• Published 30th Jun 2013
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Whenever You Call - Onomonopia

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No Two Alike

"Did you get it?" the voice in the darkness asked Chrysalis as she came back into the throne room, lightning flashing outside for dramatic effect. Chrysalis walked up to the throne room and bowed slightly, dropping the device at his hooves.

"Yes, but it will not be long before they suspect," she said. The dark figure's eyes narrowed and he levitated the device up to his eyes, a smile growing on his face.

"That is of no importance. Without their Superman to defend them, the ponies will fall at our hooves." He floated the device over his chest and with a bit of magic, attached the device to his chest. He smiled and stood up, walking over to her while remaining in the darkness. "You have done well, Chrysalis. I feel that I should reward you." He stomped the ground and a portal to the darkness opened, allowing a small changeling to crawl out. Chrysalis let out a gasp and ran over to the child, scooping it up into her hooves and holding it close. "If you continue to do such a good job, I will return the rest of them to you," he said with a smile as tears rolled down Chrysalis' face. He left the room to begin planning, not noticing the two eyes that glared at him as he left. She then turned her attention back to the small changeling that looked up at her and giggled, causing her eyes to soften, and she held it close again, promising herself that she wouldn't lose her children again.

"Damn you, Sombra," she whispered to herself as the little larve began playing with her hair.

(S)

A massive storm had blown in all across the land of Equestria and most ponies were inside taking shelter from the rain. Superman was not 'most ponies'. He instead flew about all over the land, using his vision and hearing to try to find any who were in trouble. He had just rescued a pair of colts that had been trapped up in a tree and returned them to their parents, smiling as they thanked him. He waved and flew off above the clouds, scanning for the next sign of trouble.

"So far, there hasn't been much trouble," he muttered to himself. "I'm glad I told Rarity and Applejack to keep their sisters inside for today. This is just the kind of day they'd want to get their marks in something foolish like river rafting or cloud wrangling," he said with a sigh, looking over in Ponyville's direction just in case. The last thing he wanted was for more innocents to die. He sighed with relief when he found the two of them inside with their sisters watching over them. All that was left was...

"Scootaloo," Superman said with a frown. He hadn't seen her when he scanned Rarity's home, where she was supposed to be staying for the day. A quicker scan of the area showed him that she was at Pinkie's, talking to the pink pony over a cup of cocoa. She was safe as well, so he didn't need to concern himself too much with Ponyville. He would keep an eye on it, but even if he couldn't, he knew that Rainbow Dash would be there to help out any pony in danger. Fluttershy had approached him and told him about how she had been acting, as if she had lost faith in herself. Superman had been noticing it to, ever since the race. She had gone from loud and arrogant to silent and lost.

"She's comparing herself to you," Fluttershy had told him. "She always had an inferiority complex, so she tries to be the best at everything. And once she got there, you came along and beat her at nearly everything. She feels worthless compared to you." Superman frowned at the thought, hoping that RD would snap out of that way of thinking. She might not be as fast or as strong as he was, but she was a hero of sorts in her own right. She just needed a little fine tuning. Superman's thoughts were interrupted by a cry for help, and he flew off, planning to talk to Rainbow later.

(S)

Rainbow Dash lay on her back looking up at the sky. She was laying on top of one of the rain clouds that was drenching her home. She had been the fastest at getting the clouds in the area, in ten seconds flat. While that had gained her cheers and applause from her co-workers, it just left her feeling down. She knew that what she did in ten seconds Superman could do in half a second. She sighed and rolled over the side of her cloud, allowing herself to look down at Ponyville. Her eyes widened in interest when she saw a very curious sight. Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara were talking to each other and neither of them had started beating up the other. That alone gave her cause for concern. The two of them nodded their heads and raced off in the direction of the Everfree Forest, which was an immediate 'red flag' for Rainbow Dash.

"What are those two up to now?" Rainbow Dash asked herself with a sigh, flying off her cloud and taking off after them. She followed them all the way to around the forest center before she finally had a chance to catch up with them, the wind and rain making it hard to fly. "So just what are you two up to?" She asked as she landed behind them. Scootaloo screamed and jumped around to face her, but Tiara just sighed and glared at Rainbow Dash.

"Well, because this pony spends all her time crusading, we never had the chance to finish our school project," Diamond Tiara said with no real emotion in her voice. "And with it being due tomorrow, the only time we have to do it is now, in the middle of a thunderstorm. Trust me, I don't want to be out in this storm, but I need the grade."

"Come on you two, let's get you out of the rain before--"

"AAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Rainbow Dash and the two fillies stopped what they were doing and listened with fear as the sound that caused all to tremble reached their ears. Rainbow Dash immediately took up a protective stance around the two fillies as eyes began to appear out of the darkness. One by one, the creatures known as Timberwolves came out of the foliage. Rainbow Dash looked around them with fear in her eyes as she realized that they were surrounded.

"W-what do we do?" Diamond Tiara asked in terror.

"Call Superman?" Scootaloo asked.

"Call Superman," Rainbow Dash agreed. Scootaloo called out for Superman, but he didn't show up. She called again and again as the wolves got closer and closer, licking their lips. "Okay, new plan. I'll keep them busy while the two of you run for your lives."

"I'm not going to leave you!" Scootaloo cried out.

"You should leave me instead," Diamond Tiara muttered.

"Wait for my signal," RD muttered, watching as the biggest wolf narrowed her eyes at her, letting loose a loud howl before rushing at her. "NOW!" Rainbow roared as she drove her hoof right into its jaw, knocking it back. The two fillies tore off, but two of the wolves snarled and chased after them. RD started to chase them, but the wolf that she had just knocked down jumped up and bit her wing. She cried out in pain as she bucked it hard in the face, shattering its visage. She flapped her wing, only to wince as pain coursed through it.

"Okay, not going to be able to fly," she muttered as the other two wolves closed in on her. "The two of you want to fight me? BRING IT!" she yelled as she lept into the air, driving her hoof down on the first wolf's head. It staggered back as the second one attacked her from behind. She spun and brought her hoof up in an uppercut, cracking the wolf's jaw and knocking it over. She turned around as the dazed wolf pounced on her, pinning her to the ground. She moved her head out of the way of one of its bites and kicked it in the gut, knocking it off. She finished it with a punt kick to the head, knocking it out. She looked around at the beaten wolves with a smile on her face, until she heard the two fillies cry out.

"Hang on you two, I'm on my way!" she yelled as she sprinted to where the cry had come from. She raced through the forest, praying that they were alright. She burst out of the forest to find the two fillies with their backs to a cliff, raging rapids roared at the end of a long drop behind them. The two wolves that had pinned them turned to look at Rainbow, both of them snarling at her. "Get away from them!" Rainbow barked, charging at the wolves. One of the wolves snarled and charged her, but the other turned its attention back to the two fillies. Scootaloo looked past Diamond Tiara at the water below, a plan forming in her head.

"Diamond, we need to jump," she told her. Tiara looked at her like she was crazy.

"WHAT!? There is no way I'm jumping over a cliff!" she protested. Scootaloo looked at the advancing timberwolf to the injured RD, who had gottened clawed in the side as she battled with the other wolf. She closed her eyes and pushed Tiara with all her might, knocking the both of them over the cliff just as the timberwolf reached them.

"NO!" Rainbow cried as the two went over. She shoved the wolf off with all her might and sprinted towards the cliff, jumping over the edge and diving down after them. She landed in the rapids, having to fight just to get back to the surface. She threw her mane out of her eyes and began to look around for the fillies. She spotted Scootaloo not too far ahead of her, so with all her might she swam towards her.

"Rainbow...Dash!" Scootaloo cried out as RD reached her. Rainbow grabbed by her mane with her teeth and started to drag her towards the bank. RD dropped off the coughing filly, who looked at her idol with a smile of gratitude. Rainbow Dash looked back towards the river to find Tiara screaming for help as she was pulled away downstream towards the falls at the end. Dash dove back into the river and started to swim towards the filly, her vision beginning to blacken. She ignored it and pushed with all her might. After what seemed like years, she finally made it to Tiara, who had passed out in the rapids. RD grabbed her and tried to swim back, but found that her strength had abandoned her.

"No...not now...not like this," she said weakly, tears streaming down her face as she felt herself being pulled towards the falls. She flapped her wings in desperation, but her wing was too injured to lift her up. All she could do was wrap herself around the small filly as they reached the falls. She closed her eyes as they both went over...then nothing. She opened her eyes to find the both of them floating over the falls, not plummeting to the bottom. She turned her head to look up into the smiling face of Superman.

"Glad I came back to check up on you," he said with a smile, holding her in his arms. "You really needed my help." Rainbow Dash didn't have the energy to smile, but she thanked the stars that Superman had shown up when he had. She didn't want to think what would have happened if he hadn't. Superman turned towards Scootaloo and flew off, gently touching down when they reached her a few seconds later. Scootaloo tackled RD when she saw that she was safe, Rainbow Dash gently patting her on the back. Superman had wrapped Diamond Tiara up in his cape and told them that she needed to get to the hospital. He grabbed Rainbow and Scoots and flew off.

(S)

"So why didn't you show up when we called for you?" Rainbow Dash asked while she sipped on some hot tea in the waiting area of the hospital. Superman had flown them there fairly quickly and had informed the doctors of what had happened. They had been quick workers themselves, using magic to repair Rainbow's wing and fix her wounds. Tiara had passed out, but she had come around and seemed to be fine, though oddly quiet.

"Sorry about that. There was a massive fire caused by a lightning bolt and that took a while to contain," he replied with a smile. "After that another town had a flood and that required some time. Only after all of that had been fixed did I finally hear you cry out for help. I flew there as fast as I could and the rest you know."

"Well, thanks for saving us. Celestia knows how useless I was," Rainbow Dash said with a sad smirk. Superman was about to say something when a doctor came out and told them that Tiara was ready to see them. The three of them headed into her room, where a light brown pony with slicked black hair and bags of money on his flank awaited them.

"Ah, Supeman. Thank you so much for saving my daughter," he said with a smile. "My name is Mr. Rich and I don't know what I would have done if I had lost my little princess."

"I'm happy to see that she's alright," Superman agreed. Mr. Rich reached inside of his bag and pulled out a huge bundle of bits, which he offered to Superman.

"I know this isn't a lot, but I wish to thank you in some way for saving my daughter. There's more if you feel like this isn't enough."

"Thank you, but your daughter being safe is all the reward I need," Superman replied with a smile, pushing the money back to him. Mr. Rich looked at Superman with surprise before putting the money away with a shrug. Rainbow Dash had also been watching as Scootaloo tried to talk with Tiara, who was being quiet.

"Daddy?" she eventually said, gaining the immediate attention of her father. "Could you leave the room for a minute? I want to speak with Superman alone." Mr. Rich looked hesistant, but he eventually nodded and left the room, Scootaloo and RD following him. But while Mr. Rich and Scootaloo headed for the lobby, Rainbow Dash stood near the doorway, listening in on her conversation.

"Why?" was all that Tiara asked him.

"What do you mean?" Superman asked in return.

"Why did you save me?" she asked with a shaky voice. "After everything I said...after all I've done. You said it yourself that you hate bullies like me, but you still saved me. Why?! Why did you even bother!?"

"Just because I don't like someone or pony doesn't mean I'm not going to help them when they need it," he replied. "I help all who need it, even bullies."

"But what if they don't deserve it!?" she practically screamed at him. Rainbow Dash sneaked a look into the room and found that Tiara was crying. "What if they don't deserve to be saved? Why still save them?!" Superman looked at Tiara for a minute before he walked over to her, wrapping her in a hug. "Get off!" she growled, trying to push him off at first, but then gave in and began to sob.

"It's all my fault," she sobbed into his arms. "I-if i hadn't called her a coward, she wouldn't have run out to face Brainiac and then her mother wouldn't have..."

"It's not your fault, you had no idea this would happen," Superman said, trying to comfort her. "Brainiac has killed millions across the galaxy. Her death wasn't your fault."

"B-but if I hadn't..." Tiara couldn't speak anymore and just went back to crying, trying one last time to break out of the hug. "Why didn't you just let me drown? Just give up on me."

"I never give up on anyone. Never." As Superman comforted her, Rainbow Dash once teared up herself. Diamond Tiara felt guilty for the pony's death, and as far as Rainbow Dash was concerned, she was in a way. But once again Superman was taking somepony else's burden and was putting it on his shoulders. He was always placing the burden on himself. She looked away and walked back out into the lobby, where she stared out the window. Superman came out a few minutes later and nodded to Mr. Rich, who ran back down to his daughter. Superman noticed that Scootaloo had gone and Rainbow Dash was the only pony left in the room.

"Rainbow Dash, can I talk to you?" he asked her. She looked at him and nodded. He opened the door for her and the two walked outside. The rain had mostly stopped, but the clouds still loomed overhead. "Up here," he said, pointing to the sky. He took off with Rainbow Dash following him.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked once they had gone above the cloud cover.

"I just wanted to thank you again for keeping those two safe while I was busy," he said with a smile.

"I didn't save them. You're the one who saved us," he replied. looking away from him.

"No, if you hadn't been there, the two of them would be dead," he said sternly. "Look, Fluttershy told me about how you've been comparing yourself to me and how you feel like I'm a better version of you. But that isn't true. You're still the fastest pony in Equestria and you're still one of the Elements of Harmony. Doesn't that account for something?"

"You already proved you're faster than me," she replied with a smirk. "And you would make a much better Element of Loyalty than me. Every thing I can do, you can do better."

"But that doesn't matter," Superman said, flying in front of her. "Rainbow, you've done a lot of good. You need to stop comparing yourself to me and start realizing that you are special. There isn't another 'you', even if you can believe that I'm replacing you." Rainbow Dash didn't look convinced, so Superman decided to tell her something, something private.

"I wasn't always like this," he said softly. Rainbow turned her head slightly to show that she was listening. "On my home planet of Krypton, I couldn't fly faster than light or lift a mountain with ease. I was normal, I was weak. It's only because of the yellow sun that I have my powers at all. Without it, I'm the same strength as any human."

"This...isn't your natural ability?" she asked in disbelief.

"No. But even those without my powers, people on Earth, still use their abilities and strengths to fight for good," he said with a smile. "And you have done the same. You help others every chance you get, even when it's a losing battle. So maybe you should stop thinking about how Rainbow Dash has failed and start thinking about all the good you have done. Because from what I've seen of you in the short time I've been here, you've done a lot of it." Rainbow Dash looked down at herself, realizing that he had got her with her own words. All she had done since Superman had arrived was compare herself to him and drag herself down. But he was right again. She had done a lot of good, she had helped others. Maybe she wasn't the failure that she thought she was after all.

"I hate it when you're right," she said with a sigh, but smiling as well.

"Does that mean you'll stop comparing yourself to me?" he asked her with a grin.

"Maybe."

"Glad to hear it. Because I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?" she asked.

"I need my suit repaired. You know anyone who can help?" he asked. She smiled, knowing she was about to get back at him.

"Oh, I think I know somepony who could help," she said with an evil chuckle.