Chapter 14: The End and the Beginning
The doctors and security at Arkham had never been so on edge. For the past several months all the inmates had been behaving like model citizens. Polite, courteous, friendly... as though their personalities had completely flipped.
No escapes had been made, no signs of some greater plan or plot were apparent and everything was quiet... Too quiet.
That was why, during free time one afternoon, when every inmate had suddenly gone dead silent and every eye had jerked robotically in one direction like they were under some kind of spell, every non-inmate froze in terror. Clearly the past few months were about to come to their head.
It had all started innocently enough...
"-And in other news today, Lex Industries announced several new syndicated TV shows will be releasing this month on the Metropolis Hub Network..." Droned the TV in the background as a reporter conducted an interview with Lex Luthor about his business objectives.
Most of the inmates were engaged in some of the strange interests and hobbies they'd adopted out of the blue over the past few months. Croc was sketching some wildlife, Joker was playing a board game with Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Two-Face, Clayface was reading a book, Bane was doing one handed push-ups, and Scarecrow was conversing with Riddler and the Penguin.
"Entertainment for the entire family... cartoons... new show idea... My Little Pony..."
Every inmate stopped what they were doing as their heads swiveled as one to focus on the TV screen. The doctors and security personnel froze as the atmosphere in the room came to a screeching halt.
"How do you know these shows will work out Mr. Luthor?" Luthor gave the reporter a raised eyebrow and then looked straight into the camera. "I have personally looked over the storylines, themes, and lessons of these shows. I can say I am intimately familiar with the characters, the writing is top-notch, and I am certain these shows will certainly strike a unique chord with the audience. We'll be releasing the first seasons of the shows starting next week."
The silence in the room ended abruptly as every inmate stood and cheered. Some were laughing, some were crying, as they slapped each other on the back, leaped for joy and applauded like mad.
Though it was harder to regain order than a full blown riot, thankfully, no one was seriously injured or hurt.
On Cedrix-6 there was great activity. Engineers from throughout the system had banded together and were working as one on "The Great Project".
The humongous structure was designed to receive signals from the satellite that orbited the planet, pointed out into space to receive a signal that had been predicted for millennium. Beings of all races swarmed over the structure like ants, tightening, readjusting, programming, fine-tuning and making sure everything would be ready. After all, they only had one chance right now. Cedrix-4 was also working on a receiving unit, but the sixth planet was currently the best option to receive "the message from the savior from the stars".
One small synthetic working at the edge of the dish, was so engrossed in their work that they failed to notice a strut another engineer was adjusting, and had just turned away from, detach and fall towards him. Just as the huge metal strut was about to crush him, a large gray hand reached out from behind him and caught the falling piece of metal like it was nothing.
Looking up, the engineer saw the strut and the monstrous being who'd caught it.
"Thank you sir," he said, as the creature pushed the strut back into position and the engineer above them waved an awkward apology as they resecured it in place.
The large gray creature shrugged and continued walking across the dish helping wherever he could.
The bounty hunter Lobo had dropped the being off on Cedrix-6 only a few days ago to assist with the construction of the great work and because he was apparently some kind of outcast from his planet. The synthetic watched him go and was silently thankful he'd been there. He had saved several engineers (who were too engrossed in their work to notice their surroundings) and helped move some very heavy pieces of equipment.
Meanwhile, above the planet, outside the atmosphere, Lobo sat on his bike waiting for them to complete the construction. While he wasn't interested in helping, he was certainly interested in the end result. He didn't quite know what to expect, but he had a feeling it was going to be even more entertaining than what the system had previously provided him.
"Here's the popcorn!" Shouted Mxyzptlk, walking back into the living room where Nyxlygsptlnz was resting on the couch.
"Oh, you sweet little thing," she said, running her hand across his head as he sat down next to her and held out the bowl. "I hope you know how much it means, you spending this time with me."
"Aaghh, ya twisted my arm enough Nyxly," said the imp, waving a hand. "Ya don't have to rub it in anymore. What was the name'ah this dumb show again?"
"My Little Pony," said Nyxly, taking a few kernels of popcorn.
"Dumb chick-flicks..." Mxyzptlk muttered under his breath, then he snapped his fingers and the TV set lit up with a screen-full of static.
"What the?!" He yelled. Zipping over to it, he smashed the top with a large mallet and the static vanished. Nyxlygsptlnz didn't quite hide her smile as well as she hid her crossed fingers behind her back.
"The things I do for you, Nyxly," he said, sitting back down as she snuggled up next to him and whispered in his ear.
"My big strong hero."
"That's right," grinned the imp before sitting forward to stare at the screen, "Now pipe down, it's starting."
All throughout the galaxy, voices quieted, and eyes focused on one tiny planet's contribution to the universe of cartoon fiction.
The only light in the free-time room of Arkham came from the small TV as the inmates sat together on couches, or sprawled across the floor. Clouds parted and a feminine voice announced the start of a new adventure.
A giant screen had been erected in a cleared field, next to the giant receiver tower on Cedrix-6 as thousands watched a colorful musical intro paint a new message into their world. Lobo leaned against a wall with Doomsday as they both watched, grinning.
"What the heck?!" Screamed the imp, jumping up from the couch as his wife rolled her eyes. "Has that lousy princess got pudding for brains? Did she forget the prophesy? She was there for the whole flippin' thing!"
Superman reached out and scratched behind Applejack's ear, as the episode continued. Rainbow sat on his left, munching on what was left of the popcorn as she watched and remembered herself crash into Twilight that first time.
From his office, Professor Hamilton could hear Rudy laughing down the hallway. This was the first time in weeks his TV had been turned on and whatever he was watching was apparently hilarious.
However, he was currently too focused on some of the characters he thought he recognized in the background to care what it was Rudy was watching.
Luthor grinned as he sat in his private theater. Sure, he'd screened the first episode before it went live (to make sure there weren't any mistakes), but there was something to knowing everyone else all around the world was watching it as well.
He smiled as he remembered telling one creative director, "No. Her eyes are supposed to look like that."
On the small fishing boat out at sea, a group of weather-wearied sailors sat around a small television watching as Nightmare Moon appeared in a cloud of blue smoke.
In the center of the group, one individual smiled as he saw three fillies cowering at the sight. He was expecting big things from those three, after all, they were expecting big things from him.
Livewire lay back on the bed, watching the episode. It wasn't half bad.
She paused as Pinkie started singing and held up a hand, freezing the image on the TV screen. An idea had just popped into her head.
Gesturing with her right hand, she scanned back through the video to the beginning of the song. As she let it play again, she wiggled her fingers, modulating Pinkie's voice up and down as she played with the backing melody, giving it an electric tone.
At Wayne Manor, Bruce, Dick and Alfred sat in the living room, while Princess Celestia approached her sister with all the regality and forgiveness befitting a wise and benevolent ruler.
All three turned to look at where she lay on the couch, surrounded by empty plates covered in frosting and snoring loudly.
The hustle and bustle in the Denton Enquirer came to a halt as Kirby stepped out of his office and yelled, "OIL TANKER'S ON FIRE IN DENTON HARBOR!"
Several reporters took a quick glance at Lucy's desk where she was helping another reporter with their article.
Looking up, Lucy pointed out one of the windows of the building and yelled, "LOOK AT THAT!"
With that, every reporter in the room stood up and turned to stare out the window at the empty sky, as Lucy nudged Kirk Clint with her elbow.
Several reporters coughed and shuffled slightly as they stood there, looking away from what was happening behind them. After all, honest reporters didn't betray their friends or print lies about seeing them engaging in secret, heroic activities.
The janitor by one of the windows pushed it open and absentmindedly bent down to pick up his broom that had fallen behind a potted plant as something went flying past him out the window. Picking the broom back up, he closed the window and continued cleaning the office.
Meanwhile across town, in a dark room upstairs several men were bent over a table talking.
"So what d'ya say?" Asked the larger one, leaning back in his chair and smiling.
"You want me to pull something like that in Denton City?!" Spluttered a smaller man at the other side of the table, "Heck no boss! That nutty hero's some kind of wackjob, he almost dropped a car on the last crook he put away. I'm going somewhere safe... Like Gotham."
A vast sea of stars stretched out across the sky, as Doomsday looked up. Several more receivers had been built over the past few months and everyone in the Cedrix system listened with rapt attention to every message they received from their beloved savior.
Laying on a large chunk of concrete on the side of the hill his house was built on, he stared up at the starlight.
He missed his pony, but she'd told him that it would be a few seasons before she showed up. He hoped she had a big part to play.
As he lay there, he thought he saw one star in particular moving. It almost seemed to be getting... bigger?
Sitting up, he focused on the green light as it descended into the city nearby and a light scanned several buildings. After awhile it turned and approached the hill where he lay.
He watched in mild interest as the small green light got close enough to be discernible as a floating metal probe with three glowing green dots on it's surface.
As it neared it dropped down towards the chunk of concrete he was lying on and floated several feet away.
"Query: Seeking one designated "Doomsday". Are you he?"
Doomsday gave a slight nod of his head.
"Excellent. My designation is Brainiac."
Doomsday nodded again, he'd heard of the figure in the underground fandom that had begun to pop up here and there. But he never expected to get a visit from him.
"Query: it has come to my attention that you may have something of interest for me."
Scratching his head, Doomsday stood up, shrugged and walked back to his house. He really didn't think what he'd done deserved a visit from the drone, but despite this, he couldn't fight the feeling he wanted to contribute something rather than just sit back and watch the ponies.
Stepping back out of the house, he held up a thick stack of papers in one hand and placed them wordlessly on the concrete in front of the drone.
As the drone scanned through the document, Doomsday looked around at the bombed out remains of the landscape around him. Here and there the races of Cedrix-6 were attempting to rebuild, but the fallout from several lifetimes of war were still unmistakable.
Looking up from the last page, the drone directed its attention back to him.
"Query: the narrative is still unfinished. Do you have an ultimate destination in mind for this story?"
Doomsday shrugged and picked up the papers.
"Noted. This drone will return regularly to collect any further additions."
With that the drone shot up back into the sky and Doomsday looked down at the sheaf of papers he held, and the dumb idea he'd come up with over several weeks of staring out over the landscape outside his door and the evenings spent watching the show with his new companions.
"Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria there came an era when the ideals of friendship gave way to greed, selfishness, paranoia and a jealous reaping of dwindling space and natural resources. Lands took up arms against their neighbors. The end of the world occurred much as we had predicted. The world was plunged into an abyss of balefire and dark magic the details are trivial and pointless. The reasons, as always, purely our own..."
The dark of the night and the silence of his cell was interrupted by a soft tapping at his window. Opening his eyes, the being once known as The Joker looked up to see a small metal object out his window and he instantly came fully awake.
"Has my story idea really been approved?!" He asked in excitement, sitting up in bed.
The object outside's lights came on and a beam of light moved up and down before focusing on him.
Pulling a sheet of papers out from under his pillow, he approached the window and held it up for the object to see, or rather scan.
"It's a dark comedy," he said, flipping through the pages as the light flickered across the pages, "I know it might be a bit cliched, but I couldn't resist the idea."
The light flickered out but the device continued to bob outside his window.
"Query: Title?"
He grinned in the darkness. "I was thinking... Cupcakes."
Turning, the probe was about to leave when he stopped it.
"By the way Brainy, I have a question for you." It turned back to him. "I understand you used to just hoard information and now you're collecting all these stories for the fandom. May I ask what made you change your mind, and also have YOU ever written anything?"
The probe nodded. "Nothing special really. Just a short story about a filly with big pink eyes on a mission to find her mother, make some friends along the way and ultimately... make her way home."
Ever since Darkseid seemed to have all but forgotten Apokolips's one purpose, Kalibak had stopped his battle training and taken to resting in his quarters.
Even though it was most likely a leftover, filthy trait from his home world of New Genesis and he knew he'd probably get in trouble for it one day, Kalibak had taken to using his Mother Box to receive entertainment from across the universe. Despite their relatively small talent for war, he'd found many of the Earth's darker shows managed to hold his attention.
Last week he'd checked out a show he'd heard rumors about and had, unfortunately, fallen head over heels for.
Though he'd never mention it or even think it too loudly, he might have, sortof, kinda, possibly, maybe, had a small, insignificant, tiny, little crush on the orange mare with the adorable freckles.
So, that's what he was doing right now. Sitting in his room, behind his bed, with the lights off, snacking on a bowl of Apokolips rock-worms and rewatching an episode with Applejack in it projected from his Mother Box.
Without warning, his door slammed open and the lights came on, shocking Kalibak out of his relaxation, and making him jump to his feet and mentally kill the Mother Box stream.
In the door stood Darkseid, staring at him with his arms crossed behind his back.
"What were you watching my son?"
Kalibak dropped to the floor, groveling and assuring Darkseid it was nothing important.
"I did not ask if it was important Kalibak. I asked you what it was."
Silently, Kalibak kicked himself at his carelessness. Then he remembered the orange mare and something inside him softly lit up.
Kalibak thought back to the many tortures and punishments Darkseid had inflicted on him before, and then considered the pony in the Stetson.
"It was an Earth-show father," he said, standing. "Called... My Little Pony."
"Why were you watching it?"
Kalibak gulped and continued. "Because it is a good show."
"I see."
With that Darkseid left the room, and a very confused Kalibak, standing there.
As he walked down the hallway, Darkseid considered whether he should have told Kalibak the whole truth. But no. He'd tell him when he was older.
As he entered his quarters, Darkseid saw the drone waiting on the balcony.
"Query: further narrative development?"
Holding up his Mother Box, Darkseid brought up the next chapter in his story. "Yes. Blackjack is about to learn something very important about file EC-1101."
Lois sat at her desk, trying to ignore the conversation between Clark and Jimmy. But their excited voices were just a little too grating on her concentration.
"Do you two have to talk about that stuff here?!" She said, angrily.
"Sorry, is it bothering you Lois?" Asked Clark.
"Well, for one thing, you're loud enough the whole office can hear you both," she said, "And for a second, I honestly didn't think something that childish would appeal to you."
A desk behind them, Martin spoke up, "Easy there miss Lane, my son watches that show and I don't think there's anything wrong with it."
"That's different," said Lois, turning in her chair, "He's a kid. Those two are grown adults... I think."
Martin grinned sheepishly, "Sometimes I watch it with him, and it ain't bad."
Lois rolled her eyes.
"You know Mr. Kent, I could ask Lena if you'd like to join us for the season finale next week."
Clark shook his head and smiled. "I wouldn't want to intrude on you two."
"Just because we're dating doesn't mean we watch the episodes alone," said Jimmy. "Lena always says, the more the mare-ier."
Lois winced.
"I'll think about it Jimmy."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Clark executed some stupid pantomime.
"HEY LOIS!"
"Thank my lucky stars," said Lois, getting up from her desk to answer Mr. White's call.
As she entered his office, Perry sat down and pointed a pencil at her. "What's your opinion of this new My Little Pony show?"
Lois felt her mood and expression sink into the carpeting.
"Well Perry, I'd say I've grown out of kids shows, wouldn't you?"
"Great, sound's like you're the only unbiased reporter I've got left. I'm planning on putting together an article on this whole development with Luthor's new series, with a focus on that show and its viewers in particular."
Lois face palmed and massaged her temples. "You've got to be kidding."
"Well there isn't much other news right now," said Perry, looking out the window over the city.
"Well, that's something I could look into sir," said Lois. "Like, Toyman. He escaped three weeks ago and no one's seen him since. Superman's been noticeably absent too, aside from the hurricane last week. Maybe I could look into why-"
"Sorry Lois," cut in Perry, "Unfortunately, in this business, no news isn't always good news. So I'm going to need you to look into this unrelated issue instead for now."
Lois groaned.
Lois felt her bored gaze wander over to the small figurines on the desk again before she blinked and refocused on Luthor.
For his part, the millionaire was also focusing most of his time on something on his computer, only stopping to answer her questions.
"As I said before Ms. Lane, it's a family show-"
"But primarily targeted towards little girls." She pointed her pencil at him.
"That was the original target audience, but I choose to believe that quality entertainment doesn't choose it's audience, rather the audience chooses it."
"Enough with the cliches," said Lois, rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time. "Am I supposed to say you don't have any opinion about the kind of people who're actually watching your show!?"
"What can I say? I've backed a classic," said Luthor, steepling his fingers and looking calmly back at her, "Sue me."
"Thanks Luthor," said Lois, grabbing her things to go, "I'm sure my readers will be overjoyed to hear that Lex Industries has nothing to say whatsoever about the bunch of overgrown, weirdo, man-children watching a little girls' cartoon show."
Luthor leaned back, resting the back of his head in his hands as he watched the furious, little reporter stomp out of his office. Then he returned his gaze back to the campaign idea he was putting down before a glance at his watched told it was time for a scheduled call.
His computer screen switched from the text file to a view of a messy workshop, a pony-shaped robot shuffling across the top of one of the tables, knocking things off as it went.
"Crush. Kill. Destroy- Swag!"
Luthor raised an eyebrow, just as a small, boyish looking man in a lab coat ran over to readjust the camera.
"Sorry about that Mr. Luthor," he said, nervously, "It's a work in progress."
In the background the pony-bot fell onto its side while continuing to walk and vocalize. "Friendship is optimal. Fun levels increased by 20%. I really like her... Mane?"
Crowds moved through the convention center main hall looking through the stalls of merchandise as in the background you could hear the internet sensation 3lectricScratch performing her set in the concert hall.
Characters from every genre meandered through the stalls, but the My Little Pony cosplayers seemed to be hogging most of the attention.
At one table, an artist wearing a full suit changeling costume was selling Pony artwork while next to him an older professor-like individual was rocking a Doctor Whooves cosplay.
As the changeling sat back in his chair, sweaty in his costume but happy to be sharing his art for the first time in his life, an incredibly lifelike Terminator cosplayer walked up to the table and pointed stiffly at a picture of the CMCs, their green eyes almost winking with joy.
Two figures stood on the cliff by the mansion overlooking the ocean as the sun set in the distance. They weren't the only ones there though. A box full of little plastic figurines rested on the grass in front of them and was their primary interest.
"So you're just going to head home now?" said Bruce.
"I think so..." Answered the small Twilight figurine, "Honestly, when it comes to the whole world-hopping thing, Pinkie and Discord are kind of in the drivers' seats."
"Will we ever see you again?" Said Superman, kneeling down so their red cape rested across the grass.
"Sure, every Saturday on the Metropolis Hub!" Cut in Pinkie Pie.
"That's not what I meant," he said with a slightly pained smile, "I mean will you ever come back to visit our world again?"
"I believe that's a question for their boss." Said Bruce in a calm tone.
"Who?" Said Princess Celestia, raising her eyebrow at him.
"No One."
"What about him?" Asked Pinkie Pie, cocking her head to the left.
"Didn't he send you all here?"
"Listen Bats. We just let him think that. Even he doesn't know where the idea for this story came from, and that's the way it's going to stay." She winked. "Now, good luck."
With that the box sealed itself shut from the inside and, as the two figures watched and the sun's amber rays painted the cliff-top in glowing orange colors, the box vanished from view like a forgotten memory.
However, this memory was far from forgotten, and it wasn't just Superman who remembered them. Turning to Bruce-
Superman was alone on the cliff.
With a chuckle, he muttered to himself, "The more things change..."
With that, he took off into the sky, flying along the coast towards Metropolis, humming "The Smile Song" in time with the music he could hear from living rooms throughout the city.