"So what happened on this...Bottleship, then?" Shining Armor asked curiously before pursing his lips. "Yeah, you're right Spike. That just does not have the epic sound one of these stories seem to call for."
"Know what you mean," Spike agreed. "Wasn't even all that great an adventure."
"Was still rather important," Samus commented dryly. "For a variety of reasons..."
As Samus set the ship down gently aboard the Bottleship, she gestured for Spike to follow behind her. He obeyed readily, his claws clicking quietly against the metal walkway making less noise than her own boots, his tail lashing gently in the air showing the relaxed tension of his body. Samus kept her hand on her arm cannon, just in case she had to shoot something. Neither made a sound at first, waiting to see what would come.
Before too long, Samus spotted another ship that had apparently landed in the dock some time before. A quick scan showed it had the Galactic Federation logo...but an explosion further in grabbed attention before either of them could investigate further. The pair quickly made their way to the source of the explosion, Spike shifting halfway to his 'Speed Boost' shape so that he could run faster without actually triggering the biological reaction. Samus kept her own pace much the same.
Shortly after the second explosion made the pair reconsider whether or not to actually activate a Speed Boost, they reached the source of the noise. Samus went into a diving roll as she brought her arm cannon to bare, while Spike leapt into the air to cling to the ceiling as he built up his flame. Across the room from them, a squad of Federation soldiers in standard issue power suits spun to face them, weapons primed.
The whole tableau held, on the verge of hostility...until the largest of the troops stepped forward, a bulky plasma cannon strapped to his back. "Ah...fancy meeting you here, Princess!" he called out in a comfortingly familiar voice. "And the Little Prince too, not so little anymore! Where'd the muscles come from, ankle biter?" He lifted his visor, revealing his wide grin.
"Uncle Tony?" Spike asked in shock as his fire faded, relaxing as he recognized that this one, at least, was friendly. Samus herself returned to an 'at ease' posture as opposed to active combat.
"Anthony..." Samus breathed in relief, plainly as glad to see the familiar figure as Spike was.
"Princess?" Rainbow gasped out, snickering.
"You didn't tell us you were royalty!" Twilight burst out, amazed as she turned to Samus. Her amazed expression turned to confusion when Anthony burst into laughter, and Rainbow only laughed harder.
"It's an affectionate nickname," Samus explained, rolling her eyes. "Admittedly, I can see why you'd make that mistake, considering there are four of them here-"
"Five, actually," Gandrayda corrected. "I don't make a fuss, but...yeah. My people have a sort of fusion between an oligarchy and a meritocracy, so I was slated for a position in the ruling class...in about 500 years when they decided I was 'experienced' enough."
"And technically, as the last living representative of the Chozo in this plane of reality, and thus their sole living representative, you technically are one, Mom," Spike corrected. "Even if they never had a monarchy."
Samus groaned as her hand met her face. "Can we get back to talking about the mission instead?" she groaned.
"From the sound of it, this conversation's going to be much more fun!" Discord teased. "Now...do we want to know about the rest of that unit beyond 'you knew them all personally'...or do they all wind up dead?"
Samus closed her eyes as the jocular atmosphere slowly faded. "...let's continue..."
"Haven't seen you since the last time I sat the ankle biter!" Anthony greeted warmly as he stepped forward. "And your buddy's here too!"
Samus hesitated as her eyes fell on Adam Malkovich, plainly the commander of this mission. A welter of emotions swamped her mind. On the one hand, he had been the closest to a father she'd had since leaving Zebes the first time. On the other, they...hadn't parted on the best of terms, and the less said about that the better, all things considered. And he'd never entirely approved of Bounty Hunters in the first place, let alone her decision to become one.
"What are you doing here?" Adam demanded coldly.
Noticing Spike bridling a little, Samus struggled to get herself under control. "We picked up the distress signal," Samus explained firmly. "We came to investigate." She knew why Spike might have taken offense to Adam's tone, but the Commander had always been all business on missions. He never let his emotions get in the way of what had to be done. "What brings you here?"
As Anthony started to speak, Adam cut him off. "That information is not for an outsider," he stated bluntly.
As most of the unit turned towards Adam in shock, Samus closed her eyes. His words had hurt, showing just how much damage she'd done to her relationship with the man with how they'd parted so long ago. Hearing Spike begin to growl as her suit detected an increase in heat, however, forced Samus to push that aside as she turned to give Spike a warning glance. While he didn't seem to be in a forgiving mood, his growling quieted.
At that point, one of the other troops informed Adam that they were 'all prepped', and the whole unit pulled back. An explosive device attached to the large sealed door in front of them went off after Anthony had guided Samus back out of range. However, the door did not open.
"No dice," one of the other troops grumbled. "I think our only option is to slowly cut our way through with the laser."
"The electrical system's out," Anthony explained to Samus, "so we can't get the door open. And explosions are tricky without causing collateral damage. What we need is some way to focus the power on a centralized location." He shot Samus a wink.
Samus rolled her eyes, knowing that was an obvious hint to use her missiles. However, before she could, there was a loud crunch that made everyone spin.
Spike had just put his clenched fist through the metal of the door, right where the explosion had been. Pulling his fist back, he gripped the edges of the hole he'd just made with both foreclaws and pulled. With a screech of twisting metal, a reasonable sized passageway had been forced open. "You coming Mom?" he asked bluntly.
Anthony whistled in appreciation. "Well look who's got the big guns now!" he teased, making Spike chuckle and flex playfully.
Adam glanced briefly from Samus to Spike, then stepped forward. "The Federation is handling this objective," he stated bluntly. "We don't need any interference from outsiders."
Spike snorted derisively. "Well, I came here in response to a distress beacon, so I'm going to look for whoever sent it to offer rescue."
"Interfere with our objective, and we will treat you as hostile," Adam continued firmly.
Spike gave a cursory look at the unit's armaments as the other soldiers tensed before snorting defiantly and getting into a combat stance. "And if your entire arsenal could even so much as scuff my scales, I might be the slightest bit intimidated!" he barked back.
Samus quickly stepped forward before it could devolve further. "Spike, enough!" she snapped. "Stand down!" Much to her surprise, Spike immediately obeyed. Turning to Adam, she gathered her thoughts, trying to figure out how to smooth this over. "Commander Malkovich, I recognize this is not a mission posted for any Hunters. However, I find myself concerned for any civilians on board. My abilities and arsenal are available at no charge, should you choose to avail yourself of them."
Adam stared at her for a time, then nodded. "You remember the regs?" he said coldly.
"Yes sir," Samus confirmed, using mental commands to disengage some of the more advanced tech in her power suit, reverting back to the basic set up, though leaving the rest to be activated at need.
"Then stick to the objectives, and keep him under control," Adam directed firmly.
"Yes sir!" Samus confirmed.
She wasn't sure if she imagined the approving smirk under his faceplate as he turned away, but it quieted her roiling emotions either way.
Samus paused, noticing a lot of hostile glances being directed Adam's way from the pony members of her audience. The only one not looking at him with some degree of hostility was Twilight, and she was looking at Spike in concern. "Why'd you react with so much hostility, Spike?" she asked worriedly.
"I...honestly don't know, Mom," he replied softly. "It's just...the moment I laid eyes on him...I felt insecure and angry. I felt like I had to assert myself, to let him know I wasn't afraid of him or his dinky little guns. And yeah, that actual thought crossed my mind. It didn't fade until Mom told me to stand down." He glanced towards Samus, his eyes confused.
"Instincts," Adam replied reasonably. "Samus is Spike's Alpha, so when my presence caused her emotional state to become confused, Spike's instincts decided I was a threat, and compelled him to clash with me. It's why I pushed the conflict. It both forced Samus to realize how much her emotional stability affected Spike's self control, and compelled her to bring her own emotions under control, which was to the benefit of the mission. She'd hardly function at her best as an emotional wreck."
Celestia pursed her lips in a somewhat disapproving frown. "I'm not sure that was the best way to handle it..." she murmured.
"It worked," Adam replied firmly. "If Spike had been human, I'd have handled it differently. But even with how well he thinks and how well developed his emotions are, he's an animal." Noticing several unpleasant reactions to that statement, he continued, "I mean that as a compliment, of course."
"Pray tell, elaborate," Luna requested curiously.
"Humanity left behind being 'animals' ages ago," Adam explained. "We traded it away, along with our older instincts, in exchange for our reliance on technology, civilization, and other such things. While many feel this is proof of human superiority...I feel it has left us a weaker species overall."
"From what Samus talked about with the Chozo, I'd say they agreed with you," Anthony offered. "Weren't their biggest teachings about balancing nature with the development of technology?"
"That's right," Samus confirmed. "With that attitude, you'd have probably fit right in with them, Adam."
"An odd view to take for someone of your rank, however," Ghor offered.
"The only logical view, in my opinion," Adam countered. "I've lost count of the number of stories I've come across where someone was saved from becoming an unwitting victim of a psychotic or a sociopath because their pet dog sensed something fundamentally wrong with the individual in question that their owner could not, responding to it with uncharacteristic hostility."
"Don't mention that sort of thing, please," Spike pleaded, rolling his eyes.
"Remembering Sir ni Vore?" Adam asked, his voice as calm as ever.
"Eh?" Pinkie asked, confused.
"A rather eccentric billionaire who believed that the truest expression of humanity was the hunt," Ghor explained. "He challenged anyone to best him in the true hunt. It was speculated he also imported rare and exotic - especially endangered - species specifically to dine on them. An absolute scoundrel...but unfortunately, he was careful to make sure he never did anything actually illegal."
"And then when Spike was 13, he arranged to redirect him to one of his 'hunting grounds', with every intent of making him his latest delicacy," Adam explained. "And he was never heard from again."
"What happened to him, anyway?" Anthony asked curiously.
"He didn't taste very good," Spike replied.
Samus stared at Spike, stunned, and she wasn't the only one. "You didn't..." she began
Spike shrugged. "Meat is meat. Once it's dead, what does it matter what it was while alive?"
Luna tilted her head, curious. "Then...you would not find it objectionable to dine on, say, anypony here after they died?"
"Actually, I think I'd want to," Spike explained simply. "I mean, now that I know doing so kept Squishy alive inside me...I wouldn't want to lose anyone I care about for eternity. Eating them after they die...it's just making them a part of me forever." He chuckled. "Not that I'd ever dream of doing anything to hasten that day. I enjoy spending time with everyone too much."
As everyone relaxed, Adam smirked. "How very Martian of you," he said idly. Glancing around at the relaxed faces of the ponies, he shook his head in amazement. "All of you."
"So you really wanna eat me someday, huh Spike?" Rainbow teased.
"Well...a creature's diet effects the flavor of the meat...so maybe if you drank a little less cider and ate your veggies," Spike countered teasingly, startling laughter from several listeners.
"How come I'm the only one even close to wigging out over Spike talking about eating his friends?" Anthony asked Adam.
"Because everyone else here is far more civilized than we are," Adam replied easily. "They know Spike's in no rush to, as Heinlein said, grok them in fullness before they've reached their fullness."
"Huh," Anthony replied thoughtfully.
"Well," Scootaloo spoke up expansively, "I don't know about the rest of you, but if I'm gonna achieve 'fullness', I need some more nachos!"
As those gathered laughed or groaned as was their wont, Spike headed to the kitchen with a chuckle to make more snacks.