Legacy of the Past

Ditzy scoffed at the status of her suit as she walked through the foliage, examining the various powers and upgrades... now useless. Ditzy wondered why most of her weapons and suit upgrades were decayed... lack of use? How long had it been since she used her suit? Shortly before Dinky was born, definitely... Which meant roughly 9, maybe 10 years in her 11 years being here. 11 years on Equestria, 11 years to adapt to her new circumstances.

She pulled up closer statistics of her weapons, they were decayed, but could they be repaired? A closer analysis showed yes, but it would take some time and severely weaken her suit's energy. But she was dealing with Ridley and needed something to damage it with, so, she diverted the necessary life energy required to restore her Plasma Beam and saw several bars of energy disappear. Ditzy felt the suit become considerably heavier and saw the progress of restoring her Plasma Beam appear on the side of her HUD. It was going to take a while.

Thunder boomed overhead and Ditzy shuddered. An old friend of hers, one of the first she made when she came here, had speculated that every universe had its own set of rules. In her universe, weather was a natural occurrence that ran its own course. But in this universe, weather could be controlled quite easily and, even though she was from a universe where the weather was left on its own, here in this dimension, it was completely unnatural. Ditzy knew it and it unsettled her. She looked up, and saw dark clouds start to gather overhead, it looked like a storm was about to appear.

The armoured pegasus continued on through the forest, glancing at a few of the trees and scanning anything that looked even remotely suspicious. The Everfree Forest was a highly hostile place... it was a bit nostalgic, really. It reminded Ditzy of the times she travelled through Zebes and Tallon IV... the times in between the major combats were almost tranquil moments, even when danger lurked around the next corner. She stopped walking, having the strong feeling she was being watched. The armoured pegasus turned around and saw only dark forest. Again, thunder boomed overhead, it wouldn't be long before it kicked up. She looked up and saw eight red eyes staring at her, and then an aggressive clicking noise. Suddenly, Ditzy was knocked down as something jumped at her from behind. She recovered quickly and rolled back on her hooves, and saw a massive spider about half her size, with eight red eyes, it's legs curled tightly to its body as it reared a pair of large, deadly looking fangs. She saw a flicker of movement and jumped to the side as the first spider launched itself at her. Seeing an opening, Ditzy brought up her Scan Visor and scanned her attackers.

Morphology: Young Gigas Spider

Semi-intelligent creature that hunts only in the winter and spring seasons

Usually work in packs of 4 to 5 in ambushing prey

Fangs incredibly sharp and deadly, and carries a venom that causes hallucinations

Sensitive to light and heat

With that, Ditzy charged up her beam and the two spiders hissed, shielding their eyes from the light of her weapon. She fired, and blew one of the spiders into the air, where it crashed into the ground, its legs flailing in the air. Remembering what the scan told her, Ditzy whirled around in time to see two more spiders jump at her. Rolling to the side, she brought her weapon to bear on the nearest spider and fired a flurry of shots. The spider was pushed back a few inches with each hit, before being blown on its back, where it screeched, its legs flailing, before dying with a hollow gasp. She turned and saw the last spider jump at her and strike her in the chest.

With a grunt of pain, Ditzy stumbled back as the spider bounced off her chest. Though the fangs didn't penetrate the suit, it did reduce the energy a bit. Recovering quickly, she brought her Power Beam to bear on the spider, charging it up as the spider made a suicidal charge. Just as it jumped again, Ditzy fired, blowing the creature apart. She stood there, panting slightly from the combat. She looked around, making sure there weren't anymore of them, before continuing on to the abandoned castle as thunder boomed again.

When she reached the castle, she came across a wide chasm and saw a raggedy old bridge that didn't look like it would support her weight, even without the suit. She looked at the distance from one side to the other, determining how big the gap was. She didn't want to deactivate her suit for fear of losing the restoring progress of her Plasma Beam, which had just reached 30% restoration. She remembered back to her fight with Ridley earlier and recalled that she had gotten a few feet in the air before falling. Could it be possible for her to glide her way across the chasm? No, she'd just reach the wall and fall to her death. She took a tentative step on the bridge and, sure enough, the wooden plank collapsed under her hoof. The bridge was not an option. That was when she heard several screams in the distance, and what sounded like struggling.

Forgetting all else, Ditzy turned away from the chasm and ran through the thick foliage, where she saw several more spiders surrounding six ponies. And she recognized all of them. Pinkie Pie? Appeljack? Rarity? Twilight? That was when she saw Fluttershy lying beneath Rainbow Dash, she wasn't moving and the rainbow-maned pegasus stood furiously protecting her from the hissing spiders. What they were all doing in the forest, Ditzy didn't know, but she had to act.

Galloping at full speed, her visor flashing opaque once more, she jumped in between the spiders and the ponies, and brought her charging Power Beam up to meet the creatures, who hissed and retreated slightly from the bright glowing orb. She fired, blasting one of them away, and firing a flurry of shots at each of the spiders, who jumped back, hissing in reply.

"Who-What-!?" Twilight Sparkle stuttered, trying to figure who this new figure was, Rainbow pawed the ground and glared at Ditzy, who glanced back at them, her weapon still pointed at the hissing spiders.

"Is she alright?" The armoured pegasus asked, glancing at Fluttershy. It looked like they didn't recognize her voice, because there were no further shocked reactions, and Rainbow's defensive/aggressive stare did not change at all. Then, Fluttershy's eyes popped open and she looked around frantically, looking like she didn't see her concerned friends.

"Their nest!" She cried out as she stood up suddenly. "We have to get to their nest and find what's scaring them!" She flapped her wings, revealing the gruesome looking bite mark underneath her wing, and attempted to fly, before suddenly losing strength in her hooves and collapsing again. Rainbow Dash reacted quickly and moved to brace the poisoned pegasus and kept her from landing hard on the ground.

"Get her out of here!" Ditzy yelled as she turned her attention back as one spider pounced but was blown away from a charged Beam shot. "I'll hold them off!"

The other mares weren't sure what to do, but they knew Fluttershy needed help, probably urgent help. The 5 ponies helped carry Fluttershy and retreated as Ditzy held off the spiders, who seemed upset that their vulnerable prey had escaped them. It didn't take long to finish the spiders off and, when Ditzy turned around, the 6 mares were long gone. She breathed a sigh of relief and silently hoped they would make it out alright. That was when she remembered what Fluttershy said, a nest? Did these things have a nest? and what about them being active, it was summer... Something was wrong and Ditzy figured that Ridley may have had something to do with it.

She walked down the path slowly and saw huge piles of webbing covering the trees. That was when she heard the hiss of a large creature, she looked in its direction and saw a massive spider that was 2 times bigger than her on the top of a web-covered tree, its red eyes staring right into her. With a huge leap, it jumped down and opened its large mouth in a aggressive hiss. Ditzy quickly scanned it.

Morphology: Adult Gigas Spider

Massive solitary hunter

Can shoot strong webbing to trap its prey

Vulnerable to light and heat

Ditzy jumped to the side to avoid a shot of web that the creature fired. She charged up her Power Beam and quickly fired, striking it in what could be its face. The spider hissed in pain, but quickly recovered, only to receive several bursts from Ditzy's weapon. The creature stumbled back before it hissed aggressively and pounced on Ditzy. The sudden attack caught her off guard and she was knocked to the ground, with the spider towering over her. Ditzy reacted quickly and brought her cannon to the spider's face, firing a missile into it and blowing the creature apart. The remains of the spider collapsed next to her as she quickly got up and looked around, making sure there weren't any more hostile targets, before continuing on, she had a feeling she was getting closer to the spider's nest.

As she went deeper into the forest, she found more and more webbing along the trees and found several creatures already wrapped up, dead most likely, before she came to a small clearing covered in glowing yellow flowers. Curious, Ditzy scanned them...

Morphology: Navitas Flowers

Magical flowers that produce an energy compatible with Suit’s Life Energy

Standing over these flowers will slowly regenerate Suit's Energy

Ditzy blinked, surprised at her luck. Sure enough, as she stood over the pile of glowing flowers, she felt her suit become slightly lighter as the energy began to fill up. It didn't take long before she was at full strength, flexing her limbs, she continued on, where she saw a large crater and a large pod of some kind. It was definitely Space Pirate in origin.

"So that was how you came here, Ridley..." Ditzy muttered as she approached the pod, that was when she noticed that the pod had landed on an underground cavern, with part of it collapsed. She looked down at the hole the pod made and saw pairs of glowing red eyes that were as big as hers stare at her. Then, a monstrous hiss and clicking was heard as giant hairy legs emerged, with the body of a massive spider that was as big as Ditzy's house, if not bigger, being pulled out of the hole. It was pitch black with an exoskeleton that reflected the moonlight off of it. Ditzy stepped back from the monstrous creature and quickly scanned it.

Morphology: Queen Gigas Spider 'Widow'

Armoured exoskeleton protects it from all forms of attack

Despite its massive form, it is highly agile and can climb on almost any surface

Creature will cringe in preparing for a powerful lunge attack, Avoid at all costs

Ditzy slowly raised her Power Beam at the massive spider, apparently called Widow, who made a loud hiss as it slowly advanced at the armoured pegasus. She stared at her opponent, wondering how on earth she was going to bring this beast down. Widow hissed as it took steps toward Ditzy, who charged up her Beam and fired. The bright orb hit the spider but it didn't even flinch as it took another step toward her. Then, with a hiss, Widow spat a large green orb of liquid that hit Ditzy square in the chest before she could react.

The armoured pegasus gasped as a searing pain spread throughout her, stumbling back as a sizzling sound was heard. Acid or some kind of dangerous poison, she realized. She glanced at how much damage it did and grimaced, she couldn't take more than a few direct hits from that before her suit destabilized. She glanced the large eyes the spider had and began firing a burst of shots at them, but Widow simply closed them and let its exoskeleton protect them.

Damn... How am I supposed to damage it?

That was when she noticed the Pirate Pod behind Widow, she remembered Fluttershy's words, and put the pieces together.

If I destroy the Pod, maybe that'll calm it down and it won't be so aggressive... It's a long shot but it's my only chance! and if I don't stop these things, they'll overrun the whole forest and possibly beyond it...

Suddenly, Widow cringed, bringing its legs as close to its body as possible.

Uh oh... here it comes!

Widow gave a series of clicks and then, in a blur, launched itself at the pegasus. Ditzy jumped forward and quickly curled herself in, changing into her Morph Ball. Widow, who didn't account for the change in mass, missed Ditzy and sailed past her, crashing into the ground and smashing into several trees. Ditzy quickly reformed herself and scanned the Pod, hoping to find a weakness in its structure.

Mechanoid: Modified AX12 Escape Pod

Pod designed to enter a planet's atmosphere and landing

Very sturdy build, however engines are powered by volatile compressed energy crystals

Fuel lines vulnerable to bombs when armour is shot off

Destruction of a fuel line may destabilize and destroy the Pod

Ditzy managed to find an armoured fuel line and fired several shots before charging up her Power Beam and firing, destroying the armour and revealing what looked like a blue/purple electricity running through a glass pipe, there was a small part where the electricity traveled freely, just wide enough for a Morph Ball to fit into... There was an angry hiss, and Ditzy turned to see Widow whirl around and jump over her, standing between the pegasus and the Pod.

Widow then suddenly stood up, bringing four of its legs as high into the air as it could, before giving out a series of loud clicks and a high-pitched scream that nearly made Ditzy’s eardrums burst. When Ditzy recovered from the scream, Widow slammed her legs back into the ground, clicking almost passively as it stepped back a little. Then, Ditzy heard more clicks and hisses behind her, and turned to see an Adult Gigas Spider along with several Young approaching her, Widow had called for help. One of the Young spiders jumped at her and Ditzy side-stepped, countering with a charged Power shot, before targeting another Young and firing a flurry of shots, quickly taking it down. The armoured pegasus risked a glance back at Widow, and was thankful she did, the giant spider launched another gob of acid. Ditzy backflipped, avoiding the deadly projectile, and landed on top of the Adult Gigas, who hissed in surprise and tried to shake her off. Ditzy held on though, charging up her Beam and firing it point blank into its face, blowing it apart. The spider collapsed, but a Young spider saw an opportunity to strike at her, and lunged. Ditzy stumbled back with a pained grunt, before taking down the spider, she avoided another attack from the last Young spider and fired a burst of shots, killing it.

When they were all taken down, Widow clicked and hissed aggressively before taking a few steps toward the pegasus, challenging her once again. Ditzy fired more shots at the giant creature, hoping to aggravate it and provoke it into leaving the Pod open for further attack. Widow soon brought its legs closer, cringing for its lunge attack as Ditzy charged up her Beam, her face scrunched up in concentration, if she was even a second off...

Again, the same series of clicks as before, then it jumped at her. At that moment, Ditzy fired the shot at Widow’s eyes, before morphing into her ball. Her gamble worked as the bright orb slammed into one of Widow’s open eyes, not expecting the sudden attack. Blinded, Widow made no attempt to catch Ditzy as it smashed into the trees, howling in pain. Ditzy continued on her morph ball to the open, exposed Fuel Line, she hesitated at the shot of electricity moving through it, before plunging in.

Electricity and pain coursed through Ditzy’s energy form, but her suit wasn’t losing energy. Deploying several bombs, she began to roll out when the first bomb went off, creating an explosion that sent the Morph Ball flying. Upon landing on the ground, Ditzy reformed and looked at the exploding Pod, her Beam aimed at it reflexively. There was a series of explosions, before it finally blew apart, leaving only the weak crater that stood just over the Gigas Nest.

A series of hisses caught Ditzy’s attention as she turned to see another Adult Gigas and several Young approaching. Then turned to the other side to see 2 more Adults and roughly a dozen Young. Ditzy charged up her Beam but knew she was heavily outmatched and surrounded. It would only be a matter of time before they overwhelmed her-

A loud hiss rang behind Ditzy and, immediately, the other spiders stopped where they were and were very quiet, watching the armoured Pegasus closely. Ditzy slowly turned to see Widow recovered, though one of her eyes were closed, and looking at the crater. Then, it walked over Ditzy, giving her a sense at how large it was, to the crater where the Pod once was. It turned to its young, and gave a series of clicks, the other spiders clicked in return, before making their way to the hole that Widow emerged from. Widow then looked straight at Ditzy, sending chills up her spine, before giving a non-threatening hiss. Almost like it was saying thank you...

The giant spider then spat out a smaller green orb of sticky fluid that landed in front of Ditzy, who raised an eyebrow at it. The green liquid melted away, revealing a bright blue glowing orb that floated in the air. Widow then lowered itself carefully into the hole, making sure not to make it bigger, as more Young and Adult Gigas Spiders made their way from across the Everfree Forest to return to their nest and hibernate once again. Ditzy was about to scan the orb, when it suddenly lifted itself up higher and slammed itself into Ditzy’s suit.

She felt no impact and felt a sudden burst of energy as her heart began pounding from the sudden boost. Every part of her went into overdrive briefly, her breathing, her thinking patterns, everything. As quickly as the feeling appeared, it vanished, leaving Ditzy wide-eyed, she had felt this before, many times. A pop-up appeared over her HUD.

Spider Ball Repaired

Ditzy blinked, and checked her suit statistics. Sure enough, her Spider Ball mode no longer said decayed. Immediately, her mind began to ask how on earth Widow had done that, but she quickly brought them under control. Ridley was still out there, and she needed to find a way to the castle. That was when she remembered her calculation of how far she’d make the jump, not enough to get across the chasm, but enough to make it to the rock wall, and now with her Spider Ball repaired... It was risky, but it was worth a shot.

Ditzy passed more Gigas Spiders as she backtracked through the forest, but they ignored her as they returned, and a few were even pulling down and consuming the webbing that they had set up earlier and releasing the other creatures caught and wrapped in their webs. What happened to the bodies of the ones she killed, Ditzy didn’t know. Then, she realized that their aggressive behaviour was due to their Queen feeling threatened somehow from the Pirate Pod that Ridley arrived in, and that they weren’t all that malicious, despite their appearance. She realized that, once more, she killed innocents, nevermind the fact that they attacked first or that they were wild animals. They were intelligent, Ditzy could tell that much just through Widow’s actions.

Again, the pangs of guilt returned, she should never have reactivated her suit, she should have let the rest of it die from lack of use. The longer she had her suit on, the more people were going to be killed, either by or for her.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she found herself back at the chasm, a loud burst of thunder boomed just overhead, it wouldn’t be long before the storm began. She looked over the chasm again and took a few steps back, she’d have to time it just right. Going into a gallop, Ditzy launched herself over the edge, flapping as hard she could and trying to get every inch of air as possible. She began to fall too soon, and quickly formed into her Morph Ball, which now glowed green. The ball slammed into the rock wall, a few pieces crumbling off and falling into the fog below, but the ball remained where it was, stuck to the rocky cliff. Ditzy breathed a mental sigh of relief and began to roll up the side, making her way to the top. When she did, she immediately reformed, and slowly walked into the castle, and where she fought Ridley.

Ridley was gone, there was no sign of it anywhere. Ditzy saw the stone pile she had buried him in earlier, now blown apart. But Ridley was gone now, probably fled the moment it regained its strength. But there was a small puddle of dried liquid that Ditzy didn’t recognize, but quickly figured out what it was.

Blood...

...and there was a small trail of it that led out of the castle. Ditzy followed, finding herself out of the castle again, but into a different part of the forest. Even without the blood trial, Ditzy could’ve tracked the Pirate down. Ridley, possibly in its weakened state, was careless, smashing through the foliage and anything that stood in its way. Ditzy smiled, it looked like Ridley was afraid, she hoped it was, being afraid of her was the least it deserved and she planned on showing Ridley that it was right to fear her.

She checked the status of her repairing Plasma Beam. 65% percent... She had to find a way to hasten its speed, or find another way to attack Ridley. But, perhaps, with Ridley bleeding, it would be easy to find a way to harm it. She soon found a small pile of Navitas flowers and quickly regenerated herself, before coming to a clearing, where she saw the Pirate huddled over something.

It looks like I’m going to have to find another way other than the Plasma Beam...

Again thunder boomed as a sickening sound came to Ditzy’s ears. The sound of bones being snapped and meat being ripped up. Ridley was feasting on something. Ditzy took a step forward and raised her Power Beam, charging it up. The sound caught Ridley’s attention and it turned, its beak covered and dripping with the blood of its prey. Slowly, the Pirate turned around, throwing aside the half-eaten corpse of a some poor critter to have fallen in its clutches. Ridley wasn’t bleeding anymore, the flesh of the animal it had consumed healing it, much like how it consumed Ditzy’s parents and everyone on K-2L in order for it to survive.

A surge of anger came over Ditzy as she fired her Beam at the Pirate, who avoided the blow and screamed in reply, flaring its wings in challenge, Ditzy did the same as she stared her long-time opponent down. Then, Ridley raised a claw, his wings spread wide. Ditzy realized what it was about to do, and jumped to the side, avoiding Ridley’s charge, and fired a shot at its tail just as it swung to strike her. She knew all of her opponent’s tactics. But with her weakened, she was unable to damage Ridley, but did it know that?

Ditzy began charging up her Beam, and Ridley turned and fired a burst of flame at her. The armoured pegasus jumped back to avoid the attack and fired, hoping Ridley would try to avoid it. She smiled as the Pirate did just that, it did not know that she could not harm him. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as Ridley howled and charged again, Ditzy avoiding it with ease.

“Tell me Ridley...” She began, though she had never spoken to Ridley in combat, she decided to see if Ridley did fear her and, if so, play on it, maybe hold it off and keep it distracted until her Plasma Beam was repaired. Ridley flew up close and swung its claws, Ditzy avoiding them all, until she jumped back and fired another charged shot, making it a near-miss on purpose in case Ridley didn’t dodge in time.

“...How many times will I have to kill you before you finally get the bright idea to stay dead!?”

Ridley howled in reply and fired another ball of flame, this time Ditzy only stepped back far enough to avoid the direct blast, when the flames hit, she stepped back onto the burning ground amongst the flames, her Varia suit protecting her from the intense temperatures. The sight that Ridley saw was terrifying as the armoured pegasus stood amongst the flames, the green faceless visor staring at the Pirate.

“You know there’s only one way for this to end...” Ditzy said, seeing something she’d thought she would never see in the Pirate’s glowing orange eyes... Fear. This... Ditzy realized with a growing sneer on her face. This is the revenge I have been waiting for... She realized it was never enough to have killed her parents’ murderer over and over again, but to make it realize what it had inadvertently help create. And make it terrified of her.

Ridley screamed again, trying to drive the fear back to Ditzy, but it failed completely. The pegasus took a step forward as the flames died down.

“...Do us both a favour and just let yourself die... and stay dead.”

Then, without warning, Ridley flared its wings open, and flew up into the storm clouds, which thundered. Ditzy gritted her teeth in anger, she was not done yet, and she needed to make sure it didn’t live to harm another living again. The lightning flashed overhead, which gave Ditzy an idea. From that moment on, she didn’t care if all the progress in her Plasma Beam was lost, her suit dissolved and she opened her wings as wide as possible, before taking off after her prey.

Ridley glanced down and saw the grey pegasus flying after it, seeing Ditzy now defenseless, it fired a ball of flame at her, which she easily maneuvered around it and flew past the Pirate. Ridley screamed and flew after her as she dove into the thick of the storm clouds as thunder boomed and rain began to fall. Ridley tore its way through the clouds before stopping in the air, looking around for the pegasus. Even though its eyes helped it see in dark areas, it was nearly pitch black and hard for it to see. There was a flash of lightning, briefly illuminating the clouds, and revealing a grey pegasus as she charged and rammed Ridley in the back, sending the Pirate falling into a dark cloud that slowly revolved around from the pegasus’ handiwork. Then, Ditzy flew and slammed both of her forehooves into the cloud, causing electrical discharges to be released prematurely, shocking Ridley as it writhed in pain as electricity coursed through its body, howling.

The Pirate flared its wings suddenly, blowing the cloud away and firing a ball of flame, lighting the area briefly before it was swallowed up by the clouds, Ridley catching a brief glimpse of a blond tail vanishing into the clouds. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed around as the Pirate hung in the air, looking around for Ditzy, who glared from above, a fresh cloud filled with electricity hovering over the Pirate. With a single pound of her hooves, a massive bolt struck Ridley, shocking it as it howled from the blow once more. Ridley faltered in its flight, but a strong flap from its smoking wings kept it in the air and it glanced up and flew after the pegasus, who retreated into the clouds. But the enraged Ridley pursued without hesitation, expecting to keep following her. It was surprised when it saw Ditzy return, charging it and smacking it in its beak, and flying on. Dazed from the blow, it spun around, only to be struck in the beak again as Ditzy pulled the same maneuver. Ridley shook its head as it stopped, turned and fired another ball of flame, only to see Ditzy fly around it and stop in the air, glaring at her opponent.

For a moment, the two hung where they were among the thundering clouds, staring at each other, before Ridley screamed and charged. Ditzy stayed where she was, watching as it flew closer and closer. There were three ways Ridley could attack, and three ways she could counter and strike another blow at it. Just as Ridley got closer, it fired another burst of flame, and Ditzy smiled. This was one of the ways she had thought. Ditzy waited until just before the ball struck her before she dived under and and made an uppercut maneuver, striking the surprised Pirate, before flying up to another cloud. Ridley glanced up and flew after her, easily catching up to her, before Ditzy suddenly stopped and flew past Ridley again, it spun to chase after her, but was soon struck by another bolt of lightning. Screaming in rage and pain, Ridley continued to pursue Ditzy.

Although Ridley was stronger and faster, Ditzy was far more agile and knew from her weathering experience where to avoid the upcoming lightning bolts, and where to send the hapless Ridley. Soon Ditzy found an area that may be strong enough to finish it off, and flew towards two storm clouds that were about to collide. Ridley, too angry to think, pursued her relentlessly, until Ditzy disappeared into one of them. Ridley stopped and blew a ball of flame into it, but the cloud simply swallowed it up. Angered, Ridley screamed and sent more fireballs into the cloud, hoping to hit Ditzy, who was already above Ridley with a large cloud. This time she waited, waiting for the perfect moment. She could feel the buildup of electricity within the two giant clouds as they were about to launch bolts of lightning. Just when she felt they would release, she slammed her hooves down on the cloud she had.

At that moment, Ridley was struck by three bolts of lightning simultaneously. It screamed as the electricity coursed through its body, boiling its blood, and causing parts of its body to explode, one of its wings fell apart and, once the bolts stopped, Ridley fell, screaming. The Pirate spun in the air, trying to gain flight with its one remaining wing, but it was useless, and it fell through the layer of storm clouds, falling with the heavy rain, and crashing into muddy ground in the Everfree Forest. For a moment, Ridley was still, half buried in mud, before it stirred with a groan. It had little strength and the mud felt incredibly strong, keeping it down. It slowly lifted a burnt clawed hand, trying to move something. Then, it heard something land behind it, and turned to see, in horror, Ditzy reforming her suit around her.

All it saw in the darkness and heavy rainfall was the opaque green visor and the black outline of her suit. It watched, shaking slightly as Ditzy approached it, not slowed down by the mud at all. That was when she received a notification from her suit.

Plasma Beam repaired.

Ditzy smiled and her arm cannon flashed, changing slightly into the Plasma Beam. She powered up her weapon, and a bright orb began to glow, all the raindrops that came close to it turned to steam, causing a small cloud to form and wave around it. She walked up to the downed Pirate, who tried howling but was too weak, tried to move away from her but was too weak. Tried anything and everything but was too weak.

“You lose. Again...” Ditzy said, bringing the beam to Ridley’s beak. “Let me give you a warning. All the times I’ve been beaten you, all the times you died from my weapons, all the pain you experienced from me, even this moment, will be nothing compared to what I’ll do to you if you do anything to my daughter again. So when you do come back, do the smart thing...”

With that, she fired, blowing Ridley apart as lightning flashed, all the remained was a burning husk, half-melted and smoking.

“...and die...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinky shivered in the rain as a soldier offered her a very warm blanket, she shakily took it and continued staring out into the foliage, wondering if her mother was alright. There was a sound of a snapping twig and several soldiers and the Captain raised their weapons while a nearby soldier flared his wings over the little filly, who watched wide-eyed at the direction the sound came from. There was more rustling and everyone tensed, and breathed a sigh of relief as they saw a grey pegasus emerge, her mane soaked. She panted heavily and her eyes were half-closed, she looked exhausted, but otherwise alright.

Without warning, Dinky abandoned the blanket, and rushed towards her mother, jumping on her neck and hugging her tightly. Ditzy immediately returned the hug, bringing her daughter as close to her as possible, where they remained for a moment in the rain, briefly. Ditzy opened her eyes and looked at the Captain, with a questioning look on his face.

Is it done? his eyes asked. Ditzy slowly nodded in answer, she looked down and saw her daughter now had a small bandage around her head.

“I had one of the medics look her over,” Nathaniel explained. “She’ll be just fine.”

Ditzy nodded and looked her daughter in the eyes, and smiled softly. “Let’s go home.”

Teary-eyed, Dinky nodded and let her mother put her on her back. Nathaniel caustiously extended a hoof, with a small metallic object around it.

“What’s this?” the Pegasus asked suspiciously.

“It’s a communications device, connected to a secured channel to the ship. So that you or I can contact each other if one of us needs anything.”

Ditzy was too tired to argue, and simply took the object the Captain offered her.

“Thanks for looking after her,” she said before taking off and flying towards Ponyville.

The flight back was silent and slow. When they arrived at their home, Ditzy immediately began to tuck her daughter into bed and kissed her goodnight. But as she stood up to leave, her daughter grabbed her again.

“Please, Mom?” She looked at her with pleading eyes. “Can you stay with me for tonight?”

Slowly, Ditzy nodded, knowing what her daughter had gone through over the night, and carefully climbed into the bed with her. It was a little cramped, but doable. Ditzy placed a wing over daughter, acting as a second blanket and a comforting thought, silently telling her daughter that she was here and was going anywhere. Dinky closed her eyes and immediately began breathing calmly and deeply. She smiled and realized how much comfortable she felt in her daughter’s presence after what she had done. Slowly, her eyes closed as she drifted off into the most peaceful sleep she had in 11 years...