11. Answers
Samus held her arm cannon charged, ready to prime it with a Pulse Missile, though she held her fire.
“You sure?” she asked Twilight.
The alicorn’s resolute reply was immediately forthcoming:
“Most of it has already been destroyed, anyway. Might as well finish the job now, make it easier for us, and rebuild later. Do it.”
“You got it.”
With that, Samus fed the missile into her charged shot and released it into the mix of half-destroyed remains and rubble of the Throne Room doors. The shot blew apart any other supports that kept marble and ceramic barriers in their path, while completely dissolving and disintegrating any of the Magicite that had been present. The act left nothing but a gaping hole when it was all said and done. The sound of rubble settled and died away, leaving nought but eerie silence once more, with the occasional pattering of gunfire from further inside Canterlot in the distance.
Easy enough for Samus to simply walk on in, and the Throne Room—bathed in musty, light fog— was now wide open to the group.
Samus stepped forward, keeping her cannon jutted outstretched with her hand atop it, ready to engage anything that might dare attack her. Though, she knew good and well to keep a few things in mind: the Pirates and Storm Beasts were all, allegedly, cut down by something when they tried to storm the castle, retreat, or in general, just take refuge here. It was very likely that they still weren’t alone…
…however quiet it was.
It was still nice that she didn’t need to turn a flashlight on. The Castle had a remarkable way of pulling in natural light from the outside. A giant, lavender carpet—torn, folded on itself, in general dereliction due to time—acted as a figurative runway and a path forward. There was little else to do but follow it.
Once Samus passed through the threshold, Twilight materialized out of Samus’ armor, putting her hooves to the floor right next to her. Following her example, Samus watched Fluttershy and Rarity take their places right next to their alicorn friend, and all four of them continued to advance further and further into the barren room.
‘Barren’ was certainly a way to describe it, though even while empty, Samus could feel the rising tension—that same unease and anxiousness that had wormed its way into her core when she first entered into the Castle grounds. This time, it was much much more intense, like the formations of a pressure headache, though mysteriously without really any of the pain associated with it. The mark it left on her state of mind though, was a different story.
She felt cold. Shaky.
Paranoid.
It was made even worse by the fact that no one made a single sound. The only ambiance that kept them any form of company was her metallic footfalls, which melded with the three ponies’ own tentative hoof-steps. The occasional breeze that made its way through rounded it all off.
Halfway through the throne room and scouring through all her visors to confirm they were as alone as possible, Samus kept her role as head of the party, but stole glimpses at the ponies behind her. Twilight looked very conflicted, yet determined to continue forward. Fluttershy looked like she was putting on as brave of a face as possible, but kept soldiering on next to Twilight as she took in the sights.
Rarity just… stared blankly. Her head never moved, and she seemed to just stare at nothing on the floor a few feet in front of her. Zero emotion on her face. Apparently Fluttershy also seemed to notice this, and she brought herself in close to nuzzle her. Rarity’s disposition didn’t change at all.
A pang of pity washed over Samus. Being alone for that long with zero contact, or awareness that anyone was alive, or what was going on likely did a number on her mental state. She could only hope that when they made it back to the castle, more of her personality would come out like when they first met.
That the damage hadn’t been too permanent.
Samus blinked. She didn’t expect to be caring personally about these ponies so much by this point. But perhaps, just once in her life… this development wasn’t a bad thing?
That remained to be seen. For now.
Still, nopony uttered a peep. Samus recalled that this was where it all ended for them, or where they ‘were killed.’ This was probably a lot to unpack for all of them, and Samus was content in not being provided updates by Twilight for the time being. Even if it wasn’t ideal, they needed this.
And this remained especially true when the quartet passed the visible, easily distinguishable remains of a large crater just after the midpoint of the throne room. Samus wondered if this was where the Elements themselves were fired before it all ended? She could’ve also sworn she saw lots of dark stains within said crater—possible remains of blood. Their blood.
Samus felt no need to point out nor acknowledge it out loud. And as the ponies marched right by, whether they noticed or not, no one else seemed to find the need for mention, either.
Finally, Twilight broke the silence:
“It’s… exactly the same as it was. Other than the lighting and the other destruction, nothing’s changed at all. It’s like I’m walking through my ‘final moments’ again. Celestia I can still feel little echoes of ourselves from all those years ago…”
No response from anyone else, especially Rarity, who continued her pattern of not really acknowledging anything, but just following closely with the group.
Samus brought her attention to the thrones that sat in front of her once they made it to the end. Or rather, what remained of them. What were once the majestic seats of this government and nation were in complete shambles. Shattered. Only the shapes of the seats themselves remained intact in any manner.
The Hunter continued to flick through her various visors. Nothing special revealed itself in either case, though, her OM detected the presence of low-level magic just hovering around the area.
She did jerk her head slightly when she heard Rarity gasp, but that was in the presence of the first Space Pirate body they stumbled upon, as was foretold by previous Scan Data. It wasn’t immediately obvious what killed him, but there was another job to do, so she resolved to come back to it later if need be.
“Space Pirate,” Twilight said aloud. “Dead. We’ll… explain more later, Rares,” she softly added.
The unicorn didn’t reply, but only righted her gaze limply back towards the floor in front of her and nodded a couple times.
By the time the group had reached the thrones themselves, an archway just off to the left and right of each respective throne were the only paths forward that Samus could see.
“Which way, Twilight?” she asked.
“Either one works,” she said. “They both meet behind the thrones and lead to the Princesses’ private meeting chambers and studies.”
Samus chose the right path, just to the right of the Lunar Throne without any further beckoning. Twilight followed, with Fluttershy and Rarity trotting along silently.
“Their personal offices?” she asked.
“Mhmmm.”
As Twilight had mentioned, the halls circled around and met behind the thrones, which in turn offered up only one path forward: through a set of unassuming double-doors. The left one held the emblem of the sun, while the right one held that of the moon. What was interesting to Samus was that this doorway seemed just as normal as any that she had come across in the Castle. She would’ve figured entry into a head of state’s office would’ve been a bit more… ornate.
Not that it mattered. She could practically see through the badly-mauled wood anyway with how ill-maintained it had been over the last decade and a half.
“Anything we should expect?” Samus asked as she reached out to grab hold of what remained of one of the handles.
Twilight shrugged.
“I don’t know. The Throne Room Study was always restricted—even to me.”
Samus cocked her head, surprised. Apparently that even got Rarity talking, albeit softly:
“R-Really, darling? After everything you’ve accomplished…” she wondered. Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
Twilight shook her head.
“We. I couldn’t have done half those exploits without you girls,” she corrected. “But nope. Never was allowed. I asked once or twice but was politely declined each time.”
Samus pointed out a similar vein of thinking to Rarity:
“You were their esteemed student.”
“Be that as it was, the Princesses didn’t share every facet with me,” she said, then looked up to Samus’ eyes through her visor, shrugging again.
“Everypony needs their secrets. Right?”
Samus’ turn to shrug.
“I guess. Alright, then hopefully the answer to my question is ‘nothing deadly.’ Get behind me…” she directed, and all three ponies complied without question.
Samus placed her armored hand on the door latch and tested it. Unlocked, but it refused to budge inward. Her vision through the jagged, worn slats in said door was obscured by something solid. Something was just behind the door, preventing it from swinging inward, or so it seemed. Thus, Samus then fiddled with the handle again in preparation to pull it open…
…to which the door promptly swung open suddenly as the weight behind it was dislodged, with the shredded, partially decomposed corpses of a Pirate Commando and a Storm Beast falling and slamming to the floor loudly.
Samus didn’t react but with mildly-widened eyes. Twilight apparently saw the future the moment soulless, lifeless eyes of the Storm Beast and Commando revealed themselves, and she magically muzzled Rarity and Fluttershy…
…who were on the verge of screaming at the mutilated, frankly revolting sight of two dead, bloodied, decomposing monsters suddenly appearing.
“Shhhh… easy, girls… we can’t be making much noise… I’m… I’m sorry,” said Twilight before slowly undoing her magic and releasing their muzzles.
Fluttershy seemed to regain her composure significantly faster than Rarity, likely because of her own experiences, and what she had seen ‘first-hoof’ through Samus’ visor. Rarity still looked positively distraught. Her mouth hung open, breathing heavily though no words came out. Her eyes were wide in recognition… and if Samus had to deduce, she had seen the Pirates wandering around the Castle at some point.
Samus threw the door open fully and stepped into the threshold, cannon jutted out, and scanned the entire room for contacts.
Nothing stood out to her. Other than a few more Pirate and Storm Beast corpses.
“Clear,” she announced. “Looks like we found where the Pirates chased down the Storm Beasts,” she noted, taking her first steps inside.
Ambient, natural lighting from the outside still managed to filter its way into this surprisingly large back-room study which revealed itself to be just a giant, four-walled room. It reminded her distinctly of a dining room with how high the ceiling was, with a destroyed chandelier hanging at its apex.
Samus turned back to see Twilight and the others carefully stepping over the two bodies as they entered. Their ears drooped as did their posture when they could smell the death in the room. They did their best to ignore it and soldier through, especially Rarity, which Samus commended them for.
“Yeah…” Twilight answered. “Look at the orientation of the bodies, too… they were trying to run. All of them. Whatever did this…” she observed.
Samus finished her sentence.
“It started here. Good eyes. We’ll just have to be careful then. Nothing immediately looks like it could literally shred someone’s body,” she said.
Twilight nodded.
“That’s all we can do, really. Let’s split up, all. Something’s gotta be here that can tell us more. If anywhere, it’s here,” Twilight declared.
“O-Okay Twi.”
“Yes, dear…”
“You got it.”
Samus turned away from the group to face the rest of the Office… and that’s really all she could describe it as. A simple office. Other than the corpses strewn about the ground, and the occasional artifacts that looked more pony-esque in nature, nothing stood out to her, other than its size.
Two executive-looking, yet very-much wooden desks lined opposite sides of the grand room, with some small, open vaults and cabinets in various states of disrepair. What remained of some papers were strewn about them, though most looked weathered and decomposed to time. Moving over to the darker, mahogany-looking wooden desk that Samus assumed was Luna’s, even through her armored hand she could feel a weakness in the wooden structure itself. A dampness. Moisture had likely accumulated through a breakdown of the ventilation.
No upkeep. Made sense to her.
Glancing up to about eye-level, Samus was met with a welcome surprise: A stone map of Canterlot, still in excellent shape and easily readable through her Suit’s translation layer. Out of curiosity, Samus pivoted on one foot and took a glimpse over her shoulder: another stone map. This time, of the entire nation of Equestria.
She smirked.
Right, I’ll be having that.
[Scanning…]
[Map Data Acquired!]
[Map Data for Canterlot City now available!]
[Scanning…]
[Map Data Acquired!]
[Partial Map Data for all of Equestria now available! Warning: More precise map data may be needed for various regions.]
As expected with the former acquisition, Samus’ pre-rendered map was now filled entirely with a street-by-street view, and the context of the path in which she took to get here. She had a hunch that the trek back out through the desolate streets would be much easier now.
Nice.
But with that out of the way, and glancing over at the other girls to see if they needed any help in their search, Samus decided to explore Luna’s desk a bit more closely. It seemed like the best option with Twilight practically putting her eyes and nose flush up against Celestia’s desk for anything of note.
A few intact and semi-cracked remnants of drinkware were also strewn about with the aforementioned remnants of documents and papers. Flipping through some of the heavily dust-caked books also didn’t reveal much other than what Samus figured were star maps and constellation designs.
Flipping back to her scan visor didn’t really reveal much of note either. In fact, her systems held exactly nothing in high enough regard to warrant the usual scannable highlights. A manual flip of what papers did survive their aging with an addition of a translation layer didn’t reveal much either…
…though Samus did learn a smidge about the Equestrian legislative process. Fairly parliamentary in nature.
Samus pursed her lips.
Unless…
She swapped to her OM-Visor, halfway expecting to suddenly be hit by some magical overload coming from something that she missed.
Nope.
Other than a baseline level of ambient magic and the occasional echo, she was once again left with nothing more than what she started with. The environment remained annoyingly dim. Not a peep from the girls either, and the fact that they were now rummaging through the lowest levels of the side-cabinets made Samus figure that their search wasn’t bearing much fruit either.
Something glinted off her visor.
Wait… huh?
Samus noticed the faintest possible glimmer from inside one of the drawers of Luna’s desk. In fact, she was sure it was likely a reflection off of her visor, but in replicating the exact way she moved to even notice the aberration, the glimmer returned—through an imperfect seal between the metal handle and its base.
Sufficiently spurred on, Samus grasped the handle of the drawer and pulled. It didn’t budge past a certain point—of course it was locked…
…but the Hunter barely pulled with any strength. And she felt the rather weak hold that the lock held on the drawer after all this time. With a little extra encouragement and some rather violent shaking, the drawer sprung free entirely from the rail within the desk… and Samus had to rest the bottom on the top of her cannon lest it tumble to the ground.
She lay the now-loose drawer on the desktop as her entire OM-Layered vision was lit up by a pulsing, red hue. Even as she dismissed the OM-Visor, the culprit inside—a clear, rhomboid crystal the size of half her entire armored palm—continued to pulse with a glowing, alluring red light.
Apparently the noise had alerted everypony else, too:
“Samus, you don’t have to destroy everything… careful, please…” Twilight pleaded.
The Hunter only answered by tenderly taking hold of the crystal and holding it up for all to see.
“Found something. Signature in OM. Does it mean anything?”
Fluttershy and Rarity, while they slowly trotted over, didn’t hold any bit of recognition in their faces the longer they stared at the crystal in Samus’ hold.
“W-What is that…? I’ve never seen a crystal like that before…” Rarity asked with utmost curiosity.
Twilight, on the other hand, gasped immediately.
“That… that’s an Imprint Crystal! Excellent find, Samus!” she exclaimed as she drew even closer to examine it.
Samus held it lower so Twilight could have a proper look, careful to keep it securely in her hold, but not too tightly that she shattered it in her grasp. With a reaction like that, it had to be important.
“Guessing it’s something good, then?”
“These types of crystals are really rare. But it can imprint magical data onto it.”
“Like… a recorder of sorts?”
Twilight nodded vehemently.
“Yes! Exactly that! We need to see what’s on it… here, allow me…”
Twilight shut her eyes and furrowed her gaze momentarily as her horn flickered. Samus felt a sudden rush of energy through her hand—evidenced by a sudden, whisplike flow of magic over her limb—that then rushed over the crystal.
The alicorn seemed to have some final, desperate words before she finished whatever she needed to do:
“Please… Please give us something. Anything…”
Whatever Twilight did afterward to interface, the walls of the room flickered a dim red, and as if the crystal came to life, it projected magical dots around them as if the group were in a magical snowglobe. All then coalesced into the upper torso of another, rather regal-looking alicorn in the same shade of monochrome red that the crystal presented itself with.
And the crescent-moon insignia told Samus just who this was. An aura of familiarity broke upon the trio of ponies as they all gasped:
“Princess Luna!”
The—ostensibly—recording didn’t react, but only seemed to eye whatever was in front of her with keen interest for a few, silent moments.
Twilight had one last tidbit to add:
“She looks… young, here. Like, this is well-before the Crisis.”
No one could answer to that as the magical recording spoke with an almost magical-static layer over her smooth voice:
“This… this Imprinter Crystal is to remain hidden from Celestia. Here it shall reside in my own desk, free from prying eyes. Even hers.
“Celestia has a heart of gold, and has ruled the nation fairly in my absence. But that heart of gold holds, in my opinion, too nurturing and coddling of a soul in her efforts to shield her subjects from what otherwise may be painful to hear. Her pupil, Twilight Sparkle, has shown to be no exception to this mindset of hers.
“Especially Twilight with the more arcane arts of magic. Only to be revealed when Celestia decrees. She has demonstrated this time and time again. Sometimes I agree. Sometimes… I do not. Problems could have been prevented had Twilight been properly educated and briefed on events…
“...such as my return from banishment.”
Samus watched and listened with rapt attention, but couldn’t help but steal a glance at the crowd that formed around her hand. All had wide, revering eyes for the Lunar Princess—even a recording of her.
“In the end, this crystal shall serve two purposes: firstly, as transparency. Secondly, as an emergency record. Especially with Twilight’s continued growth and proposed succession, I personally feel she will need all the help she can get for important state matters.”
Twilight and the others gasped, one after the other. Samus also raised an eyebrow at this.
Luna sighed.
“One day, I’ll reveal this to Celestia… once I get the idea she won’t banish me to the moon again for keeping this. One day, she may understand. But for now, I believe it’s time to pay some old friends in the Everfree a visit.”
After another moment, the recording ended, and the room was again bathed in the natural, ambient lighting. The crystal in Samus’ hand still dutifully pulsed red.
[New Crystal Imprint Data recorded to Logbook.]
Silence. Pure silence enveloped the room, and even the background noise of the falling rain from outside, layered with the continued conflict raging in Canterlot’s streets seemed to fade away with the sudden tension that rose in the room.
Fluttershy was first to speak:
“Twi… you were gonna succeed them? As the Princess?”
“The next leader of Equestria…” Rarity also weighed in.
Samus gazed at Twilight, who looked even more stunned at what she heard than any of the others. Wide-eyed, she looked like she was attempting to make words with her mouth, but no words were forthcoming as she grappled with the undoubtedly conflicting thoughts that were suddenly awash in her mind. Samus couldn’t imagine how she felt, after all of this… and finding out in the end that you were slated to rule a country that now has effectively been destroyed.
“I… I didn’t know…” she began.
But her thoughts seemed to take her elsewhere, and her gaze furrowed as she returned her attention to the crystal in Samus’ hand.
“T-There has to be more. That can’t be all of it…” she said out loud.
Samus watched as Twilight lit her horn, concentrated by closing her eyes about half-way, and then just observed as her magical aura enveloped the crystal once more. This went on for several seconds, and Twilight seemed to be ethereally searching for something specific.
Her eyes perked up and she grinned.
“Yes!! There is! I can sense the imprint dates! And… wow Luna recorded a lot.”
Samus put forth the obvious:
“I don’t think we’re in the best position to go over the entire history of Equestria…”
“I know. But I’m looking precisely for… a-ha! The date the meteor struck the planet!”
“Play it.”
The crystal responded in exactly the same way, but instead of Luna’s regal, collected face gracing the room and seemingly addressing the crystal directly, there is instead footage of her staring at some unknown documents on her desk. More notably, her face was distressed, and she appeared like she hadn’t slept for a couple days.
Also different was the presence of who Samus could discern was Celestia, who looked as concerned for her sister as Luna did at… whatever she was looking at.
“Luna? Are you alright? What happened?” Celestia asked.
“An astral object has fallen to the planet in the Everfree,” came her terse reply. “No casualties have been reported, and the only damage has been to this section of the forest… which wasn’t inhabited by anypony to our knowledge, anyway. Crater is reported to be quite large. That’s all the information about the event I have for now.”
Celestia seemed rightfully confused at the response, and cocked her head.
“...okay? You seem distressed. Were you not able to stop it?”
“That’s… the issue, sister. I tried. With all I was capable of. I noticed it a couple nights ago when I was going about my usual stargazing. My magic was… blocked. Whatever is in that meteor, or whatever it was made out of… it actively pushed back against my magic when I tried to grasp at it and nudge it off-course away from the planet.
“But from what I was able to feel… it was not natural. Having felt what I felt, I truly believe there is something amiss. I…I don’t like this a single bit,” she said, shaking her head.
Celestia placed a shoe-clad hoof on Luna’s shoulder.
“You look genuinely afraid, Luna.”
Luna turned to her to face her properly.
“I am. I’ve never experienced something like this… never had an astral object—my own domain—push back against me. No… like I said, something is wrong. Very very wrong. And I am indeed afraid.”
Celestia could read Luna’s face easily, and the combination of her serious words appeared to brook no argument for the Solar Alicorn.
“Very well. Then to be safe, I suggest we secure the crash site in the meantime until we can ascertain what the threat is, if any… and see just why you weren’t able to control it. Perhaps it’s some arcane magical object that’s been known to exist?”
Luna shrugged.
“What shall we tell the public?
“The truth: we’re investigating. There’s no cause for alarm yet… which is indeed true, even if your gut feeling says otherwise. We’ll need to be pragmatic about this, regardless,” Celestia replied.
Luna nodded once.
“Very well. I’ll have a detachment of troops sent into the forest to secure the impact site. And I think this will be the perfect opportunity for our newly-promoted Tempest to hold command of the operation on the ground.”
Celestia smirked—the first smirk that Samus recalled seeing in the two recordings thus far.
“Excellent choice. I know she’ll do well in her role, if her… past is anything to go by.”
Luna offered up a gentle smirk in return.
“Fully agreed.”
The recording ended, and much like last time, Samus’ systems had recorded, transcribed, and archived it for posterity. Also much like last time, there was silence amongst the group, with the main difference being Twilight desperately, magically sorting through the crystal’s imprinting dates to bring up the next recording:
Luna suddenly appeared again, looking absolutely disheveled. Samus figured that she hadn’t been making any progress on the sleeping front since last time. Also much like last time, the Lunar alicorn’s eyes were pasted directly onto her desk.
Celestia arrived on the scene, and urgency in her heavier breathing and eyes told all. She had been summoned.
“Luna… what has happened?” she asked.
Luna responded drably:
“All contact with Tempest and her forces has been lost.”
Celestia furrowed her brow in abject horror.
“W-WHAT?!”
“When we gave the order to storm the impact crater and destroy the meteor… things went completely silent after the first few minutes. All communications and magical hails are not being returned. It’s just… blank. Pure. Utter. Silence,” she punctuated each of her words with dread.
Celestia looked away for a moment, equal amounts of horror staining her regal, beautiful face… and through pursed lips she finally managed a succinctness of thoughts:
“This… is not good.”
Luna offered up a suggestion:
“Should we ready the Elements, sister?”
“We might have to… though I’d wish to not shoulder them with yet another burden. Do you feel we need them at this time?” Celestia asked.
Luna processed her question, and glanced away to marshall her thoughts for a moment.
“Let’s put them on standby. But for now, I want the entire army mobilized, and a search-and-rescue operation initiated immediately. I will personally lead and command if nopony else is available.”
Celestia nodded.
“Very well. I’ll contact Twilight and her friends, and—”
Some noise came from the background of the recording, and both Celestia and Luna were interrupted with their attention suddenly being jerked elsewhere beyond the range of the recorder. What Samus could hear was some urgent mumbling that could not get quite picked up by the crystal.
Whatever it was, their reaction was immediate, and both Princesses’ eyes went wide with deep, primal fear.
Celestia shook her head, mouth slackened, but Luna held the last words:
“No… NO!”
The recording abruptly ended, but Samus’ systems barely let her know that the recording was archived before Twilight—hyperventilating—got the next one up and playing.
The recording opened with Luna slamming her hoof onto her desk as she spoke angrily with what looked like a military officer.
“What do you mean the vanguard has been swept aside!? Tempest re-emerged a day ago!” Luna demanded.
“I watched it happen, Your Highness. Those that weren’t felled were… taken. Assimilated into those monsters. Her forces grow stronger by the hour and are fighting aggressively towards Canterlot. I… I don’t know how long this can be kept up. A few days at most with our current, horrendous attrition.”
Both their attentions were then brought elsewhere when Celestia suddenly entered the recording range.
“Luna—the Element’s have been gathered, and will reside in the Throne Room until Tempest’s eventual arrival.”
Luna nodded, and turned back to her officer and solemnly said:
“You’re dismissed, General. Whatever you need… you have my permission. Buy us the time we need. I’m sorry… that we can’t do more for you and the troops.”
The general saluted the two of them and expertly kept his composure despite the wavering in his response.
“W-We’ll do what must be done. And for what it’s worth? It’s… It’s been a privilege, Your Highnesses.”
“And you as well.”
“An honor and a privilege, indeed, General.”
He took his leave, and the two regal sisters were left alone once more. Luna turned to Celestia once the door to their office closed.
“So they’re assembling? Good. They may yet be our only hope once again. Tempest will be drawn to them… she has no choice but to walk into their line of fire, if it comes to that. And like the General said, we may only have a couple days at most to prepare. The rest of the army is paying with their lives to buy as much time as they can for the rest of the country.”
Celestia sighed, nodding as she added:
“While your plan is underway, right? Do you have everything you need?”
“Yes, sister. The gateways have all been set up, and I’m being told that it’s continuing to be an orderly evacuation into the magical realm. I’ve also set up some special gateways for some of our finest forces… whose lives may be better recalled from the Magical Realm in the future when needed rather than being sacrificed on the frontlines…”
Luna quickly corrected herself:
“N-Not that their lives are inherently more valuable than those fighting valiantly to buy us the time we need but…”
Her composure was breaking, that much Samus could see, and she watched as past-Luna pursed her lips and spoke heartfeltly to Celestia:
“Sister… are you sure you wish me not to stay here and help defend the Elements… with you?”
Celestia let her eyes fall shut as she shook her head resolutely.
“No, Luna. Your mind has always been leagues ahead of mine when it comes to logistics and tactics. Our ponies will need your help in the major cities. Go… and get everypony out. Help compress as many as possible into the Realm. Save as much of Equestria as you can.”
Luna nodded once.
“Of course, Celly. But you and I both know even with my power, I can only aid the jobs of the gateways so much… and… and…”
Samus felt a pang in her heart when she saw it: Luna’s lips quivering. She struggled with her next words…
…until she broke completely. Luna began openly weeping as she tried to keep eye-contact with her equally-distraught sister.
“W-We can’t get everypony out… I… I can’t. There’s not enough time…”
Celestia lay a hoof around Luna’s neck and embraced her as she, too let her own tears flow.
“I know. And may they all forgive us…”
“B-But…” Luna began anew, trying to muster the courage to answer the question that was likely burning on both of their minds, despite clear resignations to their fates having been evident in their voices.
“What if the Elements fail?”
“I… I don’t want to think about that right now, Luna. We know Tempest will be affected by the Harmony Beam. All our foes have been to some extent. This… we’ve never dealt with something like this before, so ‘how much?’ I can’t say. Like you, I can only hope that it cleanses Tempest and the legions she corrupted.
“Or… destroys her.”
Luna seemed to agree, but, to Samus’ confusion, she asked another way:
“Indeed… but when or if the Elements are struck down…?”
Samus listened intently… didn’t Celestia answer that with a big fat ‘I don’t know?’ She would’ve figured that maybe she was trying to grasp at whatever hope remained when the entire situation was hopeless… but that certainty in her voice made the Hunter think she was asking about something a little different.
As she continued to listen to see how this played out, she also noticed that Celestia had not answered her. There was complete silence from the Solar Alicorn.
Luna pulled back from Celestia’s embrace to look her in the eye.
“Sister… do they know?”
After another couple-second staring contest, Celestia finally answered:
“No.”
To say Luna recoiled in abject shock would be an understatement, and her response was marinated in anger:
“W-What?! They don’t know about the Elemental Failsafe?! How could you possibly have kept this from them?!”
Celestia came ready to argue:
“Of course they don’t know! Could you imagine if they knew about it from the start? That if they ended up actually getting themselves killed in the execution of their Elemental Duties… the Failsafe process could reconstitute them?!”
Celestia pulled away as Luna still appeared to be processing the whole ordeal… and Samus felt that it was kind of a big deal with Luna’s face looking like her world was turned upside-down.
“That if they knew all we had to do was retrieve their Elements, mosey on down to the Tree, and regenerate their forms. Think of the absolute recklessness! Especially—bless their hearts—from not just Twilight. But Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie?! And what if the Tree anointed new bearers??”
“I… I disagree, sister…” Luna lamented. “The Bearers would know to treat the power with the respect it deserves. They never attempted to use the Elements to solve all their problems… and you and I both know that we’d all know when the Tree chose a new group.”
Luna turned away from Celestia for a moment, facing her desk before shaking her head and gazing back at her.
“They should’ve known! We could’ve planned for something like this! For such eventualities!”
“No,” said Celestia. “This only would have mattered if we were going to come out of this alive, anyway. Only we have the power to reconstitute them. And despite our own celestial failsafes, if we’re incapacitated, this entire idea is moot. Me telling them would not change anything.”
Luna was enraged.
“I disagree wholeheartedly, sister!” Luna yelled. “You always do this! Every time. Every single time! Do you not trust your ponies? Do you not feel that even the smallest knowledge of the Failsafe would provide an extra layer of framework to lean on in times of cataclysm like this?!”
Celestia also raised her voice.
“If. We. Survived! Twilight hasn’t ascended yet. That means, we’re still it!” she declared. “We’re going to die. You and I both know this. But like the Elements, our ‘death’ will be a temporary incapacitation. We ourselves still need to be restored to bring them back.”
Luna knew she was right… but she still shook her head regardless as the tears continued to stream from both their faces.
“They still should’ve known. But… we do hold the figurative keys to the Tree.”
Celestia stepped closer to Luna once more.
“I know.”
Sudden determination crossed over Luna’s features, and she reached forward ‘towards the viewing group.’
“Then we make the plan, now.”
Celestia’s attention was sufficiently grabbed when both their faces suddenly took up the majority of the imprinting view. Apparently, Luna chose this time to reveal the crystal to Celestia, and the latter suddenly held an aura of familiarity to what she was looking at…
…and defensiveness.
“W-What is that…?!” she asked, but even Samus could tell that that was a token question at best.
She knew exactly what she was looking at.
Luna responded:
“You know it as an Imprint Crystal, as do I. But I now understand it as the key to our salvation.”
Luna, much like the first recording, then looked directly ‘into’ it. Celestia did as well, though with more of an unknowing at what her sister was planning.
“Twilight…”
Samus heard a gasp, but barely stole a glance as she was laser-focused on what was about to be said.
“We have made crucial mistakes. We are not infallible… but you are likely aware of this. We will atone for our mistakes in time, if we can see this through but… should the Elements fail, and should you fall in the faithful execution of your duty…”
Luna glanced over at Celestia, who had calmly taken her place next to her, apparently resigned to the fact that there was no point in getting angry now. She knew what Luna was doing, and continued to let her younger sister talk:
“...you and your friends shall walk this world again. My sister and I intend to do what we can to the end as well. As we have the ability to restore you, you have the ability to restore us. You must go to where Celestia and I were anointed with our powers: The Alicorn Temples in the Luna Bay and Celestial Sea—I’m sure you’re also aware that we’re asking you to travel to two opposite sides of the continent.
“While the failsafes were created long ago independently of one another, our breeds of magic are very much intertwined. You will therefore be able to reconstitute us.”
Celestia suddenly cut in:
“And gather your friends and their Elements as well. Once we are restored, we can go to the Tree and restore you fully.
“Twilight… my most faithful student. I’ve asked much of you over the years, and there’s still so much I haven’t told you. If this works… I promise to do better in the future. And… I know you’d be a better ruler in my place.”
Celestia motioned to continue, but had to stop herself as fresh tears began flowing down her face.
“I’m… I’m so sorry. Please, free Luna first. She’ll be able to provide immediate help upon her regeneration. It’s okay… I promise.”
And with that, she broke down entirely. It was Luna’s turn to wrap a weeping Celestia up in her hooves.
“Rest assured, Sister. Twilight will pull through. Your faith in your student has never been misplaced. We just… may be waiting for some time until she can figure things out, and find her way here.”
Celestia sniffled and looked to her sister with a glaring question:
“Twilight is wise beyond her years… but like any of us, she’s still just a pony. What if she doesn’t figure this out? Or finds herself unable to do so for any reasons we don’t foresee? What happens then?”
Celestia’s walls crumbled in on themselves a second time as more realizations seemed to hit her like a freight train. She wept her next response:
“Oh by the gods I should’ve told her everything… y-you were right!”
Luna held her tightly.
“If that comes to pass… well,” she chuckled sardonically. “I was banished for a millennium once. We can do it together, if need be.
“And if that’s the case? I guess that’s just the future we’ll have to accept.”
No words were forthcoming for a few moments… moments so tense that they seemed to pass by like small eras. Nevertheless, Luna reluctantly pulled away.
“It’s… it’s time for me to go. Best of luck, Celestia and… I love you.”
“I love you too, Lu… more than you know. Whatever happens, we’ll meet again, right?” Celestia asked, her words brimming with hope.
Luna nodded once, a brave smirk on her face.
“In death. And in life.”
And with that, the recording ended, and Samus noticed that the Imprint Crystal itself had dimmed considerably from when she first found it.
By that point, she had also realized that she hadn’t checked on the girls since they started watching the second recording. Attaching the crystal to a compartment on her waist for safekeeping, Samus turned to face Twilight specifically…
…whom she found wide-eyed, slackened-mouthed, and with fresh, hot tears just streaming down her face.
“...Twi?” Fluttershy tentatively put a hoof forward. “Are you okay?”
Rarity, likewise, showed much concern for the alicorn:
“Darling… please, talk to us?”
Samus watched as Twilight’s lip continued to tremble, which was soon followed by heavy sniffling. And before long, Twilight’s composure had utterly shattered as she, herself, began sobbing…
…but not before turning to her two friends and wrapping her friends up in her hooves, weeping into their necks. The raw emotion that even Samus could feel was contagious, and their hitherto strong walls finally collapsed together.
They bundled one another up all the same, but Twilight had plenty babble out so heartfeltly:
“I’m… I’m sorry, girls… I-I love you girls so much… I’m so so sorry I c-couldn’t figure this out sooner… I kept you waiting f-for so long!
“I… I… I swear to you…” she sniffled and slurred, continuing. “We’re g-gonna win. We’re gonna bring everypony back… W-We’re gonna do this, girls! I p-promise…”
Both Fluttershy and Rarity were near-instant in moving to dispel her self-defeating words.
“Darling, shhhh~... It’s okay, sweetheart, I promise~,” Rarity cooed, holding her as tightly as she could.
“You did what you could. You always have. None of us knew what was happening, either.”
“Rarity’s right, Twi…” Fluttershy added. “You couldn’t have known until now. Please please don’t blame yourself…”
Samus let her posture slacken slightly at the display, and a familiar warmth diffused through her chest and core. Though they couldn’t see it from behind her visor, she let an easy, fond smirk crawl up the side of her face. Seeing—and feeling—how deeply these three cared for each other evoked some wonderful memories and nostalgia. But more than that, Samus felt like she was more energized than ever. Twilight had been nothing but kind, accepting, and strong considering all that had happened to her, and likewise with her friends, not to mention Viridian.
It took a lot for her to ask for help, and Samus eagerly accepted out of both convenience and mutual benefit for both parties. But now? She wasn’t so sure those were the only pillars propping her up.
She had come to this planet with morale so low, her thoughts were straying to previously darker, unthinkable areas of her mind. While she hadn’t fully come out of this slump, Samus could feel the change in her own demeanor, just from these past few days allying with Twilight.
Her drive had begun to return.
Her morale swelled with every passing day.
And even through the seriousness of the situation, she could feel that childish, youthful tickle of raw adventure and exploration deep within her stirring once more.
Viridian’s words echoed loudly in her head:
...that Chozo fire still burns white hot within you.
“They’re right, you know,” she said, earning everypony’s attention. “Even if you did figure it all out somehow, it’s not like you could really move anywhere with the Storm Beasts hunting you down, anyway.”
Within her friends’ embrace, Twilight sighed out and nodded a couple times, having let a small crease of a smirk reveal itself after she wiped her tear-stained face. She then shuffled out of Fluttershy’s and Rarity’s hooves, and Samus watched her close the distance…
…then wordlessly fly up to eye-level only to throw her own hooves around Samus’ neck.
Samus didn’t quite expect the wordless intrusion into her personal space, and feeling her eyes go wide and her body go unnaturally stiff was evidence of this. What brought her out of her stunned stupor was Twilight repeating her words:
“Thank you… thank you, Samus… I’m sorry to put you through this. To ask so much of you. I-I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you… thank you so much…”
The Hunter understood her words fully, even if they were laced with more whimpering… and she reacted in kind by gently placing her armored hand on Twilight’s back to hold her. Samus understood just how awkward she was being right now, considering Twilight and Fluttershy had nuzzled her back at the castle and she was totally fine in accepting the gesture.
But she still wasn’t used to this kind of affection on a semi-regular basis… if one could even call this ‘affection.’
Though, she had to admit, with the extra warmth in her chest even through her armor, it felt… kinda nice. And as the aforementioned awkwardness dissipated, it had dawned on her that it had been a little while since she was last hugged, even if right now Twilight needed it most from her.
Samus scratched her back a bit.
“Compared to what the Federation or the Chozo asked of me… you’re totally fine. And don’t worry about that, alright? You’re letting me sleep comfortably in your home, so I think it evens out in the end.”
Twilight nodded.
“Mm. Won’t ever stop me thanking you, though. So… thanks again, Samus.”
“Heh, fair enough. And… don’t mention it.”
The human and pony released each other, and Twilight fluttered gently back down to her hooves… though with two distinct differences in her features that Samus immediately noticed: no more tears, and a sparkle of resolve having returned to her eyes.
She smiled—determined—up at Samus, and though she likely couldn’t see the smirk she was sporting in return, the Hunter in no way could suppress it. In a way, Samus admired Twilight on a couple fronts, emotionally and tactically.
That, and it was probably really nice to have a group of friends that would have your back through anything and everything… even after all that had happened. The closest thing she could remember were some of her friends amongst the elderly Chozo back on Zebes, as well as her two comrades in arms during her Police and Army days.
Hope Kreatz and Mauk are doing okay… wherever they are.
Twilight then turned back to a waiting Rarity and Fluttershy with that same smirk. She angled her head back over towards Samus, and the latter got the message, and was ready to fall into step.
“Come on girls,” she announced, and waved her hoof towards the door.
The choice of words was not lost on Samus, as Twilight had never really referred to her as ‘one of the girls,’ in a sense.
“Let’s get outta here. I think I have a plan…”
Rarity and Fluttershy shared a quick glance, and though curious, quickly fell behind Twilight. Samus followed suit as the alicorn led the group back into the remains of the Throne Room still veiled by a thin layer of fog.
“So…” she began anew, not letting anyone even beckon the question out of her.
Samus and the two ponies gathered around all the while.
“The Bay of Luna… and Celestial Sea. I know exactly where these ‘Ascension Temples’ are. And if Celestia’s insistence is correct, that means that a regenerated Luna could make an immediate difference while we’re off searching for the rest of the girls. What this means though… I’m not sure, since we all saw that neither of them elaborated on it. We’ll just have to find out.”
Twilight punctuated with a single, curt nod, with a swelled confidence written all over her face..
“But all that to say, the next mission should be to the Bay of Luna. We pick up Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Applejack, and then go find Celestia. With Samus’ help here, we now have one hell of a chance to set things right.
“What do you all think, girls?”
There wasn’t even a hesitation, and Fluttershy was first to affirm her stance:
“We’re with you, Twilight.”
Rarity had seemed to perk up much more than earlier.
“Since the beginning, I’d follow you anywhere. That hasn’t changed, darling.”
Though her own thoughts on involvement were trivial, Samus threw them in regardless:
“Count me in. And like I said earlier, I’m committed to this.”
Samus watched as Twilight glanced pridefully between the three of them, and she damn-near looked like she was gonna start crying again from all the affirmations alone. But, to her credit, she held it together, and with another curt nod and a bright smile, she said:
“Heh… just like the beginning indeed, Rarity. But now, I think we can—”
A deep, feminine, demon-esque voice suddenly interrupted:
“So… they return to the scene of the crime. How predictable.”
Samus could practically feel the collective chill up everyone’s spine wrangle its way up to their hearts.
All turned towards the source of the voice at the Throne Room entrance, and found a single pony standing there, garbed in Phazon-studded armor, just inside the threshold.
Twilight’s reaction was immediate shock and horror.
“T-Tempest?!”
The immediate features that stood out were her larger stature than the rest of the ponies, deep crimson, bordering-on-indigo coat… and her face.
The right half of it from her view looked completely normal, and showcased her light-blue eyes not dissimilar to Fluttershy’s… but the other half of her face at an angle, all her coat and skin seemed to have sloughed off completely, leaving a skull with vestiges of torn muscle, and pulsing veins of blood and Phazon. Her second eye was non-existent. Abyssal. Hollow. Much like the countless Storm Beasts that Samus had faced thus far.
The teeth of her skull were always visible on the left—razor-sharp, predator-like, perpetually in a soundless snarl. And that was before Samus noticed the gigantic, second mandible underneath her ‘standard’ mouth, again, in Storm Beast fashion.
All the while, Samus sprang into action, jutting out her cannon and aiming it straight between Tempest’s eyes before thrusting her hand out towards the group.
“Get in, now!” she ordered.
Rarity and Fluttershy were about to immediately obey, but Twilight, interestingly, angled her head and squinted her eyes, completely confused at what she was seeing once the initial shock had worn off.
“Wait a minute…” she stepped forward towards the newcomer. “It’s not her. It’s a magical projection… somehow,” Twilight announced, trotting right up to the taller entity for extra measure.
“She can’t harm us… even if she wants to.”
Samus instead transferred use of her hand into aiming her cannon… keeping it passively aimed in Tempest’s general direction out of an abundance of caution.
Tempest began stepping forward, and Twilight moved to rejoin the group in kind as the former lamented the alicorn’s words:
“Unfortunately, you’re right. I can’t slaughter you all right now and claim your Elements for myself… considering all you, the Elements, and Equestria have done to me. And even then, my work clearly wasn’t finished from the first time I killed you lot.
“Most… curious,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes at the group.
Samus remained silent, opting to let Twilight and company do the talking unless she was directly addressed by them.
And boy, Twilight had some talking to do. She scoffed, shaking her head whilst bravely maintaining eye-contact with her.
“You were on the mend, Tempest… you had all you wanted! Friends who cared about you! A job you loved!”
Twilight stomped a couple paces forward and spat venomously:
“We had been nothing but accepting and accommodating of you… even though we had zero need to be, you bitch!”
Samus flinched, wide-eyed at Twilight’s rare outburst of anger, but nevertheless kept her digital sights trained on the intruder. Rarity and Fluttershy rallied behind Twilight all the while.
Seemingly begging for an answer that wouldn’t come, Twilight again lashed out with a question:
“Why… Why did you do this?! And why are you doing this?!”
Tempest held her head higher, literally looking down upon the group of ponies as she emotionlessly replied oh-so matter-of-factly:
“You wouldn’t understand, Twilight. I can’t expect someone like you to… but the core of the meteor: it opened my eyes. Showed me the truth.”
Samus’ turn to question that.
Uhhh…?
Twilight seemed to play off her thoughts, squinted her eyes, and shook her head like she was trying to understand what Tempest had just told her.
“W-What?! What does that even mean? What ‘truth?!’” she demanded.
“I told those ponies we called princesses when we emerged: It spoke to me… it’s alive, Twilight! And it needs the Elements. The magic. All of it!”
Samus, internally, expected Twilight to ask why, and for what purpose. Her expectations were subverted when Twilight huffed out, in complete disbelief whilst continuing to shake her head in her own lamenting. The alicorn’s words were soft… yet they punched so pointedly above their weight, especially her first two:
“Buck. You.
“You’re sick, Tempest. You’re corrupted. Infected. That’s all it is…”
Twilight raised her voice continually as Tempest remained emotionless:
“That’s all it ever was! That this… all of this…” Twilight swept her hoof around her. “You did because you, unfortunately, touched the Phazon poison. You started hearing things!” she yelled.
But she was in no way finished, and Samus continued to listen to Twilight’s continued, frothing declamation:
“Hearing. Voices! And like with the Storm King before you with the promise to heal your horn, you took his former title of some supposed Storm Queen, and did the bidding of this ‘meteor core.’ This ponified version of the voices in your head that aren’t even there! You… you are no more than a mental-pony in command of an army! You complete, utter fool!”
Samus was… impressed with how angry Twilight was, though she understood entirely.
Jesus Christ, girl.
Tempest, once again, shed little emotion. In fact, she looked almost… amused at Twilight’s outburst. Like a parent watching a child throwing one hell of a temper tantrum.
“And unlike that useless Storm King, the core already healed my destroyed horn,” she mentioned, pointing to the top of her head where a curved, sharp horn crested with a bright, Phazon-blue.
“He was an idiot of the highest order, and the remnants of his feeble empire will pay in time once I’ve taken care of everything here in Equestria…
“But in the end, there’s little point in trying to convince you of what I know to be the truth. I will be needing the Elements of Harmony. And eventually, the Princessly powers, which, unfortunately, includes yours as well, Princess Twilight,” she declared.
Twilight stopped for a moment, and narrowed her eyes.
“You… you knew, didn’t you? That you didn’t truly kill any of us… that we would come back.”
Tempest chuckled evilly, closing ranks completely. Samus noticed that her hoof-falls never made a single sound, further putting truth to the idea that she was some kind of projection, different to the magical and corporeal limbo that Twilight and her friends existed in.
“Do you understand now? The Core. Knows. All. Sees all. Controls all. And I’ll be the first to admit that you haven’t been as sneaky as you’d’ve liked.
“I knew the moment you all were still alive when I retreated to tend to the… admittedly grievous wounds you gave me. I could feel as you tried everything to break out of your protected Castle… even after these invaders came. Which, in a way, saved your life—the irony of such a gift with what you call the Poison, means that it absorbs just about all magic. Had I been allowed to be free, I would have sieged your castle until Spike starved.
“And in the end, I knew the moment that she…” Tempest pointed directly at Samus. “...landed on the planet.”
Tempest didn’t give Twilight the ability to respond, as she turned her attention directly to Samus, who held her cannon squarely at Tempest’s face. The Hunter watched as she drew in closer and closer to look up at her through her visor.
“And you…” her paranormal-sounding voice scratched at Samus’ sonic dampeners. “You’re their miracle, hmm? Their literal knight in shining armor. How fitting… and by extension, ironic. Since by that logic, you’re also my hero, as well…
“Twilight here is unfortunately correct. I’m merely a projection of my actual self, trapped in the chamber of the Core… which means I cannot simply kill you and take the Elements for myself, even if I wanted to.”
She huffed, then lowered her voice confidently.
“This projection outside of my forced sealing in the Core is… extensively taxing. But, judging by what I just heard of your plan, there’d be no point in killing you, in either case. You’ll just bring the Elements to me, anyway, in an effort to destroy the Core. And me.”
She smiled unnaturally widely, then glanced back at the three ponies who were searing their death-glares into the back of Tempest’s head.
“How easy~. It’ll definitely be fun to see Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack join you three in this one’s head. Along with…”
She turned back to Samus and stopped her words cold. Samus then watched while Tempest suddenly seemed confused as she bore her gaze through her visor and eyes. She narrowed her eyes and continued to stare deeply through her, as if she was trying to peer into her mind itself, almost like she was taking another look at something she thought she saw in her peripheral vision.
Samus, in turn, didn’t react one bit… at least, until Tempest’s features elastically morphed into one of pure surprise. Just like that, the tension in the air could be physically grasped through the dankness of the Throne Room once again.
After what felt like a small lifetime, Tempest’s evil smile returned, and she chuckled sadistically.
“Hmmm… interesting. That… changes things. Perhaps you’ll even bring them to me willingly. Then there truly is no point in even trying to kill you. You might be your own demise~.”
Samus cocked one hell of an eyebrow at that statement, though dismissed it outright for the moment. It wasn’t her first rodeo with psychological warfare.
Twilight spoke up and declared:
“We’ll defeat you again, Tempest. Just like we did last time, when all hope was lost even then.”
Tempest turned back to the whole group this time, and backed up a couple paces whilst chuckling deeply once more. Before she could even answer to that, Samus’ sensors spiked:
[Seismic activity detected. Localized to your current location.]
Immediately, a steady, unnatural rumbling shook the foundations of the room, and possibly even the whole castle. All in the room plus Samus perked their ears or glanced upward, respectively.
Tempest smiled once more, and her entire form flickered in the light like a digital aberration.
“You all may wanna get on with your mission~. Because as much as I love reminiscing where I slew you all once, the foundations of this Castle won’t take kindly to… hostile presences meddling around here.
“Don’t keep me waiting~.”
And with a final, malevolent giggle, Tempest’s form evaporated right into the fogginess of the room, as if she were never there in the first place.
The seismic activity ceased, but Samus already had immediate questions:
“Okay… uhhh, what was she on about?” she asked.
But no one could give her a proper answer before the three ponies all gasped—a bright, aqua-blue shield had suddenly erected itself over the remnants of the Throne Room door.
Simultaneously, Samus’ motion tracker lit up with contacts.
“Ahhh hell…”
Then came the screams… the anguished, deafening screams that were much different to the Storm Beasts. The hellish screams sounded like people being tortured within an inch of their life, and carried a distinct ‘magical’ accent and rasp to them.
She drew her cannon over their surroundings, thrusting her hand out as the ponies coalesced around her, all looking for a source of the nightmarish sounds.
“Okay now I think it’s time to get in!” Samus announced.
“YUP! Come on!” Twilight parroted the order, and all the ponies digitized themselves into Samus one by one.
“Looks like we’ve got a fight on our hands.”
“Right… but we got what we came for. I don’t think we should stay here much longer!”
“Agreed. Let’s make this quick.”
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Oh, dear. This may not sit well with Twilight...
I knew we weren't done with Celestia and Luna! Poor Samus is gonna have eight ponies talking in her head at once!
Uh-oh. I don't know what she just realized but something tells me it isn't good.
Ok this was a REALLY good one. I love metroid and this all seams in character for samus, the part when the first enter the throne room and you describe only hearing her foot steps reminded me of the SA-X. The silence then the menacing foot steps... anyway great chapter.
Well everyone, we have a plan, I repeat, we have a plan.
Oh no... I think we all know what or who she's referring to.
Also, my boi ridley gonna come in?
A very neat and fun exposition-dump chapter! I'm always up for some dramatic revelations!
I only had one real point of feedback in this one:
Samus, being tactically-minded and survival-oriented would have been better off picking the right-hand pathway. Her canon being on the right arm means turning to the left- as she would need to do to rejoin the other entrance on the other side- lets her more easily aim around walls while being able to use them to cover her left. Spiral staircases in castles are made going up clockwise with this idea in mind. A right-handed defender higher up can more easily swing their weapon while those ascending would be hampered by the curve of the inner wall.
11304206
You know, this is a fucking EXCELLENT point that I didn't even think about... and therefore, I'm absolutely going to change it because y ou are 100% correct. THANK YOU!
EDIT: Changed as such. Thanks again!!
11304208
aw, i'm honored! I could not for the LIFE of me tell you where i learned that little tidbit though.
11304212
I could've sworn I heard that from somewhere now that I think about it myself lol. I just didn't think about it for a dual-entrance corridor. Makes perfect sense, though!
Dude this was a good chapter. It’s sad to see the state of Rarity is in… hopefully in the future she gets to be open again though I hope Sweetie Belle survived at least.
I notice it’s not said if Celestia had died in the throne room rather just the M6? Because somepony is moving the sun and moon but then why revive Luna when she is meant to be with the ponies in a different Realm?
Lots of mystery’s but it’s interesting that Tempst sees something in Samus and is very excited.
I guess no Smash Bros reference yet? I know this story is only Metroid cross over but it would be cool if she mentions being in a Multiverse Tournament a few times.
"reacted only with" perhaps?
Bonus points for remembering Kreatz and Mauk.
Guessing the calamity took place before Tempest could go through her character development in the comics... assuming the comics mean anything here.
Planet Phaze ruining everything as usual.
...guessing she saw the Phazon Suit from Prime 1?
Cliffhanger A to cliffhanger B gods above and below not another cliffhanger! Still nice chapter, good info dump telling what is going on and such, very much needed. Now if we can end a chapter without a cliffhanger we will be in business. Maybe the next chapter will come out quickly so we can see what is going on with the storm beast inbound
11304385
The living cancer continues to be causing problems for everyone.
Right? What would Glitter Drops think?
11304142
What was left was just Samus looking at the non-existent camera with empty eyes.
11304246
I heard it in chuggaaconroy’s Splatoon series
Oh boy, we sure receive a lot of informations. And though it now lengthens Samus and Twilight's mission, it brings more hope than ever to restore the world of Equus.
Tempest's bout about receiving the truth, falls in line with how some of the Space Pirate end up following Dark Samus in the logs of Metroid Prime 3.
Man, I really thought that (considering the core seeks out the strongest being on the planet) there was someone stronger than Tempest to be the actual guardian (though there's still a chance that Tempest is a cover-up for the real guardian, to surprise them when the times comes...).
11305089
If Tempest is a fake-out guardian, I think the only strong Equestrian being we haven't seen yet that we can really rule out for being the real guardian is Discord. Because if Phazon had access to chaos magic the entire universe would've already been lost.
11305248
Only thing I can think of that could outdo Discord in terms of being a Leviathan Guardian would be Cosmos.
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She didn't even need Phazon corruption to be nightmare fuel, just imagine how insane she'd be if she had it now...
Oh yeah.
So one detail I really like about this chapter is how it deals with Twilight and company learning about how Luna and Celestia kept the Elemental Failsafe a secret from them. A lesser story would just have them be cast as villains for their incompetent pragmatism, capped off with the Mane 6's opinions of Celestia and Luna lowering as a result. But not only is this considered to be a mistake that was the result of poor planning, and you see the two of them break down after realizing that Equestria is doomed and there's almost nothing they can do if they fail unless a miracle happens, but the story doesn't spell out how the characters feel and react to what just happened. Instead, they just resolve themselves to save Equestria even moreso than they had before. After having a good group hug/cry about it, of course.
So yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to the next chapter and how they'll deal with the boss...
And of course.
miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*9c9EP2ECTOJfNPVS90ZycA.jpeg
A portend for things to come...
11304115
Lel all excellent observations~. Thanks again for reading! :D
11304142
Heeeeell yeah! If it was reminiscent of Fusion to you, then that's one hell of a compliment! Thanks so much!
11304147
Yes we do! Let's see how well it works! As for our favorite space dragon... I think we may have to wait and see on that front
11304273
It's not outright said, but it's very VERY much implied. There's no danger in assuming that both Celestia and Luna 'died' in the way that the other Elements have 'died', so to speak. Glad you're enjoying everything so far!
Huh what did happened with Discord? The whole multiverse would have been long gone by now.
11304385
Haha love all the observations! As for the last one... I don't think so... but I REALLY like the way you think
11304455
Yes.simpsonsreference
And yes, there will be as such! Thanks for your patience :P
11304475
Always has been
11304668
Kek. "What're you looking at?" "Nothing. Just felt right for some reason."
11304688
Definitely! And it does sound pretty similar, huh? Phazon is a hell of a drug
11305089
*Smiles at your observation but says nothing*
11305248
Discord's absence is to be addressed soon. But I will dispel the notion that he ends up as a boss in here... because writing Discord in a realistic way in a Metroid + Magic would be a huge pain in the ass for me lol
11305531
Thanks SO much! I'm super happy you enjoyed the way things went this chapter lol. Plenty more to come and we'll see how it all goes. And portent indeed~
11306069
See a comment I just posted for that. In short, he's fine. His current absence will be addressed in a way that I think will make enough sense
11306072
Know what… since Discord is a god and Kid Icarus is kind of canon to Metroid in some ways couldn’t he had been force by Viridi or Palutena to not intervene?
11306082
I'm not considering that in the Metroid canon lol, so I'm gonna say decisively no... though it would be an interesting thought
11306086
That’s fine. I hope Discord is ok… might be to hard of a boss fight to beat
Mmmm... a good read. Each chapter is long, and interesting; they are very fulfilling.
I would love to have more.
Well, I can’t wait to find out where the tortured screams are coming from, likely whatever tore apart the storm beasts and space pirates. First guess is phazon infested canterlot nobles, second guess is the same but changelings. I’m sure whatever nightmares you have in mind make whatever I can think of sound tame.
As for what’s truly in that phazon core, well, equestria has unfortunately had several large evils that could qualify as a “big bad”.
Also looking forward to the two new locations where Luna and Celestia will be revived. Likely both water related, but my mind makes up some nice looking temples, so.
Here’s hoping for a speedy release on the next chapter!
11306073
Best way I can interpret it is the Cheat Man fight in Rockman CX mixed with an expanded version of getting hit by the Rezbit Virus in Metroid Prime 2 Echoes).
Constantly disorienting Samus by changing the properties of the room while barraging her with seemingly random attacks, and messing with her visors so that she has to grapple with her own perception.
Of course, such a fight could only really work as a test, since if Discord went all out, things would be way more dicey.
11306462
I will say that I did consider it at a point. And if anything my interpretation would be something similar, but more like with Giygas from Earthbound/Mother in some sense perhaps?
In the end, things just didn't make enough sense for that to be reality
11306647
Personally I interpreted the "You cannot grasp the true form of Giygas' attack" thing to be sound-based. Every time he attacks in Mother 1, an ominous tone plays. You need to sing the original 8 Melodies in order to defeat him. The attack is presented as a wave of force in Earthbound (like a soundwave?). That sort of thing.
Besides, it's not like Giygas can be
petrifieddiamondized; you have to poison him to defeat him, and that only works on Mother 1+2 for the GBA.WOW...just read the whole story up to this point...got to say..
this is ALREADY a VERY good story to me..gona go put it in my favorites..
also..when is the estimated time for the next chapter?????
Ooooooo! Does Tempest knows Samus is actually part Metroid?If that’s the case that has me excited!
11309005
Unfortunately that couldn’t be the case, because Metroid Fusion hasn’t happened yet chronologically hehe
Nice chapter and I see Tempest saw Dark Samus
11306069
He may have had the good sense to just get the hell off the planet when he realized Phazon is that aggressively corruptive. The alicorns getting corrupted would be a planetary disaster. Him getting corrupted would be an existential disaster.
11309589
Maybe he was the one to send Samus
Oh, boy. Why do I have the feeling that we're looking at a Chozo Ghost-like moment here?
My theory is Rarity is so quiet and distant not because she was left alone for so long, but because she used her magic to kill space pirates and is traumatized by the guilt.