As Spike and Rainbow stepped out to prepare for their race, Twilight stepped up to Samus. "I...I suppose I should make more formal introductions," she pointed out. "First contact and all."
"Please don't," Samus replied. "Spike's my son, just as he's yours. That makes us family. Please don't make it awkward by letting our being from different planets get in the way."
Applejack chuckled. "I like the way ya think, Miss Samus," she said. She doffed her hat. "Name's Applejack. Ah run Sweet Apple Acres, the family farm. Spike's a dear friend o' the family."
"Just Samus," the armored bounty hunter replied. "I don't put much stock in formality."
"Well, my name is Rarity," Rarity introduced herself. "I run the local fashion boutique. And I must say, your armor...it's quite delightful. However did you get it to look so smashing?" She reached out to touch one of the spikes on the arm.
"Don't touch," Samus said quickly, pulling back. "Those are...actually a part of me."
Fluttershy gasped. "Oh my goodness! How did that happen?"
Before Samus could speak, Pinkie bounced up. "No spoilers!" she shouted out. "I wanna hear the story in order!"
That brought scattered laughs from everyone. "I think you have a valid point," Samus agreed. "It wouldn't be good to give you details out of order. It would just confuse things. Don't worry, you'll hear about it in time."
"Well, I know you said you can't take your armor off until you adjust to the lower gravity," Twilight pointed out. "But is there anything we can do to help you get comfortable? Maybe a chair sized to your dimensions, or-"
"Actually," Samus interrupted, "since I can't eat with my armor on, anyway..." Walking over to a nearby wall decoration, she removed a large spherical crystal from It's place in a claw like setting, curled into Morph Ball, and bounced into the setting. "This is actually quite comfy," she said calmly. "Feels a lot like resting in the hands of a Chozo Statue..."
"...more spoilers?" Twilight asked.
"Not really," Samus replied. "The Chozo were a race of bird like space travelers. They knew more about the universe than nearly any other species in the cosmos."
"Were?" Pinkie asked curiously.
"After they'd reached a certain point in development, a large portion discarded their physical bodies, and now explore the spirit plane and others," Samus explained. "However, on every world they had a presence, they left behind statues - carvings of stone, machine, and spirit - that carry their legacy and watch over the worlds, their anchors to this dimension. Curled up in Morph Ball in the hands of a Chozo Statue..." She sighed nostalgically. "It's like getting a hug from Old Bird or one of my other caretakers."
Flapping up to the decoration, Fluttershy hugged Samus.
"...this is pretty nice too," Samus murmured.
"So...can the Chozo spirits eat when they manifest?" Pinkie asked. "Do they like cupcakes?"
Samus was silent for a time. "Honestly, I have no idea," she replied at last as Fluttershy lifted her down to be held in her wing. "Next time I meet with one, I'll ask-"
"Never mind, they do!" Pinkie said happily.
Samus froze. "Wait, what?"
After a time of racing across the sky, Rainbow Dash pulled back to where Spike was trailing behind her. "Come on, Spike!" she complained. "Samus said you were awesome in the air! This can't be the best you can do! I'm not even pushing myself and I'm leaving you in my dust."
Spike grinned as he flapped steadily through the air after Rainbow. "This is as fast as I can go without disengaging my armor," he explained. "And I won't do that except in a combat situation, and only then if I have to to keep others safe."
"Aw, come on!" Rainbow complained.
"I have my reasons, Rainbow," Spike countered firmly.
Rainbow harrumphed, crossing her forelegs. "They'd better be good ones," she grumbled.
"Besides, I'm more an endurance and power flyer than a speed one," Spike explained.
"Really?" Rainbow asked. "You think you can outlast me?"
Spike smirked. "Easily."
"We'll see!" Rainbow grinned, powering on.
As the sun started to lower over the horizon, Rainbow's wings started to ache. Before long, she knew she would have to rest on a cloud...or the ground, as they were over the Badlands to the southeast of Appleoosa, and there wasn't a cloud in sight.
Spike, on the other hand, continued his steady sky eating pace, his wings flapping regularly without any sign of tiring. "You can take a break if you want, Rainbow," Spike pointed out. "You're still the fastest in Equestria. You never claimed to be a marathoner."
Rainbow gasped for breath as her wings started to give out. She pulled to a halt and hovered. "Guess you're right," she admitted. "But I still wanna see what you mean by a power flyer."
Spike glanced around, then pointed. "See that hill?" he asked.
Rainbow looked where he was pointing. "Actually, I think that's more of a plat-"
Spike dove.
Rainbow's eyes popped as she saw him shoot towards the ground like a bolt of lightning, wings folded tight to his side as he aimed for a spot almost directly in front of the plateau. At seemingly the last possible moment, he flared his wings and turned his dive into forward momentum, smashing straight through the plateau without slowing, causing the rock formation to collapse into rubble behind him as he swooped back up into the air, flapping his wings steadily as he started to lose momentum as he returned to the air.
Rainbow's jaw hung low. "Dude..."
Spike smirked. "That's a power flyer," he said smugly.
Rainbow managed to get her jaw up. "L-let's find somewhere to relax for a bit," she commented. "I could use a drink, and I need to rest my wings before we head back to Ponyville."
Green lights played over the eyeshield of Spike's face plate as he scanned their surroundings. "There's a river pretty close by that way," he points out. "Some gem deposits further down the river so I can have a snack, too. Come on." He turned to lead the way.
"How do you know that?" Rainbow asked. "You been here before?"
Spike tapped the face plate. "Sensors in the helm," he explained. "Pretty effective ones, too."
Shrugging, Rainbow followed.
Eventually, they arrived at the river Spike had detected and spiraled in for landing. "Take a drink," Spike said calmly. "I'm gonna dig up some of those gems." He dove into the river and swam downstream.
Shrugging, Rainbow bent over the river for a drink. The water was cool and clear, and quite refreshing.
"Well, well, well," a familiar voice spoke up, causing her to sit up in surprise and a little fear. Spinning around, she caught sight of a face she hoped she'd never see again. "What have we here? One of those namby pamby ponies!"
"G-Garble!" Rainbow snap, fear warring with anger. "Back off! You don't know who you're messing with!"
"Oh, I think we do," Garble hissed as his purple and brown cronies stepped up on either side. "A weak little pony on our turf again...only this time, she's got no unicorn to teleport her to safety."
Rainbow backed up, flapping her wings to prepare for flight, but winced as her right wing spasmed, the muscles overworked.
Garble smirked as he stepped forward. "Whatsa matter?" he asked cruelly. He brought his foot down on her left wing. "Too worn out to fly?"
Rainbow winced, then cried out in pain as a pop informed her that her wing had just been dislocated. Cruel laughter from her tormentors greeted her pained cries.
"Back off." That voice was Spike's, but it wasn't how Rainbow remembered it, either from before he went missing or since he came back. There was none of the playfulness or kind nature that characterized the young dragon. Only pure, unadulterated malice.
Garble turned, stepping off Rainbow's wing. "Oh look, it's the wannabe dragon all grown up in pony armor!" He and his cronies laughed. "Need your pony armor to feel tough? Well..." He leaned over Spike menacingly. "Whatcha gonna do if I don-hurk!"
Rainbow's eyes popped. She could have sworn she saw an imprint of Spike's fist expand through Garble's back like in those action anime Scootaloo liked so much. Garble toppled over, coughing up blood as Spike drew his fist back. "Last warning," he said, his voice more menacing than before. "Next time, I use my claws."
Garble growled as he pushed himself to all fours. "Get him!" he barked as he lunged for Spike. His cohorts backed him.
"Shi'cho-kra!(1)" Spike barked. His armor dimmed, and a hum Rainbow wasn't even aware she was hearing ceased. Spike vanished before her eyes.
"What the-?" Garble began, only to be cut off by a tail to the face that embedded him in the side of a nearby plateau.
His two cronies turned to go to him, only to be caught around their throats by two purple foreclaws. Spike looked them right in the eyes, fury burning green in his own, the snarl on his face transforming a normal gentle drake into a visage of death. He then shot up into the air, an energy contrail trailing behind him as he shot all the way into the outer atmosphere of the planet in seconds. As soon as he saw the dragons in his grip starting to lose their breath, he growled deep in his throat before diving. Three seconds later, he slammed the two dragons into Garble just as the red dragon started to get to his claws again. The force of the impact drove all three dragons ten feet into the ground, leaving a crater around them like a meteorite impact.
Spike flipped back, landing on all fours. Opening his mouth, a stream of green that was too focused and intense to be called flame anymore erupted, searing all three dragons and melting a tunnel through the plateau behind them, fusing the rock beneath into magma for hundreds of feet past.
Had they been anything other than dragons, Garble and his cronies would have been reduced to ash. As it was, none of them had any fight left.
Spike leaned down over them. "Come near my ponies again, and I'll have you for lunch!" He then lunged forward, snapping his jaws together millimeters from Garble's nose.
Garble and his cronies fled, alternately yelping like whipped dogs and crying like fillies.
Having watched all this, Rainbow could only find one way to react. "...woof."
Sighing, Spike walked back over to Rainbow. "And now you know why I don't disengage my armor unless necessary," he explained, standing over her as he leaned in with his long neck to examine her dislocated wing.
The speed of her heartbeat after what just happened, the strength of his musk after his exertion, the fact that he wasn't even breathing hard, and the heat from his body so close all combined to leave Rainbow speechless. It was only sheer force of will that kept her from swooning like the mares in Rarity's trashy romance novels.
Opening his mouth, Spike extended his hot tongue and wrapped it around the base of Rainbow's dislocated wing.
Rainbow's face turned bright red as her breath became rapid. She couldn't find words or even noises to make. Then she heard a soft click. Turning, she saw Spike withdrawing his tongue, and saw that her wing had been reset in its socket.
"Take it easy on your wings," Spike said softly, gently - almost daintily - lifting Rainbow to his back. "I'll get us back to Ponyville in a half hour or so. Just hold on tight to the back plate."
Rainbow nodded, gripping it tightly.
As Spike took to the air, the energy contrail once more trailing behind him, he smiled softly. "Say Rainbow...think we can keep this a secret? I don't think we need to worry the others about Garble and his ilk, since I dealt with them."
Rainbow chuckled. "That's for sure."
"Besides..." Spike gulped. "I'd rather not face Mom's wrath for releasing my limiters before my body adapted to the new world."
Rainbow smiled. "Sure Spike. It'll be our little secret." Leaning in, she nuzzled the spine closest to her face.
Spike blinked, a little confused by Rainbow's behavior.
(1) A Luminoth word. Roughly translates to "Unseal".
Too bro.
But thanks for the update!
A little more expressiveness from Samus but that's to be expected given the foundation. The Luminoth word was a nice little addition though... not sure why I focused on that but I really liked it nonetheless. Looking forward to next scene!
damn spike is scary
MOAR
plane
too
AWESOMENESS. UTTER PURE AWESOMENESS, Haha! I love it!!!
Nice use of DBZ: Abridged reference.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Why a Luminoth word and not a Chozo one?
Wow!
Fucking Awesome!
Keep this up, and a romance tag maybe needed.
RARITY, YOU'LL LOVE THE 'NEW' SPIKE
Rainbow dear your voice is hard on the ears, Please.
That's not all he's hard on !
Wut?
Spike!
Wut?, It's the armor!
5979783
That will become plain when the story gets to Spike getting his armor.
DOOOOOOOOOOODGE!!!!!!!!!!
Sexy.
Well, this went DBZ rather quickly.
Now all we need is AJ, and romantic comedy will ensue.
..... and my brain dove into the mental gutter over spike tongue.... I need a shower and i am not sure if it should be a cold one as well.
I'm impressed, I thought this chapter was going to be about a typical Ranbow Dash vs. other race where Rainbow was her usual cocky self.
Instead the race was only a minor part of the chapter.
Bravo Tatsurou. Bravo.
5934516
There are very few writers who can catch my attention with their story description and the list of comments. I'm tracking this and will probably add to faves once I read it.
i just hope it doesn't end becoming a shipping fic or a spike harem one
i think you meant contrail there.
5979922
I typed contrail. Stupid auto-correct and typos.
5979937
No, no.
You clearly meant control...
CHAOS...
CONTROL!
Fluttershy hugs, awesome fights and SHIPPING!
Yeah, we can see that Spike is going to get all the mares~
In other news, RANDOM ASSHOLE APPEARS!
Implying she read them in detail. Maybe she even liked them, regardless of how 'trashy' she found them.
WOOT, SPIKE IS GOING TO GIVE THE BRAT THE WELL DESERVED ASS WHOPPING HE NEEDS!!!!
I'd say babies here, just because it seems insulting to the Crusaders. But it was such an awesome butt kicking!
Is this turning into Spike/Harem of every Mane 6 besides Twilight???? Because that would be awkward as hell. I do admit my thought on the tongue around Rainbow's wing had me going, "WAIT, DON'T TELL ME HE CAN HEAL WOUNDS WITH SPIT!!!"
Oh, and did Celestia suddenly get a bunch of rocks appearing above her???? Because that would be a good way to get Luna and her to show up, she knows only Spike can flame mail stuff to her, so obviously he is back.
5980118
By "fillies", I was thinking DT and SS.
And it won't turn into Spike/Harem. At least, not in this story...
And I'm pretty sure a plume of green so intense it darkens the sky from the ground would catch Celestia's attention. Besides, Luna would have detected the arrival of Samus' ship.
I have a question. Why is Spike a wyvern in the cover art?
Woof
The first rule of living in Equestria: Never question Pinkie, doing so will lead to madness. And pain, lots and lots of pain.
5980268
Look closer. You can see three of his legs, so I'm assuming that he has a fourth. It's just that the placement of the title makes it difficult to see.
--Spade
5980118 The spit thing is probably more a numbing agent, which is actually a thing in nature. So he numbed Rainbow to the pain, then set the wing into its socket. Because doing it without the numbing in place first would have hurt a lot, too.
5980268 He's not, it's just a case of unfortunate placement for the other elements in the picture. The legs you see are his forelegs, with his hind legs semi-hidden by the title in the cover image.
5980268 Is he, or is that picture just from an odd angle with the title covering up his front and back legs?
i loved this chapter
Does this mean that Samus is also honorary family with the Apples?
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for making a good, no, AMAZING metroid story! These are so hard to find.
methinks something is up with Spike's pheromones. who knows what all his time in space and other worlds did to his body? since I know pretty much nothing about this crossed universe, I can offer no real guesses.
Too much TFS?
5980894 my words as i read this XD
This is a awesome story I can't wait for more.
*the strength of his musk*
He is a dragon, not a pony, his musk should not affect her, even if he is a human Chozo/Metroid/X? hybrid. Is different in the mirror human world, since he was human there.
Remember, shipping without a romance tag is like driving without a driver's license. It will end with me hitting you with my car.
Seriously though, cool stuff. Built-in plasma beam, go!
5981713
Equestria has cross breed species (there are donkeys, ponies, and mules, for example), and in a land of magic, musk from other species might be found to be exciting on a psychological level if not instinctive, in much the same way animal pheremones in perfume can influence human behavior.
5981907
All the crossbreeding is done with equines, so they are genetically compatible. Dragons are not even mammals, hence there is no reason why the musk would affect her, as she is not biologically compatible. Unless you plan for the Chozo to have given Spike some of Twilight DNA?
5982027
And yet reptilian pheremones are sometimes used in human perfume or cologne.
While there's no reason to assume it would effect her, there's also no reason to assume it wouldn't. Given how powerful the magic of Equestria is, it's reasonable to assume that nearly every creature who lives on the planet has some way of biologically accessing the etheric fields. Also, dragons are stated as inherently magical.
Biology might say there should be no effect, but that's assuming pheremones from inherently magical creatures in a highly charged magical environment have no magical attribute. ...that seems like a rather large assumption to make.
Spike glanced around, then pointed. "See that hill?" he asked.
Rainbow looked where he was pointing. "Actually, I think that's more of a plat-"
Oh you and your DBZ Abridged references.
I think there was a major typo
I think what Spike MEANT to say was FUS-RO-DAH!!
5982129
Hmm... Seemed like less of a FUS RO DAH more of a, 3.bp.blogspot.com/-pkBM0R9dJcU/VEMTbxaTEiI/AAAAAAAAAVw/-zbdGryoWko/s1600/Dear%2BExplosion.gif
5982290 OH i know that anime, just cant think of the name right now...