Disclaimer: I don't own Metroid or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or any characters or materials taken from the games, cartoon, etc. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: Inspired by A Hunter in Equestria by Cusi. Also, I won't be following all of the canon for Metroid, so Fusion and Other M never happened. Everything else will stay relatively the same for Samus' backstory and this takes place sometime around season six of Friendship is Magic and I'm not using any of the Equestria Girls canon. Finally, Recsigh, the name of my Metroid OC, is pronounced like the words wreck and sigh put together, for those of you who hate it when you can't figure out how to pronounce an OC's name.
Chapter 1: Old Friends and Crash Landings.
Samus Aran flew her gunship to the landing pad and gracefully landed the space craft. She exited the Hunter III and made her way to the large building in front of her. Making her way through the lobby of the rather grand hotel, she took the elevator to the fifth floor and walked to room 503. Knocking on the door, Samus waited to be admitted. Soon the door opened and Samus came face to face with someone she hadn't seen for nearly eighteen years. The Kazoden woman grinned, revealing her pronounced canine fangs, and her ruby-red cat's eyes sparkled with pleasure.
"Come in, Samus. I'm glad you could make it," she said, stepping aside to admit her.
Samus stepped inside the room and looked around. It was a nice place, high quality furnishings, some decent paintings on the walls, and a mini-bar fully stocked. Samus turned her attention back to the woman before her, who had deposited herself on one of the couches and patted the seat beside herself. Samus walked over and sat down, a look that was mostly neutral on her face. Only a slight twitch of her eyebrows had told her companion that she was surprised to see her.
"Recsigh Ludren. It's been too long," she said, the faintest of smiles gracing her face.
This slightly surprised Recsigh, but she beamed a wide smile anyway. "I know, but I'm here now. Also, I too am a licensed bounty hunter. Have been for several years now. Anyway, I wanted to propose a partnership," she said, her face becoming serious.
"I work alone," Samus replied coldly.
Recsigh saw through Samus' cold front in a heartbeat. "Even the strongest person needs help now and again. Don't shut me out, Samus. Not now. Please?"
Something in Recsigh's face and voice just called to Samus and she found herself answering, much to her surprise, "Alright. But just on a trail basis. You slow me down and I'm out."
"Deal!" Recsigh agreed, holding out her midnight-black hand, with the strange red markings on the back that matched her eyes and the other markings all over her body.
That had been nearly five years ago. Samus had never thought a partnership would be good for business or her personal life, but she found that Recsigh was the perfect partner and the best friend, though she would never admit it. The first mission they had together, Recsigh showed Samus just what a Kazoden in full Battle Armor can do. It was impressive and Samus didn't use that term lightly. After that, Recsigh and her had rekindled their childhood bond and it had grown and blossomed even more, deepening into a sister-like love for each other. In fact, Recsigh had taken to calling Samus her 'heart-sister,' a Kazoden term that meant, 'a very close friend one considers to be family.'
Now, Samus and Recsigh were traveling in their ship, the Hunter IV, a new, larger gunship that Recsigh had built to house the both of them comfortably. She had taken all the design features Samus liked about her old ship and incorporated them into the new, including her comfy pilot's chair, the remote flight feature, the auto-repair feature, and the ammo factory among other things. She had also added a cramped but functional bathroom, including a shower, two cabins, a larger med-bay, twin plasma cannons, and a unique Kazoden hyper-drive system that didn't require afloraltite to function, as well as tectonium armor plating to the entire outer hull, making it nearly indestructible. Nearly. As they cruised along, headed for a waypoint in their nomadic wanderings, their ship suddenly lurched as though it had been struck and the warning alarms started blaring.
"Warning! Direct hit! Plasma damage to engines! Flight controls compromised!" the computer's display flashed.
Samus groaned as she tried to budge the steering, but it was no use; she couldn't maneuver the ship or even abort the hyper-flight sequence. All she and Recsigh could do was sit tight and hope for the best. After several hours of out-of-control hyper-flight, something else crashed into the ship's engines, knocking them out of hyper-flight and completely out of commission, but the ship was still out of control. Looking out the windshield, Samus and Recsigh both saw they were on a collision course with a planet just up ahead. Fortunately, the angle of entry would prevent too much damage and the tectonium plating would absorb most of the brunt of the impact, so all that was left for them to do was head to the back of the ship, hunker down, and hope for the best.
It was peaceful day in Equestria. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everypony was going about their daily lives. Applejack was apple bucking in the orchard, when suddenly she looked up and saw a great ball of fire, like a meteor, crashing down to earth. A resounding boom and white mushroom cloud of smoke indicated impact, some two or three miles outside of Ponyville. After a moment of observation, since no forest fire broke out or monster appeared, Applejack returned to her apple bucking. She would investigate the crash-site after her chores were done.
Meanwhile, at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle saw the meteor crash and decided to investigate, being curious to study a meteor up close. Spike accompanied her and the pair made their way to the crash-site. When they got there, they found the strangest thing. A great metal ship of some type Twilight was unable to identify, other than it wasn't from Equestria or any other earthly kingdom she could think of. This made Twilight both a little nervous and excited, but mostly excited. If the strange craft was inhabited, it could contain creatures from beyond the stars! What a discovery that would be! Twilight quickly began poking around the strange ship, trying to find an entry/exit point. Spike watched nervously.
"Um, Twilight? Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked, ringing his claws.
"I'm sure it's perfectly safe, Spike. I doubt any alien creatures would be hostile," Twilight said, though she wasn't as confident in her own words as she sounded.
"But, what if they're flesh-eating monsters? Or they're here to take over and eat our brains?!" Spike asked again.
Now Twilight laughed. "Oh, Spike. You really need to stop reading all those scary comic books before bedtime."
Just then, a hatch appeared on the bottom of the ship and two bipedal, monstrous metal creatures, one red and orange with green markings, the other black with red accents, rode down on the elevator. They at once tensed up and the mostly orange one raised its right arm, which had a strange green tube on the lower half that glowed menacingly. The black one grabbed a strange cylinder off of its body and activated a red energy blade. Neither of the two parties moved, until the orange monster spotted Spike…
After the crash, Samus and Recsigh got up from the floor they had been flung unceremoniously to by the forces of gravity and physics. Fortunately, they were unhurt thanks to their respective armor suits. Samus at once got a damage report from her ship's computer. Thanks to the tectonium plating, the hull of the ship was completely undamaged. However, the engines were toast, thanks to a plasma shot. Samus silently cursed the lucky bugger who did this and moved to the hatch to assess the damage personally. Recsigh accompanied her, if only to keep her out of trouble with the locals.
As soon as the pair exited the ship, they found a strange, brightly colored pony with wings like a pegasus and a horn like a unicorn, staring at them with an expression of surprise and fear. Both hunters, unsure if this thing would attack or not, got ready for a fight. Just then, they both noticed the purple pony's companion; a little purple and green dragon.
Recsigh only had milliseconds to act as Samus charged her Arm Cannon and lunged forward with a feral cry of "Ridley!"
Samus was shocked to find herself slammed out of the way, causing her shot to go wide, and pinned down by none other than her friend and shipmate. She struggled and bucked, trying to break loose and attack the little dragon. Recsigh wasn't budging and Samus snarled in frustration.
After a few moments, Recsigh spoke. "Samus! Snap out of it! That is not Ridley!"
"Of course it is! That monster just refuses to die!" Samus screamed, thrashing harder.
Recsigh tightened her grip on Samus' Arm Cannon and forcefully turned her head to the side, making her look at the baby dragon. "Look! Does that really look like Ridley to you?"
Now that she was forced to take a good look, Samus had to admit that while the little purple dragon did bear a very slightly passing resemblance, it wasn't Ridley. Ridley didn't have eyes like that; big green eyes that stared at her, wide with fear. Samus suddenly went limp and still. She felt sick and as soon as Recsigh got off, she rolled over and dry heaved a few times. Samus felt terrible. She had just snapped and was about to attack a helpless baby for no reason. If Recsigh hadn't been there… Samus shook the thought from her head. It was useless to think such thoughts. Recsigh had been there and she had acted in time. Standing up, Recsigh and Samus turned to the pony and dragon once more. They were about to turn towards the ship's engines, when they both got the shock of their lives.
"Please, don't hurt us. We mean you no harm." The words had come from the purple pony's mouth.
Samus and Recsigh both blinked in surprise and took a step or two back, their mouths hanging open, though their helmets hid the fact. This was weird even by their standards and they weren't sure how to respond. The pony gulped and took a tentative step forward.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm the Princess of Friendship," the pony now known as Twilight Sparkle said.
Samus and Recsigh couldn't help snickering at the ridiculous sounding name. However, manners kept them from out right laughing. Recsigh, being the more 'go with the flow' of the two replied. "My name is Recsigh Ludren and this is my friend and business partner Samus Aran."
Samus inclined her head in acknowledgement.
"Um, can he talk?" the little dragon asked.
"Spike! You have to excuse my assistant, Spike. He's still a baby and sometimes forgets his manners," Twilight said.
Samus chuckled. "It's ok. I can talk and I'm a woman by the way. However, I don't chose to speak very often. I only say what I need to."
Recsigh sighed. "It's true. Samus isn't one for idle chit-chat. She is direct and to the point, sometimes brutally."
"Sounds like our friend Applejack. She's always straight to the point and brutally honest," Twilight said. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, what are you and where do you come from?"
Recsigh and Samus exchanged glances. Recsigh nodded and Samus shrugged. They both deactivated their armor, causing Twilight and Spike to jump back with startled exclamations.
"What did you just do?" Twilight asked, her tone somewhere between freaked out and curious.
Recsigh and Samus both grinned. "We just deactivated our armor. My suit is called the Battle Armor and Samus' is called the Power Suit. Anyway, in answer to your first questions, I am a Kazoden…" Recsigh started.
"And I am a human," Samus finished.
"My people are space nomads, so we travel through space from place to place, never really settling anywhere," Recsigh said, a hint of sadness in her voice.
Twilight was about to inquire, when Samus said in a voice devoid of emotion, "And I am from the Galactic Federation mining colony on the planet K-2L."
"Interesting. So, how did you get here exactly?" Twilight asked.
"And why are you here?" Spike asked rather fearfully.
Recsigh smiled encouragingly at the little dragon. "We kinda crashed here. You see, we were on our way to a planet in the Zecar System, when someone shot our engines just as we entered hyper-flight, which is faster than light travel. Anyway, we couldn't control our ship and were flung far out of any explored sector of the galaxy, when a meteor hit our engines, knocking them out completely. The good news was that we exited hyper flight. The bad news, we were going to crash on the planet in front of us. This one. Until we can assess the damage done to the engines and repair them, we're stuck here."
Samus humphed at that, clearly unhappy to be stuck on a planet light years upon light years away from any sector she knew. At any rate, the conversation was interrupted by the arrival of an orange coated pony with a blonde mane and tail, wearing a Stetson hat. As soon as the pony was within ear shot, she called out. "Howdy, Twilight! What's that in the crater with ya?"
Twilight turned and smiled when she saw the other mare approaching. "Hi, Applejack! I've just met Samus Aran and Recsigh Ludren, two aliens who crash landed here."
"Aliens? Well, hoo-doggie! Ain't you a funny looking pair. What are ya exactly?" Applejack asked, looking at the two hunters curiously.
Recsigh introduced herself and Samus to Applejack and basically re-explained everything she had told Twilight and Spike. Samus, while confident that Recsigh knew what she was doing, was beginning to feel decidedly uncomfortable without her Suit in an unknown environment. The fact that this place had the same gravity and atmosphere as Earth, the birthplace of humanity, was the only reason she even agreed to Recsigh's silent suggestion in the first place. Earth had a slightly richer oxygen concentration in its atmosphere than K-2L, so Samus felt confident she could tackle most anything these sapient equines could throw at her, but still, she would prefer to be in her Suit in battle.
Recsigh noticed Samus' tension and decided to ask the ponies some questions in return. "So, you wouldn't happen to know what planet we are on, would you? What this place is called?"
Twilight and Applejack shared looks of slight confusion before answering. "Well, the kingdom we're in is called Equestria and we're just outside of Ponyville. As for what the planet is called, I'm not sure. You'd probably have to ask the Ruling Princesses that," Twilight said.
Recsigh blinked. "But, I thought you said you were a princess."
Twilight blushed slightly. "I am. I'm the Princess of Friendship and as such, me and my friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, are the guardians of the magic of friendship. As such, we travel Equestria solving friendship problems and teaching ponies the true meaning and magic of friendship."
Just then Samus burst out laughing. The ponies, dragon, and even Recsigh blinked in surprise at this sudden and uncharacteristic outburst on Samus' part. Samus continued to laugh until the tears rolled down her cheeks, but after a few minutes, she calmed herself and regained her composure. "I don't think I've ever heard anything more ridiculous. Friendship is magical? Yeah, right. Keep dreaming, kids. If your title is the Princess of Friendship and you're supposed to go all over the country with your little band of friends, then you're just a glorified therapist."
Twilight, Applejack, and Spike all stood in slack-jawed shock! How could this creature think friendship was nothing? Recsigh also looked surprised and a little hurt, but unlike the ponies and dragon, she knew why Samus felt the way she did.
A moment later, Spike found his voice. "How can you say such awful things?! Twilight is a real Princess and our friends really are the Council of Friendship and friendship really is magical!"
Samus just smirked. "Friends come and friends go. It is pointless to expect a 'magical' bond that will last forever. Nothing lasts forever."
Now it was Recsigh's turn to be indignant. "So what? Our friendship, first forged when we were very young children, tested by the long years of separation, and finally rekindled in reunion, is nothing to you?"
Samus recoiled slightly. She had forgotten about Recsigh being right there, had forgotten all about the strong bond they shared, until she heard the hurt rebuke in Recsigh's voice. Turning to her friend, Samus' eyes showed sorrow and regret for causing her friend, whom she loved like a sister such pain.
"I'm sorry, Recsigh. I didn't mean it like that. Our friendship is different. It's… special," Samus said.
Recsigh smiled slightly. "I'm glad to hear you don't consider my friendship worthless," she said, though in her heart, Recsigh knew that Samus still had much to learn about the true nature and power of friendship. Maybe this world and these ponies could teach her a thing or two. If only she'd listen.
Just then, both Samus and Recsigh's stomachs growled loudly. They both colored slightly in embarrassment.
"Um, is there any chance we could get some food? It's been a while since we last ate," Recsigh inquired, looking at Twilight and Applejack.
Applejack smiled. "As is happens, it's 'bout suppertime at Sweet Apple Acres, mah family's farm. Why don't y'all come 'long an' git some grub?"
Samus and Recsigh nodded in acceptance and followed Applejack, Twilight, and Spike as they led the way.