//------------------------------// // Day at the Races // Story: Whenever You Call // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Applejack's family reacted to him the way he figured they would. The moment after he had knocked on the door, a big red stallion had answered. His eyes had gone wide at the sight of his wounded sister in the creature's arms, and he reacted the way any concerned brother would: he attacked. The stallion went for a tackle, which was useless, and wrapped his hooves around Superman's waist, trying to bring him down. While Applebloom and Applejack tried to explain, Superman watched in amusement as the stallion tried to bring him to the ground while an old green mare said she was going for her shotgun. While it was fun watching the others panic at the thought of the old mare with her gun going after Superman, eventually Applejack managed to calm everyone down to the point where they could all talk without need of violence. After explaining the day's events to the two, whom Applejack introduced as Granny Smith and Big Macintosh, the other family members quickly apologized for what happened and agreed with Applejack that Superman could stay at their place for awhile. While Big Mac and Applejack started to prepare dinner, Superman and Applebloom helped Granny Smith set the table. After dinner was ready and the table was set, the group sat down together for a nice conversation. "So, what kind of freak are ya?" Granny Smith asked right out of the gate. "GRANNY! That is not how we treat a guest!" Applejack shouted across the table. "Sorry, sorry, so what are ya, MR. freak?" Granny Smith said with a smile. "GRANNY!" As Applejack and Granny began to argue, Superman looked at the surfeit of food that had been laid out for them. True to their name, the Apple's had prepared a number of apple-based foods for Superman. Applepies, applesauce, a salad made of grass, hay and apples (he wasn't touching that) as well as applecider. The smell of the pie entranced him the most, reminding him of the pie his ma used to cook for him back in Kansas. He sliced 'himself' a small piece and brought it to his mouth, allowing the aroma of apples to fill his nose. With the scent of the pie alone making his mouth water, it was time for a bite. It was a taste beyond words. The apples within the pie were completely complemented by the flakiness of the crust, allowing the flavor to be brought out to its fullest. It was almost as good as the pies he remembered from home...Almost. After trying the rest of the apple-based food, each as delicious as the last, Superman turned his attention to the two ponies that were still bickering. Applejack was trying to convince Granny Smith that Superman wasn't a freak and that he was the one responisble for saving her life. Smith pointed out that he was a full two feet taller than all of them and looked like something out of a comic book. He smiled at their banter, content with watching the two of them bicker. Also, he could tell that Granny Smith was just joking around, since he heard no threats in what she said. He looked over to Big Mac, who was shaking his head at his sister and grandma. "You don't talk much, do you?" Superman asked the stallion. "Nnope," he replied with a shrug. "Hey Superman, do you have any stories that you can tell?" Applebloom asked with as much enthusiasm as she could. It had been a long day for the little filly and she could barely keep her eyes open, trying her hardest not to fall into her food. "Sorry sis, but it's time fer bed. 'Early to bed, early to rise.' So let's go, everypony, and other, in bed," Applejack told the ponies gathered around. Everypony and Superman stood up; they went to their rooms while Big Mac helped clean the table. Superman headed for the door, since he was sleeping in the barn, but stopped as he walked by an interesting picture hanging in the doorway. It showed two adult ponies with a red colt and a small orange filly. Superman placed the two younger ones as Big Mac and Applejack, but that would make the other two-- "Mah parents." Superman turned to face the orange earth pony who was now standing beside him, looking upon the picture with sorrow in her eyes. "We lost them five years ago. The accident was tragic and claimed many others, but those two are the only ones that stick out fer me." Superman's face softened at her words, memories of what happened to Krypton stirring in his mind. "I'm sorry for your loss," Superman said softly, giving her a sympathetic look. She looked into his eyes and gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, but you should get to bed. It gonna be an early morning." Superman nodded and Applejack turned around, heading up the stairs and to her room. Superman walked outside into the moonlit night, letting his heightened senses taking in the beauty of this new land. It was a nice change of pace from the busy, crowded and loud streets of the city, expecially since there was almost no polution in the air at all. But what he enjoyed most was that he heard no cries for help, no plea for someone to save them; no one in danger. He had been hearing the cries of those in pain for so long that the quiet was...soothing. He walked over to the big red barn, remembering how he had helped to rebuild it just the other day, as well as teaching three little fillies about the importance of always telling the truth. He was still amazed that they had come to trust him so fast, even if he did save them from a burning building and help them to repair their destroyed barn. Superman carefully pushed open the barn doors, smiling as the scent of manure and hay floated through the air, memories of his childhood playing in his mind--like the time he accidentally tipped the tractor over when he was getting a ball, or when he knocked over the barn when he was trying to catch a pig. Now that he thought about it, he had more in common with the CMC than he'd care to admit. A pile of hay in the corner would suit his needs for a bed, though he had some thinking to do first. Superman plopped down on the hay pile, trying to piece together some of the things that had happened to him. First, was there was a connection between the hydra and Celestia? While the hydra's eyes had been a permanent dark green during the entire fight, Celestia's had only flashed green during their conversation, and only when she was conversing with him. It was possible that he had been seeing things. Heaven knows what that hydra's dark magic had done to him, but he had been at this for too long to believe that it had been a coincidence, that her eyes had flashed the same color of the controlled hydra's. Whatever had been controlling the hydra had somehow gotten to her and was possibly influencing her attitude. Of course, he could just fly straight to her castle and ask her flat out, but again his delicacy prevented him from doing so. Superman let out a loud yawn and placed his hands behind his head. Closing his eyes, he wondered what tomorrow would bring and what excitements would follow. Drifting off into slumber, Superman began to dream of a time when he was a farm boy, and all the good times it had brought him. With a small smile crossing his face, he fell asleep. +++({s})+++ "So what do you have for me to do?" Superman asked Applejack as the two walked up a hill near the apple orchards. Reaching the summit, Superman's eyebrows went up as he saw the magnitude of this farm's crop. Hundreds of apple trees flourished here, with thousands of delicious looking apples just ripe for the picking. His father would've been amazed to see so many apple trees doing so well, especially if they were grown by ponies. "What you'll be doing is helping Big Mac to harvest most of these here apples. Ah don't expect ya to get them all today, so just go fer as many as ya can," she instructed him, rubbing the spot where the magic had struck her. The two walked down from the hill and into the grove, Superman looking at the trees, impressed, while Applejack dragged a few buckets with her. They came to a stop under a particularly bountiful tree, where AJ started to give orders. "Alright, Big Mac will get here a little later, so I want ya to buck these apples off the tree and into these buckets," she said with a grunt, placing the buckets at the base of the tree. Superman took his eyes off the tree and looked at her, certain that he had heard wrong. "I'm sorry, you want me to what?" he asked her in confusion. She looked up to him with a raised brow. "Buck the trees." When he gave her another look, she rolled her eyes and walked over to the tree. "Buck them. Like THIS!" she shouted, slamming her two back legs into the trunk of the tree. The entire tree shook and a few apples fell off the branches, falling nearly perfectly into the buckets. Applejack winced and staggered back from the tree, her wound acting up again. "See?" she said with a grimmace, pointing to the buckets. "Just hit the trees as hard as ya can and the apples fall straight off." "Alright, just hit the trees lightly and watch the apples fall," he repeated, walking over to the tree. "No, hit it as hard as ya can. Don't worry, the tree will stand strong." Superman looked over his shoulder at her, a small smile on his face. "Trust me Applejack, you DON'T want me to hit this as hard as I can," he said with a smile. Applejack smiled in reply. "Go ahead and hit it hard. Ah bet the tree can take anything ya throw at it." "Don't make bets you can't win," he teased. Applejack snorted and stomped a hoof into the ground. "Bets ah can't win? Ah bet that this here tree can take yer best punch!" Superman raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly. "Oh? And what are you willing to bet?" he asked, enjoying the little debate. Applejack thought about it for a moment before an evil grin spread across her face. "Alright, if ya managed to knock over the tree, than ah will personally give ya a tour of Ponyville. But when mah tree stands tall, then ya'll have to watch over mah sister and her friends when they go out crusading." 'I already do that,' he thought to himself. Superman didn't care if he won the bet or not, he even thought less of the stakes. It was just nice to have a casual bet with someone that didn't involve the fate of the world hanging in the balance. "Deal?" "Deal," Superman responded, standing in front of the tree. Even though he had bet Applejack that he'd use his full force, the tree wouldn't stand a prayer if he went full power. He figured that ten...twenty percent would be more than enough to knock the apples off. He brought his fist back, aiming for a knot on the tree. He waited a moment before swinging, concentrating on restraining himself. Once he was confident that he was completely under control, he swung his fist forward towards the knot. 'Gently. Gently--' "HI SUPERMAN!" Since Superman had been concentrating so hard on not destroying the tree in one hit, he hadn't heard Applebloom walk up behind him. Since he hadn't heard her coming, he hadn't been prepared for her to yell in his ear and startle him. And since she startled him and broke his concentration... WWWWHHHHAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!! Superman winched from the sound of the impact while both Applejack's and Applebloom's jaws hit the ground as the force from Superman's punch not only uprooted the apple tree, but also tossed it straight out of the apple orchard and off into the distance. He stood back up with a sigh and turned around to face the two sisters, neither of whom had recovered from the sight of their tree flying off over the horizon. "Hello, Applebloom," Superman said, returning the greeting. Applejack picked up her jaw and looked at Superman in awe. "One tour of Ponyville, coming up," she said in a whisper. Superman looked down at the buckets under the tree, noting that at least some of the apples had miraculously fallen into them. How did that happen? The force of the punch should've...it didn't really matter. Superman was about to apologize, when he picked up on the sound of wingbeats coming from the distance. He looked up to see a purple alicorn flying towards Applejack's farm. After pointing this out to the other two, the three walked over to the front of the barn, where Twilight was going to land. "Howdy, princess," Applejack greeted her with a small bow. Applebloom followed her sister's example, but Superman did not, something that Twilight noticed. "Applejack, for the last time there's no need to greet me like that," she said with a slight blush, embarrassed at her friend's actions. Applejack and Applebloom both stood back up while Twilight looked over to Superman with a less than friendly glare. "You. At my house. Now," she said simply. "Why?" he asked. "Because I need to prepare you for what come's later today," she said with a smile, opening her wings back up and ascending back up into the sky. Superman and the two sisters watched her go, each wondering what that was about. "Well you heard her. I need to go over to her treehouse," Superman said with a shrug. Applejack's face fell at that and she lowered her head. "W-well, ah guess we can manage without ya fer today. I feel bad fer Big Mac, there's no way he can do all the work by himself." She quickly hid her disappointment and looked back up with a smile. "But don't you worry, we can still finish all the chores before the day's done." She looked at Superman, surprised when he started to chuckle to himself. "Just beacuse I'm leaving in a few minutes doesn't mean I won't help finish. Now what else do I need to do?" Applejack gave him a look as if he had just volunteered to walk straight into the changling empire and bad mouth the queen. "What do ya have to do? There's still bucking the rest of these apples, plowing the fields and taking all those barrels of hay to the cow pens. There's no way you can--" Faster than a speeding bullet, Superman flew right by Applejack and Applebloom in a blur. He quickly flew through the trees, knocking all the apples off the branches with the speed of his flight alone. Before the apples had time to fall to the ground, he scooped them up into his arms and flew them back to the barn, depositing them in the buckets which were intended for them. Taking flight again, he soared over the fields that needed to be plowed. He hovered just above ground level and shoved his hand into the dirt, creating a small indent. He sped forward at an incredible pace, his hand acting like a plow. Within a matter of seconds, he had completely plowed all the fields and kept the lines in perfect symmetry. Lastly, he rocketed over to where the bales of hay were lined up, waiting to be carried over to the cow pens. He placed one hand under the pile and with a flick of his wrist, tossed the bales into the air before catching them on his shoulder. A quick flight to the cow pens to deposit the hay wrapped up the day's chores. Now that he was finished, he flew back over to Applejack and Applebloom, both of whom were struck speechless. "Well, that's that. Anything else you need me to do before I head off?" he asked with a smile. Applejack could only shake her head back and forth slowly, still unable to speak. "Alright, I'll see you two later," he said with a smile and a waved goodbye, taking off in the direction of Twilight's house. He flew slower than usual, wanting to enjoy the view of the town. Hundreds of ponies were out and about, trying to enjoy the day and forget about the terror of yesterday. Despite the ponies not being that technologically advanced, the town was being repaired at a rate much faster than he would've expected. To top it all off, most of the working ponies had a smile on their faces, seeming to enjoy the work they were doing. Of course, most of those smiles vanished as soon as the citizens saw him. Superman always found interest in seeing how other species reacted to him and his powers. He watched as the workers pointed up to him and gasped, gaining the attention of the rest of the town's populace. He kept his eyes on their faces, wanting to see their reaction. As he had anticipated, some of the ponies gawked at him, while others ran and hid. However, some of the ponies recognized him from the brawl yesterday and waved up at him, smiles and gratitude on their faces. Some tried to flag him down, but he had an appointment to keep. So with a friendly wave, he flew off towards the treehouse in the distance, wondering what Twilight wanted to talk to him about. {S} The tree house was an odd building. It looked as if the ponies had carved out the inside of the tree and turned it into some sort of library. His x-rays also told him that Twilight was pacing on the ground floor, apparently annoyed that he was a few seconds late. He also noted that there was a second creature waiting for him as well, though this one was armed with a frying pan and a pot lid on it's head. Superman chuckled at the sight and slowly descend in front of the door, knocking on it once he had landed. It swung open to reveal a very angry Alicorn. "What took you? I said to be here a minute ago!" she screamed. Superman raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was so upset. It was only a minute. "I was finishing some chores at Applejacks," he replied with a shrug. "What chores?" "All of them." Superman watched with a hidden smile as Twilight's face lost some of it's color and she backed up a little. He walked through the door (having to crouch a bit) and into her home. It was just as he had seen. A library stacked wall-to-wall with books, probably hundreds of books. Superman also noticed that everything was perfectly in place, meaning either Twilight didn't let anyone touch the books or she was an organization freak. Probably the latter. Twilight walked past him and to a section of the floor that had two cushions with a table in between. She sat down on one side and indicated for Superman to sit on the other side. When he had done so, she pulled out a notebook and looked across the table at him. "I suppose you're wondering why you're here?" When he had nodded, she continued. "I brought you here by request from Princess Celestia. She wanted me to ask you a few questions, since she was unable to do so at the hospital. So if you're ready, let's get started." Superman was used to this, having been questioned on numerous occasions in the past, although he was curious to see what questions this pony would think up. "Alright, first up: what's your name?" And there it was, nine times out of ten that was the first question asked. Who was he, where did he come from? "Glad to see you're being original," he muttered with a smile. "I already told you, I'm Superman. I'm here to--" "I asked what's your name, not what's your hero name. I was once a hero myself, I know about the whole secret identity thing," she explained, looking him in the face. "Of course, you don't wear a mask, so maybe you don't have another name." "Don't worry, I have another name. However, I don't feel inclined at the moment to tell yout," he said. Twilight looked like she was about to argue, but Superman cut her off. "I'm sorry, but I don't even tell my name to most the people I trust, let alone those who don't trust me." Twilight tried to think of an argument, but Superman's reasoning was too strong. So she decided to move on with her questions. "Fine, whatever. Next, what is the full extent of your powers?" Superman had to think about this one. He had a number of powers that he could tell them about, but that might create a larger gap between him and the ponies. So he decided to tell them of the powers they already knew about. "I have, as you know, super strength, flight, super speed, heat vision and I'm virtually indestructible. That about sums it up." Twilight's eyes narrowed at the virtually indestructible part, not liking the sound of it. "So you have no weaknesses?" "I have some weaknesses. One or two." It might have been a bad idea to mention his weaknesses to a pony that didn't trust him, but if they knew he wasn't completely all powerful maybe they would be less afraid of him. Now that she knew he had weaknesses, she had to figure out what they were. "So, any chance you can tell me what those weaknesses are?" Superman chuckled at that, knowing that she was actually being serious. "Sorry, but that would probably be one of the dumber decisions I have made. No offense, but I'll keep those to myself." Twilight sighed, but she actually hadn't expected him to tell. She went on to her next question. "Celestia said that your home planet is called Earth. What's it like there?" "It's a fairly nice place, filled with billions of people. Humans as they're called, have built massive cities and some impressive technology. My role there is as a protector of the planet, keeping them safe from all harm." Twilight gave him another look, not sure what to make of his story. That sounded nice and all, but she wondered what the humans thought of this...protector. "So, the humans are essientally helpless to stop anything that threatens them?" she asked. 'Like you.' But much to her surprise, Superman began laughing, actually pounding his fist on the table, smashing it into splinters. After a quick apology, he shared his thoughts with Twilight. "Helpless? Oh no, humans are anything but helpless. They may not be as strong, fast or durable as me, but they have a spirit that can't be matched and I have been beaten an embarrassingly number of times by the humans, one in particular. So trust me when I say that they are far more powerful than me. It's easy to fight evil when you have insane superpowers, but to do so without them makes for a true hero." He watched as Twilight scribbled down what he had said word for word. She looked as if she wanted to ask something else, but Superman cut her off again. "I was wondering if you might introduce me to your friend, who happens to be at the top of the stairs and staring at me," he said with a smile, turning around to face the dragon. The purple dragon yelled and hid back inside the door he had been hiding behind. "Spike, come down here please," Twilight asked. The dragon named Spike slowly began to walk down the stairs, his eyes on Superman the entire time. Since his eyes were locked onto Superman, he completely missed a step and fell head over heels down the stairs--or he would've, if a blue and red blur hadn't caught him before he hit the floor. "Whoa, careful there," Superman said with a smile, gently placing the dragon on the floor. While the young dragon looked up at him with awe in his eyes, Twilight was looking at Superman with a new sense of dread. She hadn't been certain of his full power, since she had only arrived to see him demonstrate his super strength, but witnessing his speed first hoof was simply terrifying. She hadn't even registered that he had moved until he had caught Spike from hitting the ground. His speed was just simply unreal. "Um, t-thanks," Spike managed to stammer, looking up and down at Superman. "T-that was really fast." "Like I told your friend, I'm one of the fastest beings alive. Now," he began, turning to face Twilight as Spike ran back upstairs, "What did you need to prepare me for today?" "Oh right. I've set up a meeting for you today to talk about yourself to some ponies." This caught Superman off guard, something that seemed to be happening a lot lately. "How many ponies?" he asked carefully. "Um, the whole town," she replied with a sheepish grin. Superman blinked twice and slowly placed his face in his palm. "And you just assumed that I'd be on board with this?" "I was certain that you'd say 'yes.'" Superman removed his face from his palm and looked at Twilight, slowly shaking his head. "Fine, I'll do this, but then I don't want to you to volunteer me for anything else without my permission. Deal?" he asked her, extending his hand. She looked from it to him, realizing she had no choice. "Deal," she grumbled, grabbing his hand with her hoof. They shook, one smiling and the other frowning, before Twilight walked over to the door and opened it. "Alright, ready to meet the town?" "Why did you set this up for me again?" he asked her, standing back up and heading for the door. "Because, you flew in, smashed a hydra, flew off with it to Celestia knows where, and came back to save Applejack's life. I'm pretty certain that the town would just love to meet you," she said with a slight smile. Superman shook his head and followed her out the door, wondering what other surprises awaited him. {S} He was really tired of being surprised. The ponies had set up a stage in the center of the still-destroyed city where hundreds had gathered around, with a sign standing in front of the stage that said that the ponies would be able to meet the alien invader later today. Glad to see that his statement of protecting them had gotten through. Superman was sitting in a chair that had been set up for him just to the left of the podium. He sat with his arms crossed and eyes closed, not needing his x-ray vision to see that nearly every pony there was staring at him. Twilight sat next to him, her eyes still on him as well. None of the ponies except the CMC and Applejack seemed to trust him, and that was only after he saved their lives. The crowd was in a quiet uproar, meaning that they were all whispering so loud that it was essentially talking loudly...and all of it was about Superman. "I can't believe we have an alien invader here in Ponyville." "I heard he tossed a hydra." "Did he really bring Applejack back to life?" Superman was really getting tired of all the questions about him and kept wondering why he was really here. He couldn't wait for this discussion to get started so that he could put their questions to rest. He cracked his eyes open a bit as an old brown mare took the stage and walked over to the podium, noting that her eyes were, like everyone else, on him. She stepped up to the podium and cleared her throat, silencing the entire crowd. Once everypony was silent, the mare began to speak. "Mare's and gentlecolts. We are here today to meet a very...interesting...individual. We do not know much about him, but I hope that we can find out more about him in this interview. I present you, SUPERMANE!" Superman let out a sigh at the butchering of his name, but stood up and walked over to the podium regardless. If the crowd was silent before, it was like a graveyard now. Superman took a moment to scan the crowd, watching all their faces. "Hello," he finally said. The crowd gasped the moment he spoke and some of the ponies that were brave enough to sit in the front row passed out. Superman sighed again, not liking how this talk was already going. "Alright, since all of you seem to believe that I am some sort of monster, I'm here to tell you the truth. I am called SUPERMAN, not mane, and I am here to help. NOT to rule the world." The crowd started to murmur again, some of them believing him and some of them not certain yet. "That's about all I have to say about myself, so I'll open it up to questions," Superman finished, looking around at the crowd, watching as ponies flinched from under his gaze. A few trembling hooves went up, the braver of the ponies wanting to ask their questions first. "Yes, you," Superman said, pointing at a certain seafoam green pony. The nervous mare stood up shakily, barely able to contain her excitment. "A-are you a human?" she asked in pure glee, practically hopping up and down with excitement. Superman opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it again. He wasn't sure how to answer the pony's question. Yes, he was technically from Earth, but he was not human. If he wanted these ponies to trust him, he'd have to be honest. "I could lie to you by saying yes, but I am not a human. I am a being known as a Kryptonian, from the planet formally known as Krypton." The pony gave him a confused look and raised her hoof again. "Yes?" "But you look just like a human. And what do you mean, formally known as Krypton?" Superman took in another deep breath, preparing to answer a question that was personal to him. "Yes, humans and Kryptonians have very similar traits, but we are not the same species. As to Krypton...when I was just a child, my parents built a ship to take me away from Krypton, which was on the verge of dying. I managed to escape moments before Krypton exploded." The mood in the village had changed and he could feel it. The ponies that were previously unsure about him were now feeling sorry for him and those that had already liked him now felt even more connected to him. The pony sat back down and a few more hooves went up. He picked another pony, this one wearing a tiara and was a pink color. "Why are you so ugly?" she asked in a mocking tone. Superman raised both eyebrows as the entire crowd gasped, everypony turning around to stare at the young filly. Here it was, the moment he knew would come. The ponies wanted to see how he would react to being insulted, to see what he would do now. "Why am I so ugly? I suppose I'd have to blame my father for that one," he said in a lighthearted tone. The way he answered the question seemed to have a calming effect on the ponies, his joking answer to the question at least showed that he wouldn't go off on them if they insulted him. The ponies began to ask more and more questions, some of them weird and others being just plan silly, ranging from why did he have a cape to what his cutie mark was. Superman let a small smile begin to spread across his face as the ponies seemed to become more and more friendly with each question. The real question came after most of the normal questions had been asked. "Yes, you in the back," he said, pointing all the way to the back of the crowd. The question that was asked caught him completely off guard. "I challenge you to an iron pony competition!" All the ponies in the crowd turned to the voice, a quiet hush falling over the crowd. Standing at the very back of the crowd was a pony with a rainbow mane, a thundercloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt on her flank and a very angry look on her face. Superman recognized her from yesterday as one of Applejack's friends. There was one thing that he didn't know. "What's an iron pony competition?" he asked Twilight. Twilight, who had been staring at Rainbow Dash in disbelief, looked at Superman with an odd look on her face. "An iron pony competition is where two ponies compete in a series of events to see who the better of the two is. It can be issued by anypony, but you don't see too many of them in this day and age. But if a pony demands one..." "I get it, I have to accept," Superman muttered, looking back over to where Rainbow Dash was standing. "Well, do you accept?" she half-yelled, walking towards him. His eyes narrowed at her, resulting in many ponies backing away from him. He wasn't sure he wanted to compete against this pony. Besides the fact that he would completely dominate the competition and defeat a hometown pony would not help his pony relations. If anything they would be afraid of him that much more. But then again, he would like to see what she was capable of doing. So he let a smile cross his face and chuckled... "Very well. I accept." {S} The competition was to take place at Applejack's farm, the only place in Ponyville that could hold all the ponies and the events that were to take place. Applejack and her family had been surprisingly okay with it, since apparently this wasn't the first time their farm had been used for this sort of thing. All the ponies in Ponyville had come to watch the event, which Superman had helped the Apple's organize. Stands had been set up, snack vendors had been brought out and everypony wanted to see 'Rainbow Dash vs Superman.' A total of five events had been arranged, an odd number chosen so that there would be a clear winner. Superman, once he had finished helping the Apple's set up the events, took a moment to wonder why Rainbow Dash was challenging him. The two hadn't really even talked to each other and he certainly hadn't said anything to offend her. Had he done something that offended her or was she just naturally competitive? Even if she had been the one to challenge him, Superman still wondered if he was doing the right thing here. While Superman was pondering this, he was also tuned in on the conversation Twilight and Applejack were having with RD, who was doing warm up stretches. "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing? You can't win against something like him!" Twilight whispered to her, though Superman heard ever word. "I don't have to win everything, I just need to prove that I can hang with him," Rainbow grunted back, stretching out her legs. "Ah gonna have to agree with Twi on this one. Ya'll just don't stand a chance," Applejack agreed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, glad to see my friends getting behind me," Rainbow Dash muttered, switching over to back stretches. "Why do you even need to challenge him? Yeah, I don't like him, but he doesn't seem like a threat...yet," Twilight argued with an exasperated sigh. "To prove I'm still the best around, not some weirdo in spandex," Rainbow responded, stretching her wings. "Sugarcube, ya don't understand. Ah've seen his power up close and ya can't compete against it. He's just too strong." Rainbow Dash sighed in frustration and turned towards her friends with a glare. "Too strong? TOO STRONG!? Which pegasus performed the legendary sonic rainboom when no other pony could?" Before the others could answer, Rainbow Dash continued speaking. "That's right me! Who is one of the six Elements of Harmony? Me! There is nothing that he can do that I can't out do!" She huffed at her friends and walked away, leaving her two friends to look at each other with worry. So, she didn't like the fact that he was stronger than she was, did she? Now that Superman knew what Rainbow's deal was, he could plan a response. He floated over where she had started to stretch again, startling her a bit. "Look Ms. Dash, I don't know why you see me as a threat, but I can assure you that I haven't done anything to you to warrant this kind of aggression. There's no need for this competition," he pleaded with her, trying to call the whole thing off. But Rainbow Dash was too stubborn and her pride prevented her from backing down. "Ha, if you're afraid of me, you should just say it out loud. When you're done trying to be nice, get yourself ready for the biggest beating you've ever received," she said with a smirk. Superman wanted to say something else, but he figured it would be useless since Rainbow Dash didn't seem to be in the listening mood. So, he'd just have to go through with the competition. The ponies in the stands were riled up and just like with the Q and A, the pony known as Mayor Mare was set to announce the event. "Mares and gentlecolts, today is a day that Ponyville will never forget! We have another iron pony competition between the most unlikely of participants. On one side we have the Element of Loyalty and residential daredevil, RAINBOW DASH!" The crowd went wild when Rainbow's name was mentioned, screaming as loud as their lungs would let them. Then the mayor turned to him. "And in the other corner we have, SUPERMANE!" Superman's facepalm could've destroyed a planet. He was starting to believe that these ponies were purposly mispronouncing his name just to annoy him. It was pretty quiet when his name was called, with only one or two cheers, but he had been expecting that. "The first event of the day is the hay bale toss. I hope that I don't need to explain this event, but for those who live under a rock, all you have to do to win this event is to toss the bale of hay farther than your opponent. That's all there is to it, so let's get this competition under way!" The crowd roared again as Superman and Rainbow Dash took their places on the starting line. A bale of hay was placed infront of them, which RD walked up to first. "Move aside, spandex man. Let a pro show you how it's done," she said with a smile. "By all means," Superman countered. Rainbow Dash walked over to her hay bale, cracking her neck and jogging in place, pumping herself up. She turned around so she could aim her back hooves at the bale of hay, taking careful aim. The crowd was in a dead hush, all waiting to see how far she could kick it. When she was ready, Rainbow Dash let loose a loud scream and slammed her back hooves into the bale. Her powerful kick tossed the bale for nearly a full fifty yards, landing with a thud. The crowd cheered as she walked by Superman with her head held high. "Beat that," she taunted. Superman shrugged and walked over to his bale of hay, picking it up in one hand. The crowd noise had once again died down to a whisper, allowing him to focus. Again, he wasn't concentrating so much as to win the competition, but only so as to not completely dominate the competition. He didn't want to show off his full strength unless he needed to do so, and right now he didn't need to do so. He hefted the bale over his shoulder and aimed it just right so it would land just past Rainbow Dash's effort. He tensed his muscles, pulled back and- "GO SUPERMAN!" For the second time that day, the voices of fillies caught him off guard at the wrong moment, breaking his concentration once again. He had been in mid-throw when the voices had yelled out, so it was too late to stop. He placed a hand over his face as the bale of hay sailed off over the horizon, vanishing from sight in a matter of seconds. He turned to where the CMC were sitting, giving them a look that caused them to sink beneath the bleachers. While he was looking at the bleachers, he noticed that most of the ponies had their jaws on the floor. Those whose jaws weren't broken were staring at Superman with looks of terror and uncertainty in their eyes. Rainbow Dash was glaring at him with pure disbelief, with a hint of fear in her eyes as well. Mayor Mare tried to regain control of the situation. "Um...okay then, let's move on to the next event: hoof wrestling!" The two competitors walked over to a table that had been set up for them, each of them sitting down on either side. Rainbow continued to glare at Superman while Superman started to concentrate on restricting his power, also making sure to not be startled by any outbursts or yells. Rainbow Dash put her fore hoof on the table with a snort, glaring at the scoreboard that now said one to zero. "This time I will win," she snarled. Superman placed his arm up on the table as well, wrapping his hand around Rainbow's hoof as gently as he could. By the look on her face, as gently as he could equaled a death grip to her. Mayor Mare held up her hoof, the crowd waiting in silent anticipation for the next event. She swung her hoof down and the hoof wrestling began. Rainbow Dash pushed with all her might against Superman's arm, trying to use her rage to fuel her strength. The crowd was in a complete frenzy, screaming and hollering for RD while a few cheered for Superman. Despite her great strength and her willpower, Rainbow Dash couldn't even budge the Man of Steel's arm. While it looked like the two were evenly matched, Superman hadn't even begun to try. He was actually looking past Rainbow Dash, thinking about his meeting with Celestia. Is she was being mind-controlled? He guessed that she was, which meant that eventually he would have to either stop her or whoever was controlling her. He hoped for the latter, but he would defeat Celestia if need be, something that was sure to make the ponies hate him. "And the competitors are neck and neck! Who will win?" Mayor Mare yelled out, snapping Superman back into reality. Rainbow's face was red from the sheer amount of force she was applying to his arm. He watched in amusement for a few seconds before deciding to end this. With a simple bend of his elbow, he slammed RD's hoof to the table and flipped her right out of her chair to the dirt below. The crowd gasped as she lay on her back, trying to comprehend what had happened. "Are you alright?" Superman asked with a chuckle, offering her a hand. She growled and slapped it away, picking herself back up. "Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, looking over to the score board where the score now read two to zero. 'It's alright Dash, all you need to do is prove you're the fastest. It doesn't matter if he's stronger, you just have to be faster!' she thought to herself, walking away from him. The next event was something that Rainbow Dash was confident that she could win. Since both the competitors could fly, the following event was a cloud sculpting contest. The competitor that could sculpt the most impressive cloud statue would be the winner. They would both be sculpting at the same time, with a time limit of five minutes. Rainbow Dash and Superman took their positions as a grey pegasi brought the two clouds down for them. "Competitors ready? GO!" Rainbow Dash reached her cloud first with a burst of speed, using her hooves to add some shape to the fluffy cloud. Superman just slowly flew over to his cloud and gave it a look, wondering why this was part of a competition that until now was based on physical activities. With a shrug, he floated over to his cloud, well aware of the hundreds of eyes on his back. He looked over a RD, whose's sculpture was beginning to take shape in an interesting way. An idea popped into his head and he reached out to grab the cloud. And his hands passed right through it. He blinked twice and stared at the cloud a little shocked. The crowd gasped in unison while Superman tried to grab the cloud again, his hands passing through just like they had before. Even Rainbow Dash had stopped working on her own sculpture to gasp, until she started to laugh at him. So, unlike the Pegasus, he couldn't grab or moves clouds himself, at least not with his hands. He cast a glance at the scoreboard which read two to zero. He shrugged and backed off, not worried if he'd lost one event. Besides, since he didn't want to dominate the competition, this worked out well for him. He sat back and watched as Rainbow Dash finished off her sculpture, a cloud formed into the shape of some sort of pony with a thunderbolt trail following her. The time limit ran out and since Superman was clearly defeated, Rainbow Dash finally won her first event. She looked at the scoreboard with a massive grin on her face as her score went from zero to one, screaming with glee and taunting Superman at the same time. "And Rainbow Dash wins the event!" Mayor Mare screamed as the crowd roared in excitement. Rainbow Dash started doing poses while Superman watched on with a smile. Just as he predicted, the crowd was ecstatic that their hero had won. While RD flew around the stands in celebration, Superman hung back with a smile. It didn't matter to him that he had lost or that he couldn't touch the clouds. What mattered was showing these ponies that he wasn't a threat, that he was there to help. After the cheers had died down a bit, the next event was announced. They would be... "Sack racing?" both Rainbow and Superman asked at the same time. The mayor nodded excitedly, pointing over to the sacks on the race track. Rainbow Dash sighed and started to walk over to the sacks, but Superman held up his hand in protest. "If I may, I'd like to forfeit this event," he said. The mayor gave him a look, but shrugged and announced to the crowd that Superman had forfeited the fourth event. Some of the ponies booed, but the cheering started again when the crowd realized that his forfeit meant another point for Rainbow. The cheering began again while Mayor Mare announced the final event. "Mare's and gentlecolts, the final event of the day to settle the score and break the tie will be...a race to Canterlot and BACK!" The entire crowd gasped at her announcement before going into a frenzy. "That's right, Equestria's fastest flier will go one on one with the alien himself to see who is the fastest around! The rules are simple: waiting at Canterlot are two flags, one rainbow colored and the other with an "S" on it. The first flier to grab their flag and fly back over the finish line will be considered the winner!" This event interested Superman. A race to determine who the fastest was right up his alley. Now in his world he may not be the fastest alive, but he was fairly certain that he could beat Rainbow Dash without too much trouble. The two walked over to the starting line, RD placing her front hooves on the starting line while Superman did the same with his hands. Twilight and RD walked over as the taunting began. "Sorry Superman, but you're not going to be able to beat me in speed. I'm the fastest--" "Fastest flier in Equestria, I got it," Superman said with a grin. "Just don't count your chickens before they hatch." "Ugh, now you sound like Applejack." Both prepared themselves as Mayor Mare walked over and held a flag over their heads. The crowd was silent with anticipation, the air humming with nervous energy. The scores were tied and this was the event that would decide it, decide who was the better of the two. Both contestants tensed, eagerly waiting for the - "GO!" The crowd roared as Rainbow Dash tore off from the starting line, barreling ahead at full speed. The crowd screamed in excitement, only to die down in confusion when they realized that Superman was still at the starting line. "Uh, Superman, the race has started," Twilight said. "I know. Just giving her a head start," he said with a small chuckle. Twilight and Applejack both looked at him dumbfounded. Who gave the fastest flier in Equestria a head start? Rainbow Dash meanwhile, had been flying as fast as her wings would carry her, already activating her famous sonic rainboom and heading to Canterlot at top speed. She reached the city within thirty seconds, heading straight for the flag. The moment it entered her field of vision, she rocketed over to it and grabbed it with her forehooves, turning around and screaming back towards Ponyville. She was going so fast that tears started to slip from her eyes, victory all but assured. She hadn't even seen Superman behind her, she was that far ahead. This was all her! The finish line was in sight! She was going to-- kkkaaaaabbbbBBBBBBOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!! Just like the previous day, a blur of red and blue completely tossed RD aside as it streaked by her. She had just enough time to recover when the blur came by again and sent her for another loop as it blew right by her. By the time she had recovered her balance, she had already lost. Rainbow flew back down to the finish line to find Superman standing there triumphantly, flag grasped in his hand. The crowd, Applejack and Twilight, and even the mayor herself, all stood and gasped at the speed of the Man of Steel. He smiled down at the awestruck RD, who could barely comprehend what had happened. It couldn't be possible; it shoudn't be possible, but it had just happened. She had lost in a contest of speed.