The portal closed behind Tony. Ashgrove let out a weak gasp and collapsed to the ground, where he weakly coughed. Fluttershy rushed over to him, using the return of her stones power to start treating his wounds. While she did that, all of the other ponies looked to Twilight, who stared at the spot where Tony had vanished.
“So…what happens now?” Rarity asked.
“Well, if I understood what Tony and Doom were talking about,” Dash began, taking in a deep breath. “Then we’re about to fade. Tony and Doom will change the past and…and we’ll cease to be.”
“So what do we do while we wait?” Pinkie asked. Twilight’s response was to hold out her forelegs and all of her friends came together into one big hug, all of them just…waiting. Waiting for the end to come. For a long time the group waited…until Fluttershy walked over to them.
“So…will it be instant or will our entire world turn white or…or what?” she asked.
“I don’t understand,” Twilight said, looking around. “The only way we can still be here is if Tony didn’t change anything. But there’s no way he would let humanity die. Just by going back to the past with Doom, the future would already by changed and…and…”
Twilight looked over at the spot where the portal had been, noticing a small piece of paper laying on the ground. One that had not been there before. She walked over and picked it up, reading what was written upon it.
‘In the toaster.’
“In the toaster? What does that mean?” Rarity asked.
“I…I think it means to check inside the toaster Tony made,” Twilight said. She then looked over at Ashgrove, who looked back to his regular self. “Are you going to be a problem?”
“My sole goal was to help Doom return to the past. Now that he has, I have no desire to fight with you six any longer,” Ashgrove said, before he sat down with a sigh. “I’m…going to rest for a bit. Then I am going to find the rest of my friends and take them home. If that is alright with you.”
“It is. And…”
“Ashgrove.”
“Ashgrove, when all this is over…we can talk about how to help your nation and make sure that you and your people never suffer again,” Twilight promised.
“I would like that princess. Thank you.”
Twilight nodded to Ashgrove before using her magic to teleport the two princesses to her. Both were still unconscious, thought it was hard to tell with Luna’s flaming skull. With them safe, Twilight got all of her friends around her and cast a spell, teleporting them all back to her home. To Ponyville.
They arrived and looked around, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
“Hey princess Twilight, back already?” Lyra asked as she walked by. “Did Iron Man go home? Darn, there was so much I wanted to talk to him about.”
“Hey Pinkie, glad to see you’re all safe,” Mrs. Cake said as she walked by. “Fighting the forces of evil has to be so tiring. And where is that charmer Tony? He said he would stop by before he left?”
“It’s…all them,” Fluttershy said. “I can see it. It’s all their souls. Nothing changed about them. But how? How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. But there’s only one way to find out.” Twilight’s horn glowed again. They appeared in a flash of light in the middle of her castle, where a dragon and another unicorn raced over to them.
“Twilight!” Spike yelled as he tackled the alicorn. “You’re all back! Does that mean Tony beat Doom? Are all of us safe?”
“Yeah Twilight…how are we all safe?” Starlight asked, giving Twilight a look that Twilight understood. “Because if he went back to the past…then shouldn’t things be…”
“I don’t know. But we’re figuring it out,” Twilight said. “Starlight, take Luna and Celestia to my room and…help them as best you can. They might look a little different, but it’s still them.”
“Still them,” Starlight said, looking at Luna’s flaming skull. “Right.”
“Just do what you can,” Twilight said. She spied the toaster floating in the corner and she walked over to it, where it beeped at her approach. “So according to this sheet of paper, you have something for me. Care to hoof it over?”
“What is the password?” the toaster asked.
“Excuse me?”
“The password. What Stark left you with. What only the Twilight Sparkle of the correct timeline would know. When a foe arrives when no sole hero can best by themselves.”
Twilight lowered her head for a moment and thought about it, before she looked back up with a smile.
“Avengers Assemble.”
A ding was heard and a moment later a book popped out of one of the toast slots on the toaster. Twilight grabbed it with her magic and looked at it, her eyes going wide when she saw what it was.
“Twi, is that…?” Applejack began.
“Girls, meet me at the crystal map. And get Celestia and Luna when they wake up.”
----====----
Twilight sat at the head of the table, with her friends and allies all around her. The Ambassadors. The princesses. Spike and Starlight. All of them sat and waited for her to read from the book. The red and gold book with a blue circle in the middle. Twilight looked to her friends, each of whom nodded. She looked to Spike and Starlight. They nodded as well. She looked to the princesses. Celestia nodded.
Luna just sat and burned.
“Okay…here we go,” Twilight said as she opened the book. There were no pages inside. Instead, a hologram of Iron Man popped up and he waved to them.
===---====
Hey Twilight,
If you’re hearing this then my plan worked. It’s you hearing it. The you I know. The you who took me in, allowed me to mess with your toaster and stood with me against Doom. Who showed me the values of not only what friendship with close allies can accomplish…but also making friends with your enemies. That Twilight. And if you are her, then you’re probably wondering why you’re all still there. Why you haven’t been erased. Maybe I didn’t save humanity and let Gaea continue to run rampant? Well, allow me to enlighten you.
I followed your advice. Or rather, Applebloom and Starlight’s advice. About working with your enemies. Making them your friends. So I did that. I found a way to work with Doom. And together we did the impossible. We recreated everything.
Let me start at the beginning. I found Gaea, out on his own and bitter against the world for what it had done to him and his love. Right after Hydra. Before SHIELD. You know what I’m talking about. I met him and talked to him, talked to him to try to tell him about the good in humanity. About how despite all of our failings, we still try to do better. And some days we do. He didn’t buy it.
So I introduced him to Magneto. And Magneto handled it perfectly. He told Gaea his life story. How he had suffered, been hated and scorned just for being him. He and Gaea hit it off. Became friends quick. And really…that was all Gaea wanted. Someone who understood him. His pain. His struggles. Someone who wouldn’t hate him for being…him.
I helped Gaea get the rest of the stones not long after. Soon he had the power of infinity. But this time, he was more willing to hear me out. More willing to listen to what I had planned. And what a plan I had.
I asked him to use the stones to look into the future, to see the future that would become. He did that and explained it to me. It wasn’t anything like yours. So we got to work. I spent near two weeks telling him everything. About how he acted once Equis was form, the things he created…all of it. It was easy for him to learn. He just used the stones to read my mind when he didn’t understand. Not only did he realize what the future held, but also my goals. That I was trying to save all he had built. He really got on board with me after that.
Now came the hard part. The part with Doom. See, Doom had the toughest job of all of us. He had to figure out how to string events together over ten thousand years so that it all ended up properly. So that you and your friends not only came into being, but ended up exactly the same as you were when I went back in time. This…is where it gets complicated.
Evacuating the planet wasn’t as hard as I thought it was. Using the stones Gaea created a near identical solar system on the other end of the cosmos. A perfect place for us to live. As for the reason we needed to leave? Galactus took care of that. He swore to destroy the world and came at it will all of his might. He kicked our asses something fierce.
I suggested we leave. Using the ships that were conjured for us (thanks Gaea), within a matter of days we managed to get every person on Earth onto the ships and launch them across the stars to the new Earth. The one that would provide for us the way the old one had. Except…maybe we could be better this time. Maybe treat our world better…and each other.
The Avengers knew the plan, btw. At first they weren’t keen on it, but when I told them everything that was on the line. All the lives I was trying to save. Both on Earth, and those yet to come. They went along with it, made it all happen. The power of team-work, huh. And I got really good at convincing them. Considering how many times this plan failed and we had to go back to do it all over again. Don’t ask me how many times Doom and I had to retry. I stopped counting after we reached ten digits.
It was the trusting humanity to Doom part none of them would agree with. Evacuating the Earth? Sure, we’ve talked about that before. But letting him be one of the guiding forces? They would never agree to it. Not until Magneto once again saved the day. He talked about what it was like to be him, his struggles, his suffering and then how he had caused so much pain. To the point that he had been branded a villain. Yet a man named Charles had never given up on him. Had always given him a chance to be better. To be the hero Charles knew he could be.
And Magneto extended his had to Doom, saying that if Charles had been there, he would ask him to do the same. To give Doom a chance to be better. Cap was the next to agree, though with a lot of supervision for Doom. And the others followed suit. Even Reed, Doom’s archenemy. Hulk agreed only if he got to smash Doom if he got out of hand. We all agreed on that.
Doom. Man did he really step up. He did everything he promised. Calculated it all. Figured out the best chance of success. And, eventually, we got it right. And I know we got it right. Because when the time came on your world for Iron Man and Doom to show up, we both did. Well, he was a Doombot and I was a lie in my own right, but we were there. We did everything exactly the same as before.
If you and your friends are confused, think about it like this. I met you guys for the first time when I arrived in the future and met you. Together we did everything you remember. But the me you met, and this is where it gets confusing, was the second time I met you. Was me re-enacting everything that Doom and I remember. Doom was doing that as well. Well, a Doombot was. The only reason it doesn’t feel any different to you is because, since everything happened exactly the same, your memories are, and I hope I’m right, still the same. Does that clear it up? Probably not.
As for Gaea, he did everything perfectly. Since he had the time stone and all of my memories of how to make things go the way they were supposed to, he recreated Equis to perfection. He also revived all of the heroes he had slain with the power stone, so that was nice. Except Punisher. He’s still gone and Gaea refused to bring him back. But yeah, with the time stone he could look into the future and make sure everything happened perfectly. And when it didn’t, he’d travel back a bit and make sure it did.
Right. Fixing it. See, I came to a realization that it didn’t matter what happened on Earth before Equis, because the moment Equis is created Gaea creates a whole new world. And as long as those events happen the same way, your future might happen the same way. Humanities destruction or humanity fleeing to space. Doesn’t matter which one as long as their gone by the time Equis is created. Same goes for Discord. Doom didn’t kill him this time, just robbed him of his powers and trapped him in an alternate dimension. He didn’t need to die to keep the timeline the way we wanted it, he just had to be out of the way. Don’t worry, he’ll pop back up tomorrow perfectly safe.
That’s not to say everything worked out perfectly the first time. Even with the stones, things kept popping up that ruined what we were going for. Dark Elves invading now that humanity was gone. Cosmic forces at play. All that good stuff.
Eventually, the best thing to do was use the stones power to make it look like to the rest of the cosmos that Earth had been destroyed by Galactus and there was no reason for there to be anything here. Seriously, no matter what power you use, you can’t find Equis. It’s well and truly hidden. I only know where it is because the stones weren’t used on me to hide it.
As for the rest, that was all left in Gaea’s hooves. And since you’re listening to this now, you clearly know how it turned out. And it wasn’t easy. I wasn’t kidding about those ten digits worth of attempts earlier. But since this recording has been found, I know that it’s all of you. Because only the Twilight who was with me would not only know the phrase…but also find the paper I left when you guys weren’t looking.
Humanities doing fine, by the way. Doom led it well, alongside my friends who kept him from going too nuts, and…we actually managed to do it. To bring near world peace. Of course, there will always be problems, but for the most part…harmony reigns. Thanks to the Avengers. Thanks to Magneto. Thanks to Doom. And…thanks to what we learned from you and your friends. In a way…all this is possible because of Equestria. And those I met while I was there. I…even managed to forgive Doom. Eventually. After a couple dozen years.
So, to wrap everything up, there is what I had planned. The hard part wasn’t making sure both humanity and ponies would exist at the same time. That would be easy. It was making sure to save both all of humanity and you guys. Not ponies that were similar to you, not ponies in general, but all of you. Making sure that the Twilight, Spike and all of her friends that I came to know continued to exist exactly the same. It took a long time, billions of attempts and a whole lot of cosmic bargaining…but it finally worked. And for all of you, you probably never even noticed anything was different. Good. That’s how it should be.
I know I’m leaving out details. I know that you guys want to know everything. But it’s for the best you don’t. Doing this billions of times, making sure everything went right…it nearly drove me insane. If it wasn’t for Galactus, it might have. Doom handled it fine because, well, he’s Doom. But all of this…I’m glad it worked. Through a combination of the stones power, working with Doom, a couple billion attempts and one very patient planet creator…it worked. Because like I told Pinkie…
“A superhero always saves the day.”
The ponies all turned and found Iron Man standing next to the doors. But he wasn’t the same Tony they remember. His entire body was golden and he radiated a power the likes of which they had never seen before. But his smile was the same.
“Tony!” they all screamed as they ran over to him, pulling him into one, big hug. Except for Luna, who sat there burning.
“But…how are you here?” Twilight asked. “If this really is the same you, then you would be-“
“Older than dirt? Yeah, I am,” Tony said with a smile, before he looked up at Luna. “One moment.” He walked over to the Ghost Rider and held out a small item. “Alright Zerathos, time to go home. Blaze says he wants you back in hell with him.”
Luna narrowed her eyes in reply.
“Look, you’re the spirit of vengeance. And if you stay around here, there’s not going to be a lot of vengeancing to do because this is Equestria. I’m sure you can feel just how nice and happy it is here,” Tony said. The Rider looked around and snarled. “But if you come back to Earth…”
Luna snarled again before the fire and vengeance left her, returning to the amulet and causing the princess of the night to pass out on the ground. Celestia knelt down next to her sister and tended to her as Tony turned back to the others.
“Back to what I was saying, yeah, I am that old,” Tony said with a smile. “But see, I found a pretty good way to become immortal. I work with Galactus now. We travel the cosmos together.”
“Work with him? How does that work?”
“See, back in the old days, Galactus would use a herald to find planets for him to eat. In turn, he would give them some of his power, which grants incredible abilities as well as immortality. That’s how I’ve managed to stay alive so long.”
“So you help Galactus eat planets? Like, ours?” Fluttershy asked.
“No, I always found in uninhabited ones. But about five thousand years ago, a brilliant mind realized that Galactus was broken. He hadn’t been birthed properly. And, after an incredibly long and complicated story, we fixed him. Now he is no longer the devourer of worlds. He is the creator of them. Pretty cool, huh? And now I help him find places in the cosmos to create new worlds. It’s…nice.”
“But wait, for you to be this old, that would mean that you’ve out lives all your friends. All those you went back to save,” Pinkie pointed out.
“Well…yeah. But I needed to live a long time. Needed to make sure that all of you ended up the way you were supposed to,” Tony said with a smile. “And hey, Strange is still alive. I swear he’s survived all this time just to mess with me. Jerk.”
“Tony, don’t tell me you did all this…fer us?” Applejack asked. “That’s not right. To have to live longer than yer friends and family…”
“Don’t you remember what I promised you all?” Tony asked. “Because I haven’t. I swore that, unless it was the only way, I wouldn’t trade your lives to save humanity. That I would find some other way. And I have. Just like I promised I would. Whatever it takes.”
The ponies looked up at Tony in disbelief, unable to believe, unable to comprehend, all that he had done for them. Tony noticed this and smiled.
“Why, right? Why would I do all this and go so far for all of you? Simple. You guys are my friends. And like Pinkie said, it doesn’t matter if it’s humanity or ponies, no matter what happens to space time. Friends always help each other.”
“Oh…wow,” Twilight said before Pinkie stepped forward.
“So I guess you’ll want the stones back. Now that everything has been set perfect,” Pinkie said. Tony thought about it for a moment, before he shook his head with a smile.
“Keep em. You six have been the most responsible users of the stones I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of different timelines. You earned them. Gaea was always right about that. You six deserve them. Not to mention we already told the rest of the universe that Galactus destroyed them, so there’s that.”
“Then what about this?” Celestia asked as she held out Mjolnir. “Won’t Thor be wanting this back?”
“Yeah, he was real upset with having to leave that behind at first, but don’t worry. We built him a bigger one with an axe head on one side. He’s happy with it.”
“And the shield?”
“Cap was all too happy to give that up when I told him what was at stake. You guys would have liked him. He was a lot like you.”
A massive rumble shook the castle and Tony looked up at the ceiling, a smile crossing his face. “Looks like the big guy says it’s time to go. Sorry, I wanted this to be longer, but that’s how it is. But before I go…”
Tony pulled out a briefcase and offered it to Applejack, who took it with some confusion. “In there is everything Applebloom will need to learn how to build her own armor. Or maybe she’ll build something even greater. I wouldn’t be surprised. And let her know that I’m sorry that I didn’t have time to say goodbye…but I will be back. I promise.”
“Tony,” Twilight said, turning Tony’s gaze towards her. There was so much she wanted to say, to let him know how grateful she was. The want to offer him whatever she could. To promise that one day she would make it up to him. But all she said was what everypony was thinking. “Thank you. For saving us all.”
Tony smiled in reply.
“Always.”
The castle shook again and Tony sighed, before he started to float into the air. The ponies all waved at him, even Celestia and Luna, who was up now, and Spike, who hadn’t noticed Tony sighed his copy of Power Ponies number one.
“How can we ever thank you?” Celestia asked. “How can we make it up to you for what you did for us? After what our ancestor originally did to you. After all you’ve sacrificed?”
“Simple. Live your lives.”
And then Tony took off, leaving the ponies behind and reaching the upper atmosphere in a matter of moments. There sat Galatcus, who gazed at his herald as he approached.
“You have said your farewells?”
“Yeah, I think everything is good to go,” Tony said.
“And the world is as it should be?”
“Yes. Yes, I think it’s all right,” Tony said, before smiling up at Galactus. “And thank you too, Galactus. For watching over them all these years. You’re a surprisingly nice guy.”
“Hmm. Come, Stark. Something is amiss is the Omega Quadrant. Something I have not felt in a long time. We are needed.”
“The never-ending battle, eh Galactus?” Tony said as a golden faceplate slammed shut. “Well, let’s not keep them waiting.”
Galactus and Tony were gone a moment later, leaving the world that only they could find. Leaving a world of peace and harmony exactly as the way it had been. The way it should be. In peace.
===--===
“Come on, open it!” Scootaloo said.
“Ah’m trying!” Applebloom grunted as she tugged on the case. A moment later a beeping sound went off and the case opened, folding out into a full workbench of tools, gadgets and materials, along with guide and books on how to use them. In the corner, unbeknownst to the ponies, was a pocket of hammer space that would have all the materials Applebloom would ever need.
“Wow, look at all of it! There’s so much!” Sweetie exclaimed.
“Geez, my dad could go out of business trying to get his hooves on all of these,” Diamond said with a whistle.
“What are you going to build first?” Scootaloo asked. “A new Iron Mare suit? A giant robot? No, a giant Iron Man robot!”
But Applebloom didn’t respond. All she did was read the note that had been left to her, with a smile on her face.
‘For my one and only apprentice. Build a better future than I ever could.’
“Ah will, Tony,” Applebloom promised, before looking at her friends. “Now then, what do ya say we work together and-?”
A tear in the fabric of reality appeared next to them, causing the four to jump, before a moment later Discord was spat out and landed face first on the ground. The vortex closed as he lifted his head, spitting out some dirt as he shook his head with a sigh.
“Ugh. Superheroes.”
----====---
Ashgrove sat alone on a small hilltop, overlooking his village. Down below his friends showed off their strength to the others, telling them tales about the battle with the ponies. Of course, they made it sound a lot closer than it actually was, but Ashgrove didn’t mind. He had even made peace with Doom losing. That’s what had to have happened. Or else everything would be different.
“I’m sure you did all you could, Doom,” Ashgrove whispered.
“Of course Doom did.”
Ashgrove spun around to see Doom standing behind him. Ashgrove rose to his hooves and was about to ask Doom what he was doing there, but then he looked behind Doom and his eyes went wide. Standing there was Ashgrove’s mother, father and sister. All of who looked at him with wide and tear filled eyes.
None of them said anything to one another. They simply raced towards each other and collided in one massive hug. Tears were spilled, words of amazement and love were garbled together and there was a lot of crying all around. Doom watched the scene for a moment before he turned to leave.
“How?” Doom looked back to see Ashgrove looking up at him. “How? They were dead? How did you bring them back?”
“Stark is a fool. He wanted to recreate this world exactly as it was, believing that it would take everything we had just to manage that. And for his inferior mind, it would,” Doom said, before he turned with a swirl of his cloak and headed towards a vortex. He stopped at the vortex and turned to look back at Ashgrove, a true smile on his face.
“But I am Doom. I did not make this future exactly the same as Stark wanted. I made it better. For there is nothing Doom will not do…for those he calls his friends.”
Doom then walked into the vortex and vanished, leaving Ashgrove with his family. He closed his eyes with a smile as he pulled them all close, laughing in-between his sobs.
“Thank you, Doom. Thank you.”