//------------------------------//
// Chapter 21: Healing 
// Story: From the Ashes 
// by Boltstrike58 
//------------------------------//

Equis, Ponyville

What force drove Tony to walk out the same door Barnes had passed through earlier, he couldn't say. He knew that he had no real desire to hear anything the man might have to say, and from what he could tell, the super soldier himself wasn't too keen on this conversation. Nevertheless, Tony followed him. He did manage to stop himself once, freezing his feet to the crystal floor for a few seconds, just long enough to turn around and look back at Twilight. The purple alicorn gave him a pleading face, begging him to go through with it. Despite his efforts, Tony's feet weren't under his control anymore. He followed Barnes.

At the balcony, Tony found Barnes standing completely still, staring off into the distance. Tony had seen him in Winter Soldier mode, where he stood in a similar pose, awaiting orders, but this was clearly different. His shoulders were slumped, as though carrying a pack weighing more than the man himself. His head tilted forward, looking down at the grass below. The fingers on his remaining human hand fell limp, though they still had that natural curl to them. His metallic hand had none of this, looking more like a piece of armor without a wearer.

Now that he'd unwillingly dragged himself here, Tony didn't know what came next. Was there something he was supposed to say? Throw another accusation out, perhaps? It wasn't like Barnes had ever denied committing the murders. Tony felt his frustration grow, feeling the pointlessness of the conversation. Before he could make a move, Barnes started to speak.

"I know it's not much consolation, but they didn't suffer," he said. "Killing them slowly would've made it harder to cover up. Hydra was smart enough to know that. They died quickly, without much pain."

Barnes raised his head for the first time, but he did not turn. Tony was grateful for that. He didn't know if he'd be able to keep himself from punching Barnes in the face.

The man continued. "He recognized me that day, your dad. I wasn't as chummy with him as Steve, but he still knew my face. You couldn't hear it very well on the tape, but he said my name. It was one of the times when I...almost woke up. My real brain, buried underneath the Winter Soldier, flickered back to life for a few seconds, but I couldn't wrestle back control of my body. Then I heard them both, asking me to help the other, never begging for their lives. I never met your mom, but from what I heard that day, she was a good person."

Briefly, Tony flared with rage again. Yeah, he could gleam that from knowing Maria Stark in the last few seconds of her life, and Tony obviously didn't know that from knowing his mom from birth! But before he could act on it, Twilight's face reappeared in his mind, imploring him not to give in to his fury. Cursing the pony princess's ability to affect him, Tony forced his anger down.

"So you did remember," he said simply.

Barnes nodded. "I don't recall every second I ever spent as the Winter Soldier, but I remember all the assassinations. Political figures, scientists, soldiers, all of 'em. I can see all of their faces. I didn't lie about that in Siberia."

Bucky looked back down at his hands, remembering Luna's words. "They tell me—and you, I'm guessing—to just let it go, but I know that's unfair. Sure, Hydra had control of my mind, but I still did it. I failed to stop myself. I didn't turn myself in when I started to get my memories back. I'm not a good person, that's what some people can't grasp. I've done terrible things, and I haven't been punished for it at all."

Tony felt his mood begin to turn. He knew about Bucky's situation, of course, but he'd been actively suppressing the information in his lust for vengeance for his mother. Now, he felt himself being forced to confront all the facts of the story for the first time. Yes, Bucky had been the one to end the lives of Maria and Howard Stark. But he himself had been trapped in his own body, forced to do things he deplored since the end of World War II. He'd been subjected to horrific brain-washing procedures, pumped full of knock-off super soldier serum, and frozen with primitive cryogenic technology, enduring decades worth of physical pain. After finally escaping from it, he'd become a wanted man, sleeping in run-down apartments, scraping by. Not to mention he'd been forced to shoot at his best friend. And yet the man in front of him believed none of that mattered, that he hadn't suffered at all, placing himself below all of his victims in terms of importance. And for reasons he couldn't explain, Tony believed him.

Then there was the guilt. Tony felt his own begin to stir once more, from the pile he'd built up since Afghanistan. First it had been the soldiers gunned down in the convoy, and the countless victims of terrorists who'd obtained his weapons. Tony wondered briefly if Iron Man would ever make up every single one of those deaths. Then there was the feeling that he'd grown complacent, that another alien invasion would lead to the deaths of the Avengers, his friends, because he hadn't done enough. But then that guilt had misled him, leading to the birth of Ultron, and even more deaths, and the destruction of Sokovia. A shock rippled throughout his system, as he realized he could see the guilt that burned in him reflected in the man he'd wanted to kill.

"That's actually the reason I told Steve to put me back in cryo," Bucky continued. "I told him it was to keep people safe, in case I became the Winter Soldier again, but that wasn't whole truth. He keeps throwing his life away to save my skin, which I don't deserve in the slightest, and I was trying to get him to give up on me. I hoped he'd eventually be forced to leave me, and he'd forget about me, or something. But he found out a way, and Maximoff deprogrammed me. The code words don't work anymore. After that, I was out of excuses."

Bucky placed both hands on his head, as his voice started to shake. For the first time, he'd reached the peak of his despair, and he could feel himself starting to cry. "I wish I'd been strong enough to let you kill me in Siberia, but I wasn't. And even if I had been, Steve would've fought it. I know, saying I'm sorry is meaningless here, but I want to make up for it, and I want to be punished, but—"

Tony cut Bucky off with the three words neither man had ever thought he'd say.

"I forgive you."

Bucky's breath froze. The urge to weep disappeared from him in sheer shock at the words. Slowly, he finally turned to face Tony, his hands trembling in front of him. He tried to speak, but words failed him. He only managed to articulate a single one.

"What...?"

"I said I forgive you," Tony repeated. "And maybe someday, you can forgive yourself." With that, he turned and walked away.

Bucky was left standing all alone on the balcony, completely frozen, barely able to breathe. His arms trembled as his brain desperately tried to process what he'd heard, and he thought his knees might fail him. His state was only disturbed by a feathery wing softly brushing against his side. Bucky looked up, finding Luna standing next to him, still smiling despite the bloody scratches on her face, matting her fur to her face.

"I...I don't understand," he stuttered.

"Sometimes," Luna continued, "we underestimate the ability of our loved ones to forgive us."

She hugged Bucky close with both front legs, and the man, no longer the Winter Soldier, allowed himself to cry for the first time in seventy years.

Tony kept his eyes down on the ground as he walked back towards the meeting room. A pair of other feet came into his view, and Tony didn't need to look up to see who they belonged to. Despite this, he did it anyway. Steve's eyes were filled with grief and remorse as well, but for the first time since they'd arrived in Equestria, Steve looked at Tony with a smile on his face.

"T-thank..." Steve stumbled over his words, "thank you, Tony."

Tony allowed himself to smile as well. "Let's talk, Steve."





The remaining Avengers, with the exception of Spider-Man, were left gathered in Twilight's living room, Bucky and Luna joining them eventually. Twilight and her friends had backed off, giving them a bit of space, but remained in the room. Even Lyra had returned, now that the shouting was done. The Avengers themselves were left with a heavy silence, one that they were all afraid to break.

"Okay," Natasha finally spoke, "I guess we all have a lot of apologies to make. I'll start." She turned to Scott. "I, er...I'm sorry I kicked you in the crotch, that one time."

"Eh, could've been worse," admitted Ant-Man. "At least my suit has padding down there. I'm sorry about trying to put you in an arm lock, and almost stepping on you at the airport. Oh, and you," he continued turning to T'Challa.

"I forgive you," answered the king. He'd been slowly recovering from the mental agony that Sombra's spell had inflicted on him, despite its failure to make him attack any of the others. "I know I've said it many times, Sergeant Barnes, but—"

Bucky cut him off with a hand wave. "I forgave you, T'Challa. Zemo fooled all of us."

T'Challa smiled pleasantly. "Then I suppose I owe you apologies, Sam, Clint," he continued. "I didn't try to kill you, but I was a pain in your asses, I'm sure."

Both bird-themed Avengers had a quiet chuckle.

"I'm sorry too, Sam," Rhodey spoke up. "For what I said when we were debating the Accords. You were just saying what you felt, and I was pretty dismissive."

Sam looked away sadly. "I should apologize to you," he replied. "It's my fault you fell—"

"No," Vision interjected, "that was my doing. I wasn't careful, I got distracted...I..."

"Forget about that, guys," Rhodey insisted. "It was an accident. None of you are at fault. Or Tony."

Nobody spoke for a few seconds, and eventually, Wanda stood up.

"I suppose I should go next," she admitted. She turned first to Thor, Natasha, and Bruce. "I'm sorry...about the telepathy I used on you. Banner, Romanoff..." She looked at them sadly. "I forced you to re-experience your worst memories. There's no justification for that. Nothing I do can ever make up for that."

Natasha got to her feet, walked over to Wanda, and put a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of peace.

"I forgive you," she said. "You aren't the person you were, and you put your neck out on the line as much as I do. You've earned it."

Everyone turned to Bruce, hoping he'd manage to do the same. The physicist looked quietly at his own hands, before raising his gaze to meet the Sokovian's.

"I forgive you," he finally replied. He then turned to the other woman, who visibly flinched as she met his eyes. "Natasha..." The Black Widow turned to him. "I think...we have a lot to go over."

Natasha nodded in agreement, walking over to join Bruce. Wanda watched to man and woman come together once again, and it reminded her of her own situation. She instinctively turned towards the one she'd been avoiding. Vision shied away at her gaze, but forced himself to look back at her. Wanda eventually joined him, and the others looked away, giving them some peace.

The Black Widow was the first to break the silence. "I swear, I didn't just kiss you so I could push you off the edge," she said. "I meant what I said that day, but it was still wrong to use that against you. I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad at you for that," Bruce replied. "You needed the Hulk to defeat Ultron. I was being selfish. I wanted to just run away, leave the others to deal with an army of robots—"

"You didn't want to deal with the Other Guy anymore," Natasha countered. "That's not selfish. Anybody in your position would've wanted some time off after that."

Bruce sighed, resting his head in his hands. "Look at us," he lamented, waving his hands around. "I'm a scientist who accidentally created uncontrollable power. You're a born and raised assassin. We're having a conversation facilitated by magical talking ponies. What's happened to our lives?"

"If it's any consolation, mine was never normal. Like you said, assassin was essentially my destiny. There weren't a lot of other options."

"Maybe...maybe we deluded ourselves," Bruce admitted, sadly. "What did we think? We were gonna run away? Try to be normal? It's not who we are. Maybe this is the best we've got."

Natasha said nothing, but the look in her eyes betrayed her agreement.

"And maybe...we were never gonna be anything else," Bruce finished, shaking his head. "It just doesn't work. Not like this."

"I know," Natasha replied. "But what does that make us?"

"How about friends?"

Natasha moved forward, embracing Bruce in a warm, friendly hug. For both, these moments of intimacy, of friendship, were few and far between, so both took the chance to savor it as long as they could. Bruce pulled back, giving Natasha a look deep into her eyes, and a wordless conversation passed between them. They'd be okay.

Standing up, Natasha moved to walk away, only to have two familiar faces walk up to her. Clint, his usual smug grin that always seemed to be impossibly kind, and Rarity. Natasha looked down at the white unicorn, recalling their previous conversation, and realized that she'd been right. Natasha did have friends. Across the room, Bruce smiled at the woman, as Fluttershy's hoof found it's way onto his shoulder.

On the other side of the room, another pair was having a similar debacle of their own. Wanda and Vision sat quietly on chairs, facing each other, both looking down at the floor beneath their feet. Starlight and Lyra watched them, both finding they couldn't do more but hope for the best for their friends.

"So," Vision finally broke the silence, but as he tried to speak more, words seemed to elude him. The synthetic being fumbled with the Mind Stone in its resting place on his forehead, searching for a way out of this conversation.

"I felt betrayed," Wanda spoke suddenly, causing Vision to jump in his seat. "As much as I blamed myself for what happened in Lagos, I didn't think you, out of all of us, would jump on that train. Yet you agreed with Tony. You kept me in the Compound." She raised her eyes, finally looking him in the eyes. "Did you truly believe what you said? About protecting me? Or was that just what you said to my face?"

"No, no!" Vision insisted. "I swear, I was trying to help! You saw the news, the protests, the anti-Avengers campaign that was beginning to circulate. If you'd gone out, and they attacked you, or something..." Vision rested his forehead in one hand. "I know you could defend yourself, but that would've just fueled their fire. I didn't...I didn't want it to become any worse for you than it already was." He mustered up the courage to face Wanda. "And what about you? As soon as Clint came calling, you jumped in with Captain Rogers. Practically gave in to what they said about you."

"Well, like I told you," Wanda replied, "I can't control their fear. Just mine. And I couldn't deal with it any more. I mentally crippled the team with Ultron before, I couldn't stop Lagos, I couldn't even save Pietro..." Her voice began to crack, but she wouldn't let herself cry. Not like this. "I had to do something of value. And I believed in Steve."

Vision relaxed in his chair, pressing both of his temples. "Maybe we've both been too hard. Neither of us considered what the other had on their plate." He reached forward, grasping one of Wanda's hands with his own. "But I swear, I would never betray you. I...I care about you far too much."

Wanda smiled bitterly, running her fingers over Vision's vibranium skin. "Do you know what Sombra's spell showed me? What my worst nightmare was? It was you throwing me to the dogs," she admitted. "I-I can't live like that. And I want to believe in you."

"Mine was much the same," Vision responded. "I don't think we've been honest about our...whatever it is, that we have."

Wanda moved forward and embraced him, Vision responding in kind. They needed no more words. This was assurance enough. For each held their entire world in their arms, and for the first time, they'd admitted it to themselves, and to each other. Lyra and Starlight couldn't help but smile.





Steve and Tony parked themselves on one of Twilight's crystal benches, sitting side by side. Though they'd considered going back to the others, they'd decided to keep this conversation between the two of them.

"I don't blame you for protecting Barnes," Tony admitted. "Even when we thought he'd blown up the U.N. Hell, if the situations were reversed, and it'd been Rhodey who was accused of that, I'd like to think I would do the same things. But—"

"Why didn't I tell you he killed your parents?" Steve interrupted, knowing the question on the edge of Tony's mind. The billionaire nodded.

"When I said I didn't know it was him, that wasn't a lie," Steve continued. "You can ask Natasha. Arnim Zola admitted to us that Hydra had assassinated them before they blew him up, but I had no proof that Bucky did it. Which brings us around to your real question."

Steve sighed, rubbing his head. "I guess...I meant what I said in the letter, when I said I wanted to spare you further grief. At first, it just kept getting pushed out of my mind, since we had Project Insight to deal with, then Sam and I were looking for Bucky, then I had to call you out to Europe to deal with the Hydra remnants. But then, when you got there, you told me all about your PTSD from New York, and I thought you had too much on your plate already. Then we had the Ultron fiasco, and then I found out about your troubles with Pepper...There just never seemed to be a good time to say 'Hey, Tony, by the way, Hydra murdered your parents.'"

"There never is a good time, is there?" Tony replied. "I wonder if dad ever suspected they'd infiltrated Shield." He snorted. "Must've been disappointing, considering how much he used to talk about you."

Steve felt his shoulders slump. "I'm sorry, Tony," he muttered. "Howard was my friend, but it's perfectly possible to be a good person, yet a lousy father." He remembered how Tony had specifically said 'He killed my mom,' instead of 'parents.' "I obviously never knew Maria, but—"

"It doesn't matter," Tony cut him off. "My daddy issues aren't our real problem right now." He turned to look Steve in the eyes. "Look, I understand why you didn't want to sign the Accords. I mean, in the war you came from, it was clear who were the good guys, and who were the bad guys, and you knew you were working for the good guys. But then you came out of the ice, and Nick Fury lies to you about your mission, and you find out that a big chunk of Shield was the same terrorist organization you thought you defeated. I guess you didn't have a lot of reason to trust authority anymore."

"True," Steve admitted. "But what I said at the airport, how you were tearing the Avengers apart more than I was, that was uncalled for. I know you felt responsible for the people who died, and you just wanted to stop it from happening again..."

"Yeah," Tony replied, "but, to be honest, a big chunk of that was intended to...punish myself. For Ultron. Maybe, if somebody had regulated us, and I hadn't screwed with the scepter—"

"Tony, none of us blame you for that," insisted Steve. "It was an accident. And it's not like you said, 'Hey, let's shove this alien stick that I have no idea what it is into my computers and see what happens,' you were just running some scans on it. If anything, I was more angry that you didn't tell us about it."

Tony chuckled. "Well, I knew you'd be against it from the start." They both shared a healthy laugh at that.

"I guess...in the end, we both kinda screwed up," Steve admitted. "We were basically the leaders of the team. If we'd talked, or something, maybe it wouldn't have fallen apart as much."

"At least there's one thing we agree on."

"What?"

"Ross is a sack of shit."

"Absolutely."

The two men were left with another silence they didn't know how to break. Thankfully, this one wasn't uncomfortable, as tensions seemed to have died down.

"You know, I think the surreal nature of this has finally gotten to me," Tony finally said.

"I know! We're on a planet, in a country populated by magical, technicolor, talking ponies, and they're the ones that finally convince us to talk things out! It's ridiculous!" Steve exclaimed. "It's like we're learning lessons from a little girl's cartoon!"

"When we got here, I thought it'd drive me crazy," Tony confessed. "I thought they'd be all happy-sappy and crap, and that they'd never even seen a fight before. But they're wise, they're insightful, they understand complicated, personal issues. It's crazy."

Steve laughed, both at the billionaire's quips, and the absurdity of their current condition. As he leaned back in his seat, another thought occurred to him.

"Uh, Tony? Not that I'm looking to start another fight, but that Spider-Man kid..."

Tony paled. "Uh..." he mumbled as he scratched his head sheepishly, "I suppose that deserves an explanation. First off, I swear, at the airport, I told him not to fight you guys. I told him just to stay back and web you up. I think he just wanted to impress me, or something."

"He's just a kid."

"A kid who can stop a speeding car," Tony countered. "I picked him up because I believe he can do some good. Let me tell you..."





"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Spider-Man grunted, rubbing his masked head with both hands as he sat on the side of the crystal castle. "Why did you open your mouth back there, you sounded like an idiot..."

The super-human teenager had been going through this particular ritual for the past five minutes or so, ever since leaving the cross-species team of heroes. It had taken all his guts just to speak at that gathering, and to remove his mask (though it wasn't like they knew his name, at least). Upon his departure, he'd been overwhelmed by embarrassment and doubt, wondering just how much he'd managed to screw up. Afraid to reenter in order to reach the portal, he'd taken to clinging to the wall and grumbling, but not touching anything else, seeing as he was on an alien planet. Any other day, he'd have been in full science nerd mode, but today hadn't been pleasant.

"Excuse me?" came a female voice from somewhere below him. Spider-Man looked down, discovering the purple unicorn with wings (Twilight, he thought her name was), standing on the balcony under him. "Hey, Spider-Man, was it? Could I talk to you?"

"Uh, sure," he answered, jumping down next to her. He suddenly remembered that Rhodes had  told him about her, calling her the Princess of Friendship, and he hastily moved into a small bow. "M-my apologies, your Highness, I—"

A magenta aura suddenly enveloped him, pushing his body back up. Magic, Peter thought, looking at the matching shimmer around Twilight's horn. That was new.

"There's no need for any of that," she insisted. "I don't care for any of that bowing nonsense. And just call me Twilight, please."

"Okay...Twilight," Peter replied. He'd been right when Rhodes had told him about this place, this was ludicrous. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Twilight gave him a warm, friendly smile. "I just wanted you to know that I think you did a great thing back there. I've only known the Avengers for a few days, but I've seen the effects that their turmoil's been having on them. And those things you said, about power and responsibility, are wonderful to me. Thank you."

Peter felt his mouth dry out under his mask. This reaction had certainly been unexpected. Admittedly, he hadn't known much about the ponies before arriving on their planet, but still. It brought a comforting feeling to be appreciated.

"Well, er, you're welcome, I guess," he finally said. "I really believe that—"

He didn't get to finish that thought, as a pink blur zoomed up to him, seemingly out of nowhere. When it stopped, he recognized it as the pink pony who'd been at the battle. However, what truly caught him off guard was how she seized his hand with both of her front legs, wringing his entire arm. Peter felt his entire arm shake from the force, as the deceptively strong creature stared right into his eyes, almost like she could see through the opaque lenses. Her face was taken up by the widest grin he'd ever seen in his entire life.

"Hi Mr. Spider-Man! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm happy to meet you! I liked your funny jokes when you showed up, and I think your costume is bright and it makes me happy! And when you left, and we weren't thinking about all the sad stuff anymore, I started thinking about you, and how none of the Avengers ever mentioned you, and I thought maybe that meant you weren't really friends with them, and if you don't have friends here, you must be lonely, and that made me so sad again, and then I thought 'Hey! I could be his friend!' And now I—"

"Pinkie!" yelled Twilight, seizing the earth pony in her magical grip, prying her off of Spider-Man. "You're doing that thing again where you talk so fast that nopony can follow you." After about a second of silence, she added, "Except maybe Discord."

"Oh," Pinkie replied simply, floating in Twilight's magenta aura. "Sorry about that. I get excited when I make a new friend."

Peter was too busy holding his arm, trying to make it stop vibrating, in order to respond. The sound of laughter caught his ears, and he and both ponies turned their heads towards the door, where Tony and Steve were having a good chuckle at the sight. Mostly Tony.

"We'll call that your initiation, kid," Tony got out between fits of laughter. "We had the same experience when we got here."

"O-oh, Mr. Stark!" Peter stumbled, trying to stand up straight and look dignified, and failing at it. "Listen, I'm sorry about—"

Tony held up a hand to silence him as he finished laughing. When he looked back up at Spider-Man, his face was serious once again, even a little remorseful.

"You've got nothing to apologize for," he said. "I'm the one who should be sorry for snapping at you. Twilight is right, you did a great thing back there."

Twilight gave Tony a small glare at the nickname, but she was clearly proud of him. Spider-Man didn't seem to know how to react. His eyepieces widened to their maximum, and his hands shook.

"I...I..." he stuttered.

"You're gonna go far, kid," Tony admitted, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You proved that today. You could be one of the best of us."

"He's right, Spider-Man," Steve followed. "You've got heart, and you've got compassion. If anyone's Avenger material, it's you."

"Oh my God..." breathed Spider-Man, clenching his fists close to his body and wringing them in excitement. "This is the most amazing day of my life..."

"Group hug!" screamed Pinkie, pushing the three humans, as well as Twilight, together. She threw her front legs around them, squeezing their bodies against each other. Twilight, naturally, was trapped between the three larger humans, and her mane was rustled up by the contact. The three Avengers merely stared at each other, unsure of how to proceed.

"Uh, Pinkie?" Steve protested to the oblivious earth pony, who kept hugging while keeping an impossibly wide smile on her face. "Can you let go now?"

"Couple more seconds!" Pinkie responded, as if this were a normal conversation, and knowing her, it probably was. "Okay, that's good!" She released the humans and the alicorn, letting them get a bit of breathing room. "There, doesn't that feel good?"

"Uh..." Tony started, but Twilight shot him a look, telling him to just go with it, "...sure."

"Okay," said Steve, "now we need to plan. Sombra's still out there. Spider-Man, Twilight, Pinkie, we need you back in the meeting room."

Looking back at one of his idols, Spider-Man made a decision.

"Peter," he said quietly. "My name is Peter."

Steve smiled to himself. "Well then, Peter," he replied, "we're happy to have you."





As the five returned to the meeting room, the remaining Avengers felt a wave of peace wash over them, as Steve and Tony stood side-by-side, like the friends they'd once been. The tension hadn't been dissolved completely, but they'd begun the process. With time, the wounds would fade into nothing but memory.

"I'm guessing you doubted us?" Tony joked, causing a small wave of laughter.

"Stark-no, Tony," Wanda interrupted, standing up. All eyes focused on the Sokovian. "I...I'm sorry that Pietro and I ever blamed you for our parents deaths." Her eyes were dry, her grief seemingly beyond tears. "You didn't launch those missiles. And you've spent almost a decade cleaning up your act. And I forced you to experience your worst fear. You and Steve." She lowered her head, not wanting to look them in the eye. "Please forgive me."

"I do," Tony replied, without hesitation. "And I'm sorry for locking you in the Compound. You tried to save those people in Lagos, that wasn't your fault." He turned to Natasha. "I'm sorry for all those times I called you a backstabber." Clint. "I'm sorry I insulted you back at the Raft." He positioned himself so he could look at all of them. "I've been a lousy...co-leader, I guess you could say. I'm sorry."

"I haven't had the greatest track record, either," Steve admitted. He directed his gaze to the faction that fought beside him in Germany. "I'm sorry, once again, that I dragged you all into my crusade, and made you outlaws." His shoulders began to slump. "But no matter what we've done to each other, we can still forgive. We can move on, and we are still the Avengers. Yes, it's embarrassing that it took a race of magical talking ponies for us to figure that out, but it's true." He threw an appreciative look at Applejack. "And we have a job to do."

Lyra gently nudged Vision. "Looks like you were right. Humans and ponies aren't that different after all." Vision grinned, but said nothing.

"Wait," Luna suddenly spoke, standing up from her place next to Bucky, "before we move on, there's one more among us that needs...I don't know what you'd call it. Closure? Peace?"

Twilight's eyes widened in realization, and her head fell. She knew exactly what Luna was talking about.

"Princess Celestia."