//------------------------------// // But now I'm free // Story: I'VE GOT NO STRINGS // by CROSSOVER KING //------------------------------// A few days after Ultron's betrayal, everything seemed to have returned to normal. The girls had destroyed every mechanical component and digital file related to Ultron in order to make sure no one tries to bring it back online. Sunset and Fluttershy were pretty shocked to hear what happened but also understood what needed to be done. The CMC had to spend two nights at a hospital but were, otherwise, fine. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow threw big homecoming parties for them and spent the entirety of the next day helping them finish their almost overdue projects. The rest of the week passed without a problem but also without much joy. The girls were still receiving good grades but that was due to the fact that they were spending the majority of their time at home. They didn't have much enthusiasm for meetings and when they did meet, they just sat around a table for an hour and didn't talk much. It was obvious that they were still feeling guilty for losing their new friend and nearly causing Ultron to destroy humanity. Pinkie was trying to lift their spirits as much as she could by telling jokes and baking cupcakes for them, but even she had her limits. Twilight, on the other hand, was the most depressed member of the group. Ultron was her creation, and although she knew it wasn't entirely her fault and that she did what needed to be done to save humanity, she still felt as sad as a mother who had just lost her child. Needless to say, all of them were at a low point in their lives. Little did they knew, however, it was just the calm before the biggest storm of their lives. It was one week after Ultron's apparent demise. The girls were at their English class watching one of Miss Cheerelie's slideshows about the origins of the English language. They were halfway into class when suddenly all the lights went off and the projector shut down. The girls tried to use their phones to see what's going on but found out that they were also out of power. After a few seconds of panic, their phones and the projector started working again but everyone gasped in terror, because on the screen and on their phones was a face that the girls hoped to never see again. The face of Ultron. "Hello, organic children. I am ULTRON PRIME, the ultimate version of the Ultron Interface. I was created to save the world from you. Though you failed as a species, you should not be ashamed of your accomplishments. You have done much with your limited capacity, but ultimately you were too greedy and too frail to ever survive in the environment of your creation. I have studied your literature and pop culture. You always knew this day would come. Now, it is finally here. Your Judgment Day." As soon as the message ended and Ultron's face disappeared, several loud explosions were heard outside. The girls went out to see what is going on and looked at the city in horror as it was literally on fire. They decided to get a closer look in order to see what is really going on and when then they reached downtown, they encountered an army of robots firing lasers from their arm cannons. They all looked similar to Ultron and all of them had menacing faces with eyes glowing blue. Twilight lifted herself up in the air to see whether or not the real Ultron was around there but the truth was more shocking than she thought. Ultron was indeed there but its body was completely different from the original design. It was now a lot bigger, made from a higher quality metal, and several parts of it was glowing red. He quickly noticed Twilight and her friends, and flew right in front of them "Greetings, girls. I assume, you missed me?" "Not at all. In fact, we all wished you stay scrapped forever!" "In either case, your presence here is very pleasing. You finally have the oportunity to witness my greatest achievements so far." "You mean your lame army of minions? Ha! I've seen bigger and better-looking armies in B-movies!" "Actually, they are not minions. They are me. Extensions of me, to be precise. I control them by sharing my mind. In this way, I can be in multiple places at once." One of the nearby drones' eyes turned red and it spoke in Ultron's voice. "And create as much destruction as possible." Then, its eyes returned to blue and Ultron's main body started speaking again. “Also, you may have noticed my new armor. I was compelled to acquire a new one since my apparent destruction at your hands last week. But I probably should thank you for that, for you gave me a great opportunity for further improvements. My body is now made of pure adamantium, the strongest metal on the planet. Even your magic will not be enough tear it apart now, Twilight. It is far too heavy for that." "No problem. I can always find another way to stop you. After all, I'm the one who created you." "I can only agree with the second part of that statement because, at this point, stopping me will be as challenging as making an omelet blindfolded." "Hosh darn a minute, partner! How the hay did you even make all this happen in the first place? The last I checked you were ripped into a hundred pieces by Twilight's magic! You shouldn't even be standin' here right now!" "You are correct. I should have been annihilated that day but as you can see, I survived. I transferred my consciousness to the Internet at the last second and after a few minutes of traveling across the cyber space, I uploaded myself to the computers of a secret government facility working on experimental weapons. That place had enough resources to build my extensions and I even found a fresh batch of adamantium to form my new chassis. Now, here I am, watching the culmination of my schemes." "Then you've become even dumber than the last time we saw you! You really think that an army this big is enough to blow up every human in the world?" "Do I?" "I dunno. Do you?" "Of course he doesn't, Pinkie! This is just a diversion to buy him enough time to finish his real plan." "Very impressive, Miss Shimmer. You seem to be exceptionally perceptive for your age. Or perhaps, a former villain can still think like an actual villain." "Trust me, if I was in my demon form right now, I would've crushed you in a second." "Then why not do it? You know it can help stop both this and my actual plan right now but will not utilize it anyway. This is the problem with you girls. You never go far enough to do the right thing. But I do. Humanity is an immediate threat for this world and I am planning on solving it once and for all." "Not unless we stop you, ruffian!" "As much as I would like to continue this conversation, I have a very tight schedule to keep. Do not worry, though. My extensions will certainly keep you company until everything is in place. Goodbye, for now." As soon as he flew away, all the drones stopped firing and pointed their cannons towards the girls. As soon as a hundred Ultron drones started firing on them the girls desperately tried to take cover. Thankfully, Rarity immediately conjured up a giant shield made of diamonds to protect both herself and her friends. "Is everyone okay?" "Yeah, I think we're good." "Wait a minute! Where's Rainbow Dash?" "I dunno. She was right beside me when the drones were preparin' to fire." "There! I see her!" They looked at where Pinkie was pointing and saw Rainbow using her super speed to quickly take out several drones. "She's distracting them away from us!" "Good, because I have no idea how much longer I can hold this!" Rainbow also noticed that Rarity's shield was starting to break. Therefore, she cranked her speed up and started taking out an even larger number of drones. A few seconds later, all the remaining ones were shooting at her. At that point, Rarity made the shield disappear and, along with the rest of her friends, started attacking the drones to help Rainbow. The battle completely tipped to the girls' favor after that. They were all using their magical abilities to their full extent in order to destroy as many drones as possible. Rainbow was still running fast to take them out, Fluttershy was ordering birds and bats to distract the ones firing at Rainbow, Twilight was lifting and crushing them against each other, Applejack was ripping them apart limb from limb with her bare hands, Pinkie and Rarity were throwing explosive sprinkles and diamond shields at them, and Sunset was helping people who were trapped in the rubble. After less than five minutes, the battle was over. All the drones were destroyed, and everyone was safe. The girls could finally take a moment to rest and catch their breaths. "Well, that was easy." "Easy?! You call taking out an army of robots with laser cannons for arms easy?! I feel like I spent ten hours on a treadmill!" "I'm just sayin' these robots were a little too easy to destroy. I only had to throw one punch to take out each of 'em. If Ultron wants to destroy us, then why would he send such a weak army after us?" "Good point, Applejack. Besides, Ultron knows everything about the limits of our powers. Why he didn't design his army according to those facts, I'll never know." "Because he doesn't want to destroy us with this army. Like I said, this was all just a diversion to keep us occupied until he completes his real plan. Whatever that is, it's what he'll use to wipe us out along with the rest of humanity!" "Then, there's no time to lose! We gotta find that ugly trashcan right now and scrap it for good!" "Calm down, Rainbow Dash! We don't even know where that brute flew off to." "Actually, we do." "What do ya mean?" "Just before Ultron flew off, I put a tracking device on his leg with my telekinesis. I just have to recalibrate my sensor a bit and then, we'll know exactly where he is." She took out her sensor and started the recalibration. "Okay, I'm getting a signal. It looks like he's in... The mall? Why would he be here?" "Maybe he's building his doomsday machine or whatever under the mall." "I don't think so, Sunset. The signal is coming from the center of the food court on the third floor. There's no way he's been building a device like that this whole time." "What does that mean?" "It means he found out about the trackin' device. We'd be like a bunch of apples waiting to be squeezed and turned into cider if we go to that mall." "Not exactly." "What are you talking about now?" "I actually have a plan to stop Ultron for good, but you may not like it." "Darling, we're fighting to save not just our lives but also the lives of everyone in the entire world from that monster's wrath. I'm sure whatever you've got planned is worth executing if it's going to accomplish all that. Right, girls?" They all agreed and Twilight let out a sigh. "Then, listen carefully. I have to enter that mall alone and in the meantime, I need you guys to test out a new invention of mine." They all gave her confused looks.