//------------------------------// // Shattered Loyalty // Story: Whenever You Call // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// The first sign of relief came when the terrible pain in his head slowly subsided, allowing him to finally breathe and think again without it hurting. He also finally felt his strength begin to return, letting him gradually pick himself up. His vision was slower to return, but he didn't need it since he could already tell something was wrong. He knew because it was quiet, which was something he never liked to hear. There were no sounds of victory, which he had expected to hear had he hit Sombra's horn, nor were there cries of defeat if he had missed. Just...quiet. Superman blinked twice and ran his hand across his face, looking down at the blurry hand. As his hearing grew stronger, he could hear the heartbeats of ponies and changelings, but...there was one that was missing. Superman pushed himself back up to his feet and looked over at the ponies, all of whom were standing in a circle around something. His x-ray hadn't returned yet, so he had to force himself to stumble over to them to see what was the matter. "Are all of you alright?" he asked them as he reached the circle, smiling slightly when he saw that Chrysalis was unharmed, along with her child. Chrysalis had been the only one to turn to face him and the smile she had on her face terrified him more than magic ever could. He walked past her towards the circle of ponies, each of whom moved out of the way to let him see. Superman reached the center...and stopped as if he had been shot. He was looking down at Sombra's corpse, with the eerie smile still etched into his dead face. "I...I don't understand? I aimed for the horn. How did he-?" Superman was stopped dead once again as he looked at Sombra's head with horrified eyes, seeing the two small holes in its side that could only be caused by one thing--Heat vision. "No..." he whispered as he fell to his knees, the entire city shaking as he hit the ground. "No..." "You killed him," Twilight whispered in disbelief, backing away from Superman as if he would do the same to her at any moment. Superman didn't even register what she had said; he could only stare at Sombra with the same horrified expression in his eyes with which most of the ponies were looking at him. "But...but Superman doesn't kill!" Fluttershy said in a panicked voice as she looked to the others for some sign of confirmation to what she had said. "He's always kind and nice and...and...he doesn't kill." She sounded like she wanted to believe what she was saying, but when she looked down at Sombra, tears welled up in her eyes and she had to look away. The other ponies were just as stunned, but Chrysalis looked down at him with a smirk and thought to herself how lucky he was that Superman made it quick. "Why?" Fluttershy eventually asked him with tears streaming down her face. "Why did you kill him?" "He didn't mean too!" Insectum screamed as she broke free of Chrysalis' grasp and ran in front of Superman, who looked right through her at Sombra. "He told me that while the magic was hurting him, he could barely see or hear! He probably just fired at Sombra in hopes that he would stop him, not kill him!" She stared at all the ponies defiantly, making them back away and making her mother proud at the same time. "He hasn't killed before, so why would he do it now unless it was on accident? Give him some-" She stopped speaking as Superman slowly got to his feet and walked over to Sombra's body, gently closing his eyes before scooping him into his arms. "What are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked him. Superman looked back at her with eyes that showed a shattered soul beneath, making her back up a bit. "I'm going to bury him." It stunned her; Not the fact that Superman had just killed or that the others were afraid of him. What stunned her was how defeated Superman sounded. He was the strongest person she knew who had gone through hell with a smile to save others, but now...he sounded so beaten. Superman looked away from her and flew off into the sky, slowly flying down to the land far below. Rainbow Dash shot after him, not sure she should leave him alone in his present state. Twilight said she was going to come as well, but RD held out a hoof to stop her. Going after Superman once again, she found him on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest in a small meadow with no trees and a beautiful view of the town. Superman had already dug a hole for Sombra and had laid his body in the ground. He had just finished filling the hole when RD landed next to him, watching as he floated over to a medium sized rock, which he picked up and placed at the top of the grave where he had buried Sombra. His heat vision flashed as he carved out a small memorial to the dead unicorn: "Here lies a fallen king. May he finally find peace." "It wasn't your fault," Rainbow said to him as he knelt down on one knee and hung his head. Superman hadn't heard her, and she walked over to his side before backing away from what she saw. He was crying. The fact that he was crying wasn't what startled RD, since she had seen him cry when Derpy died, but this was Sombra he was crying over, the pony that had tried to kill them all. She knew that if she were in his place she wouldn't be crying. But that wasn't important at the moment. Her friend was hurting and she needed to comfort him. Rainbow walked over to Superman and sat down beside him, opening her mouth to say something comforting, but closing it again when she couldn't think of anything to say. All she could do was look at the makeshift grave as well and gently wrap her wing around his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault," she said again. "Yes it was," Superman said in a raspy voice, trying to hold back the tears. "I'm the one with the powers; I should have been able to save Chrysalis without having to take the risk of killing Sombra. I should have used my freeze breath and just frozen him! Why didn't I think of that back then instead of killing him?!" he screamed at himself, shaking the ground beneath them with his rage. "Because you had a painful piece of magic trying to eat your brain," RD responded gently, trying to get him to see reason. Superman didn't respond, instead choosing to hang his head and let the tears fall again. "Superman, you did what you did to save Chrysalis and us, not because you wanted to kill him. It was an accident. It happens." "Not to me," he whispered. She once again heard the defeat in his voice and knew that she had to get him out of this mind set. She didn't want to know what happened when Superman was consumed with rage. "I don't kill...and I don't fail. Not like this." "You didn't fail," RD said with a bit more sterness in her voice, figuring that if sympathy wouldn't work, then she'd have to me more strict with him. "You saved us all again, just like you promised to do. You helped the changelings and answered Insectum's cry for help just like you'd promised. Sombra's death was caused because he chose to attack us. You tried to stop him--and because of his own weapon that he thought would kill you--forced you to take a shot. Did you kill him? Yes. Was it an accident? Definitely. Do I think any less of you? No. In fact, seeing the compassion that you've shown for a foe has only increased my respect for you." RD silently congratulated herself when Superman gave her a small smile. "Thanks Rainbow...I hope you don't mind, but I want to be alone for a while," Superman said weakly, standing and looking up. "Please go back to Canterlot and tell the others I'll be fine. I...need to be alone." Rainbow nodded and Superman gave her another small smile before he kicked off the ground, quickly leaving the planet's gravitational pull. RD sadly watched him go before turning back towards Canterlot and taking off. Far above the planet, Superman sat in the vacuum of space all alone, wondering how this had happened, how he had killed again despite his power. His sorrow started to turn to rage; a rage at Sombra for forcing him to act out of desperation; rage at the magic that could hurt him...but mostly he raged at himself, for not being strong enough to stop this without the loss of life. And when his rage finally reached its breaking point, he threw his head back and unleashed an unheard scream into the coldness of space, a scream of sorrow and rage that no one would hear. (S) "...And Sombra now has two holes burned into the side of his head. My sister has called for a meeting that I must get to soon, but I figured that you wanted to hear this." "So, he's finally killed, has he?" Luthor asked Celestia while he wrapped up bench pressing Superman's ship. "But for some reason you do not seem upset by it. Care to tell me why?" "Sombra...deserved it, even if I hate to say it," she said with a sigh. "Plus, Superman seemed broken by what he did and flew off with Sombra in his arms. I think that you and your world may be wrong about him, that he isn't all bad." "That is what many have been led to-" "No Luthor, I think that you have been holding out on me," Celestia said as she started to charge up her magic, pointing it at Luthor's chest. "Superman has saved the lives of my subjects hundreds of times and just the other day he threw himself in front of a blast of magic lightning to keep me safe--as well as the ponies. I need to know the truth, Luthor. Have you been lying to me this whole time?" "...Yes, Celestia, I have," he said with a smug face. "So it was you. All this time you were the real evil," Celestia said in a cold rage as Luthor turned away from her and went back to work on the suit. "Brainiac, Black Adam...convincing me that Superman was evil. It was all you." "All except for Adam, yes, but I'll take credit for that one as well," he said with a smirk, reaching for a tool when a blast of magic hit him in the back of the head and nearly knocked him over. He got up slowly and turned to face Celestia, murder flashing in his eyes. "Then I will keep my word," she said with venom as she prepared to fire again. "Now you di-" Celestia's words were cut off as Luthor flew up to her and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her above his head. "Oh, it is so cute watching you, the pony that thinks she is a god," Luthor said with a chuckle as he tightened his grip, causing Celestia to cry out silently. "But you are not a god; just a foolish pony who sits on a throne and thinks herself ruler over all. All you are, is afraid of real power, because it might be too much for you." "Y-you..." "I am tired of talking to a fool such as yourself," he said as he reached inside his coat and pulled out a tube of what looked like worms. "But there is still one last job you can do for me." Celestia struggled as he broke open the tube and placed one of the worms by her ear. She tried to use her magic but a swift blow to the gut stopped her. Luthor chuckled to himself as he watched the worm begin to work its way into her head. "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out," he sang to himself as the worm crawled inside of her mind. She struggled one last time, but then ceased to move as Luthor dropped her to the ground, where she slowly stood back up. "Celestia, I want you to go to this meeting with your sister and the Elements. But I want you to act like you did when Sombra was controlling you. You hate Superman and he is a killer; his kind killed your father. Show him no respect or mercy. Drive the ponies apart. Make them choose sides." Celestia nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Luthor alone to work. "Oh Sombra, you truly are my greatest pawn," Luthor chuckled to himself as he began to make his changes to the suit. "To think that you would make Superman kill you, shattering his confidence in himself and his beliefs! That is almost too much to believe. You have done the one thing that I needed to win this fight. You broke Superman." Luthor began to laugh out loud, his laughter echoing down the halls to where Celestia walked silently. Her walk eventually brought her to the throne room, where once the doors were opened she found her sister and the Elements of Harmony (minus RD ) already there. She walked by them all and went to her throne, sitting down on it while she looked at the ponies who knelt before her. "May I ask why you called this meeting, sister?" Celestia asked Luna as she started to rub her temples again. "The headaches have only gotten worse and I should be resting. I hope this is important." "It is, sister. You have already heard of Sombra's...death," Luna said hesitantly, not wanting to place the blame on Superman, though it was him who shot down Sombra. "But besides that, there is the damage to the prison and the escaped inmates to worry about as well." Celestia looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "So, where is the slayer, Superman?" she asked them. They all looked at each other with shrugs or shakes of their heads, none of them knowing where he was. "We do not know, but I'm sure that he will be back soon," Luna assured her sister. "He will not let the city go undefended." Celestia started to say something, but at that moment Rainbow Dash came flying through the window and landed in front of the other ponies, a sad look on her face. "Yes, Rainbow Dash, what news do you bring?" "Superman's fine, but he wants to be alone for a while. After what happened, he probably wants to try and calm down," Rainbow said with a small sigh. Then she picked her head up with shock as she heard Celestia chuckle at the news. "What's so funny, Princess?" she asked Celestia as she turned around to face her, eyes narrowed as she did so. "You say that he left to try and go calm himself, but I bet that he left so that he didn't have to face the consequences of his actions," she said with another chuckle, leaving the ponies to look at her, dumbfounded. "Um, not to be rude Princess, but he just saved all of Canterlot from Sombra's wrath...again," RD pointed out, wondering what Celestia was saying. "Yeah, he may have killed Sombra, but it was on accident. Superman would never kill on purpose." "So he says," Celestia retorted. "I prefer proof to words. Anyways, concerning the safety of our citizens, I-" "What do you mean by that?" RD interrupted, causing her friends to gasp as she took a step towards Celestia. "Are you saying that Superman doesn't back up what he says? That his actions are all part of a lie?" "Rainbow, what are you doing?" Twilight whispered to Rainbow, who ignored her as she continued to stare down Celestia. "And just what did you mean by face the consequences of his action? Sombra was sentenced to death. Even if it was an accident, he still did what you were going to. Why do you care if Sombra died?" "I will forgive that tone because I know that you do not understand," Celestia said in an icy tone. "I do not care that Sombra died, but what worries me is how long will it be until Superman kills again." "Um, how about never? He killed Sombra on accident and even then he probably had no choice," Rainbow responded. Celestia's eyes narrowed at her tone. "I have found that once a pony kills it becomes infinitely easier for them to take a life again," Celestia explained, struggling to keep her temper in check. "What is there to stop Superman if he decides to kill again?" "Superman himself. He would never hurt us," Rainbow said with certainty. Then, for the second time, Celestia began to laugh at what RD had said. "He says that he'd never hurt us, but I've seen what he really is," Celestia responded with another chuckle. "I was shown that he's a ruthless tyrant, both him and his Justice Lords. He doesn't care about us; he wishes to rule us." "That's not what-" "Furthermore, you are mistaken if you think that he saves us because he cares. If he were to let his future subjects die, then he would have nopony to worship him," Celestia said coldly, noticing that the others had begun to pay closer attention. "My source has shown me that on his world he is the ruler there, acting as judge, jury and executioner." "You're lying-" "And why would I lie to those whom I've sworn to protect?" Celestia asked her with a raised eyebrow. "But if I had to prove it to you...Applejack, what does your Element think about what I'm saying?" AJ looked down at her Element and channeled her honesty through it, looking surprised when it showed her the truth. "Celestia's not lying..." AJ said in disbelief, causing all the ponies to gasp. "But...that would mean that Superman..." "Is trying to rule over us," Celestia finished with a smile. The ponies began to murmur to themselves about what this meant ,while RD looked at them in disbelief. "Are you all seriously buying this garbage?" she asked them in shock. "Rainbow Dash, I know you respect Superman, but AJ's the Element of Honesty," Twilight said with sorrow in her voice. "And she can tell when some things are true--or not. And she says that what Celestia is saying is true. Superman is trying to rule us." Rainbow couldn't find the words to try and argue against what her friends were saying. "It can't be true. He's too nice a pony," Fluttershy said in his defense. "He saved mah life! Why would he bother to do that if he was just gonna kill us all in the end?" The others started to agree as well and sided with Superman, leaving Twilight as the only one who was still on the fence. "Even if you do not believe me, we must figure out a way to fight back against him," Celestia said to the ponies, but Twilight was the only pony there who was still having doubts. She didn't want to believe that Superman could be evil, but AJ and Celestia wouldn't lie to them. "And think about it this way. How many evils have shown up since Superman arrived? How about Black Adam, who could have killed our entire race. How about the mother that was lost in the attack a few days ago? All of them casualties to the fact that Superman doesn't-" "Shut up." The entire chamber went quiet as all eyes looked to Rainbow Dash, who was standing in the center of the room and literally shaking with rage. "Excuse me?" Celestia asked, stunned by what she had heard. "I said to shut up," Rainbow repeated as she stared down Celestia. "Don't you dare tell another lie about how he's evil or that he only wants to rule! You say that he doesn't care? Superman was crying when he buried Sombra, so upset that a life had been lost that it brought him to tears. And that wasn't the first time he's cried over death either! When Derpy died he held her filly in his arms and wept, promising her that he'd protect us! So don't give me your bull about how he doesn't care. He does." Celestia's rage had just reached its boiling point and she stared down at RD with pure disbelief in her eyes. "You dare to call me a liar?" she asked RD in a whisper. "I dare, Celestia," RD shot back. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled as she stormed over to her friend, rage in her eyes as well. "Celestia is our princess and royal ruler of the land! I don't care how mad you are, you need to show her-!" "What, respect?" RD asked with a sneer as she glared at her friend, flames burning in her eyes. "I only respect those who deserve it and right now she doesn't deserve it." "But she's our ruler." RD looked at Twilight with a cold stare before turning to Celestia. "She may be your ruler, but I won't follow somepony who tries to hurt a good pony without just cause," Rainbow said coldly. Celestia's fury skyrocketed even higher and her horn began to glow with power. "You seem to forget who you are speaking with," Celestia said in a whisper. "You are my subject." "I'm no subject of yours," RD snarled in response as she took up a fighting stance. "I could knock that crown of yours off your head before you could even blink. Ever since Superman showed up, you've been acting all 'high and mighty'. It's time somepony took you down a peg." The ponies looked at the two with fear, believing that they might actually begin fighting right then and there. "ENOUGH!" Luna roared as she sent a column of darkness exploding between the two while she knocked both of them off their hooves. She walked over to Rainbow Dash and glared into her eyes. "Rainbow Dash, I understand why you say what you say, but my sister has protected Equestria for centuries and has earned respect with what she's done. Just because her opinion differs from yours does NOT give you the right to attack her or threaten her. Am I clear?" RD looked away from Luna with a scowl, with Celestia chuckling at her. "AND YOU!" Luna roared as she turned on her sister, teleporting in front of her with a blast of darkness. "You may not like Superman, but he has not broken any of the pony law or done anything that would require us taking action against him. We cannot attack him simply because you believe him to be a threat, especially after everything he's done for us!" "It is my decision to make sister. I am ruler-" "You are only half the ruler and our decision must be unanimous to be put into effect," Luna reminded her with a scowl, shutting Celestia up. "Rainbow Dash, I suggest that you go cool off. In fact, all of you should. If you wish to believe what Celestia has said, then more power to you. But I suggest that you judge Superman by his actions and not by what my sister may have said in her weakened state." RD turned with a scowl and walked out of the throne room, followed close behind by Fluttershy. "That was really...crazy what you did in there," she said softly as RD continued to walk away. "Calling out Celestia like that. You know that's she's been sick and hasn't been thinking clearly lately." "I don't care," RD responded curtly. "I can understand her not liking Superman, but I won't let any pony get away with insulting how much he cares for us. Everything he's done since he has arrived has been to help us." Fluttershy walked with her in silence for a minute, wondering what to say next. She never got the chance, however, as RD came to a stop once they were in the courtyard and let out a sigh. She then reached around her neck and undid her Element of Loyalty, hoofing it over to Fluttershy once it was off. "Can you hold onto this for me? I...need to find out where my loyalties lie." Fluttershy took the Element gently from her friend and watched with sad eyes as she flew away, realizing that they may have lost the Element of Loyalty right there. So there was only one thing to do to try and help rectify the situation. "Tomorrow I'll have Superman and Celestia talk it out," she said with confidence, planning to get this all cleared up. She then turned around and headed for Luna, hoping that she'd help too. She found Luna in her room, taking a few medications to help with stress. "Yes, I am in agreement with you," Luna said, once Fluttershy had explained what had happened over tea, including her plan on where and when the two of them should meet. "It seems like the only way to convince my sister that Superman is on our side is to get them to speak with one another." "Then you don't think he's here to rule us?" "Never have. I judge ponies based on their actions, not what others say," Luna reminded her." And in all honesty, I probably would have said the same thing to Celestia herself if she weren't so sick. She's been having terrible headaches ever since Chrysalis attacked Canterlot when Superman first showed up. And she also spends nearly every minute down in that lab of hers. I'm thinking of going down there myself in a few days to see what she's up too." "So you'll convince her to go?" Fluttershy asked with hope filling her heart. "Yes, as long as you can convince Superman to come," Luna responded with a sigh. "I'm just happy to have this whole crises with Sombra finally over. And once Superman and Celestia make peace tomorrow, all will be well." Luna said this as a fact, knowing that their troubles were finally over. What she didn't know was that a certain human had been listening in on their conversation, now ready and willing to bring down Superman. Lex smiled to himself as he shut the door to the lab, looking over the armor one last time. The Elements were in a state of disarray, Superman was practically broken...oh it was a good day indeed. But tomorrow would be even better. Tomorrow Superman would finally die...and Equestria would be his.