• Published 3rd Sep 2012
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Mare of Steel - iowaforever

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Part 1, Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Twilight’s studious nature made her a spastic sleeper; her mind always awash with information, she could never fully stay asleep and woke up once or twice per hour. She always managed to doze off again, but she was not overly fond of the spurts.

Especially not when certain pink ponies managed to break into her library.

“Twilight!” Pinkie screamed as she ran through the door. Twilight rose from her bed and crossed over to the stairs.

“Pinkie, this better be important.” Twilight said.

“It is! My Pinkie Sense said there was gonna be a really big doozie down at Ghastly Gorge and we all needed to be there!” Twilight suddenly felt much more alert now. She teleported down to the bottom level and approached Pinkie.

“What exactly is going to happen?”

“I don’t know. My Pinkie Sense never tells me that much.” Pinkie shook again from some unseen force “Wait... It’s Rainbow Dash! She’s in trouble.”

“Why would she be in Ghastly Gorge at night? She knows it’s dangerous.”

“Unless... she’s been ponynapped!”

“Pinkie, that’s one of the most ridiculous theories I’ve ever heard.”

“But it could have happened. Maybe some ponies got jealous of Rainbow Dash and took her to Ghastly Gorge so they wouldn’t be jealous of her anymore.”

“How would that work?” There was a pause.

“I have another idea; they thought she was Supermare and ponynapped her so she’d stop saving ponies.”

“Supermare? Rainbow Dash doesn’t look anything like Supermare.”

“She does if she wearing a costume and mane dye.”

“And why would she be wearing those things?”

“She was a distraction!” there was another pause before Twilight spoke again.

“By any chance were you two trying to distract us so you could play pranks?”

“... Maybe.”

“That explains why that box of books was covered in superglue.” Twilight sighed “So, you think these ponies mistook Rainbow Dash for a superhero that can beat a full grown Ursa half to death with her bare hooves?”

“Yup.”

“How would they catch her?”

“Special superhero catching devices!” Pinkie smiled while Twilight gave her a weird look “Don’t you ever read comic books?”

“No I don’t.” Twilight moved past Pinkie and opened the library door. “Come on, let’s get the others and see what exactly this doozie of yours really is.”

..............

“Well, I suppose if Rainbow Dash is in trouble then I could spare myself.” Rarity yawned before ducking back into her boutique to remove her nightgown “But couldn’t we have waited until it was a little lighter out?”

“By that time the bad guys would have hurt Dashie with their anti-superhero weapons!”

“What are you talking about, Pinkie?”

“She thinks that Rainbow Dash was ponynapped by somepony who thought she was Supermare.”

“But they look nothing alike... unless she was wearing that costume I made for Pinkie.” Rarity exited the boutique, giving her mane a slight toss as she walked “Well come along; we need to get the others.”

................

“What kinda stupid ponies’d think Rainbow Dash was a superhero?” Applejack said as she pulled her stetson on and grabbed a coil of rope.

“It’s just a theory that Pinkie has.” Twilight said.

“Well, it’s kinda a stupid idea. I reckon she just messed up one of her tricks and crashed.”

“At night?”

“She’s done dumber things before.”

“Okay, we can discuss those things later. Now we just need to get Fluttershy and we should be ready.”

.............

“I’m not going.”

“What?”

“I’m really really sorry girls,” Fluttershy said from behind her door “But I just can’t go out there at night.”

“Come on Fluttershy, we’ll all be there in case something bad happens.”

“And Rainbow Dash really really needs us to save her from her ponynappers!” Pinkie shouted.

“Rainbow Dash has been ponynapped?” Fluttershy flung open her door and tackled Twilight “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Oh, she must be so scared, surrounded by those awful ponies in Ghastly Gorge. Come on, let’s go save her!” Fluttershy took off, her wings carrying her as fast as she could go.

“Never thought Fluttershy’d be the one to lead the chase.” Applejack said “C’mon girls. Follow that Pegasus!”

..................

The five reached Ghastly Gorge in about thirty minutes. Using Pinkie as a beacon, they began to scour the canyon up and down, searching for any signs of their rainbow-maned friend. They had a brief run in with a group of Quarray Eels, but Fluttershy’s superior handling of animals allowed them to get by without much trouble.

However, the encounter had given them information; two of the Eels bore heavy burns on the sides of their faces, indicating something had attacked them recently. Given that Dragons usually did not eat Quarray Eels and Phoenixes never came this far north, the only option they were left with was either a pony with very powerful combat spells or something much worse than Dragons.

“Do you think we should have told the Princess about this?” Rarity asked.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Twilight said, leaping over a log “Besides, the Summer Sun Celebration is today; I’m sure Princess Celestia has a lot on her mind right now.”

“Well, what about Princess Luna? I’m sure she could have been of some help.”

“She’s going to be at the celebration too, I think. I’m not sure what she’s preparing for.”

“She could always step away from her project for a few minutes to find Rainbow Dash.”

“... Yes, she could have.” They passed through a small grove of trees and stopped. Below them was a shallow ravine, with several large rocks hanging over the edge. The five spotted two unicorns, dressed in the armor of the Night Guard, and Twilight felt a bit more relieved.

“Looks like Luna already did something for us.” Twilight said “Come on, let’s see why they’re here.”

“Wait, Twilight, they might have been the ponies that attacked those Eels. Are you sure this is-” but Rarity’s warning went unnoticed. Twilight trotted out of the grove towards the two guards. The guards spotted her and turned to face her.

“Identify yourself!” the first guard shouted, his voice slightly monotone.

“Oh, sorry for startling you. I’m Twilight Sparkle, personal student to Princess Celestia. One of my friends is in
danger and in the area and I was wondering if you had seen her.”

“Leave now, or we will be forced to deal with you.” the second guard said.

“‘Deal with me’? But I haven’t done anything wrong; I was just wondering if you had seen-”

“She's resisting. Kill her.” The two unicorns lowered their horns and fired, two beams of dark blue magic flying towards Twilight. Twilight threw up her shield spell as fast as she could, barely deflecting the spells. Twilight poured more magic into her shield spell, the spiderweb of cracks caused by her attacker’s spells slowly vanishing.

“Girls, help me!” Twilight shouted as another salvo of spells slammed into her shield. She dropped the shield for a second to fire her own spell, a bright purple beam of energy slamming into a nearby rock and causing the two guards to duck for cover. She continued to fire away to keep the guards pinned while the other four rushed forward to help her.

One guard stepped out to attack, but found two orange hooves slamming into his face. Applejack hit the guard again, knocking him out, and rushed towards the second guard. The guard shot another spell at the charging farm pony, but Twilight threw up a second shield and deflected the blast. Applejack reared up and struck the guard in the face, knocking his helmet off and sending him spinning.

“Funny, I thought they trained guards better’n that.” Applejack said, pulling out her rope in order to tie up the two guards.

“They do. But why would Luna want them to kill me?” Twilight approached the nearest guard and tapped her horn to his head, the remainder of her magic seeping through the connection to find any information. she concentrated for a few minutes before something forcibly threw her back, her horn sparking with magic residue.

“Twilight, are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.” Twilight dusted herself off and stood “Those guards were brainwashed, just like Flim and Flam.”

“Brainwashed?”

“Yes. I don’t know who did this, but they obviously did not want us to come here.”

“Why Luna’s guards?”

“I don’t know. Finish tying those guards up and we’ll look around some more.” Applejack nodded and continued working. While the earth pony was occupied, Twilight and the others surveyed the ravine. She focused mainly on the large rocks on the edge, poking around the closest ones to make sure no other guards were waiting for them.

“Those rocks over there look like they might be useful for cover.” Twilight said, pointing to another patch of rocks on the other side of the ravine “I’m going to cast a small light spell so I can see better.”

“Do you need any help?” Rarity asked “I may not have the resources you do, Twilight, but I still know enough magic to assist you.”

“Okay, Rarity, cast your spells in that direction,” Twilight pointed further down the canyon “and I’ll cast mine in the other direction.”

“Very well.” Rarity turned away, her horn glowing with magic. Twilight’s own horn glowed for a moment before two balls of light shot from the tip, rising over the ravine and filling the place with light and illuminating a certain rainbow-maned Pegasus buried under a boulder.

“Rainbow!” Twilight cried. Rainbow Dash stirred and looked up.

“... Guys? What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked, her voice a hoarse whisper.

“Pinkie had a doozie that said you were in trouble, so we came to find you.”

“... Thanks.”

“What happened to you?”

“It’d... take too long to explain.” Rainbow Dash coughed “Please... help me.” Twilight nodded before leaping down the side of the ravine, loose rocks sliding under her hooves. Fluttershy and Pinkie joined her, and soon the three of them had reached Rainbow Dash.

Now Twilight could see just what condition Rainbow Dash was in; the Pegasus was covered in cuts and bruises, her eyes were unfocused, and all the color had left her face. The rock on top of her was easily twice the size of any normal pony, and only Rainbow Dash’s head and neck were exposed.

“Come on, we’ve got to get this rock off her.” Twilight focused her magic and attempted to lift the rock.

“No! Forget the rock.” Rainbow Dash said, a little more energy present in her voice “Just get this necklace off me.” Twilight looked and saw a small necklace around Rainbow Dash’s neck.

“You’re worried about some stupid necklace when there’s a boulder crushing you?”

“Yes.”

“Ooh, is it some device that the mean ponies used because they thought you were a superhero?” Pinkie asked.

“Pinkie, will you cut it out with the superheroes?”

“She’s right... mostly.” Twilight turned towards Rainbow Dash, her eyes wide.

“What do you mean she’s right?”

“I’ll explain... just get the necklace off.” Twilight grumbled in frustration and yanked the necklace off Rainbow Dash with her magic. She noticed that Rainbow’s injuries began to slowly fade once the necklace was removed, but decided it was not very important right now.

“Okay, now we’ll get this rock off you.”

“No.”

“What? Are you insane or something? You’ll be crushed.”

“Not really. I’ll take care of this.”

“How? You’re not a unicorn, so you can’t use magic to lift it off. Your legs are probably pinned, so you can’t dig your way out. Unless you're some kind of super powerful pony then I don’t see how you can get out.”

“Well... remember on Wednesday when we had that talk about whether or not I knew Supermare? I... kind of lied, a little.”

“How so?”

“I know who she is.” Rainbow Dash grunted a little as she shifted beneath the rock. “You might want to step back and put up a shield spell.”

“Why? What does this have to do with you knowing who Supermare is?”

“I’m going to send this rock flying and I’m pretty sure it could kill you if it hit you. As for the second part, well...” Rainbow Dash let out a cry as she pushed up with all her strength, launching the boulder high into the air. Not wanting the
rock to crash down and kill somepony, Twilight caught it in her magic and set it aside before turning to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash was dressed in a very familiar blue suit and red cape, the former of which was adorned with a stylized S set inside a shield. The Pegasus landed, showing no signs of pain or fatigue from bucking a giant rock off her back. Twilight’s irises shrunk to pinpoints and she started stammering.

“Wha... how... you...”

“I am Supermare... Well, my real name’s Kara, but you can call me Supermare; it sounds cooler.” Rainbow Dash said. Twilight’s mind short circuited for a moment and she was unable to come up with a suitable exclamation. Seeing an opening, Pinkie decided to speak.

“My best friend is a superhero!” The pink mare cried, dashing forward to give Rainbow a hug. Rainbow Dash caught Pinkie and the two stood hugging for a minute while Twilight tried to pull herself together.

“You... you... rock... how?”

"Super strenght, Twilight; that rock is no heavier than a pebble to me.”

“So, the robot dragon and the Ursa... that was you?”

“Yup.”

“What other cool things can you do?” Pinkie chirped, but Twilight shot her a glare.

“Pinkie, can we talk about this later?” Pinkie backed off, but she was still grinning ear to ear. “How, thought? I mean, you’re just a normal pony-”

“Actually, I’m an alien.” there was silence before Pinkie spoke again.

“So you’re an alien and a superhero? That’s even better!”

“Pinkie.”

“Sorry Twilight, but it’s still really cool.”

“And I didn’t tell you guys about this because... well, I was scared you’d turn on me or something.”

“‘Turn on you’?” Twilight asked “Rainbow Dash, you’re our friend; we’d never turn on you just because you were some alien... Unless you were actively trying to kill us, but that’s something else completely different... You’re not going to do that, right?”

“Of course not.”

“But still, why did you have to be all secretive about it?”

“Secret identities, Twilight,” Pinkie said “She doesn’t want you to get in the way or other ponies to start harassing her about saving them.”

“What’s going on down here?” the group turned and saw Applejack and Rarity coming down the side of the ravine “Y’all leave us for a few minutes and ya go back to talkin’ about superheroes.”

“Because Rainbow Dash is Supermare!” another pause.

“But... that’s impossible.” Rarity said “You two look nothing alike unless you dyed your mane and coat, and honestly I think you would look terrible with mane dyes. And you’re just a normal pony; you can’t throw robots across town.”

“She’s an alien.”

“An alien?” Applejack said, taking a step back “Ya look just like some regular pony; how can ya be an alien?”

“Not all aliens have to look weird; I’m physically the same as every other pony... except for the superpowers. As for how I look with the suit and all... It’d take too long to explain, but it involves really powerful magic.” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight “If you’re good, I’ll let you borrow my suit so you can study it.”

“Really?”

“Let’s not get distracted here, Twilight,” Rarity walked up to Rainbow Dash “How am I suppose to know that you aren’t just lying to us?”

“She threw this really really big rock off herself when you were busy looking away!” Pinkie chirped. Rainbow Dash and Rarity ignored her.

“So, what do you want?”

“Just proof. Show us some other superpower... without hurting us, or getting us dirty.” Rainbow Dash looked
around and spotted a smaller rock about five feet away. There was a pause before two red beams shot from her eyes and hit the rock, destroying it instantly. the other five stepped back in shock as Rainbow Dash turned towards them.

“Is that good enough, or do you want me to fly around the world backwards and tell you this yesterday?”

“No, no, that’s good.” Rarity took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking again “So all this time, that was you?”

“Yeah.” Rarity approached for a moment before throwing her forelegs around Rainbow Dash.

“I never got to tell this to you, but thank you so much for saving Sweetie Belle. When I heard that she was almost killed by that dragon, I died a little inside. Can you imagine what my life would be like if she were dead? I just couldn’t go on with my life. So thank you again, and if there’s anything you need I will use all my resources to make sure you get it.”

“You’re welcome, Rarity.”

“‘Suppose I should be thankin’ ya too.” Applejack said, coming forward to join Rarity “Ever since my folks died, Applebloom’s been the thing holdin’ my family together. If she weren’t around... well, there’s no tellin’ what I’d do.”

“Hey, you could get creative.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, really.”

“But if you are an alien and not just lying to us about that,” Twilight said “Does that mean there are other aliens like you? Is that why you have superpowers?”

“I’d love to explain, but we’ve got a lot of big problems and not a lot of time.”

“Problems?”

“Blueblood is evil; he beat me and threw me down here to try and kill me, and now he’s going to use one of Luna’s guards to kill Princess Celestia.”

“What? Why?” the other five asked.

“He’s a Kryptonian like me, except evil. I want you guys to go back to Ponyville and get whatever supplies you need, then get to Canterlot. I’m going to go and stop Blueblood.” Rainbow Dash took off, but she was stopped by Twilight.

“Wait, you can’t just fly off like that.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll explain more when all this is over. I promise I’ll answer any questions you have once I’m done beating Blueblood.”

“But if he beat you before, how do you expect to beat him now?”

“Trust me. I’m Supermare.” With that, Rainbow Dash shot into the sky and disappeared, a red and blue streak the only sign that she was even there.

“I just hope she knows what she’s doing.” Twilight said “Okay, I think I have enough magic for a teleport back to Ponyville, but we might be cutting it a bit close. So if I singe anyone... I’m really sorry and didn’t mean to do it.”

“We’ve been through a lot tonight, Twilight.” Rarity said “We were attacked by brainwashed guards, our friend is actually an alien superhero, and Blueblood is trying to kill Princess Celestia; I think getting singed is the least of our worries.” Twilight nodded in agreement before casting her teleport, the five ponies disappearing in a flash of purple light.

Just as the sun began to peak over the horizon.

Author's Note:

I did want to drag this out a little longer, but... well, I ran out of ideas and didn't want to seem repetitive.
Next chapter: Rainbow Dash/ Supermare vs Blueblood/ Zod (round 2)