//------------------------------//
// Bug People 
// Story: Avenging is Friendship 
// by Boltstrike58 
//------------------------------//

(Takes place immediately after "Ant-Man and the Wasp")





Earth, Wakanda

Hope van Dyne wasn't a person who found herself 'weirded out' by things very frequently. In her line of work, assisting her father with his research into the quantum realm, and his size-changing technologies, she'd seen plenty of strange things. It was especially prevalent now that they, with the help of Scott Lang, had rescued her mother from decades of imprisonment at quantum size. Hope liked to believe she'd seen it all at this point.

However, if what she was being told was true, she hadn't seen anything yet.

Scott, having finally been released from his house arrest, had smuggled Hope into Wakanda with the help of King T'Challa and his Avenger friends. The two were now standing in Princess Shuri's lab, where a large mirror, which apparently acted as a functioning space bridge, had been set up. According to Scott, he'd been contacted by the alien ponies from another planet that he'd met months ago, and they needed him for a job. So he'd decided to bring Hope along for the ride.

Hope was rather...unnerved, she guessed was the closest word to her feelings. She'd seen Scott off on his original trip to the pony world, but hadn't really thought much of it. The prospect of meeting this alien species face-to-face, and communicating with them, was quite another story. It was something unheard of, even regarding the aliens who'd attacked New York so many years ago. These ponies weren't just savage, mindless destroyers, with no purpose other than killing people, they were actually intelligent. It was enough to freak her out. She was a scientist, after all. Maybe that's why Scott had asked her in the first place, knowing she'd get a kick out of it. 

Hope looked over at Scott, who was sitting quietly in his Ant-Man suit, relaxing. She thought back to all the harsh words she'd had for him, after he'd joined Captain America's rogue Avengers. She considered, not for the first time, that perhaps she'd been too hard on the man. After all, he'd made no effort to involve them, he'd just been fighting for what he believed was right. On the other hand, his actions had resulted in a life on the run for Hank, Hope, and now Janet, and it didn't seem like they'd been getting out of trouble with the law anytime soon. She certainly couldn't say she was happy about that. She loved the guy, but that was a hard thing to forgive. Not that she wouldn't keep trying.

The other odd thing was that Scott had insisted they suit up for this little adventure. Hope was wearing her Wasp suit, ready for duty, but she had no idea what that duty was. All in all, she was on her way to a cross-planetary trip that she didn't know much about, and that worried her. Sure, Scott would never willingly lead her into danger, but still.

"Okay," said King T'Challa, looking up from a blue book he'd been writing in. "She says they're ready for you."

"Awesome!" replied Scott, getting up from his seat. "I promise, you're gonna love it there. We gotta find some way to bring Cassie along eventually, it'll be all of her dreams come true."

"If you say so," laughed Hope, doing one more routine check on her suit. "You still haven't told me what we're gonna do."

"That's the surprise!" Scott said, attempting to give his voice a mysterious tone to it. Hope laughed some more as the two walked up to the mirror. Whatever Scott's faults, he could always make her laugh.

King T'Challa (he'd insisted she didn't have to call him that, but she couldn't help herself) reached down to the frame of the mirror, pressing his thumb into the large diamond embedded in the arch. The gemstone pulsed for a second, before it suddenly fired a clear beam of light. When the beam hit the wall, the tip pulsed a few times, until it expanded into massive, swirling blue vortex, large enough for a person to step through.

"Well, no time to back out now," Hope mumbled under her breath, gripping Scott's hand. The two stepped forward, into the mass of light.





Equis, Ponyville

Hope actually gasped as she stumbled out of the portal, nearly face-planting into the solid crystal floor. The sensation of instantaneous warping turned out to be a rather disorienting experience, something she regretted not predicting. It felt like being sucked down a giant drain and compressed into a two-dimensional shape at the same time. Fortunately, she managed to regain her footing and stabilize herself, thanks to Scott gripping her arm tightly, letting her shift her body weight so she was falling onto him.

"Easy there," Scott said, assuringly, as Hope got balanced again. "It throws everyone off the first time."

Hope took the opportunity to look around. The entire room they were in, like the floor, was constructed out of solid crystal, though it didn't look to be carved. It almost looked natural. Several shelves were full to the bursting point with books, giving the impression that this place doubled as a library. Outside the window, she could see a grassy plain with a few trees. If it weren't for the composition of the room, she'd have said it didn't look like they were on another planet at all.

Or at least that's what she would've said, had her attention not been drawn to a chair nearby, where a strange creature was sitting. In shape, it was similar to a horse, but far too small to be one from Earth. There was also the fact that it was purple, had wings, and a horn sticking out of its head. Hope could only stare in awe as the creature appeared to be reading from a book that was levitating in front of it. The book was surrounded by a magenta glow, matching one on the horn, giving the impression that the horn was responsible. Scott interrupted her thought process by loudly clearing his throat. The creature--or pony--took notice as well, putting down its book.

"Oh, hello Mr. Lang," it said, in a voice that was distinctly female. "Glad to see you made it." She then took notice of Hope. "Oh, you must be Hope van Dyne! Nice to meet you. My name's Twilight Sparkle." She got off her chair and trotted over to them. "I'm proud to welcome you to Equestria."

"Oh. My. God," Hope breathed, staring straight into Twilight's purple eyes, her arms limp at her sides in sheer surprise. "You're real. This is happening."

Scott burst out laughing, jutting Hope out of her state of surprise. "Told ya it'd be funny, Twilight," he chuckled. "Seriously, though, I had the same reaction at my first time. It's weird, but you get used to it."

Twilight gave Scott an annoyed glare. "Very funny, Mr. Lang. But I'm glad you both could make it. And so will the others."

"Scott said you needed a favor from him," Hope started, curious. "What was it?"





Equis, Everfree Forest

"You dragged me out here for a babysitting job?"

"Hey, it's not babysitting! We're watching over the Cutie Mark Crusaders on a very important mission!" Scott countered. "They're looking for some rare roots for a zebra named Zecora, and the older sisters thought it would be good if we came with. You know, just so they're safe and everything."

Hope filed the fact that there were talking zebras on this planet away for later, as she was more focused on exactly why they were here. The three small ponies—the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders,' whatever that meant—were scurrying around in the woods, looking at the base of every tree. Scott and Hope had been met by them, as well as the ponies who were apparently their elder sisters, thanking Scott for agreeing to take this job. Evidently, all the ponies had engagements to attend to today, so Scott had been called in as a last resort. If Hope were honest, it seemed pretty stupid to keep her in suspense over this. Hope wasn't the best with kids.

Then again, she'd already spent some time with Cassie, and that hadn't been so bad. Maybe these little ponies would be just more of the same. They seemed a bit younger, at least going by behavior. The yellow earth pony was digging in the dirt with her front hooves, eventually uncovering one of the roots they were looking for. Hope managed a slight smile as the three fillies jumped and cheered at the sight.

"Cutie Mark Crusader ingredient finders!" they yelled.

"Hey, Miss van Dyne?" asked the white unicorn, trotting over to Hope once they'd finished celebrating. "If Mr. Lang is Ant-Man, what are you called when you're a super hero?"

"I'm called the Wasp," Hope replied. "It's the name my mom used."

"Cool! So you can shrink like Mr. Lang? And control ants?" Sweetie Bell continued to gush.

"And I can fly," said Hope, indicating her folded wings. "And sting." She fired a bolt from one her stingers, zapping an acorn off a tree.  

"Wow!" Sweetie replied, staring at Hope's suit, as if trying to figure out how to make one for herself.

Hope smiled a bit at the sight. From what she could tell, ponies weren't radically different from human children when they were of comparable ages. They were fascinated by super heroes and their powers, something Scott no doubt took advantage of. She looked over at the man, who was currently entertaining Apple Bloom and Scootaloo by shrinking down to his miniature size and juggling acorns. It was easy to tell Scott was a father, given how well he managed to take care of these ponies.  

"So are you Mr. Lang's special somepony?" Sweetie asked again.

Hope felt her face flush red. "Well...er...yes, I suppose so..." she stuttered. Why was this so hard to get out? Was it just the fact that she was explaining this to an alien species? Was it—

Another interruption jolted Hope out of her thoughts, this time taking the form of a low growl. She spun on her heels, instinctively activating her helmet and priming her blasters. Crouched in front of her were a number of large creatures, formed entirely out of sticks and logs, combined together to form what looked like a common wolf. In addition, two glowing green eyes were visible on the heads of the beasts, and they pawed at the ground with their wooden limbs as they snarled.

"TIMBERWOLVES!" Sweetie Bell shrieked, diving behind Hope, who blinked upon hearing that name.

Really? I think that's the worst pun I've ever heard. And I hang out with Luis, she thought to herself.

There was no time to ponder the odd names of terrestrial organisms of Equis, as the timberwolves began to advance upon the group. In any other fight, Hope would've shrank to avoid their jaws, but doing so would leave Sweetie Bell wide open to an attack. She had to find another option, and one came to her right away.

"Sweetie," she whispered, as the timberwolves continued to creep closer and closer, "you can magically levitate things, right?"

"Y-yes," Sweetie Bell managed to get out. "But what does—"

"I need you to send that rock flying towards them," Hope continued, pointing to a small, round stone sitting in the clearing. "Can you do that?"

Sweetie still looked confused, but nonetheless, she obeyed, her horn lighting up with its greenish glow and lifting the rock. Pulling it backwards, she hurled it straight into the pack of timberwolves, who didn't even both to try and dodge the meaningless projectile.

Or rather, it would have been meaningless, had Hope not quickly adjusted the settings on her blaster and fired at the rock. Upon impact, the small stone grew to the size of a massive bolder, flying through the air and crushing the lead timber wolf, along with several of its comrades.

"Yeah! Serves 'em right!" yelled Scott, throwing his fist into the air.

Unfortunately, Hope hadn't managed to catch all of the timberwolves in one attack, as three slipped around the boulder and began their attack anew. Scott instantly shrank down, avoiding a nasty bite in the process, and bounced upwards like a rubber ball, punching through the timber wolf's jaw. the beast's head exploded into splinters, and the rest of its body collapsed shortly afterward.  

As the remaining two wolves moved to attack the tiny Scott, Hope shrank down as well, extending her wings. With a few flaps, she zipped over to the beasts, firing a few stinger blasts into key joint areas. In seconds, the wolves crumbled to the ground, becoming inanimate piles of wood matter once again.

"Whoa..." breathed all three Cutie Mark Crusaders and Scott and Hope grew back to normal size. "That...was...awesome!"

In spite of herself, Hope couldn't suppress a giggle. It was admittedly kind of awesome.





Later

"Hey! I said I'm okay!" Sweetie Bell protested as she was caught in Rarity's blue magic field, and held off the ground. The elder unicorn paid no heed, examining every inch of her younger sister for injuries.

"Oh, thank goodness you seem to be unharmed!" Rarity cried, dropping Sweetie and immediately squeezing her into a bear hug. "Mr. Lang! Miss van Dyne! I am forever in your debt!"

"Me too, folks," said Applejack, who was giving a similar treatment to Apple Bloom. "If y'all hadn't been there, I'd hate to think what might of happened."

"It was so cool! They got all tiny, and they were like 'Boom boom!' and timberwolves shattered! It was epic!" exclaimed Scootaloo, punching with her hooves.

"I'm sure it was, squirt," said Rainbow, patting Scootaloo's wing and trying not to look jealous. 

"Ah, it was nothing," replied Scott. He turned back to Hope. "See, I told ya you'd love this place."

"You were right," Hope admitted. She could get used to this.