//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: The Reveal // Story: From the Ashes // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Equis, Equestrian Badlands Seated in the flying carriage the pegasus guards pulled towards their destination, both the Avengers and the Elements of Harmony had to admit that Cadence and Shining Armor's description of the Badlands was proving to be accurate. The place was a barren expanse of loose earth, stretching out to the horizon in every direction, with no vegetation in sight, not even a single weed. There wasn't any wildlife, unless there was an Equestrian Death Worm burrowing below the surface (Twilight hoped that wasn't the case). Why anypony would want to work out here, they'd never know. Since they could fly, Tony, Vision, Thor, Sam, and Rainbow had opted to simply follow alongside the carriage. The remaining Avengers, Elements of Harmony (excluding Fluttershy, who wasn't really a combat sort of pony, and Dr. Banner), and Starlight sat quietly in the vehicle. Twilight had opted not to use her wings, as she was so much more accustomed to not having them, and using them to fly super long distances, with the exception of emergencies, made her feel a little anxious. Illogical, sure, but it wasn't a massive issue. She thought back to their departure. She felt a bit of guilt for leaving Spike behind, considering he loved adventures, but she reminded herself that he was still a child. Allowing him to risk his life for the thrill would just be irresponsible. What wasn't so easily moved past was Celestia, who'd once again displayed the apprehensive attitude, telling the ponies (Twilight in particular) that she was under no obligation to go on this mission. She certainly felt like she was, considering the Avengers had been dragged to a planet where they knew nothing. They'd protected Ponyville, the least she could do was aid them. Celestia was rapidly becoming a weight on Twilight's mind. She'd never acted this way previously. Sure, she'd shown normal concern for Twilight's well-being, especially as a filly. There was a reason Twilight saw Celestia as a second mother. Once the Elements had been regained, her friends had become priorities for the solar princess, too. But this was on a completely different level. It was as though Celestia was actively trying to convince Twilight not to get involved, thankfully without trying to coerce her in some way. The situation was far too troubling. Twilight promised herself that she'd have a long talk with her mentor, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. The Avengers onboard sat just as quietly as the ponies, though with their differences. Sitting next to Steve, Applejack was in the perfect position to notice that he shot quite a few glances at Bucky, filled with concern. Starlight and Pinkie could tell that Wanda was quite tense, fiddling with the red magic from her hands almost constantly. Natasha was still as a statue, looking ahead of her, without focusing on anything in particular. Rarity had opened her mouth a few times to engage the woman in conversation, but her nerves failed her. T'Challa and Scott were the only ones who seemed to be truly at ease. The king had asked Twilight a few questions concerning Equestrian royalty, in an effort to satisfy his own curiosity, while Scott was laid back, trying to keep up some "team spirit." Finally, the Ant-Man decided to relieve some of the tension. "So, who's ready to kick butt?" he asked, throwing his hand up into the air. Applejack gave a brief chuckle. "Shame ya can't fly with Rainbow, sugar cube," she noted. "She'd eat that kinda stuff up." "I certainly would put it more eloquently, darling," chimed in Rarity. Nonetheless, she raised her hoof. "But, I suppose I must agree." "Then we get to save everypony in a giant team-up! Won't that be fun?!" asked Pinkie, giving Wanda a slap on the back with one hoof. "And then after that I throw a big giant 'Welcome Avengers' party in Ponyville and we can eat cupcakes and talk about awesome adventures and plan our next team up doesn't that sound amazing?!" "Well...I guess," responded the Sokovian, unsure of how to react to the seemingly inexhaustible pony. She looked to Steve. "Believe me, I don't get it either," said the Captain. Twilight turned to the remaining two Avengers, Barnes and Romanoff, neither of whom had spoken since they got on board. "So," she started, hoping she could make at least one of them a little calmer. "Miss Romanoff, why do—" Natasha held up a hand, and the entire carriage went quiet. The ponies knew very little about the woman beyond her code name, but they could tell from a simple look that she was not someone to be trifled with. Steve hadn't bothered trying to get her to talk, knowing she would do so when she needed to. "Just Natasha, Princess Twilight," the former assassin insisted. "Look, it's nothing personal, but I do better if I can have total peace before a mission. It's better if I don't talk." "Well, if you're sure," replied the lavender alicorn. At least the woman was polite about it. Sure, she was still intimidating, but maybe there was a softer person who just wasn't visible at the moment. With that thought in mind, Twilight turned to Bucky. She hadn't been sure what to make of the man, given that the only words he'd spoken since his arrival were his name and title. She took a keen interest in his bionic arm, wondering how it compared with prosthetic limbs in Equestria. However, Barnes himself revealed practically nothing to observers. He was sitting completely still, his mismatched arms folded, and his eyes closed, not moving a muscle. Twilight opened her mouth to ask him a question, oblivious to Applejack's tapping on her shoulder in order to stop her. Thankfully, Twilight was interrupted by the Royal Guards pulling the carriage. "We're here!" The carriage descended, coming to a comfortable, sliding stop on the dirt. Unnoticed once again by Twilight, Applejack breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Her inquiries forgotten, Twilight enveloped the door handle with her magic, pushing it open to let the sun in. The five ponies, alongside the five Avengers, climbed out, meeting those who'd flown the whole way. The Badlands Shrine wasn't much to look at. Coming to a height of, at most, two stories, the building was a circular structure composed of old, tanned brick. The building's interior couldn't have been much bigger than the Golden Oaks Library height wise. It stretched about half as long as Twilght's castle to the sides. A longer tower jutted out from the center of the circle, though there were no windows or balconies, leaving one to wonder at its purpose. There were no signs of recent activity, much less the raising of an army. "This is their evil headquarters?" asked Rainbow, voicing the thoughts most of the group had in their minds. "Any heat signatures, Tony?" asked Vision. The eyes of Tony's armor glowed red briefly, before a white spark flashed across the lenses. They then returned to their normal blue color. "Magic's throwing off the sensors," he answered. "We really need to get that fixed, Twilight." "Later," replied the princess. "Okay," said Scott, nervous, "who wants to go into the obviously-not-a-trap fir—" Ant-Man's words cut off as a massive wall of pure black energy sprang up behind the group. Before a move could be made, the wall of force lurched forward, shoving the ponies, humans, Asgardian, and synthezoid straight into the shrine, where the fell into a massive heap of bodies. Black flames burst around the entryway, barring any exit. The mismatched team released a collective groan. "Well, this is a fine mess we're in." "This definitely wasn't on my bucket list." "So undignified..." "Yeah, cause that's our biggest problem, Rares." "Who's hand is on my back?" "Sorry! I think it got knotted with Falcon's!" "Can anypony reach my mane? My emergency stash of cupcakes is falling out!" "What?! How did you even fit those in there?!" "QUIET!" yelled Twilight, silencing all the voices as she ignited her horn. A magenta glow enveloped the entire group, before the alicorn released a blinding flash of white light. As it faded, the entire team was left floating in midair, back in their upright positions, no longer tangled in a mass of limbs. Twilight took a deep breath, lowering everyone to the floor telekinetically, setting them on their feet, and relaxing her magic. "Thank you, Princess Sparkle," said T'Challa. "You're welcome," replied the alicorn. The team took a look around their new surroundings. The shrine's interior was relatively unremarkable, consisting of a dome shaped chamber, with a center path way leading up to a stage platform. Four support pillars stood in the corner areas. The stage help the crumbling remains of what might've once been an alter. There had once been a spiral staircase leading up the central tower, but it had decayed with time. Very little light filtered into the shrine, though the darkness looked suspiciously unnatural. Twilight cast her gaze around. "Now where—" "Right here!" Twilight's head whirled around to the left side of the chamber to face the sound of the new voice. A yellow bolt of pure magic would have hit her right between the eyes, had Natasha not shoved her to the ground just before it impacted. The sound of cloven hooves stomping reached everyone's ears, as Phobos stepped out of the shadows. "Welcome to your nightmare, Avengers!" he cackled, raising his staff. "Ignore my boorish brother, please," said Deimos, emerging from the opposite side. "He embarrasses us all." "Hey, take that back!" spat Phobos. "Silence," spat a new voice coming from the alter. All present drew their attention to it, when a flash of black light appeared. The light faded, revealing a large ram, covered with dark gray hair, with glowing red eyes, and a bell around his neck. "Both of you are causes for our humiliation as long as you speak." "And just who the hoof are you?" demanded Rainbow. The ram chuckled to himself. "I am Grogar, the Necromancer," the ram chuckled. "And I must thank you, Princess Sparkle, for failing to realize you, your friends, and the Avengers were walking into such an easily laid trap." "Yeah, 'cause none of us saw this coming," Tony snorted. "I take it you're the one who concocted this scheme?" demanded Thor, thrusting his hammer at the ram. "Oh, no," Grogar replied. "That would be our master." He pointed with one cloven hoof, indicating a seemingly deserted spot near the wall. As Twilight looked closer, however, she noticed that the shadows of the area seemed unnaturally dark, as though the darkness itself was pooling in the area. A rush of familiar fear sprang into her being, and she prayed that she was wrong. The alicorn's hopes were quickly dashed, as the shadows began to actually move, snake-like. The blackness slithered across the floor, curving its way around the tightly packed group of humans and ponies. It crept up to the top of the alter, behind Grogar, before pooling into a circular shape once more, stopping in its tracks. A solid shape began to emerge from the depths of the darkness. It was covered in the shadows, but the silhouette was unmistakably pony-like. Judging from the size, a stallion, possibly bigger than Shining Armor. The four legs stuck out on all sides, planting the equine body firmly on the ground. Then the darkness began to drip off of the body, revealing its true form to all present. Twilight couldn't stop herself from gasping. He looked the same as he had back then. His royal red robe was gone, but the the gleaming silver armor he wore remained, covering his chest and legs. His flank was exposed, although he had no Cutie Mark on the grey fur. His constantly swishing mane, almost looking like it was composed of black fire, remained, and a long tail joined it. The curved, blood-red horn jutted out from his head once more, and the familiar silver crown remained. "SOMBRA?!" Twilight screamed. The dark unicorn cackled, revealing the sharp fangs in his mouth. The sound was deep, almost like the hunting growls of a wild animal, and sent shivers down Twilight's spine. Some of the Avengers were affected as well, notably Scott. "You didn't truly believe the power of the Crystal Heart could finish me, did you, Princess Sparkle?" Sombra laughed. "And it's King Sombra to you." "You know this idiot?" asked Sam. "I remember him," Thor interrupted, clutching Mjölnir. "He's a mad dictator who conquered the Crystal Empire. When he was defeated, he placed a curse on it out of spite, casting it and its citizens out of reality for over one-thousand years." "Ah, Thor, it's always a pleasure," said Sombra. "You've certainly found a larger number of buffoons to keep you company since we last met." "You know, if you're tying to intimidate us, it's not working," said Natasha. "How're you back, Sombra?" demanded Applejack, keeping her head low in an aggressive stance. "We watched the crystal ponies obliterate you!" "Yes..." admitted the king, clenching his teeth and his legs, remembering a long-past agony. "I won't deny, that was quite painful. Remind me to visit that baby dragon of yours after I kill you, Princess Twilight." Twilight's eyes narrowed, fury filling them, but she didn't speak. "My body was ripped to shreds, yes, but I'm sure you remember, I was turned to shadow. My body no longer acts the same way as any normal pony body. This gem," he indicated his curved horn, "remained intact, and with it, my consciousness. All it took for me to rebuild my entire body was time." "Ooh! So does that mean that every part of you regrows into a new Sombra? Like if we broke you into tiny pieces every one would grow into a new tiny Sombra and then—" Pinkie's seemingly endless stream of words was cut off by Wanda's red magic, forcing her lips back together. The Sokovian gave her an apologetic look. "My apologies, Pinkie," said Wanda. "This is just...important." "Thank you for saving me the trouble, Miss Maximoff," laughed Sombra. "My method would've been considerably more messy." Everyone snapped their focus to him at that. The Avengers had been getting into fighting stances, preparing for the inevitable smack-down, but now all their attention was brought to the king. "So you know our names?" asked Vision. "Of course! What kind of king would not verse himself in the facts of his enemies?!" Sombra cackled. "I know so much about you, Avengers. When I sent Phobos and Deimos to your planet, I knew you'd try to follow. I've studied you long enough to prepare for all of you!" "Okay, I'm getting a little tired of this," groaned Tony, arming his repulsors, pointing them at the king. "Just hand over our stuff, and we can get this over with." Steve ignored his comrade, stepping forward with his shield prepped. "What are you planning?" he demanded. "Why'd you steal Earth technology?" "Oh, I wouldn't worry yourself, Captain," responded Sombra. "In a few moments, all that will be behind you." He nodded to Grogar. A devilish grin spread across the Ram's face, as his horns ignited with a black glow. The bell around his neck was caught in the magical grip, before wiggling slightly, then it began to swing. But instead of the light metal tinkling everyone expected of the small device, the bell released a hollow booming sound, like the echo of a gong in the distance. Pure black magic began to gather inside the bell, swelling like water drops off a faucet, until it dripped out of the bottom. Instead of pooling, the magic seeped into the ground, then began to spread. Black veins inflated across the dry dirt, before focusing their energy on specific points. In a process that took seconds, the previously clear chamber was dotted with circles of darkness. Then the monstrosities began forcing their way up. It was similar to the way Sombra had reformed his body, but somehow worse. Hooves and legs, formed of pure darkness, punched their way out from under the ground, though no dirt was displaced. It was like the dark creatures were phasing through the ground from below. These legs were followed by head and bodies, eventually revealing the beings as what could very loosely be called ponies. The mockeries of ponies were composed completely of darkness, and the Elements of Harmony were reminded of Luna's Tantabus. Unlike the dream monster, these beings had no starry, night sky appearance, but rather looked like holes in the light of reality. Their eyes were white, but there was nothing present in the ivory orbs. Rather, they were windows into the hollow shells these pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony things truly were. With his army assembled, Sombra gave an approving nod to Grogar, who relayed a simple command. "Attack. Kill."