Once everyone had calmed down from the intensity of the previous story segment - and older sisters and older sister figures had calmed and comforted the youngsters - Celestia turned to Samus. "So what happened after that?" she asked.
"Well," Samus continued, "after that, I was able to go to one of the chambers behind the Hall and acquire my Ice Beam, one of my more useful beam weapons. Afterwards, my map indicated somewhere new to explore via an elevator to the Tallon Overworld..."
Following a path around a great many tree roots, the pair came out atop a high cliff above where Spike had found his first meal of Phazon. The Pirate Frigate that Samus had explored in orbit had crashed there, and most of it was underwater. They made their way back to the ship after dealing with a few aeropirates, though Spike now had to sit outside as he was a bit big for the interior as he was. Samus made a mental note to figure out a solution to that. She certainly wasn't going to leave him behind.
While Samus was inside the ship, Spike decided to meditate as she had taught him. He tried to apply logic to the problem. If he had grown this fast, logic seemed to dictate to him that he should be able to shrink as well. He was probably on the wrong track, but it was worth a try to attempt. Remembering how it had felt to grow, he focused his mind on that sensation, trying to reverse it.
He hadn't made any progress by the time Samus came back out of the ship. "We need to get back to the Phendrana Drifts," Samus stated. "Scans indicate unusual gravity fluctuations there. In all likelihood, it's a Chozo Gravity Suit upgrade, which will let me handle water easier."
"Let's go," Spike agreed, standing back up.
Returning to the Drifts via the elevator behind Thardus' former lair, Samus and Spike made their way to another section of the drifts. Following separate paths, they began exploring a large underground section. The only new enemy was the Hunter Metroid, which actually proved to be even easier to deal with for Spike than the standard Tallon variant. A quick side step as it lashed out with its energy draining tentacle and a quick snap, and Spike's jaw closed on the tentacle itself. As only the teeth at the end of the tendril drained energy, this left the Hunter Metroid completely helpless as Spike dragged it towards him before eating it in a single bite, tearing it apart with his teeth. "Strawberry!" he said happily, licking his lips.
Underwater, they encountered another new hostile called a Jetzap...which proved inedible to Spike, as his teeth couldn't get through the tough hide, even after its two halves were forcefully severed in the center of the electrical current that kept them connected.
When they reached the chamber where Samus had detected the gravimetric anomalies, she clung to Spike's side as he swam through the massive underground lake. He was built for water far better than she was in her Power Suit without the Gravity Suit function. Thankfully, Spike was able to quickly find the upgrade, and once it had been applied to the suit, Samus was able to leap through the water as easily as she did in the air.
Surfacing, Spike posed a question. "So now we're headed back to the sunken frigate?" he asked.
"Yes," Samus replied.
"Can we take a detour on the way back?" Spike asked. "I...feel another artifact."
Nodding, Samus let Spike lead the way.
Once more in the Chozo Ice Temple, Spike used his high intensity flame to melt the ice on a Chozo statue, allowing Samus to activate it with her Morph Ball. She then entered the chamber opened beneath it the same way to acquire the Artifact of Sun.
The pair explored the crashed frigate carefully, maneuvering through the underwater sections in their own ways. It wasn't certain which of them was more suited to water. While Spike's swimming was faster and less confined by needing a flat surface to push off or land on, the water negated the flame breath that was his primary weapon, and he wasn't able to swing his claws well for striking. He was forced to fall back on ramming and biting, which had limited usefulness, especially against aquapirates with their hydropacks that let them fly underwater.
As they explored, Samus discovered that the easiest way to deal with the aquapirates was to freeze them with a shot of ice beam - unlike the aeropirates, aquapirates couldn't dodge sideways as fast - and then shatter them with a missile.
"That's actually one of the most useful techniques I've developed for fighting in my exploration," Samus explained to her intent audience. "Freeze an enemy, then shatter it. With smaller enemies, I've yet to find a freezable enemy that doesn't shatter with a single missile shot."
"And she doesn't even need missiles when we're out of water," Spike explained. "Once I got big enough, a single punch did the trick."
Spike's bravado got a chuckle from the gathered mares. "So why'd you have to explore the frigate?" Pinkie asked. "Doesn't sound like you missed anything from when it was in orbit."
Samus nodded. "I didn't. But...the frigate blocked a path to where we did need to go."
"Into the heart of Space Pirate territory on Tallon IV," Spike added.
"The Phazon Mines," they chorused together.
The gathered audience was dead silent...except for one.
"Ooh," Pinkie giggled. "Nice suspense!"