//------------------------------//
// The Last Adventure: Prologue 
// Story: Another Hatchling 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	The following morning, everyone once again gathered around to hear more stories, wanting to know more about what had happened with Samus and Spike.  Once everyone was gathered, Scootaloo spoke up eagerly.  "So what next?" she asked eagerly.  "Where'd you go next?  What other adventures did you go on?  Or did you just come straight here after that?"

Samus chuckled softly.  "Well, BSL was six years ago," Samus pointed out logically.  "We did quite a few things during that time, though for about the first year or so we laid low on Tallon IV until the entire BSL situation resolved itself.  With Phazon purged from the planet, it provided everything we needed until we got confirmation that we were out of the news feeds.  It was a good detox for both of us."

"After that, we went back to being bounty hunters," Spike explained.  "Capturing a few felons, dealing with chemically altered wildlife, helping with disaster cleanup...whatever we got hired to do.  Nothing that paid as well as our previous jobs, but it was mostly to keep busy."

"Both of us were pretty sure something big would come along eventually," Samus continued.  "Something that would start us on our next big adventure, or lead us to something new...but nothing ever seemed to come."

"Then what did start the next adventure?" Twilight asked curiously.  "I mean, I'm just guessing, but it has something to do with you not having to imagine what it was like for the SA-X, right?"

Samus jerked her head up in surprise, then chuckled softly.  "Yeah, it did, though that was only part of it.  As for what set things in motion..."  She sighed softly.  "After leaving BSL, every time I'd go to sleep, I'd have...odd dreams.  Sometimes I was searching for something through dark corridors.  Other times, I'd be flying through the air.  Once, I was actively hunting something to devour it..."  She shook her head.  "I couldn't really make sense of any of it.  All I got out of it was bad sleep and a lot of confusion."

"Not to mention being incredibly irritable," Spike added jokingly.

Samus chuckled softly as the surrounding mares giggled.  "Yeah, that too."  She shrugged her shoulders.  "At first, that was all it was, so I was willing to ignore it...but before long, other symptoms began to arise."

"Symptoms?" Luna asked worriedly.  "Were you unwell?"

"Not exactly," Samus corrected.  "The symptoms weren't medical as far as we could tell.  They were...behavioral."  She sighed as she gathered her thoughts, deciding how best to explain things.  "Aboard ship, I became...a bit more territorial, making Spike stay in his area, unless I felt like cuddling him or he was in his smaller size.  I also found myself counting our credits and...enjoying it a bit more than normal.  I also started seeking jobs more actively, to earn more credits...and getting stingy with what we had, even though I knew intellectually that we had plenty."

"Sounds like early hoarding instincts," Ember spoke up.  "You did just become part-dragon and started tapping the abilities.  I suppose it's conceivable you'd start exhibiting behaviors."

"That's exactly what it was, though we didn't know it at the time," Samus confirmed.  "At the time, however, it didn't seem harmful or out of control, so we let it slide."  She frowned, glancing away.  "But then...there was an incident."

"An incident?" Fluttershy asked worriedly, shivering.

"It was on one of our missions," Spike explained softly.  "We'd been hired as bodyguards for the young daughter of an Ambassador.  The Ambassador had received word that she was being targeted by an agency seeking to use her to pressure him into handling certain diplomatic matters to their advantage, and wanted her transported to somewhere safe.  We were the ones he asked to do that."  He shrugged his wings nervously.  "It seemed like a standard escort mission for a while, but halfway to our destination, the mercenaries hired to kidnap the girl took out one of our engines, and we were forced to make an emergency landing."

"Seems rather routine," Rarity murmured softly.  "I don't see what-"

"While we were affecting repairs, the ship's security systems were down," Samus explained.  "That's when the mercenaries made their strike, getting Spike and I distracted while one of their men got into the ship to snatch the girl.  I...heard her scream in fear, and..."  She looked away, shivering slightly.

"You snapped," Ember translated.  "You killed every last one of them for trying to steal a young from your nest, and you did so brutally, to send a message to anyone else that might try."

Samus nodded slowly.  "Yeah...but it's not just what I did.  It's how..."  She shivered slightly as she remembered.  "I...I didn't use the weapons of my suit.  I..."

When she remained silent for a while, Spike spoke up.  "She tore their armor off their bodies with her bare hands, breaking several bones before snapping necks, literally tearing through them while back-handing laser fire out of the way.  When she got to the last one, the one who actually took the girl, she ripped his arm off and beat him half to death with it...and then grabbed him by the head and remaining shoulder, jerking to expose his neck before baring her teeth."  He shivered slightly.  "I stopped her before she ripped his throat out with her teeth."

Silence reigned over the table.  Eventually, Samus spoke up.  "When that happened, I knew I couldn't just ignore what was happening to me.  After safely delivering the girl, I decided to find somewhere to face down everything about myself.  Since it was apparently dragon behavior, I went looking for a place to meditate and face down my inner dragon...the ruins of K2L, my birthplace."