Rise of the Supermare!

by Kaliann25

Supermare 06

The world’s wickedest worm

Cadance and Shining Armor anxiously waited in the grand salon in the Crystal Palace. An army of servants had quickly transformed it from a stodgy parlor to a welcoming space to host Twilight and her closest friends. Ordinarily, they would not have had to hurry; the train ride from Ponyville took the better part of a day. This time, however, the Justice League was handling transportation. Everypony, League member or not, would be using the League's teleportation system.

A light flashed on the mantlepiece. Excitedly, Cadance exclaimed, "They're here!" She and Shining turned to face the doors. He opened them with his telekinesis.

The sound of synchronized hoofbeats diminished step by step as the Ponyville contingent's escorts stopped at their designated posts along the hallway leading to the salon. These troops had been hoof-picked by Shining Armor himself; they were charged with ensuring that everypony was evacuated safely if Twilight were to lose control. Alicorn Marevel and Sweetie Borg led the group, scanning the surroundings for trouble, while Arrow and Trixie served as rear guard.

As the League members took their positions inside the room, Cadance welcomed the five Element Bearers. "Welcome, girls! Shining and I are so glad you all could make it. Seeing you all would mean the world to Twilight."

"It'll be special for us, too," replied Applejack. "We haven't seen her in far too long."

Softly, Fluttershy added, "We haven't seen her since what happened in Canterlot. She must feel so scared, so alone."

"With that strength, she must feel like she's living in a world made of cardboard," added Rainbow Dash.

Nodding, Shining Armor said, "This is a huge step for Twiliey. We have to do everything we can to help her fit in again."

Pinkie Pie snapped off a sharp salute. "By your command, General Armor! Troops, prepare this room to receive our dear friend. Private Applejack, put the cider beside the refreshment table. Private Fluttershy, set Granny Smith's pies on the table. Private Dash, set up the special decorations. Private Rarity, deploy the phonograph. Move out!"

The other Element Bearers carried out Pinkie's orders while the party pony set her own treats on the refreshment table.

The four costumed League members left the room to inspect the troop deployment. As they made their way down the hallway, one of the soldiers said, "Hey, Alicorn Marevel?"

The alicorn stopped. "Yes?"

"It's me, Crystal Lance. We fought side by side during the two golem invasions. Remember?"

Marevel smiled uncomfortably. "Sorry, those were crazy times, and I didn't get a good look at everypony's faces."

Lance looked crestfallen for a moment before pulling out a notepad and pen from under his vest. With teeth clenched, he asked, "Can I have your autograph?"

Smiling, Marevel replied, "Sure!" She took the proffered items in her wings.

As Marevel put pen to paper, Sweetie Borg petulantly asked, "Do you want mine? I was the one who finished off Sombra."

"Are you kidding? I want to get the entire League's. Marevel's will always be special; we are comrades in arms. Oh, and I have to get Spike the Brave and Glorious to sign. Do you think he will come?"

Shining Armor said sarcastically, "He's the princess's sister. What do you think?" He then grabbed the pen and notepad in his telekinesis. "You are on duty. If you cannot handle that, I will replace you now."

Crystal Lance gulped and saluted.

Marevel turned to Shining and said, "We never got to thank your troops for all their help."

Shining replied, "There will be time afterward; I promise. For now, we need to make sure everything is perfect for Twilight."

Shining's ears perked as he turned his head toward the roar of a crowd. A green glow came from the entryway. The light faded revealing the Emerald Guardian and his sister. Immediately, the guards stood at attention as the League members moved to their positions. Shining rushed forward and gave his sister a warm hug. "I missed you."

As gently as she could, she stroked her brother's back. "I missed you too. I can't wait to see everypony again."

"Let's go, then," replied Shining.

Inside the salon, everypony turned to the door when it opened. Shining Armor trotted through. "Everypony, there's somepony I'd like you to meet." He stepped aside, revealing his siblings.

"TWILIGHT!" cheered everypony in the room.

The purple alicorn winced slightly as the sound before she walked to the middle of the room, smiling. When she stopped, the others crowded around her and gave her a group hug.

Twilight smiled, drinking in the warmth and friendship. She cried, "Thank you, everypony! You have no idea how much I've missed you all." The Mare of Steel broke down, sobbing, when the enormity of the situation hit with full force.

Softly, Cadance said, “It’s okay; we’re here for you.”

"I can't believe I'm actually here," said Twilight. "I . . . I can do this. I can be around normal ponies."

An excited babbling caught everypony's attention. Horrified, Cadence exclaimed, "Flurry!"

The sound of hooves filled the room as the infant's attendants galloped in pursuit. They stopped short when they saw the foal frolicking around her aunt.

Smiling gently, Twilight floated slowly behind her niece as Flurry flew around the room. Twilight said, "It's all right, everypony. Slow and steady. Slow and steady."

The adult League members stayed on high alert, each calculating the best way to get their assigned ponies to safety. Dash said, "I'll take the little one."

The junior members, by contrast, took a more relaxed approach. They took turns partaking in the festivities. Trixie looked over at her adult teammates. They smiled. On cue, the Humble and Apologetic Trixie began to work the audience.

When Trixie finished her set, Rarity walked over to Arrow, who had maintained his vigil from a dark corner of the room. "Why don't you take a break, darling? It would do Twilight a world of good if you were to at least talk to her."

"You know I have to keep watch," he replied.

"What's that you always say? You watch better from the inside. Even Arrow needs his friends. I'll cover for you."

The prince couldn't help but smile as he joined the party. He nibbled on the cupcake that Pinkie Pie had given him, but he left cider on the refreshment table. This was no time for alcohol. Years of practice let him hide his awkwardness as the only pony in the room who was not close to Twilight.

Meanwhile, Alicorn Marevel cut an alicorn-sized piece of Granny Smith's pie. Before she could move it to her plate, Applejack cut the piece in half. "Leave some for the rest of us," said the farm pony. "Twilight hasn't even had a taste."

"Sorry, Applejack, but Granny's pie is irresistible."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to be a superhero. Act like one."

Marevel sighed as she cut her portion in half again.

Meanwhile, Twilight approached Trixie, taking slow, careful steps as she moved between her friends. Softly, the alicorn said, "Hey, Trixie. Nice to see you!"

"Trixie is glad to see you too, Twilight Sparkle. Are you feeling better now?"

"A lot better. Thanks. I really need to thank you for your help the other day. If you hadn't been there, who knows how many ponies would have been hurt when the boiler exploded?"

Trixie smiled. "There's no need to thank Trixie, Twilight Sparkle. Trixie should be thanking you for doing all the hard work."

Twilight shrugged. "The hard work was not destroying everything or hurting anypony." Her withers slumped. "I live in a world made of tissue paper and cotton candy. Everything and everypony is so fragile."

Trixie gave a nervous laugh as Twilight went to talk with another of her friends.

It had taken a lot of effort, but Twilight was finally comfortable with her level of control. She might not be working with eggs any time soon, but at least she was no longer a menace to friends or furniture. Although she had spent most of her school years away from others, she now appreciated having her friends around. Given how busy they all had been, this was actually the first time all of them had had an opportunity to be together in months.

The crack of displaced air spurred everyone to action. Shining Armor cast his strongest shield around his family while the League members scanned for the source of the disturbance. In a fraction of a second, they saw Celestia and Luna. Marevel, Dash, and Lantern stayed behind while the rest of the League members evacuated the room.

Twilight stepped toward the sisters. Lantern generated a green brick wall in front of Twilight while Marevel interposed herself, lightning crackling from her horn to her hooves. It the same instant, Dash stood in front of Twilight and said, "Easy, there. It isn't their fault."

Smiling, Twilight replied, "I have everything under control." Turning to the senior princesses, she said, "What are you doing here? I told everypony not to tell you about this."

Celestia replied, "Twilight, you know we need to talk."

Luna added, "We had to investigate when we saw how much teleporter activity there was."

Impatiently, Twilight stamped a forehoof. The palace shook as cracks in the floor propagated from under her hoof. "Do you have any idea how much you've hurt me? Do you know how hollow it feels to have no magic? Do you have any idea how much it hurts to see everything, hear everything, feel everything?"

With great sadness, Celestia said, "Twilight, you know I love you like a daughter. If we could trade places, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

Everypony in the room gave a sigh of relief as Twilight deflated. The purple pony said, "I know. Spike told me about Master Mind, Still, it hurts. Can you give me some space so my heart can catch up with my head?"

The senior princesses shared a glance before Celestia said, "We understand. It's too soon. We had to make sure you were all right; no matter what, you're still dear to us."

Luna added. "When we restore your magic, your crown will be ready for you." Luna plucked the artifact from under her wing.

The room heated dangerously as Twilight's vision turned red with rage. Hastily, Trixie said, "Eci looc sthgiliwt daeh!"

Steam filled the room as the ice bucket from the refreshment table suddenly clamped itself over Twilight's head.

“TRIXIE!!” shouted everypony.

“What? Trixie panicked!”

Calmly, Twilight pried off the bucket with a forehoof. She said, "Relax, everypony. I needed that.

Tapping the remnants of the ice bucket with a forehoof, Twilight asked, "What's this made of?"

Trixie replied, "Pewter, I think."

Twilight's brow wrinkled in concentration. "I know I was able to see through tin. It must be the lead that made everything look so cloudy."

With a blast of heat vision, she vaporized the crown. The others exclaimed, "Twilight!"

Twilight said, "I'm not going through that again. I'm not going to be a princess."

With a hint of sadness, Celestia replied, "You are always going to be the princess of friendship. You will always be in our hearts, whatever you may choose."

Luna added, "We knew this day would come. We will support you no matter what the future will bring."

Celestia sighed. "Once we returned you to normal, we will leave you in peace for as long as you need; we promise."

Twilight replied, "It'll just be a few months. This has just been so much to take in."

The League members looked up when their earpieces crackled. Batmare's voice said, "Return to Watchtower! We've located Twilight's magic!"

Twilight smiled. "Today, I'll go back to normal." With that, Twilight led the way to the teleportation array.

Watchtower:

Celestia and Luna stayed back while Twilight led the others to the enhanced Cutie Map where a a small representation of Twilight's cutie mark hovered over a remote meadow in the Everfree Forest, between the Smokey Mountains and Ponyville.

Dash whined, "That makes no sense! I know I passed over that spot at least a hundred times, and nothing showed up on my sensors."

Sweetie Borg said, "Tis is near Forest Thing's territory. Do you think his wild magic was hiding it?"

Celestia replied, "No. Not even little brother's power is enough to hide that much magic."

Batmare's scowl deepened. "This stinks like a trap."

"What do we do?" asked Lantern.

The League and Twilight looked at each other. Twilight said, "It's settled. We go get my magic."

Everfree Forest:

The crack of displaced air announced the arrival of the Element Bearers and the senior princesses. Twilight wore a sensor pack around her neck that warbled insistently. As she slowly turned, the warble gradually changed in pitch and volume until it screamed. She cut the audio and pointed a forehoof. "Over there!"

They galloped in the direction indicated, only to abruptly stop when they saw a magenta glow coming from the crystal box a large bear was carrying.

“Harry?” asked Fluttershy in disbelief.

Celestia's eyes narrowed as she focused on the contents of the box. "Is that a sealing crystal?"

"Where did the bear find it?" asked Luna.

A familiar caterpillar crawled to the top of the bear's head and gave Fluttershy a smirk. The necklace with the red crystal pendant and the glasses that he wore showed that he was far from an ordinary insect.

Puzzled, Fluttershy said, "Wormy? You look different. Thank you for helping Harry find Twilight's magic. Now, we can get her back to normal."

Harry snapped the box shut. The caterpillar said, "My dear Fluttershy, I've had it all along. I was expecting to hold on to it for a few more months, but Twilight mastered her powers much sooner than I thought possible."

The caterpillar turned his attention to an astonished Twilight. "Congratulations, my daughter. It is not easy to surprise the smartest being in the world, but you've done just that."

Twilight grimaced. "Daughter? You? My mother? Eeew!"

The caterpillar groaned. "I meant metaphorically."

With no small amount of worry in her voice, Fluttershy asked, "Wormy?"

The caterpillar frowned. "Stop calling me that! I've been called a lot of stupid names over the eons, but this is the worst! I'm an insect, not a worm!"

Dash asked, "Who are you? Some sort of spy?"

The caterpillar shrugged. "That's one way of looking at it. You might know me by the name my students gave me -- Master Mind."

Dash scratched her ear. "The caterpillar that's been riding around on Harry is Master Mind? No way!"

Twilight said, "I can't believe it! The monster that taught Grogar was huge." She started pantomiming. "Like this, and that, and this."

Master Mind shook his head. "Monster? That's no way to talk about your father. After all, I transformed you into the most powerful being in the world."

"There has to be some mistake," said Celestia. "How can the greatest intellect of all time be an insect?"

"Oh, changing bodies is foal's play. You would not believe the advantages that this little form holds. After all, who would suspect that the caterpillar in their potted plants or the caterpillar riding on their friend is actually stealing all of their secrets? In the end, my small size had been my biggest asset."

Twilight glared at him. "My magic. Now."

Harry casually tossed the box to Twilight who caught it in her forehooves. As she opened the box, Master Mind said, "You might want to reconsider changing back; it'll lessen your chances of surviving."

"Surviving what?"

Nopony noticed the form plunging faster than the speed of sound. With a massive thump, it landed on Twilight's back, driving her underground. When the dust settled, it reveal an giant centaur that seemed to be made of plunder vines.

Master Mind smirked. "That."

Author's Note:

So the next time would be about the big fight, ready for the final battle.

I hope you liked, the League have finally met their nemesis.

Read ya' later!!

Comments

[Comickook]

Great job on this latest chapter. Again, really good job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Definitely enjoyed the scene as the League, the Mane Six, Shining and Cadance were getting together at the Crystal Empire to greet Twilight. Yeah, the nod to the World of Cardboard Speech was pretty good too. Celestia and Luna finding out about the gathering despite Twilight's wishes and everybody else's best efforts was well done as was how it was shown that Twilight's new X-ray vision can't penetrate lead. Have to give Master Mind credit; that was an excellent job on his trap and his reveal to the heroes. Indeed, Twilight probably better wait on taking back her magic - NOT having it right now actually improves her odds against a Plunder Vine/Tirek hybrid.

This is definitely going to be one doozy of a fight.

Of course, now we have to wonder which of the Mane Six is going to get super-powers next. Fluttershy seems like a pretty good bet because it wouldn't be hard to visualize her finding an amulet that grants her the power to mimic the abilities of any animal she can visualize. But Pinkie Pie is JUST AS good a bet because it would be pretty easy to see her gaining super-stretching powers (as well as enough increased strength, durability and agility to have the Required Secondary Powers needed to make best use of those super-stretching powers) in a chemical accident that would make her look more like a Good Counterpart to Cheese Sandwich/the Joker.

So, yeah, Fluttershy as Vixen and Pinkie Pie as Plastic Mare.

Though both of those are just as likely to be wrong as right.

But, anyway, definitely looking forward to more of this.