• Published 22nd Aug 2015
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A Beautiful New Age - JDPrime22



As it is said, true peace can only be granted through countless innocent lives. In hindsight, the ponies were never that different from humans. Ultron’s plan is not over, and soon his strings will be severed for the last time.

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Chapter 59-Together

In a flash of blinding white, her brother was standing right next to her.

She caught his worried glance with one of her own for a split second before returning to the fight ahead of her, behind her. All around her. Her brother stood by her side every step of the way, their horns lighting up the dark in unison. Another flash emerged over their heads.

The Spirit of Chaos, Discord, appeared out of the smoke and air with a mischievous pop. He observed and analyzed the carnage below him with a simple stroke of his beard, a growing grin, and finished with another pop out of existence. It didn’t take long for him to return, attack and defend, disappear, and return again.

Bending reality. Exactly what Discord did best.

Though nopony could really keep a sharp eye on him. They were all far too preoccupied trying not to die.

Since Ultron’s departure thanks to the draconequus, it has been a nonstop cluster of madness for the seven mares, eleven Avengers, and one baby dragon. The entirety of Ultron’s forces swarmed them like a hungry pack of Timberwolves, or a nest of agitated hornets. Whichever fit best, nopony could deny that utter depravity of hope that befell Twilight and her friends. However, Discord’s appearance gave the mares some relief in knowing that Ultron was dealt with and they could all focus on the problem that still remained.

Such as the army that never seemed to end.

It didn’t take long to separate the mares. The group of seven slid, dodged, vaulted, and hurried from one location in the street to another, fending off the sentries and demons like they were born to it. Shining Armor and Spike followed similar patterns as the mares, instead choosing to remain stationed in one area longer than the others.

In the midst of it all, the Avengers slowly returned to the fight. When they were down, breathing through bloody lips and weakened lungs, they watched—every single one of them—as the ponies fought and protected them. Their exhaustion seemingly vanished, adrenaline pumping through their veins and fueling them with the strength needed to get back up and fight.

And fight they did.

In a contorted jumble of severed limbs and repulsor blasts, circular shields and flying hammers, the Avengers fought back against the armies that held them down. Slowly, every step forward proving their advantage, the Avengers joined their pony allies and reunited the defensive they once held. They surrounded the cockpit of the Quinjet. The enemy army swarmed them from all sides.

Iron Man fired a barrage of repulsor blasts from where he stood. Each blast blew apart the sentries crawling over the mounds of bodies. With a shaky start, Tony kicked off the ground and took flight, joining Rhodey and Vision in the air. Hawkeye and Black Widow fought in an interchangeable fashion. They were side by side, covering each other, fighting for each other. Protecting each other.

As before, now with numbers that surpassed the previous forces, Ultron’s army focused heavily on Doctor Bruce Banner. The Hulk. Sentries that had survived through Stark, Rhodey, and Vision flew down and latched themselves onto Hulk’s back. Like cowboys they hung on to the fierce, bucking bronco they held. Just as easily as they had landed, they were torn away like ragdolls once Hulk swung his arms.

RAWWRR!!!” Hulk bellowed as the mutilated sentries were flung from his body. As their bodies hit the street and broke apart, the street itself followed suit, splitting in half and allowing an entangled bunch of tentacles to rise up and crawl out of the black below. The tentacles pulled the creature out of the street, revealing a large titan contorted and twisted into a hellish figure that any beast from Tartarus would quiver at the sight of it.

The titan spotted the green rage monster several feet ahead. The Hulk watched as the titan crawled out of the street, his muscles flexing, his teeth grinding.

Then they struck without a second thought.

While several unfortunate sentries and demons were crushed under the might of the two goliaths colliding with one another, most escaped and ignored the two, instead choosing to target the remaining Avengers and ponies. Once more, they were unfortunate enough to target the two enhanced individuals, the two they should have avoided.

Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.

As many times before—never growing weary or tired with the fresh hit of adrenaline pumping inside of him—Pietro dashed back and forth, around and around, and to and fro to tear through the armies of Ultron. His silver and blue trail was all that was seen, flying heads and severed extremities scattering as he made a pass.

Wanda remained where she stood, her hands dancing as she did. Her red haze spread like a fog in her general direction, capturing all who dared try to attack her and tear them apart from the inside. As the red smoke swarmed the bodies of sentries and demons, it coiled around them like slithering serpents, tightening and crushing them into grotesque forms of what they once were.

A swarm of harpies and flying sentries accompanied the skies, swooping downwards to strike at the unaware group of heroes below. However, before they could even try, an array of gunfire tore through their bodies, leaving what remained to drop dead out of the sky. A squadron of sentries turned their eyes onto the three.

Tony Stark and James Rhodes led the charge, trailed closely by Vision. Repulsors, bullets, and streams of energy tore through the dark skylines, knocking down enemies, killing several, and repeating. The three were soon to take control, any approaching foe instantly gunned down by the strength of Stark, Rhodey, and Vision.

As the bodies continued to hit the street, the grounded Avengers held the line with all that they were. Captain America swung with his shield, slammed enemies across the head, and delivered swift kicks and punches to any approaching sentry or demon. Falcon was right with him, dodging to cover—using his wings as such—and firing back with his SPPs. Maria Hill, still remaining in the lone cockpit of the resting Quinjet, fired away from where she sat. Demons dropped with a red dot between the eyes until she needed a fresh magazine, then they continued to fall.

The streets of Canterlot were torn to shreds. Buildings crumbled as titans stumbled into view, charging at the remaining hostility surrounding the Quinjet. Stark, War Machine, and Vision did their duty to protect their allies below, firing missiles and energy beams at the stumbling behemoths. Yet they remained unmoved, bellowing their victory cry as they charged with meaty hands raised over their heads.

The Avengers needed bigger firepower to take down those monsters. A monster of their own.

Tony immediately shot his eyes over to Banner still struggling with the creature that emerged from below. “Bruce, we need some heavy duty help right now!” Stark yelled, flying down closer to where the tentacle beast held Hulk in place. He shot out his right forearm, a miniature missile primed and ready. “Hold on!”

The missile shot outwards, a weak flame sputtering from its exhaust as it connected to the flesh of the beast’s backside. The creature’s head shot upwards, its tentacles wrapped around Hulk’s arms, keeping him down, holding him still. Those tentacles shot out in several directions, forming jagged positions as the missile erupted from its back.

A bellowing scream shot out from the creature’s mouth, silenced only once Hulk rammed his hand in its throat, silencing it. With a glare that could shatter a planet, Hulk roared and lifted the titan over his head, ramming it straight through a group of demons and using its body as a weapon. Hulk ended the titan’s suffering by slamming it headfirst into the cement, a skull-splitting crack vibrating across the street. He finished it by delivering a furious kick to the creature’s abdomen, sending it tumbling and crashing into the mounds of bodies.

Doing so allowed Ultron’s army to flow through like a stream of water freed from a dam. Fresh reinforcements. Fresh from Hell.

Hulk had no time for the fodder. He flew straight ahead with a kick into the ground, landing from one titan to another, slowly bringing each one to its knees. As the titans filling the streets fell one by one, it gave slight comfort to the remaining Avengers, that comfort quickly dwindling once the next wave emerged.

Steve Rogers performed his duties as any good soldier should. With the freedom of space granted to him at long last, he took the fight to the enemy. His defensive fight was over. The offensive had begun with Captain America. Many followed him, many mares and many Avengers, but it was him who led the charge into the madness.

The Captain chucked his shield forward, the disk slamming off a sentry’s chest. It flew back to him, Steve delivering a swift kick to the Vibranium weapon and sending it straight into the sentry’s chest once more. The shield stuck, a certain sky-colored Pegasus swooping down and knocking the robot’s block off with a hoof to the side of the head.

Captain America retrieved his shield, his eyes gazing up to the Pegasus. She flew down for another strike, only this time she wouldn’t be alone. “Rainbow!” Steve shouted, earning her eyes. With little warning, he reared back and tossed his shield straight for her. Had it not been for her quick—and very awesome (according to Dash)—reflexes, the shield might have hit her. But she knew better than to think little of herself. Steve knew her well enough to do the same.

“Got it!” she screamed as she caught the disk with her hooves. Though a bit of a challenge, which she greatly enjoyed, Rainbow Dash flew down with the shield in her grasp and landed straight on an unsuspecting sentry. The sentry crumbled as the Pegasus hit the ground. She quickly raised the shield like the Captain would, gripped the edge of it between her teeth, reared back, and let it loose.

The shield hit its targets precisely, just as Dash wanted. It bounced off the skull of a near sentry to her right, flinging off and penetrating the head of another to her left. She ducked as the shield flew back to her, her eyes following it and watching as the Captain reacquired his weapon. He snatched it as it flew under him, his body whipping forward and using his acquired speed to send the shield hurtling.

It completely tore through the body of a rushing sentry, its remains tumbling by Dash’s hooves. Rainbow watched as the shield flew back magnetically to Captain America’s forearm. A large, giddy smile appeared over her lips, a squealing fangirl emerging from the battle-hardened Pegasus.

“I still can’t get over how awesome that is!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She never did notice the demon sneaking up behind her. She did, however, acknowledge the magical beam fly over her head, hitting the demon square in the chest.

“You might want to get over it soon, Rainbow!” Twilight yelled, firing off another set of blasts from her horn. Tony landed right next to her, aiding the unicorn with a barrage of repulsor blasts. “Now’s not the time!”

Watching the two stand together, their beams firing off to form a spectacle of lights, Rainbow Dash shook her head and brought her attention back to the fight. Most of her friends were scattered, but held their own surprisingly well. She expected Applejack to do well, but Pinkie and Rarity? They fought. And Starlight was with them. Spike was still behind her from what Rainbow could remember, still protecting Fluttershy. Up ahead, Dash could see Sam joining James and Vision in the skies. Just her style.

She spread her wings and kicked off the ground, dodging the God of Thunder.

Thor felt the wind of the Pegasus pass him by, her rainbow trail following. The moment he abandoned the ground was the moment for Ultron’s forces to act upon him. They swarmed him from all sides in coordination to each other, but Thor was ready. He swung his hammer around completely, impacting the bodies of the sentries and launching them to the street below.

While still in the air, Thor held Mjølnir in his right palm, a bolt of lightning striking down upon the hammer. With a bellowing cry, Thor swung downwards and struck the street, a stream of lightning shooting out in several directions like jumbled tree branches and piercing the enemy.

Though his strike killed many, even more took their place. They just kept coming. Just like before.

Falcon noted such as he tore through the skies. A burst of red exploded from his backpack, pushing Sam Wilson straight through a swarm of sentries and appearing unscathed on the other side. He spun around, unloading two clips into the group of sentries now trailing close behind. The streams of orange cut through the air and struck each sentry where it hurt, dropping them.

He reloaded his twin Steyr SPPs, spun around to face forward, and took off into the black.

“How you hanging, Sam?!” a scratchy voice asked to his left. Sam spun accordingly, spotting the same cyan Pegasus from before flying next to him. Her rainbow mane flung madly through her eyes, obscuring her face as she and Falcon flew side by side.

“Hope this isn’t too much to what you’re used to!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Sam only smiled, shaking his head as they weaved through the air. “I’ve been through a hell of a lot worse than this! I’ll admit, though…this is pretty crazy!”

Rainbow’s knowing grin turned into a look of horror as a stream of red fell down upon him like a beam of sunlight. Unbeknownst to him, Sam was unprepared once the stream of energy cut through his right wing, completely severing it in half. Wilson’s smile quickly changed, his expression shifting as he spun out of control and plummeted towards the earth.

“Sam!” Rainbow Dash yelled, already prepared to take off and catch him. Sadly, she never had the opportunity to do so. Out of the far corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of an object hurtling straight for her. She spun to the sight of it, having absolutely no time in dodging.

The moment Sam Wilson landed with a painful roll in the shattered street below was the exact time Ultron came crashing down with Rainbow Dash in his grasp.

Rainbow screamed as she was flung aside, earning everyone’s attention into the center of the street. There, they could see Dash tumble and roll until resting several yards closer to the Quinjet, just a few feet where Captain America and Tony Stark stood. Twilight quickly rushed to Dash’s aid, helping the Pegasus back to her hooves. As she brought Dash up, her eyes wandered forward, her jaw dangling.

Ultron rose up.

His eyes landed on what still remained. The Avengers…

They lived.

Not for long.

Black liquid dangled from Ultron’s grin, his eyes burning and melting the metal that surrounded them. When he spoke, it felt like several other Ultron’s speaking at once, but echoed only by something dark, devious, and brooding.

Avengers…here you are at long last. Here you are to finally see my beautiful world take form. You’ll be the first, an example if you will, to what lies ahead.”

“We’ll see about that,” Tony mumbled.

Ultron smiled at him. He noticed Thor, Romanoff, Barton, and Vision turning to him. He said, “Alright.” Then he took off, with speeds that surprised even Rainbow, and rammed his fist directly into Stark’s chest plate. Tony shot off like a rocket and hit the Quinjet, barely missing the cockpit and causing Maria Hill to shield herself from the inside as glass and sparks rained on top of her.

Still dumbfounded by the speed, neither Twilight nor Rainbow Dash could prepare for Ultron’s next strike. It came in the form of a wave of pulsating energy straight from his palm—a blast similar to a shockwave—and launched both mares tumbling across the street, away from Ultron and near their closest friends.

“Twilight!” Rarity squealed, retreating from Starlight and skidding next to the prone Pegasus and Alicorn. The remainder of Twilight’s friends and allies turned to the sound of commotion, broke away from where they stood, and circled around the two mares. Even Fluttershy appeared concerned, she and Spike rushing out from cover and approaching the group.

“Twilight! Rainbow! Are you both okay?” Applejack asked hurriedly. She was joined by Starlight and Pinkie Pie, the two mares gazing down at Twilight and Dash. As Fluttershy and Spike helped them up, Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, her neck twisting forward and back again.

She opened her mouth to scream, but stopped when she heard: “Girls! Get ready! Here they come!”

Everypony turned around to see Shining Armor standing on a pile of rubble, his sword gripped in his glowing aura, his eyes as deadly as the glowing tip.

On cue, everypony spun towards the sound of danger. Wave upon wave of Ultron’s unending armada rained down, charged forward, and targeted Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony. Sentries and demons alike, titans and monsters of all shapes and sizes, all of them centered of their total and utter destruction.

Twilight’s horn glowed bright. Rainbow’s wings shot out. Applejack pawed at the ground and snorted. Pinkie quickly refilled her party cannon. Rarity and Starlight both lit up their horns. Spike gripped his rifle for dear life. And Fluttershy put on the bravest face she could make. Then they charged.

All at once, as the overflow of Ultron’s army continued to surround them, the enemy forces no longer targeted the remaining Avengers or the Quinjet. Instead, they found a formidable target in Princess Twilight and her allies. Upon Ultron’s command, they ignored the Avengers and charged at the ponies, hopeful to overwhelm them, powerful enough to crush them.

Captain America saw this. He knew what Ultron wanted the moment that shockwave had launched him back several feet. He wanted them, the Avengers. All to himself.

He lay crouched, shield resting to his right, Ultron dead in his sights.

He quickly picked up his shield and tossed it, racing forward right for the AI. The circular shield struck Ultron currently handling Tony Stark. He smacked the billionaire across the head, sending a concussion blast directly into the Arc Reactor over his heart. Tony hit the ground skidding, allowing Ultron to turn around and face his next adversary.

The shield at his feet flew back to the Captain, who raised it above his head and fell to one knee. Directly above him, Thor flew down and brought the face of Mjølnir directly on the face of the star. A shockwave—just as powerful if not more so than the one Ultron had concocted—incinerated the area. Ultron skidded several feet, his arms raised defiantly across his face.

When he brought down those arms, he was instantly greeted by a bolt of lightning striking him in the chest. The bolt was quick and painful, just as the hammer was.

Mjølnir struck Ultron’s forehead with precision and accuracy, the mighty hammer flying back into Thor’s grasp once more. Odinson raced forward, landed next to the wounded Ultron with Captain America by his side, and swung at him. Ultron brought his eyes up, the face of the weapon striking him across the face. Thor reared back and roared, swinging down once more.

A concussion blast silenced him, launched him backwards. Ultron fired another at the Captain. Steve brought up his shield and deflected the blast, instead using it to slice the beam across Ultron’s abdomen and lower right arm. He gasped, falling to one knee. As he fell, he felt a presence leap onto his backside, a sharp current jabbed into his throat.

With his free right hand, Ultron deflected the blows dealt by the Captain and rammed his fist into his abdomen. Steve Rogers fell back and landed on his chest, his shield rolling away. As Captain Rogers struggled to stand, Ultron reared back with both of his left arms and gripped the body on top of him, flinging it forward.

Natasha Romanoff skidded to a halt, her gorgeous eyes landing on the beast before her. The beauty whipped out two electrically-charged batons, one in each gloved-palm.

With his eyes on her, Ultron never saw the metal-plated boot before it was too late. Tony Stark flew in and delivered a kick straight to Ultron’s head, pushing Ultron to the ground, knocking him on his back. That was when she struck. Together with Iron Man, Black Widow rushed forward and capitalized. Ultron was quick to respond, striking Stark with deafening blows. Natasha slid between the beast’s legs as the two metal men fought. She emerged from behind, jamming the tip of her baton where the knee met the leg.

The electric current broke across Ultron’s right leg, causing him to buckle as he fought. Tony’s palm lit up as he shot Ultron in the eye. He finished it with a strike across the face. Natasha appeared by his side, her kicks and swings wounding Ultron while Stark delivered the blows that hurt.

It mattered little. Ultron ripped away Natasha’s blows by gripping her hand and flinging her aside. She tumbled like a ragdoll, stopping just yards away groaning in pain from where Stark and Ultron stood. With the Widow out of the way, Ultron focused solely on Stark, deflecting his strikes and jabs and capitalizing with his own.

As they always say, four arms are better than two.

He struck Tony in the gut, the armor shattering with the strength of the punch. As he leaned forward, Stark grunted heavily as another punch was delivered right across his temple. Static flickered across his vision, red lights blaring in his eyes. With Stark dazed, Ultron ripped off the armor on his forearm, the metal pieces breaking off and falling apart.

With his right hand bare, Tony could only watch as Ultron finished it by sending a concussion blast directly into his Arc Reactor. Stark skidded on the hard cement from the force of the blast, finally coming to a rest several yards away. Barton quickly shot his glance over to Tony struggling to stand before returning to Ultron.

Reaching back, Clint felt for an arrow. His last one. He quickly adjusted it, setting the tip to an EMP. Clint Barton slid as a barrage of concussion blasts were focused solely on him. He popped up, retrieved his last arrow, and fired. The EMP tip on the arrow struck Ultron’s chest, the blast launching Ultron backwards and causing him to stagger.

Both Vision and War Machine flew down together, each one firing away on the struggling Ultron below. A bombardment of gunfire rained down on top of him, Ultron shielding himself from the swarm of orange. He shot out a concussion blast, the stream of red tearing right through War Machine’s shoulder. He fired another, this time knocking Rhodes out of the sky.

James landed on his feet and swung with his right fist. Ultron caught without trouble, though his eyes widened at the sight of the underbelly of James’ wrist. Before he could react, Ultron was pelted in the face with bullets. Rhodes gritted his teeth, eyes widening at the sight of Ultron bending his wrist as he continued to fire.

He jammed Rhodey’s wrist backwards, delivering a punch directly into his Arc Reactor.

James flew back and hit the Quinjet, but it wasn’t over yet. The Avengers weren’t done just yet. Vision flew down as Ultron swung at him. He phased completely through Ultron’s punch, appearing behind him and wrapping his forearm around Ultron’s throat.

“You can’t defeat us all, Ultron. No matter what you do,” Vision stated in a near-whisper.

Ultron gagged on the liquid flowing out of him. He watched as Sam Wilson slowly approached him and Vision, both SPPs trained on Ultron. Ultron coughed out, saying, “I’ve heard it before.”

He reached back and yanked on Vision’s cape. Pulling the android forward, he launched him into Wilson, the two tumbling before adjusting themselves completely. Vision hovered inches above the street and Sam steadied himself on one knee, cracked goggles focused on the AI.

Ultron raised all four arms, each fingertip lighting up a brilliant red. “I’ve heard it so many times.”

He fired. He dropped like he weighed a thousand pounds. He looked back and watched as Doctor Banner roared to the infected skylines above. Vision and Falcon instantly moved forward as Hulk tackled Ultron into the street. The green beast raised both fists over his head. Ultron brought up his palm, each finger glowing a bright blue.

Vision and Falcon halted. They spun around, only Sam dodging out of the way of the slab of concrete hurtling towards them. Vision phased through the concrete and turned to watch it hit Doctor Banner with enough force to push him off of Ultron. With the beast gone, Ultron quickly rose up, spun around, and shot out each arm.

Just as Hulk’s fist came right at him.

Just as he stopped it.

Vision titled his head.

The Hulk slowly turned his heated glare from Ultron to his own fist. He could only see as his punch was stopped by a hand so much smaller than his, by an unforeseen strength. He shot his stare back to Ultron, growled in anger, raised his other fist, and launched it like a furious freight train to its destination. Ultron, just as before, caught it.

His jaws separated, unleashing a blinding light and a piercing beam right into the Hulk’s unsuspecting expression.

Ultron watched him fly. He suddenly reared forward as a quick burst of speed rammed into his backside. He spun around, watched as Pietro and his trail of silver slowed to halt next to Vision. His eyes shifted to his sister, Wanda, whose fingers continued to bend and dance, lost in the haze that surrounded them.

She launched several pillars of concrete and slabs of road right for him. Ultron blasted them aside like they were nothing. Quicksilver took off alongside Vision, the duo striking Ultron as Wanda continued to attack. Falcon got up from where he lay, both him and Captain America rushing forward. Clint brought his eyes up to see Thor and Stark fly over his head, both aimed directly for Ultron. He ran as well, meeting Natasha and striking the AI.

One by one, despite each attack, each blow that brought him down, Ultron pushed them back. His concussion blasts shot out in all directions, singeing both Stark and Thor as they flew for him. Bodies flew as Ultron’s punches hit their mark, sending Avengers tumbled across the road. He did so with the Captain, then Barton, followed quickly by Romanoff and Wilson. He reared upwards and shot both Stark and Thor out of the sky.

Hulk burst right through a pile of bodies surrounding the street they stood on. Just as Ultron had knocked Vision back into James Rhodes, Hulk yanked at Ultron’s lower right arm once he tackled him again. Ultron’s eyes shot over to his arm, watching as the electric current began to shatter as the veins bulged on Banner’s forearm.

He reached back and shot him in the face.

Hearing the cries of anger only gave him relief. As the grip around his arm loosened, Ultron shot outwards and floated feet above Banner. His fist ignited a brilliant cyan, the road below Hulk ripping upwards and ramming itself into the green beast.

Ultron’s short victory was cut off as he felt a slithering feeling crawl across him. He looked down to young Wanda Maximoff, her piercing stare centered on him, her hands dancing around. Suddenly yanked downwards. Ultron hit the ground with tremendous force. He struggled to stand back up, his eyes turning on Wanda and her slow approach closer to him.

Her magic kept him still. Her brother delivered the blows.

“Pietro!”

He saw the blur coming from his left. He recognized the fight patterns, his new, calculating mind coming up with the perfect resurgence.

Ultron shot the ground. Pietro stumbled over the indent Ultron had created, slowing him down. Not too slow, but not too fast, either. Just right. Just enough for Ultron to actually see his face and the forearm it connected to.

With a devastating swipe, Pietro was knocked flat on his back, blood dripping down his nose and mouth. Wanda watched him fall, a look of terror etched on her features. She gasped, eyes breaking away from the target she held so fiercely. She never did see the concussion blast. She did, however, feel it scrape against her left shoulder.

Ah!” Wanda screamed as she twisted and fell, her magic consuming Ultron dying. With the AI now free, he approached the prone Sokovian girl, his gaze hardened and intentions malicious.

Wanda struggled to stand, choosing to rest on her hands and knees. Ultron reared down. His claws wrapped around Wanda’s hair as he yanked fiercely upwards. She cried out, both hands reaching back and gripping Ultron’s forearm.

Her eyes were shut tight. So very tight. Ultron turned to her, hearing as she breathed in through clenched teeth, echoes of pain reverberating through her throat.

Very carefully, he muttered, “I’m sorry.”

And then she cried out.

That certain cry carried over to a certain Pegasus head-butting a not-so-certain Ultron Sentry. With the rest of her friends having their hooves full, the sentry sputtering and dying by her hooves, Rainbow Dash spun around. Her eyes widened at the sight Ultron lifting Wanda off the ground like she weighed nothing, his attention on her, his gaze away and elsewhere.

With a snarl that told the tale, Rainbow spread her wings and took off like a bullet. As she approached her target, hooves outstretched, face folding back, she mentally shouted, Hold on! I’m coming!

Rainbow swore she hit him. She swore her hooves connected to metal one way or another. Well, they did, just not in the way she had hoped. After she opened her eyes after they had mysteriously shut, she stared longingly at the side of Ultron’s head, lower to his extended forearm, and finally to the hand gripped around her windpipe.

She struggled in his grasp, growing more and more desperate as this beast held both her and Wanda before releasing the Maximoff and letting her fall. Rainbow watched Wanda hit the cement, hands rising to the back of her head, silent whimpers escaping her shaking form.

Rainbow Dash…”

Rainbow didn’t know why. She didn’t know how it was possible, but the sound of his voice made the skin beneath her coat crawl. The tone was thick with Ultron’s memorable voice, but ripened with darkness, evil, a kind she had never heard in her life. Not even Sombra, Tirek, or any demon she had heard before came close to the kind of speech that flowed from Ultron’s metallic tongue.

And as he looked at her, he could see the pupils in Dash’s eyes shrink to near nothing.

You’ve become a thorn in my side.”

He tore his eyes away from the shaking Pegasus in his grip and turned to notice the remaining Avengers charging him, a new type of fire ripe in their eyes. Captain America led the charge, bloodied and beaten but still fighting strong as any good soldier should. Following him was both Romanoff and Barton. Thor and Stark joined the charge, too. Banner, Vision, Rhodes, and Wilson were the last ones, each one running or flying right at him.

Before they could arrive, Ultron was gone.

Captain America slowed himself, as did the others. They looked up, watched as Ultron escaped with speeds that greatly outmatched any of them. And with him…was Rainbow Dash.

“I got her!” Stark yelled, the flames beneath his feet sputtering, desperately trying to keep the man afloat.

Thor noted such. “I will get Rainbow! Focus on the fight below!”

“No!”

Everyone turned their eyes onto the young Pietro Maximoff arriving in a blur, sweat and soot dotting his body. Everyone, pony included, shifted their attention to the man with the lightning-designed, skintight shirt, small droplets of blood from his nose painted to his chest.

“None of you are fast enough. I’ll get her,” he stated, shifting his eyes from the Avengers and to the concerned faces of Rainbow’s friends. He nodded to them, finally turning his head to his little sister.

“…and I’ll come back. Promise.”

He never did stay long enough to hear Wanda cry out in protest.

Author's Note:

Wow. That was a much needed break. Expect more chapter updates soon. :)

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