Hero Souls: Awakening

by SvenFoxx

22. The Star Spangled Pegasus

Fluttershy kicked off the story first.

“I was at home getting ready for bed when Rainbow Dash showed up at my house. She told me about the fire at Town Hall and about needing Pegasi to start a tornado to put it out. She didn’t tell me about the Ursa, probably knowing I would have run away.

“I had just started making my way to the Town Hall when I came across said Ursa… just as it was bringing a paw down on you, Derpy, and Dinky. You shouted something, and suddenly there was far too much light to see much of anything.

“That’s when things got strange.”

---

Fluttershy frantically rubbed at her eyes, trying to get them to stop stinging from the impromptu flash grenade that was Twilight Overdriving. Not that she knew that yet.

When she could see again, it was to the jaw dropping sight of Twilight surrounded by a veritable hurricane of magic. The Ursa Major was thrashing around in the air directly above Twilight, held aloft by a thick haze of purple magic.

“Full Expel!”

Suddenly, the magic around Twilight compressed into a brightly glowing circle that floated around her horn. Symbols and markings Fluttershy had never seen before filled the circle. Then, swinging her horn upwards, Twilight pointed the circle and her horn at the Ursa.

“Magic Missile!” There was a pulse in the air, and then a massive beam of magic exploded from her horn, hitting the Ursa Major and completely overwhelming it. After a moment, the magic died down.

Fluttershy realized her jaw was hanging open just as Twilight collapsed, unconscious.

---

Twilight groaned. “Stars, no wonder I feel like crap,” she grumbled.

Fluttershy blinked. “Wait, that hurt you?”

“What you heard Twilight shout before that was Overdrive,” Celestia explained. “To summarize, it empowers the user immensely, but damages their body proportionately to how much magic they drew on.” She glared at a cringing Twilight. “Then my foolish student went and used Full Expel, which does exactly what the name implies. It funnels all of the user’s remaining magic into the next technique they used. That much raw power running through the body has killed ponies before. It’s nothing short of a miracle that she’s alive.”

“Oh.”

---

Fluttershy’s awe was cut short when she heard a roar come from above. She looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of the Ursa, smoking and damaged, but otherwise okay, hurtling back towards the ground.

Back towards Twilight and the other two ponies with her.

Fluttershy wanted to run, but something inside of her didn’t just resist that idea, it flat out demolished it with an unholy vengeance. Something clicked in her mind, and timed seemed to slow as she began running. She felt something rushing through her body, like adrenaline. Looking up, she saw the bear falling in slow motion. It was angling itself, raising a paw. By the glare it was sending Twilight, Fluttershy correctly assumed it was going to use the momentum of its fall for greater striking force.

Her body was moving faster now. Her wings began whirring with how fast they were flapping. She realized she was flying. Her eyes caught a trashcan lid in the path to Twilight. She scooped it up on her way by. Looking back up, she judged her speed, the speed of the falling Ursa, and her chances.

‘Not enough time to move them. Gotta hope this works.’ she decided firmly. She dived towards her friends and the ponies she had saved. She felt strength flooding her body. As a bonus, she started feeding her Pegasus magic into the trashcan lid, strengthening it. ‘This is gonna hurt…’

And the Ursa came down like a boulder at terminal velocity, slamming its paw into the yellow Pegasus. The force of the strike shook the ground.

Under that paw was the straining form of Fluttershy, using the trashcan lid to stop the paw from hitting the ponies at her hooves. Her face was screwed up as she exerted herself in ways very, very few Pegasi ever managed.

As she did, Fluttershy saw images run through her mind. Bipedal hairless creatures, humans she realized based off of Twilight's description of them. Some were dressed in simple clothes, and worked in a simple town. Some were dressed in greens and browns and looking serious, carrying strange long objects, rifles her mind told her. And some where dressed in important business suits, with cameras flashing in the background as she waved.

The Ursa pulled its paw back and stared at Fluttershy, obviously shocked. Fluttershy panted and groaned. Her body was going to hurt in the morning. The Ursa suddenly roared, and Fluttershy reacted by hurling the trashcan lid like a discus at the bear's face with all of her might. The bear's head snapped back as the trashcan lid bounced back. Fluttershy caught it as she flew towards the Ursa, and struck it in the face with a hard kick that once more made it stagger back.

She remembered being frail and weak. She remembered being bullied relentlessly for her weakness. She remembered life being hard. She thought she would have hid from the world at that point, but the man these memories belonged to didn't give up. Like a certain mare Fluttershy looked up to in her current life, the man, Steve Rogers, fought back. He almost always lost, but he never gave up. He never stopped believing one could succeed if they just tried hard enough.

The bear tried to take a swipe at Fluttershy, but she contorted around the swing, and then once more sent the lid into it's face. It roared in pain and frustration. Fluttershy then flew around its head and bucked it right in the back of the head, sending it staggering forward. She had never felt this strong and fast before. Even now she could feel her body slowly bulking up, gaining strength and speed. Her wings were becoming as strong and efficient as they possibly could, and her mind was getting sharper and sharper.

She remembered joining the Army, wanting to protect and enforce the America way; Truth, Justice, and Liberty for all. She remembered being turned down, and then given the opportunity to become greater than a soldier, to become greater than some piece on the board. If she survived the process, she would become a super-soldier. Captain America.

The bear tried to backhand Fluttershy as it turned towards her, but she deflected it with her makeshift shield. Then she got in its face and reared back, before solidly punching it in the forehead with the shield, using every scrap of strength her enhanced body could call on.

The bear went down like a sack of bricks, out cold. Fluttershy landed a little roughly. She was panting, sore, and all around exhausted... but victorious.

---

Twilight stared at her friend in shock. "You... you're a Hero Soul?" she asked.

Fluttershy nodded. "I am. I'm the Soul of Justice, Steve Rogers, Captain America."

"I think it goes without saying that the order to suppress medical information on Twilight now extends to Fluttershy," Celestia told Doctor Tender.

The Doctor sighed. "Yes, Your Highness," he said.

Author's Note:

To be clear, Fluttershy didn't block that initial strike without consequences. At least five different bones in her body were fractured, but in the ensuing three days they healed.

The reason Fluttershy could do what Twilight couldn't is because Twilight's durability is completely useless against magical attacks and strikes, leaving her just as vulnerable as a normal Unicorn. The Ursa Major is made of magic, meaning even blowing on Twilight would have probably sent her tumbling. Getting bitch-slapped through a house? Yeah, she could have died from that.

On the flip side, Fluttershy's body is enhanced by a chemical super-serum that is tailored for her Pegasus body. She is basically the genetically perfect Pegasus. Her body can withstand the force that strike exerted on her, but only barely. On that note, you should all probably assume that, when it comes to physical powers, the Ascended have tweaked the Hero Souls before they show up in Equestria, enabling said powers.

Now, here's Fluttershy's Character Sheet. Redacted, of course, of important bits for future chapters. I pulled Steve Rogers' abilities from the Marvel wiki. Let me tell you, I was not expecting the list I found.

Name: Fluttershy
Main Theme Song: Sight Unseen, by Black Gryph0n and Baasik
Gender: Female
Race: Pony
Sub-Race: Pegasus

Hero Soul: Steve Rogers/Captain America [Soul of Justice]

Abilities
Peak Pegasus Strength
Peak Pegasus Speed
Peak Pegasus Durability
Peak Pegasus Agility
Peak Pegasus Reflexes
Peak Pegasus Stamina
Peak Pegasus Senses
Peak Mental Processing
Accelerated Healing
Poison/toxin Immunity
Advanced Longevity
Indomitable Will (Will resist most, if not all, forms of mental manipulation, ranging from inebriation to flat mind control.)

Skills
Master Tactician and Strategist
Master Martial Artist
Master Shield Fighter
Advanced Military Operator (Can basically use any military skill ranging from assassination to radio operation.)
Master Acrobat
Master Marksman
Master Swordsman

MISC. Skills
Expert Sketch Artist
Multilingual (English, Russian, German, Spanish, Japanese, some French, and some Italian.)

Bio
Fluttershy was born and raised in Cloudsdale. She had once been rather adventurous and curious about the world, but severe and numerous bully encounters throughout school crippled her inquisitive nature and turned her timid and shy. This transformed into fear of the world around her, and stunted her development in flying as she could never force herself to fly higher than two feet off the ground/cloudstuff.

Fluttershy does not often speak of her childhood, but when she does she makes it clear that Rainbow Dash was the best of her very few friends in Cloudsdale, often standing up to bullies for her regardless of how badly that tended to end. [REDACTED]

It was during a race between Rainbow Dash and two of the bullies that bothered both of them that Fluttershy fell from Cloudsdale. Because of her fear, she could not get her wings to cooperate and would have died if not for the animals of the forest below catching her. Thankful for the kindness the animals showed her, she decided she would return it by helping to care for any and all animals that come to her for help. She witnessed Rainbow Dash perform a Sonic Rainboom just after this decision, somehow cementing it into her mind and awakening her latent Talent.

After enlisting the help of a Pegasus nearby to assure her family she was okay, Fluttershy decided to remain a ground-bound Pegasus and settled within Ponyville. She became the town’s most experienced veterinarian after some time.

Notes
Despite the life changing decision she made, Fluttershy still suffers from crippling shyness and fear of the unknown. Even after becoming the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy requires a push from her new friends to keep her within the social life of Ponyville.
---
[REDACTED]
---
[REDACTED]
---
[REDACTED]
---
[REDACTED]

Also, here's another piece of lore.

While magic can be used nearly instantly by any race on Equus, the more powerful spells and mysteries are often too difficult to utilize without something more than just force of will. It was Starswirl the Bearded who discovered that magic can be further refined for a spell through vocalization. In other words, by vocalizing the name of a spell, or a phrase you inherently feel connects to the spell, you make said spell easier to use. The longer the vocalization, the easier the spell becomes, but the vocalization must remain somehow tied to the spell itself, or it fails.

There is only one example in recorded history of Princess Celestia utilizing vocalization. The spell was a simple flamethrower spell. Today, we call the area in which she did so the Badlands, a wasteland where life is scarce and survival beyond difficult.

EDIT: I done goofed. I made it seem like using vocalization is what made Celestia's spell stronger when in fact all it does is make spells easier to use. Please ignore that, I'll figure out an alternative piece of lore later for the creation of the Badlands.

Comments

[badninja]

I wonder what they will replace Fluttershy's trash can lid with. Also I do hope whatever she does use it will violate the laws of physics like Cap's shield does, routinely.

[SvenFoxx]

8108980 We're in a world of abundant magic and precious resources... What do you think?

[badninja]

8108988

My Magic 8 Balltm says "All Signs Point to Yes".

[magpye]

it a magical world flutters could get shield of orecalcum or mitheril or someother magic metal i never heard of or just use the lid but blessed with the power of sun and moon godesses

[Marwile]

There is only one example in recorded history of Princess Celestia utilizing vocalization. The spell was a simple flamethrower spell. Today, we call the area in which she did so the Badlands, a wasteland where life is scarce and survival beyond difficult.

I don't know why I find this so funny. Probably because it sounds like a Chuck Norris joke.
"Princess Celestia only once vocalized a spell... The area is now known as the Badlands."

[everydaygamer]

You know I always found it funny how the Ursa Major was only really mentioned in the show once and now every fan-fic that uses one portrays it as a super powerful force that anyone would have trouble standing up to (even the Hulk has had difficulty dealing with one) it's gotten to the point where I can't help but smile when people use one to give there hero a challenge.

[SvenFoxx]

8109103 The Ursa Major isn't really uber powerful, at least not mine. They're proportionately strong for their size, which is ridiculous if you look at the one showed in the show and do some basic math. The issue in Hero Souls is their beyond stupid magic resilience, combined with the fact that they are creatures made of magic. For Twilight, it was just a bad match-up, but for Fluttershy, who's powers don't go "Pllblblblt!" when faced with magic, it was just a really aggressive, if potentially dangerous, workout.

[Hiirome]

So. A trash can lid. I'm okay with this. But damn, with this ability list, i bet that until Rainbow's awakening, she'll get somewhat jelly... or she'll will push Flutters toward getting her own time of glory, dunno, depend of how you will portray RD's reaction with what amount now at a schoolcase example of an apex pegasus... or is RD naturally beyond Flutters upgrades in domains like speed or senses ? I have some doubt, but yeah...

[alfonso_rd_33]

ok, back to work...

EDIT:

Work Done, Check your mail, awaiting your answer ;)

And you HAVE to reference the whole JLA / Avengers Shebang with Cap n' Kal...

[Slayerseba]

The name of the chapter gives it all away.

[Void Runner]

8109117 Wait... are you basing these "Hero Souls" off of Heroic Spirits ala the Fate series? Because in that case it was only Saber who had the ridiculously OP magic resist stat. Of course, you could tweak the abilities however you want, seeing as it's your story, but it'd still be interesting.

[Comickook]

Thanks immensely for getting this next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. Excellent job, of course, on the action in the flashback. And, also very good job on the info in the author's notes.

And, yeah, it would probably be a pretty good idea for Twi to ask Celestia to have somebody design a special armored suit for her that would give her AT LEAST SOME magic resistance just in case she ends up having to fight a powerful magic monster when her friends weren't around (kind of like a modified and more durable variant of the Anti-Kryptonite suit Superman occasionally used in the 1990s animated series).

At any rate, I will very certainly be looking forward to more of this, but will also be quite willing to be patient.

[HEB807]

This chapter had me smileing ear to ear the entire way through. :-)

[Void Runner]

8107126
8107132
Yeah, Ponies have dexterous prehensile wings and hair. The hair is most obvious with Pinkie Pie, but even Apple Jack and Twilight have been seen to express this ability on occasion. Not sure how that would translate to wielding Chakra, as from what I understand of Naruto lore it's half mental discipline over the energy and half direct physical manipulation of their bodies, with the forming of hand signs being a crutch and more experienced users being able to forgo some or all of them for certain jutsu because they've used them so often they've developed the chakra equivalent of muscle memory. So yeah, Ultimately hand seals aren't really necessary, but only if the person in question has achieved A to S rank mastery of the jutsu in question, and even then it would only be for That jutsu...

[SvenFoxx]

8109494 I can see the similarity, but no. Hero Souls are simply the reincarnation of heroes from other worlds, powers and all.

Ursa Majors in this story are magic resistant and composed of magic because I need things in here Twilight can't just brute force her way through. This is going to be a learning experience/reminder to her that being direct against an opponent that has the advantage over you is a bad idea.

[SvenFoxx]

8109542 Yeah, I seem to be on a roll these last few days. Didn't even realize how close together I uploaded them until I looked after posting this one.

[Void Runner]

8109542 Why would Twilight ask Celestia? Twilight's genius enough through her life experiences pre-awakening and more than likely has the necessary arcane knowledge to Tony Stark herself her own magical super suit, especially if Fluttershy relates her experiences as an Avenger and the descriptions of the Iron Man Armour give her the necessary ideas.

Heck, with Twilight designing it it would probably be more streamlined and easier to use/equip than the Big Blue Cheese's Lead Suit ever was, so she might just adopt it outright as her "Super" armor/suit. Especially if she can eventually find a way to use it to bridge the gap between her Magic and her Kryptonian Soler Energy to work together instead of against eachother.

[SvenFoxx]

8109602
8109542

Except Twilight is more magically inclined than technologically. That's not to say she sucks with technology, just that her focus and usual response to a situation is magic.

Besides, I'm not too fond of sticking someone as inherently magical as Twilight in what basically amounts to a Magic-Null Suit. She'd sooner burn the thing than use it.

[alfonso_rd_33]

8109602 yes, but having such an armor would cut the usage of her magic too...

[Void Runner]

8109604
One word: Magitech. Like I said, rather than have it be a counter to magic, let her design it so that it uses her innate magic to shore up her rock-paper-shoryuken defenses while either feeding off of her kryptonian abilities to make it as durable as her, or (probably unlikely) even augmenting her abilities a bit to bridge the gap in power she lost crossing dimensions to put her back up on the same footing (though if you do put that in, it could be like the "Overdrive" spell, and when it wears off the armor collapses and she's back to being at her base level and vulnerable, so it would be a last-ditch finisher).

It wouldn't even have to be mechanically based. It could be like those "computers" you were explaining in an earlier chapter, using a mixture of crystal armor plate forms inscribed with runic sigils with only token mechanical components (reinforced by the Magic/Kryptonian augmentation) to get everything to blend more easily.

You don't have to use any of this (after all, at the end of the day it's your story), and this would Definitely be something for later down the line when the conflicts escalate to the point of needing as many Aces as this forming "Harmony League" can get their hooves/talons/whatever on.

I'm just offering some ideas to bounce around.

[ChaosOverlord65]

Fluttershy's Hero Soul is Captain America? When first saw the title I tilted my head a bit at the choice, but after reading the chapter and remembering Cap Back story it makes more sense. And since I like Marvel over DC, I'm excited to see this.

[Greenhorn]

Rainbow Dash: Fluttershy is a Hero Soul? Awesome!! New training buddy!
Fluttershy: er... I'm not sure that's a good idea ... Dash.
--- 10 minutes later ---
Fluttershy: um ... Dash? Are you alright? You're not too hurt, are you?
Rainbow Dash: ... stars ... stars everywhere ...

[ChaosOverlord65]

8109494 So it looks like it just Superheroes.

[Void Runner]

8110649
Not necessarily, though they are the most likely. Ancient Heroes from legend and mythology are much more difficult to quantify than those from modern media and video games. Their counterparts from things like the Fate series make it easier to use them if only because there's more material readily available and the series' in question and their exact abilities have been more clearly defined.

Either way, I never really though we would be seeing Saber or Lancer or (Celestia Forbid) Gilgamesh showing up as a Hero Soul. It was more a postulation on a possible system the author may have been using as a base-line to build their own headcanon for the story off of. They said it wasn't, so it isn't, but it was still a thought I had to possibly have something familiar to quantify my understanding of the system off of.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

I figured as such... awesome work!

[Dragonwaz]

I don't really agree here. Even with The super serum I in no way believe Fluttershy could take an Ursa Major. A minor is the size of a house and a major is roughly five times that size hunched over. You effectively wrote captain America throwing a trash can lid and pushing back a seven story building. Nothing short of the Hulk or Thor's hammer would be able to do that. Even Iron man would likely break his suit before pushing back that many tonnes of solid flesh.

Spiderman has significantly greater physical strength than Captain America and even he could only match the Hulk in one instance where he was powered up. Meanwhile Captain America can lift 800 to 1000 pounds max.
Now if it was an Earth pony I'd believe it because of the enhancing effect of the serum but pegasi aren't built for strength they're built for dexterity. Which is one is Captain America's strengths so it fits but he was never known for knocking down buildings

vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/3/3d/Ursa_major_ID_S1E6.png/revision/latest?cb=20150323231742

As for Superman I went to look it up cause the fight was starting to feel a little too Kryptonite-y. Superman isn't weak to magic he's just not resistant to it, he can physically fight magical beings just fine (i.e. his beat down with Shazam), but he can be affected by spells just like any other human though (i.e. Shazam knocking him out with magical lightning)

People often misunderstand the "vulnerability" of Superman to magic and many writers have played it out as a weakness due to either ignorance or misinformation.

Let's make one thing clear Superman isn't weak against magic, he just doesn't have any special protection. He is as weak to magic as Martian Manhunter,Green Lantern or Flash, its not a weakness, he just doesn't have any special protection from it. Now that doesn't mean that magic is an instant KO against Supes, in numerous occasions Supes has fought and defeated magic users with potent abilities but some writers again due to misinformation, make Superman "weak" against magic, a nice example is Batman 12, where Superman couldn't even be near to magic because he couldn't comprehend it, now this of course is completely false, Superman has been fighting magic users for years without any trouble and half his allies are magic powered, even his girlfriend comes from magic, you can understand that him fainting in front of magic is just ridiculous.
From his fights with Captain Marvel, we know that Superman doesn't have any problems with Magic-powered physical attacks (he may feel them a little more depending who writes him but that's it). He is hurt more when he is attacked by direct magic, like a magic lightning bolt(which in numerous occasion hasn't KOed him and the ToA Orm lightning is considered PIS).Thats what I had to say at least, there is nothing we can do except to expect the writers to do their homeworks.

So Superman hurting from a physical fight with an Ursa is viable, but he's not a push over though and he can still hit as hard as any other time.

I don't expect you to or want you to change anything. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

[SvenFoxx]

8681843
Unfortunately, without the weakness to magic, Twilight is pretty much immune to everything. It was either that or let Twi stomp a mudhole in every challenge.

As for Fluttershy, please direct your attention to here.

Bare in mind that Fluttershy isn't gifted with Captain America's strength and speed, but rather the super-soldier serum. The serum enhances the user to the absolute limit of their biology. Can the Captain himself do what Fluttershy did? No, probably not. Not with a human's limits anyways.

But Fluttershy is a Pegasus, and on top of that is unusually strong and fast, It was just a matter of getting her to use these abilities. Combined with the super soldier serum and her above average body, I think Fluttershy could, in fact, take on an Ursa Major. Not without consequences, but it is possible.

[LostArchivist]

Snerk. Is there any skill that she DOESN'T have?! That's quite a list!

[alfonso_rd_33]

9104859
she doesn't know how to weave a quilt...

[cosmic flash]

Where is Twilight's character sheet?

[Zapper Frost]

Fluttershy nodded. "I am. I'm the Soul of Justice, Steve Rogers, Captain America."

Hero Soul: Steve Rogers/Captain America [Soul of Freedom]

So... is fluttershy the soul of justice or freedom?

[SvenFoxx]

9717887
Fluttershy is the Soul of Justice. The Soul of Freedom will go to another.

[Rubae]

I guess Fluttershy isSteve Rogers for Marvel makes sense. They have the same personality more or less