The Traitor
Chapter 72
The Traitor
“Damnit Rainbow!” Shining shouted as the pegasus shot up into the air. He briefly lit his horn but couldn't get a hold of the pegasus above. His shields wouldn't be useful either as Dash would probably be able to escape them before they solidified, and he wasn't sure the aliens around him would appreciate him making a massive shield just to catch Rainbow.
“Damnit, take off now and radio for backup! Maybe she'll follow, but if not I want them to chase her and bring her in, non-lethal force allowed if she resists!”
Shining was pushed back into the shuttle as all the guards around him shot into motion, shouting orders into some magic coming from their arms. Shining didn't resist the guards strapping him into a chair, knowing that he'd be pissed off as well if anyone pulled an act like this.
A soft buzzing came out the back as Shining saw the vehicle raise off the ground out of the window – he didn’t feel any movement for some reason – and shoot off towards a new destination. He glanced out to see a rainbow mane flying next to the craft through one of the small side windows, only for it to shoot ahead the next moment.
“Shit, Colors just flew off! Should I follow, sir?”
“No, we still have him back there and we should bring him to Huerta asap. We’ll call in backup to track and follow Colors.”
Shining looked over at the two aliens up front who were saying something to each other, the subject not being a hard guess as there was a suspicious lack of a rainbow maned pegasus visible outside.
Sweet Celestia Twilight, how in the world do you manage to keep her in check?
It took a couple more minutes for the craft to set down again. When Shining stepped out, his fear of Rainbow having left them was confirmed. Groaning in annoyance the captain followed the aliens who were using their hands to motion for him to follow.
The inside of the building he was lead to had all sorts of aliens walking about, most of them wearing white garbs of sorts, Shining guessing that he’d been led to a hospital. Not that this surprised him. When ambassadors from far abroad came visiting Equestria they had to be checked too before continuing, so him getting a checkover made sense.
He was placed in a room where he was ordered to stay while a white-dressed alien started using all sorts of devices that seemed to scan him. Not being able to communicate meant that Shining just stood there and waited for it all to be done, occasionally lifting his hoof for the doctor.
“This would have been much easier if I could actually talk to you,” Shining groaned, the doctor jumping at his voice in surprise. Looking at him, seemingly hesitating for a moment, the doctor motioned for him to follow. Only able to guess what was going on anyway, Shining followed the doctor who led him deeper into the hospital to a room guarded by two guards similar to the ones that had led him here. A quick argument later they were let into the room where a single alien, one of the ones that had bones covering his head, was tied to a bed and connected to what seemed to be various medical machines.
Why would I be lead here? What am I supposed to do with what looks like a crimin-
“You are not her.”
Shining nearly stumbled over his hooves as the alien spoke.
“Wha- Who are you? Why are you tied down? What do you mean by ‘her’?” Shining just asked all the questions that came up in his mind out of bafflement.
“The name of a traitor is not important, it means nothing to you anyway. And ‘she’ is who got me into this position.” The alien pulled on its restraints. “But I do not resent her for it. She saved me from a far worse fate.”
Shining took an involuntary step back as he heard the alien before him was a traitor but continued asking questions as he had a sneaking suspicion about the identity of who ‘she’ was. “How can you speak my language, and how do you know Fluttershy? What did she do?”
The alien chuckled. “She purged the corruption from my mind but left something else in its place. I can hear her whispers in my mind, subtly suggesting things, though never forcing. Whatever she did also gave me knowledge of things I hadn’t before, your language being part of that.”
Staring at the alien before him, Shining wasn’t sure what to do. On one hoof he had somecreature to talk to now, but on the other, there was the fact that he was a traitor.
Though he sounds as if he’s changed for the better thanks to Fluttershy’s doing.
“Can you translate for me?” Shining asked, getting a nod from the alien. “My name is Shining Armor, Captain of the Solar Guard. Me and my… companion have come to search for a fellow member of our species that came here over two winters ago.”
The alien spoke in another language to the doctor who had been watching, a couple of guards quickly adding themselves to the conversation as the message had presumably been relayed.
“They ask me to tell you about the Citadel and the Council while they work on finding recorded speech of your kind to build on the translation, I have not spoken it enough by far for it to be useful.”
“That sounds reasonable. So, what is this Citadel and Council?”
“That’s… incredible and scary at the same time,” Shining said in awe as the alien finished his explanation.
“Can I ask you a question? How is it that you don’t seem too troubled by finding out all of this?” the alien asked, Shining just shrugged.
“We’ve had a few major crises over the last years, and this isn’t the worst thing that could have happ-” The door opened up again and a blue blur shot into the room, tackling the captain to the ground.
“Shining! I found someone who knows Fluttershy and can talk to us!” Rainbow nearly shouted into Shining’s face, who gave her a very unamused glare in return.
“I did as well Rainbow. Now could you please explain why you just flew off?!”
Rainbow shrunk a little at the glare from the furious captain. “I, uhm, got curious?”
“So you just decided that you could fly off?! What if you were accidentally hit by one of these shuttles, or had been kidnapped?!” Shining raged on as Dash’s escort entered the room as well and froze at the sight of Shining’s companion.
“Saren.”
“Shepard.”
Rainbow and Shining fell silent as well as they felt the tension thick in the air. Shepard and Saren stared at each other in silence for a bit longer until the commander turned around and made for the door.
“I should go.”
“Shepard, wait. When you see her, give her my thanks. I owe her a debt I can’t repay,” Saren quickly said before Shepard could leave, making the commander pause for a moment.
“Start repaying that debt by convincing the Council of the reaper threat. They’re still denying it,” the commander grunted. “I’ve got to go. The reapers haven’t been idle while I was.”
He stepped out of the room, leaving everyone in silence again until Dash shot up and ran after him. Cursing silently, Shining raced after them as well. “Rainbow! Don’t you dare run off again!”
“Come on Shining, the commander has worked with Flutters and is going out there again to find a team! If anyone is going to find Flutters, he is!”
Damnit, that filly really has to learn how to listen for once! Should I pull rank and force her to stay and have her annoy me here or let her go and have somecreature I don’t know I can trust watch over her… or I could go too. If what the commander said is true the council might not be that helpful.
1. We’re both staying on the Citadel. I will not have you running off.
2. You go with the Commander. I will stay here and work with the Council.
3. We’re both leaving this place. We should start covering ground.
Yeah yeah, I know. I've not been writing as much and have been doing some of the other hobbies that I've been neglecting like drawing and building on my Space Marine cosplay.
(My friend is totally not a pyromaniac 
)
Hope you enjoyed! 
[Paragon] or [Renegade] are colored when available, though normal options might also contribute to one or the other. As for the shippers under us, [Romance] is now also a thing.
When an option is not available due to various reasons it will be colored [Grey]
https://www.strawpoll.me/18798488
[Certainty: 70]
Now edited by gerandakis and lordelliot
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So do the people want for Shining and Rainbow to go with Shepard, or Shining should stay and Rainbow should go? I feel like there are only two real choices here.
I doubt it would be wise for the two of them to split up seeing as they have only just arrived on the citadel less than an hour ago.
I think they should both go. Someone actively searching for fluttershy vs. Politicians. Splitting up is a bad idea when your in unfamiliar territory and your mission is to bring someone back, what's the point if you lost the other one?
If Saren is in custody of the council then I'm rather surprised he wasn't simply executed. Him not being dead probably means that they've noticed a change in his demeanor and brain and will probably see fluttershy as a mind controlling threat while ignoring the reapers.
We know the Council is useless, but Shining Armor doesn't, and he is a stickler for the rules. Conversely, Rainbow Dash is only here to find Fluttershy, and the one person in the universe capable of finding her is currently walking out of the door to do just that. Even if he goes for option 1, he is physically unable to enforce it, and he bloody well knows it. That leaves him with two diametrically opposed orders: make in roads with the locals and set up the gear for the return trip (which has been shut down by Celestia, but he doesn't know that), and keep an eye on Dash.
And then we have the meta perspective. Shining Armor is the team tank. Do we really want to sideline a guy who can shield an entire city? Conversely, we have just been reintroduced to Saren, and if we want him to be transferred onto the Normandy by game 3, he needs to remain relevant to the story somehow, and interacting with Shining is a good vector for that.
As such, I am going to put off voting for a few hours to figure out the best course of action, and hopefully read a few replies before making my vote.
Nice chapter, was not expecting Saren.
I vote for splitting up. Rainbow is going one way or the other, but Shining can do more good by starting the politics with the council.
Having said that, I am not against having Shining go too, it really is a close thing.
Biggest Nightmare for the Reapers will be Equestrian Grouping.
Dash is the Hammer, Shining is the Anvil?
3. They go together as best as Shining is able.
The Council can panic over new diplomats leaving and stirring things without their permission.
Dash is there to find Fluttershy, Shining is there to help Dash, and he can't do that arguing with the Council.
That, and I want to see what he can do after Jack gives him some biotic training. If being a Pegasus let's Flutters be that much of a badass, imagine what a unicorn can do!
Wonder what the council would say if they knew fluttershy has a friend who will turn them and the citadel into tacos if they upset her.
I'm voting for 3
Well, time for an explanation on why exactly the council is not useless.
The reason that the council is useful, is simply because of the fact that once they take her back, they will more than likely start diplomacy if Celestial realizes the stupidity of clinging to the planetary cloak. And I've already explained that in a previous chapter. Shining needs to show that, despite their massive biotic potential, they are not a threat. And as for Bow, she can handle herself. She just needs a little bit of training and discipline. And, if Shy comes back to the Citadel, Shining will be there to wait for her. And that is pretty much all of the reasons option two is the best.
And yes, I do want to see how powerful Shining can be with an amp and some training. Obviously. I'm pretty sure everybody wants to see that.
9888585
...who is Bow? Context clues imply that you mean Rainbow Dash (aka Dashie), but in all nine years of the series, I have never seen that one used either by the show or the fandom. I am only about 50/50 sure you mean her.
On topic, your overall argument has swayed me. Voting for 2.
I'm going with the simple phrase, "never split the party".
9888690
I have weird nicknames for all of them (almost). Incase you see something you don't know, here's a list.
Light = Twilight
Bow = Rainbow
Shy = Fluttershy
Jack = Applejack
Pink = Pinkie
Rarity = Rarity
Celestial = Celestia
Lunal = Luna
Night = Nightmare Moon
Blue = Me
Mid = Me when talking from the perspective of my character Icy Creation
Perceiver = Also Me.
Icy = Icy Creation, if you want more about her you can ask.
Ian = Ian Zairon, see above.
Polaris = Polaris / Polarity, see above.
CMC = Cutie Mark Crusaders
Mark = Cutie Mark (I needed an alternative)
Bloody = Blueblood
Uni = Unicorn
Pega = Pegasus
Ep = Earth Pony
Ali = Alicorn
Guardians = Guardians of all Worlds. If you want more, again, ask.
Timeshaper = Me, again.
Windy = Windigo
And that's all I have time for right now.
9888959
Hmm, a curious selection of nicknames to be sure. Way more original than the stuff I use.
Unrelated note... YOU DREW THAT!?
He’s a triple threat! A writer, a cosplayer, and a talented artist! 
For you, sir... I clap. 👏
9889725
hard at work on the cosplays right now
images2.imgbox.com/d7/a6/O2fVBwDJ_o.jpeg
9890635
N-i-i-i-i-ice!
“I should go.”
For some reason, I found that much funnier than I probably should have.
1. Because Rainbowdash is not dead do to pure luck.
I love a renegade option to pluck Rainbowdash primary feathers to take away her flight. Better a salty Pegasus than dead meat.
9886996
Shining is a trained Soldier, while Rainbowdash is literally a suicide flying threat to herself and others.
Not really a choice there...
9887000
Shining Armor could help Shepard greatly, while Rainbowdash would make a great Labexperiment for the Shadowbroker.
10363528
His legendary line
1. Is the sane thing to do.
2. Because Rainbowdash will not be fine until she is maimed or dead. Being a winged suicidal threat to herself and others.