Unlikely Help
Sparks erupted along the surface of the Captain's shield as talons raked across the metal, forcing Cap to strain against the gargoyle that had hurled itself into him. Steve roared while pushing with all of his might, using the momentum of the stone sentinel to hurl it over his head and drive it face first into the ground. With a massive punch, he drove the edge of the disc into the gargoyle's face and shattered it into pieces.
Yet, the moment the gargoyle fell two more tackled the Captain from behind, slamming him into the ash before one grabbed the back of his head and drove it into the ash again and again. Steve broke free of the stone being's grasp by hurling his shield to the side, ricocheting it off one gargoyle's face and bouncing it into the back of the one holding him. The moment it released its grasp on him, he rolled to his feet and leapt up to catch his shield, which he quickly tossed once more into the forehead of the gargoyle that had been holding him.
"Two down, two dozen more to go," he panted slightly while he deflected a tail swipe from a goyle. He was about to throw his shield in retaliation when he heard a scream erupt from behind him. A quick glance showed that one of the stone monsters decided to ignore the human in the star-spangled spandex and instead was going after one of the ponies that hadn't gotten away yet.
Without hesitating to think about his next decision, the Captain spun to the side and released the shield with pinpoint precision. The shield bounced off the chest of one of the stone monsters and quickly smacked another in the nose, before finally striking the one chasing the pony square in the forehead. Yet, as the shield was carving through the air on a course back to the Captain, one of the gargoyles had the bright idea to step in its path and get the vibranium disc stuck in the back of its neck.
Steve narrowed his eyes before racing towards the gargoyle that was trying to get the shield out of its neck, but like a blur another stone sentinel tackled the Cap from the side and brought him to the ground. Rogers pressed both boots into the gargoyle's gut and, with all of his strength, hurled the creature off his head. It slammed into one of its brethren and they both shattered to pebbles, but when the Cap kicked up he found that the gargoyles had completely surrounded him.
He made a motion to get by one of them, only to find the gargoyles moved to keep as many of them as they could between him and his shield. 'They're trying to keep me from the shield,' he realized as he leapt over a right hook before jumping off the gargoyle's arm and vaulting into the air.
"Yer not going anywhere!" one of the monsters called out while it grabbed a stone claw around his leg, stopping the Captain in mid air before swinging him into the ground. Cap grunted as he was driven back-first into the ash, shaking the stars from his head while he quickly rolled back to his feet.
"Heh, yer not so tough without that shield of yers, aintcha?" a gargoyle with an accent said with a smirk as it walked forward towards America, cracking his knuckles while moving his head from side to side. "I look forward to wiping that heroic look off of your face."
"Then, what are you waiting for? I'm right here," Captain America replied while he brought both fists up, hopping from foot to foot as he started to map out how he would fight. The gargoyle chuckled before throwing a stone-shattering left towards the Cap's head, yet in a flash the Cap ducked under the blow and threw three hammer-like blows to the underarm of the stone monster. When the Captain backed off with his fists blazing with pain, he found that his blows had done little more than annoy the stone creature.
"Hmm, I actually felt those punchers. Yer stronger than the average pony, ain't cha?" Steve's response was to leap into the air and spin himself around, building up force so when he drove his boot into the nose of the gargoyle it was sure to hurt. But the creature's head barely moved at all and the Cap found himself crashing to the ground with pain coursing up his leg. He quickly shot up once more, but it was clear from the smirks on the stone monsters' faces that he was in trouble.
'Need to get my shield back,' he decided as he slipped a hand into one of his pouches, drawing out a small, black cylinder with a pin in the side.
"Aw, what ya got there? Some kind of toy?" the gargoyle roared with laughter, all of the other gargoyles joining in. But Steve was aware that every eye in the area was upon his device with looks of uncertainty. And that was exactly what he wanted.
Rogers pulled the pin out of the cylinder before tossing it in the air, covering his ears before rushing straight towards where his shield was stuck. The gargoyles all looked to the cylinder instead of the Captain, meaning that they all got a face full of a blinding flash and a roaring blast that caused all of them to roar with pain as they were suddenly blinded.
With all of the gargoyles temporarily blinded, the Captain had no trouble jumping onto the back of the stone monster with the shield stuck in its neck and pulling his friend free. He then slammed the edge of the shield into the back of the gargoyle's head for good measure before flipping off of the crumbling statue, a smile on his face when he slid the shield onto his left arm once more.
Yet, even as the gargoyles began to snarl and advance towards him, another gargoyle came flying down and landed in the center of the stone beasts. "Crusher, the ponies! They're gone!" he informed the one with the accent, drawing the sentinel's attention away from the Captain and towards his subordinate.
"What the blooming hell do ya mean they're gone?!" he roared with fury that made the smaller gargoyle cower.
"They all just vanished! We were chasing them and suddenly they all began to vanish in flashes of white light! Before we knew it, all of them were gone!" Crusher let out a scoff before he shoved the smaller gargoyle back. He then placed a claw to his head while he began to think of what to do.
"Cripes, if word of this reaches the boss he won't be none too happy. Alright, here's what we'll do. We'll say that-" Whatever Crusher's plan was, it was interrupted when a red and blue shield slammed into the side of his head and knocked him to the ground, getting a gasp from all of the gargoyles as they turned their focus back to the Cap, who reached up and caught his shield.
"Don't take your eyes off the threat in front of you," the Captain informed the gargoyles while Crusher slowly pushed himself back up with a look of absolute loathing on his face. "You might end up getting hit in the head." Crusher let out a snarl while he began to advance on the Captain, before everyone in the area, including the Captain, felt a cold chill run down their spines.
"Well whaddya know, I guess this little show ya put on has drawn the attention of the boss pony himself," Crusher laughed as he and the other gargoyles began to move to the side to allow something through. The Captain narrowed his eyes while he braced himself for whatever was coming, but then, to the surprise of everyone, a flash of light went off right in front of the Captain and a white mare in a black cloak appeared before him.
"You! Come with me!" she called out before shooting Rogers in the chest with a burst of white magic. Captain America didn't even have time to ask what was going on before his body began to vanish to someplace else. But right before he vanished into the unknown, he looked up to see a pony walking towards them--a pony with a mane that flowed like sinister shadows and eyes that seemed to pierce into the soul of all those around him.
The pony came to a stop just in time to see Captain America, surprise on its face as each took in the other. For a brief moment, the two stared at each other, one with eyes filled with interest and the other's eyes filled with justice. Then, a flash of light went off and the Captain vanished, leaving the pony to stare at the spot where he had been standing.
"Who...was that?" the shadow pony asked Crusher, who practically threw himself onto his face to bow to the shadow king.
"He called himself Captain America! I overheard it while we was flying in overhead," Crusher explained quickly, knowing that any moment the king would blast him into dust. "He's the one who freed all of the ponies from that prison there. He...managed to destroy about four of us, your almightiness. Looks like he's...a hero."
"A hero?" the shadow king repeated with a look that made every gargoyle in the area cower with fear. Then a toothy smile began to spread across the dark king's face as his eyes glanced at the spot where the strange being had vanished...before he let out a sigh and shook his head. "Please. This is just another flash in the pan. We'll be rid of him soon enough."
/ \
//A\\
/// \\\
Consciousness returned to the Captain in a flash, and in a moment he kicked up to his feet, taking a second to calm his heartbeat while also looking around the strange room in which he found himself. The walls around him seemed to be made a of a greenish, vine-like material, including the door in front of him. As he rose to his feet, he glanced down at his side to see that his shield was still with him, meaning that whoever brought him here was either on his side...or didn't know anything about him.
'Let's see which of those was correct,' Steve mused as he walked up to the green door, placing a hand on the handle and pushing down...to find that the door did indeed open for him. 'Looks like they're on my side...or at least don't see me as a threat.' When he opened to the door, he found that it led to a large hallway that looked almost identical to the room, except that there were far more vines and roots that made up these walls.
"I see you're finally awake," a pony to the right of the door said, causing Captain America to glance down to see a stallion carrying a crossbow. The pony couldn't read the look in the Cap's eyes, but Steve could read uncertainty, fear and a hint of respect in the stallion's eyes just fine. "I was told that when you woke up, I was to bring you to those in charge here. So, um..."
"By all means, lead on." The pony physically sighed in relief before motioning for the Captain to follow him, which Steve did while glancing around. 'So, they want to speak with me about something. Probably where I'm from and the other questions I'm generally asked. But I've got a few questions of my own and hopefully those in charge can answer them.'
"So...was that your first time being teleported by pony magic?" the guard asked Steve, who nodded in response when he noticed that the other doors in the hallway seemed to be cell doors. "I could tell; most ponies pass out after being teleported for the first time. But after that you kinda get used to it."
"So those blasts the unicorn fired at me back there were magic and not another form of energy," Steve confirmed, getting a nod from the guard as they moved out of the prison area. Steve's eyes widened slightly beneath the mask when they entered a huge cavern that was covered in roots and branches, with what looked like the base of a massive tree resting overhead. There were also hundreds of ponies walking around while doing different tasks, but each one stopped to stare at the strange creature in their midst that some of them hadn't even heard of.
"Calm down everypony, he's with me. Taking him to see the three in charge," the guard explained to those that had drawn weapons at the sight of the Captain, but Steve observed that not one of them lowered their weapons at the explanation. Another fact the Captain noticed, was that the ponies in the root-infested cavern all had looks in their eyes that reminded him of the soldiers with whom he had served a lifetime ago, telling him far more than the guard had.
"So, how long have you been at war?" His words spooked the guard, who glanced back at the Captain with a look of uncertainty.
"Sorry, I'm not really supposed to say anything to you until you meet the big three. They'll answer your questions." Steve wanted to push further and have answers then, but he decided that it wouldn't help him any to make enemies here as well. So the two walked on in silence, leaving the Captain to observe the ponies in the rooms made of crystal as they walked. All of them had sad, weary looks in their eyes, even the few foals that he found. "Um, we're here."
Steve looked up to see a large door that had two heavily armored guards on either side of it. Both gave him unfriendly glares. His escort nodded to the guard as he opened the door for the Captain, who walked inside of the room to find two ponies studying a map and talking with one another. One of the ponies was orange and had a purple mane that slightly tumbled out from beneath her helmet, while the other was an yellowish color in overalls and had a braided red mane sticking out from beneath her cowboy hat. He also noticed that they both had marks on their flanks as well, one being an airplane while the other was a wrench.
"Excuse me, I believe you wanted to speak with me?" Cap said, making the two aware to his presence. They both turned to face him before both their eyes went wide with shock, immediately looking at his shield before looking up at the face of the Captain.
"Well, ah'll be damned. He really is as strange as they said he was," the yellow one muttered with awe while she began to walk up to him, eyes glued to the shield as she did so. "And ya really used this to slice the head off one of those gargoyle monsters?"
"He didn't leave me many other options. It was him or me," Steve informed her, but the second mare walked up with a smirk on her face that made the Captain uneasy.
"Are you kidding me? We've been trying to figure out how to kill one of those damned monsters forever," she exclaimed with a laugh while she too walked up to the shield, knocking her hoof against it before nodding. "Yep, that's made of a metal I've never heard before. Gotta be how he managed to take down so many of Sombra's damned goons."
"I hate to interrupt, but I'm at a bit of a loss here," Steve interrupted, drawing both mares' attention towards him. "It's clear that there's a war going on and it's clear that things here are bad, but other than that I don't know anything else. Who is this Sombra, who are the two of you, and can I please know where I am?"
"Easy questions. Ah got this," the mare with the accent said to her friend before pointing to a shredded poster on the wall, one that Cap discovered looked almost identical to the one he found in the prison. "That's Sombra, the one with the green eyes. He's one of the five villains that rule Equestria. That...was the name of where you are now."
"So, he took over your world and killed the heroes that at one time protected you," Steve pieced together, getting sad nods from the pair.
"Eeyup. And there wasn't anything we could do to stop him," the mare with the cowboy hat seethed before shaking her head and giving a small smile up at the Captain. "But enough about the past, ah think it's time we introduced ourselves. Mah friend here and ah are two of the three ponies that founded the Crusaders. We're the group that fights against the evil as best we can. Ah'm Applebloom."
"Scootaloo. Loving the outfit by the way," she said with a smirk at the red, white, and blue. "We were planning on busting out those ponies ourselves, but then we hear word of some freak in a costume beating up the guards and crushing the gargoyles. Sent in our best retrieval agent as fast as we could to get all of you out. She's the third member."
Before Steve could ask where the third member was, the door to the office got kicked open and the white mare with the cloak walked inside with an angry look on her face.
"I've got the ponies we freed from the prison down in the basement waiting to be interrogated," she informed the other two in a cold voice before glancing up at the Captain, seemingly noticing him for the first time. And as the Captain looked down at her, he found she had a purple and pink mane that was cut short...along with a bloody battle axe on her flank. "What are you looking at?"
"We were just introducing ourselves here to the...guy who helped free all of those ponies from the prison," Applebloom explained while she walked up beside the white pony. "Yer the only one left that has to be introduced."
"Fine," she said with a glare before turning her attention to the Captain. "Nice to met ya, freak. I'm the third of the Crusaders' leaders and you'll be sure to remember that before the day is out. Call me Belle."
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The grown up Cutie Mark Crusaders are the leaders of the resistance? Well I'll be damned...
Applebloom and Scootaloo seem to have grown a little more maturer. But it seems Sweetie Belle has grown cold and bitter and is only going by her last name. Looks like losing her sister must've hit her pretty bad.
Yikes what happened to poor Sweetie here? She has gone from cute clumsy girl to fricking hard case here. Nice to see the rest of the crusaders are still pretty much the same. Wondering how long it was between Shining sent the letter and when Cap arrived? Looking forward to the next chapter.
6549531 Somehow, given their spoiler tags on this, I had a feeling that they might be the leaders of the Resistance against Sombra and whoever the other four tyrants are.
As to that last sentence, I'm thinking that you're right.
Although if that is the case, what about Apple Bloom and Scoots? They lost their big sisters, too, and I don't see them copping a 'tude with Cap.
Now, as to my own observarions:
Ohhh, Sombra. How ignorant and stupid can you be?
But Cap's going to enlighten you on your ignorance; you just don't know it yet.
Never, never, ever underestimate your enemy.
Especially when that enemy's name is Captain America.
As to this bit:
Good grief., what happened to Sweetie?!
Huh adult CMC? That's new.
Pice of advice. When you opnent can stand against Mad Titan or Doom and not even flinch your attitude is preaty usless.
6549561 Well put.
Somehow, I don't think that Cap's gonna be any too impressed with Belle's attitude.
Especially when he went through a war even more brutal than the one going in Equestria back in the day.
And her Cutie Mark! Yikes!
Grumpy Belle is best Belle
6549561 well give a long sappy speech against them before they totally destroy you anyway.
Is Deadpool going to show up in this story eventually as Cap's
partn-ally-someone there who's more focused on killing enemies than turning on Cap?I mean with the deck stacked SO far against Cap (elements and princesses dead, villains with powerful magic and armies teamed up all against a super-strong/agile "ordinary" human who doesn't even have a gun), that's not "raising the stakes" it's more like moving the gorram goalposts which is NOT a good writing strategy. Plus with how dark this story is getting, Wade's Pinkie-esque randomness would provide MUCH needed levity lest this story go full grimdark (NEVER go full grimdark).
Just a suggestion from a concerned fan who's getting worried about how your more recent stories are losing the levity and fun that we loved in your earlier work. Seriously, go watch the Three Cornetto Trilogy or something funny before you go full-on grimdark.
media.makeameme.org/created/YOU-HAD-MY.jpg
6549565
6549664
Nah his speech will change their attitude and they maybe revert to more..... hmm canonicnal characters.
And is it me or Bell is now follower of him?
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/c/c4/Khorne_by_alexboca.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140603022205
6549866 Well, good. Glad to hear it.
Though I can't believe that he'll have it all that easy, given what she ... and by extension everypony else in Equetria ... has been through up to this point.
And I dunno. Who is it?
6549905
Khorne, also called the Blood God and the Lord of Skulls, is the Chaos God of Blood, War and Murder. His domain covers the most basic and brutal of sentient emotions and actions, such as hate, anger, rage, war and killing. Every act of killing or murder in the material universe gives Khorne power; the more senseless and destructive, the better. However, though Khorne is the God of bloody slaughter, he is also the God of martial pride and honour, of those who set themselves against the most dangerous foes and earn victory against the odds. A devotee of Khorne is as likely to be an honourable champion in combat as a blood-crazed slaughterer. Khornates take no artful approach to killing, seeking only to slay rather than to inflict pain, because while the blood of their victims strengthens Khorne, their suffering actually empowers his nemesis Slaanesh. The name "Khorne" derives from his name in Chaos' daemonic Dark Tongue, Kharneth, meaning "Lord of Rage" or "Lord of Blood"
Lovely fellow no? And in terms of power he is like Minor Hell Lord in Marvel. Like really really minor.
So it seems that this story's war began before the last ep. with cmc as they have different marks than in the show
6549953 Ah, okay. Thanks for the info, hun.
Oh, yeah, real lovely.
Oh look Cap met up with a bunch of freedom fighters looking to depose the tyrants who conquered them. So this is basically France round two for him isn't it?
Sweetie Belle? What happened? This is getting more and more unpredictable by the minute!
Bloody ax hmm? Sweetie Bell your pissed off as hell. Would've thought Applebloom would've been the angriest. I love when things are unpredictable, but make sense. Please continue this art.
So were those goons made of special magic stone or just... you know.. stone?
If the CMC are aged up in this story, then you know things are bad in Equestria. Here's hoping Steve can help them and the rest of the ponies anyway he can.
Great update and please do keep up the good work upon such a great tale.
... Sweetie is going to get hated on hard by comic fans, and just disappointment from fans of the show for her attitude to a guy who chose to come help them out, even if he is late to the party. Now, onto why I am fine with it. She grew up with her sister being a hero, only for her to die, possibly in front of her, and then out of nowhere comes this new guy who goes and does something difficult like it's Tuesday morning and nothing is wrong. She is going to resent the hell out of him. Her sister is dead because, to her mind, no one would help or risk the possibility of death to help a known and publicly acclaimed and lauded hero save them all.
I wonder... Would Cap be able to use pressure point attacks on a species he doesn't know? (and if not would his advanced brain make him learn to quickly anyway?) I feel like Steve is strong enough to break stone even without his shield. If that dude can break down steel locked doors then a statues head is definitely coming off.
6550013
Maybe... but without D-Day coming... or even the Soviets...
I'm amused at all this apparent expectation that Sweetie should know who she's dealing with right off the bat.
6549953
Hard to equate the Chaos Gods of 40k into Marvel. The Chaos Gods are literally ideas made flesh. So in raw power, possibly weaker, but I'm pretty sure you can't "kill" one without killing all sapient life in the 40k universe and thus wiping out the Warp.
Well.....this is awkward.....
Sweetie Bell...? Ooohhh... My heart just broke a little. How could you?
~Dollars.
5 villains, of which only 3 are tagged. I'm curious to see if the final 2 are corrupted forms of a certain Sun & Moon since we haven't officially seen them dead, yet.
great story so far but you definitly gotta bring at least another super power to help out cap im all for iron man or thor as iron man could easily BUILD a portal and thor can probably open one with asgardian tech/magic
Wow Sweetie Belle is different.
I don't think I like her like this.
6551528 No, if Cap gets help it needs to be Bucky. If anything that way Bucky and Belle can be angry at Steve's antics together.
Congratulations! You've successfully put a fic in dark/apocalyptic times and managed to not make Sweetie a cyborg! I am really starting to get sick of people referencing Sweetie Bot at every conceivable opportunity. Good job not doing that here.
In other news, looks like Sombrero missed a few family members. Wonder who else we think is dead yet lives in the shadows?
Quick question. Have you seen the Captain America from the animated ultimate avengers movie? It had elements from the ultimate universe but was still very similar to 616.
6549561 Actually, she managed to put Caps down, so, she have something to back up her words.
6552426
I saw it. Not bad.
Sweetie Belle is HARDCORE!
Promising story so far. I tend to avoid darker stories but this one seems to keep the lid on the worst of it. Let's see where this is going. I'll track this for now.
Takes some balls to start a fic off with most of the important ponies dead! I wasn't expecting that lol. I kind of like this angle, assuming ofc there are more pones than the CMC left and the author isn't gonna go totally OC crazy on us, heh. Apple Bloom or Scootaloo usually get the grizzled hard-ass transformation in dark fics, so its nice to see Sweetie Belle get the gore cutie mark for a change. Bonus points for a flashback chapter depicting Rarity's horrible death!
Twilight got Vaderized, right?
btw , "metahuman" is definitely a DC universe term, so that counts as a typo. (although if Fox keeps screwing with Marvel Films much longer, we might see the end of "mutants" for good...)
6542743
From Marvel's official wiki:
Yeah that's what I thought. Not "superhuman" but clearly a step above Peak Human.
Oh fuck this story is my top 3 favorite now just from the introductions to the Resistance (Crusaders).
Quite the arrogant type.
Hmm....interesting.
Glad to know that we are not reading about a group of unrealistically pacifist ponies this time. Those always annoy the hell out of me.
Not exactly imaginative, but okay.
Convenient.
O.O Oh boy.
Well. I did not really expect the CMC to be older in this fic. Plus, I love stories where the good guys are the rebels fighting against an evil empire. Well, on to the next one.
"Because being 'Sweet' doesn't keep you alive for long here"
CUTIE MARK CURSADERS REBEL LEADERS YAY!
So at one point were all those gaurds blank flanks as well? Then once the war started all the Cutie Mark Cursader branches formed a giant rebel group?
Also how'd did Scootaloo get an airplane cutie mark?!? Did Equestria gone all high tech?
Apple bloom with a wrench is a bit of a surprise considering that all the Apples before her had an apple related mark.
And what's with the not-so-Sweetie Belle mark?
Damn...
6549531
No they are damned
6549565
I hope so that he doesn't writes Cap in a way that makes him look like he would be affected by the squeacky terror.
6549694
HHhhhmm to be honest I kind of hoped he would join to later, or any other hero.
I mean I don't completely belive that no one else is interessted in the portal or whatever problem and it sounded like they were several enemies the ponies could do nothing about (even one enemie alonge).
This is like Hulk VS. the world instead of Hulks super power being downgraded to Captain Americas abilities.
6551684
yes I kind of get sick of recycled ideas too, at least if it happens to often.
I was suprised by Sweetebelle making it sound like they would think of the ponies they rescued as potential enemies.