Chapter 44 - Traitor
Leipzig, Germany
Notaufnahme Hospital
1:14 p.m.
The cloudy afternoon skies gave some much-needed coolness to that hot summer day. The grassy field lying just ahead of the hospital wasn’t as bright without the sun beating down on it, as well as the forest that stood behind the road. And as for two Avengers, they stood silently side by side for the longest time. One contemplated, the other waited for the other, her arms crossed, her eyes uncertain.
Tony Stark nearly shared the same fate as Natasha.
Since she walked in on him, all she could see was that ghostly-pale look on his face, his eyes giving that thousand-yard stare. Natasha didn’t want to see it again, but after hearing what Stark had been through, she couldn’t blame him for the state he was in. But she didn’t come to see him just to talk about Rhodey. After hearing about what happened to him, about what a certain… pony had done… Natasha couldn’t let Stark run loose just yet.
Not when he was like… this.
Stark’s left arm was tied in a sling, obviously still not fully capable after Barnes’ escape from the Terrorist Centre. His other hand was held outwards, his palm gripping the glass railing that separated them from the grassy field below. His face was still bruised up a bit, but he looked calm, somewhat collected. Definitely shaken.
He finally sighed after nearly a full two minutes if silence and serenity. Natasha looked his way. “The doctors say he shattered L4 through S1. Extreme laceration to the spinal cord. Might be looking at some form of paralysis.”
Natasha felt a chill crawl up her spine, a wrenching feeling in her gut. She turned away and instead chose to stare out to the forest. Stark pursed his lips, sniffing softly. “I might be able to… to make some kind of exoskeleton for him. Gotta get him back on his feet.”
“Gotta get the soldiers back in the fight,” Natasha muttered.
“That’s not what I mean, Romanoff,” Stark barked, looking at her fiercely.
She didn’t even look at him. Instead, she shrugged, arms still crossed. “Got some good people hurt today. Rhodes, your kid from Queens, that Daredevil character—”
“He was a hostile.”
“He was just doing what he thought was right,” Natasha fired at him.
Stark just sneered, looking at her with incredulous eyes. “And you, bringing in that ‘Punisher’ to the fight. What the hell were you thinking?”
“You…” she caught him quickly, staring at him intensely, “can blame Starlight for that. I tried to warn her not to trust him, but she wouldn’t have it. She just wanted to do what she thought was right, too… when she gave that murderer a second chance.”
Tony stared at her for a moment longer. Natasha stared right on back, the haunting fire in her eyes holding much more weight than what Stark carried. He looked away, sighing. “That’s why you don’t trust murderers.” Natasha looked away, back towards the road. “Yeah, we won’t have to worry about him anymore, or any of them, really.”
“Except for Steve, and Barnes who’s still on the loose, and then there’s Rainbow—” Natasha began to count off the names, stopping when she heard the obnoxious scoff from Stark’s end.
Looking back at him, she furrowed her brows, asking, “What?”
Tony shook his head, turning to her with what could barely be distinguished as a smirk hidden in the confines of a frown. “You know what she did?” he asked.
“Yes, but I—”
Stark interrupted her. “She willingly attacked us, created some sort… EMP… rainbow blast that knocked out Rhodes’ systems.” He stopped. His eyes stared out to the forest, a shell-shocked expression in every wear and tear that his face showed. His voice dropped, only pain following his tone. “It’s because of her that he’ll probably never walk again.”
Natasha let that reality sink in, her expression softening when she saw that kind of pain build in his gaze. She could see him grip the glass railing until his knuckles turned bone white.
That’s when she acted. “Tony…” she said, her voice stern, commanding, just strong enough for him to relax his grip. Just slightly. “Calm… down. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t try to kill either of you two. She’s our friend. There’s gotta be another explanation.”
Tony shook his head, his eyes still glazed with pain. He tries to hide it, though. He couldn’t. “It doesn’t matter. She did what she did and it happened. We can’t change that. We go on with the mission; we subdue Barnes and Rogers.”
“And what about Rainbow?” Natasha asked. Stark’s expression hadn’t changed. If anything, he only grew more tense. “Does she go home with the others?”
Without even looking at her, Stark replied, “She’s a current hostile. She’ll share the same consequences if necessary.”
“You gonna tell Twilight…” Natasha began to say, her voice trailing off when she heard the sound of hooves approaching from behind. Turning around accordingly, she and Stark could see the Alicorn herself standing by the exit that led to the hallway, an unsure look in her eyes. “… that?”
Twilight Sparkle stayed where she was. Having just left her friends and the Vision watching the operation begin on James Rhodes, she seemed to stumble on a conversation she probably shouldn’t have been a part of. But that could wait. She was looking for Natasha, and there she was looking back at her expectantly.
“Natasha…” Twilight stated, clearing her throat and stepping forward. “Secretary Ross was informed from T’Challa… that you allowed Steve, Barnes, and Rainbow to escape. I’m sure you’ve heard, Tony?”
He nodded. “T’Challa told me first.”
Nodding back, Twilight turned to Romanoff, her expression weary, a sigh escaping her. “Per Ross’ request, I’m supposed to take you in,” she said, her voice lacking any form of emotion that she carried so greatly.
“One of the Princesses of Equestria taking orders from a human who could only dream to have as much power as her. Funny worlds we live in,” Natasha scoffed.
Twilight just rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Just go already.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. Dropping her arms, Natasha strolled past the Alicorn and entered the hallway. “They’ll be coming for you, Nat,” Stark called to her, watching as she left.
“I’m counting on it.”
And that was all they heard from her before her distant footsteps became too distant. Watching her body vanish behind the wall, Twilight only sighed and approached Tony’s free side. She placed her hoof on the glass railing, staring out into the world. She looked up at him, the man turning away and back to the forest canopy.
Frowning, Twilight asked, “What do you mean Rainbow will ‘share the same consequences’?”
Answering almost immediately, Stark said, “She’s broken plenty of Earth laws. No alien gets to run free and break as many laws as they please; they pay the price just like everybody else.”
“We’ll take care of her back on Equus,” Twilight replied, watching and almost waiting as Stark finally turned to face her, a somewhat unamused look in his eyes. Twilight affirmed her statement, saying, “We’ll make sure she receives the right punishment. I don’t want to have Rainbow stay here on Earth for Celestia knows how long while the rest of us leave.”
But what Stark said next almost caught her by surprise.
“Then don’t leave. Wait until she gets out.”
Twilight dropped her hoof from the glass, almost taking a step back. The thought of staying on Earth for a prolong time had occurred to her, but every time she would always think back to the blast at the UN meeting that incinerated the stage, to the resulting chaos in Lagos, and finally to the dead bodies swarming the legs of the man with the skull mask. Pursing her lips, Twilight sighed, closing her eyes. “We’ve been here too long, Tony. And after everything that’s happened… all these horrible things… because of us…”
Another sigh, and then she opened her eyes, composing herself just long enough to hold his stare. “It’s just… I don’t want anything else to happen to us, or my friends. It just goes to show that we’re not ready.”
She was silent after that, turning away to stare into the grass below her. Stark kept on staring at her, his right hand gripping the railing, the other resting in its sling. They weren’t ready. They really weren’t. Stark could regrettably agree to that. Even though there was peace between their worlds, that peace was held by a slim piece of string by a man called fate just daring to snip away at its edges. And Stark could also agree that more bad than good had occurred because the mares had made the first small steps for ponykind on Earth. They just weren’t ready.
Not ready for what Earth and humanity really were.
Their silence was interrupted by a soft beeping emanating from Stark’s wrist. Twilight lazily looked to him, watched as he pressed down on the surface of his watch. A small image popped out, showcasing what appeared to be a man coated in blood, his eyes closed.
“What am I looking at, Homer?” Tony asked.
“Recent upload from Berlin police, sir. Identity confirmed to be Doctor Theo Broussard.”
Twilight could only watch as Stark’s eyes widened, his mouth falling into a frozen state of surprise. “Doctor Theo Broussard?” he repeated just to be certain.
“Yes, sir.”
“Who’s that?” Twilight asked.
Ignoring her, Tony lowered his wrist, his eyes staring elsewhere. “Son of a bitch.”
“Oh, was his mother really that bad?”
Turning to her, a quizzical look in his eyes, Tony raised a brow, then realized what she meant. “No, it’s—” Stark looked away, shook his head, and turned back to her. “Never mind. I’ll tell you on the flight.” He took off down the hall, the Alicorn blinking before retreating from the railing to join him.
As Stark entered the hall, Twilight by his side, he spoke into his watch, saying, “Homer, fire up the chopper. We’re heading to the Raft.”
I broke. I saw the leaked Infinity War trailer. I'm scum.
But damn it all that was a godly trailer. 
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Kind move from Twilight to let Natasha go. Mr “I unleashed the Abomination on Harlem” doesn’t have the right to order the purple princess around. I wonder if Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie have been (temporarily at least) sent to the Raft with Steve’s human fellows.
I look forward for their discussion.
Also :
But if Rainbow does get caught, how long would she be locked up? And what if she never gets out? Rainbow may have broken Earth laws by aiding Cap, but to Twilight, the other mares and Spike, she is still their friend and they can't just leave her on Earth while they go home. And with everything bad that has happened and the time they've spent away from Equus for too long (and who knows what's going over there while they are gone), they pretty much have overstayed their welcome.
What the new Ragnorock trailer?
AWESOME!!!!!
Nah, it's alright. Deep down, we all have a raging urge to watch a trailer we've told ourselves to avoid to prevent spoilers and be surprised.
Hoo boy...
We're all scum. We're not even smart scum, we know Tony is gonna save Earth from Thanos and yet we still flock to the trailers live rabid animals.
Oh boy....
Things got soap opera-ie...if that's a thing....
NOW, the final battle is about to commence! Nice chapter! The infinity war trailer? I can't wait to see your crossover with that!
Told ya that was a bad idea.
Finally, it seems Twilight's turning around a bit on this.
This kinda threw it off for me. I know you're not explicitly saying that ponies are better and less violent than humans, but it still feels like that's the underlying message. Seriously, the pony team was divided just as easily as the Avengers in this war.
8318335
That is Tony's view of things. It isn't just about being divided, but also about the rest of the events the equestrians lived on Earth.
Nice job on Stark and Twilight's dynamic here, JD.
We're nearing the climax here. Stark and Twilight are on their way to the Raft. I wonder what the jurisdiction for Rainbow's actions would be in Equestria?
In other news besides Avengers, how about them Skrulls? Love the fact they're in the MCU.
8317651 A couple ponies and a young dragon are currently under water.
8317673 Deadpool never disappoints.
8317685 Hey, at least I got a little bit more info on how my Infinity War crossover is gonna go.
8317823 I want Star-Lord, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange to be fighting on screen at the same time. Oh yeah, and the rest of the movie looks awesome too.
8317839 I can see that.
8317840 It's gonna be a good one.
8318335 Not saying it was the ponies' fault by any means, but rather their effect on Earth. Several terrorist attacks have occurred since the ponies came to Earth, and while it may not have been their fault, they still happened because of the ponies. If anything, this shows that Earth isn't ready for them just as much as they aren't ready for Earth.
8319888 Thanks a ton!
8320051 Probably breaking laws in foreign territories, whatever the punishment for that may be. Also, yes, the Skrulls in the MCU. Very interesting, if you ask me. It'll be cool to see where they take them.
8322224
I sense equestrians’ tears incoming.
8322224 That would easily be the most awesome and snark filled scene of the MCU. And you can imagine there's some pretty stiff competition for that title.
To be fair she wasn't the only pony to break the law.
Heh, poor naive Twilight.
8322224
Stupid Twilight, you have to learn more about Earth's vocabs. To quote Jeremy Irons, "You have no idea."
Of course, Equestria may not be prepared for Earth... but all, are not prepared... for the reckoning.... for him....
Here it comes. Crashing down. I look forward to the interactions between Rainbow and Twilight.
And this is why it's not a good idea for ponies to be in a world of humans because this chapter was right: They were 'never' ready.
They were never prepared as to how different things were in this world, they weren't prepared for how the laws of man and how they handle problems are drastically different, and they were 'never' prepared for a situation where logic and reasoning were thrown out the door resorting to physical means... They were NEVER ready.
The worst part for the ponies is that they weren't supposed to be there for long, they needed to firmly establish the peace between the two worlds. It was only meant to be a short visit but then one thing leads to another and now a ton of their friends are either extremely hurt or seen as criminals.
In some way, it was a big mistake for the ponies to come to Tony's Earth... But they've still got a job to do and whether Twilight wants to or not... It needs to be sorted out before anything worse happens.
See you in infinity war black widow with your new blond hair 🤩
I feel bad for Twilight here. A lot of bad stuff has happened both to and because of the ponies since they arrived. I have a feeling she is going to have to choose whose side she is truly on once the climax comes and Ironman attacks Bucky.
Twilight has a lot to learn about the Earth’s figures of speech.