‘Sir, I would advise you to reconsider your plan.’

“It’s a great plan, Jarvis. You just don’t have as much faith in others as I do.”

‘It is not a matter of faith, sir. I just believe that these ponies will respond to you the same way those in Canterlot did. With fear, distrust and magic.’

“So just another Wednesday for us, then.”

A small town came into view on Tony’s H.U.D, with an energy that matched the two princesses nearby. Even if Tony hadn’t been a super genius, he would have still been able to figure out that the source of energy was most likely living in the giant, crystal castle at the edge of the town.

Tony could have just flown over to the castle and knocked on the front door, but that wasn’t how Tony Stark did things. So instead of heading right to the energy source, he instead cut his engines and landed right in the middle of the town…in front of the ponies who were going about their day.

“Hello, horses!” Tony said with a wave. “No need to panic, just here to talk to your princess to figure out how to get home to my own dimension. You know, regular, superhero things. If any of you wouldn’t mind pointing me in the right direction, it would be a big help.”

‘Sir, you already know where they are.’

“Yeah, but I want to see how these ones will respond,” Stark muttered. For a long minute the crowd of ponies just stared at the metal man, confusion and disbelief written on their faces. Then the crowd began to disperse, some shaking their heads with a sigh while others grumbled under their breath. Tony picked up at least three ponies saying how it was going to be another one of those days and several others were talking about how they needed to move out of Ponyville, which he assumed was the name of the town.

Once all of the ponies had gone about their day, only one, small filly was left. A yellow pony with a red mane with a bow in it looked up at him, awe and amazement written on her face.

“Well welcome to Ponyville, stranger! Yer here looking fer Twilight, that right?” she asked with an accent.

“That’s right, my little friend. This…Twilight is the princess around here?” Tony asked. He got down on one knee so that he could be eye level with the filly, who was gazing in awe at his faceplate. “Would you mind taking me to her? It’s a matter of great importance.”

“Of course, just follow me!” she replied. The foal began walking towards the crystal castle, confirming what Tony knew, before she looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Ah’m Applebloom, by the way! Cutie Mark Crusader and sister to Applejack. And ah gotta say, ah love yer armor. Especially the coloring ya gave it.”

“I can see why,” Tony said with a smile. He then glanced around at the ponies they were passing by, who either didn’t pay any attention to the metal man or simply gave him a look and moved on with their lives. “So are you the only friendly face in this town or do the rest of the horses just reserve the silent treatment for their guests?”

“Oh don’t mind them, they’re pretty used to strange things happening in Ponyville,” Applebloom said. “A long time ago they would all panic over the slightest thing, but after Discord, Chrysalis, Tirek, and all of the other crazy things that have happened, they’ve grown numb to the weirdness. Maybe if ya started flying around and blasting them they’d show a bit more interest.”

“Wow, sounds like New York,” Tony replied.

“And ya were flying, right? Ya didn’t just fall out of the sky and manage to land perfectly, did ya?” Applebloom asked. She heard a quick roaring sound and spun around to see that the metal man was hovering above the ground, blue fire erupting from his hands and feet.

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“That’s incredible! How did ya manage to generate enough propulsion to overcome the weight of you and the armor without the need for a massive engine?” Applebloom asked, circling Tony and staring in awe at his thrusters.

“That would be the result of the arc reactor in my chest,” Tony replied. “This little baby right here generates enough power to fuel this suit for nearly a day, provided I don’t do anything too dangerous. Which is almost never.”

‘Sir, should you really be telling her about how your suit works? You know nothing about her.’

“Come on Jarvis, These are the people…ponies of tomorrow. What kind of scientist would I be if I didn’t feed her hunger for knowledge?” Tony asked.

“Who are ya talking to?”

“A little voice in my helmet that yells at me whenever I do anything. I call it Jarvis. Say hi, Jarvis.”

‘Hello, Applebloom.’

“Hi, Jarvis! Are ya really small or something?”

‘Or something.’

“You are taking meeting an alien awfully well for someone so young,” Tony said.

“Yer not an alien, yer a human. At least, I think ya are. Hard to tell with the armor. Twilight’s told me all about your kind! She used to go see them all the time, but she got busy lately and had to stop.”

A smile crossed Tony’s face at Applebloom’s words. Twilight had visited humans before, meaning that she had a portal or some kind of spell that could travel between dimensions. Tony would be back in his world before the day was done and without having to fight his way through another reality to do it. That was a first.

“Your instincts are right. I am a human,” Tony said, before his faceplate moved up and allowed Applebloom to see his face. “I’m Tony Stark. A.K.A. Iron Man. But please, call me Tony.”

“Okay, Tony, but why would others call ya Iron Man. Ah mean, ah can see why, but why?”

“That’s my superhero name. And what my enemies call me.”

“Oh mah gawsh, yer a superhero?! No way!”

“Flying armor, on board A.I., incredibly good looking…what more is there to say?”

“What’s yer superpower?! Is it super strength? How about metal manipulation? Energy pulses?”

“That’s the coolest thing about me, Applebloom,” Tony said with a smile. “I don’t have a superpower. All I’ve got are my wits, my will and this suit I’ve built. And I’m still one of the best.”

Applebloom’s jaw dropped at that revelation, but any further conversation was cut off as the two reached their destination. A massive, crystal palace that shimmered like rainbow up close. Tony didn’t need his sensors to feel the magical might radiating off of this place as well as the faintest trace of an energy that his sensors couldn’t identify. Something unique to this world?

“Don’t feel nervous, Twilight is super friendly! She’s the princess of friendship, after all.” Applebloom then raised her hoof and banged it against the door. “Twilight! It’s me! Applebloom! Ah’ve got something ya will want to see!”

“Applebloom, if you’ve brought me another weird looking apple,” the voice of Twilight said as she opened the door, revealing a purple unicorn with wings who stopped dead when she saw Tony. She looked like a small version of the princesses up at Canterlot, telling Tony that his scanners had been on the mark. For a long moment Twilight just stared at him, before she sighed and glanced at AB. “No, you can’t keep it. Put it back where you found it.”

“What…no, that’s not what-“

“Come on Twilight, she’d make a great owner,” Tony added, getting Twilight to snap her head back towards him. “And I don’t need much. Some food, water, multi-billion-dollar tech workshop. See, I’m easy to take care of.”

“Great, not only did a human somehow end up on my doorstep, it’s a human that thinks he’s funny. This is going to be a long one,” Twilight sighed, before she moved to the side. “The two of you better come on in. I have a feeling this is going to take a while.”

Tony made himself right at home.

At first, he had been somewhat surprised to see that not only was the interior of the castle crystal as well, but so was the furniture, the stairs…everything really. Even the couches that Twilight motioned for him and Applebloom to sit on. He did so, imagining that they would be very uncomfortable if he wasn’t already wearing a suit of armor. He popped open his helmet so Twilight could see his face, hoping that it would calm her down.

“Do you have to put your feet on the table?” Twilight asked, looking down at the two red, metal boots that were atop her table.

“I’ve been traveling for miles today, Twilight. My feet are killing me.”

“Ah thought ya flew here?”

“Yeah. And my feet are killing me,” Tony said with a smile.

Twilight rolled her eyes at Stark, but quickly her eyes returned their gaze to his armor. Tony found himself smiling as Twilight looked over every inch of his suit, muttering to herself and jotting down notes on a clipboard she had. Every once in a while, Tony would open a compartment, startling her for only a second before she rapidly observed the compartment and how it worked.

“See that, Applebloom. Here I am a gorgeous billionaire who has saved the world numerous times, yet all she cares about is my suit. I swear people are so shallow these days. Are you listening, Twilight? I’m making fun of you.”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, I got…distracted…” Twilight muttered, taking one last look at the suit before she made her clipboard vanish in a flash of light. “It’s just that I’ve never seen a suit as advanced as this before. Even with magic we probably wouldn’t be close to making something like this for at least…another five hundred years. It’s incredible.”

“Like a caveman seeing a rocketship for the first time. He can’t even process what he’s looking at,” Tony said with a smile. “But enough studying and jokes. Twilight, I’m here for two reasons. The first is because I need to get back to my own reality. The other is because the two princesses in Canterlot made it very clear I’m not welcome there. So I’ve come to you for help.”

“I know you’re from another dimension. Humans don’t exist in this one. Can you give me any more information to help?” Twilight asked.

“Sure. I come from Earth four seven eight, a world filled with heroes, villains and everything in-between. I’m a part of a group of heroes called the Avengers, Earths mightiest heroes, yadda yadda yadda, who were taking down a supervillain when his portal exploded and dragged me to this world. That help?”

“Hmm,” was all Twilight said in reply as she started to scan Tony with her horn.

“I heard from my little friend here that you have visited the humans before and I’m guessing that you either have an interdimensional portal or are capable of creating one. If I could just borrow it, I’d be out of your hair…mane…and would let you enjoy the rest of your day in peace.”

“That’s not going to work,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “My mirror portal allows me to cross over into the human world, but that world is one dimension next to ours. Yours is however many hundreds away and that’s if my dimension happens to be one. We could be dimension one thousand or something like that. You’d have to go through hundreds of mirror portals and even then, we aren’t sure you’d be going the right way.”

“That makes sense. But if I go to your human world, perhaps I could use the tech of the Avengers in that reality to build something to help locate my own dimension?”

“Sorry, but I’ve been to the other human world many times and I’ve never heard of anyone called the Avengers…though that might have been a dvd I saw in the library,” Twilight muttered. “In any case, I don’t think that world would have the technology you would need. I mean, my human self is the smartest person in that world and what she has built pales in comparison to your suit. If you need something more advanced than what you’re wearing, she’ll be of no help.”

“I hate to say it, but what you’re saying makes sense,” Tony sighed, placing his hands together and looking at the ceiling. Then he shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “Welp, looks like I’m crashing in this dimension for a little while. So which one of you lucky ladies would like the honor of having a real life superhero in your home?”

Applebloom let out an excited squeak and raised her hoof, but Twilight lowered in with her magic while shaking her head. “Sorry Applebloom, but I’d better take this one. Who knows what trouble he’ll get into while he’s here?”

“It’s like you know me. Are you sure you can handle it, though? Even my closest allies get fed up with me at least twice a week.”

“It’ll be easy. All you need is some food and water, right?”

“And a multi-billion-dollar tech workshop. You telling me you have one of those?”

“Mine is multi-million at best.”

“So you expect me to live in poverty. Well beggars can’t be choosers. Very well Twilight, I will stay with you until we’ve figured out how to get this all sorted,” Tony agreed. He extended a hand to Twilight and she shook it with her hoof, before a devious smile crossed her face.

“And I look forward to figuring out how to build a suit of my own like that one.”

“Ah, your true motives revealed. I see now that I am at the mercy of a villain,” Tony smirked.

“Come on, let me show you around,” Twilight said with a laugh. “You too, Bloom.”

Applebloom hopped off the couch and followed after Twilight, leaving Tony alone for a moment.

‘Sir, a word?’

“Yeah, Jarvis?” Tony asked, his faceplate closing once again.

‘Sir, even if it does not have the Avengers, wouldn’t it be better to go to the human Earth and use the tools there? At least they would have technology and people that you understand.’

“I considered that, Jarvis. But remember, I wasn’t the only one that went into the portal back in Latveria.”

‘Doom.’

“He had to have survived. I know it. And from what little I’ve seen of them so far, these ponies wouldn’t be able to handle him. We could barely handle him. I brought him to their world. I will not leave them at his mercy. We both know he has none.”

“Tony, ya coming?”

“Coming. Just had to talk with the voice in my head real quick.”

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