The Strongest There Is

by Onomonopia

Gone Like A Whisper

The next day was a busy day for all of Ponyville. All ponies were required to come to the library and be examined, whether they felt sick or not. Twilight would be the one hoofing out the potions that Celestia and Luna had spent day and night supercharging, so that they could kill the gamma rays. But despite all the good it was doing, they were all worried about Dr. Banner, who had only returned to show Twilight how to make the potions before vanishing off on his own. Rarity had come by later that day to tell them that he had shown up to request a new pair of clothes and a back pack, and that she hadn't seen him after that. RD had scanned the land, but she hadn't seen him either.

"Do you suppose he's gone?" RD asked Twilight as she gave away the potion to the last pony in town.

"He blames himself for this," Twilight responded, her eyes heavy from the lack of sleep. She had stayed up all night to make sure there were enough potions for all the ponies in town, even making some extra just in case it wasn't enough.

"But it wasn't his fault...was it?" she asked her friend.

"I just don't know, Rainbow," Twilight said wearily as she started picking up. "It's just as likely that the Hulk gave off the gamma rays that infected the ponies, and that Banner had no part of it. But he still blames himself for this, for everything that has happened as of late."

"He need not," Luna said as she came up from the basement, followed by a very tired Celestia. "He has done more good than harm since he arrived. He has already saved so many lives, not just by himself but also as the Hulk. But due to his past, he feels like he has failed even when he hasn't."

"So that is why you must find him," Celestia said with a yawn. "He may be trying to end his life after this. I do not know if the Hulk will allow him to or not, but I do not wish to take that risk."

"Right. I'll get the Wonderbolts and fly around to look for him," Rainbow said. "Twilight, go get Pinkie. If anypony can find him, it's her. She'll know what to say." Twilight nodded as RD flew out of the room, following after her by running out the door. Ponyville was in a somber mood after the events of yesterday, but Twilight's mind was more focused on what had happened. She hadn't been thinking right yesterday, but something had been bothering her. Banner said that the poisoning had come from him and the Hulk, but Banner barely gave off any radiation, and the Hulk had practically avoided the town when he was in control. They hadn't been around enough for that much gamma to spread so quickly. Twilight snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed that she had reached Sugarcube Corners.

"Pinkie! Get out here, I need to talk to you!" she yelled. But when Pinkie came down, her mane was still straight and her eyes were dull and lifeless.

"Hey Twilight, what's up?" Pinkie said with a sigh.

"Banner's gone and Celestia's afraid that he might try and kill himself," Twilight said with fear in her voice. "And he may blame himself, but it wasn't on purpose. Please, you have to find him!" Pinkie's hair poofed back up again when she realized her friend was in danger, and she shot off like a rocket, quickly heading for the forest. She knew that if Banner didn't want to be found, he wouldn't bother sticking to the main roads and would instead try to escape through the trees. She zipped through the forest, searching behind every tree, under every rock and in every crevasse. But he was still nowhere to be found.

"Don't worry Hulk, I will find you!" she said as she rushed deeper into the forest, not noticing when Banner stepped out from behind a tree, shaking his head at her antics. He had predicted that she would try to track him through the forest, and he decided that he would leave out little bread crumbs for her that would lead her to a dead end, while he took the main road. Banner hefted his backpack onto his shoulders and headed for the forest exit, quickly finding the main road and taking it. Before he got far, he heard hoofsteps behind him and a very familiar voice called out his name. Banner sighed and turned to find Twilight running up to him.

"Dr. Banner!" Twilight called out with relief in her voice. "Thank goodness we found you! I was beginning to think that you had done yourself in." Banner didn't respond; he only turned and started to walk again. Twilight ran in front of him and smiled again. "It worked Dr. Banner! The potions have gotten rid of all the gamma in Ponville!"

"Not all of it," he whispered before walking past her.

"W-wait up!" she yelled and walked alongside him. "Dr. Banner, you can come back. The crisis is over. Nopony blames you for what happened. You don't have to-"

"Go? Yes, I do," he said in a very cold voice, causing Twilight to back up a bit. "If I stay, I put all the ponies at even more of a risk. If the Hulk doesn't kill them, it's fairly obvious that my body will. I need to go, before any more die pointlessly."

"But-"

"No buts," he growled as he began to walk again. Twilight teared up a bit and held out one hoof to him, but he didn't see it. He did stop a bit further down and did look back. "Look...thank you for giving me a home and trying to help me. I appreciate it. But I can never have a home. I can never be happy. My destiny is to wander the world until the day I die. So please, just leave me alone." He turned and walked away, leaving Twilight crying where she stood. She wanted to chase after him, chase after the man who had shown her a whole new side of science and had saved so many. But she knew that he wouldn't allow it and that he would send her away. So all Twilight could do was watch as Banner walked away into the distance, like he had done so many times.

---=-=---

Twilight returned to the town with most of her tears already cried out. She had just gotten Dr. Banner back and now he was gone again. It was what he wanted and she had to respect his wishes, especially after everything he had done. But that didn't take the sting out of the thought of him leaving. Her friends were there waiting for her when she came back, her face telling them the news.

"Come on, Sugarcube. Let's get ya something to take yer mind off Banner," AJ said with a look of compassion, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight barely nodded as the others tried to comfort her.

"Yeah, I know a great recipe that's sure to pick you up," Pinkie said with a false grin, hiding the fact that she was hurting worse than all of them. She had finally gotten through to the Hulk, finally got him to accept her as a friend, and now he was gone. Hulk had been hated all his life but had finally found a friend in her...and she failed him. But as badly as she hurt, her friends were suffering as well and they needed her to make them happy. She smiled to hide her pain as the group began to head for the Sugarcube Corners. The other ponies were also feeling the loss of Banner, despite the fact they did not know him as well. Before they could get to the sweet shop, Celestia and Luna flew down in front of them with sad faces.

"I see that you were not able to convince him to stay," Luna said with a sad sigh. "It is a pity, he has such a brilliant mind and a noble heart."

"And a good pony," Celestia said with a small shake of her head. "But we will have to be sad later. I wish for us to go to Canterlot to make sure the gamma infection has not reached it as well. I wish for all of us to go and we'll bring the Elements of Harmony. Gather whatever you wish to bring and be here within the hour." Celesta and Luna sat down at a restaurant so that Celestia could recover, while the ponies each headed to their own home. Twilight walked into the library to find that all of the ponies had cleared out and left her alone, Spike still was off on his adventure. Twilight walked over to her bookshelf and gathered a few books, placing them in her saddle bag. She then took the Element of Magic and stared at it, its power representing the gift of friendship. She couldn't help but think that if she had done something different, he might have stayed. She moved another book and a small note fell out. she picked it up and smiled slightly when she read it.

'Twilight,

Here's some advice when mixing chemicals and studing radiation. Keep safety goggles on at all times and keep those protected eyes on the chemicals at all times. And always have someone else check your work, or you might end up with a rage monster in your body.

Stay safe,
Banner'

She smiled to herself as she remembered when he had written that, right after she had blown up her beaker. His quick thinking is what had allowed them to get out of that mess in one piece and stopped the tree house from burning down. He had taught her so much in such a short time, that she didn't want him to go, but knew he had to. She gathered up the rest of what she was bringing and headed out towards the meeting place. She had arrived early and started talking with the princesses while waiting for the others. Pinkie was the second to arrive, although she seemed much sadder than usual.

"What's the matter Pinkie? You look upset?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing. I...just miss the Hulk," Pinkie said with a sigh. Twilight sighed too and wrapped a hoof around her friend's shoulder, trying to comfort her as best she could. "I shouldn't have forced him to come down when he didn't want to. I drove him away."

"I know you feel guilty, but we have to try to remain positive. Banner wouldn't want us feeling sad. He'd want us to get over him," Twilight said, trying to cheer her up.

"And Hulk would say that puny pony shouldn't cry, puny pony should be strong," Pinkie said with a small smile. The two of them looked up as the rest of their friends arrived, Celestia and Luna joining them to complete the group before they all headed off to Canterlot.

---=-=---

"I don't believe it," Discord said with a sigh as Chrysalis gloated over him. "Your plan actually worked. You managed to get rid of the Hulk by playing to Banner's soft side and his guilt for the ponies. Well done, my good woman."

"I can still hear the sarcasm in your voice, but I will accept your praise nonetheless," Chrysalis said with a massive smile, taking bows as if she had just pulled off an amazing performance. "And of course I have to give some credit to the pink one that betrayed the Hulk. She was most helpful. With the Hulk out of the way, Canterlot will be easy to take. But just in case, I have already sent changelings in disguise so we can blackmail the princesses if needed."

"And we may need to," Nightmare Moon said as she finished her spell to check up on the ponies. "They are already heading towards Canterlot and are bringing the Elements of Harmony with them. One wrong move and you end up in stone and I end up back as I started."

"So how should we go about this?" Discord asked as he brought up a small version of Canterlot. "Put all the ponies to sleep? Make them fight their worst nightmares? Trap them in a giant tub of butter?"

"No, no and ew," Chrysalis said, walking over to the map. "If we can catch them off guard in their royal hall, we should be able to beat them before they know what hit them. We will take them separately, with me taking four and you the other four," Chrysalis said as she pointed to Discord. "Nightmare Moon will be the shock factor. Her appearance should be able to stun them long enough for you to grab the Elements, even with their protective shielding."

"And then they will be thrown into chaos," Discord said as he licked his lips. "Oh, this is going to be fun!"

"Yes, it will be," Nightmare Moon said with a smile as she walked over to the small map. "For today will be the last the ponies of Equestria will see of the day. For as of this moment, the night will rise again!" The three of them vanished in a swirl of darkness, knowing that this would be the day all would remember as the day the Elements of Harmony fell.

Comments

[daniboyi]

Hulk will smash them, end story.

[SwimmingDalek98]

No comment. if i try to say anything then I'll go Hulk rage on them all.

[AesNebula]

Let's wait and see what happens next...

[Cades]

the night will rise again!

Just in Equestria and the other countries in that hemisphere. The other countries will have eternal sun. If they REALLY wanted night all over the planet, extinguish the sun. But that would be nigh impossible. And really really stupid. They would also perish, no heat and all that fun stuff.

[DeltaOsprey]

And then Stan Lee showed up and won.
How did he win?
Ballroom dancing competition.

[DelphiDovahkiin]

Nuff said.

[Stridershy]

3169971

'Tis the unfathomable power of The One Above All.

[DeltaOsprey]

Also you missed a perfect opportunity for this when he leaves Twi in the forest.

[Haunted Toaster]

ahh... 'good' villains, good chapter...

[Moustache Queen]

3169745

Indeed

[Smurf]

silly villains... Hulk will smash you?

[Stone Cold Steve Buscemi]

Oh Silly villains Hulk eat villains for breakfast.

[Traintrax]

The three of them vanished in a swirl of darkness, knowing that this would be the day all would remember as the day the Elements of Harmony fell.

Didn't Pinkies already break? I mean, yeah you could take them away, but one's already broken. Thus since the one is gone, then all the elements are useless. Really, taking them away would only establish the fact that you like overkill.

[Quasar4000]

This chapter feels a bit short.

[JBGrim]

…

Hulk smash…

[Narlepoax III]

[SpyketheRAWRCat]

3171916 pretty good video, right?

[gwarrior2013]

3171916
Unless hulk gets there at the most convenient time, but otherwise I totally agree

[rikusorasephiroth]

All this need now is a little D-pooly to fuck some shit up.

[Doctah WAAwee]

World Breaker Hulk up in this nigga. Do it.

[Gavilain]

WORLD BREAKER! WORLD BREAKER! ALL HAIL THE GREEN SCAR!

[Closet-Bronie-333]

..................HULK SMASH!!!!!!!!

[xv22shasokais]

3171085

Well, the three stooges - and anyone else, even Pinkie herself - didn't know about that yet.
But yeah, having one Element busted will make the others invalid. The Element's designer needs to learn about redundancy.

[The Sorcerer Supreme]

3173680 is deadpool your favorite hero?
it's almost all u talk about.........

[Fa-18]

Well that was unexpected from my pov.....three new target's comfirmed beginning the hunt

[Strange Entity]

5031862 I think he's more of an anti-hero.