//------------------------------// // 03. Complicated // Story: Metroid: Ghosts of Harmony // by Flammenwerfer //------------------------------// Samus observed only one blip on her motion tracker… one that she could confirm with Spike having just rounded the corner out of her sight. Hmmm. Interesting… At least… that’s what she was thinking when she rounded the corner herself, which opened up into a hall that ran straight down the side of the castle. Samus stopped cold the moment she did. Twilight was nowhere to be seen. And the Hunter certainly didn’t hear her sprinting down the hall… or doing one of those weird teleportation spells that she had witnessed in the forest. Only Spike remained dutifully walking down the hall, illuminated as he passed the windows with what light filtered in from the world outside. But as if he could feel Samus staring at him in confusion, he, too, stopped in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder. He turned fully with a friendly smirk and beckoned forward. “Well? You coming, Samus?” Samus shook herself out of her stupor, and in flicking that mental switch back off, she disengaged her suit in the usual flash of golden light… a sight which made the drake stumble backwards over himself at the sudden transition. Nevertheless, the Hunter fell into step with a still semi-shaken Spike. “I am now. Was just… lost in thought,” she said. Spike glanced over at her. “Yeah? From what you just told us, I’m not surprised that there’s a lot going through your mind right now,” he replied. Samus nodded once, staring straight ahead as she let Spike lead her through the winding halls of the castle. A quick check of her console showed that her systems were mapping the local area appropriately, and marking her ship’s location—useful if she needed to make a quick exit for whatever reason. As they rounded another corner and down a similarly barren hall, accompanied by nothing else but the wind, rain, and odd paintings and glass, Samus decided to try her luck yet again. “Mhm. Though what’s really interesting is that Twilight… doesn’t seem to be making a presence on my motion tracker—my system that tracks foreign movement. I can see you moving next to me just fine, but now I can’t see Twilight.  “She showed up when we shook hooves but…” she trailed off, leaving the end of her implicit question open to Spike’s interpretation. And before he answered, Samus added: “In fact… where did she go? She sprint off ahead of us?” she asked, and then remembered what the corrupted unicorns did in the forest. “Or… teleport?” Samus listened for any response from the drake walking next to her, and when she happened to glance over at him, she found him pensively staring forward as they walked. After a couple extra seconds of seemingly intense deliberation, he sighed and met her eyes. “It’s… complicated. We’d be doing Twi a disservice talking about it now without her present,” he explained. “I know you have a lot of questions. Believe me, with you here, I do too. As long as you tell us all we want to know, we’ll answer all your questions. Even about Twilight. “Sound good?” Samus really only hoped for an acknowledgement of the situation, so the promise of even more information that could help her complete her mission was more than a welcome surprise. She nodded with a soft smirk. “You got it.” Samus tuned out as she let Spike continue leading their way through the castle. Her thoughts still meandered to Twilight… though this time, a more physical aspect. She recalled seeing both a horn and a pair of wings on her back. Winged unicorns… there’s a name for those, I thought, right? Alicorn, I think? That sounded about right. With the newfound silence, she was able to concentrate a bit more on her surroundings… and the seemingly endless stone walls as they meandered through the halls. Adorned on every wall was some kind of painting, stained glass, or some other relic that clearly meant something to Twilight and Spike… not so much to her. There wasn’t much time to scan anything around her either as they plodded on. With the times she tried by aiming her console at something, she was greeted with language errors… her system would need an update to translate some of this ‘Equestrian’ text. Depending on how long she stayed here, and how pertinent it was to the mission at hand, she was sure she could learn a bit more context and history behind everything… all to satisfy her morbid curiosity about this world. That could come in time though, and at a more appropriate moment… especially as Spike threw open some massive double doors into the next room.  It had a high ceiling and a long table at the center with a massive window to the outside world providing all the ambient light needed. Said table was adorned with cutlery sets, along with a couple sofas and a fireplace for alleged lounging. Samus recognized a dining room anywhere. Right as they stepped through the threshold, Twilight reappeared around the corner with a bright smile. As did she reappear on Samus’ motion tracker. “So… how ‘bout some dinner?” she offered. And that’s how Samus found herself sat at a… rather short-in-height table across from Spike, with Twilight at the head. On a plate in front of her were some generous helpings of the freshest cuts of vegetables and fruits that she had the pleasure of having in a long time. On top of a grand view of the desolate town and the overgrown plains before them with the rain continuing to plummet to the earth, Samus certainly had worse receptions. She had certainly seen much more majestic views… many others from Zebes, Tallon, and Aether came to mind. But those views didn’t come with fresh food, so to her, it might as well have been a wash. But as Samus munched a bit in awkward silence with everyone there, she would occasionally meet either of her host’s gaze momentarily when sparing a glance. Other than the clinking of the… much smaller and certainly more antiquated dishware, the silence was only broken by the occasional booming of the thunder from the torrential rainstorm outside. The food was delicious though—Samus had to give credit where credit was due. And them not shooting at her on sight. The Hunter didn’t think she could stress that point enough, let alone inviting her in and treating her to a fresh meal… even if she could really go for some meat right now.  Not that she was in any position to be picky at the moment. Spike whipped up something delicious, afterall. It was already the highlight of this mission so far.  Though what was a bit interesting was seeing Spike chow down on a bunch of literal gems and crystals. The thought of how much bite force and the type of teeth he might have to even accomplish such an impressive display of gorging was a little unsettling from a combat perspective. Twilight was the first one to break the silence as she pushed her plate away with a bright smile. “Ahhh… that was good, thanks Spike. It’s always good.” Samus quickly followed up with proper graciousness of her own. She may have preferred to be short with words normally when socializing, but her parents and the Chozo also raised her with some manners. “Definitely,” she nodded with a small smirk of her own in the drake’s direction. “Best, freshest meal I’ve had in… well, a good while,” she said. Spike’s cheeks colored a bit, and he retreated into himself slightly with a prideful smile. “Heh, thanks.” Twilight was quick to cut back into the conversation at the sound of another rumble of thunder. She gestured with her hoof to the three of them at the table. “Now… I think there’s a lot we need to catch up on. That we all need to catch up on,” the alicorn began. Samus folded her arms on the table and leaned forward, nodding quietly. “Agreed. Tell you what… since you two so graciously trusted me and took me in… how about I go first?” she suggested. Spike and Twilight glanced at one another and nodded in unison. “Okay, that seems fair!” said Twilight. Samus flipped her hands palm up while nodding as well. “Then in that case… what would you like to know?” Twilight was the first out the gate with the most important questions in her eyes: “Why are you here, and where did you come from? Or… who do you represent?” Samus nodded a couple times and leaned back in her seat, drumming her thoughts around as to how to best approach this rather glaring and front-most question. She would have to strike a proper balance, too. While providing the most information possible would be in everyone’s best interest here, too much information might very well overwhelm these two in front of her… and judging by the current state of society on this planet, it was painfully obvious that no one here had even seen space-travel, let alone faster-than-light travel. “To give you the best answers to those questions possible, I think I’m gonna need to provide you with some context,” Samus began, leaning forward again and folding her hands together. “I’m Samus Aran, as I’ve said before. Species—human… technically a hybrid actually… b-but that’s not important right now,” she said. “Your society may’ve wondered if there’s ever been life beyond your own planet… well, before the Space Pirates came.” Twilight nodded intently. “I’ve… wondered,” she affirmed. “Though with all the literal magic that happens on this continent, let alone this planet… I can’t say I’m surprised. Trust me, I’d be asking you so many giddy questions right now if… circumstances were different,” Twilight reasoned. She glanced outside, sighing. “And right now, I really wish you landed first.” Samus took a moment to deviate: “‘Magic,’ you say? Guess I’ve got a name for my ‘mysterious force’ that I encountered in the forest…” Spike immediately added: “Yeah… you reek of magical essence,” he casually pointed out, then glanced over at Twilight. “Seems like she had a run-in with the you-know-whats.” Twilight agreed wholeheartedly. “Oh no question about it.” Samus seized on that: “Pardon… the what?” Her hosts shared another look, and Twilight answered for the two of them with a warm, if uneasy smile: “It’s… complicated. We’ll elaborate when you finish. We promise.” “Of course,” Samus replied, flicking her gaze over to Spike to see if he had anything to say, but the dragon seemed more than content to just fold his arms and quietly listen. “Well, there’s quite a bit of life beyond your planet. In fact, more than a few space-faring civilizations. Though I’m technically a hired freelance bounty hunter, in the current circumstances, I guess I’m now an ambassador from the largest in some official capacity: the Galactic Federation.” Now Samus witnessed Twilight’s eyes go wide with glamor. “Wow… a galactic-wide Federation?!” The Hunter couldn’t help but smirk just a little bit at her child-like excitement, even amidst the dilapidation of this once-grand castle. “That’s right. Countless planets, coalitions, and species all working together under a federative umbrella for the good of the galaxy… as far as bureaucracy will allow, but we can discuss politics later,” Samus answered. She was about to continue, but Twilight’s hoof was by her chin again—the gears in her head were turning once more, and Samus was keen on staying silent to await an impending question. “So then… the invaders. Or, the ‘Space Pirates,’ right…?” Twilight put forth. Samus shook her head twice, intercepting the implicit question the moment it left the lavender alicorn’s mouth. “No, they’re not part of this Federation. In fact, we’re currently at war with them… hell, we’ve been at war with them since the founding of the Federation in the first place. It’s… been a long time.” Spike decided to pipe up: “Seems like they’re giving this Galactic Federation a lot of trouble… I would think that a civilization this… big wouldn’t have much problem dealing with what sounds like a terrorist group.” “Good point, Spike…” Twilight conceded. Samus was more than happy to answer: “The name ‘Pirate’ is more of a misnomer at this point. While they raid and steal and plunder and rape like any roving band of ‘actual pirates’ would… their numbers are vast, they're comprised mainly of one species, their technology is on par with the Federation, and they’ve raided and colonized whole planets and sectors much like any empire would… “...while continuing to raid and steal and plunder and rape those very planets.” Twilight appeared to be trying to take in all this information at once, and seemingly uneasy at the vast amount more to come. “I… see…” Samus continued: “And I sort of have a personal vendetta against them… which, on top of my rather special training and a… particular set of skills, has led me to usually be selected for these types of missions against them. I tend to volunteer, too. Pay is good and I get to exact a revenge of sorts. “Story for another time,” she elaborated, cutting off any future questions about her personal past, for now. Spike had another question: “But why you? As a bounty hunter… shouldn’t this big mighty Galactic Federation have like, a massive military?” Samus nodded. “They do. Quite massive, actually. Countless starfleets filled with warships like you’ve seen flying overhead… also filled with hundreds of millions of soldiers. But, the galaxy’s kind of a large place.” Twilight raised her hoof. “So… my guess would be that, while the Federation can police and patrol the front lines, core worlds, and the most dangerous lanes… the government hires bounty hunters to fill in the smaller gaps, right?” she asked, cocking her head. To say Samus was impressed would be an understatement. She stared at Twilight for a couple moments, pursing her lips while nodding slowly. “You… are correct, Twilight. The Federation hires… ‘specialist’ bounty hunters that know the sectors of space well, have a particular species adaptation to certain planets, or who are just the type of specialty soldiers that are needed in a fight. Our job is to help be the eyes and ears of the Feds where they can’t be so easily, and wrangle the Pirates where we’re able.” “W-Wrangle?” Twilight asked. “Exterminate,” Samus clarified. The alicorn and dragon both flinched slightly at that word. “Right…” Spike cut in again: “So… that answer’s Twilight’s first question. And clearly you’re here to get rid of the Space Pirates. But that begs the question: why here? Why did they come here?” “Before I answer that, I need a little bit of clarification on something… the ahem… state of your society right now—Equestria and the planet at large. Did the Space Pirates cause this?” Samus asked. Twilight and Spike spared a silent glance at each other before the alicorn answered solemnly, shaking her head. “No.” Samus nodded once. “Did they have any hand in making the situation go to hell?” Samus watched as Spike just… stared off into nothing, his expression flattening yet darkening all the same in recalling whatever he had seen. Twilight bore a similar look, but still answered for the both of them: “Their ships arrived over the Everfree Forest just after the crisis was technically over. Other than capturing or killing the occasional survivor, they’ve mostly just been a nuisance to any plan we’ve come up with.” Samus decided to wait a good few seconds before she responded, noticing that the two definitely needed to take a couple deep breaths from drumming up these fresh memories… memories and information that Samus hoped to glean when it was her turn to listen. After that predetermined bit, Samus wove her fingers together again and nodded. “Got it. Well, then I think I can hazard a guess at the main contributor. Notice a bright, neon blue, radioactive poison lying around that magically appeared from the sky?” she decided to put everything out there again.  Her two hosts raised their heads simultaneously, with an air of both surprise and expectation. “The Blue Pestilence?” Twilight put forth, almost disbelievingly. “The Space Pirates came to this planet because of that… h-horrible thing?!” Samus nodded. “Yup. It’s called ‘Phazon.’ It’s a highly radioactive substance that spreads easily… and it corrupts, mutates, or kills anything that touches or remains near it for too long without protection. Though… something tells me that I don’t need to remind you of that.” With Twilight and Spike still silent, yet paying ever close attention, Samus took a sip of her cup of water and then continued. “In the Pirates’ ever-burning desire to destroy the Federation, they look for new technologies and advantages. After I destroyed one of their primary bases of operations, they found a planet—similar to this planet—quite a ways away from here that had the exact same thing happen here… “This happened about a year and a half ago. By the time of their discovery, the planet had been infested with Phazon for about fifty years. The corruption of the planet was… catastrophic. In the Pirates’ curiosity, they discovered that the Phazon had enormous potential as an energy source.” Twilight flatly cut in. “They’re mining it.” The Hunter nodded.  “They are. They’re using it for their war machine. Powering their weapons and using it as a fuel. Even more than that, because of the… horrific mutations it often causes to those exposed to it that survive, they see it as a tool to make their species genetically superior,” Samus explained. Spike’s turn to speak: “They’re… experimenting on themselves?” “Yes… and other species.” The duo looked like they both had the same realization… whatever it was, and their faces lowered further. Samus had some thoughts of her own, but figured it was a good idea to not ask about that, at least yet. “To what end?” Spike asked again, almost out of frustration rather than lack of understanding. “Like I said, to ‘better’ their species and the ultimate overthrow of the Federation. Hence why I’m here: to eliminate their position on this planet, and to find a way to destroy the Phazon presence here. The entity itself can destroy entire planets if it makes landfall. It’s a threat to galactic stability and peace, which is why I’m also tasked with eliminating it.” Samus brought them back to the Pirates: “From the size of just the perimeter of their base I was able to see… their position here is pretty substantial,” she said. After a couple-second silence persisted without any response from her hosts, Samus also added something of pointed note… though the awkwardness was palpable: “And as… un-ideal as this situation is right now. It may’ve been better that the Pirates came when they did instead of earlier. They’re known to genocide an entire planet’s inhabitants so they can claim it as their own… “N-Not that that’s necessarily any consolation… but it makes a potential resolution to this whole mess that much easier,” Samus finished, pulling back a bit and averting her own gaze as she reflected on her choice of words. I’m sure that made them feel so much better, Sammy. Great job. Twilight nodded a couple times, staring off into space once more before sharing another look with Spike. They then looked back at Samus. “Thanks Samus. That definitely gives us a lot more… perspective on what we’ve been dealing with,” she said. The Hunter grasped her water cup and nodded once, sporting a soft smirk. “Of course, guys.”  Twilight then leaned forward a bit. “Now… I guess it’s our turn to fill you in on what’s happened… and where we stand,” she said. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Spike scooted a bit closer to Twilight while Samus was ready to listen intently. She watched as the alicorn took a deep breath and sighed out. “About… fifteen years ago, a meteor slammed into the Everfree Forest. Meteor and asteroid strikes on the planet weren’t uncommon. But the thing was… okay, maybe some more background might help: “One of Equestria’s diarchs—Princess Luna—has a bonded control over the astral objects in the immediate space around our planet, such as the moon with the exception of the sun. T-That’s reserved under the control of Princess Celestia, her sister,” she began explaining… and the Hunter could see she was desperately trying not to meander. Samus already felt her head cocking in disbelief at what she was hearing… being blatantly told that this planet was defying Keplerian physics. Then again, she had seen stuff that was blatantly unnatural and defied all scientific reason, so she felt she couldn’t really straight up disbelieve anything being told to her. She just nodded and silently cued her storytelling forward. “She had no idea what this meteor was, and was surprisingly powerless to stop its descent despite her best efforts. Weirder things had happened in past… adventures here in Equestria, so the Princesses decided to send a battalion of army troops to secure the crash site and see what in Tartarus it actually was.” Samus bobbed her head in consideration. “Seems like a reasonable action, I’d say,” she commented. Twilight continued, seemingly spouting everything off in a singular breath: “All-in-all, about four-thousand troops set off deep into the Everfree… which isn’t the most forgiving place the deeper you go into it. The forest itself covers a third of Equestria, and essentially the rest of the continent. There’s still a lot that we don’t know of in the forest… one could venture in there every day and learn something new on the way out—” Spike cut in playfully. “Twilight… breathe. And focus,” he said with a knowing smirk, to which the alicorn giggled. “Right… sorry for the rambling…” she said, blushing slightly, and then taking said breath. Samus only smirked and gestured open-handed. “Heh, it’s quite alright,” she said. “Go ahead!” “Hehe well…” Twilight continued on. “...the battalion sets off. And the commander of the group is… was…” Twilight’s words droned off before she even uttered the first syllable of a pony of interest. With great distress and sadness suddenly written all over her face, she averted her look once more. Spike stepped in and reached for her hoof, having grasped it softly. He then took over for her: “The commander of the force was a pretty powerful unicorn that we’ve been… really having great times with for a good while. Fantastic mare that had been atoning for past crimes against Equestria, and who had settled down with a job she knew well. A Lieutenant Colonel named Tempest Shadow.” Twilight cut in with lament: “Her name is ‘Fizzlepop,’ Spike...” The dragon rolled his eyes and angled his head to properly retort: “You know good and well she doesn’t even call herself that… not anymore.” Interesting. Very interesting… Twilight looked utterly defeated—her welcoming and optimistic body language wholly replaced by one who was reliving some of the worst memories of her life. Seeing that she was attempting to keep herself together, Spike opted to continue explaining things: “Tempest led her troops into the forest and made contact with the crater. Sent back a bunch of information to the Princesses when they secured the impact site.” Samus nodded, leaning forward even more in her chair. “Alright… what happened next?” “Updates kept coming through over the next week but… things got weird. It started when they reported back the first sightings of the Blue Pestilence. Or ‘the Phazon’ as you said it was called. The problems really started, then. “Soldiers were going missing. Some of them—completely healthy—just going completely insane. Attacking fellow comrades, clawing their own faces off… dying suddenly. Severe sickness outbreaks. Not to mention how it just physically warped the wildlife… and the ponies sometimes.” “Yeah… sounds par for the course with continued, low-level Phazon exposure,” said Samus. Twilight decided to wrest back control of the storytelling, raising her head once more and laying her front legs on the table with a long sigh. “After all these incidents… and a determination that the Blue Pes—Phazon was spreading out directly from the core of the meteor, the Princesses gave the order to storm the crater and destroy the core. Tempest moved to comply right away.” She took another deep breath and spoke rather forlornly: “All contact was lost an hour or so after that order.” Samus leaned back into her chair and started stroking her lower lip out of habit as her thoughts began firing up again… wondering how this was all going to play out. “Mkay… obviously that couldn't lead to anything… good,” she figured. Twilight continued on, donning a much more stoic, lecturing tone: “After several days of attempting to reestablish contact with the force, the Princesses seemed ready to send in the whole damn army plus ‘us,’” she said. And stopped at the perfect spot, because Samus’ sudden question was at the forefront of her lips. “‘Us?’ You mean… you and Spike?” Twilight shook her head. “No. The Elements of Harmony,” she enlightened… and then withdrew a bit sheepishly. “I uhhh… I guess a lot more context is needed here than I thought. I’m sorry,” she said. Samus, however, was quick to dispel any notion of ‘fault.’ “It’s all good, Twilight. The more information you can tell me, the easier my job is. So by all means, continue,” she said. Twilight smiled gratefully in return, took a deep breath, and continued on with her explanation: “Throughout history before the crisis, Equestria had been kept safe and in balance with the aid of six magical items known as the Elements of Harmony. The Elements themselves—which manifest physically as magic-sensitive crystals worn around the neck like a necklace or peytral—can be unified together in times of extraordinary crisis to help battle, or completely vanquish a direct foe to peace and stability of Equestria and the Planet at large.” Twilight had to take a deep breath. As she listened intently, Samus’ mind was immediately brought back to the Chozo Artifacts on Tallon IV, though those were used as pieces of a cypher to lock away the greatest threat the planet had known. They still had powers of their own though. “Okay…” “The Elements themselves are: Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, and Magic. Six ‘Elements’ and tenets of Harmony—and friendship—that keep the world in check and… well… in harmony. “Throughout the ages, the Elements have been bound to different ponies… and have been anointed on others as the ones that came before passed away, or are no longer deemed worthy of carrying them. I’m the bearer of the Element of Magic.” She then gestured to Spike: “While Spike here is more than worthy in my eyes of holding onto any of the other Elements, he is not bound to any of them.” Samus leveled a dainty finger in thought. “Interesting… so these Elemental, ‘magical’ artifacts of ‘Harmony’ can be brought together as some form of deterrent or weapon? Sounds like they—and by extension, you and the remaining five—are quite powerful… and valuable.” Twilight riposted: “I wouldn’t exactly uhh… disagree with you there.” “So… then it would make sense to probably send you accompanying a second expeditionary force… even if you may or may not have the appropriate military training to do so. Especially if you six can pretty much end any fight before it begins,” Samus deduced. Twilight nodded. “Right… but before we could even move out… that’s when the crisis truly began. “The battalion originally sent to destroy the Phazon core re-emerged out of the Everfree… completely intact. But, in… “...in no way as they were…” Twilight lowered her head, no longer looking Samus in the eyes as she continued. “Tempest had stood front and center just… her veins pulsing blue… her once broken horn completely restored. Her eyes just… soulless. She wasn’t herself anymore. She… she led her army of just—” Spike reached for her hoof again, and this time she readily grasped his hand for support. “Monsters. They weren’t soldiers anymore. They were feral… corrupted horrors of what they once were. They had no more memories. No more emotions. They weren’t even ponies anymore! She called them Storm Beasts. “And Tempest… called herself the Storm Queen. She declared that the ‘Blue Pestilence,’ the Phazon, was Equestria’s future. That it held our salvation. Though her numbers were limited, she took the surrounding towns—including Ponyville, where we are now—by force. We were in the capital city, Canterlot, at the time preparing… but everypony else that was here...”  Samus nodded again. “Killed?” “No… corrupted. The Phazon spread after her, and those that weren’t killed putting up a fight were corrupted just like the first battalion. All they did was bolster her numbers more and more.  “She was gone. We had reformed her once. I wanted to believe then and there that we could do so again, but I knew better than that. I may be an idealist when it comes to the tenets of Friendship… but I’m not naive.” Samus put forth a question: “What about the Elements?” “It was likely the only option… and we all knew that. However when the Elements are used against a threat to Harmony, we don’t always know how that’s going to play out. Sometimes they’re ‘reformed’ after they’re engulfed by the Harmony Beam. Sometimes they’re imprisoned in stone. “Other times, they’re simply vanquished. No one had any idea what would happen when we used them.” “I’m guessing by the state of things… that things didn’t go as well as one would’ve hoped,” Samus wagered. Twilight stared into nothing again, slowly shaking her head. Her composure was breaking. “No. The invasion was too quick, and any and all resistance was decimated. Princess Luna had gone off to start the process of evacuating ponies from city centers into the magical realm to keep them safe... lest Tempest and the Phazon corrupt all of Equestria. “And Princess Celestia gathered us in the throne room to help amplify the Elemental effect… and be our final defense along with the Royal Guard until we were ready to fire.” Samus rested her chin in the crook of her thumb and index finger, doing her best to be sensitive about the situation while her inherent curiosity kept her fully enthralled with these historical events. “Were you able to fire?” she asked. Samus watched as Twilight pursed her lips and just let the small rivulets flow down her face. Spike swooped in to hold her hoof again while she re-composed herself, and took up the mantle once more continuing where she left off: “Y-Yes… and no. “Tempest and her horde attacked the castle, overwhelmed the Guard, and stormed the throne room. Then…” Spike seemed to consider his words for a moment, and his eyes shone of one who had witnessed these traumatic events in-person as well. Regardless of the fact, Samus conceded that things were likely even more complicated than she had initially thought. Twilight took back control, having composed herself somewhat. “We were just about ready to fire. We only needed a couple more seconds. Tempest was… was just too quick.” Twilight explained. “I don’t know how it happened. But right as I felt the magic flowing through me… flowing through all of us. I just remember this god-awful pain in my chest. I could feel and hear myself screaming… but even worse than that, I heard my best friends in the world just… “...their death screams, right as the Elements fired.” she managed to get out. The alicorn took quite a deep breath before continuing on with the story: “After sleeping for what felt almost like… a year, I awoke in the center of the Castle of Friendship—here,” she drew her hoof over their surroundings.  “It was barely even a couple hours later though. Spike was with me with only minor injuries, and he was able to let me know what happened: the Elements had successfully fired, but Tempest’s final Phazon attack botched the amplified ritual. It didn’t reform or destroy her… but it catastrophically wounded her, along with obliterating most of the Phazon that had followed her out of the Everfree. She retreated... somewhere. “Celestia was caught up in the errant, botched blast trying to shield us. We don’t know if she lived or died. Nopony had been able to locate her. “Luna has… not been found either. “And my friends and I…?” she paused with a rhetorical question, and before she lost again, she looked to Spike with pleading eyes. He understood immediately and took over. “This ties into what you brought up earlier, Samus,” Spike said. “When Tempest attacked the girls in their Harmony formation… she killed them. Immediately,” he said resolutely… ...and hung on his words as if he was expecting some sort of massive reaction from Samus. For the Hunter, of all the things she had seen and experienced, hearing a phrase like that was akin to ‘just a recon mission’ in the grand scheme of her career. Whether that was a good thing at this stage of her life was up to one's own interpretation. Regardless, in getting that confirmation, the pieces started clicking into place in her head. “That would explain a few… anomalies that I’ve been experiencing so far during my stay here.” Spike nodded a couple of times, drawing attention to that notion: “You said earlier that Twilight was showing up on your… what was it? ‘Motion tracker’ thing when she’s talking to you like this… but not other times? Well…” Spike looked to Twilight, and after the two shared a silent conversation with one another, the alicorn understood, and took the next part into her own hooves. Wordlessly, she got herself out of her chair and planted all four hooves on the ground in front of Samus. She then took a deep breath, and shuttered her eyes as her horn flickered alight with a lavender glow. And as the seconds blended together, Twilight’s corporeal form began to gradually become more transparent until she was barely visible to the naked eye. Samus was distinctly reminded of her experiences with the Chozo Ghosts back on Tallon IV, when they would fade out of existence at will. Samus just observed the anomaly in silence, and took a quick gander at her wrist console all the while. As expected, Twilight’s blip on her motion tracker had vanished the moment she made her ‘transition.’ Any inner thoughts or musings Samus had were brushed aside when Twilight spoke once more, though her words were oddly layered behind the ambient white noise of her surroundings… as well as much more distinctly echoey: “I don’t know if it was a built-in contingency plan, or if the Elements glitched since we were struck down when the firing was complete… but I apparently didn’t fully ‘die.’ I’ve been stuck in this odd flux that I can navigate between the physical and spirit realms. I’m anchored here by my physical element, which was teleported with me after the incident. “One side-effect of… whatever this is, is that I haven’t aged in the last fifteen years. But beyond that… if this is what happened to me, I’m positive that the exact same thing happened to my friends,” she explained. Samus finally cut in again: “The other Elemental Bearers, right?” ‘Ethereal’ Twilight began pacing around the room. “Correct. And if they suffered the same fate as me… then assuming Tempest or anypony else hasn’t found them somehow… then they have to be alive and just… waiting somewhere out there,” she laid out her thought process. And as Twilight lit her horn once more and transitioned back into her physical form, Samus felt some pertinent questions were in order: “Why not venture out of the castle then, and go find them?” she asked. Spike spoke up: “We tried,” he said. “But we quickly learned that Twilight’s ‘magical essence’ or ‘aura’ is… quite recognizable. The moment we got far enough from the castle, we almost got swarmed by her Storm Beasts. And for whatever reason, they tend to keep their distance from the castle. Maybe it’s something to do with the construction… though I really can’t say for sure.” Twilight added: “With the Princesses missing, much—but not all—of Equestria having evacuated to the magical realm, and no way to venture outside without getting detected by Tempest’s forces… we’ve just been living here on our own. Waiting. Hoping.” “For what?” Samus asked. “A miracle.” When her two hosts went silent, they both looked back at the Hunter expectantly, and she figured that their storytelling was pretty much over. Samus leaned back in her chair again, letting her thoughts run wild for a few moments before consolidating on her response: “Mkay… that really helps me out. I’m so sorry if it was painful to recall but… thank you. Like my story with you, that really helps me know what I’m dealing with.” She then added: “I don’t think I fully explained why I suddenly landed here in the castle, right?” Head shakes all around, and Spike voiced what the two of them were thinking: “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, since you said you landed in the Everfree, first.” Samus elaborated anew: “Right. Well, the original mission was to scope out the Pirate’s enclave here… which is actually a massive position on the planet, like I said. They’re already reeling from some pretty large defeats, so there’s a significant chance that if they knew I was on the planet, they’ll pack up shop and leave for… some other unknown place.  “The Federation wants them right here, blissfully unaware so they can strike them swiftly, and eradicate them in one-fell swoop.”  She touched off the rest of her water before finishing: “And unfortunately, the Storm Beasts proved themselves to be quite the obstacle to stealth. Indeed, I got into kind of a large fight with them… so much so that the Pirates sent troops to investigate what was happening in that part of the forest. I had to book it as fast as I could… and those unicorns almost crippled my ship out there,” she gestured in the general direction towards the courtyard. “The stealth module is damaged, and so are the long-range communications. Which means that I can’t escape the planet without most likely being seen… and I can’t send any data or communicate with the Federation. Had to land somewhere with some cover, so here I am. “No idea how long my auto repair function is going to take with the stealth module either… so I’m effectively stuck here until I can find a solution to my problem, too.” That’s when Spike and Twilight leveled their gazes at one another, the wheels in their heads turning rapidly once more. She could sense an excitement building that she couldn’t fully place, but Samus had an idea of what was about to be said. Twilight then cleared her throat: “Well… I don’t know how appropriate it is to be making suggestions like this so soon but… maybe we can help each other out?” Maybe… “Oh? What did you have in mind?” Twilight laid out her barebones plan figuratively on the table. “It sounds like our end goal is more or less the same: eradicate the Phazon on the planet. Would you agree?” “I’d tack in the annihilation of Space Pirate forces with that, but besides that... fully.” “Right… and doing that will likely involve needing to confront Tempest. Wherever she is. Which means that we’re going to need the other Elements of Harmony,” Twilight added. Samus nodded in agreement. “That makes sense to me. Do you know where they are? If not, how do you propose we find them?” Twilight shook her head, lamenting the process. “Unfortunately not. Once disaster struck, we got separated. In the end, I don’t even know for a fact if they’re still out there. The elements could’ve very well been hunted down and destroyed…” she admitted. “...I’m placing all my hope that that’s not the case. “But if that truly isn’t the case, there is a way to locate them: The Friendship Map. The problem is that the magical crystal that powered it… died when disaster struck. It’s just a basic crystalline table now. We’d need to get another power crystal before we can locate the rest of the girls with any precision.” “That… seems reasonable,” Samus conceded. “And like I mentioned before, we’d’ve done this ourselves… but we can’t go out on our own without drawing Tempest’s forces to us. And as powerful as Spike is, he’s not trained in battle… but you are,” the alicorn further noted. And before Samus could respond to that, Twilight spoke again, closing the distance between them with a pleading—begging tone. “I… I understand we’re asking a lot of you right now. More than you signed up for. We can help you to the best of our ability with what you need to accomplish… a-and I mean… Equestria is rich in resources. I’m sure when everything is over and done… we can arrange some form of payment!  “But… after everything that’s been said. Please consider this a formal request: please help us, Samus! We have no more options! After fifteen years, I think you’re the miracle we’ve been waiting for. I don’t know how cliche this is… but at this point, you’re our only hope!” Twilight poured out, as if she was trying to further convince the Hunter. Samus held out both hands with a reassuring smirk. “Relax, Twilight. I’m already on board. The basic framework of your plan seems solid… though that doesn’t answer how I’m gonna be able to repair my long range communications module,” she threw out, retreating into her chair while stroking her lower lip again. Spike raised his hand. “A couple years ago, I remember watching three Space Pirate chari—ships going down somewhere in the Everfree. Don’t know why but they crash landed pretty spectacularly. Maybe you could scavenge parts?” Samus’ eyes widened. That’s it! “That… that could work! Parts… or even just requisition a whole damn comm node. Depending on the size of the ship, it could  be more than enough for my needs…” she nodded. And then smirked. “Yeah… yeah, alright! That sounds like a good plan to me. The Phazon Core needs to be taken out, along with the Pirate presence. While we work towards that, I’ll help you find the other five Elements. At the same time, you can direct me to the Pirate wreckages to help repair my ship. Sound good?” Twilight and Spike glanced at one another, and with the most hopeful smiles yet, the both nodded once simultaneously. “Let’s do it!” they both said. Samus nodded in kind and crossed her arms. “Very well then. Then if we’re done here… can you show me the map?” she asked. With a smile, Twilight beckoned Samus to follow her. “Right this way!” [Castle of Friendship | Throne Room] From the dining room, Twilight had led Samus and Spike into the Throne Room via a single double-door. Upon entering, Samus was greeted with a fairly large, crystalline circular flat-top table with six crystal thrones spaced around it evenly. And as Samus drew closer, she could make out one faded symbol each on the front of the thrones’ back support. As the three of them took their places around the table and between the individual thrones, Samus was struck by one particular detail: “It’s blank.” Twilight explained: “Mhmm. When we were killed and ended up back here, we found the map like this. Normally, each of the Elemental Bearers sits in their own throne, which then feeds power into the map itself to holographically generate on top of the table. With the Elements scattered and ‘dead,’ its power crystal burned out, and locked into place like this.” Samus carefully leaned against the table to see if she could discern anything on the smooth surface. Other than a few discolorations and reflections here and there, absolutely nothing stood out to her. “Okay… then like you said, we’ll need to recover a power crystal. You know where to find one?” she asked. “The closest crystal quarry is right by the old Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree. It’s a good hour or two trek on hoof, but it’s doable.” Samus nodded, righting her posture. “Alright… can you tell me what you’re looking for? And the general direction? I can probably just go snag it quickly and come back,” she reasoned. Spike was quick to disagree with that notion. “I wouldn’t do that. It’s about to be night time. The Everfree is already pretty unforgiving… even more so at night around these parts. You’ll find Storm Beasts around every corner,” he said. Before Samus could counter that she was more than capable of dealing with swarms of the beasts… for the most part, Twilight also had something to add: “And it’s not a very specific type of crystal that you can just eyeball per se. It has a magical signature that I don’t think you’re attuned to, if your story with unicorn Storm Beasts is anything to go by.”  She added sheepishly: “No offense…” “None taken. Then what do you propose?” asked Samus. “You said so, yourself... that you can’t leave these walls without drawing attention. And unless Spike here can hold his own in battle while you stay here, then I’m gonna have to go it alone.” Twilight brought her hoof to her chin and tapped it a couple of times, but her sudden ruminations were broken when she snapped her gaze back to Samus… and eyed her form from heel to face. She began musing out loud: “You’re right. I can’t leave the walls without being sensed. Unless… my magical aura can be masked somehow. “Maybe through the layer of another individual.” Now they had Samus’ attention. “What are you thinking?” Spike seemed equally in the dark. “Yeah… what’s on your mind, Twi?” “Samus, your armor wouldn’t happen to be adaptable to… foreign technologies, would it?” That took Samus a bit by surprise. “That’s an oddly specific question wrapped up in an inference… but the answer technically is yes. My suit was constructed by my caretakers to be adaptable to almost every bit of foreign tech… with some exceptions. If it can be absorbed via energy or data transfer, it can at least coexist with my own equipment.” She quickly caveated this with: “I can’t guarantee whatever you’re thinking will work though… or have undue side effects. Either way, I’m okay with it so long as it doesn’t kill me.” “Okay…” Twilight said. “Because I think it just might work. But… it’s pretty late, and Spike and I need to figure out some specifics on our end.  “How about we square this away in the morning? Testing what I’m thinking won’t take more than a couple minutes. So if it fails, let’s approach other options with a rested mind.” She then drew her hoof over the entire throne room with a smile. “You’re completely free to use the castle, the throne room, whatever really… as a base of operations if you want. And you’re also welcome to take one of the guest rooms just past that door,” she pointed to another set of double doors behind Samus. “As long as you like,” she further qualified. “It’s the absolute least we can do…” Samus smirked again, and nodded gratefully, if a little awkwardly at such forward generosity. “Thanks. I’ll get myself uhhh… settled then. Thanks again…” Twilight shook her head, but retorted rather excitedly: “No… thank you, Samus. We’ll meet you back here in the morning and we’ll go from there. If all works out, we might be able to have the map powered tomorrow!” Twilight called over her shoulder to Spike: “Spike? Let’s give our guest a little space for tonight.” The drake quickly fell into line with her. “You got it, Twilight.” “Goodnight, Samus!” “Goodnight, Samus.” The Hunter waved gently in their direction. “Have a goodnight, you two,” she said as she watched them disappear out of the double doors from whence the three of them came through. After the two had closed the door behind them, Samus took a deep breath and sighed out, letting loose a massive breath she had been holding. She did more talking and ‘socializing’ in the last couple hours than she had over her last few missions combined. She didn’t even realize that she felt a small headache coming on until now. Maybe it was the underlying stress of it all. She was a woman of few words, but even she enjoyed taking a load off after a particularly involved mission. These were in no way happy talks—Samus willingly accepted a partnership in a mission that had grown, as she had expected, exponentially in scope. Once again, she had the entire fate of a planet resting on her shoulders. At least she had the back and legs to show for it. Samus spared a quick glance at her wrist console, and her ship was reporting back no unusual data feeds from the Space Pirate networks. Satisfied that the world and galaxy at large weren’t gonna get any worse over the night, Samus pivoted on her heels and strode towards the other Throne Room exit.  She quickly found some chambers to her liking, and heavily dusted off the bed for good measure. Samus drifted into an initially uneasy sleep with the soft sounds of the continuing thunderstorm outside.