//------------------------------// // 16. Voices // Story: Metroid: Ghosts of Harmony // by Flammenwerfer //------------------------------// Samus could’ve sworn that the sky was blue a moment ago… maybe with a touch of white from clouds and fog, or orange and yellow if she considered some of the gas that the mining machinery produced as they extracted the Afloraltite from the ground. Even so, the sky was always blue. And yet, it wasn’t. It was blood red, and the white clouds that often drifted on by as she wandered about the site had been replaced by pillars of billowing smoke. The once bustling activity of her small community in which she had already known most of the names had been reduced to ash by the columns of swirling hellfire. It all reflected off her wide, unflinching eyes. Her face was damp with sweat and tears that she hadn’t the slightest idea that she was crying. Her hair, unkempt and marred with soot, fluttered aimlessly in the surrounding wind which further fueled and carried the destruction on its invisible current around her. She ambled aimlessly, sobbing, as she failed to fully understand the mangled, eviscerated bodies that suddenly seemed to surround her… mauled, charred, utterly annihilated by the newcomers. Suddenly a shadow loomed over her, and in turning around, she saw him. She knew not how to conceptualize, yet she knew he was a demon… a monster. Evil incarnate… and over his charred, angled beak, she could see into those eyes. Those glowing, golden, fiery eyes. Uncaring. Unfeeling. She saw the end of life in them… a void of darkness that awaited her. In her little mind, her existence should have ended right then and there, as he squawked out a rebuttal that she couldn’t hope to understand. It was a rebuttal to the babbled, incoherent, desperate words she spoke in an hope that this winged, spindly, massive creature was her savior from the destruction that had been suddenly wrought upon her home. And yet, as she screamed her final scream, and the behemoth before her lashed out at her with what should’ve been a fatal blow… her end didn’t come. Instead, she heard the voice of her mom, shrieking her name. “SAMUS! NO!” But no respite came, as Samus’ face was instead coated in a thick layer of hot, splattered blood as the silhouette of her mother’s body was split in two. Samus wailed as the impact had, too, sent her careening to the ground, into a split-second of darkness. That voice… that familiar voice that sounded so much like her yet foreign, echoed off the walls of her mind: “This should have been your end. “You were too special to die here… or, were you?” And that’s when she gasped upon inhaling… she could barely feel her cheek. It was numb, as she stared at the desolate, oddly smooth, yet sandy ground beneath her. Still prone, she whimpered as she drew a hand over her face, only to find her own blood dribbling from her nose and mouth rather than her mother’s splattered and spackled all over her face. Gone was the smell of fire, burning chemicals, and burning corpses, and was instead supplanted by the distinctive smells and sun of Zebes’ Chozodia city. “All of your happiness. All of your innocence.” That was when she became aware that she could barely see out of her swollen right eye. Her hearing, though ringing, was wholly undamaged when she could hear Gray Voice’s cold stoicism dripping venomously from his beak from afar… just beyond the range of the Chozo training droid: “Get up, Samus.” She was now aware of her ribs screaming at her, all thanks to that last blow. It felt like her lungs were on fire as she shakily breathed. Samus understood those words, and she willed her sore body slowly but surely back to her feet. Her messy training clothes that were clearly meant for a smaller Chozo Warrior, not a barely pubescent girl, had barely hung on. She didn’t care… modesty wasn’t a virtue when she could feel her eyes, her very soul seething with rage, bordering pure hate, at the Chozo Elder, Gray Voice before her… not to mention Mother Brain’s army of ruthless automatrons.  “All of your childhood.” Samus hocked a wad of blood onto the ground, snatched up her sparring spear, and held it at level with the metallic mimic of a Chozo Warrior. She apparently wasn’t quick enough, as the moment she set her gnashing sights on her trainer who had made her bloody, her entire world was rocked to the point of losing what little was left in her stomach when she caught a Chozo heel straight into her abs. Tears streaming down her face, with no breath left in her lungs to even cry, she collapsed in a fetal position… heaving, retching, sniveling, and whimpering. “Stripped away.” And as she blinked away those tears, the sands of Zebes no longer blew into her nose… and suddenly the smells of the desert were replaced by the off-metallic smell of weapon’s fire. Her orientation had likewise changed, and her once tear-laden eyes were instead clear and razor sharp, augmented by the HUD of her trusty Visor. And through that Visor, no more sun could be seen. Her eyes widened, she gasped as one last blast from her arm cannon was the harbinger of the lone Space Pirate Trooper in front of her crumpling to the ground like an unstrung puppet after one last feral, death-growl. Samus could not see beyond twenty feet around her, noting only the steam rising from the barrel of her arm cannon… a likely outcome considering she also found the corpses of her felled enemies around her, countless Pirate Soldiers, slain in various states of having met their violent, bloody ends. From what else she could see, she was in some kind of Space Pirate base or capital ship. That voice… the one that sounded so much like hers, yet so different and hauntingly distorted to the point where it was wholly unnatural, had more to say: “All that made life worth living… stolen. Appropriated.” Samus’ motion tracker pinged with an unidentified contact that seemed to materialize just behind her. Gasping, she pivoted on her heels and aimed without prejudice… …only for her to recoil in horror when there stood in front of her, not another Pirate Trooper throwing their life away in a suicidal attack against her… … but hulking, imposing form of Viridian Shield. He leered down at her glaringly, piercingly disappointed. Samus stumbled back to put some respectful space between the two of them, stumbling as the Chozo opened his beak to speak… …and yet his voice was not his own. Only that same echoey, nebulous voice, which declaimed with a grandiose thrusting-out of his hand threateningly towards Samus: “And yet here you remain!” he began. “No life. No wonders. No dreams. Nothing but pure, robotic devotion to being the imposter in her own story. A sacrificial lamb… made to die on the altar of an impossible task!” Samus shook her head, and hearing that voice out of Viridian’s body only steeled her resolve. These words weren’t true… mostly. The only impostor here was him. She bore daggers into, then leveled her cannon at the false Viridian, and yet, ‘he’ continued prattling on impassionedly: “The Galaxy will never be at peace, Samus. And even if it could… what peace would it bring you?” he demanded to know, pointing directly at her heart. Samus held her finger on the trigger of her cannon, yet refused to pull it as those words in particular seemed to impact her, as if striking her physically. “What would final victory truly bring you… oh shell of a traumatized, broken woman?” Viridian shook his head, and as he did so, a revolting horror dawned upon Samus as she witnessed that once-wise, impassioned, avian face seem to split apart at his skull with a bright, fluorescent blue flair at the impact point. At an instant, his entire body split in half with barely a chance for him to cry out agonizingly. His body torn in half vertically, two halves of the Chozo Warrior dropped to the ground, with all his steaming blood and entrails falling between him. Samus could only stand and observe, mouth slackened… as she watched her only living kin that she knew of get eviscerated. Just behind where he stood, a black silhouette floated several feet off the ground, just behind where Viridian had stood… its features not discernable, but its shape, which seemed to mirror Samus herself clad in her Suit, was immediately recognizable. Whatever source of light that seemed to shine from just behind the newcomer illuminated it with an accent of Phazon-blue. Samus could feel her pupils constricting to pinpricks as the hair on her skin stood ramrod enough to make her a human porcupine from within her Suit. And then came the demonic, guttural, mocking laughter that felt like it shook the foundation of Samus’ surroundings. “A pitiful fate awaits you, Samus… and only one thing will truly bring you peace. It is within your power, and yours alone.” Behind her yet again, where she had slain the last Pirate, a familiar, bone-chilling growl sounded. She pivoted yet again and aimed her cannon straight into the maw of Ridley. A righteous hatred welled up in her as she charged her beam, ready to send a super missile straight down the gullet of the one who dared challenge her. Somehow it all made sense after all, from what she had just seen. The logical progression of events was of no concern to her. “End it.” Samus didn’t get the chance to pull the trigger, and instead felt a blinding, all-assaulting pain course through her stomach as Ridley’s razor-sharp tail pierced straight through her defensive shielding, and in turn, right through the armor of her abdomen just above her belly button… and continued on right out her back. She could hear herself wailing in agonized, mortal pain as the shock of the impact of Ridley’s killing blow struck her in full. And that’s what brought Samus completely out of her dream with a garbled mess of a scream. “AAAAAHHH!! GAHAHH AHHHH!!” Eyes wide, face—and body—completely drenched in sweat, Samus hyperventilated as her entire body was on battle alert fresh out of sleep. The catastrophic pain she knew she just experienced had completely left her. Her hands desperately gripped at her stomach where she felt the fatal strike. Nothing. Just blemishless skin and muscle. She scanned her surroundings all jittery… finding nothing but the darkness of her room, not even illuminated by any magical candles. The sound of the ever-present rain and thunder continued drumming on her window, which she remembered now was the white noise that she had fallen dead-asleep to. She could barely see the graces of dawn beginning to peer through the clouds in the distance, and if she had to make an educated guess, it was probably close to five in the morning. She still hyperventilated, but gradually reigned her breathing in as she brought her hand to her bare chest. And as she calmed herself, she suddenly felt a couple drops of warm liquid splatter atop her hand… tears. Samus rolled her eyes, huffing indignantly as she wiped her face using the bedsheets. And from there, realizing that she was now wide awake, she threw back the covers off of her, and her legs over the edge of the bed. She ran both her hands through her unbound, unkempt, flowing hair. The air of the room cooled her further and further as she did so, but through it all, her hands continued to tremble just enough to be annoying. Samus steeled her breath further and leaned back onto her arms, but that’s when realized, to her chagrin, that the sheets were just as damp as her forehead with sweat. She sighed with a deadpan. The lone night she had crashed immediately after showering, and thus fell asleep nude… and now her loaned bed was uncomfortable for the remainder of the night due to a bad dream. A really bad dream. “Fuck’s sake,” she whispered to no one. Samus reflected on the vivid nightmares. She had many of them over her short life, ever since things transpired the way they did on K-2L. Countless, actually. Debatably worse than the one she just came out of in terms of content. But never once, even in her darkest voids of her mental state, did she experience something so… real. So tangible. Real enough to the point where she only just reined in her trembling fingers, her breathing, and her sky-high heart rate. “Never this bad.” But that voice in her head… she knew for certain what she heard. It wasn’t Twilight’s voice, and yet, even though it sounded just like herself, it felt indescribably foreign. And the juxtaposition of that familiar, guttural cackling and that oh-so familiar silhouette? Samus shook her head. But… fucking how? Dark Sam—Prime died with Aether. I watched her die. Samus pursed her lips at her very mention. There was no way in the devil’s hell, despite what her systems had anointed the creature, that she’d ever refer to that thing by the name of ‘Dark Samus.’ The moment she saw her twisted mockery of a helmet melt away from Phazon consumption, she knew she was Metroid Prime literally in the flesh. So, Prime it was. But the fact that she was even thinking of this was a blight upon her normally centered thoughts. Was Prime that voice in her head? Samus never heard her speak beyond inhuman grunts, screeches, and mocking laughter, so she didn’t really have a baseline to go off of. But even if it was her… How is this even possible? Samus cleared her mind for a few precious seconds, and slowly turned her gaze towards her window. She centered herself fully as she stared off into the void of the lingering darkness that shrouded Ponyville’s remains. Occasionally she followed the trail of rainwater as it traveled down the ornate glass pane, before it ultimately met its fate by the striking of another raindrop. Something was very wrong, that much was for sure. And all while she came to terms that things in her head were not as they should have been, Viridian’s words from the previous couple days began to echo in her mind… …how darkness centered around her. In the end, Samus knew that she had to bring this up with Twilight. But, the more she thought about it, the Hunter found herself asking the unthinkable: if it would even be worth doing so? Samus narrowed her eyes, concentrating on a particular raindrop that seemed oh-so interesting to her at the moment. It wasn’t like she didn’t care… after all, she had just gotten her tremors under control, and the fact that she was even dedicating thought to this and not simply rolling over face-first into dreamland again proved otherwise. But what would actually come out of a conversation with Twilight that would be conducive to a solution? What could Twilight actually do to help? Could the unicorn, with her connection to the very Element that Samus was harboring, banish the voice and the nightmares that came with them? Or was there something more to it she wasn’t considering? In the end, Samus wondered what these very real voices in her head could even realistically do to her besides violently interrupt her sleep here and there? Clearly this was a side-effect of some sorts brought on by magic… one that seemed to tunnel deep into her memories and fears to manifest in some way as Prime herself. As malignant as it could be, how would it affect her? Was it nothing more than a bunch of bad dreams and hallucinations? Or was there something more pressing at play… like the advancing of a disease brought on by the invocation of magic? Samus shrugged, huffing out as she stood up to properly stretch out her whole body. She had made up her mind, and like a seemingly small wound in the field, it did her no favors not addressing what could become a major problem in the future. With magic involved, anything was truly possible. I’ll talk to Twilight in the morning. Before we’re knee-deep, underway in the mission. And with that, she also recognized that all this deliberation and thinking wasn’t gonna let her get back to sleep. Checking the time, she also realized she only had an hour left before she needed to be up and ready to ship out with the girls, anyway. Samus snagged the towel that draped limply over the front-left bedpost, slung it over her shoulder, and marched straight into her room’s bathroom. She’d wake up properly with a shower before the mission ahead. [A Little Later…] There wasn’t much of a briefing needed, and after confirming that Viridian would remain back at the castle to not only continue watching over it, but continue Spike’s training, Samus and the girls set off for the Luna Bay. The promise of returning with the Princess of the Night and Stars, herself, further swelled everyone’s mood by the time Samus’ ship was ‘wheels-up.’ With the Stealth Module having been fully repaired, it was a breath of fresh, rain-soaked air to not have to be as cautious with flying as before. Samus’ gunship was essentially fully cloaked from all known, contemporary Pirate radars, and in flying in a relatively straight path to the northeast, it was easy enough for her to confirm that all was well: flying at an altitude just below the cloud cover, the Hunter could see no aggressive movement of any enemy ships, nor any unusual chatter zooming back and forth on the BattleNet. It made the relative quiet of the nearly two hour flight much more enjoyable since she didn’t have to worry about high probability of interception, or being blown out of the sky by ground-based weaponry. Well, it was still a possibility, but at this point, in her mind, if the Pirates managed to do so with all other precautions taken, they deserved their victory over her. Come the last leg of the journey, Samus could see on her map that they were fast approaching the Bay. As Twilight had mentioned, the defining feature of said Luna Bay was the sprawling field that bordered the shore, which gave way to the massive cliffside which cradled the Lunar Ascension Temple—apparently, it was built right into the cliff-face. As for herself, Samus had already been prepared for the landing, and had engaged her Suit about ten minutes prior for some routine diagnostics. All was as it should have been in these times: the girls were ‘nestled’ away in their elemental forms within Samus’ systems, and all her gauges read back at either full capacity, or peak optimization. Further, despite the sudden termination of her sleep last night, Samus felt largely well-rested, even though the scenery of her gunship’s cockpit canopy splitting the rain as it fell was largely unchanged for the last couple hours. Though to also be completely fair to Spike, Samus had been growing fond of the mean cup of coffee he could brew up. She damn-near felt like she was getting another DNA augmentation from how it perked her up. Over coffee is where Viridian noted that he and Spike would be continuing their training. Further, he requested that she participate as an example and dummy of sorts. Having spaced out looking at the rainy, hazy Equestrian expanse below, Samus smirked to herself. She already couldn’t wait to get this mission underway and done—with Princess Luna in tow, hopefully. It had been a while since she had participated in proper ‘training,’ and despite having the absolute shit kicked out of her as a kid and still carrying trauma from those experiences to this day, as evidenced by her most recent dream… But, with the benefit of experience and hindsight, it was pretty fun, all things considered! And refreshers with someone as ‘beefy’ as Spike would never hinder her in the slightest. Hell, depending on how the whole mission went, and thanks to her dreams from the previous night, she’d likely need the outlet for her own mental health. Seemingly right on cue, Samus’ daydream was disturbed when Twilight’s voice gently nudged its way into the forefront of her attention: “I’ve felt your… for lack of better words, disquiet, the entire ride so far. You okay?” The gig was up, and after a moment of respite in the form of checking location data again, Samus felt that there was no better time to bring up her ‘issues’ than now. “Yeah, well… mostly. It’s just…” Samus pursed her lips behind her visor, thinking of the best possible way she could convey this ‘problem’ she was having. Twilight seemed to beckon her response with almost maternal encouragement: “Just…? It’s okay, Samus. You can talk to me—to us—if you want. We’re all in this together, after all.” “I just wanna preface that I’m not crazy… well, beyond what grips of reality I’ve lost since I was a child but… you know what I mean. I’m lucid and I perceive just fine. But…” She held her breath for another moment, then spoke the words with a gravitas that belied their vagueness and conciseness: “I’m hearing things.” The Hunter kept her attention squarely focused on the view outside, as well as checking more of her systems as an extra few beats of silence were forthcoming from Twilight. None of the others piped up either. “...hearing things?” came Twilight’s genuinely curious reply. “Like what?” Samus exhaled a breath she had been holding. Not that she was particularly afraid of any judgment or anything Twilight would’ve said per se, but she knew that if the digitized alicorn hadn’t written her off immediately, there was likely some solution on the horizon, and the mission wouldn’t be complicated too much. Well, hopefully, at least. Samus responded candidly: “Voices. Well, one voice in particular. It sounds just like my own voice, but it… isn't. It sounds distorted and just… wrong. It’s not my own, internal monologue. It’s almost like hearing you, with how prominent it is. “A little more annoying rather than worrisome is that, in my dream last night, this voice took the silhouette of someone from my more recent past. It only started as a random vocal comment that I thought I heard… and is now manifesting in my dreams not long after.” Twilight, seeming to take this very seriously, had more immediate questions: “...When you asked me why I said something yesterday before we got back to the castle…?” Samus was impressed that she immediately put two and two together, recalling that one moment. It had to have stuck with her, as well, she figured. “Yep. I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the whole magic thing with me.” “Hmmph. Have you had anything like this happen to you before? At any point in your life?” “Nope. Never… or at least, no voices nor lucid presences in my dreams that I didn’t expect in my dreams. Long story,” she qualified appropriately. “Gotcha. Hmmm…” Twilight said, thinking deeply. “Right… from what it sounds like based on the research I’ve done, from these very early symptoms, it could be what in magical phenomenon terms is what we’d call a ‘Nightmare.’ Or at least, one in the beginning stages of manifesting. It’s what happened to Luna—remember that story I told you?” Samus indeed recalled immediately, and she replied quite flatly at the thought of her current condition were it true: “Oh, right. Well, that’s just great. So if that’s the case, what does that mean for me? Do I need to get banished to the moon for a thousand years or some shit?” Twilight giggled, and apparently that comment earned a couple snorts and coughs from eavesdropping Rarity and Fluttershy, respectively. Twilight’s initial response was quite blithe given the subject matter: “Heh, it’s only speculation… it may very well just be some side-effect, like you said, of gaining active magical abilities. We have no data on ‘humans’ like you, so I couldn’t really say. However, if it is a Nightmare… well, hehe I don’t think banishment like that is necessary,” she said. She continued: “Thankfully, we’re gonna hopefully retrieve the pony who has the most experience in this, so Luna herself may have more answers, and possibly solutions. Of course, I can’t guarantee the latter, but it’s worth being hopeful for. Right now, the only for-sure remedy would be to sever your magical connection entirely. Not plug it. Not reduce it. Cut it off full-stop…” Twilight sheepishly added: “...and for all of our sake, especially since I don’t know how your body would react with a very-sudden severing, that’s unfortunately not an option right now.” Samus had already accepted that, and even if Twilight suggested she go through with it, she already knew that her ability to wield magic was already the crux to the success of the overall mission. She’d’ve declined to do so, either way: “Mhmm, I know. I just didn’t know what this all meant. It was all such a sudden onset, and with my literal nightmare last night being one of the worst I have ever experienced as a result… I’ve been a mite concerned. “And between you all, me, and that landmark down over there…” Samus gestured outside the cockpit to one of the nearest, lush mountaintops. “...Viridian also let me know that he’s been sensing something’s off. With me, specifically.” More silence from Twilight… much longer than when she first brought up the topic. Figuring she was mulling on it further, said silence allowed Samus to concentrate on the final approach. Her systems had scanned for any Pirate signatures, and none were detected within almost a hundred miles, nor even close enough up in high polar orbit to cause any problems. Combined with a scan of the local topography, the ideal landing point was just outside the Lunar Alicorn Temple… or whatever it was called. She took over manual control and began their descent from the fringes of the clouds, and from there, if she squinted hard enough through the rain haze, she could see the expanse of an ocean in the distance. As her ship drew closer and closer, she could likewise make out the waves lapping at the coastline, in which the sand was right up against what looked like a gigantic, completely smooth, concave cliff-face. At the center of this cliff-face was something that didn’t seem to belong. She couldn’t make it out from this far away just yet. Twilight’s voice cut back in before Samus could study it further: “Welp… we’ll just need to make sure we don’t dilly nor dally, then. Let’s not spend more time here than what we need to. We find Luna, restore her… whatever that means… and bring her back. Once we’re back at the castle, the first order of business will be seeing what she can do for you. “Sound good?” It was as good of a plan as Samus could’ve come up with, and not really all that different from what she hoped would happen in the first place. “Works for me.” “Cool. For right now though, even though I’m sure I don’t need to say this… ignore the voice. Don’t listen to it. Going by what Luna opened up to us with in the past, assuming this is indeed some kind of Nightmare manifesting… it lies. “It deceives. It will stop at nothing to wear you down by your own volition until it can assume control of you. Control that, if it breaks you, you’ll cede over willingly. “Don’t trust it… whatever you do.” Samus had no intention of doing anything but ignoring it all to the best of her ability, anyway. Still, she appreciated the concern. And she smirked gently under her visor as she let a small quip fly: “Thanks. Not like I’d ever look for direction from the weird voices in my head anyway.” “... “Okay, wow… you know what?” That got the other girls giggling heartily. Samus had never been one for levity in such situations, so she had to admit to no one but herself that she was proud of that one, however little it was. Samus took control of the conversation: “Alright, Temple in sight. We’re about to touch down…” she noted. Twilight replied, excited: “I see it!” said Twilight. “We’re so close…” And as Samus followed the guides that her ship’s systems provided for her, she instantly noticed a sudden break in the clouds. Almost on cue as her ship moved into the area, a lone ray of sunlight poured through the gap and illuminated a portion of the cliffside, which brought part of the Temple into greater view. Where before she couldn’t make out many of the details due to the rain, now she could see much more elaborate construction, including pillars and arches which all seemed to statically gesture towards a singular point of entry. The natural source of light also helped with that. Samus hadn’t seen the sun since arriving on the planet. Samus’ systems directed her towards what seemed like a natural, gigantic divot in the ground, covered in a thick layer of wild grass, and further surrounded on all sides by even grassier knolls. Even more convenient was, the landing site being not more than a short, straight hike away from the Temple entrance. She remarked to herself how it certainly wasn’t the most camouflaged landing site she ever had afforded to her, but it was far from the most open she had also experienced, likewise. After confirming that, indeed, no Space Pirate signatures had closed in on her position from whence she checked them last, it was more than easy enough for her to maneuver and set her gunship down. The landing gear made easy contact with the grassy, damp ground beneath, and after the tiniest of lurches, the gunship came to a complete stop. Another few seconds of silence, and only the idle hum of the primed engines and the occasional, infrequent beeps and whirs of Samus’ systems going about their routines were the ambient company. From there, the Hunter made haste topside, courtesy of her ship’s elevator. She rose silently from inside, and the moment the hydraulic doors slid open, her suit was bathed in a familiar blanket of rain, along with the tiniest slivers of sunlight that still defied the cloud layer above. Standing atop her ship, she was able to get her full, uninhibited look at the temple before her. Gone were the electronic, artificial sounds of advanced tech, replaced entirely by falling rain, rolling winds, and gentle waves breaking on the shore line. The temple itself, straight ahead, seemed to be carved entirely into the cliffside… and in fact, it appeared to take up the entire, imposing cliff-face with a gargantuan arch that expanded from the sandy, grassy edge of the beach up to the top of the cliff. Pulling her gaze back out was when Samus realized that the arches were in fact, two crescent moons, concaving outward. From the beach began an equally impressive set of stairs that led directly to a single point of entrance. Coincidentally, this was also dead-center of the two, stone-carved crescent moons. Further convenient was the fact that there seemed to be no door of any kind barring Samus entrance, at least from this standpoint. Just a singular point of entry, trapezoidal in nature, revealed itself to be large enough to accommodate heavy battle tanks, if she had to estimate. It was certainly convenient. Almost too convenient, in her mind. A stone overhang—further supported by pillars that seemed to have much in common with the construction of the Castle of the Two Sisters, and by that extension, the Chozo—seemed to protect any wanderers from the falling rain, should they be seeking any refuge from the ocean, the beach, or the surrounding, endless expanse of fields and forested mountains in the distance. A quick zoom in on her visor to check for any ambling, hazardous wildlife revealed that what she thought were destroyed pillars were, in fact, supports depicting busts of pony faces… one of them being a dead ringer from a recording she had saved from Canterlot. It all made her wonder, lost in her reverie in sizing up her next ‘zone of adventure,’ if she’d find anyone inside that had taken refuge from the Crisis? It had to have been far too long, she figured… and unless they managed to survive like Stella and Midnight, it was likely the ‘best’ they could hope to find were remnants. For now, all that stood between her and the first steps of this temple was the rolling, overgrown grass that straddled the sandy coastline. “The Lunar Ascension Temple,” said Twilight. “It’s… definitely been sometime since I was last here. The short of it is… this is where Luna ‘ascended,’ just in case the name didn’t give it away. Like other Alicorns before her, this is where she achieved, and was deemed worthy, of her power over the Moon, among other celestial bodies around the planet.” And with those words, Samus gave a little half-hop, which propelled her just enough off her ship where she was able to land easily and unceremoniously into the tall grass’ embrace. A quick check of her systems and motion tracker showed nothing untoward, and she began the march straight towards the massive stairs beckoning her from about half a mile away. Samus bounded in strides to summit the small valley her ship found itself parked in, and once she got up top, she continued to march a swathe through the grass that came to about chest-height. The lushness, combined with a checkerboarding pattern of wildflowers as far as she could see even through the rain, tickled the fringes of her vision as the coastal winds continued to roll and whip the field around her to the backdrop of crashing, breaking waves. Nevertheless, hand on cannon and eyes flicking between her motion tracker and her surroundings, she marched forward. Occasional checks in the OM-Visor yielded nothing interesting, at least yet.  “Any idea what we can expect inside? And what about what we’d need to actually, like, go and do?” “I have a few guesses, but I’m not a hundred-percent sure. I was only here once as a filly on a field trip for class. We weren't able to tour the whole Temple, but I do know that all the way towards the depths is the ‘Ascension Chamber.’ We never got to see it, but that’s where the whole ritual and ‘proving’ took place… so if I were betting money on it, that’s where I’d think we’d need to go,” she explained. “Beyond that, though?” she added. “I’m not sure what else might be waiting inside. I don’t really have any certain idea of what to do.” Samus continued her march, trudging through the grass and the soppy, sandy ground. “Well, I know for sure there’s no Pirates. Not even any signatures saying that they’ve been here at any point in the past, so at least there’s that,” said the Hunter. “There could be Storm Beasts… but if there are, likely not many. I’d be very surprised if there were any large populations of them. This place is a bit far off from the nearest, largest settlements… or what were the largest settlements,” Twilight noted. That was good enough for Samus, and she started into a proper jog. “Right. Welp, works for me. Then it sounds like the first thing we need to do is figure out exactly what the hell we need to do to bring Luna back.” Cheers all around from the girls. “Yeah! Makes sense to me!” “Magnificent! I certainly hope she’s fared well…” “Y-Yay!” By that point, Samus had arrived at the grand entrance, placing her armored foot on the first step upward… the culmination of which would put her at level halfway up the cliffside. The entire Lunar Ascension Temple appeared much more grandiose and imposing up close, considering it was literally carved into the cliff-face… Samus really needed to be up close to appreciate its majesty, as was custom with Chozo, or in this case, clearly-Chozo-inspired architecture. She almost missed it due to salt corrosion from lack of upkeep… but upon a second glance, Samus spotted a circular shield-like object carved into the front of stone overhang. Squinting just enough, she could discern what appeared to be a chiseled depiction of the moon and stars, all placed above three vaguely defined pony figures: an Earth Pony, a Pegasus Pony, and a Unicorn. Beyond this, she was able to get a look at two of the half-pillars holding busts of alicorns looking down at those who would dare to enter. Stoic and silent, their rock-chiseled, drab manes flowed in a nonexistent, static wind. Further behind them were even more statues that Samus had not been able to see from the distance… and from her lower vantage point, she could barely make out two full alicorns rearing up on their hind legs. Samus began their cautious journey upward, one derelict, chipped step at a time with the ocean wind at her back. Twilight’s voice cut in through the ambiance, suddenly stunned: “Whoa… do you feel that?” she asked. “I just felt this, like… deluge of magic in the air, like it was flowing out of the Temple entrance. Gods, it’s like feeling the wind blowing directly into my face!” Right on cue, Samus felt the effects, herself. She felt a familiar, sudden onset of ‘stuffiness’ in her mind, like it was physically too full for her brain and her other thoughts to coexist peacefully. The sudden-onset claustrophobia returned. “Yeah, I feel it too. But it would make sense that there’s a shitload of magic here, right?” “True, but this is still substantial. I don’t even remember it being this powerful when I was here last. Maybe it has something to do with this whole ‘reconstitution’ process?” she remarked. Samus ascended the last stair, putting her on level floor with the cavernous entrance just ahead. Even being so close in front of it, standing directly in the center between two rows of hexagonal pillars and busts which seemed to beckon her forward, she could barely make out any further details inside the trapezoidal entryway beyond the aged, cracked, patchy stone just beyond the threshold. Nevertheless, after running a quick scan of the statues for archival and logbook reference for late-night reading, Samus marched forward, leading with her cannon. “Really only one way to find out. Guess we’re going in blind.” “That doesn’t seem daunting to you?” “This is pretty standard for me. I’ve gotten used to it. What, don’t tell me you haven’t ever gone into one of your ‘harmony’ missions without knowing a goddamn thing?” “W-Well, not knowing everything of course, but usually I have at least a clue or two to go off of. Maybe a headwind.” “Oh lucky you, Twilight.”