Mass Effect: Dissension

by RandomEncounter

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Fluttershy, Adventure, Crossover, Human, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 5368

A Mass Effect and My Little Pony crossover following Ashley Williams years after the Reaper War.

Commander Ashley Williams, Council Spectre, has seen a lot in the seven years since the end of the Reaper Invasion. Even though the Reapers themselves are helping to rebuild the war-torn galaxy, the peace that Shepard bought with his life is tenuous at best. Many individuals still hold onto their lingering hatred of the machines that butchered millions and feel the Council has betrayed everything the war was fought over.

And when a species is discovered that posses abilities that seem almost impossible, it falls on the shoulders of Commander Williams to keep their power from falling into the wrong hands...

Published 2012-07-25 04:14:04 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-25 04:14:04 UTC

Chapter One: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Chapter One: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Even my soul is claimed by my girlfriend as her property. How does that even work out?

Mass Effect: Dissension
Chapter One: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Author: RandomEncounter

Editors: 00lizard, Meliron, and Cody MacArthur Fett

Everything was a haze for Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams. Around her all she saw was darkness, except for a light in the distance directly in front of her and muffled explosions all around her.

‘Where am I?’

“We got to get to the beam!” screamed a voice out of nowhere.

‘Beam... what beam?’

“All Hammer forces, go go go!” cried out another voice.

She felt herself running frantically, but for the life of her she could not comprehend why. Her vision cleared and she found herself in the middle of a battlefield. Alliance soldiers were all around her, charging forward under heavy fire.

‘Beam... the Citadel? London!’ She remembered now, she was in London. Everyone was charging for the beam, desperately trying to get someone to the Citadel.

‘Eyes forward, Williams. We just need to get one person through, just one! Keep running!’

Both Garrus and herself had fallen somewhat behind Shepard, as he was a good twenty meters ahead of them. Beam after beam of death was raining down on the charging Hammer forces, Harbinger showing no pity as he cut another swath of destruction through the attacking soldiers.

She watched in fear as one hit an armored transport just ahead of the Commander, sending it careening toward him. He ducked at the last second, allowing the wreckage to hurtle over him, barely missing in the process.

‘Thank you, God!’ Ashley mentally cheered. She was so distracted with the fact that Shepard was okay, that she almost didn’t register in time that an armored fighting vehicle was now hurtling toward both her and Garrus.

‘Shit!’

She quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the tons of tank crashing down; but she wasn’t so lucky in the ensuing explosion. The shockwave and bits of shrapnel hit her hard, and she lost track of her surroundings as she was knocked to the ground. Her head was spinning as she felt someone lift her up and pull her to cover. She was vaguely aware of a voice coming from her right.

“Normandy... you... -eed evac... now.”

Ashley’s head cleared enough to realize the voice belonged to Shepard. Turning her head, she managed to see him worriedly looking at her. Above her, she heard the familiar whine of the Normandy as it came to hover just above the battlefield behind them, its hangar bay door already open to accept the multitude of wounded soldiers.

She felt him put her armor over his shoulder as she was pulled to her feet. “Come on,” he said quickly as he carried her to the awaiting evac.

“Garrus, take her,” grunted Shepard as he handed her off.

The turian reached out and took her from Shepard’s grasp. “I got her.”

‘No... I can...’ she tried to force her body to respond to her commands. “Shepard... I...”

He sharply cut her off. “You got to get out of here.”

‘Screw that,’ she thought in response. “With all due respect, Commander...”

He looked at her sternly. “Don’t argue with me, Ash!”

‘No! I’m not leaving you again!’ she thought in desperation, trying to will her body to ignore the tremendous pain she felt. “Damn it... I can do this!”

“I know you can. But... I need to know somebody is getting out of this alive,” he said, as he walked up to her, gently placing his hand on her cheek. “No matter what happens here today... I’ll always love you.”

For a brief moment, nothing else mattered to her. Harbinger, the battle, even her own body screaming at her to just stop... none of that mattered as she leaned into the hand on her cheek. “Shepard I... I love you too.”

Too soon, Ashley felt his hand pull away and she watched as he slowly walked backwards down the ramp. She reached out for him as he looked back over his shoulder at Harbinger, before looking back to her and yelling, “Go!”

Helpless, she could do nothing as he backed away, and began sprinting off towards the beam of light. The ship lurched and the docking bay door began to close, cutting off her view of the battlefield.

Both her and Garrus stood there briefly, before he grunted and began to pull her further into the ship. “Come on, Williams... Shepard will be fine. But we’ve got to get you to Dr. Chakwas now.”

Ashley didn’t even acknowledge him, her thoughts still focused on her captain.

‘Shepard, please... come back to me this time...’

~’.’~’.’~

Ashley woke abruptly, her mind only semi-aware as she blearily opened her eyes. She quickly blinked a few times as she adjusted to the semi-darkness of her cabin and took in the familiar surroundings of her room. She stretched out on the bed with a groan as her mind slowly began to focus.

“Dammit… not again…” she muttered groggily as she rolled over and slowly rose to a sitting position on the edge of her bed. She dangled her legs off the side momentarily before pushing herself up and off the bed, standing up on the cold metal floor. She stretched her arms above her head, before leaning all the way down and touching the deck with her fingertips. With disdain, she took note of the myriad of pops she heard coming from her joints; a reminder that she was getting closer to forty than she would like to be.

A little fact her little sister took great pleasure in reminding her of every birthday since her thirty-first.

Satisfied with her stretches, Ashley made her way to the small bathroom her quarters held. It wasn’t much; there was barely room for a sink, toilet, and shower head.

Turning the faucet on, she leaned over and splashed some water in her face before reaching out for a towel to dry off with. “It’s been almost seven years, Ashley…” She sighed and tossed the towel towards the rack before looking at herself in the mirror. “Don’t you think it’s time to let go and let the dreams end?”

‘Remember Ash…’ she thought to herself, recalling Herman Hesse's words, '... some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.’

Walking out of the compact bathroom, she looked around her quarters, eager for anything to take her mind off of the dream. Not that she had much to occupy herself with, though. Unlike Shepard’s seemingly luxurious captain’s quarters back on the Normandy, the Trenton’s was perhaps half the size; enough room for a bed, small work desk, and a personal shower.

The shelf above the desk held a few books, some of which had certainly seen better days; the binding on many of them barely holding the pages together anymore. One book in particular looked especially worn: The Collected Alfred Tennyson. Its cover had become dented from use and being hastily boxed up a number of times, and the pages themselves looked ready to fall out at any moment. She could probably find a new copy if she really wanted... but this book held a particularly strong sentimental value to her.

It was one of the last gifts Shepard had given her; something she could never replace with any other copy.

Ashley carefully pulled the book off the shelf and idly examined it. She couldn’t help but smile when she recalled just how bored she had been in the hospital that day; if it wasn’t for Shepard giving her this book, she might have gone insane long before she was cleared for discharge.

She was just about to open to the cover and turn to one of her favorite poems in the book, Ulysses, but a series of soft beeps, coming from her personal terminal, interrupted her musings.

’Figures.’

Gently placing the book back in its spot on the shelf, she made her way over to the terminal, quickly pressing the glowing button. “Report.”

A male voice chimed in over the intercom. “Commander, we’re about to hit the Arcturus relay in approximately ten minutes. Just letting you know, as you ordered.”

“Understood, Sanders. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Aye aye, commander.” And with that the comm went silent again.

Without delay, she quickly threw on the uniform hanging over her chair, taking only enough time to make her appearance look somewhat presentable to the Council. They had recalled her on extremely short notice for reasons as yet unknown, but that didn’t mean she would show up looking like anything less than an officer of the Alliance.

Exiting her cabin she made her way through a large open room that served primarily as a dining hall or place for crew members to gather in a social setting. There were a few individuals lounging around the area, eating while playing a card game. A few acknowledgements came her way which she quickly returned, before making her into to the elevator at the rear of the room.

A short elevator ride later, and the doors opened to the bridge of the Trenton. She quickly made her way through the busy command center, before walking up behind the pilot’s seat. “Status?”

The Flight-Lieutenant turned to look over his shoulder and pointed out the forward viewport. “Just in time, Commander.” Looming on the horizon ahead of them was the Arcturus Prime relay; the only one with a direct connection to the Sol Relay.

“I see that,” Ashley acknowledged with a nod. “Alright, Sanders. Take us through.”

“Aye aye, Commander,” replied the pilot as he began to bring the Trenton on an approach vector with the mass relay. “Initiating transmission sequence. Calculating transit mass and destination.”

Sanders watched his instruments until they finally gave him the all clear. “Acquiring relay approach vector, all stations prepare for transit.”

Ashley watched as the began to pass near the relay’s spinning rings. “Hitting the relay in three... two... one,” an arc of energy lanced out towards the ship, and just a moment later and the ship vanished in a flash of light. Almost instantaneously, the Trenton reappeared just outside the Sol System.

“Thrusters... check. Navigation... check.” The pilot looked over his shoulder at Ashley, “All systems are online, Commander.”

She nodded in response. “Good. How far out are we?”

“About fifteen minutes, ma’am.”

“As usual... not too shabby, Sanders,” remarked the Commander as she patted him on the shoulder.

He grinned at the compliment. “I aim to please.”

Ashley left the pilot to his duties, deciding to simply stare out at the blackness of space as she collected her thoughts and prepared herself for the upcoming meeting with the Council. She never did like these types of meetings; she preferred formal military debriefings as opposed meetings with politicians.

As a Spectre though, that’s just something that came for the course.

It wasn’t long until the Trenton came up on the familiar sight of the moon, and just beyond it, the Earth. And hanging above the planet was the familiar shape of the Citadel, its five arms open and inviting. In the years following the end of the conflict with the Reapers, there had been much debate over whether or not the station should be returned to its previous location. In the end, it was decided that the Citadel would be left in orbit above Earth; a tribute to humanity’s contributions during the war.

Ashley scowled as she noticed the all too familiar shapes of Reapers patrolling around the Citadel as well. Her thoughts turned dark momentarily. ’I only wish Shepard could have wiped those bastards out entirely.’ Almost immediately though she shook those thoughts out of her head; she had other more important things to worry about at the moment.

She walked up to stand behind the pilot’s seat of the Trenton. “Alright, Sanders. Take us in.”

“Yes ma’am,” replied the pilot before opening a comm channel. “This is the SSV Trenton to Citadel control, requesting docking permission.”

“SSV Trenton, this is Citadel control. Request acknowledged. We are transferring you to an Alliance official, please stand by.”

There was a momentary pause before another male voice spoke up. “Trenton, this is Alliance control. Docking permission has been granted. C-Sec transport to the embassies will be awaiting Commander Williams.”

“Roger that, Alliance control,” acknowledged the Flight Lieutenant. Once the comm link ended, he looked over his shoulder at his superior officer. “They’re not even giving you time to relax, ma’am.”

“Looks like it,” she replied in slight exasperation as she began to make her way to the airlock. “Hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

~’.’~’.’~

As promised, Ashley found her escort awaiting her at the docking bay. The C-Sec officer greeted her, before ushering her into the awaiting car. The human embassies weren’t far from the docking bay, and it was just a few minutes later that she found herself dropped off outside the elevator leading up to embassy itself. A short elevator trip up, and Ashley found herself walking through the expansive lobby; it was a hub of activity, with numerous humans and non-humans going about their business.

Walking up the stairs that led to the Councilor’s office, she briefly stopped outside the Councilor’s doors to have C-Sec verify her identity, before proceeding inside.

Looking across the room, she saw humanities representative, Councilor Cristina Alvarez, standing at the office’s balcony overlooking the presidium. Turning around, Alvarez greeted her with a pleasant smile, “Ah, Commander Williams, so good to see you again.”

This was only William’s second time meeting the human Councilor face to face; the first had been three years prior when she first took office. Not that Ashley minded that fact. Quite the contrary in fact; politicians and her tended not to mix well. Though, she didn’t have as much problem with most of their type... at least not as much as she had with Councilor Udina. Then again, it’s not everyday you get to put a traitorous boss down in such a fashion...

The Councilwoman walked over to her and gestured towards a holographic projector along the wall. “If you don’t mind, the Council has already been waiting on you.”

‘Well, we can’t have the Council wait now, can we?’ thought the Commander dryly.

A moment later and the projector came to life, displaying the images of the turian, asari, and salarian Council members. Of the three councilors, she was most familiar with Sparatus and Tevos, the turian and asari representatives respectively. They had been in their positions since her first meeting with the Council. It was only the salarian representative, Koreth, that had not been present for the Reaper Invasion; the previous Councilor, Valern had retired two years prior.

“Greetings, Commander Williams,” welcomed councilor Tevos. “We’ve brought you here today concerning a matter of utmost importance.”

’As opposed to just wasting my time with something frivolous?’ thought Ashley humorously, but kept her face neutral.

The Asari Councilor continued on. ”Recently a Council exploratory mission in the outer Centaurus Arm discovered a world inhabited by a sentient form of life. We’ve begun to initiate first contact talks, but have... run into an impasse the requires your aid.”

Ashley’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “A first contact situation? That seems like something better suited for a diplomat than a Spectre.”

The turian councilor shook his head. “If only that were the case. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here today. Unfortunately, this species’ first contact with the galaxy at large was not exactly under ideal circumstances.”

Puzzled, Ashley cocked her head to side. “Ideal circumstances?”

Sparatus sighed. “As first contact negotiations were underway at their capital city, a small force slipped in undetected and abducted a number of individuals from another settlement. By the time word reached our forces, the assailants were already long gone.”

“So, at the same time negotiations are taking place a number of unknown forces attack elsewhere?” The commander shook her head. “Way too unlikely to be a coincidence."

“Indeed,” remarked the salarian councilor. “We believe they timed their attack in such a manner as to discourage further talks. Fortunately for us, we were able to salvage the situation... at least for now.”

Ashley’s brow furrowed. “Something still doesn’t add up, though. How did they know about the talks happening in the first place?”

The councilors shared a look between each other, and it was clear a quick non-verbal debate was taking place. Surprisingly, it was the human councilor that shook her head first before they all turned to gaze back at Ashley.

“Commander Williams, you…” Councilor Alvarez paused to think her words over carefully, “you must understand that this is a most delicate and troubling matter for the Council. We’re aware that you have a number of questions, but we simply cannot provide you the answers at this time. At least not yet.”

‘Same bullshit response as always,’ Ashley thought, but managed to keep a neutral expression on her face. Years of serving as a soldier in the Alliance, and later serving under a particular Council Spectre, had taught her that there was a time and place to question her superiors. This… well this was not one of those times. “Is there any other information that you can provide me, then?”

This time the Asari Councilor spoke up. “We cannot elaborate on much, but we can point you in the right direction, at least. Our sources indicate there is reason to believe that you may find information regarding the current whereabouts of the abductees on Omega. That is where we’d recommend you begin your search.”

Ashley let out a small, almost inaudible huff of annoyance, and looked down at the ground in agitation. ’And invariably all the filth of the galaxy always leads back to Omega…’

The turian councilor cleared his throat. “There is one other matter we need to discuss. Representatives of the species in question will accompany you during the mission both as observers… as well as to ease the fears of any of the abductees you come across.”

“Soldiers?” Ashley asked hopefully.

The turian councilor shook his head. “They’re civilians for the most part, although a few guards are accompanying them.”

‘Great... ‘ thought Williams sarcastically. It made sense to have members of that species there to assuage any fears these victims might have; she would be hard pressed to take the word of a stranger at face value if she had just been abducted after all. Especially a stranger that might as well just be another alien as far as the prisoner was concerned.

But babysitting civvies was never fun...

“We’ll let Councilor Alvarez fill you in on a few more key details. This meeting is adjourned.” One by one the Council’s holographic images flickered out of existence, leaving only Ashley and the human Councilor.

“Commander Williams, I’d like to quickly discuss preparations. The sooner you are underway, the better,” she commented tersely as she made her way to her desk and taking a seat. She gestured for the Spectre to do the same across from her. “Please, Commander, take a seat.”

“If you don’t mind, I prefer to stand.”

“Very well,” replied the Councilor as she turned to her computer screen. “I see that you still aren’t very big on pleasantries, so let’s get down to business. First off, I need to inform you that the S.S.V. Trenton is ill suited for your current mission. As such, Admiral Hackett has already transferred your command to another vessel. One much more suited for the task at hand.”

That news stunned Ashley momentarily. ‘I’m losing the Trenton?’ she mentally seethed, this time letting her features at least hint at her disdain. That ship was her first command, given to her barely a year ago; she had even hand picked many of its crew members. Losing it now, after such a short time did not sit well with her in the least bit. “With all due respect Councilor, the Trenton--”

“It’s already done, Williams. Are we clear?” The tone of the Council woman’s voice, as well as the stare she was leveling at the commander, clearly conveyed that as far as this topic was concerned, there was no room for discussion.

Ashley looked away, taking a deep breath, before stoically replying, “Understood.”

“Good,” the councilor commented. “You’ll find that all of your belongings have been transferred over to your new ship.”

The commander ground her teeth. ‘Bitch didn’t even wait to break the news to me before she had my things boxed up.’

“I’ll also offer a word of caution. This new species is somewhat… equine in appearance. So don’t be too surprised when you first meet them.”

“Equine?” Ashley looked at the council woman with a raised eyebrow before cautiously asking, “What do you mean by that exactly? Like horses?”

“Like horses in as much as you and I look like an ape. I think it’s best that you see for yourself,” replied the councilor dismissively. “Now, if you’ll excuse me I have other matters to attend to. Transport is already waiting outside to take you to your new ship. You’ll be filled in with the final details once onboard.”

Annoyed, Ashley simply gave a quick nod and began to make her way out the door.

“And Williams,” Alvarez called out to her in a grave tone, “I cannot stress to you how important this assignment is. There are… powerful forces with a vested interest watching your actions from here on out. The margin for error is almost non-existent.”

Ashley paused for a moment, mulling that statement over. ‘Powerful forces? Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?’ She hesitated for a moment, before slowly nodding her head. “I… understand.”

“Do you?” questioned Alvarez flatly before shaking her head. Looking back at the commander, her face and tone took on a softer look, “No, Williams, I don’t think you truly do. But I wish you good luck… and godspeed.”

Ashley’s confusion showed on her face as her gaze lingered on the councilor. With an internal sigh, she reluctantly stopped herself from asking any more questions; there was no point, it seemed. Pulling her gaze away from Alvarez, she quickly left the office, heading down the stairs leading to the exit.

“I can already tell that it’s going to be one of those missions.”

~’.’~’.’~

The time spent on the ride to the docking bay had the Commander lost in thought. Everything about the situation left her unsettled. ’What’s with all the secrecy? What aren’t they telling me? Or... rather, why aren’t they telling me? It’s clear they know more than they’re letting on.’ It seemed the more she thought about the whole situation, the more nothing really made sense to her.

'And most importantly, how the hell was the attack timed so... precisely?'

As Ashley exited the C-Sec transport she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and glanced around the docking terminal, taking note of the armed C-Sec agents around every corner. ‘Security here is as tight as expected.’ she silently mused as she made her way further in the docking bay.

“I wonder what kind of ship is ‘more appropriate’ for this sort of... situation...” she trailed off as she looked out the bay windows at the vessel hanging before her.

“No way…” she whispered, her voice containing a slight sense of disbelief. There, docked before her, was a ship she knew very well. One that she hadn’t set foot on in over five years. One that brought a number of memories and emotions to the forefront of her thoughts, not all of which were pleasant.

There, sitting in the bay’s docking cradles, was the last ship she had expected: the S.S.V Normandy. His ship.

’No... my ship now...’

Her pace quickened as she made her way to the airlock. She almost couldn’t believe it. Her eyes roamed the exterior of the ship, making sure that this was all real; the loss of the Trenton momentarily pushed aside. A mixture of emotions passed through her as she waited for the airlock to cycle open. She wasn’t quite sure what she should be feeling at the moment.

Excitement, maybe? Honor, perhaps? … A small twinge of pain?

As the door opened, she was greeted by a familiar voice on the other side. “Welcome aboard, Commander.”

Ashley stared back at the figure in surprise. “Joker?” she questioned as she walked into the ship and returned the salute.

“Were you expecting someone else? I mean, if you were that hurts me deeply. Especially considering I put forth the effort to hobble my way over here from my nice comfy chair, and greet you at the airlock with a salute and all.”

The commander smirked at his familiar antics. “Sort of. I would have thought they’d find a replacement with fewer gray hairs in their beard by now.”

A synthesized female voice called out over the loudspeakers. “The Alliance has yet to find another pilot that can fly the Normandy in a manner equal to or exceeding Jeff’s capabilities. As such, I’ve requested that he remain this ship’s pilot as long as that remains the case.”

“Uh huh,” Ashley said with a smirk. “And I’m sure that your opinion of him is completely unbiased in any way shape or form.”

“Jeff’s performance over the last few years has only decreased in efficiency by roughly two percent,” EDI retorted matter-of-factly. “Though I will admit, his extranet searches continue to both worry and annoy me.”

“Wha-” Joker began before he shook his head. “Yeah, yeah... that was a joke.”

“If you say so, Mr. Moreau,” and with that said, EDI once again went silent, leaving Ashley to chuckle at the dumbfounded expression on Joker’s face.

“So, I see EDI has gotten better at humor since I last saw her.”

The Normandy’s pilot sighed. “Yeah... but I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.”

Ashley grinned and smugly replied, “As long as it’s at your expense, I think it’s working out just fine for everyone else.”

“Thanks for taking up for me, commander. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t save your ass a number of times... oh riiiiiight. That’s exactly what I did.” The Normandy’s pilot crossed his arms. “So... did the Council give you any details on our guests?”

The commander snorted. “The usual,” she replied dismissively, “and by that, I mean next to nothing.”

Joker grinned. “Oh, then this will be fun,” he said before pointing down the hallway. “You’ll find them already waiting for you in the conference room… you do remember where that is right? I see a few grey hairs there, and I just need to make sure your memory is okay. Will I have to get EDI to give you a trail of lights to guide you?”

“Joker...”

He held his arms up defensively, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Hey, no need to get angry. I’m just trying to be helpful.”

“Uh huh,” Ashley replied with a smirk at his antics while crossing her arms. “Need I remind you that I’m now your superior officer?”

Jeff snorted. “You can remind me all you want, but I tend to have selective hearing… and memory… also selective caring in general. Probably why I’m still just a Flight Lieutenant,” he commented with a dismissive shrug.

For the first time today, the commander broke out in an honest laugh, one that she desperately needed at the moment. “Well, if I’m going to be assigned a new ship and crew, I’m glad it’s this one at least.”

“And if I’m going to get a new boss, may as well be one that appreciates my type of wisdom,” he commented with a quick salute before he started to walk back to the cockpit. However, he paused to look over his shoulder before curiously asking Williams, “You don’t have diabetes, do you?”

Ashley looked at him quizzically, and with no small amount of confusion replied, “Noooo… why do you ask?”

He looked off to the side and shrugged, which was never a good sign for Joker. “Oh, no reason. Though by the end of the day you might want to check in with Dr. Chakwas to make sure, just in case.”

She raised an eyebrow, and was about to ask for him to elaborate on that statement, before the familiar name of the Normandy’s doctor registered with her. “Wait, Dr. Chakwas is still here as well?”

Joker nodded with a small sigh. “As long as I’m serving on an Alliance vessel, she goes where I go, apparently. And she’s not the only familiar face. Garrus and Javik are here as well, doing what they usually do best - sucking the fun out of this place.” He turned and walked away, “Anyway, I better get back to going over the final flight preparations... wouldn’t want us to die a horrible death ‘cause I missed a check mark or something.”

Ashley watched as the pilot turned and walked away. She cocked her head to the side and muttered to herself, “Garrus and Javik, huh? This just keeps getting more and more interesting.”

Making her way further into the ship she had to admit that it looked a whole hell of a lot better on the inside than she last saw it. All of the workstations were functional, at least. There wasn’t loose cabling running along the floor anymore and boxes weren’t haphazardly strewn about in corners.

Approaching another airlock, she passed through the cramped security checkpoint and received a quick security scan. She made her way through the second airlock on the other side of the scanner, leading her to a room that housed ship’s modest conference room. “Well, time to get this over... with...” Ashley trailed off as she got her first good look at the room's inhabitants.

At least the Councilor hadn’t been kidding her when she said equine. Otherwise, seeing six miniature horses, some of them clearly having horns and others wings, might just have made her begin questioning her sanity. It didn’t help that they seemed to come in every color of the rainbow; hell, one of them was every color of the rainbow. Three of them were even dressed in what looked like flimsy romanesque armor.

The scene before her was only made even stranger seeing the familiar face of Garrus standing in a corner, idly chatting with one of the armored horses.

The occupants of the room quieted down as they took notice of her. There was a brief pause before one of the horse-beings, a purple one, finally trotted up to address Ashley, a look of recognition playing across her face. Coughing to clear her throat, she greeted her in a clearly rehearsed and formal manner. “Commander Williams, the Council told me you would be here soon. It is good to finally meet you. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I have been tasked with representing the sovereign nation of Equestria. On behalf of my nation’s rulers, Princess Celestia of the Sun and Princess Luna of the Moon, I have come to request for you and your crew to please rescue our little ponies.”

Commander Williams continued to stare at her blankly for a few moments. Finally she blinked once, twice, and then closed her eyes, bringing her hand to rest on her forehead as she looked down. “Oh boy,” she shook her head, “I take it back. It’s going to be one of those missions.”

It was official: The S.S.V. Normandy was still a traveling freak show.

‘Commander Shepard would be proud…’

~’.’~’.’~’.’~’.’~’.’~

Author’s Notes:

Annnnnnnnnnd from out of left field comes another story idea that I just thought up and put down in a short timespan! I’m sure my readers are one day going to show me the meaning of ‘love and tolerate’ when I wake up on a raft drifting in the middle of the ocean...

As always, questions, compliments, and criticisms are always welcome.