Avenging is Friendship

by Boltstrike58

Pillars of Friendship

(Takes place immediately after "Shadow Play.")

---

Equis, Canterlot

Tony, Steve, and Thor hadn't been able to answer their journals during the Pony of Shadows debacle, due to business on Earth and Asgard. Upon their return, they discovered several missed 'messages,' detailing Twilight's research into the discovery of Star Swirl the Bearded's journal, as well as the subsequent freeing of the unicorn himself, as well as the other Pillars of Old Equestria. Thor quietly cursed that he'd been unable to have a match against the Pony of Shadows, seeing how that would've been a worthy test of his skill, even if they had ended up saving Stygian in the end. Nonetheless, the three made their way to Equestria as soon as they got the messages.

Tony rushed into the throne room of Canterlot Castle, getting on one knee where Twilight immediately jumped into his hug, as the two hadn't had the chance to see one another in a while. Applejack hugged Steve in a similar fashion, while Thor and Celestia were of sufficiently comparable height to do one standing.

"Sorry we weren't around, Twi," said Tony. "I really hope this doesn't become a recurring thing. You know, where one of our planets has a crisis, and the other isn't around to pick up their book. Seriously, this is the second time we've missed out on one of your little adventures."

"It's okay, Tony," replied the Princess of Friendship. "Both of our groups dealt with plenty before we met each other. It's not like we can't handle it."

"Still, a shame we missed out," said Thor. He looked across the room, discovering the room's other occupant. "Star Swirl! Haven't aged a day! Good to see you again."

The bearded unicorn looked over the Asgardian with a nostalgic smile on his face. "Prince Odinson. You've done a lot of growing up, since I've been gone, I hear. You don't seem to be quite as...oafish as you once were."

Thor's expression changed to an annoyed frown, until he saw the smirk on Star Swirl's face and realized he was kidding.

"Believe me, we've all changed for the better," said Luna, her hoofsteps clopping across the brick as she entered the room, "Even if...Loki...is no longer with us."

Star Swirl looked down with a hint of sadness. He hadn't been particularly close to Thor's brother, but he knew Loki had been Luna's closest friend. Loki had been a good, intelligent lad in Star Swirl's time. Admittedly, he would miss the trickster.

"So, anyway," Tony starts, trying to cut through the sad tension, "Twilight's told me a lot about you, beardo. Whenever she starts talking about you, or your magic discoveries, she goes into full-on nerd mode."

Star Swirl blinked. "And what, pray tell, is this 'nerd mode?'" he asked, perplexed.

Twilight, blushing furiously, used her magic to telekinetically shut Tony's mouth. "Nothing! Nothing!" she insisted. "Just some slang from Earth!"

Star Swirl looked over Steve and Tony. "Humans," he muttered, eyes analyzing every part of their bodies. "Creatures of legend in Equestria, yet you come from another world entirely. Is there any connection?"

"Beats me," Tony replied. "We didn't get a lot of time to explore that whole myth. It'd be funny to see how many scientist would flip out if that got added to the books. Which reminds me, you've been off for a thousand years. You're probably gonna need some help adjusting."

"Don't worry about that, Tony!" chimed in Applejack. "With Princess Luna, we got plenty experience helping ponies adjust to changed times!"

"I know what that's like," said Steve.

"So, you are the greatest heroes of your world," Star Swirl said, looking over the Avengers. "Impressive, I suppose."

"They are some of Equestria's greatest allies," Celestia declared, her hoof around Thor's shoulders. "We hope to open relations with planet Earth as soon as possible."

"Excellent!" said Star Swirl. "Perhaps I could be of use to that cause. Shall we?" He beckoned Celestia, Luna, and Thor, and the quartet walked out to the palace gardens.

Tony, still next to Twilight, got on his knees next to her. "So," he said, keeping his voice low, "you said your idol wasn't all you built him up to be?"

"No," Twilight admitted. "He's...blunt, I suppose would be the word. He was pretty dismissive of me at first. To be fair, I did undo a spell he created to banish an unstoppable evil from Equestria, bringing that evil back."

"Hey," Tony cut her off, laying a hand on her shoulder, "you know that's not your fault, no matter what he says. Everything you've ever done, you've done for the better of everyone. I know that's the truth."

"It all worked out in the end, Twi," said Applejack, placing a comforting hoof on her friend's wing. "You even freed that poor Stygian pony from the darkness! And nopony faults you for just trying to bring back the Pillars!"

"It's sad they'll have to readjust after being gone so long," said Steve. "Like I said, I know what that's like. It's hard, because everything you knew is gone, and there's so much that's new you have to learn and discover. It's a handful."

"Yeah," said Twilight. "And we did reunite a group of old friends. Stygian said he couldn't wait to see all the advances in pony sciences since he'd been gone."

"That reminds me," Tony brought up. "You said that Stygian reached out to dark powers in that Well of Shades place? Do you think it has anything to do with the dark powers our pal King Edgelord had?"

"Sombra?" Twilight asked. "Hm...to be honest, the thought hadn't crossed my mind. It's definitely possible."

"Well, we've got nothing better to do," said Tony. "Who's up for a field trip?"

"I think I'll sit this one out," said Applejack. "Really didn't care for the place. Hey Cap? Some of the other Pillars said they might hang around a bit longer. You wanna meet 'em?"

"Sure," answered Steve. "That might be nice."

---

Equis, Well of Shades

During her previous visit to the dark shrine, Twilight hadn't had much of a chance to truly examine her surroundings. The well was a rather simple, yet ornate location, with lovely marble columns holding up the ceiling. Intricate carvings of ponies adorned the walls, and one depicted what appeared to be an alicorn shaking hands with a humanoid figure.

"Pretty interesting sites," said Tony, as his suit camera recorded everything. "If you got some archeologists down here, they'd probably get a lot out of it."

"Maybe," said Twilight, running her hoof over an inscription at the bottom of a column. Ever since the Sombra incident, Lyra had been teaching Twilight the language of Equestria's prehistoric humans, but the alicorn was finding it difficult. Even now, as she looked over these carved words, the translations weren't coming to her. Fortunately, Tony had programmed it into his suit. "Are you getting anything from the writing?"

"Not much," Tony admitted, as he scanned the ancient text. "A lot of the text has eroded from the passage of time, and it's making the computer hesitate. I am getting a lot of mentions of 'The Powers From the Great Beyond,' or something to that effect."

"Any idea what those might be?"

"Well, there's a list of names here. Let's see...Dormammu, Shuma Gorath, Shou-Lao the Undying...these look almost like the names of gods they worshipped. Wonder if Sombra made his deal with one of them."

"We do know the ancient humans believed in the idea of a higher power," said Twilight. "Before the ancient alicorns met them, they once believed magic was the divine essence of gods leaking into our world. They used to teach that once they learned how to fully manipulate magic, they would ascend into true godhood."

"What stopped them?" asked Tony. "That little experiment with Sombra's Monolith?"

"Well, that was one factor," replied Twilight. "But there were apparently others. Lyra told me about some sort of 'Great Awakening' they attempted that scared them so badly, they almost swore off magic, until the alicorns came to them."

"Curious," said Tony, as he recorded the last of the inscriptions. "Did Lyra ever figure out how the humans died? Or disappeared, or whatever?"

"Nopony knows for certain," said Twilight. "It was well before the time of Star Swirl, or the unification of the three tribes. The alicorn empire never recorded anything about it."

"Guess it's a mystery for another day," said Tony.

---

Equis, Canterlot

"And then, as I dug the trench, my body was reshaped through sheer magic and force of will, transforming me into a mighty stallion, powerful enough to carve through the earth with ease!" Rockhoof boasted, raising his shovel into the air.

Steve smiled, reminded a bit of Thor. The good Captain, along with Applejack, was currently in the armory of Canterlot Castle, alongside Flash Magnus and Rockhoof, Meadowbrook, Mistmane and Somnambula having left for parts unknown. Flash Magnus and Rockhoof were considering joining the Royal Guard, at least temporarily, in order to impart their lessons in courage and inner strength into other ponies. Steve had asked them about their own personal stories, which had gladly been shared.

"I can definitely relate to that one," laughed the good captain, recalling his smaller, pre-super serum physique. "If we had magic on Earth, maybe my procedure wouldn't have been such a pain."

"Fascinating!" said Flash Magnus. He was currently tossing spears at Steve's shield, hanging off the wall, and noting how none of them even managed to scratch the surface. "Even accounting for the disk shape, there's no way that shield should be so sturdy!"

"That's the power of vibranium," said Steve. He held up the pegasus' own shield. "Considering that yours is apparently lava-proof, I'd say you've got a pretty descent one, too."

"Captain Rogers?" Rockhoof asked, gently poking Steve's leg with his hoof. "Pardon me for asking, but if you truly were so scrawny before, why did Dr. Erksine ask that you receive that super soldier treatment?"

Steve looked off into the distance, not seeing the walls of the castle, but images of the past, letting a wave of nostalgia pass over him. "Erksine believed it was the person who would make the super soldier, not his formula," he finally said. "He saw something in me that he believed was worth giving it to."

Applejack smiled fondly, wrapping her front leg around Steve's. This was what had drawn her to the captain in thee first place. His sense of self, his inability to grow an inflated ego or become too conceited. At the same time, Steve was willing to fight for anybody who needed him, something she could always admire.

"I can't say for certain what it was, Steve," she said, "But I can say he chose the right guy."

Steve smiled as he ruffled Applejack's mane. "Thanks, AJ."

Rockhoof and Flash Magnus didn't fully comprehend why, but the sight of this friendship left them with a feeling of peace.

Comments

[DGJabberwocky]

I really loved the interaction with Spike and T'Challa in the last story, I'd love to see more

[Bumblebee16]

Awesome!! Can you make the next chapter about Bruce Banner and Fluttershy

[Liger1985]

Nice

[shinigamisparda]

"Well, there's a list of names here. Let's see...Dormammu, Shuma Gorath, Shou-Lao the Undying...

FUCK!

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

9489593
Yeah. They need to talk to Dr. Strange
Top 10 signs that you're a Superhero
10 You've got the Sorcerer Supreme on speed dial
09 And he takes your calls