Mass Effect: Crossroads

Twilight was absolutely speechless. In front of her, right now, was the figure that she had heard so much about. An alien that was said to have done the impossible and become the hero that the Galaxy needed. The alien hero that was said to inspire armies with his name alone, and bring others to their knees with it as well. In front of her, was the legendary Shepard.

"S-Shepard?" she muttered in an awed tone.

He turned his head to meet her gaze.

"Yeah, that's me. Captain Shepard of the Alliance vessel Normandy SR-3." he responded.

Twilight raised her head a little as her ears flickered a bit.

"Wait, Captain? SR-3?" she asked. "I thought-"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Celestia screamed in pain.

Twilight rushed to her side with a mix of anger and fear.

"What's wrong!?"

Shepard held out his hand with the orange lights above Celestia's reddened coat on her side as he held her in place with the other.

"Relax! It's Medi-Gel. Yes, it stings, but it's better than bleeding to death here! Just calm down!" he yelled as Celestia's thrashing began to subside. As she began to steady her breathing, the lights over Shepard's arm faded away as he brought his hand up to his helmet.

"Velron? Spark? You there?"

"Confirmed, Captain Shepard." an electric male voice responded.

"You got something, Shep?" a slightly crackly female voice answered.

"I've got an unknown intelligent species here, one massive and bleeding out, another likely traumatized by Cerberus abductions. We need to get what we can and get out in 5. Calling the Shuttle for departure now. Spark, tell the Normandy to ready the Med-Bay."

After a few seconds, the voices responded.

"Message sent to the Normandy, Captain. Shall I draw out any information I can from the security terminals?"

"Go for it. Velron?"

"I'm on the way to LZ for extraction. Can they translate?"

"Been working so far."

"Alright. See you there."

With that, Shepard lowered his hand and reached for Celestia.

"Stay still, I've got you."

He scooped his left arm under Celestia and lifted with surprising ease, allowing the extra force to be exerted into making the experience more painful for her.

"GAAAHH!"

"Sorry, forgot the low gravity."

Before he could start walking, he turned back to Twilight and spoke again.

"Almost forgot, what are your names?"

Twilight gulped and held a hoof up to herself.

"I-I'm Twilight Sparkle. And she," she pointed her hoof to Celestia, "is Princess Celestia."

With that, he pulled out a strange device from his side and let it unfurl into the same thing he took from the one with the sword. He adjusted Celestia so that she was evenly hanging off his left shoulder as he pointed ahead of him with his right hand. He waved towards Twilight with his hand as he began to exit the room.

"Come on, this way."

Twilight shot up from her sitting position and followed him slightly slower, watching as he began to move through the halls.

"Where are we going? Where are you taking us?" Celestia asked, barely above a whisper.

"I'm getting you two home."

\\\//////

Shepard carefully lowered himself along with Celestia down the slant of debris as Twilight followed carefully, trying to remained balanced on her feet. He looked up towards the sky and saw a familiar blue streak race down and land near the bottom of the pile. He quickened his descent until his boots met the ground a few seconds later. He looked back to Twilight and watched as she unfurled her wings and tried to glide down safely towards the ground. A few seconds later, her flight faltered and she went tumbling down towards him at a heightening speed. Shepard tossed the Predator and backed up while bracing his synthetic-enhanced legs for the inevitable impact. He raised his right arm when he saw the whites in her eyes and felt his breath leave him as the lavender blur impacted into his side, sending him stumbling back a bit while he regained control of his stance.

"You... alright?" he asked between huffs.

She opened her eyes and looked up into his helmet with a sort of mix between fear and wonder, like how a child would wee another species for the first time. The sound of the Kodiak depressurizing brought her focus back to reality as Shepard set her down next to him. He looked over to the shuttle and saw Velron and Spark by the door, waving at them to hurry up. Shepard jogged carefully over to them with the injured princess in tow with Twilight not far behind.

When they reached the shuttle, Shepard bounded inside and looked around for a place to set Celestia. After a second of search, he laid her down on one of the benches to the side of the door. When he finished positioning her, he looked up to see that Twilight was right outside with Velron. Spark, however, was already in the Pilot's section, hovering in front of the holographic interface as multiple flashes went off across both the console and Spark. Shepard walked towards the door and called the other two inside.

"Let's go! Come on!" he said with a wave of his arm.

Velron looked up from the lavender alien and nodded, marching past him into the shuttle. Twilight looked at the shuttle with a hint of fear on her face as she slowly approached the entrance. Once she stepped inside, she began to make a clanging sound every time one of her legs hit the floor, causing her to jump back at first. Once she knew what made the sound, she got in as carefully as she could and looked for her associate. Once her gaze fixed on the white figure, she sped over to her side, careful not to disturb her anymore than needed.

Shepard banged twice on the side of the door, signaling the pilot to begin extraction. In the span of a few seconds, the doors were hissing shut as the blue mass began to lift into the air, gaining speed and height until it eventually left the constraints of the Planet's surface.

"Captain," Cortez reported, "good to have you back aboard, sir."

"Cortez, we need to get back ASAP. How long until we dock?"

"We're already inbound, Shepard" Joker chimed. "Should be docked in 10 to 15 minutes, tops."

"Good. I'll try to keep our guests stable."

"Aye, aye." Joker replied, cutting the link.

"So."

Shepard turned to Velron, who was now leaning opposite him, motioning towards the new occupants.

"New species, huh?"

Shepard crossed his arms and stood against the wall.

"Yeah. So far, they haven't treated us with hostility, and from the massive amount of evidence, I'd say they would have had every right to. They were probably abducted from their world by Cerberus, and-"

"Cerberus?" Twilight asked, causing both soldiers to look at her in surprise. "You mean the three-headed-dog that guards the gates of the Underworld?"

They looked at each other, and even though they were wearing helmets, Shepard could tell that Velron had a smug-ass look on her face. He shook his head and addressed the newcomer.

"No, they're a terrorist organization that want to take over the Galaxy by any means necessary. Unfortunately, now it seems to be abducting an entire alien species to use as cannon-fodder."

Twilight backed up a bit and looked between the two and then to Celestia. She began to sob a bit as Shepard and Velron exchanged a glance, Shepard's concern seemingly cutting through the air around them. He walked over to the sobbing alien, got down to her level, and put an arm on her back.

"Hey," he whispered, "don't worry. I'm gonna get you both home, and kick Cerberus off before they have a chance to do anything permanent. Alright?"

She looked up into his face-plate as she sniffled and wiped a tear from her left eye.

"B-but... my friends, they might-"

Shepard held up a finger to stop her.

"I'll make sure they're safe if I have to drag them out myself. Don't worry."

She blinked a few times and allowed a small smile to form on her face, to which Shepard smiled back to. The moment was cut short as they felt the shuttle lurch from underneath them as a deep clicking sound was heard underneath them. The door behind them hissed open as light began to shine through the cracks that expanded around it. By the time the door was open, Shepard had Celestia on his shoulder as Twilight kept close to his side. Velron stepped out first, allowing Shepard and the new species to exit into the bay. Directly into a crowd of medical staff and security teams with rifles at the ready.

\\\//////

Twilight gasped and stopped when she saw an assortment of aliens in front of her in the new environment. There were several types of aliens in front of her, all with different types of strange clothing as well. There were ones with white garments with red crosses on them, varying into two different species. The most abundant being a sort of human-looking, except with more of a peach-like range of colors instead of the massive spectrum she had seen after going through the mirror in the Crystal Empire. They had manes atop their heads, like how she saw, but wore masks that covered their faces. The other aliens that wore the white and red had ranges of orange and green skins, and seemed to be a sort of cross between a frog and a fish by the shape of their faces and textures if she looked closely enough. They were thinner than the other species in front of her, but somewhat taller than most of them.

The ones with the strange clubs wore black and blue clothes and what appeared to be armor, and were also split into two species. Like the other group, there were Humans with their manes cut short, except this majority had cuts on their faces and were predominately male. The other species looked somewhat like an avian leg-structure with a bulk of a torso, also standing on two legs. Their faces looked to be made of a natural armor, like a carapace the Changelings had grown, except with a slight flickering pair of mandibles at the sides of their mouths. They only had three extensions to their hooves, and each appeared to be razor-sharp, like talons. Which they used to point their strange clubs right at her.

"Stand down!" Shepard commanded.

"Sir," one of the avian-like aliens began, "Council protocol dictates that we assume hostility from an unknown race until we can-"

"We just found them on a Cerberus vessel, injured and scared. We are not going to threaten them on my ship! Now put your weapons down! That's an order as your Captain, and as a Spectre!"

The ones with weapons all looked to each other and put the weapons on their backs, where they began to retract into themselves as they hung magically where they were placed.

"Sorry, sir. We thought-"

"We've got bigger issues than enacting a currently useless protocol," Shepard interrupted. "For instance, we've got a foreign diplomat that's in need of immediate medical attention, and an entire planet that's being invaded by Cerberus."

They all glanced around as the one speaking to him came closer.

"Cerberus, sir? You think it could have been..."

Shepard motioned for the ones in white to come to him, and a second later, one of the taller ones with two Humans came up to him.

"She's got internal bleeding and organ failure. Get her to the Med-deck ASAP, and sterilize everything. Zero-G surgery if needed, just make sure everyone's clean before and after any operations." he said as he hefted Celestia to the two Humans, who carried her with ease. One of them nodded and the ones in white fled towards an open door to the side of the metallic room.

"Wait!" she pleaded, reaching out to her mentor.

Shepard went to her side and held her back by her torso.

"Hey, hey! Calm down! She'll be fine." he assured her as she ceased wiggling out of his grasp.

When he released her, Twilight turned and looked up to Shepard and watched as he pulled off his black and blue head, revealing a massively paled-purple skin underneath. As he bent down to her eye-level, she noticed multiple flashing lights in his neck that ran up to his right ear, which was replaced by a circular device that seemed to blend itself with his skin and face. His eyes were a shade of sky-blue, except his right eye seemed brighter, like a lantern or flashlight.

"We need to talk."

\\\//////

Spike looked up from his cover and regretted it instantly, as part of it exploded near his face after a red light nearly burnt his eye. He got back to the ground and panted heavily as the alien had withered his cover even more than before. Why they were so intent of guarding the Castle of the Elder Sisters, he would never want to know, but it felt more of a principal rather than a sabotage mission. For him, at least. The only reason they had let him go so early in his enrollment was because of his skills in close-quarters, what with scales and Dragon-Fire. Now, he felt powerless against these assailants from the skies as he was trapped behind a crumbling statue, nothing more than a sword and a broken crossbow in his possession.

Before he could analyze the situation, he heard a crack of thunder, and peered around his cover to find the balcony had exploded in a flash of electrical power, and his path was now cleared. Spike sprinted from his cover and went into the archway with his sword held close to his heightened form. In the shards of the broken glass from the balcony, he finally had a chance to notice himself in his combat gear and how this war had changed him.

Spike now saw how he had changed after Luna's spell had matured him, now being just as tall as Big Mac, with his purple scales poking out more than they had before the aliens, as he used them to cut through some plants every now and then. His tail had formed a blade of its own after it grew ahead of him, being twice his previous height from tip to base. He had used it to cut through some of the aliens he had fought, and his scales had proven well enough to survive the magic from the smaller weapons they used. His green fins went out like a bad Haypanese comic character, but he thought it looked cool. His armor glistened in the light, giving a golden tint of light on the walls around him. The sword had a fine bronze make, with its runes etched into the flat sides, allowing him to cut through the aliens' magic protection fields with a few decent hits. Spike smirked at himself, feeling like he would make a great hero in a comic book or something like that.

"Help!"

Spike jumped and turned towards the entrance, pulse rising as he recognized the accent of the voice.

"Applejack!" Spike cried as he charged down into the hall.

He rushed down the darkening corridor with his sword held up to his side as he burst through an unseen wooden door. He glanced around and saw three white and yellow armored aliens forcing Ponies into the flying metal boxes that he had seen before. They had strange fire-shooters on each of its ends of the rectangular shape, and grew somewhat in the back, giving it a cockroach-like appearance, except with a matching white and yellow theme.

As he ran towards one of them, the others took notice and pulled out a small metallic device, and fired a three-hit magical burst from their fronts, which bounced harmlessly off of his scales. As Spike neared the first one, he raised his sword high and focused on the runes, pushing his magical aura into it. He swung down with enough force to cut clean through the alien's protective gear and the entire body in a single slice, cutting it clean in half down the middle. Spike turned and saw one of the other two fast approaching with a lightning-rod in hand. He whipped out his tail and cut the attacking alien at the right leg, exposing bone and tissue as it stumbled forwards, plunging face-first into Spike's sword. The third one tossed one of the explosive cans at Spike's feet, landing right onto one of his toes. Spike rolled to the side behind a rock. When he landed, a deafening sound came from behind him as a flash lit up part of the cavern while dirt flew over his armor. He peeked around the corner of the rock and saw the alien try to ready a larger weapon, until an orange blur came from behind it, turned, and hit hard enough to make a sickening crack as it screamed in pain. He charged the fallen creature with his sword raised high and brought the handle down hard on the back of its neck, severing the brain with a liquid squishing sound.

With the three aliens dead, Spike began to pant and sweat through his scales. He looked up to the pony that helped him take down the threat, and recognized every feature. The brown Stetson, red handkerchief around the neck, white freckles adorning the same face with large emerald eyes, and a muscular flank that adorned three apples for a signature Cutie Mark.

"Applejack!" Spike proclaimed as he dropped his sword and tackled the farmer to the ground in a hug filled with sweat and tears. When they landed, Spike began to cry into her coat, clinging fur to skin with near-boiling tears.

"S-Spike?" she asked.

He looked up into her face and started to retract himself as she stared at his figure. When he rose to his feet, he reached out and helped her up.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Wha... How in tarnation did you manage ta get like this?"

"I asked Luna if she knew anything that would help me in combat, seeing as how I wanted to fight to find you guys, and so she helped my physical body mature a few decades. I can't believe it though, how'd you get here!? Where have you been?"

Applejack brushed her forelegs as she sat on her haunches, looking up to the gold-armored Dragon.

"Well, I don't really know. I just woke up 'ere, and then watched 'em load up some Ponies into them strange doo-hickies, and then send 'em up ta their ships, or somethin'. Only thing was, they were all Earth Ponies. The only other one I saw was Pinkie, and she's knocked out in that there box thing." she said, motioning to one with her hoof.

Spike looked towards the strange thing and saw that it's door was open. He rushed inside to see the familiar pink Party-Pony on the floor of the empty space, with a series of burns on her back from the lightning-rods. He reached for her burned form and carefully picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Spike walked out of the white metal box and waved for Applejack to follow him.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

Applejack came up to his side and glanced from side to side with an uneasy feeling, as if they were being watched by some kind of haunting presence.

\\\//////

"... And that's all I remember, up until now." Twilight finished.

Shepard stood in front of her with a hand under his chin, and an arm underneath in a thinking pose.

"So," Shepard started, "you found one of Aunt Liara's message-drones."

Twilight cocked her head to the side.

"Aunt Liara? She isn't your crew-mate like she said?"

Shepard shook his head and lowered his arms to his sides. He turned towards the elevator and waved for her to follow, to which she did indeed.

"She did follow a Commander Shepard, but not me. The one you heard of was my father."

"Wait, you're... his son? She never mentioned a child."

"That message is almost 30 years old, older than me, even. She couldn't mention me because I wasn't born then. However," Shepard reached out to the holo-panel at the main elevator door, opening the shaft, "that doesn't change the fact that I will get you home safely."

He waved his hand into the compartment, allowing her to go in first. She stepped inside and Shepard followed, pushing a transparent button that closed the doors. She looked up to him and tapped his leg.

"But, do you know where to go? What about how many Cerberus are there?"

"Didn't stop my father, why would it stop me? I made a promise, and I will keep it."

The doors opened to reveal the Armory, with staff at it's minimal, with only a few Turians and a specific yellow Krogan at the lockers.

"Banlik!" Shepard called.

The massive hulk of armor and flesh turned to see Shepard and his small purple companion at his side. He smirked and approached the small creature, which began to cower in fear of the mass before her.

"Stand down, Banlik. She's a guest, not an invader."

Banlik gave a deep chuckle and swatted Shepard on his arm.

"Relax, Shep. Just saying 'hi' to our little friend here." He bent down in front of the alien and extended his right arm. "It's alright, little one. I'm not gonna hurt ya."

Twilight leaned from her cover, which was Shepard's legs, and responded.

"What are you?"

Banlik stood at his full height and extended his arms out to his sides.

"I, am a proud KROGAN WARLORD!"

Shepard shook his head and leaned towards Twilight.

"He's an egotistical wall of muscle and armor, with a soft spot for children. Get in his way, you better hope you die quickly."

The Krogan then waved off at Shepard's comment and went to the Firing Range, where a Claymore was waiting for him. Twilight observed as Shepard went over to one of the walls and began to pull of his armor, one piece at a time, until he was wearing a black and blue uniform that matched most of the Human crew. He went back to Twilight and patted her back.

"You alright?"

She looked up at his face and then towards the crew and back to him a few times.

"It's just that... well,"

"Captain!" a voice called from the ceiling, "We need you in Medical!"

Shepard rushed into the elevator and pushed the number for the Medical Deck, closing the doors and sending both him and Twilight up the shaft. When they opened, they looked behind a glass wall, where several armed guards were aiming at the constricted form of Celestia. Shepard charged out from the elevator and through the scanners connecting the two rooms.

"Stand down! Now!"

One of the Turian guards stepped forward with his Avenger pointed at the white alien.

"Sir, we have orders to hold down this unidentified alien menace before-"

"I did NOT give you orders to take aim at a defenseless being, while she is in need of medical attention! Now stand DOWN!"

"Sir, please, the security footage showed that this was the one that ripped the Cruiser apart. If we let her go now,"

Twilight charged up to Shepard's side and faced the guards.

"But she can't do any of that now! Her horn's broken in too many places to focus any of her power to do a hundredth of what you saw! Please! She was only doing it to because we were taken from our home! She was doing what she thought was necessary!"

"And how long until we become a threat, huh? We won't take that cha-"

Before the Turian could finish his retort, his weapon exploded in his arms, sending him stumbling back a few steps. When he looked to where it was, he saw Shepard with his Omni-tool raised and pointed at the guards.

"Stand. Down. We are not to harm an innocent race, based on the footage of ONE encounter, against Cerberus. You really want to judge an entire species based on contact with them?"

The guards all looked between each other and began to holster their weapons as Shepard lowered his arm.

"Now," Shepard started, turning to Twilight, "care to explain what they mean?"

Twilight looked between the guards and him, and gulped loudly.

"Well, are they talking about that big ship you found us in?"

Shepard nodded once.

"Then I think they're talking about her magic."

"Magic?"

"Yes. Unicorns and Alicorns can concentrate their magical auras through their horns, utilizing one of the most versatile energies found in our bodies. Celestia's magic is by far the most powerful in all of Equestria, being the Princess of the Sun, but without her horn, she won't be able to perform any kind of spells until it's fully healed. Do you not have magic?"

"No. No species to date has been able to do 'magic'. Some can naturally use Biotics, like Humans and Asari, but what makes magic that you use special?"

"Well, we can use it for teleportation, levitation, like for writing and eating, but some can use it to construct shields or specific tools. But really, none of you can use magic?"

"No. We've relied solely on technology and sciences."

"Really?"

"Sir."

They both turned to the Turian guard, whose hands were charred slightly.

"I think it would be in everyone's best interests if our 'guests' were kept under surveillance."

"Tell you what, if either tries to harm anyone, blame me, because we are not going to treat civilians like prisoners. If either of them does, then I would willingly revoke my own Spectre status."

The guard switched to a stunned expression, staring slack-jawed at the Captain. He shook his head and stood at attention.

"Yes, sir."

Shepard nodded in response, signaling for the guard to stand at-ease. Celestia let out a moan from the bed she was held in, prompting Twilight to rush to her side. Shepard pointed to the Med-Crew behind another glass-plane.

"Release her."

With the push of a few lights, the field of light above Celestia's bed dispersed, allowing her to sit upright, revealing a massive bandaged torso that matched an equally wrapped horn. She raised a leg to her head and recoiled when she struck her own horn. Shepard rushed to her side and tried to calm her.

"Easy! Easy, it's alright. Staff?" Shepard called.

"Affirmative, Captain." A rapid, and somewhat high-pitched voice replied. "The patient's examination revealed several wounded organs, nothing major. We were able to easily patch up all arteries before a substantial amount of blood was lost, and have recorded the genetic make-up of the species. Luckily, we have a surplus of Levo-based medical supplies, as well as nourishment, so there is no need to worry about keeping them alive or fed. However, we have noticed a higher rate of healing through a source of energy that we cannot seem to examine. Perhaps the 'magic' discussed with your associate."

Shepard turned to Celestia, who was now looking around the deck feverishly, flicking her eyes between the guards and the staff.

"Wh-where am I?" she asked.

"It's alright. You're on the Normandy, my ship. I said I'd get you home, so here we are. On our way."

Twilight stood on her back legs to peek over the edge of the bed.

"Twilight!" Celestia gasped, reaching out to hug her.

They wrapped their front legs around each other and held on tightly. Shepard couldn't help but smile at the display, but let it fade when Celestia looked at him.

"Captain, Council's on the line." Joker called over the intercom. "Want me to pick it up for you?"

Shepard looked to Twilight and Celestia and sighed.

"Tell them to wait a minute."

"Roger that."

He looked down to Twilight.

"Do you think you can come with me? I need proof that your kind exists, and that you're civilized enough to give an excuse to save."

"Wait, why wouldn't they let you save us if you didn't show me to them?"

"Council law dictates that we can't get involved with an under-developed species or else we could upset the natural process of evolution and innovation."

"But, what about Cerberus? How can they come in and foalnap everypony from our planet?"

"They're a terrorist organization. They don't follow the rules."

"But... if you're trying to fight them, shouldn't there be an exception?"

"We're about to find out."

Shepard turned to the door and entered the elevator, motioning for Twilight to follow. She looked to Celestia, who nodded for her to go. Twilight fell to her hooves and went to the elevator. Once inside, Shepard pushed the command for the CIC deck, and they soon were greeted by the dark corridors of the bridge. Shepard waved to Twilight for her to follow, and they went to the door on the right side of the deck. When it opened, two female guards stood on either side of a blue scanner-doorway. Shepard stepped into the field and waited for a few seconds before being cleared through. Twilight then followed his example and stood still in the middle of the blue field. After a few more minutes, she was waved through by one of the guards, and met up with Shepard on the other side.

Behind the checkpoint was a glass-walled room with a smooth looking wooden table that seemed to fuse with the floor, located on the left with a massive window, showing the starry expanse outside. They passed the room and entered a large circular room with multiple seats that went into the floor that surrounded a blue-lit table in the center. The two kept going past the table and went into a room with large blue circles on the floor behind a rail. Above the circles were three familiar figures.

"Councilors." Shepard nodded.

The three ghost-like figures looked to Shepard and then to Twilight. Veron was the first to speak.

"Captain, is that one of the unknown alien life-form you found in the Cruiser?"

"Yes, she is. Her name is Twilight, and-"

"Shepard, please." Tevos interrupted. "We wanted to discuss your blatant disregard for Citadel Protocols in private, not in front of an unregistered species."

"With all due respect, ma'am, Cerberus abducted her and another, and may still be abducting their kind right now. We have bigger concerns than-"

"Now, Shepard."

Shepard gave a frustrated sigh and turned to Twilight.

"I'm sorry, just wait over there for a little bit."

Twilight nodded with a concerned frown and walked out of the doorway. Shepard turned back to the Councilors.

"Shepard, you made contact with an under-developed race, allowed them onto your ship, and have likely given them good reason to never trust the Citadel or the Council ever. Do you have any idea what kind of punishment that entitles?"

"With all due respect, sir," Shepard spit out, "I've just saved two foreign dignitaries, one of which is actually a figure of power for their race, and have just narrowed down where Cerberus may be hiding. We found the coordinates for a Mass Relay that Cerberus activated, and are likely hiding Oleg Petrovsky. Also, if they would have any reason to never trust the Council, it would be because we made them fight for themselves while a superior force, that we can stop right now, is occupying their world, and abducting their inhabitants. We have EVERY reason to intervene. And if none of you will see it, then I'm going to help them myself."

Two more figures came to life in front of him, along with a deep bellowing laugh.

"That's how you tell 'em, Shepard!" Wrex boomed.

Veron swiped his arm sideways to interject.

"It doesn't matter! You will report back to the Citadel, hand over the creatures to STG, and revoke your command of this operation, while we send in a fleet to prepare an ambush for the Cerberus forces behind the Relay."

Wrex pointed his finger accusingly at the Councilors.

"No chance! Shepard, you know how these Pyjacks can't understand what needs to be done, especially if they don't like the idea of playing hero for another species! Now, I say we put it to a vote. All those who want Shepard to go through that Relay and kick some Cerberus ass, while saving an entire race, say 'aye'."

"Aye." Anderson wheezed out.

"Aye." Wrex stated.

"Aye." Said Valern.

The other two Councilors looked at the Salarian with disgust and shook their heads. Veron stood with his hands behind his back before addressing Shepard.

"Fine. But when you return, we will hold a meeting discussing your position as a Spectre."

With that, the Turian and Asari Councilors faded out. Wrex turned to the Salarian Councilor and smirked.

"So, the Salarian's got some common sense, huh?"

"We already made the mistake of not acting on invaluable data once against Cerberus. I can't be responsible for yet another species to go extinct because of regulations that no one bothers to uphold. Shepard, please. Make it right. Save them."

Valern then faded out as well, leaving Anderson and Wrex. Wrex turned to Shepard and held a massive grin.

"Go get them, Shepard. Make sure Cerberus hurts for what they did."

"Yes, sir."

Wrex nodded and also faded from view, leaving only two Humans (and one Unicorn) in the room.

"Councilor Anderson, sir." Shepard started.

"Shepard, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" he let out with a weak laugh. "I want you to know that your father would be proud. You go out there and show them that what's right is different than what's expected."

Shepard gave a salute to Anderson.

"Thank you."

Anderson gave one final nod and faded out as well, leaving only Shepard and Twilight. Shepard turned and saw the Unicorn waiting at the door, poking her head in from the frame. He smiled at her as she ducked behind cover. Shepard approached the doorway and spoke to her.

"It's alright, come out."

She looked up to his face and followed him as they made their way to the exit.

"Thank you." she said.

"For what?"

"For not listening to them. I mean, I would always follow what Celestia tells me, but with them, I'm kinda glad that you made your own choice."

"It's what my father would have done, that's for sure."

Twilight gazed up at his form and remembered what the device had told her and her friends. All the greatness, the power, the spirit, and even the warmth that was described about his father seemed more likely to fit him. And she felt safe, knowing that he cared more about doing what's right. She felt safer knowing that he swore to help her and Equestria, and felt awestruck at how he seemed to radiate qualities of a leader. That he was more than the story-book hero that the video lady had said.

"Yeah, like your father."