound with rope, she debated an escape before all the stupidity gave her an aneurysm. -Scarheart
Yeah, I would wager that - after a crash that big - Garrus' calibrations are well and truly fucked. She might as well get at the thing - there's a non-zero chance she'd actually help, by accident.
Instant teleportation is already worth including a 'starter pack' to the Galaxy i think. Since humans share roots... Perhaps?...