Metroid Equis

by Flammenwerfer

34. Dance of Darkness [Part 2]

Samus's eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of slitted, reptilian, sapphire eyes, which flared a bright teal shade as she got her legs under her, levering her body off the ground. As she rose to her feet, a plane of teal magic passed up her body, leaving a faint glowing trail in its wake. Her abdomen, complete with its gaping, Phazon-induced hole, kept the glow for a moment or two more as flesh knitted itself together, leaving her body absolutely no worse for wear. Shortly thereafter, her Alicorn Battle Suit was fully repaired to the pristine, nigh impenetrable armor it always was.  

The damage her suit had suffered at Chrysalis' hooves disappeared, teal magic filling the holes, only to be replaced with the Suit’s material; the same magic that healed her body working the same way to repair her suit. However, the visor was not immediately repaired, the Nightmare’s  eyes gazing balefully at the turned back of her would-be murderess.

Chrysalis, hearing the combination of magic and metallic clinks behind her, froze, turning slowly to face Samus, her eyes shrunk to pinpricks. Uncertainty and apprehension shot through her, and she breathed out:

"I-Impossible..."

“Hello, Empress Chrysalis,” ‘Samus’ greeted coolly, clearly not herself, the presence of the Nightmare manifesting vocally as an odd, dual voice, the dissonance causing Chrysalis to backpedal instinctively. Moreover, the reflective, silvery color of the Alicorn Battle Suit slowly began to darken, tainted by the Nightmare’s presence. Likewise, the exposed flesh seen through the broken visor also began to darken substantially as power coursed through her.

“A Nightmare…?” Chrysalis asked softly, almost refusing to give credence to what her eyes showed her. She closed her guard, lowering her head. That this human could play host to a fully-realized Nightmare was grave news indeed; Chrysalis’ fear renewed itself as she recalled her current state.

“In the flesh, as it were...and I must say that this suit is perfect. With this as my vessel, I can use my entire magical potential!” Nightmare declared, barely addressing Chrysalis’s own observations before spouting off her own cockily. The Alicorn Battle Suit darkened further still until the metal was as black as onyx while the suit accents all flared simultaneously, becoming bright blue. The hard magic wings followed last, also taking on the accented blue scheme.

Chrysalis, for once, wasn’t her confident, cocky self. In fact, she had nothing to come back with that would not make her seem weak and frail from the previous engagement. To be fair, Nightmare was not interested in any of the theatrics and the only thing that kept her from immediately attacking the vulnerable Changeling Queen was the pleasure she took in witnessing the apprehension and fear writ large over Chrysalis’s face. After a couple of moments of drinking in that scene, Nightmare had had her fill and Chrysalis had recovered, squaring her stance and preparing to fight.

“You underestimate my connection to this elixir of life, Nightmare,” Chrysalis spat hatefully. “It shall feed me and grant me and my brood power beyond even your comprehension!” The Empress finally showed some resolve, sprouting her four tendrils again and charging all five ‘horns’ while absorbing some of the Phazon in the ground to heal some of her wounds.

“Oh, I’m well aware of that, Changeling; it does not concern me in the slightest.” Nightmare dismissed her opponent’s claim, her expression morphing into a darker, far more aggressive one, her eyes narrowing. “But now...I grow tired of this drivel. A fate far worse than death awaits your conniving and unnecessary species and I shall gladly facilitate that descent, starting with you,” she threatened, parroting a similar phrase she coined upon her first rise to Samus’s form.

[Suggested Ambience]

The moment those words left her mouth, Nightmare touched two fingers to her visor, the broken glass flaring bright blue, Nightmare’s magic leaving it fully repaired before she magically levitated into the air. Kinesis beam charged to full power, Nightmare Hunter advanced towards Chrysalis, floating intimidatingly as she decided how she would approach the battle.

Chrysalis immediately went on the defensive and fired beams of Phazon-laden magic at the advancing Nightmare, but the latter literally ‘swatted’ the beams away in one motion of her arm. Nightmare Hunter responded with a charged, overpowered Magicka shot straight into Chrysalis’s chest, launching her back into the far wall with a sickening crack of her exoskeleton fracturing in likely several places. Shaking off the painful impact, the Changeling Queen snarled as she saw Nightmare Hunter gracefully advancing upon her once more, her feet never touching the ground once.

Chrysalis shot her tendrils out and ensnared the floating, corrupted human, but Nightmare was completely unphased, magically generating a powerful electrical current around her form. A nasty, quite damaging shock was delivered straight through the Changeling Queen’s body, her body convulsing violently, tendrils springing away and releasing Nightmare. The latter counterattacked, shooting her hand out and taking hold of Chrysalis’ neck in her magic, raising her body into the air, her foe’s hooves pawing uselessly at the intangible magic. Nightmare then pivoted, hurling Chrysalis behind her, the Changeling smashing brutally into the ground and sliding to a halt.

“This seems to be a recurring pattern with you Changelings,” Nightmare taunted her opponent as Chrysalis got to her feet and attempted to cast a barrier to give her some respite and allow her to heal. Nightmare immediately shattered that notion literally and figuratively as she fired an Anti-Magic Missile, destroying the barrier and leaving the Queen open to further attack. Chrysalis fired a Phazon beam from her main horn, striking Nightmare Hunter in the upper-right chest but she was unphased, only recoiling slightly from the kinetic impact. She responded with a sharp, horizontal swing of her free hand, generating an expanding offensive barrier which knocked the Queen back further.

“Savoring the sweet taste of victory at the battle’s victory...only to have it turn to the bitter ash of defeat as you lose the war,” she continued taunting while advancing on her struggling foe. This time, Nightmare set her boots on the ground and physically grasped Chrysalis vice-like by the neck, lifting her head up to face her visor, then levitating once more to bring her off the ground. While struggling for breath, the fearful Changeling Queen could swear that she could see straight through the ominously-glowing visor and into the eyes of the Nightmare, twin irises promising naught but eternal damnation.

Nightmare continued to toy with her prey, a twisted, sadistic smile ever present on her concealed face. She knew well that Chrysalis could not mount any dangerous offense against her in her present state, and until her foe decided to devote her entire attention to using Phazon to heal herself, which would be Samus’ signal to retake control, she was going to enjoy every last second of this. Nightmare planted the barrel of her arm cannon against Chrysalis’s abdomen and fired a missile point-blank, holding her in place as the concussive blast almost obliterated the tough exoskeleton that the Queen sported, fragments near the explosion’s center falling away. Once the damage had been dealt, Nightmare tossed her limp body towards the meteor.

“It’s a shame that you did not overpower Samus sooner than you did… then maybe you could have given me an actual fight,” Nightmare mused out loud, further provoking and enraging the gravely wounded Chrysalis. It sure as hell was working, Chrysalis’s temper outdoing the excruciating pain she was feeling. This whelp was dead... and she resurfaced as a Nightmare stronger than even her? This would not stand for even a moment!

“And it is a fight you shall receive!” Chrysalis declared, her tendrils unspooling from her mane once more, all four of them, plus her horn, fully charged and ready to strike Nightmare down like she did Samus. Again, Nightmare looked fairly unimpressed, bored even, as Chrysalis unloaded several beams of Phazon-laden magic straight into her. Nightmare admitted to herself that the attacks were more powerful than anticipated, causing her to teleport out of existence.

Chrysalis snarled and growled, looking everywhere for the missing, corrupted human, yet she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a charged Night Beam round struck her straight in the flank, dissipating any magic she would cast, and Nightmare was upon her immediately, seemingly extracting herself from the rock wall. Binding Chrysalis in midair, she grasped one of her tendrils with her hand and tore it straight from her body, the result being an unbid scream of agony at the forceful loss of an appendage.

“Naughty, naughty...I shall have to take these toys away from you…” Nightmare remarked, continuing to hold the Changeling Queen suspended and ripping out each of the tendrils from her mane and tossing them aside. Once the last one was ‘surgically’ removed, Nightmare threw Chrysalis straight into the meteor, her body bouncing off of it and bleeding profusely from her neck onto the floor. At this point, Chrysalis had no choice but to immerse herself in the Phazon to heal herself entirely.

“This torture will not go unpunished, Nightmare!” she seethed, her horn flaring brightly and pulling Phazon radiation straight out of the meteor itself. She combined it with her own magic to form quite a durable shield around herself as liquid Phazon and its radiation absorbed into her body. “Your twisted sadism and corruption ends here,” she shouted, drawing power back into herself to heal her wounds. Nightmare found it somewhat humorous that Chrysalis did not see the irony in her words.

But in the end, it would only mean that Chrysalis would not be moving much for the next minute or so.

“Just as planned…” Nightmare breathed as Chrysalis drew enormous power from the meteor core, effectively rejuvenating herself behind the seemingly impenetrable shield. Nightmare set herself, tensing her body.

“Now, Samus! Seize control!” she ordered in which would likely be her last spoken words, though only time would tell if this would remain the case. On cue, Nightmare’s form was enveloped in a bright, golden light which subsumed her completely. After a couple of seconds, Samus emerged clad in the same Alicorn Battle Suit with its usual silver and magenta color scheme, all traces of Nightmare corruption wiped away. To say that Samus was pleasantly surprised that the whole scheme played out perfectly would be an understatement. She brought her gaze back to her target, blue eyes blazing.

Back from the dead!

Samus wasted no time in facing the quickly recovering Chrysalis and aiming her cannon, charging up a Magicka round. What was different this time, was that accompanying the usual upswell of magical energy around her cannon were ‘holographic’ representations of all of the Elements of Harmony orbiting tidily along the length of her implement, pulsing in sequence. That by itself would have told Samus all she needed to know, that the Elements were ready. If this weren’t enough, however, Samus’ suit displayed a single, strident notification at the top of her visor, and she began to feel a warmth arising from deep within her core:

[Harmony Mode Active]

With that, Samus activated the Magicka Charge Combination, the barrel of her cannon glowing bright white before a solid, cylindrical beam shot out, scintillating in every color of the rainbow. The beam passed through Chrysalis’s shield as if it were not even there, bore straight through Chrysalis herself, and arrowed into the meteor behind her. The beam’s recoil against Samus’s cannon was so great, the Hunter was obliged to lean in and set her leg behind her, teeth gritted, right arm locked straight out. Even still, the beam grew more powerful and much larger, quickly engorging itself until it stood taller than both combatants The sheer amount of magical energy radiating from the beam caused magical electricity to arc and jump across the Battle Suit, but at this juncture, Samus would not, could not stop her assault. Somehow, she knew that the Elements themselves would know when to stop the torrent of magic pouring out of her barrel.

“What?? NO!!” Chrysalis shrieked in despair as she realised what was happening. Her attempts to counter the ferocious beam or escape it as it tore through her were in vain, the magic holding her firmly in place. The effect of such a beam striking her slowly began to be apparent as her exoskeleton began to flake off into dust within the beam, her form slowly vaporizing. The undirected magic radiating away from Samus’ cannon arced back as if magnetized and entered Samus, undoubtedly purifying her of the Nightmare.

“NO!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!” the Changeling Queen continued to scream, eyes wide in unadulterated terror as the Elements of Harmony did their job. The unfortunate thing was that, while the Elements are designed to cleanse evil from their host, Chrysalis was simply too far gone from Phazon corruption. Because she could not be harmonized, the Elements would do the best they could to promote Harmony: by terminating her. Her hind legs were first in the vaporization process; then her abdomen and forelegs flaked into tiny particles of dust and nothingness. Then, after one final shrill scream of horror, she met her fate when her head and horn vaporized completely.

The beam did not stop firing, however, as it concentrated fully into the meteor. The Harmony Magic quickly overtook and destroyed the Phazon lining the malevolent rock. Samus’s heel was pressed backward by the increased force and though her snarls of frustration and massive muscle fatigue were eclipsed by the deafening sound of the beam, she never relented. Samus’s patience would be tested, time blurring and losing its meaning as she strained, her Suit continuing to pour energy into the meteor, the arcing magical fire increasing in density.  An undetermined amount of time later, the Phazon Core began to show signs of wear, and then something within the meteor exploded, a harmless shockwave loosing itself. As the shockwave passed over Samus, the Harmony Beam abruptly ceased.  Samus finally allowed her cannon to drop, her right arm feeling like she lifted a Federation Capital Ship.

Slightly disoriented from the magical electricity still coursing through her suit, she was able to see the Phazon lining in the meteor slowly disintegrate entirely, leaving behind nothing but benign rock and minerals. Her breathing was heavy and labored, and her vision slightly blurred from the massive amount of magical energy her body had so recently been, and was still being, subjected to. It was… fatiguing.

“Uhn...ugh…” Samus groaned, letting herself fall to her knees, and then onto all fours, just allowing herself to breathe as she let her eyes rest. Because she was so preoccupied in just clearing her mind and affording herself a brief moment of rest, she neither realized nor felt the Alicorn Battle Suit around her begin to fall apart. Module after module, component after component fell off of her body; as they struck the rocky ground, they crumbled to dust and were returned to the magical realm from whence the suit was originally crafted. Those pieces that did not fall of their own volition flaked off and vaporized, as withered leaves carried away on an invisible wind. In the back of her mind, Samus knew that she was losing her Alicorn Battle Suit, but she was still so fatigued that she couldn’t muster the energy to be very concerned.

There, she was left in her Zero Suit, hair matted and skin dripping sweat onto the ground beneath her. With no sensation her body lit up brightly for the briefest of moments before all six Elements of Harmony in their magical forms removed themselves from her body, performing a few orbits around her and then suddenly flying up through the rock…

Though the threat to the Empire was virtually nonexistent, no one ended up getting much sleep through the night due to the coming battle in the morning. Unfortunately, their information would be relayed solely via radio, as their forces were too far away to magically project what was happening at the Impact Site. Princess Celestia, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Colonel Borsig all listened, but did not add, to the communications across the Galactic Federation battlenet. From the sound of it, all was going well; a fierce fight, but the upper hand was apparently being gained. Still, there was no word from Samus.

The Mane Six plus Spike all sat around uneasily towards the center of the Throne Room, having little to do but wait for any sort of news. The quiet chattering amongst themselves was completely silenced when a translucent stream of magic suddenly struck Rainbow Dash harmlessly, her elemental adornment appearing around her neck. All were startled, to say the least.

“Woah… M-My element’s back!” she exclaimed, poking it with her hoof to indeed find that it was real and physical. The other five began crowding around her to investigate when Rarity was suddenly hit by a violet-colored stream of magic, her element appearing around her neck as well.

“Mine too!”

Suddenly in quick succession, Fluttershy’s, Pinkie Pie’s, Applejack’s, and Twilight’s Element’s all returned in that order, forming their respective adornments on their bearers. Celestia and Cadence had come to investigate once the scene had began.

“Princess! They’ve returned to us!” Twilight announced to her mentor excitedly, but her gaze suddenly dropped into one which was much more pensive. “But... what does that mean?” Princess Celestia observed the scene in front of her, the Bearers all looking to her with questioning gazes as to Samus’s fate.

She grinned.

“It means… Samus did it,” she stated resolutely, breathing in deeply at what she knew in her heart to be the truth: The Elements were no longer needed in Samus’s body, so they returned to their original owners. All of their faces lit up at the proclamation, almost ready to exclaim in joy but they knew that it wasn’t over just yet. All had to make it home safely to share in such a victory. Of course, that did not concern any of them in the slightest.

Because ultimately, from that point on, everything was going to be alright.

The Elements had vacated her body, that much was for certain, and Samus still did not care so much. Her breathing stabilized and she finally opened her eyes to survey the scene around her. The immediate Phazon had all but disappeared and Chrysalis was gone, forever… as was the Nightmare. Her mind felt oddly… light, as if there was nary a nefarious presence anymore. Shakily getting to her feet, Samus finally accepted victory; accepted, not claimed, however. She still needed to answer the question on how she would get out of the Hive Network before the Crater ultimately collapsed on itself. Before she could answer such a question, her wrist console vibrated and beeped a few times. Pushing a sweat-matted lock of her hair behind her ear, she brought her arm up and read the notification:

[Main Power Restored.]

[System Check Initiated.]

[Chozo Battle Suit Ver SA1-4468-VM6-P]

[Alicorn Battle Suit has been lost. Restoring Varia Suit default schematics…]

Samus immediately felt a familiar energy envelop her form, a bright, golden light eclipsing her as she felt her suit rebirthed around her. Once the light receded, she examined herself to find her Varia Suit as it always was, clean and pristine. Checking her meters she found her shielding at full power. The only weapon available to her was her standard Power Beam, but her suit quickly went into diagnostics mode before she could find out more on her own.

[Varia Suit restore successful… Varia Suit online.]

[Beginning Diagnostic Scan…]

[Main Computer: Online]

[Targeting System: Active]

[Arm Cannon: Active]

[Running weapons subsystem diagnostics.]

[>Power Beam: Engaged]

[>Charge Beam: Engaged]

[Morph Ball: Engaged]

[Morph Ball Bomb: Engaged]

[Speed Booster: Engaged]

[Grapple Beam: Engaged]

[HUD Suite: Online]

[Visors: Responding]

[Running visor system diagnostics.]

[>Combat Visor: Engaged]

[>Scan Visor: Engaged]

[Missile Launcher: Not Responding]

[All other weaponry and miscellaneous abilities have been lost. Your magical connection has been severed.]

Samus frowned slightly at that last revelation, but maybe it was for the best, in the end. Before she could even mull on the situation, massive seismic activity erupted, she having to quickly stabilize herself lest she fall on her ass. Her suit’s scanners were already at work deciphering the situation but she knew already what was happening.

“Shit.”

[CRATER COLLAPSE IMMINENT!]

[LOSS OF PHAZON HAS CAUSED CATASTROPHIC INFRASTRUCTURAL FAILURE IN THE HIVE NETWORK. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!]

[EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY]

The Hive Network began crumbling around itself and Samus quickly turned to her only exit: the same passage from which she entered earlier. A massive piece of rock had dropped straight to the bottom of the shaft, giving her something to springboard off of. Sprinting to the exit and hoisting herself upon the aforementioned rock, she looked up and found that the destabilization of the shaft had created ledges for her to grab onto and spring from.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she jumped as high as she could and grasped the first ledge, beginning her arduous climb.

“That’s it, soldiers! She did it! All units proceed with the planned evacuation, now!” Princess Luna, sans helmet, ordered, standing next to a squad of her troops. Just like that, all human and equine troops turned on their heels and made a tactical withdrawal from however far they made it into the Hive. It was organized chaos as Luna helped to direct any troops who had lost their way, but they slowly made progress to their entry points, which were carefully guarded by Magickakorps infantry and Federation tanks.

“Samus, come in!” Luna called over the radio net, hoping that the destruction of the core would somehow reduce the radio interference to allow contact.

No response.

“Dammit! All units, keep going! Go, go!” Luna commanded as she kept trying to ping Samus’s comms. The troops she was leading fell behind her as they sprinted through a familiar chamber they passed through earlier. They faced no further resistance; any Changelings they ran across were likewise fleeing for their lives, and had no interest in comparatively petty squabbling. When the light of day became visible down the massive tunnel they were traveling, along with the welcome sight of troops ahead climbing out, is when Luna knew that they were this close from being in the clear.

But what about Samus?

“Samus! Do you read?! Please respond!” she tried once more in attempting to contact the Hunter.  

Nothing.

“Fuck!” she exclaimed out loud, uttering the rare profanity at the thought that Samus might not make it out. She shook her head, marshalling her thoughts: she had troops to get out safely; then, she would worry about Samus. The few dozen troops she had with her arrived under their designated opening to the surface, Federation Marines outside offering their hands down to anyone or anypony who needed assistance getting out.

“Come on, everypony! Climb out, go!” she ordered again, she and a few unicorns helping the Federation Marines out by levitating them to their comrades above. The process continued at an agonizingly slow pace as the Crater continued to collapse around them, the sinking ground easily seen as well as felt. Finally, she flew outside and turned around, levitating one last Magickakorps trooper out of the deathtrap of a Hive. Luna had moved the Warhorse back to the rally point to be put on standby, as it would most likely no longer be needed for the battle.

“All unicorns, teleport to the designated beacon immediately!  Marines, hoist yourselves upon your vehicles and let us leave this place!” she issued the final evacuation order, taking flight and ensuring that no one was left behind that did not unfortunately lose their life inside the Hive Network.

Still, no sign of Samus, and the massive cacophony of collapsing rock within the crater made it difficult for Luna to hear her own voice, let alone her radio. Luna waited for a few long, agonizing seconds as her troops got a head start, the Marines sprinting as far as they could or hitching ride on tanks while all the unicorns had teleported to a safe distance. Sparing one last, pained glance at the collapsing crater, Luna teleported herself to the designated meeting point where she could watch the inevitable from afar.

All who entered the crater and survived had made it to a safe distance, and none had to wait long before the center of the Crater finally lost its battle with gravity, the collapsing core throwing up a plume of snow, rock and other debris, accompanied by the hellish shriek of rock on rock. The rocks and heavier debris settled first, leaving a haze of snow, water vapor and light particulate matter to blow past the soldiers, forcing them to shield their faces against it.

A sickening sensation quickly overtook Luna’s gut as there was still no sign of the Hunter, clad in metal, but she refused to let herself believe, even for a moment, that Samus was gone. Samus said she would get herself out, and Samus was a mare of her word. Troops surrounding her looked to her for guidance, as well as wondering where Samus was, but Luna never tore her stoic gaze from the direction of the Crater, even as the haze subsided. Silence reigned.

Then, there was movement from beyond the veil.

Breaking the vapor barrier with a gentle swing of her arm, Samus emerged, arm cannon held high and armor somewhat scratched and dirtied yet again. Once Luna clapped eyes on the Hunter, she hung her head low in relief while all soldiers in the area let out a collective cheer. The last person missing in action was finally accounted for, and the coalition mission could be ruled a complete success.

Luna did not hesitate to trot and meet Samus halfway, eager to assure herself that this was no mirage.

“Told ya I’d get out… and Phazon readings are dropping quite nicely,” Samus pointed out nonchalantly with two fingers on the side of her helmet, Luna huffing with a gentle smile on her face.

“So it would seem,” Luna replied, deciding to be a mare of few words, though clearly relieved that the two friends (she hoped) had been reunited. Samus took her place next to Luna and they both looked towards the remains of the crater, which could be clearly seen now that the shroud had been blown away by the wind.

“So, did I miss anything?” Samus finally spoke, breaking the comfortable silence as she gazed out, surveying her handiwork. Luna shook her head.

“Nothing important… but you did it, Samus. Just as you always do,” Luna complimented, turning her gaze somewhat towards the Hunter, witnessing Samus’s hand and cannon go to the sides of her helmet. The pressure was released with a positive ‘hiss’ and Samus removed her helmet, moving her head in a somewhat exaggerated manner with her hair whipping from left to right.

“Huh... I guess I did,” Samus remarked to herself. Luna turned her gaze in full only to find Samus with an unusual, far-off complexion. Something was obviously bothering her.

“What’s wrong, Samus?” Luna asked, curious as to why Samus would be harboring such a conflicted expression at a time like this. Samus met her gaze with Luna’s.

“Hmmm?”

“Did something happen down in the Hive’s Core?” Luna pressed, knowing something down there did occur that did not thrill the Hunter at all. Samus on her part, however, turned back towards the Crater remains for a few brief moments before facing Luna once more.

Yeah, I died… and the Nightmare revived me and is greatly responsible for my success.

“Nope. Nothing at all, Luna,” Samus replied confidently with a small half-grin and shaking her head. What happened down there would remain between her and the Nightmare which no longer existed within her. She would not breathe a word to any of her newfound allies of anything that went wrong.

Not a word.

Luna nodded with a reciprocating grin, knowing full well that Samus was lying, but understanding that she had her reasons for doing so. Luna decided to not press the issue, and resolved that she never would. Both turned back to the Crater remains in silence, continuing to observe the death of the greatest threat known to Equestria and probably the planet itself. Their silence was disturbed, however, when a lone Magickakorps servicemare shyly trotted up to the duo.

“Ummm, e-excuse me...Your Highness and Miss Samus?” the veiled mare asked for recognition, bowing respectfully in front of her leader.

“Rise, soldier. We are all equal in stature today. Now, is there something you required?” Luna asked. Samus merely looked on.

“N-No, Your Highness, but I was wondering if you and Miss Samus would like to be a part of a photograph of this historic moment for Equestria…?” she asked, levitating a camera off of her back. Princess Luna looked behind her and indeed, found herself and Samus to be in the perfect position for a scenery shot, one which would go down in history.

Luna said nothing but looked to Samus with a small grin, right eyebrow raised in inquiry. Her ethereal mane blew in the invisible breeze as she waited for Samus’s response to her silent proclamation of ‘only if you are in it with me.’ Samus returned the gaze, a full-on grin worming its way onto her own features.

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” Samus agreed, stepping to the Lunar Princess’s right.  

“Very well, soldier,” Luna responded. Samus, deciding to be ever so slightly adventurous, draped her armored left arm around Luna’s neck while her arm cannon was pointed upward. Both held determined yet victorious grins on their faces. The unicorn soldier aimed her camera and got into a proper position.

“Alright, that looks great!

“In three…

“...two…

“...one…”

*snap*

Edited by Random_Dragon and ToxiClay