//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - The Man Without Fear // Story: This War of Ours // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// “What is it, to be a hero? Look in the mirror and you’ll know. Look into your own eyes and tell me you are not heroic, that you have not endured, or suffered, or lost the things you care about most. “And yet here you are, a survivor of Hell’s Kitchen, the hottest place anyone’s ever known, a place where cowards don’t last long. So... you must be a hero. We all are. Some more than others, but none of us alone. “Some bloody their fists trying to keep the Kitchen safe. Others bloody the streets in the hope they can stop the tide, the crime, the cruelty, the disregard for human life all around them. But this is Hell’s Kitchen. Angel or devil, rich or poor, young or old, you live here. You didn’t choose this town, it chose you. “Because a hero isn’t someone who lives above us, keeping us safe. A hero is not a god, or an idea. A hero lives here, on the street among us, with us. Always here but rarely recognized. Look in the mirror and see yourself for what you truly are. “You’re a New Yorker. You’re a hero. This is your Hell’s Kitchen. Welcome home.” The door opened, and Karen Page turned to see Matt Murdock enter his failing business. Even in the dim light, even if he tried to conceal it—she doubt he did—the bruises on his face were clearly evident. She didn’t know how, or why it happened to him, but she couldn’t focus on that. “Thanks for meeting me,” Matt told her, his voice hoarse as he closed the door behind him. She saw as he pulled the brown paper bag out from under his arm, dropping his foldable cane onto the chair beside him. How he knew she was present, exactly where to drop the cane plagued the back of her mind, but she shut such thoughts away. Karen began her slow approach, asking very steadily, very firmly, “What am I doing here, Matt?” Matt reached into the bag, also stepping forward. “I, uh, have something.” “No, I-I-I don’t want it—” “I have something…” he interrupted, his voice firm, causing Karen to pause, “… that I need you to see.” So, she waited, her eyes dropping low and centered on the bag in Matt’s hands. He reached inside, pulled out a small helmet of some kind. It didn’t take long for Karen’s heart to beat against her chest, much harder than before, much more evident by her quivering brow and shaking hands. The little red helmet, the little red mask, had a pair of horns atop its head, two red eyes and a nose covering. Karen’s eyes instantly shot back to Matt, her jaw slightly separated, breath silent and conscious waiting for him to answer her and the never-ending questions suddenly filling her mind, heart, and soul. And he did. “I’m Daredevil.” And all Karen could do was stand there, stare at him, and breathe again. Equus Ponyville, Equestria Home of Princess Twilight Sparkle 1:22 p.m. For what felt like the twentieth time that week, Twilight Sparkle had nearly reached the end of her greatest experiment yet. The library to her castle was dim, dusty, and dreary. Notes scribbled with nearly unrecognizable language sprawled across tables and the floor. Books of several variety—that variety consisting of science, magic, and quantum physics—were open and surrounded the Princess of Friendship. She paid them no heed, her hooves pushing past them to approach the large mechanism at the end of the room. It stood higher than her. Beams of wood and steel merged together to form the structure, the large mirror offering Twilight’s reflection back to her. Her eyes stared momentarily, the bags from lack of sleep seen only by her, causing Twilight to frown. She stared upwards, passed the wires and towards the two metal rods curling in opposite directions. And in the center lied the lonesome stand. No book this time. No book needed. That was the problem she had spent weeks trying to solve. Slivers of afternoon sunlight broke through the glass windows, blocked only by the drapes Twilight arranged. With little light, she could still see the stand, and she still frowned at the sight of its emptiness. “Friday,” Twilight called. In a moment, a burst of light and engines dying emerged behind her, yet the princess did not turn, nor was moved by it. She stared at the empty stand that could hold the book and asked, “How are we doing on the coordinates?” Friday, the Mark 45 Iron Man armor, shook her head. “Not so well, Boss. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to complete the exact sequence without the remaining coordinates. The best we can do now is wait for him to get back.” “And he’s probably goofing off in some other dimension right about now,” Twilight muttered under her breath. She spun her neck back, forced a weak smile, and nodded in appreciation. “Thank you, Friday. As you were.” Friday turned to the books in her hands, their titles focused on dimensional theory. The female AI nodded back. “Aye, Boss.” “And Friday…” The AI paused, turning back. There, she saw Twilight offer a stronger smile, her eyelids hanging low, probably from lack of sleep. Friday inquired her to do so, yet Twilight was persistent, even more so than her previous superior. The Alicorn said, “You can call me Twilight. Boss, Princess… they’re all a little too… you know.” Friday understood, nodding in confirmation. “Aye, Twilight.” With that, she spun around, her feet lighting to life to push the suit higher into the air, up to the books on the upper shelves. Twilight smiled at that, then dropped her gaze down to the baby dragon curled on top of ruined notes, in a ball, snoring softly. An open book was used as a blanket for him. Suitable and very cute. She giggled quietly, careful not to wake Spike. He stirred, but did not wake. Twilight hadn’t known how long they’d been awake together. Days, weeks, it all seemed so distant, like they happened millennia ago. Spike earned his sleep every night, spending every day helping Twilight reach that one goal, coming so close and failing again and again. Yet he stayed, never left, always by Twilight’s side. Just as Friday had. She hadn’t thought much on it, but Twilight felt so blessed to have such helpful assistants. She couldn’t imagine digging through this experiment alone, without help. Spike offered moral support, and Friday backed it up by offering the kind of technology and intellectual prowess Spike wouldn’t be able to offer. He’d most likely faint at the sight of routing the pages upon pages of coordinates. In fact, he had. Friday, however, was something else. She could answer any mathematical or scientific question that would leave Twilight stumped for about an hour or so. She could showcase different forms of technology Twilight had spent months studying further into, act as a guide, a teacher, a guardian, an assistant, and most importantly… a friend. She helped when neither Spike nor Owlowiscious could. She was there for Twilight when her friends couldn’t be. And she had been with her every step of the way, closer and closer to finishing Twilight’s greatest experiment yet. Twilight shook her head. She still couldn’t imagine a greater gift than Friday. A gift especially from Tony Stark. The library door creaked open slowly, followed by a gentle voice prodding the silence. “Hello? Twilight, are you still in here?” A recognizable voice, one that calmed the Princess of Friendship and brought forth a real smile to her lips. She turned away from the machine, away from Friday hovering near the upper shelves, and faced the library’s entrance and the pony that stepped inside. The student that stepped inside, Twilight’s personal pupil, Starlight Glimmer. Perhaps there was a greater gift than Friday. The pale pink unicorn’s friendship with Twilight hadn’t started off as swimmingly as most friendships do. She was low, so low to where she could barely escape that darkness. So low that she swore her entire life to seeing Twilight’s life come crumbling down. And yet, even after she had lost everything, everyone in her life, she turned to them for help. The ones who took away her everything. Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony. With their combined efforts, they turned the tide and brought down the one she might have considered a friend, but betrayed her for his own twisted goals. Ultron, a monster, a beast that she would rather forget. And what she did to him… as he did to her. Despite that, she still felt lost, confused, and angry. Months of bitterness and pain had finally twisted her heart to the point of action, causing her to steal one of Star Swirl’s most powerful and ancient spells. It wasn’t difficult, she had stolen from the Canterlot Archives before. With the spell in her grasp, she tracked Twilight down to her very home—and with that pain and confusion hardening her heart—she used the spell to do the unthinkable. Change the past so Twilight and her friends never met. What she hadn’t counted on was its effects on the present. She hadn’t known how much Equestria had depended on the Elements of Harmony to protect it. Without them, her world would have been a barren wasteland, an idea Ultron would have found most suitable for her race. That was something she couldn’t fathom. The idea of it nearly shattered her, yet she was persistent, and her heart was elsewhere. Lost, broken, changed. Sharing her own past with Twilight and Spike, the pain that formed the mare she was, Starlight Glimmer would destroy the spell, but not before finally breaking, finally letting loose that pain stored up in her heart and soul. And she did that the moment she trusted her. Trusted Twilight. She knew from that moment she had made the right choice, for the first time in a long time. Starlight Glimmer no longer felt distressed, no longer held that pain and confusion in her heart, because now she had friends, ponies she could actually believe were her true friends. And they were. Every last one of them. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike. They saved her life, saved it from certain destruction. The only way she could ever repay them was to fix the mistakes she made, amend the relationships she broke, and learn more about the magic of friendship from none other than the pony she trusted most. The Princess of Friendship herself. She couldn’t have asked for a greater gift. Neither could Twilight. Just as Celestia was to her, Twilight felt as if she could become that teacher when Starlight came into her life. They faced many obstacles, came across several challenges, but Starlight was growing every day. She was strong, stronger than any other unicorn Twilight had ever known, yet beneath the magic and durability, there was still that kindness, that hope that Twilight still saw in her student today. A hope to become better, to learn, and to flourish. “Yes, Starlight, come in.” Closing the large doors behind her, Starlight Glimmer slowly trotted into the library. She was careful not to step on any books sprawled open or notes scattered across the floor as she approached Twilight, smiling as she did so. Her smile, however, didn’t last once she saw the large bags under Twilight’s eyes. “A-are you okay, Twilight?” Starlight asked, leaning forward and twisting her neck. “How much sleep have you gotten this week?” “Only about ten or so hours, but—” Twilight paused mid-sentence to take in a deep, heavy yawn. “… I’m fine, really. This is actually pretty tame to some of my week-long study sessions during school.” The two shared in a quick chuckle, Starlight adding, “That’s a story you’ll need to tell me about one day.” Twilight giggled, then turned back to the machine she was previously gawking at. Starlight followed her, twisting her gaze to the right. “Hello, Friday,” Starlight said aloud, catching the AI’s attention. Friday spun around, nodding to the unicorn below. “Greetings, Starlight. I assume your lunch with Trixie went well?” “It did, thank you for asking,” Starlight said, seeing the nod of confirmation from Friday before the suit spun back towards the highest shelf. Starlight’s gaze fell across Spike—a warm smile gracing her lips—before she stopped in front of the large mirror resting in the center of the machine. Starlight looked around, observing its structure, then paused at her reflection. She could see Twilight’s eyelids rise and fall, eyes staring up, her smile weak. Furrowing her brow, Starlight asked, “You’re sure you’re okay, though? This project hasn’t been too difficult?” Twilight sighed, lowering her gaze. She exhaled through her nose, a humorous grin growing across her lips. “I mean it’s not taking down an entire Changeling Kingdom from a tyrannical queen, or saving all of Equestria from a Changeling invasion, but it’s difficult,” the Alicorn quipped. Starlight chuckled weakly at that. “That was pretty difficult, Twilight.” Her hoof rose up to rub her foreleg bashfully, a gentle smile fading from her face. It was silent for a moment, Twilight studying Starlight’s movements carefully. The longer she stared, the more she smiled, and she stared for quite some time. “I’m proud of you,” Twilight mumbled. “Huh?” “After all Chrysalis had done, what she did to us, you didn’t strike her down. Instead, you offered your hoof in friendship to her. That’s something the old Starlight would have never done,” Twilight explained, never breaking eye contact. Starlight didn’t either, her head slowly nodding. “Yeah, I guess,” she whispered, her face contorting. “But she’s still out there, she’s still planning something big when we could have prevented it. And… and when she does come back… what will we…?” A warm hoof on her shoulder silenced the mare. Her gaze rose higher to meet Twilight’s, a confirmation shared between the two just by physical contact. “We’ll face it together, Starlight. I promise,” Twilight assured her, patting her shoulder for good measure. “Don’t ever doubt yourself.” Such truth behind those words. For so long, Starlight doubted herself in how she could lead, why she should lead, and how others looked up to her. However, after everything she’d been through, from becoming Twilight’s personal pupil, to some pretty “interesting” events that occurred a couple of weeks prior, Starlight learned that she had changed for the better. She didn’t have to doubt who she was because of past sins, nor did she have to fear to lead. She just had to continue to grow. And she did that every day. “So, how’s the experiment going?” Starlight’s voice broke the silence, Twilight’s ears slowly becoming accustomed to the sound of Friday’s engines keeping her afloat. She blinked a couple times, sighing. “Not so well.” “Do you need my help?” “No thanks, we’re just currently waiting for our ‘assistant’ to get back to us.” Starlight giggled. “Didn’t he leave like two days ago?” Twilight’s hoof rested on her face. “Don’t remind me.” “If it’s taken him this long to find out the exact coordinates, then I wouldn’t blame him for taking a couple days, Twilight,” Starlight explained. “Finally, somepony understands the trouble of dimensional traffic!” The voice erupted from behind the two mares, prompting them to spin about towards it. In the center of the room, a white vortex began to grow, lightning striking and eradicating a few piles of useless notes into bubbles. Books began to rise up, slowly being sucked into the vortex. Even Twilight and Starlight felt their hooves being pulled off the ground, but they held firm, backing away. Twilight’s eyes shot over to Spike, seeing his makeshift bed being pulled forward. “Friday!” In an instant, Spike shot forward as the vortex increased to its full potential. He was caught, thankfully, mid-air by the Mark 45, the suit hovering in place several feet away from the vortex. Friday turned back down, watching as the vortex imploded and erupted, spewing notes and books across the library, making it appear as a winter wonderland in its aftermath. And in the center stood a Spirit of Chaos. “Delivery!” Discord announced loudly. He wore heavy sunglasses, a bright yellow shirt with pink, red, and orange flowers, blue short shorts, and a large, heavily decorated hat. In his claw remained a gift basket filled with plenty of goodies consisting of fruits, exotic butters, and hand lotion. Friday lowered herself to the ground, Spike safely in her grasp. Just as she landed, Discord spun around to face the two mares, their manes a nightmare. His grin widened at the sight of Twilight and Starlight in disarray, a humorous chuckle escaping his cough. “Sorry for the holdup, but you’d be surprised how many other dimensions I had to go through to get to the right one!” Discord explained. Starlight fixed her mane, her eyes mostly focused on it as she said, “I think we all know you can just teleport to any dimension you want without hassle.” Discord chuckled, waving a claw. “Oh, alright, I may have spent a day or two touring a few cities here and there. Seriously, you have got to check out Paris during your trip.” He turned to Starlight, smiling knowingly. “And as for you, my smart little cookie, I think you deserve this complementary basket.” He offered the basket to Starlight, to which she took it slowly and with caution. Discord continued. “I got a few goods during my trip, and if you see a few apple cores or some banana peels in there… well, I may have gotten a little hungry during the trip back.” Starlight looked inside, seeing nothing but hand lotion, apple cores, banana peels, and melted butter. “Thanks,” Starlight deadpanned, frowning and placing the basket aside as Discord turned to face Twilight. Twilight’s suspicions began to rise as she eyed Discord’s empty claw and paw. Her eyes rose up, a brow rising suspiciously to the draconequus. “Well…” she began. “Yes, Your Majesty?” Discord bowed, smiling to himself. Twilight frowned. “Did you get the coordinates?” Discord blinked. “… What?” “Oh, are you kidding m—?!” Discord’s claw shot out to pinch the Alicorn’s lips together. He said, “Calm yourself, Princess! I’m only pulling your leg, or tail, or whatever it is you ponies have! I have the coordinates right here…” He brought his claw back and pinched down one of his nostrils. He started to blow, revealing a long piece of paper slowly escaping and covered in unknown fluid. Starlight raised a hoof over her mouth, suddenly feeling ill. She gagged to herself, Twilight endearing Discord’s games until the parchment was fully revealed. She yanked it out with her magic, flicking the fluid off and grumbling to herself. Discord watched her in amusement, seeing as she unraveled the scroll and read it silently. He watched and congratulated himself with a pat on the back from a severed hand as Twilight’s smile unveiled itself, beaming brighter than any light in the room. “This is it!” Twilight exclaimed, teleporting quickly to a stack of papers on the other side of the room. Discord floated over to Starlight, resting his arm around her and offering her some popcorn. She hadn’t fully recovered, waving the food away. Discord shrugged and reached around her, pulling out the melted butter from the basket and placing it in his popcorn. Twilight, however, was in a frenzy. With the newly acquired coordinates, she hovered the parchment above her head, placing it in connection with what she and Friday had already written down. The pieces of the puzzle began to form, the coordinates from each piece of paper lining up to create a path, a single path to one destination. And there it was. “Alright… here we go with the test run…” Twilight breathed, her horn igniting. She fired off a spell she had been practicing with Starlight, hitting each paper and watching as they quickly formed together. The letters, the hundreds of coordinates flung off the pages, swirling around the room and finally resting within an empty book lying on the table. Sweat falling from her forehead, Twilight carefully levitated the book over to the large machine. She placed it gently on the empty stand, and after disconnecting the two cables she levitated them over to Friday. The robotic AI approached carefully after setting Spike down, watching as the cables connected to the underside of her chest plate. Twilight nodded to Friday for confirmation. Friday nodded back. “Ready to go, Twilight.” With that said, Twilight spun around and fired off a spell directly towards the book. The spell made the book light up, the twin rods shaking as the magic from the pages and the spell merged together. That magic traveled through the cables and into the Mark 45. Friday’s eyes lit up a brilliant violet, the same color as Twilight’s aura, and the suit began to shake. Almost violently, almost spastically, but quickly stopped. Friday lowered her head, her eyes ablaze. She said, “Rerouting coordinates. Connection… established.” Her head suddenly fell, towers of light erupting from each eye. Its blue glow showered across the dark library, displaying an image directly in front of Twilight. Not just an image, a hologram, a figure. It floated directly in front of the Alicorn, its large eye examining her before quickly flying away. Twilight’s brow furrowed as she took a step closer. Starlight and Discord watched from afar, unseen by the hologram. Then they all heard a voice, a voice coming from the light. “Sir, we’ve acquired connection.” And in that moment, another figure entered the light, this one smiling to the young princess. “Hey, Twilight, it’s been a while.” And Twilight smiled back. “Hello, Mr. Stark.” “Formalities, Twi.” Twilight shook her head, chuckling under her breath. “Right. Sorry, Tony. Is it ready?” “Whenever you are.” Her smile grew more confident. Her heart began to pulse against her chest. “It’s time then.” Tony Stark nodded and said, “Time to change the worlds.” A short, quiet static emerged from the hologram. Spike shot up in distress, his tired eyes scanning the room and the mess that was left. He saw Discord eating popcorn with Starlight Glimmer. He saw Twilight staring at him, the Alicorn sitting in front of a blue image of Tony Stark coming from the light of the eyes of Friday. He blinked. “What I miss?”