Chapter 57 - Once Forgiven
Upstate New York
New Avengers Facility, Living Room
Days Later
1:33 p.m.
The Vision hadn’t spoken for so long. As the ponies sat around the couches, some playing chess, some watching TV, some doing what he did, which was nothing, he could only think back to everything that had occurred. Everything that had been broken. Everything that would never be the same.
Starting with his friends.
This divide, this conflict had torn apart what kept the Avengers together. A simple ideological difference and a blast from the past was all it took to take down Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Not an alien invasion. Not a genocidal robot. Not even the worst terrorist attacks in recent years. Just because one person thought one way and another person thought the other, many more followed. And many more paid the price.
The Avengers were no more. They were a name, but not a team. All that could even be considered a team that remained in the New Avengers Facility consisted of Tony Stark, James Rhodes, and Vision. The ponies were there, too. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, and Starlight Glimmer. But they had been quiet the past few days. Vision had been quiet, as well. Not much to talk about.
Vision had heard of Stark and Princess Twilight nearly ready to go out and find Rainbow Dash and bring her home, but they were always objecting at the last minute, wondering if they should intervene or just give them more time alone. The longer they waited, the more crushed Princess Twilight appeared. Vision had been watching her the past few days, his mind wandering, his emotions flushing. And if he had a heart, it most certainly ached.
He had seen it before. Everything changed after the attack in Washington. Twilight changed. Since then, since the Accords, she and Rainbow had only seen daggers, never each other. Never to heal but to only grow further apart. Vision had seen this, and he did nothing about it. Perhaps that was his flaw. Perhaps he should have done something to ease the tension between them. He knew it would have been near impossible, considering the circumstances.
Still, he could have wished to try. Seeing his friends almost drowning in their sorrow, completely heartbroken, not a smile for miles, hurt him, too. Nothing much could hurt him physically, but seeing them being anything that they truly weren’t drove something into him. Some form of ravaged pain he couldn’t explain. He knew he couldn’t have changed Rainbow’s mind on the decision she made, but after seeing this, seeing the aftermath of the war, perhaps he should have tried just a bit harder. He just didn’t want to see his friends become… this.
No. They were more to him than just friends. They were family. And now they were no more.
His train of thought, or whatever was floating within that mind of his was suddenly halted. His head shot up, eyes glazed over, staring at nothing. He had felt a pulse, some form of external force that had emerged outside of the facility. It was large, it was silent, and he had nearly missed it. When it had vanished, all that was left were smaller forces. Smaller pulses. But they were growing bigger, getting closer and closer to the front door.
“Someone is here.”
Everypony perked up to that, their heads shifting and eyes landing on the Vision. They watched as he spun his neck around, down the hall and directed to where the front door remained. At first, no one seemed to know how to react, but when they heard a few several knocks on the front door, that’s when they knew it was time to move. Vision was the first, rising off the couch, phasing through it, and approaching the front door rather quickly. The mares each hopped off the couches they sat upon, turned off the TV, dropped whatever they were doing, and stood in silence in the living room. They stared into the dark hall. Expecting something. Hearing a door open.
Then footsteps.
No.
Hoofsteps.
When Vision had returned, he was smiling, and trailing him were four familiar and weary faces. Twilight had gasped, hoof rising to cover her mouth, failing to hide her tears. Rarity and Starlight both gasped in unison, unsure of what to do next. Applejack knew. She smiled. She cried and she smiled like a damn fool. No one blamed her. They followed her.
When Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rainbow Dash entered the living room, nearly all of them did the same. Pinkie’s lips quivered, the mare crying out and dropping her large backpack on top of Spike, crushing the baby dragon under its weight. She quickly galloped over and tightly wrapped her forelegs around Rarity’s and Starlight’s neck, bringing the mares in for a tear-filled hug that nearly choked the air out of them. They didn’t care. They returned the hug just as strong, crying alongside her.
Fluttershy nearly tackled Applejack, using enough strength to surprisingly cause Applejack to cough. Or keep her preoccupied. Either way, it did, and she smiled and returned the hug. Having pushed the large backpack off of him, Spike struggled to find his footing, but he quickly did and remembered how to sprint when his eyes landed on a certain mare. He ran forward, past Rarity, past all the others, and dove into Twilight’s chest.
The Alicorn lost her breath, remaining frozen, her heart aching. She could feel a particular wetness on growing on her, the young dragon shaking as he gripped her body tighter and tighter, claws digging into her coat as he shook and cried. Twilight narrowed her eyes, freshness boiling despite her strongest will, and rose her hoof. Didn’t touch him at first. Almost afraid to. Then laid it against his head. Spike mumbled something, his voice shaking, his tears continuing to fall. Twilight nearly shared the same fate, gently rubbing his scales and shushing him calmly.
“Never again…”
Twilight opened her eyes suddenly, staring down at the dragon. He finally met her gaze, his eyes burning red, his lips quivering, both her chest and his face a wet mess of sadness and grief.
He said it again, sniffing loudly, holding onto her like a child would to their mother. That thought alone drive Twilight to even more tears. “Never again, Twilight. I promise,” Spike said to her.
Twilight smiled. A warm smile. A mother’s smile. She stroked his scales and kissed his forehead. “Okay, Spike. I promise, too.”
Spike’s eyes began to tear up again, the dragon slamming his face into Twilight’s chest. Twilight lowered her head, letting the tears fall, resting against him, holding him as if he were her own. As the mares and dragon reunited, sharing hugs, saying they never wanted to fight again, Vision quietly left the living room, moving only to Tony Stark’s quarters. Fluttershy broke away from Applejack, more so Applejack having to forcefully push her away. The mare comforted the Pegasus, telling her to talk with Rarity and Starlight. They missed her. As she nodded and moved aside, Applejack brought her gaze forward again. Her smile fell.
Stopping in front of her, holding onto a small backpack that rested on her backside, Rainbow Dash smiled the mare’s way.
“Rainbow…” Applejack spoke, almost breathless. Her eyes scanned every broken detail on Rainbow’s features. Her scars that remained on her cheek, a few bruises here and there, and the bandages covering her right wing. She was barely held together, limping with each step she took. But she still smiled, which surprised Applejack.
It surprised her even more to see her hold out her hoof.
“AJ,” she greeted simply, hoof held out, smile still held. Applejack almost hesitated. Rainbow was back at the facility for a reason. She wasn’t in hiding, and Steve still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She was there, holding a hoof to her as if representing her feelings to everything that’s happened. They happened, the blood and the bruises were on their hooves, but they were all still alive. They were all still waiting to put it all behind them and move on. Heal together.
She liked to think that, anyway. Applejack smiled to that thought, to that possibility. She bumped her hoof against Dash’s.
“Everypony…”
That caught to the two mares’ attention, their heads swiveling over to Twilight. She was directing her voice to everypony, but they all seemed to know it was to Pinkie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rainbow specifically. Those four took a step forward, broke away from everypony else, and focused on the princess, their eyes filled with concern, worry, and apprehension.
“I’m sorry… for everything.” Twilight didn’t wait another second to say it. She didn’t waste the next to continue. “After I learned the truth, after Rainbow showed me just how wrong I was… I didn’t hesitate to make the right choice. It was wrong to stand against you… and it was wrong to fight against friends. If I can promise anything, it’s that we’ll never have another feud that involves hurting one another. I hope…”
She sniffed hard, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.
“I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me… forgive us… for everything.”
She just had to get out the apology. The past few days have been, pardon her language, absolute hell for her. She had made the call to Steve, who picked up on the second ring. They talked so long. So very, very long. Twilight could see Earth’s moon high in the night sky by the time she said her final goodbyes to the Captain. He, as well. But she apologized to him, wanted to apologize to Bucky. He told her that that was impossible at the moment. He told her why. He apologized, too. Just over the phone, Twilight could lay a fear at ease, the fear of losing his friendship.
But he didn’t tell her anything about her friends, said just to wait on it. Rest on it. She tried to rest, but could hardly sleep. She found waiting to be a new form of hell, one she never really discovered until lately. She didn’t want to read any other books on Earth culture or history, or watch any other movies that Tony had suggested. She just wanted to know about her friends. She just wanted to apologize and let everything be behind them, so they can repair what they all desperately needed.
Friendship.
When they swarmed the Alicorn in a group hug, she could then finally lay those fears at ease.
Fluttershy was the first, followed quickly by Spike, and then by Pinkie Pie. Next came Rarity, then Applejack, and finally Starlight Glimmer. They held her tight, held each other even tighter, and never broke away. Not for the longest time possible. It felt that way, at least. Twilight took in every second she could.
“Hey, everypony, what do ya know?” Pinkie exclaimed, wrapping every single pony and dragon in a tight hug, including Rainbow despite her efforts to push away. Pinkie’s forelegs had miraculously managed to hold them all. “We’re like one big happy family again!” she screamed with delight, managing to toss some confetti and balloons in nearly every direction despite having no free use of her hooves.
“Actually…” Rainbow began to say, pushing her hooves into Pinkie’s grip.
“Pinkie…” Twilight interrupted, taking the name right out of Dash’s mouth. The two seemed to share the same thoughts, the same idea on what needed to happen. They didn’t look at each other, but in the opposite direction.
Noticing the uncertain eyes in the two mares respectively, something clicked inside the pink mare. Pinkie caught the sign, dropping everypony out of her strangely elastic forelegs. She backed away, Pinkie and everypony else who wasn’t Twilight or Rainbow. She left the room open for them, left what was needed to be said for the two ponies.
And they almost didn’t.
Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash stared at each other, both of their gazes staring miles and miles away. Anywhere, they wished, that wasn’t directly in front of them. But they needed to. Their friendship was too strong to be left cracked and unattended. So, Rainbow sighed, tightened her grip on her backpack, and slowly approached the Alicorn.
Twilight watched with every step as Rainbow approached her, sealing the large distance between them. But she stopped, just a foot short, a crack that separated them still. The scars on both of their faces were real, as was the near-dead look in Rainbow Dash’s eyes, the freshness and wetness that indicated emotion and life in Twilight’s. And the two mares stood like that. Stared like that. Remained like that.
Until Twilight tried to smile, stepping on cracking glass. “Rainbow…” she said, voice weak and meager.
“Twi…” Rainbow muttered, voice trailing elsewhere, somewhere cold and dead. It returned almost immediately after a sigh. “Thanks for helping Bucky.”
Exhaling softly, Twilight’s smile widened. Slowly but surely breaking the massive chunk of ice between them. “Thank you for making me realize who I was,” she replied.
Rainbow just nodded. No smile.
Seeing that they have made at least some form of contact, communication, and understanding of one another, Twilight took a step forward, foreleg outstretched, ready to seal the deal and mend the wound. She was stopped, however, by a hoof to her heart. It felt like a knife, at least to Twilight.
Somewhat taken aback, Twilight stared at the blue hoof to her chest, her wounded eyes rising to meet Rainbow’s. She said, “It’s gonna have to be a while, Twi. Not now. We’ll need some time apart… to heal. I’m just really tired right now. Let’s just… get ready to go home.”
She couldn’t have sounded deader inside than she already did. The last bit of that sentence could be felt amongst the others, especially since Rainbow had nothing else to add to that. Just end it there. No healing now. But strangely enough, Twilight understood. She knew where she was coming from, because it was the same thing Steve had told her on the phone.
Twilight nodded and stepped away. “All right.”
Just before an awkward silence could make itself known, two individuals entered the living room, every eye turning back to meet them. Rainbow followed, then dropped her gaze almost immediately when Tony Stark stumbled into the living room. He was followed shortly by the Vision, the two stopping once their gazes landed on the newcomers.
Stark’s smile grew, a soft but strong exhale of air leaving him. “Hey,” he greeted.
“Hey!” Pinkie said to him, smiling like crazy, waving even crazier. Fluttershy smiled and waved. Spike did the same, just barely lifting his claw. His eyes fell, his smile doing the same, the second he spotted Rainbow Dash in the back of the group.
“Rainbow Dash…”
Almost forcefully bringing up her eyes, she met Tony’s gaze with a pale stare. No color. No flush of life. Just a state. She nodded his way, hardly smiling. “Hey, Tony.”
He realized quickly that was the best greet he was going to get from her at the moment. Taking a step forward, Tony rubbed his fingers together, never breaking his gaze from her. He stopped moving when he realized he was growing too close to her. “How… how did you even get here?” he asked. “Where’s Steve?”
Rainbow’s only response to that was a smile. A real one. One that took Twilight by surprise. One that only belonged to Rainbow Dash. A slick, cocky, knowing smile.
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Well, at least we got that out of the way. If only it were that easy with Steve and Tony.
It's not your fault Vision. Never think that, you're too awesome and innocent for any of us to hold anything against you.
Well quite glad the ponies got to mend their wounds but I doubt any but Starlight and Twilight are gonna be allowed back on Earth anytime soon.
If only Tony and Steve could do the same. We're gonna need a long friendship vacation in Equestria to fix this mess.
*sigh*
Infinity is looming over the horizon, and our little ponies need to gather their eggs in a row, same as the Avengers when Thanos enacts his plan with the Black Order, to get the six maguffins of infinite power...
I'm terribly afraid some of our ponies won't make it to tomorrow when the war begins...
And this was who I was quoting...
Vision is really torn apart inside seeing how his pony friends are separated from each other and how much they've change, especially Twilight, since Washington. How the Avengers, his friends and family, have been torn apart because of conflicting ideologies over the Accords and being played right into Zemo's hand. Even with all his graceful intellect and the power of the Mind Stone, there was no way he could've considered nor foreseen this happening. He had been focused on the big picture that he failed to consider looking over the smallest detail. But even if he did make a major miscalculation, he shouldn't blame himself. He still like a child learning and understanding concepts of what it means to be human, one of these being that we all make mistakes. What's done is done now. Only time will tell when these wounds will heal.
Thankfully, the Mane 6 are now back together again and their friendship is intact. Well, almost intact. There are still some slight tensions between Twilight and Rainbow. Can't say I blame them, so much has happened since they've first stepped hoof on to Earth and it has changed them all. All Rainbow wants right now is to just go home and spends some time away to heal and hopefully let this wound between her and Twilight fade away. At least Twilight understands that they need some time apart and is willing to wait. No matter what happens, deep down they are still friends like they always have been. If only the same thing could still apply to Steve and Tony.
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"I don't get no respect!"
God, I'm gonna miss Vision in Infinity War.
I feel for Vision. All his friends will need plenty of time to heal so they can start over.
Poor Vision, I mean, he's technically a year old and he's already seen the Avengers, his family, torn apart at the seams. He was innocent enough to wield Mljnoir and he's seen the worst the world can bring.
But at least the girls made amends, except for Rainbow and Twilight, but it's nothing time can't heal. And I don't blame any of them for wanting to go home.
Now hopefully Steve and Tony can do the same with their friendship. And from what Steve said earlier, the time will come when they're needed together again and it seems he won't hesitate to answer the call.
8366574 If only.
8366621 Or any of them, for that matter.
8367161 Poor Spike. Git gud skrub.
8368432 It's Vision's time to grow, it seems.
Really glad to see the ponies reunite. Things might be weird for RD and Twilight, but I'm sure their friendship will heal.
That decline to Twilight by RD, felt very real. I love that.
I love the relationship between spike and twilight in your story and it was always so emotional when brought up, I almost cried at the airport battle and prison scene. (Even if I prefer brother/sister the mother/son dynamic is perfectly fine too since she did hatch him).
It's true everyone's going to need time to heal, the ponies are no exception. They may be together again, they may have said their apologies, and they may promise to never let something like this drive them apart again... But they still need time. Twilight and Dash especially, considering what the two have been through while all the others were just dragged along for the ride. At this stage, 'time' is the best medicine before they can truly be friends again but allow it to flow and eventually the healing process will proceed.
This felt real. And this is good.
Seeing Spike and all the ponies reunite together after everything and make amends is so wholesome, none more so than Twilight and Spike. Though there is clearly still room for improvement since it doesn’t seem like Rainbow has 100% forgiven Twilight yet. Even so though, they are much further along already than Tony and Steve were by the time Infinity War started.