Proposal
The sun was just barely beginning to rise over the town of Ponyville. The birds were roused from their slumber, the wind began to blow softly, and the sound of singing was carried over the air from the center of town. A day of peace and laughter was in store for all the ponies in the town.
A feeling of peace that was wasted on the Iron Avenger.
Tony sat alone in a park bench, his suit retracted into its backpack form. He had sat there all night, with only the company of the moon to watch over him. It had been a full day since he had heard Gaea’s tale. A tale spelling the end of his people, the birth of a new world and the choice that Tony would have to make. A choice he couldn’t make.
He didn’t blame Celestia for placing this burden. He would have asked to make it anyway. It was his people that had been lost. It should be his right to decide. But it was the deciding that he could not make up his mind on. Who should live. And who should die.
‘You haven’t moved in a while sir. Have you expired?’
“No, I’m alive. And you’ve been quiet for the better part of a day. That’s unlike you, Jarvis,” Tony replied. “I’m surprised you haven’t told me what to do or how I’m handling this all wrong.”
‘That is because I do not know what to do, sir,’ Jarvis replied. Tony had never heard hesitation in his robot butler’s voice before. It unnerved him far more than anything this world had thrown at him.
“Well, I’m open to ideas.”
‘I am programmed by you to protect humanity. That is priority number two, right behind making sure you don’t do anything you’d regret. But I am also programmed to protect all those who cannot protect themselves. And these ponies…they are guiltless. They are not the ones who destroyed our world. How can we punish them for Gaea’s actions?’
“Congratulations, you just summed up what I spent all night debating,” Tony sighed. “It’s supposed to be easy. I protect the world. And if I can’t do that, I’ll be damned sure to avenge it. But there’s no world to protect. No one to direct my vengeance at. What do I do?”
“What you do best. Save the world.”
Stark was out of his seat in an instant, his armor already half formed around him as he spun towards the voice. Standing behind him was Doom, in his green cloak with metal suit. But as Iron Man’s helmet slammed down, he scanned something different about Doom. He had a different kind of magic radiating off of him. A magic that reminded Stark of Discord’s magic.
“Doom,” Tony snarled. “Finally shown up to finish me off? Well go ahead. Just another body to add to the billions.”
“You have learned the truth,” Doom said, nodding his head. “I figured it was about time that you did. The truth that these ponies wiped out our species. Wiped humanity off the face of-“
“Gaea! Gaea…wiped out our species. Not these ponies. Gaea,” Tony corrected. Doom looked at Tony for a moment, before he nodded once more.
“Yes. As men of science, we must make sure the facts are accurate. Gaea was indeed responsible for wiping humanity out of existence. Using the Infinity Stones. The same stones of power that those six ponies you have befriended now use to protect their world.”
“You knew that? What am I saying, of course you do. When did you figure it out?”
“Not long after I followed a mare underground to find what remained of New York. It was all too similar to what I knew for it to be a coincidence. Then a few moments later, a being bearing the same power of an Infinity Stone appeared to face me. Discord.”
“So he did face you. And you…”
Doom lifted a hand and magic crackled along it, Tony’s scanners telling him that it held the same power Discord had wielded. The same power of the Infinity Stone.
“He attacked me with the intent to kill. But I have dealt with beings like him before. He stood no chance against my intellect,” Doom told Tony, who added another name to his list. “But to answer your question, I am not here to kill you. I am here to offer the same chance to I offered you back at Canterlot. Before you knew everything that had happened. The chance to join me. To set this right.”
Doom extended a hand as he said this, looking Tony in the eyes the whole time. Tony looked at Doom’s hand for a moment before he lifted both of his hands, aiming them at Doom.
“Do you really think I would trust you? You’ve tried to kill us multiple times. You tried to conquer humanity yourself dozens of times! You killed…you murdered one of the brightest, most noble superheroes that I’ve ever known. Do you possibly think I could forgive you…work with you…after what you did?!”
“I do not ask for forgiveness. Nor do I want it. But I know you, Stark. I know that after what you did in your youth, you put defending humanity above everything else. Be it Thanos, Ultron or whatever villain of the week tries to tear our world down, you are always its strongest defender. That is why I know you will do what’s right. I know you will do what it takes to save our world. And I will support you. I will work with you. Together…together we can ensure humanity survives.”
“…where’s the speaking in the third person, Doom? Where’s the part where you stab me in the back?” Tony spat.
“It is past the time for hero vs villain. We must unite to save the world,” Doom replied. “You know me, Stark. I am a deceiver, I am a genius, I am one who uses every trick in the book to get what he wants…but you also know that I am one of the greatest defenders of humanity. Yes, I want to rule over them, but that is because we both know my rule will keep humanity alive.”
“That’s a load of shit.”
“Look at the facts. The two of us are removed from the equation and the world falls. Humanity dies. We were two of the most important pieces on the board and we were removed. And then all we sought to protect was lost. You know me, Tony. You know that I will do whatever it takes to save humanity. As would you.”
Tony wanted to tell Doom he was a fool. He wanted to laugh in the face of Doom before taking him down, saving the day as he always did. But there was no day to save. No cheering of the crowd or a return to his fellow heroes. They were all gone. And the only one left, the only one who could help him ensure their survival, was one of mortal enemies.
And Tony did know Doom. Knew him better than he wanted to admit. Doom was a reflection of Tony. A genius who had an incredible suit who used his genius to achieve his goals. Stopping evil. Saving his company…and for both of them, a twist on saving the world. So he knew Doom was telling the truth. Doom would prioritize saving humanity over all else. Doom would betray Tony eventually. But not until after humanity was saved.
“Every day your friends risked their lives to save the world. Never asking for anything in return. Simply knowing that the world was safe was enough for them. And they died defending it, in a hopeless battle. Dying knowing that nothing they did mattered in the end. Is that how their legacy should end? Is that how the heroes should be rewarded for their sacrifice? A hopeless death? When it can all be fixed?”
Once more, Doom extended his hand to Tony.
“…what is your plan?” Tony asked in a whisper. Doom raised an eyebrow and Tony smirked. “Don’t give me that look, I know you. You have a, if not several, plans for how to save humanity. If you want me to work with you…you will need to tell them to me.”
“Several of my plans have been failures. I planned to take the stones from your pony friends, but then I learned they were bound to them based on a test that I cannot undo. Then I planned on blackmailing them into using their powers to restore humanity, but after hacking your suit and hearing about how Fluttershy was weak, that will not work. Don’t give me that look, you know I would hack your suit eventually. So there is currently one plan left.”
“Time travel,” Tony deduced.
“We return to the past. Stop Gaea. Prevent humanity from ever being destroyed. Ensure no evil comes to pass. Save the day. Just like heroes always do.”
“And wipe out billions who never did anything wrong,” Tony countered, but his heart wasn’t in it.
“Billions who were never supposed to exist in the first place,” Doom replied. Tony looked down to avoid looking at Doom. “You know it to be true, Stark. You know that these ponies were not supposed to exist. You know they were created by a madpony who had used the stones to create his own perfect world. Galactus would not eat this planet. That is how badly it has been ruined.”
“Doom…I...”
“I know I am asking a lot of you. And I know that this will not come easy to you. But I know you Stark, better than you think. You will struggle with this. But you will ultimately make the right choice. You will save humanity…just as you always have,” Doom said, backing up from Iron Man. “I will wait for a week until you decide to help me. I will be waiting in what the princesses referred to as the forbidden lands. That is where I will wait for you.”
Doom ascended into the sky and Tony did nothing to stop him. Doom turned to leave, before he looked back down at Iron Man. “You will save them. You always do. It is one of the things I respect most about you. I will see you in a week and together, we shall save them…Tony.”
And then Doom was gone. A snap of fingers. On instinct, Tony shot the spot where Doom had been. And then he buried his head in his hands. Hating himself. Hating himself because he knew Doom was right about him. He would always save humanity. It was who he was.
Which meant he would have to erase billions of other beings. Beings who were never supposed to exist. That was it. They weren’t supposed to exist. Which meant when they vanished, the world would be set right. Everything would be fine. That was how-
“Hiya Tony!”
Tony lifted his head and looked down to see Applebloom, who was smiling up at him. Her leg was still in a cast, but if it was hurting her she wasn’t showing it. “Are ya done talking with yer friend? And if ya are, can ya come with me fer a few moments? Me and mah friends want to show ya something!”
“Applebloom…I can’t at the moment,” Tony replied, trying to get ahold of himself. “I’ve…got an important decision to make and I can’t…I can’t…”
“Please? It won’t take long,” Applebloom begged.
Tony wanted to say no. He wanted to simply go to Celestia and tell her that he planned to go back, to undo Gaea’s evil. Celestia would understand. And everything would be set right. But once he did that, all of this would be gone. Including whatever Bloom wanted to show him. He would go with her. He owed that much to her, right?
“Okay, Bloom,” Tony said with a smile, his heart breaking as her smile widened. “Lead the way.”
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This is a choice of evils
.... go back in time to before Gaea went mad, or got turned mean by Hydra. Save him and Twinkle Shine; give them a place to live among mankind; show the good of humanity, somehow get Richard to help make more ponies? Eventually changed future: Ponies and Mankind together???
Yes...
What does Applebloom want to show?
I hate to admit Doom is right on this part
PLEEEEEAAAASE tell me the CMC made their own Iron suits! That is the clincher that would make Tony need to save both worlds.
Also, if Doom has Discord’s magic... What happened to Discord?
9898060
9898063
Of course...
9897989
The billions of lives will still be erased, your solution will just create new different Ponies altogether, but all life right now would cease to exist.
I presented a solution before, here another, bring all life to the past, and create a new equestria for them to live, meanwhile Tony can stop gaea from killing humans, problem solved.
I think Bloom is about to help Tony make the right move. Doom is very wrong that the ponies don't have the right to live. Yes, they were brought into being by a different way. However that was long enough ago that they now have souls and lives of their own.
Slight nitpick, it feels ooc for Doom to call Tony by his first name. Seems beneath his dignity, at least compared to his mainstream comic counterpart. I could easily see him saying ,"Stark" however. Just my two cents.
Something about the giant sphere in the forbidden land will help with the optimal solution, whatever that may be.
i have a few grievances with this chapter
firstly, you killed Discord, one of my favorite characters
secondly, it wasn't even in any on-screen climactic battle, it was fucking offscreen, and mentioned in the same fashion in which one would ask for the table salt
Okay... If I understood the MCU concept of time travel correctly, you cannot change the past. All you succeed in doing is creating an alternate timeline where humanity continued to exist. There would be no ponies there, but there would not be any humans on Equestria either. Once Doom and Stark experienced their world's future, it became a part of their past, their memories and experiences. Ergo, ponies will continue to exist on the prime timeline and humans and the new world created by Tony and Dr. Doom after their time travel and victory over Gaea would continue to exist as an alternate world. Tony, after all, should understand this best as he's the one who cracked the time travel equation. Speaking of which, where are they going to get the Pym particles necessary for traveling through the quantum realm?
No.
If you can't win in a no win situation change the rules.
There is no rush here for a choice really. They literally have all the time in the world to come up with another solution.
9898511
There's no dark side
9898414
Read the description, it's not MCU
9898394
Because a climactic battle would have been expected to happen, but it's Discord so it didn't happen
9898088
Time is persistent if it wants and even with the change of backstory the end result would be similar or the same
It's like in some fanfictions here that they change origin/backstory but the events are still similar or the same
9898027
Maybe too much sugar?
9898619
In this story it should work, times works different in the fic, in reality, Ironman traveling to the past won't change anything really, not matter what he does.
9898636
Well there is also another known way
You transport your mind or at least your memories to past self
9898654
That wouldn't work in real life, in stories like this one, yes.
It suck when Doom is right. Also, I knew that Discord would regret his words.
9898394
Actually, I'm going to go out on a limb and make a few unexpected guesses.
A. Discord is not dead.
B. There was no battle.
C. Doom talked Discord down, and convinced Discord to give his powers to Doom.
Because it's Discord; the expected is boring. And because it's Doom. You know he'd try to pull something like that as a means to "defeat" an entity powerful enough to unmake him with a snap of his fingers.
9898726
9898609 (I speculated it here too)
No matter if he lives or not he has done unexpected
The correct way to fix this is to sequester Equestria in it's own pocket dimension and recreate the true Earth in realspace, but where is the drama in that I suppose.
9898092
Has it even been done before?
But. Will it work?
Man, what a fucking moral dilema.
Hmm
Not sure if anyone has suggested this yet, but why doesn't Tony just go to the past, use the ponies original plan of creating a new Earth but instead of making Earth, they make Equestria so that way they both get to live and humanity won't eventually wage war on the ponies... or at least take longer for them to do so
Welp , Discord got demolished and it is brought like it was nothing but that is just secondary for now . Especially since not only him but every being on Earth , will it be at the time they are or 10 centuries ago , is at stake now ...
Damn , that's a choice of the lesser evil right there :
1-Avoid your own race an unfair end by going back to the past . But in doing so , make it so that an entire world will never exist because of the actions of a single being.
2-Don't go back to the past and save the Human race , in doing so no one currently alive "dies" (quoted since they wouldn't technically die if he stopped the other cunt from killing Humanity , they simply wouldn't exist) . But in doing so , you live the rest of your life being the second last human alive AND with the fact that you missed the opportunity to save the rest of them .
If it was me , I would personally choose the first option , that's the lesser evil for me . And yes I didn't take time paradoxes into account but the choice is already annoying enough to do .
9898585
Sounds like something Kirk would do...er, did.
9899577
Yep, Kobayashi Maru
9899672
Finding that third alternative to the two offered solutions is something very Tony Stark. I eagerly look forward to what he comes up with!
So basically going out on a limb on this one with saying the elements, posessing all the infinity stones, including the time stone, could teleport the whole planet and its inhabitants back in time. Posessing the time stone, I believe they might be able to prevent the timelines from messing up.
Or perhaps Tony could have the safety removed from the stones, take them for himself and kill everypony, then going back in time to kill Gaea. Maybe the stones are immune to timeline shenanigans, and will keep the ponies trapped inside until restored.
Also:
i.imgflip.com/2erwfi.jpg
That reminds me, what exactly is in the forbidden lands, if Gaea made everything, then he would explain what was there... unless what's there is the remnants of humanity or something else
9901252
Actually... would it be possible to absorb all the souls of all life on Equis in the Soul stone, go back in time to stop Gaea or rather save Gaea and his love before they gain the Power stone, then use all the stone to make a universe for the ponies to live and thrive in and and give Gaea a rewritten origin story that doesn't involve humanity's death.
And for all the ponies in the Soul Stone, Tony can have them be born many years in the future after Gaea's death - basically reincarnation or born during a certain timeline, time-shenanigans... though the only problem is if Tony has the willpower to do all this.