Metroid: A Hunter in Equestria

by Cusi

A New Threat

Disclaimer: Samus and Metroid elements belong to Nintendo. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro/the Hub. I own nothing but the plot.
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The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Zecora, Spike, Land Scout, and Misty Breeze watched as the magical rainbow struck the bounty hunter. They all gasped loudly when they saw a pink mare emerge from Samus's chest. Said mare contorted and shifted until they were seeing a writhing Discord. The spirit of chaos wailed in apparent agony until his translucent form began disappearing, little by little, until there was nothing left of the draconequus.

Samus screamed in pain as she fell on her knees and tried to hold her head. The process of ridding her of Discord's influence was apparently very painful. Soon after, her screams ended and the rest of her body dropped to the ground. A few seconds later, her armor disappeared, leaving behind an unconscious woman wearing a Zero-Suit.

Silvermane barely avoided gasping in surprise at seeing the monster's true form, though she quickly recovered. As soon as she figured the human wouldn't rise again, Silvermane turned to Twilight. "We're even." She turned around to walk away, but was stopped by Twilight's voice.

"Wait! Where are you going? Are you all right?" asked Twilight when she saw the wound in the masked pony's leg, which had started to bleed.

"I'm fine." Silvermane used her torn and holey cape to cover her hind leg. She tried to ignore Twilight and continue, but was stopped by an orange mare.

"Thanks for your help, sugarcube. We really 'preciate it."

"Yeah, thanks! You really helped us." Rainbow Dash said with excitement.

"Right. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Silvermane walked around Applejack and attempted to continue on her way. Her attempt failed with the presence of a white unicorn.

"Oh! You're that Silvermane! It must be so exciting, defending innocent ponies with a mask and a cape. I must admit you have style, darling. An unusual color combination, but stylish nonetheless."

"Uh huh..." Silvermane gritted her teeth at the comments she received. She tried to go around the fashionista, but was once again stopped. This time it was by an energetic pink pony.

"Why are you leaving so soon? You should come with us to celebrate our victorious victory!" Pinkie Pie practically bounced around the masked mare. "Oh! It'll be so much fun!"

"Shut it!" Silvermane exploded. "I want to get away from all of you and rest. Alone. So stop bothering me and go home." All the present ponies (and dragon) were taken aback by her response.

"What did I do?" asked Misty Breeze, who was beside Land Scout at the back of the crowd.

"Not you. Nor your boyfriend..."

"Hey!" Land Scout and Misty Breeze complained at the same time.

"Anyway, I have to go. Don't follow me." She gave Twilight and her friends a dirty look. She turned around to start walking, but bumped into somepony. "Oh, for THE LOVE OF..." Silvermane was about to curse, but instead gasped loudly when she took a better look at the pony that got in her way. She quickly kneeled. Or at least tried to; the wound in her back leg was a little hard to ignore. "I'm sorry, Princess Luna. I didn't see you there."

"It's quite alright." Indeed, the Princess of the Night stood proudly, regarding the ponies present and the defeated form of Samus. With a quick glow of her horn, black handcuffs materialized on Samus's wrists and ankles. Luna put her attention on the light blue mare. "Misty Breeze, please take Samus to the dungeons in Canterlot Castle. I'd like to speak with her at a later chance, but don't hesitate to drop her to her doom if she proves to be trouble on the way there. Iron Shield will go and assist you in a moment."

All ponies present, with the exception of Land Scout, looked shocked at the princess's words. Misty hesitantly walked toward Samus and picked her up. "As you wish, your highness..." She bowed her head slightly. She then picked up the human and flew away to Canterlot.

"I want to thank you all for your bravery today. I must apologize for the trouble caused by Samus. We should've had a closer eye on her." Princess Luna said.

"Don't worry, princess. It wasn't your fault." Twilight looked a little pensive. "I just want to know what really happened. We saw Discord when we used the Elements on Samus." The news made Luna widen her eyes for a moment, before recovering.

"Worry not, Twilight Sparkle. You and your friends should go home and rest. You will be asked to go to Canterlot for Samus's trial, if you wish to assist, once we set a date for it."

"Trial?" all the present ponies asked in unison. Some began looking nervous, others uncomfortable.

"Yes. Regardless of Samus's intentions, she committed serious crimes. Such actions cannot be simply ignored." Luna said calmly, though she couldn't completely hide her disappointment and regret. "Now go. I'm sure you are all tired."

Twilight sighed. "I understand princess. Please excuse us."

Luna watched as all the ponies, plus dragon and zebra, returned to Ponyville. A quick look around made her realize that Silvermane was nowhere to be found. Only Land Scout has stayed with her. "Where is she?"

"She left a little after you showed up. Want me to go get her?" Luna simply stared at him. "Right... Heh heh... Be right back." Land Scout rushed past Luna to where he saw Silvermane leave.

Luna sighed and took a calmer pace to follow him.

Silvermane was trying to get away from the scene as fast as she could, but with an injured leg, it was harder and more painful than she thought. She kept limping, making as much distance as she could from the crowd of ponies. As much as she would enjoy basking in Princess Luna's attention, she couldn't stomach the presence of Twilight Sparkle any longer. She kept going until she was sure none of the Element Bearers were near.

"The Elements of Harmony! They are the Elements of Harmony! Of all the cursed ponies of Equestria, it had to be those four!" Silvermane ranted as she stomped the ground with her forelegs. All the anger she felt made it easier to ignore the pain all over her body. She calmed a little after a while. "Though really. Why would I expect any different?" She bitterly asked to no one in particular as she kicked the ground in frustration.

She promptly collapsed on the ground and sighed in exhaustion. She stayed like that for a few minutes, until she quickly got on her hooves when she saw a vaguely familiar dust-colored stallion walk ahead of her. She quickly hid her injury with her cape. The stallion had a prideful grin as he got closer to the mare. He stopped just a few yards from her.

"So it is true, then. The infamous Trixie is actually Silvermane." he said.

Silvermane's eyes went wide for a moment, before she narrowed them. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Please don't get mad. I am Land Scout. I followed you when you went to your wagon. I saw you put on that disguise." Land Scout explained. "You see, I was given the assignment of tracking down the mare known as 'Silvermane'. I kept hearing about this 'Trixie' mare during my quest. I had a hunch both were related in some way."

"Keep the secret, or you will pay. And that's 'Miss Beatrix' to you." Silvermane said as she took off her mask, revealing her azure face and platinum mane. "Why were you tracking Trixie down, if you don't mind her asking?"

"Princess Luna has wanted to talk to you for quite a while. Given how you just appear and disappear in random towns, it was hard keeping track of you."

Trixie narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "As much as Trixie would love to acquaint herself with Princess Luna, Trixie doesn't see how she is of any interest to the princess."

"You're a vigilante. You save ponies. How could you not be of interest?" Land Scout asked with incredulity in his voice. "Anyway, I was tasked to give this to Silvermane. I guess it's for you since, well..." Land Scout produced a single envelope from his saddlebag and handed it to Trixie. The envelope was a dark blue, with a crescent moon serving as the insignia. Trixie took it with her hoof and inspected it a little closer.

"To Silvermane, from the Princess Luna." Trixie read out loud.

"Open it."

Trixie opened the envelope and read the letter within it. Along with it came a single gold coin. It looked much like a standard bit coin, but upon closer inspection, one could notice a crescent moon on both sides, as opposed to the sun and moon combination seen in the normal currency. As Trixie read silently, one of her eyebrows began rising. She read the letter again to make sure she didn't misread it the first time. When she finished, she looked directly at the stallion before her.

"Princess Luna is summoning Silvermane? Is this for real?" Trixie asked with incredulity in her voice.

"Yup!"

"What about 'Silvermane' and 'Trixie'?" the mare asked.

"I have already reported my suspicions to the princess. Still, that's for her to decide. So what do you say?" Land Scout asked with an eager expression.

Trixie thought about it for a moment. "If Princess Luna has indeed summoned Silvermane, Trixie guesses she should attend."

"That's good to hear." said a voice. Trixie and Land Scout turned to see Princess Luna walking their way. "There is much I wish to discuss."

"Princess Luna!" Trixie bowed. Only her pride kept her flinching in front of the Princess of the Night; that wound on her leg was being troublesome.

"Please, don't bother with formalities. Rest up and heal." Luna gave Trixie a smile. "We have lots to talk about. We'll be having a meeting tomorrow at midnight. I do so wish you could attend. Personally speaking, I'm eager to know how such an infamous mare decided to become a... 'superhero', as they call them."

"O-Of course, Princess. Trixie will be there." Trixie said. Land Scout cheered joyfully.

"Excellent. We'll see you there. Now, if you'll excuse us..." Princess Luna turned to the stallion. "Time to go. Come on." she said as she lowered herself.

Land Scout stared blankly at the princess for a moment, before he realized what she was saying. "W-what?! Can't we take the train?"

Luna rolled her eyes and gave Trixie a small apologetic smile. Her horn glowed and the stallion was levitated and put on her back. "It takes too much time. Besides, why the fuss? You love flying with me. You've done so before." Luna commented as she flapped her wings and took to the air.

"Yeah, but not when there are other mares watching..." Luna just laughed at his response.

Trixie watched the princess and the stallion shrink in the distance as they headed for Canterlot. "Canterlot, huh?" she asked out loud, a frown on her face. "I guess I could return to Canterlot, if only for Princess Luna."

Once they were no longer visible, she continued her way to her wagon. The trek was not too long, but thanks to her leg it was somewhat painful. She eventually reached her small wagon. Given her extremely low magic reserves, she opted to remove her outfit by hoof. She was extra careful when dealing with her leg. Once the disguise was off, she noticed just how badly injured her leg was. She winced just by looking at it; and now that she could see it, the pain felt even greater.

"It looks like it was more than a graze. Good thing she was partly blinded; I don't want to know how good her aim really is..." Trixie put the tattered outfit away and began looking through her things to see if she had any bandages.

No such luck.

Trixie looked at the small rubies in her attire for a moment. Completely empty. She ultimately sighed in exasperation. She would need to restock, and the only place close enough would be Ponyville, of all places. Oh, how she hated Ponyville. Sucking it up, she grabbed another cloak and a bag with bits. She did her best to hide the injury in her leg with the cloak and began another short but painful walk to town.

Did she mention how much she hated Ponyville?

Trixie was a mare of many talents, some of which include decent cooking, good-enough carpentry, above-average dancing, and illusions beyond the comprehension of the simple pony mind. Sadly for Trixie, navigation in a relatively unfamiliar town without a map was not one of them. Neither was singing, but that was beside the point.

The mare in question was walking through Ponyville. She was doing her best to ignore the pain her leg was experiencing. So far, none of the ponies seemed to recognize her. She didn't know how to feel about that. On one hoof, no ponies remembering her meant no hostility was being directed at her. On the other hoof, how dare these simpletons forget about her?!

Trixie sighed. It didn't matter. This was for the better. Making a fuss would only complicate things. Besides, she didn't even like the town anyway. She continued her way until she admitted to herself she was lost. As much as she hated it, she would have to ask directions to the hospital.

Looking around for some pony that looked nice enough, Trixie spotted a magenta earth pony mare with a mane a lighter shade than that of her coat. Swallowing her pride (and a teeny tiny bit of nervousness), Trixie walked over to the mare.

"Uh... Good afternoon, miss. I was wondering if you could help me." Trixie said.

"Oh? Please, call me Cheerilee. What do you need help with?" replied the mare with a gentle smile. Upon giving a closer look to Trixie, Cheerilee put a hoof on her chin and narrowed her eyes a bit for a closer inspection. "Say, you look familiar."

Now Trixie began feeling nervous. "I get that a lot. Now, I was wonderi-"

"I remember now! You're the Great and Powerful Trixie, right?" the teacher asked excitedly. Trixie's mood immediately darkened.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is de..." She caught herself and released a sigh. "Just Trixie is fine. Trixie really needs directions to a hospital."

"Oh, my! What's wrong?" The earth pony asked with concern.

"Trixie just needs to buy some bandages. Nothing serious." Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. She grabbed Trixie's cloak and moved it to show the injured leg. "HEY!"

"Not serious my flank. You need to get that looked at; it looks pretty bad. What were you doing?"

"Uh..."

"It doesn't matter. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital." That said, Cheerilee tried to lift Trixie and carry her. Trixie, feeling her pride hurt, jumped from her.

"Trixie can walk on her own just fine!" she almost yelled. Upon seeing the startled face of the mare, her anger quickly subsided and her voice got an apologetic tone. "...though she thanks you for offering your help."

Cheerilee looked taken aback for a moment, before a smile returned to her features. "Always glad to help!"

Cheerilee started walking at a slow pace, which suited Trixie just fine. Both mares walked a short distance before Cheerilee attempted to start a conversation.

"You know, you left quite an impression on a couple of my students. I'm a teacher, you see."

Trixie groaned. "Joy." she said sarcastically.

"Oh, it's nothing bad, I assure you. Quite the opposite, in fact. They still admire you, even after all this time." This seemed to catch Trixie's attention. "You inspired them to make their very own magic show! They still have a ways to go, to be sure, but it's obvious they're getting better with their magic."

"Trixie... does admit having a certain soft spot for foals."

"That's great! Speaking of which, here they come!" said Cheerilee. Two young unicorn colts that were galloping stopped when they spotted the mares.

"Look Snails! It's the Great and Powerful Trixie!" yelled Snips.

"Awesome!" replied Snails.

Trixie's mood darkened once again at the colts' arrival. She tried really hard to not explode at the two colts that had brought an Ursa, therefore starting the destruction of her career.

She ultimately failed.

"YOU! How dare you dimwitted morons show your faces? Do you know how much Trixie has suffered because of what you did? Do you dimwits have any idea?!"

Snips gave a step back in fright. Snails just stood there, unmoving. Trixie stared the two colts down. Cheerilee was paralyzed at the outburst.

After a few seconds of silence, Snails bolted out and ran. Snips looked at his running friend, gave a hurt look at Trixie, and ran after Snails. Miss Cheerilee gave Trixie a disapproving frown before she, too, rushed after Snails.

The glare she received snapped Trixie out of her tantrum. She realized what she just did and flopped to the ground. She then slammed her head on the ground forcefully. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

Trixie rose and followed after the ponies she just upset at a calmer pace, regret painted all over her face. It didn't take long to find Snails being comforted by Cheerilee and Snips. The taller colt was sobbing, which only made the guilt Trixie felt even worse. She got a nasty glare from Cheerilee, once the teacher spotted her. She hesitated for a moment, but managed to walk up to the crying colt.

"Trix - I apologize. I let my anger get the better of me. Please stop crying. I didn't mean all those things." Cheerilee's harsh glare softened at the apology. Trixie noticed it, but chose to remained focused on the colt.

Snails calmed a little before looking at Trixie. "Really?"

"Yes. Please forgive me. Um... What's your name?" Trixie asked awkwardly when she realized she didn't know the colt's name.

"I'm *sniff* S-Snails."

"Nice to meet you officially, Snails. I'm Trixie!" Trixie offered with a nervous but proud smile. She threw in a silly pose for good measure. It seemed to work because Snails chuckled.

"I know! But weren't you the Great and Powerful Trixie?" he asked in honest wonder.

"Yeah!" Snips chimed in. "With a hat and a cape!"

A look of hurt and sadness quickly came to Trixie's face, but left as soon as it arrived. I was missed by both Snips and Snails, but the pony teacher saw it. Trixie coughed a little before answering.

"I'm just Trixie at the moment. And forgive me, but I must really get going. Perhaps we will meet some other time."

"You heard her." said Cheerilee. "Miss Trixie here needs to get some medical attention, so let's give her some peace. Come on, off you go!"

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee..." both colts obeyed their teacher, albeit reluctantly. Once they were out of eyesight, Cheerilee turned to Trixie with a critical eye, who looked miserable once the colts left. "Ok, so what's your story? And don't lie to me; I'll know if you do."

Trixie gulped and complied. "All right. You see, Trixie..." Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. "I have been doing pretty bad since the Ursa incident. And seeing the two colts responsible is quite infuriating; but foals are foals, and Trixie is not about to hurt them. And now I really need to head to the hospital."

Cheerilee looked at Trixie for a few moments before nodding. "I understand." Her face lit up. "Now let's get you to the hospital! Come on! Hop up!" she said as she kneeled for Trixie to climb.

"Trixie told you. She is perfec..." One look at the teacher's face told her it was better to comply. "Fine." Trixie climbed on top of Cheerilee. The teacher rose and began the walk toward the hospital.

"Don't you worry! We'll be there soon. But you really need to get that leg looked at."

"But I just need bandages. I don't have tim-" She was once again stopped by that stare. "Just make it quick." Cheerilee smiled triumphantly and resumed her trek.

Trixie sighed in defeat. Curse that teacher stare!

Princess Luna looked with sorrow at the sight before her. Restrained with heavy shackles and chains, an unconscious Samus lay before her. She had ordered the removal of all alien accessories. That included her weapon, gadgets, and Zero-Suit. Before her, a couple of night guards stripped Samus of her gear.

As the night princess watched, the pink symbols on the suit's back caught her attention. What stunned her, however, was that those same symbols were present on the human's back after the suit had been removed. A feeling of uneasiness washed over her for a brief moment, before she shrugged it off. Before she could put much thought on it, a one of the guards spoke.

"We have removed everything, your highness."

"Good. Place the items by the dungeon. I have some question for our friend here about them." Luna replied. The other guard followed the order.

"We are ready to proceed, your majesty. We can start whenever you wish." the remaining guards said.

"Right. Let's not waste any more time. Shall we?" she asked rhetorically as her horn began glowing with blue light. She levitated the unconscious woman and began her way to the dungeon.

Once in the dungeons, Luna walked carrying Samus with her magic. On her sides were the two night guards that were with her earlier. They walked past the cell containing the only other prisoner at the moment, a sleeping changeling.

One of the guards opened an empty cell and Luna carefully placed Samus inside. The cell closed and the ponies turned to leave. Just before she left, Princess Luna levitated an old, worn-out blanket and covered the locked woman with it. She gave Samus another look and contemplated entering her dreams, but decided against it. It wasn't the time yet.

Hay. A blanket. The first things Samus felt when she recovered consciousness was the hay under her and the blanket covering her. She realized she wasn't wearing any kind of clothes. She quickly opened her eyes and found herself inside a dungeon cell, complete with a small bench. With the exception of the blanket covering her, she was completely naked.

Samus heard a voice yell. Neigh was more like it, actually. She looked outside the cell and found a white stallion in golden armor, spear in hoof. A guard, she realized. He was just like all the other seen so far, with the exception of the black, swollen left eye. The guard was giving her a nasty glare. He said something, but Samus couldn't understand what was being said. One hand to her ear revealed why; her translator was missing.

The guard attempted communication again, but Samus ignored him and looked behind him. Sitting on a table were the Zero-Suit, her Paralyzer, and her translator. "Nice try. Not that it's going to do them much good." she said to herself.

The guard, angry at being ignored, grabbed his spear and attempted to smack Samus. The Hunter responded by catching the spear and yanking it from the pony's hoof. Without losing momentum, she swung the spear through the bars and hit the guard with the pole on his good eye. She then snapped the spear with her knee and shook her head at the guard.

As the guard rose to his feet and prepared to snap back, a white hoof stopped him. He looked up to see captain Shining Armor giving him a disapproving look. The guard immediately calmed down and saluted. The white stallion merely nodded in acknowledgement and turned his attention to the captive human. He just looked at Samus with an expression that barely hid his anger.

Samus waited for any kind of reaction from the captain of the Royal Guard, but got nothing other than that look. After almost a full minute, Samus pointed at her translator. Shining Armor did nothing; he just stared at Samus. The huntress gave up and sat on the cell's bench. They both continued their staring match for some time.

At last, Shining Armor said something, but once again Samus failed to understand what was being said. Samus considered replying something, but decided against it. She simply lied on the bench with her arms under her head and proceeded to ignore the stallion outside her cell. Shining Armor yelled something in annoyance, but was promptly ignored by the human.

It wasn't until something hit her on the head that Samus reacted. She turned to see what had been thrown at her. Lying on the floor was her translator. She looked up to see Princess Luna looking at her with an unreadable expression. With one motion of her head, the princess sent both guards away. Samus picked up and donned the device.

"I have to admit this is embarrassing." said Samus.

"That you have been defeated and locked like a petty criminal?"

"That I forgot about you."

"You wouldn't be the first one." Luna coldly replied. Samus raised her eyebrow in interest. "Regardless. I assume you know why you are being detained?"

"Assault on royal personnel, confrontation with the crown, threats to the local population, theft of important artifacts, assault on civilians, destruction of property, and imprisonment of the previously mentioned civilians." Samus 'guessed'.

"That would cover it nicely." Luna said flatly. "I have a few questions I'd like to ask you before your trial."

Samus considered refusing to answer the princess, but simply shrugged. "Ask away."

"Why? Why did you do it?"

Samus expected that question. That didn't make it any easier for her to answer. In fact, she noticed she couldn't answer. No response seemed appropriate enough. Try as she might, she just couldn't come up with an answer. "I don't know."

"Tch." Luna seemed offended by the feeble answer. "Then I wish you luck at the trial." She turned around and left the dungeon.

Samus was left to her lonesome. Well, not quite fully alone; she idly noticed the sleeping changeling a few cells away. She sat down and began pondering the elusive answer to Luna's question. For the third time that week, Samus meditated.

As she focused, images began coming to her mind. She started remembering the latest events. She remained in her position for who knows how long, recalling her actions until it she saw the image of Discord leaving her body.

She quickly connected the dots after that. She found the answer to the question and felt furious at it. The rage she felt became so great it almost numbed her. She got up and punched the cell's wall in anger. The punch was strong enough to lightly crack the stone.

Luna wanted to know why she did it? Then Samus would tell her why she did it. She would tell her, tell whoever goes to the trial, and especially tell Celestia why she did it. Let the trial come. Samus now wanted to say some things too, and the trial seemed like the perfect time. For the first time in years, Samus couldn't wait to talk.

With nothing to do, and with a big moon decorating the night sky, Samus opted to sleep. She could have busted her way already, but she found nothing useful would come from that. Instead, she was lying on the cell's bench and was now asleep.

Of course, it wasn't surprising she didn't see the dark blue mist that slithered between the iron bars into her cell.

The blue mist shifted and began taking the form of an equine. In a second, the mist was replaced by the ruler of the night, Princess Luna. She nocturnal diarch took a couple of step and looked down at her sleeping target.

"Let's see what your dreams yield." Luna said to herself. Her horn glowed for a moment before she lowered her head to touch Samus's forehead. She saw a flash before the dream became visible.

The first thing Luna noticed around her was devastation. The scene was full of ruined buildings, most of which were burning. The sky looked dark with ominous clouds and the earth was dead.

As she looked around, a loud screech, followed by a booming noise, caught her attention. She turned to see a purple dragon being blasted by Samus. She watched as the dragon fell to the ground. No soon had it crashed, Samus leapt at it. The dragon tried to get up, but another blast from Samus's cannon made it impossible. At last, the huntress reached her prey. She used her hand and her boot to open the dragon's maw and shove her cannon down its throat. Several shots were heard as the dragon flailed and writhed, until it suddenly stopped moving.

Luna watched in rapt attention as Samus mercilessly ended the creature's life. Much to her shock and surprise, Samus swiftly spun and shot an electrical whip at her. Luna didn't even have time to process what was happening when the whip latched onto her horn and Samus pulled. The lunar princess was flung toward the armored warrior, who followed her yank with a kick.

Luna closed her eyes as she hit the ground. As she tried to get up, a heavy orange boot was pressed against her neck. She opened her eyes to see the glowing muzzle of the Arm Cannon.

"You have 30 seconds to give me an acceptable explanation. Otherwise, I'll blow your brains out." Samus said. Her tone implied she wasn't kidding.

It took Luna a whole 5 seconds just to process the fact that she had been immobilized in her own realm, dreams. Her shock swiftly turned to anger.

"How dare you threaten the Guardian of Dreams in her own domain?!" Luna struggled under the boot, but found the effort futile. Even her magic was useless.

"20 seconds." Samus said calmly.

Luna was taken aback again. This time she didn't hide her surprise. "How?!"

Samus looked at the shocked princess for a moment. "Let's talk." And she unleashed her Charged Shot.

Luna staggered back as she abruptly regained her senses. A quick glance revealed she was back at the dungeon cell. In front of her, Samus sat fully awake. Both ladies stared at each other for a full minute.

"How can you have such control over your dreams?" Luna finally asked.

Samus studied her for a while longer with an unreadable expression. Then, without breaking the unnerving eye contact, she answered.

"Not dreams, just my mind. I was trained to repel any psychic attack on my mind. Entering my dreams means entering my mind. To me, you are just another intruder that's easily dealt with." Samus explained.

"So how was Discord able to manipulate you, if you are so well defended?" Luna asked, equally defying and curious.

Samus's expression hardened. "I shall tell you. But you may not like the answer."

"I think I can handle it." Once again, Luna and Samus stared at each other.

Their optical feud was interrupted by a dark purple portal that materialized on the cell's floor. Both ladies moved in unison to put a little more distance between them and the strange portal. They watched as an equine shape emerged from it. When the portal disappeared behind it, Samus and Luna could see the skeletal body of Bonez. Even without any face muscles, the gatekeeper looked especially grim, more so considering his cheerful attitude.

Bonez took a second to see the scene before him. Then he turned to Luna and spoke with the eeriest voice. "Tartarus is restless. Sombra has returned."