30. Fight Crystallien
Hey guys! It's been a while!
Alright, again, sorry for the long wait but about a third of the way through I decided to scrap the chapter and start over. The main reason was because originally, this scene was supposed to have TONS of fighting, but I soon realized that wording became much too repetitive and the influx of heavy imagery for such short time spans made the chapter drab and overall, unnecessarily bloated. As a result, you'll probably see a lot less descriptive fighting than you'd have expected, as much of it is alluded to in standard text. This chapter was definitely the most difficult to write so things should be much smoother as we move on. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and I sincerely hope it ends up being worth the wait for you all 
.
Also, please read the last author's note at the end of the chapter. Some or many of you won't care what I reference there, but some might.
Metroid Equis
Chapter 30
Fight Crystallien
The throne room doors opened inward and out walked the group of seven, of which was composed of six ponies and one human. Samus, arm cannon currently out of commission but the entirety of her Suit operational, took point with an automatic rifle in her grasp. There was one last atrium after the throne room that led into the world outside of the castle, and Samus took this time to reorganize her equipment: ammunition on the left side of her loaned partition belt, and grenades on the right. This configuration made for a potentially much less awkward reloading experience. The mares all watched their armored human friend, meticulously checking her equipment and ensuring all was well, but it might as well have been a distraction… a much needed distraction for what they would all have to go through, and the apprehensiveness showed on all of their faces in varying degrees.
“Umm, Twilight? Where’s Spike?” Samus asked, feeling a bit weird that she was the one to bring up this question upon realization of his absence, and none of the other girls in her stead.
“He’s staying here. There’s no way I’m letting him outside the protection of the castle until this is all over,” Twilight reasoned; an excellent point, in Samus’s eyes. Truth be told, the Hunter had been growing a tad fond of the little guy. Despite him being about half her height, she still considered Spike one of these so-called ‘friends.’ Spike also thoroughly enjoyed Samus’s company as she never patronized him due to his size, and always treated him like one of the other mares.
“Alright then. And Twilight, if you’re volunteering as a soldier right now, you’re gonna have to act like one. Check all your equipment… rumor has it you’re good at checklists,” Samus pointed out. Rainbow Dash huffed and rolled her eyes.
“Oh you have no idea…” the rainbow-maned pony muttered. Twilight ignored her comment and only wore a smug expression on her face.
“Already triple-checked everything: Rifle is cleaned and all parts in working order, a full load-out of ammunition including eight weapon cores, three grenades, and medical supplies, all armor is in pristine condition,” she noted. Samus was impressed, as most recruits would often forget their own helmets in a combat situation.
“Impressive, but you forgot one thing: make sure your armor is secured.” Samus pointed to a few clasps on Twilight’s vest and shoulder plates that were loose and jiggling with her movements. “Loose armor can be a death sentence. Fix it.”
“Alright just let me…” Twilight used the aid of her magic to realign some armor but a couple of clasps refused to cooperate despite her proficiency and precision in the magical arts. She was becoming increasingly embarrassed and Samus could not help but chuckle at the scene. Finally, she got down on one knee and placed her loaned rifle on the ground.
“C’mere, I’ll do it for you,” Samus beckoned the purple unicorn, who accepted her help without hesitation. After a few seconds, her armor was completely secured and all was as it should have been. Twilight looked up to Samus, who had gotten back to her feet and reclaimed her weapon. She held a great deal of admiration and gratitude towards the Hunter, who was putting her life on the line for all of them. But the fact that she could clearly see the magic of friendship coursing, at least partially, through the emotionally detached human was what really put a smile on her face. Samus looked back down through her magenta visor and found the unicorn looking up endearingly at her.
“Thanks, Samus.”
“Yup… Something up?” Samus questioned the unicorn’s look.
“Nothing,” Twilight replied, affirming with a shake of her head. The armor-clad Hunter shrugged and turned to the rest of the mares.
“Shouldn’t you all have armor?”
“There weren’t any more sets,” Rainbow replied. That posed somewhat of a problem, because that meant on the off chance that Samus, somehow, could not oversee them, any hit could potentially be fatal.
“Alright, then Twilight and I will cast shields when able to. But Rarity,” Samus pointed to the alabaster unicorn. “On my words, I’m gonna need you to cast a shield around everypony. As strong as you can make ‘em.”
“I’m no Shining Armor but I’ll do my very best!” Rarity affirmed, her hoof pressed to her chest. Samus nodded and continued; this time, becoming very serious.
“Alright then, we’ll play this very simply. You’re all going to stick very close to me but Twilight and I will be on point checking all around us. Twilight knows the terrain, but I know how to survive in war. If I say ‘Rarity, cast a bubble shield,’ you cast a bubble shield. If I tell you all to fall in or take cover, you all take fucking cover. My job is to not let anything happen to any of you and the way you can make my job easier is by doing just that. Any questions?”
There were none. All Elements confirmed that her instructions were indeed, crystal clear.
“Very well. Twilight, where’s our first stop?”
“Crystal Hospital is about three-fourths of a mile east of the Castle proper. That’s where we’re dropping off Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie,” Twilight informed.
“Then let’s go before more Changelings get inside. Get these doors open and fall in beside me.”
“You got it!” Twilight replied, and with a burst of magic, the front doors of the Castle flared open. Samus, rifle aimed out at the ready, stepped out first. There wasn’t much chaos at the moment as the situation was still very manageable. Magic and gunfire could be heard sporadically throughout the city and the flying specs in the sky were all she could identify as the Changelings right now. Samus thought that if they could double-time it to the hospital, they could potentially escape combat as the situation inevitably got worse. Standing on top of the main stairway and looking east, there was indeed a street that lead straight down. It was flanked on both sides by residences and business establishments, so plenty of cover was available should things get bad.
“Alright. Let’s get moving before we get swarmed. Down the stairs and to the left… on me!” she ordered. Twilight fell into step, rifle in her magical grasp, and the others followed right on Samus’s heels. She ensured she wasn’t sprinting (as nopony aside from Rainbow Dash would be able to keep up with her) so her pace was set to that of a hurried-jog once they reached the bottom of the stairs. Samus’s motion sensors were not picking up anything aside from the group as they kept up their pace down the main street. While Samus ensured that the front and the tops of the flanking buildings were clear, Twilight ensured that they were not being followed from the rear.
That changed about half a mile into their journey when Twilight spotted something moving behind them, but ducking back in between two buildings.
“Samus something’s behind us…”
“Yeah, just saw it on my motion sensors… but it looks like it’s on top of us now. Girls, take cover,” Samus ordered. Without hesitation, just like she asked before, the remaining five mares huddled close and into a nearby alley.
“Watch where you’re steppin’ partner’,” AJ’s voice rang out.
“Heh, sorry,” Rainbow apologized.
With the precious cargo out of the potential line of fire, Samus scanned all around, rifle aimed. Her visor displayed a ‘manual aiming-reticle’ which made aiming her weapon that much easier. In fact, she was quite pleased that her suit was able to adapt to another weapon beyond her own, standard arm cannon… then again she never felt the need to experiment in the first place.
Twilight moved to close the distance between her and Samus but suddenly a green magical bolt landed and exploded right in front of her right hoof, forcing her to jump back with a startled yell. Samus immediately turned around and spotted a few Drones lining the building-tops.
“Twilight, get to cover!” Samus ordered, aiming up and returning fire on one knee. One Drone took a head-shot and the rest ducked back. The buzzing still continued incessantly, along with the occasional hisses of un-translatable communication. Samus continued to aim around, carefully watching her motion tracker and listening for anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly, though, the buzzing of wings became substantially louder and her motion detector was flooded with large, red dots, prompting the Hunter to drag her gaze everywhere. She finally had direction when a magic bolt landed right behind her, causing her to look up and see four Drones buzzing above her, attempting to engage her from the air. They tried to rain magical fire down on her but Samus was completely undeterred and unimpressed, as she had dealt with Pirate Aerotroopers innumerable times in the past. She evaded backwards (with greater distance covered thanks to her hard-magic wings) and squeezed her trigger. Two of the Drones were killed immediately and their lifeless bodies dropped to the ground while the third and fourth scored lucky hits, though Samus's shields easily shrugged off the damage.
In the midst of the return fire, the last two Drones landed on the ground on opposite sides of Samus, who quickly spun to her right and unloaded six rounds into the Drone's chest. Her shielding lit up again as two more bolts scored hits but before she could finish off the last one, two other shots rang out, striking the aggressor in the rear leg and back of the head. The final Drone hit the ground immediately and looking farther, Samus spied Twilight entrenched in cover, assault rifle aimed next to her face. Samus lowered her rifle, as all was quiet... for now.
"Not bad, Sparkle. Not bad," she complimented.
"Good going, Twi!" Rainbow commented, her and the other girls' cover being opposite of the lavender unicorn. Before Twilight could reply, however, the omnipresent buzzing returned and, looking up as well as on the street behind them, well over twenty Changeling Drones appeared ready to attack.
"Whoa..." Applejack muttered, peeking out from their cover. Samus, aiming her rifle down the street, decided on a split decision.
"Twilight, erect a barrier now!" Placing her weapon on her back, the unicorn complied and cast a vertical barrier against the aggressors behind them. Of course, nothing was preventing them from flying over but Samus would prevent that.
"Girls, all of you, we're making a run for it. Let's go, LET'S GO!" The five mares sprung out of cover and galloped towards Samus, whose rifle was still aimed back towards the encroaching Changelings. She pried a hand grenade from her belt. Definitely not as accurate as a missile strike but it would do.
"Twi, drop the shield and get over here now!"
As the last syllable left Samus's mouth, Twilight's horn cut off magical supply and the shield disappeared immediately. The Hunter had already chucked the grenade, giving them some sort of cover as Twilight regrouped with everyone.
"Alright run, run as fast as you can let's go!" Samus again ordered, firing several rounds behind them before turning around and taking point once more. The ponies galloped and Samus ran as fast as she could but allowing them to keep pace, ensuring to not kick in her speed booster. Samus running was somewhat dazzling as her 'wings' swayed back and forth with more prominence due to the weapon in her grasp, creating some sort of a light show which was mesmerizing. Regardless, after about two minutes of running like hell and the Changelings certainly tailing them, the Hospital was in sight. A few more gunshots sounded from the rear and looking over her shoulder, she found Twilight had turned around and was 'galloping' backwards while firing as best as she could at their pursuers. There was little need to aid Twilight at the moment, however, as they had just arrived at the front doors of Crystal Hospital. Before they could even step inside, the front double doors of the large facility opened, revealing two Magickakorps troopers who quickly took their places outside as the ponies all ran in. Samus took up position with them in order to allow Twilight to catch up, which she inevitably did a few seconds later.
"You two go on inside. We'll take care of things out here," a gruff male voice emanating from the right elite unicorn spoke to Samus and Twilight.
"Thanks, we won't be long anyway." The two then moved inside to meet the other mares while the two troops took up positions to deal with the Changelings. Inside the main waiting-room of the Hospital (which was also used as a shelter for civilians and soldiers), Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were all bidding Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie good luck. Samus strode in with her rifle loosely in her hands while Twilight moved to join her friends.
"We'll be back for you when this is all over, Darlings," Rarity said, nuzzling the cream-colored Pegasus and the hyperactive Earth-pony.
"Don't worry about us, girls. Just please be safe out there..." Fluttershy voiced, returning everypony's nuzzle.
"I'm throwing a 'Successful Defense of the Crystal Empire' party when this is all done!" Pinkie excitedly replied, bouncing on her hooves and brightening everyone's spirits just that much. Surprisingly, Samus also had a couple of words:
"You're doing good work, girls. Take care of yourselves and keep safe," she said, ruffling Fluttershy's and Pinkie's mane a bit, a gesture in which both enjoyed thoroughly and warmed the others' hearts to see, especially, again, for Twilight. She speculated that this new battlesuit and the Elements of Harmony combined were having a positive effect on the Hunter in terms of emotion. Despite not being able to see through her visor, Twilight could easily discern genuine looks of endearment from the Hunter.
"Alright," Samus spoke, knocking Twilight out of her thoughts. The Hunter turned towards the remaining mares, rifle on her back. "The sooner we get moving, the more effective we can all be. Where to next?"
"There's a heavy fortification towards the end of Crystal Street. We're gonna have to take quite a few side-streets to get there though, it's the quickest way."
"Then let's get going. Load up on ammunition and water if you need to," Samus ordered curtly. The mares nodded, took one last look back at their two friends they were leaving behind, and proceeded towards the front door, back into the hostile battle quickly unfolding. Samus pulled up her weapons-systems schematics:
[Elemental Partition in effect. Arm cannon temporarily unusable until the process is complete.]
[Partition Process: 22% Complete]
[Crystal Empire Outskirts]
"What the hell...?" Jacob thought out loud, looking through the cockpit window as the pilot flew them towards a shielded Crystal Empire. All the Marine Captain could see were thousands of black dots on the ground and buzzing around.
"What's going on up there?" Constance's voice could be heard from the passenger bay, along with some metal hoof-clops as she joined him in the cockpit. Both had their helmets off, analytic looks gracing their naturally authoritative features. However, it appeared that both were growing tired from the near constant fighting of the past couple of days. A few stains of dirt, scrapes, and some sweat adorned Jake's face while Constance's ponytail was a mess, likewise with her coat being matted with the normal dirt, grime, and sweat of battle.
"There's a whole damn army surrounding the Empire. I'm not sure of what but they're clearly there!" he pointed out, gesturing with his hand.
"Changelings... what are you up to...?" the equine squad leader mused out loud. She did not need to be told that they were all gonna have to get dropped right in the middle of that mess; in fact she would be surprised if they weren't thrust to the very front line.
"Hate to break it to ya, but your stop is right onto the first defensive just outside of the shield. I'd get ready to step out soon, we're landing in one minute. Standby," the pilot informed, and that was all Jake and Constance needed to hear. The two moved back into the cabin to give the announcement, where the remaining three humans and three ponies were intermingled.
"Get ready, guys. We're disembarking real soon," Jacob calmly stated, the reaction immediate as everyone stood up and checked themselves over.
"Let's do this," Radiance commented, sliding her helmet back on, an action that everyone undertook at the same time. However, while the process of preparing for a drop was going smoothly, the sudden bout of turbulence was not helping things along, especially when the rear hatch began opening as the dropship systematically lost altitude.
"Shit! We're taking fire from the ground! The original landing zone's gonna be too hot!" the Pilot exclaimed, the turbulence increasing and the passengers continually losing their footing.
"Then land us elsewhere as close as..." Jake was cut off when something unknown slammed into the front of the craft, making it bank upward.
"We've been hit! HOLD ON, WE'RE GOING DOWN!" the Pilot yelled out authoritatively, attempting to control the inevitable crash landing as he called out various 'mayday' codes through the radio.
With quick thinking, Jake, Nathan, and Arianna were able to grab onto something to prevent them from falling out, likewise, they were able to grab onto a hoof of a random pony, who did not have the luxury of opposable digits. Starry, who wasn't able to get grabbed, was able to hook the end of her hoof onto the side of one of the cabin seats to prevent from being thrown out of the ship... but Sydney wasn't so lucky. When whatever projectile struck the craft and banked it upward, her attempts to grab onto something were futile when Constance accidentally knocked into her due to the sudden jerking.
"AAAAHHH!!" Sydney screamed as she fell out of the back and to the white ground below.
"SYDNEY!!" all the humans called out to her, unable to save her from plummeting to the ground. The short trip to the ground for her was marred by her flailing and screaming in terror but she, fortunately, did not get met with a bloody fate. With a slushy-sounding thud, and one pained groan, Syd was stuck face up in the thick snow of the Frozen North. While her fall was cushioned somewhat (also in part due to her armorsuit locking up), she still landed hard enough against the ground where she began losing consciousness. The last thing she saw before everything went black was the rest of her team flying away in a dropship that was clearly going down.
[Target Located. Initializing...]
[Subject: Sergeant Sydney Exeter]
[Vitals: Stable...]
Another pained groan and Sydney finally awoke. Both of her armored hands moved to her face and with shock, realized that she was in the process of putting on her helmet when she was thrown out of the dropship... as a result, her face was disproportionately cold to the rest of her armor-insulated body. Everything, including the time of day, looked the same, so she deduced that she could not have been out for too long.
Stupid... fuggin'... turbulence.
The first thing to do was to get the rest of her body dug up from the snow. That took few minutes but Syd was able to wrench herself free of her deep, white enclave. She finally got to her feet (which sank into the snow again), her amber hair wet and a mess, as well as two small cuts on her face, likely from the fall. Her blue eyes scanned all directions and found nothing but frozen paradise... or wasteland, depending on who you talked to. Her human intuition told her that nothing in the immediate area was a threat, despite getting shot down... but one thing was for certain:
I need to find my helmet.
Indeed that was top priority. Radios and communicators were built into the helmet so she had no way to contact her squad or to even know if they were alright. Likewise, they were probably trying to contact her constantly and not getting any response... possibly believing her dead. There was another problem, upon inspecting the equipment present in her armorsuit: she had a few weapon-core magazines, which reminded her that she had no rifle. Sydney immediately checked her thigh holster.
"Fuck!" she huffed out in frustration: her pistol had also gone missing. Oddly enough, ruffling through the rest of her partition belt, she had plenty of medical supplies, a water canteen, one MRE, her bayonet and three hand grenades. In the end, this is where she stood: clad in full Federation Marine Corps armorsuit but with no helmet and no projectile weapons. She needed her helmet, but where the hell could she possibly start looking?
Hmmm... where's the Crystal Empire?
She had to have been on some hill, because she could not see the Empire in any direction... and they were pretty close to it. The problem was, that other than a few boulders and crystals, there was nothing that could afford her a view from above to gauge her location. Focusing on her hearing, Sydney could hear the sounds of battle going on in the distance, but the echoes were reverberating off of crystals and other natural formations. Still, she was able to conclusively tell that the Empire must be somewhere to the north-west of her position; her relative position of course. Even so, it would be foolish to charge into battle dangerously under-gunned. Again, she needed to find her helmet.
Sydney glanced around her position once more and then started walking in the opposite direction of the Empire.
The helmet is lighter weight and was knocked off of me when I was thrown out... so it had to have landed behind me somewhere.
Each step she took sunk her boots into the ground up to almost her knees but she was determined. The pristine-white snow was nearly flawless on its surface and she knew that if there was something out of the ordinary, she would do well to investigate it. It would have helped her immensely if the sun was out since there would likely be a sharp reflection of the light off of her helmet... but that was probably a bit much to ask given the current situation. So she searched, and it appeared a few minutes turned into tens of minutes... which then turned into nearly an hour. She refused to give up, however, and it seemed that fate wished to spare the poor girl more agony as a few indentations in the snow caught her attention.
Investigating, Sydney found nothing in the holes, but more indentations in the snow were close by, indicating to her that something had fallen and bounced. Naturally, following the 'trail' she found the current object of her affections resting in the snow nearly a quarter of a mile from where she fell. Getting down on her knees and plucking the helmet from the snow, it appeared in decent condition with a few dings and scratches on the metallic parts, but nothing that could not be fixed. Cleaning it off as best as she could and getting the snow out from the inside, she slid the helmet onto her head with a resounding hiss and click as pressure equalized with her armorsuit. It booted up like it should have, displaying her armor integrity as well as important vital signs and most importantly, an area map.
"CV-Squad, it's Syd, how copy?"
"..................."
"Jake... Ari, Nate? It's Sydney, over."
Again, nothing. Although all eight of them were linked to the same frequency, anything was worth a try:
"Constance? Windfire? Please respond, over."
Out of the corner of her eye Sydney thought she saw movement, but whatever, if anything was there, it had scurried away just in time. Her hand instinctively went to her sheathed bayonet as she continued watching the area in question. She thought twice about investigating but something else caught her eye: the slightest metallic glimmer right next to a natural crystal about six feet from her position. Quickly checking it out, she found the barrel of her rifle sticking out of the ground, and she wasted no time digging it out of the snow and taking it into her grasp. Fishing an ammunition core from her belt, Syd inserted it into the rear of the rifle and pulled the charging handle, relief washing over her features when the weapon responded with a high-pitched whine indicative of it coming online. As expected, her visor lit up with a notification of her ammo count: Seventy rounds in the magazine.
Now equipped with her preferred weapon and her face heating up finally, Sydney was ready to take on whatever was thrown in her path, but firstly, she needed to find the others.
"Guys, if you're getting this, I'm alive. Repeat, I'm okay and I'm gonna try and find you. Please respond at any time, over!" she called out through her in-helmet communicator as she began high-tailing it towards the Crystal Empire, though it was much easier said than done as sprinting took much more energy out of her than usual due to her feet sinking into the snow and slush with each step. Her motion tracker showed no activity going on around her so she continued onward, finally able to see the Crystal Empire through some of the low-lying clouds. Likewise, she was also able to spot a battle going on right in front of the shield, which was the first defensive line that they were told about.
"CV-Squad it's Sydney, how copy?" she tried her communicator again, perhaps in closer proximity to the battle, she could pick something up.
"I... Syd!... fire!..." Through the staticky response, Sydney, with great relief, was finally able to pick up something.
"Guys! Stay where you are! I'm coming to you!" Sydney responded eagerly. After nearly three hours of being alone, she silently reflected that she had not been unwillingly separated from her three human companions for more than half an hour at a time. Regardless, she could find them much easier now. Since there was a (albeit weak) signal, Sydney could easily have her suit's systems lock onto it and point her in the general direction of its location.
[Signal Acquired]
"Yes!" she huffed out in victory and started towards the marker on her map. The new pep in her step ensured that she had more than enough energy to run through the frozen land, gleeful effort coursing through her veins as she had confirmation that they were alive... though she silently pushed out the thoughts of the possibilities that anyone may not have made it. Unlikely though. The four (and now eight) of them were hard bastards, and they've survived worse battles with the Pirates in the past.
After about a mile of straight trekking and coming across a field of crystals and rocks, Sydney stopped in her tracks as her motion detectors picked up movement all around her... definitely unidentified movement as the dots were red. She clutched her rifle that much closer and since she was now armed, was more than willing to meet any aggression with aggression of her own. Still, what unnerved her somewhat was that once she acknowledged the fact that there existed other entities around her, her motion tracker immediately went blank.
"Guys... can you hear me?" Syd transmitted softly through her communicator, still wary of her surroundings.
"There you are!" Nathan's distinct voice sounded crystal clear through the channel. For once, she was overjoyed to hear him specifically. Before she could reply, Jacob's voice sounded:
"Good to hear from ya, Syd, we were starting to worry until we got your first staticky transmission."
"Hi Sydney!" Starry's spry voice was next to be heard, bringing some measure of a grin to the soldier's face.
"Likewise, I knew you would all be alright though," she replied while moving tactically against a jagged rock the size of her being for cover. "What's the situation over there?"
"The Pilot didn't make it unfortunately, and we're holed up by the crashed dropship. The Changelings have been prodding us but it's all quiet right now. Radiance went out to find you," Arianna's voice came through.
"Radiance, you there?"
Silence. Not even a static connection which would suggest a buggy signal, but complete silence.
"I'm not sure how I feel about that..." Constance's voice patched through to Sydney, the latter hearing a faint hissing to her right. Turning on her heel with her weapon raised, Sydney came face-to-face with four Changeling Drones randomly spaced along with a gargantuan Soldier Changeling right behind them. No emotions save for feral bloodlust could be read from their soulless eyes and aggressive stances, and what set Sydney off more was when they began charging their horns. Once she saw the horns active, she immediately started spraying rounds from left to right, her finger squeezing the trigger with all its might. The hard-light projectiles ripped through the three left-most Changelings and tore up their exoskeletons while the right-most was only wounded. The Soldier Changeling properly shielded itself and the hard-light ricocheted off said emerald-colored barrier harmlessly. All the while, Sydney dashed for another set of cover.
"Sydney! We heard gunfire what's going on!?" Jake called back through the channel. Sydney's heart was beating wildly as she was able to dive into prone, the Soldier Changeling returning fire with its own hard-magic and barely missing her torso.
Really, what do they think is going on???
"I'M BEING ENGAGED, WHAT DO YOU THINK?!" she yelled back, peeking out of her cover in a crouched state to aim as best as she could, counter-firing against her aggressors as best as she could. The two remaining Changelings split off in two directions and Sydney took the chance to quickly reload and fix her bayonet. Of course, that was the time when the wounded Changeling Drone teleported right next to her with its horn charged and ready to fire. Taking quick action, Syd smashed its face to the side with the butt of her rifle, part of the Drone's facial exoskeleton cracking under the blow. Six rounds of hard-light were pumped into its torso and it collapsed, where Sydney finished it off with a bayonet to the side, which took quite a bit of force to puncture through the exoskeleton. She quickly freed her weapon with a grunt of exertion and turned on her heels to counter the Soldier Changeling...
Which was not there.
"Sydney? Talk to us..." Jacob's voice pleaded, but she was too engrossed in the fact that her aggressor was missing to care.
Her motion tracker was barren but she knew damn well she was not alone. She did not have to wait long for confirmation as she felt herself enveloped in magic and thrown harshly against a crystal formation ten feet from where she stood. Sydney cried out in pain as she slammed ass-first into the dense energy crystal, but she was clearly able to see the Soldier Changeling bearing down on her. Dazed, she still got to her feet and aimed her weapon, squeezing the trigger and keen on unloading the entire ammo core into her aggressor... though the much more competent Soldier easily cast a shield to deflect all of her projectiles. Her firing ceased when the Changeling dropped the shield (taking a few hits as a result) and magically hurled a rock towards Syd's hands, smashing against them and knocking her rifle away. The sudden onset of pain and loss of her weapon stunned her long enough where her enemy turned and bucked its hind-legs into her chest with all of its might, her back smashing against the crystal in response to the enormous force behind the kick. Sydney saw stars as the back of her head (though in-helmet) connected with the crystal, collapsing like a rag doll face-up.
The growling, clearly victorious Changeling stood over its prey and before that final magical bolt could be fired into her head, she was able to hear some sort of a war cry before promptly witnessing the Soldier Changeling get it's head cut clean in half by a magical sword. This time her enemy collapsed (albeit obviously lifelessly) and she found another black-clad figure replacing it, though clearly smaller in stature with a black tail jutting out of the back of the armor.
"You okay Sydney??" Radiance's smooth voice spoke out as Sydney's ears stopped ringing. The elite unicorn magically helped sit the Federation soldier up.
"Yeah... thanks for saving my ass," she replied, her voice strained as she was still recovering from the painful blows. She definitely owed her life to Radiance at this point.
"No worries, Syd." Radiance then addressed the channel: "Alright, it's Radiance. I've got her. She's a bit roughed up but we're coming back to you. Keep the snow warm for us,"
"You got it! You alright over there?" Nathan replied, awash with relief.
"I can still fight. I'll be sleeping well tonight though!" she joked. All shared a gentle chuckle before Radiance helped Syd to her feet, ‘handing’ over her rifle when it was all said and done. With indifference to the weather or the gorgeous views of the winter wonderland beholden to the Frozen North, the unicorn took the lead as the two made their way back to their squad, eager to reunite the young woman with her friends.
[Crystal Empire Proper]
With Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie safe and well-protected inside Crystal Hospital, the remainder of the group led by Samus was able to move although many more Changelings had penetrated the City’s shielding. Each meter of ground was quickly becoming a fight where fire was traded back and forth for nearly an hour with nearly a hundred Changelings having fallen by their guns. Twilight perfectly supported Samus’s tactical movements and counterattacks while being able to simultaneously help protect her friends… like she would do anything else? The Hunter had to give more credit: Twilight was excellent at multitasking.
After two more squadrons of the buggers were dispatched, they were clear to enter the next street over, where the friendly fortification stood. Said fortification was in essence a reinforced wall that was magically enchanted to be much more resistant to offensive magic and weapons fire. The wall was built about twenty feet up to get views above roofs of the lower-built shops, which was necessary since there was a massive anti-aircraft cannon along with several smaller machine guns and rapid-fire anti-air weapons. The group of five made it up the last flight of stairs of the fortification, reaching the top which garnered an excellent view-point of this portion of the city; they were greeted by four troopers reloading the massive cannon.
"Oh hey they're back!" the right-most one exclaimed, rushing to meet them. This was clearly Rainbow Dash’s, Applejack’s, and Rarity’s stop.
"And welcome to hell, Samus," the commanding officer introduced herself. Samus was not interested in learning names, as her job was to get her friends... erm, the Elements safely to their posts, so she responded with a curt nod.
"Dude, are you that pony that brought down that Pirate Frigate?" a new trooper, clearly a young man, exclaimed while laying eyes on Rainbow Dash. Regardless of the situation, even with machine guns blasting next to them, her ego was always willing to be stroked.
"You know it!" she flew level to his visor to meet him face to face.
"Rock ON dude!! Bump it!" he expressed his admiration, holding his armored fist out which Dash promptly got the message and bumped her hoof against it.
“Totally!”
There was nothing going on at the moment as it appeared the Changelings had backed off… for now. Samus took this lull to check on her systems:
[Elemental Partition in effect. Arm cannon temporarily unusable until the process is complete.]
[Partition Process: 81% Complete]
That was great news. During the street-fighting, it appeared that the process had made a considerable jump. Samus knew that once her weapon’s systems were fully operational, the Changelings would not stand a chance against her plus the combined presence of the Magickakorps and Federation. Finally, after witnessing the marker increase by one percentage point, she dismissed the schematics and her combat visor booted back up. Taking a look around the street in which this fortification was built upon, she could definitely see that a decent battle had been taking place, if the bodies of the Changelings were anything to go by. Samus was taken out of her thoughtful and observant mindset when she felt something amiss behind her… not dangerous but distress.
Must be the magic again.
Actually turning around though revealed Twilight Sparkle leaning against the ridge of the side-wall, helmet off and rifle strewn aside… looking pained and dejected with a thousand-yard stare glued to her face. Her friends had appeared to notice at the same exact time.
“Twilight dear?” Rarity voiced, trotting to her side along with Dash and AJ. She didn’t respond, nor did she change her expression as her friends crowded around her. Samus decided to walk over as well, though stand immediately out of the friendship ‘snuggle.’
“C’mon Twi, talk to us, what’s wrong?” Applejack spoke next, attempting to coax what was bothering her out of her. Twilight looked like she wanted to say something… anything about how she was feeling, but she could not describe it. She was scared… terrified actually, and she did not know where it came from. Tears slowly streamed down her face and all she did was shake her head and sink lower, especially when an explosion went off nearby (though to be fair all heads lowered considerably). Now the Hunter understood.
I knew it was too good to be true…
Samus was quite surprised that Twilight was able to, at least on the surface, completely shrug off the incident of about two days ago. Now it appeared it was finally resurfacing:
The trauma. Looking upon the unicorn, Samus could not help but feel a sharp pang of sadness wash over her, but it left as soon as it arrived… empathy.
The battle and most likely taking up the rifle literally and figuratively was the onset, Samus deduced. Again, she called upon her past experiences to help deal with the situation… there was time after all. She unequipped her suit and sat down next to the troubled mare, the others making room for her. She placed her right hand on Twilight’s upper back and began rhythmically and comfortingly stroking/petting her up and down the length of her neck. The unicorn sniffled as the gesture indeed had some effect after a little while.
“I’m… I’m sorry everypony I just…”
“There is nothing to be sorry for, Twilight,” Samus sternly yet gently cut her off. The others finally understood what was happening and the Marines politely gave them all as much space as they could without detracting from their jobs.
“Ya did what ya had to do, sugarcube. There ain’t no shame in it,” Applejack reiterated.
“You saved our flanks back there and we owe you big time,” Dash added in her own two bits.
“Indeed, Darling. It’s okay to feel like this… in fact we all do somewhat. We stared death in the face!” Rarity also added, nuzzling her friend’s cheek.
“You can stay here if you want. You don’t have to and I’m not gonna make you continue fighting,” Samus spoke up once more, never ceasing her actions. That’s when Twilight brushed everyone off and stood up.
“No!” she yelled, tears still freshly staining the coat under her eyes. “I have to, I have to help protect everypony I don’t want anypony else to die!” she magically levitated her rifle up to her chest. Samus, however, saw through the facade. The sense of duty was strong with Twilight, and, though she would not stop her if she chose to continue, Samus knew that being in this state made her somewhat unstable. She placed her hand on Twilight’s back once more.
“Twilight… it’s okay. You don’t have to. You’ve done your part completely and everypony understands,” she said, staring down at Twilight who was looking straight ahead of her. Her body was still quivering slightly, so Samus reiterated:
“It’s okay…”
The way Samus said those words hit a chord in Twilight’s being… and with fresh sniffles and sobs being choked up, her magical grasp flickered and her loaned rifle dropped to the ground. Samus nodded to herself in affirmation about the lavender mare’s state:
She was done.
Twilight fought extraordinarily well given how green she was at the entire aspect of war, but Samus knew well that even the most hardened soldiers reached their limits from time to time. She herself would have a mental breakdown once in a great while and just bawl her eyes out… of course no one would see her and it was usually spurred on by complacency between missions.
“I love you girls… thank you…” Twilight choked out, though she became visibly much more calm and less on-edge. Samus would’ve said something else as the mares huddled together in support, but her console vibrated on her wrist. She immediately re-equipped her suit.
“This is forward command, the first line is cracking but not out! It’s gonna be a much bloodier fight if they get through us, are there any reinforcements available?!” a Federation Officer yelled through the common channel, the sounds of gunfire easily heard. There was nothing Samus could offer to the conversation as she was not in charge of defenses… but another recognizable voice came through:
“We hear you loud and clear soldier, hold on and do not let them through!” Luna’s voice came through crystal clear. “I’m diverting a few more of my troops to your position until the real reinforcements arrive. It will be deploying in the next thirty minutes!”
“Very well, Your Highness… we’ll hold out as long as we can.”
“Samus, are you there? Status report?” the Lunar Princess addressed her this time.
“I’m right here. All the Elements are safe. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are helping out in the Hospital and the rest of us are on the Central Fortification. There was no need to go any farther on account of a lull in the battle and Twilight’s state,” Samus responded.
“Her state?”
“Trauma from Ponyville.”
“Ooooooooooh….” Luna’s voice indicated understanding, laced with a bit of dejection and pity.
“Yeah. Thought it would happen sooner or later. Do you want me to move to the front to help defend?”
“Nay. In fact I need you to come back to the castle. It is time to finish this fight,” Luna cryptically worded, making Samus raise a brow in oddity.
“O...kay. I’ll be there as fast as I can then,” Samus replied, gripping her rifle tighter and getting ready to move out.
“Your new battle armor grants you the ability to teleport. You may find that a much more suitable and safer alternative.”
Teleportation… now this will be interesting.
“Any guidelines for first-timers?”
“Not really, as the process is much more instinctual than you might think. Just be sure to focus on your entire being lest you teleport half of yourself… which would be bad,” Luna’s subtle sarcasm could be detected, one which Samus appreciated.
“Got it. I’ll figure it out,” she confirmed.
“Excellent. Do arrive as soon as possible!” Luna spoke once more before the line went blank. Samus turned back to the mares and gave Twilight another neck rub before delivering the news:
“I gotta go back to the castle. Will you all be okay here?”
“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be just fine. Besides, we’ve got jobs to do,” Rainbow Dash spoke for everypony, and honestly if Dash could bring down a Frigate, she could help handle a fortification. Rarity and Applejack smiled and nodded, busy ensuring that Twilight was enveloped in their combined embraces. That reassurance still did not stop Samus from addressing the marines sternly:
“Guard them with your goddamn lives.”
“You got it, Ma’am!” they all responded in unison, and that was all Samus needed to hear before she allowed her own magic to envelop her form, her brow beneath her visor furrowed in concentration.
[Crystal Palace: Throne Room]
The Throne Room was bustling with even more activity as the battle raged outside, communication never ceasing between ponies and humans alike as all of importance ensured that nothing catastrophic befell them all. Around a rather large table containing a map of the Crystal Empire and its surroundings for miles, Princess Luna, Celestia, Cadence and Colonel Borsig and Shining Armor constantly moved to reposition markers and issue orders as status reports came in. All wore headsets that connected to all proper channels for radio contact and there was non-stop communication between the three of them and the troops at the front.
“Sir, CV-Squad has arrived at the defensive line intact but even so we’re getting beaten back! I’ve got wounded we can’t tend to and there’s just too many of them!” a frantic squad leader from the first defensive line urgently said.
“Hold your ground soldier, I’ve just ordered two more squads of Heavy Troopers to your position. I know it’s not enough but the Princess has a plan. How long can you hold out?” Borsig asked calmly as if experience made him somewhat indifferent to the situation.
“We’ve stopped another mass wave and there’s bodies everywhere. The elite unicorn troops are doing what they can to counter magic but even so my marines are getting gradually ripped apart! With current ammo levels and strength, I’d say about an hour. No more, but realistically less.”
“We only need part of that time. Stand firm.”
“Yes sir, we’ll do what we can.”
Borsig heard Shining Armor ordering troops from the Crystal Guard Corps to help strengthen the line as he patched through CV-Squad:
“CV, this is Borsig, do you read me?”
“Dittmar. Loud and clear,” Jacob responded, addressing with his last name over the storm of weapons-fire and explosions in the immediate vicinity.
“Double your efforts and spearhead the defense. Rally the troops and give the enemy hell, we’re working on relieving you as we speak. Think you can handle that?”
“Of course, sir!” Jake replied eagerly before addressing the rest of the squadron over the same channel: “You heard the Colonel, let’s give ‘em a taste of combined firepower! We’re retaking the artillery position near the command trench, let’s go LET’S GO!” His orders were punctuated with a much more aggressive firing of weapons of both human and magical origin before the line cleared out completely. Borsig looked towards his Equine comrades.
“We’ve probably bought another twenty to thirty minutes if we need it.”
“Excellent! Now all we need is for Samus to arrive…” Luna mused, it having been about twelve minutes since she last spoke to the bounty hunter. Of course, right on cue, a bright-teal flash lit up the throne room and left immediately, leaving Samus standing in the center like last time, albeit she was slightly hunched over in apparent discomfort. Before anyone could even motion towards her, the Hunter held up her left hand, asking for a moment to herself while her right hand palmed her visor.
“I see you were able to teleport properly… are you alright?” Celestia asked her but again, seemingly on cue, Samus hastily removed her helmet and collapsed to her knees, flashing a quick, sorry look towards Cadence and Shining Armor.
“Sorry for this…” she uttered while putting her helmet aside and letting her upper body fall, supported by her armored hands, as she began puking all over the pristine throne room floor. Cadence and Shining visibly recoiled and all the humans in the vicinity looked quite disturbed, wondering if they should intervene to help… though they knew little was at stake the moment Luna had to stifle her giggling.
“It happens to everypony when they first teleport… I apologize, I should have probably mentioned that would likely happen,” Luna spoke with a humorous inflection. Samus only responded with more retching and using her left hand to give the Lunar Princess the middle finger, a gesture that she was not familiar with but could infer its meaning, thus shrugging it off in good humor.
“Samus, is Twilight okay??” Shining asked, quite concerned for his younger sister as he had heard what was happening through Luna’s conversation with her.
“She’s... *retch*... in good hands, or hooves, whatever…” she replied, deeply breathing before more bile came up her throat. Samus continued to hold herself steady and retch at intervals as Celestia approached Luna.
“Samus has arrived as necessary, what is the next step?” she asked her younger sister. Before responding, Luna’s horn charged to full power and enveloped herself in her magical aura, emerging in her battle armor.
“She and I will venture off into the underground castle network. I need you all to remain here and help coordinate the defense,” she explained. Samus was able to sit on her heels and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Okay seriously, what is it with this world and catacombs? Like, honestly, everywhere I go now there’s fuggin’ catacombs,” Samus exclaimed out loud, though that thought was meant for herself only. Placing her helmet back on her head she once more checked the partitioning process for her arm cannon: 90% complete.
“Many of the catacombs and other underground networks that exist today predate modern society when technology was scarce in terms of storage capability,” Cadence explained. “Of course it’s little different for the Crystal Empire. We normally use the network as a safe route to the outside of the city for emergencies, or as simply storage as previously mentioned. You won’t find much down there,” she implied, wondering what Luna could be up to.
“Wait… what’s down there?” Celestia echoed her thoughts but with a bout of irritation, being, frankly, quite tired with all of Luna’s secrets.
“Yeah, what are you talking about, Princess?” Shining Armor equally had little clue of what was going on. Luna only had a smirk etched on her face.
“I needed to keep this as secret as possible because honestly, what is hidden beneath our hooves was quite difficult to transport undetected, so I shan’t go into those details. Telling you exactly what lays beneath us would only raise more questions than provide answers, so I can only ask that you wait to behold the majesty to be unleashed, one which will end this battle and drive the Changelings back to the pits in which they were spawned,” Luna spoke quite poetically, raising a few eyebrows from others in the process. She then faced Celestia with a knowing and determined grin.
“I will, however, say one thing. The might of the Alicorn Empire still lives.”
“You’ve become quite interested in military and imperial affairs of long past… do I need to be worried?” Celestia asked in what seemed like a sarcastic manner, but she was actually being somewhat serious. Luna beckoned Samus over with a wave of her head, the latter moving to her side and rifle back in her hands.
“Not for me, but for the fate of those who threaten us. Come, Samus. We must move!” Nopony else had time to question them as the pair ran off through the castle, Samus hot on Luna’s hooves though the latter had little idea to where and why she was following the Lunar Princess. Still, from her exposure to Luna’s ways of making warfare such as in the Pirate’s Everfree Installation, the Hunter knew that she could trust in the alicorn to at least some degree.
That, and apparently that’s what alleged ‘friends’ do.
After galloping/sprinting for a decent amount of time, Luna lead Samus to the Castle dungeon, which contained a rather inconspicuous entrance into the Castle’s underground network and the catacombs around the city. Being honest, underground networks were starting to lose their edge with Samus, despite her first mission on Zebes being almost entirely underground, sometimes well over a mile deep underground. Chances are she got spoiled with the ability to walk on the surface of places like Tallon IV and Aether, and now Equis, but she could ponder that at a later date when Phazon wasn’t threatening to consume the entire planet.
“So, do I have to wait for this so-called ‘surprise’ you have? Because honestly, there are few things that would surprise me anymore,” Samus asked, somewhat curious as to why she was called to Luna’s side when she knew whatever the mare had planned, she could easily do herself. Again, being completely honest, she was still worried about Twilight’s state, as well as the others. She knew that at one point, she and all of them would have to sit down and discuss how to work through it. It would be the least she could do, to offer her expertise on how to cope.
“That is partially it, though. In our possession, we have a device that survived the Draconic Wars, one which was created by both Alicorns and you Chozo. I felt you would be curious to see the handiwork of your adoptive caretakers,” Luna added, one of the stone walls of the dark and damp dungeon receding into the ground, leaving a pitch-black pathway into the unknown.
“Okay I’ll bite… joint technology?” Samus followed close as Luna entered through, the wall sealing itself once more. Luna’s eyes glowed bright teal with assisted vision for the dark while Samus switched to her thermal visor.
“Indeed. I know you have seen much in your travels and campaigns, but I am most certain you will be somewhat impressed,” Luna added confidently over her shoulder, picking up her pace through the somewhat cramped tunnel they were passing through… definitely a step down from the catacombs where Samus came from first. Her pauldrons kept scraping the stone sides, probably leaving marks.
“Could they build this shit any smaller?” the Hunter asked, barely nailing her face against a protrusion from the ceiling of the tunnel.
“You’re a smart mare, Samus. Ponies are anatomically smaller than humans, and you’re above average in height and build of humans if I correctly recall some of your statistics. There was physically no need to build catacombs to accommodate creatures of your size.” The two continued their winding course for a few hundred feet.
“Fair point, I suppose. Either way, I hope this does not take too long. We shouldn’t keep the front waiting,” Samus voiced her opinion, wanting to be cognizant of time.
“This journey shall not take long. A five minute walk to the main junction of these catacombs and then it is a straight path to the preparation chamber.
“Fair enough…” Samus conceded, putting her faith in Luna while following close, and thankfully her patience paid off as, true to her words, the tunnel opened up into a massive atrium with nearly eight other paths to choose. Knowing already where she was going, the alicorn made a beeline straight for another tunnel that wasn’t quite opposite of their position, but more to the left. The two traversed this new link in the catacombs in silence and with great haste up to a point where things became much less cramped.
The final stretch was a tunnel that was much, much wider and taller to the point where Samus could not even see the ceiling with her assisted vision; the drab stone and dirt walls climbing up until they disappeared into an artificial ‘void’ created by her visor. In the midst of looking up and attempting to find the aforementioned ceiling, Samus almost ran straight into Luna’s back when she suddenly stopped, holding up her hoof as a sign to remain still.
“Something else is here…” she softly spoke. Samus aimed her rifle out towards the blackness deeper down their path. A few seconds later, Luna’s form began to fade from the light, disappearing entirely. Samus was going to attempt to find what little cover existed in these catacombs but remembered that the Alicorn Battle Suit allowed for Active Camouflage, which she decided to immediately test out. Teal blue magic emanated from her grapple beam and with decent concentration, Samus noticed that her being became much lighter until it disappeared entirely. She did not know how sensitive the spell would be so she opted for calculated and slow movements, switching to her X-Ray visor to identify Luna’s presence: stacked up against the left wall of the tunnel.
Samus mimicked her movement, rifle never lowering as she planted her back against the wall waiting for whatever was straight ahead. Realistically, she expected some Changelings had found these catacombs and would use them to enter the city safely and unexpectedly. After about forty seconds of standing still, sounds of scurrying and ‘bug-like’ hissing and communication could be heard getting louder and louder, and soon enough, a group of eight Changelings: six Drones and two Soldiers, became visible through Samus’s X-Ray vision.
“We attack when they pass us… do not move,” an extraordinarily soft voice sounded through Samus’s in-helmet radio.
“On your signal,” she replied. However, her visor brought up a notification that was essentially an early present for her:
[Elemental Partition and Compartmentalization Complete. Arm Cannon is now useable. Equip Arm Cannon?]
Yes!
But she dare not equip her cannon just yet. Doing so would compromise her camouflage and the element of surprise. So Samus waited for Luna’s signal, desperate to drop her rifle and equip the weapon she so missed adorning her right forearm. The seconds felt like minutes as the Changelings slowly but surely passed them, heading in the opposite direction towards one of the many entrances to the Crystal Empire and once they got to a respectable distance, Luna spoke:
“Now!” she exclaimed, dissipating her invisibility spell and Samus immediately followed. Luna opened fire with her horn as Samus dropped her rifle and equipped her cannon back with a bright flash, said cannon defaulting to the ‘Magicka Beam.’
Two changelings took hits from Luna’s hard magic and fell to the ground while the others stumbled over each other attempting to turn around and return fire. Samus locked on and aimed at the first drone in her sight, firing three times and her cannon erupting in a bright teal beam of pure magic which reminded her of her Plasma or Light Beams. Much to her surprise, they were piercing shots, the first rounds breaking through the Changeling’s exoskeletons and exiting out, immediately killing the creature. Aiming at one of the Soldiers that erected a shield to protect itself, she fired and was quite pleased to find that her beam completely negated the enemy shield and set him on ‘magical’ fire.
After more rapid-fire rounds from Luna’s horn in conjunction with a few more shots from Samus’s Magicka Beam, the Changeling Squad ceased to exist, all lying in a heap in the center of the catacomb tunnel.
“We must continue onward,” Luna stated, turning on her heels and galloping down the tunnel, Samus immediately giving chase and falling into step. After disposing of another, smaller group of Changelings, the two turned right at a fork in the tunnel, which opened up into a massive chamber that had light from the surface seeping inside, which helped explain a few things to the human, as in reality, there would be little way that a chamber this wide could stay artificially covered without causing a catastrophic cave-in and sinkhole. However, it was quickly apparent that the creation of this chamber was of little importance now, considering Samus laid eyes upon something even more majestic.
“Behold! The Warhorse!” Luna proclaimed, ‘demonstrating’ with her hoof as Samus switched back to her combat visor, being able to see fairly clearly without assisted vision. She took in the features of this giant, mechanoid creature and could not help but be reminded of a few recent experiences.
Reminds me of Quadraxis… But this reeks of Chozo engineering and the double mouth and eyes are kinda unsettling.
“Gotta say, I can definitely see the Chozo design influence in the metals. You’re saying the Alicorns had this technology way back when and it still works?”
“It certainly does! Vector Squad and myself found it in Starfall Fortress’ own underground, as a matter of fact,” Luna boasted. But… that just created some more questions.
All the way in Starfall?
“How the hell did you get this here without alerting the entire damn country?” Samus thought out loud, thinking of no conceivable way this monstrous machine could have been hidden on the entire journey to the Crystal Empire. Right as Luna opened her mouth to respond, Samus held up her hand.
“Actually… don’t answer that.”
“As you wish, Hunter.”
“So… what exactly do we do with this?” Samus asked, content that they found their destination and prize, but they needed to relieve the front as soon as possible.
“It is piloted by a single individual by a magical and neural link into its systems. I would like you to be my co-pilot,” Luna explained.
“I can do that, let’s load up then,” Samus replied moving to the massive leg of the Warhorse but Luna apparently forgot an important detail, as she cursed to herself.
“Actually… that would create problems. The commander’s section is a bit cramped, though you’d have no trouble physically fitting inside, the neural link to the commander is done via horn, and the cramped compartment would mean that anatomically, you would not be able to contort yourself to allow your grapple beam to interface, I guarantee you.”
“Okaaay… then what do you suggest?” Samus asked, growing impatient.
“If that is the case, I’ll take the commander’s section and you shall pilot,” Luna corrected her previous statement, looking towards the Hunter with all seriousness in her eyes, though none could see the other through their visors.
“Wait… what?”
“You are going to have to operate the machine, Samus. I assure you, it will feel natural once you interface.”
“I’m pretty sure this was built for those who walked on four legs their entire lives,” Samus pointed out, still unsure that she should be the one taking up the mantle of piloting an unfamiliar machine at such a critical point.
“Trust me, Samus. You will be just fine,” Luna reassured, not that Samus needed any reassuring due to confidence, but rather she was not sure how Equestrian technology of thousands of years ago worked. Then again, she had to remember that this machine was also influenced by Chozo design and engineering, and as such, she figured she could work with that.
“Fine, then let’s get moving,” Samus said. Luna unequipped her armor and flew up to the back of the Warhorse, getting the hatch open while looking down at the Hunter still on the ground.
“Do you have a manner of getting up here?” Princess Luna asked.
[Your Spider Ball may attach to magnetic and magically enchanted surfaces.]
“Yup! One moment,” she replied, phasing into her Morph Ball and, as expected, attaching herself to the Warhorse’s leg, making her way up to the main body and inside the hatch that Luna held open. It was now the dark alicorn’s turn to look oddly at how Samus was able to ‘transform’ herself into such a small, spherical object. Questions could be asked later, and she joined the human inside as Samus phased back into standing form.
“Now, take your grapple beam and connect it to this interface arm… this may feel odd…”
[The Crystal Empire: First Defensive Line]
Though CV-Squad was at full strength and the comparative advantages of Humans and Unicorns could be used to maximum effectiveness, there was, realistically, little they could do to fully stem the tide of nearly two thousand Changelings slamming straight into them. While the enemy had easily taken the brunt of the casualties, it was quite clear that the situation was devolving into a war of attrition, where the Federation Marines and extra Magickakorps Troopers were slowly but surely dying off one-by-one due to just sheer overwhelming enemy numbers.
While ammunition was plentiful, near constant firing of weapons was starting to melt barrels from heat, unicorns were suffering from eventual magical exhaustion and fatigue, and ultimately all would succumb within the next ten minutes.
“We hold this command post until we are relieved or we’re dead, understood?” Constance ordered all around her as gun and magical fire were traded back and forth. They all stood in a trench line that overlooked the Frozen Overworld, where there was just a sea of black due to the sheer number of Changelings while dozens more dotted the skies above them. Wounded and dead Marines, Changelings, and Unicorns were strewn around with no order to them, indicating that positions had been taken and lost several, several times. However, Constance and CV-Squad agreed that there would be no more retreat, due to given orders to stand their ground.
“Load up while you can, they’re coming back for more!!” Nathan shouted, reloading his rifle as Sydney was operating a Heavy Machine Gun next to him, Radiance helping to feed the ammunition as she never stopped the deafening rain of bullets spewing out of the barrel. While most weapons in the GFMC were weapon-core/hard-light based, a few heavier weapons still fired physical projectiles such as bullets, slugs, or shells. Other sectors of the defensive trench line were barely holding and artillery fire was easily a third of what it once was due to strafing from Changelings above but the remnant forces all pooled together and continued to rain death on the enemy. There was a problem, though: the elite unicorns were running out of energy crystals and magical stimulants to offset exhaustion. This was visible through Starry, as casting hard magic became much more difficult for her in lethal amounts. So she had to resolve to using her loaned rifle, as did Windfire.
“Shit! We’ve got a dozen of them closing in on the left over there,” Jake pointed so Sydney and Arianna (the sniper) could see.
“I need another barrel, Radiance!” Sydney yelled, stopping her fire and opening up the barrel housing of the HMG, yanking out the nearly-melting and steaming barrel.
“This is the last one, Syd!” Radiance handed her another, to which she swapped in and closed the housing.
“WHAT?! That’s not good I’m gonna need more barrels if I’m to keep an effective rate of fire!” she shouted over her resuming her torrential machinegun-fire. The .50 Caliber rounds quite literally tore up enemy combatants and were surprisingly effective against cast shields, though it took about ten of those rounds to effectively shatter defensive shielding.
“Go down the trench and see if you can find any extra! I’ll help feed the ammo!” Jacob volunteered, about to swap for Radiance’s place as Sydney’s gunner ‘assistant’ but before she could take off, a low rumbling sounded, which was quickly identified as low-grade seismic activity. Ally and enemy alike stopped fighting as they looked around, many losing their footing as the ‘earthquake’ never ceased. The epicenter was identified, however, when slightly less than half a mile northwest, exactly to the left of the Changeling’s ranks, an ice shelf burst outward and two gargantuan hooves and an alicorn head made itself known. All watched silently as the mechanoid, impressively large even from a distance, worked its way out of the hole in which it was spawned from, quickly getting a footing on all four legs and leering directly at the Changeling ranks.
The Warhorse lived, but this time, both magical ‘mane’ and ‘tail’ were golden in color while the soulless eyes were teal-blue.
“What the fuck is that…?” Arianna asked as her jaw dropped, murmurs from human and unicorn alike sounding from up and down the line. For the first time since the battle began, all was silent as both belligerents gazed unknowingly at the menace before them… until the gigantic horn flared bright blue and sent a magical round about the size of an artillery shell at rail-gun like speeds straight into the Changeling front line, completely blowing apart and annihilating nearly three dozen of the tightly packed creatures with the round’s high-explosive capability. Chaos erupted on both sides but the Changelings were quick to take whatever cover was available while those who were exposed began the chaotic process of an unorderly retreat.
“Excellent shot, Samus!” Luna shouted from inside the commander’s seat of the Warhorse, which was a small-ish compartment inside the ‘head’ with a viewport between the two eyes. Luna had a perfect view of their destination and the battle straight ahead of them, and could easily direct Samus and her movements. The latter, however, was sitting in a meditative position without her suit on save for her grapple beam while the interfacing mechanism connected to said beam. She sat close enough to it where she did not have to awkwardly outstretch her arm while the containment cells kept her comfortably suspended and dynamically stabilized. Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping, though of course, her conscience was ‘transferred’ to that of the Warhorse.
“I don’t even know what to think of this… it’s too natural to be comfortable,” Samus’s ‘voice’ was magically projected through a shared radio link.
It’s like I’ve walked on four legs forever…
“Indeed! Those were my exact thoughts when I first operated this grand machine but now, we have a battle to win. To the front line!” Luna commanded with an authoritative tone. Samus did not respond as she was still getting used to ‘her hooves,’ but nevertheless, began a gentle, yet intimidating trot towards the enemy ranks; four eyes and two mouths glaring at the enemy and horn charged brightly, ready to drive the Changelings back to their hives or decimate them where they stood.
***Author’s Note II: Yeah, ending on another minor cliffhanger because I have to keep you all interested enough to come back somehow! As for Twilight's Post Traumatic incident, I can't hope to truly mimic what it actually feels like to those who suffer from it. If anyone was offended by its possible unrealistic portrayal, I duly apologize but after the past incident in Ponyville, it had to be addressed.***
Edited by Random_Dragon.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Immediate read later addition. Metroid one of my fav games
A favourite update!
After 13 days without any... the authors of my 70ish unfinished favourites seem very busy in RL.
The Metroid is pleased
You know, you should really contact Retro and Hasbro and ask them to turn your story into a game 11/10 bronies would buy it. Me included.
5379345 *Press X to comfort Twilight* lol.
Thank you though, glad you've enjoyed the ride so far :D
I agree, a game of this would be interesting to see.
You...
you're a piece of shit for that cliffhanger, you know that?
Other than that, THAT WAS SO FUCKIN BADASS!!!
Well, I have to say, this was amazing and an excellent reveal of the Warhorse.
5379394
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X...
...is she properly comforted yet?
My only problem with this is the description.
Shortened, this sentence reads "A meteor crashes and soon spreading an unknown poison" which is incorrect grammar.
Also, I have a minor gripe with the fact that the planet is called Equis, when its name is Earth.
5379716 1. You are correct! Fixed that and thank you for catching that.
2. 'Earth' in the Metroid universe is already taken and 'Equis' is the shorthand name for the Equestrian 'Earth.'
5379751
That makes sense, but:
So? There are tons of cities on Earth that have the same names as other places (Portland and Kansa City as examples). Two continents share the same name, distinguished only by geographical location. Congo can refer to either the Republic of Congo or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Why not two Earths?
Oooo, so much yes to the ending of this chapter!
5379778 You shall notice that only the humans call this planet 'Equis.' Earth is the bastion of humanity as a species and the name for them implies something significant, why would they name another planet Earth in their purvew?
The ponies refer to their Nation of Equestria or to the whole planet as 'the Planet' so far. (Quite honestly, I don't remember them referring to the planet as Earth but it has been a while). Nevertheless if that's the case, I can easily make the distinction known in the next chapter, though none have seemed to take issue with this. In fact I've seen very few fics refer to the entire planet as 'Earth' rather than a derivative Equestrian name or not named altogether.
5379803
I see. As a Metroid fan, I shall put this on my Read it Later list, and will get to it eventually.
I view the lack of stories referring to the planet as Earth the same way people refer to Fleur Dis Lee as Fleur de Lis: It's canon, but hardly anyone acknowledges that fact.
5379803 Actually I do believe the planet is called Equis. I can't rightly remember what episode it was but I believe it was either Rarity or Twilight that said "What in Equis is that?" or something to that effect. Perhaps a subtle nod from the creators to the Fimfic authors.
Also CALLED IT, the Warhorse is a Jeager...sort of.
That guy gets no love, him and Krispy Cream diet.
th05.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/041/3/6/jaegers_ponies_march_by_mayozilla-d75wfc9.jpg
Wonder if the Pirates have anything to counter it...Kraid perhaps.
static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Features/2010/08/Samus%20and%20Ridley/Finished/082510_samusridley_obs03--article_image.jpg
At least Samus gets to pilot one of the giant robots this time around! Might be appropriate to have Luna use some Gurren Langann quotes in the next chapter. Luna and Samus make a good team of Smash Sisters, not much can stand against them when they work together.
5379394 *rubberbands down X button*
5380426 Kraid still won't get any respect. Especially if he takes one of those crowd killing blasts in the mouth and dies from the force of at least 5 Super Missiles.
That was a very good chapter! Now it's time to squish some changelings.
I hope Twi will be alright, but I fear she, Rainbow, AJ and Rarity aren't out of trouble yet...
5380422 We do not speak of that game...EVER!!!
Even if the gameplay was good.
5379394
*presses X* I played most Metroid games, only a few yet to play, but yours sounds the best so far.
Moar!!!111!
5381890 oh look dialouge!!!
this is an amazing story, i really wish i could easily find other stories of similar quality for other popular games.
Another fine chapter, my friend. I don't know why it didn't pop up in my fave box.
That being said, I'm a little sad that you didn't introduce what we talked about. Now that she's got her arm cannon back, I don't see why she'd need it.
5379616
You went to tap her comfortingly on the back, but ended up pulverizing her spine. Good job, asshole.
5379716
Could you please link the the scene where they call the planet Earth? I know they use earth to mean dirt, but I've never heard them name it.
5381890
I don't mind the game play. It's the violation of canon, terrible dialogue, and systematic destruction of character for Samus, Adam, and even Ridley that really gets me.
5394979
5394979 lol you're gonna have to do some major refreshing if my memory what did we talk about?
5395043
Thanks.
5395076
Check your private messages. It's "Insert subject here," and it's nine weeks old.
5395076
Actually, I'm going to respond to that particular thread of PMs. I was reading over it and realized that I forgot to mention something, and I don't want to create spoilers for everyone else here. You can just check your PMs when I'm done.
Not sure why Samus is piloting. It removes the chance for her to come in standing on top of the giant warhorse death machine which I want a poster of now. But do know that feeling when her arm cannon was back in business.
[youtube=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rgFNnpB7sN0]
Alright, I'm finally caught up and this can be taken off of my read later list and added to my favorites list so I can read the chapters as soon as they come out. On the bad side of that though, I no longer have anything that I can fall back on to read as my read later list is full of stories that seemed good at the time, but have since died out or I've completely lost interest... I guess every great thing has a bad trade off somewhere.
5395043 That's Pinkie though, you know the mare that talks to the bipedal beings she has no way of knowing are actually watching her? She's crazy enough that she just might be referring to OUR planet in that scene.
Most mammals have analogous skeletal structures, so just about anyone with a decent sense of balance probably could adapt to four legs a lot easier than one might expect.
GO, SAMUS!
SHINING HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORN!!!
Just to be sure, Samus' s Alicorn Suit is similar to that of the Light Suit, right? In addition, two small metal wings are on her back over the Booster Pack. One thing I can't figure out is, where is the Grapple Beam? From what I read from the last chapter, it's no longer on her left wrist, but moved somewhere else. Forgive me, but though I am a Metroid fan, I don't know all the bits and pieces of Samus's Suit.
I wonder if someone would find the time to make a sketch of the Alicorn Suit. I can't because I suck at drawing.
5505515 The Grapple Beam moved onto the top of her arm after she got the Alicorn Suit.
You wrote PTSD far better than Other M. Give yourself a goddamn cookie for that.
When the warhorse surfaced I just started playing thin song
( crush kill destroy swag if it doesn't show)
5607214 That never happened. I know not what you speak of.
Whyyyy!? I wanted to know!
Getting a sudden "Pacific Rim" vibe. This answers my question of "Why is Luna waiting for Samus when she could have gotten this thing out there herself sooner?"
I'm back to reading this after being surprisingly busy the last week.
So, Samus and Luna are in a pony version of a Jaeger.
It doesn't surprise me at all that they're Drift Compatible.
(Now I want Fanart.)
1.1.1.1/bmi/pre09.deviantart.net/17fd/th/pre/f/2013/175/3/9/nuclear_mane_by_oblomos-d6af391.jpg Not exactly the war horse or changelings but close enough.
I can speak from experience, you did a fine job relating PTSD. The behavior of a sufferer to an outsider often looks completely irrational. And it is, they at not reacting to what *is* going on, but rather their origin event. Completely uncontrollable, and often embarrassing if it is a minor episode, (but it can become dangerous if severe) the only thing that can be done is to separate them from the trigger stimuli.
I can't help but think of a scene in one of the Harry Potter books, where someone did that...fortunately it was not fatal in that story.