"Hello my friends," Celestia said with a smile, standing up from her throne and walking down to the ponies. All of the ponies and Spike bowed down before her, causing Celestia to sigh and raise a hoof to her face. She then looked at the still standing Billy with a raised eyebrow. "Still not bowing to others?"

"Nope."

"Good, keep that independence as long as you can," Celestia said with a smile, inviting the group over to a massive table that had been set up for them. Each of the ponies took up separate seats, with Luna sitting down beside Billy, winking at him as she did so. Celestia, naturally, sat herself at the head of the table. Once everypony was seated, she cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Before we get started, how was your first time in Canterlot?" she asked Billy.

"It was...fine," he said with a forced smile, ignoring his thoughts about the pony that had been preaching. "The city is a lot bigger and nicer than I thought it would be, despite being on the side of a mountain. How do you keep it upright though, it seems to defy gravity?"

"Magic," Luna said plainly. Billy faced palmed, realizing the answer was a simple one. Celestia and Luna looked like they wanted to continue with the pleasant conversation, but Twilight brought them back to business.

"Princesses, you said that you had urgent news to talk to us about, news that concerned the destruction of not only our home, but countless other homes across the world. What's going on?" Celestia looked around at all the faces with a sigh.

"As I told you in a letter, yours has not been the only village to be destroyed in these past few days. Ever since the portal opening days ago, which I know brought Billy here, we have been having more and more attacks. However, my sister and I believe that we have found the perpetrator behind the attacks. Sombra." All of the ponies gasped at the name and began to mutter to each other, except for Billy who had very little idea who Sombra was.

"Sombra? You mean that pony that was destroyed during the battle of the Crystal Empire?" Billy asked, remembering what he had read from the book in the library. "Not to point out the obvious, but wasn't he, you know, destroyed during the fight?"

"Originally we thought that too, but all of our recent investigations have proven to us that he is indeed alive and is trying to take over Canterlot after his failure to procure the Crystal Empire. He is responsible for sending the ponies that have destroyed so much of Ponyville." Applebloom thought about that for a minute before she reached a realization.

"Wait a minute. All of the ponies that were sent to destroy all of Ponyville were stopped by Captain Marvel. So who destroyed the other town and villages?" she asked in confusion. Everypony looked to Celestia for an answer.

"We...do not know at the moment. We have some suspicions, but our number one suspect was dealt with a few days ago, so it cannot be him. Therefore, we have to assume that this is a new threat that we are dealing with."

"Back to the topic of Sombra, do you believe that he will come here sooner or later?" Billy asked, wanting to be ready this time for when the enemy struck.

"If our information is correct, than he will most certainly come here eventually. But with the forces that he sent to destroy you were defeated and the fact that he cannot defeat me and my sister by himself, we have to assume that he has a plan, so we have guards stationed everywhere in the city. I have just sent out a letter to inform them about you Billy, so they will recognize you."

"So what should we do in the mean time? Do we gather the Elements of Harmony again?" Twilight asked, wanting to act instead of wait.

"We will gather the Elements once we know what Sombra's intentions are, but with Ponyville in its weakened state, we figured it be best for half of the Elements to stay there to protect it." Her words brought back a thought for Billy. The preacher had said that the princesses had abandoned them during the battles because they didn't care. And here they were saying that they would not be protecting the town even when it was in its weakest moment.

"So why aren't either of you protecting Ponyville?" he asked them. Celestia and Luna looked at each other before answering.

"We want to be there to protect all of our subjects, but we cannot be everywhere at once. And with the constant attacks all over Equestria, we are constantly on the move to try and find this new attacker. We have sent guards to the town to help protect it."

"You sent them to their deaths," Billy said in a whisper. His rage was building and he wasn't sure why. "It is your jobs to be there for the ponies, not to be out flying around when they need you. A lot more lives might have been spared if you two had assisted the angel during the battles at Ponyville instead of being off wherever you were!" The tension in the room was beginning to build, with Billy glaring at Celestia.

"Billy, I told you we wanted to be there, but we have to protect all of Equestria, not just Ponyville."

"But you haven't been protecting all of Equestria, from what you told us you always arrive too late to the attacks and while you're there others suffer."

"Billy, what are you doing?" Twilight whispered to him. Celestia's face hadn't changed its expression, but Twilight could tell that she was starting to get annoyed.

"We are fully aware of that, but as we said, we are doing our best to protect ALL of Equestria from these threats, we cannot just focus on one city. And Ponyville is safe enough with the combined efforts of the Elements and the guards, not to mention the angel that seems to protect it as well."

"Safe enough," Billy scoffed. "The guards you sent were slaughtered instantly and the Elements barely lasted much longer. No offense, Twilight. If this was the first attack in a while I could understand why you weren't there, but this is the fourth one from what I'm told. You think after the first three you would understand that Ponyville seems to be the main target, not all of Equestria! Sombra is the main threat now, he should be-"

"That is enough," Celestia said in a cold whisper, rising to her hooves. All the ponies in the room held their breath, evens the guards in the back. Celestia was mad and nopony dared to talk back to her when she was mad. But Billy wasn't any pony.

"No it isn't," he said, standing up as well. "The first duty as a ruler is to protect their subjects and that seems to be a job that you cannot do."

"You think you could do better?" Celestia asked in a whisper.

"I know I can." Celestia's eyes narrowed and Billy began to form a word in his mouth, but before anything could happen Luna stood up and placed herself between them.

"That is enough. Billy, you are right, we have not been protecting our subjects to the best of our ability. Thank you for helping us to realize that."

"Luna, what are you-?" Celestia began, but a look from her sister silenced her.

"However, Celestia and I have been leaders a lot longer than you've been alive. Sometimes we have to make tough decisions to try and keep everypony safe. And even if you did have the power," she began, giving him an interesting look, "even you still couldn't save everypony." He wanted to argue, but she was telling the truth. He knew little about leadership and even with his great powers he still couldn't save everyone. When Luna saw that both sides had backed down, she sighed and looked to Twilight.

"You must all be tired from your trip up here and with what has happened in the past days. You should go to bed early." Twilight nodded and walked over to Billy, motioning for him to follow her. The group left the room, leaving Celestia alone with Luna.

"Why did you side with him?" Celestia asked her sister.

"I didn't. I wanted to end this conflict as fast as I could, so I told him that he was right, but at the same time wrong," Luna muttered. "I know how hard you work and how much you worry sister, but he is right. Protecting our subjects must come first. We can't both be gone in case something like this happens again. So I will go patrolling tonight alone."

"But Luna, what if you run into that...thing," Celestia said in a whisper.

"Then I will finally get to see our parents again. Also," Luna said with a frown, turning to her sister. "You lied to the boy again. You told him that the creature we fought was different from the one that is destroying the towns...yet all evidence points that they're the same. Why did you lie?"

"Because I don't want a child to be involved in this," Celestia growled. "We beat this creature once, we can do it again."

"And you wonder why Billy doesn't like you when you keep things like that from him," Luna said with a sigh. "Can I at the very least try to get Captain Marvel to join us? He could be key in defeating the monster."

"Yes, we will need him," Celestia sighed, walking towards her chambers. "Good luck tonight sister. If you run into the creature, please do not be foalish enough to try and take it on by yourself."

"I won't." Celestia walked through the doors as the guards opened them, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts. She hated to admit it, but they had been doing a terrible job of protecting those they cared about. Billy was right, if the angel hadn't been there to protect Ponyville, they would have probably lost Twilight and her friends, not to mention the entire town. He had shown that he was willing to fight for them, but she needed to gain his trust. And for that to work, she needed to gain Billy's trust. So she extended her wings and flew out through the window, planning on how to talk to the child.

{S}

Billy lay on his bed in the chambers, staring at the ceiling as his thoughts seemed to circle around him. Twilight and the girls had given him his own chambers, deciding that he needed some time alone. Billy's thoughts were on what that preacher had said and the fight he had with the princess. He knew that he had been too hard on her, that she was doing her best...but he had still seen to many lives lost due to careless leaders. He had barely had his family a few days and already all of their lives were on the line. He would fight when the time came, but it was what would happen afterwards that had him worried. When all was said and done, should he kill Sombra? He never liked the idea of killing, but sometimes it looked like it was the only way. And then there was what that pony had been preaching about. Should he take a more active role with his power? He would never overthrow Celestia, but should he be more? Should he be a god?

'The true sign of power is not one who uses it to rule the weak, but who uses it to serve them instead.' Billy sat up and looked across the room, sighing in relief when he saw the silver mare standing there.

"Great, it's you, “he muttered, lying back down on the bed. She silently walked over to him and sat down beside him on the bed, her form not leaving an imprint on the covers. "What are you to talk to me about this time?"

'I am here to warn you, not just talk. You must not start thinking of yourself as a god, Billy Batson. You may have the body of one, but you do not have the heart of one.'

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

'It means that you are greater than that. You don't need to be one. You can still save lives without being a deity, as you have been.'

But I could do more!" he argued as he sat up on the bed. "All these lives that have been lost because I didn't take a more direct approach. If I had used my full power from the start, I could have done more, saved more lives. What good is having a good heart if you don't help others?" She looked at him, his dilemma causing flashbacks to go through her mind.

'I have seen what happens when a pony full of good intentions becomes something they are not in order to protect others,' she said in a whisper, speaking now from memory. 'They believe that they are doing what is best, but eventually they are consumed by the power and become what they sought to destroy.'

"And you think the same thing would happen to me?" Billy asked with some scorn in his voice.

'No. I know it would happen to you,' she said definitively. Billy sat up to glare at her, but he found that she wasn't even looking in his general direction. She was staring straight ahead, lost in her own memories. Billy watched her silently not sure whether to interrupt. 'You would start out believing that you were doing what was right, but in the end you would become the evil. It is in you.'

"Then why did the wizard chose me?" Billy asked her.

'Because he knew you could be better,' she replied gently. 'And you have been better, always putting others first and doing the best you can. But don't try to become something you are not, because it will destroy who you are. Trust me, I've seen it happen.' Billy wanted to answer, but at that moment came a knocking from his window. He turned to see that Luna was standing on the balcony to his room, wanting to come in. He stood up and walked over to the door, unlocking it and letting her in.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late. I hope I didn't interrupt you sleep?" she asked.

"No, I was just," he began, looking over to the spot where the silver mare had been sitting. "Taking to myself. What can I do for you?"

"First, I wished to apologize for my earlier. Twilight told me about what happened on the street and the effect it had on you."

"Why would it affect me? It's not like I'm..." he began, but stopped when Luna raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"Yes, I know. It wasn't hard to put together, considering the two of you are the same species," she said with a smile. "And I want to thank you for all you have done to help the ponies over the days you have been here. Without, it is safe to say that Equestria may have fallen to Sombra. So, thank you," she said with a bow, making Billy feel uncomfortable.

"You don't have to do that, I'm happy to help," he said awkwardly. "What else did you want to see me for?"

"I wanted to ask a favor," she said a bit more hesitantly. "Celestia wasn't being completely truthful with you when she said that the beast destroying the cities is a new on. We have every reason to believe that it is the same one that destroyed Mareyland about five days ago. If it still on the loose, I ask that you would help us to stop it."

"Sure, I'll help," Billy said after only a moment’s thought, walking over to the balcony and staring out into the night. "I take it you want to go now?"

"Now would be good. I can give you a ride if you want."

"No thanks, I can fly. SHAZAM!" Luna backed up and covered her eyes as the lightning bolt struck Billy, changing him into Marvel. He floated off the balcony and waited for Luna to go airborne as well. Once the both of them were up, they started to fly away from the city, Marvel slowing himself down so that Luna could keep up. The two started to fly northeast, with Luna taking the lead. They started flying over a forest that had only one path to the city in the center.

"So, what's the creature that you and your sister fought look like?" Marvel asked her.

"It is hard to describe," she replied, shaking her head slightly. "The first thing that comes to mind is its power. But after that is would have to be...hold on a second," she muttered, stopping in midair. Marvel floated up alongside her and noticed she was looking down at the ground with a look of loathing. Marvel followed her gaze and saw what looked like a small black insect running for its life towards the city.

"A changeling," Luna said with venom in her voice. "These are the mortal enemies of the ponies. Let's see where it's going." Before Marvel could have a say, she took off towards the ground, landing in front of the creature. It shrieked when it saw her and fell to the ground, hiding under its hooves.

"And what are you doing here?" Luna growled as Marvel landed next to her. "I thought after the last time we defeated you and your queen you would have learned to stay away."

"Please...don't hurt me," it begged, looking out from under its hooves with terror in its eyes. "I-I came here looking for Celestia."

"Find her for what? To kill her?" Luna growled, pushing her face towards the changeling, which shrunk back.

"No...We need help!" Luna looked stunned at the news, but her face retook the one of rage.

"A likely story, but I can see through it. You're obviously plotting-"

"Let's hear her out," Marvel said to Luna cutting her off. Luna looked at him for a second before sighing to herself.

"Fine. What could you and your queen possible need help with?" she asked in a dark tone.

"M-my home, my family, they're all being killed!" Luna and Marvel both looked taken aback by this.

"Your numbers are in the hundreds of thousands. And yet you say that somepony attacked you at your home?" Luna asked in disbelief. "They must be crazy." Then to the surprise of both of them, the changeling began to cry, actual tears streaming down its face.

"There were hundreds of thousands of us...now there's only me," she said through her sobs. Luna and Marvel both cast shocked looks at each other and Luna knelt down to look into her eyes.

"What happened?" The changeling began to explain, but Marvel had heard this story before. He knew the beginning, he knew how it would go, but more importantly, he knew how it ended. The changeling had just gotten to the part where she heard the fighting when Marvel lifted her up and held her close to his face.

"Where did this happen?" he asked her in a dead serious tone. She flapped her bug wings and took off into the sky, with Luna and Marvel following her. Marvel could feel his stomach going cold as they sped along. He prayed that he was wrong, but he knew that he wasn't. There was only one creature that would take on hundreds of thousands of creatures and exterminate them. Doomsday was free.