Shepard's Sunset

Chapters

Chapter One: First Meeting
Chapter Two: Talking and Planning
Chapter Three: Discoveries
Chapter Five: Magical Discussions
Chapter Six: Morning Conversations
Chapter Seven: Journey to the Citadel
Chapter 8: The Citadel
Chapter 9: Ardent Wants
Chapter Four : A Simple Choice

Chapter One: First Meeting

It was quiet as Shepard walked down the street. Quieter than it had been for her in a long time. No fans hoping to get an autograph. No reporters begging for the next big story. No worshippers trying to be blessed. That last one creeped her out. She wasn’t a god to be worshiped. She was a human. A skilled and very lucky human, who just happened to be at the right place at the right time

Shepard shook her head at that last thought. She looked at the buildings around her. In contrast to the shiny new skyscrapers that loomed above, this part of the city looked old and worn down. Most areas had to be rebuilt after the Reapers tried to burn Earth, but this section somehow escaped most of that.

Granted, no one had ever really used these buildings. The fact that they hadn’t been torn down a long time ago was a miracle in and of itself. Plenty of vagrants and runaways used the building as a shelter, though. They had for as long a Shepard remembered. Some of these people were out and about just trying to live their daily lives. Shepard ignored them. She was on a mission.

She stopped in front of a large warehouse structure at the end of the block. She smiled as she touched the door frame, memories rushing through her. She opened the door, which squeaked loudly, and walked inside. The large storage area of the warehouse greeted her. Rows of old decaying boxes sat there, forgotten and abandoned. Metal shelves lined the walls carrying various odds and ends.

The door at the opposite end of the room that lead to the offices stood slightly ajar. She moved towards the door, occasionally looking into the boxes along the way. When she reached the door and opened it, she was so lost in her memories that she almost didn’t notice the fist flying towards her face in time to dodge.

The owner of said fist was a girl in her teens. She was slightly shorter than Shepard with a leather biker jacket that covered a dark purple shirt and a pair of jeans. Her red and yellow hair spun around her head as she tried to throw another punch at Shepard. Shepard deftly caught the fist and held it in place. The girl struggled against Shepard for a moment before stopping to glare at her with cyan eyes. “You done there Rocky or do you want to go for another round,” Shepard asked with a raised eyebrow.

The girl continued to glare at Shepard for a few second before sighing and slumping her shoulders. "Yeah I'm done," she said.

“Good,” Shepard said releasing her. The girl backed away and rubbed her wrist where she had been grabbed.

“What are you doing here?” the girl asked, again glaring at Shepard as she waited for an answer.

Shepard moved around her to look into the old office space. A makeshift bed laid in a corner. A small pile of books laid beside it, “I could ask you the same question.”

“I asked first,” the girl said, hands on her hips as she waited for an answer.

“True, you did,” Shepard turned to face the girl. “I actually used to live here a long time ago.” She turned back to the bed,”I’m going to take a wild guess and say that's what you’re doing now.”

The girl looked like she was going to deny it for a moment, but quickly gave in. “Yeah, I have been for a couple years now,” she admitted.

Shepard gave an appreciative nod,”Impressive, how’d you keep the others from trying to take it from you?”

The girl grimaced just slightly before crossing an arm across her midsection,”It’s a long story.”

Shepard stared at her for a moment before responding,”You want some food? You look hungry.”

“I don’t even know your name and you’re offering me food?” The glare was back along with the crossed arms. ”How stupid do you think I am?" she snapped

“Good point,” said Shepard with a smile. She stuck her hand out to the girl. “Name's Shepard, Allana Shepard.” The girl stood stunned for a moment as she stared at Shepard. She shakily extended her own hand to grasp Shepards. “Do you have a name,” Shepard asked.

“S-Sunset, Sunset Shimmer," she stammered.

Shepard released Sunset’s hand after a quick shake. “That’s a nice name,” Shepard said. She gestured towards the door and asked, “Now do you want some food?” Sunset nodded and followed Shepard out.

The cafe they found was small and quaint. Wooden chairs and tables filled the space not taken by a large windowed counter towards the back. Bread and pastries lined the shelves inside the counter and behind it. Shepard opened the door and allowed Sunset to walk in first. She smiled graciously at the older women though the rest of her body was tense like she expected to burst into flames at any moment.

A woman appeared behind the counter through a door that lead further back. “Hello, and welcome to Old Town Cafe. How can I help you?” she asked.

Shepard and Sunset walked to the counter,”Well, we’ve never been here before so what do you suggest,” Shepard asked.

“Our cinnamon twists are very popular and I’ve been told we have excellent coffee,” the woman said.

“Alright We’ll have two twists and I’ll have some of your coffee,”Shepard turned to Sunset. “You want anything to drink?”

“Coffee is fine,”Sunset said.

Shepard paid and the woman handed them two pastries wrapped in waxed paper,”Ok dearies, I’ll have the coffees out in a moment.” Shepard and Sunset found a table and sat down.

They ate in silence for a while before Shepard spoke up. “So you mentioned you had been at the warehouse for a couple years. Where did you stay before that?”

“Foster home,” Sunset said after a pause. “I ran away a few years ago and ended up here.”

“Ah, bad home I’m guessing?” Shepard probed.
Sunset looked down into her plate shame etched into her face,”No, she was great actually. I just… I don't know.”

They were interrupted when the coffee arrived and the woman that served them spoke up,”Excuse me, I'm sorry, but, are you, Commander Shepard?”

Shepard leaned back and smiled,”Yes I am, though it’s Admiral Shepard now.”

The woman smiled as well and stuck out her hand, “I’m Molly Evans and I just want to thank you for everything you did.”

Shepard shook her hand,”Just did what had to be done, ma’am.”

“I know, but still, thank you,” Molly turned and left leaving Shepard and Sunset alone again.

“Does that happen often?” Sunset asked.

Shepard shrugged her shoulders,”Yeah, depends on where I go. Closer to the middle of the city it feels like I can’t escape sometimes.” Shepard smirked,”Although no one goes near my house anymore. Not after Wrex threatened to shoot them with his shotgun… multiple times.”

Sunset smiled and laughed a bit at that, ”So you said you lived in the warehouse before, but I don’t remember reading anything about that?”

Shepard laughed,”Yeah the Alliance brass didn’t think it would be a good idea for the ‘Savior of the Galaxy’ to be homeless at sixteen. The only thing they put through was the fact that I was an orphan born on Earth.”

Sunset’s brow furrowed,”I guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah,” Shepard took a sip of her coffee. “So where do you go to school?”

“Canterlot High,” Sunset offered.

“You have any friends there?” Shepard asked.

A look of hurt flashed across Sunsets face for a second before she answered,”Yeah they’re... great.”

Shepard raised an eyebrow,”I sense a 'but' in there.”

Sunset grimaced and sighed. She took a drink of her coffee,”Well, I uh, I used to be really mean to them. I’ve changed since then and we are all really great friends now. But recently a person got on the school's social media site and started spreading some secrets around and my friends quickly blamed me. We eventually found the culprits, but it still hurts.”

“That's rough, but at least you all are still friends right?” Shepard said taking another sip of her coffee.

Sunset nodded,”Yeah it just...”

“Takes time to heal,” Shepard offered.

Sunset nodded again. She looked down at her watch and suddenly gasped, ”Oh no I’m going to be late. I even pinkie promised.”

“What?” Shepard asked confused by Sunsets panic.

“I’m supposed to meet my friends in a few minutes to finish a project and I left my stuff at the warehouse,” She stood up quickly, spinning in place for a moment as she made sure she had everything she brought before she tried to bolt for the door.

Shepard stood up as well before stopping Sunset,”Woah, hold on there, my aircar isn’t far from here. I can take you to the warehouse then drop you off with your friends. Ok.”

Sunset stared at Shepard bewildered. Slowly she calmed down before saying,”Yeah, that’d be great.”

Shepard smiled,”Great let's go then.”

With Shepard's aircar, it didn’t take long to swing by the warehouse then head to Sunset's friends. She directed Shepard to a large orchard a few miles out of town. Shepard landed the aircar in front of a large farmhouse in the middle of the orchard. “Thanks,” Sunset said as she moved to get out of the car. Shepard put a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

“Wait a minute,” Shepard said. “You got a place to stay tonight?”

Sunset gave Shepard a questioning look before responding,”Uh, yeah, we’re finishing up the project tonight and staying over so we can all help bring it in tomorrow.”

“Good,” Shepard smiled before continuing. “Just wanted to make sure.”

“O...K?” Sunset said still giving Shepard a questioning look. She got out of the car and walked to the house. Shepard stayed out long enough to see a pink blur shoot out of the house and nearly tackle Sunset to the ground. Shepard chuckled to herself as she brought the car into the air and headed home.

Author's Note

Hello, this is my first-time post here. Any comments or criticisms or both are welcome and appreciated. I am looking to improve my writing. I have no proofreader as of now so expect some mistakes. I'll try and fix them as I see them but I can't catch everything.

Chapter Two: Talking and Planning

Sunset Shimmer sighed loudly as she collapsed onto her friend Applejack’s couch. Her arms were spread haphazardly out, taking up as much room as the other occupant of the couch would allow. Rarity had laid down on the couch, taking up the other two seats.

The other four girls took up varying areas in the large room. Applejack had taken a seat near the left side of the couch close to Sunset. While Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had taken the other side nearest Rarity and had brought in two chairs from the dining room.

Rainbow Dash meanwhile had chosen to simply lie on the floor. She laid face down on the carpet with the only movement coming from her sides as she continued to breathe. Eventually, she mumbled into the carpet.

“Rainbow Dash, darling,” Rarity said. “If you want us to hear you, you’ll have to lift your head up.”

Rainbow lifted her head up slightly before speaking, “So… tired.” Her head flopped back down onto the floor, gaining a small amount of laughter from the other girls.

“Aw, come on Rainbow, it ain’t that bad,” Applejack said. “Feels no diff’rent than ah hard day’s work tah me.”

Rainbow turned and glared at Applejack. “Yeah, well first off,” She said bringing her arm into the air with one finger extended before it flopped back down onto the ground. “You’re used to it, we aren’t. And second.” Rainbow’s arm shot up again with two fingers this time, “Generally, a hard days work takes up, like a whole day, not an hour and a half.”

“Ah think ya just need tah toughen up some,” Applejack retorted with a smirk on her face.

“Yeah! Well,” Rainbow started to sit up continuing to glare at the farmer, “Screw-“

“Ahem!” Rarity interjected loud enough to cut off Rainbow. “I do find it odd,” She continued in a softer tone, ”While I may not be as active as Applejack or Rainbow Dash, normally I have a bit more endurance than this.”

“It’s the magic,” Sunset said as she sat up slightly, ”Or more specifically the fact that your bodies aren’t used to channeling magic for long periods. It’s like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it becomes.”

“But if that’s true then why are you tired?” Pinkie asked. “If magic is a muscle, shouldn’t you be way less tired than us?”

“I haven’t done any serious magic in a long time. Plus, this,” Sunset gestured at herself, “Isn’t my original body. Technically it’s younger than any of yours by about twelve years.”

“So… technically you’re only four years old?” Before anyone could respond Pinkie jumped into the air and screamed, “YES! I'M NOT THE YOUNGEST ANYMORE!”

“However,” Sunset interjected, “I was nearing my twenties when I left Equestria so I’m around twenty two-ish.”

“Aw shoot,” Pinkie whined as she flopped back down in her chair, causing the other girls to chuckle softly.

After the chuckling died down, Applejack spoke up. “So not tryin’ to be picky or anythin’ but, ya said ya hadn’t done any serious magic in a few years?” Applejack asked turning to Sunset.

Sunset sighed softly before speaking, “I’ve been able to perform small amounts of magic for a while now. It’s how I was able to become the queen of the school’ before Twilight showed up.” She laughed softly to herself before continuing. “That’s the only reason I was able to destroy your friendship so easily.”

The five girls all stared at sunset for a moment. Rainbow broke the silence saying, “So, you used magic to break us up?”

Sunset nodded before speaking, “Just small spells to keep you from questioning things.” Sunset moved to the edge of the couch, folded her hands together then continued, “I knew if any of you questioned each other you would figure out what was going on.”

‘Well, it’s all in the past darling,” Rarity said as she sat up and moved towards Sunset wrapping her up in a hug. “We’ve forgiven you a long time ago for what happened in the past.” The rest of the group all nodded along with Rarity’s statement, each of them smiling at Sunset.

Sunset gave Rarity a small smile as she was released from the hug. “Thanks, guys, honestly, I’m not really worried about that anymore.”

“Well, what are ya worried about then?” Applejack asked. “No matter what it is we’re here for ya Sunset.”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond however Pinkie jumped up once again nearly landing on Rainbow in the process, “Oh, oh! Does it have to do with Commander Shepard giving you a ride here today?”

Four sets of eyes turned to Sunset who sheepishly nodded. Rainbow quickly hopped up on her feet knocking Pinkie over before speaking, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You actually met Commander Shepard?”

Again Sunset nodded then added, “Though it is Admiral Shepard now.”

Rainbow was nearly vibrating at this point, her entire body was tensed up and her face had seemingly collapsed into itself. Before Rainbow could do anything Pinkie had once again bounced back up and shoved a pillow into Rainbow’s face stating, “Here scream into this!”

The smothered girl’s arms flailed slightly before she managed to push the pillow off her face. “What the heck Pinkie,” Rainbow said once she caught her breath.

Pinkie simply shrugged letting the pillow drop to the floor. “What? I do that all the time. Keeps me from being too loud,” she stated.

“I didn’t know you could be too loud Pinks,” Sunset said, smirking slightly.

“Yeah, I mostly do it at home. Maud says I disturb Boulder too much,” Pinkie said. The five girls stared at their pink haired friend. She smiled nervously at the combined stare and held her hands up in a confused gesture, “What?”

“Gettin’ back on track here,” Applejack said purposely, turning towards Sunset. “Why are ya worried ‘bout the Commander bringin’ ya here exactly?”

“Because,” Sunset took a deep breath taking a moment to steady herself, “Because she didn’t just give me a ride. She also bought me coffee and we talked for a little bit.” Sunset ran her hands through her hair as it started to fray at the ends. “She was asking all these questions, like where I went to school if I had friends, where I lived before.” Sunset stood up and started pacing back and forth between the couch and Rainbow Dash. “What if she looks me up? What if she decides to drop by the school? What if she finds out about magic? We’ve all worked hard to keep this a secret to protect Equestria and the portal, but this could ruin all of that.”

Applejack stood up and grabbed Sunset by the shoulders, stopping her quickly, “Hey, whoa there Sunset, I think you’re makin’ a mountain outta a molehill here. It’ll all be fine.”

“You can’t-“ Sunset started.

“Listen here Sugarcube, ya’ll haven’t grown up with stories about Shepard the galactic hero. We have. And from those stories I think we can all safely say that it’ll be fine.” Applejack let go of Sunset before continuing. “Honestly we can’t keep this up fer much longer. Considering Shepard’s the one who united the galaxy. I think it’d be a good idea to clue her in if she gets curious.”

“I agree,” Rarity chimed in, “And I think the rest of us would agree.” There were varying degrees of agreement from the other three girls.

Sunset bowed her head, “You’re right, You’re all right. It’s just hard not to worry sometimes.”

“That’s understandable,” Fluttershy said softly.

Sunset smiled at Fluttershy before she sat down again next to Rarity who gave her a small hug. Applejack, however, stayed standing, a small frown on her face. “Now I don’t wanna sound nitpicky like Rarity here,” she said, gaining a snort of indignation from Rarity. “But why, exactly, would where you were livin’ before come up?”

Sunset paled significantly as she suddenly found the floor very interesting, “I…Um…”

Applejack’s frown deepened, “What’s goin’ on Sunset? What ain’tcha tellin’ us?”

Sunset continued to stare at the floor and started to tremble. Rarity squeezed her tighter trying to comfort the unusually meek girl. Finally, she looked up and spoke in a soft voice, “She… she found me at the… warehouse where… I’ve been staying.”

The reaction among the girls was simultaneous. Rarity let go of Sunset, her mouth wide open, as she stared at the flame haired girl. Rainbow clenched her fists over and over as she stared at the ground. Pinkie’s hair had deflated and her eyes were starting to water while Fluttershy had simply started crying. Applejack meanwhile walked out of the room not saying a word. Eventually Rainbow broke the silence, “Why?” Rainbow looked up and stared directly at Sunset, “Why didn’t you tell us anything?”

“I didn’t want to worry anyone,” Sunset answered.

“Sunset, we’re your friends!” Rainbow shouted as she threw her arms into the air. “We’re supposed to worry about each other and help each other, not keep secrets like this!”

Sunset stood up and was about to respond when Applejack walked back into the room. “Ah called Big Mac. He’ll be here soon with the truck so we can go get your stuff,” she said.

“Listen, you guys don’t have to-“ Sunset started.

“Like hell we don’t!” Rainbow said. “Listen up Shimmer, we aren’t going to just let you go back to some damn warehouse.”

“I’m fine,” Sunset shouted, “I’ve been fine for four years now, I can handle myself!”

Rainbow was about to respond but Applejack interjected before anything else could be said, “It ain’t about handlin’ yourself Sunset. We all know ya can. It’s about the fact that you ain’t alone anymore.”

“You’ve said that before,” Sunset said, a cold edge to her tone.

Applejack took a step back, her eyes wide like she had just been slapped. Her eyes then softened and she spoke softly, “Ah know Sugarcube, and no amount of sayin’ we’re sorry can really fix that.” She took a step forward, “But, we’re not gonna just let this continue. Not when we can do something about it.”

“I…you…,” Sunset fell back onto the couch. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she drew into herself. “I don’t want to be alone again,” She said softly.

Fluttershy got up and walked over to the couch sitting between Rarity and Sunset. She quickly pulled Sunset into an embrace. “We aren’t going anywhere, Sunset,” She said continuing to comfort Sunset. “We all feel bad about what happened. Let us show you how much you mean to us by helping you.”

Sunset sat, silent for a moment. Tears were threatening to fall down her face as she fought to control her emotions. Eventually, she got control of herself and spoke softly, “Ok.”

Applejack nodded, “Good, Ah wasn’t gonna take no fer an answer anyway.”

Sunset snorted once in amusement, “Shoulda figured that shouldn’t of I?”

“Eeyup,” Applejack drawled.

Sunset smiled and the other girls took this as a sign to relax, most of them returning to their spots around the room. Except for Fluttershy, who refused to let go of Sunset.

“So, did you tell Twilight yet about Commander Shepard?” Rainbow asked after a long silence in an effort to steer the conversation back to the war hero.

Sunset shook her head, “No, haven’t had time. I will though. If she starts asking questions I want Twilight to be prepared.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Rarity said. “After all Twilight’s and Sunset’s home is on the other side of that statue. If for some reason the portal gets damaged you both suffer. I’d rather give her a heads up in case anyone gets curious.”

“Oh! Until we know for sure what Sheps gonna do maybe we should set up some kind of watch system,” Pinkie said. “That way we can warn Twilight if anyone suspicious is messing around with the portal.”

“That ain’t a half bad idea Pinkie,” Applejack said. The rest of the girls all made sounds of agreement.

“I have the book,” Sunset said, “So, do we want to alternate who has the book or find a way to communicate quickly?”

“We should all have omni-tools. We could just message you if we see something,” Fluttershy said.

“We could do that, but what happens if Sunset can’t get to her omni-tool or we can’t get to ours?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I think we should all have classes near the portal,” Sunset frowned in thought. “If we trade the book for those situations, then use text for others, that should cover all our bases after school.”

“Ok, but what about after school,” Rainbow chimed in. “I’m pretty sure all of us are doing things when we get out.”

“If there’s a time we can’t be near the portal we tell Twilight to keep it closed,” Rarity said.

“Definitely,” Sunset said. “It’ll cut down on her visits but protecting Equestria comes first.”

“So, we’re all in agreement on the plan then?” Applejack said. When they all agreed Applejack nodded her head once, “Good! Sunset why don’tcha write Twi after we all get your things. Big Mac should be here soon with the truck.”

As if on cue, Big Mac walked in, keys in hand, “Ya’ll ready,” he said is his deep drawl.

“Eyup,” Applejack said as she stood up and stretched. “Come on, ya’ll! Lets get this done before sundown.” They all stood up and filed out of the room after Applejack, except for Sunset who was staring at the floor. Applejack poked her head through the doorway, “Ya comin’ Sunset?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way,” Sunset stood up, a worried look on her face before she shook it off, and followed Applejack outside.

Chapter Three: Discoveries

Shepard sat at her desk at home. Information about Canterlot High filled her screen. Everything from transcripts to funding was there for her to access thanks to her Spectre status. A picture of Sunset Shimmer sat in the top left corner with her records on main display.

Shepard growled and push away from the useless information. She sat for a moment before hitting a button. There was a short pause before words appeared on her screen stating ‘call connection beginning.’ It wasn’t long till the words disappeared to be replaced by a large black window.

“So Commander Shepard, What do you require of the Shadow Broker?” a garbled voice asked.

“Is that really needed Liara?” Shepard said an amused grin on her face.

The window lightened revealing a relatively young looking asari dressed in a conservative white dress with blue accents. The asari pouted at Shepard, “You always ruin my fun, Shepard.”

“It’s my job you know,” Shepard stated a full smile on her face. “I’m the official fun ruiner.”

“I’m sure Kasumi would agree with that,” Liara said.

“Considering her idea of fun is trying to steal my helmet I think she would too,” Shepard stated.

Liara chuckled, “She would have returned it… eventually.”

Shepard shook her head and pointed at Liara giving her a mock glare, “That’s not the point.”

“As fun as this is Shepard, I have to wonder why you called,” Liara asked.

“Who said I needed anything?” Shepard said sitting back and folding her arms. “Maybe I just wanted to talk?”

“You never call just to talk,” Liara stated giving Shepard a half lidded stare.

“That’s not true, what about a few months ago?” Shepard asked.

“That was about Spectre business.”

“Last month then, we talked for hours.”

“You wanted information on Garrus’ newest fanboy.”

Shepard leaned on the desk pointed a finger at Liara again, “Hey I ended up being right about that guy.” Liara glared at Shepard until the soldier relented, “Fine there is something I need.”

“Knew it,” Liara said with a smile.

Shepard glared halfheartedly at the asari before speaking, “There’s a girl I just met. Names Sunset Shimmer, about fifteen to sixteen years old, goes to Canterlot High on earth.”

` Liara’s hands were already on her keyboard as she typed in the information Shepard had stated. “Bit young for your usual crowd Shepard.”

“I met her at the warehouse I used to live in when I was her age,“ Shepard stated leaning back into her chair. “I asked a few questions but she had to leave before I got very far.”

Liara paused and looked up from her own screens, “What are you planning Shepard?

Shepard stayed silent for a moment before speaking slowly, “When I was her age I was helped by then Lieutenant Anderson. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have turned out the way I did. I owe everything to him.”

“And you want to do something similar for this girl?” Liara asked.

“Yeah something like that,” Shepard stated.

There was a small pause before Liara spoke, “Have you talked to Garrus yet?”

“Not yet. I mean we’ve talked about adopting in the past but nothing felt right then,” Shepard said rubbing the back of her head.

“Now you’re talking about adopting?” Liara asked raising her eyebrow.

“Possibly… maybe... I don’t know,” Shepard sighed. “She needs off the street I know that much for sure.”

“You need to talk to him Allana. This is a big decision you two need to…make…” Liara stopped staring at her own screen her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Liara?” When there was no response Shepard tried again. “Liara what is it?”

“Well… I don’t know,” Liara said.

“What?” Shepard asked. “What do you mean?”

Liara shook her head, “Here it’s just easier to show you.” Liara typed a few commands onto her keyboard. A few files appeared on Shepard’s screen with a picture of a familiar girl. “This is Sunset Shimmer. She lives on Eden Prime with her father who was a captain in the Reaper War.” Another file appeared with a different picture. “And… This is Sunset Shimmer your Sunset Shimmer to be precise.”

Shepard stared at the two pictures. Besides the background and the clothes, the two girls were identical. “What the hell?” Shepard said.

“And to top it off there are no records of your Sunset past four years ago when she started at Canterlot High,“ Liara sighed deeply. “It’s like she just appeared out of thin air which is not possible. She doesn’t even have any type of birth certificate that I can find.”

“But… that’s… how?” Shepard sputtered.

“There’s even more,” A video appeared on Shepard’s screen. “Take a look at this.”

The video was from either a security or traffic camera and showed six girls standing in front of a statue of a rearing horse. Sunset stood before the girls holding a tiara. Sunset said something that couldn’t be heard then placed the tiara on her head. There was a flash of light and she was engulfed in a pillar of green and black flame. Her silhouette rose into the air and contracted into a ball before she spread out her arm and legs.

The fire disappeared revealing a changed Sunset. Her skin had turned red; her hands had sharp claws at the end. Leather wings sprouted from her back and her hair pointed straight up giving it the appearance of fire. It was her eyes however that caught Shepard’s attention. The whites had turned black leaving a glowing teal circle to indicate where Sunset was looking.

The video ended there but before Shepard could comment Liara started another video. This one showed the same girls as before though Sunset stood with them. Most of the kids were holding an instrument of some kind. They also had furry ears poking out the top of their heads and three of them had feathery wings sprouting from their backs. Above the girls hovered three seahorse like creatures.

One of the girls, with purple hair, was kneeling on the ground with an arm outstretched towards Sunset who was holding a microphone. Sunset’s jacket quickly came off as she stood in front of the girls in a protective stance and started singing. Soon the others joined in and Sunset transformed once again, though this time was more peaceful. She rose into the air while the others continued singing. Furry ears sprouted from her head and her hair grew in length similar to the six behind her.

The others rose up into the air with her. A rainbow formed above them and shot in the air. The clouds above them came together to a single point before exploding outwards revealing a large ball of light. A large ethereal horse with wings and a single horn emerged from the light. It reared up then blasted the three creature causing them to fracture and blast apart.

With that, the second video ended. Shepard sat there, brows furrowed in confusion, “Liara… what did I just watch?”

“I don’t know,”Liara said. She put her hand on her chin in thought, “the only connections I can make are from human mythology.”

“What do you mean?” Shepard asked.

“Well, the first video definitely showed a demon of some sort. The second is more interesting,” Liara leaned back in her chair. “The three seahorse like creatures match some retellings of the siren myths. The fourth matches a creature called an alicorn.”

“Alicorn?” Shepard asked. “I’ve never heard of those.”

“The legends about those are very obscure. They were related to unicorns and pegasi though much more powerful,” Liara said.

“So what does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Liara placed her head in her hands. “I don’t know what any of this actually means.”

“Well demons are usually incarnations of evil,” Shepard said.

“But alicorns are the epitome of good,” Liara stated, “And Sunset summoned one with the help of those girls.”

“How?” Shepard asked.

“Again I don't know,” Liara answered

“Special effects,” Shepard stated shrugging her shoulders.

“A possibility but for what purpose? There is no obvious indication that an amateur did this and what would a professional studio gain from these videos.” Liara sighed and rubbed her face with one of her hands. “I’ll have someone go through the videos but from just a precursory glance I can’t see any obvious signs they’re fake.”

"Biotics?" Shepard asked.

"N biotics I've ever seen can do anything like that," Liara said.

Shepard sat in silence for a moment, "Magic maybe?"

"Magic doesn't exist, Shepard," Liara said crossing her arms. "There has to be a better explanation."

"People said the reapers didn't exist," Shepard said crossing her own arms.

"Yes they did, but you had more proof than a couple videos and a strange girl," Liara said gesturing at her own screens.

"Can you still make documents for her?" Shepard asked after a moment.

Liara stared at Shepard, “I can? Are you still planning on…?”

“Yes,” Shepard leaned forward placing her elbows on her desk. “Best way to find something out, go to the source. Plus what I said before still stands, she needs off the streets.”

“But what about all of this?” Liara asked gesturing towards her screen.

“All the more reason,” Shepard said with a sigh. “What if the wrong people find out about this. Plenty of groups out there wouldn’t want to experiment with this.”

“You want to protect her,” Liara stated.

Shepard nodded, “Actually I want to protect all of them. Whether this is magic or something else it’s still powerful and different. Some groups would want to take advantage of that.”

Liara sighed, “You’re right… this just makes everything more complicated.”

“So focus on one problem at a time. Can you make documents for our magic girl?” Shepard asked.

“Please Shepard, who created Kasumi’s documents for her?” Liara stated smugly.

“Just making sure,” Shepard said putting her hands up in a placating gesture.

Liara crossed her arms, “Now it’s going to cost you.”

Shepard rolled her eyes and smiled at the asari, “Alright, alright, what does the ‘Great Shadow Broker’ require of me?”

Liara smirked in triumph, “I’m going to be on earth with Jack for some business soon.”

“And you want to stay,“ Shepard gestured widely at the room, “at my place during your trip?”

“Precisely,” Liara said her grin growing into a full blown smile.

Shepard shook her head, “You know you’re always welcome here. That’s part of the reason Garrus and I purchased such a large place.”

“Just making sure Shepard,” Liara said leaning smugly to the side.

Shepard chuckled, “Deserved that didn’t I?”

“Yes, yes you did,” Liar said.

Shepard rolled her eyes at the asari, “So why is Jack coming with you?”

“There’s a student on Earth who caught our attention,” Liara explained.

“Another biotic?” Shepard asked raising an eyebrow.

Liara shook her head, “Surprisingly no, however, her academics are at or beyond college level or almost all subjects. She has even started her own research projects at fifteen years old.”

"Impressive," Shepard said. "Why didn't she get sent to Grissom earlier?"

“From what I remember,” Liara brought a hand to her chin in thought. “Her parents wanted her to grow up with her age group. She has actually applied to the Everton division, that independent study program we set up for kids who couldn’t make it to Grissom, but Jack wanted to see if she would be willing to fully join Grissom Academy.”

“Ah ok, I hope that goes well for you two,” Shepard said.

“Grissom has a good relationship with the school she goes too. It should be pretty simple,” Liara said. “Anyways, the documents should be ready by the time we make it to Earth.”

“Good,” Shepard sighed. “That’s at least one part down.”

“Like you said Allana focus on one problem at a time,” Liara said.

Shepard’s office door swung open and a flanged voice sounded out, “Allana?” The owner of the voice, a turian wearing a blue and white uniform, stepped into the room. He scanned the space, quickly finding Shepard at her desk. His mandibles spread into the turian equivalent of a smile, “There you are. I thought you were in here.”

“What did ‘Executor Vakarian’ have trouble finding me?” Shepard asked giving the turian a sly smirk. “You going soft in your old age Garrus?”

“Please the only one going soft here is you, Shepard,” Garrus said as he stepped further into the room and leaned onto the door frame. He crossed his arms in front of his chest before speaking again, “How long has it been since your last mission? Six months I think?”

Shepard crossed her arms as well matching Garrus, “Says the glorified desk jockey.”

Liara cleared her throat gaining their attention, “As fun as this is to watch, I really ought to be going.”

Shepard nodded towards the asari, “Alright Liara, thanks for the info, I’ll see you in a few days.”

Liara gave Shepard a wide smile, “Of course Allana, good luck.” With that Liara ended the call.

Shepard leaned forward and closed the video chat window. When she leaned back in her chair she found herself entrapped by two turian arms, “So what do you need luck with?”

Shepard laid her head against Garrus’ chest as he spoke feeling the deep subharmonics of his voice. She planted a soft kiss on his scarred right mandible before speaking, “It’s actually something I need to talk to you about.”

“Whatever it is, I’m listening,” Garrus said.

“Good cause this is going to be a doozy,” Shepard said leaning forward out of his grasp to pull up the information she wanted. As the information was displayed she explained what had happened during the day. After getting through her explanation and showing Garrus the video there was a long silence as they both stared at the two pictures of Sunset Shimmer.

“What have you gotten us into this time Allana?” Garrus asked.

Shepard sighed loudly bringing her hands up to rub her temples, “I honestly… don’t know.”

“I mean first the Reapers and now magical girls who turn into demons and summon… what was that last creature called again?”

“Alicorn, it’s called an alicorn,” She stated.

“Alicorn…right. You do know how crazy all this sounds right?” Garrus asked his mandibles twitching nervously.

Shepard scowled at her computer, “Of course I do. It sounds too much like a fantasy novel… or a bad children’s cartoon.”

“I can see that,” Garrus chuckled. " ‘Sunset Shimmer and the Power of Friendship’ We could make a fortune selling dolls to little girls.” Shepard rolled her eyes and huffed at that. Noticing this action Garrus turned her chair so she was facing him. He leaned down placing his forehead against her before speaking softly, “You know I trust you, Shepard.”

She smiled at him and place another kiss on what passed for a nose on a turian, “I know Garrus. You’ve been here for me since the beginning.”

Garrus trilled softly at that, “Good.” He turned his attention back to the screens, ”So what’s the plan here?”

Shepard turned back to the screens as well, “First we need to get Sunset off the streets.”

“You want to offer her a place here don’t you,” Garrus stated.

She turned slightly to the turian giving him a hesitant smile, “Um… yes?”

Garrus stared at the screen a moment before turning to Shepard, “Are you sure about this?"

"She needs off the streets Garrus," Shepard turned back to the screens in front of her. "Besides that, we need to find out what these girls are doing. whether it is magic or something else."

Garrus stood in silence looking at Shepard screens. "Alright, let's do this."

"Really?" Shepard asked. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to find out about all of this as much as you," Garrus said leaning on the back of Shepard's chair. "Besides like you said she does need off the streets.

Shepard smiled, “Good, cause I already have Liara creating documents for her.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Garrus said putting his arms into the air. “As far as I’m aware she already had documents and is just an orphan we decided to take in.”

Shepard planted yet another kiss on his mandibles, “Of course honey.” She turned back to the computer staring at the information displayed, “Our life just got a lot more complicated didn’t it?”

“Yes, yes it did, “ Garrus said wrapping his arms around Shepard again. “But we’ll get through this together.”

“Like always,” Shepard said

Chapter Five: Magical Discussions

Author's Note

DIsclaimer: This chapter will contain strong language mostly from Jack. I don't think it's too much and the swearing will be cut down in later chapters, but, it is in this one. You have been warned.

Chapter Five: Magical Discussions

“I can’t believe Granny Smith forced this pie on us,” Shepard said as she walked into her house pie in hand.

“She didn’t force anything Shepard,” Liara said following the soldier inside. “I think it was a nice gesture.”

“Yeah besides, her pies are the best,” Sunset said closing the door behind her.

“I suppose,” Shepard said examining the pie with narrowed eyes. “Still did it have to be an apple pie? Why not raspberry or cherry?”

Sunset chuckled, “Don’t let the Apples hear you say that, otherwise they’ll drown you in apple products to prove their superiority.”

Shepard looked terrified for a second, “Right I’ll watch out for that.”

Liara chuckled as well, “What Shepard can’t handle a few apples?”

Shepard put a hand up in a placating gesture, “Hey now, I like apples as much as the next person. I just prefer my fruit with a bit of tang is all.” She turned and walked through a doorway to her left shouting over her shoulder, “Feel free to look around Sunset. I’m going to order some food for us. I’ll find you when it's here.”

“I’ll go make sure she doesn’t get anything too extravagant,” Liara said as she turned to follow Shepard. “Does pizza sound good?”

“Pizza? Really?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I blame Shepard, that’s what she always got for us on leave and I’ve gotten hooked,” Liara said with a smile.

“Pizza sounds great,” Sunset said smiling back at the asari.

“Good anything special?” Liara asked

“Nope, I’m good with anything,” Sunset answered shaking her head.

Liara nodded then left Sunset alone to explore. She turned to take in the room around her. There was a couch with two overstuffed chairs on either side sitting in the middle of the room facing a large screen in one of the corners. A large table sat in front of the chairs with a few coasters strewn about on its surface. Sunset wandered past the chairs to a small alcove built into the wall. Pillows filled the alcove and a window looked out to a grassy lawn.

She moved past the alcove to a staircase that led downstairs. The door at the bottom was open revealing a lit room. She went down the stair to find a large room with various weight machines lining the walls. A circular mat took up the center of the room with stands on one side holding sparring gear.

She walked over to the gear and picked up one of the helmets. It looked well-worn though still sturdy enough to provide protection to the wearer. As Sunset was placing the helmet back on to the stand a flanged voice sounded out behind her, “I see you found the sparring room.”

Sunset reacted quickly spinning around and delivering a magic enhanced kick behind her. It connected with a solid thump and the person behind her fell to the ground emitting a loud grunt of pain. She used the momentum to turn completely around and look at the fallen person. A turian lay on the ground clutching his midsection. He wore a blue and white uniform and had blue markings on his face. The right side of his face was marred with old scarring.

Sunset recognized who she had just assaulted. Her hands flew toward her mouth as she gasped. She rushed over to the fallen turian offering a hand to help him up, “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry I-“ She was interrupted by loud cackling laughter coming from the doorway. Sunset spun to look at where the laughing was coming from. Shepard and Liara were standing there with another woman, hunched over laughing. She was wearing a black leather jacket over black jeans and a white shirt. Her hair was shaved on the sides with the top pulled back into a long ponytail. Tattoos covered most of her exposed skin with her face being the only part of her not covered in ink.

“Oh man that was fucking hilarious,” The woman said after calming down enough to stand straight. She was promptly hit in the back of the head by Shepard causing her to whip around to glare at the soldier. “What the fuck!”

“Language Jack,” Shepard said glaring right back.

“You fucking serious, I’m nowhere near the Academy right now,” Jack said gesturing around her. Shepard gave a pointed look at Sunset. Jack followed her gaze and scoffed. “Oh come on Shepard she was livin’ in the fucking streets, she’s probably heard way worse than that.”

“That’s not the point,” Shepard growled her glare hardening.

Jack returned the glare for a moment before scoffing again, “Fine, I’ll watch my language warden.”

Sunset watched the exchange with wide eyes before a groan drew her attention back to the turian on the ground. “Oh here let me-“She started once again moving to help the turian onto his feet.

She was waved off as the turian stood up. “I’m fine just a little winded is all,” He said standing to his full height to tower over Sunset. “I’m Garrus, Garrus Vakarian and the loud one over there is Jack.” He extended a talon towards Sunset, “It’s good to finally meet you.”

Sunset shook his talon, “It’s good to meet you as well”

Garrus nodded at her returning his talon to his side when it was released, “That’s a pretty mean kick you got there.”

“Sorry about that, it was a reflex,” Sunset said rubbing the back of her neck.

“It’s fine,” Garrus said waving a talon about in a dismissive gesture. “I shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that.

“She did the same thing to me when I met her,” Shepard said stepping onto the mat. “I think that’s how she greets people.”

“No! That’s not-“ Sunset stopped, noticing the smirk on Shepard’s face. Sunset rolled her eyes at Shepard as she crossed her arms. “Oh ha, ha.”

Shepard chuckled, “All joking aside, that was an impressive display. You ever have any training?”

“Yeah my dad taught me a few thing,” Sunset said her eyes widening as she realized exactly what she said.

“Really? Was he military?” Garrus asked.

“Uh yeah, he was,” Sunset said.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, “Maybe we can find him for you?”

Sunset shook her head eyes darting between Shepard and Garrus, “No… its fine he was declared KIA a while ago.”

“We have some connections,” Garrus said stepping forward. “Maybe we can find something the Alliance missed.”

“N-no that’s fine really,” Sunset said backing away from Shepard and Garrus. “I don’t think that-“

“Oh come on,” Jack said interrupting Sunset. “Just ask her the damn questions already.”

Shepard hung her head and ran a hand down her face sighing, “Jack… there’s such a thing as subtlety.”

“Fu- Screw subtlety, just ask her what you want and get it over with,” Jack said leaning against the door frame.

“What questions?” Sunset asked.

Liara stepped forward, “When Shepard first found you she and I did some research. What we discovered was… interesting to say the least.”

“Oh,” Sunset said looking down at her feet. “I suppose you would have questions.” She breathed in then out closing her eyes. She opened them again as she spoke, “Go ahead ask away.”

“Just like that?” Shepard said.

Sunset sighed, “My friends pointed out that of all the people in the galaxy to find out about our magic, you and your crew are probably the best option.” She ran a hand across her face, “We can’t keep this hidden forever, plus with me being from a different dimension-“

Sunset was interrupted once more by Jack, “Whoa wait for a f- minute.” She stepped away from the door frame approaching the rest of the group. “Different dimension? Are you serious?”

“It’s… it’s complicated,” Sunset looked towards Shepard. “Is there someplace we can sit down this might take a while.”

Shepard nodded, “Sure we can go upstairs.” She turned and walked to the doorway the other following closely.

They all got settled in the living room with Shepard and Garrus taking the couch along with Liara. Jack and Sunset took the chairs on either side of the couch. “Alright,” Shepard said leaning forward to place her arms on her knees. “Start from the beginning and tell us everything.”

Sunset sighed, “Ok well… are any of you familiar with the multiverse theory?”

Liara nodded at Sunset’s words, “Yes the theory states that there are infinite possible dimensions beyond our perception. However, no proof in either direction has been found leaving it more as a thought experiment than an actual theory.”

“What if I said I had proof of at least one dimension,” Sunset said.

“What kind of proof?” Liara asked.

“I’m... actually from an alternate dimension,” Sunset said gesturing to herself. “One with magic, and populated by unicorns and pegasi as well as other mythological creatures.”

“Bullshit,” Jack said crossing her arms. “Come on, really, unicorns? How fucking stupid do you think we are?”

“Jack,” Shepard said glaring at the woman again.

“No Shepard this is fucking bullshit,” Jack said standing up. “And notice she doesn’t have proof just a story.”

“There’s proof in my bag though, I don’t remember where it went,” Sunset said looking around.

“We put it in the room you’ll be staying,” Shepard said. She turning to Jack, “Why don’t you go get it and calm down.”

“Fine, I’ll go do that,” Jack said turning and walking towards the hallway behind them. “It’ll get me away from this bullshit.”

“Sorry about that,” Shepard said turning back to Sunset.

“It’s fine,” Sunset said with a shrug. “I know this sounds crazy.”

“If you truly lived in this world, how did you end up here?” Liara asked.

“There was a magic mirror in my world. Every thirty moons it would open a portal to this world,” Sunset said.

“So you just decided to go through it one day?” Garrus asked leaning forward. “Seems rather reckless. Did you even know where it led to at the time?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Sunset said as she looked down at her feet. “At the time I thought I was being exiled.”

Shepard sat up, “Exiled, what for?”

Sunset glanced up to meet Shepard’s eyes quickly looking away, “I was accessing dark magic tomes. While that’s not necessarily forbidden, I had been told not to study those books.”

So you ignored your teachers so what?” Shepard said with a shrug. “Why does that mean exile?”

“Cause my teacher was also the ruler of the country,” Sunset said with a grimace.

“Oh,” Shepard said leaning back into the couch. “Yeah, I can see why that would change things.”

“So she was the queen of… What was the country’s name?” Liara asked.

“Equestria,” Sunset said. “And she didn’t call herself a queen, she preferred princess.”

“How long has she been the princess then?” Liara asked

“About as long as Equestria has been around,” Sunset said. She looked up at the asari a hand on her chin in thought. “Which would be around twelve hundred years or so?”

Shepard and Liara’s eyes widened. “She’s been around for that long?” Shepard asked.

“Longer actually,” Sunset said.

Before she could continue Jack walk back into the room holding Sunset’s bag. “Here,” She said dumping the bag in Sunset’s lap. She walked back to the chair and flopped down into it crossing her arms and refusing to meet Sunset’s eyes.

Sunset opened her bag and took out a book and a pen. The book was rather large and leather bound with a picture of a dual colored sun on the front. She handed both the book and the pen to Liara gesturing for the asari to open it.

Liara rifled through the pages, “It appears to be some sort of journal how is this-“ She stopped and stared at a page before turning the book to Sunset. “Is this name accurate?” She asked.

Sunset leaned forward to look at the page, “Yeah that’s Twilight.”

Jack sat up, “Wait, Twilight as in Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yeah… Why, Oh” Sunset’s eyes widened. “You know about this world’s Twilight.”

“It is the reason Jack and I are here,” Liara said placing the still open book on the table. “We are going to see if she would be interested in joining Grissom Academy.”

“Makes sense,” Sunset said nodding. “She was the princess’ personal student after I left.” Sunset shook her head before continuing, “Anyways you wanted proof that book is it.”

“What do you mean as far as I can tell it is just a book,” Liara said with a shrug.

“Back when I was the princess' student we both had books like that,” Sunset said gesturing to the book. “When she would be too far away to see personally we would use the book to write each other.”

“So it’s a communication device?” Shepard asked picking the book up and looking through it as well.

Sunset nodded, “It was one of the items I brought with me from Equestria. I found out later I could still use it to communicate even across dimensions.” She gestured to the book, “Go ahead and write in it, just make sure to mention I gave you permission.”

Shepard and Liara stared at each other seeming to come to a decision. Liara took the book from Shepard, picked up the pen and started writing. When she was done she placed the book closed on the table. “How long will it take for a response?” Liara asked.

“Depends could be a few hours,” The book started buzzing and glowing interrupting Sunset. “Or a few seconds.”

Shepard picked up the book causing it to stop bussing as she opened it. She quickly scanned the page eyes widened. She glanced up at Sunset before starting to read, “Dear Dr. T’soni, It is a pleasure to hear from you. I am glad Sunset has found both you and Shepard and has started to tell you her story. Please feel free to write anytime with questions. I would be more than happy to answer them for you. Also, I would like to meet you pony to pony at some point. I read a lot about the Commander and her crew during my stay in the human world and I would love the chance to talk with you. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Jack stood up and yanked the book from Shepard gasp reading the page. Her eye widened as well and she slowly sat down in her seat again. “This is fucking impossible,” She said after a moment longer.

“Obviously not as impossible as we’d like to think considering we all saw it happen,” Garrus said.

“How does it work,” Liara asked taking the book from Jack and examining it.

“It’s a few different spells combined,” Sunset said leaning forward and folding her hands together. “I knew them by heart at one point be I haven’t needed that information for a while. Twilight would be better for the mechanics side of it anyways.”

“So magic then,” Shepard said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes magic,” Sunset said.

“Fucking bullshit,” Jack said standing up again and point at Sunset. “Magic doesn’t ex-“

She was interrupted by Sunset standing up with clenched fists. A nonexistent wind blew through her hair giving it the appearance of fire. The lights in the room dimmed and flickered and her narrowed eyes glowed with power. “I assure you,” Her hands were surrounded by a red glow as she took a step forward. “Magic does exist.”

They all stared in shocked silence for a second. Jack then took a step forward as well igniting her biotics, “You think you scare me girly. Magic. Doesn’t. Exist.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed even further. She turned stretching out a hand behind her. A pillow from the alcove floated over the group surrounded in a red glow. As it levitated above the table the glow around Sunset’s hand intensified before a red bolt shot out and hit the pillow. There was a loud pop and a flash as the pillow transformed into a cluster of raspberries which dropped to the table.

Sunset fell as well nearly hitting the table before Liara caught her and her back into the chair. Sunset’s hair was frazzled and she had noticeable bags under her eyes. Her entire body trembled from exhaustion. Eventually, she managed to speak between shallow breaths, “There… is that… real enough… for you?”

Jack stared at the raspberries on the table. The doorbell rang causing the group minus Sunset to jump. Jack quickly walked away towards the door without saying a word.

Shepard turned a concerned eye to Sunset, “Are you alright?”

Sunset nodded, “Yeah I’m fine… Just took a lot out of me.”

“You shouldn’t have done it if you knew it would exhaust you this much,” Liara said placing a hand on Sunsets shoulder.

Sunset shook her head, “No I had to prove-“

“You didn’t need to prove it like that,” Garrus interrupted. “You already had the book. No point in putting yourself in danger just to prove a point.”

“I’ve done it before,” Sunset said with a shrug. “Besides, I’ll be fine once I get some food and rest.”

“Then you’re going to bed after you eat,” Shepard said. “You obviously need the rest. We can continue this later.”

Sunset nodded as Jack returned with the pizza, placing it on the table before stealing a slice and walking off refusing to look a Sunset. Sunset ignored this and took half a pizza for herself. When she was done she stood up legs trembling though now able to hold her weight. “Where’s my room?” She asked.

“Up the stair second door on the left,” Shepard said. “You want any help?”

Sunset shook her head and headed upstairs. When she found her room she collapsed onto the bed not bothering to take even take her clothes off. Exhaustion soon took its toll sending Sunset into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Six: Morning Conversations

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Seven: Journey to the Citadel

The spaceport gleamed in the sunlight, towering above the street. Shuttles and aircars came and went in a seemingly random pattern and various people milled about too absorbed in the device to look up. Those that did, though, were greeted with the unusual sit of the Savior of the Galaxy and her husband surrounded by a group of high school girls. They all stared up enraptured by the spectacle above them.

“Wow,” One of the girls said. She was dress in a button-down shirt and a purple skirt which flared up as spun trying to take in all she could. “I know I read about things like this but it’s so much more impressive up close.”

“I know what you mean Twilight,” Sunset said chuckling at the awestruck girl. “When I saw my first aircar I had a similar reaction.”

“It is amazing,” Twilight stopped spinning and was simply gazing up at the spaceport now her brow furrowed in concentration. “I wonder if their technological advancement is just because they don’t have magic?”

“That’s probably part of it,” Sunset replied placing a hand on her chin. “They’ve also had a lot longer to advance then Equestria has.”

“War is also a factor,” Liara said stepping up next to Sunset. “I don’t know how it is in Equestria, Princess Twilight, but a common theme amongst most of the species that gained spaceflight on their own is conflict. It drove them to come up with new ways to do things. Whether that was to transport troops, better medical technology, or just simply a better gun. War and conflict have driven a lot of the advancements in those fields.”

“I suppose, Equestria hasn’t seen a full-blown war in over a thousand years,” Twilight said turning to the asari. She gave Liara a wide smile, “And please, it’s just Twilight. I’m here with friends.”

“Of course, Twilight,” Liara said with a smile of her own. “I am just used to using titles from my upbringing.”

“Yeah, it took forever for you to just call me Shepard even,” Shepard said with a chuckle as she sidled up to the three of them. “It was always Commander this and Commander that.”

“Forgive me for showing my commanding officer the proper respect, Admiral,” Liara said crossing her arms.

“I haven’t been your commander officer for twenty years, Doctor,” Shepard said crossing her arms as well.

They stared each other down for a moment, neither of them willing to give into the other. Finally, the tension was broken when Garrus stepped between them, “Alright ladies, you’re both pretty, no need to fight.

Shepard and Liara shared a smirk before turning to Garrus. “Why don’t you settle it for us then?” They said in unison.

Garrus quickly backtracked holding up his talons in surrender, “No thanks I don’t need any new scars.”

Shepard and Liara both laughed loudly. When they had settled down Shepard sauntered over to Garrus to plant a kiss on his mandible. Good choice big guy,” She said patting his chest.

Garrus coughed into his talon as he turned to the rest of the group who were all giggling slightly. “Anyway, have any of you been to the Citadel before?” He asked.

The girl’s answers varied from a silent shake of their heads to mumbled words. Pinkie, however, bounded forward. “Yep! The Cakes go there to pick up their dextro supplies for the bakery I sometimes go with them and it’s so much fun meeting all the different species I even befriended a krogan on time and-,” Pinkie was cut off by Sunset who had managed to wrap an arm around the girls waist and place a hand over her mouth.

“That’s great Pinkie but I think you’re scaring him,” Sunset said throwing Garrus an apologetic look.

Garrus gave a bemused chuckle at the scene, “It’s alright, I’ve dealt with crazier than a hyperactive girl before.”

“Kasumi,” Shepard said with a smirk.

“Kasumi,” Garrus agreed.

Liara shook her head, “Kasumi isn’t that bad guys.”

“Says the one who befriended her the quickest,” Shepard turned to Liara. “Honestly, you two met than two minutes later you were best friends, what was up with that?”

Liara turned away from Shepard, sticking her nose in the air slightly, “We just got each other Shepard.” She then turned back to Shepard with an evil smirk. “Besides considering how fast you and Garrus clicked you should not be complaining about how quick I make friends,” Shepard grumbled something unintelligible as she turned away from Liara who now sported a victorious smirk.

“Well, now with that awkwardness out of the way,” Garrus chimed in clapping his talons together to gain everyone’s attention. “Since most of you haven’t been to the Citadel before, we’ll probably be stopped at the security checkpoint. I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s just standard procedure for new visitors.”

Twilight raised her hand though lowered it when both Shepard and Sunset gave her incredulous looks. “Really Twilight we’re not in school no need to raise your hand just say what’s on your mind.”

“Right, um well, how is that going to work with Sunset and me?” Twilight asked rubbing her hands together. “I mean with us being from… out of town so to speak?”

“After we finished talking that night, I took the liberty of creating documents for you,” Liara chimed in. “You are now Twilight Sparkle, a student from one of the human colonies visiting some friend you made on the extranet. I already created documents for Sunset, so it was really no trouble.”

“Oh! Thank you then,” Twilight said a bright smile adorning her face.

“Besides that, if there are any issues, I’ll help smooth things over. Being the Executor of C-sec does have its privileges,” Garrus said.

“Thank you both then,” Twilight said again with a slight nod of her head.

“Alright come on,” Shepard said as she pointed to the spaceport. “Let’s get this part over with so we can get on to the fun stuff.” With that, they all headed into the spaceport. Garrus and Shepard lead the way and five of the girls followed closely behind. Sunset, Twilight, and Liara lagged behind a bit continuing their discussion from earlier in hushed tones.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After a short check through with security, they all managed to gather on the shuttle heading to the Citadel. The girls were all gathered by one the windows watching as the shuttle lifted off and quickly made it through the atmosphere. They all oooh’d and aaah’d as the stars, invisible in the daylight, appeared in a field that stretched on endlessly. The moon hung in the starry field seemingly close enough to touch.

“This is… amazing, awe-inspiring,” Twilight said her face nearly pressed to the glass in her excitement.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great isn’t it,” Sunset said from beside her.

“Great doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Twilight turned to Sunset gesturing at the window. “You do realize this makes us the first of pony kind to reach space without magic?”

Sunset leaned her back onto the window sticking her hands in her pockets, “Yeah, but to the people here this is all old hat.”

“That don’ make it any less amazin’ though,” Applejack interjected tipping her hat back on her head. “I never thought I’d get ta go ta the Citadel.”

“Yeah kinda strange how quickly things change isn’t it?” Sunset said turning back to the window a small frown on her face.

“A little, but Ah think we’re all grateful for the change,” Applejack said.

“I for one, cannot wait to see the Citadel,” Rarity said her eyes bright with excitement. “Just imagine, all those cultures, the fashion. I simply cannot wait to see some of the asari dressmakers.” She placed a hand on her chin, “I always wanted to design something for an asari, they’re all so elegant I just know I could design something truly magnificent for one.”

Liara stepped up beside Rarity, “You know I’ve been needing something different to add to my wardrobe for a while. And I hate going to the asari dressmakers. They are all so…” Liara spun her hand in a circle as she searched for a word.

“Stuffy?” Shepard offered with a smirk. “Uptight? Boring?”

“Old-fashioned,” Liara said a smirk of her own adorning her face. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to make something for me? I would pay you of course.”

Rarity’s eyes had grown bigger during this short exchange and her hands on either side of her face. With a barely suppressed girlish squeal she started talking, “Oh my goodness, Darling I would absolutely love to make a dress for you. I have so many ideas already. Maybe a nice baby blue, or a dark red to contrast.” Rarity started circling Liara who staid still as the purple haired girl prowled around her, like a cat about to pounce on its prey. “Hmmm, yes, I think that could work, I’ll have to get the fabric and take your measurements of course.”

Liara coughed into her hand gaining Rarity’s attention, “I assume you have an omni-tool?”

Rarity nodded and lifted her arm. The orange glow of the omni-tool adding a soft light to Rarity’s features as it lit up. “Of course, I do, They’re pretty much mandatory at the school now.”

“Good, do you have an account for credit’s then as well?” Liara asked. At Rarity’s nod, Liara activated her own omni-tool. After a few moments with the only sound being the sound of Liara’s omni tool beeping at her as she typed away she spoke again, “I’ve sent you my extranet address as well as transferred some credits to your account. Feel free to message me when you are ready to take measurements and I’ll let you know when I’m available.”

Rarity looked down at her omni-tool and tapped a few buttons. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at her screen, “Ha…ba…wha?”

“What wrong Rares?” Applejack asked looking concerned at her friend’s speechlessness.

Rainbow Dash peeked over Rarity’s shoulder. Her eyes widened as she looked at the display, “Holy crap.” Rainbow looked up at Liara her eyes still wide, “You sure you want to give her that much?”

Liara smiled and nodded, “Of course, considered it an investment in an up and coming business.”

Rarity looked up at the asari as well, “I can’t possibly accept-,”

“Yes, you can,” Liara said with a pointed look at Rarity. “I have more than enough money to last several asari lifetimes. I’d rather invest my money into people like you where the only thing I expect in return is to watch them flourish into something amazing than in some company where all I’d get back was more money that I have no use for.”

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to put this to good use,” Rarity said closing her omni-tool and dropping her arm to her side.

Shepard stepped up beside Liara, “That was very humanitarian of you Liara.”

“Please Shepard, you think you’re the only one of us that can be generous,” Liara said with a wave of her hand.

Shepard laughed, “Of course not, just wasn’t expecting you to fund a kid’s dream like this.”

“And what exactly do you think I do at Grissom Academy?” Liara said with a raised eyebrow. “It’s my job to nurture kids dreams, this is just a more direct approach than usual.”

“We’re almost there,” Garrus said interrupting the two women.

The girls all gathered at the window again. There was a metallic structure in the distance its five different arms being barely visible to the naked eye. “It almost looks like another moon from here,” Twilight said.

“That’s no moon,” Pinkie said with a gravely, accented voice. The girls all started giggling and Shepard snorted with a barely suppressed laugh. Garrus, Liara, and Twilight stared at them with bewilderment written on their faces.

“Um… why is that so funny? Twilight asked.

“Some human thing I’m sure,” Garrus said with amusement.

“Wait, did I never show you that flic?” Shepard said pointing at Garrus. “Oh, man Joker is gonna kill me.”

“Oh, we should have a movie night tonight,” Pinkie said bouncing up and down from excitement “We could get popcorn and blankets and get you guys caught up with human movies.”

“Does it really count as ‘catching up’ if the movie is over a hundred years old?” Sunset said.

“Of course, silly,” Pinkie said with a nod of her head. “We gotta get them caught up with the good movies.”

“Guys, come on you’re missing the best part,” Rainbow said from next to the window. The Citadel was closer now. They could make out all the lights emanating from the five arms and could even see the larger ships as the flew about. The Destiny Ascension floated in the middle of the four arms. Even though bigger and better ships had come out since the construction of the massive ship, it was still updated constantly and continued to be the flagship of the Citadel fleet.

The shuttle continued its approach, making its way to the upper district near the Presidium. There was a shudder as the mass effect field of the Citadel enveloped the shuttle enforcing its artificial gravity on the small craft. A female voice called out in the shuttle’s cabin, “Now docking, Presidium, please disembark in an orderly fashion and enjoy your stay on the Citadel.” A thump signaled that they had docked safely.

“Welp that’s our cue,” Shepard said stretching her back before pointing the door that was opening. “Let’s roll out crew.”

Pinkie giggled then said, “Aye, aye Shepard prime, pony bots rollout.” She pointed out the door as well then started walking, making mechanical noises along the way. The girls all giggled except for Twilight who stared at the spectacle.

Garrus came up behind her and patted her shoulder, “Don’t worry Liara and I are just as confused.”

“Good to know I’m not alone in this,” Twilight said placing a hand on her forehead. “Humans are just so confusing sometime.”

Garrus nodded sagely, “I hear you there. Hell, I’m married to one and they still confuse me sometimes.” Garrus gestured out the open door. “We should probably get going, we got a whole day ahead of us.”

Twilight nodded, and they made their way into the docking area. Like the spaceport from before, various people milled about conducting their own business. An asari stood at a help desk talking with a couple of turians and a human and salarian were talking animatedly nearby. A pair of C-sec officers stood by the door leading into the Citadel proper as a group of humans walked through all laughing at some unheard joke.

A loud booming voice called out startling the girls, “Shepard!” A large krogan wearing red armor stomped over to the group giving off a large smile.

“Wrex!” Shepard said holding her arms out wide. They collided with the krogan lifting her off the ground in a large hug his deep laugh reverberating even in the large space.

“What are you doing here Shepard?” Wrex said after setting the soldier down.

“Just giving the newbie the official Shepard tour,” She said gesturing to Sunset and her friends.

“I didn’t know you took up babysitting Shepard,” Wrex grunted out. “If I had I would have dropped off Mordin and the others a long time ago.”

“Nothing like that Wrex,” Shepard said with a dismissive wave. “We just took in Sunset here and we thought it would be good to get out and bond a little with her and her friends.”

Wrex turned to stare at Sunset with one eye. Sunset gave a hesitant smile but stood her ground against the krogan glaring at her. “Hmmph, she don’t seem like much,” Wrex said after a moment.

“Hey that’s my friend you’re talking about,” Rainbow said taking a defensive stance next to Sunset.

There was a tense silence as Wrex stared down at the rainbow-haired girl before him. Suddenly a deep chuckle emanated from the krogan’s throat, “I guess you must have something then if you inspire that kind of loyalty in your friends.” Wrex moved in front of the two girls towering over them, he patted Rainbow on the back nearly toppling the girl over, “And good job standing up to me, most humans don’t even have the guts to stand near me. Keep that spirit it’ll serve you and your krant well.”

“Uh thanks,” Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“What’s your name runt,” Wrex grunted as he gestured his head towards Rainbow.

“Rainbow Dash,” She said proudly puffing up her chest and giving the krogan a confident smirk.

“Hmph, suits you I suppose,” Wrex turned to the rest of the girls. “And what about the rest of you. You got names or is stunned silence the only thing you know how to do?”

Pinkie leaped forward bouncing in place in front of the krogan as she spoke, “Oh, Oh, my names Pinkie Pie do you like parties, cake, oh do you know a krogan named Grunt I met him here a while ago and we really hit it off.” Pinkie’s tirade was silenced when Wrex placed his enormous hand on top of her head calming her down immediately.

“You talk too much,” Wrex said as he released the hyper girl. “And when did you meet my best soldier.”

“Oh, it was a few months ago,” Pinkie said scratching her head in thought. “We ended up getting arrested by C-sec something about weapons on the Citadel, apparently they didn’t like my party cannon.”

Wrex laughed loudly as Garrus groaned, “I remember that day, that was a lot of paperwork.”

“Sorry,” Pinkie said with an uneasy smile. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble, I was just trying to show Grunt what an earth party was like.”

“Hehe, I would have paid to see that,” Wrex nodded his massive head at Pinkie whose smile brightened considerably.

Applejack stepped up next, “Howdy Ah’m Applejack.” She extended her arm which Wrex grasped firmly in a krogan handshake. “And ta save some time, the girl with the purple hair is Rarity, Fluttershy is the one hiding behind her hair, and Twilight is the one looking like she wants to dissect ya.”

“What! No, I don’t,” Twilight gestured frantically with her hands, eyes wide. “I’ve just never seen a krogan before, I was fascinated nothing else, honest.”

Another deep chuckled came from the krogan, “As long as you don’t actually dissect me I think we’ll be ok.”

“Right no, of course not,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of doing that to anypo- one no matter what I could discover.”

“Then you have more morals than most salarians,” Wrex said crossing his arms.

“Uh thanks, though I’m sure there are plenty of salarian with a conscience,” Twilight said same nervous smile.

“There was only one that I know of, and he’s dead,” Wrex said.

“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss,” Twilight said with genuine concern.

“He died a good death,” Wrex said with a nod. “He died fighting for our future, he will always be remembered for his sacrifice.”

“Considering you named your first child after him I think you definitely accomplished that,” Shepard said. “Anyway, as fun as it is watching you scare a bunch of high schoolers, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.” She tilted her sunglasses down, so she could look over them at Wrex. “Unless you want to join us?”

“No thanks Shepard, you seem to have your hands full as it is,” Wrex turned back to Shepard giving her a large grin. “Besides I’ve got things I need to get back to.”

“Alrighty then, see ya later Wrex,” Shepard said with a grin of her own.

“See you later Shepard,” Wrex said turning to leave.

“So, what are Liara and I chopped varren meat?” Garrus said his arms wide.

“Heh you might look better as chopped varren, Vakarian, tastier too,” Wrex gave Garrus a wide smile showing off his teeth. “Liara I’ll see you later too.”

Liara tilted her head at the krogan, “Of course Wrex it was good seeing you again.”

Wrex nodded to the asari and walked off leaving the group to themselves. “Well with that bit of excitement over I say we get on with the day,” Shepard said. They all nodded and walked together through the door.

Author's Note

Alrighty, I know not much happened in this chapter. I got this far and had over three thousand words and I had a good stopping point so instead of adding another page break I decided to split stuff up. The next chapter will include some shopping and an interesting conversation with an asari. there is some more I have planned that might be in another chapter then I'll start up with the Friendship Games storyline. Hope you all enjoy this and feel free to comment. I enjoy reading them all and they inspire me to keep writing.

Chapter 8: The Citadel

“Welcome to the Presidium,” Shepard said spinning in place to gesture to as much as she could. “Shopping’s that way,” She pointed to some open stalls with various people milling about. “Boring people are that way,” She pointed this time to a walled off section with a few C-sec officers standing guard. “And all the really fun stuff is down a few levels,” she finished with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “So, what do we want to do first?”

“I wanna see the fun stuff,” Rainbow said running a hand through her hair. “Shopping really isn’t my style.”

“But shopping is fun Rainbow darling,” Rarity said with a casual flick of her wrist. “Especially when done in good company.”

“Knowing you Rarity, you’d probably try and get me into a frou-frou dress or something,” Rainbow shuddered at the thought. “No thank you.”

“Ah agree with Rainbow here,” Applejack said gesturing at Rainbow. “Shopping fur dresses ain’t really mah thing.”

Rarity’s cheeks puffed up as she stared at her two defiant friends, “Well I suppose if you really don’t want to spend time with me.” She spun and nabbed Fluttershy linking her arm with the thoroughly startled girl. “At least Fluttershy still likes me, right,”

Fluttershy’s eyes widen as the group’s attention was suddenly on her. “Oh…my… I…I… do I have to choose,” Fluttershy’s voice dropped off as she spoke the last part barely making itself heard.

“Now look what ya done Rarity, ya gone an’ traumatized the poor girl,” Applejack pointed at Fluttershy who was doing her best impression of a tree.

As Rarity opened her mouth to retort Shepard leaned over to Sunset and spoke in a hushed whisper, “Are they always like this?”

Sunset giggled, “Yeah, pretty much. They never mean anything by it though. I think it’s just fun for them mostly.”

Twilight leaned in as well to add her thought,” It’s the same back in Equestria. They’ll argue and bicker almost nonstop.” Twilight crossed her arms smiling at the girls still locked in their heated debate. “But when you really need them…”

“They pull it together and are almost unstoppable,” Sunset finished a smile matching Twilights on her face for a moment before it slowly faded. “Usually at least.” A frown formed on Twilight’s face as she stared at the now melancholy girl. She opened her mouth to speak when Sunset put up a hand. “I’m fine Twilight really, somethings just take time to heal.”

Twilight’s eyes shined with concern, but she nodded and backed down from the conversation. “I suppose that’s true. Took a while to recover from the Canterlot wedding fiasco.”

“Come on how bad could a wedding be?” Shepard asked. Both Sunset and Twilight rose an eyebrow at the soldier who quickly rethought her statement. “Right, magical land of having an invasion every other week… never mind.”

Sunset and Twilight giggled at Shepard. “Love hungry bugs from tartarus aside,” Twilight said pointedly ignoring the look of interest from Shepard and Garrus. “I would suggest we split up for the morning then meet for lunch.”

“That’s a sound plan,” Liara interjected. “I would be willing to take those interested in shopping.”

“Alright then, listen up,” Shepard now stern voice spread over the group stopping the bickering. “Anyone who wants to shop go with Liara,” Shepard gestured to the asari. “Anyone who wants to do other things you’ll be with Garrus and I. Sound good to every one.”

The girls nodded and quickly split up. Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity banded around Liara while Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack grouped around Shepard and Garrus. As each group went their separate ways Rainbow spoke up, “Sooo what kinda fun things are down below?”

“Oh, there’s the usual, bars, movie theatres, arcades, shooting ranges,” Shepard tick off each item on one hand as she spoke.

“A shooting’ range?” Applejack said perking up at the words.

“Really AJ you’re interested in a shooting range,” Rainbow snickered behind her hand.

“Ah’ll have ya know that Ah’m the best shot in the whole apple family,” Applejack said pride edging into her voice.

“Puhlease AJ, I could shoot better then you with an arm tied behind my back,” Rainbow crossed her arms an arrogant smirk on her face.

Applejack tipped her hat down and turned to face Rainbow with a smirk of her own, “That sounds like a challenge sugarcube.”

Rainbow’s own smirk grew, “You’re on.”

“Looks like we’re going to the shooting range then,” Sunset said shaking her head at the two girls.

“Have you ever fired a gun before?” Garrus asked Sunset as they entered a small alcove with a row of elevator doors. Shepard activated one of the panels then turned around to face the rest of them.

“I’ve gone shooting with AJ before,” Sunset said

“And you’re a pretty good shot too,” AJ said clapping a hand on Sunset’s shoulders. “Ya could probably be a decent marksman if ya put your mind to it.”

“I could give you a few pointers,” Garrus’ head raised mandibles flared. “I was the best shot on the Normandy.”

Shepard rolled her eyes, “Keep telling yourself that big guy.” The elevator doors opened and the group got on.

“I seem to remember a certain missed bottle,” Garrus said as he hit the inside panel to take them to the right floor.
“That ‘missed bottle’ was twenty years ago,” Shepard crossed her arms. “Sometimes Garrus its best to let things go.” Garrus harrumphed at that as the doors slid shut.

The rest of the trip to the shooting range was uneventful. Shepard and Garrus bickered most of the way as did Applejack and Rainbow. Shepard used her Spectre status to gain entry to a private shooting range, so they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Applejack and Rainbow quickly picked up their guns and started firing downrange with Shepard joining in with them. Garrus grabbed a gun as well as he and Sunset went to the other side of the range.

“You said you’ve shot before, right?” Garrus asked as the weapon unfolded.

“Yeah, I have,”

“Then what’s the most important rule when handling a gun?” Garrus asked looking down at Sunset.

“Don’t point your gun at anything ya don’t want to shoot, even if it’s not loaded,” Sunset said doing a passable imitation of the apple accent.

“Good,” Garrus handed the rifle to Sunset. It was an older blocky design, with vents on the top portion of the barrel shroud and a distinctly human-sized grip. “This is the M-97 Viper, one of Shepard favorites.” Garrus looked at the weapon disdainfully. “I personally prefer something with a little kick, but this will be perfect for some teaching.”

Sunset nodded and approached the counter. Garrus followed, directing Sunset to a stool. “Sit there and pull out the bipod,” He gestured to the end of the rifle. “Whenever you’re ready to go ahead and fire.”

Sunset nodded and took her place on the stool. Once she had the bipod out and stabilized she peeked down the scope. The target was only about a football fields length away, which, with the scope didn’t seem like too great a distance. Sunset closed one of her eyes and stuck her tongue out as she sighted in on the target.

Three loud bangs sounded out causing Sunset’s ears to ring, “Shouldn’t we have ear protection?” She asked rubbing her ears slightly as she stood up.

“If you want some, but most weapons no a days aren’t loud enough to cause damage,” Garrus hit a button on the counter causing the target to appear in front of them. It was a holographic target with a blacked out human silhouette and red markers to show where the shooter had hit.

Sunset’s shots were scattered across the target. The first shot hit the center of the chest with the next one landing an inch or two above and to the right of that. The last shot landed just above the right shoulder, outside the target area.

Garrus examined the target a moment before speaking, “Not terrible, needs some recoil control.”

Sunset rolled her shoulder as she stared at the target a small frown on her face, “How do I do that?”

“Slowing down,” Garrus reset the target and gestured back to the rifle. “Go ahead and take your position I’ll guide you this time.” Sunset nodded and sat back down on the stool settling the rifle against her shoulder.

“Make sure the stock is tight against your shoulder,” Sunset adjusted slightly digging the stock against her jacket causing it to squeak. “Now breathe slowly, and make sure to pause for a moment after you exhale.” Sunset’s breathing slowed down as she sighted the target. “When you’re ready I want you to squeeze the trigger after you exhale during that pause.”

Sunset continued breathing and after a moment she fired another loud bang splitting the air.

“Again,” Garrus said.

Another shot rang out.

“Last time.”

The last shot sounded out and Sunset let the rifle lay on the counter as she rolled her shoulder again, “I didn’t hurt this time.”

“Good,” Garrus pulled up the target to get a closer look. While the shots were still a few centimeters away from each other none of the shots had strayed off target this time. “Very good.” Sunset smiled at the praise. “You want to keep going or are you finished for now?” Sunset flashed a confident smirk at Garrus before settling back with the rifle. “Alright then let’s keep going,” Garrus reset the target and gave Sunset a few more pointers. They continued like this for thirty minutes, switching to different weapons throughout, before Shepard walked over and cut them off saying she had an idea for some teambuilding for the kids.

“What is this place?” Rainbow asked staring around at the various screens showing off battles that were going on now.

“The Armax Arsenal Arena,” Garrus said looking around the people crowding the space. “My sister actually runs this place, turned it into more than just entertainment. It now supports private simulations for those wishing to simply improve themselves instead of performing for a crowd.”

“We still do that, and it still draws a lot of people in,” A female turian sauntered up to them a confident smirk on her mandibles.

“Anyone beat my score yet?” Shepard asked

“By the spirits no,” The turian laughed. “No ones come close yet except for when Kaiden and James went at it.”

Shepard laughed giving the turian a quick hug before the turn to face the group, “This Solana Garrus’ sister.”

“Yours as well Allana,” Solana said looking fondly at the human. “You’re the best thing that could happen to my brother. Made him somewhat respectable.”

“Hey, I’m respectable.”

“Tell that to all of your commanders,” Solana smirk grew as Garrus grumbled something under his breath.

“What was that dear?” Shepard asked staring intently and Garrus. “Were you possibly saying something against your dear sweat sister here.” Sheard pouted as she stood not to Solana who was barely containing her mirth at Garrus fearful expression.

Garrus was saved by another voice calling out. “Shepard?” They turned to find an asari dressed in a white and gold floor length dress. “It is you, I wasn’t expecting to see today admiral,” the asari said a small smile adorning her lips.

“Sha’ira! How have you been?” Shepard asked arms spread wide in greeting.

“I have been well Admiral,” Sha’ira said. She looked at the three girls surround Shepard with a raised eyebrow. “And who might your charges be?”

“Ah well we got Applejack,” Shepard pointed at the cowgirl who gave a tip of her hat. “Rainbow Dash.”

“Sup,” Dash said hands in her pockets eyeing the asari.

“And Sunset,” Shepard gestured at Sunset who waved her hand.

Sha’ira’s gaze lingered on Sunset for a moment before she spoke, “It is a pleasure to meet you all, though I am surprised to find the Admiral with you.”

“Yeah, well Garrus and I are helping Sunset here,” Shepard placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders. “We thought it would be a good idea to show her the Citadel and get to know each other a little better as well as her friends.”

“How very noble of you Admiral,” Sha’ira said her eyes wandering over to Sunset again. “Though it is a little curious.”

Shepard’s brow furrowed, “What do you mean?”

“As you know my job a Consort has led me to meet many soldiers in my time,” Sha’ira smiled lightly. “Even a good number of human’s come through my door, including a Captain Ardent Shimmer.” Sunset gasped hand flying to her mouth as the name was spoken .Shepard and Garrus meanwhile both looked at each other with worried looks. “I’ve heard some many stories about his daughter, even met her more than a few times,” Sha’ira looked over Sunset again. “I believe her name is Sunset Shimmer?”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash stepped in front of Sunset who was still staring at the asari tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Shepard stepped forward as well, “Sha’ira there is an explanation-“

Shepard was cut off by a soft, shaky voice, “He’s… alive?” they all turned to look and Sunset. Her hands had fallen to her sides as she gazed up at Sha’ira eyes full of longing. “He’s alive… here?”

Sha’ira eyes wandered over the girl taking in her appearance fully, “You aren’t the Sunset Shimmer that I know are you?” Sunset shook her head. “Ardent is a good friend of mine. I believe he fought in the Reaper War as the Captain of the Lancaster, and yes he is currently alive.”

“Of course,” Sunset looked down to the ground and clenched her fist. “Of course, he’s alive here.” Applejack placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder which sunset shrugged off. “I’m fine,” She growled out.
Shepard watched the exchange her eyes filled with worry. “Garrus, why don’t you and Solana take the girls here to one of the simulation rooms, I’ll explain things here to Sha’ira,” Shepard looked at Garrus who nodded back. “Why don’t we go over there,” Shepard pointed to an empty booth style table towards the back as the two turians lead the three girls away.

“This is one of our sim rooms,” Solana said as she opened the door to a medium-sized room. There were Some chairs scattered around the room and a big viewing screen that covered an entire wall. A door next to the wall led into the actual simulation rooms. “Now we can do a usual sim were you three faces down waves of opponents or you can face each other.”

Applejack and Rainbow both grinned at one another before turning to Solana, “We’ll go against each other,” They said in unison.

Sunset looked up at the pair before simply nodding and looking back down to the ground. The turians shared a nervous look before Garrus stepped forward.
“I’ll get you three kitted out while Solana sets up the sim,” He said corralling the girls to the door as Solana opened up a terminal and started typing, the screen behind her lighting up as power flooded the room.

Sunset turned to Solana just before she entered the gear room, “Are these sims private?”

“Yes, they are, the Shadow Broker wouldn’t be able to break through our security,” Solana said leaving out the fact that she had contracted Liara to design the security for these rooms.

Sunset’s expression hardened, “Good.”

“That’s a lot to take in Shepard,” Sha’ira said. They were walking now away from the both they had been sitting. “If that story had come from anyone else I wouldn’t believe it.”

“I understand,” Shepard bobbed her head. “Quite frankly I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself.”

“Something like this does require some amount of evidence,” They stopped at a door leading into one of the sim rooms. “Though seeing Sunset like that is proof enough for me.”

“What do you mean,” Shepard had stopped just as she was about to open the door and look at Sha’ira brow furrowed.

Sha’ira sighed, “I’ve known miss Shimmer for a while now. She a wonderful girl, full of life and energy.” Sha’ira smiled, “She wants to be a musician like her mother.” The smile turned to a frown, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look at me with so much sadness it was shocking, to say the least.”

“From what I understand Sunset has been through a lot,” Shepard paused taking a moment to collect herself. “From what little she says about herself, I can tell there’s a lot more she’s bottling up.”

“That’s never healthy, especially for one as young as her,” Sha’ira brought a hand to her chin. “It would be good for her to ‘let off some steam’ as you humans say.”

Shepard nodded then opened the door to find Garrus and Solana staring slack-jawed at the screen in front of them. Their head whipped around at the sound of Shepard and Sha’ira entering.

“What?” Shepard asked stretching out the word as she stared at the turians shocked faces.

They didn’t answer. Instead, Garrus gestured to the screen in front of them. It was split into four screens. A large section on top showed the entire field of battle. The camera angles would change as the combatants moved across the field but that feature wasn’t being used right now as the combatants weren’t moving enough.

The battlefield looked like an old roadway. Concrete roadblocks and broken aircars were scattered around. A turret was stationed at one side of the road and was currently in use.

The other three screens showed the combatants individually. Both Rainbow and Applejack were hiding behind a low wall that was constantly being bombarded by weapons fire. Sunset meanwhile had found the turret and was using it to keep the other two pinned.

“The hell happened?” Shepard shouted.

“Things were going well enough,” Solana said turning her head back to the screen. “The blond and the rainbow-haired one were going at each other while Sunset stayed off to the side taking potshots at them.”

“Then I think Rainbow said something,” Garrus interjected. “Because the next second Sunset had them both backed into a corner. They rallied but then Sunset found the turret, it’s been like this ever since, she’s not letting up.” Shepard’s hand smacked her face while Sha’ira watched the one-sided battle intently.

Applejack’s comm burst to life, “Now ya done it Crash.”

“Hey! I was just trying to get her involved,” Rainbow peaked over her cover then ducked back down as bullets tore into it. “How was I supposed to know she go she-demon on us again.”

Silence followed that statement. Even the turret fire had stopped. Rainbow and Applejack shared a nervous look before peaking over the cover together. The turret was abandoned and Sunset was nowhere in sight. “Ah take it back, now ya done it,” Applejack said.

Author's Note

I'M BACK! That's right I'm back. I spent a lot of time on this chapter trying to get it somewhat believable. That plus moving two times in four months didn't help. But hey doesn't matter cause you guys have a chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 9: Ardent Wants

Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood back to back guns at the ready as the scanned the battlefield for any sign of Sunset. “Where the hell is she?” Rainbow whispered.

“Ah don’t rightly know,” Applejack answered. “Why did ya have ta go and say that?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Rainbow turned to look at Applejack lowering her gun in the process. “It just slipped out.”

“Really? You sure you just didn’t want the She-demon to come out and play?” A sickly melodic voice said causing Rainbow to whip her head around. For a second she saw Sunset, without her helmet, standing close to Rainbow, her anger filled eyes glowing in the shade of her hair.

Before Rainbow could do much more than let out a startled gasp Sunset moved. A hard slap sent the gun in Rainbows hand skittering across the pavement. A punch to the gut doubled her over and the follow-up kick sent her stumbling into Applejack. They both collapsed to the ground in a tangle of limbs and curse words.

Applejack shoved Rainbow to the side and sat up to find Sunset had already disappeared again. “Dammit Dash!” Applejack said. Rainbow groaned in response, clutching her stomach. Applejack scowled and scrambled to her feet. “Where the hell are ya Sunset?!” She turned back and forth trying to find any hint of the rampaging girl’s whereabouts.

“Garrus call Liara and get the girls here especially Twilight,” Shepard said her eyes never leaving the screens as she searched for any signs of Sunset. An orange tint showed up on the screens as Garrus activated his omni-tool.

“Garrus?” Liara’s surprised voice filled the room. “What’s going on?

“Liara, are the girls nearby?” Garrus asked.

“Yes, they’re right here,” Liara responded.

Garrus launched into an explanation as Shepard turned to Solana, “Can you get me in there or shut it down.”

“I would have to shut it down to get you in there,” Solana said opening her own omni-tool.

“Shepard, I do not think that would be a wise course of action,” Sha’ira interjected.

“But we have to stop this- “

“SHE SAID WHAT!” Four voices combined into one blared out of Garrus’ omni-tool

“Right now she has a lot of pent-up emotions, letting her vent in a safe environment could be good for her,” Sha’ira said unfazed by the angry voices. “While not ideal, circumstances are such that it would do her more harm to stop her now and try and talk things out. Best case we can actually talk, worst case, she shuts down and continues to hold everything in till either she gets help or explodes somewhere people could get seriously hurt.”

“I can’t just stand around and do nothing,” Shepard gritted her teeth. “There’s got to be something we can do.”

Sha’ira placed a hand on Shepard’s shoulder, “We can get her friends here so they can do something. They have known her longer and will have more of an idea of what’s going on.”

Shepard exhaled sharply then turned to glare at the screen once more, “You’re right.” Before she could continue she caught a glimpse of something on the screens. Her eyes widened, “There she is!”

“Come on Sunset,” Applejack called as she slowly turned in place scanning the area. “We can talk this out I know we can.” A quick blow to the head sent the farm girls stumbling as she tried to regain her balance.

“You wanna talk,” Sunset advanced fist clenched at her sides as she growled out the next words. “Let’s talk.” She threw a kick at Applejack who barely scrambled out of the way in time.

“I know how your feelin’ Sunset- “Applejack was interrupted as Sunset’s fist connected with her helmet sending her to the ground.

“You don’t know shit!” Sunset yelled as she pinned Applejack and started raining blows down. “Just because your damn parents died in some stupid farming accident doesn’t mean you know anything about how. I. Feel!” The last blow missed and cracked the pavement. Sunset’s breath was heavy, her eyes wild and her mouth contorted into a snarl as she stared into frightened green eyes. She leaned close, her nose millimeters away from Applejack’s helmet. “I got to watch as my father, the stallion I thought was invincible, was carried back in pieces on the wings of his soldiers.” A deep chuckle reverberated through Sunset’s chest before turning into a high-pitched laugh. “And the best part, the real knife twist in the wound is that he still alive here. That in this world there lives a Sunset who didn’t go through any of that. Who is probably well adjusted and has friends who don’t abandon her at the drop of a Celestia damn hat.”

Applejack stared wide eyes at the girls above her. “Ah… Ah didn’t… Know,”

A mirthless crooked smile spread across Sunset’s face, “Of course you didn’t. I had to play the part didn’t I. The grief-torn repentant Sunset, scared of her own damn shadow.” A bark of laughter tore its way from Sunset. “And all because I wanted to belong. To have the one thing that’s been denied to me time and time again. That thing I had convinced myself I didn’t need.” She leaned once more over Applejack’s cowering figured. She was no longer laughing or scowling, “What was it you called me before Christmas?”

Applejack choked slightly as she spoke, “Fa-family.” Applejack looked away from the piercing teal eyes above her.

“And we both know that isn’t true is it?” Sunset said.

A sudden shout drew Sunset’s attention. A rainbow-colored blur was all she noticed before being tackled off Applejack. Rainbow had buried her head, now without a helmet, into Sunset’s shoulder driving her into the ground. A snarl escaped Sunset’s lip as she tried to throw Dash off to no avail. Dash had latched onto her arm and had her legs wrapped around Sunset’s taking them out of the fight. Sunset tried hitting Dash with her other arm, but it didn’t do much more than cause the clinging girl to use her other arm to block the blows.

“Sunset stop,” Rainbow said her voice only slightly muffled by Sunset’s shoulder.

“Why should I!”

“Because you and I both know you don’t want this.”

Sunset faltered for a second before renewing her attempt to rid herself of Dash, “You don’t know- “

“Bullshit I don’t know,” Rainbow peeked an eye to look at Sunset. “You’re my best friend Sunset.”

Sunset scoffed, “Right cause ‘best friends’ always abandon each other.”

“I fucked up!” Rainbow yelled as she ducked again to avoid a fist. “We all made a big ass mistake. I betrayed you, I betrayed myself.”

“This isn’t about you!” Another blow smacked against Rainbow’s arm.

No, it’s about all of us,” Rainbow’s eye peeked out again. “We care Sunset. We won’t lose you again.”

“Shut up!” Sunset bellowed. Her magic flared, red flames licked up her arms as she heaved Rainbow off and sent her flying. Rainbow tumbled through the air managing to land on her feet for a moment. She stumbled, trying to gain her footing before falling on her back.

Sunset leaped after her, flames crawling across her body. Rainbow’s eyes widened, and she rolled out of the way as Sunset’s fist landed where her head had been. Rolling to her feet Rainbow covered her head with her arms as Sunset tried to land a punch.

“Sunset,” Rainbow said trying to get the girl’s attention. All she got in return was a growl and another punch. “Sunset, come on I know you don’t really want this.” Rainbow ducked as Sunset’s fist flew by again. “You’re hurt I know. And I know we caused some of the hurt, but this isn’t about us is it.”

“Shut. Up.” Sunset yelled again lashing out with a kick that barely missed Rainbow as she continually backed away.

“We’re not going to leave you again, let us help.”

“You can’t, you have no idea- “

“Yes, we can,” Rainbow felt her back touch something behind her. She had back herself into a wall. “No one gets left behind, you’re fa- “

Rainbow was cut off as Sunset punched her stomach causing the air in her lungs to escape. “Don’t. Say. It.”

“Fa- Family,” rainbow managed to gasp out.

Sunset roared, slamming Rainbow back against the wall. “We are not family!”

“Why- not,” rainbow said between breaths. “Because we made a mistake? Or because you think you still don’t deserve it?” Sunset threw a wild punch that Rainbow ducked under, wrapping an arm around Sunset’s and dragging it with her as she stepped behind the redhead. “Family doesn’t give up, so this is me. Not giving up.” She released Sunset and backed up giving the girl room as she spun around so they were facing each other again. “If you need more proof then my word, well then here you go,” Rainbow spread her arms and looked directly into the malice filled eyes across from her. “I’m not fighting you anymore. I won’t fight my best friend, my sister in everything but blood. So, go ahead, hit me.”

Rainbow didn’t flinch as Sunset roared again. She didn’t flinch when Sunset propelled herself to her. She didn’t flinch as Sunset’s fist flew toward her face and stopped just before reaching its target. Her eyes stayed locked with Sunset’s, watching as the anger melted away to be replaced with sorrow. Sunset collapsed, and Rainbow moved to catch her.

The two girls held each other as Sunset started crying slow tears, which devolved into body racking sobs. Rainbow said nothing as Sunset cried, simply holding the girl tight. Finally, as Sunset’s sob started to die down she spoke, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry we weren’t there before, that we didn’t help you sooner.”

Sunset hiccupped as she spoke, “I wouldn’t have let you. I didn’t think that’s what you guys wanted.”

“We would have helped, I would have helped,” Rainbow tightened her hug. “You’re like a big sister to all of us now. Hell, you keep pinkie in line better than any of us.” They both shared a chuckle at that. “But you don’t have to be strong all the time. Let us carry some of that, and if you can’t then let us carry you instead.”

“I… Can’t be alone again,” Sunset mumbled into Rainbow’s shoulder.

“And you won’t be,” Rainbow’s body glowed slightly as pulled away from the hug to look into Sunset’s eyes. Wing’s sprouted from her back, and furry eyes poked their way through her hair. “Element of Loyalty remember. I already failed that once, I won’t do that again.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, “Rainbow! You powered up!”

“What?” Rainbow’s wings flared, and her eyes widen as well as she felt them move. ” What the hell?” She stood and twisted trying to get a look at her wings. “I thought it only happened when we,”

“Played music? So, did I,” Sunset narrowed her eyes and stood to walk around Rainbow. “And it should have faded by now. Our pony traits don’t stick around this long after we’ve finished playing.”

“Sunset?” Fear infected Rainbow’s voice.

“Come on let’s go find Twilight.”

It didn’t take long to find Twilight as Liara and the girls had found their way to sim rooms and were waiting for them. The first thing that happened as Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack entered the room was Rarity striding up to Rainbow and slapping her hard across the face leaving an imprint of a hand on Rainbow’s face.

“How dare you,” Rarity shrieked in Rainbow face. “How dare you say such things when you know how sensitive Sunset is.”

“Geez Rares where did that come from,” Rainbow held her cheek.

Rarity’s cheeks puffed out, “You know perfectly well where that came from. I have half a mind to get in that simulator and kick your ass myself!”

"Woah, hey,” Rainbow backed away, raising her hands. “I’ve already had my ass kicked enough as it is.”

“A little help here?” Sunset called out waving an arm from underneath a mound of pink hair.

There was squeak as Fluttershy popped out of the hair blushing heavily, “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry Sunset I didn’t mean to- “

Sunset waved her hand dismissively as she tried to sit up with Pinkie still clinging to her, “Flutters it’s fine no harm done.”

“Yeah seriously, Fluts it’ll take a lot more than you and Pinkie to even give her a scratch,” Rainbow said with a smirk. “Where’d you even learn to fight like that?”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond but was beaten by Twilight, “That’s Royal Guard Training, isn’t it? It seems similar to some of the tactics I saw my brother practicing.”

Both Shepard and Garrus perked up at hearing that as Sunset nodded her head a sheepish smile on her face, “Yeah my dad taught me a few things and I would get help from his squad occasionally.”

“His squad must have been kickass then,” Rainbow said as she walked over to Sunset a wild smile stretched across her face. “Seriously I haven’t been beaten that bad since I started taking some lessons as a kid. We gotta do that again sometime.”

Sunset grimaced, “Yeah, maybe.” Sunset turned to Twilight. “What do you think about Rainbows change?”

Twilight frowned and walked over to Rainbow, “I don’t know. I have a few ideas off the top of my head, nothing solid though” Twilight walked around Rainbow examining her from top to bottom. “The magic seems to have faded now.” She gasped and looked over to the unfamiliar asari in the room.

Sha’ira lifted up her hand and offered Twilight a small smile, “Do not worry Princess Sparkle. Shepard has informed me of your true nature as well as Sunsets. I know to keep it a secret and I am rather good at that.” Her eyes twinkled as her smile widen. “I would not have very many clients if I was not.”

Both Sunset and Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as Shepard stepped over to the group, “Well, after that bit of excitement I think we should get something to eat before heading back.”

“Shepard if you don’t mind I’d like a quick word with miss Shimmer,” Sha’ira’s hand were clasped behind her back and her smile was gone.

Shepard raised an eyebrow then glanced to Sunset, “That’s up to her.”

Eyes wide Sunset looked between Shepard and Sha’ira. At Shepard’s approving nod she rubbed the back of her neck and spoke, “Uh, I think I’d be fine with that.”

“Wonderful,” Sha’ira said with a smile as she turned to Shepard, “We won’t be long. You could wait right outside then your group could get something to eat once we are done.” Shepard nodded and with the help of the three other adults in the room corralled the six teens out the door. After a quick hug from Twilight, Sunset was left alone with Sha’ira.

The asari gestured to a couch against the far wall across from the screen. “Let’s sit while we talk, it will probably be more comfortable,” She said as she sat on the couch.

Sunset’s eyes flicked from Sha’ira to the couch before she sighed and sat down on the other side of the couch. She folded her hand together and crossed her legs in a similar fashion to Sha’ira. The then stared at each other.

This was the first time Sunset had gotten a good look at the asari, and she looked old. At least old for an asari which was still young looking for most other species. But the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes and mouth gave her away. Her eyes were deep pools of blues that bored into Sunset’s. They didn’t seem to be looking at her but through her into her very soul.

After a moment Sunset’s huffed and turned her head away as she blew a strand of hair from her face, “So are we actually going to talk or just stare at each other?”

The sound of Sunset’s voice broke Sha’ira out of her thought. She smiled, her wrinkles nearly disappearing, at the teen across from her. “I do apologize. It seems as I grow older, the easier it becomes to lose myself in my thoughts.”

“You’re not the only one,” Sunset rolled her eyes. “I know my old mentor would often stop to think about something or another.”

“The curse of old age,” Sha’ira leaned forward her eyes twinkling. “I truly hope you get to experience it one day.”

“Can we get to the point?” Sunset said sharply. “I’d really like to get back to my friends.”

Sha’ira’s eyes widened before she started chuckling, “You are a lot like her you know.”

“Who? The other Sunset?” A glare was shot in Sha’ira’s direction.

“No,” Sha’ira shook her head. “You are a lot like Shepard.”

“Wha…What?” Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise even as Sha’ira nodded.

“When I first met Shepard- “Sha’ira leaned back into the couch. “- She was very focused on everything but me. Looking back, I know the reasons why, but it was very off-putting. Our conversations were short and to the point, and she’d be rushing off to the next thing she had to do.” She sighed a frown flitting across her face. “Not many treated me with such irreverence. Most came to me for wisdom or guidance or other… relaxations.”

“I’m sorry if I’m being rude,” Sunset stared at her hands. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

Sha’ira waved am arm in a dismissive gesture, “Don’t apologize. I understand why.” She quirked an eyebrow. “To be honest I find it refreshing to be treated as such like I’m just another person.”

Sunset snorted, “Now you sound like my old teacher.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sha’ira tilted her head. “Tell me Sunset, do you believe in destiny?”

Sunset’s head snapped up and she stared at the asari, “Um I don’t know.” Sunset looked at the door the girls had just walked through seemingly staring through it. “I did at one point. I thought I was destined for something great. I was wrong. Now? I don’t think it matters.” She looked back at Sha’ira her brow furrowed, “Why are you asking me this?”

Sha’ira hummed in thought before she spoke. “I asked nearly everyone I meet that question at one point or another. I find it reveals much about them. I find that those that do truly believe in destiny to be arrogant or hopeless. And those that don’t, lost in their own meanderings as they try and fill their life with meaning.” Sha’ira leaned forward like she was about to tell a secret. “Do you want to know what Shepard’s answer was?” At Sunset’s nod, she continued. “She didn’t care. Well- “Sha’ira tilted her head back as she remembered something. “-Her exact quote was ‘I’m too busy trying to save the galaxy to be worried about something as useless as destiny, though with a few more colorful choices in words.”

Sunset’s face betrayed her as she tried and failed not to smile. “So, what you believe about destiny?”

Sha’ira considered Sunset for a moment. “I believe… that destiny isn’t a path chosen for you. But a path you chose.”

“Everything’s a choice, right?” Sunset huffed at that. “I don’t know if I fully believe that.” Again, she looked towards the door.

Sha’ira tilted her head, “To each their own I suppose.” She smiled again, “Now I think I’ve kept you from your friend long enough.” She stood, and Sunset did the same.

“Yeah we should get going,” Sunset said taking a few long strides to the door.

“I do want to say one more thing,” Sha’ira’s words halt Sunset just as she was going to open the door. “You hear many things in my line of work. And I fear you and your friends may be dragged into the middle of old conflicts.”

Sunset turned, “Well, unless it the reapers again I think we can handle it.” The doors opened, and Sunset walked through leaving Sha’ira to her thoughts.

Sha’ira sighed, “I truly hope so.”

On a small space station orbiting a dead planet, lightyears away from earth, a man stood in front of a large console and screen. Various images and documents flashed across his vision. A woman stood behind him in a suit and skirt a large mass of hair barely contained in a hair band she wore.

“And how goes the training of group C,” The man asked short and curt voice. His eyes never left the screen as he stood and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter.

“They are on schedule, sir,” The woman said. Her voice was deep and sultry, and she carried herself with confidence as she stepped closer to the man.

“Good and the test subject?”

“He has proven more than capable of handle unenhanced. Even those with biotics are little challenge to him,” A smirk spread across the woman’s face. “He is also quite vicious. It’s exciting to watch him work.”

“How soon will they all be ready?”

“A few weeks at most,” She tilted her head in thought. “We could shorten that time frame if you wish.”

The man finally lit his cigarette. He took a deep draw then blew out the smoke into the screens, “No the time frame is good. We have all the time we need to do this right, so we will.”

A crooked smile stretched across the woman’s face, “As you wish.”

Author's Note

I'm back! To those of you wondering what took so long, I should have a blog post up by the end of the day giving some amount of explanation. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please like comment and subscr- wait, wrong platform.

Chapter Four : A Simple Choice

Sunset Shimmer sighed as she walked through Canterlot High’s hallways. It had been a long week for her as she got used to living with the Apple family. While she wasn’t as opposed to mornings as Rainbow was, five in the morning was still earlier than she would like.

Still, it was nice living with the Apples. Granny Smith had insisted she eat as much as she could and Big Mac had been a big help with moving some of her things. Even Applejack’s little sister had joined in, taking it upon herself to be like Sunset’s personal butler.

Sunset lifted the book bag on shoulder and set it on the floor in front of her locker. She opened her locker and stuffed two of her textbooks into the bag filling it to near bursting. She closed the locker and hefted the bag back onto her shoulder. It was the end of the day so she had to meet Applejack outside so they could be picked up to go back to the farm for the day.

She turned on her heel and nearly ran into Applejack and Rainbow Dash who were standing right behind her. “Sunset, there ya are we’ve been lookin’ all over fer ya,” Applejack said reaching out to steady Sunset who had nearly tipped over from trying to avoid a collision with her two friends.

“Why?” Sunset asked after she managed to stay upright.

“Cause Commander Shepard just walked into the school!” Rainbow near shouted.

Sunset’s eyes widened, “What! Why?”

“Don’ rightly know sugercube,” Applejack said shrugging her shoulders. “But, that’s not even the weirdest part.”

“Yeah she seemed to recognize us,” Rainbow said.

Applejack nodded in agreement at Sunset’s quizzical look, “Yep she walked with some asari, noticed us and then made a beeline towards us. Started askin’ questions too.”

“What kind of question?” Sunset asked.

“Our names, if we knew you, if we went to school here, stuff like that,” Rainbow said denoting each question with her fingers. “After we answered she just nodded, thanked us, then walked off with the asari.”

“Why would she-“ Sunset was interrupted by a loud blaring from the speakers in the hallway.

“Sunset Shimmer please report to the principal’s office, Sunset Shimmer to the principal’s office,” Celestia’s voice said over the speakers.

All three girls stared at each other with wide eyes. “Guess that answers one question,” Applejack said. She put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “Do ya want us ta come with ya?”

Sunset shook her head, “No… No, I’ll be fine.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “Whatever it is I can deal with it.”

“If yer sure sugarcube,” Applejack said releasing Sunset’s shoulder. Rainbow and I will see if we can’t find the other. We’ll all wait fer ya at the entrance.”

“Thanks, Applejack,” Sunset said nodding. The three parted ways, with Applejack and Rainbow heading off in the direction Sunset had come from and Sunset continuing down the hallway. She wound her way through the corridors, ignoring the whispers and stares from the other students, eventually finding her way into the school office.

She stood in front of Celestia’s office. Breathing in and out slowly to help calm down, she straightened her should and walked inside. Celestia sat at her desk, hands folded on top of a few papers on her desk, talking to an asari who was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the large desk. The asari was relatively young, though by any standards young for an asari was ancient for most humans, and was wearing an elegant blue and gold dress.

A familiar voice sound out on Sunset’s right, “Was wondering if you got lost. Sunset turned to find Shepard giving her a lazy smirk as she leaned against one of the many filing cabinets that lined the walls. There were sunglasses perched on top of her head and she wore military-style cargo pants with an N7 hoodie covering a gray shirt. Her clothes combined with her posture gave the image of a military brat who spent too much time in the principal’s office.

Celestia cleared her throat, “Yes, well she is here now so we can get started.” She gestured to the last remaining chair in the room, “Please have a seat Sunset.”

Once Sunset had settled herself in the chair and placed her bag on the floor she spoke, “What is this about?”

Celestia shuffled the papers on her desk, “It has been brought to my attention by Dr. T’soni,” She indicated the asari sitting to Sunset’s left, “And Mrs. Shepard, that you have spent the last few years homeless. Is this accurate?”

Sunset’s eyes widened and her breath hitched. She shot a glance at Shepard, who had moved up beside her. She nodded at Sunset concern etched on her face. Eventually, Sunset spoke, “Um… yes, it's true.”

Celestia’s face fell and her shoulders slumped. She glanced at the other two occupants of the room before staring at the papers on her desk. “Right, well this changes a few things.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

Celestia straightened back up squaring her shoulders as she spoke, “As a teacher and the principal of this school it is my responsibility to ensure each student has the best possible chance to succeed.” Her face softened as she leaned forward on her desk looking directly at Sunset, “Beyond that, I care about each and every one of my students, including you Sunset. And I can’t, in good conscience, allow any of my students to stay homeless.” She straightened back up once again messing with the papers on her desk, “I would have to report this immediately.”

“What! No!” Sunset said leaning forward as well and placing her hands on the desk. “I… I’m fine now. I’m living with the Apples. It’s fine now I’m not homeless.

Celestia sighed, “While that is good, they are not your legal guardians. I would still have to report this to CPS and you would most likely be put into foster care. However-“

Before Celestia could continue Sunset jumped up and shouted, “But that would take me away from here, my friends, and-“ A calming hand settled on Sunset’s shoulder stopping the girl’s tirade against the principal.

“Whoa, calm down Sunset. We don’t want to take you away from here either,” Shepard said removing her hand from Sunset’s shoulder. She gestured to the others in the room as she said, “Which is why Liara, Celestia, and I have come up with a solution if you want.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes at Shepard, “What kind of solution?”

“If you hadn’t interrupted me I would have told you,” Celestia said gesturing back towards the chair Sunset had vacated. Once Sunset sat back down she continued. “Now, if you so choose, Allana Shepard would become your legal guardian and you would live with her and her husband instead of going into foster care.”

“What they would adopt me?” Sunset asked.

At this Liara cleared her throat, “No they wouldn’t be adopting you. Basically, we would skip the process of reporting this to Child Protective Service and their process of placing you in foster care and simply place you under the care of Shepard and Garrus. They would essentially be your foster parents guaranteeing that you could stay here and continue to attend this school with your friends.”

“So… what, I have to move in with you now?” Sunset asked looking at Shepard.

“Nope,” Shepard said with a shake of her head. “You could let CPS take care of you.” She sighed and ran a hand through hair, "But... I know how important friends are and I wouldn't want to take that away from you."

Sunset stared at Shepard for a moment before looking down at her hands, “I… I don’t know.”

“Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have,” Liara said smiling at Sunset.

“Yeah, we want this to be your decision Sunset,” Shepard said again placing her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

Sunset looked up at Shepard, “Why me?”

Shepard smiled and stuck her hands into the pockets on her hoodie, “Cause you remind me of myself at your age. And if someone hadn’t done something similar to this for me, then I wouldn’t be where I am today. So… I want to do the same for you.”

Sunset looked back down at her hands and sat in silence for a moment before speaking. “Fine, I'll go along with this.”

Shepard smile grew wider, “Great!” She turned to Celestia, “Is there anything else we need to do?”

Celestia shuffled the papers in front of her looking at each one before saying, “Everything appears to be in order. If I could go over a few things with Dr. T’soni that would be helpful, otherwise all I need is a signature from Sunset here.” She placed a document in front of Sunset and indicated with a pen where Sunset needed to sign.

Sunset leaned forward and signed the document. She handed the document back then stood up, grabbing her bag, and followed Shepard out.

They walked in silence for a while as they wound through the school’s halls. While the school was mostly empty there were a few other students lagging behind the rest of the student body. Sunset could just barely make out the confused whispering as the student stared at the two of them but before she could make out exactly what the students were saying Shepard spoke.

“I know this seems sudden, cause it is, but I hope this will be a good thing for you,” She said as she looked at Sunset.

Sunset nodded, “Yeah I… this is just all really quick.”

Shepard chuckled, “I know if you have any questions feel free to ask.”

“Um, you live here, on Earth?” Sunset asked.

“Yup,” Shepard said popping the p as she nodded. “We got the place a few years after the Reaper war. Someplace quiet we could relax. It’s also close to the spaceport so Garrus can get to work.”

“What does he do?” Sunset tiled her head to the side as she looked towards Shepard.

Shepard ran a hand through her hair, “He actually the Executor of C-sec.” She chuckled as Sunset’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry he’s not as much of a hard ass as his predecessor.”

They had made it to the school’s entrance but, before Shepard could open the door, Sunset placed her hand on the door handle stopping her. “Before we go out, I should probably warn you, my friends are more than likely right outside,” She said.

Shepard smirked at Sunset. “Don’t worry,” She said flicking the sunglasses, still perched on her head, down in front of her eyes, “I got this.” With that, she opened the door and walked outside. Sunset closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply before following.

Silence met her as her friends all stood staring at Shepard and she stared back. Sunset cleared her throat. “Shepard these are my friends,” She pointed to each of them as she said their names, “Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and you’ve already met Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”

“Yes, yes I did,” Shepard said clapping her hands together, “Well, how are you all today?”

Pinkie took this as her cue to leap forward and start talking, “Wowzie, you really are Commander Shepard not to say that you aren’t though you could be a clone wouldn’t that be funny if there was a clone of you and you had to fight over who was the real Commander Shepard she’d be like ‘I should go’ and you’d be like ‘Do I really sound like that’ and-“

Pinkie’s tirade was ended when Applejack managed to wrangle the hyper girl back and put a hand over her mouth. “Sorry ‘bout that. Pinkie here’s just a bit excitable around new people.”

“Don’t worry you get used to it,” Sunset said looking over at Shepard. “It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.”

“Right, Pinkie being… Pinkie,” Shepard said as she lifted up her sunglasses to stare with narrowed eyes at the pink haired girl who was still talking despite the hand muffling her.

Rarity stepped forward this time. “It is a pleasure to meet you Commander, or should I say, Admiral?” She said offering her hand to Shepard.

“Either one,” Shepard said taking the offered hand in a firm handshake. “The admiral position is more honorary anyways. I mostly work with the Spectres still, training new recruits and the like.” Shepard released Rarity’s hand and turned to look at the other girls. “Besides you’re all civilians anyways so the ranking is unneeded so just Shepard is fine.”

“”Actually Rainbow Dash here is part of the junior ROTC program,” Applejack said indicating the rainbow haired girl.

Shepard smirked and turned towards Rainbow, “Is she now?”

Rainbow Dash gulped as Shepard looked over her. “Yes, ma’am,” She said straightening her posture.

Shepard chuckled, “At ease cadet, no need for formalities, neither of us are in our uniforms at the moment.”

“Right, just kind of reflex at this point I guess,” Rainbow said running a hand through her hair a slight redness appearing on her cheeks.

“That’s good,” Shepard said nodding. “Though I wouldn’t have pegged as military, why did you want to join?”

“I want to be a pilot,” Rainbow said straightening up again. “Fly with the best you know.”

“Good for you, though I’d watch it with the hair dye,” Shepard said as she pointed at Rainbow’s hair.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah I’ve heard that before. This is actually my natural color though.”

Shepard shifted her sunglasses down to look at Rainbow with a raised eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yep,“ Rainbow said, the rest of the girls nodding in agreement. “If you want hair dye though Rarity’s got plenty.”

Rarity scoffed, “Please Rainbow Dash this-“ she flicked a hand through her hair “- is au natural as it were.”

“Right, like we haven’t all seen the dye you keep ‘hidden’ in her room,” Rainbow said as she smirked at Rarity.

Rarity scoffed again and turned away from Rainbow. Before anyone could say anything there was a loud, “Woah nelly,” from Applejack. They all looked over to find Pinkie sitting on top of Applejack finally having overpowered her captor.

Pinkie breathed in deeply then said, “Is it true you had a hamster on the Normandy?”

“Uh… yeah, I did,” Shepard said. “How did-“

“Just a hunch,” Pinkie said with a wide smile.

Fluttershy stepped forward this time hiding half her face in her hair as she spoke, “Um… What kind of hamster was it? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Golden hamster I think,” Shepard said shrugging her shoulders. “I didn’t really ask too many questions when I bought him.”

“What was his name?” Fluttershy asked.

Shepard smiled, “Reginald, Reggie for short.”

“That’s a nice name,” Fluttershy said smiling back at Shepard. “I have a bunny called Angel.”

“Don’t forget the cat, the hamster, the bird-“Pinkie said.

“You really like animals then huh,” Shepard said cutting off Pinkie before she could get started. “You know, I was thinking about getting a new hamster soon, any suggestions?”

“Oh we’re always looking for people adopt the hamster at the shelter,” Fluttershy said as she took off her backpack. She rummaged inside eventually pulling out a flyer which she handed to Shepard. “Here’s the information, you can come by anytime.”

Shepard took the offered flyer and scanned its contents before sticking it in a pocket. “Thanks, I’ll definitely come by sometime,” She said causing Fluttershy to smile even wider.

The door behind Shepard and Sunset opened revealing the asari, “We’re good to go Shepard.”

“Thanks, Liara,” Shepard said before turning to the girls. “Hey, girls this is Dr. Liara T’soni, Liara this is,” She paused as she looked over the girls. “Wait I got this,” She pointed to each of the girls as she said their names, “Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity.” Each of them nodded as Shepard said their names.

“It’s is a pleasure to meet you all,” Liara said. She turned to Sunset, “Celestia wanted me to give this to you,” She said handing a large black case to the girl. “She said since you’ll have a place now you might want this.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said taking the offered case. At Shepard inquisitive look Sunset explained, “It’s my guitar, I kept it here so it wouldn’t get stolen or damaged.”

“You play guitar?” Shepard asked.

“Heck yeah, she does!” Rainbow exclaimed. “She’s in our band, The Rainbooms.”

“Really I’ll have to see that sometime. Maybe you all come over to the house practice,” Shepard said.

“Not that we don’ appreciate the offer, but why would we practice at your place?” Applejack asked.

Sunset cleared her throat gaining the girls attention, “Actually I’ll be living with Shepard now. She’s becoming my legal guardian.”

The five girls stared at Sunset before they all broke out into speech all talking over one another. Shepard stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply causing all the girls to jump and turn towards Shepard. “Alright enough of that,” Shepard said with a stern edge. “Now I know you’re all worried and have more than a few questions.” Her face a voice softened as she continued to speak. “First off this was her choice. I had to do something about her situation after I found out. Second, I wanted to make sure she wasn’t taken away from her. So I offered her a place under my care instead of the possibility of her having to go somewhere else.”

Applejack turned to Sunset, “You sure about this sugarcube?”

“Yeah…yeah, I am,” Sunset said nodding to Applejack. “Considering... everything, I think this is one of the better options.”

“Well… alright if yer sure,” Applejack said. She turned to Shepard, “You’ll have ta stop at my place, Sunset’s things from the warehouse are there.”

“Right well head there, after we’re done here,” Shepard said.

“Wait a minute,” Pinkie said. “Does this mean we can finally have slumber parties at Sunset’s house?”

Sunset looked at Shepard who simply chuckled and said, “Yes I suppose it does. Why don’t you all come over this weekend? I was planning on taking Sunset to the Citadel to do some shopping on Saturday. You all could tag along then stay over into Sunday if you wanted.”

“Ah shouldn’t have anythin’ goin’ on,” Applejack said with the other girls giving similar sentiments.

“Plus it’ll give us time to prepare for the Friendship Games next week,” Rainbow said.

“The Friendship Games?” Shepard said.

“It’s this competition held every four years between our school and Crystal Prep,” Sunset said. Liar perked up at the mention of the other school. “It’s kind of a big deal.”

“Yeah! And this time gonna kick their sorry buts,” Rainbow said punching a fist into her other hand.

“Sounds interesting, we may have to attend that,” Shepard said as she looked towards Liara.

“Yes I think it would be a good idea,” Liara said.

“Alright well we really should be going,” Shepard said sticking her hands into her pockets. “Applejack, we’ll follow you to your place to pick up Sunset’s things then head home ourselves.”

Sounds good to me,” Applejack said turning to leave. “I’ll see you there.”

The rest of the girls left saying goodbye to Sunset before going their own way. Eventually, only Sunset, Shepard and Liara were left standing in front of the school’s entrance.

“Whelp we should probably get going,” Shepard said starting down the front steps with Liara following close behind.

“Right lets… go home,” Sunset said following Shepard and Liara.