Equestria. A world that could just about fit every definition and description of a perfect utopia.
No pollution, no disease and any conflict that arose could be solved in about a day's time or less. There was probably one single word that best fit this Eden-like paradise: Harmony.
In fact, Harmony was what Equestria probably owed its prominent and peaceful nature to. All of the inhabitants of the land knew the six key components well: Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Laughter and probably the most powerful and essential Element that held them all together, Magic. These six Elements of Harmony were what protected the world of Equestria for well over 10 centuries in the shape of what looked like ordinary pendants and jewelry. Often times, desperate circumstances forced the Elements to be taken on by normal citizen ponies who best fit the Element in question.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, most of the "inhabitants" in Equestria are talking Technicolor ponies. Yes, really.
Maybe instead of a pointless onslaught of exposition that the majority reading could recite in their sleep, let's just cut straight to the story, shall we?
Twilight Sparkle, current bearer of the Element of Magic and next in line for the thrown of Canterlot had just returned from probably the most bizarre of adventures she'd ever gone on. Not only was she forced to travel to a completely new world on the opposite spectrum of her own, but it was inhabited by a strange and unfamiliar race of being called "humans." It probably didn't help that she was also forced to take on the shape and form of one, which resulted in a plethora of comedic miss-understanding and embarrassment from everyone around her and herself. But what truly took the proverbial cake was that certain individuals in this parallel world bore an almost identical appearance to her friends back home, from their hair styles and personalities, right down to the exact same name they had. After completing the task at hand in that world, she had to admit that she would miss all of her "new" friends very dearly.
"Though there's certainly one thing I'm not going to miss anytime soon." The purple Alicorn says to her friends while outside on a red and white picnic blanket. "Trading in these for hands." She finishes while raising her two front hooves. "I honestly don't know how Spike manages with those annoying little extensions of limbs. They get in the way most of the time and needing to use all five of them to pick up things... Thanks, but I'll take hooves and magic over those any day."
"Heh, try saying that to Lyra." The cyan and rainbow colored pegasus and Element of Loyalty named Rainbow Dash says in response. "Pretty sure she can think of a hundred good reasons as to why "all Ponies should have hands." She's a great friend, but I swear she needs counseling on that subject."
"On another note," The orange Earth Pony named Applejack adds trying to quickly change the subject. "Ah still find it a tad weird that the "people" you met while in that parallel-y inter dimensional land all looked and sounded like us. They even had all of our exact names."
"OOOH! If they were really just like us, maybe the me from the other world and the me from this world could come together and throw the BIGEST and AWESOMEST of parties in BOTH worlds! That'd be so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so SO FUN!"
After her long and fast rambling, the Element of Laughter, a Pink and VERY hyper Earth Pony known to her friends as Pinkie Pie began to take a large breath of air to prevent loosing consciousness for the 3rd time this week.
"TWO Pinkie Pies in one spot? I think Equestria has its hooves full with just one, darling." Rarity, a beautiful and pure white Unicorn with long and flowing purple mane said.
One wouldn't guess by her attitude sometimes that she was the current bearer of the Element of Generosity. But her selfless and giving acts to even random strangers spoke for themselves.
"However, the thought of two of me would just set the world of fashion on edge! With twice the brilliant creativity and vision of my own, there wouldn't be a style left in all of Equestria that we couldn't design!"
"Just.. promise me I won't have to model any of them." Fluttershy, the timid, yet caring Element of Kindness said just above a whisper. "Unless you think they'd work on me, in which case, that's fine."
This results in everyone sharing in a good laugh amongst the six good friends.
Suddenly, the purple Alicorn pony feels a small hint of sadness and confusion creep up inside her. One thing she forgot to mention to anypony about her trip to "Earth" was the time she spent with a young boy named Flash Sentry. At first, nothing really out of the ordinary stuck out about him, but after spending enough quality time with him, she began to feel strangely different around him. It wasn't even clear until after she spent enough time alone once she got home to finally solve the puzzling enigma that plagued her mind: she had romantic feelings for him. At first, she found it a bit odd seeing as the two weren't even the same species, but then she thought back to her faithful assistant and surrogate brother... or son? Whatever. He had romantic feelings for one who was of a different species and she had managed to tolerate that. She wasn't entirely sure it would come to pass, but she still kept an open mind.
But that wasn't what gave her such a hard time at the moment. When she had just returned, she learned that another being who bore the name Flash Sentry also existed here in Equestria and that she actually met him a short while before embarking on her quest to Earth. He was that world's Flash's parallel double. Now she was truly torn if she should be liking the Flash of Earth or the Flash of her world. While she didn't get to know him as well as the other him, she had a feeling he'd probably be more or less the same. But then again, he was still another separate being, and if she began to feel the same feelings for the Equestria Flash, it'd feel as if she was pretending her experience on Earth with its Flash never happened. Which Flash was she destined to be with, if EITHER of them? Was there a difference? Would either accept being dumped for... themselves? It all gave Twilight the mother of all headaches.
"Hey, Twi." Rainbow Dash says to her amidst her thoughts. "You ok?"
"Huh. Y- yeah, I'm fine, Rainbow. Just... got a lot on my mind, I suppose."
"What is it, sugarcube?" Applejack asks joining in.
"Well, when I wa-" Suddenly, a searing pain erupts inside her head three times the size as before which causes her to cry out in pain.
"Twilight! What's w- AAGH!" Rainbow soon doubled to the ground in pain as the four others soon followed.
"Wh..at's... happening?!" Rarity manages to cry out in between agonized grunts.
"It's... some kind of... stunning spell." Twilight says in fragments. "A dangerous spell... that focuses... rage.. into the minds and bodies of others... in the form of pain... but who..?"
The searing pain that engulfed the six suddenly dissipates, leaving them all dazed and barely able to keep their eyes open. Twilight slowly manages to open her eyelids all the way as an all-too familiar being suddenly warps before them in a bright green flame that crackles and screams around them.
This being had an unruly seafoam green mane, a crooked black horn atop its head alongside a sort of plant like appendage with resembled something of a insect's antennae, a pair of clear and translucent wings upon its hard shell-like backside and hollow holes that ran all across its long and menacing looking legs.
"Good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle." The figure said in a voice that seemed to carry an unnerving hiss when it spoke. "Or do you go by "Princess" nowadays?"
"C.. Chrysalis... how... what..."
"Tsk tsk tsk. You should know better than anyone that I never accept defeat easily. Why, after you and your friends and family sent me and my Changeling hoard flying towards the outskirts of Equestria, I realized it'd take a more subtle approach to combat your logical and, dear I say, irritating way of thinking. So, I kept a low profile, donning one disguise after another, gathering enough strength from every pony I could find until I had enough power to feel confident enough to start learning how best to usurp you. It wasn't until a moth ago that a truly wonderful idea found its way into my brilliant head. If I can't outright destroy you, what better way to be rid of you than sending you away from this realm altogether?"
"No! You-"
"That's right, Sparkle. I know all about that little magical mirror that acts as a gateway to another world. I even had the pleasure of visiting it when I went after you through it."
"But... how? How was no one able to even see or sense you?"
"Really? Has your experience at Canterlot truly taught you nothing? Some pony Celestia chose to pass her throne to. I changed my appearance to mimic an ordinary guard of the Crystal Castle. But as for no one sensing me, as strange as it was, the less power I exerted and used, the better I was at staying hidden from you or your so called "blessed mentor." Everyone is going to try and swat down a hornet when it loudly announces itself to others, but a quiet and seemingly harmless caterpillar wouldn't cause anypony to bat an eyelash. It really is a pity that Sunset Shimmer didn't have it in her to best you once and for all, or I might have considered taking her under my wing. But I guess there was a reason Celestia chose to disband her as her protege': she was arrogant and young. Luckily for me, I am neither. Of course the factor of the mirror only being open for a select amount of time didn't help my prospects either. Even if I had made sure you stay put in that world, given enough time, it would simply reopen and allow you to come back. I needed to find a more permanent solution. And then it hit me. If there is one world that exists outside our own, who's to say they aren't billions more? But to even hope to find one of them, I needed a power source well beyond the one I possess now. And then I heard about your little run in with that hopeless fool named Trixie Lulamoon. And more importantly, the relic she used to almost destroy you."
"Then you should know that there's no way in Tartarus that you'll be able to get your filthy, slimy hooves on what you seek. Its location is known only to a handle of trusted individuals and nobleponies, including myself, and I'd sooner die than tell you it."
"As fantastic as that proposal sounds, it's rather unnecessary."
Just then, a dark reddish mist begins to form around the Changeling Queen's neck until it finally takes on the shape of a dark looking gray necklace in the shape of a triangle with a bright blood red gem place dead center upon it with the shape of a evil looking Alicorn protruding from above it.
"No way in Tartarus, you say? I beg to differ."
"N... No! How... who could have..."
Chrysalis then turns her head slightly to the right and calls out. "You might as well come out now. It'll be the last time you get to see them before they disappear forever."
Out from the behind the trees comes a face that Twilight could honestly say that she did not expect to be at Chrysalis' side. A pure white stallion with a gold-like blonde mane and two crystal blue eyes staring at Twilight with a sick look of delight clearly evident in both of them. Instead of his usually flashy and white attire, he sported a dark black collar with a deep blue gemstone upon its center forming what looked like an evil eye, accompanied by a long and flowing black cape.
"Greetings, your "Highness." Prince Blueblood said to her in his usually snooty tone, which now held a distinct sense of rage.
"Blueblood... why?"
"Shouldn't you already know? I would think someone as "intelligent and logical" as yourself would have figured it out by now. I was next in line for the thrown, I prepared my entire life waiting to become Equestria's next great ruler... until you came along. You are nothing but a filthy undeserving commoner who wouldn't even be here if my Aunt hadn't stepped in the way and chose to make you her student. How is that some some low-class no-name unicorn with no royal ties and training becomes a ruler when I had the right bestowed upon me the day I was born?! So naturally, when Chrysalis came to me with a proposition of sending you and your peasant friends to another dimension in exchange for ruling alongside me, I couldn't have said yes any quicker."
"You... you TRAITOR!" Rainbow Dash screams in anger at him. "We trusted you! Celestia trusted you!"
"Oh, don't act so surprised. I would have tried to overthrown her eventually if she put off my reign long enough."
The traitorous Unicorn then turns his gaze to meet that of a familiar white mare.
"And Rarity, it gives me great regret to have to banish you from this world. Despite the fact that you stood me up so rudely at the Grand Galloping Gala, I do admit feeling something for you that night. Maybe... if you renounced loyalty to your undeserving friend, you could rule aside me as my beautiful Queen. There would be nothing that you wouldn't have with you by my side."
After struggling to stand on her two front legs, Rarity responds by hocking a large wad of mucus dead on towards Blueblood's once smiling and now scowling face.
"THAT should be all the answer you need, your "Majesty." She says coldly.
"So be it. Alright, Chrysalis, I've gotten all I need."
"You might want to fasten yourself down, Blueblood. This next performance will be so big, you might very well get "blown away."
With that, the Changeling Queen draws upon the twisted and dark powers of the Amulet around her next, as it's evil energy travels up to her eyes turning them the same sickly red while her horn begins to glow of the very same. Behind the still wounded six ponies, a loud and thunderous crack echos right before a gaping black hole erupts in the air as a powerful wind-like vacuum appears to pull various objects and creatures into its pitch black emptiness.
The first to loose their grip is Fluttershy, who screams as high as her lungs could allow right before being sucked inside. Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity soon follow, but Rainbow attempts to fly against the gaping vortex as fast as her wings could flap. Unfortunately, not even the fastest flier in Equestria's blue sky could escape a black as she too is forcibly wrenched inside.
The only reason Twilight lasted soon long was due to her grounding herself with her intensely powerful grounding spell, but even that was beginning to fail on her.
"It's over, Twilight Sparkle." Chrysalis mocks as she slowly makes her way towards the struggling young Alicorn. "I've won and you have failed. And I know how you so very much hate to fail."
The horrid Changeling then thrusts her right front hoof upon her, ultimately breaking her already dissipating grip and sending her hurtling towards the black hole.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The last thing Twilight could hear before she blacked out from the portal's intensely numbing pull was the echoing and insane laughter coming from Chrysalis' mouth, because she knew that at long last, with all 6 Elements of Harmony ridden from this world, Equestria was as good as hers.
Tony Stark never gave that much care to the thought of dying.
He'd always assumed he pass on in his comfortable king-sized bed surrounded by loved ones, or in his case, Pepper and Rhodey seeing as they were the only ones who counted. He did come close about a year or so back before he became bigger than God himself... well, even more so than before. But perhaps such a long time in the protection of his walking armored tank made him blind to the fact that behind it, he was still just a man.
And now here this man was, ready to die for the sake of the entire Earth in the hopes that it would stop what looked like the real life version of Independence Day. Only it looked much better and not as clichéd as Roland Emmerich made it.
(Sorry, Mr. Emmerich, but the Nostalgia Critic was right. You could take the cheesiest 4th of July commercials and they wouldn't look as forced as that film. I DO like Stargate though.)
"Stark... you know that's a one way trip."
"Like you said, Cap: Sometimes there's not always a way out. Save the rest for the turn, J."
"Sir... shall I try Miss. Potts?"
"Might as well. And Jarvis... thanks... for everything."
"It's been a pleasure, sir."
The built-in cellular phone started to ring a couple of times before someone on the other line picked up. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?! I'm watching you carry a NUCLEAR WARHEAD, have you lost it?!"
"Pep, I gotta do this or it's all over."
"Do what? Wait... no. Tony, there's another way-"
"NO, there isn't. Now look, I don't have a whole lotta free time so just please listen."
There was nothing but silence on Pepper's end for a good 3 seconds.
"I've made mistakes... huge ones, ones that very well make me certifiably crazy, but the one choice I will never regret for however long I may exist... was the day I hired you. You are the best thing that's ever happened in my life, Pepper. Not the company, not all the fame and money, not even this friggen suit...it's you. And... I love you. I.. I have never actually said that until now... but I'm glad I did."
As the distance between him and the portal began to lessen, Tony could swear he could hear the sounds of sniffling and crying on the other end of the phone.
"I love you too. And you're the best thing that's ever happened in my life, Tony Stark. Even when everyone doubted you, I never did."
Just as Pepper finished saying those tear-felt words, Tony was less than 30 feet away from the portal, ready to die to save the world, the universe... and her.
"Goodbye, Pepper... and thank you."
No less than a second after saying this, the image of the Invincible Iron Man vanished through the black hole above New York City. Tony could see the terrifying image of the Chitauri battleship out in space.
"Earth says hi, motherf**kers." was what he thought to himself as he let go of the 50 ton nuclear missile, letting it soar on towards its intended target.
The battle-cruiser then lit up with a fiery explosion that he thought would even put the Destruction of the Death Star in Episode IV to shame.
The lack of oxygen soon gave to Tony slowly loosing consciousness, but not before he gave way to what he assumed would be his last thoughts "Pepper... Rhodey... Dad... thank you."
"Tony."
Everything felt numb. Then again, [bdying] could have that affect on a person.
"Tony..."
Personally, being dead actually felt a lot like a bad hangover: you were dizzy, tired, couldn't open your eyes, and it always felt like a ringing sound was always in your ear that wouldn't go away.
"For God's sakes, are you going to wake up anytime soon?"
The billionaire super-hero's eyes suddenly jolted open, but the sights he took in were not exactly why he'd thought the "Afterlife" would look like. If anything, Heaven looked a lot like his private residence back in California. Minus the fact that his dad was staring straight at him.
Hold on... his dad was staring straight at him? Wait, duh. Dead. How could he have forgotten so quickly?
Gaining his composure, he manages to speak the words "So how have you been?"
"What, no hug?"
"Sorry, dying kind of takes a lot out of a guy, especially dying via giant gaping black hole threatening to destroy all of humanity."
"I'm not even entirely sure if you are dead yet. All I know is you just suddenly pop up in here, everything changes around me and I feel like I'm in a weird episode of the Twilight Zone. Hey by the way, they still have that down there?"
"Ehhh... it kind of took a few bad turns. They made more Star Wars movies though."
"Oh really? How'd those go?"
"The last one, great. The two that came before it... not so much. Oh yeah and... thanks for leaving that film behind. Really helped me in a tight spot."
"I knew you'd figure it out. What kind of a "tight spot?"
"Well... long story short... I kind of needed the Arc Reactor to power my heart like a makeshift pacemaker and to say the least, Palladium in the chest isn't very good at keeping people alive."
"And so that's how you died."
"No, actually. I thought I just said that I died flying a metal suit of robotic armor I built while aiming a nuclear warhead at an alien battle-cruiser through a black hole. Kind of a bit of a step up. I actually solved that little dilemma a few ways back with the Vibranium I synthesized. Oh and uh.. you remember Anton Vanko?"
"I wish I didn't."
"Yeah, MAYBE not such a good idea having him deported as his crazy son vowed vengeance on me."
"Huh... Didn't think of that. Then again, what sane woman would want to have a son with him?"
"Good point. Oh! Yeah, we found Captain America."
"Oh... I see."
"No, dad. He's still alive. We found him buried in the Arctic circle for almost 70 years."
"Wait... cryogenically sealed? Plucky son of a bitch! And he's still in peak condition?"
"Physically, yeah. But he's probably still adjusting to the whole "all the people you knew and loved are probably now dead and buried" thing. Makes Rip Van Wrinkle look like friggen Mother Goose."
"Yeah, I'll bet. What about the Tesseract?"
"Yeah, about that... you might have been better off just leaving it in the ocean. Shield got ahold of it, wanted to make weapons with it and... well, how do you think I got here?"
"Tony... I.. I didn't-"
"Don't apologize. You couldn't have possibly known it would involve me."
"So, are you a super-hero now?"
"Well... ish. I still try and run the company part time. I'm like Batman except with all that secret identity crap."
"Ok, so what I did wasn't smart, but revealing to the entire world that you man a human sized suit of armor is? Don't take this personally, son, but I'm surprised you haven't died sooner."
Tony raises a finger to retort, but soon lowers it realizing that what his father said held some truth to it.
"Yeah, you got me there. Is, uh... is mom here too?"
"Yeah. She often thinks of you. Wonders if you're doing ok. She'll be happy to see you again."
Suddenly, without warning, the entire room begins to shake as if an earthquake had just hit them.
"What the Hell's going on?!"
"Ahp, looks like you aren't dead after all. That sucks. I'll give your mom your best for you then."
"Wait, dad!"
"It's out of my hands, Tony. Looks like you still have some things left to take care of. Just try not to get yourself killed too often, alright?"
"Dad!"
"Love you, son. Never stop being you."
Just before Tony could say anything else, a loud and deafening roar is heard right before everything turns white.
Tony inhales a large breath of air as all of his senses come back to life at once.
"What the hell..."
Here he was back in New York, still in the same lovely state he left it in.
He notices Rogers, Thor and the Hulk standing around him as if he had grown a second head on the way down. Wait, did he?
"What just happened? Please tell me no one kissed me."
Rogers seems to hesitate his next few words right before saying "We won."
Thank God. Because if he had come back from the friggen dead to find out they hadn't won, he would be pretty pissed.
"Alright, hey, good job, guys. Let's just not come into work tomorrow. Let's just... take a day. You ever try Shawarma? There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
"We're not finished yet."
Right, how could he forget? Reindeer Games. Ok, first they would go put his psychopathic ass away for good.
"And then Shawarma after."
Then, as if the universe hadn't finished screwing him enough, a loud crack in the sky resembling thunder is heard. And then soon afterwards, another portal the size of the older one opens up.
"Ok, REALLY?! Are you serious?!"
"Agent Romanoff?" Steve calls through the microphone piece in his ear.
"It's not the Cube! The device is already shut down and not responding! Whatever's making this is something completely different."
Before the Captain could ask what else beside Loki and his evil space army could be causing this, as if he'd get an actual answer, he spots six individual shapes in the sky begin to fall out from the portal itself.
"Something's coming out!"
Up on the rooftop of Stark Tower, Natasha Romanoff had thought shutting down the inter-dimensional portal to outer-space would mean the end of their problems.
Yet here was yet another portal opening up not too far from the last.
Able to view the six falling objects, albeit with some squinting required, she could make out the shapes of what looked like human beings falling at a speed of at least 50 to 60 miles per hour.
"They're going to crash!"
Back on the ground, Captain Rogers military instincts suddenly took control as he sprint towards the closest falling shape. Lunging forward with his arms raised, he manages to catch it just in time before it impacts with the hard concrete ground below.
While he had spent his time with this, he could see everyone at work trying to make sure the rest were saved as well.
Hulk easily leaped in the air to grab something pink, Thor used his magic hammer.. thing.. to fly up and catch a bundle of purple and dark blue and luckily for Tony, all he had to do was just stand with his arms open and catch what he could clearly see as a young human girl with... rainbow colored hair?
Up above the four, two other shapes still continued to hurtle down towards the ground.
"Barton," Agent Romanoff called through her PA system. "Anytime now."
"Hang on.. trying to get a good lock... THERE!"
From a distance of at least 30 ft, she could see two arrows attached to two long leather ropes impact with the side of a slightly damaged building to unfold a very long net right underneath where the two shapes fell. While one seemed to stay snug in place, the other literally bounced up from the force of the friction and was sent flying to the left straight towards... "Oh, s**t."
Natasha only had 2 seconds to react as she just barely managed to catch the object as it sent her back on the floor of the rooftop.
"Alright. I got... her."
Sure enough, she looked down and saw what had to have been one of the most beautiful girls she had ever seen. Even her long and curly, yet somewhat weird purple hair was absolutely stunning just to look at.
"Everyone else good?"
"Yeah. This day certainly took a strange turn, Well, stranger."
From what Steve could gather, they had all saved 6 human girls from falling head on towards the ground.
Thor had saved one with purple and dark bluish hair, Hulk had one with enough pink on her head to make a grown man chuckle just looking at it, though Agent Barton said he had him beat in that department, Natasha had one with long and curly purple, Tony by far had the most bizarre with the girl he saved baring every known color on her head, and as for Steve, he by far had the most normal looking one.
He held in his arms a girl with bright blonde hair, freckles dotted around her entire face and a cowboy hat otop her head which for some reason didn't fly off from falling 500 feet in the air. Then something else occurred to the super-soldier about a few seconds later: aside from that one article of clothing, she had nothing else on her person, which promptly forced the naturally shy man to turn his head away in embarrassment.
"Yo, Cap!" Steve saw Stark heading towards him with one of the girls in his arms. "I see you finally caught a girlfriend."
"Very funny, Stark. How is she?"
"Breathing. Kind of remarkable for someone who feel at the height they did. I don't get the hair though. Did they just fall out from a hippie convention or something?"
The two Avengers turn to see Thor and the Hulk appear next to them.
"I do not think these girls are from Earth." The Asgardian Prince says outloud. "They may look like normal humans, but something about them leads me to believe otherwise."
"You mean besides the fact that they just fell out of a portal in the sky like the ones the Chitauri came through? And why are they all naked?"
"Stark!"
"Hey, I'm just saying, it gets weirder and weirder every second."
"Well, the sooner we get them back to base, the sooner we figure out where they all came from."
Suddenly, the one in Hulk's arms begins to stir ever so slightly as her eyes open up a bit. But upon seeing, well, Hulk, she soon looses consciousness in just 2 short seconds.
"Don't take it too hard, big guy, given what she's been through, I'd probably do the same." Tony says attempting to console the "giant green rage monster."
So the threat to all mankind brought upon by Loki's thirst for revenge had been stopped, thanks to the heroic actions of the Avengers. And here were 6 strange human looking beings that just fell from the sky that they knew pretty much nothing about.
The only question now: What the actual hell is going on?
Author's Note
I plan on continuing this series, but I DO require some help. If anyone would like to pitch in with writing, just sound off in the comments below.
