Mass Effect: Salvage

by N00813

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

--

Uplifting a species has massive benefits and drawbacks. The krogan race provides an example. They changed from the saviors of the galaxy to its destroyers. – Liselle O’Tyr, “Interspecies Interactions”, 2160 CE

--

Levin poked his head out of the spaceship, on the 6th deck of the spaceship – the highest. “We’ve cleaned it out!”

Then he saw the carnage around the shuttle. “What the fuck happened here?”

“Just curious wildlife. No need to shout,” Sev replied. Thankfully his suit’s computers had toned down the volume of Levin’s remark. It also had the side effect of making his shout sound flat.

“Right. At least kill the thing away from the shuttle so blood doesn’t get on it. Spirits know how hard that is to clean.”

“We can talk on the way back.”

There was a minute of radio silence as Levin and Riana made their way down to the ground deck. Both of them were holding boxes in their arms.

About time.

Riana saw the body in front of the shuttle and her hand went to her mouth. Or at least it tried to. Her helmet was in the way.
Sev chuckled. Levin had at least some discipline and training instilled in him from his time in his mandatory military service, so he was somewhat desensitized to bloodshed. Riana, on the other hand, had been a secluded, protected academic all her life. Well, up until now.

She shook her head, attempting to compose herself. “We’d better go. I want something to eat, and I can’t open this suit while planetside.”

Levin nodded and maneuvered around the boxes of relics, disappearing into the cockpit. Sev and Riana followed him into the shuttle, and sat down in one of the relatively empty spaces in the cargo bay.

They’d packed the relics in such a way that the boxes were all piled onto the locked side of the shuttle. This left Sev and Riana sitting across from one another.

“We’re in,” Riana said. She was sitting closer to the pilot door, so she was answering the intercom. This suited Sev just fine.

Levin closed the shuttle door in response, bringing the interior of the cargo bay into gloom.

“Looks like dawn right now.” Levin’s voice crackled over the intercom. “So that’s a, err, a 14 hour rotation? Seems about right. Fifteen boxes should get us –”

“Levin? Intercom’s still on.” Riana’s voice cut through Levin’s absent mutterings. Levin started, then quickly switched off the intercom channel.

“Does he do this a lot?” Sev’s voice was unchanged, but Riana thought she could detect some amusement in it.

“Oh, you have no idea.”

“You know each other well, then?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. We met at university. At the time, turians weren’t really that common on Thessia. Still aren’t now. He was always the odd one out, never really felt comfortable with us. I was a wallflower as well, so we" –

“A what?”

“Wallflower. Socially awkward, quiet, shy. I thought it translated over?”

Sev shook his head.

“Anyways, I guess we complemented one another. We grew into close friends. And before you ask, no romance.”

“Hmm…”

“Shut up.”

“Odd. You’d think Palaven would have lots of fine universities. Why’d he go away, to a foreign planet?”

“I did ask once. It didn’t go well.” Riana’s eyes were still focused on Sev, but her mind was far away, back on Thessia, 20 years ago.

-&-

University of Serrice, Thessia
20 years ago

Parnitha shone down on the grassy field outside the university campus building. The sky was clear, with only a few wispy white clouds present. They were by a lake, surface slightly rippled from the light breeze that blew eastwards.

An asari, blue-skinned and slight, stood on the shore of the lake. Beside her, a tall turian stood as well, rubbing the dark-gray plating on his face absently. Both were watching the waves move from one side of the lake to the other.

The asari turned to her companion. “Why are you here?”

The turian tried to make a joke of the question, but he didn’t succeed. “You asked me to meet you here, remember?” His mandibles flicked. The asari picked it up as a sign of nerves.

“We’ve known each other for years. You can trust me.” She was almost pleading now.

His resolve broke for a second. “I, err –” he started, before the famous turian discipline kicked into action and he closed his eyes. “I can’t. I did something I regret doing.”

The asari’s curiosity was piqued – she saw how her friend was uncomfortable, but in her inexperience she pushed for more information. “What was it? I won’t hate you, I promise,” she said, but by then the turian had already turned his back on her, and was walking away from the lake.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I need some time. Alone.”

-&-

Riana experienced the memory like she was viewing from the perspective of a third person. It helped to relieve her of some of the guilt she had felt afterwards– she hadn’t wanted to hurt Levin. She sighed, mentally reprimanding herself for her naiveté. They’d mended their relationship afterwards, of course; but there was always an unspoken agreement between them to never speak of the incident again.

Sev waved his large gauntleted hand in front of her face, taking her back to the present, aboard the shuttle.

“So, how about you? What’s your story?” she asked, more to distract herself from her memories than anything else.

“Typical merc shit. Joined Blood Pack, got off Tuchanka, left Blood Pack. They sent some men to ‘retrieve’ me. Killed them. Worked as an independent merc from then on.”

“I thought you’d stay with your clan.”

“There was no future on Tuchanka. At least I got money for killing offworld.”

Riana’s mouth hung open as she heard his words. She could hear the resignation in his voice, mixed with a bit of frustration and anger. Aren’t krogan supposed to be proud? But this one was odd. She got the feeling that he was hiding a bit more than he said.

“What was your former clan?” she asked. Damn my own curiosity…

Sev looked at her, his head tilted slightly to the side. “You’re persistent. I am – clanless.”

“What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’d be removed from records anyways. I don’t exist, according to my clan.”

A pause.

“You’re not like most krogan.”

“Yeah. Cultural influx and all that. Comes from being offworld.”

“Why don’t more krogan go offworld?”

“Only the Blood Pack had starships back then. You either pay money and risk being stabbed in the back or you join them. I didn’t have money, so I joined. And krogan; most of them are just content with killing each other on Tuchanka. For honor or something.”

They lapsed into silence after that.

-&-

Trace swore.

The general heard it but let it pass. In the Everfree forest, death could come from any dark shadow behind a tree. Poisonous frogs, spiders the size of squirrels and wolves made of flesh as well as wood all made their homes in the depths of the Everfree.

The scent of smoke hung heavily in the air. It was both a blessing and a curse – one was unable to breathe in it, yet it masked one’s scent from predators; predators, such as the manticore that used this forest path commonly, according to the scratch marks on the dark brown bark of nearby trees.

They heard a whine start up in front of them, along with a deep booming sound, and a silver vessel lifted itself off the ground with jets of fire. At this range, all the unicorns in the group could sense the waves of magic emitted by that thing. The silver material it was made from was marred with reddish splotches that looked disturbingly similar to –

“General!”

Trace’s call whisked away the absent thoughts in the general’s mind, and he called back to Trace. “Report!”

“Clearing’s charred. Burned trees everywhere. But…”

“Yes?”

“Oh my oh my oh my oh my…”

Fearful of an ambush, the general ordered his men into battle stance. They filtered carefully into the clearing, where Trace and his squad were trying not to look at a body of a manticore.

A body of a manticore.

The general knew manticores were some of the most powerful animals in Equestria, barring the dragons. The size of the body told him that this manticore was in its prime; a well-fed young adult. The creature lay dead before his feet, blood still soaking into the blackened soil.

Wounds of this magnitude were unheard of. The manticore’s head had become strips of flesh hanging off the visible bone underneath. Singes could be seen all across the exposed skull. Its legs, meanwhile, looked as if they had never been there. The only sign that they had existed were the stumps. Bits of flesh and fur were scattered around the body like gruesome confetti.

The general couldn’t fight back an urge to throw up. And he did so in front of all his guards and his six charges. At this range, the smell of blood was overpowering, and primal instincts told the general to hurtle back to the safety and cover of the forest.

He cantered over to his charges. All of them were in a similar position to him – they were all trying to hold on to their stomachs.

The pink one had scrunched up her face until her eyes were slits. She was obviously in disbelief. The purple one had her mouth open in horror, and had quickly turned away once she saw the scene. The blue pegasus and Rarity – yes, that was her name – were pressing against a yellow pegasus. The orange mare had covered her eyes with her hat. Of all of them, she seemed to be taking the scene the best. Must have been the farm life. Got used to injuries.

The general felt out of his depth. These aliens were far more powerful than he’d originally thought. He felt like a foal now, powerless in the face of danger, and shivered as a cold feeling ran down his spine.

We need the princesses.

That thought snapped him back to the present, and he made called for his troops. Everyone gave the manticore body a wide berth.

“Send a message to the princess. Tell her everything.”

The purple unicorn under his escort snapped at the blue pegasus beside her. “Rainbow, find Spike and get him to take a letter.”

The blue – Rainbow – saluted, then flew above the forest canopy and made a way for Ponyville.

Apparently the leader of this group.

“Spike?” the general asked. He wasn’t happy about involving more ponies than absolutely necessary. The resulting panic could send the economy crashing.

“Spike is my assistant. He is linked to the princess.”

“Linked?”

“He can send messages to the princess and receive them instantaneously.” She had said this as if she was reciting from a textbook. It must have been a common question for her.

“I see.”

Well, that will be faster than a messenger, at least.

The ensuing silence was as oppressive as the forest around them.

The general broke it. “Guards, clear the area. Search for anything out of place.”

The guards started an old, but well-drilled search pattern. The general could smell their fear, as potent as the smoke in the air – but their training and discipline kept them moving.

One of the guards yelped in pain. In an instant 50 guards were around her, forming a protective barrier. She was batting at her mouth, obviously having tried to pick something up. The general broke through the barrier to examine the object.
It was unremarkable at first – a black rod the size of a unicorn’s horn – but by the guard’s reaction, it was far more dangerous than it seemed. The general picked it up using levitation and examined it from all angles. Even a few hooves away, the heat radiating off the object made the general uncomfortable.

“We’ll take this in for examination,” the general sighed.

The purple unicorn – Ah yes, Twilight Sparkle – spoke up. “I’m sure I can make some room at the library to keep it.” Her face was one of unsuppressed glee, and the general had to fight the urge to chuckle at her massive, hopeful smile.

“Alas, it could be dangerous. This object could have been the cause of that.” The general nodded to the manticore’s body. “We will keep it far from town until it can be moved to Canterlot’s laboratories.”

Twilight Sparkle made to protest, but the general cut her off. “Better safe than sorry.”

He looked back at the cave system opposite them. It was ancient, yet looked like it had not gone worse for wear. There were still 6 caves, one on top of another, rectangular mouths that suggested both shelter and danger. This was hallowed soil. Supposedly, the legends said that this cave system was the original source of the fabled Elements of Harmony…

And at the birthplace of Harmony lay a dead body.

-&-

“We’re going to have to decontaminate. Strap yourselves and the cargo in.” Levin’s voice crackled over the intercom.

The shuttle sat in the corvette’s airlock, in between the exterior and interior doors. The exterior door was open to the vacuum of space, whilst the interior door had been sealed shut.

Inside the shuttle’s cargo bay, Sev and Riana draped strong netting over the boxes. This would stop them from being blown into space.

The cockpit door slid open as well. Levin had twisted in his pilot’s seat and was looking at the two. Both Sev and Riana gave the confirmations.

Levin flicked a switch and the shuttle’s cargo-bay doors slid open. They could see the air gush out of the shuttle as white mists, frozen by the cold of space. After a moment the flow slowed to a trickle, and then stopped. Riana got out of the shuttle and sealed the external door, before pressing a nearby button to start the decontamination process.

Decontamination was a standard procedure for all space-faring civilizations. The shuttle was bathed in UV light and gamma radiation to kill micro-organisms on the hull and inside the shuttle. The men aboard the shuttle would undergo armor decontamination in a separate chamber.

Even though it was accepted as necessary, it was still a boring process, in Sev’s view. Just stand there whilst the chamber runs lights over every inch of your armor. Like how C-Sec runs wands over me every time I take a step on the Citadel. He sighed.

Levin and Riana were already seated by the time he was out of decontamination. They had taken off their helmets, and were in the process of munching on ration bars. Sev recognized them as MREs. He didn’t need to eat – the stored nutrients and fluids in his shoulder hump would allow him to subsist for 2 weeks without food or water. Though who ever turns down food?

Well, someone afraid of poison.

Sev made his way over to the two. The turian handed him a nutrient bar, still in the blue wrapper.

“Blue means dextro, Sev. It’ll make you sick,” Riana said. She was looking at Levin with a frown. Levin’s mandibles twitched. Bastard, she thought.

“Krogan don’t get sick,” Sev chuckled while popping the bar in his mouth, wrapper and all. “We had to eat this shit during the Rebellions, when the turians cut our supply lines. Picked them right off the dead turians.”

Levin’s mandibles twitched again, but everyone knew it was from irritation rather than amusement this time.

Sev smiled. That action peeled back his yellow scaly skin to reveal the teeth in his massive maw.

Levin’s mandibles twitched yet again, more viciously than before.

-&-

Twilight was slightly frustrated at the general’s insistence on where to put the artifact that they had recovered, although she understood his reasoning. She scowled. In her home, she had an entire laboratory’s worth of equipment to study the artifact with. With what the general insisted upon, she’d been forced to use only equipment she could carry on her back.

She’d received a letter from the Princess, telling her that she could expect a courier to arrive and pick up the artifact. The Princess hadn’t mentioned that she couldn’t do some experimenting on her own in the meantime, though. And technically, she wasn’t breaking any rules. She hoped.

At least he wasn’t being mean about it. She got the distinct impression that he wanted the artifact as far away from himself as possible, but he didn’t want to risk an entire town being destroyed because somepony found it and accidentally activated it. So he’d decided to keep it amongst the guards, where any damage would be relatively contained and accidents minimized.

The general was waiting for her. A stone well surrounded the artifact, which lay on bare earth. Apparently they discovered that it was hot enough to melt a hole through any table they’d tried to put it on. It was so hot that it had vitrified the some of the soil beneath it into a glassy substance.

Twilight knew that dealing with hazardous materials should be left to experts – ones who had their cutie marks on such subjects. But her curiosity overcame her inhibitions, and after an internal struggle she decided to start experimenting.

She got a bucket of water from the nearby river and distilled it using a spell. This was basic – pure water weighed less than dirty water of the same volume, so all she had to do was collect the soil using her magic. She lifted the soil out of the bucket and flung it back into the river, before hefting the bucket of water back to the artifact.

The guards around the artifact looked at her curiously. Everypony else had hidden themselves away behind nearby boulders and trees. Twilight felt a bit like a performer on a stage, with thousands of eyes on her. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. Sweating, she levitated the bucket of water over the stone well and poured its innards onto the artifact.

The effect was instantaneous. A shriek of steam blasted out of the well like a volcanic eruption. Everypony jumped a few steps back, but the artifact remained inert after that.

Twilight took down a few notes. High temperature. Vitrified soil. Attempted to cool with water: Turned water into steam on contact. Recommend glass or metal containment.

The general entered the scene, alongside a pegasus. “The courier’s here,” he said, gesturing to his companion. The courier, meanwhile, was busy unscrewing a glass jar in her saddlebag. She looked to be a more lightly armored guard.

The general lifted the open glass jar from her bag, and slowly placed the artifact inside it, then screwed the lid shut and placed it back in the saddlebag carefully. The artifact seemed harmless in the container; a black rod lying carelessly on the bottom of the jar; but everypony there knew that it could be the end of them.

There was an audible sigh of relief from everypony except Twilight when the courier departed.

-&-

“We’re going to have to land the ship,” Levin stated matter-of-factly. He was in the pilot’s seat, checking what seemed to be lines upon lines of numbers on an orange screen.

“Why?” Riana asked. Sev had the same question in his mind, but didn’t care to vocalize it.

“I checked the log data. The eezo core was stressed again, just before we arrived. Another gravitational anomaly, from what the data tells me. This time it also took down the shields. I can’t risk a micro-meteor impact.”

“This planet is uninhabited. There’s no starport or anything.”

“So I’ll have to land on mud. No biggie for a turian corvette.”

Riana sighed. “It’s your ship, so go ahead. But if we’re stuck here, I’ll kill you. Or Sev will.”

Sev turned. “How did you manage to get a military ship? I thought sales were restricted.”

“I made friends during my time with the military. They gave me a discount on an old salvaged ship damaged in the Battle of The Citadel. Same story with the shuttle, too.”

Sev grunted in acknowledgement. With all the money he’d made in 600 years of mercenary work, he could definitely buy his own warship. The difficult part was finding someone willing to sell a krogan a warship.

There are always the batarians. Then again, their ships are crap.

“Spotted a good landing point?” Levin asked, without turning in his seat.

“A plain here,” Riana said by the scanner, noting the co-ordinates. “Thing is, it’s far from any hulls we’ve discovered. Another plain is here" – she noted another set of co-ordinates - "but that’s a tiny space. It’s in between a mountain. This one" – she wrote down yet another set of co-ordinates - "seems to be near some sort of native settlement, from what the scanners are saying.”

“Maybe if we act right we can get them to worship us,” Sev remarked, earning him a chuckle from Levin and a glare from Riana. “What? That’s what the hanar did to the Protheans.”

“Uplifting is … a difficult topic,” Riana said. “We should let them develop naturally rather than on the paths we desire. There may be unintended consequences.”

Sev rolled his eyes, but said nothing in return. Riana knew he was thinking about the uplift of his own race, over 1500 years ago…

The ship lurched beneath the three as Levin made a sharp turn towards the planet. “Number 3 it is, then,” he said.

Sev had been modifying the Striker’s bullet blueprints. When the ship lurched, he growled with irritation. To increase armor penetration, he’d lowered the size and therefore weight of the bullet, but then the explosive power of each bullet would decrease. To counter that, he’d made the shape of the bullet into something resembling a stiletto blade, and increased the weight as much as the fabricator would allow. That would cut the number of effective bullets per clip. He’d also raised the delay timer before detonation. The explosive power per bullet was still lower than before, but at least the bullet would penetrate bone more easily and then detonate inside the target rather than outside.

Levin muttered something resembling “sorry”, and then remained silent for the remainder of the journey.

-&-

The black shape screamed through the skies above Equestria.

It was shaped like an odd bird; a sleek, angular body with 2 triangular ‘wings’ that were edged too straight and angular to be natural. It didn’t help that the object was massive – about half as long as Ponyville from tip to tip.

As it decelerated over the town of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash’s nap was disturbed a roaring whine and a large shadow.

She looked upwards at the subject of her annoyance; the encounter earlier this morning had left her shaken, even though she wasn’t about to admit it to anypony. After all, she was supposed to be fearless and confident, and by keeping up appearances her friends would be able to draw strength from that. She had remembered her coach at Junior Speedsters talking about the importance of morale in a team.

Even so, the stench of the manticore’s blood had urged her to launch into the sky and hide in the nearest cloud. She’d actually felt scared, for once. She’d managed to fight down the instinct to bolt at the time – What Element of Loyalty would I be if I left my friends? – but that didn’t make the scene any less horrifying. She was certain that she would remember that morning for the rest of her life.

She’d wanted, needed to talk to someone. But her pride had stopped her. She didn’t want to be seen in a moment of weakness. It would ruin her image. Maybe later.

And so she’d chosen to deal with this in her own way – by taking a nap. After all, everypony made big decisions after sleeping on them. Maybe she would find consolation through sleep as well.

And now, the passing shadow chilled her blood. It seemed like a harbinger of death – black against the blue sky, with angular, unnatural wings. It brought the whole town of Ponyville into shadow for a moment – but that was enough for everypony to panic. Within seconds the streets were empty. Rainbow Dash would have been impressed, had she not been rocketing towards Twilight’s home.

She burst in, colliding with the door with such force that she feared they would snap off their hinges. At that moment, everything seemed to slow down. She caught Twilight’s head turning away from a book towards her door, eyes widened in shock and surprise as well as slight fear, mouth hanging open just so, ears splaying backwards; she saw Spike lose control of a gem in his claw as he jumped about a foot in the air, and his head turned ponderously towards her; and then everything sped up and she flapped hard into the air in front of her and reared up at the sudden deceleration –

That was awesome. I should do it more often.

Twilight was not amused as she wrapped Rainbow Dash in a cocoon of magic, immobilizing the pegasus and then placing her gently on the ground. She fixed her gaze on Rainbow. “What now?”

“They’re back – what are you reading?”

Twilight was surrounded by open books, some of which looked positively ancient, judging by the cracking on the book covers and the yellow pages.

“I know. I can sense them.” Twilight looked at her horn, eyes crossing. “This time it’s much more powerful than that silver vessel. And I haven’t found anything that could explain the artifact. Nothing! There are no records on any aliens too!” She let out a cry of frustration. “How do I know what to do without any prior information?” Parts of Twilight’s mane started to spring up at their own accord, and her irises shrank into pinpricks.

Rainbow had known Twilight for a long time. She knew that Twilight only acted like this under high amounts of stress. But she was impulsive, and did not stop to think before answering. “They’re right outside Ponyville! They’re here already, and all you can do is read?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and in her peripheral vision Rainbow could see Spike turning his head over to look at the two. Rainbow cursed herself inwardly for that outburst.

“What else can I do? Nopony has ever seen anything like this. Ever! We don’t even know why they’re here! I don’t want to end up like that manticore!”

Twilight’s outburst left her sweating and shaking, before she recovered enough to let her logical mind take over. “Sorry about that. It’s just that this has left me so worried ever since we’d gone on that expedition. I hate feeling so powerless.”

Rainbow’s face darkened. “I hope you’re not. It’s heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, way I see it.”

“We’ve got no time to lose. Spike, letter. Notify the Princess. Tell her to meet us at the Sweet Apple Acres.”

Spike nodded and grabbed a nearby piece of parchment, before scribbling something down.

“Rainbow, round up the girls and we’ll meet with Applejack at her farm.”

Rainbow nodded once, and then plodded over to a nearby window to observe the sky. Twilight guessed she was still checking whether the object was still hovering over the town. By the way she opened the door and hurtled off, it wasn't. That meant it had landed already. I hope Applejack will be OK.

-&-

The general had ordered his men to pack up when they’d returned from their expedition. Now, the black shape over Ponyville warranted a change of plans. His men groaned, but didn’t complain as they left their packs on the meadow grass.

The general turned to his subordinates. All 50 of them looked at him, relying on his leadership to get them home safely. The general mentally sighed. The guards needed morale, but how was he going to give it to them if he did not feel motivated himself?

“Guards. We stand on the precipice of disaster. I have heard rumors of discontent, and I share your concerns. This is our homeland. There is no enemy we cannot defeat together! On this day, history will remember us as the first line of defense. When this is all over, Equestria will come together and remember this place, and say, 'the guards were here'! They did not falter. They did not surrender. They held the line!”

The impromptu speech wasn’t the best, even by the general’s standards; but the guards now looked more excited for battle, more optimistic about the outcome. The general smiled. Confidence and morale in battle were important, according to the old books; they dictated whether ponies would start infighting and or deserting.

The general also knew that technology was usually the deciding factor in battle. Superior tactics could beat superior technology at times – but there was a limit to how useful spears could be against rock.

The general motioned for his guards to move towards Sweet Apple Acres.

-&-

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. Record external appearances and measures.”

“Black cylinder. Does not appear to change color, shape or mass. External temperature at 700 degrees Celsius. Cooling at a very slow rate, slower than it should without magic. No ionizing radiation. EM radiation in infrared range. Could be a black body. But this is an odd one.”

“Possible. Can I run anymore tests...No. Right. We’ll crack it open. Can you cool it in water first?”

“Alright. Cooling…”

A hiss of steam erupted from the tank of water. Inside, the artifact sat innocuously, producing a trail of bubbles that expanded as they went closer to the surface.

“Alright. Now externals are at 100 degrees Celsius. Moving to worktable.”

“Worktable clear. Inside the box, will ya? There. Try and pry it apart with magic. See the seams?”

“This box is airtight?”

“According to the pony who made it, yes. Tested as well. Now pull the thing apart.”

“Alright – what in Nightmare – is that liquid? It’s – fizzing…”

“Reactive substance. I’ve never seen anything like this before…”

“That’s saying something. 30 years in the Academy –”

“Shut up and get the oil.”

“Here.”

“Pour it over – yes. Good. Fizzing stopped. Not too reactive, then. I’ll have to conduct experiments under oil, so…”

“Shall I notify the Princesses of your findings?”

“No need. I’ll tell them myself.”

Comments

[Applezz]

awesome! I love ME crossovers!

[Muhanoid]

Captain Kirrahe?
"They held the line!"

[StressmanFIN]

Whoa! Captain Kirrahe reference!
So, the ponies got their hooves on a spent Thermal clip (Black rod? i'd thought thermal clips glow white hot when ejected)
Will be waiting for more

[N00813]

901663

The clips glow red-hot when ejected. This one had time to cool.

[DezzarTac]

Great, those idiots on the warship just gave undeveloped civilization advanced tech....thats not good for the record....also, please dont fuck up first contact!

[MrSpartan]

I can never get enough mass effect or mlp. This has BOTH in high quality entertaining writing. Mass Effect cross overs are magic now. Don't ever stop wrinting this or I will DIE! (Not really but you get the point.)
This is the ONLY good mass effect/pony cross over I've ever read.

Also I agree, Batarian ships are crap anyway.

P.S. Where exactly in the ME time line does this story take place?

[N00813]

910131

After ME3.
You know about the ending, yeah? Bioware really dropped the ball on that, so I'm going with the Marauder Shields fan-ending.

[Andy-025]

910329 Link please for the fan ending

[malfarious]

901246 glad to see i wasn't the only one who saw that reference