The Reality War

Tony Stark or, if you prefer, Iron Man was flying high. Not like that. Not since that incident with the American Navy and a cabbage stand…

Regardless, Stark was scouting out the area around the Super Portal Ugly Death Zone, or SPUDZ as he liked to call it. Well, it wasn’t what he was originally doing, but he’d rather do this than… well that other thing.

Earlier…

“Cause I shoot to thrill an’ I’m ready to kill… God I love this song. Hello, what is that?”

Stark was flying over a range of mountains when he flew over a particularly large mountain and faced a desert. That wasn’t the weird part though; no the weird part was that a rather large field that seemed to just stand like a purple bubble on a piece of sandpaper. Oh wait there’s a town down there.

Stark followed the snaking rail line to the bubble but when he tried to go through the field he encountered a problem. Namely, he couldn’t.

“Hey what’s this? A force field? What the hell not even I can do this. And I’m awesome.”

So he touched down on the ground next to the rails and tried pushing on the force bubble. It didn’t work. However that action did seem to get the attention of a white unicorn with a blue mane, completely decked out in shining armor. Overcompensating for something bud- oh wait. Stark thought against saying that. Instead he waited for the pony to run over to him.

“Who are you and what do you want?” the unicorn asked.

“I’m lost, you see I was trying to go to Cancun but I can’t seem to figure out how to get there. Dammit I knew I should’ve taken a left turn at Albuquerque.”

“You think this is funny?” The unicorn obviously didn’t.

“A little, yeah. Look Mac, I’m with the little party that is trying to save your world. I came for the fun, stayed for the fact that I can’t go home on my own will.”

“Oh really? You’re part of the resistance? How do I know you’re not just one of those Combine things?”
Stark was getting frustrated now, “Yes I’m part of the resistance; my name is Marie Antoinette.”

“Antoinette huh? Yeah you’re not on the list the princess’ guard gave me but then again it did have a passphrase just in case she missed a name. What is it?”

“Open sesame. No wait, 42. Oh I know: the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. Or was it- hey, where are you going?”

The pony was walking away, obviously fed up with these shenanigans.

“Fine fine. You’re no fun. It’s allons-y.”

The stallion turned around. He was not amused.

“So now you remember it.”

“Nah I knew it the whole time. I was just messing with you.”

“Really? I had no idea.” So he does have a sense of humor Stark thought. The stallion continued, “Fine, you can come in. But I’m watching you. Besides, if the best thing these Combine have is you,” the stallion gave him a once over, “I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

Ouch.

And just like… magic (Stark was not going to get used to that. As far as he was concerned, this was the result of a nuclear test too close to a stable) a gap in the portal appeared and he stepped through.

“Follow me.” The unicorn then did a 180 and started walking towards where Stark could only assume was the town.

They walked in silence for a while before the unicorn spoke again.

“My name is Shining Armor,” Shining said curtly.

Jesus is everyone’s name here a pun or a job description? Talk about no choices for life. But he just nodded, not that Shining could see as Stark was walking beside him. More silence but it wasn’t long before they eventually did come upon a town. Town being a very loose term.

“Welcome to Appleoosa, Mr. Stark,” Shining Armor said. Somewhere behind him a horse whinnied.

“Oookaayy…”

“What?” Shining asked impatiently.

“Oh nothing, it’s just, well, first I’m in the Renaissance, and now I’m in the Old West.”

“Okay, let me know when you want to be serious Marie and we can get to work.”

“Yeah, my name isn’t Marie, it’s Stark. Tony Stark. I guess the joke was lost on you on account of the whole ‘not human’ thing.”

If you listened close, you could hear Shining beating Stark to a pulp in his mind.

“Okay,” Shining took a deep breath, “that name was on my list. I’m going to pretend that you weren’t just wasting five minutes of my life and just continue on with my duties.”

“Maybe I can help?” Stark offered.

“So now you want to help? Fine, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth-“

“Wait, you use that expression? Wouldn’t that be like slavery?”

Shining ignored him, “-and I’ll assume that suit isn’t for show. What can you do?”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Is that bravery, or arrogance? Because bravery I can use, arrogance will get you killed.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Well as you can see, this shield is keeping out anything we don’t want in. However, my wife, Cadence, has been projecting this spell for many hours now and it’s wearing her down. The whole point of the shield is to keep out what looks to be an enemy camp not ten miles from here. As of yet, they haven’t attacked in full force; just a couple of scouting parties, so I have no idea what they’re objective is.”

“Point me in the direction.”

Shining was taken aback.

“So it’s arrogance then, because every time I went to scout them out, I’ve almost been killed.”

Stark gestured to himself, “I have this,” he gestured to Shining’s armor, “You have that. ‘That’ being tin foil.”

“This armor was forged in the flames of Tartarus. It was blessed by the Oracle of Canterlot. It was-“

“-christened with orphan tears. I got it. It’s important. But guess what? It counts for exactly squat against the Combine weapons.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Shining was offended but understood Stark’s point. “They’re due north of here.”

“Cool. I’ll be back later, don’t wait up.” And with that Stark shot up into the air, only to come right back down. “Uh… a little help?”

Shining smirked, “What? Can’t the great Stark punch through a measly force field?”

“Ha ha ha. Very funny.”

Shining’s horn lit up and a small opening in the bubble appeared.

“Thanks.” Iron Man launched into the air and through the hole before it closed behind him.

“Celestia-speed Tony Stark,” muttered Shining before he walked towards the saloon to attend to his “duties”. There’s not much you can do when you’re outnumbered and your wife is taking care of the defense, so he’ll just have to kill time.

It wasn’t long (traveling at sub-sonic or even supersonic speeds does have its perks) before Stark came upon what looked to be a helicopter. However, seeing as it wasn’t US Army, he safely assumed it was Combine. But Stark, ever the diplomat, flew up to it with peaceful intentions and negotiated a peace treaty between the Combine and all they had wronged. He later used their Superportal technology to create an inter-universal empire that ushered in an era of peace and prosperity never before imagined by any living being capable of complex thought. And they lived happily ever after.

Just kidding, Stark totally blew that fucker out of the sky.

The incredible Iron Man, as intelligent as he is, realized the Combine encampment a quarter mile away probably wouldn’t have appreciated the impromptu laser light show, as it most likely violated at least 42 safety regulations. With that assumption clearly supported by the massive amount of helicopters flying toward him, (as they weren’t coming to congratulate him on that performance- it was a 6 at best) Stark did the only thing anyone with a clear tactical disadvantage would do in a desert: he flew straight into the maelstrom…

…And right back out. He wasn’t the invincible Iron Man, after all. Sure he could do some serious damage, but he’d more than likely get himself killed in the process. Stark didn’t actually want to fight them, due to the whole if you kill one two more will take its place because they have a lot of troops thing, he actually wanted to get to their camp and see if it had any intel worth knowing about. With that said, it didn’t seem likely that his intentions would be realized any time soon. He could try and get reinforcements of his own, but this area, being on the other side of a mountain range, was a “low priority target” and thus did not receive any troops of its own. He could fly to Canterlot, but that would take a long time, time that town of Applehoosa, or something, didn’t have.

While pondering this conundrum, Stark flew around in various shapes to try and avoid as much fire as possible. First he spelled out “Suck it”, then he wrote Einstein’s theory of relativity- wait. Einstein. Physics. Particle physics. Energy.

Stark had a very, very, wrong idea, but he didn’t have any other options. Pulling out a couple explosives he threw them at the choppers.

“Catch,” the explosives went off and gave him excellent cover to fly back to the force bubble field thingy.

Lucky for him Shining Armor had been watching the whole air show (he really had nothing to do) and opened a hole for Stark to fly through.

“What’s the matter Mr. Stark?” Shining asked, “Can’t you break through the mob?” It wasn’t a snarky jab, but a query of genuine worry, for if not even this technologically advanced machine-man could defend himself, what chance did the ponies have?

“No, at least not with conventional weaponry. Actually I came back because I need to ask you about this force field.” Stark was kind of quiet actually, as if something was the matter.

“What about it?”

“How strong can you possibly make it?”

“Pretty strong. Granted, the smaller the field, the stronger it can be made. And if I help Cadence, my wife, cast the spell it can be even stronger. Why do you ask?”

“I need you to make it as strong as humanly, or rather, pon…ily possible. As soon as possible.” Stark started walking away, needing to do one final thing.

“Might I ask why?” Shining was used to taking orders without answers, but this time the safety of those he cared about could be in jeopardy.

“The science would take too long to explain to you,” Stark stated matter-of-factly.

Shining just wryly chuckled, “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Fine, just promise me that nopony will get hurt.”

“If you do your job and I do mine, everything should be fine.”

“Do you think the field will be enough for what you plan to do?”

“It’s going to have to be.”

Shining didn’t like the sound of that, but what other choices did he have? Cadence was getting tired and Stark obviously wasn’t joking around.

“Okay,” muttered Shining.

Tony Stark blasted into the air and through another hole in the field. Up he flew, ever higher, before everything for miles was laid out for him to see. He was looking for the perfect spot. There. In a spot in the desert where there seemed to be nothing, that’s where his plans will unfold. He started flying that way, running complex equations in his mind. This was going to be close.

Meanwhile Shining gathered all the residents and refugees, including the Buffalo, into the newly built recreation center.

“It’s okay,” he said to them as they ran past him, “everything is going to be okay. Hey sweetie,” his voice softened as he saw Cadence shakily walking towards him, “how are you doing?”

“I’ve been better,” she sighed. “What are we doing here?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but we’re going to have to reinforce the shield as much as possible; that’s why we’re gathered here in one place.”

“Why?”

“Because a member of the resistance named Marie Antoinette told me to.”

Stark touched down on the ground and reached into one of his suit’s many compartments. There he pulled out a second arc reactor. You know, in case Stain comes back from the grave and steals his again. He then pulled out a couple of tools (be prepared) and started tinkering with it.

“First, disable the safety… Then the field dampeners… and finally, quintuple energy output and deactivate energy vents.”

Stark laid the reactor on the ground and buried it in a little sand.

“Now to fetch the guests.”

He flew towards the Combine encampment where a massive force looked just about to mobilize, probably to attack the town. Perfect.

Making as much noise as possible, Stark flew into the middle of the camp and shouted over his built in PA system, “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”

That got their attention, as every Combine gun was now firing at him. Stark flew into the air, and to make sure they would keep following him, blew up a couple soldiers, maybe a car or five, and some choppers.

For the next twenty minutes he slowly led them on a chase into the desert, right over his arc reactor. Dear God this better work. As the rear of the force caught up with him, he put all power to his thrusters and rocketed straight up into the air. A timer sounded in his suit, and then all went quiet.

It was at this time that the arc reactor, which had been exponentially been building up energy with no way for that energy to be vented or used, broke free of its containment and spitted energy in all directions. A blue ball of energy, not fire, but plasma, expanded, like a great maw consumed everything in its path and left nothing untouched. The orb kept expanding, expanding, one mile, two, three. Sand turned to glass, melted, became ionized, and vanished into nothing in the blink of an eye. The Combine stood no chance; they didn’t even have time to scream. One of the ultimate forces of the universe, with all its unforgiving strength, ripped through them. Stark was miles in the air, far enough away to be safe from harm. He watched as stragglers of that once great Combine army raced away in a futile attempt to save themselves. The ball of life and death grew ever larger still, before it consumed the Combine camp and the little town of Appleloosa. Stark only prayed that Shining Armor was able to make a field strong enough.

“AHH!” Cadence cried out in agony as the ball of plasma rushed over the bubble, drowning them in an ocean of pure energy. Yet, she realized, if she were to falter even a little, it would all be over. A hoof rested on her shoulder: it was Shining, his horn glowing as bright as the energy that threatened to consume them. She could tell he was experiencing just as much pain, but he still managed to smile at her, reminding her they were in this together. She dug deep, deeper than ever before, and found the strength to keep going. The little fillies and colts actually “oohed” and “ahh’d” at the light show. Cadence had to admit, it was breath-takingly beautiful. The hues of blue blended together to create a picture as vibrant as the sky on Celestia’s warmest days, and yet as cold as Luna’s darkest nights.

And seemingly just as quick as it had come, the energy was gone, and the blue ocean was replaced with a blue sky.

Cadence groaned and collapsed, pure exhaustion putting her out cold. The field disappeared, but Shining had a feeling the worst was over.

Stark surveyed the surroundings. The only evidence anything had happened was the massive crater right next to Ground Zero. That is why he won’t sell the arc reactor technology. Stark dreaded to look, but he needed to know. He looked in the direction of the town and saw the area that was inside the field was still standing. He couldn’t say that for the rest of the town though. Stark sighed and flew over to what was known as Appleloosa.

“Stark, you did it.” Shining was panting, but Stark could tell he was happy. “You saved us all.”

“All? You mean no one…”

“Nope. The field held up wonderfully. Your plan worked. At least, I think it did.”

“It did,” Stark confirmed, “the Combine camp will trouble you no longer. This area should be safe from any more soldiers for a little while.”

“Well Mr. Stark, on behalf of the whole town, I thank you.” Shining straightened up and saluted Stark before collapsing to the ground.

“I guess I’m a little tired,” he admitted, “I haven’t slept in a while.”

“Well rest up,” ordered Stark, “we’re not out of the woods yet.”

“Right you are; I was actually going to go back to Canterlot now that this is over.”

“If I were you, I would stay here. These people are going to need a leader while they attempt to rebuild. They’re going to need you.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Shining stood up, “I’m Captain of the Guard. I’m going to do my job and lead these ponies and their rebuilding efforts.” He took a step and fell over, too tired to go on. “Right after I take my nap.”

Tony Stark chuckled, “Rest easy now, we have a long ways to go. I’ll catch ya on the flipside, Jack.”

And with that, Stark once again flew into the air, en route to the SPUDZ to see if they could use help. When he got there however, it looked like the battle was over and lost. Stark knew that if the battle here was lost, all of Equestria could soon follow. Just then an energy pulse from the Super Portal threw him backwards tumbling in the air. When he righted himself, he saw two small objects falling from the sky. Wait, those are people. Stark blasted forward, trying to catch them before they met the ground. Almost there… got ‘em. The two he had caught were those two COGs, Marcus and Dom. However, it seemed two Combine choppers saw this and were making their way towards them. So Stark flew away from the battlefield in the first direction he could thing of: forward. Faster he went, but not too fast to kill his passengers. Eventually, he landed in what looked to be an old castle, in a state of complete disrepair. Stark took a deep breath and looked at the two veteran soldiers.

“Thanks for saving our asses,” Marcus said.

“Anytime,” Stark replied.

They stood there in awkward silence as only men can do before Dom spoke up,

“I guess we should rest here for a little while; get our strength up and all that before heading back.”

“Are we far enough away?” asked Marcus.

They looked in the direction they had come from and noticed the portal was but a mere sliver of light far away.

“Guess that answers that.” Stark laid down to take a well-deserved nap when a voice echoed from the darkness.

“Who dares invade my territory?”