The Mark 45 tore through the Ultron Sentries like they were paper and the suit was their scissors. It scanned quickly, through the chaos and flame and screaming and lights, it found him. Pushing forward, the suit broke apart, several pieces flying off and about. A mechanical fist flew towards the free hand.
Clint Barton’s right hand. The Hawk reared his palm backwards, noting the bright blue orb in the center as the mechanics fitted across and down his forearm.
He shot his questioning stare over to Stark.
“Don’t scratch it!” Tony shouted, the rest of the Mark 45 joining onto him.
Barton nodded, swiping his sunglasses off and firing off a repulsor blast. It mattered little to the hundred others raining down from above, its fire and flame devastating the ballroom of the Grand Galloping Gala.
In just a matter of seconds after Ultron had uttered those words, the entire wall and ceiling behind the robotic entity completely shattered, hundreds of bodies and blue lights falling downwards and attacking the crowd. It was complete and utter chaos, ponies trampling over one another just to hopefully make it out with their lives.
Celestia and Luna stood horrified, shocked, and frozen in time for the events that transpired before them. Those emotions instantly vanished the moment they heard the screams. Their wings snapped open, pushing the two airborne with horns flaring and firing off numerous beams. Sentries were sliced in half. Amongst the raining body parts, the four Elements and their guests were quick to assess the situation.
Twilight stepped forward, forelegs planted firmly into the floor. Her eyes flickered back and forth, ears twitching at every cry, at every blaster shot. She swung her neck back.
“Applejack, get Apple Bloom and her friends out of here now! Pinkie, you and Maud help clear out this room! Spike, help them! Rainbow Dash, you’re with me!” Twilight ordered, earning several nods from each mare. She turned even farther right.
“And Discord…”
The draconequus’ head appeared from behind the Smooze’s bubbly form. Twilight frowned.
He sighed, materializing next to the blob’s left. “Yes, yes, save ponies from facing a horribly agonizing death! You don’t have to spell it out!”
Per order, Applejack scooped up the three fillies and flung them onto her back, galloping her way to the exit. With the pink mare standing high and mighty atop of her, Maud stood unaffected by her little sister’s added weight. Pinkie ripped out a megaphone out of seemingly nowhere, ordering the terrified crowd to the nearest exit. Spike stood on her head, motioning the crowd with his claws. In the panicked rush, nopony knew where they were going.
Together, Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood side by side, facing the seemingly endless army spilling out from the night sky. Twilight turned her head left, noticing a confirmed nod from Dash. She spread her sky-blue wings, eyes burning with fury. Twilight complied with the same actions, facing forward.
Just one more thing…
“Avengers, I want you to—!”
And she didn’t even need to say it.
Tony Stark stood ahead of the two, twisting and turning his body as each piece of his metal suit came together, latching and locking into place, except for his right forearm. As the lower thrusters activated at the bottom of his feet, launching Stark upwards and allowing the chest plating to slam against his breast, the man performed a backflip. He landed with his left fist broken into the marble floor, his face hardened and facing straight on.
The mask fell downwards, locking. His eyes illuminated a bright blue.
Tony watched—albeit with a bit of static—as the HUD came online. It flashed red, several numbers and statistics raining across his vision. He flinched every time a blaster shot went off ahead of him. It quickly faded, the red falling into submission.
“Friday, can you hear me?”
“…Loud and clear. Welcome back, Boss.”
“It’s good to be back,” Tony quipped, standing up fully. His scanners landed on Ultron, his little doomsday weapon glaring at him from afar. He jetted forward, Ultron doing the same, and slammed into the AI. The two tumbled up above, Tony firing off a few blasts with his only remaining glove that missed Ultron and struck a few sentries.
“I’ve outgrown you!” Ultron growled, shooting forward and tackling Stark. The two continued on with their skirmish, slamming into the wall directly behind Thor.
Odinson roared. He roared as his hammer struck the face of one of the hundreds of sentries raining down and falling towards him, ripping apart his suit. He kicked, thrashed, spun, and punched his way out of the entanglement, tossing Mjølnir clear across the room and knocking off the heads of numerous sentries.
Thor took his moment of serenity to examine his suit.
He shook his head. “You ruined the suit my friend worked so very hard to complete,” Thor muttered, voice straining with anger. He held out his palm, retrieving the flying hammer. “I will be certain you all pay for that.”
“Now’s not the time to be thinking of fashion!” Steve Rogers yelped, ducking and weaving from the blue beams of energy. He slid underneath the nearest refreshment bar, quickly spinning and popping up on the other side. The group of sentries trained on him landed onto the ballroom floor, their blasters pointed at a group of innocent ponies.
They screamed. Rogers picked up the table, flung it into the air, and kicked it as hard as he could. Snacks and punch flew across the dance floor, the table as well as it connected to the three sentries standing perfectly aligned. The Gala’s civilized folk turned back, silently thanking the Captain as they ran.
Steve picked up a metal tray shaped like a circle. “Now’s the time to be clearing this room!” he shouted, lifting up the tray to deflect a brand new oncoming assault of sentry blasts. The tray did little to block out the strength of the shot, but it did its job for the time being.
That time was quickly running short. Four more sentries flew down from above, firing on the defenseless Captain.
“Barton!” Rogers shouted, doing his best to dodge the blaster beams. “Could use a little help here!”
“That’s surprising!”
One sentry fired again and again, blowing apart the tray right from the Captain’s grip. It had the soldier in its sights, dead center for a blast straight through the heart. It never got the opportunity to aim again as a repulsor beam blew its head clean off.
Two turned towards the direction of the blast, the only remaining sentry shooting forward and tackling the shaken Captain. Below, they saw Agent Barton with his right arm jutted forward, his palm a bright blue. One flew straight towards him in a dive-bomb-like tactic. It also got its head blown apart.
The final sentry landed feet in front of the assassin, swinging wildly with its left forearm. Barton ducked, jamming his knee right into the sentry’s abdomen. It reared forward. Clint grabbed the back of its head with his right hand and slammed it directly into the floor, shattering both it and the marble.
As the pool of dark liquid grew larger from the deceased sentry, Barton quickly stood back up. He observed his right hand, grinning madly and giving off a humorless chuckle.
“Damn, this feels nice.”
Steve Rogers gripped the neck of the sentry that had tackled him earlier. With a quick turn, he snapped its neck and ripped the head clean off the body. He tossed the head aside, kicking the sentry’s lifeless body onto the ballroom floor with the others.
Yep. She didn’t even need to say it.
Instead, both Princess Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned their attention to the main conflict ahead of them. Twilight considered aiding both Luna and Celestia ward off the continued onslaught of Ultron’s forces. The room still hadn’t been cleared despite the continued efforts, and she wanted to help solve that issue, truly she did. It was her top priority. Clear the room, and then stop the bad guys.
But something stopped her. Something had profusely demanded her attention so bad that not even Twilight could stand to ignore its presence. It stood pestering, wanting, so present and…venomous. She could feel it staring her straight in the face.
She could see her glaring at the both of them from across the room.
And Twilight knew who she was.
Amongst the raining bodies from Luna’s and Celestia’s return fire, Starlight Glimmer strolled past the fleeing fillies and stallions, her smile and stare latched onto the two mares ahead of her. From beyond the dance floor, both Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash watched her make her approach. And they watched with anger, shock, and worry.
Exactly what she wanted.
“Are you ready to see my dream finally come to pass, Princess Twilight?” Starlight called out as her hoof steps grew closer and closer. The frowns and glares she received were as much of a response as she was going to get. That’s all Starlight needed for her to continue.
“The world is finally ready to hear my truth for harmony, and there’s nothing you or any of your so-called friends can do about it,” she egged on, nearly standing ten or so feet in front of the duo. “You might as well surrender now, show your true, idealistic selves to the next ruler of Equestria, because what Ultron and I have planned…is something you will never be a match for.”
“We’ll see about that!”
In a flash, Rainbow Dash was out and about, charging head first into Starlight Glimmer. The unicorn acted quickly and generated a shield out of pure magic around her, deflecting the Pegasus and launching her several yards backwards, skidding across the floor and landing on a table. The contents which included drinks and cakes flew upwards, landing on the injured Pegasus and ruining her dress.
Twilight restrained herself from following in Rainbow’s hoofsteps, instead deciding on keeping her hardened stare on the unicorn before her. Starlight’s shield died down, revealing that same, petrifying smile beneath the vale.
Twilight grimaced, grinding her teeth together. “Your dream?” she questioned, her tone harsh. “Your dream was to create a delusional world on the aspects of equality. Look at this!”
She motioned her foreleg all around the general area, to all the scenes of pain and destruction as more and more Ultron Sentries fell like rain, as Tony Stark and Ultron punched and blasted each other from above, as Celestia and Luna defended the Gala’s occupants to the best of their abilities. And still, Starlight smiled.
“You think this is the path to get what you want?!” Twilight demanded, her voice breaking. “End this madness, Starlight. You don’t have to do this.”
Starlight shook her head, smile dying. “Oh, I think I do, Princess. If I don’t, the world will still be in blackness, lost without a torch. If I don’t then someone else—someone far more powerful than even I—will. It’s a matter of right and wrong, Your Highness. Was it right to trust him? Was it wrong to let him unleash his army so the entire country, even the world could feel his wrath?”
Twilight’s jaw fell, a small gasp escaping her lips. Starlight smirked, shaking her head. “Well, as that someone once told me…they take away your world…you take away theirs.”
And then she shot Twilight.
The Alicorn couldn’t react quickly enough as the magical bolt hit her right in the heart, launching the mare several yards back and landing with a quick tumble. She came to a rest, her dress singed and smoking at the chest.
“Oh, my goodness! Twilight, are you okay?”
Twilight didn’t even respond. She growled, spreading her wings and launching herself into the air, driving straight towards the lone unicorn. Both Fluttershy and Tree Hugger watched the scene play out, their horrified gazes shifting from across the oncoming waves of sentries and to the violet Alicorn doing battle with Starlight.
The two were practically cowering behind the table’s little defense. Tree Hugger still remained quite confused, unsure of what exactly was transpiring. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was terrified, body quivering and eyes flashing across every sentry that flew over her head. She prayed not even one spotted her, memories of her first encounter with one replaying in her head.
Her prayers went unanswered. A single sentry landed in front of the two mares, its blaster burning bright blue. Fluttershy screamed, clinging onto Tree Hugger.
The sentry was seconds away from firing off a shot, but it never got the opportunity to do so as a green blob swallowed its entire body. A bright, green glow caught the two mares’ attention. They looked onwards, gasping at the sight of the green slime ball belching in front of them.
And Discord appeared out of thin air by its left, offering the cheesiest grin he ever could.
“D-Discord?!” Fluttershy cried, eyes widening and forelegs falling away from Tree Hugger’s. “What are you d-doing here? I thought you weren’t coming!”
More sentries dashed across the ballroom ceiling, yet the two ponies ignored them, pushing their attention onto the draconequus. He waved it aside with a talon, smiling proudly and saying, “Yes, well, there are many things you didn’t know about me, my dear, sweet Fluttershy. But that can wait. For now…”
He slithered forward, wrapping his arm across Fluttershy’s withers and pulling her close to his chest. He stood fully upwards, the Pegasus staring up at him with questioning eyes.
“It’s time to get you to safety,” Discord finished, preparing to snap his fingers.
“Wait, dude!” a voice from below called out. Discord snapped his crooked eyes open, bending his neck down and spotting Fluttershy’s plus one. She shot her hoof green hoof up, staring up at the two worriedly. “What about me?”
Discord was taken aback. “Oh…right,” he muttered.
He snapped his talons, bringing forth a red, white, and blue shield out of nothing. He tossed it to the mare, the poor pony barely catching it, let alone holding it. She sat down hard, gazing into her reflection against the shield’s slick surface.
“I wish you the best of luck, Tree Friend!” Discord called out.
“Discord!” Fluttershy screamed.
The draconequus slapped his forehead, groaning, “Ugh! Fine!”
His right arm shot forward, wrapping around Tree Hugger and bringing her in close. With both ponies secured, Discord twisted his neck around and grinned gleefully. Hundreds more of Ultron’s army continued to fall and attack what remained of the crowd. Celestia and Luna continued to hold off the dominant forces, leaving numerous stragglers to deal with the so-called “Avengers”. Twilight continued to fight back against the unicorn that could easily match her in magical strength.
Chaos continued to rain. Several more sentries landed and charged for him.
“Have fun, Smooze!” Discord announced, snapping his talons and vanishing with the two mares in his grasp. His voice, however, was still present, still audible to those in the area. “All you can eat!”
The sentries paused, their blasters lowering as the green blob turned towards them. Its mouth curved and bounced into what appeared to be a smile, a slimy tongue licking its supposed lips. The sentries opened fire on the green blob of ooze, yet their blasts did nothing to affect its form.
One by one, the Smooze devoured each and every Ultron Sentry that was foolish enough to cross its path. And it completely ignored the star-spangled shield lying near the table’s remains, the Gala’s lights reflecting off of its surface and making it glow.
Captain America bent down, scooping up his shield and launching it straight into the air.
Straight at Ultron seconds away from ripping Stark’s helmet off.
The shield hit him in the side of the head. Stark capitalized and fired off a few repulsor blasts, launching the AI straight into the ballroom floor. He didn’t waste another second, jetting downwards straight for Ultron’s prone form. A concussion blast caught him off-guard, sending the Iron Man skidding halfway across the room and landing right on the God of Thunder.
Starlight Glimmer deflected several magical blasts from the flying Alicorn. She retorted with her own spells. Twilight, unaffected, shot forward amongst the magical debris, coming so very close to tackling Starlight. If she hadn’t brought forth a magical bubble, Twilight would’ve succeeded.
The strength of the spell blasted Twilight several feet back, straight into Rainbow Dash, pushing both mares to the floor. Starlight gritted her teeth, sweat pouring from her forehead. Fatigue was building, threatening to push the mare to exhaustion. Not yet. Not while she was so close.
Yet even Starlight knew she wouldn’t last much longer.
The sentry with a piercing red glare seemed to read her mind.
“Doctor Banner’s been engaged,” the sentry grumbled, its voice completely similar to Ultron’s. It stood close to her left, its gaze shifting over to a prone form slowly rising. “Get me out of here. We have to find the archives.”
Starlight nodded without question, somewhat relieved to finally be rid of the conflict for now. As the sentry’s eyes shifted back to blue, Starlight started off at a quick gallop, appearing by Ultron’s side and skidding to a halt. Her horn lit up brilliant neon, enveloping both herself and the AI in its light.
Twilight rubbed her forehead, groaning in pain. Both her and Dash looked up, tangled amongst each other’s forelegs, and gasped as equals. They pushed against each other, tried to break off and make it to Starlight before it was too late. Twilight had enough, lighting up her horn and teleporting away from Rainbow. She ran forward, silently screaming words of warning, the red lights flaring in her head.
But it was already too late. With a bright flash, Starlight Glimmer and Ultron were gone.
She searched amongst the building smoke, but it was fruitless. They weren’t there. Starlight wasn’t there. Ultron wasn’t there. But his army was, bigger than ever before. So big that even the night sky and the stars dotting like diamonds meant nothing to the hundreds, maybe even thousands of sentry lights constantly falling, constantly building.
The screams were horrific, bodies of fallen guests pockmarked across the Gala’s dance floor like the hundreds of dead sentries. All joined together. All gone forever. The scene was almost too much for the Princess to handle, her mind blurring. The constant blasts, the war cries from the Avengers kept her going, kept her awake and alive for so very short moments.
They didn’t last. They never could.
The Hulk broke through the far right wall and roared for all of Canterlot to hear. Ponies screamed at the sight of the beast, trampling over one another just to escape. Hulk paid no attention to them, instead shifting his heated glare over to the endless army.
Black Widow trailed him, ripping off her lower gown and whipping out her hidden pistol. Bullet shots rang out, joining Hulk as he charged straight into the worst night ever.
Rarity snored even louder. Drool built on the table and the battle played out around her sleeping form.
A red streak of compressed energy tore apart the lone member of the Royal Guard, his corpse breaking down the doors that led straight into the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives. Neck twisting in an unnatural manner, the guard’s eyes—glossed over in death—stared on as the two entered into the black room.
Ultron felt nothing for the guard he had mercilessly killed moments ago. Just an obstacle that prolonged him from getting back to Earth, just like those princesses that denied him escape. Concussion blasts were always useful. He probably should have used them against the two Alicorns earlier. Oh, well. He has eyes on the battle, and it’s a losing battle. For them, anyway.
He hoped.
No. No, he knew.
“Unfortunate,” Starlight commented on the state of the guard, lips curling in disgust. Ultron turned her way, watching as the young unicorn trotted forward into the massive library, her body lost in its darkness.
Without turning back, Starlight lit up her horn and said, “We don’t have much time left. The army can only hold them off for so long. I’ll search the east and south corner, and you search the west and north. Grab anything that mentions dimensional travel.”
And just like that, Starlight disappeared behind the numerous shelves containing hundreds of spells. Hundreds. Ultron stood silent for a few seconds, adjusting himself to the darkness of the massive wing of the archives. She just escaped south, so that meant north was to his right. He turned right, ready to begin his search.
But stopped.
A burning feeling, something he had never felt before pecked at him, at his mind. At the void that could never be filled. But it was still there, waiting, wanting to be discovered and recognized. On instinct, Ultron slowly faced forward, red gaze piercing the black and landing on the massive hourglass in the center of the room.
Not even. Below. Farther below.
He took a step forward, the evil creeping closer and closer. It was something he felt only one other time, back when he had nothing. Back when he was lost and without form, without a body and purpose. He soon discovered it, the lust and destruction of mankind that would bring true peace, but before that. The discovery was waiting…
“Reveal your secrets to me.”
He raised his right hand, crushing it into a fist with a blue aura surrounding it.
The floor below the hourglass crumpled together like a wadded up piece of paper, the concrete lifted up higher and higher and tossed aside. The rocks tumbled together and rested several feet away from the hole in the ground. Ultron stepped even closer, peering down into the black dust and grime that filled the hole.
From below the surface, he saw stairs leading down. Down into the void.
And there it was. The burning sensation craving his hearing, his sight, his mind. No questioning it now. It needed to be discovered.
Without a word, not needing a word, Ultron descended into the black. He had to duck below the ceiling—or the floor in his current situation—in order to continue onwards. Soon enough, he found perfect rhythm, his footsteps echoing across the enclosed bunker, pounding against him as he descended further and further.
The stairs ended sooner than he thought. The sensation of burns and want had grown to unbelievable heights, causing Ultron to scan about quickly, seeing nothing in the darkness, the ever-expanding cloud of black in front and all around.
He stepped forward.
And the dark disappeared.
Several, unified torch lights magically flickered on upon Ultron’s arrival, expanding even farther than he had once believed. The room burned a dull orange, as expressed from the torch lights hung near the ceiling. And it was long, straight forward, an unexplored bunker deep beneath the Canterlot Archives.
“What is this place?”
Ultron slowly made his entrance into the enclosed hallways, turning his head right. He instantly halted his progression, facing fully forward towards the wall.
“What is this?” Ultron whispered. He raised his hand, gently placing it against the wall and its paintings, its descriptions, its images, its tales and tragedies.
Its story.
Its history.
Its legacy.
Ultron’s eyes flickered upwards, reading the main description above. His jaw fell only a few inches, chin rising and falling. He silently muttered the words to himself, but he could not say them out loud, lest somepony heard him. Lest she heard him.
He backed away, head scanning the images, the paintings. With each past event that led to a future story, his head shook more and more, his fists clenched harder and harder. It only grew worse. Much, much worse. From beginning…to end.
Nations fells, others rose, built from the fallen bones and purged forever, never to be seen again. The travesty, the horror, the evil of it all. And the ones behind it all, the ones orchestrating the madness and leading the charge to oblivion… It was them.
“No…”
All of them.
“No, no, no…”
Every single one of them.
His hand fell, claws barely scratching the paintings. He didn’t need to leave a scar, an impact. Not this time. The images themselves were enough.
“Ultron! I found something!”
Starlight skidded out from behind the shelves, her horn ablaze with several scrolls enveloped in its glow. Her smile was just as bright, if not brighter than the magic that held Ultron’s escape. But just like the shadows as the sun settles below the horizon, her smile faded into it, lost in the shadows.
Below the hourglass in the center of the room, Ultron slowly but surely rose up and escaped into the moonlight. Starlight stepped forward, a confident smile adorned on her lips.
“I got it. The spell that can get you home, Ultron! It’s right here!” Starlight exclaimed excitedly, wanting to see Ultron’s reaction to it. She held the scroll out to him, the one she believed to be the right one, and waited for him.
Ultron looked up and walked past her.
And all he said was, “We have to leave.”
Starlight stepped away from his path, watching his movements quizzically, questioningly. Did he not understand? She just found his escape from Equus, the spell that could get him back home and save his world from destruction. Yet he pushed that aside, the change in his tone and demeanor bringing great worry to the unicorn.
And she never could explain how that change could ever affect him. Or her.
How she hadn’t seen what he had.
How he discovered the true history of Equestria.
How the ponies, the species of Equus, lived in a lie.
And how they were not at all different from humanity.