08. Kindness
“Terms?” Samus asked simply.
Viridian didn’t respond right away, and instead preceded his words with a bright, blue flash of light enveloping his body. Much like when Samus disengaged her suit, Viridian’s body was left clad in a rather similar, muscle-tight, Zero Suit replete with familiar Chozo inscriptions and symbols… save for a forest-green color in contrast to Samus’ shades of blue.
“Blunt spear, fist, and foot. I do not believe one of us intends to die today over a bit of… fun. First to yield loses.”
‘Giddiness’ was not a feeling Samus expected to have coursing through her wound-up muscles, today.
“Music to my ears!” she stated, and then began stretching out her limbs and neck… all before she dropped into a proper fighting stance with her spear-turned-staff aimed forward at the ready.
Twilight’s concerns never abated. She called out a little more harshly while Fluttershy glanced anxiously between Viridian and the Hunter.
“Samus!” the alicorn yelled. “W-What’s going on??” she asked. Not that she wasn’t familiar with what was happening. There was very clearly a fight about to take place. The Hunter figured that she just didn’t know why.
Samus replied with a placating, soothing palm towards her. She had this, and of course there was nothing to worry about. She also, on the surface, understood Twilight’s worries… but in the end, the alicorn just didn’t understand what this all meant to her, personally. She would explain in time, for sure… as Twilight would likely have many questions when this was all done.
But for now, Samus wanted to indulge in something purely for her own sake and pleasure. With the current mission at hand, and whatever came after when this was all done, she had no idea when she’d even be able to have such an opportunity.
“Relax… no one’s dying today. I haven’t had a proper sparring match with my people since I left Zebes. Just… let me have this for me… please,” she urged.
Twilight wanted to say something else. Samus could see it in her unsure eyes and open mouth, ready to counter her concerns with that tentatively lifted hoof. No such riposte came, and she smirked gratefully when Twilight sighed out instead, and simply nodded with an uneasy smile of her own. The two shared a single nod of understanding with one another…
…and that freed up Samus’ attention for much more important matters at the moment.
She resumed her stance, pointing the now-blunt end of her spear towards Viridian… who fell into a rather unique fighting stance of his own: one leg bent in front of the other, with his entire body leaning forward and his right hand providing counterbalance behind him with this own spear clutched therein.
Viridian smirked.
She clutched her loaned spear a little tighter, mirroring his smirk as she started nimbly shifting the weight balance between her feet.
“Definitely. You?”
“A warrior of the Chozo is always ready for the next fight,” he declared, and then promptly added:
“Oh! And I have one more request before we begin?”
Samus cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t alter her stance in the slightest… which Viridian took as his cue to continue.
“Please show me all you’re capable of. Don’t feel the need to temper your abilities.”
Samus didn’t answer him beyond that… she had no intention of ‘tempering’ her abilities in a fight, but naturally, she understood that this was supposed to be a friendly fight, and anyone going full-power here would probably end up extremely hurt. Or worse. She figured that she understood the underlying meaning of Viridian’s words.
With the giddiness of ‘training’ again with one of her kin returning to her core, Samus excitedly took a few steps forward in her stance, not daring to let the blunt end of her spear fall even a millimeter. Viridian, it seemed, mirrored her movements, and took his first steps forward as well, as if conveying a willingness to ‘meet her halfway.’ The determined smirk on his face was contagious… and Samus understood that she, in some way, was feeling exactly as he was. Perhaps even less than him, considering he had been here probably longer than she had actually been alive.
The distance closed. They got even closer to meeting in the center of the room.
And by this point, Samus was honestly much too excited to delay the inevitable, and she broke into a sudden sprint. Viridian followed suit, and Samus initiated ‘hostilities’ by throwing her entire kinetic energy and weight behind a downward swipe towards the Chozo warrior’s neck. A probing strike, to see where this all headed.
As she fully expected, Viridian blocked her strike with his own spear… but in a way most unexpected: he didn’t even flinch, let alone register that her strength had any effect on his stance. He was solid as all the statues she had passed here.
His smirk never let up.
“Straight to the point. I like it!”
Samus knew exactly what was coming next, and put all the resistance in her arms as Viridian moved to thrust her away… ensuring when she was inevitably—and easily—shoved off, she landed perfectly on her feet rather than being strewn about the arena haphazardly like used laundry.
The mere moment Samus landed perfectly on the balls of her feet, Viridian lashed out at her with his own swipe at her midsection… which was easy enough to parry away with her spear after a quick dash back. What she didn’t expect was for the Chozo to immediately follow up with a rather elegant twirl in place, which intended to meet the head of his weapon with Samus’ ankles.
Adrenaline shot through her body once more, and she decided against blocking the strike outright. Instead, she leapt over the sweep with the full intention of counterattacking the moment Viridian’s attack passed right under her. She moved to action her plan, twirling her grip on her weapon and preparing to strike at his back…
...but was instead met with Viridian’s foot planted right into her chest via a side-kick, which sent her straight onto her ass with a silent ‘oomph’ from her in response.
The double-follow up from the seasoned warrior should’ve been expected, in her opinion. Nevertheless, the strike didn’t cripple her in the slightest, and the moment she felt her ass harshly hit the floor, Samus utilized the sudden influx of kinetic energy and bounded up backwards into a reverse-backbend… which placed her right back onto her feet, ready to continue the fight.
If only she could see Twilight and Fluttershy both simultaneously stretch their hooves forward in grave concern for Samus’ health at that moment.
Viridian stepped forward and opened his arms invitingly. The teasing could be read on his face before the words even flowed from his mouth.
“Surely that isn’t your best, Samus? I wouldn’t expect that to have gotten you this far in your journeys.”
Samus was more than happy to respond to friendly banter with some of her own, now… and that smile of hers never left her.
“Good hit. And trust me,” she assured. “Had to see what I’m working with. I’m just getting started.”
As Viridian closed the distance between them further, Samus jabbed forward with the end of her spear once he came in range… further probing his defenses around his face and chest. As she had fully expected, the Chozo expertly dodged (with Samus noting how quickly he moved despite his size) or simply parried away her strikes with his own spear.
She didn’t let up, though.
His defiance in not wanting to get hit only fueled Samus’ drive to exploit an eventual opening. She never let up her assault, and in adding much more elegant and precise, trained, powerful strikes to her incessant barrage, she forced Viridian to retrace his steps backward. Reclaiming part of the initiative, Samus pressed her slow advantage… letting the first beads of sweat drip down her brow as she fought to prevent Viridian from counterattacking.
In one final burst of aggression, Samus lashed out with her spear and motioned to devastatingly slam it into Viridian’s knee. As she had expected him to, though, he stunted her strike right in its path with his own weapon…
...which, combined with his sudden, hunched over stance, gave Samus the perfect opening to launch a roundhouse right as his face… which he also managed to dodge, just barely.
And in the final stage of Samus’ grand plan, she had expected him to likely dodge her surprise attack. Using the built up energy from her kick, she followed through with a reverse-roundhouse from her other leg, and clocked Viridian right on the side of his head with the back of her heel.
The impact echoed through their makeshift arena. Samus could sense the two ponies off to the side flinching at the sight, and Viridian certainly felt that impact… as he immediately grunted deeply and broke off the engagement. He slammed his hand to the side of his head, stumbling away as Samus’ rather punishing strike put him off balance. Nevertheless, Samus stood ready to follow-up if he was going to try any more Chozo tricks.
None were forthcoming, and Viridian seemed to merely shrug off the hit with a few shakes of his head, before letting a smile return to his face.
“Now that’s more like it, Samus! Excellent hit!”
A third, reticent voice entered the arena when Fluttershy shouted through her hooves:
“Viry! Please… be careful!”
He didn’t regard her with a verbal response, but he did sport a fonder smile for a moment as he dropped back into his combat pose.
“Let us continue!”
Samus lunged forward and struck first once more with another stab towards his midsection… and that physical overture kicked off another fierce melee between the two of them at ultra-close range. A melee that, to an outside observer, might appear like an ultra-choreographed dance.
With the first probing attacks—and getting hit once—telling her all she needed to know about the scope of this ‘battle,’ she let her instincts take full control as her training and experience guided her actions…
…within reason.
On occasion, when Samus would block a strike, or lash out when an opening presented itself, she would catch Viridian cocking an eyebrow at her. At first, she dismissed this as merely a psychological trick to get her to trip up… one that she had no interest in falling for, so she paid it little mind.
Until Viridian broke off… and came roaring back with a massive, overhead strike that Samus barely had time to block without going to a single knee to cushion the blow. Both spears collided as Viridian leered down at the Hunter, and close enough where the two could share a comfortable eye-to-eye.
Then, through his following words, it became clear that Viridian was much more perceptive than Samus had expected during a fight like this:
“You’re holding back…” he observed, then cocked his head.
“Why?”
He was right, and Samus wasn’t sure exactly how to respond to that. As she struggled under Viridian’s weight, and shakily kept her left heel planted into the floor to stave off possible submission, she had enough time to ponder that question… one she didn’t have an immediate answer for. She knew this wasn’t a fight to the death—far from it. But she also knew that she shouldn’t be holding back what she was truly capable of, as Viridian requested at the start.
But, very real fears had been swimming around in her chest since the start of this… ones that she really didn’t feel comfortable vocalizing at the moment. It had been so long since she had even met another Chozo… another one of her adoptive people. And if Samus were to—accidentally—have a hand in bringing about their demise in a friendly bout?
She’d never forgive herself.
Even more than that, admitting these very real emotions never really yielded the best results for her when she actually was in training. Excess turmoil in her mind was a quick way to unintentionally unequip her Power Suit, or worse, slip up in her training… which would often lead to more admonishment from Gray Voice.
And rather than answer verbally, Samus channeled all her energy into her legs and thrust herself upward, and in turn, thrust Viridian fully away from her. He stumbled back and kept a bit of his distance as Samus righted her posture.
She then stood ready to attack once more. Her breathing was much heavier, and as the two stared at each other once more, Samus felt another emotion rise within her that she tended to keep under wraps: pride. One that was scratched when Viridian called her out on her very real temperance of her abilities. Keeping these emotions in check was part of her training, and it was of less effort now to suppress them and make sure they didn’t affect—or had as minimal effect as possible on—her combat capabilities.
But that didn’t mean she had to like when someone called her out on her bullshit. And like the experienced warrior Viridian was, he seemed to notice this as well.
And in noticing, an aura of familiarity and understanding graced his features.
“Ahhhh… I see now. I’m going to give you a gift, Samus… an ‘allowance,’ if you will,” he began as he dropped into his fighting stance again.
“Consider this a training exercise… and I’ll let you, just this once, do something the Thoha never allowed you to do: to feel. Feel your emotions. There are no consequences to failure here. I want to see all your power!
“Don’t hold back!
“Show me all of it,” he declared.
Samus blinked. She needed no one’s permission to ‘feel’ anything. But her training and consistent deployments made sure that she kept all her intrusive thoughts and feelings out of battle for the most part, and saved them for when they were most ‘appropriate.’ Nevertheless, being given a figurative green light by someone who was many years in age and experience over her in her own career as a warrior was something she, frankly, didn’t exactly know she needed to hear.
Still, she hesitated, and instead responded in her own, subtle sarcasm:
“I thought we weren’t trying to kill each other today, Viridian? And an esteemed Chozo warrior telling his own to let emotions get in the way? Never thought I’d hear the day!”
The two began to circle each other, closing the distance more and more as they took their steps.
Viridian lashed out again, grunting as he put his full power behind a massive, midsection strike. Samus had to throw her back parallel to the ground momentarily to avoid it… and the moment she saw him follow up with another sweep to her legs, she had to bound off her hands into a somersault to land back on her feet… just in time to dodge Viridian’s attempt to shove her with his shoulder. He merely brushed past her as she evaded with a quick dash on her feet, and the two resumed aiming their spears at one another.
“So wise were the Thoha in their science and mysticism… and yet, they never understood something you clearly do: said emotions you speak of. Feelings, of course, should never be used as a cudgel or in excess. But they can be used as an enhancement!
“Use them! Or perhaps… I should extract them from you!”
Viridian lunged forward again with a punishing jab of his spear, as if he was trying to run Samus through her stomach had the sharp end not been removed.
Samus gritted her teeth, brushing off his comments, even though she didn’t particularly appreciate the subtle put-down of her adoptive tribe. She then blunted his strike with two hands, thrusting the midsection of her own spear against the end of Viridian’s after some expert timing. With his attack coming up short and missing, Samus was given a golden opportunity to strike right at his face, which she took…
…by planting her heel right atop the bridge of his beak with her own grunt of exertion.
Viridian definitely felt that, though he continued to surprise Samus when he just accepted the punishment, and instead immediately countered with a swift backhand to her face. Said backhand rocked Samus’ world, and felt more like a proper punch with more surface area as she saw stars for the briefest moment. She was knocked straight backward and onto her ass and back.
It didn’t take long for Samus to shrug off the hit, clear her vision, and bound back up onto her feet, ready to continue the fight once again.
Viridian prattled on with his banter:
“Really now, Samus… is this what they let you leave Zebes with?”
The tinge of anger deep within her core flared up. Samus ignored it—stuffed it back down. Wordlessly, for now at least, she struck back at the Chozo towards his chest, forcing him on the quick defensive to block her attack… just as Samus had predicted.
She feigned being stunned by the parry, stumbling backward, which she hoped to elicit a counter strike from Viridian…
…one that materialized in the form of a massive swipe to her shoulder. Time seemed to slow down for the Hunter as she tried to find the perfect opening in his attack. And in the ambient light afforded to their arena, the perfect moment seemed to glint off his spear mid-attack.
Now!
Samus pounced and broke out of her feint to swipe up with her spear at the right moment, which resulted in the blunt end smashing right into Viridian’s dominant hand with an echoing crush, forcing him to drop his weapon at the impact. It was the Chozo’s turn to be completely stunned, as his hand seemed to convulse and freeze in place from the punishing strike, which gave Samus more than enough breathing room to immediately follow up on:
Samus jabbed the blunt end right into Viridian’s abs, evacuating his lungs and forcing his eyes to go wide as he lurched over… which put his face in perfect position to swipe up with her elbow, smashing it into the underside of his chin and beak. And that gave Samus the perfect target of his already thoroughly rocked core, by planting a powerful side-kick into his diaphragm with all the strength she had.
And for the first time in this match, she forced him back onto his rear, ending her brutal attack by pointing her spear directly at his downed form.
Samus smirked… then properly smiled. Sudden memories of her taking down her Chozo trainers for the first time in her life flooded her mind. The same feeling of pride and giddiness swelled her chest, and her morale swelled in kind.
More than enough to voice a proper reply to Viridian, who had not yielded and was already getting back to his feet.
“I didn’t ‘leave’ Zebes. I was sent away… when Gray Voice, Old Bird, and all the others felt they couldn’t train me anymore.”
Viridian reached for his spear and stretched his limbs and core out… along with biting at the air and seeming to realign his jaw with his hand as he dropped back into his fighting stance.
His expression was one of pure joy.
“Excellent hit, Samus! Such righteous anger… I know a proper target combination when I see one. Well done! And I had wondered,” he answered. “By your stance… the frustration I felt in your attacks after pressing…
“…you resent them for that, don’t you?”
Viridian closed the distance between the two of them again, and brought his spear up to level with Samus’, touching them together as they circled one another, seeing who would break the lull in their sparring.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I wasn’t ready,” Samus answered simply.
Viridian parried Samus’ spear, forcing it down low to bring her guard down, only for the Hunter to wrangle out of it and bring her weapon up to level again… and then put a little bit of extra space between the two of them.
“Is that so?”
“Among other things.”
“It certainly shows,” he said.
“That obvious?” she asked, with perhaps a bit too much sarcasm in her voice.
Viridian suddenly brought his spear up and to the right, forcing open Samus’ guard at an instant before swinging his staff back around and towards her midsection. The fact that he was able to complete a full rotation on his feet in barely perceptible time was a feat in and of itself… but Samus had little time to marvel, as she leapt from the floor and threw herself horizontal to narrowly avoid his crippling attack.
Samus stuck her landing and jabbed forward at Viridian’s now-undefended head… though the Chozo simply gripped the blunt edge of the staff and suddenly yanked her forward. The Hunter was quite literally swept off her heels as her entire body was tugged forward, and her neck met the warm embrace of Viridian’s hand.
She could feel her eyes widening, her entire body starting to struggle as she was lifted off the ground by her neck with nothing for her feet to stand on. Mere moments seemed to pass in a small lifetime while her survival instincts suddenly kicked in. During the whole, couple-second ordeal, she ended up dropping her spear to free up her hands in supporting her body on Viridian’s wrist.
Though before she could organize any form of counterattack, Viridian had a proper, if simple answer to her previous, mostly sarcastic question:
“Very.”
And then Samus felt herself being hurled away like trash, though her body was more relieved for the intake of air once more. She tumbled onto the ground but quickly found her bearings to roll with the momentum and regain her composure back on her feet… though without her loaned weapon, which had fallen just in front of the Chozo.
“I’m starting to doubt the stories I’ve heard…” Viridian prodded, and then added with no small modicum of disbelief:
“You’ve battled your way across this galaxy time and time again—achieved exploits and victories only you were supposedly capable of. Continue to fight for so much good in this universe… all to fall to me in a simple training match?”
He didn’t stop, and struck out at her with his venom-laced words as if they were another tipped spear:
“Perhaps I should’ve been the ‘Chosen One?’ Or were the Thoha prophecies just rambling whispers in the wind? A tired race of senile birds placing unfound faith in the dainty hands of some orphaned human?”
Samus didn’t realize she was balling her fists white under her Zero Suit. Her head seemed much more claustrophobic and hotter than she remembered. The annoyance that barely registered on her radar of ‘banter amongst kin’ had now devolved into a proper anger… an anger that only swelled within her as her pride was further wounded by her own hubris of caution.
Behind her, she didn’t notice Twilight boring her eyes into the back of her head, studying… something about her rather intently.
Fluttershy, however, noticed a change in her best friend’s demeanor immediately.
“T-Twi? Are… are you okay?”
The alicorn shook her head, attempting to even form words that could explain what Twilight was seeing, or rather, feeling through her magic.
“I knew Samus was strong with magic potential from the moment she used it for the first time… but this? I can feel it growing by the minute. It doesn’t make sense… she’s a beginner! There’s no possible way…”
Viridian’s verbal onslaught never ceased:
“A. Little. Girl. Whose life would’ve been meaningless had her entire planet not been slaughtered by those marauding reptiles. Perhaps the Thoha sent you away… not because they felt you were ready when you, yourself, knew you weren’t… but because they couldn’t face their mistake?”
Samus furrowed her brow, glaring daggers at him.
Fluttershy began taking issue with the things being said as she called out the Chozo’s name scoldingly:
“Viry!”
He ignored her:
“That perhaps the prophecy was wrong: that in the end, all they created was a broken, childish, genetic chimera of a woman who was doomed to fail and eventually die before the altar of an impossible task!
“And if in all their wisdom, they knew this fate would come to pass… then we Chozo deserve our extinction.”
Samus growled as she sprinted forward, and in an act of reflex that surprised herself and her sparring opponent, she flared her magic and beckoned her weapon from the ground. It sailed through the air and met her halfway, nestling itself roughly into her palm as she struck fiercely at Viridian’s face with all her might.
A strike that he barely blocked, and one that forced his knees to buckle despite the rather prominent size-difference.
Samus didn’t even realize she was baring her teeth lopsidedly in a soundless snarl, only concentrating on boring her death glare into Viridian’s eyes.
And once the shock apparently wore off for the Chozo, he smiled widely.
“Or perhaps… I’m wrong. And maybe that Chozo fire still burns white hot within you!”
Samus, for her part, expected via pseudo-Pavlovian training to be punished for even daring to let anger course through her muscles. But Viridian only praised it. Tacitly encouraged it, even! In a moment of clarity when she expected her feelings to be one garbled, emotional mishmash of disarray from breaking training protocol, her mind felt oddly clear and razor-sharp. Her anger was channeled… focused.
Where she had been fighting for so many years for a goal that she couldn’t even comprehend its end, she suddenly, even if just for this fleeting moment, had something to prove. To prove to Viridian, to the Chozo…
…but even that thought didn’t sit entirely right with her. She shook the thought of proving something to someone else.
Her sagging morale that had been building up during her last couple missions had started to elastically rebound. The almost childish naivety veiled by excitement, adventure, and righteousness was thrust to the forefront once more.
Because in reality, Samus realized that thanks to Viridian’s rather harsh choice of words, she once again had something to prove to herself.
Viridian thrust Samus away from him via his spear and knee, and moved to deck her right in the face, but the Hunter was much too quick for that, even while stumbling away. In utilizing her much more nimble form and the acrobatic advantages it came with, she parried the punch away from her face and then jabbed the blunt end of the spear right into the Chozo’s gut once more.
In a lightning-quick follow-up, Samus then slammed Viridian’s weapon-hand with the other end of her spear, chopping downward on his digits which forced him to drop his weapon yet again… and that left a wide opening for her to continue even further.
Gritting her teeth, Samus followed through on her momentum in disarming her foe to twirl on her heel and send that built-up energy right into Viridian’s face with her fist, which forced him to stumble away this time, and attempt to right his posture.
She smirked. That hit was so satisfying. She could’ve sworn she heard Viridian squawk slightly when being hammered right between the eyes. But there was no time, in her opinion, to dwell on her small victories… she had an attack to press.
And press she did when she charged forward, shoulder-first, into the Chozo Warrior’s already-wounded diaphragm… and despite the size-difference, Samus successfully sent him straight to the ground and onto his back. She felt a sharp jolt in her shoulder from the hit, but she resolved to deal with that later, and promptly shrugged off the pain.
Apparently it was Twilight’s turn to voice her opposition once more:
“S-Samus!!” she called out, naively thinking Viridian had submitted when forced onto his back.
Like Viridian with Fluttershy, the Hunter ignored her exhortations entirely… and instead moved to bring her spear down on Viridian’s neck in a fierce swipe downward.
The Chozo caught the attack in his palm just in the nick of time, though the sudden stoppage of Samus’ follow-through left her blind just enough to Viridian’s counter-attack: his right leg, wound back curled.
Samus could’ve sworn her vision cut out momentarily when she caught his heel right on the bottom of her chin. And no amount of stumbling prevented her from the very real need to collapse right onto her ass a few paces away from a recovering Viridian.
Shit…
“G-Good hit…” she managed to slur out.
There was no response, and as she regained some measure of her bearings, she could sense Viridian back on his feet. However, she definitely woke up fully when the full force of his fist seemed to punch through her abs and into the ground below. All the air in her lungs felt like it was vacuumed out as every single one of her core muscles clenched all at once.
The anguished cry and groan that fell from her mouth at such a perfect hit to her stomach was not at all planned.
Viridian seemed to be having trouble breathing on his own from her previous hits she landed on him, and when Samus’ now-wide open eyes fell upon the hulking form above her, he found him with his hand massaging his own core.
“Heh… you’re most certainly Samus Aran. That fire still burns. And better yet… heh… you’re learning. Good. Yet you still hold back somewhat for my sake. I’m flattered!”
Little bits of air were managing to filter back into her lungs, and despite the praise she earned from her elder, all Samus could think of was how she was going to return the favor. Though apparently, that decision was made for the both of them when suddenly a lavender, magical pane of glass—a shield—materialized between the two ‘friendly’ combatants.
Twilight stomped forward, shouting as a scolding parent would their children, all accented with her imploring them to cool it:
“Alright you two! That’s enough! Samus, I respect your ‘training’ with your long-lost people… but I—we need you alive and in some working order! Please!”
Fluttershy had stepped out behind Twilight to say her peace:
“Please you two… n-no more fighting…”
Samus winced when she finally managed to sit up and rest her forearms on her knees, and she and Viridian shared a look from either side of the magical barrier that still stood between them. She could see her reflection in the glasslike shield, and she could plainly see a few marks from some of the hits she took in the last few minutes. Viridian wasn’t exactly better for wear, either, as his eyes looked a lot more puffed up. The mandible of his beak was slightly off-center from swelling in his cheek, and he continued to rest his hand idly on his stomach.
Nevertheless, it was a look of understanding… understanding that the two ponies standing before them just didn’t understand.
They smirked at each other, and Viridian nodded.
“Very well, you two,” he said, and added with more than perceptible giddiness that he just didn’t have ten minutes ago. “Even if I was looking forward to Samus’ counter-attack here… eagerly awaiting what she’d come up with.”
Samus held a similar sentiment.
“Ach… believe me. I was planning on it,” she said, as she worked to uncurl her still-sensitive stomach so she could stand up.
Seemingly satisfied, Twilight tossed the blunt spears away, and then dropped the shield from between the two.
“You fight well, Samus! You have much to learn… but the Thoha have trained you well! Though… hmmm…” he said, then squinted his eyes in inquiry, seemingly questioning what he was seeing, and his experiences.
Samus cocked her head.
“You okay?”
“Are… are you only Thoha Chozo?”
To Samus, this question didn’t make the slightest bit of sense, so she figured she’d reiterate what was already known:
“Well, I’m a human first and foremost, so…”
“I know that… but your… stance, musculature and… bah,” he waved his hand dismissively. “Nevermind. Perhaps I got hit too hard and am just seeing things that aren’t there.”
Viridian moved quickly to offer Samus a helping hand.
“Well done, Samus!”
And offered her another friendly, proud smile. Samus happily accepted his hand, and he immediately pulled her up to her feet. The tinge in her abs that she felt upon righting them fully was gnarly, and she winced at the sudden sharpness. She thought she might need to actually take painkillers for that hit…
…because she certainly didn’t have a whole Varia Suit equipped with pain dampeners to help her out in this fight.
As the Gods intended.
She looked up at him and smiled right back.
“Heh, thanks. Definitely roughed me up… ow…” she clutched her stomach. “Don’t think you’re all that out of practice, Viridian.”
His appreciative nod devolved into another fond smile.
“I apologize if I crossed the line with my words. I truly just wanted to draw out your best… your mightiest. And I was successful. Almost.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. Especially if they’re true… or thoughts that I gotta say I’ve had once or twice…” she finished a bit sheepishly.
Those words did sting… but in her mind, they served an important purpose, and helped reinvigorate her that much more after being on this transient frontline in the galaxy for so long.
The Chozo warrior gestured towards the Element of Harmony within its protective casing.
“The Element is yours, Samus.”
A small silence enveloped the group when Viridian ‘officially’ relinquished the Element to Samus… a silence that the Hunter only continued with a soft nod of understanding. Though, before she made her way over to claim her prize, she felt compelled to share a look with Twilight.
And she was beaming, nodding vehemently as she encouraged her forward with a hoof. Fluttershy seemed tentatively happy, though bearing the hallmark, flummoxed expression of not fully understanding what was happening.
Nodding once to her as well, Samus strode forward with all eyes on her, and to make sure she could monitor the Element’s future integration with her Suit properly, she re-engaged her Varia Suit. It also had the effect of dampening some of the pain she was still experiencing from the sparring match, which allowed her to shrug it off entirely and focus on the miniscule task at hand.
Samus stood in front of the small enclosure, and for some extra practice and gentleness, she used a little bit of magic to grasp at the glass casing and move it aside. And from there, she simply plucked the pink butterfly crystal off its resting plate. In the palm of her hand, much like with the physical Element of Magic, she could feel the power radiating within, though much more potently, likely due to her sensitivity to magic, she figured.
This ‘power’ felt… different.
Where the Element of Magic, physically, felt comforting and ominous, The Element of Kindness felt like the pure manifestation of warmth. Contentedness. A different kind of heat that swelled her chest and calmed the most active fringes of her nerves.
After dwelling on this for no more than a few seconds, Samus turned back to the group and promptly rejoined them.
“All set,” she said. “I’m assuming the integration process is the same?”
“Simpler, actually!” replied Twilight. “One second…”
She closed her eyes, lit her horn, and after a few seconds where the tip grew brighter and brighter, the physical crystal in Samus’ armored hand flaked away into small dust particles. Instead of surrounding her completely, a steady stream of them were absorbed directly into the Element of Magic on Samus’ chestplate.
Once the last of them were absorbed, Samus’ entire armor glowed softly with a mostly-transparent, pink, magical sheen for a couple seconds before that, too, faded away. Samus knew it was done when she felt that same energy she felt in her hand moments earlier… but now all over her entire body. The intake was complete.
And her Suit took the liberty of formalizing that:
[Element of Harmony Acquired!]
[This is the Element of Kindness. The second of six. Each Element—a tenet of Friendship—brings with it a bonus to you. Gather the remaining four Elements to unlock the Harmony within.]
“It worked, right?” Twilight asked.
Her systems showed no issues, and glancing down at her chest, as expected, the magical, lavender, six-pointed star was now joined on her chest by a pink, crystal butterfly to its left.
“Yup! No problems,” said Samus, and once she dismissed the notification, there was one bit of business left to tend to.
She disengaged her helmet for this. Samus then locked eyes with Twilight, and the alicorn gestured towards Fluttershy, who was getting her first proper look up at the Hunter since they first lay eyes on each other. Samus dropped to one knee in front of her to be at approximate eye-level, fighting to maintain some composure as she noted how Fluttershy cutely retreated behind her pink mane.
Twilight then began the proper introduction.
“Fluttershy? I’d like you to meet my friend, Samus. She’s a bounty hunter and warrior… and we can catch up on how she got here in the first place but… she’s here to help us. To help save our friends, Equestria, and the planet.”
Fluttershy revealed a little more of her face from behind her mane, and despite the uncertainty and straight-up reticence that her face sported, the awestruck look in her eyes was difficult to ignore. And Samus had to somewhat resist an urge to gently pet the mare.
She smiled nonetheless, and added in her soft—if somewhat awkward—greeting.
“Hi Fluttershy. I’ve uhhh… I’ve heard a little bit about you, but it’s nice to finally meet you,” she said.
Fluttershy glanced over to Twilight again, a wordless ask for reassurance, and Twilight happily granted that with a single, drawn out nod and smile. The pegasus mare then pulled out completely from behind her mane and smiled back up at Samus sweetly.
“H-Hi Samus… nice to meet you too…!”
Samus smiled just a little bit.
“Ready to head back to the castle? Not sure if Twilight told you, but Spike’s waiting for us to come back.”
Fluttershy perked up even more, gasping with a wide smile.
“He’s there?! YES! And the other girls…? And the princesses…?” she dared to ask.
Twilight felt it appropriate to step in:
“We’ve got the map working again, and we’re gonna go find them. One by one. I uhh…” Twilight lowered her head and glanced off to her left.
“...I don’t know what happened to the Princesses. There’s been no sign of them, yet.”
Samus brought it all together:
“We’ll figure something out.”
Fluttershy’s more dejected face morphed back into one much more hopeful, and she hummed, nodding once.
“Okay… let’s go.”
She then glanced past Samus, towards where Viridian was standing, quietly and fondly observing with his arms crossed over his chest.
“You’re coming with us too, right, Viry?”
Samus held her tongue… this was going to be the next order of business, as Viridian’s previous words held implicit meaning, in that once Fluttershy was securely in Samus’ ethereal hold, he’d leave to rejoin the other living Chozo… wherever they might be. The pegasus beat her to the punch.
Ahhh… there it is.
And Viridian’s silence told the mare everything, as he just gazed upon her ruefully.
Her features sullied again, as she stepped forward to meet him, wide eyes gazing right up into his.
“Viry…”
The Chozo sighed, and with a regretful smile, he dropped to one knee to be a little closer in eye-level to the mare… whom Samus saw looked like she was about to break down.
Samus and Twilight shared a quick glance, and watched on curiously.
“Dear Fluttershy… you and I both knew that this day would come. It’s been an amazing decade and a half with you…”
He placed his hand on his chest.
“You’ve made all the lonely years before you worthwhile, and gave another purpose to this aging warrior,” he smiled.
Fluttershy sniffled, looking away.
“Y-You’re not that old, Viry…”
He chuckled, as did Samus in the background.
“And befitting your Element, your kindness knows no bounds. I’ve learned much from you. But…” he gestured to Twilight and Samus.
“Your friends survived, and they await your return. Your home is with them, and they’ll need you for the fight that’s to come—”
“And we could use your help! I… could use your help!” Fluttershy reasoned.
Samus cocked an eyebrow. Another look was shared between alicorn and Hunter, both struck at the mare’s sudden burst of assertiveness.
This… is getting interesting.
“It’s… not my battle to fight. And my brothers and sisters—”
“I know, Viridian,” Fluttershy cut him off, completely teary-eyed, in using his full name. She placed a single hoof on his arm.
“I just… don’t want to lose you as my friend. You’ve looked after me and protected me all this time. And…”
Fluttershy stopped for a moment, lifted her head and blinked. Samus knew that look anywhere—something clicked in her mind.
She sniffled but continued on, much more determined than before.
“And you told me years ago that your own ship doesn’t work anymore since the engineers left! How’re you even going to get where you’re going?”
It was Viridian’s turn to glance away, seemingly struggling with words.
“I… intended to figure that out, after I was sure you were safe. Find a way to rebuild it, make it functional again,” he admitted.
“And in between? You’d just sit around… lonely again. For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why not come with us? Help us save our world… I think… I think we might need a somepony like you. R-Right, Twilight?” she asked.
Her confidence reserves seemed to be breaking down, and once again, Samus glanced over at the lavender alicorn. In a bit of split-second eye-language that seemed to transcend their ‘magical bond’ of sorts, Samus felt they were suddenly on the same page.
Twilight nodded with a bright smile.
“Yeah! There’s plenty of room at the castle and tons of supplies. Honestly… none of this would be happening without Samus here… but as strong and powerful as she is, I don’t think she can be everywhere at once,” she said.
Viridian didn’t say anything as he regarded her words pensively. This time, Samus had something to say toward this. It had been way too long since she had seen another one of her people, alive and well. She had no idea when that would happen again… if that would happen again. After much deliberation, and Fluttershy’s exhortations, Samus didn’t want this opportunity to pass on by without any input from her:
“They’re both right,” she said simply. “I can do the footwork in taking Twilight where she needs to be… on top of finding some parts to repair my own ship and going about my original mission.
“We could use some extra firepower back at the castle when I’m not around, among other things,” she said.
The two locked eyes, and they seemed to have an understanding once more. Nevertheless, Viridian regarded a once-again hopeful Fluttershy with a lopsided smirk.
“Is that so?”
Samus sweetened the deal:
“Tell you what. I’m working very closely with the Galactic Federation. As long as I can get the necessary parts and find the remaining Elements, it’s inevitable we’ll have to meet them face-to-face. If things go well enough, likely in the next couple weeks.
“I can… negotiate the transfer of a ship for you to leave to… wherever, once this is done. Strip it of all tracking and make it yours for your travels. That might beat tinkering around here for a few years… possibly more,” she offered.
He visibly cocked a massive eyebrow.
“You… can see to that?”
Samus smirked.
“Assuming I don’t die…”
She noticed Twilight immediately about to protest that, but cut her off, pointing directly at her before she could say anything.
“It’s a hypothetical, Twilight!”
She turned back to Viridian with a much more self-assured tone:
“As you said earlier, I’m ‘Samus Aran.’ When this is all done, the Feds will give me whatever I want. Trust me.”
Viridian brought a hand to his beak, staring elsewhere in thought, though Fluttershy seemed to have one more thing to add:
“And, Viry?”
He was brought out of his stupor and looked back to her.
“Like Twilight said, I’m sure Samus is strong… but she can’t be everywhere at once. That means I still could use protection when she’s not around…
“...which means that your mission still isn’t finished,” she alluded.
Samus pursed her lips. That was a proper ‘gotcha!’ moment if she had ever seen one.
Damn…
Viridian took a deep breath and sighed out drawing his unsure eyes over both Samus and Twilight… and then letting his fond expression return once he looked at Fluttershy again.
That’s when he stood up tall, and in a brilliant flash of familiar blue light, and he was garbed in his own, very green Power Suit once more. He sported a much more prominent, determined smirk. He had made up his mind.
“You’re right, Fluttershy. The elders told me that I was to keep you safe for your intended purpose. Until that purpose has been fulfilled, and until this planet is made whole again, my task is not finished.”
Standing tall and proud, he nodded towards Twilight.
“And if you would graciously have a middle-aged warrior past his prime, I would wish to remain around to fulfill such a task in helping watch over her. As you said before, Samus is more than capable—that I know first-hand now. But as you also said, she cannot be everywhere at once,” he asked the formal, implicit question.
It was Samus’ turn to grin widely.
Twilight reiterated the answer she gave earlier:
“Absolutely! We’d love to have you.”
Viridian placed a hand over his chest and gave her a familiar, respectful bow, all before another bright light enveloped his head, and his warrior’s helmet was now fully equipped.
“Then it’s done.”
“YES! THANK YOU!” squee’d Fluttershy, flying forward and throwing her arms around Viridian in a tight, smile-laden hug. After overcoming the initial shock, the Chozo smiled warmly, placed a hand on her back and returned the gesture.
“And, I think it’s my turn to offer some compensation,” he began again, releasing the mare to talk to Samus specifically.
“You need some parts, yes? Before we leave, let us stop by my own ship. Since it’s fairly useless in its current state, might as well give it life elsewhere. Let’s salvage what you think we might need, and we’ll find the rest elsewhere.”
Music to Samus’ ears. The less needless wandering around downed Pirate vessels, her life span and patience might be that much more.
“Sounds great to me!”
Samus then gently stepped towards a much happier Fluttershy, and knelt down to eye-level. It was time to finish the ‘process.’ She softly smiled.
“Ready to go?”
Fluttershy angled her face back towards Twilight.
“We’re gonna find the girls… and… and save Equestria again, right?” she asked.
For Samus, the alicorn’s determined words were nice to hear.
“As we always have, Flutters.”
The pegasus nodded in return, and gazed back at Samus more determined than ever.
“I’m ready. Let’s do this!”
With those words, Samus re-equipped her helmet, shrouding her features behind the neon veil of her visor, which somewhat startled Fluttershy. But, Samus wordlessly put her at ease when she offered her her open, armored hand. Fluttershy appeared to regard it curiously, but with a shy smile of her own—and some wordless reassurance from Twilight—she placed a dainty hoof into Samus’ palm.
In a bright-pink magical flash, Fluttershy’s physical form was no more, and Samus’ eyes briefly glowed the same color behind her visor. Twilight stepped forward as well, and she in turn re-integrated back into Samus’ systems.
“Welcome back, Fluttershy!” came Twilight’s ethereal voice in Samus’ head.
“O-Oh my… this is… weird. I don’t…” the pegasus barely said through sudden environmental whiplash. Samus wasn’t sure what it was like being body-less inside her own systems, but it was probably a bit different than the real or magical worlds.
Twilight was quick to the rescue:
“Don’t worry—I’m here. You’ll get used to the feeling, and we can get out once we get back to the Castle. Just… don’t touch anything in here. Samus gets annoyed if you do.”
The Hunter ignored that.
She then turned to face Viridian, who was coming up right next to her, fully armored, and holstering his ‘re-armed’ spear on his back.
He locked eyes with her.
“Shall we?”
She nodded once up at him.
“Let’s go.”
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… so it’s pre dread
… will you continue into dread?
WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEH WEEEEH
11103255
Tosses case down and breaks it.
Very well done. I would say that your doubts are unfounded as to whether or not you got it right. You did.
What better than a chapter update to celebrate the end of the year, though it's already past midnight on my side.
That friendly sparing turn out quit longer and more intense than thought, but as always nicely choreographed. Also that remix soundtrack was a banger.
Anyway keep on the good work, I'll be waiting the next chapter. And I wish you a happy new year.
Fluttershy has joined the party!
Awesome Chozo Uncle has joined the party!
Love to see it.
Well this is stupid impressive. Woo! for new party members.
My internet is down, so I had to read this on my phone. That said, this was a nice chapter to ring in the new year with.
Somewhere:
Raven Beak: AH-CHOO!
Mhmm. A chapter like this made my day. I look forward to the future these characters are building, whatever that may be.
That was wonderful! Love seeing the Chozo push her like that...and super glad to see him join the party as well! That's definitely going to be interesting!
Another great chapter!
I absolutely loved this chapter you never miss with this story.
This story is still high in my list of favorites. Please keep up the quality work, Flammenwerfer. I believe this is also one of the few times Samus has potential combat allies.
Samus, two ponies, a dragon, and a middle aged Chozo. Certainly interesting to see Samus with fire support. I like it, now do it again!
11103180
This is Pre fusion and Prime 3. The main problem was brought about because of Phazon (since Phaze is destroyed in Prime 3 Phazon no longer exists after that.) The mention of the Lunamoth and Ing place this after Prime 2
Ahhh....this was fantastic. A lovely duel, and a new friend for the adventure! I also like seeing Samus start to incorporate magic into her fighting style without having to consciously think about it. Probably said something similar in an earlier comment, but I do wonder if Fluttershy is going to stay in Samus's suit and travel with her like Twilight does. Samus is going to have a *lot* of voices with her as time goes on unless she can just like...put the Element of Kindness in a secure box in Twi's castle or something.
...Samus's melee counter from Samus Returns and Dread. Cute.
Couple small things I noticed, though. Twilight is an alicorn in this story, yeah? She's referred to as a unicorn once in this chapter.
The second...
Was uh..."legitimately" supposed to earlier in the sentence?
11104590
FFS I need to start doing word searches before I upload. Don't know why I keep referring to her as a unicorn on occasion. Fixed that, thank you! And yes, somehow I accidentally that sentence. Fixed that as well. Thanks for pointing those out!
I imagine Viridian speaking with the voice of Christopher Lee.
11103255
I mean… yeah lmao
11103286
Whew! Thanks man!
11103313
Thanks so much! And thank you for your thoughts—happy new year to you as well!
11103316
You and me both haha
11103375
Thanks!! And huzzah indeed!
11103458
Heeeell yeah. Thanks!!
11103528
I couldn’t resist lmao
11103559
Honestly, you and me both haha. Thanks so much!
11103574
Aye, it was nice to see it sorta take shape the way it did. I was fearing treading closer to an Other M scenario, but thankfully it seems that didn’t happen lol. Thanks so much man!!
11103594
Thank youuuuu
11103605
Bruh I hope I can keep that streak going then lol. Thanks you so much!
11103797
I definitely shall attempt to! And I think so, too… I guess that just depends if you consider some of the other non-manga comics canon or not. And Prime 3 for small stints I suppose.
11103933
You got it, b0ss! Thanks again!
11104590
All good questions/thoughts—we’ll just have to see what happens! And great catch! Was hoping someone would catch that little reference heh
11107347
What do you consider an "Other M" scenario? You didn't take away her agency, shoot her in the back, introduce a mystery sub-plot that gets resolved off-screen without ever telling the "readers" it was resolved off-screen, and you didn't character assassinate someone previously established as a mentor figure. Oh, and the "Japanese-Only" rogue faction in the Federation Military isn't involved (yet). I am honestly just not seeing what your concern was.
11103180
Of course it’s pre dread, we’re dealing with Phazon.
11105361
...I don't hate this it all. So be it lmao
Finally managed to get a chance to sit down and read this chapter. Woo! I definitely love it, and I’m glad bird boy is coming home with Sammy.
One small concern I have is that I’ve noticed you’re starting to lean a little too heavily into using ‘semi-quotes,’ which makes for slightly awkward reading as it makes everything feel......transient? I can’t really explain it properly, but I personally think it would make for stronger writing if you stopped using them to point out certain words to let the reader know it means something else, and instead just rely on context clues or different word choices.
What I’m trying to say is that we don’t need the word ‘fight’ outlined to tell us it’s not actually a fight and is just a duel instead. We got that from context clues.
All that being said I still remain one of the biggest fans of your Metroid/MLP crossovers, and will still continue reading it whenever I get the chance. Hell, I even put the original Metroid: Equis on my Kindle, and you already know my opinions on that story.
11125944
Y'know, that's totally fair! Thanks for the heads-up, didn't think I was doing it that much. I'll watch out for that from here-on out and make sure I'm not overemphasizing a point too much. Thanks so much! Glad you liked the chapter regardless
This is amazing! The battle was epic!