104
Upstate New York
New Avengers Facility
8:04 a.m.
A fresh falling of morning rain pelted the Benatar as it descended to the landing pad just outside the New Avengers Facility. Stepping outside to the dew infecting the air with its smell, the three Guardians of the Galaxy proceeded forth to the facility’s grounds. Rocket led the trio, followed closely by Groot and Nebula hanging behind.
Her eyes danced upwards, spotting the massive S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier hanging just over the facility. Once they stepped under its shadow, the rainfall no longer impacted them. They walked upon dry grass and concrete every last step of the way through the front doors of the New Avengers Facility. In the corner of her vision, Nebula could see S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own Zephyr One resting on an opposite landing pad, drenched in rainwater and seemingly having been resting there for quite some time. It appeared they had guests awaiting them.
Further onwards onto the grass and away from any form of basic structure, a lone grave was oddly erected against the earth. Nebula instantly turned away, shutting her eyes and refusing to let anymore painful memories resurface. She did not need to focus on the pain of the past and only needed to look towards what tomorrow could bring.
It hurt either way to stare onto her sister’s grave, where Nebula buried her. She faced only towards the facility’s doors, following what was left of her team inside.
Upon instant entrance to the New Avengers Facility, things were already a heaping mess of constant movement and chatter. The main living room was filled with waning bodies simply recovering from their own wounds or trapped in a perpetual state of silence or shock. All of the above. Many chose their seats in the various chairs or couches strewn about. Their names were Matthew Murdock, Frank Castle, Thor Odinson, Bruce Banner, Shuri, Davis, Piper, a cluster more of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and the ponies.
Murdock and Castle were situated in the far corner of the living room, both men resting in silence, in mourning as they gazed nowhere and felt only the world crushing them further and further down. Thor was secluded from the rest of the various groups in the living room, finding his solitude within his own troubled mind as he constantly held his own hands, clenching and flexing the muscles again and again until he started to feel sick. He felt the nauseous feeling of defeat strangle him and remind the God of Thunder what he lost, what he could have prevented, and what he planned to do about it. His remaining eye flicked back and forth across the floor, stared to his own scratched palms, and finally returned upwards to stare at nothing. No one.
Banner was currently adjusting to his own damaged mind. He didn’t remember much from the Battle of the Dragons’ Lair, but all that he could really recall was waking up in the middle of the burning landscapes, surrounded by nothing and no one. It was only until Wong came back for him did he inform Banner what had happened, what Thanos had done, and how they failed to stop him. Bruce felt the weight of those words crash over him harder than the Hulk had fallen, the green demon remaining surprisingly silent for the past couple of days. Bruce sat beside Shuri, rubbing a palm through his weary eyes as the young Wakandan princess stared only to the vibranium necklace she toyed with between her hands. She stared somberly at it, seeing only the desolation of her home country and the flames licking the edges of the Wakandan nation, forever burned into her mind.
Piper and Davis sat side by side on the same couch, Davis having recently received the news of the fate of his family. His wife and child… both gone… like the billions of others worldwide. On his right, Piper slowly lowered her hand into his own, intertwining her fingers to lace with his. A fellow agent, a fellow soldier, and a comforting friend with him through every storm they faced. Their fellow agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. felt just as worse, nearly all of them stumbling about through the living room and calling away on their cellphones, trying to reach loved ones and learning everything they could. Learning if they lost anyone.
Twilight Sparkle sat with her closest friends, those that were seemingly spared of the cruelty that fate had brought upon them, their worlds, and the universe itself. Sitting with the Alicorn princess were Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Sunset Shimmer, and Starlight Glimmer on the bundle of couches. Fizzlepop Berrytwist—more respectfully known as Tempest Shadow—sat on the couch she alone occupied, her eyes widened and breaths hardened as she stared only to the floor, to her armor-plated hooves, and tried desperately to understand what she saw in the aftermath of the battle. It all played through on repeat within her head. The falling of her airship, gazing forth onto the deck only to see not a single life, save for Captain Celaeno’s. Then she vanished in a gust of ash. It didn’t take long for Tempest to be informed from Twilight what had actually happened, why so many ponies, humans, and creatures alike had suddenly vanished.
Even Twilight struggled to explain it. Even then, she appeared just as utterly shaken and broken down while resting on the couch alongside her friends. A box of tissues, some medicine and other supplies, bottled waters, food, and other necessities lied against the coffee table, yet hardly anypony took of its splendor. A few tissues to dab at the eyes and get rid of the unnecessary tears that plagued them still, but so little more other than that. Sunset, Starlight, Rarity, and Twilight especially appeared to be the most affected by recent events, all of their eyes seemingly bloodshot from the tears they couldn’t offer anymore. Rainbow Dash was shaken, truly, but she didn’t show it well. She remained strong alongside Tempest, but that didn’t mean either mare hadn’t changed since…
Since the Snap.
Maud and Derpy wanted to go home after the battle, Maud to find and inform her family of what happened to Pinkie Pie… and Derpy to find her own friends and family back at the Castle of the Two Sisters. They had not heard back from either mare since.
Other than the ones mourning, there were a select few who refused to fall down, who refused to rest and took every precious moment they had left to be alive to compose themselves. After having taken the greatest weight and bearing it on their shoulders, experiencing the worst loss any of them ever had, they pulled each other out of the grime and back onto their feet to assess the full scale of the damage.
Those select few were Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodes, Wong, Friday, Alphonso Mackenzie, and Melinda May. They were situated in another section of the living room, practically transformed overnight into a strategic War Room. They surrounded a large, open table, Steve Rogers leaning forward and placing his empty palms on its flat surface. Cuts and bruises painted his face, his thick beard still hardened like the raw determination glowing in his eyes. A lone hologram of planet Earth sat directly in the heart of the table, Steve staring intensely into it.
Yet he was not satisfied. “Friday, see if you can get a lock with the satellites,” Steve ordered. “We need all eyes on Earth and Equus.”
“Aye, Captain,” the Mark 45 Iron Man armor responded in her soft, Irish accent. The AI’s eyes ignited into a brilliant blue, a metallic palm rising up to press firmly against the side of her head’s armor plating. “Designation H.O.M.E.R., acquire connection with your personal satellite then I’ll clock in right with you.”
Fused as the facility’s leading AI, Homer responded, yet his voice could be easily heard within the visible hologram that everyone could see. “Yes, ma’am.”
A flurry of lights shot over the hologram of planet Earth, satellite to satellite connection slowly being established worldwide as Homer dug in to acquire every insight they needed. “This might take a while,” Friday sighed.
Evident of that, Steve nodded and leaned away from the hologram, still staring intently into it all the same. He shot his eyes over to Natasha and James, both of them visibly concerned with the slow progress they were making. It was progress, certainly, but it would only reveal their worst nightmares sooner or later. Natasha’s pale white skin and light blonde hair shivered as the Black Widow gazed into the hologram of planet Equus emerging. Rhodes kept his arms crossed and head on a slow shake as the image kept getting clearer and clearer. Mack and May stood beside the sorcerer Wong, none of them feeling particularly comforted to get that clear image of both worlds. With those images, data began to flow, collecting information and the death toll from around the globe, Earth first of all. They all glared with a fiery intensity, bated breaths waiting. The inevitable was soon to be upon them.
The sound of the faucet running broke Steve out of his thoughts and turned them instead to the clear opposite of the room. To the man leaning clear over the sink and washing his hands of the ash still somehow attached to it. “Tony?” Steve said, letting his voice travel in that silence.
The heat from the sink rose up in vapors, but for Tony Stark he didn’t feel a thing. He washed his hands clean of whatever form of grime or sickness managed to stick to his skin. When that was over with, Tony turned the dial and doused his face with a handful of cold tap water. His palms gripped the edges of the sink and countertop, hands and limbs shivering uncontrollably. Even when he looked into the sink, with his eyes blurred from both the water and the tears, all he could see was that same grime flow away. That same dirt and dust that plagued him still. The same ash…
He stumbled awkwardly back, almost tripping over himself had it not been for James catching him. “Easy there, Tony!” Rhodes told him fiercely, worried gaze watching his best friend practically collapse over himself.
Suddenly, as the holograms fizzled and flowed, Tony Stark became the center of attention. Everyone turned his way, from Wong, Melinda, Mack, Natasha, and finally Steve. Friday kept her attention solely to maintaining connection with the hologram and the various satellites Homer was plugging her into, unable to perceive her creator’s near-breakdown.
“I’m good,” Tony whispered, straining against James. “Rhodey, I’m fine.”
“You sure?” James whispered.
Tony nodded his head rapidly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah… just… give me a sec.”
That second evolved into nearly a full minute, the group watching as Tony proceeded about the room while cautiously laying his hands back on the countertop, slowly crushing both of them into fists to mask his growing unease. His heavy breaths were also a dead giveaway to his distress. Despite that, some were unmoved, though Natasha could hardly hide her concern for Tony’s well-being.
“Tony, we could use your help over here,” Natasha told him. She refused to meet his gaze only momentarily, lifting her eyes only after Tony turned away from her, proceeding forth towards the hallway to make his hasty escape.
All Tony said was, “You got it under control.”
“Tony—” Steve began.
“You do not seem to understand—” Wong followed up, taking that step towards Stark.
Tony suddenly wheeled around, causing Wong to stop dead in his tracks and the room to turn deathly silent. “Maybe you don’t understand,” Tony hissed through gritted teeth. That anger seemed to rise only momentarily before quickly being killed, leaving just the fuming remains of what once was. In that, there wasn’t much strength left. “I lost the kid, Wong. I lost him. Could’ve been me, should’ve been… but it was him. And here we are…”
He walked over to the same countertop he leaned against prior. Once near the dishes, Tony threw a metal bowl across the furthest countertop. “Stuck… and trapped while the rest of the world suffers! You know what I’ve been thinking this whole time while you all were… gallivanting to God knows where doing God knows what… I was thinking how we lost.”
Tony was unhinged, turning towards the people he might have called a team a couple days ago.
“How is it… that we could’ve lost… when we were all there, when we had Thanos exactly where we wanted him? Two more minutes… that’s all we needed was two more minutes, all of us together, and we could’ve gotten it. But instead… your high-and-mighty friend the Sorcerer Supreme decided otherwise. He decided to completely ignore what we all agreed on… what he orchestrated… just to screw us over in the end.”
“Stephen Strange was many things, but a fool wasn’t one of them,” Wong argued.
Tony shook his head and scoffed. “Yeah, how do you know?”
Wong paused once again, thinking over his words and carefully selecting them. The eyes of the room were on him and he needed to make himself absolutely clear, knowing he was absolutely certain. He said, “Before the Time Stone was taken, he… informed me and the other sorcerers that he looked forward in time to see all the possible outcomes. Whether we win or lose… he saw it all through the power of the Time Stone.”
“Well, we lost, all of us,” Steve said, everyone still somewhat caught on Wong’s revelation alone. “Did he mention that?”
Wong nodded. “Just one possibility…” he said, turning back to Steve and his fellow Avengers, “out of the fourteen million he saw.”
Natasha leaned back from the table she stood against, lips parted and eyes widened, neither willing to close fully. James caught his breath, mind basically reeling on the sheer possibility of fourteen million outcomes on whether they win or lose. Mack and May looked to one another, Melinda finding the courage to take a step forward.
“Did he say if we won?” she asked.
Wong shook his head. “He couldn’t see that. But whatever he did back in the Dragon Lands… it was for a reason.”
More grave news to add to the pile. As if knowing there were fourteen million possibilities to how everything was going to end wasn’t bad enough, Doctor Strange just threw away quite possibly their only chance to have won when he refused to let any of the Avengers fight alongside the ponies back on Earth. Just for that decision alone, half of the universe was gone. Dead. They lost. Just one possibility out of the fourteen million.
Before another word could be uttered, Wong opened a portal near the exit.
“Now where are you going?” Mack asked.
Stepping inside the swirling orange sparks, Wong turned back after witnessing the destruction within the Sanctum Sanctorum. He nodded their way, saying, “The Sanctum remains unguarded. I have already been away for far too long. I must gather the remaining sorcerers… and help rebuild. If you need help from the Masters of the Mystic Arts, you know where to find us.”
With that, he waved out his hands and cut off the portal. As the portal vanished, Daisy Johnson and Robbie Reyes stepped out of the hallway and emerged by the entrance to the living room, approaching Mack and May. Daisy met them both for a hug, more so gripping onto May with as much strength as she could muster. She was thankful, to say the least, to see that May made it out alive.
On the other hand, Reyes approached Mack only. No signs of good greetings and not even a smile. All he demanded to know was where his little brother was. He explained, through harsh and vivid description, of having searched the Helicarrier inside and out and there was still nothing. No one. When he finally learned of the truth, when Mack finally told Robbie about Gabe Reyes’ fate, it was the same moment Daisy learned of Phil’s.
Melinda told her through a soft whisper, but it came out like a shout and a punch directly into Daisy’s chest and right through her heart. She forcefully had to take a step backwards, reach out and grab onto the nearest object to prevent herself from collapsing. The only thing that grabbed onto her was Steve Rogers, the First Avenger catching Daisy before her legs eventually gave out on her. Then her strength. Then her face contorted into several levels of unhinged pain and sorrow, a terrible cry leaving Daisy as she clutched onto Steve’s arm. He held her close, watching as the young woman fell into his embrace and wailed helplessly into his chest. As Daisy cried within his arms, all Steve could do was comfort her, having already done his fair share of crying after hearing of Phil Coulson. Natasha, as well, gazing onto the heart-wrenching scene with eyes burning.
It didn’t get any easier the second time around.
Robbie, on the other hand, was infuriated. He pointed a shivering and accusing finger directly towards Mack, saying that Phil promised to keep Gabe safe. Mack retorted by saying that Phil was dead. They never could have seen it coming and there was nothing they could have done to stop it. Robbie could have done worse. He could have done far worse to Mack, May, the Avengers, and even the entire facility had he let that anger fully burn. Maybe he should have. Maybe the Spirit wanted too much from him. Instead, he walked away deeper into the facility, stormed quickly past the ponies and into one of the darkened hallways.
He created a large enough scene to earn the ponies’ attention, but only for a moment. It didn’t take long for each of the mares to fall back into that silent pit of despair they were slowly fighting their way out of. They came up short either way, that unnerving silence plaguing them and keeping the living room as dead as a graveyard. Perhaps that was being too generous.
In that breaking of the silence, it was Rainbow Dash to utter the first words shared amongst the mares. She leaned back against the couch cushions, shaking her head and muttering, “Always thought we could come out on top.”
They were in their own little world, separated from the minimal conversations shared by the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the remaining Avengers, and even the few Guardians of the Galaxy that entered and situated themselves amongst the masses. Just the utterance of Rainbow Dash’s words was enough to spark a conversation among them, though one that didn’t start off in a clear direction. It found its path when Rarity sighed, shutting her eyes and looking away shamefully.
Rarity said, “I should have told you all… from the very beginning.”
Obviously referring to her visions as of recent memory, that was all they became: memory. Rarity had not experienced another flash or episode following the Snap, convincing her remaining friends that whatever happened… seemed to finally reach its conclusion. The visions had warned her for several years prior and only then did they become fulfilled. Only then did Rarity—at their very last moments before oblivion—reveal to her friends the grim fate that awaited them. And even after she warned them, even when they shared the same cursed knowledge she held, it happened anyway. Rarity lost her friends, her allies, even… Sweetie Belle.
That wretched thought alone cut a knife deeper into Rarity’s heart, the unicorn’s fate contorting into an all new degree of suffering as a painful tear slipped down her cheek. As for Twilight Sparkle, as for somepony who know what it was like to suffer just as worse if not more so than Rarity or any of her friends, all she could offer was a sigh before weakly turning over to Rarity on her far left.
“It’s not your fault, Rarity,” Twilight told her, trying to sound strong but sounding utterly changed. Utterly damaged.
“Then whose is it?” Rarity asked, sniffling and rubbing a foreleg across her snout.
“No one’s,” Twilight responded, trying to lift her tearful gaze from the floor. She only ended up closing her eyes in the end, sighing through stuffy nostrils. “Just… no one’s. We lost, simple as that. We fought… we tried our hardest… but in the end we came up short. There’s no pushing any blame to any of our friends. We lost together.”
Twilight opened her eyes, saw the specks of ash still painted on her hooves. Her eyelids shivered, boiling tears threatening to fall before she eventually closed them again. “That’s all that matters.”
Further on Twilight’s left, sitting between Rarity and Starlight, Sunset Shimmer just shook her head. “There’s always gotta be something else that matters, Twilight,” she called out, voice straining against the pain that consumed it still.
“Like what?” Twilight retorted, her voice cracking and a fresh helping of tears beginning to flow down her face. She turned accusingly to Sunset, eyes hurt and face even more so. “Family? You still have yours, but I lost… all of that. Thanos killed our friends, half of all life in the entire universe, and he got away with it. We don’t even know where he is. We come together… we rebuild… and all of it wouldn’t matter when we know that Thanos is still out there, knowing he could do it all over again.”
On Sunset’s left, the weary and wounded Starlight Glimmer leaned forward, joining Sunset’s hardened and determined stare when she said it. “Then we face him together again.”
Twilight, unfortunately, wasn’t moved. “Then we’ll lose together again.”
Tempest Shadow raised her eyes, her jagged, rose-colored mane softly flowing to her actions. Seeing Princess Twilight and her friends continuously losing that precious hope hardly made Tempest feel any better. It only reminded her of her own failure. After every battle, every victory, nearly losing everything during the Chitauri invasion, and finally gaining those much-needed allies to a scale she could have never imagined, all that was left was Tempest trying to imagine losing nearly all of it again. From the Hippogriffs, to the dragons, to the griffons, the changelings, Captain Celaeno and her crew, the Storm Creatures, and even Grubber…
She didn’t want to imagine it forever, so instead she turned her head around and spotted Thor in the back room, brooding to himself and gazing to nothing. Furrowing her brow at that, Tempest asked aloud, “What’s wrong with him?”
Obviously referring to Thor, Tempest could see as various eyes suddenly turned in her general vicinity. Nearly all the room except—surprisingly enough—Thor turned her way. Eventually, it was Rocket who then said, “Well, he’s pissed. Rightfully so. Lost half his people, his world, his brother… Yeah, a lot of that going around to be honest.”
While Tempest and the remaining mares turned to see Rocket taking a seat next to Groot on one of the various chairs scattered about the living room, Thor took the short moment of recollection he was given once the conversation surrounding him began to dull. He stared once more to his palms, clenching them into shivering fists as spurts of electricity began to crawl across his knuckles and wrists. He held that wrathful power within him, that uncontrollable strength of the God of Thunder just waiting to be unleashed.
Only… Thor had tried that before. Many times, to be exact. And every single time, Thanos had merely swatted him aside, beat him down, or pushed him away like an insignificant worm. Even worse, Thanos had achieved what he intended from the start. Trillions of lives across the cosmos completely wiped away, terror and fear spread out amongst the Nine Realms without a guardian to protect them. His own brother, Loki… taken from him yet again. For good. Despite what the Allfather told him many moons ago, Thor still felt completely and utterly powerless against the Mad Titan. For even if he was stronger than his own father, what did that matter against the power of the very universe itself?
Thor lifted his head, his remaining eye igniting with a fiery torch to lead himself into the dark. Asgard didn’t need an Avenger for the suffering it endured. It needed a king.
And a king needed his weapon.
Without even a moment’s hesitation, Thor instantly shot up from the bench he sat upon and proceeded to the exit of the New Avengers Facility. He strode past the bundle of couches with the six mares resting upon them, walked briskly past the Guardians of the Galaxy and even managed to earn the attention of the rest of the room with the words he said.
“Where are you going?” Rocket asked.
“To kill Thanos.”
It was so abrupt and so clear that no one could have possibly fathomed it for the first few seconds. Once Thor nearly reached the exit doors, that was when the room took action. Rocket took off from his chair and scurried on all fours across the room, calling out to Thor to slow him down. Next followed the ponies, Twilight and Rainbow Dash leading the group of six off the couches and following directly behind Rocket. Groot and Nebula were soon to follow, trailed shortly by Bruce Banner.
“Whoa, whoa, Thor!” Banner cried, reaching his backside and grabbing the god by his shoulder. “W-what do you mean you’re gonna kill Thanos? We don’t even know where he is.”
“Yeah, and if you somehow even manage to find him in the entire universe, what are you gonna do to kill the purple bastard?” Rocket asked, crossing his furry arms. “None of us—not even when we were together—managed to beat him!”
It was as if their words were but more weight to add to his troubles. Growing feverishly dangerous and horrifyingly true. They hadn’t been able to defeat Thanos even with the full weight of Equus’ army and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. What chance did he alone stand against the Mad Titan? Thor contemplated that as he slowly spun around, faced the numerous eyes turned against him and their awaiting, silent breaths.
Finally, he shook his head and began. “I have listened to your troubles, all of your complaints for too many days now. You call your loved ones, your families, your friends, hoping by some slim chance they were spared Thanos’ wrath. All this suffering… this loss… it must not go unanswered.”
If the eyes of the room weren’t on him then… they most certainly were now. Every last Defender, every last Guardian, every last agent, Wakandan, pony, and Avenger turning to the God of Thunder and listening intently, in silence, as Thor continued.
“You know of what I’ve lost, my friends,” Thor stated, his lone eye growing misty. “I saw all these people die. Friends of mine, family even… and your own kin. I have bared the greatest of weights of which this universe dares to throw at me. Yet when Thanos came… When he came, I was not ready. None of us truly were, but when I face the reality of it now… I know that I alone am not strong enough to face Thanos. Even all of us together are not strong enough to equal his wrath. Therefore, I have decided to go on a little quest to… even the odds.”
“What quest?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Thor turned to the rainbow Pegasus, but spoke to all when he said it. “Nidavellir.”
The ponies scrunched their faces at that answer, at that strange word that left Thor's lips. They turned to one another, Twilight especially, hoping she had some form of an answer to that. She didn't. Nopony did.
“Nidavellir is real?” Rocket gasped, hopping onto the nearest countertop to meet Thor at his eye-level. The God of Thunder smirked his way, seeing the giddy optimism from the tiny beast reminding Thor of himself in his youth. “Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the universe! I would very much like to go there, please.”
“The rabbit is correct, and clearly the smartest in this room,” Thor observed, pointing across the entirety of the living room.
Banner shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“You willing to bet on that?” Shuri called from where she sat.
Ignoring them both, Thor turned to Rocket fully and said, “I will need a crew to accompany me on this fine quest. Would you be willing to follow me through the very treacheries of Helheim itself?”
“Free trip for some free weapons?” Rocket mused, responding with a solid nod and a demonic-like smile. “Count me in!”
“I am Groot!”
“Of course youths are welcome to come! All ages permitted to see the glory of a neutron star!” Thor exclaimed with a widened grin, his spirit slowly being lifted to see so many volunteers still willing to fight. Still willing to believe. He stopped just after resting his palm on Groot’s shoulder, eyeing the six mares standing before him with widened, innocent, and awaiting eyes. “How about you, my fine equine friends, will you join me to craft this weapon I speak of?”
“What weapon are we talking about here?”
Suddenly, the entire room shifted at once to turn to Steve and his group. Natasha, Rhodes, Mack, May, Daisy, and Tony followed shortly behind the First Avenger, walking right into the current conversation from the opposite room. It was Stark who posed the question in the first place, eyes slowly shifting back over to Thor to see what his response would be.
Thor responded with bated breaths, stating low and powerful, “The Thanos-killing kind.”
A bold statement for an even bolder god. While Steve would have liked to know more about the “Thanos-killing” weapon prior to the Snap, it nonetheless offered up an interesting opportunity. They could use the weapon to hopefully kill Thanos, perhaps even take the Stones from him and undo everything he had done to the universe. Again, it was an opportunity, a dream more than anything, but it was there. If Thor’s words were true, it was possible.
Furrowing his brow and scrunching his face at that, Tony Stark slowly approached the group consisting of Thor, Groot, and Rocket. He kept his arms crossed tight, the Arc Reactor of the Mark 50 burning bright between the flaps of his jacket. “Well, if you’re going out to space to make this… ‘Thanos-killing weapon’, you might as well track Thanos down in the meantime. Two birds with one stone.”
Rocket grumbled, “Well, we don’t have the greatest tracker in the Benatar, and that’s not even considering where in the entire universe Thanos is hiding.”
“I think I might know.”
The entire room shifted their attention to the cybernetic Luphomoid. Nebula, in her silence, found the opportunity to speak when the pondering thought of her father’s current whereabouts continuously arose. The moment they reached a crossroads was the moment she acted, stepping forth and saying, “For as long as I’ve tried to please my father, I knew that every ounce of pain I experienced would be far more worth it in the end. For if my father ever succeeded in his mission, he told me we would all find proper and eternal rest… in the Garden.”
“Where?” Steve asked.
“I don’t know,” Nebula weakly responded, eyes falling to the floor. “He never told me or Gamora. He… wanted it to be a surprise.”
Tony slapped his palms together. “All right, I’m game.”
“Tony—” Steve was preparing to say.
“They’re gonna need a tracker,” Stark shot back, eyeing Rogers with a rising intensity in his eyes. At first, Steve thought Tony’s intensity arose from their previous argument, but it soon became apparent it went deeper than that. Far deeper, especially when Stark continued. “If this is our last chance to find Thanos, kill him, and undo everything he’s done… then we have to take it.”
Steve tightened his jaw, lowering his eyes and eventually shooting them over to Rocker still standing on the countertop. “I am gonna need another pair of eyes on the navigation system,” Rocket begrudgingly stated.
“I will accompany you,” Nebula added and took another brave step forward. “I will do my best to find the Garden.”
“I’m coming, too.”
Their eyes simultaneously met the pony who said that, a stunning silence filling the group when it was Twilight Sparkle who stepped forth. Even her friends were taken aback by her statement, seeing only the grieving Twilight Sparkle the past couple of days and nothing else than that. To see her take a stand, make that powerful statement, and willfully exchange her safety for a chance… it was definitely needed. Sunset and Starlight slowly smiled. Rainbow and Rarity made no movements. Tempest was indifferent, listening in silence to see what the princess would do next. What choice she would make...
Unfortunately, not everyone felt the same way. “Twi, it’s probably better if you and the girls stay here where it’s safe,” Tony explained to her, hand held out to the mare.
And even more unfortunate for Tony, Twilight shook her head, that stubborn nature he knew quickly making its triumphant return. “There’s no guarantee you can track Thanos with the limited technology you’re given,” Twilight explained, a hoof rising to point to her horn. “I can make a spell that can sense magical pulses, including the Infinity Stones… and eventually the person who holds them.”
“Yeah, but how far-reaching is that spell of yours?” Stark retorted, arms crossed.
“She won’t be able to do it alone,” Sunset interrupted, trotting forward and laying her foreleg across Twilight’s withers. It was a subtle adjustment and statement, but strong enough to indicate where Sunset Shimmer stood, right by her friend’s side. Twilight smiled appreciatively to her, the first real smile in a long time.
Sooner rather than later, it caused a chain reaction, the next pony stepping forth. “You guys seriously aren’t gonna get rid of me that easily,” Starlight chuckled, joining the two mares. Even with her bandaged horn, it didn’t deter her. She eyed both Thor and Tony, nodding with fierce and forced strength. “We’ll help with the spell.”
Recognizing the pattern, seeing only the stronger magic users present and stepping up to the challenge and the journey, Thor counted the horns and saw only two more. One broken and one belonging to… His smile slowly faded, eye softening when he saw her. That gaze alone brought back all of their heads, from Twilight, Sunset, and Starlight to see their fellow unicorn standing awkwardly, gazing fearfully, staring into the unknown.
“Rarity?” Twilight asked, almost promoting her to stand with them. To join them.
Her only response was a weak shake of her head, eyes falling to the floor.
Watching that rising optimism only nearly fall apart urged her to take a stand. Seeing the princess and her friends finally take action after falling into the abyss was respectable. For a moment, she imagined they never would have, but when they finally wished to make a difference—something that encouraged even her to change her ways at one point—that was when Tempest Shadow stepped forward.
And she did, Tempest proudly declaring, “I’ll go.”
That statement alone caught Twilight completely off guard, a slow and appreciative smile finding its way onto her, Sunset, and Starlight’s lips. It was interrupted almost instantly when Thor exclaimed with heightened delight, “Great!”
All the mares instantly shot back to Thor, watching as he made a complete 180 and proceeded forth to the doors, his finger high in the air as he declared boldly, “We ship off now then!”
“Wait, right now?” Twilight gasped. She abandoned her friends’ sides, trotting quickly ahead to catch up with Thor, only to find it to be a hopeless effort. Instead, she called to him, “I-I mean, shouldn’t we set a proper course with a strategy?”
“We’ll do that on the way,” Thor replied. He opened the facility’s exit doors for Rocket, Groot, Nebula, and Stark to pass through. “It’s a long journey.”
Twilight still wasn’t convinced that just up and leaving was the perfect strategy at the moment. Her mind was racked with the possibilities, consequences, and threats of what awaited them in the vast unknown of deep space. She focused on one at a time, speaking loudly, “Well, what about food, water, medicine? We need proper supplies before we can just leave the planet!”
A plethora of tightly packed supplies from the coffee tables hovered directly overhead, each of them encased in a bright red aura. Twilight’s gaze shifted upwards, then turned to her right when Sunset trotted past her. “I got this, Twilight,” Sunset said with a solid smirk, making her way to the exit where Thor was waiting for her. Starlight and Tempest followed closely behind, Shadow passing Twilight with a sideways glance before focusing ahead and making her exit.
It was a start, but something that at least took some of the worry away. “Okay then… leaving the planet,” Twilight whispered with a deep breath following shortly. Her eyes suddenly bugged open, the realization smacking her like a hoof to the face. “Oh, wow, we’re gonna leave the planet. We’re gonna go to space… Okay, I’m fine. Totally fine.”
Watching as Twilight stumbled about with a hoof caressing her forehead wasn’t a comforting sight by any means, and Steve made that absolutely clear when he approached her and asked, “Are you sure about this, Twilight?”
It took a moment, but she eventually calmed herself considerably well. All it took was a hoof pressed to her heart, a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. A method she learned from Princess Cadance so long ago. Yet she didn’t think of its origins too much, knowing the pain that eventually came with it. “Yeah,” Twilight replied, turning to Steve with a confident and assuring smile. “This is our last chance after all… might as well take it.”
It wasn’t much, but it was all Steve was going to get. He accepted it nonetheless, nodding her way before stepping aside to let her pass. Allow her to confront her remaining two friends who hadn’t even considered going into space. “I’ll be back soon, girls,” Twilight said with a firm smile and an even firmer hug to both Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Both ponies replied with weakened hugs in return, eventually breaking away when Twilight slowly made her exit with the others.
“Hey…” Rainbow Dash called. Twilight stopped, then spun her neck around as her mouth fell into an “o” of surprise, of hope. She waited, watched as Rainbow fumbled nervously over her words. Then she smirked, raised a wing and saluted the Princess of Friendship. “Don’t make me come out there and save your flank.”
Twilight replied with a firm smirk in return, saluting with her wing just the same. Then she faced the road ahead and exited the New Avengers Facility.
Not even knowing that Rainbow’s smirk was forced, too.
The entire facility followed the group outside, Steve Rogers leading the caravan and standing beneath the shadow of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier so as to prevent any rain touching them. They watched in a massive cluster of bodies and concerned expressions as the team led by Thor, Rocket, Tony, and Twilight made their way into the repaired Milano’s underbelly, now known as the Benatar as mentioned earlier by Rocket Raccoon.
Sunset carried in the supplies alongside Starlight, Tempest Shadow’s armor-plated hooves stomping onto the metal flooring of the Benatar as the three mares made their way inside and vanished. Nebula and Groot trailed behind them, followed lastly by Rocket and Twilight. Thor took a short moment to call out to his remaining allies, waving their way.
“After we have crafted my weapon and found Thanos, we will return to Earth posthaste!” Thor shouted, smiling with budding confidence towards Steve Rogers. To everyone, he nodded their way, that smile burning with rising determination. “Then we will strike him down together.”
Steve replied with a solid nod in return. Thor took that as he could, returning to the Benatar and making his way inside its bowels. “You might want to get as many allies together as possible, Cap!” Tony followed up shortly. He eyed Steve Rogers, sending a nod to his hardened expression. “Gonna need all the help we can get.”
Steve made no movement to that. He was the last one inside, Stark’s body disappearing as the ramp of the Benatar shut with a firm lock following. With its occupants safely inside, the Benatar lifted off the earth and turned in the appropriate direction: straight up. The engines ignited, spewing a helpful torrent of wind across the grass and the remaining occupants of the New Avengers Facility. Rainbow Dash and Rarity shielded their faces as the wind blew their manes wildly behind their heads, their narrowed eyes turning back to the sky to watch as the Benatar propelled itself directly into the clouds.
It vanished within the storm.
“What other allies do we have?” Natasha asked. Steve just shook his head, staring up alongside all those he had left.