Metroid: A Hunter in Equestria

by Cusi

The Hunt (part 2)

Disclaimer: Samus and Metroid elements belong to Nintendo. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro/the Hub. I own nothing but the plot.
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Applejack and Rarity waved as they saw their little sisters enter the school's classroom. They both wore smiles that hid their true feelings, as well as golden necklaces that housed their own Element of Harmony. As soon as the fillies were out of their vision, their smiles turned to sad frowns.

"So how've you been?" asked the apple farmer.

"Marvelous, dear. Just marvelous..." Seeing the unconvinced face of Applejack, Rarity sighed. "Horrible. I barely got any sleep. To say I was shocked by the letter would be an understatement."

"Ah know." Applejack said. "She never struck me as a traitor. Though looking back, she never looked like a gal that came to make friends, either."

"I just hope this whole ordeal is over quickly. I can't imagine where this is heading."

Just then, a worried-looking Rainbow Dash landed beside them. "Guys, I can't find Pinkie or Fluttershy anywhere."

"What do you mean you can't find them?!" yelled Applejack, fearing the answer.

"I went to Sugarcube Corner and asked for Pinkie, but the Cakes said she didn't show up to work. Then I went to see if Fluttershy was ok, but her front door was destroyed and part of her house seemed burned and frozen."

Rarity gasped. "Samus couldn't have got them already, could she?"

"Looks like it." answered Applejack. "We'll need to split up and look for 'em. If Samus needs the Elements, then she'll need us alive. Rare, you go look for them around town. Rainbow, you go look from the sky. Ah'll go fetch Twi so she can help us. Let's meet at mah farm in an hour, no matter if you found something or not. We need to keep in touch. Now let's get movin', we ain't got much time."

"Right!" both Rainbow Dash and Rarity said at the same time. Applejack and Rarity galloped to their respective location while Rainbow Dash took off to the air.

"Hi, Sweetie Belle. Hi, Scootaloo." Apple Bloom greeted her friends as she entered the classroom. She lacked her usual energy and instead looked a little pensive.

"Hi, Apple Bloom." Sweetie Belle greeted back. "What's wrong? You seem down today."

"Yeah, what happened?" asked Scootaloo.

"It's Applejack. She has been acting weird since yesterday. Ah'm worried about her."

"Now that you mentioned it, Rarity was also acting weird. Ever since she came from Twilight's, yesterday afternoon, she's been messing up her work. She even cried when she saw her newest design." commented Sweetie Belle. "Do you think it's something related to Applejack?"

"Probably." answered the yellow filly. "What about you Scootaloo? Did Rainbow Dash seem off yesterday?"

The pegasus in question shrank a little. "I dunno. I was kinda looking for Samus yesterday. I didn't see Rainbow Dash all day. Nor Samus. And her ship disappeared, too."

"It looks like we have two mysteries to be solved. Wanna go investigate now?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Yeah! Let's go!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"Now? But we have class! What about miss Cheerilee?" asked the white unicorn filly.

"Come on, Sweetie Belle!" urged her friends.

"I don't know, guys. I have a bad feeling about all this." said Sweetie Belle. Upon seeing Apple Bloom's and Scootaloo's face, she changed her mind (although not her mood). "I guess if it's for Rarity and Applejack, then it's more important than school."

The three fillies came to an agreement and left the school before class started. They rushed across the playground, on to Ponyville's direction. They had a mystery to solve, and nothing would get in their way.

"Okay, class. Let's get started." said miss Cheerilee when she arrived at the classroom. "Huh? Has anyone seen Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, or Apple Bloom?" Hearing no response, she sighed."So they skipped school... Again. Oh, well. They'll have to deal with extra homework tomorrow." She turned around and began the day's lecture.

Rarity was walking around town, asking ponies if they had seen Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, or Samus. So far, all the answers she received were negative. Paranoia and fear had taken a toll on the white mare's psyche. She kept looking and asking for a while, until her search took her to Carousel Boutique. Deciding to get some relaxing tea, she got inside.

The doors opened and a bell chimed as Rarity entered her home/boutique. She went to the kitchen and began preparing her tea. She heated the water and prepared the leaves. A kettle was filled and she put it on a tray, along with a cup and sugar. She levitated the tray and went to the living room, where her sofa awaited.

"I was looking for you." Rarity gasped, and almost let the tray fall from her magic grasp. Casually sitting across from her was Samus, clad in her signature armor.

The unicorn took a moment to recover her bearings and levitated another cup from the kitchen. Her face looked almost defeated. She set both cup on her middle table and poured water on both. A few moments later, the leaves were added.

"Would I be right in assuming you have come for my Element?" asked a rather calm Rarity as she levitated one of the cups over to Samus, who took off her suit and grabbed the cup. She gave it a tentative sip.

"Yes." said Samus. She also gave her tea a sip. "I do believe we can wait until our tea is over. This is pretty good."

"Thank you." Rarity's voice was devoid of any emotion. "May I ask why you would hunt us down to get our Elements?"

"The Elements have proven to be quite powerful, but I can't harness it without their bearers. I want their power for personal reasons."

"What kind of personal reasons?"

"None of your business." Samus calmly took another sip of tea. "Anyway, I'll be taking you, along with your Element. Let's see how well you can protect it."

"I was hoping this wouldn't be the case." Rarity finished her tea, as did Samus. "If, by any chance, you were to be defeated... What would happen?"

"I'd tell you where to find your friends and how to free them." Samus reactivated her Power Suit. "Of course, that's a big 'if'."

Rarity began to panic. She nervously looked around the room, and spotted a chest filled with gems. An idea quickly sprung to mind. Despite it being not very lady-like, she couldn't think of anything better. Her horn lit up and all the gems were suddenly levitated and thrown to Samus. The Hunter jumped to her side to avoid the incoming barrage, but the sheer amount of projectiles made it impossible. Samus was pelted by gems and thrown back. Rarity pressed her advance as much as she could. As Samus was beginning to stand up, she threw another volley of gems at her.

Samus groaned and got into the Morph Ball. She rolled out of most of the attack and boosted onto Rarity, who took the full force of the slam. Samus quickly got out the Morph Ball and grabbed the unicorn's horn. "We can't have you using this." she said as she began tightening her grip.

Rarity began screaming as Samus increased the force applied to her horn. Not long after, a crack was heard, and the unicorn screamed louder than ever. Samus had fractured Rarity's horn with her hand.

"MY HORN! YOU BROKE MY HORN!!!" wailed the fashionista.

"A minor fracture to keep you from using magic. It should heal in a week or so." said Samus, but Rarity's panic and screams made it hard to tell if she was heard. She quickly lost patience and shocked the mare with her taser.

As Rarity fell to the ground, another scream was heard. This one was more high-pitched than the fashionista's, and Samus looked around to find the source. A glance to the window revealed the source as Sweetie Bell, flanked on each side by her friends. She could see Apple Bloom hastily putting her hoof on Sweetie Belle's mouth to try and shut her up. They all looked at Samus with dread and, with the exception of Scootaloo, tears of terror. Samus turned her body to take a better look, but they all bolted out in horror.

Samus paid them no mind and began looking for something. After a few minutes she found what she was looking for and began to work. A few moments later, she finished her task. She turned to the knocked out mare and hoisted her up.

"Three down, three to go." Samus said to herself as she exited the boutique. A piece of paper was left on the table just in plain sight. She put Rarity on her shoulder and began her trek back to the junkyard. Thankfully, the building was just on the outskirts of town, so it wouldn't be difficult to avoid the townsfolk.

"Where is she?!" asked an impatient Rainbow Dash as she paced around the barn. She was accompanied by Applejack and Twilight Sparkle.

"Calm down, sugarcube." said Applejack, thought she was having a hard time trying to remain calm herself. "We said an hour. You know how Rarity likes to be 'fashionably late', right?"

"Calm DOWN?!" fumed the blue pegasus. "Applejack, SAMUS IS OUT THERE TO GET US! We can't just hide forever. We need to take her head-on if we want this to end."

"I have to agree with Rainbow Dash on this one, Applejack." said Twilight. "We should stick together. We don't know when Samus will strike."

"What do you propose we do then, Twi?" asked the farmer in a pleading voice. Twilight seemed to think for a moment.

"I suggest we wait for Rarity another ten minutes, just in case she shows up. If she doesn't, then we'll look for her. Together."

"Sounds like a mighty fine plan." nodded Applejack. Rainbow Dash groaned at the answer. "Take it easy, Dash. We can't just tackle the bull, here. This situation calls for more caution."

"I know! It's just that..." Rainbow Dash left her sentence hanging, and instead sighed.

"You're worried." concluded the earth pony. "Ah know. We all are. Trust me on that, sugarcube. But as Twili suggested, we can't just rush head first. You've seen firsthoof just what kinda fighter Samus is. Not to mention all those fancy weapons of 'er."

The doors of the barn suddenly shot open. The three mares jumped in fright at the sudden intrusion, but relaxed when they saw it was only the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Apple Bloom! Why aren't you in school?" Applejack scolded her younger sister.

Apple Bloom ignored her and rushed to hug her. Sweetie Belle did the same, almost knocking the mare over. Scootaloo showed a little more restrain, though her face clearly showed she was afraid. The mares' fears quickly returned when they saw the fillies were hysterically crying and trying to speak. Sweetie Belle was especially shaken.

"Girls? What happened?" asked Twilight. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle tried to calm down and speak, but found it impossible. The task fell to Scootaloo, who seemed to be less shocked than her friends, but nonetheless pretty scared.

"Samus killed Rarity!" the orange filly yelled, before she threw herself at Rainbow Dash and started crying as well. Rainbow Dash awkwardly hugged the filly and looked at Applejack for support.

"WHAT?!" asked all the grown mares.

"We saw her kill Rarity at her shop!" yelled Sweetie Belle.

"Calm down. I think you misunderstood something." Twilight tried to calm the fillies, though she was finding it hard to keep calm herself. "We need you to tell us exactly what you saw."

Once again, Scootaloo proved strong by releasing her idol and facing Twilight. She calmed a little and began speaking, although with the occasional sob. "We were passing by Rarity's shop when we (sniffle) heard her scream. We got close to a window to see what was happening when we (sniffle) saw Samus. She was holding Rarity down, and then Rarity screamed very loud. (sniffle) A little later, Samus punched Rarity with her weapon and Rarity fell on the floor."

"Hmm..." Twilight thought for a moment. "Did you happen to see anything on the tip of Samus's cannon?" she asked hopeful.
Scootaloo slowly nodded. "Yeah. There was a purple ball on the tip of her arm."

"Oh, thank goodness." sighed Twilight in relief.

"How is that good?" asked a confused filly.

"Samus just shocked her; Rarity is still alive!"

"You mean my sister is not dead?" asked Sweetie Belle, who seemed to calm down after listening to Twilight. "I can still see her?"

"That's it; I will deal with Samus now." declared Rainbow Dash. Before any pony could object, she shot straight for the barn's door and flew away.

"Consarnit, that fool!" yelled Applejack. "Can't she think things through for once?!"

"Applejack, stay here and take care of the girls. I will look for Rainbow Dash and bring her here. After that, we will begin making our plan of attack." ordered the librarian.

"Plan of attack? Twilight..."

"I'm afraid it's come to this. We better deal with Samus while there are still three of us. She can't beat us if we stick together!"

"Hate to break to ya, Twi, but she took out half the Royal Guard. What could we possibly do against her?" Applejack sounded desperate.

"I don't know..." answered Twilight. Applejack was about to speak, but the unicorn continued. "Just like I didn't know what to do when Nightmare Moon attacked. Don't forget that when we are together, we can do anything."

Applejack gave a small smile. "Ah reckon ye'r right. Let's get the rodeo started, then! Go bring the rainbow fool so we can start!"

"On it." Twilight exited the barn in haste.

"Good luck." said the farmer when she saw her friend go. She turned to see the three fillies. "We'll need it."

Samus walked into the junkyard with her burden over her shoulder. Thankfully, the white mare had been inert the whole way; though her taser had something to do with it. Regardless, she had arrived at the cage without a problem. Her two captives watched as she opened the lock and dropped Rarity inside without much care, but said nothing. They did tend to the unicorn once she was safe inside with them.

Samus gave a glance to the town. She turned back to the cage and produced a thick disk of metal with a small orb in the center from one of the piles of junk. With a leap, she got on top of the cage, where she welded the new piece into the roof of the cage.

"What is that? What are you doing?" asked Fluttershy.

"A custom-made grapple point for my ship." answered the Hunter while she continued her work. "I think this place has been compromised, so we are changing location."

"How are you going to carry us? You are super strong, but not that super strong." inquired Pinkie Pie.

"I'm not." Samus pressed some buttons on her cannon.

Soon after, her ship landed beside the cage. Samus got in and the ship hovered above the cage. From below the ship, a thick electrical wire lowered and attached itself to the new piece of the cage. The ship hovered a little higher, lifting the cage with it. Fluttershy squeaked in fright, while Pinkie Pie actually seemed to enjoy it.

The ship flew at a low altitude, just high enough for the cage to not touch the ground, but low enough to avoid the prying eyes of anypony who happened to look skywards. The mares inside could see their destination seemed to be the Everfree Forest, and fear soon began to creep inside them. To their relief, the cage was lowered on the outskirts of the forest, not quite inside it

The ship's Grapple Beam detached from the cage and retracted back to the ship. The hatch opened below the ship and Samus exited it, jumping and landing beside the cage. A few more button presses on her cannon and the ship flew away, cloaking itself on the way, and returning to its previous bombing position in standby. Samus watched it go before turning to the lock in the cage. In her scan visor, she activated another feature.

"I've activated an electrical defense. Anything touching the cage's bars will get electrocuted, so don't do it." Samus said.

"Why? It's not like we can break free." asked Rarity, who seemed to have woken up.

"It's not to keep you in; it's to keep others out." Samus explained as she motioned toward the forest with her head. The mares understood the reason. "Anyway, next stop: Sweet Apple Acres."

Rainbow Dash barreled through the Carousel Boutique's front door with anger in her features. She looked around, looking for any signs of her friends or her enemy. She found none.

"Wait up!" exclaimed Twlight Sparkle as she cough up with her flying friend.

"Ponyfeathers! We're late!" fumed the pegasus.

"It doesn't look like there was much struggle. Aside from those gems, that is." Twilight commented as she looked at the good conditions they found the boutique in. With the exception of all the gems on the floor, the place looked quite organized and clean. "What do you think happened?"

"Rarity wanted to avoid fighting. She was easy prey." answered Rainbow as she walked toward the table and looked at the piece of paper on it. Twilight approached her friends to see what she was talking about, and gasped when she saw the paper.

"It can't be." murmured the unicorn. Depicted on the paper were crude drawings of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The pictures representing Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity had been crossed out, leaving Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight.

"She got Pinkie and Fluttershy, too." said Rainbow Dash as she crumpled the paper. "And we're next."

Twilight put her foreleg on Dash's shoulder. "Come on, Dash. We need to go back to the barn and regroup with Applejack."

Samus sprinted toward the apple farm. Applejack had proven to be a level-headed pony with a lot more strength than her shape would suggest; if her encounter with the farmer were any indication. She would prove a bit tricky to capture, but Samus was nonetheless excited to fight the orange mare.

The Hunter stopped for a moment. Excited? She shook her head. She was on a personal mission, not a friendly spar. With her thoughts in order (somewhat), Samus continued toward her destination. After a few minutes of running, the barn of the Apples was visible. Samus proceeded to walk the rest of the way.

Samus was about to pass the barn and head for the orchards to search for Applejack, but her target's voice was heard from within the barn. This suited the huntress just fine.

"All right, Big Mac. Ah'll leave them in your hooves. Ah'll come back as soon as I find those two. Thanks for yer help." said Applejack with a small smile as she exited the barn with Big Mac and the three Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her smile transformed into a scowl when she noticed the armored human standing outside the barn. "YOU!"

"Greetings." was Samus's sarcastic reply.

"BIG MAC! TAKE THE GIRLS AND GET OUTTA HERE! NOW!!!" frenetically yelled Applejack. As soon as she noticed the stallion move towards the fillies, she lunged at Samus with a deadly intent. The huntress had to jump backwards to avoid the stomp.

"Go!" Big Macintosh ordered the fillies, who didn't need to be told twice. Without looking back, they jumped on their wagon, Scootaloo pulling it with her scooter, and got as far from the human as possible. They went into the orchards, out of sight.

"What are you doing?!" asked Applejack when she saw her brother stay by her side. "Go with them!"

"They'll be fine." said the stallion in his usual calmness, though anger could be heard in his voice. "She's here for you."

"True." said Samus.

"Go find your friends." Big Mac took a step and positioned himself between the huntress and his sister.

"Oh no, you don-"

"Now." the red stallion gave a look that left room for no arguments.

"I come for her. No reason to get involved." said Samus. Big Mac responded by kicking the ground with his foreleg in preparation for a tackle. "Suit yourself."

Big Mac galloped with the intent of trampling the Hunter. Samus opted to charge her taser and immobilize her obstacle. As they got closer, Samus jabbed the stallion with her taser. That done, she proceeded to calmly walk toward her original target. Samus gave a couple of steps before a strong impact hit her in the back and was sent flying several yards to the air.

Samus crashed with a loud thump on the ground. She got on her knees to see the red stallion standing strong, looking down at her with anger in his otherwise stoic gaze. She was very surprised to see the stallion move like he did after being tased, as if he were shock-proof. Before the huntress could stand up properly, another tackle sent her flying the way she came from. This time it was Applejack who attacked her. Big Mac gave Applejack a disapproving gaze, but the mare ignored it and put her attention on the Hunter. The stallion shrugged and did the same. Samus got up and saw brother and sister ready for a fight. She smirked under her helmet at the current development; this was going to be interesting.

Without waiting another moment, both Apples dashed at Samus. Samus leapt over both ponies and fired a missile at them. It exploded just in the space between the ponies, dividing the damage between them. Samus landed and immediately followed with several shots of her Power Beam, which the siblings barely avoided.

Applejack quickly recovered and ran toward Samus. The huntress responded with an uppercut, followed by one-two, and finally a roundhouse. She moved to press her advantage, but Big Mac cut her off with a back kick, which Samus barely dodged by turning into the Morph Ball. Samus rolled away and reverted to normal, further studying her opponents.

"I don't have time for this." said the Hunter. She charged and fired an Ice Diffusion Missile at Applejack. The mare tried to dodge, but the diffusion of the ice made it impossible, and she was frozen solid.

Samus wasted no time and rushed at Big Macintosh the moment the missile left her cannon. With momentum on her side, Samus tried to shoulder slam the stallion, but was surprised to see him stop her, rivaling her own strength. The two stood there for several moments, trying to overpower the other. After several seconds, Samus switched tactics and quickly put both her arms around the stallion's neck. With servos whirling loudly in her suit, Samus lifted and supplexed the red pony.

Big Mac attempted to stand up, but Samus kicked his midsection with brutal force. The kick forced the air out of the stallion's lungs, and he fell again. Not taking any more chances, Samus proceeded to brutalize the stallion while he was on the ground with fierce kicks and punches. Any limb that would look like it moved would be kicked, and his face was bombarded with heavy punches. The finisher was a leap, a spin in the air, and a powerful drop kick on the stallion's head. He stopped moving after that.

Samus turned her attention to Applejack's frozen statue. Cracks began to appear all around the farmer's ice prison. Soon, the ice broke and an enraged-looking Applejack stood. She even blew steam from her nostrils.

"You're dead meat." With a guttural growl, the mare lunged at Samus. Samus stopped the furious pony with her arms, but had a hard time avoiding the wild lashes Applejack gave with her forelegs.

Having had enough, Samus threw the mare to her side. She quickly switched from Power Beam to Battlehammer and shot the ground beneath Applejack. The explosive blast was enough to send her flying a short distance. Samus approached the mare and stomped on one of her back legs with great force. Applejack let out a scream as she felt intense pain course through her leg and writhed in her suffering; surely that injury would take some time to recover.

With her target incapacitated, Samus gave her a strong punch on the side of her head and Applejack stopped moving. Samus gave a tired sigh. She regarded the Element of Honesty for a moment before she picked her up and returned to the edge of the forest, where the other Elements awaited.

'We can't have dead ponies.' said a voice inside Samus's head. She stopped and looked at the beaten form of Big Mac. After confirming he was not dead with her scan visor, she continued her way. A certain giddiness was starting to from deep within her; she was close to her goal.

"Four down, two to go."

Rainbow Dash was flying toward Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight galloping close behind her. The unicorn mare was getting tired.

"Wait up, Dash! I can't run as fast as you fly!" said Twilight, panting.

"Hurry up, Twi! We don't have time to waste."

"I know. But we..." Twilight stopped talking when she spotted a zebra running towards them. "Wait, is that Zecora?"
Both Rainbow and Twilight stopped to meet with Zecora. After giving her a moment to regain her breath, the zebra started talking.

"It's nice to see the face of a friend. I'm afraid something terrible has happened."

"What happened?" asked Twilight.

"I saw that Fluttershy has been taken. We cannot let her be forsaken."

"Samus has already taken Pinkie Pie and Rarity, too. We must hurry to Applejack!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Just thinking about that monster makes my hooves itch." fumed the zebra. "I really want to teach a lesson to that b-"

"Not now, Zecora. We must hurry to Sweet Apple Acres. We can't let Applejack face this alone." said Twilight.

"We have lost enough time. Let's move!" said Rainbow Dash before she flew off to the farm. Twilight and Zecora looked at each other for a moment, before rushing off to follow their pegasus friend.

They arrived at the farm not long after. The first thing they noticed was the beaten form of Big Mac lying near the barn. The second thing they noticed was a distinct lack of Applejack. That second thing is what told them what had happened here.

"Damn it!" cursed Rainbow Dash as she slammed her forelegs on the ground. "We're too late."

Twilight and Zecora had joined the fillies in tending the unconscious stallion. "It looks like his wounds are not fatal. Still, we should take him to the hospital."

"I agree." said Twilight. "Rainbow, could you-"

"You and Zecora take him to the hospital. I'm going to find Samus and finish this now." Tears of fury were running down Rainbow Dash's cheeks.

"But Rainbow Dash!"

"Save it, Twilight. I'm going and that's it." Rainbow Dash took to the skies before the lavender mare could reply. Twilight watched her go with doubt in her face.

"You know where her loyalty lies. Have more faith in your allies" said Zecora as she approached the unicorn.

"I guess you're right. If someone can beat Samus, it's Rainbow Dash." Twilight looked at Zecora for a moment. "Come one. Let's get Big Mac to the hospital."

Between the two of them, they carried the red stallion to Ponyville, where he could receive medical attention. Neither of them noticed the three fillies hiding behind a nearby tree.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had witnessed everything from behind their hiding spot. Sweetie Belle has hugging Apple Bloom, who was crying after seeing Samus hurt her siblings. Scootaloo, partly at seeing her friends hurting and partly at seeing the determination in her idol's face before leaving, had decided to do something.

"We must help Rainbow Dash!" she declared.

Apple Bloom looked at her with fear. "She took down mah brother and sister! What could we do?"

"I don't know, but anything's better than sitting around doing nothing. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to help. I'm tired of being a chicken."

"I'll go too." said Sweetie Belle. "If we find Samus, we can find Rarity and the others."

Apple Bloom sniffled. "Ah guess yer right. Count me in." she said as sadness gave way to determination.

"Great! Now, let's go." said Scootaloo. The fillies got on the wagon, which Scootaloo began pulling with her scooter. Soon, they were following the direction the saw Rainbow Dash fly to.

Samus had returned, dragging Applejack with her. The three ponies inside the cage noticed a little blood trickling from the corner of Applejack's muzzle. As was done before, the mare was carelessly thrown into the cage once the lock was undone. She closed the door and locked it again. No one said anything.

Samus regarded her prisoners before walking near the edge of the forest, away from them. She walked for a while, making enough distance from the cage to avoid any collateral damage her next fight could cause. She looked to the sky in search of her next target. Sure enough, a rainbow trail was visible. Samus just needed to catch her attention; and she knew exactly what to do.

The huntress looked around. There was nothing alive nearby. Good. She entered Morph Ball mode and laid a Power Bomb. The massive explosion destroyed everything it reached, with the exception of Samus herself. She returned to normal and in the dirt drew an arrow pointing toward the nearby forest. With her message set, she proceeded to follow the arrow and wait for the polychromatic pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was flying around in a mad frenzy. That was not to say she wasn't paying attention to the ground below, for there was where she would find the object of her ire. She reached the edge of town and was about to turn around to scout the town again when a weird sound caught her attention. She looked down, near the edge of the Everfree Forest, and noticed an expansive explosion. She wasted no time and landed on the crater that the blast left behind. There, she noticed an arrow drawn in the dirt. She understood the message and rushed toward the forest.

As she flew past trees and bushed, an orange fist appeared out of nowhere and collided with her snout. The punch was strong enough to send her out of control and crash on the ground and bounce to a tree. She shook the cobwebs out of her head and leered at her attacker.

"Rash as always." said Samus as she approached. "Ready for a rematch?"

"GRAAAAHHH!!!" Rainbow Dash growled as she charged at the huntress. Samus just barely managed to dodge the attack.
"I WILL END YOU!"

Samus shot her Wave Beam at the pegasus. Rainbow Dash moved too fast for it, though; not even its homing feature proved useful. But just like last time, her attacks were easy to read. Samus toyed with Rainbow Dash for a moment, evading all her attack and barely making an effort to counterattack.

Rainbow Dash had had enough. She began flying in a tight circle, picking up wind and starting a tornado. Samus was surprised at the sudden change of tactic, but responded accordingly. She fired a couple of Magmaul rounds at the twister. The molten magma orbs were picked by the wind, and they detonated three seconds later. The powerful blasts disrupted the tornado and inflicted some burns on the blue pegasus.

Rainbow Dash fell to the ground with one wing sporting a black scorch mark. Samus walked over to her and placed her foot on the mare's back. "I was expecting a bit more from you."

"Let me go!"

"Remember when I said that your recklessness would get you or someone else killed?" asked Samus in a sinister voice. She grabbed one of Rainbow Dash's wings and began pulling. For the first time, Rainbow Dash seemed afraid of the Hunter.

Out of nowhere, a speeding object made its way toward Samus in an attempt to run her over. She couldn't see what it was because of the sheer speed at which it moved. Samus only had time to shoot her Power Beam at the attacking object once. The shot struck home and an orange thing was knocked out from the object, but it still struck Samus with all the momentum it had. The impact made Samus lose her footing, and Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to buck Samus out of the way. The Hunter crashed against a tree. She panicked when she heard Rainbow Dash's voice.

"Scootaloo! Speak to me!" Samus raised her head and saw Rainbow Dash hold an unmoving filly with her forelegs. Tears were now streaming down from the mare's face. Upon closer inspection, a scorch mark was visible in the Scootaloo's chest.

'I told you that you should NOT kill ponies. What have you done?!' screamed a voice inside the huntress's head.

"DAMN!" cursed Samus. She rushed over to where the two pegasus were.

"Get away from her!" yelled Dash, trying to protect the filly.

"Shut up." Samus delivered a roundhouse strong enough to send the mare flying several yards away. "THIS is what happens when you mindlessly rush onto things! This is your doing!" Samus lashed.

Rainbow Dash looked broken as Samus's words entered her mind. She froze and lost her focus. "My fault?" she whispered to herself.

"You're useless." said Samus. She quickly kneeled down and began inspecting the orange filly. She let out a massive sigh of relief when her Scan Visor picked up a faint heartbeat. It looks like the filly was not dead.

A loud, high-pitched scream quickly filled the area. Samus turned to the object that had crashed on her and realized it was a wagon attached to a scooter. Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had joined Scootaloo, it seemed, because they were still in the wagon, giving her gazes full of fear. She quickly figured out why they screamed.

"Listen up, you two. Your friend doesn't have much time. You have to take her to the hospital right away." Samus almost yelled at the fillies. They seemed to be paralyzed with fear. "NOW!!!" barked Samus when she saw neither of them moved.

The two fillies quickly regained their bearing after Samus exploded at them and followed the instructions. They picked up their fallen friend and rushed out of the woods and into town. Samus watched them go as they ran with all the speed they could muster. She turned to the shocked Rainbow Dash lamenting not far from her. Part of her reminded she still had a job to finish. She got up to her and tased the mare again. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground when she lost consciousness.

Samus deactivated her Power Suit and let herself fall on the ground. She brought both her hands to her face and exhaled loudly. "What am I doing?" she asked to no one in particular. Her hands moved to her forehead. Already she could feel a maelstrom of conflicting thoughts raging inside her head.

'I would do anything, no matter what. If it meant getting ___ back, I'd go to Tartarus itself if I had to. If there was only a miniscule chance of me getting him back, I'd take it. Whatever the price, I'd gladly pay it to make sure ___ stood by my side, safe and sound.' Twilight's words echoed through her mind above the rest of her thoughts.

"Whatever the price." Samus repeated softly. Her will quickly returned, and she grabbed the downed pegasus she just electrocuted and began to drag her as she returned to the cage's location. "Five down, only one more to go."

Twilight and Zecora were waiting for Doctor Stable's conclusion on Big Mac's condition. They were sitting in the hospital's lobby, trying not to die from anxiety. When the doctor entered the lobby, both mares went to him immediately.

"How is he?" asked a worried Twilight.

"All his injuries are from blunt trauma. Whatever attacked him was relentless, and it possessed monstrous strength. Thankfully, he is quite sturdy; he is not in any mortal danger. A blow on the head is what made him lose consciousness. All his injuries will heal in due time, so don't worry too much about him."

"Oh, thank goodness." Twilight sighed in relief. At least not all was bad news, she thought.

Her relief was short-lived. Rushing to the front doors were two fillies and a baby dragon, all carrying another filly. Twilight's color drained from her face when she saw Scootaloo wasn't moving.

"Doc, we need help NOW!" yelled Spike. "I don't think she's breathing."

Doctor Stable quickly yelled for a nurse. He was by the filly's side in an instant and checked for vitals. "She doesn't have much time. We have to stabilize her immediately!"

Doctor Stable took the filly and rushed to one of the rooms. A mask was put on the young pegasus's head and several machine were quickly connected. Her heartbeat was weak, as was shown by one of the machines. Nurse Redheart quickly joined the doctor in applying her medical knowledge.

"What happened?" Twilight asked the other two fillies and baby dragon when she saw Scootaloo was being treated.

"I don't know. I just found them rushing over to the hospital and decided to follow them. When I asked what was happening, they said there was no time." Spike answered through heavy breaths. He was just as shaken as the rest of the ponies and zebra present in the hospital lobby.

"Samus shot her." said Apple Bloom. She swallowed a lump in her throat and continued. "We followed Samus to find out where mah sister and Rarity were. We saw Samus and Rainbow Dash fight, so Scootaloo panicked and went faster to crash on Samus. She saw us and shot at us, but she only got Scootaloo."

"What was weird was that it looked like she didn't mean to." interjected Sweetie Belle. "When Samus saw what happened, she ordered us to bring Scootaloo here as soon as possible. Even under her armor, she looked concerned. I... I don't know what's going on anymore."

"Thank you for telling me this, girls." Twilight said with utmost seriousness. "Go home and rest. You have gone through a lot today. I'll take it from here."

"And I'm going with you." added Spike.

"Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous." said Twilight.

"If what Sweetie Belle says is true, then Samus is not fully evil. Please Twilight, let me go with you. I know there's more to this situation, and I want to find out what." Spike's determination left no room for arguments.

"You win. But if things get ugly, I want you to run as fast as you can and not look back. Do you promise me?" Twilight almost had tears in her eyes.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Spike made the motions of the Pinkie Promise.

"Good." Twilight hugged Spike. "I'm so proud of you."

"I'll join too, if it's okay with you." rhymed Zecora.

"Fine by me." said Twilight, her voice filling with determination. "It's time put an end to this."

The unicorn, the zebra, and the baby dragon made their way to the hospital's exit. Upon their exit, the first thing the trio noticed was five explosions above the edges of Whitetail Woods. It didn't take long for them to realize it was Samus. She was giving the librarian her location. Twilight was glad to attend the call.