Interlude: Surprise Guests
After the rather emotional conclusion to the tale of the Zebes mission, no one was eager for more story at that point. The whole group was more than happy to wind down quietly as night settled in. A quiet but filling repast was the only prelude to a comforting rest. Ghor returned to the ship the starborn trio had arrived in, plugging himself in to recharge. Rundus chose to curl up on the roof of the crystalline castle, finding himself at home amongst the shimmering spires. The Crusaders curled up together under Celestia's wing at her offer, since she claimed she missed the feeling of a young filly curled up to her after a tiring day, sending an amused glance towards Twilight's flustered face. Ah, the fond memories from the time between Twilight being old enough to live in the castle and outgrowing the need for motherly comfort.
With the Crusaders under her wing, Celestia curled up in a watchful position, as the rest of the group - save Discord himself - arrayed themselves comfortably over Spike's massive form as he found his most comfortable rest position, not unlike the rest position of the Chozo Statues. Discord chose to sleep in the air above everyone, constantly circling in random patterns as he snored in 57 randomly selected different languages, only about half of which being of planetary origin.
Luna, for her part, had her own duties to attend to. With everyone else asleep, she took the time to ensure none were dealing with any unpleasant dreams before tending to the rest of Equestria. One of the advantages of her night based duties was that she could tend to them while everyone else slumbered, meaning they took no time away from listening to Spike and Samus' stories. She could even tend to her duties while her own body rested should the need arise, so she could be relaxed and refreshed for wakefulness at any time. As she still did not need to return to Night Court, she took advantage of this for tending to the Dream Realm.
After seeing to the Dream Realm, she turned her eyes to her stars. She worked so hard to tend to the night and everything it represented for her little ponies...but she'd had no idea just how much life there was out amongst them, how much adventure and excitement...and danger. She'd walked the surface of her moon once, after being freed from the Nightmare, as a means of coming to terms with her past mistakes. As a result, she'd been further from their mother soil than any pony in the history of their people. And yet that was little better than foal steps compared to how far Spike had gone, only to return.
She let out a sigh of relief, though, knowing that all who had come to the world from the stars had been friends, and knowing that they would need to know where they were going to get to the world that was under her care.
Her ears perked and she frowned, feeling something odd in the space surrounding her world. Something was approaching, large and metal, and on a direct course for the planet. Quickly tracking its trajectory, she was able to determine it was coming in for a landing within the Everfree Forest. Spreading her wings, Luna made her way to the anticipated landing site to receive these new visitors from the stars...and to give them whatever welcome she deemed appropriate. She was grateful she'd taken the precautions of plucking knowledge of galactic languages from the minds of their visitors, so that she would be able to understand what was said if those in the vessel were invited friends.
The ship came in for a landing, more swiftly but far less smoothly than either of the other ships that had arrived. Whereas Samus' ship was smooth and sleek by design to the point of being almost organic and Rundus and Ghor's ship was crystalline as though it had been grown from the ground...this one was boxy and clunky, obviously designed by ones who valued function far over form. The black, bulky ship had a large engine on the back, presently deactivated, and two engines on wings to either side which were lowering the ship to the ground as the vegetation of the Everfree pulled away from it, giving it a wider berth than the clearing originally allowed for.
As the ship came to a halt, Luna stepped more fully behind the tree that was her cover, watching as a ramp lowered, waiting to see what came off.
The first figure that stepped out was bipedal, looking to be not unlike Samus in biological configuration, equipped with a grey and dark blue armor suit with an orange faceplate. The figure glanced around for a time, a gun of some sort (what she'd seen in Spike's dreams suggested it was an energy rifle) strapped to its back. It then turned towards the ship before calling out in Galactic Standard. "Atmosphere's okay!" he called out, his voice deep with a pleasing timbre. "A few exotic trace elements, but nothing harmful. A lot cleaner than most planets we've been on."
"Conserve your air then," a more authoritative voice called from inside the ship, this one much less pleasant in tone as well as sounding somewhat older. The source of the voice stepped out, raising the faceplate on his power suit to reveal a pale face with grey-green eyes. "But stay watchful. We don't know what kind of environment we'll find here."
"The little guy wanted to come back here, so it must be pretty nice!" the first human pointed out, lifting his faceplate to reveal a dark brown face - Luna would personally describe it as 'chocolate' - with golden brown eyes and an open, friendly smile.
"Remember just what he's capable of," the older human countered. "This is the environment that created that 'little guy'. Don't let your guard down."
Luna managed a smile. They were talking about Spike, so she was pretty certain based on what she saw in Spike and Samus' dreams who these two were. She knew one for certain. "Anthony Higgs?" she called out as she stepped out. "And Commander Adam Malkovich, if I'm not mistaken?"
Anthony blinked as he stared at her. "Commander? How did we get to the planet of psychic talking pony people?"
Adam stepped forward, his hands going to his weapons. "Identify yourself," he demanded, firmly but not with hostility.
Luna chuckled. "Forgive my rudeness. I am Luna, Princess of the Moon, coregent of this entire region, and a good friend of Spike's. He's told us a great deal about his adventures...and mentioned a fondness for his 'Uncle Tony's drinking songs."
Anthony managed a chuckle. "Okay, guess we've just got the most unusual sophonts we've encountered yet." He lowered his weapons. "Lucky she speaks Galactic Standard." He raised his hand to his brow, pantomiming tipping his hat. "Evening, Princess."
Adam straightened, relaxing his hands but not removing them from his weapons. "Apologies for intruding on your territory, Ma'am," he offered politely. "We detected a signal from this region of space on Samus' private frequency. Since it was the same code we used back when she was in my unit, we acted under the assumption it was a distress beacon and came to her aid. Might you know where we can find her?"
Luna suppressed her own chuckles, but couldn't suppress her smile. "Worry not. You are not the first friends of Spike and his Star Born mother to arrive on our home soil. Come, allow me to guide you to them. This forest can be quite dangerous to those it is not accustomed to...but you will be safe with me." Seeing Anthony open his mouth, she raised a hoof. "Please save questions until we reach the town. We do not want to draw the attention of the creatures here, either."
Once they both nodded in agreement, Luna turned and led them to town, making sure to warn them away from a large patch of Poison Joke near the path, though she had to go so far as to seize Anthony's hand in her magic to prevent him from plucking a bloom, the impish look on his face indicating a plan of mischief. It wasn't long before they reached the edge of town...at which point Luna led the pair straight into the castle, and to the room where everyone had curled up to sleep, as she felt this was worth an early wake up.
Adam and Anthony's first sight of Spike after not meeting him for several years showed him with his back towards the far wall, facing the door with his head hanging down towards his lap, eyes closed. Rainbow Dash was curled up on his head between his horns, with Applejack resting against the back of his neck with her legs hanging over his shoulders. Pinkie Pie curled up in his elbow, while Rarity and Fluttershy were curled up on his knees. Twilight slept curled up in his tail, while Gandrayda lay in his lap, her head by his stomach. One hand held Samus in her Morph Ball, while the other rested on Gandrayda.
Anthony let out an appreciative whistle that startled everyone awake, the translation magic based in the stones of the castle itself letting everyone understand what he said. "Damn, ankle biter!" he crowed. "Forget to turn your SWAG off?"
Spike's head shot up, nearly unseating Rainbow. "Uncle Tony?" he gasped out, shocked. "A-Adam?"
"Adam?" Samus asked in shock, quickly unrolling. "Anthony?"
"Looks like there are some introductions in order!" Discord cackled as he flipped end over end in midair.
Adam nodded. "I'd say a lot of explanations are in order," he agreed. He then turned to Samus. "Any objections, Lady?"
With a smirk, Samus extended her right fist...with her thumb pointing downward.
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Oh God...I can't stop laughing! This was just... perfect!
EDIT: Holy Hell... did I actually get first comment?
ADAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't get it.
6914139 I do.
6914145 good for you. Would you like a cookie?
Sarcasm
So much for Adam biting the big one on the Bottle Ship.
6914147 Okay drop the sarcasm.
6914139 In Other M, she explains that the thumbs down is her signature gesture to show that she understands the mission at hand and has no objections.
6914167 I haven't played the game. So I wouldn't know.
Oh, this is going to be interesting to see. Adam alive is going to really fuck with the Fusion timeline... Much as I loved that gameplay, the story really needed a good kick in the pants. Looking forward to seeing how you break it.
6914139 Watch or do a playthough of "Other M"
Wonder how this will affect the AI interaction in the final arc? Most likely his mind is already backed up by the federation, but with the actual him still alive...
6914167 So when someone says, "Do you have any questions?" Samus uses that hand sign to signal that she does not have any questions at the time so the message get through language barriers be damned.
6914178 they have those?
Well, this will be interesting. I mean, I should've expected what with the bounty hunter trio still being alive, but this does raise some questions about Fusion.
Speaking of which, are we really only two more games away from the finale here? Holy crap!
I wonder if the trauma from squishy dying is what's going to cause Sammy to start her internal monologuing.
6914287 probably so
6914218 Nothing to do with language barriers. Samus just isn't very chatty.
6914218
Also it's specifically for her interactions with Adam. The thumbs up was the way the unit confirmed understanding of orders. He would always add at the end, "Any objections, Lady?" to which she'd respond with the thumbs down.
You know, I can see Anthony responding like that. After all, he is the jokester of their trio.
At first I was shocked at Adam being alive. ...then I remembered how he bought it in canon, and realized that Spike eats Metroids and can survive in a vacuum.
6914287
Good catch.
6914287 don't you have a youtube channel?
I found a flaw.
6914632
Yes, this is the same The Fiery Joker that is also known among the Bronies as Firebrand. Trust me, I had the same reaction the first time I saw him post here. The sense of "star struck" wears off surprisingly quickly.
6914678
Where's the flaw? Spike's holding Morph Ball Samus in one hand, and the other hand's on Gandrayda.
6914734 Sorry. Mis-read that.
6914769
Ah.
Oh that sounds adorable.
So very Discord.
Very useful.
Better than nothing. Besides, nobody's asking you to go to infinity and beyond.
Hello, what have we here?
A Space Marine?
Humans, this is unexpected.
OK, that is absolutely f*cking hilarious.
Oh you and Anthony are going to get along like a house on fire!
And you managed to make Other M sound good without even having gotten to the Other M segment yet. This ladies and gentlemen, is why Tatsurou is best author.
Sight: vision
Site: location
i was wondering if you were going to be bringing in Anthony, but Adam!? that caught me by surprise.
Feels like "Fusion" part gonna be awkward...
6914172 Consider yourself lucky, then. The game ticked off fans of all reaches. Even die-hard fans don't like the game, myself included.
Huh, Adam's alive... should I be happy or disappointed?
I love the idea that spike shrinks down and helps uncle Tony as a wing man, seeing that would make my week
6914783 He should have been the writer for Other M. Maybe it wouldn't have turned out so bad?
6914568 Maybe it already has?
6915258
Be excited OTHER M is getting an extreme make over
6915619 The fact that Tatsuro is capable of using a fans familiarity of the plot of every metroid to screw with peoples heads is astounding although I really don't know how fans would react to team based mechanic in a metroid game...although a game with only one partner tends to create quality partners...and now I am rambling...you may ignore me now.
Adam? Aren't you dead?
ZOMBIE!
6914417
On the outside....
*SHUDDERS*
Other M...
6915763 We don't talk about Other M. Well, we're going to have to, but hopefully it'll be fine. Tatsurou did say he was going to "fix" it.
Spike forgot to turn his SWAG off, and woke up to find himself covered in fillies.
I've planned to use the same joke in one of my own works, but haven't really gotten far enough yet. It's fun to see it here.
More and more curious...Anthony, though
img07.deviantart.net/4c06/i/2014/075/3/0/comedy_hour__spike_forgot_turn_off_his_swag_by_ballsack100-d7ahrny.jpg
6915225 It's not that bad a game - the main problem is that most fans have developed an idea of Samus' character (on minimal evidence) that totally fails to match what Other M gives us. If you ignore Samus' PTSD and passive compliance with her temporary CO's restrictions on gear unlocks (to the point of letting people die rather than turn on a relevant suit feature) then the actual gameplay's fine.
6916636 No, it IS a bad game. The free-action combat is fine, but the rest is lousy. First-person mode is a massive step down, the "permission" system for items is stupid (need I bring up the infamous fire section example?), the story writing was poor, the voice acting was bad, the searching sections were badly done...I could go on for hours. Hell, Fusion did a damn good attempt at giving Samus character, even if the Prime games did better without a single line of dialogue. If you like the game, fine, that's your opinion. But for myself, along with most of the internet, it was not a good game, let alone a good Metroid game. And I, personally, will never go and play it again.
6916692 It's not as good as any of the Prime Trilogy or Fusion, but it's not my least favourite game in the series either (Hunters and Pinball both compete there).
There is a widespread, vocal feeling among Metroid fans that Other M is terrible, largely because of the character it imposes on Samus, but the opinion of most of the internet is "I don't have a Wii" or "What's a Metroid?".
Metacritic gives it a respectable 79 (though the user score is a modest 6.5) - which sounds about right - it's definitely not an "everyone should play this" game, but it's a game that people who aren't comparing it with Prime, but enjoy games of the genre will probably enjoy.
6916791 On the opinion that people will probably enjoy it if they're not comparing it to the Prime games, that's where I think we'll have to agree to disagree. I had only played Prime 1 before playing Other M, and I'm...well, no, I'm not sorry, but Other M just pissed me off. I'll admit, it's not as bad as Hunters, and I never played Prime Pinball, but Other M pissed me off for other reasons. The whole thing with controlling a 3D game with a d-pad, the authorization system, the bizarre leaps in logic and common sense. There are tons of reasons. Once more, if you enjoyed the game, more power to you. But I'd rather slog through Metroid 2 again then play Other M one more time. It was pretty, and nothing else for me.
Heh, good ol' Anthony, and it is nice to see Adam alive. Spot on with the characteristic of the two characters. Can't wait to see how things have changed with Other-M (I like the game myself)...
C&C:
...she took advantage of this for tending to the Dream Realm.
After seeing to the Dream realm, she turned her eyes to her stars.
> Inconsistency error with capitalization.