Aether: Honor
The ponies were all staring at Samus and Spike in shock after hearing their description of events. "W...what was that?" Twilight finally demanded.
"From the sound of it, it was a dimensional rift of some sort," Discord explained. "A naturally occuring version of those mirror portals you and Sunbutt are so fond of." He cackled briefly as both Twilight and Celestia looked away. "Though from the sound of this one, it connected to a dimension that was inimical to life as we know it. Anything adapted to our dimension would probably die a slow, painful death just from being in that dimension, and vice versa."
"More or less," Samus confirmed. "The Ing native to that world - Dark Aether - couldn't manifest physically in Aether without possessing a host of some sort, and without proper shielding, even the air of Dark Aether was lethal to us. Spike was barely functional after that brief jaunt, and the slightest brush against any of the open sores left by his exposure to Dark Aether's atmosphere caused him intense pain and nausea."
"It's why draconic adaption is a double edged sword," Spike explained. "Given enough internal energy, a dragon can adapt to any environment...if the adaption process doesn't kill them. Unfortunately, the amount of energy a lot of those adaptions require lends heavy weight to the latter being the actual outcome."
"Except when Phazon's involved?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah," Spike chuckled. "Except with Phazon."
"Of course, we didn't figure all that out right away," Samus explained. "At that point, my priority was finding any sort of base, Federation or otherwise, and raiding any medical supplies they had to bandage Spike..."
Moving forward, Samus was relieved to find a remote upload point shortly afterwards. It was easy enough to uplink it to her ship, and use it to restore her suit's energy. Much to her frustration, however, it could do nothing for Spike's injuries. His groans of pain terrified her. Before his growth spurts on Tallon IV, she had thought of him as one she needed to protect, but otherwise rather tough. After his growth spurts, she saw the mighty beast inside, easily capable of taking care of itself in most situations. Even when he'd knocked over the buildings, that was just him not knowing his own strength. But to see him like this, struggling just to keep breathing and keep his eyes open, she felt like she was tearing herself apart every time a speck of dust found its way into one of his sores.
Taking an elevator, Samus found that they were just down the passageway from the door requiring a new translator program, beyond another door requiring the same. She growled in frustration at the ship being so close but so far. There were more than enough medical supplies on board ship for Spike to dress up as a mummy dragon for Halloween five times over! Turning, she carefully led Spike along the other path, thankfully into the open air where he was in less danger of dirt getting into his injuries.
At first, Samus thought she might have Spike eat either some of the Splinters - despite the bad taste - or a Green Kralee she spotted, but even the attempt to swallow something caused Spike to hack it up, along with more black tinted blood. Apparently, breathing in the air on the other side of the rift had done a great deal of damage to his throat, and possibly his lungs and who knew what else.
Seeing a Temple off in the distance, Samus decided to make that their destination. It was either a Temple of a native species, or of Chozo origin. Either way, it was likely to have some sort of tech she could cannibalize. If it was native, her Chozo computer could find a way to make use of it. If it was Chozo, they'd probably left her a Heal Beam specifically for the damage Spike would take in that other world.
"Heal Beam?" Celestia asked in her most deadpan voice. "Seriously?"
"I wouldn't have put it past them," Samus replied bluntly. "It certainly wouldn't be the strangest or most obscure Chozo upgrade I've ever found."
"Would probably be great in the video game adaption for co-op campaigns," Rainbow muttered, still taking her 'video game adventure' notes from the story, once more causing Pinkie and Discord to giggle.
"You, um...you did find a way to heal Spike, didn't you?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
Samus stared at the yellow pony for a time, then turned to look at Spike, who smirked sheepishly. Fluttershy blushed, hiding in her mane. "At any rate..." Samus went on.
Continuing onward carefully, Samus found a control panel for a satellite distress beacon. She attempted to activate it, both to get word of what happened to the Troopers to the Federation, and in the hopes that backup might bring some medicine for Spike. Unfortunately, the signal couldn't get through the atmospheric conditions, and she was forced to continue on towards the Temple, hope pushing her steps.
As she continued to lead the way, she actually witnessed the possession of various things by the creatures from the other side of the rift, as black ooze flowed into the Trooper corpses, and black smog was absorbed into the Splinters, in both cases amplifying combat capabilities and changing other details.
It was shortly before her first witnessing of the possession of the Splinters - converting them into Dark Splinters - that she found the remnants of the G.F.S. Tyr and final proof that the Troopers she was sent to help were all dead. Much to her chagrin, there was nothing left in the ship itself worth salvaging, save a replacement missile launcher and map data for the region. Thankfully, the bulk of it did make a good place for Spike to hide in while she took out the Dark Splinters that attacked.
"Question!" Pinkie Pie called out.
"Yes?" Samus asked, a little perturbed by the untimely interruption.
"How come the Federation Troopers and Space Pirates function so well on 20G planets like Aether?" she asked. "You seemed to be indicating that only you and Spike were adapted to high gravity worlds like that."
"The standard Trooper armor includes gravitational dampening circuitry," Samus explained. "It doesn't do much for acrobatics, but it allows them to function on high gravity worlds normally without suffering organ or musculature compression. And the Pirates use a lot of stolen technology, including Chozo, and many of their planetary bases are high gravity worlds. Their home world is actually 40Gs, which drastically reduces the maneuverability of ships and troops, which added another layer of protection for them on top of its location being top secret, and having a state of the art anti-air defense grid."
"You blow the whole place to Tartarus, don't you?" Luna asked insightfully.
Samus held up Pinkie's 'Spoilers' sign, making the pink pony giggle, before continuing her tale.
Further progress towards the Temple resulted in Samus collecting the last of the Trooper logbooks, the first sighting of a native in the form of a Luminoth corpse, and further signs of the deterioration of Spike's health. She prayed to the Chozo Spirits that something would be left that she could use to heal Spike. She couldn't lose him...she couldn't.
Partway into the Temple, a security field activated, trapping Samus in a circular area along with several Splinters which soon became possessed. She was actually glad Spike was outside the field. He didn't even have the energy now to try and break through.
When the largest cocoon up above burst open and the Alpha Splinter broke free, she braced herself for the fight. She was rather unsurprised when it, too, became possessed by a dark fog. However, she was too experienced - and too determined - to be slowed for long. Despite taking some bad damage, she had it down and dusted within a couple minutes.
After the defeat of the Dark Alpha Splinter, a glowing white sphere was released. It rapidly bonded with Samus' power suit, though the tech couldn't be analyzed right away. Still, it caused no problems with her suit, and the pathway up into the main part of the Temple opened. Shrugging her shoulders, she beckoned Spike to follow her up. When he struggled to comply, she moved to help him.
Reaching the center of the Temple up above, she saw a massive energy storage unit suspended from the open ceiling, hanging over some sort of control device beneath that stood taller than her and wider than Spike was long. Before she could take in much more beyond that - besides the construction seeming both ancient in style and brand new - her attention was captured by a living Luminoth.
His body was somewhat insectoid in appearance, slightly reminiscent in shape of a wingless dragonfly with only four limbs. His body was a mix of brown and red, with white fur on his chest, and antenna like ears waving atop his head. His limbs were quite thin, and from a purely visual perspective he seemed frail. However, Samus could feel the immense energy abilities the figure possessed, even before she saw him float as though it were nothing.
"Do not be afraid," he said in Chozo, though his sentence structure was more formal than Samus was used to, and his accent was slightly strong. "I am U-Mos, Sentinel of the Luminoth. Though I would wish to tell you the grim tale of my world's fate, we both have more immediate concerns. Your companion is dying of Dark Aether poisoning. I must work fast if I am to save him, and I will need your help."
"If you can save my son, I'll do anything," Samus replied fervently, also in Chozo, though her speech was somewhat stilted.
Nodding, U-Mos beckoned her close as he floated to Spike's side, white-yellow light pouring from his hands and into the wounds.
"Mom...you didn't," Spike breathed in shock.
"I meant every word, Spike," she replied simply, her voice completely serious.
Everyone glanced back and forth between Samus and Spike. "Umm...are we missing something?" Twilight asked.
"The literal translation of what she said in Chozo is, 'For this, I give you my life'," Spike explained. "She literally offered up her life in exchange for my own."
"As I said," Samus repeated as the others gasped in shock, "I meant every word."
Twilight looked up at Samus in awe. She'd seen Samus' softer side in the videos Spike had shown them, and had known she was a wise and brave warrior. But seeing her dedication like this - how readily she offered her own life in exchange for Spike's...
Noticing Pinkie staring at her, Twilight determinedly bit her lip before anything embarrassing could escape.
"So..." Luna began. "What did U-Mos ask of you in exchange for saving Spike?"
Samus chuckled. "He actually claimed there was no debt owed, that if he could save one more life from the ravages of the Ing, it was an act worth doing for its own sake. When I insisted, he said I could pay him back by saving his world."
"Like we weren't going to do that anyway," Spike countered, rolling his eyes.
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You dun goofed.
Plus the fact that when Samus says she will do something, it gets done, lava, poison, or acid be damned. Hell, she isn't even phased by a simple atmosphere that actively rejects her existence on a molecular level.
6261545 Edit: tiny Tina again, but bigger, Arbiter, lord Shaxx of the crucible, Cayde 66, Steve, Unnamed psycho #7893, and The meta,
I had a thought. With all the power that, Spike, has gained and changes his body has been thru, who's to say that Equestria can't do the same for him?!
With the fight with, Ridley, on the way who's to say that, Spike, may/may not go thru an extraordinary change with the help of the, Elements of Harmony, the Princesses of Equestria, hell, maybe even Chaos Magic from Discord, and turn into this 'untouchable badass' for the fight and after come out looking brand new and even more awesome then he does now!
Like I said. Just a thought after all I read so far and the kind of imagination I have.
Looking forward to much more!
Keep up the great work!
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Well, Samus does have a track record of blowing planets as well. (But not at this point in the history).
This is why Samus is best space warrior mom.
Yikes.
Hey, it's not the most absurd thing ever in Metroid, besides, Samus usually finds precisely what she needs in CHozo places.
I'm with ya, that would be pretty interesting a weapon, and if you can Overheal soemone to temporarily boost them, you'd be turning Samus into the Medic.
Considering he's alive and well, yes.
Good question.
Makes sense.
I think you mean, blEw. But, yes. She did. It's Metroid, there's usually at least ONE thing exploding by the end of the game.
To be fair, she probably hasn't had to use Chozo in a while.
I, wow. Ladies and gentlemen, Samus, possible candidate for Element of Loyalty.
Well, Samus DOES tend to pull a Frieza, blowing up planets, granted, not on purpose, but still.
6262720
Actually, in regard to Luna's line, the tense confusion is intentional, to show that Luna's gotten so into the story that she's referring to events they haven't covered yet in future tense even though they happened in the past.
6262743
OH, now I get it, I just reread the line and it makes sense now, never mind. Sorry about that. Either way, 2 chapters of one of my favorite fics from a damn good author in so little time? What manner of sorcery dost thou employ?
Well, Twilight was willing to give up all of her magic to save Spike and her friends from Tirek, so I think Samus and Twilight are fairly similar in the extremes they'll go to help Spike. I can't wait to see how Spike handles the Ing and enemies they're possessing.
6262322 And he'll promptly get dragged into Rarity's bedroom and a "DO NOT DISTURB!" sign will be on the handle.
6262411 If it's important to the bad guys, chances are Samus will blow it up.
Spike knows that 'we're heroes, it's in our job description'
It's like taking tips for a waitress or waiter job, just extra money on top of your paycheck.
It's great to be a main character. It's also great when a bunch of main characters meet. Even better when they get together to fight evil monsters. I wonder who will get to fight Ridley? I'm hoping for a team effort between the mane 6,( since apparently he's powered by hatred), and spike/ Samus, even the princesses and Discord. I don't know if that would happen; it would seem to be pretty overkill, but they're all gathered up, so there wouldn't be any reason for any them to not fight. I mean, literally the most powerful characters are in that room, with the exception of maybe Cadence/Shining, Sombra, and probably Chrysalis and Tirek. (But those last 3 are evil, so they don't really count. ) I don't think anything could stand up to such force as that. Ridley would really need some kind of monstrous power, otherwise he should have just curled up and died, GG, rekt.
...
...
But one can hope.
Interesting fairness, in a magical world, this might be a good question even if someone is up and walking around. Could be a surprisingly well preserved zombie, who knows?
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At least the Chozo never created the "Clothes Beam". That'd probably be the most useless one
Also, from what science class told me, it's adaptation, rather than adaption. Could be wrong, simply never heard the word before.
6261673
Let's add even more!
Calling Nemesis T-Type, Xenomorph Queen, Yautja Scar, Daleks Rusty the Traitor and Kaan the Mad, The Slitheen Brothers from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius, that's a hard name to put on a planet, Regenerator and Iron Maiden, I bet that's enough...for now! WHAHAHA!
Poor Spike, that must stink being forced into that kind of pain. And that Heal Beam idea reminded me of that Heal Cannon from Shadow the Hedgehog. Grad to see him getting heal before it had gotten a lot worse. It was a great fortune that U-Mos knew how to heal Spike, otherwise things might have took a dark turn.
C&C:
"You blow the whole place to Tartarus, don't you?" Luna asked insightfully.
> Replace "blow" with "blew", like 6262720 had mention, and "don't" with "didn't".
6264947 m8 don't steal my deal,
6265395
I am just helping you out.
6265392
See my reply to him as to why that was deliberate.
6265430
Heh, okay, that is fair enough. You still may want to change "don't" to "didn't", otherwise it would sound off.
6265922
Except what I stated was that Luna has actually come to think of the untold portion of the story as future-tense, despite it being years in the past. Quantum relativity in a nutshell. It's already happened, but from Luna's emotional perspective, it hasn't already happened yet.
6265930
Except that the point wasn't about any form of tense at all (I already got what you was saying), it is more that it just doesn't flow well. When I read that line out loud, the 'don't you' just doesn't fit with the flow of the sentence. Again, it is not a matter of tense, but rather the flow of the line.
6266066
But in both cases, it's future tense presently. But if I make the change, it goes from future to past tense in the same sentence.
6266068
I am looking it up to be sure, but honestly, I don't know what to tell you. I know that you are technically correct, but the flow of it is off and doesn't make much sense. Argh, I swear, grammar is the biggest headache I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. I suppose, for now, we just leave it be. Maybe later onward, we can find out for sure.
U-Mos looks more like a grasshopper to me.
I have an honest question Tatsurou......Who the hell are you gonna have as the villian for the crossover event you have?! I mean considering how Badass your making your versions of the cast it is gonna have to be someone who is quite op
6356862 Yeah we have no clue *cough cough* (looks at previous chapter
) *cough cough*
6356862
Possibly a fusion of all the enemies they have collectively faced and/or Satin.
You missed a 'Horizontal Rule' in there.
As always: informational and enjoyable
6591208
Uhh...there is a horizontal line there.
ARRRRGH, again with the ridiculous grav levels. FORTY GEES. You make me wanna PUNCH the metroid game designers!
6870836 Have you ever considered that the Metroid universe operates on a different set of Physics laws than our own? I mean, trying to apply real world physics to a fictional universe is an effort in futility.
6870836 and the person mentioned the suits having a gravitational dampener
6870836 Want to see crazy Gs; try Dragon Ball Z. Vegita can deal 100 Gs.
7990944
Actually, Vegeta can handle 300G environments.
....I have so many questions...
8297655
Me too
6884945
As much as I respect him, this is one of those times that RealityCheck has let his inner critic get the better of him.
6870836
While I agree that it's a bit much, it's also based off a ridiculous over-the-top sci-fi world that started as a 2nd-person shooter in the late '80s with a rather sexist nerd joke thrown in at the end.
Making planets that have more gravity than most stars is a bit much though. Still, the source material does do that, and not everybody takes as many liberties with source material that you do RC. Not that how you write is bad, mind; different authors do things differently.
Still, this comment didn't need this many downvotes; ponies on this site really need to start taking the sticks out of their collective buttholes.
6263024
You're forgetting Starlight Glimmer Proto alicorn in terms of raw power
6356862
read Order & Chaos the last chapter actually states that Tirek is going to be powered by near Infinite Energy this is the whole reason why I suggest reading Order and Chaos as it is literally d origin of the whole Pwny verse
I'm of the opinion that he looked like a moth