Upstate New York
New Avengers Facility, Conference Room A
10:02 a.m.
“Alright, so how many countries on Earth?”
“196!”
“But…”
“But several other countries—including the United States—do not recognize Taiwan as a country, thus the official count of countries in the world are 195!”
“And how many world leaders will be present today?”
“12!”
“And what are their names, in alphabetical order, from tallest to short—?”
“Tony!” Twilight barked, interrupting the man’s banter. Stark paused just in front of the Alicorn, staring down at her and the rest of her seven friends. “You never said we had to memorize each of their names, or any of their physical attributes.”
Rainbow Dash yawned. She leaned over to Applejack. “We had to memorize stuff?” Rainbow whispered, AJ’s response being a quick chuckle.
The morning sunlight spilled into one of the few conference rooms of the New Avengers Facility. Large windows covered the room, a soft carpet lining the floor. Aside from the eight chairs currently held by Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, and Starlight, a line of twelve empty chairs lied directly ahead of them.
Tony Stark’s brows rose accordingly, his hands deep in his pockets. “Good stuff, Sparkle. You never fail to disappoint.” Twilight beamed with pride, chin held upwards. Stark shook his head, then turned to the others.
Oh, the others…
“As for the rest of you…” Stark began to say, his eyes landing at the end of the row to his left, on Pinkie Pie. The mare was fast asleep, a trail of drool from her mouth all the way to her chest left to grow. To Pinkie’s left was Fluttershy, who seemed to be hardly active in the morning recap. Next to her was Rarity, followed by Spike, Twilight, Starlight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.
Rarity was busy fondling her mane. Spike was sitting patiently, his tired eyelids drooping every now and then. Twilight sat wide-awake with a smile. Starlight seemed quite exhausted, as well, though she did her best to remain presentable. Dash sat in her seat like a cat would curled up for a daily nap, except Dash had a glare that could kill. Applejack seemed to be awake. Not bad.
Not bad at all. Definitely not good when meeting several world leaders.
Stark frowned, his jaw tightening. He said, “Well, let’s just say I expected you all to… Oh, I don’t know… Maybe act like you care when you’re about to meet some of Earth’s most powerful leaders.”
Rarity whimpered, her magic yanking at the tangles in her hair. “I’m sorry, darling, but—ouch—it is quite hard to gather myself after such festivities last night, especially in such little time. Oh, why didn’t you wake me up earlier, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, well, um, you seemed to be so fast asleep… and, um, well, I didn’t want to bother you,” Fluttershy meekly responded, flinching as Pinkie snored beside her.
“But ten minutes before the meeting?! Fluttershy…” Rarity whined.
The Pegasus looked away, gently rubbing her foreleg. “Sorry,” she muttered.
Applejack leaned back in her chair, hind leg crossed over the other. “Ah don’t know ‘bout y’all, but Ah had no trouble whatsoever gettin’ up early. Ah told ya, ya shoulda taken mah advice, Rares! Five in the mornin’ is the way to go!”
“Yes, well, not all of us were raised on a farm, Applejack, or lived the ‘country life’!” Rarity declared, returning to her mane.
Starlight leaned forward, turning to Applejack. “By the way, AJ, what have you been doing for the past five hours?” she asked.
Applejack just shrugged. She said, “Ran a bit outside after the sun came up. After that Ah jus’ explored the place a bit, made some pancakes.”
Stark snapped his fingers. “Oh, damn good pancakes by the way, Applejack. I got here about eight and helped myself. If we’re having anyone cook us pancake breakfast from now on, it’s her.”
Applejack tipped her hat to the billionaire, only to nearly fall out of her chair at the sound of Pinkie’s sudden yelp. Everypony jumped at the sound, Fluttershy nearly leaping out of her seat. The mare snapped awake, eyes wide without any signs of fatigue. No veins in the white, no bags beneath the eyes. Nothing.
She shouted, “We had pancakes and nopony told me?!”
Everyone just stared at her. She stared back, innocent eyes shifting from one pony to the other, eventually landing on her roommate. Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, chuckling. “Pinks… you didn’t really seem to be in the best condition for early breakfast. I just let ya sleep one off, and no offense, but… you have the weirdest hangovers.”
Pinkie blinked. Her tongue shot out and licked up the drool on her chin, her head nodding in thought. “Huh…” she mumbled, then smiled. “Okay!”
Pinkie was quick to fall back sleep after that, her obnoxiously loud snores following.
Stark pointed his finger to Pinkie, a thought occurring before he quickly rejected it. He shook his head, saying, “Anyway, I just wanted all of you to be prepared. I mean, hey!” He held out his hands, smiling wide. “You’re the ambassadors for your home planet! You’re about to meet my home world’s leaders to discuss peace between Earth and Equus! You got to feel a little bit excited, right?”
Pinkie Pie snored. Fluttershy shivered at the newly acquired thought Stark had put into her head. Rarity whined about her mane. Spike was asleep. Twilight sat still, smiling with confidence. Starlight tried to. Rainbow curled back up, mumbling something. Applejack just stared at Stark, brow raising.
Tony dropped his arms, looking away. Why did he even bother?
“Um, excuse me, Tony, but when are Earth’s leaders arriving, exactly?” Twilight asked.
Now he remembered why he bothered. He smiled to her, tried to smile to the rest of them, and said, “Oh, they’re already here. We’re just waiting for Cap to show up.”
He noticed the look of confusion upon Twilight’s features, as well as everypony else’s. Stark nodded. “I know, I know, but we kinda need the ‘leader of the Avengers’ present when meeting with the president. It’s a whole big process where—”
“No, it’s not that,” Twilight interrupted. She leaned to her left, then to her right, spying the empty seats directly ahead of her. “It’s… It’s just that… Where are the world leaders?”
The door behind everypony swung open, prompting several of the mares’ attention to the exit. “Sorry for the holdup,” Steve Rogers declared, wearing a solid gray T-shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans. Behind him, the small drone Homer hovered cautiously before flying over to Stark.
Steve walked past the line of chairs the ponies had commandeered, instead choosing to stand next to Tony. He faced them, however, and said, “Couldn’t get much sleep last night. But thanks to Homer we can start the meeting right on schedule.”
He turned to Stark, nodding. “Shall we?”
“Let’s not waste any more time than we need to,” Stark replied. “You know how much President Ellis hates waiting.”
“I don’t know that,” Steve said, smiling.
“Oh,” Stark muttered. “Well, then. Homer!”
The small drone hovered to each empty chair directly in front of the mares, placing a small device on each stand resting in front of the chairs. After that was done, he flew back to hover next to Stark. He stated, “Initiating hologram program alpha, sir.”
Then, to the wild amazement of the mares, each stand lit up and revealed an entity resting upon each of the twelve chairs. Most appeared male, some were female, but all of them were old. Much older than either Stark or Rogers. The images of the people flickered every now and then, but they moved as if they were sitting right there at that exact moment.
Some smiled to the presence of the two Avengers, others didn’t. Some smiled to the seven mares and one dragon sitting behind the two, others didn’t. But they all offered their own form of greeting as Homer hovered in front of each individual.
“It is my honor to introduce simply a few of the many leaders Earth has to offer,” the AI declared, flying over to the first man on the far left. “The President of the United States, Matthew Ellis.”
President Ellis smiled and acknowledged everyone with a quick hand gesture. His name appeared in bright, bold lettering directly in front the stand he sat behind. A sigh escaped the Alicorn, no longer having to worry about remembering names. Homer flew over to Ellis’ left, to the man sitting next to him, and said, “The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.”
The Russian President performed the same gesture as had President Ellis, except he didn’t smile. His name also appeared in front of his stand. Homer went on, stating the name of each individual he hovered in front of, each offering their own greeting.
“The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The South Korean President, Park Geun-hye. The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud. The Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe. The French President, François Hollande. The United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron. The current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. And the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping.”
President Jinping bowed his head in respect, smiling to the seven alien equines and their young dragon. Nearly lost in stupor, Twilight shook her head and smiled back, though a bit nervous. Thankfully for her, Homer was there to capture everyone’s attention. He flew in the center of the conference room.
“Mr. Stark, we have secure connections and are ready to begin.”
“Nice work, buddy,” Stark stated, stepping back to stand next to Pinkie. “Take five.”
Homer flew back, right over Pinkie’s nose and hovered behind her. The action awoke the pink mare, causing her to slump forward, fumbling over her words. Fluttershy nervously tapped her hoof against Pinkie’s shoulder, earning the mare’s attention. All she did was point forward, falling into silence.
Pinkie followed the direction of her friend’s hoof, all the weariness from her eyes vanishing. Directly ahead of her, she saw the unamused expressions of several older gentlemen staring at her, almost belittling, unsure.
“Ooooo!” Pinkie exclaimed, her eyes fascinated by the holograms. She reached out her hoof, Stark’s hand stopping her.
“Don’t,” he said.
Steve Rogers chuckled at that. Turning away from the group behind him, the leader of the Avengers stepped forth to the land between the two worlds. Once there out in the open, Steve turned his head to the man on the far left began to speak, the eyes of the Equestrians shifting to him.
“Captain Rogers,” President Ellis began, “it’s an honor to see you again.”
“The honor’s mine, Mr. President,” Steve replied, smiling curtly. “I assume you, as well as everyone else present was given the rundown from Mr. Stark?”
“That we have, Captain,” President Putin stated in his native tongue, the hologram’s programming translating the Russian into precise English. “Perhaps it would be time to allow us to meet our new… extraterrestrial allies.”
“Allies to be, we would hope,” Prime Minister Shinzō Abe added.
Captain Rogers nodded. “Right. So, without further interruptions, I will let Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equus take command.” He spun around, backing away to stand next to Applejack, but not before giving the Alicorn quick thumbs up.
Twilight chuckled nervously, gulping down whatever fear she had hoped to have left. She did a quick once-over of all her friends. Pinkie was wide awake and nearly hopping in her seat, Stark constantly shifting nervous glances to her. Fluttershy appeared even more pale than usual, shivering very slightly while under the heavy stares from Earth’s leaders. Rarity’s hooves remained planted in her seat, no longer fidgeting with her mane, instead letting her magic do just that.
She reached over and thumped Spike across the back of the head, instantly waking him up. Rubbing his scales, he opened his mouth to oppose Twilight’s actions, only to see her pointing ahead, nervous grin still held, sweat building on her forehead. Spike shot his gaze forward, mouth instantly zipping shut.
Starlight bit her lower lip, trying to look presentable, appearing almost, if not more nervous than her mentor. Rainbow had finally straightened up, thank Celestia. And Applejack leaned back in her chair, seeming to be the only calm character out of the bunch.
Then there was Steve, smiling to her, assuring her.
Somehow, Twilight felt that’s all she needed.
Clearing her throat, she offered her boldest smile yet and stared into the sea of alien eyes waiting for her to begin.
It’s time to change the worlds.
“I would like to begin by saying thank you to each and every one of you for taking time out of your very busy schedules to meet with us on this momentous occasion. It’s not every day you get to come across an entirely new alien race.”
“You would be surprised,” David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister, stated. He earned several chuckles from his side.
Twilight smiled politely, continuing shortly. “Yes, well, I assume that must be the case from Thor Odinson and the Asgardians. Just as them, my friends and I would like to stand for all of Equus when we say we want nothing but peace with Earth and all its inhabitants.”
The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, spoke up. “If I may interrupt, Your Highness?” Twilight smiled to him, nodding once. “Unless you have not been properly informed, disregarding the Asgardians, we have faced the threat of alien forces invading our world over the past few years. How can we truly know you and your world want peace?”
Twilight gulped silently. “Well, unless any of you weren’t properly informed, the Avengers helped our world during a time where we couldn’t hope to fight alone, against the threat known as Ultron.” She earned a few nods from Earth’s leaders, calming her slightly. “Since then, our world’s leaders owed a debt to the Avengers, and believed it to be right to make peace with the world they originated… which would be Earth.”
Twilight finished with a nervous chuckle, her smile instantly vanishing once the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, replied.
“Your world’s leaders?” he asked, earning the Princess’ attention. “Tell me, Princess Twilight Sparkle, why then your world’s leaders did not wish to participate in this ‘momentous’ summit, and instead choose to send you?”
The question almost caught her off guard, fumbling her words. “Um… well, um, P-Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are very busy running our country, and Princess Cadance is far too preoccupied with—”
“You speak of only princesses,” Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister interrupted. “Are there no kings and queens in your world?”
Twilight quickly shot her attention to the Indian Prime Minister, saying, “Well, there are, but Equestria is ruled by two princesses. Well, three, if you count me, which I wouldn’t really say I’m a leader of Equestria—”
“You are not a leader of your home world?” King Salman asked.
“No, I-I am!”
President Putin dove back in to the conversation, asking, “What kind of princess are you exactly, Princess Twilight?”
Twilight bit her lip just as Starlight had, harder than she had. None of her friends spoke up, each of them feeling the same pressure she probably endured. So, with the eyes of the world on her, she eased herself to the best of her abilities and answered truthfully, with all that she knew.
“The Princess of… Friendship...?”
It couldn’t have come out more awkwardly.
If every eye wasn’t on her already, then—to her dismay—they were now. Some appeared confused, others judging, most unsure, confused. The French President, François Hollande began to chuckle to himself. “Well, that is certainly new,” he declared, earning at least one laugh from every individual. Pinkie Pie included.
While Rarity and Fluttershy turned questioningly to Pinkie, Twilight managed a forced smile, ultimately fooling nobody. She turned her eyes back to the holograms, seeing a certain Pope Francis smiling to her. Truthfully. Peacefully.
“We don’t wish for you to feel pressured, Princess Twilight. We all bring good intentions for this peaceful occasion,” Pope Francis offered.
The South Korean President, Park Geun-hye said, “However, we do wish to know what your intentions, while on Earth, are.”
Several others nodded to her statement, turning their attention back to the Alicorn.
Twilight gulped down nothing once again. “Well, our main priority is of course to make peace with Earth.”
“And how do you believe that has worked out so far?” Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, asked. “I hope most of us can see that your intentions are pure. I surely see that. But what of the rest of the world, Princess Twilight? The other nations that would not attend this summit? Do you believe you can make peace with them? Because I assume most of their initial thoughts of an alien race would refer back to the Chitauri incident.”
It grew unnaturally cold after that statement was laid out. President Ellis’ eyes were as hard as stone, his palms coming to rest on his lap. The Pope closed his eyes and muttered a quick prayer. Each of the ponies shared questionable glances with one another, each one of them thinking the same idea.
None of them having the courage to speak out.
Except one.
“What’s the ‘Chitauri’ incident’?” Fluttershy asked, the first pony to speak other than Twilight.
President Ellis sighed. Everypony turned to him, seeing the life drain from his figure, even with the hologram. He said, “I wouldn’t expect any of you to know about it, but about four years ago, one of America’s largest cities was savagely attacked by an alien army known as the Chitauri. Numerous lives were lost, estimated costs of damage were in the billions, and we only came out of it alive thanks to those two and their team.”
He pointed quickly over to Tony Stark, then shifted to the Captain. The eyes of the Equestrians followed his actions, holding on the two Avengers, and eventually returning to him.
President Ellis seemed to struggle, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, continued for him. “You then see why most would be… apprehensive to the idea of aliens. It would be quite difficult to prove to the world that you truly aim for peace while here.”
“But… how?” Twilight asked, earning the interests of many. “How do you all suppose we can prove to the world that we want nothing but peace with Earth?”
It was nearly a full ten seconds before someone spoke, finally offering an answer to the princess. “Well, you have twelve of the most powerful leaders in the world sitting right in front of you,” Prime Minister Shinzō Abe explained, leaning forward. “So, Princess Twilight, you simply have to prove it to us.”
To her wild surprise, everyone seemed to agree, nodding with the man’s statement, and remaining silent after that. Their eyes settled upon her, the Princess of Friendship, and waited for her response. Except she couldn’t. For the life of her, even after accomplishing so much with such heavy odds weighing down upon her, the weight of that last question seemed to be the maximum.
How else could she prove that she meant good intentions? How else other than her word could she offer to them? For the life of her, she truly couldn’t figure it out.
It seemed somepony noticed her anxious eyes, the sweat falling from her forehead, and the lack of an answer for far too long. And for far too long, she let her teacher speak alone.
“Before Princess Twilight took me under her wing as her student, I saw the type of teamwork, the kind of friendship and bond she and her friends had formed with the Avengers. With their combined strengths, they were able to defeat Ultron and drive his army out of our world for good.”
All eyes, every single one, shifted to the unicorn resting in the seat next to the shaking princess. Tony leaned forward, brows rising in surprise. Steve followed, smiling gratefully to the mare for finally speaking her mind. For finally helping her friend.
Starlight Glimmer looked to Tony Stark, then to Captain America. She smiled. “I owe them… everything. And Twilight and her friends, too. Because of them I was able to understand that alone we can only stand for so long, but together we can overcome almost any foe.”
She sighed at the end of that statement, her eyes falling to her hooves. “And I should know… because I was almost responsible for aiding Ultron in the destruction of our world.”
That earned a few stunned expressions. Even President Putin’s stone expressions seemed to shift to something a little more… curious.
Starlight continued, confident to keep the tears inside. “If it hadn’t been for Twilight reaching out to me when I was at my lowest, for proving to me that there was still a chance at friendship, at… another life of peace and happiness, then I don’t know where I’d be.”
Her hoof fell into Twilight’s, gripping her softly, assuring her that she was there. She nodded to her, then faced the alien eyes and said, “So, if she can make peace with a deranged, sociopathic pony who believed that everypony didn’t deserve to hold their own special talents… then I can guarantee she can make peace with all of you.”
Twilight sniffed, desperate to keep the tears in. She shifted her attention quickly over to Fluttershy, the mare offering her own voice to the conversation.
“Um… Twilight also helped reform a Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony to become one of our closest friends,” Fluttershy meekly said.
Twilight smiled. “Wow, girls. Thank you—”
Pinkie dashed to the center of the room, breaking free from Tony’s grasp the moment she could. She danced, bounced, and shouted with joy, “And she helped a guilt-ridden princess to feel accepted into society who was once an evil monster called Nightmare Moon that tried to bring about eternal night and—”
“Okay, girls! Thank you!” Twilight yelled, giggling at Pinkie’s antics. Pinkie shot her eyes back to Twilight, then turned back to Earth’s leaders to see several of them smiling to her, others managing a soft chuckle to her antics. That was victory in her book.
Once Pinkie returned to her seat, President François Hollande eyed the Princess of Friendship. He asked, “Is this true, Princess Twilight?” She nodded, a smile as confident as all life plastered on her lips. He shifted his attention right. “Captain?”
Steve Rogers nodded, as well. “It is,” he answered.
A bustle of mumbling followed, all shared between the twelve leaders. In the midst of the unheard chat, Starlight gripped Twilight’s hoof. The two smiled to each other, each for confidence they so desperately needed.
Finally, after a short moment of silence, a polite cough broke the silence. Everypony turned to face the President of the United States. He leaned forward, rubbing his forehead. “We live in a world where aliens, genocidal robots, super soldiers, and God knows what else actually exist and have affected our lives. Now, we have talking alien ponies who have managed to make peace with some evil spirits and… sociopathic ponies.”
He looked to the unicorn. Starlight just smiled, chuckling nervously.
“With everything I’ve heard here today…” President Ellis shook his head, straightening upward. “Hell, I believe it. If we can make peace with Norse gods, then who’s to say we can’t make peace with talking equines? So, let’s make it happen!”
David Cameron nodded, declaring, “The United Kingdom, as well.”
“Here, here!” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
“Israel stands with Equus!” Benjamin Netanyahu added with a smile.
One by one, another following after the other, each represented leader from every corner of the globe came to an overall agreement: a peaceful bond between Earth and Equus. With each shout of unity, the smiles grew on each of the ponies’ faces, Spike joining them. Twilight was shaking with excitement, a shivering warmth building deep within her heart to see Earth’s most powerful leaders actually negotiate and fulfill peace for their world to hers.
A sense of accomplishment, easement, and peace filled her at last. She leaned to her left and wrapped her hooves around Starlight, bringing her student in for a strong hug.
“We did it, Starlight!” Twilight whispered excitedly. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Starlight chuckled, patting her teacher’s back. “You led us this far, Twilight. If anything… I should be thanking you.”
The two broke away after a short moment. Once the unity of the nations had been accomplished, and after the excitement had finally died, President Ellis said, “This a truly a momentous occasion. You should be proud, Princess Twilight. You and all your friends.”
The eight friends all looked to one another, smiling gratefully. Truly feeling accomplished.
Ellis leaned forward, chuckling. “Now, onto everyone’s favorite subject of this summit: politics.”
Putin sighed, face falling into his palm. “Ponies, friendship, and now politics. I need a drink.”
“You and me both, Putin,” Stark added.
New Avengers Facility, Hallways
2:46 p.m.
“Well, I officially hate politics.”
Rainbow’s remark was ignored by the likes of Twilight, acknowledged by the likes of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Applejack… pretty much everyone else. The group trekked down the long hallway of the New Avengers Facility, their journey to the kitchen to fetch some much-needed lunch.
While Dash and several others held their head low, tail dragging, Twilight held her head up high, a proud and accomplished smile on her lips. She said, “Well, I think that went pretty well.”
“All things considered,” Rarity added, still fumbling with her mane.
“Hmm… Maybe,” Twilight shrugged, turning the corner, the other following behind her. “I guess we’ll just have to see tomorrow.”
Dash nearly froze in her tracks, eyes wide. “Tomorrow?” she asked, voice shrill. She shot over to Twilight’s side, almost frightening the Alicorn. “Wait, what’s going on tomorrow that has to deal with politics?”
The word came out like venom on her tongue, causing Twilight to frown. She personally enjoyed the differing political agendas between the different nations of Earth. She huffed, saying matter-of-factly, “Well, if you didn’t fall asleep halfway through the final hour of the discussion you wouldn’t have to ask that question, Rainbow.”
Rainbow replied to Twilight’s remark by sticking out her tongue behind the Alicorn’s back.
Tony perked up after Twilight’s remark, saying, “Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me. Everypony, be sure to get a lot of rest for tonight especially. No parties, no drinking—as much as I hate to admit it.”
He eyed Pinkie as he said that, the pink mare only smiling and looking away innocently.
Dash’s expression was far from innocent. She was downright horrified. “Why, though?” she asked/complained. “We already met with Earth’s leaders! What else is there?”
“Meeting the President of the United States in our nation’s capital,” Tony replied, smirking to Dash as he escaped to the kitchen. “You can’t sleep through this one, Skittles.”