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Mare of Steel

by iowaforever

Chapter 14: Part 1, Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

The five ponies sat in one of the hallways of the hospital, not moving, not speaking. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy sat in one corner, the two of them crying over their friend’s fate. Across from them Applejack sat with her hat pulled down over her eyes while Rarity and Twilight exchanged looks of concern with each other. They sat for several minutes before the doctor opened the door leading to Rainbow Dash’s room.

“Is she okay?” Twilight asked.

“Well... she’s stable, as far as we can tell, but she’s been knocked unconscious and there’s no way to tell when she may wake up.”

“But, she’ll live, right?”

“Like I said, we don’t know when she’ll wake up... or if she’ll wake up at all. The best we can do is wait and let her rest. You may see her if you’d like, but I must ask you to be quiet.” The doctor walked off, leaving the five friends alone once more. Applejack pushed her hat back on her head and crossed to the door, Pinkie and Fluttershy following behind her.

Rainbow Dash was lying on the bed, her face covered in bandages. Twilight had managed to remove her cape and suit before anypony had noticed, and the outfit was sitting in a small box near the door. Various machines monitored Rainbow’s condition, various beeps and clicks drowning out the Pegasus’ breathing. She twitched slightly, but otherwise did not react as the others entered.

“Twilight...” Fluttershy said “What happens when a pony is caught in... whatever Rainbow Dash was caught in?”

“I-I don’t know.” Twilight said. “Nopony has ever survived a magical overload, especially not on this level. If I ever overused my magic I would feel burned out for a few hours, but...”

“She’ll wake up.” Pinkie muttered, not even looking at her friends. “She has to wake up...” They stood in silence, unsure of how to proceed, when there was the sounds of hoofsteps at the door.

“Um, excuse me? This is Rainbow Dash’s room, right?” the five turned and saw a Pegasus mare with pink fur and a graying mane. “I’ve never been good with hospitals and I think I might have gotten lost.”

“Yes, this is her room. Who are you?” Twilight asked.

“I’m Firefly. Rainbow Dash is my daughter.”

“Oh. She... never really talked about you.”

“She was like that when she was younger,” Fluttershy said. “She never talked much about her personal life.”

“Yeah, that was partially my fault. I tried to have her not say who I was, that way nopony would treat her differently.” Firefly shuffled a little and looked past the five. “How is she?”

“I... We don’t know.” Twilight said, hanging her head. “The doctors don’t know if she’ll ever wake up again.” Firefly’s wings drooped, and she looked towards the floor.

“I-If you don’t mind.” She said after a few moments of silence. “I’d like to spend some time with her... alone.” Twilight looked towards her friends and nodded, and the five made their way out. Once they were gone, Firefly slowly approached the bed and sat down, placing a hoof on her daughter’s foreleg once she was seated.

“I... I remember once, when you were three, your father and I took you to Ponyville for a picnic... You were so happy to be on the ground, you had... you had that little smile, the one that always made me laugh. We found a nice hill where we could look over the town, and you were still so happy... You ran around, chasing after bugs and little animals... You were happy, and I was happy, and your father was happy.

“Then... then you tripped and fell down that hill... you screamed. No matter how hard I try, I will never forget that scream. You were scared, and... I think you may have been in pain, but now I’m not sure. I was terrified; I didn’t really know about your... powers, and I thought you had hurt yourself.” She chuckled a little. “You cried harder that day than any other day in your life... I cried too, but you were fine... I guess, seeing you scared and hurt... we connected, somehow. We had each other, and that’s what mattered.

“Then... Your father died... Just couldn’t recover, no matter what they did. Seeing him lying there, his chest collapsing in on itself... He was in so much pain. That’s all he talked about was pain... I couldn’t take it. I wanted to die with him, but I couldn’t. And there you were, young and confused, and... it hurt you too. It hurt both of us, I guess... But we had each other... We had each other...

“But now... here you are, and here I am, and... I have no one. You’re all I have left, Rainbow; the Wonderbolts, the prestige of being their trainer, even my closests friends, nothing compares to you. And here you are, lying unconscious and... I’m scared, Rainbow. I-I’m scared. I can’t lose you too... I-I can’t...” Unable to hold back, she hung her head and cried, tears staining the hospital sheets.

“Please... Don’t go...”

.................

Her mind drifted through darkness. Images of her fight flashed before her, each impact and strike tossing her further into the void. She tried to struggle back, but every slight movement drove her deeper and deeper into her thoughts.

“Don’t go... don’t go...” the voice of her mother called. Rainbow reached upward, but continued to fall, her mother’s voice fading into nothingness as she fell.

“I... I can’t go...” she muttered.

“No, you can’t go.” a voice echoed through the void. An image appeared before her and she saw Jor-El, the unicorn’s eyes filled with remorse. “You are not finished.”

“Not finished?”

“Equestria still needs a protector. I cannot allow them to lose you; not yet, not like this.”

“But... how?”

“You are strong, my dear Kara. Not just physically, but in your heart. You are one of the strongest ponies I have ever met, and I know that you can save yourself. Use your strength to pull yourself in, and then you will be home.

“Your time has not come... not yet, my daughter... not yet.”

................

“... not... yet...” Firefly stopped crying and looked up.

“Wh-What?”

“Not... yet...”

“Rainbow?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes slowly fluttered open, her head turning towards the source of the sound.

“Mom?” Rainbow Dash could not respond before Firefly had wrapped her forelegs around Dash, squeezing her daughter tight against her. Tears streamed down Firefly’s face, staining the hospital gown Rainbow was wearing

“Oh Rainbow! You had me so worried.” the older mare sobbed.

“Hey, at least I can say I’ve been blown up now.” Rainbow Dash chuckled, but this dissolved into a coughing fit. “Ah, my throat feels terrible.”

“Just rest, Rainbow; everything will be better tomorrow.” Rainbow nodded and shifted around a little, trying to find a comfortable spot to sleep. She did not get long, for Twilight and the others had entered the room to see what the commotion was.

“Rainbow Dash’s alive!” Pinkie screamed, rushing over to Rainbow and giving the Pegasus the biggest hug she could manage.

“Pinkie... you’re choking me...”

“Sorry Dashie! But you’re going to be alright!” Pinkie broke off and was about to sing, but Fluttershy managed to cut her off.

“Oh Rainbow, we were so worried you weren’t going to be alright.”

“Hey, I’m getting better, I guess.”

“If there’s anything we can do for you, darling,” Rarity said. “Please let us know.”

“I will... right now I’d like to get some sleep, if you don’t mind.”

“‘Course, sugarcube.” Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a playful poke. “You just rest up’n get outa here as soon as you can.”

“Okay... See you guys later.” the five said their goodbyes and left, talking to themselves in hushed tones so as to not disturb Rainbow. Firefly was the last to leave, lingering by the door before speaking.

“Rainbow, promise me you’ll be more careful when you do things like that?”

“I’ll try, mom.”

..............

High above Equestria, out of the way of most observation, a ship hung in space. The pony in command of the ship watched several screens, trying to pick up as much information on the planet below as possible. Probably the most interesting one was replaying a fight between two ponies; a tan mare in a blue suit and cape, and a white unicorn.

“Interesting...” He said, replaying the fight once more. “So it seems that a Kryptonian did survive. This changes a few things... at least she was able to remove that one pony; he would only have caused trouble.” He turned to another screen, flipping through the profiles of several important Equestrian politicians.

“But before I confront her, I’ll need a few allies...”

...............

A few weeks had passed. The attack on Canterlot was old news now, and most ponies were content to leave it at that. Rainbow Dash returned to Ponyville, happy to leave Canterlot behind and rejoin her friends and family.

While the public was no longer interested in Canterlot, they were still searching for Supermare; some did so in an attempt to catch her and study her powers, while others merely wanted to congratulate her for defending Equestria. Fillies and colts of all ages scanned the skies constantly for her, venerating her on a level usually reserved for the princesses. Supermare sightings were reported almost daily, but most turned out to be falsified to drum up excitement.

Rainbow Dash was content to leave it at that, for now.

She stood atop the mountain where she and her friends had defeated the dragon. The wind lashed at her, causing her cape to flare out across the sky as she watched, scanning the country for signs of trouble. She took a breath in and closed her eyes, opening all of her senses to the world.

“My father made a wise choice when he sent me here.” she said, opening her eyes. “Equestria... my home... these ponies love me, and I love them. They’ve helped me and guided me, and now it’s my turn to help them. There’s so much I can do to help them...” She spotted something outside of Ponyville; Caramel and his marefriend were having a picnic, but a couple of Diamond Dogs were sneaking up on them.

“Equestria needed a protector, and I have answered the call.” Supermare said before taking off and racing towards Ponyville.

End Part 1

Author's Notes:

Insert John Williams' theme here.
Thus ends part 1 of Mare of Steel. Consider this my introduction sequence to the entire idea of "Rainbow Dash as Supermare". I will be taking a few days off of writing this story to collect my thoughts, but just so you don't get bored: in the future, we will see General Lane and Lex Luthor expies , and Rainbow/Supermare may gain herself a love interest.
I still don't own Superman or Ponies. Likes and comments are appreciated, and if I screwed something up please let me know.

Next Chapter: Part 2, Chapter 1 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 11 Minutes
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