A Story of Heroes

Nerd remembered the stories Kujo had told him about his friend's life before they met and decided to include them in this story.

“It all began with the formation of the Justice League of Equestria. It was a group of superheroes founded by three stallions. You’re uncle Kujo was among one of them. His name at the time was The Flash! He was one of the fastest pony on land and sky, of course not as speedy as the legendary Rainbow Dash, but pretty darn close. Their leader at the time was a stallion by the name of Bruce Mane, who was secretly,” Nerd paused for dramatic effect, “Batmane: Terror of the night! He searched for skilled and gifted ponies to join them. Then there was Handsome Masquerade, a young stallion who would help his friends whenever they needed him. He took on the name of Robin as his secret identity.”

Noodle lied in bed, intrigued, but a question still remained in her mind. “When did you and Uncle Kujo meet?”
“I’m getting to that part,” Nerd mused, ruffling his daughter’s mane. “Have patience.”

“So there they were: the first of the J.L.E. They were unbreakable and unstoppable. They had many enemies, including the violent and crazy pony man called 'Joker', and an equally evil mare who called herself 'The Riddler.' Tough as these villains were, they could never defeat the Justice League of Equestria, but I'm getting distracted.

“Rumor spread quickly, in certain places, about the J.L.E. And I just happened to hear stories from the right places-”

“Where,” asked Noodle, curious. Nerd didn’t mind being interrupted. He always thought the curiosity of her daughter is what would make her smart, maybe even smarter than he was.

“Oh, small stories in the paper and tabloids you would normally look over, and word of mouth. I remember the first time I heard of them was when one mare talked about how she had been saved from danger by a group of masked ponies. That was when I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That I wanted to join them. See, I wasn’t exactly a successful pony. I mean, yeah I did some work for some musician ponies named Spinning Records and Percussion, but that didn’t pay much. Plus, it was a lonely job, I spent most of my days just editing music and music videos, when I wanted to be a director or some sort of job that meant something a lot to somebody, and didn’t make me feel like a tool.”

Noodle leaned over and hugged him tightly. “You mean a lot to me, Daddy.” Nerd couldn’t help but smile as he shed a tear and hugged her back. “So do you Noodle. So do you.”

Nerd kissed her forehead and whispered into her right ear. “And then I found it…”

“Found what?”

“A ring: a green ring.”