Avengers: War for Equestria

Following their tense welcome to S.M.I.L.E., Tempest and Grubber followed Twilight and Fury Swipes up to the Medical Ward where Starswirl was lying in a hospital bed being treated for his injuries. Twilight let out a sharp gasp when she saw her idol bedridden.

"Starswirl!" she cried, racing over to him. "What…what happened to you?"

"I…was attacked," he moaned. "They stole Sombra's horn from me. I tried to protect it, but…"

"Sombra's horn?" wondered Twilight, turning around to face Fury Swipes. "What else have you not told me? First, Tempest gets thrown in a dungeon, my idol attacked and bedridden…oh wait, you did tell me that my idol was attacked. But, Sombra's horn? Starswirl, how did you get a hold of it?"

"I found it when I was on my travels," the Pillar explained, his eyes locked onto the ceiling of the ward. "I knew that as long as Sombra's horn was still intact, there was a very good chance of him being brought back to life."

"But, but I thought that Sombra was destroyed for good when Cadence activated the Crystal Heart," remarked Twilight, scratching the back of her neck. "It's impossible. How could he still be alive?"

"As long as anything physical remained," replied Starswirl, sighing heavily. "Then, he could be brought back to life."

Twilight briefly paced back and forth, trying to process how this could happen: to bring a blackheart pony back to life to retake what was once his.

"Tell me something, Twilight," asked Fury Swipes. "Are you familiar in any way with the kingdom of Tambeleon and its emperor, Grogar?"

"All I know," answered Twilight, who managed to stop pacing. "Was that he was a cold and cruel ruler and both Celestia and Luna had to banish both him and Tambeleon to the shadows for 1,000 years. Could it be that maybe everything from 1,000 years ago is unraveling? First Nightmare Moon returns, Discord is freed from stone, Sombra is brought back from the dead, anything else I'm missing here?"

Before Twilight could freak out any more, Tempest managed to calm her down.

"The fact of the matter is that we are dealing with an evil that is far greater beyond any of our imagination," explained Fury Swipes. "We have every reason to believe that it is not just Grogar we have to look out for."

"What are you saying, Fury?"

"I'm saying that as we speak, Grogar is merely carrying out orders for somepony who is probably the most dangerous creature Equestria has ever known. However, we need more evidence to confirm."

…

Just then, a S.M.I.L.E. agent came into the ward with a paper in his aura, handing it to Fury Swipes, who looked at it.

"Where did he spot this?" he asked.

"About 30 miles outside of Rainbow Falls," answered the agent.

"Who spotted what?" wondered Twilight and Fury Swipes raced out of the ward and Twilight and Tempest followed. The two mares followed Fury into a command center where dozens of agents and technicians were hard at work. "Fury, what's going on?"

"We're getting him now, Fury," said a technician as a human figure wearing a red and black tight suit and carrying two swords on his back while another human dressed in black and wielding a gun appeared on the screen.

The figure in the tight suit removed his mask and let out a deep sigh of relief as the two figures stood in front of a large volcano.

"Wilson, Barnes, report," ordered Fury.

"Well, how shall we put this," explained Wilson, trying to find the words to describe the situation. "Apparently, Donkey boy is trying to recruit some lava demon from the volcano you see behind us."

"What lava demon?" asked Twilight. "And I happen to be a princess, so you might want to give me a direct answer."

"Of course, I know who you are, Princess Twilight!" answered Wilson, pointing at Twilight, before turning his attention over to Tempest. "I watch you every week on Discovery Family. Although, I still despise you for what you did to Canterlot."

This caused Tempest to scoff crossly at this remark.

"Wade, stay with what's important here," demanded Fury Swipes, pounding his fist on the table. "What did you two find so far?"

"Nothing much, Fury," answered Barnes. "All we know is that there were about five donkeys, six changelings and one lead donkey, supposedly the ringleader."

"Then you must keep a further eye on them," ordered Fury. "Do not attack unless you are attacked upon, understood?"

"But, Fury…" whined Wade, only to be sharply interrupted by Fury.

"NO BUTS! NOW GET GOING!"

Turning off the screen, Fury returned to Starswirl's room with Twilight and Tempest once again following him behind.

"We should at least do something to support them," suggested Twilight. "Whoever this Lava demon is, he must be dangerous."

"Well, this isn't Heat Miser singing about having Green Christmases," muttered Fury Swipes. "Or as what that Wade Wilson says. Either way, I want Stark and Rogers to gather their factions and bring them here as soon as possible."

"Then," groaned Starswirl, trying to get out of his bed. "You'll need the pillars…"

The pillar trembled and nearly fell over, only to be saved by Twilight who helped him back into his bed.

"You need to rest," said Twilight, firmly looking at Starswirl. "You've been injured, Starswirl and we can't risk you getting any more hurt."

Starswirl pretended he hadn't heard that.

"Look, Fury, I can go see if I can assist those two two-legs," suggested Tempest. "They will need my warrior expertise."

"Tempest does have a good point, Fury," advised Twilight. "In the meantime, I can get in touch with all my friends and have them come here."

Fury considered the matter for a moment and then agreed, although he was still skeptical of Tempest.

"Don't try any backstabbing tricks," he warned the broken horned unicorn, only to be met with a frustrated grunt from Tempest, who quickly left.

"Why don't you trust her, Fury?" asked Starswirl. "She did save my life."

"I've seen the reports on what Tempest did in Canterlot and I just don't see the fact that she should be forgiven so easily for what she did," sighed Fury Swipes. "You can fix some ponies and there are some ponies you just can't fix."

Starswirl was beginning to realize that he needed to do something about Fury's attitude towards Tempest if there was any hope of getting a mare like her on their side for the fight ahead.

…

Meanwhile, Tony Stark and Julia Carpenter left Massachusetts early the following morning and were already on Tony's private jet heading for Equestria. But, they needed to make a stop in New York first to pick up another member of Tony's faction.

"Any luck on reaching the other Avengers, Tony?" Julia asked as she was piloting the plane.

"So far, nothing very much," Tony sighed. "Got through to Bruce who says he is taking the first flight out of wherever he is and Thor is probably doing some random Norse god Schmidt that I don't care for."

"Well, at least we are getting Pete on board," remarked Julia as the private jet neared Kennedy Airport. "Can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider Man if there is no Spider Man, is there?"

Tony looked at the metallic suit that was Iron Man and realized just how much was at stake. To him, this wasn't just about stopping any of the enemies he and the Avengers had faced before. This was something completely different.

"Uh, Tony? What about Jim? I know he was visiting friends in Chicago this past weekend."

"He says he'll be heading to Equestria," answered Tony, his train of thought interrupted by his girlfriend. "Hopefully, the same can't be said for Rogers. His guys are in that prison in the middle of the ocean, thanks to their stupid decision to act out against…"

"We all know that, Tony," interrupted Julia as they touched down at Kennedy Airport. "You don't need to tell me twice."

At that moment, the plane pulled up to a black limousine as a young 15 year old boy stood next to a man in a dark suit. Opening the door to his plane, Tony stepped down the steps and approached the young boy.

"Good to see you kid," he chuckled. "Aunt May doesn't mind you taking part in this?"

"Well, she didn't believe me at first," remarked Peter. "But, I told her that the fate of the universe depended on it."

"Happy?"

"She'll understand."

"All right, let's get going kid."

So, Tony helped Peter onto the plane and as the two men sat back while they took off for Equestria.

"Since when could you fly, Miss Carpenter?" remarked Peter when he saw Julia at the controls.

"I've only had my license for a short time," she chuckled. "Besides, Tony likes me in the pilot seat, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah," stammered Tony, taken aback by his girlfriend's beauty. "Keep it up, Jules."

…

"You must seem to really like her, don't you, Mr. Stark?" wondered Peter.

"I don't like her, Peter, I love her and I'm going to marry her one day," whispered Tony. "But, can I tell you something that I want you to keep between us?"

"Sure."

"I've got some reservations about this upcoming battle," he whispered to Peter. "If anything were to happen to Julia or you, Peter, I could never live with myself. To me, you guys are like a wife and son to me, not just as business associates."

"That…that means a lot, Mr. Stark," stammered Peter. "Thanks."

…

Elsewhere, while Peter was being flown to Equestria by Tony and Julia, Dr. Bruce Banner found himself at the steps of Canterlot High and about to walk into the main office.

"May I help you?" asked Principal Celestia, looking intently at him.

"I would like to have Sunset Shimmer for a moment if possible," he answered. "There is something I need to have her help me with."