29. In the Shadow
Metroid Equis
Chapter 29
In the Shadow
[Trottingham. The Morning After.]
The falling rain had largely doused the raging fires around Trottingham, restoring some sense of somber beauty, especially from the vantage point of the top of the Trottingham University Chancellery. Jacob, with Sydney by his side, gently strode to the edge of their buildings, visors devoid of emotion and rifles hanging low in their grasp, and took in the sight of all of the formerly occupied city. They, along with the rest of CV-Squad had to get into the University and clear it out room by room, building by building. The fighting was long and bloody, but the resolve and sheer destructive power of the Magickakorps ensured inevitable success. However, the cost was a bit steeper than anticipated. Almost two-hundred of the Elite Unicorns had perished in the entire fighting so far, the grand majority of those casualties being incurred on the initial assault into campus grounds.
“Well… this is it,” Sydney commented to Jake as they finally got to the edge of the building, looking outward. The rest of the squad also caught up, all panting and gathering their breath due to the exhausting battle. They were all able to get some degree of rest by taking one of the classrooms since the final clearing out was taking so long, but nevertheless, war takes more than its fair share of toll out of the individual, human or pony.
“Seems like it,” Jake replied, engaging the safety on his rifle and continuing to stare out over the city. “Just need to wait for the all clear.”
“It’s funny,” Windfire commented as he joined Sydney’s side. “My parents had always hoped I’d get into Trottingham University…”
“Wait… you mean you actually had plans for your life?” Constance interjected, while Starry began giggling uncontrollably with Radiance. Windfire deadpanned to his leader.
"Hilarious. You're a master of humor, Mother Function," he quipped in return, using a nickname he gave her a long time ago to play on the words. Starry and Radiance leaned into each other more and laughed even harder. Constance rolled her eyes and looked out towards the scenery again.
"Jeez, barely out of battle and you're already having fun?" Nathan commented, Arianna next to him, as they finally completed the Squad at the edge of the Chancellery. No one replied, though no one minded either. The silence was comfortable as each one of the eight members took in the scene of the city, rain continuing to pelt and run down their visors. The silence was only broken through radio chat:
"All units, this is the all clear. Repeat: Trottingham has been fully taken and liberated. Units bringing up the rear are going to help with the cleanup and tending to any civilians who were trapped while the Main Force finishes off the Pirates in the North. OpsCom Out."
"YES!" Starry shouted and started bouncing up and down with glee, though her armor could not show her expressions. Everyone else had a small smile on their face for a job well done.
"Looks like our work here is done..." Jake said, but before anyone could reply or say something else, the low rumblings of a small craft permeated their hearing. The source: a Federation Dropship that flew in and hovered right behind the squad of eight. The craft yawed in place until the pilot could face the curious troops.
"CV-Squad, glad to see you all in one piece. Got anymore fight left in ya?" the pilot asked through radio chat.
"I don't know about everyone else here but I'm good for another round," Nathan commented.
"Sure, why not?" Arianna affirmed.
"Yeah!" Radiance and Starry also added.
"Well... then I guess we do. What'sup, pilot?" Jake questioned.
"Under orders of Colonel Borsig, you're all being moved to help against the defense of the Crystal Empire way up north where the snow is falling. Get aboard, we don't have much time!" the pilot exclaimed. Jake and Constance looked to each other and then the rest of their squad. All were ready and willing to continue the fight. Besides, they could catch at least some rest on the way.
"You heard him, everybody. Let's go, let's go!" Jake ordered. Thus, they all filed to the back of the craft and into the ship two-by-two. Once all were aboard, the dropship took off seamlessly from the top of the Chancellery and sped off to the Frozen North, leaving the newly liberated Trottingham in excellent hands.
[Crystal Empire]
It was organized chaos in and around the Crystal Empire. The Federation was using what little airpower was locally available, in the form of about a dozen dropship transports, to evacuate as much of the Imperial City’s civilian populace to safer parts of Equestria before the newly emboldened Changelings inevitably attacked. Some civilian Crystal Ponies, moved by duty to their home and families, had volunteered to stay behind, where unicorns volunteered as front-line militia, while pegasi and earth-ponies helped with defense building and second-line militia.
The overall objective was simple: Defend the Crystal Empire at all costs against the Changeling incursion. With some strong, coordinated magic, enemy troops could break in through the shield but would not be able to disable it. Thus, the growth of Phazon underground would be stayed. The Crystal Heart, however, was responsible for keeping said shield up. If it was destroyed or seized, the defensive shield would collapse, rendering the entire Crystal City vulnerable to attack as well as Phazon encroachment from below (and eventually breaking through the surface). The details of how this operation would be carried out were at the sole discretion of Princess Celestia, Colonel Borsig, Shining Armor, and Cadence. Of course, simplicity was only true on paper.
“Very well, the Crystal Heart is being moved to the center of the castle,” Cadence commented, having just returned from observing its movement. She joined Celestia, Shining, and Borsig at one of the tables to the right of the thrones. On it, a map of the Crystal Empire was laid out with several figures being drawn, representing positions of troops.
“Good. That makes our job much easier,” Borsig commented, adjusting his visor-cap before turning back to the plans of action. “Surveillance is limited right now on account of nearly all air support being engaged to combat the retreating Pirates, so we won’t necessarily have immediate warning as to when the attack will start. However, this is what we’ve all come up with, and anyone feel free to interject if something was not agreed upon.”
He cleared his throat, and the other three gathered closer around while the throne room was bustling with activity from pony and human soldiers alike.
“First line of defense is just outside the shield periphery. A light garrison of troops will be in the way, but they’ll easily be able to retreat back into safety if things go downhill. Prince Shining Armor, you’ve given the unicorn troops the spell to enter the shield safely?”
“Yup. All can cast it well,” Shinning affirmed.
“Good. Greatest chance that the first line will fall. In that event, remaining troops from the first line will regroup at the second line, which is a perimeter extending to Crystal Park, where the Heart once stood. That’s where our Marines and the Elite Unicorns will provide the fiercest resistance. The final line is of course, the Castle. We all defend the Heart until the last man, woman, stallion, or mare,” Borsig finished the run-through. “As well, I’ve called for CV-Squad’s immediate diversion. They’ll be arriving, although I don’t know when."
Several hoof-steps and clops towards the entrance to the throne room garnered the Equine and Human leaders’ attentions, revealing the Mane Six plus Spike trotting towards them.
“Secondary defenses are set up, Princess,” Twilight spoke first, rifle on her back. They had been tasked with helping build and fortify fortifications around Crystal Park, and their help ultimately sped up the completion of the project in merely two hours. Princess Celestia’s star pupil could really get anything done.
“Excellent work, all of you. Those defenses are invaluable and the fact that you all helped speed up the process by that much time could have potentially saved many, many lives,” Celestia commended. Borsig even offered a small salute.
“Indeed. I know the Marines appreciate any help they get. It’s remarkable how well we, as two species, have been able to work together, I must say,” he added.
“Times of conflict may unite the most uncommon individuals, Colonel,” Cadence replied thoughtfully.
“Ideally said, Princess.”
“Sir!” A marine with a thick accent spoke to get Borsig’s attention before jogging up to him. “We have two more groups of civilians to evacuate. We should be done within the hour, once the remaining transports return.”
“Thank you, Soldier,” Shining Armor decided to speak up on behalf of his civilians.
“Now we’re just missing a couple bodies…” Borsig commented on the absence of Samus and Princess Luna. Everypony instinctually looked around for the two and indeed confirmed that they were not there… though they knew that well.
“I sincerely hope they arrive soon lest the battle start without…” Princess Celestia was interrupted when a bright teal flash of light lit up the throne room instantaneously. All eyes turned to the source of the disturbance, finding the individuals in question, although everybody knew that something was really wrong when they found Samus on her knees, clutching her head, having just removed her Suit.
“Samus needs an Element, posthaste!” Luna called out using her royal voice. Only Celestia had access to them, however.
“Sister! What happened?!” she asked, trying to make sense of the suddenly chaotic situation. Samus’s labored breaths and growls pervaded through the throne room, and the Mane Six did their best to try and help their friend.
“Do not question me! We need the Elements now!”
Looking back to Samus once more, Celestia knew exactly what was happening and called upon some magic to summon the remaining Elements. A few of Luna’s troops who were stationed in the throne room immediately moved to set a perimeter around Samus.
“What the hell is going on here? Samus?!” Borsig moved to get a better look but was immediately blocked by a couple Magickakorps troops.
“What’s going on!?” Twilight shouted as she and her friends were pushed away from Samus by Luna’s elites. “You said the Elements would keep the Nightmare dormant!”
“Sister, are they ready??” Luna turned back to Celestia, ignoring Twilight’s, and now the rest of the Elements’ outbursts.
“Right here… Generosity,” Celestia floated a hard-magic object over to Luna, one which took on the shape of a trinity of bright-blue diamonds. Samus was starting to lose consciousness and was forming incomprehensible slurs of speech. The Mane Six all looked on with equal degrees of concern for their blonde-haired human friend. For the rest of the humans in the room, now it was time for them to witness a ‘medical’ process beyond their comprehension.
Luna immediately took the Elemental Magic in her grasp and manipulated Samus’s form onto her back. She struggled, but not due to her own volition. With that, Luna wasted no time in plunging the magic artifact straight into Samus’s chest. The reaction was immediate as a colored-aura enveloped her body before recombining in her sternum. Through the noise of the magic working on her form, all were deaf to Samus’s mental struggle. Once the noise had subsided and the light had cleared, Samus lay motionless with her eyes closed on the floor, her heavy but rhythmic breathing the only indication that she was alive.
The Mane Six and the two Princesses gently trot forward, no sudden movements. The soldiers dispersed but still looked on as the Hunter was still motionless.
Until a gentle grunt and soft movements emanated from her body.
“Samus…?” Luna gingerly spoke.
“Sam?” Rainbow Dash let her concern shine through. All had a single hoof lifted in the air, as if they wanted to poke the prone woman. Samus moved even more, but what looked like a miracle soon became more chaos as she screamed out painfully and clutched her head once again, attempting to try and claw her own face off. Her legs thrashed and her body contorted itself violently… all were taken by complete surprise and adrenaline surged through everypony once more.
“It didn’t work?!” Twilight again questioned harshly.
“Celestia, we need to give her the last one! The induction was ineffective!” Luna commanded, looking to her left towards her sister.
“What?! You know full well that it could kill her instantly! It’s too much magic!” Celestia barked back.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…” Fluttershy began sobbing to herself, not sure what to think of anything that was so suddenly sprung on them.
“And if we do not give it to her she shall succumb to the Nightmare and die anyway! We will not be able to cleanse her when five of the six elements are inside her! You said it yourself, her magical potential possibly rivals that of Twilight Sparkle, we have no choice but to take the risk!” Luna punctuated with several stomps of her right hoof, the floor cracking beneath it. Shining and Cadence stood aside and, like the rest, watched with deep concern, but knowing they could not do anything to help.
Princess Celestia had visible beads of sweat forming on her face, much like Luna, due to the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing through their veins. The normally calm and collected nature of both Princesses in the face of unexpected adversity was being heavily tested. The Sun Princess bore the look of internal debate… but she finally conceded.
“Alright… here’s the Element of Magic.” Celestia released the sixth and last element from the box where she kept it, letting the magic which took the shape of a lavender somewhat asymmetric six-pointed star, fall gently into Luna’s grasp. Samus’s struggling was losing its vigor, and Luna noticed that her skin tone was becoming darker. Standing over the Hunter and looking between her and the Element in her grasp, Luna steeled her resolve and plunged the final Element into Samus’s chest.
Like with the last element, an identical process began, albeit with a much brighter and intense light radiating off the Hunter’s form. After said light eclipsed her body, it, as expected, combined in her chest. Again, there was no more struggling from Samus, and her skin tone had returned to normal.
Everypony was on edge, even the humans that were witnessing this spectacle were becoming increasingly antsy at watching the legendary Samus Aran fall victim to… whatever was happening. She was still breathing, that was the best part, so the magic did not vaporize her, as had feared. The silence and tension were thick, and one could cut them with a knife, but again, subtle movements and groans interfered.
Samus’s hands felt around, and realizing she was on the ground, she steadied herself and slowly stood up, muscle by muscle, limb by limb. She weakly raised her head and everyone took notice of something very different:
Her eyes were back to the normal, circular irises everyone was accustomed to seeing.
“Samus…?” Luna finally spoke up, attempting to gauge her well-being. The Hunter reacted immediately to her name being called and looked towards the dark alicorn, no worse for wear.
“That was definitely a roller coaster…” Samus’s voice finally sounded, looking at her hands.
“How’re you feeling?” Borsig finally had to say something. All eyes were on her as she seemed fully recovered and completely rejuvenated. She began to speak, rather vividly and expressively:
“I feel fine but I feel… different. I can literally feel the magic in me. Holy hell it’s… powerful. I’ve never felt anything like this, even with the Chozo… It feels like I can almost—”
A sharp intake of breath and a scarring choking sound suddenly interrupted Samus’s speech as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She collapsed hard while violently gagging and seizing up. Screams from the girls and gasps from everyone else sounded immediately when she hit the floor. Samus’s eyes also began lighting up brightly, like she was casting an enormous spell.
“Shit!” Borsig shouted, frustrated with the situation and the false sense of security her previous state had given them all. Luna and Celestia, however, sprang into action immediately.
“She’s going into magical seizure!” Celestia noted, this time oddly calmer than before.
“Soldiers! Restrain her limbs!” Luna barked and her troops complied, physically and magically holding her limbs outward as she flailed, her seizure continuing unabated.
“Hold her jaw… Hold her jaw!” Celestia ordered another soldier, and he complied, ensuring Samus did not bite her own tongue off. Twilight, Spike, Applejack, and Rainbow could only look on in horror while Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity could not bear to watch the gruesome spectacle.
“We need the last resort, Celestia. She’ll die soon!” Luna turned back to her sister, who had finished summoning another magical artifact.
“Already have it! It’s ready to go,” the Solar Princess replied with equal urgency yet precision… like they had rehearsed a scenario like this. The magic coalesced into a gently, counter-clockwise spinning object which took on the shape of Samus’s runes-insignia. Luna, again, took the floating object into her grasp and stood over the restrained, seizing Hunter with a determined scowl.
“You will live, Samus Aran. That is an order. You. Will. Live!”
All had to avert their eyes with their hands or hooves as Luna plunged the power-up into Samus’s chest with all her might. Samus immediately came out of her seizure as her eyes oriented themselves and opened wide while she inhaled, taking in a deep and sudden breath of air. Immediately, she was forced into the air, limbs splayed out, and magic began to coalesce onto her body. She looked around startled while breathing in the life-giving air she so desperately needed but soon, the bright light of energy working on her body eclipsed her form entirely. Soon enough, all the energy exploded outward, forcing everybody to avert and close their eyes at the luminous display of power, and all anyone heard was the subtle *clink* of metallic boots hitting the ground.
Once everyone’s vision was restored, they gazed upon Samus, who was hunched into a kneeling position and breathing steadily, her left hand supporting her frame while her right knee remained on the ground.
Although retaining the distinctive sheen of the Crystal Suit, Samus’s armor lightened considerably, almost becoming generic metal in color and reflective like a Federation Marine’s armor. In fact, it was nearly identical to that. While her Varia Suit and others had different colored modules in some places, the color was completely homogenized (except her cannon, which remained its normal color), much like the Light Suit. While the color was a noticeable change, it was the farthest from the most interesting. Once Samus decided to stand up on her feet, all accents and her visor were magenta in color, like Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Her visor took its standard Varia Suit orientation, but much narrower and more angled, giving her a fiercer look. Likewise, her pauldrons were quite similar to the Varia Suit, but perfectly smooth and spherical.
Still, not the most interesting change.
In two slits right in between Samus’s boosters on her back, magenta-colored hard magic jutted outwards into two flat-planed but easily classifiable and noticeable ‘wings’ proportional to her torso, although they were much more angular than pegasi wings. To top it all off, her Grapple Beam’s mount was moved to the top of her arm and was very distinctly horn-like in pointed shape and ‘rifled’ creases up its body.
She looked stunningly dangerous yet mesmerizingly beautiful at the same time. No one could look away.
[Alicorn Battle Suit Acquired!]
[The Alicorn Battle Suit has its origins from the late Alicorn Empire. This suit unlocks and uninhibits all your magic potential. All spells, provided you learn them, are available to you to cast without any potential consequences to you, although certain species and physical limitations are still in place. The suit provides you a defensive shielding multiplier of three and an integrity multiplier of two in relation to the Crystal Suit. The magic wings will not allow you to ‘fly,’ but instead work in tandem with your boosters, allowing unparalleled dexterity and speed, and may be modified with further powerups.]
Samus dismissed the alert on her visor and gave herself a few once-overs, checking to ensure everything was in the proper place. Once again, magic never failed to impress her. She liked the Light Suit build that U-Mos gave her on Aether, aesthetically speaking, and she was keen on the metallic look of this Battle Suit. Satisfied, she looked up to her audience.
“So… how’d this happen?” Samus asked with her usual stoicism in referring to her new clothes. No one responded, but instead, the Mane Six all crowded around her and pressed themselves against her in a somewhat awkward embrace, all muttering their own sets of relief and joy. Samus only lifted both of her arms a tad and looked down oddly.
“Nice to see you all too… was it really that bad??” she finally asked.
“Yeah, you came within inches of corruption and/or death several times,” Twilight said matter-of-factly.
“Ah. Well, shit happens I guess. Sorry.”
“We are just glad that you are safe and free of corruption. How do you feel?” Luna asked, stepping forward to admire Samus’s new look.
“Honestly, I feel just great. Like I slept for a whole day straight. Probably a side-effect of all the magic,” Samus answered, but before she could elaborate more, her visor lit up with a notification.
“What is it?” Celestia asked, also closing the distance.
“Remember when I said yesterday that the Elements were becoming weaponized when they fuse with me? Well, it looks like we’re about to find out what they are…” Samus lead on and then accepted the notifications.
[Bringing up Suit schematics.]
[Visor]
>[Combat]
>[Scan]
>[Thermal]
>[X-Ray]
>[Aura]
>[?????]
[Arm Cannon]
>[Beam]
>>[Power]
>>[Night]
>>[Needle]
>>[?????]
>[Missile]
>>[Anti-Magic]
>>[Super]
>>[Asteroid Bombardment]
>>[Crystal Lattice]
[Morph Ball]
>[Boost]
>[?????]
>[Bomb]
>>[Fragmentation]
[Misc.]
>[Grapple Beam]
>>[Kinesis]
>>[Sticky Grapple]
>[Screw Attack]
>[Space Jump]
>[Speed Booster]
>>[Rainspark]
>[?????]
>[?????]
[Magic]
>[Sensitive]
>>[?????]
To Samus, it was truly amazing to see how much new tech she had gathered in such a short amount of time. Still, she was no less eager to see what was hidden behind the proverbial veil. The veiled names began to flicker in the colors of the Elements.
[Visor]
>[Combat]
>[Scan]
>[Thermal]
>[X-Ray]
>[Aura]
>[Kindness]
[Arm Cannon]
>[Beam]
>>[Power]
>>[Night]
>>[Needle]
>>[Magic]
>[Missile]
>>[Anti-Magic]
>>[Super]
>>[Asteroid Bombardment]
>>[Crystal Lattice]
[Morph Ball]
>[Boost]
>[Laughter]
>[Bomb]
>>[Fragmentation]
[Misc.]
>[Grapple Beam]
>>[Kinesis]
>>[Sticky Grapple]
>[Screw Attack]
>[Space Jump]
>[Speed Booster]
>>[Rainspark]
>[Loyalty]
>[Generosity]
[Magic]
>[Sensitive]
>>[Honesty]
“Whoa…” Samus softly remarked, but the decryption as not done yet, as the names of the Elements began to flicker again.
[Visor]
>[Combat]
>[Scan]
>[Thermal]
>[X-Ray]
>[Aura]
>[Gravity]
[Gravity Visor: Locking on similarly to the Scan Visor, you may strengthen the gravity around a target or a small group of targets, effectively crushing your enemies under their own weight.]
[Arm Cannon]
>[Beam]
>>[Power]
>>[Night]
>>[Needle]
>>[Magicka]
>[Missile]
>>[Anti-Magic]
>>[Super]
>>[Asteroid Bombardment]
>>[Crystal Lattice]
>>[Harmony Blast]
[Magicka Beam: Taking the orientation of your former Plasma Beam, the Magicka Beam fires blasts, similar to the aforementioned molten weapon, of pure, high intensity, weaponized magic. Can destroy enchanted metals and barriers with ease, as well as potentially immolate enemies.]
[Harmony Blast: The Harmony Blast is the Magicka Beam’s missile combination. Calling upon the inherent nature of the Elements of Harmony, this weapon fires the cleansing beam distinctly attributed to the Elements of Harmony. This combination, oddly, uses no missiles, but may only be called upon when the Elements are needed. You, and the Elements as magical entities, will know when this time is.]
[Morph Ball]
>[Boost]
>[Spider]
>[Bomb]
>>[Fragmentation]
[Spider Ball (Magicka): Like your traditional Spider Ball, this ability allows you to attach the Morph Ball to magnetic surfaces. Unlike your traditional Spider Ball, this ability also allows you to attach yourself to magically enchanted surfaces, including metals, crystals, and barriers.]
[Misc.]
>[Grapple Beam]
>>[Kinesis]
>>[Sticky Grapple]
>[Screw Attack]
>[Space Jump]
>[Speed Booster]
>>[Rainspark]
>[Blade]
>[Active Camouflage]
[Blade: Uninhibited magic allows you to call upon a melee weapon, a sword, of pure magical energy, identical to the Magickakorps ability. This blade will slice through even the toughest armor and barriers. Weightlessness allows unmatched wielding capability.]
[Active Camouflage: Uninhibited magic allows you to render yourself completely invisible to the visible and magical spectrums of light and energy. It does not, however, protect you from X-Ray vision capabilities. Since this is an active spell, the magic is rather intensive, and thus, may only be cast for variable amounts of time.]
[Magic]
>[Sensitive]
>>[Hyper-Sensitive]
[Hyper-Sensitive Magic: All possible spells are now available for you to cast without any of species or physical limitations, as well as fear of backfire. All benign magic may now be absorbed without fear of magical vaporization or overload, as well as heavily increasing resistance to offensive magic.]
Because they all contributed in some way, Samus decided to read aloud what each of the Elements gave her to work with. To say that everypony was stunned would be quite the understatement.
“My Element can do that?” Fluttershy timidly asked.
“I knowwww right?!” Rainbow added with disbelieving enthusiasm.
“This is indeed most impressive!” Luna exclaimed with her joyous, giddy voice. Out of the corner of everypony’s eyes a couple Marines entered the throne room with urgency in their steps and quickly made a beeline for Colonel Borsig, pulling him aside.
“Is everything alright, Colonel?” Shining Armor asked, observing the tense exchange of words. Borsig continued to listen intently before he thanked the soldiers and turned to Shining, said soldiers continuing to stand at attention.
“The Changelings are moving in. We need to get to our positions immediately,” he announced before turning back to the messengers. “Get the word out. All Marines not involved with the first-line defense are to be on highest alert. Go!”
“Yes sir!” the two Marines answered, saluted, and sprinted out the throne room doors. Celestia decided to speak out next:
“You heard him, soldiers. Get to your positions immediately! Samus, will you assist us?” she asked, turning back to the armor-clad Hunter. Though veiled by her helmet and visor, Samus had an easily ‘visible’ look of incredulity.
“Was there any question of that, Celestia?” She and the Solar Princess shared a brief ‘moment’ until a bright light eclipsed Samus’s arm cannon. It left as soon as it came, leaving her right arm identically armored to her left, but with a distinct lack of her primary weapon. Samus, in disbelief, looked to both of her hands back and forth.
“W-What happened?” Twilight asked unsurely.
“I…. am not sure…” Samus replied before moving to call upon her system diagnostics.
“What is the problem?” Luna cut in, just joining into the conversation after confiding in some of her troops.
“I can see my right hand! That’s the problem!” Samus addressed, pointing to her right forearm for emphasis. “Hold on…” she called up the notification on her visor and again, read out loud.
[The Elements of Harmony allow your Arm Cannon to make use of the Magicka Beam and Harmony Blast as weapons. Although the Alicorn Battle Suit allows use of previously untenable amounts of magical power, your Arm Cannon must be correctly partitioned to allow for proper use of the Elements of Harmony as a combinatorial entity. As a result, your primary weapon system will be offline for approximately one-and-a-half to two hours until the process is complete. All other weapon, defensive, and miscellaneous systems are fully operational.]
Samus’s right eye twitched under her visor.
“That doesn’t make any… fucking sense!” she exclaimed as she kept jamming on that magical button on her visor.
[No other information is available at this time.]
“It actually makes perfect sense…” Twilight cautiously worded, dragging her hoof meekly on the floor and averting her gaze somewhat. Celestia stepped in to affirm that notion:
“Quite so. One of the complexities of Magical Theory is known as the Spectral Division Theorem, which allows for specific elements of magic to become unusable while still retaining auxiliary uses; case in point, the weaponization of each individual Element of Harmony as opposed to the combined Elements of Harmony.”
Samus deadpanned under her visor, but there was no use in getting angry. She took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Okay, then I guess I’m without my cannon for a little while. In that case I’m gonna need a weapon, hand grenades, and a partition belt.”
Borsig nodded at the proclamation and called out to a heavy trooper that was manning a defensive position for the throne-room:
“Trooper! Hand over your automatic rifle, belt and all your ammunition and grenades… then resupply yourself from the armory.”
“Yes sir!” the higher-pitched voice of the female Heavy Marine replied as she jogged over, putting the safety on the long, automatic rifle and placing it in Samus’s armored hands.
“Thanks, trooper,” Samus spoke with sincere gratitude, getting used to holding a physical rifle in her grasp. The solder then unclasped her partition belt and helped Samus put it on her waist.
“My pleasure, Ma’am. All extra weapon-core magazines are on the right partitions of the belt, and your hand grenades are on the left. It should all be plenty but you may resupply here or elsewhere in the city. Good luck out there,” the female Marine explained succinctly and confidently before running off to the armory somewhere within the castle.
“So, what’s the plan?” Samus asked, holding her rifle low.
“We’ve got some anti-air defenses and machine-gun nests placed in variable locations around the city because numerous Changelings will undoubtedly penetrate the shield through the air,” Borsig began to explain. Luna then took the reins:
“The Elements have been aiding these joint human-pony positions in several ways and will be needed for the fight. Can you escort them to their designated positions?”
“I’ll take care of ‘em,” Samus nonchalantly replied, clutching her weapon a bit harder.
“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, pumping her hoof into the air.
“Yeehaw!” Applejack stomped her front hooves.
“Yuppee!” Pinkie Pie exuberantly bounced in place.
“Marvelous!” Rarity affirmed her approval.
“Yay…” Fluttershy spoke with trepidation, drawing close to Samus.
“And I’m with you, Samus,” Twilight noted, assault rifle on her back and, surprisingly, clad in some form of enchanted Guard armor and a bland helmet with her horn poking through. Samus did not even notice that she had disappeared and gotten changed. She was about to question Twilight’s decision for a combat role given her very recent ‘incident’ with a Space Pirate, but her gaze spoke volumes; one which would not be denied.
“Alright then. Hope you can handle a rifle in battle, Twilight,” Samus cautioned, still getting used to the idea of having company with her in battle, though she knew Twilight was fully capable of taking care of herself.
“I have a knack for learning things very quickly…”
“Be safe, Twily!” Shining nuzzled his armored sister affectionately.
“Always am, BBBFF.”
“Best of luck out there. Please keep them safe, Samus,” Celestia concernedly added. The Hunter only turned her head and nodded in affirmation. She’d get it done, and Celestia knew that well.
“Let’s go, everypony. Tell me where we’re going and I’ll get you there,” Samus spoke with authority, gesturing out the throne room. With that, Samus took point, rifle raised, exiting the throne room with precious cargo in tow.
She would not let any harm come to these six ponies… for more reasons than it just being an assignment.
Edited by Random_Dragon
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MOAR DAKKA.
I didn't expect Spider Ball to come from Laughter. I kind of expected some kind of short range warp-esque ability. Oh well, good chapter.
Dat theme when I read the alicorn suit.......
Gave me the chills......
So fucking awsome
The snowsuit metroid is pleased
In the future if nothing else works, a non-breaking space character ( ) will most certainly force indentation.
Though it's a bit of a hack in my opinion.
Ya been Featured!
I will probably have more to say after I read the chapter, I just wanted to get that out of my system.
5112476 Jesus, you read fast!
5112400 Hmmmm thanks! I'll keep that in mind, though I doubt there will be any need for a tech-tree structure anymore in this story.
5112266 Exactly why I used it! I needed something a bit different than the standard fanfare... just like when Sam got her fully powered suit in Zero Mission, and something outside of metroid for this particular purpose would just not cut it. Scrolling through the soundtrack on my phone, I heard it and I immediately knew it was the one!
5112217 There's still time for the eye bleeding... there's still time ;)
An awesome descriptor of the Alicorn Battle Suit and how each Element upgraded her. However...
The Space Jump Boosters are on her boots. I'm pretty sure you meant her wings were on her back, in which case they would be on either side of the Screw Attack engine in the center of her back.
Now as for cons...in each previous chapter when Samus absorbed an Element, we had a bit of internal monologue from her as we saw both how she reflects that Element and how it enhanced some aspect of her perona (Kindness made it easier for her to be kind, Laughter helped her to enjoy herself and relax, etc.) It's mildly disappointing that we don't get to see that with Generosity.
5112824 Actually that's a bit interesting. It's her BOOTS that give her the ability to space jump, yes this is true, but if I remember correctly from scan data, the boosters ON HER BACK, which we are all well and familiar with, act in conjunction with the boots. It's a bit weird though. If the boots solely act as the propulsion, then what do the boosters on her back do? Are they really ONLY for the Screw attack? That wouldn't make too much sense, since it laid dormant in Prime 1... but maybe I'm wrong. I'll make an edit to be more specific.
As for the elements effect on her, yeah you weren't gonna see it just yet. There's too much going on, and of course it depends on the situation. I couldn't really just have her 'be generous' outright without it seeming a bit odd, given the circumstances. I was able to apply it with the other elements due to the situation at hand: Kindness with a small moment between her and the Princess; Loyalty is not directly observed, it's more passive; Laughter was observed with the girls; Honesty is not observed, but we all know Samus to be brutally honest based on her 'personality,' so there would not be enormous amounts of change there. Generosity is not observed (at least not yet) and Magic... well, that's a trait I'm gonna have to work out.
Story isn't over just yet! There's still plenty of time for her to exhibit the 'traits of the Elements' so to speak. Thanks for pointing that out :D
5112863
Well, I'm looking forward to that.
And actually, those boosters you're speaking of...in Metroid: Other M, it was plainly visible that those were the Speed Booster system, as they flared up when you ran long enough, just before you actually started the speeding. While Other M itself is a non-canon disappointment plot wise, the mechanics shown are consistent with the other 3d Metroid games, so it would be best to say "on either side of the Speed Booster engine on her back".
Yes, good chapter is good.
That being said, here's a picture of a GF trooper with a heavy weapon. Use it wisely.
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081226041750/metroid/images/5/5a/GFtrooper_concepts_copy.png
5112896
But in the multiplayer mode in Echoes, you could clearly observe the boosters activating every time she space jumped.
I propose that they are utilitarian booster jets that can do a wide variety of things.
5112896 That makes sense, and I should have remembered that lol. Either way, they are still technically 'boosters' per say, not necessarily JUST the Space Jump boosters. I'll have to do some research on that for next time.
I made the edit omitting the Space Jump portion, and just refer to them as 'boosters on her back.' Should be sufficient for now.
5112990 5112896
Nice!!! and yeah that's also another thing that you plainly reminded me of. Damn, I need to pick these games up again to remember these tiny details! I know what I'm doing this weekend!
Yeah, they're probably multi-purpose, but as I had told Tatsurou down below, because he does pose an excellent point, I omitted any specifics and will just refer to them as her 'boosters on her back' until further notice.
First it's like:
And soon it will be like:
And it's gonna be so full of:korpg.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/that_was_awesome.jpg
With a bit of:new2.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/Mfw+_542a7ca8f79a7ebab3752ee7a7f78d25.jpg
Hell:i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o606/lil_kel4/awesome_zps36633930.jpg
That is all, good sir.
Wait no magical weps yet? BUT I WANT TO SEE CHANGLINGS BURN FROM THE POWER OF HARMONY! GIMME THE HARMONIC HELLSINGIN MICHAEL BAY EXPLOSIONS!
Awesome chapter, but I can't really see Fluttershy being at a machine gun nest, I can however see her in the palace hospital helping tend to the wounded, so maybe that should be the group's first stop???? Nice upgrades from the Elements, can't wait to see them in action!
I've got this scenario in mind:
Twilight and Samus back to back surrounded by a horde of Changelings
Samus: Fuck, I'm out of ammo!
Twilight: Buck, me to!
Changelings: Mwahahahahahahahahahaha
Twilight: If we're going down, we're taking as many of them with us as we can! *Charges magic*
Samus: Yeah, come on you ugly little bu.... Ugh! *Samus falls to one knee*
Twilight: SAMUS!
*Samus stands up with a grin*
Samus: My suit and weapons just came back online!
Twilight *looks at changelings*: Think you can take them all?
Samus: Easy
*5 mins later*
Changelings:
5115328 fair point, though they were just general examples. I agree completely though. I'll be more specific come the release of chapter 30
5116087 Not necessarily dwelling by way of 'being depressed and moody about life' as moreso just letting all negative emotion consume you, cloud judgement, or just bottling everything up. Even when I first saw the show, without any other interpretations from the fandom, the idea of the 'Nightmare' has distinct parallels with 'The Dark Side' from Star Wars, and it looks like that's fairly accepted in what I've read over the years. I don't think it dwells too much on the 'type' of magic, as it's widely accepted that Celestia can take on a similar form.
5116108 No. And a BIG no at that one. Early on I did have every intention of using the Dark Samus that we know of in the story, but it would have violated continuity grossly, as her remains are currently still around Aether somewhere.
If you want a better answer, however, I cannot tell you just yet. You will have to read further.
this is interesting
I want to ask a favor. Can anyone who read this chapter and is great with art draw what the Alicorn Battle Suit looks like? I'm told it looks like the Light Suit, but with slight changes. I'm sure Flammenwerfer would like that. Maybe he would add it to his next chapter as to see what Samus looks like.
5119331 I've been trying to have a go at drawing Samus, let alone humans... and I'm not so good at it lol.
This is my second biggest complaint with how Fimfiction works, the first is that it doesn't carry over the italics from MC Word...
Whoo, weaponized elements!
MOAR DAKKA! MOAR!
Let's not tell them that the pirates were ordered to retreat so they probably would have simply left on their own if the unicorns weren't attacking them.
BADASS.
[Gravity Visor: Locking on similarly to the Scan Visor, you may strengthen the gravity around a target or a small group of targets, effectively crushing your enemies under their own weight.]
"You may not have realized it however."
“My Element can do that?”
"Fluttershy, it is the stare, you have always been able to do it."