Justice League of Equestria: Gods and Monsters

Rainbow Dash sighed as she sat in front of the main computer, at Twilight's request she been tasked with going over the schematics of Pinkies newest ride: The Killing Joke.

She had to admit, it was an impressive piece of technology, an alternate tank mode, a hybrid power cell, remote guidance systems... the list went on!

If it were for the fact that she was the most advanced being on the planet (and could fly) she'd almost feel a little jealous.

As she finished up the last bit of check up on the Killing Joke she felt like she needed to do something else..... then she remembered the footage from the other week. She pulled up the file from it and looked at the footage. She zoomed in on when King died and notice that while there was a claw in his chest when it exited there wasn't an exit wound. "...okay I call bull on that."

“Call bull on what?” Applejack asked as she entered the room, sparing a glance at the capsule containing Rarity. “Ah don't know what the problem is, find something off about her programming?”

"Oh Rarity's fine. She's just sleeping." Rainbow said. "Anyways come check this out." She said as she beckoned her over.

Applejack came over and checked the monitor. "Well that's weird… kinda blurry though, any chance you could make it more focused?"

"This is at the best focus.... oh derp I forgot to account for dust. Hold on a sec." Rainbow said as she tried to fix the resolution a bit better. "There. That's better."

Applejack felt her heart stop for a moment… the moment she saw the full image, she took several steps back before tripping over one of the wires hooked up to the capsule. “No… no, i-it can't be! IT CAN’T BE!!”

"Whoa whoa chill!" Rainbow said as she tried comforting her friend. "AJ is something wrong with the video?"

"Death, it's death RD, DEATH!" She screamed, grabbing her shoulders. "It's here! Why?! Why is it here?!"

"AJ, CALM. DOWN." RD replied sternly.

AJ slowly took a few deep breaths before finally going back to a steady rhythm. "T-thank ya."

"Not a problem.... mind telling me WHY you were flipping out?"

"..... Dash y-you don't get it. That THING on the video? It wasn't a normal being.... that was the Black Racer. Where Ah'm from? It's death given a form."

"Okay.... now explain this in a logical way that isn't all voodoo and supernatural." Rainbow told her.

"S-sorry.... t-the Racer is a being from mah world, New Genesis, and the dark world Apokalips.... it comes whenever a New God is either dead or dying. It normally escorts them to the afterlife but if they're staying too stubborn it.... pays them a personal visit.... it being here has just proven somethin' Ah feared for a long time since comin'...... Highfather banished him to your world."

"Wait so we have an alien Grim Reaper here?" Rainbow asked her.

"Nah Dash..... this is who you send to kill the Grim Reaper when he gets too old."

This time Dash felt her heart stop(or what passed for her heart anyway) has she turned her attention to the screen. “So that's… ok, let's keep a level head here… maybe it's just someone who was… inspired by-”

"Dash don't you dare. There is no way in Tartarus that someone just HEARD of mah people's Reaper. That.... that HAS to be it. That has to be the real Racer.” She stated firmly, the tone in her voice making it very clear that she was 100% sure this was the real deal.

"So what do we do?" She asked in an unsure tone. "Just let death itself run around on our planet? I mean, most of the footage I have shows that thing taking down other criminals..."

"Ah..... Ah'll hunt it down. This is my deal. Ya'll don't get caught up in this." Applejack said with fear in her voice.

"... I could go with you." RD said. "Heck, give me some time and I'll send a signal to Twi and-"

"NO." Applejack snapped at RD. "This is.... Ah'm sorry but Ah've been hidin' from this fer too long. Ah need to do this.... please understand RD."

RD watched as Applejack turned to the monitor. "Where is this footage from?"

"Um.... Central City but-" Before Rainbow could say anything Applejack opened a Boom Tube and flew through it. "..... something tells me this is gonna get bad."

Wonder Mare gulped as she flew past the skyscrapers of Central City. She'd never been so terrified in her entire life, but she couldn't simply ignore this, if it was that... THING. Then she needed to be ready…

She soon landed near a small coffee shop which didn't appear to be busy and inside was a tawny griffoness with purple highlights in her eyes. She couldn't help but feel that her cold fear emanate when she looked at her..... and she only felt this way once.... when her mother passed away and.... IT took her to the next life.

She walked into the coffee shop and casually made her way past a booth where an Earth pony mare and her colt were eating, causing the colt to spit out his drink and the mother to nearly choke.

"Mom?" Button asked as he wiped himself off.

"Yes sweetie?" Elaina answered, not taking her eyes off of the New Goddess.

"I think we should move again..."

She ignored all the stares and whispers (and wolf-whistles) from all the customers as she sat down next to her, she bit her lip, trying to fight the temptation to just get out of there without talking to her.

"....what are you doing here hm?" the griffoness asked her. "I know who you are and I know for a fact that you're scared as all hell talking to me."

"Y-yeah.... Ah am..... but Ah just.... Ah had to know." Wonder Mare said.

"Well..... you know now.... so what are you going to do? Run away? Talk to me....or try and kill me?"

“Ah… Ah just want to talk…to it...” She said, trying not to show any weakness and stay serious. “You being here, Ah...Ah just have to, after what mah people did…”

"Oh you mean the fact you went back on your word..... that you betrayed the trust of a whole planet. Mind you they were never saints to begin with but they were honest." The griffoness said as she drank her coffee. "Oh and... you're probably wondering why your Aspect of Death is on this planet.... well your dad decided 'hey, paradise can't exist with ponies and other beings dying so why keep the Black Racer?' well I'm here to tell you it's to make sure a planet doesn't get overfilled."

“...Ah'm not goin’ to pretend that Ah'm not guilty... there ain't a day mah life where Ah don't regret what happened... Ah've tried starting fresh here... but Ah know you probably don't even believe me..." She sighed as she looked away. "Then again why would you?"

"Oh that's the best part. It does believe you want to change.... but then again.... you were the one to suggest banishing weren't you?" The griffoness asked. "It seems to remember your dad saying that this was YOUR idea but you backed out after your 'beloved' died. It respects that but it still... feels hurt."

Wonder Mare winced at her tone, but growled the moment her late lover was mentioned, despite this she kept her cool. “Then what can Ah do to fix that? To set things right?”

"You could help us with a SMALL problem..... your sister is in town."

Wonder Mare did a double take, "Wait, you mean...Barta Bloom?"she asked, a small hint of fear in her voice. She had come to this planet to get away from anything resembling her old life, and now she was here?!

"Yep.... she's looking for you.... think she was sent to hunt you down but she wants to apologize..... flipped out when she saw me." The griffoness said as she finished her coffee. "Name's Gilda by the way."

"Apple-Ah mean, Bekka." She replied after correcting herself, it had been so long since she used her old name, however she she didn't want to risk the entity's wrath, even for something as small as lying about her own name.

Gilda held out a talon. "Sorry if how I was talking freaked you out. Sometimes me and him sorta... share the body for a short bit."

"How does THAT work?" She asked in confusion. "Is it like some sort of Jekyll and Hyde kind of deal?"

"Something like that only Hyde's not evil in this case." Gilda told her. "You gonna shake my hand or what?"

Wonder Mare nodded and took her hand...and immediately felt a rush of energy flow through her, for a brief moment in Gilda's place... she saw it, the entity of death, looking right back at her, the moment she let go, the vision was gone, but she could still feel it's presence...

"Oh sorry did I say he was asleep? I meant he was awake long enough to see you." Gilda said with a small smile. "Had to give you an idea of what I have to live with."

Wonder Mare nodded as she fought the urge to shudder. "So, where exactly did ya last see mah sister?"

The moon and stars illuminated the sky as Wondermare stood atop the S.T.A.R. Labs deep in thought, it had been so long... would she even recognize her little sister?

However before she could say anything saw a glint in the sky as a familiar figure landed in front of her.... and stared at her in pure shock. "S-sis?"

“...Bloom?” She asked in a shocked voice. Her sister was still young… but seemed to have grown a little taller. She had yellow fur and a long red mane, she wore dark gold armor over her chest, skirt, gloves, and boots, underneath that was dark blue chainmail covering the rest of her body. Black rings pads bearing red symbols were fastened to her elbows, knees, ankles, and wrists, a dark blue helmet that covered most of her head excluding her face & hair with golden outline around the edge along with similar-colored "horns" and a red "V" over her forehead, and finally black belt with red symbols, and finally a long flowing red cape.

“It...it’s been so long…” Wonder Mare said as she approached her little sister. “W-Why are you...how are you here?”

"....Highfather sent me tah find ya." She said in a serious tone.... but once Wonder Mare got close she just hugged her closely with tears in her eyes. "A-Ah miss ya sis. A-Ah just want ya b-back home. It's gotten so l-lonely at home."

“Ya’ll know why Ah can’t do that… after everything that happened...” She replied as she tightened her embrace. “Ah… Ah LOVED him, Ah wanted to spend mah life with him..., and the second we were married…” Wonder Mare explained as she let go, rage now evident in her eyes before slamming her fist into a nearby steel beam, denting it. “Ah can still hear the screams, Ah still see the look of betrayal in his eyes in mah nightmares!”

"But they were evil sis!" Bloom said with an irritated voice. "They were gonna backstab y'all the first chance they would have and you know they would! Yer husband wouldn't have been any different!"

“IF HE WANTED TAH KILL ME HE WOULD’VE DONE IT THE NIGHT WE MADE LOVE!!” She snapped, drawing her sword in a fit of rage,, stopping just inches away from her sister’s head. “He would’ve slit mah neck when we slept together, stabbed me when we were alone, there were so many times when he could kill me… but he didn’t! His family would’ve ambushed us, poisoned us at the feast, attacked our home while we were distracted by the wedding… but they didn’t!” She snarled, before sheathing her sword. “And exactly what made us better than them by SLAUGHTERING EVERYPONY AFTER THE WEDDING?!”

"Oh and don't forget about banishing Death from your world." A deep menacing voice said as blue lightning zipped behind Wonder Mare.... and Bloom looked like she was going to die of pure fear.

On reflex she grabbed a long, golden rod from her side and aimed it at the death entity. "WHY IS THAT HERE?!" She screamed in terror.

"Oh what? Scared that the thing you NEED TO HAVE A NATURAL WORLD is still alive?" Flash said as she cracked her neck. "Oh that feels good."

“Sis, put that down NOW.” Wonder Mare stated firmly, never taking her eyes off the entity. “ The last thing we need is you pissing her off.”

"Y-You KNOW that thing?!" Bloom said with fear in her voice. "Y-you’re HELPING the monster that killed Ma?!"

Wonder Mare bit her lip as she tried to to diffuse the situation. “She-she's a necessary presence, sis.” She tried to explain. “She had to take Ma to the other side…

"No she didn't! Ma was getting better-!"

"No she was not. That poison was going through her system like a bad case of the runs."

“OK, one: that's still our Ma yer talking about, two: NOT. HELPING.” The elder sister snapped before turning her attention back to her younger sister…

...who unfortunately took this opportunity to slam the rod into the ground, sending out a pulse that blasted the two back. “YOU KILLED MAH MA!!” She screamed in blind rage.

"WRONG ANSWER!" The Flash said as she sped around and decked her which sent her stumbling around a bit.

"Oh son a-" Wonder Mare groaned as she immediately tried to get between the two, only for her sister to fire several energy beams at the Flash before taking to the air and charging up a much larger one.

"WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU YOUR CORPSE WON'T EVEN BE RECOGNIZABLE!!" Screamed Bloom before firing the beam straight down towards the roof.

"Why? Because you didn't like what I told you? That your mother was killed by the one pony closest to you?" The Flash said as she spread her wings and took to the air, giving the New Goddess no time to react as she zoomed around her before bashing her again, causing the energy blast to dissipate.

“SHUT. UP!!” Bloom screamed, grabbing a hold of the entity’s fist before jamming her rod into her stomach and blasting her point-blank. “I’LL FINISH WHAT MY FAMILY STARTED!”

"Oh? By being a coward?! Because you're doing it wonderfully!" She shouted as she zoomed behind her and started vibrating her right claw.

“NO!” Wonder Mare screamed, having seen exactly what that could do, quickly tackled her sister out of the way and into a boom-tube she'd summoned.

The two landed in the middle of Central City Stadium. Thankfully, said stadium was empty.

“Sis! Are you al’right?!” Wonder Mare asked frantically as she help her up…

Only for the Flash to zoom in and punch her off Bloom. "YOU'RE DEFENDING HER?! AFTER WHAT SHE DID?! SHE AND THE REST OF YOUR PEOPLE JUST BANISHED DEATH! DO YOU KNOW HOW STUPID AND IDIOTIC THAT IS?! YOU SAY YOU WANT REDEMPTION BUT ONLY WHEN IT SUITS YOU!"

"SIS!" Bloom cried out and she watched her sibling struggle to get up.

"Ah'm not gonna pretend that Ah don't want to make up for everything that happened…" She said as she wiped the blood from her lips. "But I'm not about to let my sister pay for it!"

"SHE WAS AMONG THE ONES THAT BANISHED ME! SHE DISRUPTED THE NATURAL ORDER! IF SHE DID THAT THEN THE SPIRITS OF THE NEW GODS THAT DIED CAN GET NEW HOSTS!" The Flash roared.... and shifted more and more into the persona of the Racer. "They thought paradise was a good thing.... even paradise needs death.... to make it TRULY worth living for."

"NO IT DOESN'T!" Bloom stubbornly shouted. "Death brings nothing but pain and suffering! It takes away those you love the most forever! How can paradise truly exist if we can't enjoy it forever?!" She asked as she aimed her rod at the Flash. "Why can't you understand how magnificent an everlasting utopia will be?! How great it would be to live for eternity?!"

"THEN THAT MEANS DARKSEID COULD HAVE LIVED FOREVER AND TORTURED YOU TO THE BRINK OF INSANITY AND MADE YOU HIS WHORE.... BOTH OF YOU." The racer said as it glared at Bloom and turned to Bekka with a bit of remorse in it's eyes. "Please.... understand. I am not evil. I am not good..... I exist.... and must do what I must....... my job is to escort the dead to the next life and ensure that a spirit from a New God does not try to find a new body.”

Bloom held onto her rod, shaking as her finger hovered over the button, sweat dripping down the sides of her face, she wanted to fire, she HAD to!

And yet, she couldn't. Why not? It was so simple! She could fire, destroy the entity of death, and bring her sister home where they could live forever… so why was she hesitating?

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she failed to notice her sister approaching until she finally spoke.

"Bloom.... don't do it." Wonder Mare said. Bloom had tears in her eyes. This was the perfect opportunity to show High Father that she was a true warrior! And on top of that she'd finally end the thing that took her mother! But still she didn't fire.... she felt something in her gut… was... was this what doubt was like?

"AAAAARGH!" Bloom screamed as she slammed her rod into the ground and activated her boom tube under her feet, allowing herself to fall through it. Wonder Mare sighed as the portal disappeared.

"Do you understand the implications of what she was planning to do?"

"Ah...Ah know... Ah was hoping to change her mind... somehow..." She said as she stared at the spot where her sister had vanished, tears streaming down the sides of her face.

The Flash slowly calmed down and removed her mask. "Yeah well... sometimes you can't change some ponies minds. Sometimes they're just stuck on one single thing. Your sister clearly thinks your insane dad is in the right."

Wonder Mare unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the Flash... And pushed the button, opening another boom-tube. "Well, here's yer chance to prove him wrong..." She said as she turned away. "That portal leads to New Genesis, yer one-way trip home..."

"....you're serious? I've only been the Flash for about two years and I still don't understand my powers." Gilda said. "I just RECENTLY learned I could vibrate my hand. You trying to send me back to your world? You're going to kill us both."

Wonder Mare arched a brow. “Yer pretty strong for someone who hasn't fully mastered her powers…” She said as she closed the portal. “...so, where do we go from here? Ah mean…”

"Simple. You go on back to your Hall of Justice and I stay here and keep trying to get stronger." Gilda as though it was that simple. "I look strong yeah.... but the Royal Flush gang are just NORMAL ponies. I doubt I could kill you and it only feels strong because of how fast I was going.... and it's STILL not fast enough. If it was? I wouldn't need a portal to get to Apokalips."

“In that case…” She began as she hovered into the air. “..if yah do need help at anytime, yah know where tah find me…” She said as she flew out of the stadium. “...and for the record, it's called the Watchtower!" She shouted over the shoulder with a coy smile.

"WHO GIVES A CRAP!"

Wonder Mare chuckled as she flew back to Maretropolis, wondering where her little sister had ended up, well she briefly caught a glimpse of the inside of the portal, she knew for a fact that it wasn't New Genesis or Apokalips.

“Wherever you are sis, Ah hope yer safe… and Ah hope y'all eventually see the light…”

Bloom dropped out of the boom-tube in an unfamiliar environment. “W-where am I?” She groaned, having had little time to specify a location she just choose “anywhere but here”. Looking around she realized that she was on the beach of some sort…

"Um..... hello?" Bloom asked as she got to her hooves and walked and soon found what appeared to be a small burial site with a single tombstone.

Here lies Soarin.

A noble soul who gave his life for another.

The first stallion to die on Themyscira.

May his spirit find peace in the afterlife.

She was about to touch it when a spear flew by her cheek. "Stay where you are, intruder!" A female voice called out. Glancing over her shoulder, Bloom saw a Pegasus mare with a yellow coat and light orange mane, dressed in golden armor, a similarly-colored tiara, and a red cape flowing behind her.

"You DARE desecrate the sacred burial site?!" She shouted, landing before and assuming a fighting stance.

"Wait A-ah swear Ah didn't know!" Bloom said nervously. "Ah'm not here to fight!" She tried to take a step back, only to suddenly collapse in pain. ‘Darn it, that damn Reaper hit me harder than I thought…’ She thought so but she tried to stand up, only to groan in pain as darkness overtook her vision...