• Published 19th Nov 2016
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This War of Ours - JDPrime22



Two sides of good clashing together, fighting for what they believe is right, breaking partnerships and ending friendships… human and pony alike.

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Chapter 52 - Tony Stank

Upstate New York

New Avengers Facility

10:09 a.m.



The early morning cloud coverage was nice. It felt nice. The only nice thing that came of that day.

The same could not be said for Tony Stark and Starlight Glimmer as they cautiously led James Rhodes down the hall of the New Avengers Facility. The sunlight hidden behind the silver clouds cast a soft glow through the glass window the three walked past. Their experience, aiding Rhodes whenever he needed a hand or a hoof, had gone as well as they hoped. It was not a nice morning for either of the three.

James gripped the nearest support rails as he slowly stumbled forward, one foot at a time. The exoskeleton suit adjusted to fit his lower torso creaked and squeaked as he moved. It was specifically designed by Stark. Specifically designed for his best friend. Starlight was on Tony’s right side, her worried eyes casting Rhodes a glance or two with every step he took.

“Remember, you tell me if anything feels awkward,” Tony said, slowly following by Rhodes’ side. James smiled, raising his hand and placing it on Tony’s shoulder for support. He took another step, his free hand gripping both Tony and the railing. “You got some free movement as much as the exoskeleton will allow, but I can adjust it for you if you—”

James shook his head with a grin, sweat falling from his face. Every step forward felt like he was stumbling on wet noodles while carrying fifty-pound weights on each shoulder. He took another step. “Nah, Tony, I’m feeling better alre—”

Then he collapsed with a painful yelp. Tony fell down to catch him, only to realize he didn’t need to when a light turquoise aura covered his chest and arms. Even Rhodes looked awestruck, both he and Tony swiveling their heads right to see Starlight standing at the ready, her horn aglow. He nodded to her for assurance, Starlight nodding back with pursed lips. Her horn died as Rhodes caught himself, adjusting to a painless sitting position.

He still cringed as he sat, both arms splayed backwards, keeping himself steady.

Tony rested both of his arms on one knee, the other resting on the floor.

Starlight took a seat, her concerned eyes watching Rhodes.

She watched him shake his head, a simple smile on face despite the pain. He said, “I gotta tell ya… I don’t like to hold grudges.”

Both Tony and Starlight listened in, watching Rhodes’ movements, watched him stare off into a time before War Machine or any of the Avengers. He sighed and shook his head. “I flew 138 combat missions and never once have I been injured… like this.” Looking to his legs, he continued. “Still, I flew and I fought… I did what had to be done. Just like these Accords. It had to be done.”

Tony watched Rhodes’ movements, his own eyes falling to the limp legs covered with the solid exoskeleton. Tony sighed, mumbling something, earning Rhodes’ and Starlight’s attention. No backing out now. “I was… going to bring Rainbow Dash back here… to apologize.”

To his surprise, though, James waved it off. “It’s fine, Tony. It’s been days now, and I…” he sighed, eyes falling to his legs. “I just don’t want this to keep eating her up inside. She and I have been through plenty of hell already. All of us have.”

Stark could agree to that, nodding to him. The two stayed that way for several seconds, saying nothing, just thinking about what had happened in the past and what was going to happen in the future. It was a lot to think about, especially for Rhodes. After Leipzig… everything changed for him. His life was altered, and for the first time in a long time, it was going to be difficult to see what was coming next for him. Starlight didn’t feel that way.

She stared at Rhodey’s legs, her ears falling flat, a painful expression etching on her face. She could feel a cold pain tear through her gut, almost like a knife the longer she stared. It reminded her of something she had been wanting to get off her chest for some time. Ever since Leipzig. Ever since… Castle betrayed them.

“I’m sorry…” she said suddenly, breaking the silence. Both Tony and James looked to her as she finished by saying, “… for trusting Castle.”

She brought up her gaze, meeting the conjoined eyes and expressions of interest from both Stark and Rhodes. She gulped, then sighed, and looked down. “Twilight taught me that everypony deserves a second chance. I just thought that… after reading his report that… we could help him. He could help us. But I only made things worse.”

“You couldn’t have known he would’ve done that,” Rhodes said.

Starlight nodded, still forcefully averting her gaze from theirs. “Yeah, but I should have seen it coming.” She rubbed the floor with the tip of her hoof, forming little circles of dust and dirt. “He’s murdered so many people, done so many horrible things, so letting him loose to… fight was…”

“Admittedly pretty stupid,” Tony mumbled, nodding his head.

Starlight breathed a chuckle, a weak one at that. Her smile was even weaker, the mare shaking her head. “Yeah… but Twilight managed to save a deranged unicorn from reshaping Equestrian history for her own selfish needs. Now this, with Frank, it was…” She couldn’t seem to find the right words, her face contorting in effort. Finally, she uttered, “It didn’t seem as hard. I just wanted to…”

“Hey,” Tony said, placing his hand on her shoulder. Starlight brought up her head, finally rejoining their gazes. “You’re not Twilight. You’re you. You make your own decisions, you make your own mistakes, you learn your own lessons. That’s a part of growing up mentally. You learn you don’t give murderers second chances.”

Tony brought away his hand from her, letting it rest once more on his knee. Starlight gave another weak chuckle, her crestfallen expression only worsening. Her eyes fell again, a sigh escaping her. Rhodes leaned forward. Tony’s eyes waited patiently for what came out of her mouth. He almost wasn’t ready.

“You all gave me a second chance…”

That froze them. That froze them right where they were and they couldn’t move. They just stared at her and waited. Waited for her to hopefully continue so the silence didn’t eat them alive.

Starlight shook her head, closing her eyes. She continued, mumbling, “When I didn’t deserve one. I’ve done horrible things back on Equus… and millions paid the price. I don’t see how that makes me any better than a murderer.”

“You gave up that life,” Rhodes told her almost immediately, Stark looking at him. Luckily, he managed to come up with a response on the spot, rather than Tony just staring at the mare blankly when she needed an answer. Rhodes nodded to Starlight and said, “You’re better now.”

Starlight nodded, muttering, “Yeah…” she brought up her eyes to meet theirs once again, and they could see the red in her veins, the freshness boiling and nearing to flow, “… but why would you give me a second chance… and not Barnes?”

Tony actually had something to say to that. “Because you’re our friend.”

And Starlight was already there to fire back. “Frank Castle wasn’t my friend.”

She left them with that, and they left her with nothing. They couldn’t. Neither Tony nor Rhodes could say anything that would make the situation better. In a way, they could see the logic behind her words. They gave her a second chance even though she helped Ultron nearly bring about the extinction of her world. They, regrettably, and with great trepidation, gave Frank Castle a second chance when they let him go to help them bring in Barnes, and yet they left nothing for Barnes himself, even when he was innocent for the UN bombing. No mercy. No help. Just capture, and at one point… kill.

Tony didn’t have anything to say to that thought. It brought too many fuzzy memories. Instead, he sighed and held out his hand to Rhodey, saying to Starlight, “Help me get him to his feet.”

Starlight watched Rhodes grip Stark’s hand, grunting as he tried to stand. She sighed, eventually nodding. “All right,” she mumbled, horn glowing around his chest and legs. She pushed him up with her magic, Tony giving him something to hold onto. As he finally found his footing, he offered thankful smile to both Tony and Starlight. Not saying a word. Not needing to.

They all heard a knock on the window, the three spinning around accordingly. Behind the glass window, there stood an elderly man wearing a FedEx uniform, a white package in his hands. He stood in front of his van, knocking twice on the window despite all three of them already noticing him.

The old man narrowed his eyes, looking to the package. “Are you ‘Tony… S-Stank’?” he asked.

Starlight caught herself, hardly containing the little giggles that escaped the hoof over her mouth. “Yes, this is Tony Stank! You’re in the right place!” Rhodes said with a smile, pointing down to the slightly confused Stark in front of him. “Thank you for that!”

Rhodes turned aside, his hands gripping the railing. He took one off, pointing to Tony who watched him stumble away. “Never dropping that, by the way.”

Tony laughed, nodding down to the mare. He said, “Starlight, take this maniac to the living room to rest for a bit.”

“Okay,” she said with a laugh, guiding Rhodes down the steps and towards the living room. With the others. With Rarity, Applejack, and Vision all lying around on the couches as miserable as yesterday, and the day before that. He could hear Rhodes spouting something about “Stank”, something that would no doubt start to get on his nerves one of these days.

He didn’t care. As long as he was walking.

With them out of the way and headed somewhere nearby, Tony approached the glass door, the old man approaching him. Tony pushed the door open, greeting the man with a solid “Hey”. The old man handed him the package and a clipboard, a pen attached to it. Tony slid the package underneath his armpit beginning to write his signature on the clipboard when the old man started to say something. Probably to him. Probably. Old people were weird.

“Say, you look familiar,” the old man said, adjusting his large, dark shades.

“So do you,” Tony mumbled, not even looking at him as he finished his signature, handing the clipboard back to him and shutting the door as he entered the facility.

He could hear the old man knock on the glass again, but Tony didn’t look back. He didn’t need to when he said, “That’s right! You look like Tony Stark, Mr. Stank!”

“Unbelievable,” Tony muttered, waving to the old man.

With the package in his hand and his destination set, Tony entered his large office space and swung the door behind him. It didn’t close, but Stark wasn’t focused on that. He split the package open, finding just one letter inside with the name “Tony” written on its face. There was also a black cellphone, but Tony didn’t bother with it. Curious enough, Stark sat down on his swivel chair, set the package aside, and opened the letter.

It read, “Tony, I’m glad you’re back at the facility with the others. Right now, I’d say you all need each other more than ever. We all need friends and family. I didn’t have much of a family when I was younger. I lost too many to count. Back then, Bucky was my only friend. I’d like to think he was my only family. As I got older, as I stepped out of the ice, I found another family in the Avengers. But now, I lost that, too.”

Tony swiveled around from his desk, leaning forward and resting his palm on his chin. His eyes followed the lines as he read.

“We keep losing. We keep gaining. I’ve lost my family, my friends, and now the ponies. I can’t know if Twilight will ever forgive me for what I’ve done, but if you could, please tell her I’m sorry. I broke the law, and I accept that. I did it for my friend, and I realize now how selfish I’ve been. I brought Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Spike into a fight they should have never been a part of, and in a way, I did the same for the rest of them. I should have never let Rainbow get involved, no matter how much she wanted to. I’m sorry for that.”

Tony had to remind himself to give the letter to Twilight later on that day. He kept reading. The next few lines were a struggle to get through. But he did anyway.

“And I’m sorry to you, Tony. What Bucky did was unforgivable, and rightfully so. I tried to tell you that HYDRA had control of his mind, which is why he did what he did all those years ago. I realize now I should have told you much earlier of what happened to your parents, but I didn’t because I believed I was sparing you the pain. That was wrong. I hope you find it in your heart one day to forgive me, and forgive him.”

Tony looked back to the package. Lowering the letter, he reached for the package and spilled out the remaining contents, that being the black cellphone. It slid on the desk, Tony tossing the package in the trashcan as he looked back to the letter.

“Even now, I regret that we can’t agree on the Accords.”

Tony flinched and looked away from the letter once Homer’s voice came abruptly. He said, “Incoming call from Secretary Ross, sir. There has been a breach in the Raft prison.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up at that, as well as a curious smile growing on his lips. He leaned forward to his phone, saying, “Yeah, put him through.”

The line shifted to Thaddeus Ross, his voice urgent. “Tony, we have a problem!”

Raising his finger, Tony asked, “Are the girls and Spike okay?”

“They’re gone, Tony! All of them are gone!”

“Okay, good. That’s all I needed to know,” he finished.

“Wait, what do you—?”

Ross never finished. Tony cut the call short, swiveling his chair back to the letter he set aside on the desk. He picked it up, that same curious smile on his lips.

“The Avengers are yours, Tony. Now more than ever. You do what you do, and I’ll do what I do. I have my family now, and you have yours. But I left a cellphone with this letter, so that no matter what, if you need us for anything, then I can promise one thing.”

Tony dropped the letter, his eyes and now knowing smile lingering to the cellphone.

“We’ll be there.”

And the letter ended there. No name. Not needed. Tony set the letter down the desk in front of him, the man leaning back into his chair to hear it creak in protest to his actions, which was odd, considering the chair wasn’t wooden by any means, nor was it old. He remembered that he didn’t exactly shut the door behind him. So, he swiveled his chair to the left, his eyes falling down to meet the figure standing just by the office’s entrance.

Twilight.

She recoiled her hoof away from the office door, her uneasy eyes meeting that of Stark’s. Tony stared at her, observing her from every inch. Her bruises were still there, still black and heavy. Her cuts, however, had been stitched up and healed rather quickly. Thankfully. The Alicorn gently took a step inside, but stepped back as her uncertain gaze returned to Stark.

He pursed his lips and nodded at her to come inside.

Nodding and smiling gratefully, Twilight entered the office and shut the door with her wing, instantly bringing it back as it still hadn’t fully healed like her cuts. She approached him slowly, not meeting his gaze, stopping just feet in front of him. Tony stared at her, watched as she gently rubbed her foreleg with her opposite hoof.

Finally, she opened her mouth, almost painfully saying, “Tony, I—”

They may not have spoken to each other that much over the past few days, but even Stark had to cut her off. He raised his finger to her, causing Twilight to pause and stare at him. “Hold that thought,” he said, swiveling back to the desk and plucking the letter off. He swiveled to her, leaning forward and handing Twilight the letter. “A little update on Rogers. He wrote you something.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Really?” she asked, taking the letter with her hooves and not her magic. She still wanted to give her horn another day to rest.

She silently mouthed the words Stark had read moments ago, her ears falling against her head, her expression dimming down, and her eyes burning. She stopped mouthing the words, instead reading the rest in her mind and taking a seat on the floor. Her hoof rose over her mouth once she read his apology to her, her eyes beginning to feel warm. Her eyes shut, and she paused when she came to the part about Bucky and Tony’s parents. Stark saw a tear slip down her cheek. She continued to read the rest. Twilight lowered the letter after about twenty seconds, her eyes to the cellphone resting near Tony.

“Don’t even think about it,” Stark said, grunting as he reached for the cellphone and pocketed it away. “It’s for emergencies only.”

“This is a friendship emergency, Tony,” Twilight stated, stamping her hoof on the ground. Unfortunately, Tony only found the action oddly adorable, and he said so, smiling her way. Frowning, she said, “I need to tell him that we’re sorry, too, and that we can work together to rebuild the Avengers.”

“We have the Avengers, Twi.” Tony picked the letter out of her hooves, setting it down on the desk in front of him. Twilight watched him, remaining sitting. “He has his own team. He’s gonna do stuff his own way now.”

Caught on that revelation, Twilight sighed and looked down to her hooves. Tony stared at her, listened as she mumbled, “I at least wanted to apologize for not helping him with Barnes. I should have from the start.”

“We couldn’t have known he was framed,” Tony tried to say, but Twilight interrupted him.

Twilight’s face contorted into uncertainty, her eyes narrowing at the floor. She shook her head. “Still… Rainbow helped Barnes without even knowing someone else was behind everything. She represented her element more than I’ve ever seen her done before. I guess I should have done the same.”

She sighed, trailing the floor with the tip of her hoof, kind of like how Starlight had done. Tony saw that and leaned forward in his seat. He told her, “There’s always more lessons to learn, Twi.”

Twilight nodded. “True.”

“If it really means that much to you, I’ll let you use the phone later on.”

She looked at him, smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Tony.”

She and Tony let the silence swallow them whole after that. Lost in that silence with only her thoughts and her guilt, Twilight remembered what exactly she stumbled into Stark’s office for in the first place. Might as well bring it up now and face it. Might as well end it. Taking in a deep breath and catching Stark’s attention, Twilight twisted her neck and met his eyes. Finally.

“Listen, Tony… about your parents… about… what I did…”

He didn’t say anything, which was not what Twilight expected, leaving her caught off-guard. She gulped, found her train of thought, and continued. “I just want you to know that I didn’t do it to stop you from avenging your parents. I did it… I… I did it to protect him… and you.”

Now, he looked surprised.

“Barnes would not have been the first person you’ve killed, I know that. But… he would’ve been the first one you’ve killed out of anger. Pure, unfathomable fury… for the loss of your family. Once you cross that blood-red line, there’s no turning back. I know you wanted to believe it to be some form of justice… but it’s not. Killing Barnes would not have brought your parents back.”

That was exactly what Rogers told him. Strange, but it was universal wisdom. Tony remained frozen, arms on his knees, staring at the Alicorn struggling to form her next thought.

Twilight looked away from him, and he didn’t blame her. She tightened her lips, tightened her heart, and said, “You have every right to be angry with me. I just wanted you to know my circumstances… and that I’m sorry for your loss.”

And that was it. She left him at that. And strangely enough, he didn’t feel anything towards her. No anger. No hate. No happiness. No forgiveness. He just… understood. He knew he couldn’t hold a grudge for what she did, as it was for the best, but he also couldn’t seem to forgive her, either. Should he even need to forgive her? She did what was right, he did what was wrong. Still, the thought of his parents dying at the hands of the Winter Soldier remained in Tony’s heart and mind. It would stay there for God knows how long. It would stay there as long as Tony knew that no one did a thing to avenge his parents. It would stay there as long as it damn well pleased.

Tony leaned back in his chair, sighing heavily, earning Twilight’s attention. “Yeah, I can’t honestly say I’m particularly… proud of what I did,” he said to her, his voice very lost.

He nodded, staring at Twilight. “I lost it. I’m man enough to admit that. But… in a way… I see where you’re coming from. I can’t change the past, I can only look towards the future. Barnes didn’t have any say in the matter, so… I suppose it wasn’t his fault.”

As the two stared at each other, Tony finally offered a weak smile, one that gave Twilight the assurance she needed. He said, “If it means anything… then thank you for stopping me… from… doing something I would have regretted.”

Twilight smiled, her eyes burning. She finally let loose the tears when Tony got out of his chair and fell to one knee out in front of her, his arms wide open and inviting.

“Come on. Bring it in, Princess.”

They finished in a hug. Not a strong one, but a warm one. One that was meant to begin the rebuilding and to stabilize it. He could feel the Alicorn beginning to shake, a tiny whimper escaping the mare as her tears painted his shirt and her forelegs gripped his body. It would take some time before Tony would fully forgive her. But holding her there, comforting each other when they needed it most, now that was a damn good start.

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