The following morning, all had gathered around the map pedestal to start off the day.
Once Twilight brought up the actual map, it proved to be a palpable morale boost for everyone to see Rarity’s Element placed squarely atop the Castle of Friendship, much like Twilight’s and Fluttershy’s were. Samus may not have been great at having lengthy social chats with others until even somewhat recently, but she needed to be able to read the thoughts and emotions of those in supposedly friendly territory for mission purposes.
And she could absolutely feel less weightiness in the air.
There wasn’t time to dwell, though—there was still a mission to complete, and the alicorn started off the briefing in good order.
“Alright! Good morning, everypony! I’m pretty sure we expressed it since the start of last night, but there’s no words to truly describe how we feel having Rarity back with us!” she began, to many smiles and giggles amongst the natives.
Rarity, to her credit, offered up a flamboyant flip of her now perfectly-styled mane.
Samus offered up a pleasant smirk, yet still kept her eyes squarely on the map whilst her arms remained crossed under her chest.
“But, there’s still three of us missing, not to mention the Princesses. It should go without saying by this point, but we’re gonna need all of us back in action if we’re gonna have any chance of stopping Tempest, the Space Pirates, the Phazon, and really, reclaiming our continent and planet. The good news is that we’re over a third of the way in getting everypony back. Half-way exactly if you count just the Elemental bearers.”
She then glanced over to Samus with mild, yet well-meaning concern.
“The bad news is… well, Samus’ episode yesterday,” she reminded. “Her sudden collapse due to overexertion of magic usage was not good. I’ve been monitoring her throughout the day yesterday, and through the night. And considering she’s still with us and hasn’t complained to me about any other side-effects… I think it’s safe to say that her vitals—both physical and magical—are pristine,” she said.
She glanced back over at Samus, who returned said sideways gaze with a smirk and a single nod. Even so, her conversation with Viridian from last night still weighed heavily on her mind.
“So, even if I feel she’s perfectly ready to go and kick some flank with her ever increasing magic ability, I still want to play it a little safe today. I want one more day of just casually monitoring her magical vitals specifically. So, I’m keeping her magical ability disabled to make sure there’s zero question that things heal fully and properly.
“And that means our previous plan of heading to the Luna Bay is gonna need to be postponed for a day or so.”
It wasn’t ideal, for sure… as getting Luna back in action, whatever that entailed, would be a hell of a boon for the group. Much like the morale boost from before, the disappointment was now equally palpable on all the faces of the ponies plus Spike. None questioned it, though. Samus admired that they all seemed to steel their resolve for whatever came next, and still spared her concerned looks.
Being seen as a living being with physical integrity rather than just a mindless robot when fully Suited up was a perk of the job that came disappointingly sparingly with her missions. It always made those operations that much more enjoyable, and in the end, it just plain felt nice.
She let a small, yet confident smirk remain constant on her face as Twilight continued:
“But, there’s no sense in just sitting around here. As Samus stated last night, we’d need to do something that won’t require her to use magic to either get through obstacles… or even just to survive. So, after a little discussion last night, I think we’ve come up with a plan!”
She then gestured towards the Hunter and offered her the floor.
“Samus?”
She nodded once.
“Thanks, Twi. And thanks everyone for understanding. I know I’d rather be carrying on with the proper mission as much as possible, too. Turns out though, this’ll work to our advantage. I don’t like hearing my own voice for long periods, so I’ll try not to talk more than I need to, so with that… Twilight, can you pivot the map a bit southeast?”
“Sure thing!”
The focus of the map was placed on a few clearings within the Everfree, a good few miles southeast of the Castle of Friendship. Twilight zoomed in a bit for good measure. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed apparent there. No castles, no other installations, nothing… just the forest and a few clearings therein.
“Thanks,” said Samus, putting both her hands on the edge map table to lean over it.
“So, during one of, like, our first conversations, Spike told me that about a few miles away, a Space Pirate vessel went down. How? I’m not really sure.”
She tapped her index finger a few times on exactly one of the larger clearings shown in the Everfree.
“I researched this a bit more last night, and my systems confirmed it fully. It’s in this area right here. Now… why am I telling you this? Because ever since my ship was damaged when wrestling with some Storm Beast unicorns, they fucked up—pardon, they messed up two things in particular: my long range communications node, and the stealth module.
“The stealth module was able to be repaired by my ship’s auto-repair function. I think it’s just tying up some loose ends, which should be ready by the end of today. Once that’s done, we’ll be able to move around with my ship much quicker with practical impunity. Quicker operational capacity is always a good thing.
“The same can’t be said for the comm node. Viridian here was graciously able to lend me a hand with some spare parts he had, but there’s one thing that can’t be repaired automatically, nor that he was able to provide: a power supply.
“Much like the power crystal we needed to get to activate the map, the power supply will allow me to bring the node back online. And from there… we can get a lot more help. In the end, the goal is a simple retrieval mission. These vessels—and this one in particular—have been here for some time. I think about at least a couple years based on the model of ship. I’m not expecting much in the way of Pirate presence as a result. It’ll probably be barren, I’d wager.”
Twilight chimed in.
“How do you figure?”
“By this point, knowing the Space Pirates, these ships have already been salvaged and picked apart for anything valuable… well, that’s even assuming the Pirates found it worth it to grab whatever survived the crash, braving the Storm Beasts and the Everfree in general.”
Twilight nodded, looking on a little more closely next to Samus.
“How big is it? The ship? And would it be super involved to find such a power supply?”
“My systems indicate that it’s about the size of a Corvette. A smaller ship in the Pirate Fleet, but still sizable. Any power supply will do assuming it’s over a certain power threshold. As long as things have been kept relatively safe from the elements, it should be fine. There’s a little more leeway than with power crystals.
“In the end, once I find one in decent condition, it should be easy enough to slot in with the comm node. If it can’t be slotted, as long as it’s powerful, I can do a little extra work to rig it up.
“And from there, I can finally make contact again with the Federation, and reach out to them for assistance. In the end, that’s the end-goal. The nature of the mission I was sent to complete on this planet has changed. Just scouting and marking the Pirate base won’t be enough—there’s way too many of them here for a simple strike… on top of everything else I’ve discovered in working with you all.
“Once they understand the gravity of the situation, the Feds can probably blockade the planet, and keep the Pirate forces on the surface… which would be even more attractive if more and more of them can be lured here into a trap and ultimately destroyed. In the end, if we can somehow outsource the bulk of the actual fighting of the Pirates to the Federation forces, we can concentrate entirely on finding the rest of the Elements and cleaning up the planet at large.
“And when it eventually comes time to deal with the crater and Tempest herself, we’ll have the entire backing of the military industrial complex of a galaxy-wide Federated state… along with all the assistance that can come with it if we succeed, once the threat is dealt with.”
Samus inhaled deeply, hitherto not realizing how much she had talked. She sighed out and gauged the faces of all those present. All appeared to be nodding in various states of hopefulness, and Twilight was again the one to speak up for everyone…
…even if it was somewhat lamenting:
“We could probably use a lot of that aid once this is all done. Just let me and the Princesses know who to thank for it… if we even end up being able to get them back.”
Fluttershy decided to weigh in, surprisingly:
“From what the Princesses said in that crystal thing… I think that’s more than doable, Twilight.”
The lavender alicorn flashed her a thankful smirk, and from that, all seemed much more assured in the general plan forward after today.
So, she decided to wrap everything up:
“To boil it all down, the mission is pretty standard for today: Enter the downed Corvette. Get a Power Supply. Deal with threats as they come up. Contact the Feds and move forward. Any questions?”
Viridian had one, and stepped forward to ask:
“Would you prefer that I stay at the castle again? Or shall I accompany you this time?”
Samus almost instinctively told him to remain at the castle, but as she opened her mouth, she closed it again to think. Bringing her fingers to her chin, she quickly reminded herself that she can’t use any of her other magic right now. So other than Twilight coming with her, Samus would be able to do little other than talk to the alicorn in her systems. Rarity and Fluttershy coming along would just be pointless, and putting them in needless danger, with whatever look that took.
“Now that I think about it… Twilight, I figured you’d come with me regardless for general assistance. Rarity and Fluttershy can stay home. I think they’ve earned their rest for today. Keep Spike some company” she smirked at them, and earned a couple giggles and chuckles in response.
Samus then looked up to Viridian and said:
“So I’m thinking you, Viridian, can come along with us for extra fire support. What do you think, Twi?”
All looked to the alicorn, and she answered with a resounding smile:
“Absolutely! It’ll let Spike catch up with the girls a bit, like you said.”
Samus smirked, and in glancing back up at Viridian, she found him with a wide smile and a telltale warrior’s sparkle in his golden eyes. Beyond that, he merely nodded once before he answered:
“Very well. Then I should probably go dust off my own Arm Cannon, then. We might need the extra firepower other than my spear. Just in case.”
Samus couldn’t help but properly smile at that, with her own determination welling up in her cheeks. It would be a hell of an experience to go on a proper operation with an actual Chozo warrior—one that could probably best her in battle if they were both at full power.
“Sounds like we’re all set, then! We’ll head out once you’re ready, Viridian!”
“Very well! I shall meet you out front when I’m settled. I shan’t be too long,” he said, and with that, he dismissed himself from the table to head down the residential hall.
Fluttershy called out with a knowing smile:
“Oh, do be careful, Viry!”
The Chozo didn’t respond with anything but an endearing chuckle before he disappeared from sight.
Spike and Rarity stepped forward to join the group with Fluttershy, and the drake had his usual cautions to add:
“Samus, I—we—know you can easily handle this. But…” he shrugged, knowing he was probably talking somewhat redundantly on this. “...please be careful. And you too, Twi, also be careful. Everyone here knows how stupidly reckless you are when you get caught up in something you find interesting.”
Fluttershy and Rarity both backed that up:
“Seriously, darling! Please keep your wits about you!” said Rarity
And Fluttershy followed-up with:
“What they both said. We’ve come this far…”
Samus huffed, amused, while Twilight giggled into her hoof. The alicorn answered on both of their behalfs, though:
“Thanks, everypony. I’m in great hooves with Samus, as I have been since the first time!” she answered, looking up pridefully towards the Hunter.
Samus huffed again. This had certainly been turning out to be one of the more socially exciting missions that she had been on recently… that was for sure.
[Everfree Forest | A Few Miles Southeast | A Couple Hours Later…]
The trek through the Everfree Forest was about as eventful as Samus could hope for… which was not eventful in the slightest. The forest all looked the same to her beyond certain landmarks she had come to recognize around the castle, and she still hadn’t seen a blue sky since she arrived on-planet. She still never complained about the over-abundant rainfall, though—she didn’t think she’d ever really get tired of that.
Even so, Samus also felt that she wouldn’t exactly complain when it came time to travel farther to other parts of Equestria for their next operations. It would give her a break from the claustrophobia of the trees, if nothing else.
Blinking away her daydreams and ruminations, Samus still found herself hunched low, having finished the several-mile trudge through the soppy, rainy forest. By now, she and Viridian had reached the edge of the clearing that the map, and her systems, had described… and also like her systems confirmed, straight in front of her a few hundred yards lay the partially-obscured remains of the Pirate Corvette. She could see the darker metallic, angular build of its massive chassis silhouetted in the backdrop, veiled by the rainfall—certainly out of place juxtaposed near the trees (both untouched and destroyed) of the artificial Everfree clearing.
Neither of them had said a word for the last few minutes, and a quick glance by Samus saw Viridian seemingly doing as she was: just taking in the rain-soaked expanse in front of them. The only difference this time was Viridian’s entire head being encased in a helmet much like hers, but entirely fitted to the contours of his avian features. As hers were mostly veiled by an outside-facing wall of green, his features were similarly hidden behind aqua-colored glass, with identically colored accent lines on his Suit body.
It was a Varia Suit after all… at least, in glancing at the main similarities, color aside. And even Samus had to admit: it looked aesthetically pleasing.
Samus was even further drawn back to the looming, hopefully quick operation when Twilight’s voice broke through the silence:
“Okay, I think I’ve been able to project my voice through the comms versus just magic in your head, Samus. Can you hear me?”
The Hunter nodded.
“Yep. Loud and clear.”
“Great. Viridian?”
Samus flicked her eyes in his direction, and watched as the armored-up Chozo moved his hand from atop his almost identical arm cannon to the side of his helmet.
There was no way his words were anything but a joking, light-hearted addition to help break the silence:
“Your lovely voice comes through magnificently, Your Highness.”
Even Samus couldn’t resist an amused huff that bordered dangerously close to a snort. And the jokingly annoyed sigh, borderline retch, in her ears further lay ease on the situation at hand. The intangible alicorn still managed a giggle before continuing onward:
“Great! Looks like the ‘comms,’ as you call them, are rigged up properly. But at any rate, here we are. This ship fell to the Everfree a couple years ago. Maybe three. I honestly don’t remember. Been here ever since, and neither Spike nor I really recall if we saw any other ships flood to the area to salvage it… so here’s hoping you can find what you’re looking for quickly and we can get out of here just as fast. Not that I think we’re in any more danger than we’ve been in, but we still are deep in the Everfree…
“...would rather not be out here for longer than we need to. I can’t detect any movement from Storm Beasts or anything else with as wide of a scan as I can. Even so, the amplification of your magic for me to reach out beyond your systems is nonexistent while I keep your powers offline. So I don’t know what lies beyond.”
Samus and Viridian both nodded, though Samus smirked softly as she replied:
“Well… there’s an easy remedy for that…” she mentioned whilst attempting to trigger her grayed-out OM-Visor. It still remained annoyingly out of reach and unselectable, even if it was still recognized.
Twilight giggled again.
“Not just yet, Samus. I think you should be fully good to go by the time we get back—how’s that sound?”
“I’ll go with whatever you recommend… but it would definitely make all our jobs easier.”
“Or just doable, really, heh. But in the meantime, I think the rain and fog should provide more than enough cover against anything that might be lurking still around the clearing. Speaking of which… Do you know if the Pirates could still possibly be around? I know I said that we didn’t see any other ships try to come to the rescue… but it in no way guarantees that it didn’t happen.”
“If the crash site is as old as you say it is, I’d wager it’s abandoned by now. I would’ve expected them to send some ground teams in by this point… but really, it’s anyone’s guess. As you’ve seen with your time together—weirder shit has happened.”
“Yeah… that’s true. We’ll just see what happens, then.”
Viridian chimed back in:
“Ready when you are, Hatchling.”
Samus nodded, and there wasn’t any more point in resting and prolonging what needed to be gotten over with. Right as she was about to stand up and lead the way forward, her systems brought forth a massive notification:
[Alert: Multiple Slipspace Ruptures Detected. Space Pirate Reinforcements Have Arrived to the Planet]
On that cue, Samus looked up, and though she couldn’t see anything through the dense cloud layer, a sudden flood of what sounded like six lightning strikes all at once echoed over the area from the high atmosphere. Viridian likewise turned his attention upward.
Twilight asked:
“What’s that?”
To get a proper answer, Samus expanded that very notification as more data came pouring in from her systems’ analysis.
“According to my readings… five Pirate capital ships have arrived: two Battleships, two Frigates, and one Corvette. But apparently there’s also one smaller one. Working to identify. Regardless, big surprise, their heading is straight for the Impact Crater occupation ba—”
A chilling, blood-curdling, bone-brittling, familiar squawk, followed by an equally piercing, predatory roar cut Samus off and echoed ambiently, yet audibly, over the quiet Everfree landscape. Samus felt her eyes go wide briefly, as well as her entire body going suddenly stiff. After a few precious seconds, Samus exhaled deeply the breath that she had been holding dearly in her lungs.
And apparently her change in mood was quite noticeable by all parties, even through her armor. Twilight followed-up one after the other with the question at hand:
“Samus? Is everything okay? Your heart-rate and blood pressure suddenly spiked.”
Though Viridian’s question was much more on the nose:
“It is… him. Isn’t it?”
Samus had to devote mental resources to actually unfurrow her brow. She then closed her eyes and centered herself, stuffing back any stewing rage and incomprehensibility back into the much-too-small container where it belonged.
He survived. How?! And he came here? Of course he did.
Samus opened her eyes and shook her head, addressing both parties:
“Not worth mentioning now. I’ll explain when we get back to the castle, because by the gods, I’ll need a little bit to drink.
“But at any rate, it’s time to go. Let’s finish this up.”
And with that hard pivot back to the task at hand, all dropped the previous topic—Samus stood and began to move out into the clearing.
Hunched low with Viridian following just behind her, Samus heard her metallic boots sink into the soppy grass, squelching as it broke the ambient noise of the rain. Senses heightened, and feeling like her movements were making much more noise than they were, the Hunter continued to scan back and forth through the dense tree-line and underbrush. Nothing stood out to her. There was no deeper feeling of being watched.
…and most importantly, as they made it past the halfway point towards the crashed Corvette, no one shot at her ambush style. Twilight confirmed what Samus figured was the truth based on her motion tacker:
“All clear.”
Viridian backed her up.
“Nothing on my end. All is well.”
Samus conceded the fact as well, as the duo finally made it to the Corvette itself. The angular, aggressive steel construction that hadn’t been claimed by vines or other opportunistic fauna was unmistakably Space Pirate in engineering. And as had been expected based on data she reviewed previously, their approach lined up with where one of the maintenance entrances was—it was easy enough to find amongst this side of the wreckage, as it was the door was the only hexagonal section that stood out like a sore thumb, even if it was veiled by more vines and a now-natural waterfall, thanks to Everfree nature and the rain.
The only thing that would’ve made it stick out even more would be the standard door shielding, usually blue from Samus’ experience. As expected though, there was nothing of the sort. The door was shut tightly, and no amount of Power Beam salvoes would open it.
“Right… here’s our way in. No power—how surprising. I can blow it apart with a Super Missile if we absolutely need to, but I’d rather not attract unwanted attention.”
Viridian was there with a solution:
“Perhaps I may be of assistance?” came his rhetorical question, and he pointed to a steel box that appeared to feed wires conspicuously into the steel hull right next to the lifeless entrance.
“Is this the power box?”
Samus cocked her head, but answered:
“Uhhh… looks like it. What do you have in mind?”
He didn’t answer with words, but rather reached forward with his massive, armored hands and—with a little effort—ripped the steel covering off the alleged power box. From there, he angled his Arm Cannon’s barrel towards the exposed wiring, and summarily fired a single, electrifyingly purple shot.
Samus’ eyes sparkled as she recognized the familiar Beam Weapon choice immediately, and as she had then expected, the entire power node appeared to crackle and light up…
…and the Maintenance Door flickered to life with an inviting, light-blue glow.
Just like that.
“Huh. You didn’t tell me you used a Wave Beam!”
Viridian smirked.
“As much as I love our standard Power Beam… I always felt naked without it always on me. Though is it truly that strange? The Chozo gave you most of your arsenal”
And with a final shot of his Wave Beam onto the door, the shield dissipated once more, and their path forward irised open.
Viridian closed out with a knowing quip:
“You would have it as well… if you had done well enough to not lose your tools, constantly!” he said, before gesturing inward:
“After you, Hatchling.”
Samus rolled her eyes, though she would have some trouble wiping the cheeky grin off her face.
“Oh shut the fuck up, Viridian,” she chuckled as she led the way inward.
The Chozo Warrior echoed the same sentiment with a chuckle of his own. Even Twilight wasn’t immune to the rare display of banter involving Samus and the Chozo.
The Hunter waved Viridian in behind her, who did well to cover their entrance lest they were followed. With no alerts from behind, the door closed shut, sealing them in a pitch-black tunnel that sloped upward, and listed somewhat to their left. The simple solution was engaging her flashlight to brighten the way forward—Samus once again lamented the loss of her Thermal Visor, and the semi-replacement of the OM-Visor, however temporary.
Viridian continued to follow Samus’ lead, and engaged his own flashlight.
The Maintenance Tunnel was a straight shot forward, with no other intersecting pathways thus far, based on what little map data her systems were able to assess through their trek forward. Likewise, the once omnipresent sound of the rain had been entirely shut out, replaced by an infrequent cacophony of drippage, creaking, and clanking from the settling of metal, water, and various other materials courtesy of a haphazardly abandoned, destroyed space-faring vessel.
Even her own footsteps seemed to echo down the hall. Neither wished to spare the extra seconds to engage if necessary, and kept their cannons outstretched.
Twilight broke the tense ambiance:
“Do we know where we’re headed?”
“Electrical or Comms room should be more than enough for my needs. No need to explore the entire vessel, thankfully.”
“You know how to get there?”
“Working on it. If I can find a computer… like a maintenance computer that’s not too damaged, I should be able to slice some map data out of it. We can follow that to any of the two rooms. Keep a look out for lots of big wires.”
Viridian cautioned:
“We are coming up on the end of this tunnel. Looks like a much larger room ahead.”
Samus agreed, exhaling as her Suit’s environmental controllers quickly cleared away her visible breath from inside her visor.
“Yep. Stay alert.”
As Viridian had pointed out, the entire next room suddenly opened up—no lights were present, but Samus could visibly make out lots of unexploded shells and various other ordinance. All were haphazardly tossed around undoubtedly when the ship crashed those years ago. As they passed through, Samus could see just how cracked and destroyed they were… many of their power cores had simply wasted away from lack of proper storage protocol and maintenance after these years… and probably due to water damage, if the consistent dripping and rivulets through the room were anything to go by.
But as they trekked through the massive ammo storage room, Samus stopped in her tracks when she noticed a bunch of wires hidden behind a few shells that were rolled against the slanted wall. She followed their serpentine path diligently, and as her flashlight illuminated the path her eyes took, they finally ended on the multiple screens of a group of computer consoles.
Samus gestured forward whilst remarking:
“And look what I hoped we’d find…” she said, looming closely to inspect the computer terminal’s viability.
“Any luck?” Twilight asked.
Samus thumbed over one of the main, larger screens that harbored a massive crack down its left side. She also observed other portions of the computer that had been egregiously corroded by water damage and simply a lack of maintenance. But the main console in front of her, despite a few scratches and one or two heavy cracks… seemed in relatively good condition all things considered. Its electronic base, still standing without any cracks or dents, seemed entirely intact.
“It… looks okay…” said Samus at the onset. “Really only one way to find out though.”
And with that, Samus reached forward with her armored hand and tore off the single armor plate over the power conduit, the sound of which split the silent, leaky room with a reverberating clang. She then looked back up to Viridian and asked:
“Care to do the honors?”
She could practically hear the smirk under his helmet.
“But of course!”
Samus stood up and backed off a couple paces. Viridian took her place and let loose a single blast of his Wave Beam into the computer’s power conduit, which lit up the section of the room in a deep, if brief purple, electric glow. After a couple tense, silent seconds, an electric whirring could be heard, which continued to gain prominence over the water flow and dripping ambiance, until finally the main computer screen flickered to life.
And a couple seconds later of various gibberish and digital artifacting, the boot screen of a familiar Pirate operating system displayed in perfectly usable condition.
Samus properly grinned as Viridan stepped away—she took her place again in front of the screen to begin work immediately.
“Perfect!” she exclaimed, and wasted no time in selecting her Scan Visor to get to work.
Viridian hummed.
“Well thought-out!”
Twilight seemed just as excited as Samus… and with how the alicorn had digitized herself in her systems, she was basically gawking over her shoulder at this point.
“Nice! What’cha got?”
Samus’ Scan Visor was well-underway in slicing through Pirate System encryption, and let her systems go to work in both pulling and archiving some relevant intel, as well as searching for some map data as had been the original need.
“Looks like a good amount of data is still available. Excellent. Schematics show the name of the ship being ‘Valkyrie.’ Neat. Now lemme just reroute some network pings to make sure we have no problems…”
Samus went a bit stiff again as she made sure her systems complied in shielding the Pirate Battle Network from the downed Valkyrie’s attempts to phone home, other than what was already present locally. A few seconds later, she was able to relax when her systems did indeed confirm success in not allowing the ship to connect to the extranet.
She sighed out and eased her posture just a smidge.
“Cool. One less worry.”
Twilight was ever-curious:
“Why? What happened? And these are one of these ‘computer’ things, too, right? Like your tablet and all your other systems?
“That’s right. Once the computer powered on and started going through the motions of connecting to where it needed to, it would inevitably try to ping—or in a way you’d probably understand better, write back—to the Space Pirate network.”
The alicorn seemed to understand immediately.
“Ooooooh… and if it did, and someone noticed, that means the Space Pirates would probably find it very curious that one of their vessels that was confirmed lost—presumably salvaged already—suddenly ‘wrote back’ to their main network…” she surmised.
“Exactly. Would probably invite a lot of sudden, unwanted attention. Easy way to get a Space Pirate strike team sent to this location. Doubly-so if the ship’s already been salvaged.”
“I understand—and even though we already talked about it, I’m starting to wonder if the invaders even did salvage, if much at all. I’m starting to think they didn’t.”
Samus cocked an eyebrow as she initiated the download of map data.
“Never knew you became an expert in Pirate salvage doctrine,” she quipped. “What’s got you so sure, this time?”
Twilight giggled, but answered seriously all the same:
“Just building upon your thoughts from earlier. Whatever brought this ship down, whether it was internal or external… it fell into the proper depths of the Everfree Forest. Not even us ponies truly ever knew with complete certainty the dangers that lurked out here… it’s pretty much a pillar of our legends. If the Pirates are having this much trouble elsewhere, I’d think a simple, ‘smaller’ ship like this would likely not be worth potentially sacrificing a bunch of troops.
“Well… unless it was carrying something super important, of course,” she wagered.
Her armored fingers drumming idly on the side of the computer screen, Samus shook her head as she considered Twilight’s analysis… specifically at that last part.
“Not a Corvette type ship. Frigates and Battleships would absolutely be worth the effort for them, though. Either way, I could get behind that.”
Samus’ visor pinged her suddenly:
[Map Data Acquired!]
[Map Data for Pirate Corvette ‘Valkyrie’ now available!]
“And done… which means that we have a map to both the Electrical and Comms rooms. As for which one’s closer…”
Samus brought up the map and examined their position relative to the entire ship… but of course, she knew this was in ideal circumstances when the ship was in full-working order. There would likely be some cases where paths forward would be completely inaccessible, and other routes would be needed. Nevertheless they needed to go on what they had, and Samus could see a clear, straight-forward path forward from the ‘Auxiliary Ammo Storage’ Room, to the Long Range Communications Housing in the Comms Center.
“Comms Center. By a fair bit,” she announced. “Likely to find something much more ‘fitting’ for my needs there, anyway, so this works out just fine. Ready to head out?”
A single gunshot deafened the room—distinctly from a Space Pirate Assault Cannon.
With expertly honed reflexes, Samus and Viridian dodged in opposite directions, and the lone, golden energy projectile sailed between their heads and into the computer console they were once using. The round impacted and blasted the computer into multiple pieces, destroying it completely this time around. Mid air-dodge, Samus fired two Power Beam rounds at the suspected source, both which impacted harmlessly against the bent remains of metal walls and reinforced metal bars.
Samus emerged from her dodge back onto her feet, squarely in her battle stance, aiming directly at the aforementioned source of the weapons fire in the darkness of a tangled mass of metal and wire… one that seemed to be the remains of the metal walls of this room. A likewise instantaneous glance towards Viridian showed him in similar positioning to her.
Merely a couple seconds had passed all the while. Twilight added a:
“Motion detected behind the remains of the room’s wall. Two entities.”
Samus could definitely see that. Breathing much faster now in the anticipation of combat, she reined in her heart rate, courtesy of being startled, and noticed something else of intrigue: no further weapon’s fire came forth, even though Samus had clearly not hit her targets. Secondly, her motion tracker was not recognizing the alleged assailants as Space Pirate in nature.
Her systems confirmed this all the while: no Pirate signatures were detected within tens of miles of their position.
That cannon was unmistakably of Pirate origin, though… which made the sudden situation all the more tense, if interesting.
“I can see that… no Pirate signatures. No follow-up attack… motion still present… I wonder…” Samus reasoned, then, remembering she had more-than-adequate backup, she decided to be a bit more diplomatic despite being fired upon.
More than a bit awkwardly, Samus called out in overture:
“Hi there! Don’t shoot! You’re not Space Pirates, right?! I will engage if you shoot again… you have one chance to identify yourselves! Talk to me…”
Twilight didn’t seem impressed at Samus’ words:
“That sounded way too awkward. Even for me.”
“How about you try talking things out after someone just shot at you!”
Simultaneously, Samus maneuvered so that her flashlight could get a better look at the darkness behind the destroyed, metallic mess of a wall. She knew for a fact that she could see some movement that corroborated the existence of individuals on her motion tracker. Hell, she could’ve sworn she saw the proper flickering of light on eyeballs.
All the while, she could pick up on some hushed conversation—audible whispers that her Suit was able to pick up on through sonic amplifiers. Two distinctly female voices of two differing accents, but entirely understandable via both English and Equestrian conventions:
“Wait… the fuck mate? They speak our language? Who’re they?”
“How the hell should I know? But they walk on two legs, like those things…”
“Aye, but those things didn’t fuckin’ speak like them—we can actually understand ‘em!”
“We could understand those other beasts, too, sometimes! You saw how well that turned out!”
“Don’t remind me, lass…”
Viridian remained silent, and like Samus, kept his cannon trained on the source of the impromptu, animated, hushed discussion. Twilight had an out-loud thought:
“Wait… they sound familiar…”
Samus took the reins back:
“Uhhh, hello? Identify yourselves!” she demanded, stiffening the grip on her cannon.
That shut the conversation down entirely, and silence returned once more if but for a few moments. In a tone that sounded almost of a desperate hail mary, the first voice called back out with what Samus could entirely describe as a Scottish accent:
“O-Oi there! We hear ya! Y-Yer not with those other tall things are ye?”
Likewise, she could spot two eyes peeking out from two separate holes in the wall: one gold, one emerald.
Samus lowered her cannon the tiniest bit and shook her head.
“No. If you’re talking about the Space Pirates… taller than me, look reptilian and monster-like? Got a lot of armor and look like the thing you took your weapon from? No. Definitely not with them. They’re my enemies, too.”
Twilight cut in again:
“No I absolutely know who that is with, like, ninety-nine percent certainty. Quick… m-mention ponies in general. And that you’re working with me!”
Samus took her suggestion and further added:
“Are you ponies? Survivors?” she asked. “I’m working with Princess Twilight right now… you know her, I’m guessing?”
The Hunter didn’t get to finish her thoughts to convert them to words, as there was an instant, excited response from both voices, to which the other one, Samus would describe as somewhat Slavic-esque:
“AYE!”
“S-She’s alive? Where…?”
Of course they would ask where she was… it was only natural. The problem was that Twilight couldn’t exactly just materialize and make the whole situation better without drawing all the Storm Beasts in the area—and possibly in the ship—to their position.
For the first time, Samus heard Twilight mutter the phrase:
“Oh for fuck’s sake…”
Samus had to stifle another giggle today, but nevertheless rolled her eyes. She glanced over at Viridian, who only looked back to her with a shrug, while likewise keeping his cannon squarely aimed. He was deferring all action to her at this point.
Samus cleared her throat again and answered:
“She’s with me right now actually… well, magically speaking, at least. She can’t come out right now because of the Storm Beasts. Long story.”
A huff and a reply sounded:
“How convenient.”
Samus could hear Twilight pretty much bouncing around in her head all frustrated, as the alicorn couldn’t seem to get a single coherent thought out as she was in disbelief at their situation.
“I know, believe me. She’s seething right now in my system at that fact. Because it would make everything that much easier,” she said.
Samus lowered her cannon more, and Viridian followed her lead.
“We’re operating out of the Castle of Friendship back in Ponyville. Twilight and the other Elements we’ve found so far would love to have others who survived this long. I’m also a lot nicer looking outside of my Suit—it’s safe to come out, I promise.”
The animated whispering continued on the mystery ponies’ end… softer this time where Samus’ systems couldn’t pick it up other than specific words. After what seemed like thirty seconds of deliberation, the silence returned… followed by a resolute sigh.
And then, a lone hoof snuck its way out into the open from behind cover. Samus could immediately make out a dark gray coat—one covered in a worn, armor-boot of some kind.
It waved in their direction.
“Alright… we’re comin’ out! Please don’t shoot us, mates.”
Samus huffed, and lowered her weapon a little more as she heard some shuffling.
“No worries—so long as you don’t shoot us!”
The tenseness returned to the room as some shuffling, and what sounded like hooves stepping through puddles of water, gave way into proper steps as two ponies slowly filed out from their metallic cover. Samus immediately noted the aforementioned grayish coat, with a taller, more muscular-seeming mare behind her with a copper coat. With the former’s golden eyes, Samus noted how long her navy blue mane and tail were, even if her mane was styled into a messy ponytail. She also noted a few infrequent lighter, almost-gray strands mixed therein.
The second pony’s emerald eyes and contrasting copper coat was brought all together with her seemingly longer golden mane, much messier and unkempt, flattened with obvious helmet-hair.
Samus also noted how at first glance, their faces and bodies—despite still being fit and retaining quite the youthful complexion—contained a multitude of crisscrossing scars and occasional wrinkles.
And that’s when Samus realized that if these were truly survivors of the Crisis, then the two of them had been out here in the Everfree—and elsewhere—for fifteen years, just surviving. Samus figured, based on this brief, first look-over in overexposed lighting in the darkness, they didn’t look older than their mid-thirties, if she was guessing pony ages right. Either way, they were probably still older than her.
Nevertheless, a pang of pity washed over her, as she could also see a familiar hollowness in their eyes… much like with Rarity. A depth of void in which harbored unspeakable sights that she was sure these ponies would rather forget.
Speaking of which, she noted the equipped armor they both had, even if it was dented or cracked. And in also noticing how both of them cradled Pirate Assault Cannons on their back—jerry-rigged with strings, wire, and miscellaneous bits of metal to form what looked like rudimentary gun sights—these two had to be soldiers of some kind.
Especially with that ingenious work with the weaponry. Samus was impressed. And in one final bit of sizing-up their new company, Samus noted the bat wings, the elongated pupil slits in their eyes, and the tufts of hair atop their more-angular ears. She silently wondered if they were a subspecies of Pegasi, or if they were their own ‘batpony’ under the Pony family.
The tenseness of the room was tangible, though it gave way to an awkward silence with the first true meeting of non-Elemental Bearer survivors since Spike… though what lessened it somewhat was when Twilight started squeeing boisterously.
“Oh my gosh! It’s them! They survived! YES, THEY SURVIVED!”
Samus knew for a fact that Twilight was prancing animatedly in her head… figuratively at least. And that was the final bit of confirmation needed for her to truly lower her weapon to her side. Viridian followed suit right after.
The golden-eyed one gazed through Samus’ visor, and then glanced between her and Viridian before finally chuckling awkwardly to lead into an uneasy:
“Heh… oi there, mates…” she waved limply. “S-Sorry fer shootin’ at ya. We uhh… saw two legs and kinda put it together in our heads… fucked that one up though. Our bad!”
The other one glared at her.
“Really… that’s the best you got after shooting at them?”
“The fuck else am I supposed tae say tae them, lass?!”
Samus and Viridian shared a look again, though Twilight was quick to jump in:
“This is normal between the two of them—literally nothing’s changed in a decade and a half, which is great… but intervene now or this’ll become a full argument.”
Samus heeded the advice and swooped in with her own wave:
“Hey, you two. And uhhh… no worries about that. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve shot first and asked questions later…”
Twilight interjected in her head:
“That’s horrifying.”
Samus hissed back:
“Oh shut up.”
With that, Samus disengaged her Suit fully… and the sudden flash of golden light illuminating the room did well to startle the ponies enough for them both to take a full couple steps back. She planned to remediate any residual fear by kneeling down and putting forth her right hand.
“Samus Aran. Off-worlder. Soldier. Bounty Hunter. Working with Princess Twilight to complete my mission and her mission at the same time via an arrangement we have. Told you I was a little nicer looking outside my armor… I hope,” she quipped.
“Nice to meet you two.”
Another familiar, electrifying sound garnered Samus’ attention behind her, and she found that Viridian had disengaged his helmet. He offered a respectful half-bow to the ponies.
“And I am Viridian Shield. Warrior-Overseer of the once-Imperial Chozo Colony on this planet. Much obliged to make both of your acquaintances.”
The two batponies seemed a little confused by the words they both chose to use… and Samus couldn’t help but smirk. She was sure it would get explained later on, but thankfully, the two nodded, and their expressions seemed to bounce back elastically and then some.
Sporting the first, hopeful smiles Samus had seen from them, the blue-maned one put her hoof forth in kind, laying it in the Hunter’s hand.
“Corporal Stella Sabre. Second Guard’s Flying Infantry Battalion, Their Majesties’ Lunar Guard. Cheers lass… and lad? Lad. Cheers lad.”
They shook on it, and emerald-eyes was not far behind with an identical gesture… though, perhaps a bit disturbingly, Samus cocked a stoic eyebrow when the mare’s look went from elated to oddly flirtatious. Though it must’ve been a trick of the light, or the lack thereof… because that hitherto visage seemed to dissipate as quickly as it came about, replaced by her erstwhile shaken, skittish demeanor.
“Specialist Midnight Song. First Guard’s Shock Battalion, Their Majesties’ Solar Guard. Lovely to meet you as well, Samus and Viridian. Especially you, Miss Samus~.”
Stella didn’t react, but Samus wasn’t blind to the harsh heel-kick that she delivered unto Midnight’s hind left thigh, with the latter flinching at the strike. The Hunter and the Chozo spared another brief, questioning glance between one another, though Samus was quick to stoically address them again.
“Stella and Midnight…” she pointed to each one respectively to remember names. Nodding, she then asked the next relevant question:
“You two’ve been here since the Crisis?”
They both nodded, and Samus could see the fatigue in their eyes… another type of fatigue from years deployed with no rest, from which reprieve wasn’t merely a few weeks of good night’s sleep.
“Aye, lass. Fifteen years… well, not here,” she gestured to the ship around them. “This flying shitewagon that came down near our previous encampment has been our home fer only the last couple.”
Twilight was amazed, and she sighed out lamentingly:
“They did it… I can’t imagine how they did, but they did. Please bring them home with us, Samus… whatever you do.”
Samus glanced at her motion tracker and found nothing else out of the ordinary, and all the while, she could see Viridian had resumed sentry duty, which left the Hunter open to prod for a little more information:
“Yeah I figured. How’d you even end up here?” she asked.
Midnight answered this time:
“The front lines were cracking, and the Princesses needed more time for the Elements… so they sent in a bunch of us Guard Divisions to fill holes in the ranks.”
Stella nodded, then promptly added:
“Aye, and that’s when it all went tae shite… but on that note, where even are the Princesses, anyway?” she then asked. Her eyes widened after a couple moments of deliberation, and her subsequent, shakier words harbored a sudden rush of fear:
“Are… are they alright?”
Samus pursed her lips—that wasn’t exactly a concept she could just belt out with easy comprehension right now.
“They’re missing right now… but not really presumed dead, and we’re working to ‘bring them back.’ It’s another long story. The short of it is, there was some gigantic failsafe that no one knew about.”
Stella and Midnight both sighed out, and shared an uneasy, defeated, if marginally hopeful look amongst each other. Both pursed their lips in kind, and Stella nodded.
“Aye… guess that’s as good of an answer as we can get right now. And you said Twilight is still around, mate?”
Samus nodded, and Stella smiled at Midnight. The latter shrugged and smiled whimsically.
“Guess we have someone to report to again, in the meantime!”
Stella chuckled.
“Heh, gods does that feel good tae know after all this time.”
Twilight giggled, and Samus springboarded off of that with a little more lightheartedness once the tenseness again began to evaporate:
“What’ve you two been up to, since?”
Stella answered:
“We were fightin’ on the front line, and then suddenly just… bright white light and rainbows. The Elements had fired and those fuckin’ Storm Beasts were just wiped out, mate. We weren’t entirely sure what happened at first though, so us and other survivors—soldiers and civvies—moved intae the forest fer cover, and tae await further orders…
“...and awaitin’ orders turned intae hopin’ fer rescue when no orders came, and the Storm Beasts returned.”
Stella’s eyes seemed to go blank as she shook her head once.
“Rescue never came. And after the first month with no official word or rescue, we figured Equestria had actually fallen. We set up societies as best we could after meeting—and attempting to find—other survivors,” she further explained.
Midnight added:
“We did our best to survive. Food. Water. Shelter—made it if we had to. Still had to keep fighting off those… Storm Beasts, right?” she begged clarification from Stella.
She nodded, and picked up Midnight’s words:
“Aye. On top of those fuckin’... those other tall, two legged hingejaw twats that walk on two legs like you two… no offense, mates,” she elaborated.
Samus said:
“Space Pirates. And none taken, no worries… but you said that you met up with ‘other survivors.’ Are there others here? Civvies, especially?”
The two ponies shared a knowing, lamenting look with one another, as well as a sigh that might as well have been deafening in its own right. They shook their heads.
“No,” said Midnight. “After fifteen years…” her expression sank completely, defeated.
Stella finished her thoughts that were already well-conveyed to Samus, by this point:
“We’re all that’s left. Just been tryin’ tae survive fer as long as we can. Even with the shelter here… those beasts still wander in. Not tae mention those—what did ya call ‘em… Space Pirate—patrols that we’d find in the forest on occasion.”
Samus understood. It was a damn shame that there weren’t other civilians that survived this long, at least in the area, but Stella and Midnight had done all they could until they were the last ones standing. Regardless, she considered that impressive in her own mind, especially considering how young they probably were when things all went to hell.
“Got it. Well, if you’ve got anything you value stored here, you may wanna go and collect it now. You’re coming with us—and we’re gonna get you out of here. How’s the Castle of Friendship sound? Got warm food and plenty of beds.
“Your fight’s done, soldiers.”
With each consecutive word Samus uttered, she could see both pairs of eyes visibly brighten and mist up in the light of her flashlight. Their hopeful smiles were contagious, and by the end of it, she felt she could resonate fully with their feelings… somewhat. She may have been constantly deployed since she was fourteen or so, but she at least had the ability to take breaks and decompress a little bit after each mission.
These two had been fighting to just survive for the last fifteen years straight. It didn’t come as a surprise that they looked like they were about to start crying.
They shared another look with each other, then simultaneously nodded curtly up at Samus.
“Alright, lass. T-Thank you, Samus… and Viridian. And we’ll see Twilight when we get back, right?”
It was Samus’ turn to nod, though with the return of an amused smile under her visor when Twilight was practically jumping for joy at the prospect of more, familiar allies.
“Absolutely. Like I said, she’d welcome you home right now if she could, but we’re gonna have to wait until we’re safe in the castle walls.”
Midnight stepped forward and excitedly asked:
“So… are we heading out now, then?”
“Not just yet. I need to find something here, first, which was the reason we came here in the first place.”
Midnight cocked an eyebrow.
“Really? From this wreck? What’re you looking for?”
“A power supply, which will help us, in a way, get even more allies into this fight. That’s why you found us at this computer here,” Samus gestured back towards the now-permanently-destroyed console.
“We were mapping our way to the Comms Center. Looks the closest on the map data I was able to download. The problem is the ship’s shitty condition, so even though it says it’s an easy walk, I’m guessing most of the corridors have completely collapsed by now.”
Midnight stepped forward again.
“Wait… Bunch of antennas and other of those ‘computer consoles’ or whatever they are, right? I think I know exactly the place you’re looking for.”
Samus nodded.
“Sort of, yeah… sounds promising. Know a path over there?”
Stella stepped in:
“We were storin’ our foraged supplies there. We can lead ya over there. It’s the absolute least we can do if yer gonna take us outta this shitehole and save our lives, essentially.”
Midnight was all too happy to affirm that stance.
“Yeah… I don’t know how much longer we could’ve survived like this. So… thanks in advance.”
Samus glanced back at Viridian, and then shared another look with the two mares with a lopsided smirk. One more nod later, and she stood up tall and re-engaged her Suit.
“Sounds good to me! Lead the way.”
Stella and Midnight eyed her up and down before the former replied with uncertainty:
“Uhhh… it might be a tight squeeze, lass. Sure ye can follow our path?”
Samus huffed under her visor, amused.
“I’ve made a career of getting into places I shouldn’t be. We’ll be fine.”
Apparently that was good enough for Midnight, and she promptly waved the three of them after her as she started towards the nearest, destroyed door. She sheepishly beckoned:
“Then let’s get what you need. Forgive me, but I just… really don’t wanna be here anymore.”
Stella followed suit with a chuckle, and Samus was quick into step with Viridian just behind her.
“Pirate vessels aren’t exactly known for their comforts and hospitality. I don’t blame you.”