//------------------------------// // 33. Dance of Darkness [Part 1] // Story: Metroid Equis // by Flammenwerfer //------------------------------// Metroid Equis Chapter 33 Dance of Darkness [Part I] [Hive Core] The cacophonous sound of metal grinding against rock and dirt gradually increased as Samus rode down the last leg of the drop, having made the fateful plunge into the sinkhole. The heels and tailbone sections of her suit slid along the shaft wall, intermittent bursts from her Space Jump boosters keeping her speed merely almost suicidal, and preventing her from tumbling. Finally, after much anticipation, her heels made contact with solid, level ground, her momentum swinging her upright and her left hand resting firmly on her arm cannon as she scanned her immediate surroundings. The placement of her hand on her weapon brought up a crosshair in her visor, allowing her to manually aim with greater ease. A flick of her eyes to her motion tracker revealed absolutely nothing, and Samus's initial paranoia was satisfied. Immediately to her left stood an energy crystal; she immediately destroyed it with a missile and took in the pickups that dropped from it to replenish the energy lost due to the Chi Metroid’s attack. Now, she could focus on her general location. Similar to her past final encounters, the Hive Core was a grand, coliseum-like affair about the size of Emperor Ing’s Chamber… if not marginally larger. However, unlike the Dark Aether habitation, this was much more reminiscent of Metroid Prime’s lair with its rocky, Phazon-infested scenery. There were no indications that this room was excavated hastily, as the Hive Core’s walls and ceiling were quite smooth; not necessarily polished, but care had evidently been taken in the construction of this area. This led Samus to believe that magic was heavily involved in creating the chamber in which she now found herself. Naturally, Phazon made up the majority of the walls and floor, spidering its way across the exposed surfaces, stemming from a central location. The ground was as Samus had come to expect from within the Hive; rocky, dusty, and as had become increasingly common, lined with tiny capillaries of Phazon that seemed to pulse like a malevolent heartbeat. On unspoiled sections of the ground, though, numerous magical crystals showed themselves—both energy and munitions variants, which was a welcome sight for the beleaguered Hunter. As before, in Metroid Prime’s lair, pools of concentrated liquid Phazon, both Blue and Emerald, were scattered randomly throughout the entire interior of the chamber. What looked like enormous Phazon veins worked their way around the far end of the Hive Core; upon closer inspection, Samus could see that the material flowed in a manner reminiscent of flowing water. It snaked its way towards the perimeter of the chamber, where it filled the pools and ultimately filtered out through the walls.   [Recorded to Logbook] [Biohazard: Phazon River] [Liquid Phazon transit system. These rivers facilitate the spread of liquified Phazon through the Hive Crater and out into the surrounding environment. Cartographical comparisons between your suit's local scans and regional map data indicate these rivers are connected to those that are contaminating the Frozen North, polluting rivers, glaciers, and compromising crystal formations. Hydrological studies suggest that this pollution contributed to the rapid spread of Phazon throughout Equestria. The purity of these rivers indicate that they are fed directly from the Phazon Core; destruction of the Core will quickly eliminate these rivers.] The last two sentences brought her to her final, most important observation: the presence of the Meteor Core. It lay straight ahead, seemingly embedded into the opposite wall. About two to three times her height, the imposing, luminescent rock acted as the wellspring of all Phazon in Equestria, generating the synchronous pulse that every inch of the substance mirrored. With its destruction, Equestria would quickly return to normal, though precisely how quickly would remain to be seen. All Samus needed to do now was figure out the proper way to destroy it, as she had never directly destroyed a meteor Core before. Usually, taking out a Guardian did the job, but clearly no Guardian was present. Furthermore, Samus was sure that “shoot it until it blows up,” though often her favored strategy, would probably not avail her here. Samus started towards the Meteor cautiously, closing the distance to it and avoiding Phazon pools and rivers as she approached. Her cannon was raised and aimed while her left hand continued to rest comfortably on it, continually scanning her surroundings, gaze occasionally drifting to her motion tracker, and listening for anything out of the ordinary. Her senses failed to yield anything substantial, however; the only sounds her ears picked up were her own boots against the ground and her deep, instinctually apprehensive breaths. Too quiet… Samus thought apprehensively. Nothing impeded her progress, and soon, she was standing about ten feet in front of the Meteor Core. That’s when Samus remembered that she had temporary command of the Elements of Harmony. Based on what she had read and what Twilight had been telling her, use of all six could effectively defeat and cleanse any foe… perhaps she could employ their use here? Okay… how to do this? Charging her Magicka Beam and attempting to use the Harmony Blast via the Charge Combination yielded no results, as if the missile combination had not even been ‘unlocked.’ As she continued in vain to initiate the Charge Combo, her suit flashed a notification on her HUD: [The Harmony Blast uses no missiles and may only be activated when the appropriate conditions are met. Only you and the Elements will know when this time is.] Ugh, what does that even mean??? Immediately at the close of her thought, a bright, emerald light suddenly erupted from the Core’s center, gently swirling as it gained size. Samus, reasonably surprised at the sudden development, putting a safer distance between her and it, cannon leveled at the disturbance. The coruscating emerald energy eventually stopped growing and a figure began to emerge, seemingly floating out of the Meteor as if it was inside the entire time… though Samus soon detected that the light was in fact magical in nature, leading her to believe that whatever was arriving on the scene had teleported in. Due to the luminescence of the magic, Samus was not quite able to discern what had appeared in front of her, but the silhouette had at least revealed a figure about the size of an alicorn, roughly the size of Princess Celestia, by Samus’s quick estimates. Once the light disappeared completely, and the new arrival had finished teleporting in, she found herself face to face with something new entirely. Now able to see the creature clearly, Samus noted that it was indeed about Princess Celestia’s size, and clearly a Changeling as evidenced by the black exoskeleton riddled with holes and its insectoid wings. The main difference, however, was that its exoskeleton was doing its level best to match Phazon levels with its surroundings. The mane and tail were transparent emerald and had hints of both strains of Phazon, pulsing synchronously with the Core. Its head was identical to that of a Soldier Changeling or an alicorn, save for the horn being longer and its forehead being unnaturally elongated upward, into what looked like a ‘headpiece’ of pure blue Phazon. “So you are Equestria’s hero… I must admit that I did not expect something like you,” she spoke, her tone an equal mix of curiosity and contempt. Her voice seemed...off, sick somehow. Samus lowered her cannon, puzzled; not often did her foes speak. “I could say the same about you,” Samus replied truthfully; given that past Guardians ranged from thirty to forty times larger than her, to be faced with an opponent so close to her own size would prove interesting. “One of few words, it seems. I am Chrysalis—Empress Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen—and you are trespassing in my domain. I do not take kindly to intruders…” Chrysalis continued, narrowing her corrupted eyes and injecting malice into her tone. “Nor do I with Changeling agents operating in Equestria and the spread of the Phazon, so I guess we’re about even,” Samus returned stoically. Chrysalis straightened and drew herself to full height, further raising her head above Samus and looking down her nose at the smaller figure, contempt dripping from her corrupted form. “You refer to this…” she gestured expansively towards the material around her. “...this gift of power? No longer will my kind need to sneak around like vermin, dependent upon the emotions of others.” The Changeling Queen looked down and dipped her hoof into the nearest Phazon pool, the poison diffusing into her exoskeleton with ease, the Phazon veins along her body glowing brighter as they responded to the new energy. She turned back to the Hunter. “This provides all what we need for sustenance, for evolution, for power, for numbers. The ponies are simply...no longer needed. But I also know you are here to destroy it… and thus I fear we are at an impasse, as I shan’t allow you to do so,” Chrysalis declaimed, spreading her wings and facing down the Hunter. [Suggested Listening] “Never expected you to,” Samus affirmed resolutely, aiming her cannon once more and leaning forward, changing her stance to ready herself for combat. Chrysalis, however, looked rather unimpressed, and actually seemed to be amused by the woman’s actions. Her attitude grew more serious, losing said amused demeanor as she adopted her own combat stance. “This ‘Phazon,’ this gift, will propel us to supremacy, and render us the dominant species on the planet; but for you...this Chamber, once my home, will be your unmarked grave, Hunter,” the Changeling Queen concluded, cutting off any response the Hunter might deign to issue. Not that Samus would be keen on further conversation; she had, once again, a well-defined target and an objective, one which her suit seemed almost too eager to display: [Objective: Kill the Changeling Queen!] The two now-belligerents slowly backed away from each other, though Samus was retreating, looking to put sufficient distance between them to permit her to scan. Chrysalis, for her part, drew back as well. Samus was ready to start liberally firing at any slight provocation or aggression, but she took the opportunity, likely to be her only one, to scan her target… though that was when she ran into her first problems. [Recorded to Logbook] [Creature: Empress Chrysalis] [Changeling Queen and Phazon harbinger. Empress Chrysalis has evolved greatly with the help of the Phazzz;kam’lmea890aj’ajkæÓ¥äÞ¹¸šxÇ@ŠÚ÷}‰’†ë¶] What the hell?! Fortunately, Samus did not have to reboot her entire suit; after a couple abortive attempts to scan Chrysalis, her power suit forced her back into her Combat Visor, and displayed a notification, so she didn’t have to wait long for an answer as to why her systems were failing her: [Scan Visor has been scrambled by targeted magical interference. All other systems online and fully operational.] If that was the case, then so be it. Samus would have to go in blind in terms of information; however, with the powerful arsenal she had at her disposal, she was certain that she could find something of at least marginal use to combat the Empress. She raised her cannon, Magicka Beam fully primed, and dug her heels in, taking a stand and ready to fight. Chrysalis attacked first and with little warning, suddenly launching a high-velocity magical bolt towards the Hunter, who easily slid to the left to dodge, the round narrowly missing her and slamming into the rock behind her with explosive force. Samus never once took her eyes off of Chrysalis and immediately returned fire while advancing forward, shooting off Magicka beams in hammered pairs while the Changeling Queen threw up a barrier, Samus’s rounds diffusing into it like raindrops vanishing into a puddle. As the battle began in earnest, the Hunter’s heart started racing as adrenaline pumped into her body, fueled even more by the fact that this was it… the final obstacle; the final battle. Her horn flaring with sickly green light, Chrysalis shattered her barrier and wasted no time in sending the resultant razor-sharp shards straight at Samus. The latter confidently squared her stance and held her forearm vertically in front of her face, her Kinesis flaring into being and producing a shield of her own right on time. The incoming hard magic either ricocheted harmlessly away or embedded itself into her shield, all of the projectiles disappearing simultaneously once the counter-attack concluded. Chrysalis masked her surprise at the revelation that Samus was able to not only wield a magic-based weapon, but actively cast magic. Her own battle strategy from here on out would be altered significantly. Samus closed the distance as she initiated her own attack, not giving Chrysalis any breathing room as she began peppering her with Magicka rounds. Chrysalis responded to the new assault by calling forth a more powerful version of her previous barrier, Samus’ rounds having an even less perceptible effect. Samus switched to her Anti-Magic Missiles and launched two, the projectiles streaking towards Chrysalis’ shield and striking it nigh-simultaneously. The specialty warheads detonated against the shield and it crumbled around the Empress. Samus pressed her momentary advantage with another hammered pair of Magicka Beam blasts. One struck Chrysalis in the shoulder; the other sliced through the empty space where she had stood moments before, a fast teleport saving the Empress from another impact. Chrysalis was again surprised at the Hunter’s capacity for magical warfare, and further refined her plans. Once Chrysalis teleported out, Samus went into high alert, activating her Aura Visor and aiming in all directions looking for a sign of her missing adversary. Samus knew one of her rounds found its mark, and Chrysalis certainly looked like she felt it; Samus was proud of that. But the problem she now faced was that Chrysalis was nowhere to be seen on her Aura Visor; it was as if she had quit the field entirely. A quick check with her other visors yielded similar results. The next time Samus cycled back to her Aura Visor, however, it suddenly overloaded, becoming blindingly bright akin to when her Thermal Visor would overload, necessitating a switch back to the Combat Visor. Samus quickly peered to her left, her motion tracker pinging and identifying a single entity, Chrysalis suddenly back in view, pawing the ground and charging her horn. She fired a volley of Magicka rounds but they all harmlessly phased through the Changeling. Right as the now-discernable magical echo vaporized, Samus got knocked off her feet by a magical blast from her right. She hit the ground hard and rolled to her back, her status bar indicating a precipitous forty percent reduction in shielding strength from that attack alone. Chrysalis moved to follow up with a charged horn but Samus let loose with a charged Magicka round from her disadvantageous position, repulsing the Empress’ offensive by forcing her to defend against the massively powerful blast or weather unmistakably heavy damage. Having bought herself some breathing room, Samus aimed her cannon to the right, firing a single missile at the energy crystal that stood a few feet away, which released a medium and large energy upon destruction. Samus quickly drew in the two pickups, replenishing her shielding thirty-two percent and recovering most of her loss. She flipped up onto her feet ready to continue the attack… but Chrysalis had disappeared yet again. Samus did not have to spend much time searching, though. Responding to a motion tracker blip behind her, she turned to find an incarnation of Princess Celestia, head lowered and horn glowing, ready for battle. The presence of the Solar Alicorn, let alone the Solar Alicorn ready to attack her, put Samus off her game for the briefest of moments, before she remembered that Changelings possessed the ability of perfect mimicry. Then, it was of little concern to Samus as she waited for ‘Celestia’ to make the first move. And she did not have to wait long for that. Letting loose a savage cry in Celestia's voice, the Empress' eyes flashed gold. She reared back on her hind legs, and slammed her hooves into the ground, throwing out a shockwave of alabaster fire. Samus' HUD lit up with danger notifications; not because the shockwave would be particularly hard to dodge (though the fiery columns did stand taller than the Hunter), but rather for the fact that, were she to be caught by the encroaching blast, she would not be entirely sure how much shielding she’d have left. Aided by her wings, Samus gracefully flip-jumped over the wall of fire and hit the ground shooting and running. Celestia summoned a local, mobile shield to deflect the barrage of Magicka attacks, but as Samus drew ever closer, she called forth a punishing ring of fire. Samus skidded to a halt barely in time, her arm cannon kissing the flames and draining two percent of her energy. Samus threw herself backwards into a reverse tumble, and as she found her feet, Celestia emerged from her cocoon, eyes and horn glowing fiercely. Samus charged her Magicka beam and attempted once more to scan her foe. [ùˆ‰Šú’’“û™š›ü›œý™š›ÿŸ ¡þ ¡¢þ¦¦§ÿ©©©þ¨¨©þ££¤ý¦§¨ü--] [Scan Visor Unavailable.]   Celestia charged her horn, then launched a beam of molten plasma at Samus at high velocity, forcing her to break off her attack and duck to the right. She released her charged Magicka shot, but Celestia willed a local shield into existence, causing the beam to be deflected into the ceiling. Celestia fired twice more; Samus dodged one, and ‘swatted’ the other away with a shield of her own. The encounter devolved into a circling firefight, neither combatant providing an opening to the other. The space between them was filled with a beautiful, deadly display of paired Plasma and Magicka beams, and those that were neither deflected upwards nor absorbed outright began to trace a pattern of destruction on the wall while some, indeed, scored hits on both belligerents. When they could, both sides razed energy crystals to keep their shield or health intact. As the battle stagnated, Samus changed tempo, launching two missiles at Celestia. She threw up a bubble shield as soon as she saw the missiles streaking towards her. While Celestia was distracted by the incoming projectiles, Samus launched a third missile, as well as a barrage of Magicka rounds. Celestia's shield, while easily able to dissipate the energy of the Magicka beams, simply couldn't withstand the twin Anti-Magic Missile detonations. Celestia's shield crumbled, and the distraction of the Magicka beams peppering her ensured the third, late missile took her by surprise, exploding against her chest and hurling her away, sending her careening into the ground. Samus advanced upon her immediately and once her adversary moved to get back to her hooves, Samus drilled a precision Magicka shot right in her neck, making the false Princess shrilly cry out in agony. Samus went to follow up, but her arm cannon was suddenly jerked upward by magical binding and a Plasma beam found its mark straight in her chest. With a cry and an ‘oomf!,’ she fell onto her back as the high velocity shot quite literally laid her out. Quickly regaining her bearings, a flick of her eyes to her energy showed that her suit’s shielding was holding at forty-nine percent. Stripped of its shielding, Samus' Power Suit would still be a perfectly functional armorsuit, as strong as the Chozo-manufactured and refined metal that went into its construction. Her ability to withstand damage would certainly be diminished as a result, however. Nevertheless, as long as the supply of energy and to a lesser extent, ammunition crystals remained, Samus could continue the successful use of her anti-magic as a counter to Celestia’s ranged magic and powerful shielding capabilities. Emerald fire suddenly consumed Celestia's body, stripping the illusion away and returning the form of the Empress, who definitely looked worse for wear. Small cracks had formed in her exoskeleton, her breathing was deep and pained, and her piercing gaze conveyed pure frustration, having realized that using Celestia’s form would result in defeat sooner or later. Samus suddenly felt her body being enveloped in magic, her movement completely restricted. Bad memories returned, unbidden, to her mind as she was reluctantly brought back to her first and only experience with Alicorn Spirits, and how she was powerless against them. Chrysalis was out for blood and was intent on squeezing the life out of the Hunter. Samus' Alicorn Suit, along with her natural magical prowess, afforded her the ability to, with some difficulty, break free of the binding spell, dropping heavily to the ground. Chrysalis, getting more annoyed by Samus’s persistence by the second, had other plans.   [Suggested Listening] Shaking her head to clear her mind of light-headedness, she looked up to see that Chrysalis had now adopted the persona of Princess Luna, albeit without the battle armor to which Samus had become accustomed. Expecting to jump right into the fight, Samus sprinted straight for the false Lunar Princess only to be blown back by a powerful gust of wind. ‘Luna’ had taken flight, rising into the air and flaring her wings out as her horn charged, becoming much more luminous with each passing second. Samus launched a missile, but it detonated harmlessly against a renewed magical barrier. All Samus could do was watch and wait, cannon aimed, anticipating what was to come. As before, Samus did not have long to wait before Luna's attack came, a massive energy blast erupting from Luna's horn, the characteristic blue tinge of Phazon interwoven with the color of impure magic.  Samus had to roll to her left to avoid being enveloped by the deadly beam, yet Luna corrected its path each time and homed in on her. Samus couldn't afford to stop and sight in; she was forced to improvise constantly. Samus took off sprinting towards the false Luna, who corrected the hyper beam’s path directly in front of her. Samus quickly began a string of random evasions, jumps, jukes, and rolls to avoid being swept by the continuous, lethal beam. Each pass saw the Hunter draw ever closer to the false diarch, though, and eventually, as she suspected, she drew too close for the beam to effectively track her. The opportunity presenting itself, Samus raised her arm cannon and fired a single Anti-Magic Missile at point-blank range into Luna's horn. The detonation snapped Luna's head back and dropped her limply to the ground, stopping her assault. Samus had hoped that, while Luna was downed, she could further capitalize on this state by unloading a charged Magicka shot into Luna's skull, effectively ending the fight right then and there. That unfortunately was not to be, as Luna immediately got to her hooves and took a swipe at Samus with a rather familiar magically cast sword. The Hunter expertly dodged and moved to counter with a pound of her arm cannon, but Luna teleported behind her, sword drawn back, ready to strike. Samus flip-jumped out of the way just in time and upon landing, attempted to put some distance between her and the pissed off faux-alicorn. It was of little use, though, as Luna took hold of her magically and chucked her against the wall, Samus’s back and the back of her head rebounding off of the crystalline wall. Her shielding continued to take a beating, and she had not been able to replenish it at all in the last few minutes. Gathering her breath, letting the pain die down just a tad, and regaining her feet once more, Samus witnessed Luna destroying several energy crystals and consuming their pickups greedily. Checking her surroundings, there was only a single crystal that stood nearby, and thankfully it was of the energy variety. Destroying it yielded two large energies, replenishing her shielding strength to sixty-seven percent. That’s when it dawned on her that there were absolutely no more crystals left; her ability to resupply was now officially gone. Luna teleported out of existence once more, suddenly reappearing to Samus’s left. Samus responded with a reflexive teleport of her own, shunting herself forward ten feet. Luna quickly closed the new gap, refusing to afford Samus any room to maneuver. It was perfectly clear at this point that the Changeling Queen was not going to give Samus any breathing room for ranged combat, much like her battle with Nightmare Moon. That’s when she remembered that one of the Elemental weapon abilities allowed her to cast her own melee weapon. Not even sparing a thought, Samus ignited her Kinesis and a weapon soon filled the void in her left hand. Looking over, She was pleasantly surprised to find a teal hard magic rendition of a Chozo spear. The weapon, though familiar, needed two hands to wield properly; Samus dispelled her Arm Cannon to free her right hand, taking up a proper stance and presenting the spearhead to her foe. With a clash of magic, the battle began anew, Luna on the offensive, with Samus defending and counter-attacking when possible. Their respective skills with their weapons had shown greatly with the expert twirls, teleportations, evasions, and target combinations. The two weapons smashing into each other created a distorted metal ‘clanging’ sound attributable to the hard magics slamming together, bright flashes of light illuminating the Hive Core with each parry and block. Luna took a low swing at Samus, the latter dodging over the blade and using her momentum to counterattack, swinging her spear downward onto Luna’s back. The faux-alicorn teleported out of the way, the spear embedding itself into the ground where she had stood. Luna reappeared behind Samus and swung vertically upward, Samus rolling forward and turning to face her aggressor, spear aimed, before she thrust forward, Luna hastily dodging right to avoid getting skewered. The imposter swung her sword downward onto the spear in response, embedding it into the ground before following up with a swing towards Samus’s face. She had little choice but to duck or risk getting decapitated, but that allowed Luna to cast a force spell, tossing Samus harshly away. Right as Samus was about to bound to her feet, an invisible force came to bear against her, pressing her into the ground, a binding spell keeping her stationary, on her back and in a very vulnerable position. The concentration necessary to maintain her magical blade had fatigued her enough where she was having immense difficulty in breaking the hold. The imposing Lunar Alicorn made her way over, though without her sword due to the use of the binding magic, and Samus really did not want to find out what she had planned. In her moment of imminent demise, Samus recalled yet another ability that she had yet to employ. She mustered the energy to at least partially break the binding spell on her left arm, slowly raising it to her visor controls. Come… ON! Her fingers, trembling with exertion, flipped her visor from Combat to Gravity, right as Luna reared back, her hooves raised high. Such a blow would certainly drain all the energy she had left, and she had no doubt that Luna possessed enough power to end her. Aiming her visor’s reticle at the fake Lunar Princess, she activated it and the effect was immediately apparent: Luna's expression transmuted into abject shock as the gravity around her increased tenfold. With a protracted scream of pain and anger, Luna was forced back onto all fours and into a kneeling position. The binding spell around Samus ceased to exist as the changeling redirected her magic into countering this new ability. Samus instantly seized the initiative, leaping to her feet and calling upon her spear once more, keeping the Gravity Visor trained on the struggling faux-alicorn, who was, slowly but surely, starting to counter the gravitic effect. Grasping her Chozo Weapon firmly, Samus moved to end this fight immediately by thrusting the spearhead straight into the imposter’s muzzle, but unfortunately, Luna broke the gravity spell right then and stood up straight. Samus couldn’t redirect her blow; she was already committed. The attack missed Luna’s face, but struck her full in the chest, the magical blade piercing her flesh with an unhealthy-sounding crack and squelch. “AAAAAAHHHGH!!” ‘Luna’ screamed in feral agony as she fell to the ground, bright, emerald magic engulfing her form once more. Samus re-equipped her arm cannon and aimed down at her writhing foe, though she had to quickly dodge backward and throw up a protective shield once the eclipsing magic violently burst outward, revealing Empress Chrysalis, her exoskeleton severely fractured, tainted blood seeping copiously from the wound in her chest before a Phazon vein wound its way up her body and plugged the hole. It was clear that Samus had inflicted significant damage on the Changeling Queen, and the latter was seething and hurting both physically and egotistically; how could this strange creature, whom she had never heard of before, cast magic so effectively and be so battle-hardened? Hell, she needed armor to fight! This human, this worm was beneath her! Chrysalis snarled and spitted Samus with a gaze that, were it a laser beam, would have reduced her to cinders in an instant. Samus only steadied herself in a combat stance and aimed squarely at the Changeling Queen’s face. “Your life ends now, human!” she exclaimed confidently and mirthfully, her mane coalescing into four separate tendrils of equal length that immediately took on the black color of her exoskeleton. Each tendril tapered off into a point that distinctly resembled a horn. Samus’s fears were confirmed when all four tips, as well as Chrysalis’ primary horn, energized themselves. The way the horns looked as they charged reminded Samus powerfully of the Chi Metroid, and she reasoned that being struck by multiple such blows would be a rather bad thing. However, the Empress didn’t appear to be faring too well. One good missile salvo or a well placed charged Magicka shot would end the fight in Samus’s favor. Glancing at her shielding level once more, she saw that it read sixty-one percent. Samus took one deep breath. Alright… time to make it all count! Samus cartwheeled to the right and fired off two missiles, both of them getting blown up harmlessly in mid-air by two emerald-colored beams from Chrysalis’s tendrils. Samus followed up with a charged Magicka shot, but Chrysalis’s horn plus her other two tendrils generated a powerful barrier that redirected the beam into the ground while the two remaining tendrils fired their charged, phazon-tainted beams at Samus, who was able to dodge the first, but her dodge carried her straight into the path of the second blast. Forty-seven percent. Come on… Samus let loose a torrent of magicka rounds interspersed with missiles as she attempted to strafe around the Changeling. All were absorbed expertly by localized barriers and the missiles were shot out of the sky. Any of Chrysalis’s tendrils that were not used in defense immediately counterattacked, continually shooting short bursts of the emerald phazon beams at the Hunter. Samus was able to block one attack with a generated shield and evade another, but a precision shot from the Changeling’s proper horn drilled into her right shoulder pauldron, forcing her to stumble. Thirty-three percent. Samus was, for the first time in a long time, starting to get truly desperate, and it started showing in her more erratic movements. Focus… FOCUS! Again, it was becoming increasingly clear that she would not be able to penetrate the defenses of what were essentially four fully powered horns against her. Clearing her thoughts for just a moment, she came up with a solid plan. After successfully evading a barrage of Phazon beams from three of the tendrils, Samus switched to her Night Beam and armed a missile, opting to use the beam’s property of temporarily disabling magical ability upon impact. Dodging another barrage only partially by leaping through the air, but taking two shots, Samus landed hunched low, her hand digging into the ground as if ready to charge. She had a plan, but there was one problem that her systems were quite eager to share with her: [Defensive shielding depleted! Shield generator offline!] This is it… There was zero margin for error, now. One slip, one miscalculation, would cost Samus everything she’d worked for. Unfortunately, the Hive Core wasn’t large enough to employ an Asteroid Bombardment, so the idea was that she’d fill the Hive Core with a wall of missiles, overwhelming the tendrils to the point where they wouldn’t be able to respond to a charged Night Beam round.  With her foe distracted and powerless, Samus would engage her Speed Booster and the impact would certainly finish off Chrysalis for good based on the state she was in. She immediately set her plan into motion, firing missile after missile, keen on exhausting her ammunition supply should it be necessary for Chrysalis’s defeat and her own survival. With such a huge salvo of missiles heading her way, the Changeling Queen reacted as Samus had predicted she would, indeed breaking off her attack in favor of shooting down the projectiles. Samus refused to relent, having to make sure that she was completely distracted; one mistake or unintended lapse in fire and it would all be over for the Hunter. Satisfied that there was a solid enough wall of missiles streaming Chrysalis’s way, Samus charged her Night Beam to full and aimed at the Changeling, who was destroying the remaining missiles with ease. Waiting for the opportune instant, Samus released the shot, and the round impacted squarely against the Empress’s chest right as the last missile was downed, Chrysalis’s magic flickering and dying out, shocked at being rendered powerless. The Hunter, however, had started moving the instant the shot left her barrel, throwing her entire essence into one last, desperate sprint, thankful at last for the sheer size of the Hive Core, which afforded her systems enough time to cycle up. Samus rapidly ate up the distance between herself and her foe, and right when she was seemingly inches in front of the Changeling did the latter recover from the shock, level a hateful gaze at the Hunter in the instant before her death— —the impact never came. Samus’s Speed Booster engine died in the space between spaces, the sudden lack of kinetic energy deeply wrong, and with a surprised yelp, Samus found herself suspended in the air, visor directly level with Chrysalis’s face, which bore a hideous, victorious smirk. The Hunter’s eyes widened not primarily because of the suddenness with which she was rendered immobile, but more due to her immediate, crushing realization that her final gambit not only failed, but failed disastrously. "AAAAAYAAAAHHH!" A scream tore itself, unbidden, from the Hunter’s throat at the impossibly sharp pain, the perfect agony of a single Phazon beam piercing through her abdomen and out her spine. The magical binding was released at that moment and she was thrown dozens of feet, bouncing and landing painfully on her back… Her body refused to answer her, and her visor was missing a large portion of glass where her right eye would be, exposing it to the room. [[>WARNING<]] [[!!SUIT INTEGRITY COMPROMISED!!]] Ugh… I… w-what!? [Fatal injury detected! Dispensing biofoam…] Her visor (the part that was intact) displayed a simple anatomy of a human, highlighting a massive area where the Phazon beam had blown through her. That’s when she was struck with the fresh realization that her abdomen hurt like absolutely no other. Chrysalis, on the other hand, was catching her breath and slowly walking over to her. No, get up… Get… UP! Samus's suit came alive with an emergency notification, the circled exclamation mark and strident beeping signifying its urgency. Chrysalis, damnably, still took her time and yet Samus’s body refused commands. The pain was simply too much, even with the help of the biofoam filling up her wound. She slowly was feeling the strength seep from her body. [[>>SYSTEM WARNING<<]] [[System Alert! Suit physical integrity compromised! System failure imminent! System Alert! Suit physical integrity compromised! System failure imminent!]] Fuck! This is… no! MOVE! Samus’s eyes displayed true fear for the first time in years as the reality of what was happening broke upon her, like a wave. She would not go down like this though… this was not how it was going to end! Her movements became much more jerky as coherent strength left her. I… I…. can’t. Get u-Samus… [[SYSTEM FAILURE. ERROR-3. SYSTEM FAILURE. ERROR-3.]] [>>LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS OFFLINE<<] Samus clenched her fist as hard as she could, not even able to will her head up anymore. None of her body responded after that. Chrysalis was only a few steps away from standing directly over her body. No… I… move… Her helmeted head slowly drifted, turning to its left. Her eyes were wet and tearing from the pain; pain which was slowly ebbing away. I… I… I… As Chrysalis arrived and stared down upon her, Samus’s visible eye blinked no more. It stared off to the side where her head faced and her body, much like her gaze, was lifeless. The Changeling Queen let out a single huff. “An unmarked tomb for Equestria’s ‘hero,’” she spoke contemptuously, using a tiny bit of magic to will Samus’s eyes closed before spitting next to her corpse. She walked away, moving towards the shaft from which the Hunter entered, not even glancing back at the corpse since she was needed to help cleanse the invaders from the rest of the Hive. That Chrysalis failed to look back at her fallen foe ensured that she did not notice the subtle movement of the Hunter’s arm, nor did she notice when, behind her cracked visor, Samus’s eyes snapped open... ...revealing distinctly reptilian irises. Edited by Random_Dragon and ToxiClay