//------------------------------// // Making Plans // Story: Stallion of Tomorrow // by Jade Dawn //------------------------------// A “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” Fanfiction Written by Jade Dawn The Planet reporters and the Elements met up at the Cantering Cook restaurant the next morning, primarily at Rarity’s suggestion. The latter group arrived first, reserving a table for six and looking over the menu while they waited. Fluttershy looked around the open space of the rooftop restaurant. More than a few patrons were looking out over the balcony at the surrounding city; or to be more precise, looking over it. Some were carrying binoculars or telescopes. It didn’t take too much thought to gather what–or who–they were looking for. “They’re really anxious to see him, aren’t they?” Fluttershy mused. “Can you blame ‘em?” Rainbow said. “The guy flies like a billion miles an hour and juggles trains in his bare hooves. Of course they’re gonna be looking up for him.” “He’s become a sensation,” Rarity added. “And I highly suspect that this is only the beginning. Hmm…I wonder if there’s a new fashion trend to be made out of this…some superhero-inspired line, perhaps?” “Uh, hello?” a familiar voice called. The three turned to see Dawning Hope and Quicksnap, the latter with his trusty camera bag slung over his shoulder, making their way over to their table. “Oh, greetings, greetings!” Rarity chirped. “Please, do have a seat. Plenty of room.” “Hey, where’s Lucky?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, she’ll be along in a few minutes or so,” Quicksnap replied as he and Dawning each took a seat. “She said she wanted to bring along a few of her notes…of course with how much stuff Miss Lead’s done on Supermane, I can tell you it’s going to be a lot more than just a few.” “So…” Dawning asked. “…how are you doing after yesterday?” Rainbow shrugged. “Totally fine. Walked and slept it off.” He nodded. “And, uh, Miss Fluttershy, are you doing alright?” “I’m fine. Wasn’t really hurt all that bad. I think I was more scared than anything,” she replied. “And, uh…you don’t have to call me ‘Miss’. Just Fluttershy is fine.” “Oh…I’ll, uh, keep that in mind,” Dawning said. He took a glance at the sightseers looking at the balcony. “Didn’t know birdwatching was this popular here.” Fluttershy chuckled. “I guess it helps that it’s a very rare bird they’re looking for.” “Y-yeah, you could call him that, couldn’t you?” Dawning stammered. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Rarity watching the two with a bemused look on her face, and Dawning found himself blushing a bit. “Hey, random thought,” Rainbow prompted. “You think Supermane can change the weather?” “Change the weather?” Rarity repeated. “Yeah, like how pegasi can. I mean, I just was wondering since he flies and all that, maybe he could…” “I don’t know,” Dawning said. “I never–well, I mean, I never really gave that much thought or anything.” “Hey, maybe you should remind Ms. Lead to ask him if we ever catch up with him,” Quicksnap suggested. “I mean, when we catch up with him.” “Speaking of Ms. Lead…” said Fluttershy as she looked past the others. They turned and saw Lucky Lead approaching their table, a heavy bag that looked almost bulging with whatever what was inside slung over one shoulder. “Sorry I’m a bit late, everypony,” she said as she took a seat. “Wanted to make sure I had everything.” “Weren’t you just getting onto me about overpacking yesterday?” Dawning said, his voice carrying just a hint of playful sarcasm with it. “Oh, hush you,” Lucky shot back with a little good-humored smirk. “What’s all that stuff in there anyway?” Rainbow asked. “Notes,” Lucky replied as she hoisted the bag up onto her lap. “Notes, notes, notes galore…almost everything I’ve jotted down about Supermane sightings over the past six months and farther back across Equestria. Here, make sure I’ve got room here, there’s a lot…” She reached into the bag and pulled out a set of huge manilla folders that were almost full to bursting with their contents, slamming them down on the table with a thud. “I was thinking…” Lucky said as she spread the folders out and opened them, revealing stacks of papers and notes stuffed within. “…I was thinking that we’d start by getting you three all caught up on what I have so far and then try to work our way out from there. Sound good?” The three Elements nodded and “mm-hmm”’d. “Great. So…” Lucky began rifling through the various piles of papers. While she did, a waiter came up to the table. “Have you decided what you want to…” he trailed off when he saw just how covered the table was. “…or do you need a bit more time?” “Uh, I’ll just have water if you please,” Dawning said. “Orange juice,” Lucky told him, not looking up from the papers. “Freshly squeezed.” The waiter nodded and left. “Okay,” Lucky said to the others. “Working our way back in time a bit…I don’t think I need to remind you of his last big outing, of course.” “Yes, we had something of a first-hoof experience with that,” Rarity said. “Right. And you’ve read about the mugging he stopped a night or so before that. Have you read anything else about him before then?” The three Bearers shook their heads. “We didn’t even know about him until Twilight told us,” Fluttershy said. “How much else did he do before then?” Rarity asked. “Quite a bit,” Lucky replied. “Most of it was…well, I guess you could call it ‘low level’. Street muggings, a few robberies, that was the kind of stuff he’d usually swoop in for.” “Basically he did enough stuff to get ponies to know he was out there or at least think that he was,” Quicksnap added. “But nothing really as big as what happened yesterday.” "I see," Rarity said. “Um…when was the first Supermane sighting?” “That one’s kinda tricky to pin down,” Lucky replied. “I’ve gotten a few stories from around the same time, but I’m not sure which one would really be the actual oldest. There may be some I haven’t gotten yet. But he definitely only showed up about six months ago, that much I know for certain. At least in Manehattan, anyway.” “You think he’s shown up in other places?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, he has,” Lucky said. “I’ve been tracking stories from as far as…actually, hang on, let me show you what I’ve got mapped out…” She stopped as she reached back into her saddlebags. While she did, the waiter came back with a tray bearing Dawning’s water and Lucky’s orange juice, and he set them down on the table as best he could through the maze of papers scattered throughout. Dawning nodded in thanks as he left. Finally Lucky came back up holding a map of Equestria, laying it down on top of her other notes as the other ponies leaned in to see. A large, almost reverse “L” shaped area had been crudely circled in red marker around Equestria’s eastern coast and jutting into its interior. The whole area covered several cities and towns, including Manehattan up at the top of the encircled area. A few of the locations were marked with little S’s. “So this here,” Lucky started, taking a little sip of her juice before continuing. “This here is where I’ve marked down either confirmed or possible Supermane sightings across Equestria. You see you can kinda get a general sense of where he’s stuck around up until this point before settling up here. I’ve been trying to pin down where he might have come from, but I haven’t gotten much luck yet.” “Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Whinnyapolis…” Fluttershy murmured as she read the names of the marked-off cities. “Has he been in all of these cities too?” “I think so, yeah,” said Lucky. “Found some reports of, quote, “bizarre occurrences”, unquote, that match up pretty closely with what he’s been doing here in Manehattan. More of the usual crime stopping and rescues…heck, found one of some chemical spill in Baltimare that almost contaminated the whole Horseshoe Bay if a mysterious “something” hadn’t welded the containment tank shut. And wouldn’t you know it, the place was owned by LexCorp.” “Yikes,” Rainbow muttered. “Talk about a close call.” “Mm-hmm. And then, I think the earliest one that I think could possibly be traced back to our guy in the red cape…ah, here we are.” She pointed on a spot on the map, along the northernmost border of the desert before the Macintosh Hills and Badlands beyond. “Right here. Dodge Junction. When the Storm King’s army came through two years ago, that was one of the places they took on the way up to Canterlot. Then about three days later, well…they all pulled back. Nopony was really sure what happened, but something cut through their ranks and gave them a big spook and sent ‘em packing. The story kinda got lost in the shuffle of…well, what you and your friends did up in Canterlot, but…” “But you think this might have been one of Supermane’s early ventures?” Rarity asked. “Maybe, maybe not,” Lucky answered. “It could definitely have been him–the timing kinda lines up from when some of the earliest reports started cropping up–but I’m not entirely sure. Keeping it on file just in case, though.” “Yeah, that’s…probably wise,” Dawning said. “Of course it's wise. Gotta get whatever possible evidence we can. Of course, sometimes you have to rule out stories that don’t line up with everything else…” “Such as?” Rainbow asked. “Such as this,” Lucky said as she pushed a newspaper clipping forward. “Another one from two years ago, about a couple months before the Storm King invasion and all that. An Ursa Minor wandered into a little town named Smallville…actually our pal Dawning’s home turf.” She gave Dawning a good-natured pat on the shoulder. “Anyway, the thing turned up dead. Broken bones, damaged organs, burned across one side…” “Oh my…” Fluttershy whimpered. “Yeah. Now, you could assume that that was him, but think about that again and tell me what’s wrong with that idea.” “Uh…he killed it?” Rainbow guessed. “Bingo. And that's the big sinker for this one. It’s one of his most consistent traits that we’ve been able to nail down; Supermane does not kill. Never. He’ll rough ponies up a bit and he absolutely could splatter a pony's skull like jello, but in every story I’ve seen and heard he hasn’t. So this couldn’t have been him because it doesn’t make sense with what we know about how he acts. Honestly, it could very easily have been, say, a dragon or something.” “Makes sense,” Rainbow agreed. “Um, Dawning?” Fluttershy asked. “You came from Smallville, right? Were you there for that?” “I, uh…” Dawning turned away and rubbed his shoulder as if anxious. “Y-yeah…I remember it. I remember it coming in all broken up and…and burnt…” He trailed off for a moment. “B-but Lucky’s right, I think. It couldn’t have been Supermane. He…he doesn’t do those kinds of things. So, uh, she’s got the right of it, I’d say.” “Geez…” Quicksnap said. “I don’t remember you ever telling me that story. Sorry you had to see that, bud…” Fluttershy tilted her head. “Are you okay? You look…” “I-it’s just not one of my most pleasant memories,” Dawning answered. “That’s all.” Fluttershy nodded. “It’s alright, I understand. I don’t blame you…” Dawning nodded in kind, taking a sip from his glass of water. “Well, anyway…” Lucky said as she began gathering up some of the papers back into her folder. “You’re pretty much up to speed on how far I’ve gotten, at least as far as tracking his origins goes. I wish I could say I had more, but there you go.” “On the contrary,” Rarity said. “This has been most informative.” “Okay, so now that we’ve gotten through the history lesson, are we finally gonna go start looking for him?” Rainbow asked. “Yeah, we’re getting to that, don’t worry,” Lucky assured her. She put the papers back into the first folder and opened up a second one, significantly less stuffed, revealing a set of maps of Manehattan. Like the broader maps of the country before, these were marked with S’s in various districts of the city. “Now,” said Lucky. “What this is is a map of the parts of the city where Supermane sightings have occurred over the past six months or so; basically an outline of his general range. So what my idea was that we could start looking in these areas here, ask ponies around about if they’ve seen or heard anything odd and…” “And basically narrow our way down to find out where he lives in the city,” Rainbow finished. “Right. And hopefully give us a better chance of pinning down who he actually is.” “Sounds like a reasonable enough plan to me, Ms. Lead,” said Rarity. “Of course, I imagine it might take a little while, but even so…” “I’m down for trying it,” Quicksnap added. “Seems like really the best way to do it until we know more.” “Uh, question?” Dawning interjected. “How do we know that he even, um, lives in the city? I mean, what if he lives in the suburbs outside, o-or even farther out? Not saying this is a bad idea or anything, Lucky, just pointing out that we could be setting ourselves up for a goose chase here.” Rainbow raised a hoof as she readied a response, but then stopped and thought about it. “…yeah, I’m actually gonna have to side with Dawning on this one. Like, he’s a superhero. How do we know he doesn’t have some…I dunno, some secret Supercave or Fortress of Justice or something to go hide in?” “Well then if we look around and come up with nothing with this plan,” Lucky replied. “Then we’ll start thinking about that. But as of now I don’t see any particular reason why he doesn’t have a home and a secret identity right here in Manehattan.” “And you do think he disguises himself as an ordinary pony by day?” Rarity asked. “Yup. In fact, I think it’s kinda logical; like, here’s a guy who’s going out of his way to help ponies, but also trying to stay hidden while he does it. Superhero or no, there’s no way anypony could do that twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. He’s gotta have some way of living as close to normally as he can, if only to keep the stress down.” “I guess that makes sense,” Fluttershy agreed. “It’s what I’d try to do if I were him.” “Mm-hmm. Now, unless anypony has any questions, I think we can…hey, what’s going on over there?” The ponies looking out over the restaurant balcony were now peering over the side down at the street, pointing and murmuring to each other. Several more patrons had risen from their seats to join them in observing whatever was going on, and soon enough the five ponies and singular hippogriff had gotten up to see for themselves, squeezing their way through the crowd to see. They saw it almost instantly. A long, sleek, black vehicle was cruising down the street, pulled by no ponies in front but seemingly guided by some internal power on four wheels near the front and back, the sound of an electric engine humming in the air as it went along. “Whoa…” Rainbow murmured in awe. “Is that a car? I’ve never seen one out in the open before…” Cars were not an unknown to Equestria, but practically speaking they were still relatively new, and mostly relegated to experimental test models or rare luxuries for the upper class. “Not just any car,” Quicksnap said. “That’s Tech Lexicon’s limo!” He raised his camera and began snapping pictures of the vehicle as it passed by and disappeared into the distance down the street. “I was wondering where he’d gone off to after yesterday,” Rarity mused. “Where do you think he’s going?” “Just a quick guess?” Lucky offered. “Probably city hall to get the dressing down he’s got coming after yesterday. He usually takes the limo out when he’s heading to a meeting outside of LexCorp’s offices. Oh, and to think I’m not gonna be able to see it…” “Well he’d better get some kind of talking to,” Rainbow snorted. “If only for how that stupid monorail of his went crazy.” “Oh, he deserves a talking to for a lot more than that. It’s just a pity it took this long for ponies to realize maybe–just maybe–he isn’t the right guy to trust.” Lucky rolled her eyes. “Just a pity nopony tried to tell them that, but no no no, I’m just the crazy kook who’s head over heels for Supermane…” she mumbled. “Last night on the radio they were saying there’s rumors that the blackout started at LexCorp,” said Fluttershy. “Is that true? Do you think he caused it?” “Well, nopony’s really sure of anything,” answered Dawning. “But from what we can tell, it did start from the Plaza, so…” “I doubt Lex himself caused it,” Rarity put in. “He may be egotistical, but he hardly came off as a monster.” “Oh no no, Lex is a monster,” Lucky corrected. “But…okay, I’ll be fair and say that he’s not that kind of monster. He’s a cocky jerkwad of an upper class stallion, but he’s…I guess a more down-to-earth kind of bad. At least he’s not some death-ray tooting mad scientist or anything.” She sighed. “Thank Celestia for small mercies, at least…still bummed that I won’t be able to see that smug attitude of his get taken down a few pegs for once.” “You’re kidding. You’re kidding, right?” “Now Mr. Lexicon, please, try to understand from our point of view…” “I understand perfectly, Mr. Mayor,” Lex interjected. “Don’t think I don’t. You’re telling me to delay the LexCore’s public launch after drumming up hype for it for months and what should have been a perfect unveiling yesterday.” “Just to make sure the thing is safe…” Lex barely tried to mask a huff of irritation as he sat at an oval-shaped table in one of City Hall’s meeting rooms, the soft lighting and oak wood decor doing nothing to ease the tension that permeated the room. Mayor Sound Policy, an older graying stallion, was at the far end, flanked by his younger Deputy Mayor Running Candidate. Seated around the table as well were Grounded Rod, head of the Energy Department, Greyhound, head of Public Transportation, and various other members of the Manehattan city council as well. Lex had a kind of love/hate relationship with them, and with politicians in general. On the one hand, more often than not they were fairly easy to use and mold when you knew how to do so. It was just a matter of figuring out what they wanted and appealing to it. Keep it quiet, being just submissive enough to get it through their heads that they were the ones with the clever ideas and power. There were times when he honestly enjoyed playing his little games with them. Sometimes it was almost too easy. Sound Policy was a good example. He’d eaten up almost every single one of Lex’s proposals and requests, practically ogling over the benefits that LexCorp would bring to Manehattan. He’d gotten his endorsement relatively quickly. Some of the others, like Running Candidate, were a bit trickier to deal with; they were more wary, more distrustful. But with time, he had put them in check and wrapped them around his hoof as well like all the rest. They became soft, malleable, easy to herd into the right directions; how else could he have cleared out space for LexCorp and spread its embrace through the city? But then there were other times when something would spook them enough to snap out of it. When they had the nerve to actually start thinking. When they stopped to have concerns. Usually when enough of the common ponies out there on the streets began to voice concerns of their own, and there were concerns of protests and elections and a thousand and one other political details. And it was especially maddening when it was over a load of stupid rumors… “Need I point out,” Lex asked. “That you’re basing this on unfounded rumors, on hearsay? Think about it, is that really the kind of ground you want to base such a costly decision on?” “You can’t expect us to not be concerned about some kind of connection between the EMP and your company, though,” Grounded Rod pointed out, her voice level-headed but firm. “Every bit of evidence we’ve seen so far points to the pulse having started somewhere beneath LexCorp’s facilities.” “Not to mention the effects it had on your monorail system,” Greyhound added. “Oh, for the love of–“ Lex murmured. “What happened with the monorail was not directly caused by the EMP. It was a computer error that happened when the system came back online. My programmers are looking over the software as we speak, and I can assure you that when the monorail is restored by next week there will be absolutely no chance of it happening ever again.” “That doesn’t make things better,” Running Candidate said. “Ponies almost died yesterday because your tech went wrong.” “But they didn’t, did they?” “Well, no…” The Mayor said. “But only because of…well…” “Because of Supermane,” Lex grumbled. “Just say it. Supermane saved them from my monorail. I know that. The media’s been talking their jaws off about him nonstop since it happened.” The Mayor adjusted his tie a bit. “If, um, if we could just get back on topic here…the reactor–“ “There’s nothing wrong with it,” Lex insisted. “Nothing at all. We’ve done test after test, inspection after inspection. All of these rumors are completely false. The LexCore reactor did not cause the pulse. It’s not even capable of doing that!” “Well maybe we’d believe you a bit more if you were more open about the details of how it works,” said Grounded. “Or if you told us what this “miracle power source” of yours actually is.” “I’ve told you before, I am fully willing to provide greater details on our process once we get it patented…” “You’ve been saying that since the beginning, Lex,” Running interrupted. “It’s not good enough for us anymore.” “Well I can’t help that,” Lex said. Before Running could respond, Lex had already turned his attention back to the Mayor. “Mr. Mayor, I implore you; LexCorp has spent months drumming up attention for this project and our other ventures. Setting it all back now over these…these falsehoods would be a blow to what we’re trying to do. It may even scare the public away from us entirely. And I think after all of our negotiations, all of our talking and planning to have LexCorp power this city, I should think you’d want to be careful of that.” “I understand your concerns, Mr. Lexicon, I really do…” began the Mayor. “And if this deal falls through, then really, who else could you get to replace LexCorp? Moon Enterprises? Cord Technologies? Those freelancers at S.T.A.R. Labs? I’ll be courteous and admit that they’re decent, but let’s be honest, none of them can equal what I can provide for you.” “I know, Lex,” The Mayor answered, almost apologetically. “I know. But look…we’re trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here. I don’t want all this to be set back any more than you do. But the fact of the matter is that ponies are scared and concerned, and what they need most right now is reassurance. We don’t even have to bring the police or the guard into it. Just…we just want you to be able to reasonably dissuade these concerns. Who knows? Just saying it’s being looked into might tell ponies that things are under control, build some confidence in your company back up.” Or it’ll make them more suspicious and only prove to them that we did have something to do with it, Lex thought inwardly. But as he looked at the Mayor’s almost pleading expression, and at the other members of the council surrounding him, Lex knew he wouldn’t be able to debate his way out of this one. No, the only winning move for now was to bend a little. And so after a moment’s hesitation, Lex affected a sigh of capitulation and said, “…very well. We will…postpone the public launch of the LexCore until we can get this…this matter settled.” The Mayor’s posture seemed to relax a bit. “Thank you, Mr. Lexicon. We appreciate your cooperation.” Oh, don’t you just? A few minutes later Lex exited the City Hall building, heading down the stairs to the street where his limousine awaited him. He looked down at the ground as he walked, his face bearing a brooding expression. Yes, he’d capitulated to the council’s requests, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. No matter what they tried to reassure him with, this whole thing was a blow to LexCorp’s public opinion and everypony knew it. The fact that several pedestrians and passersby were looking at him and murmuring to themselves as he went, with none of the usual awe or admiration that he’d heard so many times before, only confirmed his worries. He didn’t look up at them or acknowledge them in any way as he stepped up to the car and opened the back passenger door. Merciful Grace was inside, sitting on the pale lime leather seating and dark green-lined interior of the vehicle, and she scooted over to the side a bit as Lex stepped in and slammed the door shut. A few seconds later, there as a whirr of an electric motor as the car began its journey back to LexCorp. For a long time, Lex said nothing, quietly watching and glaring out at the buildings as the car went along its way. Mercy was silent as well, knowing better than to say anything that might set him off. At least somepony still knows how to listen. After a while Lex felt like talking a bit. “How much progress have they made on getting through to the ship?” he asked. “It hasn’t been going well,” Mercy reported. “The usual tools couldn’t penetrate the crystal shield at all, and when they tried the heavier machinery the ship started heating up again and they stopped. They didn’t want a repeat of yesterday.” Lex grumbled. “Fine. When we get back tell them to halt efforts on that for now. Tell Dr. Vale and his teams to prioritize decrypting the information we gathered.” “Yes, sir.” Lex turned away from her and looked back out the window, retreating into his introspections once again. Everything had gone wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. First the damned ship with its firewalls and the EMP, now city hall with its demands for the LexCore’s delay. It felt like the whole world was rising up to conspire against him, and he would have none of it. And then there was him. And the looming threat that he presented was the most lingering thought in Lex’s mind. If Supermane was truly in Manehattan to take back the ship, then Lex would need to come up with a plan to kill him fast. At the very least he hadn’t come smashing his way into LexCorp to steal it. For whatever reason, he seemed to be taking his time. A small part of Lex didn’t quite know why. Surely he knew Lex had the ship. Why else would he be here? He must know. Or perhaps maybe he didn’t know exactly where in the city it was, and only had the most general idea of where to find it. Perhaps he was taking it slowly, cautiously looking around for it. In that case, it meant that Lex was on borrowed time before he eventually put two and two together. And as much as he hated to admit it, Lex actually had no idea where to start on killing him. Oh yes, he knew he was powerful and could fly and could shoot rays of heat from his eyes, but that was just what everypony else already knew. Lex needed to know the science behind him. How did he work? Where did the powers come from? Were they magical somehow? Did his kind’s earth pony equivalent have magical abilities like that? If Lex was going to kill him, he needed to know exactly what kind of creature he was trying to kill. So that was the first step; getting to know what he was and how he ticked. He just needed to work out how to do it… As he watched the concrete and brick structures flash by the limo as it drove, he spied the Bronclyn Bridge off in the distance, the massive suspension bridge spanning the entire width over the river between the island Manehattan rested on and the mainland beyond. And the more he looked at it, the more an idea began to form in his mind… “Mercy,” he suddenly said. “The Bronclyn Bridge. The city’s supposed to be doing some renovation work on it, are they not?” Mercy thought for a moment. “Yes, I believe they are…why?” Lex didn’t respond, continuing to observe the bridge as he thought. Yes…yes, this could work. Set it up in just the right way, get the right kind of observations…and if LexCorp could step in to take care of the damages, then the public… Yes. This would work. If he played his cards right, he might be able to get a good shot at two birds with one stone. “Mercy, do me another favor when we get back. Go down to the bridge and see if you can find any information on who’s working on it.” Mercy nodded. She was no stranger to gathering dirt on ponies for Lex. “Will do. May I ask what you’re looking for?” “A weak link. Somepony we can use.” He began to smile as he looked at the bridge. “I think it’s about time Supermane made his next public appearance…and with much better camerawork this time.”