//------------------------------// // Twilight Sparkle: Relationship Counselor // Story: Avenging is Friendship // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Earth, Avengers Compound The pristine white car came slowly up the driveway to the building, the security guards raising the gate accordingly. Pepper Potts guided the car at a low speed into the parking garage, slotting into her reserved parking space, before shutting off the car. But she didn't get out, merely sitting with her hands on the steering wheel. Pepper wasn't sure how she'd managed to drag herself to the Compound, given how she'd been avoiding Tony for months. Sure, they were taking a "break," but Pepper doubted that many couples who said that actually came back from the break. What was worse was the guilt. Their argument had been started by her, and Tony had barely raised his voice to defend himself. Though she doubted he'd ever admit it, Pepper suspected that she'd damaged his pride at least, and it ached inside her. All she wanted was to make a point, but her temper had seen fit to sabotage everything. The whole debacle with the Sokovia Accords probably wasn't helping the inventor's stress levels. Pepper hadn't been in contact with Tony since it happened, but she knew the nightmare that had resulted. Steve was gone, on the run from the law, along with most of the team. Tony, Vision, and Rhodey were the only ones left. Bruce had been missing for more than a whole year. Pepper's empathy was tinged with her own sadness. The Avengers had been her friends, too, especially Steve and Bruce. Now, who knew where they were. And then there was the topic of their fight. Tony had talked about retirement before, sometimes even planning how to reach it, but it never happened. There was always another mission, another raid. While Pepper regretted the way that she'd brought up her concerns, she still believed that they were valid. She respected Tony's bravery and all the good he did, but the fact remained that every time he had to become Iron Man, he gambling with his own life. It was something that was tearing her apart, making it more and more difficult to sleep, wondering whether or not Tony was being pummeled to death while he wasn't beside her. Pepper supposed her desire to work things out had finally gotten strong enough to push her here. Ultimately, Tony was a good man, and he deserved a chance to defend his position at least. Finally, Pepper found the strength to climb out of the car, walking into the building and following the path towards Tony's lab. As she approached the entrance, Pepper's ears began to pick up three distinct voices inside, speaking above the whir and sparking of machinery. One was Tony's, obviously. One was Bruce's, which brought a touch of joy to Pepper's heart, although she wondered exactly when he'd gotten back. But the third voice was someone she'd never heard before. A young female, from what she could tell. "...are we sure that the arc reactor can take that much mana?" "Assuming my conversion math is right, which it usually is, yes." "I think we need to go up 29%, though. Don't want anything exploding in mid-flight." "Oh my goodness, can you imagine the jets failing, and you just fall out of the sky?" "Believe it or not, that happened with the Mark I. Boy, what a nightmare that was." Pepper froze with her hand halfway to the doorknob. Did Tony get some new lab assistant? How old was she? — No. Stop. Don't be the jealous, clingy girlfriend, Pepper reprimanded herself. I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent explanation. Steeling herself, Pepper grasped the doorknob, and pushed. "Tony, I-" she started, but stopped in her tracks. "What...what the hell?!" she almost shouted. Tony was sitting on a stool in the middle of the room, messing around with the suspended torso of one of the Iron Man suits, one she didn't recognize. Bruce was seated over at the computer, a 3-D projection of the suit brought up, apparently assisting with the modifications as well. But what truly drew Pepper's attention was the...creature sitting below the Iron Man suit, a pair of welding goggles affixed to its head. It looked like a small horse, but purple in color, with a mane and tail of pink and dark blue. Additionally, a horn stuck out from its head and a pair of wings jutted out from the sides. The horn glowed, apparently levitating one of Tony's welding torches up to the metal of the suit. Wrapped around the creature's chest was a belt, holding two capsules that glowed with magenta light. "P-Pepper!" Tony stammered, whipping off his own goggles as he stumbled to his feet. "I-I didn't know you were coming, er...you didn't call, did you? If they're dropping my calls, I swear to God—" "No..." Pepper mumbled, clearly unfocused, as she stared at the strange creature. "Oh, you must be Pepper Potts!" said the creature in the female voice Pepper had heard before. She removed her goggles as she walked over to the woman, before flapping her wings so that they were at eye level. "Tony's told me a bit about you! My name's Twilight Sparkle, it's a pleasure to meet you." She stuck out one hoof, apparently expecting Pepper to shake it. "You...you can talk?" Pepper breathed, staring at the alien being. Oddly enough, Twilight didn't take offense to her unbelieving shock, merely giggling a bit. "Don't worry," she replied, "I've gotten that reaction before on this planet. I understand humans aren't used to seeing ponies like me." "I...I..." Pepper tried to say something. On some sort of reflex, she reached out and grasped Twilight's hoof, shaking it mechanically. "Sorry we didn't clean up," Bruce spoke up, moving from his spot at the computer station. "We weren't expecting anybody." The lab did look pretty messy, loose tools scattered everywhere with no apparent pattern. Pepper tried to get her bearings. "Tony," she started, pointing at Twilight, "When...how...why?" "It's a long story that involves interstellar travel, goat-headed humanoids, and an evil unicorn," Tony responded, as though these were everyday topics. "But she's a friend, don't worry." "Yeah, we've only known each other a little while," said Twilight. "We're working on upgrading Tony's suit, trying to incorporate magic. I'm thinking we can find a way for it to actually cast spells. The thing is, I don't know if the suit's AI can actually comprehend the mental work needed to actually meld the magic in the proper method. We—" "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Pepper cut her off. "Magic? You're telling me magic is not only real, but it's a quantifiable science, and you can use it with the suit?!" "Bruce, Twilight, can you give us a minute?" Tony spoke up. Bruce understood immediately, getting out of his chair and walking to the door. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but a quick look from Bruce prompted her to rethink it. She levitated the welding mask off of her head, before following the physicist. "So, uh..." Tony started, "I guess we have a lot to talk about." "...yes, yes," Pepper answered, thrown off by the entire encounter up to this point. This wasn't how she'd anticipated this visit going, naturally. "I, er...I'm sorry I didn't call ahead." "No, it's fine," Tony replied. "I don't blame you. If you had, I might've chickened out. You know I'm not good at deeply personal conversations." Pepper took a quiet glance at the Iron Man suit perched in the center of the room. Not too different from most of Tony's recent designs, with the exception of the shape of the arc reactor light, now changed to a six-pointed star. Also, the arm seemed to contain a device reminiscent of Twilight's horn. "So, I guess she got interested in the suit," she said, searched for a conversations topic. "Oh, you have no idea," Tony replied. "She's fascinated with Earth sciences. Their technology isn't as advanced as ours, though they have magic. She picks up remarkably fast." Pepper asked the obvious question. "So, how exactly did you end up having a horse-esque life form from a magic planet crashing on your couch?" "She's actually only here to visit. We've got a warp system set up so we can jump back and forth from here to Equestria." He pointed to a corner, where a large, decorated mirror and a red book sat. "Her, Bruce, and I combined our brains to create a stable portal device across the universe with the mirror. The book is basically a magic text message network. And check out this!" Tony reached into his shirt, pulling out a shining gold medal, inscribed with the Avengers symbol, and a sun and moon on either side. "Tony Stark, Knight of Equestria. God, I need that on a plaque." "I'm assuming Ross doesn't know about this," Pepper joked. "No, the Accords weren't written for other planets. Plus, guys from over there stole from my stuff, and I didn't even get it back," Tony complained. "On top of that, the bad guy tried to make us kill each other. Steve and the others showed up, and we yelled at each other some more, they actually made us talk it out...dang, I think I might need to actually write that down." Pepper opened her mouth to make another quip, but she didn't have it in her. She swallowed, trying to find a way to say what she knew needed to be said. "Tony..." she started, quietly. "You aren't going to quit, are you?" "I...I..." Tony stuttered, completely caught off guard. In hindsight, he shouldn't have been. The second Pepper walked in, he knew this conversation was coming, but that, of course, didn't mean he had to like it. "I...all I can do is be honest: I don't think I can," Tony finally got out. "I just can't." "Why not?" Pepper protested. "I mean, you started being Iron Man to destroy your weapons that ended up in the hands of terrorists, to fix your mistakes. Now, Stark Industries provides aid to people all over the world, is on the edge of sustainable technology, and...and..." She cupped her head in her hand. "I just don't understand." "Well, what would you have me do?" Tony protested. "I mean, Vision, Rhodey, and I are technically the only Avengers left, Hydra's still out there, some douche with powers or a suit always tries to take over the world, no matter how many times we—" He sighed, rubbing his head with both hands. "Not using the suit to help people is just irresponsible. I can't just sit back and do nothing." "I know, but..." Pepper protested. "You remember the first time you went out, and I found you with your suit full of bullet holes? Whenever you're busy, I keep thinking this'll be the night when they'll have to cut your mangled corpse out of your suit, or you'll be so crushed they'll pour you out it, and—" "Um, excuse me?" came a small voice from the door. Tony and Pepper turned, finding the door wide open, revealing Twilight standing in the gap. Bruce appeared above her, mouthing "Sorry," with a sheepish look on his face. Clearly, the pony had ignored his urgings to walk away. "Listen, Miss Potts," Twilight started, apprehensively. "I know that it's not really my place—" "It's not," Pepper snapped in the heat of the moment, but she immediately regretted it, based on how Twilight flinched. Nevertheless, the pony continued. "Look, I don't think either of you are really in the wrong here. You worry about Tony getting hurt or killed while acting as Iron Man, which makes sense. Tony's told me about what he does, and it's a dangerous job. Tony, you don't want to give up helping people, and you don't want somebody to die just because you didn't take any action." She didn't have to elaborate on that remark, as the words of Spider-Man hung over both her and Tony. "I know, there isn't really a good compromise you could take here. Or if there is, I can't see it. All I can offer, I guess, is try to see it from the other's point of view." Twilight took a fond glance at Tony. "Tony helped save my world, my people. I believe that Iron Man serves the greater good." With that, she turned on her hoof, walking back out. Left alone with her thoughts, Pepper considered what the pony had said. Okay, Tony did a lot of good as Iron Man. If he helped save that pony's entire race, that just added more fuel to his side of the argument. Was she being selfish? Logically, she supposed she was, if she wanted Tony to just tell all the people he could help that Iron Man's girlfriend had decided it wasn't in his best interests to save them. Yes, both sides needed to make sacrifices in relationships, that was how they worked. But maybe asking Tony to give up Iron Man was one too big to ask. At the same time, she wanted to stick to her principles. She'd given up a lot, trying hard to manage Stark International, keeping Tony's head above the PR waters (though she had to admit, she probably wouldn't get a better career opportunity than that). Tony wasn't the perfect boyfriend, especially after New York, with all the obsessive building of new suits, the remote control armor, and all the insistence that he was just preparing for the inevitable next invasion. Then again, what had she done while Tony was coming down with his anxiety attacks? When he'd accidentally activated the Iron Man suit in his nightmare? She'd immediately tried to divert his attention, told him to go back to her, to just ignore it. Then she'd gotten frustrated with him, all for something he couldn't even control. Heck, she'd even left him alone in bed in anger over something he did in his sleep. Okay, announcing his address on live television to the Mandarin was bad, but the point still stood. Looking at herself, Pepper wasn't sure who took the most in their relationship anymore. Tony wasn't perfect, far from it, but she hadn't taken a look at herself in a while. "Tony..." she started, "I'm not sure what's weirder: the fact that I'm willing to say this, or the fact that it's being prompted by a magical talking pony from another planet but...I'm sorry." Tony actually flinched. Pepper wasn't surprised. Neither of them had anticipated this. "I'm not saying I was one-hundred percent wrong about the whole Iron Man thing, but maybe I was too hard about it. You were always willing to change for the sake of us, and I admit, I've been pretty inflexible. Despite all my complaining, I want to make it work. I love you, and..." She struggled to find anymore words to say, her emotions failing to mesh properly with the English language. Tony decided it didn't matter, though, as he moved to embrace the woman, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. Pepper returned the embrace, feeling Tony's body heat warm her. They held the position for almost an entire minute, eventually parting. Pepper felt a massive weight rise from her shoulders. It was as though Twilight Sparkle had actually levitated it from her back. It wasn't something she'd ever have anticipated from a creature straight out of a little girl's mythology book. Perhaps there was more to that pony than she'd guessed. "Well, I gotta say, I feel a lot better than I did this morning," Tony announced happily. "So any chance you could tell me about your interstellar adventures with ponies?" Pepper asked. Tony returned the smile, walking over to the computer desk to shut off the Iron Man program. As he did so, he took a quick look at a small file labeled "Project Rescue." With a warm feeling in his heart, he quietly moved it offscreen.