From the Ashes

by Boltstrike58

Chapter 2: New Superheroes on the Block

Equis, Castle of the Two Sisters

When emerging on the other side of a mysterious portal, most people would have no idea what to expect.

Steve certainly didn't expect to run face-first into Sam's back.

Both the Captain and the Falcon were pitched forward, rolling across the gravel covered floor. Coming to a stop, Sam retracted his wings, allowing the duo to untangle themselves from the human knot.

"Sorry, had to stop for a moment, dodge his beam," Sam reported.

"Doesn't matter," Steve replied, climbing to his feet. "Now where'd he—"

"Rogers? Wilson?"

Steve froze. He turned around, noticing the room they were in for the first time in the process. The chamber looked as though it had certainly seen better days, with the brick and masonry crumbling around them. A window had been smashed open, leaving jagged shards of glass surrounding a view of a dense, overgrowing forest. The rest of the building, from what he could see, looked like some kind of ancient castle. On the far wall of the room, two alters, each holding a large, circular mirror and a spade shaped crystal, sat undisturbed. This was the direction he and Sam had entered from.

What caught him off guard, of course, was none of those things. Instead, it was the presence of Iron Man, fully suited up, with repulsors drawn, standing in front of one of the mirrors.

"Stark? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question."

Same looked between the two Avengers. "Okay," he started, "what's going on—"

"You idiot!"

All three Avengers whirled around. Phobos and Deimos, still holding the items they'd stolen, stood side by side, having emerged from the portal before any of the humans. At the moment, their attention was entirely directed towards yelling at each other.

"You let them follow you?!" shouted Deimos. "Can you do one thing competently?"

"Hey, you did the same thing!" snapped Phobos. "Probably on the account that you're too pathetic to actually fight back!"

"Oh, sure, your constant displays of your idiotic powers makes you the superior one—"

Deimos was interrupted by another repulsor blast to the head, courtesy of Iron Man. Phobos snapped back to attention, realizing that the Avengers wouldn't just stand there while they argued. He thrust out with his staff, firing multiple beams of yellow energy. Sam took to the air, while Steve was able to shield himself, leaving the remaining shots to lance into the wall.

Tony dived down at Deimos, attempting to grab him, but the faun summoned power to his staff, creating a flash of green light. In an instant, he was warped to the other side of the chamber, back by the mirrors. Deimos fired a shot at Iron Man, hitting the armored billionaire right between the shoulder blades.

Satisfied, Deimos took his fist to the alter, shattering the stone surface. He removed the mirror and the crystal, before jumping over to the second alter and grabbing its crystal. Both crystals were then shattered on the floor.

"We have what we want!" he shouted to his brother, still fighting with Steve and Sam. "We need to retreat!"

"Don't be stupid!" snapped Phobos, spraying beams of energy from his staff. "They can't hope to match us!"

"Don't bet the farm on that," replied Sam as he flew at Phobos from above, weaving through the beams. He rolled forward in an aerial somersault, his wings retracting as he did, before planting both feet on the faun's face. Sam channeled all his momentum to spring off of the goat, head, his wings extending once more. The irritated Phobos then felt the vibranium disk rebound off his back, before getting caught in the chest by a repulsor ray.

Steve and Tony moved to continue the attack, but paused at the sight of each other. That hesitation allowed Deimos to launch his own beams at them, forcing them to jump to the side. The faun teleported over to his brother, grabbing him by the horn and lifting him up.

"Okay, fine, we're leaving," growled Phobos, clearly unhappy with the idea. The two brothers were enveloped by their respective yellow and green auras, before rising from the ground, and flying out the window.

"Dammit!" shouted Tony, firing repulsors after them. "That's my tech, you mythological freaks!"

"So they robbed you, too?" asked Steve, watching the fleeing fauns. "That explains why we're all in the same place."

"Would've thought Wakanda had better defenses." Steve and Sam gave him a look. "What? You didn't think I couldn't figure out where you'd gone?"

"Whatever, it's not important," said Sam. "What is important is getting our stuff back. We can still catch them before they get too far. You in, or not?"

Tony didn't raise his metal mask, but behind it, his expression was one of frustration. Then again, he hadn't hunted Steve down in the months since he'd left, so he could probably resist the urge to beat him up here. Not to mention, he would really have like to have that arc reactor back.

"Yeah, sure," he replied nonchalantly. "I'll patch into your comm link. Friday, any idea on our position?" The AI was quiet for a few seconds as she tried to fire up the built-in GPS.

"No good, boss," replied the A.I.. "Can't connect to any satellites."

"Are we even on Earth?" asked Steve. "I don't remember goat-headed people sightings."

"Probably not," admitted Tony. "Now who's carrying the only person who can't fly?"

---

Ponyville

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" shouted Rainbow Dash, throwing her front legs in the air. "Since when did she doubt us?"

The Elements of Harmony were currently seated at their designated thrones in Twilight's castle, surrounding the inactive Cutie Map. Twilight had sent for the others as soon as she'd returned from Canterlot, quickly informing them about Phobos and Deimos. Spike, of course, was present, along with a quiet Starlight Glimmer. The discussion had turned from the threat the fauns posed to Princess Celestia's rather unusual behavior.

"Calm down, Rainbow," said Applejack, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulders. "I doubt Celestia considers us incapable."

"I agree," said Twilight. "She acted sincere when she said we deserved a break. What I'm wondering is whether that's the only reason."

"Darling, does it really need to be more complex?" chimed in Rarity. "Princess Celestia has always possessed the most benevolent spirit. She understands that we've been rushing around Equestria solving friendship problems. Perhaps she simply cares so much that it pains her to see us forced to deal with every single disaster?"

Spike shook his head. "Believe me, she's hiding something," said the dragon. "I lived with Twilight the entire time she was Princess Celestia's student. If she's doing what Twilight described, she definitely doesn't want to tell the entire truth."

"But Princess Celestia's so kind to everypony," Fluttershy asked. "Why would she need to lie to us?"

"Except for, y'know, she didn't tell Twilight that she knew Nightmare Moon was real, because Twilight needed to make real friends for the Elements of Harmony to work, and she wanted Twilight to do that on her own," added Pinkie Pie.

"I don't know," said Twilight. "Usually she has a good reason for keeping secrets, but I don't know what it could be here."

"If I may," Starlight asked tentatively. Nopony objected to her, so she continued. "Has Celestia ever talked to you about the fact that you save Equestria all the time? Has she ever expressed any kind of negative attitude towards it? Maybe regret that she didn't help more?"

"No," Twilight responded, "but that doesn't guarantee anything. Feelings can change faster than most ponies expect."

"True," said Applejack. "Maybe we should focus on this Phobos and Deimos first. I'm sure we can all talk to Princess Celestia later."

"Well, we know for sure they're not working alone," said Spike. "Like Twilight said, somepony managed to breach Tartarus without raising an alarm. Do we know anypony capable of that?"

"None that aren't imprisoned, disabled, or reformed," said Rarity. "Not even that vile Chrysalis could pull this off."

"Somepony we've never met, perhaps? Maybe—" Starlight began, before the sound of the castle's front door swinging open cut her off.

The ponies' attention shot to the following sound of hoof steps, at a galloping pace, coming towards their room. The doors to the throne room were enveloped by a yellow magical aura, before the telekinetic magic forced them apart.

"TWILIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!" screamed the mint-green unicorn as she charged straight in. Unfortunately for her, she didn't pay enough attention to where she was going, slamming her head into the edge of the crystal table. The unicorn grunted in pain, before slumping to the ground.

"Oh, my goodness! Lyra!" exclaimed Twilight, immediately leaping over the table and landing next to the fallen unicorn. "Are you okay?!"

Lyra stumbled to her feet, her eyes rolling around as she wobbled. "Mommy," she slurred, "my harp ate all the deep fried cupcakes..."

"Uh, Lyra?" asked Pinkie, supporting one side of her while Twilight held up the other.

Lyra shook her head a couple of times, her eyes focusing once more, and her stance becoming stable. "Yeah...I'm good. Sorry, got excited."

"I told you that would happen!" came another voice. Everyone in the room turned, seeing a familiar tan-colored earth pony with a black and pink mane rushing into the throne room. "You know what happens when you freak out about things like—"

"Oh, right!" exclaimed Lyra. "Sorry, Bon-Bon!" She flipped around back to Twilight. "Twilight, in Ponyville, there's...there's...Oh, I can't describe it!"

"This isn't another human fossil exhibit, right?" asked Twilight. "Because those are interesting, but—"

"No, you gotta see this, you gotta see this!" Lyra shouted, jumping up and down. Her horn lit up with its familiar golden glow, grabbing Twilight by the tail. Lyra turned and charged out the door, dragging the unfortunate Princess of Friendship with her, Twilight protesting all the way. Bon-Bon rolled her eyes before following, the rest of the Elements not far behind.

Lyra and Twilight burst out of the crystal castle, racing onto the grassy plain. Lyra finally released her telekinetic grip on Twilight's tail, pointing with one hoof. "There!"

Twilight was about to respond, but an explosive sound effect cut her off. Her focus turned to the chaos currently filling Ponyville, and her jaw dropped. Her friends soon followed out the door, and the same reaction found its way onto all of their faces.

First of all, two goat-headed, bipedal creatures were currently in the middle of town, firing magical beams from their staffs. Definitely Phobos and Deimos. What caught everpony's attention, however, was what they were fighting. Three bipedal figures, different from the ones Twilight had met in the other world, but similar. Clearly humans.

One was covered a grey uniform with a square of red and white stripes on the chest, carrying a silver, circular shield. What they could see of his body was peach colored flesh, albeit with a slight tan. One had darker skin, and wore casual clothes, with the exception of the metallic backpack, equipped with a gigantic pair of metal wings, and flames shooting out of the bottom. The third was the most unusual, the entire body concealed beneath a shining suit of red and gold armor, a glowing white light present in the middle of the chest. All three seemed male, though she couldn't say for sure with the armored one.

"What are they?" Applejack breathed.

"They're...incredible..." whispered Pinkie, barely able to keep herself from squealing with excitement.

"Spike," said Twilight, "send a letter to Celestia. Tell her it's urgent."

---

They wouldn't have found the things without Redwing. Sam's extra eye in the sky, sent out ahead to scout for the fauns, had picked them up on the outer edge of the forest they'd been chasing them through. Tony and Sam, carrying Steve, had caught up to them in a matter of seconds.

The bad news was that they'd reached them on the edge of a town.

Phobos and Deimos, irritated at being caught again, had immediately opened fire, forcing the three Avengers to take evasive maneuvers. The beams lanced through the air, scraping the surfaces of the various buildings. Tony dived, rolled, and twisted his way through the air to avoid them without causing too much collateral damage, but one of the beams caught him on the jet boot, sending the armored Avengers tumbling down. Not from a massive height, like Rhodey had been dropped, but higher than he was comfortable with.

"Friday!" he yelled, trying to stabilize himself with his remaining, properly functioning jet. "Could we get started on repairs, please?!"

"I'm trying!" reported the onboard computer.

"Well try faster—!" Tony started to shout, before an unexpected occurrence cut him off.

He froze in midair.

Tony looked down at his body, noticing that a transparent, magenta aura had completely covered his entire body. He then began to shift without any effort on his part, his feet pointing towards the ground once more, and settled softly onto the warm grass. Inside his metal helmet, Tony's jaw dropped, and he couldn't come up with words.

"Um, hello?" asked a female voice. "Are you okay?"

Tony turned around to find the strangest creature he'd ever seen looking at him, and that included the goat-headed people he was fighting. It, or she, resembled a horse, but the coat was lavender, with a dark blue mane with a magenta stripe. She was about four feet high, and had a unicorn's horn on her head, along with a pair of wings on her back. Her flank was covered with an asymmetrical six-pointed star, with white stars dotted around it. Looking past her, Tony could see several more horses of varying colors, some with horns or wings, watching the battle taking place.

"Guys," he said. "I think our lives have officially jumped the shark."

Steve and Sam took notice of the ponies gathered around them as well.

"Okay," said Sam, as he dodged another beam from Phobos, "this is weird."

Not all of the ponies were completely fixated on the newcomers, however. Rainbow Dash took off from the ground, zooming towards the fauns.

"Phobos and Deimos!" she shouted. "In the name of The Royal Pony Sisters, I, the Awesome Element of Loyalty, place you under arrest!" The rainbow blur smashed into the side of Deimos' face, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Did that sound as cool as I thought it did? I've been trying out some new—"

She was cut off as a beam from Phobos came up and struck her right between the wings.

"Nobody gets to screw with him except me!" snarled the offending faun.

Rainbow, unable to maintain flight, plummeted, only for Sam to fly right up to her. He released his grip on his wings, causing them to retract, and caught the cyan pegasus with both arms. As he descended, Sam twisted in midair, falling to his feet and sliding a short distance, Rainbow Dash safe in his grip.

"Owwww..." she complained, rubbing the now sore spot on her back. She looked up at the dark-skinned creature who'd saved her, before suddenly jumping out of his arms. "Hey! I had that!"

"Uh-huh. Sure," said Sam, used to dealing with this kind of "gratitude" from Bucky, or Natasha. "You're welcome, by the way." He activated his wings, taking off and returning to the fight. "I can't believe I just saved an ungrateful pegasus."

Tony had rejoined the fight, his boot repaired, and he and Steve were currently holding off Phobos and Deimos, trying to contain any collateral damage. This task was aided by Starlight and Twilight, who cast magic shields over the houses of Ponyville whenever the beams got too close. Applejack and Pinkie had joined the fight, throwing things from a distance, while Fluttershy and Spike wisely decided to take cover in the castle. That didn't stop Spike from watching the battle through the window.

Deimos ducked under Tony's repulsor blasts, before launching a few beams at the Captain, intercepted by his shield. Before Steve could respond, the faun kicked out, striking his leg, and forcing Steve to drop his shield to the side. Deimos shoved his staff into Steve's face, intending to fire a point blank shot...

...only to be dragged off balance by the lasso that found its way around his horn.

"I gotcha, partner!" yelled Applejack, as she continued to drag the faun backwards, pouring all her bucking strength into the effort.

"Um...thank you," said Steve, scooping up his shield.

He smashed the vibranium disk against the goat face, and Applejack used the momentum to swing the faun through the air, slamming him head-first into the ground. The faun grunted in pain, before reaching over to seize the lasso. A scraping sound against the dirt caught his attention, and he swung his head around.

Straight into the path of Pinkie's party cannon.

The blast of air whipped the hair on Deimos' face, his body reeling back once more, his neck snapping back. Tiny bits of confetti wormed their ways into his eyes, blinding him as fluid filled the buttery orbs. A bolt of magenta energy hit him right between the eyes, and Rainbow Dash struck him again. The injured faun struggled to his feet, spitting out a tooth as he did so.

"Brother," he growled, "we are outmatched. We need to retreat."

Phobos was busy battling both Iron Man and the Falcon, Rarity and Starlight hanging back and trying to fire magical bolts at him, without hitting the Avengers. After all, they had helped Rainbow Dash. The faun ground his teeth in frustration, furious at being forced to give in to not only ponies, but humans as well. But even the Faun of Fear had his limits. This was one of the few times he'd ever listen to Deimos.

"Fine!" he snapped, kicking Iron Man in the chest, and shooting at Falcon. "How?!"

Deimos ducked under the Captain's flying shield, and dashed towards his brother. Applejack attempted to jump on his back, only to be pushed away with a green magic pulse. The faun sent a powerful blast at the feet of Rarity and Starlight, the resulting explosion knocking the two unicorns off their hooves. He dived to stand at his brother's side.

"We combine," he said simple, a sickly green orb of pure magic gathering in the curve of his staff.

Catching on, Phobos' frown flipped into an unsettling grin. He gathered his own magic in his staff, a sulfurous yellow sphere forming in it. Raising the wooden weapons, the brothers thrust the two orbs together, where they collided with a bang. Green and yellow mixed together, creating a misty projection of light. The center glowed white, and the light around it seemed to dim, magic radiating outward. The assembled Avengers and ponies suddenly felt a pit in their stomachs, a primal fear reminiscent of childhood fear of the dark: being afraid, without knowing why.

Without warning, Phobos and Deimos thrust both of their staffs towards the sky. The ball of magic ascended like a rocket. It climbed further, obliterating any clouds unfortunate enough to be in its path. Finally, the projectile ceased its rise, hovering in the air for about two seconds. Then it exploded.

At first, it seemed like it was nothing more than a magical firework. Dozens of smaller orbs resulted from the burst, spreading out from the center of the blast. Unlike fireworks, however, these orbs didn't fade, and plummeted from their position. They were as meteors, green and yellow, approaching Ponyville.

The Avengers and the Elements' brains screamed at them to act. To move to stop the meteors, or protect the pony citizens. But the dread and the nagging fear of the initial spell still hung over them, making it difficult to take action. The ponies moved to protect their friends and neighbors. Steve, Tony, and Sam prepared to fire at the meteors, but they were moving too slowly. The pits in their stomachs wouldn't let them accelerate. They wouldn't be able to stop—

All thoughts ceased as a massive column of golden light burst from the sky, slamming into the ground not a half-dozen meters from the assembled groups. From inside the blaring beam, bolts of blue lightning lunged out, hitting some of the falling orbs head on. The resulting explosions seemed to shock the Avengers and Elements below, causing the fear to drain out of them.

Everyone's attention turned to the golden light, as it began to fade, leaving an intricately burned design on the grass. Out of the impact site came a familiar (and expected) armored figure, a red cape billowing in the wind and a hammer in his grasp. Steve's face lit up at the site. Tony's did too, though nobody could tell.

"Hurry!" shouted Thor, taking to the sky. "We have to stop them before they hit the ground!"

"Shows up late to the party, and it's all business," said Tony. "Come on, Thor."

The immobilizing emotions had faded. Tony and Sam fired up their jets, following the god of thunder's ascension, alongside Twilight. Thor released more lighting, obliterating the falling orbs. The pure magic, having no physical forms, left no debris as they were destroyed. Sam unloaded his reserves of missiles, his targeting system selecting all the projectiles he could take out.

"Friday, lock on to all targets, fire up all weapons, stop those things from hitting the ground!" Tony shouted, the AI already following through the order.

His repulsors blared, missile launchers emptied, laser beams cleaved the spheres in half. Tony cast his gaze skyward, finding an orb about to drop on top of him. Tony tried to angle his chest to take it out with a unibeam...

...only for a magenta beam of magic to strike the orb. Twilight Sparkle rushed through the air past him, her horn blaring with power, and fired more magic beams. Her horn disappeared in the glow of pure power, her firing rate rising to that of a machine gun.

"Huh," said Tony. "So that's how it feels."

At the same time, the remaining ponies and Steve rushed to secure the assembled crowd, knowing their allies couldn't stop all the bombs. Steve and Rainbow scooped up as many as possible, using their superior speed to rush them away impact points. Steve managed to grab all three Crusaders, frozen with fear, an orb impacting the ground where they'd stood a second ago. The magical mortar attack rained down on Ponyville, the blasts bursting all around, leaving craters in the ground, and dust raising up. But none were crushed, and Starlight managed to shield all buildings from the few orbs that targeted them, though this effort practically emptied her magic reserves. The entire assault ended in less than twenty seconds.

Thor, Sam, Tony, and Twilight touched down on the ground, the others coming back over to them. Tony raised his mask from his face for the first time, allowing the cool air to reach his sweaty face. Twilight panted, not having expended that much magic in a while. The remaining ponies exhibited similar states of fatigue, with the exception of Lyra, who was busy gawking at the Avengers, seemingly trying to memorize every detail about them. Sam bent over, resting his hands on his knees, as he looked around.

"Well, we saved everything, but the goat people are gone," he muttered. He was correct. Phobos and Deimos had take advantage of the ensuing chaos to flee the scene. The vibranium, the arc reactor, and the mirror they'd taken were all gone.

"Hey..." Steve said suddenly, pointing to the side. A single glass capsule, containing a shard of vibranium, lay off to the side, and he scooped it up. "Must've dropped it." He turned to Thor. "So what took you so long?"

"Sorry," said the prince, scratching his head. "I was off Asgard. I only heard about-"

"Thor Odinson!"

Everyone turned back to the sky, to see a massive white form with a flowing mane descend. Princess Celestia touched down on the ground, galloping over to the Asgardian and throwing her front legs around his neck.

"It's been so long! What're you doing here?" she exclaimed, laughing.

"Ah, Celestia," said Thor, returning the hug. "It's good to be back. Haven't aged a day."

The solar alicorn smiled, releasing him and stepping back. "Neither have you. It's great to—"

"Uh, excuse me," said Tony, redirecting everyone's attention to him. "Thor, it's good that you're familiar with the locals, because I've got a lotta questions. Namely, where the hell are we, what the hell's going on, why the hell are there talking horses everywhere, and what the hell are you doing here?!"

Celestia balked at the Iron Man's language. "Friends of yours?" she asked, looking at the humans surrounding them.

"Yes," Thor replied. "It's a long story."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay.

Comments

[SuperAvenger3]

Oh my gosh! Nobody would suspect that a story with so few likes Is so good

[unknowncape7377]

💩yasss it so great

[harts fire]

a vary good story.
you surprised me with the quote

jumped the shark

that brings back memory's of happy days and the end of a crappy show.

[Fluffy-Boi]

Figures Thor knows Celestia