//------------------------------//
// Chapter 56-Introductions Are Too Late 
// Story: A Beautiful New Age 
// by JDPrime22 
//------------------------------//


Twilight Sparkle stood silently as her world was torn apart.

As she and her friends paid witness to the darkness falling across Equestria, to the complete and utter destruction of the capital city she grew up in, and finally to the desolation of what remained, Twilight Sparkle found herself just staring. No longer in shock as thousands of robotic entities rained from above—though they constantly did—or the fact that a demon army was hell-bent on the total annihilation of the Equestrian race.

She, as much as everypony else—yes, Spike included—stared up. Into the swirling clouds. The bright, blue portal hanging over Canterlot. The flying ship dropping off several others. The others, their propellers tearing through the skies and their weapons sounding off into the afternoon air. Though the darkness made it difficult to determine the time of day.

Whatever they were, the flying ships, they appeared to be friendly. If what shooting at Ultron’s forces told Twilight, they were definitely not on Ultron’s side. Unfortunately, nor Twilight or any of her friends could question the existence of the anomaly or the ships flying over their heads. Every second was a fight for survival, each drone and demon slowly pushing the group of twelve deep into the street.

The twelve, of course, consisted of Twilight and her five friends, Spike, and Starlight Glimmer. The remainder was the four last Avengers still caught in the main conflict, the others somewhere off in the city, fighting their own battles, doing their best to survive. The four that stuck in the main fight were Captain America, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, and Clint Barton. 

Natasha had left to answer the distress call from Maria Hill. Steve tried to object, saying she could use some backup. Romanoff was persistent, however, and escaped with a coy smile and somewhat of a promise. The last Steve Rogers had seen of her was when she escaped through the hole in the building constructed from Stark’s and Banner’s “remodeling”.

It wasn’t the only thing he saw that fateful day that made him question himself. 

With the Helicarrier hanging over his head, helicopters flying from and to the massive war beast, Captain America’s mind went wild with the possibilities. S.H.I.E.L.D.—whatever remained of it—had somehow found a way to Equestria, and it seemed that Asgard had something to do with it, given the Bifrost continuously plowing into the earth miles away.

Reasoning and explanation would have to wait. He struggled against the Ultron Sentry clinging onto him, its metallic claws wrapped around his throat. Steve managed to swing his shield underneath the sentry’s arms, ripping his shield upwards and tearing the sentry’s arms off. He finished with a kick to the robot’s chest, readying himself for the next one.

He and Clint held their ground as droves of sentries swarmed them from the street ahead. With every sentry sent their way, each demon following suit, the small group of equines, Avengers, and one baby dragon found themselves being pressured completely away from the Canterlot Gardens. It wasn’t long before they were pushed back into the streets, moving backwards quicker and quicker.

Clint was on his right, appearing as a machine set on overdrive whenever he reached for an arrow and fired away. Wanda Maximoff was on Steve’s left, her brother in every direction. Behind them, the mares and dragon held their ground to the best of their abilities despite their injuries. Sadly, those injured—Fluttershy specifically—could do nothing more than back away slowly while her friends protected her.

A squad of Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters flew overhead, prompting the Captain’s attention to turn their way for a short period of time. The group of three tore through the skies, firing downwards at the street the Captain and the others were on. He could see as their bullets ripped through the flesh of the demon army, doing just the same for Ultron’s robotic slaves.

An F-35 zoomed by once the Apaches dispersed, joining the fray and disappearing into the blackness of the heavens. Captain America watched as it vanished, returning to his own fight shortly. Still, he couldn’t hold back that longing stare up above, watching the dogfight near the Helicarrier, the helicopters swarmed by harpies fall out of the sky, and those same choppers dropping off S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers into the streets of Canterlot.

He continued to fight. So did the others. 

It felt like forever, but it had been no more than two minutes since Natasha had left them to answer the distress call. Neither Twilight nor Steve could know if Natasha had seen the Quinjet spiral out of the sky. 

Headed right for them.

“Mayday! Mayday! Out of the way! Stay cl—!” a voice cried, assaulting Steve’s eardrum. It was the same voice as before that had spoken through every channel on the comms. The same voice that called out for help moments ago, that urged Natasha to take action and leave the group.

Steve lowered his hand from his ear, eyes widening.

“Get down!” Rogers bellowed, falling to one knee with his shield high over his head. Clint dove to the street as the Quinjet flew by, barely scraping the Captain’s shield. Wanda followed similarly to the Captain’s actions, instead forming a shield out of pure energy, the Quinjet deflecting off.

“Come on you…son of a…bitch!”

The Quinjet miraculously picked upwards before it could crush any of the mares, the right engine lighting up the street with the flames covering it. It picked up, spinning once and finally coming to a screeching crash in the center of the road.

Steve popped up, turning towards the Quinjet lying in the gravel.

“Oh, God! Maria!”

Captain America took off at a dead sprint down the road, not even minding the approaching waves of sentries and demons behind him. Clint spotted them once he rose to full height, spinning back towards the Captain and chasing after him. Both Wanda and Pietro followed suit, each sharing an unknown and fearful glance to the approaching enemy army.

They turned and ran.

As did the ponies.

Not one of them looking back until they arrived to the Quinjet.

The cockpit of the Quinjet faced forward where the Captain approached, his left palm pressed firmly against the glass window. Beyond such glass, Maria Hill lay in the pilot’s seat, her head dipped low, blood leaking from her forehead. Eyes closed.

Just as Clint and the Maximoffs had arrived, Steve drove the edge of his shield into the window, shattering it. Once the mares followed, Spike spinning around and pointing the rifle he held at the slowly approaching enemy forces, Captain America reached forward and placed his left palm under the woman’s chin, bringing her head up.

“Hill?” Steve muttered. He placed his two fingers under her jaw. “Maria, can you hear me?”

A faint thump, but still there.

Still alive.

“Captain…?” Clint’s voice called. Slowly, Steve gently spun around—minding Maria’s head—and turned towards Barton. He reached back for an arrow, felt only fifteen left, and grabbed one. As he loaded the arrow, he said, “We got company.”

A distant whimper ahead of him, clearly from one of the ponies. Captain America faced the road placed before him, shield in his right arm, face set in stone, glaring at the enemy army lined across the street. And up above them, hovering with all five of his hands clenched into fists, Ultron stared them down maliciously.

Them.

The Avengers. The ponies. The dragon.

All of them.

“Twilight…”

Catching her breath, gulping rather loudly, Twilight spun her neck around—as did many of her other friends—and stared at the Captain as he approached from behind. Just as he stood to her right, he whispered, “Get out of here. We’ll hold him off while you and your friends get somewhere safe.”

She opened her mouth to object.

“No.”

Then closed it. Sealed tight. Her eyes broke off from the Captain and trailed back to the street, above the army consisting of numerous demons and sentries and landing on Ultron. His body twitched with agitation, his fingers tightening and relaxing every so often. The red haze filling his body coiled around his chest and face, fading off into nothing. A strange, black ooze continued to slither its way from Ultron’s mouth and eyes. But the eyes…

The eyes were the worst.

A pair of red, orange, and black colors all mixed together into a hellish assortment of insanity and torment. They radiated with a haze of malicious intent, pulsating and leaking that same black fluid. Strangely—and terrifyingly enough—his eyes not only seemed to be focused on Twilight, but on the others as well, if what Fluttershy’s whimpering, Starlight’s increased breathing, and Twilight’s shivering had to say about it.

He raised his arms.

He said, “I want you here to witness the inevitable. The fall of your world was just the first step, the first of many. The demise of your…Avengers, your ‘allies’, is the next, a horror you cannot escape. You believe what you fight for is just, but in the end you are no better than your ancestors, the ones who have forsaken this land with their bloodlust for conquest.”

“Jeez, this guy really is nuts,” Rainbow Dash muttered. Ultron twisted his gaze to her, causing her to flinch.

“Think of me what you wish, but in the grand scheme of it, when it all falls down…you will thank me for what I’ve done. You will witness the purity I have brought forth into your blood-soaked lands, and you will crumble in terror as I rip your world to—”

He never finished when a pair of top-grade military boots stomped into his backside.

As Ultron fell into the street with a solid thunk, a shadow appeared over his body, a shadow that spread its metal wings and landed safely in front of Twilight Sparkle.

And Captain America damn near dropped his shield at the sight of him.

“…Sam?”

Sam Wilson stood up, his wings folding neatly together and vanishing on his backside. He eyed the odd group in front of him, human and pony and dragon alike, smiling and nodding once. “Please tell me you left a little bit of ass for us to kick.”

Steve’s smile slowly began to waver, a curious brow rising. He asked, “‘Us’?”

A horrible cry broke out down the street. Sam spun accordingly, whipping out his dual Steyr SPPs as the entirety of Ultron’s forces took off in a unified charge. The first three sentries leading the charge found themselves with individual holes in their chests, all three falling forward. Several demons halted in the charge while the sentries pushing forward. They spun around, twisted eyes widening.

Captain America and the Avengers, Twilight Sparkle and her allies, and Sam Wilson all turned their gazes to the sky to see Iron Man make his grand entrance. And it appeared to be the exact likeness of Iron Man. Big, bulky body, glowing eyes, flying, metal suit. The only thing off about it when it landed in front of Sam was the large gun on its shoulder.

And its light gray armor.

And the voice that said, “Looks like we found ‘em, Sam. Magical, talking ponies and all.”

He recognized the voice, the armor. Every bit of it. Steve said, “Colonel Rhodes…you made it.”

Noticing, and clearly ignoring the awestruck expressions from the ponies and…baby dragon. Yeah. Baby dragons. James Rhodes eyed the Captain, the whites of his mask’s eyes illuminating the dark around him. He said, “Yeah, and it doesn’t seem like we came to a warm reception, either.”

As he said that he spun around, the others following his actions and eyeing the road ahead. Instantly, out of pure instinct, the four Avengers flinched backwards once they noticed Ultron’s army quickly approaching, stumbling over gravel and building shreds just to reach them and tear them apart. Steve shot his gaze back to Maria Hill still sitting unconscious in the driver’s seat of the Quinjet.

He held up his shield and stood in front of her.

After spotting the demon horde the robotic entities rushing towards them, Rainbow Dash snorted, her hoof pawing at the ground. Applejack followed her actions, lowering the brim of her hat so her eyes were nearly covered in shadow, looking twice as deadly. Twilight, however, led the group, her horn shimmering alongside Starlight’s and Rarity’s.

Yet, they were still behind the newcomers. Together, both Sam Wilson and James Rhodes stood side by side as the enemy army drew near, distance shortening with every second.

Sam smiled, gripping his machine pistols. “I don’t know about you but I feel right at home.”

James shrugged. “That’s a weird way to put it.”

And then they took off. Right into the air.

As Rhodes jetted forward with his feet igniting beneath him, granting him immediate flight, Sam chose to run instead, both of his arms shooting out with the wings within his backside following suit. Several Ultron Sentries responded in kind, meeting the two the moment they gained flight. Not a second after.

Not a smart move.

The War Machine armor easily rammed and tore through the weaker bodies of Ultron, the Minigun resting on his shoulder making quick work of any others that tried to take him head-on. The Falcon, though off to a shaky start having to dodge the rapidly approaching sentries, soon found his mark and was firing away with his dual SPPs. 

The duo flew above the carnage below them, swooping downwards and delivering a kick, swipe, or bullet to any adversary that was in their line of sight. The ones they missed, the majority of Ultron’s forces, continued their rampage down the road, already overcoming the already weary Avengers and ponies.

Still, they fought on. This time with another life to protect.

The team surrounded the crashed Quinjet, forming a defensive circle around the aircraft. Wanda Maximoff held her own, her arms and hands conjoined in a horrific dance as her red haze filled the dark atmosphere, bodies piling around her legs. Her older brother, Pietro, was dashing to and from the street. All that was seen of him was his silver blur, then he was gone and back again.

The other two, Captain America and Hawkeye, remained close to the front of the Quinjet. While the Captain defended Maria Hill’s nearby position with his shield in hand, Clint was perched on a crumbled stone, reaching back and firing off an arrow to his foes. He watched his supply, and instead chose to whack approaching enemies with his bow.

All that was left were Twilight and her friends, Starlight included. While not so centered on the Quinjet, they were easily diverse and fought their own battles. Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack stayed huddled close, holding off the oncoming waves of demons and sentries to the best of their ability. Rainbow Dash was in the air, knocking sentries out of the sky with her signature buck. Pinkie was off being Pinkie and Spike was hiding behind whatever piece of cover he could find. Fluttershy once again joined him, flinching as every repulsor blast flew across her head.

And Starlight was with them.

She never ran. She never backed down.

She fought.

In the midst of such a fight, each mare slowly being forced backwards towards Clint and Steve, Rarity fired off a magical spell at an approaching demon’s chest. The foul creature hissed, slime erupting from its maw as the force of Rarity’s magic sent it flying backwards in the air. To her astonishment, the winged man flew down and clipped his left wing onto the demon, dropping the beast like a rock. The silver Iron Man hovered in place, firing a plethora of rockets straight down below him into the waves of monsters.

Rarity took a quick moment to wipe her brow, admiring the two’s movements above them. She had to admit, it was quite the surprise to see such an interesting cast of characters arrive to their aid. Not only had the large airship appear to be friendly, but it also seemed its occupants were there to—

One wore what appeared to be a similar Iron Man suit, but holding silver and gray armor instead of what she had become accustomed to with spending so much time with Stark. Another lied on his face, large, metallic wings broken beyond repair extending from his backpack.	

Rarity blinked. Hard. She tried desperately to wipe away the horrid memories constantly plaguing the back of her mind. It was sudden. For a second too long after watching the two something clicked, something reemerged she had hoped to forget.

And she pushed it back into the darkest places of her mind. Hopefully for good.

“Rarity, eyes up!”

Obeying without question, the unicorn yelped as a sentry dove right for her. Instead of meeting its metal claws to her throat, a circular shield flew right over her head and struck the sentry dead in the chest. It fell right in front of her, the shield magnetically returning to its owner.

As his shield flew back into his right forearm, Captain America’s eyes drifted skywards, watching as Falcon and Rainbow Dash flew overhead.

“Yo, Cap!” Sam called, eyes shifting from the cyan mare currently kicking a surprising amount of ass. He flew by, motioning his head over to Rainbow. “You gonna introduce me to your new friends, or what?!”

“No problem!” Steve tossed his shield over to a demon rushing Starlight’s right, the solid Vibranium impacting the creature’s skull and dropping it dead. He retrieved his weapon, yelling up, “Everypony, I’d like you to meet—Jesus!” A sentry flew right past Barton, landing in front of Steve and swinging at him.

“Hiya, Jesus!” Pinkie waved happily. Steve kicked in the robot’s knee, finishing it with a bash to the skull.

Falcon could’ve laughed. He did. In the middle of a dogfight. “No, no! My name’s Sam! It’s a pleasure!” His wings shielded him as he dove like a torpedo into a cluster of sentries, tearing through them and spreading his wings once more to retain flight. “Whoa! You were having trouble with these guys, Cap?!”

“It’s a lot harder when there’s a thousand of them!” Rainbow contorted, smacking a demon across the face as she skidded to a halt near her friends.

“I’m already feeling clustered!” Rhodes interjected, flying down and landing right next to Clint and Steve. They watched as his Minigun began to spin to life. “Watch your heads!” he warned to the mares in front of him.

They did. They listened without question as the Minigun fired away.

Before their eyes, the lines of sentries and demons that they once worried over began to fall one by one as the bullets tore through their bodies. James continued the onslaught for several seconds more, the end of his barrel burning a bright red. He stopped soon, his Minigun dying and fresh, hot steam waving off his barrel.

The street was cleared for the time being. Each of the mares slowly began to raise their heads once more and stare awestruck at the body-filled road ahead of them, Spike following their actions. It wasn’t long before more of Ultron’s forces arrived. James just shook his head.

“I see a hell of a lot more than a thousand coming our way.”

Twilight shook her head too, her eyes staring straight above and ignoring the already growing numbers returning to the street. She muttered, “I don’t see things getting easier from here.”

Soon enough, all eyes soon ventured upwards. Wanda and Pietro returned to stand near Clint and Steve, the two siblings watching in stunned silence, fists clenching, breathing slowing. Sam Wilson was nearly shot out of the sky by a stream of red energy, the man fumbling in the air before his wings retracted back into his pack. He rolled forward in the street, stopping just where Rainbow Dash stood.

He slowly got to his feet, his gaze following the others’.

To their wild surprise, the army halted and stood in silence. Sentry and demon alike, beasts twisted and deformed from years of imprisonment. They stood twitching, licking their lips in anticipation. The sentries were merely silent, their zombie-like stares remained on the group before them. Eyes that held no life despite the blue light.

Eyes that belonged to Ultron.

The very same Ultron rising once more.

He no longer held that stare of mild amusement like he once had. It died out long ago the moment that shred of hope emerged for his enemies, appearing as a portal through space and bringing with it allies beyond comprehension. That stare had long since diminished. Replacing it was a glare of horrific proportions, the same eyes that the mythical Typhon now had control of.

Partial control. Ultron was still holding the reins, still having his mind to his own. Yet the beast inside of him wanted to fight. It wanted blood. How dare he deny such lust for flesh when it lay so easily in front of him?

That partial control began to wane. 

And he chuckled.

He chuckled some more. He laughed until black ooze filled his throat, pouring onto his chest.

“Poor…deluded children. You are nothing…without peace.” He began to chuckle harder, a voice so lost in its own insanity that it sounded plagued, diseased, rotting from the inside. Whichever it was, Fluttershy cowered back. Ultron held up one of his hands, the army below him growling in ferocity, their eyes set on the small group before them.

His gaze narrowed on them. The Avengers. All he could see was red.

So much red.

“You are nothing…without me!” 

“Ultron!”

His arm slowly fell, but not to order his army to charge. It slowly fell, his eyes turning upwards to watch as a shred of hope for humanity and ponykind descended like an angel. His golden cape flew wistfully in the burning winds of Canterlot, the rock shimmering between his eyes, his fists slowly hardening as he descended to Ultron’s level.

Directly in front of him. Ultron sneered as the Vision eyed him carefully.

He looked him up and down, both doing so. Vision was the first to speak. They listened. He said, “When it will ever be enough, Ultron?”

The Vision showcased the world around him with his arms and hands. The others below him turned their eyes to the city, slowly taking in the atmosphere for what felt like the first time that fateful day. 

As for the day, it appeared as dusk, swirling clouds dissipating around the blue portal and the Bifrost, and infecting the rest of the sky. Flames corroded Canterlot in an orange and red hue, smoke towers billowing for miles. The constant screams, eruptions, and sounds of war were scattered across the city. Dogfights between demon, sentry, and S.H.I.E.L.D. surrounded the slowly descending Helicarrier, the dead dropping like flies impacting a bug zapper. 

War.

It was total war.

Twilight had to force that image into her brain, telling herself that it was real. It was all happening, and she and her friends were caught precisely in the middle of it all. She could feel as if the rest of her friends shared the same thoughts, that bound they held sending feelings of discomfort and regret to one another.

The Avengers just watched as it all fell down in a blazing glory.

“Equus burns…” Vision continued. “Every city and settlement on this fair world has felt your power. Thousands are dead, hundreds of thousands of others quickly to join…because of your own twisted goals.” He flew closer. Ultron’s eyes narrowed as he spoke in a near-whisper. “When will enough…truly mean enough?”

“When it’s over…my Vision,” Ultron responded, his voice cracking and filled with fluid.

Vision shook his head. “It will never be over and you know it to be true. Look into what remains of your heart and you can see that this is not the way. Retreat your armies from the innocent now. We can still change this…make things right…but only if we do it together.”

He was met with a punch directly to his jaw. A punch that any mortal man would have shattered his wrist attempting had Vision spiraling backwards, halting instantly as a red hand rose up to caress his cheek. He looked to Ultron, seeing as one of his arms jutted from his body, his claw morphed into a fist.

His red eyes burned as the fires around him. “I will make things right.” That same arm shot upwards, then fell down. “And I don’t need your help to do it.”

Vision grew a ferocious glare, Ultron doing the same, the two colliding into each other.

Ultron’s army rushed below the two machines, charging and quickly overcoming what stood as the remainder of the Avengers, the Elements of Harmony. Spike and Starlight fell back with Sam Wilson and James Rhodes, aligning with the group, surrounding the Quinjet.

Holding the line.

Fighting with everything they had.

Fighting.

Defending.

Even then it wasn’t enough.









His damaged armor was torn away, the Hulkbuster lying in ruin around him. The first thing Tony Stark saw other than the same, ugly clouds above was the heavy palm held in front of him, waiting. With a grunt of effort, having broken free from the encasement of the Mark 44, Tony placed his right palm into the one held to him and gripped it, the hand yanking him upwards.

“Are you alright, Stark?”

Tony slowly adjusted himself as he stood shakily, his Mark 45 whining in protest to his movements. He craned his neck, the servos realigning, his HUD flashing. He observed his HUD. Damages included his lower thrusters, no chance of flying for long periods of time. Power levels remained at a whopping 32%, his armor broken and in desperate need of repair. It could hold.

Other than that and a hell of a headache, Tony Stark was “alright”.

So, he turned to Thor and nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. How ‘bout you; you alright?”

Thor nodded in reply, his eyes breaking away from Stark’s glowing pair and turning to the rest of his surroundings. 

The darkness still remained, fires from the buildings and the dying portal above barely aiding in that regard. Soldiers ranging from Equestrian to S.H.I.E.L.D. bustled through the streets, minding their own business, attending to their wounded. S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters slowly dipped down into the street, landing with precision and dropping off even more soldiers and medics.

The wounded were cared for once the medics had arrived, both Equestrian and human. The ponies quickly came to realize the bipedal aliens weren’t there to hurt them, and began to cooperate more openly to the medical officers in the street. Relief flooded Thor’s body at the sight, glad to see the Equestrians realizing their allies in times of conflict.

With the street that was theirs, no sign of sentries or demons, both Thor and Stark turned their gazes back to see Natasha Romanoff and the Hulk stumble towards them, the latter covered in glistening crimson. Natasha wasn’t clean, either. Her palms dripped red, cheeks dotted with the color like freckles.

“We’re done here, boys,” Natasha stated, her voice shaking at the edge of her tongue. Her eyes, glazed over, stared at nothing in particular. The Hulk shared the same qualities as her, his heavy breathing like a bugging reminder to the Widow.

Thor acknowledged such, but returned to his previous thought. Hammer in hand, he said, “We must find the others. If we regroup we can gather ourselves…both mentally…and physically.” He stared at Romanoff and Banner as he finished.

Stark asked, “What about him?”

He pointed a metal finger behind Hulk, Thor following. Neither Natasha nor Hulk dared to look back, not at what had almost been. There, lying in the shattered cement that was dripping with dark red liquid, Lord Tirek lied unmoving, groaning softly.

Barely alive but teetering on the edge of death.

Thor just said, “He’s not going anywhere.”

That’s when they all heard the scream.

Turning abruptly, the four Avengers stared down the road ahead of them, not near the mountain but into the darkness of Canterlot’s streets. The others surrounding them did as well, both Equestrian and human twisting their heads to the sounds of screaming, followed by the sounds of silence.

The sounds of war returned shortly.

Natasha shook her head. “I know that scream…” she whispered. “Rarity…”

With that danger in mind, Thor spun Mjølnir until it was no longer visible. Without looking, he asked, “Are you ready, then?”

Stark aligned himself, his palms glowing. “I’m just getting started. Lead the way, Hamlet.”

He did.

As thunder broke out across the street, the Son of Odin shot off the cement and vanished into the black void above. Though it took some time, Stark started to a rough start but managed to gain flight. His thrusters died and revived again, pushing the Iron Man through the air and trailing Thor.

Hulk held out his arm. Natasha climbed safely into his grasp. With a grunt of effort, Hulk kicked off the ground and disappeared moments later.

Following the screams.









They were trapped, swarmed from all sides. 

No longer had they remained centered around the cockpit of the Quinjet. Captain America and Hawkeye still held the forefront of the fight with Twilight and her friends. However, they did not account for the sentries swarming the sides of the Quinjet, climbing down the buildings and digging out of the earth.

That’s where Wanda Maximoff stood her ground.

Her back faced the Quinjet, her eyes centered on the building in front of her. Swarms of demons and sentries clawed their way towards her, but she held them back with a flick of her wrist, a wave of her hand, and pinch of her fingers. Torn husks of bodies lined her feet, growing as the waves increased.

Her older brother was busy holding the rear of the Quinjet, several demons charging from behind. While Pietro did appear on occasion to assist the mares or the Captain or more often his sister, he mostly stood his ground at the backside of the crashed aircraft, his trails of silver seen tearing through the bodies of evil.

However, while the left side of the Quinjet was covered by the Scarlet Witch, the right side was open, ready for the taking. While Pietro could be nearly everywhere at once, that didn’t hold back wave after wave of sentries and demons rushing forward. The first demon hopped on top of the Quinjet, crawling forward and eyeing the Maximoff below with her back turned.

With a blood-curdling cry, the demon leapt at her, Wanda barely spinning around. But once she did, she was met with the silver Iron Man flying over her head and grabbing the demon by the throat. It thrashed in its grasp, ending only after an array of bullets penetrated its skull. 

James Rhodes tossed the demon aside, landing roughly on the right side of the Quinjet. He raised his arms, his gauntlets revealing an underslung submachine gun on each arm. 

“Did I say you could get through here?” James said. He fired away onto the charging crowd, demons dropping dead with bullet holes riddled across their bodies. Sentries either fell apart or returned fire, Rhodes slowly backing up as the repulsors flew across his vision, as the bodies fell closer and closer to his feet.

Up above, the constant shadow of the Falcon’s wings fell across the Avengers and the mares. Sam Wilson fired madly with his dual SPPs, emptying clip and clip and reloading. A group of sentries and winged demons trailed him, the sentries shooting at him, the demons growing near. Sam spotted even more headed right for him for a head-on collision. He twisted his neck back.

He smiled and dropped his arms.

His wings folded back, the man dropping right out of the sky. The group of sentries impacted the others, creating an array of explosions that spread across the sky, taking out demons and dropping them like flies.

Sam spread his arms, his wings following. “Hell yeah!” he shouted, taking off once again.

Magical blasts rang out across the street. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Starlight Glimmer were responsible for such, their streams of magical energy flying like bullets across the street to drop sentries one by one. While others, like Applejack and Pinkie Pie, were focused more so on ground combat like Captain America, they remained near him, aiding both Clint and Steve.

Rainbow Dash once accommodated the skies, and even did so every so often. However, she always returned back to the earth, helping her friends, warding off enemies. The other Pegasus, the wounded Fluttershy, lied shivering with her hooves covering her head, dried blood painting her bandages. She hid behind cover directly near the Quinjet.

And Spike just kept on pulling the trigger. Covering her. Protecting her.

Despite everything that they did, despite the bodies piling around them to form hills of their own, they just kept coming. It never stopped. Captain America wanted to know why, wanted to know how Ultron’s army had grown so massive, but he couldn’t. He simply didn’t have enough time.

Soon enough, all of them were pushed back by the remains of the Quinjet. No longer standing in the middle of the street, no longer flying high. They all fell back, holding the line, protecting one another. Even Sam dove out of the sky, skidding to a halt and using his wings as his own personal shield, his own weapon, blocking repulsors and hitting enemies. 

A barrage of repulsors beams flew his way. Sam brought up his right wing to shield him, lowering it slightly to return fire. “We’re running out of room here!” he yelled, backing up next to Steve Rogers.

He was right. After retrieving his shield from a fallen foe, Steve noticed their ground was becoming more limited as time passed. The mares around him slowly continued to back away as their enemies dropped dead in front of them, bullets, arrows, and magic tearing through their bodies. But they kept coming.

Even when a multitude of repulsor blasts and lightning strikes rained from above, they kept coming. 

Through such strikes that tore through enemy bodies, Thor flew down with his valiant cry and waving cape. He landed directly in front of the group, replying with punches and hits from his hammer as the army immediately swarmed him like a pack of hungry piranhas. 

But Tony Stark—the real Iron Man—flew down to aid. He landed with precise accuracy. Well, it was more of a crash, really. Either way, he popped up with his palms at the ready, unleashing blasts of pure, repulsing energy onto the enemies charging him. Twilight grew a smile of relief upon spotting him in the madness, that smile dying the second she returned to battle.

Despite such, both Thor and Stark found themselves slowly backing up to join the others. 

“What do we got, Stark?” Steve asked, blocking a repulsor blast.

Tony fired his own repulsor beam, saying, “The big centaur thing is out of the fight. We keep Ultron focused on us and we might have a chance to turn the tides.”

“You defeated Tirek?” Twilight asked without turning, firing off another spell.

Tony’s head tilted, face hidden behind the mask. “Well, I didn’t…”

Twilight spun her neck around, a brow rising curiously. “Then who—?”

Before she could finish that question, her answer came like a meteor striking the earth. Twilight yelped and flinched forward, each of her friends turned to face the road. The Hulk rose out of the rubble, lowering his arm and allowing Natasha Romanoff to run forward and join the group.

“Hey, Twi,” Natasha greeted as she pushed past her, joining Clint’s side. Twilight and several of her friends watched her before turning back. Their eyes widened at the sight of the towering orc stumbling right for them, a large tree trunk held over its head as it crushed several demons beneath its feet.

Hulk rammed his elbow into the orc. Without looking. The creature stumbled in the road from the force of the hit, lying unconscious moments later. Hulk growled and joined the group, fending off the enemy forces. Fighting against Ultron’s army.

As for Ultron…

He fought.

He cried.

He tore himself apart.

And Vision only helped.

The two replied to each other’s advances with a flurry of punches and slashes. While Ultron had the advantage with his multitude of arms aiding him, firing off numerous concussive blasts, Vision was far beyond Ultron’s attempts. Despite the roaring pain flooding through his body, the pulsating migraine in the center of his forehead, the Vision fought on.

He unleashed a beam of golden light onto Ultron, the AI barely holding on. He ripped the beam away with his right hand, swinging with his left. To his shock, his fist phased right through his Vision’s form, allowing him to appear on his backside. He felt the hands of his Vision grip his lower left arm, pulling with such strength that the bond that held the arm to the body shattered.

Reaching back, grunting in pain, Ultron, grabbed his Vision by the throat and tossed him forward, launching a concussion blast right into his chest.

The blast had sent Vision spiraling downwards into the madness, stopping and slowly descending to join the rest of his allies below. Tony Stark saw him fall down, slowly descend to their level, and watch as his head rose up, his eyes glued to the sky. Stark reluctantly followed.

Always followed.

Didn’t fight.

Because there was no fight anymore.

All around them, through the piles of bodies, the enemy army had stopped. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff gently exhaled, their chests rising and falling as they spun their gazes right. James Rhodes lowered his arms, his eyes turning left, facing the road ahead. They all slowly approached, joining the group.

The sentries, the demons, they all stood silently, watching, waiting. And their master, their Ultron, hovered above them, his demented gaze glaring at the group below. The Avengers…

All of them.

Tony looked back to his right. He saw Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff all together, Maria Hill sitting unconscious within the cockpit of the Quinjet. His best friend Rhodey stomped forward and stood to Clint’s right. He looked to his left, spotting Banner breathing heavily, scum and blood painted on his chest and arms, eyes forward.

With him stood Vision, his cape flowing. In his hand he held Ultron’s severed arm. He looked to it sullenly, releasing his grip and letting the arm fall to the gravel below. Next to him stood Thor, hammer gripped tightly, cape flying as Vision’s did. Behind them were the Maximoff twins, both Wanda and Pietro staring silently at the rising beast. Sam Wilson was with them, arms lowered, machine pistols the same. 

The Avengers.

And in front of him stood Twilight Sparkle and her closest friends; Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. Starlight Glimmer was with them, each of them breathing heavily, each of them covered in dirt and ash. Each of them unbeknownst to what was about to happen.

He looked back. Spike and Fluttershy were right behind him. Scared. Confused. All of the above.

Oh, no…

Tony lifted his eyes once more, and he could’ve sworn on his life that Ultron was staring right at him. Him and him alone. 

Him and all his friends. All together. Standing against a faceless army in a burning city miles above ground.

Oh, God…no…