• Published 22nd Aug 2015
  • 14,088 Views, 1,970 Comments

A Beautiful New Age - JDPrime22



As it is said, true peace can only be granted through countless innocent lives. In hindsight, the ponies were never that different from humans. Ultron’s plan is not over, and soon his strings will be severed for the last time.

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Chapter 45-Day of Truth

On your right!

“I see him!”

Blossoms of orange and red blew apart to Stark’s lower right, nearly causing him to fumble mid-flight.

Boss, we got airborne, and a lot of them!

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Sure enough, a ferocious dragon—covered from scaly head to scaly toe in nothing but Ultron’s weapons of war—emerged out of the ash and smoke filling the air. Ultron’s army. It was already too late for Stark to intervene with the dragon’s conflict. He merely took out the stragglers and continued to the cave.

The duo was practically inseparable. She called out enemies just as fast—or if he was hopeful enough—faster than Jarvis could. It felt odd, and somewhat comforting, to have someone watching his back, a kind of guardian angel if he was putting it bluntly. More of a guardian angel that covered his entire body.

…He just had to make it weird. Good thing AI’s couldn’t read minds, he hoped.

But they could definitely call out allies, even if “ally” was a cautious term for the punk.

I got the Maximoff twin at the mouth of the cave,” Friday called out, her voice giving more of a calming tone than previously. Possibly due to the lack of enemies surrounding them. If Stark had bet, he’d be a slighter richer man. Nothing beats taking money from old men; the Captain was no exception.

Stark nodded, spotting Pietro stumble out into the smoke. “I got him. Watch my back, alright?”

You got it, Boss.

With nothing else to say, Stark landed near the cave’s rocky surface, splitting the mountain floor beneath him. He looked up, noticing the weariness in Pietro’s stare, the quiver in his muscles with every breath he took. It didn’t spell anything good.

Tony stood up fully. Pietro watched him, his hand pressed against his abdomen as he breathed in slowly, trying desperately to catch his breath.

Stark looked around and said, “What happened? Where’s Ultron?”

A terrible darkness overcame Pietro’s heart, causing him to fumble with his words. His head dropped, his tangled hair dangling from his forehead.

Tony took a step forward. Both of his palms clenched into fists, his breathing now growing heavier with more ferocity. As Pietro slowly looked back up to him, Stark asked slowly but very, very carefully, “Did you get him?”

Pietro tightened his jaw. He shook his head.

“Wasn’t quick enough.”

It was as if he was punched directly in the gut, not even the armor strong enough to protect him this time. He stopped breathing, his eyes latching onto the Maximoff. His gaze was cold, barren, but far from being distrustful.

Which meant…

“Shit…” Stark muttered, nearly taking a step back, an unsettling shadow overcoming his mind. He shook his head, his palms burning bright. “SHIT!

He took off, his feet bursting to life and sending Tony skyrocketing. Pietro watched him escape, his trail leading back where they started. He had rested plenty.

Pietro breathed in and took off down the mountain, a simple silver trail left in his wake.


“Regroup!”

Wanda Maximoff’s eyes burned red with hatred, her fingers coiling and dancing together.

“Everyone, regroup now!”

She twirled her arms around, imitating any type of ballerina dancer, but holding no intention for entertaining those around her. Those so willing to try and kill her. Her first target—or targets—came in droves of Ultron Sentries. Endless. Merciless.

Soulless.

She tore them to shreds without a second thought.

The gray dirt around her danced as she did, forming dust clouds and tornadoes amongst the dark energy building around the Sokovian girl. Her breath was ragged, pushing past her gritted teeth in snarls. With every sentry she destroyed, every body she ripped in half and tossed away like garbage, her anger grew.

Not a fury for the battle she was willingly to fight in, but having no heart to fight for. Not a rage for the endless army continuing its advance, trying desperately to break through. Break her. No, it was an emotion, a pain she felt with every sentry she killed, every so-called life she stomped on and eradicated.

How someone so cruel, so much in pain that he could actually hurt her without physically harming her. Someone who understood her and her family, every moment of grief they endeared, and respond in kind. Someone who told her they could make things right…

Someone who claimed to know her…

Now trying so desperately to kill her.

But he was wrong. Wanda told herself that over and over, after each sentry she tore apart. He was wrong. Humanity, even ponykind, could not be blamed for the horrors of their past. He wanted total annihilation, a final solution for both Earth and Equus. And he didn’t care. Didn’t care for anyone or anything that got in his way.

She never prayed before in her entire life. But for once, Wanda felt like falling to her knees and crying out to whatever god was out there to protect her older brother.

If there was any god out there, he should be the one to live, not her. Not after everything she’s done. Everything she did to help Ultron achieve his dream of global extinction.

That… That was something she couldn’t even fathom. Now, she was feeling that dreadful thought grow more and more realistic with every passing second.

Wanda!” Captain America bellowed amongst the chaos.

The Scarlet Witch nearly fell backwards. Her eyes quickly shifted upwards to catch Tony Stark fly over her head. She spun around to see him land next to the others, almost forgetting about the sentries still headed for her.

Luckily, her brother was there to stop them in their tracks.

She flinched to the sound of metal crunching in front of her. Returning forward, she saw what remained of three sentries lie crumbled and shattered by her feet, her older brother standing over their remains with a helpful smile strewn against his lips.

He nodded. “Hey.”

Even Quicksilver wasn’t fast enough to prepare for the hug.

He was surprised to say the least, but soon found himself accepting the hug and returning it in kind. It was short, which was something he expected. As she broke off, he could see that same fear in her eyes quickly vanish the moment she stared into his own, a certain feeling of peace overcoming her senses.

She gulped, the burning ashes from the dragons’ breath flowing alongside her hair. “Are you alright?” Wanda asked.

Pietro nodded again. “I’m fine. But we need to get out of here.” He looked past her, spotting the Captain waving in groups of Royal Guard, the rest of the group already falling in around him. He turned back to her, saying, “Come on.”

He once more felt a soft yet powerful grip hold him back.

“What happened?”

Pietro lowered his head, his breathing increasing. Wanda watched his actions with her hand gripped around his own, her fingers lacing with his. She waited so long for him to answer, to respond with anything that could be considered a reply, but he just stood there, staring at the dirt, his eyes hazy, heart pounding.

She could feel it.

She knew her brother. She knew when he was troubled. She knew when he had failed.

What she felt wasn’t him. A certain type of darkness and foreboding filled the energy around her, causing Wanda to spin her neck around. There, she saw remnants of Ultron’s forces look to the sky, every single one of them abandon the fight and retreat to the heavens. She followed them, her eyes gazing upwards.

With skies once filled with healthy rain clouds polluted only slightly by the madness of war, now a terrifying new shape of darkness began to slither its way across the clouds. With it came the retreat of Ultron’s forces, their blue lights seen for miles on end. They weren’t the only ones making their escape.

Several thousand—if what Wanda could even imagine—winged creatures, not dragons, took to the skies, seemingly appearing out of the darkness and infesting the air. Their cries and screeches were some of the worst Wanda had ever heard, and she had delved into the minds and nightmares of numerous people.

Nothing compared to the weeping she heard above her head. So high above.

Wanda slowly lowered her head, twisting it back to her brother. He stared at her, shame filling his gaze, regret infecting his heart and soul.

“No…” she whispered.

Pietro just stared at her. “I’m sorry.”

Both siblings flinched in unison to the powerful tremor rocking the earth below them. They flinched even worse to the booming voice behind them.

“Wanda! Pietro! Get over here now!” Captain America ordered. He saw as the two siblings nodded to one another, quickly racing over to the carriages, to where the Captain pointed them to. Even with the twins secured with the rest of the Avengers, that didn’t leave them in the clear.

Another tremor shook the earth. Captain Rogers steadied himself, turning to the last group of Royal Guard. “Get to the carriages and head back to Canterlot! Get out as many civilians as you can! Prep the city for a full-on defensive! Go!” he shouted over the chaos, the earth trembling with the might of an earthquake.

Without question, the remainder of the Equestrian Army retreated to the carriages, piling in one by one and in orderly fashion. Steve watched them escape, watched as the Pegasi were strapped in and took off a full gallops, kicking up into the air and taking flight. In less than a minute, per the Captain’s request, no guard remained.

All that remained were the Avengers, Twilight and her friends, Starlight Glimmer, and two carriages. Of course, a few brave Pegasi guard were left to pull those two carriages. They looked to the Captain, waited for his orders.

Then suddenly found themselves gazing to the blackened heavens. Even they couldn’t help themselves.

Sweating and covered in soot, Applejack wiped her brow, her eyes shifting upwards alongside the others. Her eyes grew wide, her foreleg jabbing upwards. “Look!” she called out, earning the interests of the rest of her friends.

Together, the Avengers and the ponies all stared up to witness the sky be overcome with shadow, several thousand winged creatures fill the air like insects dotted across a carcass. Their screeches and howls could have been heard miles away, their wave of disease and blight spreading across the land.

Another tremble of the earth, this one softer than the previous ones. Rainbow Dash breathed in, then coughed, then asked, “So, what, aren’t those just a bunch of dragons?”

Tony Stark analyzed the winged beast, his scan capturing one, bringing it in closer to his HUD, and showcasing all of its traits and features. He quickly tossed it aside, captured another, and then another. As if things couldn’t get any worse…

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Stark muttered, voice slightly muffled behind the mask. Dash and the other mares turned to man encased in metal. “You’re not right, either.” he said and walked away, straight for Captain America.

“Call it, Cap,” Stark told him. Steve replied with a solid nod, turning to Twilight and her friends.

With somber eyes, and an even more broken tone, Captain Rogers stared into their innocent eyes, thinking of what words to say, thinking of how to address them in the easiest way possible. Then again, failure was never easy. They just had to push through it. That wasn’t so hard for the Avengers.

Casting such thoughts aside for now, he stated loudly, “I was just informed from Tony that…Ultron made it through. What you’re seeing—!”

“Hell on earth.”

Everyone simultaneously shifted their eyes to the owner of the voice, each one of them landing on Starlight Glimmer. Steve nodded, noting the dread and regret in the unicorn’s eyes. He continued. “The gates, the barrier that held this world from the one right beneath our feet are both gone! We’re heading back to Canterlot to prepare for some sort of defense!”

“Might want to tell everyone this back at Canterlot, Cap,” Tony interrupted.

Steve didn’t reply. He just shifted his eyes over to Stark, his expression begging for some sort of explanation. And Iron Man gave him one, in the form that only his expressionless, golden face could offer.

“We got incoming…”

The earth rumbled, split apart about a mile away. Everyone turned their attention to the sight of it all. Each one of them showcased their own disturbed expressions.

“…from below.”

Chunks of earth, not in just one general location, but all around began to rise up and break apart. Some portions of dirt and rock exploded, sending chunks of the ground spewing across the battlefield. Even the surviving dragons backed away from a large portion of the earth breaking apart.

Soon enough, to the surprise and horror of the few that paid witness, a burning tower erupted out of the pit, spewing lava and fire across the battleground, melting the dead army of Ultron’s fallen legion. The tower revealed itself to be an arm, and soon the rest of the beast emerged, roaring and spitting hot magma across any who dared to draw near.

The lava beast wasn’t alone. Out of many other pits strewn across the scorched valley, different beasts of all shapes and sizes emerged, clawing at the dirt, roaring at the surviving dragons that flew overhead. Warning them. Challenging them.

The dragons that survived the onslaught from Ultron’s army immediately took action, swarming the beasts that clawed out of the earth and doing battle with them.

Twilight watched the ferocious conflict take place right before her eyes, almost abandoning the thought that still prodded against the back of her mind, now emerging fully and showing its true horror to the Princess of Friendship. Ultron had made it through. The gates—even the barrier that held their world against the one below—were gone. Twilight nearly collapsed, all of their air stolen from her lungs once she realized the severity of such a thought, such a horror…now made reality.

The barrier was shattered. Equus and Tartarus…were soon to be at war.

And he was coming for her. She knew that for a fact.

“No…” she whimpered, lips trembling, eyes gazing at the flames hitting the demonic titans. “No, no, no, no, no… This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.”

Captain America turned his attention to Twilight.

She shook her head, chest heaving in and out, uncontrolled. Untamed. Nearing a panic attack, she screamed, “We…we have to get home! We need to get to Canterlot! We have to inform the Princesses! We…we have… We have to—!”

A white hoof smacked the Alicorn across the face.

“Twilight, breathe!” Rarity shouted, her hooves gripping Twilight’s shoulders.

“Well, we can’t just sit here and do nothing,” the Captain finally said, turning to Clint and Natasha. “Get the ponies to the carriage and find yourselves a seat. That goes for you two, as well.”

Both Wanda and Pietro just nodded. No rebuttal. No snarky response.

The remaining Avengers; Steve, Tony, Vision, Thor, and Hulk remained where they were, watching as their friends made their escape to the carriages. Well, most of their friends. Their relationship with Starlight was still a tad on edge. Still, they listened in, mostly Stark and Rogers while Thor and Vision spoke to one another, while Twilight comforted her friends.

“If the gates of Tartarus are open,” Thor said from behind both Tony and Steve, “then that means we have very little time as it.”

Vision nodded in response, his golden cape blowing in the burning smoke. “Ultron’s not finished yet, which means we aren’t, either. Now, he has an army twice the size of anything Equestria has to offer. Soon enough, it’ll be too much for even the world to handle.”

Hulk snarled, swatting at the air.

Captain America and Iron Man both shared a worrisome glance, if what Steve could expect from behind the mask. They turned forward again, watching as Natasha helped Fluttershy into the carriage. All of the mares were accounted for, Clint who once again shared a seat with all five of them. The only ones still standing out in the open, the only mares still willing to remain vulnerable to the world around them were Starlight and Twilight.

Twilight paused, remaining where she was. Natasha looked to her, then to the twins waiting for the Widow. She shifted her eyes back to Twilight, caught her glance, and nodded to her. Twilight weakly nodded back, watching as Romanoff ran over to the second carriage, joining the twins inside.

She breathed in, flinching as memories flashed behind her gaze. The wicked laughter, the hellish black eyes, yellow pinpricks. She could smell the smoke of her home, Golden Oak Library burning to the ground. More laughter. The same evil.

Always the same.

She breathed out, her voice ragged and weak. “I can’t believe this is happening...”

Starlight was about to enter the carriage, but stopped. She turned back, spotted the motionless Alicorn staring at her hooves as if she had seen a ghost. It was certainly a sight to see. Normally, the Princess of Friendship would be standing tall, a bright smile lighting up her face, true leadership practically radiating off of her.

Instead, she saw nothing more than a scared little mare. She tightened her jaw, backing away from the carriage.

She said, “I can’t believe a lot of things, Princess.” Twilight looked up, stared into her eyes. “Like the way you live your life…cutie marks and all. We can argue about that for days, but right now we need to ready ourselves for wherever he may strike next.”

The unicorn caught herself, licking her dry lips and tasting dirt. “And…if we’re being brutally honest with ourselves…”

“He’s going to hit the capital…in order to take down the country.”

Twilight read her mind. Glimmer nodded in response, watching as Twilight finally began to move forward again.

She watched as Twilight stood next to her, staring into the carriage, to the two open seats, to Clint staring at them expectantly. Twilight breathed in through her nostrils, exhaling through chapped lips. She said, “If the gates of Tartarus are open…then that means the gates in the Badlands must’ve opened, too. The only logical choice for the armies of Tartarus to go would be north…straight to—”

She stopped. Her jaw fell, unseen horrors flashing through her vision. Starlight caught that moment, staring at the Alicorn in confusion.

Then she said it. Well, screamed it.

“We have to get back right away!” Twilight shouted, spreading her wings and flying high over the carriage. Starlight watched her, watched as she bent down and said to the two Pegasi ready to pull the carriage, “Head to Ponyville! Now!”

“Wait a second,” Pinkie interrupted, jamming her head out of the carriage, nearly bumping her head against Starlight’s. The unicorn backed away, her eyes narrowing on the pink Earth pony.

Until, of course, she said, “Isn’t Spike still in Ponyville?”

Twilight couldn’t respond. The horror in her eyes was almost too much, the terror gripping her throat cutting off her speech. She and every pony in the carriage all flinched to the sound of rockets igniting. Clint looked outside. Captain Rogers followed his gaze, turning to his right.

Where Tony once stood was just a heap of charred earth. Everyone, including the mares, turned to where Captain America was standing, but Stark was already gone. His trail of fire disappeared over the mountains.

Author's Note:

We've done it! We've passed 100 likes! :yay:

Thanks a ton for reading this far and all the support! I really appreciate it! :twilightsmile:

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