Chapter 62-Starlight, Star Bright, First Star I Saved Tonight
Not a word.
He could not form one. Not a sentence, not a coherent thought, nothing. All he could do was see the look in the child’s eyes, the short moment of agony, then nothing. Silence, maybe. Quiet. It was constant, the same gasp of air taken the moment the blade pierced his skin and tore through precious internal organs.
Again, again, and again. Nothing more. It just kept happening. He saw nothing else but the images and the pain in the child’s eyes. That is why he could not speak. He could not form any type of coherent message to the world as he had before. Not a word.
But he could fly away. Yes, yes he could. It’s what seemed logical to the situation. He’ll let his army below finish his work while he kept flying. Kept seeing the pain in the boy’s eyes. The loss of the boy who was different. Obviously to many, but to him…he was different in another light, not just because of his abilities. The way he saw the world, the ones who did him wrong, the child shared the same feelings as he had.
And now he was gone…because he betrayed himself.
“You’re a madman.”
Ultron stopped despite his own actions. Be it some cosmic entity or a force he had not known, he remained frozen in mid-air. It was not the first time he heard voices in his head, and it wasn’t the first time he had pushed them aside as mere annoyances. However, for the first time, this was not the voices as before…
He knew it.
With a distasteful growl, Ultron turned his gaze downwards, his vision covered with red and black, watching his armies get torn to shreds below him. Torn to shreds. A red flow of magic coursed through the burning city below him like rivers in a forest. It was as a fog, consuming everything and everyone that failed to escape. Human, pony, sentry, demon. Once alive, now dead.
Pity. But it must happen.
“The Avengers… They were right. You’re insane.”
Ultron continued to stare into his work of art below. His own child. Like many more to come.
“The pain and suffering you’ve felt will consume everything that you are.”
“Everything you know, everything you believe in, will come crumbling down.”
“How do you know you’ve taken too much before it finally crushes you?”
Ultron felt very tired. He—
…No.
No.
He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t feel weary. He should not. The three arms that remained on his body, all three palms came together to press against Ultron’s head. Pressing harder. Claws digging. As he struggled, growling silently, the screams from below finally surfaced. Every cry assaulted him, every painful shriek tore through his metal skin.
And he felt it.
“No…” he muttered, voice shaking, eyes melting.
“This guy really is nuts.”
More voices. Each one different and far worse than the last.
“Look into what remains of your heart and you can see that this is not the way.”
“No other force on this planet will convince you otherwise, but listen to me when I say…it’s not even worth it.”
“You’re wrong, Ultron.”
“No… No, I can’t be…”
He looked up, stared at nothing. “…Wrong.”
“Peace in our time.”
Stark. His voice pestered him so. The man who created him, who gave him his identity haunted him. Expected, but unwelcome. Hearing him out of all the others brought forth a familiar passion he still held true. There was going to be peace in this time. One way or another, no matter who got in his way, no matter how many should fall, there was going to be peace.
Equus will be saved. Ultron will return to Earth. He will save it, as well.
He will.
He was born to that destiny.
“Tirek’s too far gone now. You will never return home.”
Ultron ignored the familiar voice. “Peace in our…”
“Now... I will take back what is so rightfully mine.”
He suddenly paused, eyes leaking black tears frozen on his child below. “You can’t,” Ultron whispered.
“I WILL!”
The magic took a dark turn. Still staring, frozen in his own twisted delusion, Ultron could not move as the red fog shot out like tendrils and consumed him. He howled in pain, the magic ripping him apart from the inside. His body erupted, chest exploding, arms and legs bursting as the magic impaled him again and again.
The pain was unheard of. Throughout the torment, slashing about like a crazed animal, visions soared throughout his mind. None revealed any sort of pleasantries. None showed of what Ultron would accomplish. Not even a smoldering pile of rubble and ash of what once was.
Just black. Silence and darkness. Death.
Future.
It continued on for eternity…and then it halted. The magic faded to nothing, completely disappearing from the city below. Ultron remained where he was, his blank stare looking up into the clouds, mouth dangling open, but no longer dripping black. The last third arm shriveled away like dust, leaving Ultron as he once was.
The power that flowed through him no longer existed. It too…faded.
“No…”
And so his world fell down despite his control. Broken, torn, hurt, and so forth, he plummeted like a rock down to Canterlot, his fallen army joining him. The AI crashed, he knew not where, amongst the piles of dead within the capital city of Equestria.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called out, stumbling forth into the dead street ahead of her. Other than the sight of Tony Stark, Thor, Vision, and Rhodes flying over her head or the remainder of the Avengers rushing past her, searching every square inch of the streets, there was nopony else.
Very odd considering the entirety of Canterlot was a warzone no more than a few minutes ago. Despite such—each one of her friends and Starlight Glimmer pushing ahead—Rarity huffed in agitation and stamped her hoof in the concrete.
“Oh, where could that mare be?” she asked nopony in particular.
She had no time to ponder further when an orange blur knocked her flat on her back, screaming, “Rarity, watch out!”
The sudden loss of oxygen and the screaming pain in her back was immediately forgotten as a tower of stone slammed into the street where the unicorn once stood. Applejack quickly got off the dazed mare and helped her back to all four hooves. As the slab of concrete and stone crumbled into mere fragments, everypony spun towards the commotion.
The Avengers followed. Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye (carrying Maria Hill), and even the Hulk all spun around to eye the scene behind them. Falcon was with them, right by the Captain’s side. A second eruption came from the right, earning the entire group’s interests. There, they saw yet another massive chunk of Canterlot crash down into a near building, spewing stone, brick, and glass across the street as it came tumbling down in a cloud of smoke.
It wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
Captain America shot his eyes skyward. He saw as Wanda’s magic that once compelled and controlled pieces of broken street and massive chunks of earth completely disappeared. More like dissipated into nothing, because the moment they did those portions of Canterlot came falling down.
Right where they stood.
“Oh, God, move!” Steve ordered, sprinting down the street with Natasha and Barton hot on his trail. Falcon was with him. Banner followed too, snarling at the pieces of Canterlot falling near him. Without a word, each mare’s expression mirrored the other, their feelings all mutual. Terrified. They spun around and took off after the Avengers, dodging and weaving out of the way of the falling debris.
Spike clung onto Pinkie for dear life as she came up next to the Captain, halting once a large slab of concrete landed in front of him. Steve weaved to the side of it and pressed down on his comms, yelling, “Stark, we need you and the others to clear out the skies!”
“Working on it!” he replied instantly. Shooting his eyes up, Steve watched as Tony and James did their best to blow apart the falling concrete. They succeeded in destroying the smaller pieces, but the larger, mountain-like chunks of the city were too big, even for them.
Vision and Thor dealt with those. Ramming his hammer into the nearest chunk, Thor burst through the remaining fragments raining down on Twilight and her friends. As for Twilight, she shot her head back and forth, up and down, anywhere and everywhere. Still no sign of Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow! Where are you?!” Pinkie Pie screamed, Spike bouncing ridiculously on her back.
“I don’t get it!” Twilight exclaimed. “We’re nearly at the edge of the city and still no sign of—!”
“Look out!”
Her older brother’s voice came to her, but not nearly fast enough. The moment Twilight heard the crash she knew it was already too late.
A slab of road landed in front of them, one that Thor and Vision managed to miss, blocking off their path. Twilight shot her head to the left, eyes growing wide to see yet another massive piece of rubble crash into the tower she stared at. Both the rubble and tower screeched as they fell apart, the remains heading right for them.
Too fast.
“Girls! Get together!” Twilight yelled. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Starlight replied without question. Spike shielded his head as the portion of the tower collapsed on top of them, but was surprised to feel nothing.
He looked up from Pinkie Pie’s mane to see each mare pressed firmly downwards and hugging the street, a mixture of violet and light turquoise shimmering down on top of them. Aside from the near-pitch blackness courtesy of the tower’s remains, Twilight and Starlight managed to create a protective shield over them, their magic mixing together.
Though they both definitely struggled. Spike noticed the sweat dripping down Starlight’s forehead, the cry of protest escaping Twilight.
“T-Twilight!” Spike called, claw held out to her.
“Don’t worry, Spike,” Twilight assured, her forelegs shaking. “I… We can hold it.”
Starlight growled, teeth clenched in clear signs of struggle. “Not for long,” she grumbled, shooting her eyes over to the edge of the protective bubble. Both Rarity and Fluttershy turned their heads to that direction, surprised to see the rubble clearing away and creating a sufficient tunnel out of Starlight’s and Twilight’s magic.
Once cleared, they saw light. Not much, but definitely more than the darkness within the rubble. Their way out.
“Go! We’ll hold it for now!” Starlight commanded, veins popping out of her neck.
Rarity and Fluttershy turned their heads back to the two holding the shield. “But what about—?” Rarity began, silenced by the voices coming from the outside.
“Twilight! Girls! Where are you?!”
“They’re trapped! We gotta get them out!”
Easily the Captain’s voice, followed quickly by Shining Armor’s. Applejack crouched closer to the tunnel Starlight and Twilight crafted, shouting, “It’s alright! We’re comin’ out now!” Applejack spun back around to both Twilight and Glimmer, eyes wondering, waiting for approval.
Starlight nodded her forward. “Go!”
Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike all turned to Twilight. She simply nodded. With that given, Applejack led the way—almost crawling—through the makeshift tunnel. Fluttershy followed with Rarity and Pinkie behind her. Spike had hopped off not too long ago and joined the mares in their escape through the magical tunnel, allowing them to safely traverse out of the rubble.
Just as Spike exited, right before she and Twilight cut off the magic around the tunnel of rubble, they heard that same, horrid sound again. The screeching, the resistance of metal against brick and glass. Of course, the cries from her friends were also a dead giveaway.
“Twilight, the rest of the building is going to collapse! Get out of there!”
Shining’s voice screamed, “She’s still in there?!”
Then the tunnel shut, several screams erupting from beyond the rubble.
That just left both Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer sustaining the protective shield mere inches above their heads, the weight of half a building resting on top of them, threatening to crush them if they gave way just a bit. Twilight tried to move, to try to do anything, but nothing helped her hold the shield other than just standing there and applying the same amount of force into the spell as she could.
Other than that, she was trapped.
Starlight grimaced in pain, basically the same thought rushing through her mind purely running on instinct at that point. “Go on!” she hissed. “Teleport out of here!”
“I can’t! I…I don’t have a clear line of sight!” Twilight said weakly, her own body giving away to the intense weight and pressure.
Starlight wanted to smack herself for not remembering common knowledge on teleportation, but decided against it lest her body gave out on her. “Yeah, that’s true,” she mumbled. As the two stood there for a few seconds more, Starlight realized that they really didn’t have all the time in the world at the moment.
Her eyes shifted from Twilight’s burning horn to the shield of two colors above her head. “Okay, I have an idea. Charge up a spell and on three you release it. I’ll do the same and maybe we can blow this debris off of us.”
“Are you sure that’ll work?” Twilight asked.
Starlight nearly crumbled as fresh piles of building debris fell on top of them. She hissed, “What other choice do we have, Sparkle?! Just do it!”
Just as a jagged crack appeared between the two mares, streams of sweat poured from Twilight’s face as several different expressions of pain and concentration formed in her wrinkles. Her horn glowed as bright as a shimmering star, Starlight’s following the same.
“Okay…one…two…”
Starlight’s ear twitched at the sound of crumbling steel and brick.
“…three!”
Both mares screamed as their individual spells joined together and—with thankfully enough energy and power—blew apart the massive amounts of rubble that trapped them. Twilight and Starlight stood shaking, breathing heavily, sweat pouring like rain from their brows. But well alive, fresh out in the open with piles of building debris surrounding them.
Which reminded her…
“Twilight!” several, individual voices cried out, all completely muffled at the familiar, terrible sound.
Both Twilight and Starlight shot their heads up like agitated dogs to the sound. Directly above them, their eyes grew ten sizes too big at the sight of the building tipping towards them, the remainder of what had originally trapped them in the first place. Its dark shadow completely fell upon them, the princess spreading her wings, horn glowing and ready for action.
Only to feel herself be plucked off the earth and flung aside.
Twilight screamed as she was tossed out of the debris like she weighed nothing, crashing and tumbling into a group of shivering, crying ponies and one baby dragon. Disregarding them for a moment, Twilight’s eyes washed across the street, a massive crack separating her and friends from the pile of building rubble.
And from where she lay, there was Starlight Glimmer staring at her, her horn’s magic dying.
Twilight gasped, then looked down to see the light turquoise aura vanish from her body.
She turned back to Starlight, watched as she gazed upwards one final time before her horn lit up. Then the building fell and covered her.
The large crack from earlier increased in size as the building connected to the street, spewing a massive dust cloud. That wasn’t all. A tremor so powerful that it shook even the remaining buildings spread through the street, each mare stumbling over one another as they tried to stand. And Twilight watched as the ground ahead of her ripped upwards.
As concrete shattered and buildings collapsed forward, the street just ahead of the five mares and baby dragon broke off from the rest of Canterlot. It rose higher and higher, eventually sinking down and disappearing. The sound was horrific, as if a mountain had split in half. It seemed to be, each mare rushing forward to see the crumbled wreckage of the street and the buildings that occupied it fall farther and farther down the mountain.
And finally come to a rest at the bottom.
Lost in a cloud of smoke and dust.
Tony Stark landed behind them. James and Vision joined him, followed quickly by Captain America and the remaining Avengers. Shining Armor quickly stopped next to Twilight, his hoof held out to her, but yielding halfway. Other than a chunk of Canterlot’s edge missing, all six of them seemed to be alright, not too many injuries to worry about.
That’s when it occurred to them.
Six. There was Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, and Twilight, all present, all alive, all staring downwards into the scorched lands torn by war, to what remained of the chunk of the city resting below the mountain. Silence plagued them, the shock of what had occurred keeping each pony in a state of disbelief.
In that silence came a haunting message. Many received it with ill will, bitterness belittling them to the point of silence themselves. For Steve Rogers, he took the loss as he would any other, with a silent prayer and his eyes gently closed. As for Tony…
Last time Tony had checked…the last any of them had checked they had seven other companions, eight if you count the cyan Pegasus they were rescuing. He didn’t need to look over each of the ponies again to realize who was missing, but he did stop on Twilight. Her slouched expression, droopy wings and ears. Silence infecting her.
But still alive.
He once told himself he wouldn’t care if it were anypony else who died. As long as Twilight and her friends were still alive, that’s all that mattered.
He didn’t know anymore. As for Twilight…
All she knew was that Starlight Glimmer saved her life.
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Starlight going out like a hero...What more could i ask for.
Did... did I just see Starlight sacrifice herself to save Twi?!
There is no way she's gone. This story is supposed to be canon!
Starlight gave her life to save Twilight...something only a friend would do. Though I don't think it's the end of the line for her just yet, She could've teleported herself to safety at the last second.
Oh, no, Starlight's dead. I'm... so heartbroken.
Well I don't care what anyone will say I like your take on Starlight's redemption much better than the one we got on the show.
T_T... Nope. She's not dead. Not buying it for ONE second.
...Did Starlight freakin' Glimmer just sacrifice herself for Twilight?!
Wow. Everybody's surprising me in this story. First Discord, now her.
Also, Typhon ditched Ultron!
YES! Now Thor or somebody can just flash-fry Typon, and then we can turn Ultron into scrap metal.
By the way:
Uh...is somebody feeling remorse? Or is it something else?
Nope! Nope! Nope! You better not kill Starlight!
Please..
Starlight risking her own life to save Twilight's is surely this chapter's best highlight.
7438506 Definitely a possibility.
7438635 It certainly is canon.
7438811 It's a very strong possibility.
7438888 Same.
7439044 Awesome. Thanks for that.
7439711 Then I have failed.
7439981 Hm, it might be remorse.
7440114 Stick around and find out.
7442821 Thanks!
7439665 It will be soon. Stick around.
Well Ultron... you failed.... again. Not even your demon friend could be with you. All your allies have left you and your all alone.
Oh no... Starlight's dead.... I mean true she's listed as a character in the sequel, but that could have been another Starlight. All joking aside nice to see Starlight redeem herself.
Starlight wouldn’t go out like THAT. I’m not believing it!
Say what you will about Starlight Glimmer, all the haters around the world will tell you the same exact story. Starlight doesn't deserve to be reformed, Starlight will just take over the spotlight, and Starlight was better a villain than a hero. But time and time again, deep down in my thoughts I always believed they were 'wrong', all the time, because I had to believe in my heart that Starlight had a higher purpose than what was implied. I knew this much, even if I couldn't prove it. But what she did to save Twilight Sparkle when they tried to prevent a structure from falling, even if she couldn't save herself, that to me proves that Starlight deserved to be redeemed and how important she'd be for the rest of the series.
Which is why I rest my case when it was decided Starlight would have a big role in the series years after this story was released. Because all it takes is faith and trust to know what the team had planned and maybe to not judge so harshly. After all, if we open our minds to bigger things than what we wanted to see... The answer we sought was right in front of us the whole time.
9527803
Actually, I'm not in that camp. I'm in the camp that said that her reformation was weak. There were none in the cartoon. She was barely talked out of destruction, and then REWARDED with position of student of princess of Friendship. She wasn't punished, she wasn't redemed, she wasn't defeated. Here - this is a good arc. Too bad she died, but she actually worked for fogiveness, she put her life on the line for what is RIGHT.
Wow, bold move from Starlight there. Making sure Twilight is saved even at her own expense. Maybe she won’t need to time travel to redeem herself, since that is a pretty big hero move to pull. I don’t believe she is dead though. There is still so much more ahead, I bet she will come back eventually, due to the “never found a body” rule.
That opening scene though. Looks like Typhon decided to bail on Ultron. I don’t know if that means the heroes need to deal with him now, but it almost certainly means Ultron is on his last legs.