//------------------------------// // Mark Harmony // Story: The Tin Man // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Sparks flew from the end of Tony’s hammer as he struck down, the resounding clang echoing throughout the workshop. On the table in front of Tony lay his Iron Man, which he was in the process of infusing with crystals that could cancel any magic. Normally, this would not be possible. Fortunately for him, he had Pinkie with him. “Ready for the next wave?” Tony asked as he raised his hammer again. “Bring it,” Pinkie replied. Tony struck once more and Pinkie activated her power, infusing the crystal perfectly where Tony struck it down. Tony let out a sigh as he wiped his brow on the back of his hand, looking down at his suit, which now had crystal armor and weaponry, forged together that only the realty stone could make happen. “Y’know, I’ve never seen somepony make armor like you have. Did you have to do it shirtless?” “It gets my blood flowing,” Tony replied, nodding down at his new suit. The crystals had been bonded perfectly. There wasn’t a spot on the armor that would allow magic to get through. Of course, Doom now wielded the power of Discord, who had wielded some of the power of an infinity stone. Details. “Will this suit really allow you to stop Doom?” Pinkie asked. “It will give me a fighting chance. And that’s all I’ve ever needed,” Tony replied, pressing a button to fold up his suit. It did so, allowing Tony to move it to the side before he placed his remaining crystals and some shards of metal on the table. Shards of metal that had once belonged to one of the greatest heroes…and one of his best friends. A few strikes from the hammer. Some assistance from Pinkie. And the shield was repaired…and then some. The crystal had perfectly bonded with the metal. Tony had also sacrificed his adamantium blades to reforge the shield. And Pinkie had left some of her stones power inside of it. Tony was confident that it could even take some hits from an infinity stone now. “And just incase my suit fails, I’ve got someone looking out for me with this,” Tony said, lifting the shield. He felt heavy in his hands, like it belonged to someone else. But he needed it. He needed this small bit of comfort. He was fairly certain going up against Doom meant marching to his death. And even if he could somehow best Doom, his plan was an even greater impossible task. He needed the shield. He needed a friend on his side, even if he wasn’t there. “Give me wisdom, Steve,” Tony whispered to the shield, before he slung it over his back. He started to head for the stairs, before he looked back to see Pinkie looking at the ground. “What’s the matter, Pinkie? Fate of the world and everything in it got you feeling butterflies? Don’t worry, I felt the same way the first time I had to save reality.” “Is everything a joke to you?” Pinkie whispered. Tony curbed his jokes and knelt down next to her. “Sorry…sorry…I’m just…scared. Three weeks ago, my biggest concern was if this stallion I like likes me back. Now here we are, with the fate of my entire species at risk. They might be erased…gone…never to exist. I…I don’t think I can smile with that weighing over me.” “Pinkie…I know we haven’t talked that much since I first got here, but trust me when I say you and all of your friends are some of the best people…ponies I’ve ever met. I promise I will do everything I can to make sure you don’t get erased,” Tony promised. “How?” she asked in a whisper. “How can you expect to save humanity without wiping us out? You heard Twilight. If you change anything in the past, you wipe us out. How do expect to save us all?” “Because I’m a superhero. And a superhero always saves the day,” Tony promised. Pinkie stared at him for a moment before she let out the smallest of giggles. “Only you would have the confidence to say that with such a straight face,” Pinkie said. Her smile returned to her face and she nodded to Tony. “Okay. I trust you.” “Thanks…I needed to hear that,” Tony replied. The two headed upstairs, where the rest of the ponies had been waiting for Tony and Pinkie. “Why do you have your shirt off?” “No time to explain,” Tony said, before the Iron Man suit folded out around him. Within seconds, his crystal suit had completely covered him. Some of the ponies whistled at the new suit, while Celestia and Luna retained their serious faces. “We need to get to the center of the forbidden lands. That is where Doom will be.” “Didn’t he say that you had five more days? Why go now?” Fluttershy asked. “Because I know Doom. He’s already there. And he’ll be setting up. Defenses, traps and anything else in case I don’t go alone with him. And I won’t. And he knows this. So he’ll be ready.” “So what? We’ve got the infinity stones. He’s got no chance of beating us,” Rainbow said. “Stop that right now!” Tony snarled at Dash, who back up as if he had slapped her. “Never, and I mean NEVER, underestimate Doom. This man has taken down gods, robbed the Silver Surfer of his powers and once managed to become powerful enough to…to destroy the infinity stones.” The room went cold at that. “Doom finds a way. No matter what he’s up again, Doom will find a way to prevail. The only chance we have of beating him is his arrogance and his showboating. But you all listen and listen well. When we’re out there, I want you to fight with everything you have, no matter what he throws at you. Because if you don’t, then you won’t have to worry about what choice I will make. Doom will make it for me. Are we clear?” Tony waited until every pony in the room nodded to him, before he looked off to the side where Starlight and Spike were standing. “I want the two of you here. Doom might try to take family as hostages and I don’t want to leave this place unguarded. Can I trust the two of you?” “Do you even need to ask?” Spike asked, pointing towards a flying toaster that had been refitted with a stun stick. “He burns more than toast now. Trust us Tony, we’ve got this.” “And the robot uprising begins,” Tony smiled before turning to Celestia. “Alright. Portal us.” Celestia did just as Tony asked, opening up a portal to the forbidden lands. Twilight tried to go first, but Tony wasn’t going to let any of them fall into Doom’s traps. He leapt in first, landing in the middle of a forest that was…bizarre. The trees reached out in all directions, but they all seemed to reach towards him once he landed. The air was thick with an unknown substance, one that even Jarvis didn’t recognize. But something about this place was familiar to him. He just couldn’t place it. “This is it. The forbidden lands.” Tony turned to look back at the eight ponies, all of who were looking around. “You can all feel it, can’t you? How it messes with your magic? See, my portal has already fizzled out.” “How can a place like this influence our magic so heavily?” Twilight asked as she held a hoof to her head. “It feels like my magic is being sapped away. How is that possible?” “I do not know,” Celestia said. “I do,” Tony said. “How?” “Follow me.” Tony lead the group, using his suit to push through the foliage that reached out to grab him. He was right. The forest was trying to grab him. To stop him from advancing. He had seen this before. But after all this time? Tony continued to be surprised. “What is the plan, Stark?” Celestia asked. “Doom will most likely have robots or henchmen. I want you eight to deal with them,” Tony instructed. He held up a hand when the ponies started to argue. “Leave Doom to me. I have to be the one to face him…I need to. Trust me.” “Alright. Doom’s all yours,” Twilight agreed. “Anything else we should know?” “Doomsday machines. Doom loves those. If you see it, confer with me and then destroy it. But whatever you do, do not engage Doom. He has a portion of the Stones power after he…after he killed Discord.” “HE WHAT?!” Fluttershy roared, shaking the forest. Everypony and person turned back to look at her. “He…did…what?” “Well I’m glad surprise isn’t one of your Elements, because I’m fairly certain we just lost it,” Tony said, before sighing. “Yeah, Discord took on Doom. Doom won. And now Doom wields his power. Be angry after this is all over. Do not go in pissed against Doom. Trust me. If you want vengeance, then defeat him first. There is nothing Doom hates more than losing to those he sees as weaker than him…which is everyone.” “Back to the subject at hoof, you said you knew how the forest was draining our magic? Can you elaborate on that detail?” Luna asked. Tony’s response was to look around the forest for a moment, before he fired a blast of crystal energy at something. He hit it and a moment later a stone that had been invisible fell to the ground. “Anti-magic stones. I’m sure Strange had an actual name for them, but it was long and boring,” Tony replied. The moment the stone had been destroyed, the ponies felt like a pain had been alleviated from their heads. “This…was something left by your ally from the past?” Luna asked, baffled. “How? How could it survive all these years? How could it survive Gaea and the infinity stones?” “Strange was the craftiest bastard I had ever known. He would have found a way. The only reason I knew where it was hidden was I knew what to look for. Even with the stones, Gaea would have to look for them to see them. And I can see that he didn’t. Which means they’ve protected these lands for all this time.” “Protected? Protected what?” Rarity asked. The question was never answered, because at that moment the group walked upon a massive sphere dome. The dome was made of a black and purple material, that shimmered and pulsed as if it was alive. Celestia and Luna snarled while the rest of the group just stared. “What is that?!” Applejack asked. “That is the sphere. Or dome, if you’re Celestia,” Luna explained. “That is the sphere I talked about. That is what has kept ponies out for centuries. It goes all the way around and even underground. We cannot teleport past it. We cannot blast it. Whatever it is, it is beyond our power. But maybe with the power of the stones we can…” Luna stopped talking as Tony walked up to the sphere. A smirk crossed his face as he placed a hand against it, chuckling to himself. “Even after all these years and the infinity stones, you still stand. The kingdom is still protected. Truly you were a brilliant man.” “Tony…what are you doing” Tony retracted his armored hand and placed it against the sphere. The sphere turned red for a moment in the area he was touching, before it turned into a bright blue. ‘Tony Stark. Iron Man. Access Granted…be behaved, Stark.’ And, to the utter amazement of the ponies, the sphere retracted a bit, allowing an entrance inside. Stark turned towards the amazed ponies, and motioned for them to come in. “Welcome, everypony. Welcome to Wakanda.” ---=====--- Despite the land having been ruined a long time ago, Wakanda continued to impress Tony. All around the group stood what had once been the mightiest nation on Earth. The buildings still stood strong, the roads were not touched by plant or floral life and Tony could pick up some machines that were still able to work, just having shut off due to lack of power. He had to hand it to T’Challa. When that man built something, he built it to last. “Take a good look, girls. This might be the last human city still standing in the world,” Tony told the eight. “Yet there are no traces of humanity,” Twilight pointed out, using her horn to scan the area. “Which meant that Gaea managed to get in here even with that impenetrable shield up. How would he…?” “Again, even a shield of vibranium is no match for the stones power,” Tony sighed. “The space stone alone would allow him access. All six would make that shield fold like paper. My guess is he either snapped the people here out of existence or…” Tony drifted off, his scanners telling him something. Something that he had never expected to sense. There something that was still giving off power. Something that, even after all this time, still burned. Was still working to this day. And if the scans were right…then he knew exactly what it was. “Tony…why did you stop?” Pinkie asked. “Because Gaea picked quite the place to throw out his trash,” Tony replied. But then his scanners picked up something else. A very familiar signature. One that could only belong to a single person. And as there was only one other person in this whole land… “Come on, he’s up ahead. And he’s not alone.” The ponies nodded and followed after Tony, who lead them to a massive courtyard. There, sitting on the courtyard steps, sat Doom. Around him were numerous deer like beings, each of who was giving off a power that Tony didn’t like. The one at Doom’s right hand Tony liked the least. But the giant machine behind Doom? That was priority number one. “Stark. I believe that I gave you five more days until we were supposed to meet here?” Doom asked. “The only reason that you would be here so early is that you have already made up your mind. You have come to a decision. So if you would please, Stark…” “Tell me what your choice is.”