Chapters Chapter 1- Nightmare Moon who?
Walking into the building, Stark saw that it was some sort of bakery.
'Obviously' He thought to himself as he walked up to the counter.
Manning it was a rather lanky yellow coated stallion, with a brown mane and tail.
"Hey man, just give me a glazed donut please" Stark said as he leaned into the counter.
"Right away sir! You are a sir, right?" The stallion asked, unsure as to what Stark exactly was.
"Yeah, Names Tony Stark, I'm new in town" He said, adjusting his tie as the stallion handed him his donut.
"Oh, well welcome Tony! If it isn't rude to ask, what exactly are you? I've never seen some pony like you before" The stallion asked as Stark took his donut out of the brown bag it was given in.
"I'm a human" He began to say, taking a bite out of his treat.
"Holy hell, this is good... By chance, you guys sell milkshakes?"
"Why, of course we do!" The stallion cheerfully responded.
"Perfect, I'll take a vanilla please, and another donut, yeah, this one with sprinkles" Stark said, his mouth practically drooling at the thought.
"Coming right up!"
Stark grabbed his bag of coins, asking "So how much do I owe ya?" As he opened it.
"For everything? It would've been six bits, but this once, have it for no charge! Consider it a welcoming gift from us here at Sugercube Corner!" The stallion said, as he placed the ordered items on the counter, much to Starks surprise.
"Free? Don't mind if I do!" He said, grabbing the milkshake and extra donut, but not before leaving three coins behind.
"At least take those as tip, or else I'll feel weird" He said as he left the bakery.
The yellow stallion picked up the coins, just as his wife, a blue coated pinkish maned mare walked up to him.
"Who was that fellow? he didn't look like a pony.." She asked as she placed some more baked items onto the glass showcase under the counter.
"His name's Tony, and he says he's a human " The stallion responded, emphasizing the name of the species, hoping he said it right.
"Human? I've never heard of a race by that name before, but he seems nice, unlike that strange figure who passes by the town from time to time" The mare said, causing her husband to shiver.
"Don't even mention her! You'll give me the chills!"
Stepping outside Sugercube Corner, Stark began looking around for a suitable place to have his meal.
'Well, as much of a meal this is, I'll probably have a heart attack from it' He thought to himself as he walked deeper into the town.
Eventually, bumping into somebody.
It was a female unicorn, with a lavender coat, a purple mane and tail that had a pink highlight, who was wearing an outfit befitting that of an academic, and was accompanied by some sort of anthropomorphic lizard, who reached up to the mares waist in height.
Or some type of baby dragon, now that he was looking closer.
Yet another thing Stark wasn't expecting.
'This place will surely be full of surprises' Stark thought to himself as he began talking to the mare.
"Sorry about that, I was distracted by something" He apologized.
The lavender mare just stared at him, seeming absolutely bamboozled by Stark.
"Whoa! Who would have thought there would be a different species living here!" The dragon said, as he approached the man.
"So what exactly are you?" He asked.
"Human" Stark responded, then followed up with a question "What's up with her?" As he gestured towards the still blank faced mare.
"Oh, shes just very excited about being outside" The lizard responded as he nudged the mares leg.
In response, the mare shook her head, then proceeded to walk up to Stark.
"Human huh? I've never seen some pony of your kind before! Not even mentioned in text!" She exclaimed, as she examined Starks physique.
Stark was only able to pipe out an "Uh" before the lavender unicorn returned Infront of him, now levitating a small note pad with her magic.
"Are you the first of your kind to visit Equestria?" The mare asked, gasping right after.
"You must be a delegate here to see the summer sun celebration!!" She exclaimed, coming to that conclusion by Starks clothing.
"Could I please have an interview with you! I promise you won't regret it!" The mare finished.
'An interview? Man, I guess Iron Man just like that' Stark thought to himself as he prepared to happily accept.
But before he did, he remembered about the food he was currently holding.
'Oh, right'
"Listen, I'd love to, but I'm kinda busy right now" Stark said, much to the mares disappointment.
"Oh, well that's fine, I'm busy myself too" She said, remembering why she was there in the first place.
Before leaving, Stark asked "Any of you know if there's a library here?" Deciding he would might as well go there to see if he could find something to read, since he's seen zero cellphones so far.
"Yes! It's the large tree over there, you can't miss it" The mare answered, pointing at the direction the library was in.
"Ok thanks, oh, and one last thing," Stark began to say as he placed the bag containing his donuts under his armpit and offering the mare his now free hand.
"I'm Tony Stark"
The mare smiled, and reciprocated the handshake.
"Twilight Sparkle"
The dragon joined in, exclaiming "And I'm Spike!"
Stark chuckled, saying "A pleasure little dude, well, see ya around" As he left.
Spike looked up to Twilight, saying "Well that wasn't so bad huh?" To wich he received an eye roll from the mare.
During Starks trek to the library, he ate the food he had bought.
"Man! This'll be enough to satisfy my sugar cravings for the next week!" He said as he took another sip from his shake.
'What do they put in these dam things?' He thought to himself as he spotted the tree Twilight had mentioned.
'Hm, that must be it'
Quickly finishing what was left of his food, he threw his trash away and walked into the library.
Once inside, Stark began looking for any books relating to history, weather it be world, or of whatever country he was in at the moment, it didn't really matter.
"Let's see..."
He scoured the place, going shelf by shelf, eventually finding a book called Post cou Equestria, to modern times
Stark examined the book for a second, shrugging as he said "Eh, looks interesting enough"
Sitting down on a nearby chair, he began to skim through the book, trying to find the more important parts of Equestria's history and save the boring sounding parts for later.
Stark, spotting a paragraph that mildly picked his interest, decided to read the entire chapter from the beginning.
It described the place he's currently in as a monarchy, that in the past, used to be ruled over by two alicorn sisters.
'What's an alicorn?'
The two sisters became princesses after the end of the great tribe war resulted in unification.
'I guess their parents died in battle or something'
After their coronation, the eldest sister would raise the sun, and the younger would raise the moon.
'Probably some old timey myth'
The sister who raised the moon, would later try to usurp her sister, in an attempt to take the throne for herself, but failed to do so, resulting in the older being forced to take the others life.
'See? This just proves my point. If the moon one was dead, who raised it? Buncha dummy's'
All of this occurred almost one thousand years ago, at the time of the text's writing, and the elder sister has been governing over the country's longest era of peace to date since.
'Huh? One thousand years?! So that would make the sisters immortal?'
...
"Ha! Yeah right" Stark said with a scoff as he stood up, and went to place the book back where he found it, the non-fiction section, even though he thought it was a whole bunch of hoopla.
Placing the book back, he turned around to head for the exit, already giving up on trying to find information from books.
Walking up to the door, Stark grabbed the handle...
Only for the door to swing open, almost as if a police battering ram has just busted it open with extreme force, sending him backwards, crashing into a wall.
Walking in, was a large group of ponies holding a variety of party decorations.
In the front of the group, a pink coated mare with a large, poofy pink mane and tail, and was wearing a cyan shirt and pair of cyan shorts.
She walked deeper into the library, exclaiming "Ok! Let's prepare this welcoming party!" Before spotting Stark, who was currently standing back up.
"There is absolutely no reason to open a door that violently" He said, with a mildly annoyed tone, as he rubbed his now sore back.
The pink mare gasped, loudly enough that it startled Stark.
"There you are! I knew I was missing something!" She exclaimed, running up to to the man.
"I sensed that there would be two new faces today! But I only saw Twilight, and I was wondering where the other pony was, and your here! And not a pony!" The mare said loudly, grabbing one of Starks hands and shaking it violently.
"My name is Pinkie Pie! And you?"
Stark, already getting a headache from this pink woman, yanked his hand away, saying "Just call me Tony"
The mare paid no mind to the way Stark yanked his hand away, still having a large smile on her face as she said "Ok Tony! Well you don't mind sharing your welcoming party, right? Right?" Pinkie asked.
"My welcoming party?... You're hosting a party in a library?" Stark asked as he scratched his head.
"Well of course! This is where Twilight will live! There's no better place to host it! And I didn't know where you lived, So its a good thing your here! More convenient" Pinkie responded.
"Right. Er, I guess I can stay a bit for a party, I've got nothing better to do anyway" Stark said with a shrug.
Even though he would like to suit up as soon as possible, he was in no rush, he had time.
"Awesome! Then help us set up, since you did kinda spoil yourself the surprise by being here" Pinkie said, almost as if blaming the guy.
"How was I supposed to know?" Stark said as he and Pinkie helped prepare the party.
After the preparations for the party we're complete, the lights to the library were turned off, as the ponies inside waited for the other new arrival of the town to return home.
A noticable, glowing blue ring protruded the darkness.
Stark covered his arc reactor with his hand, saying "Sorry" To the ponies standing next to him, giving the man confused looks.
Eventually, the door to the library opened, revealing a yellow coated, pink maned pegasus mare, wearing a green sweater alongside a pair of green sweat pants, holding spikes hand.
But before she could walk in further, Twilight walked in and pushed the pegasus out, saying "Yes, yes. We'll get right on that, well, good night" As she closed the door on the other mares face.
"Huh, rude much?" Spike asked with an irritated look on his face.
"Sorry spike, but I have to convince the princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time" Twilight responded with a sigh.
'Nightmare Moon? What, is that the name they gave to the moon sister? Wasn't that whole fiasco like several centuries ago? Why does Twilight care?' Stark thought to himself as the lavender mare continued talking.
"I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time, now, where's the light?" She asked, just as the lights to the library turned on, and everyone there screamed "Surprise!"
Now that the party was in full throttle, Stark decided to grab a drink from a table that also had cupcakes, and weirdly enough, some hot sauce.
Since he didn't know anyone, Stark decided to just hang out in the least populated spot in the library. The only two ponies he did know, were currently in their own conversation, so he decided to just watch the party goers.
There was a group of ponies trying to talk to Twilight, but seemed to be failing to do so as the lavender mare tried to ignore them.
Alongside Pinkie, and the yellow pegasus from before, there were three other ponies.
They were all mares, one of them being a regular pony, since she had no wings or horn. She had an orange coat, a light, yellowish mane and tail, and was wearing an outfit that made her look like a cowboy, complete with a stetson hat and southern accent.
There was also another pegasus, who had a sky blue coat, alongside a rainbow colored mane and tail. She was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, and a pair of black sweat shorts.
The final mare, was another unicorn, who had a white coat, and purple, swirly mane and tail. She was wearing a white dress, and from what Stark could hear, she had a British accent.
'What a colorful cast of peculiar looking characters' He thought to himself as he took a sip from his drink.
As the party continued, and the moon rose, Stark was eventually approached by spike, who was wearing a goofy looking lampshade as a hat, and asked "Hey Tony! You were invited too?"
"Technically it's also my party, since I'm sharing it, so I wasn't invited, I just happened to be here when it was being prepared" Stark answered as he looked down to the baby dragon.
"Speaking of, where's Twilight? I don't see her" He continued.
"Oh, she's sitting the party out" Spike answered.
"She's skipping out on her own party?" Stark asked.
Spike nodded, saying "She isn't exactly the most outgoing pony out there, but she definitely won't miss out on the rise of the sun!"
"Rise of the sun? You mean that whole summer sun celebration thing?" Stark asked, as he furrowed his brow.
"Yeah! Oh, right, this must be your first, right? Well don't worry, you'll love it! That's basically why there's a party today, to help us stay up and not miss it!" Spike exclaimed enthusiastically.
Stark chuckled at the kids enthusiasm, saying "I'm sure I will. And when does the rising of the sun take place?" As he looked at his watch.
"Right past midnight"
"That's in about fifteen minutes"
"Really?! Aw man, I gotta go tell Twi!" Spike exclaimed, as he and Stark both now noticed the party goers who were leaving the library.
'Guess I should follow them' Stark thought to himself as he began walking to the libraries front door, and Spike went to fetch Twilight.
Stark followed the crowd, wich led him to what he could only assume was some type of stage hall.
Before he entered, he looked up to the night sky, more specifically the moon, wich had a seemingly impossibly large design of a unicorns head encompassing and entire side of the thing.
'hm, that's pretty cool, can't miss that' Stark thought to himself as he entered the building.
Once inside, he crossed his arms and waited with the even larger group of ponies for whatever was supposed to occur.
'Is it just me, or is there like, no guys?' Stark thought to himself as he looked around the building.
He heard Pinkie nearby talking to someone, but whoever it was didn't respond.
Eventually, loud trumpets and a chorus of birds, conducted from the yellow pegasus from before, and a spotlight brought everyone's attention to a small stage by the end of the building.
Walking out from behind a curtain, a light brownish coated, grey maned mare, wearing a grey suit, with a green tie, and a pair of reading glasses.
She began taking, saying "Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the summer sun celebration"
The crowed cheered, as the mayor continued.
"In just a few moments, out town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year"
"Longest day? That's what this whole celebration about? That's kinda... Boring." Stark thought to himself.
The mayor kept talking, but Stark tuned it out, now bored with the whole event.
'The sunrise can't be that epic, we see it every day' Stark thought to himself as he looked to the moon again, quite enamored by the unicorn head design.
'What is cool, is that big ass pony head design in the moon'
He continued staring at the moon, until suddenly the entire design disappeared, leaving the moon blank.
Stark blinked a few times, saying "...Huh?" As he then squinted his eyes, trying to spot the design.
The only other pony to notice the Mare on the moons disappearance, and Starks confusion, was Twilight, who was growing more concerned by the second, but couldn't help but wonder if Stark also knew about the legend.
'It was right there! What?!' Stark thought to himself as he looked to the crowed, about to ask anyone if they saw the design disappear too, only to see the entire crowd brimming with excitement, as the mayors words pierced his ears again.
"The bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!"
The mayor then gestured towards a platform above her, as the white unicorn from the party parted a pair of curtains, revealing... Nothing.
Instantly, the crowed began to worry, Twilight even more so.
Stark decided to just approach Twilight, tapping her on the shoulder, asking "Hey, did you by chance see the unicorn head design from the moon disappear?"
Twilight turned to Stark, exclaiming "Yes! Do you know about Nightmare Moon too?!"
Stark shook his head, as the mayor began speaking, forcing Twilight's and Starks attention to her.
She said "Remain calm every pony, there must be a reasonable explanation to this" with noticable worry in her tone.
Pinkie bounced in place by Twilight's other side, saying "Ooh, OOH! I love guessing games, maybe she's hiding"
The white unicorn waves her arms, screaming "SHE'S GONE!!" Resulting in the entire crowd gasping in horror.
"Ooh, she's good" Pinkie said as Stark turned to Twilight again.
"I'm assuming this isn't what usually happens?" He asked.
"No... Stark, it may be best if you-" Twilight began to say, but was interrupted by Pinkie screaming "AAH!" Startling the two of them.
Everyone present looked up to the stage Princess Celestia was supposed to be in, as a strange sparkly blue mist began to materialize on it.
Twilight looked even more worried, saying "Oh no..." As the mist took shape.
Now standing in it's place, was a mare, she was noticably taller than everyone else, including Stark, by a foot or two. She had a black coat, and her mane and tail were made up of what looked to be the same mist from before.
Adding to that, she had both a horn and wings, both being larger than anyone else's. To top it off, she wore a suit of light purple armor, that looked light, as if to not limit her movement as much.
Twilight muttered "Nightmare Moon..." As Stark raised an eyebrow at the mare, and Spike fainted.
Nightmare Moon looked around, as she began speaking, venom seething from her tone.
"Oh, my beloved subjects, it's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces"
"What did you do with our princess?!" The rainbow hared pegasus from before exclaimed, as she prepared to bomb rush the alicorn, before the orange mare grabbed her tail with her hand.
"Slow down, nelly!"
Nightmare Moon laughed, saying "Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"
Pinkie pie began trying to guess the mares name, calling her some derogatory names in the process.
"Just curious, do I get a prize if I answer correctly?" Stark asked Twilight.
Twilight gave the man an odd look.
Nightmare Moon continued speaking, saying "Does my crown no longer count now that I've been imprisoned for one thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?!"
Twilight spoke up, saying "I did, and I know who you are"
Nightmare Moon turned towards the mare, also seeing a stallion, who weirdly had a very short mane, and no tail.
The man was crouched, his back to the alicorn, as he snapped his fingers to a passed out baby dragon.
"Hey, wake up"
Seeing that spike wasn't waking up any time soon, Stark stood back, revealing to the alicorn that he wasn't a pony at all.
Something she would look into more later.
Twilight continued speaking, saying "You're the mare in the moon, Nightmare Moon"
Everyone gasped again, except Stark, wich the alicorn noticed.
She smiled, saying "Well, well, well, some pony who remembers me, then you also know why I'm here"
"You're here to... To..." Twilight said, struggling to get the full sentence out.
Nightmare Moon cackled, saying "Remember this day, little ponies, for it will be your last. From this moment forth, the night shall last forever!"
The crowed gasped a third time, as Twilight stood in fear.
Stark however, walked forward.
Floating in an endless white void, a man suddenly jerks awake.
"GAHH!!"
He snaps his head from side to side, only being met with the void.
"Aw fuck, I'm dead!!" He screams, both of his hands at the side of his head.
The man attempted to flail around, but eventually just gave up, at least until he left himself floating upside down.
"Great, now the blood will rush to my head" He angrily said, trying to fix his position.
"I mean, does it even matter? I'm dead aren't I?" He asked himself.
His question was answered when two hands grabbed his waist, and spun him upright.
"You aren't dead, at least not yet" A voice behind the man said.
He turned around, and saw another man, one who wore black boots, a black trenchcoat, black gloves and a black top hat.
The mystery mans face was also oddly covered by a thin veil of smoke, making it look like he had no head at all.
"Who the hell are you?" And how come you get a fit?" The first man asked, disappointedly looking down at his plain blue pants and white shirt.
The dark man placed a hand on the other man's shoulder.
"Consider me a friend"
The first man nodded, not really questioning it.
"Ok, so what now?... Wanna play rock paper scissors?" He asked.
The dark man laughed, shaking his hand.
"Don't worry, you won't be here long, I just need to make you the offer"
The first man arched an eyebrow.
"Offer?"
"Yes, it's something my agency has been doing recently, at least to those who have had wrongful deaths in their life" The dark man began to say, as he reached for something in his coat.
"The offer is simple, if you want, we can make it to where you are reincarnated in an entirely new world, with the abilities and appearance of your choice" He finished, taking out a piece of paper from his coat and presenting it to the man.
The man grabbed the paper, thinking of all the possible options he could pick, if this offer was indeed real.
"Are you serious? I can pick anything?" He asked, excitement evident in his voice.
"Yes, although the world you appear in is predetermined, it's similar enough to our world. So the abilities you choose are able to be used to their fullest" The dark man answered.
The man nodded, saying "Ok.... I pick iron man! Tony Stark!" With vigor.
The dark man nodded as well.
"Very well, if that-"
"I want ALL the suits bro, at least all the MCU ones, and maybe a few comic ones, can you do that?" The man interrupted.
The newcomer cleared his throat.
"Please don't interrupt me again" He said, pointing at the man.
The man raised both of his arms, palms facing the dark man.
"Alright, dam, didn't know you would get so peeved. But can you do it?"
"Yes, if you want every single suit, we can make that possible, anything else?" The dark man asked.
The man thought about it, giving his answer with a finger snap.
"I want money! And, you know, Stark industries, cuz, duh, and-" He began to list, but stopped when the dark man shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but we can't do that, where would all the fun be if you had that much that soon?" He said, shrugging.
"Oh, dam... ok, well that's it I guess" The first man said.
"Great, any other questions? We have all day after all, there's no rush" The dark man said, reassuringly.
"Yeah, actually, are you reincarnating me as a baby?" The first man asked.
"If that's what you desire, we can make it happen" The dark man responded.
"Ok good, cuz I don't want that, I've already lived my childhood and teen years, just plop me as a carbon copy of MCU's Tony Stark"
The dark man gave a thumbs up.
"Done"
"Oh! And, am I gonna find other iron men? I'm assuming I wasn't the only one to pick iron man, so..." The first man asked, debating whether he should throw hands with the others.
"No, everyone who accepts our offer gets a world to themselves, there shouldn't be any other humans in the new world. Unless somebody chose abilities that let them traverse through different worlds, then in that case, there may be a chance they appear in your world for some time" The dark man answered.
"Ah, I guess that makes sense" The first man said idly.
"Anything else?" The dark man asked.
"Nope! That's it" The first man responded.
Truth be told, he was curious about some other things, and he could have asked some more questions, but he just really wanted to get into it, after all, if this guy wasn't lying, he would not only have a chance at a second life, he would live it as Iron Man!
"Perfect! then, if you would" The dark man said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a pen, handing it to the first man.
The man grabbed the pen, looking around for a hard surface to sign the paper.
"Oh, sorry about that, just sign it with my back, I don't mind" The dark man said, turning around.
The first man placed the paper on the other man's back, and signed his name onto the paper, not reading through the fine print.
The dark man turned back around, grabbing the paper from the other man's hands.
"That's it then, enjoy your new life! Struggles and all!" The dark man said, placing his hand on the other man's shoulder.
"Alright! So... What now? Do I just-" The first man began to say, before getting interrupted by a fist straight to the face.
"Good luck, Tony Stark..."
Somewhere in Ponyville, the newly arrived Tony Stark jerked awake, feeling a hard surface on his back and bottom.
He rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep from them.
"Ugh..." He groaned out, looking around him, finding that he was in some sort of alley.
Looking down at himself, he saw that he was wearing a grey business suit with a black tie, alongside a blue arc reactor lodged in his chest.
Stark tapped on it a few times, confirming that it was metal.
Turning his head to the side, he spotted a conveniently placed mirror, wich he grabbed, bringing it up to his face.
He was met with the face of Tony Stark.
"That guy wasn't lying..." He idly said as he stared at himself through the mirror.
...
"Heh, awesome"
Throwing the mirror behind him, Stark looked down at his wrist, wich bore a watch.
It looked like any other watch, but having a slight feeling to the contrary, Stark pressed the small button sticking out from the watch's side.
In response, a holographic menu popped up, showing a wide array of different suits, including some Stark recognized from the comics.
It also showed many gadgets he could use, but sadly, most of the items in the menu were locked, with only the first six suits of the MCU at his disposal.
"Why the hell can't i-" Stark began to say, before he thought back to the dark mans words.
'Where would the fun be if I had too much, too soon?'
...
"But why would that matter?... Eh, guess I'll just find out later" Stark said as he got rid of the menu, and grabbed a small bag of coins on the ground.
"This seems to be my starting cash" He said, opening the bag up and taking a peek inside, gawking at the contents.
'Gold coins?! This is supposed to start me off?!'
Stark whistled, closing the bag, and began heading out of the alley.
'Well, this'll be my second life huh?... Then let's see what this world has to offer" He said, prepared for whatever was thrown at him, as he stepped out onto the street.
And immediately stepping back after seeing the anthropomorphic ponies.
'They were ponies right?' Stark thought to himself as he peeked out again.
They had tails, large manes, heads looked like that of a pony's, just more colorful. And hoofs instead of feet.
"God damn, I wasn't expecting that one" Stark said with a chuckle.
After all, according to himself, he was prepared for anything.
Taking a deep breath, he walked back out onto the street with a hard resolve.
'Just act natural' Stark thought to himself as he walked down a street, still trying to wrap his head around the people he was witnessing.
They were... Ponies for Christ sake!
And not even that, it looked as if some had wings, letting them fly! And others had horns, those could use magic!
At least, if the floating objects alongside the glowing horns meant anything.
'This is crazy...'
Stark shook his head, if he was really thinking about it, he was the weirdo. Humans just weren't a thing around these parts.
'That'll surely be fun' He thought to himself as he took in where he was.
It looked like a medieval village, with a few out of place buildings sparsely placed around the town.
'What time period am I even in? Hopefully I'm not too behind, or else I feel like they'll treat me like some type of technology messiah' Stark thought to himself as he watched various pony's placing decorations around the place.
'They seem to be preparing for something, a holiday maybe?'
Stark looked around, spotting a literal giant gingerbread house nearby.
Just looking at the thing made his stomach growl.
"Maybe I can ask around about wherever the hell I am over there" Stark said to himself as he made his way to the building.
Author's Note
Basically a rewrite of my story 'The names Tony Sparkle Stark' it'll be pretty similar, just earlier in the series timeline, and hopefully written better.
Chapter 2- Eternal night showdown.
Prince Blueblood, a white coated, blonde maned and tailed unicorn, wearing a white suit with a blue bowtie stared at the night sky from the window in his private estate, in one of the highest class neighborhoods in Canterlot.
He pondered to himself, "Curious, shouldn't she be raising the sun by now?" As he took a sip of wine from a glass he was holding.
"Must be that old age finally catching up to her" He said with a dry chuckle.
"Oh if only, maybe then the throne would finally be within my grasp..." Blueblood mumbled to himself, just as several knocks rang through the door.
"Sir?" A female voice spoke out, one Blueblood was familiar with, a maid.
"What is it?"
"There's some pony here to see you"
"The sun isn't even up yet! ... *Sigh* Tell them to wait by the living room, I'll be down in a moment" Blueblood said with a groan as he walked to a mirror and began quickly grooming himself.
The maid left with a "Yes sir"
Once Blueblood finished his preparations, he walked downstairs to meet whoever was bothering him at this hour.
He reached his living room, spotting a stallion in all black clothing, alongside a black top hat sitting cross legged on one of his chairs.
Or at least, he assumed it was a stallion, as it looked like he didn't have a mane, tail, or even face, as it was covered by a veil of black smoke.
The dark man spotted the prince, saying "About time, you know it's rude to keep guests waiting right?"
"Not if they show up unannounced at the break of dawn. Who are you? And what is your business with me?" Blueblood asked as he crossed his arms.
"Nothing bad, nothing bad, don't worry. I'm just here on behalf of a friend for a proposal" The dark man answered, as he leaned back on his chair.
The prince grabbed a chair with his magic, placing it across the man, and sat down.
"Continue"
The dark man hummed, saying "A friend of mine has just moved into the country, from another nation far away, and he wants to create a company, here in Canterlot"
Blueblood nodded, asking, "Who is this friend? And why didn't he come with his proposition himself?"
"His name is Tony Stark, and he does send his apologies for not asking you himself, but he wanted to be in Ponyville to watch the summer sun celebration, and i decided to do him the favor" The dark man answered as he placed one of his hands on an armrest.
"Hm, well I don't see how I can be of any help, you'll have to ask the princess at her court for a business license, at least that's how we do it here" Blueblood said with a shrug.
The dark man leaned forward, saying "I'm sure you'll be plenty of help" As he reached for something inside his trench coat.
"Are you going to attempt a bribe? A warning before you do, you can't afford it" The prince said as he leaned back on his own chair.
"A bribe? Of course not. Bribery won't be needed once you see what Stark has in mind for his business" The dark man answered as he pulled out multiple blueprints out, and handed them to the unicorn.
Blueblood grabbed the plans, just as the dark man rose from his seat.
"I'll be taking my leave now, have a good day" The dark man said as he made his way to the front door of the home.
"You never said who you were" Blueblood asked, before the man left.
The dark man turned to the unicorn, saying "I'm just somebody who wants an interesting story" As he opened the front door.
The prince watched the man leave, then opened one of the blueprints given to him.
Stepping outside, the dark man placed his hands in the pockets of his coat, as he turned and stared out into the direction Ponyville was located in.
'How far will your story go, Stark?' He thought to himself as he then looked up the sky, seeing the missing mare on the moon.
...
'No use in loitering, on to the next stop' He thought as he began walking down the street.
Stark walked forward, something Nightmare Moon immediately noticed, alongside a strange glowing blue ring on the man's chest, another thing she would figure out about the stallion at a different time.
Twilight tried to stop the man, but it was too late, as he began speaking.
"So you're going to make the night last forever? I don't mean to be rude but that's kind of idiotic" He said.
The alicorn scowled, as Stark continued speaking.
"I mean don't get me wrong, i like the night as much as the next guy, but an eternal night? That'll result in the end of the world" He said, making it sound like obvious knowledge.
Nightmare Moon leaned forward, her scowl now replaces with a small, fake smile, as she addresses the man directly.
"Really now? And, who might you be?" She asked.
"I'm Tony Stark, a pleasure" He answered with a smile that greatly irritated the alicorn.
"Well Stark, let me tell you something about the laughable warning you've attempted to give me" The alicorn said as she placed her hands on the platform railings.
Then proceeding to crush the railings, light up her horn and shoot a magical blast at Starks feet, making him jump back, almost falling on his ass.
"IT'S A LIE!!" Nightmare Moon screamed as the mayor, now seeing that whoever this villain was, is now attacking innocent citizens, decided to step in.
She commanded "Seize her!" At multiple royal guards, who were all pegasi, had blue manes and tails, and wore suits of golden armor.
The three rushed the alicorn, each guard being armed with spears.
"STAND BACK FOOLS!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed as she summoned multiple lightning bolts to get the guards, incapacitating them.
She began cackling once again, turning into the starry purple mist, slithering towards the buildings exit, opening the doors and disappearing into the night sky.
Stark looked at the scorch mark the magical blast had left, then to the injured guards struggling to get up.
'I guess I should've expected there to be villains in this world, I just didn't expect to fight one so soon' He thought to himself as Twilight approached him, giving a very sleepy and panicking spike a piggy back ride.
"Stark! I'm returning to the library, I suggest you go too, it should be safe there" She said as she and the rest of the crowd made her way to the exit.
'I should go, she seems to know more about this Nightmare Moon, that's probably my best bet in actually finding her' Stark thought to himself as he followed the unicorn.
Outside, the rainbow haired pegasus watched as Twilight and Stark hurried to the library.
"Where are they going?"
Waking into the library, Stark was met with the sight of a frantic Twilight throwing books throughout the place, repeating something about some elements.
She continued scouring, asking herself "Ugh! How am I supposed to stop Nightmare Moon without the elements of harmony?"
"The elements of what?" Stark asked as a sudden blue blur sped by him.
It was the rainbow haired mare from before, saying "She said elements of harmony!" At Stark, before addressing the lavender unicorn.
"What exactly are they? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you some sort of spy?!" She exclaimed, cornering Twilight to the back of the library, but before she could interrogate further, the orange coated mare yanked her tail.
"Settle down sally! Yer freaking out the poor girl, and making us look bad in front of the delegate!" She exclaimed, gesturing towards Stark.
"That is what you are, right?"
"Uh, yeah, something like that, I'm Stark, though you probably heard that back at the stage hall" He answered, adding on "And to clarify, my species name is human"
"I did see that, rather foolish if I'm being honest, darling, but admirable nonetheless, you may call me Rarity" Said the white coated unicorn.
"I'm Rainbow Dash, and admirable is right! You were the only other human to try and stand up to that crazy mare! Respect" The rainbow haired pegasus said as she patted Stark on the shoulder.
The yellow pegasus only said "I'm Fluttershy" With a soft tone.
"And am Applejack, good to meet ya friend" The orange coated mare said as she shook Starks hand.
"It's good to meet you all, now, weren't we going to discuss something about Nightmare Moon Twilight?" Stark asked, as every pony else looked to the unicorn, waiting for an answer.
After sighing, Twilight recounted how she had read about the predictions of Nightmare Moon, how a select group of magical items were the only things that could stop her, being the elements of harmony, only she didn't know what they were, or where to find them.
Stark listened through Twilight's story, before the voice of Pinkie pie spoke from behind him.
"Stark! Catch!"
He turned around, narrowly catching a large book before it hit him in the face.
"Ah! Could you please not throw books at me?" He asked the pink mare, who only giggled out a "Sorry!" In response.
Twilight snatched the book from Starks hands with her magic, exclaiming "Where did you find it?!"
"It was under E!" Pinkie responded, to which Twilight blanked out an "Oh"
"Wait, you didn't look in E?" Stark asked, only receiving a grunt from the mare.
Twilight began reading from the book, which detailed the existence of six elements of harmony: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty, with the sixth being an unknown mystery.
The book also detailed the last-known location of the elements, being the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters, being located in what was commonly known today as the everfree forest.
"The everfree forest?!" Exclaimed all the mares in shock.
'Must be a pretty crazy forest' Stark thought to himself as Twilight approached him once again.
"Stark, it would be best if you stay here, and wait all of this out while I attempt to stop Nightmare Moon" She said, seeming hesitant to follow through.
With a sigh, she continued speaking, saying "If I don't come back, please find some pony to take care of Spike" As she turned around and sprinted out the door.
"Hey! Wait up!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she and all the other mares followed Twilight out the library.
Stark stayed behind, waiting till the coast was clear of anyone else before opening up the menu from his watch again, deciding to withhold letting anybody know of his Iron Man alter ego for the time being.
"Alright! Let's see.." Stark said, giddily scrolling through the holographic menu.
"Might as well go for the strongest one I have available" He continued, selecting the armor he wanted.
Instantly, the armor materialized around him, leaving Stark now donning the mark six, a suit that had the usual color coding of red and gold, its most noticeable difference being its upside down triangular arc reactor, as opposed to the usual circular one.
He moved around, flexing his arms, legs, and head as he felt the weight of his armor out.
"Well, no better time to test it out right?" Stark asked himself, as he stepped out of the library, and prepared to take off, something he thought would have needed practice, but it would seem the he was reincarnated with the knowledge of at least knowing how to use the suits thrusters.
"That was certainly nice of the guy" Stark said, referring to the dark man.
"Whom are you referring to sir?" A voice, which Stark recognized as Jarvis, suddenly spoke up, from his helmet display.
"Whoa! Jarvis?! That you?"
"Yes sir, it's me, a good day to you too"
'And he installed Jarvis?! Aw man, I'm going to have a blast' Stark thought to himself as he activated his thrusters and rose up to the sky.
"Great to have you bud, but this is no time for pleasantries, we've got a situation" Stark said as he began flying towards the forest at the towns edge, assuming it was the Everfree forest from Twilight's legend.
"I heard, are you sure engaging Nightmare Moon is a good idea? If the legend is to be believed, only the elements of harmony can defeat her"
"I'm sure we can at least stall her while Twilight finds and preps them"
"If that's the case, then you should go to the castle of the two sisters, that is where Nightmare Moon should be" Jarvis said, just as he scanned the forest, finding the ruins and highlighting them for Stark to see, to which he said "Gotcha" As he flew towards it.
In said ruins, Nightmare Moon materialized from the starry purple mist she had turned into.
'The trials for the fools following me have been set, it should give me enough time to find those dreaded elements and destroy them' The alicorn thought to herself, taking a few steps forward, just as something crashed through the wall, tackling her and exiting through the other end.
Whatever tackled her angled their direction downward, and threw her onto the forest floor.
Using her wings to stop the crash course she was heading in, she got a good look at what had attacked her.
Nightmare Moon scowled at the Iron Man Infront of her, saying "Do NOT touch me again, vile golem"
"Golem? You wound me, I'm not that bad looking!" Stark said as his mask flipped open, revealing his face.
The alicorn looked stumped for a second, asking "Stark? What in Tartarus do you think your doing?!"
"I'm pretty sure you know, I mean I tackled you, isn't that enough of an answer? Im here to stop your eternal night" Stark responded with an eyeroll.
"Stop me?" Nightmare Moon asked with a laugh. She continued, saying "This is the best Celestia could send against me?! Very well, let's see what that shiny armor of yours can do" As she lit her horn.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone called Celestia, much less work for her" Stark said as his mask reclosed over his face.
"You expect me to believe that? Ha!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed as she shot a magical blast at the Iron Man, which he dodged, retaliating by raising his arm and shooting a repulsor blast from his palm.
The alicorn conjured a magical shield to block the blast, saying "Magical attacks? You keep on surprising me Stark, but alas, whatever other tricks that suit of yours has won't be able to stop me"
"Guess we'll see, right?" Stark said as he entered a defensive stance, aiming both of his palms at the alicorn.
Nightmare Moon grinned, this would be quick.
She charged forward, dodging the incoming repulsor blasts being shot by Iron Man, as she conjured a magical spear.
She reached Stark, thrusting the spear forward, intending on finishing the man right then and there, but failed as Stark narrowly blocked the attack with his arm, resulting in several sparks flying off the armor, as he then activated his foot thrusters, kneeing the alicorn on the stomach, and blasting her chest with a repulsor blast, sending her stumbling back.
Stark then revealed a small missile from an arm compartment, shooting it at the ground near where Nightmare Moon stood.
The missile impacted, resulting in a bright hot fireball, forcing the alicorn to cover her eyes for just enough time to let Stark charge forward, tackling the mare once again, dragging her through the dirt, until she impacted a large boulder.
Stark sent a punch intended for the alicorns head, but only impacted rock, as she had used a teleportation spell to appear behind him, shooting his back with a magical blast, then magically grabbing hold of the man, lifting him up and slamming him onto the boulder, then threw him at a nearby tree.
Once his back impacted it, she flew forward, covering her now balled up fist with her magical aura, and punched the man's chest, sending him through the tree, leaving a noticable dent in the armor.
Stark fell on his back, flipping backwards and landing in a kneeled position, firing another repulsor blast at the alicorn, which she dodged, as he activated his thrusters and charged forward, shooting another missile, this time directly at the mare.
Nightmare Moon conjured another shield, but didn't have enough time to reinforce it, resulting in it shattering upon the impact of the missile, making her stagger back, just as Iron Man emerged from the fire and punching the alicorn straight on the head, knocking her helmet off.
Stark landed on the ground, turning around to punch the mare again, but failed because she caught his arm, then proceeded to squeeze it, her superior alicorn strength allowing her to easily dent the armor.
Stark raised his other hand to shoot Nightmare Moon with a repulsor blast, but failed once again as she grabbed hold of his hand with her magic, and used her own free hand to grab the man's throat, bringing him up to eye level.
She could feel a bleeding cut on her cheek, saying "I must say I'm very surprised Stark, you engaged in a fight with me and didn't immediately perish? Commendable, if you weren't my enemy I would have you as part of my personal guard" As she grabbed her helmet with her magic and put it back on.
Stark answered by saying "Appreciate it" as he shot a repulsor blast from the arm currently being squeezed at the alicorns face, and activating his foot thrusters, flying away from from her grasp onto the air.
Nightmare Moon shook her head, seeing the now hovering Iron Man, exclaiming "And you can fly?! Just who forges this armor?"
"I don't even know why you asked, I'm not gonna tell you even if I knew" Stark said as he shot another repulsor blast, which the mare dodged.
He continued speaking, saying "Anyway, we should wrap this up, would like to have breakfast on a sunny day you know"
Nightmare Moon would have liked to continue fighting, as Stark has been one of the better opponents she's faced, even lasting longer than Celestia. But it was for naught, as she needed to return to the ruins and destroy the elements, who knew of that lavender unicorn and her friends passed through the trials.
If she were to attempt defeating Stark in a regular battle, it would take far too long, even if it would end with her victory.
Deciding on what to do, the alicorn dodged another repulsor blast, responding by summoning a lightning bolt, having it collide Starks chest, sending him to the ground.
She kept the bolt of electricity centered on Stark for a solid five seconds, stopping once she saw the armor smoking and singed.
Not waiting by to see Starks scorched body inside of his armor, Nightmare Moon turned into starry purple mist, quickly returning to the ruins.
Stark however, knew that electricity didn't really do anything against the mark six, and every other suit following it.
'In fact..' Stark thought to himself as he began speaking, asking "Jarvis, how are we doing with power?"
"We are at four hundred percent capacity"
Stark smiled, saying "Thought so" as he flew into the sky, in chase of the alicorn.
Nightmare Moon reached the ruins, thankfully, just in time, as Twilight Sparkle was in the process of trying to activate the spark that was supposed to activate the dormant elements, which were stone balls with multiple different shapes being etched on each one.
She entered the ruins, still in her astral form, surrounded the elements, and engulfed them in a small twister, intending on taking them with her to a different part of the castle with a teleportation spell.
Twilight, figuring out what was going on, exclaimed "The elements!" As she jumped into the twister, hoping she would also be transported.
It worked, and the two appeared in what was once the throne room, with Nightmare Moon having the elements in her possession, cackling as victory was within her grasp.
Twilight thought of a way to reach the elements, but before she could, something crashed through the ceiling, landing Infront of her.
Iron Man turned towards her, saying "Purple lady whom I do not know, I'm going to distract her, and you'll get those elements up and running, alright?" Receiving a slightly confused, but determined nod.
"YOU AGAIN?!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed as she lit her horn, preparing to fire a blast at the man, but couldn't as Stark fired three stronger repulsor blasts from his palms, and arc reactor first.
The beam hit the alicorn, sending her back to a wall.
Stark charged forward, winding up a balled up fist, failing to hit true as Nightmare Moon exclaimed "ENOUGH!" As she impulsed herself from the wall by using her hoofs, dodging the attack and slashed the man's chest with her magically protected hand, leaving multiple surface level gashes on Iron Mans armor.
"Sir, the arc reactor is damaged, and the suit has sustained minor damage, I'll have to divert extra power to suit functionality" Jarvis said, just as Stark turned and dodged another magically conjured spear.
He was however, too slow to dodge the following kick to his stomach, and magical blast to the chest right after, which sent him tumbling through a wall.
The alicorn didn't bother pursuing Stark, hoping that he wouldn't come back as quickly.
'Now, it's time to finish this, no more delay' Nightmare Moon thought to herself as she used a teleportation spell to appear Infront of Twilight.
Stark was in another room of the castle ruins, slowly getting to his feet.
"That is one strong woman" He said to himself as he fully stood up, asking "Jarvis? How we doing with the suit?"
"We've suffered heavy damage, but there's still enough power to last you through another encounter with Nightmare Moon, should you face her again"
"Here's to hoping I don't, who would've thought this magical pony land had such a tough enemy?" Stark said as he destroyed a wall with two repulsor blasts, revealing an exit to the everfree.
"I'm sure Twilight has activated the elements by now"
Stark stepped outside, activating his thrusters and taking to the air, but before he returned to the town, he decided to check if Twilight had infact successfully activated the elements, since he was hearing commotion nearby.
He hovered over to one of the many windows of the ruined throne room, just as the sun suddenly shot out into the sky.
Even though that confirmed victory, Stark still decided on taking a closer look, seeing Twilight, now wearing a tiara, alongside her friends, who were now wearing fancy looking necklaces.
"Elements I'm assuming?" He asked, receiving a "Affirmative" From the AI.
The mares were all bowing to a larger mare, around the height of Nightmare Moon, and had wings and a horn, but had a snow white coat, and her wavy mane and tail were a mix of the colors cyan, green, blue and pink, who wore a white dress, much like rarity.
"Who's that?"
"Princess Celestia sir"
"Ah, the one and only"
Near the group, laid two other alicorns, shorter than Celestia, but slightly taller than the rest.
One of them had a dark blue coat, alongside a blue mane and tail, and wore a blue dress.
The other, had a black coat, alongside a dark purple mane and tail, and wore a tattered purple dress.
"And who are those two?"
After scanning, Jarvis answered, saying "The one on the left seems to be Princess Luna, while the one on the right, is Nightmare Moon"
"Really? Huh, she's smaller now"
The group noticed the two newcomers, with Celestia instantly lighting up her horn and approaching the now smaller Nightmare Moon.
The black alicorn backed away in fear, a scowl plastered on her face, as Celestia shot a beam at the mares chest.
The beam began to not only drill a hole on the alicorns chest, but was also draining what was left of magic in her body, causing her to scream in agony.
"The hell is she doing?" Stark asked.
"It would seem that Celestia is finishing Nightmare Moon off"
"What?!"
Even though he knew Nightmare Moon was a villain, something didn't seem right the whole situation, her new appearance, and the fact that this angelic looking princess was about to kill her. There had to be more to this!
...
"What is your next move sir?"
...
"Activate smoke bombs, target areas near where Celestia is standing" Stark said, as multiple missile compartments from his shoulders opened, releasing the firepower.
Luna approached her sister, seemingly wanting to say something, but couldn't as the bombs broke through the window, impacting the ground and quickly covering the throne room in a thick veil of smoke.
Stark entered, finding Nightmare Moon using his helmet display, and grabbed her, taking off once again.
Author's Note
I could not figure out how to upload images to appear in the story, so here's a link to the mark six. https://images.app.goo.gl/jptp7Upbgf4SaHux9
So far it seems you are liking the story, great! 👍
Chapter 3- The prince's gift
Stark landed on the forest ground, gently laying the weakened and barely conscious Nightmare Moon down.
"She's very weak sir, I'm not entirely sure what the princess did to her, but if she isn't treated soon, she will perish"
"Is there anything we can do?"
...
"Jarvis? C'mon man, were losing her!" Stark exclaimed, kneeling down to check the alicorns pulse.
It was weak, but still there.
"There is something you could try, but there's no certainty that it will work"
"I mean at least it's something, what do you got?"
"Her chest wound sir, I've scanned it, an arc reactor should be able to fit in it, and in theory, her remaining magic could be able to tap into its power to keep Nightmare Moon alive" Jarvis answered, not really confident it would bear fruit.
"Great! Let's try it. Open the suit" Stark said as his armor opened from behind, and he stepped out.
He then accessed his tech menu from his watch, checking if by chance it had any arc reactors, which it thankfully did.
Clicking on it, an exact copy of the arc reactor in Starks chest materialized on his hand, as he leaned forward, catching a glimpse of Nightmare Moons wound, muttering "Christ..." At the sight of it.
He gently inserted the arc reactor in the mares chest, just above her cleavage, stepping back after he finished.
Stark stood still, waiting with baited breath, hoping the alicorn would survive, even though the odds were low.
'Sure, she did try to kill me, but looking at her now? Looks like she wouldn't hurt a fly! Probably' Stark thought to himself, just as Nightmare Moon gasped awake, clutching her chest.
She looked down at herself, spotting her new arc reactor, then Looked up, locking eyes with Stark, who offered a hand.
"Hey, don't worry I wo-" Stark began to say, but stopped as the alicorn looked to the side, lit her horn, and teleported away.
With a sigh, Stark returned to his suit, saying "Guess I shouldn't be surprised, at least it worked" As he stepped inside.
"Although that may have been commendable, are you sure it was the best idea? If she regains her power, she'll only be a more formidable foe, now that she has one of your arc reactors" Jarvis asked as the man took flight.
"I'm sure I'll have better suits available by then" Stark responded, as he directed his flight towards the fast approaching Ponyville.
Landing on the outskirts of the town, he stepped out of his suit once again, materializing an earpiece which would allow him to speak with Jarvis while not in his armor.
"Jarvis, can you take the suit and hide it somewhere? I don't have a home at the moment, so..."
"Of course sir" Jarvis said as the suit activated it's thrusters, and flew away.
Stark then began walking towards the town, and the large celebration encompassing it.
'This is certainly lively, guess its the fabled summer sun celebration in full swing' He thought to himself as he tried to maneuver through the crowd.
"Excuse me, yep. Yep. Passing through! Make way!"
Inside of Celestia's personal chariot, she and Luna conversed.
"See lulu? They adore you!" Celestia happily exclaimed, embracing her younger sister, as the crowd continued celebrating.
Luna reciprocated the embrace, but not as enthusiastic as either of the two were expecting.
She was happy, she had returned home! Her sister had forgiven her, and from the looks of it, the general public has as well!
But...
"Luna" Celestia said, grabbing the younger alicorns shoulders and giving her a stern look, saying "We will find her"
Luna, now knowing that her sister was thinking the same thing, gave an exasperated sigh, asking "I just can't fathom it sister! Nightmare Moon shouldn't have a physical form! And what of that thing that took her?!"
Although Stark thought he had been slick with his save, Luna was able to see the blue glow from his mask, and arc reactor, thanks to her superior visual prowess.
"I'm not sure, I've sent a detachment of the royal guard to search the everfree, hopefully they'll find her and whatever it is that you saw" Celestia responded, as she patted her sister on the head.
"For now though? Just relax and enjoy yourself, no need to worry about something that could not even be worth the time, after all, Nightmare Moon might already be dead! She was fairly wounded before she disappeared"
Luna looked to the ground, giving another sigh, saying "Your right, I've only just returned and I'm already stressed" Which received a giggle from the older mare.
Celestia was about to ask to be taken back to Canterlot, in order to have her sister begin learning about the new world she has returned to, but stopped when she noticed another chariot land beside theirs.
And stepping out, was his distant, and now second closest living relative, Blueblood.
Celestia furrowed her brow, gesturing at Luna to follow her, as they stepped out of their own carriage.
Once outside, the two princesses approached the unicorn.
The prince noticed them, smiling at the two, saying "Ah! Dearest aunt, good to see you! And who might this be?"
Luna blanked, looking up to her sister, exclaiming "Aunt?!"
Celestia whispered "Distant" at Luna, before speaking to the unicorn, saying "This is my sister, Princess Luna"
Blueblood only responded with a nod, the smile not leaving his face.
With a bow, the unicorn said "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, aunty, but sadly, I'm rather busy at the moment, so an introductory conversation will have to wait for another time" as he turned around to leave the two.
Once he was out of earshot, Luna looked back to her sister, saying "He seems... Nice?"
Celestia looked up to the sky, answering with "He usually isn't"
She knew something was up, Blueblood doesn't visit towns like Ponyville unless something that could help him achieve a goal on his mind resided there.
'What could that be?'
As much as Blueblood fawned over the throne, Celestia liked to believe he wouldn't be stupid enough to attempt to take it by force, so whatever he wanted had to be something else!
'Right?' Celestia thought to herself, just as a nudge from Luna brought her back from her thoughts.
"Is everything alright sister?"
"Yes, yes everythings good" She answered with a dismissive hand wave.
She continued, saying "Now, let us go back to the festivities shall we?" As the two began walking towards the ongoing party.
Stark finished writing a message on a sheet of paper, leaving it on the librarians desk, hoping Twilight and her friends found it, in the case they started to worry about him.
He then grabbed his bag of coins that had been hidden under a bookshelf, and left the building.
It didn't take long after Stark had exited that he was approached by a white unicorn stallion, who said "Pardon, but are you by chance, Tony Stark?" Catching the mans attention.
He turned around, answering "Maybe, who's asking?" As he crossed his arms.
"Your new business partner, if these next few conversations go well that is" Blueblood responded as he wrapped his arm around Starks shoulder.
"Come! Come, this is no place for the discussions we'll have, your not busy at the moment I hope?" He continued as the two started walking back towards Blueblood's carriage.
"Not at all, your actually pretty lucky, I've got no plans for, anything" Stark responded.
It was true, he didn't have any plans for the immediate future, except maybe find a place to sleep.
The unicorn nodded, saying "Perfect, and before we continue, call me Blueblood, friends of mine don't have to refer to me by my title after all" with a grin.
Stark gave a fake chuckle.
Some time later, the two were now sitting across from each other inside of Blueblood's personal chariot.
The unicorn presented Stark with the blueprints he was given, asking "These are yours?"
The man grabbed them, genuine surprise in his face as he responded "Yeah, how the hell did you get these?"
"Your friend"
Stark raised an eyebrow.
"Stallion dressed in all black? Has a top hat?" Blueblood said with several hand gestures.
It only took a moment for Stark to figure out who that was.
"Oh! Yeah, I know him, he gave them to you?" He asked.
"Yes, he said you wanted to create a company in Canterlot, but didn't have enough knowledge of Equestria in general, since you've just moved here" Blueblood responded.
'When exactly did the guy tell him that? I haven't even been here for a day!' Stark thought to himself as he played the response off.
"Right, yeah, that was the plan"
With a grin, Blueblood then leaned back in his seat, saying "Great, I already have a sizable property prepared, all you'll have to do is sign a few papers, and everything will be set!" As Stark looked out the window of the carriage they were currently flying in, responding with "That's great"
He saw that they were approaching a mountain, with what looked to be a large city sticking out the side of it.
'That can't possibly be safe'
Nightmare Moon aimlessly ran through the forest floor of the everfree.
It was all so confusing, why did she have a body? Why was she an alicorn? Why didn't the elements work? And what in Tartarus did that wretched Stark do to her?!
Various thoughts continued to flow through her mind as she continued sprinting, eventually tripping over her own feet, and falling down a small chasm, landing with a hard fall next to a small river.
Picking herself up, she decided to have a drink from the river, hoping to not only quench her thirst, but to calm herself down and analyze the situation she was currently in.
She only stopped bringing water up to her muzzle when she heard hoofsteps approaching her.
Standing up, she turned to find a figure clad in all black, with an obscured face, holding a bucket, and fishing rod.
The figure placed the bucket on the ground, asking "Now what is an alicorn doing out here?" As he sat on a boulder.
Nightmare Moon didn't answer, still wary of the mystery figures intentions.
'No fisherman dresses in that manner' She thought to herself.
"Not planning on responding? Very well, then can I at least ask about that gizmo you have there?" The dark man asked, pointing to the arc reactor in the alicorns chest.
Nightmare Moon looked down at herself, scowling at the device.
"A shameful mark of defea-" She began answering, but stopped as the man continued speaking, interrupting her.
"You should feel honored, you know? Only one other being on this earth has one, and only he knows how to create more of them"
The man then turned from where he was sitting to face the mare, saying "If it were me, I wouldn't have gifted you such a powerful artifact, especially if you were my enemy" As the grip on the fishing rod slightly tightened, something Nightmare Moon noticed.
"But alas, these are decisions for Tony to make" He finished.
The alicorn took a step forward, asking "You know Stark?"
"I do, he's the only one who knows how that thing works, its his own design after all" The dark man responded as he turned back towards the river.
He continued, saying "I also know that his technological creations are unlike anything this world has seen, which should be very enticing to that all powerful sister of yours" Causing Nightmare Moons eyes to widen.
"Wish I could help him out, but what can a lowly fisherman like I do?" He finished.
She looked down at herself again, bringing a hand up to caress the device with her fingers.
After a moment of thought, Nightmare Moon asked "Do you know where he is now?" Receiving the response of "I may, but why would you care?"
With an angry tone, the alicorn answered with "Just. Tell me"
"He should be in Canterlot at the moment"
"And how do I get there?"
The man pointed up the direction he came from, answering "If you follow that direction, you should eventually return to the little town you terrorized, from there, catch a train"
Nodding, Nightmare Moon left, not wanting to converse with the strange figure any longer.
The dark man watched the alicorn leave, nodding to himself as he prepared to fish.
"The Equestrian capital, Canterlot, created shortly after the sisterhood civil war, is the fourth largest city in the country. It serves as the hub for most political parties and nobel families, as well as the home of the now three princesses, but is not the most advanced city in terms of technology"
Stark nodded, saying "Ok, and what can you tell me about this Blueblood guy?" As he continued walking down a busy sidewalk.
"Prince Blueblood, up until yesterday, he was Princess Celestia's closest living relative, as one of his ancestor's had politically married Celestia, in tur-
"So one of Celestia's ancestors was also called celestia?"
"No sir"
...
"What are you saying? That the whole immortal myth isn't bullshit?"
"Yes sir"
'Gotta remember there's magic here...'
"Alright, continue"
"Blueblood is politically powerful, as he even has a seat in Celestia's personal council. But lacks heavily in his magical eptitude, even though he should be a strong unicorn, as that's what his ancestors were"
Stark chuckled, saying "Guess those genes skipped his generation" As he reached his destination, a large white building wedged in one of the shopping streets of downtown Canterlot, with Blueblood standing by the entrance, waving at him as he asked "There you are Stark! So? What do you think of the city?"
"I guess it's fine" Stark answered, as he then pointed to the building, asking "This is the place?"
"Yes, for now, at least. If your company flourishes, which it should, you'll be able to open new locations around the country" Blueblood answered, as he gave Stark a contract, continuing with "Here you go, sign that, and you'll be all set! Don't bother reading it, it's just your basic permissions and what not"
"It does however, have a clause that allows me to see and test any new inventions of yours first before any pony else, surely that'll be fine with you right? It's all I ask of you" Blueblood finished, as Stark grabbed the contract.
"Scan complete, the contract is clean, except for the extra clause he mentioned"
"Uh, sure. That's fine" He said, grabbing a pen that was handed to him, and signed the paper.
Blueblood grabbed the contract, saying "Perfect! I have associates ready to bring you some items you'll need to get started, and to work for you, but feel free to bring in any things you'll need, and interview pony's you deem suited for the job" As he began walking away, leaving with "I'll see you soon Stark! The future is bright!"
Stark looked at the building Infront of him.
The creation of Stark industries came faster than he thought.
"Yeah, the future does look bright" He said to himself as he placed his hands on his sides, continuing with "Jarvis? Get the news out, brand new company promises bright future for everyone, promised by CEO and founder Tony Stark" As he waves his arms about.
"I'll see what I can do"
Author's Note
https://youtu.be/kmDiLnxyNkE?si=87PspSDNBu85whMG
Shorter chapter this time.
After being satisfied with his fishing session, the dark man now stood outside of Ponyville's local library, briefcase in hand as he knocked on the door.
It opened, revealing spike, who looked up at the man, asking "Can I help you?"
"Yes, is Twilight Sparkle here?" The dark man responded.
Spike looked back towards their room, saying "Yeah, but I think shes bus-"
The dark man interrupted, saying "Can you send her down? I need to speak to her" As he pushed spike out of the way and walked into the library.
Spike frowned, whispering "Rude" To himself as he fetched the lavender unicorn.
A moment later, Twilight walked down the stairs,
The dark man nodded, answering "Yes, I needed to talk specifically to you, as i felt you were the only person I could tell this to, since it involves the safety of the princess" Causing Twilight to gasp.
She exclaimed "What?! What do you mean?!" As the man reached into his coat, and pulled out a photograph.
He presented it to the mare, asking "Have you seen this man?"
Twilight looked at the picture, recognizing the face of Tony Stark, answering with "I have, yes, what about him?"
The dark man placed the photo back in his coat, saying "He has been sent here on a mission to assassinate Princess Celestia, and to establish the traitor Nightmare Moon as the ruler of Equestria"
Twilight reeled, saying "T- that's impossible! I didn't know Stark from long, but I know-"
"When was the last time you saw him?" The dark man asked, interrupting someone else once again.
"Well, Just before me and my friends went to confront Nightmare Moon, right here"
"And was she defeated?"
Twilight lied, saying "Yes" Since that's what Celestia had ordered her to do incase any pony asked, as to not cause a panic.
The dark man turned around, saying "I know she wasn't, if your not willing to work with me, than it's obvious you don't care about the princess, even though you may be the only one able to save her" As he began to walk towards the door.
Upon that accusation, Twilight easily folded, exclaiming "Wait!"
The dark man stopped, as Twilight began debating with herself in her mind.
'Who even is this guy? How do I know he isn't lying about Stark? Then again, I didn't know him for long, there's no way I could know everything about him, so maybe he is evil. He.. was the only other person to know where Nightmare Moon was... And this guy doesn't have a tail or mane, is he a human too?'
The dark man spoke up, saying "Well? Are you truly worthy of being her faithful student?" Snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.
"Of course!"
The dark man then dropped the briefcase to the floor, saying "Good. I'm sure somebody as smart as you can figure these out" As he opened the door, leaving with "Don't fail your princess"
Outside, the dark man looked up to the sky, thinking to himself 'Im sure Stark will appreciate it'
Once the man was gone, Twilight dropped to her knees and opened the case, finding multiple blueprints inside, which showed the prototype of some type of strange suit, named-
"Whiplash"
Two weeks later
Tony sat inside of his office in the newly founded Stark Industries, skimming through multiple holographic blueprints and plans being presented by Jarvis, thanks to a pair of glasses he materialized.
They varied from the creations of washing machines, cellphones, cars, to weaponry.
He sighed, saying "If only we could print these" as he then accessed his watch menu, hoping to find a printer.
He didn't.
Rubbing his temple, Stark continued with "Jarvis? You mentioned that Equestria had more technologically advanced cities, right? I don't think Canterlot is going to cut it if we want to produce things"
"Yes sir, if you want the best city to have a factory, it would be Manehattan"
Stark chuckled at the pun.
"Ok, then we'll just have to go there. Is there a reason the nations capital is so far behind?"
"That would be because it is where the princesses reside, they need to keep certain appearances up you know"
"It's also probably because the city's built on the side of a damn mountain. Who thought that was a good idea?" Stark began to say as he leaned back in his chair.
He continued, asking "Do we have anything else other than guns to show at the presentation next week?" Referring to a showcase he would do outside of the building to the public, showing them some of the products the company would make.
One of them being guns, since that is something he could conjure, thanks to the War Machine armor being technically Tony's.
"If we can get the necessary equipment, we could use this building to produce lightbulbs, allowing you to showcase them"
"For this world? That's probably going to be revolutionary, so that's fine" Stark said, just as a stallion, one of the many workers Prince Blueblood provided, knocked on the door, before opening it.
"Mr Stark? There's somepony here to see you"
Stark leaned forward, asking "Who is it?"
The worker looked behind him, answering "I'm not sure.. only that she asked to see you"
'Maybe an applicant?' Stark thought to himself as he said "Let her in"
The worker nodded, allowing a mare who wore a brown cloak to enter the room.
Stark greeted her, asking "Good afternoon, ms..." As he waited for the mare to say her name.
Instead, she just removed the hood, revealing the face of Nightmare Moon.
"Oh! It's you!" Stark exclaimed, as he stood up from his seat and approached the alicorn.
"Are you ok? You kinda disappeared on me back-" He began to say, but stopped when Nightmare Moon interrupted him, saying "I'm here for only one reason, Stark" As she crossed her arms.
Stark arched an eyebrow, asking "O- oh, and that is?"
The mare then pointed at the man's arc reactor, answering "You will teach me how to use that"
Stark looked down at his arc, saying "Ah, that? You don't technically use it per sey, it's kind of just acts as a second heart basically, so don't break it" As he tapped on it.
Nightmare Moon furrowed her brow, asking "T- that can't be it!"
Stark placed a hand on his chin, answering "I don't know what to tell ya, I guess it does make someone stronger, just automatically" As he then approached the mare, saying "Well, if that's all you were here for, then I'll accompany you to the exit, since I'm heading out myself" As he approached the exit to his office.
The alicorn stayed standing where she was, exclaiming "Hey!" At the man, in a much more higher pitch voice than she intended.
Stark turned around, as Nightmare Moon cleared her throat, saying "I'm sure your aware that because of your actions, I'm now in a far worse situation than when I returned from the moon" As the man rubbed the back of his head, saying "Right, sorry about that, you were threatening to get rid of Saturday mornings though" Making the alicorn scoff.
She continued, saying "So, as your rightfull princess, I command you to provide me a roof to sleep under!" As she crossed her arms once again, with an added grin.
Stark smiled, saying "Gotta say, your a lot cuter in this new form of yours" Which left Nightmare Moon absolutely dumbfounded.
The man continued, ignoring the blushed scowl the alicorn was throwing him, saying "Anyway, sure, you can stay here in my office" As he pointed to a couch nearby, saying "It ain't much, but that's gonna have to be your bed for now" As he turned to the door, leaving with "If you need anything else, like food or water, just ask Jarvis, he's in the back"
A moment after Stark had left, Nightmare Moon punched the nearest wall, leaving it cracked.
She then brought her fingers up to her cheeks, feeling that they were still warm.
"Ugh..."
Outside of the building, Stark turned his head towards the direction the train station was located.
"Jarvis? Have one of the workers send a letter to Blueblood, tell him to meet me at the station, and to bring some money"
"Yes sir"
Just as the man began walking, he was stopped when someone tapped his shoulder.
Turning around, Stark saw a white coated, blue maned royal guard.
"Something I can help you with officer?" Stark asked as he placed his hands on his hips.
The guard responded "The princess wishes to see you" As he then turned around, and began walking away, saying "Follow me"
'I probably should, it wouldn't benefit me to piss of the monarchy, especially now that I'm harboring Nighty' Stark thought to himself as he followed the guard.
He was led into an alleyway, where a fancy looking carriage was parked, the guard walking up and knocked on it's door, saying "Your highness? Mr Stark is here" To which he received an inaudible answer, afterwards saying "You may enter" As he opened the door.
Stark nodded, as he climbed inside, seeing Princess Celestia sitting on one side of a small table.
He sat across from her, asking "Princess, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
Celestia smiled, offering the man a cup of tea as she said, "When I heard that a member of a species i had never heard of moved to Canterlot, and had already established a business, I had to see for myself who exactly this man was"
"The drink is safe sir"
Stark accepted the cup, asking "Well your looking at him, but that can't be the only reason someone like you had to take time out of their day to see me, right?" Receiving a hum from the princess.
"No, and as much as I dislike prying, I must know where exactly your getting your funding from, since you didn't go through the common process to found your company" As Stark took a sip of his tea, thinking to himself 'I've had worse'
He then answered the question with "My funds? Your nephew's providing it" Much to the surprise, and possible dismay to the alicorn.
"Is he now? Well, that's very generous of him" Celestia started to say, as she offered a plate of cookies with her magic, which Stark happily accepted.
She continued, asking "If I may ask, what exactly is the purpose of your business?" As Stark took a bite of a cookie, answering "It's a tech company, so we'll basically make many devices that would benefit many pony's day to day life" As he took another sip of tea.
Celestia thought to herself for a moment, decided to check something by asking "Technology? By chance, will you be making weapons as well?"
Stark only nodded as he ate another cookie.
'Thought so. Just what are you planning Blueblood?' Celestia thought to herself.
The alicorn wished Blueblood did infact fund this company because of the kindness of his heart, but she knew better.
With a small sigh, Celestia said "Thank you for your time, Mr Stark, that will be all" To which the man took one final sip of tea before stepping out of the carriage, leaving with "Thanks for the snacks!"
Once outside, Stark began making his way to the train station.
The dark man stood outside yet another home somewhere in the Equestrian countryside, he wasn't bothered to know exactly where, all he cared about was how well the inhabitants inside would play their part.
He knocked on the door, with it opening a moment later to reveal an earth pony mare, who had a yellow coat, alongside a white mane, who whore a pair of grey pants and white shirt, her cutie mark being a pot and a pan, and a depressed expression.
The mare said "Sorry, I'm not interested" as she went to close the door, but couldn't as the dark man placed his hand on the door, not allowing it to be closed.
He said "Your father is sick, right?" Causing the mares eyes to widen like dinner plates, as she squeaked out "W- what?"
The man continued, saying "It's a real shame, really, your father's illness is probably lethal. If you were a unicorn, you could fix it just like that!" As he snapped his fingers, all the while the mare closed her eyes, tears threatening to slip out.
The dark man then said "But, you aren't. Your just an earth pony" As the mare chocked out a sob.
He then placed his hand on the mares shoulder, saying "But don't worry, I will help you" Making the mare open her eyes and face him.
"Y- you will? How?" The mare asked.
The man responded "I shall grant you a gift, do my best in teaching you how to use said gift, and all I ask in return, is a promise that I can count on you with a favor when the time comes"
The mare decided to trust the man, mainly due to her desperate situation, saying "Please, come in, you can tell me more about this offer inside" As she fully opened the door to let him in.
The dark man walked inside, thinking to himself 'To make such an innocent and vulnerable mare into another adversary for Stark, that will truly be Nefarious '
"Might I ask what this is about? I was a bit busy before the letter arrived" Blueblood asked as he and Stark both sat down inside of a train carriage.
As the train began to move, Stark answered "It's about production, Canterlot isn't going to cut it, so I'm headed to Manhattan to purchase a factory"
"Ah, of course, I'm assuming that's why you need money?" Blueblood asked, receiving a nod from Stark.
Blueblood continued, saying "Well, if it will benefit your company, then I'm more than glad to provide the necessary funds needed" As Stark leaned back into his seat, saying "Right, hey wake me up when we get there alright? Gonna take a nap"
"Very well"
Author's Note
Another short chapter, but hopefully good build up.
https://youtu.be/yr8cDwAqfoo?si=73tcvmuW0uTqBHO3
