34.9 Kerfuffle
Metroid Equis
Chapter 34.9
Kerfuffle
[Ponyville Park | ~ 4 Months After Conflict | 11:13 AM]
Samus found herself grateful that the coming week was not going to be too terribly hot; in fact, it was scheduled to be slightly cooler than what she had seen over the last month or so. Samus was obligated to brave nearly every conceivable environment in her travels and missions, but as an individual, she was entitled to her preferences: warm to temperate weather was perfect for her, but sweltering days were not entirely her fancy. However, her favorite was rain, and ranking up with that were cool, snowy days. Since today qualified as a comfortable day for her, she decided to spend it outdoors, opting for a bench in Ponyville Park.
Samus had nothing too extravagant planned for the day, and her daily workout with Rainbow Dash was cancelled on account of the latter going to Cloudsdale to visit her parents for the day. That was fine by Samus, as it gave her some quality time with her tablet to catch up on some news around the Federation, as well as check on the progress of her new Hunter-class gunship. On both of those fronts, there was nothing that really stood out in terms of news; new trade agreements were being hammered out apace, and her new gunship was well into construction and was expected to be delivered in about a month’s time.
Samus, clad in the Zero Suit, finished the article she was reading and set her tablet aside, taking a swig of water from her bottle as she reclined into the bench. With her arm resting on top of the bench back, she gazed out towards the expanse of the park, idly observing foals horsing around, grown ponies taking walks and socializing, as well as the occasional off-duty marine intermingling with a group of mares and stallions. It seemed like a textbook ‘good day,’ and even more so when she breathed in deeply. The air seemed crisp and refined, stirring memories of her younger days in Chozodia. A half-smirk graced her features as she exhaled, her face donning a much calmer and more content expression as she enjoyed her surroundings.
She was pulled out of her musings when her senses pulled her to the left. Fancying a look, Samus spied one of the groups of young colts that she had spotted playing around earlier. What was interesting was that the five colts were no longer rough-housing, but huddled together and sneaking glances in her general direction. They did not look older than ten or eleven by her estimates, and were not being subtle at all in their gestures towards her. Samus raised a brow at the scene.
What are you up to? she mused.
Samus shrugged indifferently and picked up her tablet again, checking to see if there were any new developments on a computer virus that had the potential to affect GF Aurora Units. Her reading was interrupted a few minutes later, however, when she again sensed another presence, though this time right in front of her. Her instantaneous inference as she put placed her tablet down and out of her face was that the colts decided to try and play a prank of some sorts on her; to mess with the big weird human.
As Samus looked over her tablet to see who was in front of her, there was a lone colt which belonged to the aforementioned group. He was a unicorn, blue-coated, with a combed, amber mane and eyes of the same hue. He looked… unsure of his presence in front of her, especially when Samus looked down upon him with an expectant gaze. Occasionally, he would start to say something but instantly close his mouth, averting his own gaze to the ground. Flicking her eyes upward for a split second, Samus observed that his group of friends almost looked annoyed, and kept silently trying to urge him on. Finally, the colt seemed to shrug indifferently, swallowing his fear, and magically brought an object in front of Samus’ eyes: a little white water lily (or so it looked like), one of the quite beautiful flowers that grew in the river that flowed adjacent to Ponyville’s park.
To say that Samus was completely dumbstruck at the gesture would be an understatement; it was only by virtue of her ironclad self-control and stoicism that she kept her composure.
Her brain activity slacked in part due to residual social awkwardness on her part. It was also in part due to the fact that she never in her wildest imagination expected something like this to happen. What was responsible for the most of her mental reboot, however, was the fact that very few people who knew who she was barely worked up any courage to interact with her on their own volition (sure, she had a few secret admirers), yet here was this colt handing her a flower.
I… okay. Ummmm, this is kind of a first.
Samus reached out and took the lily into her grasp, inspecting it and feeling its smooth texture between her fingers. It still had water droplets on the petals, indicating that it was not picked too long ago. The question was now, as the seconds slowly ticked by, how to play it off?
Know what? ...Eh, why not?
Samus offered the flower back to the colt, who took it in his magical grasp. Looking at the flower, a dejected expression began to spread across his face. Samus, however, leaned forward and turned her head, the gentlest of smiles on her face as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear invitingly. The young colt, after a few blinks of surprise, got the message and placed the stem of the lily right in the crook of her ear, Samus adjusting it and running her hair around it so it was nice and secure. With the return of her usual hair style, a new addition was added in the form of a small, white water lily. Samus called upon the front-facing camera on her wrist console to look at herself. The flower showing through her hair added a very odd sense of complementary allure to the deadly Hunter.
Not bad.
Satisfied, Samus turned back to the colt and shot him a friendly smile, conveying her gratitude with her eyes which did not fall on figurative deaf ears. The colt smiled and Samus tousled his hair before playfully pushing the side of his face, eliciting a giggle and sending him on his way back to his friends. Samus watched him go, now clearly the envy of his friends, and huffed humorously while gingerly shaking her head, careful of the flower still resting on her ear.
Kids. What a little charmer, though.
“My, my, I never knew you to be such a heartbreaker, Samus,” a familiarly smooth, regal voice pierced through Samus’ second set of musings with a teasing edge. The Hunter knew who it was immediately and jokingly rolled her eyes, angling her head to her rear right as Princess Luna, garbed merely in peytral and tiara, approached seemingly from nowhere.
“Oh, that’s definitely me,” Samus began her reply with pure sarcasm as the Lunar Princess took her seat beside the woman. “Breaking bodies at work and breaking hearts on my free time.” Luna chuckled as she got comfortable on the bench, both of them devolving into a comfortable silence while they observed the goings of the park.
“How are you, Samus?” Luna eventually asked.
“I’m pretty well, actually.”
“Still enjoying your stay after four months?”
“I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t, that’s for sure,” Samus responded genuinely. It was true, if any of her more recent experiences and feelings were anything to go by; she enjoyed it in Equestria; dare she say, she loved it here. “How are you, Luna?”
“That’s wonderful to hear… and I’m quite well but, busy busy busy. The Federation is keeping Celestia and me constantly on our hooves but now that the trade agreement has been finalized, we can rest a bit easy, which is why I was able to come down and say hi. We do not have too much time though, as there are talks scheduled to happen in terms of our planet gaining protectorate status next week,” Luna explained, reclining into the bench back, setting her tiara aside, and removing the magic from her mane, allowing it to flow through the natural breeze with its natural color.
“Oh? Well, I can’t say that I’m surprised over a potential protectorate status, but I am surprised that it’s happening so soon. The Federation must really like Equis as a whole for them to be stepping up their game like this,” Samus mused out loud. The Princess looked at her partially.
“Anything I should be concerned about?” she asked. Samus dismissively shook her head.
“Nah. What would be cause for alarm is if they tried to increase their military presence on the planet… but a good portion of the troops and supplies sent down to fight during the conflict have been withdrawn back to the fleet...which itself has not been reinforced. But I’m sure you’re completely aware of this, as well as the fact that the Federation is only keeping troops in their own outposts or jointly controlled outposts for training purposes.”
“Indeed. I have not noticed any unusual buildup or stumbled upon any secret operations… and before you ask about that, I’m naturally somewhat paranoid about my nation’s borders, a habit I’ve never broken since well before my banishment, so I have my ways of finding out. In actuality, the Federation has been quite open with their deployments, joint exercises, and resource expenditures in our nation, often approaching me personally to let me in on little details. I must say I’m quite pleased,” Luna replied with an explanation of her own.
“Fair enough, I suppose,” Samus agreed.
“I as well came down here to tell you personally that I received your message,” Luna added with a knowing smile. Samus turned to her, reciprocating the gesture.
“Yeah? What do you think then?” Samus responded, already full-well knowing the answer.
“I would be absolutely thrilled to spar with you, Samus!” Luna exclaimed, reaffirming the stance that Samus already knew.
“Awesome, so… when would you want to do this, and where?” the Hunter asked, ready to hash out details so she could be ready by then.
“How about this Saturday at eleven in the morning? Ponyville Fields will do just fine.”
“Sounds good to me! What are the rules?” Samus asked.
“I propose a three-tiered match: Round one will consist of basic fist, foot, and hoof; no weapons, no armor, no magic, and no flight. Round two will be melee combat with the primary weapon being a blade of your choice. The third round will be a full arsenal fight: all weapons, magic, and abilities will be fair game. However, since your current armor and weapons layout is nowhere near as versatile as the Alicorn Battle Suit was, I shall drop the defensive enchantments on my armor and forego binding magic. How does that sound?” Luna explained and asked, detailing a rather specific process of their eventual sparring. Samus just stared at her for a few moments, both pairs of blue eyes never once losing their locks on each other.
“That… sounds like one of the greatest times of my life. I love the sound of every bit of that,” Samus confirmed, readily agreeing to all of the stipulations that Luna laid on the table. In fact, she was even more excited now.
“I do not believe either of us will hold anything back, and even though I’ll have a spell in place that will protect against fatal blows and shots, we will both most likely get seriously wounded,” Luna cautioned just in case. Samus shrugged and shook her head.
“I’d have it no other way, honestly.”
“Neither would I,” Luna echoed the Hunter’s sentiment. “Then it is settled! This coming Saturday, eleven in the morning, Ponyville Fields.”
“I’ll be there,” Samus said as Luna got off the bench and onto her hooves.
“Be ready, Hunter,” Luna replied with a friendly yet cryptic smile on her face before hunching low and shooting into the air, rapidly taking flight back towards Canterlot. Samus watched her go and the moment she lost sight of the flying alicorn, she tucked her tablet under her arm and sprinted back towards the Library… for she now had some major prep work to ensure she was ready for Saturday.
The water lily fell out of her hair about halfway to her destination.
[Ponyville Fields | Saturday | 10:45 AM]
It had only been a few days since Samus and Luna spoke, and only with each other with nopony else in earshot... but somehow word had gotten around that the two were going to have a friendly (but definitely brutal) go at each other on the weekend. Upon asking around, Pinkie was the culprit; when asked, she alleged that by Pinkie Sense, when she had two simultaneous twitches of her four hooves and had the strong urge to punch Rainbow Dash in the face, meant Samus and Luna were going to fight each other.
Samus had been learning quickly not to question the pink mare.
Regardless, due to word getting around, what was supposed to be a gathering between two friends actually became a proper event in Ponyville Fields, and it was not limited to just the ponies either… word had spread to Federation troops and those who could get clearance to leave flocked to the location. Of course, CV-Squad ensured they got front-row seats, sitting on the ground right on the periphery of what would be considered the arena, all in casual clothes or in their own coats. Said arena was a flattened, circular area within the Fields which provided enough traction for hooves and feet, but was still soft enough for cushion due to the sheer size and thickness of the aforementioned flattened grass.
Nearly all of Ponyville came out to watch, and Pinkie Pie was playing the role of the hyperactive organizer and pseudo-bookie, starting a betting pool, to which ponies and marines were all too eager to contribute. Ten minutes before everything was scheduled to begin, Twilight did a rough headcount and estimated that about two hundred individuals had showed up, excluding the combatants. The Mane Six (excluding Pinkie who was running around) all had their own front-row seats.
Samus was already in the arena, garbed in her Zero Suit and stretching herself out while awaiting Luna’s arrival… but she nor anyone else had to wait long. About five minutes before the scheduled time to begin, both princesses swooped down from the sky and landed on the arena’s periphery. The regal sisters were greeted with great applause from all of the ponies as Luna moved into the fighting area while Celestia took Luna’s regalia off of her hooves and had a seat next to Twilight.
“I see we have an… audience,” Luna observed out loud as she closed the distance between her and Samus.
“Yeah, word got around and apparently this is the match of the century or something,” Samus replied, meeting Luna halfway. The two began to talk idly as time passed and on the sidelines, Twilight leaned over to Celestia.
“Forgive me, Princess, but I’m somewhat surprised to see you here,” Twilight admitted sheepishly to her mentor, the latter giggling.
“And miss Luna possibly getting her flank handed to her? Priorities, my dear student. One must learn their priorities,” the Solar Princess replied humorously, but she was completely truthful: like any sister, she wished for her sibling to do well, but would not turn down an opportunity to see them get completely laid out flat. Twilight giggled into her hoof and right as the clock struck eleven, Pinkie dashed into the center of the quite large arena.
“ALRIGHT EVERYPONY!” she screamed at the top of her lungs through a megaphone, silencing everyone immediately. “Today we’re going to witness the greatest. Match. EVER! So let’s get this show on the road!”
All were silent as Pinkie was doing a wonderful job at getting everyone hyped up.
“On my right, we have the Human, the Chozo, the Hero of Equestria, the Hunter claaaaaad in metal… Samus Aran!” Pinkie introduced the Hunter, and Samus looked around somewhat awkwardly as everyone, especially her friends and the marines, delivered massive applause at her name’s mention. She opted to cross her arms confidently.
“And on my left… we have the Moon, the Night, the Protector of Dreams, our very own Frontline Warrior Princess… give it up for Princess Luna!” Pinkie introduced her with great fanfare. All the ponies erupted in cheers, especially Celestia, who was surprisingly the loudest of them all. Luna looked around with great pride as ponies and some marines cheered her name, her confidence swelling and reminding her that she was their princess… revered and appreciated.
Pinkie held up her hoof and the cheers slowly died down. Samus and Luna were hilariously impressed as to how well the pink mare was rallying everyone.
“These two warriors will be beating each other senseless in three separate rounds… Princess Luna!” Pinkie addressed the Night Princess. “What are the terms of the first round?”
“Merely fist, hoof, and foot. No armor, no magic, no flight,” she stated. Samus nodded and there were a few murmurs from the audience as they mulled upon the terms.
“So a regular fight!” Pinkie reiterated. “Who will win in this round? It’s anypony’s guess!”
“All set?” Samus quietly asked Princess Luna. The Princess then lit her horn up and shot a small bolt of magic above them, which then expanded outward into a massive bubble shield that disappeared once it made contact with the ground. Such a spell would prevent any life-threatening injuries.
“Indeed!” Luna finally replied confidently and the two shared a grin.
“Make no mistake this will be a bruuuutal match!” Pinkie continued to announce with some crypticism as her entire form shivered visibly with excitement. “This will not be for the faint of heart and queasy of stomach… you have all been warned! FIGHTERS! Take your positions and make your introductions!”
Luna and Samus blinked in confusion, looking at the hyperactive mare simultaneously.
“Ummm, what?” Samus asked.
“Pray tell, did you not just introduce us?” Luna echoed the Hunter’s sentiment.
“No not like that! It’s tradition to make a flashy introduction that taunts your opponent!” Pinkie urged excitedly.
“By whose tradition?” Samus asked. Pinkie was about to answer when Samus cut her off. “Actually, don’t answer that.”
“Well, who am I to break tradition?” Luna reasoned, more than happy to do it. “Let’s have some fun.”
“Alright,” Samus conceded indifferently, she and Luna sharing a fist/hoofbump before retreating to their sides of the arena. Pinkie stepped out of the ‘killzone’ and all eyes were now on the combatants. Luna’s smile immediately turned stoic and fierce.
“So the great Hero of Equestria graces my presence… much like her face shall grace the ground…” Luna taunted, hunching low, lifting a single hoof off the ground, and flaring her wings in her fighting stance. There were distinct murmurs and ‘ooooooh’s’ from the crowd, especially the ponies, as Luna looked particularly aggressive.
Samus donned her usual battle-hardened stoic expression and took a few steps forward. She then placed her left hand on her hip and ‘observed’ Luna, pursing her lips in a way that conveyed a sense of being unimpressed.
“Hmph,” she huffed out, as if almost bored, before taking her own fighting stance. Eyes widened at the gesture, because she essentially snubbed the Princess and already took a figurative jab at her. There were even louder ‘oooooooh’s’ from the crowd and one could distinctly hear Arianna saying “OOHOHOHO DAMN!”
“Alright everypony! Let’s get started!” Pinkie announced with her right hoof in the air before suddenly slamming it to the ground. “FIGHT!”
Everyone, from what they knew of her, expected Samus to assess the situation and go from there, to see what Luna would do and react accordingly.
They were wrong.
Samus immediately leapt from her position and somersaulted in the air, covering the ground between herself and Luna with catlike grace before extending her right heel and attempting to plant it in Luna’s face. The sheer speed with which she executed her first, lightning-fast strike almost ensured that her plan was realized, but Luna side-stepped to the left at the last second after overcoming her own surprise. Samus’ heel slammed into the flattened grass below and she turned to face off with the Princess of the Night, the two almost face to face now.
“WHOA! NOPONY COULD’VE SEEN THAT COMING!” Pinkie shouted, playing the role of the announcer.
Samus followed up immediately with two left jabs and a right hook, Luna dodged every single one and when she angled her head out of the way for the last strike, the lack of impact caused Samus to overextend slightly, off-balancing her and giving Luna an opening. She slightly reared up and moved to plant her hoof in Samus’ face but the latter blocked the hit with her right forearm, left hand rising to take hold of the princess’ leg. Samus attempted to flip the alicorn on her back but Luna had other plans: she used the momentum Samus had created to slam her left hoof straight into the right side of the Hunter’s face.
Samus stumbled and released the Lunar Princess, clutching her cheek but recovering just in time to avoid what would have been a devastating buck to her chest by collapsing her legs under her. Effectively ducking under the strike, Samus swept Luna’s supporting, front legs off the ground and nearly suspending her in the air for a moment as she fell flat on her left side. The vicarious pained groans of the crowd fell on deaf ears as both combatants were in their zone; only they existed.
Luna quickly recovered from the painful shock of being forced on her side, rolling to her right side just as Samus’ fist came smashing into the ground where her face used to be. Luna quickly found her hooves and fell back into her fighting stance as Samus continued to press her advance. The latter threw a right roundhouse but fell short of Luna’s face, and the Princess wanted to capitalize on the Hunter’s failure with a straight punch to Samus’ face, but did not anticipate the Hunter following up on her missed kick with a punishing left sidekick. Samus’ left heel connected squarely with Luna’s snout. After a pained cry from the Princess, the crowd reacted instantly.
“OOOH, FUCK!” Starry shouted from next to Nathan as the meaty impact of heel and snout thundered across the field. Luna hastily retreated and Samus advanced slowly, affording the Lunar Princess some breathing room. When the latter looked up at Samus again, her snout was visibly bleeding, yet her face bore no reduction in aggression nor morale. As for Samus, the perfect hook that Luna had landed on her face was clearly visible in the form of a red mark on the pale skin of Samus’ right cheek. It had not even been a couple of minutes yet all were completely captivated by the match… even Celestia was hanging on the edge of her seat.
“Not holding back, I see…” Luna observed out loud.
“Am I ever one to shirk?” Samus replied and began her assault anew, initiating a powerful wheel kick. Such a kick would be devastating if it connected with the sheer kinetic energy that Samus could muster, but the drawback was that it was slow to start and easy to spot. She was well aware of this but this was not a singular move: it was a part of a long, Chozo target combination that essentially relied on the evasion of the kick. The plan was for Luna to draw herself backward in an attempt to counter attack, and then Samus would have an absolute field day.
That wasn’t what happened at all.
Luna made absolutely no effort to put much distance between her and her temporary adversary. In fact, upon discerning Samus’ intent, she merely sidestepped to the left. As a result, Samus suddenly found herself next to Luna with her back turned… a near instantaneous vulnerability that the Princess capitalized on immediately. Luna harshly body-checked Samus in her back, making her stumble forward and putting some distance between the two. She then followed up with a ‘dual punch,’ planting both of her front hooves in Samus’ upper back full force. She was not done there, though. Before Samus could fall forward, she felt her ponytail suddenly gripped in Luna’s teeth. Immediately after, and with a great deal of pain, she was yanked backward and thrown onto her back, the back of her head bouncing after hitting the ground.
“Damn, Princess!!” Rainbow Dash cheered while the rest of the Mane Six looked away when Samus’ head slammed into the ground.
“Come on, Samus!” Sydney urged with Arianna. They liked her as a person but also they each had a hundred credits-turned-bits riding on the entire match.
Samus saw stars as soon as she hit the ground but was able to clear them out immediately to bound back to her feet… however the moment she bounded back up, Luna socked her straight in the upper-right cheek, forcefully returning her to her ass and back. Everypony had some degree of reaction to that scene.
"OOOH, THAT'S GOTTA HURT!" Pinkie continued to announce a play-by-play.
Shooting her eyes open and gauging her surroundings, Samus rolled her entire body laterally to the left just as both of Luna’s hooves came crashing down on where her stomach was not even milliseconds ago. Opting not to try and get to her feet with Luna shadowing her, Samus, with some extra thrust from her arms, shot her legs out and wrapped them tightly around Luna’s neck. Angling herself perfectly in front and gripping the sides of her muzzle, it was Luna’s turn to see stars when the crown of Samus’ head collided directly with the base of her horn. That connection was also quite audible; every single unicorn in the audience ‘felt’ that impact and violently cringed, especially when they heard Luna cry out.
Samus released herself from Luna, the latter backing off and trying to massage the pain away. Still, Samus opted to press her attack once more; she knew as a bipedal human that she had the advantage in weapon-less melee combat over a quadrupedal pony, but that didn’t mean Luna didn’t score a few painful hits on her. Samus’ plan now was to get Luna harshly to the ground and deliver one more devastating blow to ensure she didn’t get up. That would end the fight immediately.
Sprinting at the retreating alicorn, Samus was going to tackle straight into her with all of her might but Luna had sensed her presence and, with astonishing speed, turned on her front heels and bucked with her rear as Samus got within perfect striking distance. As fortune would have it, the top of both of Samus’ breasts took a heel kick, throwing her off of her feet mid-sprint and again, finding herself on her back once more. It was now every woman in the audience’s turn to cringe.
While certainly radiating and throbbing, that pain was by no means crippling to Samus, who laterally rolled several times so she could safely get back to her feet. Looking over to Luna, Samus found her still clutching her head and shaking off the blow that was delivered to her… and that slight reduction in adrenaline amplified the pain in her chest several times… to where it almost was crippling, she herself having to bend over and clutch herself for just a little bit. Pained grimaces were quite prominent on both belligerents’ faces along with pained groans and cries.
Both seemed to recover near simultaneously and charged each other, initiating a stalemate of thrown punches kicks, and blocks. All were on the edge of their seats as the fighting pair were doing their absolute best to wear the other down and eventually find an error in their respective defenses. Hits and kicks were blocked and parried but more than a few scored hits on each other’s bodies.
Eventually though, Luna made a critical blunder in underestimating Samus’ close-quarters dexterity, overextending both of her front legs which paved a perfect opening for Samus to grasp her adversary’s horn. The sudden contact on such a sensitive appendage nearly stopped Luna in her tracks for a split second, but a split second was all that Samus needed. With her left hand firmly grasping Luna’s horn, Samus delivered an underhanded fist to the alicorn’s chest, Luna’s eyes widening as she felt a crushing pain in her ribcage. Samus then followed up with a destructive right axe-kick straight to the top of Luna’s back, right below the base of her neck. The alicorn’s legs gave out near instantaneously and she collapsed like a ragdoll onto her stomach.
K.O.
One could hear a figurative pin drop when Luna went down, and all that sounded were both parties’ heavy breathing. While Samus was clearly victorious, damage had definitely been done: a few cuts on her face, a terrible headache, mild vertigo, a semi-bruised back, two sore breasts, and a swollen (but not completely black) eye.
“AND THERE YOU HAVE IT EVERYPONY! SAMUS WINS ROUND ONE!” Pinkie finally announced after overcoming her own stunned stupor. The crowd applauded wildly and while Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six were visibly concerned for Luna, Celestia was joining in on the applause with an impressed look on her face. Samus did not care for the limelight in any form, and her first concern was to see if Luna was okay, she kneeling down over the downed alicorn’s face.
“Princess,” Twilight addressed. “Forgive me but are you not worried for Princess Luna?” Celestia shook her head.
“Not at all. Luna has survived so much worse.”
Meanwhile on the field…
“Hey… Luna?” Samus softly called, stroking the heavily breathing alicorn’s face. Though Luna’s darker coat most likely obscured a lot more in terms of physical damage done to her, Samus could clearly see the bloody snout and swelling at the base of her horn. Likewise, Luna also had a semi-black eye and a couple of mild scratches and cuts on her face.
“I am okay, Samus… though thank you for the concern. That was a damn good hit…” Luna replied gratefully, shakily getting to her hooves with Samus helping her a little bit. The two then escorted each other out of the arena so they could heal up with some magic. The Mane Six plus Celestia and Spike all came up to greet and commend them for their performance but before they could express anything, Samus turned to Pinkie Pie.
“Thirty minutes.”
She nodded and picked up her megaphone as the duo followed by their other friends moved to a designated recovery area.
“THIRTY MINUTE INTERMISSION, EVERYPONY!”
[Thirty Minutes Later]
Right on the dot, Samus and Luna returned to the center of the arena seemingly no worse for wear. All cuts and bruises were magically healed to near perfection and all headaches had been beautifully cured. Thus, the two belligerents were eager to get the next round started: weaponized melee combat.
“AND WE’RE BACK, EVERYPONY! WITH ROOOUUUUND 2, THE SAME RULES APPLY AS THE LAST, BUT THIS TIME THEY’LL BE USING SWORDS!!!” Pinkie returned to her announcing and hosting duties. “BUT REMEMBER… THERE ARE THREE ROUNDS, WHICH MEANS IF SAMUS TAKES VICTORY HERE, SHE WINS THE MATCH!”
All sat on the edge of their seats and Luna and Samus got into position, this time much closer to each other. Luna currently was not holding anything in her grasp but Samus was idly twirling a standard Equestrian Longsword. There was nothing really in particular differentiating it from a standard longsword but it did have an enchanted edge which allowed it to spar with Equestrian ‘pure blades’ without getting lopped off.
“GET READY…!” Pinkie announced, Samus and Luna responding by closing more of the distance between each other. Luna’s horn lit up and she conjured her blade of pure magic, angling it toward Samus, who reciprocated in kind with her own blade. Both had determined, fierce smiles on their faces yet again.
“Ready?” Samus asked.
“Come at me, Samus,” Luna uncharacteristically goaded, eliciting a humorously bemused expression from Samus, one that said ‘oh, I see how it is.’
“…FIGHT!”
This time, Samus did not opt for a first strike, rather, she and Luna stared each other down as their blades touched. The crowd was completely on edge as they squared off, idly circling each other in their respective fighting stances. One mare, however, decided to interrupt the silence.
“Hope you enjoy what you’re about to see,” Radiance whispered to Sydney, the two of them having debated on who would win this match. Back on the field, the two were still squaring off after thirty seconds, but the peace was quickly disturbed when Luna pulled back and delivered a powerful, if standard, vertical chop. Samus easily parried it but it came with much more power than she had anticipated… with Luna controlling her weapon via magic, Samus suddenly had to concede that gauging intent and power would be much more difficult.
Samus slid her sword out from under Luna’s and attacked with a right, diagonal chop. Luna instantly intercepted the strike, sidestepping and countering with a forward thrust, Samus also having to sidestep in kind. There they began a little dance, with Luna completely dictating tempo, probing Samus’ strengths and weaknesses, gauging just how well she knew how to fight with a blade. Even though Samus was trained to an extent melee combat, she couldn’t hold a candle to Luna’s combat experience, honed to a razor’s edge in the crucible of centuries. The general crowd felt that the two were in a deadlock, but the few Magickakorps soldiers who were observing knew much better… the Princess was figuratively playing with her food.
Luna suddenly went on the offensive, striking with a flurry of chops from every direction. Samus had to back up in order to block and parry each one but a strike from down low caught her off guard. She had no time to parry; in order to avoid getting hit, she rolled to the right. In coming out of her roll, however, she misjudged where Luna would strike from and ended up taking a glancing blow to the side of her left tricep. True to Luna’s word, the magical field surrounding them prevented a sizeable portion of her Zero Suit and skin from getting cut into, but a nasty shock was delivered in its place. Even with the quick contact, Samus grunted in pain but regained her footing, ready to meet Luna’s next move.
No move ever came as Luna met Samus as they started, the two in equilibrium once more. Samus was a little shaken but still fiercely determined, while Luna was completely calm and collected, as well as perfectly confident.
Samus moved to end that, suddenly bursting out of their little detente with four successive strikes, which Luna was more than capable of blocking or evading outright. To finish her combination, Samus called upon her Chozo training and bounded off of her feet, laterally rolling in the air as her blade came down vertically on Luna in a massive power attack. Luna did not expect such a flashy yet powerful move from the Hunter, and was obliged to splay her legs and quickly interpose her own blade underneath Samus’. Still, the sheer force behind it all forced both of their now connected swords to angle towards the ground on Luna’s left.
Right as Luna dissociated her blade from her opponent’s, Samus followed up with a balled-up backhand to the side of Luna’s face, the pointy end of her knuckle connecting squarely with the side of the alicorn’s temple. Recovering within an instant, Luna stopped Samus’ offensive in its tracks and she began to beat her back.
“OWIE OW-WIE!! THAT LOOKED PAINFUL!” Pinkie continued to yell through the megaphone. This time, however, she had help in the form of Spike, just like with the Running of the Leaves.
“I have to agree, Pinkie,” Spike yelled through his own megaphone. “I’d not want to be on the receiving end of that one.”
The sword-fight continued to heat up with Samus putting up admirable resistance but ultimately, each and every one of her offensives was beaten back, worse and worse each time. The souvenirs of her slow loss of ground were beginning to mount up, though, in the form of lacerations in her Zero Suit as well as a few red spots and some swelling from when Luna caught her off guard and punched her a few times. Her wounds greatly outclassed anything she was able to deliver to the Night Princess.
Luna was absolutely done playing around, as was evident by her much more complex target combinations and maneuvers; employing combat rolls and utilizing her wings not for flight, but to twirl in the air in order to aid in stabilization and power. On Samus’ part, this was nothing like fighting Chrysalis-turned-faux-Luna… this was something else entirely.
Luna struck five times in quick succession, all upward strikes and Samus was clearly having some trouble in evading and parrying.
“Uh oh… I think she’s having some trouble here…” Spike observed.
“IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER! SAMUS LOOKS LIKE SHE’S GOT SOME FIGHT LEFT IN HER!” Pinkie added her commentary. True to her words, Samus sprang up for one more go, abandoning the rigidity of combat forms in favor of the explosive fluidity of one final assault. Had she the time, Luna would have readily admitted that she was impressed with the explosive finesse and controlled fury on display from the Hunter. She never doubted Samus’ melee weapon combat abilities, but the sheer amount of experience that she had dwarfed what the Hunter could muster; Luna was just being realistic.
Samus managed to score a lucky hit on Luna’s shoulder in the midst of several consecutive flurry strikes. The Hunter ended with a final vertical chop and a forward thrust when she had Luna in the perfect position. Samus had blunted a counterattack from Luna and if she played her cards just right, she could end the fight right now.
Luna, however, batted Samus’ thrust completely to her left, the Hunter missing and suddenly overextending herself. Luna then chopped down on Samus’ hands, the sword tumbling from suddenly-nerveless hands. Luna then ended the fight with one final lateral swipe of her blade, the weapon slicing through Samus’ upper abdomen/diaphragm area and delivering a crippling jolt. Samus screamed out through bared teeth and clutched the impact point with both hands as she dropped to the ground onto knees, then her side. She laid curled in a fetal position riding out a continuous jolt that caused her to tremble involuntarily. To signal the end of the fight, Luna stood over her adversary and pointed her sword at her head. Samus made no attempt to get up through her twitching.
K.O.
“THAT’S IT THEN!” Pinkie called out as the crowd slowly began to cheer for the victor, especially the ponies in the crowd.
“I hear you there, Pinkie! This round is over and the clear winner is Princess Luna!” Spike announced.
The entire round had not even lasted a proper five minutes and Samus was already down for the count. This time, Luna hunched over the Hunter’s form and prodded her with her muzzle to ensure that she was okay.
“Samus? Are you well?” she asked. Samus, eyes still closed and riding out some of the residual shock, nodded.
“Yeah… j-just gimme a moment,” she replied, finally rolling onto her stomach and supporting herself on her knees and with one arm, the other still clutching the gash in her Zero Suit. “God that was a good hit, Luna…” she added as she shakily stood up.
Luna allowed the girl to lean against her as they moved to exit the arena, Samus gladly accepting the gesture.
“Thanks.”
“Of course,” Luna responded. She then turned to Pinkie and Spike as they exited the perimeter like last round. “Fifteen minutes.”
“ALRIGHT EVERYPONY! ANOTHER FIFTEEN MINUTE INTERMISSION!”
[Fifteen Minutes Later]
Again, right on time, the two belligerents returned to the field with much fanfare, looking perfectly healthy. The only signs of combat were some gashes within Samus’ Zero Suit but that could easily be repaired via her ‘save station’ in Twilight’s basement. That would be dealt with in due time since she would not be needing her Zero Suit proper in this round. Round three, as was discussed with Luna earlier in the week, was a full-arsenal battle, meaning Samus would have full access to her entire Varia Suit, along with most of its capabilities. The only exception would be her missile launcher, which still refused to work; Samus had not figured out how to reactivate it.
So, Samus had her Power Beam, Charge Beam, Morph Ball, Bombs, her Speed Booster, and Grapple Beam to work with; not such a bad suite of tools in the end.
“ALRIGHT EVERYPONY, HERE WE GO!” Pinkie got everyone’s attention once Luna and Samus took their places within the arena for the final round.
“It’s the third round and both Her Highness and Samus are tied in victories. Remember, whoever wins this round, wins the entire match!” Spike reiterated. On the sidelines, many of the spectators were anxiously awaiting what would happen, munching on snacks as they were all leaning forward. Princess Celestia and Twilight were going at popcorn like there was no tomorrow while never taking their eyes off the combatants.
“SO! FOR SAFETY, THE SHIELD AROUND PRINCESS LUNA AND SAMUS WILL ABSORB ALL ATTACKS THAT’LL STRAY OUT OF THE ARENA!”
“So Princess Luna, Samus… get ready for the final round…” Spike announced the start of preparations, and there weren’t that many that needed to take place. Simultaneously, Samus and Luna’s bodies were eclipsed in a bright golden and teal-blue light respectively, leaving them clad in their own armor-suits. This time the duo stood much farther apart on account for the inevitable ranged combat. Like Luna had promised, she also dropped the defensive magical enchantments on her own armor, so Samus’ power beam (her only ranged weapon) would not be rendered completely ineffective. This round, everything was fair game except for extended binding magic.
The two took slightly different fighting stances: Luna aiming her horn towards the Varia Suit-clad Hunter, and Samus squaring off with Luna and aiming her arm cannon right between her eyes. Both intended to fight brutally to the end in the name of practice; the shield surrounding them ensuring that there would be no loss of life today.
Just damaged bodies.
“GO!” Pinkie and Spike announced together, and the shooting erupted immediately. Power and Night Beams were traded back and forth as the two began firing and evading, circling one another. The initial volley of magic and hard-light rounds brought forth a lightshow of hit and missed rounds, those which missed their targets absorbed harmlessly into the shield like ripples in a pond. Shielding lit up as it was struck and while the crowd was instantly engaged with the fighting, both alicorn and Hunter established that this ranged shooting war would quickly become a stalemate, and it had to be broken in the very near future if they did not want this fight to drag on for literally hours.
With the slightest lull in the hailstorm of rounds, Samus leapt into the air even higher and farther than last time due to her Suit enhancements. Luna shot at her in the air as she backed off and, as expected, Samus landed in front of her but right as she landed, she released a charged shot. The overcharged Power Beam round sent Luna careening backwards and she bounced on the ground once before coming to a rest.
“That definitely broke the stalemate!” Spike observed out loud through his megaphone.
“WOWIE! THERE SHE GOES!” Pinkie also added as everyone saw Samus start sprinting towards Luna’s downed form the moment she came to rest. Samus began firing a massive torrent of Power Beam rounds as the Princess was attempting to get back to her hooves, but Luna cast a heavy shield which absorbed everything that was sent her way. Right as Samus bore down on her, Luna grappled Samus in her magic and held her in place, releasing her only when Luna had charged her own beam and shot it directly into Samus’ visor, launching her away and negating any advantage in ground that the Hunter had acquired.
“WHOA! DID LUNA JUST BREAK THE RULES WITH BINDING MAGIC??” Pinkie wondered out loud.
“No! It was too short of a spell in duration to be binding magic, so I’ve learned from Twilight. That could be treated as a grapple,” Spike replied as the scene continued to unfold.
Now it was Luna's turn. As Samus moved to get back to her feet, the Princess responded with a rapid-fire torrent of her Night Beam, several rounds impacting Samus’ shields before she was able to gain some lateral distance away from her adversary’s line of fire. Luna suddenly teleported out of existence but before Samus could switch visors, the alicorn reappeared right behind her. Samus then felt a charged Night round slam into her back and send her into the ground.
Samus quickly entered Morph Ball mode and boosted away before Luna could follow up on any attack, sliding to a halt on one knee and her left hand as she phased back to her bipedal form, confident of the sufficient distance she put between the two of them. Her arm cannon was aimed out and she was prepared to defend or assault at a moment’s notice. Her shielding held steady, though some depletion had definitely occurred, but Samus was not worried at all. This was a friendly but aggressive sparring match and all damage sustained could easily be repaired.
With Samus’ advance temporarily stalled, Luna was already rearing up for another magical attack, and by the time the Hunter had pivoted to face her, she was in the middle of stomping both of her hooves to the ground. Such an action birthed a shockwave of magical electricity that expanded outward with Luna at its center. As the wave approached Samus, she leaped from the ground once more, somersaulted in the air, and fired down on Luna as she dropped back to her feet. Luna returned fire with another rapid-fire torrent but Samus quickly dashed to her right to avoid the brunt of the hard-magic rounds.
The Hunter did have a trick up her sleeve, and as Luna turned to track her, Samus launched her Grapple Beam and it found its mark perfectly on the tip of Luna’s horn. The crowd all seemed to gasp as one, including Luna who was suddenly reminded of a certain battle with a Nightmare-corrupted Samus. Like that time, the Grapple Beam nullified all magic casting and was stuck firmly, as if by magnet. Samus pressed her advantage by yanking backward, which pulled Luna forward. In an attempt to dislodge herself from the beam, Luna tugged backward, splaying her legs and digging her hooves into the ground, which pulled Samus much farther than she pulled the much more stably-footed alicorn.
Samus then decided to sprint around Luna, which resulted in her head being forcefully dragged along but Samus was not done yet. Luna was slowly overcoming the ‘magnetic’ effect of the Grapple Beam and it would be only a matter of time before she dislodged herself. Thus, Samus yanked her left arm backward and opened fire with her Power Beam, the rounds peppering the temporarily defenseless Princess. Every single one of her rounds scored a damage-dealing hit on the Princess in either her faceplate or chest, and in one final act of desperation, Luna reared up and used every scrap of magic she had access to within her being in a desperate bid to get the Grapple Beam off of her horn. The result was Samus being taken completely off of her feet and face-planting into the ground.
“WOWIE! IT’S A GAME OF TUG-O-WAR NOW!” Pinkie observed as Luna fought back against the Grapple Beam.
“That’s a bold strategy, Pinkie, let’s see if it works for her!” Spike also added, leaning forward and completely entranced in the fight.
“RYAH!!” Luna roared out, yanking her head back once more, but this time, Samus jumped towards the alicorn and with the extra momentum from Luna’s tug, she quickly closed the distance between them. At the very last second, Samus retracted the Grapple Beam and, like a blast from the past, Luna’s faceplate was met with the cold, unforgiving heel of Samus’ Varia Suit. The transparent visor nearly shattered, bereft as they were of Luna’s protective enchantments, and the cracking was quite audible. Fortunately, the construction of Luna’s visor prevented lethal shattering, restricting the damage to an impressive spiderwebbing. Luna’s neck craned itself in an awkward direction immediately afterward along with some terribly radiating pain, but at least she was free of the Grapple Beam.
Samus continued her offensive with a downward pound of her arm cannon but Luna had recovered enough to quickly evade the punishing strike. The sudden miss gave Luna an opening and she let loose an electrical shock straight into Samus’ entire being. She screamed out as she spasmed in place, and Luna ceased the electrical stream, replacing it with a powerful hoof to Samus’ visor. She was not done yet, though… as Samus stumbled backward from Luna’s hard-hitting hoof, the alicorn wreathed her body in magic, hefted her a few feet into the air, and slammed her into the ground breastplate first. She bounced from the impact and Luna finished her combo by digging her front hooves in and bucking Samus full-force in the side, sending her about ten feet away.
The spectators all roared in applause at Luna’s burst of aggression after so long on the defensive, and her little victory, however fleeting, was enough to galvanize her for an offensive of her own. Luna charged forward but Samus recovered much quicker than expected, locking onto her and shooting a charged round with sniper-like precision. Luna was able to call up a barrier before the round impacted, but her haste meant that the barrier wasn’t as strong as it could have been; therefore, it shattered prematurely, the residual force from the blast finding its mark in Luna’s chest. The impact cut her legs out from under her and caused her upper body to cartwheel into the ground. Her face harshly planting into the grassy ground was enough to dislodge a few pieces of cracked glass from her visor, and a broken visor was not good to fight with. Consequently, she pulled her helmet loose and discarded it before resuming her advance.
Samus was already back on her feet and promptly began renewing her fire, forcing Luna to prop up another magical shield to absorb the rounds. This time, though, it was much stronger, allowing her to advance forward under Samus’ withering hailstorm of Power Beam rounds. Weathering the barrage of fire, Luna closed with Samus, then telekinetically projected her shield forward, ramming Samus with it, halting her attack. She then lunged and tackled the Hunter to the ground, delivering another hoof-punch to the visor before Samus reached out and grabbed hold of her horn.
It was at this moment that Samus knew she screwed up.
Luna sent yet another electrical pulse through Samus with the same results as last time. As the Hunter spasmed on the ground, Luna reared up and brought both her hooves down with bone-shattering force on Samus’ armor plating. The impact drove the air from Samus’ lungs; however, her armor saved her from catastrophic trauma...though not without its own cost, as Samus’ suit dispassionately informed her:
[Shield Generator Destroyed! Shielding Offline!]
FACK
Samus angled her arm cannon upward and fired a charged round straight into Luna’s abdomen, but hadn’t given the round enough time to reach full charge; therefore, the shot’s effect was limited to driving Luna’s breath from her lungs in turn. It did force the Princess to retreat retching and kneeling down from the painful strike as the Hunter found her feet with some difficulty. Though each combatant had tended to their injuries between the last two rounds, what went untreated as well as sheer fatigue began to take their toll.
A fierce melee confrontation immediately broke out when the two met each other, Samus pressing another offensive, yet Luna was evading every single one of her attempted hits. When Luna countered, she was much more successful in scoring unexpected blows on Samus, and in fact, with a magically charged punch to the side of Samus’ head—made worse through the latter’s lack of shields—she ended up crippling Samus’ visor suite, scrambling her Combat Visor to the point of inoperability. Samus broke off temporarily to discard her helmet.
Every time Samus aimed and fired, Luna summoned a barrier to absorb or deflect the shots; when the alicorn opted to return fire, Samus would evade with superior agility. Luna refused to permit Samus to gain the advantage of increased range, relying on micro-teleports to constrain the battle to much more acceptable distances. Both combatants independently concluded that this battle would once again culminate in close quarters, though the armor enhancements certainly made for an interesting spectacle. Naturally, there were some move-sets (most of which would deal certain death, despite failsafes put in place) that both parties unspokenly agreed not to use, as they were not facing true enemy combatants.
This fight had dragged on longer than the other two rounds combined and yet, every single spectator in the crowd (including some pegasi who were flying above for a different view) simply could not look away. Princess Luna and Samus continued to trade merciless blows. Armor clashed against armor, body checks were rampant, cold steel struck exposed skin and coat. Bruises were inflicted, damage was dealt, and blood was spilled. A brief lull in combat when the two opponents separated led the crowd to hesitantly believe that they had had enough. That theory was disproven when both parties lunged almost ferally at each other in one last clash of all they could muster.
Samus delivered a crushing underhand into Luna’s stomach when she reared up to strike, driving her left fist into Luna’s barrel; a similar attack of that power on any normal pony or human at that would have crippled them for life. Luna backed off as she attempted to breathe again, leaving herself completely open. Samus found herself squared off with a seemingly retreating Lunar Princess and one final, crushing backhand with her arm cannon to Luna’s face would end the fight.
With a cry of exertion, Samus dashed forward, bringing her arm across her chest and twisting slightly to her left. She then swung her cannon out in a vicious arc. However, as Samus committed her entire body to her strike, she noticed too late that Luna was winding up her own attack; a right hook aimed straight for her face. The result: the barrel of the arm cannon impacted the side of Luna’s face with terrifying force, but that extra kinetic energy that transferred into Luna also added momentum to her right hook, which found its mark with increased ferocity in Samus’ now-unprotected jaw.
Both let out simultaneous throaty, guttural cries of anguish before dropping like unstrung puppets. Both appeared conscious and were definitely breathing, albeit shallowly...but neither of them made any effort to get to their feet or hooves.
Double K.O.
The silence was even more profound this time; the earth itself seemed to hold its breath. This was the last round… and both combatants were down!
“Oh my Celestia…” Spike finally mustered the words that all were thinking.
“It’s… THEY DOWNED EACH OTHER! IT’S A DRAW!” Pinkie excitedly announced, bouncing up and down. The crowd began to murmur in slight disappointment; because the contest ended with no clear winner, everyone’s bets would be returned, not paid. That disappointment didn’t long prevail, quickly becoming an encouraging, thunderous cheer for the amazing entertainment. The Mane Six plus Celestia and Spike were clearly the loudest, though their cheers were muted somewhat with their deep concern for the wellbeing of the Lunar Diarch and the resident Bounty Hunter.
After the fight was called, and the two combatants regained a modicum of composure Samus and Luna took their time in sitting up, supporting themselves with their free limbs as they breathed heavily. The damage had clearly been done.
Samus’ shield generator was destroyed and, as a result, any other damage she took from Luna’s attacks was dealt straight to her Varia Suit and physical form. Her Suit was cracked and dented in several places, a small piece of her right pauldron was missing, her helmet that she had discarded was dented and cracked on and around the visor, and she herself hurt all over. In terms of physical injuries, she had a full black eye, several cuts on her face one of which was still bleeding from the final blow. A basic diagnostic also revealed that she had a hairline fracture on one of her ribs.
As for Luna, her armor fared no better and no worse. She too was obliged to discard her largely useless helmet and the armor’s superstructure itself was falling apart, some parts even hanging off of her. She had two sprained ankles, a hairline fracture in her horn, as well as an identical black eye and several small lacerations all over her face… on top of the clearly broken nose/snout.
The two looked weakly at each other, sharing a friendly smile as they took in life-giving breaths.
“You doing alright over there?” Samus asked, leaning over and spitting to her side.
“Never better!” Luna replied. Samus moved to stand up fully but the sudden movement made her wince in pain, a pain which originated from somewhere in her abdomen, most likely her rib. When the duo finally did manage to get to their feet, adrenaline had greatly worn off and the anguish they were both in slowly became much more profound.
“Should we go to the hospital?” Samus ventured semi-seriously. Luna turned to her and bobbed her head thoughtfully. At that point, the Mane Six and Celestia were all heading to meet them in the arena.
“That may be a wise decision,” Luna allowed.
“Luna, Samus, are you both alright??” Celestia asked concernedly, trotting up to her sister with urgency and nuzzling her. Luna gladly accepted the gesture but chuckled at what she would consider an overreaction. A little bit of blood stained her sister’s pristine alabaster coat.
“We are both quite well, sister. However, we do desire to relocate to the general hospital at this moment for proper healing and medical care… just to be safe.”
“Okay… do you need us to come with you two?” Twilight asked, ready to help escort the two. The two former belligerents shared a gaze and, while they were most likely capable of walking to Ponyville’s hospital by themselves, it probably wouldn’t hurt to get teleported as a group over there, considering Luna’s horn was giving her trouble and the seven mares plus Spike were going to keep them company anyway. Chances were also quite high that none of the individuals present would allow Samus and Luna to walk anyway, considering Samus was absentmindedly clutching her abdomen with her left hand and Luna was clearly having difficulty supporting own weight on two sprained ankles.
“Sure, why not. Teleporting would be nice,” Samus conceded, and Luna readily seemed to agree. Princess Celestia was already charging her horn for a group teleportation spell.
“Of course. To the hospital,” Celestia said out loud as her magical aura enveloped them all.
“To the hospital,” Luna repeated thankfully right as the group all suddenly disappeared.
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like this comment if your hyped for Metroid Prime: Federation force!
best chapter EVER so awesome especially the fight songs
6104088 Lol. No.
6104088 I'm anti-hype for that...it seems like a cheap copout meant just to shut up people who wanted to see "a Metroid game," as opposed to Retro Studios being given clearance to make another Prime.
Dang...that was an awesome fight.
6104126 I wouldn't mind seeing things in the POV of a Federation Trooper, much like ODST was to Halo, but jesus at least give it Prime II graphics so it doesn't remind me of Toy Soldiers or Tiny Troopers
6104158 Well. It's on the 3ds, so you can't expect too much out of it. :C
6104393 The thing is that Metroid Fusion would not have happened yet in the timeline, that's why. Glad you're enjoying it (so far) though!
6104759 Would you have it any other way? Would not be Metroid without it!
6104175 You realize that they're releasing a remake of Xenoblade Chronicles (a Wii exclusive) on the New 3DS right? If they can remake a Wii game and add in stereoscopic 3D, which basically means displaying 2 different versions of the screen at once requiring nearly double the GPU processing, then I'm pretty sure they could manage to make a game that matches, if not surpasses, the detail of the Gamecube Metroid games' graphics.
6104158 Plus, unless there's some kind of surprise announcement, THAT'S probably going to be our 30th Anniversary game, which would be disappointing as hell.
6104158 Or discount MetaBots
6104088
6104126
6104158
It seems like it'd be a really cool idea if not for the fact that they made them fucking* chibis. Metroid is supposed to be the dark, intense Nintendo Flagship series, just as Mario is the light-hearted, family friendly flagship and LoZ is the story-intensive, magical wonder flagship. This is almost as bad the the Captain N comics. That mecha that one of the troopers climbs into seems like it would be really cool in an actual Metroid game, but the fact that he was a cartoon character sucks away the awesomeness.
On one hand, I'm happy that they're making the game, because it means that Metroid isn't dead. But on the other, there's a dark, chilling voice inside me, saying that this is the sort of thing that happened just before Sonic the Hedgehog became the horrible zombie series it is now.
*For the record, I try not to swear too much, especially with heavier language like that, but what the ever-living fuck, Nintendo!? This is the game based off the Alien series, not fucking Hello Kitty!
6104953
ALLEGEDLY Nintendo has something planned for announcement this year or later next year for the Wii U. So we'll hopefully see what happens. If it looks awesome then I may be buying a Wii U.
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/877/219/6c9.jpg
Nice pun-on word.
Assuming you stay away from her rear legs, sure. Those things can kill with one hit.
Not sure if spelling error...
6104101
It does look a bit cutsy... which in not helped by the built-in soccer game...
6105479
1. Oh definitely, ergo protective field. Still, all Samus has to do is keep out of the way of the rear hooves which will be easy for her all other factors kept constant.
2. No, that was for expression/humor.
Great fight. I am surprised that you are keeping the story up as long as you can. Don't rush yourself now, you hear?.
Any chance we might get to see Adam Malkovich on Equis at some point? I know Other M was bad compared to Prime, but I'd still find it interesting to see Samus's (not to mention the ponies') reaction(s). That and seeing how someone as cool and calm as Adam would react to tiny, talking, technicolored horses.
damn that was awesome
6105610
Other M was bad compared to Mein Kampf. I am not exaggerating.
My headcanon for Other M is that in universe, it was actually a propaganda film produced by the GF after the events of Fusion in an attempt to weaken the reputation of Adam and Samus after they went renegade, while also shifting blame off the majority of the senate when it was discovered that they had been secretly breeding Metroids on the BSL.
With that aside, it would be nice to see Adam characterized as he was in Fusion rather than M:OM. Whereas Samus is a Kuudere (that is, cold on the outside, but intensely emotional on the inside), Adam is a stone-cold tactician through and through (to such extremes that he could use uncommon honorifics without sounding awkward or insulting), and it would be interesting to see how he reacts to the ponies.
On an unrelated note, I'm still interested in Federation Forces. It's not the game we wanted, but I'll try it anyway. The idiots making that petition however I don't think even deserve a new game at all if they're going to be that childish.
ANYWAY, badass fight was indeed badass. Nothing like a no-holds-barred duel between friends.
6104088 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGu3Xe1uUUg
Wow, 1:10 ratio in downvotes for that video...
6104953 In my opinion, not everything needs to look cool to BE cool. For me, as long as the gameplay is fun I'll probably enjoy it.
6108960
Ah, I see I missed a paragraph. I meant to add in that I was going to give the game a try anyway, just in case it turns out to suffer from "Wind Waker" syndrome; that is, a game with an awesome story but ends up being a base breaker because it has a cutesy art style. I have a friend who's almost as hardcore a Legend of Zelda fan as I am a Metroid fan, but he hasn't touched an LoZ game since Wind Waker because he couldn't stand its art style. I don't want to end up like him, so I'm going to give the game a try and pray to God that it turns out to be Metroid's Wind Waker.
6109040 well I hope you like it. I for one am excited for a Halo Wars esque kind of game.
Ps. I lurve halo wars
When that last round ended, I immediately thought of this:
paintinghere.org/UploadPic/Leroy%20Neiman/big/rocky%203%20ending.jpg
6104175
We don't even have to get into the new 3DS and fucking Xenoblade. Plain old 3DS handled the likes of Dream Drop Distance, Pilotwings, Resident Evil, Snake Eater, etc. just fine. Hell, Bravely Default was all chibi-style, and it looked mountains better than Federation Force.
I think that's why I'm so shaky about this. I'm not too bothered by an art shift (loved Wind Waker), or even a massive tonal shift (it's a side game, anything goes -- and honestly, you're reading a friggen pony crossover where Samus and Princess Capslock duked it out for shiggles). But it looks sloppy.
6109396
It does strike me as a very cash-grab, phoned-in sort of thing. They need to give Retro the keys to the kingdom again.
6112596 Glad you're enjoying the ride so far! And you're right, it wouldn't be Metroid unless she lost her shit somehow (especially since she came straight from Aether). The thing is, I needed a little something to start her off for plot purposes. It just made story advancement easier to bend things just a little bit.
6113008 Since it's a story in its own universe, its own rules will apply but to preserve the slight 'game' feel, it will MOSTLY go by Prime rules. There will be some mechanics and satire involving the side-scrollers but everything is kinda fused into this story in a believable way, or at least that's my hope.
6109083 Halo Wars with the Federation against the space pirates..... hm.......... HHMMMMMM...... we'll need to get Blur Studios for the cutsenes.
Man, I got to say, that whole match was epic. Kinda expecting a tied when each of them won a round, but it didn't lose any of its flavor of awesomeness. Great job with this chapter, that for sure.
Off topic, somewhat: Personally, I like the "Other M" game myself. It was a fun game (though, it was a bit short for my taste, like the Prime series); it has some interesting concepts; and, I enjoyed seeing a little more characteristics and characters being explored in the game.
C&Cs:
Both seemed to recover near simultaneously and charged each other, initiating a stalemate of thrown punches kicks, and blocks.
> Comma after ‘punches’.
HERE THERE SHE GOES!
> I don't think 'HERE' and 'THERE' can be used together like that. You probably want to pick just one of them.
She then swung her cannon out in a vicious arc
> Missing an ending mark.
Some how this got buried in my inbox and I never saw it until now. Good read, though I would have had Battle Without Honor of Humanity for one round since it's one of my all time favorite fight songs.
Impressive being able to choreograph a fight with a quadrupedal combatant. That's not easy, or so I hear.
I also used this chapter as a theme for a few fights in Smash Bros. Palutena always seemed very a good Celestia, and Luna's just a recolor away.
Pinkie IS my bookie.
Also, with Luna's intro, I thought for a second the fight was Samus vs Batman.
The Night.
Oddly enough I had the soundtrack for season 9 episode 10 of Red vs Blue in my head through this fight.
Strange I had the announcer from the Mortal Combat series in my head each time a round started.
oh, this made me think of the Honor Harrington books by David Weber, where "Protectorates" were actually "conquests"...seriously, in a later book, when a "protectorate" rebelled, they NUKED THE CITIES!