Tony stayed silent as he flew, too busy working with his onboard computer to pay much attention to the land below. Even though Jarvis had already tried, Tony spent his time flying trying to communicate with anyone from his world. But just like Jarvis had said, there was no wifi or internet of any kind, though he did pick up the faintest of radio waves. But there was another signal in the air, one so oppressive that it overshadowed anything else.
‘You can feel it, can’t you sir?’ Jarvis asked.
“Yeah, it’s everywhere. In the air, in the water…fairly certain I can even feel it through my suit,” Tony said. “Magic. There’s magic everywhere in this world. If I wasn’t so busy trying to get back to my world, I wouldn’t mind studying it for a while. Then I could have a trick up my own sleeve the next time Strange gets arrogant with me.”
‘How interesting. Perhaps this world deviates from ours as they chose magic as their primary source for advancement instead of technology,’ Jarvis said.
“Well, I’ll say this: their magic world is a heck of a lot cleaner than ours. I’m barely picking up any traces of pollution in the air,” Tony noted. Then he let out a sigh. “Alright, time to stop avoiding the elephant, or should I say horse, in the room. Horses. There are talking horses in this world.”
‘I fail to see how this would bother you. You have seen and fought far stranger during your time as Iron Man.’
“The rainbow colors on them, the cutesy little marks on their butts, the magic they wield and not to mention that’s the fifth rainbow we’ve flown by…Jarvis, we’re in a girls cartoon world.”
‘And again sir, even if that were the case, this would still be far from the strangest thing we have encountered. The Living Tribunal, sir?’
“I know, it’s just…so you think Doom may be here with us?”
‘If you managed to survive sir, then I have no doubt he did as well. He is just as cunning and far more stubborn then you are, as impossible as that may seem. His desire to live is terrifying.’
“Then we need to meet with these…princesses as soon as we can. I don’t like the odds of me against Doom without the entire armory at my back. Put as much juice into the thrusters as you can.”
‘Already done.’
The thrusters fire tripled in size and a moment later Tony shattered the sound barrier, rocketing towards the mountain ranges in the distance. He kept a careful eye on his power as he flew, yet to his amazement he found that despite flying at supersonic speeds, his energy levels still slowly increased. The sun in this world was far stronger than in his.
His scanners beeped a few times and brought up a scoped in version of the mountain ranges ahead, circling in on a large city that was built near one of the peaks. “And that must be the city that creepy old centaur was talking about. Alright Jarvis, wager time. Hostile or friendly?”
‘With you sir, they always start out hostile.’
“Remind me to make you more positive when we get back.”
Tony poured as much juice as he could afford into the thrusters, gaining ground on the city rapidly. Within minutes the city went from a speck in the distance to right in front of him, giving him a moment to see just how large it was.
CRUNCH!
Iron Man came to a dead stop as he collided with a barrier of magic that seemed to appear out of thin air. A tiny gasp of pain escaped Tony’s lips before he began to slide down the barrier that was now surrounding the city. He quickly shook it off and took to the skies again, scanning the barrier.
“One hundred percent magic and pretty tough to boot,” Tony observed. He raised his hands and fired a few repulsor blasts into the shield, only for them to bounce off in different directions. “And are capable of repelling energy-based attacks. Hmm, how to do this?”
‘Sir, it seems you have attracted a crowd.’
Tony looked through the barrier to see that a massive crowd of ponies had gathered to stare at him. A lot of them wore fancy attire, while others wore armor and carried spears. A lot of the ponies pointed at Tony and were talking, but he couldn’t pick up what they were saying through the barrier.
“Hey there! Name’s Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man. Maybe you’ve heard of me?” Tony called down to them. None of the ponies responded. “Okay, how bout this? I was told to come here to meet with your princesses. Um, I’m with Tirek! Does that help?”
His scanners made a beep and flashed again, this time with a red light. Tony snapped his head to the side of the city, where five pegasi were rapidly approaching him, a stream of thunder clouds trailing behind them. “Ah good, the welcoming committee. See Jarvis, all I have to do is explain what’s going on to them and then we can get this all sorted out.”
‘If you say so, sir.’
One of the pegasi flew up to meet Tony while the rest circled around him, creating a sphere of thunder clouds around him. The pegasi approaching him wore a blue suit with yellow lightning bolts and had an orange mane sticking up from the top of her suit. Tony did find the aviator goggles she wore on her head adorable.
“Hey there! You wouldn’t mind letting me into the city, would you? I really need to talk with your princesses! Kind of important,” Tony said.
“You said you’re with Tirek?” the pony asked in reply.
“Yup. Names Tony Stark, but Iron Man is what most people call me. Here from another reality, would really like to get back, world to save and everything. You know, that old song and dance.” The pony looked at Stark like he was crazy, before she shook her head and narrowed her eyes.
“Whatever you are, Iron Man, leave now! The Wonderbolts protect Canterlot from all strange and dangerous intruders and if you are with Tirek then you are trouble.”
“The Wonderbolts? Oh that’s adorable. Jarvis, when we get back to Earth, remind me to legally change Ross’s name to Thaddeus Wonderbolt Ross. He’ll love it,” Tony said, before facing the pony again. “Look, I don’t want any trouble, but I really need to meet with your leaders and I’m not leaving until you do.”
“Then we’ll remove you by force,” the pony said. All around him Tony noticed the thunderclouds turning black,
‘Don’t say it, sir.’
“I’d like to see you try.”
All at once the pegasi swarmed Tony, barreling down at him with pretty impressive speeds. Tony crossed his arms over his chest, before throwing them down to his sides and creating a pulse of energy that knocked the pegasi back. His thrusters kicked into full power and he rocketed straight up, the now recovered pegasi following him.
‘Good job sir, this is another foreign species that you’ve managed to turn against you within moments of meeting them.’
“What can I say, Jarvis? I have that effect on people.”
Iron Man slowed just enough so that the pegasi could begin to close the distance on him, before he cut his thrusters entirely and plummeted past them. He grabbed one of the pegasi as he plummeted, before he reactivated his thrusters and took off with the pegasi in tow. The bluish pony with the blue mane struggled as best he could, but Iron Man’s suit could contend with Thor. It could handle a pony.
“Let. Me. GO!” the pony snarled as he struggled.
“If you say so,” Iron Man replied. He swung the pony around a few times before letting him go, watching as the pony sailed into the shield with a splat. The crowd behind the shield winced at the impact, but Iron Man’s sensors told him the pony was fine, if not a little bruised.
‘Behind you.’
Iron Man turned just in time to be rammed by one of the faster pegasi, driving him downward a bit. Unfortunately for the Pegasus, it had gone full speed into a full suit of armor, so the pony knocked itself out on impact. It had barely begun to fall before Iron Man grabbed hold of its tail and threw it over to join the other.
‘Sir, may I ask what are you doing? This show of force will not get you into the city any quicker.’
“No, but perhaps it can draw out the princesses. I mean, some weirdo in a metal suit shows up and starts knocking their air force out of the sky? I’d want to be there for that.”
Firing his thrusters at full power, Iron Man rocketed right past two of the remaining pegasi. They had just enough time to realize what had happened before Iron Man grabbed the both of them by the back of their heads, flying them over to the shield and hurling the both of them into it. They bounced off the top and laid there, beaten, but mostly unharmed.
“And then there was one,” Iron Man said. He turned around to face the leader, the one with the orange mane, who glared daggers at him from beneath her goggles. “Would you let me in if I said please this time?”
The pegasi let out a yell as she lunged at Iron Man. Iron Man braced and allowed her to tackle into him, driving him into the barrier. She pounded on his suit with a fury, but Tony felt none of the blows. He grabbed hold of her forehooves and rolled over, grabbing her face and pinning her to the shield.
‘Sir, to the left.’
Tony glanced over to his left side to see that the shield had been opened a little bit and the unicorns below were using their magic to pull the beaten Wonderbolts inside. The barrier closed almost instantly behind them, telling Tony a few things.
‘Sir, I believe this is them.’
Tony turned his head to see that two more ponies had shown up, but these two were far different from the others he had seen. For starters, the crowd parted to let them through, bowing to them as they passed by. They were also much taller, with one of them as white as snow with a rainbow mane, while the other was a midnight blue with a galaxy for her mane. Then he noticed that they had both horns and wings.
‘Sir, scans show that these two have a massive amount more magical power than any of the other horses we have come across so far,’ Jarvis pointed out. He didn’t need to. Tony could feel the magical power radiating off of the both of them. It was indeed like nothing the other ponies have given off. These had to be who Tirek was talking about.
The white one’s horn flashed and the pegasi disappeared from Tony’s grasp, appearing within the barrier next to the princess. Tony flew himself to the part of the barrier that was closest to them, waving his hand in a greeting.
“Hey there. Sorry about that, but I needed to get your attention and I figured a massive brawl in the sky would do it. You’re the princesses, right? Well I need a favor from both of you. See, I’m from another reality and I’ve been brought here by mistake. So if you wouldn’t mind letting me in so we can talk…did I mention that Tirek sent me here? Said that would get your attention.”
The princesses didn’t say anything in response. The midnight blue one did cup a hoof to her ear and lean forward in a mocking tone, telling Iron Man that he wouldn’t get along with this one. Then the white one then began to speak.
“Creature, I know not who you are or where you come from, but hear my words,” she spoke in a loud booming voice. One that was strong enough to pierce the barrier. “If you were truly sent here by Tirek, then know that this entire city shall be your enemy. You have already hurt my Wonderbolts, an act that should warrant your death here and now. But I will give you one chance. If you try to force entry into my city again, I will have no choice but to strike you down. Leave and return to whatever rock you crawled out from. This is your only warning.”
The barrier then flashed again and this time became solid, preventing Tony from seeing inside any further. His scanners showed them that the princesses were still there, but the crowd was beginning to disperse. He figured that they could see him, even though he couldn’t see them.
‘Sir, if I may. It is possible that with enough shots from a concentrated unibeam and the right place, we could pierce that barrier and gain access to the city within.’
“…no, that wouldn’t get me anywhere,” Tony said with a shake of his head. He then turned around and took off, leaving the protected city behind him. “Clearly Tirek and the princesses have a bad history and my brilliant plan of flattening their forces to draw the princesses out backfired. Fighting the two would only get them to want to help me less. We need a new approach.”
‘Then allow me to offer one for you, sir. While you were talking with the princesses, I scanned the surrounding area in case there were any more forces lying in wait for you. What I discovered is that the two princesses in the city are not the only ones giving off that kind of power.’
“Meaning?”
‘There is another pony nearby who radiates both the same magic and presence as the two princesses,’ Jarvis continued. ‘If I had to wager sir, that would mean there is one more princess close by. One that doesn’t hate you yet.’
“Then what are we waiting for?” Tony said before he turned and rocketed towards a location Jarvis marked on his H.U.D. “Let’s go meet her and give her the chance.”