Iron Man in Equestria

When Tony Stark and his friends arrived in Canterlot, they were immediately greeted by a crowd of ponies who simply looked up and saw three humans landing in their city. After a brief silence, several ponies began to stamp their feet on the ground in an effort to show respect for them, but to no avail.

"Heh, at least we have some kind of a welcome," chuckled Jim as they landed in front of the US Embassy and were helped out. "Say, Mr. Ambassador, did everyone remember that we were coming?"

"They…got the message somehow, Mr. Rhodes," replied the Ambassador, reaching out to shake the hands of his guests. "Welcome to Equestria."

"Thank you, sir," said Tony, shaking the Ambassador's hand before bowing to the princesses. "Your highnesses."

"Tony, what are you doing?"

"Curtsey or something, Julia," whispered Tony. "You are in front the princesses."

Trying to act respectable, Julia curtsied. However, Celestia waved her wing, motioning for them to rise.

"Tony Stark," she said. "On behalf of myself, Princess Celestia and my fellow princesses, I welcome you to Equestria."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," he remarked. "These are my colleagues and friends, Julia Carpenter, Chief Operating Officer of Stark Enterprises and James Rhodes, Head of Security."

"And former colonel," added Jim. "Of the United States Air Force."

"Indeed," chuckled Celestia. "This is my younger sister, Princess Luna and my former student, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Delighted to meet you, Mr. Stark," said Twilight, trying to shake Tony's hand with her wing. "Sorry if we don't have hands."

"That's all right and call me Tony, Princess Twilight."

With the introductions behind them, they all made their way into the Embassy and towards the Embassy's conference room. As they entered, the rest of the Embassy's staff rose to their feet in respect of the princesses and their honored guest. Stepping into the conference room, everyone sat down and the Ambassador began the meeting.

"Now then," he said. "As we all have known, Mr. Stark, you are seeking to build a Stark Enterprises facility here in Canterlot, is that right?"

"Yes, Mr. Ambassador."

"And by doing so, your highnesses," he continued looking over to Princess Celestia. "We have opened up the possibility of more humans coming through the borders to learn about life in Equestria."

"That is correct," remarked Celestia. "The opening of a new Stark building is very exciting for us all here in Equestria. Of course, we all want to take this as easily as we possibly can."

"And according to this study that our embassy staff had overseen in light of your visit, Tony," continued the Ambassador, pushing a folder towards him and Julia. "About 88% of ponies would be willing to allow humans to live in Equestria if you were to open a new facility."

Tony studied the figures before passing them back to the Ambassador, a small smiled coming onto his face.

"And don't forget also about the open of S.M.I.L.E.," added Twilight. "Already ponies and humans are working together over there to protect Equestria from dangers such as the Storm King."

"Twilight is correct," remarked Celestia. "We have toured the facility and it is very much capable of providing the necessary support we need to better protect our kingdom. Already we have hired 30 ponies and 20 humans in the days since the facility was completed."

Jim let out a brief whistle in amazement of what had just been said.

"Have there been any threats made against your homeland at all, Princess Celestia?" asked Julia, looking over at the three princesses. "Since S.H.I.E.L.D's Equestrian affiliate was formed?"

"In likelihood, not since the Storm King was defeated. Everything has been…kind of quiet, to say the least. Why do you ask, Miss Carpenter?"

"Because as Chief Operating Officer of Stark Enterprises, it is my responsibility to make sure that everything runs to a company standard. Don't you have your guards and soldiers run to a high standard?"

Right away, Tony was beginning to sense that things were about to become awkward for them all. Straightening out his necktie, he immediately rose to his feet to take all of the attention off of his girlfriend and onto him.

"Um, I am sure that you have all your guards and soldiers perform to a high standard," he said, nervously rising to his feet and gesturing towards to Julia. "My COO here, takes her job seriously."

"And I am sure she does, Tony," replied the Ambassador. "Rest assured that everyone and everypony in this kingdom does perform to that standard."

However, despite the reassurance, Julia was still unconvinced by this claim. Tony noticed that there was a side to his girlfriend, a side that was more questioning and more than just building a facility dedicated to Stark Enterprises.

"Um, why don't we all start looking for sites around Canterlot?" suggested Twilight and just like that, the meeting was adjourned.

…

Soon, they were walking around Canterlot looking at possible sites for the new Stark building. As they walked, Tony further noticed how unconvinced Julia was about being here in Canterlot. To him, there was something in her mind that was alarming.

"Julia," he whispered as they walked. "Why aren't you convinced about this whole thing yet? Did you even want to come here?"

"Yes, I came because I am your Chief Operating Officer," Julia answered. "And the other thing is I think I know why Equestria was conquered so easily by the monkey man. Yes, I know that not a whole lot of people know what this place is, but I think its military is the problem."

"And what's wrong with their military?"

"Well, think about it for a second, Tony. If we are going to have a Stark building here in Canterlot, we need to get a commitment from the princesses that their military needs help."

Tony considered his girlfriend's opinion, but realized that now was not the time, nor the place for such a conversation. Eventually, they came to a site that was being demolished, damage severely by the Storm King's invasion.

"This is a building that had taken a lot of damage," said Twilight as they saw demolition ponies working on bringing the building down as safely as possible. "It's deemed uninhabitable, so it might be a good place for you to consider a Stark building."

Walking up to the building, Tony inspected the area and after a few moments, he came to a decision.

"Not a bad spot," he said, stepping away from the building. "But, I'd like to look at some other possible spots if necessary. If it's a Stark building, we need to have be at the highest standard."

So, they continued to look around for possible building sites.

…

Elsewhere, Titanium remained in his workshop as he finished writing up his job application to Stark Enterprises.

"Soon," he whispered to himself. "I will join Stark and all of Equestria will thank me for my contributions to its defense."

Looking back, Titanium saw the line of robotic soldier ponies that he had made, hoping that these robots would help him achieve his goal of making his family financially secure once more…