• Published 30th Jun 2013
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Whenever You Call - Onomonopia

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His Love For All

"I can't believe you just stood there and let her insult you like that," Chrysalis said to Superman with a curious expression as the two of them flew over the land of Equestria, leading Superman to her hive with some hesitation. She did not know if she could fully trust the Superman after he completely decimated her attacking forces and forced them to spare Sombra a second time. Just then she heard the sounds of her two larvae playing around on her back and their laughter reminded her of how close she had come to losing them...and how much she owed Superman for saving them. "If Celestia spoke to me like that, I would drop her first chance I got. And you are more than powerful enough to beat her."

"She's just upset about her city being attacked again, there was no reason to 'drop' her," Superman replied as he flew alongside her with his arms outstretched in front of him, watching the larvae playing out of the corner of his eyes with a small smile. "And while I may be strong enough to beat her, there is no reason to do so."

"You clearly do not know Celestia," Chrysalis muttered to herself even when she knew Superman would hear. "So why did you insist on coming back with me to my hive? Planning to make sure we stay out of trouble by threatening us?"

"No, I said that I wanted to help you," Superman repeated with a sigh, this being the fourth time on their flight that Chrysalis had assumed that he had some nefarious reason for coming with her. "Why is that so hard for you to understand?" Chrysalis averted her gaze from Superman, becoming interested with the forest below all of a sudden. But Superman saw through her attempts, recognizing the look she had on her face. "You're not used to being helped, are you?" Chrysalis turned her head so that he couldn't see her face, but he had seen these signs before in certain people back home.

"No, the changelings are creatures that have never received or wanted help," Chrysalis responded with a growl, remembering how the ponies had treated them over the years. "We are a race of insects that do not need the help of others to survive. We can more than take care of ourselves!" she half-yelled at him, trying to hammer her point home.

"Yet you and all of your kind relies on the love of others to survive," Superman pointed out with a shrug, smiling when he saw Chrysalis glare at him. "I know that you and the ponies don't get along, but sometimes you need to ask for help even if you don't want to." Chrysalis growled in response, but he could see when she looked away that his words had hit her. As the two of them continued to fly (Superman slowed down quite a bit so that Chrysalis could keep up with him), he constantly tried to start conversations with her, but she refused to talk to him. He eventually gave up with a sigh, wondering what had happened in the past that had made the changelings so distrustful of others. Superman saw the changeling hive at quite a distance before the two of them arrived, but he averted his gaze. From what Chrysalis had said, he half-expected the entire colony to be skin and bones, with none of them able to stand. But from what he had seen, they had all been up and working quite hard.

"You will see when we get there," Chrysalis said in a sad tone, Superman looking over at her with a curious glance. "I know that you have super vision or whatever it's called, so I assumed that you would look ahead. Now I have my own question. Why do wish to help us? What do you have to gain from it?"

"I don't want anything in return, I simply wish to help you," Superman told her again, getting the feeling that she didn't trust him, just like a lot of the creatures on this planet. "So about that spell you cast on Celestia..."

"Don't worry about it, the spell should have worn off by now," she said with a smirk. "The spell must be cast almost every day for it to have effect, something I haven't been doing. So, unless Sombra has somehow been casting it on her for the past few days, it should be gone." Chrysalis looked down and indicated to Superman that they were close. She began her descent over a wasteland that housed a massive green sphere where Superman had seen all of the changelings. She landed on the ground in front of the sphere and began to channel her magic into it, opening a massive hole in the sphere.

"Hurry inside. I do not like the entrance being open for..." Chrysalis began to say to Superman, but as she turned around she realized that he was no longer there. She quickly looked around for him, her eyes narrowing when she saw him standing in the entrance, waiting for her to join him. "Haha, very funny. Now please stay with me this time," she muttered with a growl as she walked past Superman into he hive, her horn glowing once again to close the hole behind the two of them. The first thing that Superman noticed was the buzzing, the sound of hundreds of insects all moving together at once. He shook his head as he tried to ignore the sound as best he could, gaining a smile from Chrysalis a she pieced together what was going on. "Don't worry, you'll get used to the buzzing eventually."

"I hope so, because I have no idea how you or any one else can stand this," Superman muttered as he finally managed to cancel out the buzzing in his ears. He walked with her through a massive chamber that lead to an even bigger gate, which Superman had to avoid looking at because of the material of which it was made.

"We do not have the same luxuries of iron or gold like the ponies do," Chrysalis muttered to him with a smile at his green face as she walked over to the gate and placed her hoof on the side of it, sending a pulse of magic up the side of it to alert the guards up top. Within a few seconds the gate began to rise and six changeling guards rushed down from up above to greet her. They all knelt before her, each of them in black armor with green capes.

"Greetings, Queen Chrysalis," they all said at once as they bowed to her while she walked by. "Did you succeed in your mission? You have been gone for so long that we were afraid that you had-" The guards' words died in their throats as they looked past their queen to see the Man of Steel walking up behind her.

"It's the monstrosity!"

Superman's eyebrow went up as the six guards roared and flew towards him, spears and teeth gleaming in the darkness. Chrysalis had spun around to tell them to stop, only to find Superman standing there with a smile on his face as the guards' weapons failed to even scratch him. The guards' frustration began to get the better of them and they prepared to unleash their magic upon him. But before they could, Chrysalis stepped between them and Superman.

"That is enough, you fools!" she yelled at them with fire in her eyes, causing the guards to cower behind one another, trying to protect themselves from her wrath. "Superman is our guest for the time being and you have the gall to attack him? I should blast all of you into dust for-!" She would have gone on, but a calming hand placed itself on her shoulder.

"They're only doing their job--the job you assigned them," Superman said in a calming tone, but Chrysalis was aware of the pressure on her shoulder as he spoke. She wasn't sure if that were a subtle threat or he was just so strong that he always did this. One of her larvae hissed at Superman's hand and spat a small bit of acid onto it, once it was close enough. Chrysalis watched with a frown as Superman slowly pulled his hand back and looked at the acid on it with a raised eyebrow before blowing it off. "You're children sure have some unique abilities."

"I'd say I'm sorry about the acid, but since nothing hurts you I don't feel too bad about it," Chrysalis said with a small smile as she ripped one of the guards capes with her magic and used it to wipe the larva's mouth. Superman watched with a blank face as the drool burned a hole through the cloth. "They'll grow out of it in a few months." She tossed the burned cape on the ground and walked past the still cowering guards, none of whom bothered to move as Superman floated by them but still watched him as he passed. Another large tunnel greeted Superman as the two of them walked past the gate. Chrysalis continued to tend to her larvae while Superman thought about what he had seen. The guards were definitely afraid of their Queen who seemed to be a terrifying ruler, yet he was watching her tend to her little ones with love and affection that only a mother could give. He couldn't figure her out.

"Well, consider yourself lucky," she said to him as they came to a stop outside of the massive door that led to the inner city. "You are going to be the first outsider that has made it to the city of the changelings alive. Make sure you don't do anything that makes me regret it," she said in a threatening tone.

"Do you say that to all your visitors or am I just special?" Superman asked her with a smile, causing her to frown at him as she pushed the door open. As the mighty doors swung open, Superman got his first inside glimpse of the city--and it sickened him. The first thing he noticed were the buildings, structures that looked like they should have been condemned years ago, but his x-ray showed him that hundreds of changelings lived inside of these ten story buildings. After he saw the state of the buildings, he wasn't sure that he wanted to see the state of the residents. But he could not avoid seeing them, as they littered the streets everywhere he looked. He noticed that they all looked similar, with the blue eyes and the black armor over their bodies that prevented him from seeing their stomachs. But he could see it in their eyes, see the despair and the look of defeat. Some of them raised their heads to look at the Queen as she passed, smiling at the sight of their beloved leader. Then their smiles turned to looks of horror as Superman floated by, terrified of the flying creature with no wings--the creature that had defeated their entire army with a clap. He could also hear their stomachs rumbling, although he wasn't quite sure how that worked if they fed off of love. But there was one thing he did know, that all of them, adults or larvae, were all starving.

"Welcome to the glorious changeling empire," Chrysalis said with sarcasm in her voice, keeping her eyes forward as she walked, so that she didn't have to look into the eyes of all her subjects. Superman had been paying so much attention to the citizens that he didn't notice that they had already made it to the palace gates. The palace was essentially a bigger version of the buildings he had seen, built more like a fortress than a home. Chrysalis pounded on the gate, which swung open for her in a heartbeat. She walked inside, followed closely by Superman, who gave all the staff and guards a scare. After another one-sided battle with the guards, Chrysalis showed Superman to the throne room. It was nothing fancy, actually looking rather pathetic compared to the glorious spectacle that was Canterlot. As Chrysalis walked to her throne, a smaller changeling with a beard ran over to her side and offered her hooves with a bow of her head. Chrysalis nodded at her before gently taking both her larvae off her back, giving them both a kiss before she hoofed them to the little changeling.. As the smaller one sped off with the larvae, holding them close as well, Chrysalis ordered her guards and all her staff to get out, waiting for the room to empty before she spoke.

"Alright Superman, I have let you into my kingdom because I am curious to hear what your offer is...that, and I doubt that I could stop you even if I tried," she muttered while placing her front hooves together under her chin, closing her eyes as she did so.

"I would not force my way into your kingdom if you did not want me here," Superman told her gently, not wanting to upset her even further. He could tell that it had taken a great deal of faith for her to let him into her kingdom, especially considering that he was the one who had defeated her and her forces before. "And I'm glad that you were willing to trust me."

"Just tell me why you wanted to come into my kingdom," she said in a cold tone that had a hint of curiosity in it.

"From what I've learned from listening in on guards, and from what the princesses say about you, it has come to my attention that your kind feeds off of love," Superman began, waiting for her to nod before continuing. "But I have also seen that your people...citizens...are starving due to lack of love in the changeling empire. And that lack of love is the reason you are forced to attack other nations, to keep your species alive and fed."

"Did you come here to offer me something or just to tell me what I already know?" she growled, her patience thinning.

"While the ponies may not let you and your kind feed off of them...I am willing to help feed you all," Superman told her. She looked at him for a minute before bursting out in a huge fit of laughter, laughing so hard that she fell off her throne. The sudden noise gained the attention of the guards outside, who kicked open the door and attacked Superman after seeing their queen on the ground. After another short fight, Chrysalis regained her composure and sent the guards away.

"That is what you have come to offer me? Letting us feed off YOUR small amount of love?" she said with another small chuckle, sitting back down on her throne with a smile. "We attack nations because that is what it takes to feed my children--nothing like what you can muster." Superman looked at her, knowing that she was in for a surprise.

"I understand why you do not believe me, but trust me when I say that there is enough love in this heart to feed your nation," Superman said with another smile, lowering his arms. "I believe that you simply use magic to drain the love out of those who you feed on. Care to see how much love I hold?" Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at his offer, not sure if he was being serious or not.

"I do not eat before my subjects," she said in a cold whisper, slamming her hoof onto the armrest, which had the amazing effect of having a guard come flying in. She told him to grab one of the starving changelings in the infirmary and to bring them to her, which the guard did rather quickly. She walked over to the small changeling once she had been brought before her and told the little one that Superman was to be her next meal. The little changeling's eyes lit up with joy as Chrysalis looked over at Superman, letting her magic flow through her horn to suck the love out of Superman so that she could give it to the changeling.

She was blown away.

Chrysalis fell to her knees as the sheer quantity of love-fueled magic channeled into her, filling her with more love and compassion than she had ever known. She could feel tears fall down her face from the emotions that washed over her, emotions that she never would have attributed to any living creature. But then she felt something else that surprised her within the volumes of love she felt. It wasn't a love for family or friends, but for all beings that lived, be it the ponies or even...the changelings. She forced herself to look up at Superman, her disbelief and wonder reflecting in his smiling eyes.

"I told you," he said with a smile as he offered her a hand to help her up, which she did so without uncertainty, but with wonder. "There's a lot of love in this heart."

"How...?" she asked him in awe, looking at him in an entirely new light. She had never felt such love before, even from husband to wife. How could he possibly house so much love in his heart? And for all creatures, not just those he cared about.?

"Will that be enough to feed you changelings?" Superman asked her as he knelt down and gently placed a hand on the small changeling who got as close as possible, feeling his love flow into her.

"It...it will be more than enough," she stammered, trying to pull herself out of the cascade of emotion that still ran through her. "But...I must warn you, the process may take an incredible strain on you. It is easy to feed thousands off of thousands, but to feed an entire nation just off of one man? The strain might kill you." Superman looked from her to the smiling changeling, who looked healthier than ever sitting next to him.

"Fortunately for you, I'm not just any man," Superman told her as he stood up with his hands on his hips. "I'm Superman." Chrysalis looked at him with a curious glance, feeling an emotion coming off of him that she had not felt directed towards a changeling in a long time. She felt compassion, a compassion that only her mother had shown her all those years ago.

"You'd be willing to risk death to save your enemies?" she asked him in disbelief.

"I'm willing to risk my life for anyone, no matter who they are," he responded with a smile. Chrysalis nodded in response and demanded that her guards deliver a message to all her citizens. Once he was gone, she started charging up the spell that would change his emotion of love into food for her citizens.

"Then let us begin."

(S)

Chrysalis had sent out a decree over the land that any changeling that wished to be fed should come to the palace, where she would be giving out their first real meal for months. Safe to say the streets were practically abandoned as all the changelings had gone to the palace, each of them wondering where their queen had gotten this much love to feed an entire nation. The numbers were so large that three fourths of the changelings had to wait outside the palace for their meal. Once the entire palace entrance had been filled up, Chrysalis began the feeding.

"Alright Superman, at first you'll feel normal, but as the minutes turn into hours you'll start to feel your energy begin to slip away," Chrysalis warned him as she began her love extraction magic. "Just tell me when you get tired and we'll stop the process and give you time to recover." Superman had been seated on the throne (something that he would normally never let happen, but this was an exception) where he had apples and oranges placed around him to replenish his strength.

"Thank you for your concern, but I will be just fine," Superman assured her as he felt the magic began to run through his body, clenching his fists whenever he felt his emotions being drained out of him. While ponies may not have felt it, the magical properties of the procedure hurt him quite a bit. But he never complained as he could hear the joyous cries of the changelings in the entrance as they felt the magical food begin to fill them up. He had sat in quiet agony for nearly an hour before Chrysalis had finally finished feeding the citizens in the entrance, giving her a chance to let out a sigh of relief as she sat down and allowed her assistants to tend to her.

"How are you holding up?" she asked him, this time with a bit of concern in her voice.

"I'm fine. We should start again as soon as possible," Superman said with a bit of urgency. "Two have already died from starvation while waiting to be fed. I will not allow any more to die." Chrysalis heard the determination in his voice and waved her assistants away, standing back up and ordering for the next swarm of changelings to be ushered in. The moment she had been informed that they were in she started up the process, changing Superman's emotions into food for her citizens. She smiled slightly when she heard their cries of joy and the praise for their queen echo throughout the palace. What she didn't notice was Superman's face, which had beads of sweat running down as the magic continued to hurt him physically. Again it took another hour to fully feed all of the changelings below them--and drained Chrysalis of her magical energies to a degree.

"Whew...that one took a bit out of me," she said with a small chuckle as she sank to the ground, her assistants racing to her side to help their queen. "If you do not mind me asking Superman, where does all this love come from? I have never seen so much in all my life."

"I love and care for all life, no matter how small or how different it may be," Superman replied with shallow breaths, starting to feel the effects of the magical drain now. Now he understood why she had been so cautious, this magic just might kill him. But as he sat there waiting for Chrysalis to recharge, he could hear the cries of those dying while waiting for their salvation. He would not let his weakness get in the way of saving them. "Chrysalis, we need to get started again." She nodded and started her spell again while giving the order to cycle the changelings in the entrance hall. When they were all ready, she started the feeding process again, letting her magic flow down from the throne room and into the entrance hall, smiling to herself again as she heard the cries of joy. But this time she happened to look over at Superman, which turned her smile into a look of horror. Superman was barely able to keep his head up and his face was pale with sweat dripping from it. His body was reacting to the magic badly and it was taking its toll on him, his will to help others being the only thing that kept him going. She opened her mouth to say something, but a look from Superman silenced her and told her to continue. Another hour of agony passed, but this time Chrysalis had her assistants watching over Superman, who was being drained by the magic faster than he could recover. The moment that she felt her subjects were filled, she dropped the spell and rushed to Superman, who had fallen out of the chair to his hands and knees, panting heavily while sweat fell off his face.

"Superman, are you alright?" she asked him. He looked up at her with a look that said, 'really?' before he closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain. "You need a break. You're in no shape to continue. Rest for a day and we'll continue in the morning," she begged him, but he cast her a look that would intimidate anyone as he drove himself back to his feet.

"If we take a break, more of the changelings will die," Superman panted as he walked over to the window, letting out a sigh of relief as he felt the sun's rays begin to heal him. "We don't stop until either I die or they're all safe." She wanted to argue, but she knew that it would be a pointless battle. So with a sigh, she started up the spell again and ordered for the last wave of changelings to come into the entrance hall. When they were ready, she hesitantly re-activated the spell. Although he had been bracing himself this time, Superman still had to grit his teeth as he felt the magic tear the emotion out of him. The hour went by like years for Superman, who, much to the terror of the changelings in the room, powderized the throne that he had been sitting on as he gripped it in pain. His vision began to go black as his consciousness slipped away. The combined strain of the magic draining him, plus what the Elements had done earlier, was almost too much for him.

'They might die...' and that one thought gave Superman the strength he needed to fight back against the darkness that was beginning to cloud his vision and gave him the power to fight to the end of the spell. The second that the spell was done, Chrysalis had to divert her magic to catching Superman who had nearly fallen on his face after the spell had finished. He was barely breathing and she noticed that blood was falling from his mouth, his eyes barely reacting to any movement.

"Get me a doctor. NOW!" she screamed at the other changelings, who raced off to find a doctor for Superman. Chrysalis laid Superman gently on the throne room floor, checking him to see if he were still breathing. After a minute of waiting, Superman began to stir and sat up with a groan. "Glad to see that you're alright," Chrysalis said with a small smile as she helped Superman back to his feet. He staggered and nearly fell over again, having to use his flight to stop himself from falling on his face. Superman floated back to his feet and wiped his brow with his forearm, panting heavily.

"Are...all the changelings alright?" he asked her in between breaths, his x-ray too weak at this point to see through the walls. He tried to step forward to see but his legs gave out and he fell over, with Chrysalis running to his side to catch him. She smiled at him before she led him over out of the throne room and into the entrance way. She swung open the doors to reveal all of the changelings in the nation standing there and in the courtyard outside. The moment they saw Superman (whom they had been informed about) they all began to cheer and applaud him--the desire to swarm him was stopped only by the presence of their queen.

"They seem fine to me," Chrysalis said with another smile as he found his strength to stand again, looking over all of them with a sigh of relief. "Superman, I...I wanted to say...I wanted to say..."

"You're welcome," Superman said with a bit more strength, knowing what Chrysalis was trying to say. She blinked once before smiling again as she looked out over her kingdom, glad to see her subjects smiling once again. But her smile faltered slightly as a thought ran through her mind.

"Thank you for feeding my subjects Superman, but now I must go and prepare for the next time we reach this state," she muttered as she turned around and headed back to the palace. "For it will happen again and I cannot ask you to sacrifice yourself like that again." Once again she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"A quick couple of questions. Do the changelings need to rule over the ponies to draw upon their love and will it hurt them like it did me?"

"No to both of the questions," she responded. "We just need to be near the ponies to draw upon their love and it will not hurt them. The only reason it hurt you is because you just fed a full nation by yourself. Why do you ask?" Superman walked towards another window where a beam of sunlight was coming through, letting himself recharge in the light of life.

"I'm going to talk to the princesses and see if I can work out a way for you and your subjects to get your food without the need for you to invade," he told her as he walked over to the door and floated into the air.

"Are you crazy? Celestia will never allow that."

"Last time I checked, Celestia is a co-ruler," Superman reminded her. "I'll talk to Luna and see if she can do something or maybe just talk to her sister. Plus, maybe if I can convince Twilight to help, Celestia will give in." Chrysalis didn't believe it. Superman, the creature that barely a few hours ago was fighting her to keep the ponies safe, was now going to go talk to their leaders about helping them out even after all they'd done to him and the ponies.

"You really do care about everypony, don't you?" Chrysalis asked him with a small laugh.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't help if I didn't care," Superman responded with a smile. Then he turned his head to the side with a frown as something caught his attention. "I'll have to postpone that talk. There's a massive earthquake going on near the griffon kingdom and they need my help."

"Are you sure? You're still weak from the magic," Chrysalis reminded him.

"Of course I'm sure. I go wherever I'm needed," he said with a wave before rocketing off into the sky with such takeoff speed that she was nearly blown off her hooves. As she looked up at the multiple sonic booms that now filled the sky, an emotion surfaced that she had not felt in so long. She felt...hope, hope that maybe the changelings would no longer need to worry about their future or whether they'd starve. Maybe they would finally be the nation she had always wanted them to be.

"Alright Superman," she began as she looked up into the bright sky with a newfound hope in her heart. "I'm putting my trust in you."

(S)

'He managed to break through the stone heart that was created through hundreds of years of suffering. Not even Celestia in her right state of mind could manage that for years, but he did it in a day.'

'Maybe he is the one we have been looking for.'

'We shall see. His greatest challenge is still yet to come.'