I apologize for taking a longer time inbetween chapters, hectic week last week. I also want to thank all of you who have read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. It means a lot to me.

As always, reviews are always appreciated! Thank you all! And here's chapter 4:

Chapter 4: Backwards Compatible

"G-Diffuser System is at 98%"

"Falco, coordinates are in place in the Gate."

"Flight check, weapon systems are fully functional, shields are charged, fully fueled up."

"Compression systems: normal. Oxygen Rebreathers: normal. Rudders and Flaps are functioning?"

"Check."

"No hull damage detected, engines are responding normally. You're almost there, Falco!"

Falco sat in the cockpit of his little baby, his modified Arwing. Falco had Slippy upgrade the weapons systems to turbolasers and a Mach 6 engine. Fox wasn't a fan of the modifications, but Falco had managed to butter up Slippy enough that he went through with it anyway. The Arwing was mostly white, with blue accents on the wings and engines. However, in addition to mechanical modifications, Falco decided to make his baby a little more unique. He had several red and black stripes on the wings and main hull of his ship. Fox called it an eyesore, but Falco knew jealousy when he heard it. He checked the modules on his dash then looked at the clock. He sighed. Pikachu was late. Again. He touched his headset.

"Yo, Slips!" He barked over the headset. The diminutive frog was still under the Arwing, finishing flight checks.

"What is it Falco? I'm not quite finished here." Slippy looked from under the ship.

"Where's my little hitchhiker at? We've got to get a move on here!"

Slippy put on some goggles. "Well, the G-Diffuser system is still only at 99% integrity, so, by the book, you're not going anywhere until I'm done."

"Alright, Slips, I got it." Falco touched the headset again, and there was silence. It was surprising that Samus would be the one having the most trouble. Every other group had reported in with success, even Marth and Ike, and they had a Level 5 danger area. Falco hadn't met any of the new blood yet, but they were supposed to begin gathering tomorrow, and group interviews and the ceremonial opening smash was in a week. The pilot rested his head, maybe he could take a quick nap. He closed his eyes, hearing the the rhythmic sounds of Slippy's wrench. The Arwing was strong and fast, but it wasn't exactly known for comfort. It had been what felt like hours, but Falco was awoken by the sound of his hatch opening. He yawned and stretched his wings. He opened his eyes and saw the little electric mouse. Pikachu was wearing a bizarre flight uniform, with an orange vest and little helmet with orange visor. Pikachu eagerly hopped into the cockpit.

"What took you so long, pipsqueak?" Falco asked facetiously.

Pikachu motioned with his little arms and squeaked out an excuse or two. Something about movies and looking good for the trip. It was nice to have universal translating technology, because pokemon would be impossible to understand. But it was still difficult, and a lot of it was taking educated guesses based on root words and stuff. "A movie?" Falco asked. "This alert is kinda important, so a movie ain't gonna fly with me." Slippy peeked out from under the Arwing.

"Falco, cut him some slack! It's not like you'd have left anyways!"

"Which reminds me, how's the G-Diffuser coming along?"

"Just finished with it, you're cleared to head out!" Slippy ran out of the hangar, to the control room. The ether flashed a bright blue in the gate in front of him. These gates were gigantic by comparison, they had to be to allow multiple sized ships access to various points in the universe. Falco flipped several switches on the Arwing, and the canopy closed and sealed itself. Falco pressed a button, and the internal lights dimmed.

"Last check, Slips! Engine is good! Cabin is compressed! Fully fueled up and ready to go!" He heard Slippy over the headset.

"Wait, Falco, that's the laziest check in I've ever heard! That's not even half of the-" Falco flipped another switch, and slammed on the throttle.

"Oops! My hand slipped!" the Arwing launched itself into the ether, leaving Slippy's worries to himself. He shook his head in resignation.

"If anything goes wrong, it's my froggy butt on the line." He grumbled.

Zelda awoke with the sound of thunder and a flash of lightning entering her room. She jumped up from her bed, startled. She looked to her left. Samus was still sleeping soundly, curled up facing the wall. Zelda quietly got out of bed, and tiptoed to the washroom across the hall. As she drew the bath, Zelda peeked out into the hallway. She looked to the left, then the right. As she looked to the right, she felt a presence from where she just looked. Zelda quickly turned to the left. The large armored man from yesterday was towering over her, she recalled his name was Frederick. Frederick was covering his eyes and holding out several towels.

"Milady, I heard the bath being drawn, so I took the liberty of bringing extra towels." He stated quickly. Zelda gently took the towels from Frederick's hand.

"My thanks, Sir Frederick. I am decent, though, so you don't have to cover your eyes." Zelda was stifling a laugh.

"If you are sure, milady." Frederick paused, peeking to see if Zelda was nodding in approval. Once he saw it, he relaxed himself. "I'm glad I was quick, another minute, and you might not have been so decent."

"And I would have had no towels!" Zelda giggled, "And that would have been a true disaster!" Frederick smiled in reaction. "You all have been such wonderful hosts to us, I really do appreciate it."

"It is an honor to be visited by people from different kingdoms, and royalty at that." Frederick pontificated. "And the news of Robin being alive is most welcome as well." Thunder echoed throughout the castle. Zelda shivered.

"Does Ylisse have many storms like this?"

Frederick shook his head, frowning. "Not usually. It has not been this dreary since..." Frederick paused. "Since the last Exalt left us."

Zelda whispered. "Emmeryn?" Frederick stared down the princess.

"You have heard of her?" Zelda nodded. Cordelia had talked about her yesterday. "She was the closest to an angelic being that Ylisse has seen. It was always about her people, not herself." The knight looked wistful. "When she sacrificed herself, it was like light itself had died." He paused. "But alas, I am rambling. You should get yourself ready for the day."

Zelda looked quizzically at Frederick. "Special training today?"

Frederick smiled. "No, but if you are interested, I can train you. Today, you are meeting the whole group of Shepherds. They will be very excited to meet you." He bowed. "I take my leave, milady." Zelda curtsied, and Frederick quickly made himself scarce. Zelda closed the door to the washroom and bolted it shut. Frederick might have forgotten some extra soap or something. As she finally lay in the steaming bathwater, Zelda let her mind venture forth. The Hylian royalty had a little trick that they could use, where they could detect people and emotions. The Triforce of Wisdom expanded this, and she could see with her mind's eye. She began to move from room to room. She saw Frederick folding some laundry with the little princess of Ylisse. Lissa, if I remember correctly. Zelda thought to herself. She moved to another room, where Cordelia was speaking to two girls. Zelda thought one of them looked very familiar. She had white pigtails and a slight sneer on her face. She had the same face as Cordelia, but with a little more attitude. The other girl had crimson hair, but her face was slightly different. Her chin was not as pointed, for one, and her hair was definitely only similar in color. It went in various directions. None of this perturbed Zelda, until she looked upon the young woman's coat. It was dark purple, with various markings adorning it. Zelda had a sudden headache, and she felt a strong pull from the coat. Residual dark magic. It had to be. Zelda shook her head, and moved to a different room. There was an orange headed man trying to eat two different cakes at once. A man in green armor with messy brown hair was attempting to pull away one of the cakes. Zelda could detect another presence, but only saw what looked like armor that had been re purposed for decoration. Another loud thunderstrike, and Zelda was back in the bath. She quickly finished cleaning, dried herself off, and dressed in a robe. She quickly tiptoed back into the room, where Samus was sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked up at Zelda.

"Finally, I've been looking forward to a good bath for like, an hour!" She quickly ran into the washroom. Zelda closed the door behind her. She looked around for her dress, but couldn't find it. Almost on cue, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it just a crack, hiding most of her. A girl with the same blue hair as Lucina was at the door, holding a dress in her hands.

"Hiya!" She was much louder than Zelda was expecting. "I'm Cynthia! Lucy and Freddy told me that your dress was being cleaned, so I brought over a replacement!"

Zelda smiled. "I'm touched! You didn't need to do that!" Cynthia laughed.

"Well, to be honest, I just wanted to meet the people from a different world!" She took a deep breath, "I mean, it's not every day you meet new heroes, and you're from a different world, so that's even more exciting! I was wondering if you could tell me some stories from your world, kinda like an interview or something because that would be really really really fun and-" Cynthia was interrupted by a small voice from behind the door. Zelda could not see the origin of the voice, but it was very weak and fragile sounding.

"Cynthia, we shouldn't bother the guest, that would be rude." Zelda could make out jet black on very pale skin. Zelda opened the door further. The other girl wore light armor over a forest green tunic. Her hair was held by several feathers. Her features and hair were striking, but her demeanor oozed a lack of confidence.

"Truthfully, I don't mind." Zelda said gracefully. She motioned to invite the two in. Cynthia made a b-line for the edge of the bed, seating herself like a child around a campfire. The other girl tiptoed to the the bed and quietly placed herself on the edge. "I would like help with this dress anyway."

"Wow, your majesty, that dress really suits you." Zelda looked at the doorway. Samus was wearing her Zero Suit, walking towards her bed. The bounty hunter motioned to the two girls who had been helping her. "And I haven't had the pleasure of meeting these two."

"Ah! Yes! Samus, this is Cynthia and Noire! They wanted to bring us some clothes to wear, and visit!" Cynthia waved vigorously, Noire moved her fingers a little bit. Samus squinted at Noire.

"You two look familiar. Are you related to other people here at the castle?" She asked.

"Yeah! My dad and mom and the exalt and queen!" Cynthia burst out. "And my sis Lucy is gonna be one of you heroes!" Samus nodded.

"So you're Lucina's sister, I can see it." She turned to Noire. "And you? That hair is really familiar."

Noire was stuttering. "W-w-w-well, my mom is a magician in the court..." Cynthia quickly interrupted.

"Noire! That's not even the most interesting part of your mom!" She scolded. "Noire's mom can hex, like, anybody! And a lot of people want her to be the new leader of Plegia, but she's too cool for that, even though both her and Noire's dad could totally, like, beat up anybody!" Samus was attempting to ignore the outburst, she gave Noire an apologetic look.

"Is your mother Tharja? You have the same hair and skin." Samus tried to make it as polite as possible. Noire nodded meekly. "I see, she seemed nice." It was a white lie, but Noire seemed like a good girl, no reason to be a jerk. A knock on the door caught Samus's attention. Cynthia jumped from the bed, running to the door and throwing it open. Lissa was standing at the doorway.

"Princess Zelda, I wanted to see if the dress I picked out looked-" The blonde looked upon Zelda. "My gods, you look wonderful! You're as radiant as my sis!" Lissa began to tear up. Zelda smiled awkwardly.

"I appreciate it, your highness, but I deserve no such compliment." Zelda said. "Where are we meeting the rest of the Shepherds?"

Lissa wiped her eyes. "You deserve every compliment you get, you really look stunning." She sniffed. "But yeah, I'm here to grab everyone, especially since my niece can't help but bother our new guests." She shot a joking look at Cynthia as she pouted. "Princess Zelda, Lady Aran, follow me, and I'll give you the grand tour!" She left the room, and other four followed. As they all started down the stairs. Zelda moved herself next to Noire.

"Did your mom enchant that necklace?"

"W-what?"

"Did your mother enchant that necklace?" Zelda motioned to the talisman hanging around Noire's neck.

"Y-yes. To be honest, it's a real mixed bag." Noire looked over her shoulder quickly. "I feel braver, but sometimes I lose... control."

"Ah, gets rid of inhibitions?"

"Something like that." Noire looked at her feet. Zelda frowned, maybe this was a subject to avoid. Lightning illuminated the main hall was they entered. Lissa followed the same path Chrom had taken Samus the previous night. But at the last hallway, she took a right, not a left. Behind the door was large dining hall filled with people, at least 20 people! Zelda looked at Lissa, confusion etched on it.

"Well, Chrom wanted us to host a large ball, but how were you going to discern the Shepherds from the stuffy old farts?" Lissa covered her mouth immediately. Samus laughed out loud.

"Your highness, we hear worse all the time." She said reassuringly. "Don't try to censor yourself for our sake."

"Good advice." A new voice, uninterested and curt, entered the conversation. Noire yelped, and everyone turned to the voice's origin. Tharja and a tall, brown haired man were at the doorway. The brown haired man wore a strange robe and belt. His face was serious, even moreso than Frederick's. Tharja walked up to Noire, menacingly. Suddenly, she gave her an awkward hug. As she pulled away, she looked away. "I'm working on showing affection to you, Noire. Apparently it's just supposed to be extemporaneous. I hope it was satisfactory." She seemed to melt into the shadows. The brown haired man approached Noire.

"Daddy, did you say something to mom?" Noire squeaked out.

"Yes, but it was Olivia who really got to her." The man's voice was deep and booming. Samus identified him as a commander immediately. Lissa yawned, and tugged on Zelda's dress.

"C'mon, Zelda! Let's meet some of the Shepherds before Lon'qu makes me gag!" She dragged off Zelda with Cynthia in tow. Samus sighed with exasperation. She looked at this Lon'qu and Noire. Noire looked at Samus.

"Dad, we should follow those three before they get in trouble." Noire stated quietly.

"I trust that you can handle them, Noire. I have to embarrass Vaike, Stahl, and Gaius and get you some more hairpins." Noire blushed furiously, and Samus could hear a small 'thanks dad' from the girl. Lon'qu looked Samus in the eye.

"I assume you're one of our guests." He said bluntly. "I'm not one for conversation, but welcome." He bowed and excused himself. Samus looked at Noire, who returned the look. She sighed.

"Let's go get the others before Zelda allows them to break something."

After several hours, Zelda felt like she had learned a lot. She and Samus had met all of the Shepherds, heard so many stories of their adventures. Of the Fell Dragon Grima, of the assault on Plegia. Zelda was currently in a group of Lissa's friends. The Queen, Sumia, was tittering away with Cordelia, a pink haired girl named Olivia, another redhead named Sully, Miriel, and Tharja. The latter two tended to be very quiet, but would occasionally interject.

"So you come from a world with an unlimited power?"

"Not necessarily. The Triforce needs to be one to grant wishes, but it's split among three people."

"The golden power allows you to do magic without preparation? Pretty damn cool!"

"Well, yes, amongst other things."

"Interesting, we must gather information on this Triforce immediately, in order to quantify the magic inside."

"As interesting as that sounds, I would prefer to keep it safe for now."

Cordelia intervened. "Ladies, let's give Zelda some space here!"

"It's quite alright, but thank you for worrying about me. I'm just excited to meet all the Shepherds!"

"Almost all the Shepherds." Tharja finally spoke up. The others looked at her.

"Who's missing?" Olivia asked. Tharja cracked a smile.

"I would think you would know, considering it's your husband." She said slightly playfully.

"Henry is probably out in the garden." Olivia protested.

"Or he could be running into the room right now." Miriel pointed to the entrance.

A young looking man with white hair was running through the dining area.

"Hahaha! You won't believe it! A bird inside a bird!" Henry shouted out. It took Zelda 2 to 4 seconds to realize what he could've been talking about.

"Oh no."

Zelda looked for Samus, and caught her storming for the door. Some Shepherds were following her out of curiosity. Zelda started moving towards the door as well, and the rest of her new acquaintances followed her. It was still raining outside, but there was a commotion outside the castle. People were exiting their businesses and pointing into the square. Zelda pushed through some of the Shepherds, and in the square was an Arwing. Samus was standing next to it, screaming at the pilot. Zelda could make out the blue feathers of Falco, as well as something small and yellow arguing back at Samus. She could barely make out what they were saying over the storm, but she caught a few words.

"... Irresponsible... in public... can't let you do anything... future!"

"... stick in the mud … backup … efficient."

Zelda pushed through some others, and ran into Lucina's back. Lucina shouted in surprise, while Zelda continually apologized to her loudly. "Ah, Lucina! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Lucina nodded. "Good. I'm so sorry about that." She paused for a second. "Um, would you like to meet a couple more smashers?" Lucina's eyes lit up.

"That thing is a smasher?!" Lucina shouted. Zelda laughed loudly.

"No, no, it's a … kind of like a … sky carriage?" She sheepishly said. "The people inside are smashers." Zelda took Lucina's hand and walked her to the Arwing. Falco and Samus were still fuming from their earlier argument. Pikachu waved frantically from inside the cockpit. Zelda held out her arms, and the pokemon leapt from the ship to hug her.

"Good to see you too, my friend." Zelda warmly said. Lucina stared at Pikachu in fascination. Samus noticed and moved towards her.

"This is Pikachu, Lucina. Pikachu is one of the original smashers, and is a surprisingly good fighter, despite the size." Samus pet the top of Pikachu's head. Static came off of the top, shocking Samus slightly. "Dammit!" She recoiled from the shock. "Guess the storm is really strengthening your powers."

"Powers?" Lucina looked concerned. Falco jumped from the cockpit, his feathers were sticking out a various points.

"That lil' rat can harness and attack using electricity." He closed the canopy of the ship. "He also doesn't like flying in cramped spaces, apparently. Almost became a cooked pheasant." He looked Lucina. "Haven't had the pleasure. Falco Lombardi, at your service." He bowed in an exaggerated fashion.

"Lucina, and it's nice to meet you too." Lucina held out her hand. Falco took it in a firm handshake.

Falco turned the still staring Shepherds. "Alright! Now that introductions are outta the way, how about some grub?"