Author's Note

Happy Halloween, y'all! Hope you enjoy the read! :D

20. Warmth

The greatest mainstay of her current time on Equis, other than Twilight, was the large cat bed that Samus had been all-too happy to be embraced in since the first time.

From the moment she dropped her ass onto the impossibly soft yet firm structure that was questionably made of ‘cloud’ internals, the built up fatigue in all the crevices of Samus’ body was allowed to manifest in full. The sigh she let out was enough to draw everyone’s attention in the common room for more than a few beats.

No one commented other than a few scattered giggles. All were much too tired from the day’s events, as well as full from the ever-delicious food that Spike managed to prepare in anticipation for the Lunar Princess’ return…

…as well as the safe return of all parties involved. Any residual energy had been expended during the boisterous celebrations at the dining room table.

Samus was more than okay with that. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to muster the mental energy to answer more of Twilight’s ceaseless curiosities tonight… especially about the most mundane entries of her logbook that even the Hunter herself wouldn’t spare a second reading.

Either way, Samus was grateful that the girls managed to catch Luna up on the happenings since the Crisis, as well as their joint-masterminded plan which had yielded unbelievably ripe, juicy fruit thus far. The Elements even got many of the details about Samus’ job and mission right, to the point where she didn’t really need to interject or correct all that much beyond technicalities.

She pondered whether or not that was a good thing… and whether or not she had been sharing too much with her temporary companions.

Samus sighed out, and that sigh turned into another yawn. She knew good and well that it was fine to open up how she was. It’s what Old Bird and even Gray Voice would’ve wanted. But she was too tired to take herself down another meandering road of philosophical debate, laden with spatterings of sightseeing her own insecurities and perceived inadequacies.

A time and a place for everything.

And as tired as she was, Samus wasn’t ready to head to bed just yet. She was still knee-deep in decompressing and unpacking the day’s events, personally. She preferred her usual, mind-calming activity for the job, which was idly monitoring Pirate Battle Net activity and snooping on anything interesting.

Unfortunately… or perhaps, this time, thankfully, Samus found a dearth of anything notable to log for future deep dives. She’d just log the whole batch and turn it over to the Federation.

Let the nerds play with that one.

A rather sharp crack of wood in the fireplace brought her out of her zoned-out state, and she glanced over the brim of her tablet as more background ambiance of the common room filtered into her ears. She couldn’t help but crack a tired smirk at seeing Luna at the center of attention, with everyone including the girls, Spike, Stella, Midnight, and even Viridian all lounging on the sofas, chairs, and the floor, all sharing a lively post-dinner conversation.

Even for someone as cynical and jaded as she was, Samus could read the love and adoration in each pair of eyes like the pointed alerts of her system’s Heads-Up Display. She remembered the times when she would return from some of her first missions while still a part of the Army… and the post-debrief fireside chats along with all the associated bro-ing out with Kreatz and Mauk.

Samus let her eyes fall comfortably shut, and she allowed herself to smile a little more.

They were some of the best times of her life… and some of the few times that she truly felt she belonged.

Felt wanted. Felt befriended, rather than feared. She understood, though, that Twilight and company had considered her a friend by this point, with all they had been through in their short time together.

And Samus was okay with that, and was slowly but surely embracing it on her own terms.

Even so, itt had been more than a long while since she had last made an effort to truly reach out to her old friends and comrades again.

I should, soon. Hope they’re well… wherever they are. God, I miss those assholes.

Samus’ tangential reverie was disturbed, this time by a notification on her tablet: a rather simple confirmation from Fireteam Crusader that they were perfectly on schedule to arrive tomorrow. Further, an encrypted data request was to also arrive in short order.

Easy enough.

Another attempt to get back into her zoning out was swiftly abandoned when she sensed a rather hulking, if friendly presence right in front of her. Flicking her eyes over the brim of her tablet found her Viridian taking a seat in front of her as he spoke:

“‘Bewildered’ is the word I’d use when describing the minutiae explained to me on how you managed to bring Luna back to this world…”

Samus smirked, but didn’t get get to reply right away, since he continued:

“Though if I’m being completely honest, I’m likewise bewildered that Luna was indeed even alive and well. I was not sure you’d find salvation the way you did, and yet, here we are. Your efforts are truly commendable, and you should be most proud of your accomplishments today, and thus far.”

He then returned her smirk, though with solemn eyes.

“I… merely hope that bringing about her return did not come at too great of a cost, if any at all.”

Samus shook her head, and offered up a half-truth, cheeky response:

“No. Well, not in the traditional sense at least.”

Viridian tilted his head.

“And what could that possibly mean?”

“It’s a bit of a long story… one that I don’t think would mesh too well with the cheery atmosphere,” she mentioned. “And per usual, parts of it I uhhh, don’t really understand, either. At least, yet.

“Happy to tell you, though we might be here a while. Maybe another night when it’s a little quieter and there’s less of a good vibe to shit all over?”

Viridian chuckled at her choice of words.

“I eagerly await, Hatchling.”

A by-now familiar, if newer, smooth, and regal voice careened into the conversation:

“And I’d be happy to help explain the finer intricacies of what you might not fully understand, Samus… but yes, likewise, perhaps tomorrow,” said Luna.

She then turned to Samus fully:

“Tonight, I humbly request some time alone to catch up with an old friend,” she implicitly asked, glancing over giddily towards Viridian, much to Samus’ surprise.

Viridian likewise acknowledged her with an ever meaningfully deep nod.

“By Your Highness’ grace, I would be more than happy to bring you up to present on the happenings in the Everfree and amongst the Chozo at large.”

Luna shook her head, annoyed and disappointed simultaneously.

“After all this time you're still so formal. At this point I can only believe you’re doing it on purpose… but regardless, that would be lovely.”

The implications and irony of Luna actually knowing just as much if not potentially more about some aspects of the Chozo than herself were not lost on Samus. If she had a credit for every time she didn’t actually need to elaborate about the Chozo thus far, she’d have two credits… which wasn’t a lot but it was weird to her that there were technically two other subject matter experts that were not Chozo in the room presently.

That aside, Samus shrugged, shaking her head in indifference whilst regarding both with a tired smirk.

“Fine by me—don’t think you really need my permission for that one,” she quipped.

Viridian added as he got back to his feet:

“We shall reconvene another time and speak more on the matter then, Samus.”

The Hunter nodded, but no sooner did she acknowledge him then did Luna again take prominence in the conversation:

“And I, as well, request some time with you specifically tomorrow.”

Samus’ turn to tilt her head.

“Just me?”

“Yes. Like I mentioned earlier today, there’s much work to be done. Twilight has done marvelously well in teaching you magic, as they say, ‘on the fly’ thus far. But in light of certain events, your training must be accelerated drastically.”

Another genuine smile from Samus. It had been a while since she had a proper training session in a more controlled environment.

“Count me in. We’re probably not gonna be doing much tomorrow anyway on account of Crusader arriving later in the day, anyway.”

“If I may interject…” said Viridian pensively. “I believe I may also have a way to assist Spike at the same time with his own interests in learning how to fight. Perhaps we can discuss this together as well, Your Highness.”

Now that piqued Samus’ interest, and she was even more eager to learn what he had in mind in the morning.

Luna, however, rolled her eyes while she started away.

“Viridian, please, for once in your life—while you still live—can you please just call me ‘Luna’ at least once?!”

Viridian snickered and fell into a slow-striding step with her.

“I shall consider it, I suppose. Would you prefer ‘Majesty’ instead?”

“I will add to the decline of your species, Overseer!”

“HAH! A wit as sharp as ever, Princess.”

Samus sighed out a gentle chuckle, more than happy to let them go. If anything, her tiredness was already trying to pull a pillowcase over her head and suffocate her to sleep—perhaps an earlier sleep than anticipated was in the cards, and she was at her limits of resisting.

She was able to rub away a little bit of the fatigue at the corner of her eyes, but any relief that they brought was short-lived. She figured her eyes were somewhat red at this point as sleep fought valiantly to take her in the best ways, unlike with the Tantabus.

Ergo, despite her earlier thoughts to the contrary, Samus knew it was about time to bid everyone else in the room a good night. However, it seemed that others had beaten her to the punch when she found a small crowd making their way towards her with identically exhausted faces mirroring her own.

Twilight mentioned on behalf of everyone:

“Hey Samus, we're going to head to bed now. I'm sure you can keep yourself occupied on your own, but we're all on the verge of death, right now," she quipped.

Samus was all too happy to dismiss them, and excitedly began to stretch out her back and arms overhead.

“Hey, no worries. Don't let me stop you! I'm about to pass out, too. It might be a rest day tomorrow, but make sure you all sleep well. It's still probably going to be a big day with Crusader arriving.”

“Duh! Though to tell you the truth, I'm kind of excited. You're the only human I've seen. Other than that projection of the admiral we talked to. I'm sure it'll be interesting," Twilight said to some immediate giggles from Rarity and Fluttershy…

…and a hearty nudging and ribbing from Stella and Midnight.

“Can I say, Princess…” Stella began with her peeking around the crowd, her words quickly followed by an exaggerated roll of Twilight's eyes as she angled her attention towards her.

The facial gesture in no way dispelled the impending laughter that Stella had been building up.

“...that I'm so fuckin’ happy that ye haven't changed a fuckin’ wink since I met you?”

“Well, it's not like I can object, or anything,” Twilight deadpanned. “You kinda just said it anyway.”

Amongst more knowing laughter and a hearty huff from Samus, Twilight switched to a more serious tone for something Samus had heard many, many times in their short time together:

“Oh, and before we go, Samus… thank you. Again. For all the adventuring, exertion, and as you would say, all the ‘bullshit’ to help bring Luna back to us. I don’t think you really know how much this—she—will help our efforts.”

Samus huffed again, smirking tiredly while she shook her head in jest.

“Are we really gonna do this with each and every pony we find?”

Twilight had zero hesitation with her retort, mirroring Samus’ smirk with an added accent of smugness:

“Most assuredly yes!”

“I see. Heh, then yet again, don’t mention it. Now all of you, go get some sleep. Once Crusader arrives tomorrow towards the evening and we debrief them, we can then discuss who’s next on the list to pick up. We’ll have a lot more breathing room with them being able to tie down Pirate Forces, so I say we sleep on that.”

Twilight adopted a tired smile as she still managed some excitement through her fatigue to sway on her hooves giddily.

“Can’t wait! And don’t you worry, I think we already have a few ideas…~” she alluded, shooting knowing glances over to Rarity and Fluttershy, who returned them in full.

Samus nodded.

“Good. Keep ‘em fresh and sleep on ‘em, then.”

“Will do, Samus. Sweet dreams!”

“Goodnight, Samus!”

“See ya tomorrow, Samus!”

“Sleep well, Darling.”

“Sweetest of dreams, Hunter~”

“G’night, lass!”

Samus watched the ponies all file out of the common room one after the other, waving them off as they left her entirely alone. Once they were gone, she began closing up and locking a few applications that she had been working with on her tablet, more than eager to make her way back to her room as well.

Extra eager, even, because the Tantabus and likely orchestrator of her shitty dreams had been dealt with… for now. She figured, or rather, hoped, that some fantastically satisfying, unabated deep sleep awaited her.

Samus paused at the thought.

There were still those lingering questions in her mind… questions that Luna would probably be happy to answer in the morrow:

Did the Tantabus make up all that dialogue in her head?

Was it masquerading as Prime? Or was it opening some kind of bridge between them somehow?

Was Prime even alive? Somehow? Or was it all just a giant ruse to keep her off-kilter so it could subsume and kill her in the Lunar Ascension Temple?

Whatever.

Her tablet pinged her with a notification, shoving down these internal questions and bringing her attention to what she had expected from earlier: an encrypted data request from Fireteam Crusader’s leader, Captain Jacob Dittmar. It was a request for landing coordinates for tomorrow’s arrival.

With some honed dexterity of her fingers, Samus worked through her mapping software and highlighted a top-down area just in front of the Castle entrance, about a hundred meters in radius. Part of it was an open field while the rest of it was offered some cover by an overgrown Everfree forest.

Easy enough access and enough cover, if needed.

A few more taps on her screen, and Samus had sent the geolocation data off, confirming its delivery through the encrypted comms software…

…as did the Captain, along with his thanks.

[Received. We’ll see you soon, Samus.]

[Safe travels, Crusader.]

With that last message, Samus ended the secure transfer tunnel and encrypted chat session, locked her tablet entirely, and placed it under her arm as she trudged out of the Common Room. She snuffed the magical fire in the fireplace all the while with a quick spell behind her back, shrouding the room in complete darkness in her wake.

[The Following Morning…]

It was a slightly later start to the morning than usual, but Spike had apparently been up earlier to prepare breakfast for the larger group ahead of time… which had the effect of still putting everyone around the Map at a reasonable hour, in Samus’ opinion.

And as had been customary thus far, Twilight opened up iwth what Samus felt would be a rather standard debrief and re-brief:

“Alright! Morning, everypony! Especially to Princess Luna here, of whom I can likely speak for all here when I say that we’re thrilled to have you back and with us!” she beamed.

In the wake of a mishmash of murmurs of affirmations in the sea of smiles sent her way (along with a rather boisterous ‘fuck yeah!’ from Stella), Luna replied calmly, if still a little groggily:

“And it is fantastic to be back. Unfortunately, as I had mentioned earlier, my full magical recovery will take some time. This is still the case—slow, but well, nonetheless.”

Twilight nodded, still with an excited smile of reverence, before continuing:

“Of course… and it’s a good thing that today’s not a day of action, though. Samus? Wanna explain a little more?”

It was Samus’ turn to nod and step up to the plate:

“Sure thing, and again, I’ll try to be brief. As we talked about a day or two ago—I honestly don’t remember when exactly after everything that’s happened recently—Fireteam Crusader of the Federation Third Fleet is due to arrive around early-evening time.”

She planted her palms atop the edge of the map and continued as she scanned over the magical, holographic depiction of all of Equestria:

“The main focus will be getting them situated as well as taking stock of all the equipment and supplies they bring. Once that’s done, I think we’ll need to have another briefing on their mission and orders, as well as how we can use them best to draw Pirate eyes away from our mission. Their support is gonna be crucial until the Fleet arrives in a couple weeks.

“But until then, like Twilight said, it’s gonna be sort of an off day to either tidy up some things you want to, or just do whatever the hell you want, really. I’ve got nothing else new to report on from the Pirate front so… yeah. That’s all I got,” said Samus.

She further yielded the talking floor by pushing herself off the map and taking a couple steps back.

Luna, however, was quick to take her place from across the Map when she stepped forward with a tentative hoof raised.

“If I may…”

Twilight vehemently nodded.

“O-Of course, Princess! Please!”

“I’d like to again thank everyone here for all the monumental efforts thus far, as well as getting me well-informed on the latest details of where we stand. I fully stand behind the plan you all have in place and will render all help I can, especially once I’ve fully recovered…

“And as for Samus…” she leveled her gaze at the taller Hunter, who replied with a cocked eyebrow.

“You’ve done marvelously well, and I can’t personally thank you enough for all you’ve helped us with. But to be even more successful and… expedient, as I had mentioned last night, your magical training must therefore accelerate.”

Samus nodded once.

“Yeah, you mentioned.”

“Indeed!” Luna got giddier by the second. “And namely, we must enhance and expand upon Twilight’s excellent teachings thus far, and help channel it for fighting more potently.”

Luna gestured towards Viridian and Spike, who were both standing together, and added:

“And to speak of fighting… I believe Viridian mentioned Spike wishing to learn more of the martial arts? Therefore, I propose that he and Samus be sparring partners for the occasion!”

Twilight blinked, wholly unsure.

“Uhhh…”

Samus, however, was honestly content with this arrangement and shrugged.

Spike, likewise with Twilight, seemed unsure, yet his pupils visibly narrowed in horror, seemingly at the mere prospect that he’d have to go up against Samus in a physical altercation, no matter how ‘practice’ it was.

His own response dithered but nevertheless he seemed resigned to his fate, much to the ultimate hilarity of the girls:

“O-Oh okay…” he managed.

Viridian only replied to the whole proposal with a knowing smile and a deep nod. He then springboarded off by asking:

“Would these terms be acceptable to all?”

“Works for me!” said Samus. “Anything that gives me an edge and makes things that much easier is fine by me.”

Her neutral look became much more knowing when she locked eyes with a still-nervous Spike:

“And getting some practice fighting in with a friendly opponent that surprisingly mimics the general build of a Space Pirate would probably be beneficial for me, too,” she smirked.

Spike again confirmed:

“Y-Yeah, I think I’m good with that.”

Fully energized, Luna adopted a much more determined looked and suddenly said:

“Then we shall begin immediately! Spike, please use this time to prepare yourself however you please. Samus? To the roof of the tallest watchtower! We must get you on magical conditioning exercises posthaste!”

It was Samus’ turn to blink, though it wasn’t without finding the humor in the all-powerful Night Princess’ excitement.

“Oh shit, like, ‘right now’ right now?”

Luna affirmed with an almost manically excited look:

“Absolutely! ‘Right now’ right now!”

It had been a good, long while since Samus was truly warm—borderline hot—during a rainstorm.

It was a testament to how well her Varia Suit’s environmental controllers kept her body temperature in perfect operating equilibrium during her expeditions, so not having it for something as ‘mundane’ as magical training made her appreciate it all the more.

Samus righted her mental focus, and brought it back to her perfect, mental center while the rain poured its wrath upon her atop the highest flat roof of the castle. So concentrated was she that she barely paid any mind to how soaked her face was, with her blonde hair having completely clung to her skin, only to draw endless rivers of water off—or down—her body.

She was in perfect, practiced meditative balance. She breathed deeply, focusing on how the air passed back and forth through the threshold of her nostrils while she diligently kept low in her fighting stance, hand outstretched, and dutifully encased in lavender magic. Much like Luna had alluded, these endurance exercises felt just like she was in a gym for magical training… training a particular muscle until close to failure and subsequent soreness.

Whatever the equivalent of lactic acid buildup in her magical center was, she was definitely feeling it. Through her centered mind, Samus wasn’t exactly sure how much of the water pouring down her face was courtesy of the rain, or her sweat.

Still, Luna made her hold it—she had completely lost track of time, but she was content to continue playing the student for her audience of Luna with Twilight observing from just under the roof-entrance overhang.

Viridian was also there to observe, though he seemed, much like Samus, all-too happy to be pelted by the rain.

She had to admit to the difficulty: this was the equivalent to her holding a wall-squat for several minutes.

Luna’s voice spoke to her, barely disturbing her concentration:

“Well done, so far! You certainly know how to draw upon a centered state of mind—this is not your first experience with this in the slightest. And as I’m sure you’re well-aware by now with your line of work: overwhelming, precise strikes have their place, for certain…”

Samus deepened her breath as the manageable pain yet-increased through magical exertion, and she clenched her closed eyelids a little more firmly.

“Like the sprinter has their own place, the endurance galloper likewise has their niche and must not be neglected nor underestimated.

“But even more importantly: facing down a well-armed, magically powerful and sophisticated enemy is being nimble in your roles—switching between both at the whims of the fight. Much the same way as you choose the right weapon for your work at hand, or your cadence of battle.

“Now, again: barrier.”

Samus inhaled deeply, then let loose her breath as she did as commanded.

From her hand sprouted a hard-magic, lavender wall of tessellating, hypnotically morphing geometric shapes, called upon to defend her from a hypothetical kinetic or magical attack.

Her impromptu shield flickered almost imperceptibly, and her hand shook with nigh-hypertrophic exertion. Even as the fresh memory of her nearly burning out her magical ability and doing untold damage to her mind weighed heavily on her, she steadied her breathing… and breathed more.

Her thirst for water was a testament to how much she had sweat during this entire session. A boiling shower would be her reward for a genuine effort she hadn’t remembered giving since her earliest days of learning magic…

…or her Chozo training.

Nevertheless, like a good student, she complied in holding the spell, as she would hold a weight nearly to failure.

Relief came when Luna curtly commanded:

“Strike!”

At an instant, Samus exploded the shield, shattering it and propelling its jagged, deadly shards in all directions in front of her like a horrific, magical shotgun. Any hypothetical target in her path would’ve been sliced to gory pieces.

And through her efforts, she advanced a single step.

“Barrier!”

Samus again complied through an effort-filled, distressed grunt—her sweat rivulets meshed perfectly with those of the rain running down her face. Though somewhat more sluggish than her previous defensive spell, she nevertheless re-erected her barrier to the barest minimum of Luna’s standards.

“Strike!”

Another shotgun-like rapport of the same, crystalline-esque explosive shattering of her barrier spell.

And another step forward.

“Strike!”

Samus followed-through, thrusting her right fist forward in a figurative gut-punch that could’ve broken the sound barrier with its speed. Instead, the culmination of her precise motions birthed a powerful, magical blast that would’ve put a hole in any enemy that remained standing before her.

Another step forward.

“Strike!”

Samus bounded forward in an ever-elegant, horizontal somersault, and led with her left hand in a crescent arch that sliced a magical swathe through the torrential rain, severing the water drops asunder as they fell.

“And strike!”

No sooner did Luna’s final command come than did Samus land on her feet. With a gnashing growl of her hardest exertion yet, the Hunter swept her left hand over her entire field of view, calling up on all her magical reserves to thrash the rain forth in one final, magically kinetic push.

Just out of her firing line, Viridian still stood tall, his cloak billowing in the artificial winds.

Samus’ mouth was wide and slackened, her chest and entire posture heaving as she desperately hyperventilated. Her skin had been fully colored a half-shade of red from the cumulative exertion thus far, and yet, she firmly held her low, bent position where she had cast her last spell.

No further command was forthcoming.

Only praise, carried on a harbinger of an approving huff as Luna spoke, smirking:

“Goooood! Very well done!”

Those words alone let much of the tension in Samus’ engorged muscles release somewhat, and she slowly righted her posture to let the downpour get a headstart in cooling her off.

“Twilight was right when she mentioned that you learn quickly! This appears to have been no exaggeration. You’ve very much gotten the basics down, and even though much of what I’ve taught you today may seem superfluous, we cannot assume that you’ll always have access to your mechanical arsenal within your armorsuit.

“But… I feel we’ve taxed your mana enough for the day. Please, take some rest, Samus. Again, you’ve done marvelously.”

Samus allowed her posture to sag fully, having exhaled a deep breath she had been holding, waiting for some surprise bonus command to come in an attempt to get a jump on her. As much as she silently took measured enjoyment in her recent magical training with Twilight and now Luna, today was the first day that she was thankful no more was planned.

The hot shower that awaited her was like a siren’s call to sailors of the past… and Samus was ready to jump overboard and disappear.

She then dropped onto her ass, not even bothering to elegantly seat herself, or in any way appear in-control and ready to go again—she cared not anymore after that work, and was perfectly fine with cosplaying a corpse, resting her eyes while the rainfall further drenched her face and hair.

She was magically spent.

Through the ambient sound of the rainfall atop the castle overlook, Luna’s voice again sounded:

“Twilight, our training with Samus concludes for the day. Whenever you’re ready, you may fetch Spike—erm, perhaps I should ask though… Samus?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you still well-enough to train with Spike?”

“Yep!” she replied, having found no need to open her eyes to respond. She offered a high thumbs-up for further assurance.

She huffed when she could hear the muffled sounds of Twilight’s giggles, obviously at her current state.

“Just gimme a couple minutes to cool off and I’ll be good.”

“Very well, Hunter. Twilight? Please retrieve Spike at your leisure.”

Twilight nodded once, her voice still dripping with residual uneasiness about the whole arrangement with him.

“You got it, Princess. I’ll uhh, I’ll be back then,” she said, and dismissed herself back into the castle.

Samus continued to relish in her rest, finally cooled off to the point where she felt genuinely comfortable enough to fall asleep here under the rainfall, if she so chose. Twilight could take as sweet of a time as she liked in fetching Spike, but all she knew was that when this day was done, she was going to have the sleep of legends the likes that she hadn’t had since her first training days on Zebes.

Despite the overpowering sound of the rain and gentle, distant thunder, Samus detected the sudden encroachment of someone else in her personal space. She opened one eye and found Luna braving the rain, having thrown back the hood of her cloak and seemingly happy to soak right next to her.

“I believe I owe you a small apology. I must admit, I might have silently misjudged you.”

Intrigued, Samus opened both eyes and sat up fully, resting her shaky arms on her knees so she could give off the appearance of having some manners when not in a fight.

“Oh?”

Luna nodded once.

“Indeed. I had thought the Elements’ words of your magical prowess to be…” she twirled her hoof in an effort to find the proper word. “...overstated, in light of the circumstances. Perhaps because of your no-less important role as a conduit and shield for the bearers, I figured your magical role had been menial at best.

“Which is why I had been so keen on getting you a proper baseline in foundational offensive and defensive magic. However, it appears I was mostly incorrect, and as such, I apologize for assuming your lack of skill in the magical arts.”

Samus shrugged, though she snorted as the sudden humor in ‘I’m sorry I thought you sucked more than you do’ hit her as hard as that one time she got smacked by Ridley’s tail. Even so, there was no offense taken.

“Heh, that might’ve been more true if you’d been around a week and a half ago,” she said.

“Perhaps, but even then, it’s a testament to your true ability to adapt that you’ve been able to do in nearly two weeks what unicorns cannot learn in a year. The teachings of the Chozo from your upbringing have served you markedly well here.

“In the end, after chatting with Viridian, it became obvious.”

Samus offered a placid smirk and a nod, not entirely sure where to follow this line of conversation. She had never been good with long talks that didn’t have an obvious point to it all, much to Old Bird’s annoyance…

…and the annoyance of what few friends she had through her career.

Even so, she was perfectly fine to stay silent and enjoy more of her break, though she knew good and well that their talk was likely not over… especially since Samus did have some rather important stuff she wanted to broach with Luna.

“Now…” Luna, as Samus had expected, began anew:

“I know you have some questions for me, especially as related to the Tantabus. Though, I must query as well, if you don’t mind?”

More than happy with the arrangement of rest, Samus crossed her arms behind her head and lay back, shuttering her eyes whilst letting the rain again soak her face and waterlog her bangs.

“Not at all. Shoot.”

“I… pardon? Shoot what?”

Samus opened one eye again, rolling it with a good-humored smirk.

“Oh, right. I meant ask whatever you want.”

Samus could’ve sworn she saw Luna’s cheeks color, though it might’ve been a trick of the light when she averted her gaze in pure embarrassment.

“Oh by the Moon… right, duh!” she shook her head incredulously between her hooves.

Samus huffed, amused, as she again closed her eyes, shutting out the world and just feeling the firm water droplets splash evenly across her face.

“But, sure. Ask away. You know I’ve got more than a few questions for you so I think it’s only fair.”

Luna hummed.

“Mm. Indeed, and I have a hunch they might be related, but to not delay any further, I must know… when you arrived on this planet, before you found me or anyone else…

“...did you notice the Tantabus? Or anything that you now know of it?”

Samus shook her head.

“Nope. First thing I really encountered here were those Storm Beast mutant remnant ponies when trying to infiltrate the Space Pirate outpost here.

“Though,” she quickly corrected. “It’s more like a citadel and staging ground now rather than a little outpost, but either way, no. Noticed nothing, not even when I was first touched by magic.”

Samus could practically hear Luna nodding as her line of questioning continued with seemingly no particular goal in mind, at least for now:

“These invaders, Space Pirates… you mentioned at dinner last night that they’re your enemies. Obviously, ours as well. You’re not affiliated with them, nor the Federation, correct?”

“Correct on the first part, a little complicated on the second. I work for the Federation as a mercenary, essentially. I am a citizen, but I don’t get involved much in their politics or anything like that. Got a few good contacts in the military but that’s about my extent of involvement. I do their work that often parallels what I need to do for my own sake, their payment clears, and I go about my life.”

“Understood.”

Again, Samus had to internally remark how eclectic Luna’s questioning was when the Princess continued with a much more profound topic:

“Again, perhaps I owe you an apology, but, while you slept last night—for lack of better wording right now—I ‘touched’ your dream realm. I didn’t intrude, at least this time… but it bears the telltale scars of the Tantabus’ tampering in a recent time.

“What did you dream of? The night before you found me?”

There it is.

Samus paused for a beat, mulling how to answer most succinctly without rambling too much, getting into too much specifics, or getting into a long-winded discussion about missions past that was of debatable importance. After a few seconds, she exhaled and did her best:

“I’ll try to explain this as best I can without sounding too insane but…

“Someone from my past. Someone who looks a lot like me, but born out of the remnants of some of my battle armor, my DNA, and the Phazon—that blue, poisonous, radioactive element we caught you up on last night.”

Luna kept silent, though even through Samus’ sealed gaze, she could tell there was a stuffiness of rumination present.

“Ah, yes! I remember. Do continue…”

“Essentially, a corrupted version of me when fully armored up—I call her ‘Prime,’ as I can later explain, she’s an adversary from my previous mission before then.

“She, if it could even be called a ‘she’, seemed to only have a purpose of feeding on the Phazon… until I became a threat to her. She hunted and fought me relentlessly through my last mission until I killed her at the very end.”

Luna prodded inquisitively:

“And what did you dream of her?”

“Her voice, at first. She was speaking to me personally, like she was still alive. I was at first reliving the worst parts of my life: the slaughter of my parents, my lowest mental point in my Chozo training, and my sloppy first expeditions against the Space Pirates. But then the memories became… twisted.”

“How so?”

Samus opened her eyes and glanced at where Twilight was, seeing that she hadn’t returned with Spike yet. Likewise, she shot her gaze over to Viridian, who seemed to still be enjoying the expansive view of rainy lushness in the distance.

She met Luna’s eyes with a more hushed tone.

“Viridian appeared, speaking as he would, but… darker. Saying terrible things even if they might’ve been logically sound. Trying to demoralize me like the entire time I was hearing Prime’s voice. Maybe she was speaking through his image? I don’t know for sure.

“Prime then killed him in front of me, appeared before me, and in no uncertain terms told me that the only way I’d know peace was to pretty much die in battle or kill myself.

“And, well… that’s when the dream ended when Ridley killed me.”

Luna cocked her head as she listened intently.

“Ridley?”

Samus elaborated with a rehearsed brevity regarding her mortal enemy:

“Space Pirate Commander. My parents’ killer and the slaughterer of countless. Remind me later tonight to catch you up on him. You’ll need to know everything, as we’ll be dealing with him in the near future.”

Luna blinked, seemingly shocked at the nonchalance of Samus’ admission regarding the fate of her parents but nevertheless paid it no mind for now.

“Understood. And thank you for the information, Samus. It helps immensely, and certainly explains why the Tantabus has taken a particular interest in you.”

Her interest more than sufficiently piqued, Samus lazily rolled onto her front and lay her head in her palm, her elbow keeping her supported so she could pay utmost attention.

“Oh? This might lead into my questions, then. Why’s that? I mean… I have some scan data to go off of that gave me a little food for thought, but I’m sure as shit that’s not the whole story.”

Luna shrugged and delivered oh-so matter-of-factly, if a bit uneasily:

“I’m not sure if this is a polite way of saying this, but to be rather candid, and to use a pony military analogy… you have quite the baggage train about you.”

This time Samus could not hold back the huffing, coughing laughter, even balling her fist in front of her mouth out of manners alone.

“Heh, yeah?? Tell me something I don’t know. So this ‘dream parasite’ is latching onto me because I’ve got unresolved issues and past trauma?”

Luna gave a half-smirk at Samus’ understanding.

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“Right… but then why me, specifically? I can’t be the only one on this planet, survivor or otherwise with unresolved issues, right? Don’t tell me this is like, I’ve just been ordained with this shit? This whole cataclysm for your planet was traumatic for everyone, though. Why doesn’t it latch onto any of them?”

“It likely had, well before you arrived,” Luna answered. “Though, it’s a being composed of dreams and magic. Once you arrived, with your baggage train in tow, then obtained access to magic, and then became the only other active, preeminent battle mage second only to Twilight…?”

Samus finished the rest of the answer, pursed lips in annoyed understanding.

“It took notice of me. Put a target on my back.”

Princess Luna nodded once, deeply, and smirked widely at Samus’ conclusion.

“Ahhh, now you’re understanding better.”

Samus pondered further, but quickly realized there was one bit missing from her comprehension.

“Twilight said she still dreams, despite her limbo state with the Element. She’s beyond my realm of power with magic—she’s the source of it, even. Why doesn’t the Tantabus just continue to haunt her?”

Luna inhaled and sighed out, then turned her attention towards the same scenery that Viridian was pondering over. Regally fording the rain pouring over her face, she answered:

“That is… also what I had been trying to answer. Like your dreams, I pried into everyone’s here to see if I could find the Tantabus’ mark.

“There were some aberrations in Twilight’s dream realm. It appeared to have a significant presence in her dreams well into the past. But the overwhelming majority of the Tantabus’ interest was with you… and I nearly lost sleep wondering why this was the case.”

She faced Samus again, holding gentle eye-contact.

“After all, I was able to sense its mark on you immediately upon waking, back in the Ascension Temple. Your dream realm is the equivalent of a scarred battlefield with its handiwork. But after you indulged my first questions, I think the answer is quite obvious!

“In a way, you and I are much more alike than anticipated.”

Samus raised an eyebrow.

“Definitely not royalty, that’s for sure. But what do you mean?”

“Well, it would appear that neither of us are alone in having a twisted doppelganger whose only purpose is to see our destruction and in a way, feed on darkness and despair. I architected the Tantabus from the trauma and my failures—real or perceived—from my experience as Nightmare Moon, after all.”

Samus blinked, her face entirely deadpan, which belied her full, annoyed realization.

“Oh so not only did it take notice of how well I use magic, but you’re saying I remind it of home.”

“That is certainly a way of putting it, Samus, but yes. Your ‘past profile’ mirrors mine in some of the more substantially important ways that are enticing to it.

“So I take it back. You understand fully now.”

Samus took her liberty in sitting back up and hunching over her legs, criss-crossed in a lotus. Her waterlogged hair draped around her face as she minded nothing with any particular interest. However, she mulled Luna’s words, wondering aloud:

“I killed Prime during my previous mission. My dream of her… she spoke to me like she was still alive. Not to mention the audial and visual hallucinations in the temple she taunted me with while I was awake. Was that the Tantabus speaking to me through Prime’s voice?”

It was Luna’s turn to cock an eyebrow, and she spoke with utmost seriousness:

“Audial and visual hallucinations? The Tantabus breaking out into the waking world is certainly new territory even for me, but I’ve never known it to produce any type of hallucinations, even after a night of terrible dreams where it flourished.”

She shrugged.

“I legitimately don’t know. If I were to speculate, I would assume that the Tantabus certainly played a part.”

“Twilight mentioned something about a ‘Nightmare’ festering inside me, possibly. Like what happened to you. Is this at all possible?”

“Technically, yes, the Tantabus could induce Nightmare Corruption,” said Luna, though she was quick to dismiss it:

“But very unlikely. My Nightmare Corruption was a specific set of circumstances: rage, resentment, loneliness, loss of purpose, and a whole other host of complicated emotions and external events that I do not believe you’d be privy to for a Nightmare to flourish. You may have some of these, but you’re much more well-equipped and adjusted than I ever was at that age.

“I don’t foresee such an eventuality at all.”

Samus nodded, but glanced away in pure disapproval.

“Then the alternative is that Prime actually survived our encounter during my previous mission, and wherever she is now, she’s able to communicate with me through either magic, Phazon, the Tantabus’ interference, or some bullshit combination of it all.”

She threw herself back into the embrace of her crossed arms, letting the rain pelt her full body directly again.

“Ugh. And I really don’t wanna think about that idea right now. I’m just starting to get fantastic sleep again.”

“Worry not on that front, Hunter. I’ll see to it personally that your sleep is peaceful. We need you as well-rested and capable as possible for this to all succeed. It’s the absolute least I can do.”

Samus smirked softly, propping herself up again.

“Heh. Thanks Luna.”

“But of course, Hunter! Thank you. For both answering my questions…”

Her tone became much less whimsical and more heartfelt.

“...and all you’ve done thus far. I don’t think there’s a way to properly repay you, so at the very least, I can make your sleep and dreams most pleasant.”

A door swinging open and some wet steps drew everyone’s attention, and Samus found Twilight re-emerging from below with a fidgety, nervous Spike in tow. This was the first time that Samus ever witnessed the young Drake not be able to keep eye-contact. She had better manners than to laugh, but deep down she giggled more at the fact that Spike really had nothing to fear.

Those scales of his were probably as hard as diamonds, and she figured they functioned much like fine armor. She’d crack her hands outside of her Suit just punching him once with all she was capable of.

“We’re back, Princess!”

Samus shared a look with Luna, who nodded deeply in kind before answering:

“Excellent! Then in that case, as Samus’ rests her mana, we shall explore the fundamentals of martial arts under Viridian’s tutelage. Viridian?” she gestured to him with her hoof.

The Chozo Warrior was already on the scene, with an excited glint in his eyes that Samus hadn’t seen since she accepted his request for a sparring match back in Viridia. As contagious as it was, in that she also smiled, Samus’ body was still a bit stiff from the magical exertion, so she took her time in untangling her limbs and getting back to her feet.

Viridian spoke with a giddiness that accented all his words, having not had the pleasure of training any recruits—or anyone for that matter—in however many years, Samus figured:

“Yes, Your Highness! I shall happily take it from here. Spike? Please,” he then gestured towards the Hunter.

“Take your place in front of Samus and we shall begin your training immediately, young one! Hatchling? Would you please demonstrate your proper fighting stance to start us off?”

[Later that Evening]

Samus made the right call resorting to palm strikes during her first training with Spike.

Her intuition had been correct in that, had she thrown a punch against him with any modicum of significant force, she’d’ve probably broken all her knuckles. Thankfully, she only broke a sweat instead, and she could still type on her tablet as she monitored Fireteam Crusader’s expected whereabouts.

Her palm was a bit sore, though, and she duly massaged her wrist when she took a break to just stare at her screen. A worthy sacrifice for both their betterments, and it would just harden her up more, anyway…

…not that Spike needed any hardening up with that natural armor of his. In Samus’ speculative opinion, he was nigh-impervious to most standard weapons-fire from both the Federation or the Space Pirates.

Hand him a rifle, teach him to use it, and he’d make a tank of a trooper.

As she lazed just outside the castle entrance, back propped up against the bolted-shut door in the early-evening twilight, Samus kept a diligent watch over her ship’s low-orbit radar scans. She smirked as she thought back to how thankful she was that Admiral Dane had just ‘so happened’ to decommission one of these particular modules. Moreover, he was more than happy to ‘lose it in combat’ during an expedition, as Samus would never have been able to access the system on her own.

And such a system was invaluable to her already in her more recent missions… from being able to further aid her own stealth systems in dispersing her own radar signature in low orbit, to being able to monitor planetary ingress and egress from the ground, it also had the uncanny ability to reveal even the sneakiest of ships that didn’t want to be found.

Much like the stealthy, Federation heavy corvette that ambled into the low-orbit identification zone of the planet, without so much as a figurative blink from the Space Pirates.

Perfect.

Samus’ comms came to life in a brief burst of static, with a non-familiar, masculine voice on the other end:

“Crusader One to Hunter Actual, over.”

Samus got extra comfy leaning up against the door before responding neutrally in kind:

“Loud and clear, Crusader One. That you, Captain Dittmar?”

“Yes ma’am. Support ship GFS Pantera has entered geosynchronous low-orbit over designated planet Equis. We’ve already completed pre-departure and boarding procedures before arrival. We’re heading down now to your provided coordinates, ETA T-minus five minutes, how copy?”

“Solid copy, Captain. I’m here and waiting.”

“See you shortly, Crusader Out.”

As expected, Samus’ systems alerted her to a dispatch of a much smaller ship from the Corvette, likely an equally-stealthy dropship of some kind, if she had to wager, given the nature of Crusader’s work. Even so, as she lay back and let her mind wander, she was somewhat surprised that they came with an entire heavy corvette, even if it was just as stealthy.

That, or Crusader was just that a big enough deal where they got their own cozy ship to call home.

Her systems kept diligent track of their rapid descent through the atmosphere, and yet all the while, Samus stared off into the darkness. She got the pre-briefing of who was arriving, and she wasn’t sure how much a team of four could realistically do to keep the Pirates off her back, or at least divert their attention from more well-traveled paths to find the other Elements…

…and yet, she was but one woman against the entire galaxy, so in the end, maybe this group was all that and then some. They were some of de Vasco’s best troops, after all, so she was still more than willing to keep an open mind.

At least they have a heavy corvette.

Her comms whirred to life again:

“We’re approaching the LZ now.”

Samus zoned back in, got to her feet and gazed up high into the rainy sky. Her vision was pelted by fresh rain drops as she thought she could hear the quietest, ambient rumbling growing ever louder… but not overly so.

“Roger. I think I hear you coming—Pirate Battle Net’s a graveyard. Not a peep.”

“Great to hear.”

Samus observed a black-armored craft break through the low cloud layer, one that bore striking resemblance to a Federation Patrol Ship like she had seen on Aether, but much more svelte. Even within a direct line of sight, she was impressed that its engines were barely competing with the sounds of the rainstorm around her.

“We see the castle. Touching down now.”

Samus stood back and watched the craft expertly come to a smooth, silent hover a good twenty feet off the ground, which whipped the wild grass and foliage away from its vertical engine exhaust. From there, it rotated to reveal the loading bay and descended fully to land on Equis’ surface.

As Samus strutted forward to greet the newly arrived craft, the massive, rectangular loading bay door swiveled out and dropped to the lush ground below, forming a solid ramp. Thereafter, four Federation Operators, clad in much leaner, darker armor than the typical Federation Marine, filed out one by one with weapons in one hand and their helmets under their other arm.

Samus offered a wave from the shadows of the silhouetted Everfree thanks to the rising moon, and she then held out her hand to the first trooper—a blonde, blue-eyed, confident man of whom she could see the enthusiastic starstruckness scrawled upon his chiseled face.

“Samus Aran?” he asked, but he clearly knew who he was talking to.

“Welcome to Equis, Crusader.”

The Hunter could read it on his face that this man rarely had to physically angle his eyes upward to talk to someone, if only just barely. She smirked as his armored hand firmly grasped her own, and she purposefully returned the firm shake in kind.

“Captain Jacob Dittmar. Fireteam Crusader of GFSSOC Epsilon. A pleasure and privilege to meet you, ma’am.”

Samus nodded, confident smirk in kind.

“Likewise, Captain. Is this all of you?” she asked, moving to go down the line and introduce herself to the others properly.

“Lieutenant Arianna Guerrera, ma’am,” said the tanned-skin, dark-haired, brown-eyed girl that seemed to regard Samus with more than a shred of god-like reverence.

“Great to have you, Lieutenant.”

“Corporal Nathan Krandor, ma’am. It’s an honor,” said the very young-looking, pale, light-eyed man with childlike gleam in his awestruck gaze. His hair seemed to be even more unkempt than helmet hair would be responsible for.

“Great to meet you, Corporal.”

“Corporal Sydney Exeter. Likewise a pleasure, ma’am,” said the amber-haired, steely-light-eyed gal who stood a good couple inches shorter than the rest. Her gaze seemed a bit more closed off and steely than the rest.

Her last name struck Samus as familiar, but she couldn’t rightly place why that was. If she had to guess, it was something she read in her scan files, and she made a mental note to check it out later.

“Thanks for coming, Corporal.”

She addressed everyone at once with polite, if obligated formality:

“Alright, just to put any doubts at ease…”

In an instant, her entire body flickered amongst a scanning, golden light as she re-equipped her Varia Suit, much to the startled, jittery, enamored reactions of the four newcomers.

“I’m Samus Aran, as you can see. Yes, you’re talking to the right person. No, I’m not an imposter.”

“Noted.”

“Niiiiice.”

“Whoa.”

“No questions.”

“Cool,” Samus answered. “Now, let’s get you all inside and your equipment settled before we unload any other supplies you brought. I wanna get you all introduced to my hosts, and get you familiar with what’s essentially our FOB.”

“Roger that. Fall in, Crusader.”

Samus delivered a few firm knocks to the castle door, which immediately creaked open.

“Samus?” sounded Spike’s voice.

“Yup—found the new friends we expected,” she alluded.

“Cool! Dinner’s ready, too. Come on in, y’all!”

The door swung open fully, and as Samus stepped inside and disengaged her Varia Suit, she took more than a bit of pleasure in the entire group of ponies plus Viridian’s curious eyes meeting the collective eyes of a stunned Crusader.

Jacob remarked through the awkward, thick silence what he and his entire team were thinking:

“O-Oh… the Admiral was being literal with ‘ponies.’”

“Yep,” said Samus. “There’s a lot to talk about.”

Twilight agreed, and eagerly took over the greeting:

“Double yup! And hi there! I’m Twilight Sparkle—come on in and let’s get you something to eat while we catch you up and get you some rooms.”

It was clear that none of Crusader expected this kind of welcome, based on how all of them had their jaws slackened at various angles.

“U-Uhh, right. Okay! Hi!” Jacob awkwardly agreed.

“Sure! I guess? Hi as well!” said Arianna.

“Hey there! Okay I’m actually kinda hungry, thank you!” added Nathan.

“Same, uhhh, thank you? Hello hello!” likewise replied Sydney.

Though Spike’s cooking was always immaculate, the most memorable thing for Samus was how the initial awkwardness hung in the air more than the delectable smell of the food.

She had to wonder if she herself was that stiff when she first arrived here. She didn’t think so, but then again, she had been used to seeing and interacting with sapient species that weren’t the most humanoid in nature.

Even if it took a little longer for the ice to break for the newcomers, it eventually shattered entirely when Stella brought out more alcohol that she had hidden away somewhere, which immediately ingratiated herself to the special operators.

She also witnessed Midnight trying to hit on Jacob. Which did not have the same effect, and Stella had to wrangle her comrade back in line.

From there, Samus, again, didn’t have to do much except elaborate on some details of the mission while Twilight took the lead on explaining what had been happening on the planet since the Crisis. Luna would take over when the history of Equestria and its governance had been appropriate to bring up.

Samus continued to reflect humorously at the whole dinner scene while she and the operators finished unloading the remainder of the supplies from their dropship, as well as seeing it off. She smirked internally at another key development that Captain Dittmar revealed once it was their turn to process everything being told to them: Admiral Dane was briefed on the assault preparations by de Vasco.

Again, the Grand Admiral of the entire Federation Navy continued to eagerly come through for Samus’ needs, as he was apparently bolstering the Third Fleet with dedicated siege ships and additional battle groups. He likewise had given the order to rein in less important operations to further assist with the coming Equis Campaign, forces of which were already combat ready.

They’d be arriving in under two weeks—record time, yet plenty of time to get most of the remaining elements plus reconstituting Celestia before joining in on the offense against the Space Pirates.

Samus was just content that things had been going better than she had expected, and it was a contentedness that gave her an extra pep in her armored step while she hefted a gigantic ammunition crate in her embrace.

“That's everything?” she asked, setting the crate down right next to the bed of a chosen room a few doors down from the Map Room.

“Yup!” said Arianna, carefully laying on the bed what, to Samus, looked like two anti-tank recoilless rifles. She then gestured out the door and across the hall.

“MREs and extra medical stuff are in there. We’re gonna keep the ammo and small arms here.”

Samus glanced around at the eclectic mix of ammo types, boxes of shells, assault rifles, machine guns, grenades… and pretty much anything a growing Federation Marine would need.

“There’s worse places for ‘em,” she remarked as she disengaged her Suit.

Jacob strode in, breathing heavily and wiping his neck.

“Heh, not the best storage procedure but it’ll do for now. Thanks for the help, Samus. Ari? Did Nate and Syd get their kit settled? Haven’t seen them in a few.”

Arianna nodded.

“Yep! They picked out rooms and everything. Once they brought all their shit in, Syd went to relax with Twilight, Fluttershy, and… was it Rarity?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow at Samus for confirmation.

The Hunter nodded with a half-smirk, and Arianna continued.

“Yeah, Rarity. Apparently she was like, really enamored with Syd’s hair and wanted to tidy it up a bit. She seemed surprisingly open to the idea of getting it experimented on.”

Jacob chuckled, shaking his head.

“And she said she wanted to cut it. Well, she could use the relaxation… she’s still, you know.”

Arianna again nodded, though much more thoughtfully—a gesture that Samus was in no way blind to, and only fueled her suspicions with Sydney’s last name.

Why does that seem so familiar? Did she lose a family member in battle? She had to have… wait, were they one of the fallen troopers on Aether?!

“Yeah, yeah. If it helps her, it helps her.

“And Nate’s staying up a little later with Spike, Stella, and Midnight. The drink got his dumbass in a talkative mood, and I think he found a couple unfortunate souls willing to listen to him,” she joked.

Jacob smiled, though his eyes put forth one bit of joking caution:

“Gotcha gotcha. Never known either of them to be unreliable, so whatever makes them happy. Just… if you don’t mind, Ari?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you please check on Nate and make sure he’s still there in one piece? Midnight, bless her heart, is a charming gal but…”

Samus suppressed a throaty chortle while Arianna was already strutting past them and out through the door on a mission.

“On it! Lemme check. Thanks for the help, Samus!” she called back.

“Don’t mention it!” she answered, which left her alone with the Captain.

“Anything else? Otherwise I’ll leave you be, and we can discuss first missions in the Map Room in the morning.”

“Nope! That’s everything,” Jacob answered. “But… there is one thing for you specifically.”

Samus cocked a very curious eyebrow as the Captain fished what looked like a prerecorded holodisk out from one of his armor compartments.

“What’s that?” she asked.

As he moved to hand it to her, he said:

“That, I’m not sure. It looks like a pre-recorded message of some kind. Just before we left the Iberia, once de Vasco gave the mobilization order, one of the Marine Commanders—damnit I can’t remember his name right now but I remember his face—asked me to deliver this to you personally. No idea what it says, but I figured that’s for you to find out.”

“Oh… I see.”

Samus took hold of the disk just larger than her palm and examined it, and saw nothing out of the ordinary but how a normal, pre-recorded holodisk would look. Internally, she wondered who was sending her a message? Wasn’t out of the ordinary to occasionally have fan mail find its way to her through questionable means, though it had been a while.

“Uhh, cool. Thanks!”

Jacob smiled and nodded in return.

“You got it. I’m gonna make sure my squad is still in one piece before we head to bed, so I’ll leave you to it. In case I don’t see you later, have a goodnight Samus.”

Samus reciprocated the gesture.

“Goodnight, Captain.”

From there the Hunter watched Jacob leave, and once she no longer heard his echoing footfalls through the halls, Samus’ curiosity overpowered her discretion.

As she made her way towards her own room, she hit ‘play’ on the holodisk… and the wall she hit when two very familiar, if slightly aged, faces greeted her stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Hey there, stranger! It’s been a while!” the ‘Elfin’-species Kreatz, looking much-less unkempt than she had ever been used to seeing, greeted her.

She’d recognize that thin, mischievous face and those knife-like ears from anywhere. He clearly took some advice on taming his hair, if only a little bit.

“Indeed it has, Samus!” the hulking ‘Simian’ Mauk greeted with a wide smile.

Samus could immediately see that upon his massive, apelike form, he was garbed in the casual uniform of a Federation Marine Commander. He had grown his beard and hair out, with both framing his face like they would an older, regal lion.

“Sorry it’s been a while… you’re kinda impossible to find these days,” said Kreatz. “I think that’s your idea though. We know you being out of the police and army means it's kinda hard to keep friendships.”

“We tried to help you back on Zebes… but turns out you didn’t need any help, huh? Pirates were all destroyed by the time we got there! Then, your trail ran cold, and we didn’t hear from you,” Mauk explained, though quickly smirked and jokingly-yet-not-so-jokingly added:

“We hope that wasn’t to get away from us!”

Kreatz giggled as he said to Mauk:

“Wouldn't it be hilarious as shit if we got to Equis and Samus didn’t recognize us at all?”

Mauk refused to entertain the idea.

“Shut up, as if. It may’ve been a while… but it hasn’t been that long,” he regarded the camera fondly.

“Oh yeah, that’s right—we’re attached to the Third Fleet’s Iberia Battle Group. We have our orders and if you’ll have us, we’d love to work with you again like old times.”

“And even if not, screw work,” Kreatz interjected earnestly. “Just to say hi and have some drinks or something. We really do miss you, Samus.”

“That we do, girl. That we do. I’m gonna hand this off to Captain Dittmar before he heads off to Equis now. You take care, okay Samus? We’ll see you soon.”

Kreatz seemed in disbelief.

“Man, how the fuck did you know Crusader was headed there? I’m the one with the big ears, not you!”

“You see, Kreatz, it pays to bend the rules on occasion a little more steeply than you ever would, especially with the elite troops on deck. Good words float easily.”

“OoOoOoo okay, Mauk! Don’t need to let Samus know about your lewd behaviors! Now give it to Dittmar before I skin your mane.”

Mauk shoved Kreatz out of frame, layering his serious tone with an accent of pure jest:

“Mind your tone in the presence of superior rank, whelp.”

“Oh you know what?”

Mauk ignored him entirely and smiled excitedly.

“Hope you’re well, Samus! We’ll hopefully see you soon!”

“See ya soon, Samus! I still owe you that drink from that last time you saved my ass all those years ago!”

The recording abruptly ceased.

Samus blankly stared at the now-inactive holodisk, her entire brain mush from just processing what she heard. From thinking about them last night, to actually receiving a physical message—not only confirming that they were alive and well, but that they had remembered and thought about her—filled her entire chest and stomach with a radiating warmth that she didn’t know how to deal with.

It was a similar feeling she had been getting on and off with the girls recently, though nowhere near as profound, where it forced her hand to her core as her heart raced excitedly…

…like now.

Thinking about that, suddenly a conflict brewed in her mind. These ponies were probably her friends, too. Right? Technically? Should she have felt more strongly for them right now?

Goddamnit I’m not good at this shit.

It’s fine. It’s fine.

She took a deep breath and stopped herself from spiraling, anchoring herself and conceding that Kreatz and Mauk were probably her closest friends ever. They just hadn’t been in her life for a while, doing their own things, and now they were coming to reconnect with her.

The warmth hadn’t gone away, and in fact, only intensified, demanding action.

Stone-faced, Samus glanced over both her shoulders and took a gander at her wrist’s motion tracker. She was well and truly alone in this wing of the castle.

So, she took a deep breath, exhaled, and relished in the pleasant warmth of having old friends coming to see her…

…and then let her face promptly light up like the Federation Capital City as she squee’d in abject excitement.

She bounced giddily on the balls of her feet, holding her ‘friends’ close to her chest as pranced down the hall to her room, shamelessly giggly, with her smile as radiant as the crystal construction around her.