Hero Souls: Awakening

by SvenFoxx

39. Second Session

Luna finished writing the date down on her notepad, checked her clock, then looked at Twilight. “And we’ve begun,” she said. “Last time we spoke, you told me of the destruction of Krypton and how your biological family sent you to Earth with the hope that you would not only survive, but also thrive. Then we touched upon you discovering your powers as you grew.” She made a note in her book. “Let us pick up from there. How did others react to your powers as they developed?”

Twilight looked away. “For the longest time only my family knew about them. My father was, perhaps justifiably, terrified of what the government would do to get a hold of me if my powers were ever discovered.” She looked at a hoof. “I think… I think my greatest regret in my life as Clark Kent… was not saving my father when I could have.”

“You saw your father die?”

Twilight nodded. “I lived in Kansas, in the United States, and that area of the country was well known for tornadoes. At around the time I graduated from High School a tornado had fallen on our home town. As everyone ran for shelter, I saw him. He had gotten stuck in the car trying to save our dog. The car door had crushed his foot, and he couldn’t walk on it after he got it out. His eyes met mine, and we both realized at the same time he wouldn’t make it to the shelter. He saw me tense, I think. Just before I could shatter the secrecy of my powers by rushing out to save him… he held up his hand. He was telling me to stop with that action alone. And… and against everything my mind screamed at my body… I froze.”

Luna said nothing as Twilight took a moment to wipe tears from her eyes, allowing her to compose herself on her own terms. Once Twilight had dried her tears, Luna continued. “Tell me about the elder Kent. Other than his strong moral fortitude, what kind of man was he?”

Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Jonathan Kent… was all about morality. To him the greatest happiness in life was doing God’s work, keeping your hands and soul clean, and loving your family. He was a farmer, perhaps stereotypically so. I suppose he was the backbone of our family, as mom and I fell out of touch after he died.”

“You grew distant?” Luna asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No...No, we never lost our strong relationship, but dad’s death hit me hard, and I began travelling the world. I left Kansas and didn’t look back until many years later.”

“You left home after your father died, a death which you had in your power to prevent, if not for his wish to not be saved. It sounds to me like you were lost and confused. You were taught to always do the right thing, but when your father prevented you from doing so you had no idea what to believe was right anymore.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. I spent a lot of time doing hard labor jobs in very difficult environments after that, interacting with more and more people.” Twilight smiled a little to herself. “I also tended to be at the center of catastrophes in those jobs, and more often than not revealed my powers to the people I worked with to save lives.” Twilight grew quiet here, and Luna knew she was experiencing a likely very vivid memory.

“It was when a man I saved later grabbed his daughter and just held her… I think that was when the idea of “Superman” started to form in my head. It was nothing more than a wisp of a feeling, but that feeling of being responsible for a man returning to his family stuck with me.”

Luna nodded. And while her curiosity burned, she knew she had to change the subject. Therapists straddled a line they had to be careful not to cross. By guessing at how the death of Jonathan Kent had affected Twilight, some would say Luna had tried to subtly affect Twilight’s way of thinking. So, while she wished to learn more about the formative days of Superman, it was best to leave it for another session. “Superman, as I understand it, became quite the hero throughout his life, but I cannot help but wonder what his first real fight was like. Often do we stumble our way through the first time we do anything, especially when it comes to being a hero. So let us talk about that. How did Clark Kent handle his first fight to save the world?”

Twilight once again grew contemplative, before becoming slightly downcast. “It… wasn’t pretty,” she said after a moment. “It turned out another Kryptonian had survived the destruction of Krypton, and was determined to remake Krypton… by terraforming Earth.” Twilight glanced away. “I’ve had a lot of time to think of Zor-El, about his ideals, his motivations, and every time I thought about it… I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.”

“Terraforming a planet… I imagine that would end with the current inhabitants dying out. But you could not hate him? How come?” Luna was genuinely curious and not judgmental. Many Hero Souls had told her of villains they had faced where the villain was only considered such because of their methods, and not their motivations. Heck, some Hero Souls had even been good friends with those villains when they were “off the clock”, so speak.

“Zor-El just wanted to save the Kryptonian people and their world. His methods and decisions about how he would do that forced me to stop him… but I don’t think I can hate a man that just wanted to save his people,” Twilight whispered.

Luna wanted to ask how Zor-El planned to save a mostly dead race, but the fact was that this information was currently unnecessary, so much like her curiosity regarding Superman’s formative years, she had to leave that one alone unless it came up later. “How did Clark Kent handle fighting one of his own people?”

“Badly,” Twilight shivered. “Zor-El was a space explorer. It was how he survived the explosion of Krypton. Due to his travels he had been exposed to yellow sun radiation far more than I had at that point, and was far more experienced in the use of the powers that gave him.” Twilight shook her head. “Most of Metropolis was leveled in our fight, most of the damage from me crashing through buildings.”

“But you eventually won, right? How?”

Twilight looked up, and straight into Luna’s eyes. Luna immediately knew by the way Twilight's coat of fur paled that she had asked the wrong question. Before she could tell Twilight she didn’t have to answer though, Twilight beat her to it.

“I snapped his neck.”

Author's Note:

This is another out of chronological order chapter. Just assume it happened a week after the first session.

Also, in case you were wondering, Twilight does in fact require therapy. The problem is no longer life-threatening, but Twilight still went through an extreme crisis of identity. To be perfectly honest, she still is. Clark Kent may have accepted his life as it was, but the personalities of Clark Kent and Twilight Sparkle are very different. Twilight is still adjusting to the memories, and will come across things that Clark may have accepted, but Twilight will instinctively reject. That's why she's continuing the therapy, to try and streamline the process of acceptance as she gradually grows used to the memories.

Also, to head this off before I get the question, I've decided to base my version of Superman mostly off of what I can remember of Man of Steel. What I don't remember or don't know will be filled in by my own ideas. I'm essentially creating a brand new Superman here, but one I hope still adhered to the idea of being Hope personified.

And with this chapter, I may as well say I'm back in the hot seat. I'm not ready to go one hundred percent yet, but my muse seems to be antsy lately. Yay spontaneous lifestyle!

Comments

[Greenhorn]

Hmmm... wonder if you gonna do therapy chapter on other Mane 6 too?

[everydaygamer]

I'm confused why Zor-El instead of Zod? Isn't that Supergirl's dad?

[badninja]

Zor-El, Zor-El, Zor-El! Wow that will make his relationship with Kara far more difficult with him having killed her father, his Uncle. This will be an interesting change you made, as it far is more personal instead of using Zod.

[SvenFoxx]

9113765
9114218
Er... Oops? I honestly got the names mixed up. I was going for Zod, but now...

Now I want to strangle my muse, because this actually may work in my favor here.

[badninja]

9115419

These types of errors are often fun. Now you are able to make this Superman your own.