**Author's Note: Going through some pictures I saved, I saved a particular work of fanart that I don't believe I shared when I said I would... and I feel terrible that I completely forgot about this work of art! So, I'd like to extend my apologies to 1998alberto for forgetting, and so, you're getting featured now, on the longest chapter of the story! Here is a logo he made as if it were a game... and I like it a lot! I hope you all do too!
Now, onto Chapter 26!!
Metroid Equis
Chapter 26
Connecting the Dots
[Starfall Fortress Outskirts]
Time: ~1 hour after the events of Chapter 25.5
"Princess, we're in position outside the sinkhole and are standing by," Constance spoke through the radio. The four Magickakorps troops were at ease on Starfall's outskirts by what looked like a natural, albeit gigantic, sinkhole in the ground. Looking over the edge revealed nothing but blackness, as if the pit that was easily over sixty feet in diameter was a pit to Tartarus itself.
"Confirmed. I am still attempting to figure out how this works, so do give me a few more moments. Thank you for your patience," Luna replied, currently still in the Preparation Chamber.
"Copy that. Have you found a way inside the Warhorse?"
"Indeed. Since it's piloted, there was an entrance on the 'back,' anatomically speaking. There are some odd appendages and I'm trying to figure out how they work in activating this contraption."
"Gotcha. We'll be holding he--"
"Got it! It's some kind of a magical and neural connection to the machine itself. I'm about to connect myself, soldiers. Stand by..." Luna interrupted with an epiphany. Constance, Starry, Windfire, and Radiance all waited anxiously as Luna's words immediately became staticky... and suddenly the line went blank.
"Princess?" Constance asked. Nothing.
"Princess Luna, come in..." Windfire spoke up. Still complete silence. Nopony said anything for an undetermined amount of time, though it seemed like an eternity. Did the process go wrong and kill Luna? That's certainly what the four were thinking, and silently hoping wasn't true.
"...Can you hear my voice?" a familiar, regal voice sounded through the radio. Everypony perked up immediately.
"Princess Luna?"
"Indeed! I apologize for keeping you all worrying, but the integration process was a bit weird. I'm honestly surprised that the radio still works... I know not why that is but I shan't look a gift hydra in the mouth," she spoke.
"Really? It actually works in tandem?" Constance curiously asked.
"Ehh... more or less. I may have told a tiny fib... for I'm transmitting my vocal thoughts via the radio uplink. Magic is glorious, is it not?"
"So... what now?" Radiance asked.
"This feels... quite odd, yet interesting nonetheless. It is like my consciousness has been transferred to the machine itself! This... this is remarkable!"
"Copy that, do you need us to find you?" Constance clarified.
"Negative. I shall come to you as originally planned. Stand by..."
They did just that, sitting on their haunches by this gaping hole, waiting. After a couple of minutes, there was a noticeable, rhythmic shake of the earth that was originating from below their position. The four looked at each other oddly (though their helmets obscured it) while the tremors became greater in intensity, the frequency never changing. It got to a point where whatever was moving was right under them, feeling the tremors work their way into their muscles and bones. After a brief lapse in seismic activity, they all perked up again at the sound of what would best be described as 'metallic movement,' followed by another decent sized tremor... then another, and another, and one more. Truth be told, none of the fearless Magickakorps troopers wanted to look into the massive, artificial sinkhole for they knew what was inside... and making its way up.
After waiting anxiously through even more of shaking earth (Starry's teeth started chattering involuntarily due to movement), a gigantic, metallic-silvery appendage reached out of the hole and got a hoof-hold over the edge, followed by another on the opposite side. They immediately became discernible as legs and hooves.
The four began to back up a bit apprehensively into greater tree density, giving the machine enough room to surface. With some more metallic movement and clanking later, the enormous hooves released their contracted positions, revealing the upper body of the Warhorse in all its glory, save for the fact that its four eyes were glowing teal blue, much like Luna's. As well, a proportional magical mane appeared on its head and the back of the neck, identical to Luna's ethereal mane. Getting a better grip with the hind hooves, the Warhorse hoisted itself up and out of the sinkhole, revealing an identical tail to complete the figure.
The Warhorse... the incredible, giant alicorn of metal and magic, was fully operational.
"Awesome!!!" Starry called out upward towards the mighty machine, where Luna was safely inside.
"Jeez... I can't believe it. It actually works..." Constance admitted.
"You might want to move around a bit and get a feel for it, Princess," Windfire suggested. The four of them fell in line to gaze upon their superior, superior in more ways than one. The Warhorse looked down upon them with the four-eyed gaze and double mouth... it even looked like it was breathing naturally!
"That is a wise idea... very well soldiers, let us test the Warhorse out," Luna's voice sounded off in their radios. The machine raised a hoof, took a look around, and then set it back on the ground with a gentle tremor of the earth.
"Alright, Princess... even though you were able to get out of there yourself, let's see some basic movements again. Try lifting all your hooves one by one," Radiance instructed, referring to the Warhorse and Princess Luna as one entity for clarity. The Warhorse responded by lifting its left hoof off the ground, like any pony would naturally in an act of trepidation, before setting it back down and repeating the simple task on the other three. Luna fancied a look at her hooves, and the Warhorse responded in kind.
Seeing her 'metallic' hooves and body was a bit off putting nevertheless. Inside the warhorse itself, Luna's true body was suspended in a simple, teal-colored magical field with an arm-like appendage connecting directly to her horn, while other similar devices held her body in place. Her face bore an expression akin to sleeping peacefully, and other than the necessary equipment 'operating' on the Lunar Princess, the internals of the machine were quite spartan, with plenty of space inside. Since her consciousness was transferred, her true form did not actually move the way she willed, and only the Warhorse responded to her physical commands.
"How does it feel?" Windfire pipped up.
"It feels oddly natural... although the height disparity is going to take some 'getting used to' as you say."
"Okay, now try simple movement. Show us an easy, standard walk," Constance took her turn with instruction. The Warhorse gave a nod and faced forward before beginning a gentle walk, as if enjoying the view. Of course, the four elite unicorns were forced to gallop along side the machine to keep up with it due to the sheer size difference. Keeping up through the foliage of the Everfree was easier said than done but it would be a little hard to lose the Warhorse among the trees. Each time one of its hooves hit the ground, it was accompanied by a gentle shake of the ground.
"This is riveting!" Luna spoke through the radio. She willed walking for a few more moments before coming to a stop, a hoof raised in a natural movement she was used to performing by habit.
"Princess! Rear up!" Starry almost pleaded. Luna chuckled inwardly and hunched down (the Warhorse followed in kind, and at this point, 'Luna' and 'the Warhorse' are one in the same), before raising her upper body off the ground and almost doubling her height. She flailed her front hooves a bit to add an extra intimidation factor to the rearing up before letting said hooves fall back to earth with an enormous tremor, enough where the four troops lost their footing and stumbled over each other.
"I don't even want to test trotting and galloping right now..." Windfire added with a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah that would probably be ill advised," Luna agreed.
"Then let's test weapon capabilities," Constance proclaimed with a business-like tone. "Try just calling upon magic?"
Luna did just that and found her horn light up as it should. As well, she felt her magic proportionally amplified to her size, so, for instance, if she could levitate a heavy stone with ease, the Warhorse could probably levitate a boulder fifty times the stone's size without strain. As a test, she uprooted a patch of trees and brought them up to her face to observe. Easy enough.
"So it looks like spells are amplified accordingly. Try conjuring your blade," Radiance suggested. Luna called upon her magic again, her extraordinarily long horn lighting up again, and summoning a magical blade about as long as her barrel, easily surpassing a decent amount of Everfree trees in terms of length. She twirled it around expertly before dissipating it.
"Lastly, try simple hard-magic fire," Constance added again. Luna lit her horn up again and fired four standard bolts of hard magic, though the result was like firing a high-powered magical cannon akin to what could be found in Starfall Fortress proper.
"Amazing... simply amazing. We'll test more later; we're short on time," Constance conceded.
"The Space Pirates are in for a biiiiig surprise..." Starry darkly alluded. Right then, the Warhorse's eyes went gray and the leg joints stiff, while the mane and tail disappeared. Moments later, a hatch on the back opened outward and Luna herself appeared, face covered in some sweat, before waving and yelling down at her troops:
"Now, let's figure out how we're going to move this northward undetected... and where..."
"...Forgive me, Your Highness, but you don't know where you want this, let alone how to transport it?"
"I never believed we would get this far, honestly."
[The Crystal Empire]
Present Time
The Crystal City of the Crystal Empire was gorgeous, Samus had to give credit where credit was due. However, the Royal Crystal Palace was something else entirely. To her, it appeared as if the entire structure was composed of a giant diamond by it sheer reflectiveness. The details were completely perfect, and even the geometry was awesome. True to a crystal's nature, nothing was "rounded," rather every structure, including, of course, the palace, was purely jagged in the most regal definition of the word. Samus could not stop moving her head in different directions to get a complete view of her setting.
"Samus, shall we move on?" Luna asked, stepping next to the armor-clad Hunter and taking her out of her imaginative stupor. The latter unequipped her suit in an instantaneous bright flash of light.
"Yup."
With that, the royal sisters took their places next to each other with Samus in tow. Four Magickakorps soldiers took positions on either side of the trio. As they began the short trek to the main entrance, Samus's peripheral vision spied some movement between the residential structures. Fancying a closer look, she found a normal earth pony mare... save for the fact that her coat was absolutely pristine and radiant... like it was made of crystal. Samus locked eyes with the mare, whose eyes widened in response and she subsequently tucked tail.
"They're Crystal Ponies," Celestia spoke out, as if she could sense Samus's conflicted thoughts and emotions (she technically could to some extent). "They are like us in many ways, and yet in many ways, different. The obvious being their coats having the metallic, shiny sheen that they do."
Samus didn't respond, continuing to look around as they reached the main stairs. As they began to ascend, she noticed dozens more of these Crystal Ponies peek their heads out from alleyways, homes, businesses, et cetera... curiously eying the new entity whom they have never seen before. It got to the point where Samus didn't want to crane her neck backward, and they reached the main double-doors at the Palace entrance, guarded by two Crystal Guards.
"They're waiting in the throne room, Your Highnesses," the right-most guard spoke in a medium-pitched, accented voice.
"Thank you," Celestia responded as the doors opened for them. They wasted no time in entering through the enormous double doors, Samus facing forward and retaining her trademarked stoic gaze. The Crystal Guards fancied an odd look as she walked past, but the last two Magickakorps soldiers stopped and returned their gaze through their faceless helmets... the reaction being immediate as the two Guards instantly faced forward again.
Once inside the palace proper, the group continued to make their way straight until they came to yet another set of double doors, which Celestia took the liberty of opening herself. Samus was greeted with the throne room, the ceiling which reached the apex of the palace itself and as shiny as the purest glass. Tapestries and banners bearing the flag of the Crystal Empire as well as murals depicting several iconic instances in the Empire's history lined the perfectly carved crystal walls.
Samus paid the rest of the group no heed as she continued to admire and gaze upon the decor. Ultimately, her eyes settled on a particular piece, to which she decided to get a closer look. Breaking off from the main group, she came to eye level with a glass mural of what looked like Spike grabbing a crystalline heart while the entire Crystal City watched. Judging on why it was a commemorative mural, Samus could only infer that he saved it.
The little guy's a hero.... huh.
"I like this one a lot," a new, feminine, unfamiliar voice sounded off right next to Samus, drawing the Hunter immediately out of her exploratory stupor. Turning her head to her right, there stood another alicorn, about as tall as Luna, except that this one was pink in coat, with a long flowing mane of purple, magenta, and gold. Her own gaze was still glued to the mural. "Spike conquered adversity when Twilight was physically unable. The Empire, and myself, are in his debt," she finished with a sigh of genuine gratitude.
"Never thought he had it in him," Samus casually commented in return. Cadance giggled.
"The little one loves Twilight dearly. He'd do anything to protect her and between you and me, Spike would follow her to his death," the newcomer replied, as if casually shooting the breeze with the Hunter.
"So it would seem." Cadance faced Samus properly.
"I'm Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of Love and of the Crystal Empire, although please, 'Cadance' is preferred. You must be the famous Hunter that Celestia and Luna speak so highly of," she presented her right hoof while making eye contact with the blonde-haired human.
"Samus Aran. Pleasure." She reciprocated the gesture, taking Cadance's hoof in her right hand and giving a firm shake. The alicorn had a determined but welcoming grin on her face, which was soon replaced with one of curiosity.
"I must say, your eyes are... quite interesting," Cadance commented on Samus's reptilian/cat-like eyes.
Goddammit.
"They're not my natural eyes... and it's a long story. One I'd rather not get into at the moment." Cadance gave a sensible chuckle.
"Very well, although I'm sure it's a very entertaining one."
"...You could say that, I guess." It appeared Celestia and Luna had not told Cadance too much, or she was just being coy. Cadance grinned again.
"Come, let's rejoin the others. You also need to meet my husband," the pink alicorn beckoned the blonde-haired Hunter, the latter falling into step with a professional, comfortable distance between the two.
"I take it your husband is Prince of the Crystal Empire?" Samus asked, still keeping her stoic gaze forward and on their destination: Celestia, Luna, and an unknown unicorn of the same coat-color as Celestia.
"Technically yes, but he doesn't really enjoy the title. He still wishes he could go by Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard."
The pair finally made it back to the main group. The Magickakorps troops stood by at random positions around the throne room.
"Nice of you to rejoin us," Luna said sarcastically with a subtle grin.
"So you're the famous warrior that came from beyond the stars. " the new unicorn addressed Samus with a professional but friendly attitude. To her, he sounded similar to a typical Federation University frat boy... and it was sort of amusing. He wore what looked like a bright red military officer's suit, which perfectly complemented his blue hair and white coat. He wore no other regal attire unlike Cadance, but no one seemed bothered by it. Merely an observation.
"In a sense, yes," she replied indifferently, shifting her weight onto her right leg.
"Well, anypony that's a friend of the Princesses and Twilight is a friend of mine. I'm Shining Armor," he raised his hoof out and Samus shook it with her right hand.
"Samus Aran. So, what're we discussing today?"
"Straight to the point it is. It's time to discuss the current... situation," he began the conversation.
"How does the Crystal Empire currently fare?" Celestia asked first. Shining Armor took a deep breath and let out a lengthy sigh.
"Surprisingly well given the circumstances. There's the Phazon which you've all brought me up to speed on thanks to Samus here... and to put it simply it's everywhere out there. It's one of the main reasons we've quarantined the entire empire with the shield. The meteor struck about a dozen miles northwest but the Phazon has spread all over the Frozen North region as well as underground. Based on some reports, it looks like there are new deposits forming underneath the Empire itself, but oddly enough, the walkable ground is clear within a few mile radius of us." Cadance then cut in:
"As well, the Space Pirates have fortified positions within the Frozen North, close to large deposits of Phazon. We can't confirm positions due to quarantine, but it looks like the Federation entity you've mentioned, Princesses, is combatting them."
"Yeah. The Pirates are looking to harvest the substance for energy, among other things," Samus confirmed, listening intently.
"I see. There hasn't been any aggression as of lately, but that might have changed without the intervention of the Federation. Still... I'm not entirely certain that we're completely safe," Shining added, shifting on his hooves with uncertainty... and uncertainty was not the only thing killing him softly. "... and I heard Twily was involved in an incident. Is she okay?"
"She is well, Shining, albeit still shellshocked. I spoke with her personally at length, along with Celestia. Her actions saved the lives of her and her friends nonetheless," Luna attempted to assuage Shining's concerns.
"I just hate that I couldn't have been there for her..."
"No need to worry. She and the rest of the Elements will arrive here in a couple of hours, so you may ask her about her well-being yourself," Celestia took her turn with assurances.
"Then... there's the Changeling problem," Cadance added. Celestia and Luna both perked up.
"Here as well?"
"Indeed. Guards on patrol before quarantine reported many confrontations with Changeling drones. Reports indicated they were attempting to gather Phazon from deposits. Many of them died just attempting to transport the substance. What they're using it for is a complete guess."
"Have they attacked the Crystal City?" Luna asked. Shining Armor shook his head.
"No. They've surprisingly kept their distance. They're ignoring us unless we get too close... which is why I don't like this, and I don't think it will stay that way forever."
"We've dealt with issues in Equestria proper and my troops are currently working in tandem with Federation forces to retake major cities and junctions captured by the Space Pirates, and then dealing with the Phazon removal. The source of the substance stemmed from the impact site and spread rapidly, although we can contain the Phazon after the aforementioned operations have ended in success," Luna explained.
"Then we have the Changeling Problem, the Space Pirate Threat, and the Phazon Threat, in which the former two tie in with the latter. This is where you come in, Samus," Celestia turned her attention towards the Hunter, who was standing with her arms crossed.
"How can I help?" she asked stoically.
"We will update you as information comes in, but this is what we have to go on as a tentative plan: We need to see if we can deal with the Space Pirate threat and Changelings almost simultaneously. The Federation will provide us support to the extent of Pirate footholds in the region and the rest of Equestria and the world, so our troops, Federation forces, and the Griffons will deal with fighting them on the front lines for now. The latter entity has decided to commit forces, as Space Pirates have encroached on the Griffon Empire's territories. I apologize if this is rather vague," Celestia explained in detail. Luna then took over:
"As for the Changelings, our knowledge is fairly limited on their whereabouts and intentions, so you may use your best judgement on how to deal with them should you encounter them. I need not reiterate their capabilities to you, or their magic potential."
"Nope, I got it."
"Excellent. You'll be free to explore all of the Crystal Empire and the surrounding Frozen North. I'll draft a press release to ensure that you don't get harassed by the population, but don't expect a friendly welcome just yet," Cadance pointed out.
"I'll get on it, then... but what about the shield? I'm pretty sure I can't just walk right through it," Samus inferred, eager to get on with the show.
"You'd actually be vaporized immediately," Shining Armor added with a pinch of sarcasm. Samus subtly chortled.
"What about a spell like you cast on the dropships? Can you perform the same magic on me?" the Hunter asked with a gentle animation of her right hand.
"Unfortunately not. The effect would not be permanent and there would be no telling when it would wear off. You would either need to cast it yourself, which is not possible considering your current magical expertise, or have the ability inherent in your own form," Luna explained. This left Samus in a pickle... she was free to explore yet there were physical boundaries. The job simply would not be able to be completed.
"Then... is there another option?" Samus asked curiously yet impatiently. By her allies' tones, she could tell that something was missing. Cadance grinned a tad.
"We had already foreseen this problem well before you came here, so once the Princesses notified us of a temporary plan, as well as how your battle suit worked, we began working on something for you." On cue, two Crystal Guards approached with an enchanted box of some sort, very much like how the Elements of Harmony were transported. Upon setting it down and opening it, out floated a three-dimensional rendition of Samus's 'runes' insignia, gently twirling in the air, bearing a teal color and a familiar sheen oh so common to the Crystal Empire.
A new suit...?
Samus looked up towards Cadance and Shining armor with a curious expression, brow raised and everything; the two took that as the cue to continue:
"With the help of Princess Celestia and Luna, we were able to magically construct this suit of armor for you... it will surely protect you and be more suited to the environments of the Crystal Empire and Frozen North, among other benefits," Cadance continued. Shining Armor picked up where she left off:
"And the best warrior needs only the best equipment. This suit's compatible with all your current technology." He then moved out of the way and beckoned Samus straight into the floating power-up; the others moved back a few steps to give her space. With only a few seconds-worth of hesitation, Samus stepped forward and grasped the floating magical energy, letting it diffuse through her entire body.
The effect was immediate, and her Astral Suit equipped itself before she slowly rose into the air. Shining Armor himself was very impressed by her armorsuit but kept his comments to himself as he and the others watched the process about to take place. Like she had done many, many times before, Samus let her arms be raised and her legs be spread just a bit while the energy bound to her and altered her suit's makeup, closing her eyes and taking deep, relaxing breaths in the process. Several seconds later after her entire form was eclipsed in golden light, the magic exploded outwards and her form was gently placed on the ground with a telltale click of her boots.
Opening her eyes, Samus's armor-color was changed from navy-blue to teal, the red parts of her original Varia Suit returned, and the deep golden modules of the Astral Suit remained. As well, her suit's pauldrons were no longer dodecahedral but rather were wide, angled, and jagged on the top, much like over-formed crystals and her suit accent, which included her visor and the systematically placed lights on her 'body' were sapphire. All other extremities like her kneecaps and elbows were more jagged and pointed. Finally, her entire form had a brilliant sheen upon it that glittered majestically in all angles of light, much like that of the Crystal Ponies themselves.
[Crystal Suit Acquired!]
[The Crystal Suit further augments the abilities of your Varia Suit. The hardness of the crystal material adds significant boosts to your defensive shielding as well as overall suit integrity. As a result, your suit can withstand much more punishment before being physically pierced. The crystal itself is highly magical and also adds significant magical resistance while strengthening the potency of your own magical abilities. Said magical properties of the Crystal Suit allow you to draw energy and missile ammunition from certain types of crystals found in the natural environment which may be destroyed by magical means. Finally, the Suit will allow you to transcend magical barriers without risk. All other abilities inherent with the Varia and Astral Suits retroactively apply.]
Samus was impressed... very impressed actually. The new abilities afforded to her would make things progress quite smoothly in the field. Of course, it did not bother her that she loved the look of her suit right now. Quickly pulling up her suit schematics, she found, to her dismay, that the suit did not unlock any of the incompatible items. With a silent huff of irritation, she closed her schematics and returned to her combat visor.
"Wow... just... you look absolutely amazing," Celestia commented. The suit truly was a beautiful work of art.
"As always, Cadance and Shining Armor, you have outdone yourselves," Luna also had a few words, eyeing Samus's form up and down and walking in a gentle circle around her.
"It looks so much better on you rather than just floating in magical space," Cadance added. Samus fancied a few looks at herself and was more than satisfied with how things played out. True to their word, none of her current technology conflicted with the new suit, save for the already incompatible items she possessed.
"Thank you... very much," Samus finally spoke, conveying her gratitude perfectly through her tone. Cadance and Shining both bowed their heads respectfully in acknowledgement, smiles on both of their faces.
"It was our pleasure, Samus. Now, you're free to come and go as you please and are free to leave whenever you wish. Help yourself to any food in the dining hall and any supplies you may happen to need in the armory, although I'm sure that won't be the case due to what you already have on you. The four of us must continue drawing up plans for how we're going to deal with the evolving scenario, so we'll leave you to what you seem to do best," Cadance had the last words. Princess Luna and Celestia bade the Hunter their own farewells for the time being and fell into step with Cadance and Shining, Luna's troops quickly falling into their respective steps.
Soon Samus was alone in the middle of the throne room, with nothing more than herself, her suit, and a broad task given to her.
Just the way she preferred it.
Fancying a quick look around, she swung her arm cannon a tad and raised it to a passive level where she could see the barrel in her visor and proceeded to move towards the castle exit. With little else making any noise, the grand throne room echoed with the metallic clinks of her boots against the ground. There was only so much she could do at the given time based on the available information... and she was given freedom on exploring so being completely honest, she was not in that much of a hurry.
Once she got to the entrance of the castle and stared down at the Crystal Empire in all its glory, she placed her hand upon her helmet to check her map data. Like she remembered, her map was updated since she arrived in Equestria and the Princesses gave her maps of the entire known country and pieces of surrounding nations. So, with full map data of the area, she was more than ready to get started.
Taking the first few steps down the palace entrance, she pondered where to go first, as a brief look at the map revealed nothing too terribly interesting at first. Fancying another look, there was an area marked as Crystal Plaza that seemed to stand out more than anywhere else. So, it was decided. Once Samus reached the bottom of the steps, she took a quick look around, being able to enjoy the scenery around her for just a little bit... even if a massive aerial battle raged on (though the shielding's effect added opacity which simulated a somewhat blue sky, though cloud coverage was quickly rolling in). A few of the Crystal Ponies who had dared wander the streets around this time froze in their tracks to see the metal-clad being that graced their presence. Samus took the time to gather some information:
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Morphology: Crystal Pony]
[Subspecies of the Equine genome. Crystal Ponies and standard Ponies are essentially identical save for their natural crystal sheen which is inherent to their very being. Created by the special magic within them, the trait is purely hereditary in a magical sense, and many standard ponies have successfully bred with Crystal Ponies to produce Crystal hybrid offspring, as the trait is quite coveted. It is also worth noting that Crystal Unicorns have a slightly more potent magical ability compared to an average unicorn.]
Samus dismissed the scan visor and continued on her way, leaving the pony that was the target of her scans a bit confused (and frightened) as to why this creature of metal was seemingly staring her down. The latter shrugged and continued on, while the Hunter walked down the miraculously paved road, surveying the architecture that she was somewhat fond of. She still kept her even pace as she trod along, the most prominent noise being her own boots as usual.
The sound of a window opening to her upper right drew her attention, and she stopped to look while reflexively raising her cannon... not to a threatening level but just in passive preparation. Another crystal pony was getting some air into their residence and he, upon seeing the familiar crystal sheen of Samus's suit, did not feel particularly threatened by her presence. He cast her a small, friendly wave of his hoof. Samus responded in kind by tipping her cannon to her helmet.
It did not take very long to reach Crystal Plaza. In fact, it took her about five minutes of walking. The region and city itself was impressive, but Samus kept asking herself how this entire city was considered an ‘empire.’ Everypony referred to it as the ‘Crystal Empire.’
But it’s not. It’s… a friggin' city.
More accurately it was a city; separate from Equestria… a sovereign city, or a city-state. But an empire? Please, Samus did not really feel the title was apt at all. Nevertheless, she could debate semantics with the ponies later. For now, she was curious about this ‘Crystal Heart,’ and it was not hard to spy the blue-hued, angular object, as it was perfectly in the middle of the plaza; which was really a rather nicely glorified park. About a dozen crystal ponies were hanging out, doing their best to catch a break despite the circumstances.
Samus caught a few wayward stares of curiosity as she made her way towards the floating heart. As she got within a few paces of it, she saw that the heart was ever so slowly twirling counterclockwise as it lay suspended in the air, and whatever magic it was generating was being shot up in a continuous beam of blue light towards the top of the shield.
Ahh, it’s generating the shield.
From what Celestia and Luna had told her about Cadance and Shining Armor, the latter had quite the knack for defensive magic; shielding, in particular. Shining Armor had to constantly recharge the shield that defended Canterlot before the Changeling invasion and Cadance had to constantly keep her horn casting… so Samus did have some degree of wonder as to how the shield was staying up. Now she had her answer. What could scan data reveal?
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Artifact: Crystal Heart]
[Extremely powerful magical artifact. The entire extent of the Crystal Heart’s power is truly unknown, although its track record in terms of potency is indisputable. Scans indicate a magical presence similar to that of the Elements of Harmony, as the Crystal Heart emanates and absorbs the power to protect and cleanse, among others. It is currently powering the shield which is protecting the Crystal Empire from outside threats, including the Space Pirates and from Phazon spreading.]
Samus dismissed the last bit of information but before she was to switch back to her combat visor, she noticed that the spire the Heart was ‘on top of’ contained some writing… too small for her to lean in and read, so she opted to have the lore brought up to face-level:
[Here stands the pylon whereupon the Crystal Heart rests. From the Age of Tyranny of Sombra to whatever age of indubitable prosperity lies ahead, let this artifact protect all within its domain with the love and power that defines, in entirety, the Crystal Ponies.]
Poetic. Hm.
She decided to sit casually on one of the rather small benches and enjoy the small scenery afforded to her before she got moving again… Samus did not need too much time; ten minutes was plenty. She then moved on from the Plaza and eventually made her way to the shield section that would ‘transport’ her to the western area of the Frozen North. As much as she enjoyed exploring a new environment that was not particularly hostile to her presence, Samus did admit to herself that it was necessary to continue onward and deal with the threats at hand, as swiftly as she could given the current constraints. Even so, she managed to kill about thirty-five minutes in total, which was a lot of time in a small area for her to explore, considering the fact that she could navigate from Tallon Overworld, to the Chozo Ruins, through Magmoor and arrive at Phendrana in twenty back on Tallon IV. Thirty if she took her time.
Samus finally reached the city’s outskirts after about another fifteen minutes of taking the long way navigating the streets, ending up right where the blue-hued shield came to an end. The imposing magic stared her in the face, but she knew she could cross through it without incident.
Her suit said so, after all.
Still, she decided to scan anyway:
[Transport to Frozen Overworld, step through shield.]
Steeling her resolve, Samus stepped right into the thick shield and walked right through, like nothing was even there; it was almost anticlimactic. She fancied a look back and found the Crystal City still safely protected from whatever lay on the outside.
Turning back around on her heels, she took a good look around at this Frozen Overworld, spying nothing but snow, ice, and other assorted crystals that formed hills, mountains, and the overall terrain in odd combinations of the aforementioned elements. All was white, save for certain crystals and the parts of mountains that were not covered by snow. A gentle snow was falling while sparse arctic critters moseyed around, reminding her much of her time in Phendrana on Tallon IV.
Taking a few tentative steps forward, she could feel her heels sink into the plush snow, the sound of the slush being compressed underneath her boot was somewhat refreshing for her. Deciding to relish in it, Samus placed her left hand under her helmet on the right side and lifted it off, giving a gentle shake of her head as it came off, her hair whipping just a little. She used her hand to move some of her wayward hair behind her ear, again letting the two locks frame her face as she liked it… she then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the cold, frozen air chill her lungs, before exhaling, her breath easily visible leaving her mouth, as well as her nose through her steady breathing.
Samus held her helmet under her arm for a while, just relaxing a bit in the fresh air of a new environment. Truth be told, she was happy to be out of Ponyville for now. Now, she could safely say she was in the exact area where she needed to be. The Space Pirate’s ground forces were being pushed out of mainland Equestria and were making their stand here in the North, if their fierce resistance was anything to go by. That would also mean she would inevitably have to confront Ridley again… That could be dealt with in time with Federation assistance, but there still existed the Phazon and the Changeling problem. Taking a moment to analyze what she knew, Samus kept trying to connect the dots in multiple scenarios.
The Space Pirates are just being themselves… attempting to mine the Phazon and enslave or eliminate the local populations. Just as they always have…
Cloud cover had rolled in, as evident by the light snowing that had begun, obscuring the aerial and space battle above that undoubtedly continued to rage on; one less thing to depreciate the scenery.
But the Changelings are attacking everyone… as well as harvesting Phazon. But for what?
[Incoming Scan Data…]
Samus’s suit notification brought her out of her thoughts immediately. Her systems must have obviously picked something up, so she placed the helmet right back on her head and accepted the notification.
[Hive-like activity detected within high-radiation zones. Investigate hive-like behavior.]
Her map then pulled itself up and showed, relative to her current position, the place in question: the Frozen Lakebed. Judging its location, Samus concluded that this would be a decent journey, where the destination lay through the mountain pass just ahead. With a plan already laid out for her, Samus raised her cannon to passive level and began the trek anew. Things became more interesting when she passed by a few crystal formations, one of them dark blue and the other crimson: the former towering above her form and the latter short and stubby, but having many lattices jutting upward. Samus would have normally passed them by but her visor notated them as something of interest. So, she decided to scan them:
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Object: Energy Crystal]
[Energy-filled crystalline structure. Due to abundant magic inherent within Equis, if the conditions are right, crystals tend to sprout up naturally and rather quickly, large formations being able to form as fast as a week’s time. Certain crystals draw certain types of energy out of the magical field, and said magic may only be harnessed by destroying the crystal (in part or all) by magical means. Attempt to use your standard weaponry will only result in absorption or deflection. This particular Energy Crystal absorbs pure magical energy that traditionally has a purpose of supplying life-giving magic typically used in casting healing spells. Destroy the crystal and absorb the pure magic it releases to replenish your energy tanks.]
Samus was eager to test this out because depending on where she was, she could have an extra reserve of energy from the environment… she should only be so lucky. She lifted her cannon straight out and aimed at the large crystal, but right when she was about to fire, she realized her power beam would not work in this case. Only magic-based weaponry would work.
Alright, sure.
Her arm cannon lit up brightly as it switched to the Night Beam. Aiming once more, she fired three shots, only to have the crystal glow brighter each time one of the shots hit it, and unfortunately it easily absorbed her rounds without so much as any visible damage done. She was about to try a charged shot, but something else came to mind.
Riiight…
The barrel of her cannon slid open and she armed her missiles, but she had to remember that her missiles had been stacked with anti-magic properties. It was worth a try. Aiming at the crystal once more, she fired a single missile. The concussive blast exploded with a bright teal event horizon and consequently the crystal fractured and exploded quite easily, releasing its internal magic and having it coalesce into floating dark-blue, red, and cyan balls of pure magical energy, one each. They had some transparency, much like what she had seen in her past adventures. She scanned each one in that order:
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Research: Small Energy]
[Will replenish 5% of total energy capacity.]
[Research: Medium Energy]
[Will replenish 12% of total energy capacity.]
[Research: Large Energy]
[Will replenish 20% of total energy capacity.]
Samus used her own magic to draw the energy into her, and they easily absorbed into her suit. Since she already was at maximum energy capacity, nothing really special happened. Her gaze turned downward towards the somewhat stumpy-looking crimson crystal formation.
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Object: Weapons Crystal]
[Weaponized magic-based crystal. These natural crystals were debatably more vital than Energy Crystals during the Griffon-Equestrian wars and Crystallian-Equestrian wars of the past, as they supplied magical stimulants which would replenish essential magic needed to cast offensive spells. Although often differing in appearance relative to Energy Crystals, they work and thrive in identical fashions. Destroy the crystal and absorb the pure magical energy it releases to replenish your ammunition.]
Not a moment later, the crystal exploded in an anti-magic burst, scattering pieces of the lattice in every direction and leaving and leaving a bright orange ball of energy in its wake.
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Research: Small Ammo]
[Will replenish 5% of all weapons ammunition.]
Nice.
She drew in the pickup with her kinesis beam and, as expected when the magic diffused into her suit, the two missiles that she used to break apart the crystals were instantly replaced and she was at full capacity once more. With this revelation, now the ability of field-resupply was completely feasible. Samus took a look at her surroundings again and looked out in each direction as much as her vision let her. There were countless crystals of these varieties scattered all over the region, albeit some were hidden under the snow cover or were crystallizing in interesting places.
Samus continued onward, picking up here pace just a little. Based on her map, there was a loose path that she could follow, as this lakebed appeared to be an attraction of some sort… at least before the meteor struck. According to her map data from the Crystal Empire, she could follow a loosely traversed road that went through the north of this open plane, through a mountain pass, and then down a hill where the Lakebed would be plenty visible by that time.
Two miles came and went but it might as well have been ten or twenty considering the terrain. The snowfall had accumulated and Samus could not physically see the Crystal Empire behind her… but to be fair she had descended into a small valley where a frozen river lay still on the top layer, the fish still swimming below. Scans had detected trace elements of Phazon within the water, so Samus inferred that this river must have come from the lake, as it was the origination of the highest radiation levels in the area. Following the river led her straight to the second landmark that her map had indicated: Crystal Pass.
She was starting to have doubts on the ‘Lakebed being an attraction’ idea when she came across what appeared to be a statue of some sort right before she was poised to enter the mountain pass.. She almost missed it, as it was covered by snow and almost frozen over, but with some effort on her part to remove the snow, it looked as if it was a statue of some creature… she could not entirely tell what it was, as a good portion of it was broken off, but from the looks of it, it had more than one head. It looked like a dragon of some sort but then again it did not… Samus was not really sure what to make of it.
[This statue appears to have no use for anything in the area. Possibly used as a warning to travelers.]
Oh, that’s perfect.
Samus shrugged it off and continued to wander forward, the snowfall picking up a bit, though not uncomfortably so. It was, however, enough to obscure a large figure with orange cybernetic eyes from her immediate vision and situational awareness. Said figure was perched on top of the highest ‘mountain’ in the area and watched the Hunter wander through the pass.
Things were going nicely until Samus picked up some seismic activity while moving through the pass. Once she isolated it, she was able to dodge backwards and avoid getting crushed under snow and rocks form a small-grade avalanche within the pass… however it blocked the most direct route to the Frozen Lakebed.
“Oh for f…,” Samus spoke out loud, looking up at the towering wall of snow and rocks that blocked her way. There was no way she was going to go out and around the small set of mountains… so she’d simply go over the blockage… but how to do that. She could only keep up the space jump for so long moving vertically, but it was worth a try, since the pass was narrow enough. She stepped back a bit and decided to start her glorified wall-jump on her right hand side. She turned on her heels right and backed up against the wall behind her to get as much room as she could, and then she ran at the wall in front of her. Samus jumped as high as she could and had her feet make contact against the wall perpendicular to the somewhat snow-covered ground. She immediately propelled herself off with a grunt of exertion and entered into a somersault, letting her heels perfectly contact the opposite wall. However, right when she was going to propel herself off a second time, only then did she realize that ice had been lining the wall, as her propulsion caused both her heels to slip upward.
“WOOAHH!”
Her back and helmet hit the wall hard and she immediately dropped about a dozen feet to the floor, yelling out in a feminine, undignified manner the entire couple-seconds down and hitting the ground back-first with a pained grunt and a metallic clang. The sensation of vertigo persisted for a little while and Samus opted to lie on her back for a few moments, considering she was outrageously dizzy from the spectacle. She definitely was not going to do that again.
Sonovabitch…
After some convincing, she bounced back up on her feet and looked up to where she had to go. It was obvious that wall jumping was not going to get her anywhere, save seriously injured if she kept it up. Looking closely at both walls of the pass, she found ledges which looked like they jutted out just enough for her to grab onto. Samus brought her left, armored-hand up to her visor, clenching and unclenching her fingers a few times.
Power-Grip, don’t fail me now!
The closest one was on the left-hand wall, so she bounded up to the right wall, contacted with her feet, and then wall-jumped off before somersaulting once and grabbing the particular ledge with her hand. She prepared for the worst but the little rock ledge held firm. Samus used her arm cannon for some extra leverage and looked to the other side of the wall, finding yet another suitable target to grab onto. With a couple of heaves back and forth, Samus wall-jumped again, expertly grabbing onto the somewhat smaller but equally stable rock ledge with her hand. From there, she allowed herself to dangle a bit and surveyed her progress. Only about twenty feet up by her estimates, and the blockage was easily higher than that. However, there was a problem: the next ledge that she could have any hope of grabbing onto was well out of her jump range.
Samus huffed in irritation as she was literally ‘hanging in there.’ But maybe her salvation did not lie within the parallel wall, but the blockage itself. Samus craned her neck to let herself see over her left hand and found a few sharp rocks that were perfect candidates to attach herself to. Setting the plan in motion, she got her extra leverage next to her left hand with her arm cannon and swung her body from left to right to generate momentum. When she gathered enough, she launched herself left…
“Hyah!!”
…and grabbed onto the predetermined rock… which happened to actually be a lodged crystal. There were no other ledges or rocks for her to grab onto, but from where she was currently hanging, there was a ledge large enough for her to stand on, so she opted to pull herself up and set her feet on the rock-ledge with a soft exhale of her breath. Relishing in having her feet on somewhat stable ground, she took a brief break to check her progress and rest her hand: she had made it a decent way up, but once again, fate had a way of screwing her over: there was absolutely nowhere else she could grab onto, and the walls had become too far apart for any hope of pure wall-jumping to freedom.
Not like she’d want to try that out at this height anyway.
So there she was, having come so far and her progress blocked indefinitely.
Come on, throw me a bone there has to be some way of getting through this mess…
She could not bend over much because of how narrow her standing-space was, and she did not fancy falling that far. She then tried using her X-Ray Visor to see how thick this blockage was… it was pretty damn thick, so she could not just blast her way through. However, upon some inspection she noticed something: there were small tunnels through this aforementioned blockage that seemed to have been formed by crystals propping up rocks that had fallen on top of each other. The snow only served to slicken the path or lightly block tunnels which could easily be dealt with. Of course, she could not simply crawl through, and she did not feel like taking her Suit off due to the temperature. So, a human could not fit through by the sheer size disparity…
But a ball can…
Ensuring there was enough room, Samus phased down into her morph ball and carefully rolled to the nearest tunnel entrance, which happened to be blocked by a crystal that was jutting upward. She knew though, that the Fragmentation Bombs she acquired from defeating the corrupted Magickakorps soldier in the downed Pirate Frigate could destroy the possibly magical crystal. Laying a single bomb, the charge exploded out violently, the magical shards tearing the crystal to shreds before it eventually crumpled into smaller crystals. Samus rolled inside immediately so she would not have to deal with a cave-in.
The tunnel was naturally formed, with ice, snow, rock, and other crystals creating just enough room for her morph ball to maneuver, but since there was no method to how the avalanche fell, all the turns she was traversing were unbelievably sharp. More often than not Samus found herself banging up against the end of the tunnel really hard, only to realize that there was a ninety-degree turn.
About fifteen minutes of maneuvering, bombing crystals, and creating new pathways due to others caving in on her, she finally made it out when her morph ball plowed through a final barrier of snow and ice with some help of the boost capability. She did not even hesitate to morph back to her standing form.
The end of Crystal Pass was in sight, with nothing but cloudy skies visible to her which suggested a downhill trek into this Frozen Lakebed. So, Samus casually walked, mentally waving goodbye to the irritating cavern, and was met with what should have been a rather picturesque scene of snow, mountains, and ice. Instead, she was met with enormous amounts of Phazon being collected by the hill and mountain bases, while the center, towards the frozen lake itself, remained oddly barren of the substance.
There was a great lake frozen over… ice and (mostly) snow completely surrounding it, and with the help of the mountains, small and majestic, the area was akin to a small valley with the lake not exactly center, but towards the farthest end relative to where Samus was standing. It appeared that Phazon had corrupted the entire area, but she could easily see that it was artificially removed from the ground level. Taking her first tentative steps down the hillside from the pass afforded her a much better view of the situation. Large, imposing Phazon veins and sacs had manifested themselves through the entirety of the perimeter of this Lakebed… so much so that Samus had to enlist the help of a double-jump to clear the obstruction in her path. Her suit’s warning indicator was going crazy with the substance surrounding her… it reminded her of Emperor Ing’s lair… save for being several times larger and not in a depressing and ominous atmosphere.
Samus finally got a stable footing within the Frozen Lakebed, and found it oddly deserted. Granted, local life tended to either scatter or die very quickly in the presence of Phazon but this feeling she was getting was quite different… a different sense of being ‘too quiet.’
I’m being watched…
She took a battle stance and aimed around, looking for anything that could possibly be offending in any way. Her eyes scanned the hill/mountain tops and her suit’s systems attempted to pick up anything out of the ordinary in terms of motion. But… nothing. Silence, save for small, comfortable gusts of wind. Samus resolved to tread forward towards the lake, but with more trepidation in her steps. The sound of her boots sinking into the snow became much more defined as she was straining her ears to pick up anything. While these hypersenses of being a warrior saved her life on countless occasions, Samus had admitted to herself many times that she hated being like this; ‘this’ being jittery, all her muscles tensing and relaxing in an attempt to be ready for anything and her heartbeat controlled but speeding up. Her senses kept screaming at her that something was wrong… really wrong.
What was worse was the fact that she could feel magic in the air. As she lived with her own powers more and more, she started being able to feel the presence of other magic… the feeling was somewhat indescribable, but Samus likened it to a cold, electric humidity. Right about that particular moment, though, she felt like someone, or something, was standing right behind her.
[Warning! Large fluctuations detected in the surrounding magical field.]
Samus immediately equipped her aura visor as she spun on her heel, entering a fighting stance with her cannon aimed and her Power Beam charged.
Nothing.
Samus snorted once and just held her position while her eyes scanned again… side to side…
After a tense three seconds, just when Samus was about to move on, eight teleportation spells went off in bright flashes of emerald light, revealing eight completely black, bug-like quadrupeds with insectoid wings.
Shit!
Samus jumped and dodged to avoid getting shot by magical bolts as feral hisses followed in tandem. She fell into a roll and fired a single missile as she righted herself, the projectile obliterating the black exoskeleton and much of the underlying internals of the creature that had the unfortunate circumstance of being too close. It slumped over to the ground.
Samus gazed down at her adversaries; all seven of them with fangs barred and jagged horns charged to extreme luminosity. Their wings were flared as well, prepared to strike. Samus scanned quickly:
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Morphology: Changeling Drone]
[Workers and conscript soldiers of the Changeling hordes, Changeling Drones are still deadly in numbers and expert at espionage due to all Changelings’ inherent ability to transform and shape their physical appearance relative to their size. While offensive magic is limited compared to the average unicorn, Drones tend to travel in squadrons and large formations, making up for their usual ineptitude in combat with sheer numbers. Organic and magically reinforced exoskeleton provides fair protection from standard weaponry, although constant abuse will rupture it. Anti-magic weapons or heavy weapons in general will make short work of it, exposing the vulnerable internals to attack. Once a Changeling’s exoskeleton has been destroyed, its survival chances are almost nonexistent.]
Samus switched back to her combat visor and ran straight at her adversaries, locking onto a random Changeling and unleashing a torrent of her Night Beam. The magical-beam literally burned holes through her enemy’s exoskeleton and took most of the underlying flesh with it. She left it to die as the rest of the enemy formation rushed at her all at once.
Fresh into her combat mindset, Samus initiated a cartwheel, shooting nonstop and managing to score a few hits on two of the raging Changelings, but they weren’t killing strikes, so they continued to assault her with magic projectiles. Three of the ‘bugs,’ as Samus now referred to them, began to take flight while two of them teleported out of existence, giving her breathing space to cast a handheld magical shield to absorb more incoming fire. Samus returned fire from behind her shield as the bugs in the air rushed her, managing to kill and shoot one of them down but not without being tackled by the right-most Changeling… or at least the attempt was admirable. It managed to make her stumble but Samus immediately countered by grabbing it by the wing, ripping it off with her hand, grabbing its neck and breaking it over her knee, feeling the multiple snaps and cracks of the exoskeleton. She then threw it against the ground and stepped on its chest for good measure. She had no time to do anything but turn on her heel to return fire against the two that re-teleported in.
They managed to cast rudimentary magical shields to deflect her rounds and they, yet again, rushed her full on, although their numbers had been depleted by half. Samus was about to charge straight into them as well, but a magical bolt from behind her sent her stumbling to the left, nearly losing her footing: two more Changeling Drones had teleported in, reinforcing the enemy count to six. They gave her, again, little breathing room and attempted to charge her with horns ready to strike.
The closest one tried to ram her head on, but Samus met its face with an extremely hard, right roundhouse kick, completely shattering the exoskeleton and destroying the creature’s neck in the process. The carcass flew a few feet to the left and lay motionless. By now, the snow surrounding the makeshift arena was being matted with green-hued blood as Samus continued her onslaught against her ambushers.
Samus took two hits to her side as a price for being able to dodge and cast a shield, avoiding well over ten rounds of hard magic, before countering a Changeling flying straight at her face with one enormous downward pound of her arm cannon. She shot it three times in the head to ensure it did not get up. She somersaulted on the ground and came out into a spin jump in order to gain some leverage and not create pattern in her movements. She did not stop… all of her movements had a purpose, either to defend herself or to unleash hell upon her attackers. Of course, once Changeling numbers thinned out (despite a few more reinforcements), she went completely on the offensive.
A Drone had just witnessed its hivemate get utterly massacred by Samus’s bare hand and cannon when it dared to challenge her in close-quarters-combat, and it had no time to fight nor flee when Samus turned her sights on it. The Drone stumbled backwards, firing three bolts of magic at her, to which the Hunter dodged the first one and absorbed the second and third with a generated shield, before using her own magic to hold the struggling Changeling in place, allowing her to annihilate it with a missile.
Damn bugs.
The Drone’s combat incompetence was completely visible to the untrained eye, as after the tenth or twelfth Changeling that she had dealt with, the remaining ones that were sent to reinforce the ambush either teleported out or attempted to flee by flight. Samus managed to shoot two more out of the sky, her fifth kill with a ranged weapon. The remaining carnage was all from hand-to-hand combat.
Samus, for once, thought she was in the clear. But ten seconds of battle-lull proved her wrong. Two large teleportation spells, same emerald color, went off to her two and ten-o’clock simultaneously, revealing alicorn-esque statured Changelings. Easily the size of Princess Luna, the two bulging Changelings, complete with black exoskeleton and wings, stomped the ground in front of them and unleashed much mightier feral roars as they charged their horns. Samus did notice something odd about them: they had Phazon veins running through their exoskeleton.
Samus had little time to gather information, since they both began to gallop straight at her, firing emerald-colored hard magic bolts with surprising accuracy.
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Morphology: Soldier Changeling]
[Corrupted Changeling Drone with beneficial mutations. Continuous working with Phazon has been bound to result in mutations for the Drones that came into contact with the substance, and the Soldier Changeling is one of those 'beneficial' culminations. Apart from the readily apparent increase in size, strength, and aggressiveness, the Soldier Changelings have several times the magical potency of a Drone, making them much more independent and deadly in combat, both ranged and melee. The mutations did not extend to the exoskeleton, however, as it is of the same thickness and sturdiness as a Drone’s. Exploit the identical weakness to achieve victory.]
Bring it, you Grenchler wannabes…
Samus immediately aimed her cannon fully to the attacking Soldier on the left and opened rapid-fire with her Night Beam, but only the first two shots struck her enemy (burning holes in the exoskeleton) before an emerald shield was erected to absorb the remaining shots. Before the second Soldier could intercept her, Samus made use of quick thinking and sprinted straight to the aforementioned target, plowing into it when her speed booster activated. She activated her shinespark (now rainspark) while she clutched her enemy and propelled them straight into the ground (almost like a pile driver) with a resounding crack of the exoskeleton. The force of which they impacted made the destruction of the shell like bending and breaking plastic. This was not like fighting a Magickakorps soldier, so Samus could have a field day.
Her evasive technique proved itself nicely against the Soldier she was currently engaging, but Samus was still blindsided by a magical power-blast which threw her off her first adversary and buried her in the snow. She recovered instantly and finished the mortally wounded Soldier with an anti-magic missile. Her shielding took some damage but nothing that could not be fixed by destroying some of the crystals that lay in the area.
Nevertheless, when the remaining Soldier and Samus were about to attack each other, a slow but steady rumbling permeated the landscape, shaking some of the less stable snow off the hills. The seismic activity continued though… and only continued to get louder and more intense to the point where both the Soldier and Samus were having trouble keeping balance. The former looked to the Hunter, the feral expression still present on its features, and promptly disappeared from existence via teleportation, leaving Samus in the midst of what seemed like a moderate earthquake. Her suit definitely had something to say about the matter:
[Localized seismic activity detected within the lake. Large object is on the move.]
Samus gazed towards the frozen-over lake, the trembling getting even more intense, and decided to tuck tail in the opposite direction in order to put some space between her and whatever was about to happen. Once she was satisfied with the distance, she jumped and turned on her feet, aiming towards the lake right as the ice covering it violently broke outward.
Out from the lake rose what looked like the head and neck of a gargantuan, aquatic dragon save for shining in a crystal sheen she had become so familiar with… but Samus immediately dismissed that notion when two more heads rose up from the freezing water and immediately set their sights on her with bone-chilling roars. She knew what it was the moment the first of four legs took a step out of the frozen lake. It seemed mythology had a way of coming to life on this particular planet.
Hydra…
Fully standing, the quadruped stood about as tall if not taller than Kraid. From Samus’s first observations, it did not look like the Hydra merely had an inherent crystal sheen… it looked like it was literally made of crystal due to its too natural reflective properties and angular plating on heads and legs. Samus needed all the information she could possibly get her hands on.
[Recorded to Logbook]
[Morphology: Crystal Hydra]
[Ancient lake-dweller native to the Frozen North. Crystal Hydras have been thought to have all but vanished since the age of Sombra due to being, like their more standard brothers, a lonesome species. The warfare and Phazon have disturbed one of the undoubtedly remaining creatures and it shan’t return to its slumber until what has awoken it perishes. Crystal Hydras are extremely resilient to both magic and conventional weaponry. While the crystal plating may be destroyed, Phazon infusion has allowed a magical mutation to manifest where destroyed crystal may be re-grown in a matter of seconds. Destruction of the crystal plating on the legs and heads exposes soft tissue which is not as resilient as a standard Hydra; however, targeting of this tissue may prove rather troublesome with the high growth-rate of said plating. The Crystal Hydra has the ability to fire crystalline projectiles at high velocity at its prey, as well as manipulating crystal growth in its immediate vicinity. If all else fails, it will attempt to ensnare its adversaries with its three sets of jaws or attack with its tail.]
Samus planted her left heel into the ground behind her and lifted her cannon straight up at the trinity of heads leering down at her. She briefly gazed behind her and found that the entrance to the Crystal Pass was still open, but that was only as a last resort… if things turned really ugly. Somehow, she knew that this fight would take a lot out of her… though she did not know to what extent, and what exactly, would be asked of her in the future in order to prevail.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile perched on the highest mountain, obscured by low clouds and overlooking the Frozen Lakebed, Ridley hardened his gaze, focusing on the unfolding ordeal between the Hunter and the Hydra below, with his omnipresent scowl.
Edited by Random_Dragon