//------------------------------//
// Aether: Exploring Torvus 
// Story: Another Hatchling 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

"So what was this Torvus Bog like?" Discord asked.  "From the sound of it, it would be full of all sorts of interesting creatures..."

"Really?" Fluttershy gasped eagerly.  "What were they like?  Were they cute and fuzzy?  Oh!  Or were they covered with defensive spikes with a huge grin of razor sharp teeth?"

"And based on Spike's past behavior, how did they taste?" Pinkie asked eagerly, making Fluttershy whimper.

Spike managed a chuckle.  "To be fair, the only creatures in the bog I managed to eat were the high end predators that were trying to eat me," he explained.  "Most of the rest exploded if they took too much damage."

"Didn't stop ya on the Puffers," Applejack joked.

Spike rolled his eyes.  "These were mobile plantforms.  In fact, most of the enemies we faced were mobile plants, carnivorous or just spreading their seeds."

"Then why did you have to-"

"They were trying to plant those seeds in us, Fluttershy," Samus pointed out.

On that note, Samus and Spike continued their retelling.





The first thing the pair discovered upon entering Torvus Bog was just how wet it was.  It was understandable that a place called a bog would be rather swamp-like, but the pools of water tended towards being just deep enough to bog Samus down while being too shallow for Spike to swim freely in.  All in all, very frustrating to slog through for both of them.

After making it to the first area open enough for Spike to do so, he took flight, exploring the entire area of the swamp from above.  Rather than keep moving, Samus decided to wait for his return.  She didn't have to wait long.  In addition to giving her several missile and shield energy expansions he had found, he also gave her several expansions that would allow her to carry more Power Bombs...just as soon as she recovered the capacity to use them.

The first few new enemies they encountered were plant based: Shredders, large seed pods that flew towards them and burst to scatter seeds; and Shriekers, flying plant predators that used hyper-sonic waves to both cloak themselves and attack from range.  Thankfully, as plants, both were exceptionally vulnerable to Spike's flame breath.

They each made their own way further into the Bog at various points - Spike flying over, while Samus went under, various obstacles - until they reached another wide open area.  At that point, they came across a new hostile animal: a predator called a Grenchler.

Grenchlers had a low slung, bipedal body with thickly muscled legs, a short body, a heavily armored face with a wide mouth and horn, and a thick tail connected to a shell on its back.  While normally this wouldn't prove much of a threat, three things made them quite frustrating to Samus.  First, they were amphibious, able to swim in the water as easily as run on land, giving them a distinct advantage.  Second, they could fire bolts of electricity from their horns.  And finally, they never hunted in groups smaller than two.

Their only real weak point was the shell on its back, which revealed a nerve cluster when broken.  This provided the primary strategy Samus and Spike used when dealing with the Grenchlers.  Parting, the pair moved to the far sides of the chamber, forcing the Grenchlers to focus on one or the other of them.  Each of them then locked onto whichever Grenchler had its back to them, destroying the shells.  As the Granchlers instinctively spun to face any new attack, Samus and Spike could switch to each others targets easily and keep up a near continuous stream of fire.

One of the Grenchlers, however, Spike took down one on one, ripping the armor off its upper body and diving in with his teeth, predator vs predator.  Samus chuckled when she saw it.  "So how does it taste?" she asked, noticing him eating eagerly to replenish his strength.

He smiled up at her.  "A bit like crocodile...with a dash of swordfish and a touch of frog," he replied.  "Rather tasty."





"Really?" Rainbow asked.  "You fed him crocodile and swordfish?  From what I learned from griffons, those are pretty high end meats.  Or is it different out in space?"

"No, they're pretty high end even in space," Samus replied.  "At least, if you're getting the real stuff.  That was from when I was trying to coax him out of the ship after our...rather abortive picnic."

Several of the mares - Twilight, Celestia, and Fluttershy especially - ah'd in understanding, nodding their agreement with the approach.  Each had their own experience of using a preferred foodstuff to coax a recalcitrant youngster into something they didn't want to do.  Twilight had lost count of the number of times she'd encouraged Spike with the promise of a particular gem.  Fluttershy had dealt with Angel in much the same way...to some extent.  And Celestia had done so more times than she could count...though the most recent fond memory of such things had involved a particular book rather than a particular food.

Samus smiled, glad to see she didn't need to explain further.  The less Spike was reminded of that, the better, as far as she was concerned.  "At any rate...after that, we had to step into Dark Torvus for a bit..."

"And Spike promptly went upgrade hunting?" Scootaloo piped up.

Spike chuckled.  "Yup."





Once in Dark Aether, Samus decided to stay by the Portal and the safe zone it generated while she waited for Spike to return.  Doing so meant it was less likely the local wildlife, the Ing, or anything else would notice her presence.  While she waited, she scanned about, checking to see if there was anything threatening.  Discovering that it was mostly quiet, she made a quick run to trigger a Bomb Slot to rotate a bridge - which also rotated the same bridge in Aether - before rushing back to the portal.

Spike returned around that time, with all the above-ground map data of Dark Torvus, the location of the Dark Temple, and several upgrades for Samus, including a Beam Ammo expansion.

Back in Aether, they were attacked by Pirate Commandos possessed by Hunter Ing.  In addition to the heavy artillery and armor of the commandos - EMP grenades, high energy projectiles, and hand held shield generators - these Dark Commandos also retained the Hunter Ing's ability to faze out of regular space, making them difficult to track, much as the Chozo Ghosts had been.  They could also fire concentrated bursts of Dark Energy, which clung to Samus and Spike to deal caustic damage.  Thankfully, much like with the Chozo Ghosts, Spike's predatory instincts allowed him to sense the danger they possessed, allowing both himself and Samus to lock onto the Commando's new location as they were fazing in, which prevented them from getting in as many sneak attacks as they might have.

Unfortunately, they attacked in pairs, and Spike's instincts only alerted him to whichever was closest and ready to attack.  Both Spike and Samus took a few hits, but overall the battle wasn't as difficult as it could have been.

Shortly thereafter, they entered the Torvus Temple Grounds.  Numerous Pirates showed up to attack them on skiffs, as well as some Aeropirates.  Unfortunately for the Pirates, they all went down quickly.  With them down, the shields blocking an elevator dropped, giving Samus access to the Super Missile Charge Combo.

With that complete, the pair made their way through to the Torvus Temple.