When in doubt

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ash asked Shepard as they sat next to each other on the bed.

“No Ash I really don’t!” Shepard almost growled at her, earning a hard look in return.

“Shepard if there was ever a time to talk to me about the things that are going through your head now would be it.”

“I told you Ash I don’t need therapy!” Shepard told her hotly his eyes shooting daggers at her, she stared right back.

“Look Ethan, you’ve been there for each and every member of your crew any time that we needed you, now you will stop acting like a five year old, dry your eyes, and talk to me!” Ash returned just as hotly positioning her body so that Shepard had no choice but to stare at her, finally Shepard sighed, she wasn’t going to stop till he talked.

“It’s this place, it’s so different from where we’re from but there are still ponies that will throw away all of that just to make a stupid powerplay! But it’s more than that, lately I’ve felt myself becoming more and more detached from the person that I was, I’m becoming a monster Ash!” Shepard yelled, startling several of the guards posted outside the door who looked at each other before shaking their heads, they knew better then to walk in on two shouting lovers.

“Shepard that’s insane…” Ash told him frankly “…There’s no man that I trust more then you to make the right decision, ever.”

“Ash I broke that stallion’s forelegs with my hooves while he cried out for mercy, then I almost shot him as he lay broken on the ground, and I would have without a regret if it wasn’t for Arsenal!” Ash reached up and touched his cheek tenderly.

“Ethan you can’t torture yourself about things, yes it was a bad decision, but you’ve learned from it. You won’t make the same mistake twice, and thanks to it we have a captive who is absolutely terrified of us and will tell us anything that we want to know.” She smiled slightly at the last part, before leaning herself over him smiling seductively “Now why don’t I get down and see how many times I can give you twenty?” The guards looked at each other before smiling and discreetly walking away from the bedroom door.

***

The next morning Shepard and Ash walked into the main dining hall to find that they were the last ones to get there.

“Late night Shepard?” Garrus asked with a slight smile.

“Yeah, Ash and I were touching up on some calibrations Garrus.” Shepard replied with a smile causing the rest of Shepard’s crew to break into laughter, it was good to have Shepard back to normal his funk had been highly disturbing.

“You should have invited me Shepard; after all you know how much I love those.” Garrus told him the smile on his face growing; Tali sighed and punched him in the stomach causing him to flinch in mock pain. “You could have come to Tali, I’m sure that you could have helped with measurements you’re usually very active.”

“One more and you sleep on whatever the equivalent of a couch is next time we’re in a town.” Tali told him without looking up from the muffin she was crunching. Celestia smirked, but Twilight and her friends missed the innuendo completely, except Rarity who sniggered softly to herself drawing questioning looks from her friends.

“They’re talking about sex darlings.” She told them, Twilight blushed furiously as the full meaning of the innuendo sank in; the others silently mouthed the word ‘oh’.

“So Princess has our prisoner told us anything useful yet?” Shepard asked turning his attention to Celestia and tacitly changing the subject, Celestia sighed.

“No, Arsenal spent the rest of the night grilling him for info before retiring for the night. The idiot is from a small uninfluential trading family where he got his grand dreams of revolution I’ll never know. Besides threatening to sue you for unarmed assult he hasn’t had much to say except that he knows nothing about who wants you, my sister, and I dead, which means that once again we’re at a dead end.” Twilight tapped her hoof on the table deep in thought before she slammed it down in excitement.

“Who do you turn to when all things seem hopeless?” a large smile split Celestia’s face

“Why the Paladins of course!” Celestia told her smiling happily down at Twilight from her place at the end of the table.

“And which Paladin usually has an unnatural sense of what we’re supposed to do?” Twilight asked the group, drawing smiles from her friends as Shepard’s group looked on in confusion. “PINKIE PIE!” Twilight shouted loudly. For a minute or two the room remained the same, but then Pinkie fell out of the ceiling but instead of landing heavily she went into a smooth roll.

“Hi everypony… hi Princess.” She said when she noticed Celestia looking at her in bemusement. “So what do you need? A party, a party cannon, a hidden blade, a MERV, an Spartan Laser, an lancer, a bolter, a light saber, the Cooper cane, the RHINO V, Soul Edge, the Keyblades, or maybe the Blades of Chaos. I could get you any of them, plus probably more depending on how the wall feels .” Pinkie told them rapidly while her eyes danced at the possibilities. “Or I could throw a party and invite all the ones who use them to it, that would be awsome!” The ponies all exchanged mystified glances, except Celestia who seemed horrified at the concept of that party.

“No Pinkie that’s alright, what we really need is to know where to look next.” Twilight told her bubbly pink friend before she went on listing strange ideas, Pinkie gave her a disappointed look.

“Aww fine you guys only want the most boring things, just go back to Ponyville, the plot should reassert itself there.” With that she vanished, leaving a small pink ribbon in her place.

“That would be one hay of a scary party.” Celestia muttered to herself as the rest of her dining companions looked in wonder at the place that Pinkie had just vacated.

AN
And before you ask she knows all of them

Next Chapter: The return Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 46 Minutes