As Samus and Spike paused in their telling, they noticed there wasn't a dry eye amongst their listeners. Samus smiled softly as she saw this. "It's alright," Samus spoke up. "It...was quite a bit emotional, but it was healing. For both of us."
"Old Bird and Grey Voice," Twilight spoke up. "Were they...?"
"Old Bird was my first friend amongst the Chozo," Samus explained. "I befriended him back on K2L before Ridley devastated the place, and he acted as an honorary Uncle while I was being raised amongst the Chozo. And Grey Voice...his DNA was what was used to adapt me to Zebes' environment. His blood is in my veins...and Spike's. Made him sort of an...adoptive father. I admit, we didn't have the best of relationships while he was alive, but..."
"They made up over time," Spike explained. "And...Grandpa helped me to dive back through my mind, to my hidden memories of this world, which let us find where it was, so we could come here. Although...calculating its exact location took a long time. Apparently, this world once passed through Chozo occupied space, and they made a brief study of it...but they weren't able to approach because the unique energy fields of the planet were...out of sync, making any attempt at landing suicidal."
"Sorry about that," Discord apologized. "I was having fun, and didn't want interference. Besides, I'd had...bad experience previously with things coming from space."
"How come you didn't interfere with my ship landing, then?" Samus asked curiously.
"Two reasons," Discord explained. "First, that's Luna's job now, and she'd throw a tizzy-fit if I stuck my oar in without an invitation." This resulted in Luna blowing him a raspberry, making him laugh. "Second, I sensed Spike on board."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Fluttershy asked sorrowfully.
"And interfere with that wonderfully emotional reunion?" Discord countered playfully. "Parish the thought." For some obscure reason, he transformed himself into a church for a brief moment.
"While Spike explored his origins...Old Bird took me back to mine," Samus explained. "I started out back on Zebes' surface, in just my Zero Suit, going through my original training again as I fought my way through waves of obstacles without my Power Suit, ending in staff combat with a Chozo Warrior. When I managed to best him, I regained my Power Suit in my own mind...with only the most basic functions of beam and visor, save for two new functions."
"Two?" Rainbow asked eagerly, taking copious notes again.
"One each derived from my new Draconic and Metroidal traits," Samus explained. "From my Metroidal side..." Lifting her right arm, she made her arm cannon vanish and showed everyone her hand and palm, the fang-like claws at the fingertips of the armored gauntlet and the hole in the palm. "When I grapple with a foe, I can plunge my hand into them and drain their energy to replenish my suit resources, much like Metroid predation. I can use the same process to transfer some of my energy to someone else, though at lower efficiency."
"Dude..." Rainbow marveled. "That's so cool..."
"And from my dragon side..." Smiling, Samus clenched her left hand before spreading her fingers out again, energy dancing between her fingertips as it shaped into flame, ice, and electrical energy at her will. "I got my own version of Spike's breath weapon."
Gasps of amazement echoed around the table as Twilight rushed forward, scanning the energy with her magic. "This is amazing!" she gasped out eagerly. "You're biologically generating magical energy you can project outside your body without any of the adaptions the creatures of our world use! Admittedly, it's at pretty low levels, but the tight focus means when you launch it, it could be pretty devastating..." Her voice trailed off as the energy became even more tightly focused. "You...you can charge that, too?"
Samus nodded. "I could once I recovered my Charge Beam," she explained. "After recovering the suit and taking time to master the new functions, Old Bird guided me into a dive into my memories. That was...different."
"How so?" Scootaloo asked eagerly.
"Well, because of the chaos my mind had been put into because of the dragon instincts awakening, it wasn't consistent," Samus explained. "It was like exploring all the worlds I'd ever been to simultaneously, all mixed up. I'd start out in a chamber of Zebes' tunnels, only to pass through a door and come out in the Chozo Temple area of Tallon IV...and turning around to go through the same door would leave me in Torvus Bog."
"How could you possibly maneuver through that kind of chaos?" Twilight gasped, stunned.
"There were several fixed points," Samus explained. "Each of my latent abilities was a fixed point in my mindscape, and the chambers surrounding them as well, since each latent ability was guarded by larger foes I'd fought on several worlds, whose nature was connected to the ability they guarded...and the path into those chambers couldn't be opened unless I had the abilities needed to fight the guardians. For example, the path to where Quadraxis guarded the Annihilator Beam in my mind required the Spider Ball and Bombs to get to...but I could explore in any direction I wanted to as I went. Old Bird was kind enough to ensure I could sense everywhere in the mindscape where my latent abilities were located...as well as the core where I had to face my inner dragon to come to terms with myself."
"Annihilator Beam?" Luna spoke up quickly. "You mean you regained the Luminoth tech?"
Smiling, Samus tweaked the energy between her fingers, shifting it from Light, to Dark, to a mix. "And because of my added draconic nature, I don't need to collect ammunition anymore, since my suit can generate it now."
"Okay, that's pretty cool," Ember was forced to admit. "Sounds like an incredible adventure."
Samus chuckled softly. "Gotta admit, it really was..."