//------------------------------// // Homecoming // Story: The Adventures of Supermare: Side Stories to Mare of Steel // by iowaforever //------------------------------// Homecoming         There were many things Rainbow Dash had been nervous about: passing her flight exam, moving to Ponyville, finding out whether or not she would explode due to magical overload, all had nearly pushed her over the edge. Becoming Supermare had helped a bit, but she was still a pony, and thus much more skittish than she would have liked.         Now, though, her nervousness was greater than any other time. As she stood outside Cloudsdale’s hospital, she had to suppress the urge to start pacing, less she wear a hole in the ground or attract too much attention. Her eyes stayed focused on the door, and she did her best to cut off as many unnecessary sensory inputs, no small task considering her heightened senses. She briefly flicked through her x-ray vision, but looking through the hospital felt wrong and disturbing. So she waited.         The doors to the hospital opened and out stepped Firefly, the older mare giving Rainbow a small smile once she was outside. Her left wing was in a cast, and she walked with a slight limp, but other than that she seemed fine. Not able to suppress her urges anymore, Rainbow hurried forward and pulled Firefly into a hug, doing her best to limit her strength and not hurt her mother further.         “Missed the chance to hug me, I see.” Firefly said, reaching up to hug Rainbow back.         “I was worried, Mom.” Rainbow said. “When you got hurt, I... I panicked. I thought that you’d gotten killed or something.”         “It’d take a lot more than a magic blast to the face to get rid of me.” Firefly game a small chuckle and broke from Rainbow’s embrace, although the younger mare was incredibly hesitant to do so. “Come on, let’s get out of here; I don’t want to spend anymore time here.”         “I’m with you there.” ................         The two had taken their pace slowly, and it was almost twilight by the time they reached Firefly’s house. The older mare had wanted to get home as quickly as possible, but Rainbow Dash could not risk the chance of her mother getting hurt again.         They had not talked much, especially when passing through the heart of Cloudsdale. Most of the city was repaired, but many buildings still bore the scars of Brainiac’s attack. Firefly could tell that Rainbow was unwilling to talk at that moment, and so kept her silence until they reached her house.         “You sure you don’t need my help?” Rainbow asked.         “Rainbow, I’m sure I don't need help getting in to my house.” Firefly paused. “Although, getting there was something completely different. And if you ever want to stop by and help me with some of my exercises, I’d be very appreciative.”         “Exercises? You mean, like physical therapy?” Rainbow remembered back to when she had broken her wing, having to do a few different stretches to make sure that it had healed properly, and guessed that that was what Firefly was talking about.         “That, and something to get my strength back up. They said I’d never make it past twenty MPH,” she chuckled. “Like that’s going to stop me.”         “Just as long as you don’t hurt yourself again, I’m cool with it.”         “Since when have you gotten all protective of me?”         “Since...” Rainbow hesitated, turning away a little “Since I got you hurt.” there was a pause before Firefly spoke again.         “You’re blaming yourself for this?”         “Mom, it was my fault. I could have taken Brainiac down a lot faster than I did. Heck, I could have gotten him out of Cloudsdale and gone somewhere where nopony would get hurt. But I didn’t; I stayed in Cloudsdale. I didn’t beat him fast enough. I-”         “Rainbow, stop it.” Firefly took a step forward. “This isn’t a race, where you can just train yourself to fly faster. I’m no superhero myself, but I know what could happen if you cut loose and tried to beat somepony quickly, and you could have damaged Cloudsdale a lot worse than what happened. And even if you had taken the fight elsewhere, I still would have gone after you.”         “Why?”         “Because super or not, you are still my daughter, and I will not let anypony hurt you, no matter what.” Rainbow smiled, but that smile faded and she looked away. “Rainbow?”         “... I tried to kill him.” another pause. “I saw you get hurt, and... I lost it. I just wanted to kill him so bad, make him pay for what he did you. But...”         “You didn’t?” Firefly asked, finishing Rainbow’s sentence.         “No. Thunderlane talked me down, but if he didn’t...” Rainbow shuddered. “Mom, I don’t want to kill him now. I-I don’t want to kill anypony.”         “I know.” Firefly stepped forward and wrapped a foreleg around Rainbow, the younger mare leaning in.         “But what if I lose it again? What if there’s somepony so powerful that I have to do something like that?”         “I can’t answer for the second part. But I know that you are a strong mare, and I know you’ll be able to keep a rein on your temper now that you’ve seen what it’s like when you lose control.”         “You think so?”         “Superheroes aren’t the only ones that get angry; I’ve been dealing with my own anger issues for a lot longer than you have, and the best thing I’ve found is to find a way to get it to work for you, rather than have it take over.” Firefly looked into Rainbow’s eyes. “Can you do that for me?”         “... I’ll try.”         “Good.” Firefly smiled and broke off their embrace. “Now, do you think you can spare some time from your schedule to keep an old, injured mare company?” Rainbow gave her own smile before an idea came to mind.         “Mom, wait here. I’ve got to go get something.” Firefly raised an eyebrow, but complied. Rainbow darted inside the house, flying up to her old room. sitting behind a few boxes was an old set of horseshoes, her last pair before she had moved to Ponyville. She picked up one, turned it over and activated her heat vision, etching a small phrase into the metal. When she was finished, she flew back downstairs and outside, stopping in front of Firefly and handing it to her.         “‘World’s Greatest Mom’...” Firefly read, looking up just as Rainbow gave her another hug.         “You’ve always been there for me.” she said. “Even when I got my super powers, you never gave up on me. You’ve tried to help me every step of the way, and I don’t think I’d be who I am today if you weren’t here.” there was a brief moment of silence before Firefly pulled Rainbow Dash even closer.         “I love you, Rainbow.”         “I love you too, Mom.”