The Past
“Alright, if you add three drops of mercury into the elixir, what should happen?”
“The potion should turn…golden!” Applebloom exclaimed as her potion did exactly that.
“Very good. Now if we were to add beetroot…”
Twilight continued to give instructions to Bloom and the young mare continued to perform them nearly perfectly. While she did this, Tony watched, a small smile on his face the entire time.
‘You have been sitting silently for over an hour now. I cannot remember the last time you were so silent,’ Jarvis said. ‘Is it because you are impressed with young Applebloom’s natural genius? Or is it because you are starting to realize that sandwich you swiped from Twilight’s fridge was meant for pony consumption only?’
“Mostly it’s Applebloom, but that sandwich was a bad idea,” Tony replied. “You’re seeing it too, right Jarvis? How quickly she’s caught on to what Twilight’s been teaching her. She even caught onto the trick Twilight pulled with trying to get her to put the wrong concoction together. She reminds me…she’s a fast learner.”
‘Indeed sir. She reminds me of him as well,’ Jarvis replied, before going quiet for a moment. ‘Sir, what happened to Mr. Parker wasn’t your fault.’
“Oh really? Well gee, it must have been some other billionaire in a metal suit that had promised to protect him and his family, only for them all to be killed while he was away. Well whoever that guy is, he has a real bad habit of failing to keep his promises,” Tony scowled.
‘You and the other Avengers were saving India from an Ultron uprising when Doom attacked the compound. Peter gave his life making sure the workers there could get away. Both of you were being heroes. There is only one soul to blame for this and that is Doom.’
“Doesn’t matter! I still made the promise and I was the one who failed!” Stark yelled. “He looked up to me, trusted me and when he needed me most I wasn’t there!”
“…Tony…are you okay?”
Tony forced a lid onto his anger as he turned to look over at the two ponies, both of whom were gazing at him with looks of concern. Tony sighed as his faceplate slammed down, blocking his face from them.
“Terrific. I feel great. Scoot over, I want to play mad wizard too.”
Applebloom moved to the side and Tony sat down beside her, grabbing one of the potions and looking over it for a moment.
“Okay Tony, since you’re knew at this, what I want you to do first is…”
Whatever Twilight said next, Tony never heard it. He picked up a red vial and poured a single drop into his beaker. As the liquid inside shifted to a blue color, Tony picked up some powder that was beside Bloom and added a handful, placing his armored hand overtop the lip of the beaker as a small explosion went off.
“Tony, I think you should listen.”
Tony could still smell the smoke. The fire that burned the compound was burned into his mind. The desperation and fear that clawed at his heart as he and the Avengers tear through the rubble, praying to Thor and whatever other gods were listening that they had lost only the building. And for a few moments, he and his friends thought that they had gotten lucky. But luck never favored them.
Cap had been the one to find the bodies. Amadeus Cho. Charles Xavier…and then the Parkers. All of them. Peter, Cho and Xavier had all been found with strange markings on their heads, which Scarlet Witch had confirmed to be how Doom had drained their knowledge from their minds. A procedure that had killed them all.
T’Challa had taken the lead and began to instruct the Avengers on what to do. Hulk and Ant-Man on search and rescue. Thor to circle the surrounding area to find anything they may have missed. He and the others would report to the UN what had happened. But Tony hadn’t moved. He stayed put, kneeling at the bodies of those he had failed, with only a mourning Captain to keep him company. Tony had sworn vengeance then and there. Vengeance on Doom. And to make sure that-
“TONY!”
Tony snapped out of his flashback and looked at Twilight, who was glaring at him with her horn glowing. He blinked a few times before he looked down at his hand, finding that his now smoking beaker was enclosed in Twilight’s magic, that magic being the only thing preventing the potion from exploding.
“I zoned out and built something dangerous again, didn’t I?” Tony asked Jarvis.
‘Judging by the expression on Twilight’s face, I would say so sir.’
“Tony. Let. Go,” Twilight said calmly.
Tony did so and Twilight removed the beaker, before she set the magically contained beaker down next to her. She let out a small sigh of relief before she shook her head and looked at Tony. “Well congrats, Tony. Not many beings can make a disintegration potion on their first try.”
“I thought it felt especially dangerous,” Tony joked, but when he saw Twilight’s face he held up his hands. “You’re right. Not time for jokes. Sorry, I just got…lost.”
“Yeah I could tell,” Twilight said, before nodding to Bloom. The young mare came out from behind a table and sat down next to Twilight, looking at Tony with curiosity. “You weren’t listening to either of us and you seemed totally zoned out. It was kinda scary.”
“But it was also kinda cool! Ya should have seen how fast yer hands were moving! Ya made that potion in no time at all! That’s a master class level potion and ya made it while ya weren’t even paying attention!” Bloom exclaimed. “Ya have to teach me how ya did it! Oh, speaking of…”
Bloom dashed off, leaving Tony to give Twilight a confused look.
“Hang on, she’s been wanting to show you this all day, but I promised to make her wait.”
Bloom returned a moment later, carrying in her hooves a small device. Tony looked over at Twilight for some kind of clue as to what it was, but aside from a smile Twilight didn’t give anything away.
“Okay, Twilight and ah have been working on this fer a few weeks now and ah think it’s finally time ah show it to ya,” Applebloom said. She pulled the device apart, revealing two, violet colored circles. She attached one to each of her back hooves and stood up on her hind legs. She closed her eye and clicked her hooves together…and rose up into the air.
It was only a few inches off the ground, but Tony could help his jaw from going slack. Bloom and Twilight had managed to create a prototype version of his Arc repulsors in just a few weeks which, judging by the energy the discs were outputting, used magic instead of Arc energy.
“Well, what do you think?” Twilight asked Tony with a proud smile on her face. Stark managed to tear his eyes away from the floating filly to the princess, unable to contain the smile that was spreading across his own face.
“I’ve got to admit…I’m impressed,” Tony admitted with a smile. He walked over to Applebloom, who took a moment to land, before receiving the discs from her. He examined them quickly, impressed with the level of skill that would be required to make something so similar to his tech. Maybe he had underestimated the skill of these ponies after all.
“They’re nowhere near as advanced or powerful as your repulsor tech, though,” Twilight admitted once Tony was done. “Those have enough magical power stored in them to give Applebloom enough lift to hover for about twenty seconds. Yours both allow you to fly and shoot beams of energy from them. We’re still years away from catching up to you.”
“Well it’s not like I built mine overnight,” Tony admitted. Years away. How long had it taken him to perfect his own tech? Sometimes he felt like he was still upgrading his armor, despite how far it had already come. And yet these two ponies, one of whom was a child, were catching up. The genius of youth.
Tony then caught that Applebloom was giving him a strange look and Twilight seemed to be encouraging her to say something. Normally Tony would ruin the moment with a lame joke, but common sense won out this once and he waited until Bloom was ready to speak.
“Hey Tony…can ah…can ah ask ya something?”
“Like what? What’s it like being so brilliant? How do I constantly get the crap kicked out of me and keep my award winning smile? Where I hide my keys in this suit? The trick is the keys fold into the suit,” Tony whispered to her. Tony stopped when Twilight zapped him with her magic.
“Ah was wondering…if ah could be yer apprentice!” Applebloom managed to blurt out.
For a long moment there was nothing but silence in the room. Even Tony, who usually had a wisecrack or a dumb joke to always fall back on found that he had no response. Applebloom gazed up at him with uncertainty in her eyes, unable to read his face behind his mask.
Stark couldn’t respond. An apprentice. Tony had never been against the idea in concept. Having a willing victim who had to stand there and listen to Tony talk about himself and his accomplishments gave his life meaning. And Applebloom was far from the worst candidate. She had already shown an incredible gift and had a desire to learn.
But fear held him back. Fear of someone evil getting ahold of his apprentice and torturing them for the secrets of his Iron Man armor. Fear that they might one day become corrupted by the power, like he had once been a long time ago, and Tony would be forced to battle the very being he had sworn to train.
But the greatest fear and the biggest force that was holding him back, was that he had an apprentice until recently. A young teen who loved to learn, held great responsibility and had jokes that were even cornier than Tony’s. An apprentice who had been perfect in everyway. And he was gone.
“Look Applebloom, it’s not that I wouldn’t love to take you on as an apprentice, but…” Tony began, already seeing the young mare’s face start to fall. “I’m not the best teacher and I’m far from a perfect role model. Not to mention once I bag Doom and return to my own dimension, we probably won’t see each other again. Why don’t you become Twilight’s apprentice instead?”
“Because ah don’t want to be taught by Twilight. No offense, princess. Ah need to be taught by you,” Applebloom replied.
“Why? Twilight is a far better teacher than I would ever be.”
“Because ya have no magic. Ya have no wings, magical horn or ancient gifts. But despite all that, with nothing but yer wits alone, ya created a suit that allowed ya to fight alongside the greatest heroes of yer world!” Applebloom exclaimed and Tony figured it out instantly. She was like him. No powers, no abilities: just a desire to help and a mind that wouldn’t stop. But since she had no powers or abilities, she needed something to even the field. Like his armor.
“Applebloom-“
A massive explosion rocked the castle, cutting off Tony’s words and nearly throwing him to the ground. His armor went into lockdown and prevented him from being thrown, but two mares weren’t so lucky.
“What the hell was that?” Tony asked.
“Some kind of…magical shockwave,” Twilight grunted as she got back up to her hooves. “Most likely caused by two or more powerful magics colliding. But what could cause…”
Twilight gritted her teeth and tried to get her magic to work, but aside from a few sparks nothing happened. “No good, the shockwave knocked out my magic. And I’m an alicorn. I’d hate to see what happened to the rest of the town. Tony, I want you to check the town. I need to send a message to Celestia and-“
Her magic had been knocked out. Twilight’s magic was down. Which meant so was every spell she had cast recently.
With a speed that nearly gave himself whiplash, Tony spun and hurled himself towards Bloom, who looked up at him in confusion…just as the disintegrating potion exploded in a ball of fiery, magical death.
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...oh
!!! Holy fuck.. This is a heavy chapter. Here's the thing. I imagine later on. When Tony and Doom face off. They will talk and just as Tony is about to start fighting Doom. I imagine Doom saying he can bring Peter back to life.
Hello! Is doom fighting Tirek now or what?!
Letß hope it is not a magicsl analog of Omega incedent.
9871299
Yeah
...uh oh
9871299
At least the magic exploding potion had the decency to wait until Twilight explained what a magic shockwave does before exploding.
Question for the author: How has Equestria not collapsed into a singularity with everything that's happened to it in your stories? XD
9871596
Because many of the stories happen in their own universe that is not connected to one another.
I hope Apple Bloom doesn't get hurt and Tony is just over reacting.
Uhhhh.... Oops?
Is it me or EVERY . BLOODY . CHAPTER , someone ends it by blowing something up in the faces of everyone or doing a big-ass twist to it resulting in a cliffhanger ?
Anyway , that's both a terrible and great thing because I always want to know what will happen next but since you are not a robot , I need to wait...
CURSE YOU AND YOUR GOOD WRITING !
has a sense of feeling that Tirek may be the real answer to defeating Doom, or weapon to defeat doom or vice versa *shrugs*
9874207
Well, the theory starts out with that mach-cone and goes from there *shrugs*
... as for everything else i think i got it all figured out :)
The formula is roughly like this: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccc! ;D