Metroid Equis II: Duality

by Flammenwerfer


4. Awakening

Metroid Equis II: Duality

Section 4

Awakening

“...so what you’re saying, is that Dark Samus was not only still alive, but the architect of the Leviathans?” Twilight asked, making sure she had properly understood Samus’ story. Everypony, including Samus and Spike, were gathered around a stack of pizza boxes, comfortably sat on individual pillows as communal attention was focused solely on the words from Samus’ mouth. Sapphire was nestled comfortably on her own pillow… right next to Samus.

The Hunter scooted away a couple inches out of reflex.

“Yes… and no,” Samus responded after a moment’s thought, taking a bite out of her pizza slice. “Turns out she found Phaaze and had gained control of it. She was going to use it to send Leviathans all over the galaxy and, eventually, the universe.”

“Then...that means the Phazon could’ve come back here!” Rainbow Dash surmised.

“It probably would’ve eventually, had we failed in the attack on Phaaze,” Samus agreed. “But, since I’m here breathing, I obviously made sure that didn’t happen.”

“So what happened then?” Spike asked, backed up by an affirmative squeak from Sapphire.

“Well,” Samus began, adjusting her sitting position. “The hope was to make a beeline straight back here, but in transit, the Federation contacted me and told me that, due to the destruction wrought by the metroids, they were too dangerous to be left alive. I agreed wholeheartedly.”

“Ahem…” Sapphire made herself quickly known, and Samus rolled her eyes.

“No, Sapphire, of course you’re not included in that,” she replied, a little stiffly, though her statement earned a much happier squeak out of the metroid. “So, I had to divert to SR388 where I spent nearly two solid months cleaning out the goddamn metroid hives. Interestingly, though, it happened that the Queen metroid was guarding an egg...which happened to hatch before I could dispose of it. It was so young that it imprinted on me rather than attacking, which made it easy to take it to a science team. They were going to humanely study the creature and harness its abilities for the good of the galaxy.”

“Awww, you were the mother then!” Fluttershy cooed.

“For all of about a day. Turned the little guy over to a science team...and I thought that was that, and I’d be on my way back here. Just my luck that I had hardly gone beyond the asteroid belt housing the station when it came under attack,” Samus continued her story, taking a swig of her drink. “I found out the hard way that Ridley survived the Corruption incident.”

“Seriously?!” Applejack inquired in disbelief. “He came back again?”

“Yup,” Samus replied. “In fact, he was the one who raided the Ceres Space Colony with a contingent of troops, stealing the infant metroid and taking it back to planet Zebes, where the Space Pirates had rebuilt their base of operations that I had destroyed like, six years beforehand.”

“Didn’t you used to live it up on Zebes?” Pinkie asked in a much more calm but still energetic manner. Samus raised one of her brows and the corner of her mouth in good humor.

“I wouldn’t really call it ‘living it up’ as opposed to just ‘living’ and training. But yes, I lived on Zebes for most of my life growing up with the Chozo. Not where I was born, but it was still home. Anyway, Ridley took the infant metroid back, and since it was the last one in existence, I knew they would try to use its abilities for destruction or attempt to clone it.”

“Did they clone it?” Rarity asked, equally into the story as everypony else.

“They did… somewhat. I encountered a type of creature that my systems called  ‘mochtroids,’ which were failed clones of the metroid. They were pitifully primitive, and why the Pirates didn’t use beta radiation to force the baby metroid to multiply, as they had done on Tallon IV and elsewhere, I’ll never know,” Samus explained, adding a few of her own musings to the mix. “These were only found in one area, though, which led me to believe that they were just...trying something new.” The Huntress waved her arm dismissively

“Perhaps a less costly alternative to beta radiation-induced mitosis?” Twilight proposed thoughtfully, earning a few looks of confusion from the others. Samus, however, was impressed.

“What?” Twilight asked. “It seemed like that’s what she was getting at.”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Samus confirmed. “As I moved deeper through the rebuilt facility, and after killing Ridley yet again—and confirming that he died—I discovered the Pirates had indeed successfully replicated metroids by traditional means. I quickly dispatched them, but before I could continue on with the mission, I got attacked by a massive metroid… one far larger than any I had and still have ever seen.”

“Go on…” Rainbow Dash urged rather impatiently, wanting to hear how this all ended.

“It overpowered me...latched on and started draining my tanks...” Samus’ face grew pensive, her eyes distant. “...and right before it drained my suit and killed me, it just...stopped. Stopped, and let me go. It was at that moment that I, and my systems, realized that this metroid was the infant,” Samus rambled on, finishing her pizza slice before eagerly going for another. In response to her assertions, there were a few gasps from around the room.

“Then… since it stopped draining you of your energy, it must’ve recognized you, too!” Fluttershy concluded.

“That’s what I thought as well. I continued on and engaged Mother Brain, the leader of the Space Pirates… she and I had some history from when I was incredibly young. That’s a story for another time, though. At any rate, when I first engaged Mother Brain, she was just a powerful brain in a jar...I felt something was different this time. She had gotten herself a body, somewhere, and a hyper beam weapon. She overpowered me and at the last possible moment, the baby metroid rushed in and assaulted Mother Brain,” Samus continued.

“No. Way,” Pinkie uttered, being completely immersed.

“Yes. Way,” Samus responded, nodding emphatically. She put her food down and used her hands to aid in her speaking. “It drained Mother Brain of all of her energy and then drifted over to me and latched on… transferring the energy that it drained from my enemy, to me.”

“Wait… metroids can do that?” Twilight asked, her analytical nature overriding her desire to hear the tale to its conclusion.

“I guess,” Samus replied, shrugging. “I only saw and experienced it once, but maybe they have an ability to transfer energy. I never looked into it...but it would make some sense.”

“Sapphire,” Twilight called to the relaxing Equis Metroid.

“Skreee?”

“I want to try something. Take a little bit of energy from me, then give it to Rainbow Dash. Think you can do that?” Twilight asked sweetly, earning herself more than a few surprised gazes.

“SKREE!”

“Wait, huh?” Rainbow asked, completely unsure of what Twilight meant. Samus, however, remained silent. While her desire to protect urged her to act, she knew intellectually that Sapphire meant no harm...and this would give her a chance to see the ‘harmless feeding’ process in action.

“She says ‘I guess,’” Fluttershy translated, more for the ponies’ benefit than Samus’. Everypony watched as Sapphire floated gracefully through the air and latched comfortably onto Twilight’s horn. As instructed, she took just a little bit of magic potential from the alicorn, no more than might be used by a minimally taxing spell. Samus watched with keen interest, noting that Twilight’s body seemed to glow a tad brighter during the brief energy siphoning. While certainly having felt the effect, she did not seem discomforted in the slightest.

Sapphire then floated over to Rainbow Dash and gently lowered herself to the pegasus’ wings. She gripped and, after a few-moment’s pause in trying to figure out what she was doing, Rainbow Dash’s form suddenly glowed that much brighter, much like Twilight’s. Her luminosity returned to normal after a few seconds, signaling the end of the energy transfer. Sapphire then floated off, orbiting Twilight.

“Whoa…” Rainbow commented, getting to her hooves and stretching out.

“Well?” Twilight asked. “How do you feel?”

“I feel… a bit more energetic actually. It feels like after I eat something healthy,” Rainbow noted, feeling less lethargic than she was just lying down and listening to Samus’ story. The Hunter pointed to the both of them.

That, can actually be useful if employed right. So, I guess metroids have the natural ability to transfer energy at will. Most impressive.”

“Thanks! Not that hard, though,” Sapphire replied to Samus, floating back to her little pillow.

“Wait… I thought you didn’t know how to do that?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“I not know. Just tried and it worked,” Sapphire so eloquently put it.

“Well, getting back to the story,” Samus spoke up, receiving everypony’s attention. “I soon found out that Mother Brain wasn’t as dead as I had hoped. She ended up recovering and she attacked the metroid as it tried to shield me… and she killed it,” the Hunter said flatly, though even she could not keep the barest hint of dejected emotion from lacing her tone, if only for fractions of a second. Her audience seemed to echo the sentiment.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Samus. Were you attached?” Fluttershy asked, offering her condolences with her ears flattened against her head. Samus shrugged.

“Ehhh. Not attached per se. I mean…” Samus began, gesturing weirdly with her right hand as she tried to marshal her thoughts. “At first, it was just a metroid that imprinted on me, but...the fact that it remembered me, saved my life...and subsequently gave its own for me…” Samus’ gaze drifted downward a couple degrees. “No matter what, it kinda has an effect on you, y’know?”

At the periphery of her vision, Samus saw the others nod in ragged unison. It had been a noble sacrifice, and because of the actions of a single metroid, their human friend was alive.

“Ya avenged ‘em, right??” Applejack asked eagerly, hoping her assumptions were correct.

Samus nodded briskly. “I annihilated Mother Brain, and with her destruction, the entire network began to collapse. I was able to get out, get to my ship, and escape… but unfortunately, the base was so integrated with Zebes, that its destruction destroyed the planet itself. That was a shame,” Samus added. “Essentially, my second home was lost forever.”

“It’s really been a rough road for you, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked after breathing a heavy sigh. She truly felt for Samus and how her adventures so often seemed to be bittersweet, pyrrhic victories.

“It certainly has… but it doesn’t end there,” Samus noted.

“Wowie! You’ve really had an adventure!” Pinkie remarked, ever eager to hear a good story.

“So what happened then, Darling?” Rarity asked, facilitating the conversation.

“Well, after the adrenaline wore off from the events on Zebes, it came to light that I had sustained worse injuries than I had thought. So, I had to check myself into a Federation hospital, and they put me in a medically induced coma for a good while… close to a month I believe. Once that was taken care of, I turned in my mission report and I was off… I had hoped to come back here, finally, but I ended up intercepting a distress call,” Samus continued.

“Who was it from?” Spike asked, adjusting his position and deciding to lie down instead.

“Didn’t know at the time, but I decided to follow it anyway… it took me to some seemingly derelict space station known as the Bottle Ship. Landing and doing a bit of exploring, I came across an unexpected sight: a few of my old buddies from my Federation Security Forces days...as well as my former commanding officer and mentor.”

“Adam?” Twilight asked after a moment, remembering their study session two and a half years ago.

“...Yeah, Adam,” Samus replied, surprised that she remembered that little detail. “He was leading a special forces team into the Bottle Ship because they had picked up the signal too. As we explored the gargantuan vessel, we discovered that whoever was in charge of the facility was using it as a proving ground for illegal bioweapons and research, just like the Space Pirates had done. It was almost like my Zebes missions, save for...a detail or two. If there’s one thing in common with each of my major missions, it’s always a few surprises...”


[The Bottle Ship | Geothermal Power Plant]


Samus frantically searched for the winged attacker, senses on high alert as she turned to cover the entire chamber... but the sudden movement of a massive figure amidst the light of the falling magma drew her attention to her left. Like a demon, plucked from her memories and given form by the ship itself, a massive, draconic entity made itself known from below the platform, slamming atop it with a titanic crash. It turned its head, spotted Samus, and loosed a terrifyingly familiar, ear-shattering screech filled with naught but purest malevolence.

Samus gasped involuntarily, her arm cannon dipping slightly as recognition slammed home.

“What the fuck…? You??” she said, too softly for her radio to pick up, her expression darkening upon laying eyes on Ridley once more. Ridley, for his part, seemed not to recognize Samus, loosing another feral shriek as he slunk forward, arms outstretched towards his prey. Samus backed away, maintaining the space between them. Her arm cannon never wavered, though she did not immediately engage him in open combat; partly because Anthony was too close, and could easily get caught up in the crossfire (something she really did not want to subject him to), but primarily due to the fact that she was too furious to think.

In the control room, Adam’s attention was drawn back to the display by the flickering of Ridley’s entry. “Huh? What the…?” Adam asked himself, hardly believing what he was witnessing through Samus’ helmet camera. “Samus? Do you copy?... SAMUS?”

To Adam, it appeared Samus was cowering before Ridley’s might...but in actuality, the fury in her had built itself up to levels that she hadn’t felt in a long time, excluding all other thoughts of action. She balled her left fist up tightly.

“Samus! Use your Plasma Beam! Do you read me?!” Adam continued to call out through the commlink.

“You just can’t stay dead… ANTHONY!” Samus called to her comrade after her musings, finally breaking her anger-filled stupor. “Get out of here! Find the others!”

“I’m not leaving you here alone, Samus!” Anthony shouted back, immediately moving into action and blasting Ridley with his weapon, catching the creature off-guard, but drawing his full ire. With the battle thus commenced, Ridley struck at Samus with his claw. She leaped backwards, away from the attack, and with her on the defensive, the dragon lashed out with his tail, the segmented appendage catching Anthony full in the chest and sending him tumbling off the platform.

“ANTHONY!” Samus cried out upon witnessing her friend get tossed to his apparent death, her rage clarifying, condensing into a sharp, brilliant spearhead. At that moment, she knew; this would be the end-all. Ridley would not be the cause of any more deaths and suffering in her life. He would not cause any more pain. She did not know, at the time, how he managed to worm his way back into existence, but his re-emergence from her memories, where he belonged, ended here, and it ended now.

Samus snarled, baring her teeth, and steeled herself, eyes blazing as she swung her arm cannon up to meet Ridley’s insane gaze. This felt good. This felt right.

“I’m sending you straight back to hell!” Samus declared furiously, charging her beam and rushing directly at Ridley...

 


“He was still alive???” nearly everypony asked in disbelief after Samus’ detailed recollection of the battle with her greatest adversary.  

“How was that even possible? You confirmed his death back on Zebes, right?” Twilight added to the question.

“Unfortunately, he was,” she confirmed. “And I did confirm he was dead… by shooting him a few more times in the head. But...as it turns out, the answer lies with when I checked myself into the hospital afterwards. Before I removed my Suit, I asked them to just run it through a decontamination cycle, because I hadn’t had a chance to clean it myself; my injuries took precedence. I think it was then that they were able to find the DNA from the metroids...and from Ridley, though no one could’ve possibly known. Ridley, I was told, was an accidental creation; a clone,” Samus explained while placing two slices of pizza on top of each other. She then took a bite.

“Well, shit,” Rainbow Dash stated in a tone that essentially said ‘I guess!’

“My sentiments exactly. But, now that I think about it… it’s weird…” Samus answered, her tone turning inward, self-reflective. “Ridley was absolutely my arch-nemesis… but, despite the horrible things he did to me, and to others, he and I had an intricate relationship. I almost felt bad for him, at the end.”

“What you mean?” Sapphire asked, apparently having been listening as well and having enough of an understanding of what was being said. While only Samus and Fluttershy could put words to Sapphire’s inquiry, its curious tone said what the others could not understand.

“What I mean is that… when I truly killed him and confirmed it for the first time, it was as if a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders,” Samus explained, sounding at once happy and contemplative. “At the same time, upon his death, I almost felt an… emptiness inside. All my life, I guess I subconsciously had my doubts if he was ever truly dead, and as long as I had that doubt...I had purpose. I had a motivation. Knowing for sure that I’d killed him… I felt like… like… I didn’t know where to go from there.”

“He was your greatest challenge,” Rainbow Dash stated, seemingly empathizing with a feeling she knew all too well. Samus nodded.

“In a way, yeah. He kept me...focused. With him gone, it was an odd sense of vindication; I avenged my parents, my birth colony, and my Chozo family… but for a few fleeting moments, I felt almost aimless. And then...when he reared his head on the Bottle Ship, he was merely a clone.” Samus narrowed her eyes, studying the back of her hand. “He had no memory of who I was, no Space Pirate indoctrination, nothing. There, Ridley was a simple predator, driven by nothing but instinct,” Samus continued to elaborate, adopting a far-off look as she finally gave voice to some thoughts that had been plaguing her. “It was almost… sad, when it was all said and done.”

“Having a powerful, personal adversary reduced to nothing but a feral animal?” Twilight guessed. Samus did not know why she was still surprised at Twilight’s ability to be so insightful.

“Exactly the way I felt.” Samus nodded before opening up another beer; 'Crystal Standard' was quickly becoming her favorite. “But, moving on from personal sentiments, I continued to explore my own way. I stumbled across a sector of the Bottle Ship that was an exact mimic of the environment of Tourian.”

“Where that Mother Brain was, right?” Fluttershy voiced.

“Right,” Samus acknowledged. “Well, skipping a really long and complex history, some group within the Federation had been breeding metroids. But, these weren’t ordinary metroids… they had been genetically modified to not have their crippling weakness: vulnerability to cold.”

“So that’s why Sapphire refused to come out during the Winter Wrap Up,” the cream-colored pegasus added in. “I guess your entire species just doesn't like the cold... or can't handle it,” she said to the relaxing metroid.

No cold!

“Right. So, without that check, metroids would be practically indestructible by conventional means,” Samus replied, shaking her head. “And, on top of that, if you learned how to train them...control them, they’d be the most valuable, deadliest asset on the battlefield and could be used for terrible purposes,” Samus elaborated.

“So, you found such metroids, then I’m assuming you dealt with them, right?” Rarity asked.

“...No, actually,” Samus admitted. “Before I had a chance, Adam took me down and explained that the metroids couldn’t be frozen once they matured...and that the only way to destroy them was to destroy the sector housing them.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “And that the only way to do that was to damage the sector so badly that the station’s computer would automatically jettison it.”

“That sounds like a terrible failsafe from a technical point of view,” Twilight said, voicing her concerns.

“How did Adam incapacitate you?” Spike asked, stuffing his face with a couple of gems.

“He shot a stun round into my back,” Samus answered.

“Why?” Pinkie asked, cocking her head to the left in confusion. Samus opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. She donned a similar expression of bemusement.

“I… I’m not sure, actually. If I had to make a guess, he thought I would stop him from doing what he had to do next… though it’s weird, because if he was so set on it, I wouldn’t have stopped him anyway.”

“Whadd’ya mean by that?” Applejack questioned.

“Well…he decided to activate the self-destruct sequence...by himself. He sacrificed himself to destroy the sector,” Samus replied, doing her best to mask her still-somewhat-raw emotion as mere indifference. The others gasped and murmured a bit at the revelation. “He and I may have had some bad history together, but that notwithstanding, he was still my mentor and my good friend. The Federation lost one of its best, if not its best that day. I’ll only ever admit this to you eight, but it was one of the only times I ever shed tears in front of anyone.”

“I’m so sorry, Samus,” Fluttershy apologized again, expressing her condolences on behalf of everypony else.

“It’s fine, girls. What can ya do?” Samus replied offhandedly. “Well, again, skipping a few details that aren’t so necessary at the moment, we finally finished the mission on the Bottle Ship. Thankfully, Anthony had survived, and he helped me transport a high value individual back to Earth for questioning. The Bottle Ship was eventually destroyed, and that was the end of a major, potential threat to the galaxy.”

“Is that when you came back here?” Twilight asked, shifting her body on her pillow to retain maximum comfort. Samus shook her head.

“No. I was far across the galaxy at that point, and as much as I wanted to return home, I was hired for a few other jobs here and there.”

“You workaholic,” Rainbow chided playfully.

“Oh, you know me too well. I had about… a little over twenty random jobs that I was contracted for. Most of them weren’t major,” Samus said, quickly moving ahead with the next topic. “Provide security for a few weeks, help guard a short-staffed outpost for a couple of days, provide recon against potential insurgents… little things, relatively speaking. One mission, though, started as ordinary as the rest… but quickly proved to be otherwise.”

“Alright, now you’re just teasin’ us. Out with the story!” Applejack urged her onward, eliciting a little bit of a chuckle from the Hunter.

“Alright, alright! Remember when I told you about going to SR388 and exterminating the metroids there?” she asked everyone to put them on a point of reference. All nodded. “Well… turns out that wasn’t a fuckin’ good idea in the long run, and I’ll get to that in a bit. Anyway, about a month ago, I’d been assigned to watch over a Biologic’s research team, so I once again found myself on SR388.”

“That’s lovely,” Spike remarked, remembering full well Samus’ opinions of the planet.

“Well, it was there that I was attacked by a life-form that I had never encountered before,” she continued, pulling up a picture of a single X parasite on her console to show to everypony. There were plenty of grimaces all around.  “However, it was only later that I learned the identity of my attacker: a parasitic organism that we called X. I displayed no symptoms when it first attacked me and infiltrated through my suit, so, unaware of my condition, I was returning to our operations station when disaster struck.”

“Ummmm… define ‘disaster,’” Twilight asked, begging clarification.

“The parasite infested my central nervous system, I lost consciousness, and my ship drifted into an asteroid belt…” Samus answered her directly.

“Oh…”

“Yeah. The ship's emergency systems automatically ejected the escape pod before impact. Biologic's vessel recovered it and transported me to Galactic Federation HQ for immediate medical treatment. Thankfully, we weren’t far away from one of the major medical command centers,” Samus continued her tale. “My condition worsened by the minute, however. During the journey, the X multiplied within me, corrupting large areas of my Suit, which sucked even harder.”

All the ponies and dragon leaned forward with keen interest, completely forgoing their food and drink to hear the next words out of Samus’ mouth.

“It then came to light that the organic components of my Suit were so integrated with my system that it could not be removed while I was unconscious… a problem which could’ve, ironically, been remedied with magic. Large portions of my suit had to be surgically removed, dramatically altering my physical appearance. Even after clearing that infestation, the X in my central nervous system were too embedded to be removed safely. I was given a minimal chance of survival,” Samus said, revealing how terrible her condition actually was. To say that there were horrified looks around the room would be an understatement.

“So you were this close to dyin’ and none of us would’ve even known,” Applejack whispered, saying what everypony else was thinking.

“Hey, in my defense, I had no idea what the hell was going on.” She rubbed her chin. “Although, technically, I could’ve died on any of my other missions—and almost did, as I told you before—and no one would’ve known, so…” Samus countered, gesturing appropriately with her hand for emphasis.

Don’t remind us,” Twilight grumbled, blowing a lock of her hair out of her face.

“But naturally, since I’m sitting here in front of you, I clearly survived. The reason was that someone had found a cure. To this day, I have no idea what possessed them to try this out, but the medical staff proposed using a metroid cell to make some sort of ‘anti-X vaccine.’ Wisely, the Federation had managed to preserve a cell culture from the infant metroid. So, the serum was prepared and injected as quickly as they could manage it… The X parasites were immediately and completely destroyed,” Samus continued, her companions’ expressing morphing from horrified to relieved.

“This story is getting more intense as time goes on,” Spike commented with his mouth partially full of gemstones.

“I was quite literally brought back from the brink of death. But, not entirely the same. As for me, one life ended… yet I survived as something a bit different.”

“Well, that was dramatic!” Pinkie spoke up after a while of just listening and bouncing in place, earning laughs all around at her playful sarcasm.

“Be quiet, Pinkie,” Samus retorted with whimsical stoicism, which only fueled the combined giggling fits. “To elaborate what I meant by that, I’m sure you all noticed the change in my suit from when you last saw me… a radical change, I should say.”

Samus then equipped her suit in full, not bothering to stand up.

“I was gonna ask about that, but it kinda got lost in the commotion,” Rainbow Dash remarked, and everypony else seemed to nod in agreement.

“Right,” Samus replied. “Well, this was the result of surgery as well as the metroid vaccine, which altered some of my DNA. Originally, it was much bluer in color, but because of...events on the BSL station, it now resembles my Varia Suit more closely. On another note, though… this,” she gestured to her armor-clad body, “...was only made possible because of the late infant metroid. I pondered this when I awoke, as well… I owe it my life twice over.”

Samus unequipped her suit, leaving her back in her Zero Suit.

“It also turned out that the metroid was a natural predator of the X back on SR388, hence, why I said that exterminating them was not a great idea in hindsight.”

“Did you come back here once you healed up,” Fluttershy asked, everypony attempting to connect the time of her arrival.

“Wishful thinking. Upon waking, I was told that there was an explosion at BSL station and that all contact had been lost. What was worrying was that that’s where pieces of my surgically removed, infected Varia Suit had been sent for study. I don’t know why, but it awoke a nameless fear in my heart… like somehow, on a level beneath my consciousness, I knew exactly what had happened,” Samus explained while finishing off her pizza sandwich.

“How do you figure?” Twilight asked, ever excited to hear Samus tell her stories.

“Well, the first thing you guys have to understand, is about the nature of the X. The X infect the host, kill it, and then take on its form in a much more aggressive, though sometimes much more intelligent way,” Samus answered, getting a few nods of understanding in return.

“So, it’s like cloning but the host dies and a feral form remains,” the lavender alicorn said, implicitly asking for confirmation. Samus nodded deeply.

“Somewhat. So, with some odd feeling in my gut, I was sent to investigate the facility, taking orders from a computer, which was supposed to be my commanding officer for the mission. Remember Adam?”

Everypony nodded and gave their own affirmative responses.

“Well, he lives on… through here,” Samus almost endearingly pointed out, gesturing to her wrist console. “Adam?” she then called.

“Yes, Samus?” Adam blipped to life on her console, his ‘eye’ taking shape right in the center of the screen.

A pin could be heard dropping as a result of the stunned silence.

“Wait… what??”

“Huh?”

“Whoa…”

“Okay…”

“COOOOOL!”

“Ummm…”

“Skreeee…?”

“To intercept the onslaught of questions you all have: I recently learned that it’s common practice for the Federation to ‘upload’ the personalities of the greatest minds after they pass away,” the Hunter elaborated. “How they do it, I’m really not so sure, but regardless, Adam is here… his joyful persona and all.”

“I’m sensing large quantities of sarcasm in your words, Lady,” Adam responded.

“Did he just call you ‘Lady?’” Rarity chimed in, cocking an eyebrow.

“It’s… it’s an inside thing between us,” Samus vaguely explained, but her expression became somewhat irritated once she saw Rarity’s eyes sparkle. “No. Don’t even get any ideas. I know exactly what you’re thinking and it’s not true in the slightest,” Samus scolded pointedly. While the others were confused, Rarity was already laughing into her hoof.

“I wasn’t insinuating anything, Darling…”

“You were thinking about it…”

“I was not…”

Samus rolled her eyes. “Yes you were… But ANYWAY, Adam was with me the entire time, and I didn’t even know it until the end of the mission. Investigating the BSL station, it was built similarly to the Bottle Ship, so it progressed similarly as well. The X had spread all over the facility and Adam sent me to each sector to do my best to rid them of the parasite, all while regaining my abilities and avoiding the SA-X,” Samus said, getting right back to the story.

“SA-X?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh right. Remember how pieces of my infected suit had to be surgically removed? Well, those pieces were sent to BSL station to be studied. The X had, with my DNA, reconstructed a full Varia Suit from the parts, as well a simulacrum of my body,” Samus answered. “I never got to see the SA-X out of the suit, so I only guess it was some perverted mockery of my own self.”

“Like Nightmare Hunter?” Fluttershy asked, searching for a parallel. Samus thought on it for a few moments and in fact, it was a fairly similar concept.

“Ummmm, yeah… Yeah you could say that. It was different, though. The SA-X, for all intents and purposes, was me… me with all of my native weaponry, while I had nothing. Adam would warn me about its movements, because until I could find or download my weapons and abilities back, I was absolutely no match for it in combat. I had to run and hide, scurrying through the shadows like a rat while it hunted me down,” Samus recalled, remembering the many sleepless nights locked up in the Save Stations and Information Rooms… getting little to no sleep over the fear of the SA-X blowing the doors in and slaughtering her.

Before Samus could continue properly, there were a few firm knocks at the front door, drawing everypony’s attention.

“Who could that be?” Twilight asked, but Spike beat her to the rest.

“I’ll get it,” Spike announced, picking himself up off his pillow and trudging to the front. Samus turned back to the others.

“Well, guess we have company now. I’ll tell you the rest of the story later, but just know that in the end, the X were getting out of hand, as well as me finding another illegal metroid breeding program. I set the station on a crash course for SR388 before Adam and I fled, destroying both planet and station. Finally I was on my way here and Luna’s fleet happened to be in the area. So, I bummed a ride with her, and here I am!” the Hunter concluded briefly, earning a small chorus of ‘hurrahs,’ reminding everypony that Samus was indeed back and safe, just as she had promised over two and a half years ago.

“Indeed, here you are!” a familiar, regal voice permeated the air, garnering everypony’s eyes. Samus turned with a smile to see exactly who she knew was there.

“Princess Celestia!” she greeted, immediately rising to her feet and embracing the alabaster alicorn. The latter was adorned in her usual regalia and everypony else rushed to greet her, including Sapphire.

“It is so wonderful to see you again, Samus… I apologize, everypony, for the intrusion, but when Luna informed me of your safe return, I could not help but stop by and say hi,” she added gleefully, separating from the human so they could get a better look at each other. “You haven’t changed, nor aged a bit, Samus.”

“Damn, well that’s good to hear. I feel like I’ve aged thirty years, mentally.”

“No intrusion at all, Princess!” Twilight happily dismissed Celestia’s concerns. “We were just sitting down to Samus telling us of her adventures. You’re more than welcome to join us!” she offered, hoping that the greatest inspiration in her life would accept. Celestia giggled adorably.

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure, my little ponies… and my human subject,” she began, addressing Samus as ‘subject’ as a term of endearment. “...but I only had time to stop by and say hello. I must be present with Luna when we have a meeting with some financial ministers of the Federation early tomorrow. That, and to introduce Samus to somepony else…”

“Wait, do you mean…”

“Hello~ everypony!” Discord greeted the entire room when he ‘popped’ into existence, floating in on a pink cloud. Samus was, naturally, a bit startled at the sudden entrance of what appeared to be a serpentine mish-mash of different animals, but the others responded amiably, if a little annoyed.

“Oh. You.” Sapphire quietly added.

Celestia smirked and spoke once more:

“Discord has been on his best behavior...so I thought I’d bring him along and introduce him to—”

“Samus Aran!” Discord exclaimed, snapping his fingers and teleporting right behind the Hunter, slithering around her to get a better look, as Samus attempted to do the same. “Yes, I’ve been informed of you… the prophesied daughter of the Chozo…”

“Wait, what?” Samus asked, he also earning a few cocked eyebrows at that statement.

“I said ‘the great human friend of the Elements,’” Discord said, covering his previous words so smoothly. “Just like the pictures… I’ve been wondering when I’d get the particular pleasure of meeting you,” he stated excitedly, disappearing and reappearing as a miniature version of himself standing on Samus’ right shoulder, leaning on her chin. “I am Discord… Lord of Chaos and all of Equestria’s underlying entropy.”

“I see… nice to meet you too, I guess?” Samus replied uncertainly, being slightly put off at his eccentric behavior. With another snap of his fingers, Discord teleported next to Celestia, leaning over her back. Samus looked a bit miffed, while the others regarded Discord with a long-suffering acceptance.

“I’m glad! Unfortunately, mother Celestia here did not have plans for us to stay, so we must be off back to Canterlot… but I thoroughly look forward to fraternizing with you in the near future,” Discord said in a quite friendly manner.

To everypony else, it was almost too friendly.

“Right…” Samus replied.

“Well, on that note, it is best that we head back to the capital. My apologies for this being such a short meeting,” Celestia noted, nuzzling Samus, then Twilight, on the cheek. “But please, don’t be a stranger! The castle is always open to you… especially if the Elements here begin getting on your nerves,” she offered, winking at the six ponies plus dragon. There were chuckles to be had all around.

“You got it, Princess. I don’t think I’ll be bored for a while, though… but I’ll be dropping by as soon as I’m able,” Samus informed with a grateful nod.

“Luna and I look forward to it. Goodnight, everypony,” Celestia bade everyone farewell, turning on her hooves and heading back towards the door with Discord floating alongside.

“Tata, everypony!” he exclaimed in kind, snapping his fingers and disappearing once more, but this time, not reappearing.

“Oh! Before I forget,” Celestia called out before making her exit, looking over her shoulder and locking eyes with Samus. “All of your financial assets have been unfrozen, and are free for you to use once again.”

“Oh cool! Thank you very much!” Samus replied eagerly. She had completely forgotten about that, and now that she got the answer of whether or not the money she had left behind was still valid, she now had absolute freedom to do as she pleased in Equestria.

Samus could now start paying rent again to Twilight… which would no doubt lead to a colossal argument in the near future.

Or, she could look into investing in her own place nearby.

“Of course, Samus. Have a goodnight, everypony,” Celestia said once again before closing the door behind her, leaving everypony as they were before her sudden arrival.

“So… the night’s still young; what now?” Rarity asked, everyone still teeming with good energy and more than willing to continue with Samus’ return celebration.

“No idea,” Samus replied, though clearly up for anything.

“I could make us all supersonic ice cream SUNDAES!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping in the air and spazzing out in screaming her last word. All the other ponies plus dragon and metroid let out a combined, garbled chorus of affirmative responses. Samus was no stranger to Pinkie’s cooking and natural talent for crafting pastries and other sweets. Thus, she knew that whatever made these ice cream creations special would be absolutely worth it all.

She also missed liberally loading up on sweets during her last stay in Equestria.

“I have no idea what the ‘supersonic’ means, but I want one,” Samus said resolutely.


[G.F.S. Oculus | Some Time Later…]


It was time. Conway had gotten the alert he had been waiting for for over two months: Commander Eisen wanted to see him in the Black Ops Research wing, buried deep in the heart of the most classified area of the flagship.

The fruits of Project Duality were soon to be revealed.

Conway marched with single-minded intent through the corridors of the Oculus, having forgone a proper escort because he did not want to get bogged down with basic protocol. To the crewmen who saluted him as he passed, Conway paid no heed—uncharacteristic of him; his entire attention was focused on what awaited him. Eisen had been reassuring him that Duality stood to be much fitter for purpose and application than the X, Metroid and Bottle Ship bioweapons programs, primarily due to the projected lack of side effects.

He would be the judge of that in the future, of course, but for the moment he trusted Eisen and her impeccable judgement. Conway knew for a fact that he would most likely be pleased with what was presented to him. He had fullest confidence that she would deliver…how much, however, remained to be seen.

Stepping off the elevator into the bowels of the ship, clad in his usual, ceremonial dress uniform, Conway strolled forward, the only direction afforded to travelers in this chthonic realm. The only break from the corridor’s monotony was a single, hallway-spanning blast door, imposing in its blankness yet equal intimidation. Flanking the door stood a pair of equally intimidating, fully-geared marines. Wordlessly, they came to attention and pressed two buttons on the walls simultaneously, a sharp hiss and a slight inrush of air indicating that the door was opening. Conway did not even wait for the blast doors to open completely, brushing past the soldiers and moving to a decontamination chamber.

After the standard decon cycle, Conway moved onward, down a corridor as stark, dim, and spartan as the one he just passed.. Were any other crewman to somehow make it past the ever-watchful, elite guards, they might lose themselves here. By contrast, Conway moved with unerring grace and certainty towards a massive, sepulchral chamber awash with medical equipment. Dominating the room, in pride of place, was a single medical bed.

“Commander Eisen,” he greeted upon walking through the door, finding the Commander and a few of her scientific aides standing around the bed, conversing quietly amongst themselves, interpreting medical readings, and monitoring the bed’s occupant.

“Good afternoon, Admiral,” Eisen replied with barely-constrained enthusiasm, beckoning him over.

“So, I hear you have something to show me in the way of progress…”

“Certainly do!” Eisen replied, pulling up her datapad to bring up the appropriate information, Conway standing beside her as he stared down at the subject on the bed, arms crossed, fingers drumming against his upper arm. “The samples we took from Samus Aran while she was in a medically induced coma were more than suitable for our needs. Through hypno-conditioning and forced biological growth, the subject’s mind and body are both approximately in their late teens.”

“How are her vitals?” Conway asked, resting his chin in the crook of his hand as he continued to observe.

“Better than my team could have hoped for at this state,” Eisen responded happily. “Her internal organs show absolutely no sign of degradation after the forced-growth procedure; I credit the Ninazu group for that breakthrough. Cardiac function is strong; we had a minor scare in the third week of development when her primary pacemaker shut down, but we were able to restart it.”

Conway raised his head and looked at Eisen. “I don’t recall receiving a report about this.” To her credit, Eisen looked abashed.

“Erm...Well, we solved it quickly enough that we—I didn’t think that you needed to be bothered.” Conway let his head fall to his chest again.

“No more. I want a report on everything; let me decide what’s important.”

“...Yes, sir. Anyway...neural function is off the charts, far beyond what initial projections and extrapolations would have predicted. We now believe she possesses cognitive abilities on par with the template. Her lungs have developed to the point where we felt safe taking her off the respirator two days ago; she’s been breathing independently ever since. Obviously, we won’t know for sure until we wake her up and test her, but we believe she should be, in theory, as strong as her template.”

“And the bionic enhancements?” Conway inquired, beginning to circle the bed predatorily, almost shark-like.

“So far, we’ve had consistent success with lab samples inducing accelerated dermal and subdermal tissue regeneration; those have been activated in the subject. As for the other enhancements you requested…” Eisen winced. “We had enough trouble getting them to function consistently in a laboratory environment that we didn’t dare try to include them… at least not yet. Immunologically, she’s been given the standard Federation battery of inoculations, and her immune system has been hyper-activated.”

“I see. I’m assuming you didn’t call me down here just for a status report…?” Conway asked leadingly, knowing that Eisen could have just forwarded a memo to him about what was just said, and wasted less time.

“Would I do that?” Eisen asked sweetly. “Because she’s surpassed all of our milestones so far, we believe we are prepared to fully activate Project Duality,” she said proudly. “She’s ready to begin training and indoctrination cycles.

“Oh?” Conway asked, an almost-malevolent gleam in his eye. “And you brought me down to do the honors? I’m touched, Commander.”

“It was your idea, after all… I was merely the architect.”

“Very well. What is her designation?” Conway asked, looking back down to the seemingly incapacitated woman.

“Officially, Project Duality has been designated ‘SA-2,’” Eisen answered confidently, holding her datapad under her arm.

“SA-2… aptly named, Commander,” he reflected. “But perhaps, maybe at first, it’s only proper to address her as she truly is...Wake her up,” Conway finally ordered, the barest hint of a cruel smile tugging at his lips, staring down upon the sleeping, fair-skinned, blonde-haired body.

“Yes, sir.” Eisen looked at her staff and nodded sharply, relaying the order. They bustled around the hospital bed, attaching needles to the occupant’s IV lines, pushing various chemicals into her body. She twitched and jumped under the sheet covering her, eyes rolling behind closed eyelids as her system tried to keep up with the strange wash of chemicals. “Heart rate climbing,” one tech reported. Another called out, “EEG is moving.”

A few moments later, all was still, the monitors settling down into relaxed beeps.

“Witten?” Eisen called, directing her attention to the tech who had reported on the EEG. “How is she?”

The tech looked down. “EEG is showing a stable delta rhythm. She’s out of the coma, Admiral. Ready to be roused at your order.”

Conway nodded respectfully at the tech, making his way around the bed to its other side. Looking down at the figure below him, he reflected on the odd reversal, the person now bearing this face in particular. As if borne out of reflex, he reached down and, almost paternally, brushed a lock of her hair off of the girl’s forehead.

Her head twitched in response to the touch, a healthy sign. Conway leaned in, speaking firmly into the girl’s ear:

“It’s time to wake up, Samus.”

As if she had been waiting to hear her name, the heart rate monitor began beeping frantically. The subject gasped, and her eyes shot open, revealing an all-too-familiar pair of teal-blue irises.