[Castle of Friendship | Common Room | Later That Evening…]
It was the first time she had been able to sit down since this morning, and her entire body was grateful to be cradled in the enormous ‘cat bed’ cushion: something that had become a staple of her unwinding in the Castle’s common room. Its usual, perfect position right up against the wall let her sit and lean comfortably, while also letting her mind get lost in the much-welcome scenery afforded through the massive window.
Well, at least until the shades had to be drawn. Then she could more easily get lost in the relative quiet of the room to review her notes, scan data, or whatever else needed consolidating at the day’s end by magical candlelight.
While there wasn’t much to pull together from a data perspective, there was plenty to take in from the day’s events:
The journey back to the Castle from Viridia had been largely as uneventful as the trek there. What made it different, and perhaps a little more lighthearted, was Fluttershy’s presence in Samus’ systems. She remained quiet though, as did Twilight… courteous to the Hunter since she still needed to be aware of their surroundings as much as possible in the event she had to fight to keep everyone alive.
That job had been made a little easier when Viridian brought up the rear, idly turning around in stride with spear in hand to cover their asses. Like Samus’ internal company, he didn’t speak a word as she led them back to base.
What Samus hadn’t been prepared for was Fluttershy materializing out of Samus’ suit the moment they were inside, and nearly tackling Spike once he had come to greet them. Much like the reunion with Twilight, Samus fondly recalled Fluttershy remarking on Spike’s growth as they shared one of the tightest, most genuine hugs… followed by numerous platonic kisses on his cheeks.
Likewise surprising, Spike didn’t need much convincing to accept Viridian’s temporary place in the castle once the situation had been explained to him. After a customary bow from the Warrior and a shared handshake between the two, Spike had come to the rather quick conclusion that if Samus and Twilight both trusted him, he trusted him as well.
It also went a long way that the Chozo had kept Fluttershy safe for about the same time they had been holed up in the Castle—a fact that the reticent mare gladly attested to. That counted for a lot in the drake’s mind.
What followed was a couple hours of reveling in the reunion of the second Element of Harmony, along with Twilight catching Fluttershy up with current events and where they all stood. Samus likewise caught up Viridian with galactic events since the start of his isolation, along with helping to convey the whole notion of ‘extraterrestrial life’ to Fluttershy… not that it was necessary.
Turns out, Viridian taught her much of the Chozo and the Galaxy at large to the extent of his knowledge. There were more than a few surprises in Fluttershy’s legitimately deep knowledge of the Chozo at this point. Samus was colored quite impressed.
And it all culminated with relaxing in the common room with one another. Like clockwork from the last couple of days, Samus found herself on her ‘usual’ resting place, Twilight found a place right in front of her with the Hunter’s spare tablet, and Spike kicked back and relaxed on a chair next to Twilight.
The difference was Fluttershy having snuggled up peacefully next to the alicorn, resting her eyes with a soft smile on her face when the three of them weren’t talking silently amongst themselves. Furthermore, Viridian found solace in the monstrous bookcases that Twilight maintained in the common room… and Samus wasn’t sure the Chozo—clad only in his own Zero Suit for now—really moved at all once all the texts caught his eye. He just… picked books out, read them for tens of minutes at a time, and occasionally swapped out for another book. He was at this for hours.
Samus glanced up after a while longer, and that’s when she met the tired gaze of Twilight.
“Hey… the three of us…” she gestured to herself, Fluttershy, and Spike, the latter two who were also getting to their respective hooves and feet. “...are gonna turn in a bit early. And really just… have some time to ourselves. I’m sure you understand… is that okay?” she asked.
Samus replied with a soft nod.
“Yeah, sure thing! I’m sure I can keep myself entertained,” she quipped.
Twilight giggled.
“I figured as much… and I think you might enjoy some time away from me,” she teased right back, earning a humorous huff from the Hunter.
“I won’t be up much longer anyway. Guessing we’re gonna have the usual early start in the morning?”
“Was thinking the exact same thing. We’ll go over the next steps tomorrow.”
Samus smirked.
“You got it.”
“Goodnight, Samus.”
“Goodnight, Twilight.”
And as the alicorn trotted off towards the common room doors, Spike also gave a brief wish of sweet dreams. Fluttershy, however, lingered for a moment in front of the Hunter, and her unsure presence told Samus all she needed to know about her next words:
“Goodnight, Samus… and… thank you again. F-For bringing me back. I… I don’t know how I can even repay you, but…”
Samus reached forward and lay her palm on Fluttershy’s shoulder, seeming to calm her nerves at an instant, even if the cream-colored mare flinched slightly at the unexpected contact.
“Relax, Fluttershy,” Samus reassured with a soft smile, never breaking eye-contact. She wasn’t ever the best at addressing heartfelt praise or gratitude, though she tried her best when it was appropriate.
“Just doing my job, and for what it’s worth? It’s my pleasure—and uhh… you’re welcome,” she finished, if a bit awkwardly.
Fluttershy’s tired, reticent face turned a soft smile in return, and a gentle nod of her own, seemingly relaxing into Samus’ hand on her shoulder. The Hunter patted her a couple times for good measure before pulling her hand back.
The pegasus then concluded softly:
“I can’t wait to get to know you more. Goodnight, Samus. See you tomorrow.”
Samus smirked.
“Likewise. Goodnight, Fluttershy. See you in the morning.”
And with that, they all took their leave, repeating their same well-wishes of the night to Viridian by the bookcase as they passed by.
Especially Fluttershy.
“Goodnight, Viry!”
“Thank you kindly! And a most pleasant slumber to you, my dear,” he respectfully replied.
Samus smirked at all the interactions that just took place. They lasted mere seconds, but the fact that everyone was getting along so swimmingly with Viridian was an extra bit of a mood boost that she always welcomed.
But once the drake and two ponies had left the room, Viridian daintily placed the book he was holding back in its position on the case. He then turned to Samus with a tired smile.
“Perhaps now we can exercise more… familiar language,” he snapped right back to his—and Samus’ second—native tongue.
Samus smirked right back.
“Sounds good to me!”
Viridian made his way over to her at an easy pace, and opted to take Spike’s place on his chair just across from the sitting Hunter.
“I took a look at your ship, by the way…” he said as he sat down, groaning pleasantly as his back was cradled just right. “For the communications node, I was able to replace the signal converter and reroute the damaged frequency amplifiers through replacements I had.”
Samus blinked hard—stunned.
“Oh! I didn’t even expect that much to be salvageable… thank you!” she said.
Viridian nodded once.
“Of course! Though, unfortunately I still found one more problem: the power supply is completely destroyed. None of the ones I have will fit. I think you’re still going to have to find a replacement in a downed Pirate vessel, like you mentioned.
“Furthermore, the stealth module is pretty much magic to me. Nothing I can help with there.”
Samus nodded in return, leaning back against the wall and folding her hands on her lap.
“It’s more than I could’ve hoped for at this stage—thanks again, Viridian. I really appreciate it,” she said.
She then smiled teasingly.
“And thought you said you were no engineer…”
He chuckled deeply.
“I had to learn a few things in the absence of proper engineers. I’m sure you’ve picked up a few trades not native to warriors of your esteem, as well,” he said.
Samus huffed, nodding in familiarity.
“Yeah. That’s one way to put it.”
Viridian smiled fondly with another, single nod of understanding. At that point, a comfortable silence re-entered the room, making it easy enough for Samus to space out a bit. It was a silence that she almost never got since she left Zebes… where she could just sit and exist with someone with whom she had a basic understanding. Twilight and Spike were the first instance of this when she was so graciously offered refuge in this castle.
But with Viridian? It was different.
Within that difference was, paradoxically, much familiarity. As much as Samus got on with Twilight and Spike, no amount of talking about herself would really make them understand her place within the Chozo and galaxy at large. Viridian, however, did.
A lot.
He cleared his throat, which brought Samus’ eyes back into focus. She locked onto his face, where she noticed the shadows of the amber, magical candlelights dancing over his form.
“How have your travels treated you?” he asked.
Samus had no idea where to even start with just basic conversation, so as potentially vague as that question was, she really had no other ideas.
She shrugged, sighing out as she let her posture sully.
“Space Pirates are active and still both a galactic power and threat. They continue to have and clone metroids. Other galactic threats seem to pop up constantly. I just feel like I haven’t made any progress since I’ve left Zebes…
“I just… I guess the answer to your question is ‘I don’t know.’”
Viridian cocked an eyebrow.
“You give yourself little credit for all the good you’ve done. Why?”
“What’s there to credit?” she asked, then shook her head solemnly. “The job’s not done. The Pirates kill more every day… and every time I’m not there to stop it, or every time they slip away, prolongs it all.
“Sometimes I just feel like I’m failing miserably. Maybe your words back at the temple weren’t just banter…”
“Do you honestly believe that?”
“I don’t know what to believe, sometimes.”
“I think you and I both know that no one expected perfection out of you. All know you’re merely one being with the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. Even miracle workers can only work miracles with what they have in front of them.”
Samus sighed.
“I’m just afraid I’ll never get in front of it. That one day, as expected, I’ll die. And the galaxy will be left with nothing more than how I started off.
“Would it even have been worth it in the end?”
Viridian’s retort was familiar:
“Again, do you truly mean that?”
“Yes,” came Samus’ terse reply. “Because for once in my life, I’d like to be selfish with just one thing: to understand.
“All that I’ve done. Everything that’s been done to me. If I died here, on this planet. Or twenty years from now. Would it have meant anything?”
Samus’ chest felt lighter after those words left her mouth.
She then averted her gaze to the shade-drawn windowpane, as if she could see right through it to the night-shrouded expanse below… all the while no response was forthcoming from Viridian. She could still feel his eyes strongly affixed on her, as if he was trying to read something. She figured he was probably placing her merit against the countless warriors he trained and sent off. Maybe she said too much… not that his opinion of her really mattered in the first place.
Though she only needed to wait a few more drawn-out seconds before he replied in an equally solemn, yet lamenting tone:
“You’ve… truly been through a lot…
“Haven’t you, girl?”
Samus blinked, and looked back to him with wider eyes than whence she turned away with. It wasn’t necessarily just the words themselves that took her by surprise, nor merely his sympathetic tone. After all, it was pretty obvious with all her travels and missions thus far. Anyone could put that together. But it was the implicit message under it all, from a warrior of his caliber and of her adoptive kin.
Acknowledgement.
Simple acknowledgement of everything she’s been through. All her suffering, her sacrifices… all her wounds, physical and mental.
And that implicitness made her feel a warmth in her stomach and chest… one that swelled into a mishmash of conflicting emotions all vying for dominance. Comfort. Anger. Shame. Fulfillment. Viridian appeared to read all of these on her face like a book, as pure understanding fell over his features.
Samus curled her knees a little tighter into her chest and lowered her gaze. Pleasant silence returned to the common room once more, and remained that way for the rest of the evening.
[Map Room | The Next Morning…]
Twilight cleared her throat as she took stock of everyone in the room.
“Alright… good morning, everypony! Looks like we’re at quorum, so let’s just get right to it.”
With that, she drew everyone’s attention to the map itself, and Samus was once again greeted with the expanse of all of Equestria. The only difference this time was the location of Fluttershy’s elemental sprite: situated right on top of Twilight’s and—according to the Map—nestled in the embrace of the Castle.
Perfectly accurate so far. No complaints from the Hunter.
Samus placed her hands on the edge of the map so she could get a closer view, and she spared a glance to her side when she noticed Viridian—arms crossed over his chest—peering over the interactive, flat pane of crystal as well.
Twilight continued promptly:
“So, thanks pretty much entirely to Samus and Viridian here, we’ve got Fluttershy back…” she glanced gleefully at the pink-maned pegasus right next to her, who returned a similar look in kind.
“But, those of us here who know basic arithmetic know that there’s four more of us we need to have reunited just like her. So the question is now… which one of the girls out there is either the closest, or will be the easiest to travel to?” she asked to no one in particular as she used her magic to zoom out ever so slightly.
Twilight didn’t follow that up with anything, and instead, everyone seemed to take a closer look at the map. Samus propped her chin in the crook of her thumb and index finger as she scanned over everything, studying the idly floating Elemental sprites at various geographic locations. There were immediately two things she noticed:
One of the targets looked noticeably closer than the others, another was situated much higher than the others in the area as well. One of the others was just… way out there.
Samus decided to ask some questions to feel everything out. She pointed to the closest target to their position:
“Who’s this? And where is this?”
“Rarity, Element of Generosity. Canterlot. Equestria’s capital city.”
Samus drew her finger a bit farther to the northeast.
“And her?”
“Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty. Cloudsdale.”
And then to the quite far west, and somewhat south. Well-past the impact crater.
Twilight didn’t need Samus’ beckoning, this time.
“Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter. Rock Farms of the Quarry Range.”
And finally, all the way to the east.
“Applejack, Element of Honesty…”
Twilight’s expression suddenly turned down to abject confusion.
“Wait, what? Spike, you seeing this?”
Spike leaned in a little closer, then cocked an eyebrow.
“The Dragon Lands? Really? At least the other girls’ locations made some sense…”
Samus interjected.
“What is it? And there’s a… pattern?” she asked.
Twilight shook her head, still unsure.
“It almost seemed like there was, which would’ve maybe shed light on why this is all happening in the first place. But the fact that Applejack is in the Dragon Lands as opposed to like, Apple Loosa or even in the Macintosh Hills is… concerning.”
“And on top of that, we still don’t even know where the Princesses are.”
“Do you think they’re even alive, in your heart of hearts?” Samus asked.
Again, Twilight seemed unsure.
“With how bad everything became so quickly… and had this been like, over a decade ago, I wouldn’t’ve fathomed that they lived. But now, with all this coming to light about how the Elements were preserved, I can’t help but wonder if something similar happened to Celestia and Luna.”
Samus nodded a couple times.
“Think we’ll find any clues?”
“I hope…” said Twilight. “Though… hmmm…” she caught herself, then brought her hoof to her chin before nearly burying her face into the map.
“What’re you thinking?” asked Samus.
“Based on this information, the closest one is Rarity in Canterlot. That’s where we all were before we…” she stopped herself.
And then steeled her resolve after sharing a brief, knowing look with Fluttershy and Spike before continuing:
“…Celestia was with us, there. Until the end. If we go there and find Rarity, we might also be able to find some clues as to what the hell happened to her and Luna. If not revisiting the throne room, then there has to be something written down. A failsafe or some text that wasn’t disclosed to me. I refuse to believe this is all just random chance.”
Samus was inclined to agree.
“Yeah, this is all too convenient to be anything but apart of some grand design. I’m surprised you weren’t told of any of this though…” she remarked.
A ‘nostalgic frustration’ could be read easily on Twilight’s face.
“As amazing and benevolent as the Princesses are, I’ve found that they… like their secrets. There’s some things about Equestria’s past, present, and possibly future that I haven’t the slightest idea of. I know for a fact because they politely rebuff or outright exclude me from such answers to seemingly mundane questions.
“Case in point, the existence of the Chozo on our planet,” she said, gesturing towards Viridian.
Samus had to concede that.
“Fair point. In that case…” she considered all the options lain out in front of her, then shrugged.
“Looks like the closest—and most practical choice—is Rarity, then.”
Twilight smiled fondly, nodding a few times as she regarded Rarity’s indigo diamond sprite with sweet affection, as did Fluttershy and Spike.
“Seems that way. Welp… guess we’re going to Canterlot then. And in bringing back Rarity, also finding some trace of the Princesses.”
Spike and Fluttershy seemed in agreement.
“Awesome!” said the drake.
Fluttershy, despite the softness of her response, seemed in excellent spirits:
“Yay!”
Samus felt the day’s mission had been lain out appropriately based on the information at hand.
“Great. Any thought’s from you, Viridian?”
The Chozo Warrior remained silent for a few moments, still studying everything that had been lain out before he, too, nodded once.
“Seems reasonable to me. If this is the method in which you found Fluttershy and myself, then I see no reason why it would not work once again,” he said.
And then brought up one more logistical question to the forefront:
“Now, on the question of me… would you and Princess Twilight feel it prudent for me to accompany you? Or do you feel it would be best if I remained here at the castle?”
Excellent question.
Samus glanced over at Twilight, who glanced right back at her in kind. All the Hunter had to do was shrug in indifference for the alicorn to make the decision appropriately.
“I would prefer if you stayed here at the castle. We’re going a lot farther than previously, and as much as I trust Spike to keep a lid on things here… I’d like to make sure he stays out of trouble,” she smirked at the drake, who rolled his eyes in kind.
Samus loosed a half-smirk as well at the exchange, and Viridian seemed more than happy to comply.
“Of course! Then I shall remain here to guard the Castle… and to keep this strapping young being ‘out of trouble,’ as you say,” he cautiously waded into the joke as well, which earned him more than a few giggles from the mares and his own, pleasantly annoyed chuckle from Spike.
Samus stepped into the conversation once more, ready to round it all off and get to work.
“Sounds good. We ready to go, then? Also, you said we’re going farther. How’s the trek over?”
Twilight’s cheery expression flattened a little bit.
“That’s… a good point. Damn, I didn’t think about that. When things were normal, we’d just take a train over to the capital. Was about a forty-five minute ride at a comfortable pace. Which means it might be two, maybe three hours away by hoof,” she wagered.
Samus pursed her lips.
“That’s… a little unideal. I’d rather be back before nightfall if I’m being completely honest.”
“Trust me—we want to be.”
“Then in that case…” Samus thought aloud. “I think I might have a solution: how high do we need to travel?”
Twilight thought for a moment.
“Uhhh… definitely not as high as Cloudsdale for certain. The city itself is embedded in a small mountain, but the entrance to the city itself can be accessed at the rear with sloping hills. Why?”
“We should be able to take my ship, then—even though the Stealth Module is offline, if I stay below a certain altitude and keep out of sight of any Space Pirate vessels in the area, we should be fine in avoiding detection.”
Twilight shrugged.
“Makes sense to me. Then I’m all set. You ready to go, Flutters?”
Fluttershy furrowed her gaze and nodded curtly.
“I’m ready.”
“Then let’s get to it,” said Twilight, smiling once more. “We’ll need all the time we can get to search for both Rarity and find ourselves some insight as to what the hell happened to the Princesses.”
On that cue, Samus engaged her Varia Suit and offered both ponies her hand.
“Let’s head out.”
that felt like a nice connective chapter! I do have one, sort-of-tactical question to raise, though. Cantrlot is a very obvious city on the side of a mountain, not to mention being the capital city, i think Samus or Viridian would have brought up the possibility of Pirate presence, or even just questioning the density of corrupted ponies in such a population center.
Granted, canterlot IS the best idea right now as far as getting answers goes, but the Pie Rock Farm would probably have been the safest to go to. particularly since twilight mentioned, "Closest OR Easiest to reach".
personally, I'm hoping they have to bounce away from Canterlot and come back to it later, like you must do so often in metroid games, but i trust you know where you're going with it!
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FANTASTIC implicit questions like holy hell. In response to that first part, I'm gonna say that'll get... addressed very soon. But in the end, you're right, it's more of a 'we need to do this' and we'll take things as they come.
According to one of the maps of Equestria, the rock farm requires passing through a small mountain/hill range, where as Canterlot is simply the closest. But yeah, I had been debating either one first for a little bit. We'll see if I made the right choice soon enough lol.
And I don't know--only one way to find out
11130316
got it! I can totally buy that, say, Twilight and fluttershy and spike are all too focused on the goal and idea of getting more of their friends back to think about it, but it seems like something that Viridian or Samus would have brought up, given their backgrounds.
11130343
This is fair--though the Storm beast situation is actually pretty straight forward, so that'll be revealed soon. As for the Space Pirate situation the actual truth is the moment I pressed publish and made sure this all tied with the grand design, I forgot to include pre-mention of potential space pirate forces... so I decided to own it and explain that situation next chapter. Lo and behold the first comment points this out
This was definitely a fun read. The bit where Viridian gave Samus implicit understanding was really touching...and kinda reminds you that - by Chozo standards - she is still a child with an adult's burden...and she never really got the chance to grow up naturally by human standards either. I think this will make a big difference for her in the future.
Also, any chance Viridian will give Spike some combat lessons while Samus and the others are away? I can't help but think Chozo combat techniques could very easily be adapted to the adolescent drake build Spike's currently sporting.
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lol! there's always one, i suppose! Though i hope i didn't "That Guy" you too badly.
Yeah there’s no way in hell the pirates won’t see them fly straight to canterlot. No way they aren’t watching the place or already occupying it.
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LOL not at all! I giggled when that comment came through, that's for sure. Still an excellent point to talk about, so if anything, that reminds me to make sure I don't forget to put that somewhere proper in the following chapter lol. Forgetting to include that part wasn't worldbreaking or retconning anything, so it just pushes some narrative out a teeny bit
11130393
Good thinking. While the Pirates are mainly interested in their prized Phazon Crater, they have done some expeditionary work outside of it. If they are in Canterlot, Samus is gonna have her work cut out for her. We'll see what happens
11130380
Thanks!! And I agree--I don't think it was really addressed too much in the games themselves... or attempted in Other M but very poorly. The mangas are really the only things that cover this somewhat, and i think it's very important.
That's a good question! He is the overseer of all the recruits of Viridus, so technically he's a teacher also. Who knows, maybe old habits die hard
11130400
I'd find it oddly hilarious if he has a hard time teaching Spike how to avoid strikes (the normal method to drill that lesson into students is to let them take hits so they don't want to do that again) because dragon scales are just that durable.
Samus: I'm sorry, you're having trouble teaching him to dodge because...?
Viridian: ...because there's a line between "not hard enough to hurt through his scales" and "hard enough to seriously injure him", and I'm having trouble finding it.
11130403
HAH!! I love that idea!
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Oh good. You mentioned Other M again. One chapter and two weeks ago I asked what you meant by an "Other M" scenario in the context of this fic, but I never got a response. Would you mind clearing that up for me?
11130478
Oh shit I didn't see that! Thanks for bringing that up again.
To answer, it was probably just an overreaction or me just being paranoid, but I was very wary of just going over that sweet spot line on how to both respectfully and tactfully address Samus' more... sullen past and how that affects her personality. Looking back on it, yeah you're right, I didn't make a lot of the glaring errors/oversights that Other M made. That just always weighs in on the back of my mind when I'm delving deeper into Samus' personality and how she views her past and experiences. Also, there's just some who feel she shouldn't talk at all and is pretty much just a female Doomguy and robotic... which I naturally don't agree with.
tl'dr, just came from a place of paranoia in how I portray an established and well-loved character lol
11130481
Now now... Doom Guy/Doomslayer isn't entirely two-dimensional. After all, it wasn't the massive loss of human life that drove him into a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, it was the death of his pet rabbit Daisy.
And speaking of rabbits, was it confirmed that Angel Bunny was with Discord, Luna, and the other evacuees? I know several authors who have had Fluttershy "vanish" for several years, and yet don't account for the canonically sentient and sapient housemate when she returns.
11130509
Discord will be mentioned... soon. There's something specific going on with him that I won't reveal at this time, but he's accounted for. Luna is... somewhere, like with Celestia.
Angel will indeed also get a mention at SOME point, but I can go on record to say that he's indeed safe!
Ok nice debrief, then briefing chapter.
All the remaining bearers position are reveal and I'm curious what you are concocting with AJ being in the Dragonlands, certainly will see Amber.
For now Rarity is the next target, tough I wonder how wise of a choice that is, in addition to leaving Viridian out, cause this being the final stage for the girls back then, I'm expecting heavy hostile numbers there.
Viridian's a cool guy. Hope he doesn't die at the end.
I don't think the rock farm would be very safe either but certainly better then going to canterlot. I could see a potential pirate presence if they are interested in making a longer term base on Equestria. If they want to set up a mine to gather resources aside from phazon that would be the place to do it since it's effectively a mine already set up for them. Storm beast wise it should be pretty safe given the low population of the region.
11130786
All very good points… though to also be fair at this stage, nowhere is really safe lol
11130680
Now how could you, how dare you, a person of your stature, go off and say something like that!
i.postimg.cc/cHmTXTm3/0-F53-DFE8-980-A-4507-B571-8-B5-D605784-F3.png
11130816
Like I'm the only one thinking it?
11130837
Truuuuu. Guess we’ll just have to see what happens
11130680
Nah, he won't die in the end. It'll be somewhere in the middle, just as it starts looking like all will work out.
11131117
i.postimg.cc/Mphjjztn/397-D3605-7-B07-4914-BEA8-EDEDD842-F7-FB.jpg
Excuse me, I’d like it if you didn’t kill the only living chozo to exist in fiction since metroid dread. I don’t get to see interaction with the cool ancient bird people anywhere, and I’d like to see more instead of assuming they’re extinct again.
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I mean… Metroid has a lot of tragic deaths when anyone is with Samus. Very rarely will someone survive the adventure like that one dude back in Other M.
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I’m not saying he’s likely to survive, I’m saying the author has the power to make sure he does and I want him to use that power because he’s gone and introduced a character that I like a lot and don’t want to lose.
Things are about to heat up BIG TIME.
11131485
I do agree the author has the ultimate power… to much power…
I definitely like the character since I don’t think we ever seen the birds ever survive in the series so this would be a nice changed to see the bird man survive.
11132008
Viridian Birdman, Warrior-Overseer at Law
I'm happy with this as a chapter on its own. Good debriefing and destressing from the last arc while preparing for the next. I am not expecting getting Rarity to be as easy as getting Fluttershy. Canterlot is their capital city and where they all died. Even if there isn't much of a Space Pirate presence there, I'm expecting it to be pretty hostile territory. Maybe not so much as the Impact Crater, but probably some significant hostile force.
I also really enjoyed Samus's conversation with Viridian. It's great that she's able to just be...seen and validated. She's been through a lot, and while she's dedicated to her mission and helping out where she can, it's understandable that she'd be frustrated and wondering how much of an impact she's had.
11130509
Well now I need a phazon-mutated Angel-bunny Bossfight.
Mmmkay, I guess it's just polite to put down my thoughts on the story so far;
I find it difficult sometimes to relate with Samus, which is probably very much how the ponies feel. She's obviously a very decent person, but the weight of her past is incomprehensible in some ways. After a certain point, a human mind cannot fathom the pressure that's been building on her for her entire life.
Still wondering what sort of powers Fluttershy's element will add to the varia suit; I got no clue at this point. Samus being able to talk to animals would be... odd, to say the least.
Canterlot might be one of the most dangerous locations for Samus and the party right now; that is, if it's still occupied by Tempest's forces. A stealth mission might be in order; lots of curling into morphball form and squeezing into tight spaces to avoid detection perhaps.
Cloudsdale might be interesting, since Samus needs some sort of cloudwalking spell to stay on top of it, or else she won't be able to exit her ship for the entire section.
Still wondering what sort of connection Applejack has to the dragonlands...
I'm wondering how any of the other elements have survived this long; Twilight has spike and the castle, Fluttershy had viridian and the chozo outpost. Will Samus have discovered friends of her own in every corner of equestria by the time this is over?
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Excellent thoughts, I must say!
Agreed--Samus has endured so much it's honestly hard to even make sure I can properly do some measure of justice to her thought process and general outlook... without making it look too contrived. But yeah, she's definitely a tough person to relate to, which is sort of where Viridian comes in.
Fluttershy's elemental power will be addressed early in the next chapter. All I'll say is that it will be... familiar. I can confidently say without spoiling really anything that no, she won't get some power to talk to animals. Wouldn't really be useful in this story, anyway.
Like this line of thinking regarding Canterlot. Most likely will be pretty dangerous... nothing that Samus probably couldn't handle, but like you said, with the pressing issue of detection and the consequences that comes with that, a much tenser atmosphere likely than normal. We'll have to see what awaits her. Cloudsdale as well, will similarly be an interesting time. We'll address that as it comes.
As for surviving, to quote a certain Goldblum... "Life uhh... finds a way." . As for making friends in every corner, that would be kinda maddening for me personally lol. I'm gonna have my hands full once all the Mane 6 are back together!
I don't know why but I just want an epic comedy with Fluttershy going completely out of character when they finally get to Applejack in the dragon lands. Fluttershy has a fear of full grown dragons as seen the show, and at some point I would love it if she just gets all mad 😡. And if they are in a volcanic area I would love it if she Shouts "MAN IT IS HOT OUT HERE!!" A funny Pissed off Fluttershy moment would be great.