//------------------------------//
// Contemplation and Infiltration 
// Story: App-El Of Krypton 
// by Spider-Mane Noir 
//------------------------------//

High above the earth, a meteor enters the atmosphere. No larger than a baseball, most debris of this size burns up or breaks apart upon entry. But the purple glow surrounding this visitor from space proves it to be no ordinary rock. A mere few seconds later and the object impacts the planet’s surface. After a moment of sitting, the meteorite begins to hiss. Three glowing circles appear on its surface and a series of short tentacles sprout from underneath.
“Power online
Planetary landfall achieved
Power levels: 18.5%
Resources: currently unavailable
Conclusion: host required
Scanning nearby area
Sentient technology: unknown
Sentient organics: confirmed
Seeking most intelligent sentient”*
*Translated into English
And the probe crawls its way into the night, towards the lights of a nearby city.



“…It was nothing, uh, citizen.” The cellphone footage concluded with Applejack flying off before the camera lost track of her. A series of recommended videos appeared all claiming to prove the existence of the supernatural.
“Have you ever noticed that videos like this always have titles like ‘totally real 100% true absolute proof’?” Rainbow Dash leaned back from the table where she and the others were watching the events of earlier that week.
“Speaking of which,” Began Sunset, “I’m surprised there are no videos of us anywhere. How is that even possible? Literally everyone in this school owns a phone!”
Twilight immediately jumped in her seat.
“Actually, I have a theory about that!” Pushing her glasses up her nose she continued, “From what I’ve been able to tell, whenever one of us uses our powers it reverses the polarity of the neutron flow in the immediate area. This creates a sort of magical EMP that temporarily disables nearby electronics.”
“But Twilight,” Fluttershy spoke up, “Before you moved to Canterlot high, Sunset ran a lot of tests on us to try and figure out how our magic works. And, well, all the machines she used worked just fine then.”
Twilight’s shoulders slumped slowly.
“Oh…”
“Don’t worry Twilight!” Pinky cheerfully exclaimed, “You’re Waaay overthinking this. There’s a very simple explanation: it’s just the writers being lazy!”
“What are you…” Before Twilight could get any further, Applejack sat down and peered over Sunset’s shoulder at her phone. 
“Another one?” she asked. Sunset nodded. “What’s this one called?”
“‘Real video. ‘supergirl’ saves car, flies away.’”
“Huh, supergirl. Is that what they’re callin’ me?” Applejacks eyebrows knitted together and she seemed to be deep in thought for a moment.
“Applejack dear,” said Rarity, tilting her head to one side, “is something the matter?”
“Nah, Ah was just thinkin’ about somethin’,” The orange girl waved her hand as if to dispel her friend’s concern, “It’s nuthin’ ta worry about.”
“Hey, does anyone know where Derpy is?” Pinky seemingly popped into existence beside Applejack, “We were supposed to trade muffin recipes later, but I haven’t seen her all day!”
But the orange girl wasn’t listening to her excitable friend, or anyone else for that matter.



“Target acquired.
Subject: female.
Species: unknown.”
Through an open window crawled the probe. A single wire extended to the forehead of the sleeping human.
"Information: secrecy advised in current state.”
The unsuspecting victim rolled in a fitful sleep. Her dreams were ominous and foreboding, but the machine’s work was soon done.



Applejack stood inside her family’s barn. Before her was the trapdoor which hid the secret of her origin. With a sigh she lifted up the wooden panel and pulled out the rocket. Inside, still on the folded red cloth, was the crystal. 
*A few minutes earlier *
“Granny? Can Ah ask yah about somethin’?” Applejack approached the elderly woman, hands behind her back and her head ever so slightly lowered. Granny Smith turned from the dishes she was washing and dried her hands on a nearby towel.
“What seems to be the matter sugar cube?” The head of the apple family asked her eldest granddaughter. The other Apple siblings were busy preparing themselves for the day ahead, so neither she or Applejack needed to worry about interruption.
“Granny, ya remember the other day, that whole mess with the car? Well, Ah’ve been thinkin’.” She straightened up slightly, “What if maybe there’s a reason fer all this? Like someone out there’s givin’ me a chance to help folks when nobody else can. And, well, Ah can’t just ignore it.”
Granny Smith put her hands on Applejack’s shoulders.
“Applejack, ya have no idea how proud Ah am of ya right now. As long as yer out there Ah’m gonna worry, but Ah’ll never try ta stop ya from helpin’ folks around ya. And Ah know yer parents would say the same.”
The older woman put her arms around her granddaughter who returned the embrace. After a moment Applejack stepped back.
“But first, there’s somthin’ else Ah gotta take care of,” She said.
*Now*
Applejack took a deep breath and took hold of the glowing stone. Once again she found herself standing before the images of Jor-El and Lara.
“So,” she began, “ya’ll are mah birth parents?”
“That is correct App-El.” Jor-El replied. “You are the last in the line of the house of El,” he said gesturing to the symbol on his robes, an S inside a pentagon.
“Is that what that there means?”
“It is the crest of the house of El.” Said Lara. “A Kryptonian symbol representing hope. It was this hope that led us to send you out among the stars to Earth.”
“But why Earth?”
“On Krypton I was a scientist,” began Jor-El, walking towards a hologram depicting Earth and the Sun, “In my studies I discovered that, in conjuction with Earth’s lighter gravity, the light of its sun would have a profound effect on Kryptonian physiology, granting them unimaginable power,” here he paused, “but the most important reason was its people.”
The Alien scientist turned to Applejack, his robes and cape flowing around him, “I knew that despite their flaws, here you would be taken care of. They are a good people, when they choose to be. They lack only the light to show them the way.”
Applejack was suddenly catapulted back into the real world. She reached down into the capsule and pulled out the fabric the crystal had been laying on. Imprinted in the center was a golden letter S inside a pentagon. With a look of determination, she rose. She knew exactly what she needed to do.



Rarity was in the middle of sewing a new blouse. There was nothing quite so relaxing as putting the finishing touches on something you had designed yourself…
A rapping sounded at her window, startling her out of her creative trance. She turned to the window and discover Applejack floating outside. She opened it up to let her in.
“What brings you here at this hour Applejack?” In response Applejack rose to her full height.
“Rarity! Ah need… A Costume!”



“Well, what do you think?”
“Do ya want the honest truth?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
Applejack was wearing the now completed costume Rarity had designed for her, “Ah have a couple a problems.”
“Oh…,” muttered the young fashionista crestfallen, “like what exactly?”
“Well, the skirt fer one,” the farm girl gestured at the lower part of the suit, “Ah’m gonna be flyin’ around in this getup.”
“And just what does that have to do with… any…thing… oh,” Rarity’s words stopped as she realized the implications, “I suppose I can see why you might have a problem with that.”
“And maybe a mask too?”
“I’ll see what I can do Darling.”
“Thanks,” Applejack prepared to leave, “And Rarity, Ah really do appreciate it.”
“Its nothing Applejack dear.”



the next day
“Derpy! You’re back!” Pinkie Pie ran off to hug her fellow baking enthusiast. Behind her, Twilight Sparkle rubbed her eyes sleepily.
“Are you alright Twilight?” Asked Fluttershy, pet rabbit in hand, “You look awful.”
“I didn’t sleep well last night. I’ll be fine.” The violet haired scientist replied with a tired smile.
“Howdy ya’ll!” Applejack appeared together with Rainbow Dash and Rarity. “Hoo, boy Twi. Ya look like ya just had ta lasso a whole army a cows.”
In the nearby mass of students Derpy suddenly stiffened. 
“Kryptonian,” She said in a voice too deep to be her own.
“What did you say?” asked Pinkie
Derpy shoved her aside as her mismatched eyes began to glow purple, and her body was encased in green armor. 
“Kryptonian!”