[Apologize to Vigil and ask how to stop the reapers, I can come back later for answers.] 63%
“I don’t know what ponies have done to the protheans, our history tells us nothing of your kind, but I can tell you for sure that if it happened now, we would help you out with whatever means we have available,” Fluttershy said with conviction. “But now we need to know how to stop the reapers. Even if you don’t want to answer my questions can you still give Shepard the means by which he can defeat the reapers?”
Vigil stayed silent for a moment as if contemplating its options.
“Inquiry, how far does your current history go back and what is currently considered advanced technology within your civilization?” the VI asked, surprising Fluttershy.
“Uhm, our written history goes back just over a thousand years, back to around Discord’s time. Anything before that gets a bit murky because Discord destroyed and altered a lot of our written records. As for technology, Luna has been introducing airships into the Royal guard to allow them to quickly move around from city to city.” Fluttershy was unsure of why Vigil had asked his question but answered none the less.
“Logical inconsistency, most advanced technology indicated is not advanced enough to get into space. How have you managed to come here?”
“My friend found a ruin that housed a miniature mass relay. I accidentally got caught by it and sent to the Citadel,” Fluttershy quickly explained, Vigil staying silent to ‘think’ once again.
“Your story is consistent with data. We suspected a breach in the Conduit’s network. This confirms our suspicion. The state of your species that you described suggests that your species was affected worse than our models suggested. Due to time constraints I will allow you to make a single inquiry.”
What question does fluttershy ask?
How is it that you know about my species?10%
Why are my kind considered traitors? 28%
Fluttershy thought for a moment about what she would ask. She was extremely curious about the ponies back when the protheans were around, but the reason why they were called traitors was even more pressing to her.
“Why did you identify my species as traitors in the first place?”
“Your species had made a promise to ours that if we required aid you would assist. Ponies, unlike us, did not use the mass relay network as their main mode of transportation, as there is no relay in your home system. This meant that, when your species contacted ours, we had no means of locating your homeworld and instead of integrating ponies into the Empire, we established a pact. When the reapers invaded, the forces promised never arrived, this is why your kind has been designated as traitors.”
Fluttershy, even though there was nothing she could have done about this, felt guilty about the fact her far ancestors hadn’t gone to help the protheans.
“But now you must hurry, the one who passed before has yet to reach the Conduit. He will attempt to reach the tower at the base of the Citadel and transfer control of the station to Sovereign. If this is allowed to pass, the Citadel relay will be opened and the reapers will once more destroy all intelligent life. I have a program that will corrupt the Citadel’s security protocols. If the worst were to pass, it would give you a fighting chance against Sovereign.”
Shepard’s Omni tool lit up as Vigil transferred the program to it, the commander taking a quick look at it to verify that it was transferred correctly. “Good, let’s go. We’ve given Saren enough of a head start.”
“Shepard wait! Who knows how long Vigil will be here? Even now the projection is weak! Who knows what we can learn from it. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime!” Liara said with a tinge of panic in her voice as she couldn’t help herself from trying to make as much of the situation as possible. Her life’s work was researching the protheans after all.
“I will provide whatever information I have available. My databanks however, are limited to information directly related to this facility and stopping the reapers,” Vigil informed Liara as her omni-tool lit up as well and received a couple of data files.
“Thank you, Vigil,” Liara acknowledged gratefully, slightly jumping around as she scanned the little amount of data she had received. For the first time in the fifty years she had studied the protheans she had gotten straight data that didn’t require any interpretation.
“You got your data, Liara, lets go!” Shepard said as he led the group back to the elevator and activated it. Up top the others were still covering the entrance to the elevator. The shield was already down, but they wouldn’t leave without Shepard.
The commander ordered everyone back into the Mako and floored the accelerator. They were running out of time and couldn’t afford a careful approach to the Conduit. Charging forward, Garrus was firing wild shots at the geth they were passing, taking out groups of the machines every time he shot the main cannon while their fire bounced off the Mako’s shield.
It wasn’t long before the Conduit came into full view, the miniature relay still standing proudly pointed at the sky. ‘Miniature’ was a relative term as it was almost twice as large as the one Fluttershy had seen in Equestria.
“It’s incredible!” Liara said in awe as she got a good look at the relay.
“No time to admire the view! The Conduit is losing power. We need to get to that relay!” Tali shouted as Shepard pushed the Mako to the absolute edge of its performance. Saren had left half a dozen geth Colossi behind which were happily firing their weapons at the Mako, its shields flaring and failing under the immense punishment.
The vehicle shuddered from its armor burning off as it reached its final approach to the Conduit. “Nearly there!” Shepard shouted as the heat from the geth’s plasma bolts raised the interior space to an uncomfortable temperature. Fluttershy held on to her harness tightly as the Mako started being lifted into the air. She was the only one who had rode a ride through a relay without a starship before, and she wasn’t planning on passing out again.
The rings within the relay started spinning at an increasingly rapid rate as the energy flared a final time.
The critically damaged Mako was picked up by the device and hurled across the galaxy towards its final destination.
The Citadel.
Start of ME2 huh. I'm surprised, as I didn't expect the jump to the second game initially, but then it does make sense as ME1 and the ME2 opening don't have much actual time in between them. Just a few weeks to a couple months if I remember correctly.
Exciting.
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There's a month before Shepard gets spaced and a two year time period before he gets resurrected, I'm not entirely skipping that but I'm probably going to make a slight time jump.
It’s easy to forget just how short the first game can be when looked at from just the basic story point of view. Mass Effect 2 is the best in my opinion.
Also, ponies not using the mass relays to get around. Seems like you’ve taken a page out of Loyal2Lunas story - Mass Effect 2 - DLC: The Equestrian Equation.
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Mm, yes, makes sense to have the two year timeskip. Interested in seeing how Shy handles the two years if she /doesn't/ go back home at the end of 1. With the obvious idea that she would be 'called back' for 2.
Still, her staying is more congruent to a flowing timeline.
Ultimately, I would love to see Shy and Jack interact, both being biotically adept. Furthermore, I think that Jack's romance and in depth story in ME2/3 gave one of the most in depth and evolved character arcs I've seen, as you can watch as Jack matures and adapts to become a better person.
What's your go to 'favorite' follower from ME?
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It’ll be interesting what you’ll have planned for Fluttershy during Shepard’s ‘dead’ period.
I'll be VERY interested to see how you'll write ME2's beginning as that was, as any ME fan can testify (or at least I can say it), quite shocking.
Biotic shield up for defense on arriivng in the Citadel, or down so automatic security targeeting, doest?
ALMOST THERE
*Giggles madly*
Now to scale a tower and fight Saren.
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Man, I miss Loyal2Luna. She (?) just vanished one day, mid story.
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One of the best Mass Effect stories on the site, and it is a pity it never got finished.
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I'm just glad that the editor (it was L2L's editor, right?) managed to cobble together an ending to the current arc, and inform us on the author falling off the face of the Internet. It was about the best we could have hoped for at that point.
Why do i catch up so quick
man this is getting exciting. I love how you incorporated the ponies with the protheans. epic
9729947
Read slower. Jk, I feel your pain. Although, I've seen some people read ridiculously fast.
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Just so people reading these comments know, the first story did finish, and had a proper enough ending. It's not like it needed to continue, although everyone wanted more. It's the sequel that didn't finish.
It's funny how many people reading this story keep talking about Loyal2Luna. I wish she had stuck around.
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Yes, "she" is correct.
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Yeah I can re catch up with 100k stories in less then a day
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Damn, that's fast
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Lol yeah basically read your new chapters in like 5 minutes
9729338
bruh yes I thought the same thing. very excited to see what happens there
Am I the only one who actually liked the Mako? It was never all that frustrating to control, and there was enough to find in the square of explorable terrain. I never really understood why the Mako was so despised; it was certainly better than the thing ME2 replaced it with.
The one thing I disliked about the Mako is how it severely cut earned EXP from killing enemies with it. That's just dumb, especially since there's already not enough EXP to reach Lv. 60 without a NG+ run.
10339578i liked the mako too. I enjoyed exploring and taking screenshots with it on top of mointains.
I don't blaim the Ponys. A Empire build on slavery deserved a end...
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Dawww... Time jump = less Garris x Fluttershy snuggels in detail
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The best...
Griffons, Zebra, Changelings, Dragons etc etc...
Pretty sure instead of fighting the made a Arch Project to keep all races alive...
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We still don't knoe who hooked up with Shepard
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Garrus snuggel time x2 ?
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Yep, especially since the ME1 thing was vs Saren and not a permanent gig...
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O no... Saren used the wrong settings and they all landed in Equestria now
9729636
9729711
She is back. Last update 2021 & 2022 updates in the work!
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But how mutch will be remembered a week later?
DUN DUUN DUUUN
The ponis probably had their own indoctrination problems and unlike the Protheans, they had apperently a fighting chance.