//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: My Little Avengers: Equestria's Mightiest Heroes // by Starkvenger //------------------------------// ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The heroes waited around in the library, talking and reading, anything to keep their minds busy. Twilight talked with Tony about various forms of magic, happy to share anything she knew with a pony who asked. Bruce sat on a pillow in the corner, happily flipping through page after page of books, quickly getting the hang of his hooves. Clint and Natasha sat on a padded bench that doubled as a bookcase by a window. Clint was trying to grab an arrow that had fallen onto the floor while Natasha was busy watching him with a serious face. Steve walked around the room, looking at the spines of books on the shelves, talking softly to himself. Loki and Thor sat in the middle of the room on the floor, Thor struggling to pick up his hammer with his mouth, and Loki sitting quietly with his eyes closed, most likely meditating. "You're majesty If I could help-" Twilight started, looking to Thor struggle. Thor laughed. "Lady Twilight, I thank you for the offer but only I am able to lift my hammer," Thor told her, his tone slightly smug. "Oh, So sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I just was wondering why you weren't using your magic." the unicorn said, walking over to the god. A purple glow enveloped her horn and the hammer was surrounded in a soft purple aura. It was then lifted into the air and floated softly into Thor's waiting hoof. The Avengers stopped what they were doing and watched in surprise as the hammer moved magically. "How did you-" Tony asked, a shocked expression on his face as he walked over to the trio. "You moved the hammer," he said simply. Twilight gave him a weird look and nodded. Steve decided then was the time to be a leader. "Ma'am, sorry to interrupt, but where we come from, no one- er, nopony uses magic." he explained, biting his lip hoping she would buy the lie. Twilight gave him a confused look, but smiled in reply. "Oh. Well, i'd love to teach you if you'd like." she offered. The heroes nodded and she smiled. "Lets see if we can tap into those magic reservoirs." she said happily, motioning for Clint, Thor, and Loki to come to her. "Alright, lets take this outside because magic can get pretty tricky at times." she told them, her horn starting to glow, along with the front doorknob, as it turned and opened. The ponies walked outside and around the treehouse to the backyard, enclosed in a white picket fence. Twilight opened the gate with her hoof and the heroes, plus Loki walked inside. Tony, Natasha, Steve and Bruce walked over to a picnic table and sat, watching as Twilight led Loki, Thor, and Clint to the center of the yard. Loki rolled his eyes sat sat regally on the grass, looking like he'd rather be in Hell than there. "I don't see why I must have these magical lessons. I am the most skilled at magic after all." he boasted, getting groans as well as a boo from the heroes and Tony. "Yes Brother, but do you know how to use your horn?" Thor stressed, putting on a large smile. Loki rolled his eyes and sighed, clearly done talking. Twilight looked between the two, smiling a little. "Alright. Let's get this started shall we?" She asked. Twilight cleared her throat and asked for someone to step forward, and, after a few minutes of no movement, Clint stepped forward. "Let's do this thing!" the archer said happily, getting into what he called a 'fighting stance' which really was him bending his forehooves like a dog wanting to play. Twilight giggled and nodded, her horn glowing a soft violet color. "Alright. Let's start with the basics. First, think of something small. A baseball, a cookie, a ball of string..." Twilight said, closing her eyes. "Then, think of the item being in front of you. Concentrate on the item, how it looks, how big it is, how it feels. Then-" there was a flash of light and an apple appeared on the ground, gleaming in the sunlight. "And there we go!" The unicorn said happily, waiting for Clint to try himself. "Alright. I got this. Lemme think....Ah!" he said, closing his eyes. He thought on his object, concentrating on what he wanted to happen. Clint's horn glowed a soft orangish-yellow as his eyes were squeezed tightly shut. Another flash of light, and an arrow sat on the grass. "Typical." Tony barked, leaning on his forearm. Steve elbowed Tony and clapped his hooves, cheering for the archer. "Go Clint! Good job!" he said, giving him a smile. Soon, Clint, Thor, and Loki, were making things appear at ease in front of them. Twilight smiled and walked over to the bench where the rest of the ponies were waiting. "So, they're making great progress," she said, watching the ponies work. The ponies were interrupted by the sound of a voice coming from the fence. It was very feminine, from what Tony could tell. The handle on the gate was enveloped in a light blue glow, much like Thor's, and opened up, revealing a white unicorn. "Twilight! Darling, Pinkie came to get me! She was in such a hurry I wasn't sure what was going on! I came as fast as I-" The white unicorn with a curly dark purple mane and tail froze when she laid her eyes on Thor. Her cheeks turned a bright pink and she began fiddling with her mane, biting her lip. "Oh, I didn't realize you had a friend over...and a gorgeous unicorn at that... My name is Rarity. Pleasure to meet you." she said, smiling seductively at the god. Twilight rolled her eyes and pointed to Thor's wings. Rarity's eyes went wide, her blush reddening. "Oh my Celestia! I am so sorry your highness..." she said, bowing to the alicorn. "Please excuse my behavior. I am so sorry..." she said, trying to hide behind her hair as she walked quickly over to the picnic table. Rarity then looked to the other colts, trying to hide her embarrassment. After a few moments of awkward silence, two voices could be heard from the gate. Two ponies, a yellow pegasus and an orange mare walked in, smiling. "Heya Twilight, Pinkie just rushed up to the farm and told us ya needed to see us? Is somethin' wrong sugar cube?" the orange one asked, tipping back her cowboy hat. She was the color of an orange, along with a long golden mane and tail, each tied up in a ponytail. On her flank was a picture of 3 apples. Thr group smiled at the mare as she walked over. The mare looked around the yard, smiling at everypony. "Howdy everypony. The name's AppleJack. This here is Fluttershy." she said, stepping out of the way to reveal a yellow pegasus with very long pink hair. Bruce looked up from his book to smiled and nod at the ponies introducing themselves, and was about to start reading again when the yellow pegasus caught his eye. She was a light yellow, her blue eyes contrasting the color of her coat in a nice way. On her flank were 3 butterflies, and she seemed to make an attempt to stay behind the orange one. He smiled at her, making her hide behind her hair further. She then followed Applejack to the picnic table, which was beginning to get crowded. "Well, anyways, back to the lesson. Levitation is-" Twilight was cut off by a rainbow-colored blur, smashing into her and knocked them both back into the fence. Everyone gasped and ran to the pony, wanting to know if she was alright. "Rainbow! What were you thinking?" Twilight said, pushing a bright blue pegasus with loud rainbow-colored mane and tail off her. The pegasus smiled and burst out laughing. After a few minutes, she finally calmed down. Wiping away tears, Rainbow Dash smiled and stood up. "Dash is the name, speed's the game." the pegasus said with a laugh, helping the unicorn up. "Now, if we could get back to the lesson..." Twilight said, slight frustration in her voice. "Let's learn some levitation shall we?" she said, turning back to the magic users. "Alright. Now, I'm going to set some things in front of you, and you have to just concentrate on the object, and think of it floating. Simple." she said happily, using her magic to pick up some colorful balls from the yard. "Here." she said, setting the balls before them. The colts each closed their eyes, their horns glowing with a distinct glow. Clint's was orangish-yellow, Thor's was light blue, and Loki's was obviously jade green. Each one's horn glowed for a moment, as the balls slowly began to float in the air. "Alright, open your eyes," Twilight said, watching as the colts opened their eyes. Clint was estatic, smiling and hopping in place. He walked around the ball, moving his hoof between it and the ground, and all around it for that matter. "It really is floating!!!" the archer said happily, dancing on his hooves. Natasha smiled and clapped for him, as did Steve. Their celebration was interrupted by the loud sound, similar to a spring. The gate opened revealing a bouncing pink pony, a huge smile on her face. "Oh, not her..." Tony mumbled, receiving an elbow from Steve. "Goody! Everypony is here!" Pinkie said, zipping over to the picnic table. "How's the magic lesson going?" she asked. Steve gave her a curious look. "How'd you know about the magic lesson? You left so fast I didn't think you had heard what we were doing," he said, shaking his head slightly. Pinkie giggled. "I didn't! My Pinkie sense told me!" she said happily, looking back to the magic-users. Twilight smiled and started talking to the colts again, leaving the rest of the ponies to chat with each other. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After about an hour of magic lessons, the colts were visibly exhausted. Twilight herself looked a little tired, so the group decided to take a break. "Whaddya say we all go grab a bunch of hayburgers?" Rainbow asked, launching herself into the air. Tony tried to follow her, clumsily hovering for a moment before plummeting back down to the grass. He mumbled under his breath as Rainbow snickered. "What's wrong with your wings buddy?" she asked, cocking her head. "Can't fly," Tony replied bluntly, making the aqua pony freeze in mid-air. "You....WHAT!?" the mare screeched, zooming down to pin the genius to the ground. "You...don't....know...how...TO FLY!?" she yelped. Tony nodded nervously, gesturing to Natasha. "Neither does she..." he said. Rainbow glanced at Natasha with a confused look and stood up, back off of the colt. "Well, then when we get back, I'm going to teach you." she said confidently. So, the group made their way to Joe's HayBurger Hut, chatting amongst themselves. The mares lead the way while the heroes followed closely behind. "Steve, this place is great! I haven't seen a single threat, so we don't have to bust our backs being heroes." Tony whispered, smiling at the colt. Steve rolled his eyes and continued walking, smiling a little to himself. He had to admit, it was nice not to hear a cry for help every five seconds. Suddenly, as if on cue, (wink wonk.) a scream echoed through the streets, putting the Avengers on high alert. A mint-colored unicorn with light green and white hair came barreling towards them, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Fire!! FIRE!!" the unicorn screamed, her horn glowing a faint green. The unicorn ran up to the mares, her forehead beading with sweat. Before the heroes could jump into action, the mares nodded and ran off in the direction the mare had come, leaving them to wonder. They didn't wonder for too long before running after them down the street. To Be Continued....