"So how did exploring the Sanctuary Fortress go?" Twilight asked eagerly. "From the way you described it, it sounds just fascinating!" She rubbed her forehooves together in delight.
Samus managed a chuckle. "Hope you're not expecting too much in the way of technical descriptions, Twilight," she stated. "Most of what I learned about Luminoth technology on Aether was how to break it when it's trying to kill me."
"Same here," Spike added, wincing at Twilight's disappointed expression. "Sorry."
"So let's hear about the explosions, then!" Pinkie called out eagerly.
"Not many of those at first either," Samus pointed out. "Our first stop after the Temple was the Spider Guardian, which I had to fight alone in Morph Ball tunnels. Thankfully, it was relatively easy, and the Spider Ball is always useful."
"And you came back with a Sky Temple Key this time," Spike pointed out. "Bringing our total of them to five. One from Agon, one from there, and three from the central area."
"After that, we continued to explore the Fortress, taking paths we couldn't before," Samus explained. "Thankfully, Spike was able to find a few ways to get around the narrow tunnel paths I had to take."
"Though that really came to a head when we made our way to where sensors showed a Phazon concentration," Spike explained. "As it turned out...someone we'd fought before wasn't quite dead..."
As Spike and Samus entered a passageway, they saw Dark Samus blast a group of Dark Pirates to bits before lunging towards several canisters of Phazon, draining energy out of them. Spike, hungry and angry at the sight of food being taken from him, smashed the glass between them before forcing his way through. Samus wasn't sure whether she or Dark Samus was more surprised at how much rage and hunger could amplify Spike's physical strength, as the glass had taken Dark Samus' Phazon shot barrage without a scratch, and scans had shown even Power Bombs wouldn't have broken it in its former condition.
Dark Samus withdrew quickly, but there wasn't much Phazon left for Spike to eat. In a rage, Spike pursued, with Samus following along close behind, using Morph Ball to get through the hole Spike had opened up.
When Samus caught up, it was just in time to see Spike smack Dark Samus aside with his tail to get at the Phazon it had been drawing off of the wall, before he began to eat eagerly. In retaliation, Dark Samus smashed a control panel, raising walls to cut Spike off from the Phazon while also activating the massive elevator platform they were all on. Spike snarled in rage as he lunged after Dark Samus.
While Dark Samus had a great deal more to its arsenal this time, the fight actually proved easier than last time. Not only was the smaller environment - with pillars Dark Samus couldn't smash through - harder for it to maneuver and easier for Spike and Samus to maneuver in, the lessons they learned with the Grenchlers proved useful, as they each took turns attacking from opposite sides. Samus focused on locking on and using Super Missiles, while Spike stuck to melee attacks with claws, fists, tail, and fangs. As every punch, slash, swipe, or bite hit with the force of a super missile given his rage, this proved very effective, especially as Spike was able to take Dark Samus' dodging into account with follow up strikes.
Once they reached the top of the elevator, Dark Samus had a slightly larger area to work with, and started using a Phazon charged Boost Ball function to try and smash into them both. While Samus was able to dodge easily, Spike grabbed Dark Samus in both claws, trapping it in ball form, before proceeding to smash it into the ground repeatedly, blast it with flames, smack it repeatedly with his tail, tear into it with his teeth, slam it into the walls a few times, and then smash it repeatedly against the outside energy fields until they broke and then hurled it out into the distance.
Seeing Dark Samus dissolve into Phazon, Samus wasn't sure if it had taken enough damage to need to repair elsewhere, or if it had just decided to try again when Spike wasn't hungry.
Spike was rather surprised when a massive pile of food appeared in front of him in a flash of white, purple, blue, and gold. "Umm...what?" he asked.
"It's all your favorites," Twilight spoke up. "At least, they were your favorites..."
"And quite a few treats from the royal kitchens," Celestia added.
"And some of the cider that's been aging in our cellars," Luna pointed out, indicating the barrel.
"We just don't want you going hungry in the middle of the story," Discord concluded, pulling at his neck and whistling innocently.
Samus couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. Spike's got much better self control now. Just don't try to take his food while he's eating."
Rainbow quickly jerked her hoof away from the barrel of cider, turning away and whistling innocently.
This time it was Spike's turn to laugh. "Girls, this pile's bigger than I am! No way I can eat all of it. Come on and take a share."
Since it had been a while since the last meal for everyone, they all happily took up his offer.
As they all ate, Samus continued telling what had happened. "After that, we were both able to get to Dark Aether. Spike took the time to do an overfly to map out the outside and grab anything useful."
"I found a Sky Temple Key, several upgrades, and two Hive Keys," Spike explained. "One of them would have been unreachable for me, since it was on a platform completely contained by a forcefield, but I discovered the platform itself was vulnerable to a combination of focused flames and punching...especially since I was still hungry." His statement brought several chuckles.
"As for the rest..." Samus began. "That can wait until tomorrow. Looks like the sun and moon are actually following their proper schedules this time." This brought a rueful sigh from Celestia and a raspberry from Luna. "For now, let's eat."
"And drink?" Rainbow asked hopefully, gazing eagerly at the barrel.
Smirking, Spike cracked the barrel open and grabbed several mugs, to cheers from several members of the audience.