From the Ashes

by Boltstrike58

Chapter 25: The After-Party

Equis, Canterlot

Since the return of Nightmare Moon, Equestria had come under assault from a quite a few nearly apocalyptic threats. Oddly enough, most ponies had gotten so used to this, they barely noticed anymore. It'd almost become routine. Some sort of evil threatened Equestria, the Elements of Harmony showed up to save the day, everything was fine. Of course, nopony got tired of the celebration that came afterward, frequently catered by the great Pinkie Pie. It was always their favorite part.

This time, however, was a bit different. This time, Equestria had some outsiders to congratulate.

The Avengers found themselves walking across a stage set up in front of Canterlot Castle, in front of a massive orchestra. Leading the music was the voice of Countess Coloratura, singing Equestria's national anthem. The Avengers were being led up to the Princesses, Celestia and Luna at the front, and Cadence, Shining Armor, and the Elements of Harmony off to the side. A massive crowd, gathered from all over Equestria, especially the Crystal Empire, came to watch this ceremony. Coloratura finished up the song as the Avengers reached Celestia.

"Thanks, Rara," Applejack whispered to the earth pony. The two old friends shared a quick smile.

The team, in honor of the occasion, had suited up in their "uniforms," minus any of their masks. Even Spider-Man had removed his out of honor. Of course, they'd sustained quite a bit of damage during the battle with Sombra, but the cloth suits had been easily repaired by Rarity (after all, they were there more for appearance), and Tony had patched up the armors within a few minutes. Rainbow had started to ask Bruce to Hulk out for the party, but the combined glares of the team had put an end to that discussion, even if she was kidding.

Steve led the way, his shield in its old place on his back, as he walked up to Celestia and Luna. The white alicorn rose to her hooves, prompting the crowd of ponies to fall silent.

"Avengers," Celestia began, "saviors of planet Earth, and now of planet Equis. In our hour of need, you came to our defense, asking for no rewards. At great personal risk, you battled to protect the lives of ponies everywhere, and cared for our people as if they were your own. For this, we are forever in your debt."

Celestia's horn lit up with its familiar golden glow, levitating a small medal to place it around Steve's neck. The medal was forged of gold, and inscribed with an emblem: The familiar symbol of Equestria, a circle with Celestia and her sun on one side, Luna on the other, and in between them, they'd added the stylized A of the Avengers logo. Steve gave a friendly salute, before getting down on one knee in front of Luna. The dark alicorn raised her sword with her magic.

"Steve Rogers, aka Captain America," she announced, as she touched the blade to one of his shoulders. "For your services to us, I dub you Sir Rogers, Knight of Equestria." She brought the sword over to his other shoulder.

"It was my honor, Princess Luna," Steve replied, climbing to his feet. He walked over to join Twilight's group, as the remaining Avengers proceeded to the princesses.

"Y'know, I didn't suspect that when I finally got my knighthood, I would be getting it from a horse," said Tony. He hastily added an "I'm kidding," at the look Twilight shot him.

"I will defend you and Equestria whenever I am needed, Celestia," said Thor. The two old friends shared a brief hug before Thor moved on.

"Uh, this probably belongs more to the other guy," said Bruce, looking at his medal. "But somehow, I don't think this is his kind of event." The ponies chuckled at his quip.

"Well, this is a new one," was all Natasha said, as she touched her medal.

"Oh, boy. My kids are never gonna let me hear the end of this one," Clint joked.

"I wonder if I can display this with the rest of my medals," Rhodey said, earning a laugh, and a "Probably not," from Tony.

Sam accepted his honors without speaking, though later on, Steve would swear that he heard a quiet "Eat it, Riley," from the Falcon as he came down.

Bucky rose from his knees as Luna finished knighting him. "I'm honored by this. I truly am," he said quietly. Luna gave him a kind smile.

Wanda looked as though she might've protested the award, and the title, but she didn't speak. As she looked down at her medal, a few small tears formed in her eyes. She was thinking of what Pietro would've done with his own.

Vision accepted his award, but his stance told keen-eyed observers that he wasn't super comfortable with it. Seeing this, Wanda took his hand, giving him a reassuring squeeze and he responded in kind. In the crowd, Lyra Heartstrings managed to catch his eye, giving him a comforting wave. The android smiled, some of his burden lifted.

"Well, Cassie's gonna want to hear all about this," said Scott, as he rose from his knees. He gave Clint a knowing glance, and the two fathers shared a quiet chuckle.

"I'm proud to call you my friends. And I'm proud to protect your people," said T'Challa, giving a respectful bow to the princesses.

Peter was the last, his mask dangling from his fingertips. As Luna finished gracing him with the sword, he stood up. "I-I...I..." he tried to say, stumbling over his words, before finally settling on "Thank you." He took his place beside the others.

The entire team was now gathered on the stage. Fourteen Avengers, six Elements of Harmony, Spike, and Starlight Glimmer, alongside Celestia and Luna. The preliminaries done, Celestia turned to the massive crowd of ponies, raising her halberd.

"Thank the Avengers, the mightiest heroes on Earth or Equis," she announced.

The massive crowd of ponies burst into applause, their hooves clacking against the ground. But the applause came to a halt as Steve raised his hands, respectfully asking for silence.

"Ponies of Equestria," he said, "we thank you for accepting us, and for these honors. We have something we'd like to give you in turn."

He gestured to Tony, who opened a compartment in his armor, before taking out a handful of new medals, though these were forged with a shining silver metal. Wanda waved her hands, telekinetically lifting them, and placing them around the necks of the Elements, Spike, Starlight, Celestia, and Luna.

"Everyone," said Tony, taking over, "gor going beyond the call of duty, and for standing by us in battle, we declare you Honorary Avengers."

Nopony knew what to say. Twilight's jaw had fallen open as she examined the medal. It was inscribed with the Avengers logo, but the A was contained inside a large horseshoe. She looked up at Steve, into his warm eyes.

"Wow," she said. "I...I didn't expect this."

"I'm a member of a superhero team..." Rainbow breathed. "This is...the coolest thing to ever happen in the history of Equestria!" Spike was squealing in a similar fashion

"I must say, these are quite appealing to the eyes, darlings," said Rarity. "Compliments to your style."

Fluttershy barely managed to get out a squeak of shock.

Pinkie didn't even bother with subtlety, jumping up and cheering as she received her medal.

Applejack smiled warmly as she accepted her medal, making eye contact with Steve in the process.

Starlight accepted her award, looking a bit glum, remembering past sins, but Wanda reached down to pat her on the shoulder, giving her a small bit of comfort.

Neither Celestia nor Luna spoke a word, merely bowing respectfully to the Avengers. The other ponies followed their example, and the Avengers were soon bowing in turn. Heroes of two worlds, united, showing respect for-

"Okay, that's enough of that!" said Pinkie, abruptly. "Now, time for the 'mane' event!"

With that, she disappeared into thin air, only to reappear, as she whipped out a massive banner labeled "Equestria is Saved and We Now Have Extraterrestrial Friends Party!", stretching it over two large columns. Everypony in the audience burst into applause, content that this celebration would feel just as magical as any other.

"Let's get this party started!" Pinkie yelled, whipping out a microphone.

Tony just stared at the pink mystery, his jaw dropping as he apparently tried to come up with some sort of response. Twilight flew up to his shoulder, giving him a small pat.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," she offered.

---

The festivities continued well into the evening. Ponies danced around Canterlot Castle, accompanied by music provided by Ponyville's resident DJ, Vinyl Scratch. The Avengers found themselves unable to resist the urge to join in, dancing and digging into the massive array of treats Pinkie had managed to procure. Even Celestia and Luna embraced the opportunity to cut loose, Celestia indulging herself in the dessert table.

On the front steps of the castle, Tony, Twilight, Steve, and Applejack gathered with their drinks (punch, Pinkie always refused to serve alcohol) to watch the party and ruminate. Vision was getting grilled by Lyra on the nature of humans, Peter was doing web tricks and explaining the concept of karaoke to Pinkie, while Rainbow told Sam about Wonderbolt stunts.

"Beats the heck out of our last after-party, I'll admit," said Tony, taking a bite out of his doughnut.

"Considering that practically all of our after-parties consist of us eating shawarma before we even manage to receive proper medical attention, I think that goes without saying," said Steve.

"Shawarma?" asked Twilight. "Seems like an odd choice..."

"It's a long story," said Tony.

"Shawarma?" came a familiar voice, followed by an equally familiar popping sound. "I got veggie shawarma, if you're interested!"

Tony and Steve weren't at all surprised shawarma sandwiches (though apparently with fake meat) appearing in their hands, considering that Discord was standing right next to them, leaning heavily on a crutch that was made out of candy canes and covered with bandages.

"Really?" asked Applejack. "You're gonna be all dramatic about it?"

"Hey, you try having your basis in reality screwed with, see how you like it!" Discord snapped, but he was clearly joking.

Steve bit into his sandwich. "Hm. Not bad, all things considered."

"Not my preference," Discord admitted, conjuring one of his own, though his was slathered in mustard and melted chocolate, "but it does grow on you." With that, he teleported back into the party, joining Fluttershy in her conversation with Bruce.

"So, all's well that ends well, right?" said Twilight, after a few more minutes of silence.

"Pretty much," Steve admitted. "Nobody died on either planet. That's definitely one in the win column."

"What about the fact that Pinkie's currently using your shield as a frisbee?" asked Applejack.

Steve's focus shot up. The party pony was, in fact, throwing his star-spangled shield to Rainbow, who then passed it to Sam, who passed it to Bucky, all while Fluttershy tried in vain to get them to stop.

"HEY! GIMME THAT! I JUST GOT THAT BACK!" he shouted, running into the crowd. Tony, Applejack, and Twilight doubled over with laughter as Bucky and Sam immediately began playing Monkey in the Middle with Steve's shield. Applejack mercifully decided to get up and try to help him.

"Boys," Natasha chuckled to herself, joined by Wanda, Rarity, and Starlight.

"ANOTHER!" Thor yelled, smashing his drink on the ground, only to draw glares from everyone.

Twilight leaned back to laugh at the antics of her old friends combining with her new ones.

"I'll admit, Twilight," said Tony, "when we got here, I thought this place would melt my brain. It looked way too cutesy on the surface. Too innocent to understand anything. I'm glad to be proven wrong."

Twilight laughed to herself. "I'm glad we got to meet, Tony," she replied. "And no matter what, the Avengers are heroes. Never let anyone tell you otherwise."

Tony looked up into the sky. For the first time since the Battle of New York, he found himself no longer convinced that everything out there was doomsday in the making. Sure, Sombra had come from Equestria, but if it hadn't been for the ponies, they never would've defeated him. And they'd given the Avengers the greatest gift of all: forgiveness.

Author's Note:

Just a tide-over chapter until I finish the finale.

Comments

[fluttercord shipper 23]

Are we going to see an infinity war sequel

[Warcrafter80]

Theres the Shawarma Camio

[Antiquarian]

SHAWARMAAAAAAAA!

[Jade Dawn]

"HEY! GIMME THAT! I JUST GOT THAT BACK!" he shouted, running into the crowd. Tony, Applejack, and Twilight doubled over with laughter as Bucky and Sam immediately began playing Monkey in the Middle with Steve's shield.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

8834910
I had to look that up. Sounds sort of like a gyro.