//------------------------------// // Chapter 26: Good-bye For Now // Story: From the Ashes // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Equis, Ponyville Ponyville was always one of the brightest places to visit in Equestria, even before the creation of the massive crystal castle that had grown on the edge of the town. While not the bustling city of Manehatten nor the government capital of Canterlot, the town was a sunny beacon of peace, a place where ponies could simply sit and feel relaxed. Celestia's sun radiated down onto the land, bathing it in a calm golden glow, sparkles reflecting off the crystal castle. Ponyville was probably the most comforting place in Equestria. As it turned out, that feeling was shared by Equestria's extraterrestrial visitors, as they stood in front of Twilight's castle, drinking in the peaceful atmosphere of Equestria while they still had the time. At the moment, the Avengers stood in a line in front of the castle, opposite of the ponies, while not one, but three transport mirrors were set next to each other. Twilight and Starlight were just finishing up stabilizing the second mirror, set to go straight to Wakanda, and one that would create a portal to Equestria, to be entrusted to T'Challa, while Tony and Bruce were double-checking their equations. The Avengers would go home in their original groups (not including Thor), though Scott and Clint would need T'Challa to give them rides back to their places in America. "Are you sure you don't want to just stay here?" asked Applejack. "With the Accords still set, you're still being chased—" "I appreciate the thought Applejack," said Steve, "but we have things to do back home. There's always arms dealers and thugs to bust. At least we can come here if they get too close to nabbing us." "And I've gotta work on hopefully getting the Accords amended, maybe getting Steve and the others pardoned," said Tony/ "I'm pretty sure there are people who would support the idea." "If only all of our problems could be solved with magic rainbow lasers," Natasha lamented. Twilight had tried to convince them to accept aid in dealing with the Accords, but Celestia had reminded her that Equestria had no power on Earth, and the Accords were a problem that needed to be solved diplomatically. Plus, if they ever decided to form some kind of relationship with Earth, it probably wouldn't help if their first move was to mess with human politics. "You know what's really odd about this?" said Rhodey. "I think this is the first time one of our misadventures won't end up on the news anywhere on Earth. Seriously, nobody will even know that we discovered the existence of an entire planet of sentient, talking horses. Then again, I'm not even sure anybody would believe us." Celestia had a brief chuckle. "We would be open to creating diplomatic relations with Earth, of course." "Tony and I have actually been talking about that," said Twilight. "We'd have to arrange for me to 'accidentally' warp to Earth, or open a portal or something. Obviously, we couldn't tell anyone about this, or Tony, Vision, Rhodey, T'Challa, Peter, and Bruce would get in trouble. It's still a work in progress, of course." Lyra, who'd demanded to be part of this farewell, much to Bon-Bon's aggravation, immediately wrapped her forelegs around Vision's leg. "But you're coming back to visit, right?" she asked, looking up at the android pleadingly. "You're not leaving us forever, right?" "Uh...yes, of course not," Vision awkwardly managed to get out. Wanda had to cover her mouth to suppress her laughter. Starlight bathed the two new mirrors in her turquoise magical field, scanning them. "Alright, I think they're good to go," she announced, levitating one over to T'Challa. "We've magically encoded them to only respond to you guys, or to us. Basically, they'll be useless to anypony that tries to steal them." "So magical encryptions can't be broken?" asked Scott. "They can," Twilight replied, "but first, one has to be able to access the enchantment's nexus to start making changes. We've blocked these to only respond to Starlight's, or my own specific magical signature. It's kind of like a password on a computer." "Well, at least that problem's out of the way," said Bruce with relief. "I'm guessing this is where we all say good-bye, huh?" asked Spike, disappointment fully evident in his voice. For someone like Spike, seeing real superheros leave was a painful loss. "Don't worry, my friend," said T'Challa, clapping him on the shoulder. "We shall return when we are able." He turned his gaze to Celestia and Luna. "When you decide to open up to Earth, you can count Wakanda among your allies, no matter what." "We'll want to stay in touch, too," said Twilight, igniting her horn. She levitated three newly-bound books up to Tony, Steve, and Thor. Tony's was red, Steve's was blue, and Thor's yellow. "I stayed up late last night to whip these up. Write in them, and the writing will appear in my copies, and vice versa." "Impressive, Princess Sparkle," said Thor, running his fingers over the smooth cover of the journal. "Now I won't have to run to Heimdall every time I want to check up on Equestria." "We'll have plenty of access to the journal, Thor," Luna affirmed. "No more thousand-year separations." The crowd of friends continued on this path for a good time, trading stories and promising this wouldn't be the last time they saw each other. Eventually, as Celestia habitually lowered the sun further and further in the sky, the Avengers found they could no longer put off their departure. For everyone, that moment came much too quickly. Twilight touched her horn to the first of the mirrors, opening a portal right to the Avengers Compound. Tony, fully suited up, his helmet tucked under his arm, approached the portal first. Twilight flew up to his head, wrapping her forelegs around his neck, and Tony returned the hug with one armored arm. "Thank you, Twilight," he whispered, finding himself at a loss for words for once. "Anytime," replied the pony, draping one of her wings over him, as she fought to keep her own voice from breaking. "If you ever need anything, promise me that you'll ask. Please?" Tony nodded. "Of course." Twilight released him with a bittersweet smile, watching as Tony stepped through the portal, and was worlds away from Equestria. Rhodey was next, walking perfectly with the War Machine suit covering his limp. "I'll watch out for him," he promised Twilight. "He'll be fine." Bruce stopped to get down on one knee, placing himself at eye level with Fluttershy. The quiet pegasus, despite knowing the true power the calm scientist held, smiled warmly, never backing down, and hugged him. "Thank you for reminding me of the good I can do," he said. Fluttershy said nothing, but she clearly appreciated it. Vision was next, but he made sure to give Wanda a firm hug before walking to the portal. As he did, he turned to Lyra, flashing a thumbs-up at her. The mint-green unicorn squealed with joy. Peter had donned his mask once more, but he removed it as he stepped up to the portal. "Uh, I'm not very good at making speeches of any kind," he admitted. "You probably all know that by now. But I really want to thank you all. You made me feel like I really made a difference and—" He was cut off, as the blur of pink zoomed into him. Pinkie threw her forelegs around his head, rubbing his face with her cheek. "Don't worry, Spidey! You're our friend and we love you and your jokes are funny and your webs are cool and we need you to come back so you can help me with one of my super-duper Pinkie Pie parties and—" The rest of Pinkie's words dissolved into incomprehensible chatter as she talked faster and faster. Twilight and the other ponies roared with laughter. Eventually, Peter managed to pry the earth pony off his face, but underneath, he was laughing just as much as the others. He set Pinkie down, giving her a hoof-to-fist bump, and stepped through the portal. As he did, Twilight's magic shut it off, closing the first five Avengers off from Equis. "I suppose it's my turn now," said Thor, picking up Mjölnir once more. He turned to Twilight and the others. "Princess Sparkle, it has been my honor to fight alongside you and your friends." He moved on to Celestia and Luna. "It was wonderful to see you again, Thor," said Celestia. "Equestria and Asgard should never have broke off." "I agree," said Luna. "Perhaps we could rekindle our nations' alliance. Just so you don't have to wait for the next crisis to visit." "I will do what I can," Thor replied. "But rest assured, no matter what father says, nothing will keep me from visiting my friends. I promise." Thor and Celestia shared one final hug, and Luna shook his hand. With that, Thor walked to a clear spot on the grass, before looking up and calling. "Heimdall! Fire away!" The familiar golden column of light emerged from the sky as the Bifrost opened once more, engulfing the god of thunder completely. When the light cleared, Thor was gone, leaving the grass scorched with the same runic symbols as always. "Good-bye, Thor," Celestia whispered, looking to the sky, and Twilight thought she detected some sadness in her voice. Starlight, meanwhile, ignited her horn once more, activating the second mirror with her magic. The blue beam expanded out into a new portal, this one showing T'Challa's palace in Wakanda. Steve was the first to approach the portal, his shield clamped onto his back, and his mask in his hand. He gave a polite salute to Celestia and Luna, before moving to Applejack. "You reminded me of who I wanted to be," he said, quietly, clapping her on the shoulder. "Of the right things I always said I wanted to do. Thank you so much for that." "Aw, shucks, Cap," said the farm pony, smiling bashfully, "It was nothing. Sometimes, we all need a little reminder of what we need to do. Ah know I have in the past." Her expression turned slightly more serious, as she looked Steve in the eye. "You did a wonderful thing for us, Steve. You protected our homes, the homes of ponies you didn't even know. In my book, that makes you a real hero." The two shared one more hoof-to-fist bump, before Steve stood up and walked through the portal, vanishing from sight. Sam was the first to follow him, though he stopped for a quick high-five/hoof with Rainbow Dash. "You're alright, Dashie," he chuckled. "You're not half-bad yourself, Sam," replied the pegasus. "I'll let you know when we have a Wonderbolt show coming up, you should totally be our guest performer!" Sam promised he would consider it, before stepping in behind Steve. Natasha was next, stepping up to the portal. As she turned to say her good-byes, a blue magical aura enveloped her arm, pulling her over to Rarity, who telekinetically held a measuring tape, a notepad, and a pencil. "My apologies, darling," said the unicorn, "but I haven't made an exact record of your measurements, and I want to have something truly glamorous waiting for you next time you visit!" Natasha couldn't help but smile at the fashionista, as she took notes of the spy's body shape and size. "You really don't have to," she replied, warmly. "You and your friends have done more than enough for us already." "Nonsense, Miss Romanoff!" Rarity insisted/ "Friends do things for each other! There's no quota to be reached!" Natasha felt herself relax, as she reached down and shook Rarity's hoof. Standing up, she bid farewell to the ponies, as she stepped through the portal. Clint stepped up to the portal, bow in hand, and politely waved good-bye. "I'm never gonna make retirement," he joked, before he walked through. Starlight looked at Wanda, who was next in line to go. The Sokovian woman looked less apprehensive than she had upon her arrival, but nerves still found their way to the surface. She gave the ponies an appreciative wave, but she still held her other hand close to her chest, apparently afraid for the future. Starlight trotted up to her. "Hey," she said, prompting Wanda to look down at her, "you'll be okay." Wanda smiled, grateful for the pony's comfort. She shook Starlight's hoof, and walked through the portal, standing just a bit taller than before. Scott came up, carrying his helmet under one arm. He smiled happily, thinking about how Cassie would react to this planet, and whether he could ever find a way to bring her here on a weekend. Still, the thought brought joy to his face. He waved good-bye, calling "See ya around!" before he climbed through the portal. T'Challa, carrying the mirror that would belong to Wakanda, stopped to give a respectful bow to Celestia and Luna. "Thank you for all you've done for me and my friends," he said. Then he turned to Spike. "Continue to progress your skills, Spike. You have the power to make a real difference." Spike smiled politely, but inside, he was squealing with fanboy love. T'Challa walked through the portal. Finally, Bucky was left, the only remaining human on Equis. He stepped towards the portal, before turning to face the ponies one last time. "Listen, I...I don't feel like I deserve to be treated half as good as you were to me. But I'm grateful for everything. If it hadn't been for you," he looked Luna in the eye, "I don't think I'd have the will to keep going." Luna stepped forward, putting her front legs around his neck, and resting her head on his shoulder. Bucky responded in kind, his mismatched arms squeezing Luna tightly to his body. Behind them, Celestia beamed with pride for her sister. "Never give up on yourself, okay?" Luna asked. "There are people and ponies who care about you. Please remember that." "I swear." How long they stood like that, nobody could place, but eventually, they had to release each other. Bucky wiped a single tear out of his eye as he walked through the portal. With a sigh, Starlight ignited her horn, shutting off the mirror and closing the portal. "I'm gonna miss them," she sadly mumbled, followed by a confirmative sniff from Spike. "Ah wouldn't worry about it too much, Sugar Cube," said Applejack. "Yeah, they'll be back," said Rainbow. "What makes you so sure?" asked Fluttershy. "Because we'll need them too," said Twilight. "And because they'll want to."