My Little Avengers: War Machine

by SugarHoneyIceTea123

Chapter 1

"There was a time when we were Equestria's protectors. When we were the heroes they would look towards in times of peril." ranted the royal guard known as Bullhorn.

The other guards in Canterlot's castle barracks paid him no mind; they all heard this rant before.

"It was bad enough when the Elements of Harmony came around but now we got all these... mutants putting on costumes and calling themselves heroes." Bullhorn said.

"I believe the politically correct term is 'Meta-Ponies'." said Thunderlane. Bullhorn looked at young sergeant who was currently lazing about in his cot, not a care in the world.

"All I'm saying is that whenever a major threat comes to Equestria, what do we do to stop it? Absolutely nothing, that's what! The royal guard used to mean something but now, everypony treats us like a joke." Bullhorn said. He didn't care if nopony was listening to him. Sometimes just airing out these issues was enough. "They think we just stand around with stern faces. And the worst of it is: They're right!"

Thunderlane got up from his cot and looked his fellow sergeant dead in the eye. "I don't know if you realize Bullhorn, but that's a good thing."

Bullhorn looked at the black Pegasus in shock, even the other guards were somewhat confused by Thunderlane's statement. However much they didn't care how the public viewed them, they at least agreed with Bullhorn that 'useless' was perhaps not the best term to describe an entire kingdom's peace keepers.

Thunderlane saw the looks he was getting and decided to elaborate. "We, as the royal guards, made an oath to safeguard and protect Equestria." Thunderlane looked to his left then his right. "From what I see, Equestria is safe which means were doing our job just fine."

Bullhorn simply waved his hoof at Thunderlane's words, as though swatting an annoying fly. "That's precisely my point. We're not doing our jobs. It's the superheroes who are taking all the glory."
"So? Who cares who gets the glory? Who cares who's called a hero? It's the safety of the kingdom that matters, Bullhorn."

"B-But...” Bullhorn muttered
"If danger comes, I will take up my lance and fight with all my might to protect my home. But if I fall, then I can at least take comfort in knowing Equestria is in safe hooves, those of the Elements of Harmony and the Avengers." Thunderlane said. Getting into the moment, he grabbed a mug and raised it in a mock toast.

"Whatever the citizens of Equestria call us, we know we are the true protectors of this great kingdom. Not because they call us heroes, but because we will always pick up the lance and we will always protect it." It was only after he took a swig from his mug that he realized he had toasted with an empty cup, though he didn't let that ruin his fancy speech. The other guards’ reaction ranged from simple nods to a single, unenthusiastic clap. Not quite the hearty 'Hear, Hear' Thunderlane hoped for, but it was more than what Bullhorn's tirade got. With a defeated sigh, the green unicorn sergeant trudged past his fellow guards out of the barracks.
The other guards quickly went back to whatever they were doing before Bullhorn climbed on top of his soapbox. Thunderlane was just about to head out for patrols when he was stopped by a pony wearing a royal messenger's crest.

"I'm looking for a Sergeant Thunderlane?" The messenger asked.

"That would be me. What do you need?"

"I'm supposed to inform you that Princess Luna requests a meeting with you at your earliest convenience."
A few of the younger, lower ranked guards began muttering 'ooooh’s as if Thunderlane was a foal being called to the principal's office but were quickly silenced by the looks their superiors shot at them.
Thunderlane, however, was too confused to pay them any mind.

"Princess... Luna? But... I'm not a Lunar Guard. Shouldn't I be reporting to Princess Celestia?"

The messenger merely shrugged. "All I know is that she asked for you specifically." He turned to leave but not without saying one last thing. "Lunar Guard or not, this is a summons from one of the princesses. I highly suggest you do not ignore it."

With that, the messenger left as quickly as he came, leaving an even more confused Thunderlane.

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It required asking the staff for directions, but Thunderlane now stood before the doors to Princess Luna's personal quarters. He never had much reason to bother the princess of the night so he honestly did not know where she lived within the castle.
She wasn't exactly the most social pony.
This confused Thunderlane even more. Why ask for him specifically? It couldn't be about his military record, there was absolutely nothing extraordinary about it, good or bad.

Deciding he wouldn't get any answers from standing in front of a door, Thunderlane raised a hoof and gave the door a solid knock.
"You may enter." A smooth, yet stern voice said from inside.

Thunderlane puffed his chest out and put on his best 'serious guard' face, one he perfected by practicing in front of his mirror every morning. As he walked through the door, he saw the princess of the night sitting at a desk on the far side of the room. She was perusing a collection of files that were obviously of some importance. Thunderlane couldn't make out the words but he could see pictures of some instantly recognizable ponies, namely the Avengers.
When Luna looked up from these files and saw who was at her door, she gave a slight smile before putting the files away in a manila folder. Thunderlane noticed the only identification on the folder was an unfamiliar symbol of an eagle with a shield over its breast.
"Sergeant Thunderlane, I'm glad you could make it. I'm sure you're curious as to why I called you here?"
Thunderlane merely nodded, trying to be as professional as he could.

"Simply put, you're being reassigned." Luna said.

Thunderlane's 'serious' face cracked a bit as he heard this. "Reassigned ma'am? To where? Uh... If I may ask?"
Luna merely nodded. "I'm sure you’re familiar with the Avengers?"

"Of course, who wouldn't be?" Thunderlane said, still not quite sure what Luna was trying to say.

"You should know that since the defeat of Loki, they are no longer the only form of meta-pony protection in Equestria." Luna said.
She grasped the manila folder containing the files of the Avengers, pointing at the strange symbol Thunderlane noticed earlier. "The Avengers are good at what they do. There is no doubt about that. But, to be perfectly frank, they are a far cry away from an actual military. So for issues involving meta-ponies that require a more... professional touch, I've been recruiting exceptional ponies within our royal and lunar guard to form a paramilitary group known as S.H.I.E.L.D." Luna said, giving Thunderlane a second to absorb this information.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Ma'am?"

"Special Hazard Intervention Espionage and Logistics Directorate."
Thunderlane blinked. "Wow... You were really desperate to have that acronym spell out shield, weren't you?"

One glare from Luna told Thunderlane that was probably the wrong move. Luna’s glare softened as she sighed. “Joke if you wish Sergeant, but S.H.I.E.L.D. has already done much in preparing Equestria for…” Her voice faltered a little. Thunderlane could see she was having trouble coming up with the proper words.

She sighed once again. “I’m sure you remember the Red Skull. The member of Loki’s Dark Avengers meant to neutralize Captain Equestria?” Thunderlane nodded and Luna continued. “Sad to say, and this isn’t common knowledge to the citizens of Equestria, he managed to escape not long after Loki was defeated and returned to Germaney. I had attempted to send a squad of guards to recapture him, with the Avengers to back them up if needed, but the ruling government of Germaney ordered a cease and desist.”
Thunderlane raised an eyebrow at this. “Why? Germaney and Equestria have been allies ever since our war with them. If they had a dangerous supervillain hiding in their country, wouldn’t they want our help flushing him out?”

Luna nodded but her face remained just as somber. “Which is exactly why I sent S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to perform… undercover work.” A quick flash of shame crossed Luna’s face but it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. “S.H.I.E.L.D. is technically not recognized as a part of our military and if they were captured, we could disavow any knowledge of them.”
“This is something we couldn’t do with the Avengers. They’re well known public heroes. They’re great for internal threats like supervillains and such but for high-risk stealth ops into foreign countries they would just attract too much attention.”

As she said this, her horn glowed as she magically grabbed yet another folder. This one containing the image of a black skull with what looked like octopus tentacles sprouting out of its base.
“Turns out, we were right to send S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to investigate. They discovered that, before the Red Skull was recruited for the Dark Avengers, he was the leader of a terrorist cell called Hydra. While Hydra’s existence is largely kept a secret from Germaney, the Red Skull has more than a few leaders in the country’s government protecting him.”
Thunderlane was beginning to see where Luna was going with this. If the Red Skull did in fact have political protection within his country then the Avengers couldn’t just go barging in. To do so could be seen by the Germaney government, and not just the ones in the Red Skulls pocket, as an act of war.

And they already had one too many wars with Germaney.
He was about to ask more about this threat when something else crossed his mind.
"Wait, if S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be a bunch of... super-spies then why contact me? I don't think I'm 'exceptional' enough to qualify."

Luna merely raised a hoof. "I apologize for the confusion but I am not offering you a position within S.H.I.E.L.D, at least not directly."
Luna walked away from her desk to an open window, turning her back to Thunderlane. He could tell she was uncomfortable with whatever she was going to say next.

"Let's just say that, thus far, the relationship between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers has been... rocky at best."
Thunderlane realized almost immediately what Luna was saying. "Understandable. Military organizations tend to enjoy absolute control over their field. If they have to share the field with another group, then it's essential they play by the rules." Despite himself, Thunderlane gave Luna a slight smirk. "But the Avengers are made up of a farm pony, a prince, a performer and one actual soldier who’s way more comfortable in spandex than armor. Essentially: civilians."
Luna sighed and nodded. "And if there is one thing civilians can't stand, it's the big bad government telling them what to do."

She turned her gaze back towards Thunderlane. "But both the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. are far too valuable to Equestria's safety to risk any animosity between the two groups to escalate any further."
"So, effective immediately, you will be reassigned to Avenger's Mansion to act as their personal liaison to S.H.I.E.L.D."

That came as a shock to the sergeant. "You want me to be their... mailpony?"

"Nothing so simple. As you said: your military record is not exceptional enough to count yourself among S.H.I.E.L.D.'s numbers but your psychological profile is a different story."

Thunderlane scoffed. "You’re choosing me as a liaison because of my sunny disposition?"

Luna nodded. "Essentially, yes." Her horn shone in a dark navy while the same magical miasma gripped one of the drawers in her desk. Yet another official looking file was pulled out and, as it made its way to Luna, Thunderlane saw a copy of his own profile picture back when he was first inducted into the royal guard.

Luna held the file in front of her as she began to pace between her desk and the window. "You are a capable guard and so you are familiar with military needs and basic protocol." She lowered the file to look directly at the black pegasus, a small smile escaping from her. "But you have also been quite vocal on the needs of the common pony and the necessity of outside protection. Simply put Thunderlane, you recognize the need Equestria has for both parties and thus would act as a preferred middle stallion for the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D."

Thunderlane took a second to grasp all of what the princess was saying. On paper, it seemed like a noble idea. Equestria, quite frankly, needs military protection. But when a military is given too much power, it tends to make civilians nervous. And given that the Avengers are essentially an incredibly powerful civilian militia, such nervousness could cause a disastrous amount of civil unrest within Equestria.
"What exactly would I be doing as their liaison?" Thunderlane asked.

Luna smiled, knowing that the Sergeant’s response was two steps away from an outright acceptance of the position. “You will attend to any and all problems the Avengers may have with the practices of S.H.I.E.L.D. It will be your duty to alleviate any of their concerns and act as a voice for S.H.I.E.L.D. to better cooperation between the two groups.”Luna used her magic to levitate the manila folder containing the files on each member of the Avengers to Thunderlane who tucked it under his wing. “In essence, I want you to use your ‘sunny disposition’ to help the Avengers understand that we are allies.”

Thunderlane looked at the princess of the night, then to the folder under his wing, then back to the princess before giving his answer. “Understood your highness. I’ll be sure to carry out these duties to the best of my abilities.”
“Remember when you used to be that serious?” A feminine voice suddenly spoke behind Thunderlane.

Turning around to see who had just entered Luna’s chambers he saw two ponies, a tan-colored unicorn stallion and a black earth pony mare with a curly red mane, walk through the door with smirks on their faces. Both ponies were wearing incredibly bizarre outfits that covered their cutie marks. The stallion was adorned in a violet and blue leather cuirass and hood. An ornate blackwood bow and a quiver of arrows were strapped along his back.

The mare had an even stranger attire. She wore a skintight black bodysuit that had a crimson red hourglass on its chest. Thunderlane also noticed strange bracelet-like devices wrapped around each of her forehooves.
The first thing that came across Thunderlane’s mind was that they looked like superheroes. Yet as a member of the guard, Thunderlane was required to memorize every registered mut… meta-pony and he had no idea who these two were.

“Ah, I’m glad you two could make it in such short notice.” Luna said, giving a friendly smile to the two newcomers before turning her attention back to Thunderlane.
“Sergeant, I’d like introduce you to two of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s first agents. You wouldn’t know their real names and that’s how I would like to keep it. So, during any and all business with them related to S.H.I.E.L.D., I would prefer it if you would use their code-names: Hawkeye and Black Widow.”

The stallion, who Thunderlane assumed was Hawkeye, gave a nod to the pegasus guard. “We’re to act as your contacts in S.H.I.E.L.D.. Any time you, or the Avengers for that matter, have any questions or need information on our organization, we’ll be happy to provide it.” He held up his hoof as a smirk found its way on his face. “Non-classified information of course.”
Black Widow raised her left forehoof up before pressing a button on the yellow device adorning it with her right forehoof. The device gave a short hiss as a compartment opened up revealing a small thin stick-like gadget. She picked up the device with her mouth before dropping it in the folder still tucked in Thunderlane’s wing.

“That is a communication device. Should you need to contact us, press the button on the top to call us. If it blinks red, that means Hawkeye and I are currently… indisposed.”
It was very faint, but Thunderlane did notice the mare had a bit of an accent to her voice. He couldn’t quite place it though.

“Indisposed?” Thunderlane said, lifting an eyebrow.
Hawkeye nodded. “We’re still active S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. We’ll be on missions more often than not so we may not be able to return your calls all the time. If the light does blink red, wait about…” The archer turned to his partner. “What do you think? Half-hour maybe?”

Black Widow thought for a second. “I’d say twenty minutes tops.”

Hawkeye turned back to Thunderlane. “Wait twenty minutes. That should give us enough time to finish whatever mission we’re on.
Luna nodded, happy the arrangement was going so smoothly. “Sad to say agents, I’m afraid you’re leaving for one of these missions now. I arranged for you two to be temporarily transferred to General Thunderbolt’s Hulk-Buster unit.”

All color seemed to vanish from the Hawkeye’s face as Black Widow raised an eyebrow but otherwise kept an emotionless mask. “Wait. Hulk? As in THE Hulk!?’ Thunderlane said, turning to the visibly terrified Hawkeye.

“Uh… Yeah…” he rubbed the back of his neck. “On second thought, this mission might take us awhile.”
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S.H.I.E.L.D. OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
From the desk of Director Luna
Subject: Avengers Dossiers
---
Name: Caramel
Code-name: Captain Equestria
Powers and abilities: Super-pony strength, durability, agility and reflexes. Natural earth-pony passive magic ability to ‘enrich the land’ mutated into full-blown florakinesis. Highly trained combatant utilizing unique fighting style that incorporates vibranium shield. (See Wakanda-Equestria relations: Vibranium Importing).
Personal notes: Subject shows a great desire to help those in need. Sees himself as a ‘symbol of our nation’. Naiveté could be considered a weakness. Strong moral compass.
---
Name: Macintosh ‘Big Mac’ Apple
Code-name: Thor
Powers and abilities: Alicorn status allows for greater strength and flight-speed. Near invulnerability. Magic hammer ‘Mjolnir’ capable of manipulating the weather and generating massive amounts of electricity. It is also very heavy.
Personal notes: Concerning Macintosh Apple, very unassuming and quiet. This changes drastically when converting to the ‘Thor’ persona. Very boisterous and regal in demeanor. Has taken the role of leader among the Avengers.
---
Name: Spitfire
Code-name: Firestar
Powers and abilities: Experience as an acrobat and racer gives very impressive flying capabilities. Is able to generate and manipulate fire and heat. Is immune to fire. Has access to prophetic visions that appear at random.
Personal notes: Very cocksure and headstrong, as expected due to ‘Wonderbolt’ background. Usually the first one to charge into a fight.
---
Name: Prince Blueblood
Code-name: Iron Pony
Powers and abilities: Possesses super-pony intelligence, particularly in terms of technology. Has low-level passive technopathy. Access to a number of self-built ‘Power Armors’ designated Iron Pony armors. Each armor has specific abilities for specific occasions. Basic ‘MkII Armor’ possesses repulsor beams located underneath hooves and mounted on the shoulders, both for combat and flight, as well as a barrier shield.
Personal notes: Feels a sense of guilt due to boorish and rude attitude and lifestyle before mutation. Most actions as a member of the Avengers are fueled by a desire to ‘redeem himself’.
IMPORTANT: Make a note that one of your active assignments while acting as liaison will be to convince Blueblood to allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to use his technology to mass-produce Iron Pony armor. States that the reason against this is because ‘we will just make weapons out of them.’ Help him understand that it’s for the protection of Equestria.

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Thunderlane was given a royal escort to Avenger’s Mansion by carriage drawn by two pegasus guards, obviously miffed at the special treatment he was being given.

It seemed rather pointless to Thunderlane seeing as how he could just fly to the mansion himself, but the carriage ride did give him the opportunity to read up on his new charges.

The note at the end of Blueblood’s dossier caught Thunderlane’s attention. If Thunderlane understood the civilian mindset as well as he thought he did, than it would be a simple matter of explaining to Blueblood that he’s using the armor as a weapon himself and that, with S.H.I.E.L.D.S. resources, they can do a lot more good than harm.

After an hour or two of flying, the carriage stopped in front of the massive ornate doors of the mansion. Thunderlane grabbed his single suitcase, seeing as this was little more than a desk job he didn’t really need his armor and lance, gave a quick ‘thanks’ to his entourage and stepped through the door.

Thunderlane was taken aback by just how extravagant and pristine the main entryway was. The floor was made with gilded marble and stone columns supported a beautifully painted ceiling. Thunderlane reminded himself the Avengers did have prince in their ranks. No doubt his deep, royal pockets funded their group and their base.

Suddenly the ground shook from underneath him. Thunderlane reacted quickly to the sudden earthquake, keeping his balance and spreading his hooves apart. When the shaking had subsided, Thunderlane noticed that a potted plant perched on a small table was threatening to crash to floor.

With a lunge, Thunderlane managed to grab the pot just before it shattered all over the floor.
“Oh goody.” A bored voice said behind him. “One less mess for me to clean.”
Thunderlane turned his head, still lying on the floor with the pot in his hooves, to see an elderly gray earth pony in a dapper tuxedo. Thunderlane chuckled embarrassingly before placing the plant back on its perch. Dusting himself off, he extended a hoof to what he assumed was a butler.
“Hello, I’m Thunderlane. I’m the Avengers new liaison to S.H.I.E.L.D.” Rather than return the former guard’s hoofshake, the gray earth pony merely bowed slightly.

“Greetings sir, I am Feather Dust. I am the mansion’s caretaker.” The butler said. Thunderlane smiled awkwardly as he put his hoof down. “Nice to meet you Feather Dust,” Thunderlane said.
Thunderlane wondered what else he could say to un-awkward this meeting but it seemed Feather Dust wasn’t going to let him come up with anything. “If you’ll pardon me sir, I’m sure another potted plant somewhere else in the mansion did not fare so well.” With that, the butler turned his back to Thunderlane and walked away, his nose held high.

“You’ll have to excuse Feather Dust, his work doesn’t allow him much time to socialize.” A smooth voiced said from a now open door. Looking at the direction of the voice, Thunderlane spotted a pure white unicorn with a long golden mane. Thunderlane’s first thought is that he might have looked very regal had he not been covered in motor oil.

“Prince… Blueblood?” Needless to say, aside from the dignified way he carried himself, the white unicorn looked nothing like a prince. He was wearing a messy black t-shirt, his hair was completely disheveled and of course there were the aforementioned black spots of oil adorning his coat.

But there was still a sense of aristocracy from him. His posture, his paparazzi smile and his regal tone all betrayed his grungy appearance.

The prince gave a slight nod to the increasingly confused pegasus. “Indeed I am. I apologize for that little shake earlier, I was working on something in my lab and…” Blueblood bit his lip as he looked away embarrassed. “Well, let’s just say I’m going to have to go back to the drawing board.”
His face brightened as he turned back to Thunderlane. “You are our new liaison, correct?” Thunderlane nodded. “Then allow me to officially be the first to welcome you to Avenger’s Mansion. Would you like the tour?” Blueblood said with a friendly smile.

Thunderlane allowed a small smile himself. If the other Avengers were as amiable of Blueblood, this job was going to be easier than he thought.
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“In other words Sergeant Bullhorn, I can think of nopony better to show off the armor’s capabilities to S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Bullhorn silently munched on the peanuts offered him. “I thought all these newfangled ‘droids’ or whatever worked themselves.”
Steel Hammer, CEO of the megacorporation Hammer Industries, sighed at the simplicity of this military buffoon. “The Eq-Droids are fully automated, yes. But the higher-end armors need actual pilots to handle all the minute subroutines and applications. For all the astounding progress we’ve made into robotics technology these past few years, there is still no computer more advanced than a pony’s brain.”

Bullhorn continued to mindlessly munch on the peanuts as he contemplated Hammer’s offer. “So why me?” He asked bluntly. “Why not some egghead who actually works for you?”

Hammer smiled as he knew such a question would arise during this meeting. “Because Sergeant, I admire you. I admire the stance you have on meta-ponies and the unfair advantages they’ve been given over us ‘normal’ ponies.”
Hammer got up from his chair and walked over to the window, turning his back to the green unicorn. “Ever since Prince Blueblood and others gained such vast intellect from their mutations, Equestria has entered a scientific renaissance. Our technology has jumped forward hundreds of years in the blink of an eye and in this technological boom, many different corporations and organizations devoted to these new amazing prospects have staked a claim in Equestria’s everyday life.”
Bullhorn raised an eyebrow as Hammer gestured thematically to the sprawling Canterlot streets below them.

“I am proud to say that Hammer Industries is one of the leading frontiersmen into this brave new world, and yet…” Hammer paused for dramatic effect. “I am not one of these ‘hyper-intelligent’ mutants. Everything I own, EVERYTHING Hammer Industries has accomplished was due to my own natural intellect given to me by study and hard-work. Not because of some freak magical accident.”

Hammer turned back to Bullhorn and put on the best serious face he could. “In short Sergeant, this military contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. can prove to the world that there is nothing special about these so-called ‘meta-ponies’. And you, who yourself feel cheated by the advantages these mutants have over you, will be the perfect figurehead for the project, a public image for the common pony to rally behind.”

In Bullhorn’s mind, Hammer made a lot of good points. This could be his one big chance to finally show those idiots in the guard what happens when a pony takes charge and doesn’t allow mutated freaks to outshine him.

Bullhorn swallowed his mouthful of peanuts before extending his hoof to Hammer. “You got yourself a pilot.”
Hammer’s smile stretched ear to ear as he excitedly shook the Sergeant’s hoof. “Wonderful to hear! Let this day mark the beginning of the Titanium Project!”

Comments

[Shadow of the Night]

War Machine

[Jake The Army Guy]

VERY promising start! My Little Avengers was one of the first fics I ever followed on this site, so seeing a side story is great, especially since it seems Kooler Kid has abandoned the idea. Sad, because Trixie as Doctor Doom would have been so badass...

You need to watch your formatting. Several paragraphs are stacked right on top of one another. Regardless, I can't wait to read on!