//------------------------------// // Chapter 4-I Am Metal Man // Story: A Beautiful New Age // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// “Oh, Twilight, I must say that you should consider taking a few risks here and there!” Rarity gushed, practically eyeing all the crystal walls and ceilings without paying much attention to where she was trotting. Twilight Sparkle, unsure of what little world her friend was trapped in, continued on down the long, empty hallways of her castle. Spike followed right by her side, the baby dragon too lost with his crush nearly ten yards ahead of him. While Rarity struggled to control her breathing, Twilight politely coughed into her hoof, her wings fluffing together by her sides. “Are you sure, Rarity? The design you picked was beautiful, but it just doesn’t scream…you know…me.” “I say go for it, Twilight!” Spike chimed, capturing the Alicorn’s attention. He sighed, ogling Rarity with her back turned. “Anything Rarity picks is beautiful.” Rarity spun around, losing the eyes of a certain dragon and capturing the eyes of a princess. She smiled brightly and waved her hoof dismissively. “Oh, but of course, darling! It’s your castle, after all. It only makes sense for you to make all the decisions.” “Well…” Twilight pondered, her hoof rising up to rest beneath her chin. Her eyes scanned the crystal walls of her castle to the luxurious curtains and lime green stained-glass windows. Everything and anything remaining within her very own castle, the very symbol of her leadership as the Princess of Friendship was absolutely gorgeous. Twilight couldn’t imagine anything else that could make the castle look any better, especially after the wonderful gift her friends worked so hard to create. The memories she created since her arrival to Ponyville, forever with her in the home she would create new memories in. The very thought nearly brought the Alicorn to tears. Twilight just sighed, smiling with her eyes closed. “You know what, Rarity? The place looks perfect as it is,” she said, opening her eyes to see a disheartened Rarity eyeing her sadly. She just smiled, rolling her eyes. “But if you really want to make a few changes here and there, feel free to—” The Alicorn craned her neck back several inches once Rarity shot forward, wrapping her forelegs around Twilight’s neck in a tight bear-like hug that would give Pinkie a run for her money. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Rarity squealed and backed away from Twilight, instead choosing to rest her hoof against her friend’s chest. “You will not regret this, dearie! I will promise you that every decision I make will impact the beauty of your castle for all of Equestria to see! And then ponies from across the land will visit Ponyville, maybe even famous celebrities or fashionistas!” Rarity, seemingly lose in her conversation, continued down the hall with her eyes glued to the nearest curtain. Spike and Twilight just stared at her as she made her approach, her voice overcoming theirs. Rarity gripped the nearest curtain with her hoof, examining every inch of the light purple fabric. She stuck her lower lip out as if in deep thought. “Could use a darker shade of purple, maybe to match Twilight’s mane.” She sighed happily, “Ooooh! I feel simply giddy over the thought! Your castle certainly captures the eye, my dear. But just imagine when I’m done, everypony from across the globe will wonder just who, who in fact made these stunning designs! And you know what you’ll say, Twilight? You’ll say that your best friend, Rari—!” The earth shaking cut off Rarity’s sentence…and a piece of the curtain she was holding. It lasted just a brief second, but that second was all the three needed to try and make clear sense of what had just happened. Twilight spun her head around once the sounds of screams echoed from the outside, carrying on throughout the dark hallways of her castle. Spike heard it too, as the two inseparable pair leaned in closer to try and catch any more signs. Rarity screamed. The two flinched, spinning their heads back to eye the unicorn questioningly. She held a piece of the curtain in her hoof, her jaw slack and eyes widened in shock. Sputtering out words of confusion, Rarity finally managed a sentence. “Wh…What?! No! The curtain is ruined! How am I supposed to work with this?!” she screamed, slamming the shredded portion on the crystal floor. “Rarity! Calm down!” Twilight warned, shooting forward and resting her hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “It’s fine, okay? It’s just a curtain, and there’s no need to be freaking out over it. What we need to focus on right now is what caused that tremor.” Breathing in sharply through her nostrils, Rarity huffed in protest, glaring hatefully at the shredded curtain. “Fine. But when we get to the bottom of the disturbance, we will make sure whoever caused it pays dearly for—!” she stopped once the expressions on her friend’s face showed anything similar to her own. She blushed, fluffing up her mane. “Well, it was and still is a crime against fashion.” Before Twilight could respond, Spike called out from all the way down the hall. “Um, guys? From the sounds of the screams it doesn’t look so good out there!” The two mares shared different exchanges of worry before making their way to the end of the hall. They then proceeded down the stairs to where, surprisingly, Spike had made it to the front doors and was already staring out into the midday sun. The mares joined his side, pushing the castle doors outwards until they were witnessing the same spectacle. A tower of black smoke in the distance, dead center in Ponyville. The screams grew louder, only quieting down for a few, tense seconds before starting up again. From the looks of the smoke, a few things could have transpired. There could have been an explosion—wouldn’t have been the first time—caused presumably from either Pinkie Pie or Derpy, either one made sense. Or, somepony could’ve started a fire and it quickly got out of hoof. Twilight peered closer into the town, looking for any shred of a clue she could start on. “Rarity, what time is it?” Caught completely off-guard with such an awkward question, Rarity fumbled over her words, finally narrowing her gaze to a certain location within Ponyville. “Oh! Well, now, it is about…um…w-wait a second… Where is the clock tower?” “Exactly my point,” Twilight stated, capturing the interested stares from both Spike and Rarity. She continued. “Ponyville clock tower must’ve caught fire and fell to the ground, which would explain the tremor earlier and the cloud of smoke now. We should head in to town and see if anypony was hurt.” Rarity huffed, eyes closed as she began trotting forward. “Knowing Ponyville, somepony had to have been physically injured.” Sharing a glance, both Twilight and Spike followed their unicorn friend deeper into the disgruntled village. Twilight cautiously shot nervous stares to the approaching tower of blackness with every hoofstep closer she took into Ponyville. For some reason, her previous accusation of the clock tower catching aflame didn’t seem to be the cause of the incident. It was logical, yes, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else at work…something different. The clock tower could’ve indeed caused the tremor. But she didn’t know for certain. The tremor from earlier just seemed…off. Her questions would soon be answered. They had arrived to the destruction. And they were the absolute last ones there. It seemed all of Ponyville had already made it to the scene of the smoke tower judging from the massive crowd circled around it. Surprisingly enough, nopony was interested in the remains of the clock tower burning several yards away. No, all the murmurs and whispers and terrified screams emanated from the center of the crowd, where the smoke tower rose higher and higher. Curious, the three exchanged looks before making their approach. All it took for the crowd to disperse was Rarity tapping the behind of the first stallion they came into contact with. He spun around, eyes widened to see the Princess of Friendship and her two companions right behind him. “Your Majesty!” the stallion exclaimed, bowing respectfully in the presence of Princess Twilight. Said Alicorn simply sighed, allowing the pony to continue. “I think it would be best if you pushed through to the front and give it a look for yourself. From all the things I’ve heard it doesn’t sound too good up there.” Before Twilight could respond, the stallion spun around and shouted, “Hey, everypony! Make way for Princess Twilight!” Just like that, the crowd directly in front of Twilight, Spike, and Rarity dispersed to the sides, even more excited squeals coming from several directions. Sighing, the Alicorn politely nodded to the stallion. “Thank you, sir,” she said before walking past him, his nose to the dirt as she strode by. As the three moved forward, Twilight caught several hushed whispers from the crowd, many terrified stutters and questions. Twilight managed to catch somepony’s voice ask, “Do you think Princess Twilight will know what it is?” Another one said, “Sure, sure! She’s a princess! She knows everything, right?” More silent conversations. Twilight simply sighed, shaking her head and keeping her eyes focused on the upcoming smoke cloud. Rarity quickly came to her left side, eyeing the crowds around them. “Well, well, it seems something really spooked these ponies. I’m not feeling so keen on exploring this situation any further, Twilight, especially with all this…eck…dirt everywhere!” Rarity exclaimed, sticking her tongue out and shaking her hoof at the approaching dirt piles. Spike quickly came to Twilight’s right, his expression eager and excited. “Wow! This is so cool! What do you think hit Ponyville, Twi? A meteor? A flying monster? Some kind of alien UFO?” “Very unlikely,” Twilight responded, eyes turned to Spike with a determined smile on her lips. “I’m sure whatever hit the clock tower can be easily explained without any kind of paranormal nonsense like UFOs and aliens and—” She was stopped abruptly. Twilight turned her attention to the white foreleg blocking her path. She followed it to where it belonged to Rarity, the unicorn’s eyes as wide as saucers and aimed straight forward, straight into the crater dug deep into Ponyville’s street. Both Spike and Twilight brought their eyes forward, ignoring the abrupt silence that filled the crowd once the smoke within the crater began to dissipate. All three narrowed their eyes. The silence was deafening. So deafening. Twilight slowly craned her neck forward, eyes and ears trained on the smoke-filled hole in the ground. She listened and waited. Waited so long. There it was. Whatever it was. It was glowing. Surprised and somewhat taken aback by the glow, Twilight wasted no time to clear out the smoke and further delve into the mystery that destroyed the clock tower. Her horn began to shine bright, the brightness of the spell clearing away any remnant of smoke in the physical area. And there it was. The glow. It had belonged to a hand sticking out of the dirt. The crowd grew restless, several shrieks and questions arising from the discovery. Rarity was surprised as well as Spike, both giving a tiny gasp to the strange anomaly lying before them. Twilight on the other hoof paid no heed to the questions and calls, but instead kept her attention locked firmly with the palm sticking out of the earth. It was colored a light shade of red and gold, a circular, blue orb resting directly in the center of the palm with the slack fingers lazily coiled around it. The arm appeared to end on the lower forearm, the rest covered in dirt with shredded pieces of red and gold strewn across the crater. It was definitely eye-catching for the princess, but not so much as what she saw next. There were other parts hidden underneath the dirt. The arm was visible, but what about the legs? The body? The head? She could only make out what appeared to be some fragments of the rest of the body, the majority of it buried. Rarity gasped loudly once Twilight’s horn glowed brighter, her magic enveloping around the arm. “Twilight!” she hissed. “Just what in Equestria do you think you’re doing?!” Twilight, without looking at her, kept her focus trained on the arm, careful not to harm it too much. “I’m trying to see if there’s anything else to this anomaly, Rarity,” she explained, paying no heed to the crowd’s worried expressions and whispers. “Well, ahem, yes, b-but you don’t know if that…that thing is dangerous or not! What are you going to do if it suddenly jumps out and attacks us?” Rarity questioned. She yelped loudly, taking several, panicked steps backwards once Twilight yanked the arm free from the dirt, to where her assumptions were correct all along. The portion of the forearm belonged to the rest of the limb, which all belonged to the body, which of course belonged to the bipedal, red and gold figure slowly being dragged out of the crater by Princess Twilight Sparkle. The crowd’s reaction was instantaneous. They backed away in fright, many of them gasping in shock while others got even closer to the strange anomaly. Twilight’s aura of magic faded from the arm of the figure, the entire body resting a few feet away from its previous crash site. It was never silent as the body lay motionless, several Ponyville citizens leaning over each other’s necks to catch a glimpse at what Princess Twilight dug out. The Princess, on the other hoof, was busy studying the strange creature, eyes narrowed and lower lip puffed out. It appeared human—a species Twilight knew personally—but it didn’t seem to have any facial features aside from a pair of eyes and a mouth, but even they appeared lifeless. Twilight’s wondering gaze shifted over to the dark circle in the center of its chest. “Whoa…” Spike muttered, capturing Twilight’s ears but not her eyes. He came up to Twilight’s right, to where she was standing to the side of the figure. He got an even closer look, his claw lingering over to touch the creature’s shoulder. “This thing is so cool looking!” Before he could get any closer, his claw was smacked by a non-too-gentle hoof. “No, Spike,” Twilight sternly told the dragon, sending her heated stare to Spike who calmly rubbed his claw. “Don’t touch it… Not until I’ve figured out if it’s safe or not.” “You just had to say it…” Spike growled under his breath, rubbing his sore claw. Ignoring the dragon’s comment, the Alicorn brought her attention back to the creature lying before her. She studied its face once, noticing no sort of nose or cheek bones like most humans she’s seen exhibited. All it gave was a flat, golden face. That’s when she noticed something… Twilight poked her head in closer, eyes narrowing and jaw falling. There was a small gap in-between the gold and the red face. Curious, Twilight reached her hoof in closer to the gap, really trying hard to ignore Spike’s complaint over her action. The tip of her hoof grazed the slit, digging deeper until the gold portion of the face popped upwards, frightening everypony who dared to catch a closer look. That didn’t stop Twilight. She yearned for moments like this, before she became a princess where she was just a simple librarian. So adventurous, trying to make sense of the strange happenings that used to transpire in her earlier times in Ponyville. If anything, she felt a bit excited as she pulled that golden face off. Anything could’ve been lying underneath, daring those to discover its secrets. The gold came off, breaking from the red and falling to the dirt. Its secret was revealed, and it was just what Twilight had expected. For everypony else… The face that lied beneath the mask held a pale, tannish-colored skin as well as slight traces of facial hair including a mustache and a small patch covering the chin. Now, Twilight knew for certain that it had to be human, unless of course she could deduce that theory later on. For now, she’ll identify the creature as a human. The surrounding crowd gave off surprised sounds, some moans and some gasps. Many drew nearer, Twilight and Rarity and Spike included. “What are you?” Spike whispered. Someone could’ve identified the scenario as a slingshot, with the human’s eyes snapping open being the release. The ponyfolk, Spike included, were unfortunate enough to be the stone or metal ball shot from that sling, backing off quickly once the human’s eyes darted back and forth, finally resting on the violet Alicorn staring at him with a stare that could make anything find a reason to halt. Her ears dropped as their gazes met, both of their eyes growing wider as the seconds ticked away. Finally, it was Twilight who broke the tension, and hopefully eased first contact with what she hoped to be an intelligent human being, the first to make it into Equestria. “Um…h-hello?” The human slowly breathed in from his nostrils, never breaking eye contact with Twilight. And then he released that built-up air and screamed. “Ahh!” Twilight and Rarity shot backwards, looks of shock etched into their faces. The crowd followed their actions, screaming as well. The human turned his gaze to the surrounding ponies, yelping in fright once more. “Ahhh!” “Ahhhhhh!” the crowd repeated, several mares fainting on the spot. The human shot back towards Twilight, breathing out heavily. “What the hell?” he muttered, eyes shifting all around. The tone of his voice gave off a masculine sense, giving Twilight the impression that they were dealing with a human male. Twilight shot her hoof out towards Spike, eyeing Rarity cautiously, her eyes telling her friend to stay back for the time being. Rarity obeyed, silently watching the creature observe his surroundings. He continued to breathe in heavily, taking short, uncontrolled breaths. Twilight waited patiently, waited for the human to actually relax so she could try and talk to him. That time came quickly, the human closing his eyes and breathing in slowly through his nose. “Um…excuse me…sir?” The human opened his eyes, turning them to the purple Alicorn uncomfortably close to his face. She, he assumed it was female from her voice, tried to offer a smile, but it came out awkward, showing too much teeth and not enough grin. He narrowed his gaze, and then shut his eyes tight and groaned. “Oh, God, did you just give me mouth-to-mouth?” The crowd shifted their gaze over to the perplexed princess, Rarity and Spike included. Twilight grew a mild blush, quickly shaking her head and denying the act. “W-what?! No! You just woke up after we pulled you from that crater!” she explained quickly, her hoof shooting to the side to which the human followed, spotting said crater a few feet ahead of him. The human sighed with relief, resting his head back into the dirt with a soft clank. “Pretty sure I was gonna die there… That’s surprising,” the human stated nonchalantly, earning a few, unexpected gasps from the crowd around him. He opened one eye, scanning the growing crowd of colorful, horse-like faces until that same purple one stuck hers right in front of his field of vision. “Die?” she questioned harshly as if the word never fell from her tongue. “What are you talking about?” “He fell from the sky, Princess Twilight!” a voice in the crowd shouted, earning the attention of both the human and the pony. Several seemed to agree, pointing their hooves to the clouds and shouting off their own stories. “Fell from the sky?” Twilight repeated. “Princess Twilight?” Surprised, the Alicorn turned her head over the human staring at her as if expecting an answer quick. The feeling felt similar to the young princess, almost how Celestia would want an answer from her young protégé. It was so odd to have the same feeling for this human she discovered no more than few minutes ago. She shook her head quickly, awkwardly smiling. “Oh! Sorry, where are my manners? My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight,” she said, turning her hoof straight to the white unicorn and then to the small dragon to her side. “This is my friend Rarity, and this is my dragon assistant Spike.” “It’s…um…well, it’s a…pleasure,” Rarity greeted, though she sounded unsure with her fake smile. The human turned his head over to eye the so-called “dragon”, who dug his foot into the dirt and smiled what appeared to be an actual, genuine smile. “‘Sup,” Spike said. The human almost chuckled. He’s gonna like this little dragon guy, he just knew it. “Sooo…?” He turned his head back to Twilight, who eyed him cautiously, her gaze shifting from his armor to his face. She smiled and asked, “What’s your name?” “Uh…Tony,” the human replied, though the princess didn’t seem too enthusiastic about that answer. She leaned forward, almost causing the man to wish he could sink into his suit like a turtle. That’d be cool. “Tony…?” she egged on. “What do you want, a golden ticket? I told you my name was Tony.” The purple Alicorn—judging from Tony’s very strong history revolving around mythology—shook her wings together, her eyebrow rising and head tilting to the side. She said, “Golden ticket? How did you…know about that?” It was Tony’s turn to be surprised, both of his eyebrows rising. “How did I know about that?” he began, confused to no end. “Um… How did you know about that?” He turned his eyes over to Rarity, who really tried to avoid his stare. “Come on, Marshmallow, help me out here. Just crash-landed into Hell or whatever dimension this is blind and stupid.” Some members of the crowd actually chuckled, growing fonder of the creature named Tony. Rarity’s jaw fell. “Marshmall—?! I say, how dare you refer to me by that! You will address me as ‘Rarity’ or ‘Miss Rarity’, but not ‘Marshmallow’!” “Sounds exhausting,” the human replied, almost sounding bored. Rarity huffed in anger, her rage only boiling once she caught Spike sneaking a giggle or two. Rarity snorted, puffing her lower lip out. “Well, if you must know, the golden ticket is for Twilight to gain access into the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala. I am invited, too.” “Yeah, that’s cool. Anyway,” Tony continued, earning another glare from Rarity and giggle from Spike as he turned his head back to Twilight, “I…usually don’t do this for many people or…small horses in this case of the matter, but you do seem like a persistent little cuss so…” He lifted up his right hand directly in front of the princess. “Tony,” the human said with a glamorous smile, “Tony Stark.” With much enthusiasm, Twilight smiled and rested her hoof in Tony Stark’s hand, finally feeling the armor against her coat. His metallic fingers coiled around her hoof, squeezing it with little force and shaking as any normal two would do. He released his grip from her hoof, his hand simply falling back to the dirt lazily. Twilight followed his hand back down to the man’s arm and body, the metal torn with black gashes across its exterior. She grimaced, turning her eyes to meet Tony’s. He seemed to be busy eyeing the crowd surrounding him. They didn’t seem too enthused. “So…uh…sorry if I like…you know…blew up something when I crashed, but uh…couldn’t really control myself,” he explained, turning his gaze to Twilight. “I’ll pay for any damages, of course, just as soon as I get up and find a way to my checkbook and—” The moment Tony Stark tried to sit up, most of his iron suit completely fell apart. Twilight gasped, eyeing the entire chest come falling down into Stark’s lap with sparks dancing across the inner wiring of the suit. The crowd grew silent, Spike and Rarity motioning their heads closer to inspect the damage. The human sighed, catching Twilight’s attention. He lifted up his hands and smacked them right back into the dirt, shaking his head side-to-side. “That sucks,” he grumbled just as his helmet popped off, falling apart and landing to his left. “Okay,” the man sighed. “Oh, my, you poor thing,” Rarity whined, rushing over with her hoof outstretched. Tony was just about ready to lift up his hand to stop her, only to realize she placed her hoof right atop of his chest plating. “How could you stand to wear this dreaded thing?! I thought it was actually a part of you, but no! It’s just like clothing! And red and gold! Blech! That is sooo last season, darling!” “Oh, I wish I would’ve known that,” Tony commented, the sarcasm in his tone clear as day. He shook his head, slamming his hand atop his chest plating, earning more sparks to dance from the shattered wiring. “Now I feel like I don’t fit in! I don’t fit in, Marshmallow!” Rarity’s anger returned, but quickly relaxed once Twilight shot her a comforting stare. That stare carried on over to the human, her smile to accompany it. “From the looks of it you don’t seem to know much about Equestria, meaning you’re not from around here.” Tony lifted up both of his hands and began to clap them together, the sounds of wiring moving and metal smacking together being the only sound in the general area. The mock clapping continued, slowly beginning to get on Twilight’s nerves, already grinding against Rarity’s. Spike was trying his hardest not to bust out laughing. “Good. Job. Twilight,” he said, speaking every time he smacked his palms together. He turned to face Rarity, his hand held out to the princess. “You see, Marsh Marsh? Someone here is thinking with their brain and not their eyes like someone I just had the pleasure of meeting.” Spike fell to the dirt, clutching his stomach in laughter. Rarity’s angry eyes transformed into ones of sorrow, looking over to the baby dragon struggling for breath. “Spike!” Rarity cried. The baby dragon barely managed to lift up his head, tears flowing from his eyes. “I’m…I’m really sorry, Rarity, but…but…he’s just…he’s hilarious!” Spike laughed, falling back into another state of giggles. Tony looked over to the young dragon lying on his back. He didn’t realize his smile had been growing since he started staring, his expression shifting over to the bemused Twilight. Tony pointed his thumb over to the dragon, smiling as he did so. “He thinks I’m hilarious.” The crowd began to laugh a bit more. “Okay, that’s enough,” Twilight stated firmly, instantly silencing the crowd. Spike ceased his laughing, looking up at Twilight with a grin on his face. She faced the human, her stare hard, and said, “Mr. Stark, we can discuss how you just so happened to get here later. For now, I would like for you to accompany me back to my castle where we can hopefully repair your…um…suit. My friends and I will try our hardest to assist you in any way we can.” “Sounds promising,” said Tony. “However,” Twilight continued, earning a small snort from Stark, “I would like to ask you several questions, and in return for our hospitality you would have to answer them truthfully.” “I’ll think about it,” Tony told her, grunting as he began to stand up. More pieces of his armor fell off, but he managed to capture his chest plating and wrap it under his armpit. As he rose to one knee, he caught Twilight pouting at him, her stare growing colder by the second. “We only want to help you, Mr. Stark.” “Oh, I know you do, and I appreciate it,” Tony began, slowly earning a smile from Twilight, “but answering questions…now of all times…doesn’t spell good news for me. My suit will be out of commission for a few days tops, and I’ll need it working in perfect condition so I can figure out just where this ‘Equestria’ is and get the hell out of it. I don’t need a ton of questions hammering into me as I work.” Twilight stuck her chest out, her eyes narrowing onto Tony’s face. She said, “Fine. I won’t ‘hammer’ you with questions, but I would appreciate it if you answered the important ones for me.” “How will I know if they’re the important ones?” Stark asked. Twilight smirked. “You’ll know,” she said, sticking out her hoof. “Deal?” Tony resisted the urge to finish by saying “or no deal” but stopped himself, just this once. He looked into her violet irises, not at all finding any traces of deceit or lies. She was clean. Then again, he never could trust anyone without a dark side. But he’ll try, just this once. Just this once. “Alright,” Tony said, gripping Twilight’s hoof, “deal.” The crowd around them stomped their hooves into the dirt, cheering a bit here and there. Tony eyed the crowd, interested for a short moment before Twilight recaptured his attention. She levitated what remained of Stark’s helmet and facemask out in front of him. “And by the way, I’m a pony, not a horse.” “Of course you are. That’d be just stupid if you were anything else,” Stark said with a smile, this time earning an adorable giggle from the princess. Another laugh from another stranger, definitely a victory for Tony Stark. He dropped his hand from her hoof and gripped his fingers around what remained of his helmet. He stood fully upwards, already towering over the crowd. Stark managed to capture several ponies with wings fly by, checking him out with keen interest. Already did he capture their eyes. Wasn’t anything new to him. He looked down at Twilight, nodding once. “As much of a crowd-pleasure as I am, I really need to start gettin’ ol’ 45 up and runnin’ again,” he explained to the crowd around him, already earning several sad looks from the fillies and colts. He turned back to Twilight and her friends. “So, Princess, where exactly is your castle?” Without a word, Rarity and Spike strolled right past him out of the crowd and down the road. He followed the two until his eyes trailed upwards higher and higher until he finally grasped the image of Twilight’s castle sitting so…out of place in the small, primitive-like village. “Damn, how did I miss that?” he breathed out with a chuckling Twilight walking away from him. “It certainly does capture the eye, doesn’t it?” she giggled, already several feet ahead of him. “Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour and we can set you up in the library if you’d like.” Tony Stark adjusted himself, trying hard not to lose anymore pieces of his armor. He tried hard to keep up with the princess, but fell short and said, “Actually, I do have one more question, Twilight.” “And what would that be?” “Do you have a bathroom in that place? I tried going earlier when you were talking about me answering some questions or something and the suit’s not responding to it. Wait!” Twilight stopped. She spun her head around to see Tony halt in his tracks, his finger raised out in front of him. “Wait, wait, wait! Hold up…hold up… I think it’s…” his face contorted into several expressions, first being aggravated, then becoming relaxed, and finally becoming frustrated. “Nope, definitely not working.”