Spiders and Magic: Civil War

by Masterob

Big Game Time

In the depths of Tartarus, the former Earth Scientist, Doctor Otto Octavius had made himself comfortable as he began to explain his situation.

"As most of you might know, I had been thought to have been dead, thanks to a certain Goblin," Octavius said, gesturing an annoyed Green Goblin. "He had not only betrayed me, but he had even stolen away the Sinister Six I had spent quite some time trying to assemble."

"You weren't doing much with them anyway," Goblin said.

"After that unfortunate encounter, I decided to rebuild and start anew," Octavius said. "Of course, doing so was kind of hard given my untimely demise, fortunately I always have a backup plan. Before I died, I had managed to clone my body, with all of my memories intact, so once my original vessel perished, my new vessel would rise."

"You cloned yourself!?" Adagio asked.

"So, this body you have, it isn't your original body," Electro theorized.

"Correct Electro, that's how I'm here, I am Doctor Octavius reborn," the doctor said. "Of course it took time for me to get readjusted to my new body, and a lot of careful planning. Once I had come to, I heard of a grandiose battle that took place in New York City, involving Spider-Man and some magical creatures."

"The Harmony Avengers," Discord said, getting a few states. "What? That's what they called themselves."

"Shocker, Electro…Osborn…you three were a big part of that battle, do you remember much from it?" Octavius asked.

"I remember getting sucker punched by some blue haired woman," Shocker said.

"Yeah, that chick sent me to the moon, then I ended up in this place shortly afterwards," Electro said.

"I remember that woman that was with Spider-Man had tried to kill me," Goblin said.

"Tell me, who was with Spider-Man that day?" Octavius asked. "Electro, you mentioned a blue haired woman."

"I think her name is Luna or something, one of this world's Princesses," Electro said.

"Princess of the Night to be precise," Chrysalis clarified. "She is the younger sister of Celestia, Princess of all of Equestria. They take turns running the country, Celestia during the day and Luna at night."

"Fascinating, tell me more," Octavius said.

"There was also that one girl who briefly worked with me, Sunset Shimmer," Goblin said. "After she got taken down by Spider-Man, she immediately switched sides, such lack of Loyalty."

"I remember a Dragon," Electro said.

"Wolverine was there too," Shocker said. "He beat the crap out of Kraven."

"There's also that Cat Burglar lady," Goblin said.

"Oh right, Black Cat," Shocker said. "She's always been enamored with Spider-Man."

"Last but not least, there was that purple haired woman, Twilight Sparkle," Goblin said.

"The wife of Spider-Man," Discord said.

"So, he has married," Octavius said. "Well good for him, I'm almost surprised but it sounds like our little spider is all grown up. So was that all?"

"I remember Venom being around, think he lost that suit of his though," Shocker said. "The Avengers were a big part of this as well."

"I had them under my control, that was until that foolish Hulk behemoth showed up and helped ruined that," Goblin said.

"Wasn't Deadpool there too?" Electro asked.

"Ugh, don't remind me, that guy was such a pain in the ass," Shocker said. "Why did you even hire him Osborn?"

"Guy might be a nut, but there's no denying what he can do," Goblin said. "If anything, I could have erased him from existence."

"You sound confident in yourself, could you really have reversed a spell placed by Thanos himself?" Discord asked. "Oh that reminds me-"

"No!" Shocker shouted. "Do not bring that guy here too! Bad enough Osborn suggested Dormammu."

"Hey if Doctor Strange is around, then Dormammu would have vested interest in our plans as well," Goblin said.

"Do we even need more allies?" Adagio asked.

"Well we are going against The Avengers, we just need to find guys we can trust," Electro said.

"Pfft, as if there's such a thing as a trustworthy villain," Shocker said.

"Villain? Who says we're villains?" Adagio asked. "I've done nothing wrong, everything I did was to stay alive."

"I concur," Chrysalis said. "All I wish to do is feed my hive, to be labeled as evil is just terrible."

"I didn't ask for these powers, moment I get them society treated me like a freak, so how am I the villain!" Electro pointed out.

"We've all been wronged, and are seeking our own justice," Mysterio said. "What has Spider-Man and his superhero allies done so differently? They've taken the law into their own hands, what makes them the protagonists of this story?"

"Alright, alright, didn't mean to start some bullshit philosophy banter," Shocker said. "Call us what you want, there are those that are loved by the public, like Spider-Man, and those hated by the public, us. The only people who probably hated Spider-Man was that crackpot newspaper company."

"Oh yeah, didn't that place nearly go out of business because Spider-Man was gone for like four years?" Electro asked.

"Even I pitied Spider-Man, he was too good for the citizens of New York," Octavius said. "Beyond that, he was too good for that world."

"Moving on, how and why are you here?" Adagio asked.

"Well I never really planned to come here, I hoped to stay back on Earth and finish my agendas," Octavius said. "Our friend Discord here contacted me, offering me one more chance to see Spider-Man, and perhaps fulfilling my ultimate goals."

"Are you joining our Squadron?" Shocker asked.

"Perhaps, I would not mind reuniting the Sinister Six," Octavius said.

"Sorry pal, but that's my goal," Goblin said. "Shocker, Electro and Mysterio work for me, and if things go well, so with Mr. Negative."

"Mr. Negative, is he in this world too?" Octavius said.

"He's in this world's equivalent to Manhattan," Mysterio explained. "Manehattan if you will."

"And the rule is this, to join us, you got to beat us," Goblin said.

"We can make an exception for him," Shocker said. "Besides he did slam you against that wall."

"He took me by surprise that time," Goblin said, grabbing his grenade bombs. "He won't do it again."

Before a fight could break out, Tirek quickly got their attention, "While I admire your eagerness Norman, for the time being, let us welcome Mr. Octavius, it sounds like he is very well renowned in your world and if he can help us bring down Spider-Mane and his wife, then I say we find a common ground."

"Think about it Osborn, Otto has connections and he has the tech that can give us an edge," Electro said. "You two can sort out your rivalry after we kill Spider-Man but let's just roll with it."

"Eh…" Goblin thought it over. "I'll go along with this for now, but don't expect us to be the best of friends or anything."

"We'll be professional co-workers," Octavius said. "But I must say Discord, you assembled quite the group here. If only Rhino and Kraven were here as well. Perhaps even a symbiote ally."

"Rhino is in this world, but he is contained in a dungeon alongside other old," Mysterio explained.

"Can't tell you where Kraven is though," Shocker said. "I haven't seen him since those Capcom guys showed up on Earth a couple of years back."

"As for the symbiote," Discord sinisterly grinned. "Well time will tell."

"Ah yes, Capcom Earth," Octavius said. "They made quite the spectacle when they teamed up with Doctor Doom. I do believe I had spotted the one known as Albert Wesker in New York a few times, along a boy with a blue jacket and sword, as well as a young girl with yellow robots."

"Sounds like Vergil and Tron Bonne," Shocker said.

"I have been trying to contact them, but what are they doing in New York?" Discord asked.

"I cannot tell you, I did not approach them about it," Octavius said. "Wesker has always seemed like a man of few words, and not one to let others in."

"Spot on, guy wasn't that talkative to me when I joined him in invading this world," Shocker said. "I spent most of my time traveling with Vega and a pony named Lightning Dust."

"Refresh my memory, who is Vega?" Octavius asked.

"One of Bison's Shadowlaw guys, he should be here too, but he barely talks to anyone," Shocker said. "Guy got killed in a fight with Spider-Man, then got resurrected, placed here, and permanently scarred on his face. Given how much of a narcissist he is, something like that would definitely leave him feeling like crap."

"Where is Bison, is he around as well?" Octavius asked.

"Pretty sure he's dead, but from what Vega told me, he's into cloning extra bodies, kind of like you, so I wouldn't be surprised if he popped up again," Shocker said.

"And I look forward to that," Discord said. "Now you may all make your plans, I must attend to my own. Seems like my good friend Zamasu is on the move, and I want to keep track of what he's planning."

"And I have to see if I got a letter from my Pen Pal from Ponyville," Tirek said.

"Hey you're not telling her too much in your letters, are you?" Adagio asked. "Last thing we want is Spider-Mane or his wife finding out about our plan too soon."

"Do not worry, she is very good at keeping secrets, and no one would doubt her, she's too adorable to them," Tirek said. "Plus, it's a good way to gather information on Iron Stallion's Accords."

"This reminds me," Electro said. "Otto, I gotta get you up to speed on certain Equestrian Lingo."

"Funny, I was about to inquire myself," Octavius said. "Let's make our plans."

"Wait!" Came Wizard's voice. "Please, let me join you."

"Uh, didn't you and your friend lose?" Aria asked. "If you couldn't win here, what makes you think you can be of use to us?"

"Now, now, there may be use for them," Octavius said. "Our friend Wizard is quite intelligent, maybe he was thrown off by his new form."

"Yes, Scorcher and I promise to do better next time," Wizard reassured.

"Sure, let them join, they seem eager enough," Tirek said.

"Fine, one more chance," Adagio said. "Do not make us regret this."

"You won't madam," Wizard reassured.

---

The following day was yet another ordinary day for most, with the exception for the heroes of Manehattan who were still following leads on the identity of the leader of this gang of ponies, aside from one tip that Night Thrasher had given to Daredevil and Elektra.

"Do you really believe this has to do with that new business that just opened up?" Daredevil asked.

"Hey you know as well as I do that it lines up," Night Thrasher said. "The business starting, these gangs suddenly popping out. I asked around too, according to a lot of the residents, none of this trouble started until that business started booming."

"I've tried asking a lady there, and she insists nothing is going on," Daredevil said.

"And she was being truthful?" Elektra asked.

"I couldn't detect a trace of deception, her heart rate was normal," Daredevil said. "At least as normal as someone who is frustrated would be."

"Either that or she's a good actress," Night Thrasher said. "That mare I talked to last night told me that mare opening the business is a very dishonest pony, she's apparently tried stealing ideas and passing them off as her own."

"Bad as that sounds, that may not equate to gangs showing up," Daredevil said. "I still need a little more evidence."

"Come on, let's just go in and demand some answers, a mare like that is probably hiding something," Night Thrasher said.

"I'm with Dwayne on this, she seems very suspicious," Elektra said.

"We have to do this by the book, if we cause trouble word will get back to Iron Man," Daredevil said.

"Since when are you concerned about what Iron Man thinks?" Elektra asked.

"Normally I'm not but he did trust us, not only him but the Princesses of this land, keep in mind that if this goes south, it could affect both of our worlds," Daredevil said.

"Sounds like the worst that can happen is that the portals get shut off or something," Elektra said. "It does not affect us."

"Think of who it could affect," Daredevil said. "Look I get you two want to bust some heads, I do as well."

"Then do it!" Elektra said. "Come on, where's the Daredevil that would crash a meeting held by The Kingpin!?"

"Think of the lives we could be saving here," Night Thrasher said.

Daredevil thought this over, he did want this resolved and the Accords method was taking quite some time. "Alright, but not during the day, we operate by night."

"Sounds good with me," Elektra said.

"Same, I work better at night anyway," Night Thrasher said. "Hey maybe we should stop by that Ponyville place and see if Spider-Man wants to join, I know you and him had a wild time kicking ass back in Manhattan."

"Spider-Man has his own duties back home, including a pregnant wife who's due any day," Daredevil said. "Maybe next time though."

---

Later in Ponyville, The Student Six joined by Cozy Glow took a stroll through town, taking note of the heroes on patrol, seeing Firestar flying overhead, Jessica Jones near some stands, and Black Cat seemingly flirting with Carrot Top.

"Does anyone else find it a little strange seeing some of these heroes all over Ponyville?" Gallus asked.

"Not really, we see heroes all the time," Silverstream said. "Half of our professors are heroes."

"I'm kind of with Gallus, I mean I've lived in Ponyville my whole life and I've never seen so many patrolling heroes," Sandbar said. "I still remember when the only hero around was Spider-Mane."

"Well they're nice to have, it keeps ponies feeling safe," Ocellus said. "And we have the Iron Stallion to thank, he's the one getting heroes from Earth to come and protect us."

"As long as they're from Marvel Earth, then that's fine with me," Smolder said.

"You still mad that those guys from Capcom beat up your brother?" Sandbar asked.

"Of course, who wouldn't be?" Smolder said. "They hurt my brother!"

"Oh, come on now Smolder, those guys seem really nice, maybe it's just a misunderstanding," Silverstream said.

"What kind of misunderstanding leads to those jerks beating up my brother and his friends?" Smolder asked.

"Maybe Garble started it," Cozy Glow suggested, almost regretting it once she earned herself a glare from Smolder.

"What was that!?" Smolder looked ready to single Cozy's mane.

"Hey easy now," Ocellus said, getting between the two. "Look, Smolder, you know we like you and we would never want to say anything bad about you or your family but, your brother has caused trouble for Princess Twilight in the past."

"Even you know your brother can be a little unkind, especially toward ponies," Sandbar said. "He probably picked a fight with them, and they happened to win."

"Garble told me they came out of nowhere and started attacking," Smolder said.

"That's his side of the story, but what about those other guys?" Sandbar asked. "You really should try forgiving that, they're good friends of Peter after all, and he's a good judge of character."

"Still, don't they have a reputation for being jerks?" Smolder asked.

"One of them saved my dad's life," Ocellus said.

"Let's ask Jubilee if she has any stories about them soon," Silversteam suggested.

"Sound good," Yona said. "Plus, they almost interesting. They sound strong."

"They should be strong, they rival the Marvel Superheroes," Sandbar said.

"I hope we can see more soon, maybe Iron Stallion got more to come over to our world," Silverstream said.

"Me want Thor to come back, like him a lot, he strong, and handsome," Yona said.

"He'll come back once he finds his evil brother," Silverstream said. "Hopefully he'll drag the Storm King back too, make him pay for his sins."

"Professor Wagner's mother was with him too; do you think Thor can bring her back?" Ocellus asked. "Reuniting with her son could help her."

"If she's not too evil to change," Gallus said.

"Too evil?" Cozy asked.

"Come on, let's try to stay positive here," Silverstream said.

"Fine, no use debating this anyway, we'll find out for sure once Thor returns, hopefully in one peace," Gallus said.

"Thor strongest superhero, even stronger than Spider-Mane, he will win," Yona said.

"Stronger than Spider-Mane? How?" Gallus asked.

"Well I heard he beat up someone that even Peter had trouble with, and Professor Sparkle," Sandbar said.

"You mean that Saiyan guy? The one that nearly destroyed all of Canterlot with some freaky magic beam?" Smolder asked.

"I don't think it was magic," Silverstream said. "But I do believe that's who Sandbar was talking about."

"If Thor can beat him, Thor can be anyone!" Yona said. "Thor best hero!"

"You're pretty confident in him," Gallus said. "Of course, he is one of The Avengers, so it makes sense that he's pretty strong. Though I'm surprised he's with them if he's that powerful, I mean if you're strong then you can do everything yourself."

"Even the strongest person needs friends and allies," Ocellus said. "There are talents that each member of The Avengers is capable of doing, just like how Professor Sparkle is stronger than her friends but she still needs them too. There's power in teamwork, and the Magic of Friendship can help any creature overcome any task."

Cozy Glow relished in the sound of that statement, reminding her ever so much that those around her can help her accomplish her own goals. "Golly, you think we can be like The Avengers one day?"

"We're already like The Elements of Harmony, at least according to Peter," Ocellus said.

"Except you of course, you're our little Spike," Smolder said, earning a giggle from Gallus and bothering Cozy Glow.

"Smolder, be nice," Ocellus said, Cozy's ears perking at the sound of her best friend coming to her defense. "Spike is just as important to The Elements. Besides isn't he training with Ember?"

"Yeah, I'll give Spike credit there, I don't think Cozy Glow could handle training with the Dragons, or with anypony at all," Smolder said.

"Can so!" Cozy said. "I bet I can do a better job training with The Dragon Lord than you!"

"Yeah, ok," Smolder said, brushing that off.

Ocellus shook her head in shame, if it's not Gallus it's Smolder, those two seemed to enjoy picking on Cozy Glow, possibly still holding a grudge over the accidental trouble she caused in the city.

"Let's just drop this," Sandbar said. "Come on, we're burning daylight, let's find something we can do, that doesn't revolve around studying."

Silverstream took a moment to think of something, "Well we could play a game together."

"I like the sound of that," came a familiar voice.

"Was that Rumble?" Smolder asked.

"Sure was," came Rumble's voice again, the colt walking over from the side, and he was not alone. "Sup?"

"Hi Rumble!" Silverstream greeted. "I see you're with friends."

"Yes, my posse if you will," Rumble said, gesturing to three familiar fillies. "You of course know the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo, the badass scooter girl who can ride her way into the hearts of anypony."

"Heh, sure can," Scootaloo said, flexing her foreleg.

"Sweetie Belle, the prettiest unicorn in Ponyville with the most adorable voice," Rumble said.

"Wow, thanks for that intro Rumble," Sweetie Belle said with a blush.

"And Apple Bloom, the sweetest apple from Sweet Apple Acres, who makes for a find treat herself," Rumble said.

"Uh, thanks?" Apple Bloom said, feeling a bit shy and awkward from that intro.

"Yeah, we know them, they're the younger sisters of our professors," Smolder said.

Rumble gestured to the two fillies beside him, "Well how about these girls? First there's Wind Sprint, daughter of one of the greatest Buckball players in Equestria."

"My dad was top level," Wind Sprint boasted.

"And Dinky Doo…uh, she's pretty neat," Rumble said.

"Hey you can do better than that?" Dinky said. "I'm Dinky, adopted daughter of Derpy Hooves and genius inventor Doctor Hooves."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, I guess," Sandbar said. "What brings you here?"

"We're here for a challenge!" Rumble said. "My team vs yours, in Buckball!"

"I'm sorry, but what?" Gallus asked.

"It's time somepony knocked you six off your pedestals, that's where the six of us come in," Rumble said.

"You probably think you're so great, being called a new generation of The Elements of Harmony," Dinky said.

"That title was once ours you know," Scootaloo said. "Everyone thought it would be me, The Crusaders, and three other ponies."

"I was usually pegged as one of those three," Rumble said.

"I'm sorry, but what?" Smolder said. "Listen I don't know what's gotten into the lot of you but we're not out to be the new Elements of Harmony."

"Yeah, we're just six friends who like hanging out with each other," Silverstream said.

"Ahem…" came Cozy Glow's voice, Silverstream blushing from the mistake.

"Sorry, seven friends," Silverstream said.

"Wow, guess Cozy really is your Spike, so underappreciated," Rumble said, Cozy looking even more annoyed.

"Look, we'd love to stay, chat and figure out what's going on in that head of yours, but we have things to do, things that don't involve being around all…this," Gallus said.

"Not so fast, you still haven't accepted our challenge," Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, what do you say?" Wind Sprint asked, showing off her ball. "You got the guts to go against us, or are you all chicken?"

"Bwak, bwak, bwak!" Scootaloo mocked.

Smolder gestured toward Scootaloo, "We're being bwaked at by a flightless Pegasus, can you say ironic?"

"Smolder!" Sandbar scolded.

Rumble did an exaggerated gasp at the sound of Smolder's remark, "Mocking Scootaloo's inability to fly, oh you really need to get your butts kicked now. We're going to defeat you and take our spot as the new Elements of Harmony."

"First off, that's not how Elements are chosen," Gallus said. "Second, this is a waste of our time, go be jealous somewhere else."

"Hey if you don't have the guts, just say it, we'll take our rightful spots as Equestria's future protectors," Rumble said.

"You fools probably don't have what it takes to beat us anyway," Dinky said.

"Got that right," Wind Sprint said.

Apple Bloom started to look uncomfortable, "Uh…"

"You're starting to tick me off," Smolder said. "You want a game, we'll bring it to you."

"Smolder, don't encourage this," Gallus said. "Let's just go home and-"

"Chicken!" Rumble shouted.

"Alright that's it, we'll play a game if it will shut you up," Gallus said. "But when you lose, we don't want to see you around again."

"Hey come on, let's not give into this, they're clearly just trying to get under our skins," Sandbar said.

"Wow, so you got a brain in there, huh pretty boy?" Scootaoo asked.

Apple Bloom winced, "That sounded a bit harsh."

"Hey, no be mean to Sandbar!" Yona warned, stepping up to the six. "You apologize!"

"Make me Miss Third Pony, or Third Yak," Scootaloo said.

"No third yak, Yona only yak!" Yona said.

"Do all Yaks talk like this?" Dinky asked. "Or is she a special case?"

"Dinky!" Apple Bloom scolded.

"You're just being bullies now," Sandbar said. "That's really not cool."

"Yeah, we don't like bullies," Silverstream said. "You are so on with this Buckball game of yours!"

"Just what we'd like to hear," Scootaloo said.

"Alright fine, Buck Ball it is then, my team against yours," Sandbar said. "If we win, you drop this whole thing and apologize to my friends."

"And when we win, you can't lay claim to being the new Elements of Harmony," Rumble said.

"Whatever dude, now leave us in peace," Sandbar said.

"Oh, that won't be any trouble, we wouldn't want to breathe in any Loser Fumes before the big game," Rumble said, trotting off with four of the five fillies immediately following. "Peace out!"

Apple Bloom shook her head in shame as she turned to The Student Six, "I'm really sorry about all that."

"At least one of you still has a sense of decency," Smolder said. "Tell your coltfriend that he better watch himself, we're bringing our A game."

"Uh right, sure," Apple Bloom said, trotting off to find Rumble.

"What in the world was that all about?" Ocellus wondered.

"Foals being jeaouls," Smolder said.

"What do they have to be jealous about though?" Silverstream wondered. "Seems a bit silly."

"I guess it's because of our Professors," Gallus said. "Maybe he heard about us being compared to Professor Sparkle and her friends and wants that for himself."

"He probably still thinks he's special too since he used to live with Professor Sparkle and Peter Parker," Smolder said. "What a disgrace, how would they feel if they knew that colt was acting this bratty."

"Disappointed," Sandbar said. "What about this game they challenged us to? We didn't even get a date or location."

"Stupid kid probably didn't even think that through," Smolder said. "Should we tell Professor Sparkle about this?"

"I guess," Gallus said. "Cozy Glow, take a letter."

"Dude!" Sandbar scolded.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," Gallus said.

Cozy angrily turned away and muttered to herself, "Meanie…"

"Let's just tell her ourselves," Smolder said.

"Better idea, let's get going," Sandbar said, leading his friends to the Golden Oaks Library.

---

Meanwhile at the Library, Peter was catching up with Derpy and Susan while Mayday worked on a glider while Franklin sat by her, helping her out if she asked.

"So, does your daughter do anything besides build little inventions?" Susan asked.

"Well she practices flying and the two of us play games, sometimes checkers, sometimes chess, but building and inventing things seems to be her favorite thing to do," Peter said. "Which is great, if she can do stuff like this now, just wait until she's older."

"Doc told me he was the same way as a colt, he loved to build and invent all kinds of neat things," Derpy said.

"It also sounds like Reed, he's always cooking something up," Susan said. "And like Reed, she really puts the rest of the world out of her focus."

"Yeah, now that I'm looking at it, she really can be too into her work," Peter said, noticing just how single minded focused his daughter was. "Guess Johnny and Twilight weren't that far off about their worries."

"I don't suppose you're willing to lock away her gear long enough for her to want to make friends," Derpy said.

"No way, if I did that then she's be really ticked off and it might make things worse," Peter said. "She needs to want this or it'll just backfire."

"Well she might not want it unless you take some measures to ensure that she considers it," Susan said. "Sometimes you have to a little tough with your child."

"Being tough is hard, and the times I try to be tough, she usually sees right through me," Peter said. "Other times she just gets annoyed and nothing really gets resolved. If anything, Twilight handles most of the discipline."

"That can backfire, you leave it to one parent, they flock to the other," Susan said.

"Plus, I don't think Twilight likes being the Villain Parent," Derpy joked.

"Yeah she's told me, a lot," Peter said. "I'm just trying to tread lightly, you know, I don't want to make this uncomfortable for her."

"In the end, it's your call," Susan said. "Just make sure it's the right call."

Peter rubbed his temple, thinking everything over, "Being a father is way harder than being a superhero, I have an easier time fighting supervillains than I do making sure I'm doing right by my family."

"I feel the same way," Susan said. "But for me, the difference is that I love being a mom more than being a superhero."

"Same, er just replace 'mom' with 'dad'," Peter said. "Which is why I really need to make sure I make the right calls with my daughter."

"Well maybe you don't need to worry too much," Derpy said, gesturing to the kids. "Check it out."

From what Peter and Susan could see, Mayday looked to be explaining something about her invention to Franklin, looking happy doing so. They could see that Franklin was taking it in as well, looking quite interested in what Mayday had to say.

"Guess there isn't too much to worry about, this could be their bond," Peter said.

"Mayday probably just needed to warm up at her own pace," Susan said. "It's a good start at least."

"Peter!" Came Twilight's voice as she came downstairs, using her wings for added support.

"We're over here Twilight," Peter said, gesturing his pregnant wife over.

"Sunset Shimmer's on call," Twilight said, using her magic to show off the image of Sunset on screen.

"Sunset, hi, how's exploration going?" Peter asked.

"It's amazing, I got back from Kamiki village not too long ago, it's a really lively place, which is amazing considering what had happened to it quite some time ago," Sunset said. "Call it a mixture of when Twilight found The Crystal Empire and a bit of Discord's magic."

"That sounds like quite a story," Peter said. "Is Ryu nearby?"

"Yeah, he and Ken are training right now, they're going to meet with the King of Fighters warriors, they're really eager to introduce me to some friends they made there, and probably get in a fight or two," Sunset said. "Ryu speaks really highly of this world, says it's his second favorite place to visit, aside from your world."

"Wow, sounds prestigious," Peter said. "You haven't run into anything dangerous, have you?"

"A little, when I went to the city Mega Man lives, some guy named Wily was causing trouble, but Ryu kept me safe while Mega Man went to pursue him," Sunset said. "It should be fine, according to Ryu, Mega Man deals with this guy and an almost weekly basis."

"Sounds like me back in New York," Peter said. "At least Rock only has one guy to worry about."

"Well Wily has his own robots, or at least ones he stole from Doctor Light, so it's not an easy feat for Mega Man," Sunset said. "Plus, you'd be amazed how often we pass by demons and an occasional B.O.W., Dante and Chris have really busy schedules. Not to mention that Ryu is always keeping a lookout because he's worried about something called S.I.N."

"Sounds worrying, are you sure you still want to be in that world?" Peter asked.

"I survived your world, didn't I?" Sunset said. "And some of this stuff is nothing compared to Equestria. Of course, even Equestria doesn't have the tech this world has. I mean there's so much stuff here that would look amazing in Equestria. You should see the phones people have, they can do anything! You can watch things, listen to music, search the internet! There's so much data on the internet."

Mayday had overheard this part, her ears perked up to listen into the conversation.

"We have stuff like that in our world too," Susan said, pulling out a smart phone. "I know what you're getting at."

"But it should be possible soon, shouldn't it?" Derpy asked. "That's why we have Tony Stark here, maybe he can bring all the cool Earth tech to our world!"

"I'm not sure Equestria is ready for that type of technology, plus I can't see ponies using Smart Phones," Peter said.

"It can't be that hard," Twilight said "Later we can run this by Tony Stark, I think he mentioned bringing this technology to Equestria, hopefully he took enough time away from The Accords to do that."

"That would be so amazing," Mayday commented to herself.

"How are The Accords going anyway?" Sunset asked.

"So far, pretty well," Peter said. "Since you left the only strange thing that's been happening is some gang forming in Manehattan. Oh, and Cap's friend Bucky Barnes showed up under mind control."

"That's concerning," Sunset said. "But the heroes in Manehattan took care of it, right?"

"Well they saved Bucky with help from Cap and his friend Sam, though I heard that the two caught an attitude from Captain Marvel about it, since they technically weren't allowed to do hero work," Peter said.

"Wait really?" Sunset asked.

"That's what Thunderlane told me, he overheard some of The Avengers discussing that," Peter said. "But this Accords stuff is still new, so maybe it's just kinks that need to get worked on. But I am concerned about the gang in Manehattan, I'd go look but technically it's a need to know basis thing, and since I don't live nor work there, I'm not in the need to know part. Unless Thunderlane can overhear more, I'm pretty much in the dark."

"Is that a good thing? Lack of proper communication can backfire," Sunset said.

"Well the only thing I can do is trust Daredevil, and he's a great hero so I'm not that worried," Peter said.

"I say we should swing by the city one day, just to be safe," Susan said.

"I technically can't though, it's not in my jurisdiction," Peter said. "When I signed on with Tony, it was to keep Ponyville safe."

"Peter you're way too much of a beloved hero to be stuck in one city," Susan said.

"Plus, aren't you a Knight and a Prince?" Derpy asked. "Doesn't that override anything?"

"Exactly, isn't it a knight's duty to protect a Kingdom?" Susan asked.

"Never thought of it like that," Peter said. "Spider-Mane is relegated to Ponyville, but Prince Peter Pony Parker isn't."

"That's quite the tongue twisted," Sunset joked.

"Alright, I'll go for it," Peter said. "And I'll be as respectful of the rules as possible. I mean I see nothing wrong with checking up on a friend of mine."

"Sunset!" came Ryu's voice from the distance.

"Oh, I should get going, Ryu's calling," Sunset said. "Good luck figuring the Accords out, and really think about the tech thing."

"See you later Sunset," Peter said, others waving bye until the image went blank.

"Well she looks like she's having fun," Susan said.

"Oh, she definitely is, I can see it in her eyes," Peter said. "Plus, she's always been fascinated with other worldly travel."

"I'm so eager to see what else she can discover," Twilight said. Moments later she heard a knock on the door. "Who could that be?"

"Maybe it's Thunderlane or Felicia asking us to do foalsitting," Peter said.

"I hope it's Thunderlane here if that's the case," Twilight said.

"I'll do the talking," Peter said, getting off the couch. He opened to the door to see Janet, Spike and Hope. "Oh, you two are back, have a nice walk through the park?"

"Sure did, nice to walk somewhere that has grass and pretty flowers and not just boiling hot lava," Spike said.

"Anyway, what's the reason for knocking? You two know that you don't need to knock, even if you've been away this is still your home," Peter said.

"The knocking isn't for us," Janet said, gesturing back to reveal the Student Six and Cozy Glow.

"Hey Peter, may we come in?" Sandbar asked.

"Sandbar? Kids? What are you doing here?" Peter asked.

"Can you please stop calling us 'kids'?" Gallus said. "We're really not that much younger than you."

"Gallus, be nice, in addition to being a hero he is technically royalty too," Ocellus remined.

"It's fine, really," Peter said. "Did you kids need to see Twilight?"

"Who's there?" Twilight asked.

"Sandbar and his friends," Peter said. "Should I send them in?"

"Yes sure, that's fine," Twilight insisted.

Peter gestured into the house, "You heard the mare. Come on in."

"This won't take long," Sandbar said, making his way inside the home, taking note of the other company. "Hi Derpy, Hi…uh, do I know you?"

"I'm Susan Storm, Johnny Storm's older sister," Susan said.

"Oh right, think I saw you around," Sandbar said.

"It's nice to meet you Miss Storm," Ocellus said.

"Technically it's Mrs. Richards since she's married," Peter said.

"Or you can just call me 'Sue', it's a lot easier, and my preference," Susan said.

"Sue used to be a teacher, she thought about coming to the School of Friendship," Derpy said.

"That'd be neat. Wait are you a Superhero too?" Sandbar asked.

"Yes, I am the Invisible Woman, or Invisible Mare as I'm called in this world," Sue said.

"Invisibility!? That's so cool!" Silverstream asked. "Can you make other things invisible!? Or just yourself?"

Before Susan could answer, Twilight interjected. "I hate to interrupt, but is there a reason you kids needed to see me?"

Ignoring the kids comment, since he didn't care like Gallus did, Sandbar proceeded to explain, "Right, so here's the thing, that boy Rumble challenged me and my friends to a game of Buckball."

"Oh, that's nice, a fun, friendly game of Buck Ball always sounds like a treat," Twilight said.

"Here's the thing though, according to him, the winning team becomes the New Elements of Harmony," Sandbar said.

"The new Elements of Harmony, huh?" Twilight seemed pretty confused by this statement, understandably so given how little sense it made to her. "Uh, what gave Rumble the idea that Elements can be chosen that way?"

"No clue really, he just showed up with five fillies and demanded a game to prove that he and his group are more suited for The Elements of Harmony," Sandbar said.

"Five fillies?" Peter asked. "Uh, were three of them The Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"Yeah, Scootaloo was really into this idea as well," Sandbar said.

"She was acting so rudely about it, saying that she's superior and junk," Smolder said.

"That's unusual of her," Peter commented. "So, who else was there?"

"A filly named Wind Sprint, she said her dad is a Buck Ball legend," Silverstream said.

"Wind Sprint? That's the girl who was here yesterday," Peter said. "I did see her hanging around Rumble."

"And the last filly was who?" Twilight asked.

Sandbar awkwardly turned to Derpy, "Uh, you're probably not gonna like this answer."

"Don't tell me…" Derpy lamented.

"Yeah, the last filly was Dinky Doo," Ocellus said.

"She wasn't mean, was she?" Derpy asked.

"Sorry to tell you, but she kind of was," Gallus said. "In fact, the only one who seemed to have common sense at the time was Apple Bloom."

"Sounds like they're all pretty worked up about this Elements of Harmony stuff," Susan said.

"I'll straighten this out," Twilight said. "The Elements of Harmony cannot be decided on just because a pony wants it, it's something that must be earned through actions."

"That's what we thought too," Sandbar said.

"Do you want Twilight and I to call off this Buckball game?" Peter asked.

"No way, they'll just keep calling us 'chickens'!" Gallus said. "Plus, when we beat them, they'll hopefully drop this idea of us taking their spot."

"Rumble said if he and his friends become the new Elements, I can be the Peter of the group," Mayday said. "That means I'd get to be like daddy."

"I'd rather you be yourself Mayday, that's way more special," Peter said. "Though thinking about it, this might be my fault. Maybe I shouldn't have made those comparisons between these seven students to Twilight and her friends."

"It was all in good fun Peter, it's not like we took it seriously," Sandbar said.

"Well mostly," Cozy Glow added.

"Hey I told you I was joking about that letter thing," Gallus said.

"Uh-huh, sure," Cozy Glow said.

"Cozy you really shouldn't be so upset about it," Silverstream said.

"Yeah, friends mess with each other, don't be so sensitive," Smolder said.

"Smolder!" Ocellus scolded.

"She shouldn't be!" Smolder said.

"Settle down please," Peter said. "Hey Cozy, I'm sorry if me calling you 'Spike' hurt your feelings."

"Excuse me?" Spike commented.

"You seven are your own ponies, and yak, and dragon, and griffon, and hippogriff, and changeling," Peter said.

"It's fine, being compared to great ponies was an honor for me and my friends," Sandbar said.

"Aw, how sweet, I appreciate that," Twilight said. "While I agree that being your own selves is special, even we start off trying to emulate those we admire. For me it was Princess Celestia and Starswirl."

"For me it's Iron Man and Captain America," Peter said.

"For me it's Superman!" Franklin said.

"Superman? Which hero is that?" Silverstream asked.

"He's from a different Earth than I'm from," Peter explained. "Point is, just be yourselves."

"Will do," Sandbar said. "Well thanks for your time, guess we got a Buck Ball game to practice for."

"When is this game?" Twilight asked.

"We don't know, Rumble just laid down a challenge and never followed up," Smolder said.

"I'll go talk to him whenever I can and ask him more about it," Peter said.

"While you're all here, would you like to stay for dinner?" Twilight asked. "Trixie should be back soon and we're already cooking a large amount since Derpy, Susan and Franklin are joining us."

Sandbar turned to his friends, "What do you all say?"

"Sounds good to me," Gallus said.

"Yona like idea," Yona said.

"I would love to," Cozy Glow said.

"Then it's settled, make yourselves comfortable," Twilight said.

While this was happening, Rumble, Scootaloo and Windy had gone over to see Rainbow Dash and Johnny while they were playing host for Quibble Pants and Clear Skies.

"A Buckball game?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, a big one, with a lot on the line," Rumble said. "The future of Equestria in our hooves."

"We're playing on behalf of your honor Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo said. "Yours and your friends."

"Honor huh? Sounds neat," Rainbow Dash said.

"Which is why we want you to book us a big stadium, we figured it could be the one in Appaloosa," Rumble said.

"Appaloosa huh? That's quite a big place to play a game," Rainbow Dash said.

"Well they did say it was for the Future of Equestria," Quibble said. "Maybe that's the reason?"

"It totally is, we want a big crowd there, invite as many ponies as you can!" Wind Sprint said.

"I'm not too sure, what makes this game so big anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The winners get to be the new saviors of Equestria," Rumble said. "We'll be like The Elements of Harmony!"

"And The Avengers too!" Scootaloo added.

"We need this Rainbow Dash, it's huge! Really huge!" Wind Sprint said.

"And it can't be too hard for you to get it for us, I mean, you're freaken Rainbow Dash, top level Wonderbolt and savior of Equestria," Rumble said.

"The Element of Loyalty," Scootaloo said.

"And your husband is a superhero, one of the elites," Wind Sprint said.

"She's not wrong," Johnny said. "I say we go for this Dashie."

"Alright, I'll try," Rainbow Dash said.

"Maybe Braeburn can help," Scootaloo suggested.

"Yeah, I'll have a word with him, I can't make any promises though," Rainbow Dash said.

"All that matters is that you try, if you can't get that stadium, we'll just build our own," Rumble said. "Not sure how but we'll figure it out."

"Just let us know when it's ready, until then, we gotta practice if we're gonna stomp Sandbar and his friends into the ground!" Scootaloo said.

"Let's go run some drills right now!" Rumble said, heading outside with the two excitable fillies.

"Huh, a Buckball game, that sounds pretty awesome," Johnny said.

"Wind Sprint looks so excited though," Clear Skies said. "She has the same look in her eyes her father had."

"Well even if it's not a stadium, I look forward to seeing her in action," Quibble said. "Plus, it's great that she has a new group of friends to spend time with."

"Dash, do you really think you can get them that stadium?" Johnny asked.

"It might take some convincing, they really seem to want it though, and they're really making it into a big deal," Rainbow Dash said.

"Hey if anything, treat it like a fundraiser," Johnny said. "Could put those bits into good use. I mean Canterlot is still trying to rebuild after the Storm King's invasion, plus some places in Ponyville and Manehattan could use a little fixing up. It'd be faster than relying on taxes and junk."

"Good idea," Rainbow Dash said. "Alright, let's get to it!"

---

In the Capcom world, Sunset has her belongings, making her way to the portal destination within Interpol, eager to see the world of SNK.

"I'm so excited, a whole new world to explore!" Sunset said. "Still feels like there's so much I haven't seen here though."

"There will be plenty of time," Ryu reassured.

"Yeah, you're right, plus I'm eager to see all these martial artists, especially that Terry Bogard guy I've heard so much about," Sunset said.

"He's a great fighter, so are Kyo and Mai, and you might find one other girl there interesting, an Athena Asamiya," Ryu said. "Forewarning, she is a mind reader, but I doubt she'll invade your privacy without reason."

"Noted," Sunset said.

The two arrived at a portal area, where many of the Capcom warriors were, mainly the Street Fighters. Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy White, Guile, Dhalsim, Laura, Rashid, Makoto, Ibuki Blanka, Sakura and Dan were all patiently waiting alongside Chris, Jill, Dante, Mega Man, Spencer and Strider Hiryu.

"Wow, big turnout," Sunset said.

"You know it," Ken said. "Ready to see the world of SNK?"

"More than ready," Sunset said.

"You might need to wait a second though, we're expecting more," Guile said.

"Who else is coming?" Ryu asked.

"That would be me," came the voice of Morrigan Aensland, who made her entrance alongside the cat girl, Felicia. "I heard you were going back to SNK, and I wouldn't mind getting in on that action again."

"I'm going for moral support!" Felicia said, jumping up and down in excitement. "It's gonna be fun!"

"Oh, Ryu I see you've brought your Equestrian friend," Morrigan said, gesturing to Sunset Shimmer. "So nice to see you again dear."

"Hi Morrigan, hi Felicia," Sunset greeted.

"Is this everyone?" Ryu asked. "If that's the case we should-"

"Wait for us!" Came another familiar voice. It was Tifa Lockhart, making her way over with Cloud, Barret and Squall. "Hey, we're coming too."

"When did Square get here?" Sunset asked.

"They passed by yesterday, just to give us a status update on Sephiroth," Chun-Li said. "Among other things."

"We're hoping to try the Marvel world soon, since he was with Loki," Cloud said. "If anything, we can try to rendezvous with Thor."

"I figured they could use a little break and come with us to SNK," Chun-Li said.

"Have you ever been before?" Sunset asked.

"No, but I know someone who met the King of Fighters founder at the King of the Iron Fist tournament," Cloud said.

"I find it so ironic that these tournaments are organized by crooks," Chun-Li said. "S.I.N. once hosted a World Warrior Tournament, then you have places like the Howard Estate and the Mishima Zaibatsu who create these tournaments, just to fuel their own egos."

"Isn't the Mishima Zaibatsu mostly legit these days?" Ken asked. "I mean old man Heihachi lost his power to his grandson."

"Well Jin Kazama isn't exactly a saint," Chun-Li said. "But I suppose he's better than his grandfather was."

"Is that old man even alive?" Guile asked. "I keep hearing that he bit the dust but then I hear that he's still around."

"He probably cheats death more than Bison does," Cammy said. "Say what you will about Heihachi Mishima, but there's no denying just how powerful he can be."

"Uh, who are these people exactly?" Sunset asked.

"You'll find out when we go to Namco, but please, watch out when you get there," Ryu said.

"For that Heihachi guy?" Sunset asked.

"It's not just him I'm worried about, it's his son Kazuya," Ryu said, clenching his fists at the memory of the former King of Iron Fist winner. "I have not seen such impurity in a martial artist since Akuma."

"Point is, watch out for the entire Mishima bloodline," Ken said. "They're proof what money and power can do to corrupt people."

"Power is a good test of one's mortal character, which is why I respect Spider-Man for choosing to only use it responsibly," Ryu said.

"How is Peter actually?" Chun-Li asked. "Sunset, have you spoken to him?"

"Yes, he's doing well, getting used to Tony Stark's Accords," Sunset said. "Those two are turning Equestria into a better place."

"It was already pretty great before," Chris said.

"Yeah, if anything, Tony Stark is making it better," Chun-Li asked.

"Well there's flaws in the system so far, but Peter and Tony are trying to figure it out," Sunset said.

"How bad are the flaws?" Ryu asked.

"It limits what a hero in that world can do, just the other day Captain America got into hot water for fighting a villain outside his designated town, which is kind of silly," Sunset said. "But maybe it's because some of the buildings got messed up."

"Collateral damage can't be helped, Captain America being there shouldn't change that," Dante said. "If he got the job done, that's all that matters."

"Well like I said, they're working out some kinks," Sunset said. "Assigning heroes to towns could be a better way to keep track of how a certain hero handles an area and see how damage can be minimalized."

"Sounds kind of bogus," Dante said.

"It hardly is Dante, keeping order can be a big help in the end," Chun-Li said. "I don't see any harm in trusting Tony Stark."

"Uh, did you forget what we said about money and power corrupting?" Dante asked.

"Tony Stark is nothing like Heihachi Mishima or Geese Howard," Chun-Li said. "He saves lives Dante, power will not corrupt him."

"Even heroes can follow a dark path," Cloud said. "Sephiroth wasn't always evil, he used to be a savior."

"Do you know that for sure? Or was he just faking it?" Chun-Li asked. "Chris thought Albert Wesker was a good guy once."

"Kind of have to agree with Chun-Li on that, Sephiroth is probably as good of a faker as Wesker was," Chris said.

"Hey my brother was a good guy turned evil too, so I'm with Cloud," Dante said.

It wasn't long before the warriors started voicing their opinions, debating good vs evil, and even some questioning if Equestria was truly going to be alright with the Accords.

"Excuse me!" Ryu called. "This is fascinating and all, but we're going to be late. We have warriors to battle against and Sunset wants to spend time in this world."

"Sorry, you're right," Chun-Li said. "We'll worry about Equestria later, I mean Peter's there and he has a good sense of character."

"Does Peter know you respect him this much?" Sunset asked.

"I've mentioned it to him, a lot," Chun-Li said, bashfully rubbing her head. "He's a good guy with a pure heart, and he's close with Tony Stark, that's why I feel confident."

"I think most of us can say we trust Peter's judgement," Ryu said. "For now, let's enjoy ourselves."

"I could use a little entertainment," Cloud said. "You ready Sunset?"

"Yeah, oh and Cloud, think I can go back to your world soon? I kind of want to see more, and learn more about it's past," Sunset said. "Twilight is doing so with our world and I want to do that with all the worlds I visit."

"You're really eager to visit new worlds huh?" Cloud asked. "Guess you fit right in with Capcom."

"I guess, I mean I'm not in it to fight others, I just want to see if I can make new friends," Sunset said. "I know you probably think it's dorky of me to say that though."

"Not really," Cloud said. "I know a kid who does something just like you're doing. Traveling between dimensions, making friends along the way, he's seen pretty amazing stuff. Helps that he has the perfect Key to unlock the portals into these other realms."

"He's pretty strong too, a lot stronger than he looks," Squall added.

"This sounds fascinating, can you tell me more?" Sunset asked.

"Sure, personally I think you two would be really good friends if you met him, honestly he'd feel right at home in Equestria," Cloud said. "And I wouldn't mind telling you about my world's past, there's some really amazing stuff."

"SNK has amazing stuff too, just wait until you hear about their legendary Samurai," Chun-Li said.

"Oh, remind me later to tell you about Sega," Mega Man said.

"Don't worry, I have a list of where I want to go," Sunset said. "Now let's hurry."

As everyone piled into the portal, Cloud took a moment to approach Ryu, "By the way, did you happen to get a certain letter invitation recently?"

Ryu nodded, "Yeah, Mega Man got one too."

"Guess they've started their recruiting, at least we won't be invited late this time," Cloud said. "Question is, who else will be there?"

"We'll find out soon enough," Ryu said. "Let's hurry."

The two made their way in last, the world of SNK awaits.

---

Meanwhile Thor had indeed returned to Asgard briefly, his father's heatlth had gotten worse, but the Skyfather of Asgard wasn't going down without a fight. Of course, to make matters worse, Thor had the impending Ragnarok event to worry about, plus he still could not locate his brother's whereabouts.

Watching from an image was the brother in question, that being Loki. "You won't find me on your terms brother, but fret not, I'll be sure to be around just in time for our dear father's final days."

"So when are we invading?" Asked the nearby Storm King. "Because I'm ready to go! I want to get my hands on that sweet Asgardian magic!"

"In due time," Loki said. "Your men and mine must continue their training if they are to last against Asgard's best. As it stands, half of them could probably fall to Lady Sif on her own. But if Tempest continues her training with Mystique, that will put us at a good advantage."

"Tempest has this, she's got some pretty good potential, plus it helps that she doesn't ask too many questions," Storm King said. "The girl is so driven by her ambition, she's blind to everything else."

"Yes, indeed," Loki said. "I find that admirable, she'll make a worthy ally."

"Speaking of allies, what about those other two guys? Think we can trust them?" Storm King asked.

"I don't know…" came Sephiroth's voice. "Can you?"

"Ah!" Storm King quickly turned around. "Hey, what's going on Seph? Mind if I call you Seph?"

Sephiroth looked bemused, "I'd rather you- "

"So Seph," Storm King accidentally interrupted. "That talk earlier, it was just me trying to ease Loki's worries than my own."

"Beg your pardon?" Loki said.

"I just want us to be on the same page, you get me?" Storm King asked.

"Sure, I 'get' you," Sephiroth said, then turned to the God in the room. "Loki, I confirmed it with Akuma, he will be taking part of our invasion, but only to test his own power against Asgard's strongest, don't expect him to follow orders."

"Fine, if anything maybe he can perish along with those other fools, even if I have to make sure of it myself," Loki said. "Let us oversee Tempest's training, the sooner she's ready, the sooner we can invade."

"And in return, I expect you to assist me with my goals," Sephiroth said.

"Yes, yes, the Lifestream and Jenova," Loki said. "Not sure how much I can help with that last one though."

"You leave that part to me, I just need the Lifestream, then I can fix my world and all it's flaws," Sephiroth said. "And maybe dispose of Cloud along the way."

"That boy is quite strong, according to Akuma, he did battle with a Saiyan to a draw," Loki said. "Of course, I heard my brother did the same thing. Amazing what strength creatures like that hold."

"Yeah it's freaky," Storm King said.

"I am not concerned," Sephiroth said. "Let us go."

"Right," Loki said, following Sephiroth alongside Storm King.

---

Three days had passed in Equestria, and fortunately for the Buckball participants, Rainbow Dash had kept her word. Appaloosa's Buckball stadium was available for use and both teams were set to use it.

Somehow it ended up being a decent turnout, thanks mostly to Rainbow Dash. She and Johnny Storm had spread the word far and wide, getting ponies excited for this upcoming game.

Despite their Royal Status, Peter and Twilight sat in the crowd like normal civilians, as they would prefer, alongside Mayday, Trixie, Starlight, Janet, Spike, Hope, Aunt May, Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart.

"Didn't expect you three to leave The Crystal Empire for this," Peter said.

"Flurry really wanted to come, plus Captain Marvel insisted our Empire was safe while we were away," Cadance said.

"How has she been doing as your city's guardian?" Twilight asked.

"Well there isn't much for her to do, so she occasionally flies elsewhere to see if she's needed," Cadance said.

"Can she do that? Because I'm pretty sure one of the Accord's rules are that she has to stay in one town," Peter said.

"Well she made some type of deal with Tony Stark, she can check on other cities if she's willing to help The Avengers pick out the best heroes to guard those cities," Shining Armor said.

"So, she's basically a recruiter," Peter said. "Makes sense."

"Her sidekick is really nice," Flurry Heart interjected. "She let me play jump rope with her stretchy legs."

"That's nice of her," Twilight said.

"Hey Twilight!" Came Susan's voice. She, Derpy, Franklin and Ben Grimm were making their way over, Ben trying to be careful as he navigated through the crowd.

"I hate making my way through crowded places," Ben remarked.

"You're doing fine," Susan said. "We're almost there."

"Hi Sue, Hi Derpy, Hi Ben!" Twilight greeted.

"Hey Princess, how's life treating ya?" Ben asked.

"So far, so good," Twilight said, rubbing her stomach. "Soon it will be even better."

"Where are Reed and Doc?" Peter asked.

"You know Reed, he can never be pulled away from his work," Susan said.

"And Doc's really busy too, he won't even tell me what he's planning," Derpy said. "He says it's top secret stuff."

"Whatever Tony's got them working on must be huge," Peter said.

"Gotta say though, this secrecy stuff has me worried," Ben said. "What's so big that Stark doesn't want anyone to know? Or even if it's Stretch's choice, why wouldn't he want anyone to know?"

"Reed's usually like that," Susan said.

"Oh, I'm aware of that, and sometimes when he does this secrecy stuff, it usually ends with you, me and matchstick helping him clean up whatever mess he made," Ben said. "I mean, I don't mind helping he guy out, but sometimes even he can get in over his head with this stuff."

"Well he's not alone this time, he has Derpy's husband helping him," Susan said.

"I know what you mean though, Doc can be a bit nuts about his inventions too, but with two intelligent guys working together, I don't think we have anything to worry about," Derpy said. "They'll keep each other in check."

"If they need a third pony to help them, they know where to find me," Mayday said.

"Heh, got ourselves a little genius huh?" Ben asked. "I'd bet Stark would love having an intelligent young girl on his payroll."

"He's already looking into it," Peter said, playfully annoyed.

"Speaking of Tony Stark," Trixie said, then gestured to the stands. "Isn't that him over there? With Princess Luna and Steve Rogers?"

"Whoa really?" Peter looked across and spotted the trio in question. "They're here to see the game too?"

"Looks like it," Twilight said. "I'm almost surprised that they made time for it though."

"Yeah, how hype did Hot Head and Skittles make this game out to be?" Peter wondered.

"Johnny is really good at making a big deal out of things," Susan said.

"And with Scootaloo in this game, Rainbow Dash probably went the extra mile to promote it," Twilight said.

"Rumble did say it's to decide the new Elements of Harmony, maybe that had to do with the hype?" Trixie theorized.

"There's no way that's what's going on," Twilight said. "Even Rainbow Dash knows The Elements are not decided that way. Me and my friends didn't set out to be The Elements of Harmony, we unintentionally earned that title."

"Well maybe she'll explain it now, here she comes," Starlight said.

In the center of the stadium, Rainbow Dash held out a mega phone, "What's up Appaloosa!?" After a cheer from the crowd, Rainbow Dash spoke up again. "Alright! Who's ready for some Buckball!? This game is said to be a huge one! Young players inspired by the legendary feats of not only The Avengers, but of me and my friends, duking it out to show who truly is our country's future!"

"It's gonna be wild for sure!" Came Johnny's voice as he flew into the arena. "Before the big game though, we have a special treat for all of you."

"A flight show, held by a team that's probably not as prestigious as The Wonderbolts," Rainbow Dash said.

"But they're just as good," Johnny added.

"Give it up for Lightning Dust and The Washouts!" Rainbow Dash announced, gesturing to an oncoming Lightning Dust, alongside her teammates Rolling Thunder and Short Fuse.

"Yeah! Lightning Dust!" Laura cheered from the crowd, the girl having come with Limestone Pie, not too far away from both the Howlett Family of Logan, Fluttershy and Rina, as well as the Pie Family of Pinkie, Maud, Marble, Deadpool and the twins, Elanor and Lil' Cheese.

"Before anyone asks, yes, Pinkie Pie named our son after Cheese Sandwich, even though they're not together in this continuity," Deadpool said. "Is it lazy? Maybe. Does anyone care? I should hope not. It's just a story, one that doesn't have to make that much sense. But if you want to be technical, even Peter put his ex-girlfriend's first name as his daughter's middle name, and even in other timelines, he's done something similar. Alright that's all for this random exhibition, back to the chapter!"

Also in attendance were the family of Rarity, Bobby, Snow Gem, Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles, all there to show support for Sweetie Belle.

"Somehow I expected this place to look a bit more like Yankee Stadium," Bobby commented.

"Does it not?" Rarity asked.

"Looks bit minor league, though this is a world of Little Ponies so maybe it's big enough for that," Bobby said.

"Go team!" Hondo loudly cheered.

"Easy honey, the game hasn't even started yet," Cookie said.

"Right, sorry, just getting excited," Hondo said.

The Apple Family of Applejack, Remy, Oliver, Cheerilee, Big Macintosh, Little Macintosh, Granny Smith, Babs and Braeburn were also present. Also present was the very recently born daughter, Becky Apple-Lebbau.

"Really great of you to help Rainbow Dash get this stadium, Braeburn," Applejack said.

"It wasn't anything hard, we in Appaloosa were happy to help out a friend of mah cousin's," Braeburn said.

"To think, Apple Bloom's going to be in a big game today," Applejack said. "Pretty exciting, huh Remy?"

"It is, but, is she excited?" Remy asked.

"What are you getting at?" Applejack asked.

"She didn't look too thrilled about the game, in fact she seems kind of worried," Remy said.

"Oh yeah, she did look a bit down," Applejack said. "Wonder why though? She's never really had a problem with sports, and it can't be that she's nervous to paly in front of a crowd."

"Think it has to do with this Future of Equestria thing that Rainbow Dash mentioned?" Braeburn asked.

"Possibly, still don't know what that's all about though," Applejack said.

"Mama, can I get a snack?" Oliver asked.

"Sure, anything you'd like?" Applejack asked. "Ah can go and get it fer ya."

"I can get it," Remy said. "You shouldn't move too much, you just had a baby the other day."

"It ain't nothing ah can't handle," Applejack said. "Gotta work off the baby fat somehow, especially given how late mah little girl was born."

"Even some pies need a little more time in the oven," Babs joked.

"You can work out with Apple Bucking, later on," Remy said. "I'll get something for Oliver."

"I can come as well," Cheerilee said. "Get something for my own little foal."

"I want caramel," Little Macintosh said.

"Honey for me," Oliver said.

"You got it," Remy said, then gestured to Cheerilee, "Let's hurry before the game starts."

Also attending was Martin Li and Suri Polomare, the two taking some time off from work for this.

"Why are we here again?" Suri asked. "Buckball isn't my thing."

"It's good to take a break and rest your mind," Martin said. "Plus, I heard that this event is special."

"Yeah, special, just a bunch of kids playing some stupid sport," Suri said. "Though it does have a nice turnout, could be good to promote our own thing. I think even Spider-Mane is here."

Martin smirked deviously at the confirmation of his enemy's location, "How exciting."

Meanwhile Quibble Pants finally made his way into the crowd, alongside Clear Skies. The two found seats near Thunerlane, Felicity, Flitter and Cloudchaser.

"Looks like they're warming the crowd up with a Stunt Show," Quibble noted. "Seems like an odd placement for a Buckball game."

"Whatever gets the crowd alive, though I would have preferred a concert," Flitter said. "I would have loved to see Coloratura."

"A stunt show is better," Cloudchaser said.

"I'm surprised you like them CC, I mean The Washouts are basically rivals to The Wonderbolts," Thunderlane said.

"Barely, the way I see it, it's two different audiences, one who like the extreme stuff, and one who likes the normal areal formations," Cloudchaser said. "Plus, who says I can't be a both Wonderbolt flyer and a Washout fan?"

"Being a fan of multiple things is never really bad, it's good to keep your mind open," Quibble said. "I belong to many different fandoms outside of Daring Do. Even anything that might be her 'rival' so to say. Why pick sides? You can just be happy with both."

"Yeah Rumble's the same, he thinks Daring Do is cool, and he likes those Power Pony comics," Thunderlane said. "When he lived with Peter, he got to see more stuff from his world, you should consider asking Peter about his world's comics and books."

"Movies too," Flitter said. "And something called anime."

"Oh, I couldn't really impose, I don't know Spider-Mane that well, at least not on a personal level," Quibble said.

"Peter's always up for making new friends, you should give it a try," Cloudchaser said.

"Rumble and I can help, especially seeing just how quickly he became friends with Wind Sprint," Thunderlane said.

"Plus you're friends with Rainbow Dash, and she's super close to Peter," Cloudchaser said.

"He's really friendly, you've seen for yourself that he's very laid back as far as being a huge deal in Equestria goes," Flitter said.

"I suppose you all make valid points," Quibble said. Then he, along with others in attendance, got immediately startled when staged mini explosion by Lighting Dust went off, the mare having done what she called a 'sick move'.

"That's why I'm the best!" Lightning Dust boasted after the move. "Come get your autographs and pictures after the show! I'll be waiting!"

"Great showing out there, Washouts!" Rainbow Dash said as ponies came in to clean up and ready the field. "Now onto the main part of the show!"

Outside Cheerilee seemed to be a bit anxious, "The show's starting, we should hurry Remy."

"I got it," Remy said, getting what he needed. "Good, now let's- "

"Get your apple cider here! Freshly farm picked!" Came a voice. Remy's ear twitched and saw twin ponies in showman type clothes.

"You can't get any better deals than this!" A mustached one said.

"Remy what's…" Cheerilee noticed the two men. "Is that Flim and Flam?"

"Flim and Flam? Applejack mentioned them before, said something about them being charlatans," Remy said.

"They have been a thorn on the side of the Apples for quite some time," Cheerilee said. "Looks like they've even stooped so far as to sell Apple Cider. I mean after what happened the first time they met the Apple Family, I'm a bit surprised."

"Well even if they're selling it, I doubt it's any good, no one grows apples like The Apple Family," Remy said. "Still, we should probably let Granny Smith know."

"I agree, let's hurry, Apple Bloom is about to play," Cheerilee said, making her way back to the stands.

In the center of the arena, Rainbow Dash began introducing the contestants, "First up on my right! Please welcome the students of The School of Friendship! Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Silverstream, Smolder and Ocellus!"

The six students in question made their way out into the field, joined by Cozy Glow and Jubilee, the latter using her powers to create some fireworks to celebrate their entrance.

"Good luck out there!" Twilight called.

"You can do this!" Pinkie cheered.

"Yay!" Came support from Fluttershy.

"Thanks for that Jubilee!" Johnny said. "Now for the other team, half Crusaders, half…something else. The team of Rumble, Dinky Doo, Wind Sprint, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle!"

The six ponies in question came out with no fanfare, just cheers.

"Go Rumble!" Thunderlane encouraged.

"You can do this Wind Sprint!" Quibble cheered.

"Yay Apple Bloom!" Applejack called.

Rumble made his way over to the center, looking a bit annoyed, "Wow, so you six get a member of the X-Men hyping you up, and we're treated like an afterthought."

"Also, what's with her?" Dinky asked, gesturing to Cozy Glow. "Is she on your team too? You need a one pony advantage over us?"

"She's just here to escort us, that's all, she's not really on our team," Gallus said. "Cozy you got to escort us, now you should head to the stands now."

"I wouldn't want to play with you anyway," Cozy Glow said, stomping off immediately after.

"Cozy Glow!" Ocellus called, then turned to Gallus, glaring right at him. "We've asked you to be nicer to her!"

"I wasn't even trying to be mean!" Gallus said. "She needs to stop overreacting."

"Cozy Glow need to work on thick skin," Yona commented.

"I'm kind of with Gallus and Yona, he just said she wasn't a teammate, and she does need to go to the stands," Silverstream said. "We don't want to look like cheaters, having seven teammates."

"Though having Cozy on our team is a disadvantage, she can't play well," Smolder said.

"Wow, she really is your 'Spike' huh?" Rumble joked.

"Easy there Rumble," Rainbow Dash warned, before setting the rules. "Alright, the game is simple! Usually Buckball is played with three player teams, but since there's six on each side, the rules have been adjusted as such. There are still three players active on each team, players may swap between plays, not in the middle of one. Failure to acknowledge the rules will result in point deduction, too many and you forfeit the game. There is a sixty-minute time limit, maximum of ten goals! Game starts when I throw the ball and ends when I blow the second whistle! You have two minutes to choose your starting team!"

"Good luck out there," Jubilee said, making her way out of the stadium, leaving the student Six to form strategy.

"Let's start strong," Gallus said. "Yona you can be our attacker, Sandbar will go defense and Silverstream can hold the basket."

"You're not going first?" Sandbar asked.

"I'll come in later, it's about pacing yourself after all," Gallus said. "Rumble seems like the type to rush into things, so this is where we outwit him."

"Actually, that makes sense, we'll keep a steady formation for now, switch when we need to," Sandbar said.

"Let's show those wannabes who the true team is," Gallus said as the six held their hooves, claws and talons in. "And break!"

Meanwhile Rumble was discussing his strategy with his own team, "Alright, traditionally the Earth Pony is the Attacker, the Pegasus is the Defender and Unicorn is the Catcher. But given the odd numbers here, we'll have to switch it up so that Apple Bloom isn't constantly on the offense."

"Since I can't fly well, I can switch with Apple Bloom if need be," Scootaloo said.

"Alright, you can go up first too, I know with your energy you can last the whole game but I'd rather not leave anyone out," Rumble said. "We'll switch periodically, it would keep the other team from getting too comfortable. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo can take the attack position, Wind Sprint and I will trade the defense position, and Dinky and Sweetie Belle can trade the catcher position. So first it will be me, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle out there."

"Sounds good to me," Wind Sprint said.

"Yeah, let's do this," Dinky said.

"We'll win this!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Alright, Crusaders on Three," Rumble said, holding out his hoof, the others doing the same. "One, two three!"

"Crusaders!"

"Alright, if everyone's done…" Each pony got into position. "Then here we go!" Rainbow Dash threw up the ball, signaling the start of the game.

In an instant, Scootaloo rushed in and headbutted the ball right into her team's basket, taking the Student Six by surprise.

"One point!" Scootaloo cheered.

"Yeah! Great start Scootaloo!" Rumble cheered.

"But…how!" Gallus asked. "We're not even a minute in!"

Sweetie Belle levitated the ball out of the basket and tossed it back into the field, "Try to give us a better challenge!"

"Alright! Show no mercy out there!" Smolder demanded.

The game resumed, the Student Six putting up a slightly better defense at first, but quick movement from Scootaloo got the ball into the basket again.

"Two points so far for the Crusaders!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Scoots! Switch out for Apple Bloom!" Rumble said.

Scootaloo tossed the ball to her friend, "You got this."

"Sure thing," Apple Bloom said. The game resumed again, this time Yona managed to get the ball away from Apple Bloom and knocked toward her team's basket, but Rumble flew in and kicked the ball hard toward Yona, the yak girl immediately jumping out of the way in worry, something Sandbar found pretty low.

This moment still provided Apple Bloom a chance to buck kick the ball right into her team's basket.

"That's three!" Johnny announced.

"Come on!" Smolder angrily shouted. "We gotta do something!"

"Smolder, why don't you come in! Take Yona's place!" Sandbar suggested.

"Good idea Sandbar," Gallus said. "Hey Yona! Take five!"

"Five what?" Yona asked, this resulting in a round of laughter from the Crusaders, sans Apple Bloom.

"Just take the bench!" Gallus said. "Smolder, go get'em!"

Once Smolder stepped in, Rumble turned his attention to Dinky. "Hey, think you can handle Smolder?"

"I'll do my best," Dinky said.

"Yo Sweetie Belle! Dinky's up!" Rumble called.

"Alright!" Sweetie Belle said, switching positions with Dinky.

Sandbar quickly rushed over to Smolder, "Earlier Rumble tricked Yona into thinking he was going to hit the ball right at her, don't let him do that to you."

"I won't," Smolder said.

Smolder and Scootaloo faced off, both vying for the ball when Smolder side stepped Scootaloo and kicked it toward the goal. Rumble intercepted and tried whacking the ball back the way he did to Yona, but Smolder whacked it back toward Rumble, knocking him out of the air, and then leapt up once more to knock it into her basket.

"Sandbar's team finally scores!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Hey she knocked me out of the air! That should be a foul!" Rumble said.

"You tried hitting her first, it's defense dude!" Sandbar said.

"He's got a point!" Rainbow Dash said. "And that point lets them have his team's!"

Wind Sprint flew over to Rumble, "I'll take over."

"Good idea," Rumble said, trotting out of the field.

Everyone continued to look on as the game resumed, many of them looking quite intrigued by how well both sides were playing. Despite their rough start, The School of Friendship really started to catch up, thanks mostly to Sandbar coming up with different plays.

However one play that could have gotten another point was thwarted when Gallus took matters into his own claws. After some provoking from Rumble, Gallus tried to rush his ball into the other team's basket.

"Gallus! Aim carefully!" Sandbar warned.

Unfortunately, Gallus barely missed his shot, especially when Rumble 'accidentally' walked by and tickled Ocellus with his wind. Wind Sprint took advantage and made a tornado style toss toward Scootaloo, who knocked her ball into the team's basket.

Rainbow Dash blew the first whistle, "Fifteen-minute Intermission!"

"For the love of…" Gallus groaned in annoyance. So much for their chance to tie the game, now they're down by two and need to score six points.

Rumble looked pretty thrilled, "You're doing great out there team, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks Rumble," the girls said.

As he led them inside, he noticed a somewhat sad looking Cozy Glow sitting next to Jubilee and Nightcrawler. The boy quickly flew over to her, getting her attention. "Mind if I talk to you a second?"

"Uh, alright," Cozy turned to the two. "Can I?"

"Sure, that's fine," Jubilee said.

Cozy and Rumble flew up out of earshot, Cozy curious by Rumble's presence. "Did you need something?"

"I just noticed you were sad and I felt bad for you, I hear you get teased for being the group's 'Spike' and I really think that's a terrible thing to do. I would never treat a filly like you that way," Rumble said.

"Well thanks for that Rumble, it's not that big of a deal, at least Sandbar and Ocellus are really nice to me," Cozy Glow said.

"They probably should step up more, if you were in my group, I would not allow someone to talk to you in such a manner," Rumble said. "If you were in my group, you wouldn't even be the 'Spike', I personally see you more of a 'Sunset Shimmer'. You know her right?"

"Of course, she's Celestia's former pupil and travels dimensions," Cozy Glow said.

"She was also part of the Harmony Avengers, and did some really amazing things!" Rumble said. "I mean, Spike was a member too but from what I heard, he got beat up really bad once and went flying back to Equestria while Peter, Twilight and their team did the rest of the hard stuff. Point is that Sunset is really powerful and really valuable to the Elements of Harmony, way more than Spike is."

"She is really strong, and she's so much cooler," Cozy Glow said. "I appreciate you thinking that."

"You just gotta stand up for yourself, show them who's boss, if they can't see you as their 'Sunset Shimmer', then you should find a group that can," Rumble said. "Anyway, I should get back to the girls, I'll catch your pretty face later."

Cozy Glow blushed as Rumble flew back to his team, the girl thinking over a lot of things at the moment.

"Damn intermission, the game was really getting good too," Laura said. "Rumble and his little harem are doing a lot better than I thought."

"They're really talented girls, especially Wind Sprint, she looks like a natural playing this game," Lightning Dust said.

"Wouldn't be surprised if they ended up winning," Laura said. "Kind of hope so, Rumble's so much cooler than those other six lame-Os."

"Oh totally, they don't even know what they're doing out there, I can't imagine anyone cheering for them," Lightning Dust said.

Meanwhile with the Royals.

"I hope Sandbar can turn this around," Twilight said.

"You're actually cheering for Sandbar? What about Rumble?" Trixie asked.

"I wouldn't mind cheering for him, in fact I'd be glad to," Twilight said. "But he's acting so uncharacteristically unkind that it makes it a bit harder to."

"A loss might deflate that ego he's developing," Peter said.

"I don't see it as ego, more like a newly developed confidence," Trixie said.

"Nah, it's definitely ego," Spike said. "He has that same smug grin that Garble has."

"I personally want to see Smolder win," Janet said. "She's one cool girl."

"Dragon cool!" Hope said.

Janet rubbed her head, "Yes, Dragon cool."

"Hey Flurry, who are you cheering for?" Peter asked.

"I'm cheering for Rumble, he's cute," Flurry said.

"Uh, Flurry, that's nice and all, but not really the point of the game," Peter said.

"She's not wrong daddy," Mayday said. "Rumble is cute, and if he wins, he and his friends will be The Elements of Harmony."

"Mayday, that's not now it works!" Twilight said. "Rumble can't just decide he wants to be an Element, he has to earn in."

"Well he's cool and talented, soon the Elements will beg him to take them," Mayday said.

"Then he'll be on top of the world," Flurry said.

"Honestly, he doesn't seem that great," Franklin said.

"Put a lid on it!" Mayday and Flurry shouted.

"Mayday/Flurry!" both Twilight and Cadance scolded.

Peter groaned in annoyance, "Good grief."

"You said it," Shining Armor said.

Tony also seemed impressed by the show so far. "Boy that Rumble kid is really showing some great leadership skills."

"He knows his team, but so does Sandbar," Steve said. "He seems to be coaching his friends pretty well, and he's doing so with a cool head."

"That's nice and all, but Rumble just has that energy to him," Tony said. "Plus at least he's the sole leader, looks like one of Sandbar's guys isn't listening. An uncooperative teammate can lead to disarray."

"Nothing they can't work out," Steve said.

"I do agree with you Steve Rogers," Luna said. "But I am also with Tony Stark, Rumble controls his team better than Sandbar does. If their team doesn't act as one, it will be over for them."

Suri tapped her chin in curiosity, "So, you think that Rumble kid is going to win? Or that other team?"

"Oh, you're invested?" Martin asked.

"I'll invest something alright, my stocks on the winner," Suri said. "Whoever wins is going to have some really good publicity, perfect for our business."

"Always thinking like an entrepreneur, I must admit, that's good business tactics," Martin said.

"Oh yeah it is," Suri said.

At Sandbar's side, the lead Earth Pony was wiping his head with a towel when he was offered a bottle of water from Cozy Glow.

"Tough out there, huh?" Cozy asked.

"Totally," Sandbar said, chugging down the water. "Thanks Cozy, I needed that."

"Of course, and it's a favor as a friend, not an assistant," Cozy Glow said.

"I know Cozy, don't worry, I don't see you as a 'Spike'," Sandbar said. "But if I did, it wouldn't be the Assistant Spike, it would be the little sibling Spike. Remember, Spike means everything to Twilight Sparkle, and you mean a lot to me."

Cozy Glow blushed from the compliment, "Thanks Sandbar, I wouldn't mind being like Spike, if it meant spending time with you. Both you and Ocellus have been really kind to me, and, well I really like the two of you."

"We like you too," Sandbar said.

"Hey Sandbar, we're up," Gallus said, then saw Cozy Glow with him. "I thought you went to the stands?"

"Sandbar needed water, so came to give him some," Cozy Glow explained.

"Not as an assistant though," Sandbar clarified.

"Yeah, yeah, wow she really is sensitive about that, even the others find it kind of annoying," Gallus said.

"Come on dude!" Sandbar said.

"No, it's alright Sandy," Cozy Glow said. "Gallus is just trying to be friendly in his own way, maybe I shouldn't overreact."

"Uh, right, it's all in good fun," Gallus said.

"Also, to show you that I'm not bothered by what you say, I brought you some water too," Cozy Glow said, offering Gallus a bottle.

"Oh, thanks I guess," Gallus said, chugging the water. "That hit the spot. Alright, let's go."

Sandbar went out with Gallus as Cozy Glow sinisterly grinned, "Oh, it'll hit a spot alright."

Meanwhile Rumble was hyping up his own team, "Come on, we've almost got it, we'll be another great team of Six! Just like The Elements of Harmony! Just like the founding members of The Avengers! We can do this!"

"You got it!" Scootaloo said.

"I'm all in!" Sweetie Belle said.

"Let's win this!" Wind Sprint said.

"Hell yeah!" Dinky said.

"Those losers won't know what hit them!" Rumble said. All the girls cheered, except for Apple Bloom, which Rumble noticed. "You alright Apple Bloom?"

"Games are supposed to be fun fer everyone, but you're all taking this too far," Apple Bloom said. "Ah mean, all this talk about being like Twilight or Peter, or anypony else, plus you're all treating Sandbar and his friends like they're enemies."

"Oh, come on Apple Bloom, it's just for fun," Scootaloo said. "It just has a little more riding on the line, but it's all good fun."

"Ah know, but still…" Apple Bloom said. "Ah feel like we're even being mean to them."

Sweetie Belle seemed to pity Apple Bloom, she has noticed how intense everyone was acting, maybe this is getting uncomfortable, "Maybe we can dial it back, what do you say team? Treat this as friendly as possible?"

"To be fair, they're not friendly either," Dinky said.

"Then let's be better," Sweetie Belle said. "It will mean a lot to Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo was the first to speak up about it, "We can try, if that will make Apple Bloom feel better."

"What do you say Rumble?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Rumble thought about it a moment, he didn't want to upset Apple Bloom, even if he didn't care much for the other team. But so long as he wins, then he'll do what feels right, "Ok, we'll dial it back. But we're still gonna go out there and win."

"Yeah, we're not going easy on them," Wind Sprint said.

"I make no promises, especially if they start to piss me off," Dinky said.

"Fine with me, now let's go!" Rumble said, everyone marching out there, Apple Bloom hoping for a friendlier game.

Once the teams were out and Rainbow Dash tossed the ball, the game resumed, and this time Sandbar's side was doing better. They got in a few extra goals, getting up to eight points to the seven that Rumble's team had.

"Looks like we're getting a turnaround!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Dang, this isn't good," Rumble nervously said. "Can't lose out here."

"Come on, we got…" Gallus started feeling sick. "Oh, my stomach."

"Gallus, you alright?" Sandbar asked. He called to Rainbow Dash, "Hey timeout"

Rainbow Dash stopped the game so they could check on Gallus, the griffon looked incredibly sick, all his teammates worried.

"What's wrong Gallus?" Smolder asked.

"My stomach's in pain," Gallus said. "I just feel- "

Suddenly Gallus felt the urge to throw up, though held it back, not wanting to soil the field, or embarrass himself.

Suddenly Nightcrawler teleported over, with Jubilee by his side, the girl looking worried. "Gallus, you look terrible!"

"I feel worse," Gallus said.

"Dude, you need to sit out the rest of the game," Sandbar said.

"I can't do that! We're winning!" Gallus said.

"We're just two points away, we'll be fine without you," Sandbar said. "Your health is more important."

"But…but..!" Gallus pleaded.

"No 'buts' unless it's yours out this stadium Gallus," Jubilee said.

"Golly, what's going on?" Cozy Glow asked, flying over to her friends.

Gallus angrily glared at her, "YOU!"

"Huh?" Cozy Glow feigned confusion.

"What did you do to me!?" Gallus asked. "I know you had something to do with this!"

"Gallus, what's gotten into you?" Ocellus asked.

"Try asking Cozy Glow! She gave me some water that…Oh I bet that had to do with it!" Gallus said.

"What is he saying? I didn't do anything to Gallus!" Cozy Glow insisted.

"I'm with Cozy Glow, she gave me water too and I feel fine," Sandbar said.

"I just wanted to help," Cozy Glow said, looking sad. "Why are you being so mean to me Gallus?"

"That's a load of baloney!" Gallus angrily shouted. "You're still mad about that whole Spike thing! Well guess what! You're no Spike! You're a Discord! You deceiving little traitor!"

"Dude, that's enough!" Sandbar shouted. "Just go get checked up! Maybe your brain is messing with you!"

"I'll take him," Nightcrawler said, immediately teleporting away with Gallus.

Cozy wiped some tears from her eyes, "Why is he so mean to me? I just wanted to be his friend!"

"I got you Cozy Glow," Sandbar said, bringing her in for a hug. "Gallus is just cranky, once he feels better he'll apologize, I'll make sure of it."

"You pwomise?" Cozy Glow asked.

"You bet," Sandbar said.

"This is cute and all, but now we're down a player," Smolder said.

"We can win with five players, can't we?" Silverstream asked.

"Isn't it against the rules to not have a complete team!?" Dinky asked.

"Dinky…" Apple Bloom said. She didn't want unnecessary conflict.

"They have enough players for the field, it's just more of a handicap for them," Rainbow Dash said.

"Can I fill in?" Cozy Glow asked.

"No way! You're not good at this game!" Smolder said. Of course, this resulted in more tears from Cozy Glow, and a few angry glares her way. "Well even if we were alright with it, what does the rules say!?"

"Yeah, what do they say!?" Scootaloo asked.

"Scootaloo…" Apple Bloom scolded.

"It's a fair question!" Scootaloo said.

"Well…I think I can make an exception, I mean Sandbar's team should have the same advantages if they can," Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, that would make me feel so much better!" Cozy Glow said.

Before the Crusaders team could protest, Rumble huddled them together, "Cozy Glow is a really bad player, if anything this is a disadvantage for them. They'll probably just not play her anyway."

"Fair point," Wind Sprint said.

Rumble turned to Rainbow Dash, "We're fine with that team having a replacement."

"Alright, then it's settled, welcome aboard Cozy Glow," Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm on the team!" Cozy Glow said, looking very happy. No more 'Spike' for her, now she's within the main six.

"Alright! Game on!" Rainbow Dash said.

The team continued forward, Rumble's team getting two more scores to get nine out of the ten points. They were close to the winning goal when Sandbar stepped in and played a great defense against Apple Bloom.

In a haste, she buck-kicked the ball, but Sandbar jumped in to block, but did so awkwardly and hurt his hind leg. This still gave Yona the opening to make the score for her team, tying it up 9-9.

"Last point wins!" Rainbow Dash declared.

Sandbar limped back, Cozy Glow immediately checking on him. "Is it bad? Anything broken?"

"No, but I am going to need a few minutes to recover."

"The clock is running down though," Smolder said.

"That's fine, I can step in," Cozy Glow said.

"Uh, no, I'll go on the defense, you stay here," Smolder said.

"Oh come on! Let me be part of the team!" Cozy Glow insisted.

"You'll cost us the game!" Smolder said.

"Come on Smolder, it's just a game, let Cozy Glow have fun," Sandbar said.

Smolder looked confused, "But if we lose- "

"Then we lose, no big deal," Sandbar said. "I don't want Cozy left out, she's our friend, let's treat her like an equal."

This of course brought great joy to Cozy Glow's heart, and gave her another reason to admire Sandbar. Smolder looked frustrated but relented.

"Fine, have it your way," Smolder said. "Cozy, you're in."

"Yay!" Cozy flew into the field.

"Yona, switch with me!" Smolder said. "Ocellus, you stay put!"

Rumble gathered his team quickly, "Scootaloo, you're up as our Attacker, Dinky, you're our Catcher."

"Got it," both girls said.

"Wind Sprint, how are you feeling?" Rumble asked.

"I think I'm ready to step aside," Wind Sprint said. "I trust you're feeling well rested."

"Sure am," Rumble said. "Too bad, thought you might appreciate being part of the last goal."

"Hey, a win is still a win, we all put in work," Wind Sprint said. "Go make us proud, be the Element you want to be."

"You got it," Rumble said. "Scoots, Dink, let's go!"

The final play was ready, Rainbow Dash threw the ball and it was on. Smolder and Scootaloo fought hard for the ball while Cozy and Rumble stuck to the air. Surprisingly Cozy did a good job of playing defense, a lot better than Smolder through. Granted she had a flew slips but nothing game ending. Though Smolder's slips dragged on as well as the clock counted down.

"Time's almost up, gotta get to it!" Scootaloo said, nearly getting her ball in but Smolder her kicked it up into the air.

"Not so fast!" Smolder knocked it toward her goal but Rumble managed to stop it. He eyed Cozy Glow, the filly looking ready to block. "Cozy Glow! We're close to winning! Don't screw up!"

Cozy Glow scowled at Smolder a second before focusing on Rumble, the boy keeping the ball balanced with his wings. Surprisingly, he noticed her winking. Taking his chances, he kicked the ball over himself, Cozy looking like she was going to catch it, but somehow 'missed', taking Smolder and Ocellus off guard, the two were sure Cozy would stop it.

This distraction allowed Scootaloo to kick the ball into the basket, getting the game winning goal for Rumble's team.

Rainbow Dash then blew her whistle, "Crusaders win!"

"Yes! We did it!" Rumble cheered, his team running in for a group hug as the crowd cheered. "We're the champions!"

"Dammit!" Smolder punched the ground. "We almost had it!"

"Hey it was a close game at least," Silverstream said. "And Cozy Glow actually did better than we thought."

"We should have won that though!" Smolder said.

Quibble looked pretty satisfied, "Wind Sprint looks so happy."

"Yes, she does, she must really feel proud of herself," Clear Skies said. "And her friends."

"Rumble should be proud too, he led them to an amazing victory," Thunderlane said.

"He's so cute when he's happy," Flitter said.

Laura looked satisfied as well, "The right team won! Rumble rules!"

"Oh hell yeah," Lightning Dust said. "Rumble's got a nice career ahead of him, I can see him as a Washout, Wind Sprint too. I might even consider Scootaloo, she's got nice skills."

"Apple Bloom really did great out there," Applejack said. "At least she's happy now."

"I'm happy for her too," Remy said. "We should do something nice for her, but first thing's first."

"Right, gotta check on Flim and Flam, make sure they ain't pulling some scam," Applejack said.

"Oh my Sweetie Belle's a star!" Rarity said. "I knew she had it in her to be a success."

"Who would have guessed it would be sports?" Bobby said.

"She probably gets that from me," Hondo Flanks said. "I was quite the athlete in my day."

"Yes you were father," Rarity said, humoring the older stallion.

Twilight looked a bit concerned, "Unfortunately Sandbar lost, but it was really kind of him to let Cozy Glow play on his team after Gallus got sick."

"Wonder how that even happened?" Janet said.

"And why would Gallus blame Cozy Glow?" Trixie wondered. "That seemed rather uncouth."

"We'll get to the bottom of that later," Twilight said.

Tony Stark looked satisfied himself, "Rumble rules! He is the perfect leader."

"Sandbar did good too, don't sell him short," Steve said.

"Well Sandbar should probably keep his team in tighter Harmony, like Rumble," Tony said.

"Disagreements happen, doesn't change that they tried their best despite that," Steve said.

"You Steve, it's kind of worrying to hear you say that," Tony playfully glared at Steve. "Wonder what that says about you?" The moment Steve glared back, Tony playfully laughed it off. "Just joking."

"Uh-huh," Steve said. He just focused back on the winners.

Rainbow Dash took the Mega Phone, "That's the game folks, I hope you were proud of these players, I know I am." She rubbed Scootaloo's mane, Johnny doing the same. "They have a few words too! Go on kids!"

Sweetie Belle stepped up first, "Thank you all for coming here, and supporting me and my friends! I especially want to thank my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother-in-law and my niece for their support."

"We love you Sweetie Belle!" Rarity said.

"I love you all too!" Sweetie Belle said.

"That's nice, now your turn Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks," Scootaloo took the mega phone. "Wish my parents were here, but they're busy discovering cool stuff and finding cures for diseases, they may not superheroes like The Avengers, but they're just as cool! I am using my win to honor what they do for Equestria!"

"Not all heroes wear capes," Steve commented. "Good on Scootaloo for noticing that."

"That's a confusing statement though," Luna said. "Since you, Tony, Peter and many of your friends don't wear capes. Only Thor seems to wear a cape, and Stephen Strange."

"It's just an expression Luna," Steve said. "Point is a hero doesn't have to look like me, Peter or Tony, a hero can be anyone. Like Scootaloo's parents."

"Oh yes, I agree with that," Luna said. "I suppose it is a nice sentiment."

Dinky was next, "Yo! Derpy! You out there?" She saw her adoptive mother in the crowd. "Hey! Hope you're proud of your little girl! That win was for you and Doc! You're both kind of strange sometimes, but you're really awesome parents!"

"Thanks Dinky!" Derpy called out.

Next came Wind Sprint, "First, I gotta say. I really wish my dad were alive to see this, but I know he's watching down from above! I hope I'm as good of a player as he was! That's why I'm so grateful to have my mom with me, here and being supportive! But they're not the only ones I do this for. Quibble!" She turned to the stallion, "Thanks for being there for me! Even if I miss my dad and nopony can replace him, I still love you just as much for being just as good of a father figure."

"I told myself I wouldn't cry," Quibble wiped his eyes with a napkin. "I have failed on my promise."

Apple Bloom was next up, "Well thank you to mah family sitting here. My brother Big Macintosh, my sister Applejack, my nephew Oliver, my new baby niece Becky, my brother-in-law Remy, my sister-in-law and former school teacher Cheerilee, Granny Smith, my city cousin Babs and my cousin from Appaloosa, who helped us get this Stadium, Braeburn!"

"That's my little cousin!" Braeburn said. "A real winner, like a true Apple!"

Rumble took the stands, "First, shout out to my brother Thunderlane, my niece Felicity and two of my favorite mares who are like big sisters to me, Flitter and Cloudchaser!"

"We love you Rumble!" Flitter called.

"Heh, thanks," Rumble said with a blush. "I'd also like to thank and honor this victory to my other family, the Parker-Sparkle family!" Rumble turned to the group in the crowd. "Trixie, you know you'll always be Great and Powerful to me."

"And you'll always be a star to Trixie!" the mare said.

"I love her third pony talk," Rumble said, this somehow frustrating Sandbar's team, given how they teased Yona about this a few days prior. "Mayday, you'll always be my sweet and darling little sister."

"Thanks Rumble!" Mayday said.

"Hey! Rumble!" Flurry called. "I'm a fan of yours too! You're the best!"

"Thanks Princess Flurry Heart!" Rumble said.

Flurry giggled in excitement, "He knows my name!"

"Everyone does Flurry, you're a Princess," Mayday said.

"Still, so cool!" Flurry said.

"Peter, you will always be my biggest inspiration, and I hope I can be a hero like you! I'll carry the Spider-Mane name if I have too. I mean, I think I have the skills to do so," Rumble said.

"Kind of need Spider powers!" Peter said.

"I'll just find a spider to bite me, not hard," Rumble said.

"That's…not how it works though," Peter said.

"And Twilight," Rumble said, focusing on the mare. "I hope I…no, that we six made you proud. I also want you to know that I am ready to become an Element of Harmony. Just make it official, and the six of us will carry the Legacy of your friends."

Twilight had no immediate reaction, she just flew down to Rumble, giving his team the impression that something was going to happen.

"What's she up to?" Tony asked.

"Something big is about to happen," Applejack said.

"Hm, this should be interesting," Martin stated.

"Where's the damn popcorn guy?" Deadpool wondered.

Twilight stood before Rumble, the colt bowing to her, expecting some form of praise.

"Rumble…" Twilight began, Rumble eagerly listening to what she had to say next. "You are so misguided."

That took a weird turn for Rumble, "Huh?"

"The Elements of Harmony isn't just some title that can be handed over, especially not after winning a game of Buckball," Twilight said. "I mean, what does this sport have to do with being an Element?"

"It showed teamwork," Rumble said. "And friendship too. My friendship with these girls got us the win, something Sandbar and his friends failed in."

"I didn't see failure on Sandbar's team, they worked well together and Sandbar even put in a player who wasn't as skilled, that takes good, genuine friendship," Twilight said.

"But the six of us were harmonic," Rumble said. "We didn't fight, we didn't argue, we worked together."

"That's good, but it's not enough," Twilight said.

"Then what is enough!?" Rumble shouted, losing his patience. "Twilight! You're always about friendship and harmony, and that's something the six of us have shown, the Crusaders showed it when they were fillies, even more so when they got their Cutie Marks at the same time! I mean, yeah, Cutie Marks are dumb and pointless, but that had to mean something shouldn't it?"

"Oh sweet Celestia," Thunderlane said, worried about how downhill this was going. Didn't help that many ponies found Rumble's statement about Cutie Marks slightly offensive. One exception being Laura, who just grinned at the boldness.

"Not only are they friends, I joined their group some time ago, Dinky is somepony we knew and were acquainted with, and Wind Sprint just became my new best friend after a few short days!" Rumble said.

"Aw, I'm your best friend?" Wind Sprint asked.

"See, that made her happy!" Rumble said. "My friendship is making her happy! Just her friendship makes me happy, and the same with Dinky and The Crusaders! I am literally dating one of them! That's like the ultimate in Friendship! Even your friends don't date each other, and I heard really strong rumors about Rarity and Applejack once!"

Remy turned to Applejack, "What rumors!?"

"Ah have no idea," Applejack said, kind of surprised.

Bobby turned his attention to Rarity, "So…Applejack."

"Don't even," Rarity said. "If I wanted Applejack, I never would have married you."

"Fair point," Bobby said.

"Rumble…" Twilight said. "By your logic, anyone with friends should be an Element, including Sandbar."

"But he lost!" Rumble shouted. "We're better than them! Peter called them the new Elements, and we still beat them! We're better!"

"Rumble this is hurting your point, right now you're saying mean things, and that's not what an Element does," Twilight said.

"Hey even you snap at other ponies!" Rumble sassed.

"Rumble!" Peter leapt down. "You gotta cool your temper when talking to Twilight."

"Peter, you always saw potential in me and The Crusaders! You can see that same potential in Dinky and Wind Sprint! Come on! You know I can be an Element! That we can be Elements!" Rumble said. "We've worked hard for this! I've worked hard! I've faced off against villains! I put my safety on the line for Equestria! We deserve this!"

"Rumble, you're embarrassing yourself," Peter said. "You're freaking out in front of an entire stadium! You have a nice win, just leave it at that!"

"But this had a purpose!" Rumble said, almost sounding heartbroken. "We did this to impress you! I did this to impress you! I did this because I want to carry the burden you carry so you and Twilight can rest easy into your older years while ponies like me step up!"

"Rumble, it's nice that you want to be a protector of Equestria, and you can be," Twilight said. "But you can't just be made an Element of Harmony. It's not just some title that can be passed down. I became an Element because I helped save Princess Luna, not because I was given to it after a team event. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"…Yeah, I understand," Rumble said. "I just have to save Equestria then, right?"

"Huh?" Twilight said. "N-no, that's not- "

"I just gotta find some villain and beat them with my friends! Just like you defeated Nightmare Moon!" Rumble said. "That's how we become The Elements! How we can cement our legacy in Equestria!"

"And he's losing his mind," Bobby said. "So maybe we don't let Sweetie Belle hang around him for a while. Hoping to avoid a Vega situation."

"Tempted to agree," Rarity said.

Thunderlane groaned in annoyance, "I gotta get through to Rumble before he does something stupid, and drags Wind Sprint and the other girls into it."

"Rumble, you can't go out and fight a villain," Twilight said.

"Hey I'm not going alone, I'm going with my friends!" Rumble said, then turned to the others. "Right girls!? Ready to be heroes!?"

"Sure why not," Dinky said.

"Dinky!" Twilight scolded.

"Hey I think I can pull it off, shouldn't be too hard," Dinky said.

"Yeah, we're tough, aren't we?" Scootaloo said.

"And we have hearts as strong as horses," Sweetie Belle said.

"Uh girls, maybe we should listen to Twilight," Apple Bloom said, Twilight grateful at least one of them was showing common sense.

"Alright look," Johnny said, stepping in. "This is fun but maybe you should continue your conversation elsewhere, like not in front of a stadium full of ponies who probably feel awkward now. You kids can't go against villains, Scootaloo, you nearby bit the dust when you had that encounter with Annihilus."

"He got lucky, I can take him down if I wanted to now," Scootaloo said. "I've gotten stronger."

"We're all strong!" Rumble said. "And we're ready to take on any villain that comes our way!"

"That's good," came a voice from above. Everyone looked to see Wizard floating above the stadium. "Let's see how you match against my power!"

"What in the world!?" Peter said.

"Is that The Wizard!?" Susan asked in worry.

"Shit…" Logan stood up, ready for a fight. "This ain't something we need right now."

Martin rubbed his chin curiosity, "What do we have here now?"

Wizard looked down at The Crusaders team. "Ready for a battle, child?"

Rumble confidently grinned at the sight of the Wizard. "Bring in on!"

Time for a certain group to either prove a point, or learn harsh humility.

Author's Note:

Didn't expect this chapter to be so long.

Comments

[spiders123]

I can’t believe they lost

Grah!

I feel like Charlie Brown after he lost that spelling bee

I hope that sandbar and his team can be recognized by the people and could outtrick the wizard?

As a shot for redemption?

[spiders123]

I know you let them win cozy, karma will bite you so bad you won’t see it coming

AND I DONT MEAN THE MUTANT KARMA!!!

She played divide and conquer by poisoning Gallus and then took a dive at the final match playing a wolf in sheep’s clothing

She will pay once she gets exposed

[InkPlot20]

Rumble is definitely following in Tony's hoof prints: arrogant, contrary & petty, Stubborn, vain, Cocky & overconfident.

I prefer Sandbar and his friends like Captain America does.

Gallus really blamed Cozy for this?

[spiders123]

11016755
You should know cozy took a dive at the last part of the match it was rigged from the start

[spiders123]

Come on team Sandbar

Even after all that, Don’t let those brats get to you!

Even if stark, Laura, and all those people don’t believe in you, I do believe in your group
I have faith in you

Come on don’t let this match mess with you up, there jerks and jerks get what’s coming to them

So Rise up

Rise!

We need you now more than ever to save everyone from the wizards trap!

[InkPlot20]

11022963
really? it was rigged from the start?

[spiders123]

11030702
Well one, the other team was too aggressive

Two, when they get another chance to win, one coincidentally gets poisoned

Three smolder and ocellus were suprised when cozy didn’t catch it when she obviously could have, she took a dive on purpose. She let them win

Probably to both spite the heroes of the team and maybe control rumbles team to reach power, which means she must have thought that the elements were to be chosen at this game too