//------------------------------// // 10. Generosity // Story: Metroid: Ghosts of Harmony // by Flammenwerfer //------------------------------// [Castle Courtyard] With Twilight and Fluttershy ‘loaded up’ in her systems, Samus marched into the courtyard, where her ship was still safely nestled and ready for action. A sparing glance at her ship’s diagnostics showed that all other damage was still only about sixty percent complete… not that it mattered now. Her ship was still a couple days away from a repaired stealth module, which meant that she’d have to figuratively tip-toe around Equestria until then. The state of repair would help her radar profile a little bit… but in no way completely shield her. Samus felt eyes on her, and in glancing back up towards the surrounding walls, she found Spike and Viridian watching over them from a higher level. Rather reminiscent of when she first met the drake and alicorn, though this time, the two were there to see them off. But before she could hop up to the top of her ship’s elevator, Twilight had one bit of business to take care of: “One second, Samus… lemme prime Fluttershy’s elemental ability for you. Forgot to do this earlier…” “Oh! Sure.” Samus had stopped right in front of her ship on Twilight’s beckoning, though she didn’t have to wait long for her systems to respond: [Active Camouflage Acquired!] [Integration with the Element of Kindness has allowed use of magic-based active camouflage. At the cost of magical endurance, you can temporarily cloak yourself from all visible light, as well as fully disperse your thermal, x-ray, and magical signatures. Movement or combat while this ability is active will require significantly more endurance and ability. If your magical stamina depletes, the cloak will deactivate.] [Another unicorn and alicorn talent, it is also known as the ability to ‘Shy Away.’] Samus smirked under her helmet. “Damn, Fluttershy…” she said, then teased: “Not sure what you were saying last night about ‘not being able to repay me.’ I think you kinda just did…” The Hunter swore she heard a cross between a giggle and an ‘eep’ in her head. Twilight, however, seemed to agree fully with Samus’ assessment of Fluttershy’s unknowing ‘gift’ to her. “I’ll say!” she said. “This is super valuable! Now if we bump into a bunch of Storm Beasts… or heaven forbid, those Space Pirates… you don’t have to fight if you don’t want to. Now we can just walk right by, though… that sorta depends how long you can keep up the ruse. “Wanna give it a try before we head out?” “Probably a good idea,” Samus agreed. “Any suggestions on how to best… invoke it?” “It’s no different in invoking any other spell, really,” Twilight replied. “Channel that familiar state of mind when doing anything magical, manifest the desired effect in a way that makes sense to you on an ethereal level, and then just concentrate like hell. Sorta like mind-to-muscle coordination, if I had to make some sort of analogue,” she further explained. Samus nodded a couple times. “Right. Worth a shot. I’ll probably understand a little more once I immerse myself, anyway,” she said. “Heh, that’s the spirit! I can see that there’s a new entry on your ‘Element Selection Matrix’ at the bottom of your visor. Maybe ‘select’ Fluttershy’s element and see what happens?” And with that Samus calmed her mind, exhaled a bit, and channeled that zen-like state that she, quite frankly, enjoyed being in. It had always been a bit easier since she had to consistently harbor a low-level version of this state to just maintain that mental switch for any of her suits, lest she disperse it unintentionally. With the extra practice afforded by her magic sensitivity, she found herself fully centered in that still-eerie, sensory blackout in short order. From there, Samus started thinking about the very concept of cloaking herself from the rest of the world… and surprisingly, her Suit filled in the pieces immediately. In a swiftness that surprised even her, she felt her Suit respond right away, and at an instant, her hand and cannon disappeared from view entirely. In fact, in glancing around, her whole body was completely gone from view. A small notification was present just under her energy shielding meter: [Camouflage Active.] Twilight seemed a bit surprised as well. “That was… fast.” “I don’t think I did all of that. It was like flipping any mental switch my suit is compatible with. Guess since this is a proper armor ability, maybe my Suit is doing the heavy lifting with the magic when I select Elements?” “Seems that way. I can feel your suit drawing from my Element, and not really you doing it. That should make things a lot easier in a pinch. Still gonna drain you mentally if you keep it up for too long if you’re not used to it, I’d wager… just like using any magic at all.” Oh yes. Samus could feel it already. If she stood completely still, there was this subtle, ‘background draw’ of energy that she felt on her mind… one that felt akin to when she was thinking really really hard. What she also noticed was that, whenever she moved her hand, or her cannon… and especially when she took a couple steps forward towards her ship, that feeling altered significantly. It suddenly began feeling like she was getting a slowly-building pressure headache around her temples. Definitely noticeable, but not debilitating… yet. That was, until she tested this further by trying to run like normal… which she was able to keep up for a split second before she felt the vestiges of a sharp, thunderclap headache about to strike. She ceased movement immediately and the cloak flickered rapidly over her form. She then let everything go, exhaling a breath she had been holding as the rest of the cloaking faded away entirely. Samus breathed heavily for a couple seconds, resting her hand on the side of her ship for some extra support as she processed what she had felt, and how the ability manifested itself. At least the ‘pressure’ in her head had pretty much all-but subsided after a good ten seconds of rest and basic movement. Now she had a vague idea of what her Suit meant when it referred to ‘magical stamina.’ Twilight offered her thoughts: “Good run for your first use! Looks like for now, it might be better to just move slowly and steadily at most if you need to Shy Away. I think you’ll get better at keeping it active as you get more and more practice with just using magic.” Samus processed those words for a few seconds, staring into nothing before answering. “Y-Yeah. Makes sense to me. We ready to go?” asked Samus. “Mhmm! Interfacing with your map data now. I’ll set a heading for your ship. Keeping in mind the altitude restrictions you mentioned, I’m plotting a course for flying under a couple-hundred feet. Further, I’ll also find you a place to touch down just outside the city… and hopefully with a little bit of cover.” Twilight was definitely on her game today. Samus smirked. “Thanks, Twilight.” And with that squared away, Samus glanced over and behind her to an observing Viridian and Spike. With a single nod, she closed the remaining distance with her ship, and then threw a three-fingered wave behind her with her left hand for good measure. From there, she hunched low and bounded up high, as if she was trying to clear her ship’s height, but rather managed to stick her landing on the elevator platform. Her audience of two duly saw her off as the hatch opened up and took her into the bowels of her ship below. Fluttershy piped up again at the sudden change of surroundings. “O-Oh my… this is… different.” Twilight had her own thoughts on the matter. “I’ll say! Nice chariot, Samus!” The Hunter huffed, amused. “Heh, thanks,” she said, sitting down at the controls. “Let’s try not to damage him more than he is already on the way to Canterlot.” “‘…him?’” “Yes, I refer to my ship as a ‘he.’ Got a problem with that?” she lightly teased. Twilight and Fluttershy giggled together. “Not at all, Samus. Gimme a moment to upload the map route to Canterlot. Shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.” Once that route started taking form on her radar and map screens, Samus remembered a rather crucial detail about the journey that she internally lambasted herself for forgetting. “Ugh, that reminds me. Forgot to check for Pirate signatures, too. Fuck!” she cursed, and went right about setting scan parameters. While Twilight worked, Samus diligently typed one-handed on her keyboard. After one final button press, she leaned back to take in the results of her long-range scanning. She rested the lower cleave of her visor in her armored hand. Twilight inquired: “How’s it look?” “Hm. Grand majority of forces, ground and airborne are around the Impact Crater. Expected. But like you’ve seen here, and how we’ve occasionally seen, some fighters and other smaller warships make occasional expeditionary runs around the area. Looks like there’s even a couple outposts… here… “…here… “…and here. But notice the crude ‘lanes’ their ships are using. Some pass over Canterlot on occasion.” Twilight pondered for a moment. “Hmmm… so they’ve got presences in what looks like The Crystal Empire, the Bay of Celestia, and the Rock Quarries. Damn… so they’re around where Pinkie probably is, too. Hmph. “Well, in regards to Canterlot, my guess is there might be some Pirate troops there. It is a large city after all. Based on your data, doesn’t look like they landed an army, though. I think your camouflage should be able to keep us out of their sight if we encounter any.” “Thinking the same thing,” Samus agreed. “Good thing the stealth module should be repaired in a couple days. We won’t have to be as careful, then.” Twilight went silent for a moment, before meekly stating something that Samus wasn’t really giving much thought: “…that means you can also leave the atmosphere, if you wanted… you know.” And the Hunter was quick to nip those concerns right in the bud. “I’m not going anywhere, Twilight. I’m committed to this. And even if I wanted to, I’d probably get refitted with a new comm node and sent right back… which would probably take even longer than salvaging the last remaining part I need. No worries—I’m here to stay.” “Thank you, Samus… again. For the millionth time.” “Heh, you got it.” A couple more taps on the controls, and her gunship’s engines roared to life with a consistent, smoothly vibrating, yet body-rattling rumble. They were primed for takeoff. She had one more question though: “Storm Beasts?” Twilight seemed a lot less confident on that implicit question. “I honestly don’t know… we were holed up in the Castle when it all went down. I think a lot of the capital was evacuated already, but… I know not everypony made it out. Whether they were killed or corrupted… I can’t be sure,” she said. Samus heard a single, gentle gasp of realization from Fluttershy. This was probably her first time being privy to all this. What horrors she was probably spared, having suddenly come into Viridian’s care after Tempest had killed them. She also hoped Twilight had a plan when Samus had to engage in combat. With how innocent this mare seemed, she’d rather not deal with somepony in hysterics literally in her head. But, those were problems for the future. “Then outside of potential Pirate threats, what it sounds like I’m hearing is ‘Could be nothing. Could be infested.’” “I’d agree with that assessment.” “Okay. Ready to lift off. Guide me, Twilight,” said Samus. “Yup! Map route should be uploaded now.” And with that, for the first time in a couple days, Samus disengaged the anti-gravity locks on her ship. Her chariot gave a bit of a lurch as it freed itself from gravity’s hold, and she controlled the gentle ascent up and out of the Castle courtyard. She promptly adjusted her altitude when she was able, keeping low as she flew with a northeastern heading, leaving the Friendship Castle behind her. It was one hell of a view. The whole ride was one hell of a view, really, even with being so low to the ground during their flight. While nature had certainly retaken its hold over the bodies of civilization, the destruction that was wrought a decade and a half ago was still readily apparent… even from her altitude. It was a somber, eerie peacefulness, combined with the the general lack of words from any of her guests in her systems. In many ways, it reminded her of the open areas of Tallon’s Overworld, where the remains of some of the Chozo structures lay. Where once they were undoubtedly teeming with life and vigor, they now stood abandoned. Much like many of the settlements they passed over, and Ponyville in general. But when Canterlot itself broke through the haze and veil of the rainfall from the distance, Samus couldn’t control the hard blink the moment her eyes made out the overall structure of the city. Quite plainly, it was massive. A majesty in and of itself. But one specific feature that stood out to her right away: the ‘floating city’ aspect of Canterlot. It looked like it was quite literally bolted into the cliff-edge of the mountain they were approaching. Even though she figured that magic had something to do with it, it was an impressive feat of engineering, even for a planet and civilization that was in no way spacefaring. Twilight softly spoke: “There it is… Celestia it’s been so long since we’ve set hoof anywhere near it…” she sighed. Fluttershy agreed. “Yeah. Not since… you know.” “Mm. I hate this so much. It used to be so beautiful…” This time, Fluttershy softly disagreed: “It still is, Twilight…” “Yeah—yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Flutters.” Samus cut in as the rain haze cleared up on their approach. “Alright, we’re getting close. Where’re we putting down?” The answer came first with a ping on her map, and a marker on her heads-up display. It pointed her straight ahead, about an eighth of a mile in front of what she assumed were the city walls. “There’s a main road that leads up into the city entrance that spirals in and around the mountain. It was made to accommodate trains and some hoof traffic, so if we’re lucky, the forest and nearest tunnel entrance should provide enough cover… and be close enough to hike the rest of the way.” Samus nodded once, tightening her hand on the control stick of her gunship as she made course adjustments. “Perfect. That should be fine. Bringing us in now, one sec…” Occasionally glancing at the tapped Space Pirate battle network for any signs that she had been spotted, Samus punched her speed in, clearing the remainder of the distance in rather short order. In her mind, the less time she was in the air by this point, the better. The forest thickets that lined the side of the main roads that Twilight had described came into full view upon Samus’ final approach, as did a still-open tunnel entrance that housed the aforementioned train tracks. Samus adjusted the throttles and lowered her speed until she was practically floating over the tracks, and eased herself over them, and into the tunnel itself. Once her vision went dark and her Suit’s optical adjustors started to take over, she figured that her ship was deep enough in the tunnel where it would be as stealthy as she could get it. It was a simple matter of setting it down fully, and feeling the shock absorption of the landing gear compressing beneath her ship as it came to a complete stop once more. Wasn’t perfect camouflage… but Samus figured it was a lot better than potentially being spotted from above by any straggling, nosey Space Pirate ships. Every little bit helped. From there, it was a simple matter of exiting out the hatch, dropping down, and emerging from the tunnel itself onto the main road. She could feel the sudden change from crunchy gravel to a much smoother, paved road once she stepped off the train tracks themselves. Arm resting passively on her cannon, Samus casually stepped forward towards the very edge of the road, leaving fully the cover of the thicket that lined the tracks at the tunnel entrance. She could see how the path wound up farther and approached the front of the city, with the first spires of the surrounding wall just visible from around the bend. Straight ahead though, lay the cliffside of the mountain… and a view of the land most would kill for in life. Samus stepped forward, and let her boots grace the very edge of the rocky cliff, where a rudimentary guardrail stood planted in the ground, unmaintained. She stared ahead, high enough to seemingly touch the rainclouds above her that continued to unrelentingly pour. Even through the haze, she could’ve sworn she could plainly see the Castle of Friendship in the distance, still standing tall amidst all. The mountain range beyond provided a looming shadow that cut through the cloud layer, one that looked like a lush wave threatening to swallow the massive valley below and Ponyville with it… much like a familiar shadow that had been looming over this planet. Twilight whispered, comfortably breaking Samus’ silent reverie. “Wow… I hate that I never appreciated this view. Equestria’s so beautiful.” “Yeah…” Fluttershy added, and her voice remained uneasy: “Do you really think we can come back from this?” “Of course we can,” Twilight replied without hesitation. The sheer confidence and determination in her voice was much more profound than what Samus had remembered when they first ventured out together. “Especially with Samus here with us… I think we can do anything, including the impossible. Speaking of which, I think we should probably let Samus think in peace for a moment…” she giggled. “Oh! Right… sorry… hehe,” Fluttershy squeaked. Samus smirked. “Thanks, girls,” she said, and turned away from the cliff. She began a power-walk following the foot-path up towards the city entrance. “I see Rarity’s marker on the map still. Any idea where we’re headed?” “Not sure,” Twilight replied. “The Map didn’t provide an in depth mapping of the city, so I think you’re gonna just have to use Rarity’s element as a ‘true north’ for now.” “Got it.” Samus broke into an easy run, hearing the paved, somewhat sandy ground underneath her boots crackling beneath her while her environmental controllers worked to clear her visor of raindrops. The extra traction provided by her Suit’s combat boots, along with the sheer speed in which she was capable of running at without expending much endurance made sure that they cleared the distance between her ship and the city gates in very little time… and the entrance itself gradually made itself known when she rounded the bend. She slowed her pace to a gentle walk, and lay her hand on her cannon once more as she observed the path forward. The seemingly marble-esque stone walls had long since fallen to disrepair, and while a bridge remained standing over the river that flowed in front and fell off the cliff edge, there was no true way forward. The golden and silver-accented arches of the city gates had completely collapsed into a gargantuan barrier of stone rubble. This barred entrance into the city proper, and what Samus would’ve figured was a main roadway. Well, an easy way into the city at least. Samus remarked sardonically: “Of course.” She minded her motion tracker while she thought out loud. “Way forward is blocked. Can’t have it easy all the time, I guess.” Twilight took this as a cue to weigh in: “Can you blast through it? The stone construction here has a lot of Magicite. You could use that ability you got?” Samus shook her head. “I could… but taking down something this large would require more than just a few Pulse Missiles. That, and when this thing comes down, if there’s anything inside the city, I don’t really think it’s gonna attract the good kind of attention,” she countered. “Ahh. True.” An easy eye-scan noted no grapple points, and the archway stones looked too smooth to scale manually without the high probability of falling to some painful injuries. But a glance to the left of the ‘proper’ entrance let Samus’ eyes fall on another partially collapsed portion of the wall… where the pieces of stone were large enough and seemingly stable enough for her to climb up. To her, it looked like it led straight into the remains of one of the guard towers. “Okay… I think we can get in through here without much of a fuss…” she thought out loud. Samus darted off the road in a running start, having set her sights on the figurative path forward. She locked onto the largest stone—a boulder—that she figured she could get on to start her journey upward. Then, she launched herself into the air as high as her augmented leg strength would lift her. This allowed her to clear the top and bound even higher, further as a springboard upward. The engaging of her Space Jump took her an extra bit farther, and Samus went forward heels-over-head as she reached upward at the closest rock she could grab ahold of. Her Power Grip did the rest of the work in keeping her hung a good distance above the ground. Her Suit did well to clear up the raindrops that splattered on her visor as she gazed towards the gray expanse above. She then disengaged her suit as she carefully scaled the rest of the way up the destroyed wall. Split second decisions needed to be made to make sure she made the right choices to trust her weight and balance with. Extreme concentration helped the moment pass by that much faster, and Samus found herself hoisting herself up onto the apex of the rubble of what once was this section of wall. And from there, she bounded off once more to fully vault their first barrier, and re-engaged her Suit just before she hit the ground in meteoric fashion. Her Suit absorbed the impact as she fell to one knee, and she jutted her cannon out in preparation to get into a fight the moment she landed. No fight materialized, and Samus stood tall once again. A quick check of her motion tracker showed that she was still alone. For now. And a glance backward towards the destroyed city gates proved that she made it inside, right where she should’ve been. “Alright…” she spoke. “We’re in.” Twilight replied suspiciously: “A lot quieter and easier than I expected… quieter in a lot of ways, especially since we’re on Main Street right now,” she said. Hand still on her cannon, Samus moved from the center of the road, shuffling off towards the sidewalk. All the while, she flicked her eyes over all the windows she could see overlooking the street. She knew her motion tracker wasn’t detecting anything… but so many openings to get potentially ambushed from never provided her the pinnacle of comfort when fighting in urban environments. “Expecting something?” she asked. “Yeah, actually,” Twilight answered. “But… I just don’t know what exactly. Or how much.” Fluttershy spoke up, clearing her throat: “Wh-Where’s Rarity?” she asked. Samus knelt to the ground and called up her map on her HUD. “No map data of the city… but she’s still pointing us Northwest of our position.” Twilight weighed in: “General heading seems towards the Castle. That’s my best bet, but we’ll really only know once we get underway.” Samus nodded once, got back to her feet, and began walking. “Got it. Let’s see where she leads us.” “Okay, Samus. I’ll keep an ear to the ground, too.” And as Twilight’s voice went silent, the familiar, lonely sense of foreboding started to return. The linings of the residential homes and what were likely once businesses in this bustling city started to seem a little taller and denser than normal. Other than the rain and the casual, background pings and beeps of her Suit’s machinations, only her steady, deep breathing kept her company. Nevertheless, with her hand on her cannon, Samus started off in an easy jog, and added her metallic footfalls to the background ambiance. Though the rain continued to be a constant, her easy trek forward was occasionally marred by the remnants of destroyed buildings littering the street. Overall, she had to concede that Canterlot seemed fairly well-put together despite being desolate for the last decade and a half. And from how the shops and townhomes that flanked her on either side, other than those which were clearly destroyed, were quite pristine for a derelict building’s sake… she felt that the invasion of the City by Tempest’s forces was indeed very swift. From what she had passed, and the progress she had made from whence she had started, it was easy to conclude that the city was in no way destroyed. That, or the city just got off lightly. The outer bands of the city began to morph into the entertainment and commercial shopping districts of the inner city from the sudden transition to much larger buildings. From what her translator module could pick up when passively reading signs, there was certainly a vibrant night life at one point, too. Prominent fashion district, as well. For a moment, Samus imagined a massive congregation of ponies here, enjoying their evening out with one another, and all that was here on offer to fulfill their nights. No more. Barren. At least, until she realized it wasn’t. Twilight was quick to say something to Fluttershy: “Flutters? Look away for a little bit…” “O-Okay…” Samus checked her motion tracker as she made to pass through a large plaza, and that’s when she saw the first corpse… and then a few more strewn about. They certainly weren’t in the most recent condition, and were swollen, bloated, and shriveled on account of the rain and decomposition. The stony buildings, blank and flat, bereft of life, gazed down upon her as she marched through the dead, almost like the Chozo did back in Viridia. Except there was no warmth, familiarity, nor security in these Canterlot edifices. In a manner most similar to her travels, Samus felt that this plaza, this city at large, felt much like a tomb. Though… when the Hunter accidentally stepped into a puddle, she felt the distinctive cracking of brittle bones underneath her boot. She stopped for a moment once she felt that, especially when Twilight gasped softly. “Sorry…” “It’s… fine,” she lamented. “Probably a remnant from the Crisis. Been here ever since.” Samus marched on, but pointed out that the other bodies—many of which lay in horrifically contorted positions on the ground and over ledges, weren’t exactly that old: “Yeah… a lot of these don’t look like they’ve been decomposing for fifteen years. With the rain and everything… these haven’t been here for nearly that long.” Twilight sighed, then lamented: “Yeah. Which saddens me… and concerns me.” Samus was inclined to agree. “Mm. That would mean—” Twilight cut in immediately the moment that Samus registered a group of blips on her motion tracker. The alicorn’s voice brooked zero argument as she commanded Samus through her figurative teeth: “Samus Shy Away Shy Away Shy Away SHY AWAY SHY AWAY!” The Hunter bristled at Twilight’s frantic warning, and complied immediately—with how she had not led her astray thus far, Samus decided to continue throwing her trust into the digital alicorn. With that, she knelt between two concrete planters to keep as small of a profile as possible while still allowing her to counterattack if needed… and channeled the appropriate state of mind. And like back at the castle, her Suit took care of the rest of the heavy lifting. Her entire form was shrouded in a nigh-perfect cloak where she could see right through herself, from behind her visor. Just like back at the castle, her HUD flashed an appropriately placed notification just under her shielding meter: [Camouflage Active] Just as she hunkered down in place, invisible to the world, the blips on her motion tracker revealed themselves from just down the rainy street: a pack of Storm Beasts. A quick mental count told Samus that there were fifteen of them—all ‘Earth Pony’ variants. Samus watched them keenly as the zombie-like quadrupeds ambled through the rain. She could hear their groaning and gurgling… their whining and mere existence that sounded worse than hell itself. Their second mouths were all slackened slightly, and their mandibles dangled with their often-uneven gaits. Their eyes were just as soulless and lifeless as she had seen in any of the ones she had slew. All bristled with Phazon veins. And on that note, with them all being Earth Ponies, if push came to shove, she could probably take them down with relative ease now… especially with the addition of her magical arsenal. And just her general competence growing every day. Twilight seemed to read her mind, and softly noted: “Probably not a good idea to engage. Killing them all, even quickly, would draw more here. I suggest you let them pass.” Samus didn’t answer right away, and she tightened her hold on her cannon. Occasionally, one of the beasts would gaze in her direction, but as expected, would stare right through her. None regarded her presence at all, and as long as she kept still, she felt she could keep this ruse up for hours. “Yeah. Agreed.” Fluttershy butted in with a shaky, border-line fearfully demanding tone: “W-What’s happening? What’re you talking about, Twilight? Killing what?!” “Keep your eyes closed, Fluttershy… it’s Storm Beasts.” “Oh… right. I know what they are. And who they were. We went through the Crisis together, you know. I don’t like it at all but, if it’s to save everyone… Samus needs to do what she has to.” Twilight seemed a bit surprised by that response from what Samus presumed was the meekest of the group. “…Right. I also just didn’t want you to see the—” “Bodies? I already saw them,” she lamented. “After what we all saw fifteen years ago, I… I don’t think you need to coddle me on this, Twilight. Not anymore.” “I…” she sighed. “Okay, Flutters.” Samus cocked an eyebrow, tentatively listening to the conversation whilst keeping a keen eye on the Storm Beasts ahead of her. She understood what Fluttershy’s words implicitly meant, and it was something she never liked to see among the victims of Space Pirate attacks: loss of innocence, especially among young civilians. The Hunter was particularly sensitive to this when she thought back on how she parted ways with her own, at three years of age. In effect, she never got to have any. Many sleepless nights were spent wishing she had just a sliver returned to her. The Storm Beasts continued their amble down the street and passed out of visual and motion tracking range. Samus then sighed and let the cloaking dissipate. The acute stuffiness in her head immediately withered away. “Let’s keep moving,” she said simply. “Yup!” Twilight replied. Samus quickly made her way out of the Plaza, lest the Storm Beast pack decided to come back for whatever reason. From here, she continued to set Rarity’s marker as a heading while shifting to less conspicuous avenues of approach. Namely, she stuck to the streets and alleys that ran parallel to the main streets towards their destination. She kept up her running speed—she had no desire to slow down right now. One suspicion that Samus was confirming all the while was when the spires of the Castle became more and more prominent through the veil of the rain. In fact, the largest one seemed to scrape the overcast sky above, and she watched as it occasionally disappeared behind the clouds, only to ominously reappear. Her HUD continued to diligently point her straight ahead. It would make things a lot easier, she thought, if her objective was literally straight ahead this time, as opposed to some Chozo magical shenanigans that led to Fluttershy. She opted to keep quiet about it for now. No sense in speaking of the devil when he was not present. Samus’ legs continued to carry her down another street when another open space seemed to materialize at the end. Twilight was there to caution her with the appropriate details: “Careful… you’re approaching another major street we’ll have to cross.” “Yeah, I see it…” she said, and glanced up once again to her motion tracker. Just as she was about to declare an all-clear and just bolt across, she skid to a halt when familiar, loud-cracks and electrical pulses of weapon-fire graced her ears in the distance. She stacked up against the nearest wall, cannon aimed down the alley, and Shied Away. Twilight interjected, concerned: “Whoa… what is that sound?” she asked Samus knew the answer from the first rapport: “That’s Space Pirate heavy cannon fire. They’re here.” Before anyone could add to that thought, the inhuman, soulless screeches of nearby Storm Beasts erupted in a horrifying chorus. Suddenly, Samus’ motion tracker was awash with red, yet all passed her by as they headed to the south whence she came. She even saw a couple sprint by at the very end of the alley. She stopped herself from moving the moment two unicorn storm beasts entered the alley and galloped straight towards her, snarling in inhuman hunger. She held her breath and steeled her mind as their sudden course diversion nearly made her nascent magical mind flicker the cloak. The Storm Beasts’ labored breaths accented their beastly growling and howling… yet neither of them paid her any mind when they sailed right past her, until they were eventually out of sight and out of sensor range. The digital alicorn remarked: “We’re clear.” Samus exhaled as she disabled the cloak, catching her breath whilst she opted to take an easy stroll the rest of the way through the alley. She looked both ways before shuffling across, all before pressing onward into another run. “Thanks, Twilight.” “Samus, why would the Space Pirates even come here?” “Don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess, Canterlot is a strategic point on the continent,” she said, pausing to vault in somersault over a destroyed barrier. “It’s a damn city on a mountain, after all. Think about it—one hell of an outpost or observation point, if they manage to take it.” Silence prevailed for a few moments, and Samus figured Twilight was processing the information and coming up with her own conclusions, as she was oft to do. She spoke up again: “Then… then this means that this is likely not their first foray here. Then that could mean that there’s Space Pirates in the castle, along with Storm Beasts…” Samus didn’t even think about that. She wept for her magical-beginner of a mind if that happened to be so. “That would be… unideal, to say the least,” she mentioned. “But in my business, it’s best to expect the worst, and somehow the universe will still manage to disappoint you. Also, this is assuming Rarity is in the Castle to begin with.” There was another small pause before Twilight resolutely, joyfully declared: “I think she is!” That stopped Samus in her tracks, and she hunkered down underneath a destroyed awning once she was reunited with Main Street… where this end of it led straight up to the castle. “So sure?” “Mhmm!” she exclaimed, then excitedly added: “Your sensor range is large enough that I can peek out well-beyond your motion tracker range. Rarity’s Element shows up directly where the castle would be, and no longer clings to the horizon as I feel out further. She’s gotta be here!” Samus nodded a couple times, drawing her eyes over the barren, lifeless street that still seemed fairly pristine for not being maintained for fifteen years. Though this road led straight to the castle, it seemed that it was spared the brunt of the fighting that happened. Corpses in various states of decomposition were still aplenty, though. She smirked regardless. Twilight was quickly earning her keep in Samus’ systems. “Sweet. Thanks again, Twilight.” Fluttershy had something to add again: “How strange… Rarity didn’t seem to go far from where we all…” she trailed off. Everyone knew exactly what she meant, though. “I’m sure we’ll find out eventually,” said Samus. No sooner did she say that, than did her systems alert her suddenly: [Space Pirate Transponders on IFF Detected] Samus dove into and hunkered down inside covered doorway just along Main Street and immediately re-engaged her cloaking… just as she heard the growling engines of a Space Pirate Skiff tearing through the silence overhead. She watched as the angular, flat-planed, seemingly autonomously flying craft quickly lowered itself to about roof-height. As Samus expected, Twilight had something to add to this with a whisper: “What is that…?” Her question was answered, also as Samus expected, when a fire team of Pirate Troopers fell to the earth from above. One by one, they landed on their feet, combat-ready, with their assault cannons drawn for battle. Only then did Samus hear Twilight and Fluttershy gasp. “Pirates…” Samus nodded, then whispered: “Yup.” The team of six formed up around their officer—a rather distinguished one in Samus’ view, if the color scheme and shoulder armor were anything to go by—and quickly began seeing to the security of their surroundings. All were merely twenty feet from her at the most, and none paid her a single bit of mind. Samus internally remarked how this cloaking was truly working wonders. She just hoped they moved on, soon. All the while, she narrowed her eyes keenly at them whilst amplifying their communications for eavesdropping. Their guttural, deep growling and chirping was enough to make her blood boil whenever she heard it… but it was more than enough to provide her with a wealth of information: “Zircon One to Zircon Actual. We’ve inserted and are moving to carry out clearing operations. How copy?” the taller commander spoke. The reply over his communications node still came in loud and clear for Samus’ systems to listen in on. “Zircon Actual to Zircon One. Understood. Proceed as planned. Slaughter the beasts where they stand. Remember, High Command is paying out bonuses for heads taken back as proof of a job well-done. Earn your pay today. Actual Out.” “Very well. You lot heard the Commander. Let’s bleed this wretched hive of a city.” One of the troopers motioned towards the other side of Main Street, just opposite of where Samus was hunkered down. “Sir! One of ours!” he pointed out, and through the veil, revealed something that Samus hadn’t had the chance to see yet: A dead Pirate Trooper. And from the looks of it, extremely dead. She couldn’t make out much of a right-side of its torso with how it was laying lifeless. Nevertheless, if this group left soon enough, Samus knew there might be valuable intel to be had. “Good find. That’s exactly why we’re here. His sacrifice will be worth the price of this city. Let’s avenge him and all our fallen brothers. These creatures will pay dearly for the Pirate blood they have spilled. Move out!” All of them began sprinting down the street, heading toward the direction of the ongoing weapon-fire. Samus dare not move nor disengage the cloaking until she could neither hear their soppy footfalls on the waterlogged street, nor see them on the range of her tracker. Once they finally disappeared, Samus did just that, then made a bee-line towards the deceased Space Pirate. It was as gnarly as she expected. Though laying on his back with his mouth agape in what was likely a final death-scream, the entire right half of his torso was completely obliterated. From the jagged edges of the shredded muscle and the burn wounds on his internal organs, Samus figured it was likely a dual attack from a Storm Beast’s jaw, and a magical blast. She could’ve sworn she heard Twilight retch. What she did hear was Fluttershy sniffling. “Oh… Celestia…” Samus felt bad for having to subject them to a scene like this, but there was something that she knew could help them answer their questions. “Sorry, girls… but I’m just looking for… a-ha!” she exclaimed. Strapped just above where the Trooper’s arm was sheathed into its weapon was his datapad. Based on how recent this kill looked, Samus wasn’t too surprised that it still had some juice in it. She brought two fingers to the side of her helmet, kneeling. [Scanning…] [Scan Complete] [New Pirate Data has been Recorded to Logbook] [Translation:] [Thirteen more deaths today. Many more wounded. The beasts in the forest continue to assault our crater defenses despite the death we inflict upon each of their waves. The Captain says these attacks have only intensified since the discovery of an alleged creature that was inhabiting the core. Nothing’s been confirmed. High Command is tight-jawed about this. Not sure I believe it, but the Captain never steered us wrong. Apparently, the discovery came about when the vapor-for-brains Science Team decided to try and set up a Phazon purification hub directly next to the core. Whatever it was, slaughtered them… and no amount of forces we sent in came out alive. High Command opted to seal the creature within the confines of the core chamber, which apparently it was not able to break out of of despite its immense power. Or… so they say. High Command, understandably, refuses to release the creature, assuming it even exists. Allegedly, even our deadliest troops who entered the core to clear it out were erased from existence. Could be an excuse to cover up high-profile losses. But… ever since the ‘discovery,’ more and more of these attacks by the beasts have occurred, with increasing intensity. Other soldiers, scientists, and non-military staff have also reported seeing what looks like ghostly equine wandering the halls, observing certain individuals. It’s reported that several soldiers were killed directly by it. Others went insane and they had to be pulled off active-duty. I can’t help but wonder if such a creature actually exists? Or if this is just some mass hysteria over a silly ghost story, perpetuated by some bored Commandos who had nothing better to do. I haven’t seen it myself. Part of me hopes I really don’t get the privilege. No matter. My unit is being sent to the Mountain City to aid in clearing out any beasts and setting up an outpost. Maybe I’ll get the chance to talk to our resident ghost when I get back.] “Interesting…” she mentioned. Samus dismissed her visor, mulling over the information she just read as she continued to run straight towards the Castle. By now, it was pretty much taking up her entire field of view, as the entrance lay straight ahead once Main Street came to an end. Twilight had her own thoughts: “You know… I can’t prove this a hundred percent right now, but I have a very prevailing theory based on that trooper’s account…” Samus never broke her stride, and continued glancing to either side of her visor to ensure her vision was clear, all while keeping her motion tracker front and center of her mind. Nevertheless, she listened as raptly as she could. “Yeah? Go on…” “I don’t think this ‘entity’ was just a ghost story. Again, I can’t prove this, but it seems awfully convenient how it lines up so well. I think it’s Fizz—Tempest. It has to be…” Samus cocked an eyebrow. “Really now?” Fluttershy gasped. “W-What? So you’re saying she lived…?” “Unfortunately, even before this, it seemed that way. When we fired the Elements right when she tore into us… she was grievously wounded. With how corrupted with the Phazon she was, maybe she sought out the source of the pestilence, the impact crater—the core—to heal her wounds? “And that would mean that once the Pirates found her healing up, it led to these altercations, and their situation now!” Samus reached the edge of the bridge that led straight into the massive, over-arching front entrance. She glanced down either side of the bisecting street and hunkered low near the canal boundary, Shying Away once more for extra care. “So the Storm Beast attacks,” the Hunter began to springboard off Twilight’s thoughts. “Then they’re just trying to get to their ‘master,’ right?” “Yes!” she confirmed. “And this would also mean that she’s trapped. And that Phazon might act as some form of natural retardant to magic, if she’s unable to blast her way out or get out by any other means… assuming that’s how the Space Pirates sealed her in,” she wagered. Samus nodded, intrigued. “Interesting… might need to test that theory when we come across another Phazon sample. All this holds water so far… “But what about this ‘ghost?’” Twilight sighed, unsure. “That… I’m less confident in. It’s too convenient for it to not be related to Tempest… but at the same time, I’m not sure how she’d accomplish that. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but I don’t know of any spells that can, in essence, be a conduit for reliable astral projection for the level of activity the trooper was describing. That’d be the Princess’ domain, for sure.” “Mm,” Samus acknowledged. “Either way, they’re clearly hunting down Storm Beasts. Other than the whole tactical advantage, maybe there’s another reason to it?” she wondered aloud. “Maybe? Either way, seems like they’re paying a heavy price to do so,” the alicorn answered. “The Pirates will pay any price to achieve their goals. So that doesn’t surprise me. They’ll just feed more and more of their troops into the meat grinder.” Samus could practically hear Twilight shaking her head. “Disgusting.” From that point, Samus’ barren motion tracker, and no further developments on this side of the city that she could track, made her more than comfortable with crossing the bridge. But before she decided to move out, Twilight had one thing of note: “It looks clear for now, Samus. And we’re close enough where I’ve been able to use my magic in combination with your system’s scanning ability to ‘peer’ through all levels of the castle. I’ve confirmed with no shadow of a doubt that Rarity’s here. In fact, she’s in the tallest spire of the castle: Luna’s old Observatory and Armory.” With that information in mind, Samus peered again down either side of the street, then stood up from behind her cover. From there, she dissipated her cloaking and made a mad dash across the bridge. She felt the old, under-maintained boards creaking and nearly breaking under the weight and force with how hard and fast she was running… she silently prayed it wouldn’t give way. In the end though, she could break through the wood and fall into the canal for all she cared… but only if it meant keeping her continued presence undetected. She prayed even harder that no roving Pirate Skiff, nor Storm Beasts approached during this moment. All the while, Samus added: “Okay. So you can guide me up?” “Mhmm! I know the way like the back of my hoof. Assuming we don’t run into any trouble, it shouldn’t take long to get up there.” Samus’ boots fell upon solid stone once again, having completed the tense, if short, trek across the bridge. She skidded to a halt, generating a few sparks under her as she fell to a kneeling position… all before cloaking herself yet again. “Big if,” she mentioned. “Also… in the event you don’t know the way in the future for any of this, can I track Elements through OM?” “Absolutely! So long as you’re close enough for your systems and magical ability to detect their signatures, you totally can.” “Good to know.” Satisfied that she hadn’t been seen, Samus dropped the cloak and slunk inside the eviscerated doors of the grand entrance to the castle. Leading with her arm cannon, and her hand firmly gripping its top, trepidation accented her careful, calculated footfalls as she forded the first bisecting main hall. It didn’t take long to pass the threshold of another set of destroyed, gigantic double doors into an even grander foyer… one that bore no small passing resemblance to the one found in the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree. The ornaments and tapestries that once hung from the bannisters above were as lifeless and colorless as the corpses she had passed—torn to shreds as they hung. An errant breeze from the outside occasionally made them flutter in a soundless current. Rugs and statues had all met the same fate, and many of the stained-glass windows that were in place had all but shattered some time ago. Samus couldn’t rightly place it, but much like in the outskirts of Canterlot itself, this place was just… lonely now. A familiar sense of foreboding crawled over her skin, but a more unfamiliar sense of unease and anxiousness was worming its way through her core. That wasn’t to say she had never once been anxious or uneasy. Samus had been through much, much more tense situations than this. She just wasn’t quite sure why her legs felt the need to move, lest they tremble, in such a simple environment. Twilight, once again, had the answers to the questions Samus merely asked herself internally: “Magic often leaves scars that take decades, sometimes centuries to fade. What you’re feeling right now—and much of what you felt in Canterlot—are the magicized echoes of many who died here.” Samus wasn’t sure what to say to that, but Twilight continued as Samus kept a stern watch on her motion tracker. “The more in-tune with magic you become, you may even be able to accurately piece together what happened all that time ago. The fact that you can even feel this though, means your magical ability is strengthening by the day. In a morbid sense… you’re doing well. Thank you… again.” “Thanks for the insight. And… don’t mention it,” Samus replied. A sudden, angular glint to the right of Samus’ peripheral vision immediately caught her attention as Space Pirate in origin. She thrust her cannon to her right… but no counter-movement, nor attack, was forthcoming. From either the body she just discovered, nor her motion tracker. Her systems didn’t seem to have anything to say regarding active Space Pirate signatures, either. “Pirate Commando,” said Samus, and she lowered her cannon to her side to stroll over. The body lay propped up against one of the balcony supports, just in front of another archway out of the foyer… one that led deeper into the castle, and more towards where Samus’ destination led. Further down the darkened hall, which was lit merely by the ambient light from the shattered window at the very end, she could make out multiple bodies. All Commandos. All in various bodily positions and states of dismemberment. The lakes of blood that stained the stone, splattered on the walls, and dried on marble beneath them suggested fairly recent kills, possibly to the tune of weeks as opposed to months. Fluttershy’s hushed words filtered through: “Oh… Oh my Celestia what happened here?” Twilight didn’t have any answers, and was equally curious at the carnage. “I’ll say… Storm Beasts, maybe? But I don’t sense any of their essence that comes with their encounters. Weird.” Samus knelt before the first, propped-up Pirate Commando she had found. She reached out for his arm to find a datapad in the same place as with the previous corpse. “Let’s see if we can find any answers…” she said. [Scanning…] [Scan Complete] [New Pirate Data has been recorded to your Logbook] [Translation:] [Another squad went in. One returned, and he had to immediately be admitted for psychiatric evaluation. Kept wailing about attacks coming from nowhere. Quadrupedal, spectral entities that graced the fringes of their vision, only to strike our comrades down one-by-one before disappearing. A previous survivor mentioned that these attacks began after chasing a bunch of the beasts into the fortress. In an effort to hunt them down, the beasts were found slain. The trooper recalled their commanding officer disturbing some unknown, seemingly valuable artifact in one of the many rooms… all before they, too, were descended upon and ravaged with haste. High Command has deigned it necessary to send our Commando Group to clean up the mess and establish control over the fortress. This will aid our forces in establishing a greater foothold to colonize the rest of this continent, and then the planet at large. The defensive infrastructure is already in place from the previous inhabitants… and it would be a shame if High Command marked this castle, and city as a whole, for destruction if we fail to wipe these beasts out once and for all. I survived the Chozo Ruins on Tallon IV. And from there, I know ghosts can be killed. These, too, will find only death.] Samus dismissed her Scan Visor as she pursed her lips. “Hmmph. This is what I would call not exactly ideal,” she voiced. The alicorn agreed wholeheartedly. “Ponyfeathers. Sounds like we need to grab Rarity immediately, as well as any clues that can help us possibly find out what happened to the Princesses. We might not have a Canterlot to come back to if we wanted to try again later. And yet…” Samus stepped away from the body, and started following the lavender, arrow-directional heading that Twilight suddenly slapped onto her HUD. “What is it?” she asked while stacked up against a corner wall… all before she shuffled around and continued down the dark, stony corridor. Twilight continued. “Another ghost. Or these ‘spectral entities,’ as they said… I haven’t the slightest what these could be. I lived here for a lot of my life and remember nothing of the sort, nor any spells that would produce similar effects, let alone kill ponies.” Samus peered straight ahead, launching into borderline-sprint when her motion tracker declared an all-clear. She had to vault over a few more Pirate bodies, but the distance tracker between her and Rarity was decreasing in value greatly, which only spurred her forward. “We’ll deal with what comes our way.” “Yeah… yeah we will.” Samus continued to follow the marker Twilight had set, and by this point she felt that she had ran the entire length of one side of the castle. Nothing peered out at her, nor attempted to stop her pace. Other than the digital company in her head, these walls were as barren, flat, and empty as the rest of the castle and city. Only the metallic clanging of her footfalls as she ran echoed far in front and behind her. Other than that? Silence. Haunting silence. It did well to drone out the continued weapon-fire in the distance, though. The marker began to turn, and angle itself towards slowly towards her left as Samus approached what appeared to be an entrance to another hallway just ahead. She broke her run and eased herself back down into a walking pace when she met the entrance to a spiral staircase… one that led straight up to where Rarity allegedly was. Twilight spoke: “Almost there… this staircase goes straight up to the Observatory. It also lets off at other levels of the castle, so just be cautious as always when you approach those doors on the way up.” “Will do.” All the doors were still barricaded shut, as least that she could tell on her way up with the rusted, iron bars strapped across them. When her motion tracker continued to pick up nothing at all, Samus adjusted her steps into proper strides, fording three to four stairs at a time as she spiraled upward. Nevertheless, she made sure to land appropriately so that, every time they passed one of the doors leading to another level, she was on a solid footing and ready to fight anything that might’ve burst out to attack her. As their fortune continued to hold, nothing of the sort happened… …suspiciously so. No ghosts. But those suspicions faded away, at least temporarily, when Samus placed her right boot on the final step that led directly into one final door. At first glance, it looked like an onyx-stone slab with how black it was, and therein existed a faded white crescent moon emblazoned right on the center. It seemed like there weren’t any handles or knobs to turn, at least from her side. “It’s a magic door. Your OM Visor should be able to interface,” Twilight suggested. Samus did just that, and shrouded the world in a comfortable darkness with the visor overlay. Sure enough, the final barrier between them and Rarity glowed a modest lavender, which seemed to emanate directly from the crescent moon… and which her systems deemed important enough to highlight in similar fashion to her Scan Visor. Huh… so then I can…? Samus tentatively placed her fingers to the side of her helmet in inquiry… and she blinked widely when her systems responded much like its information gathering counterpart would. [Scanning…] [Seal deactivated. Magical lock bypassed.] The whiteness of the crescent moon faded even more, and without any physical exhortation from Samus, the door gently swung ajar, inward. “Neat.” Twilight agreed. “Yup! We may be seeing a lot more of these if we need to delve into the more arcane areas of magic to save Equestria. Good thing I happen to be an expert on much of it~.” Samus smirked at the confidence upturn, but steeled herself once more when she sought to enter. Leading once more with the barrel of her arm cannon, Samus brushed the deceptively-light observatory door out of her way, which opened into an identically deceptive, circular enclosure. As the Hunter stepped forward and into the more well-lit room, she could see exactly why this place would be an observatory: it actually scraped the cloud layer, and some fog meandered and trailed its way in to bathe the room in an ominous white. The wooden and stone structure of this sanctuary was darker than most of the stone she had seen thus far in the castle, and if the growth of some moss and rotting of some of the wooden tables and furnishings were anything to go by… this place had not been utilized since the Crisis. As expected. Samus peered around to either side of her, having spied various sets of papers, massive tomes, star maps littered on the floor and messily pinned around the circumference of the room, as well as various telescopes… …and most interestingly, a gigantic, dilapidated chest that held a suit of alicorn armor with various cloaks. All lay derelict and seemingly undisturbed for the last fifteen years. If this was Luna’s Observatory, and she lived through the Crisis, she certainly hadn’t made herself known. The lavender, bluish glint off her Visor drew her attention to the center of the room, and the sight of the single, rhomboid diamond was enough to loosen Samus’ tension. She lowered her cannon to her side, and let her shoulders relax a bit… all while taking in the soothing light of the Element of Harmony idly, elegantly rotating in the center of the room. They made it. Samus heard Twilight exhale softly, then whisper with relief all over her words: “There she is…” Fluttershy wasn’t far behind, and the Elemental Bearer’s name fell forlornly from her digital mouth. “Rarity…” Smirking once again, Samus stepped forward whilst she called up her Scan Visor again for a final confirmation, if only as a formality: [Scanning…] [Scan Complete] [Element of Generosity] “Looks like it’s her,” said Samus. “Anything I should do specifically? Is she safe to just… reach out and pick up?” she asked, all while she hesitantly reached outward with her armored hand. Twilight, interestingly to Samus, seemed tepid at first. “It should be fine… but I’m curious now…” Samus held her hand suspended, just before Rarity’s Element, though Fluttershy was the one that asked the pertinent, yet simple question: “About what, Twi?” “Her Element is just… here. Has Rarity even tried to assume her corporeal form? Out here? Or…” Her tone depressed at her next thought. “…has she just been stuck here, chained to the Element after all this time without even setting foot even in this room?” Samus asked: “Would the Storm Beasts have hunted her if she tried?” “I don’t know…” replied Twilight. “It seems the Space Pirates kept their distance ever since these incidents with these so-called ‘spectral entities.’ And other than that dead soldier’s data referencing chasing some Storm Beasts inside… I haven’t seen any of their bodies. Have you?” “Nope. Can’t say I—” A lone blip suddenly appeared on Samus’ motion tracker—right behind her. Simultaneously, there was a sharp creaking of one of the old floorboards right by the door Samus entered in. Samus swiveled on her heels and thrust her arm cannon forth, the end of her barrel splayed open and ready to fire off a missile at the threat who dared approach her from behind… …but all that met her was a startled yelp, and a hodgepodge of white and indigo tumbling messily to the floor out from behind a massive tower of papers and cabinets. Another ‘eep!’ later as the now-identifiable pony damn-near face-planted, and Samus was face-to-face with a porcelain-white coated unicorn. Her frizzy mane—clearly unkempt—could barely hide the deep-seated fear in her traumatized, deep-blue eyes. Her pupils were pinpricks, and her mouth quivered as her entire body shuddered in Samus’ presence. However, Samus was able to make out the cutie mark on her haunches. It matched the Element perfectly. Before Samus could even react, Rarity whimpered, her purely horrified face boring into Samus’ visor as she attempted to scurry back into her hiding place, and towards the now-open door into the castle. In the couple seconds that this happened, the voices in Samus’ head exploded: “IT’S HER!” “RARITY!” “NO! SHE’S TRYING TO RUN!” “NO!” “STOP HER!” Samus winced, but did the next best thing before Rarity scurried away and made this much more difficult: she called her name. “R-Rarity!” Samus called, holding her hand out to her. The unicorn—whom Samus could now see had some smudges of dust on her face and body—froze in her tracks. Her quivering voice responded in an edge Samus could only describe as ‘dignified.’ Even so, her velvety tone did not belie her abject dread. “W-What? What is the meaning of this?! Who—what are you?! How do you know my name… please… d-don’t hurt me… I beg you… I… I don’t…” Samus didn’t get a chance to follow up, when she heard an impatient grunt belonging to Twilight. At an instant, she watched as the alicorn materialized out of her Suit and stood before Rarity… …a Rarity who suddenly went much more wide-eyed in being stunned rather than fearing for her life. Fluttershy followed Twilight’s lead in taking a massive, barely-calculated risk. Both of them quickly crowded the distressed unicorn mare beseechingly in any effort to calm her. “Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s us! It’s okay… it’s us!” Samus watched as Fluttershy reached for Rarity’s hoof, taking it in both of hers while repeating: “It’s us… we’re here!” Rarity’s mouth hung open in what seemed to be a mighty need to say something, yet nothing was forthcoming. Her questioning eyes flicked rapidly between Twilight, Fluttershy, and Samus, who elected to stand just behind them. Her aimless trembling gradually began to subside. The Hunter ultimately decided to further relax the situation by disengaging her Suit in a quick flash, dropping her much more intimidating visage. “Wh-What? T-Twilight? F-Fluttershy? It… How… who is this?” she thrust a hoof towards Samus, pointing right at her. Twilight cupped Rarity’s cheek with her hoof. “It’s okay… please calm down, Rares. It’s us… I swear. We’re real and we’re here. We can explain more on the way but we shouldn’t stay here too long.” Fluttershy gestured back towards Samus. “And this is Samus—she’s here to help, I promise!” she said, and glanced back up at her. Samus met the meek pony’s gaze and nodded once, opting to keep silent until she needed to step in. They may have been in a hurry, but she didn’t mind them having a few moments to themselves… so long as they didn’t take too terribly long. She still kept tabs on her motion tracker on her wrist, which only registered the group of three in the room together. To Rarity’s credit, she seemed to calm down immensely, but still looked quite apprehensive of Samus, which the Hunter understood completely. Her eyes still flicked between the three of them… …until the unicorn finally threw her hooves around both Twilight and Fluttershy’s neck and pulled them close. She buried her face in their necks and began openly weeping. “Girls…” she sobbed. “I… I missed you so much… so long… what happened? Where’s everypony else…?” True to their nature and as Samus expected, Twilight and Fluttershy wrapped the alabaster unicorn up in their own hooves and shared a moment with each other. None of them had any dry eyes that Samus could see. “We missed you too, Rarity…” Twilight sniffled out before adding resolutely. “And we’re gonna get the rest of them, and bring them home too.” As heartwarming as this was, Samus felt the need to interject in the interest of time: “I hate to be a buzzkill in a time like this… but we should really make this quick. You all are really exposed right now…” she said. Twilight nodded a couple times through her tears. “Yeah… it’s probably fine, though. Seeing Rarity’s form like this has gotten me thinking. Whatever killed the Pirates may’ve kept the Storm Beasts at bay, too. Which means that there might be some unknown defense mechanism in the castle…” Samus could see all the questions scrawled on Rarity’s face right now, but Twilight didn’t give her a chance to ask them. “And that means I think we have enough time to integrate Rarity into you properly, rather than just snagging her Element and waiting until we got back home.” Samus held Twilight’s confident look for a while, and after sparing another glance between Fluttershy and Rarity—the latter now on her haunches—the Hunter let her posture relax just that much more. With that, Twilight smiled warmly, and beckoned her forward towards the sitting unicorn. Samus smirked softly as well, then knelt to eye-level with Rarity. “Rarity?” Twilight began. “This is Samus Aran. We can explain more when we’re out of here… but she’s here to help us get the girls back together. To reunite the Elements and save Equestria. She’s super nice too,” she added with a giggle. Samus reached forward with her hand. “Hi, Rarity. Nice to finally meet you… and lemme tell you: the girls here have told me wonderful things about you,” she added in extra overture to further melt the ice that had already been broken. It took a couple seconds, but the unicorn eventually returned the soft smile, and placed her hoof in Samus’ hand for a quick shake. “M-Much obliged, Miss Samus… my apologies for acting rather unladylike a couple minutes ago. I must say… though intimidating for certain, your suit of armor was quite lovely~!” she sniffled, though finally managed a sweet smile. Samus chuckled… further spurred on when Twilight and Fluttershy both giggled at a comment that most certainly characterized Rarity. Continuing the line of easy ice-breaking, Samus stated: “Heh, thanks! We can talk more about it later once you’re all safe.” Twilight grabbed her attention: “Element’s ready for you, Samus. You know the drill by now.” She then addressed Rarity as Samus stood up to go grab the Element: “Samus can carry us with her by binding our Elements to her battle suit. Like we all said, we can explain more when we’re back in Ponyville. This may feel a bit weird…” she warned. Samus was way ahead of the game, having already re-equipped her Varia Suit sans helmet, and plucked Rarity’s Element from the invisible force that was holding it suspended in place. Once it was in her armored hand, she faced Twilight and nodded once. “On you.” Twilight nodded once in return, closed her eyes, and began the familiar ritual. Her horn gradually brightened until the entire room seemed awash in luminous, blinding lavender light. All the while, Rarity’s Element flaked away into familiar, magical dust particles which coalesced, and were then absorbed through Samus’ chest via the Element of Magic. The Hunter’s systems reacted accordingly. [Element of Harmony Acquired!] [This is the Element of Generosity, the third of six. Each Element—a tenet of Friendship—brings with it a bonus to you. Gather the remaining three Elements to unlock the Harmony within.] “We’re good,” said Samus. Twilight cut her magic once the integration completed, and Rarity promptly remarked: “Huh… that does feel weird, Twilight!” The alicorn giggled. “It’s only gonna get weirder come the next part, lemme tell ya! See you inside~!” she teased. Samus could hear the implicit language in those words—it was time to go. And with that, she offered out her hand. She watched as Twilight and Fluttershy glanced back towards Rarity with bright, knowing smiles before placing their hooves in her hand one by one. Both absorbed into her Suit without any issue, and she was able to immediately confirm their presence in her systems. From there, she fell to a knee once again before Rarity and offered her the same hand. Rarity glanced at Samus’ armored, open palm wherein she had just placed her hoof not even a few moments ago, and the point where her friends disappeared. Based on what she had just witnessed, Samus figured that she knew the general idea of what was happening… …and yet, this mare came back with a confident quip: “You know, darling… you really should get to know me better before you start offering me your hand like this, Samus.” Samus deadpanned, which evoked a hoof-covered chuckle from the unicorn. She had to admit, though—that was a good one! She offered up a genuine, if lopsided smirk. “I’ll keep that in mind, smartass. Now, come on—let’s get you home.” Rarity offered up another giggle again, all before finally placing her hoof into Samus’ palm. “It’s been long overdue. Thank you, Samus, from the bottom of my heart.” And in a flash of deep blue translucence, Rarity’s corporeal form faded away into magic and made its way into her systems. The integration was fully confirmed when Samus’ eyes flashed that very-same blue behind her visor, and Rarity’s element showed up on the selection matrix at the bottom of her HUD. “By Celestia… you’re right, Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed, further confirming her digital presence. “This is SO much weirder!” “You’ll get used to it, Rares. Just try not to be so dramatic when you do… and don’t touch anything!” “Oh I would never, darling!” “Mhmmm.” Samus’ eyes widened as she briefly stared off, lamenting at the revelation whilst she stroked the temples of her helmet: I have THREE voices in my head now. By the Gods… Twilight’s voice rang out again: “Lemme prime Rarity’s Elemental Ability real quick. Just… about…” [Flash Teleport Acquired!] [Integration with the Element of Generosity has conferred the ability to locally teleport yourself instantaneously. Three consecutive short-range teleportations, or one longer range teleportation are now possible. The range and recharge are subject to endurance and magical ability.] “Looks good on my end… and that definitely sounds useful. Thanks, Twilight! And thank you, Rarity!” “Not sure what I did, darling but… of course!” “Sure thing! And wow is that gonna be so useful! We’ll need a wider space for you to practice and see how it manifests… but you’re becoming well-versed in the magical arts really quickly!” Samus huffed. “A little too quickly it seems, sometimes,” she wagered. “I think you’ll be fine, Samus,” said Twilight. “Now, we’ve got Rarity. As planned, we need to see if we can find any clues as to the whereabouts of the Princesses before we leave. I have a couple ideas to start. “Samus, I’m setting a marker towards the Throne Room. There, and the private study behind the throne wall itself would be worth checking out.” Samus started walking right away, heading for the only exit she entered from. “On it.”