Leipzig, Germany
Leipzig Airport
3:13 p.m.
The first thing Steve Rogers noticed was Rainbow Dash flying by his right, offering a quick salute to him and Bucky. The next thing he noticed was the golden beam of raw, unhindered energy impacting the building overlooking the hangar bay, the entire structure collapsing right across the hangar’s entrance.
And, naturally, the next thing he noticed was the familiar red haze of energy covering the building, preventing it from hitting the ground. Looking back, Steve could see two things: one being the Vision hovering in the far-off distance, his forehead dimming. The next was Wanda Maximoff, her arms outstretched, palms lit up a brilliant bright ruby. It was no doubt Vision’s act to stop them, Wanda’s act to help them.
He didn’t want to leave her holding on forever, so he turned back and sprinted towards the hangar. Bucky did his best to keep up, his palm always firing back to cover his wound across his stomach, but he still managed. And Rainbow Dash, somewhat mesmerized by the hovering tower, snapped out of it and took off as fast as she could, easily catching up to the Captain.
With all that Steve saw in that moment, he never did catch Starlight Glimmer galloping up behind Wanda.
Having seen all that Wanda had done, Starlight realized the only thing keeping Steve, Barnes, and Rainbow from reaching their Quinjet was the tower dangerously close from hitting the ground directly in front of the hangar’s entrance. All that kept it holding was the woman standing mere feet in front of her, her attention elsewhere, completely unaware of the unicorn that slid to a stop behind her.
Starlight didn’t wait and shot a paralysis spell at her.
The spell struck Wanda in the back, right on her spine. Screaming out, Wanda’s arms shot down, her chest arching forward, her body collapsing onto the cement. The red in her palms had instantly vanished alongside, the haze that held the tower from falling. Steve, Bucky, and Rainbow were still several yards away once the debris struck the ground, the shadow of the tower tumbling down over the entrance. Steve slid under the tower’s debris, making it inside. Bucky, however, couldn’t move as fast he wanted, drops of blood trailing behind as he tried his damnedest to push onward. Rainbow saw this, realized he wouldn’t make it on his own, and flew back for him.
With speed that surprised even Bucky, Rainbow Dash pushed herself against his backside, beating her wings so hard it almost appeared as if Bucky was flying across the ground. Just as the tower fell over them, Rainbow gave a great yelp, launching Bucky forward, collapsing and rolling on the hard cement just as he had. But that didn’t matter to her. She rolled on her back, staring up at the ceiling of the hangar bay.
They made it.
Oh, thank Celestia, they made it.
Rainbow Dash breathed in, then sighed with a well-deserved grin on her face. After all the adversity, the conflict, the war with her best friends, it was all going to be over soon. They had the Quinjet, they had the coordinates, now they just needed a straight path to Siberia and to take down the doctor. Simple. Then, the world would finally know that Bucky was innocent, that everything they’ve done today was not in vain.
One step closer to ending it all.
One step closer to going home.
Rainbow Dash got up, fluffed her wings, and galloped forward. Only to stop once again. She stood between Steve and Buck, the two men frozen in their steps, their eyes forward. Rainbow didn’t need to follow their gazes. She knew what had stopped them from reaching the Quinjet. The Widow stood right in front of her.
Natasha Romanoff breathed rather heavily, her eyes on Steve alone. Her black suit had remnants of red juice on it, probably from Pinkie, Rainbow thought. Still, Natasha wasn’t bothered by it, shaking her head to them. “You’re really not gonna stop,” she said. It sounded more like a statement than a question.
Steve just eyed her cautiously, shaking his head back to her. “I’m sorry, Nat. We have to do this.” He barely glanced at both Bucky and Rainbow, the mare turning her heated stare away from Natasha for a brief moment to catch his gaze.
Natasha just sighed. “I know.” She shot out her arm and fired a single Taser Disk, and for a moment, everyone thought she had shot it at Rainbow Dash, causing the mare to flinch and spread her wings. However—and thank goodness Rainbow didn’t fly up to dodge it—the disk flew over her head, to the entrance of the hangar where it struck the Black Panther right in his chest.
Merely a few yards away from his target, T’Challa grunted as the disk struck his chest, the electricity causing his legs to stumble, and himself, to falter. Steve, Bucky, and Rainbow shared the same exact shocked expression, facing Natasha once more. She eyed Steve, arm still outstretched, and said, “Don’t make me change my mind.”
Steve just nodded to her. The three of them took off towards the Quinjet, Natasha firing disk after disk at the king.
The Quinjet was already open for them, probably another helpful hint from Natasha. Just as they turned and reached the ramp of the Quinjet, Bucky grunted and collapsed, grasping onto his bloody wound. Both Steve and Rainbow turning back to him. “Buck!” Steve yelled, rushing back and gripping his arm. Rainbow was by his side, beating her wings as she gripped Bucky’s remaining arm.
Steve looked back, seeing as Natasha stepped away as T’Challa grew nearer, every disk of hers only preventing the inevitable. It wouldn’t be long. Turning to Rainbow, Steve said, “Get him on the Quinjet! I’ll fly us out of here!”
Rainbow nodded. “You got it!”
As Steve left her to reach the pilot’s seat, Rainbow pulled even harder, her wings a blur, as she basically dragged the man onboard. She dragged him to the nearest bench, managing to pull him up and lay him down across it. He cringed, his palms leaking the blood he tried to desperately hold in. Placing her hooves on his chest to keep him situated, Rainbow turned to Steve. “We’re on!” she called to him.
Giving a thumbs-up, Steve activated the Quinjet, the entire ship awakening. Rainbow watched as he pressed a switch, then turned back to see the ramp come up, closing and locking them inside. The ship rumbled, the mare’s eyes gazing across the walls, watching the great machine rise to life. The Quinjet began to rise up, and just as Steve fired a few rounds at the collapsed tower to give them a clear escape, Natasha ran out of Taser Disks.
Black Panther pushed right on by Natasha the second he was free from her electrical grasp. He grunted, leaping right off some lone debris and reaching out to the Quinjet from which he arrived in. His claws managed to grip the wheel of the ship, but he let go once it slid inside the belly of the Quinjet. Falling and landing gracefully on his feet, T’Challa spun around, watching as his target escaped… yet again.
And the one to blame stood right in front of him.
The traitor.
“Why?” he growled, standing up.
Natasha managed a tiny smirk his way. “Never said I’d help you catch him.”
“Stark will hear of this,” he told her, growling as he pushed past her to make his way outside. Natasha watched him crawl over the tower’s debris, leaping into the sunlight and out of sight.
She stood there. Staring. Nothing more than that.
“I know,” she mumbled to herself. No one else but herself.
On the outside of the hangar, all remaining eyes turned to the sky to watch the Quinjet take off to the clouds. Vision, standing by Starlight Glimmer as they came next to Wanda, both watched as the Quinjet grew smaller and smaller with each passing second. Wanda’s pupils followed said Quinjet, as well, her breathing soft as Vision lowered himself next to her.
As for Sam Wilson, he hovered in mid-air, his HUD zooming in on the Quinjet. He pressed down on his comms, asking, “Steve, is that you flying off?”
“Yeah, that’s us. We’re headed to the exact coordinates now and… Oh, great.”
“What is it?” Sam asked. He answered his own question soon enough when his HUD captured two streaks of light trailing behind the Quinjet, growing dangerously close as the seconds ticked away. Sam pressed on his ear, saying, “Cap, you got Stark and Rhodes on your tail! I’ll be up there soon to take ‘em out!”
Before he could, before he could even lower his hand, he was stopped. Frozen was more like it. His body tensed up, a final yell escaping him as he fell to the ground, only to be caught in a purple aura of magic. He already knew what was coming. He was turned to meet the non-too-friendly eyes of Princess Twilight Sparkle hovering right behind him.
And all he could hear was: “You’re gonna need to hurry, Sam. They’re closing in fast.”
Twilight flew to the ground, bringing him with her against his will.
“Sam, do you read me?”
She placed him gently next to Wanda, meeting the eyes of Starlight Glimmer and nodding to her. Starlight nodded back, her gazes falling on the two frozen Avengers at their hooves.
“Sam!”
Both ponies twisted their necks around, staring up at the Quinjet and the two iron men chasing it down. Sam watched, too, and couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
3:16 p.m.
Lowering his hand from his ear, Steve looked back to the pilot’s window on his right, spotting War Machine growing closer. He looked to his left, seeing Stark disappear out of his line of sight. Pushing on the thruster, Steve said, “We lost contact with Sam! I’m gonna try to shake ‘em off!”
But before he could do so, Rainbow Dash flew up to his right, gazing out the window to see War Machine disappear from her line of sight. Frowning, the mare turned back to Steve, saying, “You can’t outrun ‘em, or shake ‘em off. Open the ramp, Steve. I can deal with them.”
Steve just shook his head, his gaze focused forward, trying to keep the Quinjet steady as its speed increased greatly. Gritting his teeth, he said, “No, I need you tending to Buck. Stay back and hold onto something.”
He couldn’t turn to her to see the frown on her face. His attention was fully onwards, on controlling the ship, on managing it, and hopefully to try and keep it away from the two quickly catching up to them. What did catch his attention, however, was when Rainbow slammed her sky-colored hoof on the ramp’s switch, taking off before he could react fast enough.
“Wait, no, Rainbow!” Steve shouted, spinning around to see Rainbow fly out from the tiny gap she had between the Quinjet and the ramp’s edge. She was gone, out into the skylines and quickly towards their approaching foes. He could see Bucky gripping onto the bench with his metal palm, the strength of his hand being enough to hold him safely in place.
Grunting, Steve paused the ramp and focused forward, keeping it slightly open. Just in case.
And as for Rainbow Dash, the mare shot out her wings, already feeling the power of the wind tear across her face. She could feel the skin on her cheeks folding back, her eyes narrowing to see both Tony Stark and James Rhodes fly past her. They cast her a quick glance before facing forward once more, leaving Rainbow in their exhaust trails. Giving her little attention was a mistake, as the mare took a quick turn upwards and back to the Quinjet. In little time, she was already catching up with the two men, her speed becoming more and more like a blur as she pumped her wings, as she tightened her body, as she flew forward and passed them.
Both Stark and Rhodes turned their heads up, watching the rainbow Pegasus fly over them quicker than they had ever seen. Stark especially, having seen the mare in action before, but this was a whole other level of Rainbow Dash than he had seen before. This was whole other type of speed that he had never seen the mare attempt. She was almost like a blur, going fast enough to easily pass the Quinjet and even blow through the atmosphere if she wanted. But she didn’t. Stark realized it the moment the air cone formed around her, and the very millisecond she shot downwards.
And then the explosion happened.
A literal rainbow explosion.
It appeared in the shape of massive wave of energy spreading throughout the sky. The lights, the colors, they were bright enough to blind anyone who was too close. Thankfully for Stark and Rhodes, their suits kept them safe from its harmful rays. It was all the suits could do against it, because the next thing they knew the wave blasted through them.
Right through them.
“Tony—!” Rhodes shouted, his eyes widening as the wave engulfed not only him, but Stark as well. He could feel its power even through his War Machine armor, the ripples of energy spreading across his skin, into his bones, and throughout his suit. And it destroyed it.
Rainbow Dash looked back to see her Sonic Rainboom destroy the suits. She could see as both Stark and Rhodes, their eyes dark, their chests blackened, simply dropped. They fell right out of the sky, their bodies twisting in turning in a way that showed no signs of physical movement, at least to their own command. And Rainbow Dash gasped.
She thought her Sonic Rainboom would just knock them off-course, give Steve enough time to escape. But no. Her Sonic Rainboom was so strong it disabled their suits. She managed to slow herself to a stop mid-air, her wide and horrified eyes watching as the two men vanished through the clouds they fell through.
Tony Stark could barely see as the world flew around him. All he could really see was the whites of the clouds, the blue of the sky, and the growing green of the grassy field that was growing ever-so closer beneath them. He flinched every few seconds, grunting, “Rhodey, do you read me?!”
Nothing. Nothing but the world whistling across the dark face of his helmet.
Then just as quickly as it died, Stark’s HUD came back to life, Homer’s voice saying, “Emergency power activated. Reboot complete.”
With that given to him, Stark eyed his surroundings, pressed his palms flat, and caught himself several hundred yards above ground. He looked around, saw and felt Rhodey fall by his side, his body a twirling mess of limbs and metal. He waited a second, then realized Rhodes’ suit wasn’t built with an emergency power function. Only Stark had installed that in his own.
“Rhodey!” Tony called, taking off after him. His body flailed about, his dark eyes meeting Stark’s every now and again. But he heard nothing on the comms. Absolutely nothing. The blast was like an EMP, frying everything. Damn it all, Stark couldn’t catch up.
Using everything he had left, Stark put it in his thrusters. It still wasn’t enough. Just wasn’t enough. Stark watched as his best friend hit the earth with such power that he could actually feel the impact himself.
“Rhodes!”
Stark stumbled as he landed, pushing himself up with his palm in the dirt as he hopped into the small crater. The dust was quick to settle, allowing Tony to gaze at the broken War Machine suit lying on its back, face upwards. With his helmet sliding back, Stark reached forward and ripped off the face mask of the helmet, tossing it behind him and gasping. He expected worse, but found luck, only a mild stream of blood flowing from Rhodes’ nose. His eyes were shut, as expected, and he didn’t seem to breathe. Stark couldn’t hear much after that explosion.
Laying his metal palm on his chest, Stark just said, “Homer, give me vitals.”
His voice was shaking, his eyes darting off and back to Rhodes. Homer came back quickly, saying, “I got a heartbeat, sir. It’s faint, but he’ll live. I’ll call for emergency medical right away, sir.”
He took one of the sharpest breaths of relief he could remember, closing his eyes. He came back just as fast, keeping his palm on Rhodey’s chest, his other beneath his head. And then he stared straight ahead, waiting for medevac, doing nothing but feeling the faint, faint pulse of his best friend’s heart every few seconds. He thought he remembered seeing Vision float down to him, his worried gaze landing on Rhodes. He couldn’t remember all that well.
Because all he really did was glare at the resulting rainbow explosion that spread through the sky and pushed away the clouds. Then he could see the pony flying high above the wave of rainbows. He saw her stare for a moment longer before flying away, retreating to the Quinjet.
And Tony Stark could do nothing more than glare at her. In the state he and his best friend were in thanks to her, he could do nothing more than that.