"A Great Poison burst forth into the land, clawing at life with such violence that we were ripped from our peaceful state and find ourselves wandering as shadows of the mortal forms we left behind, searching for why we are here."

-Chozo Lore

The Night. Feared and daunting, yet comforting and revered. It provides a sense of tranquility like no other when being experienced in its natural glory. Of course, a certain Lunar Princess would ensure that said natural glory would never wane, no matter where any of her subjects might be in the nation of Equestria. Each and every night, come her time to reign over the land, she personally customized the sky to a piece of brilliance and magnificence, one to be admired and drop the jaws of ponies around the nation each time they happened to gaze up into the eternal heavens… Her gift to them, one she knew they could truly appreciate from her. If there was one thing that ponies admired, it was the effort put into one's work… it rarely went unnoticed. After her banishment, it took some scouting around to see that this was indeed the truth of the matter… her subjects cared for her as much as Celestia. Princess Luna had more than made up for her past mistakes, and with their Princess of the Night back in control alongside Celestia, Equestria was prosperous once more.

So, like every night, Luna sat on a special cushion which rested on her chamber balcony. From this comfortable position, she happily gazed up to the sky at her handiwork… yet she was not even done! She had raised the moon not one hour ago and the sky was absolutely spectacular!

Let us brighten those stars over there… they shall add an exquisite effect to the mountain range overlooking Canterlot Fields.

The Lunar Alicorn did just that, her horn lightly flaring in her teal aura. The stars proceeded to brighten gradually until their light added the picturesque effect to the distant mountains that she so desired. Satisfied with her work, she grinned and moved on to another portion of her cosmic quilt. Luna was struck with an interesting idea and she smirked to herself.

There appears to be much activity in Ponyville tonight… perhaps an extra 'attraction' is in order?

With a brighter flare of her magic, Luna brought a small meteor shower over the Canterlot/Ponyville area; sending a few dozen stray meteors blazing past in a glorious display of light. Many wishes would be had tonight, that she was certain, as well as a few interesting dreams. Luna could practically sense the 'wows' from the small, few minute display, and she chuckled at that thought.

What else may I have the privilege of modifying in the sky tonight?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening and closing of her chamber doors followed by hoofsteps.

"Enjoying yourself, Lulu?" the Princess of the Sun asked with a small sense of smugness, knowing that Luna indeed enjoyed 'splurging' on the night sky whenever she was able. The Night Alicorn looked back and returned the smug but loving gaze.

"A bit much if I may be so blatantly honest," she replied, dimming a particular star and bringing out another constellation. Celestia couldn't help but look up and admire the work that her sister undoubtedly put into the sky… as always. It brightened her demeanor that much to know that Luna was finally happy with herself. Two happy Princesses ensured a stable Equestria, after all.

"Hmm… that star looks a bit bright, don't you think?" Celestia asked. Luna turned her attention towards where her sister was looking.

"Huh? I do not recall brightening that star. Allow me to rectify that immediately."

Luna brought her magic to life… but the star refused to oblige. This surprised her greatly and Celestia raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"That is… not possible…"

"Losing your touch, Luna?" Celestia asked, not resisting the chance to poke a bit of fun at her little sister. Luna colored a bit immediately, feeling the embarrassment of not having control of a simple star.

"N-No! I shall attempt once more!" she said hurriedly. Her horn lit up in her magical aura and her face shown great determination and resolve… yet the star refused to cooperate with her will. She released her 'hold,' panting and out of breath.

"How… How is this feasible?"

Celestia only furrowed her gaze and realized that the 'star' was getting… brighter.

"I'm not entirely sure that that is a star you're trying to move, Luna…"

Upon further investigation the object appeared to get even brighter as it began moving… it grew a trail and started its trek in the sky.

"That's… a meteor?" Luna asked, doubting herself and attempting to explain this uncontrollable celestial phenomenon. Celestia nodded in understanding.

"Indeed it is, and it appears it's on a collision course with the Frozen North. The cities in the area, as well as the Crystal Empire will have a bit of an extra show. Judging from this position, it does not appear to be of enormous size. Meteor strikes are uncommon, but not unheard of. Oh well," Celestia reasoned.

"But… I have no power over this object!" Luna said worriedly, witnessing the object get larger and pass over them towards the predicted destination. She noted its blue-ish hue.

"As you know, the stars and other celestial objects have their own magic. It is not unheard of for an object to be powerful enough to resist manipulation due to some oddity in the magical universe. I wouldn't worry too much. Reaching out, I can sense that it's not on any direct collision course with a city or residential area."

Luna's and Celestia's gaze followed the object as it streaked across the sky, becoming somewhat more visible, and witnessed its impact behind the mountain ranges in the distance which separated various regions of Equestria.

"I suppose you're right, sister. Very well. Get some rest, for I shall watch over the night as always," Luna commented. Celestia smiled softly and nuzzled her.

"I suppose that's in order. Thank you, Luna. Have a goodnight, and I love you!" she called out as she exited Luna's chambers.

"And likewise, I love you. Your dreams shall be pleasant tonight!" Luna called back. After her chamber doors were sealed once more, she turned her attention towards the general compass-direction of the impact. Since no emergency scrolls had been forwarded to either of the regal sisters, which would be a case of an extreme emergency, Luna shrugged and passed off the odd experience, taking off from her balcony and into the night.

And yet, some miniscule and residual thoughts plagued the back of her mind.

Space. Cold and silent; full, yet barren. It was particularly easy to go insane from lack of contact in the eternal void of nigh blackness. Yet nonetheless, it provided an odd sense of peace for the sole occupant of the Hunter Class gunship. Samus Aran sat back and reclined lazily in her chair… thinking. She was out of her Varia Suit, not that it really mattered since having an 'exoskeleton,' for lack of better words for almost her entire life ensured that she was more than used to the extension of herself.

Nevertheless, there she lay back, clad in only her blue and black skin-tight Zero Suit; letting her flowing blonde hair lay limp and untamed, not in its usual ponytail fashion. Her blue eyes bore the thousand-yard stare, showing clearly that she was troubled. She punctuated this with an audible sigh. The Galactic Federation had asked her to stand by after the Aether Incident, so as she waited for further transmission, all she could do is really… think.

Aether… I'm glad it's over…

As a soldier through and through who worked for the Federation proper as well as currently being a Bounty Hunter (ironically being hired by the Federation, so still working for them), Samus had seen more than her fair share of… forgive the use of crass language but, 'weird shit.' It only seemed as if every mission became progressively worse and worse. From her return to Zebes to destroy the Metroids, to Tallon IV, and then to Aether, it had all taken its toll on the still young and beautiful girl.

Aether takes the cake… and yet I can feel it's not over. Another change of scenery will trump it as usual.

Either way, this was her life… her choice and destiny bestowed upon her by the 'Bird People' (and guardians), the Chozo: Protector of the Galaxy. And so she waited… and had been waiting for almost a week, just drifting in space. The Federation had loosely shown that these incidents: Tallon IV, Aether, and whatever else undoubtedly came next, were correlated with a meteor strike… but not just any meteor strike. These meteors, 'infected' with the vile Poison known as Phazon, traveled to almost planned planets, traveling great distances by rupturing space-time and creating an artificial wormhole. The Federation was attempting to locate the next one.

Samus groaned to herself and decided to lie down and catch some shut-eye. It had been a long day… whatever the concept of a 'day' was in open space, and she decided it was best to rest up.

But of course, things don't always go as planned, and she had to be disturbed after an hour of uneasy sleep.

"Incoming Transmission"

Her computer came to life and notified her that the ship received a message for her. Samus groaned once more in disapproval but voiced her command anyway:

"Display on the central monitor… ugh" she replied out loud, sitting up and rubbing her eyes from what little sleep they decided to scrape. Aether had really taken a lot out of her, and she was still feeling the fatigue from the horrors of that damned planet.

At least the Luminoth are rebuilding with Federation help.

Samus shook her musings out of her head and read the transmission on the screen:

[Galactic Federation High Command]

Artificial slip-space rupture has been detected in the 51st quadrant of Federation Space directly over Planet VK109H, designation: Equis. Meteor impact on planet's surface has been confirmed. Be aware that Equis has not been explored, yet just falls under Federation purview.

"Just like Tallon IV and Aether. What a surprise there…" she sarcastically thought out loud.

Land on the planet and establish a foothold. Be vigilant against any Space Pirate attempts to also track and colonize the impact area, as the meteor has been studied and confirmed to be of Phazon composition. If sapient life exists on the planet, render any and all assistance necessary. Full federation resources will be at your call; use your greatest judgment.

[End Transmission]

Samus nodded to herself in acknowledgement and sighed once more. After typing a confirmation back to Command, she set her ship on auto-pilot with coordinates to this planet of Equis.

Coordinates set. Autopilot engaged… now, some sleep is in order.

With that, Samus's ship sped off into space towards her intended destination.

*One week later*

"Another one?!" Celestia almost shouted in a frantic manner. She stood in the throne room, speaking privately with a government official.

"I'm afraid so, Princess. We've received almost identical reports of the spreading of this… blue-like material that emanated out of the meteor impact site. It's slow but it's prominent, and ponies that have become exposed to it have a wide variety of effects. Some are just sickness due to exposure; others are more… violent," the Chief Medical Officer of the Equestrian Ministry of Health. Celestia furrowed her brow in worry. The unicorn official brushed his white lab coat and adjusted his glasses with his magic.

"Violent?"

"Regrettably so, your Highness. Some ponies have gone insane from the sickness. Others who have had more extensive contact have been virally corrupted by unknown means. In more generous cases, the patients have died from the exposures… others were not so fortunate. What I mean is that many have undergone mutations as a result of the corruption. And all this potentially may happen within seconds after direct contact with the material."

This was very troubling news for the Solar Princess. The casualties from this 'exposure' stood at just shy of a hundred ponies and most likely rising… those were the ones that were 'beyond saving.'

She pursed her lips and sighed once more.

"I understand, Doctor. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Yes, Princess. This… poison is greatly affecting the ecosystem and it's only getting worse!" the CMO exclaimed.

"And you're positive that this directly correlates to the meteor strike?" Celestia asked.

"I have little doubt in my mind, your majesty. Water supplies have been contaminated and we are starting to see large amounts of deaths and mutations in the flora and fauna."

"Is there any way we can contain this?"

"Magic works when transporting the Poison itself or corrupted material and ponies, but it requires an enormous amount of casted magic and it risks exposure to cleanup crews. We simply do not have the material necessary to protect us from this biohazard in order to do an effective containment," he explained.

"Very well, Doctor. Do what you must to help contain or slow down the spread of this Poison. Luna and I have been looking into our magical archives for information regarding this unknown material. Either way, this will not stop unless that meteor is removed. We'll tackle one problem at a time, but for now, go ahead and issue a national emergency and initiate an evacuation of all the towns nearest to the impact site and quarantine certain parts of major cities. I'll inform the Crystal Empire of the danger. Thank you for the information," Celestia said in a defeated manner. The CMO gave a curt bow and exited the throne room.

Celestia was ready to collapse on the spot. It had been a week since the impact of the strange meteor and things have gone to Tartarus. It was a wonder that full blown pandemonium had not broken out yet.

Her thoughts were disturbed when she arrived at the Archives. She found Luna already up and researching… she had not rested much since incidents have been reported. It showed, since recent night skies were rather drab. Celestia found Luna levitating and scanning several books at once, an exhausted and panicked expression etched into her face. Countless other tomes and books lay strewn around her. When Celestia was about to say something, Luna tossed a large tome back over her shoulder in a desperate fashion and simply moved on to the next.

"Luna…"

"I cannot find a single entry!" Luna shouted, tossing the rest of the books and scrolls in random directions before collapsing on her side in defeat. Celestia sat down beside her and nuzzled her in a comforting manner.

"It's alright, Luna… you need to get some rest. You've been at this for days."

"That is where you are wrong, sister. This is not 'alright' even in the least sense of the word. Our subjects are in enormous danger! This world is in enormous danger!" Luna countered, clearly angry with not being able to come up with anything on the subject matter at hand. She was starting to feel a bit… useless. She had bouts of depression and feelings of uselessness ever since her return from banishment.

"I know, Luna. But you mustn't kill yourself over this… for I need you more than ever in this troubling time," Celestia cooed, draping a wing over her sister's prone form.

Luna sighed in contentment within her sister's embrace.

"And I shall be here, for I am going nowhere… even if you banish me once more," she quipped. Celestia winced a bit at the implication but her features softened as fast as they hardened.

"I know, and I'm sure I couldn't keep you away even if I wanted to. Right now though, I require your aid. We need to have an audience with the—wait… what is that?" Celestia cut herself off, motioning out the large glass window which gave a perfect view of the land below the mountain and the Everfree forest.

Luna shifted her body to a sitting position on her rump and turned her head to where Celestia was looking, both of them finding a flying object of some sorts coming from the sky and gingerly going below the Everfree Forest's canopy line… presumably landing.

"I believe something just… landed in the Everfree. Did we schedule any Chariots? Or are there any Guard Training Regiments today for that location?" Luna asked, thinking out loud. Celestia shook her head.

"Not that I'm aware of, but I have a feeling that the meteor strike and this object landing in the forest are directly correlated."

"What makes you proclaim that assumption, Sister?" Luna asked, looking up and turning her attention to Celestia.

"Call it a mare's intuition… and thousands of years of experience in coincidences… and being a magic adept," she reasoned with a small chuckle. Luna returned the gesture as well.

"Well, if this anomaly is connected with the meteor and consequently this Poison, perhaps we will find some answers?"

Celestia nodded lightly.

"Hopefully. If that is to be the case, inaction is not a luxury we can afford." The Solar Alicorn concluded. Luna only held her gaze on her sister's face, which was staring towards the Forest tens of miles in the distance. Celestia then continued:

"I'll send a letter addressed to Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements to be vigilant and to examine this occurrence immediately. I'd trust no other at this point."

"Very well, and I shall inform the Guard to stand by and be ready to intervene at moments notice," Luna said resolutely, finally getting some clear direction in her head.

"You do that. And worry not, Lulu. As with over a thousand years of our combined and singular rule, even the worst problems can be worked out. This shall be no different," Celestia said, nuzzling her little sister once more.

"Approaching Destination"

Samus was stirred from her slumber by her ship's computer. She groaned and sat up, taking a look out of the cockpit and confirming that the lush-looking planet of Equis was indeed in sight… in fact taking up the whole window pane. She ran her fingers through her hair once and sat down in the pilot's seat, taking over the controls once more and disengaging the autopilot.

These planets always look so much more majestic from space… yet always a damn hellhole on the ground.

She keyed in a few commands on the ship as she braced for penetration into the atmosphere.

Then again, I'm sure an Omega Pirate would look majestic from space as well.

Her orange metal-plated ship brilliantly reflected light on the sunny day. As she closed in on the ground, Samus picked a suitable landing point in a very small clearing in an enormous forest. As she approached, she began to note several distinct landmarks, notably the small town that was northward, as well as a large citadel-esque structure embedded in the side of a mountain.

Sapient and Civilized life on the planet. I'll send a report to the Federation.

Samus was oddly relieved at the sign of life, but the next question plagued her: what kind of life? She was no stranger to other sapient beings outside of humanity, especially since her line of work found her within the ranks and presence of other creatures that weren't human. What she knew for certain was that this was not a Space Pirate outpost.

Not yet at least.

I'll explore the surrounding area and determine the best way to reveal my presence to the town… and naturally I'll have to meet with leaders.

Samus was mentally running over what had to be done in her head in order to quickly contain the spread of Phazon with utmost precision and least amount of lives lost. Her thoughts were jarred when her ship flew below the forest canopy and the under-ship landing gear touched down. Samus spared a few glances outside of the cockpit, examining the thick lushness of the forest which was undoubtedly teeming with life… some most likely more hostile than docile. The fun part was finding out which was which.

All part of the job, I suppose. Now, I guess it's time to get dressed for work.

She gingerly got up from the pilot's seat and walked to the rear of her ship which housed a circular plate on the floor surrounded by other forms of equipment. Standing in the middle of it and after tying up her hair in a ponytail with a red band, she keyed in a few commands on the console, bringing everything to life. Samus spread her legs slightly and held her arms out as a small anti-gravity field suspended her about a foot in the air. Satisfied that everything was running its natural course, she sighed in contentment and closed her eyes, putting her full trust in the mechanics of what was essentially her home.

Two mechanical arms combined orange and yellow armor over her lower body, sealing the two parts together and encasing her long and toned legs in nigh impenetrable armor. Black underlay was added as necessary as the largest armor set was attached to her torso. The golden abdominal armor was of a more flexible material to allow for natural breathing cycles. Next was her breast and back plates, with the former jutting outwards and forming a ridge on account of her bust. Finally, her arms met the same fate as they were encased in their own armor, although her hands donned a more flexible form of the exoskeleton to allow for full use of her digits… also, the forearm of her right appendage was left without any protection, making way for her weapon, the Arm Cannon, to slide over it and connect to her elbow plate. The arm armor was then connected to the entire exoskeleton with two large, spherical shoulder plates, completely flanking her head on either side. At last, the gravity disengaged and Samus was set on her feet with a resounding metal "clink." Her Chozo exoskeleton lit up green on several points; especially the top of her hands and two slits on the breast plate.

The suit was now active... the Powered Armorsuit that was largely biological in nature and bound to her, was once again summoned for duty. Samus normally didn't have to have each and every part of her Varia Suit put on her body, for she could easily equip and unequip it by keying in a few commands on her Arm Cannon or arm (or simply willing it by her conscious thought). However, the suit had to physically come off once in a while, usually after large amounts of time being deployed, so it could be cleaned and repaired.

Samus did a once over of herself to ensure everything was in order. She grinned, satisfied as always, before turning for the last piece of her Varia Suit: her helmet. She carefully picked it up off of one of the residual mechanical arms and secured it over her head with a resounding click and hiss, equalizing the pressure inside of it with the rest of the suit. The full face visor showed green like the other points of interest on her suit, although from the inside, the view was not shrouded with green… as is the point of a 'visor.'

Samus looked over herself once more before giving a curt nod to no one in particular. With a metal clink for each step she took, she made her way to the elevator of her small ship which lead to the only exit: up top. The hatch to the outside world opened (not before ensuring the air breathable and not corrosive) and the floor rose up. She stood now on the top of her ship, drawing a few breaths of filtered, outside air and gauging the surroundings (although she was appreciating them more, as she was in space for longer than she had cared to be). Samus lazily swung her right arm (Arm Cannon) around out of habit, listening to the sounds of the forest.

A quaint area… I like it.

With her initial paranoia satisfied, Samus hunched down and with great strength, launched herself off the top of her ship and somersaulted in the air numerous times; landing perfectly on her feet and in a crouched position in front of her ship.

That never gets old; no matter how many times I do it.

She stood up on the earthly surface for the first time and took a full look around her, ensuring that she wasn't being watched by anything with malicious intent. Her second paranoia satisfied, she brought her cannon up to her chest and keyed in a few commands on it with her left hand, arming her Power Beam and establishing a cloaking device on her ship. Her visor booted up with several schematics such as current weapon layouts, different visor capabilities, energy shielding (fully charged), and other range-finding and useful tools. With final preparations complete, she did an obligatory swing of her Arm Cannon and proceeded to walk northward into the forest.

So it begins once more.

Author's Notes:

Edited 23/04/2014