Supermare saves the opening.
Yesterday at 10:30 in the morning, during the opening of the much talked about Museum of Friendship (created in collaboration with Princess Twilight and several museums from Equestria, Griffonia, Zebrica and several other countries), it was attacked by what could be say that it is a terrorist group that wanted to kidnap the princess, using a machine capable of taking magic from everypony present. But before they could do it, the mare that had already been talked about in this newspaper appeared and that has spread in the city like an urban legend, Supermare.
As the rumors said, the mysterious mare possesses abilities that could well be classified as impossible. For starters, despite being an earth pony, she is able to fly on her own, bullets squish against her body like paper, her eyes can expel laser beams, or heat beams as some say, and she has a enviable speed, since it is capable of reaching the speed of sound with little effort, with a simple impulse, something that not even Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty, member of the Wonderbolts and the only confirmed pegasus capable of breaking the sound barrier and performing a sonic rainboom, is capable of doing.
But another ability that surprised everypony was revealed when the terrorists took the magic from her, something that everypony present could witness. The mare showed no signs of weakness, moreover, her abilities were still there, as if they did not depend on her magic, something that, until now, no being from Equs has shown until now.
This makes us wonder, who or what is Supermare? And more importantly, why is she here? What does she want? These questions will remain on everypony's minds, and hopefully, they will be answered.
Article written by Ink Tale.
Coco stopped reading with a sigh, leaving the newspaper on the table of the cafeteria that she and her friend used to frequent in the past. Although a part of her was glad that the ponies had taken her existence well, apparently at least, she was concerned, especially by the questions Ink had asked. Since she saw the first articles talking about her, she had suspected that discovering the secret identity and the whole history of Supermare was her new goal, and those final questions had confirmed it.
Ink was her best friend, but she wasn't sure she wanted to tell her the truth, how could she? Although she knew that she wouldn't tell anypony, it was too dangerous for her to know her true identity. She might be virtually invincible, and nothing could harm her, but her friend was another story, so it was very likely that, if Ink found out the truth, she would try to help her with anything, which could put her at risk.
Coco sighed to herself, grabbing her coffee cup and taking a small sip, thinking, obviously her friend would get in trouble whether she knew it or not to pursue a good story, but if she kept the truth, she would at least make sure that if they tried to get the truth out of her with some truth potion or spell, they wouldn't discover her identity, so at least her mother would be safe. Still, she'd rather Ink didn't have to go through that, but she knew her well enough to know that nothing, not even a superpowered mare, would stop her from trying to come up with a good story.
The front door opened behind her and Coco turned to look at who had entered, noticing Ink scanning the room for her, and finding her, she smiled, quickly approaching her table.
"Hello Coco, have you waited long?" she asked her with a smile as she sat down.
"Not much, I came a little earlier so I could read your article, it's pretty good" Coco replied with another friendly smile.
Ink looked at the newspaper, a proud little smile growing on her face.
"Yes, but it is not as impressive as others I have written. Supermare is no longer an exclusive by herself, everypony is already talking about she, my next article will be a bomb."
"Really? What are you going to write?"
Before she could answer, a unicorn mare, wearing the cafeteria uniform, approached with a small notepad, smiling kindly.
"Good morning, Miss Tale, what can I serve you today?"
"First, stop being so formal, we've known each other for a long time, second, you know how I like coffee."
"Roger, Miss Tale" replied the mare with a mischievous and amused smile before walking away.
Coco couldn't help but laugh a little at her friend's face.
"What do I have to do so they don't treat me with that respect? It's not like I'm a princess."
"Admit it, you like it" Coco replied with a smile, one that Ink replied back.
"Okay, I like it, just a little bit. Anyway, while we wait for my coffee, can you tell me where you've been?"
Coco made a small, barely concealed grimace, she knew she couldn't avoid that subject for long.
"Didn't you want to tell me what that new article of yours was going to be about?" she asked, hoping to delay that moment a little longer.
"First comes my best friend and then my amazing and spectacular new article" Ink replied with a huge smile.
Coco sighed to herself and thought about the answer. At first she had thought of lying, but her friend was too good at detecting small contradictions, so her second plan was to tell her the half truth. It was much easier to hide information than to make up a story from scratch.
"After my father's death I decided to travel to Equestria and beyond, although you already knew that" she said, noting Ink's nod. "I went through Appleloosa, Trottingham, even further afield, Griffonia, Neippon, and then retraced my steps to the Crystal Empire. At first it was to clear my head, then it turned into an extended vacation, until I decided it was time to come back" Coco let out a small sigh as she looked away towards the window. "I'm just sorry it took so long to get back."
Ink watched her friend for a while before smiling and reaching out her hoof to grab Coco's.
"Hey, don't be sorry, I did something similar when my mother died" she commented, a little sadness mixing in her voice. "If there is anypony who can understand you, it is me."
"Thanks, Ink" Coco said with a smile.
The two looked at each other for a few seconds before the same waitress arrived and left Ink's coffee. Once she was gone, Ink took a sip and hummed happily at the taste.
"Well, what was your new scoop?" Coco asked as she focused on her drink.
Ink smiled even more, leaving the coffee on the table and looking with excited eyes at her friend.
"Oh, jeez, this will be much more than an exclusive, it will be the news of the century. I'm going to prove that Supermare is not of this world."
Coco almost spit out her coffee, mentally thanking her inability to choke, and nervously watching Ink, managing to hide it with a screen of disbelief, which was not difficult because she was also incredulous that her friend could prove that.
"What?"
"What you hear, Supermare is not from Equestria, nor from any other country in Equs" she said, confirming Coco's suspicions.
"And why are you so sure?"
"Come on Coco, you may have grown up on the farm and be more fashionable than anything else, but we both know you're smart, I'm sure you can figure it out."
Coco stared at her friend for a few seconds, without speaking, and given Ink's emotion, she waved a hoof and decided to answer for herself.
"Okay, whatever you want. It's pretty obvious when you think about it, Supermare is the only pony, and creature, capable of such impressive abilities."
"Well, there are other creatures that..."
"Coco, have you seen or heard of any creature that can fly without using wings?"
"Er... no, but there are creatures as strong as her."
"With what she's shown so far, because I'm sure she's got a lot more power, just insanely big creatures. And I know you mentioned Rockhoof, but even he needs magic for that, and if you've read my article, you know that Supermare doesn't need her magic for her abilities" Ink's smile widened even more if that was possible. "Tell me a single creature in Equs that can do unusual abilities without magic, one is enough for me."
"Uh..."
"Exactly" said Ink happily. "Supermare is the only being capable of using those abilities without needing magic, which only leads to one conclusion, the biological and magical laws of our world do not apply to her, therefore she is not from our planet."
Coco watched Ink for a while, afraid that her friend would publish that article. She had thought to tell the truth, and she wanted her to be the one to publish it in the Daily Planet, but not so soon. She wanted to talk to the princesses first, let them know that she was there to help, that she was not a threat, and that they need not fear a full-scale alien invasion, and then tell the planet's inhabitants, she was sure that an item of that caliber would travel the entire planet. But if Ink wrote that article early, she risked the ponies being afraid of her, distrusting her, and though she knew there would always be ponies like that, she knew them well enough to know there would be far fewer of them if she were the one to say it, through Ink, but it would be her.
"Ink, I... I think you should wait."
"Why? Now is the right time."
"Well, Rarity told me that Supermare was planning to talk to the princesses" wasn't true, but that was something Ink couldn't know unless she asked Rarity directly, and she doubted she would because of something like that. "Suppose you're wrong..."
"If that happens, you have my permission to dress me in such sissy dresses" Ink replied with a cheeky smile, causing Coco to roll her eyes before continuing.
"If you're wrong, and the princesses decide to go public with their conversation with Supermare, then you'd come off as a liar."
Ink frowned at that. Coco knew very well what her friend thought about lying, especially in a media such as the newspaper. In all the years she had known her, she had seen her curse journalists who misinformed for money or political interests, and she had quite enjoyed debunking their lies. Being branded a liar would also be a low blow for her. She shook her head and smiled once more, and Coco sighed, knowing that she hadn't managed to change her mind.
"There's still too much evidence for my theory, plus my gut tells me I'm right, and you know I always follow my gut."
Coco sighed, taking time to think of a way to make her friend wait to write that article.
"Do you remember the changelings?" she asked her, watching as her friend frowned.
"What do they have to do with Supermare?"
"Remember how the ponies reacted to their reformation, how most still hated them? Even today many changelins still suffer from that discrimination. If your theory is true and you publicize it without Supermare being able to explain herself, you could cause the same thing."
Ink frowned, before rolling her eyes.
"Look, I don't support racism towards changelings, as Princess Twilight says, everypony, or everycreature, deserves a second chance, especially them. But you can't compare them, the changelings didn't have a very good first impression, even if they were being controlled by a crazy, they made mistakes. Supermare has done nothing but help since she appeared, they are two different cases."
"And what about Zecora?"
"Whose?"
"A zebra that lives in Ponyville, well, in the Everfree Forest" said Coco. "Rarity told me about her once, the ponies were afraid of her because it was the first time they had seen a zebra, much less a zebra like her who lived in a forest that everypony feared. And Zecora did nothing to deserve that fear. Ponies... are naturally fearful of what they don't understand."
Ink frowned a bit before speaking.
"Okay, I get it, I can do more harm than good" she said with a small frustrated growl, looking away from her. "But ponies deserve to know the truth."
"They'll know, I'm sure... and Supermare might want you to say it" Coco said with a small smile, making Ink look at her curiously.
"Why do you think Supermare would choose me for that?"
Coco let out a small laugh before pointing to the newspaper on the table.
"You were the one who called her Supermare in the first place, I guess that's kind of obvious, right?"
Both friends laughed a little, Coco much calmer. She had managed to prevent Ink from revealing her secret before long.
"By the way" Ink said after calming down, although her smile didn't disappear, becoming more mischievous and perverse. "What I said about the dresses stands, and I plan your punishment if I'm right."
"Really?" Coco said with a raised eyebrow.
"If I'm right, you and I will go out partying and you'll listen to everything I say, to see if that way I can get you a coltfriend... or a fillyfriend."
"How much longer are you going to keep this up?" Coco said, rolling her eyes, although she couldn't help her smile. "You don't have a partner either, you know?"
"I know, but I've had more than you, and according to your mother, the only partner you had was the one who accompanied you to the prom... and it was your father."
"Hey! I wasn't the most popular in high school... besides, there's nothing wrong with going to a party with your father" Coco replied with a little red face.
Ink laughed heartily at her friend, though Coco couldn't help but join in soon after. She had missed her best friend so much.
Twilight made her way through Canterlot Castle, heading toward the throne room, followed only by two guards from her friendship guard (she wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to them). Normally there would be Spike too, but Princess Celestia had asked her not to bring the little dragon with her, which had made her nervous and worried, since that had only happened when an enemy from the distant past appeared that threatened Equestria.
At last she reached the doors of the throne room, guarded by two royal guards, who nodded to her, their eyes drifting to the two ponies behind her.
"I'm sorry, your highness, but Primcess Celestia has ordered that only you enter."
That made Twilight a little more nervous, but she took a deep breath and nodded, her gaze going to the two guards, who nodded.
"We will wait here, your highness."
Twilight smiled, nodding and turning to the doors, which were opened by the two royal guards. The alicorn entered, the doors closing behind her, and looking at the thrones of the high princesses of Equestria, although only Celestia was in her place. She noticed that her sister-in-law Cadence was there as well, waiting at the foot of the stairs that led to the thrones, greeting the young princess with a smile, one that was reciprocated.
Twilight focused her gaze on Celestia as she moved forward, noticing that she was reading a newspaper, and the closer she got, the better she could make out the cover photo. It was an image where Supermare appeared flying in front of Twilight herself, Rainbow Dash and Spike, an image taken moments before the mare left. As the younger princess moved closer to her, the white alicorn closed the newspaper, tucking it under her right wing, and approached her former student with a smile.
"I'm glad you were able to come, Twilight," she said as she walked down the stairs to hug the young alicorn, who accepted the hug.
"And I'm glad to see you," Twilight commented as she hugged her former teacher, but as she pulled away from her, concern appeared on her face. "But why did you ask me to come? Did something happen?"
"There are no imminent dangers in the near future, rest assured," Celestia commented with a small smile, causing Twilight to give a hidden sigh of relief. "I called you because of what happened yesterday, and more specifically, because of the article that the Daily Planet put out this morning, have you read it?"
Twilight frowned, confused, this was something she hadn't expected.
"I'm afraid not, it's not like I subscribe to the Daily Planet."
"In that case, I would like you to read it and tell me if what has been written matches what you saw. Cadence already told me that Supermare is not an enemy, but I would like to know if her abilities are as impressive as it is said here. I trust Miss Tale's integrity, but I've learned that sometimes impressed ponies can exaggerate things" she said as she held out the newspaper with a smile.
"Cadence told you that she can be trusted?" Twilight asked confused as she grabbed the newspaper, looking at the aforementioned, who approached with a guilty smile.
"I...was the first to have contact with her, well, to see her at least."
Twilight frowned, tilting her head in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
Cadence looked at Celestia first, who nodded, before speaking.
"Supermare came from the Frozen North, circled some castle towers and then approached the Heart" Twilight's eyes widened, but Cadence smiled calmly. "You shouldn't worry, when I went to check on it, it revealed to me that it sees her as an ally. If I didn't tell you, it was because Celestia told me it wasn't time yet."
Twilight raised an eyebrow, glancing at Celestia, who gave her a guilty smile, but she otherwise remained calm. Sighing, and admitting to herself that maybe it was a good idea to keep it a secret for now, she started to read the article, sighing to herself at the end.
"Well, technically speaking, what she says is real, at least to the naked eye," she said at last, handing the newspaper back, which Celestia placed back under her wing.
"Naked eye?"
"Well, it's obvious she's up to some trick."
"What kind of tricks, Twilight?" Celestia asked with a small smile.
Twilight frowned as she watched Celestia. She was under the impression that she knew something that she didn't.
"Well, I originally thought she was a pretty powerful unicorn and was using high level spells to pretend to be an earth pony that flies, but then her magic was taken away, so now I think the spell is on her suit."
"Twilight, you better than anypony should know that there are no spells that can achieve that, if so, the theaters and the film industry would resort to that instead of ropes and harnesses" Celestia said calmly, to which the younger alicorn sighed.
"I know, but the idea of an earth pony capable of flight is even more impossible. In fact, no creature of Equs could do what she does."
"The Crystal Heart didn't detect any other magic in her" Cadence said.
"Well…I…" Twilight groaned at last, sitting down on the floor and sighing. "I don't know what to think, this has all been on my mind since yesterday, and it's even worse after Ember send a letter to Spike. She asked him if ponies could swim in lava. In lava! That shouldn't be biologically possible!"
Celestia watched her student in silence for a few minutes, knowing how to recognize when Twilight was in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Most likely, she had spent the whole day since she returned from Manehattan trying to find something that would give a logical explanation to what she had seen and what the Dragon Lord Ember had told her.
"Please come with me, I think it's time to show you something."
Twilight and Cadence looked at each other before following the older princess. They left the throne room and, with a quick glance at the guards, remained at their posts as they continued to walk. The three alicorns made their way through the castle, up several stairs to the upper floors, and came to a large door locked with several protective spells, Twilight could feel the power of it.
Celestia watched the door as her horn lit up, enveloping the door in her aura and performing various spells until it finally opened. The white alicorn entered, gesturing for Twilight and Cadence to follow her. Inside, there were several objects, most of them wrapped in sheets, but what stood out was what was in the background, making the two princesses widen their eyes.
"You were right about one thing, Twilight, no Equs creature can do what Supermare can."
In front of them, there was a white spaceship, the 'S' that Supermare had on her chest at the front of the structure. Thousands of questions raced through Cadnece and Twilight's minds, barely able to formulate a single one. Celestia remained silent, she knew very well the reaction that knowledge generated, one of the reasons why she kept the ship hidden for so long. Deep down, however, she was glad that the little filly had traveled on that ship had come in peace and to help and not as the start of an invasion. After so many years, she was able to lift a weight off of her, although she would still want to talk to her, after all, she didn't know if there would be more of her and, gods forbid, they had more malevolent intentions.
It had been nearly two weeks since Supermare apprehended those terrorists, and Lex had taken advantage of that to offer the museum a security contract. Despite the failure of his original plan, he considered himself a business stud, so he wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by, and furthermore, he would make sure the ponies saw him even better.
At that moment, he was lying on one of the sofas in his large office, enjoying a good read, a glass of champagne and illuminated by the rays of the afternoon sun, which was slowly sliding towards the horizon. The doors opened slightly, and his secretary peeked out, a nervous look on her face.
"Mr. Tech, one of our scientists wants to see you."
Lex looked up curiously before nodding, and the mare disappeared behind the door, replaced by a unicorn dressed in a white science coat, closing the door behind him. Despite his determined face, Lex could see the fear in his eyes and the nervousness in his trembling paws.
"Mr. Tech, I'm here to tell you about your latest studio project."
"Has there been any problem?" Lex asked as he focused back on the book, ignoring the unicorn.
"No... I resign."
Silence was present in the room, only broken by the sound of the pages of the book turning and the sips of champagne. After a few minutes, Lex looked at his nervous worker.
"Well? Are you going to explain to me why you quit or are you going to keep wasting my time?"
The unicorn gulped, taking a deep breath before speaking.
"What you wants to do is...is...is despicable, evil even."
"Really?" Lex said, barely paying attention, which made the pony in front of him even more nervous.
"It will put many innocents at risk."
"If we want to find out more about Supermare and find out how to defeat her, it's an evil I'm willing to accept."
The unicorn looked at his boss in disbelief, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Princesses Twilight and Cadence will be involved! It's treason!"
"Only if we're found out, and I've made sure we're not found out, so don't worry about it."
The pony bit his lip nervously, but in the end, he grunted and hit the ground.
"I'm not going to continue with this madness!"
"Then you can go, but don't think about going to tell anypony, we'll keep a close eye on you… you've already heard the rumors about what happens to those who try to harm me, right?"
Lex looked up and stared at the unicorn, who felt all his courage drain away and be replaced by fear. Swallowing hard, he nodded and left the office, pausing in the doorway as he heard his boss speak to him.
"Just in case you didn't understand me, pack your things and don't come back here."
The unicorn gave a weak nod and walked out at last, leaving Lex alone. The stallion did not stop reading his book, making a mental note to order that pony to be watched and killed at the slightest sign of trying to say anything to the police or anypony else.