//------------------------------// // Tallon IV: Survival of the Fittest // Story: Another Hatchling // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// "I have to agree with Applejack," Twilight pointed out. "With everything you've said about Metroids, I find it hard to believe that they could be dealt with so easily. It just...doesn't make sense." Samus nodded. "While I understand what you mean, let me explain a few things." As everypony turned to her, Samus tapped a few commands on her power suit, displaying two very different images of Metroids side by side in a mid-air hologram. The hologram itself made Twilight gasp, eyes alight with questions. "Everything I've told you about Metroids up till this point has been regarding the Zebesian/SR388 variant, the original strain of Metroids. However, Metroids are in a continuous state of evolution, constantly adapting to their environments...much like the dragons of this world, it seems. Even in its own lifespan, a Metroid will go through multiple stages of growth that drastically alter the way it interacts with the world." "Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly?" Fluttershy asked. "Very similar," Samus replied, "but even more extreme. At any rate, the Zebesian Metroids latch onto their prey with their outer pincers, while the inner pincers do the actual draining of energy. The Tallon variant I just described Spike eating, however, evolved differently. The four pincers latch onto the prey to anchor, while a mouth between them does the actual draining. This evolution is because most of the creatures of Tallon IV have a very strong external carapace, or some other defense that prevents the Metroid's pincers from digging into their flesh. The mouth contains numerous rows of microscopic teeth that grind away at the flesh of the victim until an opening presents itself to drain, and the energy thus drained is drawn directly into the Metroid's nucleus. Of course, this does also present a weakness...but it's not as glaring a one as you might think." Using her hand, she rotated the hologram of the Tallon Metroid to display the mouth. "Because of the size and shape of the Metroid's mouth, you have to have the right shape weapon to inflict damage to its inside. In the manner described, the beak shaped mouth has to be long enough to reach inside the Metroid, but still short enough that the Metroid would target the face for attack. Space Pirate beaks are too short, while Ridley's crocodile shaped jaw is much too long. "Not only that, but the opening to do such a thing is incredibly small...literally a split second." The hologram now included a representation of Spike's muzzle/beak at the time of the story. "An instant too early, and the Metroid has enough time to react and veer away...and Metroids learn quickly. Once a Metroid has escaped such a counter attack, they won't leave themselves open to it a second time." The hologram illustrated her point. "An instant too late, and the pressure of the Metroid's mouth around the jaw prevents it from opening. Either way, the assault fails, and leaves the one attempting it vulnerable." Rainbow took a closer look at the hologram. "But once its latched on, couldn't Spike just snort some fire into its nucleus? I mean, his nostrils are inside its mouth." Samus nodded. "That's exactly what he did when that happened, leaving the Metroid a cooked pile of goo." "They don't taste good cooked," Spike muttered. Samus nodded. "When he first tried it, he spat it out, claiming it 'tasted like Sweetie Belle's toast', before spending a half hour trying to get the taste out of his mouth." Noticing the gasps around the table, she shrugged. "Yeah, that was my first real clue he had memories of a past life before I'd hatched him. Unfortunately, by the time we had a quiet moment to talk about it, the recollection had faded...and nothing I said was going to get him to eat a cooked Metroid again to get the recollection back." "Understandably so," Rarity pointed out, struggling not to gag. "While my sister is an absolute dear, is quite adorable, and has quite the wonderful singing voice...her cooking skills are, well, how shall I put this?" "Optimistically awful?" Rainbow suggested. "She couldn't toss a salad without setting it on fire and trying to put it out in the jug of drinking water...which somehow sets the jug on fire but not the water," Applejack stated. Samus blinked for a time. "...wow," she stated bluntly. "No wonder he didn't want another taste. ...but still...toast?" "Her 'toast' is a bowl of black, bubbling ooze that I at first mistook for a failed attempt at applesauce," Rarity pointed out. "Moving right along!" Samus hastened, not wanting to think about a pony whose cooking skills were so bad she'd probably be declared a bio-weapon. "Any other questions regarding Spike and the Metroids?" "If it's so difficult to manage that attack," Rainbow demanded, "how'd he manage it so perfectly?" "Beginner's luck," Samus replied firmly. "After I acquired the Thermal Visor from deeper inside the facility, a power outage occurred that resulted in numerous Metroids breaking free of containment. Spike then got plenty of chances for practice, resulting in numerous opportunities to make the attempt and get all three possible results." "The key was to watch the flexing tendons connecting from the nucleus to the mouth," Spike explained. "I had to open my mouth ever so slightly the instant I saw them starting to flex. And it only really worked if I was facing a single Metroid at a time. If several converged on me at once - and in their natural environment, Metroids are pack hunters - I'd get attacked from sides or back while trying to eat one." "That's the real thing that makes Metroids so dangerous," Samus explained. "One on one, anyone with the proper equipment - a high level concussion weapon with lock-on function like my Super Missile, or a cryogenic effect like my ice beam - could beat them easily. But Metroids hunt in packs, and large packs at that." Several of the ponies shuddered at the mental image of a swarm of Metroids in pursuit of them, floating through the air in defiance of natural law as they hunted them. "Thank you for that, Samus," Luna muttered drolly. "Patrolling nightmares has been so dull that I desperately needed a new vision of horror to be confronted with on my nightly patrols of the dreamscape." Samus chuckled. "Sorry about that. But Metroids break very easily when frozen. That should help." "Indeed," Luna agreed. "That will be most helpful." Fluttershy was scratching her chin. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Samus asked. Fluttershy let out a quiet 'Meep!' "Oh, it's nothing, really..." Samus remained silent, watching her. "Well, it's just..." Fluttershy began. "Well...up till now, everything you'd told us so far made Spike out to be this...unstoppable juggernaut, able to handle just about anything thrown at him. And...I liked that, since I know how gentle Spike really is, and how loyal he is to those he cares about. It felt...nice, knowing that nothing would be able to touch me if I was with him. But now...well..." Samus chuckled. "I get what you mean. And I'm sorry if I've misled you about Spike. At present day, Spike's strong enough that - with his limiters off - there's very little that would prove a serious challenge to him." And I pray that those things that would never show up, she thought silently. "But when he was younger, he was far from that tough. It's just that most of what we faced at first was something he could handle easily. Thardus, however..." "Thardus?" several of the mares asked curiously. Samus smiled. "Well, it happened like this..." After a long path - with Spike taking detours around the morph ball tunnels he was now too big to fit through - the pair entered a wide, circular chamber with a pile of boulders in the center. As they started to approach, however, Spike started to growl. "What's wrong?" Samus asked, raising her arm cannon. "There's...something here..." Spike growled, his eyes locking on the pile of boulders. Right before their eyes, the pile of boulders began to levitate, flying together to form a roughly humanoid rock monster. Samus' scans revealed that it was a creature called Thardus, made of living stone and Phazon. Switching to her Thermal Visor, Samus was able to discover that parts of the creature were weaker, structurally, than others, and she locked onto those one by one. Spike attempted to fight Thardus, but his claws and teeth weren't able to do enough damage to the rock covering to reach the Phazon inside, and his fire breath flowed right off it without damage...except when it hit the structurally weak portion by chance, but even then the damage was minimal, mostly just heating the rock. Admittedly, when the heated rock made contact with the snow covered ground, it began to crack. When the outer shell on one of the boulders broke off, revealing the Phazon underneath, Spike tried to take a bite out of it, only to be blasted backward by the energy charge running through the Phazon. After that, Spike decided to focus on what he could do well here...drawing Thardus attention to give Samus room to lock on and destroy it. After a long struggle, Samus had managed to destroy enough of the Phazon holding Thardus together that it fell apart. Once that had happened, her suit gave her a status update. Magnetic linkage of Phazon charged stones analyzed. Magnetic properties incorporated into Morph Ball module. Spider Ball capacity unlocked. Morph Ball can now magnetically attach to magnetic rail tracks. Seeing several magnetic rail tracks scattered around, Samus shrugged. "That's convenient," she muttered to herself. Spike shook himself off, a little banged up but otherwise alright. "I hope we get back to Magmoor soon," he muttered. "I really wanna soak these bruises away in the lava..." Samus smiled softly. "Spike wasn't always overpowering in battles, but he was always trying his best." Reaching over, she gently stroked a neck ridge. "Lucky for him, Magmoor did turn out to be our very next stop..."