Legacy of the Past

Ridley screamed, flaring its wings as it charged at the armoured pegasus, swiping its claws at her. Ditzy flipped back and fired a charged shot at the beast, hitting it square in its beak. Ridley stumbled back, briefly stunned by the shot, giving Ditzy a brief moment to look over the status of her suit. She should've fired a plasma beam, what happened? Her suit statistics appeared, showing the status of her weapons and her equipment and she scoffed. Most of her equipment was unusable, decayed from lack of use. All she had was her morph ball, a few missiles, her Power Beam, bombs, and her Varia suit.

The Space Pirate growled as it regained its composure and Ditzy glared at her old enemy. Bringing her weapon back up, she fired a burst of shots which Ridley ignored as they hit its chest, seemingly doing no damage at all. Flaring its wings for another charge. She sensed the assault coming and flipped to the side much like she did with Pinkie before, then, seeing the creature's back to her, she pulled up her Scan Visor and quickly scanned the beast.

The results were worrying, Ridley now had some sort of exoskeleton, designed to resist all energy attacks. It seemed mildly vulnerable to Plasma, but her Plasma Beam was decayed and not usable. That meant she had to get creative. Ridley's wings stretched out as it flew up into the air, going into a dive straight for her. Ditzy jumped back as Ridley landed hard on all fours, cracking the stone floor beneath him. Ditzy flared her wings, giving her an idea. Well, Ridley... let's see how you handle me flying!, with that, she jumped into the air, flapping her wings. She gained some feet off the air, but the weight of her suit was too much, and she ended up plummeting to the ground, only to be caught in mid-air by a flying Ridley, who screamed at its prey.

Ditzy's heart went into overdrive as she stared, wide-eyed at her recurring nightmare, before breaking her beam away from Ridley's claw and firing a missile into its face, causing it to shout in pain and drop her. She landed hard on the stone floor, and looked to see Ridley stare at her, before striking at her with its tail. The bastard! He's toying with me! She thought as she rolled to the side, barely avoiding the deadly blade. As if in reply to her thoughts, Ridley screamed in a way that showed it was amused. Ditzy glared at it, before charging up another shot and firing at it, Ridley nimbly avoided it, before landing and breathing a ball of flame at her in reply. Ditzy rolled again, this time switching into her Morph Ball form, rolling around before returning to her normal form, and firing a flurry of shots at the Pirate. That was when she noticed several stone pillars next to her, they looked old and unstable and heavy. A quick scan showed her instinct to be right, perhaps that was the answer. She heard a groan, Dinky... she turned to see her daughter holding her bleeding head as she struggled to get up.

Ridley screamed, and before the pegasus could react, was slammed against the wall, Ridley gliding past her as he landed in front of the terrified unicorn. Ditzy leaned up as she saw, with horror, Ridley screaming at the terrified little filly, who stared wide-eyed and petrified with fear. Much like how she was when she was little- No! I won't let you toy with her!

Faster than she ever moved before, jumping and twisting in the air. She landed in front of her daughter and faced the creature who threatened her, wings fully extended and her cannon aimed at the Pirate.

"You stay away from her, you son of a bitch!"

Ridley screamed again, opening its mouth wide, and giving the pegasus an opening. Seeing her chance, she fired a missile straight into its mouth. Ridley's scream abruptly stopped as it stumbled back, smoke streaking from its burnt mouth, taking steps closer to the weak pillar. It's now or never! Ditzy galloped at full speed toward the disoriented Pirate, jumping and ramming it in its chest. The Pirate stumbled back, slamming into the pillar, which shook. Ditzy jumped back and targeted the pillar at its weakest point, and fired a missile. The rocket sped toward its mark, exploding on impact and shattering a part of the pillar. The rest collapsed on top of Ridley, who let out a startled shriek as the heavy stone pieces landed on it, releasing clouds of dust which shrouded the Pirate being crushed. A portion of the ceiling above collapsed, further burying Ridley in the rubble. Ditzy shielded her daughter as the last of the stone pieces landed.

For a moment, the two stayed where they were, Ditzy covering her daughter with her armoured form. Aside from a few crumbling rocks, all was silent, Ditzy slowly turned her head and saw a huge pile of broken stone, a clawed hand sticking out, the claws stuck deep in the stone. Ditzy turned back to her daughter, who looked at her with wide-eyed fear. The pegasus raised her right hoof, and took off her helmet, and stared down at her daughter, who gasped.

"M-mom!?" And then, she broke down in tears, Ditzy dropping her helmet and holding Dinky tight against her.

"Shhh..." She said to her crying daughter, cradling her as her suit disintegrated. "It's okay, I'm here, I'm here..."

Ditzy didn't know how long they stayed like that, in the abandoned castle, Dinky's cries and sniffles echoing across it, but she would stay however long it took for her daughter to calm down, she knew all to well the terrifying experience she went through. All too well...

Eventually, Dinky's sniffles died down and all was silent. Ditzy looked down at her daughter, and saw her head covered in dry blood, it didn't seem serious, but she looked over her now tired daughter vigorously but carefully. Dinky didn't complain as her mother checked her. It didn't seem serious, but Ditzy decided that she should be taken to the hospital. Lifting her up carefully, Ditzy placed the little filly on her back, and opened up her wings, before flying out of the abandoned castle, leaving behind the terror that never stopped coming back to haunt her...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinky passed into sleep and back multiple times as they flew rather slowly over the forest. She felt an unfamiliar material around her mother, but felt her man on her head and the occasional brush of her mother's feathers on her back. Her head ached and she felt tired and exhausted. But never the less, her mind began to remember the other ponies, the ones who had captured her and who had first encountered the monster.

"Mom...?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

Ditzy slowed a little and turned her head to look at her daughter.

"The monster..." She said, her voice quivering. "He attacked other ponies... I want to know if they're alright."

Ditzy looked away slowly, she never got a good look at the clearing where the troopers had set up camp, but she was all too aware of Ridley's tactics. There was very little chance that anypony survived down there, and if there were any survivors, they wouldn't last much longer, Ridley was deadly efficient in killing, it almost considered it an art. Dinky had already seen the nightmare she herself experienced when she was a little, there was no reason for her to see what Ridley was capable of. But then she realized that Dinky had seen Ridley's actions right when it committed them and she was worried for the very soldiers who kidnapped her. Despite what they had done to her, she was still worried for them.

"Dinky..." Her mother said, unsure of what to say, when she saw the clearing before her and multiple soldiers looking over the bodies of their comrades, and the Captain kneeling down to another soldier. Despite every instinct yelling at her to continue on, and a few telling her to shoot them, something pulled her towards the Confederate troops. The pegasus glided down toward them.

A few soldiers looked up and saw her approach. Immediately, they brought their weapons to bear, causing Ditzy's wings to extend aggressively.

"Stop!" One of them said. "Don't move!"

The Captain immediately looked up and his eyes widened when he saw Ditzy in her Zero Suit. He gestured to the soldiers. "Stand down, men... All you'll do is make her mad."

The soldiers glanced at each other while Ditzy glared at them.

"Sir... Who is she?"

Nathaniel glanced at the pegasus, walking towards her. "She's Samus Aran..."

Every soldier stopped and turned, Ditzy could guess the reactions their faces held, even though they were wearing helmets. Ditzy glared at him. "And you have a lot of guts to look me in the face after what you did..."

Nathaniel glanced at all the troopers staring in awe at Ditzy, and gestured for them to continue collecting the last of the bodies, covered in body bags and load them onto the shuttles. They obeyed, and Nathaniel turned back to look her in the face.

"It wasn't my idea, but I am responsible for letting it happen and if you want to shoot me, no one will stop you..."

Ditzy stared and strongly considered it. She felt her daughter move, and jump off her back.

"Dinky..." She raised a hoof to stop her daughter from approaching Nathaniel, but she seemed to not have noticed as she stared at the stallion.

"Are you sorry?" She asked.

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Are you sorry?" The filly repeated. Ditzy glanced at her daughter and back at Nathaniel intently. The Captain didn't smile, something about the filly's words caused him to think back to all that he let happen to her and how it might've affected her. Combined with seeing the injury on her head almost brought a tear to his eye. He sighed.

"Yes... I am very, very sorry for what has happened to you."

The filly slowly smiled. "It's okay..."

Ditzy scoffed. "Dinky, he foalnapped you!"

"And he says he's sorry, I forgave him, what's the problem?" She stared at her mother and Ditzy shook her head.

"Some things can't be forgiven, even if they're sorry."

"Mom... I was the one foalnapped, don't I have a say in this...?"

The pegasus opened her mouth to speak when Nathaniel cleared his throat.

"I'm glad you've forgiven me, but you're mother is a lot harder to forgive. She's had a... unique life..."

Dinky looked back her mother, despite all that has happened, she wanted answers. "What happened Mom? Who are these people? What was that armour you wore? What was that monster? Who-"

Ditzy hugged her daughter gently, staring ahead into the forest as memories came flooding back. Her daughter whimpered. "...Who are you, Mom?"

Ditzy didn't know how to answer her daughter's questions, where to start? Should she keep anything hidden? Was this really the best time? Nathaniel cleared his throat.

"Your mother was born in another dimension, a realm of reality, as a human being by the name of Samus Aran. She was born on a distant colony called K-2L. When she was little, a group of Space Pirates, monstrous aliens who took whatever they wanted and killed anyone who stood in there way, attacked the colony. They were led by Ridley, the monster who attacked you..."

It was as if Ditzy was being taken away, she had normally kept her memories in check, but Nathaniel explaining it all, she fell back entirely. She remember the way her home smelled, her parents faces... her childhood friends....

"Ridley killed everyone... including Samus' parents, friends... everyone on the colony... except for her..."

The burning... the flames... the blood splattering her face as she saw her parents heads crushed in Ridley's clawed hands... they're bodies dropped among the pile of men, women, and children, all of them she recognized...

By this point Dinky was no longer being held by her mother and she stared intently at Nathaniel, it was like he was telling a story. The most terrifying story she had every heard. And it was all true...

"But she was rescued by another, more friendly race, one of the founders of the Federation, the intergalactic alliance that tried to maintain peace and have all races live together in harmony. They were the Chozo, and they took your mother, and raised her..."

A kindly, bird-like creature looked down on her with loving eyes that held what may have been centuries of wisdom... They comforted her, for she knew she was safe in his presence...

"But the home planet was too hostile for her to survive, even with guidance from the Chozo... they infused her human blood with Chozo DNA... They did it so she could survive, but they did it for another reason..."

Years flew by Ditzy's mind as she remembered training, becoming more agile, faster, stronger, and able to predict her opponent's movements.

"They raised her to be an upholder of the peace, and they gave her a suit that only she can use, so that she can protect the peace of the galaxy. She served in the Federation military and then became an independant Bounty Hunter and she did just that, even when the Chozo vanished..."

Years of numerous missions past before her eyes...

"She stopped the Space Pirates numerous times, she helped the Federation in the Phazon Conflict... she wiped the Metroids and the X Parasites out... and she liberated the galaxy when the Federation became corrupt under Human influence..."

Dinky came to her mother, who was deathly still and she stared blankly ahead, like she was in another place, far away... Her daughter placed a hoof on her, and she blinked, startled, and stared at the filly, briefly confused. And then she remembered all that Nathaniel said.

"Your mother... Is a hero." The Captain finished.

But Ditzy shook her head. "I'm a murderer... A murderer who started a galactic war... how many people died because of me? How many planets were reduced to lifeless rocks in my name? I failed in my mission... I didn't preserve galactic peace, I ended it..."

Nathaniel stared at her. "You didn't ask for a war to start, the Federation tried to kill you and you fought back..."

"What happened?" Dinky asked.

Nathaniel sighed. "The Federation was a just and fair government, but as the human race rose in political and military power, it became more corrupt and evil. Your mother soon became a threat to it after she destroyed a research station injected with X parasites... Samus destroyed it and the planet they inhabited and the Federation decided it was better to remove her. Instead,  just about every race and over half the military rebelled... civil war broke out because the rest of the galaxy didn't want our hero dead."

"I didn't start the war intentionally..." The pegasus said. "But I led the rebellion..."

"And you turned a war that could've lasted centuries into going on only a year... think of all the lives you saved with that in mind."

Ditzy didn't reply.

"You brought down the corrupt Feds and helped us create the new Confederation, they're calling you the Founder of the Confederation now..."

Ditzy scoffed, "that's the most noble title I've been given yet..." She turned and glanced at Nathaniel. "So, what happened?"

Nathaniel looked down. "The peace is under threat again. As you no doubt saw, the Space Pirates are back again and they're more powerful than ever. Plus, the Feds have rebuilt their military and with us distracted by the Pirates, they've begun launching attacks and have forced out forces to divide, we're fighting a two-front war. There's even a disturbing rumour that the two are working together. If that's the case, we need you now more than ever..."

Ditzy blinked, and realized that she had let the Captain explain what was wrong now... and he was right, they needed her... She sighed. "Eleven years ago, I would've come without hesitation but... things have changed."

She looked at her daughter and smiled softly, Dinky hugged her mother and the pegasus returned the hug.

"Mom?" Dinky asked.

"Yes?"

"Can we go home?"

Ditzy slowly nodded and at Nathaniel, who looked down. Though she didn't say it, he knew she no longer trusted him and the Confederation. "What will you do now?" She asked the Captain as she helped her daughter onto her back.

"I'm not sure... If the Pirates are able to get into the Belasi Tear, which is deep in Confederate territory, then the whole sector is under threat. It's possible that it was just a strike force and one of the ships got too close to the Tear..."

Ditzy shook her head. Ridley, a Space Pirate lieutenant, was on that ship. The odds that it somehow arrived in the same dimension as her was just too slim. People were starting to realize where she was...

"We'll remain for now." Nathaniel soon said. "There are some plant and dirt samples we'd like to collect for study and I'd like to remain and learn everything we can about this world. Plus, if we left through the Tear while the other side was under enemy control, we'd be very vulnerable to attack."

Ditzy nodded and looked up at the night sky, somewhere up there was the spaceship.

"Hey Mom?" Dinky mumbled, drifting back into sleep, Ditzy glanced back to see her daughter smiling tiredly. "I don't care who you were... You're still my Mom... and I still love you..."

The pegasus smiled and she suddenly felt like a heavy weight was lifted off of her. That was when she realized how heavy the burden of keeping her life hidden from her little muffin really was...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the abandoned castle, the pile of rubble still laid where it was, Ridley's hand sticking out, its claws buried deep into the stone floor. Then, the arm twitched and the pile of rubble shuddered, the hand clenched into a fist, crushing the stone. The pile shuddered again, before bursting apart as Ridley rose, screaming in all its fury.

The scream was heard all across the Everfree Forest, Ditzy had flapped her wings to take flight, but had stopped dead still when the scream reached her ears and rattled her soul once again. It doesn't stop... It always comes back no matter what I do to it! Dinky cringed and held her mother tightly.

"Mom!" She cried out, fear gripping her again. The pegasus turned and faced the general direction of the scream. Every soldier stood frozen, before Nathaniel rallied them together.

"Samus," he said. "You and your daughter can go home, you can leave Ridley to us."

But Ditzy shook her head as she placed her daughter down. "No..."

The Captain turned to stare at her, confused.

"Only I can stop Ridley. I've done it before, I can do it again." and again... and again...

Slowly, Nathaniel nodded. "Alright, I can have the troops watch your daughter. If you're comfortable with that."

Ditzy was not at all comfortable with having Confederate troops watch her daughter, for obvious reasons. But it was too dangerous to leave her alone, and having her come with her was not at all an option. She nodded and placed her daughter down on the ground. She knelt down so that she was eye to eye with her daughter.

"Dinky? Listen to me. I have to stop Ridley so it can never hurt us or anypony again. I'm going to leave you here and these soldiers will protect you."

Dinky shook her head furiously. "No! Don't go! It's dangerous!"

But Ditzy smiled at her response, and concentrated hard as she conjured her suit around her. When it fully formed, the soldiers nearby gasped, she really was Samus. Ditzy stood up and turned around as all her HUD came into display.

"Don't worry, muffin..." She said as her visor flashed opaque. "You're mother is far more dangerous and Ridley knows it..." ...and I plan on making that message very clear...

She glanced and saw the soldiers salute her. "Don't worry ma'am!" One of them said. "We'll protect your daughter with our lives!"

Ditzy looked into the foliage of the deep forest that she was about to enter. "You better... She's all I have left..."

With that, she galloped at full speed into the woods, leaving her daughter behind.

Please be careful, Mom...