Smallville
A “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” Fanfiction
Written by Jade Dawn
Fluttershy found herself shivering slightly as she sat between Rarity and Rainbow Dash on a bench at Maneway Station, idly tapping a ticket between her hooves, eyes occasionally flicking down to the named “Smallville” marked on the little slip. Part of it was just plain anxiety, and part of it was just the chill of the early morning air; the Sun had only barely crested the horizon outside, shadowy traces of night still draped across the city like a dark blanket, and many buildings still had their lights burning brightly.
“…he wouldn’t be doing his nightly rounds now, right?”
Fluttershy knew the three of them had been over this same point at least half a dozen times by now, but nonetheless her companions were still patient with her. “Likely not, darling,” Rarity replied. “Not after his sudden exposure to the world, at least.”
“Besides,” Rainbow Dash added. “Guy’s gotta catch up on his Z’s between crime-fighting and waking up for his actual job. This is probably the best chance we have to get you out without him noticing.”
“Yeah…” Fluttershy murmured. “S-sorry…”
Rainbow reached out a wing and wrapped it around Fluttershy’s shoulders, giving her a gentle hug. “We get it. No worries.”
Then from down the nearest tunnel came a high-pitched whistle, and Fluttershy’s ears folded back as the train chugged into view before them. The great engine screeched to a slow stop in puffs of steam, passenger car doors springing open one by one.
“Are you ready, darling?” Rarity asked.
Fluttershy stared at the open car door directly ahead, silently watching as other ponies boarded. At last she quietly nodded, standing to go. Before she did, however, Rarity stood as well and pulled her into a hug for her own.
“You’re going to be fine, dear. Don’t worry too much about being wrong. Just…follow the truth.”
“And don’t worry about us here,” Rainbow added. “We’ll keep the fort held down until you get back.”
Fluttershy nodded to the two. “Thank you…I’ll…I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.”
She gave Rarity one last little squeeze before pulling away from the hug, turning away and stepping into the train. Rarity and Rainbow watched until the doors slid shut, and the train pulled away, taking Fluttershy with it as it left the bustling concrete jungle of Manehattan behind.
The corridors of the upper sub-basement levels of the LexCorp Plaza–the ones below the surface of the harbor but still above the riverbed–had a row of long, rectangular windows set into the walls. They were made of thick, reinforced glass, and offered a clear view of the river outside. There wasn’t usually much to see beyond the hulls of boats going up and down the river, or the occasional school of fish that swam by, but it at least helped make these upper corridors feel a bit more comfortably open to the staff who traversed them.
Merciful Grace, however, didn’t take the time to appreciate the little environmental reprieve as she walked down the corridor. Her face was as stoic and emotionless as it usually was in public, the sound of clattering hooves against metallic floor echoing down the length of the hallway, while the rippling waves from outside and above cast shimmering patterns on her the left side of her body and the polished corridor walls.
She turned down a branching corridor to her right, marked by an overhead sign labelled Virtual Simulation Development, and kept walking until she came to a metal door designated “Holosuite 4”. Two lightly-armored LexCorp security guards were stationed on either side, and they stood to attention when Mercy approached.
“Is he still in there?” she asked.
One of the guards nodded. “Since last night, ma’am.”
“I’d like to talk with him. Open the door, please.”
The two guards exchanged glanced. “Miss Grace, he was, erm…very adamant that he not be disturbed…”
An eyebrow raised. Just a single eyebrow.
“…b-but if you need to see him, ma’am…”
The two guards stepped aside, one inserting a keycard into a slot along the wall. The door slid upwards with a hiss, and Mercy stepped through.
The room beyond was a kind of lobby of sorts, with a few scattered benches, lockers, and tables bearing computer monitors along the walls and across the floor. Mercy trotted past them to a large double door at the other end, pushing a round button in the center and stepping back as the doors slowly parted.
On the other side–in complete contrast to the sterile, artificial aesthetic of the LexCorp labs–was a smoldering, destitute landscape that had once been a hilly plain. The grass was charred and scorched, with plumes of smoke rising to form a canopy of black clouds high in the air, creating a dismally dark scene. In the distance was a high mountain, with the ruins of a city clinging to the side, and Mercy vaguely recognized what remained of the skyline as that of Canterlot. All around the area were bodies that she recognized almost immediately; Tirek, Sombra, Chrysalis, Discord, even Cozy Glow all lay strewn across the battlefield, still and unmoving, covered in bruises, scars, and burns.
Only two contestants remained on the battlefield. One was Nightmare Moon, already plenty wounded herself and frantically firing beams of blue magical energy at her foe. The other was a pony clad in a gigantic green mechanized power suit, head obscured by a dark-visored helmet, armed to the teeth with weapons gauntlets at the forelegs, and rocket launchers across the back. Despite the bulk of the suit, the pony within moved swiftly, dodging the majority of Nightmare’s beams. The ones that did hit glanced away upon hitting an orange energy shield that sprang into visibility with each contact. All the while, the armor-clad pony fired an array of beams, missiles, and other projectiles at the dark alicorn, striking blow after blow, knocking her around like a rag doll and filling the air with the sound of rocket explosions and crackling energy rays.
Another volley sent Nightmare Moon plummeting like a falling star, slamming down onto her back with enough force to dent a crater into the ground. The power suit-clad pony landed just in front of her, the ground seeming to shake on impact. The figure slowly advanced towards the fallen alicorn, pressing a heavy armored hoof down on her chest.
Nightmare Moon coughed, blood dripping from her nostrils and the edges of her mouth. “Y-you…you think you can…take Equestria from me?! I amACK!”
The metal-clad hoof slammed down on her throat. The other foreleg reared back, preparing for a blow.
“You still misunderstand,” came a stallion’s voice from deep within the suit. “Equestria isn’t yours to take…and we don’t need gods anymore.”
The raised hoof came down across her jaw with a resounding CRACK! The other foreleg was reared back.
“When they want to look up in the sky for hope for tomorrow…they’ll find me.”
SMACK!
“I am their future! I am the one who’s going to lead them into tomorrow!”
CRACK! A spurt of blood shot up and splattered across the suit.
“And NOBODY is going to take that away from me!
SMACK! CRACK! SWACK! Nightmare Moon’s legs were flinching in spasms now.
“Not this city! Not the government! Not even the alicorns themselves!”
CRACK!
“AND ESPECIALLY–”
SWACK!
“–NOT–”
CRUNCH!
“–SUPERMANE!!!”
A circular green light flared within the chest of the suit, and erupted into a blinding ray of emerald energy fired down at point blank into Nightmare Moon. A loud screeching and roar shattered the surrounding air, and the surrounding ash and remnants of grass that littered the area were blown away in a sudden burst of wind.
Merciful Grace only squinted.
Then the beam cut off. Silence fell. And the thing that had once been Nightmare Moon at last lay limp and unmoving.
The armored stallion stepped back, suddenly sagging as the sounds of heavy panting echoed from the helmet. After a minute he raised his head towards the door, staring at Mercy through the dark visor.
“…computer, disengage program.”
There was an acknowledging beep, and the entire landscape suddenly lit up in a dazzling shimmer of light. As it faded away, everything–the landscape, the sky, the bodies, even the bulky power armor–all disappeared, leaving behind an expansive, empty gray chamber criss-crossed with thin yellow grid lines across the floor and walls. Tech Lexicon stood in the center of the room, wearing a kind of harness around his torso and legs, covered in wires and colored spots at various points. His fur and mane were damp with sweat, and he panted heavily, an open-mouthed smile of sadistic glee stretched across his face as he stared across the room at Mercy.
“Do you feel better, sir?” she asked politely.
A kind of chuckle cracked from Lex’s throat, mixing with the panting. Then the smile faded, soon becoming a glower.
“No…no I don’t.”
Lex marched towards the exit, Mercy stepping aside with an almost casual grace as he went past her into the lobby. He went to one of the benches and sat down, beginning to pry off the harness and tossing the different parts aside.
“What do you want?” He muttered, not even glancing up at Mercy.
“Plans for the charity ball are still underway,” Mercy reported. “Attendance listing’s doubled since last night. PR announced that the proceeds will go to the victims of the Constitution attack in addition to the damages to the bridge and monorail system.”
“Uh-huh.” Lex grabbed a water bottle from a nearby cooler, cracking it open and splashing half the contents across his face and down his back.
“We got a call from Canterlot this morning,” Mercy continued. “The Royal Guard wishes to discuss contracts for our weapons technology as part of their reorganization efforts after the attacks.”
“What happened to Heckler and Catch?” Lex asked as he reached for a towel, rubbing it over his body and wiping away sweat and water.
“Still in the running, but LexCorp has apparently been moved up to ‘very high consideration’, as they put it.”
“Mm.” Lex tossed aside the towel and picked the water bottle back up, tossing his head back as he gulped down the remaining liquid inside.
“Speaking of weapons, sir, I’ve arranged for our weapons research and development division to offer expert opinion on Manehattan News Now. It should help stave off suspicions about–”
Lex suddenly turned and glared at her. “Mercy, is there a point you’re trying to make here?”
Mercy paused, looking back at him calmly. “…only that we’ve still managed to get a few silver linings out of this, sir. And you aren’t beaten yet.”
Lex stared at her for a moment, his glare softening. For a moment his lips curled up into a smile, but the moment went quickly. He turned away from her and exhaled through his nostrils, staring down at the floor.
“…Mercy, what I’m about to say does not go any farther than this room, do you understand?”
“My lips are sealed, sir.”
Lex’s eyes flicked up to a small, semi-circular camera module off in one corner of the room. “In fact? When we’re done here, go into the security logs and scrub these next few seconds from the record.”
“Will do, sir.”
Lex huffed again, biting his lip and tapping a hoof on the bench before finally spitting it out.
“I’m stumped, Mercy.”
He stood up abruptly, beginning to pace. “The pirates were a mistake, I realize that now. Too open, and I clearly underestimated just how resilient Supermane actually is. He took our stock ground hardware, and loaning them out to somepony won’t work twice. It might take all our ordinance to bring him down, and even then I don’t know if it’ll be enough anymore…especially not without having to do more damage control…”
“Well, nopony’s invulnerable, sir,” Mercy said. “There’s got to be some way to kill him somewhere. What about toxins?”
Lex nodded. “Perhaps…” The idea had merit, and it wasn’t like LexCorp was short of any number of substances that could be lethal to organic life. He knew for a fact, for instance, that in one of their many laboratory facilities they’d been working on reverse engineering a powerful neurotoxin of Changeling origin. Small, practically infinitesimal doses had been enough to completely incapacitate the alicorns during Queen Chrysalis’s second attempt at conquest. Even doses of the same size would be lethal to most other lifeforms. Perhaps with enough…
“…or it could end up leaking out all over the city and create an even bigger catastrophe for us to clean up,” Lex sighed, slumping back down on the bench. “No…it needs to be precise, something we can use in a completely controlled environment…”
“Radiation, then?”
“What kind? How much? Mercy, I can’t afford to keep testing on him anymore, we need something guaranteed to kill him in one hit. Something that’ll destroy him on a fundamental level. Something that we can use on him without risk to other…ponies…”
“Sir?”
Lex didn’t answer. He stared blankly ahead, jaw slightly slack, focusing all energy on the little burst of thought that had just flashed into his brain.
It was ludicrous. It was absurd. It contradicted everything that either science or magic knew about…Tartarus, a whole array of fields. But somewhere between the chances, between all the impracticalities and scientific stumbling blocks of the idea, Lex’s mind latched on to a small, pinprick-sized point of plausibility.
“Lex?”
Lex suddenly stood up again, hurrying over to a wall-mounted intercom, clicking it with a hoof. “Dr. Vale.”
“AH–uh, yes, sir?…”
“Compile our data on the K643’s radioactive emissions. Put it against a simulation of Supermane’s molecular structure. Run it with every variable you can think of until you’re absolutely certain what the results of a real-life exposure would be.”
“I…I don’t understand–”
“You will. Make it happen and get back to me when you do,” Lex replied, clicking off the intercom before Vale could reply.
Mercy stood and came up alongside him. “What is it, sir? Do you have an idea?”
“A hunch, Mercy…just a hunch, for now.” He turned to face her, and somewhere deep within his eyes, Mercy thought she could see that oh-so-familiar spark of genius in them once again.
“But if I’m right…we might just have had Supermane’s death warrant in our hooves all along…”
Fluttershy huddled up in her seat close to the window, leaning towards it just enough to feel the gentle warmth of the sun-heated glass radiating against her fur as she watched the view outside pass by. Hours ago, the train had left behind the towering concrete jungles of Manehattan and the rolling, grassy hills that surrounded it, trading in the scenery for the expansive, almost entirely flat farmlands and plains they were passing through now. Fluttershy found herself reminded of some of the farmlands that surrounded Ponyville.
The view was lovely and the warmth of the midday sun was relaxing, but Fluttershy’s mind was elsewhere.
“Are you seriously suggesting that we waltz up to Dawning’s parents and ask, ‘hey, sorry to bother you, but your kid wouldn’t happen to be Supermane by any chance’,” Lucky had asked. Her tone aside, it had been a valid question. How was she going to go about trying to get more information on Dawning without tipping them off as to what she was doing? And if they already knew about Dawning’s abilities and hero identity–which she had no reason to suspect they didn’t–then she’d have to expect that they’d try to be as evasive as they could; if Dawning wanted to keep Supermane a secret, so would they, most likely.
But Fluttershy certainly didn’t want to scare them into clamming up completely. Somehow, some way, she needed to find some balance of gentle questioning here.
There was a sharp whistle and Fluttershy half-jumped in her seat, only realizing a second later that it was only the whistle of the train itself. She felt it slowing, the walls of a train station crawling into view along the left-hoof side.
“Now arriving at Smallville Station. Next stop: Baltimare.”
Fluttershy took a breath and collected herself. No more worrying. You can do this…one step at a time.
So she took a single step out of her seat. Then another. And another. She kept doing it until, with barely any time it seemed, she had left the train car and was heading out the exit of the station. The sun’s glare flashed for a moment in her eyes as she stepped outside, and she blinked as her vision adjusted to the light. Beside the path ahead was a large billboard with the words “Welcome To Smallville!” written in bold red lettering, topped off by a cutout of a flaming meteor.
And beyond, further down the road, was the town of Smallville itself. The most immediate area of the town was a kind of main street, long and wide and flanked by rows of low buildings. The majority were only a single story in height, and none looked to be any higher than two or three at most; the tallest ones Fluttershy could make out were a white-painted water tower with “SMALLVILLE” painted on one side, a few scattered radio towers poking up, and what seemed to be a hospital building a street or two away. A three-story town hall stood at the farthest end of the street that she could see. The majority of Main Street’s buildings were various shops and businesses; grocery stores, hardware stores, machine shops, a bank, a building labeled The Smallville Ledger, and so on. Mixed in were more higher-end establishments and entertainment venues, like a chrome-trimmed diner with neon signage, a movie theater, a jewelry store, and even a bowling alley.
From the size of the buildings and the town itself, Fluttershy guessed that many were family owned, or at least family operated. The central road was full of ponies going to and fro, some hauling carts or tending to their shops, others gathering and socializing. Most of them at the very least gave each other friendly greetings as they passed one another. Watching them all go about happily through the little town, looking up at the little buildings as she walked down the street, Fluttershy felt the sense of community here in this humble little place. The warmth of the sun and a gentle breeze in the air topped off the cozy feeling like icing on a cake.
It felt almost like Ponyville.
It felt like home.
How many of them know Dawning’s secret? Fluttershy began to wonder as she watched the town’s residents, all happily chatting and talking like one big group of friends or family. Farming communities like this tended to be close-knit, she knew. How many of them shared the secret of Dawning’s powers amongst themselves? How many had cheered him on when the news broke of his confirmed existence?
She knew she wouldn’t get answers at all if she didn’t get going, though. She just needed to find somewhere where she could get directions…
Just pick anywhere, Fluttershy. Anywhere’s a good start. Just pick one. Don’t be shy.
There was a small grocery store with a sign marked Turnip’s Groceries a couple of blocks away. Fluttershy made her way towards that, weaving through the ponies going back and forth, letting out an occasional whisper of “excuse me” or “pardon me” as she went. Nopony seemed to mind her presence, all just nodding back politely as she passed, and she half-wondered if they recognized her at all. Regardless, she soon found herself at the glass door to the store, and gingerly stepped inside, a small bell jingling as she did.
The store’s interior was fairly small, but roomy enough and well stocked, more of a convenience store than anything. Besides Fluttershy, only two other ponies were inside, both mares. One was a light-purple mare with a close-cropped pinkish-white mane and tail, leaning half over the store’s counter as she chatted with the other mare; a tall, slender white unicorn with a long red mane and tail, and a cutie mark of what looked like a sewing needle wrapped in a glimmer of magic, simple saddlebags loaded with groceries hanging across her sides.
The mare behind the counter looked at Fluttershy as she entered. “Oh, just a second, miss–”
“O-oh no no, don’t mind me,” Fluttershy replied. “Sorry, I’m just looking for directions to, ah…” She paused, collecting herself. “Um…there was a pony who used to live here named Dawning Hope…”
“Dawning?” The unicorn asked, ears perking up and looking towards Fluttershy with soft green eyes. “Are you a friend of his?”
“Uh…actually yes, I am. I, um, was just wondering if his family maybe still lived around here…Cornstalk and Amber Grain?”
“Oh sure, I know where they are,” chirped the unicorn with a friendly smile. “Heck, I work there half the time. I could show you to their farm if you want.”
“Y-you would? Oh…thank you so much, I’d appreciate that.”
“Oh please, pleasure’s all mine. Just follow my lead.” She tossed a couple bits on the counter–“See you around, Turnip.”–and led Fluttershy back out onto Main Street.
“So…how’re you liking Smallville so far?” The unicorn asked as they walked.
“It’s lovely,” Fluttershy answered. “I-I mean, I only just got here so I haven’t really had the time to explore, but it’s…cozy, I guess.”
The unicorn chuckled. “Yup, that’s about right. Small in size, big in heart, that’s us. Trust me, I grew up my whole life here, know just about everyone and everything here like the back of my hoof. Speaking of, uh, hope you don’t mind a walk. The farm’s a little ways off the beaten path, so to speak.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind, Miss…”
“Woven,” the unicorn answered. “Woven Light.”
A small burst of recognition went through Fluttershy’s mind. One of Dawning’s foalhood friends, she remembered. “Nice to meet you. I’m Fluttershy.”
“Wait…Fluttershy?” Woven repeated. “As in one of Princess Twilight’s friends? An Element of Harmony?”
Fluttershy felt her cheeks heat up. “Well, I…well yes…”
Woven Light let out an admiring whistle. “Don’t get many celebrities around these parts. Faust, Dawning’s gone up a bit in the world, hasn’t he…so what do you want with a guy like him?”
“W-well,” Fluttershy stammered out, the gears of her mind spinning rapidly. “My friends Rarity and Rainbow Dash and I have been working with him–”
Woven’s eyes lit up. “Rarity? The Rarity? Oh Faust, now I’m jealous,” she laughed. “I so wish I could meet her.”
“You do?”
“Oh yeah, I’m…well, kind of a fan.” She nodded to her cutie mark. “I always kinda had a thing for magic and fashion. I’d hoped that one day I could head out and study up, maybe make a name for myself, but…” she trailed off, a little rueful look in her eyes.
Fluttershy observed the little shift in her mood, feeling wary about prying further. But she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there was some further connection to Dawning involved.
Wait…what if they were–
“…but, uh, hey,” Woven finally said, smiling again. “Splitting work between the diner and the farm isn’t all bad.”
Fluttershy shook the thought out of her head. “N-no, I guess not. Dawning mentioned the diner job…”
“Oh, he did, did he?” Woven asked. “How’d that come up?”
“Um…w-we were just talking during a break and…got to talking about his home, and...it just came up, I guess.”
“Uh-huh…” Woven nodded. “So, what exactly are you all working on? I mean, I know Dawning’s a big city reporter now, but what’s big enough that you’re working with him for?”
Fluttershy hesitated. She knew she was at the threshold now.
Don’t panic. Don’t look nervous. Deep breath, chin up…
Fluttershy breathed in, straightened a little, and put on as calm a face and tone a voice as she could manage. “We’re…actually looking into Supermane, and, um…”
She trailed off. No no, too blunt…well don’t stop now, now she’s going to–
But then a strange expression flickered across Woven’s face for a moment, a glimmer of surprise and suspicion flaring in her eyes for a moment before the friendly smile returned…though now it looked as hollow and thin as a cardboard mask. “Supermane?” she said with a laugh. “Princess Twilight has you, uh…looking into superheroes now? Have you met him yet?”
“Yes–no, I mean, yes I have, but…”
Oh…sugarcubes!...
“Really?” Woven Light asked. “You don’t say…what’s he like?”
“He’s…really nice,” Fluttershy said, fighting back sweat. “But, um, there’s something I…I…”
“Something…like what?” Woven Light asked, stopping and giving Fluttershy a narrow-eyed stare. “And what does Supermane have to do with Dawning?”
Fluttershy swallowed, eyes darting around in search of a distraction, a change of subject, anything but that green eyed stare. “D-Dawning and I are friends,” she stammered out. “And I, um, I think…”
Woven Light leaned in closer, her eyes narrowing. “Miss Fluttershy, I don’t know what you think, but maybe it’s best if you–”
“Woven?” a mare’s voice called out.
Woven turned her head away, the intensity vaporizing from her face. Fluttershy internally sighed in relief before turning to look for herself.
The other mare was approaching from up the road, hauling a cart behind her. Her fur was light orange and her mane was blonde, though broken by stripes of gray from age. Her eyes were a soft shade of blue, and her cutie mark was a cluster of wheat or some other kind of grain. She absentmindedly looked over her shoulder at the cart and its contents as she came up.
“Well I’m hoping I got all the parts Cornstalk needs for the tractor,” she murmured. “Faust knows I don’t have his head for those kinds of mechanics…” She trailed off upon seeing Fluttershy standing next to Woven. “...oh, pardon me, who’s this here?”
“No one,” Woven Light replied, a little curtly. “She was just–”
“Now hold on…” the other mare said, tilting her head at Fluttershy. “Do I know you? I think I’ve seen your picture in the papers once or twice…”
“You, uh…” Fluttershy stammered, looking nervously between her and Woven. “You might’ve, maybe…I’m Fluttershy…”
“Oh right, Fluttershy, now I remember,” the newcomer beamed. “I’m Amber Grain.”
The feeling of relief chilled in Fluttershy’s veins. Dawning’s mother…oh no, if one of his friends is already suspicious of me…
“O-oh, I’m…so glad to meet you,” she forced out, trying her best to put up an innocent smile. “I was looking for you, Woven was leading me to your farmhouse.”
“Is that so?” Amber asked, cocking her head. “Why would–”
“She came here from Manehattan,” Woven Light cut in abruptly. “She was asking about Dawning.”
The friendliness in Amber’s face dimmed–not completely, but enough to be clearly noticeable. “Ah…I see.”
“P-please,” Fluttershy said, raising her hoof. “Just listen, I don’t want to hurt Dawning or anything like that. I just…I just want to know more about your son. I think that…that there’s something on his mind, some problem he’s having. We want to help him, my friends and I all do. I just came here to…to look for answers. To better figure out how to help him.”
Amber frowned, chewing on her lip in thought, never taking her eyes off of Fluttershy. Woven Light glared at the pegasus, and she fought the urge to cower.
“T-that’s all I want,” Fluttershy pleaded. “To help my friend.”
Amber kept looking into Fluttershy’s eyes for a time, like she was staring deep into her soul as the pegasus waited with bated breath.
At last Amber sighed, shut her eyes for a moment, and then gave Fluttershy a smaller but genuine smile. “Well…how about we got back to the house then? Sit down, get comfortable, have a little talk, hm?”
A look of surprise spread across Woven’s face. “Amber, what are you–”
“We wouldn’t want to deny our guest some hospitality here, now would we?” Amber Grain interrupted, shooting a soft but admonishing glance at Woven. “Come on now, Miss Fluttershy. We’ll show you the way.”
Fluttershy felt a small–very small–feeling of cautious relief. “T-thank you…”
“Just follow along,” Amber smiled back as she turned. “Won’t be too long of a trip to the farm.”
Fluttershy quickly trotted along to follow, staying close to Amber’s side as they continued down the road. Woven Light followed behind, and as Fluttershy cast a glance over her shoulder, she saw that the red-maned unicorn was still regarding her with a look of suspicion.
And looking around as they passed through Main Street, she gradually realized that Woven wasn’t the only one. The street had gotten noticeably quieter, and many of the nearby pedestrians had stopped to watch the three mares’ meeting. Some small groups of two or three were whispering amongst each other.
Nopony followed them. They just stood by and watched. But Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel a nervous shudder run through her bones as she once again thought of just how many ponies might be in on the secret of Dawning Hope…
True to Woven and Amber’s word, while the farm was indeed a fair ways off the main roads of the town, it proved to not be too long a walk to it from Main Street. Or at least it was in terms of actual distance; to Fluttershy, between the nervousness already well-embedded into her being, and Woven Light not helping matters by watching her like a guard pony, it felt like a full day’s worth of walking.
But eventually they did indeed arrive, just around noon. Sitting at the end of a little pathway of dirt branching off from the road was a modest, two-story farmhouse, faded yellow in color, backed by a tall red barn, towering grain silos, and vast, sprawling fields of wheat and crops that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see, before ending at the beginnings of a pine forest lining the horizon. Fluttershy found herself reminded of a little of Sweet Apple Acres back home in Ponyville.
“What a lovely place,” Fluttershy said aloud, trying to break some of the tension.
“Why, thank you,” Amber Grain replied with a smile as she unhitched herself from the cart. “We’ve had it in the family for the past six generations. Lot of history’s come and gone through this old place…” She took the lead ahead of Fluttershy and Woven as they stepped up onto the front porch, gently knocking on the door. “Cornstalk’s probably out in either the field or the barn, but Flax should be…ah.”
The door opened with a click, and out peeked a young stallion, with dark brown fur and a blonde mane, and a cutie mark of what looked to be a cluster of tan-ish seeds, smiling as he saw Amber and Woven. “Oh hey Mrs. Grain! Did you get the stuff for the tractor?”
“Well, yes…actually, where is Cornstalk right now?”
“Oh, he’s out back waiting for you, I’ll go get him…” Flax started to duck back inside, but Amber put a hoof on his shoulder.
“Actually Flax, I will go get him. In the meantime, why don’t you help Woven get our guest comfortable, hm?”
“Guest?” Flax asked, looking over her shoulder at Fluttershy. “Oh, oh! Yeah, sure, I can do that.”
“Thank you kindly.” As Flax stepped aside to let her past, Amber looked back at Fluttershy. “I shouldn’t be long. Just make yourself at home.”
“I-I’ll try…” Fluttershy murmured, watching her go.
“Come on in!” Flax chirped, holding the door open with a smile.
“Oh, thank you…” Fluttershy said, gingerly stepping inside with Woven following close behind. The inside of the house, or at least the first floor, was spacious and comfortable, with kitchen, dining room, and living room all interconnected, only separated by vertical support beams or half-walls and counters. The soft yellow color of the walls and the sunlight coming in from the windows gave the interior a warm, inviting feel.
“So, uh, you’ve already met Woven and Mrs. Grain…” Flax said, closing the door behind him as he followed the two mares inside. “And I’m…well, name’s Flax, but I guess you could figure that out by now, huh?” he chuckled.
“Uh…well, yes, I sort of gathered…” Fluttershy took a moment to observe the stallion. His face bore no trace of the suspicion in Woven’s eyes or the gentle but wary smile of Amber. Just genuine warm hospitality. If there were any sort of non-verbal hints that Amber had been trying to drop while she’d talked to him, he’d obviously missed them.
“And, uh…sorry, don’t think I got your name…”
“O-oh! I’m, uh, I’m Fluttershy.”
“Fluttershy…well, nice to meet ya. So, what–”
“Flax,” Woven said flatly. “This is the Fluttershy.”
Only now did the unabashed friendliness in Flax’s face shift, turning into a kind of awe that Fluttershy found familiar by now. “Wait…as in…”
Fluttershy nodded. “Y-yes, that one…um, I’m a friend of Dawning Hope’s…”
Flax’s neighborly smile returned as quickly as it had flickered away. “Well…well no kidding! The Element of Kindness friends with…he’s a great guy, isn’t he, Woven and I’ve known him for years…”
“Uh…Dawning did say that you three were close growing up…”
“He did, huh? Welp, no lies from him there.”
“Flax…” Woven murmured in a cautioning tone.
“Actually…heck, that’s us right up here,” Flax continued, practically bounding over to a row of framed pictures on one wall, pointing to one picture showing Dawning, Flax, and Woven huddled together, dressed in graduation caps and gowns, and grinning happily. “Right here, see? That was graduation from Fillydelphia U. Woven went for fashion design, I was into political sciences and Dawning was journalism.”
“Ooh, I see…” Fluttershy nodded. But looking at the picture, she couldn’t help but notice two odd peculiarities about Dawning.
For one, he was missing his glasses, and his eyes were a very distinct–and familiar to her–shade of vivid blue.
And for another–and when she saw it she found herself more taken surprised by it than by the lack of glasses–part of his graduation robe draped in such a way that she could just see his left flank.
It was blank. There was no sign of a cutie mark anywhere on it.
And then something else caught her eye, a little higher up on the wall above the pictures; a black, star-studded certificate of some kind. “Oh, what’s this?” she asked, reading off the words on the certificate. “‘Smallville Starwatchers Society, Constellation Award for Most Sightings in 1110…”
“Oh, that’s Miss Grain’s,” Flax explained. “She joined that club way back after Dawning was born, really started getting into astronomy and it stuck.” He chuckled. “She won’t admit it unless you ask, but she’s kind of a UFO nut.”
“Oh, really?” Fluttershy asked, mildly surprised. “What got her interested in that sort of thing?”
Flax looked like he was about to answer, but then paused, the friendliness in his face dimming as he exchanged a quick glance with Woven. Barely a fraction of a second later, he was all smiles again. “Oh, uh…just a fun little kick she got on, I suppose.”
For a moment, a part of Fluttershy thought it a little odd, but she mentally shrugged it off. Lots of ponies had odd little things they were into; she knew for a fact Lyra Heartstrings back home in Ponyville fancied herself a cryptid hunter.
Just then the back door creaked open, and Fluttershy turned around to look. Amber Grain had returned, holding the door open to allow a new pony to step through; a tall stallion with a pale yellow coat, a light brown mane, tail, and small goatee on his chin, and wearing a red plaid shirt and a blue ball cap. Like Amber Grain, his mane and tail were broken by the occasional stripe of aged gray, and his cutie mark was a small cluster of three cornstalks. He quietly regarded Fluttershy with brown eyes, and lips neither smiling nor frowning as he stepped inside and paused.
“Miss Fluttershy,” Amber said, still in a reservedly friendly tone. “This is my husband, Cornstalk.”
The stallion nodded. “Hello,” he said, his voice soft but bordering on deep, curt but not impolite or sullen.
Fluttershy nodded back. “H-hello, sir…”
“So…” he took a few steps closer, still taking her in. “Ambie here told me that you’re a friend of Dawning’s. Is that true?”
Fluttershy hesitated, taking him in in turn. His gaze and movements didn’t carry the cheerful body language of Flax, but not the harsh suspicion of Woven Light either. Instead he regarded her with a kind of quiet straightforwardness. Non-aggressive, but noticeably firm in getting to the point.
It made Fluttershy start to feel nervous again. She felt like things were beginning to slip out of her hooves for real.
Calm yourself. Keep it together, take it slow.
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Hmm.” Cornstalk pursed his lips. “Come have a seat. Let’s talk for a while.”
Fluttershy followed him to the dining room table, made out of dark polished wood and draped in a white table cloth. Cornstalk took a seat first, resting his front hooves together on the table as he waited for Fluttershy.
“Would you like me to get something for you?” Amber asked Fluttershy. “Coffee, or…”
“Uh…no, thank you,” Fluttershy replied meekly as she took a seat opposite of Cornstalk. Amber nodded, taking a seat beside her husband. Out of the corner of her eye, Fluttershy saw Flax murmuring something to Woven off to the side, at last sounding at least confused, before Woven silenced him with a hissed whisper.
“So, tell me,” Cornstalk said, leaning forward slightly. “How did you meet Dawning?”
Fluttershy took a breath to steel herself, then began. “We, um…we met at the Daily Planet…we’ve been, uh…we’ve been…”
Cornstalk and Amber waited quietly, patiently.
It was almost maddening.
“…we’ve been trying to find Supermane together.”
Cornstalk nodded. “I see.”
“Wait, Supermane?” Flax asked, tilting his head. “What does Supermane have to do with you and–”
Woven coughed. Flax clammed up.
“You were saying?” Cornstalk gently prodded.
Fluttershy hesitated. There was nothing else to say, no other direction to go in at this point. The threshold of the search was at hoof.
“…something came up with Dawning. Something that has us worried…a-about him, I mean. I-I just wanted to ask about, um…oh…”
She couldn’t do it. She was breaking up. She just couldn’t do it.
But then she didn’t have to. Flax’s eyes widened, and in a nervous half-whisper he breathed out, “You know?”
“Flax!” Woven hissed, glaring daggers at him.
“Woven, Flax,” Amber said in a gently reprimanding tone.
Cornstalk shut his eyes for a moment, taking in a breath and letting it out as a gentle sigh before he opened them up again. “Well?”
Something inside Fluttershy shattered, and a mix of emotions swirled and churned within her. Relief, that the tension was now broken and all cards were on the table, and that her hunch had been right. Heartbreak, that her hunch had been right.
Fluttershy sighed too. “Yes. I do.”
“He’s not hurting anypony,” Woven suddenly barked, stepping forward and glaring at Fluttershy with all the aura of an angered guard dog. “He’s only trying to help, I don’t know what your princess friend wants with him but–”
Fluttershy flinched in her seat. “I–we’re not–”
“Woven Light,” Amber snapped. “Leave her alone and let her explain herself, please.”
Woven recoiled, her fury dissipating as she stepped back, bowing her head shamefully.
Amber sighed. “We all knew this day was coming. We knew it was from the moment we heard about the train. Best thing we can do now is just…just take it as it comes.” She turned back to Fluttershy. “I’m sorry about her. Truth is, we’ve all been on edge these past few days. Past few years, really, but the past week especially.”
“I-I understand…” Fluttershy murmured back.
“How much do you know?” Cornstalk asked.
“Just…just that he’s Supermane. Um, as far as facts go, that’s really all. But there’s, um…” She paused for a moment, finding words. “…there’s something about him. I…I only got to talk to him once as, um, Supermane. He asked us to stop looking for him. And I know, I know it sounds like an invasion of privacy, in any other situation I’d want to leave him alone, but when we talked there was just this…this burden I felt like he’s been carrying. Something painful that he’s hiding, or something that he’s looking for. And…well, more than knowing who he really is under the cloak, I…I wanted to find a way to help him if I could just understand what that something is.”
She stopped again, looking around between Cornstalk and Amber, and Woven and Flax standing off to the side.
“I-I promise you,” Fluttershy continued. “My friends and I aren’t there to arrest him or anything. We don’t want to hurt him. Neither does Twilight. She knows he’s not a bad pony, or a danger, or anything like that…I…I think if he was, he would’ve made himself one by now with everything he can do. We just…want to know more about him. To help him, if we can.”
Woven’s glare softened, little by little. Cornstalk and Amber said nothing at first. They just exchanged looks, as though communicating through silent thought.
Then Cornstalk turned back to Fluttershy and cleared his throat. “Miss Fluttershy, I can’t say we can put our trust in you by way of personal experience, but…well, word gets around. You’re not exactly little-known these days, and you’ve got a pretty good reputation going for you. And frankly, I think if Princess Twilight really was out for our son to hurt him or lock him up, well…she wouldn’t have sent you. No offense, mind you.”
“None taken. I’m…not exactly the spooky secret agent type,” Fluttershy replied, actually finding herself giggling a slight bit.
For a moment, Cornstalk smiled back with a gentle, fatherly sort of smile. “No, no you’re not. But point is, cards are on the table now, and if you’re the hoof we’ve been dealt with, well…I suppose we can take it.”
Fluttershy finally sighed out loud, feeling genuinely relieved. “Thank you. Truly.”
Amber adjusted herself a little in her own chair. “So…do you know anything else? Anything in particular that might’ve gotten you worried?”
“Mm-hmm,” Fluttershy answered. “He, um, he talked a lot about how he senses things…how he can see and hear so much more than other ponies can, and how it makes him want to help others, but…the way he talked. It sounded like a part of him doesn’t want to. Like he’d rather have kept himself hidden away from everything, and…I-I guess I’m just trying to understand why. Is it the powers, or how he got them, or…what?”
Amber nodded. “The senses are part of it, yes,” she explained. “But there’s a whole lot more to him than that. It’s kind of a long story, and…well, a bit of a strange one.”
“I had a feeling it’d be one,” Fluttershy replied. “And…I’ve seen a lot of strange things over the years. I think I can take it.”
“Ah, right,” Woven murmured. “Ponyville.”
Fluttershy nodded before turning back to Cornstalk and Amber. “So…how did it start? Like, when did you first start noticing the powers?”
Cornstalk pursed his lips, hesitating for a moment before answering. “Well…it took a while for us to know just how different he is, but we knew he was different right from the beginning. Ever since the day we, um…found him.”
Fluttershy’s heart skipped a beat. She thought she’d been ready for anything at this point. She had been wrong.
“‘Found’…you mean…Dawning is adopted?”
Cornstalk nodded. “You might call it that…yes. I guess ‘adopted’ is about right.”
A feeling of sympathy and sadness welled up in Fluttershy’s chest. “He…he never mentioned that at all…”
“Wouldn’t expect him to,” Amber said.
“But…so…how did you find him, then?”
Cornstalk and Amber paused, once more exchanging a glance of silent communication before Amber spoke.
“We’d been wanting a child of our own for years,” she began, a note of sadness in her voice. “We tried…hard, so very hard. One year, we came close, very very close, but…” She sighed. “…we lost them. After that, they…they told us that it was unlikely I could ever…” She trailed off, her eyes beginning to glisten a little with moisture.
“I…I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whispered.
There was a pause. Cornstalk reached over and took his wife’s hoof in his own, giving it a squeeze and holding it before he continued. “We were on the way back from the hospital that night. There was work being done on the road we usually take, so we had to go the long way around town. And wouldn’t you know it, the cart picked the middle of the loneliest road in town in the middle of a winter night to bust a wheel loose. We pulled over to take care of it…” He chuckled softly. “Darnedest bit of timing…”
Twenty-Five Years Ago…
Cornstalk grunted as he finally slid the spare wheel into place along the axel, taking a moment to dust off his hooves. “There we go…we won’t take too long at all, don’t you worry…” he said aloud, picking up the first replacement bolt and twisting it into place with a wrench. He didn’t hear a reply from Amber Grain, but he kept working anyway.
He didn’t rush–a rushed job was always a poor one–but he did try to work as quickly as he could so they could get back on the road that much faster. He certainly didn’t want to linger out here for long. For one, it was the middle of the night, and an early winter one to boot. The harvest season had ended two months ago now, leaves had fallen from the trees and left their branches barren, and the biting cold had already made its presence frigidly known. The first snowfall of the season was due to come any day now, they were saying.
For another, Cornstalk knew for a fact that they were just on the edges of old Stellar Lexicon’s property. The crotchety old stallion was probably already asleep at this time, but even so, Cornstalk wanted to get the both of them on their way from the place as soon as he could. He was an odd one, that Mr. Lexicon. Unpleasant, too. Only ever showed his face in town to buy up the bare essentials, rarely spoke to anyone, but always looked at everypony else with a kind of condescending sneer. Some of the local gossips claimed to have heard him muttering about the strangest things, like UFOs or “exoplanets”. Others said that he was a dropout from some college in Canterlot.
Cornstalk didn’t pay attention to most of the rumors. He did, however, occasionally think about the one of him having a son. Tech, his name was said to be. Something like that, anyway. And he only thought about it in the hope that it wasn’t true. He couldn’t imagine what growing up with a father like that would do to a foal, much less imagine how any self-respecting pony could stay with someone like Lexicon long enough to…well…he hoped it wasn’t true in any case.
And last and most importantly, Amber, to his mind, had already suffered enough these past few days. Both of them had. But he cared about Amber more.
At last he twisted the final bolt into place, stepping back and tilting the bill of his hat up to wipe a little sweat from his brow. “There…see? No real trouble at all, right Ambie?”
Amber Grain did not reply.
Cornstalk let the cheery front fall as he turned around. “…Ambie?”
Amber Grain was sitting off on the opposite side of the road, wrapped in a blanket, her blonde mane haloed in the white light of the moon and stars, gently swaying in the wind. She sat silently, facing away from Cornstalk and the cart, and towards the fields and pine forest that stretched away off to the darkened horizon.
At first, Cornstalk thought she was looking up at the moon, staring into the eye of the Mare in the Moon’s gray silhouette. But as he slowly trotted up to sit beside her, he saw that she was not. Instead, she was just staring blankly forward, not looking at anything in particular.
One hoof was held loosely over her stomach.
“Ambie…”
An ear twitched, and Amber slowly turned her head to look at Cornstalk. As she did, the moisture in her eyes caught the moon’s light, and for a moment it sparkled silver. In the next she was returning Cornstalk’s gaze, lip beginning to quiver as her breath quickened.
She broke. Like water rushing from a broken dam, she threw herself forward into the embrace Cornstalk already had waiting, and the two collapsed against each other, wrapping their hooves around each other’s bodies and resting their heads on each other’s shoulders. Cornstalk tenderly nuzzled his wife’s cheek, feeling her already tear-dampened fur beginning to saturate his own as he held her close, her chest heaving and nostrils flaring as she sobbed.
“Sh-sh-sh…” Cornstalk whispered. He could just barely keep the tremor out of his own voice. “I know…I know…me too…”
“M-my fault…”
“…what?”
For a moment Amber’s mouth gaped like a fish. “I-I-I lost…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
“No, nonono, no,” Cornstalk put his hooves on Amber’s shoulders and gently held her to look him in the eye. “Ambie, this. Is not. Your fault. It’s not. Not yours or anypony else’s…it-it’s not…you…haven’t done anything…”
Amber sniffled and buried her muzzle into Cornstalk’s shoulder again, and he took her back into his embrace, reaching around to gently rub her back with a hoof and closing his eyes.
He wished there was something he could say. Some magic words that would help make the pain go away for the both of them.
There wasn’t. All he could do for her now was to be there with her.
Cornstalk wasn’t aware of how much time passed before his ears suddenly perked up. There had been a sound, quick and fast and disappearing as fast as it had come. A kind of sizzle from somewhere above their heads. He opened his eyes and looked up into the starry night sky, catching sight of a thing streak of light shooting across the sky. A shooting star, he thought at first.
But then came a second thin streak. And then a third. And a fourth. Soon there were at least a dozen flashing across his field of vision per second, streaking overhead and disappearing.
A meteor shower.
Amber pulled her muzzle out of his shoulder and looked up as well, grief turning into confusion. “Cornstalk?…”
“I–”
Then a larger, thicker streak flew overhead with a fwoosh, and Cornstalk got the distinct sense that this one was far lower to the ground than the others. He knew they were by the time the next two had passed and gone. A low rumble had begun to echo through the air.
Suddenly there was a flash of orange light and a loud explosion from only a few yards down the road, kicking up dirt and gravel and shaking the ground beneath their hooves. Amber screamed and clutched Cornstalk tight as another ball of flame suddenly crashed down and burst in the field ahead of them, throwing up tongues of glowing fire.
On the verge of panic, Cornstalk turned around…and his eyes promptly went wide and his jaw slack.
The night sky was on fire. A fiery orange storm had appeared to block out the stars, hurling ever larger fireballs across the sky and to the ground, shattering and exploding across the fields on either side of the road, raining embers and ash and smoke. With each impact the ground shook as though in the midst of an earthquake, and the rumble swelled to a ferocious roar.
“UNDER THE CART, UNDER THE CART!” Cornstalk yelled, hurriedly dragging Amber beneath their little cart and absentmindedly kicking away the jack he’d used to prop it up. They both knew it was a flimsy shelter at best, but in these lonely fields, there was no other cover they could possibly find shelter in.
Amber shut her eyes tight and held on to Cornstalk as the chaos continued. There were bright flashes of orange and yellow and red from all around, the ground quaked with each strike, the acrid scents of smoke and flame flooded their nostrils and stung their eyes. A nightmare of fire and brimstone was falling all around them like hail.
The roar grew louder and louder, more shrill with each second. At once the two realized that now it wasn’t a continuous sound anymore; it was a loud whine that pulsated. The light from overhead rose from orange, to yellow, then to white, and the whole cart shook violently as something passed overhead.
In the next instant, through the space between the wheels, they saw it come down, bigger and brighter than the fireballs that surrounded it. A flashing flare, a spinning star. It sailed right over the road and out across the field beyond, screaming its pulsing shriek as it came down lower and lower…
There was a blinding flash, the brightest one of all, so bright that even when Cornstalk and Amber shut their eyes tight and turned away they were left seeing spots, and a cracking KRA-KOOM so loud that it left their ears ringing. The couple gripped each other tight, so tight that it hurt, and both were screaming in terror now.
Time was lost to them before they realized that the chaos was dying down, the flashes of light came fewer and fewer, the tremors decreasing. Even so, they held each other close for several more minutes, shaking and trembling.
At last–when they were sure that it had settled down at last–the two ponies worked up the courage to slowly crawl out from under the cart, their fur dirtied and manes matted, staring all around them in silence. The area had been decimated. The dirt road, forward and back, had been torn apart, littered with piles of earth and shattered rock. The once darkened fields were now lit by patches of flames all over, casting the area in a dim red light and sending little embers up into the air. Up in the sky, a few final flashes of light streaked down and disappeared with little whimpering fizzles. An ashy haze now covered all, drifting around like a fog bank. And from the field ahead, where the spinning, pulsating light had fallen, rose a thick, dark gray plume of smoke that rose high and wide into the night sky.
Cornstalk and Amber said nothing. They just stared, listening to nothing save the wheezing of their lungs and the still-rapid beating of their hearts.
Suddenly there was a wooden crack! from the cart, and Cornstalk spun around just in time to see the opposite wheel from the one he’d just fixed breaking loose, rolling away as the cart tilted over in the other direction now.
Only now did he finally find words, albeit more akin to broken, frustrated sputtering than actual coherent sentences. “Augh…for the love…aaaugh!” As if forgetting all about what had just happened, he ran back over to the cart, continuing to sputter brokenly as he looked it over.
Amber Grain remained where she stood, silently looking out at that towering plume of smoke, her gaze steadfastly locked on to it. She felt like she should go back to the cart with Cornstalk. But she didn’t. Instead she stayed. And watched, for something she wasn’t even sure if she could see.
Then she saw it; her eyes weren’t deceiving her, there was something in there. A little white light. Faint, barely a flicker, but it was there. It was flashing. Twice in one second, then nothing, and then it did it again. On repeat. Like clockwork.
Without thinking, Amber began to slowly creep forward, off the road and out into whatever remained of the field. As though on some kind of autopilot, she stepped around patches of charred ground and bent, smoldering vegetation as she headed ever closer to the flashing light, mind wrapped in a kind of wonderstruck trance.
She was already halfway there when Cornstalk popped his head from back around the cart, face furrowing in confusion as he noticed her absence. “…Ambie? Amber? Where’d you…” Through the dim red light, he could just make out her form slowly weaving through the field. “H-hey…hey Ambie! What’re you doing, come back!” He shouted after her, scrambling up to follow her.
Amber didn’t call back to him. She heard him, but she did not call back. She was to engrossed in her sojourn to think about calling back at the moment, determined to reach what lay ahead with a determination she could not fully explain.
This was something strange. Something new. And she had to see it. She just had to.
As she got closer and closer, she could slowly began to make out a kind of shape sticking up out of the ground. It was lit by a dim, low blue glow from within the center of the plume of smoke…no, not just smoke, she now realized. There was steam, too, hissing as it rose. And she began to realize, to her confusion, that it was actually getting colder the closer she got. The light up top–and it was on top of the thing, she now realized–was still flashing, and now she could hear the little sounds it made as it continued to flash. Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp.
The smokey and steamy haze began to clear, and at last the object’s true shape began to become visible at last to her. She froze, staring up at it. She hadn’t been sure what she was expecting. Something not like a normal meteor, at the very least. But nothing quite like what she was seeing now.
It was somewhere between thirty or forty feet from one end to the other, lying at an angle in the ground so that the back end was tilted upward. Two long, tapering tails, coming together like a pair of fused teardrops, fanning out into a pair of semicircular wings and an egg-shaped pod at the front. The body of the thing looked like it was made from silvery crystal. No, not quite like crystal, more like glass, like some kind of strange glass sculpture; cloudy within and coated in a reflective sheen. A spiked orb hovered in an open space between the two tail prongs, slowly spinning with a fading golden glow deep within. An icy blue glow ran beneath the crystalline surface of the thing.
Amber barely had time to even begin to take it all in before the blue glow suddenly faded away, and the chilly feel in the air suddenly disappeared with it as the steam finally stopped. The flickering, chirping light–just behind the egg-shaped pod–suddenly went out as well. From where it had flashed there was a sudden snap that made Amber flinch and step back on instinct, watching as a small sphere rose up into the air and hovered above the object.
A flickering ray of blue light suddenly shot forth from the little sphere, shining down on the ground around the object and beginning to sweep around in a slow arc with a rhythmic hum. Amber stood frozen, transfixed and trembling as she watched, until it suddenly rested on her. She squinted as the intense blue light shined in her eyes, and a shiver went through her body. She didn’t know whether or not it was out of fear or if the light was doing something to her.
She stepped out of its way. The light followed. She kept scrambling sideways until she was directly in front of the egg-shaped pod, but still it followed until it locked onto her again.
Run! her mind finally screamed. Go! But she didn’t have to. The light snapped off and the sphere floated back down into the body of the object as suddenly as it had come.
She only had a moment to ponder this strange interaction before a glowing, oval-shaped outline, about the same height as a pony’s length, appeared on the surface of a pod. Another glowing line formed and ran down the middle of the shape, and the next thing Amber knew it was…well, she didn’t know how to describe the motion she was witnessing. It didn’t open outward on hinges. It didn’t retract and slide open. Instead, the two halves of the oval seemed to break apart into little glowing particles, rolling away into either side beneath the skin of the object like the waves of a parting sea.
There was a hiss and a white cloud puffed out of the glowing opening, directly into her face. She coughed and tried her best to fan it away with a hoof. It was humid like mist, and had a heavy, sour odor to it, like some kind of antiseptic.
Then her ears perked up as she heard a new sound coming from within the opened pod, and though everything else that had just happened that night had been wildly, unbelievably bizarre, she would recognize that sound anywhere in the universe.
Crying.
Amber leaned forward to get a better view inside, gasped suddenly, and lunged forward, reaching her hooves inside…
Cornstalk, meanwhile, was half-running, half-staggering through the ruined and half-burnt down field, panting for breath amidst the smoke. “Ambie?! Ambie!” he called. His mind was a blur of confusion and worry. Where had she gone? What had possessed her to go running right into the middle of a–
He was so lost in worry that he wasn’t looking where he was going. Suddenly he felt his right foreleg strike something hard and hot, and he gasped in pain as he tumbled head over heels onto his back. He held the foreleg close. It wasn’t injured too badly, but whatever he’d hit had been burning hot, and he winced as clutched his leg. A piece of meteor rock. That had been it. He knew they got very very hot when they came down, and he must’ve tripped right over one of the darned things.
When the pain had subsided enough, Cornstalk sat up to get a better look at what had tripped him. He soon spotted it, not five feet away…but as he looked at it, he found himself staring at it in bewilderment.
It was a gnarled chunk of rock about a foot wide. And indeed, he could still feel the heat radiating off of it. Its surface was blackened and sooty, and beneath the black outer layers was a churning, fiery glow, burning like a gigantic ember.
But what held his attention was the color of the glow itself. It was green. A deep, vivid, poisonous green, a shade he’d never seen in any rock he’d ever seen before.
Cornstalk stared back at the rock, its strange green glow casting a reflection in his eyes and face. He didn’t stare in wonder, but in a kind of transfixed, unsettled state. A chill went down his spine. He didn’t like this thing. He didn’t know why, but something deep within him told him that this was wrong. This was a thing that was not meant to be. An abomination.
He felt like he was staring at a corpse.
“CORNSTALK!”
Cornstalk forgot all about the strange green rock as his head and ears shot up. Amber. Calling loudly, desperately. He got up and broke into a gallop, ignoring the lingering sting in his foreleg. She’s hurt, oh Faust she’s hurt, she touched one of the rocks just like I did and it burned her, oh sweet Celestia above…
He cleared the distance to the bizarre object in fifteen seconds, skidding to a halt as he stared up at the thing rising tall and gaunt against the reddened, hazy air. He only spared a moment to stare at it.
“AMBER!”
“Here!” he heard her shout back. “O-on the other side!”
Cornstalk heard crying now too, and his terror shot up. He bolted quickly, rounding the side of the object…
…and finding Amber Grain sitting on her haunches beside the open pod, cradling something in her forelegs. She didn’t look hurt. For an instant, Cornstalk felt a momentary sense of relief. Slowly, he trotted closer to see what it was she was holding.
It was a colt. A little tan colt with a small black tail and messy mop of a mane, with a kind of small, white-blue crystal hanging from his neck by a thin cord. He only looked to be about a year old at most. His eyes were shut, face reddened as he sobbed. Amber was holding him close and tight in her forelegs, stroking his mane, whispering vague shushes into his ears as silent tears streamed down her own face.
“…A-Ambie?…” Cornstalk whispered.
Amber slowly lifted her tear-streaked gaze up to meet his. They stared, back and forth between each other and the little colt that she held.
Then as one they turned their eyes to the strange ship, and slowly, comprehendingly, lifted their gazes to lift up, up, and out into the black void between the stars from where it had come.
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Hey there. Really good job on the latest chapter. Again, very well worth the wait. Definitely liked the work going into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Definitely liked Fluttershy's dialogue with her friends before she left for Smallville and also really appreciated the simulation showing Lex (in a foreshadowing for the powered armor he will later be using for real) taking on pretty much every (major) villain faced by the Mane Six (with the exceptions of Sunset Shimmer and the Dazzlings, who are on another world that is NOT known to exist to most of the rest of Equestria anyway [and, even then, Twilight herself was the only one of the Mane Six who actually faced them]) before the dialogue between Lex and Mercy concerning a potential Supermane weakness. But my favorite parts had to be Fluttershy's dialogues with the analogues to Lana as well as Jonathan and Martha, especially with the mutual reassurances in the latter case.
REALLY looking forward to more of this.
So Fluttershy isn't the first to find out the secret. Well, that's good.
Nicely done, man!
And hoo boy, looks like Lex just hit cash money in his scheme to try and bring down Dawning...
So are we getting the mid-season upgrade for Sup's suit in the next few chapters? Or are you gonna pass on the 'fabric found with him' bit that they've used so... Sooo many times in every re-iteration that's been done. (Which still confuses me as to how in the hell Martha was able to weave the Kriptonian fabric considering I've had it described to me as being the equivalent strength of Depleted Uranium Plating.)
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Superman: Birthright has Clark directly helping Martha make it with his powers, but most versions usually hand wave it with a gag about how much sewing equipment she broke making it.
As for the actual answer to your question, well...spoilers.
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.... Ah, my old foe once more contends with me to do battle with him.... DAMN YOU SPOILERS! I'LL CONQUER YE IN ODIN'S NAME!! Just as soon as I figure out where he hid my spare axe...
This is so good! I am so glad to see this story updated and hope we see more soon. Btw, it would be cool to have a prequel story about the Smallville life with the parents raising Dawning which btw I liked the origin story you've made so far. I feel rather bad for Lex... I know he has done bad things he needs to repent and answer for but I can tell his father and the alien ship plus rocks have messed him up mentally because he does want to help ponies but hates that we have to rely on 'gods' or 'heroes' for help which has me wondering if Grace might become pregnant in the story to change Lex's mind about hurting Supermane... or... he mistakenly kills her and the baby because of Supermane... Man... I got dark there sorry
about that Lex so far is so good.
Really good written setup for Fluttershy to meet Lana Lang's pony version, which I don't mind the name change since you picked a better name. Makes sense everyone knew that Fluttershy was here before right away. I love the character arc for Woven Light, and I could see Rarity coming by to have her become Rarity's student as we had seen with Twilight. btw who is Flax inspired? I know there was someone in Smallville that would fit but forgot the name... Anyways, I can't wait to see what references and villains you'll mention in the future chapters when Fluttershy learns much about Dawning's childhood life. Oh, why changed his adopted father of not dying? Not that it's a bad thing just wondering is all since I thought he passed away unless I am remembering wrong... There has been a few fanfics with supermane so maybe I am mixing it up...
Oh yea, I just noticed this. You wrote Amber lost "them" so I assume she was having twins which right now in the current time she has two kids helping her farm, which is both are boy and girl which is very nice blessing for her to have in her life. It's like her twins are there for her.
Welp, long comment, so thanks for the awesome chapter and also there seems to be a leak about Sony making a Superman game for Playstation? That would be cool!
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I believe that would make sense where he got the suit. Woven must have used parts of his fallen ship to create it which I really like that idea of her love for him to always be there wherever he goes, even though they aren't together anymore. Wait a second... I forgot Martha Kent made it... So, maybe both Woven and Amber made it together? I have a feeling Woven helped since it seems like her character that Jade made would actually do.
Edit: Huh... I was sure I followed you before... odd...
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I just realized something… so far we don’t have a Cara yet right? What if… Lillylocks I think was her name from the episode “last Crusade” during Diamonds song about saying the filly being super strong was actually Dawning’s cousin? Like… she won’t be a teenager but it won’t be a bad thing for her to be a foal and was separated just like the in Superman series.
Edit: it’s a theory a Pony Theory!
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I suspect Flax is supposed to be Pete Ross.
There were at least two versions of him with live actors:
static.wikia.nocookie.net/dccu/images/3/34/Pete_Ross.png , who resembles the artwork done in the DC comics magazines
static.wikia.nocookie.net/smallville/images/8/81/Peteross_gjaogualgd.jpg from the Smallville TV series.
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Yup, Flax is the Pete Ross stand-in.
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Awesome that was who I was thinking about!
Ahh Smallville the good old day.
Shit figured Kryptonite would come out sooner or later.
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Wait that loser/ex bully from Man of Steel was supposed to be Pete Ross? Fuck what a downgrade.
Edit: huh didn’t realize they race bent him in Smallville
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??
According to IMDB, Joseph Cranford had a bit-role as an EMT guy in the series, "Guys Book Club". It's the only filmed role he had prior to "Man of Steel". All his other work before MoS was on stage, doing improv skits. I've never seen GBC, so I don't know if his role in there was that of a dickwad or not. "Pete Ross" was the guy working at the iHop when Superman (Henry Cavill) & Faora (Antje Traue) ripped through there and trashed the place during their fight. Are you perhaps thinking of Steve Lombard (Michael Kelly) who worked alongside Clark and Lois at the Daily Planet?
As for Smallville, yeah, there were shittons of changes like that to the Superman mythos--from the introduction of Chloe as a major supporting character, to Clark fighting just about every supervillain that the "Established On-The-Job World-Famous Superman" only first encountered in the DC comics, but were ALL happening LONG BEFORE Clark ever put on the suit! Hell, most of them were happening EVEN BEFORE Jonathan Kent died!!
But beyond those issues, Smallville wasn't all that bad. Pretty good acting (for the most part); lots of well-known actors having fun with their roles; great lines, delivery, and interplay. The episodes were fairly logical and consistent within their own frame of reference. Just press the "I Believe" button to get through it all.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a serious plague of retcon with just about every superhero movie ever created--both DC & Marvel. EVERY SINGLE TIME there's a change of actors for the main character, we have to sit through at least half of the film giving us a BRAND NEW VERSION of the Origin Story, ALL OVER AGAIN, AND AGAIN! The CDC really needs to develop a cure for that disease.
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I was thinking that Pete Ross in MOS by the time he worked in IHOP was the grown up version of the dickwad the film seemed to have hinted it and no I was not thinking about that Michael guy.
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Ah, I see. Part of that retconned Origin that I have a tendency to tune out. Roger that.
S;ightly belated for various reasons, but excellent work as per usual!
Delightful, insightful, and thorough. That is this chapter in a nutshell in both telling us directly what we need to hear, showing us what we need to see, and leaving plenty implied for sharp eye viewers to keep track of. One of the biggest follies in story making is not setting stuff up well ahead of time, resulting in thing is seemingly coming out of left field. It is a mark of smart writing to take these things into factor ahead of time, which is why I was rather happy to see proper setups such as the mentality of Lex and the it's a backstory we got for several characters being well established here as I feel we are approaching something of the middle section of the story to really get what will be the climax plot rolling.
Lex Luthor, and just referring to him as that for the sake of anyone reading this comment as I am talking in respect to both the incarnation Jade has provided us here as well as the original character, is a type of villain I really think we need to see more of these days. Frankly I think we overglamorize the powerless superhero. And I'm not just talking Batman in general, but rather than notion that superpowers mean any heroics or grand action that somebody makes are somehow lesser than those doing it without. This isn't a discount great achievements done without special abilities, but the whole idea of abuse of power and lack of responsibility is not a moral that is exclusive to those with incredible abilities. It often comes with unnecessary scorn for such abilities with the thought that typical mortal achievement can equal or surpass them, and this a dangerous arrogance and paranoia.
I think it is quite telling here that Lex not once justifies his fears by stating he wants to use his wealth and technology against evil doers alongside those that have saved the day countless times; but that he wants to totally replace everyone else to be the sole source of admiration in the sky. As much as he claims to hate the gods, physical or metaphorical, you very much craves to be a god.
Some humanist.
And given the implications we are handed by the trip to Smallville, even if it's understandable how he wound up that way this is a damnation of his own doing.
Some good character moments from Fluttershy and company, alongside a rendition of Smallville which I feel has a little bit of a cue from several incarnations I have seen. And I rather like that. Namely how there are several persons besides the adoptive parents that are heavily implied to have either found out about the secret, knew about it by proxy, or had figured it out on their own. Dawning is a good fellow and most certainly isn't going to hurt anybody. I've been around small towns with hidden secrets like that before and they aren't always bad.
the adoptive parents are probably two of my favorite parts of the Superman mythos that wasn't there initially but really have become integral to the character. Ultimately you could see them as the great refusal to both fanatical humanism but also antihumanism. Yes, there are forces out there beyond our ability to face or defeat as mortals. But not all of them are evil and what happens if one of them winds up being given the best aspects of humanity? Not our technology, not our courage, not our achievement, not anything that someone like Lex represents. But what about human goodness? Or in this case pony goodness.
After a heart wrenching flashback showing the happy couple almost certainly suffered a traumatic event in a miscarriage, with some truly haunting and sympathetic dialogue from Amber, good fortune smiles upon the benevolent. The baby they found could have been completely without any powers whatsoever and moments like this would still be impactful. It's a truly sweet moment and I'm very happy we got to see it in full here instead of some other fan stories I have seen that only gave us dialogue reviews of the event.
On a purely technical level the scenery and detailing in the chapter are splendid. The dialogue has a nice snap to it where we get to the point very quickly instead of beating around the bush too much, and the character moments are very stark. My only criticism I would feel is that the middle portion does slump a little bit on the pacing but it didn't pick itself back up by the end we continue on a very unique situation for all the heroes involved and dread about the villain.
Not only do I hope to see Lex go down, but I also hope to see that his power fantasy is more fiction than fact.
You know, this just made me wonder if Dawning's crystal cointained Jor-El's AI. Frankly I never read any Superman comics and I grew up watching DCEU movies and watching some clips from the Superman & Lois tv show. In DCEU, Jor-El is shown to be contained in a kryptonian command key. But in Superman & Lois, I think he was inside the crystal. Could this be the case as well in this story?
Oh, so that's how Tech Lexicon got a hold of the Kryptonian ship. Judging by how he turned out, if that Stellar guy actually is his father, I'm guessing Stellar is actually an even nastier fellow than Smallville thinks he is.
The beginnings of greatness.
Also:
... why do I get the feeling Lex just found the one thing that can kill him?
And so the truth comes. Naturally, can't have a Superman story without the spaceship crashing out of nowhere, is an essential. :3
So Flutters; aliens. Your thoughts?