33.5. Load Last Save?
Metroid Equis
Chapter 33.5
Load Last Save?
With a sharp inhale, Samus’s eyes shot open as she lay on the ground, only to see absolutely nothing. Quickly taking in her surroundings, she still found… nothing. She was in a void once more, like she had been when the Nightmare had assumed mantle over her mind back in Ponyville. She shakily sat up and caught her breath, wondering what the hell was happening. The last thing she remembered was… well, dying in the Hive Core.
“So…” she spoke out to no one in particular. “This is how it ends, huh?”
“Oh, hello there.”
Samus jerked her head to the left and found Nightmare Hunter, a near mirror image of her save for the eyes, slightly darker skin, and a jet black Zero Suit, sitting right next to her, observing her fingernails. The Hunter scooted away a couple of feet.
“Oh, it’s you,” she replied in monotone, not really sure what to say at this point. It would not matter anyway.
“You don’t look so happy to see me…” Nightmare Hunter added, looking over towards a seemingly downtrodden Samus. The latter decided to ignore the last comment and face her.
“I don’t suppose you know what happened?”
“Out there?” Hunter confirmed, pointing her thumb behind her for emphasis. Samus looked to her with incredulity. “Oh, you died… erm, well, you’re about to die actually. You fought a reborn Chrysalis, Changeling Queen, and you lost. Though really, I wasn’t all that surprised. Even the princesses probably would barely leave with their lives against her. So, pat yourself on the back. You did well given the circumstances,” she finished nonchalantly, her oddly layered voice serving to irritate Samus even more. She chose to ignore the underhanded compliment in favor of a specific word.
“What do you mean about to die?” Samus asked for clarification.
“I dragged your consciousness from the forefront right before you perished. There’s no concept of time in the mindscape, so technically, you’re about slightly less than five seconds away from death, though it will feel like an eternity in your current state.”
“Awesome. That’s just great. Y’know, I envisioned my death to be a lot less ‘weird,’” Samus pointed out in irritation, not even sure why she was indulging the Nightmare in conversation, though there was not much else to do at this point.
“Well, I would not go so far as to say that anything is for certain…” Nightmare began alluding, her voice trailing off with intent to attract interest from Samus.
“Oh what the hell does that even… ugh! Can anyone make some fucking sense of anything on this planet?! Do you all have to be so goddamn cryptic?!” Samus nearly screamed out in anger, pissed off at the entire scenario and the fact that even in supposed death, no one could give her a straight answer to anything. She cupped her face in her hands.
“What I mean is that there is a way out,” Nightmare said.
“Oh really?”
“Yes, really. All it involves is merely you letting me take control,” the dark doppelgänger added. That idea sounded completely and utterly ludicrous, and Samus was about to issue a snarky remark when Hunter held up her hand.
“Allow me to elaborate. You are in a life and death situation, which means that we are in a life and death situation. I could not save myself from certain destruction since you currently bear all six Elements of Harmony. I cannot directly manipulate you anymore, no matter how powerful.”
“You just said that you pulled my consciousness before death…” Samus pointed out, attempting to find a folly in her reasoning.
“I-It’s the best wording I could place on such an event. I can describe my actions directly and precisely if you like…” Nightmare offered sarcastically.
“Just get to the point,” Samus ordered, turning and fully facing the Nightmare before getting to her feet. The latter mirrored the gesture.
“I figured you’d see reason. At any rate, I cannot seize control over you anymore due to the Elements… you have to willingly let me in,” Hunter claimed, pointing at Samus for emphasis. That voice masking effect was continuing to creep out and irritate Samus.
“And why would I do that?” Samus asked, knowing this was leading somewhere important.
“Now, dear Samus, you are asking the right questions. Since the Elements are still attached to you, I cannot tap them magically even if you let me take control of your being. As such, you can effectively wrest control back from me at any time,” Hunter explained animatedly.
“Go on…”
“This is what I propose,” the Nightmare began. “Give me control… my vastly superior magical ability will be unlocked in full and strengthened with the enhancements of your armor suits. Your injuries will be completely healed, the suit will be repaired to maximum integrity, and shielding will be fully replenished. That’s the first phase. You will remain here, but with your connection to the Elements, I cannot trap you. You will be a ‘spectator,’ to what happens in the physical world.”
“Continue…” Samus urged on, trying to see where the catch would be, that she would ultimately have to refuse this proposal and let herself die anyway.
“The second phase is complete and utter annihilation of the self-proclaimed ‘Empress Chrysalis.’ What is interesting, and should you have survived longer—pity—you would have found out that Chrysalis cannot be physically killed due to her deep, magical connection with the Core and Phazon. All she will do is call upon more of the material to heal her wounds and increase her power until she kills herself… which would not happen for a long while regardless,” Hunter continued explaining.
“Okay… that’s lovely.”
“When she is in a hyper-weakened state, which will be easy enough for me to accomplish, that is the optimum time to seize back control. The timing will be just right for the Elements of Harmony to be called forth. Strike Chrysalis and the Meteor with a single Harmony Blast and all will be well,” she concluded. A red flag was immediately raised for Samus.
“Wait, wait… but in activating the Harmony Beam, that will cleanse you from me, won’t it?” Samus asked, trying to find the best words to phrase what she was getting at. Things were simply not adding up.
“Ahhh it will, but that is of little concern to me,” Hunter admitted.
“So… you’re willing to essentially get killed? Go on, sell this to me,” Samus demanded answers. On the whole, this plan sounded perfect… and it was the only plan to go off of that would ensure her survival as well as Equestria’s. But why would the Nightmare throw her life away?
“Tell me, Samus… do you understand basic concepts of probability?” Nightmare asked somewhat condescendingly.
“That depends. What context?” Samus asked, though she had little idea what her alter-ego was getting at.
“Let us talk conditional probabilities. The chance that I can return if you die is strictly zero, as is your chance, since if you die you are not alive,” Hunter began anew, going on a micro-lecture.
“Right…”
“However, suppose you accept my proposal and you live, and you will live. You may cleanse me with the Elements… but there is a tiny chance that if you survive, I can manifest myself once more.”
“A tiny chance?” Samus asked, raising her eyebrow.
“It’s infinitesimal, nearly zero probability but not quite zero. The point is, is that we can both die with no hope for me to return, or you can survive and I have a one in a billion chance, but still a chance to return. Is that enough context for my actions to make sense to you?” Nightmare concluded, laying her scheme completely on the table for Samus to see. The true Hunter was silent in taking this all in… what troubled her was that this all made absolute, perfect sense. The smallest chance is still greater than no chance at all, and Samus could easily take precautions against the Nightmare’s resurgence, even though realistically, it would not be necessary.
The right answer was once again laid out before her. Even if she refused, Equestria would still likely be lost, so there really was only one socially optimal choice. Samus locked eyes with Nightmare’s, confidence having fully returned. She could not believe she was going to say the next words so resolutely in the slightest, but...
“Let’s do it.”
Nightmare Hunter smiled greatly, revealing the elongated canines as her eyes flared bright teal.
“It has been an absolute pleasure working with you, Samus.”
The title was for shits and giggles.
This didn't belong in Chapter 34 as it's gonna get right to it, but it was suggested I release this soon after 33 dropped. So, a little extra for you to mull on. Sound of below, and let me know your thoughts on this whole scenario. 
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LOL Legit chapter title
*as promised, goes Hardy boys on you*
Liar liar zero suit on fire.
KICK HER ASS SAMUS!
edit: Or is this more appropriate?
oh you............................
STOP TEASING ME!!!!!!!!!!
But still, Let the Hypemode come
5775713 Hahaha if you WANT I suppose. Though the term energy staff in this case wouldn't be appropriate because it would be an energy staff made from magical energy, and realistically Samus would not have the magical stamina to pull something like that off. But sure!
{HYPER MODE INGAGED}
I C'ant Wait For The ARSE WOOPING
Okay, this is going to be awesome.
And I must say, i love the Samus/Nightmare Hunter interchange here.
I'd almost want the Harmony Beam to - instead of completely purging Nightmare Hunter - let her continue to exist inside Samus' mind, but as a spectator in the same way Samus will be while Nightmare is in control, leaving Samus in full command of who's in control when, so she can choose to let Nightmare - the stronger but crueler side - take control in situations when the odds are stacked against her but there aren't any innocents involved. Also so Nightmare could be a peanut gallery and give Samus' life the MST3K treatment.
5775872 That would actually be an awesome Alt-Uni story if I had the patience to write that lol. It's a glorious idea if it wouldn't contradict canon interpretations. Oh well, a nice thought nonetheless... like a better interpretation of the Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde although with a controlling factor
5775887
Exactly!
Might be fun to read Samus and Nightmare debating Computer Adam's motives during Fusion...
Actually, it would be fun to see them discussing while pursuing Ridley after the baby Metroid.
5775902 Fuck it, let's rewrite all of Metroid with the alter-persona present. Schizophrenic Samus for the win!
Though Chapter 34 towards the end is gonna have a rather crucial detail that would prevent this from happening anyway
5775911
I'm guessing Nightmare can't function outside a magic environment anyway, and Samus on Equis develops a permanent bond with the Elements and can call on them anytime.
5775920
For the first statement, yes.
To the second part, noooo. The duality existence of the Elements wouldn't make sense, and if that was the case, the lack of their presence in future installments of Metroid would be called into question. The framework of this story is between two sets of canon. Samus will be her 'status quo' self when she leaves Equis. Should she lose control of the Elements, since she was only holding onto them, my interpretation is that they return to the original Bearers.
5775937
I meant that she'd regain the link when she returned to Equis. But not in the sense she takes them away from the Bearers, but in the sense she can wield them either on her own or filling any for any Bearer who is unavailable for some reason.
5775944 I considered that scenario, especially the part of her being on Equis making her 'magic sensitive,' but I ultimately decided against it. I can't say much without spoiling anything but you'll see what I mean in Chapter 34 on that topic.
5775949
Alright then.
I suggest the 1 in a ten billion chance that Nightmare Samus spirit is absorbed by Samus's body... and nine moths later gets reborn as her daughter. If we're talking crazy scenarios... the 100 billion odds are a pony birth, the trillion odds are alicorn birth.
Hmmm, for fight music:
Am I the only one who thinks that Nightmare is almost certainly lying?
this is gonna be fun
Phazon Queen Chrysalis winning round 1 against Samus? Ridley would have been jealous.
Round two. Fight. Come on Samus blast her into oblivion
Samus has just made a deal with a devil. Now the devil is going to fight Empress Chrysalis.
This is gonna be good.
5776123 Yes, but what part of it is a lie? I'm thinking the completely cleansed part. I think that it WON'T purify Samus, but instead lock the Nightmare even deeper away. Still there, but unable to do anything unless external circumstances allow it out (maybe the hypermode from corruption?)
5776857 Too bad her "devil" is an evil version of herself instead of being one hell of a butler
5777600 Yes, too bad for Sebastian.
5777627 I don't know... Maybe it would be more accurate to say too bad for the both of them.
5777670 True. Besides High ranking Devils usually have a Peerage.
5776895 That's pretty much exactly what was discussed in the mini chapter. With the Elements in Samus's possession, there isn't any room for trickery
5776895
Actually, I'm thinking the part where she hands back control at all. In fact, why would Nightmare Samus fight the Changling Queen at all? The best chance for her survival is to run. She gets total control and lives.
5777996
Samus's control of the Elements allows her to wrest control back at any time she chooses, which is the premise.
5777999
Okay, you're the Author... but the vibe I got was that the one assuring Samus she could regain control was the Nightmare. The Royal Sisters were kinda hoping that was true, they weren't completely sure.
5778190 Ehhh, not necessarily. This is all based on interpretation but I can see where you're coming from. The idea is that Samus will be able to cede and retake control at will over the Nightmare due to her being bonded to all six elements. It's a failsafe, but ultimately there is little else to do. Even if Samus didn't believe her entirely, this was really the only way out. Either that, or die. Once the sixth element was implanted in her, the corruption stopped, but she herself just couldn't handle it, ergo Alicorn Battle Suit was needed for her body to properly hold the magical elements, staving off Nightmare's Influences.
It's a final plan because the Nightmare also realizes that there's either no chance, or the tiniest chance she can remanifest after it's all over. Naturally, she takes the latter
Look at all these damned Horsewords! I mean, LOOK AT THEM ALL!! 200000 words, man... Nice. You do good.
FLAMETHROWER IS CREDIT TO TEAM!
When this is finnished I'm going to re read the intire thing again to fully enjoy it and probably reread it again and again for good mesher
I love it
5785124 Lol going back for a reread?
Ohh, interesting! I can't wait for the next chapter!!
So, Nightmare Hunter and Samus is going to work together, huh?. Let's see where this goes.
5785657 Going back to a good story? Yes.
5805979
1. No, that's as it should be. She's getting used to the mental taxation that magic is requiring of her.
2. Goddammit that happens once in a while. I'll fix that.
5805987 There's another one near the end of that chapter as well, I edited my comment to include it but didn't see your comment till now.
5777795
not sure if I'm to read this as Peer-age or Pee-rage, but I may choose the later because it makes me giggle.
The irony that a being named Nightmare is Samus' savior is amazing.
This bit reminds me of Ichigo VS. Byakuya. Samus has to WIN!
If I've mentioned this already, then you can go ahead and disregard this comment. But, I've been working on a story targeting Twilight Sparkle in a worst-case scenario. In that story, she gets deceived and seduced by a tantabus, a nightmare creature like the one that Princess Luna said she created to punish herself. I must admit, parallels between this story and where I plan to take mine make this story really interesting to me. I look forward to reading more.