Avenging is Friendship

by Boltstrike58

For King and Country

(Takes place immediately after "Black Panther.")

---

Equis, Twilight's Castle

As she went over the latest message sent across the blue journal, Twilight found herself shocked and admittedly scared. She'd known the Avengers dealt with dangerous threats, and those they faced were generally more brutal than those that assaulted Equestria, but she hadn't expected this. She felt a wave of empathy for Prince—no, King—T'Challa and his family, sorry for everything they'd been through over the last few days.

Spike looked over her shoulder, reading the details alongside her, and gasped in surprise. After finally ascending to the throne, poor T'Challa had been forced to confront his father's greatest mistake in the form of the cousin he never knew existed, who'd managed to overthrow him. The Black Panther had reclaimed his birthright, but it had come at the cost of several Wakandan lives, and many who'd followed the traitorous N'Jadaka/Killmonger had been imprisoned. It was a victory, but a bittersweet one. With those matters out of the way, at least for now, T'Challa had invited Twilight and Spike to Wakanda for a social visit.

"T'Challa..." Spike mumbled, overlooking the message once again. "I can't imagine what that's like. And he's the king, the one with the responsibility of an entire country on his back. How do you manage that?"

"I don't know, Spike," Twilight replied as she packed her saddlebags, making sure to extra notebooks and writing utensils for taking detailed notes. "Even as the Princess of Friendship, I'm not solely in charge of Equestria's friendship problems. I've even got Celestia, Luna, and Cadence backing me up. T'Challa may have advisors, his mother, and the other tribes helping him, but a lot falls onto him alone."

"He's a tough guy, I know, but he's not all-powerful," Spike noted sadly. He'd gotten along very well with the king-in-waiting, almost looking up to him like a cool older brother. The idea of his friend going through such a massive amount of stress, built on top of his job of keeping Wakanda safe and secret from the outside world, was troubling and kicked in Spike's natural empathy.

Twilight zipped up her saddlebags. "Well, maybe he'll accept help from Equestria, at least in the rebuilding process," she suggested, strapping on her magic battery belt. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

---

Earth, Wakanda

Shuri squealed with delight as the familiar mirror lit up with magenta light, launching a clear beam from the gem embedded in its frame. Upon hearing of their visitors, she'd insisted on having it moved to her lab, where she could see them come in, as well as observe the workings of the portal device.

Okoye struggled to hold back a laugh. "Just don't go poking them or anything," she reminded the princess. "I doubt they'd particularly enjoy it."

"Oh, come on!" Shuri protested. "Do you really think so little of me? Although I wouldn't mind taking the chance to do some tests, maybe see how magic reacts with vibranium..."

T'Challa, standing on her other side, elbowed her in the stomach, as the beam expanded into a bright blue, swirling vortex. In the middle of the vortex was a clear view into Twilight Sparkle's castle, with the Princess of Friendship herself, as well as Spike. The two marched through the portal into Wakanda, and the vortex sealed itself closed behind them.

"Your Highness," said Twilight, beginning to bow. Spike copied her action, before T'Challa walked over to them and lifted them up.

"No need for that," he insisted. "You are friends to me and Wakanda. You need never bow in my presence."

Standing back up, he indicated the two women. "This is Okoye, general of the Dora Milaje, the Wakandan Royal Guard." The bald soldier gave a small smile as she gripped her vibranium spear. "And this is Shuri, my sister, and Wakanda's princess."

Shuri, unable to contain her joy anymore, squealed again as she rushed over to Twilight, gripping the pony by the front hooves. "I've heard so much about you from T'Challa!" she said, jumping up and down. "How does your magic work? How do you measure it? What happens if you have too much inside you? Have you tested it with vibranium? What exactly—"

"Shuri!" T'Challa insisted, bringing his sister out of her geek mode. Shuri blushed slightly as the full extent of her actions dawned on her, scooting away from Twilight with a quiet apology. Twilight didn't mind, although she would've been hard pressed not to draw parallels to how Lyra reacted upon first meeting humans.

"Anyway," T'Challa continued, "why don't I show you two around?"

---

Twilight couldn't deny it. Wakanda was beautiful.

The buildings had their own unique style of architecture that she would've had trouble describing, though some of it reminded her of things she'd seen in pictures of Zecora's home country. There was vibrant color covering most of the surfaces, giving the city a bright, warm feeling. At the same time, even with all of the development covering the land, there was still plenty of the natural environment remaining, untouched by progress and buildings of stone. The massive river of clear water, leading to the cliff of spreading waterfalls, where T'Challa had apparently had his first ceremonial duel with N'Jadaka.

There wasn't a ton of damage to the city that needed repairing. The majority of the battle had taken place on a massive, open plain, where the land could easily be restored. They'd lost a couple of ships that had to be taken out, but nothing Wakanda couldn't handle.

At the same time, Spike couldn't help but notice the mood of some citizens. While the majority simply went about the business of their daily lives, looking content at best and indifferent at worst, some looked somber, no doubt due to recent events. But some looked at King T'Challa with what could be described as anger, frustration, and disappointment. T'Challa's quick moving eyes took this in, but outwardly, he showed no reaction. Spike found himself even more worried for his friend.

Fortunately, he would find the time to address those concerns soon. T'Challa took them back to the vibranium mine, letting Twilight off to discuss science and magic with Shuri. Spike accompanied him around the mine, directly to the top of the panther statue, where they could stare out into the African countryside.

"This was where he pulled out the blade," T'Challa indicated, pointing down to the spot between the panther legs, where the tunnel led directly out of the mine. "I offered him mercy, and I believe Wakandan science could've saved him, but he refused. He'd rather have died than gone to prison, forced to face the truth of how wrong his plans were, and how much needless death they would've wrought." He looked down sadly, holding the ring N'Jadaka had once carried with him everywhere. "In his effort to secure our country, my father created a monster. A monster some were willing to follow."

"Is that why those people gave you dirty looks?" asked Spike, fighting his apprehension. "Because they feel like he was a better king than you? Because they think you're too soft?"

"Some of them, most likely," T'Challa replied. "But it's probably because I've decided to reveal Wakanda's scientific advancements to the world."

"Oh," said Spike. "Wait, WHAT?!"

"It's true," continued T'Challa. "Once we can set up a conference at the U.N., I'm going to show everything to the world. Wakanda will become an active participant in international affairs. We won't keep secrets anymore."

"B-but what about you?" stammered Spike. "What about all the vibranium? People are gonna want that! And they'll think you have too much power, and—"

T'Challa laid a hand on his scaled shoulder. "We can no longer stand by the sidelines, pretending we're keeping ourselves pure by staying away from the world," he insisted. "It was those policies that created Killmonger in the first place. People are suffering, and Wakanda could've helped them, but we didn't, because we thought we were so much better. It's wrong, Spike."

"Yeah, I guess," Spike replied. "But if your people are so angry...what will you do?"

"Part of being a leader is making decisions," said T'Challa, "and not all of those decisions will be popular. But I know, after everything that's happened, that it is the right thing to do. I must not allow us to continue acting like blind fools."

"What made Wakanda act like that in the first place?" asked Spike. "Were you just advancing so much faster than the rest of the world, you decided they weren't worth the effort of helping or anything?"

"I suppose that's as good a summation as any," replied T'Challa. "History records claim we saw the world descend into war, and withdrew from it. Clearly, not an unbiased perspective."

"Well, it's good you're cleaning up the whole country, then," said Spike. "Are you sure you can handle all of that? You'll have to prove to the rest of the world you're not a threat and everything. Won't that be difficult?"

"Yes," replied T'Challa. "But I would do anything for the good of Wakanda and its people. I will not let them down."

Spike smiled. T'Challa carried an aura of confidence that inspired those around him. It was impossible not to believe in him when he said he would accomplish this impossible task. That was one of the reasons Spike liked the human so much. He was everything a leader should be.

"So," Spike continued, mulling over his words, "I don't suppose we could continue those fighting lessons we started in Equestria, could we?" he asked, flashing his puppy dog eyes. They always worked on Twilight.

T'Challa couldn't help but laugh. "You really don't waste any time, do you?" he asked, climbing to his feet. "Very well. But I warn you, my battle with N'Jadaka has inspired my to pick up several tricks I missed."

"Oh, it is on, now!" exclaimed Spike, jumping to his own feet. He inhaled a deep breath, releasing several individual fireballs from his mouth, aiming for T'Challa's chest so as not to injure him too greatly. It didn't matter in the end, though, as the king managed to weave through them like an explorer through a snowstorm.

"You'll have to try harder than that!" he chuckled, as he charged forward.

---

"So it does absorb magic?!" exclaimed Shuri, jumping up and down from sheer excitement. Twilight had returned to her lab following the tour, and the two had immediately launched into a discussion on the interaction between vibranium and magic, something Shuri had wanted to study for ages. Twilight had gladly demonstrated the results of the brief research she'd managed to conduct on the one stolen vibranium shard back in Equestria, firing her magical blasts at a large, inactive clump, only to have them swallowed by the metal.

"I know, right?!" exclaimed the alicorn. "We have magic resilient stones and metals in Equestria, of course, but nothing on this level! I never got to figure out exactly what allows vibranium to do this!"

Shuri thoughtfully prodded the chunk of vibranium with her hand, noting, as Tony had before her, that the metal was still cool to the touch. "My guess would be that it has something to do with the metal's ability to absorb vibrations and kinetic energy. The metal's nearly impossible to damage or break through conventional means."

"So that's how Captain Rogers' shield works," Twilight noted to herself. "Anyway, I haven't had the chance to test the metal's upper limits for absorption. I don't know how much your brother told you, but we jammed a shard into King Sombra's horn, and it held back the full power of his magic for a few seconds. It was destroyed by the massive surge we used to defeat him, though."

"Interesting," said Shuri. "But like you said, those magical feats can't be accomplished by just one pony. They took special circumstances. Plus, that was a fairly small amount of vibranium."

"Another thing: I'm not sure if the metal absorbs ambient magic in the air. It can absorb passive magic, like when I try to levitate it. Watch." She fired up her horn, trying to levitate the chunk of vibranium off the worktable. It became surrounded by her magical aura for a couple of seconds, but didn't shift from its position despite Twilight pulling on it. The magenta glow just faded away on its own. "See? Can't even move it."

"Hm," said Shuri. "That should create some interesting questions to answer."

Twilight was about to replied when a series of footsteps came from the stairway above them. From the top descended a white-skinned man with short, straw-colored hair, wearing a neat suit. In his hands, he carried a few sheets of paper.

"Shuri, there were a couple things I wanted to—" he stopped as he looked up, noticing Twilight for the first time. He stared at the alicorn for a couple seconds, before throwing up his hands. "You know what, that's enough for me. I'm gonna go lie down." He turned around and retreated the way he'd come.

"I'm guessing that was Agent Ross?" asked Twilight.

"Yes," said Shuri, laughing. "Oh, we have a lot of explaining to do."

Comments

[Xena Skywalker]

This is a very good one-shot. I loved it very much.

[harts fire]

aww whats wrong Agent Ross? mentle over load?

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

"What make (made) Wakanda act like that in the first place?" asked Spike, "Were you just advancing so much faster than the rest of the world, you decided they weren't worth the effort of helping or anything?"