How To Beat Your Enemies
By the time Superman had finished helping out the griffons with the destruction caused by the earthquake, day had already given into the night. He flew around the griffons' kingdom, which was located in the far off mountains, before he shot off towards Canterlot, planning to have a talk with the Princess of the Night. He was there in a matter of seconds, coming to a stop above the city as he looked around for the princess. The city gave off a warm glow at night from all the street lights, giving it a sense of peace and serenity. A quick glance towards the castle showed him that Luna was standing on the balcony of the palace, looking over all her sleeping citizens with a small smile. She turned her gaze from them to Superman as he slowly floated down next to her.
"Glad to see that you're unharmed," she said with a smile as he landed on the balcony. "After you flew off with Chrysalis earlier I was afraid for your life. No pony has ever gone to the changeling empire and come back alive. Then again, nopony has ever had the same powers as you."
"I need to talk to you about the changelings," Superman said as he walked alongside her into her chamber. She sat down on a chair by the window and motioned for him to do the same. Once he had sat down, she placed both hooves under her chin in a similar manner as Chrysalis when she had listened to him.
"I just took a visit to the main hive where all the changelings lived and it was...horrifying. Most of the changelings there were starving and the city was in worse shape than most of the cities that are still standing after a massive battle," Superman began.
"I was not aware that Chrysalis had let her nation fall into such a state," Luna muttered, taking out a notepad from her shelf and levitating it in front of her. Since none of her spies had ever made it back from the changeling empire, every word Superman said could be useful in future endeavors. "How did their defenses look? Are there as many capable fighters as she has led us to believe or is it all just another one of her lies?" Superman shook his head with a sigh.
"Telling you the inner defenses of the changelings is not why I came to talk to you," he said. "I came to ask you to do me a favor and speak with Chrysalis to try and make peace with them." Luna slowly looked up at him from over her notes with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you being serious? The changelings have attacked us on multiple occasions and we just barely managed to fend them off each time. Why would I want to try and make peace with a race that's only goal is our destruction?" she asked him before shrinking a bit under his gaze. As much as he tried to avoid doing it, sometimes his eyes scared others more than he wanted.
"Destruction is not their goal, survival is," Superman told her with a frown. "They attacked Canterlot to feed on all the love the ponies possess because that's how they survive. They feed off of love."
"I am fully aware of that, but if they need to feed by attacking our subjects I see no need to help them." Superman frowned at her coldness since it reminded him of how Celestia acted towards him.
"What happened that made the ponies and changelings hate each other so much?" he asked her, curious to see what the cause was. Luna sighed as she placed the notebook on her table before leaning back and closing her eyes, bringing up memories of the past.
"The changelings and the ponies battled it out years ago in a massive war for the most fruitful part of Equestria, with the best resources and best land," Luna said with her eyes closed, allowing herself to get lost in her memories. "I was still a princess-to-be at the time, so the duty of leading the battles rested upon my mother, my father having died to save the land. After many had fallen in many years of war, my mother discovered the Elements of Harmony, the one weapon that the changelings could not match no matter how hard they tried. With them, we were able to defeat the changelings' greatest warrior and claim the land as our own. The changelings were left to wander in the wasteland for eternity, where they made their hive that no pony can find...Except you."
"So all of the hate came from a war that was waged thousands of years ago?" Superman muttered, frowning when Luna nodded in response. "Don't you think that it's far past time to put all of that behind you and try to make peace with them?"
"Yes, but the changelings have denied all our offers in the past and have attacked on more than one occasion," Luna countered as she crossed her hooves. "I would never allow for any changeling to enter Canterlot willingly."
"What if I were to vouch for them?" Superman asked her, his eyes narrowing as he looked past her at the door to her room. Luna paused and thought about that for a minute. She didn't like the idea of the changelings entering Canterlot, but with Superman there they would not be able to do much. And as much as she hated to admit it, the idea of peace with them sounded really good, especially after the last few attacks on the city. Also...she and the rest of the ponies did owe Superman a lot for all he had done. She sighed in defeat, figuring that it wouldn't kill her to listen to what Chrysalis had to say.
"Very well Superman, I will speak with Celestia about letting the changelings come to make peace," Luna agreed, but gave Superman a warning glance. "But if they try anything, ANYTHING, they will be met with force."
"That's all I wanted. I'll go tell Chrysalis that you are willing to meet with her," Superman said as he stood out of the chair and walked over to the window, where he placed his foot on the ledge before stopping and turning around. "That reminds me. What happened to Sombra? I didn't see him in any of your prison cells. Did you...?"
"Sombra is still alive; we relocated him into the lowest section of the prison," Luna told him with a small smile. "The cells there are lined with lead and filled with anti-source stones, which can drain the magic from any pony. He will not be getting out of there. I think Celestia has a cell for you if you want to see how strong they are." Superman rolled his eyes and launched himself off into the sky, heading towards the changeling empire at a leisurely pace. Luna shook her head and looked over at her door with a frown. "You can come in now. And yes, he noticed you." The door to her room opened and Celestia walked in, her eyes narrowing as she watched the red and blue hero fly off into the night.
"He could hear me?" she asked her sister.
"I'm fairly certain that he can hear the sound of clouds rubbing together, so hearing you would be easy," Luna said with a frown as she looked at her sister.. "Why were you listening in on my conversation? Are your trust issues really that bad?" Celestia glared at her as she walked by her sister and onto the balcony.
"Are you going to go along with what Superman requested?" Celestia asked her as she stared up at the night. "You know that the changelings cannot be trusted."
"No, they can't be, but Superman can," Luna retorted with a snort. "Something that you still have yet to learn."
"Do not lecture me Luna, for you are far too trusting of the alien," Celestia snapped back. Luna rolled her eyes with a mad sigh as she walked over in front of her sister.
"Why do you not trust him? What has he done that has caused you to distrust him so much?" Luna asked her sister with a growl, Celestia narrowed her eyes in response.
"Just because he says that he's here to help does not mean that he truly means it," Celestia said softly, remembering what Luthor had shown her. 'And for what his kind did to our father.'
"Well I choose to trust ponies by their actions, not by what they say. And he has done nothing but help us since we got here," Luna shot back, then took a deep breath and let go of her anger. "Look, we can argue about this later. For the time being, I just want to know if you are alright with the changelings coming to Canterlot to talk about peace." Celestia sighed, knowing that peace with the changelings would indeed be very beneficial to the ponies.
"Yes, we can have them here to talk about peace," Celestia said. "But we will talk more about this tomorrow. I have business to attend to." Luna wanted to ask what kind of business, but Celestia had already turned around and walked out of the room. So instead, Luna walked over to the balcony and looked up at the sky, wondering if the day had arrived where all the creatures of Equestria could finally live in peace.
(S)
After his talk with Chrysalis, where he assured her that the princesses were willing to talk to her about peace and about helping them out, Superman flew back to Ponyville, yawning a bit as he got close to town. He hadn't realized that he had been so tired, the magic must have drained him a lot more than he had believed possible. He would tell the princesses that the changelings had agreed to the deal in the morning, for now he wanted to rest. So with a turn, he headed back over to the Apple's barn, and landed in front of it. He yawned again and looked up at the moon, shaking his head when he realized how late it had gotten. Superman opened the door to the barn and walked inside, frowning when his vision picked up traces of heat. He scanned the ground and found a small piece of paper next to the thermal energy that he had seen. He walked over to it and picked it up, reading it with a smile. It was a flier from Applebloom's school, saying how tomorrow was hero day where the students were supposed to talk about their hero. At the bottom of the page, Applebloom (who Superman had assumed was the source of the heat energy as she had sat there waiting for him) had scribbled a few notes asking if he'd want to go with them.
"So they see me as their hero, huh?" Superman asked himself with a smile as he placed the paper on the box next to the hay, and let himself fall back into the hay, closing his eyes and allowing himself to slip off into sleep. Morning came faster than he thought and he woke up just as the sun's rays began to shine through the cracks in the barn, telling him that he had woken up just in time for sunrise. He sat up with a stretch, figuring that the first thing he should do was go tell Applebloom that he was willing to go to school with her and her friends. He flew out through the barn door and did a quick scan of the land before he turned his gaze to the house, looking through the walls at the list that the Apples kept on their fridge to tell them about the chores for the day.
"I have been gone for quite a while and I did promise that I would help them with their chores," Superman said with a smile, looking at what was first on the list. Bucking the apples again, huh? How many times did those need to be picked? Superman shot back into the barn and grabbed all the baskets that he could see, balancing them in his arms. Then faster than a speeding bullet, he shot through the apple orchard as he placed the baskets at the bottom of all the trees. Once all the baskets were ready, he shot up into the sky before he looped and slammed his feet into the ground, shaking all of the apples off the trees and into the baskets with perfect accuracy. Using his great speed again, he scooped up all the baskets and dropped them off at the collection point.
"That takes care of that, now for the next chore," Superman muttered to himself as he looked through the wall again. Paint the barn again? Easy. Superman walked back into the barn and spotted the paint cans, which he quickly picked up along with a paintbrush. He flew back outside and tossed the paint cans over the barn before he cut them open with his heat vision. He then flew into the paint and spun around the barn, painting it within seconds. He came to a stop to take a look at his work. smiling slightly. "Alright, that's enough work for now. Let's see what the others are up to." Superman headed towards the house and landed outside the door, opening it to see all of the Apples up and about. "Good morning everypony," Superman said with a smile as he entered.
"Morning, Superman," AJ responded over by the oven, while a small yellow pony ran up to him with a huge smile on her face, practically shivering with excitement.
"Hiya Superman!" she almost screamed, the smile growing even wider. "Did ya see the note ah left fer ya in the barn? Didja?" Superman raised an eyebrow with a smile as he watched the pony bounce around at his feet, unable to contain her excitement.
"Yes, I did. And if you and your friends are alright with it, I am more than willing to be your...what was it again?"
"We're supposed to bring our hero to class today and talk about why they're our hero," Applebloom explained as she started to bounce around the kitchen like Pinkie. "And yer both mine and the other Crusaders' hero!"
"Ah thought ah was yer hero," Applejack said from over at the sink.
"You are Applejack, but Superman's an actual hero!" AB responded quickly.
"But ah'm an Element of Harmony. That technically makes me a hero," Applejack reminded her.
"Yeah, but yer no Superman."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Big Mac and Granny Smith, who had been seated at the kitchen table the entire time, looked back and forth between the two as they began to argue with each other, arguing over what made a hero and how superior Superman was to her. Superman sighed while he watched this, since he hated to see families fight. When the two of them started to wrestle on the ground, he decided it was time to step in.
"Alright you two that's enough," Superman said as he stepped between them, lifting them both up in each of his hands. "There's no need for the two of you to fight. Applejack, if it means that much to you, you can go in my place."
"But...but..." Applebloom began to stutter, until Superman looked over to her with a smile.
"I guess I'll just have to be one of the other Crusaders show and tell hero," he said with a wink as he set the both of them down. While Applebloom's smile returned to her face, Applejack looked at him with a bit more concern.
"Are ya sure ya want to do this, Superman? Ah know how busy ya can get..."
"It's no trouble," Superman said as he picked up AB's school bags and handed them to her. "If there's any trouble I can just fly off to go deal with it"
"Alright then. Applebloom, ah owe ya an apology," AJ said with an embarrassed smile. "Ah want to go to yer school, but there's a lot of work to be done around the farm. Ah just got a little upset that ya chose Superman as yer hero."
"Aw, ah'm sorry Applejack. Ah just thought that it would be cool to have an alien and a superhero to take to class." After a few minutes of apologizing to each other, Applebloom looked at the clock and realized that they would be late if they didn't go now. So with a wave goodbye to all her family, she sprinted out the door with Superman walking behind her. The sun had made its way over the mountains in the distance and was letting its light shine all over the land, helping Superman to feel better after Chrysalis had drained his emotions.
"Do we need to go pick up your friends or are we going to meet them there?" he asked her.
"We'll meet them there. Normally we walk together, but since ah'm running late," Applebloom said, looking down at his feet with a curious face. "Why do ya always walk when ya can fly? Why should Superman walk when he can fly?"
"Well, I've been the super for so long since I got here, that right now I just feel like being the man," he responded, confusing Applebloom even more.
"Ah don't get it. If ah had yer powers, ah'd never walk again," she said. Superman figured that he wouldn't get through to her, so he instead looked ahead.
"Wait, what time did you say class started?" he asked her as he looked at a clock inside one of the far off buildings.
"Nine. Why?"
"Because it's eight fifty eight," he said flatly.
"Wait, ah can't be late fer school! Not today!" she shrieked, sprinting ahead in a desperate attempt to get to her school on time. Superman rolled his eyes and launched himself forward, scooping up AB as he flew by on his way towards the school. She clung to him for dear life as they shot through the town, Superman's incredible reflexes allowing him to avoid any pony or building that got in their way. A few seconds later the two of them came screeching to a halt outside the school building with a minute to spare. Superman gently knelt down and placed Applebloom on the ground where she immediately began to stagger around.
"Ugh...thanks, but ya didn't need to do that," she moaned while shaking her head to try and clear the spinning. After the world had stopped spinning, she walked into the classroom with Superman following behind her as she opened the door and let them inside. As Superman looked around the classroom, he felt a sense of nostalgia wash over him. The room was very similar to the grade school that he remembered as a child. The red paint, the small room and all of the desks lined up fairly close to the teacher. Strangely, most of the ponies had bags with swimming gear designed for the beach, despite there being only lakes around the town. Of course, while he was looking around the room, all of the children in the room were staring at him with jaws dropped. They had all heard of him and his exploits in the short time that he had been here, making him quite the celebrity. Superman eventually caught on to the fact that every foal and the teacher were all staring at him.
"Hello there," he said with a smile, causing all of the ponies in the room to gasp. He rolled his eyes with a smile, the scene reminding him of when he first showed up in Metropolis and how the people there reacted to him. Applebloom smiled at the reaction Superman had gained, while the other CMC hopped out of their chairs and ran over to him.
"Awsome, Applebloom! I didn't think that you'd be able to convince him to come!" Scootaloo said with a huge grin as she looked up at Superman.
"I know. Normally you're flying all over the place trying to save everypony," Sweetie commented as well. Superman smiled down at them and looked around the room at all the shocked faces...well, most of them anyway. Superman recognized Dinky and Diamond Tiara simply from the fact that they were the only ones who weren't looking at him. Dinky's head was on her desk and hidden by her arms, but Superman didn't need his x-ray vision to see that she was still upset. Diamond Tiara just stared out the window with a somber face, not reacting to anything a silver pony next to her was saying.
"Alright you three, that's enough. We need to get class started," the teacher said to them, looking at Superman out of the corner of her eyes. They all headed to their seats with smiles while Superman simply floated in next to the door, gaining another round of gasps as he levitated off the ground. "Alright everypony, as you all know, today our topic is heroes and what makes one," the teacher explained as she walked over to the chalkboard to stand in front of her class. "While I was just going to talk to you about heroes in the past, Applebloom volunteered to bring an actual hero to class. So may I introduce you to...Supermane!" Superman frowned at the name joke again and gave a look to the CMC, all of whom smiled back with little halos over their heads. But with all the ponies looking at him, he figured that he could at least talk to them. All of the foals' attention was cemented on him as he floated to the front of the room.
"Hello there," he said to them again, chuckling slightly when they all gasped again. "Since I have no idea what's going on, since the pony who brought me here failed to mention that I'd be the one talking, I guess that you can simply ask me questions and I'll answer them to the best of my ability. So, who wants to go first?" Just as he had expected, nearly every hoof in the room shot up at once, with some of the ponies falling out of their chairs as they tried to gain his attention. "How about...you," he said as he pointed to a small white Pegasus in the back row.
"U-um...I just wanted to know what's it like being so strong?" he asked Superman with a trembling voice, obviously overwhelmed by just the sight of the Man of Steel. Superman knew why he asked that question, as a quick look at him showed that the Pegasus was on the small side without a lot of muscle. The small often dream of being strong.
"Being strong is a lot more than lifting heavy objects or showing off for others. There is also a responsibility that comes with being stronger than others," Superman said to the class, who hung onto his every word. "A responsibility to help those weaker than you."
"But I thought the point of being strong was to...help yourself and beat up the ponies that hurt you. Isn't it?" the Pegasus asked meekly. So he was the type that got bullied, huh? Superman knew that could be one of the reasons that he was so obsessed with strength.
"While you should stand up for yourself, you cannot become like those who do wrong or else you're no better than they are. Despite me being one of the strongest beings in the multiverse, I use my strength to help those who normally can't defend themselves. THAT is a true sign of strength. Using one's strength for their own gain is actually a sign of weakness. Only the weak use their strength to oppress others." Some of the ponies had started taking notes while he talked, while others (who looked like the bully type to him) muttered under their breath about what a dork he was. "Next question. Yes you."
"How rich are you?" the pony with the silver spoon on her flank asked him. The class seemed interested in that one and leaned closer to hear his answer.
"Believe it or not, I'm actually middle class," he said with a smile, getting another gasp out of the room. "And no, I don't get paid for my services to others. It's not about the money or the fame, it's about doing the right thing and helping others." The silver pony sat back down, looking confused at his answer. When he asked for the next question, he noticed that this time it was Dinky who raised her hoof. "Yes Dinky?"
"How often do you fail?" Somehow, he had been expecting her to ask this question. The ponies in the back began to mock her, saying how heroes never failed, but a look from Superman silenced them.
"To be perfectly honest, I've failed more times than I'd like to admit," he said with a frown, crossing his arms as he remembered all the different times he failed. "But despite my numerous failures, I can't allow any kind of thought of doubt to enter my mind as long as someone's in danger, because it might put someone else at risk." Once again, he got mixed responses and he figured that his beliefs might be a bit much for this class. One of the ponies in the back of the room, that he had heard mocking him, raised a hoof half-heartedly with a smirk, but Superman called on him anyway.
"Yeah, I heard that you spare your enemies instead of killing them. Why bother with that when it would be so much easier to finish them?" Superman hadn't expected that kind of question to come up, but he had already answered it so many times before that the answer was second nature to him.
"I will not deny that killing would probably the easiest way to be rid of my foes," Superman began. His answer caused the ponies in the back to snicker. "But just as I save the lives of the innocent, I save the lives of my foes. Nothing is more sacred than life, because once a life's gone most the time you can't get it back. Also...I believe in chances, the idea that if given another chance, those I fight could become those who will fight along side me...That no one is completely evil. All they need is someone to put them on the right track." At the mention of the word justice, the ponies in the back started to laugh again, until Scootaloo chucked an eraser at them and smacked one of them in the face. The teacher was fast enough to stop the two groups before anything started.
"Alright, that will be enough for today. Thank you Superman for coming in and talking to us," she said with a sigh and a smile. Superman nodded and stepped back as she pulled out a piece of paper. "Now I have some bad news. Unfortunately, the carriage that was supposed to take us to the beach broke down and we won't be able to go." The class let out a collective groan followed by protests and complaints. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."
"Anything I can help with?" Superman asked her.
"Unless you can lift a carriage full of screaming foals and fly them to the ocean, no," she said with a sigh, then she realized who she was talking to. "Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that. You must be so-"
"It's no trouble at all," Superman told her, his eyes glancing over at Diamond Tiara and Dinky, both of whom were still hanging their heads. "It looks like some of them could use some cheering up." The teacher followed his gaze to the two and her expression softened a bit as she looked at them.
"Alright, if you want to do it, I have no objections," she said. "I'll go get a carriage big enough to fit the whole class and then we'll be ready to go." Superman nodded at her as she told the entire class what they planned to do, resulting in all the foals cheering and racing for the door to get to the bus carriage, followed by their teacher. Superman waited until they were all gone before he flew over to the only one who hadn't left.
"Diamond Tiara, can we talk?" he asked her as he gently sat in the chair next to hers. She turned her head slightly to look at him before she shrugged and looked back the other way. "I know that you still feel guilty, but it wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself." She didn't respond, but he could hear her heartbeat increase as her emotions got the better of her. "If anything, I'm the one to blame. I should have stopped Brainiac but I failed. So put the blame on me. Come on, the bus for the beach is leaving soon." She nodded slightly and hopped out of her chair to head outside. Superman watched her go with a frown, hating himself for not being able to save Dinky's mom. But as he had said, he couldn't let himself become caught up in his failures. So he sighed and walked outside as well, hoping that this trip to the beach would pick up their spirits. All of the foals were standing around, talking amongst themselves while waiting for the carriage to arrive.
"Where is the carriage that's taking you there?" he asked Cheerilee (who's name he overheard from one of the students) as he walked over to her.
"It's broken down in Manehatten," she told him. "How fast do you think you can-?" Cheerilee had to cover her eyes as Superman vanished at super speeds, causing a huge gust of wind to kick up and knock some of the ponies over. He returned a few seconds later holding the carriage over his head, getting a cheer from the foals.
"All aboard," he said with a smile as he placed the carriage down in front of the ponies and opened the doors for them. The CMC were the first to get on, smiling and thanking him as they did so before the rest of the excited class followed. Superman once again noticed that Diamond Tiara and Dinky were the last two to get on, with their teacher right behind them. Once all the ponies had sat down, he lifted the carriage up with one hand before slipping his other hand under it to balance it. "Everypony ready? Alright, here we go!" he yelled as he kicked off from the ground, smiling to himself as he heard the ponies scream in shock and excitement as they all flew up into the sky. They all looked out through the windows down at the town below, laughing and screaming in sheer joy. Superman smiled to himself and looked off towards the nearest beach, making sure to fly fast enough so that they'd reach there soon, but slow enough so that the foals could still look out the window and enjoy the view. He watched as the land quickly changed from the green grassland of Ponyville to the flatter tide lands by the ocean.
"Alright, we're here!" Superman called up to them as he floated over the beach, hearing groans of sadness in the process, which told him that they had loved the flight over. He floated down to the beach and after scaring off a large number of sunbathers, switched the carriage back to one hand to gently lower it to the ground just off the beach. "Everypony off," he yelled into the bus as the doors open. The foals began to pick up their bags and ran off the bus, immediately heading for the beach despite the teacher wanting to take roll.
"Ugh, it is so hard to get them to listen," she grumbled to herself as some of the foals started to play in the water while others went to the sand to build castles. Cheerilee almost immediately had to run off onto the beach to stop some of the foals who were kicking sand into the others' faces. Superman didn't feel like getting in the water at the moment, so he floated over to the CMC who were planning to get their cutie marks in...
"Shark wrangling?" Superman asked the three smiling faces in disbelief. "Do the three of you even hear what you're saying? Shark wrangling. Why on earth would that be your special talent?"
"It might not be, but we won't know until we try!" Applebloom said through her snorkel gear, and the other two snorkel-clad fillies nodded as well before they tried to run by him, only to be stopped by his foot.
"Then you'll never know," Superman responded with a frown as she backed up. "I'm not going to let three little fillies run into the sea to go wrestle sharks and get themselves killed. And no buts," Superman said to cut them off, knowing what they were going to say next. The three of them mumbled under their breaths, but knew that there no arguing with Superman when danger was present. The three of them were about to go into the water to play around, but Superman once again stopped them. "Also, can the three of you do me a favor?"
"What kind of favor?" Superman looked over at the ponies that were laying on the beach, noticing again that Dinky and Diamond Tiara were still sitting by themselves under umbrellas.
"If the three of you are going to go have fun instead of crusading, can you invite Diamond Tiara and Dinky to join you as well?" The three fillies looked at each other with raised eyebrows before turning back to Superman with smirks on their faces.
"Are ya serious?" Applebloom asked him with a chuckle. "Dinky sure, but Diamond Tiara? She's been our enemy ever since we first became friends."
"Yeah, why would we want to let her play with us?" Scootaloo asked with a bit of heat.
"Because...because they're both hurting right now," Superman said gently. "Dinky just lost her mother and Tiara...well, she feels really bad about it. I know that the four of you have never gotten along in the past, but at least try to cheer them up if you can. It would mean a lot to me." The CMC looked at him with hesitant faces, not sure if they wanted to do this.
"But...she's our enemy," Sweetie Belle said.
"True. But as a wise man once said, the best way to defeat your enemy is to make them your friend," Superman said back with a smile. Then he turned his head to the side with a frown as his attention was drawn elsewhere. "I need to go. Someone's in danger. But remember what I said and try to be friends with her." The CMC covered their eyes as Superman shot off into the sky and kicked up a bit of a sand cloud in the process, looking at each other with uncertainty once the sand died down.
"We're not going to seriously invite her to join us...are we?" Scootaloo asked her friends in an unsure tone. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other before Sweetie stepped forward.
"Look, we may not like Diamond Tiara, but we owe Superman a lot," Sweetie Belle reminded them. "He's done so much for us and if this is the only thing he asks for in return, then I think we owe it to him to at least try."
"Ah agree. Superman has saved us so many times ah lost count. We owe him," Applebloom agreed. Scootaloo nodded as well and the three headed over to where Dinky was sitting on her own under an umbrella, staring at the sea. "Hiya Dinky. Um...if ya don't mind, would ya like to join us fer some sand castle building? If ya want to." Dinky simply stared ahead at the sea, not seeming to hear them at first. Then she slowly turned her head towards them, making them flinch when they saw her eyes, eyes that lacked emotion.
"Sure, I'd love to," she said softly, a thin smile tugging at her mouth. She slowly got up and stood next to the other girls, waiting for them. Then the four headed to what they assumed would be the hard part: getting Diamond Tiara to join them willingly. Diamond Tiara was in a similar state to Dinky, just sitting there staring at the sea.
"Um, Diamond Tiara? Would you...like to join us to make sand castles?" Scootaloo asked nervously. Diamond Tiara looked at them with her annoyed look that she reserved just for them, but then she noticed Dinky and averted her gaze and let an unseen tear roll down her face.
"No. I'm good here," she said softly. The CMC looked at each other with a shrug, figuring that they had at least tried. But while they turned away, Dinky looked at Tiara sitting alone for a minute before sitting down beside her.
"Are you okay?" Dinky asked her.
"I'm fine," Tiara said softly, turning her head so that Dinky couldn't look into her eyes.
"No, you're not. I can tell," Dinky said in response. Tiara turned her head away again, but Dinky stood back up and walked over to where she was looking. The CMC watched from afar, not sure if they should be listening or not. Dinky sat there for a good ten minutes, simply waiting for Tiara to tell her what was wrong. But when Tiara didn't talk, she figured it was time to say what they were both thinking.
"You're still upset about what happened with Mom, aren't you?" And that was all it took to break free the dam of emotion and sorrow that Diamond Tiara had kept locked up tight to burst free. She began to sob heavily on the spot, not caring that the grey unicorn was sitting there to watch.
"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry," she said in between sobs, feeling the tears run down her face. Dinky didn't say anything, knowing why she was apologizing. Then, much to Tiara's shock, Dinky wrapped her hooves around her to pull her into a hug.
"It's alright. I forgive you," she whispered to the sobbing Tiara.
"W-what?" Tiara asked in confusion, breaking free of the hug and looking at Dinky as if she were crazy. "But it's my fault that your mom...if I hadn't said those things, then you wouldn't have..."
"It's alright. I said that I forgive you," Dinky said with a weak smile of her own, trying to keep the tears out of her own eyes as well.
"But why?"
"It's what Superman would do. Come on, how about we go have some fun with the CMC?"
"B-but after my history with them-"
"They invited you, so they must want you to come along," Dinky said, offering a hoof to help her up. Tiara gingerly took it and let Dinky help her to her hooves. Dinky put on a false smile and walked over to the CMC, who had not listened to the conversation. "We're ready, so what is it that you're planning to do?"
"We were going to build sandcastles together...if that's alright?" Dinky and Tiara both nodded and followed the crusaders over to start building sandcastles. While they began to do that, Cheerilee watched with a sad smile, glad to see that the crusaders were trying to help the two feel better. She heard a sound and turned to see Superman floating down beside her, covered head to toe in what looked like fish guts.
"Don't ask," he said, knowing what was going through her mind as he looked over at the children. "So they actually asked Tiara to play with them?"
"They may not like each other all the time, but they're all good ponies, deep down," Cheerilee said with a smile as she watched the fillies begin to build a castle. "Thank you for all that you've done. I know that you must be busy."
"It's no problem. I enjoy helping."
'Your generosity truly knows no bounds,' Cheerilee thought to herself as the Man of Steel smiled at the fillies, watching as Dinky had begun to splash water at Tiara, who responded to the attack with her own splashes. Soon, all five fillies were having a water war and their laughter rang out like bells. "I haven't seen either of them so happy since...but I'm so happy to see them smile again." Superman watched as they played together, their smiles slowly growing larger in the process. It was amazing how the time flew by, even for him. After the fillies had built their castles and nearly got dragged down in an undertow (Superman got them out before anything happened), they all had ended the day with a bonfire on the beach where the CMC tried to convince Superman to dance with them. He decided to join in and although he embarrassed himself at first, he quickly picked up on the steps and could soon dance along with them just fine. Dinky and Tiara both joined in too eventually, followed by all the other foals and eventually Cheerilee, until they were all doing silly dances next to the fire that's light seemed dull, compared to the ponies that shined with happiness. Cheerilee decided to call it a day when two of the foals had fallen asleep and the others were staggering a bit from exhaustion.
"Alright everypony, time to get on the carriage and go home," she told them as she helped them onto the carriage, most of them yawning or leaning against one another for support. Dinky and Tiara brought up the rear, where they were stopped by Superman.
"Did you two enjoy yourselves?" he asked them. They nodded sleepily and smiled at him before the both of them yawned. "I'm glad to see you smiling again," he said as he got down to one knee. "After all that's happened, I didn't know if either of you would be happy again."
"It's okay, it's just like Mom used to say," Dinky began before she cut herself off with another yawn. "You can spend all your time thinking about what's gone wrong and be sad...yawn...or you can smile and look to the future with hope." Superman teared up a bit at that, her advice sounding like something his ma would have told him.
"Your mother was a wise pony," Superman said with a smile. Dinky nodded and tried to walk by him, but Superman stopped them one last time. "I just wanted to let the two of you know, even if you feel like no one cares and you feel alone, if you call out for me I will come to your side."
"Whenever we call?" Tiara asked him.
"Whenever you call," he repeated. Tiara thought about it for a minute before she got an evil smile.
"Pinkie promise. And in rhyme," she said with a smile. Superman looked at her for a minute, thinking it over in his head if he were going to do this or not. Then he noticed that Dinky seemed to want him to as well and he knew that he had no choice.
"Alright then, I Pinkie promise...in your darkest days, when you're alone and scared, and whisper to yourself an unheard prayer, and when you think that no pony cares, simply call out for me and I will be there." Tiara and Dinky both seemed alright with this, even if they did roll their eyes once during the promise, before they headed onto the bus. Superman turned his head and blew out the bonfire with a single breath before turning his attention back to the bus, smiling as he saw through the window that the CMC had invited the two to sit next to them. He walked over to the bus and, once every pony was set, hoisted it onto his shoulder and launched himself into the sky with the ponies on his back. He came to a stop just above the cloud cover and used his gaze to look over all the land, smiling to himself at how peaceful it was. He heard no cries for help or sounds of sirens. All the world was at peace. Superman turned to where Ponyville was and flew off towards it, happy about how this had been a good day.
(S)
In Celestia's secret chamber underneath her castle, Lex was experimenting with his rapidly increasing power. He had already tried out his heat vision and the super breath with perfect results, but it was the other powers that intrigued him. He could see gravity and how it affected time and space. He could hear the atoms as they collided with each other in the room, like a barrage of gunfire that only he could hear. For a moment, he envied Superman and his ability to always see the world like this, but only for a minute. He had been so lost in the millions of miniverses before his eyes that he hadn't heard Celestia slam the door open and stalk into the room.
"I figure that you would want to hear what he has asked of us today," she said to Luthor with a growl. Luthor pointed at the door to remind her that he couldn't talk as long as it was open, to which she responded by slamming it shut with her magic. "He wants us to talk of peace with Chrysalis. I know that it's not a bad idea, but she has attacked us so many times that I'm certain that this is a ploy of hers!" Celestia winced and held a hoof to her head, feeling the pressure in it increase again.
"I would recommend you go ahead with it," Lex suggested as he looked into her brain, raising an eyebrow as he saw a clump of black magic floating around her brain that...had a pair of eyes? "It would show that you are a caring leader who isn't above peace, while still being able to show your superiority. Now then, what is the progress of the suit?"
"It is nearly done, although all of my blacksmiths have asked for two days off in return," Celestia said with a sigh as she sat down at Lex's table and started rubbing her temples. "How goes your power increase? It is hard to rule a nation and keep the mini-sun open at the same time." Luthor looked down at his hand where he could see the power coursing through it with a smile.
"It goes well, but we have a problem. Superman came snooping around here the other day." Celestia shot up at this news and looked at him with horror. "No, he didn't find me, all he did was float outside the room and stare at it for a while. Either he knows something's up or he simply wants his ship back, but either way we're becoming pressed for time."
"So what to we do?" Luthor walked to his briefcase and pulled out a small transponder.
"Well, there is always the suggestion of using one of your subjects as bait to-" Luthor never finished his sentence as Celestia picked him up with her magic and slammed him into a wall.
"None of my ponies will ever be put in danger again. I will stop all who seek to harm them," she said in a deadly whisper, her eyes a blazing green.
"Alright, plan 'B' then," Luthor said as he showed her the transponder.
"What is plan 'B'?" Celestia asked as she lowered him to the ground.
"After a while of bribing, arguing and threatening, I managed to call in some help, but I do not know how long these ones will last against him," Luthor began as he started pressing buttons. "And before you ask, these two will not attack or harm any ponies." 'At least they shouldn't,' Luthor thought to himself. He indicated for Celestia to re-open the portal and started to speak through the transponder once she had. "Mercy, it's me. Have numbers six and zero sent to these coordinates. I want them here by tomorrow." Celestia closed the portal once he was done.
"Who did you call?" she asked him, to which Lex smiled and replied.
"Beings who prey on fear."
"I'm not sure of this plan Luthor, but you have not given me a reason to doubt you yet. But that doesn't mean I trust you that much. So I will say this now. If any of my subjects are hurt during this attack...I will kill you myself." Luthor watched her leave with a cold frown, his own rage boiling inside him.
'Once I rule over your pathetic land Celestia...you are the first to die.' Celestia walked out of the chamber with her head swirling, as if the darkness that had constantly followed her was beginning to fade.
'I do not know what this plan of Luthor's is, but this time I will be ready in case one of the beings goes rogue,' she thought to herself as she came to a stop and looked out the window. 'Why...was I being so cruel to Superman again? Even though he wears the symbol of ancient alien invader, he still has only helped since he got here. Why was I...?'
----=---
Elsewhere
"The sensor ponies have finally found one of the champions, thanks to a signal sent through space that they managed to pick up. Now I can go finish him and put an end to the silver one's charade."
"Are you certain that you need to go? From what you told me, Superman is as strong or stronger than you. He might...kill you."
"No, he will not. It is not in his nature."
"But you may not make it back. He might lock you away for good?"
"Possibly, but that is a risk I must take in order to keep this kingdom safe...to keep you safe. I promised that I would use all of my power to protect you and your family...and I will not fail again. I must go now, the time window is short."
"Wait, before you-!"
KABOOM!
"...And there he goes again. I know you want to protect me, but I'd rather you do it by my side. Please come back to me safely...Teth."
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Ok, for a supposed 12th level intellect (assuming you're using the Superman:TAS version as a basis, who did make that claim), Lex is a complete dumbass for wanting to kill Celestia due to planets needing their stars to, i don't know, LIVE. And since Tia controlls the sun, well you guys do the math (hint, what happens when the planet stops revolving/rotating around it's star).
Oi, oi, oi... Teth? Doesn't ring a bell.
And now Celestia's finally getting her sh*t together! YAY!
3088883
She's not being brainwashed by sombra anymore.
3088883 Teth is the first name of Teth Adam.
Hoo, boy. Black Adam... This one's gonna be a doozy. After all...
"You've never any been good against magic. And magic is what I'm all about."
I know it's not Captain Marvel, but it still applies.
Well, it looks as if Celestia will be back to normal soon. By the way, how has no one noticed that her eyes were green for this long? Are they only green when the spell is working harder or is she able to hide them subconsciously?
I really like how both Dinky and Tiara are coping after Derpy's death (which is still a hard thing to swallow, mind you
).
When I've read the part of Luthor testing his new powers I couldn't help but think of this little scene:
It's good that whatever was holding onto Celestia's mind is disappearing. I think I can speak for everybody here that we had quite enough of this paranoic/spiteful/vengeful Celestia.
I can honestly say that I didn't expect Black Adam (even if he's not Marve's nemesis here) appearing here in this story. Wonder how things willgo when he arrives to Equestria...
3088990
There's a reason Luthor and Superman could see them, but that's revealed later.
3088883
It's Black Adam's real name
Black Adam joins the party...
MOAR!
3088891 wait...then where's Sombra? If he had a part of him inside Celestia, he must have transfered to somebody el- OH DEAR GOD!
HE'S IN LEX
If you're going to push Superman to the edge to make him almost kill someone, you could make him publicly show how scary he can be if he has the intent to kill (just like how he did in Superman Vs. The Elite). That movie (and the comic it's based on) shows why Superman would never kill.
Black... Mother... F%$#ing... ATOM!
and how bout those references to All-Star Superman again... only this time Lex just says screw it... but that maybe because something I believe is about to happen and I don't want to spoil it...
I'll say it again... better writer than some of the monkeys they've got writing Superman now, (Snyder's working on Unchained is still pretty good but some of the others make me want to vomit)
Wait, she had that mind control spell on her all the time? Ugh. That's what ahppens when you read fanfiction completely exhausted I guess.
Fucking finally, after God knows how many chapters of being a bitch, Celestia's losing the mind control. If the Yellow Lanterns are coming, part of me wants them to hurt more ponies just so Celestia can see Luthor is an asshole.
3089016
I suspect Kryptonite.
3089171
Eh... Lex is too smart for magical brain control.
3088878Won't it get pulled in?
So, the silver pony was suppose to be in the story, but Black Adam is the one arriving?
Sweet, three power clashes, one from Lex the yellow lanterns if fear was really used, another Superman and finally the wild card Black Adam.
And finally, Celestia is no longer acting like a bitch and acting like the ruler we all know her as.
okay seriously what do you think the JLA do sit back and drink beer all day? weriously they'd have detcted it by now.
You're confused, Celly.
It's Superman that has never given you reason to doubt him. Luthor has only ever given you reason to doubt him.
3090424
Well, if the star suddenly dissapears along with its mass or is flung somewhere, it will take aproximately the light-distance to the planet for the gravity to dissapear and the planet will float aimlessly through space.
Otherwise, if the planet has velocity around a star of any distance, it should stay in orbit. The fact that Celestia has to constantly raise/lower the sun implies frictional forces, so it depends on where that friction comes from. In the case of space debrees, the planet will fall into the sun.
3090394 You never know, for a few years Brainiac was inside him and manipulated him like a marionette on strings.
Teth-Adam? Black Adam?! Of course he can crush Superman.
I wonder who will show up first, black adam or lex. But I'm guessing that it will be a free-for-all , or lex/Adam will sit back and let Adam/lex fight superman first to weaken him. But this is assuming Adam shows up when luthor decides to strike which is what I'm hoping for.
Who is Teth?
So now Black Atom is coming into the picture. I don't know why but even from start of the story I had a feeling he would get involved.
Black Adam...the only being other than Captain Marvel that can match Superman in terms of Raw Power, and given that Luthor mentioned another being who preys on fear, plus mention of the Sinestro Corps being contacted we can assume that the other being is on of them.
Then again I could be completely wrong...lets see
3092878 Teth Adam is the real name of Black Adam.
3095506 Shit man...
3095499
No...if we're talking raw power, I can name SEVERAL beings, gods, and gods in denial that have him beat in that department. Pure strength is a slightly narrower window, but in the DC Universe, I can still name several people on Superman's weight class in the department of strength.
3095506
Doesn't that mean, "First Human" in Egyptian or some other old language, Black Adam's real name?
3091913
Yeah...in the DCAU. I don't recall that ever happening in mainstream continuity.
3097291 Still an awesome end of season plot twist.
3097290 One quick Google later and I can tell you that according to Wikipedia Teth-Adam translates as literally meaning ''Mighty Human''.
Doesn't say what language it is translated from, given he is from Ancient Egypt it could be Egyptian or Arabic.
3097287 Understood, they were the first ones I thought of, probably because Superman melts Black Adams face off in the DC online intro.
3097291 Sorry I was thinking of the JL Unlimited.
3098527
Agreed, but don't go confusing Mainstream continuity for the DCAU, no matter how many ways the DCAU may have been superior to mainstream continuity.
3098583
Again, don't go confusing things that aren't mainstream continuity for mainstream continuity.
Also, it's made pretty clear that Supes was sun-amped more than usual during that fight.
Black Adam?! what next Bane,Doomsday,Lobo, Zod?
3111000
Bane's WAY to much of a street leveler pushover for Superman.
3112355 give Bane a krytonian strength pill from injustice and he will be equal strength to supermans
3112372
Huzzah for non cannon stories being non cannon and Supermen from other universes not being equal to each other!
3113319 ok. Still was a good game and they managed to make aqua man not look like a dickhead
3125114
Dude, Aquaman hasn't been a dickhead ever and, regardless of quality (which I admit Injustice has), it's not cannon.
Nice Title Drop!
Let me get this straight. Adam is going to attack Superman KNOWING he is a good guy and doesnt kill? What's wrong with him?
I thought the answer was "frightening". To live every moment knowing that one slip in you concentration could mean the death of someone.
6188951
I know, right? He said as much in Justice League Unlimited, after all...