Equis, Ponyville
Applejack stretched as she climbed out of bed. Celestia's sun was still on its way up the sky, and the rooster hadn't even done his wake-up call yet. The farming pony was so used to getting up early that she didn't even need his crow. Applejack smiled as she overlooked the healthy trees of Sweet Apple Acres, all nice and strong. When apple bucking season rolled around, she knew this year would bring quite a healthy crop. Thoughts of the aliens and the possible disaster looming over Equestria were pushed out of her head.
Applejack grabbed her Stetson hat from the nightstand as she made her way downstairs. The others would be up soon enough, and then she could get to working on all of her chores. In the meantime, though, she decided to get some exercise in. The Running of the Leaves was coming up again, and she was hoping to get Rainbow Dash to agree to a fair rematch.
With that thought in mind, the earth pony took off at a brisk pace, galloping down the path that ran through Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack wasn't an antisocial pony, but she'd always enjoyed the experience of solitary exercise. The fields of apple trees stretched out far beyond the horizon, seeming to never end. There were no sounds, except the thumping of her hooves, and the chirping of the occasional bird. There was—
"On your left."*
Applejack did a double take. One of the humans, Captain Rogers in fact, came sprinting up the path. Having shed his uniform, he was now clad in a set of loose casual clothes, no doubt whipped up by Rarity in the middle of the night. His muscles were tensed, but from his posture, it was clear he wasn't running as fast as he possibly could, even at this sprinting speed. He sped past Applejack, continuing down the path.
Applejack grinned. Well, this was an unexpected opportunity.
Applejack bent her neck, lowering her head as she increased her speed. Her hooves kicked up larger and larger dirt clouds as she rushed to catch up with Steve. The human's keen super soldier ears picked up her sounds, and Steve turned his head to find Applejack had matched his speed.
"You wanna go there?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face.
"You know it, partner!" the pony laughed back.
Steve let out a quiet chuckle as he increased his pace a little, Applejack following his example immediately. He wasn't sure exactly how fast she could go, given the differences between earth ponies and normal horses, but she looked like she could at least keep pace with him for a while.
Taking a deep breath, Steve accelerated to near-maximum speed. He hadn't run this fast since Sokovia. Apple tree became blurs as he rushed across the dirt, taking turns as easy as he would at normal speed. His muscles began to feel the tiniest bit strained, a rare sensation for Steve. Oddly enough, it actually felt good at the moment. Maybe this was what he needed. Though, he made a mental note not to tell Sam about this. It'd drive the guy crazy to be outrun not only by a ninety year old man, but also a small horse.
"On your right!"
Steve's head snapped to his side, to discover the sight of Applejack, her legs a blur beneath her, kicking up a massive dust cloud behind her, as she slowly but surely caught up to him. Applejack flashed him a smile as she adjusted her Stetson, her body making its way ahead of Steve's legs.
"Oh, it is on, pony!" roared Steve, accelerating ever more.
The race soon turned into a match of endurance, the pony and the human remaining neck-to-neck, tearing up the dirt as they sped through the Acres. Both had built up quite a bit of stamina in their respective lifestyles, and could've kept the race going for the entire day, if so desired. Eventually, however, they came to a stop near the path leading from Applejack's home, both leaning against a tree as they panted. Applejack seemed to be more actually tired, given she didn't have a super soldier serum to suppress fatigue and lactic acid. Both were coated in sweat, Applejack using her hat as a fan.
"I gotta give you...credit, Applejack," chuckled Steve. "I haven't had a workout like that in a while. Well, without fighting for my life."
"Dang..." breathed the farm pony. "Not bad...for only having two...legs, fella! Can all humans...run that fast?!"
"Not really," admitted Steve. "I'm exceptional."
"I'll say," laughed Applejack, "What brings...you up so early?"
"Force of habit. I'm a soldier. It's what I'm used to."
"Same, except I never served."
Steve took a moment to look over Sweet Apple Acres, and the vast expanse of apple trees. He briefly remembered Clint's family, and felt another pang of guilt over his recent interaction with the archer. He decided to change the subject.
"So, you been a farmer your whole life?" he asked.
"Yep!" replied the pony. "It's a lot of work, but good living at the same time!"
"Sounds nice," said Steve.
Applejack looked at Captain Rogers, and memories flickered back to her of the night before. Now seemed like a moment in which he'd be willing to talk about himself.
"Hey, Cap?" she asked.
"Call me Steve," responded the human. "My rank doesn't mean much on this planet."
"Well, Steve," said Applejack. "I was watching you at dinner, and I noticed you cut Thor off when he was introducing you, when he said your title, or superhero name. You acted kinda...nervous, like you were afraid. Is there something you wanted to hide?"
"Oh, no. Nothing," Steve responded, looking down at the ground. He waited for her to speak again, only to be confronted with absolute silence. He turned again to see Applejack staring at him, her face plastered with an expression of amusement. "You don't believe me, do you?"
"I'm good at seeing through lies," responded the pony. "One of the perks of being the Element of Honesty."
"Oh, yeah, you told us about that," said Steve.
Applejack now found herself in Steve's position, waiting for the other to speak up.
"Look, Steve," she finally started. "I get it, you just met me. Heck, you just met ponies in general. But holding something in can be painful. If you really don't wanna talk about it—"
"No, no," said Steve. "Thor said that you could be trusted, and I've made it a personal goal to be at least a little more honest, after what's...happened." He turned to back to the pony. "But I need you to keep this from the others. We have a job to do, and I don't want to drag all you ponies into our problems. Can you keep a secret?"
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" responded Applejack, putting a hoof into her eye. At Steve's facial reaction, she shrugged. "It's an inside thing. Blame Pinkie."
"Sure," responded Steve, taking a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was about to tell this pony the truth about this, but she was right. Lying felt terrible to him, and keeping the truth bottled up was tearing him apart. He wasn't even thinking about how Stark would react, were he there. Although Tony had suggested they not tell the ponies about the accords conflict, he felt telling Applejack alone wouldn't ruin anything. If he were honest with himself, something inside him was telling him that Applejack was trustworthy. Maybe it was more of the whole Elements of Harmony thing. Who knew.
"My original title was Captain America. It comes from the country where I served as a soldier in the second world war." Applejack cringed a little at the suggestion of a world war, let alone two. "However, I gave up that mantle. I...failed my friends."
"How? Why?" Applejack pressed him.
Steve sighed. "Back home, the governments passed laws to limit the Avengers from acting independently. I broke the law to protect my friend, who was being wrongly hunted for something he didn't do, something I don't regret. But, we later found out that my friend...did something very bad to Stark, or actually, to people he cared about. Not on purpose," he insisted, seeing the look on the pony's face, "he was being forced. But I'd had my suspicions for a while, and I never told Stark. We disagreed, we fought, and...things just ended badly. Now, me, Sam, and the Avengers who helped me are fugitives from the law back home." He sat down quietly, turning back to the pony, quietly wishing he could be less vague. "That enough for you?"
"Well, I can tell you ain't lying," said Applejack. "But, if that's true, why don't you take this chance to talk it out with Tony? Deal with the problems before you go back to Earth?"
"No," said Steve. "There's no time. What's important now is that we get the stuff Phobos and Deimos stole." He knew he was making excuses, but couldn't find it in himself to care. Talking to Stark, bringing up those bad memories felt like going back into the ice, only this time, he was awake, feeling the cold slowly freeze up all of his organs, his body dying inside. It wasn't worth it. He knew Applejack could tell he wasn't giving the whole truth, but it wasn't like she could read his mind. At least, he hoped.
Applejack was dealing with her own internal debate. On one hoof, she'd promised him that this topic wouldn't leave this particular conversation, and Applejack prided herself on being a mare of her word. On the other, the divide between the Avengers was definitely a serious issue, and she wasn't sure how it would affect their battle against whatever threatened Equestria this time. She decided to remain silent, at least for the moment. But if it caused further strife among the team, she wasn't sure she could keep that promise.
"Alright," responded the farm pony, casually donning her Stetson again. "But if you need help, just talk to us, you hear? We solve friendship problems all the time. It's our specialty."
Steve nodded politely, before getting back up. "So, you need any help this morning?"
"I got a couple things to do," Applejack agreed. "After that, maybe I could show ya around Ponyville. Though, youu may want to avoid Pinkie for the moment."
Steve held back a snort. What did make him laugh, however, was Sam coming puffing up the road, trying to yell at Steve for being so fast.
Tony Stark wasn't a soldier, and didn't have a history of waking with the sun. If he was up early, it was because he hadn't gone to bed the night before. No exceptions. However, at this point, he'd gotten into a somewhat normal schedule, and he climbed out of bed just a few minutes past ten o'clock.
Tony stretched as he stood up, feeling the unusually cool floor on his feet. Looking down, he noticed that the floor was made out of reflective crystal, gleaming up at him, alongside his reflection. So, that whole "planet of the horses" thing hadn't been a drunk dream. Figures.
Taking a glance around the room, Tony noticed a small pile of casual clothes, consisting of a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and a set of black socks, lying at the table at the back of the room. A small note attached to them read "Tony Stark." Apparently, that seamstress pony was as good as her word. No underwear, but did they even have those on this planet? Scratch that, there was a pair under the shirt. Huh.
Tony dressed, dragging himself out of the bedroom, and heading to the kitchen for breakfast. His biggest question was what he would do for the rest of the day. Hanging around would likely mean bumping into Rogers again, something to be avoided like the plague. He wasn't particularly keen on buddying up with these ponies, either. Not that they were bad, they were just kind of annoying.
He strolled into the kitchen, where he immediately made eye contact with the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy gave a quiet gasp when she saw him, but recovered, gave a brief wave, then backed out of the room. Tony raised his eyebrows at the sight.
"Oh, Mr. Stark, you're awake!" said Twilight, strolling into the kitchen. "Don't worry about Fluttershy. She's just nervous because she's never met humans before. She'll get used to you."
"Uh, yeah, sure," said Tony, opening the pantry. His eyes widened at the sight of a bottle, filled with what looked like wine, sitting on one of the shelves. Thank goodness.
"Captain Rogers and Mr. Wilson already left," said Twilight cheerfully, sitting down at her table. "They were up pretty early."
"Soldier thing, I guess," muttered Tony, grabbing some loose cereal and bread. He turned to go eat, but stopped in his tracks upon seeing Twilight's little set-up on edge of the kitchen table. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Twilight's table reminded him of his work desk back on earth, especially when he was working on a new project. Assorted wires, screwdrivers, and wrenches lay strewn about, along with about three pages of notes. A device that resembled a geiger counter, though it glowed pink, lay beeping next to the centerpiece, the shard of stolen vibranium.
"Oh, right, sorry," said Twilight sheepishly, putting her front hoof on her head. "I really should've asked for permission first." She scurried over to the table. "I'd normally be doing this in my work room, but Spike's cleaning it out today. I couldn't help myself. This metal," she picked up the vibranium with her hoof, "it's fascinating!"
"Really?" asked Tony, genuinely curious now.
"Yeah! It's completely unaffected by magic! I can't even levitate it, because it just absorbs the magical energy I surround it with! Watch!"
Twilight placed the shard into a metal base, the sharpened tip pointing to the ceiling. She then charged her horn, magenta energy swirling around the appendage, and fired a single beam at the metal chunk. Instead of being pushed, or broken, the vibranium simply absorbed the blast, not budging an inch from the table. All traces of the magical glow faded from the metal shard.
"See?" exclaimed Twilight, almost jumping up and down where she stood. "It's incredible! Most substances on Equis can resist magic! This must have some kind of—" Twilight stopped as a realization hit her. "Oh, you don't have magic on Earth, do you? Sorry, I got kind of excited."
"Well, not normally, no," said Tony, picking up the vibranium. "But that does open a couple of interesting possibilities." He glided his hand over the metallic surface, noticing the vibranium was cool to the touch. "No heat generation from those crazy magic blasts?"
"Oh, no," said Twilight. "Not unless the spell is specifically scripted for heat. Magic is, at its core, manipulation of the natural energy present inside every creature on Equis."
"Huh," replied the inventor, casually putting the vibranium down. He set his food down to eat, as Twilight scribbled down some more notes. "Didn't expect this planet to have any real science types on it."
"Oh! That reminds me!" exclaimed Twilight, jumping about a foot in the air. She scurried over to the table where Tony currently sat, slamming down another blank notebook and plopping down in the seat across from him. "I didn't get the chance to ask you about your armor last night. Can you please tell me about it? What does it run on? Did you make it? How does it function? How long did it take you? What kind of—"
Twilight's endless barrage of questions was cut off by Tony forcefully covering her mouth with his hand.
"Okay, eager beaver. One, slow down, you're gonna asphyxiate yourself. Second, are you sure that the bubblegum pony's the hyperactive one out of your little team? Third, not to be rude, but don't you have, I don't know, princess autographs to sign, or something?"
"Nope!" said the alicorn, cheerfully. "I cleared out my schedule for the next couple of days so I could help you and your friends adjust!" She levitated a planner book covered with post-it notes and items that had been recently scratched out. "Believe me, it wasn't easy to do. Spike is always telling me to cut back on the planning."
Tony stared at the planner. "Uh, no offense, but maybe Spyro's right on that front," he commented. He decided he may as well bite the bullet and talk to this pony for a minute. Besides, not only did her scientifically inclined mind make her interesting to talk to, showing off was at least moderately entertaining.
He raised his left arm. "You wanna see something cool?" he asked. Twilight nodded eagerly.
Tony made a beckoning motion with his hand. At first nothing happened, and Twilight's expression started to shift to annoyance. That annoyance turned to shock as a small, red, apple-sized pod came flying down the hallway, propelled by tiny rockets. The metal object slammed onto Tony's hand, clamping down and revealing itself to be a glove, which unfolded and extended down his forearm. The palm glowed with repulsor energy.
"I...I..." stuttered Twilight.
"Total mental control, via neural implants in this arm," said Tony, flexing his now armored limb. "Machines are sort of my thing."
"That's incredible!" Twilight gasped, fighting to stop herself from jumping across the table to examine the metal gauntlet. "Does every part of the suit have its own battery pack? How do you harness that much electricity?"
"Well, sort of—wait, you have batteries on this planet?" asked Tony. As much as he didn't want to, Twilight kept making him genuinely curious about Equis.
"No," responded the alicorn. "Anything in Equstria that requires any sort power source comes from magic. That's how we made trains. I just know because..." She stumbled over her words. "Well, let's just say it's a long story that involves a magic mirror portal to another dimension, where everyone on Equis is human. And no," she continued, responding to the question Tony was about to start asking, "it's not your Earth. I would've seen the Avengers in the news."
"Oooookaaaaayyyy," said Tony, quietly filing that information away for a later time. "Anyway, regarding your power source question..."
He made another beckoning gesture. A heavy metal clank reverberated through the castle, originating from Tony's room. Seconds later, the rest of his armor came down the hallway, stopping and parking itself in the corner of the kitchen. Tony made another gesture, and the chest plate of the suit came flying off, zooming over to him and attaching itself to his torso. The center arc reactor lit up with white light.
"This here," he said, pointing to the reactor, "is an arc reactor. Invented by my old man, upgraded by my design. Generates it's own power supply, enough for every individual component of the suit. One of my backups was the thing your faun buddies took. The components also have individual power sources, so that they can propel themselves alone, if I want them to. Say it, I'm awesome."
Twilight was too busy trying to scribble down some sort of legible notes to realize how much Tony was reminding her of Rainbow Dash at the moment. "This is amazing! You have to let me examine it sometime!" She scurried over, poking the chest plate experimentally with her hoof.
"Whoa, whoa, personal space!" Tony protested. This pony was more of a jumpy geek than Parker.
Twilight's face reddened a bit as she realized exactly what she was doing. "Sorry...again," she said, sheepishly. "I just really get into learning."
"So I gathered," replied Tony. "Can I eat?"
"Yes, of course."
Tony returned to his breakfast, casually disregarding the pieces of armor he wore currently. Twilight returned to the Vibranium, while simultaneously writing down a few questions to bring up later concerning Tony's armor, pondering if she could make one powered by magic. After the human had finished eating, he set his bowl down in the sink.
"So, there anything to do in this town?" he asked, grabbing the wine bottle he'd seen earlier, along with a glass. "It's not like I'm occupied, until we know where to find those goat freaks."
"Plenty," Twilight answered. "I think Applejack and Pinkie dragged Captain Rogers down to Sugar Cube Corner. Although, if you're not into super sugary things..."
"Nah," said Tony, pouring his wine. "Rogers ain't exactly the life of the party, anyway."
Twilight, having been less than social for the majority of her life, was not extremely adept at picking up body language, subtle expressions, or social cues. However, she was able to discern a clear bite of irritation in Tony's voice, particularly concentrated around the word Rogers.
"Are you...okay with Captain Rogers?" she asked. "I mean, I know you're teammates, but you're friends, aren't you?"
Tony swallowed his glass of wine. This was the subject matter he and Steve had promised to avoid, even around these ponies. He had no desire to bare his soul to this talking purple horse out of a little girl's cartoon, even if she was smart enough to appreciate his inventions.
"We're not super close," he summed up. "We work together, but we don't spend the weekends at the bar."
"Never understood why anypony would do that," Twilight muttered to herself. In her normal voice, she responded, "Is that all? Is there—"
"Look," Tony said, facing Twilight, clearly annoyed. "Anything that goes on back home is unimportant, not to mention none of your business. So please, with all due respect, drop it."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Tony mentally kicked himself. Why hadn't he just lied through his teeth? Said that he thought Rogers was a prude, or some crap like that? He'd gotten way too emotional, and any half-wit could tell there was something going on.
Fortunately for him, Twilight decided not to press the subject. She quieted down, before her eyes lit up as a new thought came to her. "Oh, I know something you could help me with! That is, if you're interested."
"Oh, really?"
"You see, Princess Celestia wanted me to take the mirror that you said Phobos and Deimos used to go to your planet. By scanning the magical trace of the energy they used to power the crystal they used on the mirror, she thought we might get some insight into who their master is, or what kind of magic they wield at least. It would take some pony very skilled to pinpoint the coordinates of your world into teleportation spells."
"You do realize I know practically nothing about magic, right?"
"At it's heart, magic has similarities to a lot of human sciences, assuming your world is like the one I've seen. I discovered a lot of familiar principles in quantum physics books."
"Well," said Tony, grudgingly. "I'm an engineer, not a physicist—"
"Unless you aren't awesome enough to help me," said Twilight, smirking. This tricked worked every time on Rainbow, and if her hunch was correct...
Tony's mouth twitched in what might've been a smile. "The funny thing is, I know you're baiting me. But I don't care. I'm in."
"Great!" said Twilight. She rushed down the hall. "Oh, Starlight? Spike?"
Equis, Everfree Forest
Sam, after yelling at Steve for a while, had joined him in helping Applejack, then followed him into town, where they'd been swarmed by the unnatural phenomenon known as Pinkie Pie. While Applejack laughed at their plight, Pinkie took the two down to Sugar Cube Corner, introducing them to food that shouldn't have been physically capable of containing so much sugar. Sam had gone along with it for a while, but eventually decided he'd like to do some scouting for Phobos and Deimos. He didn't like relying entirely on Thor's all-seeing buddy, after all. So the Falcon had equipped his gear and set off into the skies above Equestria. He chuckled to himself as he heard the gasps of ponies on the ground, seeing the humanoid bird in the air, and the pegasi who stared or yelled at him as he flew past them. He wondered if he'd be enough to make the aliens' newspaper.
Sam landed neatly on a small cliff overlooking most of the forest, deploying Redwing to get an eye ahead, so as to avoid running into a dragon, or something. Sam unrolled a map he'd borrowed from Twilight's castle, trying to determine what would be the most optimal search route, while controlling the drone.
He puzzled over the map. Equestria was, thankfully, not massive, but there didn't seem to be a place that was super desolate or abandoned that the fauns could've hidden in. Not to mention that it would take a considerable amount of time to reach some of them, and even though Stark could call him up, being halfway across the country when something important happened was not attractive. The Frozen North, if it really was frozen, was partially taken up by the Crystal Empire, which was apparently just one city, and Celestia said that an alert for the fauns had been set up throughout the whole country. Also, Las Pegasus? Manehattan? It was like the entire country was built on bad horse puns.
Determining that searching the cities would be a bit of a dead end right now, Sam decided to see if the fauns left any traces in the forest. They could've counted on it to cover their escape, seeing as they weren't geniuses, especially Phobos.
Redwing's scans hadn't detected any living creatures that could impede his progress, so Sam recalled the drone, letting it settle nicely into his backpack. He prepared to take off again, until a familiar voice from behind cut him off.
"So that thing lives in your pack? How does that even work?! I mean, it's cool, but how?!"
Sam turned around, finding himself face to face with the pegasus who's mane held every color in the spectrum. Rainbow Dash floated a few feet off the ground, just enough so that she and Sam were at the same eye level.
"Oh, look, it's Miss Personality," Sam chuckled. "Don't you have something 'awesome' to do?"
Rainbow snorted. "Lotta tough talk coming from the guy without real wings."
"Yeah, well, humans don't grow wings," said Sam. He jumped off the edge of the cliff, activating his pack as he did. The familiar metal appendages jutted out from both sides, and Sam's fingers tightened around the handles. "See ya round, Skittles."
With those words, Sam rocketed away, low enough that he could see the trails in the Everfree Forest. He'd assumed, naturally, that his words were the end of the conversation. He was wrong.
"So humans had to invent fake wings?" piped up Rainbow Dash, flying alongside him, her wings nearly blurring out of vision in order to propel her fast enough. "That's actually pretty cool. Don't start getting into mechanics and crap, though. I get more than enough egghead talk from Twilight."
Sam rolled his eyes, slowing down a little so he could turn to face the pegasus. "Seriously, why are you following me?" he asked.
Rainbow shrugged. "I got bored. So what's up?"
"Well, I'm actually trying to be proactive, and find any traces of the fauns," Sam snarked. "If you've got nothing to contribute—"
"Oh, hoho!" the pegasus cut him off. "Me, not being useful? You're new around here, so I'll excuse you for not knowing about me, but I'm Rainbow Dash! The most radical pegasus in Equestria!"
Sam gave her a look. "Are you sure you're not distantly related to Stark through magic or something?" he asked.
Rainbow ignored him as she accelerated, her wings beating so fast they turned into blurs. She sped above the treetops of the Everfree, her head held high, and her mane flowing in the wind. Sam poured more power into his pack, trying to keep pace with the multicolored streak that went zooming across the forest. Rainbow kept swerving and swerving, and Sam nearly smashed into rocks several times. It was becoming impossible to look at the ground, due to his need to watch where he was going.
After an incident in which Rainbow nearly led him to crash into a tree, Sam had had enough.
"OKAY, YOU MADE YOUR POINT, CAN WE LAND, PLEASE?!" he roared, his words snatched away by the wind. Rainbow's ears managed to barely catch them, thankfully, and she led him to a small clearing on the edge of the forest.
Sam landed on his feet, nearly stumbling and falling flat on his face. "Look, prism hair, I need to do a thorough search, and your dumb—!"
"Oh, I already did it," said Rainbow proudly. "No signs of faun tracks, or anything. Well, there were some, but they lead from the Castle to Ponyville. So, no leads here, at least."
The stream of insults Sam had been about to unleash on the pegasus died in his throat. He stared at her, trying to figure out a response. "How...how could you possibly know that?! You were flying around in random directions like a maniac! You weren't even looking at the ground-"
"Actually, I was," said Rainbow. "I have to be aware of everything while I'm flying, even what's going on on the ground. And I did a complete sweep of the entire Forest." She smiled, folding her front legs in triumph.
Sam started to respond, before a thought occurred to him. He unrolled the map again, focusing on the Forest and tracing the path the two of them had taken from memory with a finger. To his surprise, they had indeed covered all of it, and it had taken a matter of minutes.
"What...how did you know where you were going?" he stammered. "You didn't even plan out a route..."
"Oh, that's easy," said Rainbow. "I pretty much have flight routes memorized. I just picked the most efficient one. You could've done it, if this wasn't your second day in Equestria."
Sam merely stuffed the map away, before returning his gaze to Rainbow. A slow smile began to advance on his face, and he couldn't stop himself from laughing. But this was a laugh that carried a message that he was impressed, shocked even, by the pony before him.
"I think I may have misjudged you, Rainbow," he chuckled. "You ain't so bad after all."
Rainbow took a mock bow in midair. "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week."
"So, you're a real flyer pony?" asked Sam. "I bet you'd be interested in some of my Air Force stories."
Equis, Canterlot
Celestia breathed a content sigh as she looked over the castle's private garden. Her royal duties had been handled for the rest of the day, and all that was left to do was wait for an update concerning Phobos and Deimos. For the moment, all she desired was to relax in the quiet environment, Philomena chirping in the tress, surrounded by total serenity.
Which was interrupted by the golden column of light from the sky.
Celestia's pet phoenix squawked as she flew away from the impact site. The light endured for a couple of seconds, until it faded to reveal Thor, surrounded by grass burned with the signature marks signaling a Bifrost arrival. His expression was one of mild annoyance.
"Really?" Celestia deadpanned. "You couldn't aim somewhere else?"
Thor chuckled to himself. "Ah, Celestia, you know me too well."
"I take it from your face that Heimdall was less than successful?"
Thor sighed, clearly somewhat frustrated. "There's a powerful source of dark magic on this planet. It's capable of concealing Phobos and Deimos from Heimdall's eyes. There's no way for him to find them, or their master."
Celestia shrugged. "Should've known it wouldn't be that easy. Well, on the bright side, we do have a reliable informant. He will come up with a lead."
"I hope you're right," said the Asgardian.
He took a look around the garden, eventually directing his gaze to Canterlot Castle itself, something that hadn't been built in his previous visits to Equestria. "Much nicer than the one in the Everfree. What made you leave it?"
"Oh, you know," the solar alicorn responded. "Nightmare Moon, bad memories. Besides, the Everfree Forest got quite a bit more unpleasant over the years."
Thor sat down on the stone bench, Celestia joining him. Philomena, having gotten over her fright, settled down onto one of the branches across from them, staring at Thor for a while.
"So," said the Asgardian, "reforming Discord."
"Believe it or not, it worked. Thanks to Fluttershy," responded Celestia. Thor gave her a look. "Okay, fine, it was rocky. He betrayed us to help Tirek. But it came back to bite him, and I believe, as does Twilight, that he's truly learned his lesson this time."
"Tirek escaped as well?!" exclaimed Thor. "What else happened in the last few years?!"
"Well," said Celestia, "the Crystal Empire returned, along with Sombra, though he's gone now. The entire empire now calls Spike the dragon a hero. My niece Cadence ascended to alicornhood and rules it along with her husband, Twilight's brother, though her wedding was interrupted by the Changelings, who tried to take over. They had a baby, who was born an alicorn. Oh, and we met a Changeling who's turned away from the hive, and lives in pony society. I think that just about covers it."
Thor almost fell out of his seat. "You...don't jest, do you?" he asked. "I thought I'd have so much more to tell you about when I got here, considering Loki, and the dark elves, and everything."
"It is quite a lot..." said Celestia. "I...I never told you, Thor, but I'm sorry about Frigga."
"Thank you," said the prince, a brief look of sadness flashing across his face. "At least she went out bravely. She was as much of a warrior as any Asgardian, in the end."
"I'm not surprised," Celestia responded. She cast her gaze towards the mountains, where her precious sun hung in the sky, nearly blinding. "I hope that this mess gets resolved soon. For her sake."
Thor looked at the solar alicorn. "Who do you speak of?"
"Twilight."
"Your student? She seems perfectly capable to me. Especially considering all her achievements you've told me about."
"It's not that I doubt her," Celestia mumbled, staring at the ground. "It's...she's so young. She shouldn't have to do this, not at her age."
"She doesn't seem to mind—"
"I know! Of course I know!" Celestia snapped. "She's never refused to do anything I ask of her!" She sighed, looking away from her friend. "I didn't even tell her everything about Nightmare Moon, I made her work out everything herself. Not to mention that Nightmare Moon was my fault in the first place. I made her feel like the affair with the Crystal Empire was a test I would use to judge her. I turned her into a princess without even asking. I made her take on alicorn magic, forcing her to battle Tirek on her own. I...Twilight's barely an adult. Ponies don't deserve to spend their lives fighting for Equestria, risking everything." She turned back to Thor. "I've been a terrible teacher, and now she thinks she needs to solve this affair on her own, as well."
Thor grabbed Celestia by the shoulders. "You know that's not true," he told her, his voice carrying to tone of a command. "I was there. Nightmare Moon wasn't your fault. And now I know for a fact Luna doesn't blame you for it."
Celestia looked down sadly. "But—"
"And if my interactions with Princess Twilight are anything to go by, you've done nothing to her," insisted Thor. "She's a compassionate and brave soul. She's happy with her life." His warm smile calmed Celestia a bit. "I was so proud of what you'd done when I saw her. You helped her."
"As for your mistakes," he continued, "we're imperfect. You've always had a problem accepting your own flaws and failures. I was the same. You and I both have taken the time to learn and improve."
Celestia smiled back at him, but her eyes were still sad. "I appreciate it, Thor. Still, I can't help but be concerned. This...this shouldn't be Twilight's life."
"What brought this on?" asked Thor. "Have you been feeling this apprehension for years, and you just never-"
"No, it's just in the past few months," responded Celestia. "I don't know what it is, I've been having some nightmares about her..."
"Well," said Thor, "If you're so worried about her, you should speak with her about it. Deal with the problem."
"No!" exclaimed Celestia, jumping where she stood. Thor leaped back, startled.
The alicorn, coming to her senses, took a breath. "I mean, well, I've never been skilled at being emotionally...supportive. I'm sure you know what I mean."
"True," admitted Thor. He recalled Luna's pleas to her sister, begging her to help show ponies that night could be beautiful. The younger Celestia had brushed these thoughts away. "But that was a thousand years ago. I'm sure you've learned from those mistakes."
"Possibly," said Celestia. "I'll...think about talking to her. But...maybe we should wait until—"
"Princess Celestia!" came a voice. Thor and the Princess spun around, coming face to face with a group of royal guards.
"Thorax has reported in! We have the whereabouts of Phobos and Deimos!"