Chapters Chapter one: No Big Disasters
“You almost never get to just come out here and hang out with us like this Princess, it's such an honor!” said Twilight Sparkle, the little unicorn blinking up at her mentor with a smile.
Princess Celestia nodded, taking a sip of tea, before setting it down, and returning the smile to her favorite pupil, “And I do regret that my dear student, for I do so enjoy spending time with you and your friends, especially on such a gorgeous day!” she said looking out to the bright, clear day, with the sun sitting high in the sky.
“It certainly is, your sun looks brighter than ever right now! I guess we're just not used to seeing each other unless some big disaster is happening...” she said with a little chuckle.
Another unicorn, with a rather stylish mane nodded in concurrence, swishing her hair to the side before she tipped her bonnet up slightly, taking a sip of tea, before setting it on a sculpted table, which looked a bit out of place on the grassy ground, “I couldn't agree more myself, it is so delightful to have royal company on such a day!” she says tilting her head back slightly.
Applejack chomped down a bright shiny apple she had in a basket before her, nodding, and speaking with her mouthful, “Mmphmm it sure as sugar is! It's just to bad the others couldn't join us.”
“Pinky Pie and Fluttershy had some pet, and baby sitting to do, and of course, Rainbow Dash is training overtime at the academy,” said Twilight Sparkle.
“Oh that's right, you told me about your friend being accepted into the wonder bolt academy,” the princess tapped her hoof to her chin for a moment, “Hmm, perhaps I'll pay her a visit sometime, I do so enjoy watching those talented Pegasus,” she said with a smile.
Twilight Sparkle calmly laid down in the comfortable, warm grass, “Have you heard anything about Cadence, and my brother over in the Crystal Empire, your majesty?” she asked looking to the princess.
Celestia perked up at this, lifting up a napkin to dab her lips slightly before nodding, “Oh yes I have! The Crystal Empire had its first formal emissary from the Griffon Kingdom! I have been told that it has gone wonderfully, and that they intend to form trade routes soon!” she said with a smile.
“The Griffon Kingdom, that IS wonderful! I heard that griffons are especially hard to reason with at times, and make proper allies with...” said twilight, splaying her ears some.
“Surprisingly enough, it was your brother who played a big role in that. Griffons are proud warriors, and look fondly upon strong soldiers. When Shining Armor displayed himself as a competent warrior, and a member of the Equestrian Royal Guard, they readily gave their reverence to him.” said the shimmering white princess.
Rarity coughed a bit on her tea, before setting it back down, “Griffons?! I can hardly see what we would want to trade with them... they seem like such brutish and mean spirited creatures.” she said turning her head away.
Applejack shook her head at Rarity, “Come on Rarity, you can't say that about ALL griffons, we only ever met one...” she said raising an eyebrow at her.
Rarity rolled her eyes, sighing, “Oh well, I suppose that is true...”
The ponies fell silent for a little bit, simply enjoying the serenity of the day. Eventually Rarity spoke up again, raising her crystal class with a bright smile, “I propose a toast, to friendship, and to an absolutely perfect day!” she said raising it with her magic.
The others all followed suite, and said in unison, “To friendship!”
It was at this point, that something unexpected happened, just as it always did whenever princess Celestia seemed to visit Ponyville. It was rarity who first noticed it in the sky. It looked almost like a shooting star, save of how big, and bright that it was. This of course struck her as rather odd, “My goodness... look how big that falling star is, we can even see it in the daylight, actually...” she began to look a bit worried as she noticed how it grew slightly. Every other pony turned their heads, their maws agape as they noticed it.
The Princess Spoke up, “That doesn't look like any sort of falling star,” said looking with as much awe and curiosity as the others.
All of the ponies gasped, the princess startled and standing up quickly as they all heard a loud bang, like an explosion, and then witnessed the object breaking apart into a few smaller pieces. They all stood up at this point, as they realized that the object, or now, objects, where falling uncomfortably close to them.
Applejack jumped up, running forward towards the estimated landing spot of the objects, “Every pony, get out of the way!!” she yelled out at the top of her lungs, before Twilight Sparkle grabbed her, pushing her away hurriedly along with the princess, and the others to get behind cover. A few of the other ponies who were enjoying the day, luckily not too close, but near the grassy hill scrambled, getting away from the impending shadow of the object. One little filly it seemed was a bit confused, and wasn't moving fast enough. Princess Celestia noticed this, and used her magic to teleport the scared little foal over to her, before she ran off to the side to find her mother.
They had only a few more seconds to prepare, to watch the spectacle that would unfold before them. The smaller objects that had broken off from the main piece crashed, violently into the ground, sending a plume of dirt and debris around their impact zone. Then, as if all of this wasn't enough, another strange thing happened. The main object appeared to be primarily cylindrical, with a trapezoidal tip, along with many other, very, very strange markings that the ponies had not the time to focus on as it dashed to the ground. Before it made it's inevitable impact to the ground, some sort of bright blue glow emitted from underneath it. It looked very much like magic to the ponies that observed it. This blue glow appeared to slow it down significantly, before it took a loud metallic crash onto the ground before it. It echoed through out the countryside, but was still a petty crash in comparison to the smaller objects.
Twilight coughed, shaking head as she cleared her vision, looking forward onto the crash site. The air was full of dust and dirt, shaken up from the crash site. Princess Celestia nuzzled her quickly, “Twilight, Applejack... is every pony alright?” she looked around. The others, although shaken, and on their backs, nodded, they appeared to be alright. Several royal Pegasus guards flew in rapidly, landing around the princess, some even drew their spears, shaken, and pointing them at the crash site with fear.
Twilight sparkle looked confused, and shaken. The young unicorns eyes were filled with fear, and shock. Still, the image of the strange object, as it hovered, and thumped to the ground was fresh in her mind. Her studious, curious nature drove her to have a certain fascination with it, even though, admittedly, she had no idea what it was, and fully acknowledge the potential for its danger. She looked to her teacher, “Princess Celestia, what... what is that...” she asked, almost as a statement than a question, for the way the princess reacted to it, she wondered, if even her all knowing beloved Celestia knew what this thing was. Her intuition would prove to be correct.
“I... do not know my student. I believe that we should use the utmost cation when examining this, thing,” she said with a look of awe, and apprehension on her face.
As she stepped forward, a few of the guards jumped before her, “No, your majesty! Its too dangerous, please, let us take care of this!” they insisted.
The Princess closed her eyes and raised a hoof before them, “That will be quite alright sirs, myself and my student will investigate. You and your steeds will check the nearby area, and make sure no other pony is hurt,” she commanded them. The guards knelt before her, and saluted her, quickly flying off to the outskirts of the wreckage. Celestia turned to Twilight, giving her a nod. She quite readily knew how eager her student was to explore this new phenomena, even though she cared for her safety, “Let us go Twilight Sparkle, but stick close to me,” she said, beckoning her to follow with a wing.
The unicorn gulped, and trotted along close behind the much taller Alicorn princess. The dust in the air was beginning to clear, but as the neared one of the smaller crashes, they could see that it was still smoking. The princess edged closer to it, and soon it became clear why. In the center of the impact zone, there was little else than a smoldering heap of some sort of metallic goop. Other than the fact that it had fallen from the sky, there did not appear to be anything special about it. After a few moments of peering, Twilight and Celestia trotted on. They went past another one of these pits, with yet another glob of metal at the center, but then they're attention was drawn to something, much more interesting. Something that looked as if it was not of this world.
It was something that neither pony could quite put into words. It was like an elongated, metallic box, with various buttons, and strange devices hanging off the back. Towards the front, the box came to a point, and there was what looked like glass on the front. Of course, the glass had cracked, what lay behind it was clouded by sparks, and smoke. There were strange symbols, of which neither Twilight nor Celestia had seen before.
Slowly, each of them took a few steps closer to the crashed object. Twilight, although bursting with curiosity, stood closely behind Celestia. As they looked closer at the object, they noticed that there was written words along various places on the metallic box, words that, although they understood their pronunciation, they did not understand their meaning. There were words like, “Kodiak” and “Alliance” and “Thermal Reactor”. The rear of the object looked crumbled, and broken, with various metallic pieces and wires sticking out of it, it was also sparking quite a bit, so the ponies stayed away from that end. The two of them nodded to each other, and began to circle the fallen object. Of the strange words, Twilight Sparkle noticed two of them that made sense. She noticed next to the glass windows, there was a button, and underneath it was written, “Manual Open”. At that moment, there was an eruption of wonderment in Twilight Sparkles eyes, and in her heart. In fact, she took several moments just to stare at it, thoughts of the future, of what could lay inside this alien object racing through her mind. The Princess walked back over to Twilight, noticing her rigid stare. She stepped to her side, and looked to Twilight. Her own natural curiosity and excitement was churning inside her. She didn't feel she could, and perhaps, she shouldn't, stop her student. Instead, she stood there, and waited for her, wondering, with all her greater ability to wonder, what was going to happen next.
The tension could be cut with a dragons tail, but alas, after much pondering, Twilight broke it, by finally lifting her hoof, and moving it towards the button. The button was level with the rest of the metallic surface, only it's thin outline, and the text below it gave it away. The unicorns hoof came in contact with it, this for some reason, made it seem less intimidating and made her breath a sigh of relief. It almost seemed jammed, as simple force seemed to have no affect. Twilight moved her other hoof up to assist her, she had to put quite a bit of effort into it, before the button depressed into the machine. Twilight jumped back in surprise, as a hissing sound emitted, dust, and air was blown out through the outline of the glass window. As she ducked closely against the princess, they both stood cautiously, watching, as the window, now apparently on some sort of frame, slowly opened, revealing the interior of the wreckage.
Everything that they had seen thus far paled in comparison to what unveiled before their eyes. As soon as the windowed glass opened up, and the smoke cleared, that was when they saw it. He flopped down, onto the ruined Equestrian ground, for the first time.
Chapter 2: Princess Celestia
He ran down the large corridor. There were no lights and the oxygen was so thin he could hardly breath. Only the glass windows, which displayed a blue earth, lighted his way. They led him to a garage, but time was running out fast. All around him, wires and sparks flew, entire sections of the colossal station exploded and broke off. It seemed there was still enough oxygen to fuel the raging fires that sparked up and threatened to overtake him. The smoke created a horrible smell that was a mixture of broken metal parts, and the horrifying smell of the decay of the citadel residents. Right now, the only thing he could afford to have on his mind was getting to a vessel, a ship, anything that with luck was still functional.
The garage supported several red emergency lights that flicked on and off ominously. He didn't have much time to look over the many Kodiak Shuttles and cars that lined the garage. In truth, many of them weren't worth looking at, as they were in several pieces or otherwise obviously non functioning. He jumped in the first one that looked like it might be operational, no luck. An explosion rattled him, knocking him out of the car and slamming him onto the floor. He had to get up, time was running out, the fires were getting more violent, and the explosions were getting louder, and more frequent.
He was running out of options now. So many of the cars were too mutilated to even attempt starting them. The second one looked in good shape, too bad it didn't start. He cursed, taking a moment to think that he should sit there, and let his fate meet him. But his survival instinct energized him and he jumped back out, searching through the garage. In his frustration, he tripped over some wreckage, under which was concealed a blue Alliance Kodiak. It looked in good shape. Gods, maybe this was it.
He smiled at himself, as the moment he pressed the ignition the lights lit up on the ship. It was short lived, as another second later, the lights went out, and the vessels engines whined off. He could hardly believe his misfortune. “Come on you piece of garbage... don't let me die like this!” he said as he smashed his fists against the dash. Just his luck, that seemed to do it; the dash lit up again, and the engines turned back on. He maneuvered the ship out of the rubble. There wasn’t enough light to show him the way, so he flicked on the headlights. After which, he wish he hadn’t, as this revealed more of the piles of, “remains”, that littered the garage. Then he had to think fast, as the entire station rocked, making a huge broken car engine nearly crash into him, but he managed to swerve the agile ship out of the way in time. Up ahead he could see a small emergency exit with the door closed, and just big enough for the Kodiak to fit through. He found an exit protocol on the ships directory, but after a few presses, he found that it was useless, he should have thought so. He hopped out of the Kodiak, wise enough to keep it running, and dashed towards the exit door, flipping the manual release lever. The door creaked open about a quarter of the way, then stopped. Despite numerous attempts, it wouldn't budge.
He was running out of options fast, so he jumped back into the ship, and looked around, desperately trying to find a way out. He could find no obvious exits, except for one, that is. The blue earth above him shined through the glass. He had never known just how thick that glass was... guess there was only one way to find out.
The shuttle craft sealed, and then, it crashed through the glass. Air and debris were sucked out into space violently. The station was on the verge of collapse. Before him, Shepard could see the earth, filling almost the entire view of the shuttle, and he smiled. The view of the earth was soon eclipsed, a massive spherical shape of the station, a piece had broken off, and was block his bath. He moved the steering controls on the ship. No response, the Kodiak continued ominously in front of the station. He tried everything, he rerouted power, tried manual thrusters, even tried pushing himself against the side of the ship to move it. He was headed straight into the exploding sphere of the station.
This was it, he thought. After several minutes of trying, he knew now that this is what he had to accept. There was nothing he could do. He breathed heavily, in the face of his doom. Still, he smiled. He had won. His friends, his home, and the whole galaxy was safe now. He had done everything he could, stood up against the impossible, and he was victorious. Liara, Joker, Wrex, Garrus... and Tali; he'd never see them again. It was alright though, they were safe, they had done their duty, and they'd get to live their lives now, everyone would. The shuttle came closer yet to the station. Shepard laid back in his chair, slowly beginning to breath easier. The closed his eyes as he found peace. Peace; something that every soldier seeks, but seldom obtains. It was alright now, It was alright. An inexplicably loud and terrible sound, and then, silence.
There was no pain. Shepard awoke in such a way that he could never remember. There was no rush to ascend out of bed, if it was in fact a bed he was sleeping in. There was just, quiet, and peace. Surely, this was death, for it was peaceful. Slowly though, realization, and consciousness began to fill his mind once more. He became more and more awake, although a certain haziness would linger on in him. The realization came to him after he eventually opened his eyes, that he just may not be dead. His eyes opened to a simple wooden room before him, supporting his claim. Surely this... wasn't death? He tried to travel back in time with his mind, but his brain worked slowly still, and every small conclusion he would come to was that he should be dead.
Shepard's muscles twitched as he moved in his bed. His mind raced, and then he felt a small ache. It wasn't from his muscles, or his skin, which also felt quite sore, but from the last thought that he remembered having, before waking up. He had given up. This wasn't something he'd forget about, but it was something that he was able to push to the back of his mind, with the comfort of the room, which smelled of a rich oak wood, and a certain haze that kept his mind comfortably numb, almost like he had just had a dose of painkilling medi-gel.
He sat up in the bed, and like any soldier who had just woken up from injury, he examined himself. His body ached at the movements, muscles feeling bruised and torn. He looked down at himself, and found that parts of him were covered in some sort of gauze bandages, who still used these? He also noticed several stitches in his body, where he must have been cut. Remembering back, he did have quite a collection of wounds, but simply ignored them in his rush to get to a ship. His armor was gone too, and his clothes it looked like, or rather, the top half of them. As he looked around, he saw his standard alliance shirt, folded neatly on a side table. Surely, that of all articles would have been ruined, someone must have repaired it.
His head felt heavy, as he rolled it to the side, to look out a glass pane. His jaw dropped as he observed the beauty of green, rolling hills, with lush, full trees decorating the hill tops. This was a scene of which he had never laid eyes on before. He had in fact, seen little of earth, and the last he saw of it, was not under the best conditions. This was something he had only read about, seen in pictures, in vids, that could never possibly capture the beauty of it. It seemed almost too bright, too vivid to even be real. Maybe he really was dead.
He heard some sort of footsteps, in an old clacking fashion approaching his room. From the sound of it, it probably had more than two legs. And he was right. Of course, he didn't know what the hell this thing was. It was the oddest sort of alien he'd ever seen. It had four legs, a body covered with a thin coat of fur, a large head propped on his body by its neck, and a pair of very large, friendly looking, almost “cute” looking eyes. A brown crop of hair stood across its head, and a little tail, sprouted out it's hindquarters, of the same color. The creature looked almost unreal, too loud, too colorful to be real, and yet despite this, he could have sworn that he'd seen something like it before, but he couldn't put his finger on where.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, in such a human voice, it's muzzle, and mouth moving, just like he thought it would. And in English, even more unusual.
Shepard had to think for a moment, “My uh... my head hurts a little...” he said, rubbing his head from his dizziness, and dreaminess, “But I guess I'm alright other than that...” he said quietly.
The creature gave him a nod, “Are you able to walk, sir?”
Looked down at his legs, they looked to be in much better condition than the rest of him, except there were odd muscle aches here on them. He scooted his legs off the side of the bed, bending them despite their protests, and setting his feet down on the soft carpeted floor. His legs propped the rest of his body up, shakily though, feeling stiff, and sore. He looked up to the four legged creature, “I think I can manage,” he said as he reached to the side table for his shirt.
The creature nodded to him, “As soon as you can then, the Princess is waiting for you outside, and would like to have some words with you,” he said, with a bit of caution in his tone.
A Princess? What sort of place was he in? Shepard tried to fish through ideas in his mind of where he was, and why he'd be meeting a “Princess”. Come to think of it, there were hardly any civilizations around in his time that used any such title, unless it was some far off, undeveloped planet that he hadn't heard of. But that didn't make sense either, how could he have landed on some distant uncharted planet... when he was so close to Earth? All of his thinking was doing none too well to answer his questions, the only way he'd find out more would be simply to dive into whatever new world this was.
As he dressed himself, he lumbered his way out of the room, legs and body aching slightly as he walked through the wooden door. Outside, was a hall filled with similar rooms. And just a few feet down was large waiting room, filled with several chairs. He had guessed this was a hospital, but he found it strange that there were no other patients. There were several more creatures in the room, many of them taller than the doctor, their heads coming up just barely to belly level on Shepard, as well as having a set of what looked like wings on their backs. They supported shimmering golden armor and helmets with blue plumes atop of them. They also carried intimidating looking spears, although he wasn't quite sure how. Their keen eyes fell upon him, and looked none too happy.
Shepard stepped forward, and the golden armored guards stepped aside, and revealed yet another creature. Just as unusual as the others, this one was far more glamorous, and considering what a strange species she was, quite lovely to look at. Simply by her appearance, he could tell she must have been the “princess”. She had a shimmering white coat of fur on her body, and she was also taller than the guards, and the doctor, standing up just an inch or so shy to eye level. She was also a bit thinner than the others, and just like the guards, supported a large pair of white wings. Unlike the guards, she also had a long spear like horn protruding from her head. There was unusual hair that came from her head. Unlike the doctor, whom had a very convincing, and familiar head of brunette hair, the princess' hair was long, cascading off of her head almost like flag, and it flowed in the air, despite the lack of wind. It was also multicolored, like a pale rainbow, and was exceptionally bright, with a little bit of sparkle to it. This was perhaps, the most unreal thing he had seen thus far. She was dressed in a golden chest piece of some sort, as well as golden shoes that were at the end of her feet. Unsurprisingly, she also bore a jewel encrusted, golden crown atop her head.
She opened her mouth, and spoke, like a soft, lovely female. It was similarly pleasant to the Asari that he's heard in the past, but something not quite so intimidating about it. It was much more, maternal, “If you'd have a seat there, good sir,” she said, lifting her hoof up, and signaling him to the chair in front of her. The guards stepped out of the way, making a path for Shepard. He made his way through them, and tediously took his seat, across from the regal looking white creature. The Princess herself moved aside to have a seat, then, she upturned her lips into a gentle smile and spoke again, “I suppose it would be rude of me not to introduce myself first, I am Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, the land that you now find yourself in,” she said, pausing as he knew she expected the same from him.
He looked at her for a moment, trying to take in everything she said even though it hardly made any sense to him, “I'm Commander John Shepard, Alliance Navy, of planet Earth.”
She nodded softly to him, “I am pleased to meet you John Shepard, of earth,” she looked at him with a bit of concern, her smile disappearing, “I am sorry for this sort of treatment John Shepard, but I did not know who, or what you were, and I hold the safety of my subjects in the highest regard...” she said to him, seemingly apologetically. It seemed like pretty standard first contact procedures to him.
He raised a hand, “You don't need to apologize for anything your majesty, you're just looking out for your people, I can understand that,” he said attempting to curve her worry about offending him
“Yes, and that actually brings me to a few questions that I must ask you. I think the most obvious one is, what brings you to our fine nation?” she asked softly.
Shepard thought about this, at first, he thought it might be better to make something up, after all, a strange being not knowing where he was, or how he got there didn't sound very reassuring. But at the same time, just looking at her, he felt as if he could trust her. He felt as if it would hurt him, just to lie to her. As much of a tactician as he was, he also knew that he was in no position to bargain. After all, he was not in fighting shape, and they had him surrounded, with weapons. He thought for a moment, as he came up with his words, “To be quite honest your majesty, I'm not entirely sure what brings me here. Hell, I'm not even sure how I got here...” he said, knowing full well how odd that sounded.
She tilted her head slightly at him, “We did find some sort of vessel that you came out of.”
He looked up at her, “The Kodiak... the last thing I remember was that I was in that ship.... there was an explosion and then... well then I woke up in a bed here,” he said shrugging, he almost figured she'd know more about his situation than he did.
She looked at him with some concern in her eyes, “So, you don't know how you got here, not at all?” she asked.
He shook his head, “No... I wish I did, but I can't remember anything after blacking out in the shuttle.”
The princess raised a hoof to cover her mouth with surprise, “I see... perhaps in time, we will be able to find a way to return you home... I realize this must be very troubling for you John,but would you mind if I asked you just one more question?”
“Not at all,” he replied.
Then something strange happened, there was a sort of light that glowed around her horn. The same light formed around something behind her. She was levitating his gun on front of a table in front of her, his M8 Avenger and his Predator Heavy Pistol. She must have been a biotic. Up until now, he had assumed that this place was primitive, but harnessing biotic abilities was a fairly advanced ability, how would this place have primitive structures, weapons, and medical facilities, but have something as advanced as practical biotics?
She looked at him with a stern look on her face, “Tell me, John Shepard, what is the purpose of these devices?” she asked him
Shepard blinked, he wasn't entirely sure if he should tell her. He had been fooled before about idyllic worlds and he didn't want to be caught in a situation where he needed a gun, and didn't have them. He also didn't want to be responsible for upsetting the balance of evolution on an undeveloped world. She still had him at a disadvantage though what choice did he have? “They’re thermal based firearms,” he saw her looking at him plainly, this didn't mean anything to her obviously, “Uh... they’re weapons,” he finished.
She blinked and nodded, setting them behind her again. She levitated another device in front of her, the wrist module for his omni-tool, “And what of this?” she asked, in a gentler tone.
“That’s what’s called an ‘omni-tool’, your majesty. It’s used for making minor repairs,analyzing, collecting and storing information. It’s also used to treat people medically,” he said. He forgot to mention that it could also be used as a potent weapon.
She gently levitated the module over to Shepard, setting it in his hand, then she spoke, “I hope you will understand, but we do not have such dangerous things freely available to my subjects, to my little ponies, and I would feel more comfortable if I kept them under my care for now,” she said regally. She didn’t look upset, or angry with him, but he could still hear the air of caution in her tone.
Shepard learned forward in his chair, obviously irritating the golden gaurds as he did so, "I don't know if that's such a good idea, your majesty. These weapons are my responsibility. They are dangerous, and I don't want to uh... I don't want someone to have an accident with them..." he said, hiding the guise of wanting protection, with caution and safety.
Princess Celestia blinked at this with a bit of surprise, "Surely, a dangerous sword kept in our vaults will not pose a threat to any wary filly or colt?" she asked curiously as she looked to him.
He shook his head, "I wouldn't exactly call this a 'sword' your majesty," he said sighing.
The Princess tapped her chin, she set them on the table for now, "I will have my student watch them closely for you then, that way, they will be under your observation. Will this satisfy you?" The gaurds were getting a little tense around them.
He nodded to her, “I'll have to meet this assistant first, and if it’s alright with you, your majesty, I’d like to ask, what exactly are these creatures, and yourself? I’ve seen all kinds of sentient creatures in my life, but I’ve never run across ones such as these,” he asked, reaching down to fix his omni-tool over his wrist, feeling a bit more relaxed, now that he knew he'd have his weapons close, should a sticky situation arose.
She gave him a friendly smile and nodded, “We are called ponies, John Shepard. There are three kinds of us that inhabit this beautiful world,” she motioned over to one of her guards, “There are the pegasus ponies, who have the ability to fly. There are also the unicorn ponies, gifted with the ability, and the responsibility of magic, and then there are the earth ponies, the strongest ponies, and the stewards of the land.”
Unicorns, that word sounded so familiar... where had he heard it before? And pegasus too, he could have sworn he had heard that too. For some reason his mind kept trailing him back to basic classes, but he still couldn’t put his finger on it. Unicorns must have been like the doctor pony, with the odd horn on their head, those must be the biotic ones. Shepard gave a sideways glance at the princess, “But how come you have wings, and a horn?” he asked her, his curiosity getting the better of him.
The princess was a bit taken back by this question for a moment, but then she simply gave him a regal smile, “That’s a tale for another time, John Shepard. For now, until you get better, I’m leaving you under the care of my brightest student, a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle,” she said as she began to stand up, the guards making way for her as she walked out of the room and into the hallway. She motioned for Shepard to follow her, and he hobbled behind her, “She is a very knowledgeable pony, and I believe that she is the most qualified pony to have any information about getting you back home. I will also have her share the responsibility of keeping your belongings in good care. I believe that you will find her trustworthy of this.”
Celestia came to a double door, and the guards opened it, revealing a balcony outside. The tall pony spread her wings, preparing to take off. Shepard watched her, as fear took hold of him, he spoke back to her before she left, “What if I can’t get back home?” he asked, with a hint of sorrow.
The princess simply turned around, giving him soft smile before she spoke, “Good luck, John Shepard,” was all she said before she took off.
Author's Note
The ponies are NOT using biotics. They are using magic, just like they do in the show. Shepard is only calling it biotics, because that is the closest thing he knows that is remotely similar.
Chapter 3: Ponyville
Slowly but surely, Shepard was regaining the use of his legs. One of the tall guard ponies walked him outside of the hospital. The journey just from the balcony to the main door was a strange one. Several of the doctor and nurse ponies gave him odd stares. They weren't so much frightful as much as they were curious and shocked to see something so out of place. And of course, there were also some that were frightful of him, some of the smaller and younger looking ponies seemed to react this way.
The sun was so bright, and the colors so vibrant of the world outside that it hurt Shepard's eyes. These weren't the cold, dim lit corridors of a space vessel. This was a world that teemed with life and energy. Colorful wooden and brick structures surrounded him, along with rolling green hills beyond. And beyond the hills was a colossal spire of a mountain, dominating the landscape. Once his eyes focused he could make out a little city, or rather, a very large city, far far away, on the top of this sky scraping mountain. The clouds were few and far between and the sky was bright and vibrantly blue, full with the occasionally winged pony that fluttered around the air like a busy bee. Where the hell was he?
Shepard's mind came back to pain as he took a few steps down from the hospital, his wounds complaining to him again. The guard ponies stood by him until they saw someone approach, giving her a salute before they took off into the air, towards the city on the mountain. The pony that approached was a little purple unicorn, with a purple hair cropped halfway, and a little pink stripe through it, which was parted by the short horn that was perched on her forehead. The little pony had a look of fascination in her eyes, similar to the curiosity that the ponies in the hospital held. No one had ever mentioned the word, “Alien” or anything to that effect. He was curious to know what they thought he was. Did they think he was some sort of monster, or god, or angel?
The unicorn shook off her curious nature and looked at him, in a regal sort of way, still giving him a little smile, “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia has asked me to take care of you and offer you any kind of assistance you may require,” she said with poise. The wonder came back to her eyes as she finished.
He gave her a wave, not sure how to greet her properly, “Hi, my name is uh, John Shepard. Thanks Twilight,” he stopped himself, “Is it alright if I call you Twilight?”
The casualness of this question caught her off guard, “Oh uh, of course... is it alright if I just call you, John?”
He brought one of his hands to rub at his sore rib cage, waving back at her, “I prefer Shepard, if it's all the same to you,” no one had called him by his first name since his mother, “And, that's alright Twilight Sparkle, I don't mind you being honest about why you're watching over me.”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but she stuttered some, “But how did...”
He interrupted her, “I had a chat with the Princess. First contact procedures are pretty standard. I'm guessing she asked you to keep me under guard, to make sure I wasn't a threat to the populace.”
She blinked with her maw agape in surprise. She was stunned at how he could figure that out, even the princess was very, very subtly hinted at that in her orders. Something was rather strange, and cold at the way he insinuated though. And yet he didn't seem perturbed by it, “Well um, Shepard...” she then chuckled at him, “ARE you a threat to the populace?” she asked with a smile.
This time Shepard was taken aback, she wouldn't take his word for it, of course. He looked around for a moment, “I don't have any intentions to harm any life forms that haven't done me wrong,” he held his side again, “And besides, the way you patched me up, I guess I kind of owe you,” he showed the first sign of emotion since arriving, in the form a tiny smile.
Twilight Sparkle nodded at this with a smile, “Then I guess we don't have to worry about that anymore!” she said brightly.
She was about to continue, but Shepard was too perplexed. She wasn't being sarcastic, or insincere in anyway. It was so odd that he had to interrupt her, “Wait... you mean you're just going to take my word for it? You don't even know me.”
Twilight looked up to him, “I believe that it's best to give someone the benefit of the doubt. That's the best way to make a new friend after all!” she said, still smiling at him, “And as far as not knowing you goes, I'd actually like that to change. I won't lie, I'm quite curious about what you are and about where you come from and...” she was about to continue, before she saw Shepard hunch over, clutching his wounds again, “Oh but um, perhaps we should get you home first, you look pretty beat up...” she said looking worried.
He was about to wave her down, but the pony took off, coming back a few moments later, pulling a wooden cart that was harnessed to her back, “It's a long way back to the library, why don't you sit in here, and I can pull you?” she proposed.
Shepard thought about denying this offer of course, he was a soldier after all, he needed to find his balance and get back on his feet. But his wounds were a little more than bothersome, and he didn't want to wear himself out all at once. He simply nodded to her, slowly maneuvering himself inside the wooden cart, leaning back some as he found a comfortable position for his sore limbs to rest in.
As Twilight Sparkle pulled him along, Shepard took in the scenery around him. Across the streets were old wooden and brick buildings, many of them colorful, with various signs and banners. They came to a broad street, with a wide open circular area. Here there were several stalls with many more of the colorful little ponies all browsing and buying things, most of which seemed to be any variety of food items. Some of them looked familiar. He would know them as native earth foods; cucumbers, heads of lettuce, apples, oranges, and every variety of greenery he could think of.
Shepard could at this point, to a degree diagnose which of the ponies where male, and female. The females appeared to have rounder faces, eyelashes, and be somewhat smaller than the males. They also usually had somewhat more extravagant, colorful and stylish hairstyles. Regardless of their gender or age, almost all the ponies of the town square stopped what they were doing to look at Shepard. He stared back at them, a bit nervously as all the strange colorful creatures began to whisper and chatter amongst themselves, all looking to the strange two-legged creature that Twilight Sparkle pulled behind her. A couple of the braver ponies even went so far as to come a bit closer to him, getting a better look. The occasional small, child pony even trotted right up to him, tilting their head curiously as they examined the alien before them, before their guardian called them, or tugged them back aside.
They were so happy looking. Some curious, some fascinated, some even just a little bit cautious, but none of them showed fear, distrust, or hatred towards him. He was an alien species, something that they had never seen before and yet they did not shun him, nor treat him poorly. Their eyes and facial expressions were so surreal. The bright eyed creatures kept surrounding him, walking along with Twilight Sparkle to peek at the new life form. The closeness of the unfamiliar species made Shepard uncomfortable, he was surrounded by alien creatures and he was wounded. This wasn't a very strategic position for him to be in. No matter how friendly and welcoming they were, he always had the tingling instinct at the back of his mind to be wary of strange things. It was apart of his combat training. They had him in a helpless position. The other part of it was him being wary of things that were seemingly, “too welcoming” or too polite. Anything that was this kind and understanding of him surely had to have some ulterior motive.
They moved on, and out of the town square, for which Shepard was glad. The number of gazing eyes and curious ponies seemed to dwindle as they went down the streets. Eventually they left the busy streets, and up ahead, Shepard could see a tall, wide tree sprouting from the ground. Far from a normal tree, this one support a full front door, several windows, even what looked like a balcony on the side.
Twilight turned around, unhooking herself from the cart and turning around look at Shepard, “Whew... here we are, sorry it took so long, I'm not really used to carrying heavy carts for so long...” she said as she gave him a slight smile.
Shepard slowly made his way out of the cart, propping himself back up on his legs as he looked up at the large tree structures, he noticed the picture of the book on the front.
“This is actually a library, but it's also where I live. I've made all the amenities of a proper house here, after all I can't think of anyplace I'd rather live than I library!” she said a little enthusiastically. She trotted towards the door, opening it for him, “Watch your head, Shepard, these doors are usually only tailored to ponies I'm afraid,” she said with a chuckle.
Shepard ducked and found himself inside a large circular room, with several flights of bookshelves surrounding him. On his left and right side where two more hollowed out entryways which led to other rooms, and in the middle was a flight of stairs that led to a small hollowed out room at the top, this must be what led to the balcony. On these stairs, there was a little purple and green creature that was peering out at them. This creature was certainly not a pony, and did not bear any resemblance to one, so Shepard's first reaction was a defensive one. He shifted his stance and took a step back towards the door.
Twilight must have seen this, so she stepped forwards, “Shepard, this is my assistant, Spike. You probably noticed he's NOT a pony... he's actually a baby dragon, but he's really nice though!” she said as she signaled him to come down.
Spike hustled down next to her before he looked at Shepard, “Whoa, so you must be the new colt... er... guy... er something. Well, whatever you are, it's nice to meet ya. I'm spike, Twilight Sparkle's right hand dragon!” he said with pride.
Shepard relaxed, and waved a bit, “Hey Spike, I'm Shepard.”
“So anyway, what brings you to Ponyville?” said the little dragon.
Shepard shook his head, “I don't really know. In fact, I couldn't even tell you how I got here,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders, sorely.
“Well, however you got here, it must have been from pretty far away, I mean, I don't think I've ever seen one of... whatever you are, anywhere! Where do you come from anyway?” the little dragon seemed to never run out of questions for him.
Twilight chimed in, “Um spike, he's had kind of a long day... why don't we let him get settled in first, and save the questions for later, alright?” she said shooting Shepard an apologetic smile, “Why don't you see if you can give him a hand up the stairs spike?” Twilight made her way to the stairs, and the little dragon rushed over to Shepard's side, to take his hand. He looked strange to him, and Shepard recoiled.
Spike chuckled at this, “Aw don't worry mister, I know dragons are pretty fierce and deadly and all that, but I won't hurt anyone who's a friend of twilight!” he said happily, clearly taking a bit of pride in being a dragon, whatever that was. Reluctantly, Shepard let the scaly hand take his, and he hobbled along again, to the stairs. He was surprised, but grateful for the fact that Spike took quite a bit of weight off of his legs, making it easier for him to ascend the stairs.
There were unsurprisingly, more books in this area, along with two small beds squished together, “This is where you'll be staying. This is normally where I sleep, but spike and I can sleep in the basement for a bit,” Twilight said quizzically.
Shepard shook his head, “Twilight... you didn't have to give up your bed for me. Why don't you just let me sleep in the basement, I'll be alright I...” she interrupted him.
“No no, Princess Celestia said that I should accommodate you properly, and I intend to do just that. Besides, you're still injured and you need proper rest,” she said insistently, “Now let me just show you a couple other things around here, since this is where you'll be staying for a while...” Twilight trotted beside him, and made her way downstairs. In the other room, she showed him the kitchen, as well as the refrigerator, and a few other essential items, as well as the bathroom.
Eventually she finished her tour, and brought him back to the main room, “Now then... I hope you'll find this place suiting for you... is there anything else that you need?” she said, being true to her word to be accommodating.
He shook his head, giving another small smile at the pony's attempt to please, “No, everything's just fine twilight, I'm sure this will be a nice place to rest until I get my strength back,” he said, trying to sound as thankful as possible.
The unicorn's ears perked up as she went over to a shelf, grabbing a book off of it, using her strange looking biotics to lift it up, and carry it to Shepard, “There is one other thing Shepard... I don't know if you do much reading... or any... but I thought it might be nice if you maybe knew your way around here. You know, how things in our world work and, stuff like that...”
Shepard held up the book, and read the title quietly aloud, “My home, Equestria...” he read.
“It's well... it's actually meant for little fillies and colts, to teach them about where we live. Basic things like how weather works, going around ponies, getting to know, and learning about other types of ponies, how bits work, a little bit about government too. I know it's kind of basic but... I just thought since you were new here... it would help a little,” said the unicorn.
It was quite obvious to Shepard that this was a highly knowledgeable pony, at least in her world. He smiled at this. It reminded him of someone he knew, “Thanks Twilight, I'm sure this will help me out...” he said, holding the book up before he held it under his arm. He wasn't going to read it though. He wouldn't put it in his mind that some other place would become his home. He had a home, and he had someone he loved, and he was going to get back.
Chapter 5: Equestria
Shepard was never one much for sitting around. If there was any medigel around, he would have been combat ready by now. But his leg was still incapacitated, and his back occasionally gave him trouble. At least it wouldn’t be too long before he’d be able to walk properly again, until then, he figured like any good soldier, he should know his environment.
This was quite obviously a humid continental climate, with a vast majority of deciduous trees, and a minority of coniferous trees. From what Shepard could see outside of Twilight’s windows, and on the library balcony, this looked to be a small farming community with obviously military defense or strongholds. The only means of long range infrastructure he saw was the train tracks, an ancient means of transportation. He only then remembered about the flying ponies, of course, with such an ability, land transportation would clearly not be a priority.
Shepard would spend a few hours thumbing through books, looking at maps, which were only semi-useful, as none of them contained any detailed star-charts or locations of where this planet was. In fact, there was never any actual mention of the name of this planet. There was only various countries that were named. Some of them had rather less creative names too, “The Griffon Kingdom”, or “The Buffalo Tribe Lands”. This may have been a result of a cartographer, that was less experienced in actually going to any of these places. Another thing that surprised him, was that despite the small size of the countries and landmasses, climates and weather changed drastically over very short distances. There was a very small area to the south of this town, called the Everfree Forest, which seemed to have almost a tropical jungle environment. Planets with such extremes in weather patterns were usually too inhospitable to inhabit life, especially such vast, and vibrant life, as these pony creatures were.
Shepard was busy, trying to exercise his legs, when he noticed spike belch and through a green mist, a paper scroll appeared from it, seemingly from nowhere.
“What the hell… what was that!?” he said, never having experienced something like this before.
Spike looked to him in surprise, “Huh what? Oh, that’s just how I get messages, usually from the Princess or some other unicorn, and give them to Twilight,” he said shrugging, as if it were nothing. He had been doing it ever since he was young, after all.
Shepard did a double take at this, paper messages from his breath, “But… HOW did you do it? How did you get a paper message through your… did that come out of your stomach?” he asked perplexed.
Spike chuckled at this, “Ah ha no no, I wouldn’t have enough room in there for all the messages I get,” he said patting his belly, “A unicorn, like Princess Celestia writes the message on a scroll, and sends it to me with magic!”
There was that word again, “Magic”. He had seen some pretty remarkable things done with biotics but he’s never seen someone materialize matter and have it re-materialize somewhere else perfectly. Even technology like that was at least a century off for his people.
Twilight came in and took the letter from Spike, peering over it quickly, “Oh! It looks like Rainbow Dash is going to come visit tomorrow!” she said smiling up to Shepard.
“Is that someone you know?” Shepard asked curiously.
“Indeed! She’s one of my very good friends. I’ve been telling them all about meeting you, and when you crashed here. Rainbow Dash was at the Wonderbolts Academy when that happened, but after she heard about you, she’s decided to take some time off to come visit!” she said happily.
Shepard put down one of the books and looked at her, “Is that some sort of training center?” he asked, making note of the word academy.
“Indeed! The wonderbolts academy are where Equestria’s top fliers, go to train. If they are accepted, they can become honorary wonderbolts. It’s been a lifelong dream of Rainbow Dash’s since she was a filly,” Twilight said, shuffling through several books easily with her “magic”.
He felt something kinking up in his back and after pressing a bit on his spine, he took a seat down, cringing a bit. He shook his head, trying to take his mind off of the pain, “So what exactly does a ‘wonderbolt’ do in Equestria?”
Spike jumped in, and exclaimed, quite vocally and expressively, “Oh man the WONDERBOLTS are the best fliers in Equestria! They got super cool moves and tricks and one time I saw them do like FIVE barrel rolls before doing a triple underwing and…” he began to run on like this for some time.
Twilight shook her head, “The wonderbolts are Equestria elected top fliers. Aside from putting on shows, where they perform daring and amazing stunts, they are also available to the princess, in case of weather emergencies, and search and rescue. Like if a certain area isn’t getting enough rainfall, or they need help controlling a tornado or a hurricane.”
That didn’t add up. But there had to be something behind it. Shepard crossed his arms, “Pegasus ponies must have access to some pretty advanced equipment to be able to control a tornado or a hurricane,” he asked suspiciously.
This confused twilight and she turned to face him, tilting her head, “Oh, not really, they pretty much just use their wings, and their own flying ability…” she said, as if it were common knowledge. Then it hit her, “..oh! You’ve never been told! I’m sorry, I forgot… Aside from flying, one of the special abilities of Pegasus ponies is that they can control the weather.”
This made Shepard do another double-take, “And just HOW do they do that?” he asked, although, he was pretty sure he knew the answer he was going to get.
Twilight nodded to this, smiling as she pulled a book down quickly from her shelves. She opened it up, and began to read it word for word, “Only pegasus ponies, not unicorns or earth ponies, have the ability to physically interact with the clouds around them. This can allow Pegasai to control the weather, by dispersing clouds to cause clear weather, or by accumulating clouds to create precipitation…” Twilight then passed the book over to Shepard, whom would then look the book over, finding it all here word for word. What the hell kind of freaking shit was this?
“That makes me kind of wonder… how do they control weather where you’re from, John?” Twilight asked, looking at him quizzically.
“We don’t. Weather happens naturally, on it’s own on my planet,” replied shepard.
Twilight looked slightly disturbed at this, “That must be awful… how do you survive, if it’s too cold… or if it’s too hot, or too dry?” she asked with worry.
Shepard shook his head, “Our planet goes through cycles of hot, cold, wet, and dry naturally throughout the year. During the hot seasons, we stay cool, and during the cold seasons, we stay warm. I guess you could say, we adapt and survive,” Shepard said.
Twilight nodded at this, “Ah ha, you must use magic to keep yourselves warm and cool during the changing seasons. Of course that’s what it is! I mean with such an advanced looking vehicle, obviously powered by magic and all…” she said flipping her head.
Shepard didn’t exactly know how to tackle this one. Should he even tell her? Maybe not, not yet, “Yeah, sure Twilight, we have our own magic that we use to survive…” he said with a sigh. Stepping out to look outside. He had notice, that every day he had been here, it had been sunny, and cloudless, without there ever being a single drop of rain, or gust of wind, or stray wisp of a cloud. These ponies seem to depend a lot on magic, much like his people depended on technology. Regardless, it was something that he would have to get along without for now. That’s one thing he could probably make do in. Adapt, and survive.
There was a knock at Twilight’s door, and then there was a pony sounding from outside of it, “Yooo hooo!!! Are you home dear Twilight?” said the voice.
Shepard started to hobble his way up stairs, whomever was behind this voice, they sounded a little too eccentric for him to get involved in. He was too late however, as he saw Spike rushing over to open the door. He let a white pony, with a stunningly sleek, and styled mane, that curled every-so-slightly at the end and had remarkably long eyelashes.
She gasped the moment she saw shepard, “OH there you are dear! I apologize I haven’t made the time to greet you properly, I’ve just been rather busy, as always…” she said, all the while the little dragon looking at her, strangely.
“Hello Rarity! Shepard, this is my good friend Rarity, she was there with me when we saw your ship crash in Ponyville. When we pulled you from the wreckage, Rarity was kind enough to do some repairs on your clothes!” she said, pointing to the stitches and seams along his uniform.
He hadn’t noticed them until now, but when he looked closely, he could see that his nano-fiber, and kevlar stitched uniform had lesser cottons and linens sewn into the damaged portions. Whomever fixed it still did a hell of a job, since it was so hard to even notice in the first place.
“Uh, hey Rarity, I’m John Shepard…” he said, giving her a mild wave.
The white pony flipped her hair aside with her hoof as she nodded. She didn’t seem to be as pleased with her work as he was, “Well I did do the best I could dear, but to be quite frank, I simply didn’t have anything in my supply to match the… exquisite material that your uniform was made of…” she stamped her hoof slightly, “... I absolutely MUST know, where can I get some magnificent threads like these! Not only for my future work, but to make a proper repair on your attire!” she said exuberantly.
Shepard was a bit overwhelmed by the straightforwardness of the pony. He wasn’t entirely sure of the suits composition himself anyway, “Uh well, I can’t really say for sure Rarity, I’m not the one who made it. But I think you’ve done a great job already in your repairs. I’m sure no one else will even notice the difference in material,” he said, thinking that this would calm the pony.
Rarity gasped out, stomping her hoof once more, “But RARITY will notice! And I simply won’t be able to sleep at night, knowing that one of Rarity’s works are out there, in public, half finished!” she said dramatically.
Twilight Sparkle chimed in, clearly seeing that Shepard was having a hard time dealing with her, “You did a great job fixing his uniform Rarity. But the truth is that there is a lot that we don’t know about John. Not even what his clothes are made out of…” she said, setting a hoof on her shoulder.
“I guess I’m in the same boat you are; I don’t really understand much about this place. There’s pictures, and minor descriptions in these books, but that only gives me so much information,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning on the stairway.
Rarity pondered for a moment before she lit up, “Well that’s because you’ve been stuck in this stuffy old library… no offense Twilight. You’re not going to learn anything about Equestria unless you go out and see it! Surely you can at least get around a little bit, even with your injuries?” she asked him.
Shepard looked over to Twilight, “I have been feeling better lately. Since I’m stuck here for now, I might as well get to know my way around the place? Why the hell not?” he said shrugging, standing back up on his leg. Of course, this made him stumble slightly, “Might not be a bad idea to have a pony or two by me though…”
“Alright, alright… just let me finish up a few things here. Then we can get going. Spike, do you think you can look after the library while I’m gone?” asked Twilight.
The dragon nodded and saluted twilight, “Yes ma’am! I’ll hold down the fort Twilight… oh and if you go out, do you think you could get more of those creme puff things?” he said, licking his lips some.
As Twilight rolled her eyes, Rarity pulled out a bonnet, and a pair of sunglasses to put on herself, “It certainly would be a nice day to get out, I’ve been cooped up inside myself with all of my work… Oh! How could I forget! I had something made for you as well, just to give you a little more of a local look!” she started to pull something out of her pack.
Shepard shook his head. From what he saw of the ponies, he expected something that was overly colorful, and more than likely flamboyant, “Ah no really that’s not necessary… ah…” before he finished, he saw what she revealed. It was a lightweight, black and grey hoodie, made from fine stitched cotton, just like one on earth would be made of. The colors actually went with his uniform. More to his surprise, the N7 logo was printed on the right breast, right where it should be. He took a look at the back, and he saw the flag with twin princesses on it, he recognized it from books, as the flag of Equestria. This was printed much larger on the back, but the colors on this too went with the rest of the outfit, “Huh, you know this actually looks pretty good…” he turned his arms into it, and placed the hoodie on, it was a perfect fit.
Rarity chuckled at this, “Well of course it does… did you think I was going to give you some mish mash of color and flash?” she said turning her head at him.
“Well actually…” he didn’t finish.
“I based the style, the colors, and the size of course, off of the outfit that I repaired. And I just thought it might be nice of you to have a little piece of Equestria. To make the locals more comfortable with you that is. Oh don’t get me wrong, they are all very nice ponies, but why shouldn’t one of our guests get to look his best?” she said, adjusting her glasses a few times.
Shepard chuckled a bit, “Thanks Rarity, it looks great,” he turned to look to Twilight, who was putting a few more books away, “Are we just about ready Twilight?” he asked.
“All done!” she said, putting on her own pack, “Alright Shepard, lets go meet some ponies! And on our way back, we can see if you’re up for taking a peek at Applejacks barn!” she said triumphantly, before she opened up the wooden door.
Shepard, with the other ponies at his side made his way outside. He felt the warm sun wash over him. The scenery was bright, vibrant with colors that nearly assaulted his eyes. Everything was just so damn bright, just like when he first woke up in that hospital bed. Despite all of the brightness, he could still make out the strange pink blur that was charging towards them, “Wait, what the hell is that…”
Anonymous:http://www.fimfiction.net/story/80725/paragon
Author's Note
I'll be honest with you guys, I didn't have a clue what to name this chapter. I thought "Equestria" was somewhat appropriate, since it's supposed to be about Shepard looking into how Equestria works. If you want to make any edits on this story. Here's the googledocs source https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tmr62nA0bHk2RA66nBiqKBrbxp_QM3rfZbnJajSHWkM/edit?usp=sharing
Chapter 4: Twilight Sparkle
The woods were peaceful, serene, perfect. All around him, children played. They were happy and without care in the world. There was an indescribable noise, that shook him to his very core. At its sounding, all of the children turned to look to the sky, which was painted red. There was something enormous coming towards them. It was a monster and it was coming closer. Shepard reached out, trying to save them, trying to shield them, trying to do something, anything. But he couldn't move, and the monster kept wailing out it's terrible sound. And it kept coming closer, and closer, and closer.
No matter what Shepard did, he couldn't save them all. He couldn't save any of them. He ran as fast as he could, somehow, breaking loose of the invisible grip that held him. There was a barrier in his way, it was a window. He pushed it open, and ran out onto a wooden balcony, slowly the light came to his eyes, and he realized where he was. It was just a dream. He was breathing heavily, and his limbs ached from the exhausting, rapid movements. He leaned over the edge of the balcony, putting his face into his hands as he tried to relax. Eventually he sighed, looking upwards at the beautiful star-lit night. The sight of it, along with chirping crickets relaxed him.
He moved his sore body back inside with the intent of slipping himself back into bed. But a dim lit candle caught his eye. He took a few steps over to the stairs, leaning over the railing. He observed the unicorn, paging through books, looking as bright eyed as ever.
Shepard smirked,“Do ponies usually get up before dawn?” he asked.
Twilight turned around to look at him with a bit of a jump, “Oh, well no. I'm the exception... I usually go on just a few hours of sleep. Far too much studying or work to do for me I guess,” she said with a giggle, “What about you, is everything alright?” she said looking to him with concern.
Shepard thought back to his nightmare but brushed it off, “It's nothing, just... having a little trouble adjusting is all.”
“Is the bed too soft? Or too firm?” she asked.
Shepard chuckled, shaking his head, “The bed's fine Twilight. What are you reading there?” he asked, trying to change the subject.
Twilight looked back down to her book, then another stack of books next to it on her desk, “Well, I've actually been trying to find something... about you Shepard. Or, where you come from, or even how you got here...” she said as she used her horn to page through a few more books.
Shepard grabbed the railing and carefully made his way down the stairs, “Any luck?” he asked.
Twilight looked at him with a puzzled look, “No actually... I haven't been able to find anything. Which is really rather odd... I'd think that if the Princess knew anything, or even knew where to look she'd point me in the right direction... I don't think we know anything about where you came from though... other than that weird looking craft you came out of...” she said as she kept frantically looking through books.
Shepard crossed his arms, leaning on a wall, “Craft?” he asked, this was the first time he heard of it. She couldn't possibly mean... the Normandy, could she?
“What can you tell me about this craft Twilight?” he pressed her.
She turned to look at him, “Well it was pretty big... about the size of a train car, except... shorter. It had a bunch of words on it, I don't know what they meant though, I think one of them was 'Kodiak', and 'Alliance',” she looked a little sadly towards him, “It looked pretty banged up Shepard...”
Twilight looked back at her books again, “But that still didn't give me any clues as to where you're from...”
Shepard stepped forward. Now he actually had some kind of lead on how to get home. If he could get that Kodiak working, maybe he could get himself out of here, or even if he couldn't, if he could at least get it powered up, he could access the map, and pinpoint his location.
“Twilight, you have to get me to that ship, that may be the key to me getting out of here...” he spoke to her, perhaps a bit harshly.
She was about to ask him if it was because he didn't like it here. But she knew better. Whether he liked it here or not, he would want to get back home, “Shepard, you're still pretty banged up. We have the ship safely in a barn at Sweet Apple Acres, it isn't going anywhere. Why don't you at least take another day or so to rest up here?” she said
He looked sternly to her, “I need to get to that ship Twilight Sparkle...” he said firmly. He turned to make his way to the door.
Twilight Sparkle jumped beside him, “Do you really need to go right now though? It isn't even morning yet,” she exclaimed.
Shepard shot her a cold stare. It was a frustrated look, and he needed a moment to get his bearings. He thought that he might shout, might scream at her at this. Of course he needed to go right now, he needed to leave here before he even arrived. He didn't belong here, he had a home. There were people there who needed him. What would happen to them if he wasn't there? What if it didn't work and the reapers were still attacking? What if it was already all over? He couldn't stick around in this place, in this fantasy land, pretending that nothing was going on back on earth.
Twilight could see the pain and frustration on his face and she wanted to help him, “Shepard, what's wrong? I know you'd want to get back home as soon as you could but... is this place really so bad?” she asked him
He turned his head to her, letting out a deep breath as he contained himself. He shook his head, “No Twilight... that's not it...” he turned around and sat on the stairs, setting his face in his hands.
Twilight walked up to him, setting a hoof on his arm, “Tell me what's wrong, Shepard,” she asked him, looking into his eyes with concern.
“My home... where I'm from is in danger. Or at least, it was, I don't know. People back where I'm from are counting on me. They need me, and I'm not there for them,” he sighed, trying to contain his emotions, “I don't know if everything's ok there, Twilight. There were these...” his memory brought him back to the reapers, “I don't want to talk about it... I just know I need to get home, I have to...”
Twilight sat there for a moment, trying hard to work through his words, trying to think of something to say, before something came to mind, “You were trying to help weren’t you, back on earth? Did you try your best?” she asked with concern.
Shepard turned to her, he was surprised at this for a moment before he understood, no one had ever asked him if had had “done his best before.”
“I’ve never thought about doing my best Twilight. My best isn’t good enough, not where I’m from. Where I’m from, and in my time, I have to succeed. I have to come out victorious. If I don’t, I’ll have all the ghosts of the people I let down to answer to,” he clenched his eyes shut for a moment before looking into the piercing dawn, “Everyone is counting on it, always… everyone…”
Twilight stood there jaw agape, “Everyone… everyone… on your whole planet?” not only making her mind reel, wondering just who this person was, but all of the anxiety, and emotional torment that must have gone with being responsible with who knows how many citizens. And here little Twilight would lose her mind if she was late for a paper.
“Shepard… what about your friends? You do have friends right? I know that a lot of people are counting on you, but you can’t succeed alone, no one can! No one should ever have to bear that amount of weight on their shoulders, not all by themselves…” she said, standing up on her hind legs, resting her forehooves against him, trying to comfort the soldier.
Garrus, Tali, Anderson, Samara, Wrex, Jacob, Miranda, Grunt, Joker. All his friends had his back, ever since he started. They had all helped him out, how could he have been so selfish? Even if he’s gone, they won’t go down without a fight, they won’t let the reapers win. Even if he is gone for good, he knows the galaxy is in good hands, hands that he’d fought next to, bled next to, and saved lives next to.
Shepard sighed, and he looked down at the small pony next to him. She looked quite concerned for him. So he gave her a little smile, and moved away from the balcony, taking a seat on one of the wooden benches, “You’re right Twilight…” he said nodding to her, “I can count on my friends to help earth, I know they’ll succeed,” he looked to the side, “But I still don’t like not knowing what happened, I don’t like not being able to help them, when they’ve given so much for me.”
Twilight trotted next to him, “And you will be able to help them. Right now though, you can help them by getting well,” she chuckled, “Even if you could get back immediately, you wouldn’t be much help to your friends, and earth if you’re all banged up!”
He chuckled at this, working his torn muscles to stand back up, “Guess I’d better try to get a few more hours of sleep. Maybe you oughta try some yourself Twilight,” he said, stretching out before he started to make his way up the stairs.
She nodded to him, “Oh don’t you worry about me, I’m not the one that left a crater in the ground, and crashed head first… Go ahead and get some more sleep John, I’ll have breakfast ready for you when you get up,” She said motioning him away.
As shepard slowly got himself back into the small beds, he laid there. Reminiscing about all of the times he’s had with his crew members, his teammates, his friends. He probably wouldn’t be alive himself if it wasn’t for all of their efforts and sacrifices. They won’t stop, not until they’ve beaten the reapers, that much he could be sure of. Still, the thought of the reapers haunted him. He knew his friends would never quit, but just as they’d never abandon him, he would never want to abandon them. If there was something, anything he could do to save just one of them, he would jump on it in a heartbeat, he hated the idea of being away from them, leaving them to fight that monster on their own. That monster.
The reapers seemed to be attracted to Shepard, and follow him wherever he went. Or maybe it was the other way around. The memories began to come back to him. It was his last shot, it was all of their last shots. He tried to stop the reapers… there was a bright flash and then. What happened? What happened to the Normandy, and what happened to Earth? The worst part was not knowing, not knowing whether the reapers were defeated, or whether they had survived, and were still tearing up the Alliance. The galaxy could be in trouble, and here he was, laying down, in some mysterious, strangely vibrant, non space faring world. They had to have made it, it must have worked, it must have! The reapers can’t win, they can’t.
A few hours later, John awoke. The sun peered in a deep, crisp golden color that lit up the air. It was beautiful. He had never seen a sun like this before, not even on earth. As he stood up and brought himself to the window, he felt the freshness of the new day. He was strong, and he was soldier. He would find a way, and everything would be ok, he just knew it. Everything was going to be fine.
