When Pinkie finally caught up with Hulk, she found him sitting by a riverside alone. His knees were drawn in and his arms were resting on them. Much to her surprise, she found a number of birds on him and multiple animals had surrounded him, as if they didn't care that he was a monster. She wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not, when Hulk growled at her and stood up, startling the birds and animals who ran off and hid. His growling at her had at least showed her that he was paying attention.
"What puny pony want?" Hulk growled, but there was no rage behind it.
"I just want to ask, what was that now?" Pinkie said with a smug smile. "Why'd you save those ponies and their teacher? I thought Hulk hated 'annoying' ponies and didn't care whether we lived or died."
"Hulk don't care. Hulk just..."
"Hulk just what? Doesn't like watching innocents getting hurt? Hulk doesn't like it when bullies hurt those weaker than them? I talked to Pipsqueak, the colt you helped out," Pinkie said with a smile when Hulk looked at her, wondering how she'd known. "I may be crazy, but I'm starting to think that Banner might have the wrong idea about you. That...I might have had the wrong idea about you."
"Puny not have wrong idea! Puny pony think Hulk a monster," Hulk said, this time with the rage behind his voice. "All ponies think Hulk a monster! Hulk is a monster!"
"Oh really?" Pinkie asked him, reaching over and pulling out a couch for her to sit on. "Let's recap then: You saved the ponies of Ponyville from a massive snake, named Susie. Then, you battled it out with TWO Ursa's and managed to keep all of the ponies alive as you did it. You then protected Pipsqueak from some bullies, even though you said that he was 'annoying'. And just moments ago, you saved a whole class full of ponies (whose school you destroyed) from a massive dam that burst and flooded the valley near here. Besides Lyra, I don't think that anyponies have been harmed since you got here."
"Is puny pony saying that Hulk a hero?" he said with a laugh. "Hulk is monster! Hulk is no hero."
"I beg to differ," Pinkie said, looking over the rim of her glasses that Hulk hadn't seen her put on. "Yes, you roar and yell a lot, but since you got here, ponies have only been saved by your actions."
"Hulk said, Hulk not hero!" Hulk roared at her, getting his face dangerously close to hers. Pinkie didn't bat an eye. "Now pony be quiet or Hulk-"
"Or Hulk what? Smash me?" she asked with a chuckle. Then she walked right up to him and stood close to his fist. "Go ahead, do it. I won't even move." Hulk looked at her in disbelief, not believing that she wouldn't move. He raised his fist into the air...then stopped. He just....couldn't do it. It wasn't Banner stopping him, Banner hadn't been heard from in days. Hulk just couldn't bring himself to hurt her. Hulk growled and then slammed his fist down right next to Pinkie. She looked at the crater he had made with a smile.
"I knew it. With all your yelling and threats, you actually can't hurt us," she said with a smug grin. "Or rather, you won't."
"That not true! Hulk throw cowardly pony into space!" Hulk argued.
"Yes, you threw a PEGASUS into the air, the only pony that can fly," Pinkie reminded him. "I'm fairly certain that you knew that she could stop herself from falling if needed. And for all your threats about smashing us, you haven't done it yet. If you were going to smash us, why haven't you? You could have done it to so many of the ponies that annoyed you."
"Hulk would smash ponies, but Hulk no feel like it," he argued, but Pinkie sighed.
"Do you even hear yourself? You've had so many chances to do it, but didn't," she said. "You could have smashed Twilight, but didn't. You could have torn Fluttershy apart, but chose to show her the planet from above. Celestia didn't stand a chance against you, but you let her and the others go. A monster wouldn't do that. Would a monster have stopped a massive snake from killing hundreds? Would a monster stop two bears that attacked a small town that no pony would miss. Would a monster hold up a bucking flood to save the lives of only a few children?!"
"Hulk-"
"And another thing. You always say that you're a monster and you want to be alone, but whenever a pony needs help, you're more than willing to fight for them. But if another tries to be nice or help you, you fly into a rage and yell at them!" she screamed herself, her own emotions getting a hold of her. "Why? Why do you hate friends so much? Why don't you want anypony to get close to you?"
"BECAUSE HULK SMASH ALL WHO GET CLOSE TO HIM!" he practically screamed, shaking the ground with his rage and his eyes flashing dangerously. "ALL HULK'S FRIENDS HURT HULK! HULK HURT ALL HULK'S FRIENDS! HULK IS TIRED OF SMASHING, TIRED OF BEING ATTACKED!...Hulk just wants to be alone." Finally, she had gotten to the root of the problem, and it wasn't that far from what she had guessed.
"I get it now," she said with understanding, all her fake rage draining out of her. "You're afraid to be close to others because you're afraid that either they'll either try to hurt you...or you'll crush them in one of you rages. Am I right?" Hulk looked at her for a minute before closing his eyes and looking away, not knowing how to answer--or wanting to. He walked back over to the stream and sat down, Pinkie joining him.
"Hulk have no friends," he said quietly, which scared Pinkie more than his rage ever had. "So Hulk stay alone, Hulk always alone. Hulk's friends try to hurt him or Hulk smash them. Hulk has no friends. Hulk a monster." Pinkie wanted to tell him that he wasn't a monster, but she knew it wouldn't work. So faster than most ponies could move, she ran back to Ponyville only to return a minute later with two foals on her back.
"Remember these two?" she asked as she showed him Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake.
"Why pony bring little ponies here?"
"To show you that you're not a monster. Hold out your hand." Hulk did as she asked and she put the two foals in his hand, indicating for him to bring them closer to his face. Hulk did so and looked at the foals who looked back up at him with interest. Hulk braced himself for the crying, the reaction all gave when they saw him. Then the two began to giggle and started to climb all over him. Pound Cake flew up on his head and started playing with his hair while Pumpkin started levitating herself up to his face so she could grab it.
"The foals never lie," Pinkie said with a smile as she took the two back from the Hulk and placed them on the ground, smiling as they started to try and catch bugs. "I've found that babies are a better judge of character than anypony I've met. And they don't see you as a monster, they see you as somepony they could trust. Just like I've come to do. I want to be your friend Hulk, please give me a chance."
"Hulk would smash you. Hulk always smashes."
"Please. You already tried to smash me and it didn't work, remember?" she said with a grin, elbowing him. When Hulk didn't respond, Pinkie tried something else. "And if you're afraid of us trying to hurt you, don't be. Even if we wanted to, I'm not sure we could. You're kinda stronger than anything I've ever seen." Hulk didn't answer and Pinkie once again waited as they both looked out over the river.
"Why you want to be Hulk's friend so bad?" Hulk eventually asked her.
"Because silly, nopony should be without friends, no matter who they are," she said with a smile. "So, do you want to be my friend? I won't try to hurt you. Cross my heart, hope to fly and stick a cupcake in my eye." Hulk watched her movements with uncertainty, not knowing what to do. He had tried this before, tried to make friends with someone, hoping they wouldn't try to hurt him. But they always did. But was the pony different? Would she stay true to her word?
"Why pony care for Hulk so much--after everything Hulk did?"
"Because I know that deep down you are good and I forgive you for what you've done here or in the past. You helped us out even after we treated you the way we did, after the way I treated you. I know you probably won't want to be friends with us, but can you give me one chance? Please, give me a chance to be your friend." Hulk sighed and closed his eyes, his knowledge of the past battling with his desire for those who would accept him. And when the battle ended...
"I'd also...like to apologize for the way me and my friends have treated you since you got here. It was wrong of us to treat you the way we did just because we saw you as different. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did and I'm sorry. I realize now that you are, and don't tell Twilight this, just as good or even a better pony than Banner is. Can you forgive me for judging you so harshly?" Hulk didn't answer since he was still going over it in his mind,. How many times had he heard the same promise before, the same lines? How many times had it all ended in pain from his so-called friends? But then...how tired was he of being alone? He knew that she was telling the truth, he could see it in her eyes. And that meant that she really was sorry and wanted to try and be his friend. Could he trust her...?
"Please Hulk, let me make it up to you."
"Hulk don't want friends," Hulk said with a growl, causing Pinkie's eyes to well up with tears. "But...Hulk will consider a friend." Pinkie smiled and jumped up to hug Hulk, who caught her in the air and put her back down on the ground. Hulk looked back at the foals as Pinkie shouted in triumph to the sky, the two looking up at him with curious eyes. Hulk picked them up gently and placed them in the palm of his hand, smiling slightly at them. Then much to Pinkie's surprise, they began to laugh.
"Wow, it takes me hours to get them to laugh, yet you did it without doing anything," she said with amazment, stretching her face and making silly noise, but the foals ignored her and continued to laugh at Hulk. "You might have a special talent for making others smile." Hulk didn't know how to answer, how could he? He'd spent his whole existence being a monster of pain and agony, but she was saying he could cause others to smile? Hulk was saved from answering when a massive lightning bolt struck the center of Ponyville.
---=-=---
"And he literally held up a massive rock in order for the water to pass over you and your class?" Twilight asked the still wet Cheerilee, who had come back into Ponyville to drop the class off. Twilight had been speaking with Applejack and Rainbow Dash about what they should do with the Hulk when Cheerilee had walked into the tree house, hoping that Twilight would know what was going on. "And it was the Hulk? You're certain of this?"
"As certain as Celestia will raise the sun," she responded with a sneeze. "Unless you know of another creature that's green, muscular and has a temper problem?"
"So it was the Hulk," Twilight said with a sigh, thinking of all sorts of questions that she would need to ask the Hulk. "So, do you know the reason why the dam burst. I know this isn't the first time it's burst, but after the last time I personally reinforced it with double the normal magical shielding."
"I'm not sure," she replied, placing her hoof under her chin. "I thought I saw the Hulk break the dam, but he looked...odd."
"Odd how?" Rainbow Dash asked her.
"He looked...darker than usual and he didn't roar or anything. He just walked up to the dam and punched it," she explained, the explanation causing Twilight to frown. "I would have actually thought it was him if the green version hadn't shown up only moments later to save us."
"Could there be two Hulks?" Twiligth asked herself, not liking the sound of it. "Alright, the three of us will go check it out. You get back home and go to bed. You've had a rough day." The four ponies left the library, with Cheerilee heading for home while the other three headed for the dam.
"What do we do if there's another Hulk?" Applejack asked with worry. "We can't even deal with one Hulk, how could we contend with two?"
"We just have to hope that it's not another Hulk and just a mistake on her part," Twilight said with a growl. "I just wish that I could have been there. Maybe then I could have-"
KKKAAAABBBBOOOOOMMMMM!!
Twilight and the girls shrieked as a massive sphere of lighting appeared in the center of town, blinding all who looked at it. A cloud of dust was what came next after the lighting finally died down, which gave way to a creature that caused the ponies to gasp. In the center of the hole the lighting had made was a creature down on one knee that they had never seen before. It was similar to Hulk in shape, but was covered in red and gold armor. It had a glowing circle where its heart should have been and was a lot sleeker than any armor they had seen. Steam was coming off the armor as it stood up and stretched.
"Ugh...Jarvis, why did the shielding for teleportation not come into effect?" it said to somepony, but none of the ponies knew of a Jarvis. "What do you mean they were damaged in the trip? I built them, so there's no way they could-"
"Um, hello there." The metal man looked down to find Twilight staring up at him, her horn glowing warily. Unknown to her, the internal system of the suit was already scanning the ponies, telling the operator that she was a magic-based creature. That didn't make it any more weird.
"Jarvis, did that horse just talk to me?" he asked the computer.
'Yes sir.'
"...Jarvis, what's my blood alcohol level?"
'The normal level, sir.'
"Well, I'm not drunk anyhow," he muttered to himself as he got down on one knee to be eye level. "Hello there. Can you understand me?" he asked her slowly.
"I understand you just fine," Twilight grumbled, hating being talked 'down to'. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"I am Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man," he said in a booming voice, standing up and firing his repulsors into the air, causing ponies to panic. "And I'm looking for someone."
"And who are you looking...No way," she muttered as it dawned on her. "Are you looking for the-"
"METAL MAAAANNNNNNNN!!"
"Oh hell," Iron Man muttered right before the Hulk slammed to the ground behind him, seething with rage. "Hey big guy, how ya-" Hulk grabbed Iron Man by the leg and started to slam him back and forth on the ground, yelling as he did so.
"Metal man lie to Hulk, told Hulk that he wouldn't ship Hulk off to another world! But metal man lie to Hulk again! NOW HULK RIP METAL MAN IN TWO!" he roared as he repeatedly slammed him on the ground.
"I...didn't...know...that...would..." Iron Man yelled between hits, but the Hulk wasn't listening. Hulk lifted Iron Man up by the leg and grabbed his head, preparing to pull Tony out of the suit.
"HULK! DROP HIM!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she arrived on the scene, hoofing the two babies over to their parents as she did so. Hulk looked at her for a minute before growling and throwing Iron Man into the ground. Tony gave a little "ow" as he hit. Pinkie then walked over to the damaged suit and offered it her hoof. "Sorry about that, still working on getting his anger under control."
"No...problem," Iron Man moaned as he sat up, running a scan to make sure nothing was broken. He then looked around at the town where he was sitting, amazed that ponies had seemed to build it and even more amazed that Hulk hadn't ripped it apart.
"I see that you and the Hulk are already aquantied," Rainbow Dash said to him with a smile.
"Oh yeah, best of buds," Iron Man replied as he got back to his feet. "I've spent days trying to lock onto where he vanished and what thanks do I get? The guy grabs me and uses me as a fly swatter. See if I ever save his big green ass again."
"Metal man be quiet," Hulk growled as he took a step forward, but Pinkie put a hoof to his leg to stop him.
"You said that you've been tracking the Hulk," Twiight began, hoping that Iron Man would be a little more reasonable than the Hulk. "Why were you tracking him exactly?"
"You know, I'm asking myself that exact question right now," he said in a mocking tone, causing Twilight to frown. "And I don't think it would be the best idea to tell what looks like a radioactive pony where I come from and what I'm doing."
"We're not radioactive!" Applejack yelled.
"Have you taken a look at yourself?" he asked smugly. "You're all covered in gamma rays. But if you must know, and you must, we lost the Hulk about five or six days ago during a massive battle over our home planet, when the alien ship retreated with him on board. Naturally we thought that we'd find him on their home world, but it seems he fell off during his flight. After a few days of scanning the multi-verse, I found him here, surrounded by talking ponies who use magic."
"Wait, you said Hulk was fighting with you? How did you get him to agree to that?"
"We didn't, we got Banner to. Speaking of which," Iron Man began, turning towards the Hulk. "I want to speak to Banner, so change back. Hurry up, chop chop."
"Banner no here any more," Hulk replied with a grin. "Only Hulk here. And Hulk no like metal man."
"Okay that's not good," Iron Man said with a bit of fear. "That's actually bad. Very, very bad."
"Why is that so bad?" Pinkie asked.
"Because, without Banner there is no way to control the Hulk and he'll run rampant," Iron Man explained. "Except you haven't. Why haven't you been all 'Hulk smash'?"
"How do you know so much about Hulk and Banner?" Twilight asked. "Are you his friend?"
"Banner's, yes. Hulk's, nooooo. You see, Hulk doesn't have any friends because he has anger managment issues."
"I'm his friend," Pinkie said very seriously.
"Hulk said consider."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Iron Man said with a chuckle. "Alright Hulk, we've wasted enought time here and Steve's worried about you, so let's get on back to-"
"Hulk not go back. Hulk staying," Hulk said. Iron Man and the ponies all looked at him like he was nuts.
"There must be metal in my ears from when you slammed me into the ground," Iron Man said as he slapped the side of his helmet. "Did you just say you want to stay?"
"Hulk like it here. Puny ponies no try to hurt Hulk," Hulk said with a grunt. "If Hulk go back, puny humans will attack Hulk, try to hurt Hulk. Hulk have no friends there, only people that want to be smashed. Here, Hulk not attacked by ponies and Hulk may even have friend." If the ponies could have seen Iron Man's face, they would have seen an expression of incredible disbelief--not that their own faces didn't look exactly the same.
"Hulk--Big Guy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't stay here," Iron Man said. "This always happens, you try to find a home in a new world and then everything goes to hell. Come on, let's get you home and see if we can get Banner out of-"
"Hulk not going back," Hulk said in a dangerous tone, narrowing his eyes at Stark. "Unless metal man want to try and make Hulk."
"I would have to say no to that offer," Iron Man replied with a sigh. "Look, I know you think that you're going to be happy or at least alone here, but it will end the same way all the other worlds have. And when you realize this," Iron Man said as he tossed Hulk a massive transmitter. "Just push the button on that and the Avengers will pick you up. Jarvis, activate the transporter." The lightning bolt returned and Iron Man vanished in a flash. Hulk watched him go with a scowl, looking down at the transmitter before tossing it aside. Pinkie caught it as Hulk jumped off into the distance.
--------=-=---------
Far away from all the commotion, a pile of metal lay strewn across the ground in the middle of a forest. Most of it had been ripped apart by a certain green monster and it was beyond normal means of repair. Normal means.
"Well what do we have here?" Discord asked himself as he looked down at all the scrap metal that reflected the setting sun. "This could be of use if brought back together. And while the princess pony and all her stallions may not be able to put it back together, I can." Discord snapped his fingers and watched with a smile as the pieces began to re-form, becoming the metal robot Gyro again. "Now go my creation, sew the seeds of chaos on that town." The robot nodded and headed for Ponyville, while a snickering Discord snapped his fingers and vanished.