"So, what was next-" Rainbow demanded eagerly before being cut off.

"Maybe we shouldn't delve any deeper," Twilight offered in concern. "I mean, we're talking about what you encountered in the very core of your mind. It...it probably doesn't get any more personal or private than that." She looked up at Samus. "If...if you don't want to tell us anymore, we'll understand."

Samus chuckled softly. "I was raised by the Chozo, who saw things a little differently," she explained softly. "This was a spiritual journey, and the details of such things were often recorded indelibly so those who came after could learn from them. While each Chozo had the privacy of their own thoughts, all who reached a certain level were privy to the spiritual discoveries of those at the same level. It's...it's actually rather comforting for me to talk about it all. Makes it...a little more real." She smiled at Twilight. "Thanks for the concern, though."

Twilight smiled happily, blushing a bit as Celestia sent her a pleased smirk. "Well, if there's no problem with continuing, then..."

Samus couldn't help but laugh as so many eager faces turned her way. "Well, the actual journey through the core of my being after that was...if anything, stranger than the journey through the rest of my mind had been. Once I'd let go of what happened on K2L by defeating my memory of Ridley, I found myself swamped in darkness, only to awaken in some sort of containment capsule. Without even thinking about it, I broke myself out with a Power Bomb. I noticed several other creatures running around, but they didn't bother me. I couldn't even remember that I was in my own mind at that point. All I knew was that I had to find Spike, that he was going to be worried about me. I needed...to reassure him, to tell him everything was alright..."

Pinkie whimpered deep in her throat. "You were reliving the memories of the SA-X you absorbed, weren't you?" she asked softly.

Samus nodded as everyone fell silent. "I didn't put it together for quite some time, not until I tried to contact Spike after I thought I spotted him in a ventilation shaft and got no response. The fact that the creatures I encountered weren't hostile to me was confusing before that, but once I'd realized it, it all made sense. While I had some control, I couldn't deviate too far from what the SA-X I'd absorbed remembered doing. It-...her memories were a part of me now, and I had to come to terms with that. All the sorrow, the loneliness, the desperation to be reunited with Spike, the confusion when he ran..." Samus shivered slightly. "I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, knowing that in her shoes I would have felt the same. In fact, I did...until I came face to face with myself, that is."

"Did the fight go like it did originally?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"No, it didn't," Samus replied quietly. "I had full control of myself there, with all of the abilities the SA-X had possessed. This time, though, I knew what tactics I had used against myself, and was able to counter them. It was a very close battle, and the fluctuations from the heavy hits I received were...disquieting. What was even more disquieting was that the other me - the one I thought represented the real me from that day - also fluctuated with each hit. I managed to damage the other me enough before I mutated...to trigger her mutation." She stared off into the middle distance. "She...turned into Metroid Prime."

Gasps echoed around the table. "You mean..." Fluttershy finally spoke up. "The one you faced in Tallon IV's Impact Crater?"

"The very same," Samus confirmed. "I tried to fight with the equipment I had, but the next big hit...I transformed into the mutant I remembered seeing the SA-X turn into. But knowing it had happened...I adapted, and fought Metroid Prime like that. Monster against Monster."

"So...awesome!" Rainbow squealed out eagerly. "How'd that fight go? Come on, tell!"

"Rather confusing at first, actually," Samus admitted. "It took a while to figure out how to control myself as the mutant. I was able to leap quite far, and my sheer physical mass was able to buckle Metroid Prime's armor somewhat, but at the same time I lacked armor, and a physical blow could deal a great amount of damage. I quickly figured out that I could actually fire my various beams as breath weapons, and was able to use that to my advantage, especially when Metroid Prime shifted to only be vulnerable to Ice." She grinned mercilessly. "A blast to freeze it, followed by a stunning body slam and several shattering strikes with both arms before leaping away carved off massive chunks of Metroid Prime's health...but then the Core was revealed."

"And the Core could only be damaged by Phazon," Twilight spoke up, remembering that particular detail.

"Not...quite," Samus corrected. "See, at that point, I was myself again, and I found out two interesting things. First, the magical nature of my draconic weapons..." She raised her left hand to generate the energy. "While it didn't damage the creature, it could hold it still for quite some time. And second, since I'd fully accepted the SA-X inside me, it unlocked the true power of my Metroidal aspect."

"True power?" Discord asked curiously. "Oh, go on! Don't leave us in suspense!"

Samus chuckled softly at that. "Simply put, if I came across an enemy that could not be damaged by any of my normal beams, I could inject an energy tank into my arm cannon just like I did with my PED. Instead of creating a Hyper Mode, though, it gave me a certain number of shots...of the Hyper Beam, the one Squishy granted me with his death that I used to destroy Mother Brain." She grinned widely. "Tore through the Core like that!" She snapped her fingers together, the metal gauntlet making a loud clacking sound as she did.

"...so...awesome!" Rainbow squeed, and no one gainsaid her.

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