//------------------------------// // The Wonder // Story: Let Them Wonder // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// With a cry of battle that would have caused the dead to tremble with fear, Wonder Woman hurled herself at the creature. The creature snarled as it unleashed blasts of shattered energy from its hands to stop the woman's advance, but every single one of its attacks were deflected by the indestructible bracelets. Diana reached the creature a moment after its final blast had been deflected, a smile on her face while she brought a fist back. The earth trembled beneath Wonder Woman's might as she drove her fist into the gut of the creature, hitting him with such force that he was torn from the ground and sent airborne. Diana followed up with a second punch that hit with such force that the trees behind the creature were knocked down by the shock of her punch. The creature was rocketed into the sky by the second blow, only to be joined by Diana a moment later. She gripped both her hands tightly as she lifted them over head and swung down with all of her might. "What the...?" Diana asked when the creature seemed to fade out of existence, appearing on the ground a few yards away from her with both hands aimed at the Amazon. The shattered energy fired from its hands once more, this time in millions of little shards that sliced through the air on their path towards Diana. Yet another smile crossed the woman's face as she began to move both her body and arms with such speed and precision that every single one of the shards was knocked out of the sky. She then hurled herself down towards the creature like a rocket, creating an explosion of dirt as she drove herself right into the creature. Sunset narrowed her eyes to see through the dirt, trying to figure out what was going on before a metallic clang could be heard and Diana came flying out of the dirt cloud. She snapped a tree in half with her body before plowing into the dirt, allowing the creature to emerge from the crater that had been created by their collision. "This should not be," the creature said to itself with confusion as Diana rose to her feet once more, cracking her neck twice before lunging towards him once more. He deflected one of her strikes with his metal limbs before catching her second punch with one of his hands. Wonder Woman then went for an elbow strike that the creature also managed to deflect with his other arm. The two strained against each other, causing the whole forest to shake as one smiled at the other. "What's the matter? Killing someone isn't as fun when they're stronger than you?" Wonder Woman asked the being before she slammed her forehead into the center of the creature's head. Another metallic clang echoed throughout the forest and Diana backed up slightly while holding a hand to her head. The creature took that chance to throw a blow right into the side of Diana's head, fire erupting from the force of the punch as he sent her hurtling back. "Not bad," Diana growled as she halted her momentum by digging her feet into the ground, using her thumb to wipe away a thin streak of blood that fell from the corner of her mouth. "But you're going to need to do a lot better than that if you hope to beat me." "I do not need to beat you. I should not even be fighting you. You should not be here," the creature said with a tone that was clearly annoyed. "This world should be just like all the other ones nearly identical to it. But for some reason a being like you is here, preventing me from killing that girl behind you and changing this world." Diana snarled at the creature's words before unclipping her lasso and letting it fly, wrapping the golden rope around the creature's throat. "That is a question that I have been wanting to ask this entire fight. Why did you attack Sunset's dreams? Why have you been trying to kill a girl that has done nothing to you or anyone else?!" Diana demanded of the creature, who tried to resist her words. But under the influence of the lasso of truth, he quickly found that his will meant nothing. "To see what would happen." The entire forest seemed to go quiet at the creature's words. Sunset glanced from the creature to Diana, who was rooted in place while staring at the creature with a look that she had never seen on the teacher's face before. "What?" Wonder Woman asked in a whisper that chilled Sunset to her soul. "That is what I do. I see how worlds would be different if something about them was changed. Normally I would prefer not to interfere directly, but Sunset just refused to die," the creature explained truthfully while trying to get the lasso off of its neck. "And for this world I wanted to see what it would be like if Sunset was dead--to see how her friends would fight against the magic that is invading this world. To see what the other worlds would do in response. It would have been quite the experiment, until you interfered." The sky roared with fury overhead as lightning streaked across what had been blue skies minutes ago, getting Sunset to look up to find that black clouds had taken over the sky. But she then turned her attention back to Diana, who was shaking with such ferocity that the ground beneath her was being split in half by her rage. "You're telling me, that the reason you attacked one of the kindest and most intelligent children that I have met...is because you wanted to see what would happen if she was dead?" Wonder Woman asked in a tone far calmer than the previous one she had used. "Of course. Sunset Shimmer is a failure," the creature truthfully spoke as it glared at the girl. "She failed her teacher Celestia in the other world. She failed to take over this world. She has failed in nearly everything she has done. She is destined to fail all those who care about her. No one would care if one of those many Sunsets out there died. I know I don't." "Sunset," Diana said with both of her eyes hidden beneath her hair, yet Sunset felt her soul go cold from Diana's tone. "I want you to look away. Because I promise you that you won't want to see...what I'm about to do." Wonder Woman then let out an unholy scream as lightning crashed down from the sky upon her, causing her eyes and bracelets to surge with the power of Zeus himself. Those eyes then set themselves upon the creature and with one mighty pull of her arms she ripped the creature from the ground. "I have so many questions that I want to ask you!" Wonder Woman roared as she swung the lasso over her head and in turn swung the creature by its neck. She then slammed a foot down on the lasso and made it come to an abrupt stop. A loud snap could be heard as the creature came to a sudden stop and collapsed to the ground. "Like who you are? Or where did you come from? Or what sort of being goes around killing off people to change a world?!" Diana roared as she swung the lasso again, tearing the creature from the ground only to slam it into the dirt once more. "But the only question I feel like asking you now," Diana began as she yanked on her lasso and pulled the creature towards her, fist brought back as she prepared to strike. "Is how badly is this going to hurt?" "Incredibly." Wonder Woman then drove her fist clean through the creature with a bellow of the gods, tearing through the being's metal body as her fist erupted out of the creature's back. She then held her arm high as another lightning bolt came down and struck her arm, electrocuting the metal being on the end of her arm. She then wrapped her other hand around its face and ripped it off of her arm, tossing it onto the ground as she drew her blade. "How...are you so strong?" the creature asked. "The Wonder Women I know of are not this powerful." "Because you attacked one of my students. And that makes me angry. So if you have any gods, pray to them now," Diana whispered to the creature, which was slowly beginning to pick itself up. "Because you are about to experience my full wrath." "No...this is not how it was supposed to go," the creature said in a voice that didn't sound any different than when it spoke earlier. "This development requires more studying to understand. I am done fighting. It never solves anything anyway. Goodbye." Diana lunged forward with her blade, but the creature faded out of existence right before her sword cleaved through the air. Wonder Woman let out a roar to the sky that shook the whole forest while lightning flashed above her, almost as if it resonated with her rage. Then she let out a sigh and sheathed her blade, reattaching her lasso to her side before turning and walking back over to Sunset. The girl gazed up at Diana with eyes that were beyond conflicted, with fear being the only emotion that shone clearly. Diana gazed down at her for a moment before she sighed and sat down next to Sunset at the base of the tree. "I bet you have a few questions for me after that performance. Go ahead, ask away." "What...are you?" Diana couldn't help but smirk at that question, knowing that it was going to be the first one out of her student's mouth. "I am an Amazon, a race of women who are trained since birth to be fighters. At least, that's who I used to be. Now it is more accurate to call me a goddess from another reality." Diana glanced over at Sunset to see her reaction to her words, but to Diana's surprise Sunset didn't seemed bothered at all by the reveal. "You are not surprised that your teacher is actually a goddess from another world?" "Not really. I mean the whole goddess and superpowers thing, yeah. But you being from another world isn't that strange to me...because I'm also from another world." Now it was Diana's turn to look shocked. "Is that what that bastard meant by you failed Celestia in the other world?" Diana asked Sunset, who nodded somberly. "In the other world, I was power hungry. I wanted to have it all. And when my teacher, Celestia, refused to give it to me I fled here, so I could rule this world. The only reason I'm still not that girl is because Twilight, the other world Twilight, and my friends here stopped me...and I've stayed here ever since, trying to learn about the ultimate magic that we call friendship." "I see. It seems you have already suffered much in your life," Diana said as she rose and wrapped the lasso around her, changing out of her Wonder Woman attire and back to her teacher's outfit with both sleeves repaired. Diana then twirled her lasso and pulled out a small vial, which she then offered to Sunset. "Here, this is medicine that was given to me by Hermes. It will heal your wounds." "Oh...wow," Sunset muttered after drinking a little of the medicine, stretching out her arm to find that it was as good as new. She returned the medicine to Diana and shakily stood up, finding that the rest of her body had been healed as well. "Feeling better?" "Yeah, actually. Thanks." Sunset then stared down at the ground for a long moment, her body language telling Diana that something else was wrong. "I'm so pathetic." "Where did this come from?" "Because that's the second time that that thing nearly killed me. And both times I tried to fight against it, it beat me down with no effort. If it wasn't for you Diana, I would be dead," Sunset admitted before a sad smirk crossed her face. "Here I am with some of the most powerful magic within me in the human world, and I can't even fend off nightmares without your help. Not to mention all of the magical problems that this world is facing, because I stole Twilight's crown and brought it here. I really am the worst." "Sunset, look at me," Diana said as she clasped both of her hands onto Sunset's shoulders. "You are not weak. You are kind, noble and intelligent. And you fought those nightmares for weeks without my help. You have the courage of a warrior and the heart of a hero. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. And there is no shame in needing help from those who care about you. Trust me." "I...I'll try," Sunset promised. Diana smiled at her before rising and walking towards the exit of what remained of the forest. Sunset stared at her for a moment before turning back to see the damage that had been caused by the battle with the creature. 'I have a part of the strongest magic in Equestria and I couldn't even phase that thing. And Diana beat it down with her fists. But she won't always be here to protect me...but maybe she can teach me...' "Diana!" Sunset called out, racing to Diana's side once she had stopped to glance down at her student. Sunset tried to find the way to ask Diana, but after a moment of frustration she simply bowed her head. "Please, teach me how to fight like you! I'm tired of being weak. Tired of being unable to rely on myself when things go wrong. Please...teach me to be strong." Diana glanced down at Sunset for a moment, pondering over her decision before a sigh and a small smile escaped from her lips. "Very well Sunset, I will teach you. Meet me after school next week and I will give you the Amazon treatment." Sunset's eyes shone like the sun at Diana's response, and with a large smile she walked alongside Diana as they approached the museum. "Hey Diana, one last question. What's a goddess like you doing here anyway?" Sunset asked. "I mean, don't you have more important things to be doing then teaching a bunch of students?" "I am here because a close friend of mine was murdered and Hades said that the only way I could bring him back was to bring him six magical powers that he wants," Diana responded. Sunset thought about what Diana said for a moment before realization dawned on her. "Our Elements?" she asked, getting a nod from Diana. Sunset then lowered her head for a moment, lost in thought. "And...are you going to take them?" "No. I may have considered it at first, but now I know that this world needs you girls and your magic. I will find another way to restore my friend to life, even if it means I have to beat Hades for all eternity until he finally relents. But I will find another way. I always do."